4.51 – Three Rewards


    Before they got to the new items, Natalie had to catch the team up on what she and Ana had earned in the previous rooms: the stat-boosting potions, the cleaning liquid, and, of course, Ana''s buttplug. Thetter Natalie outlined herself, rather than showing the item off for them to inspect—for obvious reasons.


    The team was happy to have gotten an infinite supply of magical cleaning liquid. Any delver would be. Fighting monsters was gory business, and a material that instantly freshened them up was much appreciated. And it would be convenient to have for day-to-day life, too. Especially for Natalie.


    Since the vials were self-replenishing, everyone got one, which they would ration out as needed. There was a single downside to the potion, though—it left behind residue. Using the cleansing liquid left them looking like they''d deliberately oiled themselves up. A glossy sheen on their skin. It stuck around for a decent amount of time, too. Nearly a half-hour before it faded naturally—though it could be wiped off, if with some difficulty.


    Seeing her teammates oil themselves up, even mostly clothed and in a non-sexual way, was an unexpectedly erotic sight, to Natalie''s dismay. She doubted that was a coincidence. The dungeon obviously liked screwing with her.


    Finally, there were the stat-boosting potions. The team was getting used to finding unbelievably good items, but that didn''t mean they could shrug their shoulders and be unsurprised by them. Permanent stat boosts were incredible, no matter how small. Even more than that, there was the implication they might get stronger ones. In lower levels of the dungeon, that ''minor'' boost might be a ''greater'' one. It was a form of passive stat scaling that most delvers simply didn''t have ess to. All else equal, that meant they would outpace their ssmates. How long before they were the strongest in their year, if their fortunes kept like this?


    The mentions of deities awakening from their slumber was, of course, troubling, but for all they knew, it was the dungeon messing with them—no proof had ever been provided. Natalie was starting to doubt that, though. She really ought to look more into those implications. But where to even start? And her schedule was packed enough as it stood. Maybe leaving it to Ana was best: she was clearly far more educated on the topic. She''d been the one to describe the Reverie to them in the first ce. She would be much more effective at digging up information on the topic than Natalie.


    Sofia, Jordan, and Liz also disyed their earnings. They''d been through their own ringer, though of apletely different type than her and Ana''s. They''d found several pieces of pretty decent gear during their adventure. Nothing as broken as the lewd equipment that Natalie''s ss influenced to drop, but still an impressive haul.


    Finally, they got to what everyone was most interested in: the final rewards from her and Ana''s misadventures. Even Sofia, despite all her disdain for Natalie''s ss, couldn''t hide her interest. She''d always been the most invested in loot, the first to scurry over to a treasure chest, and that intrigue extended to the lewd equipment too. Even if she found it—or pretended to find it—offputting.


    Natalie pulled out the first of the three items, and the team all peered at it, eager to read the description.


    ***


    Vial of Lesser Carnal Ink


    Description


    An ornate ss container filled with dark violet ink. Can be used to refresh and modify existing carnal markings.


    ***


    "Wait," Natalie said. "Carnal markings. Like—?"


    "Like from the challenge room," Ana agreed, sounding interested. She took the item from Natalie, turned it side to side, then looked down at her stomach. "It''s nearly faded, but I can still see it." She traced the womb-like tattoo scrawled on her lower stomach. The ink had indeed almost disappeared, despite only twenty or so minutes having passed. But it could be renewed, with this?


    "Sorry?" Jordan said. "Carnal markings? Ana has a tattoo? Catch us up?"


    "Thest room required us to—" Ana started.


    "Don''t worry about it," Natalie said loudly. "It doesn''t matter."


    Ana gave her an odd look, but didn''t continue. Natalie scrambled for a way to exin the situation without revealing … all of that.


    "Oh, please," Sofia said. "We all know you two fucked, so just tell us what happened. Or at least what''s relevant. What is that thing?" She gestured at Ana''s fading tattoo.


    Ana gave her a questioning look, and Natalie hesitated.


    "Okay," Natalie said. "Whatever." She waved her hand for Ana to speak.


    The mage turned to Sofia. "Thest challenge required us to repeatedly bring the mark-bearer," she gestured at the tattoo, "to orgasm."


    Everyone looked at Natalie, who admired a particrly interesting part of the ceiling.


    "It captured and funneled that energy to break open seals that held rewards. This item, it seems," Ana wiggled the ink vial, "allows us to refresh the mark. And modify it. Though what that means, specifically, I have no idea."


    "But not create new ones?" Jordan asked.


    "It says refresh and modify. So I assume no." Ana studied the marking on her lower stomach, moving aside her flimsy strips of mage robes to get a better view—and also nearly shing her teammates in the process, which Ana didn''t seem to care about at all. "So perhaps there''s future markings toe?"


    "But what will that one do, then? The one you''re wearing?" Liz asked. "If it ''broke seals'' earlier, what now?"


    "That''s the question. I have no idea. Regardless, it''s worth refreshing before it disappears."


    She held the ink vial out.


    "So, can anyone assist?" Ana asked. Her attention gravitated to Liz, thest to speak. "It''s easier than doing it myself. If you don''t mind?"


    "M-Me?" Liz asked.


    "Or anyone," Ana said with a nonchnt shrug.


    "Uh. Sure." Liz swallowed, then stepped forward and took the ink from Ana. "There''s no pen, though."


    "Your finger is fine."


    "It''s, um, in a pretty intimate ce. You''re sure?"


    "I trust you won''t take advantage of me," Ana said solemnly.


    Delivered in that stony monotone, Natalie snorted—because she knew Ana was teasing Liz. Liz just seemed panicked about the request, or at least that Ana didn''t seem aware of what she was asking, which was equally funny.


    Natalie appreciated that the attention was off of her, too. The whole, ''Ana had needed to bring her to repeated orgasm'' was still flustering her. At least Ana hadn''t shamelessly given out the exact details, which was why Natalie had been worried in the first ce.


    "Of course I wouldn''t," Liz stammered. "So, yeah, okay, if you''re fine with it, then … I guess there''s no problem …" She twisted off the ink vial''s cap. "I''ll just trace it?"


    "Here." Ana hooked her thumbs into her panties, then slid them down so they were out of the way—so they were sitting maybe a quarter-inch from exposing her entirely. Then she tugged her robes to the side, giving Liz a clear workspace to paint on. The shamelessness, andck of hesitation, was demolishing the poor, easy-to-blush healer: Liz''s face was ming red in an instant. She swallowed visibly before dipping a pointer finger into the ink vial and getting down on her knees—putting her face-level to Ana''s crotch.


    "I''m not ticklish," Ana assured her. "So don''t worry about that."


    "Right," Liz said, sounding a bit strangled.


    It was vindicating that Ana''s behavior was as effective on Liz as it had been on Natalie, if not more so. Though, making Liz blush wasn''t particrly difficult. Still, Natalie took her wins where she could get them. Ana was simply skilled at putting people off-foot—which was only sometimes intentional, Natalie had learned.


    Whether <em>this </em>was intentional? Natalie couldn''t actually tell. Probably half and half.


    "It collects orgasmic energy," Jordan said. "Maybe without seals to break, it''ll use that energy to do something else."


    "That''s my hope," Ana agreed. "Or perhaps it''ll do nothing. Experimentation is needed. And if it''s inert, then we can try modifying it, using the ink. We''ll need to find an expert on arcane markings, though."


    "Shouldn''t be hard. Not in Aradon."


    Ana nodded in agreement. She shivered as Liz, down between her legs, traced her finger across the faded lines, quickly bringing the womb-like tattoo back to prominence.


    "That''s gonna be awkward to exin," Jordan said dryly. "Still nning to wear your robes out around town?"


    "Perhaps I''ll need to cover up," Ana said. "The tattoo does turn this outfit rather scandalous."


    "It wasn''t already?" Sofia muttered. She shook her head, then turned to Natalie. "And the next item, then? Let''s see it. While they''re finishing up all of <em>that</em>."