《Dungeons and Dalliances》 1.01 – Unlocking 1.01 ¨C Unlocking Natalie would never admit it, but she was so nervous she might be sick. Unlocking ceremonies were a big deal. Not only did they mark a person¡¯sing of adulthood, urring on the midnight after their eighteenth birthday, but they were the day a person decided their ss ¡­ the path they would walk for the rest of their life. So, there was plenty for Natalie to be nervous about. Then again, not really. Everyone knew what ss Natalie would be getting, even Natalie herself. Or, roughly what. The gods only provided three options to deliberate over, but a person¡¯s offered sses were shaped by the life they had led up to their unlocking. And Natalie? Natalie¡¯s life didn¡¯t leave much to interpretation. Some unlocking ceremonies had an air of excitement about them¡ªan air of mystery. Natalie¡¯s, on the other hand, was still cheerful, upbeat, in the vein of most big events, but there was notent intrigue hanging in the air, around the mingling party-goers. There was nothing to wonder over, little to be excited for besides the fact it was Natalie¡¯s big day. Because Natalie would be receiving a brawler-type adventuring ss, and that was as given as the sky being blue. Sure, they didn¡¯t know the specifics, but then, they never would. The specifics to a person¡¯s ss were private, shared with family and friends. Rarely, with a person¡¯s adventuring party. So there was nothing for the party-goers to discover, today. Yet even with nothing to be worried over, Natalie was nervous. She didn¡¯t have a habit of being nervous, and she triply didn¡¯t have a habit for seeming nervous. Which was why she was pissed off, too. Why the hell was she being such a baby? ¡°Worried what you¡¯ll get?¡± Natalie jumped. She¡¯d been stewing, alone, off to the side of the festivities, finally having extricated herself from the crowd, and so she hadn¡¯t seen or heard Jordan arrive. That¡¯d probably been intentional. Natalie¡¯s best friend had always had a penchant for sneakiness. Her unlocking ceremony had been as decided as Natalie¡¯s: she¡¯d gotten a rogue-type ss, and in a few weeks, would be shipping off to T Delving Academy. The same fate that awaited Natalie. Or, that was the n. It depended on whether she got an adventuring ss. If Natalie got a worker-type or crafter ss, or anything else, then her promising future went up in smoke. ¡°Worried?¡± Natalie scoffed. ¡°About what?¡± Jordan gave Natalie an amused look, one that said she saw through her. ¡°Doesn¡¯t have to be rational. I was worried, too. It¡¯s a big deal.¡± ¡°I guess.¡± A short pause as Natalie looked around at all of the people that had showed up. All unlocking ceremonies saw good turnout, regardless of poprity. It was tradition, and in a town as small as Tinford, tradition held weight. ¡°I just want it to be here, already,¡± she added. ¡°Twenty minutes. They¡¯ll be shuffling you off to the church in no time.¡± Another amused look. ¡°You know, if you weren¡¯t brooding in the corner, it wouldn¡¯t feel like the clock¡¯s ticking so slow.¡± ¡°Brooding?¡± Natalie eyed her. ¡°I¡¯m not brooding.¡± ¡°Stoically awaiting your fate,¡± Jordan corrected with a roll of her eyes. ¡°The Architect forbid, someone ever think you on edge.¡± Natalie sniffed. ¡°Anyway,¡± Jordan said. ¡°I can¡¯t believe Sofia showed up.¡± Natalie¡¯s nose wrinkled. Even hearing Sofia¡¯s name put Natalie in a bad mood, and no, it wasn¡¯t because she was the only person for two towns over that could match Natalie in the sparring ring. It was ¡­ how smug about it she was. Sure, she never taunted Natalie outright, but Natalie could read the expression on her face, every time she scraped out her victory. Natalie didn¡¯t understand how consistently the white-haired girl could beat her, and by such thin margins. Natalie was always a hair breadth away from winning, but it always ended the same. A loss, and Sofia¡¯s smug self-satisfaction. Ugh. ¡°If you¡¯re trying to cheer me up, you¡¯re doing a poor job.¡± Why did Sofia show up? The reason was obvious¡ªthe aforementioned tradition, and Tinford¡¯s tiny size¡ªbut Natalie couldn¡¯t help but take it as a slight. She knew that was irrational, but she couldn¡¯t help herself. Something about Sofia infuriated her. It was those ¡­ those ¡­ those stupid cheekbones. Cheekbones? ¡°Cheer you up?¡± Jordan asked. ¡°I thought you didn¡¯t need cheering up.¡± Natalie seized the distraction. Clearly, she was even more out of it than she¡¯d thought, if she was thinking about how Sofia had gorgeous cheekbones. Seriously, where had the thought evene from? The only thing Natalie wanted to do to Sofia¡¯s face was punch it, not ¡­ anything else. Which, with how often they sparred together, was something she got to do with fair frequency. And yes, every time shended a clean left hook square on Miss Stuck-Up¡¯s nose was as amazing as the first. ¡°I don¡¯t,¡± Natalie huffed. ¡°And I can¡¯t believe we¡¯re stuck with her for another four years. I swear, she¡¯s following us just to be annoying.¡± ¡°T¡¯s the only delving academy this side of the Jagged,¡± Jordan said amusedly. ¡°And if we qualified, of course she did.¡± Natalie made a noise of irritation. ¡°Do you ever get tired of being reasonable? Just let me be annoyed. How aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°I mean, Sofia¡¯s not that bad.¡± Natalie gave her an incredulous look. ¡°She¡¯s a little uppity,¡± Jordan amended. ¡°But there¡¯s worse a person can be.¡± ¡°Sofia is the devil,¡± Natalie said firmly, ¡°and today is my unlocking day, so you have to agree with me.¡± ¡°Fine. Sofia is the devil.¡± Natalie narrowed her eyes. There was ack of honesty in Jordan¡¯s amused tone ¡­ but it would do. For a few moments, they stood next to each other, not-so-subtly watching Sofia. Natalie was surprised she didn¡¯t feel their eyes crawling on her back. ¡°A devil with a great ass,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Architect. How¡¯s she get it all in there? Pulleys?¡± ¡°Jordan!¡± ¡°Oh, don¡¯t sound scandalized. You were staring too. Look at it.¡± Natalie opened and closed her mouth at her best friend, who, for the fortieth time in the past two minutes, rolled her eyes, as if Natalie were being ridiculous. Then a secondter, she nced over Natalie¡¯s shoulder, and the amusement faded. ¡°Ah,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Here hees. Looks like it¡¯s time.¡± 1.02 – Trance 1.02 ¨C Trance While an unlocking could happen anywhere, it was tradition to be in the church when it arrived. The lectern on the elevated tform in front of the pews had been moved aside, and a single cushion sat, awaiting Natalie. ¡°It shouldn¡¯tst more than a few minutes,¡± Elder Britt said. ¡°It¡¯ll feel longer, but only in your head. When youe back, take as long as you need topose yourself. We¡¯ll all be waiting.¡± Oddly enough, Natalie¡¯s nervousness had disappeared the moment the old, bespectacled priest had arrived to drag Natalie away. The festivities were, obviously, not happening with the church itself, but rather, outside. Exactly as he had said, when Natalie swung open the big church doors to leave¡ªher unlockingplete¡ªeveryone would be lined up, ready to congratte Natalie. She¡¯d attended a number of unlockings on the other side of this event. Some people walked out ted after their unlocking, some relieved, and once¡ªDaisy Spruill¡ªsheet-white, which Natalie still didn¡¯t have an exnation for. She¡¯d gotten exactly the ss people had expected, some variation of Baker, so what had that been about? ¡°Natalie?¡± Natalie startled. She realized she hadn¡¯t replied. ¡°Yes, Elder Britt. Thank you.¡± An encouraging squeeze on her shoulder, then Elder Britt departed. The empty church echoed with silence. It was odd, being here, alone, in the dark. Moonlight trickled through the big ss windows, providing just enough illumination to not bump into the pews as she walked down the aisle. She stepped onto the tform, then stared down at the cushion. She was supposed to sit, and wait. Unlockings arrived at midnight, which would be a few minutes from now, and not a secondter; if Natalie were standing, she¡¯d fall. If she were seated, her body would keep itself supported through the fugue. Feeling a bit odd¡ªand the empty, moonlit church making the experience surreal¡ªshe sat down and gazed around at the empty pews. Like most churches, Tinford¡¯s construction was the finest of any building nearby. Tinford wasn¡¯t impoverished, but if a person went by the elegance of the ancient church, they¡¯d assume a level of affluence that was incorrect for the middle-of-nowhere town. She¡¯d been sitting and staring just long enough for her thoughts to wander, when¡ª *** Her eyes shot open. She¡¯d known to expect the sleek metal face, the automaton, but the abrupt transition from real-world to dream-world sent a shiver down her spine. Natalie studied her visitor. The automaton¡¯s form was androgynous, like all of theirs were. This one leaned a hint more feminine than masculine. Cobalt blue ents traced her body like artfully ced veins, and two of the same stark lines streaked from her upper cheeks and down, to her chin, imitating thick trails of tears. There was a stark inhumanity in her form, despite the simrity¡ªthe facade of being a human. She wore an expression ofplete detachment, her cobalt irises¡ªthe same color as her ents¡ªseeming to gaze through Natalie rather than at her. Despite her nakedness, her body was smooth andcking faithfulness to human form. Her breasts were rounded, smoothed down, small humps without the expected tips. Even still, it was a more feminine form than most: enough to suggest ¡®woman¡¯ rather than ¡®man¡¯. She exuded a sense of cool detachment. The automaton waited patiently for Natalie toe to terms with what she was seeing. It took a second. Natalie had only seen drawings of automatons, before, and never one in person. They were startlingly rare and only found in cities near dungeon entrances. Even then, Aradon, the capital, only had a smattering. Nobody knew what the automatons were, or how they¡¯de into existence, much less The Bestower, the assistant who guided all men and women through their unlocking. Some said this automaton¡ªnot seemingly a kin to the others, for all her appearance¡ªwas a god or goddess taken a familiar form. Not a real automaton at all. Valhaurian teachings had little to say about The Bestower. That, honestly, was one of the eeriest parts. Official Valhaurian teachings had plenty to say about everything. Too much. Plenty contradicting. But The Bestower? Silence. As if it would be sphemous to theorize. ¡°Hello, Natalie.¡± The automaton¡¯s voice was devoid of emotion. That, also, wasn¡¯t normal. The automatons who managed the Exchange, for example, were supposedly amiable people ¡­ if they could be called people. ¡°Uh,¡± Natalie finally replied. ¡°Hi.¡± Natalie was standing. She¡¯d never stood up from the pillow ced down for her in the church, but she was standing anyway. It had been an instant, unsettling transition. She turned in a circle, taking in her surroundings. There was little to remark on. Unlocking ceremonies were hardly new, and they varied little between person to person, besides what sses were offered. Natalie had a fair enough idea what to expect. A ck void sprawled around her. She stood on a surface that resembled a ck pond. Tiny ripples radiated out with each shifting of her weight. While the material looked like water ¡­ there was something off about it. And, obviously, water shouldn¡¯t support her. She didn¡¯t spend long marveling over the oddity of her environment. She had more important things to focus on. ¡°Do you know why you¡¯re here?¡± the automaton asked, coolly. Her voice was as impassive as her expression, and only slightly less unsettling. Natalie had always been irreverent, by nature. Frequently, she failed to find solemness fitting to situations that deserved it. Here, though, she didn¡¯t need to bite down on a sarcastic reply¡ªit didn¡¯t even rise up. Having a conversation with a maybe-god, and the determiner of the rest of her life, pulled a grave demeanor out of anyone, she guessed. ¡°Yeah,¡± she said. ¡°You, uh, hand out sses.¡± The Bestower¡¯s lips quirked, and another shiver went down Natalie¡¯s spine at seeing amusement curl¡ªthe barest hint¡ªon the automaton¡¯s face. People didn¡¯t talk about The Bestower much, and when they did, it was with more or less what Natalie herself was feeling: distinct unease. ¡°Hand out sses,¡± she¡ªthey?¡ªechoed. ¡°Mm. More or less.¡± She seemed amused by how Natalie had put it. The Bestower approached Natalie. An arm¡¯s length away, she tilted her head and inspected her. Natalie had no idea what judgments she made. Could this creature read Natalie¡¯s thoughts? Nothing indicated that she could, but the paranoid idea stuck. ¡°Well,¡± The Bestower finally said. ¡°Are you ready?¡± Natalie nodded, the creature¡¯s scrutinizing inspection of her having left her wordless. The Bestower stepped to Natalie¡¯s side, then raised a hand in a slow, assured motion. It reminded Natalie of the way Elder Britt might gesture for a congregation to rise. A pir sprouted from the ssy ck water, in pace with The Bestower¡¯s hand, sending ripples shooting across the ne. They bounced harmlessly off Natalie¡¯s shoes. Natalie watched the pir rise, fascinated. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I have little variance for you today,¡± The Bestower said. ¡°You gave me little leeway.¡± Gave? It was an interesting way to phrase it, but Natalie didn¡¯t think a question-and-answer was on the table. ¡°First. The Berserker.¡± The pir finished taking shape, resolving to a plinth with a finely carved great-axe hovering a few inches above it. The plinth, and the axe itself, was the same smooth gray, hewn from the same stone. It rotated in a slow circle, showcasing the entirety of the carving. ¡°A warrior who channels their fury into powerful, relentless attacks. A berserker has incredible offensive potential, but at the cost of defensiveness, and clear-sightedness.¡± The Bestower spoke the words in a nk tone. Not bored, but removed, as if she were avoiding inflecting her voice in any particr way, as to keep from influencing Natalie¡¯s decision. As for Natalie¡¯s thoughts on the offered ss ¡­ it was, as she¡¯d known it would be¡ªas everyone had known it would be¡ªa melee-type fighter ss. There was a lot to think about when it came to deciding which of the three choices she would pick. This was, without exaggeration, one of the most important decisions she¡¯d ever make. But she would rather know all of her choices before she got into the weeds. She would avoid puzzling over each as they came. She wanted the whole picture, first. The Bestower must¡¯ve sensed this through Natalie¡¯s nod, so she moved on. The second pir sprouted. ¡°The Juggernaut.¡± The pir was the same as the previous, but the symbol was different: this time, a one-handed hammer, and behind it, a tower shield. Like the axe, it rotated in the air, slowly. ¡°A heavily armored fighter, able to endure immense punishment. The cornerstone of a party, and a master of arms.¡± The Bestower waited for Natalie to take in her words, then nod. She raised her hand onest time, summoning thest of Natalie¡¯s choices. ¡°Finally,¡± she said. ¡°The Adept.¡± A carving of a fist floated above the plinth. ¡°A student of martial prowess, with power and agility in equal measure. Weave through attacks while delivering your own. Independent, graceful, and deadly.¡± Graceful? Natalie thought. That wasn¡¯t a word she¡¯d use for herself. But not all sses were a one-for-one. Some deviated from what ¡®fit¡¯ with a person ¡­ sometimes by a significant amount. Natalie looked at the three options provided to her. They were, more or less, what she¡¯d expected. Even the adept didn¡¯t stray from her current fighting style to a meaningful degree. Bizarrely, she was disappointed. The choices were underwhelming. Which didn¡¯t make sense; sses were what you made of them. And none of the options seemed bad to begin with. Stock-standard options. The kind found in adventuring parties across the world. ¡°Or,¡± The Bestower said. ¡°I could offer you something else.¡± 1.03 – Debate 1.03 ¨C Debate Natalie stared at The Bestower, at the sleek automaton of silver streaked with cobalt-blue ents. While unlockings weren¡¯t often talked about, as most sacred events weren¡¯t, there was little mystery behind them. Everyone experienced an unlocking, and Natalie¡¯s parents, and Jordan, had told her what to expect. ¡®Something else¡¯? A fourth ss choice? There was no such thing. Three options. That was set in stone. Natalie¡¯d never heard of anything different. ¡°This is an unusual opportunity,¡± The Bestower said. ¡°And ites with benefits as well as detriments. Would you like to hear more?¡± Natalie nced at the three pirs¡ªat the three ss choices which had been exactly what she¡¯d wanted, expected, but were somehow, regardless, a disappointment. ¡°More?¡± Natalie asked carefully. She was still adjusting to the news, bewildered. ¡°You won¡¯t bemitting to anything.¡± ¡°Then ¡­ I don¡¯t see why I wouldn¡¯t,¡± Natalie said, her brow furrowed. ¡°What do you mean, unusual?¡± ¡°As I said, it is an opportunity afforded to few.¡± ¡°Okay?¡± The half-answer was unhelpful. Natalie thought it¡¯d been intentionally so. ¡°What is it? The ss name.¡± ¡°Mm,¡± the automaton said. ¡°There lies the detriment. You must ept before knowing.¡± Natalie stared. A ss whose details were revealed after epting? That was ¡­ besides being unheard-of ¡­ risky. For obvious reasons. ¡°And the benefits are?¡± ¡°Potency.¡± The Bestower paused. ¡°Uniqueness.¡± ¡°Potency?¡± ¡°More powerful skills than typical.¡± For the second time, Natalie reeled at the announcement. Most sses were on the same footing. They were what you made of them. While skills varied, the instances where one¡¯s abilities were much weaker or stronger than any other¡¯s was ¡­ well, very, very unusual. As all of this was. ¡°But I couldn¡¯t know what it is, beforehand,¡± Natalie repeated. She didn¡¯t even know where to start with that. It was ¡­ insanely dangerous. epting a ss, without knowing what it was? It was like jumping into a dark chasm, hoping there was water, and a big pile of treasure, at the bottom. Except, in a roundabout way, she¡¯d been promised there was treasure¡ªthe ss would be strong. The question was how hard the fall would hurt. Would it be a ss wholly unfitting her? Something she wouldn¡¯t be able to make use of, by her nature? Natalie was a brawler; she would make a horrible [Spellweaver], or something of the sorts. Even a [Ranger] she¡¯d be a poor fit for¡ªJordan had always been ten times the shot she was. Natalie was good with her hands. In being up-close and personal. Rolling around in a sweaty pile of limbs, in the chaos of a brawl. Honestly, that was almost all she was good at. Most sses wouldn¡¯t fit well on her. ¡°I don¡¯t even get a hint?¡± ¡°You do not.¡± ¡°And ¡­ that¡¯s it? No more? ept, and it¡¯ll be strong, but I can¡¯t know what?¡± ¡°Even I don¡¯t know,¡± The Bestower said. Which had Natalie blinking. Well ¡­ if that was the truth, then she guessed this creature wasn¡¯t the omnipotent Architect, or the Maker. Not that many people believed that in the first ce. Just one of many fantastical theories. ¡°Where did thise from?¡± Natalie asked. ¡°Why me?¡± The Bestower shrugged, which was an oddly human reaction on the thus-far impassive being. ¡°That¡¯s not for me to know, either.¡± ¡°Right,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Okay. Sure.¡± It was probably too sarcastic of a tone, considering who or what she was speaking to, but her filter was falling away from shock. She rubbed her face, then looked back at her other three choices. The ones she had expected, and wanted. Sure, they were boring, if she were being honest¡ªand, inexplicably, the smallest bit a disappointment¡ªbut a person¡¯s ss didn¡¯t need to be the most amazing thing in the world. Natalie could make great use of a [Berserker]¡¯s skills, or an [Adept]¡¯s. She already had a spot in T, conditional on receiving an adventuring ss. Which startled her with the reminder. ¡°Will it at least be abat ss? It needs to be.¡± She couldn¡¯t risk it otherwise. Even if the ss was powerful, Natalie had a path in life she intended to walk, no exceptions. She wouldn¡¯t risk not being able to attend T with Jordan. The Bestower tilted her head, and Natalie was, oddly, struck by the impression she was conferring with someone. Did gods¡ªor eldritch creatures¡ªhave parties? She didn¡¯t see why not, odd as it was to think about. ¡°It will be a ss with ¡­bat applications,¡± The Bestower finally said. ¡°That¡¯s the most that will be provided.¡± Despite saying earlier Natalie wouldn¡¯t get a hint, the automaton had answered her. Did that mean ¡­ she wanted Natalie to ept? Or that someone did? And again, Natalie noted The Bestower¡¯s phrasing. Not, ¡®I will provide¡¯, but, ¡®will be provided¡¯. It implied something ¡­ even if Natalie couldn¡¯t ce exactly what. But the answer had the tension draining from Natalie¡¯s shoulders. Abat ss. Or something withbat applications, whatever that meant. Why had the automaton put it that way? Honestly, the rification would fit a variety of sses. Mages, to name one. Some mages didn¡¯t be adventurers, instead progressing through study and practice, locking up in collegiums and inventing spell forme. The Bestower might have phrased it in that way to be specific; the ss could be fullybat functional, but with other uses, too. Either way, it served her purpose for getting into T. Past that, did it matter? An unheard-of chance for a powerful ss ¡­ it was something most people couldn¡¯t dream of. How could Natalie turn the offer down? However strange, or ill-fitting, it might be. And Natalie had always had an adventurous spirit. She didn¡¯t take the road more traveled whenever possible. The opposite. Something as crazy as this? She feltpelled to ept, regardless the risk. Her only hard criteria had been abat ss, so she could follow Jordan to T as had been their dream since they were kids. Beyond that ¡­ did it matter? But gods, what would it be? ¡°I have time to think, right?¡± ¡°As much as you need.¡± That part of her unlocking, then, wasn¡¯t any different. She¡¯d been told many times she would have plenty of time to consider her options. There was no need to rush into anything. Even Natalie, typically reckless, wouldn¡¯t pick her ss based on how she was feeling in the moment. So. Time to think. ¡°Okay. Just ¡­ give me a second.¡± Natalie sat down cross-legged, closed her eyes to focus, and thought. 1.04 – Decision 1.04 ¨C Decision In the end, she couldn¡¯t turn the offer down. Buting to that conclusion took a while of just sitting there, running her brain in circles. The Bestower, at least, waited patiently. She didn¡¯t speak a word as the minutes ticked by. Natalie supposed it made sense a deity¡ªor pseudo-deity, or whatever the automaton was¡ªwould be endlessly patient. And honestly, Natalie didn¡¯t think she spent more time deliberating than most, so it wasn¡¯t like The Bestower had to be overly long-suffering. Natalie would never call herself a meticulous person. It was only because of the monumental circumstances¡ªher unlocking¡ªthat she gave the decision the consideration it deserved. Most situations, she¡¯d go with her gut. Jump in with much less forethought than appropriate. The Architect knew Jordan hadined about Natalie¡¯s brashness more than once, through their adolescent adventures across the Entwining Forest. Natalie sighed, then stood. ¡°Okay,¡± she said. ¡°I ept.¡± An unsurprised nod. Had she known Natalie would agree before even she had? Though, theck of surprise might just be from a stoic nature. Or disinterest. Natalie might be reading into things. Certainly, the decision Natalie had made wouldn¡¯t be a given for all people. Despite the ss being guaranteed to be powerful, not everyone would take it. Not knowing the ss you were picking ¡­ there was serious risk, there. Even three choices weren¡¯t enough options to make peoplefortable. The plinths holding Natalie¡¯s sses sank into the ss-like water. Natalie¡¯s heart jumped, seeing her potential future vanish, for everything to be so suddenly unknown. She vibrated with nerves. ¡°So,¡± Natalie said. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Goodbye, Natalie,¡± The Bestower said, turning away. Natalie blinked, not expecting the response. She opened her mouth to call out¡ª *** And her eyes shot open. The empty, moonlit church greeted her. For a moment, she sat there in silence, perched atop the cushion Elder Britt had ced down for her. Her unlocking had ended, and she didn¡¯t even know what ss she¡¯d received? She scrambled to her feet. Adrenaline doused her, and she tried to fight through the panic and shock, to wrestle some sort of clear-mindedness back. It took effort. Natalie had never had great control over her emotions. At least the dead-silent church provided no distractions. Okay. So. The Bestower hadn¡¯t told her what ss she¡¯d got, but there was a way to determine one¡¯s ss and skills. Obviously. Unlockings were a one time event. How would people know their level and skills as they progressed, without something of the sort? Looking inward, Natalie quested out. It was something she¡¯d never done before, but everyone with a ss¡ªso, everyone over the age of eighteen¡ªwas given a basic skill, [Inspect]. *** Natalie / Level 1 Pdin of Lust Stats Furor: F Tenacity: F+ Prowess: F- Gear Weapon Slot 1: Weapon Slot 2: Equipment Slot 1: Equipment Slot 2: Equipment Slot 3: Equipment Slot 4: *** Natalie¡¯s brain locked up. ¡®Pdin of Lust¡¯? Huh? That was her ss name? The oddity of having the information ced in her head¡ªat experiencing the [Inspect] skill for the first time¡ªwent ignored over the much more shocking item of interest. Pdin of Lust? What in the world? What kind of ss was that? ¡®Pdin¡¯. That was the easier part to digest. Pdins were, to Natalie¡¯s knowledge, rare, but not unheard-of. They held to a specific god, which their powers were derived from. Or, ¡®held¡¯ in a loose sense. Natalie didn¡¯t know if it required actual worship. But pdins revolved around an aspect¡ªa theme¡ªwhich were tied to a specific god or goddess. So, ¡®Lust¡¯? Who was the god of lust? Truth told, there were too many to keep track of, and Natalie had never paid attention to Elder Britt¡¯s lectures. She knew the Upper Pantheon, of course, because everyone did. But only the mostmon of the Lower: Setrus, The Trickster, or Thorne, God of the Forge, and so on. But it didn¡¯t matter who her patron was. What mattered was ¡­ what it meant. Implied. And weren¡¯t Pdins half-mages? A fighter-mage hybrid was the most urate way to put it, but pdins were definitely spellcasters, as a whole. Natalie, a mage? Even as a hybrid, the idea wasughable. Proficiency with magic was so ¡­ antithetical to her ¡­ that Natalie felt like she ought tough. It was what she¡¯d been worried over, epting an unknown ss. Getting something unsuited to her. Natalie didn¡¯t know how to cast spells. sses only amplified, not created from nothing. Even someone without a mage ss could cast a spell, just never to the level of a real mage. It was how ces like T sorted for candidates before they reached their unlocking. Aptitude was proven before a ss was obtained. And Natalie had aptitude in fighting ¡­ but definitely not casting. What had she expected? She¡¯d known it would be a mystery what she received. Honestly, at least a Pdin was half a fighter. She fit somewhat with the ss. But Natalie was shying away from the actual problem. The whole ¡­ ¡®lust¡¯ part. What the hell did it mean? Or entail? Surely not ¡­ ? What other interpretations were there? Natalie didn¡¯t get to stew in silence for long. Adrenaline and shock had masked something obvious from her, but as she came down¡ªslowly, and certainly not all the way¡ªsomething attention-grabbing forced her focus away from her ss¡¯s name, and all the implications. Something ¡­ somehow even more shocking. Her body. Something had changed. Something between her legs. Something was there, that hadn¡¯t been, before. What? For the second time, Natalie¡¯s brain nked out. She pulled on her waistband and looked down. The fabric to her pants didn¡¯t yield much, only letting Natalie pull a few inches out, and it was dark inside the moonlit church, but it was enough to identify the problem. To ¡­ discern the invader. The piece of biology that had definitely not been there before. She had a cock. A dick. Tucked into her underwear. It sat there, soft and wrinkly and ¡­ dick-like. Natalie went dizzy. She let her waistband snap back. Now that she¡¯d noticed the invader, the sensation couldn¡¯t be ignored. She felt it. She felt her pants pressing against it. Maybe someone who¡¯d had one their whole life would be able to ignore the pressure, having grown used to it, but Natalie had never had something pressed against her cock. ¡°What the fuck,¡± Natalie said. Natalie didn¡¯t have a habit of talking to herself, but considering the circumstances? She felt she could be excused. The words escaped her mouth without her input. She had a cock. Her ss had given it to her. Her ¡®Pdin of Lust¡¯ ss, the impossible fourth option. The gods had given her a cock. As if things hadn¡¯t been strange enough. Even through her paralyzing confusion, she had one question wrestle to the forefront of her mind: But why? 1.05 – Congratulations 1.05 ¨C Congrattions Being given a cock presumably meant Natalie was expected to use it. Why else would it be there? Andbined with her ss name, Pdin of Lust, it seemed an obvious assumption. But what kind of ss expected ¡­ that? Somehow, Natalie steadied her swimming thoughts. There was no reason to invent creative ideas behind her situation; she could find out directly. In the same way as she had inspected her name, ss, and stats, a person could inspect their skills. So. That was what she did. She needed answers. And ¡­ something to distract her from the fleshy, sensitive protrusion tucked between her legs. Natalie looked inward, then [Inspected] her skills. *** [Carnal Harvest] - PASSIVE. PROGRESSION 1. Extract carnal energy through {kissing} an aroused target. Harvested energy can be expended through [Empower] and [Advance]. [Empower] - ACTIVE. PROGRESSION 1. Amplify the potency of any ACTIVE or AURA skill by {1.5x}. Expend Carnal Energy equal to mana cost. [Advance] - ACTIVE. PROGRESSION 1. MAXED. Expend Carnal Energy to progress skills. [Illusion] - ACTIVE. PROGRESSION 1. Conjure a {mildly} powerful audiovisual mirage to distract or confuse an opponent. [Heavy Weaponry] - PASSIVE. PROGRESSION 1. ss-bearer is granted a {6-inch} weapon to satisfy and harvest Carnal Energy from chosen targets. *** If Natalie had thought she¡¯d been stunned before, having her skills inserted into her head redefined the word. She stood there, frozen in surprise. Where to even start? Well. The obvious. Once her brain stopped failing to understand the skills detailed to her, it honed in on one in particr. The culprit behind the changes to her biology. [Heavy Weaponry]. Did it need to have such a humorous name? The skill that had given her a cock was called ¡®heavy weaponry¡¯? Really? And ¡­ Natalie was far from an expert on this sort of thing, but the things between her legs didn¡¯t seem like ¡®heavy weaponry¡¯. It was still soft, so she couldn¡¯t know for sure, but it didn¡¯t seem that big. The skill spelled it out: six inches. Six was about average, Natalie thought. She preferred girls, so she didn¡¯t have any first-hand experience, but still. Though ¡­ Natalie patched two-and-two together. There was an emphasis on the six inches. As in, {6}, the skill had said. Combined with how she had an [Advance] skill, the emphasis must imply that the number would change as she moved the skill to higher ¡®progressions¡¯. Her cock would get bigger as she progressed the skill? Uh. She wasn¡¯t sure what to think about that. More practically (and yes, she was shying away from the previous revtion) was how she had a skill that improved other skills. That wasn¡¯t standard. To Natalie¡¯s knowledge, a skill was a skill. It didn¡¯t change as a person leveled up, and certainly couldn¡¯t be progressed separately from a person¡¯s level and stats. Yet it seemed Natalie herself could, through this ¡­ ¡®Carnal Energy¡¯. ¡®Unique, and potent¡¯, The Bestower had said. Certainly both of those, from what she¡¯d seen. Though Natalie¡¯s recently-bestowed cock was, of course, on the forefront of her mind, she tried to focus on the other aspects of her ss. The skills detailed to her that weren¡¯t as ¡­ prevalently noticeable. She went in order. [Carnal Harvest]. As Natalie suspected, sexual activities were, it seemed, to be a staple in her life. The ss title of ¡®Pdin of Lust¡¯ had made that clear enough, much as she¡¯d been dreading the proof. Though, only kissing? [Carnal Harvest] specified ¡®kissing¡¯ an aroused target would provide her this ¡­ ¡®Carnal Energy¡¯. Likely, that was temporary. Kissing had the same emphasis as ¡®6¡¯ had had. So as she advanced the skill, she would be able to harvest energy in more ¡­ lewd ¡­ manners. Intuition told her that she¡¯d receive more energy the more intimate the act was. Huh. What would that progression look like? What was a ¡®step up¡¯ from kissing? Fondling? Then what? Pration? Natalie shook her head to clear it. She needed to focus; spection couldeter. So, sure. She received Carnal Energy by making out with other girls. Whatever. [Empower] was next. She could increase the potency of her ¡®regr skills¡¯ using the energy she gathered? Though she only had one apparent ¡®normal skill¡¯ to do so on, [Illusion]. That would presumably be changing as she leveled up and received more skills. But still. Empowering basic skills through the use of sexual energy. That had the potential of being ¡­ strong. Right? Probably. As she¡¯d been promised, epting this ss. Her skills were strong¡ªthat was a given. Just ¡­ So weird. [Advance] she¡¯d already pondered. She moved to the next: [Illusion]. A mage-type skill. Natalie had a mage-fighter hybrid ss, and so she would need to learn how to use the skill to its fullest potential. That was ¡­ sure to be a struggle. Natalie might be a good brawler¡ªenough to qualify for T Delving Academy, no easy task¡ªbut her casting abilities were, without a doubt,cking. Ignoring that, though, the ability to distract a target by conjuring an illusion? Only an idiot wouldn¡¯t see the tactical use of something like that. And it could ¡®level up¡¯. Be stronger, by funneling Carnal Energy to the skill, making the illusion more powerful, more attention-grabbing. So, that was everything. All five of her first-level skills. At a centimeter-deep level, at least. There was so much to think over, for each ability. But ¡­ she didn¡¯t have time. Her friends and acquaintances¡ªTinford¡¯s residents¡ªwere waiting for her. Natalie was given time to deliberate over her granted ss, but they were expecting Natalie to stride out, having received a ss fitting to the life she¡¯d lived. A normal ss. Some kind of fighter. Which was ¡­ kind of right. Oh, gods. How did she exin? She wouldn¡¯t. That was her instinctive reaction. She would lie. Or, omit the relevant details. Then,ter, if necessary, she would exin herself. But she couldn¡¯t walk out and describe what she¡¯d actually got. Even saying she¡¯d received a mage-type ss, she wasn¡¯t up for. She needed time to digest. Honestly? She needed time to talk to Jordan. Jordan had always been Natalie¡¯s voice of reason. She could help Natalie figure this out, right? 1.06 – Reveal 1.06 ¨C Reveal Natalie was, at least, good at bluster. She strode from the church, her unlockingpleted, with a grin on her face, as if nothing had happened¡ªas if she¡¯d received a ss she¡¯d been expecting. As if she didn¡¯t have a cock between her legs. Her friends¡ªand a decent portion of Tinford¡ªwere there, waiting for her. The cheers came out, and Natalie was pressed in by a sea of congratting bodies. The mood was infectious, piercing even through the strangeness of what she¡¯d been through. For a second, Natalie pretended the farce wasn¡¯t a farce; she let her unlocking be celebrated, as if nothing was amiss. And really, it deserved celebration, didn¡¯t it? Weird her circumstances might be, but she¡¯d received a powerful ss. One even The Bestower had said would be potent, and unique. Natalie didn¡¯t know what to make of it all ¡­ but it deserved celebration. The following minutes passed in a blur. As the ultimate event of the night¡ªand unlockings urring at midnight, well past when decent folk had gone to bed¡ªthe festivities petered off. It wasn¡¯t more than a half-hour before Natalie had, rather than following her parents home, ended up with Jordan, in her bedroom. That didn¡¯t draw any odd looks, from either her, Natalie¡¯s parents, or anyone else. The two of them had been inseparable since they could string words together. Of course Natalie had ended up in Jordan¡¯s room after her unlocking. Jordan had ended up in Natalie¡¯s room, back when it¡¯d been hers. ¡°So,¡± Jordan said, closing her door, and spinning on Natalie. ¡°What happened? What is it?¡± Natalie¡¯s stered-on facade melted. She stared, distraught, at her dark-haired best friend, not having a clue how to even broach the subject. Of course Jordan had seen through her. That, at least, Natalie had expected. She¡¯d been getting odd looks from Jordan since she¡¯d walked through the church¡¯s double doors. Jordan had always been able to see right through her. ¡°I got a weird ss.¡± How else would she phrase it? Jordan wasn¡¯t surprised by the announcement. Because, obviously she¡¯d known something was up, and what else, arriving from the church post-unlocking? ¡°Spill it.¡± Natalieughed, then rubbed her face. ¡°I don¡¯t even know how.¡± ¡°Start anywhere. What, not a fighter type?¡± ¡°It¡¯s, uh. A fighter type.¡± Then, broaching the least-strange part of her situation, she said, ¡°Fighter-mage mix, looks like.¡± Jordan¡¯s eyebrows shot up. ¡°Ah.¡± Then they furrowed back down. ¡°That isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Not remotely.¡± ¡°I¡¯m waiting.¡± ¡°I seriously don¡¯t know where to start.¡± Jordan pulled Natalie to the bed, and they sat down. She gave Natalie a serious look. ¡°Start anywhere. We¡¯ll figure it out together. Promise.¡± It was hard to exin, really, how the words struck Natalie. She couldn¡¯t articte why, but they hit her like a thunderbolt. Natalie had to force her gaze away from Jordan¡¯s green eyes. Her heart mmed in her chest, all of a sudden, and it wasn¡¯t even from the imminent conversation¡ªand all the awkwardness, and strangeness, it would entail. Natalie cleared her throat. ¡°It¡¯s uh. It¡¯s a sex ss.¡± Theck of grace was intentional. She¡¯d grasped for a way to stop Jordan from staring at her with those intense, concerned eyes, andnded on the absurd sentence. It worked. Jordan leaned away, taken aback, and said, ¡°What?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a sex ss. A, um. Fighter-mage-sex-type ss.¡± Now that Natalie was saying it out loud, she couldn¡¯t help but be amused at the absurdity of everything. ¡°What? Never heard of them?¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± Somehow, Jordan didn¡¯t take offense¡ªdidn¡¯t be angry that Natalie was inventing things, deflecting. Because she could tell Natalie wasn¡¯t. Seriously, how did this girl have such a good read on her? She knew Natalie was telling the truth, even when what she was saying was ridiculous¡ªimpossible. ¡°Um.¡± She shrugged. ¡°Yeah. A sex ss.¡± Natalie wasn¡¯t timid, normally; it was a state-of-mind drawn out by her insane situation. But in the presence of Jordan, and having had a half hour¡ªnot nearly enough, but something¡ªto digest things, she was regaining some of her confidence. ¡°I guess I should start from the beginning.¡± Natalie exined. The Bestower, the three options she¡¯d been given, then the bizarre fourth. Her eptance, then her unlocking¡¯s abrupt ending¡ªand the skills she¡¯d received. And, of course ¡­ thest skill. The weirdest part of everything, somehow. Her cock. She hesitated, not sure how to even broach it. No tactful way, was there? ¡°And [Heavy Weaponry],¡± Natalie finally said, after a long pause. ¡°Which, uh, gives me ¡­¡± Jordan waited. ¡°A cock,¡± she finished. ¡°It, uh, gave me a cock.¡± Jordan had absorbed her announcements patiently, with that same concerned, attentive look the whole way through, minimizing hermentary even though she¡¯d visibly had questions. Natalie¡¯s skills were strange, and there were tons of things to talk about for each of them. Now, though, Jordan stared nkly. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Yeah. It gave me a cock.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Elder Britt¡¯s always going on about how the gods are capricious, isn¡¯t he?¡± She shrugged. ¡°Guess they¡¯re having augh at my expense.¡± What else would she say? ¡°A ¡­ cock?¡± ¡°What, need me to prove it?¡± The words left her mouth without forethought. The first thing that had popped into her head. ¡°Uh,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Not that¡ªI don¡¯t mean¡ª¡° ¡°Can I?¡± Jordan asked. A long, frozen moment. Jordan blinked, as if her words, too, had escaped without her thinking about them. ¡°Not that I don¡¯t believe you¡ª?¡° ¡°You want to¡ª?¡± ¡°Only if¡ª?¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Uh,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Just ¡­ I believe you ¡­ but proof? Would be ¡­ nice?¡± Natalie wasn¡¯t offended. It was such an insane, mind-bending scenario, wasn¡¯t it? Jordan believed Natalie¡ªbut at the same time, proof would help settle things. ¡°Okay. Uh. Yeah?¡± Natalie said. It wasn¡¯t like it was weird, or anything. Jordan was her best friend ¡­ and sure, both of them preferred girls over boys, but the two of them had never been interested romantically in one another. They were totallyfortable with each other. What was showing off her new cock? Just ¡­ part of the exnation. 1.07 – Heating Up 1.07 ¨C Heating Up Natalie unbuttoned her top pants button, hands shaking. Considering that this wasn¡¯t anything sexual, she didn¡¯t understand why her hands were shaking. She was just providing proof. Halfway from shuffling her pants down, about to tug her panties to her knees, she froze. Her cock. It was hardening. ¡°Um,¡± Natalie said. Why was she getting hard? She wasn¡¯t aroused. This was ¡­ strictly practical in nature. She wanted to prove her bizarre circumstances to Jordan. Jordan¡¯s eyes were locked to it. She saw how Natalie¡¯s panties were bulging upward as her cock¡ªinappropriately, and without reason¡ªfilled the fabric out. Natalie was mortified. How would she exin this? The proof had been given, at least, without even needing to finish undressing. Because what else would be shoving her panties upward, straining the fabric? But getting hard, in front of Jordan. What excuses did she have?¡± Jordan gave one for her. ¡°It¡¯s just ¡­ a natural reaction,¡± she said, eyes finally wrenching up to Natalie, as if she¡¯d needed to tear them away. Like before, Natalie was ensnared by Jordan¡¯s understanding eyes. No judgments, there. Jordan had always been a hard girl to fluster. ¡°Keep going? I want to see.¡± Natalie hesitated, but did as she was told. Her cock finished filling out, and as much as to fulfill Jordan¡¯s request, she pulled her panties down to get a sense of what she herself was in for. Because while she¡¯d seen herself soft, tucked into her pants, she hadn¡¯t gotten a chance to inspect it in any depth. Her cock sprung forward, escaping their fabric confines. Six inches of girl cock stood proudly at attention, veiny and throbbing in anticipation¡ª(anticipation? Nothing like that would be happening)¡ªand twitching under Jordan¡¯s wide-eyed appreciation. Appreciation? No, that wasn¡¯t the right word, even if it looked like it, and Natalie had a good read on Jordan¡¯s expression. It was just fascination. Interest of a reserved sort. ¡°Wow,¡± Jordan said. ¡°A-Architect. You ¡­ really do.¡± ¡°Um.¡± Natalie had seen her member once before, and had a short time to adjust, so she wasn¡¯t quite as surprised as Jordan ¡­ but still, of course, not at ease with the whole situation. ¡°Yeah. I really do. Not making stuff up.¡± A cock. Her ss had given her a cock. ¡°Is it ¡­?¡± Jordan shook her head. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Nothing.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I was going to say ¡­ is it sensitive? It works?¡± ¡°Um. I mean. Yeah. I think. I can¡¯t really ¡­ ?¡± ¡°Go ahead. Test it.¡± Jordan¡¯s eyes were wide, and she was blushing. ¡°We need to figure out what¡¯s going on. I promised you we would, didn¡¯t I?¡± Right. She had. Jordan was just helping her figure out the crazy circumstances of her ss-bestowal. Did her cock work like a normal one? By its realistic sculpting, and pulsing, veiny hardness, Natalie would guess yes. But she couldn¡¯t know for sure, until she¡¯d tested it. She wrapped a hand around it. She tried to ignore the reality of the situation. That she was sitting there, on Jordan¡¯s bed, with her cock in her hand. She also tried to ignore just how ¡­ enraptured Jordan looked. That was just fascination in her eyes, right? Natalie could¡¯ve sworn it was ¡­ lust ¡­ but that couldn¡¯t be right. Why would Jordan be excited by what she was seeing? Natalie¡¯s cock was thinking for her. Inventing things from her own lust. Her own lust. She needed to control that. However excited she was by this, it was her cock thinking for her. She and Jordan were just figuring things out. She repeated it to herself like a mantra. Her hand went up, then down, bunching sensitive flesh around her cock head. Natalie sucked in a breath of air. ¡°Y-Yeah. It¡¯s, uh. Definitely functional.¡± The pumping motion had sent electricity up her spine. Was it even more sensitive than normal? Were all cocks like this? ¡°Huh.¡± Jordan¡¯s blush was pronounced, now, and she¡¯d watched Natalie¡¯s hand go up and down with a rapt fascination. She shook her head, as if to clear her thoughts, then looked back up at Natalie. ¡°What do you think it means?¡± ¡°Means?¡± It was hard to think with Jordan looking at her like that. And with her cock in her hand. ¡°That ¡­ your ss gave it to you. You think you¡¯ll need to ¡­ use it?¡± Jordan was ying catch-up on things Natalie had already puzzled over. Except, Jordan made the same realization Natalie had, and probably faster. She continued, ¡°Because you can advance your harvest skill, right? So it goes from ¡­ kissing, to more?¡± ¡°I think so.¡± Jordan stared at her for a long moment. ¡°Then ¡­ we should test the theory.¡± She shuffled across the bed, and before Natalie had the opportunity to register what was happening, Jordan was straddling herp. Herp. Where her cock was. Jordan was sitting on her cock. Sure, there wereyers of clothing in the way ¡­ but still. That pressure on her sensitive member was Jordan¡¯s ass. ¡°If that¡¯s fine?¡± Jordan breathed. What was happening? Where had thise from? She and Jordan weren¡¯t interested in each other like that. They weren¡¯t. Jordan was just experimenting. Helping Natalie figure out her ss, and what her harvest ability did. Either way, Natalie was as caught up in the moment as Jordan. Her hands went to Jordan¡¯s waist, and though she felt like she was on fire, she grinned at her friend. Her nerves thrummed through her, but they emboldened her. Anxiety had always had the opposite effect it should ¡­ it spurred her forward, inciting a need to prove something to herself. She didn¡¯t like how Jordan¡¯s proximity was engulfing her, making her stomach squirm. Or the way she was so confused by what was happening. She wanted to take charge. So her hands dipped even further, then slid behind Jordan, so she had Jordan¡¯s ass in her hands. She tugged the other girl forward, bringing Jordan¡¯s face, and their bodies, scorchingly close. It also had her lower body sliding against Natalie¡¯s cock, too, which almost wrenched a groan from her lips¡ªsomething she barely forced down. ¡°Yeah,¡± Natalie murmured. ¡°Let¡¯s find out.¡± Jordan took Natalie¡¯s face in her hands, then closed thest inch. Soft lips pressed into Natalie¡¯s own. Her mind was on fire, immediately. Natalie wasn¡¯t new to this, but she wasn¡¯t the most experienced, either. And definitely, she¡¯d never experienced this pounding in her chest. Not at this intensity. The fact it was Jordan¡ªher best friend¡ªkissing her erased her thoughts. Natalie leaned forward into the kiss, needing more. She pried open Jordan¡¯s mouth, who eagerly reciprocated. Somewhere in the back of her head, Natalie recognized the skill ought to work with any sort of kiss, though maybe give less ¡®energy¡¯. So why were they getting so worked up? Why were the two of them exploring each other¡¯s mouths so fervently? Sharing saliva and wrestling their tongues? Jordan¡¯s hips bucked forward, sliding her lower half against Natalie¡¯s cock. This time, heated by the sloppiness of their kiss, she couldn¡¯t stop herself. She groaned into Jordan¡¯s mouth, the friction of Jordan¡¯s pants too intense to ignore. The two of them froze. The noise of pleasure had broken the moment. ¡°Shit, my parents,¡± Jordan whispered, pulling back and ncing at the doorway. Her cheeks were flushed, and her pupils blown out. She was panting in excitement. So was Natalie. Jordan looked back. ¡°Um.¡± She shook her head, then climbed off Natalie. ¡°S-Sorry. I got ¡­ I got caught up.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fair.¡± Natalie was doing her best to keep herposure. She¡¯d always taken the lead in ¡­ just about everything. This might¡¯ve been the first time Jordan had been so assertive. She guessed the insanity of her ss had mixed things up. They were both confused, right now. ¡°Sorry about,¡± Natalie gestured, not saying it directly. The moan. Because it¡¯d been kind of loud. Jordan¡¯s parents probably hadn¡¯t heard, but it had definitely been a reminder of what they were doing, and where. The scorching heat of the moment left. Natalie tugged up her panties, ignoring the way her cock pulsed, teased then ignored. She buttoned her pants, bringing herself back to modesty. Natalie couldn¡¯t believe what had happened. The kiss, as much as how she¡¯d exposed herself to Jordan ¡­ and how Jordan had been rubbing herself against Natalie. Against ¡­ her cock. ¡°But, it, uh, worked?¡± Jordan asked. Natalie seized the distraction. It was why they¡¯d done all that, after all. Just experimenting. She checked. 1.08 – Spend 1.08 ¨C Spend *** Carnal Energy: 6 *** Six. Six points of carnal energy, whatever that meant. Unsurprisingly, the skill had worked as it had said it would. Natalie¡¯s thoughts were foggy after the events of thest five minutes, but she forced herself to focus. It was easier than she thought it would be, because for all that her and Jordan¡¯s brief intimacy was intensely distracting, so was discovering how her ss worked. It was something she¡¯d been looking forward to her entire life. ¡°Yeah,¡± Natalie said. ¡°It worked. I have ¡­ six points?¡± She couldn¡¯t help the inflection. Secondary resources weren¡¯tmon for a ss. Maybe not unheard of. Berserkers, to her knowledge, had a ¡®rage¡¯ resource. And a few others had simr. But it was far from standard, so it wasn¡¯t something she could talk about fluidly ¡­ especially when the resource was ¡®carnal energy¡¯. ¡°Six points,¡± Jordan repeated. ¡°And how much can you get done with that?¡± ¡°How many skills I can progress?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°I guess I¡¯d have to test it.¡± Her intuition wasn¡¯t giving her any hints. The skills, either, hadn¡¯t said how much energy was required to move a skill from ¡®progression 1¡¯ to ¡®progression 2¡¯. ¡°Or you could use it to empower something,¡± Jordan added. ¡°Though, that seems a waste, in most situations.¡± ¡°Better to focus on the long term,¡± Natalie agreed. She found it, to be honest, somewhat amusing how pointedly the two of them were ignoring what had happened. She didn¡¯t protest. How caught up in that experiment the two of them had been ¡­ it was best they left it behind. She and Jordan were friends, not more. ¡°Why waste it on strengthening a skill temporarily, when you could do so permanently?¡± Natalie added. Jordan nodded, then hesitated. ¡°Well. I could see some uses. Important fights. Might be worth ¡®wasting¡¯ some, to scrape out a critical win.¡± That was a given. ¡°But in most situations, save for progression,¡± Natalie rified. They were on the same page. They nodded in agreement. ¡°I wonder how long the cooldown is,¡± Natalie said. ¡°On the harvest.¡± A pause. Jordan quirked her eyebrow. ¡°Are you asking to go again?¡± Natalie smirked. ¡°Only if you want to.¡± Jordan read the taunt in her voice. She rolled her eyes. Things seemed to be mostly back to normal ¡­ even if Jordan still seemed a bit flustered. Natalie was, too. ¡°First, figure out how far six points go,¡± Jordan said. ¡°I¡¯ll help you out, but only if I need to. Because you¡¯re my friend.¡± The reminder washed through Natalie. She was, oddly, and for a reason she couldn¡¯t exin, grateful for the confirmation. That their ¡­ experiment ¡­ had, indeed, been because Jordan wanted to help Natalie figure out her ss. Not more. Sure, she wasn¡¯t blind. They¡¯d gotten worked up. Jordan might¡¯ve been too enthusiastic in the kiss to be wholly ¡®practical¡¯. But it was a physical reaction. The same reason Natalie had felt like she was on fire. She pulled her thoughts back. Testing. Could six points advance a skill? Based on how easy they¡¯d been to earn, Natalie doubted it. But how would it work? Advancing? Would she need the full quantity, all at once? Or could she pour it in, chipping away at the amount needed? Could she tell how far she¡¯d gotten? Was there a cap to how much energy she could store? Did it decay, over time, incentivizing her to spend it, rather than hoard? Natalie had been told by friends and family these sorts of questions would crop up. There was simply too many specifics in how a skill might work to reasonably fit into a skill description. Experimentation was the only way to discover the answers. Hence why Jordan had been so quick to help Natalie. Experimentation was normal. ¡°What should I go for, first?¡± Natalie asked. She didn¡¯t think six points would be enough to advance a skill, but either way, it was best to be funneling the energy into what she would want progressed first. ¡°Hm,¡± Jordan said. ¡°You said [Advance] is maxed, already?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what it says.¡± She nodded. ¡°Makes sense there¡¯s a cap. And that some skills start at one, and can¡¯t be advanced. What¡¯s best?¡± She thought about it. ¡°[Carnal Harvest]?¡± ¡°What, not [Heavy Weaponry]?¡± Natalie asked jokingly. Jordan paused, and her eyes flicked down to Natalie¡¯s crotch. She looked away, then coughed. ¡°Uh. Yeah. It¡¯s pretty ¡­ interesting ¡­ that you can make it bigger.¡± ¡°You can say weird. It¡¯s weird.¡± ¡°It¡¯s weird,¡± Jordan agreed. ¡°How big, anyway? And why would you want it bigger?¡± Why wouldn¡¯t she? If Natalie had to have a cock between her legs, she¡¯d prefer if it was a monster. Was that weird? She hadn¡¯t really had time to digest everything. ¡°Guess I¡¯ll find out. Eventually.¡± She appreciated how in-stride Jordan was taking all this. Natalie had always been able to lean on Jordan, a pir in her life, and that trend was continuing. ¡°But, uh. Yeah. Harvest is probably best. Means more energy, more progression.¡± ¡°Though ¡­ it won¡¯t just be kissing.¡± The two of them paused. ¡°Not just kissing,¡± Natalie repeated. ¡°Yeah. I don¡¯t expect you to¡ªobviously I don¡¯t¡ª¡° ¡°We¡¯ll figure it outter,¡± Jordan said, looking away. ¡°And you¡¯re good with girls. So it won¡¯t be. You know. An issue, to find candidates.¡± Natalie had never felt awkward talking about her love life before, but now, suddenly, she was. She¡¯d definitely had more sess in that front than Jordan had, though Natalie wouldn¡¯t call herself a womanizer. Though, Jordan didn¡¯t seem to care about the idea? Of Natalie hooking up with others. But of course she didn¡¯t. Why would she? Natalie said, ¡°We¡¯ll figure it out.¡± ¡°Go ahead,¡± Jordan said, brushing past the topic. ¡°Try. Find out.¡± Advancing her skill. Right. She closed her eyes. It might not be necessary, but it felt like the right thing to do. She focused inward, in much the same way as she¡¯d used her [Inspect] skill. Having recently unlocked her ss, she didn¡¯t know, fully, what she was doing. She¡¯d heard talk throughout her life about how these things worked, but hearing was different from doing. Fortunately, it worked like she expected. Focusing her intent, her desire to use her [Advance] skill and funnel the energy she¡¯d gathered toward [Carnal Harvest], some enigmatic force sagged from her: the energy funneled into the skill in the manner she wanted. There was no direct indicator. Nothing concrete, as an [Inspect] might provide. But, she felt something. A benchmark of sorts. Her [Carnal Harvest] skill filled up, an abstract sense of an orb being filled with pink energy. The liquid sloshed up to the one-third point, and Natalie¡¯s harvested energy ran out. ¡°Huh,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Looks like a third?¡± She couldn¡¯t tell exactly how much, but between fifteen and twenty ¡®points¡¯ seemed like the number she¡¯d need to reach. ¡°So it¡¯d take two more ¡­ kisses.¡± The sentence had barreled out of her, before she realized what it might sound like. That Natalie was asking for more. ¡°Hm,¡± Jordan said. A long pause. ¡°Well,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Then I guess we should find out if there¡¯s a cooldown.¡± 1.09 – Details 1.09 ¨C Details There was a cooldown. Natalie and Jordan¡¯s second make-out session didn¡¯t provide further energy. They did, at least, keep better control of themselves. Jordan hadn¡¯t mounted Natalie in her excitement, and while Natalie had definitely gotten hard again, she wasn¡¯t naked from the waist below, so Jordan was spared from the physical proof of how excited Jordan¡¯s tongue wrestling made her. Kissing her best friend. It really shouldn¡¯t be so much fun. Natalie cleared her throat. ¡°Yeah. There¡¯s one. A cooldown.¡± ¡°That makes sense.¡± Did she sound disappointed, or was Natalie imagining things? ¡°So,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Looks like it¡¯ll take time to progress.¡± ¡°Not that long,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Only need two or three more, to get to the next stage. Plus, I bet it¡¯s because it¡¯s me.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°It might not be an absolute cooldown. Might be independent to each person.¡± ¡°Oh. So, like, every girl has their own?¡± Jordan shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s the first thing that came to mind.¡± She didn¡¯t sound bothered by that. Though, why would she? It wasn¡¯t like she and Jordan were a thing. What would she care about Natalie and someone else coupling up? Ugh ¡­ these kisses of theirs were definitely leaving Natalie more of a confused mess than they should. She needed to rein herself in. They didn¡¯t mean anything. Natalie didn¡¯t want them to mean anything. She liked what she and Jordan had. Best friends, since forever. She wouldn¡¯t risk that for anything ¡°Guess I¡¯ll have to figure it out.¡± Jordan nodded, still unconcerned. Natalie had a good read on her; she really must not care if Natalie was with someone else. Whether that was because she had open views on rtionships, or because she didn¡¯t have feelings for Natalie ¡­ Of course she didn¡¯t have feelings. What was Natalie thinking? Ugh. Kissing another girl had never left her a mess like this. Receiving her ss had left her more disoriented than she¡¯d thought. And Jordan¡¯s kisses. Why was she so good at them? Natalie thought Jordan had only had one or two partners. Why was she so good, then? Pull it together. ¡°Later, though,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Uh. So. Letting T know is going to be weird. Hope it¡¯s not a problem.¡± ¡°Being a mage hybrid ss?¡± Jordan said. Natalie nodded; the lewder parts of her ss, she just wouldn¡¯t divulge. ¡°Hm,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Pdins are more fighters than they¡¯re casters, aren¡¯t they?¡± ¡°I guess it depends?¡± Natalie, like Jordan, had spent plenty of time learning the endless amount ofmon adventuring sses. But there were too many to know in depth. There were as many sses as there were grains of sand on a beach. Infinite, more less ¡­ though maybe not actually. ¡°I think most pdins are more fighter than mage? But even if it¡¯s just a small part of my kit ¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯ll figure it out,¡± Jordan said firmly. ¡°It¡¯s not your strength, but that¡¯s fine. You¡¯ll work through it. If there¡¯s anything you¡¯re good at, it¡¯s persevering.¡± For a second, Natalie held Jordan¡¯s serious gaze. The words washed through her,forting in a way even her parents couldn¡¯t have managed. How did Jordan say something like that with such confidence? Like she knew what she was saying was right. That she wasn¡¯t trying to beforting, but speaking with total conviction. No doubt in her mind. A foregone result. Natalie would figure out her ill-fitting ss, and that was that. Natalie nced away. ¡°Yeah. I guess. Thanks.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll just have to be extra good at punching people, until then,¡± Jordan said, bumping shoulders. Natalieughed. ¡°I can manage that, at least.¡± Jordan smiled, too. A brief silence. ¡°Pdin, though. That¡¯s going to be interesting. Having a patron. Is that how it works?¡± ¡°No clue. Probably? Who do you think it is?¡± Natalie asked. ¡°Hm.¡± Jordan wasn¡¯t especially religious, the same as Natalie, but she absorbed information better than Natalie did. She always seemed to know what was going on, when it came to anything. Even half-zoned out, their weekly congregations at the church left more lingering knowledge in Jordan than it did Natalie. She might know who the ¡®goddess of lust¡¯ was. Jordan had always been a sponge when it came to academics. Natalie might have cheated her way through sses using her, once or twice. She¡¯d determined not to do so at T ¡­ not that academics were particrly a focus, there. ¡°Niemh?¡± Jordan finally said. ¡°Goddess of love and passion? That seems most likely. Could be others. Ffien, of beauty? Some interpretations have her as an icon of lust. Eyrlis, fertility and agriculture?¡± ¡°Eyrlis is Upper Pantheon,¡± Natalie protested. ¡°And?¡± Natalie paused. She didn¡¯t know where she was going with that. It just seemed absurd for Natalie¡¯s patron to be Upper Pantheon. ¡°Not that it matters who it is,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Pdins and gods don¡¯t convene. Not literally.¡± Jordan paused. ¡°Well. The gods are silent, but that they did exist at some point seems beyond reproach. So maybe worship is required? That they¡¯d ¡­ what, disown you, if you didn¡¯t?¡± She hesitated. ¡°But probably not. Dunno.¡± There was merit to what she was saying ¡­ certain records were convinced that deities once roamed and interacted with sapient life ¡­ but Natalie wasn¡¯t so sure. Ancient texts were nothing if not unreliable. She didn¡¯t know if she bought into the divine, as sphemous as it might be to say. Just, there weren¡¯t any recent records of such. Even pdin sses, while holding to certain gods, never spoke to them. And who else, if not a pdin? Or a priestess, she guessed. But the same argument applied. ¡°Yeah,¡± Natalie said. ¡°I guess.¡± It wasn¡¯t the time to get into that. Jordan copsed back into her bed, sying out. ¡°I can¡¯t believe we¡¯ll be heading off to T in a few days. You¡¯re really cutting it close with your birthday.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll let my parents know they should¡¯ve been more considerate with their timing,¡± Natalie said dryly. Jordan snorted. A brief pause. ¡°I guess I should be heading back,¡± Natalie said. Her parents would be expecting her. They¡¯d known Natalie would hang out with Jordan, briefly, to celebrate, but she still had a curfew, even if it was her unlocking. With how much trouble Natalie got in on a regr basis, a curfew was inevitable. And while she wouldn¡¯t be afraid to break it, and annoy her parents, now wasn¡¯t the night. Might as well keep the peace for the two days left until she shipped off to T. Plus ¡­ she needed time to think. Jordan¡¯s presence was distinctly not putting Natalie at ease, like it normally would. Or, it was, but it also wasn¡¯t. Seeing herid out across her bed, shirt bunched half way up her stomach ¡­ their experimental kisses had Natalie¡¯s thoughts turning in directions they really shouldn¡¯t. ¡°Ah,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Right. Okay. I¡¯ll see youter?¡± ¡°Tomorrow,¡± Natalie said. ¡°But yeah, they¡¯re waiting. Should get going. And I¡¯m pretty tired.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a lot to take in,¡± Jordan said with a nod, reading Natalie as easily as she always did. Except ¡­ not wholly, because it wasn¡¯t just Natalie¡¯s ss that had her head spinning. ¡°Try to get some sleep. There¡¯s plenty of time to figure things out.¡± She sat up, then patted Natalie¡¯s knee. ¡°And you have me, to help. Don¡¯t forget that.¡± Natalie didn¡¯t think she could. 1.10 – Away 1.10 ¨C Away ¡°I can¡¯t believe my baby¡¯s all grown up,¡± Mom wailed, clutching onto Natalie¡¯s arm. ¡°The house''ll be so empty. You promise you¡¯ll write? Promise me.¡± Natalie rolled her eyes. Mom had always been dramatic ¡­ but Natalie guessed if there was ever a time for it, it would be Natalie shipping off to T. Still, it was embarrassing. ¡°I¡¯ve said it a hundred times, haven¡¯t I?¡± Natalie extricated herself from her mother¡¯s clinging embrace. ¡°And it¡¯s only a few months till break. I¡¯ll be back in no time.¡± ¡°You better be,¡± Mom said firmly. ¡°And you better take care of yourself. And Jordan and Sofia. I¡¯ve heard so many stories of the Dungeon ¡­ promise me you¡¯ll be safe.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be safe,¡± Natalie said for the millionth time. ¡°It¡¯s definitely not part of the n to be monster food.¡± Mom swatted her shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t even joke!¡± ¡°Sorry.¡± Natalie adjusted her backpack strap, settling the weight. Her suitcase was set behind her; the two bags were all Natalie would be bringing with her to T. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine. Seriously. Rx.¡± In the background, a train whistle pierced the air. Natalie nced its way, then said, ¡°I should get going.¡± Her dad had been standing stoically by, watching Mom make an embarrassment out of the two of them. Despite his calm exterior, Natalie could see the hint of sadness in his eyes, too. Natalie¡¯s train signaling it was time to board, he stepped forward and hugged her goodbye. ¡°We¡¯ll miss you, Nat,¡± he said gruffly. ¡°You¡¯ll do great things. But keep yourself safe. Go slow and steady. All that matters is you make it back.¡± Natalie hugged him. She hadn¡¯t thought she¡¯d get so emotional over this ¡­ she¡¯d been waiting to escape Tinford since she was eleven. Her voice wasn¡¯t choked up when she replied, ¡°Like I said, I will.¡± She pulled away and cleared her throat, ncing to the side. ¡°They¡¯re boarding. Um. Bye, then.¡± She waved her parents goodbye, then scooped up her suitcase and departed. A nce over her shoulder, and she saw her parents standing there, arms wrapped around each other¡¯s waists, Mom leaning her head against Dad¡¯s shoulder, watching her go. Natalie cleared her throat a second time, then focused her attention forward. They¡¯d needed to travel to Illesa to catch the train. Tinford was too small a town to have a station; even Illesa was barelyrge enough to justify the routing. Valhaur¡¯s capital city Aradon was three hundred miles to the north. It would be a several hour trip. Which was insane. Hundreds of miles in five hours. That sort of trip would¡¯ve taken a week or more on foot, assuming good weather and traveling light. The Magitech Insitute was changing the world at a rate hard toprehend. Though, in a town as small as Tinford, Natalie hadn¡¯t gotten much chance to see their fantastical inventions. She¡¯d only heard of them. Progress came slow to outskirt towns like Tinford. Natalie would have plenty of opportunity to see how the world was advancing, now. Aradon, and T, would be stuffed full of the Institute¡¯s inventions. Even the train itself was fascinating, unlike anything she¡¯d seen. It was constructed with enormous,plex mechanisms ¡­ but more importantly, covered in glyphs, the swooping, arcane symbols responsible for manifesting magical energy into the physical world. In the engine room, Natalie knew, monster cores were hooked up to fuel the vehicle. Batteries. Monster cores which delvers were responsible for gathering ¡­ Natalie¡¯s future career. It was a bit surreal to think about. How many cores, and what quality, did it take to run this mountain of metal? Natalie nced at her ticket as she shuffled along with the other boarding passengers. Cabin 18A. Mom and Dad, along with Jordan¡¯s and Sofia¡¯s parents, had pooled their funds to buy the three of them a private cabin for the trip up to Aradon¡ªa going-away gift. Natalie was ttered, but also, she couldn¡¯t help but feel like it was a waste. So much money ¡­ it couldn¡¯t have been easy for them to scrape the funds together, even splitting it three ways. Natalie wouldn¡¯t have minded sitting in the cramped public cabins. Her parents weren¡¯t destitute, but they weren¡¯t well off. She might be able to change that, if Natalie¡¯s future went well. Delvers earned exceptional money ¡­ or, the non-low-level ones. Assuming Natalie didn¡¯t turn into monster food, as she¡¯d joked about to her parents, then by the time she left T in four years, a single delve would be a month of their pay, or more. Wealth was one of the main motivators for why people flocked to the dungeons. Natalie had an advantage, at least, in that she¡¯d been epted to T. Some people starting delving without any professional training, or preparation of any sort. Desperation, usually. The mortality rates weren¡¯t bright even for skilled delvers, so for those cases ¡­ even less so. Natalie¡¯s chosen profession had a grim reality to it; it didn¡¯t pay so well without reason. Her parents¡¯ insistence that Natalie keep herself safe had been justified. Especially since they knew Natalie wasn¡¯t the most careful of individuals. They were ecstatic Jordan had qualified along with her. They¡¯d made a fewments about how she¡¯d keep Natalie out of trouble. Which ¡­ Natalie would see about that. Jordan did have a moderating effect on Natalie, but she hadn¡¯t managed to ¡®keep Natalie out of trouble¡¯, growing up. Why would it be different now? Natalie was almost at the front of the line. She looked around, shifting in ce as she waited, and caught a glimpse of white hair. Sofia had always stuck out in a crowd. Her hair, mostly. White wasn¡¯t amon color, down in Valhaur. The culprit was Sofia¡¯s Theliosian blood, the snowy, mountainous nation to the north of Valhaur. Natalie didn¡¯t know the exact circumstances behind how she¡¯d been adopted by the Kipper family. She was pressed in by her siblings and parents, who were, in much the same way Natalie¡¯s mom had been, wailing over her departure. Natalie didn¡¯t understand how such an annoying, smug girl had a family so bright and cheerful. She stuck out in the mass of brown-hair and tanned skin. Sofia¡¯s hair wasn¡¯t the only thing blindingly white about her ¡­ she had the skin of a Theliosian too. Theliosians didn¡¯t tan like Valhaurians; they just burned. Teasing Sofia over it was one of Natalie¡¯s favorite things to do. The fact she had to put on sunscreen to avoid roasting was something she was definitely annoyed by, much as she pretended not to be. Natalie reached the front of the line, and she turned her attention to the attendant, handing him her ticket. She boarded. 1.11 – Cabin 1.11 ¨C Cabin Jordan was already in the cabin. She looked up from her novel¡ªJordan was always lugging around something to read¡ªsaw her, then tucked a bookmark in and set the book to the side. ¡°Hey.¡± ¡°Hey,¡± Natalie returned, shrugging off her backpack and sitting across from Jordan. ¡°This ce is roomy.¡± ¡°First ss. They¡¯re sending us off in style.¡± Natalie wrinkled her nose, her earlier thoughts¡ªthat she appreciated it, but was a waste of money¡ªflickering into her head. But she didn¡¯tment. The money had already been spent, and she didn¡¯t want toe off as an ingrate. ¡°Sofia¡¯ll be here, soon,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Saw her saying bye.¡± ¡°Mm.¡± Jordan seemed amused. ¡°Five hours together. Think you¡¯ll survive?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have to.¡± But she wasn¡¯t looking forward to it. With luck, they could just ignore each other. ¡°You know, we¡¯re lucky she qualified, too.¡± Natalie raised her eyebrows. ¡°We are,¡± Jordan insisted. ¡°You¡¯ve heard the stories. T¡¯s cutthroat. The whole ce is a ¡­ a whetstone. For delvers. It¡¯s not a friendly ce. Having Sofia there, a second ally, someone we can trust ¡­ that¡¯s more fortunate than you¡¯re admitting.¡± ¡°Sofia. An ally.¡± ¡°C¡¯mon, Nat. I know you two are bristly, but we¡¯re in this together.¡± ¡°You think she thinks that? Sofia¡¯ll dump us the moment it benefits her.¡± Jordan frowned. ¡°You can¡¯t believe that.¡± Natalie¡¯s first response¡ªthat she did believe that¡ªfizzled up. She sniffed. ¡°Well. Maybe not. But that doesn¡¯t mean I think she¡¯ll throw herself on a sword for us.¡± ¡°I¡¯m saying she¡¯s an ally,¡± Jordan said, rolling her eyes. ¡°Not our blood-sworn subordinate. Allies will be useful to have at T.¡± ¡°Sure. I guess. But she¡¯s out to make a name for herself, first and foremost.¡± ¡°And we aren¡¯t?¡± ¡°I mean ¡­ not first and foremost. It¡¯s just up there. Obviously you¡¯de first, if something happened.¡± Jordan paused, then nced away. ¡°Well, yeah.¡± She cleared her throat. ¡°You too. That¡¯s a given.¡± She tilted her head, peaking into the hallway. ¡°Ah, she¡¯s here.¡± Sofia walked in. Or, strode in. Sofia had always moved with a certain ¡­ arrogance. Some people would call it confidence, but Natalie knew better. Her squared shoulders and lifted chin were intentional; Sofia showcasing, through bodynguage, what she thought of everyone else ¡­ and her position rtive to them. She was dressedfortably, in jeans and a loose, frilly pale blue shirt. That was hardly a rare event, but Natalie had grown used to seeing Sofia in adventuring gear: leather armor, with a weapon at her hip. Usually a rapier. Sofia had always preferred a more elegant style of fighting than Natalie. They were both closebat fighters, but inside that category, they couldn¡¯t be much different. Sofia was a short girl, shorter than Natalie by a significant amount, and a bit more than Jordan, who was an average height. Something about the way she held herself didn¡¯t make her seem short, though. She had a presence twice her size. A distinctly annoying presence. These days, just the sight of her irritated Natalie. ¡°Natalie. Jordan.¡± Her words were crisp, deliberately so. Sofia had always been someone who cared too much about appearances. Her neatly trimmed eyebrows, perfect hair, and outfit gave it away. Natalie had always thrown on whatever she had avable; she¡¯d never cared whether what she was wearing was fashionable. What kind of adventurer did? ¡°The day¡¯s finally arrived.¡± Sofia¡¯s piercing blue eyes surveyed the cabin. ¡°I¡¯m d all three of us made it.¡± Natalie snorted. She saw the dig. ¡°Came as a surprise that I did, did it?¡± Sofia spared a nce for her, then sat down on the opposite end of Jordan¡¯s bench, next to the window. She tucked her backpack underneath the seat. ¡°Sensitive as always. I was being genuine.¡± Another snort. Jordan gave Natalie a look. Natalie had seen it before; ¡®y nice,¡¯ Jordan was saying. Natalie guessed for the sake of keeping the peace, she¡¯d try. Even if Sofia had been the one to start it. A five hour trip would be miserable if she and Sofia were bickering the whole way. And bickering might be ny percent of their rtionship, but stuck in a confined space, together, it would quickly be a headache for everyone involved. And there was some truth to what Jordan had been saying. Sofia wasn¡¯t their friend, but the three of them were from Tinford. They¡¯d grown up together; their parents were friends. That counted for something. The train shuddered, then started to move. Sofia must have been one of thest to board. She¡¯d cut it close. ¡°So,¡± Jordan said. ¡°I was wondering if the three of us could talk practicals.¡± ¡°Meaning?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°Our ns. For T. Are we teaming up?¡± ¡°In what regard?¡± Jordan shrugged. ¡°Well. You¡¯ve heard the stories. T isn¡¯t all delving and training. There¡¯s cliques. Politics. Seeing how we¡¯re all nobodies, we should stick together.¡± ¡°I presumed we would. It needs rification?¡± Jordan gave Natalie a sideways nce¡ª¡®See?¡¯ it said. Natalie fake-sneered at her. Sure, whatever. Sofia wasn¡¯t a snake, she was just annoying. Natalie had already admitted that. ¡°But delving?¡± Jordan asked. ¡°I realize that¡¯s more than a week away, before T lets us into the dungeon, but tentatively? Assuming we don¡¯t work out something better.¡± ¡°With two fighters and a rogue?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°It¡¯s not ideal,¡± Jordan said. ¡°But Nat ¡­¡± she trailed off, shooting a concerned look Natalie¡¯s way. Natalie rolled her eyes, then said, ¡°You can tell her.¡± Natalie hadn¡¯te clean to the rest of Tinford, but it wasn¡¯t like she would be able to hide it from Sofia. They¡¯d be rubbing shoulders for the next four years. ¡°Nat¡¯s ss isn¡¯t wholly a fighter type,¡± Jordan said. ¡°She got a pdin ss. So, more a versatile tank, than anything.¡± Sofia¡¯s eyebrows shot up, and she looked, incredulously, at Natalie. Natalie crossed her arms, unable to stop herself from getting defensive. ¡°I¡¯ll figure it out, okay? Not my forte, or whatever, but that doesn¡¯t matter.¡± ¡°A pdin,¡± Sofia repeated. ¡°You. A mage hybrid.¡± Natalie sneered at her. ¡°I¡¯m just surprised,¡± Sofia said. ¡°How did that happen? And why am I just learning it?¡± ¡°Because you¡¯re my first confidante, are you?¡± ¡°I mean, that you lied. To everyone else. Didn¡¯t you? Why?¡± Natalie¡¯s squeezed her crossed arms tighter. Because of this, she didn¡¯t say. Sofia¡¯s incredulous reaction to what everyone would¡¯ve known was an ill-fitting ss ¡­ it would¡¯ve been mirrored a hundred times over, by other residents of Tinford. Even Mom and Dad, probably. ¡°I didn¡¯t lie,¡± Natalie said. She¡¯d simply ¡­ omitted relevant details. ¡°The point is,¡± Jordan said, interrupting the tension. ¡°That a pdin, a duelist, and a rogue isn¡¯t a horribleposition.¡± ¡°It could be worse,¡± Sofia said coolly, turning to Jordan. ¡°But it¡¯s not ideal.¡± ¡°Sometimes we don¡¯t get ideal,¡± Jordan said. ¡°It¡¯s what we make of things. And again. No hardmitments. But we¡¯ve worked with each other. Know each others styles, habits. That¡¯s important in a team. Maybe more than a perfectposition.¡± ¡°Mm,¡± Sofia said. ¡°I¡¯m still caught up on the pdin thing. What sort of skills did you get?¡± The first thing that popped into Natalie¡¯s head was the ¡­ less appropriate skills she¡¯d received with her ss. But obviously those were staying a secret to everyone but Jordan. If the three of them were working on the assumption their first delves would be together, then Sofia would need to know Natalie¡¯s skills, but only the relevant ones. She¡¯d learn them, regardless, during spars and training. ¡°An illusion,¡± Natalie said. ¡°An illusion?¡± The raised eyebrows were back. ¡°Not a heal? Or an empowerment?¡± ¡°Not a standard pdin, I guess.¡± Not that a ¡®standard pdin¡¯ existed. It was a rather varied ss. It depended on the god, or aspect, one received. ¡°Who¡¯s your patron?¡± Sofia paused, then huffed. ¡°You. A pdin. With a patron. So ridiculous.¡± Natalie agreed, but she took offense, anyway. ¡°That¡¯s none of your business.¡± Not that Natalie even knew who her patron was. There were a few options for who a ¡®goddess of lust¡¯ could be. None were given the title outright, at least, not from what Natalie¡¯s research had shown. It could be any of several ¡­ the goddess of love, or fertility, or, in some interpretations, wickedness and sin. Again, it didn¡¯t really matter. The skills she received, she received. Didn¡¯t matter what her patron¡¯s name was. ¡°I suppose not,¡± Sofia said. ¡°What else?¡± ¡°The illusion¡¯s the important one.¡± And, unfortunately, the only practical one. It wasn¡¯t the best level-one starting kit. But if Natalie had had something else, like a skill that made her faster, or stronger, it wouldn¡¯t be something she¡¯d need to divulge to Sofia. Teammates were expected to share the general strokes¡ªthe key skills they¡¯d be interacting with¡ªbut not their entire kit. Some did, of course. It just wasn¡¯t a hard requirement. ¡°Hm,¡± Sofia said. ¡°Either way, an illusion sounds versatile. But you¡¯ll need to practice.¡± Natalie bit her tongue on a retort. ¡°Yeah. I will.¡± Sofia had a way of sounding condescending, even when it wasn¡¯t her intent. ¡°It¡¯s a shame your unlocking happened so soon to intake day,¡± Sofia said. ¡°You didn¡¯t have much time to adjust.¡± Yeah. That was definitely a problem. Natalie would rather not have been reminded of it. ¡°I¡¯ll figure it out,¡± Natalie repeated, half a mutter. She¡¯d been experimenting with the skill in the past two days, and not made much progress. She wasn¡¯t, as she¡¯d mentioned, a natural when it came to spell casting. The solution was obvious. She¡¯d just have to make up for it in other ways. Other ways. The ¡­ stranger parts of her ss. Natalie would need to make the most of them. 1.12 – Arrival 1.12 ¨C Arrival They arrived to Aradon just past noon. The three of them collected their belongings and set off for T. Walking through the busy streets of Aradon was a spectacle. She had never seen anything like the tall, vibrant architecture that packed Valhaur¡¯s capital city. What surprised her most was the sheer density of everything. The buildings weren¡¯t the only thing cram-packed; the people, too, swarmed the streets, milling about their daily lives. Natalie felt out of ce. Even Illesa had seemed like a big citypared to Tinford, but here was a real city. More people streamed through this one street than all of Tinford might hold. It was chaotic. As expected of the most populous city in the country. It was, after all, a civilization built atop a dungeon entrance ¡­ one of only thirteen in the world. Of course half the world¡ªor what felt like it¡ªhad settled down here. Fortunately, the throng cleared out as they approached T¡¯s gated entrance. The three of them provided their names, and the guards checked a list then let them through. It wasn¡¯t a high-security set up, just enough to keep Aradon¡¯s general popce out. The Delving Academy was located deep in the city, not more than a ten minute walk from the dungeon entrance. The guards provided directions, though they were redundant considering the signage everywhere. Today was intake day, and Natalie, Sofia, and Jordan weren¡¯t the only ones lugging around backpacks and suitcases, seeking out their varying destinations. The non-newbies were obvious,pared to the regrs, the delvers who¡¯dpleted one or more semesters already. Natalie noted a mixture of expressions sent their way: amusement, annoyance, sometimes disdain. Natalie gave dirty looks right back to those who provided thest. She¡¯d never been a person to ignore that sort of thing. Which might cause problems for her, making the wrong enemies. While she, Sofia, and Jordan were nobodies, that wasn¡¯t usually the case for a ce like T. The Delving Academy was as old as the dirt it was built atop. It¡¯d existed for thousands of years ¡­ because there¡¯d always been need to train delvers. The dungeon had provided for the citizens of Valhaur¡ªthe world¡ªsince forever. Its student body, therefore, was simrly prestigious. And sure, the Academy might not always have been these tall, gleaming stonebrick buildings, with well-maintained greenery and elegant magitechmps scattering the pathways across the campus, but it¡¯d existed in lesser forms. Like Aradon itself, it¡¯d grown and grown, until it was one of the premier fixtures on the continent. It was intimidating. Natalie still couldn¡¯t fully believe she¡¯d qualified ¡­ that all three of them had. It was the opportunity of a lifetime. Natalie had grown up hearing about how talented she was, but still. T was for ¡­ prodigies might be too strong of a word. But only the best. That all three of them¡ªfrom the middle of nowhere¡ªhad been epted really was an unusual thing. The signs, and the guards¡¯ directions, led them to an in-processing building. There, Natalie was separated from Jordan and Sofia as the three of them went about their administrative duties. Eventually, Natalie, having properly registered with T and documented her arrival¡ªand received an I.D. that verified she was permitted on campus¡ªset off to the dormitories. Dormitories was the wrong word. First-semester students started out in barracksmunal living areas that housed twenty to forty T students each. That was obviously a lot of bodies to pack into a space, no matter how big ¡­ and the barracks weren¡¯t big. Students¡¯ introductions to T were intentionally ufortable. All the more to encourage them to escape, using the token system. Incentives. T was all about incentives, urging aspirational delvers to work harder, out-pace their peers ¡­ earn more,pete. A whetstone, Jordan had called the school. Communal living, though. A few days ago¡ªbefore her unlocking¡ªNatalie hadn¡¯t been stressed by the idea at all. She wouldn¡¯t call herself shy, or uneasy aroundrge groups of people. She¡¯d figured it would be annoying, definitely, but not anxiety-inducing¡ªnot something she was worried about. A temporary problem. She¡¯d be able to move out soon enough, and really, what would she care if other people saw her half-dressed or naked as she went about her morning routine? Obviously, a new problem had presented itself, there. The changes to her biology that hade with her ss. With that development taken into ount, the idea of living with dozens of other girls in a cramped,munal space was far more daunting. Because even if she was careful to not reveal her secret, she might be found out, anyway. By ident. Say, in the morning. When she pitched a tent,pletely unwillingly ¡­ which Natalie had discovered she did, without fail. The new equipment between her legs wasn¡¯t considerate in the slightest. With a nket covering her, it shouldn¡¯t be too much of a problem, but if she threw the covers off at night? Natalie might give herself away. Which wouldn¡¯t be the end of the world, but would introduce some questions¡ªfrom a variety of sources¡ªthat Natalie would simply rather not answer. The odd, lewd details to her ss, she¡¯d prefer if nobody discovered besides Jordan. Not to mention the embarrassment. Getting caught with morning wood would have plenty of that, just by its own. Maybe it was happening each morning because she wasn¡¯t taking care of it. For the past several days leading up to ship-off day, she¡¯d been pretending it didn¡¯t exist. Jordan, too, hadn¡¯t brought it up much ¡­ though they¡¯d been kissing once a day, harvesting energy. That was its own mess. Natalie didn¡¯t let her thoughts linger on how much she liked those kisses. What a situation to be in, right? Natalie hadn¡¯te to terms with it. In the frenzy of the past two days, preparing to ship off for T, and in the wake of her unexpected, intimate interactions with Jordan, Natalie had pushed the rather important thing between her legs to the back of her mind. She¡¯d have toe to terms with it, eventually. Both mentally, and practically speaking. Just, she wasn¡¯t sure where to begin ¡­ and pretending nothing had happened was so much easier. Its introduction, too, had made her eyes start snagging to the curves of women with even more frequency than they had before¡ªand Natalie had never been the most reserved girl in the first ce. Though, it wasn¡¯t something impossible to put out of mind. She could ignore the inappropriate thoughts. And thankfully, it wasn¡¯t so big it couldn¡¯t be physically hidden, either. Loose pants had done wonders for her. Thankfully, a rxed style had already been her standard when it came to fashion. Taking a deep breath, ready to meet her twenty-to-forty temporary roommates, Natalie walked into the squat, rectangr building that served as the first-year¡¯s barracks. 1.13 – Barracks 1.13 ¨C Barracks ¡®First-year barracks¡¯ wasn¡¯t a wholly correct way to describe the amodations. Technically, there weren¡¯t any policies mandating that a person bought their way out of the shared living space, not that Natalie knew of. So there could be second-years, or fourth, for that matter. But any reasonable person would get out of the barracks as soon as possible. Even the most long-suffering didn¡¯t want to be crammed in with dozens of other students, especially in what wasn¡¯t so much a room as a long hall lined shoulder-to-shoulder with beds and lockers. Natalie had arrivedte, rtively speaking. Tinford was in the far south of Valhaur, and the five-hour train-ride was longer than the vast majority of students had needed to travel. Walking slowly in, wearing her backpack and lugging her suitcase in one hand, Natalie scanned her surroundings, looking for Jordan. There were no guarantees they¡¯d be roomed together. Considering the size of the barracks, though, there weren¡¯t horrible odds. Natalie didn¡¯t have an idea how big T¡¯s yearly student-intake was, but surely not more than a few hundred. Which still meant roughly eight barracks of this size. So not great odds, either. But random chance might bless them. Natalie tried not to get her hopes up, because she doubted they¡¯dnd the one-in-eight dice toss. She¡¯d never be so lucky. Peering around, hopes deting, she didn¡¯t see Jordan¡¯s ck hair tied up in a bun. And even worse than that ¡­ something else caught her eye. Hair, of a more distinct, recognizable quality. White hair. Natalie barely didn¡¯t groan. Sofia. Of course she¡¯d gotten ced in Sofia¡¯s barracks. And, as Natalie finished looking around the long hall with growing dread, she realized something else. All of the beds were imed. Not all had their upants present, but all were imed. Literally. Every single one, besides a single. Natalie was thest of the barracks suite to arrive¡ªand Sofia had been second tost. And guess where the only open bed was? Natalie couldn¡¯t quite fight off the groan, understanding the fate that had befallen her. The nearest student¡ªa short girl with brown hair¡ªgave her an odd look, which forced Natalie topose herself. It was best she didn¡¯t earn a reputation for entricity that fast after arriving. The event was organic, not coincidence. As thest to arrive because of their long trip from Tinford, she and Sofia had received the two least-desired beds of the grouping¡ªthe ones in the middle of the rows, and directly beneath the cooling glyphs engraved into the ceiling. Not only would the hum of magic be the most audible there, she and Sofia would be getting sted with cold air whenever they were active. Considering they were in a Valhaurian summer ¡­ pretty often. Not to mention the foot traffic, being sandwiched in by everyone. Natalie sighed. Honestly, all of the above didn¡¯t bother her. She¡¯d been braced for misery,ing to T. Hardship was one of the appeals, even. She was starting her future as a delver ¡­ and delvers didn¡¯t have easy lives. This was more or less what she¡¯d expected. But why Sofia? Well. Looking on the bright side, it wasn¡¯t like Natalie would be at the barracks often. She¡¯d be out training, studying, or otherwise being productive. With forty roommates, she doubted anyone would be spending much time here, besides for sleeping. As Natalie walked down the long barracks hall, she took in the living space in greater detail. There was an economy of design in theyout ¡­ because how else would they cram everyone shoulder-to-shoulder? Each student had a slightly elevated bed (where underneath, it seemed, shoes were going), a locker, and a chest at the foot of their bed. Not much storage space, hence Natalie¡¯s¡ªand everyone else¡¯s¡ªlimited luggage. The locker, one of which Natalie could see inside as she walked toward her inevitable fate, was fairly deep, and had a rod plus provided hangers to hang clothes from. There was a mirror inside, and a glyph for producing light. Also, several drawers of varying sizes. All in all, about what she¡¯d expected. Simple amodations. The chest probably wasn¡¯t worth mentioning. There were locks and keys for each. It was where anything valuable would go. Though, Natalie doubted there were many thieves at T. Of the mundane sort, she meant ¡­ there might be a few [Thieves] of various sorts. As she¡¯d already mused over, only a tiny portion of their studentbase were in Natalie, Jordan, and Sofia¡¯s situation ¡­ which was to say, not obscenely rich. The kinds of people qualifying usually had generational wealth¡ªand training¡ªbehind them, helping them reach this point. Why would they steal anything? But still. A lockbox was nice to have, for peace of mind. Even if she didn¡¯t have anything valuable marily, she had sentimental belongings whose safety she¡¯d want ensured. The bed was tiny, though enough to fit a single personfortably. The sheets were made with crisp edges. Natalie wondered how long that wouldst¡ªthe sharp, organized condition of everything here. Sure, T had policies for keeping their living spaces in good condition, but they weren¡¯t, to her knowledge, overly strict. The simrities to a military academy were visible, but T wasn¡¯t such, not actually. She might be required to make her bed in the morning, but there wouldn¡¯t be drills, or instructors inspecting for the smallest infraction. That wasn¡¯t, ultimately, what T was here to encourage. Conformity wasn¡¯t the goal. Conformity was the opposite of the goal. They wanted students who stood out as starkly as possible. Despite the crampedyout, the quality of everything was outstanding. The barracks sparkled, floor to ceiling. There wasn¡¯t a single scuff-mark or patch of discolored paint. T was the premier training academy in all of Valhaur ¡­ and likely in the top five for the world. Funding wasn¡¯t a problem. How could it be? The students who left this campus, having graduated, were a collection of professionals who powered a staggering amount of the Valhaurian economy just by themselves. Monster cores grew in strength exponentially, and so the strongest adventurers hoisted society up on their shoulders, essentially, with the loot they dragged back from a delve. And a decent portion of that esteemed echelon of society came from T. Low- and mid-rank adventurers were just ¡­ kind of there. Trying to reach those heights. Certainly useful, but a mid-rank monster core provided a sliver of a fraction of what a high-rank core did. T¡¯s goal was to create high-rankers. The best. Hence, their exacting standards, and the systems they¡¯d designed, carefully, to forcepetition¡ªand thus growth. Like being stuck in a shitty, cramped barracks, and having to buy your way out through their token system. Tokens, which were earned in a variety of ways ¡­ but most notably, the obvious. Delving. Or academic excellence. And academic excellence at a delving academy meant, most prominently,bat prowess. So more or less the same thing. Sofia had her suitcaseid out across her bed, and she was unpacking her belongings into her locker. Natalie arrived to her bed. Sofia looked up and saw her. She grimaced. ¡°Preaching to the choir, Sofia,¡± Natalie said sourly, thumping her own suitcase onto the only open bed. ¡°Preaching to the choir.¡± 1.14 – Others 1.14 ¨C Others ¡°Well,¡± Sofia said. ¡°I suppose it¡¯s not the worst thing in the world.¡± ¡°Speak for yourself,¡± Natalie muttered. ¡°We¡¯ve already determined we¡¯d be moving in together. So while unpleasant, it¡¯s hardly something we weren¡¯t prepared for.¡± Their future as a potential team hadn¡¯t been the only thing Jordan had prompted the three of them to talk about on their way to T. The token system, too, they¡¯d discussed ¡­ or more urately, pooling their resources to get out of the barracks. They intended to move in together. Natalie supposed she was fortunate the T campus didn¡¯t function on ¡®real currency¡¯, and that just about everything¡ªincluding niceties, and delving loot both, or anything else¡ªfunctioned on their proprietary ¡®tokens¡¯. Because it meant she wasn¡¯t behind the rest of the campus when it came to finances. They were all starting on even footing. Which, Natalie had to assume was a bit of a shock to some of them, who¡¯d grown up with silver spoons and droves of servants. ¡°That would¡¯ve been when we had our own rooms,¡± Natalie said. ¡°I was supposed to be free from you, in the barracks.¡± The one redeeming quality of their starting amodations. ¡°Hm,¡± Sofia said. ¡°Yes. Well. We can¡¯t always get what we want.¡± She returned to unpacking. Natalie took the hint; they could ignore each other. If they managed that, then maybe this wouldn¡¯t be the torture Natalie thought it would be. As she went about the monotonous task of unpacking, she stole nces¡ªsubtly, as to not be caught staring¡ªat the rest of her so-called roommates. Barracks-mates? Despite the number of beds, less than half¡ªmaybe around a third¡ªhad their upant nearby. Most people hade in, unpacked, then left to handle the rest of their in-processing duties, or otherwise to explore campus, shower, eat, or whatever else. It was a colorful collection of people. Not only did T draw applicants from all across the country¡ªand plenty from neighboring, allied countries too¡ªbut fashion this far north was different from what Natalie knew. Or maybe that was the fault of Natalie¡¯s upbringing in a rural area. Either way, dyed hair hadn¡¯t beenmon back home, as it was here. The girls with neon shades¡ªpink, blue, green, violet¡ªweren¡¯t the majority, but maybe a third had the bright, eye-catching colors. Several had mixtures of the bright hues. Some only had streaks, rather than dying themselves entirely. Natalie was a fan. Of the hair, at least. Not much the rest of typical northern Valhaurian fashion, which was, like the hair, bright and attention grabbing ¡­ but too much so. A few girls in particr, Natalie¡¯s attention gravitated to. She continued to unpack, stealing nces. Some of them might be future ssmates, and were, at a minimum,petition ¡­ or potential delving teammates. T¡¯s years were toorge to know everyone individually, but making connections would be important. Natalie didn¡¯t intend to seclude herself. The first girl Natalie¡¯s eyes stuck to had short ck hair down to her shoulders, streaked with a single bright, noticeable lock of blue. She was talking animatedly with someone else¡ªa blonde woman wearing her hair in a ponytail, who was a tenth as animated as her talking partner. She seemed to be tolerating the conversation. Her responses, from Natalie¡¯s subtle nces, seemed to be polite smiles and minimal prompts. The two girls were three beds to Natalie¡¯s left, and on the opposite side of the hall. Another woman caught her eye: someone whose Natalie¡¯s attention stuck to because of her amused expression. She was leaned against her locker, arms crossed, and watching the conversation of the two girls Natalie had just looked at. She had long, straight red hair¡ªa bit lighter than Natalie¡¯s own red hair¡ªand piercing green eyes. There was something rude about her quirked eyebrow ¡­ as if she¡¯d noticed the blonde woman¡¯sck of enthusiasm and was smirking at how the girl with the blue streak hadn¡¯t picked it up, and had thus trapped the two of them into a one-sided conversation. Natalie frowned. The smirk reminded her of Sofia. Though, for all Sofia was smug and annoying, she wouldn¡¯t look at someone trying to make a friend with curled, amused lips. Natalie didn¡¯t like her, whoever she was. Though maybe she was making too many assumption about a vaguely amused smirk. Maybe she was making too many assumptions about everything¡ªthe blonde girl, in particr, who could be enjoying the conversation. Hell, maybe the two girls talking knew each other, and were friends already. Natalie continued to look around. Her attention snagged to a girl seated on thest bed, on the far end of the hall. She was seated cross-legged, scanning the room ¡­ but unlike Natalie, with no subtlety. Natalie couldn¡¯t get a good look, or she¡¯d be caught¡ªthe girl was watching the room like a hawk. But even a nce was enough to make out the basics. The girl had short ck hair, and her shoulders were hunched forward. Her face was scarred, and not in any small way ¡­ even from the distance, Natalie saw the patchwork of white scratches. Her bangs cascaded down her face, almost hiding her eyes. Something about her posture said ¡®harried¡¯ ¡­ like she didn¡¯t want to be here. Or maybe not ¡®here¡¯, as in T, but in a public living space, definitely. She was ufortable with people. Natalie didn¡¯t know the girl¡ªobviously¡ªbut she could discern that with a quick look. Anyone could. T¡¯s required living conditions sat worse with others than some ¡­ and for this ck-haired girl, she was on the top of that list. So. Like Natalie said. A colorful collection of people, as expected of T; considering their prestigious requirements, almost everyone had an interesting story, she bet. It wasn¡¯t enough just to be rich to make it here. Though ¡­ there was a limit to that statement, probably. She was sure the obscenely wealthy found ways to sneak in unfitting candidates. But it didn¡¯t really matter. The skilled were who would be recognized. Natalie wondered if, after unpacking, she ought to wander the hall and get some names, make introductions. But she still had a lot of in-processing tasks to handle, so maybe not. Get the practical stuff done, first. 1.15 – Morning 1.15 ¨C Morning All things considered, Natalie¡¯s first morning at T started off well. Which was to say, she didn¡¯t wake up with her nket thrown off, and her cock straining her pajama bottoms, proudly showcasing her secret to anybody walking by. She¡¯d set her rm early, just in case. Unreasonably early. Early enough that even she, a habitual morning person, cracked her eyes open and thought, good gods, what time is it? She tapped the rm glyph, shutting off the vibrating motion that had woken her, but which had spared her many roommates. It was an interesting piece of magic, and it¡¯d taken more minutes than she was willing to admit figuring out how to use it, and set a time for it to go off. The one she had back home was simpler, and used noise ¡­ which was the standard, far as she knew, but in a barracks, the vibrating glyph was the only way to wake just yourself, without dragging everyone nearby into your schedule. Now, Natalie might not have thrown her covers off, but that wasn¡¯t to say she¡¯d been spared from her biology entirely. Groggilying into awareness, Natalie sat up in bed, her rock-hard cock rubbing around the confines of her pants. It was digging down her leg and toward her knee. Even in the worst case, it didn¡¯t stick straight up, usually at an angle ¡­ although admittedly enough to give her away, hence her concerns. She looked around to make sure she was the only one awake. There were one or two empty beds. Natalie was briefly astounded, and impressed, that there were maniacs who had woken up even earlier than her. Why? It would be hours before the day¡¯s official schedule began. Natalie was only awake because she had to be. For more than one reason, besides wanting to spare herself the embarrassment of being caught with a boner early in the morning. There was another event just as dangerous, which would also happen each morning ¡­ and probably each night, too, considering how sweaty a delver-in-training¡¯s routine was. Showers. Public showers, even worse. Natalie had scoped the bathroom out yesterday, and as she¡¯d hoped, the showers at least had dividers, and pull-curtains. She didn¡¯t have to let everything hang free. If it had been that way ¡­ Natalie didn¡¯t know what she would have done. But still. Risky. The showers might not be wholly open, but they were still very much not privacy-oriented. Natalie could probably get away with not being naked in her fellow student¡¯spany, but only if she was careful, and earned a reputation for being embarrassed to show her body. All things considered, hardly an unusual thing ¡­ nobody should think twice of Natalie¡¯s modest tendencies. But back to her current situation: the distinctly noticeable bulge in her pajama pants. Six inches wasn¡¯t a lot, but it wasn¡¯t small, either. And with how poundingly at-attention it was, it made its presence known. Why did this thing have to be so needy? She really, really wished she could just ignore it. Which wouldn¡¯t be something she could do forever, unfortunately. Her ss had given it to her for a reason. But, ugh ¡­ter. She¡¯d figure it outter. She sat in bed, blinking blearily as she woke up, and letting her erection soften. It took a while. Finally, she got out of bed, collected her outfit for the day, and a towel, slipped on her shower-shoes (a highly suggested item on the provided preparation-for-T shopping list), then set off for the public showers. As with the barracks, the showers were an efficient public space, though split into smaller subsections of eight shower-stalls each. There was a bench and row of lockers across from the shower-blocks, and a pair of sinks closer to the entrance. This early in the morning, Natalie had figured she¡¯d be one of the only¡ªif not the only¡ªgirls here. Unfortunately, that turned out wrong. The first block Natalie passed had someone inside. A woman stood there, naked, digging into her locker ¡­ presumably having just dried herself off and starting to dress. Natalie¡¯s eyes widened in surprise. She froze to the spot, taking the sight in, despite knowing she shouldn¡¯t. She was gorgeous. Sculpted ¡­ the perfect mixture of soft curves and hard muscles, as expected from an aspirant delver. Her arms and legs were a deep shade of bronze, tanned from long days in the sun, and several shades lighter on her body, nearly pale where her underwear would¡¯ve covered. She had long, wavy auburn hair that cascaded to the small of her back. And the parts that had Natalie frozen to the spot ¡­ her breasts, full and round, with perky nipples. Faced toward the locker, in profile, Natalie could only make them out from the side, but they were stunning, even then. And her ass. Ample, full, the perfect shape. Natalie¡¯s heart quickened, her skin heating up as her gaze wandered the woman¡¯s body. She was struck with a paralyzing need to touch her, to feel her, to taste her. Natalie tore her eyes away. She scurried away. What was she doing? She couldn¡¯t just stand there and ogle a naked girl in the showers. What was wrong with her? Just ¡­ the sight had hit her like a lightning bolt. And, unfortunately, provoked something. Her pajama bottoms were stiffening. Natalie picked up the pace. She swerved into the first empty block of shower-stalls and lockers. No patter of water indicated there were upants besides her. Undressing in a frenzy¡ªbefore she foundpany, and her secret was revealed¡ªshe stripped off her pajamas and stuffed them into a locker. She wrapped a towel around her waist, then scooped up her shower supplies and change of clothes. Her erection poked out through the towel, making things rather obvious. Natalie fled into the stall, finding privacy. She sighed in relief, then tossed her towel and change of clothes over the stall¡¯s ledge. This is gonna get way moreplicated in the evening, she internallymented. There was no ¡®waking up early¡¯ to solve the problem, there. But skipping showers, and going to sleep gross, wasn¡¯t an option either. She turned the water on and let it patter to the floor, standing to the side and avoiding its freezing touch. The heating glyphs took a second to get the water to a reasonable temperature. As she waited, she stared down at her cock. It was as angry as usual. That was the word that always came to mind. Thick, veiny, and twitching with need, her cock was distinctly unhappy that Natalie had been ignoring it the past few days. It wanted to be relieved. As maybe Natalie¡¯s reaction to the girl getting dressed had shown. It¡¯d sprung up, and her thoughts turned heated, way too easily. There¡¯d been a pressure building, growing each day, as Natalie refused to address the addition to her body. Maybe that needed to change. This situation was untenable. If Natalie was springing an erection this easily, then she¡¯d give herself away for sure. During the actual school-day, or ¡­ some other time. It didn¡¯t matter when. So. Maybe it was time to face the facts. Natalie needed to take care of it. She swallowed, then nced backward at the shower curtains. They were obviously still closed. Then, she strained her ears ¡­ but no one had entered. Just Natalie, alone in her shower stall. Well, Natalie thought, turning back forward, and admiring her veiny appendage. She might as well get to it. It was something she¡¯d been putting off too long. 1.16 – Shower 1.16 ¨C Shower Natalie wrapped a hand around her cock. The pressure forced a breathless exhtion from her lips. It was the first time since her and Jordan''s confused intimacy that Natalie had paid any attention to it. Even more than then¡ªwhich had already been overwhelming¡ªhaving a hand around her cock whited her mind out. It was amazing. And she hadn''t even stroked it. Hot water pounded down into the tiled floor. Was this ... appropriate? Should Natalie be doing this? Jerking off, for the first time, in the public showers? Where else would she? It was something she needed to take care of. How quickly she''d gotten hard sneaking a peak at that other girl had proved it. And ... she didn''t think she could''ve stopped herself if she wanted to. Three days of ignoring the needy, angry thing between her legs had been a monumental task. Now, given a reason, Natalie''s defenses crumbled. Or, it hadn''t been defenses. But nervousness. The strangeness of everything had made her shy away. But now, her reservations went ignored, ced to secondary importance in face of the amazing pressure her hand was providing. Natalie stroked up and down, once, bunching skin as her grip traveled her length. She moaned softly. Her eyes closed, and her head fell back. It was a good thing she was alone, and the showers empty. She had some time to herself. To explore, without being caught. She''d have to be quiet, still, and pay attention ... but she was mostly safe. Her free hand went up, squeezing her breast. Another stroke of her cock. Her hips bucked in satisfaction, pping her hand to the base of her shaft. A whimper escaped her. It felt so good. It was so different from pleasuring herself how she always had before. Was it the novelty? Or did cocks just feel better? More immediately gratifying, with less need for build-up? That definitely seemed possible. Lust had gued her much more intensely the past few days than ever before. Was it her ss? Or her cock? It didn''t matter. Natalie''s mouth fell open and she started to pant. Her hips picked up speed, moving in rhythm with her hand. She jerked herself off eagerly, basking in the sensation. What would it be like? To use it for real? That auburn-haired girl she''d seen, with the perfect ass. What if Natalie had a few moments alone with her? What would she feel like, her pussy, or mouth, wrapped around Natalie? Her breathing picked up as she fell into the fantasy. It wasn''t even a conscious decision. Giving in after such a long period of neglect meant Natalie''s lust took overpletely. She imagined having her cock enveloped by pouty lips, with bright brown eyes looking up at her. A tongue, licking its way along her shaft. The suction her wet mouth would provide. Natalie''s hand jerked away, something foreign building in her stomach. It was familiar ... but not. Hot, clenching, overwhelming. Natalie''s fantasy deepened. She imagined the girl syed out on a bed beneath her, Natalie lining her cock up. She imagined pushing inside the girl slowly, feeling her tight insides wrap around her. Pushing deeper until she bottomed out. Then starting to move. Picking up speed. Feeling every inch of the girl, writhing under her thrusts. The noises she¡¯d make. The moans and whines of pleasure, like Natalie was making now, escaping in whimpers as she tried to be quiet. Her hands squeezed her breast, again, roughly this time. She pinched her nipple as her hand continued pleasuring her length. This was what she had needed. She hadn''t even realized how badly until this moment. The relief was all-consuming. Natalie couldn¡¯t think. She pped her hips into the girl''s lower half, her cock being coaxed by warm, slippery walls. Loud ps of flesh echoed in her mind. The girl cried out in pleasure, and Natalie picked up speed. She pounded harder and harder. The hot, tight feeling in her stomach grew until she couldn''t fight it. Her body tensed, and she bit down on her lip, trying to stifle the whimpers. She came undone. Her hips bucked forward, her climax arriving. Natalie''s hand mped over her mouth as she cried out in pleasure, no longer able to stop the noises with just willpower. The heat rushed through her veins, and she shook like a leaf, quivering in ce. Every muscle locked as wave after wave overtook her. Orgasmic euphoria rolled across her body and mind, and Natalie pumped away, urging it higher and higher. She milked her cock out. Thick ropes of cum shot forth, sttering against the shower wall. Spasms racked her frame for almost a full minute as more and more sticky white strings flew from her length. Natalie watched in a melting haze, fascinated at the sensation, and the sight, but only somewhere far behind the burning euphoria. Finally, she copsed backwards into the wall, gasping for breath, barely remaining standing. Her cock softened as she panted and came down. The shower stall was steamy now; how long had that taken? The hand mped roughly across her mouth fell to her side. And how loud had she been? Gods, she hadn''t been heard, right? She almost couldn''t find it in herself to care. That had been ... amazing. Insane. Mind-erasing. There weren''t words to describe it. Was it because she''d ignored it for three days? Was it because it had been her first time? Surely every finish wouldn''t be that explosive of a high. And that had only been her jerking herself off. What would it be like, for real? Plunging herself into an eager girl, losing herself in their moans and mutual sticky pleasures? Natalie swallowed. She strained her ears, but the only noise was the water pattering down. Nobody had entered her shower-block. So she was in the clear. But she could''ve not been, just as easily. Someone could¡¯ve heard her if they¡¯d entered. What a way to set a reputation. Masturbating in the showers, on her first day. Sure, they wouldn''t know exactly how Nataile''d been pleasuring herself, but would it have mattered? Pussy or cock, still about the most embarrassing thing she could imagine. Natalie stared at the sticky string coating the tile walls. And that, too. Architect. She''d been so lost in the moment. Well, either way, time to clean up. Both herself, and her ... enthusiastic paint-job. Why had it felt so good? 1.17 Brief 1.17 Brief Harper pped her hands together. ¡°Thank you, Instructor Hepburn. I¡¯ll take great care of them.¡±'' Instructor Hepburn inclined her head at the blonde, then departed, leaving the collection of students¡ªled by the blonde upperssman¡ªalone in the meeting room. The first day had begun in earnest, though not actual sses. Rather, an initiation day. Over the past hour, Instructor Hepburn had gone over the functional requirements expected of them ¡­ the T code of conduct, and various policies they were expected to know by heart. Harper was a fourth-year student, nearing graduation. She¡¯d be talking Natalie¡¯s first-year group through a variety of topics: the role guilds, the token system, life at T in general, extracurricrs, and so on. She didn¡¯t exude any particr sort ofpetence, but Natalie knew not to trust that instinct. Just because she had a bubbly personality meant nothing for herbat skills. Her soft curves, heart-shaped face, and bright, innocent blue eyes, didn¡¯t remotely guarantee weakness. Maybe for someone without an adventuring ss, physique could indicate strength, speed, or athleticism, but in the world of delving¡ªorbat sses, to appropriately generalize¡ªa five foot nothing girl who looked like she¡¯d blow away in the wind might very well be able to dig her fingers into a boulder and chuck it across a pond like a skipping stone. Or not. That was the point¡ªyou couldn¡¯t know. Probably not the case, with Harper ¡­ she likely wasn¡¯t that strong. But Natalie¡¯s point was, regardless that this girl didn¡¯t look dangerous, she¡¯d made it to T¡¯s fourth year. She¡¯d wipe the floor with Natalie. And Sofia and Jordan. All three of them, at the same time, at a guess. Skill mattered, but only to a point. Harper had levels on them, even if she didn¡¯t have skill. And she almost certainly did have skill. ¡°So!¡± Harper started brightly. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯re all excited to be here. I know I was! T Delving Academy ¡­ your life begins in earnest. But,¡± she said firmly, pointing at the group of students who, like Natalie, were slightly perplexed at her exuberant behavior, ¡°we¡¯ve got a lot to talk about, and it¡¯s all important. So listen carefully. I¡¯d like to get through this as fast as possible, to give you time for questions.¡± ¡°To start us off, the token system. Let me outline things.¡± She put her hands on her hips and frowned at the group. ¡°But before I do, I need to be candid. I don¡¯t know which of you this applies to, but while Mommy and Daddy might have bought you a way into T, now that you¡¯re in, you¡¯re on your own. No, you can¡¯t exchange helixes for tokens. Yes, if you¡¯re caught, you¡¯ll be reprimanded, and eventually expelled. I don¡¯t care what your name is. T has expelled more important people than you, I promise. You don¡¯t matter. Get that through your thick skulls.¡± The harsh words were said in the same sweet tone as before, which was kind of impressive. Harper made it clear what she thought of the people the disimer applied to. ¡°Not that you¡¯llst long, if you¡¯re needing to buy tokens off your less useless peers,¡± Harper said breezily, smiling. ¡°But either way, it¡¯s time to put your big girl and big boy pants on. Don¡¯t circumvent the system. Not only will you not like what happens, but if you¡¯re going to wash out, it¡¯s best you get it over with.¡± She raised her eyebrows and emphasized the next part. ¡°It¡¯s better to wash out normally, than what¡¯ll happen down in the dungeon. I promise you that.¡± A bright smile, and Harper pped her hands. ¡°That said! The token system is real fun. You¡¯ll learn to love it. It¡¯s a great motivator.¡± A snort somewhere in the back of the audience, which Harper ignored. ¡°First, let me break it down for those who might never have heard of it.¡± ¡°Who wouldn¡¯t have?¡± a masculine voice asked, somewhere to Natalie¡¯s left, near the front. He sounded bored. ¡°Who wouldn¡¯t?¡± Harper echoed. ¡°Well, most of you don¡¯t need this brief, that¡¯s fair. But not everyone at T has such boring origins, Mister Adair, second son to Nobleman Whoever-The-Fuck.¡± The words continued to be perfectly sweet, delivered with a smile. She knew the boy¡¯s name, though? Was he important? Not too important to insult ¡­ but enough to recognize. ¡°The Dimming Herald, however, was raised in a cave,¡± Harper continued. ¡°She didn¡¯t meet another human until she was neen. She attended T, and, I suppose, wouldn¡¯t have known what the token system was when she arrived. So let me exin, please?¡± She ended the statement with a sneer, and damn, Natalie thought she had a new favorite fourth-year. Miss Bubbly has some kick to her. Consider Natalie a fan. The interrupter¡ªMister Adair¡ªdidn¡¯t bristle, to his credit, only seemed amused at how Harper had shot him down. It raised Natalie¡¯s estimation of him. Natalie respected a person who could take their licks, even if she thought he was annoying for not shutting up and letting Harper get through her spiel. ¡°As I was saying,¡± Harper said. ¡°The token system. Fundamentally, it¡¯s a way to encourage a delver to be the best version of themselves they can be. It¡¯s not a well-kept secret that T had problems with nepotism in the past ¡­ that individuals were epted by family name more than merit.¡± The bubbly blonde¡¯s attention flicked to Mister Adair, quirking an eyebrow, though it seemed more a taunt than a real usation. ¡°But those days are past,¡± Harper said. ¡°Now, T cares only about fosteringpetition. With technology taking an ever-increasing presence in our lives, an equal need for monster cores is rising. Powerful delvers have never been so crucial. And as one of thirteen primary delving academies¡ªand thergest in Valhaur, to view things more myopically¡ªT is one of the cogs that keeps the world going round.¡± The speech felt a bit too canned, but she saw the point Harper was making. It was true. Technology wasn¡¯t cheap to run, and as the world grew, and technology became moreplex, more and more cores were needed. ¡°So,¡± Harper said. ¡°Rather than students buying luxuries, equipment, and tutoring through helixes, our moremon, mundane currency, the aspiring T pupil has to work for what they want. Crazy, right?¡± Natalie¡¯s lips quirked. The canned speech was gone; the frank honesty was back. She hadn¡¯t expected a representative of T to be so critical of the overwhelmingly nobility-based student body, but apparently Harper was¡ªand Natalie appreciated it. Though, the whole disy was a bit hypocritical. For all the ims to avoiding nepotism, the wealthy were still T¡¯s majority by a significant margin. Though, that might be due to wealth meaning proper training ¡­ and a slew of other advantages. Often times, the wealthy were the best candidates. Not from nepotism, but privileged upbringings that led to ideal candidacy. ¡°So your next question is pretty obvious. Harper, how do we get tokens? Public showers are such a drag. And to that I say¡ªwhat do you think?¡± Harperughed. ¡°Delving! Though, I should be more specific. There¡¯s a few avenues where delves can turn into tokens. First off, the obvious. Levels. Levels are the most tant indicator that you¡¯ve been putting work in, and T is happy to reward it. In fact, as far as token-earning goes, it¡¯s the single most lucrative.¡± ¡°Because it takes forever,¡± a new voice said. ¡°Exactly,¡± Harper said, pivoting and pointing at the boy. ¡°So it¡¯s not a viable option for primary token earning. Even your first level can only be done in, hm, a week or two, at the best. Plus, as first-weekers, the dungeons are closed off ¡­ so it¡¯s not an option anyways. You¡¯ll need to suck your circumstances up for at least a bit. Misery breeds character, haven¡¯t you heard?¡± A few snorts. Harper seemed happy at that. She seemed to be a natural public speaker, enjoying the limelight, even in an academic way like this. ¡°But not just levels. Depositing loot into the T public treasury, whether monster cores or items, is a good, consistent way to earn tokens. Another good option is escort missions. Taking harvesters of various sorts to risky dungeon locations to mine, or gather, or whatever else. That¡¯s more of a higher level option, but some crop up, so keep an eye out.¡± Harper hummed before she continued. ¡°Okay, but besides the dungeon, there¡¯s a bunch of other ways. Most of them fall under the general umbre of ¡®quests¡¯, but it¡¯s worth breaking that down into a few categories, so you can know what to expect. First, T-offered quests. Stuff like helping your professors with grading, or tutoring other students, or ¡­ whatever. Stuff that T needs done. I rmend checking those out, and not only because it pays well. Networking is important, which is a statement I know a lot of you will roll your eyes at. Who needsworking as a delver, right? The goal is to cut your way through mountains of snarling monster, not ¡®make connections¡¯.¡± Harper air quoted the words, mocking the imaginary speaker. ¡°It¡¯s a juvenile way of thinking. The world¡¯s moreplicated than that. Sure, there¡¯s exceptions. But the thing is, by definition, you¡¯re probably not the exception. Most of you¡ªus¡ªare going to be normal, career delvers. Mid-ranks. Some of us be high-ranks. A top-ranker? Probably not. People like the Dimming Herald don¡¯t just crop up. If you had a chance of being her, you¡¯d know by now.¡± Harper sighed. ¡°And yeah, this is all pointless to say. You¡¯re all wide-eyed and hopeful, and won¡¯t believe me. But T, and the dungeon, has a way of bashing the reality of a situation into your head, so maybe in six months you¡¯d be willing to listen. But whatever. Think about it. Networking is important. Take T quests, if nothing but for that. Help people, make friends.¡± She shrugged. ¡°Or don¡¯t. What do I care? I¡¯m not your mom.¡± She tapped a finger against her lips. ¡°Next up, and don¡¯t repeat this phrase outside of T, are the ¡®public rtions¡¯ quests.¡± She air quoted the words. ¡°T¡¯s got an image to uphold, and that means having students go out into the city, or neighboring cities, and be seen doing good. The more astute of you, here, know why this is necessary. Beyond just T wanting a good image¡ªadventurers being viewed favorably. In fact, besides killing a ssmate outside a sanctionedpetition, handling yourself in a way that degrades T¡¯s image is the quickest way to getting expelled. If you¡¯re going to get drunk and act an idiot¡ªor whatever else¡ªdo it on campus. You¡¯ll get in trouble, but you won¡¯t be expelled.¡± Harper breathed in. ¡°Okay. I¡¯ve been talking at you too long¡ªlet¡¯s get some group participation. One of you tell me why delvers need to be viewed in a good light. I¡¯m sure someone here¡¯s wondering.¡± 1.18 – Schedule 1.18 ¨C Schedule ¡°Because historically," someone said, drawing a collection of eyes her way, ¡°powerful adventurers end up as tyrants.¡± It was a face Natalie recognized: the girl with long, straight red hair, who Natalie had formed a poor first impression of back in the barracks. She had had a certain arrogance to her face, even still. The amused quirk to her lips almost said that this question was ridiculous¡ªbut she¡¯d answered anyway, because who else, if not her? ¡°Exactly,¡± Harper said. ¡°And ¡®historically¡¯ might even be too gentle, as if it¡¯s a trend that¡¯s done and over with. Fun fact. How many countries, can any of you tell me, are ruled by dictators?¡± ¡°Individuals, or oligarchies?¡± Natalie¡¯s head turned; the speaker this time was a girl with short, neat ck hair and round spectacles. Her response was timid, and she quailed when everyone¡¯s attention turned to her. At a guess, she hadn¡¯t even meant to answer, but was intrigued enough by the question she¡¯d responded instinctively. ¡°Mm,¡± Harper said. ¡°Let¡¯s rephrase to, totalitarian rule enforced by an overwhelming power advantage, granted by their ss. Groups or individuals, either or.¡± ¡°Twenty or so?¡± the same girl said. ¡°Of?¡± ¡°Forty seven nations?¡± Harper seemed impressed. ¡°That¡¯s right. Twenty-two of forty-seven. Nearly half of all nations¡ªdespite the modern age¡ªare ruled by individuals, or groups of individuals, who abuse their gods-granted power.¡± She raised her eyebrows. ¡°You can see the PR nightmare, yeah? And Valhaur, and most of the Tascian continent, have of coursee to understand the monstrous, hical nature of such rule. But, we have millennia of distrust to work past ¡­ and even our nations don¡¯t have clean hands in that regard. Not even in recent history.¡± That was true enough. Natalie¡¯s thoughts flickered to, as most of the student¡¯s surely did, The March of Three Kings¡ªthat bloody event only four decades back. ¡°So, it¡¯s an uphill battle we¡¯re fighting to make people trust us. Which is why,¡± she emphasized thest word, ¡°T students¡ªthe best of the best when ites to adventurers¡ªcannot be seen by the general popce abusing their powers, or acting an idiot.¡± Harper leaned back. ¡°I¡¯m side-tracking. The point: public rtions quests. T seeks to foster good will from the general poption. They don¡¯t pay the best, but they¡¯re great from a difficulty-to-pay standpoint. Maintenance, cleaning, public events, honestly sometimes just showing up and looking pretty. Worst these sorts of quests get are monster exterminations, and only ones you¡¯re overqualified for¡ªagain, to improve confidence, and the general popce¡¯s image of us.¡± Harper breathed in. ¡°Kay! Taking too long on tokens. Lots more to go over¡ªcheck out the quest boards, or chat your friends up to get more ideas. There¡¯s all kinds of shit you can do. Extracurricrs, tournaments, research assistance, and some you wouldn¡¯t expect, ¡®specially if you¡¯ve got a weird ss, something helpful in, like, construction, or,¡± She shook her head. ¡°Whatever it is. Okay. Moving on. sses and daily life.¡± Natalie sat up straighter. Though the brief on tokens had been interesting enough¡ªsurprisingly so¡ªss would be the most pervasively relevant topic in her life. And more than her ssmates, Natalie didn¡¯t know what she was in for, not besides in a general sense. ¡°You¡¯ve all taken a look at the schedule on the pamphlet, I assume?¡± Harper asked. Natalie had. They¡¯d been given tri-fold papers filled with all sorts of information. She hadn¡¯t had a chance to read it in depth, but she¡¯d scanned the tight-cramped text. Natalie idly opened the pamphlet up and took a second look at the schedule. ~~~ 7:00 AM - Wake Up 8:00 AM - Training Facility, Conditioning 9:30 AM - Spars 11:00 AM - Lunch 12:00 PM - Academics 3:00 PM - Extracurricrs 5:00 PM - End Academic Day 11:00 PM - Lights Out ~~~ ¡°It¡¯s self exnatory,¡± Harper said. ¡°But there¡¯s a few things worth bringing up. First, eight a.m. conditioning. It¡¯s less structured than you think. This is your warm-up and exercise time, for the fighters, or your mental training time, for the casters. You won¡¯t have an instructor assigned. That said, plenty are avable, should you want or need one. Or do your own thing. All you¡¯re required to do is sign in and be there.¡± ¡°Next, academics at noon. You¡¯ll have your own schedules for that¡ªsome of you are exempt to certain ss, some of you aren¡¯t. Most likely, expect to see public rtions, intro to delving, and monster 101. You¡¯ve gotta really try to fail these courses, but it happens. But really, just give it an effort. Not even your best effort ¡­ just an effort. That¡¯s really all it takes. T¡¯s not expecting geniuses. Don¡¯t be the second year retaking 101s.¡± She shrugged. ¡°Or, like I said, do. I¡¯m not your mom. But it¡¯s pretty embarrassing.¡± ¡°Five p.m. is the end of the academic day. Now, I hope this doesn¡¯t mean you¡¯re done¡ªhave some ambition. Extra training, spars, whatever, but if you¡¯re done at five each day, you¡¯re not going far. Assuming you¡¯ve made it to T, that probably won¡¯t be an issue.¡± ¡°Finally,¡± Harper said, ¡°eleven p.m. Lights out. That means curfew. Yes, you have a curfew. But, it¡¯s only for being out in Aradon. Inside T¡¯s walls. And like I¡¯ve been saying¡ªdon¡¯t fuck around when ites to this. If you break curfew and make it back without incident, it won¡¯t be the worst thing in the world, even if you¡¯ll be gettingmunity work for it. But, break curfew, and do so while making an idiot of yourself ¡­¡± Harper grimaced. ¡°Just don¡¯t. I¡¯ll leave it at that.¡± Harper breathed in. ¡°And finally ¡­ one of the real reasons I¡¯m giving this briefing, rather than the faculty¡ªthe fact I can be candid. Everyone ready?¡± Everyone looked around, perplexed. Natalie didn¡¯t know where Harper was leading with this, either. Harper put her hands on her hips and frowned at the collection of students. ¡°Don¡¯t get someone pregnant,¡± she said sternly, ¡°and don¡¯t get pregnant. Use condoms.¡± A stir went through the crowd, obviously not expecting the turn in subject. Natalie just smirked, amused¡ªthen paused, because, uh, that was actually a more applicable warning to her than most. She¡¯d already mused over how she would need to be careful in that regard, but damn, with the thing between her legs, she had to worry from both ends, didn¡¯t she? Both getting someone pregnant, and bing. ¡°Yeah, yeah,¡± Harper said. ¡°It¡¯s awkward, I know. But we¡¯re talking about it. If there¡¯s a quick way to tank your career, it¡¯s getting knocked up. Guess this is more for the girls, because boys are¡ªwell. Boys. Hopeless. So,dies, please. Unless being a mom is what you¡¯re aiming for¡ªand, go for you, if it is, but since you¡¯re at T, I doubt it¡ªthen make sure your partner¡¯s wearing a condom. There¡¯s stations where you can get them for free, too. Like, everywhere. Understand? Cool.¡± Harper brushed forward. Natalie remained amused. As Harper had said, this must be why they had a fourth year handling this portion of their orientation. It would be inappropriate for a faculty member to be this frank. Harper had handled the awkward topic well, but scolding a group of adults about wearing condoms was enough to break even her thus-far irreverent demeanor. She was blushing. And, it made sense that T had a problem with an ¡­ overly active student base. As a collection of young adults starting a new chapter in their life in a stressful,petitive environment¡ªand with fitness being a general requirement, resulting in consistently active, fit body types¡ªsome, well, ¡®stress relief¡¯ was an inevitability. It actually fared well for Natalie, viewed that way. You know, seeing how she would be needing to find partners, just to advance her skills. And while for now that only meant kissing, Natalie doubted that wouldst. ¡°Now, role guilds and extracurricrs,¡± Harper said. ¡°Almost done, then we¡¯ll set you free to lunch.¡± ¡°Guilds are simple. They¡¯re a stick-around from the old days, and really, don¡¯t matter much. Just don¡¯t be caught saying it. Some people are bristly about guild allegiances.¡± She shed a grin. ¡°Either way, you¡¯re required to pick, and there¡¯s benefits to being in the right one. Lets youwork with peers, find mentors, both faculty and students alike, and, y¡¯know, it serves as a hang-out ce, too. I¡¯m sure everyone¡¯s heard the stories.¡± Even Natalie had, and she was less informed than probably anyone here. The guild¡¯s parties were legendary ¡­ in both good and bad ways. Another byproduct of that ¡®stressed environment¡¯ she¡¯d mentioned. Natalie hadn¡¯te here to party, but she doubted anyone did. She¡¯d probably check one out, eventually. ¡°Some people fit several roles, obviously,¡± Harper continued, ¡°and don¡¯t worry, you can qualify up to two, if your ss fills several. It happens. Plenty of, say, priests are in both the healer and mage guilds. Or a more obvious example, lots of brawler sses dabble in both tanking and fighting. So feel free to check out several guildhalls ¡­ though I rmend you stick to one. Gettingfortable is important. That said, don¡¯t get stuck in your ways. Your ss might be a healer now, but you might find fighter fits you better, five levels from now. Stay flexible. Keep your options open.¡± ¡°Andstment, though it might not even be necessary. The divergent guild. If you¡¯ve got a ss that doesn¡¯t fit into any of the guilds¡ªit happens, surprisingly¡ªthen that¡¯s the one you¡¯ll be slotted in. For those of you that applies to ¡­ well, you know who you are. Hard to not.¡± Harper scanned the crowd, as if seeing if anyone would give themselves away. Natalie was intrigued, also looking around. She¡¯d never heard of a ¡®divergent¡¯ guild. Someone who fell outside all five roles? How would that happen? Wouldn¡¯t that just be a ¡­ craftsman ss, or something? How could someone be neither a fighter, thief, mage, healer, or tank? Not even in a peripheral way? Natalie brainstormed. She realized she could think of a few. An explorer ss, maybe, with nobat specialties, but useful in delving, or adventuring in general. Someone who could navigate the dungeon, disarming traps, leading the party to treasure ¡­ even if they didn¡¯t have anybat prowess. Though, why be trained at T, in that case? To operate functionally in a team? She didn¡¯t get a chance to think too hard about it, because Harper was moving on. Like for the rest of orientation, she kept an expeditious pace. ¡°Last item of business. Extracurricrs. The fun stuff.¡± For a few minutes, Harper went over the options avable to them. Dueling was the most popr extracurricr, with a close second being the harvesting disciplines. Besides that, there were more mundane options, like drama or band. Natalie hadn¡¯t entirely made her mind up on which she¡¯d pick, since everyone was required to be in at least one. As Harper went on, Natalie¡¯s eyes zed over. Extracurricrs were one of the things she already had a good idea of,ing to T. Harper breathed in, pping her hands together, bringing Natalie¡¯s attention back. ¡°That¡¯s it! We¡¯ve made it through. Just onest quick thing, before I get to questions ¡­ it¡¯s time for your generic words of encouragement.¡± Natalie¡¯s lips quirked at the continued irreverence. ¡°Remember, not everyone can be the Dimming Herald,¡± Harper said. ¡°That¡¯s fine. It¡¯s what T wants you to be, but that doesn¡¯t mean they want to get half the school killed trying for an impossibility. The one percent might provide a third of all monster cores¡ªby energy¡ªbut the other two thirds ¡­ that stilles from us mortals. We aren¡¯t wholly expendable, and T doesn¡¯t want you to get yourself killed trying to be something you aren¡¯t. You have to realize¡ªsome of us are ying different games from each other, and that¡¯s the reality of ¡­ well, reality.¡± Natalie frowned. She didn¡¯t like that perspective. Anyone could be the Dimming Herald if they worked hard enough. She didn¡¯t believe a special set of people were simply born into fates like that. They earned them. ¡°So,¡± Harper said. ¡°Work hard and have fun. Be the best you can be, but avoid croaking it. That¡¯s it! Any questions?¡± 1.19 – Lunch 1.19 ¨C Lunch T¡¯s cafeteria¡ªone of three scattered across the expansive campus¡ªwas a wide open space with tall windows that stretched from floor nearly to ceiling, flooding the hall with natural light. Like much of the campus, Natalie wouldn¡¯t outright call the space opulent, but wealth showed in less obvious ways: the enormous windows and perfect cleanliness, to name one, but also in the array of choices avable, all of it appetizing. Various stations packed the hall, offering every sort of food Natalie could imagine. All of it free. T like to grind its students down in all manners of way, but they ate well. Which had a practical purpose; it took a good diet to stay in fighting shape. Natalie scanned the cafeteria for Jordan. The first-year students had been dispersed by the lecturers and were responsible for making it to their next appointment¡ªuniform fittings¡ªon their own. A delving student who couldn¡¯t handle something that simple was useless to T; the academy expected, and encouraged, autonomy. Because of course they did. What use was a delver who needed to be hand-held? The trust given to even a first-year was another thing setting thebat school apart from a typical military academy, despite the simrities. Jordan was off in the corner, as Natalie instinctively searched first, knowing her dark-haired friend preferred to stay on the outskirts, away from attention. Jordan didn¡¯t see her looking; she was already eating. Her soon-to-be table located, Natalie¡¯s attention turned back to the various food stations. She picked the first few few things that seemed appetizing. She¡¯d explore the cafeteria¡ªand its surprisingly enticing optionster. She didn¡¯t have the mental wherewithal to be caring about food, at the moment. Sd made, and a few heavier options piled onto her te, Natalie slid her tray onto the table, settling into the chair across from Jordan. Jordan looked up and nodded in greeting. ¡°How¡¯d yours go?¡± Natalie asked. Orientation had been split into several sses, and Jordan hadn¡¯t been in Natalie¡¯s. Which was a shame for a few reasons¡ªfirst, because hanging out with Jordan would¡¯ve made the morning pass faster, and second, because Harper had been a delight. As far as orientations went. It still hadn¡¯t been the most engaging event of her life. ¡°Fine,¡± Jordan said. ¡°You?¡± ¡°Better than expected, actually. Got this snarky fourth year, Harper. She was ¡­ funny. And I learned a lot.¡± ¡°Like?¡± Natalie shrugged. ¡°T stuff. And insight. Perspective of a fourth year.¡± Not that Harper¡¯s views would be monolithic. Hers was just one of many, at a guess. ¡°Sucks we didn¡¯t get the same barracks. Think we could trade?¡± ¡°With someone else?¡± ¡°So we¡¯re together, yeah.¡± ¡°I ¡­ don¡¯t think that¡¯s allowed.¡± Though Jordan seemed tempted to try. She¡¯d wanted to be put into Natalie¡¯s barracks, too. Eventually, once they¡¯d earned some of T¡¯s proprietary ¡®tokens¡¯, they¡¯d be able to buy their way into a shared dormitory. But that was a ways off. ¡°And?¡± Natalie asked. Amused, Jordan said, ¡°It¡¯s the first day. Let¡¯s hold off on pushing boundaries yet. Get a feel for things.¡± Jordan knew better than to suggest something as ridiculous as ¡®follow the rules entirely¡¯. ¡°It¡¯s not like they assigned beds,¡± Natalie argued. ¡°You think they check? Let¡¯s just swap.¡± Jordan hesitated, but held firm. ¡°Better to y it safe.¡± ¡°Boring.¡± ¡°Besides,¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s only where we¡¯ll be sleeping. So what¡¯s it matter? Not gonna be spending any more time there than I have to.¡± Her nose wrinkled. ¡°It¡¯s loud. And crowded.¡± Natalie had had simr thoughts, and she was more sociable than Jordan. Who would spend their free time in the barracks? Better to head to the library, the guilds, explore campus, or whatever else. A student of T shouldn¡¯t have much free time, anyway. Not one who wanted to excel. Which, presumably, would be every student who¡¯d made it into the prestigious academy. ¡°Where¡¯s Sofia?¡± Jordan asked. ¡°Ugh. You know I got the bed next to hers?¡± Natalie realized she hadn¡¯t answered the question, but Sofia¡¯s name had dragged the response out instantly. The way a hand on a stove snapped back ¡­ or sour milk made someone gag. Natalie liked the second one. Much better for Sofia. ¡°How would I know? She¡¯ll show up.¡± ¡°You two got the same barracks?¡± ¡°Unfortunately.¡± Jordan seemed amused by the development. ¡°You two should work out your ¡­¡± she paused. ¡°Rivalry.¡± ¡°What was the pause for?¡± ¡°I was going to say hate-crush,¡± Jordan said, ¡°but decided I didn¡¯t want to start anything.¡± Natalie stared at her. Jordanughed. She picked at her food, chewing then swallowing, before finally quirking an eyebrow at Natalie¡¯s continued stare. ¡°What?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve ruined my appetite,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Even as a joke.¡± ¡°Who said it was a joke?¡± Natalie faked nausea, pretending to heave onto her te. ¡°You¡¯re such a drama queen,¡± Jordan said. ¡°And, heads up, here shees.¡± Sofia slipped into the spot left of Natalie. Jordan had picked a four-seat table in the corner of the expansive cafeteria, so Sofia was between both of them. She unfolded a napkin and put it on herp. ¡°Jordan. Natalie,¡± she said in introduction, nodding her head politely. ¡°How¡¯s your morning going?¡± Natalie raised an eyebrow at Jordan, as if to emphasize, ¡®See? This is the problem.¡¯ Who did Sofia think she was? Why did she always act like this? So prim and proper. She was just some girl from the backwaters, same as Jordan and Natalie. Who the hell folded a napkin on theirp for cafeteria food? Gods, she was so pretentious. ¡®Hate-crush¡¯. Jordan¡¯s previous words sent a shiver down her spine. As if. When it came to Sofia¡¯s feigned royalty, the way she carried herself like a noblewoman with perfect assured confidence, Natalie was one thing: annoyed. It didn¡¯t do anything for Natalie. Definitely not in that way, even in a rivalrous manner. And why did she always wear so much perfume? The fresh floral scent was distracting; she could barely think straight when Sofia was close. Gods, this girl was aggravating. Natalie was fidgeting just being near her. Really, Natalie could only stand Sofia when they were in a sparring ring together. She wasn¡¯t as annoying, or as much of a distraction¡ªthe aggravating kind¡ªthen. Though, losing to Sofia was a headache of its own. Why was she so good at fighting, when she was so perfect and dainty? Like some delicate piece of art? Er, that was too ttering of aparison. Unfortunately, she couldn¡¯t find a better one. ¡°Oh, fine enough,¡± Jordan said, answering Sofia¡¯s question. ¡°It was the same stuff for everyone, right? Tokens, guilds, extracurricrs?¡± ¡°And a lecture on abstinence,¡± Sofia said, lips quirking. ¡°Did you all get that?¡± She picked up her knife and fork and began to eat, cutting into the slice of pork roast she¡¯d picked out. ¡°Abstinence?¡± Natalie asked, amused. ¡°Mine told us to use condoms.¡± Sofia paused, the first chunk of food raised to her mouth. She finished cing it in her mouth, then chewed and swallowed. ¡°Hm. Mine as well. I was avoiding being crude.¡± She brushed forward: ¡°So, have you two chosen?¡± ¡°Chosen what?¡± Natalie asked. ¡°Your extracurricrs.¡± 1.20 – Party Talks 1.20 ¨C Party Talks ¡°Herb gathering, probably,¡± Jordan offered first. Sofia¡¯s eyebrows went up, but Natalie¡¯s didn¡¯t. Natalie and Jordan had, of course, talked this over beforeing to T, so where Sofia hadn¡¯t heard Jordan¡¯s logic for the choice, Natalie had. Herb gathering initially seemed like an odd harvesting skill for Jordan to pursue, but it made sense with context. Back at Tinford, Sofia had run in different circles than Natalie and Jordan. They rubbed shoulders often enough, being from the same town, and had done plenty of sparring together, as up-anding delvers, but they¡¯d never been friends. Maybe if Jordan and Natalie hadn¡¯t been, then Jordan and Sofia would¡¯ve spent more time around each other. The two of them had never seemed to sh like Sofia and Natalie did. Though, Natalie hadn¡¯t a clue why. Sofia was just a generally irritating person, so Natalie didn¡¯t know how Jordan tolerated her. Natalie¡¯s skin grew hot whenever Sofia was close¡ªthat was how annoying she was. ¡°Herb gathering?¡± Sofia prompted. ¡°To help with my ss,¡± Jordan said. ¡°One of my first level skills is ¡®Poison-Coat¡¯. So, you know.¡± Sofia, an aspirant delver, didn¡¯t need Jordan¡¯s logic spelled out in detail. ¡°Ah,¡± she said. ¡°Then, to gather your own poisons. That makes sense.¡± ¡°Synergies are important,¡± Jordan said with a nod. ¡°If I¡¯m going to pick a harvesting skill, it might as well be one that fits with my ss. Can always change it. Hardly a permanent decision.¡± ¡°And you?¡± Natalie asked Sofia. ¡°Dueling.¡± Natalie snorted, though she wasn¡¯t sure why. It was a fine extracurricr, the most popr in the academy as Harper had said, and perfectly fitting to Sofia. Sofia literally referred to her ss as a ¡®duelist¡¯ ss, though that probably wasn¡¯t its proper name. Natalie knew first hand how impossible beating Sofia in a one-on-one was. She¡¯d do great in the dueling club. Natalie wondered how great, honestly. T was filled with the best of the best. How did Sofia stack up on the national stage? Or international? But even if the choice was reasonable, Natalie had needed to show some derision. Even when the situation didn¡¯t call for it ¡­ or it didn¡¯t make sense to do so. That was their dynamic. She and Sofia were always poking at each other. Natalie couldn¡¯t help herself. Sofia¡¯s presence, like it always did, had something boiling in Natalie, a pressure that needed to be vented. Hence, the gibes. ¡°And you?¡± Sofia asked politely. Like right there. Natalie could see past Sofia¡¯s ostensibly polite tone; she was making fun of Natalie. Probably. Somehow. She couldn¡¯t figure out how, but she knew it was happening. ¡°I dunno,¡± Natalie said sourly, poking at her food. ¡°I¡¯m thinking about it, still. I guess dueling wouldn¡¯t be the worst. But now that I know you¡¯re in it, I¡¯m having second thoughts.¡± Sofia hummed. Natalie¡¯s barbs never did seem to get to her. ¡°But picking a harvesting skill could be good, too,¡± Natalie added. ¡°The funds would be nice.¡± ¡°You can do both. That¡¯s what I n on.¡± ¡°Yeah, but it¡¯s a timemitment. Might be better to focus on one thing.¡± Time was the most limiting resource on the; one skill refined was another neglected. ¡°Might focus on being down in the dungeon as much as possible.¡± Sofia nced at her. If Natalie didn¡¯t know better, she¡¯d say there¡¯d been a flicker of concern. ¡°Solo?¡± Natalie shrugged. ¡°Or duo¡ªwhoever I can find. Maybe. Some people do that. Too difficult to always have a full squad.¡± ¡°Just pace yourself,¡± Sofia said mildly. ¡°You tend to rush headlong into things.¡± There it was again¡ªSofia goading her. Implying Natalie couldn¡¯t handle it. Well, she wouldn¡¯t rise up to the bait, obvious as it was. Sofia would have to work harder than that to get a reaction out of her. ¡°How are we working getting our fourth and fifth?¡± Jordan asked. ¡°For the party?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°Have you two met anyone?¡± Natalie had intended to do some socializing, but she hadn¡¯t gotten the chance. ¡°Too busy,¡± she said. They¡¯d arrivedte to T, and had to y catch up on the administrative tasks expected on intake day. ¡°It might be smarter to wait until sses start, anyway.¡± Sofia pursed her lips as she considered that. ¡°That¡¯s too limiting, I think. sses are only sixteen students, and while it¡¯d be convenient being in the same ss, better to cast the wider.¡± ¡°Then cast away,¡± Natalie said. She didn¡¯t disagree; she¡¯d probably try to get some names and faces from the different girls back at the barracks. ¡°Better to work quick,¡± Jordan added. ¡°Before everyone settles down. I¡¯d figure a decent portion already have parties, made before T. It seems like everyone here knows each other.¡± Natalie had noticed that too. Though, ¡®everyone¡¯ was going too far. A good portion of T¡¯s students were nobility ¡­ and nobility mingled with each other, obviously. Several likely had their adventuring parties structured before arriving to T, or even being epted. Many had grown up together, like she, Sofia, and Jordan. Not that it was a problem how many of the nobility-based students were already teamed up. She¡¯d rather not deal with those stuffy types, so it didn¡¯t matter to her. A fake princess¡ªSofia¡ªwas enough of a headache, much less a real one. ¡°We¡¯ll have some time,¡± Sofia said. ¡°There¡¯s no rush. I doubt people will move that quickly. They¡¯ll want to get a feel for everyone. Where the talent is, and what everyone¡¯s sses are. The dungeon isn¡¯t open to first-weekers, and I doubt even when it is, parties will be cemented.¡± She hummed. ¡°The best thing we can do is prove ourselves, tomorrow morning. Draw attention from other talent. And, we should focus on finding personalities we can mesh with, too. That¡¯s as important as functionalpatibility.¡± Natalie found the statement a bit amusing, seeing how she and Sofia had tentatively grouped up. Obviously, they weren¡¯t patible¡¯. Though, their partying up was more out of necessity and familiarity than anything. Sofia¡ªor Natalie and Jordan¡ªcould very well split apart in the future, for a team that better fit them. These were just loose ns. ¡°But still best to get a move on,¡± Jordan repeated. ¡°We can¡¯t expect things to fall into ce.¡± ¡°Exactly,¡± Sofia said. 1.21 – Uniform 1.21 ¨C Uniform Uniform fitting went smoother than Natalie had feared they would, to her relief. A young woman went about taking Natalie¡¯s measurements, and while some of the adjustments involved tugging and inspecting that invaded her personal space, Natalie never needed to be overly paranoid about her secret revealing itself. She was given a room to change, when necessary. T¡¯s colors¡ªand the uniform¡¯s¡ªwere blue and gold. Uniforms were expected to be worn throughout the academic day, from eight in the morning to five in the evening, but beyond those hours, students were permitted to wear what they wanted. The fabrics themselves were quality, a consistent theme when it came to T and its supplies, buildings, and materials. The clothing was breathable, designed forfort and flexibility. They were, after all, intended to be used duringbat training as well as the rest of their daily schedule. Equipment, like armor and other gear¡ªspecifically, the magical sort collected from the dungeon, or made by artificers, that enhanced stats¡ªwere supposed to be worn on delves only, not on campus. T discouraged relying on equipment, at least during training, which was another fortunate aspect to student life that evened the ying field, same as the token system. Because obviously Natalie had no powerful heirlooms to inherit, as some students here would. However disadvantaged Natalie, Sofia, and Jordan were when it came to connections, they at least wouldn¡¯tg in the more mundane ways. The ying grounds were even in many regards ¡­ though admittedly not all. Weapons, on the other hand, were allowed¡ªthe exception to the equipment policy, because of how critical they were to generalbat styles. However, following the theme of T wanting students to prove themselves, only weapons collected from the dungeon, or purchased through the token system, could be used. Natalie was sure some people cheated to get around that rule; obviously, it could be hard or impossible to prove a student hadn¡¯t received a particr item from a dungeon run. So in some regards, the well-connected and wealthy could find ways to excel using their money. But Natalie knew faculty were watching for that, and perhaps had ways of sussing out those sorts of infractions. In the end, it didn¡¯t matter. It was what it was. The T uniform wasyered: the first was thebat uniform, a tighter-fitting, more utilitarianyer, and the stuffier, showier jacket, and glossy ck shoes, were required to be worn while attending sses¡ªthe regr academic sort¡ªas well as when out and about during school hours. Even the moreplex outeryer wasn¡¯t horrible, though. Afortable uniform all around, if a bit shier than Natalie liked. But she¡¯d admit she looked impressive in them, from the nces she¡¯d stolen in mirrors at the uniform-fitting building. Well-made uniforms tended to have that effect, and Natalie¡¯d never much cared for fashion, so it was even more noticeable in her case. She looked sharp. Professional. Natalie chose the skirt bottoms rather than the pants. The roomier, pleated article of clothing would make her secret easier to hide ¡­ though Sofia was sure to give her odd looks, because Natalie otherwise would have chosen the pants, and Sofia knew it¡ªNatalie wasn¡¯t a skirt girl. Just, the pants were too tight fitting. Natalie hadn¡¯t had a choice. The day wrapped up quickly; it was a shorter schedule than most would be. Around 3:30, Natalie¡¯s uniform fittingpleted, and, with nothing else nned for the day, she was free to roam campus. Tomorrow would be the first real day of sses, starting at a strict 8:00 a.m. Finally released, Natalie dropped off her uniforms, hanging them in her locker, then sought out Jordan. Jordan¡¯s barracks¡ªbarracks two¡ªwas identical to Natalie¡¯s. Students were trickling back, bit by bit, having finished their fittings and likewise lugging back their sets of uniforms on thick coat hangers. Jordan had, in a simr manner to she and Sofia, gotten a bed in one of the worse positions in the hall: directly in the middle. That probably grated at Jordan more than it had Natalie. She would have preferred to tuck herself in the corner, where she could have some minor form of privacy. Natalie plopped down on Jordan¡¯s bed. Jordan was sitting cross-legged, reading. She¡¯d been waiting for Natalie to arrive; if Natalie had finished first, she¡¯d have waited at her barracks for Jordan. They¡¯d agreed on that during lunch. ¡°So,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Where do you wanna go?¡± Jordan ignored her for a few moments, finishing thest paragraph or two of whatever she¡¯d been reading. Finally, she ced a bookmark between the pages and looked up. ¡°Somewhere private,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m not sure. Where do you think?¡± ¡®Somewhere private¡¯. Because they had ¡­ business to handle. They¡¯d discovered the cooldown to Natalie¡¯s strangest skill. Or, her second strangest skill, since ¡®heavy weaponry¡¯ took the title of most bizarre. But her other, ¡®harvest¡¯, which gave her a secondary advancement resource for performing certain less-than-appropriate acts on other girls was a close second. The cooldown was around a day, in truth a bit shorter, to allow for flexibility. Twenty-one hours, maybe. She and Jordan had been making good use of it. Natalie needed the energy. And it was time for their next session¡ªit couldn¡¯t stop now that they¡¯d arrived at T. But it had be trickier to arrange the event,cking privacy. Natalie had been trying not to think about how much she looked forward ¡­ and was scared of ¡­ each of their kissing sessions. They didn¡¯t mean anything¡ªbeyond Jordan demonstrating how good of a friend she was¡ªbut they were severelypromising, regardless that they shouldn¡¯t be. But Natalie didn¡¯t have much choice; she needed to energy to advance her skills. Having received a terribly unfitting ss¡ªat least in some aspects¡ªNatalie needed to make good use of everything she had at her disposal. So, frequent meet-ups with Jordan. And they couldn¡¯t half-ass it, either. The skill gave different amounts of energy based on the passion behind the kisses. So they had to put effort in ¡­ had to really go at it. Couldn¡¯t keep things chaste and quick, which would¡¯ve been way too easy. No, Natalie needed give her best friend a good tongue fucking, assuming she wanted to make maximal use of the skill. Totally not something devastating to Natalie¡¯s resolve. Her fallback was simple: not thinking too hard about what the kisses did to her. Denial was an age-old tried and true tactic, and it was working great for Natalie. ¡°I guess ¡­ the bathrooms?¡± Natalie wasn¡¯t sure where else they could take care of things, where they wouldn¡¯t be caught. They had no room, obviously, and maybe they could tuck themselves in the corner of a library, or secluded in the park, but those weren¡¯t guaranteed to be private. Anyone could wander by. ¡°The bathroom. Romantic,¡± Jordan said, rolling her eyes. But she didn¡¯t fault the reasoning. She set her book aside and stood. ¡°Well, let¡¯s go, then.¡± Natalie¡¯s heart hammered as she followed behind, even though, again, it shouldn¡¯t have. Just friends, she firmly reminded herself. 1.22 – Harvest 1.22 ¨C Harvest Natalie explored Jordan¡¯s mouth, the kiss¡ªas it always did¡ªhaving grown to a fevered intensity. Neither pretended they weren¡¯t enjoying each other¡¯s wet, struggling mouths. Jordan¡¯s hands roamed Natalie¡¯s back, dipping to less discreet ces before quickly resetting, as if catching herself. Natalie¡¯s hands stayed on Jordan¡¯s hips, likewise itching to go farther. It was hard to indulge like this and keep restrained. But this was just a kiss. A strictly practical one, however much fun. Even if they got caught up in desire¡ªtheir biological reactions¡ªit couldn¡¯t go further. Jordan moaned into her mouth, and the sound washed through Natalie, setting her skin on fire. It was incredible what Jordan¡¯s presence did to Natalie. It had to be because of why they were kissing¡ªthe strange nature of everything that had the thrill rushing through her. Because obviously Natalie wasn¡¯t intoxicated by Jordan for that reason. Not romance, of any sort. Gasping, Jordan finally pulled back. It was always Jordan that broke the kiss. Honestly, Natalie might rather pass out than separate from Jordan¡¯s mouth. Not that it meant anything. Jordan was just a good kisser. Natalie liked basking in the sensation. ¡°So,¡± Jordan finally said, panting. ¡°You¡¯ll need to start picking girls up, soon. Just me isn¡¯t enough. Any ns, there?¡± Like always, it took effort to steady her spinning head and respond normally ¡­ to reply in a way that didn¡¯t tantly give away that Jordan¡¯s tongue had turned her brain to mush. It wasn¡¯t fair how amazing Jordan¡¯s mouth was¡ªthe way she moved her tongue and lips against Natalie¡¯s own. Though, Natalie fought back well enough. The flush on Natalie¡¯s face was matched by Jordan¡¯s. Choosing the skirt for her uniform had been a good idea. Natalie was rock-hard, but her tight underwear,bine with the looseness and thick pleats of the skirt, meant nothing showed. Not that Jordan hadn¡¯t felt it, pressed in as close as she was. But at least she couldn¡¯t see it. Once she advanced the skill, and it got bigger, though, even the skirt wouldn¡¯t hide it. That was still weird to think about. And ¡­ exciting? For some reason? The idea tantalized her. Howrge would it get, down the line? After several advancements? If it started at six inches, she felt like there was good odds it would be a monster pretty fast. And, while tititing, that would be inconvenient. Six inches wasn¡¯t horribly difficult to hide, but eight? Ten? Or bigger, if it grew faster than she thought? Problems forter. ¡°Dunno,¡± Natalie said, finally replying to Jordan¡¯s question¡ªon how she¡¯d need to start picking up girls. ¡°It¡¯s gonna be hard, for sure.¡± ¡°Hard? You¡¯re great at flirting.¡± ¡°Eh.¡± Natalie wasn¡¯t sold on that. She¡¯d done well back home, but then again, she¡¯d been interesting. Muscles, ambition, on track for bing an adventurer¡ªmaybe even a delver. Flings hadn¡¯t been hard to find whenpetition had been so weak. Here, Natalie was nothing special. ¡°It¡¯s different here.¡± ¡°From the sounds of orientation,¡± Jordan said dryly, ¡°it should be easier than back home.¡± Natalie paused, remembering Harper¡¯s insistence that students use condoms. A group of ambitious, stressed students would be going at it like rabbits; maybe that made up for Natalie¡¯s previous reasoning. Maybe it wouldn¡¯t be that hard to find girls who could ¡®help¡¯ with Natalie¡¯s ss. ¡°I guess,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Still, I¡¯m going to be busy. That throws a wrench in things.¡± ¡°This is how your ss advances,¡± she pointed out. ¡°An alternate way, at least. It¡¯s part of your duties. You¡¯ll have to make time for it.¡± Natalie shook her head, bewildered. Not that Jordan wasn¡¯t right¡ªshe was¡ªbut at how her daily training routine was going to include picking up girls. Weird. Not that she wasining. It might not be as straightforward as training with weapons and practicing her skills, but ¡­ maybe a more pleasant way to advance in strength. Maybe Natalie should be grateful, even. Grateful? Well, she wouldn¡¯t go that far. The strangeness of everything stopped her from being outright pleased. Her bizarre ss had made her future ns so uncertain¡ªand had been no small source of stress. ¡°Yeah,¡± Natalie said. ¡°I know. But anyway, this ought to do it, right?¡± ¡°Thest bit of energy you needed,¡± Jordan said. ¡°You said you were just a sliver away,st time.¡± Natalie nodded. ¡°Well, go ahead,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Tell me what it changes to.¡± Natalie closed her eyes and focused inward. *** Carnal Energy: 5 *** The quantity she harvested varied. What exact factors determined the number, Natalie couldn¡¯t know for sure. Passion, to name one. They¡¯d wasted the skill, once, by trying to keep things too chaste, hence why Natalie hadn¡¯t already earned enough to level [Carnal Harvest] up, which they¡¯d been slowly working toward. She focused the energy into the skill, funneling it using her [Advance] skill. *** [Carnal Harvest]: Progression advanced from 1 to 2. *** *** [Carnal Harvest] - PASSIVE. PROGRESSION 2. Extract carnal energy through {fondling} an aroused target. Harvested energy can be expended through [Empower] and [Advance]. *** Natalie opened her eyes. As she¡¯d predicted, advancing the progression had modified the description in the emphasized portion of text from {kissing} to {fondling}. ¡°Well?¡± Jordan asked. ¡°It¡¯s, uh. What we guessed.¡± Natalie didn¡¯t need to specify. The two of them had theorized on the skill, and Natalie¡¯s ss in general. Less than they ought to have, though. It was an awkward subject. ¡°So, fondling?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Huh,¡± Jordan said. She was quiet a second, studying Natalie. Then, her lips quirked. ¡°Do you think it matters where?¡± ¡°Where?¡± ¡°Where you fondle,¡± Jordan pointed out. ¡°There¡¯s a lot of options, you know.¡± ¡°Uh,¡± Natalie said. Her eyes flicked down to Jordan¡¯s chest ¡­then lower. A lot of options. Yeah. There definitely were. ¡°I guess it¡¯s best to be thorough. So, everywhere?¡± It¡¯d been intended as a joke ¡­ kind of. Unfortunately¡ªamazingly?¡ªJordan nodded in agreement. ¡°Think the cooldown reset with the level-up? Should we go right away?¡± Natalie¡¯s heart had been pounding from their kissing, already, but now its frantic excitement doubled. ¡°I guess that¡¯s possible,¡± she said, impressed at her voice¡¯s stability. As for the truth of what she thought: Natalie had no clue. Maybe the cooldown had reset, maybe it hadn¡¯t. But if saying yes meant she got to ¡­ She shook her thoughts clear. They were doing this for functional reasons. Natalie couldn¡¯t let herself want this. She¡¯d take pleasure in it for what it was, because she couldn¡¯t help herself, and it was a biological reaction¡ªJordan got excited too¡ªbut she couldn¡¯t forget what was happening. But still. She got to ¡­ touch Jordan? ¡°Well,¡± Jordan said, hands going to Natalie¡¯s wrists, grabbing and guiding them up. ¡°Get to it, won¡¯t you?¡± 1.23 – Carried Away 1.23 ¨C Carried Away Jordan guided Natalie¡¯s hands up to her chest, and Natalie squeezed lightly, prompted by Jordan. For a moment, Natalie just stood there, frozen, her thoughts whiting out. She was hardly a virgin, and this was just some over-the-clothes groping, but it was Jordan. She had her hands on Jordan¡¯s tits. Not some random hookup, but Jordan. Her best friend. It was so different from other encounters as to beical. It didn¡¯t remotelypare. Jordan hesitated, some of her amused nonchnce fading from her face, uncertainty recing it. Natalie realized she¡¯d stayed frozen longer than appropriate. Any freezing at all had been inappropriate. This shouldn¡¯t be something Natalie was awkward about. Natalie might be stunned, but if there was one thing she wouldn¡¯t do, it was make Jordan hesitant. It was Natalie¡¯s job to take charge. That was how their dynamic always worked. Really, this was¡ªbizarrely¡ªthe one exception to that rule. Jordan pursued this aspect of Natalie¡¯s ss with more dedication than even Natalie. She wondered why. Probably, she knew Natalie was weirded out by her ss and wanted to encourage her. Or maybe she wanted to make clear she was willing to help Natalie, and knew Natalie wouldn¡¯t push Jordan into doing stuff like this by herself. Natalie stered on her trademark sideways grin. She¡¯d been told she had a ¡®roguish appeal¡¯. She pretended it wasn¡¯t cultivated ¡­ but truthfully, it kind of was. Natalie wasn¡¯t like Sofia, who needed perfect hair and a perfect outfit every time she went out, but that didn¡¯t mean she didn¡¯t care how people perceived her. Anyone who said that was lying to themselves. Natalie tried to keep lying to herself to a minimum. ¡°Bet this isn¡¯t how you thought our first day at T would go,¡± Natalie joked. She tried to ignore how her hands were on Jordan¡¯s tits, squeezing and kneading, and failed. ¡°Second day, technically,¡± Jordan murmured. Her face was scarlet¡ªNatalie¡¯s hands worked away, rubbing in a gentle rhythm. She had her bra on, and Natalie could feel it through her uniform. Maybe that was a good thing. It protected Natalie from melting down entirely. ¡°Second day,¡± Natalie said, rolling her eyes. ¡°Whatever.¡± Could Jordan see through her? She always had been able to, before. She had to know what was happening to Natalie. Had to know the smirk and eager movements of her hands was a farce, and that Natalie was a few seconds from catching fire. She was surprised she wasn¡¯t radiating steam, right now. ¡°My bra¡¯s getting in the way,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Go ahead and go from under.¡± Ah, shit. Well, Natalie had to keep the act up. Hesitating once had already made Jordan nervous, and this was Natalie¡¯s cross to bear. She had to be the one totally at ease, to help Jordan be the same. Jordan had told her to ¡®go from under¡¯, but the uniform¡¯s buttoned top was too unwieldy for that. She popped open the buttons of the top half, exposing Jordan¡¯s bra. It was a ck,cy thing ¡­ surprisingly fancy. She hadn¡¯t dressed up for this, had she? Obviously not. What was Natalie thinking? She just guessed Jordan liked wearingcy bras. Never mind Natalie had seen Jordan half-dressed plenty of times before, and she¡¯d always worn practical undergarments ¡­ in ones, notcy. Maybe it was coincidence she¡¯d worn something fancy today, despite knowing Natalie¡¯s skill would progress, and it would probably result in ¡­ this. Her hands wiggled underneath Jordan¡¯s bra, and so Natalie had two handfuls of her best friend¡¯s tits. Those hard nubs brushing against her fingers were Jordan¡¯s nipples. Fascinated¡ªsomething primal overtaking Natalie¡ªshe pinched them, making Jordan squeak in surprise. The noise did something to Natalie. The awkwardness and tension vanished. Natalie wanted to hear the sound again. Wanted to extract it. She pinched harder. Another gasp, and Jordan arched her back. Her eyes widened, surprised as Natalie¡¯s sudden boldness. Natalie leaned forward and bit Jordan¡¯s lower lip, gently, then tugged it back with her teeth. Jordan closed her eyes and moaned. The noise washed across Natalie. ¡°Nat?¡± Jordan gasped. Natalie pushed Jordan against the stall wall, pinning her. She stepped to the side so she could bury her upper thigh between Jordan¡¯s legs. Provided that firm pressure, Jordan rubbed instinctively, bucking her lower half into Natalie¡¯s thigh. She froze, realizing what she¡¯d done, but Natalie rubbed back. Jordan groaned, and Natalie captured the noise with her mouth. They kissed. Natalie¡¯s hands massaged away at Jordan¡¯s tits, flicking and pinching her nipples, kneading her and drowning in the sensation of Jordan¡¯s soft skin. Did this count as groping? Natalie¡¯s thigh pressed against Jordan¡¯s pussy, which she was rubbing against? Not really ¡­ was the farce breaking, then? Were they just rubbing against each other for pleasure? Natalie couldn¡¯t find it in herself to care. ¡°Be thorough, remember?¡± Jordan gasped, pulling back from the kiss. ¡°Maybe ¡­ more energy.¡± With her groping, Jordan meant. Sure. She could do that. Natalie wrapped her hands around Jordan¡¯s waist and turned her around, then tugged her down onto herp, sitting on the closed toilet seat. Jordan¡¯s ass pressed into her cock, agonizing in the pressure it provided. Jordan rubbed back and forth, and this time, it was Natalie who groaned. One hand went up, slithering back into Jordan¡¯s bra, and continued to y. The other groped a more sensitive area. It was overyers of clothing, but Natalie had her hand on Jordan¡¯s pussy. Rubbing. She was rubbing her best friend¡¯s pussy, trying to get her off. That was normal, right? Just part of her ss. Natalie wasn¡¯t the only one teasing. Jordan humped back and forth, sliding her ass against Natalie¡¯s cock. She couldn¡¯t describe how good it felt. Their kisses had gotten her so worked up, she already felt close to bursting. As in, way too close. After so much forey, and the general heat of the situation, Jordan rubbing her butt into Natalie¡¯s cock had her moments froming apart. ¡°Jordan,¡± Natalie groaned. ¡°I don¡¯t think you should ¡­ you¡¯re going to ¡­¡± Jordan moved Natalie¡¯s hands away from her sensitive areas, then awkwardly repositioned herself, so she was on Natalie¡¯sp, but facing her. She picked up speed, rubbing herself against Natalie¡¯s crotch with reinvigorated passion. ¡°You¡¯re going toe for me?¡± Jordan breathed. ¡°Is that what you¡¯re trying to say? You¡¯re going to empty yourself in your pretty little skirt, on the first day of ss? For me? Go ahead. Do it.¡± She humped desperately against Natalie. The act was gone. This wasn¡¯t groping. This was Jordan coaxing out Natalie¡¯s orgasm using her rocking hips, rubbing herself into Natalie¡¯s cock. She couldn¡¯t resist. Not the sensation, not Jordan¡¯s naughty words, spoken so breathlessly, and definitely not Jordan¡¯s flushed face, eyes darkened with lust. Natalie grabbed Jordan¡¯s waist and humped back. She barelysted a few more seconds before it crashed into her. She shuddered, then groaned and arched her hips forward, finding as much pressure as she could against Jordan¡¯s ass. Jordan kept grinding, milking her out with desperate motions. Natalie came. Her cock shot out sticky white strings into her panties, dampening the fabric, quickly drenching the outeryer, too. Her skirt. The one she¡¯d had for an hour or two at most. Fuck, she was staining it. Her cock, and body, didn¡¯t care. She emptied herself over and over, coaxed out by Jordan¡¯s humping motions. She reached such an unbelievable high she couldn¡¯t believe the fire coursing through her veins. And how many times her cock seized and pumped. Every time she thought it was about to be over, Jordan worked out a few more twitches, desperate to milk her. Finally, Jordan¡¯s motions stilled. Sticky warmth clung to Natalie¡¯s thighs and cock. There was a dark stain covering an unfortunate amount of area. She¡¯d soaked herself. And Jordan¡¯s pants too, if less so. ¡°Fuck,¡± Natalie groaned,ing down slowly, and staring at the dark spot. ¡°Look what you did, Jordan.¡± 1.24 – Stains 1.24 ¨C Stains ¡°In my defense,¡± Jordan said. ¡°I didn¡¯t know you¡¯d create this much of a mess.¡± Natalie stayed copsed on the closed toilet seat, unable to move¡ªthe heat that had washed through her had left her immobile, exhausted. Jordan¡¯s humping hips had drawn something out of her she¡¯d never experienced. ¡°Right,¡± Natalie said. ¡°And what did you think would happen, again?¡± Her skirt was horribly stained. It radiated from her mid thigh and down to between her legs, some of the squishy darkness even reaching over to her other leg. Jordan had stirred it around with her motions. And, she was right. Natalie had cum a lot. More than even in the shower, which had already been more than normal¡ªnot that she would know, but sheesh, it made a mess. How couldn¡¯t she have put out more than usual? When it¡¯d been Jordan making it happen? ¡°And I figured having you finish might give more energy,¡± Jordan said. ¡°That¡¯s why I did that.¡± Her cheeks were flushed. Natalie thought it was an odd reasoning, but she epted it instantly. ¡°That makes sense,¡± she said. ¡°But look at my skirt, Jordan.¡± ¡°Look at my pants,¡± she pointed out. ¡°I hardly escaped.¡± Jordan¡¯s uniform pants were stained, if not remotely as much as Natalie¡¯s skirt. Fuck, that was Natalie¡¯s cum covering Jordan. The idea thrilled through her, almost intense enough to start hardening again, despite how thoroughly she¡¯d been milked. ¡°But it¡¯s fine,¡± Jordan said. She started unraveling toilet paper and stuffing it down her pants. She dabbed at the dark spot, working at collecting the wetness. ¡°Mine isn¡¯t horrible. Once it dries, I¡¯ll go grab one of your other skirts, and you can change. We¡¯ll be fine.¡± Natalie started cleaning herself up. However mind-blowing that finish had been, it had resulted in a horrible inconvenient situation. Did cum stain? It had to. Fuck, she was seriously soaked down there. If it did stain, then Natalie was down a skirt. After having cleaned themselves up best they could, Jordan leaned against the stall wall. Natalie stayed seated. She was still a bit shaky. ¡°So,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Gotta wait things out, let it dry. Guess we can talk in the meantime.¡± Talk? Natalie froze. Talk about what? ¡°How much energy did you get?¡± Jordan asked. Oh. That. Not ¡­ anything else. Not ¡®them¡¯. Were they really ignoring what had happened, though? Well ¡­ Natalie supposed there wasn¡¯t anything to talk about. Just another session to help Natalie earn energy. It¡¯d gotten carried away, but not for any special reasons. Just some lust. They were only human. *** Carnal Energy: 18 *** Natalie¡¯s eyebrows went up. ¡°Wow,¡± she said. ¡°Eighteen.¡± ¡°Four times higher yield,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Think it¡¯s because ¡­ you finished?¡± She gestured at Natalie¡¯s crotch. ¡°That was what I was testing, after all.¡± There was a nervousness to Jordan¡¯s words, distinctly uncharacteristic. Natalie ignored it. ¡°Maybe.¡± Natalie huffed. ¡°No baseline. But still, four times more is pretty good.¡± Jordan¡¯s tension eased, Natalie not addressing her flimsy excuse for what had happened. ¡°It was a good choice to rush for that upgrade, then.¡± ¡°We thought it would be.¡± Obviously, advancing the skill that earned energy for other skills would be the best choice from an efficiency standpoint. Sure, Natalie had been given no additional strength, as she might have gotten by upgrading her illusion skill, but it meant she could advance other skills faster, now. ¡°Do we go straight for the third tier?¡± Jordan bit her lip. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t think you can just keep rushing it over and over. You¡¯ll want to work on other skills. I bet your next upgrade will take much longer, but the others are still cheap.¡± ¡°To encourage even distribution.¡± ¡°Yeah. Maybe you should¡ª¡° The bathroom door shoved open, bringing with it the ambient noises of the barracks. Jordan¡¯s eyes widened; they¡¯d picked this bathroom because it was out of the way. This was the first visitor the entire time they¡¯d been here. They had assumed they wouldn¡¯t have any. ¡°Get your feet up,¡± Jordan whispered. She shuffled into ce, in front of the toilet, and turned around. Natalie tugged her feet up, putting her shoes on the toilet seat. She understood what Jordan was going for¡ªthis way, there was only one pair of feet to see under the stall door, in proper position. Not a perfect solution, seeing how Jordan¡¯s pants weren¡¯t down around her ankles as they should be, but hopefully that wouldn¡¯t be noticed. Or, even if so, it wasn¡¯t the strangest thing in the world to be sitting on the toilet, clothed. Odd, definitely. But not enough to draw suspicion, like two pairs of feet. Unfortunately, Jordan¡¯s quick thinking meant Jordan¡¯s ass was now shoved right in front of Natalie¡¯s face. Fuck, the T uniform really showed off her curves. Natalie¡¯s cock started to harden. She looked away, embarrassed. They¡¯d already performed their ¡­ energy gathering ¡­ for the day, so Natalie couldn¡¯t hide behind that excuse. Plus, she¡¯d been pretty thoroughly drained. She didn¡¯t need a second session. They stayed like that, awkwardly, until the woman left. They were alone in the bathroom. Jordan leaned back against the the stall door. Natalie put her feet down. Her cock pushed against her skirt, making an obvious bulge. Flushing, Natalie adjusted it so it sat down, less noticeable. Jordan quirked an eyebrow at her. ¡°Hey,¡± Natalie said. ¡°It¡¯s not my fault you¡¯ve got two girls¡¯ worth of ass.¡± Like usual, Natalie¡¯s embarrassment had spurred her on. She almost regretted the words, but then Jordan smirked. ¡°You say that, but you didn¡¯t pay it much attention, did you? You were supposed to be thorough with your groping.¡± ¡°I was going to,¡± Natalie said pointedly, ¡°but then you turned around and started humping me, if you haven¡¯t forgotten.¡± Jordan shrugged, nonchnt. ¡°Be quicker next time.¡± She brushed forward. ¡°As we were saying, though. Picking your next skill. I¡¯ve been wondering¡ªdo you think making it bigger does anything?¡± ¡°Uh. What do you mean?¡± ¡°More than just size. [Heavy Weaponry] has to have a practical effect, too, right? Maybe something that¡¯s not stated outright? Plenty of skills are like that.¡± ¡°No clue.¡± ¡°It would make sense. Though, I haven¡¯t a clue what the effect would be. Maybe a bigger tool gives more energy?¡± ¡°So you think I should go for that next?¡± ¡°Probably not,¡± Jordan admitted. ¡°Just musing. I think you should put a bit into Harvest, see how much it advances. Then, if it¡¯s a long ways away, work on upgrading everything else from one to two. Or ¡­ we¡¯ll make that judgmentter. But we need to know how far from progression three you are.¡± She paused. ¡°I wonder what the next ¡®tier¡¯ is.¡± From ¡®fondling¡¯. Natalie could see a few possibilities. Oral? Orgasm of any sort? Straight to pration? Maybe something more specific, like a thighjob. Fuck, a thighjob. Would Jordan let her? Natalie really, really shouldn¡¯t think about it. Natalie closed her eyes, then did as Jordan suggested, funneling energy to [Carnal Harvest]. Only a few points ¡­ and the image of pink liquid sloshing into an orb appeared in her mind. It barely scratched the surface. She opened her eyes. ¡°It¡¯s like you said,¡± Natalie said. ¡°A few points barely did anything.¡± ¡°Then you might as well work on your other skills. You¡¯ll need more partners before you have a reasonable way to reach the next Harvest tier.¡± More partners. Yeah ¡­ she still needed to figure out how she was going to go about that. 1.25 – The Guilds 1.25 ¨C The Guilds Fortunately, Jordan¡¯s n worked. Once she was appropriate for leaving the bathroom, the dark stain mostly dried¡ªto the point of being less noticeable, at least¡ªshe went and changed pants, then returned to Natalie with a fresh skirt from her locker. Changed, Natalie stuffed the ruined one in her backpack. Getting it clean was going to be a headache. Maybe she¡¯d end up throwing it away, and deal with being down one. Eventually, she¡¯d have enough tokens to buy a fresh set¡ªthough T uniforms weren¡¯t cheap. Overall, a minor headache. Though ¡­ maybe worth it, considering how it had happened. After escaping the bathroom without drawing any eyes because of the mishap, she had to deal with the other inconveniences the debacle had resulted in. The stickiness on her legs and thighs. So, a shower. It was less of an ordeal than she had feared, taking an afternoon shower rather than one early in the morning. There were two others in the block she picked, and while she had to carry her change of clothes into the shower stall while mostly clothed¡ªunlike the seeming norm of undressing at the lockers¡ªnobody gave her an odd look for doing so. As she¡¯d thought, being a mild prude wasn¡¯t something anyone particrly cared about. Maybe eventually someone would say something ¡­ but then again, probably not. So maybe even she could even sleep in, rather than waking so early like she had. Except ¡­ no, she had other reasons to be starting the day early. Her ¡®relief¡¯. Her libido did, clearly, need to be kept in check. The skirt was better at hiding her issue than tight pants, but still not perfect. Ignoring her problem wouldn¡¯t make it go away, and indeed, would only make things worse. So, it might be best to continue waking up early and relieving herself. Dressed and ready to go out again¡ªsince there was still several hours before curfew¡ªshe met Jordan at her barracks, who had likewise showered and changed into something more casual. They set off for their first item of business: the role guilds. The role guilds were odd institutions. Like Harper had touched on, they¡¯d been more critical in old days¡ªhad been closer to entities of themselves, and persisted even past graduation. Now, at least from what she had heard, they weren¡¯t much more than ¡­ Well, fraternities. They still had a practical purpose for existing: they were conglomeration points for simrly-ssed individuals to mingle. Harper had specifically mentioned working¡¯ inside the role guild¡ªwho better to learn your ss than from peers with a ss simr to yours? And even if skills didn¡¯t match up to a ¡®typical role¡¯, the role itself had independent principles to learn. A tank needed to draw attention and keep teammates safe; how to do each could be taught, in some regard, independently of skills and ss. Jordan¡¯s role was determined: rogue. Natalie¡¯s, however, was more in flux. Funny enough, as her ss evolved, she might find herself falling into any of the other four roles that Jordan didn¡¯t fill: tank, fighter, mage, or healer. Thest two were unlikely; almost certainly it would be tank or fighter. For now, she intended to check out all four guilds. Why not? If nothing else, she¡¯d get to meet people and learn more about T. Eventually, Natalie would have to lock herself into no more than two guilds¡ªso, probably fighter and tank, or tank and mage¡ªbut since the year had just started, the guilds were recruiting, and expecting neers to be feeling the various groups out. It wouldn¡¯t be odd if she looked around several. The guild halls were separated from the campus, a decent¡ªthough not overly long¡ªhike from everything else. Their istion, Natalie suspected, was at least somewhat intentional. Even she had heard how much trouble the guilds got into. As she¡¯d mused over, in the modern day and age, they were effectively frats, as much as they were the guilds of old. The parties thrown in the various guildhalls were allegedly legendary. T¡¯s student body knew how to both work hard and y hard. Again, likely a by-product of a stressful,petitive environment. As the guilds came into view, Natalie¡¯s eyebrows raised, and Jordan hummed in appreciation. The five buildings ringing the enormous open area¡ªthe Union za¡ªwere impressive even by T standards. Each of the five guilds sat at the point of a five-tip paved star¡ªthe za. More than any individual structure¡¯s grandness, though, it was their dissimrity to each other: the character behind each. Certain roles tended to attract certain sorts of people, and she could almost make out those stereotypes in the construction of each hall. Each had its own thematic color: green for healer, gray for tank, blue for mage, red for fighter, and ck for rogue. Likewise, each guildhall flew a prominent g from the tops of their buildings, adorned with the simplistic¡ªyet striking¡ªicons associated to the role. The caduceus, a tower shield, a wizard¡¯s hat, an axe, and a wicked curved dagger. These symbols weremon for adventurers and delvers alike¡ªthey were the symbols imprinted on badges that dered a person¡¯s role, used the world over. However, the gs were more elegant, more detailed than their moremon counterparts. The bare-bones symbols were expanded upon with a flourish. Honestly, some bordered on gaudy. The mage¡¯s g especially; the top and bottom were lined with gold bands, and speckling the wizard¡¯s hat were arcane symbols¡ªcrescent moons, stars, and odder¡ªof various sorts. Mages did tend to be a pretentious sort, from what Natalie had seen. But maybe that was her bitterness speaking, because of how utterly incapable she was when it came to spellcasting. Easy to call them pretentious nerds and be done with it. She¡¯d have to get over that. She¡¯d probably be asking plenty of mage-guild members for help over theing weeks, months, and years. Since tank was the role Natalie would be filling for the party she, Jordan, and Sofia were cobbling together, she headed that way after saying her goodbyes with Jordan; Jordan, obviously, went for the rogue¡¯s guild. Natalie admired the tank¡¯s guildhall as she approached. Each structure was impressive, but in different ways. The tank¡¯s guildhall was, expectedly, stoic. It was a fortress more than a building, a b of carved gray stone, crentions and battlements lining the top. Windows were covered by thick iron bars, and the front door was nked on either side by two statues: both hunkered down, shield raised against an unseen blow. As she finished climbing the steps, she peered around to catch a glimpse of their faces, but thick helms hid them from sight. It was odd how much emotion was packed into the statues, even so. She didn¡¯t linger; she finished walking into the guildhall proper, carried along by the steady stream of other students. She was hardly the only freshmen to havee checking out the guilds, having finished with uniform fittings. Inside, she blinked around at what she saw. 1.26 – Prowl 1.26 ¨C Prowl The exterior of the guild had been medieval, appropriately stereotypical of tanks and impressive at once, but inside ¡­ inside was, well, mundane. Typically modern¡ªthe same as the rest of campus. Natalie had somehow expected the stoic design to have carried on to the interior. Though, she supposed, that would¡¯ve been inconvenient. This was a functional building, however much the showmanship of the Union za and five guildhalls suggested otherwise. A banner streamed from one wall to the other, reading, ¡®WELCOME FRESHMEN!¡¯. Too mundane. Natalie had gotten her expectations up, seeing the guild¡¯s outward presentation. Natalie had barely trailed into the lobby before somebody appeared next to her, slinging their arm onto her shoulder. She didn¡¯t tense, though maybe someone like Jordan would have¡ªNatalie didn¡¯t have much problems with people being touchy, though she wouldn¡¯t say she liked it. ¡°Good to see you, frosh,¡± the boy¡ªprobably a member of the guild, a recruiter of some sort¡ªsaid. ¡°You¡¯ve made the right choice, joining the tank¡¯s guild.¡± Natalie eyed the arm draped on her shoulder, then raised an eyebrow at him. He had a sideways grin stered on his face, and shaggy blond hair. Blunt features¡ªhandsome, rugged, straightforwardly masculine. He had wide shoulders and a powerful build, evenpared to most T students ¡­ one which did little to nothing for her, considering her terminal case of gayness, but which exined his easy confidence. Natalie could tell a boy who wasn¡¯t used to rejection. At Natalie¡¯s raised eyebrow, he didn¡¯t remove his arm, only grinned wider. So she removed it for him, shaking it off. He didn¡¯t take offense, so that was some sort of credit to him. ¡°I made the right choice?¡± she repeated. ¡°That¡¯s hopeful. I¡¯m just looking around.¡± ¡°Nah, I can tell a tank when I see one. You¡¯re more refined than those rabid dogs we call neighbors.¡± The fighter¡¯s guild was to the left of tank¡¯s guild¡ªtheir ¡®neighbor¡¯. Natalie found herself giving the boy an amused look. More refined? Her? ¡°Well, you¡¯ve got a horrible read on people,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m more fighter than tank. Just, my ss means I might be better suited here.¡± The boy hummed. ¡°Well, then the tank¡¯s guild could always use a new perspective,¡± he said, pivoting easily. ¡°Some fire in its ranks. So, I¡¯m d you¡¯re leaning toward us. You won¡¯t regret it.¡± Natalie found herself entertained at how easily he had adjusted his opinion: from ¡®rabid dogs¡¯ to ¡®some fire could be a good thing¡¯. His twinkling eyes told Natalie he knew exactly what he was doing. Not a person afraid of saying whatever he needed in order to sway someone. Shameless about it, too. ¡°Why would you even care?¡± She knew the guilds did their best to recruit, but for what reason? ¡°You get something for having more members?¡± ¡°More funding, to name one.¡± He leaned in conspiratorially. ¡°Which means bigger parties. But more than that ¡­¡± he looked her up and down, slowly, then shed another smile. ¡°Well, the more the merrier, right?¡± Natalie figured she ought to say it. She knew what was happening ¡­ if the wiggle of his eyebrows that had apanied thest statement, and his not-so-polite up and down, hadn¡¯t made it clear. ¡°I¡¯m gay.¡± He didn¡¯t miss a beat. ¡°How strictly?¡± ¡°Very?¡± He swiveled, changing directions. Natalie swerved with him. Somehow, she hadn¡¯t even realized she¡¯d been following him further into the lobby. He¡¯d swept her up in his wake, Natalie falling into step naturally. She wasn¡¯t attracted to him, but he had a maism of a different sort. A passive leadership, that made her follow. That was a tank for you. Most tanks were their party¡¯s leader. ¡°Well, then, Sammy will take great care of you,¡± he said. ¡°Have fun!¡± He patted her on the back then was gone before she registered what had happened. A blonde girl stood next to Natalie, looking even more bewildered than Natalie herself. ¡°But ¡­ I¡¯m not doing freshmen tours ¡­¡± Sammy trailed off. She looked at Natalie. ¡°Um. Why did Alden leave you with me?¡± Natalie took Sammy in, though more subtly than Alden had her. She was tall and powerful-looking, as Alden was¡ªas many tanks were. Alden¡¯s width and defined arms were nice in abstract, aesthetic way, but on Sammy? Natalie was much more appreciative. Combining that build with soft curves and golden locks framing a round face and a blocky, prominent nose, which, despite maybe not being conventionally attractive, kind of did something for her. Natalie was a fan. ¡°Let¡¯s see,¡± Natalie said. ¡°He hit on me, twice, so I told him I was gay. Two secondster, he dropped me off with you. So ¡­ I can make a few guesses.¡± Sammy flushed, then red at the blond boy¡¯s back, who was prowling through the guild¡¯s entry hall, looking for new prey. Natalie respected his singr focus, if nothing else. And, though it¡¯d been rude to take interest in Natalie then dump her, he hadn¡¯t particrly tried toe off as ¡®friendly¡¯ in a normal way. He¡¯d epted her rebuffs easily, too. Still kind of annoying to be treated like that, but it didn¡¯t form a horrible image of him. He was out for blood. Wasn¡¯t Natalie, too, considering her ss? She¡¯d be a hypocrite to be too annoyed. ¡°I¡¯ll kill him,¡± Sammy said, still boring holes into his back. ¡°He¡¯s such a lecher. We¡¯re supposed to be introducing everyone to the guild, not finding hook-ups.¡± ¡°Well ¡­¡± Natalie said slowly. ¡°Him trying was annoying. But if you did, I might not mind.¡± Sammy turned to Natalie, eyes widening at the frankness. She looked at Natalie in a new light, then down at her clipboard. She tucked it behind her back and smiled. ¡°Well. I suppose one tour wouldn¡¯t be a bad thing, even if it¡¯s not what I¡¯m supposed to be doing. You wanna take a look around?¡± Natalie grinned. Straightforward did tend to work out for her. ¡°Sure. Sounds fun.¡± She had expected checking out the guilds to not be too interesting, but after this development, things were looking up. 1.27 – Tour 1.27 ¨C Tour ¡°Okay,¡± Sammy said. ¡°So. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve heard a lot about the guilds, and it¡¯s my job to clear things up. What do you think of them?¡± Sammy had guided Natalie out of therge entry hall, where freshmen candidates had been swarming the various tables ready to be greeted by guild officials. It seemed Natalie had skipped the line through an odd, if fortunate, series of events. And she was getting a full tour, rather than the casual, canned discussions she¡¯d been hearing back at the hall. ¡°What do I think of them?¡± ¡°Like, in general.¡± She shrugged. ¡°Your perception.¡± Natalie thought about it. Well, Harper had been pretty frank, so her appraisal was probably the right one. ¡°They¡¯re ces to socialize and train with people who fill a simr role to you, practically speaking. But ¡­ they¡¯re basically frats, besides that. Or sororities. Whatever the co-ed term is. Party houses,¡± she finallynded on. Sammy gave her an amused look. ¡°If this was an official tour, this is where I¡¯d tell you no. That you¡¯re wrong. And on the record ¡­ I did.¡± She winked, then took a stern voice. ¡°The guilds are professional organizations, and we don¡¯t throw parties, we throw ¡®school pride¡¯ events.¡± ¡°The getting hammered part is coincidental.¡± ¡°Officially, yes,¡± Sammy said, grinning. ¡°But no, really. Even if we have lots of members join who only care about ¡­ our less professional side, that doesn¡¯t mean we don¡¯t have anything to offer.¡± They¡¯d been walking through a wide hallway, and now Sammy veered them to the left, through a set of open double doors. ¡°For example!¡± she said cheerfully. ¡°The library. Honestly, it might be the mostprehensive collection of books in the country, for our specific niche. Delvingmentary,bat styles, ss and role duties, anything you could imagine when ites to tanking. And plenty of general advice, encyclopedias, and so on, too.¡± Natalie blinked around at the shelves piled with tomes of misceneous size and color. Like the rest of the guild, the room was in good order: clean, organized, and well-lit ¡­ though the iron-bar windows were a bit out-of-theme with the interior. Like Sammy said, it was a staggering collection. Many timesrger than what could be found back at a town like Tinford, so Natalie was more impressed than the average T neer. ¡°Though, if I¡¯m being honest,¡± Sammy said, ¡°the library doesn¡¯t see much use. Probably more than the fighter¡¯s guild does, but our sort tends to be a hands-on type. Still, the amount of insight in these pages couldst lifetimes. I really ought to get in here more often ¡­¡± The words piqued Natalie¡¯s interest, because, she realized, if there was a ce she could find information on pdin sses¡ªhow exactly patrons worked, if they ¡®worked¡¯ at all¡ªit would be here. Or if not here, then T¡¯s main library, or one of the other guild libraries. But the tank¡¯s guild, a certain possibility. Not that it was high on her list of priorities, but having somewhere to start was nice. ¡°How do you find what you need?¡± Natalie asked, walking up and inspecting the nearest shelf. A Study of Armor Durability and Maintenance, one dark-blue spine read. The one next to that was, The Mechanics of Defensive Equipment: Form, Function, Design. ¡°We follow the same decimal system the rest of campus does. Though ¡­ sometimes things get misced. You might have to do some hunting if you¡¯re looking for something specific.¡± ¡°Decimal system?¡± Sammy tapped the bottom of a book spine, drawing Natalie¡¯s eyes to a series of numbers scrawled on a white slip. ¡°There¡¯s a catalog at the front desk, if you want to hunt manually. But it¡¯d be easier to ask Nelle or Fay. Those are our librarians.¡± ¡°Two? For this whole mess?¡± ¡°T handles most of the inventory stuff. Nelle and Fay just deal with ¡­ our half of responsibilities.¡± She shrugged, as if she didn¡¯t know exactly what that entailed. ¡°Do you have to be a member? To check anything out?¡± ¡°To even get in here, actually,¡± Sammy confirmed. ¡°We¡¯re open for freshmen, today, and the next few days, but after that, members only.¡± She wasn¡¯t surprised. Hoarding information had been a way of life for the guilds, back in the day. Less so in the modern age, but not entirely gone. Knowledge was power, as the saying went. Why share with thepetition? ¡°Which actually segues to the main point,¡± Sammy said. ¡°Membership, and what you get.¡± Natalie nodded, prompting her to continue. ¡°There¡¯s actually two tiers,¡± Sammy said. ¡°Everyone on campus has to align with a guild, but most people, it¡¯s a superficial rtionship.¡± ¡°So, members in name only,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Then, there¡¯s full members. Like you. People who work for the guild?¡± She smirked. ¡°The frat-sh-sorority members.¡± Sammy, like before when Natalie¡¯d called the guild that, seemed amused. ¡°You really shouldn¡¯t call us that. Especially if you join. We have an act to keep up.¡± Natalie snorted. ¡°But yeah,¡± Sammy said. ¡°Full members. Being aligned¡ª¡®half members¡¯¡ªmeans you get ess to the training rooms, library, and other basic utilities, but being a full member is ¡­ well, a job, but with benefits. Depending on your position in the guild, you could get a room,¡± she gestured above them, toward the ceiling, where Natalie could guess the bedrooms were, ¡°a token stipend, ess to the treasury, and ¡­ well, a bunch of other stuff.¡± ¡°Treasury?¡± ¡°Amunal one,¡± Sammy said. ¡°I guess it¡¯s not even the first day for you guys, so you haven¡¯t gotten the T tour. You¡¯ll need to rent out a treasury room, assuming you don¡¯t want to sell everything the moment you get it. If you¡¯re a full member of the guild, you can store stuff in ours.¡± She hesitated. ¡°Though, if you¡¯re storing a bunch of junk, some of the upper years would probably get annoyed. Even if we have plenty of space.¡± She shrugged. ¡°Huh,¡± Natalie said. It sounded useful, even if she didn¡¯t know she was sold on trying to be a full member. She already knew she¡¯d probably align with the tank¡¯s guild, but further? She didn¡¯t know. ¡°And what¡¯s it take to get in?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a few things. Minimum academic standards, your job responsibilities, whatever they are, and stuff like this.¡± ¡°This?¡± ¡°Event days. Showing the newbies around, or ¡­ whatever else is going on, where the guilds need a presence.¡± ¡°And how often¡¯s that happen?¡± ¡°Not super, but not rare, either. Every few weeks? But you don¡¯t need to go to every one. It doesn¡¯t cut into your time too bad. T wants us delving, first and foremost. But it¡¯s not a free ride, either. It¡¯s work.¡± Natalie hummed in consideration. ¡°Doesn¡¯t sound awful, I guess.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not.¡± She shrugged. ¡°But I¡¯m biased. I picked it, didn¡¯t I?¡± She gave a sheepish smile. ¡°And, there¡¯s a few extra benefits. Being on the ground floor for ¡­ whatever¡¯s going on, can be nice.¡± ¡°The parties,¡± Natalie said. Sammy nodded. ¡°Like I said, it¡¯s poor form to say it out loud, but it¡¯s half the reason most of us join up.¡± She gave Natalie a pointed look. ¡°It can be hard to get alcohol onto campus, you know. Security looksx, but it¡¯s really not. So ¡­¡± She raised her eyebrows, emphasizing the point, though Natalie just found it funny how she was tiptoeing. ¡°And you¡¯re at the parties, often?¡± Natalie asked. Sammy grinned. ¡°Oh, here and there. Everyone needs a break once in a while.¡± ¡°When¡¯s the next?¡± Then, even more forwardly, ¡°The next you¡¯ll be at, I mean.¡± Sammy just gave her an amused look. ¡°I see through you, freshman. You¡¯re just trying to get out of the barracks for a night.¡± She quirked a teasing eyebrow. ¡°But I suppose I¡¯m feeling benevolent. There¡¯s one tomorrow, and maybe I¡¯ll give you a ce to stay, if things turn out.¡± Natalie grinned. She liked the sound of that. ¡°Sounds like a n.¡± She wasn¡¯t excited just because her ss was encouraging this. Sammy was cute, friendly, and honestly, a good connection to have, considering her ce in the guild. Natalie¡¯d gotten lucky, being guided her way by that blond boy. ¡°Anyway,¡± Sammy said, coloring slightly at the bluntness of the exchange. ¡°Let¡¯s keep the tour going.¡± ¡°You said there¡¯s training rooms?¡± ¡°Sure. Let¡¯s go check them out.¡± 1.28 – Closing Introspection 1.28 ¨C Closing Introspection Sammy¡¯s toursted a half-hour more. She seemed frustrated about having to cut it off, but she ¡®really did have something she was supposed to be doing¡¯ and couldn¡¯t entertain Natalie all night. Her assigned duty for today¡¯s freshmen hadn¡¯t been tours, as she¡¯d said earlier¡ªand one-on-one tours weren¡¯t really a thing anyway¡ªbut had made an exception for Natalie, taking interest. Which was great news. Natalie suspected tomorrow night, during the first party of the year¡ªsorry, ¡®school pride event¡¯¡ªshe¡¯d be getting lucky. There¡¯d definitely been chemistry between them. Though not especially of a romantic kind ¡­ but that wasn¡¯t either of them were looking for, she thought. How lucky? She guessed she¡¯d be finding out. But she all but had an open invitation to stay in Sammy¡¯s room, so unless she fucked things up, her night ought to turn out well. As for Natalie¡¯s problem¡ªthe thing between her legs¡ªwell, she¡¯d handle that as it came. Jordan had taken it in stride, but she was Jordan. Would other girls be fine with it? That was assuming she even got that far. But she thought she would. Sammy¡¯s intentions¡ªand Natalie¡¯s¡ªhad been pretty clear. After the tank¡¯s guild tour, Natalie, as nned, checked out the other guild halls. Fortunately, or unfortunately, none were as interesting as her adventure with Sammy. It was, however, amusing¡ªand intriguing¡ªseeing each of the guild¡¯s personalities. Individuals were individuals, of course, but each guild had a specific air about them: both on therge scale and the small scale. The fighter¡¯s guild was simr to the tank¡¯s, but louder, more rambunctious ¡­ Sammy had mentioned that while the fighter¡¯s guild¡¯s parties were worth attending, you had to be aware that more property damage and injury happened there than the other four guildsbined. Safety definitely not guaranteed, when things got going. Which was a selling point to some, Natalie, honestly, included. It sounded like fun. Apparently, it was a recurring minigame to escape the campus enforcers when they showed up to quiet things down. Natalie loved that sort of chaos. The mage¡¯s guild, and thest of the buildings she visited¡ªNatalie decided she would check out the healer¡¯s guild if a skill developed for that branch, but not until then¡ªhad the most subdued atmosphere. Unsurprisingly, most mages were academics of varying sorts; the representatives hosting the freshmen weing events for the tank and fighter¡¯s guilds had been loud and extroverted, but for the most part, the mage¡¯s guild spoke in quiet, polite tones, moving about in a stiff, if expeditious manner. Her trip there was the shortest. Depending on how Natalie¡¯s ss developed, it was likely that she¡¯d end up enrolled at the mage¡¯s guild. Though, she¡¯d learned through her talks with Sammy that there were more politics at y between the guilds than she¡¯d thought. T allowed students to enroll at two, but students looked down on it; there was tribe mentality at y, and especially between specific guilds. The tanks and fighters stuck together in much the same way the mages and healers did; the rogues, as always, stood apart, the third point to the trinary system. But even among tanks and fighters, dual enrollment was met with disapproval. She could do it, sure, and in fact she might have to, because the mage¡¯s guild would have information she¡¯d want to sort through, but if she wanted smooth sailing in the tank¡¯s guild she¡¯d have to not. Maybe she could make a friend in the mage¡¯s guild, and get ess to their library that way? Natalie thought the whole situation was kind of stupid. Who cared if someone was in two guilds? But she also understood, kind of. There wasfort in banding together¡ªin pack mentality. The event took up most of the evening. It was dark when Natalie set out back to the barracks. She settled down for bed early, before the lights had even gone out. She did have an early wake-up tomorrow, considering her decided-upon morning routine. Early showers, where she could be alone ¡­ and where she wouldn¡¯t be caught taking care of her problem. Settled down in bed, pajamas donned and rm set, she stared up at the ceiling and considered her future. Not intentionally, but because how couldn¡¯t she? Today had been packed, and had been the first full day away from home. That was where her thoughts wandered first: home. She wondered how Mom and Dad were doing. For all Mom¡¯s wailing at the train station, she had to be somewhat grateful for having the house empty. Though, she was definitely worried for Natalie¡¯s safety. T had outwardly seemed not far from a regr university campus¡ªwhich was hrious, because Natalie, going to university?¡ªbut the truth was, she¡¯d be seeing the reality of the situation shortly. This was a school designed to create hardened delvers ¡­ Natalie was pretty sure a normal university didn¡¯t have a death rate roughly equal to its wash out rate. The good news was, she¡¯d made a friend of sorts through Sammy. A contact, at least. She¡¯d need to make more of those. She hadn¡¯t bumped into any of the ¡®politics¡¯ that T was infamous for, but she suspected that was because sses hadn¡¯t actually started. It would be nice if Natalie could get away from it all. As a nobody from a nowhere town, she might be able to, right? The politicking of the major houses was pervasive, but it would be a load off her shoulders if she could simply sidestep aligning herself with any of them. Though that came with its own problems. Having allies¡ªeven if it meant having enemies¡ªmight be better than cutting herself off from it all. She sighed, knowing it was sure to be a headache. Eventually, the lights shut off and the bustle of the barracks slowed. With so many people, and no strictly enforced sleeping hours, there remained a low buzz of noise ¡­ but Natalie¡¯s tiredness eventually overtook her. 2.01 – Facility 2.01 ¨C Facility Finally, the first real day begun. T¡¯s training facility was an enormous, sprawling structure, thergest of any Natalie had seen so far. Which made sense. T was, at its core, abat academy. So this structure¡ªthe training facility¡ªwas the cornerstone of T: where students learned how to maximize their abilities and survive in the brutal kinds of life-and-deathbat that pervaded dungeoneering. The grounds sprawled much past the facility, too. Natalie and Jordan passed students in a variety of routines: spars, warm ups, conditioning, or whatever else. The upperssmen were easy to spot, and not just because of the distinguishing badge affixed to their right shoulder: ck, for ¡®fourth year¡¯, where Natalie and Jordan wore green for ¡®first¡¯. They moved in a blur, faster than Natalie¡¯s eyes could track ¡­ and fought inside reinforced sparring rings, where shimmering magical shields rebuffed their attacks with sparkling fanfare. Natalie could feel the impacts of their blows, even if she couldn¡¯t see all of them, with how fast they moved. That kind of strength was what awaited Natalie, assuming she made it to T¡¯s upper years. It was hard to wrap her head around. Each of their blows could probably bend metal. Natalie didn¡¯t know how hard it was to make those defensive shields tremble, but some of thebatants were doing just that. Inside the training facility, she and Jordan beelined for the map. They weren¡¯t the only first-semester student there: a small crowd huddled around the board, either looking for their destination, or inspecting what sorts of equipment were avable to them. The first portion of the morning was theirs to do with as they wanted. Combat sses started at nine thirty. As first years, many of the facilities were closed off to them. T¡¯s resources were vast, but not unlimited. Most of the groundbreaking facilities were reserved for the upperssmen¡ªthough lower-year students could schedule their usage during specific hours. But walk-in usage during morning training was reserved for the students who had earned it. Natalie was interested in using some of the fancier equipment and facilities. There was, apparently, a room that actually simted dungeon monsters. How, she hadn¡¯t a clue¡ªbut it was apparently realistic, and hosted a whole variety ofmon monsters. She doubted she¡¯d get to use it any time soon. It was one of the more premier tools, and the upper years had priority. ¡°Heading to the mage hall?¡± Jordan asked. ¡°Yeah,¡± Natalie said, somewhat reluctantly. She didn¡¯t have much choice, there. She¡¯d rather join Jordan in a physical training routine, but it was clear as day that wasn¡¯t the aspect of her ss she needed to improve. Her [Illusion] spell needed practice more than anything else. And spellcasting fundamentals in general, assuming she would receive others spells in the future. Seeing how she¡¯d gotten one at level one, that seemed safe to assume. Having memorized their destinations, she and Jordan split up. Natalie walked through twisting halls, peering in through ss windows at students in various stages and intensity of their warm-up or training regiments. Arriving at the mage section of the building, Natalie leaned against the receptionist desk. ¡°Hey,¡± she said. ¡°There¡¯s like, lessons, right?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a board over there,¡± the receptionist¡ªa name-tag identified him as Rodger¡ªsaid. ¡°But I can help you.¡± He slid over a clipboard and flipped through it. ¡°What level are you?¡± Natalie¡¯s first thought was that he meant the question literally, which would¡¯ve been an oddly intimate question, even knowing Natalie was a freshman and almost certainly level one. Levels just weren¡¯t talked about in specific terms, most of the time. But she realized a secondter he meant the question in the general sense. ¡°Uh, beginner,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Like ¡­ I didn¡¯t expect to get a ss that used magic. Starting off from scratch.¡± Rodger gave her a sympathetic look. ¡°Happens more than you¡¯d think. Let¡¯s see ¡­ we have two student instructors for beginners. Ss and Tess.¡± No faculty-level instructors, only volunteer students. That made sense. Real instructors would be leading sses for higher level training sessions, where their talents were better suited. Natalie didn¡¯t need world-ss instruction for the bare-bone basics. ¡°Tess?¡± Natalie asked, picking, naturally, the girl¡¯s name. ¡°Outside,¡± Rodger said. ¡°Pad twelve.¡± Then, looking up and seeing Natalie¡¯s nk face, he said, ¡°Out that door, all the way down, into the courtyard. There¡¯s sixteen pads in a big grid. She¡¯ll be on number twelve.¡± ¡°Gotcha,¡± Natalie said, tapping the desk. ¡°Thanks.¡± ¡°Have a nice work out,¡± he said idly. Outside, the air was chilly, biting into her. She¡¯d forgotten, having warmed up in the facility¡¯s heated interior. Still, not ufortably so, just enough Natalie rubbed her hands together absently. She preferred when it was cool out¡ªkept her focused, and was better for training, so she wasn¡¯t sweating up a storm. Which still mattered for mage training. It had a simr effect on the body as physical effort did, though not as pronounced. As Rodger had said, the outside courtyard¡ªone of many¡ªwas arranged in a huge grid of four rows of four concrete pads. The scale of the training facility really was impressive, even for T¡¯s standards. She found her way to block twelve. There were a few students gathered there, already. Like usual, she could tell a group of mages. Mages had a tendency to seem frail when stacked up against their tank and fighter counterparts. And theycked the lean muscture of a rogue, too. The flimsiest looking role by a significant margin, besides maybe healers. A spindly-looking girl was the worst of the bunch; she looked like she¡¯d blow away with the wind. Natalie¡¯s biceps might be bigger than her thighs, and Natalie wasn¡¯t especially bulky. More so than most girls, obviously, having grown up fighting and training till she was exhausted, day in and day out, but she was, ultimately, still a girl. It was hard to pack on the same amount of muscle boys could. That gender disparity vanished quickly as a person leveled up, and muscles mattered less ¡­ but the gap existed as a level one. She was looking forward to it not. It wouldn¡¯t take long. Only a few levels, even¡ªby three or four, the difference would have disappeared entirely. There were two students of the collected eight that didn¡¯t have the typical ¡®academic¡¯ look of a mage. Likely, they were the ones in Natalie¡¯s situation. Though, it made Natalie wonder why the mage-looking students were in the beginner¡¯s course, without her excuse? Natalie sucked at magic, but she was good in a fight. For any number of reasons, she guessed. Everyone had a story. Tess¡ªthe student instructor¡ªarrived sharply at 8:00. 2.02 – Fumble 2.02 ¨C Fumble ¡°Okay, everyone, settle down. My name is Tess, and I¡¯ll be your instructor this morning.¡± Her words were loud and clear, cutting through the two pockets of chatting students. ¡°Just to make sure everyone is in the right ce, this is an introductory session, where we¡¯ll be doing a quick overview of the fundamentals of spellcasting before moving to self-guided practice, where I¡¯ll walk around and help where I can. Good?¡± Tess surveyed the concrete pad with a slow gaze, making sure nobody had ended up in her lesson by ident. ¡°Good. Now, line up, will you?¡± She waved her hand in a swishing motion, indicated for them to organize in a half circle. They did so. ¡°That¡¯s better,¡± Tess said. ¡°Now, let me preface this by saying there¡¯s only so much I can do. A general lesson is impossible. Everyone¡¯s system is unique, and it¡¯s on you to discover your spells'' quirks and most efficient uses. I¡¯m here to help where I can, but there¡¯s many of you, one of me. This is assisted self-learning, as I said. Not a one-on-one apprenticeship.¡± Cool grays eyes scanned over the assembled first years. Tess had a stern, though not unfriendly, demeanor. She stood with her hands behind her back, chin tilted slightly up, and wearing an impassive expression. She had ck hair done up in a tight bun, and brown skin¡ªa darker shade, the sort of color found moremonly in Lircann than Valhaur. Her sses were thin-rimmed, round, andrge. Though she was an instructor in an informal way¡ªa student volunteer¡ªshe had the air of someone who did this for a living. The red badge on her shoulder indicated ¡®third year¡¯. Obviously, the badge on her other shoulder bore the icon and color of a mage: blue, with a wizard¡¯s hat. Engraved on the same badge, a bold, noticeable ¡®II¡¯. A mid-ranker ¡­ likely somewhere from level six to ten. As expected from a T third year. ¡°But,¡± Tess said, ¡°despite that each of our methods of spellcasting will have their own quirks, there is amonality in all processes. First, the focus state, and second, the drawing of mana. The third stage¡ªspell activation¡ªis where we diverge. For now, let¡¯s focus on the first two.¡± Unfortunately, Natalie was a disaster at all stages, not just the portion of spellcasting specific to her ss. She knew the basics of magic, and nothing Tess had said hade as a surprise. Natalie had learned years ago that she was awful at the intense focus required to start drawing mana¡ªand even worse at unstructured magic, the portion of spellcasting where skills and sses weren¡¯t required. For that type of casting, it took Natalie immense effort and energy to even manage the simplest of spells. Fortunately, skill-based spells were much easier. She could get [Illusion] to trigger, but not fluidly, not as potently as she¡¯d want, and not in chaotic environments where her attention was focused on more important things, like an opponent swinging a sword at her. Which meant it was fairly useless, as things stood. Seeing how spars wereing up in just an hour and a half, that wasn¡¯t great. Tess talked the group through the first two stages. The usual advice was given: steady her thoughts, breathe evenly, focus on the enigmatic core of energy deep in her stomach. Then, form an image in her mind of extracting and molding the energy. Natalie did poorly, as usual. After a few rounds of that, Tess indicated for them to practice the full process themselves, stating that she¡¯d go around and help in the finer details of thest stage. Time passed. Before Natalie knew it, she¡¯d worked up a sweat. She managed to get [Illusion] to trigger a few times, though to typical mediocre results. She was halfway through stumbling through the process the fifth or sixth time when Tess arrived at her side. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t close your eyes,¡± shemented. ¡°It doesn¡¯t help as much as you think, and isn¡¯t something you can get away with in a fight.¡± ¡°Gee,¡± Natalie snapped, the spell fizzling at the break in her concentration. ¡°Never would¡¯ve guessed.¡± Tess raised her eyebrows, and Natalie¡ªthough incensed¡ªimmediately felt bad. ¡°Sorry. This is just¡ª¡° she huffed, and threw her hands up. ¡°Well. You know.¡± ¡°Not your specialty, I¡¯m taking it.¡± Tess didn¡¯t seem upset at Natalie¡¯s irritation. She mostly seemed amused, and a tad sympathetic. ¡°Hybrid ss?¡± ¡°Pdin,¡± Natalie answered. Tess hummed. ¡°You¡¯ll get the hang of it. You just have to bash it into your skull until it¡¯s second nature. It¡¯s a process we all go through.¡± A thought flicked through her head, one Natalie recognized as arrogance. She wasn¡¯t used to having to wait for something to be second nature. Which wasn¡¯t to say she was good at anything she tried to do, but the path she¡¯d chosen¡ªfighting¡ªshe¡¯d never had to struggle with. She¡¯d pushed to be the best she could, of course, but it hadn¡¯t been a struggle for adequacy. Rather, excellence. Struggling to not be horrible was ¡­ kind of frustrating. ¡°If you want to share the skill,¡± Tess said, ¡°I might be able to offer some tips.¡± ¡°Illusion,¡± Natalie said. No point in keeping such an obvious skill a secret. And, she desperately did need some tips. ¡°Visual and auditory, but only small.¡± Tess considered this. She gestured for Natalie to try again. ¡°Let¡¯s see it.¡± 2.03 – Mace 2.03 ¨C Mace ¡°Hm,¡± Tess said. ¡°You keep gravitating to gestures.¡± ¡°I know.¡± Natalie had to stop herself from snapping at the other girl. Tess was actually patient and overall pleasant, not pushy or condescending, but Natalie¡¯s continued ipetence made it hard to keep her temper in check. ¡°I¡¯m trying not to.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Why?¡± Natalie was taken aback by the question. ¡°Because ¡­ it¡¯s bad?¡± ¡°Why is it bad?¡± Great. She was being prodded to figure something out. Tess¡¯s tone made that clear enough. ¡°Because being able to cast with your head is better for versatility.¡± ¡°Sure,¡± Tess said easily. ¡°That¡¯s the general advice. But what did I say about general advice?¡± ¡°That it doesn¡¯t apply to everyone. But this does, doesn¡¯t it?¡± Natalie had no intentions of half-assing the learning process and falling back on crutches, even if she was struggling. ¡°But you¡¯re a hands-on girl,¡± Tess pointed out. ¡°I can recognize a fighter when I see one.¡± Funny enough, that had gone both ways. ¡°And?¡± ¡°So maybe your ss expects you to use gestures,¡± Tess said. ¡°You¡¯re really gravitating to them.¡± Natalia had noticed that too. Her limbs were itching to be in motion. But everyone else was simply holding their hand out, at the most. Clearly, that was the right way to go about things. ¡°But in a fight, I¡¯ll need my hands for fighting,¡± Natalie said, trying to keep the exasperation from her voice. ¡°So even if I did better, it¡¯s pointless.¡± Tess nodded to the side of the courtyard. ¡°Go grab one.¡± Natalie blinked, then looked in the direction she¡¯d indicated. A rack sat there, hosting a collection of varied wooden weapons. ¡°Seriously?¡± Tess quirked her eyebrow. She was patient, but she also wasn¡¯t afraid to make it known she was the expert here. And who was Natalie kidding? Tess did know better. Natalie sighed, then jogged over to the rack. She surveyed the options avable to her. T had covered all bases when it came to the stockpile. Her eyes naturally fell to the blunted training sword. Swords were the mostmon fighting utensil among melee adventurers, for good reason. In trained hands, their versatility was hard to beat. But Natalie could wield most of the weapons in the rack, besides the most entric. Maces, spears, swords, polearms¡ªshe¡¯d gotten her hands on each, and trained to at least a non-embarrassing standard. Like many fighters, she¡¯d avoided locking herself into a specific weapon in case the ss she epted couldn¡¯t utilize it. She still hadn¡¯t decided, specifically, which she¡¯d stick with. Maybe she¡¯d continue to keep her options open, so that whatever weapon she found first in the dungeon, she could use. Letting fate decide had a certain appeal. It also didn¡¯t. Something one-handed might be the best choice. As a tank, odds were high she¡¯d want a shield. Not all tanks wielded one, but the majority did. So ¡­ a mace? Something simple, for now? Probably not what she¡¯d stick with forever, but Natalie let her first choice guide her. Her hand closed around the handle of a simple training mace: long smooth shaft with a heavy orb at the top. She weighed it in her hand, then shrugged. It was much lighter than it ought to be, but these were clearly weren¡¯t meant for realbat. To be used like Natalie was about to: as a simple prop in spellcasting coordination. She returned to Tess. Tess made noment over her choice of weapon. ¡°Go ahead,¡± she said, gesturing for Natalie to continue. ¡°Go ahead what?¡± ¡°You¡¯re a fighter,¡± Tess said. ¡°And you¡¯re fidgeting trying to cast. Focus, gather your mana, then let your body guide you.¡± ¡°But¡ª¡° Tess¡¯s raised eyebrows cut over furtherints. Natalie muttered, but did as told. She had to fight not to close her eyes. Whatever Tess said, it helped her focus massively. Though, her point about being horrible inbat¡ªthough obvious¡ªwas much, much more salient than simple gestures to aid in spells. Close your eyes in the middle of a spar for more than a blink, things wouldn¡¯t go well. She collected her thoughts and focused inwardly on the orb of power in her stomach. The imagery she conjured wasn¡¯t that different from her ¡®advance¡¯ skill. Instead of a pink orb, though, the essence sloshing around was blue, and she extracted rather than pushed into. It was all in her head. Each person apparently had their own mental guides to aid the process. Funny enough, Tess helped Natalie in more ways than simple advice. Natalie didn¡¯t particrly like making an idiot of herself, but triply so in front of a pretty girl. She gave the spellcasting a bit more elbow grease than usual. And no longer trying to rein in the itching desire to summon the spell through her movements, she took stance and swiped the air with her mace. Thank the heavens, the spell didn¡¯t fizzle. [Illusion] activated, and the mana she¡¯d withdraw from that imaginary orb¡ªand been holding, vibrating, somewhere in the back of her head¡ªexpended, and a bright sh of light popped in front of her. She¡¯d gone for something simple. A bright light, enough to temporarily blind, could do wonders applied at the right time in a spar. Tess blinked the sh out of her eyes, having been looking right where Natalie had been aiming. She had let the spell hit her. She was a mid-ranker, and a mage no less¡ªshe could have shrugged the simple effect if she had wanted to. ¡°That felt better?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Sure, but it¡¯s not efficient.¡± That had been the crux of her argument from the start. ¡°You think it telegraphs the spell.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think. It does.¡± ¡°And you think monsters will recognize your tells?¡± Natalie paused. It was, of course, a great point. ¡°But duels.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re a duelist?¡± ¡°Well ¡­ no. But still. And some of the smarter monsters might catch on.¡± ¡°Only if it drags long enough for them to start recognizing patterns. That¡¯s notmon down in the dungeon, even for boss fights. Besides, are tells that big a deal?¡± Natalie was learning to hate those raised eyebrows. Though, the rational part of her told her it was deserved. Tess was only stating the obvious ¡­ just, not obvious at the time. ¡°I don¡¯t think they are,¡± Tess said, answering her own question. ¡°And besides, you could have several gestures for each spell. It¡¯s not as crippling as you think. Sure, it locks you in to specific movements, but you can y around with that. Assuming someone studies your style, you can make ys based on their assumptions. Make that motion, they¡¯ll expect an illusion of some sort¡ªor that specific sh you sent. But don¡¯t, one time. At a critical moment.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± But she wasn¡¯t fully sold. Even though it sounded stupid to her own ears, she repeated the im from earlier. ¡°But everyone says gestures are a crutch.¡± ¡°It¡¯s best if you can divorce movement from spellcasting,¡± Tess conceded. ¡°In a perfect world, you would. But, really, it¡¯s not that bad. Trust me.¡± ¡°I guess.¡± ¡°Or trust your superiors,¡± Tess said. ¡°Go study the styles of some fighter-mage hybrids. You¡¯ll see that some of them¡ªeven high rankers¡ªlock certain spells to certain movements. Makes it easier to bnce physicalbat with magical.¡± Tess patted her back. ¡°It¡¯s your choice, ultimately. Keep practicing. I¡¯ve gotta help the others. If you want my opinion, let your body guide you. I¡¯ll make my way back around.¡± 2.04 – Sparring Class 2.04 ¨C Sparring ss Under Tess¡¯s tutge, Natalie made surprisingly good progress. Certainly more than she had by herself, bashing her head against a wall back at Tinford. While Titus¡ªher, Jordan, and Sofia¡¯s primary mentor¡ªknew his way around weapons, he was as poor at spellcasting as Natalie. That might¡¯ve been one of the reasons she¡¯d been hopeless at it. With proper training, she hoped she could crawl out of mediocrity. Or maybe to mediocrity, by T standards. At 9:20, a bell rang through the training facility, announcing that personal hours were over, and that it was time for Natalie to make her way to her ss for official training¡ªspars, primarily, which doubled asbat instruction. Admittedly, she was anticipatory as she trekked through the polished halls of the facility, headed for the sparring room her schedule indicated. It was time to meet her ss ¡­ the fifteen other individuals she¡¯d be spending the year with. And fighting against. Or, thirteen. She¡¯d only be meeting thirteen of them, because two, she already knew. In either a stroke of unlikely coincidence or intentional arrangement by T¡ªNatalie suspected the second¡ªshe, Jordan, and Sofia had been put in the same ss; they¡¯d noticed it at lunch byparing ssroom numbers. Sheer chance seemed unlikely, so T must have grouped them together intentionally. It was a given the process wasn¡¯t entirely random, because they needed to bnce a ssroom¡¯sposition to have a roughly equal spread of roles¡ªsome mages, some fighters, and so on. But that they lumped students together with more deliberation than justposition dide as a surprise. Not that Natalie wasining. It meant she and Jordan were in the same ss. Though, Sofia too, so not wholly ideal. But worth it, in the long run, especially since the three of them were teaming. It wasn¡¯t like Natalie hadn¡¯t already spent years tolerating her rival¡¯s presence. Just part of life, at this point. Finding the appropriately marked number, Natalie walked into the sparring room she would be bing intensely acquainted with over the following year. Naturally, Natalie¡¯s eyes sought out Jordan, who had turned to see who had arrived¡ªprobably waiting for Natalie. Natalie raised a hand in greeting, gave a begrudging nod to Sofia as well, who was next to Jordan, then scanned the rest of her ssmates as she walked over. Most had arrived, though at a brief survey, one or two hadn¡¯t. They still had a few minutes before they¡¯d bete. Natalie recognized another of her ssmates, which, considering the size of T¡¯s years, was more than she could have hoped for. It was the girl with short ck hair¡ªone bright streak of blue¡ªwho had been talking the ear off of a rather unenthusiastic-looking blonde bed-neighbor back at the barracks. Like the first time Natalie had seen her, she was chatting up a storm, and again, to someone who didn¡¯t match her eagerness in half. Though, that¡¯d be hard, considering how animated the girl was. The boy at least didn¡¯t look like he wanted to be away ¡­ he just seemed bored. Though, more of a passive boredom, like an expression he always wore. He nodded along here and there, adding to the conversation when appropriate. Natalie could swear she recognized him, too, but she scraped her brain and came up empty. It clicked a secondter, when she caught a snippet of his voice: Natalie recognized him as ¡®Mister Adair¡¯, from the briefing Harper had given. One of the interrupters. Someone whose face Harper had put to a name to ¡­ so someone important? Though, Harper hadn¡¯t been afraid to insult him, either. That might be because Harper herself had her own family name protecting her. Most people weren¡¯t in Natalie¡¯s situation¡ªa girl from the middle of nowhere, without a single connection to speak of. Arriving at Jordan¡¯s side, she gave the usual, ¡°Hey.¡± ¡°Hey. How¡¯d it go?¡± ¡°Good, actually. Made some progress.¡± She frowned. ¡°It¡¯s weird being around a bunch of mages, though. And a headache.¡± ¡°Headache?¡± ¡°Spells flying everywhere? I was in this big courtyard, lots of other people. Everyone kept their stuff contained, but it was still ¡­ annoying.¡± With the arrival of Natalie¡¯s ss, she¡¯d gained a passive awareness of magic she hadn¡¯t had before. She could feel it. In the back of her head, whenever a spell went off. Multiplied by however many dozens of people had been there, it¡¯d been more than a bit annoying. There had been stronger spells going off, too, by higher level T students¡ªor instructors. Those left more than just a hum. They vibrated her bones, even with the distance between her and them. ¡°You recognize anyone here?¡± ¡°No. You do?¡± ¡°Well, sort of.¡± Natalie nodded at the chatty girl. ¡°She¡¯s in my barracks. Recognize the dude from yesterday¡¯s briefs. Haven¡¯t talked to either, though.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll need to, eventually,¡± Jordan said thoughtfully. ¡°We ought to get to work on putting together a party.¡± She scanned the thirteen students¡ªthest two had arrived¡ªand nodded idly. ¡°Hopefully most of them aren¡¯t taken. Doesn¡¯t look like there¡¯s too many cliques.¡± Funny enough, she, Jordan, and Sofia seemed to be the established group. There were a few people talking, but they didn¡¯t seem like friends¡ªat best, they recognized each other, but only in a casual sort of way. Six or seven were standing aside, arms crossed or hands in their pockets and leaning against a wall, waiting for their instructor to arrive. Which happened in short order. Almost at the exact moment the bell went off, in strode a tall woman with white hair. White, like Sofia¡ªa Theliosian. They had rather distinctive looks. The darkest their hair got, as a general rule, was shiny silver. ¡°Good morning, ss,¡± she said in a brisk tone. ¡°My name is Instructor Robin.¡± Her eyes flicked across the gathered students, mouth moving barely as she counted heads. ¡°Sixteen. All of you. Good. Let¡¯s go. If we¡¯re quick to the armory, before things are crowded, we can get out quick. Then, we might be able to some spars in.¡± That said, she strode out the room, waving a hand for them to follow. Natalie blinked at the brusque introduction, as did most of the students, but they set off after her. 2.05 – Liz 2.05 ¨C Liz Natalie hadn¡¯t put too much thought into the training weapon she¡¯d grabbed back at the courtyard, but for the first day of spars, she needed to be smarter. T¡¯s armory¡ªthe smaller one situated inside the training facility¡ªhosted everything a person could need: a swathe of fighting utensils so varied Natalie couldn¡¯t help but gawk. She shook the reaction off¡ªshe was from the backwaters, but she didn¡¯t have to showcase it¡ªand focused. Instructor Robin had said she wanted to be expeditious about things. In, then out, so they could make use of their first day, rather than being stuck in the armory for the entire hour and a half. Natalie had put some thought into which weapon she¡¯d be settling with, even if she hadn¡¯t fully decided. In the case of one-on-onebat against another human¡ªrather than a towering, snarling beast, or whatever else might be found in the dungeon¡ªa small round shield and a light one-handed weapon was the obvious choice. She was leaning toward a hammer, over a mace or a sword, her other two choices. She¡¯d never liked axes, even if she could use them. It wasn¡¯t the most logical of decisions: just, a pdin seemed to fit with a hammer. Plus, they were frankly easier to use than a sword. Natalie was still getting used to spellcasting, so having the extra mental overhead would be useful. Natalie picked out a hammer from the rack. It was of mundane make, not magical, like the ones found in dungeons or from surface monsters. She tested its bnce, satisfied. It was made properly, unlike the prop wooden ones at the mage¡¯s hall. It had a solid heftiness to it Natalie took sce in. He¡¯d do some serious damage, swung right. Someone appeared to Natalie¡¯s side, and she looked over, sensing them. It was the ck-haired girl with the blue streak in her hair. ¡°Hi,¡± she greeted Natalie, sticking her hand out. ¡°I¡¯m Liz. You¡¯re Natalie, right?¡± She knew her name? And, like earlier impressions had suggested, Liz didn¡¯t have a remote problem withing up to a stranger and brightly introducing herself. ¡°Uh, yeah,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Nat is fine. How¡¯d you know?¡± ¡°Well, you just seem like a Natalie.¡± Natalie raised her eyebrows. The goofy grin made it obvious Liz was joking, but the exuberant friendliness took a second to adjust to. ¡°Right,¡± she said. ¡°Nah, kidding. I heard you three talking, earlier. Caught your names.¡± Natalie had figured as much. ¡°Well. Nice to meet you. We¡¯re in the same barracks, I think?¡± ¡°Barracks seven! Represent. We¡¯ve gotta show the rest of these losers what we¡¯re made of.¡± Another goofy grin. ¡°Guess we do,¡± Natalie said, amused. ¡°You¡¯re an, um, fighter?¡± She nodded at the hammer Natalie had picked out. ¡°Yeah.¡± Natalie looked down at the weapon. ¡°Er, no. Kind of. Pdin. Fighter-mage. Probably gonna fill the tank role.¡± Then, because the response had been scatter-brained, Natalie gave an excuse: ¡°My unlocking was a few days ago. Didn¡¯t get what I expected, so I¡¯m still adjusting.¡± Liz made a noise of sympathy. ¡°A few days? Sheesh, that¡¯s no time at all. That¡¯s gotta suck.¡± ¡°Better than the other way around,¡± Natalie said with a shrug. ¡°Missing the deadline and having to wait for the next year.¡± Though, the totalck of preparation time would show. It¡¯d be hard to make a good first impression. She was starting from behind. ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± ¡°And you?¡± Natalie asked. ¡°Guess!¡± Liz seemed inordinately excited at the prospect. She leaned forward on the balls of her feet and started bouncing. ¡°Almost everyone gets it. I¡¯m a stereotype!¡± Why was she so excited by that? Natalie continued to be amused. And yeah, she could guess this girl¡¯s role. ¡°Healer.¡± If she¡¯d ever seen one, it would be her. Liz snapped and pointed at her, seeming satisfied. ¡°Exactly. How¡¯d you know?¡± ¡°It just came to me, somehow.¡± Lizughed. ¡°Hey,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Just putting out feelers, but you already have a team, or?¡± ¡°Got a few in the works,¡± she answered breezily. ¡°But this early in the year¡¯s for shopping around, like you said. You looking?¡± ¡°Yeah. Me and my two friends.¡± She gestured over her shoulder, turning, but Jordan and Sofia had wandered off elsewhere in the armory. ¡°Er. Sofia and Jordan. Fighter and rogue.¡± A secondter, Natalie fought away a grimace that she¡¯d identally referred to Sofia as a ¡®friend¡¯. But ¡®my friend and sworn rival¡¯ didn¡¯t roll off the tongue. ¡°So we¡¯d just need a mage,¡± Liz said. ¡°How about Ana?¡± ¡°Ana?¡± ¡°In barracks seven with us. The girl next to me. She¡¯s super nice! And so smart.¡± ¡°She¡¯s a mage?¡± ¡°Some kind of light manifester. Really good at distributed damage.¡± ¡°That¡¯d be perfect. Sofia and Jordan are better at single target.¡± ¡°Sounds like a match made in heaven! It¡¯s a date.¡± She paused. ¡°Or, er, were you just being polite with the offer? I¡¯m kinda rushing into things. And I guess I haven¡¯t asked Ana yet, either ¡­¡± ¡°Like you said, just shopping around. We can give it a shot.¡± They didn¡¯t have to lock anything in. ¡°We can ask her after ss today.¡± Natalie was disoriented how easily things had fallen into ce. Though, they very well could end up falling apart, too¡ªAna could say no, or, since Liz had said she had ¡®several¡¯ teams in the works, could find one of those a better fit. But it was something. ¡°Sure,¡± Liz said. ¡°After ss. We¡¯ll double team her. It¡¯s sure to work.¡± Natalie stared at Liz. Liz hesitated, then asked, ¡°What?¡± ¡°Double team?¡± ¡°Er, yeah?¡± Natalie was ny nine percent sure Liz didn¡¯t know what that meant. Or maybe Natalie had a perverted mind. Liz looked at her so innocently that Natalie blushed for even thinking about it. She coughed and deflected. ¡°Uh, nothing. But yeah, after ss. I need to finish picking out a shield.¡± She gestured to the weapon rack, indicating she needed to get back to things. ¡°Kay,¡± Liz said. ¡°Have fun. I¡¯m gonna go talk to your friends, let them know what¡¯s happening.¡± She zipped off, gone with an enthusiastic wave. Healers, Natalie thought, shaking her head. 2.06 – Spar 2.06 ¨C Spar Back before T, Natalie¡¯s fights had been with blunted weapons and thick sparring pads. Because, obviously, prior to her unlocking, a sword¡¯s de to the neck would¡¯ve meant a quick end to her career, and the same for a blunt impact hitting just right, thrown by apetent fighter. Now, having received her ss, she had been granted an invisible defense. ¡®Hitpoints¡¯. She could take previously career ending blows and walk away not much worse for wear. Most of the time. It wasn¡¯t a perfect defense. Empowered by a skill, serious damage could be done even to a person full on HP. The dungeon wasn¡¯t the only way students ¡®became a statistic¡¯ at T. But it wasn¡¯t a event, either. T hardly wanted their students dropping like flies. But while it wouldn¡¯t be pleasant taking a direct blow to the head, even a level onebat ss was many times more durable than their unssed or other-ssed counterparts. So, fighting with real weapons was the standard at T. She adjusted her grip on her hammer, watching her opponents. She itched for the fight to start. It¡¯d happen any second now¡ªas soon as Instructor Robin called it. This ss period¡ªfrom nine thirty to eleven¡ªwasn¡¯t cordoned off for sparring specifically, though spars of various sorts did happen often. The overall intent was to be training students in the many situations an aspirant delver could find themselves in. This included one-on-ones, but mostmonly, of variousposition: two on twos, three on theres, or even mismatched fights. Today, coincidentally, she¡¯d gotten Liz as her partner. Their two opponents were, of course, ssmates: the first, a tall boy with shaggy brown hair wielding a spear, and the second, a willowy-looking girl with a long staff. The boy was some kind of fighter, at a guess, and the girl, a mage. Natalie wasn¡¯t sure who¡¯d win,positionally speaking. It was anyone¡¯s game. Most fights were, besides the worstbinations¡ªlike two healers. It was unfortunate that she¡¯d gotten Liz as a partner, though. Not because a fighter and healer was bad¡ªthe opposite; it was close to ideal¡ªbut because it meant Natalie had to prove herself. If there was a fast way to destroy Liz¡¯s interest in partying up, it would be floundering in a spar. And sure, Natalie had exined to Liz that she¡¯d gotten her ss just a few days before the semester, but excuses were excuses: it didn¡¯t matter the reason she got her ass handed to her, just that if it happened, it meant Liz might see her as an unsuitable delving partner. She took a steadying breath. She felt naked without armor. T students trained without it, relying on hitpoints to save them. So, she wore only the tight T uniform. The skirt was actually pretty flexible. It didn¡¯t get in the way during her movement. Still, it felt flimsy. Even knowing HP would save her from real injury, seeing her opponent wield a real, honest-to-gods spear ¡­ well, it was hard to just ignore that. To her side, Instructor Robin swiped her hand down, signaling the start of the fight. Finally. Natalie charged forward. Not more than two steps forward, and Liz¡¯s empowering skill hit her. A surge of warmth spread from her stomach outward, washing across her like a powerful liquor. She¡¯d known to expect it. She and Liz had had a brief¡ªemphasis on brief¡ªmoment to discuss each other¡¯s skills and strategy. The same for their two opponents. In the same manner Natalie had, the boy with a spear¡ªElliot, Natalie thought she remembered¡ªrushed forward. The two spellcasters, Liz and Camille, happily stayed on the outskirts. Though, by the way Camille strafed sideways, lining her staff toward Natalie, her second opponent wasn¡¯t a support mage, like Liz. So, the bulk of the fighting would be on Natalie. Which she was fine with, especially considering the intoxicating, glowing strength that had suffused her. Liz might not contribute directly, in the form ofbat magic or swinging a weapon, but she would more than pull her weight. Natalie¡¯s ss had already made her faster, stronger, and more flexible than she¡¯d ever been before¡ªto an extent she wasn¡¯t entirely used to it¡ªbut even that difference was inconsequential to Liz¡¯s empowerment buff. She surged across the sparring ring, arriving to her spear-bearing opponent with a speed that surprised even her. Back when Natalie had first gotten her ss, Jordan had made a joke: that since she was bad at spellcasting, she would ¡®just have to be extra good at punching stuff¡¯. It¡¯d been a joke, but it was also the truth. Her skill with magic wasn¡¯t up to par. She had to rely on what she was good at. Fortunately, she was good at it. Elliot¡¯s eyes widened, not prepared for Natalie¡¯s rapid advance. Not taking a particrly subtle approach, she swung, rocketing her hammer toward him. He dodged, but only barely. Natalie was fast. Liz¡¯s buff was no joke. Capitalizing on Elliot¡¯s retreat, she surged forward a second time, stepping to the side of his spear, then bashing her shield at where his hands met the haft. The blow connected solidly, throwing his alreadypromisedbat stance further into disarray. Somewhere in the back of her mind¡ªher active concentration was on the fight¡ªshe found herself surprised. The boy¡¯s defense had been horrible, even ounting for Natalie¡¯s empowered speed. Right? Or was Liz¡¯s spell even stronger than she thought? Either way, she¡¯d broken it with so little effort. She¡¯d expected more from T students. Unfortunately, the advantage of having a buff was offset by the two-on-one, which finally came into y. Natalie might have been empowered, making her stronger and faster than Elliot, but he had a second teammate¡ªone who could fight, rather than heal and buff. Vines sprouted from the ground, wrapping around Natalie¡¯s ankle. She cursed, stumbling. Elliot, at least, had stumbled back too, gritting his teeth from the pain of Natalie¡¯s shield smashing his hands. If he¡¯d had gauntlets, or even gloves, that maneuver would¡¯ve been a lot less effective. But T didn¡¯t allow armor in spars, and she¡¯d have been an idiot not to take advantage of it. Natalie struggled for a moment more, failing to break out of the vines. A second spell was humming to life in Camille¡¯s outstretched hand, but Natalie could hardly deal with the next one when she was struggling to deal with the first. She yanked her leg, jarring her knee over, twice, three times, then four, then finally had to yield, epting her fate: she couldn¡¯t break out. And Elliot had recovered, so that took priority. He thrust his spear toward her, and she pped it away with her shield. Another jab, another parry¡ªcloser this time¡ªand Natalie yanked her foot. Still stuck. ¡°Any help here?¡± Natalie shouted. She growled as she barely deflected Elliot¡¯s blows, still stuck into the ground by Camille¡¯s ensnaring spell. What an irritating¡ªand therefor useful¡ªability. ¡°No dispel,¡± Liz called back. ¡°Sorry.¡± Natalie smashed another thrust of Elliot¡¯s spear away, the spearhead sparking against reinforced wood. She couldn¡¯t press the advantage, though, glued into the ground, and his spear reached much farther than Natalie¡¯s hammer. At least he was awful. It wasn¡¯t hard to deflect him, even rooted, and in such apromised position. Though, it probably just seemed that way. Liz¡¯s empowerment¡ªto her strength, speed, and senses¡ªwas making his movements seem clumsier than they were. Elliot and Camille coordinated their next attacks. Natalie could deflect a spear, but not a spear and a spell. Two attacks came at her at once, and Natalie had to pick. She chose the spear, rather than the spell. A fist-sized shard of wood¡ªCamille¡¯s spell seemed to be nt-themed¡ªmmed into her at full speed. She managed to maneuver in a way it didn¡¯t hit exactly as intended, ncing off her hip, but damn, it still hurt. Felt more like a direct hit from a sledgehammer. Maybe the spear would¡¯ve been easier to take. She grunted, but kept focus on Elliot, still trying to yank her foot out of Camille¡¯s entrapment. Then, all at once, she broke free with a stumble. Elliot was as surprised as her. They fumbled for a second, adjusting to the new circumstances of the fight. Natalie recovered first. She went on a vicious offensive. A few exchangester, her hammer connected solidly with his shoulder. It hit even harder than she had expected, the fault of Liz¡¯s empowerment. He went careening to the side, pushed by the force of the impact, barely managing to stay on his feet. A warm glow suffused the pain on her hip. Liz, healing the injury. Natalie could feel that peculiar resource¡ªher hitpoints¡ªsurge back to full. It had dipped dangerously low from Camille¡¯s attack, and the second one might have done real damage. That would have put Natalie out of the fight. Or worse. More than that, though, it would¡¯ve been embarrassing, and potentially lose her a teammate. Impressing Liz was the most crucial part of this spar. So. Time to wrap it up. 2.07 – Beaumon 2.07 ¨C Beaumon ¡°Wow,¡± Liz eximed when they¡¯d returned to the sidelines. ¡°That was incredible. I mean, you didn¡¯t even use a spell. You said you had one, right? An illusion?¡± The first half of the praise had actually managed to have Natalie pleased with herself. That feeling sagged away as the bubbly girl finished her statement. Liz was more impressed that she¡¯d managed to flounce Elliot without using her ¡®spell half¡¯ of her ss than the dominant victory itself. At least it had been that. A dominant victory. They¡¯d won, and it hadn¡¯t been close. That boded well for Liz being interested in teaming. ¡°Er ¡­ yeah. Didn¡¯t need to use it, I guess.¡± It wasn¡¯t a lie. She hadn¡¯t needed to use it. But it would¡¯ve been insanely useful, if she could. The tactical benefit of illusions were amazing, once she could get a handle on them. But in her current state, trying to use them would hamper more than help ¡­ and Natalie had needed to impress Liz. So, not the time for experimentation. The fight had gone well. Quick yet drawn out, in that inexplicable way of adrenaline-dousedbat. At some point Camille¡¯s attention had turned to Liz, but Liz had been able to hold her own surprisingly well¡ªan admirable trait in a healer. As soon as Natalie could, she¡¯d turned and forced Camille¡¯s focus back on her, but that Liz hadn¡¯t crumbled immediately on assault was a rare trait in a healer. Usually, they were by far the squishiest point of a team. Fortunately, though Natalie¡¯s enthusiasm was a bit soured by Liz innocently pointing out her spellcasting ipetence, Natalie had done well. Enough their rough ns to team up weren¡¯t soured. And their opponents hadn¡¯t been push-overs, so the achievement wasn¡¯t dampened by that, either. Because nobody epted to T was a pushover, even the few that slipped through the cracks through connections or wealth. So, that she¡¯d won her first spar against T-caliberpetition was something to be proud of. Their fight finished, a different set of students took the stage, picked by Instructor Robin by seemingly¡ªbut probably not actually¡ªarbitrary standards. Both Jordan and Sofia were called up, but on opposite sides. Rather than a two-on-two, it was a three-on-three. Naturally, Natalie rooted for Jordan¡¯s team. Any team with Sofia on it, Natalie instinctively wanted to lose. That girl could afford to be taken down a few notches. ¡°So,¡± Liz said. ¡°Where are you from, anyway? I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve seen any of you, before.¡± She said it like that was odd. Liz hade off pretty normal so far, so Natalie had kind of assumed she was someone in a situation simr to her. Someone who wasn¡¯t entwined with the major Valhaurian houses. Amoner, put frankly. Maybe not, though, based on her question. It sounded like she knew the rest of the students, here. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t know it,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Tinford. It¡¯s way down south. You might know Illesa?¡± That was thergest nearby city. Liz¡¯s response nk expression was answer enough. She didn¡¯t. Natalie had more or less expected that. Illesa was one of the bigger cities in south Valhaur, but that wasn¡¯t saying much. Everything important happened up north. It was where the dungeon was. Nearly all major cities across the entire world were near one of the thirteen dungeons. ¡°Ilesa,¡± she repeated. ¡°Uh ¡­ I can¡¯t say I¡¯ve heard of it.¡± ¡°Figured. And you? Where are you from?¡± Liz tilted her head, as if surprised Natalie had asked. As if she¡¯d expected Natalie to recognize her. Double confirmation she ran in political circles, and not just that, but someone of import. Someone who expected to be recognized. Which was weird. Liz hadn¡¯te off as nobility. Or ¡­ did she? ¡°Um,¡± Liz said sheepishly. ¡°Here. Aradon. Local, born and raised. I¡¯m, uh ¡­ a Beaumon. Elizabeth Beaumon.¡± Natalie stared at her. Beaumon? The royal family Beaumon? The monarchy was antiquated¡ªtheir titles held no real power, these days¡ªbut they still held three seats in the Council, which made the Beaumons the single most influential family in Valhaur. ¡°Ah,¡± Natalie said, at a loss for words. She¡¯d been ready,ing to T, to meet people that mattered¡ªpeople with surnames from textbooks¡ªbut Liz had seemed so normal that Natalie was genuinely at a loss for words. Beaumon. The royal family. Really? ¡°I¡¯m like, fourteenth in line,¡± Liz said. She seemed as awkward about the reveal as Natalie. ¡°Honestly, I¡¯m not even the most important person in this ss. So. Yeah.¡± She shrugged, then brushed past the topic. ¡°Tinford, though! Down south. How¡¯d you get T¡¯s attention? You must be really good. Though I guess I just got proof of that.¡± She beamed at Natalie. The brief awkwardness was gone, just like that. Hard to be awkward around someone so affable. ¡°Just happened, I guess,¡± Natalie said. ¡°T¡¯s got scouts everywhere, even down south. I was pretty good at swinging weapons around ¡­ and they saw. Took notice.¡± She shrugged. It had been that simple. No grand coincidences. ¡°Makes sense.¡± Sheughed. ¡°Though, I expected a story.¡± Now that Natalie was paying attention, Liz did have a clear enunciation to her words¡ªand a straightness to her back and posture¡ªthat gave things away. That she was highborn. Just, almost everybody at T was like that, so Natalie had stopped paying attention. Or, it hadn¡¯t stood out, at least. A member of the royal family. Even a far-removed one. This girl? So weird. And maybe Liz would be joining them for a trial dungeon run? A literal Beaumon princess? What would Mom and Dad think of that? Or anyone back home. Natalie and Liz¡¯s conversation petered off, the uing spar drawing their attentions. With a swing of her hand, Instructor Robin indicated for the fight to start. Despite not being the one up there, Natalie watched, tense. Liz would be judging Sofia and Jordan¡¯s performance in the same way she had Natalie¡¯s¡ªeven if she didn¡¯t say so outright. For that matter, everyone was judging everyone. This first week of spars and sses would be how many students decided who they wanted to team with. Fortunately, as the fight progressed, Jordan and Sofia handled themselves well. Sofia¡¯s team won ¡­ and unfortunately, to Natalie¡¯s immense annoyance, it was probably thanks to Sofia. Even more than usual, Natalie¡¯s white-haired rival rose up to the challenge. She didn¡¯t wipe the floor with her opponents¡ªthis was T they were talking about¡ªbut she performed. More than performed. Liz¡¯s wide-eyed admiration, and the appreciative noises throughout the spar, made that clear. Though, Liz seemed to be the sort of person to give those reactions more freely than most. But impressing a Beaumon couldn¡¯t be an easy thing. Liz had grown up around famous adventurers, and likely, been trained for this since birth. Not a shabby result, getting appreciative noises from her. Natalie could take sce in how professional first impressions had gone well. Just, she might¡¯ve preferred seeing Sofia not be perfect, for once. Even if it jeopardized their future ns in a small way. Why did that irritating girl have to be so good? 2.08 – Class 2.08 ¨C ss ¡°However,¡± Instructor Lauer monotoned, ¡°that¡¯s far from saying preparation and study is useless to a first-time delver. No two runs are the same, but certain frameworks can be applied to aid the neophyte in a sessful dungeon run.¡± Natalie hadn¡¯t thought it possible, but Instructor Lauer was making delving sound boring. The dungeon was the most incredible phenomena on the, abyrinth of infiniteplexity and variance, a structure described as sentient by some schrs, and allegedly sprawled beneath the entire world. The riches pulled from its depths fueled half of society as they knew it. There were beasts hidden in the deeper floors that could destroy cities if they somehow surfaced. And Instructor Lauer? He was making it boring. Natalie¡¯s head slowly declined toward her desk, eyes fluttering as her desperate efforts to stay awake faltered. The world went fuzzy, then¡ª Then Jordan kicked her ankle, and Natalie jerked up, blinking in disorientation. Jordan studiously wrote in her notebook, not even ncing over, her passive waking-up of Natalie so ingrained she might not have realized she¡¯d done it. Jordan was the only reason Natalie hadn¡¯t failed a grade, back at Tinford. Not because Natalie was stupid, but because she seriously couldn¡¯t keep still. ssrooms were torture to her. And three hours a day? Less than high school, but still the worst thing Natalie could imagine. ¡°For example,¡± the buzzing, impossible-to-focus on noise continued, ¡°the study of monsters. While your dungeoneering course will be concerned with the intricacies of traps, flooryouts, andmon encounters, we will focus on the dungeon¡¯s inhabitants, first and foremost. Much can be ascertained from a monster¡¯s appearance, and a formal [Inspect], even more so.¡± It wasn¡¯t that the material was boring. Just, everyone knew this. As in, everyone everyone. They were truly starting from the ground up when it came to the dungeon¡ªnot taking any material for granted, not even stuff six year olds would know. Which Natalie supposed was fair, because as Harper had pointed out during orientation, some students joined T from even stranger circumstances than Natalie. There were lots of myths to dispel, or holes to fill, just to be safe. But that didn¡¯t make it not torture. ¡°But let¡¯s start with general ssifications, first. Consider¡ª¡° A bell went off in the distance, interrupting Instructor Lauer¡¯s monologue. He cut off mid-sentence, and once the echoing noise silenced, said, ¡°It seems we¡¯ve run out of time for the day. Your next instructor will be in shortly. Remember, pages sixteen through twenty nine, by tomorrow.¡± The enormous lecture hall came to life with chairs scraping against the ground. Natalie¡¯s next ss was in this same hall¡ªas many of the students¡¯ was¡ªso she stayed seated. She groaned and thumped her head onto the desk. ¡°I¡¯m not gonna make it, Jay.¡± Jordan patted her back sympathetically. ¡°There, there. Just two more sses.¡± ¡°Every day,¡± Natalie groaned. ¡°It is pretty boring,¡± Liz piped in. ¡°I mean, how¡¯s he even do it? No inflections, just one long string of h, h, h.¡± Liz had, it seemed, inserted herself into Natalie¡¯s group. Natalie had no clue why. Not that she minded. Just, a literal, actual princess, making friends with the three of them? Why? To the right of Jordan, Sofia leaned backward in her seat, bringing herself into Natalie¡¯s view. ¡°If you can¡¯t focus on the lecture, I¡¯d rmend reading the textbook. That¡¯s what I¡¯ve been doing. It¡¯s much more engaging. And more importantly, informative.¡± ¡°Only you could think reading from a text book is engaging,¡± Natalie sneered. ¡°No, she¡¯s right,¡± Jordan said idly. ¡°There¡¯s apendium in the back detailingmon monsters. It¡¯s fairly interesting.¡± Natalie experienced a brief bout of dissonance: Sofia being a nerd was annoying, but Jordan? Well, on her, it was endearing. Fortunately, she was saved frommitting to a response by Liz: ¡°So, what are you guys up to after ss? You going to the semester kick-off soir¨¦e?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Kick-off soir¨¦e? ¡°Wait, is that the party at the healer¡¯s guild?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Liz leaned forward, grinning. ¡°Apparently, it¡¯s been six years since there wasn¡¯t a casualty. It¡¯s supposed to be crazy.¡± ¡°Casualty?¡± Jordan asked, rmed. ¡°I thought they had the healer¡¯s guild host it so things didn¡¯t get out of hand,¡± Natalie said. That was what Sammy said, at least. ¡°Aren¡¯t you guys supposed to be the responsible ones?¡± ¡°Hey,¡± Liz scolded. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t stereotype people.¡± ¡°You were happy about being a stereotype,¡± Natalie pointed out. She¡¯d had Natalie guess her role, then been pleased when she had. ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter.¡± Liz pouted. ¡°We¡¯re not always responsible, okay? We know how to cut loose, too!¡± Liz¡¯s pout wasn¡¯t doing much to help her ims. She looked way too innocent. ¡°There¡¯s no way there¡¯s casualties,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Guess we¡¯ll have to find out. So, are you going?¡± Natalie nced at Jordan¡ªand Sofia, seeing how she was in line of sight¡ªwho both shrugged at her. ¡°I am,¡± Natalie said, turning back. ¡°With someone else, though. Got invited.¡± ¡°You did? Who?¡± ¡°Sammy? From the tank¡¯s guild.¡± Liz didn¡¯t seemed to recognize the name. She turned to Sofia and Jordan. ¡°And you two?¡± ¡°Probably not,¡± Jordan answered. That didn¡¯te as a surprise. She wasn¡¯t a sociable person¡ªloud, chaotic parties weren¡¯t her scene. ¡°I might,¡± Sofia said. ¡°I¡¯m undecided.¡± Liz, naturally, seized the opportunity. ¡°You should! You cane with me. Ana¡¯s gonna be there. And Johanna¡ªshe¡¯s in our barracks too. You¡¯ll like her.¡± Sofia nodded slowly. Natalie could see the gears turning in her head. She and Sofia weren¡¯t friends, but they did, unfortunately, know each other well. Sofia wasn¡¯t enthusiastic about a party, but she recognized the merit of meeting Ana¡ªa potential future teammate¡ªand other prominent political figures, considering Liz¡¯s family name. Sofia was like Jordan in that way, her brain always churning over implications and strategies, even in normal life. Which was a good thing, Natalie guessed. A desirable trait in a delver. Natalie was more of a ¡®in-the-moment¡¯ thinker. She had Jordan for the other stuff. ¡°That sounds fun,¡± Sofia said eventually. ¡°When is it?¡± ¡°Eight,¡± Liz said, seeming genuinely excited at Sofia epting. ¡°Starts at seven, technically, but we can¡¯t be too early. We¡¯ll lookme. That¡¯s a death sentence at T.¡± ¡°It is?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what my brother says. And he would know. He¡¯s the king ofmeness.¡± Sofia gave a bemusedugh. ¡°Eight it is, then.¡± 2.09 – Discovery 2.09 ¨C Discovery The endless drudgery of ssroom academics wrapped up at three p.m., and¡ªas the schedule indicated¡ªnext up was extracurricrs. Despite what the name would suggest, they weren¡¯t optional. Everyone was required to enroll in at least one, though more could be taken if chosen. Natalie didn¡¯t intend on picking up any pointless hobbies, not in an official capacity. Honestly, she didn¡¯t understand the people who did. Drama, art, band, and so on, weren¡¯t pursuits to be disrespected, but as a delver? Surely people had better things to be doing, considering their profession. Doubly true for first years. Despite that opinion, Natalie knew the art clubs didn¡¯t hurt for members. But she herself wouldn¡¯t be joining their ranks. Which left practical pursuits to fill the mandatory requirement. In Natalie¡¯s case, that was dueling, or a harvesting discipline. As a pdin, and a person intending to take up the mantle of tank, she was leaning toward mining. The ores that could be gathered from deposits in the dungeon made excellent equipment, supernaturally powerful, imbued with stat-boosts and other advantageous effects. She would have to pay a fee for a metal-worker to handle the material, but it would be vastly cheaper than purchasing the gear outright from the Exchange. Today¡ªand tomorrow¡ªwas a ¡®career day¡¯ of sorts, advertising potential options, since many students hadn¡¯t chosen their extracurricr yet. Undoubtedly most had given the topic plenty of thought before arriving to T, butmon strategy was to pick a harvesting discipline that matched your ss, which wasn¡¯t received until eighteen. Jordan, for example, never would have gone into herb-gathering without having received a ss that seemed¡ªso far¡ªinclined toward poisons. Simrly, Natalie wouldn¡¯t have considered mining if she hadn¡¯t received a ss¡ªpdin, a heavy armor tank¡ªthat made good use of the ores she¡¯d collect. For two hours¡ªthe alloted extracurricr time block set by the T schedule¡ªNatalie wandered the various stations advertising their clubs. She spent the majority of her time at the mining station, listening to the lecturers and picking through the provided information. Unsurprisingly, the profession was moreplicated than Natalie had first thought. Not simply bashing a pickaxe into veins of material and hauling away the valuable resource, Natalie would need to spend fair effort both prospecting for and extracting the ore. Even so, it had a reputation for not being the mostplex task. Jordan¡¯s chosen profession¡ªherb gathering¡ªwould require a nauseating amount of memorization: the ten million variations of nts found in the dungeon. So while not simple, it was simpler than many disciplines, which meant mining was up Natalie¡¯s alley, who didn¡¯t care enough to put excessive effort into her extracurricr. By the end of the informational speeches, she felt confident enough she would bemitting to mining that she signed her name on the provided sheet. Tomorrow, she would spend her two hours at the mining hall, rather than continuing to explore the career fair. With that event out of the way, and with the official school daypleted, Natalie set out¡ªreasonably¡ªto practice. She was already drained from the previous nine hours, but delvers needed to be ustomed to long days. Some delvessted entire weeks. Not for low-rankers, true, but high rankers, much less top rankers? Apparently, trips to the Lower Reaches, much less The Depths or The Abyss¡ªthest categorization of dungeon levelsprising twenty-one to twenty-four, and near mythical to the general popce¡ªcould take entire weeks to explore properly. So, Natalie needed to ustom to long days. Nine hours of sses¡ªbothbat and academic¡ªhad been draining, but she would make use of the rest of the day, regardless. Plus, she¡¯d be taking a break in the form of the uing start-of-semester party, soon enough. Until then, she had a few hours to keep refining the most ring weakness of hers. Which was to say, illusions¡ªor magic in general. Natalie¡¯s idea was far from unique. The training facility was almost as packed as it had been in the morning, when attendance was mandatory. She worked her way through the halls mostly from memory, then found her way out into the courtyard¡ªthe same one she¡¯d taken sses with Tess in. There, she scooped up a hammer from the rack of prop weapons and got to work. The noises and distractions¡ªboth visual, and the odder sort of pressure in her head of magic filling the air¡ªfaded to the background as she fell into a routine. Frustrating as this process was, she was getting better. Especially now that she hadn¡¯t locked herself into minimizing movement, like many mages did. Natalie had always been a hands-on girl. There was a reason she thrived in physical fights. So, being able to gesture and link the swinging of her weapon to her illusion spell helped massively. She even thought she might be able to work something simple into spars tomorrow. Definitely, she¡¯d have a grasp¡ªa bare, bare grasp¡ªon the ability by the time next week rolled around, and T allowed them to start delving. She practiced her ¡®sh¡¯ spell, first and foremost. It was the simplest application she could imagine that would be useful. But as thirty minutes ticked into an hour, and sweat beaded on her forehead, she started ying with other ideas. Moreplex illusions, which weren¡¯t as difficult to construct as she¡¯d have thought. Or, maybe she was getting better. There were many illusions Natalie could imagine being useful in a fight. Misdirection was crucial, and rather than feints of a normal sort, could Natalie cover herself with an illusion and mask the direction her attacks came from? A literal feint, where her blow came from a false direction? For that matter, could she make herself invisible? How about other distracting images? Something grotesque, that made her opponent hesitate? The sh was useful, but perhaps a crude, unrefined first idea. Could she do better? That gave her pause. Unbidden, a ¡®more refined¡¯, yet ironically, more crude, idea popped into her head. A sh ¡­ of a different sort. That would be effective, wouldn¡¯t it? For drawing attention, or distracting someone? Natalie flushed, ncing around the courtyard as if someone could read her mind. Rather than a grotesque image, or a blinding burst of light, what if Natalie conjured ¡­ other sorts of imagery that was distracting? Would that even be allowed? Well ¡­ of course. While it would be odd, T didn¡¯t put puritan restrictions on how a student could fight. Victory at all costs was the motto of the dungeon, and while dueling had slight restrictions onbat, general spars didn¡¯t. So lewd illusions to stumble her opponent? On the table ¡­ just weird. And would probably earn her a reputation. Again, ncing around the courtyard out of paranoia, Natalie saw no one was paying attention to her. Obviously. They were upied with their own training. No one was even close enough to see what she nned to do. Blushing, she turned back forward. She feltpelled to test her newest idea, even ifplex imagery had been hit-or-miss. She steadied her thoughts, focused, drew mana, and executed a natural-feeling pivot, activating [Illusion] with a swipe of her weapon. The motion was bing quickly instinctive. She kept it small, barely the size of her hand, so that nobody saw on the off chance they looked over. It worked. Except, it wasn¡¯t a hazy image, hard to conjure and maintain, but bright, clear, and so much better than anything else she¡¯d managed so far. A naked, hand-sized copy of Jordan hung in the air. Natalie¡¯s brain nked out, seeing it. She hadn¡¯t meant for it to be Jordan. She¡¯d let her instincts guide her, the first thing to pop into her head. Panicking, Natalie waved her hand through the mist-like illusion and dispelled the image. Her face burned scarlet, and she frantically looked around, but again, nobody was looking her way. Why would they be? Still, why had she done that? Tested the idea at all ¡­ much less with Jordan? Natalie swallowed, then checked the clock hanging on the courtyard wall. She had about an hour before she needed to go take a shower and head to the party to meet up with Sammy. Enough time to do a little more testing. Just, probably not here. Too indiscreet. Too likely to get caught, considering what she wanted to try. Natalie hung up the hammer in the weapon rack, then scurried away, headed for a secluded bathroom in the training facility. With how easily the first illusion hade into life, how much more could she do? 2.10 – Illusion Training 2.10 ¨C Illusion Training Natalie closed the bathroom stall door, heart pounding. She could feel the heat on her face, radiating from her. Why was she so excited? And how suspicious had she looked, fleeing through the hallways in her rush for privacy? Maybe they¡¯d assumed she¡¯d worked up a sweat? That she was flushed for a normal reason? She hoped so. Swallowing, finally in the freedom of a private bathroom stall, she took stock of her situation. Why was she doing this? Sure, the idea to use her illusions in a lewd way had merit as a unique, shocking implementation of the skill, but she¡¯d be lying if she said that was the primary reason she¡¯d rushed off. Her heart mmed a little too hard for even her to believe that. And why had Jordan been the person who¡¯d manifested back in the courtyard? Natalie had vaguely been trying to summon a ¡®sexy image¡¯, so her thoughts shouldn¡¯t have turned to Jordan. Those stupid kisses ¡­ and the grinding session from yesterday ¡­ were really having an effect on Natalie. A devastating one. Even if Jordan was willing to help Natalie out with her ss, Natalie shouldn¡¯t be wondering what she looked like naked. Or felt like. Or tasted like. She shook the thoughts away. Experimentation. She had tests to carry out. Maybe she couldn¡¯t lie to herself and say that this idea waspletely for practical reasons, but it did have a functional purpose. The inappropriate image had been so much easier to conjure than others. Why? The answer seemed obvious. Her ss was ¡®Pdin of Lust¡¯. She could advance her skills by kissing and groping other girls. Of course her [Illusion] spell would be inclined to images of that variety. That Natalie hadn¡¯t considered it before this point was ridiculous. Proof, even, that she was failing to confront the reality of her situation. Consider the strengths and weaknesses of her ss. A bit shaky, Natalie strained her ears, checking if she was still alone. Hearing nothing, she crouched down and peered under the line of stall walls, making certain. No shoes, so all clear. She stood and took a steadying breath. Time to test, then. Going through the process, Natalie focused her mind, then siphoned mana from that enigmatic resource pool. She took abat stance and mimicked the motion of swinging a weapon, feeling ridiculous, considering she was in a bathroom stall, but the movements helped bring the spell to life. This time, she guided the illusion with focus. She wouldn¡¯t let Jordan intrude again. She still couldn¡¯t believe¡ªand was angry, and disoriented, at herself¡ªthat she had the first time. Natalie didn¡¯t keep it small. She let the image expand outward, asrge as a person would normally be. An illusion shimmered to life in front of her, the mana she¡¯d gathered draining from her in an inexplicably exhausting way. But the tiredness barely registered. Her eyes widened as she took in the result. Tess¡ªthe fourth-year who¡¯d guided Natalie through lessons this morning¡ªstood there, in a distinct state of undress. Not naked. But maybe worse than naked. ck lingerie clung to her, brought to life from Natalie¡¯s imagination. Her curves were on full disy, not much hidden, and indeed framed by the lewd, revealing underwear Natalie had imagined her in. She was so life-like. Her features were perfect, exactly as Natalie remembered them. That stern,manding aura¡ªyet not unfriendly, not haughty or rude. Assured. She wore her hair in a bun, as before. The contrasting effect of her inappropriate clothing and her professional demeanor thrilled through Natalie. Her entire body burned. ¡°Turn around,¡± she whispered. She barely registered that she''d spoken out loud. To say she was caught up in the moment would be an understatement. Besides. Nobody was in the bathroom, and she¡¯d hear if the door opened. She just had to be quiet. The whispered instruction worked. Her illusion listened, turning around, revealing her ass. Fuck. Natalie had noticed how amazing Tess¡¯s ass was this morning, during practice, crammed into the tight T uniform, but enhanced by her imagination? Adorned bycy lingerie, and pushed out the slightest amount, because Tess had bent over, an action the illusion had taken by herself for Natalie¡¯s viewing pleasure? It was almost painfully perfect. How urate was it? Was this how Tess actually looked, naked? Magic could be odd. Maybe this was her imagination, but maybe it wasn¡¯t, the supernatural force guiding spells having appropriated her actual image. In the addled state of her arousal, she chose to believe whole heartedly that it was the second. Was this ¡­ okay, though? There was fantasizing, then there was this. Summoning and ogling an actual image of Tess. Unfortunately, she couldn¡¯t care, not in the moment. The shame wouldeter, but for now, her cock had sprung up in her skirt, pulsing with a needy ache. Fuck, Tess¡¯s body was so amazing. The curve of her waist, her wide hips, that ass. She wanted to bury her face into it. Or bury something else. Something newer. Something that would enjoy the experience a lot more. Her cock throbbed at the idea. Swallowing, Natalie reached out and tried to squeeze. It predictably didn¡¯t work, her hand passing straight through, distorting the image as if it were made of mist. Her disappointment burned even as the illusion reformed itself. But still. The sight alone was enough. There was so much to admire. Natalie swallowed, feeling dizzy, then sat on the toilet seat and bunched up her skirt. Wiggling, she tugged her panties down, popping out a thick, achingly at-attention girl cock. It stood proudly, a bead of precum glistening at the top. She gripped it, letting loose a shaky breath at the relief her hand provided. She was doing this, then. Jerking off to an image of Tess. An illusion. Turn around, she mentallymanded. She managed to not voice it out loud, this time. Tess turned back forward, quirking an eyebrow at Natalie in exactly the same manner she had earlier in the day. The expression teasingly said, ¡®not even a please?¡¯ So realistic. So true-to-life, many times more so than Natalie¡¯s other experiments. Again, why? Because her aspect was ¡®lust¡¯? That had to be it. Pull down your bra. Tess tugged thecy fabric down, revealing two perky nipples set on one of the most amazing pairs of tits Natalie had ever seen. She shivered in excitement, then stroked up and down, bunching foreskin as her hand traveled her cock. It was happening, then. She was jerking off to her magic tutor in a public bathroom. 2.11 – Illusion Training II 2.11 ¨C Illusion Training II Shame rolled through Natalie even as she stroked herself. This ¡­ wasn¡¯t okay. Not entirely. Making an illusion of Tess was taking things too far. Right? The counter argument¡ªthat it wasn¡¯t much different from imagination¡ªheld some validity. But either way. Natalie¡¯s eyes shouldn¡¯t be crawling so hungrily across Tess¡¯s body. It was wrong. Kind of? Unfortunately, the shame only excited Natalie further, tititing her. Fuck, Tess was so perfect. Was it Natalie¡¯s mind polishing the details? Her imagination, making her perfect? Tess had a great body¡ªNatalie could tell that thanks to the tight T uniform¡ªbut this amazing? Take it off. Tess finished unhooking her bra, then shimmied it off, tossing it to the side, where it vanished into the ether. And so Tess stood there in only her panties, body otherwise bared. Natalie watched, admiring with a hungry gaze, stroking up and down her cock, before mentally instructing: Give me a show. Would amand like that work? Natalie was shocked the illusion had interpreted hermands so fluidly. The illusion was listening to her¡ªreceivingmands and performing them without guidance. And Natalie¡¯s mana was draining slower than it ought to. It had to be because of her ss¡¯s aspect. Lust. Even as aroused as Natalie was, the ideas flickered through her mind, piercing the haze and the pleasure of her stroking hand. It was a big discovery. How useful, or practical, of one? She wasn¡¯t sure. Later, she¡¯d put more thought into it. For now, she enjoyed herself. Tess obeyed. Her expression remained mostly passive, except for a quirk of her lips, as if she was amused at Natalie¡¯s lewd request. She began to sway her hips, a slow, sensual rhythm that had Natalie¡¯s heart pounding in her chest. Her eyes scoured Tess¡¯s curves as she moved¡ªher breasts, her hips, her toned stomach. Tess¡¯s hands traced up her body, ending at her tits, which she cupped and bounced for Natalie. Natalie groaned, jerking herself off faster, basking in the heat pooling between her legs, curling in her stomach. Fuck, Tess was so perfect. Tess¡¯s hands dropped back down, to her lingerie panties¡¯ waistband, which she teased taking off¡ªdipping the fabric down, but not revealing herself, only the first hints of pubic hair and a mound. Natalie stifled a second groan, her pleasure building rapidly. How couldn¡¯t she, being teased like that? Her hand went to her own tits, cupping through her shirt and squeezing. Natalie panted loudly as her hand stroked her length. Tess stopped ying with her waistband, then tugged the fabric down her legs, revealing her pussy and neatly trimmed pubic hair. Natalie¡¯s heart jumped, excitement spiking. She felt like she was melting. A knowing smirk crossed Tess¡¯s lips, as if she knew exactly what her body was doing for Natalie. She finished tugging her underwear off and tossed them away. She mounted Natalie. Natalie¡¯s eyes widened as Tess¡¯s tits and face were suddenly right in front of her. She couldn¡¯t feel the image, but the sight thrilled through her. And the fact that Tess¡¯s lower body was exactly where Natalie¡¯s cock was¡ªthat Natalie was, in apletely meaningless way, inside Tess¡ªset her on fire. Natalie¡¯s hand stroked faster, disrupting the lower half of the illusion, but basking in the sight of Tess¡¯s stern gray eyes and perfect tits in her face. She squirmed in pleasure, climax building embarrassingly fast. It was insane how much this was turning her on. This was just masturbation with extra steps ¡­ but fuck, she was so into it. The sight of Tess grinding her hips against Natalie, seeing her tits bounce, and her smirking gray eyes ¡­ She didn¡¯t stand a chance. Natalie jerked herself off faster, groaning as she started toe apart. Some remnants of rationality managed to pierce the building haze. She couldn¡¯t ruin a second skirt. She scrambled down the toilet paper from the receptacle, then yanked it and wadded it up. She stuffed the bundle to her tip right as the first clench seized her cock. Whining, Natalie leaned forward from the intensity of her orgasm, and sticky strings suffused the paper, quickly dampening it. Tess¡¯s image continued to grind against Natalie and put on a show, which she basked in, melting, as she furiously worked her cock faster and faster, building herself to mind-erasing highs. A thick wad of toilet paper wasn¡¯t great for collecting liquid. Coming as hard as she was, milking herself as desperately as she could, she drenched the bundle. Cum dribbled down her cock, lubricating her hand, and quickly approaching her panties as she kepting anding. Natalie groaned and attended to the unfortunate reality of the situation. She dispelled the illusion of Tess and turned around, facing her cock toward the toilet. She finished jerking herself off, cock pointed downward, tossing the wad of soaked toilet paper into the water. Mostly finished, only a few clenching ejections were left, which she worked out with a lubricated, sticky hand. Finished, she looked down at her palm, panting and embarrassed. She¡¯d really just done that. It wasn¡¯t even like she was starved for attention. Not only did Natalie take care of herself in the mornings, she had a semi-date tonight¡ªone she¡¯d probably get lucky in, in some form or another. So why had she jerked herself off for the second time that day? Fuck. It¡¯d felt so good, though. And been so messy. Natalie wrinkled her nose, the twitching high finally fading. She got to work cleaning herself up. Her legs were shaky from the heat that had coursed through her. The bathroom door creaked open, then closed. Quietly. As if someone had been taking care to not make noise. Natalie froze in ce, straining her ears. Nobody walked in to apany the sound. She peeked beneath the stall door to confirm; no feet anywhere in the tiny bathroom. Someone had just left, not entered. And Natalie ¡­ hadn¡¯t been quiet. Whoever it¡¯d been, they¡¯d heard. The knowledge seared through her. Oh, fuck. Even peeked? Had they peered over the stall wall and seen her? Natalie had been so lost in pleasure she wouldn¡¯t have noticed. Clearly. She hadn¡¯t even heard someone enter. Fuck. Natalie squeezed her eyes shut. Well. What in the world was she doing about that? 2.12 – Peek 2.12 ¨C Peek Camille blushed furiously as she scurried from the bathroom. When she¡¯d seen Natalie¡ªthe red-headed girl from ss¡ªscrambling through the halls of the training facility, she hadn¡¯t known what to think. Red faced and visibly flustered, in a clear rush to get somewhere, the sight had caught Camille¡¯s attention. She¡¯d followed almost by instinct. Which was weird, she knew. Especially because she had hidden her pursuit, slinking around corners to not be seen. But she hadn¡¯t been able to help herself. Natalie had been in such a state, and so Camille had been equally curious why. And then following her into the bathroom? Even stalking her had been weird enough, but in? That¡¯d crossed the line, even if the first part hadn¡¯t. But, again, her curiosity had been piqued. She¡¯d never stood a chance when it came to resisting her curiosity. Sticking her nose where it didn¡¯t belong was, essentially, Camille¡¯s most fundamental w. Or virtue. That same inquisitiveness was why Cara Gylver had taken notice of her. Camille had discovered that at T, her country drawl and ¡°unrefined speech patterns¡± suggested to many that she was a woman of slow wits, or at best, ackadaisical mind, but the opposite was true. As her adoption into House Gylver loudly proimed. The infamous ¡®House of Ingenuity¡¯ cared for little besides keenness of mind. So, seeing her ssmate flee down the hall, flushed and excited looking ¡­ she had followed. Against better judgment. And propriety. And then not just to her destination, but in. If she lied to herself, she had needed to use the restroom, anyway. She hadn¡¯t entered with intent to intrude. It was just a coincidence she had gone into the same bathroom her fleeing target had. Well, no. Even she couldn¡¯t lie to herself that tantly. She guessed she was just a nosy person. Inside, Camille had discovered a reason to the girl¡¯s flustered state. An answer she had distinctly not expected. Unexpected answers, she had found, tended to be the best. Her favorites. This one, though. She hadn¡¯t made her mind up on what she thought about it. Whether it adhered to that trend. Her head was still spinning, sorting through what she¡¯d discovered. Because Natalie¡ªher ssmate, who had trounced her and Ellis in spars this morning¡ªhad been masturbating, loudly, in a public restroom. Sure, she¡¯d probably fled to this secluded part of the facility explicitly seeking privacy, and Camille had slipped in as quietly as possible, not letting the door squeak as she inched it open, but still. It was in public. Did she have that little discretion? And she had a cock. The more ¡­ important surprise. Yes, she¡¯d peeked. Outrageously nosy, as she¡¯d already admitted¡ªeven to the point of perversion, apparently. She¡¯d already chased a red-faced girl across the facility, then followed her into the bathroom, purposefully hiding her feet by sitting on the sink and raising them. And while Camille wouldn¡¯t have invaded the girl¡¯s privacy if nothing untoward had started happening, Camille had felt the faint hum of magic, and a few momentster, the noises had started. Noises that said Natalie was very much enjoying herself. So, she¡¯d looked. And seen a cock. On a girl. Camille didn¡¯t know what was going on with that. Her first thought had been the obvious¡ªNatalie simply presented as a woman, but had been born a man. Camille of course had no problems with that, but she had a feeling it wasn¡¯t Natalie¡¯s situation. It didn¡¯t feel right. Camille suspected something else. Something less typical. So, Camille was doubly intrigued. Beyond being mortified, of course. At herself, and Natalie. She¡¯d caught her ssmate jerking off to an illusion she¡¯d conjured. And, Architect above, it had been a detailed illusion. Those curves¡ªthe ck lingerie. How was it so finely crafted? And who was it? A friend of hers? How indiscreet, if so. The idea thrilled through Camille. What an ¡­ interesting ability. And what shamelessness to use it in that way. Regardless of the who, what, and why, Camille was interested, even more than when she¡¯d first pursued Natalie across the facility. Her cheeks might be burning hot enough they felt like they¡¯d melt off, but she wasn¡¯t a prude. And it wasn¡¯t Natalie¡¯s fault she¡¯d been spied on. Camille had invaded her privacy, in a pretty direct way. Though, at the same time, seriously. It was a public restroom. She knew they were crammed in the barracks for the short term, but really? She couldn¡¯t just deal with that, for a week or two, until she had actual privacy? All of it was irrelevant. Camille¡¯s mind kepting back to the same thing. A girl with a cock. Natalie¡¯s curves,bined with the way her hand had been working frantically up and down. The image was so seared into her brain that she couldn¡¯t tear her attention away from it. She almost regretted having to leave. Maybe she could¡¯ve ¡­ inserted herself into that event. She suspected Natalie would¡¯ve been amenable to the idea. A decision slowly solidified in her mind. One not made consciously. It seemed, over the next week, Camille had a ssmate she¡¯d be trying to make friends with. She had some things to learn. Some ¡­ questions she wanted answered. Hopefully first hand. Very first hand. *** Natalie slunk from the bathroom, so mortified she thought she might genuinely curl up and die. It would be a nice, tidy solution to her problems. Unfortunately, she had to face the reality of the situation. She¡¯d been caught. Or, probably. She didn¡¯t have any guarantees of anything, which was almost worse. The bathroom door had swung closed ¡­ and she hadn¡¯t been that quiet. If there¡¯d been someone inside, they¡¯d known what was going on. But surely they hadn¡¯t peeked? Maybe they¡¯de in and left immediately. There had been a trash can directly next to the door. Maybe they¡¯de in to use that, then left quickly? Without noticing? There did exist a universe where Natalie hadn¡¯t been caught. She didn¡¯t believe she was fortunate enough for it to be this one, but Natalie could cling to the hope like a overboard woman did a raft. It wasn¡¯t fair. She¡¯d had an overwhelmingly enticing idea¡ªone relevant to her ss¡ªand she¡¯d wanted to test it. There weren¡¯t any private facilities for her to do so, so she¡¯d had to make do. It wasn¡¯t her fault. And maybe she¡¯d gotten carried away, but she was only human. Ugh. Excuses. Either way, the event was over. Probably, nothing woulde of it. That was what she told herself. She had other things to worry about, ones more important than whether a voyeur had spied on her in the bathroom. There wasn¡¯t anything she could do to confront the problem, so she¡¯d just ignore it. Or try to. So embarrassing. 2.13 – Caught 2.13 ¨C Caught Natalie wondered whether it was going to be a trend that she and Jordan lost control the first time she upgraded a skill, then settled into a bizarrely casual routine. Because despite their busy day, Natalie¡¯s ss still needed to be attended to, and so the two of them had ended up together, ¡®gathering¡¯ carnal energy before she headed off to the party. It was unfortunate how much of a staple public bathrooms were bing in Natalie¡¯s life. She couldn¡¯t wait until she had a dormitory room to retreat to¡ªan actually private space to handle all this in. Until then, Natalie needed to grope her best friend in the safety of the barrack¡¯s public facility. ¡°We¡¯ve got a few things to test,¡± Jordan said easily, as if Natalie didn¡¯t have her hands on her tits, massaging away. ¡°First, whether kissing and groping together gives more energy, rather than one or the other. For that matter, whether the next ¡®tier¡¯ wiped the old one away, when you got it. Does kissing still give energy?¡± ¡°I think so,¡± Natalie said, fairly confident in her answer. Intuition didn¡¯t always show up when puzzling over one¡¯s ss, but when it did, it was usually reliable. Natalie was pretty sure any of the previous ¡®collection methods¡¯ would work when she upgraded her Harvest skill. The progression just indicated the ¡®maximum act¡¯ she could earn energy from. So, kissing was still on the table. Though, whether both in the same session would give more, she wasn¡¯t sure. It was a good question. A good question she only paid half a mind to. She was distracted. It was hard to be a studious professional when she had her hands on her best friend¡¯s tits. And, she couldn¡¯t even zone out, either. Assuming the newly upgraded groping requirement had the same mechanics as kissing, then Natalie had to enjoy herself. Going about the motions didn¡¯t provide half as much energy. So she basked in the sensation of her hands against Jordan¡¯s small, shapely tits, and the noises Jordan made¡ªinterrupting her oh-so-professional discussion¡ªwhenever Natalie pinched or squeezed harder than normal. It might sound bizarre, but funny enough, this event¡ªgroping¡ªwas less Jordan¡¯s tits? They were on the smaller side¡ªJordan had a lean rogue¡¯s build¡ªbut fuck, they were so perfect. And her nipples were so cute. Natalie was struck with the sudden urge to lean forward and give one of the hard nubs a nibble. But that would, uh, be taking things too far. Right? Maybe she should try and find out. ¡°You aren¡¯t listening,¡± Jordan said. Natalie could hear her roll her eyes. ¡°I guess I should let you finish. But we do need to test it. So, do you want to be thorough today, or just my boobs? You can pick.¡± The words slowly hit her brain. ¡°Er.¡± She thought about it. Her kneading hands slowed as she thought, but she didn¡¯t pull back from ying with Jordan¡¯s tits. ¡°I guess ¡­ we¡¯ll go light today.¡± She couldn¡¯t keep the disappointment out of her voice, which was maybe too straightforward. What did Jordan think about all of this? For all Natalie felt like she could read Jordan easily, when it came to this, she couldn¡¯t. Partially because Jordan was keeping her reactions hidden. Did that mean Jordan didn¡¯t want to be here? That she was doing this just to help Natalie, and Jordan¡¯s careful control meant she was hiding the fact she was ufortable? The idea had Natalie¡¯s stomach twisting. But why else would Jordan be moderating her reactions? Out of an unconscious desire to steer them away from that subject, Natalie blurted out: ¡°I got caught, by the way.¡± Jordan blinked in surprise, and so did Natalie. Natalie¡¯s mouth tended to work separately from her brain. She grimaced, realizing she had to follow through. It was best she did, anyway. She had a policy of confiding everything in Jordan. Some advice on what to do about that disaster was probably in order. But exining what she¡¯d been doing? Ergh. So embarrassing. Without even mentioning she¡¯d been caught, which made it twice as awful. ¡°I, um,¡± Natalie said. She kept her eyes locked firmly on Jordan¡¯s tits, knowing she¡¯d squirm under Jordan¡¯s amusement. ¡°I was testing [Illusion] in a ¡­ not so appropriate way. And got caught up in things. Apparently, the skill works better when the images are,¡± Natalie cleared her throat, face burning, ¡°well, lewd. I thought the bathroom was empty, but I guess it wasn¡¯t. I think someone heard me taking care of myself. Maybe saw.¡± That had been an ordeal to get out. But she managed. At least while squeezing Jordan¡¯s breasts, talking about lewd matters didn¡¯t feel as embarrassing. ¡°Taking care of yourself?¡± ¡°Please,¡± Natalie huffed. ¡°You don¡¯t need me to spell it out. You know what I mean.¡± Jordan absorbed that. Her previous question, at least, hadn¡¯t sounded like she wasughing at Natalie. Natalie rxed at that. Jordan had always been able to take everything in stride. ¡°Well. You don¡¯t know who?¡± ¡°No clue. Maybe they didn¡¯t even catch me. Just ¡­ they left right after I finished. Snuck out, it sounded like. And I wasn¡¯t being super quiet.¡± ¡°That might be a problem.¡± ¡°No shit. Any advice?¡± ¡°What¡¯s there to say? I guess ¡­ keep an eye out. Someone might try to ckmail you.¡± ¡°ckmail?¡± ¡°That¡¯s how T works, isn¡¯t it? All scheming politicians?¡± ¡°Liz seemed nice.¡± ¡°I get the feeling Liz isn¡¯t the ¡®normal politician¡¯,¡± Jordan said dryly. Natalie agreed. For being a highborn, she was ridiculously bubbly and outgoing¡ªand seeminglycking ulterior motives. Was it an act, or genuine? Natalie¡¯s other ssmates were definitely more reserved. She wouldn¡¯t be surprised for any of them to strong-arm Natalie into something. At least Natalie wasn¡¯t important, which made her a not-very-relevant ckmail target. ¡°Yeah,¡± Natalie said. ¡°I guess.¡± She groaned. ¡°I really didn¡¯t need this to deal with. I¡¯ve got enough going on.¡± ¡°Maybe don¡¯t jerk off in public bathrooms?¡± Jordan suggested. ¡°And to who, anyway?¡± ¡°To who?¡± ¡°Who¡¯d you make the illusion of?¡± Natalie started, then blushed, remembering how the first time¡ªthe first test¡ªit had been Jordan who had popped into her head. ¡°Does it matter?¡± ¡°Was it me?¡± ¡°No!¡± Jordan blinked at the loud, instantaneous reply. ¡°Um,¡± Natalie said, reining the reaction in. ¡°I just mean ¡­ I wouldn¡¯t, of course¡ª it wasn¡¯t¡ª it was Tess.¡± ¡°Tess?¡± ¡°My magic tutor.¡± Natalie shrugged. Her face burned red as she kept her gaze firmly on Jordan¡¯s tits, the bizarrely safer optionpared to her eyes. ¡°She¡¯s cute. I dunno. But I felt seriously creepy doing it. I don¡¯t know her at all.¡± Jordan was quiet for a bit. Finally, she said, ¡°Well. If using strangers makes you feel weird, then use me, next time.¡± Natalie froze. She looked up. Jordan wore an amused expression, exactly as she¡¯d expected. Just teasing Natalie. But also ¡­ she sounded like she meant it? ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Sure. It¡¯s hardly different than this.¡± ¡°Right,¡± Natalie said. She¡¯d already been red-faced, but this topic of conversation had her face melting. She tried to y it off, to middling sess. ¡°I¡¯ll, uh, keep that in mind.¡± A brief silence fell over the two of them. ¡°You¡¯re done, right?¡± Jordan eventually asked. ¡°It¡¯s been a while.¡± Yeah. Natalie had been groping for more than a few minutes. Her skill probably didn¡¯t require that much effort to max out, not that she knew the exact specifications. Just, it was so much fun. Jordan seriously had some amazing tits. Reluctantly, she withdrew her hands, then checked in on her energy supply. 2.14 – Party 2.14 ¨C Party Natalie could hear the loud, thumping music nearly from the Union za. The healer¡¯s guild was in the back right of the five-pronged star, at least from the direction Natalie approached, and as she closed the gap to the white and green building¡ªgreen was the color of healers, the same way gray was for tanks, or red for fighters¡ªit started to vibrate in Natalie¡¯s head. She found herself grinning in anticipation. She¡¯d been honest when she¡¯d said that she hadn¡¯te to T to party, but that the pseudo-university was infamous for them? Well, she didn¡¯t consider that a bad thing. Plus, after the events of the past few hours¡ªor, gods, honestly the past week¡ªshe could use a few drinks. Time to cut loose and burn off some stress. Company with Sammy was sure to do that. A girl with who her rtionship hadn¡¯t be so suddenlyplicated, like Jordan. Not that Jordan¡¯spany was ever stress-inducing, just, it¡¯d be ¡­ again,plicated. People were strewn about the benches, yard, and the pointed edge of the za leading up to the guild. Tons of them. Dozens and dozens, probably close to a hundred, outside alone, bleeding from the healer¡¯s guild and out into the Union za, encroaching on other guild¡¯s territories. Half the campus had to be here. Some stood about, drinking and talking, others ying various sorts of drinking games. They¡¯d appropriated tables from somewhere and set them up outside, the inside of the guild apparently too cramped. Natalie even saw some couples getting probably a bit too frisky for public, emboldened by how the sun had set, and, presumably, the alcohol buzzing in them. Natalie only smirked, ncing sideways as the couples so shamelessly¡ªand not half as subtly as they thought¡ªgroped each other. It boded well for her. Managing the less appropriate parts of her ss really might be easier than she¡¯d first thought. The T campus had redundantly made itself clear: not a prudish ce to be. Inside, the healer¡¯s guild was cramped, as expected of the packed outdoors. She blinked as her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, and the shing, magical effects zipping around the room to add ambiance. The music was even louder in here, though she grew quickly ustomed to it. Definitely, it wasn¡¯t the same atmosphere as parties back home. Or, kind of. Same basic package: stands with drinks, cliques clumped togetherughing and drinking, dim lighting and the smell of alcohol in the air. But everything was dialed up. And the crowd, the sheer number of people, was dialed up twice over. There were so many people. Natalie had been reminded constantly that she¡¯d crawled out of nowherend and to the capital city of Valhaur, but here, she was given another huge one. Seriously, half the campus must havee to this party. It was packed. Her eyes sought out Sammy. In face of the enormous press of bodies, she was suddenly concerned about whether she¡¯d even be able to find her. Sammy was waiting for her, right? Watching the doorway from wherever she was, maybe the upper balcony? But people were streaming in and out, and Natalie didn¡¯t want to stand in the way. She scanned around the enormous lobby, and higher up, tracing the stairs and the uppernding. But it was too dim. No sess. Shrugging to herself¡ªshe¡¯d find Sammy eventually¡ªshe waded through the crowd, headed for the drinks table. Sammy was Natalie¡¯s first priority, but getting buzzed was a secondary mission. Might as well attend to that one first, then tackle the other afterward. She briefly noted the people here. She¡¯de dressed the way she usually did, though with a bit more effort than normal, and that was probably a good thing, because even with the extra effort, she looked kind of scruffy. She wasn¡¯t alone in that style, but most of T¡¯s studentbase had a casual form of dress that was only a step or two below Natalie¡¯s formal. T¡¯s typical student was a stuffy aristocrat. Nobody looked oddly at Natalie for her jeans and t-shirt¡ªand she even caught some appreciaivte nces, but that probably wasn¡¯t for her choice of clothing¡ªbut she felt a bit out of ce, regardless. Hopefully Sammy didn¡¯t think she looked bad. Maybe Natalie would have to start paying some more attention to how she dressed. It¡¯d been fine back at Tinford, but herck of effort was a lot more noticeable here. Though, having those thoughts just made Natalie¡¯s annoyance re. Why the fuck would she care? If they thought Natalie looked scruffy because she hadn¡¯t worn button-ups or a dress to a party, then that was their problem. The drink table, keeping to the trend, also wasn¡¯t like Natalie was used to. Instead of flimsy disposable cups, there were crystal sses stacked in rows. She eyed them, incredulous, wondering how the entire disy wouldn¡¯t end up brokene the morning. Or even an hour from now. Or even yet, since the party was definitely underway. There were more than a few people already bing rambunctious. Natalie hadn¡¯t arrivedte, but she hadn¡¯t arrived early, either. Either way, Natalie didn¡¯t pause for long, staring at the ridiculous disy of crystal ss. It wasn¡¯t her problem if they ended up broken. At a guess, they were more durable than they looked. Didn¡¯t matter. She picked one, then took the heavy irondle and poured herself a ss of, presumably, punch. At least that looked normal, though she supposed it was hard to make fruit punch ostentatious. What would they do? Add garnish? She sniffed. It smelled more strongly of alcohol than she¡¯d expected. Stepping to the side to clear away from the table, she took a drink. The taste confirmed it¡ªthey¡¯d hadn¡¯t gone light on the mixing. She didn¡¯t n on getting wasted tonight, so she¡¯d probably keep to one or two. The goal was to be ending up in Sammy¡¯s room, and sex while stered¡ªwhile not the worst thing in the world¡ªwasn¡¯t her goal tonight. She needed her wits about her. She still had the ¡®big reveal¡¯ to navigate. At the reminder of that¡ªhow Sammy would react¡ªshe grimaced and took another drink. ¡°Hey!¡± a familiar voiced eximed to her side, making Natalie blink and turn her way. ¡°I was calling for you!¡± Sammy stood there, hands on her hips. ¡°What are you, deaf?¡± Sammy grinned despite the words, cheeks slightly flushed, her friendly demeanor even more teased out by the excited atmosphere. Or more urately, the alcohol. She¡¯d definitely been drinking; the hint of redness on her cheeks made that obvious, if the wide smile hadn¡¯t. But her words were spoken clearly, without a slur. Sammy wasn¡¯t drunk, just tipsy. Natalie was suddenly appreciative that Sammy had made her intentions clear. That, assuming Natalie didn¡¯t screw anything up, the two of them would be ¡®making it back to her room¡¯. It cleared up any hesitations on whether¡ªif anything happened¡ªit¡¯d been the alcohol. Definitely Sammy¡¯s n from the start. Still, she hoped Sammy wouldn¡¯t get drunk-drunk. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn¡¯t care, but for a first time, especially considering Natalie¡¯s circumstances¡ªthe surprise addition between her legs¡ªshe¡¯d rather Sammy had a mostly clear head. ¡°Not yet,¡± Natalie answered, having to half-shout the words over the pounding music. ¡°But by the time we leave, I might be. I can¡¯t even hear myself think.¡± The ring music added to the ambiance, but seriously. It was loud. ¡°It¡¯s quieter up on the balcony,¡± Sammy said. ¡°Here,e with me.¡± She grabbed Natalie¡¯s hand, and Natalie let herself be dragged away. She took a second drink as she went. By Sammy¡¯s flushed cheeks, she had some catching up to do. 2.15 – Evie 2.15 ¨C Evie Sammy dragged Natalie to meet her friends. Unsurprisingly, that included Alden, the boy at the tank¡¯s guild who had hit on Natalie as soon as she¡¯d stepped through the door¡ªthen who had dropped her off with Sammy when Natalie had turned him down. Standing next to him¡ªclose enough it wasn¡¯t a friendly proximity, but pressed into his side¡ªwas a woman with ck hair and stunning blue eyes. She, like most of the people here, was dressed several degrees more formal than Natalie: in a long, clinging ck dress. Natalie felt the girl¡¯s eyes crawl appraisingly across her body, probably making judgments about Natalie¡¯s overly casual attire¡ªthough there wasn¡¯t any disdain on her face. Mostly curiosity. And ¡­ appreciativeness? Which was odd. Natalie was pretty sure this girl was Alden¡¯s date for the night, so to be checking Natalie out so tantly was ¡­ indiscreet. Natalie pretended not to notice. ¡°Your hunts went well, then?¡± Natalie asked Alden, quirking an eyebrow. She was mildly miffed over how quickly he¡¯d taken interest then dismissed her, but she also couldn¡¯t me him. He¡¯d been on the prowl. Plus, he¡¯d brought her to Sammy, which made up for things. Before giving Alden a chance to respond, she finished introduced herself to rest of the group. ¡°Hey. Nat.¡± There was one other besides Sammy, Alden, and his date: a brown-haired boy with chocte eyes. He was surprisingly innocent looking¡ªkind of like a boy version of Liz. ¡°Hunt?¡± Alden asked, putting a hand to his chest in mock offense. ¡°I was not on the hunt. I was simply doing my duties weing people to the guild.¡± His lips quirked. ¡°And you have it wrong. This is Evie, my dearest betrothed, not a result from any alleged¡ªtotally false¡ª¡®hunts¡¯.¡± Betrothed? Natalie repressed a twitch of surprise. These two were to be married? But ¡­ Alden had been hitting on her back at the tank¡¯s guild. Then had Natalie given away something she shouldn¡¯t have? He didn¡¯t look concerned, so probably not? And Evie, his fianc¨¦e, had also just been checking out Natalie. Not subtly, either. It¡¯d been a good eye-fucking. ¡°Alden has good taste,¡± Evie said, smiling at Natalie, and, like the appraisal, not in a way that left much to interpretation. It dispelled the idea that she had misjudged something. Or, she had, but not in the way she thought. ¡°You only like girls, Alden said?¡± ¡°Do you mind?¡± Sammy asked irritably. ¡°Go find someone else to organize your gross threesomes with, Evie. Not my date.¡± Okay, yeah. That exined that. ¡°But, to make it clear,¡± Evie continued, ignoring her friend¡¯s protests, ¡°it could be just us two. Alden would get to watch, though. It¡¯s part of our deal.¡± ¡°Evie!¡± Sammy protested. Natalie gaped at the two, briefly, before shaking off her surprise and taking a drink to buy time. It took a lot to fluster Natalie, but they¡¯d done it. Alden and Evie seemed amused at her reaction. So. These two were engaged, but fine with each other sleeping around. Was that normal in the capital? If Natalie hadn¡¯te with Sammy, she might have entertained the idea. Though, not with Alden watching. That¡¯d definitely be too weird. But Evie? Natalie was interested, to say the least. But she¡¯de here with Sammy. She wasn¡¯t ditching her date the moment someone else came along. She¡¯d be leaving with Sammy, assuming it was what she wanted. ¡°Thanks,¡± Natalie finally said. ¡°But, uh. That¡¯s not exactly my scene.¡± ¡°A pity,¡± Evie said. Sammy cozied up to Natalie, ring at her two friends. Natalie could¡¯ve swore Alden winked at her, as if he and Evie had prepared this exchange to purposefully make Sammy jealous and move things along. Was he still wing-manning for her, like back at the tank¡¯s guild? Why? Though maybe he was egging on Sammy, and Natalie was incidental. That seemed more likely. Either way, she guessed she wasn¡¯tining. Because a cute girl tucked into her side? Worth the somersaults her brain had done trying to orient herself to this situation. Natalie subtly worked her free arm around Sammy¡¯s waist, who leaned further into her, epting the advance. She was still eying Alden, who seemed satisfied his efforts to have Sammy clinging to Natalie had worked. Natalie faced the brown-haired boy. She hadn¡¯t gotten his name. ¡°Dag,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you. And, ignore Evie and Alden. They¡¯re hedonists.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve noticed.¡± ¡°The offer stands, though,¡± Evie added. ¡°Evie! Seriously.¡± Sammy didn¡¯t sound genuinely mad, just exasperated. By the sound of things, this was very much the standard for Alden and Evie. But a hint of annoyance had crept in. Dag said, ¡°You¡¯re a tank, right? The same as these two brutes?¡± He gestured at Sammy and Alden. For a bit, the five of them chatted, sipping at their respective drinks and exchanging small talk that quickly morphed to much more casual¡ªand asionally less appropriate¡ªtopics. It was a well established group, Natalie could tell. She was the outsider. That didn¡¯t bother her. She slid in, in a superficial manner, without much friction, fitting into the conversation with ease. The alcohol kicked in, too, making it easier. Sammy didn¡¯t seem to be going too hard, which was fortunate. Soon enough, Sammy dragged her away, saying that she wanted a refill and that she wanted Natalie toe with her. They didn¡¯t rejoin the group, though, after topping off, but instead headed for a different section of the expansive healer¡¯s guild hall. Not into the innards¡ªto the actual functional parts of the guild¡ªbut away from the crowds. The music quieted down. Though, still loud, and still plenty of people around. ¡°Sorry,¡± Sammy said. ¡°But I was getting kind of annoyed. Evie¡¯s actually interested in you. She¡¯s not doing it to tease me, like she usually does.¡± She took a drink, muttering, ¡°But you¡¯re mine tonight. Annoying woman.¡± The confirmation was nice. Natalie would definitely be getting lucky tonight. ¡°That¡¯s normal for them, then? Despite being ¡­ promised to each other?¡± Sammy blinked at the question. ¡°Oh. Uh, I mean, Alden and Evie are more ¡­ open ¡­ than most. But not to, like, a crazy degree. It¡¯s not that umon.¡± She pursed her lips, as if considering whether she wanted to say the next part. ¡°Where are you from, anyway?¡± The question had given her away in some manner, Natalie could tell. Or, probably, it¡¯d been clear from the start. Natalie didn¡¯t even talk like many of her ssmates. The differences were pretty obvious. At least she wasn¡¯t treated poorly for it. Delvers¡ªeven the aspirant ones¡ªonly cared forpetence. Circumstances of birth were probably on their minds, but it wasn¡¯t something people sneered at. As a general rule. ¡°It¡¯s called Tinford. Way down south, it¡¯s tiny. You haven¡¯t heard of it. Why?¡± ¡°Just surprised me.¡± ¡°What did?¡± ¡°That you don¡¯t know the standard, I guess?¡± ¡°The standard being ¡­ ?¡± ¡°Evie and Alden. They¡¯re engaged, but not together together.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a political marriage.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Oh, yeah, that was obvious. She should¡¯ve been able to piece it together. ¡°Though in their case,¡± Sammy said, ¡°they actually like each other. But they still keep their options open, like most people in their situation.¡± So that was the standard. Arranged marriages. But side rtionships¡ªeven obvious ones¡ªweren¡¯t looked down on. That exined a few things. Being born into nobility came with benefits, but headaches, too. Natalie considered herself lucky shes didn¡¯t have to deal with all that. Arranged marriages¡ªno, thank you. Not that marriage was high on her priority list. Natalie had other things to be focusing on. Even her strange ss hadn¡¯t changed that. She was looking for superficial flings. Rtionships that earned that valuable resource tied to her ss, and were some fun, but didn¡¯t distract her from more important matters. Natalie took another drink. The warmth of the alcohol was starting to wash through her, making her rx. Not that she¡¯d been too tense. More than she might normally be at a party, though. While familiar in some ways, this environment wasn¡¯t exactly what she knew. Less ¡­ chandeliers and crystal sses, back home. The healer¡¯s guild was the gaudiest of the ones she¡¯d been in. Maybe it had been dressed up for the party. ¡°So they¡¯re important, then?¡± Natalie asked. ¡°Alden and Evie?¡± Sammy tilted her head. ¡°Why do you think that?¡± ¡°Just got the vibe.¡± ¡°Well. Yeah, you¡¯re right. Evie¡¯s the daughter of Gabriel Vetter.¡± ¡°And that is ¡­ ?¡± At Sammy¡¯s incredulous look, Natalie rolled her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m from the middle of nowhere. I got an actual ¡®you don¡¯t know who I am?¡¯ speech, earlier, if that gives you a clue.¡± Sammy seemed amused, but she also pursed her lips. ¡°That¡¯s dangerous, Nat.¡± ¡°Dangerous?¡± ¡°I like politics as much as the next person, but being clueless? Not smart at T. You can maybe wiggle out of some of the drama, but only if you know enough to do so deliberately.¡± ¡°I guess.¡± Sammy sighed. ¡°I guess it¡¯s up to me to save you, then. Gabriel Vetter ¡­ let¡¯s see.¡± They were talking politics? Now? At a party? Well, Natalie guessed she did need to know the basics. She ought to be grateful Sammy was willing to help. Not the ideal conversation topic for an event like this, but not the worst, either, and she ought to be appreciative that Sammy cared enough to give a lesson. The least she could do was listen. 2.16 – Houses 2.16 ¨C Houses ¡°The Vetter family isn¡¯t that important, globally speaking,¡± Sammy said. ¡°Mostly, I¡¯m just concerned you don¡¯t know the name. It means you didn¡¯t do your homework.¡± ¡°Homework?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not from a noble house, either, you know,¡± Sammy pointed out. ¡°So your situation isn¡¯t that rare. Maybe not from down south like you, the middle of nowhere, but what¡¯s that matter? I didn¡¯t brush shoulders with nobility growing up, so I didn¡¯t know their names because I had y dates with them. Had to learn. But I did, because I knew it¡¯d be important,ing to T.¡± ¡°Right.¡± Natalie recognized the mild scolding. But, Natalie figured, she had Jordan for that sort of thing. And, unfortunately, Sofia, who probably knew more about the political situation in T than even Jordan. Y¡¯know, seeing how she pretended to be one of them, all the time. But, exining that to Sammy probably wouldn¡¯t fly. Make her sound dependent, even. Which was ¡­ kind of true. She was dependent on Jordan. Maybe Natalie should put more effort into this sort of thing. ¡°Anyway,¡± Sammy said pointedly, raising her eyebrows in minor chastisement. Natalie took it for the good-hearted concern it was. ¡°Gabriel Vetter¡ªor House Vetter¡ªis one of the most influential houses aligned under House Ainsworth. You know who they are, I¡¯m assuming.¡± The words were sarcastic, but at Natalie¡¯s nk look, Sammy gaped at her. ¡°House Ainsworth,¡± she repeated. ¡°Nat. They own half the city.¡± ¡°Right ¡­¡± Natalie said. It was starting toe back. ¡°They¡¯re one of the five major houses.¡± Sammy stared at her, baffled that it had even taken a second for Natalie to remember. Maybe she was a little more than ¡®behind¡¯ on this. Maybe she¡¯d been willfully ignorant, even. Just, really. Who cared? Politics. What everyone should be worried about was their ss, their skills, and the dungeon. ¡°Yes,¡± Sammy said tly. ¡°One of the major houses. You know those, at least?¡± ¡°The Beaumons. Parda-Halt. Valeria. Uh ¡­¡± What was thest one? ¡°The nerd house.¡± ¡°The nerd house?¡± ¡°The tinkers and mages.¡± ¡°House Gylver?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the one.¡± Sammy seemed torn between amused and incredulous. ¡°Well, you know them at least. That¡¯s a low bar to clear, but it¡¯s a bar.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got the big picture,¡± Natalie said dismissively. She took another drink. ¡°Do you? The currentndscape?¡± ¡°Who¡¯s friends with who?¡± Maybe. Again, she knew the broad strokes, because she hadn¡¯t lived under a literal rock, just the metaphorical kind. ¡°The Beaumons and Valeria stay together. They don¡¯t like Parda-Halt.¡± A hang-over from the whole, ¡®tried to overthrow the monarchy¡¯ deal. That¡¯d been a while ago, but old grudges lingered. ¡°Ainsworth only cares about money,¡± the merchant House, ¡°and Gylver only cares about magic and technology. So they stick together.¡± Profit and advancement¡ªhand in hand. Sammy narrowed her eyes. ¡°That is the general idea. You¡¯re not as clueless as you¡¯re pretending.¡± ¡°Nah. I am. That¡¯s all I know. Never heard of ¡®Vetter¡¯.¡± ¡°Still, you¡¯re not catastrophically uninformed. Just not nearly where you should be.¡± She pursed her lips. ¡°Like I said, Vetter¡¯s one of House Ainsworth¡¯s major allies. Not one of the five major Houses, but important.¡± ¡°Rich as sin, I¡¯m taking it.¡± Natalie had gotten that impression from Evie. ¡°Anyone allied to Ainsworth is, usually.¡± She nodded. A brief lull. ¡°There¡¯s a Beaumon in my ss, you know,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Liz. We might go on a delve together.¡± A sentence like that would¡¯ve had someone back home gaping at her, but Sammy just raised her eyebrows. Big names didn¡¯t mean much at T¡ªnot even the royal family. ¡°And you know what that¡¯ll say, if you do?¡± Sammy asked. ¡°It¡¯d be throwing my lot in with them?¡± Sammy seemed satisfied Natalie had at least considered the idea. ¡°Maybe not instantly. Not this early in the semester, and just a test delve. It won¡¯t close any doors outright, but maybe ¡­ inch them toward being closed.¡± ¡°And?¡± Natalie asked. ¡°Gotta pick someone to cozy up to, right? Isn¡¯t that how it works?¡± Sammy shrugged. ¡°The real experts know how to cozy up with everyone. Like Evie. She¡¯s good at that. Ainsworth in general is. They¡¯re friends with everyone, Parda-Halt or Valeria.¡± ¡°That¡¯s ¡®cause money talks.¡± Being richer than the royal family had a way of making people want to be cozied up to. Sammyughed. ¡°That¡¯s true. But there¡¯s a skill to it. Making friends without making enemies.¡± Natalie wrinkled her nose. Political deftness. Yeah ¡­ she had a feeling that wouldn¡¯t ever be her specialty. Didn¡¯t intend to try. Way too much of a headache. ¡°Well, Liz is nice. And like I said, if it needs to be someone, then I wouldn¡¯t mind being friendly with her family.¡± The most powerful, individually, of any house. ¡°Just think about what you¡¯re doing,¡± Sammy said. ¡°I¡¯m hardly going to tell you what to do, but think about it.¡± Natalie was about to ask who Sammy ¡®aligned¡¯ with, but the question fizzled when a crash rang through the room. She winced, head snapping to the noise. It took a moment to make sense of the chaos. One of the infamous ¡®brawls¡¯ had broken out. Only a portion of the party-goers¡ªagain, the healer¡¯s guild was packed¡ªbothered to watch. To be fair, the conflict didn¡¯t seem to be a particrly interesting one. Two men had started swinging, a woman on the sidelines holding her head in one hand, seeming more irritated than concerned. A story as old as time. She watched, interested, for a few moments, critiquing their wrestling forms. Drunk, it wasn¡¯t particrly elegant¡ªdefinitely a substandard brawl considering these were T students, regardless of their role background. She winced as the losing boy made a viciouseback, mming the other¡¯s head into the floor with a resounding smack. The floor tile cracked. Definitely upper years. They were fighting faster, and stronger, than they ought to, even clumsy as they were. Nobody seemed concerned by the scuffle, only entertained. That was maybe the best proof that this sort of thing was routine. What else would she expect, stuffing hundreds of men and women whose professions were violence into a crowded party hall¡ªthen adding alcohol? ¡°Why¡¯s it so easy to get booze, anyway?¡± Natalie asked, the questioning naturally in her head, but probably sounding random to Sammy. ¡°Seems like T would care more than they do.¡± ¡°Dunno,¡± Sammy said. ¡°Like I said, it¡¯s not that easy to sneak in.¡± Natalie quirked an eyebrow. It wasn¡¯t a few bottles that had been arranged for this party. Whoever the party organizers were, they¡¯d smuggled in whole racks. ¡°But not that hard, either,¡± Sammy conceded. ¡°Why they don¡¯t care? I mean, I guess you¡¯d have to ask the Dean, or someone equally high up. I¡¯ve got plenty of theories, though.¡± ¡°Like?¡± ¡°To vent pressure?¡± She gestured at the fight. ¡°Better a drunken brawl than actually letting things boil over. And forcing everyone to be secretive about it makes it more dangerous, not less.¡± She gave Natalie an amused look. ¡°I¡¯m a member of the tank¡¯s guild, remember, so I¡¯ve done my fair share of stringing these events together. I would know.¡± ¡°Huh,¡± Natalie said. The fight was wrapping up. There didn¡¯t seem to be a clear victor. It was degrading into a verbal spar, with different groups helping peel the two boys apart. For all the legendary reputation, and Liz¡¯s ims of ¡®casualties¡¯, the party wasn¡¯t that different from the ones Natalie knew. Besides all the crystal sses and fancy clothing, obviously. Sammy downed the rest of her drink. ¡°Anyway, you wanna head back? As much fun as I¡¯m having, I feel like there¡¯s more exciting things we could be doing.¡± ¡°Like each other?¡± ¡°Please, Nat. Leave it to subtext.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not really my style,¡± Natalie grinned. Natalie finished thest of her punch, then was pulled along by Sammy. 2.17 – Sammy I 2.17 ¨C Sammy I Sammy plopped down onto her bed, hands beneath her thighs, and kicking her feet back and forth. She looked around her room¡ªsmall, but cozy¡ªand said, ¡°It¡¯s not much, but by T standards, it¡¯s pretty nice. There¡¯s perks to doing the guild¡¯s busy work.¡± ¡°Beats the barracks, that¡¯s for sure.¡± She sat next to Sammy, who was grinning at her, obviously excited for the turn this night would be taking. Natalie returned the smile, equally as anticipatory, though admittedly nervous. Not because this sort of thing usually made her anxious¡ªbeyond the normal amount everyone was¡ªbut rather, the reveal of the night. The thing between her legs, which she had no clue how Sammy would react to. The two of them had already been excited walking back to Sammy¡¯s room, but now the giddy air had morphed into an electric one. In the privacy of Sammy¡¯s room, the moment had arrived. Both knew the reason they¡¯d hung out tonight¡ªand by Sammy¡¯s expectant expression, she was waiting for Natalie to get a move on. Her eyes were on Natalie¡¯s lips. While with Jordan Natalie had been timid, she had no such hesitations with Sammy. Spurred on by the warm buzz in her head, too, she shuffled forward, pressing closer to Sammy. Sammy leaned into her, tilting her head and closing her eyes. Natalie took the offer. Heart pounding, she pressed her lips into Sammy¡¯s. It stayed chaste, tentative, for about two seconds. Then Natalie pried Sammy¡¯s mouth open, wanting to get to things, and knowing Sammy did too. Natalie pushed Sammy over into her bed, crawling atop her, kissing her on the way down. The two shuffled over, getting better positioned in the middle of the bed, rather than half hanging off the ledge. It broke the kiss briefly, before Natalie returned to it with renewed eagerness. Sammy¡¯s hands roamed Natalie¡¯s back, tugging her in closer. Natalie basked in the taste of the older girl, delighting in her mouth and needy reciprocation. Her own hands started to stray. Natalie leaned up, finally, straddling Sammy¡¯sp. There was something she needed to handle before things went much further. Sammy panted up at Natalie, red faced and excited, and confused why she¡¯d pulled back. ¡°I should, uh, tell you something,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Okay?¡± Natalie couldn¡¯t imagine a way to handle this besides directly. To just say it. She fought past her nerves. ¡°This might sound odd, but it¡¯s not a joke. I, um. Have both parts. A cock, too. So if that¡¯s not something you want ¡­ or whatever ¡­ then I guess ¡­¡± she trailed off. Sammy, obviously, couldn¡¯t take the announcement fully in stride. She blinked, caught off guard. Her eyes flicked down, seeing, for the first time, the proof of Natalie¡¯s im. Their sloppy kisses from a few moments prior had worked her up, making the bulge clear, with Natalie literally sitting on Sammy. ¡°Oh,¡± Sammy said. She was quiet for several moments, taking the announcement in, and Natalie let her digest it. ¡°Oh. Um. That¡¯s ¡­¡± She pursed her lips, then shrugged. ¡°Okay. I don¡¯t care, but¡ªbut I think I only want hands and fingers inside me? For tonight.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Relief crashed through her. It was a much smoother eptance than she could have hoped for. Plus, not going all the way¡ªputting it inside Sammy¡ªwas probably for the best for Natalie, too. She¡¯d brought a condom just in case, but taking things slowly ¡­ that was more than fine. And, fortunately, Sammy didn¡¯t seem to care about the ¡®how¡¯. How Natalie had ended up with both parts. Maybe she was curious, but didn¡¯t think it polite to ask? Either way, the disimer made, Natalie returned to the moment, working away on bringing the passionate mood back. Sammy met her lips eagerly, so it seemed she meant what she said¡ªthat the reveal hadn¡¯t bothered her. Thest bits of Natalie¡¯s concern left, and, worries out of the way, she indulged in her lust. Her hands crept up to the top of Sammy¡¯s button-up shirt, fumbling at popping it open. She pulled back,ughing into Sammy¡¯s lips. ¡°Ugh. These are so annoying to take off.¡± She wanted to y with Sammy now. Leaning up to prove her point, Natalie pulled off her own shirt in a smooth, easy motion. ¡°See? Much easier.¡± ¡°Counter argument,¡± Sammy said. She gripped her button-up at the middle, then pulled, buttons popping and flying away in a tter. Natalie stared incredulously at the other girl, whoughed. ¡°See? It¡¯s not that much harder.¡± ¡°You ruined your shirt!¡± And it had revealed Sammy¡¯s smooth, tanned skin, and a ck bra cupping two generous breasts. But however amazing that sight was¡ªshe¡¯d literally ripped her shirt open. ¡°But I saved us two seconds,¡± Sammy said. ¡°Too bad you¡¯re wasting it.¡± She shook her chest side to side, making her tits bounce. ¡°My sacrifice is going to waste.¡± Natalie took the hint, even if she was still amused, and incredulous, at how Sammy had literally torn her button-up. Did she do that for all her dates? It certainly set an impression. Honestly, it turned her on with surprising intensity. Probably the point. She leaned back forward, taking Sammy¡¯s mouth again and adventuring to more daring ces. She wiggled her hands under Sammy¡¯s bra and started ying with her tits. At a gentle pinch of her nipples, Sammy groaned into her mouth, a sound Natalie let wash over her. She bit Sammy¡¯s lip and tugged it back. Sammy¡¯s breath hitched, and, eagerly, she vied for control, then did the same to Natalie. The spike of pain was nice¡ªshe liked when kisses got a bit rough. Sammy¡¯s hand dipped between Natalie¡¯s legs and rubbed. The pressure against her cock sent electricity up her spine, and Natalie gave her own groan into her partner¡¯s mouth. It was the second time anyone had ever touched here there, even throughyers of clothing. Jordan had been the first, mounting Natalie¡¯sp and rubbing her butt against her. The memory thrilled through her¡ªshe tried not to think about why too closely¡ªand Natalie started kissing Sammy even more enthusiastically. She repositioned herself, moving to the side so she could press her knee between Sammy¡¯s legs, providing her something to rub again. She epted eagerly, gyrating her hips as she pleasured herself. She continued rubbing Natalie¡¯s crotch just as excitedly. Eventually, Sammy pulled back, gasping. She nudged Natalie¡¯s knee away with her hand. ¡°Your mouth? Please?¡± She leaned forward, hands going behind Natalie¡¯s back, to her bra strap. ¡°And I want this off.¡± Her tits revealed, which she let Sammy briefly admire, shaking them with a smile, Natalie didn¡¯t need to be told twice. She scooted back on the bed, helping Sammy tug her pants down. She nted a kiss on each of Sammy¡¯s thighs, taking it slow, but Sammy¡¯s fingers buried into Natalie¡¯s hair, and she urged Natalie forward, between her legs. She was, apparently, ready. Didn¡¯t need any further working up. Natalie nted a kiss on Sammy¡¯s panties, then tugged those down, too. 2.18 – Sammy II 2.18 ¨C Sammy II Natalie stared at Sammy¡¯s bared pussy. Her gaze must have been a little too admiring, because Sammy blushed. She hadn¡¯t been particrly bashful at any point, but ogling it so tantly had her squeezing her knees shut and looking away. ¡°Don¡¯t stare at it like that. What¡¯s wrong with you?¡± Natalie pushed her knees back open, which Sammy allowed. The protest had been superficial. She ced a kiss on either of Sammy¡¯s pelvis creases, then pulled back and gave it onest admiring look. ¡°How can¡¯t I stare?¡± she asked, looking up to meet Sammy¡¯s eyes. ¡°Look how perfect it is.¡± ¡°Then how about more eating, less talking?¡± Happily. Natalie leaned back down, rubbed her nose into the stubby, shaved hair of Sammy¡¯s pussy, then licked, getting her first taste. Sammy shivered at the sensation, a low groan escaping her throat. She urged Natalie forward, pressing her head in, but Natalie wanted to tease before she gave Sammy what she wanted. She licked around, ying with Sammy¡¯sbia, tasting the excitement that had covered her. ¡°Come on, Nat,¡± Sammy whined. ¡°I¡¯m more than enough worked up. Please.¡± Well, fine. Natalie guessed she¡¯d move things along. She sank her tongue into Sammy¡¯s heat. Immediately, her partner moaned, pressing Natalie¡¯s head in. Natalie shuffled into a morefortable position, grabbing Sammy¡¯s legs for leverage. She delved eagerly, curling and exploring her tongue inside Sammy''s slick, wet pussy. She took good care of her partner. Paying close attention to which movements had Sammy¡¯s breath hitching, Natalie carefully and methodically took her partner apart with her tongue. Like Sammy herself had said, she was already well and worked up, apparently having been anticipating this all night. Natalie knew she was good with her tongue, but she wouldn¡¯t normally have a girling this fast. When Sammy¡¯s squirming, moaning climax had washed over her, she even seemed vaguely embarrassed at how easily Natalie had thrown her over the edge. Natalie made sure to just kiss her way up her stomach, breasts, then neck, not acknowledging her quick finish. She thought being embarrassed over that sort of thing was stupid, but knew some girls cared about it, and she could assure Sammy by continuing to admire her body. Sammy seemed appreciative of that, eagerly returning the kiss when Natalie¡¯s mouth met her own. Her heart jumped in excitement at that. Having her partners taste themselves ¡­ Natalie had always been a fan of that. Without warning, Sammy¡¯s hand snuck down into her pants, gripping her cock. Natalie groaned into Sammy¡¯s mouth. ¡°Your turn,¡± she mumbled. ¡°Should I return the favor?¡± Her mouth? Having someone ¡­ suck her cock? For the first time ever? Sammy grinned at Natalie¡¯s reaction, which was telling. ¡°I¡¯ve never done it before, but I think it¡¯ll be fun.¡± She kissed Natalie¡¯s neck, who was shivering at the handjob she was receiving inside her pants. ¡°A girl with a cock. Not something I deal with every day, but I can get behind it. Now get those pants off.¡± Natalie did as told. The two of them had Natalie naked in moments, her cock standing proudly in the air, Natalie leaning back on her elbows. She¡¯d warned Sammy, but she still seemed surprised to see that Natalie had both parts. Again, she didn¡¯tment¡ªand the surprise onlysted for a second. She shuffled up so she was sitting on Natalie¡¯s thighs, then continued stroking away with her hand. As she did, Natalie admired her partner¡¯s body, reaching forward and grabbing two handfuls. ¡°Okay,¡± Sammy said, as if having steeled herself. ¡°Let me know if I¡¯m doing it right. This is a first.¡± She worked her way down the bed, so she wasying with her mouth near Natalie¡¯s cock. Natalie¡¯s head spun. It was happening, then. The first time she¡¯d had her cock in another girl¡¯s mouth. Sammy pressed a kiss into the tip, and Natalie let out a shaky moan of anticipation. She was seriously worked up. Holding off and not establishing a reputation as a quick shot might be more of a challenge than she¡¯d assumed. After having just thought that Sammy was silly for being concerned about the same thing, Natalie felt briefly like a hypocrite. But still. It felt different with a cock. So, it was a good thing she¡¯d taken care of herself twice today. It¡¯d have been over way too quick, if she hadn¡¯t. Holding eye contact with Natalie, Sammy opened her mouth, letting Natalie¡¯s cock slide into her wet, hot mouth. A tongue stroked away, ying with the tip. For a minute, Natalie melted under the blonde girl¡¯s attention. The wet sucking motions were exactly as amazing as she¡¯d imagined. And so eager. Sammy really wanted to pay back the favor¡ªor, by the enthusiastic motions, wanted Natalie to finish as fast as she had, to even things out. Sammy pulled off with a pop. ¡°I¡¯m going to try something. It might not go well.¡± Almost before Natalie knew it, she¡¯d plunged back down. Down. Even further. With a determined effort, Sammy wiggled her head, swallowing Natalie¡¯s cock in her throat. Natalie groaned. Unable to help herself, she pushed, getting the girl deeper onto her cock. Incredibly, and though with a gag or two, she buried Sammy to the root, pressing her nose into her pubic region. Sammy stared up, blue eyes satisfied, if surprised¡ªand pleased¡ªat Natalie¡¯s sudden forcefulness. ¡°Fuck.¡± Natalie really wanted to start thrusting, but that would be inconsiderate, even more so than the rough shove down. But having a throat wrapped around her cock almost erased her better senses. ¡°I thought you said you haven¡¯t done this.¡± Sammy pulled up, sliding Natalie¡¯s cock from her throat. She coughed her airways clear, then grinned and said, ¡°It¡¯s a natural talent, I guess. I¡¯m a tank, aren¡¯t I? A durable girl. Let¡¯s see how much I can take.¡± Natalie took the offer happily. Sammy sank back down, and Natalie worked her cock in and out her throat, testing her so-called ¡®durability¡¯. Squelching noises filled the air, and Sammy gripped Natalie¡¯s thighs to steady herself, somehow managing not to gag. Her im held up. A natural talent. No joke. Slow thrusts picked up speed as Natalie lost herself to lust. She fucked Sammy¡¯s tight, willing tunnel, bouncing the bed as her hips worked up and down. Sammy choked here and there, and Natalie would have to slow and let her steady, but she was always willing to plunge right back down and return to be being Natalie¡¯s hole. ¡°Close,¡± Natalie groaned. ¡°Can I finish inside?¡± By Sammy¡¯s continued head-bobbing, Natalie took that as a yes. The permission thrilled through her. She could empty herself straight down Sammy¡¯s throat? That image in her mind, she barelysted a few more thrusts before the coursing pleasure hit a peak. She pressed Sammy¡¯s head down with onest thrust, her cock seizing in pleasure, radiating ecstasy through her body, her mind going white. She came down the eager blonde¡¯s throat. Thick strings ejected from cock, pouring down Sammy and straight into her stomach. Sammy gagged at the foreign sensation, the spasming muscles helping coax out even more pleasure for Natalie, but she kept her nose buried firmly into her crotch. Natalie twitched,ing apart as thoroughly as she ever had in her life. Sammy gripped her waist to stay in ce through Natalie¡¯s squirming. She made sure to swallow every drop. A long minuteter, Natalie copsed into the bed. She¡¯d extracted Sammy¡¯s own orgasm with eager enthusiasm, but somehow, she couldn¡¯t help but feel she¡¯d been done up. Sammy had fucked her as thoroughly as Natalie had her. Sammy separated from Natalie¡¯s cock, coughed to clear her throat, then shuffled up to snuggle into Natalie. She kissed Natalie, and Natalie supposed that was fair y, seeing how she¡¯d done the same. She tasted¡ªfor the first time¡ªhints of her own spunk, her own cock having thoroughly used her partner¡¯s mouth. ¡°That was fun,¡± Sammy sighed, pulling away. For a long minute, they basked in each other¡¯s bodies pressed tightly together, panting and red-faced. ¡°But, round two? Seeing you squirm like that has me so ready.¡± ¡°Round two,¡± Natalie agreed, rolling up. And probably three, four, and five. 2.19 – Wakeup 2.19 ¨C Wakeup Natalie woke up with a soft, warm body tucked into hers. Compared to the idle chaos¡ªeven at the dead of night¡ªof forty women packed into a cramped barracks, it was an immediately noticeable improvement. She sighed in satisfaction, snuggling in closer. The rm Sammy set hadn¡¯t gone off, which meant they had a few moments, maybe more, to bask. One jump-skipter, apparently having fallen back asleep, a ring noise woke Natalie. Unlike the vibrating glyph, Sammy had the more typical version, and the jarring noise was as terrible as she remembered. She groaned even as her bed-partner pped down on the cursed object, cutting the noise off. Sammy let out a long, displeased noise, which urately reflected how Natalie felt, too. Sammy snuggled in closer, doubly reinforcing the point: both of them really didn¡¯t want to get out of bed. Unfortunately, sses started soon, and she didn¡¯t have a change of clothes with her. She checked the clock. Natalie groaned again. Proper timing hadn¡¯t been on her mind,st night, and apparently, neither had it been on Sammy¡¯s. She¡¯d set her rm for a time convenient to her, not Natalie, who had to run back to the barracks to get dressed, rather than having everything ready to go in her room. ¡°I¡¯ve gotta get going,¡± Natalie reluctantly said, extricating herself. Sammy whined at the suddenck of heat. She propped up on one hand to watch Natalie as she went about the room, collecting the clothes she¡¯d tossed off duringst night¡¯s ¡­ activities. ¡°My eyes are up here,¡± Natalie said pointedly. ¡°I¡¯m well aware.¡± The focus of Sammy¡¯s attention didn¡¯t shift, though her lips did curl. Natalie snorted. ¡°Wanna shower?¡± Sammy rolled over and stretched. ¡°Nah. It¡¯s cramped in there. You¡¯ll hog the water.¡± She copsed back into her bed then turned, quirking an eyebrow at Natalie. ¡°And I have a feeling you¡¯d make uste to ss.¡± Natalie couldn¡¯t defend herself from that usation, not with confidence, so sheughed and left for Sammy¡¯s bathroom. A brisk clean-upter, she exited, still damp. It¡¯d been a rush shower. Beyond not wanting to take up too much time for Sammy¡¯s own morning routine, she had to make it to the barracks to get her uniform. It¡¯d be a close call. ¡°Talk again, soon?¡± Natalie asked. ¡°Do you mean talk, or talk?¡± ¡°Either?¡± Sammy seemed happy with that response. Maybe they¡¯d both known what they wanted, setting off to the partyst night, but Sammy didn¡¯t want to be treated just as Natalie¡¯s ¡®potentialy¡¯. ¡°You¡¯re just trying to mooch off my room.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a big plus,¡± Natalie agreed with a grin. ¡°Unfortunately, it¡¯s not something you can get away with, too much. Once or twice, here and there. T won¡¯t let you.¡± ¡°And what, they¡¯re watching?¡± Natalie had paused at the doorway, hand on the doorknob. ¡°They are, actually. Those shitty barracks are one of the early motivators. Dunno how they keep tabs, but they do. This¡¯ll probably be one of your freebies.¡± ¡°And how many do I get?¡± ¡°No clue.¡± Natalie considered that. ¡°I¡¯ll keep it in mind.¡± ¡°But we can still talk,¡± Sammy said, winking. ¡°Just, can¡¯t stay the night each time.¡± ¡°Works with me.¡± Though it had been nice having someone warm to wake up next to, and theck of bustle in the barracks. She waited another second to see if the conversation would continue, but Sammy rolled out of bed, heading for the shower. She waved Natalie goodbye, who returned it, then slipped out. *** She made it to morning practice on time, though only by a few minutes. Jordan had already left. Had she waited? Natalie realized she hadn¡¯t explicitly told her that she might not make it back in time to walk together. She had told her that Sammy had invited her to the party, though, and so Jordan had probably pieced things together. Was that a problem? Her and Sammy? What was Natalie talking about? Obviously not. Why would it be a problem? Beyond her and Jordan not being in a rtionship¡ªthe confusing ¡®ss stuff¡¯ and resulting physical intimacy wasn¡¯t a ¡®rtionship¡¯, however hot and heavy things got¡ªJordan had been the one encouraging her to find other partners. So even if she and Jordan had been in a rtionship, then clearly she would be fine with it. Not that they were in one. Natalie didn¡¯t even know where this train of thought wasing from. Or going. Why did thinking about Jordan in regards to this topic always leave her in such disarray? Just the weirdness of it all. That was it. She¡¯d gotten another boost in her secondary resource ¡®lust¡¯ from her activities with Sammy, which meant she¡¯d earned twice as much as normal¡ªboth Sammy and Jordan. The ultimate goal would be to have as many girls as possible she was consistently earning points from. Which was weird, putting it like that. Turning rtionships into a sort of game, something to be ¡®progressed¡¯ through. But, Natalie could separate the strangeness out. Scheduling could get a bit weird, though. Impossible to manage efficiently. The harvest skill reset once a day. A little below that, actually, though the exact timing she didn¡¯t know. So assuming she had multiple ongoing partners, having fun with each of them once a day would be ridiculous. Jordan, she suspected, would be the only one ready to help her out consistently. Which was, uh, good. Not that Natalie was excited she had routine make-out¡ªnow groping, soon to be more¡ªns with her best friend. A purely, one-hundred percent tonic rtionship. Well. Maybe not tonic, now, by the definition of the word. But ¡­ just friends. Who made out and groped, sometimes. Er, every day. It was just the proper way to be handling things. Again, Natalie was ying from behind, and needed as many opportunities to be advancing her ss as she could get her hands on. Plus, even if under inappropriate circumstances, she¡¯d never turn down a chance to hang out with Jordan. While hooking up in bathroom stalls wasn¡¯t exactly a hobby she¡¯d thought the two of them would pick up, she¡¯d enjoy any time spent with Jordan. She pointedly pushed the messy thoughts away, walking through the polished halls of the training facility, headed for more lessons guided by Tess. Remembering that, she slowed, then almost stopped entirely, blushing. She was going to face Tess after ¡­ the event in the bathroom? Using an illusion of her to get herself off? She¡¯d almost forgotten about that, somehow. Well. It was just imagination with a few extra steps. It still had her cheeks burning, but it wasn¡¯t like the event had been morally wrong. Maybe a bit questionable, but definitely not horrible. And between worrying over that and the possibility she¡¯d been caught ¡­ well, the second concerned her much more. But as she¡¯d figured then, there wasn¡¯t much she could do about it. If she had been, then the perpetrator would reveal themselves soon enough. Or if they didn¡¯t, then she guessed the matter was settled. No point in stressing. So, magic lessons. More bashing her head into a wall. At least it¡¯d take her mind off things. 2.20 – Taunts 2.20 ¨C Taunts ¡°You¡¯re getting better,¡± Tess said. ¡°That is the point of practice.¡± ¡°Faster than most, I meant. Or, even more frankly, faster than I expected, with how you started out.¡± Natalie snorted. She didn¡¯t take offense. Struggling with spellcasting had her temper fraying faster than most things did, but she didn¡¯t mind being called bad. It was self-apparent. Plus, it made Tess¡¯s praise that much more meaningful. Though, the praise hadn¡¯t been that she was good¡ªjust getting better faster than expected. Still, small victories. ¡°It¡¯s all I¡¯ve been doing, so I hope so,¡± Natalie said, shrugging. ¡°Been neglecting everything else, pretty much. And lots of that is probably more important than messing around with a single illusion spell.¡± As a pdin, being her team¡¯s frontline would require more traditional fighter skillsets than it did spellcasting ones. Just, she wanted passingpetency with it. Maybe that was a bad idea? ¡°The age old question,¡± Tess mused, mirroring her thoughts. ¡°Train to improve your deficiencies, or train to hone your strengths. Which is a better use of time?¡± ¡°And the answer?¡± ¡°It depends.¡± Dryly, Natalie said, ¡°Real useful advice, that.¡± ¡°Oh, no. The world is nuanced. Certain questions don¡¯t have simple answers. Such a novel discovery.¡± ¡°Smartass.¡± Despite her response, a smile had found its way onto Natalie¡¯s lips. Tess¡¯s dry¡ªeven snippish¡ªsense of humor had been something she¡¯d only gotten hints of yesterday, but which hade out in force during practice today. Just with Natalie, though. She remained polite with the others. Did that mean ¡­ ? ¡°Smartass?¡± Tess quoted. ¡°Students are supposed to respect their instructors, you know.¡± ¡°Good thing you¡¯re not an instructor.¡± Tess looked around at the gathered students and raised a neatly trimmed eyebrow. The upperssmen really had such stern poise to her. More of an air of ¡®instructor¡¯ than most actual T faculty did. She didn¡¯te off as only a few years older than Natalie. ¡°I¡¯m not?¡± Tess asked. ¡°And all this is, then?¡± She swept a hand out at her collected students. ¡°Not a real instructor,¡± Natalie rified, though Tess had known what she meant. ¡°And even if you were, what? Gonna punish me for talking back?¡± After yesterday¡¯s fantasies, the idental innuendo had Natalie¡¯s heart skipping a beat. ¡°Wash my mouth out?¡± Hopefully Tess hadn¡¯t noticed the way she stumbled. She rolled her eyes, so she probably hadn¡¯t. That was good. Patting her shoulder and turning, Tess said, ¡°Keep it up. You won¡¯t need to be in my course for long, I can tell.¡± ¡°Wait.¡± Tess paused, body still turned, about to move to the next student. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Uh.¡± Telling her to stop hadn¡¯t been fully intentional. Like usual, Natalie¡¯s impulses had guided her. Oh, well. There¡¯d been an idea she¡¯d been considering, so she might as well try, right? ¡°I was wondering if you wanted to, uh, show me around the mage¡¯s guild.¡± Her eyebrows went up. She faced back to Natalie, crossing her arms. She seemed unimpressed. That was a default expression of Tess¡¯s, but in this situation especially? A first-week freshmen hitting on a third year? Especially a girl like Tess? Not that Natalie was discouraged. Hitting on girls out of her league didn¡¯t scare her. Was kinda fun, actually. She stuffed her hands in her pockets, shrugged, then smiled. ¡°I know it¡¯s, like, a secret rule you should stick with one guild, and I¡¯ll probably be going with tank. But still. I¡¯d like to look around. Maybe talk about it, a bit.¡± Then, just in case Tess hadn¡¯t picked up her real intent: ¡°And maybe after, we can hang out? Get something to eat, or whatever?¡± Her expression didn¡¯t change, so she had sussed out Natalie¡¯s goal. Or was especially good at not reacting. That would hardly be a rare trait at T. Natalie would like if she didn¡¯t have to be so tant about things, but she didn¡¯t have much choice. Straddling the line between being ¡®grossly obvious¡¯ and ¡®obvious enough¡¯ could be hard. But was necessary. One of the woes of being a girl that liked girls. She had to bludgeon potential partners with her intent. Else all sorts of misunderstandings could happen. Because some people were unimaginably dense when it came to romance. Natalie was fortunate she wasn¡¯t one of them, but others, she knew, weren¡¯t spared from that fate. Tess¡¯s scrutinysted long enough most people probably would¡¯ve started squirming. Natalie almost did, but while Tess was cute, and she did want to get to know her better, this was hardly some long-standing confession. She wasn¡¯t that anxious. ¡°Only if you want to,¡± Natalie offered. ¡°I think it could be fun.¡± Tess seemed to make her mind up. ¡°I suppose I could spare an evening. But not today. Tomorrow?¡± ¡°Sounds like a n.¡± She fought down an obvious grin. Despite her few-seconds-prior thoughts about how she ¡®wasn¡¯t that invested¡¯, she found herself inordinately relieved, and also a bit giddy. So. Tess swung that way. And had epted an offer to hang out. With a wave of her fingers, Tess walked away. Natalie let her smile break out a bit more obviously, now that Tess wasn¡¯t watching. ¡°That,¡± someone drawled next to her, making Natalie jump, ¡°is so not fair. You make it look easy.¡± Blinking, Natalie faced the invader. It had been a voice she half-way recognized. ¡°It¡¯s those eyes of yours, I think,¡± Camille added. ¡°All big and blue and confident.¡± ¡°Camille,¡± Natalie said, caught off guard. One of her fifteen ssmates¡ªthe nt-based mage she¡¯d fought the day prior. ¡°Uh. Hi?¡± ¡°And the hair,¡± Camille continued in her thick eastern drawl. After so much crisply enunciated northern dialect, it was twice as noticeable. Even her, Jordan, and Sofia¡¯s voices didn¡¯t stand out as much. ¡°Red hair, blue eyes. It¡¯s the rarestbination, you know.¡± Natalie caught up to the unexpected conversation, shaking off her surprise. Camille had seen her flirting with Tess, sessfully, then said ¡®it wasn¡¯t fair¡¯. ¡­ because of her hair and eyes? Was she being hit on? It didn¡¯t have that sort of tone to it, though, however much the words themselves would¡¯ve suggested it. Camille sounded more ¡­ exasperated, than anything. ¡°I know red and blue¡¯s notmon,¡± Natalie said. ¡°But the rarest?¡± ¡°A few steps short of a gic anomaly. Andbined with the rest ¡­¡± she gave Natalie an up-and-down, which, bizarrely, still didn¡¯te off as flirting, then said, ¡°it¡¯s not fair.¡± ¡°Thank you?¡± ¡°You¡¯re wondering why I¡¯m here. In the newbie yard.¡± ¡°A bit,¡± she admitted. ¡°You didn¡¯te off as an amateur during our fight.¡± ¡°I was passing by and saw you. Figured I¡¯d say hi.¡± Camille nodded toward the hallway, which was lined with windows. ¡°I had no idea you were a mage. Didn¡¯t sense anything in ss, unless I¡¯m mistaken?¡± ¡°No, you aren¡¯t. I haven¡¯t made much use of it.¡± Natalie hadn¡¯t been so outstandingly subtle in her spellcasting that an experienced mage¡ªwhich Camille had demonstrated herself as being¡ªhadn¡¯t seen it. Rather, she was so bad she¡¯d chosen not to use it at all. ¡°It¡¯s a work in progress.¡± Camille made a noise of amusement. ¡°I can tell. You¡¯re clumsy on your execution.¡± Again¡ªcontinuing the trend of Camille¡¯s words being contradictory to the impression she should have gotten¡ªthe insult didn¡¯te off as one. She made it sound like idlementary. ¡°Thanks?¡± Natalie was a bit bemused by this conversation. She still hadn¡¯t decided if Camille was hitting on her. ¡°But illusions,¡± the dark haired girl continued. ¡°Useful.¡± ¡°Once I get a hold of them, they will be.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve heard they¡¯re tricky to wrangle,¡± she said. Then, a mischievous amusement crept onto her face, seemingly from nowhere. ¡°And, truth told, a specialty I wouldn¡¯t mind having. I¡¯ve always wondered ¡­ what else could you do with them?¡± Natalie jolted. The words had been pretty obviouslyced with ¡­ well, innuendo. Huh? ¡°All sorts of fun things, I¡¯d imagine,¡± Camille continued, her grin widening. Mentioning illusions in that way? After the bathroom event, yesterday? Was this girl¡ª? ¡°Anyway,¡± Camille said. ¡°Just wanted to say hello. Didn¡¯t mean to distract. I¡¯ll leave you to it.¡± She turned to leave, and Natalie took a step forward. ¡°Wait.¡± Camille turned, tilting her head. Except, what was Natalie supposed to say? First, not only might thosements not have been an innuendo¡ªthough she was failing to see what else they could¡¯ve been¡ªbut even if they had, it might be a coincidence. Just a crude sort of humor. Hardly impossible. But what a coincidence. Making that sort of suggestion about how Natalie could use her illusions? After being fairly certain someone had caught her in the bathroom, yesterday? On the chance it was, though, she shouldn¡¯t raise suspicion. After a long pause, Natalie continuedmely, ¡°Never mind. See you at ss.¡± Camille smirked. She smirked. She knew. Didn¡¯t she? Natalie couldn¡¯t tell. She didn¡¯t know the girl well enough. ¡°At ss,¡± Camille agreed. ¡°Talk to youter.¡± Natalie stared, watching her go. Great. That wasn¡¯t going to drive her crazy. 2.21 – Agitate 2.21 ¨C Agitate Showing up to ss a half-hourter and seeing Camille there, Natalie almost couldn¡¯t resist the urge to storm up and confront her. Except, she really couldn¡¯t tell whether she¡¯d been reading into it. And if Camille had been the one who caught her, then, by the simple fact she hadn¡¯t tried to ckmail her yet, Natalie supposed she ought to be happy about things. Though, ¡®yet¡¯ might be the operative word there. The best case scenario was Camille simply liked seeing Natalie squirm. Which wasn¡¯t a great thing for her state of mind, but for her reputation at T? Again, a rumor spreading that Natalie liked to summon illusions of her magic tutors and jerk off, loudly, in the public bathroom¡ªthat wouldn¡¯t paint her in the greatest light. To say the least. Had she seriously done that? If she could go back in time and strangle herself, she would. ¡°What is it?¡± Jordan asked. Natalie jumped. She realized she¡¯d been staring. ¡°Uh. Nothing.¡± By Jordan¡¯s quirked eyebrow, she¡¯d made a few assumptions about why Natalie had been staring at Camille. Not wholly unfair ones. If the dark-haired woman wasn¡¯t the subject of Natalie¡¯s anxiety, then she¡¯d happily admit just how much her ssmate had going on. Was it better or worse that such an attractive girl had been the one to catch her? Had she liked what she¡¯d seen? Okay. That was the problem in the first ce. Keep it in your pants, Nat. ¡°Gather around,¡± Instructor Robin¡¯s voice rang through the sparring room. ¡°Some quick announcements before we get started, today.¡± The sixteen students formed up in a semi-organized half circle. Like usual, Instructor Robin had arrived exactly on the dot, just as the bell rang. ¡°I¡¯ll get straight to things. First, I want to straighten out how the ranking system will work. It¡¯s better you know before it¡¯s official.¡± She spoke with a quick, impatient tone, wanting to deliver the information and be done with it. Instructor Robin had made it clear she enjoyed her job, the training of a new generation of delvers, but her dislike of her peripheral duties was equally clear. ¡°I¡¯m sure everyone knows, by now, that T will be ranking each of you across a variety of fields. Most critically,bat performance, academics, and delving. But let me ensure there¡¯s no misunderstanding. The firstes from official bouts and evaluatedpetitions, not our practices. Feel free to experiment and do poorly in my ss. It¡¯s one of the few ces you can do so without overmuch worry of injury.¡± Natalie found herself passively nodding along. She¡¯d discovered why, despite the brutal intensity expected from T students during spars, so few left the ring with life threatening injuries. Besides hitpoints¡ªwhich weren¡¯t a panacea, merely a mitigator¡ªit was the faculty. Though Instructor Robin was no top ranker, she was a retired high-ranker. Likely the lower end of high, true, but a ¡®lower end¡¯ high ranker was still a position most delvers never managed. It meant she had astoundingly enhanced senses, and an equivalent ability to act on them. Several times, Natalie had seen the woman halt one of her student¡¯s strikes and spare a gruesome injury. She moved like a viper. Made them seem clumsy inparison. ¡°And beyond that, evaluations for rankings won¡¯t begin until two weeks from now. That includes dungeon performance. This initial period is for finding your feet, finding teams, experimentation of all kind. A luxury you won¡¯t be afforded in the near future, so savor it while you can.¡± Natalie found herself biting down on a question. Not because she thought Instructor Robin was a woman intolerant of questions, but because she had a feeling it was something she should already know. Plus, no point in holding up the ss. She¡¯d ask Jordan in a second. Instructor Robin surveyed the line of students, then nodded. ¡°You two,¡± she said, gesturing at Camille and a boy Natalie had yet to learn the name of. ¡°And you two. You¡¯re up first. Get to it.¡± Jordan was included in the second pair, which Natalie frowned at. There went the person she¡¯d intended to ask her question to. Lining up to watch the spar¡ªthe rapid bouts tended to rotate, to give breathing time to thebatants¡ªNatalie considered her alternative. Sofia. She found she had idly wandered over to the white-haired girl¡¯s side. That shouldn¡¯t be odd, considering they were prospective teammates, but Natalie had spent the past several years avoiding Sofia. So it was definitely weird, even if it shouldn¡¯t be. She was just too ¡­ too ¡­ something. To be around. She messed with Natalie just by existing. Even now, that stupid, analyzing look on her face as she observed the spar. Why was it so irritating? And who the fuck thought it was okay to give her cheekbones like that? Natalie wanted to file aint with whatever deity had been in charge of Sofia. Severalints. For varying reasons. Blue eyes flicked to Natalie, catching her staring. Natalie narrowed her own. ¡°Do you always have toe off as so perfect?¡± She hadn¡¯t meant to start something, wandering over to Sofia¡¯s side, and when she instinctively had started something, it was supposed to be insulting. The question she¡¯d asked, she realized a second toote, fell a few steps short of that. ¡°No,¡± Sofia said dryly. ¡°Ites naturally.¡± Natalie crossed her arms, making herck of amusement clear. On anyone else, she would¡¯ve figured the response stemmed from a sense of humor, but here, that wasn¡¯t possible. Sofia didn¡¯t have a sense of humor. Which was good. It wouldn¡¯t have been fair if she¡¯d been both able to trounce Natalie in a fight, and be likable. It was necessary for Natalie¡¯s world view for this girl to be annoying. To have some w. However much she seemed like it, she wasn¡¯t perfect. She refused to believe it. ¡°How¡¯s it work, anyway?¡± Natalie asked, finding, like always, her mind going on the fritz just by holding conversation with the girl. It was an unparalleled talent of Sofia¡¯s. Supernaturally gifted, maybe. ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡®Pardon¡¯. And with that stupid little raise to her eyebrow? This girl was so aggravating. But Natalie was supposed to be ying nice with her, since she was her teammate for the short term, maybe even long term, so she cut off a retort. ¡°The ranking system for delving. How do they handle it? Specifically, I mean.¡± ¡°Perhaps if you didn¡¯t sleep through all of ss, yesterday,¡± she said, rolling her eyes, ¡°you¡¯d know. They covered it. Then again, I guess you wouldn¡¯t be you if you had managed more than sixty consecutive minutes of focus.¡± Natalie sneered in response. Another roll of her eyes. Why was Sofia always so unaffected? She never rose up to Natalie¡¯s goading. Like she didn¡¯t think Natalie meant her taunts and snips. Like she saw through her, or something. As if there was anything to see through. ¡°Let¡¯s see,¡± Sofia said, answering the question. ¡°Dungeon rankings. It¡¯s not thatplicated.¡± 2.22 – Small Talk 2.22 ¨C Small Talk ¡°The three main factors are the quantity and quality of monster cores,¡± Sofia said, ¡°which floors you¡¯re delving, and finally, the number of weekly outings.¡± The third surprised Natalie. ¡°How often you¡¯re delving?¡± It didn¡¯t line up with T¡¯s modus operandi¡ªalways reward merit, not effort. ¡°T wants to encourage hard work in some way, I suppose. Have rewards to those pushing the hardest, even if they¡¯re not the most adept.¡± She shrugged. ¡°If I had to guess, it¡¯s not the biggest factor. But Instructor Lauer mentioned it, so.¡± ¡°And how do they track all that?¡± ¡°Without people cheating?¡± ¡°Seems like they could buy cores and lie about it.¡± ¡°T¡¯s able to detect how recently a core¡¯s been gathered.¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°Devices.¡± Another shrug. ¡°And why can¡¯t someone pay a higher rank to collect them? Then pass it off, so it¡¯s recent?¡± ¡°You slept through the whole ss, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Jay doesn¡¯t let me sleep,¡± Natalie said sourly. ¡°She forces me to suffer.¡± But she did zone out, regardless of her friend¡¯s efforts to keep her conscious. Even when she wasn¡¯t zoned out, the information went in one ear and out the other. ¡°Well, like I said, in modern days, they use various tech to handle most of it,¡± Sofia said. ¡°Before, to my knowledge, they kept profiles of students andpared expected results. Aberrant cases, those who deviated too far, were inspected, and most incidents of cheating were unearthed through ¡­ whatever methods they used. And when cheaters were caught, they leveled sufficiently devastating consequences to persuade most opportunists to not even try. T¡¯s been ying this game for a long time. They know their way around keeping students in line.¡± A long time. Yeah. Millennia. Sometimes it was hard to contextualize just how old this institution was. Sure, back in those days, T didn¡¯t look anything like this¡ªthat is, modern¡ªbut the academy had been formed shortly after Aradon¡¯s first settlers. The world had always needed delvers dragging up valuables from the dungeon. ¡°Tech,¡± Natalie repeated. ¡°What kind? How does it work?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll be getting them next week, right before the dungeon opens. Devices that fix under your delver¡¯s badge and track your movement, and the quantity of essence expelled near you. Along with T¡¯s original measures, cheating¡¯s be, I assume, close to impossible.¡± She shrugged. ¡°Though only close. I¡¯m sure appropriately enterprising individuals can¡ªand do¡ªmanage it. The question is why, really. High risk, high effort, low reward. Because even in the best case, you have to keep your results reasonable to your performance in ss.¡± So if you weren¡¯t much of a delver, and that was clear in daily life, then you couldn¡¯t cheat much, either. The only situation she imagined the effort being worth it was someone ipetent cheating to scrape by a ¡®passing¡¯ grade for the prestige that came with being a T graduate. ¡°Huh,¡± Natalie said thoughtfully. She¡¯d known there would by systems in ce, but hearing the details was interesting. ¡°Why do you ask?¡± ¡°Just wondering.¡± Ahead, the fight was wrapping up. Natalie, and likewise Sofia, had been keeping a passive eye on thebatants. Not just because knowing her ssmates¡¯ skill sets was useful, but because there was plenty to learn from each of them. One of the most crucial skills needed to be a sessful delver was adaptability, because no two encounters were the same. Simr to how sses and skills had few to no limits in how they might manifest, the monsters, traps, andyouts of the dungeon resulted in simrly infinite variance. So, breaking down how elements interacted: how two of her ssmates applied or took advantage of their skills, their teammates¡¯, and their enemies¡¯, was a close approximation of how a person might analyze a dungeon encounter. Natalie found her brain churning passively, even while talking with Sofia. She might not be able to pay attention in ss, butbat? Breaking down fighting styles? She could do that all day. ¡°You pick your extracurricr, yet?¡± Natalie asked. Sofia turned to her, raising an eyebrow. ¡°Small talk? With me?¡± Natalie paused, realizing the world had ended. She grimaced. ¡°It¡¯s dark times we live in.¡± Sofiaughed. Natalie thought it outrageously unfair how cute the noise was. She also pointedly ignored that she¡¯d had the thought. ¡°We should spar after ss,¡± Sofia said. ¡°We need to get a handle on how our styles have changed. Jordan, too. If we want to be a team, we¡¯re going to have to know each other, inside and out.¡± Was it Natalie, or were idental innuendosing more frequently, these days? Also. That thought,bined with Sofia. ¡®Knowing her inside and out¡¯. Uh. Her mind went briefly white. From horror. Not ¡­ Definitely horror. ¡°Sure,¡± Natalie said, her brain failing, briefly, to structure more reasonable thoughts, and saying whatever came to mind. In this case, agreeing to Sofia¡¯s offer for spars. ¡°What time?¡± Sofia seemed surprised she¡¯d agreed so easily. ¡°Whenever. We¡¯ll ask Jordan when she¡¯s done.¡± They watched the fight wrap up, and she caught Sofia eying her. It was ¡­ a fair reaction. That exchange of theirs had been surprisingly easygoing. Very unlike them. Natalie wasn¡¯t sure why it had been so. Sofia¡¯s presence was still distinctly inming, but not as much as back home. She guessed with so many other things going on, Sofia just wasn¡¯t ¡­ well, the biggest thing in Natalie¡¯s world, recently. She meant that in a bad way. The biggest roadblock. Her rival. Sofia wasn¡¯t¡ª Anyway, she hadn¡¯t been sitting in Natalie¡¯s thoughts, aggravating her. And they weren¡¯t each other¡¯s rivals in the way they¡¯d been back home. The two big fish in a tiny pond, desperately struggling to pull ahead of each other. But in these new circumstances, Sofia as a teammate, with everyone else their rivals. It was far from ideal. Natalie would never like the irritating woman, but maybe she could grow on her. Some sort of horrible lichen, but ultimately tolerable. Even that, though. Sofia growing on her. What had the worlde to? 2.23 – Prep Talks 2.23 ¨C Prep Talks Lunch rolled around, and Natalie found herself seated with Jordan and Sofia. Liz didn¡¯t join them. Despite having made quick friends with them, and hanging around during spars and ss, that was because, well, she made friends with everyone. She did the same for other groups. She was a social butterfly to an astounding degree. Likely, Natalie figured, that girl could make friends with a dungeon monster. So, just the three of them. Weird how that sounded normal. ¡®The three of them¡¯. Sofia did not belong in the group. The seamlessness she was integrating was unnatural. ¡°So. You met Ana at the party, right?¡± Jordan asked Sofia. While Natalie¡¯s adventures the night prior had been of a much less productive sort¡ªor productive in an atypical way, considering her ss¡ªSofia had attended the semester-opening party with Liz, hoping to get to know some of her ssmates, and more importantly, find potential delving partners. ¡°I did,¡± Sofia said. ¡°And?¡± ¡°She¡¯s ¡­¡± Sofia paused. ¡°Well. She¡¯s hard to read.¡± ¡°Meaning?¡± ¡°She¡¯s cold,¡± Natalie said, cutting in. She¡¯d met Ana, briefly, with Liz, when they¡¯d first broached the idea of teaming up. ¡°Her face is made of stone. She doesn¡¯t inflect her voice. It¡¯s creepy.¡± Natalie chewed her lip, not liking how she¡¯d put it. ¡°Well, that¡¯s a little too harsh. She¡¯s just ¡­¡± ¡°Odd,¡± Sofia said, agreeing. ¡°Non-emotive. But,¡± she said, emphasizing the word, ¡°apparentlypetent.¡± ¡°Then that¡¯s all that matters, right?¡± Jordan asked. Sofia shrugged in a way that said she mostly agreed, but not wholeheartedly. Natalie had mixed feelings on it, too. It was looking more and more that their first delving team had been organized. The three of them, plus Liz and Ana. Liz, Natalie had no problems with, besides maybe the way Natalie would inadvertently be aligning herself to the Beaumon house. Ana, though, Natalie wasn¡¯t sold on. Again, she¡¯d only briefly met the girl, but Sofia had agreed with her assessment, having spent more time together¡ªand in an ostensibly casual setting, the party. If the girl remained stone-faced even hanging around in an easygoing environment, drinking and chatting, then Natalie found herself dubious it was a matter of ¡®warming up¡¯. That might just be Ana. But Jordan¡¯s viewpoint was a hard one to argue. If she was apetent mage, who cared? Natalie wasn¡¯t marrying the girl. In fact, a detached, perfectlyposed demeanor¡ªeven to the point of being unnaturally so¡ªwas likely a good thing in the dungeon. Just, she¡¯d always imagined her adventuring party would be ¡­ friends? With her? Way too sentimental of a view. Natalie frowned at herself for even formalizing the thought. Professionals. That was what her delving team should prioritize being, first and foremost. Maybe even if it was a bad thing she and Jordan were such close friends. Would it affect her decision making, down in the dungeon? Would Natalie, the team¡¯s tank, guard Jordan more than appropriate? It could be a problem. Jordan was Natalie¡¯s highest priority, bar none. She hadn¡¯t even considered the issues that might cause. ¡°Hello? Nat?¡± A hand waved in front of Natalie¡¯s face, and she blinked her thoughts clear. An amused Jordan was peering at her. ¡°Lost in thought, much?¡± ¡°Little bit. What¡¯s up?¡± ¡°Sofia asked if we wanted to join her to the Exchange, after spars.¡± Jordan gave Natalie a scathingly potent look, one which made it clear she didn¡¯t have a choice in the matter. ¡°Want to?¡± Surprisingly, the idea didn¡¯t appall Natalie like it should. Spending time with Sofia after ss? In a casual, non-necessary setting? It should have her stomach turning. For now, she simply forced herself to believe she felt that. She frowned, making it clear it did bother her (why didn¡¯t it? Why was Natalie fine hanging out with the devil?), and said, ¡°Fine. What for?¡± Jordan seemed satisfied Natalie hadn¡¯t made too big a deal of it. ¡°We should get a feel for the ce. We¡¯re gonna be spending a lot of time there, aren¡¯t we?¡± ¡°I guess.¡± ¡°Plus, aren¡¯t you interested?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°The Exchange. Run by the automatons. Half the world linked into a magical, cosmopolitan marketce.¡± It was interesting, she guessed, but Natalie wasn¡¯t sure why Sofia made it sound so grand. It was the Exchange. It¡¯d been around forever. And so had the dungeon, she supposed, so that argument didn¡¯t hold, but to the dungeon, it wasn¡¯t much. ¡°Sure,¡± Natalie said. More relevantly, the topic broached, she asked, ¡°How¡¯re we handling equipment, anyway?¡± Second week¡ªand the opening of the dungeon¡ªwas going to be on them before they knew what was happening. ¡°What part?¡± Jordan asked. ¡°Selling? Splitting loot?¡± ¡°Nah, I mean, gearing up for our first.¡± ¡°Whatever starting gear we get, I¡¯d assume.¡± Jordan looked at her curiously, as if not understanding the question. ¡°T¡¯s giving us that?¡± Sofia snorted, making it clear Natalie had asked something stupid. Natalie narrowed her eyes in return. Jordan, on her part, seemed exasperated. ¡°Nat. You really need to pay attention.¡± ¡°Why? I have you.¡± She rolled her eyes. Though, at the same time, fought away a smile. Natalie knew Jordan liked when she pointed out her reliance on her. Everyone had small things that stroked their ego, and Natalie referencing Jordan¡¯s smarts was one of them. And when it came to Jordan, Natalie was happy to stroke. Er. ¡°But they do, then,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Give us armor.¡± ¡°They¡¯ll be giving us starting funds,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Over the weekend, we¡¯ll have a chance to buy starter equipment from the Exchange.¡± Ah. So it was practical to be checking out the marketce ahead of time. They ought to know their way around. ¡°How much?¡± ¡°Money? Ten first-tier cores.¡± Natalie choked. ¡°Each?¡± She¡¯d known delvers made serious money, even the lower tier ones, but still. That was a starting stipend? ¡°It¡¯ll barely buy us a set, each,¡± Jordan said amusedly. ¡°Delving equipment isn¡¯t cheap.¡± Natalie also knew that, but again, being faced with the numbers had caught her off guard. Ten first-tier cores was somewhere around a hundred helixes¡ªwhich was a lot of money. At least by the standards of her and Jordan. To most T students? Probably not. She shook her head, incredulous. ¡°But after that, we¡¯re stuck trading in the T branch?¡± ¡°Using tokens,¡± Jordan confirmed. ¡°And requisitioning from the main Exchange wille with markups.¡± ¡°Outrageous ones,¡± Sofia added. ¡°Certainly not worth it.¡± T had its own mini-economy. Natalie wasn¡¯t sure why they encouraged that. Maybe to cut down on cheating, by being able to track who was buying and selling what? Though she couldn''t fully see how. Tons of what T did wasn¡¯t clear to her. Systems designed over decades and centuries. And some of them were probably pointless or outdated. Not every machine was perfectly built. ¡°We should hurry,¡± Jordan said. ¡°The bell¡¯s about to ring.¡± Natalie nced at the clock, blinking. Sure enough. The time had flown by. She picked up her fork and returned to her meal. 2.24 – Jordan I 2.24 ¨C Jordan I Jordan knew two things for certain. First, that her friendship with Natalie was the most important thing in her life, and that she would never do anything to jeopardize it, and second, that she was catastrophically, terribly in love with her. Thetter was a recent discovery for Jordan, but, she¡¯d realized, not a recent development. It was an old, long-standing, incident. After more than a decade spent as the fiery red-hair girl¡¯s best friend, their rtionship had settled in a way concrete would. Their friendship had been defined so firmly that¡ªevening to terms with theirpatible sexuality in their teen years¡ªit¡¯d never crossed their mind to be together in that way. Because that wasn¡¯t what they were, and what they were was perfect, and so neither of them had wanted, or even thought, to risk it. It had taken a monumental event to prove how flimsy those ¡®concrete roles¡¯ were, but when it¡¯d happened, it¡¯d cracked open like an egg, revealing the horrible mess inside. Unfortunately, Natalie was a gargantuan idiot. Jordan already knew this. Natalie¡¯s rtionship with Sofia had made it clear ages ago. When it came to romance of a casual sort, Natalie was more than fluent. Over the years, Jordan had seen her best friend work her way through plenty of girls, basically every eligible woman¡ªwho swung that way¡ªin the local sparring scene. Even a few straight ones, if she had to guess. But the moment Natalie took interest in someone her conscious brain hadn¡¯t slotted as ¡®a potential girlfriend¡¯, she was hopeless. Sofia, obviously, had been the first culprit. Having grown up together, and always eking out wins against her, Sofia had slotted into Natalie¡¯s brain as ¡®her rival¡¯. That Natalie had romantic inclinations¡ªthough the extent Jordan wasn¡¯t fully certain on¡ªtoward the girl was in as day. But she¡¯d been defined in Natalie¡¯s head, and it would take something close to the world ending for her to realize it. Likewise, Jordan had a role. ¡®Best friend¡¯. Thusly sorted, breaking away would, like Sofia, be close to impossible. And that was fine. As Jordan had already decided, her friendship with Natalie came first. She wouldn¡¯t do anything to jeopardize it, and that truth held much firmer than her newest realization: how horribly in love she was. Her gargantuan crush took second, third, fourth priority to their lifelong friendship. Especially when her crush might not even be returned. Not that Jordan thought it wasn¡¯t returned, that her affection for Natalie in a romantic way was one-sided. She wasn¡¯t quite as oblivious as her best friend. Though, at the same time, it was well known that love blinded, and so Jordan could easily be under, over, or misreading things entirely. That was the problem. She was too close to the matter. She¡¯d never see it clearly. So, while Jordan thought it was returned¡ªthe hints were there¡ªunfortunately, she could never be positive, even if she felt she was positive. Which she didn¡¯t in the first ce. So, she had zero intentions of risking anything by pushing for a change in the status quo. Doubly to the point, as Natalie¡¯s best friend, Jordan knew the girl well. If Jordan did want their rtionship to change to something more, while also minimizing the chance of disaster, then Natalie had to be the one to realize and act on her feelings, not Jordan. Those realizations in ce, it was important that Jordan kept her feelings hidden away, which wasn¡¯t the easiest task for someone who could read her so well. And at the same time, she had to nudge Natalie along with hints. Subtly. Well. Natalie-subtly. Which mean bashing her over the head with her intent, but not stating things outright. For all Jordan loved the girl, she was a humongous idiot when it came to certain things. To be fair, almost everyone was. All those thoughts organized, she had a n. A practical one, even, that had just enough reasonable motive that Natalie shouldn¡¯t be suspicious. Though she really ought to be. Which led them to this moment. ¡°So,¡± Jordan said. ¡°You never told me how your date with Sammy went.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t?¡± Natalie asked idly. ¡°It was, um. Nice.¡± She was distracted. Jordan didn¡¯t wholly me her, but really. They were just boobs. It was the third time Natalie had gotten to grope them. ¡°And don¡¯t forget to cover more ground,¡± Jordan said, rolling her eyes and gently guiding Natalie¡¯s hands down her body, then behind, so her best friend was grabbing her ass. ¡°Yesterday, we tested one target, so now, we¡¯re going for coverage. See if there¡¯s more energy.¡± ¡°Right,¡± Natalie said. Natalie¡¯s obvious appreciation of her body didn¡¯t mean much. Natalie was, Jordan knew, a bit of a pervert. She¡¯d never ogled Jordan, not even in locker rooms when they were changing, but that was for aforementioned reasons¡ªtheir strictly defined rtionship, and the way Natalie¡¯s brain worked. Now that all this had started, Natalie¡ªand Jordan, for that matter¡ªhad been forced to confront just how attracted, physically, they were to each other. Natalie had handled that surprisingly well. She¡¯d epted that their intimate sessions meant physical attraction, but not something more. Jordan ¡­ thought. Again, she couldn¡¯t know for sure. It was something they were pointedly not talking about. And Jordan genuinely believed that was for the best. Natalie needed time to digest and confront ¡­ whatever was going on with her. For that matter, Jordan did too. While she had worked some things out in her head, she definitely hadn¡¯t worked all of it out. With Natalie¡¯s hands now on her ass, groping her, Natalie wasn¡¯t as distracted. Natalie liked to watch when she was ying with Jordan¡¯s boobs, but she couldn¡¯t do that with her ass. At least, not facing each other, and Jordan didn¡¯t intend to turn around and let Natalie go at it without distraction. In fact, thispromised, half-distracted state was ideal for the uing conversation. Jordan had been nning it. Locking eyes with Natalie¡¯s intense blue ones, she said, ¡°Don¡¯t have too much fun, though. We need to talk.¡± 2.25 – Jordan II 2.25 ¨C Jordan II ¡°Talk,¡± Natalie said. ¡°About what?¡± ¡°Sammy.¡± Natalie tilted her head. Her thoughts had visibly cleared up, focusing on Jordan¡¯s face, now, instead of her boobs, but still, she wasn¡¯t wholly zoned in, with her hands groping away at Jordan¡¯s butt. For that matter, Jordan was the slightest bit distracted herself. It was hard to be groped by her best-friend, her recently-realized crush, and take it wholly in stride. She liked to think she was good at controlling herself, both outwardly and inwardly, but she wasn¡¯t made of stone. ¡°What about her?¡± Natalie asked. ¡°How your date went.¡± ¡°Good, I guess?¡± She seemed ufortable talking about it. She hadn¡¯t ever had problems detailing her exploits to Jordan, so it was another indicator that recent changes had shifted how Natalie viewed their rtionship. Did she think Jordan would be jealous? She wasn¡¯t. That wasn¡¯t how she viewed romance. The idea of Natalie hooking up with other girls didn¡¯t bother her in the slightest. Even if she and Natalie became official, which was a highly, highly prospective hope, then Jordan still wouldn¡¯t mind. Natalie, on the other hand, would, she suspected. She was a bit possessive. Jordan didn¡¯t count that as a good trait, but it also wasn¡¯t something that was a deal breaker. She wouldn¡¯t mind if Natalie acted possessive of her, even. Show just how much Jordan was hers, and no one else¡¯s. It was better if she didn¡¯t let her thoughts stray too far down that path. It was a long ways off, and dangerous to flirt with, as if it might someday be reality. ¡°And how good is ¡®good¡¯?¡± Jordan asked. ¡°We had fun.¡± She cleared her throat. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°What did you two do?¡± she asked patiently. Natalie wasn¡¯t making this easy. ¡°We ¡­ uh ¡­ ?¡± ¡°Did you fuck?¡± Natalie actually blushed, which bordered on hrious. They¡¯d talked about this sort of thing before, so it wasn¡¯t new ground they were treading. Though, perhaps, Jordan had never quite taken an interrogatory tone like she had now. But she had to. While she wasn¡¯t jealous, navigating this whole mess was hard for her, seeing how her heart was on the line. She had to put up a mask for her own sake as much as Natalie¡¯s. So, an interrogation. ¡°I¡ªI feel like that was implied,¡± Natalie said, face red. Her hands groped away steadily, though with an idle cadence, now. Her attention was on Jordan. Maybe that was bad for energy-gathering purposes, but Jordan needed this moment for her own goals. ¡°But what, specifically?¡± Jordan asked. ¡°Did you two ¡­?¡± She made a crude gesture, sticking her pointer finger into a hole made from her other hand. Then, exining herself, ¡°I¡¯m sorting out something for your ss.¡± It wasn¡¯t wholly a lie. ¡°Sorting out what?¡± ¡°Strategy. Answer the question.¡± She rolled her eyes. ¡°Seriously. We¡¯ve talked about stuff like this before. Why is it a big deal, now?¡± Natalie paused. ¡°Any day, Nat,¡± Jordan said, not giving her a moment to consider the question. Again, the goal wasn¡¯t to force her into any realizations. She had a suspicion it wouldn¡¯t go well. ¡°Just, um. Our mouths and fingers. She ¡­ blew me.¡± Natalie flushed. ¡°But we didn¡¯t, you know.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Jordan said. She grabbed Natalie¡¯s hands, then moved them to the third point of interest. They were testing how her Harvest skill worked¡ªwhether covering as many points as possible got her more energy. Still, for obvious reasons, being groped between her legs, even over clothing, was the mostpromising area for both of them. Jordan¡¯s heart galloped in her chest, feeling her best friend¡¯s hand pressing into her pussy. Still, she stayedposed. She had a goal. ¡°Did you do a good job?¡± Jordan asked. Natalie took a second to rally her thoughts, face burning as she caressed between Jordan¡¯s legs. Jordan couldn¡¯t help a few inappropriate noises escaping the deepest parts of her throat, but the two of them ignored it. Overtly, at least. Neither could actually ignore it. ¡°A good job?¡± Natalie finally asked. ¡°Uh. I hope so?¡± ¡°Your reputation matters,¡± Jordan said sternly. ¡°Your ss wants you to have lots of partners. As many as possible. So, you need to get a reputation as someone good in bed. And, let¡¯s be honest, that things of yours is going to be a selling point to some. So it¡¯s especially important you¡¯re good with it.¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± Natalie was clearly on the back-foot, not prepared for this conversation. ¡°And I don¡¯t know if Sammy¡¯s a talker, but if she is, then it¡¯s important you impressed her. So she says good things.¡± ¡°I ¡­ guess? She¡¯s not a talker, anyway.¡± Though, she didn¡¯t sound wholly confident in that. ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter,¡± Jordan said. ¡°It¡¯s the point I¡¯m trying to make.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°Which is why,¡± Jordan emphasized, ¡°the two of us shouldn¡¯t only keep to what your harvest skill maxes on. You need practice.¡± A silence. Jordan continued, ¡°You¡¯re good with your fingers and mouth, but there¡¯s something you aren¡¯t skilled with, yet. Something you¡¯re several years behind on. Plus, you need practice with endurance. Those things are sensitive, right? Hard tost with?¡± Natalie¡¯s hand froze between Jordan¡¯s legs, no longer stroking away. She¡¯d pieced together what Jordan was saying. Maybe Jordan was going too far, but she couldn¡¯t stop now. Might as well spell it out in detail. Plus, she really did believe in the practical nature behind the idea. ¡°So,¡± Jordan said. ¡°It¡¯s time I start training you. Get that cock of yours used to being yed with. You can¡¯t earn a reputation as a quickshot, can you?¡± Taking a breath in, she spurred Natalie¡¯s hand back to motion between her legs, acting like what she was saying was totally mundane¡ªthe obvious extension of their efforts over the past week. ¡°And keep stroking. We¡¯re testing your skill, aren¡¯t we?¡± 2.26 – Jordan III 2.26 ¨C Jordan III Natalie was taking it well, Jordan thought. Or, at least, she wasn¡¯t freaking out. Outwardly. Inwardly, who knew what was happening? And to be fair, Jordan¡¯s ownposure extended only to the outside as well. Because she¡¯d just told her best friend that she intended to be her ¡®endurance coach¡¯. That she¡¯d made it her personal goal to y with Natalie so frequently and thoroughly that she built up a strong resistance to that sensitive member between her legs. And, with Natalie¡¯s skill likely having run its course, it was time to make good on that promise. Jordan guided Natalie¡¯s hand away¡ªbeing rubbed down there also had Jordan¡¯s thoughtspromised, for obvious reasons¡ªthen put her hands on Natalie¡¯s hips and met her bright blue eyes with a serious gaze. ¡°So,¡± Jordan said. ¡°There¡¯s no reason to dawdle. This¡¯ll be session one.¡± Unfortunately, Jordan¡¯s calm tone could only set Natalie at ease so much. At the announcement, her eyes widened. ¡°Now?¡± She hesitated. ¡°Are you sure, Jay?¡± ¡°What? You aren¡¯tfortable with it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that I¡¯m not,¡± Natalie said, incredulous. Then, she blushed, as if she hadn¡¯t meant to give away how much she was okay with it. In a lower tone of voice, she insisted, ¡°But you. You¡¯re fine? With that? With me?¡± ¡°I feel I¡¯ve made that clear,¡± Jordan replied coolly. ¡°But ¡­ why?¡± That was a dangerous question. ¡°You¡¯re overthinking it, Nat. It¡¯s just some fun. We can be ¡­ best friends with benefits.¡± ¡®Best friends with benefits¡¯. And the difference between that and being girlfriends was what, exactly? Jordan obviously didn¡¯t voice the question. But really ¡­ the way Natalie nodded slowly, as if her exnation made perfect sense. Knowing this irritating girl, a few weeks from now, she¡¯d be stuffing Jordan full, pping between her legs with desperate jerks, filling up her sixth condom and bringing Jordan to climax in a ¡®perfectly tonic way¡¯. She tried not to fidget at the imagery. It had invaded a bit too easily forfort. But by the ways things were progressing, it might happen. This might result in, eventually, going all the way. What would that be like? Having Natalie inside her? Jordan hadn¡¯t ever cared much for phallic objects, but when Natalie was the one wielding it, the idea suddenly had much more appeal. To a burning, dizzying degree. ¡°Best friends with benefits,¡± Natalie finally said. ¡°Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense.¡± Only to her it would. But Jordan¡¯s n had worked. She could hardly be mad. ¡°But still,¡± Natalie said. ¡°I feel like you¡¯re doing too much to help me.¡± ¡°Then return the favor here and there,¡± Jordan said, rolling her eyes. The words just ¡­ slipped from her. She was worked up from Natalie¡¯s groping session. It took visible effort to repress the wince. But, they¡¯d been said. No taking them back. ¡°Return the favor?¡± ¡°Just a joke,¡± Jordan said, shrugging, trying to brush past it. ¡°So. Do you want my hands or mouth first?¡± The distraction should have worked. Instead, Natalie¡¯s gaze stayed locked to her, almost predatory. Natalie stepped forward, pushing Jordan with her body. Jordan pressed into the stall¡¯s wall, and Natalie loomed over her, the height difference bing suddenly apparent. Natalie had several inches on her, and was stronger, too¡ªJordan had always admired those defined biceps. ¡°Return the favor,¡± Natalie repeated. The expression on her face was so intense Jordan¡¯s breath caught. ¡°Jay. Do you want me to fuck you?¡± Her brain nked out. What? Where had thise from? Yes, Natalie was confident, and this was probably how she acted around most girls. But she¡¯d been so hesitant with Jordan. Well. Mostly. Not always. But still. Staring up at Natalie, her control started to slip. She started panting, heart racing, as she looked into Natalie¡¯s blue eyes and failed to find a response. She probably should act unaffected. That was for the best. But she couldn¡¯t. ¡°I¡¯ve been an idiot, haven¡¯t I?¡± Natalie asked, voice low. ¡°Of course you get worked up. Here you¡¯ve been helping me, and I¡¯ve neglected you.¡± She leaned an inch closer. ¡°I¡¯ll make up for it, starting now. So. Do you want me to fuck you, Jay?¡± Jordan shivered, pressed into the wall. She squeezed her eyes shut, feeling dizzy from how rapidly the dynamic had changed. So. This was Natalie when she was on the hunt. When Jordan had slotted¡ªthought not consciously¡ªas ¡®romantic partner¡¯ and not ¡®best friend¡¯. Natalie leaned close, murmuring into Jordan¡¯s ear. ¡°Answer me, Jay.¡± ¡°Y-Yes.¡± She couldn¡¯t have stopped the response if she¡¯d tried. ¡°Yes, what?¡± ¡°Yes, Nat. I want you to fuck me.¡± ¡°With my hands or mouth?¡± She¡¯d thrown the question back at her¡ªthe one Jordan had asked not a minute ago. Fair y. ¡°Mouth.¡± The response came out shaky. ¡°I want your tongue inside me.¡± Natalie kissed the side of Jordan¡¯s neck. ¡°Good. Thank you for telling me.¡± Another kiss, higher up, on her jawline. Finally, she pressed one to Jordan¡¯s lips, slow and soft, which had somethinging apart inside her. ¡°From now on, you tell me when you want something. Friends with benefits. That works two ways. Understand?¡± What had Jordan done? She would never be able to survive this arrangement. Maybe she could take care of Natalie without falling apart, but the reverse? ¡°Do you understand?¡± Natalie repeated. ¡°Y-Yes.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Onest kiss, then Natalie got down on her knees. The sight almost made Jordan faint. Natalie¡¯s fingers went to Jordan¡¯s pants. ¡°Then let¡¯s get these off. It¡¯s time to return the favor.¡± 2.27 – Jordan IV 2.27 ¨C Jordan IV Jordan stared down at her best friend¡¯s head between her legs, wondering what in the world had happened. She was supposed to be the one in the control. For their entire rtionship, that had always been the dynamic. Not the leader, but the one with a cool head. She didn¡¯t let emotion guide her. Rather, she sorted through her feelings logically, then made decisions based on reason. But here. Natalie¡¯s head between her legs, fingers at the edges of her panties, about to tug them down. Staring up with big blue eyes. Rationality didn¡¯t stand much chance. Her defenses crumbled, and she buried her fingers into Natalie¡¯s short red hair. ¡°It¡¯s about time,¡± she sighed. ¡°I wondered how long it would take. Do you have any idea what it does to me, being groped like that?¡± By you, she tactfully left off. ¡°Sorry. I¡¯m kind of an idiot.¡± ¡°Yes, you are.¡± ¡°But I¡¯ll make it up to you.¡± Jordan had a feeling she would. Natalie tugged Jordan¡¯s panties down, and Jordan was suddenly on fire. Exposed. To her best friend. And that look on Natalie¡¯s face ¡­ the tant admiration. Oh, gods. This was going to be a nightmare to navigate. How was she going to stop herself from giving herself away? ¡°You¡¯re wet for me,¡± Natalie murmured, looking up. Especially when she said something like that? ¡°I was being groped,¡± Jordan replied shakily. ¡°Pretty thoroughly, if you remember. Of course I am.¡± Natalie kissed just above her pussy, pressing soft lips into her skin. A shaky groan escaped the back of Jordan¡¯s throat. Natalie. Natalie¡¯s mouth had just been a few inches from her. And ¡­ shortly ¡­ so much more. ¡°Still,¡± Natalie said. ¡°You. You¡¯re wet. For me.¡± Natalie waited, as if expecting a response, but Jordan found she had nothing to say. Or, rather, opening her mouth would result in her saying things she¡¯d rather not. Natalie pressed another kiss, this time lower down. Her best friend¡¯s lips pressed into her pussy. Jordan¡¯s brain whited out. Thest vestiges of her control vanished. She pressed down on Natalie¡¯s head, turning a gentle kiss into a much firmer pressure, burying Natalie¡¯s mouth against her pussy. The sensation was agonizing. ¡°You said you¡¯d fuck me. Please. Do it. I need you inside me.¡± Natalie obliged. Her lips parted, and, blessedly forgoing any further teasing, quested out into Jordan. Her powerful tongue dug into her. The sight, almost as much as the sensation, almost had Jordaning apart, just like that. The moment she went inside. Jordan realized she¡¯d been more than ¡®a little worked up¡¯. She¡¯d needed this so badly. And by the expression on Natalie¡¯s face, her best friend realized it, too. However clueless she¡¯d been earlier, she was catching on. And ¡­ damn her. Those blue eyes were smirking, dering just how much she knew. How easily Jordan was being taken apart by her tongue. From an idiot to seeing through her in an instant. And Natalie exploited the vulnerability happily. She worked eagerly at making Jordan squirm. Just friends, Jordan reminded herself. This situation so wasn¡¯t fair. Just friends? So ridiculous. But Jordan would take what she could get. In this case, Natalie¡¯s head between her legs. Which, admittedly, wasn¡¯t ¡®settling¡¯ for any meaning of the word. As Natalie had bragged, she was, indeed, ¡®pretty good with her tongue¡¯. As in, unfairly so. Though, maybe it was only half Natalie¡¯s skill. Jordan had been so insanely pent up from these interactions. She had recognized it in an absent way¡ªhow couldn¡¯t she feel unsatisfied after being groped then ignored?¡ªbut the insane, pulsing waves of relief that came with each stroke of Natalie¡¯s tongue, each curl, her best friend¡¯s tongue exploring around inside her, was almost mind-erasing. A burning ecstasy that Jordan¡¯s few partners had never remotely been able to produce. The pleasure shook her in more ways than one. The more literal¡ªthe way her hips bucked into Natalie¡¯s face, carnal instincts desperately trying to get her tongue an inch deeper¡ªbut also in a more emotional way. It rattled what she thought she knew about herself. Her confidence that she could keep these feelings locked up. Because in a few short moments, Natalie had blown the gate wide open. Having big blues eyes stare up at her, a nose buried into her pelvis, Jordan¡¯s previous thoughts of ¡®taking it slow¡¯ and ¡®letting Natalie figure things out¡¯ almost evaporated. She should just say it. See what happened. Because she wanted more. She wanted this. Every day. Over and over. It wasn¡¯t fair. Somehow, despite everything, she clung to thest shreds of rationality Natalie¡¯s tongue hadn¡¯t managed to destroy. The few bits of her mind that weren¡¯t being erased by the waves of heat radiating from her core. No confessions. However much she wanted to. She closed her eyes¡ªNatalie¡¯s face buried between her legs was toopromising a sight¡ªthen copsed backward into the wall, choosing instead to bask in the experience in an abstract way. Not Natalie. That amazing sensation down there wasn¡¯t Natalie. Easier to think about it that way. Less scorching, less intense, and, contradictorily, easier to enjoy because of it. She didn¡¯t have much chance of holding off. The burning climax that crashed through her was unlike anything she¡¯d ever experienced. Keeping quiet was impossible. She cried out, lower half shaking uncontrobly, shoving Natalie¡¯s face deeper and hunching over, her entire body contracting with pleasure. Natalie gripped Jordan¡¯s waist and coaxed her through it, eagerly, tongue-fucking Jordan through the most intense orgasm she¡¯d ever had. ¡°Fuck. Fuck me. So good. So good.¡± The words were incoherent. She whined them out, loudly,pletely uncaring they were in a public bathroom. ¡°Fuck me, Nat. Please. Fuck.¡± Finally, a scorching, shaking minuteter, Jordan copsed against the wall, starting to slide down, her legs unable to support her. Natalie stood and helped, peppering her neck with kisses. Laughing. She wasughing at her. Jordan supposed that was fair. Gods, she¡¯d been taken apart, literally. Her entire body was a hot sludge. ¡°Wow,¡± Natalieughed into her neck. ¡°You should¡¯ve told me earlier. You needed it that bad?¡± Jordan tried to muster a re, but her head was swimming. She settled for an aggravated huff. When she¡¯d half-way collected herself, she grabbed Natalie¡¯s hips, then said pointedly, ¡°Don¡¯t think you¡¯ve gotten out of it. This is your training session, remember?¡± 2.28 – Seize 2.28 ¨C Seize Jordan¡¯s hand ventured down Natalie¡¯s skirt, seizing six inches of rigid girlcock. Natalie gasped at the suddenness of the movement, and the fact Jordan¡¯s hand was on her cock. This was happening, then. Her best friend was going to jerk her off. ¡°After making fun of me,¡± Jordan murmured, the two of them still close. ¡°You better do a better job than me of holding off.¡± ¡°S-Sure.¡± Because the purpose of this was a training session. Natalie needed to learn how not to give in to the pulsing waves of pleasure that came with a girl stroking her. ¡°I can do that. No big deal.¡± Jordan quirked an eyebrow at Natalie¡¯s fake bravado, and Natalie grinned back at her. A firm squeeze had some of that confidence draining, and a groan escaping her lips, but she kept her defenses up. Even if it was Jordan¡¯s hand on her cock. She supposed it was good from a training perspective. Because she doubted there was anyone in the world who could set her on fire like Jordan could. Because ¡­ they were friends. This wasn¡¯t something friends normally did. It was the contrast that set her on fire. That made sense, right? Jordan pushed Natalie forward, gently, so that Natalie wasn¡¯t pinning her against the wall any longer. Her hand escaped the confines of her skirt, then grabbed the bottom and flipped it up, revealing Natalie¡¯s bulging panties¡ªand her cock sticking out from the top. ¡°Hold.¡± Natalie did as instructed, holding her bunched up skirt near her stomach. Jordan pulled her panties down, next, letting Natalie¡¯s painfully erect cock spring out. Jordan got down on her knees. The action had Natalie¡¯s heart mming. ¡°Don¡¯t get too excited,¡± Jordan teased. ¡°Just gettingfortable.¡± ¡°O-Obviously.¡± She hadn¡¯t thought Jordan was going to take her in her mouth. It¡¯d just ¡­ seemed that way for a second. Just her hands. That was what their training session would consist of. The earlier offer of Jordan using her mouth had been to distract Natalie. Grabbing Natalie¡¯s cock, Jordan started pumping. Natalie shivered, then shuffled over so she could lean against the wall. Easier that way. Supporting herself wasn¡¯t simple, being attacked by the radiating waves of heat that came with each jerk of Jordan¡¯s grip. ¡°We really need to get a room,¡± Jordanmented. ¡°Not that we can, but ¡­¡± She shook her head. ¡°How loud was I?¡± How loud had she been? When Natalie had been eating her out? ¡°Pretty loud.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t sound so smug about it.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t take pride in my skills?¡± ¡°No.¡± A secondter, she smirked. ¡°It¡¯s udylike.¡± Natalie raised her eyebrows. ¡°Uh huh. What about my cock? Is that udylike, too?¡± ¡°No. She¡¯s perfectly demure. A polite youngdy.¡± Natalieughed. It was interrupted with a lewd noise escaping her, Jordan¡¯s tight grip eliciting a particrly intense spike of pleasure. ¡°Fuck, that feels good, Jay.¡± ¡°I¡¯m doing fine, then?¡± ¡°More than fine.¡± She smiled up at Natalie, pleased by the response. Oddly, the question had been vulnerable. ¡°Just make sure you¡¯re not having too much fun. You¡¯re supposed to be practicing.¡± ¡°Doing my best.¡± Jordan picked up speed. Natalie groaned, leaning her head against the wall. ¡°Where¡¯d you learn to jerk a girl off like this?¡± Natalie gasped, a heat building in her stomach that she desperately fought away. ¡°No way you¡¯re this good the first time.¡± ¡°Implying something?¡± Jordan asked, amused. ¡°Just that it¡¯s unfair.¡± Obviously, Natalie didn¡¯t actually think Jordan had any experience in handling cocks. But why was her grip so perfect? The motions so overwhelming? ¡°You¡¯re just new to this. Weak. That¡¯s why we¡¯re practicing.¡± ¡°I guess.¡± It wasn¡¯t that. The pleasure hadn¡¯t been nearly as hard to resist when it¡¯d been Sammy. Jordan, specifically, was the reason Natalie was finding her climax building so fast. ¡°F-Fuck.¡± ¡°Getting close?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t help it.¡± Natalie¡¯s hips went back and forth in little jerks, helping Jordan caress her. ¡°Can I finish on you?¡± Jordan¡¯s eyebrows went up. Natalie hadn¡¯t expected the question, either. Like always, her mouth barreled forward. ¡°Only if you want to,¡± Natalie corrected with a struggle. ¡°Do I want to have your cum all over my face?¡± Natalie¡¯s cheeks burned. ¡°I just meant¡ª¡° ¡°I kind of do,¡± Jordan said. ¡°But only if you promise to give me an extra big load?¡± Natalie¡¯s brain nked out. ¡°Every drop?¡± Jordan continued. Her pace quickened, bringing faster and faster wracks of pleasure. ¡°You better paint every inch.¡± She drew her face close to Natalie¡¯s cock, pointing it at her. ¡°Come on, Nat. Cum for me. I want it. All over my face.¡± ¡°Not fair,¡± Natalie groaned. It was Jordan¡¯s job to make her cum as fast as possible, as part of training, but those words were just wicked. She didn¡¯t stand a chance. She clutched her bunched-up skirt to her stomach, then, unable to help it anymore, let go. The first sticky string draped itself across Jordan¡¯s face, and Natalie moaned at the sight as much as her orgasm. Fuck. She was cumming on her best friend. And Jordan was letting it happen. Happily. Aiming Natalie even as she jerked her off. String after string of girl cum covered Jordan, worked out with rapid, diligent effort. Her veins were filled with magma, her entire body on fire. Each clench had Natalie¡¯s hips jerking forward. She was shaking. Each ejection seemed more intense than thest. And the sight of Jordan¡¯s face getting more and more covered with her cum spurred her on. She fulfilled Jordan¡¯s request. Every drop. Jordan milked out every drop Natalie could give, until the girl was literally coated. Jordan¡¯s pumping didn¡¯t still for a second. She used Natalie¡¯s cum as lubricant, her grip turning slick, letting her pump faster. Finally, Natalie expended, Jordan withdrew her hand. Then startedughing. ¡°The towel, please. I can¡¯t see.¡± Natalie admired the sight, her head spinning. Jordan¡¯s face covered with a thickyer of cum, so much she couldn¡¯t open her eyes. Natalie could get used to that. And she would. This would be a recurring event of theirs. How had she ever gotten so lucky? 2.29 – Surprise 2.29 ¨C Surprise Okay. That encounter in the bathroom had been ¡­ a lot. Especially how desperately Natalie had needed to eat Jordan out. Being jerked off had been amazing, but nothingpared to getting to taste Jordan. And how aggressively she¡¯d done so¡ªand how she¡¯d spoken to Jordan. Taken control. In the moment, something else had taken her over. Just, the way Jordan had let her desire slip through. How couldn¡¯t have Natalie been captured? Been forced to act like that? Because it was normal to nk out when hearing a friend¡¯s arousal. Yeah. Totally. That made sense. Natalie deliberately didn¡¯t think about it. Because it wasn¡¯t that it had been Jordan. Just, a hot girl, needing to be taken care of. That was what had Natalie losing control. That it was her friend was coincidental. Her head was a mess, right now. For all sorts of reasons, but especially because of her and Jordan¡¯s future. The new arrangement they had. How ¡­ Jordan would frequently be ¡®training¡¯ with Natalie. It did make sense. Natalie needed a reputation at T. If her first times with T¡¯s eager students were a letdown, with Natalie finishing too quick, then finding other partners would be difficult. But if she set good first impressions¡ªespecially with the promiscuous girls, who would spread the word¡ªthen Natalie¡¯s ss had a smooth pathway for all sorts of energy gathering. And how would she set good first impressions? By practicing. Getting ustomed to the thing between her legs. It was good Jordan was looking out for her. She hadn¡¯t considered the points she¡¯d brought up, obvious as they were. She was lucky Jordan wasn¡¯t bothered by the idea. Apparently, less than bothered. She¡¯d been more than willing to have Natalie¡¯s head between her legs., then to jerk her off. And hadn¡¯t that been a mind-blowing encounter? Or sequence of encounters, both giving and receiving. Natalie was still shaky, remembering it. It was hard to keep in mind that that Jordan wasn¡¯t interested in her, not in that way. Not romantically. Just, their encounters worked her up, as it would anyone, and so Jordan had needed that pressure vented. Undoubtedly, Jordan would prefer someone else to be taking care of her, but Natalie was the one she¡¯d gotten involved with, thanks to her ss. Sure, they¡¯d taken on a title of ¡®friends with benefits¡¯, but it was under extenuating circumstances. Her ss¡¯s fault. It never would have happened otherwise. She had to remember that. Though, with the noises Jordan had been making ¡­ it was hard. Fortunately, Natalie had plenty to distract herself with. With her and Jordan¡¯s daily session done, they had other tasks to handle. A packed schedule. First up was spars with Sofia, and after that, checking out the Exchange. A student of T had little time for rest. A big relief. Having time to think would be horrible for Natalie¡¯s mental state. Spars against Sofia. That was a rxingly familiar thing to fall back on. They set up at the training facility. Strangely, Sofia was quickly bing not the worst person in the world to be around. Natalie was looking forward to this event. A spar. Getting to bash Sofia around. That anticipation, Natalie assumed, was returned on Sofia¡¯s part. Their spars had been limited in the past few months, since Sofia had earned her ss much earlier than Natalie. An unssed individual fighting a ssed one¡ªwell, clearly, those could only ever be lopsided. Not just the passive boosts to a person¡¯s physiology, but the HP system, too. So. Back to familiarity. A mostly even ying field. That was something Natalie could use, right now. Plus, it wasbat practice. Heavens knew she needed that. She¡¯d been holding her own in morning training, but certainly not dominating the opposition, like she¡¯d prefer. She supposed she ought to be happy with mediocrity¡ªeven a bit above it¡ªconsidering that she was at T, but Natalie couldn¡¯t find it in her to be so. Like most aspirant delvers, she had apetitive streak a few miles wide. The spar started off normal enough. Natalie was more than ustomed to Sofia¡¯s fighting style, and the same in reverse. Truthfully, it made these fights less valuable, not more. Down in the dungeon¡ªor in other spars, or duels¡ªadaptability was key. Adjusting to your opponent¡¯s uniquebat abilities and figuring out, quickly, how to effectively use yours against theirs. But fights against Sofia? The two knew each other¡¯s styles too well. Except, not true, anymore. Their sses had changed things, regardless that they knew each other¡¯s tendencies and fighting habits. Not only that, but the improved speed, strength, and ability to take hits had changed how Sofia moved and reacted¡ªwhat her risk tolerances were. Natalie, having only gotten her ss less than a week ago, hadn¡¯t yet digested those changes. Sofia had. Which meant, unfortunately, Sofia was making even shorter work of her than usual. Natalie growled as another swipe of her rapier scraped against her, dipping that valuable resource lower. She was so fast. And slippery. A buzzing mosquito. Sure, her jabs and scrapes wouldn¡¯t be nearly as devastating as Natalie¡¯s hammernding a direct hit, but they added up, chipping away at her HP¡ªwhich would eventually mean she¡¯d have to yield. Natalie was going to have to employ her own unexpected tactics if she wanted to win. Sofia knew she had an illusion ability, but she didn¡¯t know how it worked, or even what it was capable of. Because Natalie had barely been using it in spars. So she could use the surprise. Maybe pull a round off Sofia by catching her off guard. How incredible would that be? Especially with Natalie¡¯s disadvantage, herck of familiarity with her ss, where Sofia had been training for months. And, seeing that infuriating furrowed brow of Sofia¡¯s, her slightly pursed lips as she danced away from Natalie¡¯s attacks, her annoyance spiked. She made a n. Why not use her illusion to its fullest? The less-than-typical application she¡¯d discovered? Because Sofia? The prude? An inappropriate illusion would definitely catch her off guard. And, this was a horrible idea, but the fact Sofia was winning¡ªagain, for the millionth time¡ªerased her better senses. So, she made good use of her ss. She activated [Illusion]. 2.30 – Flashed 2.30 ¨C shed It was a horrible idea, Natalie realized the moment the skill settled across her. Like before, using the ability in a less than appropriate way came naturally, so much easier than her struggles to use it in a typicalbat manner. And, concentrated on the ongoing spar, the exact application, Natalie left up to her subconscious. Considering that, what came out was better than she could have hoped for. She made herself naked. Her T uniform disappeared, leaving Natalie bare¡ªnot an inch of clothing on her. A horrible idea. That realization pounded into her not just from her reasonable, functioning brain¡ªthe part that had protested this idea from the start¡ªbut also from how devastatingly effective it was. Exactly as intended, Sofia faltered. And not just faltered, but floundered. Her eyes shot open in surprise, and she stumbled, the first time Natalie had maybe ever seen that. Natalie, of course, capitalized. Herbat training kicked in, even if her rational self was horrified at what she¡¯d done. In a quick exchange, Sofia was lying on the ground, disarmed, gaping up at Natalie, who¡¯d dispelled the illusion and returned her uniform. Dressed. Not naked. ¡°Point to me,¡± Natalie said¡ªthough it was, unfortunately, impossible to take satisfaction in her exceedingly rare triumph against herposed white-haired rival. Because ¡­ the look on her face. ¡°Did you just sh me?¡± Sofia shrilled. ¡°It was an illusion.¡± ¡°But it was you! Naked!¡± ¡°Not actually me.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the difference?!¡± There wasn¡¯t much of one. Natalie knew what she looked like naked, obviously, so the illusion had been true to life. There ¡­ wasn¡¯t much difference between what she¡¯d done and actually just stripping off her clothes. She¡¯d shed Sofia. Full-body. She¡¯d seen every inch of her. Only for a brief moment, but every inch. Except ¡­ had Natalie included her cock? Her rm spiked. She didn¡¯t think so? To be honest, though she was growing ustomed to it, it hadn¡¯t fully settled as ¡®part¡¯ of her, yet. Her illusion, she found herself reasonably certain of, had been of her body as how it had been most her life. Cock not included. Not that Natalie wasn¡¯t mortified. She¡¯d shed Sofia. And why was Sofia blushing so deeply? She was a prude, and this was an embarrassing situation, so a blush was reasonable. But this much so? Her face beet-red, and practical shrieking her responses? Seriously, why had Natalie done that? ¡°It¡¯s not that big of a deal,¡± Natalie said, her own face burning to the point it felt numb. ¡°Chill, princess.¡± She held out a hand to help the girl up, who was stillid out on the ground, Natalie the victor of the exchange. ¡°You shed me,¡± Sofia dumbly repeated. Natalie looked to Jordan for help. ¡°Without even taking her on a date, first,¡± Jordan chided, seeming amused. ¡°That¡¯s not very polite, Nat.¡± Now, Natalie was sputtering along with Sofia, who stillid on the ground. Date? With Sofia? Even as a sarcastic joke, the concept had Natalie on fire, immediately. Date that irritating girl? No, thank you. ¡°And how was it so real? When did you get good at illusions?¡± Sofia asked. Natalie shook her hand, insisting that Sofia take it and climb to her feet. Seeing the alwaysposed girl so out of array was doing things to Natalie. It just wasn¡¯t right, seeing her red-faced and wide-eyed, breathing heavily as she stared up at Natalie. Sofia shakily took her hand, but still blushed furiously, continuing to give an incredulous look to Natalie. ¡°And why sh me, if you¡¯re that good, now? There¡¯s so many other things you could have done!¡± The following words came by ident, because she needed to defend herself. She couldn¡¯t let Sofia believed Natalie had shed her on a whim. ¡°It¡¯s my ss specialty, okay? Just ¡­ using what I have.¡± Sofia, of coursed,tched to the reveal. ¡°Specialty? I¡¯m sorry?¡± Natalie grimaced, then nced at Jordan. Oddly, Jordan seemed pleased. She nodded toward Sofia, raising her eyebrows with emphasis, encouraging her. She wanted Natalie to share her ss details with Sofia. Why? For ¡®team dynamics¡¯? It was a rather important detail, but then again, not really. It shouldn¡¯t affect how they operated in the dungeon. shing her tits at snarling monsters obviously wouldn¡¯t be something that would help. She¡¯d be restricted to normal use of her illusion. Still. It gave Natalie an excuse for why she¡¯d figuratively stripped naked in front of Sofia. She needed that. And seriously. Why was Sofia so out of sorts? Prude or not, a naked girl shouldn¡¯t literally have her falling apart. Especially Natalie. They hated each other. Natalie¡¯s body shouldn¡¯t do anything for her. For that matter, seeing a furiously blushing Sofiaid out on the ground hadn¡¯t done anything to Natalie, either. ¡°Yeah,¡± Natalie said stubbornly. ¡°My specialty. So rx.¡± ¡°And what specialty is that?¡± ¡°Lust.¡± Sofia gaped at her. ¡°My pdin¡¯s aspect,¡± Natalie said. It was surprisingly easy to get out. Mostly, because it deflected away from, y¡¯know, Natalie shing herself as just something she¡¯d randomly chosen to do. Gods, why had she? This whole mess could have been averted. She couldn¡¯t even take satisfaction in having won the fight. ¡°So, you know,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Have to y to my strengths.¡± Desperately wanting to move on, she said, ¡°You¡¯re just mad you lost.¡± Sofia didn¡¯t take the bait. ¡°Your aspect is lust?¡± She ced a hand on her forehead, seeming dazed. At least the blush had faded. ¡°That¡¯s why you acted so weird after your unlocking.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t act that weird.¡± Sofia ignored her. ¡°What does that entail, then? What else did you get?¡± An alternative leveling system that progressed through fucking other girls. Yeah, she wasn¡¯t sharing that secret. ¡°Stuff,¡± Natalie said stubbornly. ¡°It¡¯s none of your business.¡± Sofia didn¡¯t seem bothered by that. Keeping the details of one¡¯s ss was standard. ¡°You don¡¯t n on using it in spars, do you?¡± Lewd illusions? ¡°No. Obviously not.¡± ¡°Natalie just wanted to show off for you,¡± Jordan added from the sidelines. Two pairs of eyes pivoted to the dark-haired girl. Natalie and Sofia gaped at her. ¡°Her specialty,¡± Jordan rified, eyes sparkling. ¡°She wanted to show off her specialty. Not anything else, pervert.¡± The words were addressed at Sofia, who turned scarlet and started stuttering. And, what the hell? Why was Jordan being a traitor? Natalie needed help smoothing this over, not her stoking the mes. She red, but Jordan wasn¡¯t put out in the slightest. ¡°Your turn,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Get up here.¡± If there was anything that would dispel the disaster of a situation she¡¯d created, it was continuing spars. ¡°Do I get the same treatment?¡± Jordan asked. ¡°Gonna sh me, too? Or is Sofia special?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t sh her.¡± Natalie pointedly didn¡¯t make eye contact with Sofia, who¡¯d gathered her weapon and fled off the sparring pad. ¡°Besides, it wouldn¡¯t work on you.¡± ¡°Oh? Why not?¡± Natalie¡¯s mouth was running along without checking with her brain, again. Rather than finishing the exchange¡ªit wouldn¡¯t end well¡ªNatalie simply raised her hammer and pointedly indicated they were starting. Jordan rolled her eyes, but obliged. 2.31 – Exchange 2.31 ¨C Exchange The awkwardness did settle eventually, Sofia regaining herposure. Natalie¡¯s exposing of her body had left the girl briefly a disaster, but she¡¯d pulled together. That was Sofia, much in the same way as Jordan¡ªhard to ruffle, and even when it happened, quick to recover. Natalie herself fared poorer. Her head spun in circles. She¡¯d seriously just shed Sofia? And why had the alwaysposed girl turned so red at it? More than made sense? And, she was disoriented for other reasons. All the other stuff nagging at her hadn¡¯t disappeared. Camille, and her very-possible-knowledge of Natalie¡¯s bathroom escapades. Then the developments with Jordan, their ¡®training sessions¡¯ that would shortly be a staple in her life. In short, Natalie¡¯s head was a mess. So, continuing her tried-and-true tactic, she focused on the present. The Exchange. After spars, the three girls set out. Though they wouldn¡¯t be allowed into the dungeon until the start of next week, it would be smart to get a feel for the marketce. And, as Sofia had mentioned, it was an interesting ce to visit just for curiosity¡¯s sake. The Exchange was, objectively speaking, a fascination. A curiosity simr to the dungeon, if obviously less crucial¡ªthough still important¡ªto society. Valhaur wasn¡¯t the only country with an Exchange. Each of the thirteen dungeons had one situated nearby, and, rather than using any man-made currencies, items were bought and sold through a marketce of monster cores. Not just that, but the Exchanges were linked, somehow. Items from halfway across the world could be dissolved into the Exchange, then reformed thousands of miles away at a different one. Setting out from the T campus, too, was nice. Getting to see more of Aradon. She¡¯d walked her way through a few streets on the trip from the train station, first arriving to Aradon, but she hadn¡¯t explored the sprawling capital city of Valhaur. And, with the Exchange and dungeon entrance not far from T, she didn¡¯t do much exploring now, either, heading straight there. But the colorful bustle of the city was enjoyable on its own merit, for what little of it she saw. Soon enough, they¡¯d arrived. The Exchange was¡ªas she¡¯d expected it to be¡ªunlike anything she¡¯d ever seen. Four stories of marble arches and cool gray te ents, it stood out from the rest of Aradon¡¯s architecture, the bright vibrancy that was the trademark of northern Valhaurian fashion. Run by the automatons, the Valhaurian Exchange made only marginal efforts to blend with the architecture of their human counterparts. Automatons were congenial folk¡ªsubservient by their nature¡ªbut only to an extent. In the aesthetics of the Exchange¡¯s construction, they paid little mind to ¡®fitting in¡¯. Cool, gray, stalwart. Just like them. Trailing through the entrance, surrounded by a veritable stream of other bodies, Natalie gaped around at the immacte interior. While not adhering to the rest of Valhaur architecture, the building was as grand as the best of what Aradon had to offer. A decent chunk of the world economy flowed through these elegant archways and beneath these enormous domes, and the Exchange¡¯s importance gleamed from polished tiles to delicate, three-story-tall windows. It was also crisply organized, the defining trait of automatons. Clearly marked signs funneled the various clientele to appropriate locations. The Exchange was¡ªoutwardly if not inwardly¡ªorganized into floors, where each sessive one catered to more and more distinguished delvers. Natalie, Jordan, and Sofia were naturally restricted to the base floor, the one intended for levels one through five, or ¡®low-rankers¡¯ in colloquial terms. Natalie had heard all sorts of stories about the fourth floor, intended for levels sixteen through twenty. That the Exchange even had a floor dedicated to top rankers seemed a bit silly when they were so rare. Even Aradon, where delvers congregated, the floor had to be a ghost town, considering its size and infrequency of visitors. She¡¯d like to sneak in, see which of those tales were truthful, but security at the Exchange was strict. It was as much a bank as a marketce. Monster cores flowed like rivers between human and automaton hands. And beneath Natalie¡¯s feet, mountains of those valuable, crystalline orbsid in piles, organized into racks behind enchanted, foot-thick metal vaults. Undoubtedly, there was wealth enough to make a Beaumon¡¯s eyes water, not more than a hundred feet away. Natalie had never heard of someone sessfully robbing the Exchange, not in its millennia of existence. How that was possible, she hadn¡¯t a clue. Eventually, she would¡¯ve figured, a particrly enterprising group of top-rankers would¡¯ve pulled it off. But no. Was it the automaton¡¯s defenses, she wondered, or Aradon¡¯s? The event went well enough. The three of them gawked around at the sights, ustoming themselves to theyout of the enormous building. Though the Exchange ran on some inscrutable, certainly magical logistical system, it was split up into sections the way most marketces were: armor, weapons, trinkets, and so on. Automatons were stubborn about their ways. Organization was a virtue they held above all others. And speaking of automatons¡ªwhat a curiosity those were, and in such numbers at the Exchange. Some could be found in other ces, but nowhere in such density. Natalie had seen one, of course, though whether The Bestower, that strange entity in charge of doling out sses, was a true automaton was up for debate. Still, their alien physiology wasn¡¯t aplete novelty. They were more uniform than humans, with most being strictly androgynous, of roughly simr height and build, andposed of silver metal-like skin and cobalt-blue ents. Friendlier, too, than The Bestower, because automatons were natural servants. Not because humanity owned them¡ªthey were creations of the Architect, a blessing given to humans to aid them, but certainly not owned¡ªbut because that was their natural state. They wished to serve, organize, and manage, and always with that pristine air of friendly professionalism. By the way the start of the trip went, Natalie almost thought they¡¯d make it through without incident. Unfortunately, she was never so lucky. And the debacle urred in such an odd way. Checking out the armor and weapon sections was mundane, as far as visiting the Exchange could be called such, but reaching the essory portion of the hall, and being attended to an automaton, something strange happened. Automatons had some inexplicable way of finding items in the Exchange that could aid a particr delver in their adventures. Sorting through the endless archives of items stored in the system¡¯s magical depths, they could pluck out something suited to a person¡¯s ss, and that fit to their level and ss requirements. So Natalie supposed she should have known better. Asking an automaton for an essory that might help her down in the dungeon? Her? With the ss she had? ¡°What is that?¡± she hissed, ncing side to side in horror, seeing if anyone was paying attention. No one was, obviously, and Natalie forcibly calmed herself. The only reason someone would look over was if she made a big deal of things. But ¡­ heavens above. The ¡®essory¡¯ the automaton had summoned. ¡°A dildo,¡± the automaton replied. She tilted her head, intrigued. ¡°How curious. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever seen one of these.¡± ¡°S-Send it back. Someone¡¯ll see.¡± Natalie¡¯s face had turned red in record time. Could her ss ever give her a break? It was always something. ¡°Very well.¡± With a swish of a metallic hand, the hazy image of the item disappeared. In typical fashion, it¡¯d been summoned above the counter, brought to life through whatever magical means only automatons had ess to. ¡°Though, the Exchange chose it for you. It believes it¡¯s a good fit. Perhaps you should reconsider.¡± A good fit? She bet it would be, and in more than one way. But now was really not the time. Besides, if she really needed one, there were cheaper ces to get something like that. Though ¡­ ¡°And what does it do, anyway? Is it ¡­ special?¡± Because it was on the Exchange¡ªwhich meant dungeon loot. A dildo from the dungeon. Heavens above. ¡°I can¡¯t inspect it without having manifested its image,¡± the automaton said calmly. She seemed confused why Natalie was upset, though she had recognized the item, so Natalie didn¡¯t get why she was clueless. Then again, this person wasn¡¯t human, so, sure. Made sense she didn¡¯t understand social norms, or propriety in general. What a mess. ¡°L-Look at it quickly. Then make it go away.¡± The automaton¡ªever the diligent servant¡ªdid so. ¡°And?¡± Natalie asked. She would have inspected the item herself, but she couldn¡¯t The Exchange stopped her. Maybe the item didn¡¯t actually manifest, only an image of it. ¡°It seems its imbued with a pleasure-enhancing effect,¡± the woman said cheerfully. And, notably, she said it loud enough to make Natalie wince. She looked around again, saw she was fortunately still in the clear, then gestured, with a bit of a panicked desperation to it, for the automaton to speak quieter. ¡°Seriously. Some discretion, please.¡± Though ¡­ pleasure enhancing? ¡°And that¡¯s a thing?¡± Natalie asked. ¡°Items like those, from the dungeon?¡± ¡°The dungeon creates all sorts of wonders.¡± She frowned at the spot where the ghostly image of the dildo had disappeared. ¡°Though something that atypical, certainly less frequently.¡± She looked up, then tilted her head at Natalie. ¡°I wonder, what ss do you have that the Exchange would suggest it?¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter,¡± Natalie said quickly. ¡°H-How much was it?¡± ¡°Twenty two first-tier cores.¡± She choked. That much? ¡°It¡¯s not even useful in a fight!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s intended to be used on a monster, Miss,¡± the automaton replied hesitantly. ¡°Obviously! I just meant¡ª!¡± She cut off, realizing, in the absurdity of the situation, her volume had spiked. She¡¯d drawn a collection of looks her way. Red faced, she forced herself to calm, then in a more level tone, said, ¡°I meant I need practical items. Something I could use against monsters.¡± ¡°The Exchange thought it was practical. Not every useful item is for fighting, specifically.¡± Shrugging, though, the automaton continued, ¡°Specify a price range, and we can find something more suited to your liking.¡± The rest of the interaction continued without incident. She got much more understandable rmended items, no more sex toys. But ¡­ sheesh. That had really happened? And the dildo had a pleasure enhancing effect tied to it? It was a shame the item was on the general Exchange, and not T¡¯s branch. Natalie might have considered scraping together the funds, impractical as it would be. Shortly, though, she would be barred from this marketce, limited to T¡¯s branch only. But the possibility had been introduced. Getting items like that from the dungeon was something that could happen. Considering Natalie¡¯s ss, and how the dungeon often fed items appropriate to a person¡¯s ss, would she be finding some of her own toys, eventually? Naturally? That would be ¡­ interesting. And an awkward discussion with her team. 2.32 – Skill Planning 2.32 ¨C Skill nning Almost before Natalie knew it, the first week of sses had passed, and the weekend was on her. Not that the weekend meant time to rest. Though pleased she hadn¡¯t embarrassed herself with her debut spars, she had a long way to go, and not for spellcasting alone. Her more traditional skillsets needed work. Failure in the dungeon meant endangering her, Jordan, Sofia, and her other teammate¡¯s lives. Natalie had zero intention of resting on herurels. A mindset, she assumed, shared with most of T¡¯s studentbase. So, she set a more brutal pace during the weekend than the schoolweek itself. Without a long break of academics and an enforced lunch hour to hamper her, she worked herself to exhaustion. It wasn¡¯t an unfamiliar process. She wouldn¡¯t have ever qualified for T if so. Once those grueling training hours werepleted, she met with Jordan. Unlike their typical post-workout sessions, though, they took a more focused approach. Instead of collecting energy¡ªthough that would happen shortly¡ªthey focused first on strategy. Natalie had been making steady progress filling up her Carnal Energy resource. She had yet to expend it on anything since her first-to-second advancement of Carnal Harvest. They¡¯d wanted to see whether the resource decayed slowly, encouraging her to spend it rather than hoarding. As it turned out, no. Hence Natalie¡¯s consistent generation¡ªbecause the next question had been whether there was a cap. Perhaps there was arge one, but in the days she¡¯d steadily been collecting, she hadn¡¯t brushed against the limit. ¡°Okay,¡± Jordan asked. ¡°How much do you have, again?¡± *** Carnal Energy: 122 *** ¡°One twenty-two,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Probably enough to take everything up a tier. Maybe kick harvest up once, but probably not.¡± The excitement of the first week of sses had had Natalie pushing off from making a decision. There¡¯d been practical reasons to hoard and not choose what to advance, like wanting to see if there was point decay or limits in ce, but she couldn¡¯t persist with that test forever. With the dungeon opening tomorrow, it was time she decided how to allocate the points she¡¯d earned. They had, of course, talked about what Natalie should do, but there were good arguments for multiple paths. Keep rushing Carnal Harvest, thus advancing how quickly she earned further points? Advance Illusion, maybe making the skill easier, and certainly more powerful? Or even Heavy Weaponry, that amusingly¡ªand aggravatingly¡ªnamed skill. The two of them had a hunch that progressing the skill wouldn¡¯t only Doubles the strength of a skill. I could see that bing ¡­¡± she trailed off. ¡°Incredible,¡± Natalie said bluntly. ¡°With higher level skills? Doubling their strength?¡± ¡°More, as you progress Empower even further. Triple? Four times?¡± Though Natalie had yet to see the realization of the im, when she¡¯d received her ss, The Bestower had told her that she¡¯d gotten a, if strange, exceptionally powerful ss. Even if it hadn¡¯t turned out true yet, it certainly would in the future. Doubling the strength of a skill. Unless Natalie received abysmal base skills in the future¡ªand she doubted that¡ªthen Empower would be outrageously useful. ¡°But it costs experience, basically,¡± Natalie said. Strong as the skill was, it came with heavy downsides. She¡¯d yet to experiment with it, but fundamentally, the skill used up Carnal Energy. It used up her ¡®alternate progression points¡¯¡ªso, equivalently, she had to spend experience to activate it. ¡°It should only be used when necessary,¡± Jordan agreed. ¡°Still. Depending on how expensive it is, the benefits could massively outweigh the cost. If it allows you to take down monsters out of your level range, then the bonus experience could more than make up for it.¡± ¡°Sort of,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Guess it depends on whether Carnal Energy progression is more or less useful than normal levels.¡± ¡°True,¡± Jordan said. ¡°And speaking of that, we should test the skill. It¡¯s a waste, but we need to know the cost, and the exact meaning of ¡®doubling¡¯ an illusion¡¯s potency.¡± That sort of thing was better learned beforehand, not in the moment. When tomorrow¡¯s delve began, Natalie wanted to have a strong hold of her capabilities¡ªincluding her emergency options. While burning Carnal Energy, that slow to acquire and vitally useful resource, pained her, what would pain her a lot more was dying. Obviously. Or worse, getting someone else hurt. ¡°Yeah,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Let¡¯s finish leveling everything else up, first, though. Then we¡¯ll go test things out.¡± Jordan inclined her head, then gestured for her to continue. 2.33 – Advancing 2.33 ¨C Advancing *** [Illusion]: Progression advanced from 1 to 2. *** *** [Illusion] - ACTIVE. PROGRESSION 2. Conjure a {moderately} powerful audiovisual mirage to distract or confuse an opponent. *** As expected, progressing Illusion from one to two had resulted in the adjective ¡®mildly¡¯ shifting to ¡®moderately¡¯. Thus far, even simple illusions had been difficult to wrangle¡ªshes of light, mild misdirections of her weapon or stance, being the most she could manage. The exception being, of course, the ¡­ lewder implementations of the skills. But Natalie had far from settled on whether she¡¯d ever use those inbat against other students. It had proved effective against Sofia, but ¡­ well, she didn¡¯t need to detail why she hesitated using them against other people. Natalie informed Jordan of the change. ¡°Huh,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Wanna try it out?¡± "Can¡¯t. Someone might sense it. I¡¯m not good at covering my tracks.¡± To the various spellcasting sses¡ªof which Natalie had unexpectedly be one¡ªspells burst into existence, pinging to any nearby mage¡¯s consciousness, in much a simr way of a loud noise. At the training facility, nobody would think twice about the effect, but at the barracks, it could pique interest and have someone seeking the origin of the spell out. Because why would someone be casting inside the barracks? A morepetent mage could dampen the obviousness of a spell, but Natalie ¡­ Natalie wasn¡¯t an experienced spellcaster, for all she¡¯d made strides in the past week, and could now, if clumsily, integrate [Illusion] into her standardbat flow. Jordan chewed her lip, then nodded. ¡°Okay. We¡¯ll hold out on that. Do it at the facility, not here.¡± Natalie thought that smarter, too. But, with the opportunity to demonstrate moved down the line, it meant the time had arrived for herst skill to be upgraded. Heavy Weaponry. ¡°Sammy¡¯s going to be so confused,¡± Natalie said, the amusing thought escaping her lips without much forethought. ¡°A few extra inches arriving out of nowhere is going to ¡­ catch her off guard.¡± Jordan quirked an eyebrow, but, as she¡¯d made redundantly clear, Natalie¡¯s involvement with other girls didn¡¯t bother her. ¡°I suppose it depends on how much it grows.¡± Because it would grow. Her skills gave hints what [Advance] would do to them, and with Heavy Weaponry, the emphasis was, hriously, on her {6}¡ªthe size of her weapon. Progressing the skill would make her cock bigger. Natalie¡¯s ss was bizarre even on the basest level, but this, she felt, was the strangest of all. Why? Why could she grow her cock size as she progressed? Though, she wasn¡¯t upset, either. She¡¯d contemted, early on receiving her ss, that if she were forced to have something like this between her legs, then she¡¯d prefer it were a monster. Why not, right? The idea excited her. And, by Jordan¡¯s interested look, the flush growing on her cheeks, her, too. ¡°I¡¯m guessing you want to watch?¡± Natalie teased. ¡°Your next training session is strange. Heat coursed through her lower half, radiating along her stiffened length. She watched, with wide eyes¡ªJordan doing the same¡ªas her cock thickened and expanded. From her previously moderate length, a new¡ªand true to the skill¡¯s name¡ªpiece of weaponry grew. Eight inches. Proportionally thick. It throbbed between Natalie¡¯s legs, the veiny and angry member so desperately at odds with her soft thighs and feminine build. Jordan was equally entranced. She stepped forward, eyes wide, cheeks pink. Her smooth digits wrapped around Natalie¡¯s cock, an instinctive motion, unable to help herself. ¡°Wow,¡± she breathed. ¡°That¡¯s a ¡­ that¡¯s a decent improvement.¡± ¡°Improvement?¡± ¡°Not that you weren¡¯t enough,¡± Jordan corrected. ¡°Just ¡­ wow.¡± Natalie gripped her friend¡¯s waist, then tugged her in. Her cock pressed against her stomach, sandwiched between them. ¡°But there¡¯s a lot more for you to enjoy, now.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Jordan¡¯s hand stroked between their bodies, caressing Natalie. ¡°But did it do anything else?¡± ¡°Another benefit?¡± Natalie asked. ¡°Well ¡­ no. But it might be hidden.¡± Skills didn¡¯t always detail their full functionality. Plenty of hidden effects, or bonuses, could be nestled in a skill, though not explicitly stated. ¡°Once we¡¯re done, we need to test empowering your illusion,¡± Jordan said. She had locked intense green eyes to Natalie¡¯s own, which had, as always, seized her, both body and mind. How were they so gorgeous? The most incredible things she¡¯d ever seen? Like, in a best-friends kind of way. ¡°But for now,¡± Jordan breathed, leaning close, brushing hot air against her face as she spoke. ¡°Just enjoy yourself. You¡¯ve worked hard, and I can tell you need some relief. Let me take care of you.¡± ¡°And after, me you?¡± She found she wanted that more, somehow, than Jordan¡¯s deft fingers and powerful grip. Getting to bury her head between her friend¡¯s thighs and taste her slick excitement was a hundred times better than being pleasured herself. Again¡ªin, like, a tonic way. ¡°If you¡¯re feeling generous,¡± Jordan said, a smile teasing her lips. ¡°I¡¯d appreciate that. But you first.¡± Natalie closed her eyes, basking in Jordan¡¯s grip. Her hands dipped from Jordan¡¯s waist, down and back, squeezing her ass and pulling her in a few inches closer, so Jordan¡¯s tits were pressed into her own. ¡°Okay. Me first.¡± She drifted away, Jordan¡¯s breath on her face, and her hand stroking away at her cock. 3.01 – Entrance 3.01 ¨C Entrance The day had arrived. Natalie stared around at the enormous dome enclosing the beating heart of Aradon, or indeed Valhaur, itself. The dungeon entrance. As one of the most mythical objects in existence, Natalie had of course seen it in textbooks, had seen the detailed artistic renditions of the one-story-tall, ck obsidian b. It was somehow less than she¡¯d expected. Because this was the dungeon entrance? Four wingspans wide, and a single story tall, the b of ck stone was so ¡­ unassuming, considering it was the lifeblood of society, as important to early civilization as rivers and arablend. The dungeon entrance ought to be bigger than life, majestic, awe-inspiring, towering ten thousand feet high. It should have Natalie falling to her knees, her mind overwhelmed. Which was dramatic, she knew. But really. It was the dungeon entrance. While the polished, perfectly geometric te of ck stone was far from mundane¡ªit was clearly of supernatural make, not a natural urrence in the slightest¡ªit simplycked the enormous presence the concept of ¡®dungeon entrance¡¯ had in Natalie¡¯s head. The artwork in textbooks had exaggerated the details. Still, there was plenty of awe, but it stemmed from Natalie¡¯s knowledge of what the object represented, rather than sheer presence itself. The ssy ck surface wobbled, a newest set of adventurers stepping into the seemingly-solid material, disturbing the surface like it was made of water. The group of five sank into the darkness, then were gone. Faster than liquid would, the obsidian stabilized, regaining its rigidity. That, at least, lived up to the descriptions. Otherworldly. ¡°So,¡± Sofia asked. ¡°Everyone¡¯s ready, then?¡± The five of them had showed up after ss. Around them, other groups of T students swarmed, some of them already having set off into the entrance¡¯s ssy ck portal. There was a steady flow into each of the entrance¡¯s two faces, north and south. Most entered from the north. An old superstition, certainly false, but even Natalie¡¯s group would be doing the same. Ridiculous as it was, no point in tempting fate, right? ¡°Ready to kick monster butt,¡± Liz said. ¡°Over-ready. Feels like I¡¯ve been waiting forever.¡± That sentiment was, undoubtedly, mirrored in all of them. This was the culminating moment every T student had waited, and trained for, their entire life. Even Liz, permanently bubbly, seemed to be anxious in a ¡®let¡¯s get to it¡¯ sort of way. The cheerful response had been more forced than usual, as if trying to ease everyone else¡¯s nerves. ¡°Let¡¯s do it.¡± Resting a hand on her hammer¡¯s shaft, she vibrated with anticipation. She looked around at each of her teammates, then nodded. No disagreement. Stepping forward, Natalie spurred the group into motion. Her anticipation grew as she approached the tall b of obsidian, but she didn¡¯t let herself slow. With only two ways into the dungeon, and loads of adventurers trying to enter, clogging the flow of traffic was a quick way to getting kicked out of the building with a hefty fine attached. Plus, Natalie wasn¡¯t scared. Just stuffed with adrenaline. The ck surface rapidly approached. It took some overriding of her instincts to force herself to continue. The wall looked as solid as anything else did. Her brain told her she was going to smack face-first into it, however many times she¡¯d watched teams step into its ssy ck surface. She shared a quick nce with Jordan, who nodded at her, then Natalie braced herself and strode into the obsidian wall. *** The bustle of the Aradon¡¯s dungeon entrance disappeared, a switch flipping off. Silence echoed through a dark cave tunnel. Cave. The mostmon Sanctum biome. No surprises there. She turned in time to see thest of her teammates step from the ck portal sprouting from the ground behind her. Ana, with that ever-present nk expression on her face. Natalie had no problems with people who kept strictposure¡ªher best friend was one¡ªbut that girl was ¡­ icy. A statue. Not hard to read, but impossible. She was almost unnerving to be around. But a good mage. That was all that mattered. Natalie swept her surroundings with a discerning gaze. Though a group of first-timers dropping into the first level of the Sanctum were unlikely to have an ambush sprung on them straight out of the portal, it would be idiotic not to check. Stretching tunnels ran in two directions, one branching into the far distance. The passages were illuminated with a soft blue glow from the moss clinging to the walls. A cleaner, brighter light radiated from Natalie and Liz, the front line and back line, respectively. She fiddled with the tiny, t-ovalnterns affixed to each of her shoulders. Convenient tools. How annoying would dungeoneering have been in the old days, having to use torches? The modern age came with conveniences, though the dungeon was as deadly as always. Just less of a logistical hassle. ¡°Cave,¡± Sofia said. ¡°That¡¯s good. Fewer swarming enemies.¡± That was their team¡¯s identified weakness. Sofia and Jordan excelled in single-target damage, which made the team great for boss-hunting, but poor when handling too many enemies at once. Ana plugged the hole slightly, being a mage with decent area of effect spells, but the disbnce left them weaker against swarms than most teams. Bnce wasn¡¯t always preferable, though. Specialization was valuable, and the real money¡ªand experience¡ªwas in taking down bosses. Not that they¡¯d be reaching one today. The first delve of the semester was exploratory, meant to dip their toes in the water. Plus, they only had a few hours. Curfew was at ten. Real delves happened on the weekend, where the expedition could stretch overnight. Weekdays were for quickies. The group oriented themselves to their dark surroundings. Natalie nodded, then hefted her hammer up. She didn¡¯t say anything. They¡¯d all trained for this for years. As Liz had put it ¡­ it was time to kick some monster butt. 3.02 – Kobold 3.02 ¨C Kobold The team of five progressed down the cave tunnel, Natalie taking the lead. She set a slow pace, and not only because of the slippery footing, the faintly glowing blue moss clinging to floor and walls, but rather, the potential of traps. While the first level of the dungeon wasn¡¯t likely to include lethal ones, maiming was still on the table, the healing of which would use up Liz¡¯s valuable mana pool. And when it came to the dungeon, the operative words were ¡°usually¡± and ¡°probably¡±. The dungeon couldn¡¯t be quantified, broken down into tidy, rigidly consistent rules. Trends, yes. But constants, no. By the standards of most delvers, Natalie and her team were well prepared. Geared up, in an archetypal teamposition, and each some of the brightest of a generation, they could takefort in the fact that as far as preparations went, few matched them. While brutal, the odds of death were, all things considered, low. Not this high up in the dungeon, and in a full squad, with potions on standby. Still, those rational disimers made, Natalie was anxious. And, of course, excited. She¡¯d always been a girl who itched for a fight. And for the first time in a while, she¡¯d found a conflict that mattered in an immediate sense. Beyond just fighting for her life, and her allies, she was fighting for direct progression, and less relevantly, but still important, resources. Her sess or failure mattered in a way it rarely did. Not spars, but real fights, with real rewards. They trekked along, staying silent and alert. Even Liz had found an uncharacteristic seriousness. It was strange on her, though, Natalie figured, not unexpected. For all Liz¡¯s exuberant attitude, she¡¯d grown up as a Beaumon. She knew the risks of dungeoneering. Half her family were career delvers, and not smalltime ones. Turning a corner, their first encounter came into sight. Natalie held a hand up, stilling her group. As the vanguard, she¡¯d seen the monster first. She peered down the cave, dimming the glowing device fixed to her shoulders so that it didn¡¯t draw the monster¡¯s attention. [Lesser Kobold - Lv. 1] It was a squat, rather unpleasant looking creature, humanoid, with red skin. Scales decorated its elbows and lower limbs, with thick, wed, animalistic feet. A reptilian, sinister face peered down at something on the cave floor, the creature hunched over and scratching the ground with interest. Natalie fed the information back to her team. The backline had paused around the corner, so they hadn¡¯t seen it. ¡°Level one kobold with a spear. No armor.¡± ¡°Just one?¡± Jordan asked. ¡°Just one.¡± ¡°Easy start,¡± Sofia said. Natalie didn¡¯t disagree, though their instructors might have chided them for being dismissive. Natalie didn¡¯t intend to treat the encounter with an undueck of respect, but a single kobold wasn¡¯t much of a genuine threat, not for a talented, well-prepared team of five. Still, their instructors had drilled in the importance of treating each fight as if it were life or death. And it was, technically, for all it would take something going catastrophically wrong to even be seriously injured, much less a team wipe. With Liz, and healing potions on standby, even a serious hit could be, if not brushed off, at least easily handled. Natalie appraised the creature in closer detail. A spear. She appreciated her recent practice against Elliot. Though she doubted the kobold would have simr training to a T student, familiarity in general against a weapon was useful. She¡¯d have to y around its reach. And, Natalie knew, contrary to its diminutive stature, the monster would be viciously fast, powerful, and above all else, blood-thirsty. Not to mention the ever-present wildcard: skills. As a level one, it had one or two at most, possibly none, and certainly nothing overwhelming. But the problem was that she couldn¡¯t know what. She could make guesses, drawing on knowledge from various monster encyclopedias, but that could be as dangerous as going in blind. Expectations were fine, but not assumptions. Assumptions got people killed. ¡°Ready, then?¡± Natalie asked. She itched to get started. Her first dungeon encounter. When she received no disagreements, Natalie nodded to herself, then rolled her hammer around in her grip. ¡°Start us off?¡± Natalie asked Ana. From this distance¡ªfar enough the kobold hadn¡¯t noticed themnding a spell with any sort of uracy would be difficult. But what kind of delvers would they be if they didn¡¯t take a free shot, however minimal the benefit? Likewise, Jordan drew her bow and nocked an arrow. Her ss seemed poised to be melee focused, but she¡¯d trained in archery, and, again, free shots were free shots. Jordan took aim, and Ana held her crystal ball up, cing a hand on the ss and drawing on her mana. Shadowy tendrils swirled around the orb, and the kobold stiffened, sensing the vibrating energy that came with magic. Liz leveled her staff toward Natalie, and that invigorating suffusion of her buffing spell washed through her. The kobold spun, facing them. Its eyes widened as it took in the group, then shrieked, the grating noise bouncing off the walls of the cave tunnel. It sprinted forward, scrambling across slippery moss-covered floor in its eagerness. Even knowing what the monster¡¯s reaction would be, the ferocity of it caught Natalie off guard. There was unadulterated hatred in the scream. Why did it want them dead so badly? As simple as being territorial? Puzzling over why fabrications of the dungeon behaved as they did was probably pointless. Plus, she had bigger things to worry about. Halfway to them, a ck-feathered arrow sprouted from the creature¡¯s neck. It didn¡¯t falter. The kobold ripped the projectile out then tossed it aside, flesh reknitting in an instant. Jordan¡¯s beautiful aim had cost the creature HP, but killing even a level one monster wasn¡¯t as simple as a well-ced shot. Nor a well ced spell. A shadow tendril whipped out, conjured from Ana¡¯s crystal ball, shing across the creature. It grunted, the weight behind the blow slowing it much more than Jordan¡¯s arrow had, but still only briefly. Then, finally, it arrived, and Natalie could participate. With Natalie leading the pack, the farthest forward, the kobold was happy to focus on her. A spear jabbed out, lightning fast, which Natalie narrowly blocked with her shield. Even with Liz¡¯s empowering buff reinforcing her, the movement jarred her shoulder, the spear¡¯s metal tip mming against her shield hard enough to make her grunt and nearly lose her footing¡ªeven well-braced as she¡¯d been. The dungeon wasn¡¯t intended to be tackled alone, as that first exchange demonstrated. Well trained, reinforced with a healer¡¯s empowering buff, and braced for the hit, and still the level one kobold had nearly toppled her over with the strength of its first attack. The kobold yanked its spear back, dragging her shield with it, having embedded into the wood. Natalie grunted, again, with exertion as she yanked back, freeing herself. Again, she struggled to keep her footing. It was strong. More than she¡¯d expected, for all she¡¯d been warned. Even simple level one monsters were meant to be handled by entire teams. As the tank, it was her job to keep the kobold¡¯s attention, and preferably not to get cut to pieces while doing so. Since the monster was faster and stronger than her, and had supernaturally enhanced weaponry, it wasn¡¯t the easiest task. Natalie¡¯s focus wouldn¡¯t be on the offensive. That was Jordan, Sofia, and Ana¡¯s task. Natalie just needed to survive a bloodthirsty, enraged assault. She found herself grinning, heart pounding hard enough she felt it in her ears. The kobold traded another blow with her, which nced off her shield, and a window opened, which Natalie seized, swiping her hammer forward. The kobold sidestepped it easily. Natalie¡¯s defensive posturing making it difficult to score meaningful hits against someone so much faster than her. But the maneuver opened an opportunity for the rest of the team. Sofia edged in from the kobold¡¯s nk, scoring a sh against its thigh. The kobold growled and spun on her, jabbing a spear forward, but Sofia had already danced away. Natalie knew first hand how impossible she was to hit. Jordan and Ana snuck their own attacks in, but Natalie focused on herself; tracking everyone was impossible, and she had a role to fill. With the kobold¡¯s attention briefly diverted, she went on the offensive¡ªif only for a quick shield bash, then a second swipe of her hammer. It seeded in drawing the kobold¡¯s attention back, but not in doing much damage. The following minute was a blur of the sort Natalie had plenty of experience with. She took several hits. That was close to inevitable as the team¡¯s tank, and the reason healers were a standard fixture for any team. Natalie didn¡¯t feel the injuries, doused in adrenaline as she was. Most were ncing scrapes from the kobold¡¯s spear, Natalie not managing to escape in time. The wounds knitted over in an instant, infused with a warm glow¡ªLiz¡¯s contributions. If the koboldnded a thrust into a more important ce¡ªsay, her chest¡ªNatalie¡¯s HP would rear up and block the blow entirely, unlike the minimal protection it offered her arms and legs. That would demolish her reserves, though, and, as a level one, she probably only had one ¡®lethal save¡¯ of HP, even as a defense oriented ss. Unexpected deaths did happen down in the dungeon, even to T students. The reminder, oddly, excited her. Natalie found opportunities, here and there, to surge forward and get her own blows in, but for the most part, she yed defensively. Moment by moment, each of her team¡¯s attacks scraping down the kobold¡¯s impressive health reserves, the monster started to g. That indicator shown, the three damage dealers watched with razor focus for the chance tond the lethal blow. Natalie halfway wished she could, too, but as fast as the kobold was tiring, so was she. Hard to match something so powerful, vicious, and swift without exhausting herself. Jordan found the opportunity. Her dagger sank into the throat of the kobold, and as fast as the de had darted in, it withdrew, spraying green blood across Natalie¡¯s face and against the cave wall. That was gross, but in the middle of a fight, it barely registered. For a few moments, the kobold choked, hand grasping at its throat. Unlike with Jordan¡¯s arrow, at the start of the fight, it didn¡¯t have the HP to shrug the blow off. Unceremoniously, it stumbled a step, choking, then copsed. Sofia stepped in and stabbed it through the skull. Natalie doubted the creature was faking, and its death was imminent without the stab, but ying it safe was always a good policy. Its brain punctured, the thrashing stilled, then, spear, clothing, body and all, it evaporated in ck smoke. When thest strands had spiraled away and dissipated, five panting girls surrounded the defeated creature. In the center of where the kobold had beenying, a shining white orb coalesced, elevated a few inches off the ground, where its chest had been. Then, fully manifested, the monster core clinked to the floor, rolling across mossy stone. 3.03 – Puzzle 3.03 ¨C Puzzle ¡°That wasn¡¯t so bad,¡± Liz said. Natalie didn¡¯t disagree, though she¡¯d taken more hits¡ªeven if just ncing¡ªthan she¡¯d have preferred. And, intense as it¡¯d been, she¡¯d forgone her use of [Illusion]. She¡¯d made strides with the past week¡¯s training, but in the moment, she¡¯d been focused on performing her role in the traditional manner, using methods she was mostfortable with. A smart choice, clearly, because even without pushing out of herfort zone and trying to weave some illusions in, Natalie had taken blows. Her armor was still knitting itself together from where the kobold¡¯s spear had punctured. One of the benefits to dungeon-linked loot; the gear shared life force with her. It would be rather inconvenient if each exchange left her armor more and more degraded. At least, as quickly as mundane armor; gear did degrade, eventually. ¡°Not so bad,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Yeah.¡± Sofia leaned forward and plucked the monster core from the ground. She inspected it between two fingers. Natalie did so, too. *** Monster Core - Tier 1 *** Not much of interest. Just a monster core. Beyond their ranking, the orbs didn¡¯t vary much, not unless they had something stored inside them. ¡°Got lucky,¡± Jordan said. ¡°One in three odds. Good start.¡± Monster core drop rates varied, but one in three was the simplified average. It depended on the strength of the monster, location, and some other factors. Obviously a swarm of tiny monsters wouldn¡¯t drop one-in-three cores. T had loaned them each ten first-tiers to pay for starter equipment, and it hadn¡¯t gone far. From that perspective, it would be a while before Natalie was geared out, much less geared out well. Then again, brutal as the fight had been, it¡¯dsted all of a minute, if not less. Not a bad pace for earning cores, even split five ways, if they kept the pace up. Speaking logistically, at an encounter every few minutes¡ªsay three¡ªand a monster core every third monster, that would make six to seven cores an hour. And that was sticking to floor one, near the entrance, where payouts were lowest. Natalie rested her hammer on her shoulder, still breathing heavily, as most of her teammates were. Even Ana and Liz. While the backline casters weren¡¯t as physically involved, spells were tiring in a different, but equally intense, way. Natalie would know, for all she hadn¡¯t used her own spells in the brutal exchange. There was a lull as everyone nced at each other, appraising conditions. Then, as one, eyes fell to Natalie. Though not a leader in a literal sense, she was the vanguard. The one who set the pace. Though tired, and stilling down from her adrenaline rush, she nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s keep going.¡± Momentum was important. If she needed to rest, she would of course ask, not risking her team¡¯s wellbeing for the sake of her ego. But as things stood, she was fine. Ready for another fight. And, though she wouldn¡¯t sabotage herself, and thus her team, she did itch for more. She¡¯d always found the thrill of the fight intoxicating. There¡¯d been a reason Natalie had pursued a career in delving with so much enthusiasm. Setting forward, she continued down the stretching cavern tunnel. *** Several encounterster, fighting their way through a variety of snarling monsters, Natalie and her team found themselves entering arger room, no longer constricted by the tight tunnel hallways they¡¯d spawned in. They kept track of each turn they made. Liz, specifically, had been tasked to do so. The easiest way out of the dungeon was to backtrack and exit through their original portal. It was unlikely they¡¯d be finding a second natural one, or encountering a boss. Therger room, on a brief scan, presented no visible threats. It seemed empty. Not that Natalie let herself take that at face value. Just because something in the dungeon seemed safe, didn¡¯t mean it was. ¡°Any traps?¡± Jordan asked, eying the room in the same way as Natalie, and the rest of the team as they trailed in behind her. ¡°Puzzle, I¡¯m guessing,¡± Sofia said. ¡°Look at the mural.¡± Natalie had noticed the sprawling diagram on the far wall of the room, but had put it out of mind while looking for more imminent threats. Not finding any, she allowed herself to take it in. A mural stretched across the stone, etched in bright white scratches, outlining in the gray stone a depiction of a beautifully rendered scene. The pictures were dense, difficult to make out from this distance, but in front of the diagram, seven squat pirs sprouted from the ground, each with¡ªwhat seemed to be¡ªa button sitting on top. A puzzle room. ¡°What is it?¡± Liz asked. ¡°It¡¯s so detailed.¡± ¡°Clear the room first,¡± Natalie said. She was interested as the rest of them, but making certain they were safe came in higher priority. A quick inspectionter, the team in agreement that the puzzle room wasn¡¯t trapped, at least in any obvious manner, they regrouped and studied the mural, finally letting their guards down. The diagram took a second to decipher, dense as the imagery was. Though expertly drawn¡ªor manifested from thin air by the dungeon, not actually drawn¡ªthe artwork was cramped and overly-detailed, adorned with flourishes that made identifying the relevant pieces difficult. Shortly, though, she cobbled together an understanding of theposition. Seven figuresid, elevated above the rest of the figures in the drawing, in various poses, each of their eyes closed. One held her hands to her chest, slumbering peacefully. Another seemed distraught, seemingly stirring, distressed, from a nightmare. A third figure frowned, brow furrowed. Each of the people were distinct, with unique clothing, essories, and builds. Beneath the seven, a slew of othersid or stood in various poses, but also with closed eyes. None were stirring in the way the elevated seven were. Their designs were clumsier, paid less attention. Less important,paratively? Natalie studied the figures, interested. Even the ones without emphasis, beneath the seven, were powerful. Crafted with evocative imagery. Intimidating in a way hard to describe. And familiar, almost? She could swear she ought to be able to name some of them. Were they ¡­ ? ¡°The Reverie?¡± Ana said. ¡°I see. Yes, I believe it is.¡± Natalie looked to the girl, as the rest of the team did. ¡°The what?¡± She shared a nce with Jordan and Sofia, but two respective shrugs indicated they didn¡¯t understand, either. Liz, though, seemed to. She tittered nervously, eyes having widened. ¡°The Harvest, Ana?¡± ¡°Do you disagree?¡± Liz looked at the mural, then back to Ana. ¡°The Harvest isn¡¯t real.¡± Then, more nervously, ¡°And it¡¯s pretty sphemous, even just to talk about.¡± Which, obviously, caught Natalie¡¯s attention. sphemous? Ana inspected Liz. ¡°I¡¯m simply stating what the mural depicts. And it is the Reverie, no?¡± ¡°It would fit,¡± Liz said reluctantly. ¡°The what?¡± Natalie asked, louder. Though she doubted she¡¯d be much help in solving the puzzle, Liz¡¯s nervousness had caught her interest. ¡°The Reverie-Siphon Hypothesis,¡± Ana said. ¡°Or more colloquially, as Elizabeth put it, the Harvest.¡± She turned back to the mural, tilting her head. ¡°I suspect this puzzle was presented for me in particr. I have an interest in religions.¡± She did? And, Natalie supposed, a suspicion of hers had been confirmed. The figures depicted on the wall were recognizable, even if she hadn¡¯t been able to ce how. The gods. Though not presented in standard Valhaurian fashion, adorned with the iconography Natalie was used to seeing. ¡°You still haven¡¯t answered,¡± Natalie pointed out. ¡°What is it?¡± She spared another look for Liz, whose anxiousness had been steadily growing. Her eyes flicked between Natalie and Ana, and she fidgeted in ce. Ana appraised Natalie. ¡°Well,¡± she said, ¡°in short, it¡¯s a religious theory.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s the right word ¡­¡± Liz said. ¡°A grouping of religious theories,¡± Ana corrected. ¡°Not what I meant.¡± ¡°But what is it?¡± Natalie asked, exasperated. ¡°That the gods were killed,¡± Ana said, as impassively as ever. ¡°Specifically, by the Architect, and that He used their bodies to create the system. A Harvest, so to say.¡± She wrinkled her nose. ¡°Not precisely the right terminology, in my opinion. It¡¯s unlikely gods can truly be killed, and it¡¯s an ongoing siphoning, not a one-time harvest. Hence, a Reverie-Siphon, as we refer to it in modern terminology.¡± Natalie considered that. ¡°Ah,¡± she said. Yeah, she could see how that was sphemous. 3.04 – Reverie 3.04 ¨C Reverie It was an impressively oundish exnation, and delivered in Ana¡¯s monotone, somehow more impactful, not less. The room stewed in silence for a few moments, digesting the im. Liz tittered, high pitched and nervous. ¡°And, like I said, it¡¯s seriously sphemous to present as if it¡¯s real.¡± ¡°I did no such thing.¡± Ana seemed confused by Liz¡¯s reaction. ¡°Natalie asked, and I exined. Though, I would argue there¡¯s insufficient evidence to support any religion. So from a logical perspective, the Reverie-Siphon Hypothesis has as much credibility as anything else.¡± Liz shot a panicked look at Natalie, then Sofia and Jordan, as if seeking support. Natalie sympathized with her concern, even if she didn¡¯t share it. She didn¡¯t much care about what was considered sphemy or not. Her parents had forced her to church growing up, but she¡¯d never been religious. She epted the gods in a nominal way; mostly, she didn¡¯t think much about it. Not an unusual practice, these days. The years of Valhaur¡¯s monolithic religious practices hade to an end, or, if not that, at least to their twilight years. Maybe the gods had existed at some point, but if so, they¡¯d been dormant for a long time. Which, uh, she supposed would make sense with this oundish theory. Not that she believed it. It was a little far fetched. Only finding shrugs and sympathetic looks from her teammates, Liz turned back to Ana. ¡°You really shouldn¡¯t say things like that.¡± Ana waved her hand. ¡°It¡¯s what the mural depicts. We need to talk about it.¡± ¡°I meant the, ¡®the Harvest is as possible as anything else, including our religion¡¯. That¡¯s ridiculous.¡± It made sense Liz had more traditional values than Natalie and her friends. She was a member of the Beaumon family. The literal royal family, even if their titles were antiquated. Tradition and royalty went hand in hand. ¡°Back it up a few steps,¡± Natalie said, focusing on the meaningful part of the discussion, and also trying to defuse the situation. ¡°Details, please? The Architect harvested our gods to make the System? What does that mean, exactly?¡± Ana turned to Natalie, still confused from her interactions with Liz, and why Liz had be uncharacteristically insistent that Ana sanitize what she was saying. The girl was a bit clueless. Even she should be able to recognize why questioning someone¡¯s religion would have them on edge. The only reason Natalie, Sofia, and Jordan didn¡¯t also care was because, frankly, they weren¡¯t religious. ¡°There¡¯s not much to it,¡± Ana said. ¡°I¡¯ve already sinctly summarized. And though ancient records are unreliable, there is an interesting amount of evidence that suggests the withdrawal of the gods urred near the same time the system was put into ce.¡± ¡°This is thousands of years ago,¡± Natalie said. ¡°There¡¯s records of that?¡± Never mind the other ims¡ªthat the system was ¡®put into ce¡¯ and hadn¡¯t always existed. She did, as most people, notice how it fit incongruently with other naturalws, and so she adhered to the belief of an ¡®Architect¡¯ who designed it, separate to the ¡®Maker¡¯ of the natural world, but the timeline and how was questionable to say the least. Even Valhaurian teachings didn¡¯t agree with each other. ¡°Inconsistent trantions, yes,¡± Ana said, ¡°and partial, but records nheless.¡± ¡°Emphasis on inconsistent,¡± Liz said, ¡°and partial.¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± Ana said. ¡°In the same way many Valhaurian holy texts are doubtful in uracy and trantion.¡± She gave the retort in a totally impassive manner, as if this were an academic debate and not something Liz clearly held as a personal belief. Natalie grimaced the the continuedck of empathy. ¡°Regardless,¡± Ana continued, ¡°the mural depicts it. Thus this topic needs to discussed.¡± Natalie edged in before Ana¡¯s frankness caused further problems. ¡°And those seven?¡± she asked. ¡°The gods above the rest. The Upper Pantheon is made up of ten. So why¡¯re there seven?¡± ¡°Those aren¡¯t the Valhaurian Upper Pantheon,¡± Ana said. ¡°Those are the Passions.¡± ¡°The Passions?¡± ¡°The Theliosian equivalent of our Upper Pantheon,¡± Jordan said. Natalie was surprised that she¡¯d only now entered the fray. Usually this sort of thing would be right up Jordan¡¯s alley. She didn¡¯t ¡®have an interest in religions¡¯ as Ana imed, but she was generally well informed. ¡°Theliosians worship the gods of emotions above all others, unlike us.¡± ¡°Much of the world does,¡± Ana said. ¡°The Theliosians are far from the only.¡± ¡°And the Passions are what?¡± Natalie asked. ¡°Or who, I guess.¡± ¡°In Valhaurian terms?¡± Ana pursed her lips. ¡°Not all have direct equivalents. Groupings of aspects, names, lineage¡ªafter so much time, I¡¯m certain no religion has an urate ounting.¡±¡ªLiz made a distressed noise, which Ana continued to ignore¡ª¡°And more to the point, I¡¯m intrigued by these three, who seem to be waking. Why?¡± A sudden suspicion hit Natalie. Her stomach sank. ¡°Those three?¡± ¡°Rage, Greed, and,¡± Ana peered at thest of the figures. ¡°Lust.¡± Ah. The dungeon had chosen to depict a mural of the Harvest. A mural in which the goddess of lust was ¡®stirring to consciousness¡¯ after a long, supposed-to-be-permanent sleep, which the Architect had organized. Was it a coincidence? Natalie suddenly remembered the strange circumstances of how she¡¯d been given her ss. The Bestower¡¯s words, the nature of her ss in general. Combined with this? Natalie felt vaguely nauseous. Then again, maybe it wasn¡¯t warranted. Who said this meant anything? It was a puzzle fabricated by the dungeon; it had zero guarantees of uracy. Even Ana, who apparently ¡®had an interest in religions¡¯, talked about the Reverie in removed terms, not convinced at the theory¡¯s uracy. Still, she shared a look with Jordan, whose eyebrows were raised. She¡¯d patched together the implications. How Natalie¡¯s ss might rte to this. ¡°I wonder why it¡¯s showing us this,¡± Natalie said. ¡°And why three are waking.¡± ¡°The dungeon presents puzzles aligned to its delvers,¡± Ana said, making Natalie¡¯s heart jump. The follow-up calmed her. ¡°Thus, I have to assume, this one was given to me, because of my interest in the subject.¡± Probably not presented to her alone. Both of them. Ana, for her theological knowledge, and Natalie for ¡­ another potential reason. Though she had no guarantees. She itched to question Ana, but she didn¡¯t want to draw suspicion. She¡¯d talk with Jordan about itter. Look more into this ¡®Reverie-Siphon Hypothesis¡¯ on her own time. The details of her ss might get out, eventually, and Natalie showing too much interest in this mural could be suspicious. Because she didn¡¯t trust Ana. Not that she distrusted her, but certainly not trust. The same to Liz, for all she was easy to get along with. Natalie didn¡¯t think of herself as suspicious by nature, but she didn¡¯t go blindly trusting people she¡¯d known for only a week. Especially politicians, as most T students were. They stood in silence, Ana, and the rest of them, inspecting the mural. The seven pirs, buttons on top of each, were clearly how the puzzle was meant to be solved. But what was it asking? Did they get one chance, one button press? If so, though she didn¡¯t know the full logic of the puzzle, Natalie suspected which they should start with. Even if none of this was guaranteed to be built on a factual basis, it couldn¡¯t be coincidence this had been shown to her, and that ¡®Lust¡¯ was one of the figures waking. So. The first button press seemed obvious. 3.05 – Loot Chest I 3.05 ¨C Loot Chest I ¡°Perhaps I¡¯m overthinking it,¡± Ana eventually said. ¡°Because I don¡¯t see a deeper meaning.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just asking which are waking first?¡± Natalie said. ¡°All of the Passions are elevated, but only three are stirring,¡± Ana said. ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s seeking the ordering? From most to least? Even so, I would have figured the solution to be more difficult.¡± ¡°We are pretty close to the entry,¡± Jordan said. ¡°And only on the first floor. Not likely to get anything crazy.¡± ¡°I suppose it was more of a hope,¡± Ana said. ¡°Such an intriguing piece of artwork inspired something grander, don¡¯t you think?¡± ¡°Er,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Yeah. I guess so.¡± ¡°The ordering, then. Or perhaps it¡¯s a single answer.¡± Ana looked around, seeking input. Natalie surveyed the mural one more time. When it came to solving puzzle rooms, she knew she was one of the least valuable resources here, but that didn¡¯t mean she¡¯d turn off her brain and refuse to try. ¡°Think there¡¯s a reason those three are waking faster than the rest?¡± Maybe they could work backward. ¡°Not that I can think of,¡± Ana said. Ana would know better than her. Natalie herself certainly didn¡¯t have any clues. ¡°Well, if ites down to a vote, I say we press Lust first.¡± ¡°Lust?¡± ¡°Seems she¡¯s the most awake. Though it¡¯s pretty close.¡± Three of the figures were in roughly the same states. The other four were in a markedly deeper sleep than the three Passions, and beneath them, the rest of the gods didn¡¯t stir at all. The reasoning she gave Ana was somewhat honest, if not entirely. Lust didn¡¯t seem especially more of a candidate than the other two figures, but they didn¡¯t know if the puzzle only wanted them to press one button, or a sequence. If the former¡ªone choice only¡ªthen Natalie had a strong suspicion it should be Lust, considering her ss. Though maybe the dungeon was trying to trick her, there? But it was a first-floor puzzle. Like Jordan had pointed out, it shouldn¡¯t be that difficult. In fact, the solution really might be as simple as studying the figures and organizing them from ¡®most sleepy to least¡¯. Maybe, even, the puzzle wasn¡¯t there to challenge them, but to subtly provide information. That thought creeped her out. She pushed it away. ¡°Mm,¡± Ana said. ¡°Is that what we agree?¡± ¡°Seems our best guess,¡± Jordan said. ¡°I¡¯ll throw my vote in with Nat.¡± Whether Jordan truly believed it, or was simply supporting her, Natalie didn¡¯t know. ¡°At worst,¡± Sofia added, ¡°it¡¯s a one-in-three. And we should get going. We¡¯ve lingered longer than I¡¯d prefer, even if there¡¯s rewards for getting it right. I¡¯d rather be fighting and earning experience, not crowded around a mural.¡± Natalie agreed. She would¡¯ve pointed it out herself if she hadn¡¯t been distracted by the puzzle¡¯s possible rtion to her ss. Ana looked around, waiting for any further opinions, but the group seemed to be in ord. She didn¡¯t seem entirely pleased at not having deduced a greater meaning behind the mural, but didn¡¯t continue to state her annoyance. Without ceremony, she stepped up to the pir aligned with the Passion of Lust, then pressed the button down. The group held their breath. A grinding mechanism sounded somewhere beneath them, but otherwise, nothing happened. ¡°A sequence, then,¡± Ana said. ¡°That noise meant ¡®correct¡¯, possibly?¡± ¡°Something¡¯s definitely happening,¡± Sofia said. ¡°Feel free to take the lead. Sounds like you¡¯re the most suited. Make your best guesses, and let¡¯s be on.¡± Nobody disagreed, so Ana took over. With as little fanfare as the first button press, Ana walked between pirs, pressing buttons without even waiting to see the result. She¡¯d already organized her full answer, apparently, however unsatisfied she¡¯d been. Beneath them, mechanisms ground loudly, ovepping as Ana rapidly progressed through the puzzle. Thest button hit, and with a few more scraping noises, the room fell silent. A moment after, something rose from the center of the room. A squat wooden chest revealed itself. ¡°You got it right?¡± Liz asked, surprised. ¡°Possibly,¡± Ana said. ¡°Or perhaps ¡®right enough¡¯. Maybe a close sequence would have sufficed. Maybe there were tiers of rewards, and this is what we got for a partial answer.¡± A hint of a frown. ¡°I would have preferred feedback.¡± Jordan and Sofia inspected the chest for traps, then, satisfied, cracked it open. The five of them crowded around. This level of loot chest wouldn¡¯t have much to write home about, but still, it was their first loot ever. Andmark, however mundane and irrelevant their rewards would likely be. The wooden top opened up, revealing ¡­ A single silver ring. It sat in the center of the chest¡¯s bottom, seeming smaller than it was because of its spacious container. Sofia leaned forward and plucked the piece of jewelry between thumb and forefinger. She held it out, presenting it for the rest of the group to [Inspect]. *** Ring of Vulnerability Common Lv. 1 Effects - Moderate increase to physical Furor. - Moderate increase to physical Prowess. - Moderate decrease to Tenacity. Description For the risk-taking physical ss-bearer who seeks to maximize offense at the cost of defense. *** ¡°Seems ¡­ fine,¡± Liz said. It was, apparent to all of them, an item with a severe downside. Granting moderate increases to both the user¡¯s physical Furor and Prowess stats was nothing to sneeze at, and even much better than the typical level-onemon-rarity loot, but the kind of ss who¡¯d want to use it¡ªSofia or Jordan¡ªcouldn¡¯t afford to drop their defenses so much. The two damage dealers were already unfortunately easy to take down, should they take a stray hit or if a monster focused on them, and amplifying that weakness could easily outweigh the benefits. At the same time, there was an argument to be made for extreme specialization. Pumping up role-specific stats and disregarding others. Natalie, of course, wouldn¡¯t want it. As the team¡¯s tank, dropping her Tenacity by even a minor amount would be idiotic, even for the moderate boosts to maneuverability and damage output. The ring only affected the physical portion of their stats, so Ana and Liz likewise wouldn¡¯t need it, being mages. Natalie looked at Jordan and Sofia, who were each considering the item. ¡°Let¡¯s see what the rest is,¡± Natalie suggested. They¡¯d figure out who¡¯d use the item¡ªif anyone¡ªafterward. Sofia nodded, then tucked the ring away in a pouch. She returned to the chest, closing the lid. Waiting a few seconds, she popped it back open, and the five of them leaned in to see what, if anything, the dungeon had presented as their next reward. A pair of white gloves sat at the bottom, materialized into the previously emptied space. Sofia lifted them for the team to [Inspect]. 3.06 – Loot Chest II 3.06 ¨C Loot Chest II *** Gloves of Quick-Thinking Common Lv. 1 Effects - Minor increase to magical Prowess. Description A well-timed spell can be the difference between life and death. *** The item was, of course, more unequivocally useful than the previous. Though it granted a weaker effect¡ªnoticeably so, since the differences between ¡®minor¡¯ and ¡®moderate¡¯ were fairlyrge¡ªit also didn¡¯te with downsides. A direct upgrade, no detriments. Seeing how none of them had full sets of gear, yet, with T¡¯s ten monster-core starting stipend only buying a weapon and one or two pieces of equipment each, equipping the spell-casting gloves would be an immediate boost in power to whoever imed them. Natalie didn¡¯t intend to make a im on them. Clearly, Liz or Ana would make much better use of the gloves. Item distribution could be a tricky, nuanced thing, but earning a reputation as greedy was a good way to kill prospects with future teams. There was an expectation that a team woulde out of a dungeon with a bnced distribution of earnings, but not always, such as when a particrly amazing item suited to someone¡¯s ss dropped. Natalie, and her friends she assumed, didn¡¯t want to make a big deal out of ¡®getting perfectly even¡¯ when it came to loot, and especially not today, where the team was testing their footing with each other. She liked thisyout¡ªeven Ana, for all her oddness. Liz had other teams she would be trialing for, and possibly Ana too, so setting a good impression was important. ¡°You or Ana,¡± Natalie said to Liz. ¡°Obviously. Though I¡¯m not sure which of you it¡¯d be better on?¡± ¡°You could probably use them, too,¡± Liz said brightly¡ªthough obviously being polite. ¡°Hm. Who, though?¡± She looked to Ana for her input. Ana seemed confused. ¡°Why would Natalie get them? She¡¯s by far the worst caster. And only half a caster.¡± Liz¡¯s eyes widened at Ana¡¯s bluntness, a recurring trend, and she shot a concerned nce toward Natalie. But Natalie only found herself amused. She had mixed feelings on Ana¡¯s cluelessness, but it was also endearing, in a way. ¡°She¡¯s right,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Obvious choice is between you two. Go ahead.¡± ¡°I assume Elizabeth,¡± Ana said, frowning and looking between the two of them, as if noticing she had said something wrong but unable to ce what. ¡°We don¡¯t need more damage, which I would provide. Better healing is more important.¡± Liz clearly thought so too, and, Natalie thought, not simply because she wanted the item. ¡°If you think so ¡­¡± Liz said. Sofia handed off the gloves to Liz, who took them. Liz donned the gloves, tucking her staff into her shoulder as she did so. Sofia turned back to the chest. Unfortunately, there was no third item. Cracking the lid open onest time, an empty wooden panel met them. It was impossible to know how many items a chest would spit out. Just had to keep opening and closing. Two, though, was an expected yield. Items were valuable, evenmons, and in the nascent stages of their career, with all of them needing to fill out their equipment slots, even more so. Such a simple puzzle as the one they¡¯d been provided¡ªeven if difficult to fight to¡ªwouldn¡¯t dump armories into theirps. Jordan and Sofia held a brief discussion on whether they wanted to equip the ring, but the downside was too troubling, at least for this initial run, where they were adjusting to the dungeon. Maybe when they had better confidence in avoiding attacks, they¡¯d ept the moderate decrease in defense. Until then, the ring would stay stored in Sofia¡¯s pouch. Likely, it would be sold and the funds distributed among the five of them¡ªthe typical way to handle unwanted items. So, puzzle room solved¡ªtwo items richer, and some big-picture revtions nagging at Natalie¡ªthe group continued forward, back into the winding, damp cave tunnels of the dungeon, and away from the intricately carved mural. They made steady progress. The first few intense fights having been handled, Natalie feltfortable enough to start working in more illusions, rather than relying on her tried-and-truebat style. She¡¯d improved during her week of training, and so, while not seamless, she didn¡¯t fumble while casting. They were effective, too. Monsters seemed more vulnerable to the distractions than human opponents. While intelligent in a primitive, cunning way, most monsters, even the humanoid ones, were dumb beasts. Obviously illusions were more distracting to them, with the creatures not knowing to expect it, like Natalie¡¯s sparring partners did. Though, not all monsters were dumb beasts. Some could even talk. Those were rare, and even the intelligent ones still wanted to, well, murder you. They didn¡¯t stand around and chat. Today was a quick, after-ss delve. With them needing to be back by ten, they couldn¡¯t be too ambitious. An intentional design by T. Short delves, where you couldn¡¯t progress too far from the entrance portal, were less likely to turn dangerous. Harder to find bosses in such a short time frame, which was where the majority of deaths urred. Or, trained delver deaths. Regr monsters chewed through untrained, desperate ones at much higher rates. Most impromptu teams wouldn¡¯t ever make it to a boss. The weekend would be the first ¡®long delve¡¯, where they¡¯d bring rations and traveling supplies, and not be remotely as pressed for time. As it stood today, the clock burned away. Time flew when you were ¡­ risking your life. And having fun, which Natalie was, for all she probably shouldn¡¯t be. She¡¯d always enjoyed getting her adrenaline pumping, and the dungeon managed that handily. Eventually, fighting through tight cave tunnels, and a few smaller rooms, they found an entrance to an enormous cavern. Thergest they¡¯d ventured into so far, it would be thest before they would need to head back to make curfew. ¡°Have to work fast,¡± Jordanmented, peering around the cavern. Several monsters¡ªa giant white lizard, a fluffy brown bat hanging from the ceiling, a small group-encounter of goblins¡ªlittered the room. Six encounters total. None looked too bad, and they could draw them one at a time. Dungeon monsters could be dumb in odd ways, like not being alerted bybat just across the room. Though, not all of them. Again, when it came to the dungeon, ¡®usually¡¯ meant exactly that. They¡¯d definitely want toplete the room. The cavern was covered in resources: lush with vegetation, trees, and Natalie was pretty sure those streaks of brown on the walls were iron veins, or some other ore. She¡¯d spent a few afternoons at the mining guild, and so ought to be able to clumsily extract it with the supplies she¡¯d brought. It¡¯d be a decent boost to the run¡¯s earnings. Likewise, Jordan would want to pick through the various nts, looking for poisonous ingredients¡ªor simply materials to sell. The same for the rest of the team. Surveying the room onest time, Natalie nodded. Six more fights. She was sore, and phantom pains lingered from the dozens of hits she¡¯d taken and been healed through, but six more fights wasn¡¯t too tall of an ask. She¡¯d be returning home exhausted, but it was a dungeon run. Literally what she¡¯d signed up¡ªand been hoping¡ªfor. Gripping her hammer and raising her shield, Ana and Jordan readying ranged attacks, she advanced on the nearest. 3.07 – Mining 3.07 ¨C Mining Natalie leaned against the wall, panting. Sweat slicked her brow, which she wiped away. She¡¯d set a brutal pace for clearing thest six encounters, and while everyone had held up¡ªand no one wasining¡ªit¡¯d taken a toll on each of them. Natalie was in the worst shape. Thest fight had degraded the worst out of any, each of them exhausted from the previous five. She had caught a lizard monster¡¯s sharp tail directly into the stomach, and it¡¯d sank a good several inches in, her HP only managing to mitigate rather than stop it. It was the reason a healer was a core archetype for a team¡¯sposition, but still. It¡¯d been a nasty injury, the worst Natalie had taken today. The kind of hit that could maim or kill a normal person. Gut wounds were no joke. With a healer, and a health potion, she was as good as new. Still, it¡¯d been a chilling reminder. For all of them, not just Natalie. Though, rather than concerned for her own well being, Natalie found herself more annoyed that it¡¯d made her look bad. With this being the team¡¯s test delve, she¡¯d been hoping for a squeaky clean record. The slip at the end had spoiled that, even if they had made, from Natalie¡¯s perspective, incredible time. The fast pace would have been a great way to end the delve on a high note, if she hadn¡¯t slipped up. Jordan was mad at her, Natalie could tell. She wasn¡¯t saying it now, but would,ter. But what did she want Natalie to do? They¡¯d needed to set a quick pace to have time to explore the resource-rich cavern and make it back before curfew. Though, maybe that brutal of a pace hadn¡¯t been needed. Natalie might have gotten a bit caught up. Natalie pushed off the wall, her dizziness having steadied. She cleared her throat. ¡°So. We¡¯re good to take a look around, then.¡± She received a collection of worried looks¡ªexcept from Ana¡ªbut nobody protested. It hadn¡¯t been deadly close, but a stab into the stomach was a good reminder what profession they¡¯d chosen. Natalie thought the worry somewhat ridiculous. One-hit kills were rare in their business, besides when tackling over-leveled monsters or particrly difficult bosses. Or certain traps. Or ¡­ other exceptions. So maybe not that rare. But not from equal-level, run-of-the-mill monsters. And honestly, Natalie was just relieved she was the one who got to be hurt, and not her friends. The idea of Jordan being the primary target was significantly more diforting. As long as she did her job right, her friends would be fine. Natalie had never been especially weak to pain or nauseous at the sight of her own blood, but seeing Jordan battered ¡­ the few times it had happened in the past, Natalie¡¯sposure had been much harder to keep hold of. With the cavern cleared out, and everyone recovered from thest fight, it was, as Natalie had suggested, time to pick through the cavern for resources. They split up. Asrge as a stadium, the cavern would take time to search, even with the effort split five ways. Beyond the raw resource gathering¡ªores, nts, and whatever else¡ªthere might be hidden passageways, rooms, or loot chests. There almost certainly were, in fact. A room thisrge, that had taken this much effort to clear, would have rewards beyond the superficial. Natalie beelined to the streaks of rust she¡¯d noted earlier. She scanned the ground and wall for traps¡ªunlikely, but possible¡ªthen appraised the ore deposit. *** Ore Deposit - Iron Quantity - F Yield - F+ Difficulty - F- *** Natalie unhooked her folded-up pickaxe, a mundane piece of equipment provided by the mining guild. Though she hadn¡¯t made it a priority to learn the ins and outs of mining, T forced their students to spend two hours after ss attending extracurricrs. That meant she¡¯d picked up the basics. Mining¡ªthe dungeoneering sort¡ªwasn¡¯t the same as real mining. Namely, not as difficult. She still needed to break up the rock, extracting the deposit into manageable chunks, but doing so didn¡¯t require as much elbow grease as it would on the surface. Indeed, getting straight to the process, Natalie swung her pickaxe into the wall, the clink and crunch of metal-on-rock echoing through the room, and the wall crumbled easily, the surprisingly delicate vein of iron falling in chunks to the ground. As Natalie worked at extracting the material, muscles aching from previous adventures, but swinging diligently either way, she mused on the process. Pound for pound, ore extracted from the dungeon was many times more valuable than its mundane counterpart. Even ¡®F-¡® yield could be refined at drastically more efficient rates. The mining guild had mentioned in passing that regr surface ore¡ªignoringplex other factors¡ªcould, on average, be turned into about half-by-weight iron. So, ten pounds of average quality iron ore would result in five pounds of metal. In the dungeon, though, even F rated yields started at the seventy-five percent mark or higher. When you got up to the E, D, C rank yields? Or higher, such as the sort of ore top-rankers might drag up? Ten thousand percent. More. A thousand times yield by weight. Which, of course, had been a fascinating point the enthusiastic boy had gushed about. One three-pound chunk of ore might turn into three thousand pounds of high quality refined iron. The impossibility was interesting in the abstract, but less to Natalie than probably other people. The dungeon was filled with all sorts of impossibilities. A chunk of ore expanding into rows of metal ingots? Well, sure, it was interesting, but not nearly as much as the gushing mining guild member had made it sound, in her opinion. And those sorts of yields were for top-rankers. Low- and mid-rankers could still drag up impressive amounts of resources by themselves,pared to a mundane baseline, but not literally tons of metal from a single vein. *** Gathering subss earned: [Mining - Lv. 1] ept? *** Natalie had been wondering when that¡¯d happen. Pretty fast, then, as she¡¯d been told. She hadn¡¯t worked halfway through breaking the ore vein into chunks. Naturally, she epted. While she could only have a single gathering subss, she could also reject it at any point. Which would reset her back to level one in whatever she picked next¡ªincluding if she returned to mining¡ªbut it meant the decision wasn¡¯t permanent. And gathering subsses weren¡¯t that important, anyway. Mostly, they acted as a gatekeeper to gathering valuable materials. If she wanted to drag up those mythical veins of ore deeper in the loweryers of the dungeon, then she had to work toward it from the ground up. Couldn¡¯t just do it, if she hadn¡¯t spent her time mining the weaker ores in the upper floors. Fifteen minutes or so passed. Natalie worked steadily away. The rich, rusty veins embedded into the wall turned into chunks, ttering to the floor after each loud impact of her pickaxe. Seeing the tough rock yield so easily was odd. Soon enough, she¡¯d finished. Natalie observed one of the darker, clearly-higher-yield chunks of stone, nudging it with her boot. *** Iron Ore Chunk Yield: 88% *** Some of the other chunks weren¡¯t asden with the material. Natalie would still be collecting all of it. Or, anything with five percent yield or higher. She¡¯d leave the literal scraps, the ones in the single digits that were almost entirely stone. She popped open a pouch hanging at her belt, then fingered around and plucked out a tier one monster core, a fruit of their previous adventures. Leaning over, she scooped up a thick chunk of the raw iron ore, then, curious¡ªsince she¡¯d never done this before¡ªshe pressed it into the monster core. The chunk of ore wobbled, then, in an astoundingly strange way, was sucked into the monster core. She inspected the orb. *** Monster Core - Tier 1 Holding: Iron Ore (3% Capacity) *** It was an awfully convenient feature of the magical orbs. While only items and other dungeon-rted resources could be stored inside¡ªnot mundane supplies, like a tent, for example¡ªit still made delving blessedly lessplex when it came to logistics. A multiple day delve could result in tons of loot, literally, much less resources such as logs or ores, and so storing those resources in a neatly portable manner was a downright requirement. Monster cores facilitated it. Resources, especially, could be stored easily, with a single core epting mountains of the material. Items, though, required a single each. Still better than lugging around a metal breastte or two-handed sword, obviously. Eying the rubble scattered around her, muscles sore, Natalie muttered to herself in annoyance at the task ahead of her. Stuffing each piece of rock into the core was going to be annoying, tired from both the delving session, then swinging her pickaxe. But she got to work. She was hardly unused to tedious, unwanted tasks. She was a delver. 3.08 – Hole 3.08 ¨C Hole It was unlikely there¡¯d be another vein of ore in the cavern, evenrge as the room was, but Natalie scoured the perimeter regardless. Her teammates were upied with their own investigations. Beyond the natural resources avable¡ªwhich Jordan picked through to find poisoning herbs¡ªthere were other rewards scattered through most ¡®big rooms¡¯, the charmingly simple term used for encounters such as the one Natalie¡¯s team had found themselves in. After needing to carve through six difficult encounters, of course they¡¯d been rewarded ordingly. Big rooms offered all sorts of treasures. Though, not freely. It took some digging around to discover everything. As a general golden rule, the dungeon encouraged elbow grease above most other things. Except, picking through the stretching stone wall perimeter, Natalie found something she hadn¡¯t expected. Something she really hadn¡¯t expected. Though maybe she should have. Considering her ss. It was a hole in the wall. Except, so much cruder than that description would suggest. A hole of a different sort. Pulsating, dark pink, and situated at exactly waist level, it sat in a secluded section of the cavern. Far away from her teammates, who were, conveniently, on the opposite side of her. How hadn¡¯t they seen it? They¡¯d passed by it earlier, while Natalie had spent the past twenty minutes mining and collecting ore. Had the dungeon hidden it until she¡¯d been the one to approach? Hardly impossible. What the hell. A dungeon pussy. That was, essentially, what Natalie was looking at. Incredulous, Natalie reached forward and ran a finger against the object. Warm, slick, and tight, it was¡ªwhile not exactly a pussy¡ªan approximation. Itcked appropriate details, but its obvious purpose couldn¡¯t be argued. No, really. What the hell. After the brutal, action-packed past several hours, she¡¯d almost forgotten what her ss was. Pdin of Lust. Of course she¡¯d run into something like this. The puzzle room had been a reminder, but not in such a visceral way. She was supposed to fuck it. She looked around, the thought thrilling through her with surprising intensity. Her teammates were all upied, a fair distance away. Maybe she didn¡¯t have total privacy, but that could be solved. She was an illusionist. Masking herself at T wasn¡¯t a reliable option because of how many people were more advanced in their sses than her. They¡¯d see through her in an instant. And though Liz and Ana were notably better mages, Natalie¡¯s skill in spellcasting seemed to scale on how perverted her intentions were. And fucking a random hole in the wall? Well. Perverted, by anyone¡¯s standards. Her breath came faster, even as she felt disgusted with herself. She was considering this? Was excited by the idea? What was wrong with her? The lewd hole sat there, pink and wet, pulsing in a rhythmic, oddly entrancing fashion. She shouldn¡¯t be excited at such a strange sight¡ªat a pocket-pussy indented into a stone wall¡ªbut she was. No denying it, then. She was a pervert. Because she needed to fuck it. In several meanings of ¡®need¡¯. Her desire, but also, because why else would it be there? Maybe she could interpret it as a trap, something to entice her into using it and shortly punishing her for her lust, but Natalie knew, somehow, that wasn¡¯t right. Rather, she needed to satisfy the hole. Fill it up, and earn a reward through doing so. Or if not that specifically, she was supposed to interact with it. It wasn¡¯t a trap. Though, could she trust that instinct? Traps were intended, by their nature, to be deceptive. She forced herself to focus, ignoring the arousal that had stirred in her. Maybe she was a pervert, but she was also a delver, first and foremost. She would evaluate danger with a clear head ¡­ however hard doing so was. She weighed the likelihood of the two options. Trap, or reward encounter. Not an easy thing to decide on. Instinct told her one thing, a delver¡¯s wariness another. Eventually, she decided. Hopefully it wasn¡¯t wishful thinking. Her instincts, filtered painfully past her arousal, insisted she was right. Not a trap. An encounter. Her mouth parted as she started to pant. She shot one more worried nce over her shoulder, ounting for each of her teammates, before shuffling forward. Easier than ever, she sprung up an illusion, creating an image of herself with arms crossed, studying the section of the wall. Her teammates would assume she¡¯d found something of minor note, but not be particrly interested, seeing how they were attending to their own searches. In the restrictive armor she was wearing, shuffling down her pants wasn¡¯t the easiest task. Though, at least it wasn¡¯t as unwieldy as te armor. That was what she¡¯d be equipped in eventually, as the team¡¯s tank. Eight inches of rigid girl cock¡ªupgraded from six¡ªstood proudly at attention, freed from their confines. The wall-pussy pulsed eagerly, as if sensing her exposure. She was doing this, then. Fucking some strange, fleshy hole in the middle of a dungeon wall. Degenerate. That was the word that popped into mind. For some reason, that only excited her further. Yes. She was a pervert. Her cock head pressed into the soft material, velvety heat wrapping her length, and the contact electrified her. She looked around, making sure nobody was watching. All clear. Her illusion held strong. Surprisingly so. Facilitating this encounter. Her hips pushed forward, burying herself inch by inch. A groan escaped her lips, despite her attempts to be quiet. Nobody looked over. Even if they had, Natalie had an illusion in ce. She turned back forward, then closed thest few inches, shuffling forward so she could impact her hips into the wall. The hole amodated her length. Slick, slippery, hot pressure caressed her shaft. Though the experience wasn¡¯t, she suspected, remotely the same as having a willing partner moaning beneath her, the sensation, at least, was true to life. Or something close. Her cock, squeezed by a tight pussy. Fuck. She couldn¡¯t help herself. Her hips took control, pushing back and forth, working her length inside and out of the weing warmth. A second moan left her, louder, and after realizing what had happened, she looked around, panicked. Still safe. She was doing this, out in the open? Even with an illusion, her blood thrilled. She was humping her dick¡ªwhich only Jordan knew about¡ªinto a toy-pussy the dungeon had provided her. Why did the knowledge she was surrounded by friends make it more exciting? A pervert. She was a pervert. She thrust faster, desperation tinting her movements. Nothing else mattered besides the tight, squeezing warmth of the toy-pussy she was fucking. She needed to empty herself. To fill up the hot pussy caressing her cock. The only thing that mattered in the entire world. Her cock, being squeezed and massaged. Her head grew fuzzy with pleasure as her hips worked faster and faster, hitting stone as she buried her cock all the way in, then out. Illusions could only do so much. Her moaning would give her away, Natalie knew. But she didn¡¯t care. The noises grew louder. She fucked the dungeon¡¯s toy with heavier and heavier impacts. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, she was saved from her shameful fate of being caught. Because as Natalie worked into a frantic rhythm, climax starting to build, some enormous mechanism groaned inside the wall. Quicker than she could register something was happening, she had lost her footing¡ª ¡ªand was falling. 3.09 – Vines I 3.09 ¨C Vines I She bounced off springy material, then iled as she soared through the air. After a few more bounces, and some tumbling, she scrambled to her feet. Had it been a trap then, despite her instincts telling her otherwise? No. She was unharmed. Thrown into a new room, activated by her use of the wall-pussy above, but safe. Still, she fumed at the situation, despite finding no imminent danger. She¡¯d been close to finishing. Her cock twitched in dissatisfaction. Her entire body coursed with heat, with the need to rut into a tight, hot pussy like she had been a moment prior. Why had the dungeon cut her off? Though ¡­ slowly ¡­ her better senses arrived. Her teammates. Jordan, Sofia, Liz, Ana. They¡¯d heard her fall. Probably, they¡¯d assumed she¡¯d activated a trap, and were frantically looking for a way to help. Which was mortifying. Natalie wasn¡¯t that stupid. She wouldn¡¯t be caught in a floor-one, near-the-entrance trap, as simple and obvious as they tended to be. Then again, maybe she had. She hadn¡¯t appraised the room she¡¯d arrived to, so she didn¡¯t know her circumstances. Only intuition told her she¡¯d merely been moved around, not endangered. So. Time to make sure. The room was a solid mass of nt life. Floors, walls, and ceiling, thick masses of green rope writhed in a slow and steady rhythm. Natalie stood there, her pants still around her ankles, her cock wet and throbbing from the annoyance of her pleasure being cut off. She stared incredulously. What had her dick gotten her into, this time? There were two objects of note. With no visible way in or out, not even from the section of roof she¡¯d fallen through, she had a sneaking suspicion she¡¯d have to figure out what they did¡ªwhat they wanted from her¡ªto escape. She sensed nor saw no immediate danger from this bizarre encounter, but she couldn¡¯t stroll out and return to her friends whenever she wanted, either. The first item of interest sat at the center of the room. Chest tall, the enormous flower bud swayed with the same steady rhythm as the rest of the room. Alive. But it hadn¡¯t flowered yet; it stayed tightly bunched up. Was something inside it? The bud bulged at the middle, and she briefly wondered whether she needed to force the flower open. The other object of note was more intimidating. Attached to the far wall, the thick mass of vines wasn¡¯t a t grid of interlocking ntlife, like what made up the floor, walls, and ceiling. Rather, the vines protruded outward, long, grasping ropes waving around, as if seeking out targets. Some of the vines were ¡­ strange. Bulbous at the end, as if made for a specific purpose. Considering how she had ended up here, and her ss, she could make a few guesses. Her cock throbbed in excitement, and despite herself, she blushed at the reaction. Maybe she wasn¡¯t a prude, but throwing herself into a wiggling mass of vines to be vited was something even she found dubious. Then again, she¡¯d only a few seconds ago been fucking a hole in the wall, so she was past the point of letting shame win. Swallowing, and her breath picking up, she scooped her pants from around her ankles so they didn¡¯t catch, then approached the flower bud. A closer inspection revealed nothing more, so she neared the protruding vines, next. They sensed hering. The slow, waving ropes swiveled toward her, then honed on her, aligning in direction. She stayed a safe distance away. They didn¡¯t snap out to scoop her up¡ªand she was too far if they tried¡ªbut their intent was clear. They wanted to get their hands on her. Her assumption had been, while not literally proved, strongly reinforced. So, what? She was supposed to let herself be vited by vines? Then it would free her, somehow? Return her to her friends, who were undoubtedly panicking over how she¡¯d gone missing? A thicker vine caught Natalie¡¯s eye, cutting off her thoughts. The others looked, while thicker at the ends than most vines, meant for thrusting, not¡ªwell, what this one seemed purpose-built for. It had an opening at the front. Inside, fleshy green walls pulsed, and the vine strained toward her waist, as if trying desperately totch to her cock. It was longer than the rest; it almost reached her. Natalie¡¯s cock stiffened, having briefly settled down. Eight thick inches of girl cock swelled to full attention, still wet from the earlier event. Embarrassingly, she stepped forward, her feet carrying her more than an active decision did. The vine closed the gap. Ittched to her cock, swallowing her member with tight, hot, bumpy walls. The feeling was even more incredible than the hole above. Tighter, slipperier, and with a mind of its own, it thrust along her length, sending shivers of pleasure up her spine. The vine withdrew, cutting off the amazing sensation. It swayed a few feet back, as if beckoning her toe closer. To where the rest of the vines strained for her. Which was, to say the least, highly suspicious. She could infer with total confidence, at this point, that if she stepped forward, she would be grabbed by dozens of vines and shortly be vited. Maybe she would have done so happily, even, but being tempted into it? The vine-pussy having pleasured her, then pulled back and swayed in ce, as if trying to draw her in? Dubious. Extremely so. Then again, what else was she supposed to do? There didn¡¯t seem to be any exits. The flower bud was firmly closed, and she didn¡¯t think forcing it open was smart. In fact, if she had to guess, ¡®fulfilling¡¯ this encounter would be how she advanced the next stage of whatever this puzzle room was. Because that was what it was, right? A puzzle room? Or maybe not so much a puzzle, just an encounter of sorts. Of a lewd variety. Fitting to her ss. So she had a logical reason to do this. Her friends were undoubtedly worried what had happened to her, so she should get this over with as quickly as possible. That was the excuse she used. The real reasoning, which she didn¡¯t admit to herself, was of course her pounding heart, and the anticipation of what dozens of writhing vines would feel like squirming across her, a vine-pussy pleasuring her with eager thrusts. She took several steps forward, putting herself within the ntlife¡¯s grasp. The vine pussytched to her cock, returning to its eager pleasuring of her cock, and its friends joined the assault. In less than a second, she¡¯d been grabbed in half a dozen ces, by arms, legs, and waist, then lifted into the air. She hoped they were gentle. Or maybe she didn¡¯t. 3.10 – Vines II 3.10 ¨C Vines II Vines looped around Natalie¡¯s thighs, arms, waist, and neck, hugging her in a powerful, constricting embrace. The ropes were both stronger and gentler than she had expected. They lifted her into the air with ease, securing her with a slimy grip. The vines dug into her armor, forcing their way in so they could fondle naked skin. The slippery material brushed against her nipples, extracting a gasp of pleasure, and others wrapped high up her thighs, the thick, wet appendages brushing close to her pussy. The solid lock the cooperating ntlife put her in thrilled through her. She didn¡¯t struggle, having expected exactly this, but with their surprising strength, she doubted struggling would do much. Why did that excite her? It was hard to track so many sensations at once. Most prominently, of course, was the thrusting pussy, thergest vine, that eagerly pleasured her cock, stroking up and down with firm, bumpy walls. Squelches filled the air, mixing with Natalie¡¯s loud moans, the sloppy efforts of the bulbous vine bouncing through the room. But other distractions, too. So many of them. The vines gripping between her thighs, her waist, brushing her nipples, and the one around her neck¡ªwhich was the most thrilling, but also the loosest, as if it gripped there only to tantalize her. Natalie generally preferred being in control, but having chosen for this to happen, she could enjoy theck of control, too. In their grasp. The vines would use her as they pleased. The vines had lifted her into the air and bent her body forward, curling her in an arch. She watched, head fuzzy with lust, moaning with each jerk, as her cock bulged the vine-pussy outward. Her recently-erged girl dick stuffed it full. Natalie was the proud owner of an unwieldy weapon, now, and the vine struggled to amodate it. Inside her armor, down her shirt, she could also make out vines wiggling around, exploring her body. Each swipe of the wiggling ntlife against her nipples had her breath catching, before being interrupted with a whine of pleasure, the tight, jerky thrusting against her cock dragging the noise from her throat. Then an exploring vine brushed against something more sensitive, but lower down. A thicker vine teased her pussy, rubbing between her lips in warning. Asking a question. The vines had a powerful grip on her, but they were being surprisingly polite. And in Natalie¡¯s lust-addled state, she obviously wasn¡¯t going to refuse. ¡°Go ahead. Please.¡± She wasn¡¯t sure if it was the words, of the way she spread her legs wide open, but the vine got the hint. A thick, hot, pulsating vine-cock shoved into her, spreading her apart. She cried out, writhing in ce. So big. And so sudden. And so good. It was the first time she¡¯d been assaulted from two directions. Though she¡¯d been growing day-by-day more ustomed to the new piece of equipment between her legs, she hadn¡¯t grown used to both. In fact, for the most part, her pussy had gone ignored, Natalie focusing her efforts¡ªand lustful indulgences¡ªon the newer, more exciting tool. But both at once. Her cock, wrapped with tight, bumpy wetness, and her pussy, filled up and spread apart by a thick, wiggling vine. The duo of sensations disassembled her. Her brain dissolved into a hot sludge, and she whined and thrashed in the nt¡¯s grip. As if sensing her iing climax, the vines picked up speed, wanting to match her enthusiasm. The pussy plunged onto her cock with renewed vigor, and so did the thrusting cock cramming her insides. Natalie shook with ecstasy, hot washes of pleasure starting to crash through her. So close. She was so close. Then, the vine inside her swelled, and a spike of rm shot through her. ¡°You aren¡¯t¡ª?¡± She didn¡¯t get to finish. The thrusting vine shivered, then erupted inside her. Warm, gooey liquid filled her, pulsing out in thick waves. It spilled into her, gushing, and the sensation was enough to throw her over the edge. Her hips arched upward, her muscles straining, and orgasm wracked her body. She ejected thick strings into the hole stroking up and down her dick, filling it with her own cream. And not just one climax, but two. Her pussy mped down on the cock pumping out wave after wave of hot, gooey liquid into her womb. Every muscle in her body seized, erasing her thoughts, and Natalie shook with white-hot orgasm. Her lower half thrust in rapid little twitches, milked out by two eager attendants. She was vaguely aware of obscene phrases leaving her mouth as she cried out, whining and incoherent, but she wasn¡¯t conscious enough to recognize what she was saying. Probably better she didn¡¯t. When her captor had milked out everything she had to give, and also stuffed her womb unbelievably full of gooey hotness, the vines set her down and retreated back into the wall, satisfied. Nataliey on the floor, panting, cum dripping from her pussy, and her cock sticking into the air, wet and still twitching. Eventually, she came back to her senses. She groaned and pushed herself up, head swimming. The explosive high of that event had left her thoughts fuzzy. She hazily scooped up some of the cum dribbling from her. It had the same consistency as what she¡¯d expect, but had a green tint, and smelled more ¡­ she didn¡¯t know how to describe it. nt-y. Like cut grass. So weird. She didn¡¯t think the material was ¡­ potent. Probably just something to add to the encounter. That said, even the off-chance was a source of no small amount of rm. Especially with how much had been poured into her. It would be a rather unfortunate bump in her career. There were methods to reduce the risk of pregnancy, but no magic cure-all potion. Condoms were the most effective way to get around the issue. And even if there were a potion, who would say it worked against nt cum? nt cum. Natalie shivered, the strangeness of the situation settling in, and especially the shame of how enthusiastic she¡¯d been. But, fuck. It had felt so amazing. She could get used to that sort of treatment. She stood. White-green cum dripped down her thighs, into her pants, which were looped around her ankles, never fully removed. She grimaced and wiped herself clean to the best of her ability. How bad did she smell, after that? When her friends found her, they were going to have some questions. At least it smelled more ¡®nt¡¯ than ¡®cum¡¯. What a situation. She used her canteen to help wash away the worst of it off her thighs, between her legs, and her cock, though she could hardly get herself clean. That done, she looked around the room. As expected, the closed-up nt bud had flowered. An enormous six-petaled flower stretched open, and inside, even from the distance, Natalie could make out thick pink liquid. Intrigued¡ªand trying not to think too hard about what had just happened, and especially the eagerness she¡¯d showed¡ªshe approached. Inside the flowered nt was a pool of glowing pink liquid. Nearly half a bathtub¡¯s worth; the flower was enormous. Natalie¡¯s first instinct was to [Inspect] it. *** [Spirit of Infertility] ¡ª Consume to eliminate chance of pregnancy. *** Natalie gaped. Did that mean the nt cum was fertile? No, she doubted that. She couldn¡¯t say why, but she felt exceptionally sure in the fact. Just a coincidence. Rather, this was a reward to aid her in the future. The dungeon¡¯s boon for having ¡°fed¡± the vines. So that when the day came, she had a ¡®magic cure-all¡¯ on hand, as she¡¯d put it a second ago. Which was nice. She¡¯d hardly turn it down. Still, it was all so weird. And how would she collect it? Even if she filled her canteen, the small container wouldn¡¯t put a dent in the pool. Maybe with a monster core? Natalie fingered one of the smooth ss balls from a belt pouch, then ced it against the pool of liquid. In the same way she had with the ore she¡¯d mined earlier, she drew it into the pocket space. The liquid slurped into the ball, quickly depleting. Natalie had only half expected it to work, so she twitched in surprise when it did. It took around a minute to empty. Eventually, and to her surprise, the pool emptied entirely, the impressive container draining into the monster core. *** Monster Core - Tier 1 Holding: [Spirit of Infertility] (100% Capacity) *** Perfectly designed¡ªthe entire pool had lined up exactly to one hundred percent capacity of a tier one monster core. ¡°Well,¡± Natalie said, staring at the ss ball filled with the strange liquid. ¡°Thanks, I guess.¡± She said it half to the dungeon, and half out of incredulity to the whole situation. Then, just to be sure, she poured some out and drank a dose. The liquid tingled on the way down, potent and fruity. She was pretty certain it was unnecessary, but better safe than sorry. 3.11 – Late 3.11 ¨C Late Upon emptying the flower¡¯s pink liquid contents, the vines on the nearest wall shifted, then opened into a passageway. Natalie followed the offered exit up and out, returning after a short hike into the enormous cavern above, where she¡¯d fallen from. And where her friends were frantically searching for a way to help. Natalie, of course, had prepared some lies on the way up. She wasn¡¯t the most meticulous or far-sighted nner, but even she knew if she didn¡¯t have exnations for what had happened, she¡¯d end up revealing some things she would really rather not. Even telling Jordan about the event was going to be mortifying. Maybe Natalie would forgo her typical policy of honesty even to her. Liz saw her first, then cried out in surprise and relief. A momentter, Natalie was crowded in by the rest of her team. Even Ana¡¯s mask had cracked into a hint of worry. Only a hint, but on the stony girl, any emotion stood out. ¡°Sorry, sorry,¡± Natalie said, assuring them. ¡°I¡¯m fine. I was just ¡­ kind of an idiot.¡± Which wasn¡¯t untrue. Still, it grated on her. She needed to imply she¡¯d fallen for a trap, when she hadn¡¯t¡ªnot really. Traps at this level of the dungeon were usually pretty obvious. Undoubtedly, Ana and Liz would make a few judgments about her for having ¡®fallen¡¯ for one. Not enough to dislodge whatever appraisals they¡¯d made of her from the past several hours of delving, probably, with it being an overall minor thing, but they¡¯d at least note the event. Liz, who¡¯d crowded up next to Natalie in her frantic concern, wrinkled her nose and took a step back. ¡°And what¡¯s that smell?¡± she asked. Natalie wisely didn¡¯t tell the truth. Or, the full truth. ¡°Came from a nt monster.¡± In an amusingly literal manner. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I wasn¡¯t ever in danger. It was such a weird trap the dungeon didn¡¯t go hard on me.¡± That was the general trend of traps: the trickier and stealthier, the less lethal. Proportional punishments. By implying the dungeon¡¯s punishment had been minor, she implied the trap had been especially stealthy, which absolved her of some of the embarrassment. ¡°nt monster,¡± Sofia said. ¡°Like what?¡± ¡°Big mass of vines.¡± Natalie shrugged. ¡°Weird thing. Not in the manuals. Like I said, I¡¯m fine, just a quick diversion. p on the wrist.¡± ¡°What was the trap?¡± Liz asked. ¡°There was something on the wall,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Didn¡¯t look like danger, but I should¡¯ve known, I guess. Touched it. Activated a trapdoor. Fell into this room of vines and had to fight my way out.¡± All of it was true, in a sense. And, this being the dungeon, nobody looked at her exnation too closely. It was entirely reasonably. Nobody besides Jordan, at least, who gave her a questioning look. She suspected something. Natalie inclined her head, just barely, to confirm, and Jordan nodded back. Natalie hadn¡¯t expected to slip past her attention. Jordan knew her too well. ¡°Kay,¡± Liz said. ¡°It¡¯d good you¡¯re safe, then, but we really need to head back. We¡¯re wayte, now. Dunno if we can make it back to campus before curfew.¡± ¡°Maybe if we rush,¡± Jordan said. Natalie nodded, then waved for them to head toward the cavern¡¯s exit, striding forward herself. Rushing back. That worked with her. Further questioning would only push her into having to lie directly, and she would rather not; these were her teammates, and potentially long term ones, since, besides the hups, this first delve had gone well. ¡°Guess we¡¯re getting some cardio in,¡± Natalie said. ¡°If we jog, I bet we can make it.¡± *** They didn¡¯t. Even rushing through the previously cleared tunnels of the dungeon and backtracking to the exit portal at a speed that bordered on reckless, then jogging through the streets of Aradon back to the campus gates, they missed curfew. Not by much. A few minutes. Unfortunately, stillte. ¡°No exceptions.¡± The older, bearded guardsman didn¡¯t seem sympathetic to their misfortune. ¡°Kitchen duty, tomorrow. Bright and early, before sses. All of you. T¡¯s policy, not mine.¡± ¡°It¡¯s five minutes,¡± Natalie insisted. ¡°You can¡¯t be serious.¡± ¡°As I said, not my policy. And not my problem, either.¡± He waved them forward. He¡¯d already taken their names down from when they¡¯d needed to show their IDs to get through. ¡°Carry along.¡± Natalie would have continued arguing, despite the apparent futility, but Jordan tugged her forward, thanking the guardsman as she went. ¡°T¡¯s making a point,¡± Jordan said to her, once they were out of earshot. ¡°I bet if it wasn¡¯t the first day of the dungeon being open, they wouldn¡¯t care. But they need to set the tone.¡± Natalie didn¡¯t know about that. The guardsman had seemed a little too unsympathetic to their plight. But, Jordan did have a point, and arguing was unlikely to get them anywhere. Still, it was annoying. But on the grand scale of things, a single morning of working in the kitchens was hardly anything to worry about. ¡°Kitchen duty,¡± Liz mused. ¡°I wonder what that¡¯s gonna be like.¡± Natalie paused, then looked Liz¡¯s way, amusement recing her annoyance with the guardsman. ¡°Right. Surprised they¡¯re making an actual princess do kitchen duty.¡± Even if she liked Liz, the imagery pleased her. Princesses forced to scrub floors. Liz blushed and waved her hand. ¡°I told you, I¡¯m like fiftieth in line. I¡¯m not a princess.¡± ¡°Last time, you said fourteenth.¡± ¡°Same difference. Both ways, I¡¯m unimportant.¡± Natalie stared at her, and Liz blushed deeper. ¡°I mean, like, rtively speaking,¡± Liz said. ¡°I guess not literally unimportant.¡± Like the rest of the party was. Natalie didn¡¯t take offense at what Liz had implied, both because she knew Liz meant nothing by it, and secondly, because it was true. She, Jordan, and Sofia were unimportant. Nobodies. As for Ana¡ªNatalie didn¡¯t know much about the mage, besides that she¡¯de from the far western reaches of Valhaur, in the mountainous regions near the coast. ¡°We should split the loot,¡± Sofia said. ¡°We don¡¯t have time to drop it off with the treasury, but something roughly even. We¡¯ll figure out the details tomorrow.¡± They paused their advance to the barracks, standing on a paved walkway underneath a streetntern. The campus was eerily barren, with curfew having ended. A smattering of others hurried forward, rushing to their lodgings. T¡¯s curfew was treated seriously, but more for being outside campus walls than inside them. Patrols wouldn¡¯t start hunting down students and taking names until a half-hour after¡ªso, fifteen or twenty minutes. Natalie repressed a grimace at Sofia¡¯s words. She¡¯d known it wasing, but hadn¡¯t been looking forward to splitting loot. Namely, because she had a tier-one monster core filled with an infertility potion tucked away in her boot. It would raise too many questions, a resource that strange. Plus ¡­ more selfishly ¡­ she needed it for herself. For it to not be put on the Exchange and split five way for the monster cores it¡¯d earn. And while she intended to purposefully ept a lower cut than the rest to make up for it, the more dangerous question was ¡­ had someone been counting how many monster cores they found? Because, if so, then a missing one¡ªsnuck away in Natalie¡¯s boot¡ªwas going to raise some questions. 3.12 – Split 3.12 ¨C Split Of course, the universe didn¡¯t cut Natalie a break. ¡°Sixteen monster cores,¡± Ana said. ¡°Natalie collected eight, Sofia six, and Jordan two. Sixteen total. Then there¡¯s the ring, the gloves, the cloak, the ore, the herbs, and the bag of coins.¡± ¡°Bag of coins?¡± Jordan asked. ¡°Elizabeth found it,¡± Ana said. ¡°And the cloak?¡± Natalie asked. Clearly, in her misadventure with the vines, she¡¯d missed a few discoveries. ¡°Reduces the chances of a monster focusing on you,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Probably something for me or Liz.¡± The two squishiest¡ªrogue and healer. Though Ana was probably in contention, too. Sofia, though physically weaker than most fighters, still could hold up better than a rogue or healer. She was the second most durable in the group, though by arge margin to Natalie. ¡°Didn¡¯t have time to talk about it in the rush,¡± Jordan added. ¡°And what kind of coins?¡± ¡°Found them beneath a ridge,¡± Liz said. ¡°Silver, about thirty of them, it¡¯ll sell real well. Honestly, though, I¡¯m surprised we didn¡¯t find more. Thatst room was pretty big.¡± ¡°We didn¡¯t have time to properly search it,¡± Ana said. She nced Natalie¡¯s way, unconsciously, though not usatorily, putting the me on her. Which was fair. Natalie¡¯s debacle had cut off the rest of the team¡¯s search efforts as they scrambled to help her. ¡°Regardless,¡± she continued, ¡°how are we handling the split? Equal cores, then have the rest appraised? For that matter, how are the raw resources working?¡± Natalie supposed it was time to get this out of the way. She rummaged around in her pouch as Ana talked. A momentter, she said, ¡°Eight? I¡¯ve only got seven cores.¡± The group looked at her, and Natalie¡¯s skin crawled. She didn¡¯t consider herself a poor liar, but that didn¡¯t mean she liked doing it. Especially to her team. These were about the only circumstances she could imagine being forced into it. It wasn¡¯t, obviously, greed guiding her, but a need for secrecy. She simply wouldn¡¯t be able to exin away a monster core stuffed with infertility potion. ¡°You collected eight,¡± Ana said. ¡°I¡¯m certain.¡± And wasn¡¯t that unfortunate? Ana¡¯s apparently impressive memory, and scrutinizing attention to detail, was an invaluable trait down in the dungeon, but in this case? Highly inconvenient. ¡°Only got seven,¡± Natalie said, frowning as she made a show of rummaging around and tapping her hand against her other pouches, feeling for more. ¡°Look.¡± She held out the orbs. The hidden core tucked into her boot burned against her ankle. Ana frowned at her. Liz, in return, frowned at Ana. ¡°It¡¯s not like she¡¯d lie. It¡¯s one core.¡± ¡°She could have hidden something valuable in it.¡± Liz¡¯s eyes widened at the usation. ¡°Hey, now,¡± Jordan said. ¡°I don¡¯t think¡ª¡° Natalie waved the protest away. ¡°She¡¯s not using me. She¡¯s just pointing it out.¡± It had taken a second to recognize that, but it was pretty obvious. Ana was just, in that continued fashion of hers, stating things without consideration for tact. ¡°Obviously,¡± Ana said, looking around at the group, confused. She¡¯d been totally oblivious to how most people would interpret what she¡¯d said. ¡°What could she possibly have found that would be worth earning that sort of reputation, so early? But a core isn¡¯t necessarily ¡®just a core¡¯, and that was worth stating.¡± She turned to Natalie. ¡°You need to check your pouches for holes or faulty buckles. Or handle them more carefully. You picked up eight.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t count,¡± Natalie said. ¡°But I also don¡¯t think I lost one.¡± Ana searched Natalie¡¯s eyes with a slight frown, and it took some effort not to squirm. The dark-haired, expressionless girl had a surprising intensity to her. ¡°Okay,¡± Ana finally said. ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Liz insisted. ¡°Really, it¡¯s not a big deal. One core is nothing, big-picture wise.¡± ¡°I¡¯d hope it wouldn¡¯t be,¡± Sofia agreed. ¡°We¡¯ll need magnitudes more to get anywhere¡ªeven as freshmen.¡± ¡°The split,¡± Jordan suggested, corralling them back. ¡°Honestly, it¡¯s good we have fifteen instead of sixteen. It¡¯s three each, that way. Easy.¡± ¡°Maybe it was fate,¡± Liz joked. Ana¡¯s lips pursed, as if she disagreed with everyone¡¯s nonchnce, but had at least the tiniest bit of ability to read the room, and so didn¡¯t push the point. Natalie would have to figure something out if getting lewd rewards became amon thing. She couldn¡¯t just rob the team every time an item aligned to her ss popped up. Infertility potions, while strange, would go for a decent sum on the Exchange. She was, frankly, stealing a decent chunk of monster cores, when viewed from a raw value standpoint. ¡°Three each, then,¡± Natalie said. She passed out the spare cores, and Sofia did the same. As the frontline, they¡¯d been naturally the ones to pluck them from corpses. It hadn¡¯t been an agreed-upon thing, simply what happened. ¡°And handle the rest, tomorrow,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Gotta get everything appraised.¡± ¡°And we¡¯re doing fifty-fifty with resource gathering?¡± Liz asked. ¡°If everyone¡¯s fine with that.¡± It¡¯d been what they agreed, but there hadn¡¯t been a particr focus on how to handle loot. As Liz had said, early earnings, especially a first-time exploratory delve, simply weren¡¯t that important. And there was a standard ¡°default¡±, so to say. Fifty-fifty with resource gathering meant that half of the resources gathered went to the team, and half of it stayed with the gatherer. It was a way to equalize the earnings of the gatherers, since the team had to fight to get them to resource-rich locations, but at the same time, a person who focused on getting a harvesting skill to a high level deserved a more lucrative cutpared to those who didn¡¯t. How that was handled varied by team, but fifty-fifty was what people generally went by. The group looked at each other, and after a collection of nods and shrugs, it was decided. They would handle splits and who got what item tomorrow. Shortly, they headed to their respective barracks. Jordan trailed after her, even though hers was in a different direction. Sofia and Liz¡ªbeing in Natalie¡¯s barracks¡ªthey let go ahead. When they were safe from being overheard, Jordan asked, ¡°So. What was that?¡± Natalie grimaced. ¡°You hid a core,¡± Jordan guessed. ¡°I ¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure you had a reason.¡± Like usual, no judgment. It wasn¡¯t a surprise, and it was returned one-hundred-percent, but it still made Natalie¡¯s heart skip a beat. She almost blushed at the total disy of trust. ¡°Yeah. Exinter? It¡¯s a story.¡± ¡°Guessing it has to do with your ss.¡± ¡°Good guess.¡± Jordan gave her a sympathetic look. ¡°I¡¯m curious, but yeah. Better saved forter. Maybe we¡¯ll get put together for kitchen duty tomorrow.¡± ¡°We can hope.¡± ¡°See you then, then.¡± She smiled, and Natalie¡¯s heart skipped a second beat. ¡°Good delve, by the way. We¡¯ll be in the big leagues in no time.¡± Natalie smiled back, then returned the wave as Jordan split away, headed for her own barracks. 3.13 – Kitchen Duty 3.13 ¨C Kitchen Duty Bright and early the next morning, after a quick, cold breakfast, Natalie attended to her punishment: kitchen duty. Their team hadn¡¯t been the only one sentenced to it. Unsurprisingly, a significant portion of the freshmen student base had overstayed their dungeon first run. Five hours from ss end to curfew didn¡¯t leave much time to get anything done, and pushing for more had gotten them caught. Real delves took a full day at least. The smaller week-day ones were plenty for earning experience, though. Both the literal sort and the ss-based sort. And monster-core farming, which, while not the only way to start working toward credits and gear, was definitely the predominant method. The looks of muted outrage amused Natalie. Conforming to how T ran every other aspect of the campus, status of birth didn¡¯t exempt princes and princesses from cleaning floors and scrubbing dishes. Some were less happy about that than others. None looked pleased, but to be fair, that was probably because who would be pleased attending kitchen duty this early in the morning? Natalie certainly wasn¡¯t. Only some of their indignation came from their noble status, and the rest of it, from a mundane source. There were three cafeterias scattered through campus, and the good news was, she did get assigned to the same one as Jordan. The bad news was that things were hectic enough there weren¡¯t many opportunities to talk. Though, one did eventuallye. Scrubbing dutifully away with hand-brushes, on their knees, they found a chance to chat. ¡°You think they¡¯d give us a mop, at least,¡± Natalie grumbled. ¡°This is so inefficient.¡± ¡°I get the feeling efficiency isn¡¯t the point,¡± Jordan said. ¡°They have actual staff for that.¡± ¡°Still.¡± Being put to work was one thing, but being put to busy work was another. A few moments passed, rough bristles scratching away at tile. ¡°So,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Exnation time?¡± Natalie sighed, knowing it had beening. She¡¯d even been looking forward to it; she wanted to get the ordeal off her chest. Still, she couldn¡¯t be wholly excited to detail all the bizarre stuff that had gone on, yesterday. ¡°Which part should I start with?¡± ¡°How about why you snuck a core out?¡± ¡°Because it¡¯s full of potions of infertility.¡± The scrubbing stopped. ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°You heard me.¡± ¡°Infertility?¡± ¡°Yup.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± Jordan said slowly, drawing the word out. ¡°And how did that happen?¡± ¡°Remember the ¡®trap¡¯ I fell into?¡± ¡°Could hardly forget.¡± ¡°Not so much a trap.¡± ¡°Kay?¡± ¡°More of an encounter.¡± ¡°Of ¡­ a different type?¡± ¡°Very sticky sort, yeah.¡± ¡°Meaning?¡± ¡°Meaning I got shown a very good time by an excited mass of vines.¡± Jordan stared at her. ¡°And once it was done having its way with me,¡± Natalie said, ¡°I was rewarded with practically a bathtub¡¯s worth of infertility potions. The dungeon cares about my career, I guess. How considerate.¡± For a long moment, Jordan didn¡¯t respond. Natalie didn¡¯t me her for that. Finally, Jordan shook her head to clear it. ¡°That¡¯s a lot to take in.¡± ¡°Tell me about it.¡± ¡°So when are we testing it?¡± ¡°Testing what?¡± ¡°The potion. If it works. Next session?¡± It took several seconds to piece together the meaning of the words. When she did, her mouth dropped open, and she gaped at her friend. Seeing sparkling green eyes, she flushed and returned to her scrubbing. ¡°Stop teasing,¡± Natalie growled, adjusting her skirt, which had, at the imagery produced by Jordan¡¯s suggestion, suddenly grown strained. ¡°You¡¯re going to get me caught. This thing isn¡¯t as easy to hide anymore.¡± ¡°That is a problem,¡± Jordan admitted, sparing a nce at it. ¡°But I think I¡¯ll take the risk. It¡¯s too much fun making you blush.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure it is.¡± ¡°And,¡± Jordan said, ¡°I like seeing it. It¡¯s a reminder of what I get to y with, tonight.¡± ¡°Jordan.¡± ¡°Look. It¡¯s getting even bigger. You¡¯re right. It really doesn¡¯t hide well, anymore.¡± Natalie scrubbed the floor, pointedly ignoring her friend, and the unwieldy bulge in her skirt. Really. When this thing had been six inches, it had been troublesome. At eight, she hadn¡¯t a clue how her secret would remain a secret. Though maybe that wasn¡¯t the goal. While mortifying, the truth getting out would make romantic encounters simpler. Rather than having to exin it to each partner. ¡°I think we can trust the potion does what it says,¡± Natalie said. ¡°But you don¡¯t want to make sure?¡± ¡°Jordan.¡± ¡°What¡¯s a creampie between friends?¡± ¡°Jordan!¡± Natalie said, scandalized. ¡°Okay, okay,¡± Jordanughed. ¡°Putting aside how insane the ¡­ vine stuff ¡­ is. And the potion. It¡¯s not ideal that you had to hide the reward.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t like stealing from the team, that¡¯s for sure.¡± ¡°Especially since you might get more in the future. Doubt it¡¯s one-off.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°I get why you did it, though.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t make it right.¡± ¡°You could tell them?¡± ¡°Think that¡¯s smart?¡± ¡°I would wait until we formalize as a group. But once we do, you might want to. Probably for the best.¡± ¡°And I can get even, then. Pay everyone back?¡± Jordan bobbed her head in agreement. ¡°Maybe that¡¯s not even necessary. You could make im to it. It¡¯s an item suited to your ss that you need. Those types of drops are exceptions to standard splits. The same if we had found a rapier for Sofia, or something.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Natalie wrinkled her nose. ¡°I¡¯ll figure it all outter. Feel bad about it, though.¡± Jordan made a noise of agreement. That she condoned what Natalie had done eased some of her guilt, though not all of it. ¡°So,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Other big topic. Sleeping gods and goddesses.¡± In the ridiculousness of the vine event, she¡¯d almost forgotten about that. At the same time ¡­ ¡°Dunno. You think it meant anything?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t?¡± ¡°Seems far-fetched.¡± ¡°Your ss is far-fetched. So was the encounter with the Bestower, from what you told me.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not wrong.¡± She chewed her lip. ¡°But what can we do about any of it? Say the dungeon did feed us urate information. That the Architect is harvesting our old gods¡¯ powers to fuel the system, and the goddess of lust is waking first¡ªand that¡¯s why I got my ss.¡± Put into words, it sounded even more absurd. ¡°So what? What could we do about any of it?¡± ¡°Dunno,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Ought to at least look into it, right?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got about a million other things to deal with,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Not that I disagree, bute on. It¡¯s not high priority.¡± ¡°The fate of the world isn¡¯t high priority?¡± Natalie raised her eyebrows at Jordan. ¡°Not that I think that¡¯s what¡¯s happening,¡± Jordan admitted. ¡°Or that I¡¯m sold on the premise in the first ce. But putting even ¡®looking into it¡¯ as low priority feels unjustified.¡± ¡°When I have time,¡± Natalie said, rubbing her forehead with the back of her hand. ¡°I¡¯m not ignoring, ignoring it. Just, like I said, I have other stuff going on.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fair. If I have a spare moment, I¡¯ll see if I can find anything, too.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± Jordan said, lips quirking up. ¡°Less crazy topics. We¡¯ve finished our first run. Gonna have a flow of cores, soon, which means tokens. What¡¯s our n there?¡± ¡°Getting a ce to stay is number one, still? It¡¯s only been a week, but I¡¯ve had enough public housing tost a lifetime.¡± ¡°The restrooms are getting old, too,¡± Jordan said wryly. She paused. ¡°Speaking of, are we sharing a bed?¡± Natalie¡¯s scrubbing stilled. ¡°Uh?¡± ¡°Might as well, right? Cheaper, and it means I won¡¯t have to sneak into your room each night. Less chance of getting caught by Sofia.¡± ¡°That¡¯s ¡­ not ¡­ a terrible idea?¡± Jordan raised an unimpressed eyebrow at Natalie. ¡°Having me there to take care of you each night, every night, in our own bed, isn¡¯t ¡®a terrible idea¡¯?¡± ¡°I just meant ¡­¡± ¡°And there she is, again,¡± Jordan said, smirking as nodded toward Natalie¡¯s crotch. ¡°She disappeared for a moment. d to see her.¡± Natalie adjusted her skirt, trying to make it less obvious, then red at Jordan. ¡°What happened to you? What¡¯s with all this teasing?¡± ¡°Like I said, when it¡¯s so easy to make you blush, how am I supposed to help myself?¡± Natalie huffed. She was supposed to be the confident one. Since when did Jordan take that role? ¡°So ¡­?¡± Jordan prompted. ¡°Same bed?¡± ¡°If you want to.¡± Jordan rolled her eyes. ¡°Sound so enthusiastic, you¡¯ll make me think you want me.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just worried about how much you¡¯re doing. You¡¯ve already done enough.¡± ¡°Thoughtful as always,¡± Jordan said with a snort. ¡°Well, if you want to say thanks, you could always ¡­ I don¡¯t know. Wake me up the fun way, here and there?¡± Natalie¡¯s brain stumbled a few steps. ¡°I might take you up on that offer,¡± she said. ¡°You better.¡± They scrubbed away at the floor, ignoring their exchange, as if she hadn¡¯t just agreed to wake Jordan up with morning oral sex as soon as they moved in. You know, best-friend stuff. Natalie cleared her throat, then adjusted her skirt. ¡°Anyway, we¡¯ll check out the housing situation some time this week. But other stuff we¡¯ll do with credits?¡± ¡°Gear, obviously.¡± ¡°And shampoo,¡± Natalie said. ¡°And clothes. And the whole list. Can¡¯t believe they make you buy everything.¡± They¡¯d been allowed to bring starting supplies, but the two-week mark, which approached rapidly, meant most of it would be purged, and they¡¯d need to start buying from T. Clothes, cleaning supplies, and delving gear alike. They took their ¡®local ecosystem¡¯ approach deadly serious. ¡°Hurts us a lot less than them, at least,¡± Jordan said. That was true. Ny percent of the student base was filthy rich, and if not that, sponsored by people who were. So by that regard, they were as well off as anyone. 3.14 – Gear 3.14 ¨C Gear ¡°You¡¯re really so lucky,¡± Sammy tsked. ¡°Having an upperssmen willing to help you sort out your gear situation? Give advice? Especially in the same role?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a big ask, I know,¡± Natalie said. ¡°But consider this ¡­ I¡¯ll pay you back?¡± ¡°I will take you up on that, frosh. I¡¯ll put that mouth to work.¡± ¡°Tonight?¡± ¡°I could be convinced,¡± Sammy said, grinning. ¡°So. I can spare an hour. And did you know T logs ¡®mentoring¡¯ asmunity work? So I¡¯m not being wholly selfless.¡± ¡°How does that work?¡± ¡°Just gotta have you confirm it. It¡¯s easy.¡± ¡°How much?¡± ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t know. One and a half thousand an hour, or something like that.¡± ¡°Thousand?!¡± ¡°That¡¯s not much, frosh. Not for a third-year. A single second-tier monster core and change.¡± Second-tier. Natalie had half-way forgotten that Sammy was a mid-ranker. By the standards of the typical delver, she was zing through her progression. Most delvers, by arge majority, never made it to the upper ranks; their career ended in mid-rank. One way or another¡ªoften times the violent one. Her quick advancement was expected from a woman with two years experience in one of the most prestigious academies on the. She obviously made faster pace than ¡®the average delver¡¯. She approached what most people¡¯s careers would peak at in a tenth the time. Years instead of decades. ¡°Well,¡± Natalie said. ¡°I¡¯m d you can turn a profit off me, then.¡± ¡°Thanks. But don¡¯t think that¡¯ll get you out of tonight. Like I said, I¡¯m putting that mouth to work.¡± ¡°Like I said,¡± Natalie returned, ¡°I¡¯d be upset if you didn¡¯t.¡± Sammyughed. ¡°Okay. Break it down for me, then. What do you have, what¡¯s your situation in your party, and any important details to your ss.¡± ¡°Personal questions, don¡¯t you think?¡± Sammy poked Natalie¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Can hardly advise you on how to gear up without them. Besides,¡± she said, smirking, ¡°we¡¯ve done a lot more personal, haven¡¯t we?¡± ¡°You have ravished me and stolen my innocence,¡± Natalie said thoughtfully. ¡°The other way around!¡± ¡°So I guess I can trust you. What I have. Let¡¯s see¡­¡± *** Natalie / Level 1 Pdin of Lust Stats Furor: F Tenacity: F+ Prowess: F- Gear Weapon Slot 1: Weapon Slot 2: Equipment Slot 1: Equipment Slot 2: Equipment Slot 3: Equipment Slot 4: *** *** Ironstrike Hammer Common Lv. 1 Effects - Solid Grip. Reduced likelihood of losing weapon duringbat. - Minor increase to physical Tenacity. Description A simple and reliable one-handed hammer. *** *** Wooden Shield Common Lv. 1 Effects - Sturdy. - Lightweight. - Minor increase to magical Tenacity. Description A basic, durable wooden shield with a rusty metal band running along the outer edge. *** ¡°Just two pieces,¡± Natalie admitted. ¡°Ten monster cores doesn¡¯t buy you much of anything.¡± Weapons tended to be more expensive than gear, too, so it had only stretched to two items. She exined to Sammy the hammer and shield she¡¯d gotten. She had also geared up with mundane pieces of armor, using the monster cores provided by T, but the magical pieces were the meaningful ones. Especially as she progressed, mundane armor would be practically worthless. ¡°So you opted for both weapon slots,¡± Sammymented. ¡°Not a good idea?¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t say that.¡± Sammy pursed her lips as she considered, then she shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s fine. Like you said, ten cores doesn¡¯t go far. Two minor bonuses to tenacity. Going heavy on defense, then?¡± ¡°To start with.¡± ¡°Obviously, a safe choice for a tank.¡± ¡°But not ideal?¡± ¡°It depends,¡± Sammy said, ¡°on the rest of what I asked. So spill it.¡± Natalie briefly described her ss¡ªthe practical parts of it¡ªand the role she intended to fill in her team. Without a consistent squad formalized, she couldn¡¯t say for sure, but since Sofia and Jordan were anchors, she knew she would serve as a support tank more than an aggressive one. They had physical offense to spare. ¡°Yeah,¡± Sammy said. ¡°Heavy defense is fine, then. Maybe I would¡¯ve gone even heavier, instead of a hammer. But like I said, it¡¯s fine. Not like it matters in the long run.¡± And the long run was the reason she¡¯de to Sammy. ¡°Four gear slots to fill. What should I look for first?¡± ¡°Some kind of breastte is the obvious one,¡± Sammy said. ¡°Or any torso armor. Chainmail, whatever. You want that big tenacity boost. But finding one with a nice side bonus is important. For you, some kind of magic boost would be nice. Magical furor? Casting haste? Even bonus mana. Lots of good choices. Really, finding something good for the price is the important part, at your level.¡± ¡°Higher up, that changes?¡± ¡°More about finding the perfect pieces,¡± Sammy agreed, ¡°not the budget ones.¡± She blushed. ¡°Not that I¡¯m that high through the levels, or rich, so price definitely still matters. But baby-delvers need to get kitted out as soon as possible, not worry about the exact details.¡± Natalie nodded along. ¡°And where does fashion fit into all of this?¡± Sammy gave her an amused look. ¡°You¡¯re one of those?¡± ¡°What¡¯s the point in winning if you can¡¯t look stylish?¡± ¡°You¡¯re messing with me.¡± ¡°Me? I¡¯m all about fashion.¡± ¡°Honestly, it¡¯s kind of sad how many delvers do have matching armor sets. Had to have sacrificed efficiency.¡± She shrugged. ¡°At the same time, having good gear matters¡ªa lot¡ªbut nitpicking minor boosts and effects isn¡¯t what makes a delver. Bad with perfect gear, still bad with great gear.¡± ¡°So that¡¯s permission to prioritize style?¡± ¡°You¡¯re insufferable.¡± Natalieughed. ¡°Okay. So, chest armor first. Then what?¡± ¡°For you? Some kind of heavy mage gear. Whatever¡¯s applicable.¡± ¡°Wizard hat?¡± ¡°It¡¯d be an interesting look.¡± ¡°And thest two?¡± ¡°I¡¯d rmend boots, actually,¡± Sammy said. ¡°Footwork is important for a tank, same as a fighter and rogue. Maybe more. Since you¡¯re always being focused, it¡¯s important to have solidity. Not be knocked down. Like that grip effect you have with your hammer¡ªsimr ones are on boots to help stay on your feet.¡± Natalie bobbed her head. ¡°Chestte, boots, wizard hat. And thest one?¡± ¡°Those are just suggestions,¡± Sammy said pointedly. ¡°And please, no wizard hat. I don¡¯t advocate for style, but only to an extent. Some outfits are too criminal to take into public. Plus, the goal for your level is to find whatever¡¯s good for the price. As your ss develops, what you need¡¯ll change, anyway. Plus this is just my opinion. So don¡¯t take it as gospel, or anything.¡± ¡°Noted.¡± ¡°Butst piece ¡­ hm. Going for full defense, obviously a big piece of lower armor. Focusing more on your magecraft, then another trinket¡ªne, bracelet, whatever suits you. Some utility items are nice.¡± Sammy shrugged. ¡°There¡¯s really so many choices. When you actually have a budget, we can talk details. Check out the Exchange together.¡± ¡°You¡¯d do that?¡± ¡°Like I said, I can bill it under ¡®mentoring¡¯. Get some credits out of it.¡± A grin. ¡°And, of course, you¡¯ll have to show thanks yourself.¡± Natalie smiled back. Obviously, she was more than happy to. She hesitated. ¡°You know,¡± Natalie said. ¡°We haven¡¯t really talked about us.¡± Sammy blinked. ¡°I feel like what we have going on is obvious,¡± Natalie said, ¡°but maybe letting it be implied isn¡¯t the smartest?¡± Sammy looked at Natalie, concerned. ¡°Oh ¡­ I, um. We¡¯re just having fun, right?¡± Natalie rxed. She¡¯d been pretty sure she had read their interactions correctly, but they were bing somewhat involved with each other, their dalliances happening every other day or so. And while Natalie liked Sammy a lot, she didn¡¯t consider them girlfriends, or even working toward it, really. Sammy was sweet and straightforward, and more than that, their rtionship wasn¡¯tplicated. But they were just having fun. ¡°Friends with benefits?¡± Natalie suggested. ¡°Mentor and student with benefits,¡± Sammy corrected. ¡°Remember your ce, frosh.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re my sex teacher.¡± ¡°W-Well, that¡¯s a bit much.¡± Natalieughed, bumping shoulders with Sammy, and the blonde girl smiled back. 3.15 – Creativity 3.15 ¨C Creativity Days ticked by, and the daily routine of T, while packed, becamefortable and nearly repetitive. Not that repetitive was bad. Repetitive was how practice became instinct, and well-honed instincts kept delvers alive. Natalie, Sofia, and Jordan delved after ss each day. None were as interesting as the first. They¡¯d lucked into an amazing set-up with Ana and Liz. The other mages and healers they found to trial were, whilepetent, as all T students, not remotely as skilled or as good of a fit as the first team. The delves were less interesting in other ways, too. Namely, the stickier sort of encounter Natalie had gotten into near the end. Though that had been ¡­ fun ¡­ she was d it wouldn¡¯t be an every-day thing. She was starting to ept¡ªeven enjoy¡ªthe stranger parts of her ss, but that didn¡¯t mean she wanted every delve to end with a body-shaking orgasm, writhing in the grip of dozens of powerful vines. Or whatever else the dungeon could cook up. Especially because it would get rather hard to exin, rather fast. Not just disappearing via trap¡ªor worse, it happening in the open¡ªbut the rewards she would have to sneak out. At least, until she brought her team into the loop. Both Ana and Liz had no shortage of teams to trial for, though Liz much more so than Ana. Healers were valuable, doubly sopetent ones, and triply so ones with the surname Beaumon. Though circumstances of birth didn¡¯t matter as much at T as the greater world, they still mattered, with connections opening and closing doors someone like Natalie could never manage on her own. Not to mention, T was only a four year institution. When they graduated, having made allies in the form of the royal family would be, to say the least, a valuable asset. So, almost every open team wanted Liz. She might not be joining them. Natalie hoped she did, but she had to admit it was unlikely. Then again, maybe? Natalie nned on asking Liz about it, today. Since it was the secondst day before the weekend, she only had one more trial, and had delved with two other teams. Whether she wanted to join Natalie¡¯s group should be mostly solidified. Spars were as interesting as always, being Natalie¡¯s favorite part of the day, barring the obvious: after-ss delves. And, uh, the other practical experience-earning encounters her ss demanded of her, with Jordan and Sammy. But favorite academic part. Unfortunately, there was a downside to sparring ss. Or not exactly a downside. Just something Natalie hadn¡¯t a clue how to deal with. ¡°Think it¡¯s a coincidence?¡± Camille asked. ¡°How our ss has most of the better students, and so does theirs?¡± Camille had ¡®made friends¡¯ with Natalie. Being the woman Natalie was almost certain had caught her in the restroom, using an illusion of Tess to put on a show, Camille¡¯s presence was, to say the least, awkward. Even a weekter, the knowing smirks she sent Natalie¡¯s way made her face heat up. Natalie didn¡¯t know if she should confront her or just ignore the teasing. Thetter was easier in the short-term, and with how much she had on her te, it had been what she¡¯d chosen. Though she didn¡¯t need to tolerate Camille herself, just the awkward circumstances of what she knew, and how she apparently liked tormenting her. Barring that, the dark-haired woman was apetent mage, had interesting insight, was one of the few low-borns like Natalie herself,. Moreover, she was gorgeous and fun to talk with¡ªwhen the topic didn¡¯t turn to how ¡®interesting¡¯ Natalie¡¯s illusions were, and whether she¡¯d ever ¡®gotten creative¡¯ with them. Natalie had even offered for Camille to trial with them, but she already had a team. Apparently, she was strictly aligned under House Gylver, and her patroness had organized a team in her stead with little choice on her part. So, lowborn, but not connectionless. Natalie, Sofia, and Jordan were likely close to unique in that regard. Like Camille, they¡¯d qualified by raw talent alone, no extraneous factors, but unlike Camille, and most other lowborns at T, they¡¯d done so without being noticed. From the far south of Valhaur, no-wherend to put it generously, they¡¯d snuck past any major house¡¯s attention. Or even minor house. ¡°Coincidence?¡± Natalie echoed. ¡°Probably not. I get the feeling T picked sses carefully. How else would me, Jordan, and Sofia be together?¡± ¡°Bigger picture than that, even,¡± Camille said. ¡°Not just putting people who know each other together, but it seems like the good sses have all the talent, and the bad sses ¡­ well. Don¡¯t. Remember yesterday?¡± Natalie wrinkled her nose. She didn¡¯t likeying down a nket statement like ¡®everyone from yesterday was terrible¡¯, but it was true. For the past week, Instructor Robin had had them sparring against students from other sses. Internal fights only did so much, since it didn¡¯t take long to learn each other¡¯s abilities. The primary benefit from fighting other students was the variance in skillsets, the same as found down in the dungeon, and thus a growing capability to adapt to an unknown opponent. ¡°They weren¡¯t the best,¡± Natalie agreed. ¡°But today.¡± Camille whistled. ¡°ss twelve.¡± Today¡¯s opponents were a different matter. For maybe the first time, they were, as a whole, losing. Not that these fights were really about winning or losing, but Natalie suspected everyone kept track. She wouldn¡¯t say she had enormous ss pride, but she¡¯d been noting each of her ssmate¡¯s performances, and the ss as a whole, and had been satisfied after spars each day, seeing theme out as an overall victor. ¡°They¡¯re the ones to watch for, if I had to guess,¡± Natalie said. ¡°To put it lightly. Bet the top list is gonna be half full of them. Guess it makes sense, too. They have Elida and Johanna.¡± ¡°Elida and Johanna?¡± Camille gave her an odd look. It gave her a shback to Sammy¡ªwhen Natalie had demonstrated her cluelessness to the ¡®political situation¡¯ at T. ¡°They¡¯re important, I¡¯m taking it,¡± Natalie said dryly. ¡°Maybe you should spend less time practicing with your illusions,¡± Camille said, ¡°and more on learning who the best students of the year are.¡± Natalie¡¯s cheeks colored. Like usual, Camille made it obvious she knew what had happened in the restroom, but never pointed it out directly. Alwaysyered in innuendo. But to her actual point¡ª¡°I¡¯m more focused on my own business.¡± She realized her mistake a second toote. A grin split Camille¡¯s face. ¡°Yes,¡± Camille leered. ¡°You¡¯re very upied with yourself. I¡¯m well aware.¡± ¡°Shut up.¡± By instinct, she went on the offensive. ¡°And for someone talking about this so much, I¡¯m starting to think you¡¯re just as creative with your spells.¡± Camille blinked at her. ¡°With my spells? How?¡± Bizarrely, the confusion seemed genuine. Natalie flushed even deeper. ¡°Your vines and stuff. Please.¡± She was a nt-based mage, and Natalie had learned first-hand how that could be ¡­ employed in certain ways. ¡°My vines?¡± ¡°You¡¯re fooling no one.¡± Slowly, Camille pieced it together. Her mouth fell open. ¡°Are you suggesting what I think you are?¡± Mortifyingly, Natalie was pretty sure Camille really hadn¡¯t ever considered it. To be fair, Natalie¡¯s mind had only gone there because of the encounter down in the dungeon. Face crimson, Natalie turned away and crossed her arms. ¡°You really have an imagination,¡± Camille said, shaking her head. ¡°I aspire to it. Maybe I will aim for some creativity.¡± ¡°Elida,¡± Natalie said, trying not to let that image linger. ¡°Who is she?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t try to change the topic. Any specific suggestions?¡± ¡°Elida,¡± Natalie repeated firmly. ¡°Maybe you want toe help? Teach me? A lesson from mage to mage?¡± Natalie froze. Camilleughed, and before Natalie could respond, she¡¯d moved on. Maybe too quickly, and with her own pink tint to her cheeks, as if thest sentence had gone too far, slipped out by ident. ¡°Elida Parda-Halt,¡± Camille said. ¡°Third daughter to Ardell Parda-Halt. You seriously don¡¯t know her?¡± 3.16 – The Competition 3.16 ¨C The Competition For a brief moment, Natalie considered turning the conversation back to Camille¡¯s offer. But she wasn¡¯t sure it had been genuine, and when it came to Camille¡¯s endless teasing, it was better to not give her more fuel. So instead, she dropped it. ¡°I really don¡¯t,¡± Natalie said. ¡°I know who House Parda-Halt is, though.¡± ¡°I would hope so,¡± Camille said, giving her another odd look. ¡°Anyway, there¡¯s not a Parda-Halt out there who isn¡¯t a prodigy. Won¡¯t be surprised if she¡¯s at the top of the ss. As in, top-top. Number one.¡± ¡°Which one is she?¡± ¡°Red hair. Over there.¡± A few sparring pads away, Natalie saw who Camille pointed at. With long red hair, the same vibrant color as Natalie¡¯s, and piercing green eyes, Natalie ced the woman in an instant. ¡°Oh,¡± she said. ¡°She¡¯s in my barracks.¡± ¡°Poor you.¡± ¡°Poor me?¡± ¡°She hasn¡¯t been awful?¡± ¡°Haven¡¯t exchanged two words with her.¡± ¡°Suggest you keep that up.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Natalie had formed an immediately poor impression of the woman, because her first experience had been Elida giving a mocking, disdainful look toward Liz, clearly finding her sociable chatter as ¡­ Natalie didn¡¯t know. Childish? Embarrassing? She supposed she was making assumptions. And that had been a while ago, and a rather minor incident, but now that Natalie liked Liz, the event bothered her more. Still, she wanted to hear Camille¡¯s thoughts on the matter. ¡°Always a good policy to keep thirty feet away from any Parda-Halt. Bunch of snakes, them.¡± She grimaced. ¡°Don¡¯t tell her I said that, though. Or anyone. My house is technically on good footing with hers.¡± Which made the point even stronger. ¡°That bad, then?¡± ¡°Haven¡¯t talked to her,¡± Camille admitted. ¡°But really. Parda-Halt.¡± Natalie knew Parda-Halt had a poor reputation. Not more than a century ago, they¡¯d tried to overthrow the monarchy. It spoke to their cunning their House hadn¡¯t copsed for the failure. Hatred obviously lingered between Beaumon and Parda-Halt. Since Natalie had made friends with Liz, and Elida hadn¡¯t set a great impression in the first ce, it was obvious which side of the line Natalie stood on for that rivalry. Not that she ¡®stood¡¯ in any meaningful capacity; she was a nobody. ¡°Huh,¡± Natalie said. ¡°And Johanna? I think Liz has mentioned her.¡± She was pretty sure she¡¯d heard the name once or twice. ¡°Not surprised,¡± Camille said. ¡°They¡¯re probably best friends. Johanna Valeria?¡± ¡°Ah,¡± Natalie said. House Valeria and Beaumon were inseparable. Valeria had effectively led the military for generations; they were the Beaumon family¡¯s right hand. ¡°Don¡¯t think Liz¡¯s talked about her that much, though.¡± Then again, Natalie had hardly spent any significant amount of time with Liz. They¡¯d made friends, but not to any deep degree. ¡°She¡¯s in ss twelve, too?¡± ¡°Over there,¡± Camille said. ¡°Blondie with the short hair.¡± Natalie ced her in a moment. She was in a two-on-two spar against Sofia. Johanna Valeria looked like a military woman. The effect was amplified by being in activebat, but her short hair, carved-from-stone expression, and powerful build radiated ¡°soldier¡±. She filled out the T uniform in a way not many others did¡ªand that was saying something, considering where they were. ¡°Don¡¯t stare too obviously,¡± Camille said, amused. ¡°She¡¯ll catch you. But yeah. I agree.¡± ¡°Tank?¡± ¡°Fighter. Tough as nails. Takes a hit better than most tanks, and¡¯ll tear other fighters apart limb by limb, too. That¡¯s a Valeria. Like Elida, I¡¯ll eat my foot if she¡¯s not in the top ten when rankingse out. Top five, probably.¡± ¡°That¡¯s next week?¡± ¡°Rankings? First day of it, far as I know.¡± ¡°I wonder how I¡¯d fare against her,¡± Natalie said idly. ¡°You¡¯re good, Nat,¡± Camille said. ¡°But you¡¯re not Johanna Valeria good.¡± Natalie bristled, but as she watched Johanna¡¯s two-squad tear apart Sofia¡¯s, making even her white-haired rival struggle to keep up, she hesitated. ¡°I¡¯ve got a while to go,¡± Natalie reluctantly admitted. She liked to believe she was talented, but she hadn¡¯t been brought up under the full support of a major Valhaurian house. The Valerias especially werebat-oriented in a way even many major houses weren¡¯t. Most houses had prominent delvers, but all members of Valeria were military in one way or another¡ªeven the ones who didn¡¯t delve and reach enormous personal power through their ss still knew warfare. Generals, soldiers, or delvers. Johanna had undoubtedly lived and breathedbat since she could walk. Which was same for many T students, but her especially. Still, even if Johanna hadn¡¯t done anything to Natalie, and even sounded like Liz¡¯s friend, Natalie found herself frowning. She had a measuring stick topare to, now. Someone she wanted to surpass. Though Sofia still came first. Johanna had dismantled even Sofia, and Natalie still couldn¡¯t. Her friend thrashed her in fights. Her ¡­ friend? Natalie shivered. She¡¯d really just thought that. Rival. Sofia wasn¡¯t anything but her rival. Reduced hostility in recent weeks or not. She scanned the rest of the fights. She and Camille were recovering from their own bout, but they would rejoin the fray shortly. Onest person caught her eye. Half because of her distinctive appearance, half because of how she was, like Johanna and Elida, tearing herpetition¡ªNatalie¡¯s ssmates¡ªapart. With wicked twin daggers in either hand, she flowed between her opponents like water, and even that metaphor didn¡¯t do it justice. Like smoke, slipping between attacks as if she were formless. Even more prominently, the heavy, criss-crossing scars running across her face. Natalie had seen this girl back in the barracks on the first day, but now that she thought about, hadn¡¯t since. Had she even been sleeping there? She¡¯d seemed especially ufortable with how many people were stuffed in the barracks; twitchy, to understate things. Had she snuck off to sleep somewhere else? Why would T allow that, though? ¡°Who¡¯s that?¡± Natalie asked. ¡°Not sure,¡± Camille said. She¡¯d followed Natalie¡¯s gaze even before her prompting. ¡°But she fights like a demon, doesn¡¯t she?¡± ¡°Another top ten?¡± ¡°Probably. She wasn¡¯t put in ss twelve without a reason, I¡¯d figure.¡± ¡°Assuming it works like that.¡± Camille shrugged. ¡°Even their worst members are a nightmare, if you haven¡¯t noticed. No way that¡¯s a coincidence.¡± Natalie definitely had. Her first few bouts hadn¡¯t been easy. Hadn¡¯t even pulled out a victory today. That they were matched up against, apparently, the best ss of the year only relieved her irritation at her failure slightly. She didn¡¯t like other people being better than her. Wouldn¡¯t have made it to T if she did. ¡°Anyway,¡± Camille said. ¡°Should get back to it. Wanna have a go against them?¡± She stuck her thumb toward two bystanders of ss twelve. ¡°Might as well,¡± Natalie said. 3.17 – Formalized 3.17 ¨C Formalized Strangely, Liz and Ana joined them for lunch. Normally Natalie, Sofia, and Jordan sat off in a corner of the cafeteria, alone. Sometimes Liz would join them in ss to chat or hang out, but not usually to eat, as she did now. She slid her tray onto their table with a big smile, and Ana followed a secondter. ¡°So!¡± Liz started the conversation with. ¡°Me and Ana have been talking. You three wanna make it official?¡± Which, of course, came as a surprise. Natalie had been nning to broach the subject to Liz sometime today, but she had expected it to take some convincing¡ªnot for Liz toe asking. ¡°The team, right?¡± Best to make sure she wasn¡¯t misinterpreting anything. ¡°Yep! What else?¡± ¡°It¡¯s clear we work well together,¡± Ana said. ¡°Most of the students worth forming a group with had their teams nned years in advance. This five,¡± she waved around the table, ¡°is one of the best that can be made of ¡®free agents¡¯. So, it¡¯s obvious we should work together.¡± Ana pursed her lips. ¡°My other trials proved that.¡± Natalie agreed. The other members she, Jordan, and Sofia had trialed had been uninspiring. Though, one puzzle piece still needed to be slotted. Natalie, Jordan, and Sofia looked at Liz as one, all having the same thought. Maybe Ana and the three of them didn¡¯t have better options, but her? Elizabeth Beaumon? Liz fidgeted under their attention. ¡°So,¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s official, then? What should our team name be?¡± ¡°Why not group with Johanna?¡± Natalie asked. Best to be direct. Though it was good for them, getting one of the best free-agent healers in their year, she wanted to know why. ¡°Or anyone else your family put together?¡± ¡°I have been curious as well,¡± Ana said. Liz sighed, shoulders slumping. ¡°Well, first, because I like you all. Friends make good delving partners¡ªyou need to trust each other with your life.¡± Natalie was ttered by that, especially the earnestness Liz said it with, but she knew there was something more. ¡°And?¡± ¡°And ¡­ I¡¯m tired of relying on my name,¡± Liz said. ¡°I want to seed on my own merit. Obviously Johanna¡¯s group is going to be one of the best of the year. But so can we be!¡± ¡°The nobodies,¡± Sofia said. Liz turned a distraught look her way. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean it like that.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not offended,¡± Sofia said. ¡°But it¡¯s literally how you meant it.¡± Liz seemed like she would protest further, then she hesitated. ¡°I ¡­ guess that¡¯s fair.¡± ¡°We¡¯re happy to have you on the team, either way,¡± Jordan said, sending a mildly reprimanding look Sofia¡¯s way. Sofia shrugged in response. ¡°And me?¡± Ana asked. Natalie and her friends shared a look. They¡¯d already agreed Ana was better than the other mages they had trialed, so it didn¡¯t need an explicit discussion. Plus, since she¡¯de with Liz, clearly they¡¯d already talked it out themselves¡ªand Liz wanted Ana on the team. Which was the slightest bit odd, in Natalie¡¯s opinion, because it didn¡¯t seem like the two girls meshed well. Liz seemed to be hyper sociable and empathetic, and Ana, theical opposite. ¡°Seems like we have a squad, then,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Though we all have another team, tonight, don¡¯t we?¡± It was the secondst day of the week, and, as the enterprising students they were, they¡¯d arranged delves for each day. ¡°Assuming we¡¯re not ditching them, right?¡± ¡°Right,¡± Liz said, ¡°and I guess it¡¯s bad form to not give them a real shot by agreeing beforehand, but ¡­¡± she shrugged. ¡°I doubt they¡¯ll change any of our minds. And I wanted to start talking about tomorrow¡¯s delve.¡± Because tomorrow would be their first multi-day one. Their first ¡®real delve¡¯, for a sense of the phrase. It would start after ss, then bleed deep into the next night, possibly into the morning of next week¡¯s sses¡ªso long as they returned in time. Curfew was suspended on the weekend so long as you were in the dungeon; the city remained off limits at night, but you could spend them camped in the dungeon without reprimand. Not the easiest thing to enforce, for obvious reasons, but still technically the rule. ¡°Sure,¡± Natalie said. ¡°What about it?¡± ¡°We¡¯ve got all our supplies sorted out?¡± ¡°Well in advance, yeah.¡± ¡°And we¡¯ll be going straight through tomorrow and the next?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the n. We¡¯re hoping for a boss, I¡¯m assuming.¡± Liz seemed satisfied at that, and she nodded in agreement. ¡°A bit risky, but nobody¡¯s ever gotten anywhere always taking the safe path. We¡¯ll retreat if things get scary. You all have your gear sorted out?¡± ¡°Working on it,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Stopping by a cksmith after ss today. Have enough ore and credits tomission something, finally. Rush order. Thinking breastte and boots.¡± Sammy¡¯s main suggestions. ¡°Probably have my full set in time.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± Liz said. ¡°Everyone else?¡± A collection of nods. ¡°Perfect. Can¡¯t wait. It¡¯s going to be fun.¡± Natalie agreed, though it was a bit amusing seeing Liz, the bubbly, innocent girl, excited for life-threatening adventures. A short lull settled over the table as they picked at their food. Sofia cleared her throat. ¡°Not rted, but I have a small announcement.¡± Everyone turned to her. ¡°The semester¡¯s first dueling tournament is happening in three days,¡± she said. ¡°Start of next week. Can¡¯t do a nightly delve then. And I know everyone¡¯s busy ¡­ but if you want toe watch?¡± Natalie stared at Sofia, or more specifically, the nervous looks the white-haired girl shot around the table. Was she being bashful? ¡°Of course we¡¯ll be there,¡± Jordan said. ¡°I¡¯ll try my best,¡± Liz replied brightly. ¡°And don¡¯t worry about not being able to delve. We don¡¯t have to head out every day. Also, I didn¡¯t know you were in the dueling club. If healers weren¡¯t so useless, I might¡¯ve joined too, but ¡­¡± sheughed. ¡°Well. You know.¡± Sofia¡¯s tense posture rxed, and she smiled. Natalie continued to be baffled at the insecurity that had been in her voice a moment earlier. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say useless,¡± Sofia said. ¡°Though maybe a full healer, like you ¡­¡± ¡°What would I do?¡± Liz said. ¡°Buff them to death? Wouldn¡¯t stand a chance.¡± Sofia covered a smile with her hand, and Natalie¡¯s irritation spiked. Why was this girl so cute? It drove her insane. Blue eyes turned to Natalie, a silent question. ¡°Obviously I¡¯ming,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Don¡¯t be stupid.¡± Sofia blushed, then looked away. ¡°Right.¡± Blushed?? ¡°Just checking,¡± Sofia added. Jordan smiled at Natalie, and Natalie found herself immensely confused by the sequence of events. ¡°And you, Ana?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°I realize everyone has better things to be doing, but I¡¯d like if you joined us, too.¡± ¡°There¡¯s value in analyzing thepetition,¡± Ana said. ¡°And I can study in the downtime.¡± It was a rather clinical eptance, but Sofia smiled at that response, too. ¡°It¡¯s a n, then.¡± 3.18 – Blacksmith 3.18 ¨C cksmith Natalie had chosen mining as her harvesting skill for a reason. First, it was one of the more lucrative paths¡ªmetal was in high demand, not just for delvers, but society in general¡ªand extra funds were always wee as a first-year student. For any year student, and experienced career delvers too, for that matter. Money made the world go round. Second, and more importantly, gathering raw materials formissions was much cheaper than buying something from the Exchange outright. Low-level crafters were, as a general rule, more than happy to ept jobs for cheap, since they needed ways to gain experience. Seeing how many even outright bought their own ore to practice with, being paid to practice was more than a favorable result. Higher level crafters, of course, weren¡¯t in the same situation. Their rarity and skill meantmissions were actually more expensive than buying from the Exchange. Though in their case, the control they had made them more desirable; they could customize specifically to what you requested. But high level crafters were rare, even more so than high-level delvers. Fitting to T¡¯s modus-operandi, there were approved ¡®T crafters¡¯ which Natalie would have to arrange amission through; it couldn¡¯t be anyone. Having free reign into the city of Aradon, Natalie wondered not for the first time how thoroughly T could enforce those policies, and whether they indeed did at all. She decided against testing it for obvious reasons. High risk for little reward. To her knowledge, the ¡®T approved¡¯ crafters weren¡¯t more expensive, or worse quality, they just operated by credits rather than helixes¡ªthe Valhaurian standard currency. And likely, had T oversight, whatever that meant. Being out in Aradon proper was, like usual, a spectacle. The vibrancy and density of the city would never stop astounding her. Having grown up in a town with a poption of a few hundred, a city of hundreds of thousands boggled her mind. Fortunately, a delver was nothing if not adept at dealing with the new and incredible. Her disorientation reflected itself only through her wide-eyes and wandering pace as she passed through the crowded streets, headed for the crafter¡¯s district. Soon enough, she¡¯d arrived to her destination. She didn¡¯t have a particr shop in mind, having simply headed for the cksmithing section of the crafter¡¯s district. Turning a corner, an anvil and forge revealed itself as the source of the loud nging Natalie had been approaching, opened up and on disy right there in the city street. She paused at the woman standing there, nging a hefty hammer into a long de of metal, face covered by a thick mask to protect her from the sparks. The sight took a second to digest. Natalie herself was more muscr than most women, and taller too, but that physique didn¡¯t hold a candle to the woman in front of her. Easily six-foot or more, built like a brick house, the tanned cksmith battering a newly born sword into submission would have even most men ncing at their biceps and frowning. Natalie didn¡¯t have a specific type, so to say, appreciating most feminine forms, even the ones that leaned masculine, but the sheer bulk of the dark-haired woman in front of her had her as intimidated as ¡­ other stuff. Less appropriate emotions. The woman, having seen Natalie arrive, spared a nce for her, then continued battering away at the sword. Natalie intuited she was open for business, but needed to finish up before speaking. That didn¡¯t bother Natalie. Gawking was hardly appropriate, but she didn¡¯t gawk. She just ¡­ observed the woman go about her craft. The way her muscles rippled with each impact of hammer on steel. Okay, she¡¯d admit she was definitely standing there and admiring, but not overtly. That would be impolite. At the first opportunity to break¡ªit took a bit, but Natalie was happy to wait¡ªshe turned to Natalie and appraised her with a quick up and down. She quirked an eyebrow in silent prompting. ¡°Hey,¡± Natalie said. ¡°You take Tmissions?¡± That got her full attention, and Natalie understood why. Delvers had lucrative careers, and T students doubly so. Plus, seeing how the woman seemed to be young, around the same age as Natalie, she was likely low-level, and thus hungrier formissions than a more experienced crafter might be. ¡°I do,¡± the cksmith said. ¡°Name¡¯s Shara. What are you lookin¡¯ for?¡± ¡°Nat,¡± she returned. ¡°Uh. Breastte and boots. Rush order, hopefully, ready for tomorrow.¡± ¡°Bring your own ore?¡± ¡°I did, yeah.¡± ¡°Tank? Fighter?¡± ¡°Tank.¡± ¡°What effects?¡± ¡°Tenacity, mostly. If possible, boots with a steadying effect. Chestte with something that boosts a magic stat. And, like I said, rush order. Need it tomorrow.¡± ¡°Can manage that, probably,¡± Shara said. ¡°But fair warning, I can only do so much, when ites to the specifics. You¡¯re paying either way, no matter what you get.¡± ¡°Yeah, I know.¡± That was the downside of the cheaper cost: less control over what she got. But that was fine. Cost efficiency was what she was looking for. As Sammy had advised, having a full kit of gear was more important than perfect alignment to her needs. Something was better than nothing. As she climbed through the ranks, equipment perfectly suited to her ss would be more important, but for now, filling her empty gear slots took highest priority. Which a novice cksmith, supplied with ore Natalie had collected herself, could do for much cheaper than the Exchange. ¡°Good,¡± Shara said. ¡°I¡¯ll do my best, anyway. You trying to get bulk ore refined?¡± The low-quality iron and copper¡ªwhich were the only ores Natalie had found in the past several days¡ªwere materials only low-level cksmiths concerned themselves with. She could have her ore refined by higher-level crafters, but oddly, it would turn less of a profit, not more. Maybe if she had higher quality ore. Though still valuable, the iron and copper was about as ¡®trash¡¯ of a material as it got¡ªas expected, seeing how she¡¯d collected it from the first floor of the dungeon. ¡°Yeah, that too,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Have a few orbs of iron and copper. F-tier, some plus, some minus.¡± Which marked her as decidedly level-one delver, but Shara wasn¡¯t put off by that. Maybe not her best business connection, but any business was fortuitous, considering her low rank. Likely she was in the first few levels of her own ss. ¡°Go ahead and empty it out,¡± Shara said, gesturing for her to follow. ¡°Let¡¯s get the details.¡± 3.19 – Reveal 3.19 ¨C Reveal While the smaller after-ss delves had acquainted them to delving, they were, ultimately, shallow representations of what delving truly was. The mechanics were the same, but the depth¡ªand true challenges¡ªwere found in longer runs. This trip, they would almost certainly be tracking down a boss. Maybe even they would find a stairway into the second floor. They weren¡¯t so reckless they¡¯d go far into it, if so, but maybe they¡¯d try their hand at an encounter or two. Though difficult, a single second-floor fight shouldn¡¯t be out of their reach. Before they set off into the city proper and began their adventure, though, Natalie had things she needed to discuss with her team. It was a talk she wasn¡¯t looking forward to, but, to quiet her nagging morality, she had to see it through. She pulled them aside, away from the busy T pathways, so they had some privacy. Jordan gave her a sympathetic look. She knew what Natalie intended to broach. They¡¯d talked it through together. At least Natalie would have her support. ¡°So,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Before we head out, there¡¯s something I need to tell all of you.¡± She addressed Ana and Liz more than Sofia. Sofia already knew, in broad strokes, about her ss, and that was one of the things Natalie needed to clear the air about. Though, Sofia wasn¡¯t aware of the theft¡ªone of the other big topics. Natalie took a deep breath, then said, ¡°First, let me say that I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t intend to keep it a secret forever, and after I exin, I hope you¡¯ll agree that I had some justifications. But that doesn¡¯t make it right, either.¡± Liz and Sofia watched her curiously, eyebrows raising at the introduction. Ana, on the other hand, kept her typical nk face. Which was unfortunate. Natalie suspected she wouldn¡¯t get many hints on what the stoic woman thought of this whole scenario. Liz, at least, wore her emotions on her sleeve, and Sofia, Natalie had experience reading. ¡°Remember our first delve?¡± Natalie asked. ¡°How it ended? The trap.¡± ¡°You did steal a monster core,¡± Ana said. Natalie winced. Ana was as sharp as always¡ªand in being so, was ruining the build-up which could possibly have made her look less like a terrible teammate. ¡°I¡¯m getting there,¡± Natalie said. Liz¡¯s eyes widened at the confession, and Sofia¡¯s eyebrows raised further. Thankfully, neither looked immediately upset. They were willing to give her a chance to exin. ¡°I have a weird ss,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Let¡¯s start with that. Like, really weird. For a few reasons. You know how pdins have aspects?¡± Some of the surprise morphed to interest. ¡°Mine¡¯s lust.¡± She winced at just stating it like that, but there wasn¡¯t much more lead-up she could do. ¡°And that ¡®trap¡¯ wasn¡¯t really a trap. It was more of an encounter.¡± Which was going to be even more awkward to exin. ¡°I¡¯d rather not spell out the exact details,¡± Natalie said, face heating up, ¡°but yeah. I felt I needed to tell you, since the dungeon reacts to everyone¡¯s sses, and that¡¯s the kind of info you might want. In case it pulls you into something simr. An encounter that ¡­ I don¡¯t know, resonates with my aspect. Like it did for me.¡± Liz and Sofia¡¯s expressions turned into incredulity of what Natalie was implying. Even Ana seemed perplexed. Natalie took a breath in, then rummaged out and held up proof for what she was saying: the monster core with the [Spirit of Infertility] stored inside it. ¡°I didn¡¯t sneak it out because I was greedy,¡± Natalie said. ¡°I just didn¡¯t know how to exin it. And I didn¡¯t want to talk about my ss when we weren¡¯t even officially teammates. But I get all of that¡¯s just excuses.¡± She winced. ¡°And I would still like to keep it. It¡¯s, um, useful for my ss. Which is why it was hand-delivered to me, I think.¡± ¡°So the mural from the puzzle room,¡± Ana said. ¡°That was targeted toward you as much as me.¡± Natalie found it odd, if relieving, that that was what Ana chose to focus on, instead of everything else. Sofia and Liz, she wasn¡¯t so lucky. By their expressions, they were still digesting the implications of what an ¡®encounter influenced by Natalie¡¯s aspect¡¯ meant. ¡°Maybe?¡± Natalie said. ¡°At least partially, yeah. Probably.¡± Sofia turned to Jordan. ¡°You knew.¡± ¡°After the fact,¡± Jordan said. ¡°But yes. She told me.¡± Nobody seemed surprised at that. Sofia rubbed her forehead. She looked back to Natalie, seeming bewildered. ¡°Well,¡± she said. ¡°I understand the why behind the subterfuge, at least, even if I¡¯m not pleased about it.¡± ¡°I¡¯d, um, not want to go shouting about it, either,¡± Lizughed, bemused. A dusting of pink had settled onto her cheeks. She was clearly embarrassed by the reveal. ¡°Sheesh. An encounter. You¡¯re really not going to tell us what that means?¡± Natalie¡¯s own blush deepened. ¡°I think you¡¯ve put the basics together. I¡¯d rather not get into the details.¡± ¡°If your ss prompts such events from the dungeon,¡± Ana said, ¡°then we need to know. Simply for tactical and strategic purposes, if nothing else. There¡¯s no reason to dance around the topic. We¡¯re all, ultimately, professionals.¡± Natalie siphoned some resolve from the matter-of-fact way Ana stated it. And it was true. She¡¯d been hoping to go easy on some of the stickier details, though. ¡°There were some vines,¡± Natalie said. ¡°And, um, they needed to be taken care of.¡± This was so mortifying. ¡°That¡¯s enough to give you the picture. And I don¡¯t think those encounters are going to involve you all, anyway.¡± She was far from certain on that. ¡°The dungeon led me away to make it happen. And it was initiated by my choice. I mostly knew what I was getting into, before I got into it.¡± That was leaving out the full details behind the situation, but she had chosen to get into that mess, more or less. ¡°So. Yeah.¡± She¡¯d picked to interact with the hole in the wall, and, while the vines hadn¡¯t been perfectly polite, it still had been Natalie¡¯s choice to throw herself into their writhing grip. The clear-cut optionality could change, she knew, but hopefully it didn¡¯t. While bizarre and embarrassing, the sex-aspects of the dungeon were fine, for a sense of the word, as long as she had a choice in the matter. ¡°Anyway,¡± Natalie said, cheeks zing by this point. ¡°Team vote, I guess. Can I keep this?¡± She held up the core. ¡°And also, everyone knows what my ss could do to the dungeon, now. So if that¡¯s a deal breaker to wanting to team up ¡­ ?¡± The team looked around at each other. ¡°Truthfully,¡± Ana said, ¡°It sounds lucrative. I don¡¯t mind you keeping that,¡± she nodded at the orb, ¡°but if we receive a steady flow of such items? They¡¯ll pay well. Do you expect to keep all of it?¡± A part of Natalie did want to say she¡¯d been the one to work for it, and that it was her ss that produced the encounter and reward in the first ce, but that wasn¡¯t how delving splits were handled. The same reason resource gathering was split¡ªpartially¡ªto the whole team. Or it could work like that, but such matters were decided through a team discussion. Hence this. And, really, for the trouble Natalie¡¯s ss presented, the team deserved a cut of the potential rewards for having to deal with it. Especially if it started roping them in, instead of involving Natalie alone. ¡°I¡¯m hardly wanting to break up the team because of it,¡± Liz said. ¡°But sheesh. Wow. I¡¯m not sure what to say, really.¡± ¡°The feeling is mutual,¡± Natalie said. ¡°To all of us.¡± Sofia shook her head. ¡°The idea doesn¡¯t thrill me, but there¡¯s benefits, too. As Ana said, there¡¯s money to be made with ¡­ specialty items ¡­ like that.¡± ¡°One way to put it,¡± Natalie mumbled. ¡°And if it¡¯s truly optional, or otherwise acts as a trap would, and can be avoided, then ¡­¡± Sofia shrugged. ¡°We¡¯ll handle it as ites.¡± ¡°And I¡¯m intrigued by the details to your ss,¡± Ana said. ¡°What kinds of skills does an aspect of ¡®lust¡¯e with? Why illusions?¡± ¡°Well,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Those are my issues to deal with.¡± ¡°So there are issues?¡± Natalie shrugged. Ana epted the rejection, though her curiosity was in. ¡°We should get going,¡± Sofia said. ¡°Enlightening as that was, we still have a dungeon to clear.¡± She shook her head, still incredulous. ¡°And some time to think would be nice, too, during the walk. It¡¯s a lot to digest, Nat.¡± Liz nodded in agreement, hair bouncing with the rapidness of the movement. She was the most visibly ufortable at the reveal. ¡°Yep. Let¡¯s get going. Thanks, uh, for telling us, Nat. I¡¯m sure it was hard to. And you definitely could¡¯ve gotten away with it.¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t have been right,¡± Natalie said. Though she wished she could¡¯ve spared herself from this conversation, regardless of the ethics of the situation. Liz nodded, then, blush matching Natalie¡¯s own, firmly set off toward the dungeon. The rest of the team followed after her, and as they trailed down the path, headed for Aradon and the dungeon, Jordan leaned close and murmured, ¡°That went well, don¡¯t you think?¡± All things considered, she guessed it did. And she was d everything¡ªthe parts relevant to her team, at least¡ªwas out in the open. Those secrets weren¡¯t the kind of thing she could have kept to herself and feltfortable doing so with, especially since it might directly involve them in the future. But seriously. So awkward. 3.20 – Flustered 3.20 ¨C Flustered Liz wasn¡¯t entirely sure what to think of Natalie¡¯s reveal. It was a lot to take in. Worse, they¡¯d be at the dungeon entrance in less than twenty minutes¡ªprobably fighting monsters within thirty. Almost more than Natalie sneaking out a monster core, the fact she¡¯d dropped this on them right before the dungeon had Liz the slightest bit miffed. Because, really. A girl needed time to think all ¡­ that ¡­ over. Maybe that had even been Natalie¡¯s intention. Maybe she had presented her misdeeds, and the odd information, specifically timed so that they didn¡¯t have the opportunity to stew over it. Liz didn¡¯t think so. She knew a schemer when she saw one. Growing up, she¡¯d known more schemers than not. Even some of her best friends were ones. Heck, even she was, on asion. She really, really hated politics, but it wasn¡¯t like she could get away from it all. Herst name was Beaumon. Fourteenth in line or not, monarchy more or less dissolved in everything but name or not, Liz was up to her eyeballs in conniving politicians and ingratiating sycophants. Which was how she knew Natalie wasn¡¯t one. Or, ny-nine percent sure. Natalie hadn¡¯t nned the timing. Rather, she¡¯d just worked up the nerve then¡ªor otherwise hadn¡¯t had the chance to get everyone together. Though, clearly she was capable ofpetently lying, since Liz hadn¡¯t suspected a thing about her theft. But for sure, she wasn¡¯t some grand maniptor, either. Even Sofia and Jordan were delightfully straightforward by Liz¡¯s standards. Growing up surrounded by the biggest names of a nation had been a major headache, and, frankly, her newest team¡¯sck of political goals was a big plus for why she¡¯d wanted to join. It hadn¡¯t just been wanting to split away from her family¡¯s prepared squad, and all the expectations that came with that. A decision her parents would not be happy about, next time she saw them. But Liz had already made her mind up. But Natalie¡¯s stuff. Her aspect. The item she¡¯d gotten. The ¡­ vines. Which, even spared the details, painted the picture in only the broadest sense, had Liz¡¯s cheeks ming. Vines? Really? Maybe being given so much creative liberty to construct the scene in her mind was even worse than if Natalie had just spelled it out. What did ¡®being taken care of¡¯ mean? And her fluster was only partly because of the pervertedness and strangeness. The fact the imagery came bundled with Natalie was distinctly one of the reasons she couldn¡¯t fend away the blushes. Their team¡¯s tank really had a lot going on, and Liz would have to be blind to not have noticed. For that matter, the entire team was ridiculously attractive. Even Ana, for her anti-social tendencies and total disregard for her appearance. Liz was almost mad about that. Liz didn¡¯t think she was nd, but stacked up against all that? Her teammates were unfairly pretty, down to the woman. Though, the less polite part of her was appreciative. A part she pointedly ignored, but it crept in nheless. The five of them were strictly teammates. Liz couldn¡¯t think about stuff like that. Professionals. Delving partners, nothing more. Ergh. Except ¡­ maybe that sort of thing, she should be thinking about. Because from the sound of it, Natalie¡¯s ss involved ¡­ what? Lust-rted skills? Whatever that meant? And even more to the point, the dungeon reacted to her ss? Produced encounters like the vines¡ªwhatever ¡®the vines¡¯ meant. So maybe whether Liz found her teammates attractive mattered. Because by circumstance rather than deliberate intent, she might be ending up in scenarios she really wouldn¡¯t have expected, starting a career in delving. That idea probably shouldn¡¯t have her heart skipping beats. And she was making way too many assumptions. Natalie had seemed pretty sure that those weird encounters would be focused on her. For all Liz knew, she herself would never brush up against anything like that. And that was a good thing. It wasn¡¯t like she was curious what it would be like for a bunch of vines to ¡­ do stuff. Whatever stuff meant. Such a weird ss. And group encounters. She might not get any solo action, much less the entire team getting roped into something. So, calm down, Liz. Getting involved with her teammates was a terrible idea, too. Not only because of the possibleplications on a personal level, but because a Beaumon shouldn¡¯t be dallying with strangers. With anyone. Some of the smaller houses could afford to behave with such disregard for propriety, but certainly not the Beaumons. They had shining reputations to maintain, and regardless that Liz wasn¡¯t in the limelight like some of her rtives, she needed to adhere to that requirement, too. So that Liz was entertaining those fantasies was doubly ridiculous. Unfortunately, she couldn¡¯t shake the idea, no matter how hard she tried. At a minimum, she kept the thoughts firmly restrained the back of her head, where she didn¡¯t acknowledge them. Almost before Liz knew it, they¡¯d arrived to the dungeon entrance. She realized only then that she had been setting an expeditious pace, ahead of the group, scurrying forward out of embarrassment. She sheepishly rejoined them. At least her cheeks weren¡¯t betraying her, anymore. She¡¯d mostly gotten herself under control. Mom¡¯s lessons on poise had some use. Her teammates were bundled up with supplies. It didn¡¯t take much to prepare for a single-night expedition¡ªmaybe two nights, depending on how it went¡ªbut certainly more equipment than the light-weight packing they had needed for their earlier delves of only a few hours. Meals, sleeping bags, fire-starting supplies, and so on. Depending on the biome they dropped into, they could get away with more or less, but unfortunately, the dungeon wasn¡¯t kind enough to announce where it would throw them beforehand. And they could exit and re-enter the dungeon to try to get more favorable battlegrounds, but the dungeon really didn¡¯t like when people tried to ¡®game¡¯ it. It would cause more trouble than it solved, having the dungeon upset with you. No, the widely agreed maxim was to engage with the dungeon on its own terms. Still a great chance at getting turned into monsterfood or adorning a spike trap, but not as much of one. y fair, and the dungeon yed fair back. Well, usually. The team looked at each other, checking silently to see if they were ready to enter, but of course they were. Would hardly have made it all the way to the dungeon entrance if not. This delve was a long timeing. Some of the awkwardness lingered from Natalie¡¯s reveal, but honestly, Liz thought that would clear up fast, faced with the dungeon. Confronted by snarling monsters, and having to chain togetherplex spells, the background noise had a tendency of fading away. One of the reasons Liz liked delving so much. Much simpler. Kill or be killed. No stupid politics¡ªdelightfully refreshing. Natalie leading, the team sank into the ssy ck obsidian of the dungeon entrance, and their first serious delve began. 3.21 – Miniboss 3.21 ¨C Miniboss An enormous two-handed cleaver rocketed down at an armored woman with red hair¡ªandnded true. The mighty blow bisected her down the middle, and the over-sized de bit into soft dirt, embedding, carving all the way through. Meeting so little resistance, the troll nearly toppled over. Because it had been other-Natalie, the affectionate name Natalie used for thebat-illusion she¡¯d been practicing. Her illusory armored form parted like mist by the giant de, and not only had the troll wasted an attack on an enemy created from light and magic, but it found itself overextended and off bnce. Illusions. Even not meeting her potential with them, they were so damn useful. The upgrade from progression one to progression two had made it so much more functional, too. Natalie didn¡¯t waste the opportunity her spell had opened up. Grunting with exertion, she winded back, then swung her hammer with everything she had¡ªa blow slow and cumbersome enough she never would have tried it without such a clear advantage. The heavy chunk of metalnded into the troll¡¯s knee, and a grotesque crunch filled the air. Its leg bent inward, and it toppled, an imbnce from overextending itself bing a total failure. It roared, guttural and somehow piercing at the same time. She stumbled back barely in time to dodge another vicious sh¡ªa desperate attack flung out with surprising speed¡ªand with the eight-foot reach granted by its gigantic weapon, the troll almost reached her despite Natalie having expected the attack. But with thest ditch retaliatory strike missed, the fight was over. In slow, methodical fashion, Natalie and her team dispatched the crippled monster. They had been managing the beast even before a broken knee, so now, unable to even stand, the clean-up was a formality. Still, they did so meticulously¡ªa textbook execution. No point in getting sloppy in the final stretch. Shortly, their team had their first mini-boss kill. The ss orb that appeared inside the ck ribbons pouring from the disintegrating monster was unlike the smaller, mundane ones they had gathered from their dozens of other encounters. Stronger. *** Greater Monster Core - Tier 1 *** Jordan plucked the ball from the ground, holding it up to inspect it. ¡°Lucky us,¡± she said. Natalie nodded in agreement. Higher-tier monster cores were more likely than the one-in-three drop chance from regr monsters, but still not guaranteed. They¡¯d been fortunate with their loot in general, so far. Not to any incredible degree, but on the upper half of what could be expected. Which was good. Nothing soured a dungeon run like consistentlying up dry. Natalie wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, still heaving in breaths¡ªit had been a tough fight, as expected of a miniboss¡ªthen swept a gaze around, checking on the rest of her team. She¡¯d kept the troll¡¯s attention for most of the fight, but doing so one-hundred percent of the time was hard to manage. Dungeon monsters were more than happy to focus on whoever was getting in their face and making themselves an easy target, but not always. It was inevitable they¡¯d break free from the tank, here and there. Seeing the enemy charge her backline was probably the most nausea-inducing part of any given fight. It was understood that tanks couldn¡¯t lock down an opponent permanently, but Natalie would still me herself if anything happened to her teammates. She hadn¡¯t ever expected to fill the tank role, but since that was the fate that had befallen her, she took her responsibilities seriously. She was pleased to see that everyone was fine. Tired, of course, but fine. While difficult, the fight had been routine, as far as these things went. They¡¯d dispatched the monster without real difficulty. Natalie wasn¡¯t sure if they could have done so even just a few days ago¡ªnot to the same level ofpetence, at least. Even the half-week each of them had been down in the dungeon, practicing each evening, was paying dividends. They were noticeably better than when they¡¯d started. And better at operating as a unit, too. That was almost more important than individual skill. ¡°Now,¡± Sofia said. ¡°Time to find the loot.¡± Natalie snorted at that. Still panting from the fight, and Sofia was already suggesting they crawl across the arena to find their rewards? She seemed to be the one bringing their attention to that most often. No delver was immune to the excitement of shiny new items, but Sofia in particr had a glint in her eye whenever the potential for loot appeared. Putting her hammer away, Natalie inspected the arena with the rest of her team. There weren¡¯t any chests just sitting around, so it would take some digging around to find their reward. They¡¯d arrived to the Wispwood, one of the lessmon first-floor zones. Most dungeon floors were enclosed spaces, as the Cave had been, but the Wispwood was the opposite: wide and open, a sprawling forest set under perpetual dusk. Even the dungeon¡¯s open spaces were limited, though. The trees grew dense where the dungeon didn¡¯t want its delvers to venture, and attempts to push in those directions was generally unwise. Keeping to trails and clearings came with enough threats; the shadowed copses were best left unexplored. As for how there was an open sky underground ¡­ well. Who knew? Whether the dungeon sprawled beneath the surface, or some stranger ce between dimensions, was debatable. Portals did lead them in and out, so it was hard to say. The miniboss clearing they¡¯d recently finished their fight in was a de encircled by tall, crooked trees with gray trunks and blue-green leaves. Cast under a night sky, their surroundings only illuminated by the clean white light of theirnterns, a rather ominous atmosphere hung around the Wispwood. She kept catching glimpses of elongated shadow-monsters running between tree trunks, but it was probably her mind ying tricks on her. Trying to track the shadows never yielded anything. Plus, there were real monsters to worry about¡ªno point in concerning herself with the fake ones. And even if they were real, that just meant more monster cores. Always a good thing, in her book. The de itself, where they¡¯d fought the troll, was torn up from their battle. Groundy ripped and cleaved into, the hulking beast¡¯s attacks and even movements tearing grass wherever it had rampaged. It had been by far the strongest encounter they¡¯d faced¡ªobviously, being their first mini-boss. It made Natalie hesitate, considering what a real boss would be like. Then again, Natalie only had a sore shoulder and slightly dented shield to remember this fight by, and that would be gone in minutes as Liz¡¯s lingering healing effects patched her up. The loot was trickier to hunt down than usual. Sofia found it in a hollow log on the outskirts of the battle-worn arena. The way she scrunched up her nose and used her rapier to scrape away the dirt and bugs clinging to the decayed lock-box was so aggravating. Aggravatingly ¡­ not cute. Because really, what kind of delver cared about getting her hands dirty? She was even wearing gloves. And Natalie really wished that awful word kept intruding. Cute. Why did it appear whenever Sofia did something ¡­ Sofia-ish? ¡°Let¡¯s see what we got,¡± Sofia said, sounding pleased that she¡¯d been the one to track the chest down. ¡°Hopefully, this time it¡¯s something we can use.¡± 3.22 – Lockbox Yield 3.22 ¨C Lockbox Yield The lock-box, smaller than a typical loot chest, creaked open. Jordan and Liz bumped into Natalie as they all crowded together, peering over Sofia¡¯s shoulder to see what was inside. In pristine white gloves, Sofia held up their first spoils of war. *** Potion of Intermittent Invisibility Description For three minutes, alternate between invisibility and significantly increased visibility. Effect swaps every twenty seconds. *** The thin vial of clear liquid had bits of golden kes suspended inside; they glinted from the illumination offered by theirnterns, flickering and disappearing as Sofia turned the vial left and right. ¡°Invisibility,¡± Sofia said. ¡°That¡¯s a stronger effect than I¡¯d expect for our level.¡± ¡°Only twenty seconds,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Useless in a fight.¡± While invisibility would, of course, be enormously useful in normal circumstances, it was rendered rather useless when the effect swapped to the opposite: increased visibility. By the sounds of it, if a damage-dealer took the potion to nk opponents easier, when they switched to the detrimental half of the potion, their movements would be even easier to see¡ªand maybe the effect implied it would draw a monster¡¯s attention to them, making Natalie¡¯s job that much harder. ¡°But great for utility,¡± Sofia said. ¡°Making it through a hot zone, maybe. Sneaking a reward out. Something like that might being up.¡± The dungeon had a tendency to provide consumable rewards like this when a challenge suited to it was nearby. Not always, but often enough that over the centuries, a noticeable pattern had emerged. And even if they didn¡¯t want to use it, it¡¯d sell well. Invisibility, even short and alternating, was a better drop than they could¡¯ve hoped for, being level one. Though the ¡®increased visibility¡¯ did make it far less valuable than if it¡¯d been the real deal. Sofia handed the vial to Liz. The healer would be the person least likely to be tumbling around, and therefore possibly damaging the potion. Not that dungeon potions shattered easily, but they were far from invulnerable, too. They wouldn¡¯t block a weapon blow, say, or evennding the wrong way on it. The next item out barely fit inside the lock-box. *** Phantom Quiver Umon Lv. 1 Effects - Minor increase to Prowess. - Phantom Arrows. Fabricate ghostly ammunition that deals minor additional magical damage and has a low chance to apply a disorientation effect. Description Crafted from shimmering blue-and-silver fabric with a long, sturdy strap for carrying. *** It was their first umon. The rarity of an item wasn¡¯t the ultimate deciding factor of how valuable or useful it would be, but it was a pretty solid one, especially whenbined with the level requirement. The gaps between rarities were fairly significant. An umon, on average, sold for at least three times as much as amon, and likewise, a rare over an umon. The higher rarities¡ªepic, legendary, and divine treasures¡ªwere essentially impossible to find at lower levels, and especially at the beginner stage of level one. Triply so thest two rarities. Maybe there were a few epic pieces of loot floating around at level one, but probably only a couple across the entire world. The upper rarities were more typical at higher levels. As for the item itself. A quiver. It wasn¡¯t the best piece of loot for their team. Jordan could handle herself with a bow, and was even quite skilled with it, but her ss was a melee-focused poison one. She might receive more ranged abilities as she leveled, but that was only a maybe¡ªand once she leveled, the quiver would be outdated. So, while a decent item for her, not a perfect one, or even especially great. Sofia handed the item off to Jordan, probably making the same assumptions that it wasn¡¯t amazing on her, but even so, it belonged on the rogue. It wasn¡¯t like Sofia could use it, or anyone else. Maybe they would end up selling the item rather than using it on future delves, but for now, it would be wasteful for Jordan not to make use it in the interim. Jordan inspected the quiver, running an eye over its design as she turned the item around. She removed her previous quiver, slung the new one over her shoulder, and shifted her shoulders side to side as if to test the weight. Finally, she reached back and activated the item, withdrawing a ghostly, silver-white arrow, the supernatural object materializing with her intent. Most artifacts responded intuitively; Jordan didn¡¯t have to spend much time puzzling out how to use it. She nocked the arrow, lined her shot up, and released. It thudded into a far tree. ¡°Pretty nice,¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s a shame I¡¯m not an archer.¡± Which summed up everyone¡¯s thoughts. They continued looting. This being a mini-boss encounter, there was more to pick through than just a potion and a single piece of equipment. The next out was a bag, one of the more typical rewards from the dungeon: raw currency. Somehow, the bundle of coins ended up in Natalie¡¯s hands as Sofia continued to rummage. Idly, she opened the bag, then picked out one of the silver coins and turned it back and forth. The front had a symbol of a scythe, and the back, a deer. Or ¡­ sort of. Some of the dungeon¡¯s artwork could be breathtaking¡ªas the mural from their first delve¡ªbut some of it could be rather shoddy, as now. She could tell what the depictions were supposed to be, but they were crude, mis-proportioned and overall poorly made. The scythe was crooked in the shaft, and the deer¡¯s legs didn¡¯t seem quite right, even if she couldn¡¯t ce why. It hardly mattered, though. Silver was silver. Likely not all the way through, polluted by some lesser metal, and so the bag wasn¡¯t quite as valuable as a hefty bag of silver and bronze coins would normally be, but it would still fetch an impressive price. Bags of currency and gems, among other raw valuables, were amon drop. Though not the pinnacle of what a person could receive¡ªrare equipment being that¡ªraw valuables were still wee. They could be liquidated and traded for an item suited to your ss. Especially when items could turn out as simply duds, neither fitted to the party¡¯s use or valuable to the market, raw coins were never a bad drop. Silver and gold wasn¡¯t going out of style any time soon. She tossed the coin back into the bag, then tied the string. She tucked it into a pouch and returned her attention to Sofia rummaging through the loot chest. *** Nature''s Branch Umon Lv. 1 Effects - Moderate increase to magical Furor. - Nature''s Blessing. Single target heals apply to friendly targets the ssh effect, [Minor Rejuvenation]. Description A gnarled wooden wand covered in moss and leaves. It emanates a gentle, earthy aroma, and is rough to the touch. *** Natalie¡¯s eyebrows went up. There was an item suited to one of them. ¡°Oh,¡± Liz said. ¡°Neat.¡± She sounded sheepish rather than excited. Natalie understood; it could be awkward having such a great, personally-tailored item dropping for you, because the standard way teams worked was that items someone ¡®needed¡¯ went straight to them, without ounting for perfect distribution of delve earnings. So, the fortune was almost entirely Liz¡¯s, not the team¡¯s. Loot could be a tricky thing to navigate for some groups, but Natalie doubted anyone here cared overmuch about it. Jordan and Sofia just seemed intrigued by the item, and Ana¡ªwell, Ana was Ana. Maybe she was cared, maybe she didn¡¯t. Her expression didn¡¯t provide any hints. Plus, gearing out the team¡¯s healer was never a bad thing. That applied to every role, but especially tanks and healers. Those two kept the rest alive. Liz yed around with the wand, testing it out, and when Sofia closed and opened the lock box onest time, it revealed an empty interior. Dried up¡ªno more loot. With two umons, it had been a good yield, though nothing crazy. Natalie was a bit disappointed she hadn¡¯t gotten anything herself, but that was the way of the dungeon. With a day and change of delving ahead of them, there were plenty of opportunities left. 3.23 – Others 3.23 ¨C Others They continued to work through the dungeon. For all of thebyrinth¡¯s infinite variance andplexity, it could be oddly formic, too. Fight monsters. Deal with puzzle rooms. Look for traps. Seek out hidden loot. The exact shape of each encounter changed¡ªand often by a significant amount¡ªbut the overall structure was quite simr from run to run. Their ultimate goal was to find a boss room. Beyond wanting an ess way down to the second floor, bosses came with incredible loot¡ªand a big boost to experience. However, they were found far away from ¡®spawn-in¡¯ points, and could take time to track down. Luck yed a factor, as it always did in the dungeon. Or life in general. But with enough time and consistency, they would find one. It would just take more or less effort. Their steady progress through the dungeon, seeking out a boss, was interrupted by something unexpected. Other delvers. The encounter happened rather suddenly. One moment they¡¯d been progressing through the dirt pathways lined by thick vegetation of the Wispwood, then they¡¯d turned a corner, and at the end of the long, twisting route, a formation of five armored individuals appeared, swinging around the far end and arriving to the junction at the same time as Natalie¡¯s group. As if by providence. Likely, the dungeon had engineered the meet-up. Or, it could be a coincidence. You couldn¡¯t ever know for sure when it came to the dungeon. Regardless, they hadpany. Bumping into other delvers was rare. Not extraordinarily so, but far frommon. Most delves, even long ones, a party wouldn¡¯t ever stumble onto another group. This was Natalie¡¯s first time having it happen, and at a guess, Ana and Liz¡¯s too. Their nerves were immediately set on edge, and by the tensing posture from a good distance away, the other party of five, too. The reasons why were obvious. Surviving the dungeon¡¯s monsters was difficult but feasible, but going up against an aggressive party of equally prepared delvers? The risk of a lethal encounter leveled out much closer to fifty-fifty than any reasonable person would befortable taking. Especially because, if it turned out they were hostile, thening out unscathed, without anyone being injured or killed, was shockingly difficult. Monsters were tough, but other delvers¡ªentire parties of them¡ªobviously much more so. Killer parties¡ªdelvers hunting other delvers with lethal intent¡ªweren¡¯t that rare, either. Rare, but not exceedingly so. Delvers were walking boxes of loot, from an enterprising and moralitycking perspective. Wiping another squad meant five people worth of gear, and whatever loot they¡¯d gathered from their delve so far. Even taking out a level-one party meant a major payday. Strangely, the dungeon both encouraged and discouraged party-versus-partybat. Or maybe the system encouraged it, and the dungeon did the opposite. Because killing other delvers gave huge experience boosts¡ªit was maybe the fastest way to level. But oddly, the dungeon pushed back on that; killing other delvers was, in a simr but opposite vein, the quickest way to have the dungeon doing its best to kill you. In the best of cases, the dungeon wasn¡¯t friendly, but to parties actively seeking other delvers to kill? Natalie obviously didn¡¯t know first hand, but apparently, the dungeon turned into a hellscape. Doubly so for delvers who were overleveled, such as a party of level fives seeking out level threes. The dungeon would eat people like those alive. All that said, robbing was more than on the table. One party pummeling another into submission, then stealing their gear and earnings, wouldn¡¯t bother the dungeon. Only killings. Which were less frequent but still happened. Hence, why the two groups tensed at seeing each other. For a long moment, there was an awkward stare-off. ¡°What¡¯s the n?¡± Natalie asked, keeping an eye on the five individuals. From a distance, she couldn¡¯t make out many details. Three women and two men, at a guess, though the vanguard¡ªthe tank¡ªwore enough heavy armor for it to ambiguous. His helmet obscured his, or her, face. By his tall and bulky figure, though, Natalie assumed a man. ¡°If they let us, we leave,¡± Sofia said. ¡°I¡¯m not interested in ¡­ whatever.¡± She frowned. ¡°But I don¡¯t think that¡¯s going to be a choice we have.¡± Indeed, the opposing group had decided how they wanted to handle this much faster than them. They had started approaching. Notably, without sheathing their weapons. They didn¡¯t hold them up and at the ready, either, but not dis-arming themselves wasn¡¯t a great first indicator. At the same time, Natalie couldn¡¯t me them. She had zero intentions of putting her weapon away, either. They at least didn¡¯t seem to be heading for them with hostile intent. Retreating wasn¡¯t an option. Or, it was, but not a smart one. Fleeing into the unknown pathways of the dungeon¡ªeven pathways they¡¯d cleared¡ªcould throw them into an encounter with a monster, only to have a charging enemy delving party crashing into their rear. It¡¯d be a tactical disaster. Better to face it head on. She took sce in the fact killer parties were rare, and in the more likely worst case scenario, they were simply in for a brutal fight where their attackers tried to rob them. The average case would be a tense, ufortable greeting, then everyone going their way. Most people didn¡¯t want to deal with the headache of a party-versus-party fight. While lucrative, it caused problems with political and legal situations on the surface, and beyond that, was too risky from a immediate standpoint. Who knew how strong your opponents were? What if you lost? Even in the best case, you¡¯d probably be dealing with a squad with their own set of serious injuries, even if you came out on top. ¡°Who goes there?¡± a masculine voice shouted. The man in heavy armor, the tank, was indeed a man, then. ¡°Identify yourselves.¡± As the party came closer into view, Natalie¡¯s eyes widened in surprise. Following to the tank¡¯s right, daggers held down but still ready, was a tall woman with long, bundled up red hair and sharp green eyes. Natalie didn¡¯t recognize her immediately, because she usually wore her hair straight, even during spars. But not, apparently, in the dungeon. Elida. Which made this group of five, likely, one of the few teams at T who could flounce them. Not easily, but a fight would be close to a foregone result. Natalie understood why they hadn¡¯t hesitated to approach; as far as teams went, this one didn¡¯t need to fear much. Possibly even from a group higher level than them. More importantly, Elida. Aligned with House Parda-Halt¡ªbumping into Liz, of House Beaumon. Perhaps the most antagonistic rtionship within all five major Houses. Surely that wouldn¡¯t be causing any issues. 3.24 – Fortuitous 3.24 ¨C Fortuitous It technically wasn¡¯t the worst case scenario. That would have been a party hunting down enemy delving groups with intent to kill. Indeed, their opposition was a group of other T students, so their literal safety¡ªin the lethal sense¡ªwas assured. Maybe tensions between House Beaumon and Parda-Halt were high, but Natalie was ny-nine percent sure that murder wasn¡¯t on the table. Especially since Liz wasn¡¯t that important inside House Beaumon. Though maybe that was worse for their situation. Natalie really wouldn¡¯t know. Politics. Elida¡¯s party wasposed of, unsurprisingly, five people in the archetypalyout. Elida herself was her team¡¯s rogue. The heavily armored boy at the front, the tank, hadn¡¯t removed his helm, so Natalie couldn¡¯t make out much of him. From his gear alone, though, she could tell he was even more defensively focused than the average tank. She thought his name was Otto, but wasn¡¯t sure. The fighter, a boy with green hair, a crooked nose, and a scar on his lower lip, Natalie recognized from yesterday¡¯s spars. Another member of ss twelve, as Elida. She couldn¡¯t remember his name. He¡¯d been good¡ªas all of ss twelve. Finally, the backline wasposed of their healer, a girl with long brown hair, and a mage with short orange hair. Natalie didn¡¯t recognize the mage, but the healer was another of ss twelve. That wasn¡¯t surprising;petent delvers usually wanted to group with one another. Natalie didn¡¯t get a chance to make more than a superficial appraisal of her opponents. Arriving within a distance they could casually speak, Elida was happy to take the opportunity. ¡°My, my, my,¡± the red-head¡¯s amused voice rang out. ¡°What do we have here? Is that you, dear Elizabeth? And your wonderful collection of strays, no less. How fortuitous of a meeting.¡± By the girl¡¯s tone alone, Natalie¡¯s hopes that this encounter wouldn¡¯t be antagonistic evaporated. Now, she just hoped it would be refrained to insults. Even that she found herself dubious on. The glint in Elida¡¯s eyes was a bit too excited¡ªa bit too opportunistic. ¡°Elida,¡± Liz returned frostily. ¡°Yes. How nice to see you.¡± Hearing Liz take an unfriendly tone was, funny enough, the most shocking part of everything. Natalie got the sudden impression that more than a house rivalry, there was some personal dislike mixed in between these two girls. Which, great. Even better. The ¡®collection of strays¡¯ment hadn¡¯t endeared Elida to Natalie, obviously, and she was definitely pissed off from it, but she was still digesting what was going on. She would really rather this unfortunate encounter wrap up cleanly and without incident. She wanted to be on with delving¡ªseeking out a boss, not dealing with T politics. ¡°And you as well, of course,¡± Elida said politely, her expression belying the seemingly friendly tone. The two girls studied each other for a long moment, when Elida finally continued: ¡°So. How¡¯s the delve going, Lizzy?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t call me that,¡± Liz said tly. Elida¡¯s grin widened at the response. She didn¡¯t address it. ¡°We haven¡¯t been having much luck, ourselves. Not a single umon, the whole way through¡ªand we¡¯ve found two mini bosses. The dungeon¡¯s being stingy, today.¡± Natalie would¡¯ve sympathized¡ªthat was rather unfortunate¡ªbut for obvious reasons, failed to dredge up any empathy. ¡°I was starting to wonder whether the whole expedition would be so unlucky,¡± Elida continued. ¡°But, ah, it neversts forever. Here it is. Our windfall. In such wonderful form.¡± Her eyes roved across Natalie¡¯s party, the predatory smirk apanying her words making her intentions clear. Natalie internally grimaced. Not that she was surprised. She¡¯d had a feeling what this would turn into the moment they¡¯d bumped into another party¡ªand doubly so when it turned out to be Elida. ¡°I like that wand, especially,¡± Elida said. ¡°Is it new? I wonder how much it¡¯ll go for on the Exchange.¡± Liz¡¯s grip tightened on the shaft of wood. She, like Natalie, didn¡¯t seem surprised at the threat. So. This would being to a fight, then. Natalie scanned the faces of Elida¡¯s team. Though the red-haired woman had jumped to the implication of a fight in just a few sentences, the rest of her team didn¡¯t seem half as eager. Rather, all four of them seemed ufortable by this encounter. Though not unwilling. They might not want to attack Natalie¡¯s group, but it was clear where their allegiancesy. If Elida¡ªthe clear leader of the this group, by status if not literally¡ªtold them to, then they would. And Natalie didn¡¯t like her team¡¯s odds. At least three of their opponents were from ss twelve, which yesterday¡¯s spars had shown to be, probably, the best students of the year. As expected of Elida¡¯s teammates¡ªwho Camille predicted to be easily within the top five, possibly the best single student of the year. No, if it came to a fight, Natalie didn¡¯t see them winning. That stung, and she had zero intentions to roll over and give up, but she could still face the facts. They were outmatched. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t,¡± Liz finally said. ¡°It¡¯s against T policy.¡± The statement was endearing, though it made Natalie want to snort. She had a feeling Elida didn¡¯t care much about policy. And attacking other students in the dungeon wasn¡¯t an expeble offense. Not an insignificant one, either, but T didn¡¯t mind letting rivalries foster between their students. Conflict created better delvers. Just no killing. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t?¡± Elida asked innocently. She looked around, blinking to her teammates, in fake surprise. ¡°If you ask me, not taking easy pickings when they arrive¡ªthat would be uncharacteristic. But I understand. You¡¯ve always had too high of an opinion of me, Lizzy. I¡¯m not half as nice as you think I am.¡± ¡°I said don¡¯t call me that,¡± Liz growled. Again, the hostile response had Natalie off-foot. She¡¯d never heard Liz be more than mildly annoyed, much less outright angry. ¡°And I think in exchange for a pay day, we can handle some kitchen duty,¡± Elida said. ¡°See, I don¡¯t mind getting my hands dirty. In fact, I quite like it.¡± She tilted her head. ¡°But more importantly than the loot,¡± Elida said, ¡°getting to take a Beaumon down a few notches. That¡¯s the real prize.¡± ¡°One correction,¡± Natalie said. Elida turned to her, seeming surprised that Natalie had spoken. Both teams had remained quiet, this clearly being¡ªmore than anything¡ªan encounter between Beaumon and Parda-Halt. Still, the surprise annoyed Natalie more, somehow, than everything else. As if it wasn¡¯t Natalie¡¯s ce to be inserting herself into this encounter, when her team¡ªand she herself¡ªhad also been threatened. ¡°Oh?¡± Elida asked, sounding genuinely intrigued. ¡°You said easy pickings,¡± Natalie said. ¡°I¡¯m going to have fun proving that wrong.¡± She shrugged. ¡°Just wanted to say that.¡± Maybe an attempt as deesction was the proper way to handle this. But not only had Elida pissed her off, but she didn¡¯t think defusing the situation was possible. The heavens had clearly intervened to make this happen. Considering who was on their team, and who was on the enemy¡¯s, there weren¡¯t many ways this ended without violence. ¡°My,¡± Elida said, appraising Natalie in a new light. ¡°Maybe that¡¯s even true.¡± She smiled. ¡°For strays, I will admit I¡¯ve been impressed. Natalie, right?¡± ¡°So is it a fight, or what?¡± Natalie asked. She had no interest in sparring verbally with this woman. She¡¯d probably lose. Natalie would normally take sce in the fact she could win the real fight, but that wasn¡¯t true either, likely. She rolled her grip on her hammer, annoyed at that. ¡°And so eager, too,¡± Elida said. ¡°It¡¯s a shame you¡¯re with Lizzy. I think I like you.¡± Her eyes flicked across the group, to the rest of Natalie¡¯s team. ¡°Please know it¡¯s not personal. You four are simply on the wrong side of the line. It¡¯s how these things go.¡± An attack and robbery, mixed with insults, wasn¡¯t personal? Somehow, Natalie even sensed that Elida meant it. Nobility. ¡°But yes,¡± Elida said. ¡°A fight.¡± She raised her daggers, then sneered. ¡°If you can call it that.¡± 3.25 – Brawl 3.25 ¨C Brawl Without further ado, the fight broke out. With so many moving pieces, even a normal dungeon encounter could be chaotic. But five trained delvers against five others? From the moment the melee started, Natalie lost track of her surroundings. The boy, Otto, in heavy te armor charged her, and what Jordan, Sofia, and the rest of her team were doing didn¡¯t matter, couldn¡¯t matter, else Natalie would lose her own fight. Likely, the fighters, tanks, and rogues would match up against each other, with the mage and healer ying in the backline. The start of the fight would be individual spars with wild elements of who the healer and mage helped. From there, as the sub-fights were decided, the rest of the group would copse. A five on five was tenable, but five-on-four, once the first person was knocked out? Numbers advantage was a real thing¡ªoverwhelmingly so. As in T-sponsored spars, HP would decide who surrendered, not literal incapacitation. Once that magical resource dipped low enough it didn¡¯t offer enough protection to stave off serious injury, each participant would surrender. Or be too stunned to keep fighting back in the first ce; having your HP sent to zero could be debilitating in its own right. But this wasn¡¯t a fight to the death. Still, it was probably a fight for everything they owned, and would set them back horrendously if they lost, so Natalie intended to give it everything she had. And not just for her own sake, but Liz¡¯s too. Otto barreled forward, braced into his shield, and for all his bulky armor, the gap closed with shocking speed. A part of Natalie stubbornly wanted to meet him head-on, to test her strength against his own, but the pragmatist in her admitted it would be rather one-sided. As a level one, her ss hadn¡¯t closed the gap between sexes yet; she couldn¡¯t match Otto¡¯s bulk, even aided by her ss. And at a guess, the boy was even more of a juggernaut than the typical tank. That said, she couldn¡¯t let him charge through. She suspected he¡¯d head straight for the backline if Natalie side-stepped and refused to engage. She had to keep his attention. She settled for the middle ground. She stepped to the side, but made sure to throw her entire weight into a counter-bash as he came charging forward. Her shoulder jarred as she essentially bounced off of him, shield nging¡ªthough he at least grunted and stumbled, momentum faltering. He recovered and faced her, then raised his short-sword and advanced. Natalie struggled to regain her own footing from having been repelled by a mountain of metal. Her attack had been less potent than she¡¯d expected, and it took her a second to ce why. Because for once, Liz hadn¡¯t empowered Natalie with her strengthening buff. It was disorienting, since Natalie had been fighting with the enhancement practically all day. But she knew the reasoning behind the choice. Likely, the spell had gone to Jordan. She had the hardest match-up: Elida herself. If Elida disabled Jordan, then joined the fray in two-on-ones against the other standing members of the party, they¡¯d crumple in moments. Though maximizing power and durability to the tank was the usual best y, clearly, Jordan was the appropriate target in this brawl. So, Natalie against Otto. Tank against tank. Before the fight devolved into true chaos, with members dropping out of the fray from defeat, it would be a more traditional duel, with asional interference from the backline. Natalie took the lead on the next exchange. No longer ipetent with her spellcasting abilities, her [Illusion] sprang to life, orchestrated with a quick swipe of her hammer, which crashed into Otto¡¯s tower shield with a resounding ng, and made the boy grunt with the impact. As far as match-ups went, hammer against heavy armor was one of the better ones. A spiked mace would¡¯ve been better, but a hammer wasn¡¯t shabby. An illusory second-Natalie shimmered into existence, oveid on top of her. It was one of Natalie¡¯s favorite applications of the skill against intelligent enemies. Her illusions could be seen through with some effort¡ªhow easily depended on her opponent and their stats¡ªbut trying to track multiple pairs of arms and weapons and discern which were real could be devastatingly difficult in the middle of a brawl. Maybe other applications were better from a raw efficacy standpoint, but Natalie found the illusory limbs fit with her style. She supplemented her melee capabilities, ying to her strengths, not trying to be something she wasn¡¯t. Tess¡¯s advice. More than that, Natalie tapped into [Empower]. While a disgustingly expensive ability when speaking from a long-term perspective, basically trading experience for a stronger attack, what better time to use it than when her team was about to be robbed for everything they were worth? Doubling the strength of a skill was incredible, but it wasn¡¯t some instant fight-ender, either. Especially when, while her spellcasting had improved drastically, she was no archmage. Still, it worked beautifully. Illusory limbs sprung up around Natalie, and behind the boy¡¯s facete, Natalie saw a furrowed brow, eyes flicking around, trying to pick the correct one. They exchanged blows. Natalie caught a sh of his short sword on her shield, then followed the blocked attack up¡ªher intent hidden by her mirage of limbs¡ªwith a swipe of her hammer. Otto instinctively positioned himself to eat the impact, except he did so for the wrong one, falling victim to the empowered illusion. A harmless construct of light disintegrated as it mmed into his shield, and Natalie¡¯s real attack crashed into his exposed side. Hammer bit into te, and Otto grunted in pain, a dent left behind. He retaliated with a shield bash, but Natalie had already stepped away. Otto¡¯s te armor and physique meant he could take a hit better than her, but she was the more maneuverable. Otto eyed her from behind the slit of his te helm, clearly caught off guard by the strength of her illusions, and Natalie sneered in return. She didn¡¯t have a problem with him in specific, she guessed, big-picture speaking, but the reaction had been instinctive. He stepped forward, shield raised, and Natalie tensed for another charge¡ªbut then, unexpectedly, he stomped. The ground crumpled beneath her, and her footing became unsteady. Nothing an empowered [Illusion] could do about that. Her opponent lunged forward, shoulder braced into his tower shield, and Natalie barely got her own defenses up in time. Hundreds of pounds of metal crashed into her, empowered by a ss, and she was knocked over withical ease. She crashed into the ground, head bouncing off tight-packed dirt, and her breath was stolen from her, head left ringing. Instinct alone had her rolling sideways, avoiding the second of the boy¡¯s earth-cracking stomps. His skill, Natalie registered, but so much stronger than she¡¯d expected. She climbed to her feet, only to beid low a second time. His sword scraped against her thigh, the easiest to reach exposed area, and the blow bit into reinforced leather and drew blood. HP ate some of the attack, but it wasn¡¯t a critical area, so it didn¡¯t stop it in its tracks. Natalie clumsily bashed his follow-up, then regained her footing. But she was on the back-foot, now. Her head still spun from crashing into the ground. She¡¯d known whoever Elida¡¯s tank was would be one of the best of the year¡ªbut losing this quickly? She wasn¡¯t even holding her own, really. She was being pped around. Even having used [Empower]. She exchanged a few more blows with Otto, but even direct impacts only seemed to make him grunt, and he had adapted to her illusory limbs with shocking speed. His own retaliations were brutal, too. For her initial appraisal of seeming defense-focused, his offense wasn¡¯tcking in the slightest. The opposite. Then, out of nowhere, a dagger shed across Natalie¡¯s throat, and she felt her HP evaporate. It scraped sideways, drawing blood but not biting deep, repelled by that vital resource. The exhaustion that impacted her with such a would-have-been lethal attack had Natalie¡¯s stamina disappearing all at once, and she copsed into the ground, instantly limp. Elida, it seemed, had won against Jordan, and was working through the rest of them¡ªstarting with Natalie. The redheaded woman spared a smirk for her, then dashed for the backline. Otto nudged her hammer away with his foot. ¡°Stay down. You¡¯re out.¡± Natalie couldn¡¯t even reply, still gasping in air, vision ck at the edges, so yeah. She didn¡¯t need to be told. The words barely registered. Otto joined Elida, headed for Liz and Ana. When Natalie had halfway recovered¡ªwhich only took a few moments, but that was forever in a fight¡ªshe struggled up onto an elbow and looked around. Her team had been swiftly disabled. All five of their opponents were standing. They hadn¡¯t even taken one with them. Easy pickings, Elida had said. Natalie and her team hadn¡¯t proved that wrong. 3.26 – Defeat 3.26 ¨C Defeat If there was one piece of credit Jordan could give to their assaulters, it was that they didn¡¯t gloat about their victory. Well, besides Elida. But the smirk she wore as she had Liz strip off her gear and hand it over seemed to be for Liz alone. By Jordan¡¯s appraisal, Elida genuinely didn¡¯t care about rubbing the victory in to anyone else. To her, everyone else¡¯s involvement¡ªincluding her own team¡¯s¡ªwas incidental. This had been between Beaumon and Parda-Halt. Jordan had known they¡¯d be getting mixed up with something political,ing to T. While maybe spared the full intrigue of a court, the campus was swarming with allyers of nobility, and from other countries, even. That she, Natalie, and Sofia had decided to team up with a Beaumon meant political consequences would being for them. Just, she hadn¡¯t expected it to be so soon, and in such a dramatic fashion. What were the odds that the Beaumon¡¯s arch-nemesis had bumped into them on their first long delve out? Astronomically low, she would have figured, but here they were. All things considered, their team wasn¡¯t in horrible shape. All of them had been taken out of the fight, HP dismantled and left stunned, but no idents had happened¡ªand idents did, on asion. HP wasn¡¯t the most reliable resource when it came to ensuring someone¡¯s safety, even if it usually saved your life, as long as you had the points to spare. But beyond some cuts, bruises, and bumps, their team hadn¡¯t taken any grievous injuries. It was the kind of beating a night¡¯s rest would take care of, thanks to their sses. Jordan had honestly been beaten up worse in spars. The emotional¡ªand situational¡ªdamage was much worse. Elida and her group took, as she had implied they would, nearly everything they owned. Not just their earnings from the hours delving prior, like Jordan¡¯s quiver and Liz¡¯s wand, but the gear they¡¯d spent putting together for the past week. Elida¡¯s teammates at least had the good grace to look awkward about it. ¡°We¡¯ll leave you your weapons,¡± Elida said. ¡°Besides Lizzy, of course. And your supplies. So you can fight your way out. If you five got killed, it would look bad on us.¡± The humiliating event was at least short-lived. Jordan and her team were forced to peel off their relevant gear and hand it over, and the items went tucked into the opposing team¡¯s monster cores, but with that done, Elida and her group departed, punctuated by a dainty wave of the red-head¡¯s fingers. She had eyes only for Liz as her group departed down the trail of the Wispwood. The smirk was so tant¡ªand well-earned¡ªthat it grated even Jordan¡¯s nerves. And so her team sat in a scattered circle, in a motley arrangement of mundane armor and inclothes, stripped of their belongings¡ªand more importantly, their pride. A cloud hung over them, and nobody spoke. Even Jordan wasn¡¯t immune to the sour mood, and she usually could brush past this sort of thing. But this was a more infuriating event than usual, because she held the lion¡¯s share fault for the defeat. She had been the quickest to be downed, and the moment she¡¯d failed to keep Elida¡¯s attention, the enemy rogue had decimated her way through the rest of Jordan¡¯s teammates. Rationally, she knew she couldn¡¯t be faulted for that, not fully. Elida was possibly the best student of their year. That Jordan had crumpled in a direct duel against her was inevitable. She recognized this from a practical standpoint. Still, like all delvers, she had apetitive streak, and would have liked to have held off her opponent for a bit longer. Maybe if she had, then one of her teammates could have won their bout, and when Jordan finally fell, it would have been a four-on-four. Instead, Jordan hadsted all of half a minute. She could barely remember the fight, even. Elida was a demon. For all her poise and smirks, she was no less vicious with her daggers than her tongue. Looking back on it, Jordan was almost impressed she hadsted as long she had. Jordan sighed. It would be on her to smooth this over, she could tell. Who else would try to rally the team after something so morale-breaking? And that did need to be done. Sometimes delving wasn¡¯t aboutbat. As with any venture operating in teams, the human element couldn¡¯t be discounted. The heavens knew Natalie, Ana, or Sofia wouldn¡¯t be taking care of it, trying to bring the team back together. Liz, Jordan figured, would usually do so, but she seemed to be in the worst mood of everyone. Understandably so. The poor girl was slumped over and staring at the ground, fists clenched on herp. Elida hadn¡¯t even left her her weapon. Ignoring her own shame, Jordan stood and stretched, rolling out sore muscles and groaning in an exaggerated way. ¡°Okay,¡± she said. ¡°That sucked. But no point in moping.¡± Four pairs of eyes turned to her. ¡°What?¡± Jordan said. ¡°It¡¯s not the end of the world. Don¡¯t be babies.¡± She received a few different expressions at that. Natalie was of course the person her attention gravitated to first, and her best friend was, to no one¡¯s surprise, practically seething where she sat¡ªand the re pivoted Jordan¡¯s way at the dismissive words. Jordan could feel the heat radiating from her, and that disoriented her, even if she knew Natalie wasn¡¯t actually mad at her. The girl was just someone who burned hot. Jordan rolled her eyes, which Natalie probably didn¡¯t like, but she wouldn¡¯t pull everyone out of the slump by being timid. She turned her attention to the others, more worried for them. Natalie¡¯s anger, while smoldering right now, would cool shortly. Liz¡¯s depression, Sofia¡¯s icy rage, and Ana¡¯s¡ªwell, who knew what Ana was thinking, like usual¡ªJordan expected would be more difficult to handle. They all seemed irritated at her, which was good news, and had been the intent at the goading words. Anything to drag their focus away from their thrashing and robbery. ¡°It¡¯s really not,¡± Jordan said. ¡°And stop looking at me like that. Boo-hoo, we lost a fight.¡± She pped her hands together. ¡°Come on. Let¡¯s start figuring this out. It¡¯s a little setback, but what¡¯d you all expect, bing delvers? For everything to be easy?¡± That drew even more irritation, which, again, was what she¡¯d been aiming for. Better mad at her than hunched over and depressed. ¡°So,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Seriously. Let¡¯s talk it out.¡± 3.27 – Quagmire 3.27 ¨C Quagmire ¡°A little setback,¡± Sofia finally replied. ¡°That¡¯s what this is? A little setback.¡± ¡°From a big picture viewpoint, I¡¯d say so, yeah,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Or, maybe a bit of a problem, speaking for the here and now. But all that means is that it¡¯s even more important we figure stuff out.¡± It didn¡¯t bait out any further responses; Natalie and Sofia red at her, Liz stayed slumped over, and even Ana seemed annoyed¡ªJordan thought. Hard to read. She didn¡¯t wholly fault them for the reactions. But it would be easiest to drag them out of the quagmire before they sank too deep, so she stayed on the offensive. After being the primary point of failure in the fight itself, Jordan felt doubly responsible for doing so. ¡°First question, I guess,¡± Jordan said, ¡°is are we fighting our way back to town, or forging forward?¡± ¡°Keep going?¡± Ana asked. ¡°Without gear?¡± She didn¡¯t sound like she disagreed, but rather was bringing the point up. Jordan perked up at that. ¡°Unless we think we can¡¯t handle it,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Can we?¡± Natalie scoffed, Sofia pursed her lips, and Ana tilted her head. ¡°A boss would be unwise,¡± Ana said. ¡°But I supposeteral advancement should still be within our capabilities.¡± Jordan was pleased to hear that, matching with Ana¡¯s nk demeanor, that she seemed mostly unaffected, despite the hint of irritation. Maybe she was harboring resentment or anger beneath the mask, but for the purpose of discussing their short term future, she wasposed enough. ¡°And it¡¯s not like heading back to town helps,¡± Natalie seethed. ¡°Won¡¯t get our stuff back. Doubt T¡¯s would do a second loan for us, either. We¡¯re fucked.¡± ¡°Elida took too much,¡± Liz said quietly ¡°And she knows it. There¡¯s policy for this sort of thing. T doesn¡¯t mind rivalry, but this is sabotage. She¡¯ll have to pay us back. T will make her.¡± ¡°That was her n,¡± Ana said. ¡°Because paying us back doesn¡¯t matter. It sets us back for the weekend, and getting our items backter doesn¡¯t fix that.¡± ¡°No, it doesn¡¯t,¡± Liz agreed. ¡°That was her n.¡± She stared down at herp, fists clenched. Natalie stared at the defeated-looking Liz, then visibly grew more agitated¡ªthough at what specifically, Jordan wasn¡¯t sure. ¡°Yeah, whatever,¡± Natalie said loudly. ¡°Who cares? She¡¯s a bitch, we¡¯ll figure out what to do about herter, but for now, how¡¯s our delve working?¡± She nodded at Jordan. Jordan smiled, pleased Natalie had turned her anger in a productive direction. She had expected that to happen, though not this quickly. At a guess, Natalie had been spurred on by seeing Liz look so crushed. ¡°So, we¡¯ll keep going, then,¡± Jordan said. ¡°The weekend doesn¡¯t have to be a total wash. We can work through the first floor and find as much loot as we can. While doing so, we can find a boss room, maybe even two, but not enter them. Once we¡¯re halfway geared up again, we can backtrack and tackle them¡ªif we¡¯re feelingfortable.¡± ¡°I guess it¡¯s a good thing we¡¯re so low level,¡± Sofia said. There was still icy rage harbored in her tone, but she seemed to be grappling control of it. ¡°Gear matters less. It¡¯s possible we could even handle a boss without it.¡± Okay, Jordan wasn¡¯t sure about that, but she appreciated the confidence, and how the mood seemed to be turning upward. Besides Liz, at least. ¡°And everyone¡¯s okay, right?¡± Jordan asked. The answer was clear enough, else she¡¯d have addressed it much sooner, but it was worth bringing up. ¡°Got a killer headache,¡± Natalie muttered. ¡°But yeah. I¡¯m fine.¡± ¡°I can make do,¡± Sofia replied. Ana nodded. Everyone¡¯s attention turned to Liz, who seemed to shrink in on herself. ¡°Oh, please,¡± Natalie said suddenly. ¡°If you¡¯re ming yourself for this, or think we¡¯re upset at you, you¡¯ll piss me off.¡± Liz blinked rapidly, and Jordan paused, too. Though she understood what Natalie was going for. What Nataliecked in tact, she made up for in earnestness. ¡°I mean,¡± Liz mumbled. ¡°It kind of is my fault. Wouldn¡¯t have happened if you didn¡¯t team with me.¡± ¡°You think we¡¯re stupid, then?¡± Liz seemed taken aback. ¡°What?¡± ¡°You think we didn¡¯t know we¡¯d have to deal with this?¡± Natalie asked heatedly. ¡°House politics? When we teamed with a Beaumon?¡± ¡°But ¡­¡± ¡°You think we didn¡¯t sign up for it?¡± ring wasn¡¯t usually the best way to cheer someone up, but in this situation, it did. Liz stared at Natalie for a long moment, then visibly rxed. ¡°I¡¯m still sorry,¡± Liz said. ¡°This isn¡¯t something you four should have been dragged into. Elida is ¡­¡± ¡°A bitch,¡± Sofia offered. A quietugh from Liz. ¡°I guess that¡¯s a good word.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll figure out what to do about herter,¡± Natalie said. ¡°But like Jordan said, more important things to focus on.¡± She grunted as she climbed to her feet¡ªshe hadn¡¯t fully recovered from the fight, Jordan could tell. ¡°So?¡± Natalie asked. ¡°What¡¯s the n?¡± Again, four pairs of eyes turned to Jordan. ¡°Reality does need to be faced,¡± Jordan said. ¡°All five of us had our HP broken. It¡¯d be reckless to head off as we are. I think anything more needs to wait until tomorrow. We¡¯ll set an early camp and head out after we recover.¡± ¡°Nah,¡± Natalie said. ¡°It¡¯s fine. We can keep going. As long as I don¡¯t get hit, HP doesn¡¯t matter.¡± That was a very Natalie statement, and Jordan considered how best to tell her she was being an idiot. Sofia, unfortunately, had a quicker reaction. She raised two prim, incredulous eyebrows at Natalie, and Natalie almost growled in response, seeing it. Jordan cut off the bickering before it could begin. Passions had cooled between the two rivals¡ªor shifted¡ªbut in this situation, with everybody on edge from the events prior, Jordan sensed a real argument could break out. ¡°It¡¯lle down to a vote,¡± Jordan said. ¡°And mine¡¯s to camp now. It¡¯s not worth the risk.¡± ¡°We need to make up time,¡± Natalie insisted. ¡°An early camp and early rise is the same from a time efficiency standpoint,¡± Ana said, as logical as always. ¡°In fact, resting first means we¡¯ll be in better condition and make better time. So it¡¯s objectively the better choice. I vote to camp as well.¡± Natalie couldn¡¯t argue that¡ªlike most things Ana said¡ªbut she didn¡¯t seem happy about it. Jordan knew her best friend well enough to tell why. Natalie needed something to hit. That was how she burned off stress. She didn¡¯t work things out by thinking them through, and so she wanted to keep delving¡ªa way to work off steam. Jordan had some other ideas for stress relief, but saying so right now was obviously not appropriate. Once the rest of the team was asleep. ¡°I guess that¡¯s true,¡± Natalie finally ground out. ¡°Fine. Camp first.¡± Looking around at the team and receiving nods, Jordan could tell they were in agreement. ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s do that. We¡¯ll make up lost time tomorrow.¡± 3.28 – Camp 3.28 ¨C Camp The team set up camp efficiently. Though they had brought tents should they arrive to a biome that needed them, the Wispwood was a moderate enough climate they weren¡¯t necessary. So, after setting up a fire and their sleeping bags, they ate their respective meals then settled down for the night. Natalie got the first shift. It wasn¡¯tmon for the dungeon to send monsters after sleeping delvers, but it happened. More than that, enemy delvers could wander onto them. Which would be just about their luck. So, best to have somebody ready to sound the rm. She posted up on a log a short distance away. Being away from the smoldering fire helped keep cold, which kept her alert. After the past hours, exhaustion was doing its best to lull her to sleep. More than the cold air, though, her thoughts were what prevented her from dozing off. She wasn¡¯t quite as furious as she¡¯d been in the direct aftermath of the event, but her thoughts had far from steadied, either. Twenty minutes before her hour-and-a-half shift ended, a figure stirred from inside the camp. Natalie nced over to see Jordan extricating herself from her sleeping bag. Natalie frowned. Her shift wasn¡¯t over yet, so why? She needed her sleep as much as the rest of them. ¡°Couldn¡¯t sleep?¡± she asked when Jordan had wandered over. ¡°That,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Also started to feel a bit pointless. Would just make my shift harder.¡± Natalie nodded in sympathy. Jordan had gotten the second shift of the watch, which was arguably the worst. Getting to sleep for an hour and a half, then having to wake up and stand watch¡ªit sucked. Natalie had gotten lucky; first andst shifts were the best. Jordan settled onto the log next to her, and they sat infortable silence for a few moments. Natalie could intuit Jordan hadn¡¯te over just to relieve her from her shift early. She wanted to talk. ¡°You¡¯ve still stewing,¡± Jordan finally said. ¡°I can tell.¡± Natalie sighed. She¡¯d expected something of the sorts. Jordan always had to be so ¡­ level headed and reasonable. ¡°Can¡¯t you just let me be mad?¡± Natalie asked. ¡°For once?¡± ¡°I know what happened sucked, but all things considered, we¡¯re fine. We really are. There¡¯s no reason to dwell on it.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t be suggesting we just forget about it.¡± ¡°Not forget,¡± Jordan said. ¡°I¡¯m not that forgiving, either. But for now, what happened, happened.¡± She chewed her lip. ¡°And what I¡¯m really worried about is that you¡¯ll turn something that¡¯s frustrating, but ultimately doesn¡¯t matter, into something that does.¡± ¡°And that means?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know if we should retaliate,¡± Jordan said. ¡°With Elida. She said it herself. This was because of Liz. It doesn¡¯t have anything to do with us.¡± ¡°Her group attacked ours.¡± ¡°But not us, specifically,¡± Jordan said. ¡°It sounds ridiculous, but it¡¯s also true. We were just there. Liz¡¯s teammates.¡± Natalie¡¯s annoyance spiked. ¡°Okay, but that¡¯s not changing any time soon, is it?¡± ¡°No,¡± Jordan said, ¡°and so we¡¯ll probably have simr issues. But it won¡¯t ever be us that¡¯s targeted. We aren¡¯t her enemies, her real ones, and we should keep it that way.¡± She poked Natalie on the shoulder. ¡°It sucks, but it¡¯s true. We don¡¯t want a major house as an enemy this early into the semester. We need to take this one on the chin. If it gets worse ¡­ we¡¯ll figure something out.¡± Natalie clenched and unclenched her hands, then looked away. ¡°You¡¯re probably right.¡± Not that it sat well with her. ¡°Plus,¡± Jordan said, bumping shoulders, ¡°I don¡¯t like seeing you all stormy and brooding. It¡¯s not you. And our first long delve was supposed to be exciting. A good day. So put all this to the side, at least until we¡¯re back at campus. Let¡¯s keep looking forward.¡± ¡°Easier said than done,¡± Natalie muttered. She didn¡¯t have the same control over her emotions as Jordan. How her friend could manage to so easily shelve something so infuriating was almost frustrating in its own right. ¡°I know,¡± Jordan said. ¡°But it really is for the best.¡± They sat in silence for a few moments. ¡°I¡¯ve got an idea to cheer you up, then,¡± Jordan said. ¡°I think you need some stress relief.¡± Jordan slid a hand down Natalie¡¯s inner thigh, and the sudden action caught her so off guard she nearly jumped to her feet. The exhaustion weighing her down vanished, heart abruptly mming in her chest. Natalie looked at the sleeping forms of her teammates, two dozen feet or so away. ¡°Here?¡± she asked incredulously. ¡°Now?¡± Jordan¡¯s rubbed at her thigh, not discouraged. ¡°Sure. How else am I supposed to cheer you up?¡± The edges of her lips curled into a smirk. ¡°And you still need to gather energy, don¡¯t you? No point in being wasteful. Once a day.¡± ¡°But they¡¯re right there.¡± ¡°I thought you were the bold one,¡± Jordan teased. ¡°Scared to have some fun in front of friends, now?¡± Her hand dipped lower, rubbing against a bulge that was quickly filling out Natalie¡¯s pants. The thick leather armor meant there wasn¡¯t much sensation, but the thrill of the situation still had electricity shooting up her spine. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a good idea, Jay,¡± Natalie said. ¡°They¡¯ll wake up.¡± ¡°Only if you¡¯re loud. Guess you¡¯ll have to work on being quiet, won¡¯t you?¡± Jordan stopped teasing her thigh. She shimmied up to her, pressing her breasts into Natalie¡¯s arm, then cupped her cock, pressing her palm firmly into it. Natalie let out a shaky breath, and even that felt excruciatingly loud in the mostly silent forest. Were her teammates deep sleepers? That felt like something she shouldn¡¯t just hope for. ¡°I think I can use an illusion,¡± Natalie said. ¡°To block the noise out. Or dampen it.¡± ¡°You can?¡± ¡°Maybe. Haven¡¯t tried, but when ites to using my skills in certain ways, they tend to be ¡­ lenient.¡± ¡°Your ss will do anything to get youid,¡± Jordan said, rolling her eyes. ¡°Yeah. I remember.¡± Jordan stood, then knelt down in front of Natalie, and the sight of her best friend on her knees, fingers heading for her belt, nearly made her dizzy. ¡°Not that I¡¯mining,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Really, I¡¯m just as lucky, since I¡¯m the one who gets to y with it. Helps me as much as you.¡± At the clinking sound of Jordan working away at Natalie¡¯s belt, Natalie decided she had to, for once, be the reasonable one. She wasn¡¯t sure if the illusion would work, but seeing how Jordan was apparently interested in doing this regardless of consequences, she better try something. The illusion settled into ce. Creating sounds was an easy task, as were simple images¡ªespecially with how she¡¯d advanced the skill from progression I to II¡ªbut negating sound was a bit more of a problem. Not something she¡¯d tried to do before. The idea had arrived from its sudden need. ¡°At least test it,¡± Natalie said. ¡°You¡ªyou subus.¡± Her pants were off, now, with Natalie¡¯s panties struggling to keep her cock controlled. It strained desperately upward, not hiding much. Her shaft was clearly visible through the tent, and her tip leaked liquid, darkening the fabric. She probably should start wearing boxers or something. Just ¡­ the look of admiration Jordan always gave it, seeing it trapped and angry inside the delicate fabric, made up for the impracticality of continuing to wear panties. ¡°Test what?¡± ¡°If it blocks sound.¡± Jordan nced toward the sleeping figures of their friends, though she couldn¡¯t see the image-less sound barrier Natalie had made. ¡°You did it?¡± She looked back to Natalie¡¯s crotch, pursed her lips, then got off her knees and walked toward camp. With Jordan having arrived at the other side of the illusion, Natalie snapped her fingers. Jordan tilted her head. ¡°Works. Can¡¯t hear that.¡± Natalie snapped louder, then tested a few sentences of varying volume. Afterward, Jordan said, ¡°I can kind of hear you, but it¡¯s good enough. Heavily dampened.¡± She got back down in front of Natalie. ¡°So, just don¡¯t get too enthusiastic,¡± Jordan said. A devious smile slipped onto her lips. ¡°Though to be extra mean¡ªand since I¡¯m trying to cheer you up¡ªI think I¡¯m going to let you finally use my mouth. So, good luck with that.¡± A/N: I saw somements where people thought Natalie and Jordan were on daily blowjob status. Just to rify, Jordan teased her about using her mouth, but never actually did¡ªshe was trying to distract Natalie. I realize that bit of dialogue was unclear, so for those who assumed that, here¡¯s the rification. 3.29 – Stress Relief 3.29 ¨C Stress Relief ¡°Wait, what?¡± Natalie said. ¡°Really? Is that a joke?¡± ¡°Did it sound like a joke?¡± Jordan asked, having returned to her kneeling position between Natalie¡¯s legs. Amused green eyes looked up at her. A hand snaked into her strained panties, gripping a long, thick shaft of girl dick. She squeezed, and Natalie¡¯s cock twitched in response, basking in the sensation of her best friend¡¯s hand. ¡°I¡¯ve been wondering what it tastes like. And jerking you off is a lot of fun, but I think I can make you squirm even more with my mouth.¡± Jordan tutted. ¡°You brought this onto yourself with all that brooding.¡± Inside Natalie¡¯s panties, Jordan stroked up and down. Natalie shivered, leaning back and stifling a moan. The sound barrier illusion she¡¯d thrown up muffled noises, but didn¡¯t negate them. She should still try to be quiet. However much Jordan was trying her hardest to milk louder noises out. But more importantly¡ª¡°Are you sure?¡± Jordan replied by kissing the tip of Natalie¡¯s panties, where her precum had stained the fabric. She leaned into it, wrapping her lips around, and Natalie marveled at the sight as much as the sensation. Fuck, Jordan looked good on her knees, and even better with her lips against her cock¡ªeven if it was only through her panties. ¡°Does that answer?¡± Jordan asked. ¡°If you¡¯re sure,¡± Natalie repeated. Like always, Jordan mattered most. Jordan smirked, then tugged Natalie¡¯s panties to the side, freeing her eight-inch monster. ¡°I keep forgetting how much bigger it is,¡± Jordan said admiringly. ¡°Why do you have the most amazing cock in the world, Nat? It¡¯s not fair.¡± ¡°Stop saying things like that.¡± ¡°Stop blushing, and I will.¡± Jordan shuffled forward, getting her face closer to Natalie¡¯s cock. Hot air tickled against her shaft and tip, and Jordan¡¯s lips parted as she gazed admiringly at the tool she¡¯d be servicing. Natalie herself seemed to go forgotten. She couldn¡¯t say she was upset at that. ¡°After so many hours in the dungeon,¡± Jordan said, ¡°it smells all sweaty and gross.¡± She leaned closer and breathed deeply, shivering as she did. Her mouth fell open, and she started panting. Her eyes finally flicked up. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to taste you, Nat.¡± She leaned forward, the hot air only tickling her tip, now, as her lips closed in¡ªthen hovered a half-inch away. ¡°Ready?¡± Natalie nodded, lost for words. Jordan pressed her lips onto Natalie¡¯s cock. Softness caressed her sensitive tip, and Jordan wiggled her head side to side, coating her lips with Natalie¡¯s precum. Then she took Natalie in her mouth. Natalie reached out and dug her fingers into Jordan¡¯s silky ck hair. A day spent vigorously training had left it messy-looking, but she was as gorgeous as always. Something else started to take her over, as it always did when things got going. ¡°You belong there,¡± Natalie murmured. ¡°On your knees, with my cock in your mouth. Does it taste as good as you hoped?¡± With a gentle urge, she had Jordan take another inch. A slippery tongue teased the underside of her shaft, and husky green eyes gazed up, meeting Natalie¡¯s own. Like usual¡ªor even more than usual, considering what Jordan was doing¡ªthis event frayed her better senses. The sight of Jordan¡¯s lips wrapping her cock was overwhelming, making her entire body heat up, her heart pound in her ears. ¡°You¡¯re a hungry little cockslut, aren¡¯t you?¡± Natalie said, transfixed both at the sensation of heat and wetness wrapping her, and the look in Jordan¡¯s eyes. The way the demeaning words turned them even darker. ¡°I can tell. Maybe I should stop asking if you¡¯re okay with all this. Clearly you are. Clearly you¡¯re addicted to my cock.¡± Her hands on the back of Jordan¡¯s head provided steady pressure, urging her deeper and deeper onto Natalie¡¯s member. A few inches in, her tip bumped against the velvety, slippery flesh at the back of Jordan¡¯s throat. Natalie let out a little groan at the sensation, then, less gently than before, urged Jordan down. A lot less gently. Her cock slid down Jordan¡¯s throat, squeezed on all sides by a tight, wet tunnel. Jordan gagged in surprise, and Natalie didn¡¯t let up; she pushed harder, sliding more and more of her length down, bulging Jordan¡¯s throat with her impressive girth. She savored in the spasming massage her gags produced. ¡°Get down there. All the way. You wanted to taste it, so taste it.¡± She pressed until Jordan¡¯s nose was buried into the shaved bristles of her pubic hair. She choked there, throat squirming against Natalie¡¯s shaft, her hands gripping Natalie¡¯s thighs in surprise, though she didn¡¯t push away. Natalie kept her pinned until she had steadied. Natalie admired the nose buried into her pubic region, the husky green eyes looking up at her. She stroked Jordan¡¯s hair. ¡°Good girl,¡± she murmured. ¡°That¡¯s a good cockslut. You like it?¡± Jordan nodded. ¡°Running out of air?¡± Another nod. ¡°Too bad. You stay there until I¡¯m done with you.¡± Jordan hesitated, then nodded a third time. For a while longer, Natalie enjoyed the sight. Jordan, on her knees, sitting there between her legs. Her warm, tight throat sheathing her cock. Obediently running out of air, coughing as the intrusion irritated her gag reflex. ¡°Good girl,¡± Natalie murmured. ¡°Little bit longer.¡± When Jordan¡¯s eyes started to flutter, Natalie relented. ¡°Go ahead.¡± Jordan pulled off, thick strings of saliva trailing from her lips to Natalie¡¯s cock, then began coughing violently into her hands. She tried to stifle the noise best she could, but was only somewhat sessful. Even in Natalie¡¯s addled state, she sent a concerned look toward their sleeping friends. The illusion helped muffle it, but Jordan was being pretty loud. Nobody stirred. Finally, when Jordan settled, she said, ¡°Found your confidence, I see.¡± ¡°If you can talk,¡± Natalie said, ¡°you can be sucking my cock. Get back down.¡± Jordan smiled. Before she obliged, she said, ¡°I like that. Be meaner. It¡¯s hot.¡± ¡°Mean?¡± Natalie said as Jordan¡¯s mouth returned to where it belonged. ¡°I¡¯m not being mean. I¡¯m saying what¡¯s true. You¡¯re a gross little whore who¡¯s addicted to my cock. I understand where all the teasinges from, now. You mean it.¡± She stroked Jordan¡¯s hair as Jordan sucked at her tip. ¡°You just want your next chance to get your hands or mouth on my cock. You¡¯re a disgusting pervert and nothing more. A needy, desperate slut." Natalie''s words were rough, growing rougher by the moment, and she gripped Jordan''s hair tightly. She guided her movements, thrusting deeper into her mouth until she hit the back of her throat. Jordan moaned, the sound muffled by Natalie''s cock. Her hands reached up and held Natalie''s thighs, gripping them as she continued to bob and suck. "That''s it. That''s a good, filthy slut. Clean my cock. Swallow it.¡± Natalie stood, holding Jordan''s head in position, then took control. She pressed her hips forward, sinking her cock into Jordan''s wet hole. Jordan gagged, but Natalie only gripped her head tighter and picked up speed. Her throat squelched as Natalie vited it. The sensation was incredible. Saliva dribbled down her chin with the sloppy throat fucking. The sounds were almost better than the sensation¡ªand the sight was the best of all. Her cock, cramming her best friend''s throat until it bulged. For a while, she jerked in and out, filling the air with lewd noises. With unfortunate speed, that familiar heat in her core grew. How couldn¡¯t it, when she was fucking Jordan¡¯s throat? "I''m going to cum in you," Natalie grunted, pping her hips into Jordan''s face. "You''re going to swallow it. Everyst drop. Because you''re my obedient, hungry little cum slut. Understand?" Even as Natalie thrust into her, Jordan nodded rapidly in agreement. Gorgeous green eyes looked up, dark from lust. "You''re even prettier when you¡¯re sucking dick," Natalie said. "I don''t know how, but you are. Ready?" Again, Jordan nodded. "That¡¯s a good girl." The heat that had slowly been building, coaxed out from the pressure of Jordan''s squeezing fuck hole, finally reached its crescendo. Natalie''s cock swelled, filling up the tight space even further, and she pressed violently on Jordan''s head, burying her nose down, getting her cock as deep as possible. Then she came. Ecstasy ripped through her, making her curl forward and her entire body shake. She spilled thick, hot strings of spunk straight into Jordan''s stomach. Jordan squirmed, choking on the intrusion and the sudden burst of warm liquid, but she held tightly onto Natalie''s ass, pressing her lips into Natalie, as eager for this as Natalie herself. "That''s it," Natalie moaned. "Swallow. Swallow everything. Such a good cocksucking whore. Take it all." Her cock throbbed and spasmed, spilling more and more of her cream into Jordan. Jordan caressed it out, sucking, squeezing, and stroking in whatever way she could. Her eyes didn''t leave Natalie''s for a moment, even when they started to flutter, running out of oxygen. Reluctantly, Natalie pulled out. Her thick, wet, thoroughly pleasured cock slipped from the tight hole it had vited, already growing soft from how intensely it had emptied itself. She copsed backward onto the log, feeling dizzy. 3.30 – Early Camp 3.30 ¨C Early Camp Jordan''s coughing and hacking session was even louder, this time, and Natalie winced as she watched their friends sleeping nearby. Nobody had woken. That was some sort of miracle. Her illusion had, once again, helped keep them safe. Natalie had gotten way too involved to have been capable of keeping quiet. She sat there, surrounded by the eerie environment of the Wispwood, looking at her coughing friend, her wet, growing-soft dick, and the camp of her delving team, not a dozen feet away, who could have at any moment woken and seen Natalie pping her hips into Jordan¡¯s face. That probably hadn¡¯t been the greatest idea. Cheeks heating, Natalie tucked her equipment away, then knelt down next to Jordan, who was still recovering. Natalie had gotten pretty enthusiastic at the end. Jordan had clearly not been fully able to handle it, for all that she¡¯d reciprocated eagerly. ¡°Uh,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Sorry about that, Jay.¡± ¡°Sorry?¡± Jordan asked between coughs and clearings of her throat. ¡°You mean how you used my throat like an actual toy?¡± ¡°Um.¡± ¡°Though, it is,¡± Jordan said. ¡°It is your toy. But I¡¯m new to this, yeah?¡± ¡°Sorry,¡± she repeated, face zing. ¡°It¡¯s fine. That was fun.¡± More cleared throats. ¡°Definitely not the best strategy for keeping quiet,¡± she nced toward their friends, ¡°but I like seeing you lose control.¡± ¡°Your turn?¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s okay. Tonight was just for you.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°I can wait till we¡¯re not in the dungeon. We¡¯re already pushing our luck.¡± Another nce. ¡°The sound dampening was pretty good, but you were having some fun. What happened to having some restraint, like I told you?¡± Natalie blushed. ¡°When it¡¯s you, I can¡¯t help myself.¡± She really, genuinely didn¡¯t stand a chance. The response had a blush appearing on Jordan¡¯s own cheeks. Natalie would have figured it would¡¯ve been the violent throat-fucking and degrading talk that would have colored her friend¡¯s cheeks, but apparently not¡ªjust a simple statement that Natalie couldn¡¯t help herself around her. ¡°Well,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Try harder, next time.¡± They returned to sitting on the log. Jordan still needed to clear her throat, here and there. Natalie had done a number on it. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t keep you up any longer,¡± Jordan said. ¡°You need to get some sleep.¡± ¡°No rush.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine. Long day ahead of us.¡± Jordan sent a sideways look her way. ¡°Do I get a goodnight kiss?¡± Natalie¡¯s heart skipped. Kissing was hardly something rare between the two of them, but it was always in the middle of their ¡­ heated events. Or at most, directly after. But they¡¯d already cooled down. That said, Natalie was hardly going to say no. She scooted closer, then cupped Jordan¡¯s cheek with one hand. Leaning in, she captured her friend¡¯s lips with her own. They kissed. Not desperate and impassioned like most times before, but soft and gentle. Exploring. Her lips were tender and yielding beneath Natalie''s, but with a surprising strength beneath the surface. Jordan had always been like that. Her rock. The kiss had a warm glow suffusing her, intoxicating and radiating, spreading from deep in her chest and across her entire body. A sensation that said everything was right in the world. An almost overwhelming contentment. Or something more. Something she couldn''t afford to look too closely at, but which she basked in nheless. Finally, they pulled apart. For a while, they panted at each other, exploring each other''s eyes but not saying anything. "Okay," Jordan said, lips quirking. "Good night, then." "Good night," Natalie echoed. *** There weren¡¯t any awkward looks from Sofia, Ana, or Lize morning, so miraculously, they hadn¡¯t been found out. Her sound barrier had held, at least whenbined with how they¡¯d all been sleeping like rocks, exhausted from the previous day. Today was going to be even longer, though. More than having sixteen clear hours to focus on nothing but bashing monster faces in, they intended to push themselves. Hard. She could see the determination in each of her teammate¡¯s faces, a solemn and unstated pledge. She could even read it on Ana. Natalie thought she was getting better at deciphering the stony woman. ¡°We can¡¯t go too hard,¡± Natalie announced. Huddled around the smoldered-down fire and eating breakfast in silence, the statement came seemingly out of nowhere. ¡°Gotta ration ourselves. Our stamina. And we don¡¯t have the firepower and defenses we used to.¡± ¡°What is this?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°Natalie, being the voice of reason? My Natalie?¡± Her stomach flipped several times at the phrase ¡®my Natalie¡¯, which caught her off guard. She brushed past it. ¡°I¡¯m just saying,¡± Natalie shot back. ¡°Don¡¯t want any of us getting hurt.¡± She was saying it as much to herself as any of them. She was the one who set the pace of the delve. ¡°We got kind of fucked yesterday, but that doesn¡¯t mean we should get ourselves hurt trying to make up for it.¡± ¡°We should backtrack,¡± Ana said. ¡°Get closer to the spawn-in point. So the monsters are weaker.¡± ¡°I think that¡¯s smartest,¡± Natalie agreed, however much it grated her. Being sent backwards in progress was hard to swallow. ¡°We especially need to find Liz a weapon.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not awful casting with just my hands,¡± Liz grumbled, ¡°but it¡¯s not a strength of mine. This sucks.¡± ¡°Can you use orbs?¡± Ana asked. Liz blinked in response. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°We need a healer more than a mage.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Liz sent a panicked look around at the rest of the team, though why she was panicked Natalie didn¡¯t wholly get. ¡°I don¡¯t want to take your weapon.¡± ¡°If it¡¯s best for the team, then it¡¯s what we should do.¡± There was something amusing about how matter-of-fact Ana spoke. She wondered if there was some limit to it. Something she didn¡¯t act rationally about. ¡°I¡¯d feel awful,¡± Liz said, continuing to shoot looks to Natalie, Jordan, and Sofia. ¡°Delves are as much for practice as anything. I shouldn¡¯t take that from you.¡± Ah. Natalie understood now. That was why Liz didn¡¯t like the idea. ¡°I won¡¯t have us with a crippled healer,¡± Ana said. She rummaged out the thick crystal orb from her weapon pouch, then passed it over to Liz. ¡°It¡¯s the logical choice to make.¡± ¡°Well ¡­ if you¡¯re sure ¡­¡± Liz seemed far from happy about the development. Natalie sympathized to some extent, though she did think Liz was being a little too empathetic. There was nothing wrong with leaning on a teammate for help. And Natalie had already made it clear that what happened yesterday wasn¡¯t her fault, so if Liz had lingering guilt over that, then Natalie wasn¡¯t afraid to set her straight for a second time. ¡°Besides,¡± Ana said. ¡°I can cast with my hands. It¡¯s not a specialty, as you said, but I¡¯m not much worse, either.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good, I guess,¡± Liz mumbled. ¡°Thank you.¡± At a serious nod from Ana, and the dark-haired girl returning to her meal, Liz sighed and tucked the orb to her side, then did the same. Natalie didn¡¯t think it was a big deal either way. She wouldn¡¯t be reckless in today¡¯s delve, but she did intend to set a good pace. And if the dungeon had any pity in its cold heart at all, then it would provide them a mage¡¯s weapon to make up for thrusting Liz¡¯s arch-nemesis straight into theirp, on their first delve of any note. Though nning on the dungeon being nice ¡­ that wasn¡¯t usually a great idea. 3.31 – Challenge 3.31 ¨C Challenge Liz had always known this in an abstract way, but the events of yesterday, and now today, confirmed it with absolute certainty. The dungeon was a wicked, wicked creation. ¡°N-No way,¡± Liz said. ¡°Is that¡ªit can¡¯t be¡ªit doesn¡¯t mean¡ª?¡° ¡°I knew this would happen,¡± Natalie said, her face covered with her hands. ¡°Gods, this is so embarrassing.¡± Liz stared at the pir sprouted from the ground. After a good hour cutting their way through the dungeon, they¡¯d found a special encounter room. Not quite a puzzle. The directions the dungeon were providing were clear enough. It even came with swirling, cursive writing tucked beneath the drawings¡ªinstructions that left little doubt. But Liz still failed to understand what she was seeing. There, engraved onto the stone pir,id three pictures. In the first, a woman sat straddled against a rounded block. She had a spectator. In the second, the block was clearly vibrating¡ªmoving back and forth. A heart with an x-mark through it was beneath the woman. Finally, in the third picture, a checkmark followed by an arrow leading to a lootchest and a sword. In case they couldn¡¯t understand the pictures¡ªand Liz almost couldn¡¯t from its sheer absurdity, despite how clear the depiction was¡ªa numbered list was scrawled into the stone, almostically elegant and refined whenpared to its content.
  1. ept the challenge, and a spectator.
  2. Resist the temptation to finish
  3. im your reward, a weapon tailored to the challenger.
¡°It can¡¯t be saying what I think it is,¡± Liz said dumbly. The dungeon expected someone to be pleasured? On that rounded, cylindrical seat? Which apparently vibrated? More than that, while being watched? And winning gave a weapon tailored to the challenger??? ¡°I hate my ss,¡± Natalie said, face still buried in her hands. ¡°I really, really thought it would be kept to me.¡± ¡°Why does it need a spectator!¡± Liz shrilled. The other stuff was weird, okay, but why did they have to be watched while it happened? And Liz had decidedly not missed how the dungeon had offered this challenge right after Liz had been robbed of her weapon. Was it implying something? That she was supposed to take this challenge up? To earn a new wand so that she could give Ana her orb back, and the team could operate as they had before? ¡°You know,¡± Sofia said, ¡°I believed you, Nat, but seeing it in action is something else.¡± The white-haired girl peered at the diagram, as if looking for some clue, then nced at the apanying device: the cylindrical ¡®challenge seat¡¯. ¡°Only you could get a ss like this.¡± ¡°And what does that mean?¡± Natalie growled, finally revealing her flushed face. The poor girl seemed mortified, but to be fair, all five of them were blushing. Well. Four of them. Liz seriously envied Ana, sometimes. But really, the fact she seemed intrigued more than anything was ridiculous. Like this was merely an interesting deviation of the dungeon, and she only cared about it from a scientific perspective. ¡°Are we using it?¡± Ana asked. Four pairs of eyes turned to her, mouths falling open. ¡°Using it!¡± Liz eximed. ¡°Of course ¡­ of course we ¡­¡± She paused. Her knee-jerk reaction was that of course they wouldn¡¯t. It was so indiscreet! Her, a member of House Beaumon, the royal family, being pleasured by some ¡­ some dungeon contraption? While one of her teammates watched on? ¡°It certainly solves a problem of ours,¡± Liz found herself saying¡ªand it definitely hadn¡¯t been a conscious decision to do so. The incredulous looks turned to her¡ªexcept for Ana, bless her, who merely seemed to agree¡ªand Liz¡¯s face flushed scarlet. ¡°I need a weapon, don¡¯t I?¡± Liz asked defensively. ¡°I just ¡­ can¡¯t believe someone has to watch!¡± ¡°Wait,¡± Natalie said. ¡°You¡¯re serious?¡± ¡°You took up your challenge, didn¡¯t you?¡± Liz shot back. ¡°So who are you to talk? Besides, it¡¯s free gear.¡± She crossed her arms. ¡°And since it¡¯s your ss, you¡¯re the one who has to watch me.¡± Again, the words just kind of came out. To her horror. For a second, the words sat in the air, Liz¡¯s¡ªand Natalie¡¯s¡ªface growing redder by the second. ¡°Makes sense to me,¡± Jordan said. She pped Natalie on the back. ¡°We¡¯ll give you two some privacy, then.¡± Liz couldn¡¯t quite work up the nerve to gauge everyone¡¯s reactions. She kept her gaze locked defiantly at Natalie, who was still gaping at her. What, was it that ridiculous? Yes. It very much was. ¡°It¡¯s your ss, not mine,¡± Liz huffed. ¡°Stop looking at me like that.¡± She faced the cylindrical seat and approached. Stalwartly ignoring her teammates as they were guided out of the room by Jordan, Liz knelt down and inspected the cylindrical seat. There was a bump in the middle. Two straps at the thighs, too, to keep her well and locked down. While it ¡­ did stuff. Tried to make her lose. While Natalie watched. Oh, gods. Wait, how had this happened? She¡¯d agreed to this? Why, again? Who cared if she didn¡¯t have a weapon? That¡¯d fix in short order from normal adventuring. Having one of her teammates watch her ride a vibrating seat was much, much more of a permanent problem. Was it better or worse that she knew Natalie liked girls? At least if she¡¯d been straight, this would be marginally less awkward. Or would it? Liz had no clue. ¡°I¡¯m going to die of embarrassment,¡± Liz dered. She stood and faced Natalie; they were alone in the room, the others having left. ¡°So you better not make this more awkward than it is. And you can¡¯t tell anyone about it.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to do this,¡± Natalie said. ¡°We can just ignore it. It¡¯s optional.¡± ¡°It¡¯s free gear,¡± Liz repeated. ¡°And I need a weapon. Besides, it¡¯s not that big of a deal. We¡¯re all professionals here.¡± ¡°Professionals.¡± ¡°Yeah. Delvers. So get over here and help me figure out how it works.¡± Shaking her head to clear it¡ªand with neither of their blushes settled¡ªNatalie did as she was told. 3.32 – Challenge II 3.32 ¨C Challenge II Together, Liz and Natalie appraised the seat. There was a bump in the middle, which the user was clearly supposed to sit on. Two loops were on each side, avable to strap Liz down. She doubted they were optional. She could risk it, but as usual, engaging with the dungeon in the way it presented itself was usually the easiest path forward. ¡°How does it turn on?¡± Liz asked. After a moment scouring its surface, she found a switch. ¡°This?¡± She flipped it. The device hummed to life, and for a moment, the two girls watched the curved bump on top of the cylindrical seat hum to life, vibrating and grinding back and forth. It started slow and picked up speed. Liz flicked it off, her blush somehow burning hotter. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s it,¡± Liz said. ¡°Good to know.¡± They stood there in silence for a second. ¡°Think you can handle it?¡± Natalie asked. ¡°And what does that mean?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Just ¡­ you can¡¯t finish. Won¡¯t get a reward if you do.¡± ¡°I did read the instructions.¡± ¡°Just, you know. Saying.¡± Liz cleared her throat, then stood. ¡°Might as well get to it.¡± She went about removing the superfluous parts of her get-up. Not that she had much of that, anymore; Elida had been happy to take even the utility stuff, like her belt and waterskin. In short order, she was in just her inclothes. Didn¡¯t even have her robe, anymore¡ªElida had taken that too. Liz was surprised she¡¯d even been left those. Okay, not really, Elida wouldn¡¯t leave her naked, but she was a gigantic jerk, so maybe she would. Anyway, just her inclothes. Two fairly thinyers of fabric would be the only defense she had against ¡­ that. The woman in the picture was clothed, so she didn¡¯t think she had to strip entirely. Though, why would nudity matter? Allowing herself to be yed with by a dungeon contraption while being watched by a teammate was definitely the lewder event, nude or not. Liz¡¯s priorities were clearly messed up. And she was not excited for this. The fact that her heart was trying to jump out of her chest was purely from embarrassment. Nothing else. ¡°You can¡¯t tell anyone,¡± Liz repeated. ¡°It would be so bad for House Beaumon¡¯s reputation. My parents would kill me.¡± ¡°Obviously, we won¡¯t,¡± Natalie said, and Liz believed her. ¡°Didn¡¯t even have to ask.¡± She even sounded mildly offended that Liz had asked. That reassured her, even if she hadn¡¯t thought Natalie would in the first ce. She trusted her, the same as the rest of her party. For the most part, at least. As much someone born-and-raised in the intrigue of high court could. Taking a steadying breath, Liz approached the seat. She got down, sliding one knee over the far end, and settled in. The bumpy protrusion in the middle pressed against her, and an embarrassing noise almost escaped her lips¡ªwithout even the excuse that things had started. Swallowing thickly, she adjusted the straps, locking herself in¡ªso that she couldn¡¯t escape if she wanted to. As soon as she started the process on the first leg, the loop squeezed in and secured itself without her input. Liz stared at it for a moment, then moved to the next, which did the same. The implication was clear. Liz would be riding this thing the whole way through, regardless of if she could hold off on finishing or not. The straps would keep her down for the whole while. But she would be winning. This was hardly something she had a lot of experience with, but if it was what needed to be done to win the challenge, then she¡¯d keep control of herself. She was a Beaumon. Keeping control of herself was something she¡¯d been trained for her entire life. Though, admittedly, she¡¯d never excelled at it. And having Natalie watch was going to make it harder. Why had Liz chosen her, again? Having such a pretty girl spectate this only increased the difficulty. She should have chosen ¡­ Well. It wasn¡¯t like any of her teammates weren¡¯t ridiculously attractive. Maybe Ana or someone could have been the better choice, but at least Natalie wore her emotions on the face¡ªthey could be embarrassed together. Having Ana watch with a perfectly impassive expression might have been worse, somehow. And a silent part of her, definitely not acknowledged consciously, said that getting to show off for Natalie would be fun. She let out a breath she hadn¡¯t known she¡¯d been holding. The bump of the seat pressed firmly into her, and already Liz¡¯s stomach clenched with need and excitement. This really wasn¡¯t going to be easy. But she would see it through. She needed a new weapon. ¡°Okay,¡± Liz said. ¡°You ready?¡± Liz had, out of mortification, not been looking at Natalie. Finally returning her attention the other girl¡¯s way, though, she saw ¡­ that Natalie was standing weirdly? Liz paused. Wait. Natalie cleared her throat. ¡°Yeah. Ready whenever.¡± Her teammate shifted awkwardly in ce. It took a moment to ce why she was acting the way she was. There was a bulge in her pants. Liz¡¯s mouth fell open. ¡°Wait. You¡ªis that¡ª?¡± Natalie seemed to give up trying to hide it. In fact, she seemed suddenly less embarrassed about everything¡ªas if she¡¯d hit some critical point, and it had shifted to exasperation. She stood up straight, the bulge of her cock¡ªcock?!¡ªbing twice as noticeable. ¡°Yeah,¡± Natalie said. ¡°It is. My ss gave it to me.¡± She shrugged. ¡°Sorry. Can¡¯t really help it, with ¡­ you know ¡­¡± she gestured vaguely at Liz¡¯s position, and Liz realized¡ªshe had forgotten somehow¡ªthat she was perched on top of a dungeon seat, her pussy buried into a rounded bump that would shortly be pleasuring her by vibrating and rubbing back and forth. ¡°It gave you a ¡­ that? Really?¡± Liz stared, baffled, then startedughing. Her embarrassment had also broken through to a different emotion. ¡°Sorry. Sorry. I¡¯m notughing at you, obviously. Just, this is all ¡­¡± ¡°A lot,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°That¡¯s crazy, though.¡± She realized a few seconds toote that staring at the bulge was probably bad form, and she wrenched her eyes away. ¡°Is it, um ¡­?¡± Natalie tilted her head. ¡°I¡¯m not sure where I was going with that,¡± Liz said. ¡°Fun, I guess?¡± She shrugged. ¡°Seems interesting, if nothing else.¡± She was proud she was taking this in stride, if mostly from an overload of absurdity. ¡°Interesting,¡± Natalie quoted. ¡°Yeah. Sure.¡± ¡°Anyway,¡± Liz said. ¡°I guess I should start.¡± She would digest all of that¡ªthat her teammate had an impressivelyrge bulge in her pantster. She twisted in her seat and reached backward for the switch. ¡°Here we go.¡± To herself, she mumbled, ¡°Just gotta ride it out. You can do this, Liz.¡± Liz flipped the switch, and beneath her, the contraption buzzed to life. 3.33 – Challenge III 3.33 ¨C Challenge III A/N: Splitting this one up into two chapters would be mean, so this counts as a double release for Wednesday and Friday :) Beneath Liz, her seat buzzed to life. Even just the pressure of the protrusion had beenpromising. Now, with the magical device fulfilling its purpose in earnest, Liz¡¯s self-control was put to the test. The vibrations coursed through her lower half and had her shaking in only moments, her nipples turning painfully hard inside her bra. No, this wasn¡¯t going to be an easy challenge in the slightest. ¡°And how long am I supposed tost, again?¡± Liz asked, trying to make it sound like a joke, but the words caught halfway out of her throat as a shiver wracked her body. ¡°Not too long, right?¡± Natalie asked, the blush that had briefly started to fade having returned to her cheeks. ¡°Doesn¡¯t seem ¡­ possible, otherwise.¡± Liz¡¯s teammate almost looked like she wanted to look away to be polite, but that was against the rules of the encounter. She had to watch. And, likely, she kept staring for another reason. She was enjoying the show¡ªthe physical proof of that was clear enough, showing through a thick bulge in her pants. Enjoying the sight. Her, Liz, being yed with. The idea thrilled through her. Natalie was having fun watching her get off, be ground and vibrated against by a strange saddle-device created by the dungeon. An inappropriate noise escaped Liz, and she strangled it halfway through. The noise bounced off the walls, though, obscenely loud in the otherwise quiet room. Her face zed as Natalie¡¯s eyebrows raised, a quirk of a smile appearing. ¡°S-Shut up.¡± If she wanted tost any real amount of time, Liz figured she should probably try and distract herself. Think about something that wasn¡¯t painfully arousing, like Natalie and her interested blue eyes and the distinct bulge in her pants. She closed her eyes and tried to move her thoughts to safer areas. Liz should¡¯ve realized that wouldn¡¯t be allowed. As if scolding her, the vibrating bump pressed into her pussy and sped up, pushing harder into her. Liz¡¯s eyes shot back open with a gasp, her back arching at the sudden increase in intensity. The device quickly smoothed back to the slower¡ªthough stillpromising¡ªpace. ¡°G-Guess I¡¯m not supposed to do that,¡± Liz said. ¡°Do what?¡± ¡°Distract myself. Tried to think of something else. But I guess I have to be ¡­ zoned in.¡± Sheughed, and it was more of a hup. The waves of pleasure coursing through her were impossible to fight off, turning her into a mess even faster than she¡¯d expected. ¡°Ah,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Really don¡¯t see how this is supposed to be possible, though,¡± Liz gasped. ¡°It feels way too good. Seriously. How long?¡± As if answering her question, the sound of grinding stone filled the room. Above and behind Natalie, at the top of the wall Liz was facing, some strange disy appeared: ten dark orbs, with a single having turned pink. ¡°Is that a timer?¡± Liz asked. It managed briefly to distract her¡ªbut then the vibrating seat beneath her shifted a gear up. No longer stationary, it dragged back and forth, pressing and sliding into her pussy throughyers of clothing. ¡°And one of ten done? There¡¯s no way.¡± Already it was bing difficult to hold back the rising pleasure. It beckoned for her to let go, to grind with the device and indulge. She was still fighting with everything she had, but not even being allowed to distract herself? It simply wasn¡¯t possible. Stone ground against stone for a second time. Two pairs of eyes turned to the first pir which held the drawings and instructions of the challenge. A slot had opened up, and in real-time, as the two girls watched, new words etched into the stone with the same ornate script as before. Share the burden. Sitting there, in the space created, was ¡­ something? Liz couldn¡¯t tell what. Cylindrical, see-through, and kind of gooey-looking, she genuinely had no idea what the object was. Leveling an [Inspect] its way didn¡¯t help; the object didn¡¯t respond. ¡°Oh, fuck me,¡± Natalie muttered. ¡°Huh?¡± Liz asked. ¡°What is it?¡± It sounded like Natalie had an idea, based on the exasperation in her voice. ¡°And what does ¡®share the burden¡¯ mean?¡± Maybe under normal circumstances she could put two and two together¡ªsince it seemed Natalie had¡ªbut while being assaulted by a vibrating, rubbing seat? Not so much. Her thoughts were a little hazy, right now. And she should probably stop moving her hips. She didn¡¯t know when she¡¯d started doing that, but it wasn¡¯t helping matters. With great effort, she stilled herself. The second of the ten orbs flipped to pink, and it only emphasized how little chance Liz stood of surviving this encounter. Twenty percent done? She was at least half-way there, if not more. Her mind was already going fuzzy with arousal, and each slow stroke of the protrusion beneath her had Liz¡¯s hips wanting more and more to start sliding back and forth, joining in the effort. ¡°I think it¡¯s a toy,¡± Natalie said tly, walking over and taking the object. She presented it for Liz, and the purpose became a lot more obvious from the new angle. The hollow, bumpy space in the middle of the cylindrical obvious couldn¡¯t be interpreted in many ways, not given in the middle of this sort of encounter. ¡°Oh,¡± Liz said, her cheeks ring somehow redder. ¡°Like. For you to use?¡± ¡°I guess,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Why? And it helps, somehow?¡± ¡°Share the burden,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Whatever that means.¡± For a moment, the two of them stared at each other. Liz opened her mouth to reply, but a loud moan escaped, instead, which was pretty mortifying. She cleared her throat and tried again. ¡°Well, go ahead,¡± Liz said. ¡°I think it¡¯s pretty obvious I need the help.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t mind? In front of you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m getting off, aren¡¯t I? Why can¡¯t you?¡± The casualness of the reply was definitely feigned, and Liz was proud of herself for making it so. ¡°And I¡¯d still need to watch you,¡± Natalie said slowly. ¡°Yeah,¡± Liz said. ¡°Go ahead.¡± Natalie hesitated, then shrugged. Heat pulsed in Liz¡¯s core at the realization of what she would shortly get to watch, and the sensations assaulting her between her legs grew second by second more impossible to resist. In her addled state, she¡¯d have wanted to see Natalie use the toy even if it didn¡¯t help her in some unexined way by ¡®sharing the burden¡¯. She fortunately managed to bite her tongue on that sentiment. Instead, she just nodded rapidly, then gestured for Natalie to get on with it. Her red-haired teammate did so. She finagled off her belt, then shimmied down her pants, and the sight that weed Liz decidedly didn¡¯t help matters. A thick rod of girl cock stood at attention, pointing at Liz, and already dribbling at the tip. Natalie had gotten worked up, watching her. ¡°So big,¡± Liz said, the words slipping out by ident¡ªher impulse control wasn¡¯t in highest form, right now. She flushed, eyes flicking up to Natalie¡¯s. ¡°Not that¡ªI just mean ¡­ wow,¡± she finishedmely. Natalie seemed pleased by Liz¡¯s response, a smirk ying at her lips, which only made Liz flush deeper. It was a nice cock, which wasn¡¯t something Liz would have figured she¡¯d ever say. She¡¯d always preferred girls. But on Natalie? She could definitely get behind it. Or on top of it. Bouncing up and down. That didn¡¯t sound so bad. Liz shivered, Natalie¡¯s throbbing girl cock being on disypromising her almost faster than the rubbing device pleasuring her pussy. The third orb swapped from dark to pink, indicating she was roughly three-tenths finished with the challenge, and Liz¡¯s mind started to go fuzzy. She fought the iing climax with everything she had. ¡°Really need help,¡± Liz gasped. ¡°So, uh. Get to it?¡± Though neither of them could imagine how this would help, Natalie lined herself up to one end of the gel-like toy pussy, and Liz watched, enraptured. Why did the idea of seeing Natalie jerk herself off with the see-through toy excite her so much? Well, that was a dumb question. But still. Natalie slid in. The relief was instantaneous. For all that the sight of Natalie¡¯s cock being wrapped had Liz¡¯s stomach clench in excitement, the throbbing-hot need inside her also started to ease. At the same time, a loud, lewd noise escaped Natalie. Sharing the burden. As in, Liz¡¯s pleasure redirected to Natalie, somehow, so long as she was getting herself off too? Because it made zero sense for Liz to be less aroused than a second ago. The sight of Natalie¡¯s cock being toyed with in that see-through gel, her thick veiny member pushing through to pop out the other side of the cylinder, was something that had her shaking with excitement. And the how behind all this didn¡¯t make sense, but that was the dungeon. Artificial and strange. A statement doubly true when it came to Natalie¡¯s ss, she supposed. ¡°It¡¯s sending it to you,¡± Liz said. ¡°My, um. You know.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Natalie said. ¡°I can tell. Feels way, way too good.¡± She winced as she stroked up and down her length, the gel-pussy sliding along her shaft, pre-lubricated. ¡°And you are okay with this, still?¡± ¡°With you jerking off to me?¡± Liz asked. Because that was what was happening. Natalie needed to keep her eyes locked firmly to Liz¡ªit was one of the foundational rules. So maybe the toy was what was wrapping her cock, but surely Natalie was imagining something else. That rather than the toy squeezing her cock, it was Liz¡¯s pussy, which the red-head had her eyes locked to as she was yed with by the vibrating saddle. And what would that be like? Taking that thing? That thick, throbbing, veiny, eight inch monster between Natalie¡¯s thighs? What would it be like to have her tank¡¯s cock stuffed inside her? To feel Natalie¡¯s hot breath against her face as she pped her lower half into her, then filled her up with a creamy finish? Okay. Liz wasn¡¯t allowed to distract herself, but that didn¡¯t mean to had to actively sabotage herself. She desperately dragged her mind away from those thoughts. With Natalie stroking away, it was, at least, easier to resist the vibrations between her legs. Seriously. What was this event? How contrived could it be? Why did the dungeon want this to happen so badly? Natalie¡¯s ss, obviously. But what a ss. ¡°I¡¯m notsting much longer,¡± Natalie gasped. ¡°That won¡¯t count as a loss, right?¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t say so. Think you¡¯re fine.¡± The instructions seemed to indicate only Liz¡¯s climax mattered. ¡°Maybe even you can go a few rounds.¡± Because while helpful, Liz still had a while to go. The pink orbs had only flicked to the fifth position, the halfway point, and the vibration and rubbing between her legs was only picking up in speed and pressure. Liz was mesmerized by the way the toy enveloped Natalie¡¯s cock with each stroke¡ªthe way the head popped out with each p down. Strangely, each passing second as Natalie desperately jerked herself off had Liz¡¯s own climax receding. Trading her own pleasure for Natalie¡¯s. Though to say she wasn¡¯t aroused was wildly incorrect. She was, and to an almost maddening degree. It would surely make keeping control of herself harder for the future stages¡ªas the vibrating saddle worked into higher gears. Natalie groaned, and Liz watched, fascinated, as her pumping hand reached a crescendo. She finally came. She pointed herself sideways, at least having the sense of mind to aim her climax away from Liz¡ªnot that Liz thought she would have minded if it sttered all across her face. Thick strings of white spurted out from a twitching girl cock, and it was almost intoxicating to watch. The way Natalie¡¯s hips jerked forward and back, the moans, the way she grabbed her tit with her spare hand and threw her head back, body shaking with each ejection of seed. Liz shuddered. If the dungeon hadn¡¯t been actively draining her lust, she would have finished right alongside Natalie, if simply from the sight of her spasming friend. She watched each sticky ejection, aroused and fascinated. Because the payload was surprisinglyrge. How did shee so much? It kept going and going. Liz guessed it was fitting for such a big cock¡ªNatalie came proportionally to its impressive size. Panting, Natalie came down from her explosion. She¡¯d kept eyes on Liz almost the whole time. Likely, she¡¯d used the gyrating grinding against Liz¡¯s pussy to fuel that orgasm. And that was, again, a seriouslypromising thought. With the toy still wrapping her softening cock, Natalie asked, still panting, ¡°How are you doing?¡± ¡°Surviving,¡± Liz said. ¡°We¡¯re seven of ten done, I guess. So ¡­ not a chance, assuming that was one and done.¡± Because Liz¡¯s own pleasure was rapidly building back up, no longer fended off by Natalie¡¯s assistance. Natalie looked down at her cock. Reasonably, her explosive climax had left it softening. She tried to rouse it, teasing herself with the toy, but Liz recognized that it wouldn¡¯t work. ¡°Maybe ¡­ if I help?¡± Liz asked. The question slipped out without much direct intention on her part. ¡°Will that get it up?¡± she continued, cheeks burning furiously. ¡°If it¡¯s me stroking you with it?¡± Liz had expected Natalie to hesitate, but her concerned nature had apparently receded in the excitement of everything. The red-headed girl shuffled forward, and¡ªalmost by instinct¡ªLiz¡¯s hands went to the toy. To Natalie¡¯s cock. She grabbed Natalie¡¯s cock. She¡¯d really just done that? And her hands were moving, now. Stroking her. Her teammate¡¯s girl cock. ¡°C¡¯mon,¡± Liz said, lips almost numb from how hot her face burned. ¡°Up you go. We need your help. I¡¯ll let you finish on me, too. Doesn¡¯t that sound fun?¡± Whether it was the words or the motion of Liz¡¯s hands, Natalie¡¯s cock swelled, quickly returning to full mast despite having just expended itself. Liz sucked in a breath of air as the impressive member hardened only a foot away from her face. The throbbing piece of meat was even more entrancing from this close up. She was seriously jerking her teammate off? How had this happened? Why was she so insanely turned on? ¡°I can tell you like this,¡± Liz mumbled, not daring to meet Natalie¡¯s eyes. She could only focus on her cock, anyway, and the way it sank into the gel-like toy with each stroke of her wrist. How was it the most amazing thing she¡¯d ever seen? She grabbed the toy with her other hand and leaned forward, jerking away eagerly, stroking Natalie¡¯s entire impressive length. ¡°It feels good, right? And you¡¯re going to finish all over my face? It¡¯s for the mission, so you can do it.¡± The emotions crashing through her were hard to describe. She was more turned on than she¡¯d even been in her life, but the strange toy drained the approaching climax, leaving her almost unsatisfied. Her hips jerked forward and backward, actually aiding in the vibrating seat¡¯s pleasuring of herself. Liz was lost to the event in entirety, now, and so was Natalie¡ªher teammate made noment on the noises she was making, and the way she humped desperately against the seat she was supposed to be resisting. ¡°You¡¯re close. I can tell. You¡¯re all twitching. Let go, it¡¯s fine. Paint my face. I want it. Can¡¯t you tell I¡ª¡° A thick white string sprayed across her face, making Liz jump with its suddenness, and she squeezed her eyes shut just in time. Liz shuddered, moaned, and pumped faster. She wanted Natalie¡¯s entire sticky second load covering her. The first one had been so wasted. ¡°There we go,¡± Liz murmured. ¡°Every drop.¡± String after string coated her, and she tasted Natalie¡¯s musk on her lips. She peeked one eye open¡ªthe other was glued shut¡ªand worked Natalie¡¯s second orgasm with rapid pumping. She milked her friend for everything she was worth. ¡°Thank you. I love it. You¡¯re doing great.¡± A nce upward showed thest of the ten pink orbs filling, and something in the walls shifted. The challenge was finished. Liz could finally give in. And she did, immediately. Even with Natalie siphoning her own orgasm away, she¡¯d already been struggling to resist¡ªher hips gyrating back and forth to assist the seat had been way toopromising. She wanted to cum. So badly she felt like she was on fire. The sensation exploded through her, dousing her in liquid me. Her toes curled in her shoes, and she slumped forward, humping desperately. Her whole body shook as she surrendered, the intense orgasm pulsing through her. The realizations of what she¡¯d just done spurred her on. She¡¯d really just jerked Natalie off and had her finish across her face. Why was that idea bringing her to such a scorching peak? When the clenching, shaking finish left her, Liz was left slumped over, still strapped down to the saddle, her entire body turned to jelly. 3.34 – Reward 3.34 ¨C Reward Natalie hadn¡¯t expected things to escte like that. And seeing a dizzy-looking Liz, face coated in cum, Natalie actually wondered whether she should have protested more. She was the slightest bit worried Liz had been coerced into this by the dungeon¡¯s machinations and her need for a weapon. At the same time, Liz¡¯s eagerness hadn¡¯t left much up to interpretation. Natalie hadn¡¯t expected her bubbly teammate to be so happy to jump into something like this. Sure, she¡¯d gotten the sense Liz was into girls, and possibly even appreciated Natalie specifically¡ªand she¡¯d caught some nces toward the rest of the team too¡ªbut she¡¯d always figured they were just that: appreciative nces, not real interest. That idea had been dispelled in the past hour. Even better, Liz didn¡¯t seem to mind the extra weaponry Natalie was sneaking around. The opposite, in fact. Liz had been enraptured from the moment she¡¯d let it spring out from her pants. ¡°How are you?¡± Natalie asked, crouching down to check on her friend. It was a bit cute, and a bitpromising, how dizzy and flushed Liz looked from the events prior. Natalie kind of wondered what using the saddle herself would be like. ¡°Think we can keep it?¡± Liz joked, turning amused eyes to Natalie, though still swaying slightly in her seat. Natalieughed. The awkwardness, at least, had burned away¡ªthough maybe not necessarily the blushing. Coming down from the event, it was hard to ignore what they¡¯d just done. Especially with Liz¡¯s face still coated in ayer of Natalie¡¯s cum, droplets of white dripping down into the saddle from her chin. Natalie had really coated her. ¡°Guess it¡¯s worth a shot,¡± Natalie said wryly. ¡°Though I doubt a monster core will let us suck it up.¡± Shakily, Liz unstrapped herself and stood with Natalie¡¯s assistance. Liz wiped her left eye clear of Natalie¡¯s cum¡ªit¡¯d been glued shut since the start. ¡°Let me help you with that,¡± Natalie said, jogging over to her backpack. Rummaging out a towel, she returned and helped get Liz¡¯s face clean. Liz took over the effort with a canteen after Natalie had gotten the bulk of it. ¡°We can keep the toy, though, right?¡± Liz asked. ¡°It¡¯s not bolted down like the saddle.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t think there¡¯s anything special about it,¡± Natalie said, ncing at the well-used gel object. ¡°Nothing special?¡± Liz asked. ¡°Those noises you were making said otherwise.¡± Natalie coughed. ¡°It feels good,¡± she rified. ¡°But it¡¯s not magical, I¡¯m pretty sure.¡± ¡°Still seems like it¡¯s worth keeping.¡± Natalie couldn¡¯t argue that. Though the smirk Liz was sending her way was a bit too devious. Natalie almost got the impression that Liz wouldn¡¯t mind helping her go a few more rounds with it. Liz coughed, suddenly, some of her boldness fading. ¡°But, um, yeah,¡± Liz said. ¡°I-I don¡¯t regret it or anything, but that never happened, okay?¡± Natalie paused. ¡°As in, to the rest of the team,¡± Liz said hurriedly. ¡°I don¡¯t think I want to¡ª I don¡¯t know. Is that fine?¡± ¡°Sure,¡± Natalie said. ¡°I just need to think about it,¡± Liz said, seeming vaguely distressed, but Natalie really wasn¡¯t perturbed at the request. She agreed that Liz had been somewhat rushed into the event, and in an alreadypromised emotional state from the events of yesterday. That she didn¡¯t regret how things had escted was a huge burden off Natalie¡¯s shoulders¡ªif she wanted to not go shouting to the team that things had gone way past where they should¡¯ve, she was totally fine with that. ¡°No problem,¡± Natalie said. ¡°All I did was watch, then?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Natalie nodded, and Liz seemed relieved she wasn¡¯t making a big deal out of it. Liz nced at the original pir, which had opened another slot next to where the gel toy had appeared. ¡°So,¡± she said. ¡°Reward, then?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s check it out,¡± Natalie agreed. Together, they approached the slot. They already knew in a general idea what they¡¯d be getting¡ªsome kind of weapon for Liz. Though, she was curious how good of one. That ¡®encounter¡¯ hadn¡¯t been life-threatening as a typical dungeon encounter, so would it only be a basic reward? *** Shifting Wand of Relief Rare Lv. 1 Effects - Moderate increase to magical Furor. - Equipped with a [Form Shift]. Description A long, slim rod of white metal, capped with a gold tip. The craftsmanship is pristine. Aforting aura radiates from the weapon. *** ¡°A rare?¡± Natalie burst out. That was way better than she¡¯d been expecting. ¡°And a moderate furor increase with no downsides?¡± Liz was equally stunned. It was far and away the most valuable item they¡¯d found down in the dungeon. Maybe not the most incredible that could be found, but certainly in the high, high echelons of starter loot. ¡°What¡¯s the form shift?¡± Liz asked. Frowning at the weapon, she tugged at the built-in ability, and the wand shifted in her hands. The two girls stared nkly at the result. ¡°Oh,¡± Liz said. ¡°Yeah, that makes sense.¡± Liz held a marble-white dildo capped with a golden tip. The simrity to the wand¡¯s practical form wasical enough that Natalie startedughing, and Liz joined a secondter, giggling incredulously. She wiggled the item side to side, and they saw it had some give to it¡ªit was rubbery. The mirth passed quickly, because both of them were interested in what the transformation had brought, speaking practically. They were delvers in possession of a rare-quality item. *** Shifting Wand of Relief Rare Lv. 1 Effects - Equipped with a [Form Shift]. - When used on SELF: Apply [Minor Magical Prowess Increase] for 24h. - When OTHER uses on SELF: Apply [Link]. - [Locked - Lv. 2]: [Form Evolve: Double-Headed] Description A long, thick rod of soft white metal, capped with a golden tip. The craftsmanship is pristine. Aforting aura radiates from the weapon. *** ¡°It¡¯s evolvable?!¡± Liz burst out, and, like before, Natalie was also astounded. ¡°And all the other stuff?¡± Natalie rubbed the side of her head, taking a second to digest the reveal. Liz stared at her with wide eyes, waiting for her input. ¡°Seems like we got lucky,¡± Natalie said simply. It was a huge understatement. For a level one item, it was phenomenal. ¡°What do you think [Link] is?¡± ¡°No clue. Some kind of support ability, I¡¯m sure. But ¡­ I don¡¯t know if¡ª?¡± Someone would have to use it on Liz to find out, the skill said. ¡°M-Maybeter,¡± Liz stuttered out. ¡°We¡¯ll put that one off.¡± Natalie understood. While the benefits from the wand¡¯s second form seemed useful¡ªthe minor prowess increase was another incredible bonus¡ªshe didn¡¯t expect Liz to just be okay with using it. She¡¯d let her teammate decide how she wanted to handle the weapon. ¡°And double-headed, for the evolved form?¡± Liz muttered. ¡°Seriously? Your ss is so insane.¡± ¡°Gave us a rare, though,¡± Natalie pointed out. ¡°Crazy, but good.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Eying the dildo one more time, Liz swapped it back to its regrbat form. She sighed, then groaned. ¡°Exining to the team is going to be so weird.¡± Natalie agreed, but at the same time, she was getting used to ¡®weird¡¯. ¡°Okay,¡± Natalie said. ¡°I can take the lead on that, if you want.¡± Liz nodded her head rapidly, more than happy to take her up on the offer. She¡¯d gained some boldness during the event of theirs, but Natalie didn¡¯t think her blushing nature had disappeared¡ªonly a few walls had broken down. Liz very much wasn¡¯t ready to waltz out and exin her shifting-dildo-wand to her teammates. That would be Natalie¡¯s job. Since it was her ss, she supposed it was only fair. 3.35 – Incredulous 3.35 ¨C Incredulous Outside, Jordan, Sofia, and Ana stood around awkwardly, twiddling their thumbs. ¡°So,¡± Sofia suddenly said. ¡°It¡¯s still going on?¡± ¡°Guess it is,¡± Jordan replied. ¡°Been a while, don¡¯t you think?¡± ¡°They¡¯re having fun with it, maybe,¡± Jordan said wryly. Sofia raised an unimpressed eyebrow at her, and Jordan snorted. ¡°And what does everyone think of all this?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°It¡¯s her ss. Not like she can help it,¡± Jordan said. ¡°I guess,¡± Sofia said dubiously. She looked at Ana, waiting for a response. The stony-faced girl met her gaze easily. ¡°It¡¯s a low-threat challenge that offers a custom reward our team needs. So, I suppose I consider this event fortuitous?¡± Sofia¡¯s expression melted to exasperation. ¡°Really. That¡¯s all?¡± Ana tilted her head. A small frown tugged on her lips. ¡°I would not have personally participated,¡± she said, ¡°but that Elizabeth chose to doesn¡¯t bother me. Does it you?¡± ¡°No,¡± Sofia said. ¡°It¡¯s just¡ª¡° She struggled for a moment on how to put it. Jordan suspected the girl didn¡¯t know herself. To be fair, it was quite the event. A look of understanding crossed Ana¡¯s face. ¡°You wish you could have taken the challenge.¡± ¡°No!¡± the instant, horrified response came, and Jordan startedughing at how catastrophically Ana had misinterpreted things. ¡°What are you even¡ª¡° Sofia stuttered. ¡°That¡¯s not what¡ª¡° ¡°Maybe it¡¯ll let everyone get a go,¡± Jordan joked to her. ¡°Who gets to watch? Me or Nat?¡± ¡°You,¡± Sofia growled, ¡°are supposed to be the reasonable one.¡± She poked a firm finger into Jordan¡¯s chest, and Jordan only smirked down at the white-haired girl. ¡°I am not interested in those challenges. I¡¯m just surprised everyone¡¯s taking it so in stride, is all.¡± Jordan shrugged. ¡°They¡¯re optional. Doesn¡¯t really matter, if that¡¯s the case.¡± ¡°I guess,¡± Sofia repeated. Jordan knew what was really going on. The poor girl was just flustered from imagining what was happening inside that room. To be fair, Jordan was too¡ªhow couldn¡¯t she be? But Sofia especially. Their team¡¯s fighter was just talking to talk, the silence as they leaned against the dungeon wall and waited for the event to wrap up having left too much room for her thoughts to run wild. The blush on her cheeks would have given that away, even if her agitated movements hadn¡¯t. Thankfully, the somewhat awkward waiting-around ended: advancing footsteps from down the long underground tunnel heralded their teammates¡¯ return. Liz shuffled behind Natalie sheepishly, obviously embarrassed to acknowledge what had happened. Jordan fought away the smile tugging at her lips, seeing the timid disy. She didn¡¯t know what had gone on between her and Natalie, but Jordan suspected that at a minimum, it wouldn¡¯t be too long before Natalie had another lust-gathering partner. Maybe, even, she and Liz could team up on Natalie? That would be an event and a half. She wondered whether it would give Natalie more energy than two separate encounters. That was probably hoping for too much. Well, even if not, it¡¯d be time-efficient. Jordan would need a way to sneak the topic in. Though, obviously, she was assuming a lot, and still had to see whether Liz herself would be interested. ¡°Well?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°How¡¯d it go?¡± ¡°Good,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Worked like it said it would.¡± She coughed. She was obviously the one morefortable in handling exnations, seeing how Liz was red-faced and peeking out from behind Natalie, but it was still an awkward event. Amusedly, Jordan wondered how long the timid behaviors wouldst in their group. How frequent, and intense, would the dungeon¡¯s interventions be? This blushing stage of theirs might notst long, depending on how enthusiastically the dungeon threw challenges at them. ¡°And your reward?¡± Liz presented the item, holding it out in front of her. It was a thin metal white wand with a gold cap¡ªit looked high quality. Intrigued, Jordan didn¡¯t waste a moment to [Inspect] it. Sofia and Ana didn¡¯t either. ¡°A rare?¡± Sofia blurted out. ¡°What!¡± ¡°A form shift?¡± Jordan asked, finding that the more intriguing part. Considering the methods Natalie and Liz had used to earn the item, she suspected something might be up. And she was right. Exnations took ce, and Jordan only barely stifled herughter as she discovered the wand¡¯s nature. Sofia seemed to be struggling to ept this new reality of theirs, and Ana, as always, seemed only intrigued. ¡°Maybe such a trial would be worth the effort,¡± Ana mused. ¡°An evolvable rare weapon. How will we be splitting future events?¡± ¡°So there¡¯s a line for them, now?¡± Natalie asked. ¡°With rewards like that?¡± Ana asked. She seemed genuinely confused as she looked at Jordan and Sofia. ¡°Surely anyone would be willing to suffer through some ¡­ awkwardness.¡± Sofia seemed like she would protest that, but then nced at Liz¡¯s wand and seemed to turn vaguely nauseous. The white-haired girl clearly agreed, though the idea of partaking in the dungeon¡¯s so-called tribtions still offended her sensibilities. Jordan was pleased to find Ana didn¡¯t seem to have any majorpunctions, now that the challenges had proved valuable. This delving party of theirs really might warm up to the idea faster than she¡¯d expected. She wondered what that would be like. She was only interested in Natalie from a romantic perspective, but getting to team up on her with Sofia, Liz, or even Ana sounded appealing. She tried not to let those thoughts run too wild¡ªand was admittedly somewhat surprised at how eager she was for it. She¡¯d never considered herself a lustful woman, but recent events and her involvement with Natalie and her ss had changed that¡ªor woken something up in her. ¡°Well, whatever,¡± Sofia said loudly. ¡°We¡¯ll figure that outter. Can we please move on? There¡¯s still boss rooms to find, and we¡¯re not remotely re-stocked on gear.¡± Jordan considered pushing the point¡ªhow the challenges would be handled and distributed was relevant and worth talking about¡ªbut clearly Sofia needed a moment to think the subject over. A shared look with Natalie confirmed that. ¡°We¡¯ll handle it when we get to it,¡± Natalie agreed. Still halfway hiding behind Natalie, Liz nodded rapidly, her short hair bouncing. ¡°And your ss better not have turned the bosses perverted too,¡± Sofia said, with something approaching a growl. ¡°I swear, gives good rewards or not, we do still needbat practice.¡± Jordan didn¡¯t think they were that lucky. The dungeon had far from morphedpletely into a pervertedndscape. They were in for plenty of regr challenges. Just lots of bonus ones, too. 3.36 – Dryad 3.36 ¨C Dryad Despite the oddity of the earlier event, Natalie and her team fell back into their usual serious demeanor. It was hard not to, fighting against the vicious beasts of the dungeon. Her brain needed to focus entirely on each sessive fight; there was no room to be embarrassed or incredulous over her circumstances. Footwork, illusions, and trading blows¡ªthat was all she could think about. Having their gear stripped from them made progressing through the dungeon more of an ordeal than it otherwise would have been, but that said, far from an insurmountable one. As level ones who hadn¡¯t even had powerful gear to speak of, the effect was frustrating and certainly a detriment, but their recent advancements in technical prowess and teamwork meant monsters fell with rtive ease. It might even be true that they did better than they would have with their gear. They¡¯d been greatly motivated by Elida¡¯s attack, and to the woman, they stubbornly risen up and refused to have their first dungeon run ruined. With razor focus and determination, they regained, piece by piece, various armor and essories, slowly working their arsenal back up. The items were unfortunately not as well-suited to them, since they¡¯d spent the past week doing their best to gather ones that would be, but while the bonuses earned from gear were important, the difference between one piece and another weren¡¯t that significant. Theirpetence with their sses and weapons mattered more. Natalie, of course, was the most exposed from the event¡ªhaving armor to defend herself from attacking monsters was obviously important for the tank, even if the armor wasn¡¯t as high quality as it could be. Fortunately, the dungeon went easy on them, and she found a chainmail vest in the first hour. Not just that, but Liz¡¯s new powerful weapon meant her buffs and heals were stronger than ever. Hours passed, dozens of monsters turned to smoke ribbons and monster cores, and they forged forward, emboldened by their picking-up speed. It was only a matter of time before they found a real challenge: a stone archway tucked between two towering trees. Natalie knew the entrance to a boss fight when she saw one. The team discussed their options. They could mark the entrance and backtrack to itter, when they¡¯d gathered more equipment and thus were better prepared, or they could tackle the elite beast now. The original n had been the former, but the dungeon had been generous in their first several hours of adventuring; they hadn¡¯t fully restocked their gear, but they¡¯d gotten the basics, and Liz had her new wand to rely on. Not only that, but there was an argument for taking on the boss before they tired themselves out. Hours on hours of delving took obvious tolls on endurance, even resting between fights. They came to a consensus¡ªthey would fight now. As much as because there were logical reasons to do so, Natalie could tell her teammates were antsy for a difficult fight. Even the more cautious members, like Ana and Jordan, seemed eager to test themselves against a real challenge. So, rolling her hammer in her grip, Natalie passed through the stone archway and into the clearing. She became doubly certain this would be a boss fight just from the space that opened up. A wide, circr arena sprawled out in front of her. Tall walls of thick, interwoven trees stuffed with vegetation blocked movement in and out. There were four square dirt patches in each of the cardinal directions, and Natalie knew it would have something to do with the fight, though not how, yet. Boss fights often came with environmental or arena challenges; the powerful lead monster was only half the threat. On the patch of dirt furthest from them, across the arena, a figure sat meditating, cross-legged and with either of her palms resting on her knees. She hadn¡¯t opened her eyes on Natalie and her team broaching her domain, and they slowed and took a moment to study her. The woman had pale green skin, with hair a shade darker that was tucked into a flower crown. Her clothing was made of the same blue-green leaves that dotted the Wispwood, fashioned in a simple arrangement that was somehow elegant. At a guess, she was eight or nine feet tall¡ªnot human sized. A staff of gnarled wood rested to her side, within reach. Their opponent exuded a certain connection with nature¡ªlike she was as much part of this forest as the grass, dirt, and trees. ¡°Dryad?¡± Sofia murmured. Humanoid monsters were moremon in lower floors, and also boss fights. Some could even speak, though doing so in anything more than a nominal manner was rare. Certainly they didn¡¯t chat with delvers. Whatever these creature¡¯s existences in the dungeon were, millennia of curious delvers trying to interact with them had yielded little. Natalie didn¡¯t expect anything different, here. Though, she briefly wondered whether her ss changed anything. Dryads weren¡¯t unheard of creatures¡ªperhaps even fairlymon in the Wispwood¡ªbut what were the odds that the dungeon had given them an attractive nature elemental for their first boss fight? Did it mean anything? Frankly, Natalie didn¡¯t think so. Nothing about this encounter suggested her ss would be influencing it. She expected they were in for a boss fight in the traditional manner. Indeed, as the dryad cracked open an eye, then a second one, frowning as she took in Natalie and her party across the far end of the arena, she felt doubly confident in that assumption. Irritation showed inly on the dryad¡¯s face, and she reached over and picked up her staff. Standing, Natalie confirmed she was at least eight feel tall, though disproportionally thin. Branches and leaves slithered up from the ground behind them, sealing off the stone archway that had led them into the copse arena. ¡°You intrude on my meditation,¡± the dryad said, cold eyes surveying the party. ¡°How inconsiderate.¡± She raised her staff, and the rest of Natalie¡¯s team likewise readied themselves. ¡°No matter. The forest is hungry, and so I will provide it corpses for sustenance.¡± 3.37 – Boss 3.37 ¨C Boss With a greeting like that, thest of Natalie¡¯s doubts were dispelled. Sofia¡¯s exasperated suggestion that her ss might make the bosses perverted was clearly not true¡ªor at least not for this encounter. The dryad seemed far more interested in turning them into forest fertilizer than anything. Natalie didn¡¯t waste a moment, seeing the dryad raise her staff. She charged forward. The four patches of dirt in each cardinal direction meant something, but she kept that in the back of her mind¡ªshe couldn¡¯t know exactly what until it revealed itself. Quickly covering distance toward the dryad, her opponent raised her staff into the air in reply, pointing the shaft of wood skyward. Her previously blue eyes turned white, vibrating with energy, and power gathered at the tip, humming to Natalie¡¯s magical senses¡ªand then a half-secondter, to her physical eyesight too, as crackling white sparks manifested on the gnarled tip of the staff. The hair on the back of her neck raised, and instinct alone told her what to do. She flung herself sideways, her n for charging head-first into the dryad relegated to second priority. A secondter, searing white lighting erupted into the ground exactly where Natalie had been headed. A thunderous p echoed through the air, enough to leave her ears ringing, and Natalie briefly wondered how well she would have held up against a lighting strike. Bosses weren¡¯t called bosses without a reason¡ªthey were by the far the mostmon way for experienced delvers to find their careers abruptly cut off. Being roasted in a single shot wasn¡¯t fully off the table. Though, a durable ss like Natalie probably wouldn¡¯t die in a single hit. Liz or Jordan, though? More likely, at least for a strong charge-up attack like that. Which was why it was so important Natalie kept the dryad¡¯s attention. She¡¯d flung herself recklessly sideways, knowing she absolutely had to avoid whatever iing attack had been gathering at the dryad¡¯s staff tip, but she still recovered smoothly, turning her tumble sideways into a roll and finally staggering to her feet. The powerful spell hadn¡¯t been free; the dryad¡¯s eyes were still fading from their blinding white and back to their natural color, recovering from the expenditure of mana. Natalie cobbled together her own key spell. Illusions shimmered around her body, growing limbs and weapons where they didn¡¯t exist. They were less refined than in her fight against Elida, because she didn¡¯t use [Empower]. Burning progression points whenever she fought a boss simply wasn¡¯t wise¡ªthat powerful ability needed to be saved for moments that truly mattered. If things turned sour, then obviously she would tap into that expensive resource, but if at all possible, she wanted to handle this with her base ss. Natalie arrived to the tall green woman right as she finished recovering from her lightning spell. Lowering her staff and gripping it two-handed, she swung in a wide arc before Natalie could get her own attack out. Though seeming like a mage ss, the dryad¡¯s physical abilities weren¡¯tcking. Natalie barely managed to duck the hurtling piece of wood, and it soared above her head with a whistle of wind that doubly confirmed any attacks from this creature wouldn¡¯t be a third as easy to shrug off as anything else she¡¯d fought thus far, barring maybe the mini-boss they¡¯d gone up against. Prior to this point, the humanoid monsters she¡¯d been fighting had all been either shorter or equal height to her. Dealing with the eight-foot dryad, not to mention her gigantic reach with her wooden staff, wasn¡¯t an easy feat. Power and swiftness mattered, but so did the sheer reality of physical advantages¡ªbeing able to swing and smash a gigantic rod of wood from seven feet away was rather hard to deal with as a shield-and-hammer wielder. Still, practiced footwork and keeping a careful eye on the dryad meant she could sneak her own attacks in. The dryad blocked or dodged them, but every moment that Natalie kept the creature¡¯s attention meant safety¡ªand opportunity¡ªfor her teammates. They had hardly been sitting around; Sofia and Jordan had edged in from either of the woman¡¯s nks, and the dryad grunted as des scraped her green flesh. The injuries oozed a dark green ichor, and it had a potent, disgusting smell, like rotting earth. Irritated at having been surrounded, the dryad mmed her staff into the floor, and a shockwave sted all three of the melee fighters backward. Natalie grunted as she hit the ground hard, but quickly recovered. Sofia and Jordan weren¡¯t as lucky, not half as durable, and not bearing Liz¡¯s empowering buff. A long shaft of wood hurtled toward Sofia, following up on the disabling spell, and Natalie only barely managed to barrel forward, shield-first, into the dryad¡¯s arm. The motion deflected the strike, her opponent¡¯s staff hitting dirt rather than Sofia¡¯s skull, but Natalie had put herself off bnce in the mad rush. A kick to the chest sent her crashing into the dirt far harder than the first time, and even with her HP, a rib might have cracked. ¡°Insolent,¡± the dryad said. ¡°You should be honored to return to nature.¡± ck shes of energy ripped across the dryad¡¯s body, one of Ana¡¯s stronger, slower-channeling spells manifesting. The creature grunted in pain as a half-dozen wounds opened up across her body, tearing into her leaf-woven clothing and the smell of rotting wood filling the air to an even more pungent degree. Abruptly, the shing tendrils of power stopped having an effect, a white sheen of protective energy covering the dryad¡¯s body. The boss monster pulled her staff close to her chest and closed her eyes. Natalie staggered back to her feet. It was effectively the tank¡¯s job to be tossed around and bullied, soaking up punishment, but she still couldn¡¯t say she liked being manhandled like that. It was impossible to match a boss monster¡¯s might, but the disparity in strength still annoyed her. She focused on the fight, those thoughts only flickering through her head. The dryad was clearly entering a special phase or attack¡ªthe white light protecting her, fending off their follow-up attacks with total ease, suggested that pretty clearly. Though special phase how? ¡°Safe zones,¡± Liz cried out. ¡°Maybe?¡± It was a reasonable assumption, and a fairlymon mechanic in a boss arena, so Natalie sprinted for one of the dirt patches. Sofia, just a bit slower than her, having been trying to break the protective white spell, threw herself thest several feet, the energy in the air building and the dryad¡¯s special attack clearly starting to manifest. Natalie grunted as she caught the white-haired girl and stopped her from tumbling past the edge of the small patch of dirt. A secondter, lightning crashed down in a torrent. Dozens or hundreds of the booming streaks of light scalded the grass of the arena, so numerous and frequent the noise ovepped into one world-ending cacophony. A primal instinct had her mping her wrists onto her ears¡ªher hands were full¡ªin an attempt to block the sound out. Even with her eyes closed, too, the flood of light turned her eyelids red. Finally, several secondster, the barrage ended, and the dryad sagged, nearly falling to her knees. The spell had drained her. Which, of course, meant an opportunity for retaliation. Natalie didn¡¯t waste a second¡ªshe charged forward. The powerful lightning barrage had expended the dryad far more than her previous spells, and Natalie was rewarded with a satisfying thunk as she crashed her hammer straight into the creature¡¯s skull. Still, it was a boss monster, and insanely durable¡ªit only sent the dryad stumbling sideways and climbing to her feet to recover. The fight progressed that way for some time. Several times more, the dryad called that same ultimate attack down, and the team needed to go rushing to the nearest small patches of dirt. There were a few close calls, with the timing window shrinking with each follow up. Bosses tended to get stronger as they got weaker, the opposite of how fights ought to work. Still, they were well-prepared for this fight, even having some of their gear stolen. The whittled the boss down, bit by bit. Ana¡¯s spells of ck energy tore into green flesh, Sofia danced between retaliatory strikes and poked and shed, and Jordan delivered asional devastating sneak attacks. Ana was the one who imed the finishing blow. A cascade of thick ck-energy spikes burst from the ground, impaling the dryad in dozens of ces¡ªnamely, one straight through her chest. ¡°Insolent,¡± the dryad repeated balefully, ring at Ana for a long, suspended moment¡ªthen her face went ck, and the creature finally disintegrated into motes of energy. 3.38 – Warhammer 3.38 ¨C Warhammer Natalie copsed back into the dirt, releasing her hammer. She let out a long, agonized groan, her entire body aching. Being the punching bag of the team wasn¡¯t morous work. ¡°Fuck me,¡± she moaned. ¡°I¡¯ve gotta be one giant bruise after that.¡± She wasn¡¯t the only one to slump into the ground, exhausted from the fight. Each of them had been drained, pushing themselves to the limit in the first of their climactic battles against a first floor dungeon boss. Natalie especially had been through the wringer. Being the team¡¯s meat shield was no fun at all¡ªthough she vastly preferred it over her teammates taking hits, so each ache adorning her body was satisfying in a strange way, too. Pain she¡¯d taken for each of her team members. ¡°That wasn¡¯t so bad, I guess,¡± Liz said. ¡°Mages shouldn¡¯t be allowed to move so fast,¡± Jordan dered. ¡°That waspletely unfair.¡± Natalie agreed wholeheartedly. Fighting the dryad had been like fighting against a fullypetent mage, rogue, and fighter all at the same time. Just how nightmarish would a fully physicalbatant have been? Though at least then she could have focused her full attention on dodging and trading powerful blows. With spells and lighting-fast staff strikes interspersed, she¡¯d been juggling a dozen different factors in her head, where any tiny slip-up meant a new gigantic bruise. At the same time, it at least meant each individual strike didn¡¯t shatter bones. Though the kick from earlier really had broken a rib, she was pretty sure¡ªit ached horribly, though Liz¡¯s heals, and a rare usage of a health potion, were slowly patching it up. For a while, Natalie and her teammates simply sat there and caught their breath. Curiosity and excitement won out, though, before more than a minute or two passed. Natalie grunted as she shoved herself back into a sitting position, wincing at the sharp pain in her side. Ahead of her, sprouted from where the dryad¡¯s corpse had disintegrated, sat a chest grown from interwoven branches. The dungeon didn¡¯t want them to scour the arena for their rewards, this time: it provided it front and center. How lucky of them. Truth told, the fight had been difficult, and there¡¯d been several close calls, but that was the standard for the dungeon. All of them hade out, while bruised and bloodied¡ªeven the backline¡ªin one piece, and that was all that mattered in a boss fight. Seeing how these encounters were far and away the mostmon way for T students to disappear, no critical injuries meant they¡¯d performed beautifully. Indeed, looking around, Natalie could tell the team was satisfied with themselves. Doubly true considering their unfortunate circumstances, having had much of their gear robbed. Natalie pushed herself to her feet, and the rest of the team followed. Sofia, naturally, moved quickest, arriving at the chest first. That woman had a serious obsession with shiny things¡ªshe was almost always the one pulling items out. Something odd happened as Sofia dug out the first item. She grunted and frowned, and where she¡¯d reached in with one hand, she was forced to add a second. nting her feet, she struggled to heave out whatever object the dungeon had given them. A gigantic six-foot long warhammer slowly revealed itself, and Natalie had to help Sofia lug out and stabilize the item. The white-haired girl seemed mildly annoyed at that, though had clearly needed the help, which Natalie smirked at. Her attention was pulled toward the weapon, though, teasing Sofia taking a temporary second priority. *** Stone Smasher Umon Lv. 1 Effects - Minor increase to magical Prowess. - Minor increase to physical Tenacity. - Smash. Greatly empower your next attack. Description An oversized two-handed stone hammer engraved with arcane markings. Clumsy if devastating in strength. *** ¡°Now that¡¯s a weapon,¡± Jordan said, sounding vaguely impressed. ¡°No kidding.¡± Resting the gigantic b of stone on the ground, so the shaft stuck straight up, Natalie confirmed the two-handed beast was quite literally taller than she was. She grabbed the shaft and grunted as she heaved it up. The weight was seriously unwieldy. Even she struggled to control it. She gave the weapon a test swing, and while she admitted there was a certain satisfaction in the cumbersome monster, it was frankly too heavy for her, even strengthened by her ss. Maybe with some gear that boosted her further it would be a viable option, but as it stood? No chance. ¡°It¡¯ll sell well, for sure,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Don¡¯t wanna use it?¡± Jordan asked. ¡°Has magical prowess and tenacity buffs. It was made for you.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t,¡± Natalie said, a bit reluctantly. ¡°Just too heavy.¡± She set the enormous thing down with a thump. ¡°Plus, maybe not the best tank weapon.¡± ¡°There¡¯s merit in tanking through sheer inavoidability,¡± Sofia said. It didn¡¯t sound like she was disagreeing, just pointing it out. ¡°Swinging that thing around, even a boss would be forced to deal with you before moving on.¡± Natalie chewed her lip. If she werepletely honest, that sort of fighting style appealed to her more than the smaller hammer and shield set-up she had right now. She¡¯d more than adapted to it, but the pairing didn¡¯t sing to her either. ¡°Seems more you, too,¡± Sofia said, mirroring her thoughts. Natalie chewed her lip before sighing. ¡°Maybe. But not this one. Just too unwieldy.¡± It was the frank truth of the matter. Sofia eyed it, nudging the block of stone with her boot. The white-haired girl hadn¡¯t even been able to pull it out of the chest, and while Sofia was more of a fighter focused on prowess and technique, she wasn¡¯t some weakling, either. Nobody with a physical ss was. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s fair.¡± ¡°Just feels like a shame to get a weapon like that and none of us can use it,¡± Liz chimed in. ¡°If you want to give it a test run, that¡¯s fine?¡± Natalie wrinkled her nose. She was tempted, but it simply didn¡¯t feel safe. ¡°Not in the dungeon. Maybe I¡¯ll try it out back at T. Might take some getting used to.¡± She rummaged out a monster core, then sucked the item into the orb. She turned the ss ball back and forth, intrigued despite how many times she¡¯d used the convenient feature of the magical core. A tiny copy of the stone warhammer floated inside its depths. ¡°Maybe a level up will help, too,¡± Liz said. ¡°There¡¯s good odds some of us will hit that, tonight.¡± After so many diligent trips into the dungeon, and taking down a boss, it was within the realm of possibility to be advancing to level two,e midnight. Not guaranteed, though. And Liz was right¡ªthe boosts to her stats that came with a level up might make the unwieldy weapon usable. She perked up at that. She¡¯d gotten used to her hammer and shield, but she would admit the idea of swinging around an oversized weapon had instantly appealed to her. She paused, finally making the connection. Oversized weapons. Well, this would be the second one, if she chose to use that fighting style. She coughed and ignored the inappropriate thought. Though really¡ªher first skill was called [Heavy Weaponry]. Maybe it was fate. Was there even some kind of hidden bonus for it? That might be too hopeful¡ªshe hadn¡¯t felt anything when testing the warhammer out. More items were being lugged out of the chest by Sofia, so Natalie turned her attention that way. Her final decisions on a potential weapon swap couldeter. 3.39 – Revealing 3.39 ¨C Revealing This being a chest provided by a boss encounter, the warhammer was far from the only valuable drop. Though, as an umon, not one of the weakest, either; boss fight or not, this was still the first floor of the dungeon. Their rewards could only be so great. A collection of various items came out. Nearly everyone on the team got some essory or piece of gear that suited them to some degree, and Natalie found herself nodding to herself, their decision to tackle the boss despite being mildly underprepared clearly having demonstrated itself as having been worth it¡ªtheir equipment issues were rectified in short order, bringing them back to where they¡¯d been before Elida¡¯s interference. And they¡¯d still be receiving much of that gear back; Liz had said such excessive robbing went against even T¡¯s unforgiving and apathetic standards. So it was a great payday. The crown jewel of loot chest camest. Jordan let out a low whistle, reading the item¡¯s description. *** Robes of the Sparking Conduit Rare Lv. 1 Effects - Spark of Inspiration. For twenty seconds, gain moderate bonuses to magical Prowess. Fifteen minute cooldown. Description White mage¡¯s robes that glow faintly with an otherworldly light. *** ¡°Another rare,¡± Natalie said, shaking her head. ¡°That¡¯s crazy.¡± ¡°At least it came from a boss fight, this time,¡± Sofia said, though was of course equally impressed. ¡°So it makes some sense.¡± Rares were, well, rare, especially on the first floor. If one would drop, it¡¯d be from a boss fight, so it wasn¡¯t nearly as astounding as Liz¡¯s wand, but even so. Two rares in a single day was incredible luck. Their fortunes really had turned around after Elida¡¯s attack. Was the dungeon taking pity on them, or was it just coincidence? Regardless, the team¡¯s mood had improved considerably¡ªat the burst of fortune, Natalie could tell thest lingering discontent vanished. Liz especially was bouncing on her heels, excited. ¡°That¡¯s Ana¡¯s! Definitely. I don¡¯t need it.¡± Natalie found herself endeared at how enthusiastically the healer insisted the amazing mage¡¯s item go to Ana¡ªbecause Liz herself could absolutely have made great use of the item. A moderate boost to magical prowess every few fights was incredible. Not quite as insane as Liz¡¯s persistent moderate furor boost, but that wand hade from a broken encounter; thinking about both how they¡¯d gotten it, and how strong it was, hurt Natalie¡¯s head. Sofia finished unfolding the white garment, dropping it out so they could see the full piece of clothing. ¡°Wait ¡­¡± Liz said. ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem like there¡¯s enough?¡± Sofia said, confused. She turned the piece of clothing around in her hands, trying to make sense of it. Natalie also blinked. Those were robes? Sofia finished untangling it, and presented the article of clothing. ¡°Oh,¡± Liz said. As one, her four team mates turned to Natalie. Natalie¡¯s face seared red. ¡°No. Uh-huh. You can¡¯t me me every time something like this happens. It¡¯s not like there¡¯s no dungeon loot that¡¯s a little ¡­¡± She struggled to find the word. ¡°Slutty?¡± Sofia suggested, quirking an eyebrow. She tugged on the scant bundle of fabric. Natalie couldn¡¯t even fully tell how it was supposed to be worn; it was a tangle of strips and bands of white cloth. ¡°M-Maybe it¡¯s not Ana¡¯s, then?¡± Liz asked,ughing nervously and sending a look toward their mage. Ana paused, then said, ¡°Why? You want it?¡± ¡°No! I just mean¡ªwell, it¡¯s kind of ¡­ what Sofia said?¡± ¡°Revealing?¡± Ana asked. ¡°It¡¯s still an effective piece of equipment.¡± Liz gaped as Ana held her hand out for Sofia, and the white-haired girl amusedly gave it to her. ¡°Turn around, please?¡± Ana asked. The team politely did so. Natalie focused her thoughts stalwartly elsewhere, because for some reason, the idea of Ana tugging on those flimsy ¡®robes¡¯ were creating problems down low¡ªand while Jordan and Liz both knew about her issue there, Sofia and Ana were still in the dark. Plus, getting hard at her teammate¡¯s new attire would obviously be inappropriate. To understate things. ¡°There,¡± Ana said. They turned around. Nataliemented her fate. She¡¯d been vaguely aware that Ana had a great figure, because even for her loose, extremely unttering gray robes, her bust and hips had been outrageously noticeable. Still, she¡¯d underestimated what it took to make even thick mage robes cling to her curves. Maybe it was the outrageous contrast, too, going from what Ana had been wearing to this. And Ana¡¯s panties and bra were clearly visible, considering how little the robes covered. But they were incongruous to the outfit. Two thin strands of white cloth ran down her chest, and if not for her ck bra, a truly scandalous amount of skin would¡¯ve been showing. The slightest breeze would¡¯ve exposed the woman. To Natalie¡¯s delight and despair, Ana turned around and presented the back of the outfit, too. The thin, lightweight cloth didn¡¯t cover much more lower down than it did above. Two ps of white cloth covered her front and ass, but not entirely¡ªNatalie got an indulgent sight of thighs, calves, stomach, back, and the edge of Ana¡¯s ass, the curves still plenty noticeable, even entuated by the frail efforts to hide them. ¡°L-Looks good!¡± Liz squeaked. ¡°If you¡¯re fine with it, of course. Are you fine with it?¡± Ana turned back forward, then frowned down at her attire. ¡°It¡¯s eptable. A bit breezy. Should I lose the bra? The robes obviously aren¡¯t meant for it.¡± Liz sent panicked looks to Natalie, Sofia, and Jordan, but Natalie was undergoing her own crucible, so she didn¡¯t reply. She wasn¡¯t sure whether the visible bra and panties were making matters worse or better¡ªthat the garments clearly didn¡¯t match to the robe¡¯s scandalizing design almost made the outfit more erotic, despite covering more skin. Natalie desperately struggled to keep her thoughts chaste, and for her not to reveal her problem to Sofia and Ana. Jordan rolled her eyes, seeming amused at everyone¡¯s reactions. Natalie knew she appreciated the sight, because who wouldn¡¯t, but she wasn¡¯t a mess like Liz and Natalie, and to a lesser extent, Sofia¡ªwho was pointedly trying not to stare as well. ¡°Maybe wait until you can get some tape,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Otherwise I think you¡¯ll be showing off more than you want. Doesn¡¯t seem like it¡¯ll stay in ce.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± Ana said, pointedly ying with the thin straps that ran down her breasts. A slight breeze would send them fluttering open; she definitely needed tape to keep them in ce. ¡°I suppose it doesn¡¯t matter for now.¡± ¡°Was that thest of the items?¡± Natalie asked, a bit louder than she meant. Lingering on Ana¡¯s newbat gear would only end poorly. Jordan smirked at her, obviously knowing Natalie¡¯s plight, and Natalie only returned a re. Fortunately, Sofia also seemed eager to move on; she was flustered too. Really, who would have expected Ana to have that much going on? The nerdy, emotionless girl had one of the most unfair figures Natalie had ever set eyes on. And now she¡¯d be showing it off constantly throughout the dungeon? By wearing those so-called ¡®robes¡¯ around? Natalie waspletely doomed. ¡°That was thest,¡± Sofia said, rummaging around onest time to make sure. She rose, then faced the far end of the arena. ¡°More importantly, though, is whether we¡¯re using the exit.¡± It was a question that managed to briefly chase away thoughts of her teammate¡¯s revealing new clothing. The exit. Or, more relevantly, the entrance to the second floor of the dungeon. All five of them chewed over the question. They¡¯d discussed the possibility earlier, but being faced with the option recontextualized it. ¡°We did fare well against the boss,¡± Jordan said. ¡°At the same time, I think I¡¯d rather keep grinding this floor. Maybe tackle one or two more bosses if possible. Second floor is risky.¡± ¡°I agree,¡± Sofia said. ¡°Though my curiosity certainly doesn¡¯t.¡± Natalie snorted. ¡°Either works with me,¡± Liz said. ¡°Both options have merit. Especially with our gear upgrades, we can definitely handle it. But we¡¯re setting a good pace, and the Wispwood seems suited to ourposition. It¡¯d be smart to stay.¡± Natalie wavered between the two options. If they went into the second floor, they¡¯d certainly have to stay near the entrance, and would likely have to retreat shortly. From there, they¡¯d have to re-enter the dungeon, and therefore get a new first-floor that they weren¡¯t as familiar with. The hours they¡¯d spent in the Wispwood had improved their efficiency carving through its monsters, so giving up that advantage might be unwise. ¡°I say we stay,¡± Ana said, and thest chime-in solidified Natalie¡¯s own position. Natalie nodded, then said, ¡°We¡¯ll go down on our second boss, then call the delve¡ªassuming it¡¯s gettingte.¡± Tomorrow was sses, and though they could stay overnight and get a bit more delving in that way, it wasn¡¯t strictly necessary, not after their previous fortune. Plus, everyone had stuff to handle up on campus, surely. Most prevalently, Natalie wanted to figure out her new housing situation. They had the loot and cores to afford it, by this point, especially if she was sharing a room with Jordan. ¡°Second boss,¡± Sofia said. ¡°That¡¯s optimistic, but if we set a good pace, I think it¡¯s possible.¡± She nodded, then looked at Natalie. ¡°You¡¯re good to continue?¡± Natalie rubbed her side, winced at the bruise there, but said, ¡°Yeah. Maybe take it a bit slow while Liz keeps patching me up. That dryad¡¯s staff was no fun.¡± Her teammates made several noises of agreement. Even the backline hadn¡¯t been spared from its devastating arcs. They gave sympathetic looks to Natalie who¡¯d especially not been spared. In ord, and with the boss chest looted, the team back tracked through the stone archway and set off into the Wispwood once more. 3.40 – Finishing Up 3.40 ¨C Finishing Up After several more hours of hunting, they did end up finding a second boss fight, which at their quick pace, hadn¡¯t been a guarantee, though Natalie wouldn¡¯t call it especially fortuitous, either. The bad news was that, despite upgrades in equipment, their quickly growing exhaustion made the second fight much tougher. Not only that, but the opponent wasn¡¯t a single powerful enemy like the dryad, but three weaker elementals that formed a collective boss: a water elemental, a fire, and a stone one. Natalie could keep the attention of two with some consistency, but not all three, as was certainly the intention of the encounter. Being weaker to several entitiespared to a single strong one was amon weakness of teams, but especially theirs, where Sofia wasn¡¯t the greatest off-tank. Normally, the fighter would be the one to keep the third elemental¡¯s attention, and Sofia did manage to do so, but it wasn¡¯t her area of expertise. Her elusive fighting style meant she was also somewhat easy to ignore, at least for short bursts. Natalie didn¡¯t know exactly what happened, being upied with her own encounter with the other two elementals, but when they came out victorious, there were several more serious injuries than the previous fight against the dryad. Ironically, Natalie was the one who¡¯d gotten out in a better condition than most of the rest of her team¡ªthough she was still beaten up herself. The worst injury by far was Sofia¡¯s. Not by virtue of being life-threatening, but rather, the hand she wielded her rapier with had been twisted in a rather gruesome manner. Patched up by Liz, and with her supernatural endurance and recovery speed granted from her ss, she¡¯d be fine by tomorrow, but only with a full night¡¯s proper rest. It wouldn¡¯t be wise to continue with their fighter incapacitated in such a way, so their delve hade to an end. Which wasn¡¯t too big of a problem. They hadn¡¯t had many hours left in them regardless, so nobody was upset. They looted the boss monster chess, receiving another smattering of useful items. Their incredible luck didn¡¯t continue, since they received no rares this time, but receiving several functional umons was still more than wee. Following that, they delved into the second floor of the dungeon just to take a look. They didn¡¯t take any fights or venture too far; after peeking around the magma-dotted cave system, they exited through the provided portal¡ªportals always spawned near dungeon descents¡ªand returned back to the surface. It was early evening as they walked back to campus,den with far more treasure than they¡¯d expected considering their inauspicious beginnings. Natalie even felt a bit smug about it; Elida would certainly have expected their trip to have been outright crippled by her interference, but that wasn¡¯t remotely the case. Sure, they would have done better had the woman not robbed them blind, but by all measures, Natalie and the rest of her team considered their first long delve a sess. After handling their earnings, liquidating the obvious items into credits, then getting cleaned and changed into casual clothes, Natalie and the team had an evening left to themselves. It ought to be enough time to handle a big-ticket item, actually. With their recent earnings, and the timer making the barracks a strict requirement having expired, it was time they used their credits to purchase something essentially all students were desperate for¡ªprivate dorms. Natalie, Jordan, and Sofia had already researched the various dorms scattered across the campus and narrowed down their choices. While they hadn¡¯t been able to inspect the actual interiors, which they nned to do today, they¡¯d still been able to decide on their feasible options. Dorms weren¡¯t just one enormous block somewhere on campus; they could choose from several buildings, and each varied in both luxury and positional convenience. Naturally, the three of them didn¡¯t care overmuch for either. They simply wanted out of the barracks. ¡°We¡¯re really getting a two bedroom?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°Why?¡± Jordan said without missing a beat. ¡°Thinking of making it one? It¡¯d get a little cramped with all of us in one bed, but I guess it¡¯s worth considering.¡± Sofia only huffed in reply, seeming exasperated at Jordan¡¯s teasing. Natalie, on her part, only shivered at the nightmare that would be sharing a room with Sofia. She wondered what Sofia thought of her and Jordan sharing a room. Obviously, they had framed it as a cost-saving measure, but she didn¡¯t think most people would buy that. Did Sofia think she and Jordan had something going on? As in, not in the sexual way, which they very much did, but romantically. That they were girlfriends. The idea sent a little thrill through her that was distinctly confusing. Maybe because of how odd the idea was? Her and Jordan, girlfriends? No, they were just best friends with benefits. Jordan wasn¡¯t anything to Natalie besides someone she wanted to spend her life with, and asionally bring to twitching, moaning climax. For some reason, those thoughts felt absurd in Natalie¡¯s head, but puzzling over the topic was fortunately cut off by Sofia continuing the conversation. ¡°Regardless, we might be able to lock a room down tonight. Are we trying to move in if we can?¡± ¡°Definitely,¡± Natalie said. ¡°I¡¯m so tired of those barracks.¡± That wasn¡¯t entirely true. The barracks themselves were tolerable. More urately, she was tired of her and Jordan taking care of their ¡®energy gathering sessions¡¯ in public bathrooms. Having her own dorm would solve so many headaches. Not to mention Natalie would be free to stay at other people¡¯s rooms, too. Sammy had mentioned T was strict on freshmen camping out at other people¡¯s dorms when they were supposed to be stuck in the barracks, but getting her own room lifted that restriction. And, she supposed, she could even bring other girls back. Though with Jordan sharing it, that could be tricky. Still, the reduced rent was worth it. Not to mention getting to have Jordan in her bed every night. The concept of that was bizarrely enticing, and not for the exciting moments, but the simple idea of getting to cuddle up with Jordan each night before bed. Though, she probably wouldn¡¯t want to cuddle? They were just sex best friends. Did those cuddle? ¡°No disagreements there,¡± Sofia said. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind it so much if it weren¡¯t for the noise. Feels impossible to get an uninterrupted night of sleep.¡± Natalie hadn¡¯t had too much of a problem with that, but she understood the sentiment. She guessed Sofia was a lighter sleeper than some. Which might be a problem. Soon enough, they arrived to the first candidate. The dorm building was a hive of activity, with the weekend¡¯s recent delves meaning freshmen were finally able to afford moving in¡ªwhich was their group¡¯s situation, too. The building was well staffed for the increased traffic, having undoubtedly been prepared from previous years. Despite the time, approaching the end of normal business hours, they were showing people around and renting out rooms. T was uncaring in some ways, but in this instance, at least, they were willing to amodate the eager freshmen. Small blessings. The tour wasn¡¯t especially exciting. T had a strong emphasis on progression that carried over to nearly everything, and so the ¡®starter dorms¡¯ weren¡¯t much to write home about, even by Natalie¡¯s low standards,ing from the middle of nowhere. Which wasn¡¯t to say they were crappy. Just in. The kitchen was kitted out, which meant they could prepare their own meals if they wanted, though T¡¯s cafeteria was free, and pretty incredible to be honest, so Natalie wasn¡¯t sure how often she¡¯d do so. Having the option was nice, though. Each of the two bedrooms came with their own attached bathroom, which was another big bonus¡ªhaving to share one with Sofia would¡¯ve been a nightmare. And a clutter. The shared living room waspact but more than enough for their needs; it wasn¡¯t like they¡¯d be hanging out there often. T students didn¡¯t have much time to sit around. It would only serve as a space to study. Everything came pre-furnished, since T students were obviously not in the position to be buying their own and moving it in. It was an option if they so desired, but Natalie had no interest. There was an appeal to customizing the space, but she¡¯d postpone any real efforts for that for when they upgraded to a more permanent space; this was just their small, cramped, but blessedly private starter dorm. Initial ns had been to check out all three of the choices they¡¯d scouted out as potentials, but after a brief discussion, they came to the consensus they simply didn¡¯t care¡ªthis one had everything they needed, and from their preliminary research, had been their top choice to begin with. Not wanting to deal with the chaos of checking out the other buildings under the frenzy of the freshmen rush, and possibly missing their opportunity to move in now, they signed the appropriate paperwork and passed over the initial fees. The price¡ªin credits, of course¡ªmade Natalie wince, regardless that this was one of the cheapest rooms and split three ways, but she reminded herself that her means for earning credits would only grow in the future, and exponentially so. The better gear, higher level, and more efficient delvers they became, the more and more credits that would be pouring into their ounts. While expensive now, rent for this dorm would be nearly inconsequentialter on. And so, those administrative tasks done, the three of them set off back to the barracks. They had moving-in to take care of. 3.41 – Celebration 3.41 ¨C Celebration Seeing how none of them had much belongings to speak of, the process didn¡¯t take long. Natalie found herself oddly giddy as she moved everything over, and her belongings started to mingle with Jordan¡¯s. Moving in with her best friend. Their own room, together. How couldn¡¯t she be excited? They split the closet in two, and the dresser as well. Fortunately, it was more than enough space, even if the room was designed for one. They¡¯d eache with a single suitcase and backpack to T, and though they¡¯d gathered other belongings as time passed, like uniforms, it still wasn¡¯t enough to cram the room full, or anywhere close. Getting the essentials put away, Jordan plopped down onto the bed. ¡°So,¡± she said casually, and Natalie looked over from the closet to see a raised eyebrow. ¡°This feels like something worth celebrating, don¡¯t you think? Any ideas?¡± Natalie had learned what that too-casual tone meant, at least whenbined with the quirk to her lips that Jordan seemed to be fighting away. Natalie rolled her eyes, then turned to face Jordan. ¡°Really, Jay? Already?¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Jordan asked, tilting her head. ¡°What do you mean, ¡®already¡¯?¡± ¡°It hasn¡¯t been an hour, and you¡¯re already trying to get in my pants?¡± Jordan stered a look of mock surprise onto her face. She put a hand to her chest, seeming outraged. ¡°I suggested we celebrate somehow. That was it.¡± She stood and walked over to Natalie, keeping the same offended expression. Her hands settled onto Natalie¡¯s hips, and Jordan¡¯s body was suddenlypromisingly close to hers. Green eyes looked up at her, and the amusement sparkling in them belied the fake outrage. ¡°I said nothing about you doing wicked, deplorable things to me. What, is ravaging me your idea of ¡®celebrating¡¯? That¡¯s what you assumed?¡± Natalie, obviously not one to be outdone, put her own hands on Jordan¡¯s waist, then slid them down. She cupped Jordan¡¯s ass and tugged the other girl in closer, pressing their bodies together. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Natalie said, leaning forward and murmuring into her ear. ¡°Is it your idea of celebrating? Because I could be convinced.¡± Jordan shivered, maybe not having expected Natalie to go on the offensive so quickly. ¡°Well,¡± she said. ¡°I suppose it¡¯s one way tomemorate the event.¡± Her hand quested down to Natalie¡¯s stiffening member, and she rubbed up and down inside her skirt. ¡°Having a pent-up roommate sounds like it¡¯d cause all sorts of problems, anyway.¡± ¡°I¡¯m the pent up one?¡± Natalie asked. ¡°I was just trying to unpack. It¡¯s barely been half an hour.¡± She guided Jordan over to the bed¡¯s edge, then gently pushed her over. The dark-haired girl bounced on the springy material, then propped herself up on her elbows. Her shirt had ridden up a few inches, and a flush had already worked its way onto her cheeks. Natalie admired the sight before crawling onto the bed herself, perching over her best friend. The two of them shimmied up so they had more space on the bed. ¡°I¡¯m so d we have our own room, now,¡± Natalie said. She leaned forward and kissed Jordan. The other girl yielded easily, opening her mouth and slipping her tongue into Natalie¡¯s. She ran her hands up and down Jordan¡¯s stomach, before sneaking into her shirt, then under her bra. She cupped Jordan¡¯s tits, her fingers brushing against nipples and making the girl beneath her shudder. Natalie leaned up, releasing Jordan¡¯s mouth, then grabbed the hem of Jordan¡¯s shirt and tugged it upward. Jordan helped in the effort. A momentter, Natalie had Jordan¡¯s bra unhooked, and that garment joined her shirt tossed over the side of the bed. ¡°This might sound weird,¡± Natalie said, admiring her friend¡¯s exposed chest, ¡°but any time we do this, I get kind of mad.¡± ¡°Hm?¡± She leaned forward and took a nipple in her mouth before replying. After nibbling and ying with it¡ªher fingers teasing the other¡ªshe returned to her sitting position perched on Jordan¡¯sp. ¡°Yeah,¡± Natalie said. ¡°That we didn¡¯t start this sooner. Why¡¯d we just now figure out ¡®friends with benefits¡¯?¡± Jordanughed. She cupped Natalie¡¯s hands over her breasts as Natalie continued to y with her, tweaking, pinching, and teasing her hard nubs. ¡°Good question,¡± she finally said. She smirked. ¡°I guess we just need to make up for lost time.¡± ¡°Guess we do.¡± She returned her lips to Jordan¡¯s. Getting to feel every little jerk in her breath as Natalie pinched and toyed with her nipples was incredible. She¡¯d never expected her best friend¡¯s mouth to be downright intoxicating, but here she was, getting drunk on the taste of her saliva and each gasp and moan. Breaking apart to swallow in breaths of air, Jordan hit her with a question that came somewhat out of left field. ¡°What happened with you and Liz, by the way?¡± She blinked several times as she adjusted to the swerve in topic. Obviously, she didn¡¯t take her hands off Jordan¡¯s tits. She kept ying with them. Hard to not. ¡°What do you mean? You know what happened.¡± ¡°Nothing more?¡± Natalie bit her lip. For just about everything, she gave Jordan total honesty. And she could do that here, too, but not full disclosure. Liz had specifically asked that Natalie didn¡¯t tell everyone else about how things had escted. ¡°What happened between me and her is between us,¡± Natalie settled on. Then, conciliatory, she added, ¡°Liz asked for it to be that way.¡± ¡°Oh? So something more did happen?¡± Natalie gave her an unimpressed look, and Jordanughed. ¡°Okay, fair,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Still, I¡¯m curious now. Do you have another ¡®energy gathering¡¯ partner yet?¡± ¡°I doubt that,¡± Natalie said. At least, not a consistent one. ¡°Shame.¡± Jordan grabbed Natalie¡¯s hips, then tugged her sideways, putting Natalie on her back and swapping their positions, so that Jordan was the one straddling Natalie, now. Obviously, that was rather morepromising for her than it had been Jordan, since now she had Jordan¡¯s ass pressing firmly into her cock. Lifting her hips up, Jordan scooped up Natalie¡¯s skirt and tucked it to Natalie¡¯s stomach, revealing her panties. She scooted down onto Natalie¡¯s thighs and admired the straining garment as Natalie¡¯s cock, like usual, struggled to escape the tight, flimsy clothing. ¡°There¡¯s really something about it,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Seeing your cock crammed into panties. Why is it so hot?¡± She poked the tip, and it twitched in response, which Jordan sent a smirk her way for. It wasn¡¯t like Natalie could help the reaction. Jordan¡¯s hands went to her pants button, apparently wanting her own lower garment out of the way, and in short order, another article of clothing joined the growing pile to the side of the bed. It left Jordan naked except for her ck panties. Then, in an action that had Natalie¡¯s heart jumping up into her throat, she shimmied back up Natalie¡¯s thighs, then pressed her pussy into Natalie¡¯s cock. Twoyers of clothing or not, the action still thrilled through her, and she groaned as she grabbed Jordan¡¯s hips and pressed her down harder, wanting more pressure¡ªfor her pussy to rub against her shaft with even firmer motions. ¡°Like I said, we¡¯re celebrating,¡± Jordan said, amused¡ªand shivering with her own pleasure. ¡°So, I¡¯m thinking, why not a little more fun than usual?¡± 3.42 – Claimed 3.42 ¨C imed Laid out on the bed, with Jordan straddling herp and rubbing her pussy up and down her cock in long strokes, Natalie wondered if she¡¯d died and gone to heaven. And if this was what it felt like between twoyers of clothing, how amazing would it feel to rub against Jordan without anything in the way? To slide her length up and down Jordan¡¯s lower lips and see them spread around her? Or even to be inside Jordan? Even the idea of that¡ªof Jordan¡¯s pussy squeezing her cock¡ªdragged a moan out of her. It was a devastating piece of imagery. ¡°Sofia¡¯s here,¡± Natalie gasped. ¡°Should ¡­ at least do something about that.¡± Before they got too carried away, and confirmed whatever suspicions Sofia might have about the two of them moving into the same room together. Natalie threw up the usual sound barrier¡ªit was really a convenient piece of magic. Not a momentter, Jordan reached down between them and tugged Natalie¡¯s panties to the side, freeing her eight-inch girl cock. Jordan pressed Natalie¡¯s cock down so it wasying t, then she lined her pussy up to it. In long, slow humps, she slid Natalie¡¯s exposed cock against her panties, and Natalie watched as her best friend¡¯s pussy spread around her shaft, parting to either side of her. It was a rapturous sight that Natalie was sure she¡¯d never forget. ¡°You like that,¡± Jordan murmured. ¡°I hope you¡¯re not thinking of anything too exciting, though. We¡¯re just ying around.¡± As if to emphasize the point, she lifted her hips up, then grabbed Natalie¡¯s cock and lifted that up, too. She pressed the tip against her panties. She wiggled Natalie¡¯s member around, and her tip buried into the fabric¡ªor more importantly, into Jordan¡¯s pussy, just barely. Natalie watched, enraptured by the sight. The sensation was amazing too, but it was seeing Jordan¡¯s lips spread around her cock that really had Natalie¡¯s heart mming. In fact, it was too much to resist. Natalie wanted to be a more active participant. She rolled Jordan over, returning them to how they started, with Natalie on top. Her skirt fell back down, and Natalie growled and fumbled it off, tossing it to the side in annoyance. It left her mostly dressed still; she¡¯d never taken off her shirt and panties. She was far too interested in something else to finish undressing, though. Grabbing her cock, she took up the role of what Jordan had been doing. She rubbed her tip up and down Jordan¡¯s panties, spreading her pussy as she teased entry, burying just a quarter inch in through the fabric. The urge to yank Jordan¡¯s panties to the side and shove in was nearly overwhelming, but that obviously wasn¡¯t what they were doing. She could more than sate herself with this, besides. ¡°You know, I haven¡¯t asked you,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Have you gone all the way, yet?¡± The words didn¡¯t register for a few seconds as she continued to hump back and forth, but eventually, they did. Her hips slowed their motion, and she looked up at Jordan. ¡°Uh,¡± Natalie said. ¡°You haven¡¯t, have you?¡± Jordan asked. ¡°Why not?¡± The question, like the previous, caught her off guard. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Hasn¡¯t happened.¡± She shrugged. ¡°You totally could¡¯ve with Sammy,¡± Jordan said. ¡°You¡¯re avoiding it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s ¡­ we just ¡­¡± Natalie bit her lip, then sighed. ¡°Yeah, kind of, I guess. Sammy doesn¡¯t mind too much, either way.¡± ¡°You want your first time to be with someone special?¡± Jordan murmured, eyes locked to hers. Natalie became scorchingly aware of their positioning¡ªas if she hadn¡¯t been already. Her cock, pressed into Jordan¡¯s pussy, teasing pration through her panties. ¡°Yeah,¡± Natalie said, her lips almost numb from how hot her face had turned. Her heart hammered in her throat. ¡°I guess I do.¡± ¡°Well, you need to start impressing girls across campus, so you should probably take care of that.¡± Jordan¡¯s eyes bored into her. They¡¯d grown suddenly intense, and Natalie¡¯s heart beat faster and faster. ¡°Is there anyone you had in mind? Who¡¯s special to you?¡± For a long moment, Natalie stared into Jordan¡¯s eyes, unable to look away. The tension between them grew until Natalie was certain she¡¯d burst into fire. She didn¡¯t answer with words. Instead, she grabbed the edge of Jordan¡¯s panties, then tugged them to the side, revealing her pussy. She gently pressed her cock against her best friend¡¯s entrance, then pushed her hips forward and backward, sliding her shaft across Jordan¡¯s pussy. She looked up to gauge Jordan¡¯s reaction. Jordan¡¯s mouth had parted, and she was panting loudly. She seemed to have frozen in ce, as if she didn¡¯t dare move. Waiting to see what Natalie would do next. Whether she¡¯d keep going. Should she? Would it change anything between them? It would, wouldn¡¯t it? But the look in Jordan¡¯s eyes. She wanted it. She wanted Natalie¡¯s cock inside her. So badly she was almost shaking. It was obvious. Did Natalie stand a chance, with a revtion like that? She pulled her hips back, then lined her tip up. With an agonizingly slow pace, she pressed forward, watching Jordan¡¯s pussy spread around her cock. She felt genuinely like her entire body had been set on fire. She reached the point of no return. Her cock tip slid into Jordan¡¯s pussy, and she froze there, the tight pressure of her best friend¡¯s inner walls an almost mind-erasing ecstasy. More than that, she was inside. Inside. Jordan. Her best friend. She was fucking Jordan. Not her throat or hands, but her pussy. Natalie met Jordan¡¯s eyes, and she was as tantly intoxicated by the idea as her. Her eyes were wide, too¡ªshe hadn¡¯t known if Natalie would follow through. Go all the way. But of course she had. How could she have resisted? ¡°You¡¯re inside,¡± Jordan said shakily. ¡°Fuck, Nat. You¡¯re inside me.¡± Anyst reservations shattered. The walls crumbled down. Natalie grabbed Jordan¡¯s hips with renewed energy, then pressed her hips forward, sinking deeper and deeper inside. Tight pussy walls coaxed every inch of her cock. Her instincts took over. Jordan had asked for a celebration. She would give that to her. Twice over. She would fuck her best friend mindless, until she was a sweaty, half-conscious mess. Half because Jordan deserved a good time, and half because Natalie didn¡¯t think she¡¯d be able to help herself. If Jordan thought she was getting away from this with just one, she was sorely mistaken. In fact, if Jordan could walk straight tomorrow, then Natalie would chalk this up to an abject failure. 3.43 – Thorough 3.43 ¨C Thorough Natalie joined her lower half to Jordan''s, burying her eight-inch cock into her friend''s tight depths. She bottomed out, her cock tip pressing into Jordan''s cervix, and Natalie groaned, knowing she''d stuffed her full¡ªaspletely as Jordan could handle. "Fuck," Jordan moaned, squirming beneath her, stirring Natalie¡¯s cock around. "You''re really big, Nat. Like, really big." Natalie leaned forward, propping up on her elbows as she perched over Jordan. She studied green eyes carefully. "But not too much?" The urge to thrust nearly had her hips moving on their own ord, but she wasn''t going to hurt Jordan. Her recent size increase dide with some downsides. Except, not a downside, apparently. Jordan shook her head rapidly at the question, eyes wide. "Not too much. Are you kidding? It''s amazing. Go. Please." Natalie drew her hips back, happy to oblige, then pressed them forward, sinking her shaft back into her friend''s pussy. She paused for a second, taking in the sight of Jordan wrapped around her cock. Jordan groaned, and it sounded nearly pained. Enthusiastic or not, she needed to let Jordan adjust. "Fuck," Natalie whispered. "I can''t believe we''re doing this." The amazement in Jordan''s eyes told Natalie that she''d thought the same thing. For a third time, she drew her cock out, then pressed it back in. This time, she didn''t rest as she bottomed out, but continued, setting a slow, measured pace. Jordan''s inner walls quivered around her, and the sensation sent waves of pleasure through Natalie''s body. The feeling of Jordan''s pussy squeezing around her cock consumed her. She''d never get enough of it. She worked faster and faster into a rhythm, her hips pping into Jordan with louder and louder impacts as she buried eight thick inches into the tight hole amodating her. Each stroke brought waves of pleasure that crashed through both of them. Jordan moans got louder, spurring Natalie on. Knowing that she was bringing Jordan pleasure was almost more exciting than the sensation itself. Those noises she was making¡ªthat was her cock, crammed into her best friend, creating them. "Fuck," Jordan gasped. "I can feel you throbbing inside me, Nat. It¡¯s so amazing." She pulled Natalie''s head down into a messy kiss, their tongues dancing together. She bit Natalie''s lower lip and tugged, sending another rush of arousal through her. "It''s the best thing I''ve ever felt. Your cock." She rolled her hips, meeting Natalie thrust for thrust, and they fell into a matching tempo. "Fuck. It''s so good. I''m addicted." Natalie picked up the pace, her thrusts bing short, sharp jerks that mmed her cock into Jordan. Their bodies pped hard together, echoing in the small room. Their breathing quickened and became heavy, sweat glistening across their bodies as their movements turned desperate. "Fuck," Jordan groaned. Her arms wrapped around Natalie, clutching her shoulders tightly as Natalie pumped in and out of her. "Do you¡ªdo you like it? Does my pussy feel good?" "Gods, yes," Natalie replied, burying her head into Jordan¡¯s shoulder. "Your pussy is perfect, Jay." "And are you gonna cum in me? Stuff my womb full?" The words, said in such a desperate tone, set off fireworks in her head. "Yes," Natalie panted, pulling up and meeting Jordan¡¯s eyes. "I''m going to fill you up. I''ll make you mine." Thest part slipped out of her, surprising even Natalie, but Jordan¡¯s eyes widened, and her thrusts into Natalie became as frantic as Natalie¡¯s own. Trying to milk her out. "Do it," Jordan said, panting, her pupils dted. ¡°Fill me. Fuck my pussy. Fill me with your cum. I want it." Jordan writhed beneath her, gasping and panting as her orgasm visibly started to course through her, back arching and body tightening. "Fuck. Please. Nat, I want to feel you cumming inside me. Please." Jordan''s inner walls squeezed around Natalie, her body trembling. The sudden clenching, joined with seeing such an intense climax crash through Jordan, pushed Natalie over the edge. Natalie grunted, then mmed her hips forward and held them there, as far inside Jordan as she could get, so her cock tip was kissing Jordan''s cervix. So that she''d finish straight into her womb. So that she would breed Jordan and make her hers, exactly as she¡¯d promised. Her cock throbbed in imminent warning. The heat built and built, her cock growing harder and hotter as she hilted as deep inside her best friend as she could manage. Her cock swelled up inside of Jordan until finally, she couldn¡¯t take it. She sprayed sticky white strings straight into Jordan''s deepest parts. Natalie whined, the hot pleasure coursing through her cock and across her body making her every muscle tense. She twitched and throbbed, hips jerking in tiny spasms back and forth as she pumped seed into her best friend, pouring hot ropes straight into Jordan¡¯s womb. Pussy walls clenched around her, coaxing out every drop, and she stayed buried in Jordan for as long as the pleasure kept rushing through her, her cock pulsing out more and more of her cum, filling Jordan until it was spilling out of her pussy. Jordan moaned and fell apart as Natalie finished inside her, her own orgasm still ongoing, and just as intense as Natalie''s. Her toes curled, and she clutched Natalie, fingernails burying into her shoulders, her inner walls clenching down on her member again and again as she milked Natalie for everyst drop. Until finally, Natalie was spent, and she copsed on top of her, her cock still buried in her best friend''s pussy. They clung to each other, their chests rising and falling as they panted and gasped for air. Natalie''s head spun, dizzy from the overwhelming, crashing pleasure of their first shared orgasm. Their first. Not theirst. Natalie had been milked dry by Jordan, but the lust clouding her mind from seeing Jordan writhe beneath her hadn''t nearly been sated. She wanted more. She wanted to fuck Jordan''s pussy again and again. As much as because she wanted to leave Jordan a drooling, delirious mess, but also because she just wanted more of her. She would always want more of Jordan. She would always want more. It was there, lying on top of her best friend, sweating and panting, her cock buried eight inches deep and with her cum dripping from Jordan''s pussy, that the devastating realization finally hit. She wanted more of Jordan. Not even ¡®more¡¯. She wanted all of her. Not to be best friends, or best friends with benefits. Even girlfriends might not be enough. Natalie was horribly, catastrophically in love. 3.44 – Thorough II 3.44 ¨C Thorough II The realization, while world ending, and something Natalie had no clue how to handle, ultimately only fanned the mes. After a long minuteying on top of Jordan, their breathinging down, Jordan murmured, "That was nice...", and it reminded Natalie of her ultimate goal. "A good starter," Natalie murmured back, finally pulling out of Jordan. "But you better not think we''re done." At seeing her cum pour from Jordan''s pussy, her cock no longer blocking it, she paused and reminded herself of another important detail. "But you should probably take a dose of that potion," Natalie said. "Me too, to be safe." Jordan rested a hand on her lower stomach. "What? I thought you wanted to breed me?¡± The words were obviously teasing, but Natalie''s face still burned, and she swallowed. It was a strangely tantalizing idea. Obviously, Natalie had never had a thing for ''breeding'' girls before, so the new weapon between her legs had really adjusted some of her preferences. Or at least added new ones. Still, she wasn''t crazy enough to actually keep going without taking care of that very real threat, and Jordan wasn''t interested in doing so either. It would be a rather ignominious end to their delving careers. Once they''d poured out and taken a dose of the infertility potion, Jordan advanced on Natalie with a smirk. Natalie was stunned for the hundredth time at just how beautiful she was¡ªthe messy hair, her naked body, the sparkling green eyes. How was she so perfect? How had Natalie only just now realized how insanely in love she was? "Let''s get this off," Jordan said, her hands going to the hem of Natalie''s shirt. "Kind of mean that you get to look at me, and I can''t you." After Jordan had helped her to strip, she added, "Oh, and I get to top this time. I''ve been wondering what riding you would feel like since I first saw that thing." Natalie didn''t need to be told twice, and eagerlyid herself out across the bed, propping herself up with pillows against the headboard. Jordan also didn''t spare a moment, just as antsy to get going as Natalie. Their brief break to take care of the potion and finish undressing had only taken a minute, but that was way too long of a gap of not being inside Jordan, of having her skin against her own. Climbing onto Natalie''sp, Natalie enjoyed the show of Jordan gripping her cock, then slowly working her way down. Her velvet heat returned to coaxing Natalie''s cock, and Jordan shuddered and moaned with each inch she slid down, until her ass finally hit Natalie''s thighs. "It might be a problem," Jordan groaned, "when you get your next upgrade. Seriously, why is your dick so big, Nat? And it''s only getting bigger?" "I think I''ll be getting something to help?" Natalie said. She had no proof for that, but it seemed a safe assumption. "If not, I guess I''ll just have to get used to it." Jordan lifted her hips up, then dropped them back down, sheathing Natalie''s cock. ¡°Because there¡¯s no way I¡¯ll ever give this up.¡± A loud moan of pleasure escaped her, and she paused with her ass resting on Natalie''s thighs, thest few inches buried. "I''m not kidding when I said I''m addicted. You better not be stingy with this thing." She bounced in Natalie''sp, fucking herself with Natalie¡¯s cock. Natalie gripped Jordan¡¯s hips and guided her up and down, marveling in the sight of her best friend''s¡ªher crush''s? Oh, gods, what was she going to do about that?¡ªtits bouncing as her pussy enveloped her cock over and over. "You can ride me as much as you want, Jay," she murmured. "So I don''t think that''ll be a problem. Definitely won¡¯t be stingy." "You might not understand what ''addicted'' means," Jordan said as she picked up the pace. Natalie admired Jordan¡¯s smooth, muscr body as she worked to m herself down with a growing intensity, their flesh pping together in loud ps. She leaned forward and pressed her tits into Natalie''s face, and Natalie happily obliged. She flicked Jordan¡¯s nipples with her tongue and gentle nibbled at them. "Fuck," Jordan panted, bouncing up and down on Natalie''sp. "That''s so good. So good. I love riding you, Nat. Your cock is perfect. You''re perfect." Natalie bit Jordan''s nipple and tugged gently. The words, thepliment, sent a rush of ecstasy through her, but they also brought a different feeling¡ªa more confusing one, considering her recent revtions. She really had no idea what to do. She herself might have fucked up the ''best friends with benefits'' deal, but Jordan hadn''t. Jordan was just having fun. And, at least for now, Natalie could deal with that. It might be moreplicated in the future, but here and now, for this celebration, she was simply concerned with bringing Jordan to twitching climax as many times as possible. And, obviously, enjoying the event for what it was. ¡°You get so deep,¡± Jordan moaned. ¡°I can feel you hitting all the way inside. It''s way too good.¡± A cry escaped her, and her bouncing became desperate, suggesting the words weren''t just for show. She really was falling apart in record speed, Natalie''s cock too much for her to resist. ¡°I''m going to cum. Fuck. I''m cumming, Nat. Your cock is amazing.¡± Natalie had been holding up well herself, but feeling Jordan''s pussy mp down on her, coupled with the sudden urgency of her best friend''s bouncing, had Natalie''s pleasure spiking with embarrassing speed. Jordan''s tits so close to her face, bouncing up and down, and her flushed face, her tight, hot body, the feeling of her inner walls squeezing and sliding around her cock, was collectively too much. Only moments after Jordan flew over the edge, Natalie followed. Natalie grabbed Jordan''s hips and pumped desperately, joining Jordan''s bouncing, thrusting her cock in and out of Jordan''s pussy to work both of them higher. Her hands were a vice grip on her hips as she kept mming in and out, hard and fast. Finally, both of them reaching their peak, Natalie pped upward, toes curling and lifting them both off the bed, and they froze that way as white-hot pleasure crashed through them. "Fuck," Jordan cried, shivering and quaking atop Natalie, her inner walls pulsating around her member. She was a moaning mess as Natalie came inside her, shooting hot cum deep inside her womb, coating her walls in sticky ropes. They rode it out for a full minute, then Jordan slumped forward, pressing her forehead against Natalie''s shoulder. "So good," Jordan groaned. "Gods, I can''t believe how incredible this is. Your cock might be magic. I swear I''m already close to another." Hearing that, Natalie pushed her exhaustion away. She rolled the two of them over and got to work. If Jordan said she was close right after finishing, then Natalie was happy to test the theory. She pped her hips into Jordan¡¯s, stuffing cock into Jordan¡¯s weing pussy as frantically as she could manage. Not twenty secondster, Jordan''s eyes rolled up, and she started to spasm, exactly as promised. Her toes curled and she shook violently with her back-to-back orgasms, her face contorting and moaning gibberish as she fell apart to a nearlyical degree. Naturally, Natalie wanted to test the extent of this, and she didn''t stop pumping. A third climax wracked Jordan''s body, and Natalie marveled at howpletely she fell apart¡ªand unfortunately gave in to her own pleasure, too. She pumped her third creamy load into Jordan''s womb, her squeezing walls too much to resist. It was fortunate timing, because Jordan was mumble-begging for a break after the third, her eyes fluttering and clearly finding it difficult to form words. It was a good start. But Natalie was pretty sure Jordan could still walk, so after she gave her a quick break, they still had some work left. 3.45 – Level Up 3.45 ¨C Level Up To Natalie¡¯s satisfaction, by the time she was done with Jordan, she really was walking around their room wobbly-legged. Seeing how she had a delver¡¯s enhanced constitution, that wasn¡¯t an easy feat. After getting cleaned up, they settled down for the night. Jordan snuggled into her arms so naturally, and without question, that it made Natalie¡¯s heart ache. And so, with no further distraction in the form of pounding Jordan¡¯s brains out, Natalie was forced to confront the realization from earlier. It was rather hard with Jordan wrapped in her arms. Natalie bothmented her fate and wondered how she¡¯d ever gotten so lucky. But really. Caught in a friends with benefits situation with her best friend who she was actually in love with. How was that fair? Why did the world always conspire against her? She would admit she felt pretty dumb that she¡¯d only just now realized it. Looking back, her feelings couldn¡¯t be more obvious. Jordan both drove her wild, and she was the woman Natalie had always nned to spend her life with¡ªjust in a tonic adventuring sort of way, until her ss had apparently swerved them down a different path. Or at least swerved Natalie down a different path. That was the problem. She didn¡¯t know where Jordan stood. Jordan probably didn¡¯t feel the same way. She would have told Natalie if that were the case. For her, this arrangement really was just to have fun. Right? Because it didn¡¯t seem in character for Jordan to hide her feelings, if she had any toward Natalie. She would have brought it up. Though, maybe she was caught in the same situation as Natalie herself? Worried about how things might change between them if she voiced it out loud? But if that were true, then shouldn¡¯t Natalie have been able to tell? Jordan was her best friend. Natalie ought to be able to tell if she reciprocated her feelings. She didn¡¯t know how to handle this. The consequences could be catastrophic if Natalie confessed, and Jordan didn¡¯t feel the same way. It wouldn¡¯t ruin anything between them, because Natalie didn¡¯t think anything could, but it would certainly make things horrifically awkward¡ªand Natalie would understand why Jordan wouldn¡¯t befortable helping with her ss anymore. More than that, Natalie wasn¡¯t sure she could handle being rejected by her best friend. Natalie wasn¡¯t scared of much, but that ran her blood cold. No, for once in her life, Natalie couldn¡¯t be reckless. She had to gather more information. Pay closer attention to Jordan. She couldn¡¯t blurt out a confession. Way too risky. Plus, Natalie was still sorting through the mess of emotions herself. The exhaustion of a long day delving, and the vigorous activities just prior, somehow outweighed her racing thoughts, and before she knew it, she drifted off. Jordan¡¯s warm body pressed into her own was also a devastating sleeping aid. She woke to a ring rm. Jordan groaned and rolled over, pping down on the glyph on the nightstand. She immediately returned to Natalie, snuggling in close. The casualness of the action quickly returned her dilemmas from the night before, which sleep had dispelled. She held Jordan, wondering why things couldn¡¯t ever be simple. A minute or twoter, Jordan groaned a second time, then shuffled around and met eyes with Natalie. Jordan had always had a stunning gaze, but this time, it literally struck Natalie speechless. Natalie grabbed her waist, tucked her in, then kissed her. Jordan seemed surprised, but melted into the embrace. The kiss started gentle and caring, but a little moan escaped Jordan, and it quickly turned heated. They finally broke apart, breathing heavily. For a few moments, they stared at each other, panting. ¡°I set our rm early,¡± Jordan murmured. ¡°How did I know you wouldn¡¯t be able to control yourself?¡± Well, that wasn¡¯t it. Natalie had just been unable to stop herself from kissing Jordan, seeing messy ck hair and gentle green eyes. Jordan had actually been the one to moan, then start exploring so fervently. And that was kind of the crux of the problem¡ªNatalie couldn¡¯t tell if she was just enjoying herself. Having fun, but not interested in more. Jordan¡¯s hand snaking down Natalie¡¯s pajama bottoms at least chased away some of her cognitive abilities, and thus her spinning head. ¡°Was filling me up twenty timesst night not enough?¡± Jordan asked. ¡°I¡¯ll never have enough of you,¡± Natalie replied. She almost winced at how obvious the words were, but Jordan just smiled. She leaned forward and kissed Natalie, her hand buried in Natalie¡¯s pants, stroking up and down. When she broke apart, Jordan said, ¡°I¡¯ll never get enough of you, either.¡± She squeezed firmly, and Natalie sucked in a little gasp of air at the pleasure that shot up her spine. ¡°We¡¯ve got fifteen minutes to ourselves. Any ns on how you want to use it?¡± By the husky quality in her words, Natalie could tell what she was asking. She flipped the nkets off them, then shuffled down the bed and grabbed Jordan¡¯s pajama bottoms. Tugging them off, she wasn¡¯t surprised to see Jordan was already wet¡ªmore than ready for her. Just some kissing had done that? To be fair, it had driven Natalie wild, too. One sticky load emptied into Jordan¡¯s wombter, theyy panting on top of each other. Jordan patted her back. ¡°Okay. We have ss. Can¡¯t bete. Join me in the shower?¡± That time-saving idea turned out to be anything but. It ended with Natalie pinning Jordan against the tiled wall and pounding into her, any efforts of getting clean forgotten. ¡°Really,¡± Jordan insisted. ¡°We¡¯re going to bete.¡± Somehow, they kept their hands to themselves for long enough to get clean and leave the shower. Natalie watched her get dressed, which Jordan caught, then smirked and put on a show. That almost made themte, but Natalie managed to stop herself from pinning Jordan down a third time. Mostly because halfway to her slow, sensual buttoning up her shirt, Jordan paused, her eyes widening. ¡°What?¡± Natalie asked, instantly alert. ¡°I leveled,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Gods, Ipletely forgot. Did you?¡± The idea had also not broached Natalie¡¯s thoughts. Obviously, Jordan had been at the forefront of her mind¡ªcalling her a distraction would be vastly understating things. Even the high likelihood of multiple boss kills yesterday meaning a level up had gone forgotten. ¡°Oh, shit,¡± Natalie said. She checked. ¡°Yeah. I did.¡± She scanned the information associated with her newest skills. Then groaned. ¡°I can tell that¡¯s means you got something good,¡± Jordan said, grinning. ¡°Tell me about it at the training facility. We really will bete.¡± ¡°I hate my ss,¡± Natalie said simply. ¡°I really do.¡± 4.01 – After 4.01 ¨C After Sofia was waiting for them in themon area, sipping on a cup of tea while she scanned through one of the campus¡¯s news letters. Emerging from their room after the events ofst night and this morning felt, somehow, like emerging from a cave after weeks or months. She felt like a new person. Natalie had been using her sound-dampening illusions to liberally protect her and Jordan¡¯s rtionship, since her dark-haired friend really didn¡¯t know how to be quiet. Really, for all she¡¯d insisted in earlier encounters that Natalie ¡®control herself¡¯, Jordan moaned loud enough to wake up the entire building. Not that that was a bad thing. Pretty much the opposite, as far as Natalie was concerned. But not great for subtlety. Regardless, Sofia didn¡¯t have a clue what was going on. Or, Natalie thought so. Certainly she didn¡¯t have proof, at a minimum, and if she did know, she was a very good actor. Sofia spared a nced toward them, then rose from her seat. ¡°I was starting to wonder whether I should knock,¡± she said. ¡°You two like cutting it close, I see.¡± ¡°No point in being early to self guided training,¡± Jordan said without missing a beat. ¡°Not like it matters.¡± Sofia hummed in response. Natalie herself was slightly more flustered, for about a dozen reasons, but Sofia was already heading for the door, so it didn¡¯t matter. They set out into the campus together. ¡°Did you level?¡± Jordan asked. ¡°I did, yes,¡± Sofia said. ¡°You two as well?¡± ¡°Both, yeah.¡± ¡°The dungeon must think our contribution is fairly close, then, for us all to hit it at the same time,¡± Sofia said. ¡°Or we just cleared the requirement by a wide margin,¡± Natalie pointed out. ¡°That¡¯s possible too. I wonder if Liz and Ana made it.¡± ¡°I have to assume,¡± Natalie said. Since the dungeon gave experience based on contribution¡ªto prevent higher levels from rocketing a low level through the ranks¡ªthen Liz was the person most likely to have leveled from today. Natalie would be shocked if their healer had somehow stayed at level one. Liz didn¡¯t have a shy ss, but in their team, she was probably the mostpetent for her role. She supposed it possible Ana hadn¡¯t leveled, but while not as dominant in her archetype as Liz, Ana was no ck; Natalie found it more likely all five of them had breached level two. A chunk of the campus probably had¡ªthough certainly not all, or even most, since Natalie and her squad weren¡¯t low-tier. Not elites, but probably up there. Likely, Elida and her group already had leveled, or at least some of them; Natalie didn¡¯t think their enormously dominant performance had been their superior skill alone. ¡°Anything good?¡± Jordan asked. ¡°Yes,¡± Sofia said, but didn¡¯t borate. She seemed to realize the response slightly rude, even considering that keeping ss details a secret was standard, so she added, ¡°Some personal bonuses and attack moves. Nothing truly incredible, at least from initial appraisal, but I suspect a decent power spike. I¡¯ll need to experiment.¡± Jordan bobbed her head. ¡°I got a ranged skill,¡± she said, ¡°so I might not be locked down to melee. Still the dominant theme, though.¡± Sofia turned to Natalie, and Natalie groaned. ¡°Don¡¯t ask.¡± ¡°No intention to,¡± Sofia said, lips quirking. ¡°I don¡¯t even want to imagine what kind of upgrades a ss like yours got.¡± Natalie didn¡¯t have a retort to that, since Sofia was right. There was one skill in particr that was going to be a disaster. ¡°Some normal stuff, too, though,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Physically focused ones, too. No more spells.¡± ¡°And you prefer that?¡± ¡°Haven¡¯t finished wrangling my illusions yet, so maybe it¡¯s a good thing. However it ends up, I¡¯ll deal with it.¡± Some pdins were almost entirely physical, and the opposite was also true¡ªeven to the point they could fill a healer-mage hybrid role. ¡°Doesn¡¯t seem like I¡¯ll be turning down a healing path, though. Durable with some spell backup.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s ideal for us, so that¡¯s good.¡± They chatted in vague terms about their new skills as they took a brisk pace for the training facility. They weren¡¯tte, but as Sofia had said, they were cutting it close. Reaching the building, they split off. Normally Natalie would head for Tess to keep practicing with her spellcasting abilities, but today had clear other priorities. She and Jordan found an unused room. The sparring rooms had ss windows, and no locks on the doors, so there wasn¡¯t real privacy, but they could at least talk without people overhearing. And that would be important, considering Natalie¡¯s newest skills. ¡°So?¡± Jordan asked, not sparing a moment. ¡°I¡¯ll admit, I¡¯m dying of curiosity. What¡¯d you get?¡± Natalie sighed, then nced at her skill list. *** [Carnal Harvest] - PASSIVE. PROGRESSION 2. Extract carnal energy through {fondling} an aroused target. Harvested energy can be expended through [Empower] and [Advance]. [Empower] - ACTIVE. PROGRESSION 2. Amplify the potency of any ACTIVE or AURA skill by {2.0x}. Expend Carnal Energy equal to mana cost. [Advance] - ACTIVE. PROGRESSION 1. MAXED. Expend Carnal Energy to progress skills. [Illusion] - ACTIVE. PROGRESSION 2. Conjure a {moderately} powerful audiovisual mirage to distract or confuse an opponent. [Heavy Weaponry] - PASSIVE. PROGRESSION 2. ss-bearer is granted a {8-inch} weapon to satisfy and harvest Carnal Energy from chosen targets. [Juggernaut] - PASSIVE. PROGRESSION 1. ss-bearer receives {1.3x} bonus to furor, applied after all other bonuses. [Hunker Down] - ACTIVE. PROGRESSION 1. MAXED. ss-bearer bes invulnerable to most physical attacks for 1.5 seconds, but also unable to move. Can be interrupted. [Bigger Is Better] - PASSIVE. PROGRESSION 1. Oversized weapons receive {minor} bonuses to offensive power and are {slightly} easier to maneuver. [Stylish] - PASSIVE. PROGRESSION 1. Party members receive a {minor} stat bonus to their primary stat appropriate to how much their gear arouses the ss-bearer. ss-bearer receives a {minor} stat bonus to their primary stat appropriate how much their gear arouses their teammates. *** ¡°Where to even start?¡± Natalie muttered. 4.02 – New Skills 4.02 ¨C New Skills Natalie chose to talk about the normal abilities first. She¡¯d work into the headache-inducing one afterward. And she supposed [Stylish] wasn¡¯t even the strangest of her kit¡ªthat would go to [Carnal Harvest], the lewd skill that was a foundation to her ss. But still. [Stylish] dragged her teammates directly into the fray. The skill encouraged all five of them to ¡­ what? Dress provocatively? To the extent their outfits aroused each other? Now that would create a reputation at T. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t beining,¡± Natalie sighed. ¡°I got a pretty good haul. Four more skills.¡± ¡°Four?¡± Jordan asked. ¡°Nice. Only got three.¡± Two or three skills for the early levels was the standard. Higher levels started providing fewer, but the one or two you did receive would be much stronger. ¡°Three of them make me a better fighter,¡± Natalie said. ¡°There¡¯s two passives, actually, clearly encouraging me to take up a new weapon path.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°I think you can guess what it is,¡± Natalie said dryly. ¡°The dungeon was hinting at it yesterday.¡± Jordan¡¯s brow furrowed before she connected the dots. ¡°The hammer?¡± ¡°[Bigger Is Better],¡± Natalie said. ¡°That¡¯s the skill name. It makes handling oversized weapons easier, and gives them an attack bonus.¡± Jordan immediately startedughing, and though Natalie¡¯s lips twitched, she mostly leveled a sour look at her friend. She was d, in a way, they had their level ups to distract her, because the way her heart skipped about four or five beats watching Jordanugh was something Natalie simply didn¡¯t have the energy or mental space to deal with. That wall had been thoroughly torn down, but Natalie had other stuff she had to focus on. Or maybe that was an excuse. Actually, it definitely was an excuse. ¡°The exact wording is minor bonus to offensive power, slightly easier to maneuver. It¡¯s upgradeable too. I could make it stronger.¡± ¡°Right,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Almost forgot about that. Well, yeah, then, you don¡¯t have a choice. You¡¯d be insane not to go with arge weapon. What else?¡± ¡°This one¡¯s more generalist, but it clearly helps offset the problem further,¡± Natalie said. ¡°[Juggernaut]. Passive one-point-three bonus to furor, applied after all other bonuses.¡± ¡°Applied after?¡± Jordan asked. ¡°Damn. That¡¯s strong.¡± Natalie nodded. The thirty percent boost alone was a great skill¡ªif perhaps not the strongest¡ªbut the fact it applied afterward meant it was, even at the first progression, potent. Because any furor bonuses from any skill, buff, or item would likewise be amplified by thirty percent. That meant both Liz¡¯s strength boost and Natalie¡¯s armor would also be amplified. If the skill had affected only her base stats, then it would have been much weaker. ¡°And it grows,¡± Jordan said. ¡°From one point three to what? Even if it¡¯s small jumps each progression, you¡¯re going to be a monster.¡± ¡°Also got a defensive skill, [Hunker Down]. Seems pretty interesting. Something that can be used cleverly.¡± ¡°Hunker down,¡± Jordan repeated. ¡°Huge defense bonus for a brief moment?¡± The skill¡¯s name did give it away. ¡°Invulnerable, actually.¡± Jordan whistled. ¡°But I can¡¯t move,¡± Natalie said. Then, a secondter, she added, ¡°And it actually says invulnerable to most physical attacks. I¡¯m guessing truly insane stuff would break through it. And it¡¯s only one and a half seconds.¡± Jordan considered this. ¡°It¡¯ll save your ass in a trap, most likely,¡± she said. ¡°And being able to hunker down and literally catch a boss attack is phenomenal. You really dide out with a good haul.¡± ¡°Makes up for my starting skills,¡± Natalie muttered. ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong, they¡¯re insane for the long term, but having so much rted to ¡­ all that, meant I didn¡¯t have skills that are actually functional.¡± Jordan nodded. ¡°What¡¯s thest one?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t sound so excited. It¡¯s awful.¡± ¡°Awful?¡± ¡°Amazing,¡± Natalie begrudgingly admitted. ¡°Just, ugh.¡± ¡°Spill it.¡± ¡°[Stylish]. Any of my teammates get stat bonuses if ¡­¡± It took some effort to barrel forward, even if it was Jordan that she was exining this to. ¡°If I¡¯m aroused by their outfit.¡± Jordan blinked. ¡°And it works for me, too,¡± Natalie sighed. ¡°If you all like my outfit, then I get stronger.¡± ¡°No way,¡± Jordan said. ¡°You are not allowed tough,¡± Natalie said. Jordan startedughing, and Natalie red at her. She crossed her arms. Unfortunately, Jordan justughed harder, then stepped up to Natalie and buried her forehead into her chest, hands slipping onto Natalie¡¯s waist. Natalie melted basically immediately. She didn¡¯t stand a chance. ¡°It¡¯s awful,¡± Natalie insisted. ¡°Stopughing.¡± She tried to ignore how quickly Jordan could turn her stomach into a warm pile of goo. Oh, gods. She had it bad. ¡°Okay, okay,¡± Jordan said, finally pulling herself together. Sparkling eyes looked up at her, only withdrawing a few inches back. Her hands stayed on Natalie¡¯s waist. Natalie realized her own had gone to Jordan¡¯s. ¡°Serious talk, then. Let¡¯s see.¡± Jordan finally stepped back, and she chewed her lip. ¡°We should tell the team,¡± she said after only a second of consideration. ¡°I think we¡¯re past the point of keeping secrets when ites to your ss. At least when it affects them¡ªor could affect them.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Natalie said. ¡°That¡¯s probably the right thing to do.¡± At least it wouldn¡¯t be as awkward as that first talk. They were more than familiar with Natalie¡¯s ss, so it wouldn¡¯t be outright mortifying. ¡°But, what? We¡¯re going to use it?¡± ¡°A team wide stat boost?¡± Jordan asked. ¡°We¡¯d be crazy not to. What¡¯s the full wording?¡± Natalie repeated the skill¡¯s description. ¡°Yeah,¡± Jordan said. ¡°It sounds like it might scale based on how much it arouses you. So we¡¯ll really need to put together some naughty outfits.¡± ¡°Jordan, please.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll probably settle with mildly scandalizing, then,¡± Jordan amended. ¡°The issue¡¯s going to be finding armor that¡¯s both good and turns you on.¡± She paused. ¡°Like Ana¡¯s robes,¡± she added dryly. ¡°Still think that wasn¡¯t your ss?¡± ¡°Some dungeon loot is just lewd,¡± Natalie said. ¡°It wasn¡¯t necessarily me.¡± Revealing armor and clothing was, while not the standard, certainly not a first. ¡°Regardless,¡± Jordan said, making it clear what she thought of the coincidence. ¡°It¡¯s pretty obvious we should make use of it. But we¡¯ll talk with the team.¡± She wrinkled her nose. ¡°Might be an issue with Liz because of her family¡¯s reputation. Maybe we¡¯ll only put it on at the dungeon itself. Or something.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t believe this is our life, now.¡± Jordan rolled her eyes. ¡°Oh, woe is you. You received an insanely powerful ss, but it¡¯s a little weird.¡± ¡°A little weird?¡± ¡°A lot weird,¡± Jordan conceded. ¡°But also a lot strong. You can upgrade it. That means you¡¯ll be giving out team-wide moderate primary stat boosts. And higher, once you start progressing each of these skills. Your ss is good even before upgrades. You¡¯re going to be a legitimate powerhouse as time passes.¡± She poked Natalie¡¯s shoulder. ¡°I just hope you don¡¯t end up leaving us behind.¡± Natalie frowned. ¡°That¡¯s a joke,¡± Jordan said. Natalie believed her, but she thought she¡¯d also caught a hint of something else. Had she imagined it? That it was a real worry, if a subdued one? Jordan must be losing her mind if she thought Natalie would ever leave her behind, regardless of if her ss snowballed into something incredible. ¡°Have you thought what you want to upgrade first?¡± Jordan asked. ¡°You¡¯ve been saving up your points for exactly this moment, right? What do you think¡¯s best? And what¡¯s it all cost?¡± 4.03 – New Skills II 4.03 ¨C New Skills II Natalie hadn¡¯t allocated any of her earned carnal energy in some time, and with consistent sessions with Jordan, and slightly less consistent ones with Sammy, she¡¯d earned a sizable amount. One-off encounters like with Liz, and even her lewd adventures with the vines, had provided bonus harvests, too. *** Carnal Energy: 442 *** ¡°I¡¯m at four forty two,¡± Natalie said. ¡°I have to imagine that¡¯s enough to take [Carnal Harvest] up another tier, though I¡¯m not sure how much¡¯ll be left over. I could also go all in on an immediate power spike, though.¡± That had been why Natalie had saved the points in the first ce, instead of immediately allocating them to [Carnal Harvest], which would boost her rate of gain. Taking each of her level two skills up to second progression would be an enormous boost in her immediate strength. She¡¯d probably go from a ¡®decent but nothing truly amazing¡¯ student to somewhere much closer to the top. ¡°Mm,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Tough choice. Long term choice is obvious.¡± ¡°Keep upgrading Harvest.¡± Natalie chewed her lip. ¡°Saved the points in case something truly insane came along with level two, but it didn¡¯t.¡± Not that she wasining; she very much appreciated her new abilities. But nothing demanded immediate upgrades. Natalie hesitated over the choice for a few moments, but reluctantly decided to do what was smartest for her long term career. ¡°Probably best to get harvest up to three,¡± she sighed. ¡°Though it would have been nice to go all in, right now.¡± Jordan patted Natalie on the shoulder in sympathy. But she clearly agreed. ¡°Let¡¯s see how much you have left over.¡± Closing her eyes, Natalie funneled points into [Carnal Harvest] using [Empower]. *** [Carnal Harvest]: Progression advanced from 2 to 3. *** *** [Carnal Harvest] - PASSIVE. PROGRESSION 3. Extract carnal energy through {performing or receiving oral on} an aroused target. Harvested energy can be expended through [Empower] and [Advance]. *** Natalie snorted. ¡°What¡¯d it upgrade to?¡± Jordan asked. ¡°Oral. Giving or receiving.¡± ¡°It¡¯s funny that¡¯s how it rates them. Kissing, fondling, oral. What¡¯s after that? Pration? Does it differentiate between each hole, you think?¡± Natalie paused, then coughed. ¡°I guess we¡¯ll find out.¡± ¡°How much do you have left?¡± She checked. ¡°Two forty two. So progression three took two hundred t.¡± ¡°Wonder if we can count on that for the others.¡± ¡°There¡¯s variance,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Already found that out from the progression two upgrades. But only a little bit. They seem to stay in the same general range.¡± ¡°Might change with level two skills. Maybe those are more expensive.¡± Natalie had considered that, but for obvious reasons, hoped not. If they were as cheap to upgrade as her level ones, then she could take all of her new skills up a notch. If not, then she¡¯d have to pick and choose. ¡°What¡¯s the most important?¡± Natalie asked. In the case they were more expensive, she would focus on the one most crucial to upgrade. ¡°That¡¯s really up to you,¡± Jordan said. ¡°You¡¯ve got lots of choices, now. [Juggernaut] is great¡ªa t boost to furor. If you want to immediately pivot torge weapons, [Bigger Is Better] is smart. Could also go with a tier three upgrade to [Illusion]. But I think the clear winner is [Stylish], assuming we get the whole team on board.¡± A team-wide stat buff was hard to beat, so, yeah, that made sense. Natalie hesitated, though. ¡°But you want a personal boost,¡± Jordan said, smiling. ¡°That¡¯s fine too. I say go for it. You don¡¯t have to be strictly selfless. Besides, it really depends on how the skills upgrade. Maybe [Stylish] only gives a tiny boost, and [Juggernaut] a big one. I say go for whatever you want.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Natalie said. ¡°I guess. I¡¯m not sure.¡± She wrinkled her nose. ¡°It¡¯s a hard choice.¡± ¡°Better to be flooded with good options than bad ones. Don¡¯t think you can go too wrong, here, no matter what you choose.¡± ¡°What would you do?¡± ¡°I¡¯d go with [Heavy Weaponry],¡± Jordan said, ¡°so I could plow my best friend with a ten inch cock instead of an eight inch one.¡± Jordanughed at Natalie¡¯s wide-eyed expression. ¡°I¡¯m afraid you have a bit of a size queen on your hands, now. Look what you¡¯ve done to me.¡± ¡°Jordan. Be serious.¡± Natalie fought against the stiffening inside her skirt. The teasing was seriously unfair out in public. ¡°Oh, I¡¯mpletely serious. But fine, if you care more about being practical than stuffing me silly¡ªlet me think.¡± Jordan considered the question. ¡°[Juggernaut]. The t strength boost will help with arger weapon by default, so it serves as [Bigger Is Better] in a way, but also helps in all other aspects ofbat too. That it multiplies with other bonuses is just crazy. Let¡¯s see how much it costs.¡± That had been what Natalie had wanted to go for first, too. [Stylish] was probably the better team upgrade, but she wanted to get personally stronger¡ªto stand out more at T. She hadn¡¯t made an embarrassment of herself, far from it, but she hadn¡¯t astounded anyone, either. She wondered whether Jordan knew what she was thinking, and had suggested the skill choice and purposefully not pushed for [Stylish]. That would be a very Jordan thing to do. Jordan was always looking out for her. Her heart squeezed, and she chased away her newfound feelings. Those were really going to be a problem in the following days. ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s see,¡± Natalie said. Closing her eyes, she started funneling points into [Juggernaut]. Slowly, as to test how much the enigmatic ¡®orb¡¯ filled up with pink liquid. Her skills only gave a vague measure of how much she was progressing them, rather than a concrete amount required. It made all of this guesswork, unfortunately. She grimaced. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s more expensive,¡± Natalie said. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure it starts out as effectively a tier higher. So from one to two, costs the same as two to three for my level one skills.¡± ¡°Kinda expected something like that,¡± Jordan said. ¡°But still. You can upgrade [Juggernaut]. It¡¯ll be around two hundred?¡± ¡°It¡¯ll cost most of what I have, probably.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine, I¡¯d say. It¡¯s a good choice. Then [Stylish] next, after we talk to the team about it.¡± Jordan paused. ¡°And ¡­ what are your thoughts on talking to them about helping, too?¡¯ ¡°Helping?¡± ¡°You know. With ¡­¡± Jordan waved her hand up and down at Natalie, a vague gesture that took Natalie a second to understand. ¡°You can¡¯t be serious.¡± ¡°Sounds like Liz might be interested,¡± Jordan said with a shrug. ¡°Ana is a wildcard, but I don¡¯t think she¡¯d be mad if we just asked. Besides, it¡¯s giving or receiving. I don¡¯t think there¡¯d be too many girls who would turn down daily oral from you.¡± Jordan¡¯s lips quirked. ¡°Or even giving. You¡¯ve got something special down there, you know. It really is addicting.¡± ¡°Jordan.¡± ¡°Just a thought,¡± Jordan said. ¡°I¡¯m not telling you to do anything. But maximizing your harvest skill really should take priority.¡± ¡°I know. I know.¡± Natalie struggled for how to put it. ¡°I just don¡¯t like the idea of it.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t like the idea of being serviced by a legion of girls every day?¡± Jordan asked. ¡°Not ¡­ so impersonally? I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t have anything against something casual, obviously, but it should still ¡­¡± ¡°Happen naturally.¡± Jordan nodded. ¡°No, I get it. Pursuing rtionships just for the energy would be weird. I was just checking in. Besides, I bet there¡¯s some limitations to harvest we haven¡¯t found yet. I don¡¯t think if you somehow had twenty partners a day, you¡¯d really get twenty times the energy. I bet there¡¯s a cap per day, or maybe each sessive partner gets less energy. Something of that sorts. Then again, maybe not. But the most important thing is to do what you¡¯refortable with. Doesn¡¯t matter what optimizes your ss.¡± Natalie both agreed and disagreed with the sentiment. A part of her wanted to rush as much carnal energy as possible. A part of her despised that kind view on sex and rtionships, even purposefully casual. It was something she¡¯d fretted over since she¡¯d received her ss, and hadn¡¯t made too much headway on. What she was really hoping for was to build up rtionships naturally, and for having to pursue some sort of ¡®optimization¡¯ to be unnecessary through organic sess. ¡°Anyway,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Go ahead and finish advancing [Juggernaut]? Tell me what you get.¡± *** [Juggernaut]: Progression advanced from 1 to 2. *** *** [Juggernaut] - PASSIVE. PROGRESSION 2. ss-bearer receives {1.6x} bonus to furor, applied after all other bonuses. *** Natalie eyes widened. ¡°Damn,¡± she said. ¡°Went to one point six. That¡¯s insane.¡± ¡°A passive sixty percent boost? That stacks with buffs and items?¡± Jordan asked. ¡°Yeah. No joke.¡± She shook her head. ¡°Even with just that, today¡¯s spars won¡¯t know what hit them. You¡¯re gonna be a nightmare. Wanna give it a test run?¡± 4.04 – Juggernaut 4.04 ¨C Juggernaut Skill progression wrapped up, with Natalie not having enough points to funnel into another advancement. Following that, Natalie set out for the armory with Jordan to test out her new abilities. First and foremost, she needed to find a new weapon. [Bigger Is Better] was clearly urging her toward a style that utilized oversized weapons, and Natalie was happy to follow down that path. Her shield and hammer had been reliable, but nothing inspiring, either. ¡°So what are you thinking?¡± Jordan asked. ¡°Warhammer? Great axe? Two-handed sword?¡± ¡°With the strength bonuses, I¡¯m honestly thinking warhammer.¡± Her thoughts flicked to Otto, wearing his heavy temail. ¡°It¡¯ll be good against armor. Plus we have that hammer drop from earlier, so I¡¯ll be able to equip myself right away.¡± ¡°Figured,¡± Jordan said. The two of them looked around the armory. As expected of an institution like T, all weapons were ounted for, every shape, size, and type a person could imagine. Even she couldn¡¯t name some of them, and Natalie was a person who¡¯d grown up learning the ins and outs ofbat. Finding the appropriate section where ridiculously sized weapons were stored, she perused her options. Giant polearms, swords, axes, and every other sort lined the racks in rows, or hung on disy. Some were ridiculously oversized. Bigger by a significant margin to the unwieldy warhammer they¡¯d found down in the dungeon. Natalie saw how Jordan¡¯s attention fell to those, and she turned to Natalie and quirked an eyebrow. ¡°Well,¡± she said. ¡°Let¡¯s start big?¡± She gestured to thergest warhammer of the set¡ªone that was easily twice her height and had a hammer head the size of half her body. ¡°There¡¯s a point where it bes physically unreasonable,¡± Natalie said, amused. She approached the weapon nheless. ¡°This thing would not work well in hallways.¡± She gripped the weapon¡¯s haft, then grunted as she dislodged it from its resting ce. Even with her recently boosted stats, easily doubling her strength whenbining [Juggernaut] and her passive level boosts, the weapon was a nightmare. With a block of metal the size of her chest for its head, that waspletely understandable. Jordan whistled, impressed that Natalie could hold the thing at all. ¡°Yeah,¡± Natalie said, muscles straining to hold the thing. ¡°This¡¯s probably meant for some of the upperssmen.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t say,¡± Jordan replied dryly. She eyed the bulky thing with an appreciative look. ¡°Probably where you¡¯re headed, though, long term. Imagine swinging that thing around. Pretty sure you¡¯d pulverize even bosses.¡± With some difficulty, she ced the weapon back. She picked a more level-appropriate warhammer. Still as tall as she was, and with an impressive block of metal for its head too, the weapon would be devastating in its own right. This one had a pointed end, intended to further help dig into metal. No longer handling something ridiculously oversized, the giant warhammer felt much morefortable in her hands. She gave it a few test swings, then rested it on her shoulder. ¡°Yeah,¡± Natalie said. ¡°I could work with this.¡± Just the day before, that certainly wouldn¡¯t have been true. But her strength boost with [Juggernaut], and explicit bonus with [Bigger Is Better], made the weapon more than maneuverable¡ªif admittedly less so than her previous shield-and-hammer set up. But when ounting for her level up, new weapon, and offense-oriented skills, her offensive capabilities had probably tripled at a minimum, and without her defenses taking too massive of a hit either. A solid smack with this thing would crack a good portion of her opponent¡¯s HP, if not outright break it. The problem, of course, would be actually getting a good smack in; maneuverability would be difficult. Even ncing blows would be devastating, though. But against other heavily armored opponents, that wouldn¡¯t be as much of an issue. Natalie might have be a tank killer. She suspected her fight against Otto would go a vastly different route, this time. Or, maybe. Natalie begrudgingly would admit he was one of the top freshmen tanks of T, which meant he was one of the top talents in the world. Natalie had apetitive streak, but she recognized from a practical standpoint that losing to him said nothing about her personal skill¡ªbesides that she wasn¡¯t one of the best in the world herself. And only as it stood. Plus, he probably had a level on her during their fight. Regardless, there was no shame in losing to world-ss talent. Or so she told herself; rationality and emotions didn¡¯t always y nice with each other. ¡°Let¡¯s give it a test run,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Your biggest problem will be with slippery targets, so I¡¯m the ideal person to practice with. We¡¯ll see if you need something lighter.¡± Natalie nodded. All sses and fighting styles came with upsides and downsides, and where this weapon would excel against a heavily armored tank, or any other ss not skilled at getting out of the way, someone like Jordan or Sofia would fare much better. That said, if Natalie even caught a ncing blow on a rogue or lightweight fighter, she might win the fight outright. All it would take was a smart piece of misdirection, or somehow handling the fight to force an undodgable attack. Not easy, but not impossible. And misdirection? Tricking an opponent for one devastating, fight-winning strike? Well, [Illusion] sounded quite useful there. There might be more coherence behind her ss than she¡¯d first thought. She and Jordan headed for a practice room. They had a short amount of time to get a few spars in and for Natalie to familiarize herself to her new weapon before realbat sses began. For the next while, she and Jordan sparred. As Natalie expected, the encounter was a clear demonstration of her biggest weakness¡ªan inability tond clean strikes on a slippery target. That said, Natalie quickly picked up how to handle the warhammer, using her momentum to always be in motion and advancing on Jordan. Jordan¡¯s strength wasn¡¯t in a one-on-one either; she did best attacking from nks, with her opponent focused on someone else. She tested her illusions, trying exactly what she¡¯d figured would be effective earlier¡ªtricking her opponent into dodging one way, thennding a devastating blow. But Jordan knew to watch for her illusions, and so fared better than a dungeon monster or even another sparring opponent would. The fight didn¡¯t end with a clear winner or loser, since that wasn¡¯t what the spars had been intended to be¡ªthey were just testing out Natalie¡¯s new style. That said, for these uing fights in today¡¯sbat sses, she intended to be a lot morepetitive. Her empowered stats were immediately noticeable, and she felt the improved power, speed, and constitution surging underneath her skin. ¡°And that¡¯s before [Juggernaut] boosts your gear,¡± Jordan said. ¡°You¡¯ll be even more of a monster in the dungeon. Especially as we get stronger items.¡± Natalie nodded in agreement. ¡°It¡¯s a shame we can¡¯t use gear in spars.¡± For some otherpetitions and situations they could, but not everyday spars. The reasoning as far as Natalie understood it was to test their ¡®base strength¡¯, but certain abilities, like this recent strength boosting one of hers, did get overlooked in that case. But there were no perfect solutions, so Natalie understood. With early morning self-training wrapping up, she and Jordan headed to ss. Natalie found herself more excited than she had been in some time. She wanted to test herself in earnest against whoever their opponents were today. 4.05 – Rankings 4.05 ¨C Rankings Natalie¡¯s first fight of the day ended up being a two on two. She received Ernest, an axe-based and somewhatpetent all-around fighter, against two opponents from a different ss: a fighter and a mage. Only the more diligent students had earned their level up this weekend, and it didn¡¯t seem like their opponents were in that group¡ªso Natalie was at a huge advantage. The spar turned out to be as satisfying as she had hoped it would be. This new aggressive style of hers yed far more to her strengths. [Juggernaut] was aptly named: though it didn¡¯t provide her defensive boosts, she was a moving whirlwind as she carried her momentum forward, swinging a giant hunk of metal with terrifying speed, her recently boosted strength meaning she could overpower nearly anyone. Her opponent made the mistake of trying to eat the impact with his shield only once. Warhammer met reinforced wood, and his defenses crumpled immediately¡ªhe went tumbling across the arena, shield dented, and while not out of the fight entirely, it left his supporting mage wide and open. Which meant, of course, that the fight didn¡¯tst long after that. Turning and seeing Sofia¡¯s raised eyebrows, and Jordan¡¯s smile, was even more liberating than the win itself. She would need to learn how to work the aggressiveness into a proper tanking style, though. Thrilling as barreling forward and being an unstoppable tornado of heavy metal would be, their team already had offense in spades; she would have to focus on keeping attention through being an unstoppable nuisance, rather than trying to disable her opponent with her newfound strength. Though, the two were somewhat intertwined. She would certainly be seeing a higher kill-participation in the following dungeon run than she had with shield-and-hammer. Hopefully, future levels woulde with a taunt ability, or something simr. She intended to work on her [Illusions] to somehow help, too. If nothing else, she could leverage the ability to peel for her teammates¡ªto provide distractions should she somehow lose her target¡¯s focus. The rest of the ss went just as well. By the end, the fifteen ssmates she¡¯d spent two weeks with were all looking at her in an appreciative new light. That also held for Natalie and some of them¡ªshe hadn¡¯t been the only one to level and receive powerful new abilities. But of the ss, Natalie¡¯s jump upward in unofficial rankings was the most noticeable. As much because her new skills were strong, it was that they actually fit her this time¡ªand her weapon choice, too. She¡¯d seen several upgrades to her personal strength at once, both direct and indirect. The only damper to her good mood was that, unfortunately, Sofia had also gotten much stronger. Natalie was itching for the day she couldy that woman t on her back and dominate her¡ªshe wanted it more than just about anything, so bad her skin got hot thinking about it¡ªbut it might be some time yet. The white-haired girl flowed between her opponents with newfound grace, and her offensive power had also taken a sharp leap upward. One of her immediately noticeable skills was a movement ability. She seemed to be able to step through attacks, now. Infuriatingly, that would be doubly effective against Natalie, with her slow-but-powerful style. So long as Sofia saw the attacking, she had a mitigating ability. There was still the option to feint and catch Sofia off guard, but Natalie begrudgingly admitted that would be a herculean task. Sofia had always had a natural talent for reading her opponents¡ªit was a foundational skill to her style. Natalie would have to pay attention to the ability¡¯s limitation. Such a potent dodge skill had to have them. At first appraisal, Natalie suspected a long cooldown, and perhaps a charge-up time¡ªshe had to predict the attack, rather than simply react. Still, those weren¡¯t easy limitations to exploit for Natalie herself. At the end of ss, Instructor Robin gathered them for a short announcement. She was sharp and punctual as usual, not wasting breath. ¡°As a reminder, with the start of the third week, student rankings have been posted. I suggest you peruse them at your leisure, either now or sometime during your lunch break. It¡¯s important to know yourpetition, and where you stand. They¡¯re posted at most student bulletins.¡± Cool eyes surveyed the collected students, and Instructor Robin nodded. ¡°That will be all, ss. Keep up the good work.¡± With a sharp turn, she exited the sparring room, leaving them to also disperse. Natalie found herself surprised by the announcement; she had known student rankings existed, but that they would being out today had slipped her mind. She shared a look with Jordan, then Sofia. They hardly needed to discuss it; as soon as Instructor Robin dismissed them, they beelined for the nearest bulletin board. Then, at seeing the absolute crowd packed around it, conceded defeat¡ªthey took a detour and found a less popted one on the way to the cafeteria. Natalie wasn¡¯t surprised to see Liz in the top twenty. Though not shy, being a healer, her skill was obvious as day¡ªas expected from a member of the literal royal family. At space twenty-four, a tragedyy in wait. Sofia. Sofia had made the first-page of rankings, and Natalie and Jordan had not. Natalie groaned, and Jordan patted her on the back. Sofia just stared at the listing, lips pursed. ¡°What? Expected to be first?¡± Natalie asked, more sourly than she intended. It was hard not to have her pride bruised with Sofia on top of her, obvious as the result was. She hated being topped by Sofia. ¡°I said no such thing,¡± Sofia said. ¡°You aren¡¯t hard to read, princess.¡± ¡°Hm.¡± They flipped through the pages, seeking out their names. T was a big academy, so ending up on the second page¡ªin the top fifty¡ªwasn¡¯t a mark against Natalie in the slightest; it still put her in the top ten percent of her year. Honestly, that was better than she¡¯d expected; she really didn¡¯t think she¡¯d put up a good showing, considering everything that was going on with her ss, and how it seem poised to be rtively weak early, but strongte. She would be shooting up the rankings as time passed. With her level-up, the current rankings were already inurate. Jordan was also on the second page, though lower down, at space forty nine. Nobody in the group seemed especially happy with their cements, but they were all intenselypetitive, hence how they¡¯d ended up in T in the first ce. Ana was a few spots above Natalie. That also made sense; she was no slouch. ¡°We¡¯re just getting started,¡± Natalie dered. ¡°I expect all of us to be in positions one to five by the end of the year. Anything less and we¡¯re not trying hard enough.¡± Sofia nodded, and Jordan seemed mildly amused at the statement, but didn¡¯t disagree. The looked through the other rankings. Combat wasn¡¯t the only category T graded their students in. Natalie obviously wasn¡¯t that invested in the academic list, but she did wince at how she was near the bottom¡ªit took some flipping through of pages to find her name. Also unsurprisingly, Jordan and Ana were both near the top, and in fact, were in the top ten, the highest among them of any individual list. To be fair, it wasn¡¯t like Natalie was really trying in that regard. Who went to T for the academics? For the dungeon rankings¡ªwhich T appraised through the quality of loot and amount of monster cores teams brought back up¡ªNatalie and her teammates were all on the second page. Again, that put them in the upper echelons of T¡¯s freshmen, and considering how they had literally been beaten and robbed during their most important dungeon run, that was quite good. Elida and her team, unfortunately, were all on the first page for bothbat-rted rankings. Even more annoyingly, Elida was the number one¡ªfor both. Even Johanna, the other major yer, hadn¡¯t imed the spot for personalbat strength; she was number two. Otto was twelfth, Natalie noted. Natalie recognized most of the other names, though not all of them. T¡¯s freshmen ss had a lot of students. Not ecstatic about their rankings, but also not devastated, the three of them finished looking through the pages, then headed off for lunch. 4.06 – Stylish 4.06 ¨C Stylish ¡°Good news and bad news,¡± Liz said cheerfully, sliding her food tray onto the table across from Natalie. The bubbly royal was spending more and more of her lunches with Natalie¡¯s group. Ana had also joined them. ¡°Which do you want first?¡± ¡°Bad news?¡± Jordan suggested. ¡°It¡¯s a trick question, they¡¯re the same thing,¡± Liz said. ¡°The good news is that Elida¡¯s team has kitchen duty for literally the whole week. The bad news is they didn¡¯t get any real punishment. I can¡¯t say I¡¯mpletely surprised, but it¡¯s still kind of ¡­¡± she trailed off, trying to pick a word. ¡°Bullshit?¡± Natalie suggested. ¡°Yeah. That¡¯s kind ofme.¡± She still hadn¡¯t made up her mind on how she wanted to handle Elida and that entire event. A big part of her wanted to concoct some glorious revenge, but at the same time, Jordan¡¯s words sat in her mind¡ªmaybe instigating a rivalry with the prominent daughter of a major royal family wasn¡¯t the best idea. Sometimes taking it on the chin was really the best move. Even if it pissed her off. For now, she held the grudge to the side. She¡¯d decideter. ¡°But I do mean all week,¡± Liz said. ¡°Even the weekend. She messed up her own delving schedule because of it.¡± Natalie blinked. ¡°Oh.¡± That was better than she thought, then. ¡°But not all day, right?¡± ¡°Yeah. So they can still go. But it messes up camping down in the dungeon; they need to be back each morning.¡± ¡°It¡¯s something, I guess. And our gear?¡± ¡°We¡¯re getting most of it back. Not all. Some petition¡¯,¡± Liz quoted the words with her fingers, ¡°is encouraged at T. Butbined with our haul yesterday, and getting a decent chunk of our previous delve back, we¡¯ve made out like bandits. We¡¯re in a good position going into this week.¡± ¡°Especially with our upgrades,¡± Sofia said. ¡°I mean, you saw Nat during practice today.¡± Natalie paused, then turned a confused look at the white-haired girl. Had Sofia just her? ¡°We¡¯re all level two, I take it?¡± Liz asked, cutting off Natalie¡¯s bafflement. ¡°We didn¡¯t actually bring it up. But me and Ana are. You three?¡± ¡°Then that makes all of us, yeah,¡± Jordan said. ¡°What¡¯d you get?¡± Liz asked Natalie. ¡°If I can ask. I saw you fight, but what skills?¡± Jordan turned a significant look Natalie¡¯s way, and Natalie wrinkled her nose. It was too perfect of a segue to not broach the subject. [Stylish] needed to be discussed with the team. She¡¯d start with the non-weird one. ¡°One that makesrge weapons handle easier,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Hence the change.¡± Liz made a noise of appreciation. ¡°The dungeon must have known what you¡¯d get, dropping that two-hander.¡± The extent to which the dungeon was sentient or even prescient was up for debate, but Natalie herself doubted it had known. Just a coincidental lucky drop. Hardly worth arguing about, though. ¡°Yeah, maybe. Anyway, I¡¯ll probably take it down during our delve today.¡± ¡°Tomorrow,¡± Ana corrected. ¡°We¡¯re not delving today.¡± ¡°Sofia¡¯spetition,¡± Jordan said, bumping an elbow into Natalie¡¯s side. ¡°Oh. Right,¡± Natalie said. She¡¯d forgotten. ¡°Tomorrow then. Anyway, that was one skill I needed to mention. The other is, uh. Well.¡± Liz paused, then blushed, putting two and two together. ¡°Rted to your ss?¡± she joked. ¡°Yeah,¡± Natalie said. She looked around the cafeteria¡ªno one was nearby¡ªthen lowered her voice. ¡°So, uh, basically, if I¡¯m attracted to what any of my teammates are wearing, they get a stat bonus. And the same in reverse, for me.¡± The table paused. ¡°Excuse me?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°That¡¯s, um, interesting,¡± Liz said. ¡°What if we wear nothing?¡± Ana asked. ¡°Does that count?¡± Everyone looked at the dark-haired mage, eyes wide. Ana tilted her head. ¡°Because I assume being naked would be the most arousing, wouldn¡¯t it? Or near it. So is it the highest stat bonus?¡± ¡°How is that where your mind went?¡± Liz squeaked. ¡°It¡¯s a good point,¡± Jordan said, amused. ¡°Maybe we should be a rings, amulets, and essories only team. And I mean only.¡± Liz turned two shades redder. Natalie wondered why Jordan had to always instigate, these days. ¡°We get bonuses if you¡¯re aroused?¡± Sofia said, ring at Natalie, her voice nearly a growl. ¡°What is wrong with your ss, Nat?¡± ¡°Think I asked for it?¡± Natalie shot back. ¡°Not like I had a choice in the matter.¡± Natalie paused. Well, that was a lie. She¡¯d actively been given a choice; she could have taken the default ss options. But her point stood. ¡°I¡¯m not delving naked,¡± Sofia said tly. ¡°There¡¯s limits to how much I¡¯ll deal with your ss.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t ask you to, did I?¡± Natalie said. ¡°It¡¯s just a skill the team should know about.¡± ¡°Hmph.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t even know how it works, anyway,¡± Natalie said. ¡°It might just be, like, a minimum thing. That the outfit has to meet some basic requirement, then you get the full boost, and it doesn¡¯t scale more for how crazy it is. I¡¯ll figure it outter.¡± ¡°How? With who?¡± Sofia asked, then paused, realizing she probably shouldn¡¯t have asked the question. Several eyes turned, naturally, to Jordan. ¡°The things I do for friends,¡± Jordan said wryly. ¡°Unless someone else wants to volunteer?¡± Her eyes turned to Liz, who colored brightly. ¡°Anyway,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Now you guys know. So there.¡± ¡°I was nning on finding something to wear under or over those new robes of mine,¡± Ana said, ¡°but perhaps that¡¯s not necessary.¡± She shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t mind. Mage equipment is mostly magical protections. It¡¯s more of an issue for Sofia and Jordan. Walking around scantily d has real defense implications.¡± ¡°The sluttier stuff usually has shield effects built in,¡± Jordan said. ¡°So the trick will be finding natural dungeon gear like that.¡± ¡°Won¡¯t be that hard, I bet,¡± Sofia grumbled. ¡°Somehow, I bet the dungeon¡¯s going to be very amodating over the following days.¡± Nobody disagreed. ¡°We¡¯re going to have such a reputation at T,¡± Sofia said. ¡°A team of five women, all dressed in slutty gear. Can you imagine?¡± Natalie could imagine, and it was having unfortunate effects on her. She shifted in ce, and Jordan¡¯s lips quirked. Under the table, she patted Natalie on the thigh¡ªunfortunately close to a growing problem. Really. Why was Jordan always causing problems these days? She¡¯d always been the person to smooth things over, before. ¡°We¡¯ll have back-up gear, I was saying,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Something to wear around normally, and our real set of gear we¡¯ll put on in the dungeon. Because yeah, I don¡¯t mind making use of the skill when we have some privacy, but maybe not around campus.¡± ¡°And if someone bumps into us down there?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°Or during school events where armor is allowed?¡± Jordan shrugged. ¡°Well, we¡¯ll deal with that when we get to it. Depending on how strong the boost is, though, could definitely be worth it, embarrassing or not.¡± ¡°It was just a heads up,¡± Natalie said, wanting to move on. ¡°We¡¯ll talk more about itter.¡± It had just been for the best if they were told in advance. But detailed discussions were kind of pointless, since she still needed to experiment with the skill with Jordan, discover its limitations and such. Which would, of course, be an event in its own right. 4.07 – Competition 4.07 ¨C Competition Dueling was the most popr extracurricr at T for obvious reasons. While delving was the fundamental building block for gaining power¡ªand thus status and wealth¡ªfighting monsters, even the most clever of them, fundamentally wasn¡¯t the same as fighting humans. And since humans were always in conflict in one way or another, small-scale orrge, there was great interest in honing one¡¯s abilities in one-on-one fights. Beyond that, it held appeal purely as a sport. Naturally, there weren¡¯t many people who attended T who weren¡¯t interested inbat for the sheer art of it. With infinite variance in weapon choice, styles, and skills, no two duels were the same¡ªeven in instances where the same twobatants were on stage. Natalie herself hadn¡¯t picked up dueling as an extracurricr, but it had been on her list of possibilities. Maybe she would even change her schedule at some point. Just, with her current priorities, learning how to take down opponents in a one-on-one appealed to her ego, but not her sense of practicality. For Sofia, at least, the duelist-style fighter of the group, this sort of practice was more than a functional use of her time. T had world-ss facilities in every category, and that was even more true for the dueling arena. As the most popr sport in the delving world, and with T as the eminent academy in the country, no expenses were spared. The main arena could seat tens of thousands¡ªfor the big events of the year¡ªand dozens of smaller ones could host hundreds each. The arena was even used asionally for therger dueling circuit, not just the collegiate one. Seeing how certain global political matters were settled through the use of dueling as a sport¡ªas a disy of military strength¡ªthat made the building political in nature, too. It was perhaps the single most extravagant structure across campus. Though not gaudy. That wasn¡¯t T¡¯s style. Of course, the first-year¡¯s initial miniature duelingpetition¡ªmore of an event to seed the freshmen talent than anything¡ªwouldn¡¯t be drawing any impressive numbers like the ¡®real events¡¯ would. Only friends, family, and a few interested people would be attending. Sofia had asked her team toe watch, and so, of course they had. It was a small waste of time, since they could easily pick up a temporary fighter and get a few hours of delving in after sses, but Natalie recognized perfect efficiency would drive a person insane. A few hours spent watching duels would be both interesting and practical too¡ªstudying the styles of her ssmates was hardly aplete waste of time. As thepetition progressed, Sofia dominated the opposition. In thebat rankings that faculty put together, many factors were taken into ount, not just one¡¯s ability to face down a single opponent. Sofia¡¯s style had many ws, especially in a group setting, because she had few to no syngeristic abilities or tendencies, was weak to swarming enemies, and generally offered little to the team beyond her raw offensive output. The thing was¡ªshe provided a lot of offensive output, and needed very little support to do so. And in the dueling ring, none of those downsides mattered. Natalie had spent her life watching this woman fight, but seeing her wreak havoc on even students of T¡¯s caliber recontextualized a few things. She felt slightly less bad about her own failures to handle Sofia over the years. She was an aberrant talent even by the standards of the premier academy in the country. There were, of course, exceptions. Sofia wasn¡¯t the best duelist of the year, only high up there. One such contender was the unfortunate obvious one: Elida, who had also chosen dueling as an extracurricr. Many of the other big names had as well. Natalie, Jordan, Liz, and Ana watched from the sidelines as Sofia went about her matches. This wasn¡¯t an official event as other duelingpetitions might be, but there were still a decent amount of spectators¡ªone or two hundred¡ªand the convenience stands were open, selling snacks and drinks. Natalie was used to being one of thebatants in these kinds of events¡ªshe¡¯d grown up attending them¡ªso being on the sidelines felt a bit odd. Something strange was happening between each of Sofia¡¯s matches, too. With each of her inevitable victories, Sofia¡¯s eyes would find their way to Natalie and her group. That wasn¡¯t the odd part itself, of course, but rather¡ªhow they seemed to alwaysnd on Natalie first, before she gave a reluctant roll of her eyes and a thumbs up. That would bring a smile Sofia would try to hide, and her eyes would carry along to the rest of her team, nodding and ying humble. Natalie saw through it. Sofia wanted attention from Natalie so she could rub it in. ¡®Look how good I am¡¯. Still, Natalie continued encouraging her after each victory. In the dueling ring, the woman was really something else. And Sofia seemed so pleased by the thumbs-up each time that Natalie supposed she didn¡¯t mind feeding her ego. She had an annoyingly cute smile. But more annoying than cute. It agitated Natalie in a way hard to describe. An evening spent chatting with her team and watching spars was a nice break from the frantic pace of T daily life. Even better, an unexpected guest showed up¡ªSammy. Apanying her were her two friends, Evie and Dag, which Natalie had met at the party. Apparently Dag had a little brother who was a freshmen and was participating in today¡¯s event. Their groups ended up mingling and watching the fights together, though Dag split off when his brother had a match in a different ringing up. Sofia wasn¡¯t always active, either, of course¡ªthere were a lot of dueling students, and T was getting a wide spread of match ups to properly seed the students for future events. Hundreds or more matches were taking ce, and there were only so many rings. To Natalie¡¯s bafflement, Sofia¡¯s demeanor changed when she came out¡ªagain¡ªthe victor of her next round. She looked over, saw Natalie sitting next to Sammy, and rather than smiling at Natalie¡¯s thumbs-up, she frowned. When the match finished, Sofia exited the ring and their group came up to properly congratte her, but the shift in attitude held. She chatted perfectly normally with the rest of the group, but seemed to ignore Natalie. It wasn¡¯t outright hostility or anything, and rather subdued¡ªSofia was hardly running to Natalie to chat with her to begin with¡ªso Natalie wondered whether she was imagining it. It continued that way for the rest of the event, even after their two separate groups split off, and Sammy said her goodbyes. Jordan noticed it too, and asked Natalie if she¡¯d done something. If Natalie had, she had no clue what. It had started when Sammy arrived, but as far as Natalie knew, the two of them didn¡¯t even know each other, so she couldn¡¯te up with a reason why Sammy sitting next to Natalie would matter in the slightest. The irritable demeanor only grew. By the time all of Sofia¡¯s matches came to a wrap, Sofia was all but ring at Natalie, to Natalie¡¯splete confusion. Natalie and the rest of the group came up to Sofia, but Sofia made a few brief pleasantries and said she was going to get changed. Her shortness had carried over even to talking with Liz and Jordan by that point. Jordan watched her go, then turned to Natalie. ¡°You should go talk to her.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything.¡± ¡°Still,¡± Jordan said. ¡°You should go. Find out what¡¯s happening.¡± Even Jordan seemed a bit perplexed by the situation. Natalie considered whether she wanted to do that¡ªa confrontation with Sofia was sure to be a disaster¡ªbut considering how Sofia had seemed almost friendly at the start of the event, she made her mind up. ¡°Okay, fine,¡± Natalie said. ¡°I¡¯ll go see what¡¯s up.¡± 4.08 – Confrontation 4.08 ¨C Confrontation Natalie trailed after Sofia. The locker rooms were a good distance away, so Sofia had plenty of time to notice. She was apetent delver, too, so was basically incapable of missing someone so inly following her. Still, she ignored Natalie the whole way there. Natalie decided against jogging up and forcing the confrontation before reaching a somewhat private building. When they arrived to the locker room, Natalie was pleased to find the space empty. It was one of many, with the locker rooms small and separated, so that wasn¡¯t too odd¡ªbut it might notst long with matches starting to finish up. Sofa hadpleted hers earlier than most; the event was schedule to go for another half hour. Sofia stalked to her locker, then agitatedly swung it open, the metal door nking as it smacked into another. ¡°Okay,¡± Natalie said. ¡°The hell is this? What¡¯s going on?¡± That was, admittedly, not the most conciliatory way to open the conversation, but Sofia¡¯s attitude had gotten on Natalie¡¯s nerves. She hadn¡¯t done anything. All of this hade out of nowhere. ¡°Do you mind?¡± Sofia replied, not turning as she angrily rummaged around inside her locker. ¡°I¡¯m trying to get dressed.¡± ¡°No. You¡¯re being weird. I want to know what¡¯s up.¡± ¡°What do you mean? Nothing is ¡®up¡¯.¡± She almost growled thest word. Her rummaging-around became even more agitated. ¡°Uh-huh,¡± Natalie said, which turned out to be all the prompting Sofia needed. ¡°I guess I just don¡¯t get it,¡± Sofia said. ¡°Not at all.¡± ¡°Get what?¡± ¡°You.¡± ¡°Me?¡± ¡°Or your hordes of lovers, I guess.¡± Which hadn¡¯t remotely been the response Natalie had been expecting. She paused, caughtpletely off foot, before finally responding with an ineloquent, ¡°What?¡± ¡°Really. What¡¯s the big deal?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°Why is everyone always falling over you? It¡¯s been like this forever.¡± She punctuated the statement with several aggressive bangs of metal inside her locker, violently moving items around. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Natalie asked. So this had been about Sammy, as had been her only remote guess. Natalie just didn¡¯t understand why. ¡°This is hardly new. But I honestly figured T would at least be more resistant to your ¡®charms¡¯.¡± She scoffed thest word. ¡°But no. Not even a week in and you were getting into everyone¡¯s pants. Just like always. So like I said, I just don¡¯t get it.¡± ¡°Get what?¡± Natalie asked. ¡°And more than that, why would you care?¡± That was the even more confusing part, though Natalie was baffled from start to finish with this conversation, not just there. ¡°I don¡¯t care,¡± Sofia growled, not doing a great job of selling the point. ¡°I just said that I don¡¯t get it. What, do you have magic fingers? How is it so easy for you?¡± Natalie ignored the magic fingersment, mostly because she didn¡¯t know where to begin with it. ¡°Easy?¡± she asked instead. ¡°You just have to look at a girl for her to fall for you. Or at least get into her pants. Just know that I¡¯m not sold. Besides,¡± Sofia scoffed, ¡°I doubt you¡¯re even that good.¡± ¡°That ¡­ good?¡± ¡°I mean, it can¡¯t be that hard, anyway. They¡¯re probably just easy to impress.¡± What was this woman going on about? Natalie knew what, since Sofia was all but spelling it out, but it was so baffling that Natalie second guessed herself. Was Sofia talking about sex? Specifically, Natalie¡¯s skill in it? Why? Natalie stared at her, at a loss for words. ¡°I¡¯m just saying,¡± Sofia said. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t matter how good you were. I certainly wouldn¡¯t be tripping over my feet afterward, like these ¡­ these skanks.¡± Natalie bristled at that, since the insult was clearly directed at Sammy, but she forcibly calmed herself. She could tell Sofia wasn¡¯t exactly speaking with a clear mind. That didn¡¯t mean the words didn¡¯t piss her off, but she moderated herself. ¡°Uh-huh,¡± Natalie said. ¡°And how, exactly, would you know? Aren¡¯t you a virgin?¡± Which wasn¡¯t a response that took the high ground. She was no expert at controlling her emotions, either¡ªcalming her annoyance at Sofia¡¯s insult of Sammy had been the most she¡¯d been capable of. And Natalie didn¡¯t actually know Sofia¡¯s level of experience, but by the way Sofia huffed, then continued rummaging around angrily in her locker¡ªand she was sure having a hard time finding whatever she was looking for¡ªNatalie could tell she¡¯d gotten it right. She wracked her brain for an exnation. Why would Sofia care about how easily Natalie hooked up with other girls? Andment on her sex life in the first ce? ¡°I get it,¡± Natalie said, the puzzle pieces finally clicking. ¡°You¡¯re mad that I¡¯m better than you at something. That¡¯s what this is.¡± Sofia turned an incredulous look toward her. ¡°That is the conclusion you woulde to, isn¡¯t it?¡± Sofia said. ¡°Don¡¯t think too hard. You¡¯ll hurt yourself. No, listen to what I¡¯m saying. I¡¯m telling you that I¡¯m just confused. It doesn¡¯t make sense how easy it is for you. And, again, I seriously doubt you¡¯re that good.¡± Natalie knew from first hand experience Sofia could be annoying at the best of times, but this was a first. Insulting her ability in bed was, obviously, something Sofia had never done before. All of this in general hade out of nowhere. But it was still doing a great job of getting under Natalie¡¯s skin. Sofia was pretty exceptional at that. ¡°Three minutes,¡± Natalie said, crossing her arms. ¡°If that.¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°That¡¯s how long it would take.¡± ¡°Take?¡± Sofia asked tly. ¡°For what? What are you saying?¡± ¡°Two, if I get to use my tongue.¡± Sofia paused. Natalie advanced on Sofia, and with wide eyes, Sofia stepped back, pinning herself against the metal lockers as Natalie closed the gap. Natalie loomed over her, then ced one hand to the right of Sofia¡¯s head, palm t against the metal. She leaned in close enough she could feel Sofia¡¯s breath. It had happened instinctively; Natalie hadn¡¯t even meant to move. The way Sofia looked up at her, shocked, blue eyes wide, having gone still as a rabbit, was unexpectedly intoxicating. Natalie wasn¡¯t exactly sure what had spurred her forward, but she liked Sofia¡¯s response to the invasion of space. She liked seeing her off-foot, vulnerable. Sofia had the upper hand way too often. ¡°What?¡± Natalie teased, a hint of mocking in her voice. ¡°Isn¡¯t that what this is? A challenge? I¡¯m not gonna just stand there while you insult me. If you ¡®don¡¯t get it¡¯, then maybe I should show you.¡± She leaned forward and whispered into Sofia¡¯s ear. ¡°And like I said. Three minutes at most. Maybe less. I get the feeling you¡¯d be easy to take apart. I mean, look at you.¡± Sofia didn¡¯t respond. She just gawked at Natalie, her chest rising and falling rapidly, face turning deeper shades of red by the moment. On her pale Theliosian skin, the effect was twice as noticeable. ¡°What?¡± Natalie asked. ¡°All that talk, and you can¡¯t even find your voice when a girl invades your space? That¡¯s kind of sad, princess.¡± Sofia swallowed. ¡°Don¡¯t be ridiculous. Is this a joke?¡± ¡°Not at all.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be ridiculous,¡± she repeated. ¡°Scared of being proved wrong? What if I am that good? Maybe you¡¯d be hanging all over me afterward, too.¡± ¡°I r-really doubt that.¡± ¡°Was that a stutter?¡± Natalie asked, delighted. It might have been the first time she¡¯d ever heard it from the everposed, ever-elegant Sofia. She brushed Sofia¡¯s cheek with a thumb, and Sofia closed her eyes and leaned into the touch. She froze, realizing what she¡¯d done, and her eyes shot back open. Natalie also froze at the telling response¡ªthenughed. ¡°I haven¡¯t even done anything, and you¡¯re like this. You really would be easy to take apart.¡± Sofia didn¡¯t even like Natalie, and she was responding in that way. ¡°I¡ª I¡ª¡° ¡°You what, princess?¡± Sofia swallowed thickly, and the familiar defiant mask appeared¡ªthough its effect was rather diminished by her red face, and the way she was trembling under Natalie¡¯s proximity. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t even get close. Three minutes? As if.¡± ¡°Oh? So it¡¯s a challenge then?¡± ¡°Yes. It is.¡± Natalie paused. She hadn¡¯t expected Sofia to actually ept. She ced her palm on Sofia¡¯s stomach, fingers pointed down. Sofia let out a shaky breath. ¡°I take challenges seriously,¡± Natalie warned. ¡°I¡¯m well aware you have an ego.¡± ¡°I have an ego?¡± Natalie asked incredulously. She slid her hand down an inch. ¡°Sofia, I will take you up on this.¡± ¡°And what do I get if I win?¡± ¡°You won¡¯t, so it doesn¡¯t matter,¡± Natalie said tly. ¡°Are you kidding? I haven¡¯t even started and you¡¯re shaking.¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m not,¡± Sofia denied, her entire body trembling. Natalie slid her hand down another inch. Her fingers tucked into Sofia¡¯s waistband, starting to slide under her pants. ¡°What do I get if I win?¡± ¡°You won¡¯t, so it doesn¡¯t matter,¡± Sofia replied, mockingly parroting Natalie¡¯s own response. Fine. A bet. Natalie considered. ¡°If I win,¡± she said, ¡°you¡¯re mine for the week.¡± ¡°And what does that mean?¡± ¡°Whatever I want it to. And the same goes for you.¡± Sofia hesitated. ¡°But you won¡¯t lose,¡± Natalie said, ¡°so who cares, right?¡± Unsurprisingly, the hesitation wiped away. The re came back. ¡°You¡¯re right. I won¡¯t, so it doesn¡¯t.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a bet?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Natalie¡¯s blood surged. Given permission, she didn¡¯t waste time. She started fumbling open Sofia¡¯s pants button. 4.09 – Overconfidence 4.09 ¨C Overconfidence Natalie wasn¡¯t sure how she¡¯d gotten herself into this situation, but she didn¡¯t care. Or, rather, was currently unable to care. She couldn¡¯t think abut anything besides Sofia. Always confident, always better-than-her Sofia, who stared up with vulnerable blue eyes and practically quaked where she stood. ¡°I¡¯ve wanted this for so long,¡± Natalie growled, yanking Sofia¡¯s pants down to her thighs, revealing her white panties. ¡°So, so long.¡± ¡°You did?¡± the startled response came. ¡°Since forever, pretty much.¡± Because Sofia had always had the upper-hand, and finally Natalie did. That had been something she¡¯d been striving for since as long as she knew Sofia. And sure, this wasn¡¯t exactly how she¡¯d imagined ¡®having the upper hand¡¯ to be, but Natalie also wasn¡¯t disappointed. Sofia might be better than her in the sparring ring, but here? In this arena? Natalie could dominate her rival without a problem. ¡°Oh,¡± Sofia said, eyes having gone oddly wide at the words. Natalie wasn¡¯t in the right mindset to analyze the reaction¡ªor even notice the strange way Sofia had responded. An absolute disaster of emotions swirled around inside her. Part of her wanted to go easy on Sofia, to be caring and gentle, since Sofia had admitted this was her first time. Another part of her saw the perfect, unassable confidence that Sofia always carried around finally broken, and she wanted to dig deeper and deeper into that vulnerability. Not with hostile intent, but instead, to more easily, and morepletely, take her apart. Because that was, at least, the one part of her desires that had no dissenting or confused voices. Every part of her wanted to take Sofia apart. To disassemble her and leave her a shaking, sweating, moaning mess. That was hardly a first for Natalie. That type of desire. But not with Sofia¡ªand not in this particr way. The reasons she wanted to have Sofia as pliable putty in her hands was nothing like her usual. First, there was the obvious: Sofia had just spent several minutes insulting her, and insisting that Natalie couldn¡¯t turn her into a quivering mess. She was still confused by much of that conversation¡ªSofia hadn¡¯t been making sense¡ªbut she didn¡¯t care right this moment. She¡¯d been challenged, and so naturally, Natalie wanted to prove how wrong Sofia was. The second was getting to be in the dominant position against Sofia. Natalie enjoyed taking the lead in her encounters, but it had never been thrilling in this way. The flipping of dynamics. Sofia always came out on top, but here? Here, Natalie could excel to the point of embarrassing her partner¡ªjust like Sofia always did. Natalie wasn¡¯t just confident she was better, but Sofia was aplete beginner. It would beically easy. It felt like someone else controlled her body as she pinned Sofia back into the lockers. She ran her hands up and down Sofia¡¯s figure, feeling the curve of her waist, hips, and naked thighs, then further up, her stomach and finally her breasts. Underneath Sofia¡¯s shirt and bra, Natalie cupped Sofia¡¯s tits, squeezing and feeling her rival up. Her fingers brushed Sofia¡¯s nipples, and the white-haired girl shivered under the assault, her breath hitching. ¡°I¡¯m almost scared I¡¯ll break you,¡± Natalie said. Sofia¡¯s eyes were locked to Natalie¡¯s, as they had been since the start. She seemedpletely enthralled. Her breaths came rapidly. ¡°I mean, look how you¡¯re shaking. You sure you¡¯ll make it?¡± The question was half teasing but also half serious. Natalie was delighting in Sofia¡¯s reactions, but at the same time, she seemed overwhelmed to put it lightly. Sofia swallowed. Natalie almost wondered whether she¡¯d ask Natalie to slow down. Instead, she got the typical arrogance. ¡°You¡¯re not using your three minutes effectively, are you?¡± ¡°That¡¯s because I won¡¯t need the full time,¡± Natalie said, smirking, her hands not moving from Sofia¡¯s tits. She leaned forward and whispered into her ear, ¡°I just wanted to explore your tight, fuckable body first. You know it¡¯s mine if you lose? Mine. A whole week. Whatever I want. And I promise I¡¯ll be making good use of it.¡± Sofia didn¡¯t respond. Instead, the words washed through her, and she shook in ce¡ªa moan even escaping her. The next part was even more shocking. She closed her eyes and tilted her head up, lips parting. Natalie knew what the request meant¡ªsubconsciously produced or not. Sofia, asking to be kissed. It seemed, again, an instinctive reaction. Not at all on purpose. And unfortunately, Natalie¡¯s response was also instinctive. She kissed Sofia. The sensation of her soft lips crashed through her. Natalie had known she¡¯d wanted this since forever¡ªto have a vulnerable Sofia in her grasp¡ªbut the intensity of the want surging inside her surprised her nheless. And the intensity of Sofia¡¯s reply, just as much. They kissed fervently, sloppily, tasting each other and moaning between each exchange. Sofia grabbed Natalie¡¯s hips and pulled her closer¡ªthough their bodies had already been inches away. Pressed into the other girl, Natalie¡¯s cock slid up Sofia¡¯s stomach, between the two of them, nowhere else to go, and the white-haired girl had to be aware of thick rod pressing into her, but she didn¡¯t react; she kept kissing. In the back of Natalie¡¯s head, she recognized that meant Sofia had found out some other way, but such thoughts were a long distance away. Sofia¡¯s hand slid down between them, her palm rubbing into Natalie¡¯s cock, and Natalie moaned into her lips¡ªbut was also reminded of her circumstances. She extricated herself from Sofia¡¯s mouth, then grabbed each of her wrists and mmed them above her head, the metal lockers she was pinned against rattling. ¡°Uh-uh,¡± Natalie chided. ¡°I¡¯m fucking you, not the other way around. But nice try.¡± Sofia had, admittedly, done a great job distracting her. How long had it been? A minute and a half, at least. Natalie had burned through her reserves ying with Sofia¡¯s body and basking in the taste of her mouth. Still, she wasn¡¯t worried. Natalie waspletely convinced she could take this woman apart in thirty seconds in her current state. She was shaking even more than at the start¡ªthe kiss hadpromised her more than Natalie¡¯s toying with her body. Natalie finally got to the job at hand. She pressed her palm against Sofia¡¯s stomach, fingers pointed down, then slid, teasingly slow. Inch by inch she closed the distance. Sofia moaned when Natalie¡¯s fingers slipped into her panties¡ªand when Natalie reached her destination, the white-hair girl bucked her hips, needing more pressure. She was, unsurprisingly, drenched. Natalie could have inferred that from her quivering, flushed body, but the proof was just as delightful. ¡°Look how wet you are. And for me,¡± Natalie murmured. She stepped to the side for better positioning, one hand pinning Sofia¡¯s wrists above her head, the other buried into her panties¡ªand with her mouth now whispering hot air into Sofia¡¯s ear. ¡°Look how needy you are. So much talk, but this tells the truth.¡± She pressed firmly into Sofia¡¯s core, wrenching out another loud moan. ¡°I could win whenever I want. But that¡¯s too easy. I want you to ask for it.¡± ¡°Wh-What?¡± ¡°Beg. I know you want it. My fingers inside you. So ask. For your relief. You won¡¯t get it unless you ask.¡± ¡°I¡ªI won¡¯t,¡± Sofia gasped. ¡°You don¡¯t sound so sure about that,¡± Natalie said, lips quirking. ¡°Come on. Give in. Just one word. ¡®Please¡¯.¡± Natalie rubbed tight circles around Sofia, and Sofia¡¯s hips strained forward, desperately trying to get Natalie¡¯s hand more firmly against her. She wiggled side to side, rubbing herself more against Natalie than the other way around. It made quite the sight, Sofia pinned there, flush and sweaty, back arching and hips shaking as Natalie teased her. ¡°One word, and I¡¯ll let you cum.¡± Natalie nibbled at Sofia¡¯s ear. ¡°And then your hot, fuckable body will be mine for the week. I promise I¡¯ll put it to good use. So be a good girl.¡± ¡°I¡ª I¡ª¡° ¡°One word, princess.¡± ¡°Please,¡± Sofia gasped. ¡°Please, fuck me.¡± She struggled against Natalie¡¯s grip. ¡°I need it. Please.¡± Natalie obliged. She sank two fingers into Sofia and curled. The loudest, most obscene noise yet wrenched from Sofia¡¯s lips, and she whined and thrashed. Her pussy clenched against Natalie¡¯s fingers, and the constant quivering turning into outright shaking as her climax ravaged her. She shook her head back and forth, gasping and whining, as Natalie thrust in and out, eagerly working her higher. She didn¡¯t need any slow and coaxing motions; Sofia wanted to be fucked, and Natalie provided it. Even Natalie was impressed at just how right she¡¯d been¡ªthe moment Natalie had entered her, she¡¯d finished. Barely two full seconds. Incredible. And such a shaking, twitching climax, working higher and higher with each thrust of her fingers. This girl had really been pent up. ¡°That¡¯s it, there you go,¡± Natalie murmured teasingly into her ear. ¡°Let it out. That¡¯s a good girl. Cum for me. You¡¯re doing great.¡± For what felt like a full minute, Sofia twitched and fell apart under Natalie¡¯s thrusting fingers. When her body finally sagged down,pletely drained, Natalie kept her dangling there by her wrists, pinned into the metal lockers. Seeing the wreck of a woman, Natalie kissed her on the neck andughed gently into her. ¡°See? Look how easy that was. You really shouldn¡¯t have been so confident.¡± Because now Sofia was hers for the week. That opened so many possibilities. 4.10 – Locker Room Chat 4.10 ¨C Locker Room Chat Natalie would give it to Sofia. For how catastrophically she¡¯de to her twitching climax, she recovered with admirable speed. She still hung there, pinned by her wrists to the locker, red-faced and panting¡ªshaking from the aftermath¡ªbut her eyes started to clear up after just a few moments. It looked like it took a coordinated effort. Something she managed through willpower only. ¡°Do you¡ªdo you mind?¡± Sofia finally asked. She wiggled her wrists pointedly, which Natalie still had pinned above her head. Smirking, Natalie released her. With some effort, Sofia pushed off the lockers and into a standing position. She swayed slightly, her legs unsteady, but recovered. She pulled up her clothes, then looked around the room. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you did that,¡± she said, sounding vaguely dismayed as she peered around the room. ¡°Here. In a public locker room.¡± ¡°I had illusions if I needed them,¡± Natalie said dismissively. ¡°Besides, you were the one begging for it. How are you gonna me me for that?¡± ¡°I did no such thing as beg,¡± Sofia said firmly. The flush on her cheeks hadn¡¯t gone away, but herposure had at least returned¡ªsort of. She looked down at herself one more time, then shook her head. Cool blue eyes returned to Natalie. Rather than confident, as usual, or even vulnerable and needy as a moment before, Natalie read hesitance. ¡°So. About ¡­ what you said.¡± ¡°What I said?¡± ¡°At the start. About how you¡¯ve wanted this. For so long. That¡¯s something we should talk about, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Of course I¡¯ve wanted this,¡± Natalie said, briefly confused. She paused as the implication finally set in¡ªhow Sofia had interpreted those statements. ¡°Oh. You think I meant¡ª¡° Natalieughed. ¡°No, I just wanted to make you cum. That¡¯s what I¡¯ve been waiting for.¡± Natalie certainly didn¡¯t want Sofia, not in that way. She paused a second time as she realized she hadn¡¯t properly exined herself. ¡°Er, and not even cum, specifically. Just to top you.¡± Okay, this wasing out wrong. ¡°As a matter of speech,¡± she corrected hastily. ¡°You know, because you¡¯re always winning, so I wanted my own chance to dominate you. That¡¯s all I meant.¡± Sofia stared at her. Natalie flushed, embarrassed for the first time in the interaction. Half because of what she¡¯d admitted to¡ªeven when interpreted correctly it was an embarrassing admission¡ªand half because of what Sofia had first assumed, that Natalie had somehow wanted her. Looking back on that initial exchange, Natalie could see how Sofia hadn¡¯t understood properly. Deflecting, Natalie said loudly, ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter. Anyway, you¡¯re mine for the week. I¡¯m not letting you go back on that.¡± Sofia studied Natalie for a second more, then frowned as she epted the change in topic. She crossed her arms. For having been aplete mess a minute prior, Natalie really was impressed at how quickly she¡¯d pulled herself together¡ªas if she hadn¡¯t just been a twitching mess as Natalie worked her into a hot puddle of pleasure one minute prior. Remembering that¡ªand seeing Sofia pretend she wasposed again¡ªshe was struck by a strange urge to pin the woman down and take her apart for a second time. Purely for the thrill of having the upper hand. Or to prove a point. That was the only reason. ¡°I¡¯m a woman of my word,¡± Sofia said. ¡°So, yes, a bet is a bet. But what does that mean? ¡®Yours for a week¡¯?¡± ¡°Means you¡¯re mine to do what I want with.¡± She smirked, making it clear what that would include. ¡°You¡¯re serious?¡± ¡°You were the one going on about how you ¡®didn¡¯t get it¡¯. Well, I don¡¯t think I¡¯m done demonstrating.¡± Natalieughed. ¡°Even if I¡¯m pretty sure you get the point.¡± Sofia blushed, and she looked away. She sniffed. ¡°It was ¡­ adequate. Better than I expected. But certainly not good enough to exin all of that.¡± She waved vaguely in the direction of the exit of the locker room, meaning Sammy¡ªand Natalie¡¯s other hook ups. ¡°Adequate?¡± Natalie asked. ¡°You didn¡¯tst two full seconds after I went inside you.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because ¡­ I was unusuallypromised. Because of ¡­ ¡± Sofia visibly searched out for an excuse, and Natalie would be amused if she wasn¡¯t annoyed at her persistent denial. ¡°Because we were in public. I was worried about being caught.¡± ¡°Uh-huh,¡± Natalie said. ¡°You¡¯re an exhibitionist? That¡¯s what you came up with?¡± Sofia scoffed. ¡°I¡¯m just saying that it was more that than you.¡± Natalie stared at Sofia for a second, impressed at the denial and hoop-jumping this woman was going through, then, rather than being annoyed, found herself smiling. ¡°What?¡± Sofia demanded. ¡°Just looking forward to working out the truth. You¡¯re mine for the week. By the time I¡¯m finished, I¡¯m pretty sure you¡¯ll be ready to admit it.¡± Sofia red. ¡°I need to get dressed. If you don¡¯t mind?¡± She turned back to her locker and opened it. ¡°Sure,¡± Natalie said. She settled onto the bench across from Sofia and leaned back. ¡°But go slow, yeah?¡± Sofia paused, then looked back to see Natalie having sat down, rather than left. Her eyes widened. ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°What part of ¡®mine for the week¡¯ don¡¯t you get?¡± Natalie asked. ¡°This is just the start. You¡¯re gonna be doing a lot more than putting on a little show.¡± Sofia gaped at her. For a second, Natalie wondered whether she¡¯d refuse. Of course, she wouldn¡¯t push Sofia into anything she actually seemed ufortable with¡ªtoo much so, at least¡ªbut Natalie was getting the impression the protests were mostly, though not entirely, superficial in nature. Sofia obviously wasn¡¯t interested in Natalie, and neither was she her, but that didn¡¯t mean the white-haired girl hadn¡¯t been impressed by how Natalie had taken her apart. Staunch refusals or not, Sofia wanted another taste. Natalie could read that much. ¡°Fine,¡± Sofia said. She turned to her locker and starting pulling out her regr clothes, prepping to change from her dueling uniform. ¡°But since you¡¯re insisting on using this reward of yours for perverted favors¡ªand I¡¯m really not surprised¡ªthen there¡¯s some inappropriate topics I¡¯ve been wanting to broach myself.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Namely your ss. And,¡± she paused, ¡°you know. Your new equipment.¡± She gave a pointed look toward Natalie¡¯s skirt. Ah. Right¡ªthat. They had skipped over that whole discovery. She knew Sofia didn¡¯t mind too much, seeing how she hadn¡¯t reacted in the slightest¡ªand even reached out to rub at her¡ªbut it was still something they should talk about. 4.11 – Locker Room Chat II 4.11 ¨C Locker Room Chat II It was fair, she supposed, that Sofia wanted to discuss this outright. Natalie was more than happy to; she was curious about a few things herself. Namely Sofia¡¯s enthusiasm. Of course, she nned to tease Sofia over that before they got to a more mature discussion. That took higher priority. ¡°You were real eager to start rubbing,¡± Nataliemented. ¡°What was up with that? Been waiting to get your hands on it?¡± Sofia made an unsophisticated sputtering noise before cutting herself off. ¡°Hmph. Like I said, I got caught up in the situation. I¡¯m only human. It meant nothing.¡± ¡°Uh-huh,¡± Natalie said. The poor girl was clearly in denial. She really ought to learn to be more honest with herself. ¡°Oh, and turn around,¡± she added. ¡°Like I said, I wanna watch.¡± Sofia had had her back turned as she pulled off her top, and she froze with the garment halfway up. She stayed that way for a moment, then faced Natalie with a re. She finished taking off her dueling uniform shirt, leaving her standing in just a bra. Sofia had less up top than most, but that obviously didn¡¯t bother Natalie. Her figure was nothing short of stunning even without much to fill her bra out. As expected of a lithe, agility-based fighter, she wasn¡¯t quite muscr, but she still had hints of abs and somewhat defined arms. Her build wasn¡¯t all that dissimr from Jordan¡¯s, minus the difference in chest size. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you were a virgin,¡± Natalie said, running her eyes across Sofia¡¯s body with purposeful shamelessness. She¡¯d won a week of Sofia and intended to make good use of it. ¡°How¡¯d that happen, anyway?¡± Sofia red at Natalie. Natalie got the feeling she was in for a lot of those in theing week. She wasn¡¯t bothered in the slightest at the hot looks¡ªif anything, Natalie was quite enjoying them. ¡°Maybe someone was always scooping up everyone else,¡± Sofia said. ¡°Please, I hardly got around that much.¡± ¡°Certainly more than me. And there weren¡¯t that many lesbians in the local dueling circuit, Nat.¡± ¡°I guess that¡¯s fair,¡± Natalie said. ¡°But only kind of. Still doesn¡¯t exin it. I mean, really. With a body like yours, it doesn¡¯t make sense.¡± For all Sofia was insufferable, she was also frustratingly attractive. As in, from an objective viewpoint. Natalie obviously had never thought much about it. Sofia huffed. ¡°Well, I¡¯m d you think so.¡± She paused, then narrowed her eyes at Natalie. ¡°What was it you called me, again? Tight and fuckable?¡± She was obviously trying to embarrass Natalie, but Natalie just smirked at her. ¡°Yeah. Tight and fuckable. A body meant to be yed with. I¡¯ll be making good use of it.¡± Sofia held Natalie¡¯s eyes for several moments, then blushed and was forced to look away, cheeks burning. It was really way too easy. ¡°Anyway,¡± Sofia said loudly. ¡°As I was saying. That thing of yours¡ªit came with your ss, I assume?¡± They¡¯d gotten distracted from the topic. ¡°Didn¡¯t find it on a dungeon run, that¡¯s for sure,¡± Natalie said. The aforementioned ¡®thing¡¯ was sticking her skirt up a few inches, which Natalie wasn¡¯t keeping hidden at all¡ªit was doing a wonderful job to fluster Sofia, especially when she was undressing right in front of her. ¡°How¡¯d you find out about it?¡± ¡°I slept right next to you for the first two weeks,¡± Sofia said dryly. ¡°How couldn¡¯t I? It was sticking up every morning.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I woke up early, though. Before everyone else.¡± Including Sofia. ¡°It wasn¡¯t actually the mornings,¡± Sofia corrected. ¡°More like the middle of the night. There was always so many noises I couldn¡¯t get a full night sleep. I noticed it more than once by ident.¡± Sofia narrowed her eyes at Natalie. ¡°For that matter, it was sticking up pretty much every time I looked over. I suppose you have an active imagination.¡± Had it really been? She was pretty sure Sofia was exaggerating. Regardless, Natalie had recognized the risk of someone catching her with a night- or morning-time erection. Her secret might not have stayed as much on the down-low as she¡¯d hoped. Then again, Liz hadn¡¯t known, and possibly Ana didn¡¯t. So it was hardly something everyone knew about either. There wasn¡¯t much more to say. She was d Sofia didn¡¯t seem put off. In fact, it had seemed like the opposite was true, based on how she hadn¡¯t been able to keep her hands away. ¡°And you said you wanted to talk about my ss too?¡± Natalie asked. ¡°What about it?¡± ¡°There¡¯s more, isn¡¯t there?¡± ¡°More?¡± ¡°That you haven¡¯t told us.¡± ¡°Why would I? It¡¯s private.¡± Sofia¡¯s lips tugged down in a frown. ¡°A pdin of lust. I¡¯ve been thinking about it. There¡¯s only a few paths that would really take, isn¡¯t there? Especially when it gave you something like that.¡± She gestured at Natalie¡¯s skirt. ¡°You¡¯re rewarded for intimacy, or something of the sort. To use that thing. That¡¯s why you and Jordan are sleeping together.¡± Natalie twitched in surprise. She¡¯d really thought that particr tidbit had been kept under wraps. That had been way too hopeful, she guessed. She just hoped it hadn¡¯t been her sound barrier illusions being too weak that had given it away. Beyond being mortifying, Natalie didn¡¯t want to be a terrible roommate, and she and Jordan weren¡¯t all that quiet. ¡°Ah,¡± Sofia said. ¡°So you two are doing that. It was just a guess.¡± Natalie internally groaned. Well, that had been an obvious trap. Though she supposed it wasn¡¯t a top-secret piece of information. Back when Natalie had talked about experimenting with [Stylish], everyone¡¯s eyes had turned to Jordan. Everyone knew something was going on between them. ¡°Are you leading to something?¡± Natalie asked, a bit annoyed at having been yed. ¡°And turn back around. Let me see your ass.¡± Sofia¡¯s hands had gone to her waistband to pull down her pants, and she paused, red, but ultimately did as she¡¯d been told. Natalie was given a great view as Sofia stripped off her loweryer. What Sofiacked up top¡ªand she really didn¡¯tck that much¡ªshe made up doubly lower down. ¡°It doesn¡¯t make sense how fat that thing is,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Seriously, what¡¯s up with you? Some girls get all the luck.¡± ¡°Says you?¡± ¡°Says me?¡± Sofia shook her head, exasperated. She stuffed her uniform into her locker and quickly got to dressing herself. Her shame was reaching its limits, it seemed¡ªshe couldn¡¯t stand around in her undergarments and take Natalie¡¯s teasing. Natalie considered telling her to slow down, but decided against it. ¡°And yes,¡± Sofia said. ¡°I was leading to something. I want to know if my theory is right. That your ss works that way.¡± ¡°Being ¡®rewarded for intimacy¡¯?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Natalie considered refusing to tell her, but she said, ¡°Yeah. It does. It was a good guess.¡± Sofia seemed satisfied at having figured it out. She hadn¡¯t had much to go on, so Natalie was impressed she¡¯d pieced it together. ¡°How does it work specifically, though?¡± ¡°It¡¯s kind of a whole system. I gather energy and can spend it to upgrade skills.¡± Natalie watched with some amusement as Sofia struggled to fit herself inside her pants. Jordan had made a joke a while ago about how Sofia must need pulleys to get herself in, and it was nearly true. It made a pretty amazing show. Half because Sofia was so flustered with having a spectator, and the other half for the obvious reasons. ¡°Upgrade skills,¡± Sofia said, finally stuffing herself in. ¡°What do you mean? Temporary boosts?¡± ¡°No. Permanent ones. And they¡¯re prettyrge.¡± Unsurprisingly, Sofia was stunned at the reveal¡ªand interested enough she seemed to halfway forget her circumstances. She shrugged on her shirt, unfortunately ending the show, and faced Natalie. ¡°You¡¯re posed for an impressive future, if that¡¯s true.¡± ¡°Hopefully.¡± ¡°I¡¯m interested in the details, but I assume you don¡¯t want to get into them. Not the exacts.¡± Natalie shrugged. She¡¯d rather not. It simply didn¡¯t involve Sofia. ¡°But thank you for telling me the basics,¡± Sofia said. ¡°I was curious.¡± She sat on the bench and started pulling her shoes on. ¡°I can¡¯t believe nobody walked in on us. We really got lucky.¡± They had, but it also wouldn¡¯t have been a big deal. ¡°Like I said, I had illusions if someone did.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve seen you use those,¡± Sofia said dubiously. ¡°They wouldn¡¯t be nearly potent enough to fool someone.¡± ¡°They¡¯re stronger when used for certain purposes,¡± Natalie said, her lips quirking. ¡°So, yes, we would¡¯ve been fine. I¡¯ve gotten away with more.¡± Namely, pounding into Jordan hard enough to nearly break a bedframe¡ªand it might have been Jordan that was louder than the creaking wood, there. Sofia stared at her, then shook her head. ¡°Of course they work that way. Your ss is really unbelievable.¡± 4.12 – Confide 4.12 ¨C Confide Sofia wasn¡¯t sure how she¡¯d ended up in such a disastrous situation, but she knew there were several things she needed to sort out¡ªand fast. Not only for her ownfort, but everyone else involved. ¡°So,¡± a confused Jordan said. ¡°You wanted to talk. What¡¯s up?¡± Sofia chewed her lip. This was a rather mortifying conversation to be having, but it needed to be done. She wasn¡¯t sure what Natalie and Jordan¡¯s rtionship was, but she also wanted to clear up this ¡®bet¡¯ that she¡¯d made with Natalie¡ªand whether it would be a problem with Jordan. She doubted it, since Jordan seemedckadaisical about Sammy and others, but that was definitely the sort of thing best talked about beforehand. Not only for the sake of her friendship with Jordan, but team cohesion. The party splitting up because ofplicated interpersonal dynamics could easily happen, considering Natalie¡¯s ss. Not that it seemed likely to¡ªjust that it could. ¡°It¡¯s about Natalie,¡± Sofia said. Jordan kept a neutrally polite expression. ¡°It is?¡± There wasn¡¯t a hint of sarcasm, but Sofia could read it anyways. Jordan had always had a dry sort of humor. She huffed. ¡°Look, I know I was being kind of obvious back there. I¡¯m sure you think I was jealous or something.¡± Jordan¡¯s eyebrows raised, as if she hadn¡¯t thought Sofia would address what had happened so directly. ¡°It wasn¡¯t, then?¡± she asked carefully. ¡°Certainly not,¡± Sofia said. ¡°Or ¡­ not exactly.¡± She rubbed her face with both hands. ¡°Look, I¡¯m still working it out myself. I can confidently assure you that I¡¯m not in love with her or something absurd like that, or even pursuing a rtionship. I might have been slightly jealous, though.¡± ¡°Uh-huh,¡± Jordan said. ¡°And that makes sense to you?¡± Sofia red, but it was a reasonable contradiction. Why would she be jealous if she wasn¡¯t interested in Natalie? ¡°It¡¯s childish,¡± Sofia said, ¡°but this was supposed to be my event. I know how egocentric that sounds. And she was being¡ªI don¡¯t know, friendlier than usual. So when I saw her with Sammy, barely paying attention to me anymore, I got irritated. And it dragged up a few other annoyances.¡± Namely, how easily Natalie had always handled women. Sofia herself had always been rather terrible at it. Half because of disinterest¡ªof the practical sort, wanting to focus on her career¡ªand half because she simply wasn¡¯t good at ¡®wooing¡¯. It seemed Natalie had always managed it effortlessly, which bugged Sofia for reasons she couldn¡¯t entirely put her finger on. If she waspletely honest with herself, Natalie¡¯s appraisal that Sofia was ¡®just mad that Natalie was better than her at something¡¯ might have a hint of truth, even if it was decidedly not the whole, or even the majority of the exnation. Certainly, though, her decades-longpetitive streak with Natalieplicated things. ¡°But that¡¯s besides the point,¡± Sofia said. ¡°I promise I¡¯m not trying to pursue Nat¡ªand I certainly don¡¯t care she¡¯s hooking up with Sammy. Or you, or anyone else.¡± Jordan¡¯s brow furrowed. ¡°Me and Natalie? Sorry?¡± There was even a hint of amusement, as if she were whimsically perplexed by Sofia¡¯s words. She was a far, far better liar than Natalie. If Sofia hadn¡¯t received confirmation from Natalie herself, and hadn¡¯t had her own major suspicions, then she might actually have thought Jordan and Natalie weren¡¯t together in any way besides friends¡ªbecause Jordan¡¯s reaction was exceedingly convincing. ¡°She told me,¡± Sofia said. ¡°Or, rather, I tricked her into telling me. It was a bit maniptive. I shouldn¡¯t have.¡± Jordan¡¯s faked confusion disappeared, and she pursed her lips. ¡°Well, I¡¯m d you recognize that. But I didn¡¯t expect it to stay a secret forever. Especially not to our roommate. I get the feeling I¡¯m missing a lot of context. Go ahead?¡± Sofia breathed in. The full exnation, then; they¡¯d gotten sidetracked. She hesitated, despite having just braced herself. She forced herself to barrel forward. ¡°Natalie and I hooked up. In the locker room, just now.¡± The absurd statement broke through Jordan¡¯s collected demeanor. Her eyes widened. ¡°Wait. What?¡± ¡°She kind of goaded me into it,¡± Sofia said. ¡°Or maybe I did her. I¡¯m not really sure. It was a mess. But that¡¯s not the part that matters.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not?¡± Jordan asked. ¡°Then what is?¡± ¡°That we made a bet if she could¡ª¡° getting the next words out was difficult. ¡°If she could ¡­ pleasure me fast enough, she would, um, ¡®own me for the week¡¯. And she did. So. There you go.¡± Maybe the exact details hadn¡¯t been necessary. Jordan gaped at her. Sofia¡¯s face burned red-hot. This was even more embarrassing than she had feared. ¡°I¡¯m telling you this,¡± Sofia said, ¡°because first, you and her are involved, and so I wanted to make me and her immediately clear. I don¡¯t know the details of your rtionship, butmunication is obviously something that needs to happen, or else our team could go up in a fireball.¡± Jordan collected herself. ¡°Yes. That is something that could happen. It¡¯s a mature perspective, and I agree.¡± ¡°But seeing how we have a confused, hopeless moron for our third¡ª¡° Sofia breathed in, then steadied herself. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. That was rude. I¡¯m still kind of mad at her.¡± And there were a lot of other emotions swirling around inside her¡ªboth confusing and inciting¡ªother than simply anger. ¡°But I don¡¯t think Natalie¡¯s going to handle it properly, so I wanted to talk to you.¡± ¡°And what are you two? What is ¡®us¡¯?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Sofia said tly. ¡°But she made it abundantly clear that she ns to use her reward, me, to the fullest.¡± ¡°So tell her that you changed your mind,¡± Jordan said tly. ¡°That¡¯s a ridiculous bet you made. I¡¯m guessing neither of you were thinking clearly. I have zero doubts Natalie would refuse to, or even be upset.¡± ¡°Well. Still. I¡¯m a woman of my word.¡± Jordan gave her an incredulous look. ¡°So you want to serve your sentence.¡± Sofia sputtered. ¡°Absolutely not.¡± ¡°Sofia.¡± She knew she was being hypocritical. She¡¯de to Jordan under the guise of clearmunication and understanding everyone¡¯s rtionships as to avoid problems. Yet here she was being obviously delusional. ¡°Look,¡± Sofia groaned. ¡°I¡¯m not sure what I think about it all either, okay? But I made a bet, and I¡¯m seeing it through.¡± Jordan studied her for a long moment, then her expression softened. ¡°Okay. That¡¯s more than fair, if you don¡¯t know how you feel yourself. You¡¯ve said what you need to. And thank you for bringing me into the loop.¡± ¡°Natalie would have done so too,¡± Sofia said. ¡°But I wanted to get to you first. She¡¯ll misconstrue things.¡± ¡°On ident,¡± Jordan said wryly, ¡°and she actually puts a lot of value in discretion, so she wouldn¡¯t have given too many details. But yes, I think she would mix some things up.¡± Jordan turned serious. ¡°But this brings up an important point. There¡¯s something I have to ask, now. Or let you know.¡± ¡°Okay?¡± ¡°If you¡¯re Natalie¡¯s for the week, and me and her are together for a sense of the phrase,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Well, then, aren¡¯t you our pet, not just hers?¡± Sofia stared. ¡°Just a thought,¡± Jordan said. ¡°I¡¯ll have to talk with Natalie first, of course.¡± She patted Sofia on the arm. ¡°We¡¯ll get back to you on that. Is that everything, Sofia?¡± Sofia continued to stare. Was Jordan being serious? She¡¯d always had a deadpan sort of humor, and Sofia did think it was halfway a joke, but more than that, she thought Jordan was testing the water in the guise of a joke. ¡°Great,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Good talk. But we should head back now. We¡¯ve been gone too long.¡± She gave a mischievous smile before turning away, and Sofia couldn¡¯t help but feel she¡¯d somehow made her situation worse, not better, by being so honest with Jordan. Then again ¡­ maybe only worse in some ways. In others, maybe she¡¯d made things much, much better. ¡°Oh, heavens,¡± Sofia murmured, watching Jordan¡¯s hips sway as she headed back to the group. ¡°What have I gotten myself into?¡± 4.13 – Johanna 4.13 ¨C Johanna After the duelingpetition, with Natalie¡¯s head still spinning over the whole Sofia debacle, Liz pulled her to the side. She asked Natalie to head back with her to her dorm room, and since Natalie didn¡¯t have anything else to do that night¡ªbesides Jordan¡ªshe epted. The group split apart, with Sofia and Jordan heading for their shared dorm, and Natalie and Liz to Liz¡¯s. ¡°So, what¡¯s up?¡± Natalie asked as they plodded down the T pathway. The sun was setting, though night hadn¡¯t quite arrived. ¡°A few things,¡± Liz said. ¡°And if there wasn¡¯t, what, we can¡¯t just hang out? I know we¡¯ve got tight schedules, but that doesn¡¯t mean we can¡¯t rx. Good for team bonding. It¡¯s actually bad to focus too hard on progress. Even my uncle says that¡ªand he would know.¡± ¡°Uncle?¡± ¡°The King of Valhaur,¡± Liz said amusedly. Natalie paused, having almost forgotten just who Liz was. The girl was so normal that her status as literal royalty, not even just ¡®nobility¡¯, slipped her mind sometimes. ¡°Then yeah,¡± Natalie said. ¡°He would know. But that wasn¡¯t what I meant. Hanging out sounds fun¡ªit just seemed like you had something you were worrying about.¡± ¡°Worrying? That¡¯s not exactly the right word.¡± Liz rubbed her elbow, seeming hesitant, then shook her head, setting her short ck hair¡ªand its single lock of blue¡ªbouncing. ¡°Don¡¯t rush me. We¡¯ll get to thatter.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Though Natalie would admit some curiosity. What did Liz have to talk to her about? She could imagine several things, obviously¡ªwhether rted to the team, Elida, the dungeon, or Natalie and her ss. ¡°Oh, and just a warning,¡± Liz said. ¡°I¡¯m rooming with Johanna. She¡¯ll probably be there.¡± Johanna Valeria? The top fighter in their year? That was Liz¡¯s roommate? ¡°Right,¡± Natalie said, slowly remembering. ¡°You mentioned something about that, I think. Being friends with her.¡± House Beaumon, the royal family, and House Valeria, a house absolutely stuffing the upper ranks of the military, were famously interconnected. So it made sense Liz and Johanna were close. ¡°She can be a little intense,¡± Liz said. ¡°I¡¯ve got the feeling she¡¯s gonna pull you aside to have a talk.¡± ¡°About?¡± ¡°Feel you out. She wasn¡¯t super happy that I didn¡¯t group with her.¡± Liz wrinkled her nose. ¡°I feel kind of bad about that, still.¡± Liz had originally joined up with them because she wanted to distance herself from the name Beaumon, in some part¡ªto make her own legacy. Natalie hadn¡¯t known Johanna, one of the top names of the year, had been one of her original nned teammates, though. Natalie and the rest of the team seriously had their work cut out for them if they wanted to surpass what Liz¡¯s team could have been. ¡°But that¡¯s not the point,¡± Liz said. ¡°She¡¯s protective. Like, a bit annoyingly so. She thinks she¡¯s my older sister or something. And she is, in a way. Anyway, that¡¯s why she¡¯ll probably try to get a feel for you.¡± ¡°Sounds fun.¡± Honestly, she was a bit amused by the situation. Being scrutinized by the ¡®older sister figure¡¯ of Liz¡¯s¡ªas if the two of them were dating. Though, after recent developments, Natalie wasn¡¯t sure whether just friends was a perfectly urate description. Especially with how things were shaping up in the future. Natalie had a suspicion that topic was one of the things Liz had pulled her aside for to talk about in the first ce. Arriving to Liz¡¯s dormplex¡ªa different one than Natalie¡¯s, more expensive looking¡ªthey climbed up to the second story then trekked down the hallways. Liz unlocked her dorm room, then ushered Natalie in. ¡°We¡¯ve got a guest!¡± Liz called out. The warning meant Johanna didn¡¯t know in advance she had beening, Natalie noted. And also that Liz hadn¡¯t originally nned to bring her back to her dorm; it had been at least a somewhat spur of the moment invitation. Walking into the dorm, she discovered that Liz and Johanna had chosen a much fancier room than her. The living room nearly doubled theirs in size, and was better decorated¡ªand made of finer materials, with polished granite countertops and a nearly full-sized attached kitchen. Natalie wondered how many more credits Liz would be spending on the ce each month. Natalie, Sofia, and Jordan had gone for one of the cheapest options, and had also split it three ways. Her choice of room was another indicators of Liz¡¯s status. She¡¯d grown up as a member of the royal family, so her standards for ¡®preferred living area¡¯ was certainly far loftier than Natalie¡¯s. Natalie wondered whether Liz even thought this extravagant two-bedroom was ¡®enough¡¯, so to say. Maybe even this didn¡¯t meet her standards. Natalie didn¡¯tment on it. She would admit that the amount of nobility crawling around T did bother her at times, but Liz was obviously an exception. Sitting on the long, L-shaped couch in the middle of the living room was a somewhat familiar face. Johanna Valeria had one arm draped over the edge, and blue eyes surveyed Natalie as she came in. Johanna had her hair up in her usual long blonde ponytail, and while being at home, rxing in her casual clothes, softened her serious demeanor somewhat, her hard edges were still in as day. This woman came from a prestigious line of military leaders, the most prominent in the country, and the way she carried herself made that clear. Johanna stood, setting aside the textbook she¡¯d been picking through, then¡ªunsmiling, though not in an unfriendly way¡ªshe approached Natalie, her hand held out. Natalie shook it. Johanna had a firm, calloused grip. ¡°Natalie,¡± Johanna said. ¡°Liz has told me about you.¡± ¡°Good things, I hope?¡± ¡°Liz only says good things. About anyone.¡± Johanna somehow managed to make the statement sound¡ªnot like an insult¡ªbut at least bordering on reproachful. ¡°That¡¯s not true,¡± Liz protested. ¡°Elida¡¯s a jerk. See. Not everyone.¡± ¡°Insulting the devil doesn¡¯t count,¡± Johanna said. The words were delivered without the smallest shift in her serious tone. That made it funnier. A dry sense of humor. This woman wasn¡¯t entirely a stiff piece of metal, then. Just acted like one. Casual introductions took ce. Johanna asked after the duelingpetition, and they discussed it. Amusingly, before Liz could drag Natalie to her room for privacy, her prediction came true: Johanna asked for a moment to talk to Natalie alone. Natalie underwent several minutes of what could only be called polite scrutiny. She didn¡¯t mind; she even appreciated Johanna¡¯s protectiveness over Liz. From what Natalie had seen of the bubbly ck-haired royal, she would even agree that Liz might be too nice to everyone¡ªand that she needed people looking out for her. Another part of Natalie said that was naive, taking Liz¡¯s superficial presentation of herself at face value. Someone who¡¯d grown up as a Beaumon couldn¡¯t be ¡®too trusting¡¯¡ªthat just wouldn¡¯t make sense. She was a member of the royal family, and one training to be a delver. She simply couldn¡¯t be naive. Shortly, though, the scrutiny ended, with Natalie not entirely sure whether she¡¯d gained Johanna¡¯s approval or not. She at least didn¡¯t act unfriendly towards her. Natalie didn¡¯t think the woman cared that they¡¯d stolen one of the best healers of the year from her team, but rather, that Johanna only cared about Liz herself. So, despite having a bit of a hidden rivalry with the dominant fighter, Natalie found her opinion of Johanna raised by several notches¡ªand, oddly, her desire to climb past her in the rankings. With that done, and a somewhat exasperated Liz having been waiting patiently, Natalie ended up in Liz¡¯s room, the two of them alone. 4.14 – Wand I 4.14 ¨C Wand I Looking around at Liz¡¯s room, Natalie couldn¡¯t quite keep the smile from her face. ¡°What?¡± ¡°It¡¯s very you,¡± Natalie said diplomatically. ¡°Huh?¡± Liz looked around, then pouted. ¡°What are you saying?¡± ¡°Nothing. Just that you really like the color pink, apparently. And fluffy things.¡± ¡°Who doesn¡¯t?¡± She plopped down onto her bed and continued to pout. Natalie was mostly teasing, though Liz had definitely put a lot more effort into decorating than she had¡ªand was more ¡®girlish¡¯ by several degrees, with pink bedsheets and a mountain of pillows, and even a few stuffed animals. Having only had the room for a day, she must have made it a priority to customize her room. Other than the bed, though, it was fairly standard¡ªa in desk, drawers, closet, and mostly unadorned walls. But Natalie suspected that was because Liz hadn¡¯t gotten to the rest of it. Natalie sat next to Liz and fell backward, stretching wide with a groan. It¡¯d been a long day, like most days at T¡ªeven if they hadn¡¯t gone delving. ¡°So. Think Johanna¡¯s suspicious of anything?¡± Natalie asked. ¡°Sorry? Suspicious?¡± ¡°You know. Us. Alone, in your bedroom.¡± Liz¡¯s eyes widened, and she let out a singleugh, incredulous rather than embarrassed. ¡°No, no chance. She knows I like girls, but hooking up with one while she¡¯s here? And someone I¡¯ve only known a few weeks? Like I said, she sees me as her innocent little sister. It wouldn¡¯t even cross her mind.¡± ¡°So we can get away with whatever we want. She¡¯ll stay oblivious.¡± ¡°What?¡± Liz protested. ¡°That¡¯s not why you¡¯re here.¡± She hesitated, then corrected herself, ¡°Well, kind of.¡± ¡°Kind of?¡± That was a promising rifier. ¡°We do need to talk about, you know, all of that.¡± ¡°I figured.¡± Liz rubbed her knee, not quite able to look at Natalie, who was stillying on her bed, rolled to the side with her head propped up on one hand. Liz stared down at herp, cheeks quickly darkening. ¡°I can use [Illusion] to make sound barriers,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Just by the way. You want me to?¡± ¡°You can?¡± ¡°Recent discovery.¡± ¡°Um. Yeah, then. That¡¯s probably for the best.¡± Natalie did so. ¡°Not that I think Johanna would listen in,¡± Natalie rified. ¡°It¡¯s done?¡± Natalie nodded. ¡°Then yeah,¡± Liz said. ¡°She wouldn¡¯t, but it¡¯s still nice to have.¡± ¡°And it¡¯s helpful for if we get too loud.¡± Natalie waggled her eyebrows. Liz huffed. ¡°You¡¯re frisky tonight, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Teasing you is just fun. You¡¯re too cute about all this.¡± Liz pouted for the third time that night, which didn¡¯t help her case. ¡°Anyway,¡± she said, ¡°you¡¯re right that the major topic is that stuff. Specifically my wand. I¡¯ve been, um, thinking about it.¡± ¡°The special ability?¡± Liz shifted in ce, her gaze returning to herp and her cheeks burning even hotter. ¡°Yeah. The special ability. Someone needs to use it on me to find out what the effect is, and ¡­ I guess ¡­ well, maybe if you want to be the one?¡± ¡°Do I want to?¡± Natalie pushed herself up, then shuffled over and climbed onto Liz¡¯sp. She pushed the smaller girl down. Liz scooted up on the bed, and her eyes widened, as if shocked at Natalie¡¯s boldness. Really, what had she thought Natalie would do? ¡°I more than want to,¡± Natalie said. ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting patiently.¡± ¡°R-Really?¡± ¡°Obviously. Because, I mean, the effect could be anything. I¡¯m so curious. I¡¯ve been dying to find out.¡± Liz stared at her, mouth hanging open, then she frowned and crossed her arms. ¡°Stop teasing! It¡¯s mean.¡± ¡°You want the truth, then?¡± Natale leaned forward, bringing her face close to the other girl, breathing hot air onto her, their lips tantalizingly close. ¡°Fine, Liz. I¡¯ll be honest. I don¡¯t care what the effect is. I just want to have you squirming and moaning. Is that what you wanted to hear?¡± Natalie might have pushed a little too hard, because Liz just stared at her for a long moment, turning a brilliant shade of red, then covered her face with both hands. Laughing, Natalie sat up. ¡°Okay, okay. I¡¯ll go easy on you.¡± She was afraid Liz might literally melt if she didn¡¯t. ¡°This is practical weapon testing for the sake of being better delvers,¡± Liz pronounced loudly, the words muffled as she still hid her face. ¡°Okay? We¡¯re not just having fun.¡± ¡°If you say so.¡± ¡°I do!¡± the insistence came. Natalie pried Liz¡¯s hands away, then savored the beet-red face for a moment. ¡°So, where is it?¡± ¡°My wand?¡± ¡°Or whatever other toys you want to y with.¡± ¡°Natalie!¡± Natalieughed. It really was too easy. ¡°It¡¯s in my dresser,¡± Liz huffed. ¡°Top drawer.¡± ¡°Your drawer? It¡¯s a weapon, not a dildo.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a weapon that turns into a dildo,¡± Liz growled. ¡°So yes, of course I¡¯m going to hide it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s your weapon. It shouldn¡¯t even work for someone else.¡± ¡°Still.¡± Shaking her head in amusement, Natalie climbed off her healer, then went to the dresser. Rummaging around in the top drawer, she found the thin, smooth wand with a gold cap, then brought it back to Liz. ¡°Go ahead,¡± Natalie said, handing it to her. Liz transformed the weapon, and soon, a flexible dildo¡ªfar thicker, but the same length, about twelve inches¡ªrested in her hand. ¡°It¡¯s so embarrassing,¡± Liz said. ¡°I think it¡¯s kind of cool.¡± She took the toy from Liz and turned into over. ¡°And fancy looking. Kind of gaudy.¡± Sheughed. ¡°Seriously. A gold tip. Guess that¡¯s fitting for a member of the royal family.¡± ¡°Sh-shut up.¡± Natalie ced the dildo against Liz¡¯s stomach, lining it up so the base was at her crotch. At twelve inches long, it obviously stuck a long way up¡ªespecially because Liz was a tiny, petite woman. ¡°Not sure if you can handle it,¡± Natalie murmured. ¡°But I¡¯ll have fun testing it out. Testing you out. Now, let¡¯s get you out of those clothes, yeah? We have a magic wand to experiment with.¡± 4.15 – Wand II 4.15 ¨C Wand II Natalie tugged at the hem of Liz¡¯s shirt, and the petite girl didn¡¯t stop her. Her pants followed, and soon, Natalie had Lizid out across her bed in just her underwear. She crawled back over her, briefly setting the toy to the side, and ran her hands across Liz¡¯s body, her thighs first, then her stomach and chest. Liz had nearly no breasts to speak of, almostpletely t, but Natalie didn¡¯t really care about that¡ªshe cared about the way Liz sucked in a breath of air when Natalie brushed her thumbs against her nipples, and the way she wiggled in ce. ¡°This¡ªthis isn¡¯t testing my wand,¡± Liz gasped. ¡°No,¡± Natalie agreed. ¡°It isn¡¯t.¡± She kept running her hands across her body, admiring her curves and the feel of her soft skin. Liz didn¡¯t protest further; shey beneath Natalie and let her have her way with her. Finally, though, Natalie agreed she ought to focus. Not out of a sense of ¡®practicality¡¯, to discover the wand¡¯s effect, but because Liz hadn¡¯t given her aplete free pass¡ªand while she knew this whole situation was an excuse for what she already wanted, Natalie wasn¡¯t sure how much Liz wasfortable with when it came to them deviating from the masquerade. Besides, getting to fill Liz up was more than enough for Natalie to have fun. Of course, the idea of pinning the other girl down and experimenting with how much real cock she could take would be even better, but Natalie had to temper that urge. She didn¡¯t think Liz was there yet. Grabbing the wand¡ªthe dildo¡ªshe pped the twelve inches of soft, flexible toy back onto Liz¡¯s stomach. It really was impressive how much bigger it looked against her small frame. Natalie wondered whether the effect would be simr if she pped her own tool down on the girl, but she quickly reined those thoughts in¡ªthough it was hard. Having a half naked girl pinned beneath her wasn¡¯t the easiest thing to resist. ¡°How do you wanna do this?¡± Natalie asked. ¡°Need me to get you ready first?¡± ¡°R-Ready?¡± ¡°With my mouth?¡± Her eyes widened, and she flushed. She looked away. ¡°I think we should just stick with the toy.¡± While disappointed, she wasn¡¯t offended. It would take some easing-in for Liz to befortable with more, Natalie could tell. She was pretty inexperienced. She supposed a member of the royal family would be. They had reputations to protect. Some nobility could afford to be indiscretionary, but not Liz. And even more to the point¡ªLiz herself was a bit shy in this kind of situation. Outgoing and friendly socially speaking, but not sexually. Natalie yed with the edges of her panties, then started tugging down. Liz didn¡¯t stop her, so she finished undressing her bottom half, exposing her pussy. Seeing it, Natalie confirmed she really would like to get a taste; it was such a shame Liz wanted to take things slow. Liz covered herself up with a hand. ¡°Don¡¯t look at it like that, you pervert.¡± Natalie sat down, then pulled Liz¡¯s lower half into herp, so Liz¡¯s butt pressed into her stomach, and the petite girl was elevated for easier ess. Either of Liz¡¯s legs went to each side of Natalie, hooking around her. She tugged Liz¡¯s hand away to re-expose her. Liz allowed it to happen, though her face burned furiously. ¡°This position is really embarrassing, you know,¡± she protested. ¡°That¡¯s the point.¡± Natalie picked up the wand, then pressed it into Liz¡¯s pussy. She rubbed back and forth. Liz didn¡¯t seem like she needed much getting ready¡ªshe was already wet. So Natalie¡¯s offer to use her mouth hadn¡¯t been necessary in the first ce. The white dildo quickly coated in Liz¡¯s juices as she rubbed it around, lubricating the long, twelve-inch weapon. ¡°Look how ready you are. Been looking forward to this?¡± ¡°O-Out of curiosity for the skill effect, yes.¡± ¡°Skill effects get you wet, now? That¡¯s naughty.¡± Liz sputtered, and Natalieughed at it. She pressed the gold tip into Liz and wiggled around, splitting her lower lips around the toy. She marveled at the sight. Her cock strained in her skirt, pushing into Liz¡¯s backside through twoyers of clothing. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m sure it¡¯s totally just curiosity.¡± At her pussy being yed with so tantly, Liz could only respond with a shaky breath. ¡°Going in, then. Ready?¡± ¡°Y-Yeah.¡± Natalie pushed, and Liz¡¯s lower lips wrapped around the gold tip of the wand-dildo. She moaned as its thick girth slowly crept inside her, and her hips wiggled back and forth in Natalie¡¯sp as she struggled to amodate the toy. It was about as thick as Natalie herself, so it was a good test for the future, should she ever be with Natalie¡ªthough she might be making too many assumptions there. Either way, she was transfixed as she watched Liz¡¯s pussy get spread open by the girthy toy. Natalie took it slow and gentle, letting the toy fill her up at a pace she could handle. When the tip finally slid in properly, Liz let out a moan, her back arching and her fingers digging into the bedsheets at her side. ¡°There you go,¡± Natalie murmured. ¡°It¡¯s in. Good girl. You¡¯ve got it.¡± When Liz settled back down, Natalie continued to press. Inch by inch of smooth shaft slid into her. The noises got louder. Natalie ced a hand on Liz¡¯s stomach, leaving it there on smooth hot skin, then kept pressing. She wanted to y with Liz¡¯s clit, and her nipples, and, well, the girl in general, but Liz had asked twice to keep it to the toy¡ªso Natalie would. ¡°So ¡­ big,¡± Liz gasped. ¡°You¡¯re doing great,¡± Natalie murmured. ¡°Little bit more?¡± ¡°F-Full.¡± Liz sucked in a gasp of air. ¡°Too deep. I¡¯m¡ªI¡¯m full.¡± ¡°Seven inches,¡± Natalie said, telling by Liz¡¯s tone she meant it; she was as stuffed as she wasfortable with. ¡°Not bad. That means you¡¯d almost be able to take me.¡± At the words, Liz squeezed her eyes shut and shuddered. She reached down between her legs and grabbed Natalie¡¯s hand, holding it around the dildo, then pulled out and pushed back in, urging Natalie to start thrusting. Natalie did so. She worked seven inches of dildo in and out of the moaning smaller girl, enjoying the sight and sound of her squirming and whining on herp. ¡°You can¡ªyou can touch me. If you want.¡± Obviously, Natalie wouldn¡¯t turn down that offer. She¡¯d been hoping it woulde. With one hand slowly pumping, and the other rubbing at Liz¡¯s clit, Liz started breaking down even faster. Natalie paid close attention to her movements, the hitches in her breath, what made her hips wiggle and jerk. When the moans started to also shake, Natalie picked up pace. She pumped in and out, fast, rubbing at Liz¡¯s clit with her thumb, working her to her climax. Liz scrambled at the bedsheets, and Natalie hiked her lower half even higher up, so Liz¡¯s butt was sitting practically on her chest. She watched from close up as Liz¡¯s pussy was stuffed full with her efforts. At the shifting in position¡ªat Natalie so tantly admiring her pussy being pumped into, in purposefully adjusting Liz so that she had a better sight, and bringing her closer to her face¡ªLiz finally groaned and arched her back, the rising pleasure overtaking her. Natalie worked Liz through her climax, rubbing and thrusting, admiring how she fell apart in herp. A full twitching minuteter, Liz sagged down into Natalie, panting heavily, and still shaking from the aftershocks. 4.16 – Wand III 4.16 ¨C Wand III ¡°Wow,¡± Liz said. ¡°You liked it?¡± ¡°You¡¯re, like, unfairly good at that.¡± ¡°It would¡¯ve been even more fun if you let me use my mouth.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure it would,¡± Liz said, flushing. She sat up. ¡°So. Um, anyway. Let¡¯s see what the effect is? That was why we did that.¡± Natalie snorted, but didn¡¯tment. She looked inward. Not every status could be read through an [Inspect], but she assumed [Link] could¡ªprimarily because the wand itself didn¡¯t exin what [Link] was, so surely once it had been applied, they would be able to figure it out. And sure enough, it worked like that. *** [Link] - Receive thirty percent bonus healing from the linked target. *** ¡°Oh,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t be surprised, but wow. For a weapon bonus, that¡¯s really something.¡± Obviously, it wasn¡¯t an earth-shattering effect, but Liz¡¯s wand was already one of the more outrageously powerful level one weapons that Natalie had heard of. It came with a persistent moderate furor boost, along with a minor prowess increase¡ªthough that one required Liz to use it on herself. Throwing in [Link], where Natalie could get thirty percent extra heals from Liz, the wand was growing more and more insane. ¡°And there¡¯s another effect, too. That¡¯s not even it,¡± Natalie said. ¡°It has the level two evolved form.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Liz said. ¡°I hadn¡¯t gotten to that yet. But thirty percent boosted heals. Seriously, why is it so good?¡± Natalie shrugged. If it gave Liz a good excuse for Natalie to be over here each night, pumping Liz full of her wand, then Natalie was grateful for the incentive. The strangely powerful effect was just a bonus. ¡°Think you can only have one active link?¡± ¡°Not sure,¡± Liz said. ¡°But, um, tank is most important, so I think for now, I¡¯ll just stick with you.¡± Liz wasn¡¯t close enough to any of the others to want to use the wand in that way with them. Her encounter with Natalie down in the dungeon had broken a few walls between them. Natalie wondered if Liz¡¯s reservations would hold as the weeks ticked by. ¡°The double-headed evolve, though,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Can I see it?¡± ¡°I guess.¡± Seeming inordinately embarrassed about the item¡ªas if its nature was her fault¡ªshe shifted the one-sided dildo into its level two form. As promised, the resulting wand had two heads instead of one, and also seemed more flexible, to presumably allow more interesting positions. It also grew four inches or so, putting it at an impressive sixteen. Eight inches for each of them. Liz had handled seven, before, but Natalie figured with some effort they might be able to get all the way down. ¡°Wow,¡± Natalie said, taking the toy from Liz and ying with it. The flexible material bounced as she wiggled the toy. ¡°Now that¡¯s something. Can I [Inspect] it?¡± The request wasn¡¯t just to be polite; now that Liz hadid im to the item, Natalie had to have permission to read the item¡¯s stat page. Otherwise, everyone could just read everyone else¡¯s armor. She was actually grateful for that, considering how Natalie suspected she and her team were in for some even more interesting loot. ¡°Yeah. Of course.¡± *** Shifting Wand of Relief Rare Lv. 1 Effects - Equipped with a [Form Shift]. - When used simultaneously on SELF and OTHER: Apply [Doubled Up] Description A long, thick rod of soft, flexible white metal, capped with two golden tips. The craftsmanship is pristine. Aforting aura radiates from the weapon. *** ¡°[Doubled Up],¡± Natalie said. ¡°Now, what does that do, I wonder?¡± ¡°Do you, um, want to find out?¡± Natalie raised her eyebrows Liz¡¯s way, who blushed furiously and stared down at herp. ¡°Just an offer, obviously!¡± she squeaked. ¡°You want to?¡± Natalie had thought Liz wouldn¡¯t be up for it, yet; she still seemed pretty reserved. ¡°I mean, if you think about it, we aren¡¯t really doing anything with each other. Nothing of ours important would be touching. So really, we¡¯re doing less than before.¡± Natalie was impressed at the nonsensicalness of the im. Was everyone on her team insistent on jumping through hoops to exin away embarrassing situations? Natalie, fortunately, had never deluded herself in such a ridiculous way. Then she remembered Jordan, and amended the statement: at least she was no longer delusional. Jordan had been a one time thing. Her rtionships with Sofia, Liz, Ana, and the rest were at least clearly defined. No hoop-jumping required. ¡°That makes total sense,¡± Natale said. She grinned. ¡°But what if I do want to touch you?¡± She flexed the long double-headed dildo. ¡°I bet there¡¯s some fun positions we could manage with this thing.¡± ¡°W-Well,¡± Liz said. ¡°Um. I guess we¡¯ll y it by feel.¡± Natalie¡¯s grin widened. She passed over the toy, thenid down. ¡°Alright. y it by feel. Go ahead, then.¡± ¡°Sorry?¡± ¡°I ravished you,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Now you ravish me.¡± Normally, Natalie would be more than happy to keep toying with Liz in the active role, but something about her shy embarrassment had Natalie wanting to force her into being a little more proactive. Plus, it let Liz choose how far to go; Natalie was worried about getting carried away. And for a third reason¡ªas expected, Liz¡¯s reaction at being told to ¡®ravish her¡¯ was as cute as she hoped it would be. ¡°O-Oh,¡± Liz said, her eyes skittering nervously across Natalie¡¯s body, then up to her eyes, then away again. ¡°Okay. Yeah. Sure. Um. I can do that. I guess I¡¯ll start with ¡­ taking your clothes off?¡± ¡°That¡¯s usually a good first step,¡± Natalie said teasingly. Liz crossed her arms. ¡°I¡¯m new to this, okay? Stop bullying me.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not bullying you,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Believe me, when I do ¡®bully you¡¯, you¡¯ll know.¡± Liz paused, then blushed at the assertion. ¡°Okay. Anyway. Shirt, first.¡± She set aside the toy and crawled over Natalie. Natalie let Liz strip her down from the waist up. The smaller girl perched on Natalie¡¯sp, a rigid member pressing against her ass, which both of them ignored. Her bra followed. Liz stared down with wide eyes at her exposed chest. Natalie¡¯s smirk grew. ¡°You can touch, if you want. Don¡¯t be scared.¡± Liz tentatively reached out and grabbed Natalie¡¯s tits. She squeezed them, then cupped them, then gently tweaked at her nipples, all with the same shy hesitance. Natalie put her hands over Liz¡¯s and shivered, the contact more exciting than she¡¯d expected¡ªespecially when joined with how Liz¡¯s ass was pressed into her cock. ¡°W-We should focus,¡± Liz announced suddenly, pulling her hands away¡ªthough only after several moments of being transfixed by ying with Natalie¡¯s tits. ¡°Remember. Just testing the wand out.¡± She said it more to herself than Natalie. Liz shuffled down Natalie¡¯s legs, then wrangled off her skirt with Natalie¡¯s help. That revealed, of course, Natalie¡¯s fully erect cock pushing desperately against her panties¡ªand that was a second sight that stunned Liz quiet, her face going new shades of red. ¡°You¡¯ve already seen it once,¡± Natalieughed. ¡°Don¡¯t be nervous now.¡± Swallowing, Liz grabbed the edges of Natalie¡¯s panties, then tugged them down. Natalie lifted her hips up, and Liz slid them off, tossing them aside. She was left naked, cock standing proudly upward, twitching and veiny. ¡°It¡¯s ¡­ really a nice cock,¡± Liz breathed. She reached out as if to touch it, but, realizing what she was doing, withdrew. She shook her head to clear it, then grabbed the double headed dildo. ¡°Okay. No more ying around. I¡¯m going to ¡­ I¡¯m gonna ¡­¡° ¡°Ravish me?¡± Natalie suggested. ¡°Um. Yeah, that.¡± Liz took a deep breathe, then stered on a determined expression. 4.17 – Wand IV 4.17 ¨C Wand IV While generally shy, Liz also wasn¡¯t afraid to rise up to the challenge. That was fitting of a delver, Natalie supposed. And it came to Natalie¡¯s great benefit. Liz lined up one end of the double-sided dildo to Natalie¡¯s entrance. She rubbed the toy into Natalie, her eyes wide, her breathing hard, as if it was Liz herself the toy was about to prate. Natalie shivered at the sensation, her cock twitching in excitement. Precum beaded at the tip. ¡°You said ¡­ I can touch?¡± Liz asked. Natalie might have teased Liz about changing her mind so quickly about ¡®keeping it to just testing the wand¡¯, but doing so might change her mind¡ªso she just nodded. Liz reached out, then, still rubbing the toy at Natalie¡¯s pussy, gripped her cock. Natalie had done some brief experimentation with being pleasured from both ends at once, but she¡¯d never had someone else y with her in that way¡ªand masturbation obviously didn¡¯t hold up to the real deal. A moan escaped her at the contact of Liz¡¯s hand, and to her amusement¡ªwhich bubbled up even past her arousal¡ªLiz nearly jumped in surprise. ¡°Oh. You, uh. Like that?¡± ¡°Yeah. You can. Um. Go in.¡± Liz wiggled the head of the toy into Natalie¡¯s lower lips, getting purchase rather than just teasing. Slowly, Natalie was spread apart, her pussy stretching to amodate the girthy toy. For all she¡¯d been teasing Liz, it really was thick enough to give any girl pause. Another moan escaped her, her hands clutching the bedsheets as she felt herself spread open. Liz held a firm grip on Natalie¡¯s cock, stroking up and down even as she pushed the toy inside Natalie. Bit by bit, she worked it in, and Natalie squirmed at the pressure. It was definitely thergest thing she¡¯d ever had inside her, and she quickly found a newfound respect for Jordan, who took something even thicker with apparent delight. Honestly, Natalie struggled¡ªthough with hot waves of pleasure swirling around inside her at the incredible sensation of being so full. When Liz had properly filled Natalie up, her half of the dildo inserted, Liz said tentatively, ¡°Um. Okay, I guess it¡¯s my turn, now.¡± Natalie elbowed up to get a better sight. She had copsed back in pleasure as Liz had gone at it, but obviously she wouldn¡¯t miss the sight of Liz sharing the toy with her. It unfortunately meant Liz had to stop stroking her cock, but Natalie was fine with that, considering what was toe. Besides, the two-pronged attack was difficult to resist, especially without much practice. It would be rather embarrassing if Natalie came first¡ªor at least not with Liz¡ªafter so much teasing of the other girl. Liz settled down, spreading her legs and draping them over Natalie¡¯s. She lined up the dildo to her own pussy, then, letting out a little gasp, prated herself. Natalie gripped her side of the dildo while Liz worked her way down, helping stabilize the flexible shaft. Her cock throbbed painfully at seeing Liz impale herself. ¡°W-What¡¯s the best way to go about this?¡± Liz asked. ¡°How do we, uh, use it right?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s see if we can¡ªmm¡ªget all the way, first,¡± Natalie said, the sentence interrupted by a moan. It had been some time since Natalie had been prated by anything other than fingers and tongues, since toys actually hadn¡¯t been something she used much of. It was having an unexpectedly intoxicating effect, her cock throbbing in little twitches and leaking precum as it begged for its own relief. ¡°Okay,¡± Liz said, looking down with some apprehension. ¡°But, all the way? It¡¯s just, a lot.¡± ¡°We can do it.¡± Natalie really wanted to see her pussy pressing into Liz¡¯s, the two of them kissing with their lower halves, so she had good motivation to work her way down onto their thick shared toy. Liz draped her legs over Natalie¡¯s to get into better position, and the two of them wiggled their way further down, moaning as they were filled up. Liz apparently wanted it as badly as Natalie, because she worked just as hard. With a few whines, she scooted her lower half forward onest thrust, pulling Natalie¡¯s thighs toward her, and the gap closed; their pussies kissed, all sixteen thick inches shared between the two of them. ¡°That ¡­ wasn¡¯t so bad,¡± Liz panted, gazing with wide, transfixed eyes down at their kissing pussies. With Liz¡¯s arrival, Natalie¡¯s urges overtook her. She turned sideways, her cock sliding against Liz¡¯s warm, soft thigh. A shaky breathe escaped her at the contact. Her hips bucked, a reaction she couldn¡¯t stop, and a loud moan escaped her as her sensitive shaft slid across Liz¡¯s skin. The motion also had the dildo stirring around inside both of them, adding to the cocktail of pleasure. She hugged Liz¡¯s leg with both arms, who had also turned sideways to give them a better angle to share the toy with¡ªand for Natalie to rub her cock into her leg. ¡°That¡¯s nice,¡± Natalie groaned. ¡°Fuck, that¡¯s good. You don¡¯t¡ªyou don¡¯t mind?¡± Not that Natalie was even certain she could stop if Liz asked her to; her hips kept jerking back and forth, rubbing herself against Liz¡¯s soft thigh even as she stirred around their shared dildo. ¡°I-It¡¯s fine,¡± Liz said. ¡°Go ahead.¡± Liz¡¯s thrusting hips, helping push the two of them against their shared toy, made it clear she didn¡¯t mind how Natalie had appropriated her thigh to pleasure herself. If anything, by the way she watched with wide eyes, panting heavily, the sight¡ªand sensation¡ªwas as intoxicating as the thick toy thrusting inside her with each jerk of both their hips. Liz¡¯s hand went down to rub teasing circles at her clit. ¡°Is it embarrassing,¡± Liz gasped, ¡°that I¡¯m almost there, again? Why does it feel so good?¡± Her hand picked up speed to punctuate the point, her animalistic need to reach that quickly-approaching high showing inly as day. At hearing Liz was close, Natalie somehow conquered her own desire; she forced herself to stop thrusting against Liz¡¯s thigh, pleasuring herself on soft skin, and instead focused on her partner. She turned back around so they were both lying mostly t, and Natalie leaned up, pushing away Liz¡¯s hand to take control of pleasuring her clit. Liz copsed backward, happy to ept the assistance. Both their lower halves gyrated and thrusted against each other, and Natalie rubbed tight circles as Liz started toe apart a second time. The smaller girl¡¯s back arched, her eyes squeezing shut as a groan escaped her. Hands scrambled at bed sheets, and Natalie worked away at taking apart her healer. ¡°Come on, let it out,¡± she murmured. ¡°Good girl. Cum for me. Everything you have. I want it.¡± A long, twitching orgasmter, and Liz sagged down into the bed, seeming dizzy. Natalie watched her for a moment, amused¡ªand honestly a bit proud at how easily she could take Liz apart. It was almost as bad as Sofia. Resisting the urge to keep taking care of herself was hard, but like usual, Natalie was more interested in pleasuring her partner¡ªand especially Liz, whose general ease to embarrass and quick fuse made her especially fun to y with. ¡°Okay,¡± Liz said, finally propping herself back up on her elbows. ¡°You haven¡¯t finished yet. I need to fix that. Lay back down.¡± Without giving Natalie much chance to reply, the smaller girl shuffled over Natalie, perching on top¡ªwhich was an awkward, but delightful, movement, seeing how they hadn¡¯t taken the toy out. Soon, Liz had her pussy pressed back into Natalie¡¯s, the two of them joined by the toy. She held onto Natalie¡¯s legs, pushing them back, like they were in the missionary position¡ªwhich wasn¡¯t that far from the truth. ¡°Really taking charge, then?¡± Natalie teased. ¡°I¡¯m proud.¡± Liz started bouncing, lifting her hips up then pping them back down. The toy thrust into each of them, but Liz was stalwartly determined to not have her third orgasm before Natalie her first. The smaller girl fell forward and buried her face into Natalie¡¯s chest, moaning even as she worked away with her hips, thrusting into Natalie missionary-style, either of her arms hooked around Natalie¡¯s legs and pinning them back. Natalie hugged the smaller girl tight and bounced her hips along with Liz. Each long stroke of Liz stuffed her full, and the size of the toy, the ps of flesh of Liz thrusting into her, and the way her cock was squished between their bodies, being massaged with the jostling of their eager movements, meant Liz would see her goal through: Natalie didn¡¯t have much resistance left in her. She didn¡¯t have long. She closed her eyes and hugged Liz tighter, that hot surge of pleasure starting to course through her. Liz slipped her hands down between their bodies and grabbed Natalie¡¯s cock, jerking her off between their two sweat-slickened stomachs. It broke thest of Natalie¡¯sposure. She moaned and cried out as ecstasy overtook her. Her pussy clenched around the thick shaft Liz was thrusting inside her with each bounce of her hips, and her cock swelled in Liz¡¯s hand. Two waves of pleasure attacked her, radiating across her whole body, and her cock seized and then erupted. Cum coated between their stomachs and over Liz¡¯s hands, who used it as lubricant to thrust her hand into Natalie¡¯s cock even faster. Liz kissed Natalie¡¯s neck and worked away, murmuring something that Natalie was too far gone to understand. Wave after wave of white-hot orgasm crashed through every part of her body. Liz bounced on top of her, eagerly filling Natalie up with their shared toy, and Natalie devolved into a hot puddle of pleasure. Liz also came to her third twitching finish, the experience of Natalie coating the two of them in cum and orgasming right beneath her too much for the girl to handle, even despite just finishing a minute ago. When Natalie returned to something resembling consciousness, the two of them justid there and panted into each other, Natalie still hugging Liz close, their stomachs coated in sweat and cum. 4.18 – Wand V 4.18 ¨C Wand V After a long break of simply panting into each other and basking in each other¡¯s hot, sweaty skin contact, Liz leaned up and sat on Natalie¡¯sp, the toy still joining the two of them. She looked down at the mess coating their stomachs, the result of Liz¡¯s frantic extraction of Natalie¡¯s lower half. ¡°Um,¡± Liz said. ¡°I kinda forgot about the clean up.¡± ¡°You really made a mess,¡± Natalie agreed. ¡°Well, no, you made the mess,¡± Liz said. ¡°Just, I should¡¯ve realized. It¡¯s all in my sheets, too. Why do you cum so much?¡± ¡°I had a subus riding me. That¡¯s why.¡± Liz blushed and looked away. ¡°Sh-Shut up. Don¡¯t say things like that.¡± With a little groan from both of them, Liz finally unperched from Natalie, and they pulled the toy out of them. ¡°I¡¯ll go grab a towel,¡± Liz said. ¡°Hold tight.¡± She did just that, and soon, Natalie was wiping her stomach down, then her cock, with Liz doing the same. ¡°Okay! Back to the point of all this!¡± Liz said, a bit louder than appropriate. Natalie could tell she¡¯d gotten carried away¡ªand had enjoyed the process¡ªand it was starting to hit her. So, like usual, she corralled them back to the ¡®practicality¡¯ of the situation. ¡°Skill testing. Remember, that¡¯s all it was.¡± The words were directed entirely at herself, and Natalie couldn¡¯t help butugh¡ªwhich Liz ignored. Now clean, Liz plopped back down on the bed next to Natalie. ¡°So. The new effect.¡± Admittedly, Natalie was interested herself¡ªthough she¡¯d been far more interested in Liz than any potential bonus from the wand. She took a look. *** [Joined] - Health and mana pools can be shared between targets. *** ¡°Oh,¡± Liz said. ¡°Oh, wow. Share? Like,pletely?¡± Natalie shook her head in incredulity. ¡°Again, we shouldn¡¯t be surprised, with how strong the wand¡¯s been so far, but¡ªyeah, wow.¡± That the benefits just kept stacking up was nearly unbelievable. The wand had already been a phenomenal piece of equipment before they¡¯d discovered [Link] and [Joined], but now, it really might be one of the best pieces of level one loot¡ªwell, ever. Was that the future of her ss? And her adventures in the dungeon? If the trend held, she was really poised to be an insanely powerful adventurer¡ªof the sort seen once in a generation. That was hard toe to terms with. ¡°I guess it depends on how it¡¯s shared?¡± Liz said. ¡°Automatically and evenly? Or can we like, funnel over health and mana to each other on will? Whenever we want?¡± ¡°Either way, it¡¯s strong.¡± ¡°I mean, yeah. But it changes how we¡¯d use it.¡± She rubbed her forehead. ¡°Seriously though. I can send you my mana? That¡¯s so good.¡± ¡°Or me to you,¡± Natalie said. ¡°I don¡¯t make as good use of it as you do, so that extra boost would be great. Let you cast more spells. Illusions are nice, but not crucial.¡± ¡°Eh, they¡¯re bing more and more relevant. You¡¯re picking it up fast. Though I¡¯m more interested in the health aspect. Making you even a bit more tanky by giving you my health would be amazing. Not just that, but regeneration effects are twice as useful. If we link health, then put a regen spell down on both of us, it¡¯s effectively you getting two regen effects at once.¡± ¡°Huh,¡± Natalie said. She hadn¡¯t even considered it from a healing perspective¡ªit was natural that was where Liz¡¯s mind had gone. She disagreed that health was more relevant, though; she felt like the boosted mana pool was the bigger game-changer. She paused as the obvious question popped into her head. ¡°Wait, can it work on more than one of us?¡± ¡°If it does, only between me and them, I¡¯d figure,¡± Liz said. ¡°Can¡¯t link all of us, to each of us.¡± Liz froze as she realized exactly what ¡®linking all of them together¡¯ would mean. How that would happen. Despite being naked and still sticky from what they¡¯d just done, she blushed furiously at the lewd imagery. Of course, that drew augh from Natalie, and a resulting shove from Liz. ¡°Oh, shut up. Stop making fun of me!¡± That wasn¡¯t likely to happen. ¡°Might be good with Ana, though,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Sharing your mana pool with her? Or even doubling your health pools? The back line has the biggest risk for getting seriously hurt by a single surprise hit, so I don¡¯t even know if I¡¯m the primary target for the ability. Might be Ana.¡± ¡°A-Ana?¡± Liz shook her head rapidly. ¡°I mean, maybe you¡¯re right, but¡ª¡° More rapid head shaking, Liz¡¯s ck hair bouncing as she flushed furiously at the idea. Natalie was tempted to tease her, but decided to let up. ¡°I¡¯ll stick with you,¡± Liz finally said firmly. ¡°It¡¯s a goodbo between us, anyway. Tank and healer.¡± ¡°Wonder what the duration is?¡± ¡°Hopefully at least a day.¡± ¡°I think I¡¯d prefer just a few hours. Or less.¡± ¡°Huh? Why would you¡ª?¡± Liz paused as she understood the implication. Natalie stated it out loud anyway. ¡°So we get to use it more often,¡± she grinned. ¡°Between every fight, maybe?¡± Again, Liz¡¯s face turned red. ¡°You really are a pervert, aren¡¯t you? Ugh, don¡¯t talk to me.¡± Natalieughed. ¡°So, anyway,¡± Liz said. ¡°We should get cleaned up?¡± ¡°Is that an invitation to your shower?¡± ¡°If you can keep your hands to yourself.¡± ¡°Definitely won¡¯t.¡± Liz huffed, then stood. ¡°Well, just don¡¯t get too carried away, then.¡± ¡°Still no promises.¡± Natalie¡¯s eyes tracked Liz¡¯s ass as she walked across the room, headed for the attached bathroom. ¡°Actually, is there an opposite of a promise?¡± Looking back and seeing Natalie tantly ogling her, Liz flushed and covered her butt with a hand. ¡°Seriously! It¡¯s embarrassing. Don¡¯t be so obvious!¡± She scurried off into the bathroom and out of view¡ªas if Natalie hadn¡¯t just been invited to join her. Natalie briefly hesitated, wondering if the teasing had changed Liz¡¯s mind, but a secondter, Liz asked, ¡°Youing?¡± ¡°Coming? Hopefully a few more times,¡± Natalie said, smirking as she stood. ¡°And you, let¡¯s say, six or seven times, by the time I¡¯m done with you?¡± ¡°N-Nat! Really!¡± 4.19 – Cuddle 4.19 ¨C Cuddle Natalie did get one more round of ying with Liz in the shower, but that was far as the healer let it go; they didn¡¯t spend all night together, and all Natalie got to do that second time was touch. Natalie wondered when Liz would be open for more, and especially without the pretend-excuse of ¡®testing the wand¡¯. Though she had no intentions of pressing her. Afterward, she made it back to her dorm in time to catch Jordan settling down for the night. Immediately on seeing Natalie, a mischievous grin crossed Jordan¡¯s lips, and Natalie barely got the door closed and a sound barrier up before Jordan had knelt down, flipped Natalie¡¯s skirt over her head, and had her mouth around Natalie¡¯s cock. It was a rather pleasant wee-back, if an impractical one, seeing how she had a few things she wanted to talk to Jordan about. The two of them went through their usual routine of ¡®energy-gathering¡¯, with Natalie bending her best friend over the bed and coating her womb white to finish things off. One of the best parts of sharing a room with Jordan, though, more even than the sex, was getting to snuggle up with her at the end, lights off and getting ready to sleep. Having Jordan tucked up into her was indescribably devastating to her current dilemma¡ªher gigantic fat crush which she was trying desperately to ignore¡ªand so Natalie had to forcibly not let herself get too caught up in the warm glow. She hadn¡¯t made any progress on whether she thought Jordan returned her feelings, and in fact, any time she did let her thoughts wander in that direction, things just became more muddled inside her head. Because there were contradicting signals. The way Jordan behaved sometimes certainly indicated she wanted to be more than friends¡ªbut at the same time, Jordan was a direct person, who surely would have told Natalie. More than that, Natalie felt like she ought to be more certain about Jordan¡¯s feelings if they existed. She should be able to tell. Jordan was her best friend, wasn¡¯t she? So as it stood, she was conflicted. With the possibility of rejection¡ªand making their rtionship awkward¡ªNatalie shied away from forcing the issue, at least until she had more confidence. A big part of her derided her as being a giant coward for that, and she had no defense, beyond that she had so much going on that her disgustingly huge, but risky, crush on her best friend had to take the back seat, at least for a few days or weeks until she figured things out. ¡°So,¡± Jordan said, snuggled into her, her head resting on Natalie¡¯s shoulder as Natalie stared up at the ceiling, wondering how she¡¯d both gotten so lucky and unlucky to be in this situation. ¡°There¡¯s probably a few things we should talk about before we go to bed. I meant to earlier, but you distracted me.¡± ¡°I distracted you? You were under my skirt before I could say hi.¡± ¡°Fine,¡± Jordan said, ¡°your cock distracted me. Same difference.¡± Natalie shook her head. ¡°Anyway,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Sofia.¡± ¡°Sofia?¡± ¡°You never told me what happened between you two. Did you make up?¡± Make up? She wouldn¡¯t call what had happened in the locker room ¡®making up¡¯. Not to mention Natalie hadn¡¯t done anything wrong back at the tournament. Sofia had just been acting weird because of Sammy. Her exnations were still a bit nonsensical. Jealousy was the obvious answer, but too absurd to be true. ¡°I mean, kind of.¡± ¡°You kind of made up?¡± A sh of that event passed through Natalie¡¯s thoughts, Sofia pinned down by her wrists, hanging there as Natalie stroked her to a twitching orgasm. Horrifyingly, Natalie felt herself stir with excitement, and she desperately fought the memory away. How in the world would she exin getting hard when Sofia was the conversation topic? Maybe Jordan sensed her dilemma, because sheughed. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll just say it. Sofia told me.¡± ¡°Told you what?¡± ¡°That you pounded her brains into jelly.¡± Natalie eyes shot open, and she immediately started sputtering out a rejection. That was not what had happened. ¡°No, I¡¯m kidding,¡± Jordanughed. ¡°She just said you two hooked up. I don¡¯t know what that included, exactly. She didn¡¯t specify.¡± ¡°We didn¡¯t even hook up,¡± Natalie protested, still flushed. ¡°We just¡ªI just. Well.¡± She coughed. ¡°Fingered her, I guess?¡± ¡°Uh huh,¡± Jordan said. ¡°And that¡¯s not hooking up?¡± ¡°Hooking up implies, I don¡¯t know. That it was ¡­ I guess ¡­¡± Jordan, unfortunately, waiting patiently for Natalie to finish her statement. Natalie wasn¡¯t sure where she was going with it. ¡°It¡¯s Sofia,¡± Natalie finally said. ¡°We didn¡¯t hook up.¡± ¡°So, you tonically fingered her? As friends?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be ridiculous.¡± ¡°Sorry,¡± Jordan said. ¡°As rivals. You tonically fingered her as rivals.¡± Natalie¡¯s face burned. ¡°Shut up. What do you want me to say?¡± ¡°That you ravished that poor young woman because your lusty impulses got the better of you.¡± ¡°Jordan.¡± Jordan pressed her face into Natalie¡¯s shoulder andughed. Natalie was caught between a bout of gay panic and outrage at the usations Jordan was throwing her way. In the end, she justy there and pouted. ¡°Okay,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Fine. You two didn¡¯t hook up. But what else happened?¡± ¡°That¡¯s between me and Sofia.¡± ¡°I told her you¡¯d say that,¡± Jordan said, amused. ¡°You really are such a gentleman. No kissing and telling.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t believe she came to you about it.¡± ¡°Well, it involves you, so it involves me. Because she knows we¡¯re sleeping together. Sofia takes a mature approach to rtionships.¡± She snorted. ¡°Okay, well, kind of. She¡¯s also an idiot in some ways.¡± Natalie ignored the ¡®also¡¯, most because her concern was growing. Sofia surely hadn¡¯t give Jordan the full details behind that event, right? ¡°What else did she tell you?¡± Natalie asked carefully. ¡°Oh,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Some interesting things. A wager was mentioned.¡± Natalie¡¯s stomach sank. ¡°A wager?¡± ¡°For the ownership of an innocent young woman and her dignity,¡± Jordan said. ¡°I didn¡¯t know you were thinking about getting a pet. You should really include me in those sorts of big decisions. We¡¯re partners, aren¡¯t we?¡± ¡°She told you,¡± Natalie groaned, ignoring the ridiculous way Jordan had phrased it. ¡°Why? Why would she do that?¡± ¡°Because she¡¯s considerate. She was worried I would mind.¡± Natalie already had nket permission from Jordan that she could be with who she wanted, but she supposed Sofia didn¡¯t know that. Still, it was rather mortifying that Sofia had given their arrangement away. Especially because Natalie knew she was in for all sorts of teasing from Jordan, now. She groaned a second time. Then, she quieted. She wondered if she ought to check in on that so-called ¡®arrangement¡¯. See if Jordan was still okay with it. Especially since it was Sofia¡ªsomeone rather closer to Jordan than her typical fling. ¡°And you still don¡¯t mind, right?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Sharing doesn¡¯t bother me. You¡¯re the possessive one.¡± Natalie squeezed Jordan tighter into her. She would like to defend herself, but it was true. Jordan was hers. Natalie didn¡¯t want to share. At least, not openly. ¡°You¡¯re more than enough for me, don¡¯t worry,¡± Jordan said, smiling. ¡°Our arrangement can work one way. But I do want to bring something up.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°What do you think of all three of us?¡± ¡°Sorry?¡± ¡°Can Sofia be our pet?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°How you feel about group stuff, I guess?¡± Jordan asked. ¡°If you want me only to yourself, that¡¯s fine too. But what about me, you, and Sofia?¡± Natalie¡¯s brain underwent a brief meltdown. Together? In that way? Sofia being a ¡®pet¡¯ to both of them? Natalie was possessive of Jordan, unfair as the arrangement felt, and she absolutely did not want Jordan to be with anyone else in the same way she herself slept around. She knew that was hypocritical, especially when she and Jordan weren¡¯t even an official thing, hence why she was endlessly relieved that Jordan wasn¡¯t bothered by the situation. But did that possessiveness of Jordan extend to Sofia? Or even anyone else Natalie was interested in, in a serious manner? Not that she was interested in Sofia. Natalie found that the answer came easily. It didn¡¯t bother her. In fact, the idea of sharing Sofia with Jordan was currently causing her significant problems¡ªboth mentally, and, unfortunately, physically. ¡°Well, we¡¯ve got the answer from your lower half,¡± Jordan said amusedly. ¡°But what¡¯s upper Natalie say?¡± ¡°Sofia wouldn¡¯t be okay with it.¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t she?¡± Jordan said. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be so sure. But that¡¯s not the question. Are you?¡± ¡°I guess, I¡¯m not against it?¡± Jordan nodded, unsurprised by the answer. ¡°Well, then it sounds like you just have to train your pet right,¡± Jordan said. ¡°And when she¡¯s nice and well behaved, you can bring her to me.¡± She patted Natalie¡¯s stomach. ¡°Now, get that thing under control. We really can¡¯t go another round. How are you so insatiable?¡± 4.20 – Bet I 4.20 ¨C Bet I The next day arrived, and sses dragged on like they always did. While the first part of the day Natalie would even say she looked forward to¡ªand post-ss delves too¡ªthe few hours after lunch dedicated to academics were the slowest by far. Jordan hadmented once that she ¡®kind of enjoyed¡¯ the lull between the more action packed segments of their schedule, but Natalie didn¡¯t agree in the slightest. For all Jordan was her best friend, Natalie could easily admit that she was a bit of a nerd. Usually the words ¡®adventurer¡¯ and ¡®nerd¡¯bined to make mages, like Ana, but Jordan, as a rogue, bucked that trend. Her professors droned on, and Natalie fidgeted away in her seat, unable to pay attention. Her thoughts honed in on a few topics in particr. The obvious ones. Sofia, Liz, and Jordan¡ªher shifting rtionships with each of them. But, at least in this moment, one person in particr was dominating Natalie¡¯s mind. Her white-haired rival, sitting to the left of her. Namely, Natalie was thinking about how she wanted to use her recently earned reward. Which was to say, how she wanted to use Sofia. For the next week¡ªor around six days, now¡ªNatalie could order her to do anything she wanted. There were limits to that, both in what Natalie would feel too much of a jerk for doing, and for what Sofia would tolerate herself, but Natalie got the feeling the limits were wide rather than thin. Like Natalie herself, Sofia took bets seriously. Since Natalie had won, Sofia would see her promised reward through to any reasonable length¡ªand possibly some unreasonable ones. Natalie would have fulfilled the bet the same way, though it had been a pointless wager on her end, since she¡¯d known with total certainty she¡¯d never have lost to Sofia. Not in that challenge. Her boredom peaking, Natalie made up her mind. She tore off a corner of paper from her notebook, then scribbled something down. She slid it over to Sofia discreetly. Jordan didn¡¯t even seem to notice, sitting to Natalie¡¯s right. ¡®Meet me in the restroom. You go first. I¡¯ll follow in a minute.¡¯ Sofia stared at the paper for a moment, then scribble something back. She returned the note. ¡®Are you serious? We¡¯re in ss.¡¯ ¡®So? I¡¯m not asking. I¡¯m telling.¡¯ Sofia¡¯s expression soured at that, which made Natalie smirk. The white-haired girl obeyed, first tidying up her desk, then standing quietly and heading for the lecture hall door. Obviously, nobody thought twice of it; people came and went during lectures with fair regrity. A minuteter, Natalie followed. She met Sofia in the restroom. The white-haired girl was standing there, arms crossed, looking annoyed. The restroom was fortunately empty. ¡°We don¡¯t have time for this,¡± Sofia said. ¡°We¡¯re supposed to be in ss.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got a week where you¡¯re mine, and I n to use it well,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Plus, I think I was dying in there. Who actually cares about all that garbage?¡± ¡°And what is it, exactly, you have nned?¡± Sofia demanded. Natalie smirked, then walked to thest stall in the set. She set the seat down and sat on it. ¡°I¡¯m a bit pent up,¡± Natalie said. ¡°I think it¡¯s time you returnst night¡¯s favor.¡± The words hung in the air. ¡°Favor?¡± Sofia finally asked, a hint of incredulity. She apparently disagreed whether it could be called that. Then, she shook her head. ¡°Nat, we don¡¯t have time for this. If we¡¯re gone too long, people will notice.¡± ¡°Only if we¡¯re gone too long,¡± Natalie said. ¡°If it¡¯s only a few minutes, then nobody¡¯ll think twice of it. Ten, though? Fifteen? Twenty? They¡¯ll really wonder what we were up to.¡± Natalie shrugged. ¡°So, I guess it depends on how quickly you can finish me off. What was it you said? ¡®It can¡¯t be that hard¡¯? So go ahead and prove it.¡± ¡°Nat.¡± ¡°Times ticking.¡± ¡°If we¡¯re gone that long, they¡¯ll know,¡± Sofia hissed. Natalie didn¡¯t think anyone would pay that close attention, but she didn¡¯t contradict Sofia¡ªthe paranoia worked in her favor. ¡°So you better get going. Again, ¡®it can¡¯t be that hard¡¯, right?¡± A grimace indicated that Sofia was probably regretting that im, but she doubled down anyway. ¡°I mean, it can¡¯t be. Especially with ¡­ your thing. It¡¯s even easier.¡± ¡°Okay. So let¡¯s see it.¡± Natalie sat on the closed toilet seat and waited. Sofia stared at her for a long moment, then visibly resigned herself¡ªthough with a punctuating re. ¡°So?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°What do you want, then?¡± Natalie shrugged. ¡°I told you. To get off. But you¡¯re taking the lead. Do whatever you want. Do me however you want.¡± She smirked. ¡°That¡¯s the whole point. We can be out of here slower or faster. But I don¡¯t really care. It¡¯s your call.¡± Sofia crossed her arms. ¡°If you think we¡¯re doing anything more than me touching you, you¡¯re insane.¡± ¡°Obviously,¡± Natalie said. ¡°There¡¯s no way you¡¯d work up the nerve. You want to, but you¡¯re too much of a coward.¡± ¡°Coward? What makes you think I want to do this?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t?¡± Natalie asked. ¡°Could¡¯ve fooled me. I¡¯ve been catching you looking a lot, ever since yesterday.¡± The smug look Natalie sent Sofia¡¯s way said that she saw through her objections, and Sofia¡¯s face burned even hotter. ¡°You¡¯re insufferable,¡± Sofia said, finally getting down onto her knees in front of Natalie¡ªan action that had her heart skipping a beat. ¡°We were getting along better, for a bit there. Now you¡¯re the most annoying woman to exist, again. What happened?¡± ¡°I¡¯m the annoying one?¡± Natalie asked, amused rather than irritated. Normally Sofia could get under her skin without even trying, but with her on her knees? About to service her? Natalie was in a harder-to-irritate mood than usual. ¡°And I think we¡¯re getting along just fine like this,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Having you on your knees is pretty endearing. I think it¡¯s where you belong.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be gross,¡± Sofia said. ¡°Don¡¯t forget that I¡¯m just holding up my end of the bet.¡± For a moment, Sofia eyed the tent pitched in Natalie¡¯s skirt¡ªnot quite with apprehension, but maybe something close. Natalie sensed she needed encouragement. Or maybe ¡®goading¡¯ was the better term. ¡°Wasting time, princess. Our ssmates are gonna wonder what¡¯s up.¡± Sofia gave her a disdainful look, which made Natalie¡¯s heart flutter¡ªshe would analyze that reactionter¡ªbefore Sofia¡¯s expression resolved. She reached for the hem of Natalie¡¯s skirt and flipped the fabric up, revealing Natalie¡¯s cock, stiff and straining against her panties. 4.21 – Bet II 4.21 ¨C Bet II Wide blue eyes took in the monster trapped in the delicate fabric, and Natalie let the white-haired girl admire her weapon for a moment. Yesterday and today had been pretty great for her ego. Not just her increase in strength, but all the stuff with Sofia. The conscious part of Natalie would never admit it, but there wasn¡¯t a person on the she wanted to impress more than Sofia. And she was certainly impressed. ¡°It¡¯s so big,¡± Sofia said, almost in disbelief. ¡°Is this how they normally are?¡± Natalie wouldn¡¯t know, obviously, having only been with women, but she was pretty sure not. Her cock was definitely thicker, longer, and simply more intimidating than most. ¡°Girls do it best,¡± Natalie said sagely. ¡°You¡¯re ridiculous.¡± Working up the nerve, Sofia reached out and grabbed Natalie¡¯s cock. Despite all of Natalie¡¯s teasing, a shiver went through her, up and down her spine¡ªa pleasurable trickle of electricity that heated her entire body up. Sofia. Sofia¡¯s hand was on her cock, and soon she¡¯d be jerking her off. The idea had her heart galloping in her chest. But she masked the reaction as best she could. She cared more about embarrassing Sofia and establishing her superiority in this arena than anything else. Obviously, she wasn¡¯t interested in doing this with Sofia for any other reason. Just proving who was better. The radiating heat that came with even a touch of Sofia¡¯s delicate hand was entirely from Natalie¡¯spetitive spirit, and not because seeing Sofia on her knees made her wild with desire. ¡°It¡¯s ¡­ hot,¡± Sofia said. A second hand joined the first, burying underneath Natalie¡¯s panties and wrapping around her length. ¡°And seriously, so big. How would it even fit?¡± ¡°You could always find out.¡± Sofia met Natalie¡¯s eyes, then blushed furiously and looked away. ¡°I couldn¡¯t imagine a less pleasant task if I tried.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll take it at your own pace,¡± Natalie said. ¡°By the end of the week, I think you¡¯ll be singing a different tune.¡± ¡°You¡¯d like that, wouldn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Obviously,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I want your tight pussy squeezing around my cock?¡± Sofia¡¯s eyes widened, and she started sputtering. ¡°Do you mind? Don¡¯t be so crude.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t help it, when your reactions are so cute. Look¡ªyou can¡¯t even meet my eyes now.¡± Sofia defiantly dragged her gaze up, only tost about one full second before they skittered back down to Natalie¡¯s cock. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what I thought.¡± ¡°Your ego is incredible.¡± ¡°Says you?¡± ¡°Just shut up and enjoy your handjob,¡± Sofia growled. ¡°And stop teasing you? Nah. The best part of this is you, princess, not your hands.¡± Natalie savored the flush that statement drew for a moment, then continued, ¡°Besides, enjoy it? You¡¯re really not that good. I think we¡¯ll be here for a while.¡± Sofia frowned, then, chewing her lip for a moment, finally flipped Natalie¡¯s skirt higher up and reached for her panties. Tugging them down, she freed Natalie¡¯s cock, then, with two hands, started really working her way up and down. Natalie paid close attention to Sofia¡¯s reaction to each of her statements, because as much as she wanted to tease Sofia, even insult her, she didn¡¯t intend to dig into actual insecurities or go too far. But she knew Sofia; taunting would only encourage her, inspire a desire to do better. Though definitely embarrass her, too¡ªbut Natalie was getting the impression that being a bit rude turned Sofia on. It wasn¡¯t hard to see that Sofia was a little repressed. Also, the taunting over Sofia¡¯s skill was half true; Sofia was, frankly, not very good at this, since she had obviously never jerked someone off before. And she didn¡¯t have the natural talent Jordan did. That said, Natalie had to feign her unaffectedness. At the shivers of electricity going up and down her spine with each long stroke of Sofia¡¯s two hands, moans and whines threatened to break out. Obviously, she wouldn¡¯t give Sofia the satisfaction of that. For a moment, the two of them sat in silence, Sofia stroking up and down Natalie¡¯s cock. It was a bit surreal, getting to be here, having Sofia pleasure her. The sight was almost as good as the sensation. Sofia really, really looked good on her knees. Being her subservient cock-servicer. ¡°You did great at yesterday¡¯spetition, by the way,¡± Natalie said suddenly, the wordsing a bit out of nowhere. ¡°I never got to say that. You really are incredible. Incredibly annoying, too, but also one of the best fighters I¡¯ve ever known.¡± Sofia¡¯s stroking stilled, and she raised an incredulous look to Natalie. ¡°Really? You¡¯re saying this now?¡± Natalie wasn¡¯t sure why she had either. ¡°It¡¯s a constion prize,¡± Natalie said. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to be too mean.¡± ¡°You¡¯re unbelievable.¡± Natalieughed. For nearly a minute, Sofia worked studiously away, stroking Natalie with two hands. Slowly, as the time passed, a frown appeared. She tried picking up speed. Natalie maintained a perfectly unaffected air¡ªthough it wasn¡¯t the truth. Having Sofia¡¯s hands on her waspromising. Natalie was, oddly, a bit thankful that Sofia really was inexperienced and not that good at jerking her off; she might not havested too long otherwise. Finally, Sofia let out a frustrated growl. ¡°Does that really not feel good?¡± she asked. ¡°How long will we be here?¡± ¡°A while, at this pace,¡± Natalie lied. ¡°But I guess I can give you pointers, since you need them. But it¡¯ll cost you.¡± ¡°Cost me? What does that mean?¡± ¡°Good question.¡± Natalie made a show of thinking about it. What could she extract from Sofia in exchange for helping her along? Something embarrassing. That was the whole point of¡ªwell, all of this. An idea popped into her head, and Natalie grinned. ¡°What?¡± Sofia demanded. ¡°First, from now, you have to call me master.¡± The statement hung in the air. Sofia¡¯s stroking even stopped. ¡°You have to be kidding,¡± Sofia said. ¡°And I want your panties for the rest of the day,¡± Natalie tacked on. Sofia stared at her. ¡°Though I think I would¡¯ve taken those anyway,¡± Natalie mused. ¡°You don¡¯t really have a choice. It¡¯s pretty great that you just gave yourself to me for a week. I get you¡¯re repressed, but that¡¯s a little desperate, Sofia.¡± ¡°Fine,¡± Sofia said. Natalie blinked, briefly taken aback. She¡¯d epted? Natalie had expected more protesting. ¡°Sorry?¡± ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll do that. Now, tell me how to do better.¡± She frowned down at Natalie¡¯s cock, which her hands were still wrapped around. ¡°Because I¡¯m obviously not doing more with you, and people are gonna start talking. I don¡¯t get why this is taking so long.¡± Natalie had at least expected Sofia to haggle, or at least showcase her outrage, but then again¡ªobviously this poor, repressed woman wanted to be bossed around. Reading Sofia was hard in some ways, but here? Not at all. ¡°Hm,¡± Natalie. ¡°Okay. But say please.¡± Sofia red at Natalie¡¯s cock¡ªpointedly not her eyes¡ªand continued to stroke. ¡°I just agreed to those¡ªthose ridiculous demands, and now you¡¯re telling me to say please?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± A long moment passed. ¡°Please,¡± Sofia said¡ªand the words sounded like they¡¯d been dragged forcibly out of her. ¡°Please, what?¡± Sofia stayed silent for a moment, then, tersely, said, ¡°Please, master. Tell me how to pleasure you better.¡± The words washed through Natalie, more potent than Natalie had expected. She shivered in pleasure, and Sofia nearly jumped in surprise as her cock twitched in her hands. Instead of being satisfied at finally having gotten a visible reaction out of Natalie, Sofia¡¯s face just turned a new shade of red. ¡°Why did you like that so much?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you?¡± That was a good question. Natalie wasn¡¯t sure herself. ¡°So,¡± Natalie said, ignoring what had just happened. ¡°Lessons. I¡¯ll tell you what you¡¯re doing wrong.¡± 4.22 – Bet III 4.22 ¨C Bet III ¡°First,¡± Natalie said, ¡°if you¡¯re trying to make it better for me, you should use some lube. Sliding feels better than just jerking it up and down, dry.¡± ¡°That¡¯s obvious,¡± Sofia said tly. ¡°But where am I supposed to get lube? I don¡¯t see any exactly sitting around.¡± ¡°You could wrap your pretty little mouth around me,¡± Natalie suggested. ¡°That¡¯d do in a pinch.¡± Sofia only red. She was getting better at not blushing when Natalie teased her. That was disappointing. Natalie would have to try harder. ¡°No, but really,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Spit can do the job. It dries up fast, but if you focus on the top, then you can get some mileage out of it. Just have to keep working it in.¡± ¡°Seriously?¡± Natalie shrugged. ¡°Make do with what you have.¡± A smile crept onto Natalie¡¯s lips. ¡°We can also use your natural lubricant, if you want.¡± ¡°My natural?¡± Her brow furrowed. Then her eyes widened, the confusion clearing up. She started sputtering. ¡°Please. As if.¡± ¡°Then spit is the best we¡¯ve got.¡± Sofia huffed. She leaned close to Natalie¡¯s cock, and Natalie¡¯s heart jumped. Sofia hesitated there, only a few inches away. As if considering whether to spread her saliva in the easier way¡ªby taking Natalie into her mouth. The hesitation passed, and Sofia spat. She worked her spit into Natalie¡¯s cock head, then slowed her pace down, letting her fingers slide up and down Natalie¡¯s shaft. And as Natalie had told her it would be, the sensation of Sofia¡¯s fingers slipping around her cock head was morepromising than the unskilled jerking prior. Natalie let out a little sigh of pleasure, leaning back and enjoying herself as Sofia worked away. ¡°Which segues into my second point,¡± Natalie said. ¡°The head¡¯s more sensitive. So giving it the attention it deserves is a good idea, if you¡¯re going for a quick finish.¡± ¡°I noticed,¡± Sofiamented. ¡°You¡¯re squirming more.¡± Yeah. She was. Even while trying to stayposed. Sofia stroked away. A satisfied look appeared on her face, seeing how her motions were affecting Natalie. While having had some time to acquaint herself with her new tool, Natalie was far from experienced with it. She was still weak to the sensations that crashed through her at Sofia¡¯s touch. It was bing harder to ignore by the second. ¡°Well?¡± Sofia asked, bringing her entrancing blue eyes up to meet Natalie¡¯s. ¡°That¡¯s not it, right? What else can I do better, master?¡± And that wasn¡¯t helping. Those words had no right to make Natalie shudder like they did. Even with Sofia speaking them more defiantly than submissively, the token effort of deference nearly took Natalie apart. Which led to Natalie¡¯s third suggestion. ¡°Finally,¡± Natalie said, ¡°you shouldn¡¯t focus so much on the mechanics of it all.¡± ¡°Sorry?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not just technique that matters. It helps, obviously, but sex isn¡¯t just about rubbing away.¡± ¡°Well, I know that.¡± Sofia paused, then reluctantly said, ¡°But exin?¡± Natalie found it amusing that Sofia needed her to. She ought to be able to pick up what she was getting at, especially if Sofia had been paying attention to what she had done that really drew reactions out of her. ¡°The selling point,¡± Natalie said, ¡°is you. Or us. That¡¯s what affects me most. Can¡¯t you tell?¡± Sofia frowned. She tilted her head, her eyebrows furrowing, finally picking up what Natalie was getting at. Then, with a hand still on Natalie¡¯s cock, stroking away and ying with her spit-lubricated cock tip, she climbed onto Natalie¡¯sp and kissed her. Natalie melted into the kiss, forgetting the scenario she was in, the sudden advance unexpected enough to white her mind out. Her hands settled onto Sofia¡¯s hips. She explored Sofia¡¯s mouth, squirming in ce as Sofia¡¯s hand jerked her off between their thighs. Sofia¡¯s taste eradicated her ability to think. She basked in her mouth and the feeling of her body pressing into hers. Sofia pulled back a half-inch, thenughed quietly into Natalie¡¯s lips. Natalie¡¯s thoughts had gone too hazy for her to be annoyed at the sudden confidence. ¡°I think I understand, master,¡± she murmured into Natalie¡¯s mouth. ¡°It¡¯s about us. You, on top of me. You like it when I¡¯m submissive.¡± By how quickly Natalie¡¯s breathing came, and the color of her face, Sofia had her answer. ¡°When I¡¯m your little cum slut,¡± Sofia emphasized huskily. Natalie shivered. ¡°Yes, I get it now,¡± Sofia murmured. ¡°I think I can be that for you, master. But,¡± she said slowly, pressing a kiss into her lips between the words, ¡°only if you promise to give me a big, hot load. And not soon¡ªnow. I want it now. We¡¯re on a schedule. You can do that for me, master?¡± Natalie didn¡¯t even have a response, too lost in the proximity of Sofia¡¯s body and the way Sofia¡¯s hand worked up and down her cock. She chided herself for giving Sofia the tools she needed. She had always been a quick study. A part of her tried to rally, to return to her unaffected demeanor and keep teasing Sofia, but Sofia recaptured her lips and stroked away faster. Those thoughts drifted away. ¡°Come on, master,¡± Sofia pleaded, holding begging eye contact. ¡°Doesn¡¯t my hand feel good? Just let go. I¡¯ll even let you finish in my panties, if you want. They¡¯re yours for the day, anyway. Does that excite you? Knowing I¡¯ll be walking around like that? Exposed and embarrassed?¡± Sofia bit Natalie¡¯s lower lip and tugged. ¡°I¡¯ll be thinking about you the whole time. How humiliating it is. But I¡¯ll do anything for master. I¡¯m her loyal cock sleeve.¡± Natalie whined, her hips squirming as the heat built rapidly inside her. She never in her life would have thought words like that woulde from Sofia¡¯s mouth. And for her. The concept melted her down, turned her into a hot pile of sludge. ¡°There you go,¡± Sofia murmured. ¡°I can feel you twitching. Go ahead. Give it to me.¡± She lifted her hips up, hovering over Natalie¡¯s cock. ¡°Straight onto my panties, like I promised. Get them nice and wet. Mark me as yours. You want that, don¡¯t you?¡± This so wasn¡¯t fair. Sofia¡¯s stroking took onest frantic pace. Reaching down between her legs, jerking Natalie off, she aimed Natalie at her panties. ¡°Come on, master. There you go. You¡¯re close. Give it to me.¡± Natalie¡¯s hips strained upward, and¡ªSofia capturing Natalie¡¯s mouth again, herst devastating attack¡ªNatalie came. Thick, hot strings of girlcum seared up Natalie¡¯s cock, coating Sofia¡¯s panties with each spurt. She was lost in the taste of Sofia¡¯s mouth, her eyes closed as she basked in her orgasm, pleasure coursing through her. Finally, when Natalie had thoroughly emptied herself between Sofia¡¯s legs, Sofia pulled away from Natalie¡¯s mouth, her breathsing out in heavy pants. Her face was flushed, and she smiled triumphantly at Natalie. Natalie couldn¡¯t even be annoyed, half because her thoughts were still sluggish. Natalie looked down to see her cum covering Sofia¡¯s panties and thighs, dripping down onto her cock. ¡°You did it, master,¡± Sofia said, smirking. ¡°Look how easy that was.¡± Natalie looked back up. Sofia met her gaze, seeming extremely self-satisfied. Then, slowly, the expression started to morph. She sat on Natalie¡¯sp, then looked down at herself. Her wet panties. Natalie¡¯s cock. Her face had already been flushed, but now it turned crimson. Natalie could see that realization across Sofia¡¯s face, the triumph of her victory fading for mortification. She¡¯d gotten lost in the moment. Natalie considered teasing, but figured Sofia didn¡¯t need it. Not by the expression on her face. ¡°Come on,¡± Natalie said, patting her thighs. ¡°We should clean up and head back.¡± As an afterthought, she added, ¡°And give me your panties.¡± ¡°R-Right.¡± She climbed off Natalie¡¯sp, shaking her head to herself. She looked at the mess again, then down at her panties, and muttered, ¡°I can¡¯t believe I did that.¡± ¡°I can. You¡¯re a natural cock servant. It just needed a little working out.¡± ¡°Shut up.¡± She blushed at the crudity, and Natalieughed. ¡°And look away.¡± ¡°Look away?¡± ¡°So I can take off my panties.¡± Natalie considered protesting, but decided that she¡¯d gotten plenty out of her rival already. She obliged. Sofia stripped off her panties with Natalie¡¯s eyes closed, then said, ¡°Here.¡± Sofia handed a thoroughly cum-covered pair of panties to Natalie. Natalie smirked as she looked at them, and Sofia¡¯s face reddened further. ¡°What are you even going to do with them? They¡¯re ruined.¡± Shaking her head, she opened the stall door and exited. Natalie started rolling down toilet paper to get cleaned up. Just outside the stall, Natalie saw Sofia freeze, going stiff. ¡°Jordan?¡± Sofia shrilled. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± Natalie hastily got herself cleaned, wiping down most of the cum from Sofia¡¯s panties, too, then stuffed them in her pocket. She pulled her clothes back in order, peeking out the stall while doing so. Sure enough, Jordan was there, leaning shoulder-first against a tiled wall, arms crossed and seeming amused. ¡°Oh, you know,¡± Jordan said. ¡°You two disappeared, then were gone for a while, so I got worried. Decided to check in.¡± ¡°How long have you been there?¡± Sofia asked, the panic in her voice almost palpable. She looked back at Natalie, eyes wide, only for Natalie to startughing. ¡°Long enough,¡± Jordan said, her lips curling. ¡°Really, skipping ss to hook up in the bathroom. I expected more of you, Sofia.¡± ¡°M-Me? That¡¯s Natalie¡¯s doing, obviously!¡± ¡°Is it? From the noises I hearding from that stall, that¡¯s not what I would¡¯ve thought.¡± Sofia swayed on her feet, seeming almost faint with embarrassment. She ced a hand on her forehead, then pointedly turned away from Jordan. ¡°No. I¡¯m not doing this. Why did you follow us? You¡¯re both perverts, aren¡¯t you?¡± She stalked for the exit. ¡°What has my life be? Come on. We need to get back to ss. We¡¯ve been gone long enough.¡± 4.23 – Outfit Testing 4.23 ¨C Outfit Testing The day continued in the vein of most others and, soon enough, ended¡ªmeaning it was time for Natalie and her team to head down into the dungeon for a quick expedition. Except, before that, Natalie had an errand to take care of. [Stylish] had yet to be tested, and the team didn¡¯t mind starting the delve an hourte. The experiments shouldn¡¯t take long. Maybe not the entire hour. Initially, Natalie had nned to test [Stylish] with just Jordan. But Jordan had other ns. Seeing how Natalie had earned herself a pet for the week, Jordan exined, the testing might as well be done with all three of them. Experiments were best with as many subjects as possible. So, Natalie, Jordan, and Sofia ended up at their dorm room with their delving gear¡ªand other items Jordan had collected the night prior. ¡°What¡¯s in there, anyway?¡± Natalie asked, trying to peek into the shopping bag. Jordan snapped it closed and tutted at her. ¡°It¡¯s a surprise,¡± she scolded. ¡°Wait and see.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t believe we¡¯re doing this,¡± Sofia groaned, sitting in the kitchen, her forehead nted on the table. ¡°You¡¯re going to dress me up? Really? Parade me around just to see how many stats it gives?¡± ¡°We¡¯re both doing it,¡± Jordan corrected. ¡°And don¡¯t sound so enthusiastic. Natalie will get the wrong idea.¡± Sofia red at Jordan, who was, like usual, unaffected. If anything, she seemed delighted by Sofia¡¯s embarrassment. Natalie had mixed feelings. [Stylish] seemed like a headache and a half to deal with. It depended on the results of their tests today whether it would be worth using at all. It would almost certainly be when upgraded, but right now, maybe not. And with Jordan here to instigate Sofia, Natalie wasn¡¯t sure what would happen. Bullying Sofia was fun when alone, but adding Jordan to the mix was¡ªwell, again, Natalie had mixed feelings. She didn¡¯t have control over the situation when Jordan was there to egg them on. ¡°Okay,¡± Jordan said, setting the bag aside, then surveying the room. ¡°Natalie, help me turn the couch so it¡¯s pointed this way.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°So you can lean back and enjoy the show,¡± Jordan said with a roll of her eyes. ¡°Just do what I say.¡± Natalie obliged. They rearranged the couch so that it was facing the kitchen. It gave them more space to work with. Made Jordan and Sofia¡¯s ¡®stage¡¯rger. ¡°Okay. Now, sit.¡± Natalie did as she was told. ¡°Ande here, Sofia,¡± Jordan instructed. ¡°Stop moping.¡± With a grumble, Sofia stood and came to Jordan. She pointedly didn¡¯t look at Natalie. After her surge of confidence in the bathroom, Natalie would have thought Sofia would be less ufortable with all this. Testing out [Stylish] was definitely less lewd than the previous event. But instead, she was blushing as much as typical. Like with Natalie herself, it was probably Jordan¡¯s presence that heated things up. That it wasn¡¯t just the two of them. Especially with Jordan being so visibly delighted at how awkward she and Sofia were. Really, when had Jordan be such an instigator? ¡°So,¡± Jordan said. ¡°I figure we¡¯ll test it step by step. As far as I can tell, our current outfits don¡¯t actually provide a bonus.¡± ¡°There¡¯s probably a minimum sluttiness,¡± Sofia said, ring at Natalie, ming her for this event. Which was fair, to some degree. It was her ss. ¡°The outfit has to reach some level of ¡­ required lewdness.¡± ¡°Lewdness?¡± Jordan asked, lips quirking up. ¡°Well, not necessarily, I don¡¯t think. The skill says the outfit just has to arouse her. I assume she¡¯s aroused by us pretty much all the time¡ªwe can hope, at least,¡±¡ªSofia protested the second half of that statement¡ª¡°but it¡¯s the outfit that actually matters. And our current gear is frankly not that ttering.¡± ¡°As it shouldn¡¯t be,¡± Sofia growled. ¡°But not everything that¡¯s arousing is lewd, is my point,¡± Jordan continued, ignoring Sofia. ¡°Isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Not at all. For example.¡± Jordan scooped up her shopping bag, rummaged around, and withdrew something. ¡°This.¡± Sofia blinked at the item, and so did Natalie. She recognized it at the same moment Jordan stepped forward. She unclipped the ck choker and secured it around Sofia¡¯s neck before the white-haired girl could protest. Jordan stepped back and admired it, hands on hips, while Sofia frowned down at herself, hand going up to tug at the tight ck loop around her neck. ¡°A choker?¡± Sofia said. ¡°Why would that¡ª¡° Sofia paused. ¡°Did I just¡ª I felt that!¡± Sofia¡¯s eyes widened, and she turned a venomous look to Natalie. ¡°Really? A choker? That¡¯s all it takes?¡± ¡°I thought it would be,¡± Jordanughed. ¡°I know my girl well.¡± Natalie¡¯s heart skipped about three times at the casual ¡®my girl,¡¯ and the choker around Sofia¡¯s neck wasn¡¯t helping herposure either. She shifted, folding her hands on herp to hide a quickly growing problem. ¡°So, it worked?¡± Jordan asked, sending a smirking nce down at Natalie¡¯sp before facing Sofia. ¡°I mean, of course it did, especially when it¡¯s on you, but how much so? What¡¯s it feel like?¡± ¡°Especially on me?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°What¡¯s that mean?¡± Jordan raised her eyebrows, and Sofia red at her¡ªthen at Natalie, as if Natalie had done something wrong. ¡°What?¡± Natalie defended herself. ¡°Chokers are hot.¡± She had to fake a level of nonchnce. Jordan, unfortunately, had a great read on her. Something about a choker, and specifically on Sofia, had her heart thumping surprisingly hard. ¡°Ugh,¡± Sofia said. ¡°Whatever.¡± ¡°How strong does the boost feel?¡± Jordan repeated. ¡°It goes to your primary stat. Is that furor or prowess?¡± ¡°Prowess,¡± Sofia said. ¡°And it wasn¡¯t much. Only just noticeable.¡± They¡¯d gotten somewhat good at telling how potent stat increases were, since they could feel it happen every time they put on or took off a piece of gear. Sofia flexed her hands back and forth, frowning down at them as she made that appraisal. ¡°But still noticeable. Not nothing.¡± ¡°Well, we¡¯re just starting, so we can¡¯t hope for too much right away.¡± Jordan smiled mischievously. ¡°We¡¯ve got a lot of options,, and if I had to guess, it scales up based on how far we go. So, to continue, how about¡ªlet¡¯s say, your top.¡± ¡°My top?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Jordan said. ¡°As in, take it off.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Losing clothes is the easiest way to make an outfit sexy, don¡¯t you think?¡± ¡°You¡¯re serious?¡± ¡°Wait until you find out what I have you rece it with,¡± Jordan said. Sofia stared at her, then turned an incredulous look at Natalie. Natalie wasn¡¯t sure why Sofia thought she would find refuge in her. Natalie shrugged. ¡°Jordan¡¯s in charge. And we¡¯ve got a delveing up. Let¡¯s not waste time.¡± Sofia stood there for a moment. ¡°Unbelievable,¡± she finally said. Deft fingers went to the buttons and straps that made up her lightweight leather armor and started working away. ¡°Fine. But whatever you have nned, it better not be too ridiculous.¡± ¡°No promises,¡± Jordan said. 4.24 – Outfit Testing II 4.24 ¨C Outfit Testing II Reluctantly, and with her blush bing more and more prominent, Sofia stripped off the top piece of her armor. And frankly, it was a big increase to the outfit¡¯s attractiveness. Their delving gear wasn¡¯t ttering. Their daily T uniform was more so, to be honest, being thinner and clinging tighter to the body. But their equipment, not so much. Sofia tossed the garment aside and crossed her arms, leaving her in her sports bra. ¡°Well?¡± Jordan asked. ¡°Yes,¡± Sofia said, ring at Natalie, ¡°the bonus went up. I felt it.¡± ¡°So removing clothes does work,¡± Jordan said with a grin. ¡°But, is it a big increase?¡± ¡°Certainly doesn¡¯t make up for losing an entire piece of gear.¡± ¡°For now,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Yes, for now. Natalie did mention she could upgrade skills.¡± Jordan¡¯s eyebrows went up in surprise. ¡°She told you that?¡± ¡°I pestered her.¡± ¡°Even so. She must trust you, then.¡± Both Sofia and Jordan looked at her, and Natalie coughed. ¡°I mean, we are teammates.¡± Jordan smiled at Sofia, conversing silently with her. Whatever theymunicated, it left the pale girl blushing even harder than before. ¡°Whatever,¡± Sofia said. ¡°Sorry to break the news, though,¡± Jordan said, ¡°But we¡¯re not stopping with just your top. We¡¯re seeing this test through.¡± Jordan stepped closer and settled her hands onto Sofia¡¯s waist, making blue eyes widen. Slowly, tentatively, waiting to see if Sofia would protest, Jordan slid her hands onto Sofia¡¯s stomach. The duelist shivered and uncrossed her arms, ncing at Natalie. She didn¡¯t tell Jordan to stop. ¡°I¡¯m seriously jealous of these,¡± Jordan said, feeling Sofia up, running her fingers across her bumpy, toned abs. ¡°If I were you, I¡¯d show them off way more. Even without a good reason, like Nat¡¯s skill.¡± ¡°W-Well,¡± Sofia said, flustered under Jordan¡¯s sudden advances. ¡°Thank you. But. There¡¯s not exactly much armor that would let me do so. Even if I wanted to. And it¡¯s rather indiscreet to just go ¡®showing off¡¯.¡± ¡°And it¡¯s an important ce to cover up,¡± Jordan said amusedly. ¡°Hopefully less so in the future, though. You¡¯ve got an amazing body. It deserves to be on disy.¡± Sofia didn¡¯t seem sure whether to say thank you to that, or not. Jordan¡¯s hands slipped up her stomach, then yed with the bottom of Sofia¡¯s sports bra. ¡°Now, let¡¯s get this off, too?¡± Sofia¡¯s brain seemed to restart a few times at the question, and her eyes flicked between Jordan and Natalie. Natalie watched, heart hammering. Jordan was being even more assertive than Natalie had expected. Then again, why was Natalie surprised? Jordan had made severalments about sharing Sofia with her, and her stunt with sneaking into the bathroom and eavesdropping hadn¡¯t been subtle either. ¡°We are testing her ability,¡± Sofia finally said. ¡°But if you think I¡¯m fighting topless in the dungeon, you¡¯re insane.¡± ¡°No,¡± Jordanughed. ¡°Like you said, we¡¯re just testing. I want to see how much stronger the effect gets with your tits out.¡± Her lips curled up. ¡°I¡¯m guessing a lot.¡± Sofia hesitated, blushed, then peeled off thest piece of her upper outfit, leaving her standing in full delving gear from below the waist. And her top half naked, except for her choker. Sofia shifted ufortably, flushing as Natalie drank in the sight of her bared tits. Small, pale, and perky, seeing Sofia exposed sent a thrill through her. She shifted in her seat, her cock throbbing inside her skirt, growing more difficult to hide by the second. The image was even morepromising with Jordan standing next to Sofia, her side pressed into Sofia¡¯s, an arm wrapped around her waist. Looking at Natalie admire Sofia with a smirk. ¡°So?¡± Jordan asked Sofia conspiratorially. ¡°Let me guess. A big increase?¡± ¡°Definitely more than before,¡± Sofia mumbled, looking down and away from Natalie¡¯s eyes. ¡°How far will it go? Is there a maximum?¡± ¡°I figure there is,¡± Jordan said. ¡°But it does only say a ¡®minor¡¯ boost.¡± ¡°Hmph.¡± She faced Jordan. Some of her spirit returned. ¡°And why am I the only one undressing? You can help test all of this too, you know. It shouldn¡¯t be just me.¡± ¡°You want me to get my tits out, too?¡± Jordan asked. ¡°Since you asked nicely, I guess that¡¯s fine.¡± ¡°S-Shut up.¡± ¡°But you have to do it yourself.¡± ¡°Myself?¡± ¡°Take off whatever you want,¡± Jordan said. She stepped up to her, then waved up and down her body. ¡°Feel free.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Sofia said. Sofia stood there, flushing. Then, her expression resolved, refusing to be taunted. Her hands ventured up and started working away Jordan¡¯s armor. Soon, Sofia had peeled off Jordan¡¯s upperyer, then her bra, leaving two topless girls standing in front of Natalie. One smirking, satisfied with the whole situation, and the other stalwartly pretending Natalie didn¡¯t exist, blue eyes skittering away. ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± Jordan said. ¡°It¡¯s hard to tell how much the boost is, but it¡¯s not small. More than most ¡®minor¡¯ boosts, I would think.¡± She tilted her head. ¡°But not as good as what our gear would normally give us. We¡¯ll have to find apromise.¡± ¡°Like what Ana has,¡± Sofia muttered darkly. Jordan nodded. ¡°Skimpy gear. Ites with all the benefits of Natalie¡¯s skill, while being decent armor in its own right. Finding full sets for each of us will be the hard part, though.¡± ¡°Unbelievable.¡± Sofia¡¯s expression indicated the imagery of an entire team dressed in skimpy gear was something she was finding hard to digest. ¡°Alright,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Your pants, now.¡± She didn¡¯t give Sofia time to react to her words before Jordan had already reached out and undone her belt, then started pulling it from the loops. Her pants button followed, and Jordan yanked down, revealing Sofia¡¯s panties. ¡°J-Jordan,¡± Sofia protested. ¡°Spin around,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Come on. Show off that ass. It¡¯s your secret weapon.¡± Maybe as much because of Jordan¡¯s authoritative tone as her embarrassment, Sofia hesitated for only a moment, then did as she was told. She turned, her pants around her ankles, ass on full disy. And Jordan was right. It was Sofia¡¯s secret weapon. Jordan gently pped Sofia¡¯s butt, making the pale girl yelp in surprise. ¡°Jordan! Really?¡± Jordanughed in reply. ¡°That didn¡¯t seem like skill testing,¡± Sofia growled. ¡°No,¡± Jordan agreed. ¡°I just wanted a feel.¡± She reached out and squeezed, getting another handful, and making Sofia jump even higher. ¡°And maybe it affects Natalie¡¯s skill?¡± Her curled lips suggested she didn¡¯t think so; it was just an excuse. ¡°Jordan. Really,¡± Sofia huffed. ¡°What¡¯s gotten into you?¡± ¡°You,¡± Jordan said. ¡°You¡¯ve gotten into me. I mean, Gods, your ass is so unbelievable.¡± She tantly admired it. ¡°Whatever outfit we find for you, it has to show it off.¡± Sofia just stared at the dark-haired girl, not sure what to make of her sudden boldness. Jordanughed a second time. ¡°Here, finish getting your boots and pants off. I¡¯ll do the same.¡± Natalie watched silently as Jordan and Sofia finished stripping to their panties. She stayed quiet because this almost felt like more Jordan and Sofia¡¯s event than her own. And she was loving it. Seeing Jordan y with and tease Sofia was doing things to her that Natalie hadn¡¯t expected. The constant smirking Jordan was sending her way told Natalie that she was very much aware of that. ¡°Alright,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Now, get these on.¡± She dug into the shopping bag and withdrew two long ck slips of cloth. Sofia¡¯s brow furrowed as she took them, then her expression cleared up as she identified what they were. ¡°Thigh highs?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°I expected this test to be more ¡­ armor focused.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like we have skimpy armor on standby, so no. This is more to see how big of a boost we can get. What it caps out at.¡± ¡°And thigh highs will help with that?¡± ¡°Obviously. I mean, look.¡± Jordan gestured at Natalie. Sofia nced her way, then blushed at seeing Natalie¡¯s own flushed face. ¡°Really? Thigh highs and chokers? That¡¯s what you¡¯re into?¡± ¡°I mean, yeah,¡± Natalie said. In part, at least. ¡°They¡¯re hot.¡± ¡°Whatever.¡± ¡°And these too.¡± Jordan handed Sofia a small square box. ¡°Actually,¡± Jordan said, taking it back. ¡°Let me.¡± She opened the container up, then pulled out two red ¡­ stickers? Jordan peeled the back off one, then stepped close to Sofia¡ªand, grabbing her tit and gently squeezing, positioned the sticker then pressed it into Sofia¡¯s nipple. Sofia, wide-eyed, let it happen, once again helpless under Jordan¡¯s assertiveness. Jordan followed up the first with a second, gently sticking the second of the heart-shaped pasties onto Sofia. She ran her finger across the smooth sticker for longer than appropriate¡ªobviously just ying with Sofia, and drawing a shiver and an exhtion from the white-haired girl as she traced her nipple through the pasty. ¡°There,¡± Jordan murmured. ¡°Nice and covered up. Now, the thigh highs.¡± Sofia did as she was told, slipping on the other article of clothing. Which left her in her panties, ck thigh highs, red nipple pasties, and choker. ¡°Because this is totally functional delving gear,¡± Sofia muttered, seeming self-conscious in the lewd get-up. She shifted from foot to shoot, arms crossed, not meeting Natalie¡¯s eyes. ¡°And stop ogling me.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that the point?¡± Natalie asked. ¡°Something like this has to get close to [Stylish]¡¯s max,¡± Jordan said, admiring Sofia¡¯s perverted state of undress. ¡°Barring maybe full lingerie, and a ¡­ few things you probably wouldn¡¯t befortable with. So, how¡¯s it feel? How much?¡± ¡°More than I¡¯d expected,¡± Sofia said. ¡°But again. Not enough to make up missing armor.¡± She struggled to sound professional while blushing furiously, her entire body on disy. She didn¡¯t seem to know what to do with her hands; she kept crossing her arms, then uncrossing them. ¡°We could also find equipment that naturally doesn¡¯t cover much up,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Boots and gloves, a crown, and another piece of jewelry, for example. Then wear whatever we want for our real outfit.¡± ¡°And lose out on the physical protection?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a problem too,¡± Jordan agreed. ¡°So maybe real gear¡¯s necessary. But maybe not. Once Natalie upgrades [Stylish], it might be pretty strong. Make it worth changing what you wear.¡± ¡°What we wear,¡± Sofia corrected. ¡°Stop acting like it¡¯ll just be me.¡± ¡°You¡¯re the one blushing about it,¡± Jordan said. ¡°I¡¯ve already decided to.¡± Sofia huffed. ¡°Okay,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Let¡¯s test out a few more things, make sure there¡¯s a cap, then we¡¯ll go find Liz and Ana. We¡¯ve got a delve to handle.¡± She sighed. ¡°Though, if you two want to skip out today, and maybe have fun some other way ¡­?¡± Sofia stared at Jordan, eyes wide at the obvious suggestion, and Natalie just shook her head in exasperation. ¡°Fine, fine,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Clearly, Natalie has some more training to take care of.¡± She reached out and squeezed Sofia¡¯s ass, making her jump. ¡°Our pet is still way too reluctant.¡± She sighed. ¡°But I¡¯ll wait patiently. It¡¯ll be worth it.¡± 4.25 – Glass 4.25 ¨C ss Jordan had Sofia¡ªand Natalie¡ªexperiment with a few more outfits of varying degrees of lewdness. They found that the bonus did eventually cap out, though only when dressed in ways that could most forgivingly be called ¡®obscene¡¯. Like with Sofia in her thighs highs, panties, choker, and pasties. Natalie didn¡¯t think anyone would want to dress that scandalously for a while, though. If they ever would. Jordan also dragged Natalie up to the front, then sat on the couch and cozied up with Sofia¡ªstill scantily d, with their tops off, and Jordan indulgingly pressing herself into Sofia¡¯s side, their nearly naked curves hugging. Because [Stylish] worked both ways, Jordan bossed Natalie around, ordering her to strip this, strip that, and change out articles of clothing¡ªbecause Natalie¡¯s buffs needed to be tested, too. It was more mortifying than she¡¯d expected. Natalie didn¡¯t behave that much differently than Sofia had. Which was to say, she blushed furiously throughout and did what Jordan told her to. Natalie could take control of a situation, but Jordan being so confident and egging on Sofia, making lewdments about Natalie¡¯s body and forcing Sofia to agree with her, had Natalie on fire. Especially when Jordan kept forcing Sofia to give her ¡®honest thoughts¡¯ on Natalie¡¯s outfit. And body. Since what aroused her affected Natalie¡¯s boosts¡ªso, Jordan told Sofia, she shouldn¡¯t be so embarrassed. It was only a practical discussion. She made sure to constantly mention Natalie¡¯s cock. Natalie wasn¡¯t sure who was blushing harder by the end of it¡ªher or Sofia. Their allotted testing hour burned away fast, though. Finishing up, they got dressed into their original delving gear and returned to the team. Sofia seemed grateful the debacle was over, and honestly, Natalie was too. Jordan had found it way too amusing to mess with them. Really, where had all the confidencee from? The ease with which she¡¯d taken charge? Natalie would have to teach her a lesson tonight. Just to make sure she didn¡¯t get the wrong idea. As a squad of five, they headed for the dungeon. The uing delve was an event she¡¯d been looking forward to. With her significant gains in power and her new weapon choice, she¡¯d been restless to test herself. And even without ounting for the excitement of her new boosts, delves were her favorite part of the day. Favorite professional part, at least. Hard to beat nights with Jordan. Or leveraging her ownership of Sofia. As they headed for the dungeon, Natalie exined [Joined] and [Link] to the team. She spared the details behind how she and Liz had acquired the buffs, but she was sure the team could infer a few things. And if they didn¡¯t, Liz¡¯s blushing gave it away. But it was a detail that the team needed to know. They were, ultimately, professionals¡ªas Liz was always insisting¡ªand [Joined] and [Link] changed thebat dynamic. Resting her oversized hammer on her shoulder, Natalie and her team ventured into the dungeon entrance¡ªthat t, shimmering ck portal iid into a giant stone b. She went first, the cold ck substance making her shiver as she stepped through. Her team followed on her heels. Now that they had delved past the first floor, the dungeon entrance didn¡¯t drop them straight into the fray. Instead, they arrived to a small stone chamber with two shimmering ck portals identical to the previous. Above each, respective numerals were inscribed: ¡®I¡¯ and ¡®II¡¯. ¡°Straight to the second floor, right?¡± Natalie asked, just to verify. It¡¯d been what they discussed, but always better to check. ¡°Should be able to handle it,¡± Sofia said. ¡°So yes. Second floor.¡± Natalie stepped through the second of the ck portals, and once again, she shivered as she passed through space. Her footstepnded on the polished tile floor of a square chamber. Natalie oriented herself quickly, scanning her environment. No monsters came rushing out to meet them in a surprise attack, which wasn¡¯tmon when first entering but technically was possible. She cataloged the room and the objects within. The chamber wasrge and square, with scattered ss sculptures and mirrors. In the center was a fountain made of clear crystal lit from below, illuminating the water inside and casting reflections on the ceiling and walls. Water tinkled down into the circr pool it sprouted from. The tiles were polished to a mirror finish. There were four exits, each different. The one to the north¡ªshe chose the reference direction arbitrarily¡ªwas made from glossy ck obsidian. Another exit, to the east, was a set of ornate double doors that gleamed gold. The third was smaller, made of ss and etched with intricate designs. She couldn''t make out much of the hallway through it. The fourth was a simple, unassuming wooden door, its in appearance jarring with the rest of the room. Her team, having joined her less than a second after Natalie herself stepped through, also peered around at the space. "Don''t recognize it," Sofia said. "Do any of you?" All negatives. "An uncharted floor, then," Sofia said. "Hm." That wasn''t the rarest thing in the world, since the dungeon could hardly be mapped in its entirety, even after centuries of effort. For all they knew, some floors were created from scratch when delvers set foot inside. But it was moremon for uncharted floors to appear deeper into the dungeon, not this early. Natalie wondered whether her ss was at fault. Probably not. Not everything could be ascribed to her strange ss. Odd things happened to everyone when it came to the dungeon. Plus, nothing about the floor seemed lewd¡ªprobably the best indicator. "What''s with all the polish?" Natalie asked. "Nearly hurts my eyes." Besides a few surfaces, the entire room gleamed. The mirrors, the tile, the ss fountain, the ss sculptures¡ªeven the doorways, besides the wooden one. It made the re of the whitenterns obnoxious. "Dunno. But these sculptures are really something," Jordanmented, peering at one of them. It was a young woman¡¯s bust, her face severe and elegant. To its side was an abstract figure made from interlocked triangles. They rested on engraved plinths. ques were beneath each, filled with text, though the words were gibberish. "They''re beautiful,¡± Jordan said. Natalie agreed. Though, she wasn''t here to admire the dungeon-created artwork. She spared a moment to appreciate the incredible nature of the dungeon, as did most of the team¡ªAna seemed more interested in the nonsensical text than the statues themselves¡ªbut then Natalie corralled them to the more practical matter: "So, which door?" "Good question," Sofia said. "Think the designs mean anything?¡± ¡°Could. Could also not.¡± ¡°Helpful.¡± ¡°Perhaps difficulty?¡± Ana suggested. ¡°Or they hint where they lead?¡± ¡°The golden doors, in that case, might be something dangerous, but with a reward,¡± Sofia said. ¡°A miniboss?¡± Liz suggested. ¡°Or a regr boss,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Let¡¯s set it aside for now,¡± Sofia said. ¡°We¡¯lle back and checkter. How about we try the easiest? The wooden door.¡± With how little information they had to go on, they collectively shrugged and agreed. The chamber was hardly going anywhere, and they could check out the rest of the doorster. Natalie supposed the wooden door could close behind them, locking them out of future choices, but without any reason to believe that would happen, there was little point worrying over it. Pretty much anything could happen in the dungeon. Natalie led the team through the wooden door. It didn¡¯t lock behind them. The hallway they entered was much the same as the entry chamber: all polished tiles, ss statues, and mirrors. Soft white lights glowed from above, reflected in the tiles below. Though the re was annoying, she preferred it over dimly lit floors. They picked across the hallway, watching for tripwires and other traps. None presented themselves. They turned a corner, and the first encounter of the evening came into view. Natalie grinned, her grip tightening on her hefty two-handed hammer. It was time to test out her new fighting style. 4.26 – Steamroll 4.26 ¨C Steamroll The [Lumin Golem - Lv. 2] was a humanoid monster about seven feet tall made of ss crystal¡ªkeeping with the theme of the floor. Like the floor itself, too, Natalie didn¡¯t recognize the creature. She admittedly didn¡¯t pay much attention in ss, but monster manuals were one of the few things she had scoured cover to cover. If she didn¡¯t know the beast, the rest of the team likely didn¡¯t either. That wasn¡¯t ideal, since pre-warning of what types of abilities, strengths, and weaknesses a monster had could be pivotal to victory. That said, she and her team were strong for level twos, and this was just a single simple dungeon encounter. With the monster having spotted them at the same time they had it, Natalie didn¡¯t waste time. She charged forward with a shout, her massive two-handed hammer gripped in both hands. Liz¡¯s empowering buff suffused her, even stronger than usual¡ªand not just because of Liz¡¯s level-up and improved stats, but because [Juggernaut] amplified buffs. It was a sixty percent t boost for furor, applied after everything else. Power thrummed through her muscles, and her feet hit the ground hard enough to crack tile as she charged. Adrenaline helped carry her forward¡ªthis being her first real chance to show off. Forgoing subtlety entirely, Natalie arrived at her opponent, the ss golem raising its palm forward and pointing at her as if to summon some spell or skill. But she interrupted it. She heaved her gigantic weapon forward with everything she had, pivoting with her waist to get as much momentum as possible. A hefty block of stone impacted the monster¡¯s ss shoulder with the full might of Natalie¡¯s newfound strength. The blow was even more devastating than she¡¯d hoped. Dungeon monsters could engage entire groups of delvers and pose a challenge, but faced with Natalie¡¯s strength, that didn¡¯t matter. On impact, the [Lumin Golem] went flying, Natalie¡¯s hammer hitting with a crunch of splintering ss that was satisfying on a visceral level. The humanoid creature went tumbling sideways, then mmed hard into the wall. It didn¡¯t die in a single hit, nor was it even crippled, but Natalie knew she¡¯d just burned through its health pool. Ity stunned against the wall, having nearly embedded into it. Meaning Natalie was primed for a follow-up attack. She carried what momentum was left and pivoted with wless footwork, swinging her hammer in a wide arc, cycloning herself to her stunned opponent¡ªand smashing another full-strength strike straight into the creature¡¯s skull. One shot hadn¡¯t finished the job, but the second did. The ss skull crumpled, resisting for a fraction of a second, before Natalie¡¯s hammer punctured. Crystal exploded, and Natalie¡¯s hammer mmed into the wall. The decapitated monster slumped to the ground, not having gotten a single retaliatory strike off. Natalie grunted as she withdrew her hammer¡ªembedded an inch into the wall¡ªthen wound up a finishing strike. It was always best to be sure, especially when it hadn¡¯t started evaporating yet. She caved in the crystal creature¡¯s chest next. ck smoke finally rose from the monster, its form dissipating. A core plinked to the ground. Natalie rested her hammer on her shoulder. She turned a self-satisfied smile to her teammates. Who were, reasonably, watching with raised eyebrows. ¡°Huh,¡± Liz said. ¡°I appreciate the enthusiasm,¡± Sofia said dryly, ¡°but that was reckless, Nat.¡± ¡°Yeah, but did you see how fast it died?¡± At Natalie¡¯s excitement, Sofia rolled her eyes. A smile tugged at her lips. She was exasperated, but also happy for Natalie. Natalie recognized she had been a little too eager to throw herself into the melee, but she had wanted to show off. Regardless, while her new style demanded a more aggressive style, maybe not to that extent. ¡°A creature made of crystal,¡± Ana said. ¡°I can only assume it was weak to blunt damage, which is why it died so fast.¡± ¡°Or maybe I just hit that hard,¡± Natalie said. It was a joke; she recognized that three shots, even ounting for her new strength, was an insanely quick victory against an equal-level dungeon monster. ¡°Seeing how the floor¡¯s theme is ss, I expect we¡¯ll be seeing simr,¡± Sofia said. She raised an eyebrow at Natalie. ¡°I guess the dungeon also wanted you to show off.¡± Natalieughed. Maybe it did. ¡°What do you think that spell was going to be?¡± Liz asked. ¡°When it raised its hand?¡± ¡°We should find out, if there¡¯s another,¡± Sofia said. ¡°In case any stronger encounterse up that have simr abilities. We need to gather information for future enemies.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re telling me not to kill them so fast?¡± Natalie asked. Sofia rolled her eyes. ¡°Not every encounter will go that smoothly. We are on the second floor.¡± ¡°But yes,¡± Jordan said teasingly, more willing to feed Natalie¡¯s ego. ¡°Don¡¯t kill them so fast, Nat.¡± ¡°No promises.¡± In high spirits, Natalie ventured down the hallway. She scooped up and pocketed the earned monster core before going. Her brilliant first performance did prove itself to be an edge case. While Natalie had grown leaps and bounds from her level one self, she hadn¡¯t be a literal juggernaut, capable of two-hitting every equivalent-level monster¡ªwhich were designed for teams to handle. Still, as the team explored down the hallway, taking encounter after encounter, one fact did make itself clear: Natalie had been on roughly equal footing with her team in their level one delves, maybe even on the low end, but now, she might be their star yer. She was simply impossible to deal with. Throwing herself forward, empowered by her new skills and Liz¡¯s buff, Natalie could bully level two monsters around, not only doing as much damage as each of her three damage dealers, but at the same time, being a durable frontline. Even better, [Illusion] further disoriented her enemies, making her blows nearly undodgeable, and [Hunker Down] mitigated her biggest w¡ªthat the whirlwind two-handed style often left her exposed or put onto exploitable trajectories. Should she end up in that situation, she could activate her defensive skill and be invulnerable to whatever spell or attack had been flung her way. In short, her level two upgrade was even stronger than she¡¯d thought it would be. And that was before she upgraded everything. [Stylish] and [Bigger is Better], to name the two important boosts that would being. Taking a break after their fifth fight, Natalie caught Liz studying her with a frown. ¡°What?¡± Natalie asked. Liz chewed her lip, as if hesitant¡ªwhich especially piqued Natalie¡¯s interest. ¡°What?¡± she repeated. ¡°I just ¡­¡± Liz said. ¡°Huh. Don¡¯t take this the wrong way, but your ss is really strong.¡± ¡°Thanks?¡± Natalie asked. How could she take that badly? The glow of excitement that came with her upgrades was hard to fight away; the giddiness still hadn¡¯t faded at how well she was performing. ¡°Which means I¡¯m worried you¡¯ll outpace us,¡± Liz finished. ¡°You¡¯re probably getting more experience than us, now.¡± Natalie paused. ¡°I ¡­ guess that¡¯s possible.¡± It hadn¡¯t been something she¡¯d thought about. ¡°Should I take it easy, then?¡± ¡°What? No way. It¡¯s still better for the team if we steamroll our way through. I just meant ¡­¡± Liz hesitated for a second time. ¡°You might outgrow us in the long run,¡± Jordan said for her. ¡°Especially if your ss keeps improving at a simr pace. We don¡¯t have broken abilities like you.¡± Natalie¡¯s brow furrowed. ¡°I mean, maybe. I could¡¯ve just gotten a really good level two.¡± She wasn¡¯t sure if she believed that, though. ¡°I guess.¡± ¡°But even if that were the case,¡± Natalie said. ¡°So what? Just means I can help the team more. I doubt I¡¯ll have to, but if need be, I¡¯ll drag you along with me.¡± ¡°Or maybe her perverted skills will give equal bonuses to us, too,¡± Sofia said dryly. ¡°There¡¯s already one, [Stylish]. Why not more?¡± ¡°Or that,¡± Natalie said. She waved her hand dismissively. ¡°The point is, we¡¯ll handle that when we get to it, and no matter what, I¡¯m sticking with you. We¡¯re a team. That¡¯s not changing.¡± Natalie would have thought it didn¡¯t even need to be stated, but Jordan had joked about it once, and now Liz had shown concern. Personally, she didn¡¯t even think it would happen. Outpacing her team? Maybe mildly in the best case, a single-level lead, but not more than that. For that to happen, she would need to contribute an overwhelminglyrger portion to the fights than her teammates. The dungeon distributed experience mostly equally. Contribution mattered, but mostly when there were level gaps, to stop a high level from dragging a low level through the ranks. Delvers of equal level tended to stay in the same rough ballpark. Natalie would have to essentially do as much work as her whole teambined to outpace them at a meaningful rate. And while she¡¯d seen some impressive upgrades, they weren¡¯t that insane. Still, maybe Natalie should focus on upgrading team skills. She¡¯d been selfish in going straight for personal power, but she had no intention to leave her team behind. [Stylish] was probably her next goal, then. And whatever else came in the future. Liz seemed reassured by Natalie¡¯s promise. Her brief concern passed, and they continued deeper into the dungeon. 4.27 – Mining II 4.27 ¨C Mining II Despite having arrived at a seemingly man-made dungeon level, there were still opportunities to find resources. nts and herbs for Jordan, or ores for Natalie. They were lessmon, though, and sometimes took some searching around. In Natalie¡¯s case, she found her first ore vein hidden behind a cracked mirror. Jordan was the one to spot it; she was the most attentive of the group and the person who also identified the most traps. As rogues tended to. Natalie wasn¡¯t sure whether she had a skill explicitly for that, or whether she had a keen eye. She certainly had thetter¡ªbut the former might be helping her too. Either way, Natalie used her hammer to smash out the rest of the tall, elegant eight-foot mirror, revealing the stone behind it. Streaks of vibrant pink snaked across the stone. ¡°Pink,¡± Liz said curiously. ¡°What ore is pink?¡± ¡°Dunno,¡± Natalie said, intrigued. There was a period after sses each day dedicated to extracurricrs, and Natalie had been spending it learning more about mining¡ªtechniques for gathering and identifying the various resources that she might find in the dungeon. She suspected she was evening up on level two of her resource-gathering subss, since she had obviously been mining any ores that she came across. Subsses tended to keep pace with one¡¯s main ss, or even progress faster. Liz¡¯s question was more of an idlement than a genuine inquiry. Ore veins could be appraised in the same way as loot. Natalie, and probably the rest of the team, did so. *** Ore Deposit - Erotite Quantity - F Yield - E- Difficulty - F *** ¡°Erotite?¡± Liz asked. ¡°What in the world is that?¡± Natalie¡¯s wrinkled her nose. She had a few suspicions about what was going on. And so did Ana. ¡°If I had to guess,¡± the mage said, ¡°it¡¯s Natalie¡¯s ss once again influencing the dungeon. I¡¯m no expert on mining and ores, but I¡¯ve never heard of erotite. And the prefix?¡± ¡°Ero,¡± Sofia huffed. ¡°And it¡¯s pink. Not hard to guess.¡± ¡°But what¡¯s it do?¡± Natalie asked, eying the pink veins of ore. ¡°Should we be worried?¡± ¡°Not sure,¡± Jordan said. ¡°Probably not? It¡¯s ore.¡± ¡°I¡¯m interested to see what a cksmith could do with it,¡± Anamented. ¡°What effects it would provide when turned into armor or weapons. It¡¯s probably suited to your ss.¡± ¡°What does that mean?¡± ¡°That¡¯s for you and a cksmith to figure out,¡± Ana said. ¡°I doubt the ore is trapped, somehow,¡± Liz said, answering Natalie¡¯s earlier question. ¡°Nothing to worry about from an immediate sense. Go ahead and try. We¡¯ll clear the rest of the room.¡± The team hung around briefly to see if Natalie¡¯s first pickaxe impact caused anything worrying, but it didn¡¯t. Rock splintered and ttered to the ground, and seeing it wasn¡¯t trapped, her team wandered off to hunt down any other valuables. Natalie worked away at unearthing the material from the wall. Quantity, F. Yield, E-. Difficulty, F. Quantity represented how much ore was present in the vein, while yield indicated how much could be gathered from each so-called ¡®unit¡¯ of ore. So effectively they could be multiplied together to give an appraisal of howrge of a payday Natalie had run into. Quantity was random, but yield tended to increase the deeper into the dungeon one ventured. It was also the most important of the two indicators, since high-grade yield meant a lot more ore per minute of gathering. In the end, though, the total amount of ore collected was what mattered, because cksmiths could condense bulk material down into powerful metal. Natalie wasn¡¯tpletely educated on the details of how armor- and weapon-smithing worked, but she knew even iron armor could be powerful if a cksmith condensed enough of the material. Though ideally, a person would want a high-tier metal. Iron tended to be the metal of low-level delvers. Erotite, though. Natalie wasn¡¯t sure where that would fit into the dynamic. Assuming it was rted to her ss, then what kind of armor, gear, or essories would it create? Was it a higher-tier metal than iron? Something she¡¯d want to use in the future? What were its upsides and downsides? How was she going to exin what it was? Natalie shook her head, not looking forward to that disastrous conversation. She might have to open up about her ss¡ªat least in a small way¡ªto another person. Shara, the cksmith she hadmissioned previously, had seemed nice. Hopefully, she was open-minded, too. Halfway through excavating the vein of erotite, Natalie¡¯s earlier suspicion was confirmed: she had been close to a level-up. *** [Mining - Lv. 1] progressed to [Mining - Lv. 2] [Skill: Risky Excavation] earned. *** Risky excavation? Sub-ss skills were rarely anything incredible, but they did help. Pausing to wipe the sweat from her brow, Natalie hefted her pickaxe out of the wall, then leaned against it as she appraised [Risky Excavation]. *** [Risky Excavation] - ss-bearer is granted bonus yield when excavating ore while naked. *** Natalie stared nkly at the wall, letting the words wash through her. ¡°You¡¯re fucking kidding me,¡± she said. Seriously? Just, why? She looked around the room. The rest of her team was studiously going about clearing therge space. She looked back to the ore. Well. Efficiency mattered most. But she wasn¡¯t happy about it. Cheeks burning, she set her pickaxe aside and started stripping. Halfway through, Ana, who was closest to her, noticed. ¡°Natalie?¡± the dark-haired mage asked curiously. ¡°What ¡­ are you doing?¡± ¡°Mining,¡± Natalie said, shimmying out of her top and setting it aside. ¡°What does it look like?¡± She yanked off her gloves, then unhooked her bra. Ana paused, then said. ¡°It looks like you¡¯re getting naked.¡± ¡°Yeah. Sorry if that¡¯s awkward. Look away, if you want.¡± Ana didn¡¯t, despite Natalie tossing her bra aside. She didn¡¯t look surprised in the slightest, either. Natalie¡¯s skin tingled at exposing herself, but she didn¡¯t stop peeling off armor and clothes. She was tired of blushing whenever the dungeon¡ªor her ss¡ªmessed with her. Besides, if things continued in this way, then she suspected everyone would have to get used to each other¡¯s bodies¡ªand perhaps intimately. ¡°But why?¡± Ana asked. The rest of the team was looking over now, too. Natalie peeled off her boots, then pants. ¡°Got a new skill,¡± Natalie grunted. ¡°For your mining ss?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°What¡¯s it do?¡± ¡°When I¡¯m naked, I get more ore.¡± Ana paused. ¡°That makes sense,¡± the mage said. Natalie turned an incredulous look at her. ¡°How? How does that ¡®make sense¡¯?¡± ¡°Because of your main ss. And, I mean, look at the ore.¡± She gestured at the pink vein of metal. ¡°Erotite. Clearly, your mining ss is going in that direction.¡± ¡°Whatever,¡± Natalie grumbled. She was d one of them thought it made sense. ¡°Let me mine in peace, please.¡± She finally stripped her panties off. She kept her body facing away¡ªher cock hidden. If Ana saw it, so be it. She¡¯d have to learn at some point. That said, she wasn¡¯t trying topletely sh her teammates. ¡°Can¡¯t you see I¡¯m busy?¡± Ana nodded seriously. ¡°Yes, you are. I apologize.¡± She turned away. She didn¡¯t seem to have noticed what was between Natalie¡¯s legs. She had been keeping firm eye contact as Natalie looked over her shoulder. The mage wasn¡¯t even blushing, a strict professional. The woman was really something. ¡°Can I watch, at least?¡± Jordan called out, sounding amused at the situation. Troublesome woman. ¡°Shut up,¡± Natalie said, picking up her pickaxe. The effects of [Stylish] coursed through her, embarrassingly making it obvious that her team appreciated her naked body, and Natalie tried to ignore it. She felt extremely exposed, and not out of embarrassment alone¡ªthough only Jordan was watching her, the rest averting their eyes. Natalie was more literally exposed, too. Lacking her armor made her vulnerable, and this was the dungeon. Danger coulde from anywhere, even in a seemingly calm room. In fact, with a skill name like [Risky Excavation], she wouldn¡¯t be surprised if there was a hidden effect to make ambushes more likely. Or maybe it made other delving parties more likely to show up. Who knew what kind of ridiculous things her ss would throw at her? ¡°You should get an oversized pickaxe,¡± Anamented suddenly, an idea apparently popping into her head. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it work with your new skill? Make you a better miner?¡± Natalie paused, then shared a look with Jordan, who also had raised eyebrows. ¡°Huh,¡± Natalie said. ¡°I¡¯m not sure. The skill says weapon, not tools, but maybe it would work.¡± ¡°Worth trying out,¡± Jordan agreed. ¡°Good idea, Ana.¡± Ana nodded, seeming pleased despite her nk expression, then turned back away. The mage was still hard to read, but Natalie was getting better at it by the day. She thought. Natalie added the experiment to her ever-growing list of priorities. An oversized pickaxe. Maybe that was something she couldmission from Shara, the cksmith. For now, though, she was stuck with her regr-sized one. And she had a lot of ore remaining, so she got back to work. 4.28 – Prismatic Stalker 4.28 ¨C Prismatic Stalker Fortunately, she wasn''t ambushed. She collected her payload of erotite¡ªgiven a decent bonus for utilizing [Risky Excavation]¡ªthen dressed herself without problem. The expedition continued. Natalie and her team worked through the polished marble and ss hallways of the undergroundbyrinth, slowly racking up kills and monster cores. Eventually, they reached a dead end and backtracked to the original room. "Should we try the golden door, now?" Sofia asked. "Could be a boss," Jordan said. "Or a mini-boss. We''re ready for that?" Natalie adjusted her grip on her hammer, appraising the shining metallic doors. "Honestly, I''d say we''re in better shape for this one than the others." Geared up and with significant power spikes from progressing to level two, the boss might beparatively weaker than the ones they''d fought earlier. Though she doubted it would be trivial. No boss fight was easy. The party looked at each other, then nodded. "Gold door, then," Natalie said. They climbed the staircase onto the tform where the doors stood. Resting her hammer on her shoulder, she eased it open and peeked in. "That''s definitely a boss room," Natalie said. Inside was a grand chamber made of the same polished materials as the rest of thebyrinth. Notably, though, thirteen mirrors syed out in a circle, surrounding the room. There didn''t seem to be another exit. Not a series of hallways and rooms like the wooden door¡ªthis golden door led to a single encounter. "Maybe a mini-boss," Natalie said. "But if I had to guess, a full one." "Everyone''s ready?" Sofia asked. The party agreed. Natalie entered first, with the others slipping in after her. Having the encounter seal itself off with only a portion of the team inside would be disastrous, so they didn''t dawdle. "The mirrors mean something," Liz murmured. "Keep that in mind." Natalie nodded. It was obvious enough. Like the patches of dirt for the dryad, which had acted as safe zones. Boss rooms often had some environmental factor. Natalie wasn''t sure how the mirrors woulde into y, but she would keep an eye on them. There wasn''t much to say, so Natalie advanced, hammer held at the ready. In preparation, Liz suffused her with the empowering buff, and that familiar wash of energy surged through her. Entering the room, a glimpse of movement in her peripheral caught her eye. She spun, but saw only a mirror reflecting back what it should: her, with her weapon held at the ready. She hesitated. Had she imagined it? And if she hadn''t¡ªthen had ite from the mirror itself, or behind it? A second sh of movement made her spin the other way. "Did you see that?" Sofia asked. "If I had to guess," Natalie said, eyes darting across the room, "it''s the boss." "Inside the mirrors?" Sofia asked. "That''s what it seems¡ª" The shadow reappeared, and Natalie''s gaze snapped to it. A hulking beast ripped out of the furthest mirror from her¡ªthe one positioned in the back of the room, closest to Liz and Ana. Natalie reacted by instinct: grunting with exertion, she hurled her hammer. Through some miracle¡ªsince Natalie didn''t have the best aim, much less when the projectile was a giant warhammer¡ªher weapon hit the crystalline beast lunging from the mirror square in the jaw, just as it arrived at Liz. The huge stone projectile smashed into it, and the sound of splintering ss filled the air, as did a loud yelp. The beast, deflected by the enormous projectile, veered away, momentum diverted. The bulk of the beast caught Liz on the shoulder as it passed, though, but its snapping jaws missed her. Liz, small and with little to no physical strength, went tumbling anyway. Her wand skittered across the floor, ripped from her hands. [Prismatic Stalker - Lv. 2] A wolf. Natalie spared a fraction of a second to identify what they were up against. A huge, six-foot- tall, twelve-foot-long, sleek, alien beast vaguely resembling a wolf. It was made up, like many of the creatures they''d found on this floor, of interlocking geometric shapes of ss, approximating a blocky sculpture. Where most of the monsters prior were clear and see-through, the wolf had glints of prismatic colors shimmering across its body. If she hadn''t known the monster was a boss before, its elegant, sparklingposition made it clear. This thing was clearly stronger than the regr mobs they''d been fighting earlier. Natalie''s frantic hammer throw was enough to save Liz, but not stagger the beast. The wolf stood, shook its head to clear its disorientation, then faced Natalie and let loose a hair-raising growl. She had, at least, saved her healer and drawn the boss''s attention¡ªher job as the tank. But she also didn''t have a weapon, now. Nor a shield. Her eyes flicked to her hammer, whichy a fair distance away, in the direction of the wolf. Well. Not a great start. At least Liz was fine. The wolf rushed forward, and the fight began in earnest. Natalie scrambled for her hammer, at the same time conjuring an [Illusion]¡ªsince, disarmed, magic was all she had. The rest of the team sprung into action too. Liz rushed for her wand, trying to re-arm herself just like Natalie. Her illusion took hold, and it sessfully distracted the [Prismatic Stalker]. It was one of Natalie''srger, but less elegant, creations, a mirage of her entire body scrambling toward her hammer, but ced several feet ahead of her. The wolf rushed for it, passing through the illusion, and Natalie skidded thest few feet, scooping up her two-handed hammer. The wolf, realizing it had been fooled, kept its momentum¡ªchoosing to ignore Natalie rather than spin around. It went for easier prey. In this case, Jordan, who had been edging in from the side for a sneak attack. Natalie cursed and scrambled forward, working up her hammer''s momentum as she traveled, overriding her instinct to make a mad dash to save Jordan. That was the downside of delving with friends, much less¡ªwell, whatever she and Jordan were. Trusting that Jordan could take care of herself was difficult, regardless that she knew Jordan was more thanpetent. Jordan weaved between rapid shes of the beast''s ws, then side-stepped a vicious lunge. Natalie arrived in the next moment, eager to take the monster''s attention back through a vicious attack of her own. The gigantic stone block of her hammer crashed into crystal, and her arms reverberated with the impact, all of the momentum she had been gathering as she charged forwarding to an abrupt stop. The force behind the blow rattled both of them¡ªNatalie, whose arms ached from the impact, and the wolf, who staggered away. But this was a boss, so even a direct hit couldn''t do that much damage. Shards of splintered prismatic ss flew away, leaving an indent in its rib cage, but the attack was far from a finisher. The beast snarled and turned on her, delivering a flurry of shing ws. Lacking a shield, or an easy way to dodge, Natalie activated [Hunker Down]. The wolf''s ws mmed into her, but instead of scoring gouges across her armor, came to an abrupt stop. She held [Hunker Down] for the full duration, the wolf growling in agitation as it failed to scratch her. With the opening her defensive ability brought, her teammate''s own attacks finally crashed into the creature¡ªdaggers, a rapier, and ribbons of ck energy. Snarling, the wolf leaped backward, putting space between them. Then¡ªto Natalie''s surprise¡ªturned and sprinted away, deeper into the arena. Headed for one of the mirrors? The monster hade out of one, Natalie realized. So why couldn''t it go back in? And what else? The giant beast disappeared as it soared seamlessly into the ss, and Natalie understood at the same moment as Sofia. As the entirety of the team did. "Behind us!" Sofia shouted, spinning to face their backline. Exactly as the fight had begun, the wolf leaped through the mirror closest to Liz and Ana, having used the ss to teleport across the arena. Natalie finally understood the gimmick of the fight¡ªthe purpose of the mirrors. And it was devastating. Healers and mages oftentimes couldn''t face off against even normal monsters. Jordan might be able to briefly hold her own, but Liz? Ana? And this time, Natalie wasn''t close enough to intervene¡ªnot even with a lucky hammer throw. Even with the team''s quick reactions, nobody could save Liz as the giant beast crashed into her, gigantic crystal jawtching around her torso. 4.29 – Prismatic Stalker II 4.29 ¨C Prismatic Stalker II One thing saved Liz from a serious maiming that even health potions would have struggled to heal. [Joined]. One of the two abilities tied to Liz¡¯s wand, that she and Natalie had activated the night prior and which had remained active through the day. An effect that linked their health and mana pools, so that they could each draw on them as necessary. A giant crystal jaw mped down around Liz, shook viciously, then tossed the girl aside¡ªand Natalie dropped to her knees, crumpling in agony. Her hammer ttered from her, and she gasped as she barely managed to stay on her knees and hands. Liz¡¯s body went flying, but¡ªin a shocking disy¡ªshe scrambled to her feet, not looking worse for wear. She and Liz hadn¡¯t had the opportunity to test [Joined], and it seemed Liz had instinctively diverted all the damage done to her to Natalie¡ªor at least the huge majority. Natalie¡¯s vision swam as she desperately fought away unconsciousness. She wasn¡¯t the most durable of tanks, with no skills that boosted tenacity, only gear and whatever natural fortitude came with her ss. So a direct blow from a boss was something even she struggled with. Maybe even the damage was amplified since it was applied to Liz, then transferred to her¡ªso what defenses Natalie did have might not even have applied. Energy suffused her, and Natalie gasped as Liz¡¯s first healing spell coursed through her. It staved off the immediate threat of passing out, but far from cured her. The team, at least, acted as professionals ought to; they knew of [Joined] and [Link], and so despite being surprised at seeing their healer effortlessly shake off a direct boss attack, immediately returned to the fight. Sofia acted as the intermediary tank as Natalie dragged herself to her feet¡ªnearly falling over again¡ªand scooped up her hammer. The party of four tackled the wolf themselves, and as Liz¡¯s healing spell settled¡ªand a regeneration effect joined it¡ªNatalie slowly worked her way into fighting order. She would be feeling that phantom bite for a while. Heals could only do so much; she would be waking up bruised tomorrow. Or, at least, should be. She didn¡¯t know how attacks given through [Joined] worked. Did they leave physical marks? Finally back in fighting order, Natalie re-entered the frenzy. The brawl continued. Her blows weren¡¯t quite as powerful, gging from the damage she had taken, but still plenty enough to draw the wolf¡¯s attention. The beast was quickly weakening. The wolf itself wasn¡¯t all that strong; its difficulty came from the mirrors. Against most teams, the ambush attack would have crippled their healer or mage. [Joined] had saved them, making the fight much easier than it would have been for most teams. The wolf soared through the teleporting mirrors several more times, but the team naturally positioned themselves to mitigate the advantage the wolf could im. A good delving team preferably made mistakes zero times, but never the same one more than once. Natalie had the pleasure ofnding the finishing blow, and it was a satisfying bit of retribution. The huge block of her war hammer caught the beast straight on the side of the head, and with its health whittled down over the past several minutes, the blow was actually lethal this time. Prismatic ss shattered, and the life of the beast went out all at once as its head exploded. Its sleek, crystalline body slumped down, skidded several feet, then started evaporating into strands of ck smoke. ¡°Sorry!¡± Liz yelped immediately, rushing to Natalie. ¡°I meant to split it more, but I gave it all to you. It¡¯s weird to use.¡± ¡°Probably should''ve tested it before we needed to use it,¡± Natalie grunted. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. I''m fine. Better me than you.¡± That was the point of a tank¡ªto take hits for her team. She rubbed her ribcage, where a set of phantom fangs burned. Sofia walked up to the two of them. "Itpletely mitigated the attack? So our healer is invulnerable as long as our tank is alive?¡± ¡°Not invulnerable,¡± Liz said. ¡°I felt the bond loosen. I couldn¡¯t draw on Nat''s health that much again. We¡¯d have to¡ªum, refresh the spell. And I¡¯ve got the feeling we can¡¯t, not for a bit. It has a cooldown. Though that¡¯s just a guess. It really needs more testing." Though they didn''t have proof, Natalie assumed Liz was right. The wand¡¯s effect couldn¡¯t be that strong¡ªturning Liz invulnerable as long as Natalie was standing. Likely, [Joined] could only be refreshed once a day, or even less, and had a maximum amount of health that could be shared between them. ¡°Either way, I¡¯m d you¡¯re fine," Natalie said. "You can patch me up easier than you could yourself.¡± If Natalie had been knocked unconscious, Liz could heal her, but the reverse was obviously not true. Natalie looked Liz up and down, seeing that she really was almost unscratched. ¡°Crazy to see you get shaken around like that, then just get up, though.¡± ¡°You can say that again,¡± Jordan said. ¡°I thought that fight was about to go a lot worse than it did.¡± ¡°Yeah. It''s a useful weapon,¡± Liz joked, waving her wand around¡ªthough still sending concerned nces toward Natalie. Natalie really was mostly fine, though again, a hit of that magnitude would be leaving bruises in the morning. But it was a boss. That was about all that could be expected. Even with their huge upgrades, they couldn''t effortlessly handle such an encounter. For that matter, havinge out with only Natalie aching, they had handled it nearly trivially. ¡°So,¡± Natalie said. ¡°Boss loot. Any guesses where it is?¡± She looked around. The room was empty besides therge arena and the mirrors the wolf had been jumping through. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s hidden somewhere," Sofia said. "Under a panel or tile, or some such.¡± She looked at Natalie. ¡°You¡¯re sure you''re fine?¡± "Yeah." Sofia nodded, willing to take Natalie at her word. She set off to start looking for the boss chest. The rest of the party did the same, though Ana stopped by the boss¡¯s corpse to pluck up the monster core. Rubbing her aching ribs, Natalie joined them in the search. 4.30 – Prismatic Stalker Rewards 4.30 ¨C Prismatic Stalker Rewards The initial sweep of the room left Natalie and her team confused; they found no traces of the boss''s loot chest. There was a possibility that the encounter didn''t have one, since anything could happen in the dungeon, but she found that unlikely, as did the rest of the team. Odds were higher that they were missing something. But a second look-through of the arena unearthed nothing, either. Ana, eventually, was the one to figure it out. "Jordan," she said. "Come look at this." Natalie turned from her own inspection to see Ana peering inside one of the mirrors. Jordan, who had been nearest her, walked over to join her. Jordan''s eyebrows furrowed as she tried to identify whatever Ana was pointing at, then they shot up. She turned around, looked at the roof of the arena, then back to the mirror. "Wow. Good catch." "What is it?" Natalie walked over to join them, as did the rest of the team. She peered inside the mirror, seeing only the room and themselves reflected back. "There. On the ceiling." Jordan pointed through the ss. Natalie scrutinized the reflection. It was awkward through the mirror; Jordan''s finger didn''t line up perfectly. But her eyes finally snagged on the object of interest. A small box, nearly camouged, hung by a rope from the ceiling. Natalie, surprised, turned to look at it in the real world¡ªbut saw nothing where it should be. "Huh?" Natalie said. "Invisible," Ana replied. "Except through the mirror." "Tricky," Sofia said. "How do we get it down?" Liz asked. All five of them were crowded around the mirror, shooting nces between the reflection of the dangling loot chest and where it should be. "I can," Ana said. Gauging the location of the chest for a second, she withdrew her crystal ball. Magic hummed to Natalie''s sense, and a momentter, a giant ck tendril of energy whipped out. It shed the air where the rope would be. On making contact, the entire assembly blinked into existence, the invisibility effect dispelling. The box hit the ground with a loud thump, locks rattling and sending a wave of dust rushing outward. Tile cracked around it. The team approached, excited to see what they''d gotten. As was bing custom, Sofia finagled the lock open and popped the top. She reached in and withdrew their first piece of equipment. Natalie paused. *** Pet Cor Rare Lv. 2 Effects - Minor increase to physical Prowess. - Minor increase to physical Tenacity. - Submissive. Dere an Owner. When obeying Owner''smands, Cor will slowly evolve. Demeaning and ufortablemands provide more evolution points. - Hindrance-Free. Leash cannot be tangled inbat and reactively grows or shrinks. Description A thin ck cor with a gold loop for attaching a leash. A silver namete adorns the front, currently empty. *** The group stared in silence at the item in Sofia''s hands. Sofia''s expression was suspiciously nk. "Seems like a great fighter item," Jordanmented, her tone deliberately professional¡ªto the point of being obviously mischievous. "All yours, Sofia. Who do you want as your owner?" Sofia looked slowly up at Jordan. Her face remained neutral. "And what," she said, an edge in her voice that betrayed her controlled expression, "makes you think I would wear this?" "A rare? With prowess and tenacity boosts? That evolves? mean, I would take it, but tenacity is a waste on me. It''s perfect for a fighter." "So, Nat could use it." "Nat already has the overpowered ss," Jordan said dismissively. "Besides, I don''t think she''d do well with orders." "And I would?" Sofia said, a hint of a growl appearing. Jordan shrugged¡ªbut wisely didn''t respond. Her smirk was answer enough. Sofia turned the venomous look to Natalie. "This is your fault." "My fault?" "Your ss''s doing." "Sorry it keeps giving us amazing loot," Natalie said. "I mean, sure. It''s weird. But two minor boosts? It''s a good item." "And fashionable!" Liz piped up. Sofia turned the re to Liz. Liz, who had been biting back a grin, wiped the expression away. Her eyes went wide, and she frantically waved her hands. "Sorry! Sorry! But, I mean, it is kind of funny. Isn''t it?" "No. And if you think it is, why don''t you wear it?" Liz''s eyes widened even more. "It''s a fighter item," she stammered. "I can''t." Sofia eyed her scathingly, then said, "It''s not funny." "Right. Totally isn''t." Liz took a long, steadying breath, not exactly selling the words. "It''s not funny at all." "Hm," Ana said. "But it is." Everyone looked at her. "From an objective standpoint, it''s humorous," Ana said. "Beyond that it''s simply an unusual item, it''s clearly geared for a fighter. For you. Considering your rivalrous rtionship with Natalie, it appears to me as if the dungeon is deliberately taunting you. Putting you in a difficult situation. That''s amusing." The two girls stared at each other. Ana with her nk expression, and Sofia, who wasn''t sure how to react. Ana had stated it too matter-of-fact. "I''m d you think so," Sofia finally said. "But it''s not." "If you want my opinion, I believe Natalie is the best choice," Ana said, "but since I understand that might make you ufortable, I could also be your owner. I would treat you fairly." She paused. "Insofar as the item allows. It does say demeaningmands provide more evolution points." Natalie had no idea if Ana was being genuine or just teasing Sofia, and that made the situation even funnier. She couldn''t help herself¡ªshe startedughing. Liz and Jordan joined her, with Liz burying her face into Jordan''s shoulder to hide her face. Sofia sputtered and growled at them until they finally calmed down. Even Ana''s lips started twitching, though maybe Natalie imagined it. The girl really was hard to read. She had to be messing with Sofia. But Natalie couldn''t tell. "Oh, don''t cry about it," Natalie said, wiping her eyes. "Here. I''ll put it on for you." She stepped up to Sofia, then grabbed the cor out of Sofia''s hands. Maybe from shock, the white-haired girl let Natalie do it. Natalie turned the cor around in her hands, figuring out how it worked. She unhooked it, then slipped it around Sofia''s neck and mped it shut. After situating it so the namete faced forward, she hooked the leash around the loop. Smirking, Natalie patted Sofia on the shoulder, holding the leash in her left hand. "There. It looks good. Now, be a good girl and make me your owner. However that works. We''re wasting time." Natalie expected a storm of outrage from Sofia, but instead, the white-haired girl stared at Natalie, her face going a deeper and deeper shade of red. That, of course, made Natalie herself blush¡ªespecially with the cor around her neck, and Natalie holding the leash. She coughed and stepped back, then added, "Please." "Fine," Sofia said, finally tearing her eyes away. "But only if the evolution makes it worth it. A minor prowess and tenacity boost is not enough for this ¡­ this ridiculousness." "If it''s anything like my wand, it''ll be amazing," Liz said. "So I don''t think that''ll be a problem." "Hmph," Sofia said. Sofia''s brow furrowed as she focused on figuring out how to ''dere'' an owner. Slowly, words engraved themselves onto the silver te on the front of the cor. When the writing finished, the group stared at the result. "What?" Sofia demanded, fidgeting with the strap of leather, trying to look down at it. "What does it say?" "Natalie''s Pet," Jordan said. "It is named [Pet Cor]," Liz said faintly. Sofia had no response to that, and had also apparently run out of res, because after a long pause, she simply turned back to the loot chest. Natalie still held the leash as Sofia closed the chest lid, then opened it a second time, seeking their second piece of loot. She clipped the long strip of leather to her belt, freeing her hands. Her pet. She liked the sound of that. 4.31 – Prismatic Stalker Rewards II 4.31 ¨C Prismatic Stalker Rewards II The next item confirmed some suspicions of Natalie and her team. The dungeon would be providing gear that worked with [Stylish]. Jordan was more than happy to try it on, since the top provided a prowess boost, and it had been a while since she¡¯d gotten a piece of gear. She slipped off her current upper piece of gear, then her sports bra, and finally donned the item. It wasn¡¯t the most revealing top Natalie had ever seen, but it was far from modest¡ªespecially by the standards of armor. Two pieces of thin ck cloth criss-crossed across her chest, not even fully covering her breasts¡ªthough, like Ana''s robes, technically preserved her modesty. Jordan finished situating the garment, then turned around, letting Natalie¡ªand the team¡ªadmire it. ¡°Doesn¡¯t really fit the rest of the ensemble,¡± Jordan said amusedly, looking down at herself, ¡°but I think I¡¯m fine with that. Though, I¡¯ll miss my bra.¡± She frowned down at herself, then cupped her breasts. ¡°Makes fighting trickier. The things I do to be [Stylish].¡± The piece of armor was, at least, much better than her previous. Not only was it a level two umon, thus providing natural stats, it also benefited from Stylish]¡ªsomething that would shortly be even more important, since it was Natalie''s next upgrade goal. So, now they had two party members dressed in revealing attire. Ana¡¯s dress still beat Jordan by the sheer amount of skin being showed off, though that might notst for long, assuming the dungeon kept dropping inappropriate articles of clothing. Sofia and Liz seemed to be the holdouts, and Sofia more than Liz. Whether they would ept dressing scantily was something Natalie would find out in the future¡ªprobably when the appropriate items presented themselves. Probably, they¡¯d have alternate gear to put back on when they returned to the surface. Even Natalie would find it a bit awkward if they wore outfits like these around campus and town. Though, Ana clearly didn¡¯t care; she had worn her revealing dress to the dungeon entrance without a worry in the world. Natalie admired that level of confidence¡ªor maybe cluelessness? Either way, whether a pointed statement or her willingness to unt her body being just part of who she was, Ana truly didn¡¯t seem to care what people thought¡ªto an impressive degree. Only practicality mattered. Or was Natalie reading Ana at a surface level only? A few more items came out of the boss chest, the usual assortment of dungeon loot. Jordan¡¯s top was the only revealing piece of equipment. Natalie received a new pair of boots that were strong for a tank, though just amon. Liz got a new ring. Having emptied the chest, they were ready to leave. Natalie was surprised to see that Ana had wandered away before finishing. She was looking into one of the mirrors, head tilted as she peered inside. ¡°Looking for more?¡± Natalie asked. She nced Natalie¡¯s way, then gestured for her toe look. Natalie did. ¡°Do you see that?¡± Ana asked. ¡°That other mirror. It¡¯s not reflecting like it should.¡± It took a few seconds for Natalie to understand. She blinked in surprise. Ana was right¡ªthe image inside the other mirror, when reflected through this one, seemed to be distorted. Twisted in a way hard to describe. It was also shining faintly. Had it been doing that before? Someone would''ve noticed, right? Ana approached the offending mirror. Natalie followed. The rest of the team, intrigued, also did so. On their way over, something odd happened. Only a few feet away from the suspicious mirror, Ana tripped. Natalie caught a sh of stone embed itself back into the floor¡ªit had raised in an instant and snagged Ana¡¯s foot, silently and swiftly. Ana wasn¡¯t clumsy; she was a delver as much as any of them, and didn¡¯t trip on t ground. The dungeon had summoned it. And not even as a reasonable trap; there¡¯d been no indicators. It was pure chance, and proximity to Ana, that Natalie had even noticed. Ana stumbled, trying to catch herself, but failed. Natalie tried to grab her, but also failed; it was just too unexpected of an event. Ana fell face-first into the mirror, unable to arrest her momentum. Except, she fell into the mirror. Literally. The dark-haired mage sank straight into ss, then disappeared as she passed through. Her form vanished entirely, the mirror rippling briefly before settling. A portal? It had happened too fast for anyone besides Natalie to react¡ªand even then, Natalie hadn¡¯t been able to do anything. The team froze. A half-second of shocked silence descended. Natalie did something she recognized as reckless, but her feet carried her forward regardless. She rushed in after Ana. It wasn¡¯t what an experienced delver ought to do. At a minimum, she should have talked with her team¡ªdecided whether following in after Ana, through a potential trap, was smart. At the same time, there was no way Natalie wouldn¡¯t try to help, dangerous or not. There was some logic supporting her, at least. It might be a trap, but it had been one offered in apletely unfair manner¡ªthe dungeon had deliberately and silently tripped Ana, with no indicators. The dungeon wasn''t typically that unfair. So, it couldn¡¯t be a lethal trap. Not that Natalie necessarily organized those thoughts before rushing in after Ana. She reacted more by emotion than logic. She¡¯d always been reckless. She hit the mirror, then, as Ana had, sank through the ss. The world went ck, and then she was falling, air whistling across her as she plummeted. She cked out. Consciousness returned in an instant, though she awoke groggily, confused, slumped on a tile floor. It took a second to take stock of herself mentally. Her body felt strange, her skin cold and bare. With some effort, she cracked her eyes open and pushed herself into a kneeling position. She''d been falling. Had shended hard? Nothing hurt; she just felt groggy. The sight that met her was ¡­ confusing. At first, she thought she was looking into a mirror. After the room before, and the dungeon level in general, another mirror would hardly be surprising. But the Natalie that looked back at her, also groggily waking from her tumble through the mirror-portal, hadn¡¯t raised to sit in the same position as her. Natalie looked down at herself. She saw Ana¡¯s cleavage, exposed by her flimsy mage¡¯s robes. She looked at her hands. Thin, delicate fingers, missing the callouses that came with constant heavy weapon training. With a sinking feeling¡ªand the disorientation starting to make sense¡ªshe felt her face, then ran a hand through her hair. It was longer than it should be. She brought it forward to look at it. Silky ck locks. Ana¡¯s hair. Ana¡¯s body. ¡°This is unexpected,¡± Natalie¡¯s clone said, voice t but curious¡ªfamiliar, but in a way hard to describe. Natalie understood a secondter. Ana¡¯s voice. Or, her voice, filtered through Natalie¡¯s own mouth. ¡°It seems,¡± Ana-Natalie said, ¡°that we¡¯ll be borrowing each other¡¯s bodies for this challenge.¡± 4.32 – Swapped I 4.32 ¨C Swapped I "What the hell?" Natalie said, the shock piercing through her grogginess. She stumbled to her feet, the motion feeling extremely odd. Not just because of her limbs, which were shorter than they should be, but all of it. Her breasts, which were smaller¡ªthough not by much¡ªher hair, her general build, and most importantly, that she no longer had a cock. She''d already gone through the experience of gaining it, so she wasn''t quite as baffled by losing it, but the heavy weight of it sitting between her legs had definitely be familiar. So, no longer having the weapon squished into her panties was, again, odd. Disorienting. Then, at seeing Ana¡ªin Natalie''s own body¡ªstaring down at her own crotch, frowning, Natalie realized the opposite was true. Ana had a dick. "This is strange," the magemented idly. She adjusted her pants, then winced as never-before-felt sensations fired through her. "Oh. And it''s getting hard. I didn''t mean to do that." What the hell was Natalie supposed to say to that? "What the hell. Oh gods, what''s happening?" The only reasonable response at a time like this. Ana cleared her throat, seeming ufortable at whatever was going on between her legs. Even through Natalie''s thick adventuring leather armor pants, she could see the bulge appearing. Her cock wasn''t easy to hide¡ªnot even when soft, to be honest. Eight inches wasn''t on the small end, and she was pretty thick, too. And it was Ana''s now. And Ana''s body was hers. A headache appeared. She looked away from Ana, who was squirming in ce, having to deal with new sensations firing through her. It was too much for Natalie''s brain to handle. As much because Ana had a cock, as that Ana had her cock. She ced a hand on her forehead and tried to steady her spinning thoughts. "I guess I''ll just ignore it? Hm. It''s rather difficult." "You knew?" Natalie asked. "Knew?" "That I had one." That was another reason behind Natalie''s diposure. She''d thought Ana had been clueless about the addition between her legs. Instead, it seemed Liz had been the only one in the party not to figure it out. "I suspected," Ana said. "Especially recently. I''ve caught you adjusting yourself once or twice." She frowned down at her crotch. "And I understand why you would need to. How big is this thing?" She tried to pull open her waistband to take a peek, but with her belt and gear on, she couldn''t quite manage. Of course, at Ana trying to catch a glimpse of her own cock, Natalie protested. "H-Hey. Don''t do that. That''s mine." Ana paused. "Right." She stopped trying to peek in, though she did awkwardly try to adjust her erection for a second or third time. "I apologize. I''m not sure how to handle this." That made two of them. "Okay," Natalie said, trying to take control of the situation. "Okay. So. We''re in each other''s bodies." Ana gave her an odd look. As if Natalie''s diposure was unwarranted. Of course Ana could take it mostly in stride. The never-ruffled, nearly expressionless practical woman. Natalie, herself, could not. Ana had Natalie''s dick between her legs. And not in the good way. "Yes," Ana said. "I assume we''ve entered a challenge room. I consider that fortuitous, considering the strength of Elizabeth''s wand. Perhaps we''ll get something of equal worth." The implications of that sunk in. A challenge room. Like what had happened with Liz. So that meant¡ª? They would need to¡ªdo something? While in each other''s bodies? Another wave of disorientation washed through Natalie. She wasn''t against it, but the unexpectedness of this development¡ªof wearing another person''s body¡ªwas too much to handle. She swallowed. "Nobody else followed us in?" Natalie asked faintly, forcing herself to focus on what was immediately relevant. The dungeoneering aspect of this misadventure. She looked up at the ceiling¡ªsince it had felt like they''d fallen in. But there was only smooth ceiling, no apparent hole. "Perhaps they did, and the dungeon paired them up separately. Or perhaps they didn''t." Ana shrugged. "It''s irrelevant. We need to worry about ourselves." She tilted her head. "But that means you followed me in? It didn''t force you?" "Well. Yeah." "Why?" "Because you might''ve fallen into a trap. I wasn''t going to let you handle it alone." "That''s impractical. And reckless." Natalie grunted. "I know. Just happened." Natalie had recognized the stupidity of rushing into a potential trap even as she was doing it. "Would do it again, though." "Hm." Ana studied her, and Natalie couldn''t make out what the expression meant. It was even more difficult than usual, thanks to the fact it was Natalie''s face. She''d only half learned to read Ana''s subdued expressions, much less filtered through someone else''s face. Her own face. "Anyway," Ana said. "We should figure out where we are." Natalie shook off thest of her disorientation¡ªor what she could of it¡ªand moved to practical matters. Body-swap or not, they had fallen into a dungeon trap, or some kind of challenge room, and they needed to figure out what it was, and how to escape. "And this is yours," Ana added. Natalie looked over; Ana was struggling to drag along her warhammer. Natalie stepped forward and grabbed it. She hefted it up and rested it on her shoulder. "We kept our skills and stats, then," Natalie said. "Just our bodies are changed," Ana agreed. "That''s probably a bigger deal for you. Casting doesn''t require much coordination, but your new limbs might affect you. My crystal ball, please?" Natalie handed it to her. "Can you fight?" Ana asked. "How is it?" "It''s getting better," Natalie said. Initially, her new limbs had felt exceedingly odd. She was adjusting fast. The dungeon''s work, smoothing things over. Giving her hammer a test swing, she checked her footwork and coordination. After appraising her new body for a moment, she said, "Yeah. I can fight. Feels weird, but not enough to mess me up." "Good. Though," Ana said, "there might not be much fighting to do." If it was anything like Liz''s challenge room, they''d be getting tired and sweaty, but not frombat. Natalie might normally be excited for that, but this situation was¡ªwell, a bit much. Especially with Ana, who she knew the least well out of everyone in her party. At least this might fix that. A great opportunity for getting to know each other. Bonding. If in a more intimate way than usual. Oh, gods. Finally, Natalie looked around at the room they were trapped in. It was time to determine what, exactly, the challenge was. 4.33 – Swapped II 4.33 ¨C Swapped II The room she and Ana had fallen into matched the theme of the rest of the dungeon. Polished tiles for the floor, ss sculptures scattered around the edges, and a generally clean, elegant construction. Notably, there were no mirrors. Though the ss and tile were reflective enough they could serve as a makeshift one. Peering into the crystalline bust of some chiseled man, Natalie inspected her new face, tracing her fingers across the contours of her nose, jawline, and lips. Ana''s body. She''d really traded with her. No matter how hard she tried, that wasn''t something she could simply move on about. She''d been through several weird situations in the dungeon by now, but this one took the cake. To her side, Ana was inspecting her face, too. Though the dark-haired mage was stoic and able to take things in stride to a degree Natalie nearly didn''t understand, she was at least curious. So, not wholly unaffected. Just not affected like she should be. "Only one exit," Natalie said, tearing her eyes away from the reflection. "Suppose we should get going. See what''s in store." Ana nodded. "We don''t have a healer. Nor Jordan to check for traps. So be careful." "I know." Natalie wasn''t happy about that. She''d grown to take Liz for granted¡ªboth her heals and the impressive strength boost. Jordan, too. At the same time, Natalie had trained to spot traps herself, as did any delver, for situations like this. Being split up wasn''t the mostmon event, but hardly something that never happened. And that was assuming this challenge included traps andbat. Liz''s challenge hadn''t, though generalizing from a single event might not be smart. Lugging along her hammer¡ªwhich felt muchrger than usual, since Ana''s body was noticeably shorter than her own¡ªNatalie headed for the only door. She scanned for traps, but found nothing. She nced at Ana, who had her crystal orb drawn and at the ready. Seeing her own face and red hair looking back made Natalie pause, then shake her head. She turned forward and opened the door. It led into a hallway. At the end, another door stood: this one with pink trim. Natalie repressed a groan. The color pink couldn''t herald anything good¡ªnot considering Natalie''s ss. There was also a que of silver metal on the wall to the side of the door. Natalie couldn''t make out the writing on it, not from this distance. There was a bin made out of white marble to its left. Lastly, on the door''s right, a steeldder led upward to a trap door on the ceiling. She eyed it warily. An exit? Making sure to scan again for traps or threats, Natalie and Ana approached. Arriving, she peeked into the marble bin. It was empty, andrge enough to fit both of them easily if they climbed inside. Natalie doubted it was some random piece of decoration, so she read the silver que, next. Ana stepped closer to also take a look. It read: ''Armor, clothing, and consumables not permitted past this point. ce into the container. Items will be returned after exiting the challenge.'' "At least it''s not being cryptic," Natalie said dryly. Liz''s challenge room had also included instructions. "Thedder''s an exit," Anamented. "There''s another que. Look." Natalie did. Indeed, in a smaller silver te to the left of thedder, a few words were inscribed. ''Exit. Forfeit future rewards.'' Like Liz''s challenge, it seemed whether she and Ana wanted to pursue the challenge was entirely their own choice. That made sense not just because of Liz''s precedent, but because Ana has been practically pushed into the mirror by the dungeon. Dangerous traps were avoidable, and there wasn''t any way Ana could have stopped her entry. Natalie could have, of course, by not jumping in after her, but the original logic held. Still, how they were consistently being given a choice by the dungeon felt strange to Natalie. Natalie looked up at the ceiling. "You know," she said. "For a dungeon that''s killed millions of people, you sure care about consent." "I would think that''s your influence, not the dungeon," Ana said. Which was a fair point. Even so, that the dungeon gave them an option to interact with these lewd challenges felt out of character. The dungeon was absolutely brutal¡ªmore than happy to kill, maim, torture, and worse. Forcing them into lewd scenarios wouldn''t have been anything egregiously worse. Gross, yes, butpared to being murdered? Not exactly on a different level from what the dungeon was already known for. Nheless, she was grateful for how it responded to her ss. All of this would be much more disturbing if Natalie didn''t get to decide whether or not to participate. "We going forward, then?" Natalie asked. "Or leaving?" Ana tilted her head. "Forward. As long as you don''t have any problems with it." "We''ll need to get naked." Ana''s brow furrowed. "Yes. That much is obvious." Natalie stopped herself from an exasperated sigh. "And you''re okay with that?" "Seeing you naked? It''s my body," Ana pointed out. "I mean, yes, but ¡­" Natalie wasn''t sure where she was going with that. "We can simply avoid looking down at ourselves, if you want modesty." Ana waved her hand dismissively. "But I believe that''s the least of our worries. Nakedness is the start of the challenge, not the finale. What was your and Elizabeth''s event? The entirety of it, I mean." "That''s between us." "It was between you two," Ana disagreed. "Until the challenges spread to the rest of the team. Now it''s a professional matter that we all deserve to be informed of." Natalie hesitated. It was a good point. "Liz asked me not to talk about it. So I won''t." Ana frowned. "But I''m sure you can make what inferences you need to," Natalie said. "If we walk through that door, who knows what''s on the table?" She chewed her lip, ncing at thedder. "But at the same time, it seems like we can quit at any time." "Then there''s not much of a risk." Ana shrugged, then looked down at herself. She fumbled around with all the straps, buckles, and connections to her armor. "Warrior gear is soplicated," shemented. "Can you help me with it?" Help get Ana naked? Even when it was Natalie''s own body, the idea still made her feel faint. Especially when Ana remainedpletely unaffected by everything. Natalie wasn''t sure she was up for this. At least when it had been Liz, they''d both been blushing. Natalie might not be able to survive Ana. Just how far would this woman go in the name of ''professionalism''? 4.34 – Swapped III 4.34 ¨C Swapped III Natalie helped undress Ana. Or undress herself. Because it was her armor, and her body. But that didn''t change the fact that, more than anything, it felt like she was stripping her teammate. What a mess. Sensing Natalie''s awkwardness, Ana politely avoided looking down at her body¡ªNatalie''s body¡ªas she undressed. It was clearly for Natalie''s sake. Natalie sighed. "You don''t have to do that. You can look. There''s no point tip-toeing around each other." Ana studied her for a moment. "I agree. But if you''re ufortable with it, then you''re ufortable." "It''s whatever." Slowly, Ana nodded. "Then, it is rather difficult to avoid," she admitted. "Especially with how much you have up top. There''s too much to not identally look." To emphasize the point, she cupped her breasts and bounced them, showcasing Natalie''s unwieldy assets. Natalie stared at her, disbelieving of what the clueless girl had so casually done. She shook her head in incredulity, then continued helping Ana unstrap her gear. This girl. "Then again," Anamented idly, "maybe you''re just saying I can look so that you can look." Natalie started to protest, but stopped before the words came out. Despite Ana''s face¡ªNatalie''s face?¡ªbeing passive, like it always was, Natalie detected a hint of sparkling eyes. "You''re messing with me," she said in realization. "Wait. All of it? The bouncing too?" "Yes," Ana said. "I would think that was obvious, but I''ve been told it''s difficult to tell when I''m joking. So I understand." The words were delivered with aplete deadpan. Natalie stared at her, then gave a short, incredulousugh. "Difficult. That''s putting it lightly. Anyway," she said, happy to grab onto a conversational topic to distract from the fact she was helping peel armor off of Ana. "You do joke, then. What about that stuff with Sofia?" She hadn''t been able to tell. "My offer to be her owner?" Ana asked. "And my stating that the situation was humorous?" She hummed. "It depends what you define as a joke, I suppose." It took Natalie a second to understand what she meant. "The offer was real, but you were also teasing." "More or less." "But, you meant it? You wanted Sofia as a pet?" "Who wouldn''t?" That was fair. But Natalie was more than a bit shocked to hear Ana state it outright. "After all, she''s a proficient duelist," Ana said. "And an extra pair of hands never hurts. She''d make an excellent pet. One of the best familiars I could imagine, down in the dungeon." Ana managed to make an impassive expression look tauntingly innocent. Natalie narrowed her eyes. "Stop messing with me." Disregarding the teasing, though, Natalie was still curious. "You''re attracted to Sofia?" "She''s objectively an attractive woman." "But you''re serious about wanting her," Natalie pressed. "I''m usually serious." "You prefer women, then?" That much was obvious by this point, but she wanted to ask outright. "Yes. Does that make all of this more or less awkward?" She quirked an eyebrow as she looked down at her body, which was losing piece of armor after piece of armor. "Uh." Natalie wasn''t sure. "Both." Ana snorted. "Don''t worry," she said dismissively. "I already know that Sofia is yours. I''m not infatuated with her¡ªshe''s just inly a beautiful woman. But I won''t intrude. I have little interest in romance in general, for that matter." There was a lot of revtions about Ana to take in there. Though, one tidbit felt more important than the rest. Something that needed immediate rification. "Sofia isn''t mine. Why would you say that?" Ana paused, giving Natalie an odd look. "I see." "What? She isn''t." "Okay." "She isn''t." Ana shrugged. Natalie narrowed her eyes at Ana, then, after a brief internal debate, dropped the topic. She didn''t want to venture down that path. Sofia was a sticky topic even with Jordan, who Natalie trusted with just about anything. Soon enough, the two finished undressing. They ced their gear in the marble bin, but kept their weapons. Natalie stalwartly didn''t look down at herself¡ªat Ana''s body¡ªdespite having told Ana it wasn''t a big deal. Not that she could avoid everything, since Ana wasn''t exactly t. Natalie caught plenty in her periphery. Why were all four of her delving teammates drop-dead gorgeous? And two of them so generously bestowed? She''d known Ana had an amazing pair of tits, but getting to see them from a first-person perspective was something else. At least she didn''t have a cock to give her thoughts away. That would''ve been embarrassing. Natalie''s eyes also shied away from Ana¡ªfrom her own body. Why Natalie would be awkward at seeing her own body naked, she had no idea. Ana''s curious looks, and the way she was purposefully refraining from asking what Natalie''s deal was, made it so much worse. It was as if Ana''splete disregard for the situation was making it worse for Natalie. That all of the embarrassment the mage should have been feeling was siphoning straight to Natalie, so that her cheeks were burning hot enough for the both of them. "Ready?" Natalie asked, staring forward at the door, purposefully avoiding Ana. "Be ready for anything. It''s letting us keep our weapons, which makes me suspicious." "I''ll be ready." Nodding, Natalie pushed through the door, holding her hammer at the ready. She''d been right to be concerned, because not two steps in, skittering and scratching noises appeared at the far end of the room. Her eyestched to a small, shin-high opening, which a swarm of crystal spiders were scurrying out from. She spared a moment to wonder at the ridiculousness of her life. In an instant, she was transitioning from blushing at Ana''s nakedness to readying herself for a fight against a crowd of magical crystal spiders. Her life had really be so absurd. At least they weren''t real insects. These ones were just made of crystal. Though, it wasn''t all good news. "Swarmers," Natalie grunted. "This is gonna be annoying." Natalie smashed the first spider with a solid downward swing¡ªit took the small beast out in a single hit. Unfortunately, there were at least two dozen of the things piling out of the opening. Of any encounter type, their team was worst against swarmers. Natalie, Sofia, and Jordan were all specialized in single-target damage, which was generally good for bosses¡ªthe most important encounter type¡ªbut that lopsidedness did create problems for situations like these. Though, that was one of the major reasons Ana had fit well into their team. She had a suite of area-of-effect spells that shored up their primary weakness. Ribbons of ck light writhed up from the ground, then started shing at the iing horde. Natalie smacked down on a second spider, then pped away a third that lunged for her. Its sharp, crystalline legs scraped her as she batted it, but it didn''t draw blood. The spiders were far weaker than they normally would be¡ªdesigned with a two-person, naked squad in mind. Still, she wasn''t happy about having to fend off dozens of quick, sharp-edged spiders while naked and swinging around a giant hammer. Another turned to dust as she mmed her weapon down, and she kicked two more. Several slipped past her, headed for Ana, and there unfortunately wasn''t much Natalie could do to stop them. An [Illusion], maybe, but that didn''t feel appropriate without a greater threat¡ªshe should save her mana. The mage conjured ck energy to defend herself, backtracking as she kited the persistent mini-mobs, but when they lunged and snuck in attacks, Ana wasn''t durable enough that she could brush their attacks off like Natalie had; they drew blood. Natalie trailed after her and continued to do her best to clear them away. She really hated swarming monsters. It was hardly a lethal encounter, though. Soon enough, all of the aggravating, vicious crystal monstrosities had been pulverized or shed in half by ck energy. The two girls panted in exertion, watching thest corpse dissipate into ck smoke. A loud click rung through the room, making Natalie jump. An even louder crash followed right after, and Natalie spun to see a wooden treasure chest settling onto the tile floor. Had it dropped from the ceiling? Not a second round of monsters, then, but their first reward. A progressing series of challenges? Maybe with better rewards after each room? Regardless, Natalie hefted up her hammer and approached the chest, curious to see what they had earned. 4.35 – Swapped IV 4.35 ¨C Swapped IV The dungeon turned out to be considerate of their situation. The first reward Natalie pulled out was two vials of red liquid. Health potions. Seeing how the two of them didn''t have a healer on standby, and the challenge had taken their consumables, the alchemical concoction would be their only way to patch themselves up. They''d both taken nicks and bites from the scurrying crystal spiders, though nothing serious. Natalie took a small sip, then handed the rest of the first potion to Ana. Cuts and scrapes cleared away on both of them. The second vial, she would have to carry around. Another detriment to adventuring naked¡ªno belts and pouches. Next out was a bit more surprising. Not because it was an umon drop in the dungeon, but the disproportionate quantity of the item. Natalie hefted up a decently sized canvas pouch weighed down by a mass of clinking coins. Her eyes widened, seeing it. Even if the coins were made from a less valuable metal, it would be worth several times a normal loot chest''s haul¡ªmore than they would earn in a boss fight, even. "I think the dungeon''s tempting us to continue," Ana said, a hint of amusement in her voice. "That weak of an encounter, for that many coins?" Natalie undid the string holding the bag closed and peeked inside. Her surprise grew. "There''s even some silver mixed in." She''d half expected it to be all bronze. Ana leaned forward to peek inside, and her sudden proximity reminded Natalie of their nakedness¡ªand swapped bodies. She did her best not to fidget as Ana''s shoulder pressed into hers. Natalie wasn''t used to being the shy one. The thing was, Natalie didn''t even know whether Ana was being confident or clueless. It was honestly one of the reasons Natalie was so off-foot. She couldn''t read her. Plus, there was the elephant in the room. Or rather, the cock in the room. Ana''s cock. Which would probably be used on Natalie. Because why else would the body swap have happened? Natalie was simultaneouslying to terms with that, and doing her best to ignore it. Natalie cleared her throat, tied the bag up, and took a step sideways to get some space between them. She hoped her blush didn''t show. "Even if that''s it," Natalie said, "it''s a good haul. But I bet there''s more." Ana made a noise of agreement. Natalie set the bag aside, along with the health potion. She closed the chest and opened it, peeking inside to see if the dungeon had anything else in store. A vial of sparkling pink liquid sat at the bottom. Natalie nearly winced. The color pink rarely boded something good. Or, at least, boded something normal, and Natalie could use some normal right about now. *** Potion of Permanent Minor Furor Rare Lv. 2 Effects - Permanently raises furor by a small amount. Description A potion imbued with the essence of a waking goddess. *** Natalie read the effect in stunned silence. Even Ana''s eyes widened in surprise. "That''s ¡­ interesting," Ana said. "The essence of a sleeping goddess? That might be the only concrete evidence for the Reverie that I''ve ever seen." She hesitated. "Though nothing says the dungeon needs to tell the truth. The description could mean nothing." Natalie had nearly forgotten about ''the Reverie'', the possible rising of a goddess of lust, and the implications behind her ss and its bestowal. She was just trying to survive her first year at T, and theplicated dynamics arising¡ªboth personal and professional. The ''big picture'' stuff seemed oddly unimportant in the face of all that. But being pped with a reminder was¡ªwell, startling. "Is the dungeon trying to tell us something?" Natalie asked, sending a concerned nce to Ana. "Who knows? Even if it isn''t, it''s still fascinating." "I should probably look more into all of that. My ss. The Reverie." "Yes," Ana said. "You should. Given such a tant piece of evidence, I certainly will be." The two of them stared at the potion for a bit longer, digesting the surprising description. Finally, Natalie shook her head. The Reverie, and her ss, didn''t matter right now. They were still down in the dungeon inside a challenge room. "The potion, though," Natalie said. "Its effect. A permanent minor boost? Have you heard of something like that?" "No. I wouldn''t be surprised if potions like it existed at higher levels, but level two?" Ana shook her head. "More unprecedented behavior tied to your ss, undoubtedly." She gave Natalie a curious look. "I would love to know what is going on with you." "That makes two of us." Natalie certainly wasn''t hiding anything¡ªshe had no answers to give. Besides maybe the Bestower''s oddments, but that wasn''t something Natalie should go bbing about to anyone. Ana nodded. "I don''t think either of us should drink it. We''ll need to discuss with the team. I can''t imagine what a potion like that would sell for. Or whether selling it would even be smart." Right. Because the appearance of such an item on T''s marketce would draw attention Natalie might not want. It was fortunate that Ana was being considerate of that. Natalie wrinkled her nose at the vial of sparkling pink liquid. Why did the appearance of such a blessing give her a headache, rather than excite her? She plucked out the item, then closed the chest and reopened it. An empty bottom met them; the loot had been expended. Natalie had expected more¡ªbut then again, for such an easy first encounter, maybe that had been too hopeful. "So," Ana said. "Forge forward?" "With rewards like that? There''s no reason not to." "I agree." Ana seemed more excited to continue than Natalie herself, if admittedly in her typical subdued way. Was that because of the profit to be made, the interesting and unnerving reminder of the Reverie, or ¡­ even something else? Because Ana seemed remarkably unbothered by the potential of a lewd encounter. She wasn''t literally emotionless¡ªand had admitted she preferred girls. So Natalie could only assume she didn''t have pure apathy for the possibility of something happening between the two of them. Maybe she was excited, and masking it behind her typical passiveposure. There was another reason Natalie suspected that. Natalie was doing her best to not look directly at Ana, since she was naked¡ªeven if it was her own body¡ªbut she could hardly avoid it entirely. And she''d seen in her peripheral some physical proof that Ana wasn''t unaffected by their circumstances. Proof between her legs¡ªsomething sticking up and at attention. Natalie had politely notmented, thus far, when it happened. What would she say? And considering their nakedness, it was only fair. "Okay," Natalie said. "Moving forward." She picked up their earnings. The potions went into the coin bag¡ªeasier to carry around that way. Then she headed for the exit door. Through it, they found another hallway like the one they''de from. There was no second marble bin. Adder led upward, though, with the same warning¡ªthat exiting the challenge would forfeit future rewards. But what they earned was theirs to keep. A foreboding symbol hung above the next entrance. A heart made out of pink crystal, pulsing gently with light. "I don''t think the next challenge is going to be monsters," Ana said. "Probably not," Natalie agreed, somewhat faintly. She swallowed, steeled her nerves, and pointedly didn''t look back at Ana. "Let''s go find out what." 4.36 – Swapped V 4.36 ¨C Swapped V Inside the next challenge room was a bed, and a simple mural detailing their assigned task. "I don''t think I''ve ever seen dungeon imagery that''s quite so ¡­ explicit," Anamented. Natalie stared, feeling faint, at the picture engraved above the exit door. "And at least it provided a bed," Ana added. "Really," Natalie said. "That''s what you have to say? ''At least there''s a bed''?" "It is a nice gesture." Natalie red at Ana, who shrugged back. Natalie''s eyes returned to the mural. She fought away a surge of dizziness. So. This was really happening, then? Above the door, engraved in simple imagery without much detail, was a crude scene: one woman on her knees, her mouth wrapped around the cock of another woman. As Ana had said, it was quite explicit¡ªmaking it clear what their task was. Or, more urately, Natalie''s task. Because she wasn''t the one with the cock, anymore. Ana was. "You realize that''s my cock," Natalie said. "You expect me to do that?" "You could think of it as mine, if you prefer," Ana said. "If that makes you morefortable." She shrugged. "Or yours. Whichever feels better. Both are true, in a sense." Natalie stared at her, and Ana cleared her throat. "Of course, I expect nothing," Ana said. "We can leave at any time. But I would be remiss if I didn''t point out just how incredible the potential rewards are. Is sucking your own cock that offputting?" Ana tilted her head. "Or sucking my cock. Like I said, whatever you feel morefortable with." Gods, but this woman was really still unaffected. She''d taken the mural, and their task,pletely in stride. There might actually be nothing that phased her. Well. She wasn''t unaffected. Ana was unashamedly sprouting an eight-inch erection. Natalie''s eyes flicked to it. Her cock. Her cock. And she was supposed to suck it? Off-putting, Ana had said. No, unfortunately, that wasn''t what Natalie felt, right now. She was as embarrassed by the situation she was in¡ªand Ana''s matter-of-factness¡ªas she was by just how much the idea excited her. Sucking her own cock shouldn''t have her stomach squirming like it did. It was an obscenely lewd act. So, she wouldn''t be sucking her own. She would be sucking Ana''s. That was the easier of the two options. Ana''s cock. Oh, gods. Was it, though? The idea set her on fire just as much as the alternative¡ªsucking her own. And her brain knew that she was doing both; her delusions could onlyfort her so much. "Can''t you have the grace to at least blush," Natalie groaned. "I''m about to suck your cock, and you''re telling me how it''s the practical decision?" "I don''t blush easily," Ana said. "But if it makes you feel better, I can assure you I''m looking forward to it for less practical reasons, too." She tilted her head. "Would you prefer for this to be more intimate? I assumed you would want to keep things professional." Natalie buried her face in her hands. She couldn''t do this. Ana was way too clueless. Well, yes, she could, and would, but Ana wasn''t making it easy. "Okay," Natalie said. "Whatever. Let''s just get through this." Squashing down her nervousness¡ªthe squirming in her stomach¡ªshe walked to Ana, then got down onto her knees. Putting her face level with Ana''s erect cock. Her own erect cock. It twitched in excitement. "We do have a bed, you know," Ana said. "It''d be morefortable." Natalie ignored her. She stayed frozen, staring wide-eyed at the pulsing, veiny member sprouting from between Ana''s legs. She shivered as the scent hit her. Musky and sweaty, a thick, heady smell from a day''s worth of adventuring. Her stomach clenched in need. What would it taste like? But it was her cock. She couldn''t just ¡­ take it into her mouth. It was so obscene. Natalie stayed that way, frozen, for a long moment. Apparently, Ana took that as an indicator to act. "Now, don''t be shy. Need some help? Let me get you started." Ana grabbed the base of her cock, took a half-step forward, and pped it down on Natalie''s face. It hit with a meaty p. Ana let it sit there,id out across her face, pulsing heat into her cheek and onto her closed eyelid. The action was as shocking as it was arousing. Natalie''s lips parted as she started to pant loudly, a shiver thrilling through her. She looked up at Ana with wide eyes, the initiative the girl had shown taking herpletely off guard. "You''re nervous," Ana exined. "That''s understandable. And it sounds like you want this to be intimate, not professional. That''s also understandable. So, I''ll help." Ana pulled her hips back, then slid her cock down Natalie''s face. She stopped when her tip reached Natalie''s lips. She let it rest there¡ªprecum lubricating her lips as Ana wiggled it side to side, rubbing her cocktip across Natalie''s mouth. "Come on, then," Ana murmured. "Open up. You want to see what it tastes like. I can tell. You''re hungry for my cock. Or is it your cock?" Natalie''s body thrummed with heat. Her heart mmed so fast she could hear it in her ears. Where had this Anae from? Was she putting on a show for Natalie''s sake? Or was she actually into this? It almost didn''t matter. Her entire body pulsed with need. But she wasn''t going to do this, was she? Suck her own cock? She couldn''t. Her own sweaty, smelly, throbbing cock. It was too perverted. Ana pushed forward. "Open," she ordered. Natalie''s lips parted, an action that wasn''t entirely deliberate¡ªhalf her subconscious need, and half how Ana forced her way in. Natalie relented. She opened. Ana''s cock, her own cock, slid into her mouth. Natalie groaned, desire blossoming in her stomach with such intensity that she nearly started shaking. Her hand went up to grab the base of Ana''s cock. She opened her mouth fully, letting Ana''s cock head push into her mouth. The salty tang of sweat and the musky aroma of arousal filled Natalie. Her tongue swirled around, licking up pre-cum and coating Ana''s cock head with saliva. The release¡ªgiving in¡ªwas nearly orgasmic. Natalie felt like she was on fire. "There you go," Ana murmured. "Good girl. How do you like it? The taste? Is it everything you expected?" Natalie opened her eyes and met Ana''s gaze. Seeing her own face looking down at her¡ªwhile her own cock was in her mouth¡ªwas something else. Natalie went dizzy, and not just from disorientation, but sheer arousal. Why was this so erotic? And though subdued, difficult to parse, she could read Ana''s expressions. Her stoicism had melted. Having her cock in another girl''s mouth was apparently enough to do the job. This might be partially an act¡ªAna''s attempt to help Natalie enjoy their circumstances¡ªbut it definitely wasn''t entirely one. The satisfaction on Ana''s face was in enough. And as much from pleasure, Natalie could tell it stemmed from Ana''s dominant position. How easily Natalie was responding to her orders. How quickly she''d let Ana im her mouth. Ana liked that? Having Natalie on her knees? And why was Natalie being so submissive to her? Was it as simple as Ana''s sheer disregard for the situation throwing her off-bnce? Ana''s strange brand of confidence? At the moment, she couldn''t really care why the usual dynamic had swapped¡ªand why she liked it so much. Because she had a cock to suck. 4.37 – Swapped VI 4.37 ¨C Swapped VI Natalie felt like she was on fire, and there was more than one reason why. First, there was the obvious. She had her own cock in her mouth. It didn''t matter that Ana was the one piloting her body. It was still her cock bulging her cheek outward, its sweaty scent filling her nostrils. Adding to that, making the situation even more overwhelming, was that this was her first time being intimate with Ana. The dark-haired mage had always been a bit of an enigma, and not someone Natalie had grown especially close to¡ªthough maybe that unfamiliarity only made this more exciting. Because she would hardly deny attraction to the woman, for all that they didn''t know each other well. Finally, adding to the sludge of arousal, was that this was Natalie''s first cock. As in, from the receiving end. She''d always preferred girls, and while she had been magically granted a weapon, she''d never yed around with one besides her own. Much less another girl''s¡ªwhich was, of course, even better. Her first experience with girlcock. It was more than she could have hoped for. And maybe this was egotistical, but it was a thick, veiny, amazing girl cock on top of that. Having it pulse heat and twitch inside her mouth as she ran her tongue across it was mind-melting. The way it so easily filled her mouth, stuffing her cheek outward. "For how reserved you were a second ago, you''re really getting into it," Ana murmured, a smirk teasing the edges of her lips. She slipped a hand onto the back of Natalie''s head, into her hair, then pressed down, working Natalie deeper. "Who would''ve thought you''d be such a slut for your own cock?" And there was that, too. Thest factor turning Natalie into a puddle of hot arousal: Ana''s suddenly confident demeanor. How easily she had fallen into a dominant role. Why did that do so much for her? Usually, Natalie preferred the opposite. "Or is it my cock you''re a slut for?" Ana asked. "I''d want an answer, but your mouth is full, and I don''t want to distract my toy." She worked a second hand into Natalie''s hair, then pushed harder, working her cock toward the back of Natalie''s throat. "For that matter, I''m sure you can do better than this. Let''s see how much you can take." Timidity wouldn''t have made much sense on Ana, Natalie was slowly realizing¡ªthough any kind ofplex thought was difficult. Seeing Ana reciprocate in any capacity was strange after so many weeks of stoicism from her. Strange, but more erotic for the fact. Getting to see Ana''s walls finallye down. Even if maybe Ana was doing it intentionally, making a show of dominating Natalie for Natalie''s own sake. Ana had all but said she wanted to make it better for her. Intentional or not, honest reactions or not, it was working. And Natalie could tell Ana was being honest in some regard. The noises of pleasure made that much obvious. She liked the feeling of her cock in Natalie''s mouth. And by how she was pushing Natalie, she wanted to go farther. To im her throat and make it bulge outward. Natalie could do that for her. Relenting to Ana''s pressure, she loosened her throat, rxing as Ana urged her forward. The other girl''s thick cock brushed against the back of her throat, and Natalie fought the reflex to gag. Her arousal made it easier than she''d have expected, despite herck of experience. She wanted Ana''s cock in her throat¡ªher own cock in her throat¡ªso badly that overriding other instincts wasn''t much of a struggle. Her throat strained as Ana''s cock pushed into it. Ana was slow, but not gentle: she urged Natalie down with a firm pressure, pressing her hips forward to shove her cock in. When it finally slid down, popping into that restrictive tunnel, Natalie''s entire body shed with heat. In her throat. Ana was inside her throat. It was a lot, both literally and figuratively. Natalie''s cock was huge, and having it bend her throat outward was an intense experience. But the insane pressure, the way she gagged and struggled to make space, drove her wild with excitement. Her entire body pulsed with heat, her stomach squirming with so much arousal she felt like she might pass out. Ana didn''t stop there, and neither did Natalie. The two of them worked together to have Ana''s cock sliding further and further, with Natalie wiggling her head and rxing her throat muscles to make as much space as possible. Finally, Natalie buried her nose into Ana''s soft pubic skin, kissing Ana around the base of her cock. Ana sighed in satisfaction, both hands on the back of Natalie''s head. Natalie looked up with watering eyes¡ªthen gagged, unable to help it. She had a lot of cock in her throat. "Impressive," Ana murmured. "You really are a natural. But I''m not done, so be a good girl and keep it up. You don''t need air that badly, right?" Ana pulled her hips back, sliding thick eight inches from Natalie''s throat, then pped back forward, violently shoving Natalie down. The sensation of cock emptying then stuffing her in such quick session renewed the fire burning across her skin¡ªand also made her gag, which Ana ignored. The other girl worked into a rhythm, rocking her hips back and forth, bulging Natalie''s throat outward with each stroke. Natalie savored the sweaty taste of Ana''s cock¡ªher own cock¡ªand the way it made her bulge wherever it traveled, even as she choked and struggled to amodate Ana''s eager motions. With a sort of ecstatic awe, Natalie ced one hand on her throat, feeling it distend with each thrust. The feeling of having her throat used as a cocksleeve finally broke Natalie''s resolve. Her other hand went between her legs, and she started rubbing at herself, needing her own physical relief. The pressure had grown too much to resist. Ana smirked down at her, and Natalie''s face burned with embarrassment at how tantly she was enjoying this, but she ultimately didn''t care. She wanted to feel good. Ana''s violent use of her throat had broken down all of her barriers. Natalie bobbed up and down on Ana''s cock, Ana aiding her with a firm hold on the back of her head. The sight from down below was amazing¡ªgetting to look up at Ana''s flushed face, the ecstasy that was so in there, and her hips pping into her face with each thrust. Natalie approached climax with shameful speed. The cocktail of burning arousal, aided by her hand rubbing desperately between her legs, took her apart faster than she thought possible. Nearly no time passed before her climax started to wash through her, and the jolt of embarrassment didn''t help fend off the imminent orgasm, but instead only drove her higher. Ana, seeing Natalie start to fall apart, raised her eyebrows. "You''re cumming before me?" she asked incredulously. "This is my first time with this thing, and I''m the one getting my cock sucked." She tutted even as she kept throat-fucking Natalie, seeming way tooposed even now¡ªif, at least, red-faced and panting. "That''s pretty embarrassing, Natalie. You like the taste of your cock that much? So much that you''re cumming just from being throat-fucked?" The words pulsed through her, the taunting only taking her further apart, which was probably Ana''s intention. Heat coursed through her veins as Natalie eagerly choked on Ana''s cock, thrusting herself up and down, using her throat to massage the thick, pulsing member. Because she wanted Ana to finish. For Ana to stuff her stomach with cum. It was the only thing that would make this better¡ªgetting to feel her stomach fill up. "You want it, don''t you?" Ana asked in realization. "Me to finish inside?" Natalie''s begging eyes answered for her. For being clueless, Ana was apparently an empathetic partner. Who would have guessed? Natalie nodded rapidly, just to make it clear. She didn''t care how shameful it was to give an affirmative. She was beyond embarrassment. Ana gripped either side of Natalie''s head, then started pping her hips forward with renewed vigor. "Since you''ve been a good girl," Ana said, "I''ll indulge the request." Her mouth fell open as she started to pant in pleasure, face twisting as she approached ecstasy¡ªclearly giving in to her desires, no longer holding off as she used Natalie''s throat. But, Natalie wondered, why had she been holding off? Taking it slow? Wasn''t she all about practicality? Finishing as fast as possible? The thought only brushed her mind. She was too consumed with the twitching waves of pleasure washing through her, the scorching heat of orgasm, and the promise of Ana''s climax. The way her cock twitched and swelled inside her throat, making it an even tighter fit. Give it to me, Natalie begged. Fill me up. I want it. She couldn''t speak the words, but she made it clear with her movements. Her vision started to cken on the edges. Ana groaned, then shoved Natalie''s face down in onest violent smack, burying Natalie''s nose into soft pelvic skin. Natalie closed her eyes as Ana''s climax finally arrived. Hot, sticky strings spurted into Natalie''s throat, Ana''s cock convulsing down her tight tunnel. Her legs shook as she kept Natalie''s face squished into her, cock buried all the way in. Natalie''s head swam as she ran out of air, but she didn''t ask to pull off. She basked in the sensation of sticky ropes ejecting straight into her stomach. Her own cum. Ana was filling her stomach with her own cum. A second peak crashed into Natalie, her orgasm renewing, reaching even more scorching heights. She fell apart as Ana quaked in front of her, spilling her seed into Natalie''s stomach, as she''d so desperately begged for. She felt herself filling with rope after rope of the hot liquid, to the point it started sloshing around inside her. She didn''t know how long it took for Ana to empty herself, but it felt like forever¡ªand also not nearly long enough. Natalie''s vision went nearly entirely ck before Ana finally slid out of Natalie''s throat. Natalie fell backward, coughing and sputtering for air, her lower half still twitching from the aftershocks of her mind-erasing climax. The first breath of air was nearly as orgasmic as what she''d just been through. She''d been a hair''s edge from passing out. Laying on the ground, Natalie panted, coughed, and sputtered,ing down from her explosive high. 4.38 – Swapped VII 4.38 ¨C Swapped VII Intoxicating as the indulgence had been in the moment,ing down left Natalie in a bit of a situation. Pushing up and into a sitting position, she met eyes with Ana. What was she supposed to say after something like that? She could swear she felt Ana''s enormous load sitting in her stomach, warm and sticky, filling her up from the sheer amount she had eagerly squeezed out into her. The taste of Ana''s cock¡ªher own cock¡ªlingered in Natalie''s mouth. Her throat was sore. She did, at least, have a new appreciation for Jordan. Deepthroating an eight-inch cock wasn''t an easy task, and that woman handled it like a champion. For a moment, she and Ana simply looked at each other. Natalie, still on her knees, red-faced and panting, and Ana, with a softening cock that glistened with Natalie''s saliva. Natalie could at least take sce that the stoic girl was panting too. Having her first cock-orgasm milked out had left the stoic girl wobbly-legged and unsteady. Natalie took some pride in that. The dungeon saved them from having to say anything. As had happened with the first challenge room, a loud clicking made them both jump, followed by a cacophonous ttering of a chest onto the tile floor. They both spun in the direction, the noise startling them out of their post-deepthroat awkwardness. They stared at the chest, until finally, Natalie shakily stood. She wiped the stray saliva and cum from her lips, the result of Ana''s sloppy throat-fucking. Cum sloshed around in her stomach as she stood. Just how much had Ana poured into her? She rested a hand on her stomach by instinct, almost expecting to feel it bulging. Of course, Ana hadn''t cum that much, but it felt like she had. "So. Let''s see if all that was worth it," Natalie joked, getting her wobbly legs moving toward the loot chest. The words felt ridiculous¡ªhow obviously she was brushing past the event. And emphasizing that she''d done it ''for a reward'', instead of because she had desperately wanted to. But that delusion was the only way she could stop herself from melting into a puddle of embarrassment. By convincing Ana that she''d been eagerly stuffing her throat full as a matter of professionalism. And who knew? Maybe the socially clueless girl would believe her. Natalie didn''t find that likely, since the noises Natalie had been making, and the desperation she''d been pping her face into Ana''s pelvis, made it rather clear. But for the sake of her shame, she wouldtch to the idea. It was her lifeline. "I wonder if the rewards get progressively better," Anamented. "Or if they''ll be roughly the same as the ones before." At theposure in her voice, Natalie spared a moment to internally curse Ana. Where Natalie''s own voice had a tremble to it, and her entire body burned from the event that had just unfolded, Ana sounded actually neutral¡ªand not like she was masking anything. To her, they''d taken care of a lewd challenge, and while she''d enjoyed it, she wasn''t overly ruffled. Had her pleasure in the moment been a mask too? The dirty talk and dominant position she''d taken? Honestly, Natalie was a bit miffed by the idea. Natalie had just used her throat to drain Ana like she was some kind of subus, so didn''t that merit some diposure? Beyond what she had shown in the event itself? Well, whatever. "Guess we''ll find out," Natalie said, utching the chest. Some apprehension swirled around inside her as she braced for what they would find. Amazing items were obviously wee, but at the same time, her head was still spinning from what she''d done with Ana. To Ana. And to herself, for a meaning of the phrase. Was this descent into depravity her future? And for that matter, would whatever loot reward was up next speed that up? Incite more lewd adventures with Ana? Which, while it had been amazing, Natalie wasn''t sure she could handle. This whole event was all a bit much. She and Ana weren''t even close, and while Natalie was down for some casual fun with strangers, it felt different with Ana. They were teammates. And clearly not a ''casual hookup'' anyway. The chest cracked open, and Natalie took in their reward. Sitting at the bottom of the chest were ten vials of clear liquid, the potions looped together with a strap of leather. They seemed to be identical, all filled with the same liquid. Herst potion reward had been for reducing fertility. What would these be? Or were they normal dungeoneering potions? Natalie doubted that. With some trepidation, she picked up the bundle, ss vials clinking together. She inspected one. *** Replenishing Vials of Cleansing Solution Description A clear, durable, slippery liquid. When applied, will eliminate dirt, grime, and other filth. As long as the vial is not emptied, the solution will slowly refill. Serves as an excellent lubricant. *** The clear liquid had the faintest of a sparkle to it, giving it a ''pristine'' feeling. Cleansing solution. That was convenient, if less lewd than she''d imagined, considering all the hijinks they got up to in the dungeon. A way to freshen up would help with the dirtier realities of the dungeon. And since it replenished itself, it was basically infinite. "Not really a show-stopper, but nice for utility," Natalie said. She tugged one of the vials out and handed it to Ana, who took it, then popped the top open. Natalie did the same. After a brief test, they discovered the potion did as it promised. The liquid was thick and slippery, doubling as a lubricant. There was one downside¡ªthe solution lingered. It stuck around on their skin like a glistening oil, only the filth of what it touched disappearing. To Natalie''s dismay, Ana apparently wanted to get clean. Pouring more liquid out, she spread the solution all over her body. Natalie couldn''t look away as Ana effectively put on a show, oiling up her body, hands running across her curves as she rubbed the material in. Eventually, Ana was left standing with a nice coating of the liquid. Oiled from head to toe. "I wonder how long the residuests," Ana said, poking at her arm and inspecting her finger. "I could see the slipperiness being inconvenient when ites to keeping a grip on your weapon." For a second, Natalie thought Ana meant weapon in the euphemistic sense. But no, she was talking practical dungeoneering. Natalie shouldn''t be surprised. She didn''t think the girl even realized she''d just oiled herself up¡ªor how much that miniature show had done for Natalie. Again, Natalie was grateful that she didn''t have a cock to give herself away. Though, Ana did. And Natalie wasn''t entirely sure why, but she wanted to draw a reaction out of her. It wasn''t fair how little she was responding to their lewd circumstances. Natalie would feel¡ªshe didn''t know, exactly, but maybe vindicated if she could force an erection onto the girl. "Still nice to be clean," Natalie said with deliberate neutralness. "And we can wipe our hands off, so it''s not that big of a deal." That said, she poured out a glob of her own cleaning liquid, then started working it into her body. She ran her hands up and down her breasts, stomach, hips, and thighs, working it in like Ana had. Though maybe with a bit more indulgence than the other girl. She oiled herself up until she was gleaming, making sure to squeeze her breasts, really working the liquid in. And, to Natalie''s delight¡ªand subsequent embarrassment¡ªAna''s cock did spring back up to its angry eight-inch mast. Natalie''s eyes flicked to it, with Ana surely noticing, and the other girl shifted in ce. She didn''t seem know what to say. Which made two of them, except Natalie''s cheeks¡ªand her entire body¡ªstarted to burn at what she''d just done. She turned away. Once again, she hade out the more embarrassed between them, despite being the one to try to mess with Ana. Though at least Ana had seemed at a brief loss of words, not knowing what to say about her unfortunate erection. Or maybe how tantly Natalie had just yed with herself. A small victory? Natalie couldn''t tell. "Let''s see what else we got," Natalie said, snapping the chest closed, then popping it back open. "Hopefully it''s something more exciting." 4.39 – Swapped VIII & IX 4.39 ¨C Swapped VIII & IX It was, indeed, something shier. Coincidentally, it was another weapon¡ªa magical casting implement just like Liz had received, though in this case, not a wand. Nor a crystal ball, like what Ana would typically wield. Nor, indeed, a weapon in any traditional sense. "Oh," Ana said. "That is ¡­ quite strange." "Strange," Natalie repeated tly. "That''s the understatement of the year." Liz''s wand, at least, had changed into lewd form through a ''form shift''. This spellcasting weapon, on the other hand, seemed to be an item with a more static presentation. *** Expanding Nexus Gem Rare Lv. 2 Effects - Arcane Reservoir. Mana can be stored inside the Expanding Nexus Gem andter drawn upon. When the Nexus Gem is overfilled, maximum capacity and physical size grow. - The Nexus Gem can only be used when inserted by someone other than the wearer. - Maximum capacity can only be increased while unequipped. - Moderate increase to magical Furor. Description A hands-free primary weapon made of smooth steel and capped with a sparkling gemstone. When the gem is emptied of mana, it has a dull, clear appearance. Filled at maximum capacity, the gem will glow a pale, lustrous blue. *** "This is absurd," Natalie said. "I agree," Ana replied instantly. "An item that increases mana pool? With a persistent moderate Furor boost? That isn''t a weapon that remotely deserves to be called a ''level two'' weapon. How is it so strong?" "Strong," Natalie said. "That''s what you''re focused on." Ana paused. "The method of equipping is, admittedly, odd," she conceded. "But I already agreed with you there. And yes¡ªit''s strength is the more astounding feature. Plus, from a practical standpoint, that it can be wielded hands-free is objectively good." Was Ana joking? Messing with her again? "Though the fact I can''t insert it myself does make it less convenient," Ana said. "The logistics could be an issue, especially in sudden spars or other events hosted at the Academy." She tilted her head. "Perhaps the solution is to always leave it in." Natalie stared at her. There wasn''t much else to do in a situation like this, with Ana delivering sentences like that. "I wonder how much it grows, too," Ana continued, either oblivious or uncaring about Natalie''s incredulity. Or maybe intentionally ying it up. Natalie really couldn''t tell when it came to this girl. "I don''t have any experience with that sort of insertion, so hopefully not too much. At least it looks manageable as it stands." She eyed the buttplug. "Somewhat. It''s ratherrge, even for a starting point." She held a hand out. "Let me see?" Natalie mutely handed it to her. Ana turned the item over, then held the buttplug up and inspected it closely. She chewed her lip. "Yes, it''s going to be a tight fit. At least we were given lube. Think you can help?" "Help?" "I''m obviously going to equip it," Ana said matter-of-factly. "And the description says I can''t put it in myself if I want its effects. So." "You want me to plug you." "Need you to plug me," Ana corrected. She paused. "Though ''want'' would also be urate. I realize these situations we''re being put in are awkward, but I am having fun. Maybe that''s worth making clear, considering our circumstances." Natalie''s head started to hurt. Why did she have to deliver that reassurance in such a monotone way? As for the request itself. Plugging Ana. As a matter of necessity. Helping her equip her new weapon. It was always one thing after the other with the dungeon, wasn''t it? "Okay. Yeah. Sure. Whatever. It''s a good weapon, so let''s get it in you." Ana had asked, after all, and who was Natalie to protest her unwavering resolve for practicality? "Do you want to fill it up with mana first? Since you can only do so while it''s out." "No. Better to see how I handle it at this size. And it doesn''t say I can''t fill it while it''s in me¡ªonly overfill it, to make it stronger. If I had to guess, because each new upgrade shoulde with a challenge." "Yeah. Right." Ana had paid more attention to the details than her. Natalie, personally, had been struggling to ept her new reality¡ªno matter how often, and in how many ways, the dungeon shoved it in her face. Ana unceremoniously handed the item back. "Okay. Then, thanks for the help." "Just being a good teammate," Natalie said, feeling ridiculous. She sat down. "Here, get onto myp. Easier." Natalie patted her thigh, and without hesitation, Anaid herself onto Natalie''sp, her butt sticking up. Ana''s cock¡ªobviously hard from anticipation¡ªpulsed heat in Natalie''s leg, sandwiched between her thigh and Ana''s stomach. Natalie did her best to ignore it. And, at Ana''s naked body being so close to her again, she tried not to think about how amazing Ana''s cock had felt stuffed down her throat, the noises she''d made while spilling seed straight into her stomach. Seeing how the girl was naked on herp, asking to be plugged, it wasn''t easy. Natalie desperately fought away her temptations for a round two. epting her fate, Natalie uncorked the potion of cleaning lubricant, then poured some of the thick, slippery liquid onto her fingers. She looked down at Ana''s ass. Or, her own ass. Natalie had known in an abstract way that she had a nice butt, but getting to admire it from an outside perspective was ¡­ different. That, also, she tried not to think about¡ªalso to little sess. How perverted was it that she couldn''t stamp down arousal at seeing her own butt? Gods, this was all so weird. She wondered what it would feel like. Despite having her cock stolen, a phantom urge to have her weapon wrapped around a hot, tight hole coursed through her, seeing Anaid across her with her ass sticking up. Except, it was her ass. She seriously couldn''t deal with this. Not that she had much of a choice. Finally, Natalie brought her lubricated fingers to Ana''s asshole. She rubbed the liquid around, teasing her entrance. Ana shivered at the cool sensation¡ªor maybe more at Natalie''s fingers caressing her. A sigh escaped the other girl, which Natalie ignored. She was already melting from this very unfortunate¡ªor very fortunate¡ªencounter, and she couldn''t admit, even to herself, just how aroused she was. Slowly, Natalie worked the lubricant around Ana''s asshole, then slid a finger in, expanding the tight hole. Another noise of either pleasure and surprise escaped Ana, this time joined with a wiggle of her hips. Natalie felt nearly dizzy with her mounting arousal. Her reservations started to melt away¡ªor any conscious thought at all. She had a cute girl¡ªwearing her body, sure, but a cute girl nheless¡ªon herp, about to be filled up with a buttplug, and Natalie''s brain was determined to enjoy the experience despite all of the oddities surrounding it. She toyed around with Ana, wiggling her finger in, coating her insides with cleaning lubricant. A second finger joined the first, drawing another noise and another little wiggle of her hips. Natalie swirled around, then tugged her fingers apart, stretching the other girl in preparation. Moment by moment, Ana rxed into the invasion. Natalie reced her fingers with two thumbs, then pulled gently in either direction, intensifying the stretch. She marveled at the noises Ana made, the reactions drawn by her arousal. It didn''t matter how stoic the girl was¡ªshe couldn''t sit silently through having her asshole yed with. Just like she''d gone red-faced and panting while having her cock sucked. Even Ana had her limits. "Taking your time, aren''t you?" Ana groaned. Natalie twitched in surprise. She''d almost forgotten where she was. She''d been ying around with Ana out of sheer enjoyment¡ªenraptured by the way she could make her squirm. "Just getting you ready," Natalie lied¡ªthough it was also the truth. "Better you''re rxed and stretched out. Like you said, it''s gonna be a tight fit." Natalie grabbed the buttplug and lined it up to Ana''s hole. It tapered into a point, making it easy to insert, but at its widest, it had to be between two and three fingers wide¡ªnot an easy goal, seeing how Natalie''s body wasn''t exactly used to this sort of thing. She had to assume Ana wasn''t experienced either, so the mental resistance of having something sorge pushed up her butt would take some conquering. And Natalie was looking forward to that. Getting to help Ana push through. "Ready?" she murmured. With Ana''s face buried into her forearm, she mutely nodded. Natalie rubbed the plug around, working the lubricant into the cold metal, teasing the tip across Ana''s rim. She pushed, and the loosened-up hole slowly spread as her backdoor epted the tip of metal. Ana groaned at the sensation, and Natalie''s heart mmed in her chest, despite not being stimted in any way herself. Bit by bit, Natalie pushed deeper into Ana. The plug was too much for the poor girl, that much was obvious right away. But Ana was up to the challenge. Natalie wondered how much was her arousal helping her push through, and how much was her persistent ''sense of practicality''¡ªher desire to equip her new weapon. "There you go," Natalie murmured. The words slipped out without much conscious input. "You''ve got this. Easy does it. How you holding up?" "It''s tight," Ana gasped. "Just get it over with. Push." "I don''t think that''s smart," Natalie said. Better to work it in slowly. Though, admittedly, Natalie was enjoying the way Ana was squirming. As much because it was the better way to handle this, Natalie wanted to take her time for her own enjoyment. Natalie wiggled the plug in deeper, inching closer to the most bulbous portion. She met resistance, and Ana squirmed even more fervently than before, but she didn''t tell Natalie to stop. She pressed her forehead into her arm, grit her teeth, and made noises of pleasure mixed with pain¡ªher stoicism breaking in face of the slow, mounting pressure. Finally, they reached the summit. Natalie gave onest push, and Ana''s asshole spread to amodate the entire plug¡ªand her ass swallowed the toy. Ana made her loudest groan yet, her back arching as the toy slipped in. But she''d taken it. A dull gemstone essory¡ªempty of mana¡ªnow adorned her back door. Apparently, Ana would be wearing it for the rest of the dungeon. And maybe to ss, too. "There we go," Natalie said, patting Ana''s butt. "All situated. How''s it feel?" "Better than I expected, now that it''s in," Ana said, surprising Natalie with her casual tone. She rolled off herp. "And, admittedly, more painful going in. But not so bad, all things considered." She stood, then shook her hips side to side, as if getting herself, and her new toy, situated. Her cock wiggled around with the motion, hard and with precum glistening at the tip. Ana frowned. "It''s very ¡­ noticeable." She took a few test steps, walking around the room, then shivered, her back arching. "Even just moving around is a lot. Dungeoneering will be interesting, like this." Interesting. Natalie snorted at the phrasing. It would definitely be ''interesting''. "How visible is it?" Ana asked, turning around and disying her butt¡ªand the gemstone. "Very," Natalie said inly. "Hm." She shrugged. "Oh well. It''s an incredible item. I would be idiotic not to use it." Idiotic might not be the word Natalie would use, but she didn''t argue the point. "So, that''s it?" Ana asked. "The loot chest is empty?" "I''m not sure I could handle another item," Natalie muttered. She stood, walked over to the chest, then closed and opened it. No new item materialized, so their loot was indeed expended. "Empty." "Excellent. Shall we keep moving?" Alreadyposed again. Natalie might be able to extract physical reactions from the girl in the heat of the moment, but it seemed Ana would always regain her calmness not long after. It might actually be impossible to make her blush outside of actively pleasuring her. And if not so, then at least plugging the girl up hadn''t done the job. So unfair. Because Natalie herself was definitely burning scarlet from the encounter¡ªas she had been since the start of these challenges. "Keep it moving," Natalie agreed. She headed for the door. "Should we talk about it?" Ana asked suddenly. Natalie froze, then turned slowly to face the girl. "What do you mean?" "Us," Ana said. "And all of this." She chewed her lip, her brow furrowing the smallest amount in what Natalie could only assume was concern. "What we just did. Because you seem¡ª" "There''s nothing to talk about," Natalie announced loudly, cutting off that topic of discussion. "We''re just doing what we need to. Right?" Ana didn''t reply right away, instead choosing to study Natalie. She didn''t seem to know what to make of her response. Natalie appreciated the concern, the acknowledgment that what was going on was strange, and embarrassing¡ªto her, at least¡ªbut Natalie cleared her throat loudly, again interrupting the girl''s iing response. She would rather not ''talk about it''. "Seriously," Natalie said. "Let''s just keep going. All of ¡­ that ¡­ doesn''t matter. Or at least, no need to have a conversation about it. It''s not a big deal." "If you say so," Ana said slowly. "I do." Ana hesitated, but eventually nodded. Though she didn''t seem satisfied leaving it there. After a moment, she opened her mouth, but seemed to rethink whatever she''d been about to say. Finally, words came out. "Then, for the record, let me just say that I thought you did a great job." "A great job?" "Earlier." Ana gestured down at her crotch. Her cock, which was still glistening from the oil-like lubricant she''d covered her body with¡ªand previously, Natalie''s saliva. Natalie stared at her. "A great job?" "You''re very skilled." Like she was congratting her on a good performance in a spar. Somehow, despite Natalie''s totalck ofposure, she might be the one who knew how to handle this situation better. Ana had shown a surprising amount of emotion during Natalie''s pleasuring of her, but outside sex, it seemed that the girl returned to her previous unreadability¡ªand also, her social cluelessness. Because she thought Natalie had ''done a great job'' sucking her dick? That was what she felt like she should make clear? Heavens Above. She wished she could know what was going on inside Ana''s head. What did she really think of all this? Knowing Ana, she might tell Natalie if she asked¡ªin explicit detail. Though Natalie wasn''t sure she was ready to hear the answer, delivered in the girl''s stony monotone. And, bizarre as the words had been, Natalie admittedly did appreciate thepliment. Not that she wanted to go further down that conversational path. "Thanks," Natalie said dryly. "But, seriously, let''s continue? We''ve got a dungeon to clear." Ana nodded, also eager to move on. She gestured for Natalie to continue. "And if I had to guess," Natalie said, "the next room''s gonna bebat. We only have a pattern of two so far, but I bet it alternates. Fighting, then ¡­ other stuff." She hefted up her hammer. "Though, who knows what bullshit the dungeon will throw at us? Like always, be ready." 4.40 – Ana I 4.40 ¨C Ana I The downsides of Ana''s new weapon became apparent rather quickly. Not her metaphorical new weapon, but her literal one, drawn from the most recent loot chest. She''d known walking around with a plug of metal inside her would pose more than a few difficulties, but even the short trip to the next hallway door emphasized just how much so. Ana was a mage, and so the buttplug''s effect on her physical coordination wouldn''t matter much, but the mental distraction would. The sensation of a thick plug stirring around inside her with each step meant staying focused was going to be a challenge in both the immediate future, and her foreseeable delving career, so long as the gemstone essory stayed her best avable weapon. Ana wouldn''t call herself the most distractible woman, finding it quite easy to focus on the task at hand, but the particr concoction of distractions she was faced with overruled her natural proclivities: her new cock, Natalie''s nakedness, and a thick new buttplug meant that she wasn''t particrly paying attention to her surroundings as Natalie swung open the door, headed for the next intermediary hallway to the series of challenge rooms. Ana''s cock stood proudly at attention, twitching, feeling hot, and bobbing side to side with her movements. The thick, pulsing member was still disorienting; she had far from gotten used to it. Ana didn''t think that would change any time soon, especially with constant stimtion. She''d barely been managing to keep the thing under control even before having her ass plugged. She just hoped that duringbat the sensation would be easier to ignore. That was the one thing that would make her retire the weapon¡ªif it proved itself impractical. Even as she and Natalie advanced to the next hallway, Ana idly tested the plug''s mana-storage capabilities. It was as seamless to activate as she hoped. A simple thought filled the gem, and just as easily, she could withdraw the stored mana, returning it to her natural mana pool. She''d been worried that moving that enigmatic power around woulde with downsides¡ªdifficulty, or perhaps conversion losses¡ªbut that didn''t seem to be the case. The storage size was impressive even at the plug''s base tier, too: almost half of Ana''s entire pool. That was a phenomenal boon to take into any given fight. A fifty percent bonus to her mana was genuinely an unbelievable level-two tool, and it more than made up for the distracting sensations associated with equipping it. And while the plug didn''t provide a means to regenerate mana faster, and so over the course of a long dungeon run, its usefulness waned, being able to recharge fully and enter a boss fight¡ªor any other important encounter¡ªwith so much more starting mana was incredible. Ana intended to make good use of the [Expanding Nexus Gem]. Inserting it had been challenging to begin with, though, and so progress might note quickly. She wasn''t sure just howrge the essory would grow, but if Ana had to guess, fairlyrge. The good news was that walking around with it stretching out her ass out all day ought to be good training¡ªit shouldn''t be too long before she was ustomed to taking an impressive amount of metal up her ass. Which wasn''t a delving proficiency Ana had ever thought she would acquire, but these were strange times. Perhaps, even, she should wear it around campus. She would have toe up with exnations for where her weapon had gone, and learning to not walk suspiciously could be a problem too. But she would handle that when she got to it. Plus, the requirement to have a teammate insert the gem was its own roadblock. It was only fair such an amazing piece of equipment came with burdensome downsides. Ana was still quite pleased with the item. Before swinging open the door and entering the next hallway, Natalie nced back at her. Her eyes flicked down to Ana''s cock, though quickly, like she hadn''t meant to. Her cheeks colored, and she looked back forward. Ana didn''tment, though her skin tingled at being so obviously admired. Despite all the absurdity of the past hour, Natalie stayed aware of the potential for danger. She peeked through the door cautiously, scouting for enemies or traps. Ana had expected the uing hallway to be the same as the previous two, but by how Natalie paused, Ana knew something was up. "What is it?" "There''s a mirror." "There is?" "Near thedder." Natalie frowned at whatever she could see inside the hallway¡ªAna kept a safe distance. "It doesn''t look dangerous, but we should be ready for something." Ana pushed aside her previous musings, and the awkwardness and excitement of her and Natalie''s lewd adventures and loot. Once again, they were dealing with the dungeon proper, and ack of focus could mean injury or death. It was more than a bit jarring having to swap between the two vastly different contexts, but they didn''t have much choice. And in an odd way, the contrast highlighted the events, made them more potent for their strangeness. Ana followed after Natalie. As Natalie had said, there was a mirror to the right of the exitdder, though the joining hallway was otherwise the same as the earlier ones. Ana scanned the walls, floor, and ceiling, looking for traps, but found nothing. They approached the mirror cautiously. After theirst encounter with a mirror throwing them into this trap to begin with, and the boss utilizing them as a key mechanic, Ana chose to have an abundance of wariness¡ªas did Natalie. "It''s ¡­ not a mirror?" Natalie said. "Just ss. It''s not reflecting anything. I can see through it." Natalie held her hammer up, prepping herself for something that might fling itself through¡ªsince that was how thest boss fight had gone. Ana didn''t find that likely, though. The hallways seemed to be safe zones. Something else was up. They finished approaching the suspicious furnishing. Natalie''s muscles tensed, being the first to arrive, with Ana keeping a safe distance, as any mage should. Natalie got a full vantage of what was inside the mirror, and her eyes widened. Ana, out of curiosity, edged in too, wanting to see. Inside the mirror, a form became visible. White-haired, in full delving gear, and with a rapier at her hip, the sight was familiar, though highly unexpected. "Sofia?" Natalie eximed. "Ana?" Sofia''s reply came, just as surprised. More so, even, probably because they were naked¡ªnot something Sofia had expected to see. Ana finisheding to Natalie''s side, assuming by this point that a monster wouldn''te hurling through the mirror. Their team''s white-haired rapier-wielding fighter stood there¡ªstaring at them with wide eyes, a blush quickly growing on her cheeks. Sofia looked relieved despite her embarrassment, though. Ana covered herself up with her arms and hands, following Natalie''s lead. She wasn''t nearly as perturbed by nakedness as most people¡ªwhether it was her own or others''¡ªbut that didn''t mean she wouldn''t follow basic rules for modesty. Even if it felt like it was bing rather pointless, considering Natalie''s ss. "And Nat," Sofia said, eyes turning to her next. "You''re fine too. That''s good." She sounded relieved¡ªAna supposed disappearing into a trap was something worth worrying about. "Jordan?" a new voice interjected. "Did you found something?" Ana paused. It was Jordan''s voice who had asked the question¡ªsomething that made Ana instantly suspicious of what was going on. "Who are you talking to?" Jordan''s voice continued from out of sight. The dark-haired rogue arrived at Sofia''s shoulder a momentter. Liz, thest unounted-for member of their party, also joined them, crowding around the mirror. "It''s them," Sofia answered Jordan. "The mirrors are linked, I guess?" Sofia frowned at Natalie and Ana. "And why are you two naked?" The white-haired girl studied Ana, as if sensing something was off. If Ana had to guess, she and Natalie were easy to tell apart, even if they were in each other''s bodies. Natalie was much more expressive than Ana, and she looked inly relieved to see the rest of the party. Ana, on her part, kept her usual neutral mask, which had to look out of ce while wearing Natalie''s face. "Actually, that''s a dumb question," Sofia said. "Let me guess, something to do with Natalie''s ss." Ana could also sense that something was off with the three women crowded around the mirror. Sofia, Jordan, and Liz''s mannerisms were all wrong, in a hard-to-ce but nheless obvious way. Joined with the earlier hint¡ªJordan calling Sofia by her own name¡ªAna suspected what was going on. And Sofia confirmed the theory in short order. "Oh, and I''m not Sofia," Sofia said. "She is." Sofia¡ªor, correctly put, Jordan in Sofia''s body¡ªgestured at Liz. "And that''s Liz." She pointed at Jordan. Sofia frowned, her eyes flicking between Ana and Natalie. "You two also swapped, didn''t you?" 4.41 – Ana II 4.41 ¨C Ana II "We did," Natalie confirmed. "I didn''t think you three would, though. And why aren''t you naked, then?" "Why would we be?" Jordan asked. "That''s your ss." Ana tilted her head. It was a fair point. The three seemed to have been caught up in the same trap, seeing how they had swapped bodies, but since they weren''t with Natalie, the dungeon had given them a less sex-oriented debacle. "But what''s the point, then?" Natalie asked, confused. "What''s even the challenge?" "What''s the challenge?" Jordan asked, eyebrows going up. "Our sses and bodies are swapped. What do you mean, what''s the challenge?" Ah. Ana and Natalie had gotten to keep their sses, but that was because they had lewder activities to undergo¡ªthebat was peripheral. Not so for the rest of the party, who had been split off into a simr, but different, adventure. Ana had only just gotten used to seeing Natalie talk in a different body. The rest of her team also having been scrambled was difficult to adjust to. She needed to constantly remind herself who was speaking. Not Sofia, but Jordan wearing Sofia''s body. "You didn''t keep your sses?" "You did?" "Yeah." Jordan''s brow scrunched down. "Well, then, what''s the point for you? What''s the trap?" She paused, and her lips curled up mischievously. "Actually, another dumb question. Let me guess. You two are handling some other difficulties from swapping bodies." Her eyes flicked to Ana¡ªwearing Natalie''s body¡ªwho was covering herself with both hands. Natalie was more embarrassed by the implication than Ana, like usual. Her face went red, and she shifted side to side as she struggled toe up with a deflection. Ana sympathized with her plight, even if she wasn''t as embarrassed. "No, there''s been plenty of fighting, too," Natalie said. "I''m not sure what you''re implying." Jordan''s smirk deepened, and she opened her mouth, ready to press Natalie''s obvious lie. Ana interjected before she could. Half for Natalie''s sake, and half because there were more important things to be talking about. Jordan could tease Natalie on her own time. "You three followed in after us?" Ana asked. "Or did the dungeon force you to?" Jordan paused, then turned to her, her teasing remark drying up. She gave Ana an odd look. "Of course we followed. It''s not like we''d sit around and wait." She frowned at Natalie. "Though, just rushing in like you did was nothing short of idiotic, Nat." "That''s putting it politely," Liz muttered¡ªand Ana had to remind herself it was Sofia in her body. The tant insult had taken Ana aback,ing from the persistently friendly girl. "Yeah, yeah," Natalie said, brushing it off. "I just kinda acted. I know I shouldn''t have. But how are you three holding up?" Her brow furrowed. "And what''s up with this mirror? Why is the dungeon letting us talk to each other?" "Good question," Jordan said. "I''ve got no idea. And we''re doing fine. Sort of. We''re surviving. Swapping sses is kind of rough. Liz isn''t the greatest with ded weapons, and Sofia is ¡­" Jordan hesitated, searching for a way to put it politely. "Not a mage," Sofia grumbled, wearing a dark expression that was odd to see on Liz''s face. "It''s given me a newfound respect for your situation. Having a casting ss just dumped onto myp and being forced to cope." "It was a struggle," Natalie agreed. "So, you three are having to learn each other''s skills?" That was an interesting concept, but also viting. Being forced to share the details of their sses with each other just so that they could survive. Honestly, Ana would have been more upset by that situation than the one she and Natalie had ended up in. Sharing the details of one''s ss was highly intimate, much more so than being naked, in Ana''s frank opinion. Her ss was written into her soul, but being stuck naked, or even encouraged into intimacy¡ªwell, it was just smashing genitals together. Ana didn''t get what the big deal was. The other three didn''t seem too upset by the swap, though. Then again, they''d already had time to adjust to their situation, and even more to the point, Ana was hardly the best at reading people. Maybe they were ufortable with it, and she just couldn''t tell. "But yeah, we''re doing fine. Jordan''s carrying us," Liz piped in, her tone sounding too cheerful for using Sofia''s voice. "She barely had to adjust, since Sofia''s ss is nearly rogue-like as it stands." "And lucky for her," Sofia said sourly. It was rather clear thepetitive girl didn''t like being the deadweight of the team, having to struggle with spell-casting for the first time. "The dungeon adjusted its difficulty with the swap in mind," Jordan said. "It''s not throwing anything impossible at us. It''s seriously weird, though. And definitely not easy. What about you two? It''s not looking bad?" "We''re pushing through." "Having a good bonding experience?" Jordan asked slyly. "You still didn''t tell me what you''ve been up to." Again, Natalie''s face reddened at the obvious implication. And at how easily Natalie was reacting, Jordan''s delight grew. Before she could get something out, though, Ana again came to Natalie''s rescue. Natalie wasn''t typically a girl who needed to be rescued, but it was clear she was embarrassed by the situation¡ªand especially by the details. She probably didn''t want the details of their misadventures getting out. How she''d so eagerly sucked Ana''s¡ªor her own¡ªcock. "How are the rewards for you three?" Ana cut in. Jordan paused, her teasing cut off for a second time, then narrowed her eyes at Ana. Ana knew the other girl was socially insightful¡ªcertainly ten times more so than Ana¡ªand Ana wasn''t particrly subtle even when she was trying her hardest. Seeing how Ana had done it twice now, Jordan had probably picked up how Ana was intervening for Natalie''s sake. Added with how quickly Natalie was blushing, Jordan could tell something was up. "Good, but nothing special," Jordan said after a brief pause. She studied Ana, then nodded at her¡ªthough Ana hadn''t a clue what the gesture implied. "Let me guess. You two have been getting crazy loot." "Some of the most interesting yet, even ounting for Elizabeth''s wand." Liz''s eyes widened at that, for good reason. Her wand had already been one of the strangest¡ªand strongest¡ªitems Ana had heard of, considering its low level. "Oh, wow," Liz said. "I don''t know if I even wanna guess." "It''s best we save exnations for our reunion," Ana said. "It''ll take time to go through it all." There was the stat-boosting potions, and Ana''s new weapon as well. Probably more toe. "Can''t wait to see the haul," Jordan said, her lips curling up¡ªand with a sparkle in her eye that said she meant the words. She knew that looting from a challenge that was forcing her and Natalie into nakedness would involve something lewd, and she was excited to see what. Amusingly, Jordan seemed to be the most at ease with Natalie''s ss than anyone besides possibly Ana herself. Sofia, unsurprisingly, just shook her head in disapproval, incredulity, or something simr. "But really," Jordan said. "Stop deflecting. What challenges are you two getting, if you weren''t forced to swap sses? Have you¡ª" A sudden crashing made all five of them jump. Jordan''s head snapped to the side, looking at something Ana and Natalie couldn''t see. Her eyes widened, hand shooting to her belt and drawing Sofia''s rapier in an instant. Then, just as suddenly as the interruption hade, the mirror shattered, spraying Ana and Natalie with a shower of ss shards. Which was, Ana would admit, a convenient way to cut Jordan''s interrogation off. After spinning side to side, scanning to clear the room and look for any threats on their end, Natalie turned to Ana. "Shit. What was that?" Ana shrugged. "They''ll be fine." She didn''t have a clue, but she also had faith in her teammates. Danger was a given in the dungeon, and she wasn''t going to panic every time something unexpected happened. Jordan, Sofia, and Liz knew how to handle themselves. Even Natalie, the more emotional¡ªand certainly more attached¡ªwasn''t too bothered, though she did send several concerned looks at the broken mirror, chewing her lip as if trying to puzzle out a way to help them. "I wanted to ask if they had optional ways out, like we do," Natalie said, gesturing at thedder. "And what''s up with the dungeon letting the five of us talk in the first ce? What''s the point? Was there something we should have told them?" "Maybe," Ana said. It hadn''t crossed her mind that there was anything urgent they needed to convey. "Maybe the dungeon just wanted to let us know they were fine. Unharmed." Natalie gave her a doubtful look. "More likely, though, it just wanted to embarrass us further," Ana said. "By showing off our circumstances." "Why would it want to do that?" "Why would it want me to shove my cock down your throat?" Ana countered. Clearly, the theme of the challenge was to mortify Natalie¡ªto push her boundaries. So her exnation for the mirror made some sense, in that context. And, apparently, Ana had just helped the dungeon with that goal. Because the question was too direct; Natalie flushed and turned away. She hadn''t been trying to tease Natalie. That was part of the reason why she was oftentimes absurdly direct, to the point of obviously messing with people. To mask when she was doing so identally. Ana was entirely aware she could be clueless. Thus, the practical solution was to mask that weakness behind a cool face and dry humor¡ªit made it less obvious when she was floundering unintentionally. "Questioning the dungeon is pointless," Ana said, brushing past Natalie''s reaction. "It does what it does. In the best of cases, an entity like it will behave enigmatically. So, we worry about ourselves, not its indecipherable motives. As for the mirror¡ªwhat happened, happened. No point in fretting. They''ll be fine." "Right." Natalie nced at the next door, the entrance into the next challenge room. If following the same pattern, it would bebat, not a lewd encounter. They still had a brief reprieve before their next event, whatever it would turn out to be. Ana hesitated. They ''needed to worry about themselves'', as she''d just said, but maybe not just in the sense of danger. By Natalie''s continued blushing, Ana was honestly worried whether Natalie was okay with all of this. Perhaps the excellent rewards were coercing her into things she didn''t want. Then again, Ana doubted that was the case. Natalie had been too enthusiastic to get her mouth around Ana''s cock. At the same time, this series of encounters wasn''t the most organic of situations. In Ana''s opinion, that was even what made it so exciting¡ªor at least so tititing. Certainly, they weren''t being forced into anything, but they were being encouraged into plenty. Regardless, Natalie''s constant blushing and less-than-typical non-confidence made it clear she had been put on the back foot. Ufortable, in a way, despite her enthusiasm when the sticky situation had started. And despite Natalie''s insistent that they shouldn''t talk about it, Ana thought they should. Just, how to go about it? Ana wasn''t exactly a social savant. She didn''t know how to navigate a conversation that obviously required tact. But better to talk than to not, Ana decided. It was time to put her foot down. For both of their sakes, she needed Natalie to admit that she wanted more of her cock. 4.42 – Ana III 4.42 ¨C Ana III It was unfortunate that she, of all people, had to initiate a genuine conversation. Of her talents, heart-to-heart discussions were most definitely not a specialty. Ana knew she thought, acted, and perceived things differently than most people¡ªand so, naturally, social matters had always been a weak point. In fact, she suspected Natalie''s awkwardness and ufortableness stemmed, at least in part, from Ana herself. Though, maybe ufortable was too strong of a word. Natalie didn''t seem to dislike her, or feel ill at ease around her. Ana didn''t think Natalie wanted to exit the challenge but couldn''t work up the nerve¡ªit wasn''t that extreme. But their unfamiliarity, and her aloof and analytical behavior, certainly didn''t mesh with Natalie''s passionate and direct nature. That had been part of the reason Ana had taken up a dominating personality, earlier. It had been an intuitive response to Natalie''s reactions, an attempt to give the woman some stability. Maybe if Ana acted confident, then Natalie would findfort in that¡ªAna could be her anchor. And it had worked, so she kept on with it. She considered herself practical above all else. She could be a leader, or a follower, or whoever else was needed for any given situation, so long as it worked toward her current goal. Hence, she had been fine with taking a dominant role over Natalie¡ªwith the intent Natalie drew strength from her. Then things had escted. Ana wouldn''t have guessed that demeaning Natalie, man-handling her, and dirty-talking would be what the girl needed to ''be morefortable'' with the bizarre challenge of sucking her own cock, but it seemed to have done the job. At least in the moment. Long term, it might have backfired. Ana''s totalck of embarrassment might be making Natalie''s even more prominent¡ªher confidence siphoning Natalie''s, rather than giving the other girl something to draw on. But Ana wasn''t sure. She didn''t trust her theories on other people''s behavior¡ªshe was far from a people person. And there was another more obvious reason for Natalie''s embarrassment: the intrinsically mortifying nature of the event. It was more than usible that Natalie was embarrassed simply because she had sucked her own cock. Ana personally didn''t think it was that big of a deal, but Natalie''s opinion obviously differed. Again, Ana mused on how poorly fit she was to handle this situation. She could, at least, tell that her nk expression was making it harder for Natalie. Ana wasn''tpletely clueless as to what other people were thinking ¡­ only more than most. She even liked to y up that cluelessness forical effect, because it gave her an excuse when she really did fail to notice something obvious. When she''d been younger, people had told her she looked confused a lot¡ªwhich had oftentimes been true. She didn''t understand why most people acted like they did. Only through scrutiny over the years had she even begun to understand. And since it was better to be aloof and analytical than confused, especially in political circles, Ana kept careful control of her reactions. But she wondered whether showing some embarrassment, here, would be good for Natalie. Then again, her confidence had encouraged Natalie toplete thest challenge¡ªand Natalie had seemed to quite like it, even. Plus, Ana''s irreverence for the lewdness of the event might be one of the reasons Natalie wanted to keep pushing forward. In short, Ana had no idea. This whole event was a mess, and she was terrible at reading people, so she didn''t know how to continue. That said, in her opinion, they should press forward. This encounter was worth seeing through to any length¡ªpossibly even extreme ones. Their career already included ughtering monsters, wading around in filth, and risking their lives, so while it was weird to suddenly have sexual encounters mixed into that, it didn''t faze Ana much. She didn''t really understand the big deal. People had always put way more importance on smashing their genitals together than Ana thought it deserved. But, she acknowledged that her opinion¡ªor even she in general¡ªwasn''t ''the normal one''. And she cared about what other people thought, especially her teammates. So she didn''t want to state those opinions outright to Natalie, who was clearly hesitant about how far she wanted to pursue their bizarre circumstances. It might influence her to go farther than she would otherwise, and Ana didn''t want that to happen. She would help Natalie work through any hesitance, but she had no intention of forcing her past any hard boundaries. The swapped bodies made things even messier. Even Ana''s own emotions had gotten a bit twisted up, seeing Natalie wear her own face to suck her newly-acquired cock dry. Ana had never expected to know what her own mouth and tongue would feel like against her cock, and she also hadn''t expected to like it so much. Seeing how she knew she was rather indifferent on many sexual matters that others found mortifying, that even she felt a few confusing emotions swirling around indicated that a normal person¡ªlike Natalie¡ªwould be aplete mess. Ana shook her thoughts clear. Despite this being a disaster, and Natalie''s clear aversion to talking it out, they needed to have a conversation. Ana didn''t trust her social judgment enough to hope things worked out. This was too important for that. So, it was up to her to draw Natalie''s honest thoughts out. Get more than her implied permission¡ªand have her state outright that she was enjoying herself. That she wanted more of her¡ªor Ana''s, if she wanted to think of it that way¡ªcock, and that she wasn''t simply trudging along because Ana herself insisted on doing so. Ahead of her, Natalie had advanced to the door, grabbing the handle as she was about to move to the next room. With no more time to muse over her unfortunately perplexing circumstances, Ana interrupted her. "We should talk." Natalie paused, then turned back with a curious look. "About what?" "Us. And what''sing up." Natalie''s expression shifted into something she couldn''t entirely decipher. Not for the first time, Ana wished people weren''t so difficult to read. She acknowledged the irony there. She was often told she was the hard one to read. But that had been a defense mechanism developed because she herself found people confusing. "I already said that there''s no point," Natalie said. "We''ll deal with it when we get there." She twisted the handle, making to continue. "I disagree," Ana said firmly. "And I''m not moving to the next room until I''mfortable that we''ve worked something out." That, oddly, drew a stronger reaction from Natalie than Ana would have expected. She stiffened, then faced Ana, brow furrowing in concern. "You''re ¡­ notfortable with this?" Natalie asked slowly. It took Ana a second to understand the sudden worry, but she eventually did. Natalie was more concerned about Ana than herself¡ªas soon as there''d been an implication Ana didn''t want to continue, she''d taken the situation deadly serious. Never mind her own obvious internal conflict. If Ana had even the slightest hesitations, then this was suddenly a serious situation. It was a sweet, if frustrating, trait. But maybe that was how Ana should phrase all of this, then. Focus the discussion on herself, not Natalie. "Not without knowing where you stand, I''m not," Ana said. "I''m perfectly fine abandoning this series of challenges, but I''m not fine with damaging a rtionship with a teammate¡ªor inadvertently coercing you into something you don''t want." The first half of that statement was a lie. Ana was most decidedly not okay with abandoning such an absurdly lucrative venture. But the second half was firmly true; if Natalie didn''t want to continue, then Ana didn''t. It would cause far worse damage to their team in the long term than taking things slow and easing into Natalie''s ss. And more than that, she did care about Natalie''s well-being. Ana knew she could be coldly analytical about things, but she wasn''t heartless. She cared about her teammates. Especially ones who had been so friendly to her. Ana had frankly not expected to make friends at T¡ªand she likely wouldn''t have, if not for Elizabeth. So she would rather not mess that up, amazing loot or not. Irritation appeared on Natalie''s face. "You''re not coercing me into anything," she said hotly. "I''m perfectly capable of making my own decisions, and if I don''t want to do something, I can say so." The heat behind the words assuaged the worst of Ana''s worries. But not all of them. "Nheless, I won''t befortable until we talk about what happened, and what''sing up deeper into the dungeon. I need to know what you''re okay with. Your boundaries." "We''ll figure it out when¡ª" "We''ll figure it out now," Ana said firmly. "Or I''m climbing up thatdder." At theck of give in her voice, Natalie''s eyebrows went up. She didn''t seem pleased. She stepped away from the door, hand thankfully leaving the door handle, but only for her to cross her arms¡ªbodynguage inly disying irritation. Ana was bad at reading people, but not that bad. "Fine," Natalie said shortly. "But if you want to do this so badly, then you start. What are you okay with? How far are you willing to go?" She narrowed her eyes. "And why aren''t you reacting to any of this? I mean, really! None of this is the least bit disorienting?" Outrage was a good first step, Ana supposed. But her boundaries? They didn''t really exist, or at least were far, far above Natalie''s, to the point of not being worth talking about. Certainly, the idea of outright sex¡ªwhich Ana expected to being soon, or if not soon, then eventually¡ªdidn''t faze her in the slightest. But how did Ana say that tactfully, without putting Natalie off? 4.43 – Ana IV 4.43 ¨C Ana IV Apparently, Ana''s expression joined with her hesitation gave her answer away¡ªbecause Natalie''s face morphed into incredulity. "Really," Natalie said. "You''ve got no problem at all with fucking yourself. With sticking my cock into your pussy. That''s not something you have the least bit of feelings about?" "That''s not true," Ana calmly defended herself. "I have plenty of thoughts on the possibility. Primarily, that I''m looking forward to it." Natalie stared at her. Perhaps that had been too blunt. "And not for the rewards," Ana rified. "This is an opportunity we might only get once. Thus, I''m more than willing to discover what it''s like." She wouldn''t consider herself a thrill-seeker, always looking for new experiences, but growing a cock, and getting to y around with her own body? Ana would admit interest¡ªand the practical benefits granted by the dungeon just made it better. Because of how little it bothered her, Ana could tell that this was a challenge focused more on Natalie than Ana herself. As fitting, seeing how it was Natalie''s ss influencing the dungeon. "And that it''s with you makes it even better," Ana tacked on. That part, she wasn''t sure whether she should include, but she did anyway. Ana couldn''t decide whether approaching this from a personal or impersonal perspective was smarter, so she would just be honest. That was probably for the best anyway. Natalie flushed, some of the heat taken from her posture. "Well, I''m d you can take it all in stride, but seriously? Having sex with your own body is a bit much, isn''t it?" Ana shrugged. "I''m allowed to be flustered by the idea, okay?" "But is it too much?" Ana asked. "No. It''s not too much," Natalie growled, looking away. "I''m fine, and I said I was. If that changes, I''ll say something. You don''t need to do all of this." "Yes, I do." "Why?" Natalie shot back. "Is this some kind of power y? You just have to make sure I embarrass myself as much as humanly possible? Drag as many mortifying statements out of me as you can?" Ana tilted her head. She studied Natalie. Seeing the woman stand there, blushing, annoyed, and most importantly, vulnerable, something unexpected stirred inside Ana. Something that had reared up earlier, when she''d been ying dominant during their first encounter. Maybe it hadn''t been ''ying''. Ana''s feet carried her forward, not entirely by active intent. She stalked toward the other girl, and at the sudden advance, Natalie''s eyes widened. She took an instinctive step away, but her back pressed into the wall, with nowhere to escape to. Ana closed the gap and used her newfound height to tower over Natalie, pushing the shorter girl by her waist and pinning her into the wall. "Maybe that is what I want," Ana murmured, drawing her face close. "Maybe I do like seeing you squirm. Is that so bad?" "W-What?" "But even if that wasn''t true," Ana said, "I think it''s best if you just admit what you want. It''ll put both of us at ease." Natalie stayed frozen, eyes wide, breathing heavily as Ana towered over her. Ana could get used to the height difference¡ªit was unfortunate she wouldn''t keep it forever. "Go ahead," Ana insisted, getting her face even closer. "Tell me the truth. You can be honest with me. It''s just us here." "I ¡­" The other girl was at aplete loss for words, which satisfied Ana. Her angry confidence from earlier drained so fast Ana would almost think she was always this wide-eyed and blushing. "Come on, then. Say it." Ana leaned closer. "You want to find out what my cock feels like, don''t you? What your cock feels like. Stop dancing around it. Just tell me the truth." Natalie finally stammered something in response. "Are you¡ªare you serious?" "Yes or no, Nat? Do you want my cock? I could give it to you here. Get the ceremony out of the way, so the dungeon can''t hold it over us." Ana''s hands wandered lower down onto her hips, and she tugged the other girl into her. "Would you like that?" With wide eyes, Natalie panted as she stayed frozen solid. Seeing the expression on her face, Ana couldn''t help herself¡ªthat same feeling from earlier surged inside her, forcing her body to move. She leaned forward, closing thest of the distance, and captured Natalie''s mouth. The other girl reciprocated instantly, opening her mouth and letting Ana''s tongue slip inside. They stayed that way, kissing hungrily, Ana''s hands exploring Natalie''s body, and the other girl doing the same. It hadn''t been the way Ana had intended this conversation to go, but something had overwhelmed her, her body acting of its own volition. But at how easily Natalie had kissed back, she had received a straightforward answer. Ana broke away, gasping for air, her eyes dted with excitement. Natalie was the same, her chest rising and falling like she''d been sprinting. "I still want an answer," Ana murmured. Obvious as the kiss had been. Though at this point, it might be because she really did want to embarrass Natalie. Natalie swallowed. Ana let her find her words; the poor girl was obviously overwhelmed, if in a different way than Ana. "It''s just ¡­ weird," Natalie mumbled. "But not bad?" "Not bad." "And you''re fine with what''s happening? What''sing up?" "Y-Yes." Ana wasn''t satisfied with the one-word response. She pressed back into Natalie, kissing her again. When she pulled away, leaving Natalie panting even louder than before, she nearly growled her next words. "I want a real answer. Tell me. Do you want me to fuck you? Say it." "A-Ana¡ª" Ana shoved Natalie back into the wall, then pressed herself into her. Her cock pulsed against Natalie''s stomach, their faces an inch apart. "Say it, Natalie." Natalie swallowed. Ana waited intently, staring into the other girl''s eyes. She would have her answer, one way or another. And there was something endlessly intoxicating about a vulnerable Natalie, her burning cheeks giving away her thoughts so easily. Maybe because she was so normally confident? And because she was so easy to read, like this¡ªher trembling body giving her away. Finally, Natalie cracked. "F-Fine," Natalie mumbled. "Yes. I do. I¡ªI can''t wait for it." "Can''t wait for what?" "For you to fuck me, okay?" Natalie growled back¡ªsome of her heat finally showing. "There. Are you happy? I want you inside me. I want you to pin me down and fuck me until until I cant think straight and I''m screaming your name. I want to know what my cock feels like. I want to know what your cock feels like, Ana." She started slowly, but soon the words tumbled from her, like she was trying to get them out before she could stop herself. "That''s the truth. All of this is weird as fuck, but I want you inside me, I want myself inside of me, and this dungeon bullshit was giving me an excuse to hide behind¡ªbut you couldn''t let me have that. So thanks. Are you happy now?" Ana smiled. She was. She patted Natalie gently on the cheek and pulled away. "Thank you for the honesty." Natalie watched her, breathing heavily, and visibly dazed at the words that hade from her mouth. They''d been surprisingly easy to get from her. "Okay. I''m confident I know where we stand, now," Ana said, returning to her professional tone¡ªand this time, not because she was actually calm, but to tease Natalie, because it was just too much fun. If Ana didn''t know a challenge wasing up, and that she would get to indulge then, she would have pinned Natalie against the wall and taken her right there, just as the girl had all but begged for her to do. But, there wasbating up, and other challenges. So it was best to save all of that forter. And it was best to let Natalie stew. It would make it even better when the time came. Seeing Natalie panting against the wall, scarlet-faced and unable to form words, Ana justughed. She grabbed Natalie by the hand, pulled her forward, then spun her around. The forceful manhandling of the other girl did something for Ana¡ªand something for Natalie too, from what she''d seen earlier. "Go ahead, then. Let''s keep going. We''ve got a dungeon to clear." She smirked, then, another impulse taking her over, she pped the other girl on the ass to get her going¡ªwho jumped and covered herself, spinning to look at her with wide eyes. Anaughed, then made a shooing motion. "And the sooner we get to the next challenge, the sooner you can find out what your cock feels like. Isn''t that a great motivator?" 4.44 – Swapped X 4.44 ¨C Swapped X Natalie was fucked. And not even in the good way. Though, by all indicators, that would be happening soon. But for the moment, Natalie meant in how thoroughly she''d beenpromised. How easily Ana had extracted those admissions from her. Theplete and total embarrassment she''d made of herself, just because another girl had gotten up close and teased her. How was she supposed to look Ana in the eye, now? She''d already been struggling to be normal around her, and now she''d been forced to exin just how badly she wanted the other girl to pin her down and fuck her senseless. And honestly, even Natalie hadn''t known how much she did, until five minutes ago. She''d been trying to fight it, because what a shameful situation to be in, wanting to be fucked by her own cock. There was one saving grace keeping Natalie from melting into a puddle: The bloodthirsty monsters trying to kill the two of them. Continuing the pattern, the next room opened withbat. It was hard to be blushing and tripping over her feet while focused on survival. It was a good, if intense, pte cleanser. And Natalie knew it only dyed the inevitable. A brief distraction before the real shenanigans of the dungeon began again. Before ¡­ whatever happened next, between her and Ana. Hell, a second ago, Natalie had been ready to be pinned down without the intervention of the dungeon. For Ana to take her right there in the hallway. What had gotten into her? What had gotten into Ana? Seriously. The cool, aloof, academic she knew Ana as did not seem to fit with how she could just switch into another mode. One that would pin Natalie against a wall and force her to admit some of the most mortifying things that had evere from her mouth. And why was Natalie so weak to it? Why did it turn her on so much? In short, Natalie was a mess, and very much appreciated the reprieve granted to her in the form of a vicious monster. The secondbat challenge of this bizarre series wasn''t a swarm, but rather, a single strong opponent¡ªwhich was, on paper, her and Ana''s more preferred fight. But that didn''t mean it was easier than the crystal spider swarm. The difficulty had been ramped up by several tiers, so despite them being better suited to single-targetbat, they were pressed far harder. The [Animated Shard Knight] was a cyclone wielding a massive two-handed sword, and [Hunker Down] could only save Natalie once in a while¡ªand she wascking armor, and also still adjusting to Ana''s new body. By the time Natalie and Ana put the creature down, she was panting, bleeding, and had thankfully had her mind cleared from earlier embarrassments. She much appreciated the fight, considering that. But it had been a real challenge, enough to make Natalie fear what the thirdbat room would be. Whether they could even handle it. They didn''t have a healer on standby to save them from serious injuries. For minor ones, though, they had the health potions from earlier. Natalie drank one, then used the cleaning solution to freshen up. She appreciated the slippery liquid''s ability to clear away just about anything, bringing her back to a more presentable state¡ªespecially since the gruesomeness of dungeoneering had apparently beenbined with lovemaking. It would be rather unpleasant to get into anything intimate while actively wounded. Like usual, a loot chest ttered into the ground after the [Animated Shard Knight]''s defeat. After cleaning up and healing, she picked up the materializing monster core from the creature''s now-disintegrated corpse, then headed over to see what they''d gotten. As always, she felt a mix of trepidation and excitement at what might be inside the chest. Sure, Natalie appreciated how their team seemed to receive much better loot than most teams, but the bizarre items that came out certainly caused problems for her heart¡ªand asionally, her sense of shame. But this was abat encounter, so thankfully¡ªor maybe disappointingly?¡ªnothing lewd came out. Instead, it was more of the stat potions from earlier. "Potions that give permanent stat bonuses," Ana said, shaking her head. "And we''re not getting just one of them, but multiple, now. It''s unbelievable." Natalie agreed. Before, they''d received a single potion that granted furor. This time, they''d gotten three more: two that boosted prowess, and one for tenacity. "Guess it depends on how much of a boost it gives, but yeah," Natalie said. "It''s basically a mini level-up." Gear could also improve stats, but there were only four equipment slots and two weapon slots¡ªso there were hard limitations there. Potions, however, could simply be consumed, and the user would see permanent boosts forever. "I figure it''s roughly the same as a minor equipment boost," Natalie said. It would make sense if the wording was so simr because they gave simr effects. So, in a way, it was like having an extra level-two item equipped at all times. Put like that, she became even more incredulous at just how fantastic the items were. Maybe not their most immediately game-changing loot, but still pretty crazy. "Only have four total now," Ana said. "One more and we could split them evenly." "Challenges aren''t over yet. This chest isn''t over. Might get more." Natalie tucked the potions in with the health potions, which were stored in the coin bag they''d gotten in the first room. She handled them delicately since they had to be worth a fortune. How much so, she wasn''t sure, but if a price was put on them, it would probably be enough to make her eyes water. Having secured the vials of ss, Natalie closed and popped open the chest. A second bag of coins followed, this one just as heavy, but with more silver mixed into the bronze than thest. For a second time, Natalie found herself disbelieving at the sheer lucrativeness of dungeon delving¡ªand especially her brand of dungeon delving. Even Ana, who as far as Natalie knew, was a minor noble or perhaps someone of even greater importance, was impressed at the sums they were drawing out. Though maybe that was just at the disproportionate payoutpared to what they should be receiving. An academic interest. Ana hadn''t ever seemed especially invested in their delving rewards in a financial sense, only how they could be used for their progression. A third open-and-close of the chest revealed an empty bottom. Natalie could hardly be disappointed by three stat-boosters and a hefty coin payout, and a part of her was even relieved that they didn''t have to deal with another fiasco item. At thest distraction being handled, Natalie was forced to confront the looming event. The second lewd challenge,ing up shortly. The first had been to suck Ana''s cock, and seeing how the theme seemed to be progressively more intense situations, Natalie needed to be ready for anything. She swallowed. Her intuition told her it wouldn''t be some slightly more lewd event. If usingbat as a guide, the swarm had been easy, and thebat of this room had nearly been too much to handle. Following that pattern, it was likely time that Natalie would be getting what she''d begged Ana for. Her own cock, inside her. Oh, heavens. Was she ready for that? 4.45 – Swapped XI 4.45 ¨C Swapped XI "How didst challenge even make sense?" Natalie blurted out. The question had been on her mind, but other developing events had taken priority. With the two of them about to venture into the next¡ªlikely lewd¡ªchallenge, she found herself needing to ask. "What do you mean?" "It was literally just sucking your cock. How is that a challenge? Something worth rewarding? At least with Liz, she had needed to¡ª" Natalie bit her lip to cut herself off, remembering that Liz had asked for her to be discreet about that event. Ana, and the rest of the party, had seen the initial description of the rules, and the saddle device, though. "It required her not to climax," Ana finished for her. "So there was an aspect of imposed difficulty. A challenge in the more traditional sense." "Exactly." Whereas the blowjob room¡ªand the fact that Natalie referred to a dungeon challenge in that way kind of broke her brain¡ªhad just been for Natalie to get on her knees and pleasure Ana. "I''ve been wondering about that too. The nature of your ss," Ana said, sounding way too academically interested for both the topic at hand, and what wasing up. "If we consider a typical delver, their ss urges them to be a betterbatant¡ªand that''s what the dungeon does as well. Throws powerful monsters at them until they grow in skill andpetence. If viewed under that light, then the dungeon offering a sex-based ss any type of lewd challenge is reasonable, since the ss-bearer would be more proficient in sex. An artificial constraint like Elizabeth''s is unnecessary. I could liken it to how the dungeon often throws a simple monster at us, without anyplicated scenario apanying it. The goal is to make you grow in matters rted to sex, perhaps by pushing boundaries or simply giving you opportunities to refine your skill set. So, it makes perfect sense." Wow. Ana had actually thought about it, then. Natalie had mostly shrugged and dealt with the practical results of her ss, but here was an exnation. Though it missed the why behind being given a ss that urged her to ''grow in matters of sex''. It at least exined why the dungeon acted like it did, and also why the blowjob room had been so straightforward. "Huh," Natalie said. "So, what''s the end result? It wants to turn me into someplete degenerate?" "Not necessarily. High-level delvers are hardly all violence-addicted sadists. They''re simply very, very good at killing. Which I suppose means the dungeon wants you to be very, very good at fucking." Natalie stared at her. "How do you do that?" "Do what?" "Say something so ridiculous with a straight face." "Years of practice," Ana said coolly. "And, fascinating as I find this discussion, I do believe you''re stalling. Didn''t you promise me I''d get to put this thing inside you?" She grabbed her cock and wiggled it at Natalie. "I''m getting impatient." Natalie''s face instantly started burning, and she bashfully looked away. Why did Ana''s impassionate delivery of such lewd requests turn her on so much? Ana''s whole personality was a strangely effective enigma. "We don''t even know if that''s what''sing up," Natalie mumbled. "Combat, fucking,bat. Three makes a pattern. I find it a safe assumption." "And you''re really looking forward to it, are you?" Natalie shot back. "As much as you are, if I had to guess." Ana''s lips twitched. "Which is to say, very much. I''m itching to get going. Now, hurry up." She made a shooing motion. "Staring at your ass all day has me pent up." Natalie didn''t have a retort for that¡ªshe never had a retort to Ana''spleteck of shame¡ªso, red-faced, she swung open the hallway door and advanced. The two girls passed by a familiardder, and sure enough, above the next doorway was the same pink gemstone they''d seen heralding the first lewd challenge. It really was alternatingbat and fucking, then. Three suggested a pattern, but four confirmed it. Having all but known this wasing, she refused to hesitate. She already didn''t like how much of a blushing mess this had turned her into, so she could at least face her fate with squared shoulders. And no, it wasn''t because she was itching to get started, like Ana had implied. Ana might have bullied an admittance like that out of her by getting up in her face, but Natalie wasn''t such a massive pervert that she was squirming to have her own cock inside her. She had some dignity. She did. Or, at least, she was going to keep telling herself that. Regardless, she swung open the door and strode in, hammer held at the ready. Inside, a familiar aesthetic met them: polished tiles, statues, and, making her stomach clench in either nervousness or something Natalie didn''t look closely at, there was a bed in the center of the room. Thest confirmation they needed. Worse, even, was that arge que inscribed with instructionsid on a plinth, offset from the bed. Instructions couldn''t bode anything good, not when Liz''s challenge had set the standard. Thest objects of note were the three doorways leading out¡ªall locked. The first had a single circr gemstone above it, glowing a dull, faint pink. The second had two, and the third had three. Natalie didn''t know what that meant, but she assumed the instructions would exin it to them. "It gave us a bed again," Anamented. "We should use it, this time. Spurning a gracious host is rude, Natalie." Natalie ignored her. She scanned the room for traps, then approached the plinth holding the challenge''s instructions. *** Inscribe the Mark of Carnal Absorption by pressing the formation stone into one''s pubic region. The bearer of this mark, upon climax, will shatter a Seal, unlocking passages to higher-tier rewards. The mark will fade ten minutes after entry. All surviving Seals past the mark''s dissolution will be impossible to break. *** "Tiered rewards," Ana said. "Interesting. And there''s six total¡ªthat''s a lot of cumming." She plucked up the small stone sitting on the plinth and turned it side to side. Red-violet lines covered it in an intricate magical diagram. "A formation stone." Ana hummed as she peered at the novel item. "We shouldn''t wait. The timer started when we came in. The question is, which of us wille to climax easiest? And most often?" Her lips curled up in vague amusement as she turned to Natalie. "No need to answer." She ced the cold stone against Natalie''s pubic area, a few inches above her pussy, then pushed. "We both know it''ll be you." The stone sank into her, and glowing violet-red lines scrawled across her skin, forming an intricate tattoo in the shape of a stylized womb. Ana pushed Natalie, and the action was so surprising, she stumbled and fell onto the bed. Ana pursued, crawling over her. "Six times," Ana said. "That seems easy enough. I wonder if there''s a bonus for going above and beyond." She brought her face close to Natalie, mumbling her next words¡ªtickling Natalie with hot air. "And it''s about time. I''m so tired of waiting." "I-It just says climax," Natalie replied, heart mming at Ana''s sudden proximity¡ªand the way Ana''s cock pressed against her stomach. "We don''t have to go too far. We don''t have to do anything rash." "How else will I make you climax six times?" She leaned forward, bit Natalie''s lower lip, and tugged back gently. "For the next ten minutes, you''re mine. And I promise¡ªI''m going to be thorough." 4.46 – Swapped XII & XIII 4.46 ¨C Swapped XII & XIII Natalie''s head spun at how quickly this was advancing, but Ana had a point¡ªthey were literally on a timer. A timer. That measured how many times Natalie came to climax. And unlocked stronger rewards the more she did? What an absurd challenge. Maybe even something as straightforward as the blowjob room was preferable. As for Ana''s implications: that she would be iming Natalie however she wanted. She didn''t know how to feel about that. A part of her had been clinging to the excuse that she was working her way through the dungeon, doing what it told her. Now, though, it just said she had to cum. They could definitely arrange that without Ana fucking her. Without Ana doing anything. Nothing said masturbation was off the table. Natalie could take care of herself. But Ana didn''t seem to care about that possibility. Natalie was forced to confront the fact that the stoic mage really did just want to fuck her. That all her lewd words and her domineering attitude hadn''t been for show. And Natalie was going to let her. Because she wanted it too. She wanted to be fucked by her own cock. She was going to lose her cock-virginity to herself¡ªand Ana at the same time. The idea made her dizzy. "You''re so red," Ana said, cupping her cheek, which Natalie couldn''t help but crane into. "It''s cute. I can''t wait to see how you react when I stuff you. When I''m so deep inside you, I''m kissing your womb. I bet you''ll really be blushing, then." Natalie shivered at the mental image, then shivered again as Ana leaned up and ced a hand against her pubic region. She examined the designs of the glowing symbol there, tracing lines with a finger. "I wonder how much you can take?" Ana mused. "Before you break. You''re so pent-up, it''s adorable. You need this. Badly. How quickly can I turn you into a whimpering mess?" Ana gripped her cock, then pped it against Natalie''s pussy. She wiggled her hips, grinding her member side to side, then up and down, and the contact made Natalie''s toes curl. It felt good. Way too good. Even just having her lips spread apart as Ana''s cock rubbed between them nearly drove her insane. ''Pent up''. Yeah, that was an understatement. "You''re soaking already. You''re that eager for my cock?" Ana pressed harder, digging her shaft deeper between her lips, and Natalie gasped, her back involuntarily arching. "Or is it because it''s your cock?" Ana murmured. "Are you this much of a slut for yourself?" Natalie''s face burned. She wanted to deny it, but the only thing that escaped her mouth was breathless panting as Ana continued to grind against her. "That''s right," Ana said. "I''ve got your own cock pressed against you. Soon, I''ll shove it inside. Isn''t that so dirty? Naughty? Degenerate?" She smirked down at Natalie. "What if Jordan saw you? Sofia? Elizabeth? What if they saw how desperately you''re squirming, your body begging to take your own cock? How do you think they''d react?" Ana pulled her hips back and pressed the tip of her member against Natalie''s opening. She didn''t push, just left it resting there, pulsing heat into her. Leaking precum. Natalie stared down her body. Ana''s cock looked even bigger from this perspective, the image cradled between her breasts¡ªAna''s breasts¡ªand poised at her pussy, about to enter. Could she even handle something that huge? It didn''t look like it would fit. And why did cock look so good on a girl? Ana''s meaty length, resting just a few inches from her pussy, situated so perfectly between thick, curvy thighs, was a sight that made Natalie''s body heat up in ways she''d never expected. Girl cock was just so ¡­ amazing. "H-Hurry up, already," Natalie mumbled. "We''re on a timer, aren''t we?" "Is that it?" Ana said, sounding amused. "We''re on a timer? Natalie, we both know you''re just impatient. You want your cock. Admit it." Natalie squirmed under the usation. It wasn''t like it was the first time she''d heard it, but with Ana so close to thrusting inside, the taunting was hitting her harder than before. "And there''s not that much of a rush," Ana continued. "Because with you like this, six times will be easy." Ana shifted her cock around, digging the tip of it into Natalie''s lower lips. She pushed a half-inch forward, the thick member slowly sinking inside, stretching Natalie but not enough to prate her. "But if you want me to hurry, I can. You''ll just have to beg." "Beg?" Natalie asked dizzily, unable to tear her eyes away from Ana''s cock, so close to sliding in. Why hadn''t she shoved inside her yet? What was taking so long? "Beg," Ana repeated. "If you want my cock that bad, then you''ll have to beg me for it. Or I''ll sit like this until you do." She wiggled her hips, squirming her cocktip around Natalie''s pussy lips. She couldn''t be serious. Wasn''t this situation mortifying enough? Ana knew how embarrassed she was by it all¡ªshe had forcibly extracted those admissions. She could feel the heat of her own cock pressing against her pussy, and Ana was about to im her¡ªto take her cock virginity, despite that the challenge didn''t even require it. And she had to beg for it? "Well?" Ana asked. Natalie hesitated, but Ana made no move to prate her. Just kept her hips hovering, her cock poised to m in and im her pussy. She ¡­ needed it. "Please," Natalie mumbled. "What was that?" "Put it in." "Put what in?" "My ¡­ cock." "Where should I put it?" "Ana. Please." "Say it." "Please," Natalie said, face burning. "Put my cock inside my pussy." Her breathing came in loud pants. "I need it." Her hips squirmed side to side, helping Ana rub against her. "I need you to fuck my pussy." Ana''s lips curled up. "Since you asked so nicely." She pulled her hips back, then pped forward, sliding her shaft deep in one smooth, hard motion. Her cock parted Natalie''s lips, spreading them open as it stretched her unbelievably wide. Ana''s hips pped all the way down into her own¡ªiming Natalie. Her back arched as white-hot pleasure shed through her,pletely erasing her thoughts. Ana was inside her. Her own cock was inside her. The realization,bined with the overwhelming feeling of Ana spreading her apart, was a potent cocktail. Natalie felt like she was drowning. "Look at that," Ana breathed, staring down at where their lower halves were joined. "You took it so well. Or maybe I did? It''s my pussy, after all. My body." She chuckled softly. "Maybe I''m the one made for taking big, fat girl dick." Ana leaned forward and kissed Natalie''s neck. She pulled back an inch, then slid back in, kissing Natalie''s cervix for a second time, gently, but still sending sparks of electricity up her spine. "Now, I''m going to fuck you until you break. Are you ready for that, Natalie?" In one quick motion, she withdrew her cock, then mmed back down, driving her cock deep in a single hard motion. Then again, and again, quickly establishing a steady rhythm. Natalie''s mind went white, and lewd moans escaped her, noises she couldn''t stop if she tried. Ana fucked her as she had promised: hard and mercilessly. Not working into it, but iming Natalie, her thrusts quick and brutal. Pleasure wracked Natalie at the long-awaited relief, the intense stimtion, and it left her dazed, breathless, a moaning mess as soon as it started. Ana grunted as she worked her cock in and out of Natalie with loud ps of flesh. Natalie could only cling to her and cry out, overwhelmed as Ana''s lower half worked like a piston, each stroke kissing her cocktip to Natalie''s womb. It was unbelievable how amazing it was. Unfairly so. Turning Natalie''s brain to mush. "Fuck," Ana gasped. "This feels so good. Your pussy is gripping my cock so tightly." She panted as she went faster and faster, burying her forehead into Natalie''s neck. "And my pussy feels so good. Fuck, I''m so tight." She leaned back up, then gripped Natalie''s hips and hiked them up. The new position allowed her to drive her cock even deeper, and her thrusts became faster, harder, rougher. "Do you like your cock?" Ana asked, holding scalding eye contact with Natalie¡ªsomething Natalie could barely return, since it felt like her brain was being stirred around with each thrust of Ana''s cock. "Do you like it splitting you open? Stretching your pussy wide? I know I do. Fuck, I love it. Your pussy is perfect. My pussy is perfect. When we swap back, do you want to try it out? See how good it feels wrapped around your cock? Because I''ll let you, you know. Fair is fair." How could she so shamelessly taunt Natalie about this mortifying body swap? Sound so genuinely excited by it? And how did she know it would drive Natalie so crazy? Was she that easy to read? Anaughed as she saw how quickly Natalie was falling apart. "You really are a slut for your own cock. You like it that much? You''re close, aren''t you?" Natalie shook her head weakly, but the denial was half-hearted, instinctual¡ªtrying to save her dignity. But the taunting words weren''t helping the heat building in her core. Her head was a mess. Why did she love being fucked by her own cock so much? Why did Ana''s taunting make her burn like it did? Ana pounded into her relentlessly, each thrust making Natalie gasp, each hard impact making her more and more aware of how full she was, how Ana''s cock seemed to reach ces she didn''t know could be reached. How was she so skilled at this? Ana''s hips were a relentless piston, joining their lower halves with precision and strength that took Natalie apart faster than she could believe. "You''re so fucking tight," Ana groaned. "So, so fucking tight. It''s not fair." Not fair? She was talking about ''unfair''? Natalie could barely believe it, but a tsunami approached that she couldn''t resist. Ana had teased her, built her up, and now her body was reaching its limit¡ªin less than a minute after she had entered her. Embarrassingly fast. As if all of this wasn''t bad enough, Natalie was going to cum in less than a minute. Ana fucked her faster, grunting with exertion. "I can feel you squeezing. Go ahead. Cum for me, Nat. Cum all over your own cock. Milk me with your fucktoy. With my fucktoy." Natalie ¡­ couldn''t hold on. She tried to, despite it being against the purpose of this challenge, but Ana''smand, the pleasure, the degeneracy of the whole situation came crashing down onto her. She was being fucked by her own cock. Being made a mess of. Taken apart by her teammate, who had no right to be as good at this as she was. Natalie cried out, a high, keening whine, hands scrambling against bedsheets. Despite her best efforts, her traitorous orgasm crashed into her. Her muscles spasmed, and her pussy mped down, squeezing Ana''s shaft as pleasure wracked her, wringing her insides with heat. It was overwhelming. All she could do was cling to Ana as she rode the mind-erasing pleasure out. Ana groaned, her rhythm stuttering as she was squeezed by Natalie''s pussy, but she kept fucking her, only building her higher. Then, finally, Natalie''s climax petered out, leaving her breathless and gasping. She sagged into the bed, and Ana slowed her relentless pace. She set Natalie''s lower half down, then leaned over her, getting her face close¡ªwhile staying inside. "See?" Ana whispered. "Look how easy the first one was. Number two is going to be even easier. Wanna know why?" Her head spinning, Natalie couldn''t even begin to guess where Ana was going. So she just dizzily stared at her. "Because I''m getting close, too," Ana murmured. "And who knows how that fertility potion works? I didn''t take any, so maybe I''m still potent." She nibbled Natalie''s ear. "So, Natalie. Are you ready for me to fill you up? To pump my fertile seed into your womb? To breed you like the little cock-slut you are?" "A-Ah¡ª" The lewd groan escaped her, an instant indictment of what she thought of the words. Her body responded, and her hips arched up to press Ana''s cock deeper into her, an instant and shameful truth making it clear: she did want to be bred. She wanted Ana to empty herself into her womb. The other girlughed into Natalie''s neck. "You''re mping down on me," she murmured. "Your body knows, even if you don''t. You want it so badly. You want to breed yourself." Natalie moaned. All of this was too much. And Ana''s taunting was too close to the mark. She couldn''t deny how badly she wanted Ana to finish inside her, even knowing what it could lead to. Her rational thoughts had fled entirely. Even the idea of another girl iming her in that way had Natalie teetering on the edge of a second climax. Which had been Ana''s point. That was why she''d said the second would be even easier. Because she was holding her own climax over Natalie. "I''ll take that as a yes," Ana said, then pulled back, slipping her cock out of Natalie. She flipped her over onto her stomach, then pulled her hips up, lifting Natalie''s ass. Natalie''s face pressed into the cool sheets, her legs spread for the woman behind her. Face down, ass up. A demeaning position. Then Ana entered her again, her cock gliding into her already well-fucked pussy. Natalie gasped, holding on to the bedsheets as the other girl began thrusting into her¡ªfuriously, no work-up, just raw desire in the way hips met ass with loud smacks. "Your pussy is so perfect," Ana grunted. "I love it." Ana hunched over her, fucking her from behind with her body weight bearing down on her. "Cock-slut," she grunted. "Pussy-whore. Fertile little breeding cow. You like those words, don''t you? I can feel it. The way your pussy is squeezing me, milking me every time I insult you. You''re practically begging for my load. And I''ll give it to you." The words made her dizzy. The steady stream of degrading, humiliating filth¡ªwhy did she love it so much? The dominance Ana was showing. Making it clear Natalie was her subby slut. Nothing more. Her toy. A vessel to pump her cum into. Natalie found her lower half working on its own: pping her hips back to meet each thrust of Ana''s. Her face burned with shame, and she was just d she could bury it in the sheets as Ana used her from behind. She shouldn''t be turned on by the words, but her body didn''t care. And Ana knew how much they affected her, from the way Natalie was bucking back into her, trying to force her cock deeper. She was right. Natalie was a slut for her own cock. Ana fucked her harder, deeper, her hips smacking against Natalie''s ass. It felt so good. Mind-erasing. White-hot. Natalie whimpered, and she could feel her second climax rising, threatening to sweep her away. Her second, before Ana even had her first? "I can feel it," Ana said, her breathing in gasps. "You''re getting close. I am too. Your pussy is amazing. It''s squeezing down so hard." Natalie couldn''t hold on. The heat was too intense. Ana''s body pressed against her, and her thick cock filling her was all it took. Her orgasm hit like a sledgehammer. "A-Ah," Natalie cried out, voice muffled by the bedsheets. Her muscles locked up, and her body was wracked with shudders as her muscles seized. Her pussy squeezed down on Ana''s cock as waves of pleasure crashed through her, and she couldn''t think. Couldn''t speak. Only bask in the ecstasy of Ana stretching her out. She waited for Ana to let go, to finally get her reward, but the other girl didn''t. Natalie whined and thrust into her, desperately trying to force her over the edge, but Ana held on. She kept her rhythm, plowing Natalie through her second orgasm. Her climax faded with dismay. She had wanted to be filled up. It wasn''t fair. "There''s two," Ana grunted. "Now, give me three." Ana renewed her pace. Natalie''s body was still hypersensitive, but she didn''t care¡ªbecause she understood what Ana''s game was. She had held off, knowing that cumming inside Natalie would throw her over the edge¡ªdraw an instant back-to-back third climax. Natalie whimpered, her face pressed into the mattress, and she tried to push her hips back against Ana''s, meeting her thrusts. Natalie was exhausted from her two climaxes, but she couldn''t stop. She needed more. Needed Ana to finish inside. So badly she couldn''t believe it. That she''d already cum twice didn''t matter. "That''s right," Ana cooed. "Good slut. Take my cock. I know how much you want it. To have your fertile womb stuffed full." Ana''s breathing came faster. "And ¡­ here it is. Here ites. Just for you, Natalie. For being a good girl. My good girl." Ana groaned, and Natalie''s eyes widened as she felt Ana''s cock throbbing inside her. The other girl''s hips jerked forward, pping hard into Natalie''s ass. She froze there, gripping hard on Natalie''s waist as her cock swelled, her hot girl dick somehow filling Natalie even further¡ªin an imminent warning. Then Ana came. Ana whined, back arching and hips straining forward as she sshed her thick load straight into Natalie''s unprotected pussy. Natalie''s eyes rolled back, and her body spasmed. It was happening. Ana was pumping her full. Breeding her. She could feel the cum sshing into her, coating her womb, and her pathetic body reacted: a third and final orgasm swept through her, milking out Ana''s cock, wanting more. Natalie cried out, her toes curling, her hands scrambling at the bedsheets. "There you go," Ana gasped. "Milk my cock. Take it all, like a good breeding slut. Take your fucking cock!" Natalie writhed beneath Ana. She was lost, swept away in a torrent of pleasure. The heat, the sensations, the feeling of Ana''s cum filling her. It was too much. She felt like she was going crazy¡ªthe pleasure erasing who she was. Finally, when her climax left her, Natalie sagged into the bed, unable to form coherent thoughts. Ana stayed on top of her for a good minute, breasts pressed into Natalie''s back, her cock pulsing inside her pussy. Then she withdrew, her cock slipping out of Natalie, and rolled over, panting hard as she came down from her own peak. The two of themy there. Then, panting, Ana forced herself to prop up onto an elbow. "Don''t think we''re done," she grunted. "We''re only halfway there. Three of six. Get over here. It''s your turn to be on top." 4.47 – Swapped XIV & XV 4.47 ¨C Swapped XIV & XV Despite having her brain turned to mush, Natalie wasn''t finished. She hadn''t had enough of Ana''s cock. She could hide behind the excuse that they were on a time limit, and that the challenge called for them to be as frantic and indulgent in their lust as possible, but Natalie was past that. The truth was that she was barely paying attention to the challenge. She just wanted to be fucked. Over and over. Until she''d had her fill, which might be never. She shakily pushed herself up, then climbed onto Ana and straddled the other girl''s thighs. Ana''s cock, slick with lewd juices, stuck up in the air, her earlier climax doing nothing to quell its stiffness. Why did the sight make her so dizzy? A throbbing, eight-inch shaft, jutting out from between Ana''s thighs, glistening with wetness. Natalie bit her lip. It wasn''t the obscenity of seeing a cock covered in sex juices that made it such a striking sight. It was the cock itself. Something about its hard, angry features surrounded by plush curves drove her wild. Natalie was starting to understand Jordan''s enthusiasm. Girl cock was just too enticing. "It''s a little egotistical," Ana murmured, gripping herself at the base and wiggling her thick member, "to look at yourself like that, Natalie." "S-Shut up." She scooted up Ana''s thighs, then grabbed Ana''s cock and pushed it against her stomach. It pulsed, hot and sticky, against her skin. She swallowed and shifted her hips side to side, rubbing the other girl''s slick-coated shaft against herself. It felt lewder, somehow, being on top. Taking control. Before, Ana had used her, taking pleasure from Natalie''s body. But now, Natalie was using Ana. Using her own cock. Thest excuse she could possibly have¡ªthest line to cross¡ªwould be prating herself. Pulling her hips up, lining Ana''s cock, then sliding down. There would be no excuses if Natalie did everything herself. And yet, Natalie lifted her hips. She positioned herself above Ana''s length. Ana''s slick cock-tip pressed into her pussy. Cum covered both their thighs, providing a lewd lubricant. She wiggled back and forth, digging Ana a half-inch in, spreading herself. She ... shouldn''t. Right? There was a difference between letting Ana p into her, letting the other girl use her, and doing it herself. Anyst shreds of her dignity would be lost. But she couldn''t stop. She wanted to feel Ana''s cock spread her apart. She wanted it so badly. She almost didn''t have a choice in the matter. Natalie lowered her hips. Ana''s cock spread her open, slowly, and the instant, overwhelming pressure of it sliding in made her groan. Her head spun as she sank further and further, stretching her pussy wide as Ana''s huge cock spread her apart. It was almost too much. She hadn''t recovered from her earlier climaxes, and her body was still sensitive. But she couldn''t resist. She wanted this. Needed it. She lowered herself until she was fully sitting in Ana''sp, the other girl''s hard cock pulsing inside her. She ced a hand against her stomach and imagined she could feel Ana''s shaft bulging her outward. She certainly felt big enough for it. It was unbelievable how full she felt. Her hips started to move of their own ord, rocking up and down, sliding Ana''s weapon around inside her. Ana moaned, and she grabbed two handfuls of Natalie''s ass as Natalie started to move faster, bouncing into herp with loud smacks. In a lust-filled haze, Natalie rode her teammate''s cock, being filled, and stretched, and pleasured in ways she didn''t know was possible. Her hypersensitivity from her earlier climaxes left her a shuddering mess, but she couldn''t stop. Natalie rode her. Rode Ana, rode herself. Both. Neither. It didn''t matter. She fucked the girl beneath her, motions bing frantic, caring only about the cock inside her. Soon, she fell forward, burying her face in the other girl''s neck, brain quickly turning back to mush. "That''s it," Ana breathed, hugging Natalie as she humped atop her. "It feels good, doesn''t it? Really good. So go ahead. Give in. It''s what you''re made for. Taking this cock. There''s no shame in admitting it." Natalie nodded into Ana''s neck, hips still bouncing. "It feels good for me, too. Your tight little pussy gripping my cock. My pussy," she emphasized, "gripping my cock. I can feel every inch of you. Of me. Of my tight, fuckable body. And you''re doing so well with it. Look at my hips, working up and down. Fucking yourself. You couldn''t stop if you wanted to, could you?" Natalie moaned, her eyes shut tight as she bounced in Ana''sp, her hips rising and falling, Ana''s slick, sticky cock thrusting in and out. It was too much. The words, the sensations, the heat of Ana''s skin and the bucking hips of the girl beneath her. "Do you wanna know why you can''t stop?" Ana whispered, lips brushing Natalie''s ear. "Do you wanna know why your hips are moving on their own?" Natalie mutely shook her head. She didn''t want to hear, even if she knew the answer. "Because you''re a horny, slutty cock-whore," Ana answered anyway. "A dirty, depraved girl. You can''t stop fucking me because you love this. Love having your own cock inside you. Love riding me. Love the way your cock stretches your pussy out, the way my cum is dripping out, even now, as you fuck me. This is what you were made for. Getting your slutty holes filled." Natalie trembled atop Ana, incapable of responding, both of them thrusting into each other. "You''re not gonna deny it?" Ana murmured into her ear. "You gave up faster than I thought." Sheughed. "Not that denying it would help. Your body doesn''t lie like your mouth does. I can feel the truth. The way you''re clenching down on me. Trying to milk your next load out. Even if you won''t admit it, your body will. You''re a whore begging to be bred, and that''s all you are, Natalie." "A-Ah-" "And you''re about to cum for me," Ana groaned, grabbing Natalie''s waist and thrusting up to meet her, her cock sinking in, the tip hitting her cervix and sending jolts of electricity up her spine. "Already. You''re gonna cum all over your cock. Again." "I''m¡ª" Natalie tried to get the words out, but failed. She felt her fourth orgasm rising. It was too much. The sensation washing her thoughts away. She was helpless, a ve to her needs. "Go ahead. Cum for me, Natalie. Cum all over your fucking cock. Fill yourself up. Make a mess of yourself. You have my permission." She sagged into Ana, quickly losing herself to the pleasure. Her movements became jerky as she drowned in the sensation. Ana took over where Natalie started to falter, gripping Natalie''s waist and mming her down onto her thick, pulsing cock, the tip burying in her deepest parts, electrifying Natalie with each impact¡ªdriving her higher and higher. The bed beneath them rocked, mattress springs creaking with their frantic rutting. "Come on, Nat. I can feel it. You''re ready to breed yourself, aren''t you?" "Y-Yes," Natalie gasped, the wordsing out unheeded. "Gonna fill myself up." It was the only thought left in her head as she humped into Ana. "I''m gonna pump my pussy full." She didn''t care anymore¡ªnot about her words or her actions. Only that Ana didn''t stop. "You are. Like a good girl. We''ll gonna make sure it takes, this time." "I-It will," Natalie whined into Ana''s neck, gasping with each thrust. "I can feel it. It''ll take." "Then let''s be sure," Ana said, moving faster, pping her hips into Natalie, the sound echoing through the room. "Fill your pussy up. Do it. Cum inside yourself. Pump your tight little pussy full of cum." Natalie whined into Ana''s shoulder, brain going fuzzy. "I can''t do it for you," Ana grunted. "This is your cock. You''ll need to do it. So go ahead. Finish for yourself." "I-It''s..." She wanted to join in the lewd talk, to encourage Ana and y into the situation like her partner so enthusiastically was, but she couldn''t string words together. She tried and failed to surface a coherent thought. "I-I-" Natalie gasped. "You want it, don''t you?" "I-I¡­I¡­" "Make it happen. It''s so close." Natalie could feel the truth of that statement. Ana''s own climax, rapidly approaching, her words starting toe out in gasps. Feeling Ana start to swell, that imminent arrival she''d been desperately waiting for, Natalie forced her hips up, until Ana''s cock nearly slipped out¡ªthen pped back down, hard, sheathing Ana. Her ass pped against the other girl''s hips, and her thick, cum-covered cock speared into her, sinking all the way in. The feeling was, finally, too much. She cried out, her pussy mping down. Her climax rushed through her, and her arms and legs locked up, fingers and toes curling in ecstasy. She clenched in ce and buried her face into Ana''s neck. She couldn''t speak. Couldn''t think. Only writhe and tremble, her pussy milking Ana''s cock, urging the other girl to fill her. Was it enough? For her reward? It had to be. It was. With her cock being milked by Natalie''s orgasm, Ana''s climax followed: she whined, her back arching upward, their breasts pressing together as Ana hugged her close. She was dimly aware of the warmth, deep inside her. Pulsing. Throbbing. Sshing. Ana''s hot, sticky cum filling her, adding to the load before it. Pleasure coursed through Natalie, mind-erasing in its intensity. Ana''s hands slid up her back, pulling her in tighter, trapping her there, keeping her impaled as she pumped Natalie full. Spurt after spurt. More and more. "Filling you up," Ana moaned, her breath hot. "Filling your dirty pussy. Every drop. Won''t waste a single bit." The words seemed to be more for Ana''s own sake, now, no longer taunting Natalie as she basked in her own pleasure. "Good, good girl. Good, slutty girl. That''s it. Keep fucking yourself. Milking me. Don''t stop. It''s so good." Natalie was d, at least, that she wasn''t the only one lost in the sensation. She clung to Ana just as Ana did her, their bodies shaking against each other, both of them struggling not to drift away in ecstasy. Then, finally, they came down. The two of themy there for a time. Ana''s arms stayed around her, holding her tight. "So ¡­ good," Ana murmured. Natalie was spent, exhausted, her entire body sore, and her mind a puddle. "But not done," Ana groaned. "Two more. We''ve got two more." Ana rolled over, spinning both of them around so that Natalie, previously mounting the other girl, was now pinned into the bed. Her legs instinctively wrapped around Ana''s waist, tugging the other girl in, keeping her still-twitching cock inside. She didn''t want it to leave. Maybe ever. "Two more," Ana muttered, lifting herself up¡ªsliding her cock through Natalie''s sensitive reaches¡ªthen pping back down with a loud smack. Ana''s hips started to move. Already? No rest. Ana wasn''t done with her. And while Natalie was tired and sore, her body didn''t care; it was ecstatic, even, to be going already. She wanted more. Her own hips joined Ana''s in their eager motions, thrusting back into her, stirring Ana''s cock around. Natalie clung to Ana, her hips lifting, rocking, and grinding as Ana started to pump. Started fucking Natalie''s pussy through two loads of her own cum. There were still two more? There were only two more? Two more, without losing her mind. Could she, even? She guessed she would find out. 4.48 – Challenge Complete 4.48 ¨C Challenge Complete Nataliey in a sweaty mess, panting, reeling, and shaking. Ana gasped to her side, equally out of breath, her hand resting against her forehead, red hair damp and sticking to her skin. Six times. Ana had coaxed out six mind-blowing orgasms from her, and now, just in time, they were done. Which was good. Because Natalie couldn''t take any more. She was spent, a used, sweat-soaked mess, her thighs sticky with her own juices. It was a haze. She remembered the white-hot pleasure, and her own mindless need, but it had all melted into a sludge. She could barely remember what she''d said and done, beyond her pathetic begging, and the overwhelming need for Ana to finish inside. To be bred. The reality of that was starting to crash down. Both the words given in her moments of pleasure, but also the real reality. Pregnancy. Would the potion work? Natalie had drank a dose, of course, earlier, but with them having swapped bodies, who knew how the potion would interact? And if something did happen, was it Ana''s body that had been impregnated? It was her body that had a womb full of cum, not Natalie''s. What a mess. "We did it," Ana groaned. "Look." She gestured limply to the side, where the six faded gemstones had turned bright pink. Filled with orgasmic energy¡ªor however the hell this challenge worked. Natalie''s tattoo glowed softly, a simr color. Fading as time passed. It had been brightest when she''d been cumming. "It better have been worth it," Natalie panted back. Yeah. Right. As if she hadn''t been thrusting herself up and down because she had needed to filled, and rather, they''d simply been finishing the challenge. After the eagerness she''d begged Ana to degrade her with, she really ought not to be clinging to that excuse anymore. Then again, maybe it was because of that submission that Natalie needed to reim what shreds of dignity she could. Ana groaned, then pushed herself into a sitting position. Natalie envied her resolve. She tried to do the same, then fell back into the bed, head spinning. She was as exhausted as back during that first session with Jordan¡ªexcept receiving that monster took a lot more than giving it. Again, she had a newfound respect for Jordan. She was one tough girl. Ana held a hand out, and she helped tug Natalie so she was sitting cross-legged. Slowly, her physical faculties returned. The two of them shared a look. Ana leaned forward and kissed Natalie''s cheek. "You did great," she murmured. "You were amazing. But did I go too far?" Of anything Ana could have done or said at that moment, nothing would have mortified Natalie more. She might have blushed less furiously if Ana had deliberately kept degrading her, even after the moment had passed. Natalie hastily climbed off the bed, face scarlet. Ana watched her, her look of concern only deepening Natalie''s¡ªNatalie''s what? Her mortification? Whatever the squirming mess of emotions inside her was. She had said some things, and been spoken to, in a way that she hadn''t fullye to terms with. Had Ana gone too far? Natalie had hardly asked her to stop¡ªand the words had been very effective. And Natalie herself liked to get a little rude during the act, even carried away at times, so she didn''t me Ana for that, either. But ''fertile breeding cow''? That was ¡­ a lot. To be called. Especially when Natalie preferred being in control. "I''m good," Natalie said, preempting Ana''s next words. "I promise." Whatever was going on with her, it was firmly her own issue¡ªsomething she needed to think about. "We should, uh, get cleaned up, right?" Ana gave her a doubtful look, but decided not to press. She stood, and at the mess of cum and sticky juices covering herp, thighs, and cock, Natalie nced away. It was a bit of aically bashful reaction, considering what they''d just done. Since when was Natalie such a disaster around girls? It wasn''t fair how Ana could do this to her. Cluelessness, shamelessness, and the persistent embarrassment of a bodyswap¡ªthat was what it took, apparently. Natalie forcefully¡ªif wobbly-legged¡ªstrode over to their belongings, then pulled out two vials of cleaning liquid. She tossed one to Ana, and the two of them popped their respective containers open. A quick freshening-upter, the filth of their encounter was mostly scrubbed away. The bedsheets, though, were ruined: a dark stain surrounded the entire center, their copious sweat, juices, and cum drenching it. Even by her standards, the stark imprint of their wild session was enough to make her face turn red. "I need to apologize," Ana started¡ªbut Natalie cut her off. "No, seriously. Don''t." Ana paused. "Not for calling you a fertile breeding cow," she said smoothly, some amusement in her voice. "For something else." "Uh." "Finishing inside." "I didn''t say no to that, either," Natalie mumbled. They were really having this discussion? "And maybe you should have thought about that during? It''s a bitte." "I did think of it in the moment," Ana said. "But your pussy felt too good. Itpromised my judgment." How could she say things like that with a straight face? "Specifically, I mean that we need to end this challenge early," Ana continued. "I got carried away and disregarded the consequences, and so I apologize for that. But we can''t actually risk pregnancy, low as the odds are." Oh. That was what she meant? And it was a valid concern. Or, somewhat of one. The potion was probably still active. But who knew? End the challenge early, though? Even if not for the concern Ana had brought up, Natalie wasn''t all that against the idea. "That''s fine with me," Natalie said. "I''m worried about the nextbat, anyway. I''m feeling a bit ¡­ wobbly-legged, and the second fight was closer than I''d like. So maybe it''s for the best if we call it." She was also worried about the next sex challenge, too. The dungeon was offering progressively more difficult rooms, and if it had gone from blowjob to six-orgasm fuck marathon, Natalie was a bit terrified to see what the third would be¡ªif there was indeed a third. And, truthfully, her head was a bit jumbled. She didn''t think going farther with Ana¡ªif there even was ''going farther''pared to what they''d done¡ªwas smart. They were already going way too fast, even if they were aiming for a casual rtionship. And Natalie didn''t know what the two of them were. Was it a casual rtionship? Teammates with benefits? The two of them were still a huge question mark. They hardly knew each other. That was, again, one of the reasons Natalie had been so out-of-sorts. So, in short, Natalie was more than okay with leaving, even if not for the pregnancy issue. "So," Ana said. "Raid the three reward rooms as fast as we can, then leave? I''m not sure if there''s a grace period on the potion, but it''s better we get to it as soon as possible." "It''s probably not an issue," Natalie said. "I took it, and I doubt swapping bodies cleared potion effects from both of us. At worst, it swapped the potion. So one of us has it active, whether it''s you or me, which means we''re both safe." Never mind how willingly she''d believed otherwise while begging for Ana to fill her up. And, to be fair, she wasn''t certain it worked like that. It was the dungeon. Anything could happen. Maybe it had revoked the effect entirely. "But better safe than sorry," she amended. "So that sounds like a n." Ana nodded. "This whole thing was a lot of work," she said musingly. "I almost thought we wouldn''t make it. There were only seconds left before we got you to your sixth. Something that took that much effort, I''m expecting our best reward yet." "I don''t even want to guess." This had been the most intense challenge they''d gotten, including Liz''s ride, so did that mean they''d get something even more insane than usual? The odds seemed high, but Natalie''s heart couldn''t take much more. Thest item had been a spellcasting mana-boosting buttplug. What was ''up'' from there? But they didn''t have any time to dawdle. Natalie¡ªAna''s body¡ªhad four hot loads stuffed inside her womb, and they ought to solve that as quickly as possible. Even if it likely didn''t need solving. So, scooping up her items, Natalie set off for the first of the loot doors. 4.49 – Reunion 4.49 ¨C Reunion Their rewards didn''te out of a chest. Instead, in each room, a single item wasid atop a pedestal. Since she and Ana were on a time limit¡ªand this time, of their own irresponsible creation¡ªthey scanned the area for traps, grabbed their loot, and moved to the next room. There would be time to identify the items after they''d returned to the dungeon proper, and more importantly, taken a dose of the infertility potion. So despite her curiosity, she purposefully didn''t inspect the items, knowing they would distract her, sure to be the typical brand of ridiculousness. Though she couldn''t help but note their appearances: an ink vial, a ne, and an arrow with a pink metal tip. The third reward room had an exit into a familiar-looking hallway, which hosted adder up and a door leading deeper into the series of challenges. Which meant the event wasn''t over; they could go deeper if they wanted. That revtion made her resolve waver. Maybe they should continue. The rewards were amazing. She had hoped the challenge would conclude naturally, so the decision would be out of her hands. But the two of them hadid out their reasoning for wanting to leave early, and a fundamental rule of dungeoneering was to not get too greedy. There was always more loot to dig up, more challenges to take on. Greedy delvers rarely made it to the higher levels. Oftentimes, they didn''t make it back to the surface. Good judgment needed to prevail. So, sharing a look with Ana, Natalie nodded, then ascended the exitdder. It was awkward with all their recently gained loot, and especially with her enormous two-handed hammer, but not so tricky she couldn''t manage it. Thedder led into an opening in the ceiling, and the light from below faded as she, with difficulty, climbed higher and higher. Ana followed beneath her. It took a while, with Natalie even working up a sweat, before something happened¡ªthough it wasn''t them reaching the top. Instead, without warning, the entire wall,dder included, bucked, as if something gigantic had hit the stone and rattled the ascension shaft. Natalie was sent tumbling backwards, and instead of hitting the other side of the wall, she passed through open air, then started plummeting down a smooth, angled passageway. She cursed as she tumbled downward, losing grip on her items as she went head-over-heels in the darkness. Her elbows, knees, and head banged every avable surface. For a long minute¡ªprobably faster, but the aggravating descent didn''t feel like it¡ªNatalie simply tumbled, desperately trying to get her bearings as she unceremoniously barreled through the exit chute. The rude passageway spat her out from the ceiling, and Natalie mmed into the ground¡ªand not gently, either. She was a level-two tank, so a mundane fall from that height wasn''t incapacitating, but that said, it wasn''t pleasant. Tougher than most people or not, hurtling from the ceiling into hard tiles would leave a few bruises,e morning. Scrambling to her feet¡ªthere was no time to lie on the floor and groan in displeasure¡ªNatalie realized something felt strange about her body. Something had changed while she''d been falling. She was too disoriented, and worried about her immediate safety, to make the obvious conclusion why. Natalie scanned the room to make sure there weren''t monsters, then, hearing Ana tumbling down above her, rushed over to catch her. Their team''s mage didn''t have the physical durability she did. Hitting the ground at that speed might actually hurt her. Natalie got in position just in time, catching Ana as she barreled from the ceiling. The thin womannded in her arms with an ''oof'', her breath taken as she mmed into Natalie''s grip. It wasn''t a perfect catch, but much better than hitting the ground at full speed. For a moment, Ana blinked up at her¡ªand Natalie at the mage, also caught off guard. Because it was Ana, cradled inside her arms. As in, Ana. In her own body. And just as oddly, wearing her flimsy mage''s robes, barely concealing her modesty. She''de out of the shaft fully dressed. And so was she herself, Natalie realized. Their descent had not only given them their bodies back, but their armor and items, too. Then, with the frantic exit from the challenge room calming down, Natalie was able to focus on another thing that felt strange. She stiffened in realization. "It''s still inside me," Natalie hissed at the woman in her arms. "You didn''t take it out?!" Ana tilted her head. It took her a second to understand. "Oh," Ana said. "My weapon." "Don''t call it that," Natalie growled. "And you left it inside me. Seriously?" "We were in a rush," Ana said matter-of-factly. "And I forgot. You could have remembered, too." "How do you forget this thing is inside you? It''s huge." And that was while it was just sitting there. Now that Natalie had enough of her bearings to understand what she was feeling, she couldn''t focus on anything besides the way she was being stretched around the toy. Ana''s squirming and pained moans while it had been going in made a lot more sense, now: it felt even bigger than it looked. She''d been walking around with this the entire time? Even duringbat? "You''d be surprised what you can adapt to," Ana said simply. "And, thank you for the catch, but please set me down." Natalie set the smaller woman on her feet. It was weird looking down at her again; she had grown used to being shorter than she was. Ana adjusted her robes, reiming some of her modesty. It really was a revealing piece of equipment. "And, I will need my weapon back," shemented. "Sooner thanter. So ¡­" Oh, heavens. She did, didn''t she? The plug felt huge just sitting there, much less when she would have to pull it out. At least, Natalie supposed, she had the advantage of being stretched out in advance. Ana hadn''t had any such preparation. Natalie started to mentally brace for that, but crashing noisesing from above interrupted them. Both their heads snapped up. "A quick reunion with our team?" Ana asked, looking in vague interest at the exit chute. "Or monsters?" Natalie scooped up her hammer, ready for the worst¡ªbut it turned out to be the former. A blur of white hair rocketed out of the tunnel. Sofia. Annoyingly, the woman twisted in the air, thennded feet-first in a crouch. She uncoiled herself in the next instant, rapier drawn, aimed at Natalie and Ana in a deadly pose. She didn''t look perturbed by the violent tumble in the slightest. This woman just always had to be perfect, didn''t she? Natalie eyed her, oddly aggravated at the elegantnding. At least she hadn''t seen Natalie m nearly face-first into the ground during her exit. "Oh," Sofia said, orienting herself. "It''s you two." Sofia''s cor was still around her neck, with the leash attached to her own belt. It had broken off Natalie''s when she''d jumped through the portal. Natalie had almost forgotten about that. And her heart did a little jump, seeing the essory. In just as smooth of a motion as hernding, Sofia sheathed her rapier, then took one step sideways and caught Liz as she crashed down from the ceiling. She set the healer on her feet, gave her a once-over, then nodded in approval before Liz even seemed to know what was going on. Jordan came next, but Sofia didn''t bother to try and catch her¡ªtheir roguended the most smoothly out of all of them, not even seeming to try to orient herself. Like a cat, perfectly unruffled by the violent, disconcerting arrival. She was their prowess-based ss, to be fair. Even more than Sofia. Jordan brushed herself off, then nced at Natalie and Ana. "Nat-Nat?" she asked. "Or Ana-Nat, still?" "It''s me," Natalie said. And thank the heavens that all of that confusing nonsense was over. "Good to see you two made it out fine," Jordan said with a nod. She looked around the room. "Now, what''s going on here?" 4.50 – Reunion II 4.50 ¨C Reunion II "I don''t think anything," Natalie said, looking around. "A rest stop, I guess. A safe room." There weren''t any visible indicators of danger, and a single door on the wall nearest to them led out. The rest of the team peered around to make sure of that, but they found nothing worrying. "Okay, then," Jordan said. "A chance to reconvene. What''s all that?" Jordan gestured at the items littered around the floor¡ªNatalie had lost her grip on them as she tumbled down, and they''d been spat out alongside her. At least the bags hadn''t popped open and spilled coins everywhere. "Our loot," Natalie said. "Lost my grip." She collected them from the ground and stored them, to be looked atter. Scooping up one of the bags and peeking inside, she breathed a sigh of relief¡ªthe stat-boosting potions hadn''t broken during the tumble. That wouldn''t have been exactly fair if the dungeon had thrown them into an angled stone slide through the darkness and broken their delicate belongings in the process, but nobody ever said the dungeon strove to be fair. "We''ll look through them in a second," Natalie said. "We don''t even know what they are. But first, what happened with you three? Anything important we need to know?" "Not really. We were just, you know, fighting for our lives." She snorted. "While you two were out frolicking and fornicating. And I bet you two got better loot than us, too. How is that fair?" "Be serious," Natalie said, though her heart rate picked up at the usation. ''Fornicating''? That had just been a guess, right? Jordan didn''t actually know she and Ana had done¡ªwell, everything they had, right? "I am serious," Jordan said. "There''s not much to say. Nothing special happened, not besides the ss and body swaps." She wrinkled her nose. "I will admit that I like being back, though." Sofia grunted in agreement. She rested a hand on her rapier, findingfort in her weapon''s familiarity. She''d been the worst off from the body swaps, Natalie knew, having to take up Liz''s mantle. Sofia was many things, but apetent spellcaster wasn''t one. There wasn''t a much bigger paradigm shift needed than going from a one-on-one physical duelist to the team''s support mage. "Speak for yourselves," Lizined loudly. "I kinda liked being tall, for once." "I''m not tall," Jordan corrected. "I''m just not tiny." "And have boobs, too." Liz red at Jordan''s chest, then down at her own, and Jordanughed, patting her on the shoulder¡ªwhich only made Liz pout harder, though her lips were twitching in amusement. Sofia spared a quirked eyebrow for the interaction, then faced Natalie. "And you?" she asked. "Is there anything we need to know about your ¡­" her nose wrinkled, "adventures?" To Natalie''s side, Ana twitched, as if she''d remembered something. "Oh," Ana said. "Yes, actually. I need some of that infertility potion." Natalie winced. Right. That had been the entire reason they''d fled the challenge early. But had Ana really needed to blurt it out for everyone to hear? Face coloring, Natalie murmured at her, "Some subtlety would be nice, you know." She dug around her pouch to pull the monster core out. "And you''re still wearing my weapon," Ana said. "I''d rather we didn''t get ambushed without having it equipped." Natalie groaned. "You found a new weapon?" Liz asked innocently. "Yes." "Where is it?" "Inside Natalie." Everyone paused. "It''s a buttplug," Ana said calmly. "Oh, fuck off," Natalie said. She passed over the infertility potion core¡ªwhich Ana took, then drank a dose from. If there was one upside to being subjected to that challenge with Ana, it was that she had learned a lot about the girl. She could tell when she was being screwed with. Or, with more reliability than before. Ana wouldn''t ever be ''easy'' to read, with that stony mask of hers. The team took Ana''s two announcements¡ªthe need for the infertility potion, and the buttplug¡ªin varying ways. Liz, with wide eyes and a flush, as if wondering whether Ana was joking. Sofia was likewise flustered, though masking it with a vague disdain directed entirely at Natalie. And finally Jordan, with that aggravating smirk she wore so often these days, as if she wasn''t surprised at all. Natalie eyed her in return, giving her a warning look that promised she would be taking out the day''s frustrations on her if she kept teasing. The smirk deepened, and Jordan wiggled her eyebrows, suggesting something along the lines of, ''I can''t wait for you to try''. Her best friend was really too much of a trouble-maker, recently. Shameless woman. "A buttplug," Sofia said tly. "You found a buttplug. And it''s a weapon. That you''re wearing." "It didn''t swap with our bodies," Natalie defended herself. "At least it''s hands-free," Jordan said. "That seems useful, for a casting weapon." "That''s what I said," Ana agreed, giving Jordan an approving look, as if pleased to have finally found a kindred spirit¡ªsomeone who was focused on what was important. "I''ll give it back in a second," Natalie interrupted, cutting off any further discussion on the topic. "When we have some privacy. I''m pretty sure we won''t be ambushed. This is a safe room." "We think it''s a safe room," Ana pointed out. "Nat just wants an excuse to keep wearing it, I bet," Jordan said. "I would much rather it wasn''t inside me," Natalie growled at her. "It''s distracting. And I''ve had enough of all of that from the challenge room." "You? Have had enough?" Sofia asked, crossing her arms disdainfully. "You realize that we know you, right? A pervert like you will never ''have enough''." Natalie couldn''t help but feel like she was being teamed up on. "Anyway," she said, "if there''s nothing else important, then we should talk about our loot, shouldn''t we? Then get moving. It''s gettingte. We need to get back to campus." Jordan gave her an amused look, making it clear she''d seen through Natalie''s desperate deflection, but she ended up agreeing, anyway. "She''s right. Let''s get up to speed, then get going. Starting with Ana''s weapon, actually. I''d love to know more." Natalie red at her, but it did need to be discussed. The team deserved to know every item that they earned, so it could be doled out appropriately. Not that she thought Liz would be contesting Ana for ownership of the buttplug¡ªeven if she didn''t already have her wand. So, it was time to have the item talk. And beyond just what they''d already found, there was the ink vial, the ne, and the arrow. Thest one especially concerned her. It hade frompleting all three tiers of theirst challenge¡ªprobably the most intense encounter Natalie had faced. So just what would it do? 4.51 – Three Rewards 4.51 ¨C 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¡ªfor 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¡ªit 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¡ªthough 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¡ªno 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¡ªor pretended to find it¡ªoffputting. 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¡ª?" "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¡ª" 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¡ªand 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¡ªbecause 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¡ªso 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¡ªputting 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¡ªwhich was only sometimes intentional, Natalie had learned. Whether this 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 that." 4.52 – Three Rewards II 4.52 ¨C Three Rewards II As Natalie pulled out the second piece of loot, she tried to ignore how Liz was on her knees, sensually finger-painting Ana''s pubic region. Maybe Ana found it a strictly practical encounter to be in, not worth embarrassment in the slightest, but she was alone in that. The rest of them were blushing with various intensities, seeing Liz down on her knees, tracing a finger around Ana''s lower half. Especially since the mage was holding her robes out of the way, panties pulled down so they could see the mound of her pussy¡ªand a quarter-inch more would expose her entirely. Natalie wondered whether this was one of those intentional or unintentional bouts of cluelessness. Probably a bit of both, but she expected more the first than the second. Jordan might not be the only instigator of the group, just the one who was more direct about it. There was no way Ana wasn''t doing this to mess with everyone. Digging out the ne, Natalie held it up for the team to see. Liz looked over and identified the item too, pausing as she digested the description. *** Treasure Hunter''s Ne Rare Lv. 2 Effects - Rarity Boost. Item-bearer has increased odds of finding items of higher quality. Description A delicate silver chain adorned with a radiant gemstone pendant. *** "Oh. That''s ¡­ surprisingly not disgusting," Sofia said. "It came from the challenge room?" "Yeah." Natalie was also surprised by the non-lewd nature of the item. And, obviously, the effect. "Boosted loot rarity? We''re already finding rares almost every day." "We''ll have our first epic in no time," Liz said. She shook her head in incredulity. "A level-two epic. Really, Nat really must be blessed by a goddess. That''s the only way all of this makes sense." Natalie was stilling to terms with that ridiculous possibility, so she ignored thement. "It does take up an equipment slot, though," Jordanmented. "That''s a pretty big downside." "We should still equip it," Natalie said. "Better loot is worth being a bit weaker. But who?" "Whoever benefits from items least, probably," Sofia said. "And that is?" Sofia hesitated. "I''m ¡­ not sure." Items were crucial to all delvers, so it was a tough question. Natalie wasn''t sure, either. "Either you or me, Nat," Jordan said. "I have the worst gear right now, so would lose the least in the immediate term. But you could also wear it, because you''re the strongest, and already at risk of outpacing us. One less gear slot isn''t that big of a deal. Maybe even a good thing, to keep us nearer in level in the long run." Jordan shrugged. "That said, tanks might be the most gear-reliant ss, so maybe not. Dunno." Natalie chewed her lip as she thought it over. "No, I think that''s fair," she said slowly. Of course, she didn''t want to reduce her effectiveness inbat, but someone had to, and Jordan had made a great point¡ªthat Natalie was the strongest, or was certainly approaching that point, thanks to her ss''s unusual nature. "We can figure it outter, anyway. Don''t have to pick now." "We''ll decide tomorrow," Jordan agreed. Natalie deposited the ne into a monster core. Back in the series of challenge rooms, she and Ana hadn''t had enough cores to do so¡ªbut they had their old loot back, now. "The grand finale, then?" Jordan asked. "Yourst reward?" "Yeah." Natalie pulled out the arrow, holding the shaft between two fingers as she inspected its glinting pink metal tip. *** Arrow of Lustful Transmutation Description An arrow with a head of forged erotite. Upon embedding into a Boss monster, converts the target into a Carnal Boss, which only a single attacker can engage. Arrow tip is brittle and will shatter when impacting a hard, non-monster surface. *** "Oh," Jordan said. "What does that mean?" "Carnal Boss," Sofia said tly. "You''re kidding. You found an arrow that makes monsters ¡­ what, want to fuck us?" Her cheeks coloring, Natalie''s mind flickered to that writhing mass of vines she''d encountered in their first delve. Had that been a monster, technically? The vines had certainly seemed alive. Would this arrow create a simr encounter? "We''ll probably want to use it carefully," Jordan said dryly. "Some monsters, it doesn''t sound so bad. But most, I don''t think so." That was obvious. Natalie was still balking at the whole concept, but there were definite tiers between what monsters she would be okay with turning into a ''Carnal Boss''. For example¡ªthat dryad they''d found would be a prime candidate. Something like that would be more tolerable than, say, the wolf boss. Unless it turned the boss into some kind of ¡­ wolf girl? Natalie didn''t know what exactly the transmutation would do¡ªif it would create an encounter ptable to her senses, or kept the boss mostly the same¡ªbut if she had to choose between a tall, attractive nt woman and a literal wolf, well, it wasn''t much of a choice. She might be approaching degeneracy the longer she spent in the dungeon, honing her ss, but something like that was very much a no-thank-you. Human-like monsters only, please. Or something like those vines. That hadn''t been so bad. But definitely no ''real'' monsters. "We''ll keep this in our back pocket," Natalie said, her cheeks burning. "See whates our way." "You''re going to use it?" Sofia asked. "Seriously?" "If she doesn''t, I will," Ana interjected. "I understand your reservations, but I think you''re forgetting how lucrative the rewards are. Especially since this came as the ultimate reward for our challenge room. That it requires a follow-up must mean whatever we get from it is going to be even more phenomenal." She shrugged. "Besides¡ªit could be fun just on its own merit." "Fun." The dark-haired mage shrugged, unashamed as always. Sofia stared at her, then squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head, as if mentally resetting herself¡ªand holding back whatever her reply would have been. Piercing blue eyes refocused on Natalie. "Well, whatever," she said. "That''s your choice. And only one person can engage it, the arrow says, so it''s not like it will drag us in." "We might want to find a level-one boss to use it on," Liz said. "Not a level-two. Safer that way. Since we don''t know how it''ll work." Natalie frowned at the idea. Liz had a point, but purposefully picking an easier opponent for the sake of safety didn''t sit well with her. The boss ought to be bnced so that a level-two could face off against a level-two, right? "Can it be reused?" Jordan asked. "It says it''ll break if you miss, but can you reim it to use more than once?" "Good question." Natalie hadn''t thought about that, and she could see it going either way. "If it does, then Liz is right," Jordan said. "Start with an easier boss first." Natalie wrinkled her nose, which Jordan rolled her eyes at. "Maybe we can make more of them, even if it breaks," Natalie said. "It''s made of forged erotite. We found some of that. Just need to find a cksmith." "True." Jordan hummed. "It''s something we can decide onter. We''re all caught up, then?" She looked around the room, eyes settling on the exit. "It''s time we get back to campus. You''re almost done, Liz?" "Almost," Liz said from down between Ana''s legs. "And I''ll need my weapon back," Anamented. "You three can leave. I''m assuming Natalie wants some privacy. Especially since she''ll need to re-equip it on me." Natalie wiped a hand down her face. And at the reminder, she became, again, aware of the thick rod spreading her ass open. Like Ana had said earlier, it was amazing what she could adapt to. She''d nearly forgotten it was there. "She''s not wrong," Natalie said tly. "Privacy would be nice." Because with something that size, it was going to be a bit of an event¡ªbothing out, and having to put it back into Ana. And it was something they''d need to take care of every dungeon trip. Hell, every morning, if the crazy woman wanted to wear it to ss. And knowing Ana? She actually might. Heavens Above, but her life was getting weird. 4.53 – Submissive I 4.53 ¨C Submissive I The process of giving Ana her weapon back was about as flustering as the first time, since Natalie knew her team was waiting just past the door as they took care of it. As she''d expected, getting the thing out was an ordeal, and it drew some noises from Natalie that she wasn''t particrly proud of. Ana, at least, also lost herposure at re-equipping the item. "I can''t believe you''re actually going to make that thing bigger," Natalie muttered, while they were getting dressed, about to rejoin the team. "Of course I am. Extra mana. Besides, it''s good practice." "Good practice for what?" "You. It might be big, but it''s nothingpared to your monster." Natalie gaped at the stony woman. "What? It''s bound to happen eventually, isn''t it?" Ana said idly, still pulling on her robes. "There''ll be another challenge at some point." She hummed. "Maybe we should practice beforehand, even. Why have the dungeon push us into it?" "You''re ¡­ messing with me," Natalie finally said. "Perhaps." Her lips twitched. She finished adjusting her clothes, then took a few tentative steps, her back arching as the buttplug stirred around inside her. With their team''s mage battle-ready, they set off into the dungeon. Unfortunately, they''d been turned around rather fiercely: their tumble through the mirror, then the exit chutes, had left them lost. That wasn''t all that rare inside the dungeon, but still a problem¡ªit was always preferable to have a quick path back to the exit portal. Fortunately, after a half-dozen encounters or so, they ventured into the main room they''d started in. From there, they ascended to the surface and headed to campus. It was dark out, but not past curfew, by the time they''d said their goodbyes and returned to their dorms. Back in thefort of their home, Natalie peeled out of her armor, stored it, then took a much-appreciated shower. Jordan did the same. Natalie was in bed, in her pajamas, and distractedly staring up at the ceiling when Jordan flipped the lights off and crawled into bed with her. "So," she said, snuggling in. "You look distracted." Natalie wrapped her arm around Jordan. It felt way too natural¡ªtoo right¡ªto pull her best friend in and hold her. Her stomach flipped in that tragically familiar way. She still hadn''t confronted her earlier revtion: her feelings for Jordan. And it might be some time before she did. She just had too much going on. And it was too risky. Or were those just excuses? Natalie sighed. "Just thinking." "Obviously. About what?" "Everything." "Ana?" "Ana?" Natalie echoed in surprise. Jordan had, unsurprisingly, hit the nail on the head. "Yeah. What happened down there, anyway?" Natalie shifted in ce. She''d known this conversation wasing, but somehow, she still wasn''t ready for it. Because she didn''t know how she felt about it all. Jordan''s hand slipped under her shirt, running her hand across her stomach. "Come on. What else are best friend privileges for if not getting the dirty details?" "Don''t phrase it like that." Jordanughed. She leaned forward and kissed Natalie, which Natalie obviously had no chance of resisting¡ªeven if she knew Jordan was trying to warm her up, make her more pliable to her questioning. "C''mon. I wanna know the details," Jordan murmured between kisses. "I can''t believe we had to go around and fight monsters, while you two got to have all the fun." "We had monsters to fight, too. It wasn''t all fun." "So it was fun?" Jordan rolled onto Natalie''sp, straddling her as she ran both hands under her shirt, then cupped her under her shirt. Natalie''s heart rate picked up as her best friend groped her¡ªthough she hesitated on how to answer. "If you tell me what happened, I''ll make it worth your time," Jordan promised, rubbing her butt into Natalie''sp to emphasize the point. "I''m more than willing to sell my body. I''m that curious." "This is maniption." "A girl has to do what a girl has to do." "You know I''d tell you anyway." Jordan didn''t have to try to ''buy'' it off her. "Counterpoint: this way, I get to grope you." She squeezed Natalie''s tits. After being teased all day by Ana, Natalie actually didn''t want to let Jordan set the pace. Grabbing Jordan by the waist, Natalie pushed her off, then mounted the other girl in return, taking the dominant position. She pinned each of the girl''s wrists above her head. Green eyes sparkled up at her, that teasing smirk still on her lips¡ªnot upset at how the tables had been turned. "Or you grope me," Jordan amended. "That''s fine too, I guess." Keeping Jordan''s wrists pinned with one hand, Natalie grabbed her partner''s shirt and tugged it up until it was bunched at her corbone¡ªrevealing her tits. She squeezed and yed with a nipple. That she could just do that still felt a bit surreal to Natalie. That she could pin Jordan into the bed and have her way with her whenever she wanted. "Which do you like more?" Natalie asked suddenly. "Being in control, or not?" Natalie had always tended to be dominant in her rtionships, but that was only half true with Jordan. Jordan had oftentimes set the pace¡ªhad left Natalie the one feeling flustered, even if she was the one taking the most active role. Jordan didn''t seem surprised by the question. She considered her response. "Both are fun," Jordan said. "Whatever feels natural at the time." "You don''t have a preference?" "It really just depends." "If you had to pick." Jordan studied her. "I guess if I had to, I like it when you take control. But that''s because it''s what you usually like more. I like what you like." She paused. "That being said, I might also just prefer being the bottom, most of the time." "Why?" She shrugged. "Being used? Someone''s toy? Taken, however they want? Dunno, it''s just fun." She flushed at her own bluntness¡ªbut Jordan had always been willing to humor Natalie. "But when I get to make you blush, that''s also great. Where''d thise from?" Natalie bit her lip. Instead of answering, she let go of Jordan''s wrists and used both hands to grope her. Jordan waited patiently¡ªif shivering under Natalie''s touch¡ªas she got her thoughts in order. "Be more specific. What do you like about it? Why do you like it?" Jordan thought about it, but she eventually shrugged. "How am I supposed to answer that?" Natalie shrugged. She wasn''t sure. "It''s just exciting," Jordan said. "Not having control. As much as having control is, at least for me. It''s not something I can put into words. You like what you like." That was fair. "What about when I''m being mean?" Natalie asked. "Insulting you? You''re fine with me doing that, right?" "I''ve literally asked you to," Jordan said dryly. "So of course I am." "Then, why do you like being insulted?" Natalie could tell Jordan was starting to suspect where all of this was stemming from, but she kept humoring Natalie. "I dunno," Jordan said. "Maybe it''s signals in our head getting mixed up. Being demeaned, degraded, having your face pushed into the pillows. That squirming in your stomach. It''s, like, insecurity that feels good, somehow? It''s hard to exin. It''s not everyone''s thing." She raised her eyebrows at Natalie, a silent question: is it yours? Natalie continued to deflect. "And I''ve never gone too far, right?" "No." She squeezed the top of Natalie''s hands, and it was an oddly intimate gesture, seeing how Natalie was cupping her. "If you did, we would talk about it. Figure it out and make sure it doesn''t happen again." Sheughed, suddenly. "That''s what''s amazing about being best friends with benefits. We trust each other. Aren''t scared to talk things out." She leveled a look at Natalie. "Now, seriously, though. Spill it. Where''d thise from? Did my big, strong Natalie get bullied around by a huge meanie of a mage? And now she''s feeling weird about it?" By how she had started the sentence, she''d expected Jordan to be serious. Natalie huffed. She was actually grateful, though, that Jordan was being yful¡ªshe already found this ufortable, even with Jordan, who she trusted unconditionally. Being too serious would make Natalie''s skin crawl. "It was a weird situation," Natalie muttered. "And I don''t know how I feel about it. That''s the point." "Why you liked it so much, you mean?" Jordan guessed. "Which part? Being in Ana''s body, that she was in your body, or that she took control?" "How do you even know that happened?" Jordan rolled her eyes. "Look, Nat, I love you to death, but you''re not hard to read. I can put two and two together." Natalie tried not to die on the spot at the casual use of the L word. Jordan also seemed to grow flustered, though maybe it was Natalie''s own reaction, the way she froze up. Natalie employed her tried-and-true distraction: she pulled down Jordan''s pants. Though, how did she answer the question? What part had she liked more? 4.54 – Submissive II 4.54 ¨C Submissive II "It wasn''t even a normal kind of confident," Natalie murmured, toying with Jordan''s panties¡ªfocused more on the garment than green eyes, which had always been a little too insightful. "Half the time she was making me blush because she''s clueless. The other half, because she thought it was funny. Or at least, that''s what I got from it." Obviously, during the actual act itself, it had been neither: Ana had been very deliberately taking control. But that hade from a long lead-up. "She''s an odd one," Jordan agreed. "But that wasn''t an answer. What has you ¡­ what, conflicted? What did you like, that you think you shouldn''t have?" "I don''t know if that''s it, exactly." Natalie chewed her lip, then slipped Jordan''s panties down and tossed them down to the side. She shuffled down the bed so she was lying prone, then grabbed Jordan''s thighs. She nted a kiss on her pussy. Jordan shuddered and slid a hand into Natalie''s hair. "If you think giving me head will get you out of talking, it''s not gonna work." "Only if I''m not good enough at it," Natalie countered, then eagerly got to work proving that point. Jordan''s back arched, and a second hand joined the first. Green eyes admired the sight down between her legs, quickly darkening with lust as her hips started to wiggle against her own intentions. "I don''t have the memory of a goldfish. I''ll just ask when you''re done." She gasped as Natalie hit a sensitive spot. "But just to prove a point," she struggled out, "I won''t forget now, either. So answer me. What happened between you two?" Natalie happily ate away, and Jordan apparently didn''t have as much conviction as she imed. The dark-haired girl sagged into the pillow, lower half jerking into Natalie''s mouth as she pleasured her¡ªpushing Natalie deeper in, moaning loudly as she slipped her tongue around. "Stubborn woman," Jordanined. "And why are you so¡ªa-ah!¡ªgood at this? It''s not fair." Jordan basked in the sensation for a while longer, but eventually worked up her willpower: she gently pulled Natalie off her, then slipped a hand over her pussy, blocking her advances. "If you want to fuck me, you at least have to talk while doing it." Natalie called her bluff. She shuffled up the bed and plopped down next to her, crossing her hands behind her head and closing her eyes. "Alright. Good night, then." Shested a few seconds before she peeked over¡ªand Jordan was, unsurprisingly, pouting at her. Jordan wasn''t a girl who pouted often, so Natalie couldn''t stop her lip from twitching, giving away her amusement. "Fine," Natalie said, rolling her eyes¡ªand also rolling back overtop Jordan. She gave her a quick peck on the lips. "But if I have to keep my mouth free, my second choice is gonna be even more distracting." She ground her cock into Jordan''s pussy to make it clear what that second choice was. "I''ll take that risk," Jordan said¡ªthough her growing-faster breathing gave away her slippingposure. "So,e on. Tell me. What''s got you like this?" "You said it yourself. A big, mean mage bullied me around." "And you had a lot of fun?" "More than I should''ve." "Why?" "Why what?" "More than you should''ve? Why phrase it like that? Why shouldn''t you have enjoyed anything?" "Because she was in my own body? It''s weird." "So? I''d fuck me, if I could." "Okay, narcissist." "Realist," Jordan corrected. "And used to the dungeon being weird, by now. Which I thought you were, too." Natalie leaned up, then started shuffling out of her pajamas. "It''s different." "Why?" "It just is." "Because of that thing?" Jordan''s eyes flicked down to Natalie''s just-revealed weapon. Despite trying to stay focused, her attention lingered there, then lingered even longer as Natalie pulled Jordan''s legs overtop her thighs and positioned her tip at her entrance, rubbing up and down. She finally shook her head clear. "Why would that make a difference?" "Why would getting fucked by my own cock have me feeling weird?" Natalie asked dryly. "I mean, I get it. Especially since it was your first, right?" "Yeah." "But there''s more," Jordan said. "That''s not the whole story." Natalie rubbed herself into Jordan. She found it kind of amusing that they were doing this while talking about Ana, and her disorienting experience down in the dungeon. Not really the typical background conversation while fucking, was it? "She was very ¡­ assertive about it," Natalie said. "And shameless. Gods, so shameless." "I think we''ve all seen that." "And she made me say some things." "Like?" "Things I didn''t think would evere from my mouth. Spare me from giving the specifics." Jordanughed. Natalie cut off whatever teasing remark she was about to make by sliding into her. She grabbed her waist and tugged her in, sheathing herself, kissing her cocktip to the other girl''s cervix in one mean, not-so-gentle movement. Jordan gasped, her back arching, and Natalie stayed that way until she rxed. Unfortunately, Jordan wasn''t dissuaded from her mission. "So, what? You have a crush?" Natalie scoffed. "I don''t even know her." "We know her well enough." "Do we?" "We''re friends, at least." "Are we?" "Aren''t we?" "We just don''t interact much, outside of delving. And ss." "Which is our entire life." "Still." "I''d call Ana a friend." Natalie would too, but she certainly wasn''t some great friend. "Isn''t casual your whole thing, anyways?" Jordan asked. "My casual hookups don''t shove my face into a pillow and call me a cockslut," Natalie muttered. "Make me call myself a cockslut. For my own cock." "Wow. She did all that? Good for her." "I wouldn''t have taken Ana for a dirty talker." "Honestly? I would. Theck of a filter really helps, I bet." The phrase ''fertile breeding cow'' popped into Natalie''s head, and she grunted in agreement. The woman definitely didn''t have a filter. Even when Natalie got heated, she didn''t say phrases quite that demeaning to Jordan. Though, it had made her stomach wring around, so maybe she should try going a little harder with Jordan, too. "So, what?" Jordan asked. "Being Ana''s dirty little cockslut for an evening has you all stumbling over your feet?" "Not you, too," Natalie groaned. "Right, right. I''m your cockslut, and I shouldn''t talk to Master like that." "Shut up." "Or does only Sofia get to call you Master?" Natalie grabbed Jordan''s waist, lifted her, and really started working away¡ªwhich did, at least, buy her a brief reprieve as her friend fell apart under her sudden vigorous onught. The bed bounced, Jordan moaned and gasped as Natalie smacked into her, and Natalie''s own brain quickly melted down. It was kind of hard to bully Jordan without approaching her own climax. "S-Slower," Jordan struggled out. "No cumming until we''re done. I''m serious." Reluctantly, Natalie slowed. She worked back into a more sensual pace. Though her cock was already twitching inside, her body begging her to let go. Her best friend''s pussy was pretty hard to resist. "So. You liked taking?" Jordan asked. "Being the bottom? Should I get us a strap? Top you, here and there?" "I don''t know if I liked it." Jordan gave her a t look, and Natalie huffed. She rubbed her thumb into Jordan''s clit to wipe the expression away¡ªand it worked. Her lower half arched into the pressure. Jordan was close¡ªreally close. "I''m trying to talk, if you don''t mind," she gasped. "Sorry. Couldn''t help myself." Jordan eyed her, then continued. Natalie still found it a bit ridiculous she was insisting on this conversation while she had eight inches of cock stirring her insides around. Then again, Natalie was also humoring the request. It''d be pretty easy to make Jordan stop talking if she really wanted to. "Well, just know you can tell me anything, Nat. And if you decide you didn''t like how Ana treated you, then talk to her about it. Above everything, she seems reasonable." "It''s not that serious." She was working it out in her own head. She didn''t think Ana crossed any lines¡ªher treatment of Natalie had clearlye from how she had been reacting. It was more that Natalie wasing to terms with herself than Ana. "It is serious," Jordan disagreed. "We should all know where we stand. We''re a team¡ªand making sure our rtionships aren''t getting tangled is important. It''s even more important, too, seeing how you''re making a harem out of us." "Don''t be ridiculous, Jay." "Sorry, which of us haven''t you fucked?" Good point. "But that said," Jordan said, "I think it''s good to experiment. Push your boundaries a bit. That''s how you find out what you like. And it''s okay to be a little confused along the way, so don''t feel bad about that. Especially with how weird swapping bodies must have been." She copsed into her pillow, putting the back of her hand over her eyes. "And I do want an answer on whether we should get a strap. I think I''d like to try it on you, at least. But, okay. I can''t hold off anymore. Can you¡ª?" Natalie pushed Jordan''s legs up, pinning them up by her head. There was really something to be said about a rogue''s flexibility. Climbing overtop Jordan, Natalie started to piston her hips, pping into Jordan with a sudden, vicious energy. They were both already close, so it wouldn''t be long. "Inside?" Natalie grunted. Jordan''s feet tied behind Natalie''s back. "Don''t be stupid. What are best friends for, if not heart-to-hearts and creampies?" Natalie arched forward with onest thrust, muscles straining as ecstasy overtook her. Jordan pulled her in tight with both legs and arms, pinning Natalie as she started to pour hot, sticky strings straight into her womb. Milking her out with her tight, convulsing pussy. Heart-to-hearts and creampies. What else were best friends for? 5.01 – Good Morning 5.01 ¨C Good Morning Splitting a cheap dorm with Jordan and Natalie had sounded like a fantastic idea at the time, especially since Sofia had gotten a room to herself for one-third the price, with the two women willing to share the other. Now, though, Sofia wasing to terms with a drawback of the arrangement. Flushing, Sofia sat on the living room couch, trying to ignore the obscenely loud, perverted noises echoing from Natalie and Jordan''s room, the thin walls barely muting the moans, grunts, and pping of flesh. They were really going at it. Still. Forty-five minutester. "We''re going to bete," Sofia growled, shooting a re at the clock on the wall. "Are you kidding me?" She''d nned to wait them out. But it was bing more obvious by the moment that they''d lost track of time. So, what? Did she leave without them? That felt like it would be kind of bitchy. She was obligated to at least try to remind them, as a polite roommate. Right? Simply walking out the door and letting them bete would be¡ªwhile ultimately their own fault¡ªstill not friendly behavior. With time running out, Sofia no longer had a choice in the matter. She stood. Approaching their room, the pping noises became even louder. The words she''d desperately been trying to drown out¡ªwith little sess¡ªbecame clearer. Variants of ''oh, gods'', ''fuck'', and ''you''re so fucking big'' interrupted with smacks and moans. What was going on inside there? Obviously, Sofia understood the general idea. But the specifics. She knew the two girls were sleeping with each other. In fact, she''d been surprised she hadn''t heard much until now. Natalie''s illusions exined that away: she had been muting their activities. It seemed this time, though, she had forgotten to put one up, and so, Sofia was hearing the full extent of their dirty morning dalliances. The noises were so lewd that she felt like a voyeur just listening to them. Standing outside the door, frozen solid, she simply took the noises in, letting them wash across her. Then, realizing what she was doing, she jolted and forced herself into action. Face ming, Sofia pounded against the door. "Nat! Jordan! We''re going to bete! It''s time to go!" The sound of smacking flesh didn''t stop. "Oh, fuck," Jordan''s voice cried through the wall. "Fuck. Harder, Nat. Fuck my fucking pussy! Fuck. FUCK!" The sounds of pping flesh were apanied by creaking, the bed struggling to support the force of the thrusts, the headboard bumping into the wall. The two were probably causing structural damage¡ªor that was what it sounded like. Seriously, how hard were they going at it? Had they even heard her? "Oh, gods. Right there. Right there. Yes. Harder! Please! Fuck my stupid fucking pussy!" Sofia had never, in her life, expected to hear Jordan say something so ridiculous. Each word hit her like a p¡ªand made her stomach clench with a strange intensity, which Sofia pointedly ignored. She pounded on the door, face burning hotter by the second. She put some force into it. The frame rattled. "Hello? Horny lesbians?" she growled at the door. "You''re going to bete, you idiots!" Which was a bit ruder than she''d nned, but Sofia was a bit out of it. And, incredibly, she still got nothing back. If anything, the two sounded like they were getting more and more into it, not less; her loud knocking was filtering straight past them. Clearly, the two were lost in the throes of passion. The only way she''d get through to them would be to barge in. And, well, it was her job as their roommate to keep an eye on them, right? "Oh, fine. Whatever," Sofia muttered. Taking a breath, she grabbed the door handle, then swung the door open and strode in. Despite knowing what to expect, she froze. Jordan and Natalie were on the bed, naked, sweat covering them, with Jordan''s face buried into the bedsheets, her ass up as Natalie thrust into her from behind. Natalie had her hands on Jordan''s hips, pulling her in with loud smacks. Jordan''s eyes were screwed shut in pleasure, and Natalie looked nearly feral with the intensity she was fucking into the other woman. They were so lost in each other''s bodies that it took several seconds for them to even realize Sofia had barged in. Natalie, the one facing Sofia and who didn''t have her face pressed into the bedsheets, saw her first. It had taken much longer than it should have, seeing how Sofia had stalked straight into her vision. "Shit," she said, hips freezing. "Sofia?" Her arm shot up to cover her breasts, which was slightlyical, seeing how she was buried eight inches into another woman. Having her tits out was hardly the most scandalous part of the scene. "What the hell are you doing?! Why didn''t you knock?" "I did," Sofia said. "Loudly. But you apparently couldn''t hear me." With the rapid smacking of Natalie''s hips stopping, Jordan also pried her eyes open, then blinked several times at seeing Sofia. She reacted far less visibly than Natalie, and that was almost more flustering¡ªbecause the woman looked dizzy, cock-drunk, not all there. "Do you realize what time it is?" Sofia continued, deliberately looking up and away, at the ceiling, though even having the two girls'' naked forms in her peripheral waspromising enough. "Like I said, you''re going to bete." "What?" Natalie said. "We should have plenty of¡ª" A nce at the clock dispelled whatever notion she''d had. "Oh, shit." "We''re almost done," Jordan groaned. "Just a bit longer." She pushed her ass into Natalie''s hips and wiggled side to side, extracting a moan from her partner. Sofia had always held Jordan in high regard. She waspetent, cool-headed, considerate, polite, and friendly to just about everyone she met. Even when they''d been younger, she''d seemed far more mature than anyone else their age. Dependable. Someone you could rely on. And probably the only reason Natalie hadn''t gotten herself killed in her reckless early years. So seeing the woman lewdly shove her hips back, wiggling her ass and stirring Natalie''s cock around with obvious desperate need, despite Sofia having barged in, was a sight that did more than just ''fluster'' Sofia. The woman looked genuinely intoxicated by cock. Like Natalie had scrambled her brains. Sofia didn''t care how good Natalie''s cock felt, or how good she was at using it. Jordan simply should not be wearing that expression. It was obscene on her. Twice as much as it would on anyone else. The sensation of Jordan grinding into Natalie was apparently too much for the other girl. Her hips reacted, and she pulled out, then smacked back in. Incredulously, Sofia''s eyes turned back to the pair, watching as something unbelievable happened. Because they were ... they were ... "Don''t just keep fucking," Sofia shrilled. "Are you serious?!" "If you wanted to watch," Jordan panted between loud smacks, "you could have just asked. We''d have said yes." "We''ll be done in a second," Natalie grunted. "Thanks for telling us." Sofia stood there, watching as the two returned to their sweaty activity, unheeding that they''d been interrupted. Uncaring they''d bete to ss. Well, that wasn''t her problem. She''d gotten her message through. So why wasn''t she looking away? Why wasn''t she leaving? She felt like she''d been glued to the spot. Horrifyingly, Jordan''s eyes flicked to her. Even drunk on sex, Sofia watched the realization cross her face. A smirk slowly curled her lips¡ªa familiar smirk. Sofia needed to leave. If she didn''t, Jordan was going to drag her into this. She recognized that mischievous look. It had been present for the whole [Stylish] event earlier, where Jordan had constantly egged her and Natalie on¡ªand when Jordan had been liberally feeling Sofia up, using ''dress-up'' as an excuse. And, obviously, Sofia wanted nothing to do with their sweaty morning fun. She wanted to get to ss on time. That was it. But if that were true, then why wasn''t she leaving? "Just gonna stand there?" Jordan asked. She turned, meeting Natalie''s eyes over her shoulder. "It looks like we have a gross little voyeur on our hands. Any idea what we should do with her?" 5.02 – Intimate Viewing 5.02 ¨C Intimate Viewing Sofia stayed rooted to the spot. It wasn''t a panic response; if there was any single requirement to their profession, it was the ability to act when confronted, not freeze. Yet, nheless, Sofia couldn''t move. Why? Obviously, she didn''t need to be here. Whether she had needed to enter their room at all was a dubious duty she''d assigned herself. But now that she had delivered her message, she hadn''t the smallest reason to stay. So. That meant if she stood there and kept watching, then Jordan, and worse, Natalie, would make all sorts of assumptions. Not leaving implicitly announced that she wanted to be here, watching the two women go at it. Watching them¡ªher childhood friends¡ªrut like horny animals. And why did that sight make her so dizzy? Natalie, red-faced and grunting, mming into Jordan, their bodies sweaty with exertion, the air thick with the scent of sex. Jordan moaning with each thrust, pushing her hips back and grinding into Natalie, wiggling her ass and stirring Natalie''s massive dick around inside her. And so shamelessly. Lost to the pleasure of it. Barely able to keep her attention on Sofia, despite Sofia knowing the instigating woman wanted to tease her. Why did watching the two girls fuck make her heart pound like this? Make her dizzy, her breathe so fast, chest heaving up and down like she was running a marathon? And why wasn''t she walking away before Jordan could continue to taunt her, dragging her into this mess? "A voyeur?" Natalie asked, finally responding to Jordan. It had taken her a second to process what the other woman had said¡ªthen look at Sofia in a new light, her lips curling as she, like Jordan, made all sorts of wildly incorrect assumptions. "A giant pervert," Jordan agreed. "Who likes to barge in and watch her friends fuck. Who can''t tear her eyes away from your big, fat cock plowing into my pussy." She emphasized the statement by thrusting her ass into Natalie''s hips with a loud smack. "I mean, look at her. That look on her face. I bet she''s already wet. How gross." Natalieughed, and the demeaning sound of it sent a thrill through Sofia. A thrill of indignation. Not ¡­ anything else. "I guess I don''t mind putting on a show," Natalie said. "But really, it''s weird to barge in, then just stand there. Without without even asking." "She''s a pervert," Jordan agreed. "I guess we can''t me her. She''s always been repressed." "I¡ªI came in here to tell you two that you''d bete," Sofia protested. "Trust me. I''ve learned my lesson on being polite." The words felt limp, faint, and ridiculous, even to her own ears. The fact she was still glued to the spot, watching Natalie''s movements be even more brutal as she hammered into Jordan, didn''t do much to help her case. Natalie''s thrusts ... really had some power behind them. They left meaty ps as they hit Jordan, rippling her ass and thighs with each hard impact. Natalie had learned how to use that thing in the short time she''d had it, hadn''t she? And it was a menacing enough weapon in its own right. Jordan''s frayingposure made sense. If Natalie ever plowed into her like that, Sofia doubted she''d keep her sanity intact for long, either. Though, why was she thinking about that? Natalie using that gross thing on her? She couldn''t imagine something she wanted less. Even the ''bet'' was enough of an ordeal. Natalie would bepletely insufferable about sex. She would turn it into apetition¡ªtaunt, tease, and degrade her, making it clear who was the better. That Natalie knew what she was doing, and Sofia didn''t. Like that event in the locker room. And when she extracted Sofia''s climax, it would be in as embarrassing a way as possible. Natalie would put her in her ce. Pin her down and take her. No consideration. Just dominance. Sofia watched, transfixed, as Natalie worked her hips. What would it be like, to be in Jordan''s position? What would it feel like to have that pounding into her? Natalie''s powerful hips, driving her thick cock deep inside, splitting her open with relentless force. Pounding so hard the bed rocked. The idea ¡­ The idea disgusted her, of course. "Hello? Anyone home?" Natalie said, jolting Sofia back to the moment. "Princess?" Sofia''s eyes flicked back up to Natalie''s face. She realized she''d just been standing there, staring. Not responding. What had Natalie said? Natalie looked amused, which didn''t spell anything good. "Tell you what," she said, her voice taunting. "Since you want to watch so bad,e here. You can do it up close." "¡­ what?" It actually took a second for the words to register. Why were her thoughts so sluggish? "You heard her," Jordan said. Her tone was surprisingly lucid, her eyes bright with amusement. Sofia joining the fray had apparently cleared away some of her melting-down thoughts. She wanted to tease Sofia that badly. "Aren''t you supposed to do whatever your Master says?" Sofia stiffened. "Master?" Natalie had told Jordan about that? That was ¡­ so humiliating. It was one thing to demand that of her in private, but her friends knowing? Why ¡­ did it make her stomach clench? Knowing that Jordan was aware of that mortifying development? Why was her traitorous body always responding like this? And, even more relevantly, why was she obeying? Her feet carried her toward the bed, approaching Natalie like she''d been ordered to. Because of the bet, Sofia told herself. And the cor. The cor which she was wearing¡ªwhich she had buttoned her uniform up over, the shirt''s cor fortunately tall enough to hide it. She''d known it would be better to keep it equipped, in case, well, something like this happened. She''d just expected Natalie to take advantage of the situation in ss, not this early in the morning. And not with Jordan. Though, the bet, and Natalie, wasn''t remotely how this had happened. Sofia had walked into this mess. Voluntarily. Unnecessarily. Then stayed. Seriously¡ªwhy? "Get on the bed," Natalie said. Sofia, again, obeyed. She climbed onto the plush sheets. Her body not hesitating. Because of the cor. The cor. Not because the authority in Natalie''s voice switched her brain off. Not because surrendering to her came with a rush of intoxicating excitement that she couldn''t even begin to put into words. Not because Natalie''s confident, taunting gaze left her so dizzy and weak-kneed that she felt like she was close to fainting. No, the cor. And the bet. She was simply epting her lot in life. It was a task that she had to see through. She was a woman of her word. And a practical woman. Natalie picked Jordan up, handling the woman easily. "Lie down," she told Sofia. Sofia did. Natalie shuffled forward, then dropped Jordan onto her. Jordan''s sweaty, naked curves pressed into Sofia''s uniform, and Sofia froze beneath her, the other woman''s proximity finally turning off whateverst parts of her brain had been functional. Jordan also looked surprised by the position Natalie had chosen. "Lucky you," she murmured, green eyes just as taunting as Natalie''s, but friendlier, and only a few inches from Sofia. She cozied up, indulgently getting situated. "You really get the V.I.P. treatment, don''t you?" She buried her face into Sofia''s neck just as Natalie''s hips hit her ass, and the impact bounced both of them. Natalie was ... Fucking Jordan. While Jordan was on top of her. And still, she wasn''t stopping them? 5.03 – Intimate Viewing II 5.03 ¨C Intimate Viewing II How had this happened? Five minutes ago, she''d been sitting on the couch, annoyed at the lewd noisesing from her teammates'' room. Now, she was spread out on the bed, a sweaty, naked Jordan pressed into her, both of them bouncing as Natalie, between their legs, plowed into her with even more energy than before. And she''d already been going at it like an animal. "Her cock feels so good," Jordan murmured into Sofia''s ear, shamelessly, the words earnest and husky. The way she was rubbing against Sofia with each bounce was incredibly obscene, setting her on fire. Jordan''s tits, bare, pressed into her own, her nipples poking through her uniform. The sensation was electric. She felt like she was melting, and neither of them were even doing anything to her. Well. By the standards of what they were doing to each other, at least. "Is our gross voyeur at a loss for words?" Jordan asked, propping herself up and forcing her face into Sofia''s vision. She grabbed either side of her head, cradling her. "Cat got your tongue?" The lewd bouncing of their bodies served as a backdrop for Jordan''s teasing. Sofia couldn''t focus on anything besides the smacks of flesh. Natalie, jack-hammering into Jordan, making her sweaty, naked body bounce and rock against her own. "It''s kinda mean, getting her big, fat, juicy cock all to myself," Jordan said, still cradling her face. "You should just admit you want it. I mean, how long are you going to pretend? You can''t keep lying to yourself. It''s not healthy." She leaned closer. Her lips hovered less than an inch from Sofia''s. "You want Nat inside you. Her huge, thick, hot girl cock splitting you open. Just say it for me." "I don''t know what you''re talking about," Sofia mumbled, the words falling apart, getting quieter, as she went. The contrast between the humiliating words, and the way Jordan''s hands cradled her face, her friendly but taunting eyes, was doing something strange to her. Dealing with Natalie alone was next to impossible. Having Jordan on the offense, while Natalie was making them both bounce? Sofia could only say one thank-you¡ªthat Natalie seemed lost in Jordan''s pussy, rapidlying unglued as her thrusting made the entire bedframe creak. Not paying attention to her and Jordan''s conversation. "You can do it," Jordan said. Her thumb gently stroked Sofia''s cheek. "It''ll feel good, you know. To give up. To ept your ce. On your knees. Her ything. Her cock slut. You might be better than Natalie in a sparring ring, but in this arena, you''re nothing¡ªand you know it." "I ..." "There''s no shame. You know it''s true. A girl like you is meant to be a cock sleeve. Who cares about image? Status? What people think about you? Giving in would feel so good. So just do it." The words thrilled through her. How did Jordan know exactly what to say to turn her insides into a hot mess? Voicing the thoughts Sofia refused to acknowledge¡ªdigging into her secret desires, drawing out a pulsing lust that radiated across her. Did she really see through her that easily? Because that was all she wanted. To give in. To stop caring so much. Not that she would ever admit it out loud. Or even to herself. This woman was far, far more dangerous than Natalie. "No?" Jordan asked after Sofia only panted into her face, unable to muster a response. "Not there, yet?" Her closeness threatened to give Sofia a heart attack. She smelled so thickly of sex it made her head swim. "That''s fine. You haven''t had a taste yet. You won''tst long, once you do. But, I have one more question." "What is it?" Sofia breathed. "Can I kiss you? While your Master finishes inside me?" Sofia stared at her. Then, she nodded. Jordan''s lips met her own. She pried open Sofia''s mouth, her tongue slipping against her own. Sofia surrendered to the advance, melting into her. At the same time, Jordan gave into the climax she''d been fighting. She started to shake atop Sofia, and her moans went straight into Sofia''s throat, kissing her even as she shuddered and came apart, Natalie''s hips mmed into her over and over, her whole body rocking into Sofia. Natalie fell forward next, elbows propping to either side of them, sandwiching Jordan even tighter into Sofia as she also came to her peak. Natalie''s hips arched forward, shoving Jordan''s lower half hard onto Sofia''s, groaning loudly. Cumming inside Jordan. While Jordan was on top of her. Kissing her. Natalie, spilling hot, sticky seed straight into Jordan''s womb. The thought, for some shameful reason, pushed Sofia over the edge¡ªa shockingly sudden arrival,ing from nowhere. Panic coursed through her as the most pathetic whimper she''d ever made escaped her, muffled by Jordan''s mouth. It wasn''t fair. She was cumming? How? She''d barely been touched. Only ncingly as Jordan bounced atop her. Had the situation really set her on fire that much? She''d been brought that close to the edge just by Jordan''s teasing? And the kiss? She had to hide it. Natalie couldn''t see. It was too embarrassing. Coming while barely being touched. But ecstasy coursed through her like molten metal. Her whole body quivered, and her hips, pressed down by the two girls, tried to lift, only for the weight of them to keep her down. She wiggled and ground herself into Jordan, getting what contact she could, climaxing even while Natalie kept pouring a hot load into Jordan. The pleasure crashed through her with an intensity she''d never experienced. Her only saving grace was that Natalie and Jordan were too lost in their own orgasm to notice. Or, that was what she hoped. Finally, the mortifying moment passed, and Sofia went limp beneath them, panting and sweating. Jordan pressed her head down in the nkets next to Sofia. All three of them panted and caught their breath, a tangled mess of sweaty limbs. "That easily?" Jordan murmured, turning to look at Sofia from the corner of her eye. She chuckled, her words less than a whisper, only audible to Sofia. "You naughty girl. I won''t tell. We''re really gonna have fun with you, aren''t we?" 5.04 – Mediator I 5.04 ¨C Mediator I Jordan watched as Natalie''s two-handed warhammer crashed into a tower shield easily as tall as herself. The oversized block of stone met reinforced metal shield with a ng reminiscent of a cksmith''s anvil. Despite having braced for the blow, the heavily armored tank¡ªa boy with dirty blond hair, whose name Jordan didn''t know¡ªstaggered back, his guard broken. Though the vicious impact had rattled Natalie too, her follow-up was swift: a second, then third, then fourth wind-up blow hammered into the tower shield, entirely forgoing subtlety and technique. She chose instead to bash her way through with pure determination. It was very Natalie. Her sparring partner was, unfortunately, no match for her: the fight was a foregone conclusion. That was how it went sometimes. The difference in strength between the low and high ends of talent, even within the same year, could be insurmountable. And the gap would only grow more pronounced as time passed, as they moved into their sophomore, junior, and senior years. If Jordan had to guess, this boy hadn''t even reached level two yet. So against Natalie? It simply wasn''t a fair fight. "She really is a monster with that thing," she said idly, wincing as another ridiculous ng cut through the air. It pierced even the din of the dozens of other active fights throughout the training yard. "If ¡­ a bit noisy." "A bit?" Sofia asked dryly. She watched the disy, arms crossed as piercing blue eyes scrutinized the two fighters. There was a distasteful curl to her lips, and Jordan guessed why even before Sofia voiced the sentiment. "She''s being a brute. It''s disrespectful. To herself and her opponent. She can do better." The events earlier that morning, in the bedroom, had gone forgotten. Or, ignored. Sofia was her usual self, if somewhat fidgety, especially when their eyes met. Jordan admitted she had gotten carried away. To be fair, she''d been more than a littlepromised, with Natalie taking her from behind and a blushing Sofia squirming underneath her. In that kind of scenario, of course her better senses had vanished. Still, considering what she had said¡ªand the kiss they''d shared¡ªshe knew they needed to talk about it. She''d been meaning to chat with Sofia for a while now. About a whole bunch of things. Though, Natalie at the forefront. "Well, it''s working," Jordan said. "That''s all that matters, in the end." Sofia grunted her disagreement. "Every fight should be taken seriously. Even easy ones. She''s not giving it her best." Jordan half agreed with the perspective. But she didn''t think Natalie wasn''t taking the fight seriously, exactly. More like, she was seeing just how much she could aplish with pure brute strength. Testing her limits. Though, admittedly, having an inappropriate amount of fun while doing so. She was wearing that wild grin of hers as she spun around with her towering warhammer. Jordan had always found that look equal parts endearing and worrying. Natalie could get carried away way too easily. Jordan had seen it more than once in their youth. She might be the only reason Natalie hadn''t gotten herself killed in their reckless early years. "She''s definitely getting better, though," Sofia said. "Her footwork is cleaner. Giving less openings. Better integration of her illusions, too." She wrinkled her nose. "In her earlier fights, at least. This one is a regression." Sofia had always been more willing to acknowledge Natalie''s skill than the other way around. There was a definite begrudgingness to thepliment, though. Sofia handled herpetitive streak with much more maturity, but it was definitely still there. Out of the corner of her eye, Jordan watched Sofia more than she did the fight. The woman''s attention bored into Natalie with an intensity that was rather telling¡ªand would probably embarrass Sofia if she realized what she was doing. Jordan wasn''tpletely certain what Sofia and Natalie''s rtionship was. Obviously, she could tell the two women were secretly feral for each other, but were they romantically interested? Jordan was actually somewhat undecided. That they wanted to fuck was a given. But hate-fuck only, or something more? If Jordan could dig past the hundreds ofyers of denial, did they want to date each other? Be girlfriends? While those two girls going on a romantic date conjured hrious imagery, Jordan thought they might actually want to, if they could work past their ridiculous hang-ups. At a minimum, they needed to get it out of their system. Which was slowly happening, thanks to their silly bet. And the cor. And developments earlier that morning. Their denial, added to their extremepetitiveness, made things tricky. She thought of Natalie''s unceremonious coring of Sofia. Natalie hadn''t given the girl much chance to protest¡ªshe had clipped the cor and leash on without remotely giving the event the discussion it deserved. Not that a discussion between Sofia and Natalie would ever be productive, considering the two idiots, but Jordan was mildly concerned about the direction their rtionship was heading. Both the speed and theck ofmunication. It seemed like a train wreck waiting to happen. Jordan was guilty of adding fuel to that fire, too, with everything she''d said that morning. Sofia nced over, catching her staring. She rolled her eyes. "Oh, stop biting your lip and just ask," Sofia said. "You clearly have something to say." It was as good a segue as any. It was Jordan''s duty, as Natalie''s friend¡ªand Sofia''s friend¡ªto smooth things over in whatever way she could. Plus, Sofia wasn''t as likely to be obstinate when trying to have an honest discussion as Natalie would. Though ''as obstinate as Natalie'' was a low bar to clear. It still wouldn''t be easy. A part of Jordan wondered whether she was even qualified to be a mediator in their rtionship. Considering her own mess of tangled emotions when it came to Natalie, she didn''t have too much of a leg to stand on. But someone had to. And it sure as hell wouldn''t be either of them. "So," Jordan started casually. "How are things going with you and Nat?" Sofia stiffened, though imperceptibly, as if she''d been ready for the question and had tried to stop herself from reacting¡ªbut couldn''t, not entirely. She turned back forward. "That''s what you''re stewing over?" "Just asking as a friend. I know Nat can be a handful. Maybe we can talk about it? Honestly, we''re in kind of the same situation." "Us?" Sofia asked. "You think we''re in the same situation? Natalie actually likes you, if you haven''t noticed." The response caught Jordan off guard. Both what she''d said, and how she''d said it. The almost resignation hidden behind the sarcasm. Sofia didn''t believe that, did she? That Natalie didn''t like her? Well. It was admittedly a bit of a mess. But while Natalie might swear up and down that Sofia was the devil, Jordan was confident she didn''t actually dislike her. Or¡ªit was a hot-and-cold thing. Clearly, Jordan did need to have this talk. Except, she wasn''t exactly sure how to handle it. How did she go about reassuring her? "Sofia," Jordan said slowly, picking her words carefully. "There''s not a person on the who gets Natalie going like you do." Yes, she phrased it that way on purpose. "Don''t be stupid. Of course Natalie likes you. I don''t care what she says. You know her. She''s an idiot." She raised a finger to interrupt Sofia''s response. "At a very minimum, you''re special to her. In a way no one else is." Sofia huffed and faced away. It was clear she was trying to brush the ims off. But the panic the statements created was clear as day. Jordan was equally amused and concerned by the reaction. She considered pressing harder. Making sure Sofia knew that, whatever was going on with Natalie, she was important to her. But her goal with this conversation wasn''t to try to bash through Sofia''s denial¡ªlike she had tried that morning, if in a sexual context instead of a romantic one. Because Jordan doubted it would end well. Certainly, Jordan was confident that it wouldn''t end well with Natalie herself, hence why Jordan still hadn''t confronted the woman with her own gigantic crush. And Sofia and Natalie were far more alike than their surface-level behaviors would suggest; being too blunt could be disastrous with either. So, instead of trying to fix everything all at once, Jordan had a simpler goal: she simply wanted to make sure the two girls weren''t on a collision course. Jordan waved her hand dismissively. "Well, like I said, I do know she can be a handful. And there''s some stuff we should talk about." She gave Sofia a significant look. "You know. Especially with ¡­" Jordan pointed at her own neck, indicating the cor, which she knew Sofia had hidden under her uniform. "And your bet with her, too. How it''s going. How you feel about it. I know she won''t ask, so I have to. Because you''re my friend." Sofia flushed and looked forward. "There''s nothing to say. It''s between me and her." So. She was choosing to be stubborn about it. Jordan couldn''t say she was surprised. And she had a point: it wasn''t Jordan''s business. But Natalie and Sofia weren''t going to talk it out themselves, it was better to stick her nose where it technically didn''t belong than to let the two idiots crash and burn. Seeing how conventional mature discussion had no chance of seeding here, Jordan would have to employ unconventional techniques. Step one of a sessful surprise engagement was this: catch your opponent off guard. Once she had an opening, she would have room to work with. She''d sneak in emotionally considerate discussions under the guise of teasing. So, she went on the offensive. "I said it this morning," Jordan said seriously, "and I''ll say it again, Sofia. There''s nothing wrong with wanting to be Natalie''s sex pet." She squeezed Sofia''s elbow encouragingly. "If we work as a team, I''m sure we can figure out how to get her cock inside you." 5.05 – Mediator II 5.05 ¨C Mediator II As a rogue, Jordan was ustomed to scoring critical hits; doing so was a cornerstone of her ss. Even by her standards, though, this one was gory. Sofia went red, facing Jordan with an expression of pure shock. Her mouth opened and closed soundlessly, too caught off-guard to even sputter. usations like those made in the heat of the moment were one thing, like Jordan''s taunting that morning, but in the sober light of day, at ss, Jordan''s words hit Sofia with far more impact. "Or are you hoping to be more than just her sex pet?" Jordan continued in a serious tone, making sure to seem over-the-top worried. She squeezed her arm, again, y-acting the earnest friend. "Getting it into her thick skull that you want to be her girlfriend will be an uphill battle¡ªso you''ll need a n. That''s where I can help." "What are you talking about?" Sofia finally stuttered out, stumbling an impressive three times over the first word¡ªsounding half-strangled. "Have you lost your mind? Her sex pet? Her girlfriend?" she hissed, shooting frantic looks around, though nobody was nearby. "We have a bet! And, and the cor! That''s it! And, by the way, the cor was the dungeon''s fault." "So you don''t want it there?" Jordan asked¡ªand this time, the seriousness in her voice was genuine. "Did that happen too fast? Or is anything else too much? Like the bet you two made? And what happened this morning¡ªdid I go too far?" Those had, of course, been the actual questions Jordan wanted to ask. Teasing Sofia would always be fun, but her ultimate goal was to check up on the girl. The pivot from over-the-top usations to sounding genuinely caring caught Sofia doubly off guard: she reeled, again trying to orient herself. "If you want Natalie to slow down, you can tell her," Jordan said. "She''ll listen. I know that for a fact, even if you disagree. Or if you don''t like something you two are doing, or where your rtionship is going, tell her¡ªshe will ease up. Without making a big deal of it. I promise. Above everything, she cares about you, Sofia. And so do I." Sofia''s mouth opened and closed. Words didn''te out. Finally, her strangled response came. "Jordan. This isn''t necessary." Her face somehow turned an even deeper shade of red. "I do have a spine. If I don''t like something, I am more than capable of standing up for myself. Especially to that aggravating woman." Jordan bit down on an instinctive response: something along the lines of, ''not from what I saw, this morning''. It wasn''t the time. She''d gotten the honesty she''d wanted¡ªand also made sure to hammer home that Natalie did care about her, and would drop the bet, or cor situation, if asked. In case the woman was deep enough in denial that she didn''t believe that, it had to be said. So Jordan nodded, then dropped the topic. Sofia looked kind of close to melting where she stood, anyway. "So what about threesomes?" Jordan asked. "I mean, real ones. Not like this morning. Are those on the table?" Sofia made a choking noise. Jordanughed, then eased up. She faced forward. There were a few things she wanted to talk about that weren''t about their love lives¡ªrelevant topics for their team''s future. "Anyway, we''re a few weeks in," she said. "School events are gonna start soon. And we should probably look into doing some quests. We''re performing well in the dungeon, but that''s not all we have to worry about." Sofia was more than happy to ept the pivot, if, once again, she had to visibly orient herself. Her pale cheeks were dusted pink, and she pointedly didn''t meet Jordan''s eyes. She really was way too cute. Jordan had always been fond of Sofia, though Natalie''s rivalry had made it hard to be friends¡ªespecially since Sofia had had her own friend group, back home. Honestly, Jordan hadn''t fully resolved her feelings for the woman. She definitely wasn''t in love with her like she was with Natalie¡ªbut she admittedly did find teasing the woman irresistible. Or, in general irresistible. Any opportunity Jordan could get her hands on her, she would take. So a crush, maybe? Though of a definitively different nature than the one she had on Natalie. "You''re right about quests. Especially since a decent portion of our loot is," Sofia paused, still somewhat scrambling to catch herself from the earlier conversation, "difficult to sell. We''ll need other ie sources, and quests are best for that." A decent portion of the items they were earning from the dungeon would make a killing if put onto the market, but the team hade to the consensus that Natalie''s ss was better to keep hidden. Even without bringing in the whole ''sleeping deities'' ordeal¡ªwhich was something Jordan had no idea what to think of¡ªa ss like Natalie''s was best kept on the down-low in a politically charged environment like T. That subterfuge wouldn''tst forever, but for the short term, they were keeping the lewd items a secret. Most were in use, anyway, or had future uses. But that meant they had fewer items going onto the market, and so, credits were tighter for them than most other groups. Sure, they got way better loot, but most of it they had to keep hidden. "Think the team will want to head out this weekend?" Jordan asked. "Monster hunting quests are everywhere. They pay great. And we''ll get to travel. See the countryside." Of course, there were downsides to those kinds of contracts: most prevalently, the reduced experience. While surface monsters existed and could easily be as dangerous as dungeon monsters, they were sparser and a far less effective way to level. The upside was that quests posted by T paid much better; they could easily triple or quadruple their daily earnings. Or, a regr team could. It was a little murkier considering Natalie''s influence on the dungeon. There were also quest quotas to worry about, but that only became a concern for teams that only delved, ignoring the quest boardpletely¡ªand they weren''t that far into the semester for that to be an issue. Still, it was something to think about. "I wouldn''t be against it," Sofia said. Her brow furrowed. "If it means saving lives, then some inefficiency obviously doesn''t matter. We can miss out on experience." Jordan felt briefly guilty that hadn''t been where her mind had gone. Though she obviously agreed. She hadn''t pursued a career in delving purely out of a desire to help people, but it had been a reason. The grueling hours spent in the training yard, and down in the dungeon, was as much for her own personal benefit as for a desire to use that strength to make a difference. To protect people who couldn''t protect themselves. Most delvers felt that way. Well, maybe not most. That might be giving her ssmates too much credit. Especially the ones who hade here with political goals in mind¡ªwhich for T, was a higher percentage than Jordan probably assumed, and she assumed high. But Sofia, for her part, certainly meant it. For all the duelist did obviously care about her image and advancing in society¡ªmaybe too much so, in Jordan''s opinion¡ªshe had a good heart. Jordan wouldn''t have a maybe-crush on the girl if she didn''t. Sofia had always been that charming mix ofpetitive, haughty, intense, but secretly a sweetheart. It was a shame Natalie didn''t get to see much of thetter, thanks to her ridiculous behavior toward the woman. "We''ll talk with the team, then," Jordan said. "I''m sure we all could use the extra tokens. And seeing somece new sounds fun." 5.06 – Talveron 5.06 ¨C Talveron "It''s so strange seeing a Talveron as good at casting as she is," Camillemented. "Like seeing a fish climb a tree." Natalie nced sideways, seeing that Camille had wandered up to chat with her. The mage had made a habit of it. Her stomach tightened with nervousness, like always, seeing the tall, skinny woman, and the teasing curl to her lips. Even so many dayster, Camille still hadn''te outright and said she''d been the one to catch Natalie in the restroom. It remained a murky, anxiety-inducing mystery. Strangely, the two of them had be sort-of friends. She was Natalie''s ssmate, and affable besides, so it wasn''t all that odd. Natalie admitted she would like to know for certain whether it had been Camille, though, however obvious her teasing made it seem. But she also didn''t want to ask outright, on the chance she had witnessed less than Natalie thought¡ªor maybe even that she was just a flirt, and that Natalie was making incorrect assumptions. There wasn''t a zero percent chance of that. So, she suffered through the interactions. Getting flirted at by a pretty girl was hardly the end of the world, anyway, even if there was an undercurrent of worry whenever she interacted with the girl. "Talveron?" Natalie asked. "Who''s that? Ana''s opponent?" Natalie was recovering from her recent spar. They were well into practice; she had worked up a sweat, and her HP was dwindling, like most of her ssmates. Ana''s ss was one of the groups of students present in the sprawling courtyard, today¡ªwhich meant toughpetition. Not as fierce as Elida''s ss, which seemed to be the top grouping of students for the year, but still not a walk in the park, like some days were. Ana''s ss was easily a match for Natalie''s. Camille gave her a confused look. "Sorry? Her opponent?" "What?" "Ana. Ana Talveron. You don''t know who she is?" The phrasing made Natalie groan. "You''re not about to tell me she''s some kind of princess, are you?" Camille blinked several times, her confusion trading for amusement. "No. The Talverons are of middling importance. I just thought you''d know who your teammates are. She is your delving partner, isn''t she? I''m not mixing them up?" Natalie sighed in relief. Having Elizabeth the Beaumon on her team was enough political entanglement for one lifetime. She didn''t even know who the Talverons even were, which to Natalie, was great news. "I don''t keep up with that nonsense," Natalie said. "And she never mentioned herst name." "Family houses and politics aren''t ''nonsense''." "Yeah, yeah. I''ve been told that like, ten times." And at least once by Camille, Natalie was pretty sure. Camille rolled her eyes. "The country bumpkin disregard is endearing, Nat, but dangerous in a ce like T. But, whatever. Yes. Ana Talveron." "Why is it weird that she''s good at casting?" The mage pursed her lips. "It''s not funny if I have to exin it. The Talverons are just ¡­ not mages." "What does that mean?" She gave Natalie an exasperated look. "They''re almost all fighters. That their daughter is a mage, much less a good one, is very strange." She nced at Ana. "Though it''s hardly the only strange thing about her." Natalie pushed away the urge to defend Ana. Camille hadn''t made it sound like an insult, just ament. Ana herself was more than willing to admit, and had done so, that she behaved oddly. It didn''t sound like something she was insecure about. Though maybe that was just a front? "But, really," Camille said. "How has she never mentioned what house she''s from? Don''t you talk? You''re teammates." Natalie had, of course, chatted with Ana plenty of times. There was lots of downtime in the dungeon, if not when they needed to catch their breath, then when setting up camp for the night on weekend trips. There''d been plenty of opportunities for the team to talk amongst themselves. "She''s not the most open person," Natalie said. "Dunno if you''ve met her." It wasn''t that Ana didn''t talk¡ªjust that she didn''t reveal much about herself when she did. Which was kind of odd, now that Natalie thought about it. She knew surprisingly little about the woman, even ounting for only having met her a few weeks ago. "Fair," Camille said. "Anyway, yeah, she''s basically the opposite of a Talveron. Talverons are all ¡­ I don''t know, loud, gung-ho, in-your-face. They have a reputation for being dramatic." "Really?" In that case, Natalie could easily see why that would be funny. Ana hade from a family known for being in-your-face and dramatic? Natalie couldn''t pick two words that less described the woman. How had that happened? Her thoughts flickered to the series of challenge rooms. Well. Maybe the description was situationally urate, actually. "And very much not mages," Camille continued. She eyed Ana as a massive ck shadow-tendril ripped from the ground and shed at her opponent. A retaliatory orb of blue light zipped toward her, but it met a ck curtain of shadow, dispelling both spells. Ana''s face didn''t move. Not concentrated, worried, or even bored. Complete passivity. Honestly, it was a bit intimidating. "And she''s not even kinda good, either," Camille said with a begrudging sort of appreciation. "She''s really good. It''s a shame she turned down Gylver sponsorship." Natalie blinked at that. "Sorry? And¡ªwait, aren''t you a Gylver?" Camille turned toward her with an incredulous look. Natalie flushed. "I don''t mean literally," she protested. She knew Camille wasn''t a member of one of the five major houses. She was actually somewhat in Natalie''s position¡ªmostly a nobody who had found her way into T through talent alone. "But you''re sponsored by them. Adopted, kind of?" "Sponsored," she said firmly. "Not adopted. I''m not remotely a Gylver." Camille shook her head, still finding the idea ridiculous. "Maybe if I ever make it to level ten, they''d let me marry into the main house. That''s the only way that happens, though. I''m a lowborn." Natalie''s nose wrinkled. ''Let her'' marry into their house? "And they offered Ana a sponsorship?" Natalie asked. "Recently. I don''t know how. They didn''t ask me to do it." Camille seemed mildly annoyed at that. "When?" "Last week." "Really?" "She didn''t mention it? Well, it''s her business. I assume she turned it down because of Liz." "Liz?" "She did group up with you four. The Beaumons aren''tying any kind of im? On your team as a whole?" "Not that I''ve heard." Natalie considered it. "Besides, Liz made that decision herself. I don''t think her family is happy about it." Johanna and her team would have been Liz''s group, but Liz had wanted to strike it out on her own. "What''s sponsorship even mean, anyway? It''s not like they can do much for us. T has everything locked down." Being sponsored by an important House didn''t mean amazing items and infinite tokens¡ªor even extra opportunities. T took fairness seriously. "We will be graduating into the real world," Camille said. "And besides, it''s only so strict for freshmen. They make a fair ying ground to see who the talent is¡ªbut it''s not like anyone is average for two years, then suddenly bes a prodigy." She paused. "It''s very rare," she conceded. "Regardless, T''s ws loosen as time goes on. They make sure everyone starts at the same point, but in the end, they want to see who can reach the highest level before graduating. So rules get a little looser." "Huh," Natalie said. She couldn''t say she was surprised. "Though still strict," Camille said. "It''s not supposed to be about who has the most money. And anyway, being sponsored by someone importantes with plenty of benefits within the confines of their rules. The obvious being training, connections, and knowledge. A one-on-one with, for example, Edward Valeria. That''d make a sponsorship worth having just by itself, don''t you think? And something like that is what having the Beaumons as patrons could get you." Edward Valeria. Johanna''s dad¡ªa staunch ally of House Beaumon. The patriarch of the Valeria family, the head general of the Valhaurian military, and one of the strongest men in the world. Likely above level fifteen, though that was a guess, since those ranks were so sparse there might only be a dozen per continent. Natalie admitted even a few hours being trained by him would probably be an invaluable experience, and it wouldn''t break any T rules. But worth entangling into politics? In her opinion, no. Especially with all her current ss shenanigans going on. Contrary to most people at T, Natalie had teamed up with Liz in spite of her name, rather than because of it. That might have been why the royal had chosen them. Natalie grunted. Camille had a point; she wasn''t so stupid as to not see that. Even so, she hated the idea of wading into House politics. The mage rolled her eyes. "Fine, whatever," Camille said. "Like I said, you do you. And I get it¡ªsort of. Even if I disagree." She sniffed. "Anyway, more fun topics." She took a step closer to Natalie, leaning so her shoulder pressed into hers. "I took your advice, you know." "My advice?" Natalie asked. Her heartbeat quickened, and only half at having a cute girl suddenly press herself into her; Natalie knew Camille well enough to recognize that teasing tone of voice. "About my nt magic. My vines." She wiggled her eyebrows, and it took a second for Natalie to understand. "Like you told me to. Great advice, seriously. It was ¡­ a lot of fun." Natalie''s eyes widened. She was joking, right? She hadn''t¡ªwith her own nts? 5.07 – Plant Magic I 5.07 ¨C nt Magic I After a long debate, Natalie settled on what to say. "I don''t know what you''re talking about." Like usual, with Camille, it seemed the safest option. Camille narrowed her eyes. "You don''t know what I''m talking about," she repeated tly. "Really. When you were the one to suggest it." "I definitely didn''t." Camille had invented that whole misunderstanding herself. Natalie had certainly never told the woman to go use her nt magic to fuck herself. That whole idea was still flustering Natalie. Had she, actually? Again, Camille scrutinized her. Coming to some conclusion, she crossed her arms, seeming displeased. "Okay, that''s it. I''m tired of this." "This?" Natalie repeated dumbly. "You''re, like, a womanizer to everyone else on campus, but I''ve been throwing myself at you for two weeks, and I just get ignored. Do you know what that does to a girl''s self-esteem?" Natalie paused. Despite the words, she doubted Camille was facing any insecurities over her deflections¡ªhow she had been shying away from her constant teasing. Camille knew why Natalie was ying it carefully. Or did she? That was the whole problem. Camille was the only one of them to know for sure. "What?" Natalie repeated. At the continued deflection, Camille growled. She took a step forward and jabbed a finger into her chest. "Okay, fine. I''ll say it. I saw you in the bathroom, jerking off to an illusion of Tess, that third-year magic tutor of yours." Natalie''s stomach sank. She frantically looked around, but thankfully, nobody was paying attention to her and Camille. She grabbed the girl by the arm and pulled her away to a more private part of the courtyard. As they walked, Natalie hissed, "Keep it down, won''t you? Seriously? And, so, that was you?" "Oh,e on. I made it extremely obvious. You can''t be that dense." She wasn''t being dense; she was just ying it carefully. But, yeah, whatever¡ªNatalie hadn''t ever been that convinced otherwise. Especially with how often Camille had been teasing her about it. "Okay, so, why are you spying on people in the restroom?" Natalie used. "What''s up with that?" Camille paused, then grimaced. She pushed an errant strand of her hair out of her face, looking regretful. "Yeah. Uh, sorry about that. That was kind of fucked up. I mean, you did run in there all red-faced and flustered, and then I came in and heard you grunting and making a bunch of ridiculous noises¡ªand saw another pair of feet in the stall, which didn''t make sense, since you went in alone. So I was curious, but¡ª" she shook her head. "But yeah, not cool, either way. That said, you''re the one making illusions of your magic tutor and masturbating to them. I''m assuming you didn''t get her permission for that. That''s pretty messed up in its own right." Which was a fair point; maybe they were both perverts. Natalie could concede that. Though Camille''s invasion had definitely been worse. Tess had just been an illusion. Masturbation with extra steps. Though probably still a bit of a vition, considering how realistic it had been. Either way, relief was oddly starting to wash through Natalie. Embarrassing as this was, she was d she knew for certain. Seeing how Camille had kept that event on the down-low¡ªor at least, never said so outright¡ªit relieved Natalie that it hadn''t been some other spy who had seen that horrifyingpse of judgment. Natalie didn''t think Camille was going to go around and tell anyone, by this point. So she was safe. Sort of. "So, what do you want?" Natalie asked. Camille paused, then stared at her, her expression shifting slowly from her previous regretfulness, into incredulity, then nearly to anger. Natalie took an instinctive step back. "What do I want? What do I want?" Camille growled, stalking forward¡ªmaking Natalie retreat several more steps. She poked Natalie''s chest, harder than the first time. "I''ve made that exceedingly clear, haven''t I? What I want is to get my hands on that stupid fat cock of yours. What part of me flirting constantly left that up in the air?" Uh. Yeah, fair enough. Camille took a breath in, visibly reining herself in. "And, admittedly, I also want to see what your illusions can do," she said. "It''s super interesting from an academic standpoint. So, we can practice together. I''m sure you want to find out what my vines can do, too." She ¡­ did? "Why would you think that?" "Because you''re a huge pervert," Camille answered. "And you blush every time I bring it up. You''re not hard to read." She leaned forward, getting her face close to Natalie''s. "They''re really a lot of fun. Like I said¡ªyou''re full of great ideas. So, what do you say?" Natalie might have been obstinately refusing to engage with Camille out of a sense of mortification, but with the air cleared, her reservations were obviously vanishing. She looked around the courtyard. There was one problem¡ªss was still in session. And not academics, but sparring. Not the most ideal time for this to be happening. "Won''t Instructor Robin will notice?" "Maybe," Camille said. "But, what, we''re not allowed a restroom break?" Her lips curled up. "Even if it''s longer than usual. Besides, we will still be practicing. Just, through unconventional methods." Natalie snorted. She looked around one more time, and her eyes, by coincidence, met Jordan''s. The woman raised an eyebrow at her, and oddly, Natalie blushed. Jordan clearly didn''t care about her misadventures, but being caught¡ªnot that Jordan should even suspect anything yet, but it seemed like she did¡ªwas still embarrassing, for some reason. Jordan rolled her eyes, then gave a sarcastic thumbs up. Natalie grabbed Camille''s wrist and started to walk. "Sounds like a n to me." A short tripter, they wandered through the sprawling trainingplex and arrived at a less-frequented part of the facility. Privacy was obviously preferable, considering what they had nned. Inside, Natalie cleared the various stalls, verifying they were alone, then used her uniform jacket to firmly tie the two door handles closed, so that no one could interrupt them¡ªor at least barge in. She rested her hammer in front of the door, too, just to be safe. Camille looked at the set-up, then quirked an eyebrow, as if asking, ''so, why didn''t you do that the first time?'' "I learned my lesson, okay?" Natalie said dryly. Camilleughed, then hopped onto the sink and started to kick her feet back and forth. The excitement in her eyes was clear as day. Natalie''s own heart was starting to gallop. Not just because it was Camille¡ªbut because it sounded like she had some unconventional ns for how she wanted to have fun. nt magic? And apparently, she wanted Natalie to show off some of her illusions. Seeing how both [Illusion] and [Empower] had gotten upgrades since herst experiments, the magical constructs ought to be even more realistic than before. And while using [Empower] would waste some carnal energy, if she did choose to use it, she might be able to create some pretty spectacr effects. A truly life-like experience, possibly. How much so? She guessed she''d be finding out with Camille. "So," Camille said casually, her feet still kicking back and forth as she looked at Natalie with a grin. "We''ve got like, forty-five minutes before Instructor Robin starts to get suspicious. What can we get away with, do you think?" With forty-five minutes? Probably a lot. 5.08 – Plant Magic II 5.08 ¨C nt Magic II Seeing how she and Camille had fled the sparring yard in full gear, they still had their weapons with them. Natalie had set her hammer in front of the door to help fend off invaders. Camille, though, had leaned her staff against the corner of the sink, within arm''s reach. She grabbed it now, leveling it toward Natalie, happy to take the lead. A familiar tingling to Natalie''s sixth sense announced the formation of Camille''s spell. Though Natalie should have expected it, the vines that appeared beneath her feet caught her off guard¡ªshe tried to step away, but the thick green mass whipped out and slithered around an ankle, mming her foot back into the floor. A different one grabbed her other foot. Before she knew it, both legs were anchored firmly in ce. Several hard yanks didn''t make their grip budge. It was a rooting spell, at its core; even Natalie couldn''t break free. "Those things are seriously annoying," Natalie said, eying the slippery green loops as they encircled her. "Dunno if I''ve mentioned that." As Camille''s ssmate, she''d been on the receiving end of the spell more than once. Though never in this particr way. "Snares are awful, I know," Camille agreed with augh. "Especially for fighters." She grinned. "Maybe they can ¡­ say sorry to you, today. You might not hate them so much." The vines continued to slither around her, entombing Natalie''s shins and slowly advancing upward. Her heart started to gallop as they encroached higher and higher. She was familiar with the spell, but it had always stayed well beneath her knees. A simple root. They''d never gone this far. Onto her thighs. Then higher still. "I didn''t know you had this kind of control over them," Natalie said, trying to resist her instinctive urge to struggle¡ªand only half seeding. The vines slipped under her uniform jacket, then wiggled down into her skirt. She shivered as slimy green flesh slid across her skin. Had they always been this slippery? She didn''t think so. Though it would certainly help with ¡­ other activities. At the same time, the slimy residue might be annoying, considering she had still had ss the rest of the day; it was getting all over her and her uniform. Then again, that was where the cleansing liquid woulde in handy. The unsung hero of yesterday''s loot. "It took some practice," Camille admitted. "Spells don''t have that much give to them. They can be stubborn to change." Her brow scrunched down, then she made small adjustments with her staff, which she still had pointed at Natalie. Guiding the spell. "And usually they''re not this responsive. I must be getting better." She sounded vaguely confused. A thick rope wiggled its head in between her thighs, forcing through and popping out the other side. It slithered a loop around her left leg''s upper thigh and squeezed hard. Another followed, securing her right leg. The contact against her sensitive areas extracted a groan from her. Despite the quickly advancing distraction, her thoughtstched to what Camille had said. She was finding it easier to control her vines? Enough that she even sounded confused about it? Was that Natalie''s fault? Was her lust-based ss passively helping the encounter along? It had done that before, but only with her spells. None of her teammates had bumped into an interaction like that. Then again, none of her ssmates had tried to fuck her using their skills. None of them had abilities that could¡ªotherwise Jordan probably would have tried. Though, thinking it over, maybe Ana had spells that could be used that way. How did those ck shadow tentacles of hers work? Did they have physical substance like Camille''s vines? Either way, this was a first. Would all sses react to Natalie''s when used for inappropriate reasons? Did that mean anything, practically speaking? Could it be used, somehow? Or had Camille really just improved her control, and Natalie was overthinking this? A vine snuck up Natalie''s stomach, rubbing its slippery body across her stomach, then slipped underneath her bra. It coiled around her breast and squeezed. Her hand shot to her chest, and she clutched the writhing, constricting mass through her uniform jacket and undershirt, shivering as she was assaulted. Natalie''s brief curiosity over the situation disappeared, her brain upied with other matters. Camille gestured upward with her staff, and two vines roughly encircled her wrists, then scurried upward, dragging her arms along with them. The power behind the spell wasn''t anything to discount: it was a spell built entirely to disable a person. While it couldn''t harm her, even if Natalie struggled, it would take a while to break free. That was the whole point. Why did that get her heart racing? That she was at Camille''s mercy? The two securing vines settled above her head, twisting around each other and going still, their goal aplished. Natalie was left with both hands stretched above her, and a quick struggle indicated that, indeed, she was stuck this way whether she wanted it or not. All four limbs locked down¡ªher movement almost entirely disabled. At the realization, her cock throbbed. Vines writhed beneath her shirt, slippery appendages groping all across her body, making her shudder. Breathy groans escaped her, growing in intensity. The nt life stayed pointedly away from her lower half, besides the two hugging her thighs, brushing against her more by ident than with any explicit intent. Was that Camille''s goal? Was she waiting before she really got to it? She could only assume so. "I thought ¡­ this was a coborative practice session," Natalie said, unable to stop herself from squirming in the nt life''s grip, despite the action''s futility. "Can''t help but notice that you''re just having your way with me." Despite the situation¡ªbeing tied up and very much on the receiving end¡ªNatalie wasn''t especially perturbed. While being at Camille''s mercy was exciting, she wasn''t a blushing mess like ¡­ well, previous events, the day prior. It took a lot to break herposure, as had happened with Ana. Like swapping bodies and having her own cock pped onto her face. Maybe she had found a new appreciation for submissive tendencies, but it definitely wasn''t her default. "We''ll get to that," Camille said. "First, we''re ying with my vines. You''ll have to wait your turn. I know you''ve been waiting to try them, anyway, you pervert." Her staff pointed down, and finally, the first vine slipped into her underwear, no longer just brushing against her. Natalie''s hips bucked as the lubricated appendage ground into her, burying around the restrictive space. The nts struggled to move around in the tight space, with all of Natalie''s clothing still on. Natalie''s eyes caught the mirror, briefly, and it was a lewd sight, seeing herself strung up by green ropes, wiggling masses exploring her body¡ªskirt bulging out as the most adventurous yed around between her legs. Then two more vines started teasing at the edges of her waistband, and Camille murmured, "Well, then. Let''s let her out to y, yeah? You''ve got no idea how long I''ve been waiting." Gesturing with her staff, the two vines yanked, and Natalie''s skirt and panties jerked down to her knees. Eight throbbing inches of girlcock popped free, bobbing as it settled¡ªwhich Camille''s brown eyes tracked, going wide as she took in Natalie''s weapon. 5.09 – Plant Magic III 5.09 ¨C nt Magic III "Wow," Camille breathed. "Is it ¡­ is it bigger than before?" While amazed and admiring, she also sounded confused. "It is, isn''t it?" Natalie paused. Right¡ªCamille had spied on her back when [Heavy Weaponry] had been at first progression. Her skill upgrades had left it noticeablyrger since then. Two inches, which wasn''t a lot, objectively speaking, but six was a big differencepared to eight, especially when it had gotten proportionally thicker, too. And while those were ridiculous thoughts to be having¡ªhow was she supposed to exin to Camille that her ss upgraded her cock?¡ªNatalie''s heart fluttered at the shock on the woman''s face. Having a weapon that literally stunned other girls silent was, well, pretty great for the ego. She waggled her hips, letting eight heavy inches of girldick sway side to side. Camille''s eyes went even wider as she watched it. The mage hopped off the sink and walked over, getting down on her knees, putting her eye-level to Natalie''s cock. "Where did you even get this thing from?" Camille murmured. Sheughed, suddenly. "And, you know, most guys with oversized weapons arepensating for something," she said, thumbing over her shoulder, indicating Natalie''s hammer, "But not you. You''re packing in both regards." Natalie snorted. She guessed that was true. She waggled her hips a second time, enjoying the way Camille''s stunned expression tracked it. Her cock twitched under the attention¡ªand the proximity of Camille''s face. "You can touch it," Natalie teased. "Don''t be scared. Where''d all the confidence go?" Camille rolled her eyes. Despite ying it cool, her hand approached slowly, shying away before actually working up the nerve. A tentative grip wrapped around the base of Natalie''s cock. Natalie tried to reach down to put a hand on the back of Camille''s head, but she was quickly reminded of her bindings. In fact, her hips might have the most freedom across her entire body; she was well locked down, both her ankles and wrists entombed. Wiggling was all she could manage, and not all that well. "It''s ¡­ hot," Camille murmured. "And ¡­ oh, it''s twitching." Natalie snorted at the surprise in her voice, which Camille eyed her for. "And, really, I swear it''s bigger than before." She bit her lip, then finally tore her eyes up to meet Natalie''s. Vines were still sliding around Natalie''s body, squeezing her breasts, thighs, ankles, and just about everywhere else, but in a subdued manner, not as distracting as before¡ªCamille giving the two of them space to talk. "This might be rude, so feel free not to answer. But how did you get this thing? Were you born with it? I''ve been wondering." Natalie had already given the truth of her ss to Sammy¡ªpart of it, at least¡ªsince any consistent partner couldn''t really avoid knowing, seeing how Natalie literally had a cock that grew in size as she upgraded it. She wanted to keep her ss on the down-low, but with obvious giveaways like that, she could only hide the details. "My ss gave it to me. And no, I''ve got no idea why. Through a skill called [Heavy Weaponry], and yeah, it is getting bigger." Understandably, Camille stared at her. "Are you fucking with me?" "Nope. No clue why it happened. Believe me, I feel the same way." That was the truth. Maybe lying by omission to some extent, since exining she had a lust-based ss would clear some things up, but even ounting for that, why it''d given her a cock was a mystery. She hardly needed the extra equipment to indulge in lustful actions. Even if she would admit she did appreciate the addition, by this point. Camille spent a second longer looking disbelievingly between Natalie and her cock, then finally, she shook her head. "Well, however it happened, lucky me." She hesitated as she stroked up and down Natalie''s length, as if considering something. She let go and stepped away. "My vines get their way with you first," she announced firmly¡ªmore to herself than Natalie. "It''d be a waste to go all vani when we have so many better options." With that said, Camille walked back to the sink, hopped up, and pointed her staff back at Natalie, taking control of the vines. The brief respite ended. All across her body, squirming green nts tightened, pulling Natalie taut, massaging her flesh. One set of vines wrapped around her cock and began to work, twisting and thrusting with a slippery, tight grip that left her moaning. Being jerked off by vines. It was really something, exactly as Cami had promised. It also made a question pop into Natalie''s head. "How much can you control the shape?" Natalie asked, panting. The words were interrupted by a loud groan of hers. The vines were really going at it. "What''d''you mean?" Her mind had wandered, of course, to that first encounter down in the dungeon, so simr to this one. There, the vines assaulting her hadn''t all been¡ªwell, typical vines. There''d been a squeezing, slippery hole for her to thrust into. "Can you make them into something else? Change their shape?" Camille tilted her head. "borate?" Natalie''s hips jerked forward subconsciously, almost to emphasize the point. She was beyond being embarrassed, by this point, so she said it out loud: "A hole? Can you make me a hole?" The mage''s eyebrows went up. Her face reddened. Despite the embarrassment, though, she seemed immediately curious. "I don''t think so?" she said. "But maybe ... if I try something like ¡­" Her staff still pointed forward, energy pulsed through the air, the familiar sense of mana being channeled. The vine massaging her cock pulled away, then started to pulse, rippling waves of green flesh coursing through its length. Camille''s brow stayed furrowed as she worked. The end of the vine expanded, morphing until there was a bulbous knob at the end, the nt-flesh folding in and smoothing, creating a familiar sight. Something surprisingly simr to that first encounter in the dungeon. "Huh," Camille said. "Seriously. I did not know I could do that." At this point, Natalie was confident Camille''s spells were being influenced by her ss. She doubted the mage could change the shape of her vines to that extent under normal conditions. So Natalie''s ss was helping her along. Again, what did that mean, practically speaking? But those thoughts were quickly muted. The majority of her attention was focused on the lewd disy in front of her. Fucking Camille''s newly formed nt-pussy. It hovered forward to rub into her, and Natalie shoved her hips forward. She missed, her cock sliding on slippery lips and thrusting past. Natalie whined in annoyance. She wanted in. "Don''t be hasty, now," Camille scolded, amused at her eagerness. She guided the vine up, positioning it right at the tip of Natalie''s cock, teasing her¡ªthen darting it backward when Natalie thrust again. Natalie whined louder. "Say please, first." Natalie panted. She barely hesitated; again, her shame was gone, by this point. "Please," she said. "Please, Camille. I want inside. I want to fuck your tight pussy." Camilleughed, though Natalie''s bluntness instantly had her face ming. "W-Well. Who am I to deny a polite request?" The vine approached. This time, Camille didn''t jerk it away. Natalie thrust, and finally, she sank into tight, slippery vine-pussy, groaning as squeezing pleasure washed through her. 5.10 – Plant Magic IV 5.10 ¨C nt Magic IV Natalie slid into the tight, squeezing nt-pussy. The texture was unusual, strange, but still: it was a hole. A hot, wet, slippery hole for her to use. In her current state, she didn''t care beyond that. Her hips jerked forward, pushing deeper, and then again, and again, picking up speed. Squelching filled the air as she rutted into the hole Camille had given her. She moaned loudly, hips gyrating without conscious thought, her mouth falling open as she panted with pleasure. Camille seemed surprised by her enthusiasm. She watched, wide-eyed, as the vine engulfed Natalie''s cock, bulging with each thrust. "How does it feel?" Camille asked, her attention flickering between Natalie''s face and the lewd sight down lower, as if she couldn''t decide which to focus on. "Good," Natalie moaned. "Amazing." The tight nt-pussy gripped her like a vice, the slippery walls caressing her as she pistoned into it. And across her body, other vines were still teasing, squeezing and tickling and fondling her breasts, her legs, her arms. Two rubbed into her pussy and asshole, but not threatening entry, just ying. "You like it?" Camille breathed. Natalie nodded frantically. Camille hopped off the sink and approached Natalie, leaning in close, putting her face in front of Natalie''s. Her voice came as a breathy whisper. "Well, then, what about this?" One of the vines pressed into Natalie''s pussy, no longer just rubbing. It wiggled itself against her, teasing pration. Natalie''s hips bucked forward in silent permission¡ªin silent begging. Camille grinned at the response, then leaned forward and kissed Natalie. At the same time, the vine pushed into her. Natalie moaned into Camille''s mouth as she was spread open. Her cock, her pussy, and her mouth, all imed by the woman at once. And somehow¡ªdespite how amazing the bumpy tightness was, or the thick girth spreading her¡ªthe kiss might have been what got her the most. Camille''s lips were soft, hesitant despite everything she was doing to Natalie. Natalie pried her mouth open and pressed her tongue in, happy to take charge in the small way she could. Her cock twitched, throbbing within the tight confines of the vines. The mage made a little noise, then started kissing her back earnestly, her brief reservations dispelled. They kept that way for a while, kissing, as Natalie thrust into her hole. Her hips jerked faster and faster, fucking the vine-pussy. She moaned and gasped, which Camille gleefully swallowed. Her partner seemed to love the way Natalie wasn''t able to help her reactions, the way she was giving into the pleasure without shame. "How about a third?" Camille panted, her mouth pulling away, a trail of saliva bridging their lips. Making it clear what she meant, a vine started pushing into her ass, rubbing around, starting to spread that tight hole. Natalie had no objection. She nodded frantically. Camille kissed her again. Natalie''s asshole was spread, the thick vine plunging inside. Natalie''s moans were, like the ones before it, swallowed by the mage''s mouth. She tried to meet the kiss, to respond, but could only gasp as the vine in her ass pushed deeper. The one in her pussy wiggled and squirmed just as eagerly. Both her assants slid in and out as she kept humping into the nt-flesh covering her cock. It was too much. Three points of attack¡ªfour, considering Camille''s kiss. Natalie could only take so much. "Getting close?" Camilleughed into her lips. "Honestly, I''m impressed you''re still going, stud." She kissed Natalie''s jaw, then her neck, before bringing her lips to Natalie''s ear. "Go ahead, then. You can cum for me. You have my permission." Her hips jerked desperately. She was on the brink. Just a little bit more. "Come on. Do it." Natalie moaned. Underneath her clothes, vines twisted and massaged her body. Her entire body was slick with their secretions. But even those were just a distraction¡ªshe could only focus on the hole milking her cock, the two vines iming either of her holes. And Camille, her face so close to Natalie''s, her tits pressed into her side and her hands on her hips. Murmuring. Taunting. "Do it," Camille repeated, her voice breathy and soft. "For me?" The pressure broke. With a final thrust, Natalie cried out, shoving deep and bulging vine-flesh outward. Pleasure flooded her as she came. The vine-hole squeezed, sucking on her tip, drawing out her cum, while the other two kept moving, dragging her orgasm out by plunging into her two tight holes. Her cock spasmed, twitching, emptying with jerk after jerk. She came, and came, and came. And eventually, she slowed, and then stopped, panting. The nt-pussy slipped from her with a squelch. Cum poured from its green lips. With a gesture from Camille, it hovered up between the two of them. Sparing a smirk for Natalie, Camille slipped her two middle fingers into the vine-pussy, then pulled them out, showing off the dripping white. "All for me?" Camille murmured. Camille brought the fingers to her lips, and Natalie''s breath caught. Camille didn''t stop; she stuck them into her mouth, sucking the lewd substance off. Her eyes sparkled. Then she leaned into the green pussy and slipped her tongue in, exploring the hole Natalie had so thoroughly used. She pulled back and grinned at Natalie, then opened her mouth to disy the load she''d extracted from the used hole. "It''s delicious. Want a taste?" Before Natalie could answer one way or another, Camille kissed her. Groaning, Natalie opened her mouth, and the salty taste of cum flooded her. Camille pushed it in, tongue slipping around her own. Natalie moaned and epted. Her just-finished cock twitched, already filling with blood, ready to go a second time. Which Camille, when she finally parted from Natalie, admired. "Naughty girl. Hard from your own taste?" Her hand wrapped around Natalie''s cock, giving her a few quick strokes. "Good to see you''re not a one-and-done. We''ve got a lot of ying left." She kissed Natalie on the cheek, and her vine spell finally faded¡ªhavingsted far longer than it should have. Another obvious influence of Natalie''s ss. Natalie regained her footing, the vines slipping from her clothing and burrowing into tile, vanishing into nothingness. Her legs trembled from the intense orgasm Camille had pulled from her. She felt empty without the two thick vines filling her. Being attacked from three points at once had been¡ªwell, a lot. "So," Camille said. "Your illusions. What''ve you learned in the past few weeks?" Honestly? In regards to this? Lewd applications? Not much. But each of her abilities had seen upgrades¡ªand she was excited to see how they reacted under this kind of environment. 5.11 – Clone 5.11 ¨C Clone Before Natalie made any moves to experiment with her illusions, she stalked toward Camille, who, eyes widening, backpedaled¡ªprobably because of the expression on Natalie''s face. "Woah. Wait. What?" Natalie grabbed the mage''s hips and pushed them into the wall, not so gently. Keeping her pinned there, she leaned forward until her lips hovered an inch from Camille''s. The girl quaked in ce, amusingly easy to make react. She panted hot air onto Natalie''s mouth. "Don''t worry," Natalie murmured. "Just wanted to kiss. Not mad at how rough you were, or anything." Camilleughed, a breathy exhtion. She didn''t protest as Natalie finished closing the gap. They shared a long, lingering kiss that got more heated as it went. When Natalie broke off, she looked at the girl with half-lidded eyes, feeling warm, and also a bit smug. "You sure act confident," Natalie said. "But it''s not hard to turn that around. It''s all an act." Camille swallowed, eyes flickering across her face. Natalie was close enough to feel the pounding of her heart. Her tits were pressed up against the other girl''s, her knee teasing between her legs. "Not sure what you mean," Camille said breathily. "You''re trembling." "Allegedly." Natalieughed. She eased off the other woman. The feigned bravado was pretty cute.: the funny mix of confidence and vulnerability that showed as soon as Natalie put a little pressure on. "Alright," Natalie said. "Let''s do this. Illusion training. Where should I start? With who?" "Tess?" "Weren''t you the one saying that was weird?" "Yeah. But aren''t you two girlfriends now? I''ve seen you around." "It''s just a casual thing. We''re not girlfriends." Camille snorted. "A ''casual thing''. You have a lot of those, don''t you?" "Not that many." "You''re fucking half our ss." "Not even." "Your entire team. Plus me. And several others around campus." "I''m¡ª" She paused. She''d been about to say, ''I''m not fucking my entire team, or you'', but that was more of a semantics argument. "Whatever. But Tess? You really think we should?" "Mm," Camille said. "Actually, I''ve got a better idea. Use me." "You?" "That way, we can test some things." She grinned. "Like how urate it is. Assuming you haven''t been peeping on me." She fiddled with her uniform''s neckline, teasing it lower. "I''ve got a birthmark. Think magic will keep things urate?" From memory, Tess''s naked image had been pretty realistic to the real thing, so she assumed so. But this was a great way to confirm it. "Huh. Okay, sure." Several weeks of training meant she didn''t need her hammer to form the spell. Plus, lewd uses of her abilities had alwayse more naturally than real ones. She threw in an [Empower] to help, which, again, she recognized as a waste of carnal energy, but she was allowed some inefficiencies. She''d be making up the points with Camille. Light swirled and solidified in front of them, forming an exact replica of Camille. With one difference: the mage was nude, her body fully exposed, not an inch of fabric anywhere. The image blinked down at herself, then jolted, her hands shooting up to cover her tits and between her legs. She blushed furiously. "Wait. Why is she doing that?" Camille asked. "Blushing like that?" The image stood there, red-faced, but didn''t reply. Camille stepped forward and poked her on the shoulder. To both of their surprises, Camille-Two''s¡ªor, Natalie guessed, Cam for short¡ªskin indented where Camille pressed, and Cam took a step back in protest. She red at Camille, rubbing her shoulder, while awkwardly still trying to keep her body covered up. "I can touch her?" Camille eximed. "You can do that?" "Didn''t know until just now." She''d had suspicions that was where the ability was headed, though. "Leveled up. Came with a boost, I guess." Fortunately, Camille bought the exnation without question. Or rather, she was too focused on their new arrival. Cam. Herself. "Yeah, that''s my birthmark, sure enough," Camille said, tracing a finger across the lower left side of Cam''s stomach. "So unless you really have been spying on me in the shower ¡­" "Peeping is your thing, not mine," Natalie said dryly. "Then yeah, it predicts our bodies. Which is kinda crazy." She paused. "And, wait, if we can touch her, then can''t you ¡­" she turned to Natalie and blushed furiously, not finishing the sentence. Fuck her. For some reason, Natalie also blushed, though she didn''t know why. Camille was already prepared to throw herself at Natalie, so why would the idea of fucking a fake illusion be more flustering than the real thing? Camille quickly recovered, turning back to the illusory image. "She reacts, though. That''s interesting too. You aren''t doing it, right? Controlling her?" "Nope." Camille poked Cam on the shoulder a second time, and the illusion red at her in return. Sheughed and pped the girl on the ass, who jumped and retreated further. "That''s not how you see me, is it? All nervous and blushing? Why is she so fidgety?" "Definitely not," Natalie said. "But, I dunno, I''d figure it''s the illusion predicting your personality. Maybe this is what you would do, in this situation. Appearing randomly, naked, in front of yourself and me." Camille humphed at that, but after consideration, said, "Honestly, I guess I would be a bit out of it. Anyone would." Sheughed and stepped forward, cradling Cam''s cheeks in both hands. "Come on, rx, girl. You''re about to have so much fun." She pecked the illusion on the lips, surprising both¡ªuh, herself? The clone?¡ªand Natalie. Camille even tugged back on her lower lip, squeezing the girl''s ass as she did so. The illusion made her first noise: a groan of pleasure. Camille pulled away, grinning ear-to-ear¡ªobviously not put off at the fact she''d just groped herself. "That''s really something. And¡ªhey, are you hard because of that?" Natalie looked down to see that, yes, she had sprouted an erection at the show Camille had put on. Natalie shrugged. "Guess I am." Camilleughed. "Well, she''s our guinea pig for the day. So, go check her out." Camille bit her lip, seeming excited. "I''m not so much a skank I''ll let you fuck me our first time, but what''s a little fun with illusions, right?" 5.12 – Clone F*cking 5.12 ¨C Clone F*cking "Sooo ¡­" Camille said. "What''d''you think? Do you like her tits?" "They''re your tits," Natalie said dryly, gently prying the illusion''s hands off of her breasts¡ªwhich she only made a token effort to stop. Natalie marveled at the physical sensation, at being able to interact with an illusion of hers. And more than that, that she could, apparently, make realistic, corporeal clones of whoever she wanted. The implications of that were ¡­ rather staggering. "What, fishing forpliments?" "I''d never be so shameless," Camille said. "But they''re cute, aren''t they? Right? You like them?" Natalieughed. She squeezed them experimentally, rolling Cam''s nipples between thumb and forefinger. Cam shuddered, biting her lip and staring at her expectantly, eyes flicking between her and Camille. It was honestly a bit surreal, groping an imaginary person. At least, despite Cam''s apparent embarrassment, the illusion was responding positively. "Eh. They''re alright," Natalie said. Camille pouted. Natalie rolled her eyes. "You''ve got hot tits, Camille. There, you made me say it." She tweaked a nipple, then pulled back a bit roughly, eliciting a squeak from the girl. Cam red at her. Though she wasn''t behaving exactly like Camille might, the resemnce was definitely uncanny. At the noise of pain, and the re, Natalie almost apologized by instinct¡ªexcept she was interrupted from doing so by the illusion''s counterpart. "She''s lying," Camille said. "She definitely likes it rough." Natalie turned to Camille, who quirked her eyebrow in return. "What? I would know, wouldn''t I?" Huh. "So, will she, like, do anything we ask?" Camille said. She faced Cam. "Get down on your knees," she ordered. Cam blinked, turning her attention to Camille. The illusion blushed, then knelt, hands resting on her thighs. "Okay, first off, I''m not that obedient," Camille said. "So don''t get that mixed up. You''ll have to put in some work when ites to the real me." "Only some?" "Well. Maybe not too much. It''s not my fault you have a ridiculously amazing cock." Natalie snorted. Camille faced back to her illusory double. "Stand up." Cam did so. "This is so weird," Camille said. She approached her clone and set her hands on the woman''s hips. Without hesitation, she leaned forward and kissed her. The two identical women melted into each other. Camille pushed the kiss deeper, her tongue sliding into the illusion''s mouth. She groped at her twin''s breasts, massaging and squeezing. Unlike the previous disy, it didn''t stop there. Camille''s hand wandered down between the clone''s legs, stroking her. Cam moaned, rocking her hips into the touch. She leaned further into the kiss, wrapping her arms around Camille''s waist. "Wow," Camille said, breaking the kiss, red-faced. "Yeah, she''s ready to go. I''ll¡ªuh, give her to you in a second. But lemme just¡ª" She turned away, clearly putting Natalie out of her mind. "On your knees." Cam obeyed. Camille hiked her uniform pants down, exposing the front of her underwear. She pressed Cam''s face into her crotch, grinding into the illusion''s mouth. Cam, as was bing a trend, dutifully obeyed the silent request. She reached around, gripping onto Camille''s ass for leverage, and started nuzzling and kissing Camille through the fabric of her panties. "Oh, fuck," Camille groaned, her hips jolting forward. "Yeah, good girl." She reached down, running her hand through the illusion''s hair. "Just like that." She continued rutting her hips against her double''s face. Her underwear grew damper as her breathing started toe raggedly. Cam took the initiative for once: she grabbed Camille''s panties and tugged them down, revealing her pussy, then immediately dove back in, burying her mouth into the girl''s pussy. Her tongue licked and teased at her slit, then sank in, drawing a loud gasp from Camille. "S-Shit. Wow. How the hell does it feel so real?" Natalie didn''t respond. She watched, captivated, as the scene unfolded. Something about the situation¡ªseeing two of the same girl together, watching Camille''s lewd expressions, and the noises and movements of her body¡ªturned her on more than it should. Natalie was also impressed at Camille''s shamelessness. Camille hadn''t thought twice about getting eaten out by, well, herself. A definite contrast to Natalie''s conundrum, yesterday. "Fuck," Camille said. "If I had your ss, I would never get anything done." Reluctantly, she tugged away from the illusion, taking a few deep breaths as she steadied herself. "Damn. She really knows how to work her tongue. Good for me." Sheughed at her own joke. Cam was still on her knees. Her eyes were zed over, her lips and chin wet with her saliva and Camille''s fluids. "Get up," Camille ordered. "And wipe that lewd expression off your face. You''re embarrassing us." The illusion stood. Camille, finally, faced Natalie. She smirked, her eyes running up and down Natalie''s body, before resting on her cock¡ªwhich, after the show, was achingly hard and dribbling precum. "So, ever been in a threesome with the same girl?" "Can''t say I have." "Don''t get too excited. I told you¡ªI''m not so easy. But maybe she is." She elbowed her clone, who nodded eagerly. "Right," Natalie said. Camille pulled her illusory double along by the hand, then knelt down in front of Natalie. Cam followed. Natalie''s heart skipped a beat. Seeing the two identical women staring up at her, one of whom was already blushing and breathing heavily, face slick with Camille''s juices, was quite the sight. "Lemme know who''s better at this," Camille grinned. "Never had topete against myself, before. Not so literally." "I mean¡ª" Natalie began, but was cut off when Camille grabbed the base of her shaft and engulfed the tip of her cock. She swirled her tongue, teasing the sensitive underside, before bobbing her head a few inches. The suddenness of it surprised Natalie¡ªespeciallypared to Camille''s previous hesitancy. Her earlier performance must have put her in the mood. "Oh, fuck," Natalie said, voice hitching. "There you go. That''s it. Good girl." Camille couldn''t reply, but her eyes crinkled in self-satisfaction. Cam joined in; she pressed her lips to the base of Natalie''s cock, where Camille couldn''t reach. She trailed her kisses up and around her shaft, mouth warm and wet. When Camille pulled off, Cam eagerly took her ce. Unlike her real-world counterpart, the illusion didn''t seem to have a problem with ''girth'' or ''length'', though: she slid her mouth down Natalie''s cock easily, roughly wiggling her head as she swallowed her whole, throat bulging outward. "Hnng," Natalie groaned, grabbing Cam''s head and pressing her down harder¡ªnot that she needed the help. Brown eyes sparkled up at her, nose buried firmly into her pubic mound. Camille interrupted the pleasurable assault, dragging Cam off Natalie by her hair¡ªand none too gently, producing a yelp. Despite looking painful, Cam''s eyes looked wild, the first proof that Camille''s earlier statement of ''liking it rough'' might not have been just teasing. "I''m being shown up by a clone," Camille huffed. "Unbelievable. If she can do it, I can too." Steeling herself, she appraised Natalie''s length for a moment, then, after biting her lip, wrapped her mouth around the tip and plunged down, gagging as she tried to take Natalie to the hilt. Natalie moaned with pleasure, even if Camille clearly didn''t have much experience with the task: her throat tightened and spasmed not halfway down. She coughed and choked, stuck there, unable to finish closing the gap. Natalie¡ªtaking Camille''s advice¡ªhelped. She forcibly held Camille in ce, then thrust hard, pping her hips forward to shove thest several inches in. Tears welled in Camille''s eyes at the invasion, but her fingers dug into Natalie''s ass, keeping her locked in ce. Natalie didn''t let up despite the girl''s convulsing; she pulled back and pped forward, enjoying her hole. Camille tried to struggle away, but Natalie forced her lips back down, cutting off the retreat. Camille stopped struggling, shortly¡ªit had only been instinct at the sudden assault. Her throat didn''t stop writhing, though, which Natalie very much enjoyed. Camille looked up at her with wide, watering eyes, saliva dripping from her lips as she choked on Natalie''s cock. "Look how good you''re doing," Natalie murmured. "Just needed a little help, didn''t you?" Cam wasn''t staying idle; with Natalie''s cock taken, the clone chose to shuffle underneath Natalie, burying her face into her other sensitive area. Natalie whined as the girl''s tongue teased her pussy. A two-pronged assault. Again. It was a good thing Natalie had already cum once. She wouldn''t be so easy to wring out a second time. She nned on enjoying this. 5.13 – Clone F*cking II & III 5.13 ¨C Clone F*cking II & III Holding Camille''s head firmly in ce, Natalie thrust into her throat, picking up speed as the girl''s tight tunnel squeezed her on all sides. Camille clung to Natalie''s thighs, desperately hanging on as the rough treatment jerked her head back and forth. Her face turned red under the harsh treatment, eyes watering as Natalie''s hard ps coated her lips and chin with a mess of saliva. Natalie mercilessly abused the woman, exactly as Camille had requested. Thrusting, iming her, without an ounce of regard for herfort. Camille tried to pull away, but Natalie kept her in ce, thrusting hard, enjoying her hole. What better way to help her loosen up, right? "Fuck," Natalie gasped, her hips moving more on their own than anything, addicted to the heat pulsing through her. "That''s it. Good girl. Keep it going. Just rx." Camille kept struggling, so Natalie grabbed her by the hair and shoved her down, hard, stuffing her cock into the girl''s throat. With an intentionally painful grip on her hair, Natalie squashed the girl''s nose into her, grinding her face around. She savored the sight of Camille''s eyes going crossed, her throat bulging around as she choked and convulsed on her cock. The resistance stopped; Camille epted her fate, big green eyes watering up at Natalie. Panting, Natalie''s stomach tightened as Camille''s wet hole massaged her with each reflexive gag, her unpracticed throat incapable of holding Natalie. Between her legs, too, Camille''s illusory double was licking and teasing at her clit. Every time Natalie thrust forward, Cam''s mouth would bump into her, grinding her nose in. The two-way pleasure was making it increasingly hard to control herself. Not that she was having much restraint to begin with. For a while longer, Natalie continued to abuse Camille''s throat, but eventually, the struggling returned¡ªand even became desperate. Genuine, rather than the token, instinctive efforts of before. Natalie released her. Camille popped off, Natalie''s cock sliding from her throat with a lewd squelch. The woman bent over and started coughing and sputtering. The sloppy throatfucking had left saliva drooling down the girl''s chin, staining her uniform in dark splotches. Natalie''s violent plunging had ruined her makeup, too, with tears smearing down her cheeks. She looked aplete mess. The sight sent a thrill through Natalie. Camille took a gasping breath in, steadying herself as Natalie watched¡ªstill being pleasured by Cam, down between her legs¡ªthen finally wiped at her mouth and red up at Natalie. "T-The hell? Do you mind? What was that?" "You told me you liked it rough." Natalie leaned down and grabbed Camille''s chin, then shook her face from side to side. "So I''m doing what you begged me to." Natalie wiped the saliva from Camille''s chin up across her face, violently rubbing the sticky substance over her, leaving her even more of a sloppy mess. "Slut," she said, driving the point home. Sputtering, Camille leaned away, trying to escape. Camille''s cheeks burned red, and she red up at Natalie. But Natalie could see the real reaction underneath, her lust in from how she was being handled. Natalie, while prone to getting carried away, wouldn''t treat a partner like this without having had her implicitly request it¡ªand even then, without getting such obvious feedback. Sure, Camille had been struggling, but Natalie was experienced enough to tell when it was part of the act. Camille rubbed her throat, clearing it a second time. Her voice was a little raw when she spoke. Which was fair. Natalie had fucked it pretty thoroughly. "Well. Regardless. It''s not me you''re even supposed to be using. She''s your toy for today." She gestured at Cam. "I just wanted a taste. I already told you, I''m not so easy." As if to agree with Camille, her illusory clone''s tongue curled into Natalie, her fingers digging into Natalie''s waist as she happily ate her out from beneath. Natalie''s back arched at the sudden ramp in intensity, her breath catching as Cam explored her. Camille, watching the two of them, smirked at her reaction. "She''s pretty good at that, isn''t she?" Camille didn''t give Natalie a chance to respond. Looking at her clone, she said, "But that''s enough forey. Let''s get to the fun stuff. Lay down." As usual, Cam obeyed, and this time with less hesitance than before. She shuffled over to Camille andy down, putting her head in Camille''sp. She looked up at Natalie expectantly¡ªhand covering her pussy¡ªand so did Camille. "Alright then, have your fun," Camille said. "Do whatever you want. You have my permission." Sheughed. "And she''s not even real, so. Really have your fun. What better opportunity?" She smirked. "And, consider this your screening exam. I''m seeing if you''re good enough for the real deal." "The real deal?" Natalie repeated, amused, as she got down on her knees between the illusory woman''s legs. She pried the girl''s hand away from her pussy, which Cam had been covering bashfully despite the eagerness she''did down and spread her legs with. For a moment, Natalie admired the sight. Cam was freshly shaven, no pubic hair, just smooth, flush skin. Natalie pressed her palm against the girl, grinding it into her, and Cam shivered, hips bucking into her touch. She really was so easy to make react. Would Camille be the same way? After teasing for a bit, Natalie shuffled up. Sheid her cock against the girl''s crotch, and her length stretched from the bottom of the girl''s pussy, up her stomach, and nearly to her navel. She worked her hips back and forth, sliding the underside of her member into the girl''s slit. Camille''s saliva mixed with Cam''s wetness, re-lubricating Natalie''s length. Natalie watched Camille''s face as she did so, enjoying her expression. How she watched with a heated gaze, biting her lip at the disy. Natalie''s teasing was, apparently, affecting Camille as much as the illusion herself. She pulled back and lined herself up. She stayed that way, hovering at Cam''s entrance, savoring the anticipation in Camille''s eyes. Cam also stared up at her, lower lip quivering. In the end, Cam was the one to run out of patience: she tied her feet behind Natalie''s back and forcibly tugged her forward. Natalie groaned as she pressed into the girl''s hot tunnel, Cam''s pussy squeezing around her as she sank in. Cam''s head fell back into Camille, sucking in a breath of air as her eyes closed in ecstasy. Natalie pushed deeper, inch after inch sinking into the clone''s tight pussy, until their hips were flush. All the way in. Kissing her cervix. Natalie shuddered, staying there for a long moment, letting the bliss wash through her. "Does it feel good?" Camille murmured. She held her illusory clone''s head in herp. "My pussy around your cock?" "It''s ¡­ amazing," Natalie grunted. She grabbed Cam''s hips and lifted her up, pulled back, then drove her cock in deep, mming the two of them together with a hard smack. "Fuck. You''re so tight." Natalie started to move. She didn''t work her way into it, either. She picked up pace, going from resting fully-sheathed inside Cam to full-thrust in just moments. Cam writhed in pleasure as Natalie imed her, gasping between each hard shove as Natalie drove herself in and out, pulling Cam''s hips forward to emphasize the hard smacks. "You don''t have to be so gentle, you know," Camille murmured. "Put some gusto into it." Gentle? Natalie wasn''t remotely being gentle. But obviously, Camille was going out of her way to make her preferences clear, and Natalie was happy to oblige. She responded by pushing Camille over, giving the two of them space to properly fuck on top of her. Her hips started to pump as fast as they could. She grabbed the clone''s throat, too, squeezing and cutting off the girl''s breathing as she hammered into her pussy. Cam''s mouth fell open, groaning and writhing as her back arched in pleasure. Her breasts bounced with the hard impacts Natalie delivered into her. Her hands scrambled at Natalie''s wrists, a token effort, again, trying to tug them away. Like before, the resistance was superficial, not actually wanting Natalie to stop. The struggle was part of the y. "See?" Camille murmured. "Look how much she likes that. She''s such a slut." Cam''s pussy squeezed Natalie tight, emphasizing her agreement, clenching around her cock as Natalie continued to choke her. The girl''s eyes started to roll back, so Natalie finally eased her grip¡ªbut only to deliver a sharp, harsh p into the side of her face, making Cam''s head snap to the side. Natalie could feel Cam''s pussy clench in response. Her heart jumped at the response. "Fuck." She wasn''t sure why, but that really did something for her. "You''re seriously shameless, aren''t you?" Cam nodded desperately, biting her lip. Natalie''s eyes flicked to Camille''s face, who blushed before shrugging, as if saying¡ªhey, it''s her, not me. Her ruined makeup and saliva-coated face really drove the point home, though: she was as into this abuse as her double. "Well, then." Natalie picked up speed, pounding her hips into the clone''s, mming the girl into the floor with every thrust. "I''ll put my fucktoy in her ce, since she''s begging for it." She delivered a second hard p. "Make her understand who she belongs to." She fell atop Cam, bringing their bodies closer. She leaned her forearm into the girl''s neck and leaned hard into it as she kept mercilessly fucking her, choking off her air. Cam''s hands wed against her skin, a little more frantic than before. Her legs stayed firmly wrapped around her waist, though, locking her in and keeping her from pulling back. Her pussy sucked at Natalie''s cock, squeezing and milking. Natalie''s thoughts started to go fuzzy, watching both Cam and Camille''s bodies bounce from the rough pounding she delivered. Natalie leaned up and pped Cam a third time, even harder, leaving an imprint. Cam groaned, eyes going wild, writhing in excitement. Natalie was almost impressed at how eagerly she responded. Natalie pulled on a nipple, rolling and twisting, making the girl gasp in pain, then leaned forward, her mouth finding the girl''s other breast. She bit, then sucked, then bit again, her tongue flicking over the sensitive bud. Her hips kept working, her pace furious, iming Cam even as she abused her. From the noisesing from her mouth, the way Cam''s nails dragged across her back, and how her legs tried to crush her in, Natalie could tell her partner was getting close. Cam''s body trembled underneath her. Her pussy mped down tighter and tighter, making Natalie''s own mind go white. Natalie pulled up, then locked eyes with Camille, who looked nearly dizzy at the frantic rutting happening on top of her. Natalie might have been embarrassed at how quickly her pleasure was building¡ªhaving wanted tost longer, and impress Camille¡ªbut that she was fucking the woman''s identical illusion right on top of her felt, somehow, far more perverted than just taking Camille naturally. "Getting close?" Camille murmured, able to read it on Natalie''s face. "That''s fine. Go ahead. Do it. Cum inside her. Fill my slutty pussy up. Breed that dumb bitch." Natalie groaned. She had already been close to losing control, but the words finished the job. Her hips moved on their own, desperately mming down into the girl sandwiched between them, working like a piston. Cam''s pussy, already tight, squeezed harder, the girl''s back arching as she reached her climax. Her walls massaged Natalie''s cock as she convulsed, and the sensation pushed Natalie over the edge. Her stomach tightened, and she sank in deep¡ªthen came, her seed spurting, flooding into Cam''s womb. "F-Fuck," Natalie hissed. Sticky strings burst into the girl''s eager, begging pussy. She pped her hips forward with animalistic passion, riding the building waves of pleasure, emptying her load as Cam''s pussy wrung her dry. Cam''s eyes crossed as she also lost herself, groaning and whining her ecstasy out. She wiggled under Natalie, legs locking her down, forcing Natalie in deep, as if worried she might try to pull out, that she wouldn''t give her every drop. Camille held the illusion''s head as she and Natalie both came, shuddering herself as she watched the disy: the way her double''s expression¡ªher own face¡ªtwisted with orgasm. Finally, spent, Natalie slumped down, resting her weight on top of Cam. Her cock softened. The two girls panted into each other, gasping for breath, for nearly a minute,ing down from their highs. But soon¡ªmaybe because her purpose had been served¡ªthe illusion finally gave out. Her body softened and started to dissolve into motes of light, the illusory image fading into the air. Natalie had nearly forgotten she was a construct, a spell, she had felt so real. Then, a strange consequence of fucking an illusion made itself apparent. With Cam''s physical form vanishing, Natalie''s load, previously trapped in Cam''s womb, spilled out all at once onto Camille''s stomach¡ªsince the two of them had been rutting on top of her. The fluid stained her uniform, nearly drenching her as it poured out. And Natalie too, because, with Cam gone, she fell onto Camille. Considering the explosive finish, though, Natalie only paid half attention to the warm liquid soaking into her uniform. Still riding the waves of ecstasy down, she could only pant into Camille''s chest, hugging her. Camille, with marginally more faculties avable, pursed her lips as she felt Natalie''s cum soak her uniform. "Well, that''s gonna be a problem. I hope you had your fun, at least." Natalie chuckled, then pressed her face into Camille''s breasts. She didn''t feel like an explicit answer was warranted. Yes¡ªit had been amazing. 5.14 – Excursion Noticed 5.14 ¨C Excursion Noticed Natalie had made quite a mess. Not just her sloppy throat-fucking of Camille, or when she''d violently rubbed Camille''s saliva around her face and further ruined her makeup, but also the pool of cum that had covered Camille''s uniform when the illusion had disappeared. Seeing how they needed to return to ss, that wasn''t great for staying inconspicuous. Fortunately, Natalie had some fantastic loot from yesterday to help: the cleaning liquid. It could only do so much for ruined make-up, obviously, but when it came to scrubbing away cum stains and whatever those secretions from Camille''s vines had been, it was a miracle cure. After rubbing their clothes dry with paper towels and waiting for the cleaning liquid to fade naturally¡ªand it seemed to dry in clothing much faster, rather than leaving an oily residue like it did when applied on skin¡ªthey even managed to be presentable before ss ended. They returned to the sparring courtyard shortly. Which wasn''t to say that their indiscretionary excursion had gone unnoticed. Instructor Robin''s silver eyes locked on the two of them as soon as they walked in. Her expression stayed neutral, no implication or suspicion on her face, but nheless, Natalie had to repress a flush as silver eyes tracked her around, making a point of noticing her absence. Natalie tried to act normal. Did she know what they''d been up to? Or have suspicions? More importantly, would she say anything about it? Even worse, the older woman''s attention lingered on Natalie through the rest of the ss. And Natalie found the answer to her question after the bell rang: the tall Theliosian woman¡ªwhite hair like Sofia''s¡ªwaved Natalie over for a word as everyone, including Camille, filtered away. Camille hesitated as she saw Natalie being confronted, shrugged, and mouthed ''good luck'' before she went. Jordan likewise spared her an amused look, though her general expression said more along the lines of, ''you get what you deserve'', than anything. Natalie wondered if her behavior had finally caught up with her. Why else would Instructor Robin pull her to the side? The instructor didn''t hasten to exin, either: she simply studied Natalie, arms crossed as she considered¡ªwell, who knew what? "So, uh," Natalie said, unable to suffer through the awkward silence. "Is there anything I can do for you, ma''am?" Cool silver eyes flicked up and down Natalie, and a prim eyebrow arched nearly mockingly. From what Natalie had seen of Instructor Robin, the woman was a stalwart professional, brokering no inefficiency and, while not exactly stony, definitely not a woman who could be described as ''warm and friendly'' in any capacity. Along with holding great respect for her¡ªas Natalie did mostbat instructors at T, considering the reputation required to even earn a spot at the prestigious academy¡ªNatalie quite liked the woman. Which was probably why her cheeks were ming at potentially being caught, and also at how she had chosen to y dumb in front of her. Maybe honesty would be better. Or at least more respectful, not insulting the Instructor''s intelligence. "We do, unfortunately, need to have this discussion," Instructor Robin said, uncrossing her arms. "As my student, your well-being is my concern. I''ve seen too many promising young men and women have their careers stifled through imprudent decisions. And from what I''ve seen of you in ss, Natalie, you are exceptional in both those regards. Your potential, and your tendency toward rashness." "Uh," Natalie said. "Thank you?" "Tell me. You have at least been using protection?" Protection? Natalie''s brain short-circuited. She had expected a scolding, but¡ªshe was being asked if she''d used protection? "S-Sorry?" "Condoms, Natalie," Instructor Robin said. "If you''re so unwisely skipping my instruction time to indulge in fleeting temptations, then you''re doing so with the minimum amount of forethought, I hope. As I said¡ªyou''re my student, so it is my concern." Natalie''s mouth opened and closed as she floundered for a response. Beyond the mortification of this conversation in general, the words indicated that Instructor Robin knew about¡ªwell, her cock. And how? Was her skirt hiding less than she thought? Maybe that was fair, especially in abat situation, with Instructor Robin analyzing her. But so were the rest of her ssmates. Did that mean everyone knew, by this point? Maybe hoping it remained a secret had been too hopeful. "What?" Natalie stuttered out, reflexively choosing to keep ying dumb. "Oh, no. It''s not like that. Me and Camille, actually¡ª we were just¡ª we were¡ª" Instructor Robin''s expression was so distinctly unimpressed that her denial quickly dried up. Her face burned even hotter. "We aren''t risking anything," she muttered, not meeting the older woman''s gaze. "So, yeah. Nothing to worry about." Though not thanks to condoms, specifically. "That''s one relief," Instructor Robin said, unperturbed at the awkward topic. "Regardless, allowing yourself to be distracted so easily is concerning, especially given how much promise you show. I''ve been impressed with your growth over thest few weeks, Natalie, and this time in your life is critical. It would be unfortunate if you were to let it slip away for what are, ultimately, fleeting distractions, no matter how enticing they feel in the moment." Well, actually, Natalie''s ss required her to getid. So, Instructor Robin wasn''t wholly correct in giving her this lecture. If admittedly there were better times to be sneaking off with Camille than duringbat instructions. At the very least, Natalie should be skipping academics¡ªthat part didn''t matter nearly as much as Instructor Robin''s ss. "I''ll keep that in mind," Natalie said. "S-Sorry." She felt like she might die on the spot. Of any figure of authority, Instructor Robin might be the person she least wanted to be confronted by. It was just¡ªwell, unbelievably mortifying. More than it maybe should be. Though why Robin specifically? Natalie knew the answer, even if she shied away from it: because she was hot, an experienced delver and so someone she respected, and also, kind of intimidating. Not that Natalie was crushing on herbat instructor, but¡ªokay, actually, yes, maybe a little bit. Instructor Robin hummed in disapproval. "Please do. I only want what''s best for you. Though, I won''t bbor the point. You''ve heard what I have to say." She stepped forward, abruptly settling a hand on Natalie''s shoulder. Just as surprisingly, it slipped down, taking a path down her shoulders, before settling onto the small of her back. Natalie froze, going as still as a statue. Instructor Robin leaned in and murmured, "And remember. As your primary instructor, I''m authorized to take matters into my own hands. If you prove yourself uncooperative, I''m not afraid of disciplining you. In taking a ¡­ direct approach to solving this problem." The woman''s touch lingered, then drew away. She strode toward the exit. Before she left, she paused at the doorway. Her eyes were calm, unbothered, as strictly professional as ever. "Otherwise," she said. "Keep up the good work, Natalie." She left. Natalie stared at her. What ¡­ the hell? What had that been? An innuendo? Had she implied what Natalie thought? Except, besides the lingering touch on her lower back, Instructor Robin hadn''t acted at all differently from the beginning of the conversation, or her usual self. Her tone hadn''t been remotely teasing, or given any indication that her words were, well, obviously suggestive. Her expression had been her usual cool, aloof self. But really. ''Discipline her''? Take matters into her own hands? Solve the problem personally? What was she suggesting? Surely not that? The notion was so absurd that Natalie nearly dismissed it as soon as it urred. Except, maybe not? What else could it have meant? Natalie really, really didn''t think Instructor Robin meant she would be assigning her after-hours cleaning duties. But what did ''personally solving'' Natalie''s problem¡ªa problem which was, specifically, her being distracted with fucking her ssmates¡ªmean? What did taking it into her own hands imply? Especiallybined with the uncharacteristic touch, the way she''d moved in closer and murmured into her ear? She wouldn''t be getting any answers, unfortunately. And she had other ssesing up, however much the interaction had left her brain scrambled. Natalie shuffled off into the hall. She tried, desperately, to repress the stiffening in her skirt. That would be awkward to exin, if someone saw it as she walked through the halls. But. Instructor Robin. And Camille, too. More problems, stacking atop one another. Or, not problems. Definitely not problems. Butplications, which Natalie really, really didn''t need more of. 5.15 – Talking Business 5.15 ¨C Talking Business Camille and Instructor Robin weren''t the only ones to unexpectedlyplicate Natalie''s life. Immediately after her first academic ss of the day and headed for her next, Natalie found her passage through the halls blocked by a familiar face. And not familiar in a good way. Elida. Natalie nearly walked straight into the woman, she appeared so suddenly. She even started to apologize for almost running into her, but that bit of politeness dried up the second her brain registered the woman''s features. The long, straight red hair, green eyes, and the faux-friendly, arrogant expression on her face. Any of Natalie''s lingering good mood disappeared. "Now that''s a scowl if I''ve ever seen one," Elida said approvingly. "You must have been thinking of me, this past week. I''m ttered." "Elida." "Natalie," she replied, tone filled with false sweetness. "Mind if I steal a moment? We need to talk." Her eyes flicked to Jordan and Sofia. "Alone." "About what?" "Oh, just friendly chit-chat." She smiled, and, while ostensibly friendly, there was something about the expression¡ªmaybe the amount of teeth she bared¡ªthat genuinely made Natalie feel uneasy. Natalie looked at Jordan and Sofia, and while both of them looked wary, neither had expressions that suggested she should ignore the woman. Natalie would love to tell Elida to fuck off on principle, but that didn''t seem smart. Plus, her curiosity had been piqued. What would Elida need to talk to her about? "Guess I''ll catch up," Natalie said. Jordan, in return, gave her a significant look that could only mean ''be careful''. Natalie would know; she''d gotten that one about a million times before. "See you in ss," Jordan said. After a brief hesitation, she and Sofia kept walking, leaving Natalie and Elida alone. Elida''s calcting green eyes followed them as they went, which aggravated Natalie with surprising intensity, even if Natalie didn''t see any hostility, there. She just hated the snake''s attention being directed at Jordan and Sofia in any capacity. Several times more than herself. "So," Natalie said tersely. "What do you want?" Elida calmly faced back to Natalie. "Oh,e now, Natalie. Is that any way to speak to a ssmate? Where are your manners?" "Stop acting like we''re friends and get to the point." "Maybe not friends," Elida said musingly, "but we are colleagues. Truly, the hostility is unnecessary." "You''re kidding, right?" Elida rolled her eyes. She folded her arms and gave Natalie a patronizing look. "Don''t tell me you''re still crying about that altercation in the dungeon. How long has it been? It''s water under the bridge." Natalie stared at the woman, a mix between impressed at her audacity, and, obviously, infuriated. She had intended to moderate herself in this conversation¡ªheeding Jordan''s advice¡ªbut, unsurprisingly, she failed to keep that conviction. "Just wondering," Natalie said, "but are you trying to be a giant bitch, or does it just happen?" The woman''s eyebrows went up, though, unfortunately, she didn''t seem offended: just surprised at Natalie''s bluntness. Sheughed, even seeming amused by it. "Did you really just call a Parda-Halt a bitch, and to her face, no less?" Elida asked. "My, my. I mean, you''re right, of course, but what a terrible idea. You wouldn''tst a day in court. I suppose it''s refreshing, if nothing else." She waved her hand dismissively. "No, but really, we aren''t enemies, Natalie. Or, rather, my hostilities concern Elizabeth. And in extension, her team. But not you." "I''m on her team." Elida quirked an unimpressed eyebrow, as if annoyed that Natalie didn''t understand her point. And while Natalie did, she also found it unbelievably stupid. Jordan herself had been the first to suggest that Elida wasn''t necessarily their enemy, and that the whole event in the dungeon didn''t involve them personally, however much it technically, literally had. But the crazy part was that Elida expected Natalie to be okay with getting caught in the crossfire. To ept she''d been coteral damage of the feud between House Beaumon and House Parda-Halt and not think twice about it. Natalie shifted from side to side, her agitation growing. She tried to keep Jordan''s advice in mind. Because however annoying this encounter was, bing a target of Elida''s would be much worse. The Parda-Halts were dangerous. And not in the stuck-up, snide, irritating way of most arrogant nobles, but genuinely dangerous. Unfortunately, logic and keeping a cool head had never been Natalie''s strongest suit. Something about the smug, patronizing expression on Elida''s face really got under her skin. In a way even Sofia couldn''t. "Okay, look, bitch," Natalie said. "Maybe I''m not your enemy, but after what you did, you''re mine. And you know that. You can read it on my face. So do we really need to y games and pretend otherwise?" Natalie knew she wasn''t saying anything surprising to Elida. She had no doubts those calcting green eyes were taking in far more than just how annoyed Natalie was: Elida could see the animosity there, the truth in her words. House Parda-Halt had a reputation for being clever snakes¡ªthey''d literally tried to overthrow the crown at one point¡ªand Natalie got the impression Elida was a paragon of her house. Those scrutinizing eyes flicking across Natalie''s face felt a bit like scalpel incisions. Like she was being dissected. Elida did, honestly, creep her out. She was so damn beautiful too. Somehow that made it worse. That Natalie couldn''t help but pay attention to the woman''s perfect cheekbones only further aggravated her. "Yes, yes," Elida said smoothly. "I can tell you''re angry. Too much so, in my opinion, but s¡ªI suppose it doesn''t matter what I think. That said, surely you''re not irreconcbly so? To dere us enemies outright? I wouldn''t be so hasty." "Even if I ignore what you did to us," Natalie said, "if you have a problem with Liz, then you have one with me. It really is that simple." Elida''s expression shifted. Her conciliatory behavior¡ªif it could be called that¡ªmelted away. "Ah," Elida said shortly. "So that''s how it is? You''ve be a Beaumon dog? Bought and paid for? For some reason, I assumed you hadn''t." "Beaumon¡ª?" Natalie started. "I couldn''t give a shit about the Beaumons." She said it maybe a bit too bluntly, considering she was speaking about the literal royal family. Even Elida blinked in surprise. "No," Natalie said. "Liz. My teammate. My friend. If you have a problem with her, then you do with me." Natalie snorted. "I guess I shouldn''t be surprised that the concept of loyalty confuses you." "Oh," Elida said, seeming, for a second, actually put off-foot¡ªand like usual, ignoring Natalie''s insult with total imperviousness. Was there anything Natalie could say that would get under her skin? "Well, isn''t that sweet?" she eventually said. "You do realize it''s an act, though?" "What?" "Oh, please. Dearest Elizabeth. Nobody smiles that much and means it. Nobody''s that ¡­" Elida''s lip pulled back, and she waved her hands in an exaggerated way that, oddly, made Natalie understand what she was getting at. Liz was an energetic, sociable person, to a sometimes amusing degree. "Much less a Beaumon," Elida said. "No, she''s as much a schemer as any of us. You''d be a moron to think otherwise. Seriously. She''s a Beaumon." Elidaughed. "Not that you understand what that means. I''m almost jealous of your ignorance." Agitation appeared on Elida''s face,ing surprisingly fast¡ªalmost out of nowhere. Her words grew hot, too. "And even if it wasn''t an act," she sneered. "It''s because she''s just been handed everything. Do you know what I''ve had to do, to get where I am? To get approval from my family? That bubbly bitch is just waltzing through life. No wonder she can smile so much." In the wake of the outburst, Natalie just stared at Elida. The words were pretty revealing. Though in what specific ways, Natalie wasn''tpletely certain. "So, what, you''re jealous of her?" Natalie asked. That finally got a reaction. Fury shed across the woman''s face. Natalie took satisfaction in it, if she also almost took a step back. But just as quickly, the anger morphed: Elida burst outughing. "Jealous? Now that''s a theory." She shook her head, as if politely amused at the concept. Then, she brushed past all of the insanity that''d juste from her mouth, and the unhinged shifting of her emotions. "I didn''te here to trade insults, however entertaining yourplete disregard for tactfulness¡ªand, some would say, your safety¡ªis." "And why did you want to talk?" Natalie asked impatiently, unfazed by the not-so-veiled threat. "Can you please get to that, already?" "Sure," Elida said. "Straight to the point." She smiled, and even if Natalie despised the woman, the expression did manage to make her heart skip a beat. Elida really was unbearably gorgeous. Though, the idea of getting into a bed with her felt vaguely the same as crawling into a nest of vipers. "You''ve been impressing me these past few days," Elida said. "Especially considering your team''s recovery from our ¡­ friendly intervention. I have an eye for spotting talent¡ªcall it instinct. Us Parda-Halts, we notice things before other people do." She tapped underneath her eye. "We see things," she said, with emphasis, "that others don''t. With that in mind, I have an offer. I want you to join my team." 5.16 – Talking Business II 5.16 ¨C Talking Business II The proposition was so ridiculous it almost didn''t process. Natalie stared at Elida, the words failing to make sense. "What," Natalie said. "Is that some kind of joke?" "Oh, don''t think so lowly of yourself," Elida said. "It''s not that far-fetched I''d want to take a chance on uing talent. Even someone like ¡­" Her eyes flicked up and down Natalie. "Well, you." Natalieughed. There was a certain art form in how fluidly Elida could find the bitchiest possible thing to say¡ªand how to say it. She considered how to respond, thenughed a second time. What was there to say? The answer was so obviously ''no'' that it wasical to even entertain the idea. To Natalie''s delight, her amused incredulity turned out to be the best response she could give. A flicker of genuine annoyance crossed Elida''s face. "You would be wise not to dismiss the idea outright," Elida said, keeping a level tone. "Previous hostilities notwithstanding. Surely you see the merit of the offer." So the proposal was genuine? But why? And Elida was even trying to convince her¡ªif not in the most friendly of ways. Surely Elida wasn''t that impressed at her recent performances, or their team''s progress through the dungeon. They were doing well, but not that well. Not outwardly, at least. Was something more going on? "Don''t you already have a tank?" Natalie asked. She wasn''t entertaining the idea of joining, but she wanted to pry for more information. "For now." Elida tilted her head. "What does that have to do with anything?" So, she''d be willing to drop Otto, just like that. Natalie wondered if he even knew this conversation was taking ce. She assumed not. Elida didn''t seem the type to care remotely about something like camaraderie¡ªand sticking together for the sake of loyalty. She really was a piece of work. "Why would I even want to join you?" Natalie asked. Heeding Jordan''s advice to at least some degree, she cut off the closing remark of, ''You conniving bitch?'' Elida rolled her eyes. "Why would you want to join the clearly best-performing party of our year? Hm, I wonder. I assume to have even gotten to T, considering yourck of pedigree¡ª" "Pedigree?" "¡ªthat you have a few ambitious bones in your body. With that in mind, you would go much further with us than that ragtag group." Ragtag? Natalie bit her tongue. She had already gone too far with her insults; she couldn''t keep slinging them. This was a Parda-Halt, and the not-subtle threat from earlier reminded Natalie of the fact. "Yeah, no thanks," Natalie said. "Not happening. Doesn''t matter what you have to offer." "Don''t be irrational. Again, I understand your misgivings, but¡ª" "Not interested." Elida''s lips pursed. She studied Natalie for a long moment. When she finally responded, her voice was carefully neutral. Politely inquisitive. "When you got your ss, Natalie, did something strange happen with the Bestower?" It felt like a bucket of ice water had been abruptly dumped onto her. Natalie''s amusement¡ªand annoyance¡ªover this whole encounter disappeared all at once. "What?" she replied dumbly, feeling cold. "Ah," Elida said. "You really do need to learn to control that." She tapped her own cheek, indicating Natalie''s expression. She shook her head disapprovingly. "You give away far too much, far too easily. In a ce like this, information is power. You can''t just wear everything on your face. It''s ¡­" Her lip pulled back in a sneer. "Amateurish." She delivered the word like it was the highest insult she could offer. "What are you talking about?" Natalie demanded. "The Bestower? What do you mean?" She took a step forward, not intending to invade Elida''s space, but the action being instinctive. Elida raised her eyebrows, but didn''t flinch or retreat. She looked up at Natalie with calm green eyes, barely a few inches of space between them. "Oh, just wondering," Elida said. "Piecing together some theories of mine. Your team has been performing well. Too well. And you especially. Some would say suspiciously so." "And what does that have to do with the Bestower?" Elida tilted her head. "Nothing in particr. A stab in the dark, I suppose." Her expression revealed nothing, despite how tantly the question hinted at her knowing ¡­ something. Which infuriated Natalie. Her hands clenched and unclenched at her side. "But as to my point," Elida said. "I''m not sure you want to dismiss me so easily. Clearly this offeres for a reason. I''m an intelligent woman, whatever unttering things you think of me." Natalie stood there, thoughts racing. And fuming. "I''m not leaving my team," she finally said, tersely. "And I''m definitely not joining yours." "You find me that unappealing?" For a moment, Elida calmly analyzed Natalie. The two of them were close enough that they were nearly touching. Suddenly, Elida''s lips quirked up. "Is there, perhaps, any way I could get back into your good graces? I think ¡­ certain apologies of mine could be quite convincing." Elida''s hands settled on Natalie''s waist, and she finished closing what little space between them still existed. Her breasts pressed into Natalie''s. Natalie froze¡ªmostly from surprise, but, to her shame, not just that. "I understand you''re amenable to such activities," Elida murmured. "I''ve heard some very ¡­ impressive stories from our ssmates." She leaned forward, bringing her lips to Natalie''s ear. "They say the weapon a Parda-Halt is most skilled with is her tongue, you know. Would you like to put that theory to the test?" Natalie''s thoughts raced. She knew this was another calcted move. Elida, putting her off-foot for the eighth time in a row, and this time by using her body rather than words. But just because Natalie knew her opponent''s game didn''t mean she wasn''t weak to it. Her head was already spinning from Elida''s earlier implications¡ªthat she knew something about Natalie''s ss, and perhaps not just that, but how she''d gotten it, too. The situation with the Bestower. So having Elida, whom Natalie had already reluctantly acknowledged as being an extremely beautiful woman, suddenly pressing into her while making suggestive propositions was more than a littlepromising. But being so easily yed with again made a sudden heat surge through Natalie. She growled, grabbed Elida by the waist, and shoved her into the nearest wall¡ªnot so gently. Elida, at least, finally gave a reaction that didn''t seem perfectly in control: Natalie towered over her, the redhead''s eyes going wide in surprise. Except, even if anger had forced her to act, she was still floundering. How had Elida known about the Bestower? Did she know anything, really? And to what extent, if so? Plus, standing there, the realization of what she''d done hit Natalie. She had just grabbed and shoved into a wall, roughly and with intent to intimidate, a woman from one of the most important¡ªand dangerous¡ªfamilies in the world. Insulting Elida was one level of stupidity, but this was another entirely. Elida''s expression suggested she agreed. The surprise passed quickly, morphing into a cold heat that radiated from her. She surveyed Natalie, unbothered by her proximity, and certainly not intimidated. "I will forgive," she said slowly, "a breach of decorum from a woman who clearly doesn''t understand what it is. But my tolerance only extends so far. Get off of me, Natalie." For a second, Natalie considered ignoring her. Her thoughts continued to spiral. "Why did you bring up the Bestower?" she asked. "This isn''t how these games are yed, Natalie." Fuming, Natalie debated what to do. Several long seconds stretched, but reluctantly, she stepped back. She knew she''d crossed a line. She couldn''t go shoving people into walls and trying to intimidate them. Much less a Parda-Halt. Elida smoothed her uniform off, seeming, once again, unperturbed. "You''re potentially about to be a very important person, Natalie," Elida said. "Any delver of significant advancement is, and I sense there''s something special about you. Hence my offer." She leveled a significant look. "And my questions." Again, teasing Natalie that she knew something. But how could she possibly know about the Bestower? Had she guessed, somehow, the origin of Natalie''s ss? Had she learned something about the waking Passions? Natalie''s circumstances in a generalized sense? Maybe Natalie''s situation wasn''t as unique as she had assumed, and families like the Parda-Halts had information on it? If anyone would, it would be one of the five major families. Then again, Liz, a Beaumon, hadn''t. "You can''t just force what you want out of people," Elida continued, her tone calm, even politely instructive, like she was offering friendly wisdom to Natalie. "You need to learn a subtler touch. Brutes can be efficient at times, certainly, but skilled, delicate touches, just as often. If not more." Her lips quirked. "I''m sure you can agree." She ran her eyes up and down Natalie, making the innuendo clear. Natalie''s shove really hadn''t done much to disorient her. "You would have a lot to learn from me, if I were your ally. So, really. Consider the offer. It stands. Give it the thought it deserves. It will be, I suspect, one of the more important decisions in your life." She turned and made to leave, but abruptly paused. "Oh, and I mean both parts of the offer," she rified, smirking over her shoulder. "I am willing to make amends, if that would help smooth things over. Those stories I''ve heard from our ssmates ¡­ they really do sound impressive. I don''t want us to be enemies." She waved as she left. "I don''t want you to bete on my behalf. So, hurry along. I''ll be in touch." 5.17 – Blacksmithing I 5.17 ¨C cksmithing I Not everyone was so lucky to get a ss they loved, but Shara had. Her dad had been a [cksmith], and so had his dad, and his dad''s dad too¡ªbasically as far back as anyone could remember. It had been a given she''d follow in their footsteps. And sure, it could be grueling work¡ªbackbreaking sometimes¡ªand the forge could be insufferably hot in the summer, but it was fulfilling. The thrill of creating. In making something new. Taking raw materials and shaping them into a purposeful creation. Something that might even save a person''s life. Shara specialized in weapons and armor. Delving equipment. There was no shame in more mundane sorts of cksmithing, in horseshoes, nails, and farming implements; that had been her father''s main source of ie. Most cksmiths. But Shara''s path was definitely the more lucrative¡ªand the rarer. She considered herself blessed to have unlocked skills that had brought her here. To a forge in the heart of Aradon''s crafting district, apprenticed under a much more demanding, but also more skilled, master. Like most people, she had imagined what it would be like to receive a different ss, something that would lead her into the dungeon. But honestly, beyond entertaining the idea in daydreams, Shara didn''t want anything to do with delving. With violence in any capacity, honestly. A nce at her might suggest otherwise: her stature, build, and her arms like tree trunks, inherited from her father as much as they were earned on the anvil. People told her she had a serious demeanor too: that she was always frowning and intimidating people just by existing. She thought that was their imagination, but maybe there was some truth to it. Regardless, despite her size and stature, the only time a weapon belonged in her hands was when she was beating them into shape. Not only would she try almost anything before things came to violence, but she was downright awful at fighting, too. Even simple weapons¡ªeven a hammer, which she used every day¡ªtook a surprising amount of skill to utilize in a deadly way. Her embarrassing, secretive attempts at wielding her own creations had proven that. As much as Shara''s new work in Aradon fascinated her, in Master Lee''s forge and the infinite variety of orders, the new clientele interested her just as much. Delvers. The backbone of society. All people were that, in some way or another, but delvers especially. At first, Shara had been awkward around them, intimidated by their status, especially the T students¡ªwho would, as a general rule, each grow to be pirs of their respective houses andmunities. Or find an early grave. That was the associated risk. Thankfully, she''d gotten over the hero-awe rather fast. Especially after one too many princelings turned their nose up at her while putting in amission. She generally liked the first-timer delvers who didn''t belong to T, or even students of the non-sanctioned academies. Obviously, she didn''t make nearly as muchmission on each piece, but beyond being easier to work with, the armor and weapons she created did more to keep them safe. They needed solid gear far more than the T students did, and so, it felt like her hard work went to better use. Not everyone from the Academy was insufferable, though. Point in case: a familiar face walking up to Shara''s forge. She paused as the sh of red hair caught her eye, cksmith''s hammer hesitating at the apex of its arc. She nced in the woman''s direction to confirm that it was, indeed, that T student fromst week. Or had it been two weeks ago? Time blurred under Master Lee''s instruction. Shara''s life had gotten outrageously busy since her awakening. Not that she wasining; being here was an opportunity she could only have dreamed of. What was her name? Natalia? Or Natalie? The second one sounded right. Shara nodded in greeting, acknowledging that she''d seen her, then returned to her work. Hammer met metal with a loud ng. She could hardly drop everything as soon as she approached; she had to finish up. A short timeter, Shara found a stopping point. She peeled off her gloves and walked over to see what the woman wanted. With luck, anothermission. She doubted she was here just to chat, friendly as she''d beenst time. T students had just as outrageously busy lives as Shara herself¡ªprobably even more so. "Good to see you again," Shara said in a friendly greeting. "How''s the armor holding up? Doing you well?" "Oh," Natalie said. "Yeah. Uh. Actually found something better, now, so most of it''s on the Exchange, but ¡­ great while itsted." She shrugged awkwardly. Shara stared briefly at the woman, but not because she was offended. Obviously, if Natalie found an upgrade, then she should swap her armor out. Rather, Shara was shocked that she had found one¡ªit hadn''t been more than two weeks. Though maybe she shouldn''t be surprised. T students were something else. Normal delvers might tackle the dungeon once or twice a month, and even that was terribly dangerous. Shara knew it was standard for T students to go several times a week, if not daily. And they would go much faster, and deeper, and also in smaller squads: the traditional five-stack, where less-experienced folk oftentimes went in teams of eight to ten, or even more, to take safety in numbers. Therefore, a piece of gear wouldst a normal delver months or years. But here Natalie was, having reworked most of her armor in just a week or two. Shara''s head briefly hurt at just how lucrative that must be. She made great money as a craftsman-type ss with a specialty in delving equipment, butmission fees couldn''t hold up whenpared to findingplete pieces of armor to sell on the Exchange. Instant, huge profit, every single piece, with no material costs. Sharaughed, making it clear she wasn''t bothered by how little time her painstakingly-created armor hadsted. "Well, I''m d you liked it while you had it." Someone else would im the gear off the market, eventually. She briefly wondered in whose hands it would end up. If it would save anyone''s life. "Here for something else, then?" That Natalie hade back was an honest endorsement: returning customers, much less a T student, meant she appreciated Shara''s craftsmanship. Or, more urately, her craftsmanship for the price. Shara was under no delusion she was the best [cksmith] in Aradon. But neither was she the cheapest, so there was something to say about her talent in the forge. "Yeah," Natalie said. "It''s actually, uh, something a bit nonstandard. And from scratch, again. I''ve got ore for you." "A custom weapon?" Shara guessed. "No." "Armor?" "Well¡ªsort of. Can we talk?" She shifted awkwardly from one foot to another, then looked around. "Not out on the street? Somewhere private?" Shara blinked. Her forge¡ªor, rather, Master Lee''s training forge¡ªwas indeed exposed to the busy Aradon streets. It was how she attracted customers. "Sure," Shara said carefully. "Over this way." Amission that needed secrecy? Why? Shara''s interest was instantly piqued. 5.18 – Blacksmithing II 5.18 ¨C cksmithing II Shara led Natalie off the street and deeper into her forge, giving them space to speak. She crossed her arms, leaned against the wall, and tilted her head inquisitively, indicating she was listening. Natalie cleared her throat, seeming hesitant. "So ¡­" she started. "How much do you know about unique ores?" Shara''s attention sharpened at the unexpected opening. Unique ores? The vast majority of smithing was done with the samemon materials. In the early levels, that meant mostly iron and silver: iron for standard armor and weapons, and silver for jewelry, essories, or certain magical equipment. She was aware, however, that the dungeon couldn''t be neatly categorized. While it mostly spat out the same old deposits, there were rarer materials to be found. Sometimes, the dungeon fabricated entirely new resources. Ores, or nts, or whatever other materials, that werepletely unique. "I know of them," Shara said carefully. Her heart started beating faster in anticipation. At the implication. Why would Natalie bring this up, except if she herself had run into such a deposit? Shara didn''t need to rify that she''d never worked with a unique metal. Even some high-level craftsmen never got the opportunity. Because unique resources were just that: unique. More than rare, enough to be called one-of-a-kind. Not something a journeyman would ever have ess to. And¡ªthis was just hearsay, as anything rare rted to the dungeon¡ªbut unique resources were supposed to grant enormous experience to the craftsman that handled it. Refining and forging entire cartloads of iron wouldn''t be half as valuable for Shara''s progression as getting to work with something like a unique material. Hence her excitement. But Shara might be getting ahead of herself. She waited¡ªwith anticipation¡ªfor Natalie to exin. "I think we found some," Natalie said, making Shara''s heart jump with the confirmation. "Well, kind of. It might not be technically unique, because I think I can get more of it. But it''s not an ore I could find any information on. Even the mining guild was useless." Well, if even T''s mining guild didn''t have information detailing what the ore was, then Shara herself certainly wouldn''t know anything about it. And the identifier of ''unique'' would be at least half urate¡ªif perhaps not at the most technical level. While curious, Shara knew better than to badger Natalie about the situation. These sorts of topics were trade secrets: Shara herself, and Master Lee or anything cksmith of repute, hoarded information as greedily as anyone. A practice standard across the world. So, Natalie would offer whatever on the topic was relevant, and Shara wouldn''t be nosy and press. "I see," Shara said with what she hoped was a cool, considering nod. "What''s the name of it?" There was a brief pause before Natalie answered. Shara could guess the reason behind her hesitation. Natalie hadn''t fully made up her mind on whether she wanted to give the task to Shara. Shara honestly didn''t know why she woulde to her with this. She didn''t think of herself as a poor cksmith, but working with a rare resource was an insane opportunity; why not take it to someone better suited to the task? "Erotite," Natalie finally said. "Ever heard of it?" Unsurprisingly, Shara hadn''t. She shook her head in a negative. "It''s pink. Kind of lustrous. Here, I''ll show you." Natalie scooped out a small ss ball from a pouch on her belt: a monster core. With a mentalmand, a thick lump of the mined ore separated from the orb, materializing into Natalie''s hand. She passed it over. Fascinated, Shara took the chunk of rock. It was as Natalie had described. The lump of ore in her hand was a lustrous pink that seemed to glow with an inner light. She turned it over, inspecting it from every angle with an expert smith''s gaze. It felt pleasantly warm, warmer than made sense, seeing how it''d been sitting inert inside the monster core. Gazing at the material, she felt a sudden urge to curl her fingers protectively around it. For a second, the rock''s soft glow seemed to brighten, and Shara got the impression, almost, that it was blushing. She was struck by a strange sense of connection, an affinity she had never felt towards the mundane ores she''d spent so much time working with. There was potential here. Shara sensed it. The ore was special. It held a promise of something intangible, but significant. She shook her head to clear it, the impressioning on suddenly and intensely. With an oddly strong reluctance, she forced herself to hand back the clump. Her heart was racing. "And you need someone to refine it?" Shara asked, still trying to keep a calm, professional demeanor, though it was bing harder by the moment. Did Natalie even realize what kind of opportunity she was giving her? As a T student, she had to; T students were thest category of people who would be clueless on how the dungeon worked. "Yeah. And make something with it, too." "Oh? What were you thinking?" Then, hesitating, Shara realized she couldn''t, in good conscious, ept the offer without rifying. "And I might not be the best person for the job." The words came reluctantly, but Shara had to say them. It wouldn''t be right, otherwise. "For a unique ore, you could have a master smith take the job¡ªfor free. Hell, they''d pay you." "Yeah, probably," Natalie said. "But I want you to." "Why?" "Because of that," Natalie said, her lips quirking in amusement. "That disimer you just gave. I did a bit of shopping around, and you''ve got a reputation for being straightforward and honest." She hesitated. "And I want this to stay on the down-low. For no one to know about it, besides me and you. If that''s fine?" Shara blinked. She bit her tongue to stop the questions froming out. Why would Natalie even want it to be a secret? For what purpose? Possibly to keep it from being stolen, but Natalie was a T student. She hardly had to fear someone woulde after her. Nobody was that stupid. T was famously protective of its students. Some would say excessively, gleeful-in-their-retribution, so. Though the questions only kept piling up, Shara simply said, "Then I won''t tell a soul." Natalie nodded, seeming relieved. "I''ll need some details, though, working with an ore I''ve never seen," Shara said. "And you didn''t tell me. What do you want from it?" "Not sure. Whatever it''s good for. Can''t you feel that out? As a craftsman?" There was a significant amount of intuition that came with crafting sses; that was what Natalie meant. Oftentimes, it felt like Shara''s skills and ss guided her more than her many years of experience. "We can. But it''d still be nice to have a general idea. A starting point." Natalie shrugged. "I guess a breastte," she said. "Or other armor. But really, I just want to see what you can do with it. Have plenty, anyway, and I think I can get more. So it''s not a huge deal." Shara certainly would have thought a unique ore would be a ''huge deal''. It felt like Natalie was acting far too se about the situation. But it was hardly on Shara to question her, however intrigued in the details. But really, a unique ore that Natalie felt confident she could track down again? How strange. "Then I''ll do my best." "Is a rush order fine? Can Ie back tomorrow?" Shara nodded. She was being offered the opportunity of a lifetime; a rapid turn-around for the task was the least Natalie could ask of her. Shara would stay up all night working on it if she had to. Hell, she probably would have anyway; she''d be restless until the task was finished. "Perfect," Natalie said. "Well, okay, I''ll see you then." 5.19 – Blacksmithing III 5.19 ¨C cksmithing III The following hours passed in a blur. Shara cleared her schedule and immediately started experimenting. Since she was working with an unknown ore, she started with small samples. Testingposition, melting point, othermon properties. To her delight and relief, the ore yielded without struggle; it was an extremely easy material to work with. Nearly as much so as iron, the lowest tier and mostmon ore found in the dungeon. She fell into a sort of fugue as the hours ticked by. First, smelting progressivelyrger samples as she became morefortable with the task, separating the metal from its impurities, then refining it, purifying through both natural and alchemical means. When she''d finished those preliminary stages of the process, six ingots of the lustrous pink metalid in a row, refined to the best of Shara''s ability. Normally, she might have taken a moment to admire the results, especially the lustrous sheen of the novel material, but a trance had taken her over. She kept working without pause. Natalie had suggested that Shara take liberties with forging the material, but had mentioned, specifically, a breastte, should sheck an intuition for what the metal wanted to be molded into. And Shara didck an intuition, but only because she got the sense that erotite was a versatile metal: something that could take any shape. While most metals had specialties¡ªiron for armor, silver and gold for essories¡ªthere was nothing stopping a person from doing what they pleased with any given metal. Sure, golden armor might be weaker than its more durable counterparts, but it would manifest unique stats and associated effects in exchange. Likewise, iron trinkets and jewelry would probably take on fighter-type stats, such as tenacity and stability bonuses. Where erotite would fall on that spectrum, Shara had no idea; but regardless, she felt it was versatile. As Shara worked, she fell deeper and deeper into her haze, almost losing her sense of self. She discerned quickly that her typical breastte molds would be inappropriate; she needed to create something custom. She would make chest armor, yes, as Natalie had requested, but the metal¡ªunique as it was¡ªcalled for a specialized design. It was as if the metal talked her through the process. This was a job far beyond her expertise; a material that deserved to be worked by a master, not her. But it was eager to guide Shara nheless. A part of her was unnerved by how deeply she lost herself in her work, howpletely submerged she became, and how little conscious effort she put in. Her ss, or the metal, or both in tandem, took control; Shara was simply a conduit. Many hourster, Shara had finished. Her body was slick with sweat, despite night having arrived and cool air wafting through the forge. She looked down at her creation. While aware to some degree of what she''d been painstakingly forging, she had been so invested that it wasn''t until just then, gazing admiringly at the result of her hard work, that she realized what, exactly, she had created. The deep, thrumming sense of harmony and connection with her ss faded. The metal stopped singing to her. She stared down at ¡­ At ¡­ The armor she''d made. If it could be called that. Shara paled. Her thoughts froze in disbelief. It was armor that belonged on a torso, yes. As Natalie had requested. But a breastte designed for a heavily armored fighter? No. Not remotely. A ¡­ pink metal bra. That was a better description. Perhaps the least functional armor she had ever seen, much less one a tank would wield. Panic rose. This was what she had wasted her client''s enormously valuable resource on? This was the fruit of Shara''s once-in-a-lifetime opportunity? Had something gone wrong? She''dpletely submerged herself in the will of her ss and the ore itself, but had external ideas influenced her? Because surely this wasn''t what the ore had wanted to be forged into. Had Shara''s distracted thoughts corrupted the process? She would admit that her eyes had caught on Natalie more than a few times, however much she''d been doing her best to maintain her professionalism. The possibility mortified Shara, leaving her standing there, frozen, as she stared down at the ''breastte''. But, no. That couldn''t be it. This truly just must have been what the ore wanted. Shetched to the belief almost as much out of hope as a logical conclusion. What did the piece of armor even do? *** Allure''s Embrace Rare Lv. 2 Effects - Large increase to Tenacity - Temptation''s Snare. Being physically struck has a chance to magically bind the attacker in glowing pink chains, rendering them immobilized. - EROTITE SET BONUS (1/4): None Description A tantalizing metal piece of armor forged from erotite. Cups the wearer''s breasts but only partially obscures, revealing cleavage and undercurve in an immodest disy. A single piece of an ensemble set. *** There was a lot to take in. Her head spun as she digested the information revealed to her. A rare? She''d forged a rare item? She''d held high hopes for an umon, considering the material and the connection she''d felt, but a rare was far above what she had expected¡ªon the edge of usibility, even, for a low-level smith like her. And just as surprising, the effects. A tenacity boost? Without some mitigating factor? Though, she supposed, the sheerck of coverage¡ªhow much skin the bikini-armor-bra exposed¡ªof crucial internal organs was the mitigating factor itself. From the standpoint of, well, being armor. But such a significant Tenacity boost made up for it. While probably not as protected from a de as if the wearer had actual metal defending her, the other associated effects of Tenacity¡ªarger health pool, better stamina, magical resistance, and physical stability¡ªeasily outweighed the singr downside. At least in most cases. The bonus effect also sounded great for a tank. Being hit would sometimes snare her attacker? The utility of that went without saying. It was one of the better peripheral effects Shara had seen on a level-two piece of gear. And finally, the non-specified set bonus. More erotite armor would culminate in another benefit. And, knowing how set bonuses worked, probably a significant one. Shara nced at the spare pink ingots: she had plenty more to work with. Enough to make a full set, easily, and with ingots to spare. Okay. Maybe this debacle wasn''t as bad as it seemed. While strange, the armor seemed exceptional: the expected result of such a rare material. Perhaps even exceeding expectations. Still, the design was so scandalous. How was she going to exin it to Natalie? And why had erotite insisted on a lewd design in the first ce? Under what circumstances had the woman gotten this ore? A boss fight against a subus? In any case, Shara figured that the inappropriate designs would be more forgivable the better the armor turned out. Maybe the full set bonus would be great enough that Natalie didn''t regret leaving the ore in Shara''s hands. So. A full set. That was her goal. Boots, gloves, and a lower-body piece as well. Shara just hoped the upper-body piece was the worst of it. Even that might be too much. There was an understanding with clients that items couldn''t always turn out exactly as they requested¡ªand Natalie had even explicitly granted Shara creative liberty¡ªbut this strained that leeway. ss and instinct determined a lot about the shape and type of item, but a part of it¡ªand not all that small of one¡ªshould be the craftsman''s hand. So, it would seem to Natalie that Shara had tried to make something perverted. Though that most certainly wasn''t urate; Shara had fallen into a fugue. But maybe she''d epted her ss''s guidance and the influence of the rare metal too freely. Either way, Shara had some exining cut out for her. For now, she got back to work. 5.20 – Blacksmithing IV 5.20 ¨C cksmithing IV Natalie returned to Shara''s forge the next day, a bit apprehensive about what she would find. Part of the reason she''d given Shara such vague instructions was because she wanted to see what the woman figured out on her own, without influence from Natalie''s suspicions. The rest of the reason was, well, obvious. Exining to Shara that she thought erotite might have an affinity for, well, lewdness of some kind would sound downright crazy. And if she turned out to be wrong¡ªreasonable as the assumption was from her perspective¡ªthat would be unbelievably mortifying. Better to let the cksmith deal with it on her own. Shara was in the middle of a job when Natalie arrived, as she usually was. Her eyes locked on Natalie, and immediately, she paused¡ªthen started to blush. Blush. That was all the confirmation Natalie needed. Just what had she subjected this poor cksmith to? Even Natalie, ustomed to her ss by this point, could be caught off guard by how ridiculous it became. Shara had no such defenses. Shara wrapped up her task as expeditiously as she could, then brought Natalie into her workshop, giving them privacy. "So," Natalie started. "How''d it go?" "It went well." She winced. "Sort of." "Sort of?" Shara chewed her lip for a moment. She seemed toe to a decision, nodding firmly to herself. "I''ll just show you." She walked over to a stand covered by a canvas tarp. "But first, know that I didn''t mean for it toe out like this. I think it might be the specialty of the ore, as strange as it sounds?" The sentence was inflected up, more a question than a statement. Shara took a breath, then, without ceremony, yanked the covering off. Natalie stared. Had she expected anything else? There, in four pieces¡ªboots, gauntlets, torso, and lower armor¡ªwas a shiny set of pink erotite gear. Though really, only the boots and gauntlets could be considered armor in any traditional sense. Even just hung up on a stand for disy, not worn by anyone, the heat on Natalie''s face rose rapidly. The torso armor, especially, was scandalizing. And the lower even more so. A tiny triangle of metal with a thin strap to keep it attached. Considering Natalie''s unique situation, the armor wouldn''t remotely keep her modest. And even most women, only technically. Since magical gear would reshape itself to fit the wielder, it''d probably rework itself if Natalie tried to wear it. But she couldn''t imagine it would be much better. The set of armor was, hands down, one of the skankiest ensembles Natalie had seen. The dungeon sometimes spat out revealing armor¡ªsince the dungeon created just about anything¡ªbut this set a whole new standard. Shara, seeing Natalie''s expression, scrambled to exin. Not that Natalie needed an exnation; this had been what she''d been expecting. "Like I said, I promise it wasn''t intentional," Shara said hastily. "The ore basically begged me to be shaped in that way. I just listened. It was the strongest connection I''d ever felt. And the effects seem quite strong. It''s a full set of umons, and the chest piece is even a rare. And, and ¡­." Shara trailed off. "And ¡­ you don''t actually look surprised?" Natalie jolted. "What? Of course I am. I mean, look at it. It''s so ¡­" Natalie herself trailed off, giving up on her flimsy attempts to save herself. It sounded unconvincing even to her. Cheeks coloring, she cleared her throat and shrugged her shoulders. "Well. It is what it is." Shara studied her for a long moment. Natalie nearly expected the woman to start questioning her¡ªNatalie wouldn''t have been able to help it, if she''d been in Shara''s position¡ªbut, as before, the cksmith didn''t pester. It''d been one of the reasons Natalie had hired her in the first ce: she was a woman who minded her own business. Something Natalie valued above most other things, at the current point in her career. "Huh," Shara finally said. "Well, I only used up a bit more than half of what you gave me. It took less metal to make a full set than it usually would." Natale grunted in amusement, eying the scandalously small pieces of armor. Of course it had taken less than usual: the boots and gauntlets had probably taken the bulk. The lower piece was genuinely a tiny triangle, a thin sliver of metal; it must have taken close to nothing. Ridiculous. "The effects are strong, you said?" Natalie asked. It was a rhetorical question, since she could check herself. And she did so now. Scanning each of the four items, her eyebrows went up. Every piece came with arge Tenacity increase, which was phenomenal. The bra also came with an additional effect, the possibility of rooting her opponent on being attacked. Being the rare item, it was the only of the four to have a bonus effect. "There''s a set bonus, too?" Natalie asked. "Can''t see what it does," Shara said. "Not until you equip the full set. Didn''t take the liberty¡ªfigured it''d be overstepping. I''m dying to know what it is, though." Natalie paused. "Not that you have to put it on here, of course," Shara hastily said. "On your own time. Though, I''d like to know, next time you stop by. Set bonuses are rare." No joke. Set bonuses were a bit moremon with crafted gear than items found in dungeons, but they weren''t extremely rare there either. Typically they''d be found within a single region, with the items dropping one after the other. Natalie and her team hadn''te across such a situation yet, but the concept was familiar to them¡ªas most delvers. There were only four total equipment slots, but Natalie could still get the full set bonus so long as she officially equipped one piece and wore the others as mundane armor. Of course, she wouldn''t get the magical bonuses of non-equipped armor¡ªthe Tenacity boosts, in this case¡ªbut the set bonus would still go through. Natalie intended to wear their more important items like the treasure-hunting ne, but equipping, say, the top and bottom, and using the boots and gauntlets as mundane armor, could be a reasonable strategy, if the set bonus turned out to be worth it. "How''s the durability?" Natalie asked. "The metal, itself. Is it tough?" "Much better than iron and other low-level ores," Shara said. "It is a unique ore. Or a very rare one, at a minimum. I wouldn''t call it anything phenomenal, though." She shrugged. "I didn''t condense it all that much. Limited supply." Most metals could be repeatedly condensed into tougher and tougher versions of the same material. Iron deposits showed up even in deeper levels in the dungeon, in increasingly huge quantities¡ªand it wasn''t all that unusual to condense it down into a level-appropriate piece of gear. Erotite followed the same trend, it sounded like. Natalie stepped up to the armor and visually inspected it, peering at the craftsmanship. While embarrassingly scandalous, Natalie admitted it looked great: Shara had done a great job. Non-functional, perhaps, but aesthetic. And the various pieces matched, creating a cohesive design, something not found in most pped-together sets of dungeon gear. Not that style was ever something on the forefront of a delver''s mind. Though, with [Stylish], in Natalie''s case, maybe it should be. She literally got bonus stats for looking good, and so did her teammates. For that matter, what would Jordan or Sofia look like, geared up in this? Her heart skipped a few beats, imagining it. "I''ll try it on and let you know," Natalie said. "Either way, you did a great job." Even without a set bonus, the armor was an upgrade from what she currently had equipped. The chest piece especially, with that snaring effect. "And you said there''s some erotite left?" "Little less than half." "Could you make a pickaxe with it, you think?" Shara paused at the request. "Don''t see why not. But why? You think that would do something?" "Not sure. It''s possible." Her mining sub-ss was taking on its own unusual¡ªlewd¡ªcharacteristics, so leaning into that by forging an erotite pickaxe could be beneficial. It could also be a huge waste, but that was the risk that came with experimentation. "I think it''s worth trying." "Hm," Shara said. "Then, I''ll have it done as soon as I can." 5.21 – Doll 5.21 ¨C Doll Natalie returned to the dorm well into the evening, her newly crafted armor stored inside monster cores. The team had chosen not to head into the dungeon today. Even the most active teams needed some evenings to themselves, whether to handle daily tasks, extracurricrs, or whatever else. As she walked into her apartment, Natalie''s thoughts were preupied. Primarily with what the set bonus would turn out to be, but also with other things: worries of the week, like the lingering concern over the whole Elida situation, who had yet to track Natalie down for a second talk. Natalie hadn''t found even a hint of how the woman had learned about the Bestower¡ªor what she knew about Natalie''s ss at all. "Jay?" Natalie called out idly. "You back yet?" Walking through the entry hall, Natalie peeked her head into their room. As theck of response suggested, Jordan hadn''t made her way home. She was out handling her own business, probably dealing with poisons or identifying and refining the nts she''d found in the dungeon. And other daily tasks. "She hasn''t," Sofia called from the living room. "It''s just us." Natalie grunted in reply. She dropped her things off in her room, then wandered out into the living area. Sofia, indeed, sat there on the armchair, knees tucked to the side as she read from a textbookying on the armrest. Studying. Natalie rolled her eyes, seeing that, but didn''tment. She plopped down on the sofa, stretched out her muscles, then lounged back. Propping her cheek on her fist, she took in the sight of Sofia. She wasn''t wearing her T uniform like Natalie still was; she''d changed into her pajamas, settling down early for the night. Her long white hair cascaded around her, not pinned or tied up like it usually was throughout the day. It made her look gentler. Domestic. Blue eyes peeked up from the textbook, meeting Natalie''s own. An annoyingly perfect eyebrow quirked in silent question. "So, you''re just staring at people, now?" "Not ''people''. You. I''m staring at you." Sofia''s cheeks colored, Natalie''s unabashed directness working as wlessly as ever. Natalie doubted she''d ever get tired of that. How easy it was to make Sofia blush. Really, for the unassable, way-too-perfect image Natalie had built up of her over the years, Sofia was a lot ¡­ softer than she remembered. "Well, do you mind?" "Not at all. Please, continue." "It''s distracting." "That sounds like a you problem." "Heavens save me," Sofia muttered, closing her textbook. "Don''t you have something else to do, besides harass me? Weren''t you getting your armor?" Natalie blinked. "Oh, right." She wanted to see what the set bonus was, but Sofia had briefly taken over her thoughts. Each of the four monster cores were cradled in-between her fingers; she''d been idly ying with them. She held up her hand and waved the four orbs at Sofia. "Got a full set. Don''t think you''ll be surprised by how the design ended up." "Armor made from ''erotite''?" Sofia asked dryly. "No, I don''t think I will be. Is it strong, at least?" "Dunno. Decent, at worst. But ites with a set bonus I haven''t checked out. It''ll make or break the set." "Oh?" A grin slipped onto Natalie''s lips, which instantly put a wary look on Sofia''s face. "I was gonna put it on myself, but seeing how you don''t look busy, I have a better idea." It didn''t take long for Sofia to understand Natalie''s implication. "I''m not your doll to y dress up with, Natalie." "Until the week is up, actually, you are." Sofia didn''t have a retort to that. "And honestly," Natalie said, "I haven''t been taking enough advantage of you." She let out an overly dramatic sigh. "It''s a shame all of us are so busy. I''d definitely be leveraging it more. But I guess I don''t want to scare the poor blushing virgin away by taking things too fast, anyway." "Blushing virgin?" Sofia asked, affronted. "What? That''s literally what you are. Youe off as very delicate. Fragile. I wouldn''t want to traumatize you." Natalie smirked, running her eyes pointedly up and down Sofia. "Why do you think I haven''t bent you over, yet? It''s not because I don''t want a taste of that pussy¡ªI''ll tell you that." Sofia''s eyes went wide at the crudity of the sentence, cheeks quickly burning red. "I mean, if anyone else just gave themselves away to me for a week," Natalie kept going, keeping her tone overly casual, "I''d be using them a lot more thoroughly than I am you. But, delicate, blushing virgins need to be treated with care." "I am not delicate." Natalie raised an eyebrow. "Or a ''blushing virgin'', either," Sofia said hotly. Natalie joined the first eyebrow with a second, and Sofia could only hold her gaze for few seconds before she nced away, face burning. She huffed loudly to make her displeasure clear. Natalie justughed at her. "So yes," Natalie said, getting back to the main point. "I''ll y dress-up with my pet. She''s not ready to be fucked stupid, like she deserves, so I''ll have fun in smaller ways." Sofia made a sort of choking noise at the words, but Natalie interrupted the iing outrage by tossing the four monster cores at her in a quick barrage. Sofia, of course, plucked them out of the air without difficulty. "You are unbelievable," Sofia said, sniffing disdainfully. "Fine. A bet is a bet. And I do have to start training the cor." She unceremoniously pulled out the monster core holding the mentioned item, but Natalie cut her off from putting it on. "Hey," she said. "Let me." Natalie patted the empty spot next to her. Sofia hesitated, then sighed and stood, resigning herself to themand. She walked over to Natalie and sat, putting a conservative foot of space between them. Natalie rolled her eyes, then grabbed Sofia by the waist and¡ªwith a surprised noise from the girl¡ªtugged her forcibly onto herp. "Don''t be a stranger," Natalie chided. "I expect my pet to be affectionate. Why are you always so cold?" She slipped a hand underneath Sofia''s shirt, cing it against her stomach. "I mean, you just said that you''re not some blushing virgin. So you''re not flustered by a little bit of touching, right?" "Of course not." "Really?" Natalie murmured. Her hand ventured up her stomach, stopping between Sofia''s breasts. She wasn''t wearing a bra. But Natalie didn''t touch anything important; she was just teasing. She left it there, her thumb and pinkie grazing the sides of her breasts. "Not even a little bit?" "Not even a little bit," Sofia repeated. Betraying her words, the girl shivered atop Natalie''sp. Natalie herself was a bit intoxicated with having Sofia sitting on her. For the obvious reasons, but also¡ªthat she could just do this. Toy with Sofia whenever she wanted. And her reactions never failed to send a thrill through Natalie. She couldn''t get enough of Sofia. She would never get enough of Sofia. She paused at the thought, then corrected herself: because revenge was satisfying. Payback for so many years of the irritating woman showing her up. She nuzzled her nose into Sofia hair, breathing in the smell¡ªshe''d showered recently¡ªthen squeezed her a bit closer, before pulling back and sighing. "Alright. Hand it over." Sofia wordlessly passed over the monster core holding her cor. Natalie summoned the item out from its confines¡ªfiddling with Sofia''s hair a bit, indulgently enjoying the way the pliable girl squirmed on herp¡ªthen clipped it around her neck. "There you go," Natalie murmured. "You know, it really looks good on you." She fiddled with the leather strip, then snorted. "Though, everything would, Miss Perfect." "I can''t try on the armor when I''m trapped on yourp, can I?" "Why are you stuttering, already?" Natalie asked, amused at the quaver in the woman''s voice. "We haven''t even gotten to the fun stuff." "Hmph." Natalieughed, then let Sofia go. She stood from Natalie''sp. Then, seeing Sofia''s butt presented right there, she couldn''t help herself: she delivered a hard p, making the woman jump, squeak, and scurry away. She rubbed her backside, giving Natalie a scandalized look. "If you didn''t have such a fat ass, I''d be able to help myself," Natalie said. "So really, it''s your fault. Get that thing under control." "You are seriously insufferable." "Yeah, yeah, the same back to you." She waved for Sofia to get going. "Get those clothes off. And go slow." She flipped up her uniform''sbat skirt, bunching it to her stomach. Her thumb yed at her panties'' waistband. "And you don''t mind if I have some fun while I watch, right?" 5.22 – Pet I/II 5.22 ¨C Pet I/II "You can''t be serious," Sofia said. "There''s a hot girl getting naked for me. How am I not supposed to touch myself?" Natalie grinned as she teased her panties to the side, edging them down. They''d snagged on her quickly-stiffening cock, which Sofia''s eyes were both trying to avoid and seemingly unable to. "And it''s been a long day. I''m allowed some stress relief. Help a teammate out." Sofia, predictably, just gave her a disdainful look, her fallback reaction for when Natalie was flustering her. But Sofia knew her position¡ªthat she belonged to Natalie for the week¡ªso she did as she was told. She started with her shirt, crossing her arms and grabbing the hem to pull it up and over her head. She didn''t go slow, as Natalie told her to, but Natalie enjoyed herself nheless. Sofia''s long white hair cascaded down her back as her breasts were freed. With no bra to hide herself with, Natalie''s eyes roamed hungrily over Sofia''s newly exposed skin. Her petite breasts were small but perky, cute pink nipples stiffening under Natalie''s intense gaze. "Look at those tits," she murmured, sliding her hand onto her panties and gripping herself through the fabric. "And don''t cover up. Stop ying shy." Sofia forcibly put her hands to the side. They twitched in ce as Natalie continued to drink the sight in. "You don''t have to ogle me," Sofia muttered. "You look like such a pervert." "Oh, please. You''re loving this. Showing off. You can protest as much as you want. You''re easy to read." A flush spread across Sofia''s cheeks at the usation, but she just sniffed. "I''m sure you believe that." She hooked her thumbs under the waistband of her pajama pants, then shimmied them down over her wide hips, slowly revealing a pair ofcy ck panties underneath. "And no," Sofia interrupted. "I did not wear these for you." "Just like to lounge around incy underwear, do you?" Natalie asked, grinning. She tightened her grip on her cock, squeezing herself through her panties, which Sofia''s eyes locked on before being forcibly dragged away. "What a naughty girl." Natalie, of course, didn''t buy the excuse; Sofia definitely had worn them in anticipation for tonight. Maybe she''d been hoping Natalie would finally leverage their bet. "As if," Sofia huffed. Her face burned crimson, but she made no move to cover herself as she bent forward to slide her pajama pants down. Natalie watched creamy white legs get revealed, and she raked her eyes up and down, drinking the sight in. Sofia tossed the garment to the side, now standing in just her panties. Natalie leaned back, sighing in satisfaction. "Turn around." Sofia hesitated. Then, with an exasperated roll of her eyes that didn''t mask the deepening blush on her cheeks, she obeyed. Like always, Sofia''s ass was a work of art. Natalie whistled her appreciation¡ªintending to be crude. "Damn," she breathed out. Finally, she slipped her cock out from her panties, wrapping a hand around herself as she admired Sofia''s ass. She started to stroke, long, slow up-and-downs, unable to help herself with Sofia standing there, on disy. The ckce of Sofia''s panties framed her ass perfectly. Blue eyes peeked over her shoulder, seeing what Natalie was doing, and she flushed at the sight. "I really can''t wait to get inside you, you know," Natalie murmured, eyes locked on Sofia''s ass. "To bend you over. To feel that tight pussy wrapped around me. You''re lucky I''m so patient, Sofia." Sofia stiffened. She faced back forward, indignance on her face¡ªher mouth opening to start protesting. But the words dried up, seeing Natalie''s expression. Before she could find her voice, the front door''s lock clicked. Both of them turned to see Jordan walk in, shopping bag in hand. Jordan paused. She took in the scene. Natalie''s hand on her cock, lounged out on the couch, unperturbed at her arrival. Then Sofia, half-naked and flushed with embarrassment, having quickly covered her breasts. "I''m not interrupting anything, am I?" Jordan asked dryly. "It''s not what it looks like," Sofia said. "That''s a shame," Jordan replied easily, joining them in the living room. "Because what it looks like is that you''re stripping for Natalie while she jerks off. And that would''ve made my whole evening." Jordan plopped down next to Natalie, set the bag aside, and snuggled into her. Natalie wrapped a free hand around Jordan''s shoulder, happy to have herpany. "By all means, don''t let me interrupt," she said to the two of them. "Pretend I''m not here." For a moment, Sofia stared at her. "You''re just going to join in? Seriously?" "Why wouldn''t I? I''m only human," Jordan said, smirking. "I like a show as much as anyone." She faced Natalie. "Why are her panties still on?" "Good question," Natalieughed. She turned to Sofia, who seemed mildly betrayed at how Jordan hadn''te to her rescue. Though Natalie doubted Sofia had really expected help. Not after the events ofst morning. "Strip, pet," she ordered. "Let''s see that cute pussy of yours." Sofia took a breath in, orienting to her new situation. Two observers, instead of one. Her hands trembled as she grasped the delicate fabric of hercy ck panties. With a sharp intake of breath, she slid them down her legs, stepping out of them with an air of mortification and resignation. The undergarment joined the pile of discarded clothing on the floor. Natalie¡ªand Jordan, now¡ªdrank in the sight. Sofia stood in all her glory, pale skin nearly glowing under the soft light, and her full-faced blush having spread down and across her chest, which was rising and falling like she''d been running. Natalie leaned back into the plush cushions, her arousal evident in the way she stroked faster, enjoying the show. Sofia''s exposed, cleanly shaven pussy, her small tits, her wide waist¡ªbut more than everything, her embarrassment. The way she squirmed as her two spectators raked their eyes across her. Jordan''s fingers brushed Natalie''s hand away. "Let me." She took over, jerking Natalie off, going up and down in long, slow strokes. Sofia froze at the sight, seeing Jordan pleasure Natalie''s cock right in front of her. She couldn''t seem to tear her gaze away, even as her blush deepened. "I thought she was putting on the show," Natalie said to Jordan, voice low and teasing. "But maybe we are." She faced Sofia and said louder, "You like what you see, pet?" Sofia jerked her eyes up to meet Natalie''s. "I ¡­" It took longer than it should have to find the obvious response. She sniffed. "No, of course not. Don''t be gross." Her wordscked conviction. "You''re the pervert, not me." This woman was so easy. Natalie seriously couldn''t get enough of it. She smirked, but didn''t press. "Well, you have armor to try on, don''t you? What are you waiting for?" Sofia twitched, as if she''d forgotten. She seemed almost grateful for the distraction as she grabbed the monster cores. Relieved to have something else to look at besides the lewd disy on the couch. "Armor?" Jordan asked. "You got it already, then?" Natalie caught Jordan up on the situation. She concluded with, "And it has a set bonus. Was gonna find out what it is myself, but I figured I''d let Sofia do the honors." "Good choice." The conversation was briefly interrupted as Jordan shuffled off the couch. Grinning mischievously, she retrieved Sofia''s discarded panties from the floor, then snuggled back into Natalie''s side. "Don''t mind me," she said. "Just had an idea." She draped thecy fabric over Natalie''s cock. Sofia''s eyes widened as she watched it happen. "What¡ªwhat do you think you''re doing?" Sofia demanded. Jordan''s hand wrapped around Natalie''s cock, bunching Sofia''s panties in with it. She gripped tight, then stroked up, dragging the fabric along. Twisting her wrist, she really worked the silky material around Natalie''s cockhead. "Using your panties to jerk your owner off," Jordan said. "What does it look like I''m doing?" Natalie shivered, the motion more pleasurable because of the lewdness than the actual sensation¡ªknowing it was Sofia''s panties being rubbed around on her cock. Her heart was mming, suddenly. "Seriously?" Sofia mumbled, staring. "That''s so ¡­" She couldn''t find the right word. "Hot?" Jordan suggested. "Yeah. It is. And I can tell Natalie agrees. She likes it. It''s really twitching in my hand." Jordan grinned at Sofia. "Her cock must like being in your panties." Sofia kept staring with wide eyes, speechless at the disy. "Aren''t you supposed to be putting that armor on?" Jordan reminded her. Sofia''s mouth worked for a moment before she snapped out of it. She returned to her task. One by one, she donned the various armor pieces, though with each addition, her incredulity grew. It was, as Natalie had already noted, a scandalous design. Thin straps of ck leather joined forged tes of erotite, creating a bikini top that¡ªreforming to suit Sofia''s body¡ªstruggled to contain even her modest chest. The bottom piece was a wisp of metal, leaving nothing to the imagination, not even fully covering the gap between her legs. It looked even better than Natalie had hoped for. Sofia''s blush was immediate and intense as she incredulously examined herself. The sight was so absurd that she even seemed to forget Jordan was jerking Natalie off with her panties; her attention stayed on her own body. "This is ridiculous," she muttered, facing them with mortification in her blue eyes. "You don''t expect me to wear this, do you? It''s not even armor. It''s lingerie." She shook her head. "And slutty lingerie at that." Her hands self-consciously attempted to cover the parts of her that the armor didn''t, before she forced them back down to her side. Natalieughed, not disagreeing. "What''s the set bonus?" Sofia paused as she examined the armor, her eyes going up and to the right as she read something in her mind that only she was privy to. Her nose wrinkled at what she found. "Ah," Sofia said. "I suppose that makes sense." "Hm?" "''Forcible Allure''," she repeated from whatever hidden words she''d read. "It''s a taunting effect. Enemies are drawn to the wearer." Natalie''s eyebrows went up. One of the biggest missing pieces in her kit was a taunt. So the effect was even better than she hoped for: perfectly suited to her ss. Jordan''s stroking hand also paused in surprise. "It seems you don''t have a choice in the matter," Jordan said to Natalie. "You have to wear it, with an effect like that." She shared a grin with Sofia. "I''m not sure who''s luckier. Her, or us, since we get to see her in that all day, now." Sofia sputtered at the implication¡ªthat she would be happy that Natalie would be wearing something so lewd throughout the dungeon¡ªbefore huffing. She crossed her arms under her breasts, which only served to push them up provocatively. She didn''t have much up top, but the armor helped entuate even her modest assets. "Oh," Jordan said suddenly, facing Natalie. "And, the armor''s great, but I also went shopping for our pet." She reached over for her shopping bag, leaving Sofia''s panties dangling on Natalie''s erection. Her lips curled mischievously. "I think she¡ªand you¡ªwill appreciate what I found." 5.23 – Pet III 5.23 ¨C Pet III Jordan reached into the shopping bag with a grin. Natalie leaned forward, interested to see what she''d brought. Thest time Jordan hade home with gifts for Sofia¡ªduring their dress-up tests for [Stylish]¡ªNatalie had quite enjoyed herself. She rummaged through the bag''s contents, pulling out¡­ A ceramic bowl. It was painted pink, and in elegant cursive, the word ''Princess'' was emzoned on the side. A food bowl for a cat or dog, obviously. Sofia stared, as if failing to understand what she was seeing. Then, her eyes went wide with outrage. Natalie couldn''t help it: she burst outughing. Jordan had, once again, outdone herself. "It''s perfect," Natalie said. "It''s so perfect, Jay." Natalie took the pet bowl and admired it. Grinning, she turned the object and showed it off for Sofia, making sure the cursive ''Princess'' was neatly framed for her. Sofia, understandably, sputtered wordlessly in outrage, hands gesticting. Finally, she strangled out: "You two are unbelievable. I can''t believe¡ªyou would¡ªugh!" "Oh,e on," Jordan said, taking the bowl back and admiring it herself. "It''s just a joke. We won''t actually make you eat out of it." She paused. "Well. Probably, we won''t. We''ll see." Sofia stared at her, obviously not sure whether Jordan was joking. Natalie wasn''t either, to be fair. "But," Jordan said to Natalie. "I do think there should be some new house rules for our pet. We''ve been too lenient." "Oh?" Jordan''s eyes twinkled with mischief. "Much too lenient," she repeated. She faced Sofia. "Because, I mean, pets don''t wear clothes around the house, do they?" The statement hung in the air. "She makes a great point," Natalie said. "No, she doesn''t," Sofia growled. "With one exception," Jordan corrected. "You can wear these." She reached into the bag and produced a pair of cat ears, ck and fuzzy with pink insides. Seeing the essory, Natalie startedughing again. Jordan hade prepared, tonight. She watched Sofia''s reaction as she took in the cat ears, a mixture of indignation and mortification. Honestly, Jordan might be better at teasing this woman than Natalie herself. And Natalie loved that for her. She squeezed Jordan''s waist, showing her approval, biting her lip to stifle furtherughter. Jordan snuggled in, her amusement also radiating off of her. "Well, you heard her," Natalie told Sofia impatiently. "Armor off, ears on, pet. Only people get to wear clothes." Sofia red for a moment longer, then set her jaw in obvious determination. After being stripped and then dressed up in ridiculously skimpy armor, she clearly intended to follow through with their bet. To see her orders through any reasonable length. She took the cat ears from Jordan and, without ceremony, ced them atop her head. The white hair cascading around the ck novelty ears made them stand out even more starkly. She crossed her arms and red daggers at Natalie, who, unperturbed, justughed at the sight. It was, as expected, insanely cute¡ªespecially on Sofia, who clearly didn''t want them there. "Armor too," Natalie reminded her. With a resigned sigh, Sofia started stripping. Piece by piece, her coverings disappeared back into monster cores, revealing her naked body. "And give us a spin." Sofia did so. She turned slowly on the spot, presenting herself to her two spectators. She kept up an air of annoyance, though her mortification shone through her flimsy attempts to seem like she was just ''suffering through''. Natalie took in the curves of Sofia''s naked body, her cock twitching in admiration. Jordan noticed; she returned to her earlier task, picking up Sofia''s panties from where they''d been bundled on Natalie''s cock. The delicate fabric slid over her sensitive skin, eliciting a shiver as pleasure pooled low in her belly. "So," Jordan said casually between strokes. "Have you considered moving to the next stage of her training? I think she''s ready." Natalie considered that. She studied Sofia, who had stiffened at the suggestion. A grin spread on her lips, and slowly, Natalie nodded. "I guess it''s mean of us to only tease. Especially when we''ve got her so hot and bothered." "She obviously wants more," Jordan agreed. "I do not," Sofia protested, though neither Jordan nor Natalie paid any attention. "I do not," she repeated, seeming to dete. "You two are such perverts." Jordan spared the woman a smirk. Then, with a conspiratorial smile for Natalie, she dug out another item from her bag of wonders. A ¡­ choker, Natalie ced after a moment. Another? "I saw this and thought of you," Jordan said. She tugged on it with both hands, and the material seemed to protest the force put on it. "Because it''s really cheap. It might not hold up to too much violence." She waggled her eyebrows, making the implication clear. Natalie''s heart jumped. "So, for the next stage of her training," Jordan continued as if she hadn''tpletely derailed Natalie''s train of thought. "We should start putting that mouth of hers to good use, no?" Sheughed. "And with her mouth full, we won''t have to listen to her keep lying to herself¡ªand us¡ªabout how much she doesn''t want it." Un-snuggling herself from Natalie, Jordan stood and walked to Sofia, her hips swaying as she stalked toward her prey. Sofia''s eyes went wide, flicking between Jordan and the choker in her hands. Arriving, Jordan unhooked Sofia''s cor, then reced it with the choker. The fabric entuated the delicate lines of her neck. Jordan patted the newly donned essory approvingly. "Don''t worry," she murmured. "We''ll go easy on you, to start out with." She leaned forward, getting her lips close to Sofia''s¡ªwhich prompted Sofia to immediately close her eyes and tilt her head back. Jordan snorted softly, amused¡ªas Natalie was¡ªhow easily she reacted, despite all the protesting. Jordan kissed her lightly on the lips, then pulled back. "After all, we wouldn''t want to break you." She took Sofia by the hand and guided the girl down to kneel between Natalie''s spread legs. From this new vantage point, Natalie admired the two women in a wonderfully new way. Jordan, fully clothed in a casual outfit, but with a generous view down into her cleavage, and Sofia, naked save for the cat ears on her head, blushing furiously with her face so close to Natalie''s cock¡ªwhich still had Sofia''s panties dangling around it. Sofia''s ass was framed over her shoulders, the cherry-on-top. "Alright," Jordan said softly, her hand settling onto the back of Sofia''s head. "You know what to do. It''s time to make your master feel good." Natalie''s pulse thrummed in her ears, anticipation overwhelming her as Jordan urged Sofia forward, hand on the back of her head. Natalie''s cock, twitching and eager, slid up the flushed skin of Sofia''s face¡ªonto her cheek and to the right of her nose. Itid there, pulsing heat. Sofia''s blue eyes went cross, and she started to pant hotly, unable to hide her arousal. She looked at Natalie''s length with something close to disbelief, or awe, her breathing in quick, shallow gasps, which had warm air tingling across Natalie''s cock. The warmth of Sofia''s breath fanned her arousal. Natalie watched, enraptured, as Jordan urged Sofia up, her cock sliding against her face as she went. She positioned the girl''s lips onto Natalie''s tip. She could hardly believe the sight. Sofia¡ªperfect, untouchable Sofia¡ªabout to take her cock into her mouth. The reality of it sent a jolt through her, her core clenching and her dick twitching against Sofia''s face. Sofia trembled in response, shivering with her excitement. Jordan leaned into Sofia, her lips almost touching Sofia''s ear. "Well, what are you waiting for, Princess? Show her what you can do." Sofia, finally, asmanded, parted her lips. Natalie''s breath hitched. She watched, entranced, as a wet heat enveloped her. Sofia took her slowly¡ªdeliberately¡ªsavoring the moment as much as Natalie. Wet and inviting, the heat of Sofia''s mouth surrounded her. The world narrowed to the sensation. Her cock, being pleasured by Sofia''s mouth. "Good girl," Natalie sighed, a hand digging into Sofia''s hair. "You''re really such a wonderful pet." 5.24 – Pet IV/V 5.24 ¨C Pet IV/V Natalie sank into the plush couch, letting her eyes fall shut as she focused on the feeling of Sofia''s mouth around her cock. The wet heat enveloped her, an intense, exquisite sensation, made all the more intoxicating by the fact that it was Sofia on her knees. Perfect, refined, untouchable Sofia. The haughty princess who had looked down on Natalie for so long was now meekly pleasuring her, tentative licks and kisses exploring the tip of her stiff cock. Natalie curled her fingers into Sofia''s long white hair, anchoring herself in the moment. She could hardly believe it was happening¡ªhowever much things had been leading up to this. "That''s it," Jordan murmured, her voice a sultry encouragement in Sofia''s ear. "Nice and slow. Use your tongue." Sofia shivered, heat coloring her cheeks. She obeyed without protest orment. Her tongue swirled experimentally around the sensitive head, and Natalie panted as she watched, the lewd sensation shooting bolts of pleasure through her. "Like that," Jordan purred, one hand trailing down Sofia''s back. "You''re doing great. Maybe ¡­ try a little more, though?" Sofia, again, obeyed. She sank lower, venturing past the tip. She engulfed an inch of Natalie''s throbbing cock, mouth closing around her. Her tongue pressed and massaged along the underside as she explored. She looked up at Natalie through longshes, blue eyes uncertain but lust-filled, darkening by the moment with her building desire. Natalie reveled in the sight. Having Sofia on her knees, willingly pleasuring her, was intoxicating in its own right¡ªto say nothing of the sensation. Her fingers threaded into Sofia''s hair a bit tighter, and she guided the girl into a slow, steady rhythm, encouraging her up and down, but not too firmly. Not taking over. Letting Sofia keep control. "Fuck, your mouth feels so good, Princess," Natalie whispered. "You''re a natural cocksucker." Sofia flushed, but, unlike how she might have before, didn''t protest¡ªdidn''t re. If anything, Natalie''s words spurred her on. She took Natalie deeper, another inch, her cheeks hollowing as she sucked gently. It was a sight Natalie never thought she''d get to see¡ªand yet, here it was. Quickly turning Natalie''s brain to mush. "You''re being such a good girl," Jordan cooed, her fingers trailing teasingly along Sofia''s skin. "You like it, don''t you? Having your Master''s cock in your mouth?" A muffled noise escaped Sofia¡ªalmost a whimper. Her eyes fluttered half-shut as she lost herself in the act, tongue dragging along the underside of Natalie''s cock, sucking away. She didn''t try to take too much too fast, keeping it slow and exploratory. But there was no denying her building enthusiasm. She was clearly beyond the fake outrage and the denials that normally came with ''the bet''. She''d lost herself. In Natalie''s cock. Like a good pet. Natalie savored the moment. It was so much better than she could have imagined. Sofia''s shy, inexperienced exploration was somehow more erotic than if she''d dived right in with expert movements. Natalie was obviously her first¡ªand that fact thrilled through her. "Your mouth feels so good," Natalie murmured in encouragement. It was the truth. It was taking serious effort to keep her hips still¡ªto not im more of Sofia, forcibly. From Sofia''s side, Jordan smirked at the two of them, clearly enjoying the show, her curves pressed indulgently into Sofia''s shoulder. Her hand traced teasing patterns over Sofia''s bare skin, caressing and groping her as she pleasured Natalie. "I think our pet likes this," Jordan said to Natalie. "Look how hard she''s working. And that expression on her face ¡­ do you think she can even hear us, anymore?" Sofia groaned softly into Natalie''s cock, indicating that yes, she could¡ªand that their taunting was fueling her arousal, sending her deeper into that pit of lust. She took another inch of Natalie''s. Testing to see how much she could. "A bit more," Natalie encouraged breathlessly, her free hand on her chest, feeling her mming heartbeat. She didn''t force Sofia down, as she might with another partner. She wanted to let Sofia set the pace. See what she would do without too much prompting from her. And Sofia seemed eager to please, growing more so by the moment. Natalie could almost see the girl''s head spinning. Growing cock-drunk. Natalie nearly went dizzy at the realization. Sofia, naked and on her knees, cat ears still perched atop her head, eagerly sucking cock for the first time. Drunk on her arousal for the throbbing erection she was pleasuring. Muffled moans escaping her lips between loud sucking noises. It was nearly too much for her to handle. "That''s perfect, Princess," Jordan continued murmuring into her ear, teasing her through the process. "We''ll have to reward you, somehow, for being such a good girl. But for now, just enjoy yourself. Give in. This is what you were made for, isn''t it? You''re finally recognizing it." Sofia''s head bobbed up and down, finding a steady rhythm. "Fuck," Natalie panted. "Deeper. Your mouth feels so fucking good." Sofia looked up at her, eyes dark with lust. Obeying, she leaned forward, finally going the distance. Natalie''s cock hit the back of her throat¡ªand, understandably, she gagged, then pulled back coughing. A string of saliva briefly connected her lips to the glistening length of Natalie''s erection. "Aw, that''s not too much for you, is it?" Jordan teased. "Surely you''ve got more in you." The taunting did the job. Or maybe just that Sofia wasn''t a person to put in a half-hearted effort. She wrapped her fingers around the base of Natalie''s cock, then started slickening her length with her tongue and lips. "That''s it," Jordan encouraged. "Get it nice and wet. You''ll get it this time. I believe in you." Once she''d properly lubricated Natalie, Sofia locked eyes with her, then dove back down. Natalie groaned as her cock hit the back of Sofia''s throat, the tight passage convulsing around her as she fought her gag reflex. Tears sprang to Sofia''s eyes, but she powered through, grabbing Natalie''s thighs for leverage. Slowly, she took Natalie down her throat. She wiggled her way in, throat bulging as it was filled up. Inch by inch, she forced herself toplete her task, hot bliss sliding down Natalie''s cock until Sofia''s nose was pressing into her crotch¡ªburied into her own ck panties, which still dangled there. "Oh, fuck," Natalie panted. Sofia''s throat. She had eight hard, throbbing inches inside Sofia''s throat. Hot, squeezing, massaging her entire length. But even better than that were the watering blue eyes. Looking up from between her thighs, proud at what she''d aplished. It almost took Natalie apart, right there. Jordan let out a soft, impressed whistle. "Look at that. Not bad for a beginner." She leaned in and whispered into her ear, "Natalie was right. You are a natural cocksleeve." She rubbed Sofia''s throat. "Look how much is in there." Sofia briefly hesitated, realizing that her pride in having taken Natalie might be misced. Unbefitting of the image she wanted to cultivate. But then her eyes fogged over¡ªas if she didn''t care. She continued working her throat muscles along Natalie''s length, lifting up, slowly, then going back down, gagging as she stuffed herself full. She''d clearly given in. Natalie could read it on her face. She didn''t care what her image was; she just wanted to be a good pet. Or maybe she was just lost in the sensation of Natalie''s cock filling her. Natalie groaned, the realization that Sofia had finally submitted washing through her like its own mini orgasm. Her pet settled into a rhythm, pleasuring Natalie as saliva dripped down her chin with the sloppy effort. Singrly focused on making Natalie feel good, her blue eyes locked to Natalie''s own as she worked. After nearly two minutes of that exquisite torture, Natalie pulled Sofia off with a pop. Sofia looked up at her with lust-clouded eyes, confused at the interruption, her chin slick with spit. "Come on," Natalie said, helping Sofia to her feet. She led the woman over to the dining room table, clearing it with an uncaring sweep of her arm. Magazines and other random items went scattering to the floor. "Up you go," Natalie directed, grabbing Sofia by the waist and hoisting her up. Sheid the other woman down on the tabletop. Sofiaplied readily, stretching her lithe body out, turning, and letting her head hang over the edge¡ªunderstanding what Natalie wanted. She parted her lips in invitation. Her reservations were well and truly gone. She just wanted to be Natalie''s cocksleeve. A pulse of heat went through her at the lewd disy: Sofia, syed out submissively across the table, offering her mouth for Natalie''s pleasure. The proud princess so willing to debase herself, all for the chance to please Natalie''s cock. It was intoxicating. The vulnerable arch of Sofia''s throat called out to be used, the thin ck choker entuating its delicate lines. Natalie stroked the fabric with her thumb, and Sofia shivered at the contact. She lined her cock up to Sofia''s lips, but paused there, savoring the sight. "Go on," Jordan murmured. "Fuck that pretty throat. It''s what it''s meant for." Natalie gripped Sofia''s head, then eased her hips forward, watching inch after inch of her cock disappear between Sofia''s lips. Her attention stayed locked on the ck choker as she pushed deeper, watching the fabric conform to Sofia''s slender neck, bulging outward with each inch Natalie plunged into her. Sofia moaned around her length, and the vibrations shot spikes of pleasure through her. Fully sheathed, and with Sofia''s lips flush to her crotch, Natalie shivered, luxuriating in her warm sheathe. Then she began to move. Long, deep strokes that had her cock hitting deep inside Sofia on every pass. Sofia choked under the assault, but took the punishment admirably, rxing herself to amodate Natalie''s pace. "You''re a fast learner," Natalie said through gritted teeth. "Keep it open, pet. Rx. Just take it." It took only moments before Natalie lost herself in the slick heat enveloping her. She used Sofia''s throat with a single-minded focus. The lewd sounds of Sofia''s gagging filled the room, eight inches of cock stuffing her with a quickening pace. Jordan leaned against the table, one hand trailing teasingly over Sofia''s heaving chest, then down, resting between her legs. Not ying with her¡ªjust cupping her tauntingly. She kissed her neck, feeling Natalie''s cock plunge the flesh outward with each thrust. "Good little fuck toy," Jordan purred to Sofia, kissing her way up, ending with a quick one on the cheek. "Look how wet you are. Is your Master''s abuse really turning you on this much? Can you even hear me?" Sofia groaned. She sucked and licked messily each time Natalie''s cock withdrew, eager to keep it slick and ready for her next thrust. Her lips were a spit-soaked mess, but her enthusiasm wasn''t waning. If anything, Natalie''s rough treatment was driving her higher, making her squirm atop the table, lithe body trembling in enjoyment. Natalie gripped Sofia''s hair, holding her head in ce as she started to thrust with abandon. Any lingering restraint vanished as she started toe up against that hot peak. She used the other woman''s throat, seeking pleasure, but almost more than that, victory over that delicate piece of ck fabric. Sofia gagged with each brutal plunge, throat bulging obscenely, but she didn''t resist or try to pull away. Sheid there and took the abuse. Her lips stretched wide around the girth invading her, trails of drool spilling down her cheeks and face. Her throat convulsed helplessly, the tight passage massaging Natalie''s cock. Natalie''s gaze stayed fixed on the thin ck choker encircling Sofia''s slender neck. She needed to see it snap. Proof of her conquest. Of her domination over the haughty princess''s throat. The idea consumed her. But despite Natalie''s violent pace, the strip of fabric remained intact. She grunted in frustration. She wanted¡ªneeded¡ªto break it. Her cock pulsed, heavy and swollen, demanding release. But she refused to let her orgasm wash over her. Not until she''d won. Her rough thrusts not quite doing the job, her frustration mounted and mounted. Faster even than her pleasure. She had an idea. Her better senses fell to the wayside. Natalie''s carnal desire took over. She had to break that thin strap of cloth. And if her current efforts weren''t doing the job¡ªthen she had other options. Natalie closed her eyes, seized that enigmatic energy inside her, and funneled it toward a skill. Sofia''s eyes went wide as she felt the change take hold. Natalie sheathed herself hard, mming her hips into Sofia''s lips, then groaning as a bizarre sensation rippled through her. Still lodged deep in Sofia''s throat, Natalie''s cock engorged. Thicker, longer, it swelled inside the tight sheathe, her girlcock squeezing inside Sofia''s strained passage. Sofia''s slender neck bulged obscenely from the inside as Natalie grew and grew, her throat molding Natalie''s hot, expanding length. Sofia''s gagging grew more frantic, limbs struggling atop the table¡ªbut not against Natalie, only in surprise at the sudden pressure in her throat. Her back arched and her hands scrambled. Tears streamed down her cheeks. She''d already been having difficulty taking Natalie, so this, she wasn''t ready for. But she didn''t try to pull away. Submitting as before. Like a good pet. The sight of Sofia allowing herself to be so vited without so much as a protest sent a renewed thrill through Natalie¡ªalmost as much as seeing her throat bulge even more outward had. She gripped Sofia''s head, holding her in ce as she pulled back, then mmed her hips forward, plunging her now-improved weapon deep into her tunnel. Sofia choked wetly, throat straining against the massive intrusion. Natalie moaned loudly as the tight passage rippled along her over-sensitive flesh. The sensation was even better, now. Even tighter. Unbelievably so. She pulled back, watching inch after inch of her cock reemerge¡ªthicker than ever, and coated in a slick mess of spit and drool, a sight to make her dizzy¡ªbefore plunging back in. Sofia''s slender neck distended obscenely, molding around Natalie''s swollen girth. The vulgar disy urged her on. She pounded Sofia''s throat relentlessly, seeking the release demanded of her. The lewd sounds of Sofia''s gagging and choking filled the room, interspersed with the wet p of Natalie''s hips against her face. All the while, Sofiay there, still, if tense, allowing Natalie to use her throat like the cocksleeve it was. Natalie was close, the need for release coiling tight in her core. And the choker was visibly straining under the assault, the flimsy fabric starting to stretch and give in. stic tearing. Natalie was close¡ªin so many ways. "Just¡ª a little¡ª more," Natalie grunted, each word punctuated by hard ps into Sofia''s face. Then, finally, it happened. The thin loop of ck snapped. Natalie groaned, head falling back. She lost herself. Her mounting orgasm crashed into her, and she buried herself to the hilt in Sofia''s throat. Thick, sticky ropes erupted from her pulsating cock, flooding directly into Sofia''s stomach. Natalie''s mind went nk, drifting away in dizzyingly hot waves of pleasure. She lost herself, humping awkwardly as ecstasy wracked her. The spasming of Sofia''s throat milked everyst drop that Natalie had to give. And Sofia took it, swallowing pulse after pulse of the load. "Oh fuck," Natalie whined, legs shaking. She held the other woman''s head firmly in ce, prolonging her orgasm as she continued moving her hips forward and back, using her cocksleeve, emptying string after string into Sofia''s abused throat. The orgasm seemed to go on endlessly, Sofia''s tight passage milking Natalie''s hyper-sensitive cock. She drained herself into Sofia with an indulgence she might never have before. Then, finally, when her orgasm ebbed, Natalie withdrew her still-pulsing cock from Sofia''s throat. The swollen length emerged inch by inch, coated in a slick mess of spit, drool, and cum. Sofia gasped and coughed wetly as her airway was finally freed, sucking in oxygen she desperately needed. Natalie looked down at the aftermath, her chest heaving. Sofia was, as expected, a mess. Trails of drool streaked her face and down into her long white hair. The snapped ends of her broken choker dangled limply around her slender neck. But, her blue eyes gazed up at Natalie with clouded desire, despite the abuse she''d endured. Even almost admiringly. Like she''d enjoyed it. The crazy woman had actually liked the roughness she''d been used with. Natalie''s eyes flicked to Jordan. The disy had broken even her persistentposure; she was blushing and wide-eyed. She admired the results of Natalie''s rough throat-fucking with obvious appreciation. "Well," Jordan finally said. "I think Princess here discovered she likes being put in her ce, didn''t she?" Sofia was too out of it, still gasping for air from her prolonged throat-fucking, to respond. Her head lolled to the side, dizzily facing Jordan. Jordanughed. "Look at that expression. That''s how you know you did a good job." She poked Sofia''s cheek, who, again, barely reacted. She panted and heaved on the table, looking dizzy. Seeing it, a strange urge filled Natalie. Almost ¡­ protectiveness, for some reason? Or something else? She couldn''t quite ce it. Regardless, Natalie leaned down and kissed the used woman on the cheek. "You did great," she murmured to her, voice soft. "I''m proud of you." Sofia''s eyes locked to her own, and for a brief moment, it almost looked like she was going to fight her initial response. But then she gave in¡ªand she started to smile under the praise, almost glowing. After a second of surprise, seeing the reaction, Natalieughed and cradled the girl''s face in both hands. Sofia leaned into her, happy for the touch. That odd feeling surged up even more powerfully than before, and Natalie kissed her again. Jordan was right. They were going to have a proper pet in no time. 5.25 – Upgrades 5.25 ¨C Upgrades By the time everyone had showered and settled down for the night, Sofia seemed to havee to her senses. Her pliable attitude¡ªher easy affection¡ªhad disappeared. Though now that Natalie knew it existed, that it was there to be coaxed out, she intended to do just that. Frequently. For now, they reconvened in the living room. Natalie and Jordan got dressed. Sofia, of course, didn''t. Her new house rule remained in ce. Any time they were alone in their dorm, she was expected to not wear clothes. It was only fitting, for a pet. There were a number of team matters they needed to discuss, which offered Sofia some distraction for her situation¡ªthough a blush persisted on her cheeks as the minutes ticked by, the naked girl shifting ufortably in her seat. To begin with: "So. You seriously wasted your energy just to make your cock bigger?" Sofia asked. "Youpromised your progression because you wanted to, what, show off? You have to be kidding me." Natalie flushed. Yes, she would admit it had been a hasty decision. One based entirely on lust. But in the moment, she hadn''t stood a chance at resisting the idea. She had needed to see that delicate piece of fabric snap off Sofia''s neck. There had been nothing else in the world as important. Natalie searched for a way to defend herself, but Jordan chimed in first. "And I''m in your debt for it," Jordan said to Sofia, her lips quirking up. "I was wondering how I was going to convince Nat to waste points on that skill, but you did it for me. I owe you." Sofia gave Jordan an unamused look. "What?" Jordan asked. "At least I''m being honest. I remember a certain someone enjoying the extra size, too. She''s just a prude about admitting it." Sofia''s face heated up at the usation, and she pointedly turned away from Jordan, facing Natalie instead. "Anyway. What''s done is done. Did the upgrade at leaste with a practical benefit?" "The practical benefit," Jordan said, "is us having two more inches of girlcock to get fucked stupid with. How is that not enough for you? Were you hoping for four?" "Nothing the skill itself says," Natalie said, clearing her throat. Jordan''s tant appreciation of her size was something Natalie, well, appreciated, but it could also be flustering at times, with how blunt she was. Which was obviously her intention. "So you did waste the points," Sofia said. "Not a waste," Jordan emphasized. "It''s not entirely worthless, no," Natalie said. "[Carnal Harvest] gives more points based on how much everyone enjoys themselves. And there''s at least one person that applies to." She gave Jordan an amused look. Jordan rolled her eyes. "More than just one," she disagreed, giving a pointed look to Sofia. "But, whatever, I won''t bbor the point." "Hmph," Sofia said. "Then there''s one silver lining, at least. Not apletely inefficient use of your points. Still, to just do that in the heat of the moment." She shook her head disapprovingly¡ªand hriously, not from the abuse she''d endured from having Natalie''s cock grow inside her throat, but the ''inefficiency'' of the decision. Jordan snorted, but as she''d said, she didn''t keep pressing the point: how obviously Sofia had also, and would be, enjoying Natalie''s rash decision. "It''s been a bit since youst upgraded," she said, looking at Natalie. "You thinking of anything else?" Natalie pursed her lips. "What should I go for?" She had her own opinions on the matter, but Jordan''s advice rarely led her astray. "[Harvest] should always take priority, but can you, even?" "No. Too expensive." [Carnal Harvest] was at third progression, the highest of any of her abilities. Alongside [Heavy Weaponry], thanks to Natalie''s recent stunt. But taking [Carnal Harvest] to fourth would be an enormous investment. Each progression became more and more expensive, and even if she spent all her points, she couldn''t afford its next upgrade, right now. As always, there was an argument to be made for rushing the ability and ignoring all others, but increasing her current strength was just as important. It could save their lives in the dungeon, and if not that, then certainly make Natalie and her party level up faster. Which was as valuable as skill upgrades, seeing how a level-up came with entirely new abilities and across-the-board improvements in her ss. So it was a bncing act. Going too deep into any one skill, even one that elerated her skill progression, might not be ideal. Jordan hummed. "Then I think it''s the same n as before. [Stylish]. Now that you have fancy new armor, it''s an even more obvious choice. It''ll be a team-wide buff." "Especially since she''ll be getting even more of that stuff," Sofia grumbled. "It won''t be long before we''re all running around in that skanky metal." Jordan paused, then grinned at the imagery. In contrast, Sofia shook her head, exasperated at the idea. "So [Stylish]?" Natalie asked. Jordan and Sofia both nodded, though thetter with much more reluctance. Natalie closed her eyes and funneled the points in. While first in progression, it was a level-two skill¡ªand thus more expensive to upgrade from first to second progression than her level-one skills. *** [Stylish]: Progression advanced from 1 to 2. *** *** [Stylish] - PASSIVE. PROGRESSION 2. Party members receive a {moderate} stat bonus to their primary stat appropriate to how much their gear arouses the ss-bearer. ss-bearer receives a {moderate} stat bonus to their primary stat appropriate to how much their gear arouses their teammates. *** When she was done, the {minor} stat boost had upgraded to {moderate}. She ryed that to Sofia and Jordan, who didn''t seem surprised, but were nheless appreciative. "Can probably afford one more upgrade," Natalie said. "[Bigger is Better]," Jordan suggested instantly. "Honestly, you might not have a choice in the matter." Natalie blinked. It wasn''t the answer she''d expected. [Illusion] or [Empower] seemed more practically suitable. Jordan gave her an unamused look. "Because ten inches is a lot, Natalie. You were already bruising my cervix every night. What do you think ten inches is going to do to me?" Sofia made a sort of choking noise, which Jordan spared an amused nce for. "Which is amazing, don''t get me wrong," she continued, "but that''s probably because of [Bigger Is Better] helping me out. Now that you''re at ten inches, I think you''ll be pushing my limits, even with help. At least with how hard you like to go. You''ll either have to start being gentler, or upgrade." Natalie''s cheeks colored. Getting to bully Jordan every night and not hold back was the highlight of her day. While being gentle could also be fun, she definitely didn''t want to give up on being rougher¡ªespecially since Jordan so visibly delighted in the punishment. And Sofia too, from what Natalie had seen earlier. "Why don''t you just test it, first?" Sofia asked. "It''s not like you can''t find out whether it''s too much before you spend the points." Jordan faced Sofia, then blinked¡ªas if she hadn''t considered the idea. Her lips quirked up mischievously, and Sofia hesitated, instantly alert. Even if she didn''t recognize why she needed to be, at first. "You know, that''s a great idea, Sofia," Jordan said, standing, then, in a fluid motion, pulling her pajamas and panties down to her ankles and kicking them off, leaving her naked from the waist down. Natalie''s heart jumped at the suddenness of Jordan''s stripping, and her own pajamas started to swell up in abrupt excitement¡ªher body reacting almost before her brain caught up. "Let''s see if that bad boy is too much for me," Jordan said casually. "Thank the heavens we had Sofia here to state the obvious." "I¡ªI didn''t mean now," Sofia choked out. "Tonight! Alone!" Ignoring her, Jordan climbed onto Natalie''sp. She rested her arms on Natalie''s shoulder, leaning in close, green eyes filling her vision. Natalie was immediately overwhelmed¡ªan effect Jordan always had on her. Even before she had realized her disgustingly huge crush on her best friend. "Just remember to go slow," Jordan murmured, her lips close to Natalie''s. "That thing''s a monster, now. Like actually. You don''t want to break me, do you?" At Natalie''s red-facedck of a response, Jordan chuckled. "This is where you say no," she breathed onto Natalie''s face. "You can lie, if you need to. I understand." She gave her a quick peck on the lips. "But don''t get too excited. We''re just testing things, real quick. We''re not so inconsiderate to fuck on the living room couch, right in front of Sofia. That''d be rude." "R-Right." "So get those pants off. Let''s see what I''m dealing with." 5.26 – Upgrades II 5.26 ¨C Upgrades II Natalie wiggled her pajama bottoms and panties down, bunching them to her knees. Jordan sat on Natalie''sp, grabbing her cock and pressing it into her stomach¡ªhaving to bunch her own shirt up to get the full sight of it against her skin. At ten inches, it stuck up well past her navel. Natalie''s head went a little fuzzy, seeing that massive b of cockmeat pressed into Jordan''s midriff. Eight to ten was an even bigger jump than she''d thought. "Okay," Jordan said, her breathing growing suddenly shallow. "Wow, yeah. That''s ¡­ that''s a lot of cock." She turned around on Natalie''sp, facing Sofia, then scooted up Natalie, resting her ass on Natalie''s lower stomach. Natalie couldn''t see it, but she felt Jordan press the hot brand of her cock back into her stomach, presenting the lewd sight for Sofia. "So," Jordan said to Sofia. "What do you think? Is it too much? Could I take it?" Sofia looked at her, red-faced and wide-eyed. Her gaze bounced between the monstrous length pressed into Jordan''s stomach and her face, not sure where to settle. "It''s..." Sofia choked out. "That''s ¡­ how would I know?" Jordanughed. "You''re right." She turned back around, getting back situated, then reached down and grabbed Natalie''s cock, lining it up. "Only one way to find out. No point in specting." Natalie''s heart started to m as Jordan rubbed Natalie''s cock around, teasing her sensitive tip between her pussy lips. Slowly, she started to lower herself. Sliding in. Wet heat hugged her, Natalie''s breathing faster. "F-Fuck," Jordan groaned, stopping after only an inch down. "Yeah. That''s ¡­ a lot bigger. More¡ªthan it looks. Okay." After a brief pause, Jordan bit her lip, then pressed her hips down harder, taking more of Natalie. Natalie tensed, watching Jordan''s eyes get wider and wider as she lowered herself. Almost as much as the squeezing sensation, it was watching Jordan''s back arch, the look on her face, that had her heart mming in her chest. "You good?" Natalie breathed, transfixed. "It''s really stretching me out," Jordan gasped in response. "F-Fuck. But yeah. I''m good." "You sure?" "I think," Jordan said, eyes half-lidded. She started to rock her hips, easing more of Natalie''s cock in. Natalie groaned as Jordan''s pussy swallowed more and more of her. "You''ve always felt big, but this is¡­ this is¡­" "Too much?" "Honestly? Maybe." Shuddering, Jordan kept going¡ªrefusing to fail at her task. Finally, she slid thest inch in, hilting Natalie inside of her. She groaned, resting her forehead on Natalie''s shoulder and panting loudly. Jordan''s pussy squeezed around her, clenching and unclenching, as if trying to milk her out while just sitting there. She felt so much tighter than she remembered that Natalie almost couldn''t believe it. "Fuck, I''m so full," Jordan whispered. "I can barely move." She rocked her hips a bit, shuddering at the sensation of Natalie''s cock stirring around inside her. "Y-Yeah. Ten inches is too much, Nat. At least, ten of those inches. You''re so thick, too." Despite saying she couldn''t handle it, she kept rocking on Natalie''sp, wiggling her cock around with increasing speed. "You''re due for an upgrade. It''s too much." Her movements stilled, and she stayed there, panting. Natalie peeked over Jordan''s shoulder, catching a glimpse of Sofia. The blush had spread from her cheeks and down to her chest. She was breathing shallowly, chest heaving. Her gaze was locked on where the two of them were joined. On Natalie''s cock splitting Jordan open. Natalie''s gaze lingered on those wide blue eyes for a moment, before turning back to Jordan. "If we need to, we need to," Natalie murmured. Though if she were beingpletely honest, the breathy gasps Jordan was making at being barely able to take her were doing a few wonderful things for her arousal. But Jordan''sfort mattered more, obviously. Closing her eyes, she funneled energy into [Bigger Is Better]. *** [Bigger Is Better]: Progression advanced from 1 to 2. *** *** [Bigger Is Better] - PASSIVE. PROGRESSION 2. Oversized weapons receive {moderate} bonuses to offensive power and are {moderately} easier to maneuver. *** At the same moment the skill upgraded, Jordan sucked in a gasp of air, shifting around on Natalie''sp. "Oh, w-wow. That was crazy. You did it?" "Yeah." "While it was still inside me." Shivering, Jordan ground her hips around. "That felt super weird. But it''s ¡­ easier now." Natalie''s breath caught as Jordan''s grinding slowly turned into bouncing, thighs gently pping into Natalie''s as she worked herself up and down Natalie''s cock. "Or, sort of?" Jordan moaned. "Fuck. You feel just as big. I don''t know how to describe it. I''m so stretched out, but it''s also easier? I''m so fucking full." She pressed her forehead into Natalie''s own, her green eyes looking deep into hers, panting on Natalie''s face. Her hips worked lewdly, frantically, losing herself in the pleasure of Natalie''s cock. But then, bit by bit, she slowed herself. Groaning in annoyance, Jordan slid her way down Natalie''sp, unsheathing. Her cock slid out of Jordan, wet and glistening from her juices. Shuddering, Jordan rolled to the side, off Natalie''sp, and back into her own spot on the couch. "Saving that for tonight," Jordan said firmly, more to herself than Natalie. "Like I said, it''d be rude to just fuck on the couch." "Seriously?" She patted Natalie''s thigh. "We were just testing to see if you needed the upgrade. The experiment''s over, now." She batted her eyes innocently. "Why, you weren''t expecting more, were you?" Natalie huffed, but pulled up her bunched-down clothing without further protest. Jordanughed and did the same. Their attention, finally, turned to Sofia. Who was, of course, flushing furiously at the show they''d put on. "Are you two quite done?" she demanded. "It was your suggestion," Jordan said. "But yeah. Now we know." "It was not my idea." Sofia sniffed. "Anyway, you get an upgrade to your hammer-wielding from that, too. So it was an eptable choice regardless of ¡­ other necessities." Jordan snorted, but, like Sofia, also returned to the practical discussion. "That''s all your points, then?" "Most of them," Natalie replied. "Have to keep some in reserve for [Empower], if I need it." "Fair. So, skills are handled. Last topic of the night: you figure anything out with Elida?" Natalie slumped into the sofa, instantly feeling weary. She had, of course, told Jordan and Sofia about the encounter the same night it had happened. The discussion had been fruitless though; they were as clueless as Natalie how Elida knew the things she did. "Nope. Think she''s avoiding me. Letting me stew over the whole situation. Don''t know why." "She''s a conniver," Jordan said. "Maybe trying to soften you up for the offer? Have you agree to join her out of pure curiosity, if nothing else?" She bit her lip. "I wish there was something we could do about it." Natalie grunted in agreement. "You know," Jordan said. "Ana came up with a pretty good idea. She said it might not be that the Parda-Halts that know about sses like yours, but that it might be Elida herself. As in, personally." "Huh?" "Because she might be sponsored by a deity." Natalie stiffened. "Wait. Really? You think that''s possible?" "There''s seven Passions, isn''t there? And Lust wasn''t the only one of them waking, ording to that mural we saw. Who says Elida didn''t get a ss sponsored by a deity, too? There''s nothing guaranteeing your situation is unique¡ªor that you''re the only lust-based ss, even." Natalie leaned back into the couch, her mind racing a mile a minute. Even the arousal created by Jordan''s teasing took a sudden mental backseat. Because it made sense. While a shot-in-the-dark theory, it would exin why Elida had equated Natalie''s fast progression to ''something strange going on'', mentioning, specifically, the Bestower. "It''s ¡­ a possibility," Natalie said. "And it makes her a huge problem, if true," Sofia said, her expression having grown dark. "If she has a ss as strong as Natalie''s, and all the resources and training of a major house, no wonder she''s at the top of our ss. She''ll be at the top of society in a few years, with advantages like those." The three of them sat in silence, ruminating. "Let''s hope that''s not it, then," Natalie finally said. "Let''s hope," Jordan agreed. None of them sounded optimistic. 5.27 – Upgrades III 5.27 ¨C Upgrades III When they retired to their room for the night, Jordan didn''t even let Natalie get changed. The door clicked shut, and Jordan faced her with an expression that suggested one thing. "Alright," Jordan ordered. "On the bed." "Oh?" Natalie, of course, did as she was told, sitting with a grin. "I didn''t get to say hello, properly," Jordan said, getting down on her knees in front of Natalie. "Honestly, I think I teased myself more than I did you, with that stunt." "I doubt it. But maybe." Not wasting time, Jordan tugged Natalie''s waistband down, Natalie lifting her hips to help. Exposed, her cock quickly stiffened, swelling up in excitement. Jordan admired the sight of Natalie''s cock cramming her panties tight, creating a lewd tent in the fabric. She leaned forward and took a breath in, absorbing Natalie''s musky scent. With Jordan having been bouncing on herp not ten minutes earlier, Natalie guessed it was a potent smell. "Fuck," Jordan shivered, eyes fluttering open to meet Natalie''s. "It''s really not fair that my best friend has the world''s most amazing cock. How am I supposed to control myself?" She reached forward and grabbed the base of Natalie''s shaft through her panties. "I mean, look," she said. "I can''t even close my hand around it now." She gave an emphasizing squeeze: her thumb and fingers, indeed, couldn''t even touch. Natalie had put on serious girth to match her two new inches. Jordan leaned forward and ced a kiss on Natalie''s cock tip, soft lips tickling through her through her panties. She hooked her fingers under the waist, then pulled them down, tugging Natalie''s cock into the air. For a moment, she took in the sight, looking nearly awed. "Fuck," she whispered. "Natalie, this thing is ¡­" Rather than finishing the statement, she leaned forward and pressed Natalie''s cock onto her face. Her green eyes looked up into Natalie''s own as she dragged her cheek up and down, caressing her cock with soft skin. Closing her eyes, she buried her face into Natalie''s crotch, taking another deep breath to bask in Natalie''s smell. Natalie shivered at the disy, her cock twitching in excitement, the sight of her best friend so tantly worshiping her dick nearly too much for her to handle. And not just her best friend. Her crush. The woman she was secretly in love with. What kind of torture was this, having her childhood best friend and recently realized crush rubbing her face up and down her cock? Worshiping her, eyes fluttering with lust, like even being close to Natalie''s cock was intoxicating her? Jordan admired Natalie''s cock with a few more cheek rubs, then ced another kiss straight on the tip. She rose, then climbed into Natalie''sp, wrapping her legs around her waist. Natalie leaned back, feeling Jordan''s weight settle onto her. "Alright," Jordan breathed, running her hands through Natalie''s hair, giving her an indulgent look. "It''s time for you to impress me with all that extra firepower." Her eyes sparkled. "You''ll put it to good use for me, won''t you?" Natalie''s response was obvious: she grabbed Jordan''s hips, stood and lifted her, then, turning, tossed her onto the bed. Jordan bounced once before settling, grinning up at Natalie as she climbed overtop her. Natalie grabbed the other girl''s wrists and pinned them above her head. With the other hand, she tugged Jordan''s pajamas down, revealing her panties. Gripping her cock, she guided herself between Jordan''s legs, rubbing into her, between her pussy lips, watching them spread through the fabric of her panties. Jordan squirmed as she felt the thick rod tease against her, immediately panting with excitement. Jordan was apparently impatient tonight; she didn''t want any more teasing. She finished kicking her pajamas off herself, then tugged down her panties. Usually she let Natalie take care of that. She really wanted to get going. "Give it," Jordan breathed. "I need it inside me. Now." Natalieid her cock out against Jordan''s pussy. For a moment, she took the sight in. Ten thick inches, pressing between Jordan''s legs. Her cock was so big, now. How would it even fit? She already had, on the couch, but she hadn''t actually gotten to see it, with how Jordan had been sitting atop her. Now, Natalie pressed her cock tip into Jordan''s pussy and watched it spread¡ªand the sight thrilled through her. The groan that apanied the lewd image of her best friend spreading, spreading, spreading around her nearly drove her wild. Natalie gasped as she slid in, Jordan moaning to apany her. Inside, Natalie leaned her forehead down to Jordan''s own. They panted hot air onto each other''s faces. Jordan''s breath came in quick gasps, squirming as she struggled to amodate her. Even with the upgrade, it was clearly a lot to handle¡ªand it would take time to get used to. For Natalie as well. Her best friend''s pussy squeezed down on her so much more tightly than before. "Fuck," Natalie whispered. "Yeah," Jordan whispered back. Natalie leaned back up, tugging Jordan''s hips into the air for a better angle¡ªso her butt was off the bed, head stillying in the sheets. Inch-by-inch, she slid deeper, Jordan''s face flushing as she took Natalie in, squirming in pleasure, and even some difort as she adjusted. Natalie kept Jordan''s waist level to her own, dizzily watching as she pushed forward. Then, almost fully sheathed, something amazing happened. With the angle, and her new size, Jordan''s stomach started to bulge, just the slightest amount¡ªNatalie''s cock pushing her skin out. Proof of her new size. Seeing it, Jordan''s eyes went wide. She breathed out, ttening her stomach and squeezing it taut. The bulge became even more pronounced. Jordan ran her hands across the raised flesh, feeling Natalie''s cock through her lower stomach. "L-Look how deep you are," Jordan said in amazement. "Wow. Wow, Natalie. I''m ¡­ wrapped around you." Jordan''s pussy tightened, once, hard, around Natalie''s cock, making it clear how much she enjoyed the idea. Natalie finished bottoming out with a groan, kissing her best friend''s cervix and watching her stomach bulge. Jordan, too, took in Natalie''s new size¡ªnot just the sensation of being filled, but the physical, visual proof¡ªwith a look of dazed arousal. She rubbed her hands against the raised flesh of her lower stomach, as if amazed she could take so much. Natalie could feel her hand pressing into her cock, through the thin skin. She shuddered. "Fuck," Jordan said, voice trembling. "There''s really ten inches inside me. I can''t feel anything but you, Nat." Her hips wiggled side to side, stirring Natalie''s cock around. "I''m going to go insane." Natalie couldn''t take it anymore. She started to move. Slowly at first, she pulled out, eyes glued to the sight of her thick cock sliding from Jordan''s pussy, then back in, inch by inch. Jordan moaned, the noises of pleasure getting louder as Natalie''s motions gathered momentum. Her hips picked up speed, hands gripping Jordan''s waist to maintain the raised angle. Jordan''s hands clutched the sheets, holding on as she gasped and moaned with each hard thrust. Natalie watched in awe as her cock disappeared and reappeared, the angle and the lighting giving her a show of her cock vanishing and reappearing, bulging her best friend out with each impact of their bodies. An echoing wet squelch apanied each thrust as they pped together, Jordan''s pussy clinging to every inch of Natalie''s length. "Fuck, Nat," Jordan gasped, eyes screwed shut, her body trembling. "Fuck me. Fuck!" She threw her head back, squeezing her breasts as Natalie found her spot again and again, her abdominal muscles tensing with each thrust. Natalie lost herself in a haze. Her body moved of its own ord as Jordan''s cries washed through her, encouraging her to go faster. iming Jordan, thrusting her massive cock into her tight heat, feeling her silky walls mping down around her, gripping so tightly that Natalie couldn''t think of anything but the sensation. The wet squelching and the pping noises their bodies made filled the room, interspersed by Jordan''s moans and gasps. "I-I''m close," Jordan panted, her nails digging deeper into the sheets. "Already? That fast?" she asked herself in disbelief. "I can''t help it. It''s too much." Natalie let go of Jordan''s hips and dropped her into the bed, then climbed overtop her, repositioning. She pressed Jordan''s legs up, curling her lower half forward so her knees were pressed into the sheets by her head. Natalie started pistoning, kissing her cocktip over and over into her best friend''s cervix, desperately working to reach that peak¡ªto fill Jordan''s breedable womb. The idea, as it always did, consumed her. Feeling Jordan''s climax start to wrack her body, with one final, deep thrust, she buried herself to the hilt. Her whole body tensed as her orgasm washed over her, and spurts of hot, sticky cum sted inside Jordan''s contracting pussy. Their moans melded together, echoing off the walls as they rode out their ecstasy. Natalie copsed on top of Jordan, both of them panting for air. Slowly, she started to pull out¡ªbut Jordan stopped her. "No," she breathed. "Keep it in." Natalie obliged, keeping their lower halves flush as they caught their breath. She basked in the skin-to-skin contact, the intimacy of their naked bodies pressed together in the aftermath of their shared pleasure. Jordan''s chest rose and fell as she breathed raggedly, eyes closed as she drifted away in contentment. "That¡­ that was¡­" "Pretty good?" "Yeah. Pretty good," Jordan said with a tiredugh. "I thought you were going to split me in half. Seriously, you''re so big, now. I can''t describe what it''s like." Natalie chuckled, her breathing slowly returning to normal. Her cock softened, bit by bit, but Jordan kept her arms firmly around Natalie''s back, and her ankles tied behind her waist, insisting she stay buried inside. As the minutes ticked by, Natalie''s thoughts started to go mushy. Maybe it was the hormones lingering in her head from her explosive orgasm. Or the heat of Jordan''s skin, lulling her into a state of pure contentment. Or maybe just that she couldn''t stand it any longer. But after a long minute justying on top of Jordan, growing drunk from her best friend''s hot skin pressing into her own, Natalie said something stupid. "Hey, Jay?" "Yeah?" "Do you ¡­ do you wanna go on a date with me?" 5.28 – Asked Out 5.28 ¨C Asked Out The words just kind of slipped out of her. Natalie hadn''t consciously made the decision to ask Jordan out. She hadn''t been nning to hint at her feelings in any way. Her logic from before had hardly changed: it was too risky. And by how Jordan stiffened underneath her, green eyes going wide, Natalie knew she''d made a mistake. Though she''d known that the moment her mouth had opened. There''d been a reason she had been hiding her crush. Jordan didn''t feel the same way. Or at the very least, Natalie had no clue if she did. They loved each other tonically. The whole ''breeding sessions every night'' thing was just them having fun. "I¡ªI mean, like, as friends," Natalie scrambled to say. "It''s been a while since we''ve gotten to hang out. Everything''s been, you know, T, the dungeon, my ss, and so on. I miss hanging out with you. Feels like we haven''t in a while, not like before." Jordan didn''t usually guard her expression around Natalie, so seeing her eyes search Natalie''s face, carefully keeping her initial, actual reaction from showing, Natalie''s panic doubled¡ªand hammered home she really had screwed up, diving off the deep end without thinking. Natalie''s request had been too obvious: she''d just straight-up asked Jordan on a date. How was she supposed to wiggle out of that? Making the situation even worse, they were in a ratherpromised position. Entangled. With Natalie still literally inside of Jordan, their sweaty skin pressed into each other''s, and Natalie''s sticky load stuffing her womb¡ªafter having gone soft while they rested against each other. Even if Natalie had nned to ask Jordan on a date, she wouldn''t have done so like this. Not exactly the opportune time, was it? "A ¡­ friend date," Jordan asked. "Yeah." "Why call it that, then? A date?" "Well, because, you know. It''s not just hanging out. Considering our situation, maybe it''d be a bit ¡­" "Romantic?" If Natalie could have run away in that moment, she honestly might have. She froze up. It took a second to get her mouth working again. "I mean, we are sleeping together," Natalie said, desperately trying to find an excuse. "Obviously, we''re not, like, girlfriends or anything, I know that''s not what we have going on, but I guess a date doesn''t feel ¡­ totally wrong? If you''re okay with it? It''s not weird for friends with benefits to be a little romantic, right?" Jordan stared at her. After a long moment, she finally replied. "I suppose it isn''t," she said slowly. Relief washed through Natalie. Jordan had bought that? Really? Natalie was hardly unused to putting her foot in her mouth, but that had nearly been catastrophic. "So. Yeah," Natalie said. "Just a casual thing." "Best friends," Jordan said. "Who sleep with each other and sometimes go on romantic dates. But casually. As friends." "Exactly." Jordan stared at her before replying. "Okay. Yeah. That sounds great." Natalie sighed, her muscles slowly un-tensing. Embarrassingly, she even felt a little shaky,ing down from the adrenaline of the situation. Jordan had bought it? And honestly¡ªit did make some sense, once Natalie thought it over herself. Though, had there been a hint of dryness in Jordan''s voice? As she repeated the exnation back to Natalie? Natalie supposed it sounded a little silly. But that was because all of this was an atypical situation. Her and Jordan''s circumstances were just a littleplicated. All that really mattered was Natalie hadn''t identally ruined everything by admitting her crush. She needed to watch her words more carefully. It was bing more and more of a problem. But it had worked. And now ¡­ Now she got to take Jordan out on a date? For a second, Natalie''s brain overheated as she came to terms with that. A date. With Jordan. Her best friend. The girl she was grossly in love with. The most amazing woman on the. Oh, no. She couldn''t wait. But she was going to fuck it up. No, as long as she yed things cool, it would be fine. This was Jordan. Being around her was as natural as breathing. How could she mess it up? She changed her mind. There was no way she could handle this. How was she supposed to handle the pressure of not fucking up a first date with the perfect woman? This wasn''t just a date; it was a date with Jordan. "Sounds like fun," Jordan continued mildly, unaware of Natalie''s plight. Her expression was starting to warm up¡ªno longer keeping her reactions carefully locked away. Thest of Natalie''s anxiety disappeared, though her thoughts were still running in frantic circles, if for a different reason, now. But at least she''d gotten away with giving away her secret in the short term. "Any ideas what you wanna do?" "Anything," Natalie said instantly. "If it''s with you, I literally don''t care." The two of them paused. Jordan started to blush. Natalie''s own face heated up rapidly at how obvious she''d been. What the hell was wrong with her, tonight? "J-Just, you know," Natalie said. "I like hanging out with you. So you can pick. Or I can, if you want. Doesn''t matter. Whatever." "I''d ¡­ like it if you surprised me." "Then I''ll do that." "Okay." "Cool." "Sounds great." "Yeah." "One question though," Jordan said. "Yeah?" "You don''t expect me to put out on the first date, do you?" Natalie paused. She became suddenly aware of their entanglement¡ªsince in the panic of the situation, she''d somehow forgotten. That she was literally inside Jordan, their bodies flush against each other, with Jordan''s ankles tied behind Natalie''s lower back. How they''d ended their breeding session. "Well," Natalie said. "I will be paying for everything, so ¡­" Jordanughed. "In that case, you better take me somewhere fancy." Then, she mused, "And we do have the money for it, these days. We ought to do something nice. All the hard work shoulde with some y." "Sounds like a n." Natalie grinned, and Jordan smiled back. Unable to help herself, she leaned in for a kiss. Jordan met her happily. At their tongues entwining, the two of them sharing saliva, Natalie''s body responded as expected: her cock started to harden inside of Jordan. Jordan went still, then suddenly separated from Natalie''s mouth with a gasp. "W-Woah," she said. "It''s getting big again." Her back arched as Natalie grew inside of her. "Wow. Wow." She panted, her eyes fluttering as she looked up at Natalie. "This is ... uh, an interesting ¡­ experience! So big!" Natalie''s heart started mming as she stayed perched over Jordan, feeling herself stiffen inside her best friend''s pussy. Feeling Jordan stretch to amodate her. By the expression on Jordan''s face, she was feeling it just as intensely as Natalie¡ªmore. The way she squirmed underneath her, Natalie''s cock growing and growing inside her, stretching her walls around it. "Alright. M-Maybe we can go one more time tonight," Jordan gasped. "Before we sleep. To celebrate you finally asking me out." Natalie''s heart skipped a beat at the words. After finally asking her out? "Finally?" Natalie stammered. Jordan rolled her eyes. "Yes, finally," she repeated. "You''re my best friend, and you''ve been fucking my brains out every night. I deserve a little bit of the girlfriend treatment, don''t I? Even if we aren''t, technically." Oh. Natalie had almost thought¡ª Well, no, that was ridiculous. Jordan rolled her eyes again, though Natalie couldn''t decipher why. Her brief attempt to understand the reaction was cut off as Jordan ground her lower half up into Natalie, stirring her cock around inside her¡ªand drawing a gasp out. "The politer part of the girlfriend experience, at least," Jordanughed. "You''re doing a good job with the ''fucking me silly'' part." Natalie shuddered as Jordan''s pussy tightened around her, squeezing her tight. She leaned in for another kiss. Her hips started to move on their own, sliding her cock out and back in. Indulging in the feeling of her best friend''s pussy. The little groans that were so easy to extract. "I''ll do my best, Jay," she murmured. "You''re right¡ªyou do deserve it." 5.29 – Dungeon Prep 5.29 ¨C Dungeon Prep Natalie stepped through the ssy ck portal, and the busy noises of Aradon''s dungeon entrance dropped away. Her team followed after, one by one, appearing in the small stone room that made up the floor selection chamber. As usual, only two portals presented themselves: the first and the second floor. They''d yet to head down to the third. "Today''s the day we find Nat a proper boss to fuck," Jordan mused loudly¡ªattracting four heads to swivel her way. "It''s a shame all we''ve been finding are actual monsters. Where are the fuckable ones when you need them?" "You," Sofia grumbled, "are growing entirely too crude." "Crude? I''m being practical," Jordan disagreed. "That erotite arrow is a two-part rare reward¡ªwe''re gonna get something amazing once we find Nat proper prey. If only that dryad hadeter. She looked cute. What do you think dryad pussy is like?" Sofia shook her head, exasperated, and faced Ana. Natalie''s amusement lingered on Jordan for a moment, who grinned at her¡ªwhich Natalie responded to by rolling her eyes. Sofia was right, honestly. The woman really was bing more and more of a provoker. "You said you had something you wanted to talk about, once we got inside?" Sofia asked Ana. Everyone''s attention turned to the team''s mage, who was slipping off her bra¡ªwhich Natalie paused at. Though it was hardly anything new. Their team covered up during the trip over to the dungeon entrance. Even if they had to wear revealing attire while inside the dungeon, for the stat boosts, it still felt rather indiscreet to do so out in public. For that matter, Natalie herself had taken to wearing a skirt and jacket overtop her extremely revealing armor. She tucked both away, following Ana''s lead. "Yes," Ana said. "Just a quick announcement. And possibly a momentary interruption, before setting out. You remember the tattoo and ink vial, from earlier?" "You mean the glowing pink womb tattoo everyone can see? That you wear out in public?" Sofia asked dryly. "Yes, we haven''t forgotten about that, Ana." It was true; Ana was definitely more shameless than Natalie, when it came to walking through Aradon''s streets. At least she wore a bra, because when that thing came off, it was fifty-fifty odds whether slight movements would destroy her modesty. If it''d been anyone else, she''d have thought Ana was showing off. Since she did have a lot to show off. But no¡ªNatalie was pretty sure she simply didn''t care, which was equal parts impressive and hrious. "The [Inscriber] Imissioned had a breakthrough," Ana said, ignoring Sofia''s sarcasm¡ªmaybe not even detecting it. "He managed to redesign the tattoo so it works differently from its original purpose. So that it''s functional for us." "Oh?" Natalie asked. "Functional how?" "Before, it collected orgasms to unlock those doorways, if you remember," Ana said, and a brief heat sh went through Natalie, recollecting that whole series of events. "Now, it stores the same energy, but as a secondary mana resource. Not significant, but, of course, any increase in mana is an excellent boon. Especially whenbined with my crystal ball." ''Crystal ball''. Ana had taken to calling her buttplug that. The team didn''t really mind; dropping the word ''buttplug'' into casual conversations could be ¡­ a little much. Even for their circumstances. "It stores orgasms as mana," Sofia said, rubbing her temples. "You''re serious?" "Yes." "Why am I not surprised?" Sofia asked, sounding almost angry. "You figured that out fast," Nataliemented, impressed. She''d expected it to take longer to track down someone who could help her with the task of redesigning the tattoo. But Ana worked efficiently. It''d taken less than a week. "And you said there might be a short diversion before we start today?" Liz asked hesitantly, a heat rising on her face. "By that, do you mean ¡­?" Natalie paused. "The energy decays, so I didn''t handle it beforehand," Ana said. "And the intensity of the orgasm also affects how much energy there is to draw on." She nodded. "So, yes, I waited until we were at the dungeon to ask." Those statements sat in the air for a moment. "You ¡­ want to handle it ¡­ now?" Sofia asked. "It shouldn''t take long," Ana said, as unperturbed as ever. "Especially if I have some help." She paused, then nced Natalie''s way. "If you don''t mind. I suppose I shouldn''t assume you would." Natalie blinked. "You want me to ¡­?" Help her fill the tattoo up? Ana nodded. "Like, here?" Natalie asked, looking around the small floor-selection chamber. "Now?" Ana didn''t seem to understand why everyone was either flushing, amused, or exasperated at the request. "As I said, it''ll be quick. This is a reality of our situation, isn''t it? Such breaks will be required, especially if we continue receiving simr items." She nodded at Liz. "Like Elizabeth''s wand. That''s a daily necessity, isn''t it?" Liz shared a look with Natalie, her cheeks going a shade darker. Natalieughed. The two of them had, in fact, been making good use of her wand¡ªthey weren''t going to leave stats on the table, not when exploring the dungeon. Natalie had been very much enjoying those events, too. There was something strangely erotic about the quick, even perfunctory at times, nature of having to fuck Liz with her dildo to provide her the stat boost. And the linking process, too. Since it was needed every time they ventured out, it was something they ''just took care of'', beforehand. Natalie didn''t know why the ''get it over with'' attitude Liz sometimes treated the event with turned her on, but it definitely did. Not that she ever seemed reluctant, just that they were busy people, and so Liz insisted Natalie work as hard as possible to have her squirming without wasting time. Her current record was one minute and forty-five. She was pretty proud of that one. "I can help if you need me to," Natalie said. "But it''s, uh, a bit crowded in here, isn''t it?" Ana, again, nodded, unperturbed. "Yes. But that should just make finishing even easier, if everyone is watching us." Sofia and Liz both made a sort of choking noise at that, and Jordan startedughing. Natalie''s eyebrows went up. "You want them to watch?" "The idea makes me feel rather hot," Ana said. "So yes, it would speed things up. I don''t want to waste our time. Of course, it''s their choice, too." "How can you say something like that? With a straight face?" Sofia demanded. Ana looked at her nkly. "What do you mean?" Jordan keptughing. Well. That sort of impassive analysis was very on-brand for Ana, but still, Natalie couldn''t help but give her an odd look. She was strangely cognizant of her own thought processes, for being so clueless. Surely she knew why what she''d said was ¡­ a bit much. Even for her. Then again, this was probably one of the situations where she was ying into her own cluelessness, intentionally. It was certainly working to fluster Sofia and Liz¡ªthough that wasn''t a hard task. "Well. I mean. If everyone''s okay with it," Natalie said, "I guess it is just part of how the dungeon works for us, these days." Her heart rate sped up, despite the casualness she tried to portray. Sure, she''d been growing closer with all of her teammates, but helping bring Ana to orgasm in front of everyone else? Sofia pinched her nose and turned away. "Just, hurry up," she said, waving her hand. "We''re wasting exploration time." Ana faced Natalie, looking at her expectantly. Natalie''s face heated up. A good teammate did what a good teammate had to do, right? Though ¡­ maybe Sofia could help out too. Join in. Her cor did need to be trained. They could kill two birds with one stone. 5.30 – Dungeon Prep II 5.30 ¨C Dungeon Prep II Sofia knew Natalie had something nned the moment her eyes flicked her way. She stiffened, growing hot as blue eyes lingered on her own, Natalie''s lips curling up the slightest amount up as she raked her gaze across her. But whatever the woman had nned, she didn''t enact right away. She turned to face Liz and Jordan. "So, just to make sure, none of you mind?" Natalie asked. Her attentionnded primarily on Liz. Of them, she was the only one who might have a problem with this. Jordan obviously didn''t¡ªthat woman was worse than Natalie when it came to this. In some regards, at least. Sofia herself hardly wanted to watch this degeneracy unfold, but she belonged to Natalie up through the weekend. Besides, there were good points being made: this did seem to be the reality of their circumstances. Everyone on the team ought to growfortable with each other, simply because of Natalie''s ss. At least in seeing each other. Obviously, Sofia wasn''t going to be throwing herself into their beds just because Natalie''s ss was perverted. But simple familiarity was a necessity. Those were her very valid, very relevant excuses, at least. "Um," Liz said, shifting in ce as her blush grew. "I mean, n-not really? I understand. My wand is a handful too." Sheughed a bit nervously, waving the sliver of wood to emphasize the point. "So ¡­ yeah! Have fun?" Natalieughed, which Liz blushed even deeper at, then faced back to Ana¡ªand approached. Impassive green eyes tilted up as Natalie arrived to tower over the shorter mage. Natalie leaned down, hands settling on the other girl''s waist, and she whispered something into her ear. Ana''s attention flicked toward Sofia, and Sofia''s heart jumped. That was all the confirmation she needed that, whatever Natalie had nned to ''help Ana out'', she was about to get roped in too. Which was ... fine. She did have a bet with Natalie. And if Sofia were being generous to the other woman, maybe Natalie was only nning it because of her cor. It did need to be trained if they wanted to earn its full benefits. Otherwise, Sofia was walking around with a cor around her neck for no reason. Training the cor concerned Sofia for obvious reasons though. It required Natalie to give hermands she found embarrassing. Degrading. And everyone¡ªthe entire team¡ªwould be watching it happen. Then again, even more reason to use it, here and now. What better way to amplify the embarrassment? And thus train it faster. For a few more moments, Natalie kept whispering into Ana''s ear, too low for Sofia to hear. The other girl nodded twice before Natalie pulled away, snorting. Ana''s face revealed nothing of what Natalie might have told her. Maybe that meant it wasn''t anything too bad. Who was Sofia kidding? Ana wouldn''t react to the sky falling, much less any ns Natalie could imagine up. Ana had been the one to suggest the two of them fuck in front of the party in the first ce. "Say one good thing about this armor," Natalie announced. "It''s easy to take off." At the words, Sofia''s eyes flicked down to the metal cup between Natalie''s legs. As expected, the revealing armor had reshaped itself to fit Natalie. Or rather, reshaped itself to barely fit her. The pink cup technically kept her modest, in the same way it had kept Sofia ''technically'' modest. Demonstrating her point, Natalie unhooked the band of leather keeping the skimpy piece of armor around her waist, peeling the piece of gear off in one smooth motion and tossing it casually to the side. Ten inches of fat girl cock stiffened in the air, and somewhere in the back of her mind, Sofia chided herself for how she couldn''t tear her eyes away. There was really something about watching it grow and grow to full throbbing mast. She was almost annoyed at how perfect Natalie''s veiny, angry-looking girl cock was. Didn''t she already have tits, an amazing ass, muscles, and that roguish short red hair and smoldering blue eyes? She really had to have the whole package any girl would die for, then also win the lottery in cock, too? Ridiculous. "You''re gonna help, pet, so go ahead ande over," Natalie said with an impatient hand wave, jolting Sofia out of her brief distraction. Pet. Like usual, the word cut straight through her. She fought away the heat squirming in her stomach. Why did that word do so many things to her? It wasn''t fair. Especially the degrading ir Natalie emphasized the word with. Almost more than the word itself, it was how she said it. Pet. Her pet. Natalie''s needy, pathetic little sex pet. Little jolts went through Sofia, imagining each word. Sofia''s eyes flicked to Liz. She''d grown used to¡ªokay, not used to, but at least she''d experienced it a few times¡ªto Jordan and Natalie bullying her in private, but definitely not with her other two teammates watching. Not Liz. Elizabeth Beaumon. A literal royal, a member of high society, someone who was undoubtedly going to be somebody in the world, when they graduated. And Sofia was expected to, what, perform for Natalie''s sake? Right in front of her? Didn''t she know how that would ruin her image? Natalie might not have political goals, but Sofia did. Direct power only went so far. Sofia wanted to be somebody¡ªlike Liz would be. That was how she could create change, most easily. Aplish her goals in life. And Liz Beaumon, though her friend, was also poised to be an important political ally. For a moment, they held eye contact. Liz''s face burned red, and she cleared her throat and looked away. Sofia did the same. "Fine. Since my cor needs to be upgraded," Sofia said¡ªthough she couldn''t help but feel immediately embarrassed at stating it out loud. Everyone here already knew her circumstances. So it almost sounded like she was making excuses for herself. Or was she overthinking it? Natalie smirked at her, probably reading the way her thoughts were tumbling around inside her head. Why was the damn woman so good at flustering her? She was so annoying. Huffing, Sofia approached the other two girls and crossed her arms, waiting to see what her fate would be. Jordan, in the spectator''s gallery with Liz, leaned into the royal and murmured something into her ear¡ªmaking Liz squeak. Sofia wasn''t sure she wanted to know what''d just been said to her. Maybe it was lucky that she couldn''t hear. "On your knees," Natalie instructed. "You''re gonna put those pretty cock-sucking lips to good use. I think Ana will like the show." She stepped behind Ana and pulled the other girl in close. Gripping her cock, she guided her way between Ana''s thighs, her thick member popping out the other side of her legs. Ana, instinctively, squeezed her thighs together. She was still wearing her flimsy dress¡ªmore a collection of ribbons than a dress¡ªas well as her panties, so the sight of her body was partially obscured. Still, seeing Natalie''s cock jutting out from between the shorter girl''s soft thighs made Sofia''s head suddenly start spinning. Put on a show? With her cock-sucking lips? While Natalie''s cock was sandwiched between Ana''s thighs? "I don''t like repeating myself," Natalie said, one hand sneaking underneath Ana''s robes and grabbing a handful of her right breast, squeezing. Ana shivered and leaned back into Natalie, her back arching. Her cool green eyes surveyed Sofia, as if curious to see what she would do. The woman''s permanent aloofness was really so perplexing¡ªand for some reason, started to make Sofia''s skin prickle with heat. Couldn''t she have the good grace to even blush while being groped by another woman, her thighs squeezing Natalie''s cock? Or was this just any other delving expedition to her? Sofia stayed frozen for a moment, heat pulsing through her. "Only if you want to, of course," Ana said calmly. Well. There was one considerate woman between the two of them. Except Sofia didn''t want considerate. Because she couldn''t just say out loud that she ''wanted to''. How horrifying would that be? It would''ve been better if Ana had just stayed silent and let Natalie use her however she wanted. At least Natalie gave Sofia the grace of denial. So instead, Sofia sniffed loudly, not replying to Ana. She got down on her knees in front of the two girls, pretending her heart wasn''t mming in her throat. "It''s simply part of the bet," Sofia said. "And for my cor." Ana tilted her head. "Then you should probably put it on," Anamented. Sofia stiffened. Her hand shot up to her neck. Right. She hadn''t, yet. She wasn''t going to wear it through the streets of Aradon, obviously, so that task waited until the floor-selection chamber. Sofia looked up Ana''s body¡ªwhich was ... quite a sight, from down on her knees, both peeking into her robe''s cleavage, seeing the sides of her breasts, the bare hint of her nipples, barely covered, and Natalie''s cock jutting from her thighs. Just to the side of Ana''s impassive expression, hovering over her shoulder, Natalie smirked down at her, blue eyes amused. Probably delighting in the fact Sofia had almost forgotten to actually wear the cor before they started. Which really would have ruined her excuse. Excuse? The truth. "S-Shut up," Sofia said, flushing. "I just forgot." She hastily pulled the item out and clicked it around her neck, shivering, like usual, as she felt its weight settle. Cored. Natalie''s pet, once again. Heat coursed through her, just at the idea. "Let''s get this over with," Sofia said disdainfully, already starting to feel breathless¡ªand they hadn''t even started. "We have a dungeon to explore, don''t we?" 5.31 – Dungeon Prep III/IV 5.31 ¨C Dungeon Prep III/IV "You said you grew two inches," Anamented casually, reaching down to grip Natalie''s cock between her thighs. "But it seems like a lot more than that." Pressing her ass back into Natalie''s crotch to squish herself in, there was enough of Natalie''s cock sticking through her legs that she could get a full hand around the thick member. "How big is it going to get, anyway? It''s already bing rather unwieldy." "Whenever I decide to stop upgrading it, I suppose," Natalie said. Ana hummed, considering that. "It does, at least, make certain positions possible that wouldn''t be otherwise." She wiggled Natalie''s cock from side to side, squirming it around between her thighs. "Look how much there is, even when it''s sticking out between my thighs. Enough to suck on." She stroked up and down, jerking Natalie off as she talked. "It''s impressive. I didn''t know they got this big." "I don''t think they usually do," Natalie said, a bit dryly. "Also," Ana continued, "it was a good idea to have Sofia join us. I approve of the efficiency." "I thought you would." "And she looks good on her knees," she added nonchntly. "It''ll definitely help me finish faster, seeing her there." "H-Hey," Sofia choked out in surprise. The efficiencyment was, at least, all but expected from Ana. Of course it was her first thought on the whole situation. But being told that she looked good on her knees? That was something Sofia would never have expected toe out of Ana''s mouth. Natalie, in response,ughed. "She does, doesn''t she? I''ve been telling her that. I think it''s the way she res up at you. Those big, angry blue eyes. And all the blushing that gives the act away." Natalie pulled her hips back, then pushed forward, sliding her cock through Ana''s thighs even as Ana kept stroking with her hand. The motion had Natalie grinding into the fabric of Ana''s panties, which were quickly growing soaked¡ªthe only real proof that Ana was enjoying herself, since herments and expressionless face betrayed, as it always did, absolutely nothing. The woman really was a stone wall. Ana let out a little sigh, her other handing up to grope her other breast¡ªthe one Natalie wasn''t already fondling. Her hips also started aiding Natalie, moving forward and back in small, slow motions, like she wasn''t fully meaning to, but her arousal was getting the better of her. "Let''s get these off, then," Natalie murmured, a thumb hooking around Ana''s panties. She pulled her hips back, sliding her cock out, then tugged the piece of clothing down, letting them bunch high around Ana''s thighs¡ªexposing her wet pussy to the air. With a sigh of satisfaction, Natalie slid her cock back in, gliding along wet pussy lips, before poking through, cock now cradled between panties and pussy. Ana''s breath hitched again as Natalie started to move back and forth, her pussy now stroking along Natalie''s cock directly, rather than through ayer of fabric. Teasing Natalie with the warmth and slickness of her slit. Ana''s hips began to move faster, and Natalie''s hand fell from her partner''s breast to grab at her waist, holding the other girl''s upper body flush against her own¡ªher back arching. Her cock slid back and forth, back and forth, rubbing against Ana''s pussy, ncing against her whenever Natalie pulled too far back, threatening entry. Ana''s breathing hitched as Natalie used her thighs, though, still, almost infuriatingly to Sofia, she refused to let out a proper moan or gasp of pleasure. Still stoic. Even when having Natalie''s ten-inch cock rubbing between her lower lips. "Alright, pet," Natalie grunted, her eyes finally turning to Sofia¡ªhaving clearly gotten briefly lost in enjoying the feel of Ana''s pussy. "It''s nice and wet for you. So go ahead. Get a taste." She pulled Ana''s waist into herself, jutting her cock out as far as it could between Ana''s thighs. Ana''s hips also slowed, recognizing now wasn''t the time to keep humping. Her eyes locked on Sofia, impassively interested, like before, in what she would do. Themand hit Sofia, making her heart leap. Natalie''s cock glistened with both her own precum and Ana''s juices. ''Get a taste''? Of Ana? On Natalie''s cock? "What are you waiting for?" Natalie asked impatiently. "It wasn''t a suggestion. I don''t like repeating myself." Ana watched Sofia, curiously seeing whether she would obey. Her chest heaved up and down in excitement¡ªbut still, her face remained calm and collected. Well. Sofia had been given an order. With a shudder, she forced herself to move. She scooted forward on her knees until she was directly in front of Natalie and Ana''s joined bodies. Natalie''s cock filled her vision, Sofia''s eyes going crossed as she took it in. Ten inches of fat, throbbing girl dick, glistening with her other teammate''s wetness. And she was supposed to pleasure it. Sofia didn''t even consciously act. Her lips pressed into Natalie''s cocktip as she leaned forward, the intoxicating, heady smell luring her in. The taste of both women coated her tongue, and a pathetic groan escaped her as she kissed Natalie''s burning-hot cock head, her thoughts going white at the lewdness of what she was doing. It washed through her. Sucking another woman''s arousal off of her Master''s cock. What was she bing? Involving herself with Natalie and Jordan was one thing, but this? Pleasuring Natalie right in front of her whole team? And being so close to Ana¡ªher pussy only inches away. They were vague friends, of a sort, but really, they were closer to acquaintances than friends. She didn''t know Ana all that well. And yet she was tasting her wetness, smelling her pussy only a few inches away, and looking up her body and meeting her eyes as her lips were wrapped lewdly around another woman''s cock sticking from between her thighs. Sofia''s skin burned with embarrassment, but that, shamefully, only drove her arousal higher. Another groan escaped her as she drowned in the two women''s smell and taste. She felt dizzy. Sofia sucked, working her way lower down Natalie, and the taste of theirbined juices filled her mouth. Inch by inch, she cleaned Natalie''s length until her nose was pressed into the soft skin of Ana''s lower stomach. Her lips, wrapped around Natalie, and pressing into Ana''s lower stomach¡ªright above her pussy. Ana''s panties, dangling around her thighs, tickled Sofia''s chin. And most intoxicatingly, of course, Natalie''s cock, brushing against the back of her throat. Even sticking through Ana''s thighs, Natalie was almost big enough to slide into her throat. Unbelievable. Sofia looked up, feeling almost not there, not herself, like she was in a dream. She met Ana''s eyes. Then Natalie''s. Then back. Ana''s hand ventured forward but paused just above her head, hesitating there. "Can I touch you?" she murmured. "Go ahead," Natalie answered for Sofia. "She likes it." Sofia''s eyes fluttered closed, and she groaned around Natalie''s cock. She couldn''t exin the nearly violent shudder that went through her at that¡ªthe rudeness of what Natalie had just done. Deciding for her that Ana could touch. Treating her as property¡ªher pet, to be given permission for. It was so ... humiliating. She felt almost dizzy with shame. So much so that her thighs were growing wet. How was that fair? Ana''s hand slid gently into her hair, getting a grip on the back of her head. She tugged Sofia in gently, nuzzling Sofia''s lips even more firmly into her lower stomach, into Natalie''s cock. She bucked her hips forward, slightly, grinding against Sofia''s face and rubbing along Natalie''s cock at the same time. Sofia''s head spun as she took in the scent of Ana''s pussy, the taste of her, and of Natalie too. It was intoxicating, overwhelming¡ªsimply too much. Her face felt like it was melting with embarrassment. These two women were using her. She was just their toy, their sex pet, for them to y with as they desired. The thought was so shameful, and yet intoxicating in a way she couldn''t put into words. Why did she work like this? Why did the humiliation do so much to her? And how had Natalie known it would, so easily? Was she that easy to read? Slowly, with Sofia willingly allowing her mouth to be used as Natalie''s cocksleeve, the two girls worked into a rhythm. Natalie''s hands kept hold of Ana''s waist, and her hips rolled, sliding her cock in and out of Sofia''s mouth and between Ana''s thighs. Ana gyrated too, thrusting her pussy into Sofia''s upper lip, and pressing her pussy down on Natalie''s length as she ground into her. Pleasuring each other. Using Sofia, and each other. "You like that?" Natalie murmured, having eyes for only Sofia, leaning over Ana''s shoulder. "I can tell you do. You really are shameless, aren''t you? If only you could see yourself. That lewd face you''re making with your lips wrapped around my cock. You love being our toy, don''t you?" Natalie''s hand slipped down between Ana''s legs, rubbing Ana''s clit as they humped each other¡ªand Natalie, into Sofia''s mouth, who sat there obediently and let the back of her throat be bumped into, over and over, having to fight her gag reflex with each impact. Her head continued to go fuzzier and fuzzier, the room turning sweltering. Why did Natalie''s cock have such an effect on her? It was absurd how quickly she became drunk on this thing. She almost felt like she was close to falling apart herself, despite not having even been touched. How pathetic was that? Her eyes fluttered as she basked in the feeling of being used. Ana''s movements picked up speed. The girl groaned, hips starting to roll faster, more aggressively. Panting, her head fell back, breathing growing ragged. The hand between her legs worked faster, Natalie sensing Ana''s rising climax, rubbing at her partner''s clit to bring her closer to her peak. Her own hips thrust harder, pping into Ana''s ass and into Sofia''s mouth in a powerful, frantic rhythm, loud ps filling the air. Ana''s grip on the back of Sofia''s head kept her pinned forward, while Natalie''s other hand wrapped gently around Ana''s throat and tugged her in, pulling her head back into the crook of her shoulder, the two of them panting, moving together. Sofia sat there on her knees, dumbly, drunk on cock and the heat of the scene, on the sight of Natalie using Ana. And of being used herself. Being a good pet. An obedient sleeve to get off with. She was a ve to her own arousal as Natalie''s cock head pressed into her mouth with each thrust, feeling the silky flesh glide over her lips, her nose bumping into Ana''s desperately humping crotch. Then, with a sharp intake of breath, Ana tensed, her stomach muscles going taut as her eyes closed in pleasure¡ªperfectposure finally breaking. She whined in ce, squirming in orgasm as Natalie kept humping, sliding her fat cock between wet lips. The dull tattoo on Ana''s lower stomach came to life, glowing pink as the sound of Ana''s groans echoed through the room. Natalie fucked her through it, unrelenting, thrusting in and out and grunting as Ana''s thighs clenched down around her. Moments after Ana, she also groaned, and Sofia felt the cock in her mouth twitch. Her heart jumped into her throat, knowing what wasing. For the second time, Sofia got to experience hot, sticky strands of cum bursting into her. And this time, not straight down her throat, but into her mouth, coating her tongue with the salty substance. More and more came, and Sofia swallowed eagerly, basking in the vor of Natalie''s seed filling her. She drank it, trying to keep up. Natalie''s cock twitched again and again, her thick seeding out in huge spurts. It was almost too much¡ªand yet, also not enough. Sofia bobbed up and down as Natalie came apart, milking her cock dry with her lips and tongue, working desperately, her mind fuzzy with the need to have it all, to not leave even a drop inside her Master''s twitching length. Her hands dug into Ana''s thighs as she held on, using them for leverage to bob, her entire body tense with arousal as she let Natalie fill her, swallowing more and more of her seed. Then, finally, Natalie released Ana, who slumped forward, chest heaving with deep breaths. They separated, and Natalie''s cock slid free of her thighs. She gently pushed Ana to the side, then stepped up to Sofia, and with a gasp, Sofia found herself face to face with an angry-looking, veiny, spit-soaked cock¡ªbefore having it pped firmly down on her face. "Clean it, pet," Natalie demanded. Shamefully, Sofia didn''t hesitate. She opened her mouth, and Natalie grabbed her head and pushed in. Ten throbbing inches of girlcock slid down Sofia''s throat. She swallowed it eagerly, cleaning the lingering juices on Natalie''s cock as she bobbed her head¡ªjust happy to have the whole thing to herself. Natalie thrust several times, pping her lower stomach into Sofia''s face, violently cleaning her cock using her pet''s throat. When she was done, Natalie pulled out and patted Sofia on the cheek. She smirked down at her. "Good girl," she said. "You''re getting pretty good at that." Sofia shivered. The words washed through her. Natalie liked having Sofia pleasure her. That meant Sofia was doing a good job. That she was being a good pet. Why did that leave a glowing feeling in her stomach? After several moments of simply panting on her knees, Natalie held a hand out. Sofia took it and dizzily stood. Without wasting time, Natalie started pulling on her armor. Ana had also recovered and started to get herself situated. Going on with their day. Pretending that had all been ¡­ just a quick errand. Seeing them get dressed, reality crashed back down on Sofia. She looked at her two teammates who''d been watching. Liz was wearing, somehow, the reddest face out of everyone¡ªand her eyes were locked on Sofia, though she quickly nced away when Sofia faced her. Jordan didn''t, though. She was leaning into Liz''s shoulder, murmuring heavens knew what, and she grinned at Sofia when their eyes met. A jolt went through her, and Sofia forcibly got a hold of herself. She wiped her chin of saliva and cum, trying to orient her spinning head. Her thoughts still felt fuzzy. Her core throbbed with need, unfulfilled¡ªclose to climax, despite theck of stimtion. Natalie was seriously going to use her like that, so demeaning and demanding, then not even give back in return? Why did that turn her on instead of making her mad? What was wrong with her? And what in the world had she just done? Sure, Natalie had been ordering her around, and that was simply a necessity of the cor and their general arrangement, but that didn''t mean Sofia should have been so ¡­ enthusiastic about it all. Not in front of Liz and Ana. "E-Everyone ready, then?" Sofia asked, trying to soundposed¡ªbut she sounded flustered even to her own ears. "Now that all of that has been taken care of, we really should get going." She tried to act dismissive, like it had been a troublesome chore to take care of¡ªsince that was how Natalie and Ana were acting¡ªbut her breathing came raggedly, and she could barely get the sentence out. She wasn''t fooling anyone. What did Liz think of her, after that? Or Ana? Jordan and Natalie? And why did that concern squirm in her stomach, making arousal tingle through her body? Seriously. Something had to be wrong with her. This just wasn''t fair. 5.32 – Saviors 5.32 ¨C Saviors Leah had known it was a terrible idea to head down to the dungeon''s second floor. But like the rest of her team, their sess on the first had gotten to their heads. With weeks of no serious injuries, and Will and Adam even hitting level two, they''d thought themselves ready to take on the next jump in difficulty. Yes, each floor came with significant increases in danger, but if they took things slowly, then it couldn''t be that bad. Right? Leah and her team had been swiftly disabused of that notion. The increase in challenge was even greater than they''d expected. They did manage to clear a few encounters, creeping through the underground snow forest the second floor manifested as. But then the blizzard had picked up, making it impossible to see more than a dozen feet in any direction¡ªand then they''d been ambushed. By those monstrous ash-gray wolves, at least a dozen of them. When the chaos had settled, it was just Leah, Adam, Elliot, and Tracy remaining. Half of their team had disappeared into the blizzard. Not killed and left on the ground¡ªjust gone. Carried away, with thick snow wolf tracks leading through the forest. Vanished in the frenzy of the fight. Of the missing included Will, Leah''s brother. So she had understandably panicked. Of course, they''d followed the tracks¡ªwhich had led to a cave entrance. There was one thing keeping her from a full breakdown. The keys, arrayed on the outside of the cave''s yawning mouth, hung up by small, rusted iron chains. Four of them, each with a missing teammate''s name inscribed on the shaft of the respective item. Leah nor anyone else had any clue what that meant. But it was clear the dungeon had chosen to y games with them. Leah took refuge in the fact that it meant her brother probably wasn''t dead. Why have a key with his name on it, otherwise? But they still had to save them. To go into that cave and fight their way through¡ªor whatever else the dungeon had nned. And how were they supposed to do that? As a team of four? Even in a group of eight, things had been difficult. Hence why the wolves had overwhelmed them in the first ce. Their new harried party was only four strong, and that was a smaller party than even T students went in. And Leah and her group were hardly T students. "Well," Adam said eventually, the team having been staring at the cave entrance in silence. His voice was grim. "We ¡­ might have to cut our losses." Leah jolted. She turned to him. "What? You can''t be serious." "I''m not saying I want to. But what are the odds of us surviving, if we go in? The dungeon is toying with us. Trying to turn four casualties into eight, by baiting us into ¡­ this." He gestured at the ominous cave mouth. "With four people, it''d be idiocy to tackle a second-floor challenge." "So we abandon them?" Leah hissed. "My brother? Your friends?" "What are we supposed to do?" Adam asked calmly. "Throw our lives away? Because we aren''t thinking clearly?" Leah red at him. A small part of her acknowledged his argument¡ªand he didn''t look happy about the suggestion. He had a valid point. Casualties were the nature of the dungeon. After losing their previous encounter, this could just be bait leading all of them into certain death, rather than the catastrophic four they already had lost. The dungeon might be seeing if their loyalty overrode their good sense. The dungeon was cruel like that; everyone knew it. Would Leah even have agreed with Adam, had Will, her brother, not been part of the four missing? Elliot and Tracy nced between each other, looking torn¡ªsick with the dilemma they were in. As they all were. She spun away, rubbing her face furiously. "That assumes we can even find an exit," Leah said, trying to reason with them. "Maybe the ambush was so much more difficult than the other encounters because the dungeon wanted to force us into ¡­ this ''part two'' of the challenge, or whatever. To go into the cavern and try to find them. Maybe the encounters won''t be as difficult because of that. Easy enough for four people to handle." "I find that unlikely," Adam said. Leah did too. But it was a possibility. "So we''re just giving up?" she demanded. "Even if it''s the hard decision, leaving might be the only smart one." "I don''t care," Leah spat. "I''m not leaving Will." "We have to think about this clearly¡ª" Adam insisted. But he was interrupted halfway through. "Uh ¡­ guys?" Elliot said. Both of them turned to face the dark-haired boy, then at the patch of forest Elliot was staring at. "Do you hear that?" The team went silent, the snow-draped forest almost eerily quiet in the absence of their voices. Only wind whistling through pine leaves filled the air. Leah''s eyes flicked across the tree line as she strained to listen. It took only a moment to hear it. Shuffling. Crunching snow. Faint voices, in the not-so-far distance. Another party was approaching. Leah''s eyes went wide. It was just their luck. Another crisis. Not that another delving group necessarily meant a crisis, but it easily could. Down away from the surface, from the order ofw or any means of retribution in general, people''s true nature tended to reveal itself. Especially when nearly every person was carrying around some of the most valuable items they owned. Magical gear wasn''t cheap, even the worst of it. That was one of the biggest reasons why people came down into the dungeon in the first ce¡ªthe potential riches to be found. And what easier way to scoop up a bunch of loot than from another team? Leah''s party looked amongst each other, a mixture of emotions. They hissed out a brief, quiet argument on what to do. Whether to run, or stand their ground and hope for the best. It turned out they didn''t have much choice in the matter, since the sound of crunching snow slowed, then stopped. The other party was closer than Leah had assumed¡ªor had heard them sooner. "Who''s there?" a woman''s voice called out. Leah looked between her teammates one more time. Sneaking around or refusing to reply would only make them seem hostile. At this point, it was best to take their chances. "Hello?" Leah called back. "We''re over this way. Friendly?" "Friendly," the voice called back, though obviously, the im didn''t mean much. A handful of momentster, figures emerged from the dense pine trees and into the clearing holding the cave entrance. Leah ... blinked. It was a team of five highly equipped delvers,petent by the way they carried themselves, probably T students, immediate intuition told her. But that wasn''t what she focused on. Instead, it was what their front liner was wearing. Maybe the high tensions and stress of Leah''s situation made her doubly unprepared, but her brain nearly broke as she took the woman in. Short red hair, blue eyes, tall, with strong arms, and sporting a defined six-pack¡ªwhich was visible because of her choice of armor. Armor? Was that even the right word? Herrge breasts were squeezed in by tiny cups of metal, not even fully covering herself, and her stomach, arms, and thighs were also fully on disy. But most importantly, Leah''s eyes were drawn to the cup at her crotch. Holding in a bulge. A sizable bulge. On ... a woman? What? Did she have ¡­ one of those? Their mage was wearing something nearly as scandalous: robes with ribbons of fabric that barely covered both her chest and her crotch, and would certainly show far too much if the wind picked up. She held no visible weapon, which Leah might normally have noted as odd, but she was too focused on everything else. Even the rest of the team was dressed somewhat ... immodestly ...pared to a typical team. As if they''d gone out of their way to show as much skin as possible, for reasons unknown. Especially in a cold environment like this. Though the tank and the mage were by far the most brazen. Seriously¡ªwhat in the world? The red-haired woman carried herself confidently, expression cautious but unconcerned as she sized up the four of them. She wielded an enormous two-handed hammer, which rested face-down in the snow, her hand wrapped around the wide shaft. How did she swing that thing around? A skill, certainly, unless these five were much higher level than she assumed, for being on the second floor of the dungeon. "Hey," the woman said in a casual greeting, far more unconcerned with the situation than Leah''s tense team was. "You all from T?" 5.33 – Saviors II 5.33 ¨C Saviors II Realizing she was staring, Leah jolted, her eyes flicking up to meet the stranger''s¡ªaway from that metal cup. That sizable cup. Between a woman''s legs. To her side, Elliot gave one slow whistle, vocalizing Leah''s¡ªand probably everyone''s¡ªthoughts on their new arrivals. Adam elbowed him hard, to which Elliot let out a little oomph, then stiffened when he realized what he''d done. Leah sympathized, at least with how he''d been unable to control his initial reaction. The squad of five was ¡­ quite the sight. Slowly, she forced her brain to start working again. What had the woman asked? "T?" Leah repeated dumbly. "No. We''re not from T." The question confirmed that their party was, though. It felt a bit ridiculous that Leah and her squad could ever be mistaken for a T team. They didn''t look the part, where this team very much did, based on the quality of their gear¡ªor just the way they carried themselves. Even if the gear was ¡­ rather strange. "But we''re not independents either. Ether Deep." The woman tilted her head. She obviously didn''t recognize the name. Leah couldn''t say she was surprised. "It''s a non-sanctioned academy." Top delvers like the ones from T tended to be in their own little world. That they didn''t recognize smaller schools came as no shock. "You five are T, then?" she asked, just to make sure. "Yeah. First years." Leah''s brain slowly started to catch up. To make the conclusions she should already have if she hadn''t been so flustered from the catastrophe earlier. And the very strange attire of the T squad. Leah wasn''t necessarily happy to have run into them, but all things considered, it was good news. It meant Leah and her team weren''t in as much danger. Why would a T squad rob them? Even at first nce, she could tell they were fully geared out. There might be some profit to be made, but not much, not by the standards of T students. It wouldn''t be worth the effort. Plus, their Academy had a reputation to maintain. While mostly unenforceable, delver-against-delverbat was illegal. Laws still applied down in the dungeon. Just, they were more for show than anything, because how could they be enforced? Most T students wouldn''t risk the trouble for such a paltry reward. Then, another realization hit her. Not only was their arrival not another disasterpounding upon their first ... but maybe Leah and her team had found salvation through random chance. Had they found someone who could help? Leah dismissed the idea as soon as it urred. These were T students. Why would they care? Those rich bastards never concerned themselves with anything besides what directly benefited them. But, then again, just maybe ... There was a chance? Leah tried to squash down the hope blooming in her chest. But after despairing over her brother''s kidnapping and Adam''s maybe even justified suggestions to cut their losses and save their own lives, the other squad''s arrival was a beaming ray of light. She couldn''t fight away the anxious hopefulness that surged in her. Leah nced sideways at her three teammates, then took an idental step toward the other group in her sudden eagerness. The red-haired woman''s eyes flicked to her, though she didn''t seem concerned by the sudden movement. "We, um¡ª" Leah started, her head spinning, talking without having organized her thoughts properly. "We just got out of an ambush. Where we lost half our team. Four of them." The woman blinked in surprise. To be fair, Leah''s words hade out of nowhere, without them even finishing proper introductions. But Leah continued, the words tumbling from her. It was possible salvation. Unlikely. But possible. "There were these wolves," Leah said. "Stronger than they should''ve been. We didn''t stand a chance. And they only dragged four of us away, despite that they could''ve taken us all. Then there were these keys." She gestured behind herself, at the cave entrance¡ªthe chains hanging on the sides, where the keys had been attached. "With their names on them. One each. We think the dungeon is baiting us to go inside. It''s a two-part encounter of some kind. Probably suicide. But my brother''s in there. We can''t just leave them, but there''s also only four of us." Leah breathed in. She realized she was rambling, but she couldn''t help herself. "We could pay you, maybe? To help? With our gear? I guess it''s not much if you''re from T. But it''s something." Leah looked to her side, at her teammates, who nodded quickly in agreement¡ªeven Adam. He wasn''t a bad person for having suggested they save themselves. Just a pragmatist. He was more than willing to trade what they had if it meant helping them; he hadn''t even hesitated at the idea, despite Leah not talking it out beforehand. "And maybe Ether Deep would also give you some kind of reward?" Though Leah didn''t feel too hopeful about that one. "Okay," the woman said, raising both hands¡ªleaving her warhammer sitting in the snow. "Start from the beginning. And I''m Natalie. We didn''t get your names." Leah gathered her thoughts. They traded names and brief introductions, as requested. Then Leah exined what had happened in a less rambling way. Afterward, she fielded questions from the T party. A frown grew on Natalie''s face as Leah detailed everything. When she''d finished, Natalie faced Jordan¡ªtheir team''s dark-haired rogue¡ªand shared a concerned look with her. She faced back to Leah. "Give us a second, please," Natalie said. Leah nodded. The party of five walked a short distance away, discussing the development amongst each other, each of them shooting asional looks toward Leah and her team. Leah watched anxiously, slowly resigning herself as the seconds ticked by. Even all of their gear wouldn''t make a great payment to a group of T students, hence why Leah hadn''t been all that concerned with them being robbed. Even more relevant, why would they risk their lives walking into a potential trap? Because the dungeon dangling their kidnapped teammates in front of them was definitely a trap of unknown threat level. And Leah and her team were strangers, not even other T students, so why would they care in the slightest? People died down in the dungeon all the time. When Natalie finally faced back to Leah, Leah had braced herself for the inevitable answer. "Okay," Natalie said. "Obviously, we''re going to help. And we''re not taking your gear for it. We''re not assholes." The words didn''t quite make sense. "But," Natalie said, seeming awkward. "We don''t want to share experience, either, if that''s fine. So can you guys just follow behind us? We don''t want four more people to split it with." Leah stared. Natalie cleared her throat. "Sorry, we know that''s kind of rude. But we''re rushing for level three. T''spetitive." Leah stared some more. Their only condition was that they wanted to make the trap even riskier? By turning down their help and doing it alone? T students ¡­ were really something else. "T-That''s fine," Adam stammered out, finding his voice where Leah couldn''t. "That''s, uh, yeah, no problem." "Perfect," Natalie said, seeming relieved. She hefted up her warhammer, resting it on her shoulder. "Well, clock''s ticking, it sounds like. We shouldn''t waste time. Though, they''ll be fine, I promise. The dungeon made those keys for a reason. It''s kind of a jerk sometimes, but usually somewhat fair." "Hopefully there''s a boss at the end," Sofia, the white-haired fighter¡ªwith a cor around her neck?¡ªadded. "This seems like that type of situation. Lucky us. I thought we weren''t going to find one today." A boss? They would be lucky to find a boss? Leah and her team, and most squads, avoided them like the gue. Sure, bosses came with guaranteed loot at the end, often better than average, but the risk wasn''t remotely worth it. Yeah. Leah was certain now. T students werepletely insane. 5.34 – Carnal Boss 5.34 ¨C Carnal Boss A bit dumbly, Leah and her party followed behind the T students as they¡ªwith seemingly no concern whatsoever¡ªset off into the sprawling cave mouth. The snow-covered terrain of the dungeon''s second-floor forest was quickly reced with the dark stone of a cave system. Piles of ash covered the floor, alongside decaying bones, the prey of those monstrous wolves that had attacked them. It didn''t take long for those exact beasts to emerge. Where Leah and her team had struggled to defend themselves against their vicious ws and teeth, the T delvers were barely fazed. All five moved with practiced efficiency, making short work of the snarling monsters. Their tank, Natalie, was especially entrancing to watch. She swung her mountainous warhammer around like it weighed nothing at all, batting wolves wherever stone met flesh, tossing them like ragdolls. Leah almost wondered why this team was even on the second floor. From how fluidly they handled the encounters, couldn''t they be on the third? Were they even level-two delvers, for that matter? Or level three? Higher, even? Deeper and deeper they winded into the cavern, Leah and her party following behind the T students, the whole situation feeling a bit surreal, watching just how effortless the expedition seemed to them. They barely even needed to catch their breath between fights¡ªas soon as one ended, and they checked that everyone was fine, they continued on. At one point, the team stopped to mine a vein of iron ore embedded into the cave walls, which Leah had briefly felt like protesting¡ªthey didn''t know how much time their teammates had¡ªbut theint dried up, considering the sheer speed they were already working at, and the benevolence of their aid in the first ce. The brief mining break was its own perplexing event, since Jordan had teased Natalie about how she ''should still put her mining skills to good use'', and that there was no ''need to be shy'', which had drawn a blush from the red-haired girl and some hurried shushing. Leah wondered what all of that was about, and why someone would be shy about mining skills, but she expected she wouldn''t be getting any answers. Soon enough, they arrived at what could only be a boss chamber: an arched doorway with runes inscribed into each stone block. The entrance led deeper into a curved hallway, but they paused outside it. Leah briefly considered insisting that she and her party help Natalie with the boss encounter since if they failed, it meant their friend''s lives were also forfeit. But, again, her argument dried up before she even voiced it. Because if they''d made such short work of the regr monsters of the cavern, the boss monster might pose some difficulty and even incur some injuries in the worst case, but a team wipe? It didn''t seem usible. And the team''s one request had been to keep the experience and loot to themselves. So after briefly conferring with each other, and after Leah passed over the four keys with her teammates'' names on them¡ªshe suspected they would be found somewhere inside that climactic chamber¡ªshe watched the five T students walk, unconcerned, through the arched doorway, headed for a boss fight. *** Natalie sighed a quick breath of relief as they put the other group of delvers behind her. It had felt pretty weird, being followed around and watched as they cleared the dungeon. Especially considering her state of dress: the totalck of modesty her armor afforded her. Natalie had known about the possibility of bumping into other people in the dungeon, but still, she wasn''t ustomed to the scantily d armor¡ªmuch less other people ogling her not-so-subtly in it. Natalie couldn''t even really me them for how many times she had caught them looking. The armor was basically designed to force people''s eyes across her body. She was doubly thankful they hadn''t insisted on joining them in the boss chamber, since it would''ve ruined their goal today. Their use of the [Erotite Arrow]. Obviously, Natalie had no intentions of fucking a boss monster in front of another group of delvers. Even in front of her own team, the idea was rather embarrassing. Though the event with Ana earlier had warmed her up to that particr inevitability, at least. She set all of those thoughts aside as she strode through the arched entrance. The dungeon was as deadly as ever, and she couldn''t afford distractions. Especially when she wasn''t fighting for her own team but another one entirely, today. The four missing individuals worried her. She agreed with Leah''s appraisal that the keys probably meant they were alive. But like always, the dungeon couldn''t truly be relied upon. They very well might be dead, the keys simply taunting them deeper, however much Natalie had assured them otherwise. An enormous cavern opened around them as they walked deeper in. Like the rest of the sub-dungeon, bones, ash, and jagged rocks littered their surroundings. A cave-dwelling, a home for the vicious wolves they''d killed so many of. One structure broke the natural surroundings, positioned directly in their path, a centerpiece of the boss chamber. A throne of carved dark gray stone jutted out at the far end of the cavern. To either side of it sat wolves as least twice asrge as any they''d seen so far, with midnight ck fur and glowing orange eyes. Then, the main event itself. Seated in the throne, legs crossed and recliningzily against the armrest, sat the two wolves'' apparent master: a woman with angr, predatory features and orange eyes even more vibrant than herpanions''. Humanoid, but far from human, she was half-wolf and half-woman. Her limbs ended with paws for both feet and hands, and her gray skin was covered with ck armor. She wore an expression of veiled, predatory excitement, the attention of her orange eyes sharpening on Natalie as she and her party walked deeper into the cavern. [Hellhound - Lv. 2] Her status read the same as the actual wolves. That was interesting. "Jackpot?" Jordan murmured to Natalie. "She''s mostly human, at least." "It''s the best we''ll get," Natalie murmured back. They were unsure how the [Erotite Arrow] would work when it came to creating a ''Carnal Boss'', but they''d chosen to err on the side of safety. In case it didn''te with any transformation, Natalie would rather not have to fuck a real monster. That would be ¡­ weird. Reaching the center of the cavern, Natalie and her team came to a stop. Neither the two enormous wolves nor the woman on the throne showed any intention to move. Most bosses began the fight themselves¡ªbut it seemed this time, they were given a brief moment of calm. The opportunity to act first. Natalie wondered whether that was another signal the dungeon wanted them to hurry up and use the erotite arrow. "Shall I, then?" Jordan asked. Natalie eyed the woman and her two wolves for a moment longer. Then, she shrugged. "Go ahead, I guess." Jordan eased her bow into her hand, moving slowly and non-threateningly¡ªin case a sudden movement would prompt the fight to begin. She nocked the pink-tipped arrow and pulled the string back, keeping the weapon pointed at the floor. "However this works," Jordan said. "We''re probably going to be down Natalie, while she handles the boss. So it''ll be us four against the wolves. I''ll take the attention of one, Sofia, you the other?" Sofia grunted in agreement. "Shouldn''t be a problem. The boss is the real challenge. We can handle two add-ons, even if we''re suboptimal front liners." "Then, is everyone ready?" At a series of nods, Jordan moved. Natalie barely even registered it. Jordan had raised her bow and loosed the arrow before Natalie recognized she had acted. Jordan, as the team''s rogue, had always excelled with matters of finesse and aim. The fragile pink projectile streaked through the air before mming into the exposed neck of the humanoid boss¡ªa perfect hit, before anyone had time to blink. 5.35 – Ranked Competitive Sex 5.35 ¨C Ranked Competitive Sex The arrow hit the [Hellhound] square in the neck, then shattered. Cracks of pink energy splintered across the woman''s figure before she, suddenly, exploded in a burst of pink light¡ªa sh bright enough to make Natalie wince and look away. Blinking away the spots in her eyes, she quickly refocused, not willing to be caught by surprise. Her vision slowly came back. There, sitting on the throne, was a [Hellhound] transformed into a Carnal Boss. Despite some suspicions, Natalie hadn''t known for certain whether the arrow woulde with a physical transformation, hence her concern over which boss to use it on. It turned out that had been unnecessary. The already human-like [Hellhound] had changed. Into¡­ Well. The [Hellhound] resembled its previous form, with thick, wild, long ck hair, glowing orange eyes, paw-like hands and feet, and dark gray skin, but the harder, more monstrous edges had been sanded away. The animal-like eyes and general vicious physiognomy had been reced with something far more ¡­ ptable. In terms of, well, humanpatibility. She''d gained a few curves, to put it lightly. Her breasts had swelled out, her hips had gotten wider, and her abs were now firmly on disy¡ªbecause even the ck armor she''d been wearing had changed to be more revealing. In short, where there had been a monstrous [Hellhound], only verging on humanlike, now stood a much more human, much more ¡­ Well, to be in about it. Fuckable [Hellhound]. Likely, that was how any use of the arrow would have worked. So Natalie and her team had wasted time tracking down an appropriate target. Unfortunately, too, Natalie noticed, the arrow had shattered upon contact. It was single-use. Though possibly not thest she saw of them. Natalie would have to see if Shara could replicate the item. Or perhaps more woulde as future rewards. The strangest part of everything, though, was the Hellhound''s reaction. Her newly acquired humanness was most visible through her expression: the way glowing orange eyes widened in shock, and how she looked down at herself, then up at Natalie and her team, surprise etched onto her features. For a long moment, they simply had a staring match: both frozen in surprise, either party unsure of how to react. "Hmph," the Hellhound finally said, her surprise fading to be reced with ¡­ amusement, almost? She stoodzily, hands going to her hips as she looked down at Natalie''s party¡ªJordan in particr, perhaps because she had fired the arrow¡ªwith a nearly arrogant demeanor. "So. That''s the sort of challenge I have in store, today?" Talking monsters weren''t unheard of, but the words still sent a little jolt through Natalie. It was simply strange, hearing monsters talk. How sapient were these creatures, anyway? Even as a baseline, before a transformation like this? Communicating with the more intelligent dungeon creatures was all but an impossibility, as far as Natalie knew, with never more than a few sentences exchanged before it turned into a fight to the death. But bizarrely, this time, it almost seemed like the Hellhound was waiting for a response. Actually opening a dialogue with them, rather than a few poignant threats beforeunching intobat. Seeing how her orange eyes had fallen on Jordan, Natalie took an instinctive step to the side, cing herself between the Hellhound and Jordan. The arrow''s description said that only a single person could engage the Carnal Boss, but it didn''t say the person who fired the arrow had to be that person. Seeing how Natalie''s aim was atrocious, she had left the task to Jordan. But Jordan wouldn''t be the one actually ¡­ well, engaging, whatever that meant. "Oh?" the Hellhound asked, eyes easily settling on Natalie. "You, instead?" She snorted. "It''s not like it matters. It''ll be a swift defeat no matter who you send." The continued dialogue put Natalie further off guard. "Can you ¡­ understand us?" she asked slowly. "Understand you? What kind of stupid question is that, human?" Okay. Yeah. That was an actual response. Speaking monsters weren''t extraordinarily rare¡ªlike the dryad¡ªbut one that replied? That would hold a conversation? It was definitely a first for Natalie. In her shock, Natalie failed to find a response. The Hellhound snorted, then pointedly ran her eyes up and down Natalie¡ªsnagging briefly between her legs, at the cup of metal there. "Fighting like that, though," the Hellhound said. "Hmph. A strange task to be given. But I suppose I won''t mind making you my mate. You''re easy on the eyes. And have a few surprises, too, it seems." A wolfish grin spread across her lips. Natalie''s heart beat faster, half at the truly sapient nature of the Hellhound, and half at ¡­ the words themselves. The implication of what wasing. There was a truly predatory look in her eyes, too. Whatever this encounter was going to be, it was a level-two boss. It wouldn''t be easy. "So,e y, won''t you?" the Hellhound finished, a hand leaving her hip to point yfully¡ªyet menacingly at the same time¡ªat Natalie. "I''m excited to see what you can do. Though, it certainly won''t be enough to beat me." She curled the finger forward, gesturing e-hither''. And thus, the fight began. The entire cavern rumbled. Some unexpected force seized Natalie, yanking her forward with enormous strength¡ªsending her flying in an uncontrolled stumble toward the Hellhound, and she barely kept a grip on her hammer. The moment Natalie was within a ten-foot range of the boss, the earth split beneath their feet, and a tform fifteen feet wide started to raise in the center of the cavern. Either of the enormous wolves to the boss''s throne howled, raising onto their feet and¡ªin a burst of speed¡ªcharged toward the rest of Natalie''s team, which Natalie had been separated from. nned or not, Natalie''s heart skipped in concern. But she had to trust her teammates could handle themselves. It shouldn''t be too bad. The real boss, as Sofia had mentioned, Natalie had to deal with. The other four just had to handle the two add-ons. Stumbling to keep her footing, Natalie quickly got her bearings. The elevated tform was well off the ground, at least ten feet tall, creating a private arena for her and the Hellhound. It afforded some privacy for whatever wasing¡ªwhich was unexpected. Natalie had been ready to go at it in full view of everyone. Having steadied herself, the Hellhound walked toward Natalie with an exaggerated sway of her hips. Excitement gleamed in her orange eyes, and Natalie wasn''t sure whether it was lust or bloodlust. Maybe both. Stopping only a few feet away, the woman dropped suddenly into abat stance, arms held up and feet spread. Her muscles tensed¡ªand Natalie''s did too. She gripped her hammer tight, readying herself¡ªthough she was also confused by the aggressive posturing. Wasn''t this supposed to be, well, not a regr fight? By the woman''s position, Natalie was suddenly doubting that. Natalie might have misread the situation, or at least assumed a few things incorrectly. "Just don''t submit too fast," the Hellhound said. "That makes it boring." The wolf-girl shot forward, ck hair streaming behind her, orange eyes zing maniacally. 5.36 – Ranked Competitive S*x II 5.36 ¨C Ranked Competitive S*x II So. Apparently Natalie wasn''t going to fuck the boss for dominance. She had assumed that would be the case, because¡ªwell. Carnal Boss. What else would it mean? She didn''t get to contemte the misunderstanding for long. With a second-level boss streaking toward her, fist pulled back as she readied herself to deliver a devastating punch, Natalie could only worry about one thing. The fight. Surviving it. Heaving her hammer forward, she swung the massive block of stone in a vicious arc at the Hellhound, intending to meet the surge of movement with her own. But even the quarter-second dy born from her surprise meant she was a hair too slow. The Hellhound dipped beneath the attack, barely avoiding it, then rocketed back up, crashing her fist into Natalie''s stomach. A burst of me apanied the blow, heat licking across her exposed skin. Natalie grunted, staggering several steps backward with the force of the attack. But something strange happened: it wasn''t painful. Nor did she feel her HP dip. While HP was an enigmatic force, she could usually feel, in a vague sense, how healthy the resource was¡ªhow healthy she was. But the attack hadn''t left her even slightly worse for wear. Not even in a mundane way; her stomach didn''t ache. It was as if she hadn''t been hit at all. She doubted it was because the Hellhound''s blow had simply been so insignificant. Something else was going on. A suspicion that was confirmed shortly. Steadying herself, a symbol blinked into existence above her opponent''s head: the outline of a heart, filling up from the bottom with pink light. As if the Hellhound''s attack had increased some hidden gauge, rather than hurting Natalie. What in the world was going on? Where the Hellhound apparently intuited the rules of this game simply from having been transformed, Natalie was fumbling around in the dark. Regardless of the specifics being unknown, though, the current goal was simple. Fight. And win. The Hellhound followed her initial punch with a rapid step forward then a vicious kick. She was clearly a martial artist of some kind. Natalie hadn''t fought many of those during T spars, with most students wielding weapons. The only reason to not have one would be if one''s ss facilitated otherwise. But she had some experience, at least. Experience or not, it was difficult dealing with a close-range style when Natalie herself was handling a supremely cumbersome hammer easily seven feet long. In a split-second decision, Natalie released her grip on her hammer. Even with her skills making the weapon more effective, her current circumstances prevented her from using it well. Natalie caught the Hellhound''s leg, then, grunting, swung, tossing her off bnce. The Hellhound clearly hadn''t expected the maneuver. She went tumbling sideways,nding back-first on the ground with a hard ''oomph''. Re-grabbing her hammer, Natalie quickly mmed it down, the giant block of stone hurtling for the Hellhound like a meteor. But while Natalie had been fast, she hadn''t been fast enough: the Hellhound recovered, rolling to the side, and Natalie''s hammer crashed impotently down where she''d been a second earlier, splintering stone. The two of them locked eyes for a moment, Natalie''s hammer embedded into the floor, and the Hellhound lying on her back, looking up at her. She grinned, orange eyes wild. Natalie hefted her hammer, reorienting herself and getting her brain fully into gear for the uing fight. The Hellhound leaped back to her feet in a coordinated, effortless manner. The heart symbol above her head was still one-fifth full of pink light. But now, another symbol had appeared to join it: a shield, which had only a trickle of silver light, perhaps one-twentieth filled. "What are those?" Natalie asked warily, keeping her distance. The Hellhound had, thankfully, not immediately rushed her after recovering. Natalie got the feeling she had just been testing her out¡ªgetting a feel for her. By the grin, the Hellhound liked what she''d found. Natalie sympathized; she also lusted for a good fight. They were kindred souls in that regard. "What are what?" the Hellhound asked. "The symbols. Above your head." The Hellhound paused, then tilted her head. Her wolf ear twitched, as if agitated, interested, or¡ªwhatever twitching wolf ears meant. "These are your abilities, human. How do you not know them?" "They''re not mine. It was an arrow. An item dropped by the dungeon." The Hellhound snorted. "It''s still the fault of your patron. Her influence, your ss, it''s all the same." "My patron?" The Hellhound knew about that? Was it confirmation, then, about that theory? Or just the dungeon again feeding information that may or may not be false through one of its monsters? "Yes, your patron," the Hellhound scoffed impatiently, bushy wolf tail swishing in annoyance. "You reek of her. Her aspect all but drips from you." "What are you talking about?" The Hellhound settled back into abat stance, posturing to rush forward again. "Wait! What do the symbols mean, at least?" For a moment, Natalie didn''t think she would answer. Why would she? The tactically correct move would be to leave Natalie in the dark. Why help her by giving her knowledge on how the fight worked? But that wasn''t the mindset the Hellhound had, apparently, because after a second, the Hellhound sighed irritably and replied. "It''s how close you''ve gotten to a guard break. And how close your guard is to being broken." "Huh?" "Are you serious, human?" "Apparently, you got an instruction manual! I didn''t." Natalie appreciated the woman was even humoring her questions. She didn''t expect that wouldst long. The wolfgirl seemed antsy to get back to the action. The Hellhound huffed. "When I break your guard," she said, impatience growing by the second, "I''ll have an opportunity to make you submit. The fight ends when one of us chooses to lose. To be the other''s mate. Willingly." "¡­ Really?" So, there was the exnation for the ''Carnal'' part of a ''Carnal Boss''. The heart symbol represented Natalie''s nearness to guard-break. The shield, how far through her opponent''s guard she had worked. The heart was notably more filled up because Natalie had taken a more severe hit; she''d only caught the Hellhound''s leg and tossed her, so the shield was far less full. Natalie digested that. The whole, ''create an opportunity to make her submit''. "You''re ¡­ okay with all of that?" Natalie asked. The Hellhound tilted her head. "Okay with it?" "You know," Natalie said. "This type of fight? Both parts of it?" Seeing exactly how sapient this woman was, Natalie kind of had to ask the question, to settle her own concerns. For obvious reasons, transforming a boss and then fighting to dominate her¡ªboth physically and then sexually, apparently¡ªwas a bit of a disorienting situation to be in. The Hellhound stared at her. "What?" Natalie shifted in ce."I just wanted to make sure." "Are you asking if I want to be mated by you?" "Uh," Natalie said, her face heating up. "Maybe not exactly that." She hadn''t ever expected to find herself awkward about a boss fight, but here it was happening. "Not me, specifically. But all of this, in a general sense." For a long moment, the Hellhound looked at Natalie incredulously. Then, abruptly, sheughed. "It doesn''t matter if I am or not. It''s the nature of the encounter given to me. My assignment." A grin slowly split her face, showcasing sharp canines. "But, if you have to know, I''m not displeased. It''s a more interesting task than what I''m usually given. I''ve already told you¡ªI''m looking forward to making you submit." The grin grew. "And you are in return, I can tell. It''s in your eyes. The lust. You really are one of hers, aren''t you?" Well. That was a relief. The Hellhound really did seem to be fine with all of this, strange as it was. And she had a point: Natalie was also excited. About the whole, forcing her opponent to submit part, maybe not as much. That was kind of weird. But fucking? Natalie was rarely against that, when it involved beautiful women. "Now, enough talking," the Hellhound growled, her amusement disappearing in an instant. Her tail swished as she crouched, muscles growing tense, bracing herself to rush forward. "It''s time for action, human." 5.37 – Ranked Competitive S*x III 5.37 ¨C Ranked Competitive S*x III The fight started again, and this time, Natalie was ready. The Hellhound shot forward, but Natalie responded instantly. She hefted her hammer upward, then brought it down in a crushing arc. The Hellhound dodged to the side, but Natalie anticipated the movement. She curved her weapon''s momentum to the side, pivoting from her waist, predicting the direction the wolf-girl would dodge¡ªand her prediction held true. The block of stone caught the woman right in the shoulder. The Hellhound grunted as she was flung to the side. Natalie might have difficultynding blows considering her cumbersome weapon, but when she did, they held power. Far more than the Hellhound''s, even. The wolfgirl nearly flew through the air, in a trajectory that would have taken her careening off the rtively small elevated arena. But something odd happened¡ªshe mmed into the empty air, a ripple of pink light coursing around the impact area. Like she''d hit a force field of some kind. Enclosing them in, preventing Natalie, or her opponent, from leaving. As the arrow had said, this was a one-on-one. An enforced one. There was no way off the tform until one of them won. The Hellhound rolled across the ground and quickly regained her footing, dodging Natalie''s follow-up swing. She retreated back, her orange eyes shing with excitement. She grinned at Natalie, then charged her again. Natalie swung her weapon to meet her. This time, Natalie failed to make contact. The Hellhound ducked beneath the attack, then swept out Natalie''s legs with her own, sending Natalie tumbling to the ground. She grunted, rolling to avoid the Hellhound''s stomp, and recovered by leaping back up to her feet and re-grabbing her hammer. Natalie didn''t have time to raise her weapon in defense before a flurry of punches mmed into her¡ªthe blowsing faster than she could track. Little bursts of orange me apanied each punch, licking across her bare skin. Natalie grunted with each hit as she tried to escape from the onught. It was strange, the experience of being punched in this type of duel¡ªnot painful, the magic governing thebat muting all real damage, but she felt the power behind the attacks nheless. The blows kepting, relentless, forcing her further back with each strike. The barrage culminated with a final hit that sent Natalie staggering, almost losing grip on her hammer. She kept her footing, but only barely. "Still standing?" the Hellhound asked, panting as she retreated¡ªthe barrage having clearly been a skill that had winded her. "You really are strong. Not nearly as strong as me, but you won''t be embarrassing to make into my mate, I suppose." Natalie''s eyes flicked up to the two symbols floating above the wolfgirl''s head. The heart was two-thirds full of pink light, and the shield nearly halfway. That meant she was losing. Not by much, but still losing. Her slip-up from earlier, her surprise and slow reactions to begin the fight, had cost her. She needed to perform at her best if she wanted to win. What did a loss even entail? Seeing how fast the heart was filling up, she doubted it was outright defeat, then and there. Maybe this encounter was broken up into rounds? Or phases? A roundhouse kick was rocketing toward her before Natalie could finish processing the thoughts. Natalie brought her hammer''s shaft up in time to block it. The force of the blow still sent her staggering away. The Hellhound followed up with an elbow strike, which Natalie negated with [Hunker Down]. She quickly canceled the skill, and the opening created gave her the opportunity to deliver her own harsh kick forward, which hit the woman''s stomach and sent her stumbling back. She didn''t lose her footing, though, and immediately rushed forward to meet her again. They exchanged a series of blows, and when they separated, Natalie''s eyes flicked up to the symbols. The heart barely had a sliver of pink left. The shield, a full twenty-five percent left. It seemed Natalie would be finding out what a ''guard break'' meant, and not in her favor. The margins of this fight were too close against the level two boss. Even trying to misdirect the Hellhound with a few clever illusions couldn''t help Natalie close the gap. Her earlier missteps had been too crucial. The next exchange resulted in a vicious jab from the Hellhound that hit Natalie square in the stomach¡ªand sent her tumbling across the stone floor, into the arena''s wall, the blow stronger than it should have been. The heart filled up with pink light, then pulsed once in a bright sh. Natalie felt the fight go out of her. She copsed onto the ground, her muscles going suddenly limp. Her hammer ttered uselessly to her side. She stared at it in shock. Despite trying to urge her limbs to move again, for her to scramble for her hammer and resume the fight, she couldn''t. So. That was what a guard-break did. Rendered her unable to continue. And apparently, using some intuition, vulnerable to her opponent''s whims. The Hellhound took a few slow steps forward, looking down at Natalie as she advanced, face smug with her victory in round one. "You''re surprisingly fast, for swinging that huge thing around. And those illusions are irritating. A coward''s tool, in my opinion, but I won''t hold that against you. We get what we get." The grin widened into something predatory. "But now, for the next few minutes, you''re mine. I wonder what I''ll do with you?" Again, Natalie tried to stand, but her body refused to cooperate. She felt herself flush in embarrassment¡ªand other feelings she couldn''t quite identify, being slumped on the ground, unable to resist even if she wanted to. This was what she''d explicitly signed up for, using the arrow. And indeed, she''d been the one to initiate the encounter. But still. Her heart started to race at the total helplessness inflicted onto her by the guard-break status. The Hellhound stopped in front of her, then knelt down, cupping her chin and forcing her to meet her zing orange eyes. At the excitement so obvious there, Natalie''s heart really started to m. "I''m going to enjoy this," the Hellhound purred. "But probably not as much as you." Her hand released Natalie''s chin, then slid teasingly down Natalie''s neck, then stomach, to finally stop at the strand of leather attaching the metal cup of her lower armor. Undoing the sp there, she slid the covering off¡ªexposing Natalie''s quickly stiffening cock, which sprung out from beneath the metal te to meet the cool air. The Hellhound grinned wide as she saw it. "A weapon to rival your other hammer. How poetic." The Hellhound stood. Smirking down at Natalie, she raised a fur-covered foot and gently lowered it down onto Natalie''s cock. Soft, short ck fur rubbed into her cock as the Hellhound pressed down, squashing her sensitive member against her stomach. A groan was forcibly extracted from her, the sensation sending a wave of pleasure crashing through Natalie. "That''s a nice noise," the Hellhound said. "Keep making them for me, won''t you?" Natalie opened her mouth to respond¡ªbut another groan came out instead as the Hellhound pressed her foot down harder, grinding Natalie''s cock into her abs. Her eyes rolled back from the sensation. It felt too good, almost better than it should. And not just because of Natalie''s arousal, the anticipation which she''d been trying to ignore, but perhaps because of the guard break itself. Was it making her more sensitive, too? More vulnerable to the Hellhound''s advances? She supposed that made sense. It was in the name: guard break. "Look at you," the Hellhound said, slowly rubbing her foot up and down Natalie''s length, stroking her with a firm pressure. "Already so eager to submit? Aren''t you embarrassed to be stepped on like this? To be making those noises? You''re squirming like a bitch in heat. For my foot. How lewd." "I¡ªI¡ª" Natalie started, but the half-formed sentence cut off with another moan as the Hellhound leaned more of her weight onto Natalie''s cock. Her member was already throbbing with need, pre-cum dripping onto her stomach. The Hellhound worked her foot up higher, then rolled her cockhead around between her toes, smearing the liquid around. She deftly massaged, her long w-like nails scraping slightly across Natalie''s stomach. The sensation of her aching cock being caressed by the woman''s foot was nearly too much to resist. It was insane how sensitive she felt. And the strangeness of the woman''s half-human nature also made the event strangely even more erotic. Her mostly human, half-foot half-paw with long ck wolfish w-nails. She fought her building ecstasy with everything she had. It was the only resistance she could muster. Above the Hellhound''s head, the pink heart drained slowly of light, ticking down how long Natalie would be in thispromised state, but it wasn''t even a third empty. She had a lot longer to suffer through. Suffer through. That wasn''t the right word, considering the bliss washing through her. It felt so good. And Natalie had been looking forward to it from the start. She could hardly lie to herself and say she hadn''t been. The Hellhound grinned down at her, clearly enjoying making Nataliee apart. For a while, she simply continued grinding Natalie''s cock between her foot and her stomach, asionally pressing down hard enough to make Natalie whine. Soon, though, the Hellhound grew bored of just that. She knelt down between Natalie''s legs and, leaning forward, she lined the bottom of her breasts¡ªwhich were squeezed in tight by her cupped metal bra, a design not that dissimr from Natalie''s own armor¡ªto Natalie''s cock head. "You were staring at these, even when we were fighting," the Hellhound purred. "You must like them." She slid her breasts down, pushing Natalie''s cock up between them, her sensitive member slowly being smothered by soft flesh, before popping out the top. "Maybe you''ll like them even more, up close. Let''s find out." 5.38 – Ranked Competitive S*x IV 5.38 ¨C Ranked Competitive S*x IV Leaning on one elbow, Natalie stared down her body as her opponent squished her cock in between plush breasts. Being tit-fucked by a strange, beautiful woman normally wasn''t a fate Natalie would try to escape from, but somewhere in the back of her lust-addled mind¡ªlust-addled both supernaturally speaking and, of course, the mundane sort of distraction too¡ªshe knew she couldn''t afford to give in to her pleasure. That she had to resist. This fight ended when one of them submitted. What ''submitting'' meant long term, Natalie didn''t know, but surely nothing good for her. This was still a dungeon boss. An enemy. She had toe out the victor. That said, being milked by big, soft tits squeezed in tight by the Hellhound''s bra armor was admittedly hard to resist. For being new to this kind of ''fighting'', the Hellhound was showing herself to be a skilled opponent¡ªin both phases. Her opponent grinned at Natalie as she worked her tits up and down, massaging Natalie''s cock inside them. She rubbed Natalie''s cock between her breasts, from side to side, pushing hard on either side to provide a soft, agonizingly amazing pressure, then sliding down and pulling back up, Natalie''s cockhead popping through the top. Over and over, her soft breasts worked away to make Natalie''s head fuzzy with pleasure. "Already making such lewd faces," the Hellhound chided, sounding pleased with herself. "Do you really like these things that much? Your pathetic human cock being serviced by my tits? I told you to give me a good fight. You aren''t thinking of finishing already, are you? Spraying your gross cock juice all over me?" She tutted. "My mate has to have at least an ounce of dignity. I''d never ept someone who came apart so fast. Hold out longer, won''t you?" Natalie groaned in response, unable to form a proper reply. The Hellhound snorted, her words obviously meant to taunt and tease, then leaned down further, pressing her lips to the top of Natalie''s cock head. She kept them there for a second, smirking up at Natalie as she teased Natalie''s entry into her mouth. A tongue flicked out to lick at her hole, cleaning the precum gathered there. "I''ve never done this before," she murmured, her lips tickling Natalie''s sensitive tip with every word. She kissed once, wrapping her lips around Natalie in a way that nearly forced her hips to buck upward. She couldn''t resist, it seemed, but she could certainly still move to join in. "But I''m sure it won''t be too difficult." With that, she slid her mouth down over Natalie''s cock head, engulfing it in wet warmth. She swirled her tongue around, then sucked gently, drawing another groan from Natalie¡ªand more pre-cum from her cock. The Hellhound pulled off with an audible pop, smiling wide as she licked her lips. With her hands on both sides of her breasts, she kept working them up and down Natalie''s length as she spoke. "Delicious," she purred. "I could get used to having you as my mate. You would like it, too. Wouldn''t you? Subservient under me, my breeding thing for the rest of your life? I''d take such great care of you. I''d milk this big, fat cock of yours every night." Natalie flushed at the words, the images they brought to mind. She tried to shake her head to clear it, but found herself unable to do anything but stare down at the Hellhound as she continued to massage Natalie''s cock. Would that be all that terrible of a fate? Why was Natalie resisting, again? The Hellhoundughed, then dipped back down to suck at Natalie with even more gusto. Thebined assault of her tits and soft lips was almost too much. Natalie felt her pleasure building rapidly. She clenched her teeth, trying to fight the sensations off, but it only drew anotherugh from the Hellhound, who worked faster¡ªhappy that Natalie was giving it her best not to give in. What had she said at the start? To not make it too easy, because then it wouldn''t be as fun? She seemed to genuinely mean that. Above anything, this woman wanted a good fight. For a long several minutes, the Hellhound did her best to pleasure Natalie''s cock. By the time the heart container had finally drained of pink light, Natalie''s head was swimming, her cock twitching with its desire to release. But all at once, her autonomy returned. She felt strength return to her limbs. She could move again, not simply sit there and be toyed with by her opponent. Except, for an indeterminate amount of time that Natalie probably couldn''t spare, she simply continued to sit there, panting on the floor, having her cock rubbed around between two soft tits. Her body refused to move. And this time, not supernaturally. Simply carnal desire. Natalie was weak to having her cock squeezed in by plush tits and a tongue ying on the underside of her cock head. She felt that was an understandable weakness. With a herculean effort, though, she finally groaned and pushed the Hellhound off of her. Her cock slid out from between the woman''s armor-squished tits. The monstergirlughed in reply, easily standing and retreating a few steps, readying herself for the next round. The top of her breasts was slick with saliva and Natalie''s precum, which had dribbled down from her eager servicing. "I''m surprised you actually stood," the Hellhound said. "I was starting to wonder if you''d lost, already." The Hellhound opened her mouth to continue her taunting, but it dried up, suddenly. "What''s with that look on your face?" Natalie had, indeed, picked up her weapon and focused on the Hellhound with a sudden intensity. Enough to make the woman blink in surprise, apparently. "Because I want my turn with you, now," Natalie said simply, gripping her hammer. "I don''t n on losing twice in a row. You''re mine, next." "Oh?" the Hellhound asked¡ªthough her nonchnce didn''t seemplete; Natalie''s expression had made her hesitate. "We''ll see about that." This time, Natalie was the one to burst into motion. Round two began. Before, she had been disoriented by so many things. The nature of the fight, the Hellhound''s sapience and personality, and not just that, but thepetence of her opponent too. Her strength, speed, and technique. And even then, Natalie had only lost the first guard break by a small margin. She was more than capable ofing out ahead. This boss encounter was difficult, butpletely within her capabilities. And then, in the other half ofbat, Natalie was confident she could take control too. Natalie wasn''t the only one who had been affected by the Hellhound''s eager tit-fucking. She''d seen the building lust in her opponent''s orange eyes as she stared down at Natalie''s cock popping out through her breasts. For all her talk of keeping mates and turning Natalie into her ''breeding-thing,'' she could recognize someone who wanted to be pinned down. Who wanted to sample Natalie''s talents in a more direct way. And that was the reason for Natalie''s single-minded focus, the raw intensity she felt thrumming through veins as the fight progressed into round two. If she won, she got this woman to herself. For several minutes, she would be hers to y with. However she wanted. Hers to break. To make submit. And as the Hellhound had said herself¡ªthe stubbornness and haughtiness only made the idea even more enticing. She''d made fun of the ''lewd faces'' Natalie had made, but Natalie intended to draw out far more interesting ones, when she got her own turn. 5.39 – Ranked Competitive S*x V 5.39 ¨C Ranked Competitive S*x V If there was ever a situation Natalie would be justified in using [Empower], a one-on-one against a Carnal Boss would be it. The problem was, Natalie didn''t know how long this fight wouldst. She thought she could win naturally, without leveraging the skill. And if she were to use it, she had ns for it during phase two. Not phase one, the everyday physical fight. She couldn''t waste all her mana in normalbat when the sex portion was equally, if not more, important. Victory came from making the Hellhound submit to her. Perhaps that was also possible by knocking her around the arena with her warhammer the old-fashioned way, but Natalie suspected her other hammer would do the job much better. Or, at a minimum, she wanted to give it her best shot. Intently motivated by what victory meant, Natalie moved around the small stone arena like a whirlwind, taking forward tempo and keeping her opponent on the back-foot. She used her momentum to her advantage. Once Natalie got going, she was extremely difficult to stop¡ªboth a benefit and detriment to her style. The Hellhound didn''t have the advantage of making the first move, this time. Natalie didn''t let her get up close and personal, which would make her own maneuvering difficult. Swinging her gigantic two-handed hammer around, she battered the me-based martial artist from one end of the arena to the other. Tactical uses of [Illusion] further kept the Hellhound from reading Natalie''s intentions and slipping into her guard. One particrly devastating misdirection resulted in the woman being flung from one side of the arena to the other, mming into the shimmering forcefield that kept them caged in together. She recovered fast, not seemingly remotely worse for wear, but only because damage didn''te in the form of health. The shield symbol jumped nearly a full twenty-five percent from the blow. By the annoyed growl that ripped from the woman''s throat¡ªtoo animalistic to have evere from a normal human¡ªNatalie could tell she was making a good showing. Far better than the first round. She might have embarrassed herself in that bout, but this time, she would break her opponent''s guard, not the other way around. That said, the fight was far from easy. Natalie pushed herself to her limit, utilizing every ounce of practice she''d gotten at T¡ªand every ounce of practice she''d gotten since she''d first started training, so many years ago. Even whilepletely in the zone, feeling in tune with the movements of her body and her weapon in a way she rarely did, she was hard-pressed to find openings, to score critical blows. The two of them were well-matched. Both in skill and strength. The technique of a level two boss couldn''t be understated. And Natalie was thrilled about that. There were few things she loved more than apetent opponent. Finally, the end closed in. With onest devastating blow catching the Hellhound directly on her forearms¡ªshe had tried to block it in ast-ditch effort¡ªthe Hellhound staggered to the side, the shield symbol filling all the way up. She copsed on her ass, the fight going out of her. Her expression wasn''t surprised, as Natalie''s had been, her first guard break. Instead, the wolfgirl red up at Natalie, outraged by her defeat. To the left of the shield symbol, a heart symbol shimmered, eighty-five percent filled with pink light. Even performing that well, Natalie had only been fifteen percent away from losing. Which meant she had to take this opportunity seriously. To put her hard-earned guard break to good use. But, she couldn''t go too fast, either. Forey was important. Though, hriously, Natalie was pretty sure the fighting itself counted as that, to this woman. Maybe to Natalie too, if she was being honest. Still, eager as her twitching cock was¡ªwhich was still exposed and glistening with the Hellhound''s saliva from earlier¡ªsimply pinning the Hellhound down and iming her pussy was too fast, too direct. Natalie needed a more strategic approach. "You''re better with that thing than I expected," the Hellhound said begrudgingly, ring up at her. "But don''t get too confident, human. This is far from over." Natalie abruptly dropped her hammer¡ªthe weapon ttering loudly against the stone floor of the arena. Natalie stalked toward her prey. The Hellhound''s eyes widened, breathing growing heavier as Natalie approached. Because she recognized what wasing. Her orange eyes flicked down to Natalie''s cock, which throbbed excitedly between her legs, having stiffened in seconds. Natalie stopped in front of her, towering over the downed woman, and simply stared for a long moment. Drinking her curves in. Basking in her victory. What she now got to do. The Hellhound met her gaze, but behind confident orange eyes, Natalie could see her mind racing. Readying herself for what Natalie had nned. Trying not to grow too excited herself, probably. Because Natalie could see the suppressed lust building in her. She wanted to be dominated by a stronger opponent. But only if it was deserved. And Natalie''s victory had proved her deserving. Natalie crouched down, getting her eyes level to the Hellhound''s. Her opponent stared defiantly back. "Do what you want," the Hellhound scoffed. "But you won''t break me." She wouldn''t, would she? Natalie leaned in closer. The Hellhound''s breath came faster by the second, chest heaving up and down, and not from the exertion of the fight. Her eyes dted as Natalie''s face approached hers. Then, inches away, she grabbed the Hellhound''s face between both her hands, and gently pressed their lips together. The wolfgirl froze. She clearly hadn''t expected that to be Natalie''s chosen vector of attack. She''d braced herself for something more direct. Something more intimidating, dominating. For Natalie to prove a point or set the tempo. But no. A kiss. Natalie kept it going. Short and sweet, not heated and passionate. A lover''s kiss. Amusingly, the wolfgirl barelysted a second before she melted into Natalie, seemingly against her own will. "W-What are you doing?" the Hellhound gasped out at the first opportunity. Natalie continued working kisses down the woman''s cheek, then onto her neck, worshiping soft skin with her lips. Instead of answering the question, Natalie instead asked her own. "Do you have a name?" "A¡ªA name?" "It''s not just ''Hellhound'', is it? That''s what the description says." "What are you talking about?" the Hellhound demanded. "You''re not supposed to be asking for my name! You''re supposed to be¡ª" she hesitated briefly, "Fucking me!" Natalie ran the back of her hand gently down the side of the wolfgirl''s face, caressing her. She kissed her again, to the woman''s flustered outrage. "I can do whatever I want with my guard break, can''t I? Isn''t that the point?" "Well, yes," the wolfgirl said. "But¡ª" "And what I want to do is kiss you," Natalie said. She emphasized that point by stealing another from the woman. "And also, ask you your name." The Hellhound stared at Natalie, mouth hanging slightly ajar. Her face went from pink to red to zing red. If Natalie was being honest, this hadn''t even been her n, despite her initial decision to take things slowly. She''d simply been struck by an urge to kiss the woman. Natalie had always been a person who worked on instinct, so she hadn''t resisted. Besides, fucking a girl without even knowing her name felt wrong, their strange and urgent circumstances notwithstanding. Though she didn''t know much about this Hellhound, Natalie had instantly respected her for herbat prowess alone. She wanted to know more about her in general¡ªa name was the least of it. A part of Natalie recognized that maybe she should be treating this second phase with far more urgency, but then again, based on how flustered the Hellhound was bing, maybe Natalie had done exactly the right thing. The kisses seemed to have taken her apart far more than prying the woman''s legs open would have¡ªeven considering that the Hellhound seemed more than eager to get to that, behind the facade. For a while longer, the Hellhound blushed at her while Natalie waited for an answer. Finally, she nced bashfully away. "It''s ... Malice," she mumbled out. "Malice?" "Yes." "That''s a pretty name," Natalie said. She kissed her again. "I''m Natalie." She ran a gentle hand through Malice''s hair. "It''s nice to meet you, Malice. And if it''s fine with you, I''ll be making you my bitch, now." 5.40 – Ranked Competitive S*x VI 5.40 ¨C Ranked Competitive S*x VI Malice''s eyes widened at the pivot in tone, at Natalie saying something so crude in such a soft voice. And also at the predatory grin that spread across her lips. She let out a groan as Natalie worked more kisses down her neck, far less chaste than before. More eager. Passionate. With a deft motion, she unsped the Hellhound''s armored bra, peeling it off and revealing her breasts to Natalie''s gaze. Two dark nipples sat atop her dark gray tits¡ªfirm, soft tits that filled Natalie''s hands as she cupped them. Malice sucked in a breath as Natalie squeezed, then began to work her fingers around the woman''s nipples, tweaking and teasing. Natalie''s lips and tongue reced her fingers shortly, and Malice''s hands went, seemingly by instinct, up to grab the back of Natalie''s head and press her face in. The guard-break effect stopped her from resisting, but it far from prevented her from enjoying herself or responding positively. Natalie had learned that herself when her hips had refused to stop thrusting up into Malice''s breasts. For a while, she yed with the wolfgirl, who had turned malleable with a speed that surprised even Natalie. Sighing with content, Natalie pulled away, leaving a glistening nipple behind. She grinned down at Malice, who stared back up at her with wide eyes, panting. "You know, Malice," Natalie murmured. "When all a girl talks about is wanting to make someone submit, I can''t help but think she''s projecting." She leaned forward, getting her lips close to the Hellhound''s ear. "That maybe she''s the one who wants to be put into her ce." "You would think that, wouldn''t you?" Malice used. But the trembling in her voice, and the blush on her cheeks, gave away the act. "No point in guessing," Natalie said. "We can find out together." She slid her hands down onto either of the wolf-girl''s thighs, then tugged her legs apart. Her fingers toyed at the leather strap keeping her bikini armor on. "But promise me something?" "W-What?" "Don''t give in too fast," Natalie said, throwing her opponent''s words back at her. "It''s more fun that way." Pulling the Hellhound''s lower armor off, Natalie exposed the woman''s pussy to the air¡ªand to her gaze. The monster girl was already wet, and Natalie wasted no time in sliding a finger up along her slit. Malice let out a groan, hips twitching in response to the stimtion she''d been waiting so long for. "This wet for me, already?" Natalie murmured, showing her finger off for Malice. She waggled it disapprovingly. "All you''ve done is y with my cock, so far. That worked you up this much?" Malice flushed. She opened her mouth to reply, but cut off with another groan as Natalie wasted no time: she slid the finger inside the wolfgirl. She pumped it slowly in and out, then added another finger, curling them into the Hellhound''s tight pussy. "You''re pretty sensitive, aren''t you?" Natalie asked, leaning down to kiss Malice''s neck again, sucking gently at her skin. "I don''t think it''s gonna take long to take you apart. I can tell. You''lle fast for me, like a good girl." Again, the Hellhound tried to respond, but was interrupted as Natalie continued to finger her. She let out a soft whine as Natalie worked her fingers deeper in, exploring the monster girl''s inner walls. Her thumb found Malice''s clit and began to toy with it, rubbing in circles. "F-Fuck," Malice gasped. Her hips twitched up into Natalie''s fingers. Her hand instinctively clutched at her breast. "How¡ªhow are you so good at this, human?" She red at Natalie, as if upset by the fact. "You like it?" "Of course I don''t like¡ª" Malice started, lying through her teeth, but she couldn''t even finish¡ªshe cut off with another groan as Natalie pressed down harder, grinding her thumb into the woman''s clit. Her hips twitched again, and she let out a soft whimper, eyes fluttering as Natalie toyed with her. "What was that?" Natalie asked. Malice justy there and squirmed. "So if I win, what actually happens?" Natalie asked. "I''m curious." "You won''t win." "But if I do?" "Then I''ll be your mate. I said that at the start." "What''s that mean, though?" Malice whined loudly as Natalie rubbed into her, though she visibly tried to gather her thoughts. To respond. Maybe she was even appreciating the distraction Natalie was giving her. "It means you get to keep me. As yours. To do whatever you want with." "Whatever I want?" Natalie asked. Malice nodded weakly. She sucked in a gasp of air as Natalie added another finger, now pumping three inside her. Her pussy squeezed down around Natalie''s fingers, slick juices lubricating the motion. The Hellhound whimpered as she thrust her hips up to meet Natalie''s fingers. It had been easier than Natalie had expected to have the haughty woman squirming beneath her, but maybe that was the nature of a guard break. Natalie had felt unusuallypromised too, even considering her natural arousal. And Natalie had always been pretty good at this. Experience and practice paid off. Either way, Natalie was enjoying herself immensely. Probably as much as Malice. Well, maybe not that much. The wolfgirl was really starting to writhe. "Does that mean you''ll follow us around?" Natalie asked, her curiosity over the whole event distracting her from her ultimate goal. "To the surface, too?" "I''d be yours," Malice said. "Like you''d be mine. That''s what the description said." "The description?" "When I transformed." Natalie tilted her head, intrigued. "What else did the description say?" Malice shook her head, moaning loudly as Natalie''s fingers continued to work away inside her pussy. Her hips twitched up into her hand desperately, and Natalie could tell she was close. Natalie repeated her question, but Malice didn''t reply. By the look on her face, Natalie could tell she was past the point of being able to respond. Which was unfortunate. Or maybe fortunate. Natalie really should be trying harder to win. This fight was hardly without stakes. She worked her fingers faster, grinding them in deep. The Hellhound whined and wiggled on the floor, hips working to meet Natalie without conscious intention, submitting to her pleasure. "You sure talked a lot for how easily you''reing apart," Natalieughed. She''d find out how the specifics of victory worked when she won, she supposed. "You ready to cum for me?" She pushed Malice over, then climbed atop her. Leaning down to press her lips into Malice''s own, Natalie curled her fingers into Malice and really started working. Matching her desperate tempo. Pressing her palm hard into her clit, giving her something to grind against. She kissed the woman, their tongues entwining, then pulled back to whisper into her ear. "Come on, Malice. Cum for me," she murmured. "Your body knows what it wants." "N-No," Malice groaned. "Not so fast. I''m not that weak." "This is telling another story," Natalie said, feeling Malice squeeze down on her. "It wants to give your master her first orgasm. Toe apart on my fingers, like a bitch in heat." "N-No¡ª" "It''s not a request," Natalie told her in between kisses¡ªwhich might be doing more to the Hellhound than her fingers. Who would''ve thought the wolfgirl would be so weak to affection? Natalie''s voice took a hard edge. "It''s an order. Cum for me. Now." For a long, suspended moment, Malice struggled against her own desire. But themanding tone did the job. She sagged into the ground, and her hips arched upward, her entire body starting to shake violently. Natalie''s pace quickened onest time, and Malice let out a loud whine as she came apart, pussy clenching down hard on Natalie''s fingers. Her entire body shook, eyes rolling back as she rode through the orgasm Natalie forcefully extracted from her. When she''d finished, the wolfgirl copsed back down, panting. "That ¡­ doesn''t mean ¡­ I submit," Malice groaned, lying in a sweaty puddle on the ground. "This isn''t over. I have to surrender." "I''d be disappointed if it was," Natalie said, grinning. "I''m not nearly done having my fun with you." 5.41 – Ranked Competitive S*x VII/VIII 5.41 ¨C Ranked Competitive S*x VII/VIII Natalie leaned up, grabbed Malice''s legs, and hiked her lower half up onto herp. She gripped her cock, then pped it down onto the woman''s sensitive pussy, making her hips jump in response. "We''re almost out of time," Natalie said, ncing at the nearly empty shield symbol, which had been draining throughout the finger-fucking. "But I wanted to let you get your first feel for it." She rubbed herself up and down in long strokes, parting the Hellhound''s lower lips around her thick shaft. "When I win the third round too, you''ll get to have fun with this." Another hard p, which made the woman gasp. "And a special surprise too," Natalie said, smirking. "You won''tst long, I think. You''ll be mine before the time''s up." "S-Special surprise?" "You''ll see." Malice panted at her for a moment, then rallied. "You really are delusional, aren''t you?" The conviction had disappeared, though. The words were entirely a farce¡ªand one that might be more for her own sake than Natalie''s. "You won''t win next round, nor would I surrender if you did." "We''ll find out together," Natalie repeated, grinning. The shield symbol''s energy finished emptying, freeing Malice from the disabling effect. Natalie stayed there, rubbing her cock into her. "Then again, you could find out what it feels like right now, if you want." For a long moment, Natalie almost thought Malice would give in to the offer. She stayed frozen as Natalie wiggled her cocktip around her entrance, threatening entry. She even started to prate, sliding just a tiny bit in, starting to spread her wide. But finally, Malice seized control of her urges and scooted backward. Natalieughed, then stood and backed away, scooping up her hammer. The Hellhound red at her, then her discarded armor as if considering whether she should put it back on. She chose not to, as Natalie hadn''t. Trying to would make her vulnerable. The fight had already technically started. The Hellhound refocused on her as she stood, muscles tensing as she readied herself for another round ofbat. Her face was red and flushed. Natalie could see that her orgasm had distracted her. And the teasing. Unfortunately, the same was true for Natalie. Her head was also fuzzy with the idea of what Malice''s pussy would feel like, wrapped around her cock. And how easily she would break, once Natalie employed her ''special technique'' on her. Her special technique. The events with Camille in the bathroom, with [Empowered] [Illusions], had given her a few ideas, after all. Even if Malice could resist one Natalie, could she resist two? Of course, before she could make use of that idea, she had to actually score that second guard break. That was much easier said than done against an opponent of Malice''s caliber. For all Natalie had flustered Malice, she seemed to have invoked a sudden seriousness and intensity in her as well¡ªjust like Malice''s victory had inflicted on Natalie. Maybe because she recognized a second defeat would mean true defeat¡ªa loss over the whole encounter. That she knew that whatever Natalie had nned would be too much for her, considering how easily her fingers alone had taken her apart. So they were fighting for the win. Natalie would have thought herself easily distracted when fighting against a nude, extremely attractive martial artist, but she discovered quickly that the frantic nature of the fight meant she couldn''t focus on that, only the actualbat. me-empowered blows rained down on her, and she desperately tried to keep up. Both the respective magical indicators ticked upwards: the heart, indicating her own proximity to defeat, and the shield, to Natalie scoring a guard-break of her own. Natalie pulled out all of the stops. [Hunker Down] to counter key charge-up attacks, [Illusion] to misdirect and distract, and even a few [Empower]s to sell the mirages¡ªbecause Natalie found out quickly that she couldn''t afford to not utilize every option in her kit. Wasting a handful of progression points meant nothing if Natalie risked defeat, and thus¡ªwell, whatever defeat meant. Nothing good, against a dungeon monster. The whole point of [Empower] was to be used, as much as it pained her to permanently lose advancement toward her next skill upgrades. Thest segment of the fight devolved, with both of them panting and exhausted. The bars took longer to fill up thanst time, since fighting at full intensity could drain even trained delvers at a rapid speed. Malice scored a harsh kick into her side; Natalie returned with a jab with her hammer''s shaft, smacking it into her face¡ªinefficient, but opportunistic for the situation. Malice got two hard punches in, and Natalie backpedaled, then mmed down her hammer, aiming for the wolfgirl''s head. She barely missed, cursing as she tried to recover. It put her off foot, resulting in several more quick attacks from Malice. The heart approached dangerous territory, nearly full. Natalie growled with excitement, the lust of the fight nearly overwhelming her. She reared back her hammer with all her might. Malice raised her arms and braced herself¡ªbefore Natalie dropped her hammer and rushed forward, instead. She tackled the other woman, crashing the two of them to the ground, then delivered one, two, three hard punches to the face. Malice hadn''t expected the change in pace; she couldn''t get her hands up in time to block. On the third punch, the shield symbol finally ticked full. Malice copsed, the fight going out of her. She cried out in outrage. Natalie, in contrast, cried out in victory. She rolled off of the woman, also copsing into the ground, but from the sheer exertion that the fight had taken, not guard break. "Fuck me. That was close." Despite her exhaustion, Natalie allowed herself only a brief two seconds of rest before she forced herself to sit up. For a moment, she sat cross-legged and looked down at Malice, feeling a bit disoriented. It was more than a little strange to go from full-on vicious fighting to the ... equally as passionate, if less violent ... matter of fucking her opponent. She''d literally been punching Malice''s face to win. At least not a single mark had been left behind on either of them: they weren''t actually hurting each other. If they had, that might''ve been too weird for Natalie. The disabling spell was nearly enough by itself to put her off, knowing Malice had toy there and take it, just like Natalie herself had. But Malice had made it clear she was happy to engage under this rule set, and so had Natalie, so, weird or not as everything was, Natalie didn''t feel anything was wrong with it. And considering the opportunity now avable to her, Natalie''s thoughts didn''t linger on all of that for too long. Because she had a wolfgirl to fuck into submission. "I ... I can''t believe it ..." Malice panted. "You won. Again." "Don''t sound so surprised," Natalie said. "I''m better than you." The words were arrogant, but intentionally so: she knew this woman wanted Natalie to be her superior¡ªit was the only way she''d agree to submit to her. "Which is why you''re going to agree to be mine. Be my good little pup." Malice''s eyes widened in outrage. ''Pup.'' Such a demeaning term of address. Natalie also saw something else flicker across her face¡ªsomething that definitely wasn''t outrage. "I''ll¡ªI''ll just make it to round three," Malice said. "It''s not over yet." "Let''s skip the posturing. All that matters now is action. Results." Natalie shuffled over to between Malice''s legs, hiking her lower half up and getting back into the position they''d left off on at the end of round two. She gripped her cock andid it out across Malice''s pussy, whose orange eyes sharpened on the sight, going suddenly silent. "It''s time to end this. It''ll be a fair fight. Me, inside you. Which of us can resist it more. Tell me, Malice¡ªhow do you think you''ll do?" Natalie pressed down on her shaft, pressuring it hard against Malice''s pussy. "How easily will you break with this thing inside you? Be honest with me." Malice stared, failing to find an answer right away. Finally, she struggled out: "I ... I won''t break ..." "Won''t you?" "I won''t," she insisted. Natalie lined her tip up, wiggling it between her lips. "You sure about that?" "I won''t, human, and there''s nothing¡ª" Natalie slid in, tugging Malice''s hips in hard, sheathing herself in one smooth motion. Her cock plunged deep into the wet, lubricated tunnel, her cocktip kissing the Hellhound''s cervix. Malice let out a loud cry as she was filled up by ten inches of throbbing girl cock. Natalie groaned as well, feeling the woman''s tightness squeeze down around her. She was so warm, wet, everything she''d been anticipating. Natalie''s cock twitched with need, going wild with excitement after finally iming Malice in the way she''d been waiting for. Natalie set Malice down on the ground and climbed overtop her. She pulled the woman''s legs up to her head, getting her into a nice, demeaning, breedable position. Then she started pumping. Natalie had been waiting for this too long; she couldn''t hold back. She thrust into the Hellhound''s tight pussy again and again, plunging deep inside the other woman with each frantic stroke. The monstergirl whimpered beneath her, squeezing her eyes shut and hugging Natalie as she was fucked mercilessly, Natalie driving into the woman with all of her strength. "You''re mine now," Natalie growled, leaning forward to kiss Malice on the lips. Far less kindly than before¡ªpassionate, hard, dominating. "Mine. You understand? My cute little bitch. My pup. My submissive good girl. I''ll have you saying it before this is over." Malice moaned loudly at the words, arching up into Natalie. Her hips bucked to meet Natalie''s thrusts, and she pulled her in closer. Their nipples brushed into each other''s as their bodies bounced, Natalie pounding into her with everything she had. It was almost embarrassing how desperately her hips worked to bury herself inside the Hellhound''s tight pussy¡ªbut it felt too good for her to care. To hold back at all. Malice felt amazing, and Natalie couldn''t get enough of it. She pulled off of Malice''s mouth with a gasp, then leaned down to take one of Malice''s nipples into her mouth, sucking and licking at it while she continued to pump. The woman whined beneath her, pussy squeezing around Natalie''s cock as she thrust into her again and again. She tightened hard around her cock, and Natalie groaned in pleasure as she kept fucking the wolfgirl. The two of them continued to kiss and grope, Natalie''s hands roaming Malice''s body, exploring every inch of her soft skin and firm muscles. It was almost overwhelming, the feeling of Malice''s pussy wrapped around her cock, the way her hips bucked up to meet her thrusts, the sounds of their moans and gasps mixing together. Flesh pped against flesh as Natalie took out all her pent-up aggression and anticipation for this event. Natalie felt herself getting closer to the end rapidly, her pleasure building with each stroke. She hadn''t intended for this to break out so intensely. That hadn''t been the n; she''d meant to work into it. But Malice''s body sucked her in, the feel of soft skin, the moans and whines she made. The feel of her skin hitting Natalie''s. Gasping, Natalie forced herself to emerge for air. And for her hips to slow. She couldn''t keep going like this. She''d had a n. She needed to execute it. Wide orange eyes looked up at her, confused and needy. "What are you doing?" Malice demanded¡ªamusingly, actually angry that Natalie had stopped. The confident aggression was gone. She just wanted more. Maybe Natalie could even win without employing her special technique, seeing how hungry she looked. But it wasn''t enough to make the woman cum. Natalie had higher goals. She had to make Malice submit. To make her give in. To make her feel so good that she wanted to be Natalie''s forever¡ªand admit to such out loud. Panting as she got control of her thoughts¡ªit was hard, looking down at the sweaty, naked woman she was ten inches deep in¡ªNatalie somehow mastered herself. She gazed down at Malice calmly. Almost idly, she rubbed a thumb into the girl''s clit, just to tease her. Malice''s hips bucked up at the contact. "You don''t mind if I call in backup, do you?" Natalie asked. The hellhound looked at her, confused. "You couldn''t if you wanted to. The duel is a forced one-on-one." "It''ll technically still be that," Natalie grinned. "Just, two of the same ones." "What are you talking about, human?" Closing her eyes and focusing, Natalie put together a spell. She was still no great mage¡ªif getting better by the day, working on making that weakness less a weakness¡ªbut magic had always been easiest when applied in this way. Applications that aligned with her sponsor. Mana drained from her, and Natalie reopened her eyes. To her front, and behind Malice, a fuzzy image coalesced from motes of summoned light. Malice strained her gaze upward, exposing her slender neck with the awkward angle. Natalie ran a finger down one of the hard lines there, before her eyes flicked back up to see the illusion finish forming. A clone of Natalie blinked back at her, blue eyes surprised. She looked at Malice, then down at herself¡ªher ten-inch cock hanging in the air and coated in Malice''s juices, glistening like Natalie''s own would have been. "Huh," Other-Natalie said. She gripped her cock and wiggled it, meeting Natalie''s eyes. "Just don''t let yours touch mine. That''ll make it weird." 5.42 – Ranked Competitive S*x IX 5.42 ¨C Ranked Competitive S*x IX For a second, Natalie had to adjust to the sight. Her duplicate self, standing there in front of her. An illusory image with the same physical form, and, presumably, thoughts and personality, like the event with Camille. Maybe she wasn''t exactly identical, but at most, Other-Natalie was only slightly altered to be more sexually receptive, as Camille''s clone had been. Then again, maybe that had just been circumstance: the clone had known she was a clone, and submitted in ordance to Camille''s personality. Natalie wasn''t entirely certain. This one talked, too. Camille''s hadn''t. Regardless, Natalie had seeded in creating a second self. And now, she was about to fuck this pliable wolfgirl with two of her cocks, not one. And have a threesome with herself. It was a bit much, even by her standards. "W-What is this?" Malice asked, craning her neck upward to stare, still lying upside-down, at Natalie''s illusory image. "An illusion," Other-Natalie replied on Natalie''s behalf. She gripped her cock, stepped forward, then pped it down hard onto Malice''s face, a meaty thwap echoing through the air. "You look like the kind of girl that won''t be satisfied with just one, so we figured we''d help you out." "Excuse me?" Malice demanded. "Oh, stop talking, won''t you?" Other-Natalie said. "That mouth is better used for other things. Like this." Malice started to reply, but Other-Natalie shoved her cock in, cutting her off. The wolfgirl let out a muffled noise of surprise as Natalie''s clone began, with no ceremony, fucking her face. Malice''s pussy squeezed down hard on Natalie''s cock, showing just how delighted she was by the turn of events, even if she would have feigned outrage. Her hips bucked up against Natalie, and Natalie groaned at the sensation, having temporarily slowed down her own thrusting to bring the illusion to life. Quickly working into that same heat as before, though, Natalie grabbed Malice''s hips and stood, raising the wolfgirl off the ground. Other-Natalie gripped Malice''s head to steady her while thrusting in, bulging her throat out with each hard stroke. The Hellhound whimpered around the cock filling her mouth, eyes rolling back as she took it. It was a devastating sight, Natalie couldn''t help but think, Malice''s orange eyes watering and her throat bulging obscenely outward¡ªwatching it happen from across from her. It was definitely a weird scenario. Seeing another her fuck Malice. The two of them, holding Malice''s weight together, viting two holes at opposite ends. Loud squelching filled the air as their respective hips thrust. Weird, but also hot. Natalie couldn''t deny that. She was getting used to thatbo. It was basically her new life. "Fuck," Other-Natalie grunted. "Her throat is amazing. You really should have tried it yourself." "n to," Natalie grunted back, pping forward just as desperately. "Once I make her mine, I''ll get to do whatever I want. Whenever I want. Forever. So I''ll have time." The words were more for Malice''s sake than anything, just part of the strategy. A way to work her up. And Other-Natalie caught on quickly, of course. They were the same person, after all. "Forever sounds like a long time," Other-Natalie grinned. "Eternity as a cocksleeve? My good little breeding whore, for the rest of her life?" Natalie moaned suddenly as Malice''s pussy squeezed down on her. "Man, she clenched down hard at that. She''s really excited to be made mine." "Of course she is," Other-Natalie said. "It''s always the ones who talk big that want to be put in their ce." She smirked at Natalie. "I think we learned a little bit of that ourselves. Not like this one, though." Other-Natalie pulled out of Malice''s mouth, leaving her gasping for breath. She didn''t give the woman remotely long enough to catch her breath before shoving back in, slender throat bending obscenely outward as she was filled, once again, with cock. "Isn''t that right, Malice? You like getting fucked from both ends, don''t you? Being nothing but a collection of holes, used for our pleasure." Malice whimpered. The Hellhound squirmed in her grip, betraying her thoughts on the matter, as Natalie continued to fuck her, thrusting into her tight pussy over and over again. "For her to say it," Natalie told her clone, "she needs her mouth free. Soe join me down here." She patted Malice''s ass. Other-Natalie nodded and pulled out of Malice''s throat. She pped her cock hard onto the girl''s cheek, making the wolfgirl gasp. Then Other-Natalie hefted her up by the shoulders, leaning her forward and draping the wolfgirl across Natalie. Malice''s arms wrapped around Natalie''s neck, and Natalie supported her weight by holding each of her thighs. Malice''s legs hooked behind Natalie''s waist, helping them settle into their new position. "You want to be our cocksleeve forever?" Natalie asked, stealing a quick kiss. "Have this, forever? We can make that happen. You just have to admit you want it." "I¡­" Malice mumbled, seeming not all there. "I¡­" "Say it," Natalie murmured into her ear, nipping gently as Other-Natalie stepped up behind Malice, guiding her cock gently against the wolfgirl''sst unimed hole. "Say you want to be mine, and you will be." Malice sucked in a breath as she felt ten inches of girl dick rubbing against her asshole, and Natalie grinned at the hazy expression in her eyes. How thoroughly she was starting to melt down. It wouldn''t take much longer, she could tell. "I won''t submit," Malice whispered. "Not on the second guard break. I''m ¡­ stronger than that." Natalieughed. If the Hellhound''s physical reactions hadn''t given it away, her quavering voice did. She shared a brief look with herself, their blue eyes meeting. Natalie nodded. It was time to finish the job. Other-Natalie gripped Malice''s hips, then drove into her tight asshole. The Hellhound cried out as she was filled with two cocks at once. Natalie also groaned, feeling the woman''s pussy tighten around her with the suddenck of space, and also, Other-Natalie''s cock providing pressure against her own, their sizable members rubbing through the thin wall separating them. Malice whimpered as Natalie and Other-Natalie started to fuck her in tandem, plunging into her two holes in a relentless rhythm. It was an amazing sensation, and Natalie had to fight her pleasure as much as Malice did. Maybe this wasn''t the most effective way to use her guard break¡ªthe sensation of iming Malice from two ends drove her nearly as wild as it did the wolfgirl. Then again, maybe not. Malice was clearly losing control faster. She became a moaning mess as Natalie and Other-Natalie used her, thrusting into two holes, filling her up with cock. Her orange eyes rolled back and her head copsed into Natalie''s shoulder as she took it, gasping anding apart as she was imed by Natalie and her clone. "Say it," Natalie growled, kissing her neck as the woman bounced lewdly atop the two of them. Skin pped as both of them met Malice from front and back. "Say you want to be my cocksleeve forever." Malice shook her head weakly, still trying to resist, but Natalie could tell the inevitable was approaching. The Hellhound gasped and moaned with each impact as Natalie and Other-Natalie continued to pound into her. Her body shook with pleasure, and she squeezed down around their cocks. It was almost too much for Natalie, the sight of Malice being fucked so thoroughly, the feel of her tight holes squeezing around her cock, and her and Other-Natalie''s members sliding against each other through the thin skin separating them. "I ¡­ I can''t ¡­" Malice whimpered. "B-But it''s too much ¡­" Natalie kissed Malice on the lips, briefly cutting off the words. The Hellhound whimpered into Natalie''s mouth as she kissed back, their tongues exploring. She kept it up for a long minute, drinking in the other girl''s taste. And when Natalie pulled away, the Hellhound seemed barely conscious. "If you admit it," Natalie murmured, face close to Malice''s, "I''ll finish inside you. That''s what you want, isn''t it? To be filled up? From both ends? Stuffed and bred like a bitch in heat?" Malice whimpered. "Your body wants it. Look how hard you''re squeezing down. So just say it. I can tell you want it. Need it. Come on¡ªbe a good pup. For me?" "I ¡­" "Louder," Natalie said firmly. "So we can hear it. Don''t be ashamed." "I ¡­ I want it ¡­" Malice gasped. Her pussy mped down on Natalie, as if shocked at the words that hade from her. Then she repeated herself. "I want it." Her volume grew. "I want your cum inside me. Fuck! I want you to breed me! I want to be your cocksleeve, forever!" She whined loudly as Natalie and Other-Natalie picked up speed, plunging into her tight holes over and over again. Malice''s own hips started to work as much as Natalie''s were, sliding back and forth and fucking herself onto their respective cocks. "I''m yours! Please, just cum inside me!" Natalie groaned, her own pleasure spiking at the lewd, enthusiastic submission. She felt her illusion''s cock start to swell against her own, and knew that Other-Natalie was also close. They pounded into Malice, filling her ass and pussy. Then Malice''s body tensed, and she came on Natalie''s cock, squeezing down like a vice, nails digging into Natalie''s shoulders. Her body shook violently with pleasure as she rode through her orgasm, eyes rolling back. The sight was enough to push Natalie over the edge herself, and she groaned as she came hard, pumping Malice full of her thick load. Other-Natalie reached her own climax at the same time, filling the Hellhound''s ass, the two of them stuffing the wolfgirl from either end. Malice whimpered as she was pumped with creamy stuffing, taking it eagerly, hips working to milk her two partners out. No resistance at all, only enthusiasm and desperation present in her movements. When they''d finished, Natalie and Other-Natalie pulled out of Malice, and the three of them sagged into the ground, exhausted. The heart and shield symbols above Malice''s head wavered for a second, then faded into nothingness, signaling the encounter''s end. Leaking from both holes, the wolfgirl looked up at Natalie with wide orange eyes. She seemed dazed and confused as shey on the ground, like she couldn''t believe what had happened. "I ... lost?" Despite her exhaustion, Natalie forced herself to sit up, lean over, and kiss her. "You did. But you put up a good fight." She slipped a hand into Malice''s hair and kissed her again, gentler this time. "And don''t worry. I''ll take great care of you." 5.43 – Epic 5.43 ¨C Epic With Natalie''s victory decided, the elevated tform began to slide down into the ground with a cacophonous grinding, rejoining Natalie with her team. Thoroughly exhausted, Natalie sat on her ass, still catching her breath. Slowly, her teammates came into view. The tform sealed itself flush into the ground with onest shudder. Four pairs of eyes stared at Natalie¡ªand the aftermath of her fight. Natalie and her clone, both breathing heavily as they sat on their asses, recovering. Cocks soft, wet, and glistening. Flushed and sweaty. Then, the Hellhound. Malice. Copsed on the ground, mumbling incoherent nothings as she was syed out with her legs spread, both her holes leaking from Natalie and her illusion''sbined loads. A sticky, goopy mess pooled down beneath her legs, the excess leaking out. Even by Natalie''s standards, it was a lewd sight. Even Jordan had wide eyes as she took it in. "You had fun, I hope?" Sofia huffed. "Meanwhile, we were fighting for our lives." She pushed back a strand of loose white hair with an irritable motion. A series of red lines were visible against her thigh: probably a swipe from one of the wolves. Otherwise, she looked to be in decent shape, as did the rest of the team. "You won, though. Good job." Her blue eyes nced at the Hellhound, and even faster away. She shook her head. "But why are there two of you, Natalie? You can do that?" Other-Natalie leaned over to pat Natalie on the shoulder. "Good luck with everything, then. d I could help." She gave a quick salute, then immediately dissipated into white motes of light, vanishing. Natalie stared at the empty space. Her illusion could pick when to vanish? And honestly, Natalie had wanted her to stick around for a bit longer. So they could talk. What was life as a temporary illusion like? Not that she was actually sapient, just a construct controlled by magic to appear so, imitating Natalie''s own personality, but still. Natalie opened her mouth to reply to her gawking team¡ªand also started to rise to get dressed, since she felt pretty exposed, sitting there with her cock out¡ªbut she was interrupted before she could. Once again, the ground rumbled, like it had when the tform first elevated. Natalie''s heart immediately started galloping, and she finished standing and orienting herself. Her team tensed as well, Sofia drawing her rapier and looking around for the source of the noise. But nothing dangerous appeared. A thin opening split the ground between Natalie and her team, from which a pedestal slowly raised. In a wed grasp¡ªliterally wed, like the paw of a wolf¡ªan orb was held. Pink. It reminded Natalie of a monster core: perfectly smooth, with murky coloring in its depths. Exceptrger, and Natalie had never seen a pink monster core. Of course, she inspected it by instinct. *** Carnal Boss Capture Core Epic Lv. 2 ¡ª *** Before she could finish reading the description, Natalie''s attention shattered, seeing that word. "An epic?" Sofia choked out. A ripple went through the team as they each read the rarity indicator. Natalie gaped at the pedestal. As did Sofia, Jordan, Liz, and¡ªwell, no, Ana didn''t, but she had slightly raised eyebrows, which was as close as that woman came to gawking. Natalie had gotten used to their luck when it came to item drops. And rares at such a low dungeon level were exceedingly umon, but at least feasible. Other people got them, too. An epic, though? Epics didn''t drop at level two. Well, Natalie hadn''t actually done significant research on the topic, but she was pretty sure that only a tiny collection even existed across the entire world, if any at all. Possibly none did. Or in reverse, maybe more than she thought. The point was, she didn''t know. Because for the most part, as far asmon knowledge went, it simply didn''t happen. Not that Natalie and her team had stumbled onto one of the strongest artifacts in existence. It was still a level two item. A level two epic was probably less useful than a level five umon, for example. Level mattered much more when it came to raw strength. But still, the shock stemmed from the fact that epics didn''t drop on the second floor of the dungeon. ''A level two epic'' was a ridiculous sentence. And each rarity came with significant boosts in usefulness. So it would almost certainly be their best item yet. Hastily, Natalie continued reading. *** Carnal Boss Capture Core Epic Lv. 2 Effects - NOTE: THE DUNGEON DISLIKES THE FORCEFUL APPROPRIATION OF ITS PROPERTY. - Capture. im a defeated Carnal Boss and store their essence inside the Capture Core. imed entities can be summoned as a familiar to aid inbat. When assisting, any experience earned by the captured entity is instead granted to the summoner. imed entities match the level of the Capture Core. They are not perfectly obedient. Reduce the likelihood of rebellion by properly caring for the imed entity. Description A level two monster core altered by a divine influence. *** The word ''epic'' alone had shocked Natalie and her team into silence. Reading the full description, much less the emphasized ''NOTE,'' made them freeze entirely. "What does that mean?" Liz asked, breaking the stunned silence. "The dungeon dislikes ''the forceful appropriation of its property''?" "Is it saying we shouldn''t use it?" Sofia asked. "We can im a dungeon mob? As a familiar?" Jordan said, baffled. "And it gives us their experience when they fight? Assuming she''s strong, that''d nearly double how fast one of us would level up, wouldn''t it?" Again, the team went quiet as they absorbed that. "It is an epic item," Liz said. "And one of Natalie''s, too. So yeah. Wow." "Holy crap," Jordan said. "It means she can''t level up herself, though," Ana said, sounding interested. "And it specifies the monster matches the level of the core. So there might be a way to level up the core, instead? Or receive new ones?" "How would that work?" "The dungeon dislikes its property being taken?" Sofia repeated loudly, cutting into the discussion. "Are we ignoring that? Hello? Even if it''s the most amazing item in the world, it literally says it''ll upset the dungeon to use it." "A pissed-off dungeon doesn''t sound great," Jordan agreed. "It also says, altered by a divine influence," Ana said. "So clearly, in contrast, Natalie''s sponsor wants us to use it. Or at least she provided it for her. Are there conflicting desires, then? Between major entities?" "Honestly," Liz added tentatively. "I''m more scared of angering the dungeon than a maybe-goddess, by ignoring her gift." She winced, looking up at the ceiling. "No, um, offense?" Natalie rubbed her face. Her head spun. She nced down at Malice, who was lying in a sweaty puddle on the floor. She''d really been fucked senseless. Her eyes were closed, having passed out¡ªor at least briefly be catatonic. Natalie supposed it had been an overwhelming experience, especially when furtherpromised by a guard break. At least it afforded Natalie and her team a moment to speak alone. "Well, we''re not leaving her," Natalie said. She assumed the capture core was what allowed Malice to apany them. That she couldn''t just follow along normally. "What would even happen, if we didn''t im her? Would she go back to being mindless? A normal monster? How does her transformation even work? She''s a person now, basically. She was talking to me. Like, full conversations." That troubled her teammates, as it should. "Shouldn''t you ask her if she wants to be captured, then?" Jordan said. "If she''s a person, she can make her own decisions." Natalie paused. Uh. Yeah. Obviously. That was the conclusion Natalie should''ve made herself. However much the ''rules of the game'' said Malice became her property after winning, Natalie clearly wasn''t going to treat another person as an actual reward. "Except that decision affects us, too, not just her," Sofia insisted. "Am I going insane? Angry dungeon? I prefer not dying, personally." Her eyes flicked down Natalie''s body, before quickly flicking back up. "And can you please put your armor on, Natalie?" Natalie looked down at herself. Right. Still mostly naked. Natalie scooped up her discarded armor pieces and brought herself back to modesty. "If she wants to be saved, then we''re saving her," Natalie said firmly. "Her name is Malice, by the way." At the words, Sofia opened her mouth, then deted. Giving the woman a name had the effect Natalie was hoping for: Sofia rubbed her face. "Yes, of course," Sofia said, though sounding frustrated. "If she''s really, what, sapient now, and not¡ªI don''t know, a maniacal monster, then we have to. We can''t leave her to the dungeon." "There are practical benefits to capturing her as well," Ana said. "Even if we ignore the altruistic aspect. The item is amazing. So my vote is that we do; it''s worth an adverse reaction from the dungeon, whatever shape that might take. Surely it won''t kill us outright¡ªelse Natalie''s patron wouldn''t have gifted the item to us." Sofia flicked an annoyed look at Ana. Natalie somewhat agreed; the ''practical benefits'' weren''t what mattered, here. Ana paused. "Though, of course, the practical benefitse secondary to saving her," she said, almost sounding questioning. "Because that''s the moral thing to do?" Sofia shook her head and refocused on Malice. Her nose wrinkled, cheeks coloring as she looked at her. "You really left her a mess," she said, exasperated. "Can you wake her up? Obviously, we need to talk." 5.44 – Capture Core 5.44 ¨C Capture Core While Natalie nudged Malice''s shoulder to get her to wake, Liz ran around and collected the wolfgirl''s discarded armor, which Natalie had peeled off with some gusto; the separate pieces were scattered around in a decent radius. Slowly, Malice came back to consciousness. She blinked up at the five girls crowded around her. Her eyes naturally settled on Natalie. Their gazes met for a moment, then Malice sighed. "I really lost. To a human. How embarrassing." She grunted, rising into a sitting position. "I suppose it''s not the worst fate. At least you''re strong." "Good morning to you too," Natalie said, amused. The Hellhound didn''t sound especially perturbed at her defeat¡ªthough definitely somewhat. Natalie understood. She waspetitive herself. She hated losing. Natalie held a hand out, and Malice sped it and stood. Malice''s nakedness didn''t apparently bother her. She scrutinized Natalie''s teammates with her earlier confidence, arms crossed and shoulders square, pushing her breasts out. The haziness in her eyes created by Natalie''s thorough fucking had mostly faded. Her legs wobbled a bit as she found her footing, though. "Hmph," Malice said, her attention settling on Liz. "Why are you holding my armor?" Liz twitched in surprise. Blushing, she held the bundle of metal out. "Thought you''d want to put it back on. Sorry." Orange eyes flicked up and down the blushing Liz, before Malice held a hand out. Liz passed the gear over. Malice slipped into it. "So," Malice said, turning to Natalie. "You n to im me, then?" "You know about that?" Malice had spoken vaguely about what defeat meant, but Natalie hadn''t gotten the impression she knew about the Capture Core itself. "Of course. It was the terms of the duel." She sniffed. "Or, rather, I know that it''s your choice. That you could discard me. But you won''t do that. Obviously, I''m more than a suitable addition." Her eyes narrowed as she looked at Natalie''s team. "Especially in rtion to the rest of your group. Perhaps you defeated me, but not all of you could have. I won''t be the weakest fighter, here." Her eyes fell on Liz, again, who, hriously, made a squeaking noise as those intense orange eyes bore into her. Malice snorted, probably assuming the timidity proved her point. In reality, Liz might be the most skilled of all of them. Healers just didn''t have the shiest role. Natalie ignored the Hellhound''s arrogance. She''d already seen plenty of it during the fight, so she wasn''t surprised. Plus Natalie was pretty sure it was mostly posturing. Setting up her hierarchy in the group. Like an actual wolf might. "I''m d we don''t have to exin it all, then," Natalie said. "But do you want that to happen? To be imed?" Malice turned an incredulous look at her. "Didn''t you just force me to submit? Must I do so twice, for you?" Natalie blushed. "That was during the fight, though. As part of a duel. Obviously, I''m not forcing you to do anything you don''t want to." The incredulous look stayed on her. Natalie shifted ufortably. Clearly, this woman didn''t have the same sensibilities as Natalie herself. The idea of her own thoughts on the matter being relevant seemed ridiculous to her. She was a dungeon monster; Natalie shouldn''t assume the creature thought like a human. Malice was literally throwing the word ''human'' around like an insult. If the tables had been turned, and Natalie had been defeated, she wondered how considerate Malice would have been in return. She didn''t particrly want to consider it. Regardless, how Malice would act in this situation didn''t change how Natalie would. "And do you know what happens if we don''t?" Natalie added. Malice''s expression morphed into something she couldn''t fully decipher. She looked away. "I prefer this form," Malice said, a bit quietly. "The others forced onto me are ¡­" she grimaced. "Not as pleasant. I dislike being a durd. My mind crushed in on itself. Forcibly guided by ¡­" her lip curled up, and she didn''t finish the statement. Instead, she faced back to Natalie and red. She even took a step forward and poked aggressively at her chest. Apparently, her defeat hadn''t made her any more subservient. "Why wouldn''t you ept my service? I''ll remind you that you barely won, human. I''ll make an excellent warrior to call on." Barely won? That was only true in thebat section. Natalie had definitely outssed her in the other phase. To be fair, being able to summon an illusion of herself was kind of cheating. Natalie nced at her team. They hadn''t actually confirmed that they would risk the ire of the dungeon by using the capture core, but seeing how Malice clearly did want to be ''imed,'' they didn''t have much choice. They couldn''t refuse, and thus, by the sounds of it, have Malice reimed by the dungeon to be¡ªwhat, reshaped? That was how she made it sound. Like the dungeon used her soul or something, changing her form and mind to suit whatever purpose was needed inside the dungeon''s ever-changingndscape. And all of that deserved a long conversation with the wolfgirl, too. Who knew what they could learn about the dungeon''s nature, speaking to one of its actual inhabitants? Or would she be wary of delving into those topics? Or even supernaturally restricted, somehow? She would find outter. Natalie''s attention went primarily to Sofia, who had been the most vocal about the dangers of using the capture core. But her teammate nodded after only a moment. "You''re sure?" Natalie asked Malice. Malice crossed her arms. "It was the terms of the duel." While not a direct answer, the response had a clear interpretation. Natalie nodded, then turned and walked over to the pedestal holding the capture core. She grabbed the item, pulling it from the pedestal''s wed grasp. It was smooth and cold to the touch, like all monster cores, but a fair bitrger: it sat heavily in her palm. Returning to Malice, Natalie asked. "I''m not sure what this''ll do, and there might be problems, afterward, so we''ll have to act fast." "Problems?" "The item description says the dungeon will be upset if we use it. If we capture you." Malice seemed smug at that announcement. "I''m not surprised. I am one of her most valuable warriors." She waved her hand. "But, her moods are ephemeral. They pass quickly." Natalie¡ªand the rest of her team¡ªstared at the wolfgirl. "What?" Malice asked. "You know the dungeon? What do you mean ''she''? The dungeon is a she?" "She, he, it, the dungeon." Malice waved her hand as if it was a stupid question. "Yes. The Keeper of the Crypt. Whatever you wish to call her." "The Keeper of the Crypt?" Liz repeated incredulously. All at once, the ground beneath their feet heaved, the entire chamber bucking violently. It was so sudden that Natalie barely kept her footing. Liz and Ana actually fell, tumbling to the floor before scrambling back up. Malice warily eyed their surroundings, no longer seeming as dismissive. "Perhaps I shouldn''t be so loose with my lips. Such topics aren''t meant for humans." Natalie''s mouth opened and closed. The casual words had staggering implications, ones she couldn''t even begin to untangle. This day was really turning out to be something else. "Are you going to im me or not?" Malice asked. "Don''t you need to save those other humans I captured?" Again, Natalie jolted in surprise. She''d halfway forgotten about that. The four keys, eachbeled with the names of Leah''s teammates. "They''re alive?" Natalie asked. "Imprisoned in the loot room, yes." "Loot room? Where''s that?" "Behind the throne. A trapdoor." "Oh." Natalie considered that new information. "Well, since we don''t know what''s going to happen when we capture you, we should wait until we''re ready to leave to do it." Malice frowned. "I believe you need to make your decision now. If you don''t, the dungeon might simply reim me." "It works like that?" Malice shrugged. Which was fair enough. Still, iming Malice right away wasn''t ideal. They needed time to loot and save the prisoners. But they didn''t have much choice. Natalie wouldn''t y games when it came to identally surrendering Malice''s soul back to the dungeon. Natalie looked at her teammates. "Capture her, then sprint in, free everyone, and grab the loot?" "Be ready for whatever happens," Sofia grunted in agreement. "''Ephemeral moods'' or not, I don''t think an unhappy dungeon is going to be pleasant." Malice grinned, a toothy smile baring her canines¡ªwhich were inhumanly long and sharp. "It''ll be an opportunity to prove my worth." She cracked her knuckles, then her neck. "Perhaps you are afraid of such a challenge, human, but I am not." At the theatrics, Natalie rolled her eyes. Holding the orb up, she pressed it into Malice''s chest, an action that felt intuitive. "Here we go, then," she muttered. "One wolf-girl teammate,ing up." 5.45 – Freed 5.45 ¨C Freed Despite being ready for it, Natalie couldn''t help but be surprised as Malice disintegrated into pink motes of light. The energy drifted into the [Capture Core], sucking the wolf-girl into a magical pocket dimension, as if she were any old dungeon item. At making their decision, Natalie and the rest of the team looked around the cavern, bracing themselves for something to happen. For the dungeon to announce its displeasure, and promptly vent it on them. But only silence hung in therge ash-covered room. "I''d almost rather something did jump out at us," Jordan said, after a long second of nothing happening. "Don''t give it any ideas," Sofia muttered. "The n is the same. Get moving. I don''t trust this." "Agreed," Ana said. "Should I summon her back?" Natalie asked. "Or, actually, someone else? So they get the experience?" "I don''t see why not," Sofia said. "Capturing her is what should''ve annoyed the dungeon, not using her. We might need her help." Natalie tossed the capture core at Liz, who caught it somewhat clumsily, surprised at the action. "Why me?" "No reason. We''ll rotate." Liz held the orb up and furrowed her brow. A secondter, pink light poured outward, taking the shape of a busty wolfgirl. Malice looked around, then grinned at seeing them again. She rolled her shoulders. "Alright. Angry Crypt Keeper?" "Not yet," Sofia said. "But I can''t imagine it''ll be long. Natalie, please?" She gestured impatiently at the throne, which supposedly hid the trapdoor leading into the loot room. Natalie jogged over. Indeed, she found the fixture on the ground behind the towering, ornate throne. She gripped the metal handle and heaved upward. A shortdder led into a tunnel. She took the fast path: she jumped down, grunting as she hit the ground. Scanning for threats revealed nothing, instead, she found exactly what she''d been expecting. A loot chest as well as four cages. Four cages. Each with a person trapped inside. Leah''s teammates. Two of them were conscious, a man and a woman, and two were not¡ªtwo more men. They stared at Natalie with shock, eyes flicking down her body, and Natalie''s skin prickled at the obvious, surprised once-over they gave her. And despite the circumstances, clearly not of a fully professional nature. It was going to take some getting used to, running around in this bikini armor. "All clear," Natalie called up to the entrance of the trapdoor. Sofia was already in the process of jumping down after her¡ªthen Jordan next. The rest of her team mbered down in short order. "Who are you people?" the woman in the nearest cage asked. Natalie grunted, pulling out the keys she''d been carrying around. The first one with a woman''s name didn''t work, but the second did; it slid into the door''s lock. "Leah sent us," she said, tugging the door open. "But we''re in a hurry, so exnations can happenter." "A hurry? Why?" "We think something''s about to happen," Natalie said. "But we''re not sure what." "Uh," the woman said. "Sorry? What do you mean?" But Natalie ignored her. Even if there were no obvious indicators of danger, her skin was crawling. They''d taken a risk by capturing Malice. Angering the dungeon, whatever came from that, wasn''t going to be pleasant. She quickly went around the room and unlocked the four cages. The sleeping individuals were woken after some urgent, mildly violent shaking. Sofia, in the meantime, had thrown open the loot chest and was, without ceremony, dumping the contents of their victory into monster cores. Normally, they would make a show of inspecting the loot as it came out, but this time, they would appraise their haul after they escaped the dungeon. And the rush was shortly proved warranted. A howl went up from the cavern above them, joined by a second, then a third, and more. Everyone''s gazes flicked to the trapdoor entrance¡ªthe four delvers they''d rescued all going pale. ording to Leah''s story, they''d been defeated and captured by those creatures, so it was fair that they reacted in such a dramatic way. At the cacophony of howling mixing together above them, Malice started cackling wildly. Sofia, on her part, sighed. Though strangely, it sounded like relief. "Honestly," she said. "At least it''ll be a fight, and not something else." Yeah. Better than having a trap sprung on them or otherwise some impossible-to-deal-with shenanigans. "We have everything?" Natalie asked, looking at Sofia, who stood by an empty chest. "Yes," Sofia said. "And you four are ready to move?" she asked the strangers. They nodded, eyes wide. "You have weapons?" They shook their heads. "Great," Natalie muttered. They''d be mostly dead weight, then. Two of them looked like mages. At least everyone would be some use; maybe not enormously so, if the fighters weren''t trained in hand-to-hand, but it was something. "Anyone see any other way out, besides up?" Natalie scanned the walls of the hidden loot room. "Doesn''t seem like it." Natalie cursed. "Alright." The howls were growing in volume. "We didn''t see an exit portal, up there?" Most boss rooms came with them. "If there was, I bet the dungeon promptly hid it," Sofia said dryly. "Retracing our steps might be our best bet. Back the way we came." Natalie didn''t know if escaping the ash cavern home of the hellhounds would be enough to break them free of the dungeon''s wrath, but it was clearly their first step. Rolling her hammer in her grip, she approached thedder. She made it halfway up when, suddenly, a snarling wolf head popped through the opening. Natalie responded to the shock in her traditional way: she smashed the massive stone block of her hammer into its skull. Whimpering, the wolf retreated. Natalie hung there, halfway up thedder, warily peering around the limited viewport, trying to see what was going on. "I''m gonna send a distraction through," Natalie said. "We need to get up and out fast, on our feet, so we can fight." "Ready when you are," Jordan said. They executed the n. Natalie sent an illusion of herself scrambling up and through the trapdoor, sprinting at full break in the opposite direction of the cavern''s entrance¡ªhopefully leading the monsters away. Bursting up and back into the open space, Natalie nearly choked at what she saw. Five of them. Five [Hellhounds]. And not the smaller, weaker kind they''d killed so many of out in the lead-up to the bossroom, but full-fledged, enormous, obsidian ck wolves, as had apanied Malice''s boss fight. Sofia and them had struggled¡ªnot overly so, but still struggled¡ªagainst just two. So five? They were fucked. The dungeon tended to be mostly fair. It created encounters feasible for the level they were on. But five? Natalie enjoyed a good fight, but that might not be a fight at all. She gestured wildly for the train of people to hurry up as they climbed out of the loot room. Meanwhile, Natalie''s illusion had been torn to shreds; the five wolves looked around, confused¡ªthankfully as stupid as most dungeon monsters¡ªthen faced back to the trapdoor, seeing their true prey emerge. They howled. To Natalie''s side, Malice also howled¡ªbut in delight. An unhinged, bloodthirsty sound. "Let''s see how you all y," Malice grinned, shooting a wild look at Natalie. "This''ll be a good introduction to the team, I think." 5.46 – Escape 5.46 ¨C Escape Natalie and her team were much stronger than the typical group of level twos, but they weren''t invulnerable. The dungeon was venting its outrage at their so-called ''transgression''¡ªstealing Malice, a prized soul, from it. Even bolstered by four other harried delvers, and Malice''s arrival, the fight that broke out was chaotic. To say the least. The pack of five hulking obsidian wolves mmed into them, and it was a frenzy immediately. Natalie was already exhausted from her fight against Malice. Presumably, Jordan and the rest weren''t in their best fighting shape either. And against five enraged monsters, each of them nearly a miniboss in their own right? It was a bloodbath. The most genuinely concerningbat they''d been in thus far, without question. Natalie could hardly keep the attention of all five by herself¡ªthough she did, thankfully, keep two. Malice kept another; Jordan and Sofia the fourth. The four rescued delvers upied the fifth, having broken off and quickly formed their own sub-party. Maybe they weren''t the best fighters ever, but they were at least somewhat trained. Even bringing the fight down from five to four was a huge relief. Finally, the frenzy started to recede, with Jordan and Sofia killing the first, then moving to help other sub-parties, a cascade of victory following. But while the group of ten were left panting and alive, each of them was bloodied, no one spared, all ten of their health pools dangerously low. Natalie looked around, nearly incredulous that they had won without any fatal injuries. Definitely injuries, but none fatal. She especially was in poor condition, but Liz''s regeneration was working away at patching up the worst of it. A quaffed health potion too. The healer looked faint as she alone continued to cast spells after the frenzied fight, her work not over. Then the ground rumbled, and another series of howls ripped through the air, their source unknown. "More?" Natalie asked. "I think," Sofia said, panting. "That it''s time we run for our lives." Natalie hated running from a fight, for obvious reasons; she would much rather stand her ground. Running wasn''t even usually a smart idea. It left their backs exposed, a terrible vulnerability in the dungeon. But as one howl turned into two, three, and four? Another encounter, of simr difficulty, when they''d very nearly died handling the first? "Agreed," Natalie said. *** Leah and her team stood nervously outside the boss chamber, throwing concerned looks toward the arched doorway. "It should be over by now, right?" Leah asked. "Who knows?" Adam said. "It''s not like boss fights are consistent." He frowned at the entrance despite his words. "Plus," he added, "they might just be taking their time looting." "I guess," Leah mumbled. "I''m just worried." To their side, Elliot snorted. "You kidding? You saw what I did, didn''t you? They cleared a path here without breaking a sweat. The boss isn''t going to be anything to them." That was true, she supposed. Still, it was her brother''s life on the line. And what if they won, but didn''t find their missing teammates? That was another major concern. Abruptly, Leah''s nerves were put to rest. The entrance doorway to the boss room mmed open, and, shocked, Leah watched a flood of people pour out. Ten of them. Natalie and her team leading the charge, though also mixed in, Leah''s teammates. Namely, a sight that shot through her like lightning: Will, her brother. Alive. Leah almost couldn''t process everything she saw. Joined in with those two groups was also, bizarrely, a woman with dark gray skin, dressed in skimpy armor not dissimr to Natalie''s. She had wild orange eyes, and she was bleeding profusely¡ªthough she seemed, nonsensically, excited, thrilled by whatever had given her the wounds. And she wasn''t alone in her injuries. Nearly everyone was bleeding. Natalie, probably since she was the frontline, was in an especially bad condition. Leah''s eyes were drawn immediately to her stomach, where five gruesome red lines were etched into her skin. Even with health potions and healing, that might leave a scar. For the wound to be so visible, either the attack had been incredibly strong and not defended against, or Natalie''s HP had faded to dangerously low territory. Either way, anyone could tell that things had gone exceedingly wrong, inside that boss chamber. Natalie shared a brief look with Leah, who stared at them, stunned. "It''s time to go," Natalie said. "Run." "W-What?" Leah asked, shocked. Howls echoed from the tunnel behind them. "Run," Natalie growled, shoving Leah forward. "Can''t fight. Go!" *** Ten minutester, they burst out into the snow. Leah''s legs ached, and her heart pounded in her ears. Their grand escape through the winding tunnels of the ash cavern had been at a nearlyical pace¡ªwith total disregard for potential danger. It was only thanks to Jordan''s memorization of the cave''syout that they were able to retrace their footsteps. Otherwise, they''d surely have plunged headlong into a trap. They''d left the wolves behind. Natalie had been throwing illusions left and right, sending imaginary doubles of them snaking off in different directions of the cavern. One by one, the monsters pursuing them had gotten turned around or distracted. Illusions were really such a useful ability¡ªand on apetent fighter, no less. Panting and sweaty, the group made it a few dozen feet into the snow forest before stopping, leaning against trees or even copsing onto the ground¡ªthetter of which was mostly Leah''s team, embarrassingly enough. "What¡ª" Leah gasped. "What happened? Why were there so many?" She didn''t get an answer immediately, which was fair. Natalie had pulled out a health potion and was greedily downing it. She seemed like she needed it, too. It was a rather gory sight, the amount of blood covering her, made all the more obvious by how much skin her armor exposed. The same for the wolfgirl. The wolfgirl. Who was also she ended up in the party? She looked like a dungeon monster. Could someone in Natalie''s group charm them? It wasn''t an unheard-of ability, but definitely a rare one. "Long story," Natalie panted back in reply. "We pissed the dungeon off." "You¡ªdid what?" "Long story," Natalie repeated. Leah opened her mouth, but, after a second, closed it. She chose not to press. And, hell, she already knew these people were crazy. They were from T. It nearly seemed fitting, all of the bizarre, unexined things going on. Instead, Leah trudged over to her brother. She pored over his wounds, fretting like the older sister she was. He was, for the most part, fine. Injured, as everyone who had fled from the boss chamber, but only moderately. That was a huge upgrade from ''potentially dead'' as she''d been fearing just ten minutes ago. Leah found herself only relieved. In fact, the emotion crashed into her so hard she had to fight back tears. "We should really keep moving," Natalie said after an impossibly short minute of catching their breaths. "I don''t think we''re safe until we''repletely out. The dungeon needs time to calm down." "How is it mad at you?" Adam asked. "Hello? Would like an exnation on that." "Not giving one," Natalie said tersely. She downed another health potion¡ªthough the effects werepoundingly diminutive; it didn''t do nearly as much to heal her as the first few had. Adam didn''t seem pleased by the response, but really, it was fair. It seemed to be their own business. And they were their saviors, besides. A little secrecy didn''t mean much, in face of that. "Now,e on," Natalie said. "Rest break is over." 5.47 – Surfaced 5.47 ¨C Surfaced Despite having escaped the Hellhound cave, the dungeon wasn''t quite finished with them. But its temper was at least cooling. The encounters thrown at them were sessively easier¡ªif still far more difficult than usual. Malice''s im that its moods were ''ephemeral'' seemed to be urate. Intense but fast-passing. When they finally found an exit portal and threw themselves through, Natalie''s entire body was aching. She was used toing out of dungeon expeditions exhausted, but not to this extent, having undergone a vigorous sex fight followed immediately by the dungeon''s vengeful wrath. The good news, if there was any for such an onught, was that they had racked up a lot of kills. The dungeon''s temper tantrum had resulted in quite an efficient leveling expedition. Materializing in a random spot inside therge chamber that served as Aradon''s dungeon entrance, Natalie finally allowed herself to rx, swaying on her feet. She looked around, checking in on each of her teammates. They were all alive and none too badly hurt. That was all that mattered. They had stored Malice inside the Capture Core just before exiting. Natalie didn''t want to deal with exining how a definitively non-human creature had apanied them outside the dungeon. Now or possibly ever. Malice''s existence in general posed a whole slew ofplications. "Alright," Natalie said. "To the healers." Their team was hardly the first to stumble from the dungeon in poor shape. For exactly those situations, there was a healer''s hall connected directly to the main chamber. There were even medics on standby to rush to a delver''s immediate aid if necessary. They weren''t in that bad of shape, though. If admittedly Natalie wobbled on her walk over, feeling light-headed. They passed the squat obelisk of ck stone¡ªthe actual portal that led into the dungeon¡ªas they went, then promptly had their wounds tended to. Liz had been caring for them as well, alongside health potions. Combined with the higher-level spells from the healers servicing the dungeon exit, Natalie would be sore when she woke in the morning, and possibly have a few faint lines on her stomach and thighs to remember the wolves'' vicious ws by, but otherwise, she''d be fine. They all would. Scars were cool, anyway. After getting patched up and staggering into the evening air of Aradon''s streets¡ªfeeling ten times more exhausted, now that adrenaline wasn''t holding her up¡ªNatalie and her team said their goodbyes to Leah. The rescued party poured their thanks onto them, trying to insist on payment, but they declined. As far as they were concerned, Natalie and her team had only done what was expected of them. They would hardly leave a group stranded in the dungeon when it was entirely within their capabilities to help. And the actual chaos had been of their own making. The mundane challenges associated with saving Leah''s team hadn''t posed much difficulty at all. The team of five trudged back to the T campus and convened in Natalie''s shared dorm. Considering the amount of grime, blood, ash, and other unidentifiable messes that hade with their adventure, they peeled out of their armor, stored it in monster cores, and took turns getting cleaned up so as not to ruin the furniture and flooring of the dorm. Finally, they copsed in the living room. Sofia took the recliner, and the rest of them piled onto the couch. It wasn''t meant to seat four people, but they crammed in anyway, exhausted enough that they didn''t care that their shoulders were touching. For a while, they simply sagged into the soft cushions and stared vacantly into the distance, dpressing. Even Liz and Ana, the mages of the group, were worn out. Magic didn''t drain the body in the same way as physical activity, but too much exertion of that inexplicable muscle would definitelyy a person on her ass. Natalie would know. She was drained in both ways. But Liz especially had been casting nonstop, having to patch up a group of ten. Her mana pool had likely beenpletely emptied. She''d overextended herself for certain. Like all of them had, to varying degrees. After several minutes of exhausted silence, Sofia finally asked, "Loot?" Liz groaned, wiggling on the couch, venting her protest. "Five more minutes?" "Let''s get it over with," Natalie grunted, forcing herself to sit up. Jordan snorted, though even that sounded exhausted. "This has to be the first time a group didn''t want to sort through their boss earnings." "I don''t know about ''don''t want to''," Liz said. "I mean, they''re even Natalie items. So they''re gonna be good. Just ¡­ ugh." "Ugh," Jordan agreed sympathetically. "The sooner we sort everything out though, the sooner we can crash." "It''s definitely gonna be an early night," Natalie said. She was so tired, in fact, that it might be the first time since their arrangement had started that she didn''t take advantage of having Jordan in her bed. The thought felt nearly sphemous, but in her current state, knocking out early really did sound like the highest form of bliss in existence. Better even than sex. "Should we bring Malice out?" Ana asked. "In what way do we consider her part of our team? Does she get loot?" That suggestion brought a brief silence to the room. "Of course she gets a share," Natalie said. "She''s risking her life alongside us. She''s not our pet." At the word ''pet'', the group paused, their attention turning to Sofia. Sofia''s eyes narrowed, and she red at each of them in return, a blush rising on her cheeks. Except, Natalie was too tired to tease Sofia, even with such an easy opening. She hadn''t thought that would be possible, but apparently it was. "Is she risking her life, though?" Ana asked. "If she dies, wouldn''t her soul be reimed by the dungeon? Who knows how dungeon entities work? Much less captured ones." It was a good point, Natalie supposed. But it didn''t matter. "She''s still out there, fighting with us. She''s a full member of the party." "Of course," Ana said smoothly. "We''d be stupid not to equip her anyway, considering her contribution inbat. But I''m stating relevant facts. This is a discussion that needs to be explored properly. It''s an unprecedented situation with far-reaching implications. A sapient dungeon monster, extracted from her home." Which, again, was fair. "Can she even be released while we''re outside?" Jordan asked. "I wouldn''t be surprised if she couldn''t." "I don''t know if I can get my brain to think about all this stuff, right now," Liz groaned. "It''s maybe better we put this off till tomorrow." "And leave her trapped in the orb till then?" Natalie asked, frowning. "We don''t even know what that''s like," Jordan said. "Maybe she''s sleeping." "You can let her out and ask," Liz said. "I just meant ¡­ the full discussion. Her dynamic in the squad. To what extent we reveal her to the outside world." Thatst part was the more important one. As far as Natalie was concerned, the wolfgirl was a full member of their adventuring group¡ªbut permanently freeing her from the capture core and letting her wander around with full autonomy? She wasn''t their pet, but the possible ramifications of that were too big to ignore. Everyone recognized that. Natalie almost hoped the capture core didn''t allow them to free her outside the dungeon. It would simplify things. At the same time, she obviously didn''t want that to be the case¡ªprimarily for Malice''s sake. They needed to talk with Malice and get her opinions on the matter, as well as how the core worked itself. "Loot first," Natalie said. "And then I''ll chat with Malice. Privately. The specifics depend on how she feels about everything." Sofia grunted. "Loot first, then." 5.48 – The Haul 5.48 ¨C The Haul "Shall I begin?" Sofia asked, tugging out a monster core and holding it up for the team to see. She had been the one to lug all the loot out from the treasure chest while Natalie and the others had gone around freeing the prisoners. That meant she had an idea of what was in store, having seen the physical objects, even if she hadn''t inspected the items to see what their effects were¡ªwhich was the more interesting part. "Go ahead," Natalie said. Sofia smirked, which boded nothing good. She stood and pulled the item out from the monster core. It settled into her hands, appearing from nowhere, and Sofia grunted as she struggled to gently lower the enormous weapon on the ground. A hammer. And not just a hammer. An even bigger one than Natalie''s current stone weapon, and this one forged with a metal head, to make it even heavier. Which was why Sofia could barely keep a grip on it. But more importantly, it was the hammer''s appearance that had Natalie''s eyes going wide. The huge block of metal serving as its head¡ªpurely blunt with a t face, a smashing-only weapon with little pration ability¡ªwas made of a faintly pink metal, nearly white-pink, not at all like vibrant erotite. It had a white shaft striped with red paint, and on either of the heads'' faces wererge, dark-red heart symbols. It looked ¡­ ridiculous. Jordan burst outughing. "It''s pink with hearts on it," the rogue howled. "And I bet it''s good, so Natalie''s gonna have to use it." "It''s not funny," Natalie said, aghast as she took in the appearance of the massive hammer. "People are already looking at me weird. This is ¡­ this is too much." *** Valentine Rare Lv. 2 Effects - Moderate increase to Furor. - Duo. Land sessful strikes in quick session with alternating attack faces to trigger a stunning effect. Description An oversized hammer with a head made of light pink metal. Two dark red hearts adorn either attack face. The handle is white with red stripes. *** Natalie groaned. "And it is good." Beyond the natural upgrades of being a level two rare, it gave a moderate furor boost and a stunning effect. She had to equip it. "I think it''s thematic," Ana suggested. "It fits much better with your current armor." "It definitely ties the ensemble together," Sofia agreed, her lips twitching as she appraised the item. "Moderate furor boost, alongside a stunning effect? Quite useful." Natalie grunted, unamused by the situation. She didn''t take herself extremely seriously, but she was already prancing around in bikini armor. A giant light-pink, red-striped, heart-adorned hammer was too much. It looked in-out garish. It drew the eye in a distinctly not ssy way. Not that Natalie cared about looking ssy, but this was something else. Standing and gripping the weapon, Natalie heaved it up. As expected, it was even heavier than her previous. The heads of the two weapons were roughly the same size, though metal was obviously denser than stone. She handled it briefly, getting a feel for it. She''d be a bit slower wielding the weapon, but not by a ton. The extra striking power both from the raised furor and the natural weight of the item would make her even more of a menace. "I guess I can''t be mad about getting a weapon upgrade," Natalie grumbled. "Especially a rare with a strong bonus effect. But seriously?" "I love it," Jordan said. "It''s very you." Natalie eyed the woman. Jordan smirked back. Natalie held a hand out toward Sofia, who ced the monster core in Natalie''s palm. Gripping the smooth metal ball, she sucked the ridiculous hammer into its pocket space and sat back down on the couch. "It''s not the only weapon we got," Sofia added, sobering up. Her blue eyes turned toward green ones. "I think Jordan might have gotten something good, too. Though not as interesting as Natalie''s." Emptying the next monster core, Sofia pulled out two wicked-looking daggers. Jordan leaned forward, intrigued, since daggers were her key weapon, and she hadn''t found anything good for her primary slot, yet. *** Nightshade Rare Lv. 2 Effects - Moderate increase to Prowess. - Vile Concoctions. Poisons applied to either de are moderately more effective. Description Two curved daggers made of a sickly green metal and smooth ck handles. *** "Oh, wow," Natalie said. "They''re geared toward poison. They''re literally made for you." She couldn''t imagine a more apt item. Jordan was likewise impressed. She took the daggers from Sofia. Her ss was built to amplify, extend, and otherwise synergize with poisons¡ªit was why she''d taken up herb-collecting as a subss, so that she could provide apothecaries with her findings and receive customized brews to coat her weapons with. "We''re not evenmenting that it''s another rare?" Liz pointed out. "That''s where we''re at, these days?" Natalie blinked, looking over at the healer. Liz was, of course, right. Normally, a rare would be an astounding find at level two. Easily the best haul of the trip, if not the week or month. "Well, it''s not an epic, is it?" Natalie said, feigning disinterest. "Just a rare." She sniffed in disdain. Sofia snorted, Jordan gave Natalie an amused look, and Liz shook her head in incredulity. "Plus there''s the treasure hunter ne," Anamented. "So the odds were even more in our favor. I''m curious to see how high the rarities go as we climb in levels¡ªwhere they''re moremon for everyone, too, much less us." Ugh. Yeah. That nearly hurt Natalie''s head to think about. Would they be getting something at an even higher rarity than an epic, at level three? What about level ten? Or higher? "And one more thing of note," Sofia said, pulling out another monster core. "A crown." *** Crown of the Scapegoat Umon Lv. 2 Effects - Minor increase to Tenacity. - Redirect. Activate to drop all current monster aggression onto a friendly target of choice. Description A silvery crown with red jewels encrusting the front. *** "Oh," Liz said. "That''s an interesting one. Who would use it best?" It didn''t take much consideration. "Probably Jordan again," Natalie said. "Means she can be more aggressive, and if things go bad and she draws aggro, she can just drop it onto me." "That or Sofia," Jordan said mildly, "since it does alsoe with tenacity." "It''s almost certainly better on you," Sofia disagreed. "A rogue who can be as aggressive as she wants, knowing she can fall back and dispel the attention she gathered? It''s phenomenal. I''m surprised it''s only umon." "Probably a long cooldown," Natalie said. Because if it were a frequent effect, the item would definitely have been a rare. Or found deeper in the dungeon. "Probably," Jordan said. "But should I really take both?" She nced at Liz and Ana, but obviously, neither girl protested, despite not having gotten anything for themselves, this haul. And Natalie appreciated that. How easy loot distribution was as a process. Some teams, she knew, spent an excruciating amount of time and effort on the process. And every instance would nheless result in unhappy individuals. Instead, with their team, everyone focused on who used the items best. They cared for team sess as a whole. That was indicative of everyone genuinely intending to stick it out for the long-term. Briefly, Natalie wondered what the process would be like on a team like Elida''s. She shivered. No, for reasons other than just not wanting to be around that snake herself, Natalie much preferred her current team. "And there''s a few other odds and ends, like coins and such," Sofia said. "Let''s go through those, and then we can retire for the night." 5.49 – Malice 5.49 ¨C Malice After sorting out the rest of the less important loot, Liz and Ana headed back to their respective dorms. Likewise, Sofia retired to her room, and Natalie headed to her own, with Jordan remaining in the living room, giving Natalie and Malice a moment to speak privately. There were a number of topics Natalie needed to hash out with Malice that were too important to put off until tomorrow. Since she was carrying around an actual person inside her pocket. Pulling out the [Capture Core] and activating it, the busty wolf-girl materialized in an outline of pink motes of light, before solidifying into herplete form. Malice spun around, looking for threats, since she obviously had no idea Natalie had simply called her for a chat. Seeing nothing, the Hellhound rxed, then faced Natalie. "Back to safety, I see," Malice said. "On the surface, as well. I wasn''t sure whether that would be possible." "We weren''t either." Natalie had mixed feelings that it had. But ultimately, she was happy. She didn''t want Malice to be trapped, even if it eliminated certainplexplications of this arrangement. "Hmph. Why have you summoned me, then?" Natalie paused. "Well, there''s a lot we need to talk about." "There is?" "Don''t you want to straighten out how ¡­ all of this is going to work?" She waved around, indicating their general circumstances. "You summon me when you''re in need of a warrior," Malice said slowly, as if stating something extremely obvious. Then, the wolfgirl hesitated and nced away. "Or, when you have other uses for me, as your earned conquest." Natalie opened her mouth, then closed it. Even in her exhausted state, the idea of taking advantage of that aspect of her victory over Malice admittedly made her heart jump. But that obviously wasn''t why she''d released the wolfgirl, tonight. "Malice," Natalie said firmly. "I don''t care what the dungeon told you about how the capture core works. We''re figuring something out that you''re happy with. You don''t belong to me." Malice turned confused orange eyes toward her. The concept clearly baffled her. That Natalie would try to work out something, well, ethical, for her ''conditions of servitude''. Natalie sighed. "What''s it like in there, anyway?" "The core?" "Yeah." Malice paused. "Not dissimr to waiting between assignments," she said. "I''m vaguely aware of time having passed, but only after the fact." "Like sleeping?" "Close," Malice said, but she didn''t specify how it varied. "How long has it been?" "A bit more than an hour." Malice grunted. "That feels about right. But it also seemed like seconds." That was one point of relief for Natalie, then. If Malice was left alone inside the [Capture Core] for extended periods of time, she wasn''t sitting around being bored to death. To her perception, she jumped from summon to summon. Natalie plopped down onto her and Jordan''s bed. "We need to talk about how this''ll work," she repeated, looking at Malice, who remained standing. "Do you care if I leave you inside?" Malice bristled. "A weapon expects to be used. Did I not demonstrate my capabilities to your satisfaction?" Her voice grew heated. "Surely I wasn''t found wanting." She definitely hadn''t. Malice''s contributions to the mad frenzy of the dungeon''s wrath had been crucial to their survival. She was easily as skilled¡ªand as powerful¡ªas the rest of the team. And not only did she not leech experience from them, but she funneled it toward her summoner. It would be moronic to not call on Malice whenever they possibly could. But that wasn''t what Natalie was getting at. "No, you were great. You probably saved our lives. I meant, day-to-day," Natalie said. "Between dungeon expeditions. While we''re at ss, or doing whatever. Are you fine being left alone, inside the core?" Malice looked at her nkly. "There''s some pretty seriousplications involved with bringing you out in public," Natalie continued, sighing. "Sapient, talking dungeon monsters would have a lot of scrutiny on them, from just about everyone. Scrutiny I don''t want, by association, on me, considering my ss." Which she maybe wasn''t doing the best of hiding, seeing how Elida had sussed her out. But maybe that had happened thanks to extenuating circumstances. The possibility of her own involvement with a deity. Gods, she still had to deal with Elida. There just wasn''t enough time in the day. In the week. In the year. And the eel was avoiding her on purpose, letting Natalie stew on her ultimatum. "We could make up a story about you being a charmed familiar or something," Natalie said, "but those don''t talk. And usually can''t be brought out of the dungeon, I think. So it''d still be a huge deal. But if you yed the part, it''s a possibility." It wouldn''t be that hard of a sell, either. Malice was clearly a monster in some regards. All the howling, cackling, and blood-thirst down in the dungeon, when she''d been fighting for them, had proved that. She was too wildly intense to be perceived as anything but half-monster. That''d probably been why Leah and her party hadn''t found it all that odd. "Maybe we could even¡ª" Natalie continued. "Human," Malice said, interrupting her. "I don''t wish to dawdle on the surface. Mingle with human society." She sneered at the idea. "Summon me when there''s something that needs to be killed. That''s all I ask." The Hellhound hesitated, then nced away. "Or ¡­ when you have other uses for me." Her cheeks colored. "As were the terms of our battle." A blush rose on Natalie''s own face. Malice was being awfully insistent on reminding her of those ''terms''. As for the more important part of what she''d said, though, that she didn''t care to be summoned except for battle¡ªand ''other things''¡ªNatalie supposed she shouldn''t be surprised. Malice was a dungeon monster; her brain didn''t work the same as Natalie''s. As a human''s. She didn''t care for socializing and exploring society, in having a ''normal life''. Though maybe Natalie should try to provide her a more fulfilling experience, regardless of what Malice imed she preferred? It was all a mess. Natalie would figure it outter. For now, she would take the wolfgirl at her word. It wasn''t her decision to make, anyway; Malice was her own person. "Still," Natalie said. "I want you to know I''ll release you whenever you want. Both from the core, and servitude in general, if you choose. I''m going to say it again: you don''t belong to me, Malice." Malice''s brow furrowed. "You don''t," Natalie insisted. "You''re an ally. Not my property." Malice stared a bit longer, then shook her head, incredulous. "Humans. So timid and sentimental." She eyed Natalie. "I liked you better when you were in fighting spirit. More ¡­ assertive." Natalie just looked at the wolfgirl, exasperated. She didn''t think she would be making progress on that front tonight¡ªor for some time. If ever. Again, this woman didn''t think like a human. As far as she was concerned, Malice genuinely believed she belonged to Natalie. Property. And that was how she would have acted in return if Natalie had lost. That idea made her skin crawl. At least the capture core specified captured individuals could rebel, if they decided: there was nothing supernatural forcing Malice into this. Plus, Natalie didn''t know if she could me Malice. What was her history like? Her upbringing? What memories did she have? What did life as a dungeon monster fundamentally entail? She intended to ask all of that¡ªbut, again,ter. Natalie was too exhausted. And she wasn''t sure whether Malice would even answer. "So," Malice said suddenly, and loudly, announcing that they were moving on from that subject. She scanned Natalie''s room. "This is where you sleep?" "Yeah." "Do you n to make use of me in that way, tonight, then?" Natalie nearlyughed. It was the third time Malice had brought it up. An hour ago, Natalie had fucked her into a literal catatonic state. Had that not been enough for her? She really wanted to go again, not more than two hourster? "I''m about five minutes from passing out, whether I want to or not," Natalie said wryly. "I can''t believe you''re fine." Malice had been through just as much of a wringer as the rest of them. Malice seemed briefly smug at that, then she coughed and looked away. "There seems to be a regeneration effect inside the core," she admitted. "It healed me quite a bit. And returned my stamina." "Oh." That was interesting. And relieving. If Malice ever got hurt, then Natalie just had to capture her as quickly as possible, and let the passive effects take care of her. She wondered whether health potions would work in tandem. Natalie stretched widely, muscles aching. "Okay, but really," Natalie said, releasing a huge yawn. "I''ve gotta get some sleep, Malice." Malice huffed, annoyed at Natalie''s implicit rejection. "But I will take good care of my pup, like I promised," Natalie said amusedly. "If fighting and fucking is all she likes to do, I''ll make sure she gets plenty of both. Just, not tonight." "Fine," Malice sniffed. "Send me back, then. There''s nothing interesting going on." Natalieughed, then did as Malice had requested. 6.01 – Quest 6.01 ¨C Quest Natalie jolted awake to pounding on her door. "You two better not be fucking!" came a familiar muted growl. "I swear! Beingte to ss is one thing, but our quest? Absolutely not!" Immediately, Natalie panicked. Late? They''d overslept? To their quest? Her attention snapped to the clock, and sure enough, they''d either ignored or forgotten to set their rm the night prior. With how exhausted they''d been, either possibility made sense. Jordan also jolted awake, head pivoting left and right as she got her bearings. "Oh, shit," she said. "We''re not even packed." "I know you can hear me," Sofia called. "You two can go one morning without slobbering on each other''s genitals. It''s possible, I promise!" "We''reing," Natalie called¡ªwhich was maybe not the ideal phrasing, considering the usations being leveled at them. "I mean, we woke upte. We''ll be out soon!" For once, Natalie was also panicked by the idea of beingte. As Sofia had said, beingte to ss was, while a poor reflection of them onto T¡ªand could result in disciplinary actions if it happened frequently¡ªultimately not that big of a deal. Beingte to a quest, though? That reflected poorly on T itself, which was a much bigger deal. Quests were T''s means of munity outreach'' and improving the perception of delvers onto Valhaur''s popce as a whole. So missing the train and showing upte to a mission where they needed to be protecting an innocent town from a recent monster scourge? T woulde down on them like a hammer. Which wasn''t to mention Natalie''s own shame at putting people in need further at risk. Both Natalie and Jordan nearly fell out of bed as they scrambled for the closet and restroom, respectively. In a frenzy, Natalie started mming clothing and other necessities into a suitcase. They should have taken care of it the night before, but yesterday''s dungeon delve had gone off the rails in such a chaotic way. Sofia let herself in. She gaped at the two of them as they frantically packed and got cleaned up. "You overslept? I thought you were just being yourselves! This is even worse!" "You can stand there and scold us, or you can help," Jordan shot back. Shaking her head, Sofia joined in on the frenzy. It was only a two-to-three day quest at most, so if they missed a thing or two it wouldn''t be a huge deal¡ªbut still. Adding to the chaos, something else significant had reared its head. "Also," Natalie said. "I leveled up. Did you two?" "What?!" Sofia and Jordan eximed. "Already?" "Is that a no?" "What''d you get?" Jordan asked, peeking out of the restroom, speaking past a mouthful of toothbrush. Her ck hair was a wild mess. They would probably have to skip taking a shower this morning, too, so Natalie thought: good luck to her. "Haven''t looked," Natalie grunted. "Don''t want to get distracted." "Keep it that way," Sofia said. "We can figure it out on the train ride." *** They made it to the train station on time. It was a good thing Sofia hadn''t somehow slept in too; that would have been disastrous. As it was, they piled into the cabin and had their tickets checked while panting from exertion, having run the whole way there. Navigating the station itself had been a headache too. Aradon, as the capital of Valhaur, was the central nexus of the nation-spanning train system. The station was nothing like the smaller ones back home. As a team of T students heading out on a quest, they had a cabin reserved to themselves. Liz and Ana were already posted up inside, leaning back on the soft ''U'' shaped bench seats that encircled the miniature room. They''d likely been there for some time yet, having arrived early out of a justified paranoia. Again, Natalie would not have wanted to see what T would''ve done to them, if they''d been idiotic enough to miss the train''s departure. Copsing onto their bench seats without even stowing their luggage underneath in their proper spots, the three of them sagged down in relief. "Something happen?" Liz asked curiously, perking up as they entered. "Cutting it close. Only four minutes left." "Don''t lump me in with these two irresponsible women," Sofia grumbled. "I was ready perfectly on time." Natalie would normally snipe back at Sofia for that, but in this instance, she''d been their savior. So Natalie let it pass. "What happened?" Liz asked. "What do you think happened?" Sofia snorted. "It''s these two we''re talking about." Liz paused, then blushed. After a moment, Sofia realized the implication. Especially since that had been her first assumption too, when she''d been pounding on their door. "We overslept," Natalie said, correcting her. "Forgot to set the rm, I guess." Or had just mmed it off without realizing. Though that was more of something Natalie would do, not Jordan. "Ah," Liz said, suggesting she didn''t fully buy the excuse. Not that it was an excuse. For once, Natalie hadn''t gotten too caught up in having her best friend in her bed¡ªit had been a genuine mishap. "Anyway," Natalie said. "We made it. Doesn''t matter. How''s everyone feeling?" At the question, all five of them rolled their shoulders and stretched their sore muscles. "Better," Liz said tentatively. "Definitely better." "But still like I''ve been run over by a carriage," Sofia said in amusement. "It''s unfortunate we won''t be in top condition for the quest," Anamented. "Though, I suppose it''s rated for level twos. It shouldn''t be overly difficult." "Especially with us outpacing normal level twos," Liz said. "Honestly, I think we need to get down to the third floor our next trip. Maybe even the fourth." Jordan raised her eyebrows at that suggestion, since the fourth floor would definitely be pushing things. "Speaking of," she said. "Our tank here has an announcement." Natalie coughed. For some reason, she found it an awkward topic to bring up. Maybe because she didn''t think she fully deserved having leveled before everyone else. She''d been working her ass off, yes, but so had the rest of the team. To some extent, she''d just been blessed with a ridiculously strong ss. It wasn''t ''hard work'' putting her on such a prodigious pace¡ªat least not wholly. "Yeah," Natalie said. "I hit level three." "What?" Liz eximed, eyes shooting as wide as Sofia and Jordan''s had. For good reason. It was a ridiculous pace, even considering how rapidly they''d been working through the dungeon. After a second, Liz reined her reaction in, then tilted her head. "Huh. I guess it''s not that unexpected. Still, level three already? You''re probably the first at T." "Elida was, actually, ording to rumors," Ana interjected. "I heard it mentioned." "Really?" Ana shrugged. "It may just be a rumor." The possibility briefly spoiled Liz''s excitement, since Elida was obviously her rival¡ªeveryone''s rival, really, but especially Liz''s. But the healer perked up again, facing Natalie. "So?" she asked. "What''d you get? If you want to share," she quickly corrected. "Just, is there anything that matters to us?" "Haven''t even looked at them myself," Natalie said. "Woke up and had to rush here. Didn''t want to get distracted." "Seriously? I don''t think I could''ve helped myself." It''d been a bit of a struggle, admittedly. Of course she''d been dying to know what her skills were, especially when all she had to do was take a sneak peek inward. "I just know how crazy they can get," Natalie said dryly. "So I figured it was best to wait." Otherwise she might have passed out on the way over, if it''d been something especially weird. "Well, you made it. So ¡­?" Liz leaned forward, a reaction that probably wasn''t fully intentional, as did Jordan and Sofia, showcasing their interest. "Let''s see," Natalie said. *** [Divine Invigoration] - ACTIVE. PROGRESSION 1. MAXED. Finish inside a target to provide a week-long massive boost to their main stat. Target can be changed daily. [Aura of Blessed Advancement] - AURA. PROGRESSION 1. Select up to {4} party members to receive amplified experience gain. [Smite] - ACTIVE. PROGRESSION 1. Channel for up to {6} seconds to deliver a significant magical attack. Range and potency grows with time spent channeling. *** 6.02 – Level Three I 6.02 ¨C Level Three I Natalie groaned. "One day," she said, "I''ll have a level-up thates with normal skills." Despite herint, her heart beat faster in excitement. Like every time before, there was enormous promise in all three of her new abilities. Even if activating one of them required ¡­ rather unusual means. "That means there''s a fun one?" Jordan grinned. She leaned into Natalie''s shoulder, squeezing her leg in encouragement. "Come on, don''t keep us waiting. We''re dying to know." Heat rose onto Natalie''s face. Likewise, in anticipation, Liz and Sofia also squirmed in ce, not as willing as Jordan to state their interest, but also obviously curious. And maybe something other than just ''curious''. Ana, of course, watched with a nk expression and a slightly tilted head, waiting patiently for Natalie to borate. How was Natalie supposed to exin the skill? Whether her teammates understood her ss or not, telling them that she had to cum inside one of them to give a massive buff was¡ªsomething hard to drop into conversation. No matter how prepared they were for it. "Well," Natalie said, shifting in ce, no longer able to meet anyone''s eyes. "It''s kind of ¡­ direct." "Oh, look at her squirm," Jordan said, scooting even closer, grin getting wider. "She''s all flustered. It''s something good." "You''re making it worse by tip-toeing," Sofia huffed. "Just say it." Natalie sighed. "It''s called [Divine Invigoration]. I can give a week-long massive buff to one of your primary stats. But to do it, I have to ¡­ ''finish inside'' the target." That statement hung in the air. Jordan burst outughing. Sofia and Liz stared at Natalie, aghast and ming-faced, respectively. Ana made a noise of interest. "What does ''inside'' mean, specifically?" "That''s your question?" Natalie asked. Ana paused. She nced at the two blushing girls, then Jordan, whose face was buried into Natalie''s shoulder as sheughed uncontrobly. "Is it any hole?" Ana continued, unperturbed. "Or only the most traditional one?" "Yeah, Nat," Jordan said. "Can you only buff us in the pussy, or is it any hole?" "S-Shut up," Natalie said, jostling the girl leaning into her arm. "You''re making this worse." Blushing, she kept her attention on Ana¡ªat least she was engaging as a professional should. "I don''t know. It just says inside." "Guess we''ll have to test it," Jordan snickered. "Who''s offering up their mouth in the name of science?" "I assume Elizabeth," Ana said. That brought Jordan''s chuckling to an abrupt stop. The entire train cart looked at Ana. Then Liz. Liz pointed at herself, eyes like saucers. "W-What?!" she eximed. "Me?!" Ana tilted her head, confused. "If a ''massive buff'' was offered to any individual on the team, it would be the healer, no? It would have knock-on effects since you also buff Natalie. A greatly empowered support is the obvious choice. Healer and tanks are the backbone of every team, so unless¡ª" Ana paused abruptly, then faced Natalie. "Well, actually. Can you cum in yourself?" Natalie made a choking noise. "That," Jordan said, "is a very good question, Ana." She gave a short, punctual nod. "This is the kind of insight we need." She faced Natalie. "So, Nat? Can you cum inside yourself? You''re pretty flexible, and if the mouth counts as a hole to ''finish inside'', it''s maybe doable." "What''s the exact phrasing?" Ana prompted. Natalie floundered for a good several seconds. Even worse, Jordan sat there and smirked at her, enjoying the sight of her squirming in disbelief. Liz and Sofia stared, shocked into silence by the question. Even by Ana''s standards, it was stunningly inappropriate. Ana waited patiently for a response, probably confused as to why Natalie was disoriented, that ridiculous woman. "I''m¡ª I''m not cumming in my own mouth," Natalie finally said. "That''s¡ª that''s¡ª" "Super perverted?" Jordan suggested. "I don''t know," she said, fiddling with Natalie''s shirt while she grinned up at her. "I think it''d be kind of hot. And anything for the team, right?" "And technically, you already have," Ana added. "Excuse me?!" "Or your body has, I suppose," Ana said. "Though perhaps that''s semantics. Hm. Regardless, it''s debatable who would use the effect better. It''s either Elizabeth or you. But what''s the phrasing of the skill?" Natalie just repeated the wording, more because she couldn''t formte any other response: "Finish inside a target to provide a week-long massive boost to their main stat. Target can be changed daily." "It''s ambiguous," Ana said. "It says nothing about self-targeting. So perhaps." She shrugged. "Regardless, Natalie is already the strongest member on the team, now that she''s level three, and we''re not. So putting a buff on Liz to equalize things is smarter. Having too much difference in power between us is a poor idea." For all sorts of reasons. Like if Natalie went up against an encounter she were, for whatever reason, especially weak against, then having the effect on Liz meant she could carry that fight. Or if a fight were heavy on disables, and they focused all the debuffs on Natalie, then having another strong individual to pick up the ck was best. In general, being bnced in power was ideal for a team. "Best on me? I-I don''t think you know what you''re suggesting," Liz stammered. "Come on, Ana." Ana looked at her, as confused as since the start. Natalie thought she might not even be faking it this time. Though she could never really tell. "Aren''t you two already sleeping together?" Ana asked. "Why is it a big deal?" Liz squeaked. "W-What? Sleeping together? She just¡ªwe just! There''s an item! My wand!" Well. It was kind of debatable what ''sleeping with'' meant, since Natalie was most certainly fucking Liz with her wand once per day, and also using the two-sided effect for linking their health pools¡ªbut yeah. Natalie had never actually ''cum inside'' her, as the skill required. Or gone much further than what the item needed to activate. Clearly Liz considered that a big jump up from their current entanglement. After a moment, Ana said, "I see." It didn''t sound like she did. She faced back to Natalie. "Then it''s whoever would befortable with the skill, I suppose." "W-Well, it''s not that I''d be ufortable with it," Liz interjected. The four of them looked at her. The royal''s cheeks scorched red. She covered her face with her hands. "We can figure that outter!" she said loudly. "What other skills did you get, Nat?" 6.03 – Level Three II 6.03 ¨C Level Three II Natalie knew they would need to finish having this conversation, but while not literally melting in ce like Liz, she was also fairly flustered. She happily epted the deflection Liz had given to her. Especially since her other two skills weren''t as lewd¡ªthough every bit as exciting. Um. Exciting? Natalie wasn''t excited that [Divine Invigoration] might have given her an excuse to get her cock inside Liz''s throat. Or even better ces. If anything, all of that would only be happening out of a strict sense of professionalism. "The second skill," Natalie said, shifting in ce in perhaps a not-so-subtle manner, a troublesome stirring between her legs appearing. "Is called [Aura of Blessed Advancement]." And this one was rather crazy. "It''s an aura," Natalie said. "Not maxed out, so I can progress it, too." [Divine Invigoration], like [Hunker Down], was a skill that came as-is¡ªno further upgrades allowed. Probably because a ''massive week-long single target buff'' was already ridiculous. "And I think I might have gotten it because of something that''s been worrying us." sses in general morphed to their user. Skills didn''t always manifest in ways the ss-bearer wanted¡ªshe wouldn''t have gotten magic as a crucialponent to her kit if so¡ªbut if, for example, someone received a warrior ss and only wielded axes, then it was entirely possible an axe-specific skill mighte along. "Enough prefacing," Sofia said. "Go on, what is it?" Natalie read the ability out: "[Aura of Blessed Advancement]," she said. "Select up to four party members to receive amplified experience gain." The team digested that. "Oh, wow," Liz said. "What part can be progressed?" Sofia asked. "You said it''s upgradeable?" "Only the amount of party members," Natalie said. She could feel the ''stress'' on that particr part of the description. "Not how much experience is boosted by." "And how much is the boost?" "Just says amplified. It''s vague." "Huh," Sofia said. Again, the cabin went briefly quiet as they considered. "It''spletely busted," Jordan said. "A team-wide experience boost? Are you kidding me?" "I thought a week-long massive stat bonus was already a ridiculous ability," Liz said, shaking her head. "Howe your buffs are better than mine? I''m the healer!" "She is a Pdin," Jordan said. "Not surprising she''s getting more team-oriented skills. Her level two seemed to be her ''selfbat'' upgrade. Now level three is more focused on the supportive part of her ss." "Can it be [Empowered]?" Ana asked. "Oh," Natalie said. "That''s a great question. It should. [Empower] says it works with both actives and auras, just not passives. But how would that work? Empowering wastes carnal energy. So would I have to constantly be draining it?" "Siphoning your own progression, effectively, to boost ours?" Jordan said. "I''d do it," Natalie said instantly. "I''m just wondering if it''s sustainable." "You should think about that a little more carefully," Liz said. "Those are your points. You can''t neglect upgrading your other skills just to help us." "She''s right," Sofia said. "We''re all responsible for our own progression." The responses only further confirmed Natalie''s decision. "Nah," Natalie said. "Like I said, I''ll do it. We just need to see how it works." "Natalie¡ª" Sofia started. "They''re my points, right?" Natalie interjected before she could. "Yes, but¡ª" "So I''ll do what I want with them. And what I want is to help you four." Sofia opened her mouth, but then blushed and closed it. She looked away. "Always so stubborn," she grumbled. "Malice might be enough to keep us equal in level," Ana said. "So don''t burn through the resource too fast. You''ll want to upgrade [Empower] as well, if that''s your n, right? What''s it at?" "Progression two. So, a two-times multiplier." And Ana was right. If she were to start making heavier use of [Empower], then upgrading it beforehand would make sense. Upgrading [Aura of Blessed Advancement] itself didn''t, since she had four party members¡ªwhich was the max the skill allowed. She didn''t think Malice would count as a valid target, or if it even worked, whether it would transfer her bonus experience to the summoner in the first ce. "And speaking of [Empower]," Ana said. "You could also empower [Divine Invigoration], couldn''t you? Turning a massive boost into ¡­ a doubled massive boost? Thatsts for an entire week?" The cabin went quiet. Jordan whistled. "Architect. What''s that gonna do?" "Definitely worth trying out," Sofia said, sounding fascinated. Natalie, unfortunately, was frowning. "Empower is really good, but it burns through points pretty fast. We can''t just throw it on everything." "But a doubled massive week-long boost?" It was definitely a good target. But so was [Illusion], [Aura of Blessed Advancement], and even [Juggernaut], should she need the surge in strength. Carnal Energy was a valuable resource that she had to dole out only when necessary. Or ¡­ for the most part. Sometimes she would get carried away. Like when she''d really wanted to fuck Camille''s illusion. But she couldn''t be med for that. Her other brain had been thinking for her. "It''d be pretty good," Natalie said. "Dunno. I''ll think about it." "It''s your decision," Ana agreed. "Is it just those two skills? Or do you have more?" "One more, yes," Natalie said. "Seems pretty good too. Only for me, though. Not a team skill. It''s called [Smite]. A heavy-hitting spell that can be channeled up to six seconds, dealing amplified damage the longer I cast it." "Oh," Jordan said, impressed. "Some range in your kit. That''s nice." "It''s channeled, though," Sofia said, frowning. "That''s horrible for a front line. Natalie always needs to be in motion, holding enemy attention." "Yes and no," Ana said. "She''s also a heavy disabler, especially with her new hammer. Consider the situation where shends two back-to-back strikes and triggers her weapon''s stun effect. Or uses [Illusion] to distract her opponent. She can step back and cast [Smite], possibly to its full duration." "Abo that would destroy most monsters, I bet," Jordan said, raising her eyebrows in appreciation. "Yeah. I can see how that would be strong." "Plus it''s never a bad thing to have options," Liz said. "Maybe it''ll be a niche ability, not something she can use every encounter, but having a long-range damage-dealing spell is definitely a plus. Even on our tank." That was true. But then again, earning skills during a level-up was technically a trade-off. Unlocking [Smite] meant she hadn''t unlocked something else. Likewise, having [Aura of Blessed Advancement], something that purely benefited her teammates and not herself at all, meant she hadn''t gotten another skill that improved her own personal strength. So her level three, while phenomenal, hadn''t actually been an enormous boost to herself. Definitely a big step up, as all levels were, but level two hade with [Juggernaut], [Hunker Down], [Bigger is Better], and [Stylish]¡ªall four abilities that boosted herbat abilities in direct or indirect ways. As Jordan had put it, level two had greatly increased her personal strength, and level three had greatly improved her team''s prospects. Nheless, level three hade with unbelievable abilities. And almost more importantly than everything, Natalie wasn''t as stressed about the inevitability of outpacing her teammates. That''d been a niggling fear of hers that she''d been trying to chase away. Even the [Capture Core] had only been a half solution, with Malice feeding her experience to whoever summoned her. A part of Natalie that she hadn''t known had been persistently tense finally rxed. She''d always nned to stick it out with her team for the long run, but this made it much more feasible. Maybe it wouldn''t be too long before their own level threes arrived. 6.04 – Skill Discussions 6.04 ¨C Skill Discussions "Since you need more Carnal Energy, Natalie," Ana said, "both for upgrading skills and empowering them, does that mean we should be attending to you more frequently?" The interjection came out of nowhere. Prior to cutting in, Natalie and the team had simply been discussing which of her abilities should receive the next boost in progression. The obvious candidates were [Carnal Harvest] and [Empower], since it seemed Natalie would be making greater use of thetter, and the former went without saying. But in typical Ana fashion, the stone-faced girl had dropped in that question¡ªwhich was loaded with all kinds of lewd implications¡ªwithout an ounce of hesitation. To Ana''s side, Liz stared at her with widening green eyes. "Attend to her?" she asked, as if the meaning wasn''t clear. To be fair to her, however suddenly the question had been thrown in, Ana did have a good reason to ask. But Natalie already had strong opinions on the topic. It was something she''d discussed with Jordan. "It''s fine," Natalie said. "That''s not necessary. There''s some kind of soft cap, anyway, which I''m reaching most days." "There''s diminishing returns, you mean?" Ana asked. "Basically." Natalie frowned, hesitating for a second before deciding that she wanted to borate. "Even if it didn''t work like that, though," she said, "I don''t want to treat sex as ¡­ I don''t know. A grind. Something we''re trying to ''maximize''. It''s weird to me." "Does kill the mood, a bit," Jordan snorted. "Making sex a chore." She tilted her head. "And the mood literally matters, doesn''t it?" "Yeah. I get more points when, um, you know," Natalie said. "When she''s turned on," Jordan finished for her. "The more excited she is, the better the yield. So that''s a double-no on the whole ''grinding points'' thing." "Besides," Sofia said. "Surely there''s a limit to how much sex one woman can have in any given day. Even for Natalie." Natalie turned an amused look her way. She made a point of raking her eyes up and down Sofia''s body. "If there is, I haven''t reached it. I just meant for ''efficiency'' purposes, I don''t wanna treat it like a game." She grinned at Sofia. "I''ve got plenty of space in my schedule, though. Don''t worry about that." Sofia flushed. "Pervert," she muttered. "I see," Ana said. "Another question, then. Two, actually." "Okay?" Natalie said warily, bracing herself. Because Ana''s questions rarely were of the ''how is your day going?'' sort. "Did you work something out with Malice?" "Oh. Right." That was more normal than she''d been expecting. Natalie realized she hadn''t caught her team up on the whole Malice situation. "Apparently, she doesn''t care about being released. In fact, she said she''d rather not, unless something interesting is going on." "Interesting?" "Combat," Natalie said. "Or, you know," she coughed, "whatever." "Whatever," Sofia repeated dryly, clearly knowing what Natalie meant by that. "But she said she didn''t want to explore our society," Natalie said, ignoring Sofia. "And when she''s in the [Capture Core], she''s essentially sleeping, like we guessed. So we don''t have to worry too much about the in-between periods, for now." "For now?" Jordan asked. Natalie chewed her lip. "I still don''t think we should leave her in there all the time. Even if that''s what she says she wants. Ah, I don''t know," Natalie said, rubbing the back of her head. "It''s her decision to make, not mine. But shouldn''t we introduce her to ¡­?" She searched out for the right way to phrase it. "Normalcy?" Sofia suggested. "Something other than nonstop killing?" "And fucking?" Jordan added. "Yeah. That," Natalie said. She sighed. "But it''s a problem forter. She''s happy to rx inside the core until we need her." Ana nodded. "Okay. And my second question. When you fought her, you had an illusion with you. Of you." "Right," Jordan said, instantly perking up. "I meant to ask you about that too." Green eyes bored into Natalie with a sudden, intense interest. "You never told me you could make clones of yourself. Physical ones." "I wonder why you care so much," Sofia said sarcastically. "Surely it''s for thebat applications." Jordan ignored the snarkyment, her attention staying fully on Natalie, green eyes locked to her own. Natalie coughed, heat rising on her face at the unstated implications of Jordan''s obvious interest. "Well. It was only a theory. And it needs [Empower]. I didn''t know that it would work, either." Though she''d assumed it would, since she could make clones of other people. Why not herself? "Would they function inbat?" Sofia asked. "Having two of you would be something." "Really something," Jordan said dreamily. The four of them looked at her. The rogue paused, then blushed, that bit of directness not intentional, for once. "It wouldn''t," Natalie said, amused, squeezing Jordan''s knee as she met eyes with Sofia. "My illusions work better when they''re being used for¡ªuh, you know." "Disgusting, perverted things," Jordan said,ughing at Natalie. "Really, stop dancing around it. It''s cute, but we know your ss, by now." "It''s just jarring to throw into the middle of a conversation," Natalie protested. "Anyway, yeah. The only reason the clone was physical was that it wasn''t being used forbat. I guess I haven''t tested it, but I''m certain it would fall apart the moment I made her pick up a weapon¡ªor at least use that weapon." "Interesting," Ana said. For the first time ever, the stoic mage hesitated. "I have another question," she said. "But perhaps it''s best saved for a private discussion." The four girls gaped at her. "What?" Ana asked. "What''s so lewd that even you won''t ask it in front of us?" Liz said. Natalie was likewise intimidated. Ana paused. "It''s not that bad," she said. "Just perhaps sensitive." "Sensitive?" Her brown eyes locked on Natalie, tilting her head in silent questioning. "I think we''ll all die of curiosity, now," Natalie said. "So go ahead. What is it?" "Hm," Ana said. "I''m just wondering about other applications of [Illusion]. Specifically lower-powered ones, that hopefully wouldn''t take [Empower]. Since I know it''s a valuable resource." "Okay?" Again, Ana hesitated. "I haven''t been able to get a certain experience out of my mind," she continued nonchntly. "Our encounter together. With the body swap." Natalie''s brain briefly short-circuited, like it always did remembering that whole mess. She was suddenly much more wary. But what could [Illusion] have to do with it? "Okay¡­?" Natalie continued prodding. Ana''s eyes flicked between the rest of the girls in the train car, before she shrugged. "I enjoyed using your cock," Ana said bluntly. "I was wondering, since your illusions are flexible when ites to lewder applications¡ªperhaps you could give us one. Magically." Natalie stared at her. "What?" "If you put an illusion between our legs," Ana said. "Could we feel through it, do you think?" 6.05 – Illusory Bonus Equipment I 6.05 ¨C Illusory Bonus Equipment I "Wow," Jordan said, breaking the silence. "You are on a roll today, Ana. Great question after great question." "Thank you," Ana said, nodding at Jordan. "You want me to do what?" Natalie eximed. "Grow a cock on her," Jordan said, patting Natalie''s leg. "She made that rather clear, I feel." "Not now," Ana said. "I''m simply curious whether it would work." "How did you evene up with that?" Natalie choked out. Ana tilted her head. "As I told you, because I enjoyed using yours. I quite liked that experience. Having both parts was," she pursed her lips, "interesting." The bluntness was really putting Natalie off-foot. Or maybe it was the idea itself. Because sheesh. Growing a magical cock? On Ana? Or anyone? A part of her wondered why she hadn''te up with the idea. "But it''s not worth wasting [Empower] on," Ana said. "So only if a default illusion would suffice." "I can see why you wanted to wait to ask," Liz squeaked. "W-Wow." She hesitated, searching Ana''s face. "Was it ¡­ really that much fun?" Ana pursed her lips. "Yes. I would rmend all of you try it, if it turns out possible." She tilted her head as she looked at Liz. "And it''s more fun with another person, of course. I could help you with it, if you wish, Elizabeth." At Ana casually offering to ''take care'' of Liz''s first magical erection¡ªin the same manner she would offer to join her in a sparring session¡ªthe poor healer''s face went a truly impressive scarlet. She shook her head rapidly, steam all but rising off her face, her short ck hair bouncing up and down with the vigorous motion. "T-That''s okay, Ana! Um! But thank you!" Ana nodded, unperturbed at the rejection, then faced back to Natalie. The brief diversion had at least given Natalie a second topose herself. Marginally. Because her head was still spinning with possibilities. And while it would be a stretch to expect [Illusion] to somehow grant physical sensations ¡­ her entire ss was a stretch. She wouldn''t be all that surprised if it did. Slowly, a n formed. Although Ana had been the one to ask, Natalie had another idea for who the guinea pig should be. Her attention shifted slowly to the left,nding on a prim white-haired fighter¡ªwhose blue eyes widened immediately. Natalie tossed Sofia a monster core. She caught it fluidly, never one to fail a test of reflexes. She looked down at it. It was, of course, the core holding her cor. "Y-You''re kidding, Natalie," she stammered. "You''re not testing it on me, are you?" "We''ve got a cor to train," Natalie replied, grinning. "But Ana was the one who asked!" "I have no need of it this instant," Ana said mildly. "This is eptable to me." "I bet it is!" Sofia protested, shooting a re at the woman. She turned back to Natalie. "We''re in public." "It''s a private cabin." "The staff coulde by at any moment!" "They probably won''t," Natalie said. "And they''d knock." Besides, in the worst case, she had [Illusion] to get away with most slip-ups. She''d already put that skill to good use back in the locker room, in her first encounter with Sofia. "Emphasis on probably!" "Pets aren''t supposed toin so much," Natalie said disapprovingly. "They''re supposed to obey. Besides, it has to be an embarrassing situation. That''s how the cor works. Can''t train it otherwise." She gestured impatiently for Sofia to continue. "Now, chop-chop." Sofia stared at her, aghast, for a moment¡ªbefore, like she always did, blushing and giving in. She''d put up her brief protests, as her dignity demanded of her; now the idea took over. Her blue eyes drifted down to the monster core even as her cheeks started to burn a brighter and brighter red. "Unbelievable," Sofia muttered. "This item is so much trouble. The stat boosts are nice, but not that good." And yet, nheless, she withdrew the cor, then clipped it around her neck. She tucked the leash to the side, out of the way, then crossed her arms and red at Natalie. Natalie nced at the closed train cabin entrance. Her heartbeat sped up. She was doing this, then? Out in public, however ''private'' this room was? And more importantly, growing a cock. On Sofia. That idea shouldn''t have done the things it did to Natalie''s stomach. Just, she couldn''t get it out of her head. Sofia was already easy to make squirm. Having a whole new attack vector? And an even more sensitive one, with how new it would be to Sofia? Something about the image of a pale rod between Sofia''s soft thighs, twitching and leaking in excitement, her knees clenched together and her hips wiggling side to side, genuinely made Natalie''s head go fuzzy. And what about putting one on Jordan? Liz? And Ana of course¡ªthough Natalie already had some experience with how that girl would react to the situation. "Well?" Natalie said to Sofia. "Get those pants off." "What?" "I''m hardly going to put a cock on top of your clothing." "You ¡­ want me to get naked?" "Below the waist is fine. Bunch it down to your knees." Sofia''s mouth opened and closed. Her eyes flicked to Liz and Ana. "Do you, um, not want us to watch?" Liz squeaked. Natalie snorted. "Then she wouldn''t be as embarrassed. We''re training the cor, remember?" "R-Right," Liz said. Sofia''s mouth worked soundlessly. She cleared her throat. "It''s for the cor," she confirmed. "S-So it''s fine." Natalie snorted. The obvious excuses were amusing as always. "Waiting," she said. A small shiver went through Sofia, before she finally stood, and her fingers wandered down to her pants button. Natalie watched with a held breath as Sofia fumbled with it. The white-haired girl''s cheeks were already flushed crimson, eyes flickering around at the watching faces surrounding her. Natalie smirked. Something about how embarrassed Sofia became by these situations, she really couldn''t get enough of. Finally, Sofia popped open her pants button. She tugged the garment down her smooth thighs, revealing a pair of white cotton panties underneath. Natalie''s gaze zeroed in immediately, of course, to the dark patch staining it. "Looks like someone''s a little more excited than she''s letting on," Natalie grinned. Sofia squeezed her eyes shut. "S-Shut up." "Stand up and take those off, too," Natalie instructed. "Don''t be shy." With visible reluctance, Sofia hooked her thumbs under the waistband of her panties. She hesitated for the briefest of moments before finally tugging them down, exposing her smooth, cleanly shaved mound. Natalie drank in the sight, eyes roaming over Sofia''s bare lower half. Liz made a small, strangled noise in the back of her throat. Ana watched with detached curiosity, her gaze analytical. Jordan openly leered, making no attempt to hide the way her eyes raked over Sofia''s exposed pussy as she leaned into Natalie''s shoulder, enjoying the show as much as Natalie was. And speaking of that. Jordan''s interest. Back when they''d first discussed Sofia, Jordan had made it clear the two of them should make Sofia their pet. Not just Natalie''s. But in regards to actually getting to y with Sofia, Natalie had been hogging her. And that was pretty mean, considering just how much fun it was to make Sofia squirm. So for this little experience? Sofia''s first time with a cock? Natalie would definitely be enlisting her best friend''s help. It was Jordan''s turn to y with their pet. 6.06 – Illusory Bonus Equipment II 6.06 ¨C Illusory Bonus Equipment II With Sofia properly exposed, Natalie got to work pulling together the illusion. She watched with rapt attention as a shimmering pink light began to materialize between Sofia''s thighs. The shape grew wider and thicker by the second, beginning as an amorphous cylinder but quickly taking the unmistakable shape of a cock. At eight inches long, the light ceased growing, and the pink glow faded¡ªrevealing, finally, the end result. Sofia''s eyes went wide as she stared down at herself. The pale shaft of her newly grown cock jutted out, eight inches long and appropriately thick. Thick veins snaked their way up the underside of the twitching shaft, pulsing with her heartbeat¡ªher excitement. Natalie''s gaze was drawn to a bead of clear fluid already welling up from Sofia''s cock slit, taking no time at all to demonstrate her arousal, like the wetness on her panties had. Sofia took a ragged breath in, and unconsciously, her hips shifted from side to side. Transfixed, Natalie watched Sofia''s new cock bob and sway with each minute shift of the flustered girl''s hips. Sofia seemed equally entranced by the sight herself, lips parted and breathing faster as she drank in the image of the thick, veiny shaft jutting out from between her thighs. "Wow," Jordan breathed in. "That looks ¡­ seriously realistic. Can you feel through it?" Sofia reached a trembling hand down to wrap her fingers around her new appendage. The pale-skinned fighter let out a shuddering gasp as she gripped the thick shaft, giving it an exploratory squeeze. That it even had physical form¡ªand that it morphed around her grip¡ªboded great news. "Y-Yeah," Sofia whispered. "I ¡­ I can feel it." She gave her cock an experimental stroke, and Natalie''s own core clenched at the sight of Sofia''s fist sliding up and down the impressive length, at the groan that slipped from Sofia''s lip. "That''s really something," Jordan murmured. She shot Natalie a look, and the two of them shared a brief, silent conversation. Natalie grinned, encouraging her. It seemed Natalie wouldn''t even need to exin her n; Jordan knew her well enough to interpret it. Sofia was their pet, after all. Jordan could take the lead on this one. "Cm''here," Jordan said, shifting in ce to Natalie''s right. "Let me get a better look at it." "What?" Sofia asked. Jordan gestured in a e-hither'' motion. "I wanna see it up close." After a moment of hesitation, eyes flicking to Natalie, then the other spectators, Sofia obeyed. She shuffled over¡ªher pants and panties still bunched around her knees¡ªto where Jordan was sitting. "Face me." Sofia did so, face ming, pointing her cock directly toward Jordan''s face. "Closer." Blushing, Sofia scooted even further forward, so that she stepped between Jordan''s legs¡ªand her cock was as close as possible to Jordan''s face, who leaned forward to look at it from only a few inches away. The pale length twitched wildly in excitement at Jordan''s proximity. Jordan gave it an admiring once over, peering at it from side to side. "Seriously, it''s perfect," Jordan said with a bit of awe in her voice. She reached out and gently wrapped her fingers around the sensitive member. Sofia shuddered the moment Jordan made contact, her arms going up to hug her lower stomach as if for support. "Even feels real," Jordan murmured as she gave one slow, teasing stroke, bunching skin up and down the girl''s newly grown cock. "Blends into your pelvis. You see that? It''s tugging on the skin when I pull." She demonstrated. "It''s no different from actually being yours. As good as real. Amazing." "I can''t believe it worked at all," Sofia mumbled. "What kind of ''illusion'' is this?" "The best kind," Jordanughed. Jordan stood. "Shouldn''t hog, though," she said. "Here." She pushed on the white-haired girl''s stomach, gently backing her away. She turned Sofia around, making the blushing girl face Liz and Ana''s side of the room¡ªand thus presenting her newly-grown cock to the two of them. "What do you two think?" Jordan asked with a grin, guiding Sofia forward, drawing her closer to her other spectators, until Sofia''s knees hit the bench seat, and she was standing between Liz''s spread legs¡ªas close as possible. "Pretty realistic, isn''t it?" Jordan asked, wiggling Sofia''s cock for them. Liz''s eyes had gone as wide as saucers. She stared at Sofia''s jutting erection¡ªor maybe more specifically, the way Jordan''s hand was on it, tilting it side to side and disying it for them. The rogue leaned into Sofia''s back, her breasts pressing into her, chin resting on her shoulder with a devious smirk. "I ¡­ um. Y-Yes, it looks very ¡­ uh, lifelike," Liz stammered, her face a brilliant scarlet. "That''s really ¡­ something." Ana, in contrast, was leaning onto Liz''s shoulder to get her own look. She merely tilted her head and studied Sofia''s cock with clinical interest. "The level of detail is impressive," she said matter-of-factly. "I genuinely can''t see anything that would give it away as an illusion." She hummed. "Besides the barest trace of magic, admittedly. But only if I look for it." Jordan''s grin widened. "Mm-hm. And how about the size,dies? Think it''s big enough?" She gave Sofia''s shaft a yful stroke, making the white-haired girl gasp and shudder in her grasp. "Eight inches, if I had to guess? Not bad, right?" Liz again made a sort of squeaking noise. She seemed torn between having her attention raptly locked on Sofia and trying to pry her gaze away. "Y-Yeah," she finally stammered out. "It seems like a g-good size," she said, seeming moments from hiding her face in her hands. "Indeed," Ana said with a nod. "It''s well above average, I believe." "You hear that?" Jordan teased into Sofia''s ear, giving a hard squeeze that made her partner gasp. "Well above average. High praise. You''re a lucky girl." "I-Is this necessary, Jordan?" Sofia groaned. "Overall," Jordan asked her two spectators, clearly enjoying messing with the blushing girl. "Do you like it? Is it something you''d, I don''t know, want inside of you?" "J-Jordan," Liz protested, her eyes going even wider at the directness of the question. But her attention remained nheless glued to Sofia''s quivering erection. Maybe more so, because of the imagery Jordan''s question had produced. "If the opportunity arose," Ana said calmly. "It certainly wouldn''t be unpleasant." Natalie bit her lip to keep fromughing at the contrast between Liz''s flustered stammering and Ana''s calm, clinical responses. Poor Liz looked like she was about tobust from embarrassment, while Ana might as well have been discussing the weather. Though there was a hint of coloring on Ana''s cheeks, even if it was only a biological reaction. Ana had her limits: even she could be made to squirm. But the bulk of Natalie''s attention wasn''t on Sofia''s spectators, but rather, Sofia herself. The girl stood there, trembling as she was lewdly put on disy, her sensitive new cock being held firmly by Jordan as it was admired by the other girls. Natalie drank in the delicious sight of Sofia''s mortification, feeling a deep excitement¡ªas she always did¡ªat having reduced the normally haughty princess to such a state. Or rather, Jordan having done it. A team effort, this time. Regardless, for how easy it was, Natalie took an inordinate amount of pleasure in embarrassing Sofia. Having finished showing Sofia off, Jordan guided her partner to sit back down on the bench, right next to Natalie. She encouraged her to spread her legs, then got down on her knees in front of her. The rogue smirked up at the flustered white-haired girl, reaching out to once again grab her stiff, throbbing erection. "What are you doing?" Sofia asked, voice wavering, seeing Jordan kneeling there. Jordan''s smirk widened. "There''s one more thing I need to check," she said mischievously, "to know if it''s actually realistic." "And what is that?" "The taste test," Jordan said. "Duh." 6.07 – Illusory Bonus Equipment III 6.07 ¨C Illusory Bonus Equipment III Natalie cozied into Sofia, scooting so that their shoulders were pressed together¡ªas much to fluster Sofia with her proximity as to get a better view. It was a familiar sight, Jordan on her knees looking up, but this time, she was between Sofia''s thighs. Jordan grinned at the two of them, eyes flicking between both Natalie and Sofia. "Taste test?" Sofia stammered, her voice an octave higher than normal¡ªclearly overwhelmed by Jordan''s positioning, the implication of her words. Jordan smirked at her. Sofia shook in ce, the vibrations going right into Natalie. She snuck a hand around Sofia''s waist, and the white-haired girl leaned into her as well, as if seeking something to hold onto. "Mmhm," Jordan murmured. She wrapped her hand around the base of Sofia''s cock to hold it steady. She gave a teasing wiggle, the thick rod of pale flesh waving in the air¡ªwhich Natalie couldn''t drag her eyes away from. "It feels like a cock. Looks like one. But does it taste like it? If it does, we''ll know it''s the full package." Jordan brought her lips forward at an agonizingly slow pace. Natalie heard Sofia''s breath catch as the distance rapidly vanished. Then, gently, Jordan''s lips pressed into the tip of the girl''s cock, giving her a gentle, teasing kiss. Sofia let out a shaky groan as Jordan''s lips parted and she extended her tongue, dragging the t of it slowly up the underside of her head. A shiver ran down Natalie''s own spine, her gaze fixed raptly on Jordan''s lips covering their pet''s sensitive tip, cleaning up her precum. The way Sofia was trembling into Natalie was nearly intoxicating¡ªthe little gasps and whines, drawn out so easily. Jordan was barely even doing anything to her, and already Sofia was falling apart? Jordan swirled her tongue. She let out an appreciative hum, eyes closed as she savored the vor¡ªmaking a show of it for her enraptured audience. Not just Sofia and Natalie, but also behind, Liz and Ana, who were not-so-subtly craning to get a better look. "Yeah, definitely tastes real," Jordan murmured, popping off of her. She squeezed Sofia''s cock and dragged upward with her grip, pulling out another thick bead of precum. "And look how much you''re leaking for me," she said,ughing. She wiggled her tongue into Sofia''s cocktip to clean the droplet up. "Naughty girl. So excited to be serviced. Isn''t a pet supposed to do this for us, not the other way around?" "Oh, that''ll happen too," Natalieughed. She squeezed Sofia''s waist. "But she''s been a good girl recently. So she deserves to be treated." "That''s true," Jordan said. "Gotta reward her for good behavior. All part of being a pet owner." Jordan lowered her mouth back down onto Sofia''s twitching cock. The rogue flicked her tongue out, eliciting a full-body shudder from Sofia, then wrapped her lips more firmly around the head¡ªand, finally, took the first few inches into her mouth, moving past the teasing that was nearly as agonizing to Natalie as it was Sofia. Sofia''s toes curled in her heels, back arching as her hips lifted, unable to control herself. She gasped, fingers clenching Natalie''s arm, as she forcibly slid her cock up into Jordan''s mouth, who took it eagerly, the thick length disappearing into her waiting hole. Jordan bobbed down slowly, taking more of Sofia by her own ord, cheeks hollowing with suction as she pleasured the girl. "T-That''s, um," Sofia whined, squirming in ce next to Natalie, her head shaking side to side. "It¡­ it feels¡­" Jordan pulled back with an audible pop. "Good? You like it?" she grinned. Her eyes turned to Natalie. "That''s because your master taught me a thing or two." Sheughed. "You should say thank you." Sofia could only shake her head mutely, too overwhelmed to speak. Jordan shared a brief grin with Natalie before turning her attention back to the task at hand. Jordan''s lips stretched back around Sofia''s cock. Wet sounds of suction and Sofia''s gasping moans rapidly filled the air, Jordan not wasting any more time. It was even better than Natalie had hoped, seeing Sofiae so thoroughly undone, engulfed by the unfamiliar sensations of having her cock sucked for the first time. She groaned and held onto Natalie''s arm while Jordan brought her higher and higher. A part of Natalie wanted to join in more actively. But it was Jordan''s turn. She''d have plenty of opportunity to have Sofia to herself,ter. And the show was plenty enough to enjoy in its own right. Sofia was reacting even more dramatically than Natalie had expected. She shook like a leaf, trembling and squirming in ce. Jordan had been going at it less than thirty seconds, but incredibly, the sounds Sofia was making implied she didn''t have much left in her. But she couldn''t be close to finishing already, could she? Sofia was easy to take apart, but thirty seconds? Jordan, of course, also noticed the girl''s reaction. "Getting worked up, are we?" she teased, popping off Sofia and giving her slick shaft a few slow pumps. "I''ve barely even started," she tsked. Sofia panted rapidly, swallowing thick gulps of air. Her hips wiggled left and right as Jordan''s hand traveled up and down. "I''m not¡ªI wouldn''t¡ª not that fast¡ª!" She squirmed on the bench, hips twitching erratically, then let out a loud, whining groan. "I refuse! I won''t! N-Not already!" Then, amazingly, Sofia''s body went rigid, hips straining up into the air as her entire body went tense. Natalie''s eyes widened. She wasn''t really going to¡ª? A pearly white string burst from her twitching cock. It arced impressively through the air before sttering down onto the girl''s taut stomach. Jordan''s eyes shot open, shocked, like Natalie, by how quickly it had happened. She dove forward, wrapping her lips around the girl''s spasming cock just in time to catch the next pulse. Jordan wiggled her face into Sofia''s crotch, burying all the way down, nose pressing into soft skin so that the girl had a proper hole to squeeze her first load into. Sofia let out a strangled cry, her face scarlet red, losing all semnce of control and bucking desperately into Jordan''s face as the rogue determinedly swallowed her. Natalie watched, nearly as red-faced as Sofia, as the white-haired girl clung to Natalie''s arm and thrust, hips pping into Jordan''s face, shaking all three of their bodies with the desperate motions. Jordan held fast to her thighs, nose pressed against Sofia''s pelvis, not budging an inch even as the fighter''s bucking grew almost frantic. Thick ropes of cum pulsed down Jordan''s throat as she worked to swallow every drop in a way Natalie had grown intimately familiar with. Sofia shuddered through the throes of her orgasm. Jordan happily took every drop. A whine built in Sofia''s throat growing louder as she rode through her release. Then, it started to taper off. Her fingers dug painfully into Natalie''s arm, gripping for dear life as Jordan milked her, until finally, Sofia slumped back, chest heaving with exertion. Jordan pulled off with a gasp, lewd strings of saliva bridging her lips to Sofia''s cock before breaking and slinging down her chin. "Holy shit," Jordan murmured, staring amazedly at Sofia. "Youe as much as Natalie. Guess I won''t be needing breakfast." 6.08 – Invigorate I 6.08 ¨C Invigorate I Jordan stood and copsed next to Sofia, breathing hard herself¡ªthough obviously not nearly as much as the gasping wreck of a girl next to her. Sofia had been seriously wrung out. Natalie sympathized; she knew firsthand that Jordan was a devil when it came to using her mouth. But still. That fast? Less than a minute, with only a bit of forey, Jordan dragging her around and showing her cock off to the rest of their team? That had to be a record, even for Sofia. Slowly, Sofia stumbled back into consciousness¡ªor at least awareness of her circumstances, hazy blue eyes clearing up. Her gaze flicked between Jordan, who grinned at her, and Natalie, who smirked. And of course, Liz and Ana too, their spectators. Sofia paled. "I¡ª I¡ª" she stammered. "That isn''t normal. I don''t know what¡ª I think it''s more sensitive. Natalie did something to me. T-That happened way too fast." Natalie''s brow furrowed. She could tell the difference between Sofia being flustered in a good way¡ªwhich was most of their interactions¡ªand whatever that was. She was always egging Sofia on, using the cor and their bet to embarrass her, but it was always in a way that obviously excited the repressed girl. Like Jordan showing Sofia off to her audience. Then being pleasured in front of them. Hence why Sofia had been so insanely quick to fall apart. Except it seemed like Sofia''s fast climax had mortified her, but not in the good way. Maybe because Ana and Liz had been watching? And that made it all too much? Or at least Liz and Ana''s presence added to it. Because by the panicked looks she sent Jordan and Natalie, she was embarrassed they had seen her quick finish too. Which was ridiculous. Natalie thought Sofia''s hair-trigger was amazing. The ease with which she could take the girl apart was downright intoxicating. Seeing Sofia panic, an instinctive reaction bubbled up. "I didn''t do anything to you," Natalie snorted, ying the reaction off for Sofia''s sake. "Jay is just a subus. And you''re new to having one of those." She smirked at Sofia''s softening cock. "Isted about that long the first time, too." Sofia froze. "You did?" Definitely not. While her first few encounters had been overwhelming thanks to the new sensations, she hadn''tsted thirty seconds. Jordan shared a look with her, also obviously knowing that was false. In fact, her first time with Jordan''s mouth had been a rather long, drawn-out, brutal affair in which Natalie had seriously abused that tight hole. Not remotely the rtively tame teasing¡ªsensation-wise, at least¡ªthat had happened here. Slowly, a smile appeared on Jordan''s lips, which she quickly wiped away. But it was no less beaming for how brief it had been. As if Jordan was ecstatic that Natalie had jumped to Sofia''s defense. Though, of course Natalie had. Teasing Sofia in a way that she liked was one thing, but putting her into a real panic? She would never do that. "Yeah," Natalie said, snorting. "I had some time toe to terms with it, too. Plus I didn''t have an audience." She gave Sofia an amused look. "I''m surprised you didn''t fall apart right away, honestly. I might''ve." "And, like I said," Jordan added, bumping Sofia''s shoulder with her own, "I''ve had some practice since I first got my hands on Nat." Sheughed. "I''m d it''s paying off." "Oh," Sofia said. "Speaking of our audience," Natalie said, facing the other side of the train car. "Liz is looking a little worked up, don''t you think?" "W-What?" the royal squeaked, not having expected how everyone''s attention to turn to her. "W-What do you mean?" "You''re breathing pretty hard. All we were doing was training Sofia''s cor. You weren''t thinking lewd things while you watched, were you?" "Of course not!" "You weren''t enjoying the show?" "No! I mean, um, not that it wasn''t¡ªthat you three aren''t¡ªI just¡ª!" Liz huffed and crossed her arms. "You''re teasing! That''s not nice." To Natalie''s side, she felt Sofia rx. Her breathing slowed, and not just because she wasing down from her high but because the genuine bit of mortification was fading. Whether because Natalie had assured her that she''d fallen apart simrly fast her first time or because Natalie had distracted everyone, she had sessfully diffused the situation. "You know," Jordan said. "Now would be a good opportunity to test out Natalie''s skill. Might be the only chance before the quest, since we don''t know what''s gonna happen when we get there." Jordan leaned over to poke at Natalie''s crotch, who twitched in surprise. "And it''s not just Liz who''s worked up. Look how much Nat is leaking," sheughed. "She doesn''t like being neglected." Jordan grinned, rolling her finger around to tease at Natalie''s cock tip¡ªwhich had, unfortunately, leaked a dark spot of precum into her skirt. "Or maybe she liked the show that much, too. So you''re not alone, Liz." Natalie swatted Jordan''s hand away, who retreated,ughing. "We do need to test if the mouth counts as ''finishing inside'' for [Divine Invigoration]," Anamented. She turned her calm brown-eyed gaze to Liz. "So I do agree. Now is the ideal time. And you''re the preferred target." Liz gaped at Ana, then Natalie, squirming in her seat. "S-Seriously?" she said. Her eyes flicked to the train cabin''s door. "But we''re in public." "That excuse didn''t work for Sofia," Jordan tutted. "And it won''t work for you." "But¡­" "But what?" "I mean, I am a Beaumon," Liz mumbled. "I''m just saying." Natalie blinked. Liz basically never brought her family name up. But Natalie supposed that she, Sofia, and Jordan behaving inappropriately inside a private train cabin and risking someone barging in was one thing, but a member of the royal family? It was a fair point. The risk was much higher¡ªor at least the consequences. But, despite Liz''s words, Natalie saw the way Liz''s breaths started toe faster, lips parting as she began panting loudly into the air. The way her eyes dted as they locked to Natalie''s own. Did that concept¡ªher reputation, mixed with the potential of being caught¡ªdo something for Liz? Maybe she wasn''t so different from Sofia. Except in Liz''s case, she genuinely did have a lot to lose. The Beaumons were one of the most respected families on the continent, and Liz''s actions reflected on them all. Getting caught would be a hundred times worse for her than it was them. But Natalie could tell by the look in Liz''s eye that she was waiting for her to insist. Slowly, Natalie grabbed the hem of her skirt, then flipped it up, bunching it to her stomach¡ªrevealing her ten-inch cock straining inside her panties. It twitched lewdly inside the delicate fabric, jumping in excitement¡ªand making Liz, whose eyes had immediately locked to it, also jump. "If you''re quick," Natalie said. "Less chance of getting caught. So you better get to work, huh?" 6.09 – Invigorate II 6.09 ¨C Invigorate II Liz''s eyes widened, locked on Natalie''s exposed panties¡ªor more specifically, the way they were straining upward. The royal swallowed, her small chest rising and falling rapidly as she stared at the bulge. Natalie could practically see the gears turning in her head, trying to decide if this was really happening. Whether she was going to obey. But the flush creeping up Liz''s neck told Natalie all she needed to know about the girl''s interest. "I guess that''s true," Liz mumbled. Liz slowly rose from her seat across the cabin. A few short, dainty footsteps carried her over until she was in front of Natalie. She knelt down. Up close, her nervousness was even more apparent in the way her fingers twisted together in herp. But her gaze didn''t waver from Natalie''s panties, taking in the monstrous bulge there. Emboldened by how easy it had been to spur Liz into action, Natalie shifted her hips invitingly. As strained as her cock was, it nearly escaped its prison by itself. "C''mon. You know what to do," Natalie murmured. "Jordan just gave a lesson, didn''t she?" Liz swallowed. Her slender hands shook slightly as she reached for the waistband of Natalie''s underwear. She tugged downward with surprising urgency, freeing Natalie''s thick length in one swift motion. It sprang upright, the head bobbing inches from Liz''s face. "Oh, wow," the royal breathed. A bead of precum was welled up, there. She stared at it, panting. Unable to resist teasing the noble, Natalie grinned and said, "You don''t need help, do you?" Liz shook her head clear, breaking her brief trance, then leaned closer, nostrils ring to take in the thick, musky scent of Natalie''s cock from a few inches away. The royal''s delicate hands trembled as she hesitantly reached out to wrap her fingers around Natalie''s thick shaft. She swallowed, looking up at Natalie with wide eyes even as she obediently started stroking up and down. Her face was fully crimson by now, chest rising and falling with shallow breaths. "It''s ¡­ so big¡­" she whispered. "I don''t think it''ll even fit." Reaching down, Natalie tangled her fingers in Liz''s soft hair. "One way to find out." Biting her lip, Liz gave a tiny nod before leaning in closer. With agonizing slowness, she extended her tongue and dragged it up Natalie''s cock, ending at her tip, tasting the bead of precum that had formed there. Natalie exhaled through her teeth at the stimtion, her back arching slightly. She was seriously pent up¡ªwatching Jordan toy with Sofia had put her on edge. Liz might not have to work all that hard to get her reward. At Natalie''s easy reaction, Liz grew bolder, trailing her tongue up and down the underside of Natalie''s cock, leaving a glistening trail of saliva. Her hand pumped in slow, loose strokes, grip tentative, motions hesitant. "That''s it, Miss Beaumon," Natalie breathed. "Keep it going. Don''t wanna risk anyone walking in, do we? Gotta be fast." Using Liz''s surname had the effect Natalie had hoped. Or maybe it was the reminder of their circumstances, the risk of being caught. The girl''s eyes fluttered, and she groaned loudly, lips vibrating against Natalie''s cock head. Yeah. Natalie''s assumption had definitely been right. The risk of sullying her family''s name was only fueling Liz''s arousal. Naughty girl. Natalie moaned as Liz''s soft lips wrapped around the head of her cock. The noble tentatively swirled her tongue around. She tightened her grip in Liz''s hair, coaxing her down further. "Deeper. Like Jordan showed you." Liz whimpered, the vibrations rippling along Natalie''s shaft, and she obeyed. She sank down inch by delicious inch, taking more of Natalie''s throbbing length into her mouth. She groaned as Liz''s hot, wet throat enveloped her cock. The noble''s inexperienced tongue slid sloppily along the underside as she struggled to fit it all inside. Her small hand left the base, going instead to clutch at Natalie''s thigh as she tried to get further down. "Good girl," Natalie panted, rocking her hips to feed Liz more. "Keep it up, I''ll fill your pretty royal mouth in no time." Liz''s eyelids fluttered, a shudder going through her at Natalie''s use of ''royal''. She whined around the thick cock stretching her lips. Saliva trickled down her chin as she bobbed sloppily, working lower with each lewd motion. Natalie briefly shared a look with her audience, meeting their eyes in turn with a grin, before looking back down at Liz. "You''re so pretty choking on my dick, Your Grace," Natalie murmured. "Beaumon girls were made to serve, weren''t they?" Liz''s movements picked up in eagerness, her body making it clear what she thought of the degrading words. She made needy little whines as she slurped and sucked noisily. Natalie''s hips started to buck in shallow thrusts to fuck Liz''s mouth properly, unable to help herself. The wet sounds filled the cabin. "Keep sucking like a good royal cockslut," Natalie murmured. "And maybe I''ll even let you¡ª" Someone knocked at the cabin door. Everyone froze. "Snack cart! Can I get you folks anything?" a cheery voice called from the hallway. For a second, all five of them stayed that way, including Liz, her lips wrapped around the rim of Natalie''s cock head, at the peak, just about to bob back down. Natalie had an idea. Maybe too risky of one, too presumptive, considering the possible damage to Liz''s reputation¡ªor rather, her family''s. But halfway to her climax, having been seriously worked up from a whole number of things, Natalie didn''t consciously act so much as she did instinctively. Her good sense was well behind her. In one swift motion, she grabbed Liz''s head with both hands, then manhandled her down, burying the girl''s face in herp. Liz couldn''t even let out a proper choke it happened so suddenly, her nose abruptly mming into Natalie''s crotch. Liz''s eyes watered and her throat spasmed, but she barely made a noise. Just as fast, Natalie pulled together an illusion, draping it over Liz''s form. To any observer, it would look like Natalie was sitting like normal, fully dressed. Not that she had a member of the royal family kneeling on the ground, sheathing her cock with her twitching throat. "Come in," Natalie called out. "I''m starving." 6.10 – Invigorate III 6.10 ¨C Invigorate III "Man, I don''t know about you guys," Natalie said, looking at each of her teammates with a devious grin. "But after skipping breakfast, I could eat half that cart, I bet." Their reactions were understandably varied. Sofia''s blue eyes wereically wide, frozen in ce as her attention flicked between Natalie, the cart attendant, then down at Natalie''sp, where she knew¡ªbut couldn''t see¡ªLiz choking on her cock. Jordan had a simr initial response but quickly mastered her expression, either more used to Natalie''s rash nature or simply better at recovering. Ana, bless her, didn''t react at all. A true stoic. She merely responded to Natalie with a reserved, "I suppose I''m feeling peckish as well." Eyes turning toward the snack cart attendant, Ana asked, "What''s avable?" The attendant gave a polite smile, then rattled off a number of snacks, drinks, and even full meals, since this was a longer train ride than usual, and, as T students headed out on a quest, they were V.I.P. guests. Natalie suspected they would fulfill just about any request of theirs, within reason. As she went through the short spiel, Natalie''s attention went down to Liz. The royal''s face was squished in by both of her thighs, squeezed firmly by powerful muscles. Liz''s watering eyes were really a devastating sight, situated down between her legs. Natalie''s cock throbbed wildly, threatening to spill its load right then, even without further friction. Liz''s throat vibrated as she groaned, though the sound was swallowed by the illusion. Natalie casually reached down and plugged Liz''s nose just to add insult to injury, then met eyes with the snack cart attendant. "Hm," Natalie said. "I guess¡­" she chewed her lip as she surveyed the options. "I guess a sandwich is fine. Something quick and easy." "Of course, miss." She walked Natalie through the avable options. Between her legs, Liz suffocated as she ran out of air. Natalie hemmed and hawed as she swapped between potential choices. Only when Liz started to wiggle between her legs, genuinely running out of air, did Natalie make her decision. Ana did as well, and Sofia and Jordan declined. The attendant left. The second the door closed, Natalie released her iron grip with her thighs, no longer pinning Liz''s head between her legs. Liz gasped and pulled off. She slumped down, coughing and sputtering into her hands, her chin a mess of drooling saliva. When she finally looked up at Natalie, it wasn''t to re. No. In fact, the expression on Liz''s face struck Natalie silent. Cock-drunk. The demeaning treatment had left the royal slut ¡­ cock-drunk? Just how perverted was this girl? "I can''t believe you," Liz murmured, forcing herself to sit back up, despite not having fully recovered. She grabbed Natalie''s cock and pped it onto her face, rubbing the saliva-slick shaft up and down her cheek, across the edge of her nose, one eye squinting. "You could''ve gotten us caught," she said past gasping coughs. "What''s wrong with you?" "Would you have liked that, Your Majesty?" Natalie asked. "Being caught with my cock in your throat?" Liz groaned, rubbing her face even more eagerly into Natalie''s member. "It''s not just my family. What would everyone else think? Back at campus?" She pulled up, lining Natalie''s cocktip to her mouth. She wiggled it around there, sliding between her lips and teeth as she murmured, "I know you have illusions, but it''s still dangerous." Against a cart attendant? Definitely not. Natalie could at least excuse her behavior in that regard. Her illusions held up perfectly against other delvers, much less regr people. And her lewd illusions were always more amodating. "That''s the point," Natalie grinned back. "Personally, I think our ssmates deserve to know what a slut our cute little Beaumon is." Liz shuddered, the word hitting her almost physically. Slut. She liked that, didn''t she? Hriously, she pped Natalie''s cock into her face a second time, her body agreeing even if her mouth wouldn''t. "I''m not¡­" she murmured. "I''m not a slut. And you''re being a bully." "A bully?" Natalie snorted at that idea. "I haven''t even gotten started." "You haven''t?" Liz breathed. "Why not?" The unstated request was so tant it sent a thrill through Natalie. Liz wanted more? Natalie could definitely make that happen. Fire thrilling through her veins, she stood. Liz shuffled down the short room aisle, moving with her. Happy to set up for whatever Natalie had nned. "Give them a good view," Natalie grunted, holding Liz''s head as she set up in a new position. Liz seemed to intuit what she wanted¡ªfor all she was inexperienced, she was a quick learner. Liz craned her neck upward as Natalie perched overtop her, standing as she lined her cock up to the kneeling girl''s lips. Slowly, Natalie lowered her hips, letting her cock slide vertically down into Liz''s throat¡ªin a perfect view for the rest of the train cart. Their audience of three. She slid into that tight tunnel, imagining the way it had to bulge from Sofia and Jordan''s perspective. Then she lifted herself back up, and went back down, sliding her thick rod into Liz''s squeezing throat. The motion was awkward, with Natalie standing and Liz kneeling as they were, but that just excited Natalie more. Her leg muscles¡ªsore from the dungeon trip yesterday¡ªstrained as she worked into a rhythm, her hips jumping up and mming back down, plunging her cock in and out of Liz''s waiting hole. Natalie held Liz''s head tight as she took control of the situation, no longer the one being pleasured, but taking pleasure. Liz leading had been amazing in its own right, but Natalie needed this. To set her own pace. To fuck the cute royal''s throat with her own desperation. She started pumping in earnest, feeding ten inches of cock down the noble''s tight throat. Her hips jumped in a steady, awkward, strained rhythm, hips pulling vertically up until just the tip dangled between Liz''s lips, before plunging down again, bulging Liz''s slim throat out for their audience. Liz gagged loudly as she was used, eyes rolling back, drool dribbling down her chin. But she didn''t resist, just let Natalie use her. Like the eager fucktoy she was. Natalie was nearly impressed by how well she took it. Obscene wet slurps and gagging filled the train cabin. She''d always got the impression Liz was way more perverted than she let on, but this was crazy. "Look at you, taking it so well," Natalie grunted, bent over awkwardly, picking up the pace. Her pelvis pped lewdly against Liz''s face with each brutal thrust. "How''s this for bullying?" She snorted. "Or is this abuse not enough? Not for a proper Beaumon slut? You can take way more, can''t you?" Liz only whined in response, throat stuffed too full of throbbing dick to form words. She held onto Natalie''s thighs even as she thrust. Natalie''s climax rapidly approached, pleasure coiling tight and hot in her core. She snapped her hips faster, fucking Liz''s face with wild abandon. "Gonna ¡­ fill you up," Natalie panted, starting to lose coherency, her control slipping. Saying whatever came to mind. "Swallow every drop. Be a good cockslut. There you go. Good girl. Keep it going. Almost ¡­ almost there." Liz''s throat convulsed around Natalie''s length, working to milk her dry. Natalie''s hips pistoned wildly, the tip of her cock hammering down Liz''s constricted throat. She could feel the first tremors of her orgasm building low in her abdomen. "Almost ¡­ th-there¡­" she repeated through gritted teeth. With onest gasp, she yanked Liz''s head up into her, dragging her entire body up, burying her cock to the hilt. She held the noble''s face mashed tight against her lower stomach, cutting off her air, as Natalie trembled there, half crouched over, no longer even thrusting. Just enjoying the girl''s spasming throat as she ran up to the edge of that cliff. Liz gurgled desperately, throat muscles spasming and fluttering along Natalie''s embedded length. She gripped Natalie''s thighs, eyes rolled back, tears leaking down her reddened cheeks. The sensations stoked the fire in Natalie higher. She threw her head back, jaw clenched. Her whole body tightened like a drawn bowstring for one eternal second. Then the dam finally burst. Hot pulses of Natalie''s seed erupted deep in Liz''s stuffed throat. Each burst jetted directly down into her stomach. Liz choked and writhed underneath her, but Natalie showed no mercy. Her hips, briefly paused, continued their assault, bucking wildly, pumping her entire heavy load into the helpless royal cockslut''s throat. Some part of her, somehow, remembered to activate the skill. [Divine Invigoration]. The whole reason behind all of this. When thest dribbles of seed finally tapered off, Natalie straightened out with a groan, feeling dizzy. Liz slumped forward, coughing and gagging, a zed look on her wrecked, saliva-sloppy face. Natalie copsed onto the bench seat, breathing hard. "Fuck," she groaned. "That was way too good. Beaumons really are something else." 6.11 – Considerate 6.11 ¨C Considerate For a bit, everyone caught their breaths. Particrly Natalie and Liz, of course, but everyone in the secluded train car was blushing and a bit worked up, after Natalie''s thorough abuse of the petite royal''s throat. Afterward, Natalie pulled out her vial of cleansing liquid and worked on making herself presentable again. That particr escapade hadn''t been especially dirty, not by the standards of some events, but the rather eager way Natalie had grabbed Liz''s head and used it to her content had left some stray saliva and cum in a variety of ces. Even if not just to keep their clothes from staining, but for smell too. They were headed for a quest briefing, and she doubted there''d be a chance for a shower in the meantime. Thank the heavens they''d gotten the magical cleansing liquid. It solved a lot of logistical problems. Eventually, Liz spoke up. "You weren''t kidding, Jordan," she groaned, a hand resting on her stomach. "She puts out so much. I feel full. People aren''t supposed to cum that much, are they?" "Another benefit of having a goddess as her patron, I guess," Jordanughed. "But yeah. It''s really something." "Did it work?" Ana asked, taking the breaking of the silence as an indicator that she could speak herself. "Did the spell take hold?" Sofia huffed. "Give her a second topose herself, at least, won''t you?" Ana pursed her lips, eyes meeting Sofia''s briefly, thennding back on Liz''s. She didn''t press, though her obvious interest went nowhere. Lizughed at the girl''s in impatience. "Yes, it worked, Ana," she said. "I guess the skill''s wording was vague for a reason." She blushed, then stammered out her next words. "Which means won''t have to go even further to cast it. So that''s good." "Don''t sound too disappointed," Jordanughed. "W-What? Why would I be disappointed?" "Why would you be sad that Natalie doesn''t have to use a different hole to activate her skill? Hmm." Jordan tapped her lips as she feigned trying toe up with a reason. "I wonder." "S-Shut up. Anyway," Liz choked out. "Um. Yes. It worked." She focused on Ana desperately, talking business to escape Jordan''s smirk. "And it''s really strong. It''d probably be a lot more noticeable on one of you all, having physical stats boosted, but even I can feel it. My spells are going to be way stronger. It''s a shame we have to wait to test it." "It says it gives a ''massive'' boost, so probably a lot," Anamented. "There''ll be a chance in town, eventually," Liz said. "ted as a two-to-three day quest, so yeah," Natalie said, deciding to spare the poor girl by also joining in with the practical discussion. "There''s gonna be plenty of downtime." "Wonder what the quest is, anyway," Liz said. Natalie shrugged. T tended to provide pretty minimal descriptions of the various quests they assigned¡ªrather, they''d be briefed upon arrival to their destination. From there, the heated atmosphere of the cabin dissipated. The five of them settled in for a more regr sort of friendly bonding¡ªchatting about what the following days might have in store for them, and other idle things. With this being a several hour long train ride, that conversation naturally tapered off, and soon the five of them were passing time in whatever ways they wished. Which for everyone except Natalie, and strangely Ana, meant pulling out a textbook to catch up on the academic requirements of T. At some point, Natalie stepped out from the private cabin to head to the restroom, and Sofia followed after her. "Nat?" Turning around, Natalie gave the girl a curious look. They were alone in the hallway, between private cabins. Speaking quietly, they wouldn''t be overheard by anyone. After a moment of chewing her lip, Sofia said, "Thanks for what you did back there, by the way." "What I did?" Natalie asked, brow furrowing, not immediately understanding what Sofia meant. "I, uh. Did a lot, ''back there''." Sofia blushed and nced away. "I don''t believe that you were ¡­ as fast, your first time. You lied about that. Because I was embarrassed by it." Natalie briefly hesitated, uncertain whether she should insist on the point¡ªbut she didn''t want to lie, especially when pressed. And she thought Sofia''s reaction had been primarily because of her audience, Ana and Liz, not Natalie. She doubly didn''t want to lie because it would imply that Sofia''s quick finish somehow wasn''t okay, or that it was something to embarrassed about. Which Natalie thought was stupid. She''d nned on bringing it up herself, honestly, if perhaps not so soon. "Yeah," Natalie said. "I wasn''t. Not that it matters how fast or slow you go." She snorted. "Honestly, I think it''s cute how quick you finish." "Cute?" "And hot." "Hot?" Natalieughed. "I can''t get enough of it. It''s insanely hot." Sofia stared at her, mouth slightly open, her face ming. "N-Natalie. Don''t be disgusting." "I''m serious." "Really?" "Does it sound like I''m joking?" Sofia''s face reddened by several more shades as she stared at her. Eventually, she nced away. "Oh. Well. Okay. I guess that''s good, since I can''t really control it." She cleared her throat. "Even so, I don''t know why I can''t," she muttered. "It''s not fair. I mean. Really. Was it even a minute?" Natalie shrugged. "To be fair, that situation was a bit overwhelming. When I first got mine, I had some time to work into things. Didn''t go straight to Jordan using me to put on a show in front of my friends." Sheughed, then hesitated. "We didn''t go too far, did we? Too fast?" "No, it was all part of the stupid cor, anyway," Sofia said dismissively, waving her hand. "The only problem was that I couldn''t keep control." She huffed. "Seriously. Less than a minute. Ugh." Natalie searched Sofia''s face. That brief panic she''d seen had definitely given Natalie some concern. "I can tell when you''re having fun," she said slowly, thinking it was probably best to broach the subject explicitly, "even when you''re doing your whole fake protesting thing." She frowned. "But if I interpret something wrong, I expect you to tell me. You will, right? Don''t let me get carried away with something you''re not okay with. All the bullshit of our ''bet'' and the cor aside. Be serious with me for a second." She knew Sofia would much rather not be forced into answering a question like that, since she was desperately clinging to her excuses for her own sake¡ªsomething Natalie could sympathize with¡ªbut after that hup, she''d prefer Sofia say so outright. Sofia froze, Natalie''s bluntness catching her off guard. She briefly seemed like she was going to protest, to revert to her usual act and demand Natalie exin what in the world she was talking about, but instead, she eventually huffed loudly. "As I told Jordan," she said, crossing her arms and not meeting her eyes, "I am perfectly capable of standing up for myself, should I need to. Who do you think I am? What opinion do you have of me? Have I ever been incapable of stating my mind? Much less to you?" Definitely not. That was why Natalie liked to tease her so furiously¡ªbecause she knew Sofia. The only way the prim image-obsessed girl would let Natalie walk over her was under the guise of ''oh, we have a bet''. Sofia enjoyed their entanglement, but only secretly. Nheless, Natalie was relieved to have it confirmed. As obvious as it was to both of them, maybe she should have aired it out earlier. Just to be certain. A different part of what Sofia had said stuck out, though. "Jordan? What do you mean, like you told Jordan?" Had the two of them already had a talk like this? When had that happened? Sofia froze. She obviously hadn''t meant to let that slip¡ªthough it didn''t seem like some huge secret, either. "Anyway," Sofia coughed, not so subtly sidestepping the question. "Enough of that. I just wanted to say thank you. It was ¡­ considerate of you." She eyed her. "Which is rare." Natalie snorted. She wasn''t ''considerate'' to Sofia for some very intentional reasons. And not just because Sofia was annoying and deserved it¡ªbut because the pervert obviously got off on it, too. "Oh, yeah," Natalie said, remembering something. "By the way, the bet''sing to a close soon. Week''s almost over." Right as the quest would being to a close, as a matter of fact. "Hope you know what that means." "Hm?" Natalie grinned. "Just be ready," she said, squeezing Sofia''s shoulder. "I like to end things with a bang, if you know what I mean. What do you think all the training and lead-up has been for? To not fuck you stupid?" Laughing, Natalie left Sofia standing there, sputtering in disbelief. 6.12 – Arrival 6.12 ¨C Arrival Soon enough the train had pulled into the station, and Natalie and her team stepped off into Tarenhelm. Tarenhelm was a small city, tinypared to Aradon, though it was still many, many times the size of Natalie''s hometown, which might not even show up on all maps. Natalie mused at how much her standards had adjusted after living in a ce like the capital of Valhaur. The bustle of the receiving station was nearly cid inparison to Aradon. A guide greeted them as they stepped off the train, a short, distinguished-appearing man with brown hair. His eyes flicked across Natalie''s group beforending, and sticking, on Liz. Immediately, the man began to ingratiate himself with her. He spared a few perfunctory attempts to introduce himself to Natalie and the others, but it was clear his attention was primarily, if not wholly, focused on Liz. For a few moments, Natalie was perplexed by the man''s behavior. How quickly he had started trying to endear himself to Liz. Why he was treating her like ¡­ well, royalty. Of course, that thought cleared things up. Because Liz was royalty. Despite just a few hours ago having yed into that in a very lewd way, Natalie had almost forgotten. Most people at T treated Liz fairly normally. Not just because they were around her every day, but also because T in general was crawling with nobility. But out here? In an unimportant town several hours from Aradon? The name ''Beaumon'' came as much more of a shock. It was weird to be contextually reminded of Liz''s status. Of her cement in the most important family in Valhaur. Someone only slightly removed from the King himself. Natalie had be friends with a girl from the actual royal family. Weird. And she''d also had her cock shoved down her throat like three hours ago. Really ¡­ what had her life be? Liz was clearly embarrassed by the way the guide¡ªTristan, a servant of Tarenhelm''s Baron¡ªfocused his attention on her. Not so much because she seemed unustomed to it, but rather, by the way she shot flustered nces at Natalie, Jordan, Sofia, and Ana, because it was the first time the difference in their statuses hade so obviously into y. While Tristan was perfectly cordial with the rest of them, he clearly assumed Liz was the leader of the group, and his questions went entirely directed toward her. For the most part, Natalie was simply amused by the show. Besides, someone in the group did have to take the lead, and while in abat scenario that might be Natalie because of the nature of her role, a quest was a different matter. Or any social situation. Liz certainly had the qualifications and experience to be their leader in that regard. Natalie, Sofia, and Jordan were all semi-disqualified thanks to their humble, and thus ignorant, beginnings, and Ana wouldn''t be a great fit because¡ªwell, because nobody would call her the best people person. A carriage ride took them to the Baron''s manor at the center of Tarenhelm, Tristan chattering along with pleasant small talk the entire way through. The five of them would apparently be receiving their mission briefing from the Baron himself. Natalie wondered if all T teams would have received equally respectful treatment, or if it was because they had a member with the surname Beaumon. Natalie knew T in generalmanded respect, but really? The Baron himself? Why was the leader of the city briefing them? While any send-for-help that T assigned to their students would be of some importance, it was only a level-two quest. Not something that threatened the city, or was even more than ''slightly troublesome''¡ªat least on the city-management scale. Yet, nheless the Baron himself would be discussing the details with them. Liz''s presence had to be responsible for that. Being allied with a member of the royal family mighte with more baggage than Natalie had assumed. Not that something so minor as Liz receiving preferential treatment was really ''baggage,'' but again, she had almost forgotten about Liz''s ce in the world. Natalie just thought of her as ¡­ her friend. Not ''the Beaumon.'' Ferried into the enormous three-story manor¡ªsmall city or not, barons of Valhaur were wealthy¡ªNatalie and her team were deposited in a luxurious sitting room, plush couches and armchairs arranged in a semi-circle facing the entrance. Once they had gotten settled, a servant brought in a tray of refreshments. Pastries, tea, coffee, and so on, which each of them indulged in some selection of. As she sipped the rich, bitter liquid and waited for the Baron to arrive, her eyes roamed the sitting room, admiring the opulent decor. Crimson velvet curtains framed the windows, intricate tapestries hung from the walls, and arge firece dominated one end of the room. Natalie had noted it once while taking in the manor''s exterior, but again, she wondered just how wealthy this man was. The thought stemmed from a particr ce, the same that had been dominating her mind the whole way over. Liz. The dark-haired royal sat with perfect posture and a ramrod-straight back, sipping at her tea. Natalie couldn''t put her finger on why, but the image stood out starklypared to Jordan, Ana, and even Sofia, who seemed to be trying her best, but failing, to seem simrlyposed. What had Liz''s upbringing been like, anyway? She came from wealth and privilege far outstripping this Baron''s. Compared to her father''s estate¡ªwho was the brother of the King¡ªthis three-story manor with pretty decorations had to be, what, paltry? Unimpressive? Had she even taken note of it? Eventually, their host arrived. Baron Edric Crestwood was an aging, portly man with ruddy cheeks who waddled as much as walked. His fine manner of dress only slightly improved his image. And despite seeming winded from havinge to greet them, his words were loud and clear¡ªa natural orator, as most members of the aristocracy were. At least the ones ruling over cities. "Ah, honored guests from T, let me offer you an effusive wee," he said, his eyes, unsurprisingly, politely meeting Natalie''s and the rest, before definitively settling on Liz. The Baron was apanied by two others: a man and a woman. The man was older, with a beard speckled with gray, and not nearly as well dressed as hispany. By the bow slung over his back and his simple tunic, Natalie could infer he wasn''t a member of the Baron''s estate. Some relevant guest to the mission. The woman was of the opposite image: dressed in a gorgeous, flowing blue dress that had to have cost a fortune. She was much younger than the other two, in her early twenties at most¡ªprobably around Natalie and her team''s age. Liz, having been taking the lead since the train station, set aside her tea and rose gracefully from her seat. "Thank you for receiving us, Lord Baron. We''re honored by your personal audience." The words were so formal they felt nearly jarring,ing from Liz. But this was an official function of sorts¡ªor at least that was how Liz was treating it. As maybe she should. This was a Baron, not some random associate of the local garrison giving them a briefing on recent monster troubles. And Natalie would admit it continued to be as amusing as it was jarring. The Baron seemed immediately flustered by Liz''s words. "Think nothing of it, Lady Beaumon. For one of your lineage, much lessing to our defense, it''s the least I could do. Please, have a seat." Liz politely did so. "I won''t take any more of your time than I need to," the Baron said. "You are here on business. Let''s dispense of the frivolities and get straight into it." He worriedly checked with Liz to see if that was fine¡ªthe royal nodded in approval. "Excellent," he said, emboldened. "So. This is the gist." 6.13 – The Baron 6.13 ¨C The Baron Natalie was pleased to see that the Baron meant his words: he really didunch straight into the briefing, forgoing further pleasantries, which they''d been all but drowning in while Tristan escorted them to the manor. "It''s a curious case," Baron Crestwood said. "A standard situation by many metrics, but equally as aberrant in some. By my understanding, T has informed you of the basics?" "Only that there''s been a growing monster problem in the area," Jordan said. "They''re pretty stingy about the details." Baron Edric paused, looking at Jordan, seeming nearly surprised that someone other than Liz had replied to him. Jordan''s face was for the most part neutral, but Natalie knew her well enough to see a hint of amusement in her barely raised eyebrow. She''d probably interjected because of how focused he seemed on Liz. Not so much to defensively draw his attention away from Liz¡ªwho, despite seeming awkward by the unexpected introduction of social status dynamics, was clearly at ease with interacting with other members of the aristocracy in a formal way¡ªbut because Jordan found it funny to interrupt the status quo. And maybe she was the smallest bit annoyed at how they were being half-ignored. The Baron''s attention settled on Jordan. "I see," he said. "That is, indeed, the general sense of it." Despite having defaulted to speaking to Liz, he wasn''t so rude as to brush Jordan off. Natalie was pretty sure Liz''s presence was just overwhelming to everyone who knew her surname, the Baron''s attention, not some intentional snub on his part. "Goblin n, if they didn''t specify," the Baron said. "A mixture of levels ones to threes, and arge number of them." Natalie''s eyebrows raised. Even in that brief introduction, there were several things to take in. First, goblins. Humanoid monsters. She''d always had mixed feelings on fighting those. The upside was that she was better trained against them: most humanoids had the same general attack patterns, whereas true monsters could be far more difficult to read and react to. The downside was that killing things shaped like people, and which seemed to have some primitive¡ªvery primitive¡ªlevel of intelligence was intrinsically unsettling. Though she''d done it plenty of times down in the dungeon. Just, that difort wasn''t something she thought she would everpletely shake. The next point of interest was that there was ''a mixture of levels ones to threes''. Not just a couple of troublesome monsters, but many of them. That sounded more intense than Natalie would have expected for a level-two quest. Of course, it was probably mostly level ones, with only some level twos, and rare level threes, not an equal distribution. Nheless, even that suggested it wouldn''t be nearly as easy of a mission as Natalie had resigned herself to. And they hadn''t even gotten to the ''strange part.'' She straightened in her chair, suddenly much more interested in what the Baron had to say. "Nothing you five can''t handle, I''m sure," he continued, "but it''s not so much the threat they represent as how they''ve been behaving." "Oh?" Jordan prompted, happy to continue engaging the Baron''s attention. "How they''ve been behaving?" To her side, Liz also seemed mildly surprised that Jordan had taken over. The royal''s ramrod posture rxed slightly, seeming happy not to have to take the lead. "As expected of a band of goblins¡ªfilthy creatures¡ªthey''ve been carrying out attacks on nearby farms, houses, travelers, wagons, anything within their grubby reach. As goblins do." He shook his head in annoyance. "A headache, I tell you, even for a rating appraisal of level two. Here''s the thing, though. They''ve been stealing." The five of them blinked. "Stealing?" Jordan asked. "They don''t just murder those poor folk and move on," the Baron said. "As normal monsters might. They''ve been stripping the ces clean. When they raid a farm, they clean out the houses. Lug back whatever isn''t nailed down. Then the silos too. The silos? What sort of goblin raids grain?" Even now, the Baron sounded baffled by the concept. "I don''t know how they go about bringing it all back, but they do. They''re especially fond of targeting trading caravans. Been harassing our roads for the past weeks. Crates of spices and textiles, missing. Why would a goblin need spices? It doesn''t make any sense." Natalie digested those announcements, as perplexed as the Baron. Maybe his presence, him being there to discuss this mission with them personally, wasn''t entirely due to Liz, then. Natalie had resigned herself to this quest not being that interesting. Routine, as far as a monster-killing quest would be. But it sounded like something genuinely strange was afoot. Not routine in the slightest. Rather, something that truly was worthy of the Baron''s attention. Because goblins robbing trading caravans? Clearing out grain silos? Beyond just sounding more organized than usual¡ªmost monsters, especially low-level ones, were simply rabid creatures that needed to be put down¡ªthey were targeting valuables. And what did ''valuable'' mean to a monster? Spices and textiles? Were they doing something with what they were collecting? What interest did they have in human goods at all? Honestly, Natalie found herself surprised that T had passed this quest off to them, some random first years. While the threat rating itself wasn''t all that severe, the strangeness felt like it demanded higher attention. A real investigation. Then again, Natalie and her team weren''t just ''some first years'', were they? Besides having Elizabeth Beaumon on their team, they were also making waves as a group of nobodies performing much better than they should. Maybe T had sent an appropriate party to scout out this situation. Maybe they were testing Natalie and her squad. It''d also exin why the raw difficulty rating¡ªthe sheer number of levels one to three¡ªwas greater than Natalie would have expected for a first-year quest. "Also," the Baron continued, seeming pleased by how immediately interested their squad was, as perhaps any orator would be, "We''ve started to recognize patterns in their attacks. They''re definitely more organized than the average goblin n. If we''re correct, we should be able to set you up in advance of one of their raids. Assuming things go well, and you cull their numbers, that''ll help when you hunt down their base. Better to tackle an enemy divided, of course." He tilted his head. "Though, there is the matter of actually tracking them down. That won''t be as tedious as it sometimes is. Let me introduce you to Mister Varten," the Baron said, gesturing to his right. "A level six [Hunter]¡ªthe best our city has to offer." 6.14 – Liaise 6.14 ¨C Liaise Level six? Natalie looked at the grizzled man donning a gray-speckled beard in a new light. Levels were progressively more difficult to advance in¡ªand came with progressively stronger rewards, in terms of skills and stat bonuses. Considering his level, Natalie wondered whether a level six [Hunter] could have handled the goblin problem by himself. She thought it unlikely. [Hunter] was one of those sses that rode a strange line between possibly abat ss and not. Even a level ten [cksmith] couldn''t do much against an incursion of goblins¡ªwell, generally speaking. They were crafters. Likewise, [Hunters] had a skill set suited to tracking and killing regr animals, not monsters. Not that [Hunter] was his true ss. Though maybe it was; Natalie didn''t know. But generalizing one''s ss to hide its exact details wasmon practice. For example, Natalie herself did it constantly: she simply called herself a [Pdin]. Varten could be a [Hunter], but more likely, he was some variation of the ss, probably one that more obviously defined him as a civilian. With the Baron having passed over the spotlight, Varten gave a serious nod and took the floor. "I''ve narrowed the location of their base down to a subsection of the Duskwood," he said in a gruff voice. "You''ll need to do some searching yourselves, but if I''m correct, we have the general area identified. Considering how many of them there are, and all the supplies they''ve been collecting, it''s unlikely they can be all that hidden." That was convenient. In most monster harassment cases, the actual tracking down of the beast or beasts could be the most annoying part of the quest. It sounded like Varten hadn''t been able to locate exactly where the goblins were hiding, but he''d narrowed it down enough that the five of them could set out and, with some luck, trek through the forest until they found the base themselves. "But we have a raid to handle before that?" Jordan asked. "Yes," the Baron said. "If the trend keeps, we expect the southern outskirts to be hit, though where exactly, we aren''t sure. You''ll be on standby. With luck, you can thin their numbers for when you find their nest." He shrugged. "Or, however you wish to handle the problem. I''m sure T students would know best." Natalie thought the Baron''s n was solid enough. If they had a strong reason to believe the goblins would be attacking innocents on the outskirts of the city tonight, then it was more important they were there to intercept them than to immediately set out and find their base. It sounded like that could be a multi-day endeavor, depending on how lucky or unlucky they were. There wasn''t much else to say about the mission. After hashing out the details and a few questions where necessary, the Baron wrapped the meeting up. "Oh," the Baron said. "And I almost forgot. This is my daughter, ina." He gestured to the woman at his left. "She volunteered to help get you five settled. Insisted upon it, in fact." At her name being brought up, ina¡ªthe woman in the blue dress, who had trailed in alongside the Baron and Varten¡ªgave a quick curtsy. She smiled brightly at them, cheeks dimpling. "It''s the least I could do for our city''s heroes." Her eyes flicked from person to person, before lingering on Natalie. "I''ll be showing you to your inn. It''s somewhere you''ll be able to respond quickly to the raid. In the meantime, please don''t hesitate to ask for anything. Yourfort is my highest priority." She fluttered hershes at Natalie. "Use me entirely as you see fit." The Baron gave his daughter a fond smile and nodded in approval. Natalie shifted in her seat, ncing at Jordan, wondering whether she''d imagined the obviously flirtatious tone. Jordan''s slightly raised eyebrows suggested she hadn''t. Seeing how neither the Baron nor Varten seemed to notice, though, Natalie thought maybe it was in her head. Probably, the Baron''s daughter was just trying to ingratiate herself to Elizabeth Beaumon. But then why was her attention lingering on Natalie and not Liz, then? Natalie gave a tentative smile back, and the woman all but beamed at her. Huh. As ina suggested she would, the five of them were led through the manor and out into the streets, where another carriage escorted them to the inn they would be staying at. Natalie found herself much more enthralled by the smalltalk ina provided, unlike Tristan''s endless chatter. Though Natalie couldn''t fully make up her mind on whether it was flirting or simply the woman being overly polite. Or perhaps, even, she was simply interested in the group of visiting delvers. Even a Baron''s daughter probably didn''t see many T squadsing through the city. Natalie got her answer in a roundabout way¡ªor at least through the input of her teammates¡ªonce they had unpacked into their respective rooms and met up inside Natalie''s. "Okay," Jordan said. "We''re all thinking it, but it needs to be said." Sofia, Liz, and even Ana nodded along, as if knowing exactly what Jordan meant. To Natalie, though, the statement seemed to havee from nowhere. Blinking, she asked, "Huh?" Jordan folded her arms and gave Natalie a serious look. She held it for several seconds. "Natalie," she said firmly. "Don''t fuck the Baron''s daughter." "W-What?" "Keep it in your pants for the first time in your life," Sofia added tly, not an ounce of sympathy on her face. "We''re here on business. Don''t fuck the Baron''s daughter. Do you have any idea how unprofessional that would be?" "I wasn''t nning on it," Natalie protested, ncing between all of her teammates. "Where did thise from?" "Where did thise from?" Sofia repeated. "You two were giving fuck-me eyes the whole ride over. You hadpany, you know?" She huffed. "Okay, well, it was mostly her to you." An annoyed expression appeared on her face. "Not an ounce of shame, apparently," she grumbled. Natalie digested that. ''Fuck-me eyes''? So Natalie hadn''t been imagining that. "Was she?" she asked. "Don''t sound pleased by it," Sofia growled. "I''m serious. She''s the daughter of the leader of this city. And we''re here on a quest. I''d prefer if we finished our first mission without someoneining to T about how our tank ravished his daughter." Liz cleared her throat. The frank wording had made her cheeks color. "That would be pretty bad, Nat," Liz added. "You know how seriously T takes their reputation. If their students went and, um, liaised with important figures during official quests, T wouldn''t be happy. Quests are as much about how we carry ourselves as anything. They want to know they can trust us. That''s how we''ll get more important assignments in the future." "I know," Natalie said defensively. Quests weren''t just about killing monsters, even when that was the letter of the mission. "And again, I wasn''t nning on it." "Weren''t you?" "I mean¡ªno? Not really." "Very convincing," Sofia said. Jordan seemed more amused by the situation than Sofia, but even she held Natalie''s eyes with a serious expression. "For real, Nat. Keep it in your pants. She''s pretty, but it won''t be worth the trouble. For you, much less all of us." Wouldn''t it, though? Natalie coughed. No, of course it wouldn''t. She was the literal baron''s daughter. T would be furious. If she got caught. No. Definitely not worth it. "Right," Natalie said. "Won''t happen. So rx." She shrugged it off. "Pretty sure she was just flirting, anyways, not trying to jump into bed with me. There''s no harm in flirting, is there?" Jordan looked at her doubtfully. "If you keep it to just that, that''s fine. But can you?" "Sure." Jordan sighed. "We''re serious, Nat." "I know." After a few seconds of silence, Sofia huffed. "Anyway," she said, sounding exasperated. "It seems like this an adventuring inn. There''s even a training yard out back. Didn''t we want to see how much your buff affected Liz?" "There were some people looking at us, when we came in," Jordanmented. "Think they knew we wereing. Seemed like they wanted to talk. We might have a bit of an audience." That was to be expected. T students were, after all, not something people saw every day. "Might as well go warm up," Natalie said. "All we''re doing is waiting until we get news of the raid." 6.15 – Training Yard 6.15 ¨C Training Yard It was weird being a minor celebrity of sorts. Indeed, as their first impression had suggested, several of the men and women down in The Kraken''s Hearth had been waiting on the arrival of the T squad. And that was the source of their immediate admiration: T. The prestige of Valhaur''s oldest and most aplished delving academy. Though Natalie and her team were only level two and three¡ªan aplishment not all that hard to reach, objectively speaking¡ªit wasn''t so much about their raw strength as their skill. A tiny number of Valhaur''s poption was epted into T, and the amount who applied was massive. As such, even the worst students training there were leagues better than someone found in a random adventuring inn inside a small city. So it wasn''t all that surprising that people, especially other monster-hunters or aspirant delvers, would be interested in meeting them. Hence, they were celebrities of sorts. They obviously didn''t know who Liz was, since their attention was on all of them equally. Liz appreciated that: she reverted to her casual, more bubbly self, rather than the brief image Natalie had caught of her acting more ¡­ well, noblewoman-y. There were other obvious reasons for them drawing eyes. Natalie was, of course, talking about their gear. Up until this point, Natalie could take sce in the fact that, down in the dungeon, her revealing attire would go mostly unnoticed. Even when walking through the streets of Aradon to reach the dungeon entrance, she wore cover-up clothing atop her skimpy metal armor. But now that they would be fighting on the surface, she had to face reality. In particr, a decision between modesty and efficiency. She could just keep her cover-up clothing on all the time, which would look slightly awkward and also make her lose out on [Stylish]''s stat bonuses, or she could embrace her new life and put her body fully on disy. For anyone to see. She settled for the middle ground. The tiny cup of metal cramming in her not-so-secret secret between her legs was a bit too scandalous to wear into public, but the metal bra, at least, was something she could tolerate¡ªif with constantly prickling skin because of how revealing it was. Delvers knew that a person hardly got to pick what loot they got in the dungeon, so in that regard they wouldn''t think Natalie was trying to wear revealing armor, but at the same time, they knew she could cover up. So they would assume it was a choice of hers. Natalie would just have to deal with that. Not that she hated all the looks she got. She already had a reputation for ''getting around'' with other girls, and had grown okay with that, but that''d always been because of how easily she flirted, not how much skin she showed. She wasn''t used to being brazen in this particr way. She considered using [Illusion] to cover herself, but there were two obvious reasons that wasn''t a viable solution. First, the waste of resources. [Illusions] drained mana the longer they persisted. Second, they could be seen through, and if not that, then identified as an illusion by other mages. Somehow, the idea of covering herself up only for someone to peek through and see the reality of the situation felt twice as lewd as just owning the outfit. What would they think? That she was trying to get away with something? That she was a secret exhibitionist? So. For now, she wore her erotite armor as-was, except for a simple mid-thigh skirt to add some modesty. It was a good mix between slightly mortifying to wear in public, but also a solid boost through [Stylish]. Ana, at least, was there to draw some of the attention away. Her mage''s robes were easily as eye-grabbing as Natalie''s erotite armor. She had also fully embraced [Stylish], not caring at all what other people thought of it. The only attempt at modesty she made was using double-sided tape to keep the ribbons of fabric from fluttering away and baring her body entirely. Down in the dungeon, she didn''t even bother to do that. Natalie was constantly catching glimpses of the girl''s nipples whenever a breeze fluttered or when she moved too fast. Which Natalie wasn''t about. Definitely, Ana was getting the most use out of [Stylish] of any of them. Even Liz stole peeks, here and there. As they headed out into the training yard, a number of individuals joined them. Natalie ended up in a conversation with a young man around her own age, maybe a year or two older. For the most part, he managed to keep his eyes on Natalie''s own. She couldn''t really me the few nces he stole. Especially when he seemed more flustered to be talking to a ''student of T'' than a girl wearing armor as revealing as some lingerie. But he seemed far more interested in asking her questions about delving and T than hitting on her, and she found that flustered eagerness endearing. Then, the conversation took an interesting turn. "Wait. You''re a [Lumberjack]?" Natalie asked. "And you want to be a delver?" Gareth sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "It sounds ridiculous, I know. But it''s not like it hasn''t ever happened before. If a [Farmer] can do it, why couldn''t a [Lumberjack]?" Natalie stared at him. He was obviously referencing the Reaper, a Valhaurian top-ranker whose ss was, allegedly, some variation of [Farmer]. Despite not being the most aplished of delvers¡ªas far as top-rankers went, at least, who, as a whole, were some of the strongest individuals in the nation¡ªhe was inordinately famous. An inspiration to many technically nonbat sses. As far as Natalie was concerned, though, he was an inspiration to go and get one''s self killed pursuing a nearly impossible dream. Which Natalie guessed most delvers were guilty of, with how recklessly they pursued advancement, but still. "He''s the exception that proves the rule," Natalie said, her tone disapproving. "Even with a ss meant for killing monsters, the dungeon is dangerous. Not even every T student makes it through the year." "Yeah. That''s true. But my ss has some potential, at least," Gareth said. "I have a skill that makes axe-chopping stronger. Not all that different from a realbat skill, right?" Natalie gave him a dubious look. "I know," Gareth sighed. "It''s a bad idea. But it''s gonna happen. I just¡ªdon''t want to be a lumberman for the rest of my life." He shrugged. "I want to do something more." Natalie couldn''t fault him for having aspirations. Even if they were suicidal ones. But still. "Even if I can''t make a real career out of it, anyway, it''ll be more exciting. And better paying," he added. "And who knows? Maybe my future skills will be more oriented toward fighting if fighting is all I do. Just have to get over the hump." "It is possible," Natalie said reluctantly. "But it''s more possible you die before that happens. You''re at a huge disadvantage." "Yup," Gareth said. "I know. But that''s my choice." He hesitated, then blushed. "You came out here to train, right? Do you think you could, uh, tell me how screwed I am, maybe?" Natalie''s eyebrows went up. "You want to spar?" "Just a quick match. If you don''t mind." "I''m level three. You''re level one. And a [Lumberjack]." "Not nning on winning," heughed. "Just wanna get an idea for how bad of an idea it is, like I said. You''re from T. You''d be able to tell me. Maybe change my mind?" He said it jokingly, as if trying to taunt her into a spar. Natalie frowned at him. Not because she was unamused¡ªhe was an affable fellow¡ªbut because she really was concerned for him. Obviously, a spar wouldn''t teach her much of anything, but she''de out here to warm up more than train. "I''ve been practicing," Gareth added. "I''m better than you think. Promise." "Hm," Natalie said. "We''ll see about that." She gestured to one of the open sparring areas. "There''s a free spot over there." 6.16 – The [Lumberjack] 6.16 ¨C The [Lumberjack] If Gareth wanted an honest appraisal of how idiotic his heading to the dungeon with a nonbat ss was, Natalie would give it to him. It might be the only thing that stopped him from getting killed. Though she doubted she would be able to change his mind. She recognized that stubbornness. The determination to pursue a dream regardless of the danger. Almost all academy-trained delvers had a simr attitude. But maybe, by beating him around the sparring grounds, she could disabuse him slightly of the notion. Or at least inject a modicum of caution. Sometimes people got cocky and needed a reminder of their rtive weakness. The Kraken''s Hearth was located on the southern outskirts of town, so there was plenty of space in the training yard; they weren''t packed in like they might be downtown. Natalie and Gareth took a free spot away from the rest of those who had followed them out of the inn. Their team had intended to test Liz''s new strength, but with the miniature crowd they''d gathered, they''d gotten sidetracked. There was no helping that. Liz could handle the tests herself, anyway. Natalie hardly had to be there. Setting up on the t dirt arena, Natalie slipped out the appropriate monster core and withdrew her weapon. The massive metal hammer materialized mid-air. Even grown familiar with it, she grunted as its heft settled into her grip. Gareth''s eyes widened as he took in the sight of the weapon. "Woah. You fight with that?" She raised an eyebrow, resting her hammer on her shoulder, the metal rod digging into her. "Aren''t scared of getting beaten around a little, are you?" she asked amusedly. "Scared?" Gareth asked. Heughed, a hearty, booming noise. "Definitely not. It''s what I asked for, right?" Natalie frowned. Not because it was a bad answer, but rather, because it was a good one. Because much worse than her was waiting for him in the dungeon. But he really did seem to ept the reality of the situation, how terrible his idea was, and yet was carrying on despite the fact. Natalie became doubly certain it would be impossible to persuade him from his decision. "Though," Gareth said. "Why''s it look like that? All ¡­ you know. Pink and striped?" Natalie winced. She lifted the weapon off her shoulder and ced it face-down into the dirt. Running her eyes up and down its length, she again came to terms with [Valentine]''s appearance. A white shaft striped with red bands, two giant pink metal heads with a heart design imprinted on each face. It was definitely one of the more ridiculous weapons Natalie had seen ¡­ and was all the more embarrassing whenbined with her scandalous armor. "The dungeon doesn''t like me," Natalie said. "It keeps giving me weird stuff." She looked down at herself¡ªinto her prominently disyed cleavage. "If you haven''t noticed," she said dryly. Gareth cleared his throat, his cheeks coloring as his attention was drawn, again, to her armor¡ªorck of it. "I, uh, wouldn''t call it unlucky," he offered tentatively. "I think it looks good on you." "I''m sure you do," Natalie replied amusedly. His cheeks colored further. "That''s a hell of a coincidence, though, isn''t it? That you keep getting stuff like that? I thought dungeon gear was random." "Like I said. Dungeon hates me, and is making a joke out of it. Or something." "You''re talking like it can think," Gareth said. "Some people really believe that, right?" After recent revtions with Malice? Natalie didn''t so much think as she knew the dungeon had a mind, now. She still had to sit down with Malice and learn what she could about the so-called ''Keeper of the Crypt''¡ªand Malice''s life in the dungeon in general. "Some people do," Natalie said. "And I''m one of them. It''s alive to some degree, for sure." "Huh," Gareth said. He seemed briefly like he was going to question her more about that, but he changed his mind. "How much does that thing weigh?" he asked, turning the subject back to Natalie''s hammer. "Not sure." "Can I try holding it?" "Uh. Go ahead?" She tilted the hilt of [Valentine] toward Gareth. Shocking her, he actually managed to pull it from the ground and hold it in his grip. His muscles bulged as he tried to stabilize it. After giving a slow, clumsy test swing in which he went stumbling forward with its momentum, Natalieughed and walked forward to grab the hammer, saving him from toppling over. "Architect," Gareth said in admiration. "That thing''s a monster. You''re stronger than you look." Natalie raised an eyebrow. "Not that you don''t look strong," Gareth hastily said. "Just, uh, you know." Natalie''s amusement grew. This boy clearly wasn''t ustomed to being around delvers¡ªorbat sses in general. Sure, Natalie was hardly some dainty girl with stick arms, but yeah,pared to Gareth''s tall stature and wide [Lumberjack]''s build, she was admittedly a fair bit smaller. But stature didn''t matter a tenth as much tobat sses as it did to regr folk. It became entirely irrelevant as they leveled: a tiny four-foot woman could easily crumple a seven-foot man up like a paper ball, if one was a high-rank fighter and the other was a low-rank mage. That said, at level one, his bulk would certainly help. The average man had a definite strength advantage over the average woman at the beginning of their career. She could take some sce in that fact, if he indeed did recklessly head into the dungeon. "Alright, enough chatting," Natalie said. "Let''s see what you can do." Gareth paused, then warily eyed Natalie''s hammer. "You''re really gonna use that thing on me, huh?" "Weren''t you the one that wanted me to ''knock some sense into you''?" "And I''m all for that," Gareth agreed. "But. I prefer all bones being ¡­ not broken." Natalieughed. "Stop being a chicken. I won''t break anything." "Can you stop yourself, when you''re using that thing?" Despite his hesitance at being on the receiving end of [Valentine], he pulled his axe from his belt. Unlike Natalie, he had no monster cores to carry around his loot. Not that it''d even work with his weapon if he did have one, with his axe being an obviously mundane item. The smooth wooden haft was a solid four or five feet long, with arge, broad metal head. He gripped it in a familiar manner, settling into a wide stance. Natalie appreciated that he didn''t seem totally unustomed tobat¡ªshe could read some level of skill in the way he stood and watched her carefully. Natalie gripped her own weapon. "Ready, then?" "I don''t think anyone''s ever ready to have their ass handed to them," he replied. "But yeah. As much as I''ll ever be." 6.17 – Gentleman 6.17 ¨C Gentleman Natalie was consciously aware of how much stronger she''d be over the past few weeks, much less the past several years, but experiencing it first-hand as she began her duel with Gareth¡ªa normal person, rather than a peer¡ªnheless came as a surprise. Of course, she put barely any strength into her swings, fully aware of how fragile her opponent was. There was not only a level difference, but also a training one, a gear one, and a fundamental ss one. Even massively limiting herself, Gareth struggled to keep up. Natalie didn''t know what kind of ''training'' he''d been doing, but certainly it wasn''t intense spars with other men and women who''d been fighting for their entire lives, as Natalie was ustomed to even before heading for T. That said, he wasn''t horrible, Natalie guessed. She caught glimpses of talent in the way he responded to her movements. The way he bnced his weight and repositioned, how he watched her hips and hands to read her intent, and the ease he swung his axe with. Clearly, this wasn''t some new, idle dream of his: he''d been putting in genuine effort to be a better fighter, likely for some time. Natalie could respect that. As the fight progressed, Natalie became suspicious of something¡ªsomething she alerted to in the way Gareth moved and responded to her own movements. She started leaving more and more tant openings in her guard to see how he would react to them. And while he did seize some, only in the politest ways possible. Aiming at her stomach, arms, and legs. And, even more incredibly, not at full strength. Natalie disengaged. "You''re pulling your punches, aren''t you?" she asked incredulously. "And you''re avoiding hitting my face." She''d been deliberately guarding it poorly. "What''s wrong with you? You know the head is a weak point, right?" Gareth blinked, the usation havinge unexpectedly. By the bewilderment on his face, Natalie even started to think that she might have misinterpreted things¡ªthat he really hadn''t noticed the openings, and wasn''t simply ''avoiding hitting a woman''. But then his eyes turned shifty and he looked away. "Just, uh, didn''t see them. My bad." The response dispelled thest of Natalie''s doubts. "Bullshit," she said. "I''ve been leaving myself stupidly open. So you''re just that terrible?" Gareth seemed like he wanted to defend himself, but he couldn''t, not without admitting to what Natalie already knew was the situation¡ªthat he had been trying ''not to hit a woman in the face''. Or even anywhere with full strength, which was doubly outrageous, because it was Natalie who needed to be pulling her punches, not him. She didn''t know whether to be more annoyed or amused. It had been a while since she''d run into that sentiment. ''Gentlemanly'' behavior had been present in plenty of spars when she was younger, but obviously was burnt out of anyone who frequented the fighting circuits of Valhaur. If not simply by usingmon sense and recognizing that any part of their sparring partner should be fair game, regardless of gender, then by having their asses handed to them on repeat until they let go of any such ridiculous ideas. Whoever Gareth had been using as training partners, she suspected not many, if any, had been women. Natalie studied the boy for a few moments longer, annoyance on her face, before she snorted. She turned and scanned the training yard, quickly finding her target. "Hey! Liz!" Hearing her name, the dark-haired royal faced Natalie, tilting her head in curiosity. She''d been talking to Ana. "Come over here real quick?" Liz jogged over. "What''s up?" "Need a healer on standby, if that''s fine?" "Oh?" Liz said. She looked worried at Gareth and then back at Natalie as if she wanted to say something. "Not for him," Natalie said, rolling her eyes. Why did everyone think she was going to break the civilian? "He''s a level one. I''m going easy on him." "Then, um ¡­?" "For me," Natalie said. She set her hammer face-down into the dirt and gestured for Gareth to approach. He did, confused. "Punch me in the face," Natalie said. "What?" "Try to break my nose. Give it your best shot." "Uh¡ª?" Gareth asked, pointing at himself, suddenly rmed. "You want me to do what?" Natalie faced Liz. "He''s scared to hit girls," she exined. "He''s been going easy on me. Me. He thinks we''re delicate flowers." "I do not!" Gareth protested. Natalie and Liz both raised their eyebrows at him. "Not that you aren''t, um, flowers," he hastily assured them. "Just¡ªnot delicate?" He said it questioningly, as if not sure whether he was making his position better or worse. Liz covered her mouth, stifling augh. "Punch me," Natalie repeated. "We literally have a healer on standby. Even if you tried, you can''t hurt me more than she can fix." Especially when Natalie''s HP was full. "Uh," Gareth said. "It''s just that ¡­" He shifted ufortably in ce, looking for an excuse. But failed to find one. "Are you sure?" "Stop wasting my time," Natalie said, annoyance starting to overtake her amusement. "If you''re scared of punching a girl, what the fuck are you doing, going into the dungeon? Gonna have bigger dilemmas down there than this one, I promise." Gareth took a breath. He hooked his axe into his belt, his right hand gripping into a fist. He stood there awkwardly for a second, Natalie impatiently watching him with crossed arms. "Stop being such a pussy," Natalie said. "Just fucking¡ª" Gareth punched her in the face. Normally, a level one would never be able to move fast enough to catch her off guard. But Natalie had thought it would take significantly more goading before she would get him to act¡ªhe clearly was ufortable with the idea of hitting a woman, much less square in the face, much less without Natalie even raising her hands to defend herself. But it''d been an easier problem to rectify than she''d expected. Huh. Good for him. Natalie also learned something else. The beefy [Lumberjack] boy knew how to throw a punch. She staggered backward, nose crunching, tears springing forward to immediately sting at her eyes. She held her nose as blood started flowing freely between her fingers. She might have the level advantage and be in Tenacity-improving gear, and have HP alongside both those things, but Gareth was a big dude trained with a life of manualbor, knew how to put his body into a punch, and he''d targeted a soft spot. And hadn''t gone easy on her: he''d given it his all. Natalie was hardly immune to getting hurt in that kind of scenario. HP, gear, and stats were only mitigators, not some kind of force field. At least, not at level three. Pulling her hand away to see a stain of red on her palm, Natalie looked up at Gareth, shocked¡ªto see that boy was equally astounded at what he''d done. Natalie grinned. Gareth only grew more horrified. "Good shot," she said,ughing, voiceing out funny with how her nose was crooked and clogged with blood. Liz''s healing spell washed through her, and the burning pain disappeared all at once. Natalie noted how much more potent it felt than usual. Undoubtedly thanks to [Divine Invigoration]. If her heal was that much stronger, she was interested in seeing what Liz''s buffing spells were like, now. Natalie scrunched her nose around as it straightened out on its own. She pulled out the vial of cleansing liquid and cleaned away the blood. Shortly, she was as good as new. Gareth stood there, gingerly shaking his hand from side to side. "Architect," he said, looking down and gently clenching and unclenching his fist. "I think I hurt myself more than I did you. What the hell is your face made out of? I broke something for sure." "Oh," Liz said. "Sorry, I can help you with that." She pointed her wand at him and patched the [Lumberjack] up next, just as she had Natalie. [Healers]. Convenient friends to have. Gareth blinked as¡ªmaybe for the first time¡ªmagic coursed through his body and corrected his injury. He bunched and un-bunched his hand with increasingly less hesitance. "Oh," he said. "Wow. Yeah, all good. Thanks." "No problem," Liz replied cheerfully. "Good shot, by the way." "You pass," Natalie told Gareth. "The being-a-pansy test, at least. Now that that''s taken care of, we can get back to sparring." She narrowed her eyes at him. "And you better not ignore any more obvious openings, or we''re done. I''m not here to waste my time." She grabbed her hammer and lifted it. "Thanks, Liz." "I''ll be here if you need me," Liz said, walking away, amusement obvious in her voice. 6.18 – How-To 6.18 ¨C How-To "I think she''s having a little too much fun bullying that poor guy around," Jordan said wryly. "It''s Natalie," Sofia sniffed. "Of course she''s having fun showing off." The two of them had managed to disentangle themselves from the small group of T admirers. Mostly because Natalie was upying the majority of their attention as she sparred with Gareth, that [Lumberjack] boy. She and Sofia had wandered off to one of the further-away dirt sparring grounds with the excuse that they wanted to warm up. Which wasn''t a lie, but more than a spar, Jordan had wanted to separate herself from the crowd for a different reason. To speak with Sofia, alone. "Show off? That''s rich,ing from you," Jordan said amusedly. Sofia tilted her head. "Huh? I don''t brag." "That''s not what I mean," Jordan said. "Just, this morning, I remember a certain girl who was having way too much fun ''showing off''. Don''t you?" "Pardon?" It took Sofia a second longer to understand what Jordan was getting at. Jordan guessed the attempt at teasing was a bit of a stretch. But eventually, Sofia remembered the event in the train car. She started sputtering. "That was hardly me showing off. That was you doing so, on my behalf." "Doesn''t mean you weren''t having fun with it. Hence, you''re a hypocrite." Sofia gaped at Jordan. Jordanughed at her. "Nah, but really, you two are more alike than you think," she said. "Natalie likes showing off herbat skills, and you like swinging your cock around for your friends. It''s basically the same thing, if you think about it." "S-Shut up," Sofia hissed, looking around to see if anyone was within earshot. "What''s wrong with you?" "Also," Jordan said. "I''ve been meaning to ask. We didn''t go too far, did we? Or too fast?" Sofia again oriented herself. She let out a long, exasperated sigh. "I refuse to do this a second time. Besides the fact that you already have, once before, Natalie also beat you to it." "Oh. She did?" Natalie had checked in with Sofia about the incident in the train car? That announcement brightened Jordan''s mood considerably. These two idiots really were making strides, weren''t they? However difficult they could be. "Don''t grin at me like that," Sofia huffed. "But yes. We spoke." She crossed her arms. "And this is thest time that I''ll say it. If I have a problem with what''s happening, I can voice it myself. I promise you, my mouth is fully functional. It works perfectly fine." "More than ''perfectly'', from what I''ve seen," Jordan said, a mischievous smile pulling on her lips. "When do I get to try it out, anyway? Only Natalie''s been so lucky." Sofia''s face reddened at record speed. Her mouth opened and closed before she managed to get it working again. "How do you manage to twist everything into some innuendo?" she asked, strangled. "And what are you implying, when do you get to try it?" Jordan smirked at her, since it was rather obvious, but she didn''t rify. She looked over at Natalie, who was swinging that ridiculous hammer of hers around and gently¡ªwell, as gently as possible¡ªbattering Gareth from one end of their dirt sparring arena to the other for the amusement of their spectators. "How are things going with you and her, anyway?" Jordan asked. "Me and Natalie?" "Yeah." "Fine," Sofia said, sounding confused. "She''s as irritating as always." She sniffed. "And certainly making good use of that stupid bet," she muttered. "At least the cor is progressing handily. You know both the ''minor Prowess'' and ''minor Tenacity'' have moved into ''moderate''?" Jordan''s eyebrows shot up. "Really? On a single piece of gear?" That''d make it one of their best items yet, then. Though with some high requirements to have gotten to that point. So fair enough. "There''s a reason I''ve been allowing Natalie to treat me like that," Sofia huffed. Jordan paused, then gave her a look. "What?" Sofia demanded. Jordan shook her head in exasperation. "No, but really," she said. "How are things going with you two?" "I haven''t the slightest idea what you mean." Then, going on the offensive, Sofia asked, "What about you? What''s going on with you two?" Which was an effective tactic, as Sofia had known it would be. Jordan shifted in ce as she also grew flustered. She considered how to answer¡ªbefore deciding on honesty. "Well. We''re going on a date, soon. So good, I guess?" Sofia blinked. Despite the question obviously being an attempt to disorient Jordan and deflect attention away, she reined herself in. "Oh. That''s ¡­ exciting. Your first?" "Our first." Sofia considered that, then snorted loudly. "It''s about time." "Pardon me?" "I can''t believe you two aren''t married yet, much less girlfriends," Sofia said, rolling her eyes. "It''s ridiculous that it''s taking so long." Then, her cheeks darkened, and she used, "For that matter, with how busy you two have been, I''m surprised you don''t have a kiding." Jordan blushed. "We''re careful. You know that. Natalie has that potion." "How much is left, anyway?" "Plenty. She''s barely dented the monster core." "I bet you''re quite grateful to the dungeon for giving you two that," she said dryly. Jordan eyed her. Besides the obvious deflections, did Sofia really think she could out-fluster her? She wasn''t going to win that game. "Yeah," she said shamelessly. "I am. It''s so much better without a condom. Having her stuff that big, fat cock of hers into me, nothing to block the sensation. It''s the most wonderful thing. Really, you should try¡ª" "J-Jordan," Sofia hiss-choked out. "Shut up! Are you serious? Someone might hear." "Don''t start fights you can''t win," Jordan said,ughing¡ªthough her own face was ming at her crudeness. "You would think as a duelist, you''d have learned that by now." "The problem is, I always forget how disgusting you can be. Ugh." She shook her head. "How can you say something like that with a straight face?" "It''s easy. And stop deflecting," Jordan said. "I''m gonna ask one more time. How are things going with you and Nat?" Sofia sighed. She was quiet for a few moments, before she finally sniffed. "As I said, the cor is progressing quite nicely." Jordan groaned, but Sofia red at her in response. "Fine," Jordan said. "Whatever. Everything you two do is just for the bet, and the cor. But, and this is purely a hypothetical, if you did want more¡ªsay, to get that idiot to go on a date with you¡ªit wouldn''t be that hard. You know that, right?" Sofia looked at her incredulously. "What makes you think I would want to go on a date with that irritating woman?" Before even finishing the sentence, though, she was trailing off. A few seconds of silence passed, and Sofia cleared her throat and asked, "A date?" Jordan grinned at Sofia, who blushed furiously and looked away. "Not that I''m interested in the slightest," she huffed. "Because what would a date do for the cor?" "Hypothetically," Jordan continued. "It''d be stupidly easy to make happen. All you''d have to do is tell Nat that it doesn''t feel right she''s taking so much advantage of the bet without giving you a bit of the girlfriend experience. Maybe mention how, you know, she is your first, and that you want something a little lovey-dovey, once in a while. Just because it would make you feel better about, you know, being ravished." Jordanughed. "Maybe flutter those big, blue, vulnerable eyes of yours, if you want to score a critical hit." She got briefly lost in amusement, imagining that exchange. "Watch how fast that idiot changes her tune. How quickly she scrambles to set up a date. I almost wish I could be there." Sofia''s face had grown even redder than before. Jordan rolled her eyes at that. Hinting at romance affected her more than outright throwing crude sexualments into her face. What a shocker. This woman was way too easy to read. "You think so?" Sofia asked. "I know so," Jordan said. "And so do you. That girl is obsessed with you." "No, she isn''t." "Just try it," Jordan repeated. "See what happens. You know, even though you''re not interested." Sofia stood there, face burning, clearly losing herself in her thoughts. Jordan didn''t interrupt her, letting her stew. Finally, the girl squeaked and jumped, as if something especially embarrassing had popped into her head. It was unfortunate Jordan would never get to learn what it was. But she could make a few guesses. "S-So," Sofia said, clearing her throat loudly. "We came out here to spar, didn''t we? Not chatter endlessly?" Jordan snorted and pulled out her daggers. She separated from Sofia, putting space between them. There was a limit to how much progress she could make in a given day. Pressing too much would have the opposite effect as intended, anyway. Just like with Natalie. Those two were more simr than they would ever admit. It was in Sofia''s hands, now. 6.19 – Raid 6.19 ¨C Raid The messenger came several hourster, well past midday. Natalie and her team, having not been doing much besides idly training and chatting while they waited, were ready to spring up at a moment''s notice and rush off. There were a number of ways to swiftly crossrge distances, the most prominent being the system of trains that linked Valhaur. Of course, there were more personal methods, though more expensive, like enchanted wagons or horseback. Fortunately, the roads in Tarenhelm were well maintained, so a wagon was feasible. Natalie did know how to ride, should it be necessary¡ªfor example, if they had needed to cross rougher terrain¡ªbut it wasn''t a skill required down in the dungeon, so her experience with horses was limited. Though Tarenhelm had solid roads, the ride was nheless bumpy. The wagon rushed across the ground at a ridiculous speed, weaving past other traffic. A single horse pulled them, but their speed was more thanks to the wagon''s enchantments than the animal at its head. In less than five minutes, they''d arrived to the farmstead under attack. The wagon screeched to a halt, and Natalie and her team piled out, withdrawing their weapons and scanning the scene. They''d left behind the city proper, now in a sparser part of town¡ªthe true outskirts¡ªwhere farms dominated thendscape. She didn''t take in the quaint little barn and farmhouse, though, and rather critically analyzed her surroundings as far asbat was concerned. There were, indeed, goblins. Between twelve and fifteen of them that she could see¡ªmore than she''d expected. Three were crowded around a dead, abandoned mule, tearing into the creature with glee. Others were battering into the grain silo''s door, trying to break it open. The barn doors were swung wide; there were likely more goblins inside. In fact, by the screaming of various animals, there certainly were. But her concern was, of course, on the shattered windows of the farm and the door hanging on its hinges, broken into like the goblins were attempting with the grain silo. They had already breached the farmer''s home. There was likely a panic room with a better-secured door¡ªperhaps a basement¡ªthat they had retreated into, standard practice for anyone vulnerable to monster attacks, but they also might not have been fast enough. Natalie knew she had to brace herself for the worst-case scenario. There were, at least, no human corpses outside the farm. She didn''t particrly like fighting humanoid monsters simply because it made her ufortable. That said, murderous, vicious creatures like goblins? Even if they were intelligent, which they weren''t in any true sense, they were also evil. She had no qualms about putting down disgusting things like them. They didn''t have time to waste. She had no idea whether the farmer and his family were safe inside his house or if they had found some other means of escape, but every second that passed was potentially crucial. Having scanned the situation, Natalie nced at her teammates to make sure they were ready¡ªof course, they were¡ªthen gripped her hammer, nodded, and rushed forward. One of the goblins spotted their approach immediately. It pointed a green-skinned finger at them and screeched, alerting its allies. The others stiffened and spun, stopping their various activities¡ªwhether it was feasting on the dead mule, breaking into the grain silo, or carrying various items into a growing pile at the side of the farm. Thest of which was the oddest piece of the puzzle: the hoarding behavior the Baron had mentioned. The raiding party saw their well-equipped group of five and immediately burst into a blood frenzy, every single one of them screaming wildly and rushing toward them, brandishing impromptu weapons. Knives, axes, even a few with bows, who immediately started slinging poorly aimed arrows at them. No strategy, no teamwork, just pure lust for killing. Like most dungeon monsters. So, the fight began. Natalie pulled out the [Capture Core] and summoned Malice as she ran. The wolfgirl materialized in an outline of pink motes of light, hovering for a second before solidifying. Her head snapped side to side, long, flowing ck hair waving as she did, and she instantly took in the situation¡ªperhaps even faster than Natalie''s initial critical gaze. Her orange eyes locked for a quarter-second to Natalie''s. Then she threw her head back, let out a piercing howl of glee, and rushed forward. No questions. No rifications. Straight to killing. In the back of Natalie''s mind, she took note of two things: First, how that disy had served as a great reminder Malice was definitely not human, however little that should need reminding, but second, that Malice''s eagerness might be a problem. She hadn''t even asked what was going on. Not that a goblin n rushing them with obvious killing intent needed an exnation, but anything Malice did was Natalie''s responsibility. Her totalck of hesitation to go straight to violence could be a problem. Just not here and right now. Killing was the goal. Natalie met the first goblin''s approach with a two-handed swing of her hammer. Against a level one, the creature simply crumpled, a disgusting crunch filling the air as it went flying sideways. But there was a whole swarm of them, and Natalie had strength, not speed. Of all encounter types, their team was least suited to this¡ªto fending off swarms. Only Ana had area-of-effect spells. That said, just because they were weakest to swarms didn''t mean they struggled. The smallest of the goblins were level ones, and those went down with little effort. Natalie mmed her hammer into them, Sofia thrust out and skewered, Jordan stabbed and darted, returning bow fire to the archers in the distance, and Ana whipped tentacles of ck shadows scoring deep gouges in their flesh. Liz, of course, kept them healthy, fending for herself and repositioning as necessary. The stronger of the goblins were slightly more difficult, the level twos and threes, but there were only a few of them, and they were still no match for Natalie''s squad. Especially since Liz''s empowering buff was greatly improved, a cascading effect from [Divine Invigoration]¡ªsomething Natalie had briefly tested at the inn''s training yard, but which true this. It''s what I live for." Natalie ignored her; she had bigger concerns. "The house," she said. "Let''s go see if they''re safe." Or even alive. 6.20 – Rescue 6.20 ¨C Rescue Thank the Heavens, the civilians were fine. It was standard practice to have panic rooms constructed when building on the outskirts of any town or city. In this case, it was a basement. The heavy trapdoor leading down was barred on the other side. An axe was embedded into the thick wooden b, splinters covering the ground. The goblins had clearly been trying to get in, chopping wildly. She wasn''t sure how sessful they''d have been, even given time, but Natalie was immensely relieved she and her team had been able to respond quickly. That they''d been positioned toe to their help. Though that''d been the Baron''s nning more than her team''s. Natalie and they had just done the dirty work. There were no corpses in the house, another great relief. Overall, everything had gone swimmingly. But Natalie knew she needed to brace herself for the eventuality that someday a quest of theirs wouldn''t be so neat. They''d gotten lucky. "Hello?" a voice called from inside, muted by the trapdoor. They''d been alerted when Natalie had walked in and pried out the axe. "Stay in there for a bit," Natalie called. "We''re gonna go double-check they''re all dead. Is there anyone that needs help?" "No. We''re all in here," the man''s voice replied, sounding relieved. "Thank you foring." "It''s what we do. Give us a few minutes." They went and did as she''d said, clearing the premises. The barn was an especially gruesome sight: the goblins inside had gleefully murdered every farm animal they could reach, hence the screaming noises she''d heard upon arrival. It was a gory sight, even for Natalie, who was ustomed to ughtering monsters for a living. Still, she didn''t let herself be squeamish and scoured the barn thoroughly for any other living goblins. Unlike dungeon monsters, the goblin''s corpses didn''t evaporate into ck smoke; they stuck around. And were strewn all about the farmer''s front yard. Clean-up wasn''t going to be fun. She didn''t envy the farmer, or perhaps whatever assistance from the city came to help. Before encouraging the farmers to leave the secured basement, Natalie pulled Malice back into the [Capture Core]. The fewer people who saw her, the better. Even if she had fake exnations ready for anyone curious. When the time came, four people piled out of the trap door: the farmer, his wife, and his two children, one a scared-looking toddler and the other a boy in his teen years. It was strangely gratifying being thanked by them. Natalie could tell by her teammate''s faces they felt the same. They''d been through much harder fights as a matter of routine in the dungeon, but their efforts had always been ¡­ well, selfish, she guessed she could call it, down there. For loot and experience. Here, they''d gained no reward except potentially saving a family''s life. And saving future lives by putting down the goblin raid. Those filthy creatures wouldn''t be able to terrorize anyone in the future, either. There were still plenty of the monsters left, though, in some hidden base in the ''Duskwood,'' the forest to the south. But that was their goal for tomorrow. After handling the rest of that brief crisis, the enchanted wagon ferried them back to the inn, their mission aplished for the night. *** Back in her room, Natalie called Malice out of the [Capture Core]. After orienting herself to her surroundings and finding nothing to kill, Malice frowned and faced Natalie. "No monsters. I take it that means this is one of those summons, then?" Natalie rolled her eyes. When she''d enlisted the wolfgirl''s help, she had underestimated just how insistent the woman would be. Fighting and fucking. Natalie was hardly a woman known for refraining from either of those, but she didn''t bring it up literally every time she saw someone. "We need to talk," Natalie said, exasperated. "Again? About what?" "How you acted back there." "Huh?" Malice''s long ck wolf tail swished in confusion. "I thought I performed well. You disagree?" "Not that." Natalie considered how to phrase it. "You were amazing in that fight like you always are." Malice preened under the praise. She admired her nails, turning her hand back and forth to look from different angles. "Of course I was." Definitely not a woman afraid to take praise. Natalieughed. "But," she said, "I meant how rash you were. It was fine in that situation, but it still worried me. And there are a few other things we have to talk about. I was too tired to hash out our situation properly the other night." Malice crossed her arms, a frown appearing. Again, Natalie rolled her eyes. At least Malice wasn''t hard to read. "This isn''t a scolding, Malice." Malice''s wolf ears twitched. "Exin yourself, human." "I will." Natalie flicked her eyes up and down Malice''s body. "But first, I want you to take your armor off." "O-Oh?" Malice asked, themand catching her off guard. Natalie waved impatiently for her to get going, not offering her an exnation. Heat rose on Malice''s dark-gray skin, the blush obvious despite her coloring. Orange eyes skittered away from Natalie''s¡ªmade timid by the unexpectedness of the request¡ªbefore she huffed and reached behind her back, unclipping her metal bra. "I was wondering when you''d take advantage of your victory," she grumbled. "I still can''t believe I lost to you." It was hrious of her to y reluctant, considering how many times she''d all but demanded Natalie hurry up with taking advantage of their arrangement. Malice slipped out of her upper piece of armor, baring her chest. Natalie drank in the sight, arousal rising as Malice''s nipples stiffened under her gaze. The wolfgirl was bustier than anyone else in her party¡ªgiving even Natalie a run for her money. Though not quite winning. "Bottom too," Natalie said, waving impatiently. "Why are you taking so long?" Malice''s breath started toe faster at themanding tone. Natalie had to fight away her amusement, keeping a serious, bored face. This girl was too easy to y with. Malice obeyed, stripping her other key piece of gear off, leaving her standing naked in front of Natalie. She stood with her arms at her side for a second before, unable to help it, she covered herself up, one hand slipping between her legs, the other covering her breasts. "I''m not exactly shy," Malice grumbled, ncing away. "But with a look like that on your face¡­" Natalieughed and stood from the bed, where she''d been enjoying the show. "Before we have that discussion I mentioned," she murmured, approaching the naked wolfgirl¡ªstill fully dressed herself. "There''s something I want to do to you." She settled her hands on Malice''s hips, drawing their faces close. Malice''s breathing became even more ragged, chest heaving up and down. "Can you guess what it is?" "I ¡­ don''t know." "I have a suspicion you won''t like it," Natalie murmured. "But my pup will do what I tell her, right? Because she''s mine. To do with what I please. My wantse first." "That''s true," Malice breathed. Natalie kissed Malice, briefly and teasingly. She lingered there for a few seconds, their lips barely brushing. "Good. Because now that I have you nice and naked, vulnerable for me, submitting to my will, I''m going to ¡­" She let the words hang in the air. Malice clung to them, her orange eyes wide, enraptured and unable to look away. "I''m going to ¡­" Natalie murmured. "Yeah?" "Give you ¡­" Malice waited, tense, desperate to see how the sentence would end. "A bath," Natalie finished. The words took time to register. Finally, orange eyes blinked rapidly in confusion, the brief spell breaking. "H-Huh? What, human? A bath?" "You''re filthy, Malice," Natalieughed. "Look how much blood is on you." She stepped back and took the sight in again. While the bits of her that her armor had been covering were mostly clean, the rest was covered in the grime and gore associated with fighting monsters. Much less in the enthusiastic, up-close-and-personal martial artist style that Malice preferred. Amusingly, the only clean-ish parts were where her armor covered. She was effectively wearing a bikini made of clear skin. Like tan lines. "Soe on," Natalie said, rolling her eyes as she grabbed Malice''s hand. "It''s time to teach my puppy how the shower works." 6.21 – Getting Clean 6.21 ¨C Getting Clean "This is¡ªthis is an outrage," Malice sputtered. "Look what you''ve done to my hair!" Indeed, Malice''s wild, voluminous waist-length hair had been matted down by the spray of water. It was quite the sight. "Oh, stop crying, it''ll dry out fine," Natalie said, stifling her amusement. "Plus, I''ll be introducing you to the wonders of modern shampoo and conditioner. I mean, your hair is gorgeous without it¡ªI don''t know how you manage that," she muttered, "But it''ll be even softer, silkier, and thicker when I''m done with you. Plus you''ll be clean." The words didn''te as any sort of reassurance to Malice, who was holding heavy waterden strands of glossy ck hair in her hands. She looked up at Natalie with a distraught expression. Natalie bit her lip to stop fromughing. The woman had amanding presence with her wild hair syed out as it normally was¡ªbut here, wet, naked, and outraged in the shower, any so-called ''presence'' of hers hadpletely evaporated. "Don''tugh at me!" Natalieughed at her, but made it up to the wolfgirl by pulling her in for a kiss. Malice couldn''t hold onto her anger for long; she melted into Natalie. Like she said. Way too easy. Pulling back, she chuckled into Malice''s lips. "C''mon. It''ll be over soon. You can''t go walking around drenched in blood." "Why not?" "Because we live in a civilized society." "You live in a civilized society." "And in turn, so do you. Don''t be difficult." Natalie grabbed the soap bar from the receptacle. "Look. Youther it up in your hands, then spread it across your body." Demonstrating, Natalie ran her soapy hands across Malice''s stomach. Then, without intending to, quickly got lost in the process, sliding her hands up to cup both of Malice''s breasts. She spent a wholly inappropriate amount of time ''cleaning'' the wolfgirl''s chest¡ªending with a teasing tug on one of her nipples, making Malice suck in a gasp of air. "Actually, I think I''ll do it for you," Natalie murmured, grabbing the soap bar again. She ran the bar of soap over Malice''s body, taking her time to thoroughlyther up the wolfgirl''s gray skin. Her hands moved, indulgently caressing the toned curves and valleys of Malice''s figure. The steam from the hot shower swirled around them as she worked, Natalie growing more and more transfixed by the sight of Malice''s hard nipples, the water droplets running down the slopes of her breasts. She worked thether across Malice''s t stomach, then her sides, her arms, fingers trailing over the defined muscle there. Lower, she took her time soaping up the juncture between Malice''s thighs, teasingly avoiding the wolfgirl''s slit, before moving to her legs. Throughout it, Malice stayed obediently still, though her heavy breathing betrayed her arousal. Her soaked waterden tail swished back and forth, flicking water into the shower curtain and generally everywhere¡ªwhich Natalie had already given up on trying to control. The motion drew Natalie''s attention to the curves of her backside, and she reached around and gave Malice''s ass a squeeze before starting tother her up there as well. She made sure to get Malice properly clean¡ªhalf because she had been filthy, and half because it was way too much fun, toying with her puppy. Stepping back, Natalie admired her handiwork. "Spin for me," shemanded. Maliceplied, turning in a slow circle so Natalie could drink in the sight of her glistening, soapy form from every angle. A sudden rush of possessiveness thrilled through Natalie. She owned that. By the terms of Malice''s own submission, Malice was hers. Tomand. To use as she pleased. Not that Natalie would ever abuse the contract they''d made ¡­ but still. It was a heady concept toe to terms with. Natalie took a breath, steadying her racing heart. As carried away as she had gottenthering Malice up, she had a number of things to discuss with her before she got too excited to think straight. Unfortunately. However much Malice''s eyes were flicking down to Natalie''s erection, Natalie reminded herself to stay focused. By the time they were finished, Malice was pouting, not just because of the indignance of being bathed but also because her casual attempts at seduction hadn''t worked. The wolfgirl clearly found it too embarrassing to demand Natalie im her outright, but she was also unable to help herself from making it obvious she wanted to be imed. After toweling and drying off, they convened back in Natalie''s bedroom. "Here, try these on." Shortly, the wolfgirl was wearing one of Natalie''s t-shirts and a pair of her panties. It was a rather enthralling sight. Evenpared to Malice''s typical revealing armor. Malice scrunched her nose as she looked down at her outfit. She picked at the soft fabric. "No defense at all," she muttered. "You humans are so strange. What if someone tried to kill you like this?" Natalie rolled her eyes. She plopped down onto the bed and scooted so her back was against the pillows and headrest. "Cm''here," she said, patting between her legs. Malice blinked in surprise but did as she was told. She crawled onto the bed in front of Natalie, turning around when Natalie gestured for her to do so. She pulled the wolfgirl in, hugging her from behind. Breathing deeply, she took in the scent of Malice''s freshly cleaned hair. "Ah," she sighed. "Much better." She nuzzled her head into the side of Malice''s neck, kissing the soft skin there. "Maybe monsters don''t care about being clean, but it''s more pleasant for us humans, at least." "Then I guess it wasn''t a total waste," a flustered Malice replied. Natalie idly yed with the waistband of Malice''s panties as she basked in the presence of the wolfgirl. Malice not-so-subtly rubbed her ass into Natalie''s crotch. Her cock was quick to respond: already half-hard from the shenanigans in the shower, it quickly swelled out, pressing into Malice. "Hey," Natalie scolded. "Stop that. We still have to talk." "Seriously?" "Yes, seriously," Natalie said. "And I''m not fucking you until we do. So you''re wasting your time." Malice huffed. "Well then, hurry up and talk, won''t you? So we can get to the better stuff." Natalie snuggled into the wolfgirl a little tighter, sneaking a hand up into Malice''s shirt to rest a hand against her toned abs. "It''s not my fault you''re distracting. Lemme enjoy myself for a bit. I worked hard for this prize, didn''t I?" Malice cleared her throat. Natalie inched her hand higher up, between her breasts, to feel the wolfgirl''s racing heart. "I guess that''s true," Malice said, sounding flustered. Natalie slid her other hand down, resting on an inner thigh. Malice instinctively opened her legs, which Natalie snorted at¡ªand kept her hand only on her thigh, not adventuring to more exciting ces. "Let''s see," Natalie said. "I guess we''ll start with your rules of engagement, like I mentioned." Though there were a number of things, some arguably more important. Because she couldn''t put off discussions of the dungeon and its nature forever, after all. 6.22 – Secrets 6.22 ¨C Secrets "Rules of engagement?" Malice asked, shivering as Natalie left her hands resting on her thigh and her stomach. "What do you mean?" "You''re an amazing fighter," Natalie said, feeling the wolfgirl straighten up proudly in herp, "but when I summon you, I want you to take a little longer to make sure you know what''s going on. Especially if it''s other humans attacking us. It might be a non-lethal fight. Or even if there isn''t other people there, then we might have some other goal, like with a boss." She shrugged. "Dungeon encounters can be weird, you know. Arbitrary. Lots of rules. So you can''t just rush in." "Hm," Malice said. "I guess that''s true." "But seriously," Natalie said, kissing Malice on the neck to soften the words. "You were¡ªare¡ªincredible. One of the best fighters I''ve ever seen, especially hand-to-hand. If you wouldn''t mind sparring sometime, there''s a lot I could learn from you." Malice squirmed in herp, and while Natalie couldn''t see her face, she imagined it was burning with heat. Natalie wasying it on intentionally thick¡ªMalice obviously liked the praise. Not that she didn''t mean the words, though. She absolutely did. "You were decent enough too, I suppose," Malice said, flustered. "I also wouldn''t mind sparring with you." "Cool." She kissed Malice on the neck again. "But there''s more. For when I take you out." She hesitated. "When we''re around people, I think you maybe shouldn''t talk. If that''s fine?" "Hm? Why?" Natalie was relieved that Malice didn''t sound offended. Simply curious at the request. "Because I can call you a summon, but even with that exnation, it''s still weird how human-like you look. Even more so, a summon that can talk and has a personality would ¡­ draw eyes." To put things lightly. "Why would you care?" "Just as a matter of staying safe," Natalie said. "I guess. I don''t know. Maybe nobody would give a shit. But if they did, I don''t want them taking the [Capture Core] to study you." Malice bristled. "Take the core? Simply kill them if they try." That obviously wasn''t a viable solution for a whole slew of reasons, but Natalie chose a different reason to reject the idea. "I''m hardly the strongest person in the world, you know," she said wryly. "It''s why I''m keeping my ss a secret too. Plenty of people could force me to do what they want." Malice stewed in thought for several moments. Natalie closed her eyes and nuzzled her face into Malice''s neck. Seriously¡ªshe could get used to having a pet wolfgirl to snuggle with whenever she wanted. "I suppose that is an unfortunate reality," Malice said sourly. "But the obvious solution is to be strong enough that it doesn''t matter. So you can do whatever you want, to whomever you want, and they won''t have a choice in the matter." That perspective was unsettling, but nothing unexpected by this point. Malice was a monster. It was just how she viewed things¡ªthrough a straightforward, primitive lens. Malice sniffed. "Not that I care if you want me to not talk when other humans are present. Just, I expect my Master to be strong." "I''m working on it," Natalie said. "I''ve only had my ss for less than a month. It takes time." "Nheless." "That would be nice, though." Bing strong enough to do whatever she wanted¡ªthat was a reason lots of people delved, even if they wouldn''t admit it. "Considering who your patron is, it''s well within your grasp." Natalie stiffened. "Right ¡­" she said slowly, pulling her chin off Malice''s shoulder. "That''s actually the second big thing I wanted to talk about. What you know." "What I know?" Malice asked, turning her head to hold Natalie''s gaze briefly. She looked back forward, her voice taking an uncharacteristically cautious tone. "What specifically?" "The dungeon, for one," Natalie said. "My ''patron,'' as you''ve called her twice. And everything else. I''ve never talked to someone from the dungeon before. There''s a lot to learn. Especially relevant to my ss. Anything you can tell me would help." Malice was quiet for a bit. "You''re my temporary Master," she eventually said. "The Keeper of the Crypt owns me for all eternity. When I die, or the core ispromised, I will return there. She''ll know my mind. She''ll know what I said. And I can assume she doesn''t want her secrets divulged, whatever paltry amount of them I know." She sighed. "So do you understand?" A chill went down Natalie''s spine. She wondered what kind of territory she was stepping into here. The secrets of the dungeon. The dungeon. How many people had spent their lives studying that enigmatic, powerful entity? And here Natalie was, a wolfgirl cuddled between her legs, a reservoir of insight speaking about things they couldn''t ever hope to have ess to. A first-hand witness to how the dungeon functioned internally. Natalie might be one of the only people in the world to know how truly sapient the dungeon and its inhabitants really were. Gods. What kind of scenario had Nataliended in when it came to her ss, Malice, her patron, the Bestower¡ªall of this? It nearly made her head hurt. It almost seemed like gods and goddesses were the least of her problems. "It would cause you issues, long-term, to tell me anything?" Natalie said. "Likely." "For ''all of eternity,'' no less." Malice shrugged. "Her moods are ephemeral, as I said. But even so. I suspect she would be upset for some time." Natalie was silent. "Then I obviously won''t press," she sighed, eventually. "It could be important for my situation, but I''m not going to force you into saying anything that puts you in danger." A few moments passed. Malice huffed. "Ugh. Why?" she demanded, her wolf tail swishing, though blocked by how they were sitting, only thumping gently against Natalie''s leg. "Where did the you from our first fight go?" She made a noise of frustration. "Acting like this, you''re definitely not going to get any secrets from me." Natalie blinked. "What?" "What I do or don''t say is entirely my choice," Malice continued loudly. "You''re my Master because I submitted to you¡ªand I can change my mind at any point. I''ve decided I''m not going to tell you anything because it would cause me problems down the line. If you did, perhaps, want to force answers out of me, then you''d have to put in some work. A lot of work. I wouldn''t break easily." Natalie digested that. She gave one short, incredulousugh. "Malice, you aren''t telling me I''m supposed to fuck the answers out of you, right?" "You couldn''t if you tried," Malice dered. "After your behavior myst few summons, I''ve lost faith in your ability to act as pack leader. If I''m being honest, I''m starting to doubt my servitude entirely. You clearly don''t have a spine, or lost it somewhere along the way." Natalie bristled, however obvious the goading was. She took a breath, calming herself. She considered the situation for a few moments. Malice''s implications¡ªher hidden request. Alright. Fine. If the brat wanted to be fucked stupid in exchange for giving her some answers, Natalie could make that happen. 6.23 – Denied 6.23 ¨C Denied Natalie''s hand slithered out from underneath Malice''s t-shirt to creep up, instead, gently around her neck. She left her grip resting there, lightly putting pressure. "You know," Natalie murmured. "I''m getting kind of tired of your bratty attitude. I expect my pets to be better behaved." Malice scooted backward, rubbing her ass into Natalie''s cock, sending a jolt of arousal through her¡ªand causing the stiff member to swell outward, only half-softened from their previous conversations. "Then perhaps you should act as a pack leader ought to," Malice shot back. "When a subordinate acts out, the pack leader should retaliate. Make it clear who''s in charge." "And how should I do that?" Malice scoffed. "What, I have to tell you how? This is exactly what I mean." Natalie grabbed Malice by the waist and tossed her forward, sprawling the wolfgirl out across the bed. It was unexpected and forceful enough of an action to catch Malice off guard; she sucked in a gasp of surprise as she fell forward onto her stomach. Natalie had already crawled overtop her before she could react. Sheid atop the girl, using her bodyweight to press her into the bed, her cock crammed against Malice''s ass, through twoyers of panties. "I wasn''t asking how," Natalie growled into her ear. "Just seeing if you had a preference. But I''ve changed my mind. You don''t get any choice in the matter, now." She spun Malice around, throwing her onto her back, then yanked the wolfgirl''s panties down. Malice gleefully helped wiggle out of them, her faux-reluctant attitude disappearing as she finally got what she wanted. Natalie tossed the delicate fabric to the side. Shuffling down the bed, shey on her stomach, head between the wolfgirl''s thighs. The positioning caught Malice off guard. "This? This is your punishment?" sheughed, digging a hand into Natalie''s hair as she settled between her legs. "You''re really bad at discipline. But I guess ingratiation works too, if you insist." Natalie snorted. Malice actually didn''t realize her n, did she? Maybe smart inbat. Definitely ignorant on this battlefield. Natalie happily got to work. Grabbing the wolfgirl''s legs and pulling them over her shoulders, she brushed her mouth against Malice''s soft mound, rubbing her nose in. Malice rested her heels on Natalie''s back, thighs squeezing in against her face, breathing growingbored in only seconds. "Hasn''t it only been a few hours since we did this?" Natalie asked amusedly, the words vibrating into Malice''s pussy as she kept her lips hovering right against the sensitive flesh. "From your perspective? You said time jumps between your summons." "And?" Malice asked, panting. "That''s a few hours too long." So Malice was just that needy, then? That meant Natalie''s n was going to be even more effective than she''d hoped. Malice''s legs trembled as Natalie gave one long, tantalizing lick across her pussy, ending at her clit. She wiggled the tip against the sensitive bundle of nerve endings, extracting an instant whine from the wolfgirl. No wonder she''d hinted at this every time Natalie summoned her¡ªshe clearly needed relief. Which was a shame for her. Because she might find some temporary relief, but she wouldn''t be getting what she actually wanted. This was a punishment, after all, however much Malice didn''t realize it yet. Malice quickly broke down as Natalievished her with attention. Her lips and tongue wrung little cries from the wolfgirl as she worked away. Malice''s sharp ck nails brushed against the back of Natalie''s head as she pushed her in with one hand, needing more pressure. A rapid thwap thwap thwap filled the air along with her growing moans, her tail thumping into the bedsheets as she lost herposure. "Fuck," Malice whined, back arching. "You really are¡ªah!¡ªso good at this. Your skills are impressive, human." Natalieughed, the vibrations going into Malice''s core. Her hips strained up into Natalie''s face, pushing her pussy harder into her tongue. At the desperate motions, Natalie had to fight away her amusement. This was going to be so easy Natalie almost felt bad for her. Less than a minuteter, Malice was already shaking. Natalie worked her higher as eagerly as she ever had, ying the cooperative partner. Malice seemed to forget how this had even started¡ªthat Natalie had obviously been annoyed with her bratty behavior. Malice just whined and panted beneath Natalie, the noisesing from her growing increasingly lewd. Right when Natalie sensed the girl starting to tense up, that climax she so desperately needed starting to arrive, Natalie pulled away. "W-What?" Malice gasped in surprise. "Wait, n-no. Keep going. I was almost¡ª" Natalie moved her mouth away, trailing kisses along Malice''s thighs and onto her stomach¡ªdecidedly away from her needy, sensitive area. She saw the realization hit Malice: how her orange eyes widened and how her tail froze its happy thumping. "B-But I was close," Malice whined, too addled to say anything else. Working kisses back down, Natalie blew on Malice''s clit with cool air¡ªwhich was decidedly not want the girl needed at that moment. "And?" Natalie asked, nting a quick teasing kiss on her core. "Why would I care what you need? You''ve been naughty." After letting the girl calm, she returned to pleasuring Malice. As desperate as she was, Malice groaned and immediately arced her hips back up into Natalie''s face, legs once again wrapping over Natalie''s shoulders. She worked her up, bringing her right to the edge¡ª Then stopped again. "No!" Malice reached out to try to push Natalie''s face back down, but Natalie intercepted her. She extricated herself from between the wolfgirl''s thighs and pinned Malice''s wrists above her head. "Aw," Natalie said, grinning. "Is my poor puppy getting frustrated? Why is that?" Malice whimpered, her eyebrows pulled into a pout. "Already?" Natalieughed at her. "You were being an awful brat a second ago. Why are you giving me that look?" "J-Just a little more," Malice begged. Natalie slipped her free hand down between the girl''s legs, giving a few teasing strokes. Once again, Malice all but bucked up into the touch, gasping at the pleasure that arced through her body. Natalie leaned down and kissed Malice, tasting her, their tongues sliding and dancing. Her fingers slipped into the wolfgirl''s wet slit and started pumping, faster and faster, Malice gasping into her mouth as Natalie rode her higher, using her fingers instead of her tongue this time. She let Malice run right up into that wall, which took only seconds, seeing how this was her third time, bringing her close enough that Malice once again started to think that maybe Natalie would finally relent¡ª Then she slipped her fingers out. The third denial was too much. Malice cried out and, in her struggle, managed to slip a hand free from Natalie''s grip. It shot down between her legs, starting to rub desperately, seeking release of her own¡ªobviously not her preferred option but too frustrated to help herself. A brief wrestling match ensued. Natalie pinned the girl down, overpowering her. "Please," Malice cried, wiggling underneath Natalie. "Please. Please! I''m so close. I can''t take it, I need it!" "That''s the point," Natalie murmured. "My puppy is gonna think twice about mouthing off to me now, isn''t she?" The wolfgirl struggled underneath her, trying to break free of her grip. But Natalie was the stronger between them, if not by much. "Please," Malice finally whined again, stilling her impotent wiggling. "I''m so close. Give it to me?" "I said," Natalie repeated firmly. "That my puppy is going to think twice about mouthing off. Isn''t that right?" Malice''s face heated as she looked up at Natalie. It was obviously a struggle to squash her ego, however much she''d been begging. But eventually she did. "Y-Yes," Malice said, looking away. "Yes what?" "Yes, I''ll think twice about mouthing off." "And why is that?" "B-Because Master knows how to make her puppy feel good," Malice groaned. She shoved her hips up against Natalie''s body, wiggling, trying to get herself off just in the awkward pressure she could find there, her lower half grinding into Natalie''s leg. Natalie had to wrestle her down in an even more secure grip, because as twitching and jumpy as Malice was right now, even that contact might be enough for her to reach climax. And that decidedly wasn''t happening¡ªeven if she begged. "And my puppy really, really wants to feel good, doesn''t she?" Natalie asked. Malice nodded rapidly, her expression begging. "I''m d we''reing to an understanding. I might have a solution for you." Hopeful eyes looked up at her. Natalie grinned. "I bet you think I''m gonna ask you for one of your secrets. About the dungeon. But nope." She let go of Malice. "I can pry those out of you easy enough. Right now, I want something of my own." She leaned back. "So, tell you what. You take care of me, and I''ll finish what I started. But my pleasurees first, not yours. Isn''t that right?" Shuffling back to the headboard, Natalie lounged backward, slipping her cock out of her panties and holding it in her hand. It throbbed with need, precum beading at the tip. "Though, even if you do a good job, it''s just a maybe," Natalie said, smirking. "You''ve been kind of a brat tonight." 6.24 – Interrogation 6.24 ¨C Interrogation Malice didn''t think twice about obeying. For all she''d imed she''d been ''reconsidering having submitted'' to her, it had taken little effort to rectify her hesitation. Malice crawled across the bed until she was between Natalie''s thighs, grabbing her cock. "You promise?" Malice breathed. "Me next?" "Nope," Natalie said. "Like I said, just maybe. You''ll have to impress me." Natalie watched with amusement as Malice masked her dismay at the uncertain promise. The poor wolfgirl was desperate by this point, thighs slick with her wetness, which was precisely the malleable state Natalie had wanted her in. Impatiently, Malice grabbed Natalie''s shaft and started pumping up and down the rigid length. Natalie let out a hot breath through her teeth, enjoying the delicious friction, as quick and rough as it had started¡ªeasily as pent up as Malice, even if she wasn''t showing it. After having had the girl bucking and squirming underneath her, begging for release, how couldn''t Natalie be a little on edge? "Easy there," Natalie chided. "I know you''re impatient, but if you want anything else from me, you better do a good job." She shrugged. "Or don''t. It''s your choice. Not like I care." Malice slowed her strokes with visible effort, switching to using both hands to fully envelop Natalie''s impressive girth. Taking a slower, more sensual pace, working along Natalie''s cock properly, rather than jerking as impatiently as she could. "Better," Natalie murmured smugly. Her cock twitched with arousal in Malice''s hands. The wolfgirl leaned down to start dutifully licking broad stripes along the underside of her shaft with her warm, wet tongue. "Definitely better¡­" she repeated, wrapping a hand in Malice''s ck hair as she licked away. Shifting her hips up slightly, Natalie slipped her cock head between Malice''s lips. The wolfgirl''s eyes fluttered closed with a pleased hum as she hollowed out her cheeks to suck around the thick intrusion. Her talented mouth started bobbing steadily up and down, continuing to stroke her with her hands even as she also pleasured Natalie with her mouth. Natalie couldn''t resist the urge to join in, slightly thrusting in cadence, taking petty enjoyment in making Malice''s eyes water and throat constrict around her pulsing length whenever she buried herself a bit too deep, bumping into the back of her throat. "Look at you, so eager," Natalie mocked breathlessly. "Telling me I have no spine when it''s this easy to have you choking on my cock. Isn''t that embarrassing? So shameless." Malice''s hazy expression cleared briefly, a sh of indignance appearing on her face. "Ah-ah," Natalie said. "Remember what I said about mouthing off. You sure you want to do that?" The indignance doubled, and Natalie almost thought Malice would snipe something back. But then it melted away, her eyes growing hazy again with lust. She slid back down Natalie''s cock, opening her throat up to let it slide all the way in. Natalie sucked a breath in as her sensitive member slid into that tight, wet tunnel, bulging flesh outward and making Malice''s eyes water with the strain. She helped the wolfgirl thest few inches, pressing down hard to sheathe herself. Pretty orange eyes looked up at her, nose pressed into Natalie''s lower stomach. "Good answer," Natalie said, smirking down at her. "You''re starting to earn your way back into my good graces." The wolfgirl looked up at her with pleading, desperate eyes as she tried her hardest not to choke around Natalie''s thick cock. That teary expression sent a thrill through Natalie. What a little brat she''d been, only to revert to this submissive, desperate girl in barely ten minutes. She pulled Malice off, watching the girl gasp for air, strings of drool connecting her lips to Natalie''s glistening length. "Please ¡­ let me make you feel good," Malice rasped. "It''s my duty." Yeah. She was definitely learning her ce. "You''re right," Natalie grinned in encouragement. "Keep it up, you might get your reward. That''s enough talking, though." She shoved Malice back down, making her take her entire cock again in one rough thrust. Malice choked but didn''t resist. Natalie set a brutal pace, roughly face-fucking her partner, reveling in the wet, slick sounds of the wolfgirl''s desperate throat-milking. The bed creaked as her hips bounced, jostling Malice, who tried desperately to keep up, holding onto Natalie''s thighs for stability. Tightening her fingers in Malice''s hair, she started mming her hips with abandon. She watched her cock disappear in and out of Malice''s throat, the girl''s eyes crossed with the onught. Her lips sealed desperately around the girth, trying her best to swallow around it as it repeatedly punched into her throat. "Does it turn you on to be my personal little cumdumpster?" Natalie murmured. "Such a proud fighter, only to be made into a cocksleeve. That''s getting you off, isn''t it?" She didn''t expect an answer, and Malice didn''t try to give one. If anything, she groaned an eager affirmation around the cock choking her, eyes fluttering. Natalie''s shaft was slick with spit, making her cock glide smoothly in and out, wet, sloppy noises filling the room. Drool ran down Malice''s chin, and her nose scrunched as she breathed roughly through it, fighting to keep up with the hard pace Natalie set. "Yeah," Natalie grunted. "You''re doing real good. Keep it up. Keep it¡ªup." It wouldn''t be long now. She was close. She could feel herself teetering on the edge. But ¡­ she couldn''t. Taking a breath, Natalie forced herself to slow down. However good it felt, she had no intention of finishing that quickly. "Up," Nataliemanded. "Back to using your hands." Malice obeyed, unsheathing Natalie with a pop, then wrapped both hands around Natalie and started to pump. "Y-You know ¡­ there''s an even better way we can take care of this, Master ¡­" The implication was obvious. Natalie snorted. "I''ll wait to cum until Master says to," Malice hastily insisted. "I just really need it inside me. Please?" Natalie considered the offer, basking in the long, slow, sensual strokes Malice delivered up and down her length. Malice''s breath started toe faster as she realized her suggestion might sway Natalie. Because, yeah, Natalie''s thoughts were quickly growingpromised. She''d nned on teasing Malice for much longer. But she wasn''t the only one weak to being yed with, being brought up against that hot edge. "You''ve been a good girl," Natalie said, caving. "So fine. But no cumming until I do," she warned. Malice nodded rapidly, already climbing on top of Natalie. Gripping Natalie''s cock to aim it, she lowered herself down¡ªmoving fast, as if to stop Natalie from changing her mind. Natalie gasped as she slid into the wolfgirl''s tight pussy, Malice''s weight settling onto herp, all ten inches suddenly engulfed in squeezing heat as Malice thrust herself down, pping herself full of cock with a loud gasp. The two of them sat there, backs arched, not moving, simply shivering as they basked in their respective bliss. Malice shook atop her, eyes closed tight as she¡ªpresumably¡ªfought off her orgasm. She was still close from earlier, and the sudden insertion had obviously been almost too much for her, on edge as she was. But she didn''t want to disobey her Master. Amused, Natalie wondered whether Malice was regretting her choice now. At least when she''d had been using her hands, she hadn''t needed to fight her orgasm away, at risk of further punishment. "Alright," Natalie murmured, settling her hands onto Malice''s hips. "Tell you what. Answer a few questions, and I''ll start moving. Do you think that''ll be worth the ''trouble'' it''ll cause with the dungeon?" Malice opened her eyes, met Natalie''s, and, despite everything, hesitated. Natalie grabbed Malice''s waist, pulled her hips down the slightest bit, then thrust upward, gently kissing her cocktip to Malice''s cervix. The wolfgirl''s back arched, a keening whine escaping her lips. "Y-Yes," Malice said, her resolve breaking instantly. "But only one, tonight. You''re not allowed to get everything all at once." "Allowed?" Natalie repeated, raising an eyebrow. Malice blushed and looked down. "I mean ¡­ please? Only one? I-It''s mean to take everything from me in one night ¡­" Natalie considered the offer, then nodded. One answer from a resident of the dungeon¡ªwho knew untold amounts of valuable secrets, many relevant to Natalie''s situation. Which was the most important? If only she weren''t ten inches deep inside a clenching wolfgirl''s pussy, cock throbbing for release and her head hot and fuzzy, Natalie could''ve thought through her choices with the proper gravity the situation demanded. But as it stood, her fogged braintched to the first relevant question, wanting her hips to get moving as much as Malice did. It was, at least, surely not a bad question. "My patron," Natalie said. "Lust. You''ve mentioned her a few times. What do you know about her? And my ss?" 6.25 – Revenge 6.25 ¨C Revenge "Your patron?" Malice asked. "You mean the passion of Lust?" "So that is her?" Natalie asked. Malice tilted her head. "Of course. Surely that''s obvious by now?" "I mean, yeah. But I didn''t have any confirmation. Besides a few hints here and there. I just ¡­ got the ss, one day. The Bestower gave it to me." Was that strange automaton in on all of this, somehow? Who was the Bestower? Malice considered this. Almost idly, she lifted her hips up, sliding Natalie''s cock out a few inches, then sat back down, a soft moan escaping her as she speared herself. She froze as she realized what she''d done. "S-Sorry," Malice stammered. "You told me not to move." Natalie tsked, though she was struggling to keep her own serious demeanor. It took effort to not start thrusting her hips. "We can start moving when I say," she chided firmly. "This is your only warning." Malice nodded. Natalie was briefly distracted by the sight of the naked wolfgirl sitting on herp. Her eyes raked across the woman''s toned dark-gray stomach, knowing somewhere up past her bellybutton was the tip of her cock, deep and nestled against her cervix. A little shiver went down her spine, imagining it. She really wanted Malice to start bouncing, but she pushed that thought away. She had more important matters to worry about. Bullying Malice into conceding a single answer hadn''t been all that hard, all things considered, but that didn''t make her responses any less important. "The dungeon has been hinting stuff on its own," Natalie said. "About her. Lust. That they, the gods, were sleeping, and now they''re waking. We kind of knew some of that already. It''s a theory called the Reverie, I guess." Ana would know better about all of this. Maybe she should have been here for this discussion. Well. Besides the ¡­promising circumstances. The fact Natalie was buried ten inches deep into her conversational partner. "Sleeping?" Malice asked. "The dungeon is a crypt, Natalie. They weren''t asleep." Which ¡­ were ominous opening words. Enough so they broke Natalie briefly out of her distracted thoughts. "Okay," she said slowly. "What does that mean?" Malice frowned. "That waking up isn''t something dead people can do," she said. "It shouldn''t have been possible. The Passions are ¡­ required. They''re responsible for¡ª" She hesitated, then went quiet. "Saying more touches on the nature of the dungeon." She shook her head. "It doesn''t have to do with your question. Who the Lady of Lust is. You only get one tonight." Disappointed, Natalie conceded the point. "Who is she, then? Why did she give me my ss?" "I don''t know, for the second part," Malice said. "How could I? But the first ¡­ well, she''s the primordial aspect of lust. A deity. What else is there to say?" That was less useful than she''d hoped. And it was exceedingly difficult to focus with Malice''s pussy¡ªprobably unintentionally¡ªsqueezing and unsqueezing against her as she sat on herp. "Is there anything you know about her?" Natalie asked. If nothing else, having confirmation that the dungeon wasn''t feeding lies to them was nice. Though that assumed Malice was being honest. Or had urate memories. "That matters to me? What''s her end goal?" "Her end goal?" Malice''s eyes held Natalie''s. "If you were killed, then somehow woke up, what would you want?" A chill went down her spine at that. What would a killed deity want? "Revenge?" Malice shrugged, a nomittal answer. "Against who?" Natalie asked. "The Architect?" "Or his creation, barring that," Malice said quietly. "Then again, who knows how deities think? They''re hardly people like us." Heavens. This was way too heavy of a conversation to be having while literally inside another girl. "But ¡­" Natalie said. "The Passions want revenge on the dungeon? I don''t even get what that means. And she chose me as her pdin? Where does that work in? Am I, like, on her side? By default? Against the dungeon? Should I be?" Again, Malice shrugged. A few answers, a thousand more questions. And the answers weren''t even concrete¡ªjust usible guesses made by the better-informed Malice. Natalie groaned. "You''re really limiting me to one topic per day?" Malice sniffed. "I''m risking a seriously annoyed eternal master when I return home for talking about stuff like this. So you should be grateful." "If the Passions don''t get their revenge in time," Natalie pointed out. "And there''s a Master to be annoyed at you." Malice paused. "Oh. Huh. Yeah, I suppose if they win before you die, I might not have much to worry about." That made Natalie''s head start spinning. "What would happen to you? If ¡­ what, I don''t know, they killed the dungeon?" Though what the hell did killing the dungeon even mean? Malice seemed suddenly very ufortable. "Who knows? I''m not her. I don''t know how she works. I just serve there." "Serve there? What do you mean by that? Who are you, anyway? Or ¡­ whatever?" "One question at a time," Malice repeated. She nced away. "And I don''t really like thinking about all of that, anyway." Malice looked down at where their lower halves were joined, then back up at Natalie. Her pussy squeezed tight, as if begging to get going already. And, honestly, yeah, Natalie thought she needed to take her mind off of all of that, too. While not actionable answers she''d gotten, they were nheless ¡­ kind of world-shattering. Laden with implications. By Malice''s best guess, the goddess of Lust wanted revenge on the dungeon? What the hell? "Okay," Natalie said. "You can start moving." Malice took Natalie up on the offer. She started to bounce in herp. Slowly at first, tentative, savoring in the fact that she could finally have her fun. Her eyes locked onto Natalie''s, drinking in her reaction with each p of her ass into Natalie''sp. Natalie bit her lower lip, basking in the sensation¡ªand the sight. Slow became fast. Malice''s pussy hugged and squeezed her tight as she slid in and out. She couldn''t believe she''d managed to hold off on this for as long as she had. Definitely, now that Malice had started going, Natalie herself was past the point of no return. She wouldn''t be stopping again for anything. The wolfgirl''s panting grew ragged as she moved faster and faster. "Fuck" she gasped "Why are you so damn big, human?" Her hips worked desperately, bouncing up and down on Natalie. Natalie watched the way her face contorted, each joining of their lower halves making the wolfgirl''s breath catch and her muscles tense. After so much teasing, Natalie might notst long either. "Faster," Natalie grunted, her hands settling on Malice''s waist. "And don''t cum until I do." "B-But¡ª" "Hold it." Natalie''s own hips joined in with Malice''s. They desperately thrust into and onto each other, the bed creaking and whining with the force behind the movements. Malice fell forward, her breasts pressing into Natalie''s, hugging her, their nipples brushing each other''s as their bodies gyrated together. The loud ps of flesh, Malice''s weight on her, the velvet sweetness of her pussy, and having the wolfgirl moan straight into her ear, rapidly falling apart¡ªwas too much. "C-Can''t," Malice whined, her body stiffening. "Can''t hold it. Sorry! I tried!" Malice''s pussy mped down on Natalie as her entire body started to shudder in pleasure. Her muscles went taut and a loud, keening noise escaped her as she buried her face into Natalie''s neck. Natalie might have scolded the girl for not obeying if her own climax hadn''t hit at the next moment, milked out by Malice''s ownck of control. Her hips strained upward, lifting the wolfgirl off the bed and spearing her cock as deep into the woman as she could. Cocktip kissing cervix, brushing up against her womb, Natalie let out her own keening groan as ecstasy washed through her. Fire rushed through her body, concentrating in her core, then exploding up her cock. Sticky hot strings exploded straight into her puppy''s begging pussy, and at the first ssh, Malice whined and once again started thrusting into Natalie''sp, as if desperate for her hard-earned reward. Natalie joined in, filling the air with loud ps of flesh as she emptied herself¡ªas she bred the girl who''d been so patiently waiting for this. When Natalie had been properly wrung out, coating Malice''s insides so thoroughly she was already leaking into herp, the two of them copsed, panting and flushed. Only a minute passed before Natalie rolled them over, Malice now the one with her back pressed into the bed, and Natalie between her legs. "Round one was nice," she murmured. "But I can keep you all night, right?" Malice''s orange eyes widened, and she nodded rapidly, her exhaustion immediately reced by renewed excitement. "Good girl," Natalie said, leaning down to kiss her¡ªright as she pped her hips back forward, thrusting in for round two. 6.26 – Alaina 6.26 ¨C ina ina knew it was probably a bitte to be checking in on the T delvers, but after such a ster response to the goblin raid earlier, she had wanted to congratte them firsthand. Hence why she was here, a few hours past sunset, heading up into the second story of The Kraken''s Hearth to track down Natalie¡ªwho ina had gotten the impression was the unofficial leader of the group, despite Elizabeth Beaumon''s inclusion on the team. And that was definitely why she tracked down Natalie specifically, ina told herself. Because she seemed to be their group''s leader. Not for any other reason. ina would admit she was a bit enthralled by the concept of delvers. As the daughter of a baron, she had seen plenty of high-levelbat sses, and they each had auras of mystique or at leastpetence. But few were T trained. That meant something. T¡ªone of the most prestigious academies in the world. And for whatever reason, the team''s newness to their professions made ina even more interested in them. They felt more rtable for the fact, yet no less intriguing. Perhaps that had been why she''d volunteered to see to their needs as a show of grace ¡­ though Elizabeth Beaumon''s presence had all but demanded the Crestwood family show some level of humility on its own merit. She hadn''t thought it would be a chore in the first ce, but seeing just who she would be catering to for the short few days it took them toplete the quest had doubly stoked ina''s interest. Because what a fascinating group of five. Natalie especially. ina had seen plenty of beautiful women in her life, but of Natalie''s particr stature, with that roguish short red hair and stunning blue eyes? Those strong arms and idle confidence? ina didn''t even prefer women, but if she did¡­ well, Natalie, she supposed, would be her type. She shook her head clear. Those thoughts were wholly inappropriate, she chided herself in reminder, not for the first time. Climbing into the lodging area of The Kraken''s Hearth, she scanned the numbers engraved on the faces of the doors, seeking out the number she knew belonged to Natalie''s room¡ªwhich the innkeeper downstairs had provided to her. Seven, she thought, scanning. Seven. One, two, three ¡­ down the hall, then. She kept walking. Reaching the end of the corridor, she became aware of a noise that had been present from further away, but,ing into focus as she homed in on Natalie''s room, finally became recognizable. The pping of flesh. Moans. Whines. Grunting. The very enthusiastic squeaking of bedsprings, and a headboard hitting the wall. Oh. Oh. ina froze there, standing just outside Natalie''s door. Listening, though not in any voyeuristic way, but rather from shock, suddenly unable to move. Natalie had a visitor? Some gentleman? That hardly surprised her. The woman could obviously pull anyone she wanted back to her room. Who wouldn''t want to¡ªum, be her guest? Except. Why did the grunts and moans sound like two different women? And not a man and a woman? Why the pping of flesh? ina''s face grew hotter and hotter as she stood there, frozen in ce. Yes, by the noises, there were definitely two women enjoying each other''spany, past that door. W-With the help of a toy, then? Or what? Because that was definitely one person hammering into another ¡­ ina wasn''t the most experienced, but she could tell that much by the very loud, enthusiastic noises. Oh, dear. Should she leave? Obviously she should leave. Natalie was clearly busy. But then why was ina''s hand raising, clenching into a fist? To knock at the door in several loud raps? The noises in Natalie''s room fell silent. It stayed that way for a few seconds, the upants surely having heard the knock. But then the sounds returned. Even louder. Reinvigorated. The moans and grunts took a fevered pitch. As if the two of them were working even faster, unwilling to be interrupted¡ªand thus finishing as quickly as they could. ina listened, heart mming, as two women clearly came to groaning climax. A few seconds passed, the noises growing silent. She knocked a second time. Why hadn''t she just left? It took a few moments, but the door swung open, revealing, as expected, Natalie. Except in a thorough state of undress. She''d hastily thrown her bra back on and wrapped her waist with a thin towel. A towel that was ¡­ protruding outward? Like something was poking it out? Something hard and rod-like? ina''s mind went nk. The toy they''d been using? She''d kept it on to answer the door? Why? Except, as strange as it was to assume, ina did not think it was a toy. "I''m a little busy, if you can''t¡ª" Natalie started dryly. Her words dried up before she finished. Blue eyes widened and widened as she saw who was standing in the doorway. "A-ina?" Natalie stammered, her casual amusement disappearing in an instant, reced by panic. She looked down at herself¡ªat her bra-and-towel state of attire. "What are you doing here?!" Clearly, Natalie had answered her door expecting someone else. One of her teammates, most likely. Hence the state she''d answered in, assuming herck of dress would be, while inappropriate, not nearly as scandalous as it would be in ina''s presence. She probably hadn''t been thinking right. Which was fair. Considering what she''d just been doing. ina''s mouth worked soundlessly for several moments. Again, why had she knocked, despite knowing what Natalie had been up to? Then stayed even while hearing the two of theme to climax? And why was her heart mming so hard? The doorway obscured her sight of the bed. ina had to fight the urge to lean forward and see who Natalie''s conquest was. One of her teammates? Someone else? And she had no doubt it was indeed Natalie the one doing the conquering. She had gotten that impression only moments after meeting her. Had that been flirting in the wagon over, then? She''d convinced herself Natalie was just being friendly. But maybe ina had been wrong. That Natalie had been a bit too friendly in her responses. Her eyes flicked down, again, to the tent in Natalie''s towel. ina didn''t even prefer women. "Natalie," ina said faintly, dragging her eyes back up and finally finding her voice. "I just wanted to congratte you. On your sessful defense of our city. I didn''t realize you would. Um. Be busy." Busy. Fucking another woman. With her cock? Her cock. Oh, Heavens. Why did that have her thoughts melting down? She was growing genuinely dizzy. Maybe it was just the embarrassment of the situation. Seriously, why had she knocked? She preferred men. Not women. Though ¡­ Considering Natalie''s particr endowment ¡­ Maybe ¡­? "Oh," Natalie said, looking as flustered as ina felt. "Um. Well. Yeah. Thanks. It''s what we do, right?" "That was it," ina squeaked. "Just a quick congrattions. I don''t want to be a burden. I''ll leave you to it. Have fun?" Have fun? Have fun? What was wrong with her? Ady was expected to keep herposure in any situation. Before Natalie could reply to the horribly flustered words, ina was already scurrying away, down the hall. Her face felt like it was on fire. And as much from the embarrassment of intruding on Natalie in that way, her head was spinning for a different reason. Because ¡­ ina might already have been slightly interested in Natalie, despite her preferences. Something she was just admitting to herself now. But with this reveal? Maybe she was a little more than just ''interested''. 6.27 – Hierarchy 6.27 ¨C Hierarchy "Who was it?" Malice asked. Natalie groaned, letting the towel drop from her waist. She climbed back into bed. Malice snuggled into her, the wolfgirl thoroughly satisfied by rounds two, three, and then a hastily concluded fourth. "ina," Natalie said. "The baron''s daughter." "You sound upset. Why?" "It''s awkward, for one," Natalie said, wrapping an arm around the girl who had cozied up to her. "I thought for sure that was going to be Jordan, or maybe Sofia telling me to keep it down." She''d forgotten to throw up a sound-dampening barrier, and it hadn''t been until the knock at her door that she''d realized her mistake. "But nope. It''s the damn baron''s daughter." She groaned loudly, covering her face with a hand. "So? Who cares?" Natalie shook her head in exasperation. Of course the wolfgirl didn''t understand the mortification of the situation. Never mind the whole, Natalie-wasn''t-allowed-to-sleep-with-ina thing, either. Gods, she''d opened the door in just a bra and a towel. Thetter of which had definitely not hidden much, by how incredulous blue eyes had kept flicking down there. "Hm," Malice repeated at Natalie''sck of a reply. "Whatever. I don''t really care, to be honest." A few seconds passed in which they basked in each other''s hot, sticky skin. "You asked me questions, human. Do I get to ask my own in return?" "Oh?" Natalie said, peeking past her fingers. "About what?" "There''s a few things I want to know." "Go ahead, then." She couldn''t imagine there was anything she needed to keep a secret from Malice. After all, Natalie didn''te from an inscrutable, all-powerful deity-like dungeonplex, thus holding unfathomable knowledge that possibly no humans in existence were aware of. "I''ve been trying to understand the hierarchy," Malice said. "But humans are confusing." "What hierarchy?" "You five. Your pack." "My pack?" "You''re at the top, obviously," Malice continued breezily, as if what she was saying wasn''t totally ridiculous. "But putting the others in their order is harder. Or where I stand, for that matter." "What are you talking about, Malice?" "The hierarchy," she repeated. "Jordan is second, yes, because she''s your mate. I have that much figured out." "W-What?" Natalie stammered, growing immediately flustered. "My mate? What do you mean by that?" "Is she not?" "Well, what''s mate mean to you?" "You two are bonded. Whatever you humans call it." She paused, as if searching for a word. "Married?" Natalie made a choking noise. "No. We''re not married." That begged the question of how Malice was even aware of those parts of human society¡ªhow did she speak theirnguage anyway? But Natalie was too flustered to go down that path. "Where did you get that idea?" Malice stared at her. "Hmph," she finally said. "Never mind then. But if you two aren''t mates ¡­ no, she would still be second. Ana third? I can''t decide who''s at the bottom, though. The white-haired one or the healer." "Sofia? Liz?" As bizarre as this conversation was, Natalie couldn''t help herself from growing amused. Sheughed. "Honestly, I''m not sure which of them is the bigger bottom either. So it''s fair you can''t figure it out." "Oh? It''s not established yet?" "We don''t have a hierarchy like you''re saying, Malice. We''re a team." Malice rolled her eyes. "Yes, but authority is always organized, even unofficially. It''s aw of life. Even humans are animals, in the end." "Liz and Sofia have as much say in team decisions as I do. We don''t even have an official ''leader''. We''re all equal." "Stop being obstinate. There is a hierarchy. If you refuse to tell me what it is, I''ll make my own assumptions. It goes you, me, Jordan, Ana, Sofia, and then Liz." "Wait, you''re second, now?" Natalieughed. "When did that happen?" "I changed my mind. Seeing how the rogue isn''t your mate, then I would naturally be second." Natalie twitched for a second time at the implication of Jordan being her ''mate''. "We''re just friends," she repeated. "Why do you two look at each other like that, then?" "Anyway," Natalie said loudly. "If there was a hierarchy, Sofia goes on the bottom. And Jay is second, not you." Malice sniffed. She didn''t seem offended by that; it had been her original assumption. "Why''s Ana fourth?" Natalie asked. Maybe she should be shutting down this whole talk more seriously, but Malice''s adamant world-view wasn''t going to change anytime soon. Natalie could tell that much. If she thought their group operated on power dynamics that weren''t really there, all the insisting in the world wouldn''t sway her. Plus, she was just interested in what Malice had to say. "She''s a difficult one," Malice admitted. "She clearly has a strong will and is respected in the group. But people don''t look at her when hesitant about something." She made a noise. "At least she isn''t blushing all the time, like the healer and the fighter are." "True," Natalie said, smirking. "I''m not sure anything could make Ana blush. Why''d you put Sofia so low, though? She''s confident. And a great fighter." Was Malice''s views based only on ¡­ what, sexual confidence, and not the regr kind? Malice''s nose scrunched, as if disagreeing. "She acts like she''s confident. Which counts for something, I suppose. But it''s not really there. That''s easy enough to see." The words had Natalie blinking. Sofia? Not really confident? What the hell did that mean? "She is a good fighter, though," Malice continued breezily, not realizing her words had silenced Natalie. "That''s why I put her above Liz. But if you say she belongs at the bottom, I believe you. But the healer neither knows how to fight, nor does she have any confidence, feigned or otherwise, so I would''ve figured she was at the bottom¡­" "Liz has plenty of confidence," Natalie disagreed, her brief disorientation from Sofia dispelling, though she knew Malice''s interpretation was going to be sitting in her thoughts for a while. Liz''s poise during meeting the baron had shown that she had plenty of self-assurance, and for that matter, she didn''t show much insecurity in general. "She''s just a bottom, and easy to embarrass," Natalieughed. "It''s not like a real authority hierarchy is based on someone''s sexual tendencies. Come on." Malice hummed as if she both agreed and disagreed. "Humans," she said. "Tooplicated." "What if I said you were on the bottom of the list?" Natalie teased. "Am I allowed to decide that?" A scandalized expression appeared on the wolfgirl''s features. "What? Me? Why would I be the lowest?" "You were making some awfully pathetic noises a few minutes ago. Some I''m not sure I could even get out of Liz." "I am not at the bottom of the pack." "If you admit you are, then we can go a few more times, tonight." "What?" "You heard me." Malice''s mouth opened and closed as a blush grew on her face. "You¡ª are you serious?" "Why not? If my puppy can''t maintain her dignity in the face of her neediness, wouldn''t she belong at the bottom? If she needs to be fucked so badly she''ll do anything, even ept a demotion?" "Human! Don''t tease me!" Natalieughed, squeezing the girl in. Malice red at her from her side. "Okay, no, but really," Natalie said, knowing she needed to say this outright, even if it wouldn''t change Malice''s mind. "There''s no hierarchy in our group. Everyone''s opinions matter the same. Including yours. All six of us are tied for first ce, and if you go walking over other people because you think you''re ''higher on the totem pole'', then I''m not going to be happy." She kissed Malice to ease the scolding. "So please don''t act that way. Okay?" Malice frowned at her for a long several moments, then eventually said, "If that''s what the packleader demands, then that''s what I''ll do." Which was probably contradicting the point Natalie was trying to make, but she would take what she could get. "So," Malice coughed, looking away as another blush grew on her cheeks. "You aren''t, um, done for the night, right?" Natalie rolled her eyes. Seriously, how insatiable was this woman? 6.28 – New Target 6.28 ¨C New Target The next morning, after Natalie and Jordan had gotten showered and dressed into normal clothes¡ªJordan had joined her in bed after Natalie and Malice were finished¡ªAna knocked on their bedroom door. "Natalie. Jordan," the mage greeted, her brown eyes impassive and her tone as monotone as always. "Good morning." "Hey," Jordan said, having been the one to open the door. She looked curiously at the mage, obviously not knowing why she''d chosen to visit. "What''s up?" "I need to speak with Natalie." "You do?" "You can stay, but the topic might be ¡­ personal." Jordan''s eyebrows went up. Sheughed. "Don''t wanna intrude. I''ll leave you two to it. Let me guess. [Divine Invigoration]?" "Indeed," Ana said. "Don''t wring her out too much. We need her for the fights today." "Mm," Ana said nomittally. Natalie, having been in the bathroom brushing her teeth, gave the two of them a confused look. She''d only half heard what they''d said. "Hm?" she asked Jordan past a mouthful of toothpaste. Jordan justughed again. She left, closing the door, leaving Ana alone in the room with her. Spitting out toothpaste and setting aside her toothbrush, Natalie said, "What''s going on?" "I need to speak to you." "About?" "A practical matter." "Okay ¡­ ?" Ana sat on the bed. She was in regr clothes, not adventuring gear¡ªso not her revealing mage robes. Just a knee-length skirt and a blouse. "Initially, we decided Elizabeth was the best target for [Divine Invigoration]," Ana started. So Natalie hadn''t misheard that. But [Divine Invigoration] and Ana? What was this about? Jordan apparently knew, or had guessed. And, honestly, Natalie was getting a sneaking suspicion as well. "Yeah?" Natalie asked tentatively. "But seeing how we''re fighting a swarm of lower-level monsters, applying the buff to me is smarter," she finished, with neither overt bluntness nor subtlety. Passively stating a fact. "I am, after all, the person most capable of clearingrge amounts of weaker enemies. And that will be especially important today, with us heading out to find their nest. I didn''t mention it yesterday because the skill can only be applied once per day." Ah. Admittedly, Natalie had also considered this topic. So she wasn''t wholly caught off guard. But still. "Additionally," Ana said, as if she were structuring an academic argument, not propositioning Natalie to cum inside her, "it might be worth [Empowering]. The goblins'' behavior is clearly aberrant, and I suspect we''ll find something dangerous out there. Not just a low-level swarm of monsters." That im was interesting enough that Natalie could briefly ignore the implications of Ana''s request. "Something dangerous? Like what?" "I have no clue. But," Ana said, raising her pointer finger. "Goblins don''t hoard items and lug them back to their nest. It simply doesn''t happen." She raised a second finger. "T knows we''re a team rising in prominence and would be more likely to assign unusual tasks to us, as a test." A third finger rose. "Your ss, along with Malice''s appearance, inherently suggests something strange is going on with the world." "What? You think that''s rted?" "Perhaps," Ana said. "Perhaps not." Once again, she raised a pointer finger, readying herself to professionally structure her argument. "But I prefer not taking unnecessary risks, as any delver." A second finger rose. "It''s worth testing how powerful an [Empowered] [Divine Invigoration] is, especially when itsts for an entire week." A third finger joined the first two. "Andstly, the bonus will be useful for the entire duration, not just this quest, since our team is weak against swarms. Shoring up that vulnerability isn''t a poor idea even in the medium term, regardless that a healer or tank would be the usual target." Natalie stared at the girl for a few moments, then, eventually,ughed. She sat down next to Ana. "This is the weirdest way I''ve had a girl convince me to sleep with her." Ana tilted her head. "I''m not trying to convince you to sleep with me. If you could simply apply the effect and move on, that would be much more convenient." Natalie winced. Ana paused, recognizing she had said something wrong. "Not that I''m uninterested," she said. "You merely had the facts incorrect. My primary motivation." "Right." The two of them sat on the bed in a brief silence. "So, uh," Natalie said. "You''re not wrong. We really should have our area-of-effect mage buffed for this quest. But ¡­ what''s the n to make that happen?" She winced at her own awkwardness. Ana tended to pull that out of her. "However you prefer," Ana replied coolly. Another bout of neither of them talking. Natalie didn''t usually feel awkward around Ana, but it definitely happened sometimes. Often in an endearing or amusing way. Sheughed again. "What, I''m supposed to just pounce you?" she asked. "Pin you down and ravage you? Just like that? It''s a bit much." Ana considered her words. "Actually," she said. "I suppose that brings up something else relevant. Jordan suggested we talk about that one delve of ours." "What? What delve?" "The one we shared." It wasn''t like there was much ambiguity there, however nonspecific Ana had been. "Ah." "Maybe I wasn''t supposed to say Jordan told me to," Ana mused. "Regardless, I do wonder how we''re supposed to act, now that we''re in our own bodies." "How we''re supposed to act?" "I quite enjoyed taking control," Ana said. "But for the record, I''m not averse to some other standard of engagement, either. If that''s what you prefer." "Some other standard of engagement," Natalie repeated. Brown eyes searched her face. Something approaching a remote sense of amusement appeared, a faint hint of her lips being tugged at. "Now that the roles are un-swapped, so to say, you can take the lead, if that''s what you desire. But, admittedly, there is one problem." "There is?" "All of those things you were saying. How you were acting, that day. I might be unable to imitate it. The ¡­ enthusiasm." Heat rose rapidly on Natalie''s face. ''How she had acted.'' Natalie remembered that very well. All of the insanely demeaning things Ana had been saying, then how eagerly Natalie had epted it. "That''s because I was on the receiving end," Natalie defended herself, flustered. "I could have you acting like that too, if I wanted." "I doubt it," Ana said. "But I would like to see you try." From any other girl, the words would have been a bratty challenge. But Natalie was pretty sure Ana meant it earnestly. She would like to see Natalie try. She was curious if Natalie could pull it off, Ana knowing that she herself wasn''t all that enthusiastic¡ªand rather, a stoic person by nature. It was a very strange sort of confidence, seeing the shorter girl on the bed next to her, looking up at her with impassive, unworried brown eyes. And Natalie didn''t have an excuse to rely on, this time. Ana was flustering her despite how she was in her own body, with no strange circumstances surrounding them. Natalie found herself oddly annoyed by that fact. She growled and pushed Ana over, climbing overtop her. The mage didn''t react in the slightest. No widening of her eyes at her sudden advance or faster breathing, as she would have gotten out of anyone else. "You''re awfully confident for a girl about to be fucked stupid," Natalie murmured. "Am I?" Ana replied, unperturbed by the crude words. "I could have you crying out just as easily as you did me. You really think I can''t?" "I''m undecided on the matter," Ana said calmly. "The initial impression I got from our first encounter was that you''re quite ¡­ submissive. Easy to dominate. So you must understand my doubts." Natalie narrowed her eyes. Was that a smirk on Ana''s lips? Or at least, an Ana-smirk. Just barely there, possibly even imagined. She was ying this up, wasn''t she? As part of a game? She leaned her face closer to Ana''s, straddling the girl''sp. Her cock was already swelling up, and Ana could undoubtedly feel it starting to press against her. "The idea of a challenge excites you," Anamented, eyes flicking down their bodies, seeing the growing bulge. "Well, I promise I won''t fake it for you. Try your hardest. But I don''t think you''ll do half to me what I did to you, on that delve." Oh? She wouldn''t? Natalie would see about that. 6.29 – The Quest To Prove Herself I & II 6.29 ¨C The Quest To Prove Herself I & II Natalie looked down at the girl she was seated on. That calm expression of impassiveness, the bored eyes gazing up at her¡ªit got under her skin in a strangely enticing way. She grabbed Ana''s wrists, pinning them above her head against the bed. Ana didn''t resist. Nor, indeed, did she react at all. Just watched calmly. "You think you''re so unshakable, don''t you?" Natalie growled, grinding her hips forward. Her cock throbbed, begging for friction, now fully swelled out inside her skirt. Her heart beat faster by the second¡ªweirdly turned on by Ana''s impassiveness. "I''ll prove it to you. I''ll make you into my cocksleeve." "Will you?" Natalie leaned closer, their noses almost touching. She could feel Ana''s shallow breaths against her lips. "I''m gonna use you like the little slut you are," she murmured. "Have you take my dick until you''re a whimpering mess. You understand that?" She punctuated the threat by lifting herself up, scrunching Ana''s skirt up to waist, then wiggling her cocktip¡ªstill crammed in her own panties¡ªagainst Ana''s clothed slit. Cloth rubbed against cloth, Ana''s pussy parting just slightly as Natalie''s cock pushed against her through theyers of clothing. Still, the mage didn''t react beyond a slight tensing of her body. "You''re wet," Natalie said. "So you''re already lying about how unaffected you are." "A biological reaction," Ana said. "Is that the best you can get from me? Is that victory?" Natalie''s eyes narrowed. The instigating words made her act without thinking; she grabbed Ana''s blouse and tore it open. Buttons scattered, ttering against the wooden floor, and Ana''s breasts spilled free, nipples hardening in the open air. Embarrassingly, she shocked herself with the action more than she did Ana. Something had possessed her. Ana''s calm, taunting words. Or maybe her need to prove herself? The mage looked down at her exposed chest, then back at Natalie. "You realize we''re on a quest? I only packed so many blouses." Natalie regained herposure. She tried to press the advantage, but Ana''s repeatedck of reaction made her follow-up words not hit nearly as hard as she would have hoped. "You look good like this. Ripped clothing. About to be fucked." She tweaked at a nipple, then leaned forward and murmured into her ear, "Like a back-alley whore." Even that got no reaction. Would anything? What was this girl made out of? "I''m going to break you," she promised in a low tone. "By the time I''m done, you''ll be begging for my cock." "As you keep telling me," Ana replied. Natalie kissed her. Ana reciprocated immediately. She explored the girl''s mouth, their tongues sliding against each other''s. Ana''s quickened breath hit her in the face when she withdrew. Encouraged, Natalie ground her hips harder, dragging her strained erection against Ana''s clothed slit, before diving back down. She broke the kiss again, leaving a strand of saliva connecting their lips. Ana panted up at her. "Starting to feel it?" Natalie asked. Despite her reddening cheeks, Ana just shrugged. "A physical reaction, as I said. I never denied having those." She ran her eyes up and down Natalie. "Simply that you wouldn''t be able to break me like I did you." Natalie was nearly certain Ana was taunting her because it was visibly riling her up. That she knew Natalie wanted the challenge¡ªand therefore, the bored dismissals enticed her in some strange way. She nipped at Ana''s neck, sucking a mark into the tender flesh. "Yeah, yeah. A physical reaction. Keep telling yourself that, slut." She rocked her cock against Ana''s pussy through their clothing, across the damp spot on Ana''s panties. The mage''s breathing hitched with each stroke, her chest rising and falling more noticeably by the second. But her voice remained level when she spoke. "Crass words won''t make me start begging. I think you''re mistaking me with you." Ana nodded. "But please, continue. I suppose they are doing something for me." Natalie took a stiff nipple into her mouth, twirling her tongue around. Ana sucked in a soft breath, her back arching involuntarily at the sensation of being yed with. Natalie grinned around the nub,shing it with her tongue, eliciting another soft gasp. She attacked Ana''s other breast with equal fervor, nipping at the tender bud with her teeth. Despite her breathing growingbored, her face remained impassive. Undeterred, Natalie released Ana''s wrists, hooked her fingers around the girl''s panties, and pulled. Her neatly-shaven pussy was already more than a little wet. Natalie slid two fingers between those silken folds, stroking along Ana''s slit. The mage tensed beneath her, jaw clenching as pleasure arced through her, but she repressed any noises. Natalie smirked at the small victory. Repressed noises. Ana wasn''t totally unfazed; she was trying to seem unaffected. Probably for Natalie''s own benefit. She leaned down, tonguing one of Ana''s breasts while she worked her fingers in a tight circle over the mage''s clit. Ana shuddered, a whimper catching in her throat as Natalie worked her skilled fingers and tongue. Still, she didn''t cry out. ''Just a biological reaction,'' Natalie knew she would have said, if she tried to call her out on it. She toyed with the girl that way for some time, then grew impatient. She leaned up and slid her own panties off, freeing her straining cock. It stood in the air, flushed and aching, pre-cum beading at the tip. Ana''s eyes locked to it. Natalie stroked herselfzily, taking some small form of relief, her own urges having started to ache. And also¡ªshowing her weapon off for an enraptured Ana''s sake. Then she pressed the head of her cock against Ana''s entrance. The mage tensed. "When we started, you told me you wouldn''t fake it," Natalie murmured, amused. "But you''re just faking it in the opposite way." She rubbed herself into Ana, spreading her soft lower lips. Ana''s hips lifted just the slightest amount, digging Natalie in deeper, betraying the act she was putting on. "You''re pretending you aren''t having fun." "Am I? An interesting theory," Ana said. "Let''s assume it''s true. If that were the case, then you''re nheless not skilled enough to break the act. So that would be a failure of a different kind. Certainly not victory." Natalie narrowed her eyes. She was right, of course, as Ana tended to be. And such a dry, straight-faced insult. ''Not good enough to break the act.'' Natalie couldn''t help but be amused at how rude it was, whether Ana was putting on an act or not. Of course Ana wasn''t going to be like any other blushing conquest. Especially when their first encounter had literally been Ana using Natalie''s own body to fuck her nearly mindless. This might not have been how she''d expected their dynamic to turn out, but she couldn''t say she was shocked, either. Ana enjoyed taking control, and this was a way that they both could, in different ways. Turning it into some kind ofpetition, almost. And Ana was strangely good at reading people sometimes¡ªat least in sex¡ªbecause the challenging, yet also bored tone she was taking was really doing something for Natalie. She gripped her shaft and pped her cock down onto Ana''s pussy. Her heart mmed in her throat, the anticipation building¡ªhaving to force herself to moderate her actions, to not im what she wanted right away. She had to break Ana''s cid mask before this was over. Her dignity demanded it. Slowly pulling her hips back and forth as she slid her length along Ana''s pussy, the dark-haired mage watched, seemingly unable to tear her eyes away. Even if Ana could excuse her reactions as ''biological'', Natalie took satisfaction in how her pupils dted as she prepared herself. "Ready?" Natalie murmured, pulling back to line herself up. Her cocktip kissed between Ana''s lips, and a small wiggle buried herself just the smallest bit in¡ªstarting to stretch the girl around her. "For what?" Ana replied. "Is something important happening?" Natalie snorted. Not able to take the teasing any longer, she pressed forward, the head of her cock spreading Ana''s tight pussy apart. The mage''s muscles went taut at the pration, but no noises escaped her. Natalie grabbed the girl''s hips, pulling Ana flush against her as she hilted herself inside that slick, velvet sheath with a quick, unrelenting motion. Ana''s back arched, fisting the bedsheets as she came to terms with Natalie''s size. Natalie also froze in pleasure. "Fuck," she groaned, basking in the sensation for a long moment. Ana''s pussy gripped her tightly, radiating exquisite heat. "You''re fucking tight." Ana''s eyes fluttered as her back slowly un-arched, settling back into the sheets. She stopped gripping the bedsheets. When she spoke, her voice was perfectly controlled. "You''re big," she said simply. "Bigger than I expected." Natalie smirked. She pulled her hips back until just the tip was still inside, then snapped forward. Ana gasped, unable to hold her silence for a second time at the hard motion, not having braced herself. Natalie set a punishing pace, her hips smacking into Ana. The bed creaked rhythmically beneath them as she picked up pace. Ana''s breasts bounced with the force of her brutal, pping strokes, her chest flushing red and her eyes starting to flutter. Even so, she refused to make any noises beyond a few strained gasps. "That''s it, take it," Natalie growled. She leaned over Ana, her tits in the mage''s face. She grabbed Ana''s wrists, pinning them over her head. With her leverage increased, Ana''s lower half curled slightly upward, she pounded into the girl mercilessly. Ana made a whimpering noise, her toes curling, pussy squeezing hard around Natalie''s invading length. But though Natalie seemed to be making progress as she pounded away, sweat starting to slick her skin, Natalie realized something damning. She herself was running up against that cliff, too. And rather quickly. Was she even winning? She slowed her thrusts tonguid, deep strokes, pushing against Ana''s cervix with each pulse of her hips, drawing gasps from the girl. "C''mon," Natalie taunted breathily. "Let it out for me. I can see how hard you''re trying to keep it in." In between hard smacks, Ana released a long, slow keening sound¡ªbut then mastered herself, that small weakness all she allowed herself to show. Even this deep in, she seemed in control. Gritting her teeth, Natalie poured all her focus into fucking Ana as hard as she could. The mage''s body shook with each powerful thrust. It was maddening how little she was reacting; a few escaped moans was hardly enough to satisfy Natalie. That bored expression was driving her crazier by the moment. And not just frustrated, but some other hot, flustering emotion was filling her too. "Fuck." Natalie needed more. It felt too good. Ana''s pussy was way too tight, too hot and wet to resist. And more than that, her impassive expression¡ªhow she was pretending to barely even notice Natalie was there, overtop her, pounding as hard as she could. Grabbing Ana''s hips, she flipped the smaller girl over onto her hands and knees. Natalie lined herself back up and mmed inside, burying to the hilt. Ana''s back arched, dark hair spilling across her shoulders. She grabbed a fistful of it, yanking Ana''s head back as she regained her pace. After all the manhandling Ana had done to her down in the dungeon, some repayment was only in order¡ªsome rude words and rough treatment would only be half payback. Skin pped against skin, the bed frame shaking as Natalie''s hips met Ana''s ass. Ana buried her face into the bed, hands gripping bedsheets for her life, but still infuriatingly refused to give Natalie the satisfaction of breaking down in any meaningful way. She knelt there, ass in the air, taking what Natalie had to give. Desperate, Natalie reached around to rub tight circles over Ana''s clit. The mage''s thighs trembled, breathsing in stato gasps. "That''s it," Natalie panted. "Come on, scream for me. Let go." Ana shook her head¡ªwhich was some kind of reaction, she guessed. But not what she was aiming for. Natalie could feel her own orgasm building, pressure coiling tight in her core. She wasn''t going tost much longer. She wasn''t going to win, was she? With a frustrated groan, she picked up speed one more time, her hips betraying her mentalmands. She simply couldn''t stop herself. "Go ahead," Ana moaned, voice muffled while her face was buried in the bed. "You can finish inside. Breed your good girl. Give her your cum." The mage was too devious. She knew exactly what to say. Disappointment flooded Natalie''s veins even as fire started to. She buried herself deep with onest thrust. A whining moan escaped her as her cock twitched and throbbed, finally releasing, flooding her body with hot ecstasy. Ropes of cum pumped into Ana''s spasming sheath as Natalie came hard, filling her to the brim in a dozen thick pulses. Some barely-there part of Natalie remembered to activate and empower her ability, [Invigorating] Ana as they had nned. As Natalie pumped her full, Ana let out her own whine, the biggest break in herposure yet, but definitely no real victory on Natalie''s part. Feeling herself be filled up, Ana let go herself. She shuddered through her own silent climax, but even cumming as Natalie filled her up, she refused to give Natalie the satisfaction of a proper moaning, gasping finish. Her body shook, pussy clenching down on Natalie to milk her out just that much more, but otherwise, she maintained herposure. Even while climaxing. Natalie copsed into the bedsheets. Gasping for breath, both of them wrung out, theyy there. After a second, Ana scooted up next to her, cuddling in. Natalie wrapped an arm around her. Though breathing hard and flushed, Ana was obviously less of a mess than her. To be fair, she hadn''t been the one setting the pace. "Hm," Ana said. "That was nice, I suppose." Natalie groaned, covering her face with one hand. "Don''t patronize me." "I mean it. You gave it your best effort." She patted Natalie''s stomach. "I already told you, I''m not you. I don''t break so easily. You can''t be med." Natalie red at Ana. Ana met her expression calmly. "So you''re a smug winner, then?" she asked. "Smug? That''s the wrong word. Simply satisfied. I enjoy making deductions and seeing theme true." She sat up. Her torn blouse and hiked-up skirt was a rather appealing look, and despite having just expended herself, Natalie felt her arousal stir. Ana nced in that direction, and her face betrayed none of her thoughts as she saw Natalie stiffen. "We have a quest," Ana said. "And now I need a shower, so there''s no time to attend to that. One is all you get." She hummed. "You''ll need to fetch a blouse from my room for me, too. I can''t go around like this." Still flushed and barely recovered from her orgasm, Natalie was a bit miffed that she hadn''t even done a good enough job to leave Ana scrambled for a few moments. Back to business in less than a minute. The mage scooted over to the edge of the bed and stood, cupping her pussy to stop Natalie''s load from dripping everywhere. She headed for the bathroom to find a towel. Unbelievable. Well, Natalie just had to do better next time. Come up with a better n. She''d only failed because she''d gotten a little too carried away, getting to use Ana''s pussy for the first time. The whole ''expressionless while being furiously pounded into'' thing had been strangely exciting, too. Sighing, and with her head finally starting to clear, Natalie scooted off the bed and went to join Ana in the bathroom. "Don''t get cocky just because you won the first round," she muttered. "I''ll have you next time." "Perhaps," Ana replied. "But if I were to take an educated guess, I think most likely you won''t." 6.30 – The Search Begins 6.30 ¨C The Search Begins When Natalie and Ana joined their three teammates down in the inn''s lobby, Liz immediately blushed, giving away that Jordan had filled them in on what had been happening. The reason for the dy. Now that Natalie thought about it, Liz had probably felt when [Divine Invigoration] had changed targets. A person could sense when they gained or lost stats, often quite clearly¡ªmuch less a boost as big as the one Liz had been ustoming herself to. That must have been, uh, an interesting realization. Liz had basically been alerted to the exact second Natalie had finished inside Ana. "You''re wearing a different shirt, Ana," Jordan said innocently. "What happened?" Ana paused, obviously taking the question literally. She opened her mouth to answer, but Natalie interrupted. "Alright. We have a meeting with the Baron, right?" She tried to y off how flustered she was, but she probably didn''t do a good job. Jordan smirked at her, but thankfully chose not to press. "Just a routine thing," she said. "Probably thanking us for yesterday." Thanking them for yesterday. At that phrasing, the event with ina shed into her head. Her identalte-night intrusion, the Baron''s daughter havinge upstairs to also thank her. Should Natalie tell them about that? Nah. Why would she? It''d just been an awkward mishap. She would still be keeping her promise; she wouldn''t fuck the Baron''s daughter. "Which is a bit tedious," Sofia said. "There''s obviously no need to be thanked. And the mission hasn''t changed. There''s no new information." She sighed. "It''s definitely because Liz is on our party, so he feels obligated to." "Sorry?" Liz offered timidly. "It''s annoying to me too." "Not your fault, of course," Sofia said. "Let''s go and get it over with so we can head out and start our search." She wrinkled her nose. "Might take all day, or longer. The sooner the better." Natalie nodded in agreement. "And by the way," she said, "I''ve got some stuff to talk about, while we''re walking around." There would be plenty of opportunity while roaming the Duskwood fruitlessly searching for the goblin nest to chat, so she''d save it until then. "Me and Malice discussed some things." "Oh?" Jordan said. "Important topics?" Her eyebrows went up. "Things only she knows about?" "Yeah. That stuff." "Interesting," Ana said. "Let''s hurry, then. I want to know." *** After a brief visit with the Baron, which indeed provided no new information and was rather a pointless waste of time filled with frivolous politeness, their party of five returned to the inn, got dressed into their adventuring gear, and headed out to begin the hunt for the goblin nest. The same enchanted carriage carried them outside the city''s limits and a bit past, down a less-maintained branch where the bumpy dirt had the cart rattling around like it would fall apart. The swift conveniencested until the edge of a thick forest: the Duskwood. Varten, the [Tracker], had created a map for their team, identifying the portion of the forest he had narrowed his search to. He had needed to leave at a certain point, the danger growing too prominent. An armored,bat-ready squad would need to crawl around to close the search off. Them. Assuming Varten''s preliminary work was urate, and she did assume that, since the man was a level six [Tracker] who had the Baron''s trust, then they weren''t in for all too tedious of a mission. Though definitely somewhat tedious. Trudging through a forest for hours on end looking for a goblin nest wasn''t anyone''s favorite way to spend an evening, least of all Natalie''s. Even with the amount of the Duskwood they needed to look through narrowed significantly, the search space of ''a section of the forest'' was still a decentlyrge area. And unlike the dungeon, there weren''t frequentbat encounters to spice things up. Just plodding along with apass, a map, and trees all around them. Naturally, they filled the time talking amongst themselves. There was an argument to be made for total stealth, but a goblin nest, especially arger one, would be immediately noticeable. And any goblins who spotted them would likely charge on sight, not retreat to warn the others. They were mindless, evil creatures, stupider than even many dungeon monsters. So stealth wasn''t all that important. For the first topic of conversation, Natalie filled the others in on what she had learned from Malice. Like her, they were understandably dumbfounded by what the wolfgirl had revealed¡ªor, Natalie supposed, what the wolfgirl guessed. That the seven passions weren''t ever supposed to have awoken, having been dead, and now that they had, were likely in conflict with the dungeon. Possibly wanting revenge. "But why isn''t the dungeon trying to kill us, then?" Jordan asked. "If your patron is its enemy, shouldn''t it be doing its best to stomp us out? Before we be a threat?" "How could we possibly be a threat to the dungeon?" Sofia asked incredulously. "At any level, patron or not?" "How would I know?" Jordan said. "I''m just saying. If those two entities are, in fact, enemies, then wouldn''t the dungeon want to get rid of us? So far, the dungeon has been¡ªwell, kind of nice to us. I''d say our opportunities for progression have been better than most teams." "That might be Lust''s doing, not the dungeon''s." "She can affect its encounters?" "Maybe. At a minimum, she did give us Malice''s capture core. And we know the dungeon didn''t like that." The group paused, then shivered, remembering that frantic life-or-death scramble for the surface. Malice seemed to think its temper would have cooled by the time they went on their next delve, and indeed, the dungeon had already been easing up even before they''d escaped. But Natalie wondered whether there would still be some lingering animosity. The dungeon had made it abundantly clear it didn''t want them to take the wolfgirl¡ªa ''prized possession'', as Malice had called herself¡ªand yet they had anyway. "She also doesn''t have any proof," Jordan pointed out. "So we can''t take what she says as fact. But the reasoning does have merit. If the Reverie says the Passions were enved to power the dungeon, then, if they were somehow breaking free, they would definitely want to destroy their prison to fully escape, right? And that prison is the dungeon." "This is way above our pay grade," Natalie groaned. "But either Lust can control how the dungeon manifests and even stop it from attacking us, or the dungeon is friendly despite Lust being hostile toward it. Or something else is going on." "It could just be its nature," Jordan said. "We might not want to think of them as having people motivations. The dungeon might always provide fair encounters to its delvers, so long as those delvers themselves haven''t done anything to it. Allegiances irrelevant. For that matter, who knows if the dungeon even cares if it dies?" "If we don''t assume some level of non-alien intelligence, then we can''t make any guesses about anything. Logic wouldn''t hold at all." "Fair," Jordan said, rubbing her forehead. "Doesn''t make what I said wrong though." "Focus on the practical," Sofia said. "Until Lust shows her hand on why she''s given Natalie the skills she has, or until the dungeon shows hostility toward us, we just proceed as normal." She shrugged. "What else is there to do?" True enough. "Besides," Jordan said. "It alwayses back to the same thing. What''s a level three gonna do in a battle between gods? We just have to keep getting stronger." 6.31 – Ambush I 6.31 ¨C Ambush I They quieted down after those initial discussions, since while this might not be a stealth mission, it was preferable to approach the search as inconspicuously as possible. She also pulled out Malice to join them. She hadn''t earlier because she had wanted to talk freely, perhaps even about Malice herself¡ªsince she was an agent of the dungeon, captured or not. While Natalie didn''t distrust her for that, she did need to acknowledge reality. And they needed to be able to talk about the possibility of Malice being incorrect without offending the girl. Who did, admittedly, seem like she would be easy to offend. The Duskwood was navigable, as far as forests went. Neither the thickest and most treacherous of woods nor particrly spacious and t. They trudged through at a decent pace, taking note of distinct features, of which Varten had marked many with great detail on the map he''d provided them. Before long, they arrived at the subsection of the forest Varten had feared to explore by himself¡ªthe dangerous portion, and not just because of the goblins'' presence. The remote, untamed ces of Valhaur, or any country, held all manners of creatures and beasts that could be a threat even tobat-ssed individuals. Modern age or not, the world was far from conquered. About two hours into their search, they ran into trouble. The most shocking part was that it was unannounced¡ªan ambush. Or, an ambush by goblin standards. They weren''t the most subtle of creatures. But one moment their party was walking through the forest, and the next something thumped into Natalie''s upper arm. She faltered on her next step, attention flicking down to see, incredulously, that an arrow was sticking out of her. Surprising as such a realization was, it took even the battle-hardened group of six a fraction of a second to understand. Natalie stared dumbly at the ck-feathered shaft of wood, eyes wandering down to where the arrowhead was invisible inside her flesh. Another projectile whistled past, missing her. Jordan staggered backward as an arrow hit her square in the skull. The projectile shattered and mmed to the ground, repelled, but Jordan reared back, a hand shooting up to grab at her head. Her HP had saved her, rejecting the attack entirely¡ªsince an arrow through the skull would''ve meant death. But where Natalie had an arrow sticking out of her arm, and Jordan only had a trickle of blood seeping between the fingers held to her forehead, the HP cost had been significantly more severe on Jordan. She might even be briefly out of the fight. Certainly, she was dazed. Natalie snapped out of her shock and confusion just as the screaming of goblins began. The squat, foul creatures streamed out from between the trees, as if from nowhere; she almost didn''t understand where they''de from, especially so many. Had they been lying in wait? She pushed her baffled confusion to the side. Ignoring the pain, she pulled the arrow off her arm and tossed it to the side; she couldn''t afford the metal grinding up the muscles in her arm, messing up her attacks. On cue, Liz''s empowering spell, along with a heal, washed through her even as she hefted [Valentine] into the air. Not by intention, she let out her own scream of adrenaline, rushing forward toward the group of goblins to draw as much attention as she could. As she ran, she took note of the battlefield. Opponents and allies¡ªallies first. Malice followed behind her, the martial artist eager as always to get up close and personal, probably more so than Natalie herself. A nce over her shoulder showed Sofia staying back to hover around Liz and Ana, guarding them against the iing swarm, the enemies Natalie wouldn''t be able to upy since there were so many of them. Jordan was gone; Natalie had to scan left and right, eyes flicking around wildly in concern and confusion before she finally caught a glimpse of the girl sneaking forward, surprisingly far from the fray. Setting up for a nk, as a rogue tended to. Natalie was d she''d brushed off the surprise arrow, though probably with the help of a heal from Liz. Her HP probably wasn''t in a great position now. Another fatal attack could mean bad business for her. Natalie had to force herself to squash down that worry. One of the downsides of delving and adventuring with friends. Then the enemies. There were about fifteen of them. Maybe more, enough to make it hard to count. The squat, wrinkly, green-skinned creatures wore rags and weapons of mottled arrangements. The sight wasn''t any different from the encounter at the farmstead. Except for one. Thergest of the goblins, standing a foot taller than the rest,ing up nearly to Natalie''s chest, was an image that briefly seized her with shock, almost making her stumble a step in her charge. Not because of his size and muscled stature, an unusually powerful physique for a goblin, which were normally wiry, jagged things full of thin muscles stretched across crooked unnatural frames, but rather, another distinguishing feature. The glowing golden veins running all across his body. [Goblin Raid Leader - Lv. 3] Just level three. There had been some of those back at the farmstead, too. In fact, there were fewer total opponents here than the previous fight, which they''d been fine in. Yet Natalie had a bad feeling about this. Or in particr, that goblin. What were those? The vibrant golden lines snaking across his body, bulging across his muscles? They looked like veins, but why were they gold? And where all the other goblins were screaming and rushing, the distance between Natalie and them vanishing, the Raid Leader held a bow at the ready, an arrow with a ck feather nocked¡ªpointed toward her. He released, and Natalie sidestepped, the arrow whistling by. He had daggers sheathed at his hip. A rogue of some type. A calm expression was on his face. Tense but analyzing as he pulled another arrow from his quiver and nocked it. Watching Nataliee. Ready for her. Intelligent. Without a doubt less mindless than these other creatures ¡­ almost not a goblin at all, by the keenness in his eyes. She definitely had a bad feeling about this. Then again, another part of her was thinking¡ª It was about time she got a good fight. 6.32 – Ambush II 6.32 ¨C Ambush II Natalie met the oing wave of smaller goblins. Her hammer swept forward in a prepared arc, purposefully aiming for the lowest level of the front-line enemies¡ªshe wanted to thin their numbers, since a number advantage could be prohibitively difficult to deal with, even whenposed of weak opponents. Knives in the back hurt no matter what level, and such critical strikes became exponentially easier when surrounded. The attacknded true. The giant metal head of [Valentine] crushed into the goblin and practically sent it flying; the monster careened through the air at least fifteen feet before mming hard into a tree trunk. It would''ve been aical sight if not for the crunching of bone and stter of blood. Natalie enjoyed fighting, but more for the thrill of demonstrating her skill, the rush of adrenaline¡ªnot the gruesome reality of killing. Except she took some satisfaction, here. Each goblin exterminated was possibly a person''s life saved. And certainly, her stomach didn''t turn at drawing blood. She was well over that, even for less objectively disgusting monsters than goblins. About six of her enemies focused on her, attentions drawn by her charge. The rest streamed past, and there wasn''t anything she could do about that. In fact, engaging so many of their attentions at all was thanks to [Forcible Allure], her erotite armor''s set bonus: a mild persistent taunting effect. That ability was why she was all but forced into the gear, seeing how she wascking a ss-based taunt. The other portion of the creatures screamed toward the subgroup of three behind her, but Natalie trusted Sofia could handle their defense. Or Ana, maybe, Natalie quickly revised. Because just as she swung her hammer a second time, three giant pirs of inky shadow rose from the earth in ominous tendrils. Natalie''s eyes widened. They were thick, void-like, and definitely muchrger than they had ever been before. The buff she had put on Ana had clearly been effective. The appendagesshed out like whips, smacking into goblin after goblin, sending them flying. Not killing them outright, but throwing them several feet, leaving red gouges across their skin, and even knocking weapons out of their hands. And fast, too. As quick as Jordan. Over and over, the tendrils struck at anything nearby, all but bringing the initial charge to a halt as Ana repelled the force by herself. But that onlysted a few seconds before the tendrils ran out of magical energy and dissipated. Heavens. She had known an [Empowered] [Divine Invigoration] would upgrade Ana''s offensive power, but by that much? It said massive in the ability description, but it was still shocking to see. Natalie guessed she hadn''t fully appreciated the ability because it had been put onto their healer, at first. And since they hadn''t needed many heals in their first fight, Liz hadn''t been able to flex. An offensive mage could, though. All of that flicked through the background of Natalie''s thoughts. She was, of course, focused on her own fight above all else. The six goblins she''d attracted the attention of quickly surrounded her. Natalie swung her hammer in wide arcs, advancing forward toward the bow-wielding goblin, though he obviously just retreated, continuing to release arrows at her. She wouldn''t be able to get to him until she dealt with the pests nipping at her heels. Unfortunately, the nasty things were quick and vicious. Definitely not opponents she could ignore. Landing solid blows on them was harder than it looked, especially when she had to do her best to dance away from them at the same time. She couldn''t let herself get truly surrounded, else they would m a dagger into her back. She used her momentum to her advantage, a cyclone of heavy steel even these mindless creatures knew to fear. That cat-and-mouse game continued before her hammer finally caught one, killing it instantly. An arrow mmed into her shoulder in response, having had to overextend tond the attack. She grunted and ignored it; Liz''s buff helped, as did the adrenaline. ncing toward her ally, Natalie saw Malice snap the neck of the goblin she had been engaging, and the wolfgirl immediately charged for the bow-wielding Raid Leader¡ªknowing her, as much to ease Natalie''s burden as wanting to get a taste of his strength. No longer having to worry about dodging arrows and six¡ªnow five¡ªenemy des, she made quick work of the miniature swarm. [Valentine] mmed into a skull, her boot met a chest to crack bones, and she even dropped her hammer briefly to catch another off guard, smashing a face in with an elbow before quickly picking her weapon back up. And so, with thest dying, or at least temporarily disabled, she was free to make her next move. She threw a look over her shoulder. ck energy writhed around her three teammates, shing into the five goblins remaining, Sofia dancing between their attacks. Meanwhile, a nce forward showed Malice and Jordan fighting the golden-veined goblin. Of the two sub-fights, one looked a lot worse than the other. Natalie watched in horrified amazement as the Raid Leader caught Malice''s forward jab, then twisted her arm. The wolfgirl screamed, but that noise was quickly cut off by a headbutt delivered into Malice''s skull. Malice went staggering backward before falling over, dazed. Jordan tried to sneak in an attack even as that was happening, but the tall goblin ducked, preternaturally sensing Jordan''s knife, which had been aimed for his spine. The de plunged uselessly into the air. Worse, he followed up with a sweep of his legs, and Jordan also mmed into the ground. Fast. Strong. Good reactions. What was this thing? Natalie was already moving by the time Jordan had been knocked over, but she watched as the goblin raised his own dagger in preparation to m it down¡ªstraight for Jordan''s chest. Considering its strength? And that Jordan had already taken an arrow to the head, so her HP wasn''t at full strength, or maybe even half? Terror seized her. She was too far to help. There wasn''t a thing she could do, not in time¡ªeven a spell wouldn''t be fast enough. Then something odd happened. The goblin froze, dagger suspended in the air, about to plunge down. But instead of doing so, he abruptly stood, turned, and charged for Natalie, ignoring the vulnerable rogue on the ground. For a second, Natalie didn''t understand. Then she remembered. [Crown of the Scapegoat]. The item that forcibly dropped monster aggressiveness onto a target of Jordan''s choosing. They''d given it to her for a reason; the rogue was the most likely to end up in a dangerous situation like she had, needing to get into melee range of boss monsters while having a low Tenacity. And thank the Heavens they had given it to her. That could have been ¡­ bad. Her relief didn''tst long. Because now, the so-called level three¡ªand it was definitely not a normal level three¡ªthat had easily rebuffed both Jordan and Malice''s simultaneous assault was charging for Natalie. Both of her allies were on the ground, not yet recovered, so she''d be on her own for at least a little bit. And a little bit could be forever when it came tobat. She gripped her hammer, a thrill rushing through her. Good. Her turn. 6.33 – Ambush III 6.33 ¨C Ambush III In only a second, the [Goblin Raid Leader] had arrived to her. Natalie pivoted, his dagger passing through where she''d been standing a second prior, and she retaliated with a kick, her hammer too slow and cumbersome to catch him in the close-quarter angle. But even the quicker movement couldn''t reach him in time. He stepped sideways and shed a second time. This one, Natalie couldn''t dodge. The de scraped across her stomach, drawing a bright red line. He pulled back. Natalie grunted as she heaved down her hammer in an overhead swing, but metal met only earth as it impacted with a whoomph. The speed difference was going to be a problem. She swung in the direction the [Raid Leader] had gone, forcing him to abort his next attack, scrambling backward to avoid the low, wide arc of her hammer. While he was tough, fast, and deadly, the goblin still recognized Natalie''s weapon as the threat it represented. He might be a stronger level three than normal, but he didn''t outmatch them by that significant a margin; he still had to respect her. The series of exchanges had allowed Jordan and Malice to recover, which meant the [Raid Leader] now faced off against three of them rather than two. Malice engaged his attention first, throwing a flurry of punches, which he batted away, deflecting the martial artist and following up with an elbow into her stomach. As Malice keeled forward, a dagger descended, aimed for her back. But Natalie took advantage of his overextension: her hammer seared sideways, a fully charged swing. She almost pitied him. Fighting outnumbered was an awful position to be in, where it was nearly impossible to keep track of everything. Natalie''s first direct blownded, and the goblin staggered from the impact, his attempted backstab on Malice interrupted. Shockingly, though, he only stumbled a few feet before spinning and facing Natalie again. Natalie''s arms, meanwhile, were ringing with the impact: it''d been like she''d swung her hammer into a metal wall. A rogue that could absorb attacks like that? What the hell was this thing? It was easily on the same footing as a dungeon boss. If not stronger. The goblin danced backward as Malice reengaged him, avoiding her series of punches and kicks. In several long bounds, he had left her far behind, already dozens of feet away¡ªand with his bow drawn again. Arrows poured out almost faster than her eyes could track: three hadunched themselves toward her before she recognized he had even sheathed his daggers. Natalie activated [Hunker Down]. Clings filled the air as sharp metal tips mmed into her, deflected by the invulnerability-granting ability. Malice, for her part, pped two arrows away, but grunted as a third embedded into her shoulder¡ªwhich she promptly ripped out with a howl that Natalie couldn''t tell was pain or excitement. Probably both. Jordan, again, had gone missing, slinking away between trees to set up her next devastating ambush, biding her time for an opportune moment. At low HP andcking the [Crown of the Scapegoat], she had to be very careful with her engagements. Just as Natalie was thinking that, an arrow from her left streaked forward and mmed into the goblin, cutting off his rapid-fire barrage¡ªwhich had obviously been a skill of some kind. Jordan wasn''t an [Archer], but she carried a bow around and was more than a fair shot. Rather than retaliating against Jordan, the goblin slung his bow over his back and redrew his daggers. [Hunker Down] deactivated, and Natalie rushed forward, a few steps behind a howling Malice. A thrown nce over her shoulder showed that Ana, Sofia, and Liz were still cleaning up their half of the goblin raid. It hadn''t been all that long. Against an enemy of this caliber, exchanges happened fast. The three of them re-engaged. A series of traded blows ensued, the goblin almost too fast to catch¡ªeven for Malice, who had a quicker, more dexterous style than Natalie. But sensing an opening, she activated [Illusion]. That ability was best used sparingly, to force a surprise blunder, especially since the mana cost wasn''t negligible. An illusory image shimmered inside of herself, oveying her body, imitating a swing of her hammering from the left. In reality, she came from the right. The goblin was already off-foot: he couldn''t dodge back, hence Natalie''s timing. He had to choose a direction to parry the blow. He guessed. He guessed wrong. Nataliended her second direct strike. [Valentine] crushed into the green-skinned monster. Even as the goblin staggered sideways, Malice mmed into him, arms wrapping around his waist and promptly dragging him to the ground. She wrestled with the creature, avoiding his daggers¡ªand the melee scuffle bought Natalie an opportunity. Spinning [Valentine] around in her grip, she brought the opposite face of the hammer to the forefront of her next swing. Then mmed downward. *** Duo. Land sessful strikes in quick session with alternating attack faces to trigger a stunning effect. *** Malice threw herself out of the way right in time; Natalie had trusted she would, though had aimed so coteral would have been minimized if not. Hitting an opponent directly was one thing. mming down onto them like hammer meeting anvil was another. Especially with appropriate charge-up. Dust and dirt flew sideways in all directions as the force of the attack pummeled into goblin, squashing him into the earth. He still didn''t die though. Incredibly, she didn''t even hear bones break. Shocking as that was, Natalie had been prepared. The gobliny dazed on the ground, [Valentine]''s special ability stunning him. She consideredying into him with downward swings of her hammer, but she had a new special attack that utilized a stun better than anything else could. She stepped back and started channeling [Smite]. Malice delivered a few harsh kicks into the goblin''s ribs, but retreated quickly¡ªmore venting her annoyance than anything. Because causing too significant of damage during a stun would break the effect: Jordan couldn''t simply stab him in the face until he died. And of any single blow, a heavily channeled [Smite] would do by far the most. Holding her hammer forward with both hands, she called the spell to life. Mana surged from that inexplicable container inside of herself, gathering at the tip of her weapon, a red-pink vortex growing in size. She had only tested this ability once, and only a quick channel: the minimum length of one second, since it was a huge mana drain, and she had been wanting to save the resource for realbat. The goblin started to stir into consciousness at the count of five, so Natalie released prematurely. A huge of beam of pink-red energy burst forward, engulfing the creature on the ground. Earth ckened where the column of light touched. [Smite] kept erupting bright, pink, hot energy for nearly a full two seconds before it finally started to taper off. Of course, impressive as the light show had been, neither Malice nor Jordan dyed in following up. This was too intense a fight to simply stand there and gawk at Natalie using the shy skill at close to full strength for the first time. As soon as the light cleared, Jordan mmed her dagger down at his face. Malice started kicking him. Not just that, ck pirs of void light slithered out of the ground, Ana joining the fray. Three of the tentacle-like appendages sprouted and promptly began wailing onto the staggered [Raid Leader] with impacts that shook the ground. Both Jordan and Malice had to disengage from the flurry of magical attacks to avoid getting caught as coteral damage. For a second time, Natalie admired Ana''s strength upgrade. She wondered if even [Smite] could match that ridiculous output. As Ana''s spell slowly faded, the dust and dirt thrown up from her attack settled, revealing the goblin''s form. It wasn''t a pretty sight. Thest of its HP had definitely disappeared sometime during Natalie''s [Smite] or Malice and Jordan''s follow-up¡ªso Ana''s tentacles had crushed it into almost unrecognizability. Its corpse was mangled. Her shoulders sagged in relief. Finally dead. 6.34 – Subsume 6.34 ¨C Subsume "What the hell was that?" Natalie eximed. "That thing was harder to kill than most bosses. And it''s a goblin." "Was a goblin," Jordan said dryly, stepping up to join her. "Now it''s pulp." Indeed,yering an almost fully-charged [Smite] followed by half her team''s strongest attacks had left the creature a gruesome sight. Several stages past simply ''dead.'' And Natalie was perfectly fine with that. Anything that guaranteed it wouldn''t be standing back up. "Was it just me," Natalie said. "Or was that thing smart, too?" "Definitely fought like it." Jordan cocked her head. "Or do you mean ¡­ sentient?" Natalie frowned. It hadn''t ever spoken to them, though maybe that was because either of their partiescked the opportunity. She almost regretted not trying. Then again, starting a conversation mid-fight against something that powerful could have been a horrible idea. Her curiosity only went so far; she''d rather be alive than get answers. Before she could respond to Jordan, movement at the goblin''s corpse drew her eye. Incredulously, she rose her hammer, readying herself for a second wave ofbat. But it wasn''t the goblining back to life. Which. Good. Because that would have beenpletely absurd. Rather, the golden lines across its body were shifting. Moving. They snaked around, writhing, slowly pooling upward, strands of thick golden strings bundling around his chest. They began to detach from the creature''s mangled corpse, flowing upward like liquid, growing shinier before hardening and taking on a crystallineposition. When the process had finished, a jagged golden shard floated two feet above the dead monster. "What," Natalie said. *** Shard of Greed. It responds to the presence of a Pdin. *** "What the hell," she said. Shock rippled through the rest of her teammates as they read the item''s description. It hovered there, otherworldly. Shining a bright gold that seemed almost too vibrant to exist. "Hm," Ana said. "I predicted something like this would happen." Sofia stared at the woman. "You did?" "She did," Natalie confirmed. It had been part of Ana''s reasoning for taking Natalie''s [Empowered] [Divine Invigoration]¡ªthe possibility that ''something strange was going on with the world'', and their quest might somehow rte to that. And thus Natalie''s ss. And clearly, she''d been right. Because ''Shard of Greed?'' That definitely had something to do with the Passions. "Is this why they''ve been acting so weird?" Jordan asked. "Hoarding stuff? Stealing items and bringing them back to base? Goblins don''t do that, but something corrupted by Greed¡­" she trailed off. "Influenced," Ana corrected. Jordan gave her an odd look. "Same thing, no?" "Would you call Natalie corrupted by Lust, then?" Jordan blinked. She opened her mouth to reply seriously¡ªthen snorted. Green eyes flicked to Natalie. "Honestly? A little, yeah." Sheughed. "But yes, influenced, then." She frowned as her seriousness came back. "But monsters can be pdins of the Passions, too? And that thing was one?" "I don''t think some random goblin was bestowed in the same way Natalie is," Sofia said dubiously. "It died too easy for that. But maybe in a lesser way?" "It would make sense if a god or goddess could vary the extent of their investiture," Ana said. "Though the revtion that they can sponsor monsters and not just humans is an interesting development." "An interesting development," Natalie repeated tly. "Indeed," Ana said, missing or ignoring Natalie''s tone. "So it''s leaking onto the surface, too?" Liz asked. "People are in danger?" They paused at that. "Not really. It died easily enough," Malice said, sounding far less unnerved by this event than the rest of them. In fact, she was looking between each of their members seeming bemused. "Why are you all acting so weird?" Everyone looked at her. The wolfgirl was roughed up from the fight: dried blood coated her shoulder where the arrow had pierced, and she was generally filthy, having rolled around in the dirt as she wrestled with the goblin. She had gotten plenty of other blood on her too, and some of it was surely her own, even if Liz''s heals had mostly patched her up. "What?" Malice asked, confusion deepening. "You''re all being dramatic. It wasn''t even that strong." "Do you know anything about this?" Sofia asked. Malice sniffed. "Of course not. But it sounds like your guesses are usible. Greed sponsored a monster." "Does that mean monsters in the dungeon can be sponsored, too? Or only surface ones?" Malice considered the question, then shivered. "The Dungeon would not like that. We''re her property, not theirs." She shrugged. "But again, I don''t know. How would I?" Sofia frowned at theck of answers. "Uh, guys," Liz said. "Is it just me, or is it growing brighter?" Their attention had briefly turned away from the [Shard of Greed]. Natalie looked back to see that the crystalline chunk was indeed emitting a brilliant light, coating the forest in rays of gold in slow, deep pulses. Pulses that were growing faster by the second. "Is it dangerous?" Jordan asked, rmed. "Is it valuable?" Natalie countered. "It says it''s responding to me. Should I go grab it?" The team shared looks of varying levels of concern and hesitation. "Yeah," Malice said easily. "Do that. See what happens." Natalie didn''t think she would be taking Malice''s advice on caution, so she nced at Jordan. The rogue hesitated. "I mean ¡­ it''s risky. But at the same time, it''s there for a reason, isn''t it?" "Just be careful," Sofia said. Apprehensively, Natalie approached the goblin''s corpse, and the floating shard above it, tense and ready for whatever might happen. She might have just let it sit there for a while longer, discussing what to do, if the pulsing wasn''t growing thicker and more erratic. While she had no way to know if her impression was correct, it seemed like if she left it alone, it would shatter, or explode, or otherwise be unstable. She was on a time limit. Getting within a few feet, the shard reacted. It wobbled, sensing her proximity, then flung toward her. Natalie yelped and stumbled a step backward, almost falling in surprise. The shard mmed into her chest. Heat immediately started coursing through her. Intense¡ªlike fire, then electricity, then pure magma coursing through her veins. All at once, the sensations disappeared, finished before she even had time to register pain. Just intensity. Some of it lingered, making her skin tingle. *** A fragment of Greed has been subsumed by Lust. Carnal Energy has risen substantially. *** Natalie stared down at herself with wide eyes, free hand grasping at her chest as she looked down at where the shard vanished. "Woah," she said. The team had rushed over to her the moment the shard had reacted. They surrounded her now, concerned. "What happened?" Sofia demanded. "What was that?" Natalie looked inward at her Carnal Energy reserves. That precious resource responsible for upgrading and empowering her skills. "Okay," she whispered. "Now that''s pretty awesome." 6.35 – Surplus 6.35 ¨C Surplus "What''s pretty awesome?" Sofia demanded. "What happened to you? That thing flew into your chest." "I don''t even know," Natalie said honestly. "The shardbined with me? But turned into Lust in the process?" She decided to exin exactly, rather than make guesses. "I got a notification saying that ''a fragment of Greed has been subsumed by Lust''." "O-Oh," Sofia said. That clearly hadn''t been the response she''d been expecting. How could it have been? "Did that do something?" "It raised my Carnal Energy. By a lot." Her team paused at that announcement. "Wait," Jordan said. "As in, your skill resource?" "Yeah. And by a lot, I mean a lot." She looked inward at the resource. It had more than doubled. And she''d been saving up for a while, wanting to im the next upgrade on [Harvest]. "How much?" "I can afford the next tier of [Harvest], that''s for sure," Natalie said. "And probably something else. Maybe two something elses." With [Harvest] having been a persistent focus of hers, most of her other skills were lower-tier and thus cheaper to upgrade¡ªsome much cheaper. "Oh, wow," Liz said. "Is that a thing now, then? You have another way to earn Carnal Energy?" "I guess so." She nced at the corpse of the goblin. With his golden veins having vanished, he just looked like a bigger, deadlier goblin than normal¡ªbut not nearly the same intimidating monster as before. "Though I''m doubting there''s going to be a consistent way to find god-imbued monsters," she said dryly. "Yeah, probably not," Liz said with a single, incredulousugh. She looked as bewildered as the rest of them. Well. Besides Ana. "It''s interesting that power spawning from the Passions can be converted like that," shemented. "Is that going to have any consequences? Or implications? Greed merging with Lust?" Jordan seemed rmed by the possibility. To be fair, Natalie was too¡ªif maybe less so. It didn''t feel like anything had happened to her; she was pretty sure Lust had justid im to the energy. Not ''merged'' somehow, affecting her or her ss. Ana hummed. "We''ll need to watch her. Monitor your thought processes," she told Natalie. "See if you feel," she paused, "greedier, in the following days." "Feel greedier," Natalie repeated tly. Ana shrugged. "We''re operating in unknown territory, here." Malice interrupted their conversation by pounding a fist into her palm. She looked excited. "You get extra energy for killing those things? There''s probably more at their base. Since that one definitely wasn''t the boss. Not the main boss, at least." The wolfgirl grinned, shifting from foot to foot. Her tail swished happily behind her. "And it was a good fight. This is way less boring than I thought it would be." She looked around the forest. "So, which direction do you think they are? I bet their base is close, if they attacked us with such arge party." "Let''s take it a little easy," Jordan told the wolfgirl. "We''ve got a few things to hash out first." She looked at Natalie. "What''re you gonna upgrade? No point sitting on that big of a stash, right?" "[Harvest], obviously," she said after a second''s deliberation. "And I wonder if I upgrade [Empower] whether the increased effect will carry over to Ana? After seeing how good [Divine Invigoration] is even at its current [Empowerment], I''m pretty tempted." If only she could upgrade [Divine Invigoration] itself, but it was an ability that hade pre-maxed-out. Which was fair ¡­ it was way too strong even straight out of the box. Jordan nced at Ana. "Speaking of, what the hell kind of buff was that? You were tearing up half the battlefield by yourself." Some people might have preened at that praise, but not Ana. She gave one sinct nod. "Yes. I was." Natalie snorted at the understated reaction. "I''m pretty sure that''s proof I should bring [Empower] up a rank." She frowned, a bout of indecisiveness hitting her. "Then again, taking [Juggernaut] and [Bigger Is Better] a tier up would be nice too. So would [Smite]." She wavered, before nodding to herself. [Juggernaut] would be the selfish upgrade, and while she did want the bonus in strength, having [Empower] to emergency-boost any other ability was probably the smarter idea. Doubly so if it automatically applied to Ana''s current [Divine Invigoration], though whether it would was up in the air. Well, whatever. [Juggernaut] and [Bigger Is Better] woulde next. Natalie was already arguably the strongest on her team, so she would rather spread their strength out. *** [Carnal Harvest] - PASSIVE. PROGRESSION 4. MAXED. Extract carnal energy through {sexual intercourse} with an aroused target. Harvested energy can be expended through [Empower] and [Advance]. SCALES WITH LEVEL. *** "O-Oh," Natalie said, caught by surprise. "That maxed [Harvest] out." "Really?" "Guess so." She tilted her head. "Now, it scales based on my level." After a second, sheughed. "I guess that makes sense. You know how it has a conditional? Based on what you need to do to get the max energy from it? There''s not that many ces to upgrade from ''sexual intercourse.''" She paused. "At least, not something I''d want to be doing every single encounter." Jordan snorted. She considered for a second longer. "You won''t have to focus your points there, anymore. That''s convenient." "Can actually worry about real skills," Natalie agreed. She was pleased by that. She upgraded [Empower], next. *** [Empower] - ACTIVE. PROGRESSION 3. Amplify the potency of any ACTIVE or AURA skill by {2.5x}. Expend Carnal Energy equal to mana cost. *** She whistled in appreciation. "Went up from two times to two and a half times." Like always, it came with a significant increase. "Unbelievable," Sofia muttered. "Just how strong are your skills going to get?" "It''s not maxed out yet, so at least another one up. Maybe three times will be the cap?" Then again, maybe not. Sofia shook her head in incredulity. Natalie checked in on her Carnal Energy reserves. She still had a small reserve left¡ªnot enough to upgrade a skill, but enough to employ [Empower] if necessary. Which was where she typically wanted to be. "I felt the increase, by the way," Ana said. "I definitely went up in Furor. So it seems the improved effect of [Empower] carried over automatically." That was good. "So your spells are going to be even stronger?" "That is the implication," Ana replied coolly. The team considered that. "Jeez," Liz said. "Anyway," Malice said loudly, having grown increasingly impatient as they discussed everything. "As fascinating as all this talking is, there''s monsters to kill, probably not that far from us. Have you all forgotten that?" Natalie rolled her eyes. She asked the team: "Are we continuing forward?" "My health is low," Jordan said. "As is mine," Sofia said. "Not dangerously so, but noticeable." "I took several hits too," Natalie agreed. "So did Malice." Hard ones; she''d seen them. She''d been the one to throw herself nearly suicidally at the goblin as fast and often as she could. The wolfgirl was favoring her right leg. An arrow had gone straight through her shoulder. Not to mention the bunches of smaller blows. "I''m fine," Malice sniffed. "Barely scratched." "I think it might be time to recoup," Liz chimed in. "If this were a normal goblin baseing up, I''d say go for it. But if that thing wasn''t their boss¡­" she nced at the dead [Raid Leader], "then what''s waiting for us might be kind of tough. We''ll want toe at it topped off and ready. Plus we should report to the Baron." "We thinned their numbers as we wanted to," Jordan said. "And Malice is right¡ªwe''re probably close to their base if they attacked us with such arge raiding party. And sent one of their heavier hitters after us. So tomorrow''s search won''tst long. It''s around here somewhere." Natalie nodded. Honestly, she was itching to just go at it despite their current condition. In fact, if she had been the one on dangerously low HP, she might have insisted. But Jordan was. And Natalie wasn''t going to risk her, obviously. "We''lle back first thing in the morning, then," Natalie said. 6.36 – Beaumon Involvement I 6.36 ¨C Beaumon Involvement I When it came to reporting to the Baron, they were sparse on the details, at least the parts relevant to Natalie and her ss. They had discussed the dilemma on the return trip to Tarenhelm: the bnce to strike between the Baron''s need to know what was going on around his city and Natalie''s need for secrecy. She didn''t want to divulge everything about rousing goddesses and her ss''s involvement. They ended up giving him a mostly true report, as far as the practical details went. They had found, fought, and defeated a goblin with golden veins, who was significantly stronger than a goblin ought to be¡ªon par with a level three boss. They suspected simr creatures might be inside the base, and so they had returned to recuperate before tackling the final fight. They suspected all of it had something to do with their aberrant hoarding behavior. Ultimately, the Baron deserved to be appraised of the threat harassing his city, but only insofar as it didn''t reveal too much about their personal situation. Theck of full disclosure didn''t feel like it was a huge deal since they would be heading out and clearing the goblin base the very next day. T, however, would be getting a more detailed report. It was possible Natalie and her team had been assigned to this goblin infestation in the first ce because T had already suspected something odd was going on¡ªpossibly even the details. Clearly, the waking Passions weren''t as isted a phenomenon as Natalie had assumed. Not only did Elida clearly know about it, but there were also surface monsters running around attuned to Greed. It seemed unlikely to Natalie¡ªand her team, since this had been a group discussion¡ªthat across the entire world, these were the only monsters sponsored by a deity and behaving strangely. It was more than possible that the Passions were working on a farrger scale, even, and that Natalie''s position as a pdin and these goblins'' imbuement was nearly irrelevant on the global stage. Though they had no way to confirm or deny that. They simply acknowledged the possibility. Once their meeting with the Baron had concluded, they returned to the Kraken''s Hearth to rest and recover for the day. Liz pulled Natalie aside just after she had finished showering. Closing the door behind her, she studied Natalie with a far more serious expression than she was used to seeing. "What''s up?" Liz sighed, then walked over and sat on the bed, tucking her hands underneath her thighs. She idly kicked back and forward, still studying her with that uncharacteristic seriousness. It went on for a good several seconds. "We need to talk." "Yeah," Natalie said. "I guessed that when you said, ''Nat, we need to talk.''" She could''ve imagined Liz pouting at the friendly sarcasm in a normal circumstance, but the royal kept her serious face. Natalie sobered up, realizing that whatever she wanted to talk about really was important. "It''s about what we learned," Liz said. "And us. As in, our team, and you, and all of it." "Figured." It''d been the nonstop topic of discussion since leaving the Duskwood. "But specifically about me," she continued. "Or rather, my family." "The Beaumons?" Liz bit her lip. She seemed to struggle with what to say for a second. "When we were first learning about all of this," she said, "I had thought you''d been given some strange and powerful ss, but not something that could shape Valhaur''s trajectory as a kingdom. So I was keeping it a secret, because that''s what friends do." She shifted ufortably around on her bed, seeming mildly distressed as she looked at Natalie. "But it''s bing obvious the scope of this is expanding way past what any of us had assumed." That was true. From the beginning, Natalie had known that the situation with her ss was no minor, irrelevant matter¡ªnot with the Bestower''s involvement and the strangements she''d made. Yet her entanglement with unknowable forces like the Dungeon and slumbering goddesses was escting at a pace she struggled toe to terms with. And Natalie wasn''t stupid; she could see where Liz was going. "You want to tell your family." "I have an obligation to tell my family," Liz corrected. "To my parents, the King, and Valhaur and its people. I think I''ve already put it off for too long. But now that it''s leaking into the outside world, with monsters imbued by the Passions attacking cities, killing people, I can''t keep hiding it." The distraught expression grew. "But I also have an obligation to a friend, who entrusted me with her secrets." Natalie sat on the bed and considered. She''d seen thising. How could she not? It was exactly as Liz said: the scope of this matter had grown toorge for something like Natalie''s embarrassment to stop them from sharing it with the appropriate authorities. In fact, the biggest reason she wanted to keep a low profile now was for Malice''s sake. While having to exin her ss and what she knew of it to a man like the literal king of Valhaur would be mortifying, ultimately, she wasn''t in danger of him, besides maybe in bing a pawn, and a quick departure from normalcy. But revealing Malice might end up with her in ab somewhere, to be studied and questioned. Likely without much concern for Malice herself. Liz kept speaking, either because she was nervous and couldn''t stand the brief silence, or she mistook Natalie''s contemtion for displeasure. "I''m not saying I''m going to go behind your back and tell my parents everything I know," Liz said. "Since it''s still your secret." She tittered nervously. "But I am gonna try really, really hard to convince you that that''s what you should do." It wasn''t hard to see that the conflict in her loyalties was tearing her up; it had probably been why she''d been so quiet on the way back home. Natalie had just thought she''d been thinking things over. And she had, just not in the way she''d assumed. Natalie briefly wondered whether if she insisted on not telling the Beaumons, if Liz would anyway. Logically speaking, Natalie could hardly me the girl for not taking her royal duties lightly, but the idea also left a sour taste in her mouth, however logical it would be. By how dismayed the poor girl looked, though, it was obvious it wasn''t an easy choice¡ªbut also that she was considering the eventuality. "Okay," Natalie said. "Okay?" "You think it''s a good idea?" Liz perked up, sensing that maybe there was an amicable solution to her dilemma, that this didn''t have to end in the worst-case scenario. She nodded rapidly, her ck hair bouncing with the eager motion. "I do. And I''m not just saying that. Here''s my reasoning why." 6.37 – Beaumon Involvement II 6.37 ¨C Beaumon Involvement II "First," Liz said, sticking a finger up¡ªand Natalie couldn''t help but have a shback to the instance of a teammate structuring an argument for her. Except that had been Ana convincing Natalie to cum inside her, so it was a rather different situation. "I don''t think your ss is going to stay a secret for much longer, even if you wanted it to." "Oh? Why not?" "Not with, you know, um¡­" "What?" "You know." Liz tried to give her a Look, as if she didn''t want to say it outright, but Natalie just returned confusion, because she didn''t know what Liz was getting at. Liz coughed. "How obvious you''re being," she said. "Or us, as a team, not just you. The waking Passions isn''t even aplete secret to begin with, seeing how Elida probably knows, which means the Parda-Halt family does. So with the general concept out there,bined with the ridiculous rate you''re growing at, and how we''re all wearing skimpier armor by the day, and not to mention that, when ites to Lust specifically, you, um, well, will probably have worked your way through half our ss by the end of the year¡ª" "I don''t get around that much," Natalie protested. Liz paused, then tactfully decided not to press the point. "Not to mention whatever else will be going on with your ss in future levels, it''s pretty clear that people in the know will make the appropriate deductions. I think sooner orter, people will know you''re a pdin of Lust, even if you started being a lot more careful. I wouldn''t be surprised if a few people, more than Elida, have already figured it out. It depends on what everyone knows ¡­ which is another reason to ''get into the loop,'' so to say. So we have a better idea of what''s going on too." Natalie made a noise of agreement. There wasn''t much to refute in her logic. It would lewder items, likely. Especially now that Natalie could mine andmission erotite gear. "Fair point," Natalie conceded. "But there''s a lot more to the situation than just me being a pdin of Lust." Liz deted slightly. "Yes, that''s true," she said. "And you could probably get away with keeping all of that a secret, the specifics at least, for much longer." A small frown tugged at her lips. "But that doesn''t mean it''s the right thing to do. Particrly for the wellbeing of Valhaur and its people, whose leaders need to be informed about a growing threat." Liz hesitated slightly, as if wondering whether to press that point. Natalie had mixed feelings. She did have loyalty to her kingdom, but at the same time, she had a much greater loyalty to her friends and family. And herself. It wasn''t remotely a simr dilemma to her as it obviously was to Liz. She felt no acute, specific obligation to the crown. As was maybe fair, considering the huge contrast in their upbringings. The crown was literally Liz''s family; Natalie had grown up out in the country. "But I also think it''s the right choice for you as well," Liz said. "On a personal level. It''s not just about obligation." "You think so? Seems like involving myself with the Beaumons would be a major headache," Natalie said mildly. "And almost certainly turn me into just another pawn of theirs." Liz winced, and quite noticeably, didn''t disagree. "It''s not that you''d be a pawn," she said. "Or, rather," she struggled with how to phrase it, "Everyone is, to an extent? Even the highest-ranked delvers in Valhaur kneel to the King. Well ¡­ to varying extents." She shook her head. "What I''m trying to say is, it''s a two-way street. I won''t lie and say involving yourself with the Beaumons won''t ce certain expectations on you, especiallyter in your career, but it''s not like you''d be getting nothing in return. Sponsorship from the Beaumons, especially the King''s attention,es with opportunities. That''s just how society works. I wouldn''t call it being a pawn." "I had this conversation once," Natalie mused. "Camille was talking to me about it." "Camille? From our ss?" She nodded. "She seemed to think I''d be throwing my lot in with the Beaumons simply because you were on my team. Not even mentioning all the other stuff." "Well, yes, I suppose that wouldn''t have been unlikely, even without the extenuating circumstances, assuming we stay teammates in the long term." Natalie sighed. "You''re not wrong with anything you''re saying. This has obviously grown too big to keep to ourselves." As much as she wanted to remain low profile and have a ''normal'' year at T, that wasn''t going to happen. Already wasn''t happening. "But there''s one sticking point." "Which is?" "Malice." "Malice?" "We can tell the Beaumons about everything, except for her." "Oh?" "Don''t take offense," Natalie said. "But I don''t trust your family. I only trust you. And I also don''t think you could overrule anything the King wanted," or even that Liz had all that much sway, since she wasn''t even his daughter, but rather his brother''s daughter, "so Malice has to stay a secret. Because I''m convinced they wouldn''t just let her be. I don''t know what they would do, but I''m not going to roll the dice and find out." Liz hesitated, then slowly nodded. It was clear it was a heavy concession¡ªher loyalty to her family went deep, and she didn''t want to hide anything. "That''s ¡­ fair." "We could feed them any information we get from her, though," Natalie said. "We can even say we have a way of talking to dungeon monsters, through¡­" she winced. "Through erotite arrows and carnal boss fights." Heavens above, exining all of that to the King of Valhaur would be interesting, to say the least. In some ways, it would be more mortifying than having to exin her ss to her own parents. "We''ll just neglect mentioning the capture core, and that we can have persistent contact with carnal bosses like Malice." Liz perked up at that, that they would give all the pertinent details, just leaving Malice out. "Yes, that would be fine." She sighed. "As long as they know everything, whether they''re told about Malice herself doesn''t matter." Natalie nodded. "Though," she said. "I''m surprised you''re so unconcerned with the actual telling them part." Amusement twitched at her lips. "I mean, what are your parents going to think about you being on a party with a pdin of Lust? As her support? Don''t you think they''ll ¡­ make some assumptions?" Liz stared at her, then nched. "Uh," she said. Natalieughed. Everyone had their blind spots. Liz apparently hadn''t considered the implications there, too worried about the ''big picture.'' "M-Maybe we''ll go straight to the King," Liz finally said, a bit strangled-sounding. "There''s no need for my parents to know. Yes, definitely, we''ll go straight to the King." 6.38 – A Bet is a Bet 6.38 ¨C A Bet is a Bet Sofia was having an ¡­ interesting evening. Mostly thanks to, of course, the usual suspect. Natalie. As the team wound down their day over dinner, she had been seated close to Sofia, their thighs touching within the confines of the booth. In all honesty, even that simple skin contact would have been enough to fluster her. Despite their recent dungeon expeditions and Natalie''s enthusiastic involvement in their hastily made bet, Sofia could hardly be considered experienced in such matters. Yet, experience alone didn''t cure nervousness¡ªit merely provided familiarity, which might dampen the feeling but not wholly erase it. More importantly, it wasn''t that Natalie was acting friendlier than usual, purposefully brushing against her and generally hanging close, but rather, that their bet wasing to a close. Tomorrow would be mostly filled with taking out the goblin nest, followed by a long trip back to T and handling all of the various errands that woulde with returning to the academy. So that meant tonight was the night. Thest opportunity before their bet ended. And Natalie had made her intentions clear. How she intended to ''finish off her training.'' Hence, she was feeling unusually hot, even if all Natalie was doing was hanging a bit closer than usual. Because the subtext of why she was doing so was rather tant. The teasing was far subtler than usual, and yet Sofia couldn''t help but squirm her way through the evening, unable to fight away a blush that persisted through half their conversations¡ªor would at least reappear whenever Natalie did so much as touch shoulders or turn a grin toward her. Sofia would almost have preferred if Natalie had been more tant in her teasing. Which maybe she was. By not doing so. If that made any sense. It was, Sofia decided, extremely unfair that both teasing her and not teasing her had exactly the same effect. There was a single lull in the mortification, during which, after dinner, they had a postmortem discussion on how they''d handled the goblin encounters of the day before and the more intense one several hours ago. Such talks weremon, of course, for any delving party, no matter how experienced. They frequently had them during lunch chatters, when it came to the weekly dungeon runs, though they were informal things. Some teams were more structured about postbat analysis, going through postmortems with a seriousness not befitting lunchroom casual talk, but one of the benefits of having a team of five who were both friendly with each other and passionate about their profession meant that such discussions just happened. For T students, post-dungeon analysis was almost a mode of small talk. Once those practical discussions had wrapped up, they had returned to more casual topics, and so the brief distraction was lost, and Natalie''s ''idental'' touches returned. Thus so had Sofia''s growing nervousness. It was a very intense squirming in her stomach, the anticipation of what wasing, to the extent she was almost relieved when the time came that they were heading upstairs. Sofia didn''t even realize she had followed Natalie into her bedroom until the redhead turned to her, raised an eyebrow, and amusement tugged on her lips. "Uh. Can I help you?" Sofia blinked, genuinely confused for a second. Then she looked backward, at the door closed behind her¡ªwhich she had closed¡ªand remembered that despite all of Natalie''s extensive not-teasing the previous two hours, they hadn''t spoken a word about their ns for the night. Certainly Natalie hadn''t dropped an invitation, or an instruction for that matter, for Sofia to join her in her bedroom. Dumbly, Sofia tried toe up with an excuse, but failed. At least with sufficient speed to not embarrass herself. That, of course, only stered on an even smugger grin, and Natalieughed at her. "Just wanted to say hi, or did you have something else nned, tonight?" Natalie teased. "The bet is almost over." Natalie raised her eyebrows in mock surprise. "Is it? I almost forgot." "Stop ying around." Her cheeks heating up, Sofia walked to the window, putting her back to Natalie and gazing out into the uninspiring view of Tarenhelm''s countryside. "You mentioned it yourself: this is ourst night here. And you''ve been acting strange." "Strange? How so?" Sofia didn''t exin herself; Natalie knew what she''d been doing, hovering so much closer than usual and sneaking in ''idental'' touches. "Still, I might''ve forgotten," Natalie said. "Why not take the risk?" "You didn''t forget." "Could still take your chances. Because if I had forgotten, then I wouldn''t get to cash in. The bet would''ve passed and been over with." Cash in. Such a crude way to phrase it. So ¡­ dismissive. Narrowing it down to some ''payout.'' Like this whole thing was just about sex. Natalie getting to have some fun with her reward, and nothing more. But, wasn''t it that? Sofia''s thoughts went back to that conversation with Jordan. Or both of them, she supposed, among a dozen other smaller, less coordinated efforts to discover what Sofia''s feelings were on the matter. That woman really did meddle too much. The silence had gone on a second too long, so Sofia sniffed and replied. "You didn''t forget. You''re much too perverted to give up on that opportunity. You''ve been thinking about it all day." Having been staring out the window to save herself from Natalie''s amused blue eyes, she didn''t see the woman approach to rest her hands on her hips. When Natalie''s response came, the words were right next to her ear, low and breathy. They sent a shiver down her spine and made her stomach clench. "I was going to make fun of you for your ego, for saying that of course I was thinking about you all day," Natalie murmured. "But you''re right. I have been." Sofia swallowed. It was rather ridiculous how fast her heart started mming at those words. She''d faced down actual monsters and gone into tournaments and been less filled with nervousness¡ªby several orders of magnitude. "Well," Sofia said. "A bet is a bet. So let''s get it over with, yes?" 6.39 – Sofia I 6.39 ¨C Sofia I As Natalie leaned her chin on Sofia''s shoulder, her breath tickling her ear, Sofia tried to calm her racing heart. Natalie''s hands ran slowly down her waist, to her hips, then the sides of her thighs, lingering there. "Get it over with?" Natalie murmured. "Now that''s just being mean. You''re telling me you haven''t been looking forward to this?" There was augh in Natalie''s voice, subdued, as if she could read straight through Sofia''s facade and found it highly amusing. And that probably was the case, as mortifying as the realization was. "Anticipating it, perhaps," Sofia said, trying to keep her voice even. "And not in the way you''ve been." "Oh?" Natalie''s hands wandered forward, to rest on Sofia''s lower stomach. Even so far from anything important, it immediately set her skin tingling. Or maybe not tingling. That was too mild a way to describe the sensation. More like, on fire. "And in what way do you think I''ve been anticipating this?" Sofia didn''t reply, feigning indignation with a sniff, though the reality was she''d simply grown too flustered to find a proper response. Even in the best of cases, verbally sparring with Natalie was difficult, much less in a scenario like this one. "Are you suggesting that I''ve been lusting after you, Sofia?" Natalie asked, her lips touching Sofia''s ear¡ªthat damn amusement even more obvious in her tone. "That I''ve been imagining all the ways I''ll have you writhing on the bed tonight? Well, you''d be right." She chuckled lowly, the warm air from theughter tickling her ear. "But I''ve gotta ask, then. How have you been anticipating it? I thought we were on the same page." Sofia swallowed. She ignored the question, because she had no good answer¡ªshe hadn''t known where she was going with it in the first ce¡ªand to deflect, instead asked, "So. What do you have nned tonight?" Natalie snorted. "You know what." Her hands returned to their adventure up and down Sofia''s sides, stopping whenever her thumbs brushed against her breasts, making just enough contact to be felt, then retreating. "Or do you mean the lead-up? Because you''re right, I''m not so rude I''ll just throw you on the bed and im my prize." Her fingers wandered, abruptly, to the front of Sofia''s pants, fiddling with the button there. "Though I will admit, I''m a bit tempted. A bit eager to get going." She popped Sofia''s pants open and ran her thumbs along the inside, loosening its fit. "I''ve got a feeling you don''t need all that much forey, anyway. So maybe I should just get straight to it." It was growing harder to think by the second. Sofia kept her gaze firmly locked on the window, gazing out across Tarenhelm''sndscape, aware of how hard she was breathing, and how rtivelyposed Natalie was. And damn her for that. Couldn''t her wordse a little less evenly? It was unfair how outmatched she was, in this arena. "What about the cor?" Sofia managed to ask. "Should I put it on?" Natalie''s toying around with her waistband stilled briefly, before she continued. "The cor?" she asked. "I don''t think we''ll need it tonight. I''m not going to be ordering you around." She nuzzled into Sofia''s neck and breathed in. "I just want to get my fill of you, if that''s fine." If that was fine? If that was fine? This wasn''t how this was supposed to go. Natalie should be bossing her around, making it extremely clear that she was using both the bet and the cor to her advantage. Using Sofia as was her right, under the terms of their agreement. She wasn''t supposed to ask if it was fine. The mental defenses Sofia had built up for this encounter were woefully underdeveloped even for the dynamic that had already been established, much less this ¡­ softer approach. Being bossed around and humiliated, Sofia could excuse as being a part of the bet, and therefore she could take refuge from the embarrassment, in a way. But gentle touches and soft words? The earnestness Natalie was showing in ''wanting to get her fill, before the bet was finished?'' Somehow, that was many times more mortifying. And then things became even less tenable, because Sofia lost her one reprieve: Natalie grabbed her wrist and guided her away from the window. Not roughly, but not gently either, she pushed her by the waist, throwing her onto the bed. She wasted no time in crawling over her. Sofia swallowed, no longer able to avoid meeting the woman''s eyes, her face suddenly up in Sofia''s own. "Why are you blushing so much, already?" Natalie asked, a gentle finger brushing across her eyebrow to clear away a strand of hair that had draped across her face. "We haven''t even started." Her lips turned up. "It makes me wonder, what''s gonna happen when I do something like ¡­ this?" Natalie cupped both her breasts from the side and pushed inward, squeezing them together. She repeated the motion a few times, groping her through the material of her blouse and bra."Oh, yeah, sure enough. Look at that. You''re going even redder." "S-Shut up." "Is this embarrassing you?" Her hands slipped over Sofia''s breasts in full, groping her in a more obvious way. "Being touched like this?" She leaned forward, getting her lips close to Sofia''s, her face suddenly taking up her entire vision. "Does it make your skin hot? Your thoughts go fuzzy?" "Not in the slightest." Sofia wasn''t even sure why she lied, both because there was no reason to, and because of how obvious a lie it was. "Oh?" Natalie asked. "Maybe there''s too much clothing in the way. I can fix that." She leaned up, resting her weight on Sofia''s upper legs as her fingers ran to the bottom of her blouse. "Off this goes." Sofia, at Natalie''s urging, helped peel the piece of clothing off. Natalie didn''t spare her a moment to adjust to that new level of exposure, her fingers immediately slipping behind Sofia to unsp her bra. Sofia let that, too, be pulled away and tossed haphazardly onto the floor. And so, Natalie was sitting on herp, raking her eyes across her naked chest. It wasn''t the first time, nor even was it the most tant ogling¡ªthat ordeal with putting on the erotite armor came to mind¡ªyet, here she was, her skin scorching hot in a way she''d never experienced. Natalie rested a hand on Sofia''s chest, between her breasts, and left it there. There was no movement or any apparent motive for the touch, at least not lustful. Her eyes didn''t wander from Sofia''s, and there wasn''t any mocking or amusement in them, for once. "Your heart''s beating fast," she murmured. "Really fast." Sofia flushed even harder. "I think it''s cute when you lie. So I''m gonna ask you again, since I win either way." She grabbed Sofia''s breasts, her thumbs brushing lightly against her nipples. "You''re sure this isn''t doing anything for you?" Sofia took a steadying breath. She tried to find a response, but her eyes fluttered closed, not of her own volition. "Ah, that''s no fun," Natalie chided. "Saying nothing is cheating." Her thumbs started running in circles around her nipples, no longer gentle, but determined, looking to draw a reaction out. After doing that for a few seconds, she scooted down, bending forward to bring her mouth to Sofia''s nipple. "Well, fine. I''ll get my answers in other ways." 6.40 – Sofia II 6.40 ¨C Sofia II Sofiay on the bed, naked from the waist up, while Natalie ran a tongue around her nipple, blue eyes locked to Sofia''s own. Sofia kept her hands by her sides, fingers clenched in the sheets, and didn''t make any motion to move them¡ªfrozen solid as Natalievished attention on her. She tried to make sense of her thoughts. There was the easy-to-understand aspect: the way her body was responding, her breathing in heavy pants, her heart hammering in her chest. The rising heat that wasn''t just radiating from the parts Natalie was touching, but everywhere else, making her entire body sensitive, if not hypersensitive. The way her legs were clenching against one another, the growing need between her thighs. All of that was easy, if embarrassing, to acknowledge and understand. Because of course it felt good. Of course when she was touched, her body would respond. But the intensity. Why was Natalie''s touch so effective? Why did Sofia feel like she was melting, just by having her breasts toyed with? Like Natalie had said, they weren''t even doing much, yet. Notpared to what wasing. And that was what made her truly dizzy¡ªwhat wasing. Where this was leading. More than that, with who it was happening. Natalie. That was what muddled her thoughts. Why could this girl draw this sort of reaction from her so? Set her on fire with a few simple touches? And why was she being so gentle? This wasn''t an arrogant opponent taking advantage of a hastily made bet, like had been the atmosphere of previous encounters. This was a lover''s touch. A lover''s lips wrapped around her nipple, sucking and flicking the hard nub, holding eye contact the entire time. "I think the part that drives me crazy," Natalie murmured, lifting up, leaving a glistening nipple exposed to the cool air. "Is how perfect you are, right up until I get my hands on you. Do you know what that does to me? It''s just not fair." "How ... perfect I am?" Sofia asked, the words catching her by surprise. Natalie smiled at her. She held Sofia''s chin between her thumb and forefinger and ran her thumb over her lips. "Oh, don''t y coy with me. You know how amazing you are." She leaned forward and brought her lips to Sofia''s, so close that when she whispered, they brushed against each other with each word. "Or are you just fishing forpliments? Because I will give them to you, princess." "You ¡­ will?" she breathed. She blinked at her own response¡ªhow obvious it was. Natalieughed, and kissed her, chaste and quick. "Not only," she started in a low voice, "were you always the best fighter in the entire province, you were also the prettiest. You know that? The mostposed and mature. And even when I was being a dick, you would always respond with such ¡­ grace, I guess. I honestly thought it was arrogance. Your petty way of getting under my skin while staying above it all. Our rivalry. But I think I had you wrong." Her lips quirked up. "Well, mostly wrong. You''re definitely a little arrogant." She softened the words with another kiss. "But you deserve to be, I guess. Seeing how you''re perfect, and everything." "What are you saying?" Sofia stammered out. Where had this was fishing forpliments. And she was being so obvious about it. "Oh, yeah," Natalie said, grinning. "I could start with your hair," she said, slipping both hands through her white locks. She moved closer and pressed her forehead against Sofia''s, entwining her fingers through strands at the back of her head. "It''s so silky," she said, curling and uncurling her fingers, getting a feel for her. The motion sent shivers down Sofia''s spine. "And that bright white color," she whispered. "The pale blue eyes ¡­ you''ve always seemed, I don''t know, almost too pretty to be real. When I call you princess, it''s only half about the attitude, you know." Sofia was melting. Literally. She was going to turn into a puddle at any second. How could those words do this to her? Finding a response was entirely beyond her. And even worse¡ªeven better?¡ªNatalie kept going,vishing thepliments on. "And the part that makes it really unfair," she said, "is how good you are at what you do, too. Do you know how infuriating it is, losing to someone for a decade straight? Why do you get to be everything? Gorgeous, smart, determined, skilled, poised, strong¡ªI could keep listing them all night long and not run out." "Y-You''reying it on too thick," Sofia mumbled, forcing herself to drag her eyes away from Natalie''s, turning her head to the side. "Do I sound like I''m saying it just to tease?" No. She didn''t. Maybe teasing was partially the point¡ªbut she sounded earnest, too. That was the part that Sofia almost couldn''t understand. How was she supposed toy here and take those sorts ofpliments? It was just way too much. And not nearly enough. She wanted more. "I can''t decide which is more fun," Natalie murmurughed. "Bossing you around, or telling you how amazing you are. It''s incredible, I think the second actually makes you more ufortable." She grabbed Sofia''s chin and turned her face back to her own, forcing their eyes to meet again. "Want me to keep going? I''ve got hours of content when ites to you." Yes. She did want Natalie to continue. And no, absolutely not, she couldn''t stand a single more second of the ttery. She might literallybust. It was a very confusing mix of emotions,ying there both desperately wanting, if not needing, Natalie to keep going, yet also fighting away the urge to wiggle out from underneath her and sprint away. In fact, Sofia decided, she definitely couldn''t handle more. With Natalie opening her mouth, she was forced to take desperate action. Her hand snuck up, brushing against Natalie''s skirt, then more firmly into her. She was, unsurprisingly, erect, something Sofia had been more than aware of. She palmed her bulge through her clothing and squeezed, prompting a groan from Natalie. "Princess?" "Are you really going to use all night to just talk?" Sofia asked. It was a dangerous deflection, especially because it worked as effectively as she''d hoped¡ªor feared. A hungry look appeared in Natalie''s eyes. She leaned up, and Sofia kept her hand on her, squeezing the firm outline of her shaft, the only surefire way to stop thepliments: redirecting her attention elsewhere. "No," Natalie said, a glint appearing in her eye. "No, I won''t." She reached down, took hold of Sofia''s pants by the waistband, and slid them down¡ªalong with her underwear. Sofia''s breath hitched as thest two pieces of her clothing were tossed to the floor, leaving her fully exposed. Swallowing, Sofia''s attention turned up to the ceiling, too embarrassed to so much as twitch a finger. Natalie slid off the bed, and there was some shuffling as she removed her own clothes. Then she was crawling back onto the bed, over top of Sofia. Sofia looked down, taking in Natalie''s nakedness, just in time for a hand to slip between her thighs, a finger running gently up her slit¡ªmaking her suck in a breath of surprise. "In fact, I think I''ll get to business right now, if you don''t mind," she said. 6.41 – Sofia III 6.41 ¨C Sofia III Maybe Sofia had saved herself from further mortification from Natalie''s earnest ttery¡ªand where had thate from, anyway?¡ªbut having the girl naked, peppering kisses down her chest, stomach, and onto her thighs, was overwhelming in its own right. She was barely able to keep her eyes on Natalie in the first ce, her gaze taking refuge instead in the ceiling, panting hot air as she tried to make sense of her thoughts. "You''re more pent up than I thought you''d be," Natalie said, running a finger up her slit. Sofia''s hips twitched in response, her sex well and soaked with anticipation. "Look how sensitive you are, already. I''m wondering, should I get you off once, so you canst longer? Then again," she murmured, "it''d be pretty cute if you finished as soon as I put it in. I''m pretty tempted to try for that." Oh, gods. That awful topic again. Her quickness. And the worst part was that Natalie might not be far off from the truth. Would she be able tost more than a few seconds, in the current state she was in? With her head a muddled mess, her thoughts slow and incoherent, and worse, her body tingling, hyper-sensitive to every touch? If Natalie''s fingers could do this to her, then what would¡ªwell, something else of hers do? She squeezed her eyes closed, feeling like she was overheating. The bed indented as Natalie shifted her weight around, and she felt the other girl adjust herself so that they were lying side by side, with Natalie''s breasts pressing into her shoulder. One hand snaked around her leg to gently rest on her pussy. Not rubbing at her. Just sitting there, overtop her pussy, cupping her lightly¡ªtaunting in nature. Her sex throbbed, and she felt ready to explode. Natalie''s breath was warm on her neck. "I''m gonna miss the bet being over," she said, and with her voice so close to Sofia, she was forced to open her eyes again. She regretted it as soon as she met Natalie''s gaze, the hungry yet soft expression there. It ensnared her entirely. "There ¡­ will still be the cor," Sofia found herself saying. "Sure. But that''s not the same." Natalie pressed down, the base of her palm putting pressure on Sofia''s clit. Her lower half jerked in response, and a sound between a whimper and a groan bubbled up from her throat,pletely unbidden. "The cor is yours," she said. "You get to pick when to use it. Right now, with the bet still going, I own you. I get to do whatever I want, per the terms of our agreement. Since you wouldn''t ever ruin your honorable reputation by refusing me, right?" Thest sentence dripped with mockery, but not of the rude sort, rather more¡ªa shared joke. Purposefully pointing out the pretense shared between them. "Honestly," Natalie continued, slowly drawing her hand up Sofia''s stomach, so that her middle finger could rub little circles around her clit. "I haven''t made nearly good enough use of the bet in the first ce. I mean, I could''ve had you in my bedroom every night, couldn''t I? Using a lot more than just your mouth." "That," Sofia breathed, head swimming. "That would''ve been your prerogative, yes." "But I''m too nice," Natalie tutted, shaking her head. "I had to work you into it. And even with all your training, look how you''re trembling." She was, indeed, trembling. She hadn''t noticed. Every inch of her skin tingled, the effect most intense between her legs, and also on her neck, where Natalie pressed her lips and began to nibble. She rubbed away at Sofia''s clit with an infuriatingly gentle motion, bringing her closer to that edge with an unfair speed, despite the totalck of intensity in the movement. Then, done ying with her, Natalie sat up. She pulled Sofia''s waist, moving her legs, repositioning the two of them so that Natalie was kneeling between her thighs, her cock gripped in one hand. Sofia''s mind went white as Natalie tugged her in, pressing Sofia''s ass into her thighs. She slowly draped her cock out across her pussy, rubbing the underside of her shaft against Sofia''s wet slit. Sofia shuddered. Her fingers dug into the sheets, while Natalie let out a long breath of her own, looking down raptly at where they were pressed together. She pulled her hips back, and the hot, thick shaft slid down her pussy, parting her lips just slightly, rubbing against her clit. Sofia''s hips bucked involuntarily upward, and another groan escaped the back of her throat. She really might needed to say something. Needed rification. "I ¡­ mean something to you?" Sofia asked. The question hung in the air. A long, infinite second. Then the bed was shifting as Natalie moved¡ªand lips were suddenly on Sofia''s own. Her eyes shot open to find Natalie there, holding her mouth against Sofia''s in a tender kiss that left her entirely too stunned to reciprocate. Then it broke, and Natalie spoke, barely a whisper. "You''re not just another anything, Sofia. Are you kidding me?" She sounded genuinely baffled. "There''s never been someone I''ve been so ¡­" she trailed off, her brow furrowing in confusion. As if she didn''t know what word to pick to finish the statement. And Sofia didn''t need her to. Relief washed through her, hearing her earnestness. And, honestly, Sofia didn''t know how she would phrase her feelings, either. The two of them had spent the majority of their lives as ... not enemies, but definitely rivals. Frustrated admiration,petitiveness, and antagonism being the dominant theme of their interactions. But, also, maybe something else, that whole time, too? Jordan''s words, a second time, came back to her. Their discussions earlier. Her strategy. Sofia flushed, and nced away, suddenly embarrassed. She bit her lip. "It''s just, you''ll be my first, you know," she found herself saying. "Even if we aren''t ¡­ a thing, maybe I would want ¡­ a bit of the girlfriend experience, first? To not just be used?" Was she really stealing Jordan''s n, y-by-y? If anyone understood Natalie though, it would be Jordan. Sofia''s heart mmed so hard it felt like it woulde out of her throat. "It would just, make me feel better about this arrangement, I guess?" And how had Jordan said to end it? She fluttered her big, blue, vulnerable eyes. Natalie seemed almost like she''d been struck by lightning. "A date? You want a date?" "Or whatever," Sofia stammered. "A date," Natalie said more firmly. "I didn''t know¡ª I thought you¡ª" She rolled off Sofia, suddenly, her naked skin no longer touching Sofia''s. "Of course," she said. "Okay. Yes. A date. I would love to." She ¡­ would? A warm feeling grew in Sofia''s chest, recing the anxiety, flooding it all away. A part of Sofia had almost thought she''d beughed at for making the request. That Natalie would insist it was all just about the bet they had made, and how ridiculous of her for thinking otherwise. That she wouldn''t get ''a girlfriend experience,'' because that wasn''t what this was. Tonight was just Natalie taking her long-awaited prize. But no. Of course not. The charade was just a charade, as she''d always known. However little she''d inspected the arrangement inside her own head. And not that she knew what was under the charade, either. Not truly. "Great," Sofia said. "Um. Thank you." With that rified¡ªthough not much had actually been rified¡ªSofia came back to awareness of their situation. Now what? They were still naked in bed together, after all. And had¡ªhad Natalie taken all of that in the wrong way? "Not that, um, I''m saying we need to stop," Sofia said. Natalie paused, then turned her head to look at her. A smile slowly grew on her lips, and Sofia suddenly had a bad feeling. "Nope," Natalie said. "Nice try. I''ve decided I''ve been taking things too fast." She ced a hand on Sofia''s pelvic area and patted. "You''re not getting fucked tonight." She pecked a kiss onto Sofia''s lips¡ªwhich, despite everything, managed to scramble her thoughts, even the brief contact¡ªand sat up in bed. She shuffled off, stood, and scooped up her clothing, tossing Sofia''s to her as she did. "H-Hey," Sofia said, catching her blouse. "What? We''re not done, are we?" "The girlfriend experience means the datees first," Natalie said authoritatively¡ªno argument to be brooked in her voice. "So that''s what''s happening." She slipped on her panties. "What day are you thinking? Next week''s probably gonna be busy." Sofiay there, gaping in disbelief at Natalie, her core aching with need. All of the effects of Natalie''s forey hadn''t gone anywhere. And in fact, with Natalie so easily epting ns for a date, and ¡­ all of the things she''d said, her earnestness, any remote reservations and anxiety of Sofia''s had been erased. She was, in fact, far more than just ''ready,'' in that moment. But Natalie kept putting her clothes on. Sofia wasn''t going to be getting any relief tonight, was she? After all that? After being more pent up and sensitive than maybe ever in her life? Natalieughed. "C''mon, princess. Get dressed. It''s not happening." One thing bubbled to the forefront of Sofia''s confused thoughts, past the indignation, the lingering arousal, the embarrassment, the confusion, and even¡ªthe happiness? That this was all Jordan''s fault. She''d nted that seed, and Sofia had needed to open her mouth. And now the long-awaited night had been cut off unceremoniously. Sofia would definitely be having some choice words with that woman, tomorrow. 6.42 – Thinking Never Helps 6.42 ¨C Thinking Never Helps For the first time in a while, Nataliey alone in her bedroom without someone to apany her. She''d intended to spend the night with Sofia, but that hadn''te to pass; the white-haired girl had scurried back to her room once it became clear she wouldn''t be ''taking advantage'' of their bet. Normally Natalie would have gone and gotten Jordan, but then she would have to exin what happened with Sofia, and more than that, Jordan would have asked all kinds of questions. Questions Natalie didn''t know how to answer. Hence, she was alone in her bed for the first time in a while, and while it was cold and unweing not having her best friend lying there to keep her warm, she did, at least, appreciate the moment of calm. To think about a very puzzling situation. Sofia. Clearly, Natalie had misjudged a few things there. Not only about Sofia, but also about herself. Because she hadn''t been nning to handle the night like she had. With soft touches andpliments, not even telling Sofia to put her cor on. The girl had looked so nervous that Natalie hadn''t been able to help herself. And when she''d responded so positively to the gentle treatment, Natalie had wanted to keepying in morepliments, turning that blush even redder. But then she''d gone and asked if she meant anything to Natalie. She was still mad about that an hourter. Or maybe mad was the wrong word. Baffled? Outraged? Indignant? Some concoction of all of those things? Because obviously Sofia meant something to Natalie. She wasn''t ''just another conquest.'' The idea that Sofia could be ''just another'' anything was ridiculous. In the least charitable interpretation of Natalie''s interest, Sofia would have been the conquest¡ªnot any other. But even that wasn''t a valid description of what Sofia was to her. Partially, maybe; she wouldn''t pretend like the idea of making her life-long rival squirm didn''t invoke some proud feelings of ''conquest.'' But there was a lot more there, bubbling underneath the surface. What specifically, though? Natalie rubbed her face, trying to make sense of her thoughts. Instead of examining them too closely¡ªthe revtions on the horizon made her nervous¡ªher mind wandered back to Sofia. She''d been insecure. Insecure. Sofia. Those two words didn''t belong together. Sure, Natalie had seen it once before, like that incident on the train where Sofia had gotten overexcited and finished quickly, but that had been a¡ªshe didn''t know, surface-level insecurity? The kind everyone had. Inconsequential, she guessed, or at least not all that deep. But that vulnerability she''d shown not a full hour ago, lying underneath Natalie right as she was about to thrust in? That had been something more. A genuine break in her confidence. And about Natalie no less? About what Natalie thought of her? What? Why? She didn''t understand. The two of them hated each other. Okay, that wasn''t true. Natalie hadn''t ever hated Sofia, even if that was a word she''d sometimes used. If she allowed herself a moment of genuine introspection, she would begrudgingly admit jealous was the better descriptor. Natalie was a fiercelypetitive person, like just about anyone epted into one of the world''s most prestigious delving academies. And Sofia had grown up alongside her, always a bit better inbat, and a lot better in other things¡ªall of thosepliments she''d been throwing at her. Prettier. Better poised. Smarter. Hard-working. Just so goddamn perfect that it drove Natalie insane. And that woman was concerned with what she thought? That she ''meant something to her''? Then again. If Natalie thought over what she''d actually said, it made more sense. It might be less about Natalie herself and more about Sofia wanting to mean something to anyone about to take her virginity. Which was obviously fair. Sofia got off on people bossing her around¡ªthat was why Natalie treated her like she did, or, well, was one of the reasons¡ªand even enjoyed being degraded to some extent that she was carefully testing the limits on, but tonight, apparently, she had gone too far. However quickly Natalie''s encounters might go from flirting to sex, one week really wasn''t all that much time to ''work into things'' for a more reserved or inexperienced girl, which Sofia obviously was. So yeah. Maybe it hadn''t been about Natalie at all. She''d just gone too fast, and Sofia had gotten nervous about her first time being taken by somebody who didn''t care for her. And that was totally reasonable. If not how she''d expected Sofia to react, else she wouldn''t have pushed for the climactic night at all. And while the two of them were hardly going to end up girlfriends¡ªt-that would bepletely ridiculous¡ªNatalie was still a bit miffed by the implication that Sofia had thought them not something, even if just ¡­ special rivals? She didn''t know what to call it. Nheless, her reaction had been reasonable. Too fast was too fast, and it didn''t matter what anyone else thought about the matter. Hence why Natalie had broken the encounter off; continuing would have tainted the interaction, or at least would have a chance to. She''d haveid with Sofia in bed for a while, at a minimum, clothed and without ulterior intent, but the girl had fled back to her own room¡ªmaybe to think about things herself, which Natalie could hardly me her for, considering her own restless rolling side-to-side, her thoughts going a thousand miles per hour while finding no answers whatsoever. Still. The tentative conclusions she''d drawn were at least somewhat liked her in that way; she just wanted to mean something to her first partner. And when Sofia had asked for the ''girlfriend experience,'' she wasn''t asking to be girlfriends¡ªelse why phrase it like that? The ''girlfriend experience.'' Sofia just wanted the proper experience, a veneer that their rtionship was like most others, so that she could feel morefortable for their first time. If their first time would evene, now that the bet would be ending. Sure, the cor acted as some sort of incentive, but that was Sofia''s item: the bulk of the ''leverage,'' the mutual excuses for their behavior, came from the bet. Natalie sighed. Well, whatever. She didn''t want Sofia''s first time unless she absolutely wanted to give it. She''d thought they''d already been there though, and was admittedly a bit pent up at not finding release after such a long, intense anticipation. She rolled over and tugged her pillow over her head, the cool sheets of the bed a salve against her unexpectedly hot face. And now she had two dates to n instead of one. Jordan, at least, Natalie knew: she had ideas in the works. And honestly, the two of them were lifelong friends, so walking down the street enjoying each other''spany would be a date she loved, because any date she would love so long as Jordan was there, and hopefully Jordan felt the same. Not that Natalie had something some nned out; she just knew, when it came to Jordan, that simply being together was enough. She was stressed, but also not. But where in the world would Sofia want to go? Natalie groaned and flopped back over, staring at the ceiling. At least it wouldn''t be a real date. For whatever reason, the idea of that possibility had her head ten times the mess it was already in. She didn''t dare inspect the tangled knot there. Just a fake one. The ''girlfriend experience.'' Yes, she could do that. 6.43 – The Good News 6.43 ¨C The Good News "This is all your fault." Still bleary-eyed from having been woken up early by soft knocking at her door, Jordan took in the sight on the other side of her door. Sofia stood there, in her pajamas, wearing fuzzy white slippers and an ice-cold re that only a Theliosian, with their famous bone-white hair and pale blue eyes, could deliver quite so frostily. "Ah?" Jordan asked, wholly unprepared to have a ring Sofia at her door so early in the morning. She tried to shake off the morning fatigue. Sofia hadn''t woken her that early, only a half-hour before normal rising time. By the re, she suspected Sofia had woken and been unable to get back to sleep, then stalked over to Jordan''s room for ¡­ some reason? Then Jordan remembered whatst night had been¡ªthest opportune day of that ridiculous bet of Sofia and Natalie''s¡ªand the tiredness cleared away on its own. "Oh?" Jordan said. "What happened? What''s my fault?" She opened the door and waved Sofia in, who stalked in, continuing to shoot res even as she moved to the chair in the corner of the room and sat. "How''dst night go?" "Awfully." "O-Oh?" Jordan''s heart sank, before sensing that something was off in the way she''d said awfully¡ªthere was a certainck of despair or heat in the word, at least for the worst-case interpretation Jordan had defaulted to. "Awful how?" "I took your advice." "My advice?" Sofia''s cheeks colored, but she didn''t turn her eyes away, her anger overruling her embarrassment for once. "I told Natalie I wanted ''the girlfriend experience,'' if we were going to be doing all of that." Jordan''s attention was instantly captured. She sat on the edge of her messy bed nearest to the chair Sofia was sitting in. "And what happened?" "What you said would. She agreed to a date." She punctuated the statement by crossing her arms. "That''s ¡­ good, isn''t it?" It was more than she''d expected from Sofia, honestly. She had figured the two of them spend all night together and, somehow, not talk about a single thing. "And then she put her clothes back on," Sofia said tly. Jordan blinked. Slowly, she patched together an image of what Sofia was saying. In fact, she felt like she knew the girl well enough to guess what had happened in a moreprehensive picture than she was being given. The request had probablye at a rather pivotal moment¡ªsay, right before the deed was about to be done. Sofia had found the courage to open her mouth and make her intentions at least one percent clear. Then Natalie had put a stop to things, with her confidence in Sofia''s willingness put into question, or perhaps deciding that such a climactic event should be saved for after the date, not before. Jordan''s lips twitched in amusement. "And so, what, you''re ming me that the two of you didn''t sleep together?" "Of course not." Sofia''s re doubled, betraying her words. "Why would I be upset by that? I should be thanking you, if anything." And yet here she was, ring. "Her cock is pretty amazing," Jordan said. "So I''d get it if you were a little upset." Her lips twitched. "Don''t be crude," Sofia said. "But that''s the problem, right?" Her amusement by this whole situation grew by the second. "What, getting a date out of that idiot doesn''t make up for losing out on a night of mind-blowing sex?" Jordan tapped her finger to her lips, putting on a show of consideration. "Maybe you should''ve just shut up and enjoyed the ride, then." Sofia narrowed her eyes at her. Jordan could tell there was even a bit of truth in the teasing: Sofia had obviously wantedst night to continue like it would''ve, barring her interjection. And Jordan sympathized. If she''d been in Sofia''s position, about to be taken by Natalie for the first time, especially with a full week of forey working up to the event, she''d be a bit fuming by the anticlimax too. But hey. The post-date sex was going to be amazing, she bet. Jordanughed. "Okay, but you did get a date out of it. So at least there''s that. It''s not all bad." Sofia''s lips pursed. "I suppose." "And you''re finally willing to admit that''s something you want from her?" Getting more, like a confession to a crush, was obviously off the table, considering the extreme levels of delusion¡ªor at least denial¡ªshe was dealing with on both ends of this rtionship, but she would take baby steps where she could find them. Sofia sniffed. "I''m willing to see how it goes," she said nomittally. Okay. Half a baby-step then, not a full one. It was still something. "So that''s a win? You''ll just have to wait a bit longer. Be a bit pent up." Jordan feigned a surprised pause. "Oh. Is that why you came to me? Am I supposed to make ¡­ reparations, for messing that up for you?" She waggled her eyebrows. "I mean, I''ll have to ask Natalie first, if you want me to say sorry in that way." "W-What?" That, finally, pulled a blush out of the girl''s angry demeanor. "Shut up. I came here to tell you that you meddle too much. That''s it." "Personally, I don''t think I meddle enough." She raised her hands in defeat. "But, I''ll apologize for depriving you of Natalie''s cock. As far as I''m concerned, that is one of the worst crimes a person couldmit." Sofia sputtered. "Stop being so crude!" "Natalie''sdy-like rod, then?" Jordan suggested. "I''m not sure how to put it in a non-crude way." In a huff, Sofia stood up. "Well, take this as an official notice that I''m upset with you." "You''re sure you weren''t just sharing the good news in a way that preserves your ego?" Jordan asked with a grin. Sofia didn''t deign to respond to that; she walked to Jordan''s door to make to leave. "Can I help you pick out your outfit?" Jordan asked. "I know what she likes. And I think together, we can make her head explode, when date nightes." Sofia hesitated, hand on the doorknob. She sniffed. "Perhaps. I''ll let you know." Jordan internally tranted: yes, please. Sofia left. Jordan''s attention lingered on the closed door for a bit, before she fell backward into her bed and stared up at the ceiling. A few seconds passed before she startedughing. Well. Good for them. *** A half-hourter, the team was dressed in delving gear and assembled downstairs. There was a new tension between Natalie and Sofia, an understated thing of idental eye contact and flushes, that Jordan was absolutely delighted to see. Jordan had all kinds of questions for Natalie. But unfortunately, it would have to wait. They had professional lives to worry about as much as personal ones. After a light breakfast, they set off in the magical carriage to the edge of the Duskwood. It was time to put an end to the goblin menace once and for all. The question was, with Greed a known influence now, what would they be finding out there, amongst the trees? 6.44 – Nest 6.44 ¨C Nest The trek into the Duskwood was a smoother process than the first time, with them knowing the general location to look through. So long as their assumption was correct, the goblin nest would be near where they had fought the empowered Raid Leader. They took Malice out of the [Capture Core] on the outskirts of the forest, wanting to have their sixth member ready to respond at a moment''s notice. The wolfgirl vibrated with excitement, having been looking forward to the fight. To her senses, it hadn''t been long, if any time at all, since leaving yesterday. Malice had said being stored in the capture core was simr to sleeping, but not exactly, and that was obvious enough just by how aware she was between transfers: she didn''t have to groggily wake up; she barely had to orient. Natalie wondered whether she even had some vague awareness of what was happening outside of the core. She could see that going either way. Less than an hour of exploration led them to their target. The goblin base, or nest, or whatever a person wanted to call it, was a collection of primitive and hastily made shelters with arge firece at the center for cooking and providing heat. Animal corpsesy scattered a short distance away, stripped for meat, their bones exposed to the air. More interesting were the crates: food, textiles, spices, the plunder of merchant wagons they''d been attacking for thest several weeks. They were stacked in one giant pile, obviously unused, just sitting there to be ¡­ she didn''t even know. Worshiped? The pile of goods gave a vague impression of an altar. Natalie wondered whether that was a valid impression, or if she''d been influenced to believe so, knowing Greed had made one of these creatures a champion. Though maybe ''champion'' was too strong a word. Natalie doubted that Lust''s patronage of her was at allparable to Greed''s for these goblins. There were plenty of the creatures left, even with the limited view Natalie had, peeking between trees a fair distance away. They''d done good work thinning their numbers during previous skirmishes, but clearly the operation wasrger than T, or Tarenhelm, had initially thought. For that matter, it had already been a more difficult quest than assumed from the two bands they''d already fought, much less this final encounter. The creatures busied themselves with their daily lives, and it was a bit unnerving watching them eat, walk around, organize their altar of goods, and other such activities. It didn''t humanize them, since none were talking, chatting,ughing, or anything else she''d expect to see in a camp of sapient beings, but it was still weird and made her ufortable. One goblin stood out, bigger than the rest. That, too, came as no surprise, or only half of one, because it was still a shock to see a goblin nearly three times the size of the rest. The thing''s muscles were even more bulging than the Raid Leader, and if Natalie had to guess, that was not only because it was more deeply imbued by Greed¡ªthe true leader of this n¡ªbut also because it was strength-focused, not agility like the dagger and bow wielding Raid Leader. After observing the camp, taking care to stay hidden¡ªit was fortunate they''d found the base without being seen¡ªNatalie and her team retreated to discuss their ns. "About twenty I saw," Jordan said. "And probably a few hidden here and there. We can get the drop on them, take out five or six before they know what''s happening." "So only a bit more difficult than the other fights," Sofia said. "Which we expected. The real problem, obviously, is the big one." "Yeah," Jordan said. "The big guy." For some reason, everyone''s attention turned to Natalie. She could only assume it was because both she, and it, were pdins of sorts. "Well," Natalie said. "There''s no telling how strong it is. But it''s gotta die either way." She shrugged. "So let''s go fuck it up." "Free energy, as far as I''m concerned," Malice said with a grin, eyes flicking toward the goblin camp. She was bouncing on her heels, barely able to suffer through these ''practical talks.'' It set Natalie''s own bloodlust itching too, seeing how eager she was to get going. "And at least there''s only one," Natalie said. "I was worried there''d be the main boss, and maybe another Raid Leader too. That would''ve been tricky." "Just a bunch of weak ones, and the big guy," Jordan agreed. "That''s easier. We thinking two sub-parties, like before?" That was all but inevitable when fighting so many enemies at once. "Liz gives Ana her buff," Natalie said. "Sofia guards the two of them. Me, Jay, and Malice see what we can do to take the boss down. Maybe we can get on top of it before it knows." "Probably won''t happen," Sofia grunted. "It''s in the middle of the camp." "Don''t see a weapon though," Jordan said. "So maybe it''ll be unarmed?" "Do you see the size of that thing? I''m pretty sure it''s a brute. All the other goblins are carrying their weapons with them, so the boss would too¡ªbut it just doesn''t have one." Jordan nodded, conceding the point. "Probably true. Doesn''t change anything though. Getting the drop on it will help." "Still try to take out as many on the way as you can," Liz chimed in. "Don''t just rush for the boss, ignoring the rest. New Ana is scary, but she''s still one mage. Twenty or more goblins is a lot." "Especially since some will be level three," Ana said. "Those won''t die in a single shot. Once they get to us, it''s harder to deal with." "That''s why you''ll have Sofia," Natalie said idly. "And we''lle if we need to. But yes, I''ll take out what I can during the rush." She just figured upying the boss''s attention would go a lot further toward the ultimate goal¡ªand be necessary anyway. It wasn''t like they had much choice in the matter; it would engage them within seconds of the fight breaking out, regardless. "Any objections, or should we go for it? Every second we spend chatting is another we might get caught. Don''t wanna lose the advantage." "Let''s do it," Sofia said, rolling her grip on her rapier. "And Malice?" "Yes?" "Don''t howl to announce us, please," she said dryly. The wolfgirl paused, then frowned. She sniffed. "Ambushes are beneath us," she said. "But yes, fine, whatever. I can stay quiet." Her grin came back, canines exposed. "As long as I have something to kill, I''m happy." Natalie nodded. It was time, then. 6.45 – Chieftain I 6.45 ¨C Chieftain I Without further dy, they rushed in for the final battle. Natalie sent out a prayer of thanks that Malice held off on her signature howl, as she had promised. They needed as much of an advantage as they could get. With how many goblins were in the camp, Natalie didn''t make it far before the first green-skinned creature spotted them, froze, and shrieked out a warning. Awareness of the ambush rippled through the creatures, all turning to face them. But those free seconds were crucial¡ªeasily worth several kills. Havoc erupted through the camp, and Natalie took satisfaction that they were performing the ambush this time. And the advantage of surprise couldn''t be overstated. Before their enemies became aware of them, Jordan had slid a dagger into a throat, Sofia skewered one through the chest, and Ana summoned two giant shadow limbs to crush two, three, then four of the weaker monsters deeper into the camp. Natalie even managed to catch one on her way to the boss, a half-effort swing that sent the creature flying¡ªif not dead, then at least crippled. As enjoyable as those potent first strikes were, though, when the biggest goblin stood and turned toward her, its veins glowing golden in a familiar way, Natalie couldn''t stop a small thrill of intimidation from going through her. The monster had been sitting and eating, hunched over, so she hadn''t been able to urately gauge its size. Now she could. Goblin. This thing wasn''t a goblin. Goblins were small, wiry monsters with stringy muscles and sharp bones barely contained within leathery skin. This one was nearly as tall as her and built heavier than even the bulkiest fighters at T. The glowing veins snaking across its muscles only further set it apart. If Natalie hadn''t known it was a goblin distorted by Greed, she''d have assumed it was something else entirely. A short ogre, maybe. No longer needing to worry about alerting the creature, Natalie [Inspected] it. [Goblin Chieftain - Lv. 4] Level four. The Raid Leader had been level three. Seeing how Natalie was three herself, and the rest of her team two, this was going to be a hell of a fight. By the time Natalie arrived at the boss to m her hammer down in a probing first blow, the goblin camp was in an uproar. The green-skinned creatures screeched and screamed as they ran toward their targets of choice. A portion came for her, Malice, and Jordan, but the bulk went for Ana''s group. Probably because of the sheer damage those shadow manifestations were doing. Natalie''s armor had a taunting effect, but massive damage was its own innate sort of taunt. Plus, maybe the majority had silently agreed to let the chieftain handle Natalie''s subgroup. Maybe they thought it didn''t need their help. That theory was shortly substantiated. Her hammer mmed down toward the Chieftain''s head, Natalie having wound up a running swing on the way over. And the chieftain pped it away. Natalie went careening sideways as her bulky weapon''s momentum was redirected. It was shock more than anything that had her fumbling her recovery. A goblin had pped a fully charged attack of hers away with its bare hands? They''d already decided that this thing must be a strength-based monster and a higher level than the Raid Leader to boot, but that was just absurd. While she was getting control of her weapon, Malice arrived. The wolfgirl sidestepped a forward kick from the chieftain, then dodged a follow-up grapple to deliver a hard punch into the chieftain''s side, followed by a second and third. Natalie knew first-hand that Malice''s blows had serious power behind them, but the chieftain didn''t even flinch. She was forced to jump backward as a backhand swipe passed through where she''d just been standing. Malice retreated, briefly, though she was grinning wide, eyes showing bloodlust. "This one''s gonna be hard," she called to Natalie. "But he''s big and slow. Take our time. Bleed him out." Unfortunately, there wasn''t just the chieftain to worry about. After that first exchange, the goblins throughout the camp had finished closing in on their respective targets. Natalie swatted away one with a low sweep of her hammer, then twisted out of reach from a dagger sh. She retaliated with a kick, catching the goblin square in the chest and cracking ribs. She would have finished it with a downward swing, but the chieftain''s attention had turned to her. She was forced to scramble back, its fingers grazing her shoulder as it barely missed a grapple. The huge beast was panting and wild-eyed, breathsing in huge gasps. Not in the way of exhaustion, though. Rather, like an enraged bull, maybe. Or pure excitement. Natalie held the chieftain''s attention while Jordan and Malice dealt with their own goblins. She had experience fighting martial artists, though she questioned whether that was a valid identifier, here. Yes, the chieftain punched, kicked, tackled, and used its body as a weapon, but there was none of Malice''s grace in the movements. Only pure power. But so much power. Natalie was forced onto the defensive, dodging and staying out of reach, and in the two instances she could sneak in an attack of her own, her hammer was batted away with contemptuous ease. That nearly broke her morale outright. Her whole thing was being able to overpower her enemies, and here she was, fully charged swings being ignored. Just how grossly outmatched was she? She got her answer in the next moment. Her third attack was interrupted not by being smacked away or blocked by a forearm, but instead by being caught. The chieftain grabbed the heavy metal block of her hammer with two hands and wrenched. Natalie stumbled, watching in horror as the chieftain shifted his weight, readying a kick. She was forced to abandon [Valentine]. Letting go, she flung herself backward, narrowly avoiding a blow that surely would have shattered her ribcage, if not killed her outright. Then the chieftain did something she hadn''t predicted. It threw her hammer at her. [Valentine], massive warhammer or not, flew through the air with the ease of a skipping stone, and while Natalie tried to dodge, she was off-foot from the exchange: not just being wrenched forward but then desperately dodging away from its kick. She managed to get half out of the way. The metal block of her own hammer caught her on the shoulder. She spun twice before finding herself face-down in the dirt. Dazed, she forced herself up. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Malice had forced the chieftain''s attention back to her. And thank the heavens she had, because grounded as she''d been, and considering the creature''s ridiculous strength, Natalie''s life might have been at its mercy. She scrambled over to her hammer, ignoring the searing pain in her shoulder. Even that ncing blow might have dislocated something. She rolled the joint, deciding it was still functional. As she stood, she took in the rest of the battlefield. Sofia, Liz, and Ana had cut their way through the majority of the goblins, though there were still plenty left, which Sofia was upying as Ana''s magic tore through them. It would be another half-minute or so before the other half of their team could join against the real threat, which was an eternity in these sorts of fights. Natalie faced back to the chieftain, pulling her hammer up. Malice weaved between attacks, but while the chieftain was slow and lumbering rtive to its absurd strength, that didn''t mean it was slow: Malice was hard-pressed to fend away its attention. Especially when it didn''t need to dodge her in return: it ate her attacks easily, and each punch or kick risked her being grabbed and crushed in retaliation. Jordan fared better, being a stealth-and-speed ss, dodging in and out of the engagement while Malice upied the beast. But even Jordan''s dagger only drew thin red lines against tough, reinforced skin. Natalie made a decision. In most fights, she didn''t use [Empower], because doing so consumed a valuable, non-regenerative resource that should be prioritized for her permanent advancement. But this was obviously going to be an all-out fight. Life or death. It was time to spend resources liberally. 6.46 – Chieftain II 6.46 ¨C Chieftain II Full body [Illusions], at least inbat, Natalie had found too unwieldy to be useful since they became more difficult to control based on the size,plexity, and strength of their deception. However, [Empower] as an ability raised the potency of a skill. In this case, that meant those same factors. A second full-body version of herself shimmered into existence,ing to life just ahead of Natalie, charging for the chieftain just like she was. Carnal Energy sagged out of her alongside a significant portion of her mana, draining her in an indescribable way. But she couldn''t afford not to spend everything she had. Against a monster like this, one that could p away her hammer blows, a single proper attack could kill her, much less a more fragile teammate like Jordan. If Natalie didn''t use everything in her kit, she wouldn''t ever forgive herself if something went wrong. Both she and her illusion yelled at the top of their voice as they charged forward, and in the racket they created, they grabbed the chieftain''s attention, pulling the hulking beast away from a growing-harried Malice. She was limping by that point, even only having to weather the chieftain for a short time. Natalie hadn''t seen how she''d been hurt. She had to fight down the spike of concern, seeing the injury. And almost more importantly, the thrill of anger that went through her. Passion could help in a fight, but it could as easily be a person''s downfall. [Empower], at its current rank, amplified an ability by a factor of two and a half. With that upgrade, her illusion was all but identical to herself, and not just that, supernaturally imbued to draw the chieftain''s focus. Still, she saw the huge, muscled creature hesitate as its eyes flicked between the two Natalies, trying to decide which was real. Like the Raid Leader, this thing was intelligent: she could tell that at a nce. There was some level of sapience behind its eyes, though they certainly wouldn''t be having a conversation¡ªif they even shared anguage. One Natalie went left, the other right. The chieftain chose incorrectly, influenced by the deceptive nature of the skill. Natalie didn''t want to reveal that it had chosen wrong, though, so she mentally influenced her illusion to dodge away, preventing the chieftain''s grasping hands from passing straight through it. Unlike her lewd application of an empowered illusion, this clone had to be manually controlled. It wasn''t as difficult as piloting a second body, though it did take a fair amount of mental overhead. The huge goblin backpedaled, keeping both Natalies in its vision. She couldn''t move fast enough to stop that. But after a series of exchanges, with Malice and Jordan finding careful openings, Natalie saw her own opportunity. With a two-handed sideways swing, she mmed a blow into the beast''s thigh. It didn''t even make the creature stagger: in fact, Natalie sent a spike of agony into her own injured shoulder more than she hurt it. But that wasn''t the point. One side of her hammer had scored an attack. Now she had tond a second to trigger [Valentine]''s stun. Then she could execute her n. Malice, naturalbatant as she was, sensed Natalie''s intention¡ªor at least she saw that she was going for her stun. She paid for the second opening, going on an abrupt frenzied aggression. The hail of kicks and punches incited the goblin to overextend itself: but just as Natalie''s second attack took advantage of that opening, the beast itself took advantage of Malice''s aggression. Its fist seared toward Malice, and though the wolfgirl brought up crossed forearms to absorb the blow¡ªwith dodging not a viable option¡ªthe defense crumpled against a monster so strong. Bones snapped as her arms bent inward, and Malice was thrown backward, tumbling head-over-heels. Natalie forced herself to stay focused, though it was hard. Malice had paid to create an opening for Natalie; she wouldn''t waste it. Her hammer connected, iming a second strike of alternative faces, and so [Valentine]''s effect triggered. Though none of their attacks had seemed to hurt the hulking monster so far, nor did this attack seem to, the chieftain staggered two heavy steps back, then, after swaying, fell forward, face-nting into the dirt¡ªa magically imbued stun. She didn''t waste time, channeling an [Empowered] [Smite] even as she began staggering forward. It was extremely difficult to move while channeling the ability, but not, she found, impossible. Carnal Energy siphoned away, and the vibrating ball of pink lightning gathering at her hammer''s tip was nothing like the first. Two and a half times more potent, she knew. Even a level four champion of Greed wouldn''t be able to walk this off if she couldnd it. "You don''t have time," Jordan cried out. That would be true under normal circumstances. Stunning effects were proportional to the target they were delivered onto. [Valentine]''s was powerful, but against a monster this durable? Only two seconds in, the monster was already stirring, the effect expiring. Which was why Natalie nted a foot on its back, leveled her hammer a few inches from the monster''s skull, and activated an [Empowered] [Hunker Down]. Her defensive ability was an active skill, after all, and thus a viable target for [Empower]. There just weren''t many reasons to strengthen [Hunker Down] since it made her ''invulnerable to most attacks,'' and generally, she only needed a brief duration of high resistance. Since the skills ''potency''y in its duration, that was what [Empower] would enhance. Two and a half seconds into [Smite]''s channel, [Valentine]''s stunning effect broke. The chieftain began to thrash wildly. But a firmly nted boot kept it pinned to the ground. Natalie was invulnerable and immovable to anything remotely inside her level bracket: and this thing was, ultimately, only a level four. It iled impotently, ttened into the ground by Natalie''s foot, crushed by a mountain as far as physics was concerned. All while a crackling ball of energy gathered at her hammer tip, pointed for the chieftain''s skull, increasing in strength by the second. Natalie couldn''t even move her eyes: her entire body was locked in ce during [Hunker Down]''s effect. She watched with a mad sort of excitement as seconds ticked by, both impossibly fast and slow. [Smite] grew in power. The crackling bolts of pink lightning made her teeth ache, burned lines into her vision. Six seconds. The full duration. Even against the Raid Leader, she''d only gotten five. And that one hadn''t been [Empowered]. The channel concluded just as [Hunker Down] expired. A bomb of energy exploded straight into the chieftain''s skull, engulfing it and blinding her. And, no longer invulnerable¡ªand [Hunker Down] only granting resistance to physical attacks, anyway¡ªthe explosion also consumed her. She went flying backward, losing consciousness immediately. 6.47 – Banged Up 6.47 ¨C Banged Up Natalie woke surrounded by five pretty faces hovering above her, eyes wide with concern. In most circumstances, she would consider that a pretty amazing way to wake up. Unfortunately, she felt like she''d been used as a high-ranker''s punching bag. Her eyes fluttered closed, and she let out one of the most pitiful groans of her life. "Natalie!" Liz said. "You''re awake." "Of course she is," Malice said. "I told you she was fine." "I don''t wanna be awake," Natalie moaned. "Oh, gods, everything hurts." "You blew yourself up!" an infuriated Sofia''s voice came. "Of course it hurts!" Blew herself up. That kick-started her memory. She shot upright, ignoring the agony thatnced across her body. "We''re safe?" Her eyes flicked around them, first seeking out her hammer¡ªwhich was lying to her side, dragged over by one of her teammates¡ªand then the chieftain''s headless corpse. She rxed, but only slightly. "Would we be sitting around if we weren''t safe?" Jordan asked dryly. She pushed on Natalie''s shoulder. "Take it easy. Liz is still patching you up." Natalie resisted briefly before allowing herself to beid back down. Her muscles protested the movement. She really wasn''t in great condition, and this was after Liz hadyered a few heals into her? And by the weird aftertaste in her mouth, after she''d been force-fed a potion? Healing could only do so much, and it came with diminishing effects. She was going to be one enormous bruise tomorrow, wasn''t she? She supposed she should be happy she was alive and doubly so that all her friends were. She hadn''t considered how strong the blowback of an [Empowered] [Smite] would be. With their safety now obvious, her distraction was gone: the aches and pains returned to the forefront of her attention. She groaned loudly a second time. "How bad is it?" she asked. Another of Liz''s heals washed through her, taking some of the edge off, but the effect was muted¡ªmuch weaker than what she was used to. Natalie had definitely already been hit by a number of the spells, and each sessive one was getting weaker. She''d take what she could get though. The fight was over, and Liz wouldn''t need the mana. Besides, Liz could dip into Natalie''s own mana pool if need be. "That''s for you to tell us," Jordan said. She nced at Malice. "And you should put Malice in her capture core. She''s hurt." "This?" Malice sniffed. "This is nothing." Natalie''s concern spiked as she remembered what had happened. "Your arms!" A vivid mental image shot through her head of the wolfgirl''s forearms breaking, snapping like twigs while blocking a punch from the chieftain. "Are you okay?" She wasn''t. Malice''s arms were hanging to her side, and there was an odd bend to both of them. Natalie gaped before spinning to Liz. "Why didn''t you heal her!" Liz was instantly flustered. "She told me not to," she returned just as heatedly. "Of course I would''ve." "I''m fine," Malice said, rolling her eyes. "The capture core will fix me. The healer needed to focus her attention on you." Natalie gaped at the wolfgirl a second time before she fumbled out the capture core. "We don''t even know how its healing effects work," she growled. "It might be the same as everything else¡ªthe longer it''s been since you got hurt, the less effective it is." "I don''t think so," Malice said, but it was obviously a guess, and theck of concern in her voice made Natalie''s frustration spike. "And why were you so reckless in the first ce?" Natalie asked. "Rushing in like that. You could''ve been killed." She was lucky she''d just broken her arms. "Says you!" Sofia shrilled. "You blew yourself up!" "Okay, everyone, calm down," Jordan said in a pacifying voice. She faced Malice. "Can Nat put you in? You really do need healing." Malice grunted. "I''ve seen that the pack leader is fine, so yes, you may." Natalie did so immediately, taking relief in the fact that Malice would have a regenerative effect on her. Though she worried about how effective it would be. She had no idea what the limitations or strength of the capture core''s healing was. With Malice gone, her teammates'' attentions turned back to her. "But yes, I agree with Sofia," Jordan said, her concerned eyes taking on a hint of frustration¡ªmirroring what Natalie had felt for Malice. "That was reckless, Nat. Even by your standards." "It worked, didn''t it?" Jordan pursed her lips. She couldn''t disagree with that, at least. "Plus, you saw that thing," Natalie grunted before Jordan could continue. "It was way too strong. One stray attack could''ve killed any of you. Could''ve gotten me, and I''m the tank. I had to do something." Because there was absolutely zero chance she would extend that fight any longer than necessary. Her getting seriously hurt was one thing. Jordan, Sofia, or anyone else? Absolutely not. She''d have done much stupider, even, so long as it meant they were safe. Was her job in the team, anyway. Jordan didn''t seem pleased by the exnation, nor did anyone else¡ªeven Ana only gave a conceding nod for the logic, but her normally serene face had been reced by a frown. Natalie wondered how banged-up she must have looked to draw in worry from Ana. She looked down at her body, but she seemed mostly fine; she just hurt all over. Likely, Liz''s healing had taken care of the worst of it. But that [Smite] had to have put some serious burns or bruises¡ªhowever the magic''s damage had manifested¡ªon her, initially. Natalie blinked as she remembered something. She shot back up, eyes locking on the hulking corpse of the chieftain. Its golden veins were gone, something she had subconsciously noted, but considering everything else, hadn''t paid attention to. "Wait. The shard of Greed? What happened to it?" "You absorbed it." "I ¡­ did?" "It was growing unstable. Or something. We dragged the corpse closer to you, and it flew over." Jordan shrugged. "Like the first time. Guess you don''t have to be conscious to ept it." "Huh," Natalie said. She looked inward. If the raid leader had given so much Carnal Energy, what had the chieftain given? 6.48 – Hard Earned Rewards 6.48 ¨C Hard Earned Rewards That inexplicable reservoir holding her Carnal Energy had surged a staggering amount¡ªand that was despite how she had burned through [Empowers] without hesitation. The chieftain''s shard of Greed had granted even more of that precious resource than she had expected. "It''s a lot?" Jordan guessed by the expression on her face. "Uh, yeah," Natalie said. "Twice as much as the raid leader, if not more." "Not surprising. The Raid Leader was strong, but we could handle him. That chieftain was ¡­ something else." "Had two levels on you," Natalie grunted. "And one on me. Would''ve been tough even without Greed. So yeah." Which had been why she''d taken that risky gambit of hers, she didn''t repeat aloud. "What''cha gonna use it on?" Jordan asked. "[Juggernaut]?" Even as they spoke, another of Liz''s heals washed through her¡ªthe weakest yet. They were hitting the point of heavily diminishing returns, where the effects were muted by at least a factor of ten, leaving them limp and ineffective. She''d be walking home sore, that was certain. "That''s the no-brainer," Natalie agreed. "It''s a passive, and a strong one that''s always in use. Woulda done itst time, but we''d figured [Empower] would go further." And that had been the right choice, with [Empower] the star of that climactic fight. [Smite] might have been the shy finishing move, but its power hade from [Empower], and so had [Hunker Down]''s, which had created the opening for [Smite] in the first ce. *** [Juggernaut]: Progression advanced from 2 to 3. *** *** [Juggernaut] - PASSIVE. PROGRESSION 3. ss-bearer receives {2.0x} bonus to furor, applied after all other bonuses. *** Strength suffused her as the skill progressed to its third stage. Previously, it had been a one-point-six multiplier. Going up to two times meant a twenty-five percent permanent, ongoing increase to her strength¡ªand all other physical aspects associated with the Furor stat. Despite the aches across her body and feeling generally worn down, Natalie''s lips turned up in excitement. Not a bad upgrade at all. She ryed the information to her team. Sofia was shaking her head by the time she''d finished. "You were already starting to crush everyone in our ss," she said. "And now you''ll being back another level up, and with a twenty-five percent boost on top of that? You''ll demolish them." "Looking forward to testing it out," Natalie agreed with a grin. "How much did that use?" Jordan asked. "What''s left?" "Carnal Energy? Not much. A third, ish?" She rubbed her chin. "I think I''ll go for [Bigger is Better] next. And if I have enough left over, [Smite]." "Going for personal upgrades this time around?" Jordan asked. There was the alternative option of taking [Stylish] up a tier, which might be the better team y since it would affect all of them¡ªincluding herself. But Natalie grimaced. "I didn''t like being so useless against that thing," she said. "I get that I won''t always be stronger than anything we go up against, especially bosses, but they shouldn''t be able to catch my hammer and rip it out of my hands." The experience had unsettled her more than she would admit. "They''re your points," Jordan said. "And I don''t think there are any bad choices. None of us will be upset with our tank turning into even more of a battering ram." Natalie couldn''t help but nce around to see if anyone disagreed, but she received shrugs and nods. [Stylish] would be her next target, but honestly, she did want to use her points selfishly this time around. *** [Bigger Is Better]: Progression advanced from 2 to 3. *** *** [Bigger Is Better] - PASSIVE. PROGRESSION 3. Oversized weapons receive {significant} bonuses to offensive power and are {greatly} easier to maneuver. *** As the upgrade went through, Liz''s next heal suffused her. "Alright," Liz said. "Don''t think there''s much point putting more in you. How are you feeling?" Natalie rolled a shoulder, and couldn''t stop the wince. "Not dead," she offered tentatively. Liz seemed genuinely distressed at that, and Natalie hurried to assure her. "But, I''ll be able to stand. Wouldn''t be the case if you weren''t here. Healers can only do so much." She patted Liz''s knee. "Thanks." "I better hit level three soon," the royal pouted, the reassurance not having done much. "I want a stronger heal. I don''t like seeing you hurt, it''s my job to make sure injuries don''t stick." "Most healers don''t have to deal with their pdins blowing themselves up," Sofia said tly. "That''s hardly your fault." Natalie made to stand, which prompted a flurry of protests from everyone except Ana. She waved them away; it wasn''t like she could lie on the ground all day. As expected, her muscles hurt a lot more while standing. She winced as she walked around, and, to her dismay, she found herself favoring her right leg. She didn''t know what had happened to leave her left one so sensitive, but maybe the explosion had bent it weird: she had aimed [Smite] downward toward the chieftain''s skull, so her legs would''ve taken the bulk of the st. She''d only woken after several seriousyering of heals; she had likely been in much worse shape right after the explosion. She scooped up her hammer. To her amazement, she barely strained under its weight. [Valentine] felt at least twice as light as before, if not three times. Gripping it in one hand, she gave it a test swing. Jordan and Sofia''s eyebrows went up, seeing that. "You will not be dual-wielding warhammers," Sofia said tly. "I''m vetoing the idea before you have it." Natalieughed. "No ns to." Though the imagery of that was interesting, dealing with one unwieldy weapon came with enough problems, much less two. Weight and maneuverability weren''t the onlyplications involved withrge weapons. "But seriously, look at this." She waved [Valentine] through the air, back and forth, and even her injured muscles didn''t ache much. "Those were some serious upgrades." "You have enough for [Smite], too?" Sofia asked. "Think so," Natalie said. "But it''d be close. I might rather have a reserve on hand for [Empower]." She yed around with her hammer a little longer, stretching out sore muscles while walking around, before stopping. A wave of guilt crept over her when she turned to see her teammates, their eyebrows raised at her easy handling of [Valentine]. "Kinda sucks I''m the only one who got upgrades, this quest," Natalie said. "Normally everyone would get pieces of loot or something." Experience if nothing else. But surface monsters didn''t even provide much of that. "All of it went to me." "Quests pay out with tokens," Jordan shrugged. "Lots of ''em. Especially for one that turned out as bad as this. We''ll be able to buy something from the Exchange." "Besides," Sofia said. "This wasn''t about us. We were helping people who needed help. That''s the point of quests." Natalie nodded. That alleviated the guilt a bit, though she did wish her teammates had shared in the spoils. Quests weren''t supposed to be lucrative from a progression standpoint, yet these few days had actually provided an enormous amount of bonuses to her, via the two shards of Greed. She nted [Valentine] down into the dirt, leaning against it as she looked around the goblin camp, littered with corpses. "Now," Natalie said. "What''s the n? I''m thinking we should lug big ugly over here," she gestured at the chieftain, "Back to Tarenhelm. No one''ll believe us otherwise." Sofia stared dryly at the hulking beast. "No," she said. "I don''t think they would. Goblins ¡­ simply shouldn''t get that big," she said, shaking her head. 6.49 – Last Report 6.49 ¨C Last Report The trip back to Tarenhelm wasn''t the most enjoyable of treks. Aches gued her with every step, and though her ego stung for it, Sofia and Jordan were the ones who ended up dragging the chieftain''s corpse with them, not her. She could''ve handled the task¡ªshe was hardly that bad off¡ªbut Jordan and Sofia had overruled her. One long and unwieldy tripter, they were standing in front of the Baron''s manor, with a servant having hurried away to fetch him. Seeing how they were lugging along an enormous monster corpse¡ªwhich had barely fit inside the enchanted wagon¡ªthey would hardly be hosted inside the building. Though the chieftain wasn''t bleeding anymore, it would still leave a mess. When the portly Baron hurried out to meet them all, his eyes widened with every step closer. "My ¡­ my word! What is that thing?" The Baron likely [Inspected] the deceased monster as he made that exmation, but Natalie answered anyway. "Level four goblin chieftain," she said dryly. "Your raiding problem has officially been taken care of." "Level four!" He boggled at the five of them. "Aren''t you first-years? Level twos?" "It was a hard fight," Natalie said. "Not too bad, though." As was obvious, seeing how all five of them were on their feet. Even Natalie was only somewhat injured¡ªmore superficially than anything. Just needed to sleep it off. He stared a second longer before shaking his head to clear it. A group of level twos taking down a level four was an impressive feat, and that was without mentioning Greed''s involvement. Though they would be withholding those specifics from the Baron. Rampant gods sponsoring monsters was sensitive information; T would expect discretion. If they felt inclined to inform the Baron afterward, that would be the academy''s choice. "Well," the Baron finally said. "Excellent job. I''m d to see the five of you came out alright." He gave Natalie a particr look; it must be easy to see she was the most banged up. Not unusual for the front-line guardian of a team. "Took a few hits," Natalie said. "I''ll be fine." "Very good." He frowned down at the chieftain. "That thing is a goblin?" "Apparently." "Howrge was the camp?" "Large," Natalie said. "Even after the previous raids, nearly two dozen were left over." "Two dozen!" His amazement returned. "And you five dealt with it alone?" Technically, they had Malice''s help, not to mention a few powerful items and Natalie''s ss, but that didn''t stop it from being an achievement. "Yeah," Natalie said. "Was tough. The normal ones were easy. Big guy was a bitch, though." The Baron blinked at her, and she realized she was speaking rather casually to a member of nobility¡ªLiz had been far more formal when she''d led the conversation¡ªbut the Baron didn''t seem to care. "Also," Natalie said. "We found all the missing supplies. They had it in a huge pile. Stacked up. No clue why. What they were doing with it. Was just sitting there." Though she had a guess. Her own link to Lust required engaging in carnal activities to grow in strength. Someone sponsored by Greed must have grown stronger by hoarding valuables¡ªthe altar of stolen goods had been the source of the chieftain''s outrageous strength. But again, that was something she would voice to T only, not to the Baron. Perhaps not even to T; Natalie had agreed to divulge critical information to the Beaumons, but she didn''t want everyone to know about her situation. "We marked the location on the map Varten gave us," Natalie continued. "If you want to retrieve it." "Standard caravan fare?" He shook his head. "I doubt it''ll be worth the effort." She blinked. "It''s not that far out of the way." "It''s in the middle of the Duskwood," the Baron said. "Five heavily armoredbat sses might not have too much difficulty strolling through there, but putting together a defensive party, along with the requisitebor, just to haul back some crates of ultimately unimportant material is¡ªwell, probably not an economic decision." "Ah," Natalie said. She didn''t care either way. Had just been informing him of the situation. "Though I''ll consider the possibility," he said. He stepped forward and held a hand out, and Natalie passed over the marked map of the Duskwood. He studied it briefly, brow furrowed, before nodding and tucking the thick paper away. "Now," he said, again looking down at the chieftain. "What will I do with this thing?" he mused. "And where is its head?" "Blown off," Natalie grunted. The Baron paused, nced at the party as if in a new, slightly warier light, and cleared his throat. "Quite. I see. Hm." He waved his hand. "It sounds like, besides the unexpected difficulty, everything went well. I can handle ¡­ this," he gestured at the corpse. "Is there anything more to report?" Natalie shared a look with her team. "That''s it." "Then let me thank you for your help. You''ve done a great service for Tarenhelm." "Just our duty," Natalie said, a bit awkwardly. "I presume you''ll be sticking around for the festivities?" "Festivities?" He seemed surprised she didn''t know what he was talking about. "It''s customary to celebrate such a sess. The citizens won''t have to worry about being assaulted on the roads any longer. A small gathering. Everyone''s been waiting for it. Food, drink, games. The usual. Nothing outrageous." "I think T wants us back as soon as possible?" "Nonsense," the Baron said easily. "If you''ll forgive me for speaking inly, but as much as providing a service, sending delvers out is for visibility and T''s image as much as anything. They''ll want you five mingling with the cityfolk, epting their thanks, making the academy look good." Heughed. "And as far as the townsfolk care, they''ll take any excuse for some excitement." He inclined his head. "Unless you aren''t feeling well? If you need to rest, that''s perfectly understandable." "That''s not it," Natalie said. She nced at Liz, who nodded, confirming what the Baron was saying¡ªhe wasn''t just talking them into staying an additional night. Apparently, it was customary to celebrate and mingle with the town, not to head straight back to T. She looked at her other teammates next to check their reactions. Jordan ended up shrugging. "Don''t see why not," she said. She faced the Baron. "Thank you for hosting us." "Of course!" Heughed. "My daughter would''ve been distraught if you packed up and left immediately. She''s been smitten by the ''T delvers,'' I''ll tell you that. Talking my ear off these past few days." Not so subtly, several pairs of eyes turned to Natalie. "Right," Natalie said. ina would be there. That ¡­ would definitely not be a problem. "I''ll let you five get cleaned up," the Baron said. "And thank you again for the help. I expect festivities will pick up within a few hours¡ªeveryone''s been on standby for the good news." He turned, eyes searching out for a servant, who he gestured to approach. "Now, dealing with all of this unpleasantness. Let me get to that." 6.50 – Quest Finale Festivities 6.50 ¨C Quest Finale Festivities With the quest officially over, Natalie returned to The Kraken''s Hearth and took some much-needed rxation time. Compared to previous fights, she hade out ofbat a mess. Exploding a goblin''s head with an empowered [Smite] wasn''t the cleanest way to finish an opponent. She took a long, hot shower, scrubbing herself until she was squeaky clean. Which was a painful process, considering the bruises starting to blossom across her¡ªphysical proof of her aches and pains, which even Liz hadn''t been able to prevent. One of the Baron''s men fetched them a few hourster when it was time to head back into town. Inside Tarenhelm''s city center, the poption was abuzz with activity. As the Baron had said, it was no major holiday festival or anything like that, but most towns and cities were happy to throw a celebration when the opportunity called for it. The streets were lined with colorful banners and streamers hastily strung between buildings andmp posts. The scent of roasting meats and fresh-baked goods wafted through the air, mingling with the chatter of townsfolk. Children darted between adults'' legs,ughing and giggling. Natalie and her teammates came, as suggested by the Baron, in their T uniforms. As much as this was a celebration for a threat solved¡ªand, Natalie knew, a rather minor threat, at least as far as the general poption cared¡ªthey were here as emissaries for T. Their scantily d armor wouldn''t fit the atmosphere. Eyes followed them as they walked through the street, passing by stands either already assembled or well on their way. A few intrepid souls greeted them and said their thanks, though for the most part, they progressed unimpeded. The Baron was in the center of the town square, under the shade of a canvas canopy. He boisterously greeted them, then encouraged them to enjoy themselves¡ªto explore, eat, y some games, and so on. So that was what they did. They wandered around, taking in the sights and sounds of the impromptu celebration. The aroma of sizzling meats drew them to a food stall where they had their first meal since morning¡ªwhich all five of them promptly devoured. Life-or-deathbat had a way of fostering a ravenous appetite. The vendor insisted they didn''t pay, despite multiple attempts to hand over coins. They had hardly saved the city from destruction, but it seemed they were being hailed as minor heroes nheless. ina found them shortly after their meal. She made a tentative request to apany them, and though Jordan gave Natalie a significant look, they would hardly turn the woman down. They went and yed some games. Since there hadn''t been much prep time to set up anything extravagant, they were of the simple sort: horseshoes or ring tosses and activities like that, some at stalls and some out in the open. One game in particr caught Natalie''s fancy: tug-of-war. She''d hesitated on whether to join in, worried it might be a faux pas to throw around her ss-enhanced strength. But ina''s encouragement convinced her, and the daughter of the Baron would know what was considered ''socially eptable.'' Natalie found quickly that the townsfolk enjoyed thepetition as much as she did. After the first burly man was hauled around the ying field, a second joined, then a third, before she stalled out at four red-faced and puffing grown men, the rope straining back and forth as they tugged in either direction. She won, but it was an eked-out victory. [Juggernaut]''s upgrade had made the difference. Then a new challenger approached, an old man with a crooked back and veiny forearms, and by the hoots and hollers and looks of glee on the defeated men, he was a known quantity in town. She doubly knew something was up when he rolled up his sleeves, took one end of the rope, and the other men walked away, happy to let him challenge Natalie alone. Sure enough, Natalie didn''t stand a chance. The man pulled like an ox¡ªor several of them in a line. It was her own turn to swallow her ego as she was solidly flounced. The man was some kind of higher level [Laborer] ss, obviously, with a potent skill for hauling heavy weights. Old and crooked-backed or not, she hadn''t stood a chance, hence the conquered townsfolk''s delight when he''d walked up. She epted her defeat as graciously as she could, though her cheeks were red when she returned; being dragged around by a man in his sixties or seventies was a bit embarrassing, ss or not¡ªillogical as she knew that was. Her already sore muscles protested the activity, but it''d been fun. From there, they continued, greeting townsfolk, mingling, eating sweet baked goods from various stands, and indulging in theirst day in town. Natalie regaled ina with a recounting of the climactic battle, omitting the secretive aspects. The blonde hung on her words, which she had to admit she rather enjoyed. The group split up bit by bit, with each of their party interested in different parts of the celebration, and even Jordan parted with onest scrutinizing gaze for her and ina, a warning look in her eyes. Natalie returned an offended look of her own; it wasn''t like she would be pinning down the Baron''s daughter in the middle of the town square to ravish her. Nothing would happen. Unfortunately, as soon as it was the two of them left, ina grew fidgety. "So," the Baron''s daughter said. "It''s a little busy here. There''s a park just a few minutes away. Do you want to make ourselves scarce? It''s very loud, don''t you think?" she hastily added. "We''ll be back in time for my father''s speech." Natalie hesitated. ina wasn''t wrong; things were busy in the town center. And it would just be the park, another public space¡ªjust, slightly less public. It wasn''t like anything would be happening there, either. They would be enjoying each other''spany. Even Jordan and Sofia had said it was fine to flirt, so long as she kept it to that. And she would. She''d made a promise, hadn''t she? "Sure," Natalie said. "Lead the way." 6.51 – The Barons Daughter 6.51 ¨C The Baron''s Daughter ina''s stomach had been squirming all day. Longer than that. Ever since that incident back at The Kraken''s Hearth. But it had grown much worse since joining Natalie for the celebration. Being in her presence was intoxicating. Frankly, ina was surprised by just how much she was taken in by the other girl. She hadn''t ever been this interested in someone before, much less a woman. She''d been fascinated by Natalie since the start, since their introduction, really, but her stomach hadn''t started squirming until that mishap where she''d caught a peek of something she shouldn''t have. Some switch in her brain had toggled on when she had overheard those things happening inside Natalie''s room. And when Natalie had answered the door in just a towel. The sight of that had seared itself onto her brain. It was scandalous how often she''d been thinking about it. Had she imagined how big it was? Or had it been a trick of the light or fabric? Somehow, she didn''t think so. Whatever the case, based on the sounds she''d heard, Natalie had been thoroughly entertaining her guest regardless of size. To think something like that was hiding beneath Natalie''s skirt ¡­ she tried to shake her head clear, but it didn''t work, like usual. She hoped she hadn''t been caught stealing nces at Natalie''s skirt throughout the evening. Natalie didn''t seem to have noticed, at least. ina thanks the heavens she had been raised to beposed and discreet, else she wouldn''t have stood a chance. The park they detoured to was mostly empty. Most people out and about at this hour were at the celebration. There were a handful of people scattered throughout the greenery, but not many, far fewer than usual. Compared to the bustle at the celebration, it was practically a private space. Which had been the goal. On ina''s prompting, Natalie continued to regale her with stories from the dungeon runs she''d been on. And while those weren''t the real topics of her interest, she was nevertheless enraptured. Both by the content, the dangerous fights and exciting escapades she got up to beneath the surface, but also simply by Natalie. Watching her speak with such passion, it wasn''t surprising that she had ended up at T. With how much she found herself hanging on Natalie''s words, ina wondered whether this infatuation was something more than lust. Certainly, she found herself absorbed in Natalie in a way she hadn''t been in a long time, if ever. s, even if it was more than Natalie''s pretty looks and ¡­ interesting secret ¡­ reeling her in, ina wasn''t so irresponsible as to let her interest take hold too solidly. She had duties at Tarenhelm, and Natalie had T. A rtionship between them would bepletely untenable. No, if anything were to happen, it would be a brief fling. And time for even that was running out. ina chewed her lip, mulling over her strategy. "What is it?" Natalie asked suddenly¡ªor what felt sudden to her. "Hm?" ina asked. The red-headed girl seem amused. "There''s something you want to ask. You drifted off." ina''s cheeks colored. Had she? She realized she had; the end of Natalie''s story had passed right by her. "Well," ina said. "I suppose there is something." "Go ahead." "I''ve been wondering about T life. There''s so many ¡­ stories I''ve heard." "Oh?" "You know, not just sses andpetitions," ina said. She stalled briefly before continuing. "But also ¡­ rtionships between students?" Natalie''s eyebrows went up. A coloring turned into a full blush. "It is an academy crammed full of fit, adventure-seeking men and women. That kind of environment, all sorts of things would be happening, no? Everyone''s heard the rumors." By Natalie''s grin, she''d picked up what ina was hinting at. Unfortunately, she apparently liked seeing her squirm, because she yed dumb. "Lady Crestwood, I don''t have a single idea what you''re talking about." "Don''t call me that," ina huffed. "And yes, you do know what I''m asking." "Nope. I''m afraid you''ll need to spell it out." "Is it true the students there are ¡­ liberal, with their physical activities?" "Mandated training hours every morning," Natalie confirmed in an over-serious tone. "How else would we stay in shape?" "Natalie!" "Yeah?" "It''s ¡­ normal to cavort amongst each other, I mean? Casually and frequently?" "If by cavorting, you mean everyone''s fucking each other''s brains out, then yes, ina, that''s pretty true." ina floundered briefly, taken aback by the quick swap in tone. Natalieughed at herck of words, which prompted a swat at her arm. "Well!" ina said,posing herself. "It does make sense. Everyone needs stress relief. It sounds like a chaotic environment." "It''s not so bad," Natalie said. "The dungeon''s the hard part, not the academy." "I bet." ina hesitated. "And how about you?" "How about me?" "Do you take part in that ¡­ stress relief?" Natalie''s eyebrows went up. ina blushed furiously at how unsubtle she was being. After a second, though, her expression settled back into that roguish grin¡ªthe one that nearly stopped her heart every time it was sent her way. "Here and there," Natalie said, in a way that suggested it was a lot more than here and there . But ina had already guessed that, if not just from her easily flirtatious nature, then what she''d heard first-hand the other night. Those outrageous noisesing through Natalie''s door. "I see," ina said. "Sorry if these questions are personal. I''m just, um, interested in T life." "Sure," Natalie said, in a way that told her she didn''t believe ina for a second. "And when you do indulge in that, ah, stress relief," ina said. "Is it usually with men or women?" Dryly, Natalie asked, "What do you think, ina?" ina cleared her throat. "Women?" Natalie snorted. "Right. Yes. Of course. I assumed. That only makes sense." Realizing she was rambling, ina cut herself off. "And you?" Natalie asked. "What are your preferences?" ina paused. Well. There wasn''t going to be a better opening. She swallowed and forced herself to meet Natalie''s eyes. "If I''m being honest, usually men. But, recently, there''s been an exception." 6.52 – ? The Baron’s Daughter II 6.52 ¨C ? The Baron¡¯s Daughter II "An exception?" Natalie asked, her lips curling up into a satisfied grin. "Anybody I know?" "I think you know the answer to that," ina breathed, struggling to keep herposure. She bit her lip and blushed. "I me you, really," she huffed. "For answering the door in that state. You put all sorts of things into my head that I can''t get rid of." Oh, dear. Had she said that out loud? So bluntly? "Things?" Natalie asked. "Like what?" Not intentionally, ina''s eyes flicked down toward Natalie''s skirt. "Ah," Natalie said, catching the nce. "You saw that too, then." "Saw ¡­ and was interested," ina forced herself to say¡ªthrowing the words out there, to see how Natalie would receive them. By the growing excitement in her eyes, the interest was mutual. Despite all the hints being there¡ªthe constant flirting not just today, but days previous¡ªand that it shouldn''t be a surprise, ina''s heart fluttered. So it was reciprocated. Natalie opened her mouth, and ina hung on her next words. But then Natalie hesitated and pulled back, grimacing. "W-What?" ina asked. She could read that reaction easily enough, Natalie reining herself in. But everything had been going so well, and apparently, she was a person more than up for some, um, casual interactions. So what had happened? "I can''t," Natalie said, looking away and breaking that smoldering eye contact that had been mixing up ina''s insides. "Can''t?" ina repeated. "Why not?" She didn''t need to ask what she couldn''t do. That much was obvious. Her. Natalie wrinkled her nose, struggling to phrase it. "I told my teammates I wouldn''t," she said. "O-Oh?" That took her aback. "You''re taken?" She had been getting the feeling that the five girls were more involved than just delving partners, but she''d assumed it was an open rtionship. At least by how shamelessly Natalie had been flirting in front of them. "Taken? Oh, no, it''s nothing like that." She grimaced. "It''s ¡­ you." "Me?" ina asked, rmed. "Er, sorry," Natalie hastily corrected. "You''re wonderful. I mean, it''s your dad." "My father?" Understanding mmed home. A frown tugged on her lips. "What does he have to do with this?" She waved between them. Natalie shifted awkwardly. She made a sheepish expression, a sort of ''you know what I mean,'' but ina crossed her arms and made her finish the statement. "It''s unprofessional," Natalie sighed. "That''s what my teammates keep telling me, at least. So I promised them." "Promised them what?" ina asked, ring. Natalie spread her hands helplessly. "Promised them what!" "That I wouldn''t get involved with you, okay?" Natalie said. "In that way. And yeah, it''s bullshit, but it''s also the situation we''re in. Right?" ina blinked. That ''right?'' wasn''t Natalie asking ina to understand or to be sympathetic with her plight. It was the opposite. ''Convince me I should ignore them,'' her pleading eyes said. Though hriously, ina didn''t think it was an expression given intentionally. Just her subconscious sending out a request for help. Her brain churned away as she formted a n of attack. This, she was pretty good at. Spinning an argument, or turning words around in the right way. Sure, she might not mingle in the high courts of Aradon, but a baron wasn''t a man with no position, and she was his daughter. She was more than skilled with words. But should she try to convince Natalie? She was right. It would be scandalous. Unfortunately, ina was much, much more interested in getting into Natalie''s skirts than she was worried about a bit of a scandal. Maybe a bit of scandal was why she found herself so excited in the first ce. "Well," ina said in her most reasonable voice. "I don''t see what my father has to do with us at all. So that''s an unfair reason to reject me, don''t you think?" "T makes it clear we''re agents of them when we''re out on a quest," Natalie disagreed. "It''s probably implied we shouldn''t involve ourselves with anyone, much less the point-of-contact''s daughter." ina changed tact. "It''s not like we''d be caught," she argued. "Everyone''s at the celebration. We could do it right here, in the grass, out in the open, and no one would be the wiser." That idea had Natalie''s face rapidly turning red, but while it had her shifting around as if something was suddenly straining inside her skirt¡ªwhich, ina thought faintly, was exactly what was happening¡ªit didn''t do much to convince her. "I told my teammates I wouldn''t, though," Natalie said. "It''s not about being caught." She was loyal then. Or at least halfway; a flimsy ''we wouldn''t be caught'' wasn''t enough to convince her. It was more about the promise itself than the possibility of her teammates finding out. ina pursed her lips, racking her brain. "You told them you wouldn''t ¡­ do me?" she asked. Natalie nodded cautiously. "Well. Okay. Then what if it''s me that does you?" Natalie blinked. "Uh?" she said. ina seized the opening. Before Natalie knew what was happening, ina had climbed onto herp. That was nearly aspromising for her as it was her target, because Natalie''s body responded. ina could feel it through her skirt¡ªthe half-hard bulge that swiftly swelled up, pushing into her ass. She settled down against it, straddling Natalie''s thighs. "After all, you can''t be med for what I do, right?" ina murmured. "Only what you do. And you can justy there and let it happen, no involvement of your own. No need to fuck me¡ªI''ll fuck you." With wide eyes, Natalie looked at her. Then, inevitably, her gaze dropped down to ina''s breasts, which, with ina sitting on herp and leaning over, gave a magnificent view into her cleavage. She''d picked this outfit for a reason. "You are your own person," Natalie murmured, drinking in the sight. "I can''t be med for what you do. If Jay or Sofia disagreed, that''d bepletely unreasonable of them." ina pressed the advantage, though it wasn''t some strategic decision, but rather her excitement getting the better of her. She leaned forward and kissed Natalie. It sent a thrill through her how quickly Natalie reciprocated. Hungry and needy, she pressed her lips back against ina''s¡ªthen pushed further, adding her tongue, drinking her in. ina clutched the side of Natalie''s head, fingers tangling into silky red hair, holding her there as she melted into the kiss. Gods, she was a good kisser. Her stomach churned, heart pounding as Natalie''s mouth imed her own, hot and intense. Her hands dropped to grab ina''s thighs and roamed up into her skirt, across bare skin. And all the while, her cock had grown firmer against ina''s ass. With every roll of her hips¡ªwith every little thrust she gave against Natalie''s bulge¡ªit had grown stiffer, until it was as hard as stone. She could feel it throbbing through Natalie''s skirt. ina moaned into the kiss. The sound seemed to startle Natalie back into awareness. She froze, and her eyes shot open. She pulled away. "We, uh¡ª" she said after a swallow. "We are in public, though, ina?" ina blinked several times as her brain caught up to reality. Right. She had been seconds from sliding down Natalie and throwing up her skirt. But they were out in the park. In a panic, she looked around. There was no one¡ªthey hadn''t been spotted. And they''d only been kissing, anyway. But that was still too much. For all it miffed her that Natalie had reservations about doing anything with her because of her father, she did have reason to be wary. As jovial as he presented himself, Father would not respond well to ina ... dallying ... with the T delvers. She swallowed thickly and rolled off Natalie''sp. She sat to the side, breathing hard. "Alright," ina said. "Then how about we go find somewhere private?" 6.53 – The Baron’s Daughter III 6.53 ¨C The Baron¡¯s Daughter III She and Natalie barely made it out of the park and back into the city before she couldn''t stand it any longer. They''d rushed through the street, each of them flushed with anticipation, and while the original goal had been to make it to the manor and into the privacy of ina''s own room¡ªshe coulde up with excuses for why they''d run offter¡ªthat simply would take too long. Making an executive decision, ina grabbed Natalie''s hand and pulled her into the nearest alleyway. Her thoughts were so scrambled she wasn''t even sure where in town she was. Or how safe the location was¡ªthe likelihood of someone passing by. She was beyond caring. As soon as they were out of sight, ina crowded Natalie against the wall. Before the taller girl could make a noise of surprise, ina had slipped her hands around her neck and pulled her down into another kiss, straining on her tip-toes to reach. Natalie melted into it just as quickly as before, voicing no protests for the unromantic choice of scenery. Her hands wrapped around her waist to tug her in. Soft, full lips pressed into her. Natalie''s erection sprung back up, and it poked into her stomach through the material of her skirt. inaughed against Natalie''s mouth, heady with the desire coursing through her. "Is this¡ª" Natalie murmured, breaking free for a second. "Is this safe?" "Fucking in an alleyway?" ina asked, a thrill going through her at the crudeness of the words. "No. Not at all." She pressed harder into Natalie, trapping her against the wall with her body, pinning her there. Stroking her cock with her stomach as she wiggled side to side. She whispered into her ear, "What''s a little danger to a delver, right?" Natalie let out a shaky breath. Her hands trailed down, but ina grabbed them before they could get too adventurous. "Ah ah," she said. "I''m fucking you, remember? Can''t break that promise to your friends. I won''t let you." A shudder went through Natalie. She forced her hands back up, settling onto ina''s waist again. Ceding initiative to ina. ina hadn''t ever been a dominant woman. Then again, she didn''t have much experience in these matters in general¡ªand she hadn''t thought she liked women, either, until Natalie. So maybe she was still figuring out what she enjoyed. And this was a very non-standard way to be dominant. By Natalie''sposure, the radiating confidence and hunger in her eyes, ina couldn''t help but think she''d stay in control no matter how much ina ''took over.'' Whatever the case, this situation was doing something for her. Having Natalie standing there, tall, fit, intimidating, yet soft and hungry¡ªand waiting for ina to ravish her, on her own prerogative? Well. ina didn''t think she could stop herself if she tried. She dove back into the kiss, mouth moving hard and eager against Natalie''s, drinking in the gasps and moans she made. Her hand dropped to Natalie''s skirt, groping along the firm length of her cock. It took a moment to map the whole thing out through the material of her skirt¡ªNatalie shuddered at every touch. It felt as big as she remembered. How many inches? Eight? Nine? Ten? She didn''t know they got that big. She had to see it. Had toy eyes on it. Breaking free from the kiss, ina slipped down to her knees. In one swift motion, she pulled up Natalie''s skirt and bunched it over her waist. Her cock had slipped partially free of her panties, toorge to be contained. Natalie reached down to tug them to the side, letting her weapon swing fully free, throbbing and bobbing in front of ina''s face. ina found herself almost hypnotized by the sight of it. That smooth shaft, twitching slightly, flushed pink. Girlcock. Why did that word send such a thrill through her? Why did seeing this big, delicious dick between a girl''s thighs have her insides twisting up in a way they never had before? Girlcock. So much better than the regr thing. She leaned forward, burying her face into Natalie''s crotch. The muskiness was overwhelming, and it shot straight to her head. This close, she could smell it so clearly. That hot, musky scent. Clean, but still sharp with sweat, and underneath that ... something even more potent. Burying her face between Natalie''s legs, she pressed her lips against the base. She kissed over and over, drunk on that musky smell. Drunk on Natalie''s soft moans. She ran her tongue along the length of that firm shaft, slowly at first, then quicker. Then pulled back and opened her mouth to wrap her lips around the tip of Natalie''s cockhead. The taste. She hadn''t expected it to be so overwhelming. Natalie''s cockhead filled her mouth, hot and powerful. She couldn''t get enough of it. She cracked her eyes open to look up Natalie''s body, watching her face as she slipped her lips further down. Watching the ecstasy sh across her features. Another jolt went through her as she realized exactly what she was doing. She was sucking another woman''s cock in the middle of a dirty alleyway. Her, Lady Crestwood, daughter of the baron. What would people think? She could only imagine the gossip it would create. That just served to send a hot thrill through her. She moaned as she started sucking Natalie''s tip even more earnestly, spurred on by the shame of what she was doing and where. Her member stretched ina''s lips as she went down. Really, how was it so big? There was no way she could fit the whole thing. Not that she didn''t try¡ªshe needed it inside her, as deep as possible. She sank down the shaft, inch after inch disappearing into her mouth, filling up her throat. She choked and had to back off. Saliva dripped from her lips, a droplet hitting her skirt. She steadied, then dove back in for more. ina went at it hungrily, messily, desperate for cock. Her mind was hazy and drunk on the taste and smell of Natalie. Cock filled her sensespletely. It took a few attempts before she seeded, but finally, she reached Natalie''s base and kissed her lips to soft skin, burrowing her nose into Natalie''s lower stomach. She held herself there for a long moment, amazed that she''d actually managed it, eyes watering. Her throat bulged around the invasion. Natalie looked down, locking eyes with her, a hazy look on her face. Her cock throbbed powerfully inside ina''s throat. "Good girl," Natalie murmured. "Look at that. You took it all." ina flushed hard. She shuddered and pulled back, feeling the mass inside her throat sliding as she did, an incredible sensation. It pulled out and passed her lips, then popped free, glistening with saliva. She gasped in a breath, but was already rubbing her cheek against it, hungry for more. She ced her hand on the base of Natalie''s shaft and felt it pulse and throb. Felt the raw power in her cock. She turned and nuzzled the shaft from the other side. Saliva smeared across her face, but she was beyond caring. "You taste so good," she moaned. "I¡ªI need it inside me." Before she''d even finished speaking those shameful words, she was shakily pulling herself to her feet and slipping her panties down to her ankles. 6.54 – ? The Baron’s Daughter IV & V 6.54 ¨C ? The Baron¡¯s Daughter IV & V There was something indescribably arousing about exposing herself in a dirty alleyway, with minimal to no protection from someoneing to investigate. As much as her heart was pounding because she was finally getting her hands on Natalie, it was that¡ªthe surrounding circumstances¡ªthat turned her legs wobbly with excitement. Natalie''s eyes were dark with lust as ina rose to stand in front of her. ina''s heart raced as she considered her next move. She''d told Natalie that she needed her inside her, but how she went about that was her choice. Natalie was ceding initiative to her, after all. Her eyes flicked down to those ten solid inches of girldick twitching in anticipation. Eager to plunge inside her, but its owner showing restraint. Letting ina do the work. She wanted to try something. ina turned, so they were facing in the same direction, then slowly backed up until her ass pressed into Natalie''s lower stomach¡ªwho had lowered herself just slightly to make up for the height difference, intuiting what ina wanted. At the contact, ina couldn''t help but take note of how much heat radiated from Natalie''s body. Did all delvers run this hot? ina brought her thighs together, trapping Natalie''s length between them. The soft skin of ina''s inner thighs enveloped her partner''s shaft. She shivered at the intimate contact, then began to move, sliding her thighs up and down Natalie''s length with lewd thrusts. The friction sent sparks of pleasure through her. She could feel every ridge and vein of Natalie''s shaft as it glided between her thighs. Cock against pussy. One wrong move, and it would spear inside her. Or right move. Entirely her choice. Natalie''s hands came to rest on ina''s hips. Her breath was hot on her neck. ina leaned her head back against Natalie''s shoulder, eyes closing as she lost herself in the sensations. The alley filled with their quiet gasps and moans. ina increased her pace, squeezing her thighs harder against the huge, throbbing mass between them. Hot and slippery. ina wasn''t sure how much of this she could stand. She slid back and forth, the movement growing faster and more desperate with each stroke. The arousal in her stomach burned hotter and hotter, and ina wondered how that was even possible. She was already more excited than she''d ever been. She moaned, louder this time, the sounds echoing off the walls of the alleyway. That was risky, a part of her knew. Likely to draw attention. But she was way beyond caring. Natalie''s shaft was slick with ina''s arousal, and also her saliva from her earlier throating, so movement was easy. The head of her cock bumped against ina''s clit with each pass, the sensation sending jolts of pleasure through her, making her thighs squeeze tighter around her partner''s girth. Natalie slipped her hands up ina''s stomach to cup her breasts from behind. That, ina supposed, wasn''t breaking her promise; Natalie just couldn''t fuck her. Her fingers yed with her nipples, rolling and tugging at them, sending intense sensations straight to her core. She keened softly, her thighs clenching involuntarily around Natalie''s shaft. "That''s it," Natalie murmured, her breath hot against ina''s ear. "You like sliding on my cock? Does it feel good?" ina could only nod, too overwhelmed to speak. Natalie''s fingers continued their work, twisting and tugging at her nipples, sending jolts of sensation straight to her clit. Her thighs moved even faster. The head of Natalie''s cock rubbed against her most sensitive spot, again and again. "You like feeling me between your legs?" Natalie continued in a whisper, her voice hoarse with desire. "Rubbing that cute pussy of yours against me?" ina''s body trembled. "Yes," she gasped. "I¡ªI love it. I love your cock. Your big, fat girlcock." The pleasure was too overwhelming to form any sentence moreplex than that. And it got her point across. Said everything it needed to. Her inner walls clenched. Her need for release burned. "That''s enough teasing, don''t you think?" Natalie murmured. "Go ahead. Fuck me, won''t you?" ina needed no further encouragement. She pulled all the way forward and grabbed Natalie''s shaft, guiding the tip to her entrance, straining up on her tiptoes for the best angle. "But, hold on," Natalie murmured. "Let me take something." ina blinked in confusion and looked over her shoulder. Natalie had pulled out a small ss orb. A monster core? She summoned a thin potion vial from it and downed the liquid without hesitation. "Contraceptive," Natalie said, lips tugging up in amusement. "Better than a condom. Easier too." O-Oh. ina had been so caught up in the moment she''d forgotten all about that potential consequence. Good thing Natalie was considerate. ina wouldn''t even have remembered a condom. Some alleyway fun was one thing, but an idental pregnancy was another. She hadn''t realized there even were potions for that, though. In another circumstance, she might have asked Natalie where she''d gotten it. But she was upied with other things. Returning her attention down low, she rubbed Natalie''s tip against her entrance. As eager as she was, a part of her couldn''t help but savor the moment, teasing both Natalie and herself. The muscles deep inside her clenched involuntarily, feeling Natalie brush against her, starting to spread her apart as she pushed lightly back. She was so ready. She''d never wanted anything more than this. Her eyes locked with Natalie, watching as her gaze roved over her body. Finally, she pushed her hips back, inch by inch, taking her sweet time. Natalie was shaking with eagerness, which only fed her own arousal higher. Her partner flexed her hips, pushing out the smallest amount, gently probing at ina''s entrance, trying to push inside¡ªunable to help herself, despite her promise, and the pretense of the situation. Her breathing was ragged, hungry. She wanted to be inside ina as desperately as ina wanted the same. Slowly, she impaled herself on Natalie''s waiting cock. A breath escaped her at the invasion. The first inch went in, and her mind went white. She closed her eyes, knees shaking, savoring the sensation of her depths being stretched, filled sopletely. It was unbelievable. How could it feel so good? Her pussy clenched, sending a wave of pleasure through her. Through them both. A whine escaped Natalie. "Ah ¡­ Fuck, ina." She started with slow,nguid movements, driving herself up and down the length of Natalie''s cock. Every motion made her thoughts go haywire. She watched as her pussy lips stretched around it, as the veiny length disappeared inside her, gradually pulling out before thrusting back in, her ass hitting Natalie with a p of flesh. Girlcock slipped in and out, deep into her wet depths before appearing again, glistening with her juices. With each motion, pushing her ass backward, she bumped Natalie''s cock against something deep inside her that had her seeing stars. Her legs quaked with the sensation. She struggled to stay upright. Natalie''s hands on her hips were the only thing that kept her steady. It didn''t take long before the pleasure became too much. She moved faster, and faster, and faster, until she was thrusting herself onto Natalie as hard as she could. Jolts of lightning went through her with each impact. "Oh! Oh, fuck! Natalie!" She threw her head back on Natalie''s shoulder, squirming her hips to grind Natalie around inside her. Natalie''s shaft stretched her unbelievably full, tip kissing deep inside ina. Heat crescendoed. A cry escaped her, and the world dissolved into color. She spasmed, her passage clenching and milking Natalie''s cock as the other girl stood there and held her by the waist, somehow managing to not move¡ªstill, even now, letting ina do all the work. Keeping her promise in perhaps the least meaningful way ever. She rode out the waves of delight, shaky-kneed, feeling Natalie''s member throbbing inside her, its owner savoring the feeling of her insides squeezing so powerfully. Her pussy dripped with slick juices, coating Natalie''s cock. She became mindless to her pleasure. Slowly, she regained control of her body, the flush fading. ina could feel tremors running through her insides, still. Natalie was shaking too, though in better condition than her. Not quite there. Though not all that far from her own. ina hadn''t nned for just one. She only got Natalie today, and then she would be off to T. No, one wasn''t nearly enough. She stepped forward, slipping Natalie out of her. ina faced her, looking down at Natalie''s throbbing cock. Despite her hypersensitivity, she couldn''t wait for it to spear her again. Herposure was unraveling by the moment. What little of it existed, at this point. "Down," she gasped. "Let me ride you." The other woman was happy to do so. She sat onto the cool cobbles, cock sticking into the air. ina settled her lower body over Natalie''sp, careful not to impale herself just yet. Her heart was pounding as she took Natalie''s length in her hand, positioning it at her entrance. Her eyes locked with Natalie''s, unable to tear her gaze away. She lowered herself, taking Natalie inside her for a second time, slow, delightful, inch by inch. She moaned, a mix of pleasure and anticipation as her pussy swallowed Natalie''s length. Her inner walls stretched to amodate her. It was just as good as the first time. Better, from this angle. Her breath hitched as she felt herself be filledpletely. She began to move, slowly at first, savoring the feeling of Natalie''s shaft gliding in and out. Her pace quickened as she surrendered to the pleasure. Again, Natalie''s hands came to rest on ina''s hips, gripping tightly. ina threw her head back, moans echoing off the walls of the alleyway¡ªas did the ps of flesh, ina hitting Natalie''sp as she rode. Her breath quickened as her movements became more desperate, driven by the relentless pleasure. "That''s it," Natalie whispered, her voice hoarse and hungry. "You look good like this, riding my cock, Lady Crestwood. " ina''s eyes snapped open at the crudeness of Natalie''s words¡ªthe use of her title in a situation like this. It was the perfectly right thing to say. A rush of shame and arousal washed over her, fueling the fire. Her inner walls clenched around Natalie as she rode with abandon, breathing in short, sharp pants, body glistening with sweat. Already, she was close again. So close. As if sensing her impending orgasm, Natalie''s hands tightened their grip on ina''s hips. She restrained herself desperately; ina could see it in the way she shook, refusing to p back upward. Letting ina ride her, but not thrusting herself. Then ina was falling over the edge again. Her second orgasm ripped through her, bucking wildly as her pussy clenched around Natalie''s cock. Natalie''s eyes widened as she felt ina''s insides milking her, and finally, she was ready to join in. She threw her head back, a muted groan escaping her lips as she surrendered to her climax. Thick pulse after thick pulse coated ina''s insides. ina copsed forward, pressing her head into Natalie''s neck as her body shook, waves of pleasure washing over her. Natalie''s cock twitched inside her, spurting with heavy, virile throbs. It was the most amazing thing ina had ever felt. Then, even as ina was stilling undone, ecstasy erasing all sense of self, and with her eyes still rolled up into her skull, somebody rounded the corner and peeked into the alleyway. Likely attracted by all the noise. "Lady Crestwood?" a familiar voice asked. Her gaze shot up. Reality crashed back down around her. Oh. Oh dear. *** Natalie rushed back to the celebration, still flushed and sweaty from her previous activities with ina. Their unexpected visitor, an older woman with curly brown hair who ina had recognized but Natalie hadn''t, had hurried away almost instantly, well before ina could get her bearings and respond to the intrusion. Natalie couldn''t me her. She''d literally been cumming on top of Natalie when it had happened. ina had made it clear, though, that the worst case scenario had happened. There would be no keeping the event from her father. The woman was a friend of his, or something of that sort. Loyal. And would be reporting such a scandalous happening no matter what ina told, threatened, or begged of her. Hence, ina had suggested a n of action: go and collect her teammates, and make an expedited trip back to T. Before her father found out. Better to weather his anger from afar. As she hurried through the thickening crowd, returning to the celebration, Natalie''s head swam. Because she''d fucked up. Quite obviously. It wasn''t fair. ina had all but thrown herself at Natalie. What had she been supposed to do? Not fuck the baron''s daughter? Yeah, right. And she hadn''t, anyway. ina had fucked her. Natalie had kept wonderful control of herself. She was sure that excuse was going to hold up wonderfully to her teammates'' scrutiny. She found Jordan first. She was standing off to the side, alone, watching Sofia participate in some ring-tossing game. She had a pastry in her hand, which she was working at slowly. She seemed content. Natalie cringed as she approached. "Uh, hey, Jay," Natalie said, arriving. She was breathing hard from the frantic rush over. And ¡­ previous activities. "We need to talk." Jordan blinked and turned to her. She searched Natalie''s face for all of two seconds before her expression fell into incredulity. "Damn it, Natalie," she said. "Please tell me you didn''t." 6.55 – Consequences 6.55 ¨C Consequences "I didn''t do anything," Natalie said. "I told you I wouldn''t, didn''t I? But, um, ina might have done a few things to me." Jordan gave her perhaps the ttest look in all of existence. Natalie''s ears burned. "And, um," she continued. "Someone might''ve found us ¡­ I mean, her, on me, getting intimate ¡­ in the middle of a public alleyway." The t look turned disbelieving. "ina said I should go find you, and that we should take an early train back to Aradon," Natalie finished. "Apparently her dad is ¡­ protective. Might make a big fuss. We don''t know how long it''ll be before he finds out, but ina knows it''ll happen. Apparently the woman who found us is loyal to him, so there''s no way she stays quiet." Jordan stared at her. Finally, she forlornly looked down at her half-eaten pastry, and let out an enormous sigh. She wrapped it up in the paper it hade in and walked over to the nearest bin, tossing it in the trash. "Natalie," Jordan said. "What the hell is wrong with you?" "H-Hey." "Do you really have to fuck anything that wiggles its ass at you? Anything at all?" She walked up to Natalie and poked her in the chest. Narrow green eyes scrutinized her. "Do you not already get your pick of us, three times a day?" "It just happened," Natalie stammered, raising her hands in self defense. "And really! I didn''t fuck her. It was all ina." She clung to her flimsy excuse, because really, it was all she had. Jordan groaned, and Natalie''s ears burned hotter. "I''m finding you a chastity cage," she said tly. "And I''ll carry the key around. You''ll need a permission slip whenever you want to fuck someone." She rubbed her forehead. "Well, let''s go collect the team. I was having fun, you know." "Sorry." She really was. Maybe Jordan had a point. Her self-control had been at a record low when it came to ina, and that was saying something, considering her standards for recklessness. In a hurry, they went and gathered their teammates. Each of them took the news in a different way. Sofia reacted much the same as Jordan, with an extra helping of outrage. Liz seemed exasperated but not surprised¡ªand also worried. She cared most about reputation among them, for obvious reasons. Ana they foundst, off in a secluded area sitting by herself on a bench, enjoying some solitude. She saw her four teammates approaching, Natalie''s embarrassment, and stood. "It''s happened, then?" she asked. Natalie guessed she was pretty predictable. Before long, they had extricated themselves from the celebration and were hurrying back to The Kraken''s Heath to collect their belongings. Next stop would be the train station, and it would be pure luck whether there was one headed for Aradon soon. Odds weren''t low, though. Plentiful traffic to the capital. "Honestly," Jordan said in the carriage ride over. "It''s our fault. Why''d we let her out of our sight? It was obvious what would happen." "I agree," Sofia said. "We have no one to me but ourselves. Like leaving a cat in a room with catnip." Natalie couldn''t help but think that was rather patronizing ¡­ but maybe fair, considering the circumstances. She had no leg to stand on when it came to defending her self-control. She sighed, slumping into her seat. Yes, this was definitely all her fault. But, admittedly, a small part of her couldn''t help but think: At least the pussy was good. It was probably for the best that she didn''t voice that to her teammates. *** By some miracle, they escaped Tarenhelm without issue. The next train had only been forty-five minutes from departure, and that hadn''t been quick enough for the Baron to discover what had happened ande chasing after them¡ªwhether he would even do something like that. They made it to T well past evening, with night having taken over. They hauled their luggage to their respective dorms and unpacked. Despite her exasperation and annoyance, Jordan wasn''t actually mad; she cuddled up with Natalie like normal that night. Though it went no further than cuddling. That might''ve been because Natalie didn''t initiate, not wanting to push her luck. Could''ve just been that they were both exhausted too. Natalie had been through a wringer of a day. Those bruises from the chieftain had gone nowhere. The next morning, they made their report to T. They omitted anything to do with Greed and Natalie''s ss, instead simply exining what had happened¡ªincluding the golden veins, but not offering any theories of their own. The only part they outright lied about was the shards of Greed Natalie had absorbed. All else was unfiltered. Later, she wasn''t sure how long from now, she would be meeting with the King to give a full report. Liz had work to do on her side to arrange that. The concept disoriented Natalie. A meeting with the King. How insane. The day at T passed like normal. Morning training, followed by sses, then lunch, and academics. A part of her started to rx, wondering whether anything would evene from her indiscretion with ina. The team had been split on whether to tell T what Natalie had done, but they had decided against it. It was possible the Baron wouldn''t want rumors to spread and would fume in silence. Then the other shoe dropped. At the end of the academic day, a T official fetched her, a woman in a prim suit and high heels. The dean of the academy wanted to speak with her, she told Natalie. She tried not to panic; it was possible that she''d been sent for because the dean wanted rification on their bizarre quest report. In fact, that was likely the case, logically speaking. But her hopes were squashed when, stepping into the dean''s office, Natalie found herself in a meeting with not just one of the most powerful and influential women in the world, the dean of T Delving Academy, but also Baron Crestwood. And neither of them looked happy in the slightest. 6.56 – Consequences II 6.56 ¨C Consequences II There were few men and women across Valhaur that held the prestigious title of ''top ranker,'' a person who had climbed to the nearly unbelievable height of level fifteen or above, and the Dean of T Academy was, perhaps unsurprisingly, one such woman. Dean Pemcroft was a woman in middle age. She sat behind an ornate mahogany desk, brown hair done in a ponytail, seeming annoyed. That alone was enough to make Natalie break into a sweat. An irritated top ranker. Much less the dean of the academy she attended. This woman was the absolutest person on campus, maybe the world, that she wanted annoyed with her. And yet here the Dean was, ring at her like an impudent student who''d caused her a headache. Which, uh. Was exactly what had happened. Baron Crestwood was less annoyed, more red-faced. He seemed to be barely restraining an outburst¡ªprobably only due to the woman of incredible status in the room with him. The affable figure from earlier was nowhere to be seen, which was maybe fair, considering the circumstances. Then again, not really. ina was her own person, and what she decided to do with Natalie was her own business. The Baron had no right to be upset at her for what his daughter did, or what the two of them did together. Well. Besides maybe how it had happened in the middle of a public alleyway, which was technically illegal, and how they had been caught. It might be less about the dalliance and more about the specifics. All the same, Natalie couldn''t help but feel his anger was at least partially unreasonable. What followed, over the next half-hour, was an extremely ufortable encounter. The Baron ranted and raved about Natalie''s pletely uneptable behavior,'' and ''was this how T studentsported themselves on missions?'' and so on and so on. ina, bless her, seemed to have made it clear that Natalie wasn''t fully to me; the Baron didn''t pretend that Natalie had seduced his daughter, or some nonsense of that sort. Just that her behavior, as an agent of T, was uneptable. Throughout, Natalie gritted her teeth and bore the tirade. She defended herself the best she could, with the Dean ying an irritable moderator. This wasn''t her first time dealing with an angry parent, though it was the highest-stake variation of the event she''d experienced, since it had never happened with a woman of national reputation in the room. Natalie had even dealt with angrier parents than the Baron, and in situations where their anger hadn''t needed to be moderated. That said, Natalie would have much preferred for the Dean to not have been there. As much as her presence muted what the Baron could say, it also made things worse for Natalie. Because the woman controlled her life at the Academy¡ªor whether she had a spot at all, quite frankly. The Dean was definitely on the Baron''s side, which wasn''t surprising. Natalie suffered through, trying to y contrite and apologetic, which wasn''t her strong suit. After her previous catastrophk of judgment, though, she forced herself to keep silent. Though maybe more than a renewed sense of good judgment, it was the Dean''s withering gaze that kept her mouth sealed. One major mistake was enough, Natalie told herself. She bit her tongue on her real opinions on the matter. She had a penchant for doubling down and getting herself into deeper trouble, but she was already plenty deep enough. She couldn''t afford to keep digging. Even she had some innate level of self preservation. When the Baron''s outrage had sputtered out, and Natalie had provided her weak defenses, and the Dean had assured him that proper punishment would be forting, he left in a huff, muttering to himself as he went. Natalie barely stopped herself from ring at his back. With the door closed behind the Baron, it was just her and the Dean. Where Natalie had needed to struggle to stay silent during her dressing-down, now that it was just her and the Dean, she found silence exceptionally easy. One, two, then three full minutes passed as she sat in front of the Dean''s desk and squirmed, one of the most powerful women in the world ring at her. Natalie didn''t dare speak first. Only when a genuine fight-or-flight response started to bubble up, and she was considering running away and starting a new life elsewhere, did the Dean speak. Two fingers on each hand went up to rub at her temples. "I remember," she said tly, "what it is like to be young. But doing such a thing, with the city baron''s daughter, in the middle of an alleyway, and being caught?" Her fingers didn''t stop rubbing, though the action didn''t seem to provide much relief. "I would ask what you were thinking, but it''s obvious you weren''t. Not for a second." Her re dared Natalie to deny the usation, but Natalie only returned red-faced mortification. That didn''t mollify the Dean¡ªshe wasn''t sure if anything would¡ªbut at least she didn''t get angrier. A long, exhausted sigh left the woman. Her hands dropped down onto her desk. "It''s not often I know the names of first-year students, Natalie," Dean Pemcroft said. "Not ones who reach my attention solely from their activities at the Academy. And yet I knew your name before today. I can''t say I''m surprised. It''s rare for a name to pass my desk and go forgotten. One implies two implies a pattern." Natalie thought it smart to stay quiet, but an arched eyebrow indicated she was supposed to speak. Maybe she should have apologized first, but she found herself asking: "You knew my name? Why?" That revtion had caught her by surprise, enough so that she couldn''t help but blurt the question out. "Do you know howmon it is for unknown students from the southern countryside to qualify for T?" Dean Pemcroft asked dryly. "Much less, within weeks, to be a leading team among the student base? And not just one of you, but three, from the same tiny town." "¡­ rare?" Natalie hedged. "Rare? Unheard of. Combined with the ounts from your instructors describing your unusually quick growth, of course the upper faculty have taken note¡ªincluding me. Did you think we wouldn''t?" "I guess I hadn''t thought about it." The Dean''s gaze turned withering once again. "Yes, I assume not thinking is a trend with you." Natalie''s face burned, but she managed to bite down a retort. "There''s the matter of the quest report your team submitted as well," the Dean said. "That reached my desk just this morning. Impressive, the results you achieved, considering the aberrant forces you were met with. Your team would''ve been due a congrattions until this popped up." She sighed. "Still are due a congrattions, but any benevolent attitudes of mine have been temporarily spoiled. In short, yes, Natalie, I knew your name before today." Having the attention of a top-ranker would normally be desirable, but in this case, Natalie really wished she''d remained a nobody. "T students are expected to carry themselves in a dignified manner," the Dean said, sighing. "The only saving grace is that despite the brazenness of your actions, the consequences of your indiscretion seem to be contained, and thus minor. Had the Crestwood family suffered a genuine reputational crisis, this conversation would be very different. And please make no mistake¡ªyour judgment has been called into question henceforth." The Dean drummed her fingers across her desk. "High-rank delvers are important to society," she said, "and that seems to be the path you and your team are heading for. But your valuees only partially from your ability to kill monsters, or even act as a powerful warrior for a nation. When a person can rampage through a city with the power to tear down buildings with singr swipes of their weapon, their judgment and stability bes everything. High-rankers, much less top-rankers, are scrutinized very, very carefully, Natalie, by arge number of people you do not want to get on the wrong side of." The Dean delivered the words with a calm threat that turned Natalie''s embarrassment to concern. A trickle of cold went down her spine. "Fortunately, you are young," the Dean said, her intensity fading, leaning back in her chair with a wave of a hand. "Gratuitous punishments and some mentorship will hopefully straighten you out¡ªbefore your reputation with the powers that be is ruined in earnest. As such, you''ve been indefinitely assigned to morning duties." Natalie paled. Indefinitely? That didn''t mean the rest of the year, did it? "Along with mentorship sessions with your primarybat lead, Instructor Robin," the Dean finished. "She volunteered." At that, Natalie blinked. Instructor Robin? Her thoughts veered in a whole different direction, because herst meaningful interaction with Instructor Robin had been a distinctly confusing one, with Natalie thinking the older woman had been flirting with her under the guise of telling Natalie that she ''needed to control herself, or she''d be punished.'' And now she''d volunteered to take over Natalie''s ''mentorship sessions''? "This is where you say, ''thank you, Dean,''" the Dean said. "And ''I promise never to cause you problems again.'' Please realize, I show mercy only once.''" The words were delivered with enough iciness that Natalie instantly repeated them verbatim. As daunting as indefinite morning duties were, alongside whatever these mentorship sessions would be, she couldn''t help but feel she''d gotten off light. A part of her had irrationally expected to be marched off to the brig once she''d heard that the Dean herself would be speaking with her. "Now, go," the Dean said, waving. "I have paperwork to deal with, not least of it thanks to you." With all haste, Natalie fled the Dean''s office. 7.01 – Rematch 7.01 ¨C Rematch The idea of having morning punishment duties with no concrete end date was something Natalie wasn''t thrilled about, but she supposed she deserved it. To make things worse, her entire team, even Jordan, clearly thought Natalie was receiving her just desserts, even if they were gracious enough not to say so outright. A part of Natalie saw herself as the victim in all of this, because seriously. When a pretty girl like ina had been throwing herself at her, what had Natalie been expected to do? Not sleep with her? She was only human. While the hour of cleaning was an annoyance, and one that wouldn''t be going away for a while, no worse punishments seemed to being from herpse in judgment. Though Instructor Robin''s ''mentorship'' sessions concerned her. What would those include? Whenbat sses rolled around, the Theliosian woman didn''t spare Natalie so much as a nce, her usual aloof self, but Natalie wasn''t sure whether that meant anything. Today, two sses had been paired up for spars. More importantly, the rotation hade out such that Natalie''s was facing Elida''s, the undisputed best of the year. Natalie was both annoyed and pleased by that. Annoyed, because even being in the same room as that snake was an irritating experience. Pleased, because Natalie was always spoiling for a good fight, and Elida''s ss could provide one¡ªor several. And especially after recent events, she much appreciated having an outlet to blow off steam. To her delight, her first opponent was Otto. It had been some time since that incident down in the dungeon where Elida''s team had flounced them and stripped them of their gear. Natalie still grew irritated whenever she thought about the event, but her temper had cooled since the first day. And her issue was less with Otto and more with Elida, the obvious ringleader and orchestrator. Regardless of Otto being a pawn, though, he had followed Elida''s lead without much hesitation¡ªeven if Natalie had read in his eyes an apology as they''d been fighting. He was still a bastard,plicit to the whole thing, and thus an enemy of Natalie''s. Just a minor one,paratively speaking. So getting to spar him? To show him what she''d picked up in the weeks she''d spent at T, and the fruits of her work in the dungeon? She was looking forward to it. They set up on opposite sides of the sparring pad. She rested her hammer on the ground and took the tall boy in. He wielded arge shield and a short sword, as before. A traditional tank, unlike Natalie. He probably hadn''t hit level three yet. Though there wasn''t zero chance of that, being on Elida''s team, with Elida herself having imed to have made that breakthrough. Level three this early in the year was a ludicrous pace, though, and Natalie and Elida had their sses, their sponsorships, to thank. Otto was good, very good, near the top of his ss, but not one of T''s top-ten performers. So Natalie didn''t think he was level three. A single level wasn''t enough to guarantee a fight one way or another, anyway. Two levels was closer to being hopeless, with three being pretty damn impossible to surmount¡ªassuming average conditions. Of course, being particrly well-suited to an opponent, or other extenuating factors, could make such a fight usible. Regardless, Natalie had the advantage, since she was level three, and he was likely only level two. And she had a grudge to settle. So, she was going to kick his ass. The fight began, and Natalie rushed forward, crossing the distance faster than Otto expected¡ªhis eyes widening as she charged with a speed she shouldn''t have possessed. But as much as Natalie''s level on him, she had also upgraded several of her skills. He tried to dodge but failed to get out of the way in time. He brought his shield up, and Natalie grinned, more than happy to test their specialties against each other. Shields were great defensive tools, but they couldn''t hold up against overwhelming raw power. A hammer was especially suited to pummeling through armor and shields. Valentine mmed into Otto''s shield with every ounce of her strength, and one of the best tanks of T''s first year was thrown off his feet, crashing onto his back several yards away. To his credit, Otto scrambled up in less than a second, despite the outrageous blow that had to have rattled his brains. Natalie could''ve followed up if she wanted, taken advantage of grounding him, but she didn''t. She let him get to his feet. Because this was about a grudge, proving a point, as much as winning. Instructor Robin watched the fight, seeming as aloof as always, but Natalie knew she was scrutinizing the fight like a hawk. It was her duty to prevent fatal injuries between students. Considering the power Natalie was throwing into her hammer strikes, an ident was more than possible. Natalie didn''t pull her punches, since Instructor Robin was, as far as she knew, infallible. Otto had his own suite of skills to call on, but they didn''t do much to stop Natalie from battering him around the sparring pad. Where once they had fought on equal footing, she had left him behind since theirst encounter. Blow after blow had the boy being staggered around the arena, made an embarrassment of. She didn''t only emphasize the strength difference either: she made sure to demonstrate her fighting ability, maneuvering past him and predicting his movements. She obviously had the raw strength advantage, yes, but it wasn''t power alone letting her bully him around. When the fight was over, Natalie stood over Otto, flushed with victory, pleased she''d finally had the opportunity to get revenge on the boy, if only in a small, trivial manner¡ªa hit to his reputation. They met eyes, Otto panting on the ground, syed out. He nodded at her. "Good fight," he grunted, sitting up. "You''ve gotten a lot better, and you were already good." Which briefly made Natalie feel like an ass. He seemed like an okay enough dude. Regardless, he''d done as Elida had asked of him¡ªso she didn''t have that much sympathy. Speaking of the devil: Elida had been watching the fight, same as much of the ss, with only two fights happening at once. Instructor Robin could only protect one spar at a time, and the other ss''s Instructor another. Natalie''s fight with Otto had been the more interesting of the two, and thus drawn more attention. As the training period went on, Natalie almost wondered if she''d made a mistake, the way Elida''s eyes were crawling on her back the entire time. Whenever Natalie flicked her attention over to the girl, she smiled politely, somehow even seeming innocent in having been caught staring. It sent a shiver down her spine. Unsurprisingly, Elida tracked her down after ss ended. It seemed the unresolved business with another god''s pdin, or whatever the hell was going on with Elida, was finallying to a head. 7.02 – Arrangement 7.02 ¨C Arrangement "It''s so nice to speak with you again, Natalie," Elida said with a smile. "Have you given my offer due consideration?" Standing outside the training facility, with other students having headed for the cafeteria. She eyed the red-haired girl. Elida was as pretty as always. She couldn''t help but notice this fact, which only annoyed her further. Elida''s green eyes danced with amusement as she waited for Natalie''s response. If she hadn''t known better, she might even describe Elida as having a friendly appearance. "You''ve been ignoring me when I tried to talk with you," Natalie said tly. "Why shouldn''t I do the same, now that you''re willing to speak?" "Ignoring you?" Elida asked in mock surprise, a hand going to her chest. "No, of course not. I wouldn''t do something so disrespectful to a potential ally. You must have misread the situation." Natalie crossed her arms and gave her a t look. Elidaughed. "I''ve made changes to the team," she said smoothly. "I have no doubt we''d make the strongest party in the year, if you joined us." She smirked. "That will also be true if you don''t, but the gap would berger, I mean." "What changes?" She asked not because she was entertaining the idea of teaming up with Elida long term, but simply because she wanted to know. Elida had already made allusions toward shuffling her team around as necessary¡ªhow else would Natalie have been given a spot?¡ªwhich didn''t sit right with her, but she also was curious what theposition of the best team of T would be. Especially since they were enemies not just personally, but through the Beaumon and Parda-Halt political rtionship. "Vta," Elida said. "As our new rogue, to name one." Natalie blinked. That surprised her for two reasons. "Aren''t you your team''s rogue?" "We''ll have two." "Why?" "Because it''s worth it," Elida said simply. "Composition matters, yes. What matters more is having the strongest fighters of the year on your team. A little imbnce is well worth stuffing a squad to the seams with talent." "She''s that good?" She didn''t even know who ''Vta'' was. "She''s better." "And who is she, again?" Elida paused, then seemed amused. "You''ve seen her. Short. ck hair. Lots of scars on her face." Natalie was briefly embarrassed that the description so readily summoned an image of the girl. It felt rude to describe her in that way, but there was no denying the facial scarring was the most immediately striking part of her. "Ah," Natalie said. "She is good. But not that amazing, I thought? She''s not in the top ten." "She''s sandbagging." "Sandbagging?" "She was somewhere in the thirties, when the rankings came out. But she''s never trying her hardest. Or trying at all. Not in ss, at least." Her brow furrowed. "I haven''t a clue who she is, or why she would do that, which makes her an utter fascination." She shrugged. "In the dungeon, she''s less restrained. It took a lot of convincing to get her toe down with me. Maybe she respected how I saw through her act. I can''t say. She''s hard to read. She''d been going solo, prior to that." "Solo?" Natalie nearly choked. "Alone? Into the dungeon?" "Yes," Elida said, seeming to sympathize with her surprise. "She''s a monster, as I said. And now she''s on my team." Well, that wasn''t great. "In fact, I doubt whether I could beat her," Elida said. Again, Natalie reeled. Not just because there was someone so strong in the first year of T students who had slipped past her notice, but that she was so good even Elida would admit to possibly losing to her. Natalie could only figure that meant Elida absolutely would lose, since the girl clearly had an ego. And how did Elida not know who Vta was? The Parda-Halts had vast resources to call on, rivaling any of the major houses, including the Beaumons. And they traded in knowledge; Natalie could only assume, at least by reputation, that they were even better informed than the Beaumons in that regard. And yet they couldn''t dig up the story behind the scarred girl? How she had arrived to the academy, what her intentions were with keeping a low profile, and how she was so strong? "Well," Natalie said, trying to orient herself to this surprising bit of news. "And who else?" "Our healer and mage haven''t changed. They''re the strongest of the year without obligations that prevent them from teaming." Elida waved her hand as if to dismiss the topic. "You can judge us by our results, which you''ll see first hand when youe into the dungeon with us." "And you think I will, do you?" "Yes," Elida said. "You want answers, which I''ll provide only upon thepletion of a test run. You will, without a doubt, ept my offer." Natalie frowned. An enormous part of her wanted to refuse just to spite her ¡­ but she''d already known Elida was a bitch, and had discussed the topic with her team enough. Elida was right; she would be epting. "A full day expedition," Elida continued. "This weekend. We can get a feel for each other. See what we can aplish when working together. Two people in our ¡­ situation." She smirked. "Not three?" "Three?" Elida seemed surprised by the question. "What do you mean?" "Vta. If she''s as good as you say." "Oh. Oh, no. I doubt that. Something is going on with her. But it''s hardly breaking historical precedent for T to receive asional ¡­ aberrants. Freaks of nature crop up from time to time, and they often filter to T. The Dimming Herald attended as well, yes?" "And after the test run?" Elida smiled. "Afterward, you''ll have realized that the only rational course of action is to continue with us, assuming you have an ounce of ambition." Natalie kept her face smooth¡ªor, at least, not changing from the irritated disdain she felt for the woman. She needed Elida to believe there was a chance she teamed with her, aspletely ridiculous as the idea was. She wondered how a Parda-Halt was so clueless to what motivated a person. Maybe she couldn''t conceive of someone putting ambition second to decency. Or didn''t realize how much Natalie disliked her. Or maybe, even, she wasn''t as much a master maniptor as Natalie assumed. She was a Parda-Halt, yes, but was that coloring Natalie''s judgment too much? Making her assume things that weren''t true? Maybe Elida, despite her family name, wasn''t all that great at reading people. Then again, she''d ''read through Vta''s act'', which Natalie hadn''t questioned for a second. Though she didn''t share a ss with the girl, either. Did Elida have alternative goals taking her down into the dungeon? It couldn''t be anything too devious, because Natalie was, in some roundabout way, under the protection of the Beaumons, thanks to Liz. Maybe there were games at y, maybe there weren''t. In any case, Natalie did have something she wanted from Elida. "Even if I refuse to join," Natalie said. "We''ll still talk afterward. You''ll still give me answers." Elida pursed her lips. "Some," she said. "Some answers. And meaningful ones, yes, no trivialities. On my word. But I''ll hardly go spilling all my secrets if you continue to dere yourself my enemy." She tilted her head. "Especially if you yourself are willing to have an earnest dialogue, I''ll be amenable to the idea of sharing information. I have questions for you too, you realize? There aren''t many like us." Natalie frowned. "This weekend?" she asked. "This weekend," Elida replied sweetly. "I do so look forward to it." 7.03 – Mentorship I 7.03 ¨C Mentorship I On most days, after official T sses and any extracurricrs wrapped up, Natalie and her team would head off into the dungeon, assuming they had no other responsibilities. But today, Natalie did have something preventing them from doing so. Her ''mentorship session'' with Instructor Robin. It was, frankly, one of the more significant punishments delivered onto her, at least in Natalie''s eyes¡ªthe fact her schedule was being restricted, her time to train and progress denied. More importantly, taken from her teammates too. While morning duties only hurt Natalie herself, and were thankfully weekdays-only, the longer mentorship session would prevent at least one evening delve a week. In an environment aspetitive as T, that could make a difference. It was what it was, though. Not much to do about it. She just wished the consequences of her actions had been restricted to her alone. Natalie had been told to meet Instructor Robin at her office in the administrative building, a structure on campus she''d only been to once since the start of the semester¡ªand that had been yesterday, to see the Dean. Tracking down the correct office number wasn''t hard. Arriving, she saw that the door was already open, and the white-haired Theliosian nced up from her desk to wave her in. "Close the door behind you, please." Natalie did so. Walking inside with some trepidation, she looked around at the interior of Instructor Robin''s office. T Academy had nock of funds, and seeing how even the worstbat instructors were high-rankers, and thus practically nobility of a sort, the office was spacious and well-furnished, bordering on luxurious¡ªthough she wouldn''t go so far as to call it gaudy or opulent. Certainly wealthy, though, as every inch of T''s campus. "Take a seat, Natalie," Instructor Robin said, gesturing at one of the two plush leather chairs set in front of her desk. "I''ll be with you shortly. Thank you for your punctual arrival." She didn''t look up from whatever she was working on. Natalie sat. The scratch of pen-on-paper filled the air. Her eyes wandered around the office. Instructor Robin had furnished the space with spartan efficiency, and beyond the expected bookshelves and filing cabs and so on, there were only a few personal touches. The first, of course, were the awards and medals atop a side table. Instructor Robin was a decorated woman and obviously took pride in that fact. What caught her attention the most was the centerpiece trophy, a thin silver cup with wide handles. Natalie wasn''t half as interested in the dueling scene as someone like Sofia, for example, but everyone knew what that cup represented. It was the International Dueling Assembly''s iconic trophy, the tournament held every four years which, quite frankly, had rippling effects across the global political scene. Because when such enormous power rested in a small collection of high-level individuals, a sweep of victories for a particr nation often tranted to a direct implication of military might¡ªand thus acted as deterrence, or encouragement, for future wars. And Instructor Robin had won seventh ce at one of the IDAs. For her bracket, of course¡ªshe was no top ranker, who were the real power houses among nations. It was still an incredible feat, prestigious even for a T instructor. Natalie spent a few more moments admiring the other awards and trophies, some granted by T, others for dueling achievements, and some tomemorate her assistance during national catastrophes¡ªlike what Natalie and her team might receive one day for a quest. A real quest, though, not a first-year task for staving off a goblin nuisance, but rather the sorts of threats mid- or high-rankers would be sent for to deal with. The neglect of which could have devastating consequences. Eventually, her eyes moved away from the trophies to the rest of the office, Instructor Robin''s pen still dutifully scratching away at her paperwork. There were a few oil paintings her attention lingered on, but Natalie frankly wasn''t an admirer of fine arts, so thatsted only a brief few moments. What really caught her attention next was a framed picture on Instructor Robin''s desk. It was Instructor Robin and another woman. The stern Theliosian stood straight-backed and with calm blue eyes next to a girl who seemed herplete opposite¡ªshort, brown bouncy hair, tanned skin and a huge grin that seemed to make up entirely for Robin''s stoic expression, a beaming radiance that would give Liz a run for her money. She was holding Robin''s arm, head leaning against her shoulder, the close proximity making her seem like ¡­ well, a lover. Natalie blinked several times, seeing that. "My wife," Instructor Robin exined, apparently having caught the reaction. "Your wife?" An elegant white eyebrow raised in question, and Natalie realized her tone had been a little too incredulous to be polite. "I just¡ª" Natalie said. "I didn''t know you were married." "For twenty-seven years, yes." Natalie managed not to outright boggle at Instructor Robin, to keep herself halfway in check. This stony woman had been married for twenty-seven years? To that radiant ball of joy? There was also the smaller surprise of her being married at all, and to a woman, thus confirming a suspicion of Natalie''s toward Robin''s preferences, but it was definitely the sheer length of partnership¡ªand the seemingly bubbly personality of her wife¡ªthat truly caught Natalie off guard. "You two look happy together," Natalie said, salvaging her initial reaction. "That''s a cute picture." "Thank you," Instructor Robin said, and continued writing, unperturbed as always. Natalie''s thoughts, meanwhile, were sprinting in circles. Was that confirmation, then, that Instructor Robin hadn''t been flirting with her, that one day after she''d caught her and Camille sneaking out of spars together? Since she was married? Then again, being married didn''t preclude one or either of them having encounters outside of that marriage. Plenty of rtionships were open in that way. For all Natalie knew, Instructor Robin had been scouting Natalie to share with her wife. And, uh, that was a path of lurid imagination she would definitely not head down, not for the briefest of contemtion. Any perceived interest from Instructor Robin had probably¡ªdefinitely¡ªbeen inside Natalie''s head. She was digging her own grave, one more time out of a million, because she was flustered by the taller, older Theliosian. Though how couldn''t she be? A gorgeous, decorated high-ranker with an intensity to those calm blue eyes that made Natalie''s stomach squeeze whenever they were turned on her. Not to mention being her official Instructor. Her teacher. Thankfully, the tapping of papers brought Natalie back to reality. "That should take care of that," Instructor Robin said, and stood. "Thank you for your patience. Please follow me." Natalie blinked, but did as instructed. Instructor Robin strode out of her office without furtherment, and Natalie hurried to follow. But where were they going? Would her ''mentorship session'' not be happening inside Robin''s office, as she had expected? Where would it be, then? 7.04 – Mentorship II 7.04 ¨C Mentorship II In long, confident strides, Instructor Robin led them out of the administrative building. After a short walk, it became clear they were headed for the entrance of T and thus onto the streets of Aradon. Natalie had assumed they''d at least be staying on campus. "Can I, uh, ask where we''re going?" "My home," Instructor Robin replied easily. She stumbled a step. Her home? Why in the world would Instructor Robin be taking her to the ce she lived? What sort of ''mentorship'' did she have nned that couldn''t be handled inside her office, or some other space on the T campus? Naturally, Natalie''s thoughts went toward less appropriate ces, but she squashed those down¡ªan inability to control her fantasies was how she''d ended up in this mess in the first ce. Though really, taking a student back to her private residence had to be inappropriate, right? Was T aware Robin was doing this? Maybe they didn''t need to be; it was her prerogative to handle Natalie''s mentorship as she deemed fit. Putting aside the surprise, Natalie found herself eager to see what Instructor Robin''s home looked like. She was a decorated academy instructor, someone aplished even more so than the average high-ranker, who, as a whole, were already among the upper echelons of society. Leaving T''s gates behind, Instructor Robin guided her to a carriage and opened the door for her. Natalie hesitated, but stepped up and inside. Instructor Robin followed. Thus, it was just the two of them. Instructor Robin didn''t need to give directions to the coachman; without a word, the carriage stuttered forward and began plodding along T''s streets. Probably, he was under her employ, the same man who drove her back to her house every day. Instructor Robin sat across from her, facing her with that usual cool demeanor. Blue eyes searched Natalie''s face with a quiet, intense contemtion. "It''s not a far ride," Robin said. "I don''t intend to keep you long, a few hours at most, but especially for our first session, I would rather host you somewhere morefortable¡ªa ce where we can speak freely." "Uh," Natalie said, still caught off guard by all of this. She frankly couldn''t see why she would need to be taken to Instructor Robin''s home under any circumstances. The vague exnation had cleared up nothing. "Sure?" "I would like to remind you that this will be guidance-giving as much as punishment," Robin continued. "In normal circumstances such sessions would normally involve grueling physical training supplemented by discussions of the w that brought you to one-on-one training with an Instructor. Considering the particr nature of the mistakes you''ve made, though, I''ve decided other methodology is more appropriate." Natalie barely stopped herself from replying with another ineloquent, ''Uh.'' "And those ns are?" "You will discover shortly," Robin said. "No need to rush." The Instructor crossed her legs and leaned back. "Before we get to the crux of the matter, I would prefer to get to know you." "Get to know me?" she echoed. "T keeps files on all of its students, yes, but such reports are clinical in nature. I would like to hear your story from you, if you don''t mind. Briefly¡ªno need to divulge what you don''t wish to. Let''s begin with, say, what brought you to T?" "Ah." That sort of question, at least, was more or less what she had expected from a mentorship session. And she didn''t mind answering. Instructor Robin was a person she respected, and while the ''punishment'' toe was somewhat foreboding, she didn''t mind a candid conversation. "I have to figure the same reason most people end up at T. I want to level up and get stronger. Get better at what I do. Delving,bat, my ss, so on." The Instructor''s lips quirked. "Distilled, yes, that is the essence of what brings most students to an academic institution. But I meant the particrs." She cocked her head. "Youe from a small vige to the south, no? Along with your two teammates?" Ah. The full story, then. Her life in brief. The ridested fifteen minutes, and Natalie and Instructor Robin spent that time getting to know each other. Or, well, it was mostly Natalie responding and Robin asking, but there were a few times Robin interjected some insight into her own life, like how she had also attended T however many years ago. She was a polite and attentive listener, and Natalie nearly forgot her circumstances, rxing into the easy flow of conversation. When the carriage shuddered to a stop, though, she was reminded. The carriage had taken them to Instructor Robin''s house. Though ''house'' was an inadequate word. The ce Robin lived was closer to Baron Crestwood''s manor than it was a ce Natalie would call a home as she knew them. Not quite as spacious and gaudily constructed, but not far off, either. It was another reminder of Instructor Robin''s status within the city of Aradon, or society as a whole. Delving was a lucrative career even for low-rankers, hence why so many people, both prepared and unprepared, were willing to risk their lives down in the dungeon. Natalie and her team could pull in more money in a single weekend delve than her parents would earn in months. And they were only level twos and threes. Instructor Robin, who was somewhere between ten and fifteen? Not to mention the significant paycheck she must be earning from T? This woman was rich in the way even many noble families weren''t. The three-story manor in front of her was probably well beneath her means, even. Or¡­maybe. Property in the middle of Aradon, with an expansive grounds to go along with it, probably quadrupled the value of the manor, if not more. Natalie wasn''t sure what real estate was worth, especially in the capital city. "It''s somewhat ostentatious, I admit," the Instructor said, catching the way Natalie had paused to look around at the manor and grounds. "I do believe I would have been fine with something simpler. But I came from a less affluent background than I, and it was obvious she admired the spectacle." Her eyes roamed across the lush green grass and the elegant structure. "I find myself unable to resist spoiling her." Natalie blinked at the genuine affection in Instructor Robin''s voice, then smiled. Whenever Robin spoke about her wife, her calm and reserved tone didn''t survive¡ªfondness always leaked through. It was more than a little cute. The woman was obviously still in love, even twenty-seven years of marriageter. "Please, follow me," Instructor Robin said. "We should begin this session in earnest. I don''t wish to waste your time." 7.05 – Mentorship III 7.05 ¨C Mentorship III Instructor Robin guided her through her home up into her personal office, which Natalie couldn''t help but find ironic, because why had they taken a trip through the city if she was going to be sitting in a chair and talking like they could''ve at T? Though she was sure Instructor Robin had more nned today. After settling into her chair, and Instructor Robin doing the same behind her desk, she wasted no further time getting to the point. "You were assigned a mentor because of your egregiousck of judgment during your previous quest," Instructor Robin bluntly said. "While showing exceptional performance inbat, you brought the city baron''s daughter into an alleyway and engaged in sexual activity with her¡ªnot just breaking public decencyws, but threatening the reputation of the local ruling family. And in extension, and perhaps more importantly, endangered T''s reputation." She hadn''t been kidding, then; no more friendly small talk and getting to know each other. A flush crawled up Natalie''s neck, and she nced away. "That''s the gist of it, yeah." Honestly, she hadn''t been all that chastised by the Dean, merely intimidated and frightened for what punishment mighte. The disapproval in Instructor Robin''s voice hit much harder. "I would like to hear your side of the story." "I''m not sure that''d paint me in a better light." "borate." Natalie shifted around in her chair. She really didn''t need to make things worse for herself by exining¡ªbut her sentence had already been passed by the Dean, and she''d outed herself with her initial statement. "I''m sure whatever report you were given was urate," Natalie said. "There''s not much more to say, not anything that would excuse my behavior, make it less bad. If anything, my teammates were repeatedly warning me to not get carried away with ina, and I ignored them." She shrugged. "So, like I said, ''my side of the story'' just makes things worse." Instructor Robin considered her. "What made you disregard your teammates'' advice?" "A pretty girl climbed into myp," Natalie said. "And all but begged me to¡ª" she coughed. Her cheeks continuing to darken, she shrugged awkwardly. "I didn''t actively choose to ignore them. I was just, uh. You know. Compromised, I guess you''d say." Did she really have to exin this to her primarybat Instructor? How mortifying. "Mm," Robin said. "I don''t believe there''s a single man or woman epted into T who iscking in willpower. The training regimen and quality ofpetition precludes it. You, as all other students, are clearly dedicated, determined, and driven. So why are you so easy to sway in this particr regard?" "Pretty girl," Natalie repeated. "Sitting in myp. I don''t know what you want me to say." "You recognize the problems your libido creates for you?" Instructor Robin asked, the word ''libido'' nearly making Natalie flinch. Seriously¡ªthis was so embarrassing. "Not only have I caught you neglecting my sses with other students of mine, but you''re also willing to put your team''s reputation in danger. You admit these are problems, stemming from your attitude?" "Yeah," Natalie said. "Yeah, I know." Instructor Robin nodded, approving. "The important part of making a mistake is learning from it. Analyzing what caused thepse of judgment and determining how to prevent simrpses in the future." "And you have a n to fix that?" Natalie asked, unable to not sound at least somewhat sarcastic. Instructor Robin raised an unimpressed eyebrow. Without answering, she stood and walked over to a cab. As she swung the door open, an outfit was revealed to be hanging on a hook. Nonchnt as ever, Instructor Robin grabbed it by the hanger and closed the cab. "Uh," Natalie said. The other shoe, it seemed, had dropped. "For you," Instructor Robin said. "Your uniform, to be worn during these mentorship sessions." "I''m sorry?" she stammered in sheer disbelief. Instructor Robin was holding a maid''s uniform, ck and white frills in traditional style. Except not traditional¡ªbecause the skirt was tiny. It would barely reach past mid-thigh. The top had a deep cutout, and undergarments came included. She expected Natalie to change into those? "I believe I sized them correctly," Instructor Robinmented, as if nothing was strange about this. "I have a good eye for such things." Natalie''s mouth opened and closed, not forming words. "Your first task will be to clean my office," the Instructor continued. "Supplies are in the cab. Please be thorough." She handed the clothing to Natalie, who mutely took it. "I have more paperwork to finish in the meantime. You should be finished before I am." Without further exnation, she returned to her seat, grabbed a pen, and pulled a short stack of papers from a drawer in her desk. Earlier, Natalie had managed to convince herself she had misinterpreted her encounter with Instructor Robin post-Camille-incident, mostly thanks to her professional attitude throughout the past half-hour, and the obvious fondness she showed for her long-time wife. But this. This couldn''t be misinterpreted. Maybe, somehow, if the maid uniform had been a normal maid uniform, it could be. But this slutty thing? It was a fetish outfit. No matter how unperturbed and unaffected Instructor Robin had delivered themand, telling Natalie, her student, the one she was supposed to be mentoring, to dress up in a revealing maid uniform only had one implication. Right? Right?? The woman had such a damn perfect straight face that Natalie somehow doubted herself. She supposed the topic of this ''mentorship'' was Natalie''s sexual proclivity andck of control, and subsequently the problems it created for her, so ¡­ was this a test? Though what the hell kind of test? Surely it broke some sort of T guidelines, regardless, for a teacher to be suggesting such a thing. Instructor Robin nced up from her desk, seeing Natalie frozen there, uniform in hand. She raised an eyebrow. "Is there a problem, Natalie?" "N-No," she found herself replying instinctively. "Uh, just ¡­" Words didn''te out for a few seconds. "Where do I get changed?" Instructor Robin tilted her head. "Here, of course." "Here?" In front of her? "And don''t neglect the undergarments," Instructor Robin said. "Theyplete the outfit nicely." She waved a hand in a mild show of impatience. "Our time together is limited. Please do as I''ve asked." Natalie swallowed. It was definitely a test. She looked at the uniform one more time¡ªthecy panties, the deep-cut blouse, the miniskirt. Well. Frankly, Natalie had no idea where this was leading, but ¡­ she also couldn''t say she didn''t want to find out. She just had to tread very, very carefully. This was her Instructor, after all, and she was already on thin ice with T. A test, she reminded herself. Definitely a test. 7.06 – Mentorship IV 7.06 ¨C Mentorship IV Natalie put on her uniform. She stood from her seat and hesitantly began unbuttoning her T top. The experiencedbat lead didn''t so much as nce up from the paperwork she''d started on. That both emboldened and discouraged her. The tight-fittingbat-ready blouse came off, and still Robin didn''t look up. To her delight and terror, though¡ªa very excited sort of terror¡ªwhen Natalie stripped her bra off, there was a nce upward of blue eyes, which paused however briefly on her exposed chest. They flicked down quick enough that Natalie couldn''t say she knew Instructor Robin was interested, but it gave her some confidence. Confidence she quelled in short order. The most logical exnation for Robin''s behavior here was that she was seeing if Natalie could be baited into acting inappropriately. Though was there any such thing as her acting inappropriately, given the situation? When she''d been ordered by a superior officer to strip naked and put on a slutty maid uniform? Then again, considering the particr situation that had led to Natalie being disciplined in the first ce, maybe Robin''s choice of trial was reasonable. Either way, it was an awful mess she was in. Instructor Robin''s studious focus didn''t falter as Natalie stripped, not even when she had bared her lower half to the air. She liked to imagine Instructor Robin had to fight particrly hard to not steal a nce, but maybe Natalie was deluding herself. Panties, bra, socks, and skirt followed, and then she donned the new outfit. She slipped on the maid''s tight blousest. She had to admit Instructor Robin had been right. She had an eye for picking the right size. The uniform fit snugly, just tight enough for her to be all but spilling out of the frilly ck and whitece, yet with the clothing still fitting. Not that any normal person would walk in and think, oh, that''s a normal maid uniform, but hey, her nipples weren''t showing, and neither was anything else sensitive. So in a way, she was ready for service. Besides the erection she was sporting. Instructor Robin looked up from her paperwork, and her gaze didn''t so much as hesitate at the ten throbbing inches of girlcock that were proudly bulging up the skirt she''d given Natalie. She briefly wondered whether she was going crazy, theck of reaction Instructor Robin gave. "Supplies are in the cab, as I mentioned," Robin said. Blushing furiously, she went and retrieved said supplies. There was a disinfectant spray¡ªor so she assumed, since it was an unmarked bottle¡ªand a thick sponge, along with a duster. When she''d finished pulling them out, Instructor Robin had set a light-blue crystal on the front of her desk. She caught the way Natalie''s eyes widened at it. "You know what this is?" Robin asked. "A recording crystal, isn''t it?" "Indeed." Recording crystals were absurdly expensive, because the magical artifacts requiredplex and precise magical workings to make function. Even more importantly, they were a rtively new invention and thus in low supply. It hardly surprised Natalie that Instructor Robin had one, though. She was a high-ranker. She could afford much more expensive toys, if she so desired. "You''re ¡­ going to record me?" "For reviewter, yes," Instructor Robin confirmed. "As I will with most of our sessions." She tilted her head. "Does that make you ufortable? I can assure you of my discretion." Natalie swallowed. Ufortable? Definitely. But not in a bad way. Rather, in that same manner that had her skin already hot and her cheeks flushed. There was, like usual, a veneer of practical exnation for why Instructor Robin would be recording their sessions for review¡ªto go over what she''d done or said in more detail and adjust her approach for the next session. In reality, it had to be because Instructor Robin wanted to be able to summon an illusionary image of Natalie crammed into the inappropriate maid outfit whenever she desired. What would Robin really be doing with the recording? Slowly, Natalie shook her head. Instructor Robin could record her if she wanted. The idea had her feeling all sorts of ways, but that had never stopped Natalie before. Instructor Robin nodded, then, without furtherment, returned to her paperwork, gesturing for Natalie to begin with her own task. She was excruciatingly aware as she went through the nooks and crannies of Instructor Robin''s office of just how much the uniform exposed. Especially when she needed to bend over to reach a deep space¡ªor, honestly, even somewhat shallow spaces. The tiny skirt barely kept her modesty even when she was standing up straight, and not at all when she got too excited and her erection started to push the fabric up. Even without that extra factor, bending over the slightest bit had the skirt lifting up past the curve of her ass. Facing away from Instructor Robin, she had no idea whether the older woman was admiring what was exposed. The most maddening part was that Natalie didn''t know if she was being ogled. She could have handled either, quite frankly. If she was or wasn''t. It was the ambiguity of the situation that drove her insane. And not in the anxious way, or at least not that alone. Excitement, as much as anything else. Even if she managed to keep her erection down, the mming in her heart didn''t slow as she went about cleaning her Mistress''s¡ªInstructor Robin''s office. Somewhat amusedly, Natalie sent off a prayer of thanks that she knew well enough how to clean. That wasn''t a skill many T students had, considering the sheer wealth they were born into. Likely the first time they''d ever done manualbor was for T itself. That was part of the reason T used cleaning details as their default punishment in the first ce. Being forced into mundanebor like scrubbing floors was meant to humble the typical student, who came from high stations of birth. Natalie didn''t find it remotely humbling, of course. It was just cleaning. Though in this situation, it was cleaning with her ass on disy for Instructor Robin. So. It had some effect on ''humbling'' her¡ªjust not in the usual way. A half-hourter, she''d dusted down and cleaned any obvious spots that needed it, which had been almost nothing. Instructor Robin''s office had already been spotless. Robin obviously just wanted her to put on a performance, wandering around and bending over. And Natalie had gone and done it without protest. In fact, with maybe more indulgence than necessary, sticking out her ass and wiggling around left and right to really dust away at Instructor Robin''s furniture. Because it was her duty. That was all. Not because her skin tingled whenever she imagined her instructor stealing looks. Though even if Robin wasn''t doing so in the moment, she had a recording crystal to referenceter, whenever she wanted. That idea had Natalie feeling nearly faint. Twenty minutester, Instructor Robin tapped her papers on her desk to draw Natalie''s attention. She jolted and turned, trying not to flush at the particrlypromising position she''d been in. Instructor Robin met her eyes evenly, not seeming the slightest bit flustered. "I''m finished," the Instructor said, standing from her chair. "Please apany me." She headed for the door, and with some dread, Natalie realized that meant they were heading out into the manor. While Instructor Robin only needed a few staff members to care for a house of this size, that still meant other people that would potentially see her in the revealing outfit. She swallowed, though, and as usual, didn''t protest, simply following her instructor out the door. 7.07 – Mentorship V 7.07 ¨C Mentorship V When she and Robin passed another maid¡ªwho was in a regr, expecting cleaning outfit¡ªand the woman didn''t bat an eye, Natalie suddenly had an idea of what she was in for. Because what kind of staff member could see her employer walking through the hallway with a furiously blushing young woman dressed in a slutty outfit without reacting in the slightest? That meant it wasn''t an unusual sight, or at least one they''d been warned or trained to expect. Instructor Robin had preferences, apparently. "My staff is discreet," Instructor Robin said. "Not a word of what happens in this house will be spoken of to anyone." Whatever words Natalie tried to strangle out in reply came unfortunately close to a squeak. The Instructor led her down the stairs and into a luxurious bathing area with a natural rock floor and a basin that could fit half a dozen people inside, practically a miniature hot springs. Even with how flustered Natalie was, she couldn''t help but admire the space. Personally, she would never want a house asrge as Instructor Robin''s, that required staff to tend to it, but she wouldn''t mind pouring money into a project like this. The water inside the basin was hot enough to have turned the air steamy, and Natalie eyed it in appreciation. It was a mark of how thoroughly her head had been muddled that she didn''t grasp the implication of why Robin had brought her down here until the woman''s hands went to the first of her uniform''s buttons. Natalie froze as, without ceremony, herbat instructor began stripping. Like all T clothing, the design of the instructor''s uniform was tight-fitting and flexible, meant to be suitable in a fight, and was styled in primary colors of blue and gold, with bits of white and ck. She held the coat out, and Natalie mutely took it like the loyal maid she was. Robin didn''t stop there¡ªher fingers went to the buttons of her blouse and began popping them open one by one. With that same outrageous calm, she slipped her top off and handed it to Natalie. Her teacher was getting naked right in front of her. More and more of that pale, smooth Theliosian skin was revealed until Instructor Robin stood in the steamy room bare, without an ounce of shame, a small pile of clothing in her student''s arms¡ªtopped bycy ck panties and a bra. Instructor Robin was, of course, stunning. It wasn''t like Natalie hadn''t noticed that before. She was tall, fit, and blessed with generous curves. Her thighs were shapely, with full, well-proportioned breasts that bounced ever so slightly as she swayed her hips over to the bath. Her ass was presented for a brief glimpse before she lowered herself into the water with a sigh. Natalie held perfectly still. It felt like a dream. She held her breath, unable to do anything but stare like an idiot at her naked instructor as she settled down into the deep iid basin. The water didn''te up all the way, leaving her breasts exposed, nipples cresting above the water line. Robin nced at her, one eyebrow cocked expectantly. "You may set those aside," she said with a nod to the clothing in Natalie''s hands. Natalie jolted, then fumbled to ce the folded stack of clothing onto the nearby shelf. Her heart beat madly in her chest. Would she be asking Natalie to join her? Was that where this was leading? It spoke volumes that she had no clue; the woman was too unpredictable. She returned to standing in front of Robin, keeping her eyes firmly on the other woman''s, which took no small amount of effort. Robin didn''t order her to strip and join her, which was both a tragedy and a relief. "So," the Instructor said. "Let us return to the topic at hand. Let me apologize for the interruption to your schedule these sessions impose, as well as the morning duties I know you''ve been assigned to. I''m aware losing crucial time for dungeoneering andbat practice is no small punishment. However, matters other than yourbat readiness have been¡ªNatalie." "Y-Yeah?" "Please stop staring at my breasts. I''m trying to have a serious conversation." Blushing furiously, she tore her eyes up¡ªshe hadn''t even realized her control had slipped. Her teacher had some amazing tits. Hidden away into herbat uniform, Natalie hadn''t realized just how much she''d been missing out on. "Sorry," she stammered. "Mm. As I was saying, other ws have been deemed more important to correct, and must be addressed," Robin said, sounding slightly amused. "Judgment and self-control prominent among them. I hope my time with you will serve as effective training." Training. For what, exactly? Self control? Was that confirmation all of this was a test? Maybe if Natalie had a moment to sit down and think not in the presence of her naked teacher, she would have a better shot at making an urate evaluation. "I would like to better understand you first," Instructor Robin said. "Our talks on the ride over saw to some of that, but not the truly relevant material. I wish to inquire about more intimate information, since that is, of course, the subject at hand." She tilted her head. "How many partners have you had, Natalie? How experienced would you consider yourself?" Natalie stalled. That wasn''t a question she''d been expecting from her instructor, but then again, she hadn''t been expecting any of this. If there was anything Robin was skilled at, it was catching her off-foot. Though that might be more because of how oundish this ''mentorship'' was than any natural ability to be disarming. Any of her instructors could have tied Natalie''s tongue if they''d taken her back to their house and gotten naked in front of her. "Pretty experienced, I guess?" she answered slowly. "It''s all rtive." Though evenpared to most people''s experienced, Natalie had gotten up to some strange things. Her adventures down into the dungeon, for example, most people would never have the possibility of experiencing. Like when she''d had her mind thrown into the body of a teammate ¡­ and then thoroughly learned what that teammate''s body, and her own, felt like from the other end. "That''s to be taken for granted, I suppose," Instructor Robin said. "With how quickly you''ve been working through the student base." That was a fair usation, even if Natalie had to mp down on a protest. She hadn''t fucked that many girls at T¡ªjust flirted a lot. Her teammates and the dungeon took up too much of her time for her to really be ''working through the student base.'' Though that even Instructor Robin knew of her reputation said some things about how obvious she was. "Your answers should be well-formed, then," her teacher continued. "So tell me: what are your preferences?" "Preferences?" "I presume you only pursue women," Robin said. "That much is obvious from observation." "I didn''t realize you were watching me so closely." The Instructor raised an eyebrow. "Why wouldn''t I? You''re one of the top students in your ss. Among other reasons for you to have caught my eye." Her heart jumped. The words were the closest Robin hade to outright sexual innuendo, today. Her teacher''s calm, measured stare as she waited for a response made Natalie feel slightly lightheaded. That, and the sight of those round, perfect breasts cresting out of the waterline. It was rather distracting. "Ah," Natalie said, with none of her usual adroitness in this type of situation. Because, damn it, she still didn''t know whether it was a test. Whether her being able to keep herself in check was the entire point of this exercise. Should she just ask? She doubted she''d get an answer if she did. "But other preferences, beyond gender, too," Robin said, pulling back one arm to rest on the lip of the pool. "Tell me, Natalie. What do you look for in a woman?" 7.08 – Mentorship VI 7.08 ¨C Mentorship VI What do you look for in a woman? Unfortunately, Natalie''s instinctive response was for her eyes to flick down to her instructor''s naked body only partially hidden in the clear water¡ªand her breasts, which weren''t hidden at all. They jolted back just as fast, though a woman as perceptive as Robin had certainly seen it. She didn''tment, to Natalie''s immense relief. "Uh," she said slowly, doing her best to keep control of her mming heart, and more importantly, the arousal that threatened to turn her half-erection into a full one that would risk poking out of her skirt entirely, considering how skimpy the damn thing was. Even as it stood, there was a noticeable bulge. Even a half-erection was hard to miss when sporting the equipment Natalie did. "I''m not sure if I have any one type?" A raised eyebrow prompted her to borate. "I guess ambition andpetence is always a positive trait, something I like, but there''s no one mold that grabs my interest. Really." "Let me be clear. I''m inquiring about your sexual preferences, not your romantic ones." "Ah," Nataliemely said. "What part of a woman arouses you the most, Natalie?" she asked with infuriating calm. Natalie swallowed and nced around. Was she seriously being asked this by herbat instructor? And, in a roundabout way, was being forced to answer too; this was official mentoring, and Robin''s reports back to the Dean would make or break further punishment. Though Natalie seriously doubted any reports would be urately describing what had happened. "Um," Natalie said. "Everything?" She cleared her throat. "It depends on the girl. I''m an admirer of all sorts of qualities. On one girl it might be one feature that I like most, but for another, another." It was a non-answer, but also the truth. Robin hummed. "I suppose grounding the question in a concrete example is required, then," she said. "What part of me arouses you the most? I have, after all, caught you staring enough to be aware of your interest." Natalie froze. That question was ten times worse. Maybe she should''ve just generalized, even if it''d have been less honest. "Do you need a better look, to decide?" Robin asked. "I suppose I didn''t present myself." She stood, water sluicing off her curves, leaving her pale skin covered with sparkling beads from shoulders down to her knees. Natalie stared helplessly at Robin''s naked body as she stepped out and disyed herself, even turning around to give her an unfettered view of her ass. Robin ced a hand on her hip and cocked it in a pose, looking over her shoulder as Natalie drank the sight in. "There," she said after a moment, facing back forward. "You have what you need." Natalie, as perhaps had been inevitable, finally lost the battle she''d been fighting for the past half hour. Her cock swelled up into a full erection, throbbing in her skirt as she openly stared at her teacher''s nude form and was forced to consider what parts of that gorgeous body she liked most. Since her miniskirt was tiny, and the panties flimsy things ofce, there was no stopping her cock from popping out from those delicate confines. It at least stayed in her skirt. Though, tenting upward and bringing the fabric with it¡ªnot to mention how Robin was beneath her, looking up from her seat in the inid water basin¡ªthe Instructor definitely had a view of some inappropriate things. Could probably see part of the shaft itself, Natalie thought faintly, thanks to the angle. "If you''re struggling to decide, just listen to your heart," the Instructor said with faint amusement¡ªmaking it clear that it wasn''t her heart that she meant. Her eyes flicked from Natalie''s eyes, briefly taking in the sight of her slightly exposed cock, and the extent of her bulging skirt, before going back up to rest thatzy amusement back onto Natalie''s face. "Since I''m being asked," Natalie said with all theposure she could manage, which was significantly less than the older woman''s. "I guess I''d say ¡­ your breasts?" A generic answer, but damn. She really had nice tits. "That sounds like a question," Robin said mildly. "Your breasts," she said more firmly. Though really, everything about her was amazing. Instructor Robin was obviously enjoying how flustered Natalie was. "I''m pleased to hear that, then," she said without the slightest trace of her own embarrassment. "Any close second, or is it that definitive of a preference?" Natalie swallowed. Was she really being baited into talking about her teacher''s naked body? Weighing her favorite parts? "Ass too?" she struggled out. "Stomach and hips. You''re toned but curvy. I, um, appreciate that in a woman. Thighs. Long legs. wless skin¡ªyour scars are really pretty." Like any delver, she had a handful of those, less than Natalie had expected in fact. "Making me choose is kind of mean," she joked, the words more breathless than she''d wanted. The Instructor hummed. "I do appreciate an honest appraisal," she said. "Please realize, I''m merely trying to get a handle on you. In a fight, understanding the nature of the enemy is crucial. And while we aren''t adversaries, the concept holds. I must understand you to help you." She cocked her head. "What about more direct sexual preferences? Would you like to borate on those?" "What ¡­ do you mean?" Her lips twitched up. "I''ll ground the question in a concrete scenario, I suppose. Since that seemed to have helped with the previous question." Which was a dreadfully ominous thing to hear. "If I were to allow you to use me in any one way, sexually, how would you? What would your preference for that interaction be?" Natalie''s mind went nk. Use her Instructor, in any one way? Was it just a theoretical, or was this what the night had been leading up to? Did Robin actually intend to follow through on Natalie''s answer, or was she once again just teasing? It didn''t particrly matter; she would answer honestly, even on the off-chance it wasn''t theoretical. Still, she stalled out. "I can see you''re struggling to decide," Instructor Robin said amusedly, after a handful of seconds had passed. Of course she was. There were a great many ways Natalie wanted to use her Instructor''s body, and it took considerable self-control to sift through and pare them down. Imagining all the various methods she would love to physically take this woman wasn''t helping the dilemma down low, the mortifying erection she was sprouting¡ªand how it was starting to twitch in excitement. The obvious answer was ''your pussy,'' but if this were indeed a genuinely posed question that Instructor Robin would follow up on, being bold could backfire. Maybe if she made a more reserved answer, then her teacher would reward her. Natalie would love to pin that woman down and pound her until that perfect calm demeanor broke, until she was a panting, sweaty mess, but if she instead asked only to slide between those perfect tits instead, would her teacher actually allow it? "Your thighs," Natalie finally said. "I''d use your thighs." "Oh? Is that it?" Amusement tugged on her lips. "I expected a more indulgent answer, I must say. Perhaps you mistook my question for an offer, and tempered your response in turn?" Well, she''d been seen through rather easily. "It''s a hypothetical only, Natalie," Robin said. "Please respond as such." "Then I would fuck you," Natalie said inly¡ªher cock jumping even at the words simply being spoken. "Obviously." If she''d thought a student telling her that she wanted to fuck her would make Robin pause, she was mistaken. "Fuck me?" she asked. "That''s a rather open phrase. You would ''fuck'' me how?" Natalie swallowed. As flustered as she was, she was losing any ability to form a more elegant response. "I would push you over, spread your legs," she said, "and slide my cock into you. Then pound into you until you were begging for mercy." The words came out huskier than she intended. Her cock throbbed heavily in its tenting prison of miniskirt and underwear, and Natalie tried to temper herself. This might be a test. Robin quirked an eyebrow. "I see," she said. "Direct. To the point, primal. As expected. Thank you for the honesty." She hummed. "Remove your uniform, Natalie." Natalie''s heart jumped. Wait¡ªhad it not been a hypothetical, then, despite her insistence it was? "I need help getting clean," Instructor Robin rified, correcting the suddenly eager look on Natalie''s face. "Grab the soap." Natalie was, for the briefest moment, disappointed¡ªthen realized herbat instructor had asked for help cleaning herself. That would entail quite a bit of touching, never mind getting naked and slipping into the bath alongside her. Oh, dear. If this was a test, and it kept ramping up in difficulty like this, Natalie wasn''t going to make it through the night. 7.09 – Mentorship VII 7.09 ¨C Mentorship VII Natalie had Instructor Robin''s breasts in her hands. Her teacher''s tits. The tits of a decorated top-rankerbat instructor from T Academy. Were in her hands. It was a bit surreal. Natalie struggled to keep herself grounded as she washed Robin''s chest, rubbing her fingers over those smooth, full curves and squeezing ample flesh. Try as she might to rationalize the situation, or remind herself that she needed to be careful, there was no way she could actually ignore the fact she was groping Instructor Robin''s tits. She couldn''t believe she''d been asked to do this. "I do believe they''re clean already, Natalie," Robin said, voice tinged with amusement. They were naked in the hot bath of her private estate, standing in the shallower side¡ªthe basin sloped down¡ªface-to-face so that Natalie couldther the older woman up. Herbat instructor''s nipples were erect as Natalie ran her hands across her breasts, sliding all around, smearing soapy water. It took a second for the words to register. She hastily, though with reluctance, forced herself to move on. Which wasn''t necessarily a tragedy. From breasts she trailed down to Robin''s smooth stomach, gliding over that t, slightly bumpy expanse of toned muscle. And to other parts of her gorgeous body. Leaning forward just the smallest amount, more by ident than anything, Natalie''s very erect cock poked gently in the top of Robin''s thigh. "Mind your spacing, now," her Instructor said in mild reprimand. Natalie took a half-step back, swallowing. She tried to ignore the fact she''d just felt her cock against her teacher''s naked body. No matter how light and fleeting the contact had been, the idea still sent a thrill through her. Seriously, how had she ended up in this situation? And was Instructor Robin waiting for her to make a move? Natalie could barely put into words how tempted she was to push her luck. To find out. To let her hands wander¡ªto grope her instructor under the guise of washing her, to pinch a nipple or slip a hand between her thighs. Even to ''identally'' poke her cock somewhere less appropriate, just to see how Robin would react. Because that was what this all was about, right? Testing Natalie''s resolve? But Robin had never actually told her not to make a move on her. And it wasn''t like this was back at Tarenhelm, with ina, where a slip of judgment meant real consequences. She even had logic on her side; she could argue that without ever being warned, or explicitly made aware that this was a test, then she wasn''t really at fault for making a move. Not when there''d been so many hints she might be interested. A vague inference that Natalie wasn''t supposed to wasn''t enough to truly condemn her for her actions. Plus maybe Robin really was waiting for her to make a move; maybe this wasn''t a test, and just the older woman trying to getid. Hardly impossible. Even if it was a test, Natalie was starting to wonder if she should try anyway. A scolding for herck of control sounded like a great trade-off for getting to toy with her teacher''s nipples, or even more exciting activities. She wondered how much she could get away with before the real scolding began. Robin had barely reacted to having her breasts squeezed or a cock pressed into her, after all. Natalie finally built up the nerve¡ªor thest dregs of her good sense fled¡ªand her hands started to ascend back upward from their route of cleaning Robin''s body, though now with much less chaste intentions. But just as her hands started to once again cup Robin''s breasts for another round of squeezing, and this bout to be much more indulgent, Natalie was unceremoniously cut off. "That will do," Robin said, grabbing her wrists and lowering Natalie''s hands away. "I shall return the favor, now." Natalie didn''t have time to absorb the implications of that statement before her instructor began doing just as she''d said. She grabbed the soap bar,thered her hands up, and began running soapy water across Natalie''s own body. There was, however, no teasing sensuality to her movements: her hands traveled briskly around Natalie''s stomach, sides, breasts, shoulders, arms, and so on, scrubbing her body clean without a hint of sexual intent. Not that Natalie enjoyed it less for that fact. She stood frozen as the naked older woman stood close to her, leaning forward to scrub down every inch of her. For the first time, she got to experience Robin''s hands on her body, rubbing up and down her breasts, brushing her nipples in passing, making her breath catch. It didn''t help her devolvingposure. Natalie might have acted if she hadn''t gone still as a statue, too surprised by the development to react. Even when Robin reached between her legs, she didn''t falter. Her hands slipped onto the base of Natalie''s cock, wrapping slim pale fingers around her length, and stroked. Once. Twice. Three times, herbat lead ran that powerful grip up and along her aching erection, and Natalie''s mind went nk. It was happening. Instructor Robin was jerking her off. And of course she was. Obviously, this whole event had been leading to¡ª Then she moved on, soapy hands working down Natalie''s thighs. Professional as could be. So much for that. Her cock throbbed hard at being denied, bouncing visibly in front of Robin, and her instructor pretended not to see it. "I believe," Instructor Robin said a momentter, stepping away from Natalie, "that I''ve taken a good initial appraisal of you. Please finish getting cleaned up. This session is at an end." Natalie stirred in surprise. "What?" "I never intended to take up your entire evening," Robin said matter-of-factly. "I want to be cognizant of your time." She sunk into the steamy water of therge basin to clean the soap off of herself, finishing what Natalie had started. "I believe my goals today have been aplished, so you may return to T now." Blinking, and a bit dismayed, Natalie asked, "What were those goals?" Her cock jumped a second time in anger of being denied. Her entire body felt like it was on fire. There''d been too much teasing for too long straight, not to mention the hot and humid air of the bathroom amplifying the effect. "Taking my measure of you, as I said," Robin replied. "This is where today ends. Progress made too quickly can be a harmful thing." She raised an eyebrow at Natalie. "Finish cleaning yourself. Did I not give you an order?" At the firm, but not harsh, tone of voice, Natalie hastily began washing herself off as she''d been instructed. Her fingers lingered briefly on her own cock¡ªgiving it a few more strokes than the three professional ones Robin had. Which did, she noted, draw the instructor''s attention, though she didn''tment. Natalie would''ve kept going, was pent up enough she almost couldn''t help it, but pleasure from her own hand obviously wasn''t what she wanted, here and now. After cleaning off, Robin stepped out of the basin, and while Natalie stole an indulgent look of the older woman''s curves from the delightful vantage of being beneath her as she climbed out, she was forced to hurry and follow. Robin wiped herself down with one towel and wrapped another around her waist. Natalie followed her lead. "Leave the uniform," the Instructor said. "You''ll be leaving shortly, no need to put it back on. Your clothes are back in the office." "But¡ª" Robin had already stridden out. Flushing, Natalie jogged to catch up after testing ways to arrange her towel. Unfortunately, the towels were rather slim, which meant she could either cover her chest or her crotch, but not both. Especially not with her erection, which stuck the towel up an unfortunate amount. And so, a few secondster, she was walking through Robin''s house with her tits out, beside the older woman who was likewise half naked. They passed a maid who, again, didn''t bat an eye. They were apparently more than used to such things. Or very well trained. Robin led her up to the office, where she instructed Natalie to put her T uniform back on. "A carriage is waiting for you outside," the Instructor said. "See yourself out. I still need to get dressed myself." She hummed. "I''m pleased by how today went. Our next session will be more involved." More involved? Natalie swallowed thickly at that. "And it''ll be, uh, same time next week?" "Some time next week," she corrected. "The day may vary, depending on my schedule. But yes. Once per week, on average." "Okay. It was ¡­ nice speaking to you?" She couldn''t believe she was being dismissed, that it was over just like that. "You as well, Natalie." And so, without further ceremony, Natalie was forced to make her exit. She was still blushing after the short carriage ride and walk, when she made it back to her dorm. 7.10 – Venting Steam I 7.10 ¨C Venting Steam I Both Jordan and Sofia were sitting in the living room when Natalie, face still faintly hot from the extremely unexpected mentoring session, walked through the front door. Sofia was in the recliner, which she seemed to haveid implicit im to, and Jordan sprawled out on the couch¡ªthe edge of which she peeked her head over upon Natalie entering. "How''d it go?" Jordan asked. "Um," Natalie replied. "Knowing her," Sofia said dryly. "The two of them fucked." "Um," Natalie replied. Both her roommates froze. Blue and green eyes widened to aical degree as they searched Natalie''s face and read some vague report of what had happened. "You didn''t actually¡ª?" "You''re kidding me, right¡ª?" "Nothing happened," Natalie said hastily. "Well, sort of." "Sort of?!" came the unison reply. Natalie plopped down onto the couch next to Jordan. "Where do I even start?" She described the mentoring session. The fairly normal way it had started, and then how it had gotten progressively more heated¡ªyet with Robin never, not once, breaking professional demeanor. It was through context only, the fact her teacher had gotten naked in front of her, among many other things, that suggested no, she wasn''t being ''professional'', she was just keeping a straight face while teasing Natalie. "She''s trying to fuck you," Sofia groaned. "Oh, gods, this is why you are the way you are. Because it always works out for you! She was supposed to bash somemon sense into you! Not encourage it!" "You know," Jordan said thoughtfully. "I''m torn." She paused. "Not with what you said, Sofia, you''repletely right. But," she corrected. "It really might be a test, not a way to get into her skirt." "A test," Sofia repeated tly. "She jerked her off. While naked. In a bath with her!" The words got shriller as they went. "She hardly jerked me off," Natalie said. It had been three swift strokes up and down, and while they had made her toes curl, Robin had moved on without pause. "Just cleaning your cock, was she?!" "Testing her resolve," Jordan corrected. "To see if she would get carried away afterward. Or, well, maybe. I''m not convinced either way, don''t get me wrong." Sofia ced her face in both hands and groaned. "I''m going to my room," she said. "I can''t handle this tonight." The white-haired girl rose and stumbled toward her room, seeming almost dazed, mumbling as she went, "would''ve expected some decorum from that woman, but no, the gods damned girlcock always wins. Can''t say I''m any fucking better, I guess, but really, if anyone, it should''ve been a T Instructor who ¡­" The door mmed behind her, cutting the mumbling off. Jordan turned a raised eyebrow to Natalie. "I think you broke her." "It is kind of a crazy situation," Natalie admitted. "You get into a lot of those." "I don''t know how. It''s not like I seek them out." The response was met with a dubious look. "Well, not always," Natalie amended. She shifted around on the couch, shooting a nce toward Sofia''s closed door. Then back to Jordan. "You''re pent up," her best friend guessed¡ªbecause of course she could tell that, considering the state Natalie was in. "Maybe a bit," Natalie said, her heart already starting to beat faster. Because the implication in Jordan even asking was that she might be willing to help out. Jordan hummed. Then, she grinned, and there was something slightly worrying about the expression. "I get to lead, tonight," Jordan dered. "Our dear instructor obviously did a number on you. It would be criminal to let that hard work go to waste." Natalie blinked. "What''s that supposed¡ª?" "Did I say you could talk?" Jordan interrupted sternly. To Natalie''s embarrassment, her teeth clicked shut. Oh. So that was Jordan''s angle. Her best friend''s grin widened. "Good girl," she praised. "Now get that cute butt off the couch and into our bedroom. I have ns for us, tonight." Natalie hesitated, but only for the briefest of moments. Yes, she generally preferred taking the dominant role over Jordan¡ªand Jordan had the same preference¡ªbut she had already acknowledged that she didn''t dislike the opposite, far from it. And more than that, seeing Jordan excited for something automatically had Natalie excited for it in return. Even if Natalie wasn''t fond of being in the submissive role, which wasn''t necessarily the case anyway, just a lessmon preference, the glint in Jordan''s eyes would have erased that predisposition because Jordan''s arousal stoked her own arousal. So, Natalie got her cute butt off the couch and marched to their bedroom like she''d been ordered. Jordan slipped in after her, flipping the lock. "Bed. Now. And no talking until I say you can." Natalie did just that, leaning against the headboard with a mming heartbeat. Jordan had ns, did she? Natalie couldn''t wait to find out what they were, because she seriously needed some relief. Jordan rummaged around in her top clothing drawer and pulled out a familiar object: the [Capture Core]. "I think I''m going to call on some help tonight." Despite stating so with confidence, Jordan paused to read Natalie''s reaction¡ªto let her say something. Protest, if she wanted. Because, besides Sofia, they hadn''t had a third yet. And even Sofia''s involvement had been rather minimal, simplyying beneath Jordan as Natalie fucked her best friend. Natalie used those offered seconds to consider how she felt. She and Jordan had already thoroughly discussed Sofia, and Natalie would very much like for all three of them to be involved more thoroughly, eventually. When Sofia was ready. But Malice? Natalie was protective; she had already admitted that with some embarrassment to Jordan, that she couldn''t mirror the easygoing attitude her best friend disyed for her own promiscuity. Jordan was hers. No one else''s. And while the idea of hooking up in groups didn''t bother her, at least with Sofia and possibly other girls Natalie was involved with¡ªLiz and Ana came to mind¡ªthat only extended to group y. She knew she was a hypocrite in that regard, but Natalie had also voiced her thoughts aloud, and thankfully, Jordan didn''t seem to care. Maybe even she liked the idea that Natalie got around, though she wasn''t sure on that part. Did she want Jordan and Malice teaming up on her, though? Was Malice included in that small group of girls whom Natalie might not consider girlfriends, but whom the idea of being all over Jordan in group y wouldn''t bother her? Yes, Natalie decided. Definitely. And it wasn''t just a surge of arousal that marked her approval, wasn''t just a sexual decision¡ªJordan meant way too much to Natalie for her to make decisions based on that alone. Though she hadn''t known Malice long, Natalie very much felt like she was part of their group, and thus she was more than happy to let Jordan team up with her. Jordan could read that on her face as much in how she didn''t voice a protest. She smiled, then triggered the [Capture Core]. Malice materialized in a burst of pink motes of light, turning swiftly from side to side to take in her surroundings. The tension melted quickly, seeing she was in Natalie''s bedroom and not out on a battlefield. She took in the sight of the standing, smirking Jordan who had summoned her, and the blushing Natalie seated cross-legged and obedient on the bed. "Oh?" Malice asked. "What''s this?" 7.11 – Venting Steam II 7.11 ¨C Venting Steam II Jordan set the [Capture Core] atop the dresser she''d pulled it from. "Just wondering if you wanted to help me take care of something, real quick," Jordan said, grinning at the wolfgirl. Orange eyes blinked as they turned, again, from Jordan to Natalie, who was sitting cross-legged on the bed, skirt straining upward from her erection. Malice seemed briefly confused. "If it''s fucking or fighting," she said after a second, shrugging once as if she didn''t care which. "I''m always ready." There wasn''t an ounce of irony in her voice. Even Natalie couldn''t help but snort at that, despite her current order to keep quiet. Jordan eyed her, which Natalie replied with an apologetic raise of her hands. "It''s one of those two," Jordan replied to the wolfgirl amusedly. "Our dear team leader is a bit worked up, and it''s up to us to solve that problem." Malice considered. Her eyes hesitated on Natalie a second time before returning to Jordan. "Why are you leading?" she asked bluntly. Like usual, she went straight for the heart of the matter. Malice wasn''t aplicated girl, not in the slightest. Not when it came to this sort of thing. "Is that so weird?" Jordan asked. "The Pack-Leader usually leads," Malice said. "It''s in the name." Natalie was, honestly, kind of interested in how Malice would react to the scenario Jordan wanted. Malice had a primitive sort of view on authority, and in theirst interaction made it a point that Natalie needed to ''step up'' and make it clear who belonged to who. Maybe it was something biological, part of being a dungeon monster: Malice valued hierarchy. So would Jordan''s y at being the dominant one be something Malice was evenpatible with? Jordan faltered briefly, and Malice solved her own confusion. "She''s deferring to her mate," Malice said in sudden understanding. "That''s fine, I suppose." "Deferring?" Jordan challenged. "It''s not deferring. I''m in charge, right now, by my own volition." Malice eyed her. "She''s submitted to you under her own terms," she disagreed inly. Jordan crossed her arms. "I made her submit. By force of personality." "You''re saying if she were to stand up and push you over, she couldn''t have you mewling in seconds?" Malice asked. Jordan paused, then nced at Natalie¡ªblushing as she did. Natalie''s cock jumped. "You''re ruining the act I''m trying to put on," Jordan told Malice dryly. Malice blinked. Then, she grinned. "The Pack-Leader, at our mercy," she mused in agreement. "How pathetic of her." "Completely at ourmand," Jordan said. "Pliable, eager, and fuckable. Our toy for tonight." "Am I still not allowed to talk?" Natalie asked. Jordan gave her a disapproving look. She promptly shut back up, though couldn''t quite keep the grin off her lips. Jordan eyed her a second longer, then faced back to Malice. "You know," she said, walking up to her¡ªto which orange eyes blinked in surprise. "I haven''t actually gotten to know you all that well," she said, settling her hands on Malice''s hips. "Natalie''s been monopolizing your time." "The Pack-Leader is possessive," Malice said. "And I am hers. I have noints about this." As Jordan pressed herself into Malice, their breasts pushing together in a way that had Natalie''s breath catching, the wolfgirl amended: "And I belong to her mate as well, by consequence." "Mate," Jordan said. "Why do you keep using that word?" Malice turned a dubious look between Natalie and Jordan, even despite her being obviously distracted by Jordan''s proximity. She opened her mouth to reply, but Jordan seemed to rethink whether she actually wanted an answer to that question. She barreled forward with a different topic: "Can I get these clothes off?" she murmured, pressing a kiss into the gray skin of the hellhound''s neck. The wolfgirl shivered. For all her bold and assertive personality, it was no difficult task to turn her into a puddle. "You outrank me," Malice said. "Of course you can." "Outrank?" Jordan asked. "No one outranks anyone, here." She paused again. "Besides Nat being on the bottom," she corrected. Malice gave another dubious look, but didn''t press the topic. She and Natalie had already been through this, and in greater depth. It was obvious her view of the world was somewhat ipatible with theirs¡ªor their values and perceptions were offset, at a minimum. Jordan seemed to realize the same, so dropped it. Her fingers slipped to the strings holding the wolfgirl''s skimpy metal bottom on. She continued peppering kisses up and down her neck, then across her corbone as she peeled away the first piece of gear, exposing Malice''s lower half to the air. The metal bra followed, tossed aside. Jordan grabbed two handfuls of the wolfgirl''s tits. "Why are dungeon monsters so plush?" she asked. "It''s almost unfair." Malice shivered under the attention beingvished on her. "A manifestation of the Pack-Leader''s lust," she said. "This body was crafted to suit her, I''m fairly certain. It is unlike most I''ve been in." "Most?" "There''s great variance in the assignments offered by the Cryptkeeper," Malice said. "And some of them have big tits, huh?" she asked dryly. "Some," Malice said, not seeming like she wanted to expand. Since probing Malice for information wasn''t their goal tonight, Jordan again dropped the topic. Though that might more have been because of her interest in the other girl''s body, based on how she lowered her head to suck at one nipple, swirling a tongue around, then moving to the other. Malice shivered and ced a hand on the back of Jordan''s head, pushing her in, tail swishing in satisfaction. She sent a nce toward Natalie, whose cock was seriously aching by now, tenting her skirt upward. Her hands twitched to go between her legs to provide herself relief, but she refrained, both because she would be scolded by Jordan, and because she had two willing girls who would help her out. Soon. Eventually. Hadn''t she been teased enough by Robin? Was Jordan really dragging it out even more? Hands still resting on Malice''s hips, Jordan raised back up and pressed a kiss onto Malice''s cheek. "How pent up does she look?" she murmured with amusement, purposefully not meeting Natalie''s eyes. "Think she''s ready?" "If we don''t take care of it, it might take care of itself," Malice said with her own hint of amusement. "It''s twitching hard enough I can see it in her skirt." Jordan grinned. "Wanna help get me naked, then?" Malice answered by throwing Jordan onto the bed with surprising strength¡ªJordan letting out an audible "oh!" that definitely wasn''t disapproving. The wolfgirl crawled atop Jordan and began stripping Natalie''s best friend without an ounce of subtlety. Her shirt came off first with all but a yank, a growling from the back of Malice''s throat that was more animal than human. Her interest definitely wasn''t for Natalie''s sake: she liked what she saw. That only had Natalie''s heart mming faster. Shorts, bra, and panties followed, until there were two naked girls in front of Natalie. Malice leaned down to press her own series of kisses against Jordan¡ªneck, then between her tits, then down her stomach, stopping only when she ced onest press of lips an inch above her pussy. She leaned back up, orange eyes intense on Jordan''s, before turning to face Natalie. "So," Malice asked Jordan, though holding Natalie''s eyes. "You said you had something nned?" 7.12 – ? Venting Steam III 7.12 ¨C ? Venting Steam III "What I have nned," Jordan echoed. "Obviously, the first step is getting this poor girl naked. So, up you go," she ordered Natalie. "In front of the bed." She pointed. Natalie stood as ordered. As she shuffled off the bed and walked over to the front, Jordan pulled Malice along to cuddle up where Natalie had been sitting a second prior, against the headboard. She leaned against Malice''s shoulder, wrapping a hand around her waist¡ªpressing her naked curves against the other girl in a way that obviously flustered Malice. Not that flustering Malice was hard to aplish, but still, the wolfgirl was obviously enjoying the attention Jordan was giving her. "Look at that poor thing," Jordan mused to Malice, eyes on Natalie''s tented skirt. "All twitching and begging for relief. It''d be kind of mean to drag this out even more ¡­ but then again, I''m not feeling especially nice, tonight. Are you?" "I wouldn''t mind seeing how much we could make the Pack-Leader beg," Malice murmured. "She''s done that to me enough, after all. Retribution is always satisfying." Jordan gave her an amused look. "Wise words." It was a tragic exchange for Natalie to hear, but if she''d survived for this long, she couldst a little longer. Her saving grace was that she doubted Jordan and Malice would be able to keep their hands off of her forever, regardless of wanting ''retribution.'' "Well? What are you waiting for?" Jordan asked. "Strip." Her stomach squirmed at the authoritative tone Jordan used, but she wouldn''t say she was quite as flustered as, say, with Robin¡ªor even Ana in that one event down in the dungeon. Jordan was more than capable of melting Natalie into a puddle, but she wouldn''t say she was genuinely intimidated. Maybe because she''d reduced her best friend to a quivering mess one too many times, and likewise with Malice. So, while her cheeks burned red at ying the obedient toy, she had plenty of confidence remaining. She began to strip, but not as a flustered mess who couldn''t meet Jordan''s eyes; she made a show of it. As she pulled off her shirt and undid her skirt, she didn''t rush, doing her best to tease Jordan and Malice in return. The skin of her stomach came into view first, before her top and bra fell off, baring her breasts. Her skirt fell next, leaving a straining cock inside too-small panties, the throbbing member clearly visible in the fabric. Natalie took her time pulling those down too, her cock springing out in full glory. A small, shivering breath escaped her lips as it did so, her aching member having been trapped for far too long. It enjoyed, perhaps too much, having two pairs of eyes locked on her. After all that teasing, even something as simple as being looked at felt inordinately satisfying¡ªsending a thrill through her core that settled in her cock, throbbing pleasantly. "Poor thing," Jordan repeated, a bit breathlessly now. Losing some of its self-assuredness when faced with a very naked, very hard Natalie. "Bet you''d really like to get some relief, huh?" Natalie raised an eyebrow. "You can speak," Jordan said amusedly. "Wouldn''t mind a hand, that''s for sure," Natalie said. "Don''t think I''ll be getting that lucky though." Jordan smirked. "No, you won''t. Give it a squeeze for me." Natalie obeyed, and lost some of her confidence when the sensation of her hand wrapping around her cock made her breath hitch and her eyes flutter closed. Yeah. She was more than a ''little'' pent up. "You''re gonna have to work for it, if you want our help," Jordan said. "This for that. It''s only fair." She hummed, tapping a finger on her lips as she turned to Malice. "So. Time to put her to work. You want her mouth first?" "What?" Malice replied distractedly, eyes lingering on Natalie¡ªspecifically on her exposed, standing-at-attention cock. Jordan rolled her eyes. "You''re worse than me, somehow," she said. "Focus." She snapped her fingers in front of Malice''s face. "Doesn''t time basically skip between encounters, for you? So it hasn''t even been that long since you two fucked?" "Hm?" Malice asked again, only slightly more focused, clearly not paying attention. Jordan huffed. "Fine, yes, you''re definitely going first. You''ll do something reckless if you don''t. Lay down, puppy." The word ''puppy'', at least, drew Malice''s attention. She finally broke eye contact with Natalie''s cock and turned, blinking, to Jordan. "Down," Jordan repeated. "On your back. And you," she said, curling a finger toward Natalie. "Come give her some love." It wasn''t surprising Jordan was going to keep up the teasing for a little longer, even if Natalie doubted her resolve wouldst. Fortunately, getting to eat out Malice? Definitely not the worst form of teasing. It would serve as a wonderful distraction. Plus, she bet it would backfire. Natalie knew how to use her tongue, and if she got Malice in a properly heated state, then surely the wolfgirl would be climbing into herp shortly afterward. It might not have taken long even just being naked in front of her, based on how raptly her attention had been locked to Natalie''s cock. Hence why Jordan was getting Natalie''s head between Malice''s legs. To upy them both. Either way, it was a win in Natalie''s book. She crawled up onto the bed, grabbing two soft thighs as she lowered herself between them. Malice let out a little breath at the first contact of tongue, even despite the light attention. "There you go," Jordan murmured, though whether she was talking to Natalie or Malice, she didn''t know. She had settled behind Malice,ying the wolfgirl''s head in herp, hands ying with long ck hair as she looked down to see Natalie''s head between Malice''s legs. "Don''t tease," Malice said as Natalie ran her tongue around the outside, purposefully not giving her anything too satisfying. "That''s an order." She nced over her shoulder at Jordan. "I can give those, right?" Natalie''s eyes flicked up to meet Jordan''s, who smirked¡ªat probably both of them. It was obvious who was the real one in control, here. Well, the real-fake one in control, Natalie guessed. "Of course," Jordan told Malice. So, given amand, Natalie obliged, shifting her attention to Malice''s clit¡ªforgoing her usual teasing. The wolfgirl groaned as she did, and one of her hands eased down to grip Natalie''s hair, fingers tangling and pressing her face down with a firm pressure. That was perfectly fine by Natalie, who obeyed bypping away at Malice more intently. Malice''s thighs flexed against the side of her head, and her hips shifted as she writhed under the attention, tail flicking back and forth. Natalie spared a nce up, again, at Jordan, whose breath had grown shallower as Natalie worked. Both her hands were upied with Malice''s chest, rolling her breasts around and gently teasing the wolfgirl''s nipples. "Does she taste good?" Jordan asked huskily. Natalie pulled up to answer, but Malice pulled her back down with an impatient growl. "More," the wolfgirl demanded. "No talking." Natalie couldn''t quite stop the halfugh that escaped her. Seriously¡ªso needy. She obeyed, though admittedly how badly Malice wanted the satisfaction really made her want to tease. She would have, in another circumstance, but s, she was the toy today, and had been given an order. So she got to work. 7.13 – ? Venting Steam IV 7.13 ¨C ? Venting Steam IV Natalie tongue-fucked the wolfgirl eagerly, nose rubbing against her clit as she dug in. As the breathing of the wolfgirl beneath her grew shallower and shallower, little groans escaping her throat, Natalie didn''t let up as she usually might¡ªinstead driving her into a fever pitch as quickly as she could. In less than a minute, Malice''s hips were rolling around, up and off the bed, pressing in against Natalie''s face, the thighs squeezing around her head dering her satisfaction. Her tongue slipped back out top at her clit, more intently now, not letting up, fingers digging into Malice''s thighs to hold her steady as she licked and sucked on the little bud. Right as Malice was starting to shake, starting to moan louder and louder and make her impending climax obvious, Jordan interrupted. "Ah ah," Jordan chided, shifting out from underneath Malice to sit on her stomach, and pull up Natalie''s head. "Not so fast, puppy." Malice whined aint, but Natalie didn''t hear it, distracted by Jordan leaning down to kiss her. Natalie shivered as her best friend''s tongue slipped into her mouth, tasting Malice by proxy. Her cock throbbed painfully, neglected and aching for attention, the experience of her best friend, the girl she was in love with, tasting another woman straight from her own mouth more overwhelming than she''d thought it would be. "Mm," Jordan murmured, pulling back. "She does taste good." Her eyes flicked over her shoulder to Malice as she sat back up, then back to Natalie. "Mind if I put her mouth to work?" Jordan asked. "You two are having all the fun." Natalie''s heart jumped at the request. A bit breathlessly, she said, "She won''t be able to whine as much, that way." "True," Jordanughed. And, given implicit permission, Natalie''s best friend shuffled up along Malice''s body, going from sitting on the wolfgirl''s stomach to having her knees on either side of Malice''s head¡ªand her pussy hovering above Malice''s face. She lowered herself, and the wolfgirl eagerly grabbed her hips, pulling her onto her face with no hesitation. Jordan''s groan of pleasure sent a shock through Natalie. "A-Ah," Jordan said as Malice got straight to pleasuring her. "That''s¡ªthat''s a good puppy. You''re ¡­ pretty good at this, aren''t you?" Her attention flicked to Natalie, breathing hard. "You can get back to it, too. Good puppies deserve to be rewarded." Natalie did just that, but was only half able to stay focused when Jordan was on disy in front of her, sitting on Malice''s face. Between that and how Malice''s thighs kept squeezing Natalie''s head in response, Natalie was starting to worry whether she had to worry aboutsting much longer, despite theck of contact of her own. Her cock was so sensitive that just brushing against the sheets had her twitching, hips involuntarily grinding against the bed in minute movements. She had to purposefully still herself, else she might finish herself off then and there. Which would be a rather embarrassing and disappointing climax. Fortunately, she could tell Malice was close. The short break hadn''t helped her much. The little huffs and whines were growing louder, body shivering as Natalie''s tongue relentlessly took care of her. She seemed to be taking out some of that pent-up frustration on the woman sitting on her face, because Jordan was also moaning in no time, trying and failing to bite back growing sounds of pleasure. Her eyes were locked on Natalie throughout¡ªobviously getting off as much by the sensation of Malice''s tongue as how they were sharing a partner. "Fuck," Jordan gasped. "Yeah, just like that." She rubbed her own clit as she ground down into Malice''s face, hips sliding back and forth in a disy that had Natalie going dizzy. "Don''t cum yet, puppy," she said through heavy breaths. "If you do, I''ll be mad. Let me catch up. We can go together." For whatever reason, Natalie took that as a challenge. She attacked Malice with sudden intensity, giving it her best effort¡ªsimply to spite Jordan. And, of course, wanting to make Malice moan and squirm, but mostly that first part. Sure enough, it wasn''t difficult to have the wolfgirl whimpering within moments, a warning noise that sent a shiver through Natalie''s system. A secondter, Malice was shaking and bucking her hips up against Natalie''s face, groaning long and loud into Jordan''s pussy as she fell apart. Nataliepped up her reward, trying to keep herself steady as she was squeezed in by a strong set of thighs and thrashing hips. Jordan wasn''t in a much better state, having to grab the headboard as she practically humped onto Malice''s face¡ªbut clearly she hadn''t quite reached her peak. Expended, Malice slumped down. Natalie propped herself up onto her elbows and looked at Jordan, who was recovering from her own near-climax, catching her breath. She eyed Natalie with annoyance. "You did that on purpose," Jordan used. Natalie couldn''t help the smirk. "I would never," she said. "Were you getting close? I guess I could help finish you off, if you need it." Jordan''s cheeks puffed out. She nced down at Malice, who was temporarily spent, seeming a little dizzy from the climax Natalie had coaxed out. "Seeing how you broke my toy, fine. But don''t think I don''t see through your schemes." "Schemes? That doesn''t sound like me." Jordan rolled her eyes, then shuffled down Malice andid on her, so that the two girls were stacked, pussies lined up. Natalie obeyed the impliedmand: she grabbed Jordan''s thighs and got to work a second time. Malice had nearly done the job herself. Jordan''s pussy was hot and needy, the girl already shivering as soon as Natalie''s tongue made contact. Her hips were bucking up and down in moments, and Natalie held her steady, diving in without any preamble. Her tongue yed into Jordan''s clit as she slid two fingers into her, and she was rewarded with a very satisfying moan from her best friend. "Y-Yeah, that''s it," Jordan groaned. "Do a good job, and you''re next. Promise. Just¡ªah, get me there, yeah, there you go." Natalie hardly needed any encouragement; having her best friend quivering would always be enough reward on its own. But there was no denying how desperately her cock ached for attention, so the promise acted as double motivation. Jordan fell apart under the assault, shuddering and bucking until finally she hit her peak, whining long and loud as she did. Natalie grabbed her thighs tight, keeping them steady as she savored her reward¡ªvor spilling onto her tongue as she made out with Jordan''s pussy and brought her to climax right on top of the previous girl she''d done the same for. Her cock ached as she watched her best friend tremble,ing down from her peak, doing her absolute best to keep herself from climbing up and impaling Jordan right then and there. She very much wanted to do so, but refrained¡ªthough Jordan probably wouldn''t have minded much, in the throes of pleasure. Jordan didn''t take long to recover, though she seemed a little shaky-limbed as she rolled off Malice and straightened into a sitting position. She patted Malice''s stomach. "Alright, puppy," she said. "A promise is a promise. It''s time to repay the favor." She snorted. "Worried we''ll waste a load if we don''t," she added dryly, eying Natalie''s cock. "It''s leaking an awful lot. Wonder how long she''llst, at this point?" "One way to find out," Malice murmured, also having sat up with a predatory look in her eyes. Finally, it seemed, Natalie would be getting her own relief. 7.14 – ? Venting Steam V 7.14 ¨C ? Venting Steam V Natalie''s long suffering had ended. Leaning back with her legs spread, she watched as Jordan and Malice crawled on hands and knees to approach her. Jordan wasted no time grabbing the base of her cock and shaking it side to side. "Don''t be too fast, though," Jordan said wryly. "Not something I usually have to worry about, but ¡­" She squeezed hard, and precum leaked from Natalie''s tip. "But maybe this is our own fault," she finished with amusement. Green eyes flicked up to hold her own. "Gimme at least a few minutes with her, yeah?" "I''ll do my best," Natalie struggled out. Though she wasn''t sure whether her best would be enough, at this point. Jordan brought her mouth a few inches from Natalie''s tip. She pressed a kiss to the side of her shaft, then pulled up to swirl a tongue around her head. Malice joined in, pleasuring her with her lips, before soon enough, the two girls were kissing with Natalie''s cock sandwiched between them. The soft pressure of two pairs of lips on either side of her, mixed with the feeling of two tongues flicking out to lick at her, was enough to have her head spinning in moments¡ªthanks both to the image and the sensation. It wasn''t what she truly wanted, though. She needed more significant relief. Her hips thrust unconsciously, trying to push herself deeper into their mouths¡ªthough of course only managing to slide between their pressed-together mouths, shifting their sloppy kiss downward. Which, to be fair, was plenty satisfying on its own. Especially when they matched the movement, kissing up along her shaft to meet back at her tip, where their tongues immediately started battling for dominance again, slipping and sliding around each other as they coated Natalie''s cock with their saliva. Maybe sensing that Jordan wanted to take Natalie into her mouth, and that only one of them could do that, Malice yielded first, slipping down underneath the other girl and iming Natalie''s other part in the meantime¡ªreturning the favor from earlier. Even as Jordan wrapped her lips around the head of Natalie''s cock and began sliding down, sinking inch after inch of the throbbing member into her mouth, Malice focused her attention on Natalie''s pussy, pressing her tongue in and starting top at her with vigorous eagerness. Natalie moaned long and loud, the long-awaited satisfaction making her thoughts white out, and she leaned back on her elbows as attention wasvished on her from two directions. Her cock disappeared between Jordan''s lips again and again, all the way down until she had sunk the full length into her throat, and then all the way back up. And even as Jordan was taking Natalie repeatedly to the hilt, bulging her throat outward, Malice was matching her in intensity¡ªdriving her tongue into Natalie''s pussy in a way that had her head spinning. Natalie realized that no matter how strong her resolve, she simply wasn''t going tost long. That burning desire in her core, the hot pleasure that came with having her cock and pussy pleasured at the same time, built rapidly¡ªthe immediate tempo from both her partners only making it sear up faster. Clearly, Jordan didn''t actually want her tost all that long, seeing how fast she''d gone from zero to a hundred. Natalie had been on the edge for far too long now, and she had been absolutely throbbing even before Jordan had sheathed her into her throat. So it was a miracle she held out for more than thirty seconds, really. And then her thighs were squeezing around Malice''s head as the wolfgirl continued to fuck her with her tongue, reaching climax with a long, groaning moan. Jordan continued bobbing up and down on her cock as she shook, happy to milk her out. Pleasure crested, and the orgasm rolled through her body in a hot waves that sent every nerve tingling. Her mind went nk, Natalie briefly unable to even manage words as she fell back against the bed, shaking and twitching as two girls did their best to drain her dry: Jordan abusing her own throat as she swallowed every inch of her cock over and over, and Malice tongue-fucking her until her vision blurred. Jordan usually gave Natalie the satisfaction of keeping all ten inches solidly engulfed in her throat while she came, but this time, halfway through, she pulled up and off as Natalie spurted out thick, heavy ropes. She kept the head between her lips, Natalie''s first load filling her mouth as it just kepting anding, extra-heavy from hours of teasing. When the peak of her climax had passed, and Natalie had copsed into a breathless heap on the bed, Jordan pulled up. She held her mouth open to present her hard work to Natalie: the pool of white inside made her a bit dizzy. Then, a grin on her best friend''s face told her that she had something more nned. She elbowed up in time to see Jordan scoot over to Malice, who blinked in surprise as the woman all but pounced on her. A secondter, Jordan was kissing the wolfgirl on the mouth¡ªor maybe more urately, pushing that thick, overflowing load she''d extracted from Natalie into the other girl. Malice melted into the interaction, groaning as Jordan swapped the thick pool of cum into her as they shared a sloppy kiss. Malice did the same back, and cum drooled down their chins and dripped onto their tits as they swapped the load between them. Even as exhausted as she was, Natalie shivered at the sight. Seeing two girls making out while pushing her cum between their mouths was ¡­ pretty enticing a show, to say the least. Jordan broke the kiss eventually, grabbing Malice''s head and turning it toward Natalie. Her fingers tugged the wolfgirl''s chin down, making her open her mouth wide. Jordan did the same; and so, the two girls were disying Natalie''s load, each holding a pool of white. Natalie''s cock throbbed, already back to full-mast¡ªbarely having had a chance to soften. With howpletely drained she''d felt by the first orgasm Jordan had sucked out of her, she''d have figured there''d have been even at least a small refractory period, but she guessed not. Not with such a sloppy, lewd disy to work her back up. She wondered if that had been Jordan''s goal in the first ce. Maybe, maybe not; she seemed to have enjoyed forcing her cum into Malice''s mouth for its own merit, too much so for it to have been strictly a ''tactical y.'' Jordan swallowed, and Malice did the same. "Look at that," Jordan said. "Already hard again. Good girl." Sheid down onto her back and pulled Malice by the hand¡ªwho intuited what she wanted,ying on top of her, so that the two girls were stacked, breasts pressing into each other''s and stomachs and pussies touching too. "Question is," Jordan said, squeezing Malice''s ass. "Which of us are you gonna fuck first?" 7.15 – ? Venting Steam VI 7.15 ¨C ? Venting Steam VI "Which of us are you gonna fuck first?" The question spawned more of a dilemma than Jordan''s joking tone probably intended. As silly as it was, Natalie could see who she chose to slide into first implying a preference. And she didn''t want to give that impression. To either of the girls in front of her. Of course, if she waspletely honest with herself, Jordan was her best friend for life, the girl she was madly in love with, and while Natalie had attached to Malice with shocking speed, there was no one in the world Natalie cared for more than Jordan. So there was a preference. That said, currently naked with two girls in her bed, it would be exceedingly bad manners to make any such thing clear, even if Malice herself knew it. And while it was probably ridiculous to worry about, would Malice care if Natalie imed her best friend first? And likewise, would Jordan be bothered if she slid into the girl they were sharing, rather than her? Jordan cocked her head, the two-second dy catching her attention, knowing that Natalie, in her current state should''ve been thrusting into any avable hole given the earliest opportunity. Where Malice just looked flustered and eager for Natalie to start pping into her¡ªa one-track girl, which she definitely didn''t disapprove of¡ªher best friend''s lips quirked up as she met Natalie''s eyes, suggesting she had deduced the crisis she was in. "We''re waiting," Jordan teased. "Pick your pussy, won''t you?" Funny enough, the semi-taunting tone set her at ease. Jordan recognized the dilemma and was ying into it, purposefully making her squirm. That meant she wouldn''t be offended if, in response, she went with Malice first in joking retaliation. Natalie rolled her eyes and deliberately shuffled forward to ce her cock tip at Malice''s pussy¡ªand slid slowly in. Jordan put on an expression of mock offense. "Better not make me wait too long." Her eyes sparkled with amusement, which shifted to husky arousal as the wolfgirl atop her groaned in pleasure as Natalie slid deeper inside her. With a satisfied exhtion, Natalie bottomed out in Malice, grabbing the wolfgirl''s hips and closing thest few inches with a hard jerk forward, kissing cocktip to cervix. That earned a long moan from the wolfgirl, her back arching, melting under the feeling of being filled by a nice, fat cock again. In a few moments, Natalie built into a steady rhythm, sliding in and out in long, smooth thrusts. "Actually," Jordan said. "We should make this a game. Ten thrusts into each of us, then you have to swap. That way, neither of us have to wait too long." She smirked. "And I wanna see who ends up making you cum," she teased. It seemed like Jordan was especially in an instigating mood, because while Natalie had smoothed past the dilemma of picking who she''d prate first, now Jordan was forcing another problem onto her: who she finished inside. Natalie eyed her in annoyance. "Ah ah," Jordan said. "I sense backtalk iing. You better remember who''s in charge, Missy." Natalie took her revenge by sliding out of Malice and iming Jordan with no forewarning. Wet as Jordan was, there wasn''t much resistance¡ªbut being filled up by ten thick inches of girlcock wasn''t necessarily the easiest of tasks either, when caught by surprise. "Yes ma''am," Natalie said sarcastically as Jordan moaned at the sudden pration. With Jordan lying underneath Malice, the angle was a bit awkward, and Malice had to slide forward a bit to let Natalie properly go at it, but if anything, the positioning made it more exciting. She mmed ten hard thrusts into Jordan, the allotment she''d been given, bottoming out with loud ps of flesh, before she swapped back to the wolfgirl atop her. Swapping between the two girls'' pussies was surprisingly erotic: the subtle change in texture for one, but more than that, the knowledge she had two separate women waiting for her attention. Every ten thrusts, she went from being squeezed down by Jordan''s hot pussy, the girl clenching tightly around her shaft as Natalie had her way with her, to pulling out and feeling Malice spread open, taking her all the way to the hilt. Both girls groaned and squirmed from the treatment, taking their turns being mmed into with increasing intensity. Natalie could only assume the swapping yed into their arousal as much as hers¡ªthe knowledge they were sharing each other''s juices every time Natalie''s cock changed pussies. "Now," Jordan said, panting, holding Malice''s ass even as Natalie was pping her hips into it. "Make sure to cum inside whoever you think deserves it most." Even despite Natalie knowing she was more than a little stirred-up from the fucking¡ªintermittently given or not¡ªJordan was making sure to tease Natalie with the dilemma. And, damn it, it was the same problem as before. Swapping between two sheaths, pleasure growing, Natalie was forced to acknowledge that she would have to pick a girl to finish inside. Malice seemed a little beyond caring, at the moment ¡­ though that might change if she didn''t get her final reward. She, like Jordan, did seem to take special joy in feeling Natalie spurt out a hot load into her. So who to finish inside? The dilemma grew as her pleasure did, pulling Malice by the hips to m ten hard thrusts, then swapping to Jordan to do the same. She didn''t have long to make her decision. Having two girls'' pussies coaxing her orgasm out kind of prevented that. Jordan, like before, might not care¡ªsince she was purposefully turning this into a game, and recognized it as such. Then again, there was a glint in her eye suggesting she did want to be the one Natalie emptied herself in. "Too cruel," Natalie murmured, though in the current heat, she wondered whether either of her partners even heard her. Apromise, Natalie decided, as most such situations ended up. Right as the heat became too much, Natalie was forced to pick. An unconscious part of her suggested to pull out and slide between them, to use sweat and pussy juice as lubrication as she came between their stomachs, but as amazing as that sounded, it wasn''t as rewarding as pouring her load into one of their pussies. Or both of their pussies, as the genius n came to fruition. She strained her hips forward, body wracking with pleasure as heat suffused her¡ªand her twitching cock finally released its second load. One, two, three powerful throbs released hot seed into Jordan, the girl shuddering and gasping in response, obviously pleased Natalie had chosen her. But before Natalie had emptied herself, she swapped over to Malice, slipping out of Jordan with a protesting ''oh'' from the girl. She slid into Malice, half of the next powerful pump jerking out between their stomachs before she made it into her next sheath. Shuddering, Natalie hilted into Malice and fired off a fourth spurt, then another, directly into the wolfgirl''s womb. She stayed there until she''d finished, cock twitching and pumping, before finally copsing forward, panting. "You went half and half," Jordan used. "That''s cheating." "Couldn''t decide," Natalie grunted. Jordan rolled her eyes. "Why not?" Both of them were caught by surprise when Malice said: "I wouldn''t have been offended if you''d emptied yourself in your mate, Pack-Leader." Jordan seemed briefly embarrassed, as if she hadn''t considered that Malice might have seen through the ''dilemma'' Jordan had deliberately set up. She smoothed past it with her usual aplomb. Tutting, she told Natalie, "You''ve got more than two in you, right?" She rolled off Malice. "You better," she said, eyebrows raised¡ªwith cum leaking from her, spilling out into the bed sheets. "I''m expecting at least three or four." Emptying three or four more loads into these two beautiful women? Yeah, Natalie thought she would be more than capable of fulfilling that request. Four or five might not be enough, honestly. She intended to make good use of having her best friend and her puppy sharing the same bed with her. After Robin''s treatment earlier, she did have plenty of energy still stored up. 7.16 – Elida’s Team 7.16 ¨C Elida¡¯s Team The weekend arrived quicker than expected, and with it, the uing delve with Elida''s team¡ªan event Natalie was both wary and apprehensive of, yet also admittedly interested in. While Natalie certainly didn''t like Elida, to be generous in the description of her feelings, that didn''t mean she wasn''t intrigued by the top performer of their year, since Natalie was a delver and warrior at heart, and that woman excelled in both fields. Vta too had caught her attention. There was no denying the short, scar-faced woman was a person of immense talent and equal intrigue, considering her unknown background. A ce on Elida''s team, temporary or not, would give Natalie insight into both of them that she might not ever get otherwise. It was just a shame she had to suffer Elida''s presence to get that insight. While apprehensive and equally dreading the event as much as she was interested in it, Natalie wasn''t scared of heading into the dungeon with Elida. The Parda-Halts were snakes; everyone knew that. A dagger in the back wouldn''t be out of character. They had literally tried such a tactic on the ruling family of Valhaur, the Beaumons, a few generations back¡ªand high treason was a more dastardly crime than arranging an ''ident'' in the dungeon. But Natalie wasn''t a blood enemy of Elida''s, merely allied with Liz, and just a teammate at that. Even if their rtionship had been more significant, Natalie seriously doubted¡ªas Liz did, since they''d of course discussed the topic¡ªthat Elida would try anything. Beaumon and Parda-Halt rtions were already tense, and unless Elida intended to kick off a war between major houses, she would keep Liz''s teammate safe, because no matter how solid her excuses should something happen to Natalie by ''ident,'' no one would believe her; the Parda-Halts had unfortunately ruined any such benefit of the doubt with past exploits¡ªand even with their current reputations. Possibly, Elida would be more concerned over Natalie''s safety than if she had been some random delver, as to not raise tensions further. Though all of that did assume Elida didn''t want a bloody war between the two houses. It wasn''t a zero chance of that, Natalie supposed, but it was unlikely enough¡ªand using Natalie as a pawn toward that goal would be a strange enough approach¡ªthat she felt in no real danger. To y it safe, she would hold off on confirming her denial of Elida''s invitation onto the team until after the trial had ended. Maybe that was smart anyway: this was a weekend delve, and they might be fighting for their lives for days toe, so while calling the red-haired bitch a bitch would be satisfying, ying nice was better for team cohesion¡ªwhich meant better for team safety. And while Natalie might have disappointed herself and her team with herck of professionalism when it came to ina, she did, at least, treat the life-and-death danger of the dungeon with far more severity. She couldn''t keep her dick in her skirt, but she would absolutely protect those she''d sworn she would: and even if she despised Elida and her team, Natalie intended to uphold her role of tank with as much solemness as she would in her own party. Like with any nned weekend delve, they started the expedition on the final day of T sses for the week as to eke out a bit more time in the dungeon before they needed to return. Elida''s team was no less optimizing than Natalie''s, and maybe they were even more so. After getting dressed and collecting the monster cores with the items she would need¡ªand a few empty ones to store what she found¡ªshe met Elida and the three other women that would be making up her temporary team. She spared a brief moment of amusement that even during her excursion onto another party, it would still be on a team of five women. Elida had lost the two men previously joining her: the fighter and the tank, reced by Vta and Natalie herself, respectively. Though presumably Otto would be returning, since she didn''t intend to stay. As she walked over to their designated meeting spot, she admired each of them, and their gear, in turn. Elida spotted hering almost immediately, green eyes locking to her from a distance. A dark leather vest, worn but sturdy, protected her torso, while a pair of lighter leather pants hugged her legs. Her left arm was adorned by a bracer made of dark-blue hardened hide. On her right arm, she wore a strange pale glove that extended halfway up her forearm. The ensemble was expectedly discordant and not-so-fashionable, since dungeon gear rarely made a habit of dropping matching outfits. Natalie''s own armor was only coherent because it wasmissioned by a smith using the erotite deposit she''d found. Elida''s daggers were nowhere to be seen, though that was to be expected: she kept them in a monster core, since openly carrying weapons through themon streets of Aradon was, while not illegal, frowned upon when done by powerful delvers. Not something everyone cared about, but as T students, image mattered. Natalie for her part was happy not to lug around her enormous hammer as a matter of practicality. Vta was d in predominantly ck. Her gear was lighter weight: a ck cloth shirt, dark gray breeches, and brown boots. She wore a cloak with the hood already pulled up, and her expression was reserved, as it tended to be. Natalie couldn''t read much on her face. She had also spotted Natalieing early¡ªit was probably in a rogue''s nature to be aware of their surroundings. As all delvers should be, but rogues more so. They were lightly armored and often relied on positioning and awareness of their opponents to aplish anything. The other two of Elida''s party hadn''t changed. She knew their names after this many weeks at T. Clementine, the team''s healer, was dressed in heavy white robes that obscured any other gear she might be wearing, besides the brown belt around her waist which hugged the thick cloth in. She had long brown hair and green eyes so dark Natalie had thought they were ck from a distance. She had a friendly resting expression, though for obvious reasons, Natalie didn''t particrly like the woman. She was one of Elida''s cohort¡ªenough said, that. Faye was the team''s mage, and her hair was the most striking part of her: bright orange, and worn short. Natalie was fairly sure it was dyed, as was amon trend in Aradon, or at leastmon enough it was never worth a pause no matter how bright or strange the color. She had brown eyes, was tall and thin, and was fairly aloof in demeanor, though not in the manner of Ana, but an unfriendly sort, as if she was making it clear before a conversation began that she would rather it didn''t. Maybe that uncharitable read was more thanks to the fact she''d been robbed by her¡ªunder Elida''s leadership, but through Faye''s explicit help nheless¡ªupon their first meeting. Taking a breath, Natalie finished the walk over, inserting herself into the party she would be delving with the next few days. 7.17 – Elida’s Team II 7.17 ¨C Elida¡¯s Team II "I like your armor," was the first thing Elida said upon Natalie''s arrival, her lips quirking up in obvious amusement. In much the same way that Natalie had analyzed all of their gear and appearances, she was of course receiving her own scrutiny. She had grown somewhat used to people seeing her in the inappropriate erotite gear in public, but having fellow ssmates raise an eyebrow was both more and less embarrassing than strangers. Not that anyone reacted so obviously as to raise an eyebrow, but the skimpy bright-pink metal top wasn''t something even other delvers saw every day. She was wearing a cover-up skirt to obscure the more scandalous lower half of her armor, which she would remove upon entry into the dungeon. That prospect was mortifying; it put her ass on disy, and seeing how she was the frontline fighter, anyone who wanted to steal looks wouldn''t have much difficulty doing so. At least she didn''t have much to be embarrassed by, back there. Though maybe that just amplified the problem. A nice ass meant it would be looked at more. Though maybe none of the girls here preferred other women? She didn''t have a read on anyone besides Elida ¡­ who, having propositioned her, clearly wasn''t against the idea. Though that might have been a power y more than anything. She ignored the possibility that Elida might be staring at her ass over the next several days. It made her feel hot, and she told herself it was purely annoyance. "Thanks," Natalie replied dryly. "Wouldn''t be wearing it if the effects weren''t so strong." "They''re that good?" Elida asked. Natalie shrugged, making it clear she didn''t want to exin. She might have epted a trial run upon Elida''s insistence, but she wasn''t going to go exining her ss, and in a simr if lesser vein, her gear. "Pretty good," she said. She nodded at the others, acknowledging them. Clementine''s expression shed to guilt, briefly, upon meeting her eyes, but Faye returned the nod with her usual unfriendly aloofness. Natalie suspected the woman didn''t think there was anything to feel guilty over. Vta also inclined her head, and since she was the only one who hadn''t attacked and robbed Natalie''s team, she was her current favorite. The only mark against her was that she''d teamed up with Elida, but Natalie reluctantly conceded that if pure performance was all Vta cared about, Elida''s team would be mighty tempting to secure a spot on. She couldn''t truly me Vta for her decision. "Sorry if I''mte," Natalie continued. "Live across campus. Got here as fast as I could." "No problem," Elida said. "There''s a few things to straighten out, but we can handle that as we walk. Shall we?" Since they were all eager to start working toward new item drops and experience gain, they set off without ceremony. Even introductions weren''t necessary, since they were all aware of each other, simply by being top performers in the same T year. And, again, through the whole robbing-them-blind thing. Minus Vta; she hadn''t been involved in that. "First up is loot, of course," Elida said. "We tend to handle it after the delve, rather than during¡ªexcept in the case of exceptional drops that are clearly suited to one of us. We''ll bargain until wee to an agreement that suits everyone, and if no such arrangement is found, we''ve agreed to sell whatever causes issues and split the funds evenly. That standard is, however, held up rather significantly by the fact some delves will favor certain individuals in the short term, but over the course of many delves, will even out. Since you''re a temporary, Natalie¡ªthough I hope not for long¡ªthe split might be more difficult to arrange." She ended the exnation at that, silently querying Natalie for her opinion on the matter. "I won''t be annoying about loot," Natalie said. "If I draw the short straw, that''s whatever. I''m sure it won''t be a problem." "An admirable attitude," Elida said, and though there wasn''t an ounce of mocking there, Natalie''s eyes narrowed anyway. The woman really did seem to be ''ying nice,'' and Natalie reminded herself to do the same. She forced herself to rx. "I''ll give you my own assurance that profit isn''t a particrly powerful motivator," Elida said. "I don''t foresee this being an issue, but it''s something that does need to be discussed beforehand, in the sense of fairness¡ªand preventing disagreements before they begin." Natalie grunted in agreement. "There''s also the matter of our sses," Elida said. "Any key information we might need to know. I don''t expect any of us are keen to go in depth, but the relevant skills should be disclosed. We''ll each have a bit to say on that topic." They took their turns doing just that. When it came to Natalie, she neglected the lewder half of her arsenal¡ªonly exining herbat abilities, and only the parts her teammates would need to directly engage with, which frankly wasn''t that much. All they needed to know was that she was a hard-hitting tank who kept attention mostly because their opponents couldn''t afford to not focus on her. Which they were already aware of from inter-ss spars. She had been torn on whether to warn them about Lust''s influence on the dungeon, but not only did she not want to give any information to Elida she didn''t have to, but she was also certain that it wasn''t crucial to do so, because even when Lust''s influence did be apparent, the events were always optional; there wasn''t anything her teammates would be forced to engage with when teaming with Natalie, and so she wasn''t thrusting them into a scenario beforehand that they would be ufortable with. And if something did happen, she could exin it when they got there. Elida also didn''t exin any ''possible strange events'' thanks to her ss, and assuming she was sponsored by one of the waking gods, the dungeon had to morph to fit her too. Right? Or was that Lust only? What would other gods'' influences look like, anyway? Some had more obvious potential than others, like Rage. Others were more dubious, as with Greed. And some she had no idea how they might manifest, like Envy or Pride. As for who Elida was sponsored by? Liz knew the girl best out of all of them, having rubbed elbows with her all her life, being of simr age and from opposing major families. But even she could only make vague guesses. Pride, Greed, Rage, Envy, Lust, Gluttony, and Sloth. The Seven Passions. Of them, a few could be stricken from their suspicions. Sloth most clearly of all: Elida hadn''t exhibited sloth even once in the time Natalie had known her, nor did her reputation suggest it. Natalie also doubted Lust, though not out of prudishness, since Elida had tauntingly propositioned Natalie¡ªor alluded to it¡ªin their first meeting. But it didn''t seem fitting for her to be a pdin of Lust. Natalie wasn''t even sure whether there could be multiple pdins for each deity, or just one. Or maybe there wasn''t even one each; was Greed only interested in sponsoring monsters? Impossible to know. Gluttony also seemed dubious. That left four major contenders: Pride, Greed, Rage, and Envy. Natalie would begrudgingly admit she had always had ¡­ proclivities ¡­ for sleeping around or at least dallying with girls, so presumably Elida''s personality would also hint at which deity had taken an interest in her. But even if Liz knew Elida better than any of them, she didn''t know her at a deep level. Perhaps there was an obvious motivation behind her actions¡ªand what had driven her to be the top performer at an academy aspetitive as T¡ªbut if there was, none of them were privy to it. Liz had said if she were forced to guess, it would be either Rage, Pride, or Envy. Greed didn''t seem likely. But among those three, she simply wasn''t sure. Natalie was hoping today''s expedition might shed some light, either directly through whatever challenges the dungeon threw at them, or through Elida''s personality itself. Several days spent fighting with the woman was sure to offer some information, even if she was deliberately reserved. Once they''d exined their sses, Natalie broached onest topic. "Also," she said. "There''s a chance we run into a special pink ore, unique to my ss. It''s what this is made out of." She tapped her gauntlets, indicating her armor set. "I don''t think we''ll see any, but if we do, I need to call dibs on it." Which was something she should do beforehand, not when they got there, in the sense of fairness. The statement drew interested looks, of course. "What is it?" Elida asked. "Is it valuable? How do you know ites from your ss?" "Couldn''t find a word on it anywhere," Natalie said. "And if T''s mining guild has never heard of an ore ¡­" She shrugged; it said enough. "And I''m not sure how valuable it is, because, again, it''s unique to my ss. If we do find some, it cane out of my cut through other stuff. And I''ll split other ore evenly." Since having a miner sub-ss on the team meant extra profit in the first ce, nobody was too upset by Natalie''s request, though she could tell the mention of erotite had piqued their interests. No one pressed, which was good, since Natalie wouldn''t have exined if they had. After those discussions, they wereing up on Aradon''s dungeon entrance. It was, naturally, not positioned far from T, the premier delving academy of the capital city. Walking into the building andying eyes on the portals set on the b of ck stone, she steadied her thoughts, readying herself for the uing delve. 7.18 – Ruins 7.18 ¨C Ruins Stepping into the inky ck portal of the dungeon entrance, the team of five transitioned into that liminal space that allowed choosing which floor they wanted to descend into. The floor selection chamber wasn''t always a in stone room with doorways leading into different areas of the dungeon, and, like the dungeon itself, could manifest in all sorts of ways, but this time, it followed the typical trend: it was just that. Natalie wasn''t surprised Elida had already been to the third floor and thus unlocked the persistent portal there. She was, after all, the number-one pick at T, and her teammates were no ckers either. "You have noints heading to the third floor?" Elida asked. "Three of us are third level, and two, second." "You''re including me in the three?" Natalie asked. "Of course." A perfectly trimmed eyebrow raised in silent questioning. "Unless you''re iming you aren''t." Natalie grunted. She supposed it was hardly a secret she''d hit level three, likely one of only a few in their year. "Third floor is fine," she said. A part of her was disappointed she would be exploring the next stage of the dungeon without her real teammates, but while a milestone, it was hardly a major one, and she wouldn''t waste an entire weekend confining herself to the second floor out of sentimentality. Still, it did ruffle her feathers. She ought to be exploring a new floor for the first time with her friends, not Elida. The five of them drew their weapons. Natalie also took the opportunity to remove her cover-up skirt. "Its effects aren''t as strong if I''m wearing stuff over top it," Natalie coughed in exnation, fighting down the blush that came at the raised eyebrows. Elida seemed more amused than the rest, probably because she had almost certainly deduced that her patron was Lust. "Anything that provides an edge," Elida said politely. "It really is an interesting set of armor, though," she added, a hint of augh creeping in. Natalie turned, as much because her cheeks were reddening as for a haste to continue their expedition. Unfortunately, her lower armor, which was essentially a metal bikini with a cup, was just as revealing if not more so on her backside than the front, so she tried to ignore the probably-not-imagined eyes on her ass. She doubted anyone wouldn''t steal a nce, even if not all the girls on the team had a preference toward other women. Even straight girls could admire an ass tonically speaking. Making physical contact again¡ªto tell the dungeon they were a team¡ªthe party of five stepped through the portal leading to the third floor, with Natalie leading. She passed through that pane of ck not-liquid, and something strange happened: she came out the other side missing three of her teammates. Only Vta stood behind her, and she hadn''t even been the one directly touching Natalie. Elida had. Natalie set the surprise aside. A part of her was quite frankly ready for the dungeon to behave in strange ways after what she''d been through since starting T, so she wasn''t especially flustered by the extremely umon possibility of being split up. But more importantly, she had to analyze her surroundings. What had happened had happened, and now she had to deal with the consequences. Ruins sprawled out before her, a jumbled mess of crumbling stonework and encroaching vegetation. Ancient walls, some barely waist-high and others twenty feet or more, created a maze-like structure around them. Remnants of what might have been buildings were scattered throughout, roofs long gone and floors overtaken by vines and stubborn weeds, trees sprouting in unlikely ces. There was underlying order, though. The ruins weren''t entirely random; traces of streets and courtyards could be made out amidst the overgrowth the longer she looked. Somerger buildings maintained a semnce of their original shape. Piles of rubble dotted thendscape, creating obstacles and potential hiding spots, and broken pirsy strewn about, some standing proudly and others resting against partially copsed walls. There was a dark twilit sky far above them, which was interesting, since enclosed floors were far moremon than their counterparts. Even more fascinating was the seeming open nature of the ruins: even when a dungeon floor manifested as open-air, there were usually clear paths to follow, and often enforcedly so: wandering off the suggested trail would result in increasing aggression from the dungeon. But this one seemed truly open, with no obvious path forward. Weird. More importantly, Natalie''s scanning revealed no immediate monsters. That was, without a doubt, a temporary arrangement, but they had at least not been split up and ambushed right after. Natalie had been worried that the dungeon would still be angry about Malice and try something. That hadn''t beenpletely ruled out yet, she supposed, but nothing outrageously unfair had urred. Seeing they were safe, she faced Vta, setting her hammer face-first on the ground. "Well," she said. "Where do you think the other three disappeared to?" Vta''s posture was tense, though her face was its usual calm, collected, and reserved self. "Does it matter? We have ourselves to worry about." Fair enough. "A tank and a rogue," she said. "Not the worstbo. You have any healing potions on you?" "Just one." "I''ve got two as well, if we need them," she said. Socking a healer wouldn''t be devastating, unless they were separated for long enough that their potions ran out. "Dungeon''ll probably scale down the encounters since we''re missing half the party. Still," she said, eyes sweeping out across the overgrown ruins. "It''s the third floor. Can''t treat it lightly." Vta didn''t reply. Natalie had already gotten the impression she wasn''t the most talkative person. She nodded, then lifted her hammer back up. They''d already held all their tactical discussions before entering the dungeon, so there wasn''t much else to do but start working their way forward. Funny enough, Natalie found her mood considerably improved. She''d been split up from the three members of her party she wasn''t fond of, and while she would undoubtedly be rejoining them without too much dy, shaving off a few hours from dealing with that red-haired snake was a boon as far as she was concerned. Sure, she wanted to get some insight on Elida, but the biggest reason she had agreed to this delve was to get Elida off her back, and because she''d promised to ''have discussions'' with her afterward on the topic of their sses. So the lost hours¡ªor if she were extremely lucky, maybe even a day or more¡ªwas only a plus. Sometimes, the dungeon was kind of nice to her. 7.19 – Wraith 7.19 ¨C Wraith Since the dungeon provided no obvious path to them, they made the intuitive decision to head for the tallest of the nearby crumbling architecture. They needed a vantage point to take in their surroundings to make an informed decision on which direction to head. Climbing forty feet in the air and peering out at the sprawling ruins might provide an obviousndmark to work toward. And Natalie did assume there would be some suchndmark. It was already uncharacteristic for the dungeon to drop them into such an open space, but there was always some goal. How else would they find a boss or escape? Or find their teammates? As strange as the dungeon could be at times, it was usually fair and straightforward. Except when they stole one of its prized monsters, Natalie mentally corrected with amusement. But even then they hadn''t been truly overwhelmed. The dungeon hadn''t thrown level twenties at them, it had just moved the difficulty from ''normal'' to ''hellish'' in retaliation. Gripping [Valentine], Natalie forged forward. She was tense with anticipation as she made slow progress, Vta trailing behind with daggers drawn. This was the third floor, so the challenges would be the hardest yet. Maybeparable to the goblin fights. Plus they were missing their mage and support, so their versatility was significantly limited. There was also the nature of the environment that put her on edge. At least in the typical dungeon cave tunnel, there were limited ces a monster could pop out from. Not only were these decaying ruins open in all directions, there was also endless cover to take; danger could surge out from anywhere. Her eyes lingered on the most obvious hiding ces, but there were simply too many to keep track of. As fitting of any other floor, said danger found them without dy. Less than a quarter of the way to the nearby crumbling tower, ghostly wisps of white-blue light seeped from the ground. In a matter of seconds, an armored humanoid assembled itself. It wielded a two-handed sword, face covered by a helm. [Fallen Wraith - Lv. 3] A level three, though unlike the goblins of a simr level she''d fought, a full-fledged solo encounter, which meant it wouldn''t be nearly as easy to dispatch as any single goblin. Especially with only Vta as backup rather than a full team. The dungeon may or may not have made the creature weaker inpensation for their enforced disadvantage, but Natalie wouldn''t assume so outright; that would be foolish. For all she knew, the dungeon was still mad about Malice. She was never one to waste time gawking at an appeared monster, so she was charging before it finished manifesting. With concern, she noted more wisps of blue light floating up onto a crumbling wall where a second humanoid appeared wielding a short-bow. A nce revealed it was seemingly human: male, with blunt features, though its ghostly appearance prevented her from thinking of it as a real human. Likely, these creatures were the remnants of whoever lived in this civilization before cataclysm had struck. Not that this city was real, nor the disaster that had brought it to ruin. All of it was fabricated by the dungeon. Though was it, really? Some schrs thought the dungeon pulled echoes of other existences. Either way, it wasn''t truly real, though theoretically speaking, it might be a reflection of a ce that once was. Her musings cut off as her hammer mmed down toward her opponent. Unsurprisingly, the Wraith stepped deftly out of the way, and skillfully transferred the momentum from his dodge into a retaliatory strike. Though he wielded a two-handed greatsword, he was still faster than Natalie, but then again, it was rare she fought an opponent slower than her; she had learned how to deal with that handicap. In the corner of her eye, she saw Vta throw one of her daggers at the bow-wielding Wraith that had manifested on top of the crumbling wall. It struck the monster in the shoulder, but Natalie forced her attention onto her own engagement. It seemed this first fight would be two one-on-ones. Natalie was just d she wouldn''t have to worry about arrows raining down on her while she fought the swordsman. The two fighters traded blows. Natalie realized the dungeon hadn''t softened the engagement for theck of their teammates: it was certainly as strong as an average level three. Rationing out mana was important, so she didn''t jump outright to summoning illusions, but she kept the possibility in mind. Instead, she worried about simply upying the swordsman''s attention. She positioned herself so that she could both fight the monster and keep an eye on Vta at the same time. Her n was to see how the rogue fared against the bowman, and if she handled it easily, then Natalie simply needed to wait it out until they could turn against the swordsman two against one. She could definitely take down the Wraith herself if she called on her abilities, but working efficiently was important, especially when they would be fighting for days straight during this weekend delve. And indeed, putting faith in Vta turned out to be a smart decision, because the girl scampered up the wall with surprising adeptness, first leaping two-thirds of the way up before vaulting the rest of the distance using a grip on an outcropping. She converted that momentum into an attack, mming her dagger into the Wraith''s knee. It toppled forward, loosing a sloppy arrow that it had been trying to aim at Vta, but which it had been too slow to fire. Vta pursued as it fell down the wall. Natalie refocused on her own fight. The Wraith''s dework was skilled, but not on the level of top performers at T. If admittedly the monster was much stronger than the students there. Still, this wasn''t a fight like against the Chieftain: it was not overwhelming and near impossible to go head-to-head against. A feint with her weapon let Natalie m a kick into its chest and have it stumbling backward, which she followed up on with a vicious connecting blow to its side. Battered, the ghostly being went staggering sideways. A two-handed blow probably would''ve finished the fight outright, but the Wraith pulled out a trick: it went incorporeal, and her hammer sailed through its body. It drifted sideways a step and came back into existence, and Natalie was forced to dart backward, abandoning her hammer to prevent herself from being cleaved in two. Disarmed, Natalie was at a sudden disadvantage, but it also gave her the maneuverability she''d thus far beencking. She hesitated not for a second to rush forward into close range to tackle the Wraith and m both of them into the ground. While she''d been training with her hammer a lot recently, one of Natalie''s specialties had always been in outright brawls: she delivered a vicious punch into the Wraith''s nose that it either couldn''t or didn''t dodge with incorporeality, the metal of her gauntlets giving the attack extra weight. Reinforced with [Juggernaut] and her armor''s Furor bonuses too, a punch was no small attack in its own right, especially when followed up by two more. The Wraith threw her off, and Natalie hurried over to her hammer, reiming her weapon. Right as she was squaring up for the next exchange, which would probably be thest, with the Wraith already looking woozy from the punches to the face, Vta mmed a dagger into the side of its neck. She withdrew the de just as quickly, and the ghostly being crumpled to the floor. Dead, just like that. Vta''s [Assassination] skill was even stronger than she''d made it sound; Natalie had put a few decent attacks in, but dungeon monsters were usually pretty durable. "I had that, you know," Natalie said, half jokingly. "But thanks for the assist." Vta quirked an eyebrow, looked around, and lowered her daggers, seeing no more enemies. "No illusions?" "Saving mana," Natalie replied. Vta nodded approvingly. "Good. Don''t waste it on trash." Natalie wasn''t sure she''d have called it trash, though the Wraith certainly hadn''t been a life-threatening engagement. She gestured at the wall. "You''re quite the little acrobat," she said. It had been impressive how easily she''d scaled the wall to deliver a crippling blow onto the bowman Wraith. All one fluid motion. Vta narrowed her eyes. "Little?" she repeated, with an edge to her voice. Apparently she didn''t like being called that. Natalie coughed. "Just saying well done," she said. Thankfully, they had a distraction to move past the misstep: the Wraith had finished disintegrating in ssic dungeon style, and something happened that made the two girls blink. It didn''t drop a monster core, as would be expected, but something else entirely. Resting on the floor was a coin made of dark, faded pink metal. [Token of Eros] 7.20 – Token of Eros 7.20 ¨C Token of Eros "Token of Eros?" Vta said. "Eros, as in ¡­ ?" She sent a sideways nce to Natalie. The expression was a little too curious, and it gave Natalie a sudden suspicion that Elida might have shared some information about who she was, or at least hinted at certain things about her ss. Which annoyed her, but also smoothed over some exnations, should they be necessary. Instead of answering the hidden question, Natalie bent forward and scooped the coin off the ground. She held it in her palm in such a way Vta could also inspect the item. It was made of dark-pink metal with a light purplish tint. She didn''t think it was erotite. The coin wasrge, around two knuckles in diameter, and thin rtive to its size. The side facing them had a detailed rose engraved on it. Flipping it over, a less appropriate design was revealed: a nude woman''s bust. Natalie''s cheeks heated up. That confirmed it meant Eros in that way. *** Token of Eros Description The primary currency used in the City of Eros, most often found in the fallen ruins of Elysium. Cannot be carried outside of the dungeon. *** "Uh," Natalie said. "Wow." She didn''t think she''d heard of an item that refused to be removed from the dungeon before. And what did the rest mean? "Ruins of Elysium?" Vta said. "That''s what this ce is called?" "Guess so?" "What''s the ''City of Eros'', then? Where is it?" Natalie shrugged. The more important question, she figured, was what happened in a ce called The City of Eros. "And currency for what?" Vta asked, perplexed. "It can be used to buy something?" "No clue. But I bet they''re worth collecting. Did the other Wraith drop one?" Vta jogged to where the other monster had died. Sure enough, she scooped up another of the dark-pink coins. She carried it back to Natalie, and the two of them inspected the new bit of metal. The front face had the same image of a rose, and the back also had an inappropriate design¡ªexcept this one male rather than female. Vta hastily flipped it over, embarrassed. "Well," the rogue said. "This is strange." "Very," Natalie said¡ªthough she couldn''t say she was half as surprised as Vta was. Unfortunately, these sorts of bizarre developments had be all but her standard. Lust was influencing this floor, without a doubt. But how exactly? What did this token mean? And the alluded-to city? "I don''t think our n has changed," Vta said. "We need a vantage point. Maybe we''ll be able to see the city in the distance." Natalie nodded. If nothing else, they had been given a vague goal. Collect more Tokens and find the City. Even if they didn''t know the use or nature of either, it was obviously what the dungeon wanted from them. Tucking the token away, Natalie raised her hammer and led the way. A few more encounters with those ghostly beings ensued, and each one dropped a Token of Eros, sometimes multiple. Some of the Wraiths were humans, but some were beastly: the third fight included both, an axe-wielder on horseback that was especially difficult to take down. When they had reached the crumbling tower, they were the owners of three and four Tokens respectively. Each Token had a different image engraved onto the back, all sensual in nature, and some less appropriate than others. Whatever Vta thought of the lewd images, she didn''t voice aloud. The tower jutted fifty or sixty feet in the air, and where Vta scaled the structure with ease, Natalie took a little longer to find footholds and ascend. Eventually, she''d reached the top and found a ce wide and t enough to sit on. She took in her firstprehensive sight of the sprawling ruins of Elysium. They wererger than she''d assumed. Large enough that, if Elida and the rest of the team had been dropped in a random location, they could have spent months wandering around before finding each other. And that was just in the limited view of the horizon she could actually see; her sight was luded by natural dips and raises in terrain, along with the structures and ruins themselves. It was possible they went on much further than what she could see. Thankfully, they wouldn''t need to wander around; there was an obvious destination. The twilight sky above them provided more moonlight than the typical night, but it was still mostly dark out¡ªand so the light emanating in the distance was easy to pick out amid the otherwise dimly lit ruins. It was too distant for her to study in detail, but she spotted intact buildings and the yellow glow of light. "The City?" Vta asked. "Maybe," Natalie replied. "Definitely our destination, either way." "What do you think those other buildings are?" Vtamented, gesturing to another point of interest. While the City was the clear immediate goal, there were also enormous buildings far less decayed than the rest of the ruins, spotted in various ces across thendscape. One seemed to be a tower much like the one they had climbed, but not weathered by centuries or millennia but instead hale and whole, the top of which Natalie had spotted looming in the distance even from the ground. "Bosses?" Natalie suggested. "Or mini bosses. ces to find loot. More difficult hunting grounds," she summarized. "With better rewards. Or maybe something we find at the City will tell us." Undoubtedly, they would be dangerous. "Should we visit one first?" Vta asked. "So we have a proper stock of Tokens before arriving?" "Think we''ll get plenty of those just during the trip," Natalie said dryly. "We''ve got a lot of ground to cover." And the Wraiths had been popping up with plenty of frequency. "Still," Vta said. "I''d say yes if there was one on the way, but they''d all need a detour." At least the most obvious points of interest. "And maybe they''re designed for whole-team encounters, not just the two of us. Think it''s best if we just make it to the City first and see what''s going on. That''s where Elida and them will be heading too." Whatever Vta thought of Natalie''s analysis, she didn''t say. She nodded and began to climb back down. Natalie hoped that meant she agreed and wasn''t simply ceding to prevent an argument. The girl was hard to read. She wouldn''t have minded sitting atop the ruined tower for a bit, studying thendscape in more detail, but it seemed Vta was antsy to get a move on. Either to reach the City and find out what was happening with this strange realm or simply to continue gaining Tokens and experience. Either way, Natalie followed her down. They had progress to make. 7.21 – Small Talk 7.21 ¨C Small Talk It didn''t take long to understand why Elida had given such strong words of praise for Vta. It was a bit terrifying how easily she could cut her enemies down provided the right opening. Her ss seemed particrly suited toward assassination, which was amon theme for many rogues, but Vta especially; if she managed to sneak up behind a target and backstab them, that was often the end of the fight, no matter how healthy they had been. Natalie wasn''t able to identify many of her skills, possibly because she didn''t need to call on them considering theck of real difficulty so far. She did, however, certainly have a stealth skill that worked well in shadows, making her all but disappear in the twilit ruins¡ªan environment that Natalie suspected suited her. She hoped she provided an equally good impression, not that she was hoping for a spot on the team, but because who wouldn''t want to impress a rising star of their ss? Even if said rising star seemed to be deliberately keeping a low profile, something Natalie found intriguing. They didn''t talk much as they fought their way forward, headed for the city-within-the-ruins in the distance. A collection of monsters faced them, mostly Wraiths, but many others including [Runework Golems], [Feral Direhounds], and [Malevolent Vinebeasts], thest of which hade as quite a surprise, with the floraing to life to assault them. Not that such a thing was rare in the dungeon, but she''d unconsciously started to focus more on the ruins and hiding spots the detritus of the once-civilization provided than the actual greenery that had overtaken it. But unsurprisingly, everything in the ruins wanted to kill them, not one particr part of it. After an hour of steadily working their way through, they sat down for a break. "Doesn''t seem like we''re more than a quarter of the way there," Natalie said. "Hard to gauge distance though." They''d climbed up a nearby vantage point recently to check. "It takes however long it takes," Vta said. Natalie hoped she hadn''t sounded like she''d beenining. She''d just beenmenting. It was hard to strike up conversations with this woman. She was quiet and reserved wholly dissimr to someone like Ana. Not unfriendly like the impression she got from Faye, but she suspected Vta might not want to fill the silence either. Natalie wondered whether she should stay quiet then, but she didn''t want to trudge along for hours in dead silence. Thankfully, Vta solved the dilemma, catching her by surprise by speaking first. "You move quickly with that hammer of yours," she said. "For its size and weight." Natalie seized the opportunity. For students from T, a world famous delving academy, small talk aboutbat was as much a staple as the weather was formoners. "Thanks," she said. "I have a skill that makes it lighter." It was a friendly concession, giving away that detail about her ss, but a nominal one, because anyone who thought about it would deduce that she had to have a skill like that, else her strength would have been totally absurd. Which it kind of was, for her level, but not so much she''d be able to handle [Valentine] so easily with just raw stats. "You''re a nightmare yourself. d I haven''t had to spar you." She paused, then added, "Kinda mad I haven''t, either." Because as annoying as dealing with someone as slippery and deadly as what she''d seen would be, Natalie was also always spoiling for a good fight. Better to learn to deal with such an opponent in a spar than the real thing, too. "Thank you," Vta said. "I''m surprised you aren''t higher on the ranking lists." She tried for a casual tone, though with a curious tilt of her head, making it obvious that she knew Vta''s ranking was a deliberate effort on her part. Vta was quiet for a moment. "I see no reason to draw attention to myself," she settled on eventually. "I can understand that," she said. Sort of. "And I won''t go spreading around what I see down here, by the way, that''s justmon courtesy." There was an implicit request that the favor was returned. Vta nodded idly. Natalie hesitated. "Am a bit curious, though. Wanting privacy is natural, but performing well at Tes with all sorts of benefits." "None that I need." "Not even attention from potential sponsors?" "No." Huh. That sparked even more questions, because if she had no desire or need for outside help, did that mean she already had a powerful sponsor? Elida said she hadn''t been able to discover much about the girl when digging into her past, but maybe Natalie shouldn''t trust what Elida said in the first ce. It had been an offhandment, though, so likely not a lie. Then again, that sort of subtle deception would be perfectly natural for a Parda-Halt so¡ªshaking her head, Natalie mused how that line of reasoning just went around and around, so she stopped thinking about it. "Why Elida?" Natalie asked suddenly. Vta cocked her head. "Did you team with her, I mean." "Because she''s strong." "But also a bitch." "Yes," Vta said. "What does that matter?" Natalie wrinkled her nose. It was hardly surprising to find out that Vta''s only motivation for being on Elida''s team was herpetence. It was also nice to hear that she also wasn''t fond of the girl''s personality. But still. It didn''t bother her in the slightest? "I think I''d sacrifice some efficiency if it meant actually liking who I''m risking my life with," Natalie said. Vta considered this. She at least didn''t deride the perspective, which Elida might have. "That''s reasonable," the scar-faced girl eventually said. She didn''t borate further. Theypsed into silence. "Is having two rogues an issue, on the team?" Natalie tried. "Generally speaking?" Vta considered this question carefully too. She seemed to be a woman who, even when she did choose to be talkative¡ªby her standards¡ªwould think over the words she used. "It''s not ideal," she said. "But we''re different enough in style and function it''s less of a problem than you''d assume." "Oh?" "As far as rogues go, Elida leans more toward being a fighter than an assassin. She''s extremely capable at fighting a monster head-on, perhaps as much as an actual fighter. And I take the more traditional role of a rogue." Natalie had noticed that, and already taken note of it. "She''s good at dodging, even head-on. I''ve seen her go whole spars without taking a hit." "Skilled," Vta agreed, and there was a hint of approval in her voice¡ªa genuine bit of admiration that Natalie stopped herself from being annoyed by. Vta took another swig from her canteen, then capped it and put it back on her belt. Natalie could read by the way she pushed off the wall their break was over. "Shall we?" Vta asked. Natalie nodded and did the same, readying herself for the second leg of their expedition. 7.22 – Travel 7.22 ¨C Travel They entered that familiar routine. Setting a path for the City of Eros in the far distance, Natalie and Vta carved their way through monsters at a steady pace. The expedition would have been decently long even without obstacles. Throw in life-or-death fights every few minutes, and progress was slow and grueling. If, admittedly, in a way that Natalie liked. The fights were difficult enough to be a challenge, but her growing strength alongside the incredibly skilled Vta meant that, really, the fights were more of a way to stretch her muscles and work out aggression than real danger. Great stress relief, in short. She brought her skills to bear when a fight started sloppily or when they were caught unaware, but for the most part, she simply relied on her strength and [Valentine], rarely having to draw on her mana. It was a good thing Natalie had brought extra monster cores, since it seemed these creatures didn''t drop any. Not that they were running into loot chests¡ªthose were probably located in ''points of interest'' buildings they''d spotted¡ªbut they eventually would, and if she hadn''t carried spares, that would have been a logistical annoyance. Their collection of Tokens grew at a steady rate. Natalie couldn''t help but wonder what they would be spent on, eventually. What sorts of wares would be hawked at a ce like the City of Eros? How would such a shop even be manned? By monsters? Would there be sentient creatures like Malice there? More than ever, Natalie wondered about the deeper nature of the dungeon. When she returned, it might be time to ''bully out'' more information from the wolfgirl. They took breaks as needed. As level threes, their staminas had extended well past a regr human''s, but the fights they engaged in were proportionally as exhausting: no regr human could swing [Valentine] as easily as she did or dash as swiftly as Vta. So despite their stamina, they needed breathers. During this down time, Natalie found herself striking up conversations with the dark-haired girl. She was pretty sure Vta could have sat through the breaks in silence and not minded, or maybe she might even have preferred that, but she didn''t seem annoyed, at least, when Natalie began talking. In fact, Natalie suspected Vta was as interested in finding out more about her as she was in return. Because she was also not-so-subtly digging for information during their chats. "You know," Vta said. "Elida warned us about you." The statement came somewhat out of nowhere, after apse in the conversation. "Warned you?" Natalie asked. "About what?" "You have a reputation. At T. Even I knew about it, and I don''t pay attention to our ssmates." Natalie had an idea of what ''reputation'' she was talking about. But to make sure, she warily asked, "And what reputation is that?" Vta side-eyed her. "Is it true your whole team is sleeping with you?" Even forewarned of the topic, Natalie hadn''t expected that level of bluntness. She floundered for a second, words failing her. "I¡ª that¡ª if it were true, which I''m not saying it is," mostly because of Liz''s reputation as a Beaumon, and that Natalie doubted she wanted their dalliances to be public, "it''s kind of a rude thing to just ask." "Is it?" Vta asked. "I didn''t mean to be rude. I was just wondering. You five seem very close." "We are," Natalie said, and decided to leave it ambiguous. "Where did that questione from?" "Elida warned us that you might try to sleep with one of us," Vta said. "Or all of us." Again, Natalie floundered for a response. The continued bluntness caught her off guard. "She also said this delve might be a bit strange," Vta continued. "That you''re a person of ¡­ particr influence. She was vague. I''m pretty sure it was implied she didn''t want me repeating any of this to you. But." She shrugged, implying that she didn''t care what Elida had implied she should keep quiet about. Vta respected Elida''sbat proficiency, but clearly there was no deep loyalty between them. When Elida dropped party members on a whim to pick up new ones, Natalie couldn''t say she was surprised those teammates¡ªboth new and old¡ªweren''t very endeared by her. "And then all of this started happening," Vta said. "With these tokens." She was ying with one as they spoke, turning it back and forth in her fingers. Like all other Tokens of Eros, it had a rose on the front and a lewd image on the back, though this one was more chaste than the others: just a woman''s bare back and shoulders, long hair running down to cover her ass. "I think I''m piecing a few things together, by now," Vta said. "Elida also changes the dungeon when she goes into it." Natalie tried not to let a reaction show too visibly. She''d expected she would need to slowly tease out information about Elida through observation, or perhaps in their post-delve talk. But had she found a resource in the form of Vta? Who obviously wanted her own answers in return. "She does?" Natalie asked cautiously. Vta seemed satisfied, and Natalie realized she had phrased her question as ''also changes the dungeon''¡ªand Natalie hadn''t denied her part of thatparison. "She does," Vta confirmed. "I would know, since I''ve been in the dungeon plenty, both with and without her." For that matter, Vta had gone in alone; she hadn''t even had a team. A fact that was still incredible to Natalie. "What changes?" "Most of the time, not much," Vta admitted. "But there''s certain encounters, or certain events, sometimes, that are ¡­ strange." "Strange how?" Vta was quiet for a few moments, simply flipping the token from side to side. "How are yours different?" she finally asked¡ªand there was a quiet implication of this for that. They were, after all, trading information, not Vta simply giving it away. "We''re headed up on a ''City of Eros,''" she said, "and I suspect you have a better idea of what that means than me." Natalie grimaced. She shifted in ce. "This is a strange floor, even by my standards," she said. "Usually when things happen, it''s smaller scale." "Something about you really changes the dungeon, then?" "Sounds like you figured that out yourself." "Yes," Vta said. "But it''s still surprising to have it confirmed. What''s your guess as to what this City is?" "I''m honestly not sure," Natalie said. "It could be anything. But ¡­ well, I think we''ll see some things that''ll ¡­ you know, make us blush. Like these coins. And that there will be challenges. I guess. But optional ones," she hurried to say. "You won''t have to do anything you don''t want to." "What kinds of challenges?" "Like I said, it could be anything." "What has it been before?" Events started shing through her head. She felt a blush arrive on her cheeks, a deep coloring that was noticeable even in the twilight. Vta''s own face reddened in response. She turned back forward, tucked the coin away, cleared her throat, and said, "Never mind. I think I get the picture." A pause, and she muttered, "How strange¡­" "It''s always optional," Natalie repeated. "How considerate," Vta said. "Getting murdered isn''t ever optional." "I would argue that setting foot inside the dungeon is implicit consent," Natalie said. Vta considered this, then inclined her head in agreement. A short pause, and the girl snickered. It was the first time Natalie had heard herugh. "I never thought I would meet someone so perverted she morphed the very nature of the dungeon around her," she said, biting her lip in amusement. It was a rather cute expression on someone so reserved. "That''s not¡ª" Natalie stammered. "It''s not me. I''m not¡ª" She stalled out. She didn''t think she could im in good faith that she wasn''t perverted. "It''s not my fault," she said. "Or, sort of. It''s just something that happened to me. Us." Since Elida was included, and Vta knew it, though not the details. "Oh?" Natalie shrugged, making it clear that despite their candid trading of information, she wasn''t going to go sharing everything. "What happens in Elida''s delves?" she asked. This for that. Vta sobered up, though the amusement hadn''tsted long anyway. Her usual seriousness had returned before Natalie had finished replying. "It''s less obvious than yours," she said after a moment. "Less strange too. And I don''t understand some of what''s happening. There''s been murals, or challenges she understands what''s being asked, but none of us do. I think ¡­ hm. The connecting thread is how she reacts to it all." "And how is that?" Another silence. "I don''t know her well," Vta finally said. "But I''ve seen people like her before. I think she''s ¡­ angry. At someone. Or something. Maybe the world. She hides it well. Maybe if not for the challenges, I wouldn''t have noticed, wouldn''t have put it together. She keeps good control of herself, most of the time." The girl shivered. "I think most of us like the violence, to some extent," she said. "In dungeoneering." She twirled a dagger in her hand, and the de glinted in the moonlight. "It''s half our life. No shame in enjoying what you do for a living. And there''s something satisfying in a fight, isn''t there? Something primal. Prove yourself. Earn your survival. Tooth and w." The dagger stopped twirling. "But Elida ¡­" Vta said. She took a moment to finish the statement. "She likes the hurting things part more than the rest of us." 7.23 – Arrival 7.23 ¨C Arrival Now that was a statement to send a chill down a girl''s spine. Elida liked ''hurting things'' more than most people? And she didn''t miss the word Vta had chosen to summarize what she''d seen of Elida. The ''connecting thread'' to Elida''s challenges: the way she reacted. Angry. At someone, something, maybe the world. Natalie had caught a glimpse of that cold-boiling fury herself, once. *** "Oh, please. Dearest Elizabeth. Nobody smiles that much and means it. Nobody''s that ¡­" Elida''s lip pulled back, and she waved her hands in an exaggerated way that, oddly, made Natalie understand what she was getting at. Liz was an energetic, sociable person, to a sometimes amusing degree. "Much less a Beaumon," Elida said. "No, she''s as much a schemer as any of us. You''d be a moron to think otherwise. Seriously. She''s a Beaumon." Elidaughed. "Not that you understand what that means. I''m almost jealous of your ignorance." Agitation appeared on Elida''s face,ing surprisingly fast¡ªalmost out of nowhere. Her words grew hot, too. "And even if it wasn''t an act," she sneered. "It''s because she''s just been handed everything. Do you know what I''ve had to do, to get where I am? To get approval from my family? That bubbly bitch is just waltzing through life. No wonder she can smile so much." *** The outburst had been uncharacteristic, appearing in a sh. It had only been a single instance, so Natalie hadn''t let it influence her entire opinion of Elida¡ªat least when it came to who her sponsor might be. But with Vta''s insight? Anger. The guiding force behind that toxic, sweet mask was anger? Was her sponsor Rage, then? Even now, she couldn''t be certain. It could just be a facet of the woman''s personality. But it had jumped to the forefront of the possibilities, as far as Natalie was concerned. "I see," she finally said. "Should I ¡­ be worried, about that?" She''d thoughting down into the dungeon with Elida would be a nuisance, but nothing truly dangerous, because of the political situation between Parda-Halt and Beaumons. She was doubting herself now. Vta nced at her, then blinked. "Oh, no," she said. "I don''t mean she''s ¡­ well, she might be a little bit of a psychopath," she admitted. "But she''s not, I don''t know, a deranged murderer. I''ve seen those sorts, too. She''s just ¡­" A pause, then a dryugh. "Passionate," she said. "In a way most people can''t understand, maybe." She shrugged. "I respect it, honestly. The only kind of person I can''t respect, is someone who wants something badly, but does nothing about it. And if there''s anything in the world Elida is doing¡ªshe''s getting what she wants." She hummed. "She''s angry about something, and it drives her. It''s why I agreed to be her teammate, even if I don''t like her very much. I''d rather respect someone than like them." Natalie couldn''t say she agreed with that sentiment at all. The conversation dried up there. Half because it had run its course, and half because it was time to get a move on. She was somewhat distracted in the following fights, and a slip-up that resulted in a shoulder-blow that forced her to take one of their three healing potions brought her head back into the game: she discarded from her mind what she''d learned of Elida and focused on the dungeon with as much rity as she should''ve from the start. As they neared the City of Eros, Natalie''s own curiosity and apprehension grew. Just what was in store for them? She hadn''t given Vta any guesses half because she genuinely wasn''t sure, and half because she didn''t want to suggest something overly lewd only to discover what was awaiting them was chaste inparison. Somehow she doubted that though. Lust''s influence over the floor seemed stronger than most, seeing how the entire thing was themed around the City of Eros, with all monsters dropping Tokens meant to be spent there. It wouldn''t make sense for such a prominent, and thematically named ce, to be chaste. What did that mean for the delve with Elida? And Vta, for that matter? She could see Elida taking any opportunity to advance; she had propositioned Natalie, either tauntingly or genuinely, simply to smooth over their rtionship. So she doubted the woman would have many problems with casual sex for the sake of progress, should ite to that. Vta though? She definitely seemed more reserved. Natalie might have noticed a few stolen nces, but she was also walking around in slutty armor, and she expected even straight girls would send some curious looks her way. So Natalie was unsure where Vta stood both on orientation and promiscuity. She expected Vta wouldn''t love the City, whatever was waiting there. It took several hours before they were brushing up on the outskirts, and the first whole, undecayed buildings came into sight. The City, for whatever reason, had not suffered any deleterious effects from the cataclysm that had struck the rest of Elysium; it seemed as if it had been dropped into the ruins after the fact, with its simr architecture yet pristine condition. More surprising than the city was the young woman they bumped into. Natalie kept her weapon at the ready, wary of a trap, but when she called out and the woman turned and raised her own weapon, she was pretty sure they''d simply found another delver. "Oh," the girl said. "Oh, uh, hi there. Are you two neers? No, that''s silly, look at your armor, of course you aren''t." Natalie lowered her weapon¡ªthough certainly kept it in hand¡ªas she approached the woman. She digested the opening words. "Neers?" she asked. "To what? This City? We''re new, yes. What about my armor?" Though Natalie already had an inkling of an idea of what she''d meant. "You are new?" the unknown girl asked. She was tall-ish for a girl, an inch or two shorter than Natalie, with wide shoulders and heavy metal armor: probably a tank. Long ck hair was tied in a ponytail, and she had dark green eyes. "Huh, I just assumed ¡­" she gestured at Natalie''s armor and coughed. "Well, never mind. You''ll find out soon enough. Why is it just two of you?" "The dungeon split us up," Natalie said. "Where''s the rest of your team?" "In the City," she said. "It''s safe, as long as you stay within its borders. I was poking around to see what I could find. Apparently some of the others have found stashes of Tokens and whatnot. Thought I''d try my hand, while everyone else was resting." She shrugged. "Others," Vta said. "How many?" There was something about the way the girl was phrasing it that made Natalie suspicious. "You might not believe me," she replied. "But there''s hundreds of us." Jokingly, she said, "A whole city''s worth, you could call it." At Natalie and Vta''s astounded expressions, she coughed. "And that''s just the half of it," the girl mumbled. "You''re in for a ride, let me tell you. I guess I can show you around, if you want. It''s a lot to take in, your first time here, and someone else did the same for me. Time to return the favor, I guess." 7.24 – The City of Eros I 7.24 ¨C The City of Eros I Hundreds? Hundreds of people? Natalie had never heard of such a thing. It was possible for delvers to bump into each other on certain floors of the dungeon, but a floor designed to congregate crowds of people together? As far as she knew, it was unprecedented. Then again, her history wasn''t all that great. Maybe there were some instances of simr events. Still, it had to be unbelievably rare. And it was undoubtedly Lust''s influence that had created this ce. Except maybe not the portion of Lust that had divested power into Natalie, but the Passion in a greater sense. Lust had swooped up regr delvers to y with; this floor had existed even before she had entered. For once, it wasn''t her fault. Her head spun as she walked through the City of Eros with the young woman who had introduced herself as Acacia. Natalie forced herself to focus on her exnations, despite her incredulity, and her whirring thoughts on how Lust fit into this phenomenon¡ªand how she herself might as well. "The City goes on for a while," Acacia said, "but all of the buildings of interest are located in the city center. Only reason you''d venture out is if your team getszy and you chose to go scrounging out of boredom," she shrugged, referencing herself, and what she was doing out here. "There is sometimes interesting stuff to find, allegedly." She coughed. "And, ah, I shouldn''t call Tammyzy, she''s been working her ass off." Her face went red, a blush that extended to the tips of her ears. "Quite literally," sheughed, and it was a bit too high-pitched for Natalie not to get suspicious. Working her ass off, huh? In the City of Lust? And the joke had made Acacia''s ears go red? Just what was happening here? "I feel a bit ridiculous exining this to you two," Acacia said, "and you might not even believe me. But it''s better to tell you now before we get there and you see it first-hand. At least, it''ll be less jarring. And the good news is that there are a lot of rewards to earn. Really, really good rewards." She breathed in. "Alright, I''ll just say it. The city is, ah, named the way it is for a reason, and you two picked up some Tokens on the way here, right?" At their nods, Acacia said, "Those pictures on the back, of naked men and women. Those were also hinting what you''d find. Basically, the City is important for two reasons. First, it offers a number of ways to upgrade Tokens into Enriched Tokens. And second, it has shops where you can spend those tokens. Both variants of them." "¡­ and how are Enriched Tokens made?" Vta asked. "That''s the thing," Acacia said, coughing into her fist. She wasn''t able to meet their eyes. "There''s a few ways. But they all, ah, involve certain activities." Another clearing of her throat. "It varies quite a bit, but in short, I hope you two arefortable with nudity. As a very loose starting point." Vta stared at her, straight-faced but obviously in disbelief, but Natalie was mostly trying to stop herself from covering her face and groaning. It sounded like this was going to be exactly what she expected. "That''s why I thought you weren''t new, by the way," Acacia said to Natalie. "That armor of yours looks like something a person would''ve bought at one of the City''s shops." She looked at her curiously. "You''re telling me that you found that naturally, out in the dungeon somewhere?" "It''s not from this floor," Natalie said, in deflection. She''d actually had itmissioned, but she didn''t want to exin that. "But, enriching Tokens. How?" No more dancing around, her request implied. "Alright, well, there''s the Bordello, the Coliseum, the Arena, and the Pce Basement," Acacia said. "Each one empowers Tokens based on how much you aplished there, or, well¡ªI''ll tell youter. Point is, they all work differently. The Coliseum is the most important, but you might stay here for weeks and never be assigned there." "Assigned?" "The City assigns quests, I guess you could call it, though we just call them ''assignments,'' every twelve hours," Acacia said. "And it''s a take-it-or-leave-it deal. It resets to something new if you don''t like what you got, though, you just have to wait for the next batch." Her cheeks colored. "And you will get something you balk at here and there, but that''s what the Ruins are for. You need regr Tokens to be able to empower them anyway, so if the City''s assignment is a little too much, if you know what I mean, you can spend that cycle hunting." Natalie already had questions, but she held off, allowing Acacia to get through her spiel. "The quests are almost always for one of the four major buildings. As I was saying, the Coliseum is the most important, and you can empower whole stacks of Tokens if you get an assignment there, but it''s also ¡­ ah, kind of high stakes." Her face, once again, reddened. "The Coliseum holds public fights, and the two participants have to stake something. The better the stake, the more tokens that will be empowered. Thing is, it''s all public. And you get passive tokens empowered for just being there, so there''s quite a lot of citygoers idling at any given hour. Especially prudes, who don''t want to engage with the assignments but still want empowered Tokens. Though others too, like people who''ve been given a little too racy of an assignment, and are taking the day off. It''s a regr hang-out point. So, if you''re assigned there, you''re guaranteed to have a lot of spectators." Natalie nearly felt dizzy. "These ''stakes'' you''re talking about are sexual favors, aren''t they?" Acacia seemed relieved she hadn''t needed to state it outright. "More or less, yes." "And the fights are chosen by the City itself?" Acacia nodded, then grimaced. "That''s the other thing. The city has ¡­ preferences. Maybe it even has a mind of its own. Like the dungeon itself, if you believe any of that." She took a breath in. "What I''m trying to say is that the City likes picking exciting fights, I guess you could call it. What''s especially is any sort of unresolved tension on your team, say, maybe you fancy another person and haven''t told them ¡­ well. Expect to see your and their name on the Coliseum ballot. Probably sooner thanter. Maybe multiple times." Natalie internally groaned. She was Lust''s chosen pdin. The City would pay even more attention to her than the regr person, she figured. And ''unresolved sexual tension''? How about the girl whose guts she hated, yet who she also couldn''t stop herself from stealing nces of, because she was so damn gorgeous? A one-versus-one in a public Coliseum, with dozens or even hundreds of spectators, in which she and Elida had to stake sexual favors¡ªwhich they would then have to perform, publicly, for an audience. Yeah. That was going to end well. 7.25 – The City of Eros II 7.25 ¨C The City of Eros II "Alright," Natalie said, struggling to keep a straight face. And, shamefully, struggling to ignore the stir of excitement inside her stomach. She absolutely, one-hundred percent did not want anything to do with Elida. Then again¡­ A publicly staked favor, in which Elida had to, for example, choke on her cock in front of a crowd of spectators? Well. Natalie would do it for the retribution, and to empower her Tokens, of course. No other reason. There was no internal, natural attraction to the concept of having those lips stretched around her cock, and those angry green eyes ring up after being thoroughly flounced in the arena. "And the other three buildings?" Natalie said, impressed she managed to keep her voice straight. "The Bordello, the Arena, and the Pce Basement. The Bordello is ¡­ maybe the most scandalous of the options. Well, I don''t know, the Pce Basement is¡ª" she coughed. "The Bordello is what it sounds like. If you get an assignment there, you can ept and, ah, perform services for other cityfolk. For that matter, buying services there empowers some of your own tokens too. Most things that are, um, indecent if you want to call it that, will empower tokens inside the City. But there''s different levels of the Bordello. You don''t have to¡ªyou know, go all the way. In the lowest level, all you have to do is dance, and you can even keep some of your clothes on." "Some of your clothes on," Vta repeated, seeming a bit faint at the whole concept. As to be expected. The girl was clearly of a more reserved mindset. "Though even that is, uh, still scandalous, depending on your perspective. Which is why a lot of people refuse the Bordello," Acacia said. "Like I said, you always have a choice. Um, anyway, the Bordello does get kind of crazy the higher the floor you go. I don''t think there''s all that many people actually ¡­ giving full service, but there have been a couple, and the Token payout is pretty nice. So." Her face had returned to being fully red by this point, and she moved on; they understood what she was getting at. "The Arena is the most private option," Acacia said. "If you cane to terms with the whole idea of staking, but don''t want it to involve anything public. Though it can sometimes include other people. It''s pretty simr to the Coliseum, except that you go up against monsters, and if you lose, you don''t get hurt, you just have to pay out the stake." "With a monster?" Vta asked, aghast. "N-No! That''s just the fight," Acacia said. "You fight, and if you lose, you have to pay out the stake. And the stake can be a variety of things. It''s actually kind of interesting, it seems the City goes easy on¡ªwell, I don''t want to call them prudes, but you know." She shrugged. "It definitely doesn''t throw you off the deep end, most of the time. There''s almost a ¡­ work-your-way-in feel with assignments, where it tests and tries to push your boundaries." Natalie had noticed something simr with her own adventures. They had gotten lewder and more ridiculous the longer she spent delving. "Makes sense," Natalie said. "It''s trying to find challenges outside of a person''sfort zone, but only so much so that it thinks they''ll be tempted." "That''s probably the idea," Acacia said. "Which is kind of weird to think about, because it''s even more sapient than the dungeon usually is, but whatever. This whole floor is weird. I try to not think about it." "What might the stakes be?" Vta asked. "As an example?" Acacia cleared her throat. "You get to pick them, or at least have a say in it. But it happens before the challenge, so you''re locked in afterward. It could be as simple as, you know, some self pleasure," despite having been at the City for presumably some time, the woman clearly hadn''t grown fully ustomed to the strange life here, because she blushed and stammered over her exnations, "like with certain contraptions being dragged out, which you have to, ah, use." "Contraptions," Vta said tly. "There really is quite a lot of variety," Acacia said. "You''ll see." "And the Pce Basements?" Natalie asked her. "Right. Thest of the major assignments. The Pce is where everyone lives, by the way, you can rent rooms there with tokens. It''s cheap, just one a day, and I would really rmend springing for it: meals, hot baths, soap, beds, the full works. It''s like you''re not even in the dungeon." That sounded nice. Natalie was more than used to roughing it, but that didn''t mean she liked being without hot showers. "The Pce Basements are for the, um, adventurous types I suppose you would call it," Acacia said. "And are definitely the most refused assignment. Because there''s no pre-staking or even knowing what you''re getting into when you climb down there. And it can get, ah, interesting." "Interesting how?" "You know how I said in the arena, you''re not staking with the monsters, just fighting against them?" "You''re kidding me," Vta said tly. "Nope," Acacia said, face burning scarlet. "The Basements have some very enthusiastic monsters. I will say, though, they''re not monsters, o-or at least not anything too unpleasant." "Too unpleasant," Vta repeated. "Though that depends on the person, of course," Acacia coughed, scarlet-faced. "You''re free to think otherwise. Still, the people I''ve talked to said the monsters there were humanoid, like ny to ny-five percent, just some ¡­ non-human features. S-Some of them are kinda cute. I''ve heard! I haven''t been down there obviously." Her description sounded awfully like Malice. Had other monster souls been drawn into this City to ''fight'' the delvers here? "Though there''s also some less human ones," Acacia said. "I heard a story about a vine monster that ¡­ well, I won''t keep going. You can imagine. And the thing about the basement is, you can run away from or fight what you find, but there''s no guarantee you''ll get away. So if you head down there, you better be ready for anything. And even the City presents it as the most, ah, degenerate? Assignment avable. It''s why most people refuse it." "Unbelievable," Vta said. "It''s crazy, don''t get me wrong," Acacia agreed. "No one will argue otherwise. But it is all optional, and you get a steady supply of Empowered Tokens just by participating as a viewer. That''s why the Coliseum is usually packed, or the lower floors of the Bordello. Plenty of people here just watch rather than engage directly. And if you don''t want to do even that, well, you can just hunt in the Ruins. All of the really nice items for sale are bought with Empowered Tokens, but there''s still some great stuff for unempowered ones. And you can trade too, if you want." She shrugged. "You can also straight up leave the City, if you don''t want to be here. So ¡­ yeah, craziest dungeon floor I''ve heard of. But if you want my opinion?" She met Natalie and Vta''s eyes, blushing, though with a confident expression as she made her im: "You two got lucky. There''s some crazy loot to be earned, and it doesn''te with half the risk of dying. It''s an enormous opportunity." 7.26 – The City of Eros III 7.26 ¨C The City of Eros III "We''reing up on the city center now," Acacia said. With their arrival into the most relevant part of the City of Eros, they had started seeing other delvers. And indeed, while there wasn''t the bustle of a true city, especially not one like Aradon, it was still shocking since they were in the dungeon. So even seeing a handful of people walking around casually was a surreal experience. It was supposed to be rare to meet a single other delving party: knowing she was on a floor where hundreds congregated was almost as hard to digest as the first few times she''d ran into encounters under Lust''s influence. A good portion of the delvers were dressed in ¡­ interesting gear. Natalie understood why Acacia had thought they weren''t new to the city; her own pink armor fit right in. While nobody else was wearing erotite, it seemed, they were in various states of undress. Flimsy dresses andce robes for the mages; leather bras that nicely entuated tits for the medium-armor rogues; and for the heavy-armor wearers, outfits simr to Natalie''s own, though of varying colors and inappropriateness. Frankly, Natalie''s was still on the higher end of revealing. She was the Pdin of Lust, after all; these people were just here being exposed to the Passion''s influence in part. There were plenty of men in simrly inappropriate outfits. Lust''s domain hardly affected only women, that was just Natalie''s preference. Natalie hardly flinched at all the abs, arms, and chests on disy¡ªand asses in a few cases, since the men weren''t immune to some of the lewder outfits either¡ªand a part of her could even admire their physiques in an abstract way. Mostly Natalie just found the situation surreal though. And her attention was predominantly distracted by all the female assets on disy, so ignoring the men was easy. Acacia led them to the Pce. The Pce was the eminent structure in the City of Eros, situated dead in the center¡ªpresumably; she didn''t have a top-down view¡ªand was constructed of white stone with gold and purple ents. It was a gaudy construction, extravagant in a way even ces like T couldn''t match, and also enormous: the building dwarfed them, and the front double doors were nearly twenty feet high as Acacia led them in. "Like I was saying," Acacia said, "I super rmend you pay for rooms in the Pce. Not only are the assignment boards here, so you''d have to make a trip every twelve hours anyway, but the creatureforts are worth one token per day. Ah, you two did bring Tokens, right?" "We had to fight our way here," Natalie said. "So yes. We have some. Could we share rooms, if we wanted to?" "No, actually," she said. "One room per person. Visitors are fine though." "How is that enforced?" she asked. "How does payment even work?" "You''re about to see," Acacia said. And indeed, Natalie''s words were already trailing off, because Acacia was leading them to a desk situated off to the side of the enormous pce entrance. The administrative-looking outlet seemed misfitting of the rest of the environment, as if it had been plopped down there afterward. "Good morning, youngdies!" the woman made of metal said. "How can I help you? Signing in?" "An automaton!" Natalie said. "In the dungeon?" Automatons. They weren''t extremely rare beings, at least not for delvers, who frequented the Exchange¡ªa ce Natalie and her team had been using less often than most, admittedly. There was also the Bestower, but she was a special automaton, the one who granted sses upon a person''s eighteenth birthday. As far as Natalie knew, no one had ever seen an automaton inside the dungeon. If there had been staff manning this strange city, she would have expected it to be someone like Malice. A repurposed dungeon soul. Was that what automatons already were, though? Or were they something else? Where did they fit into what tiny fraction Natalie understood of deeper dungeon lore? Did Malice know? Natalie affirmed to herself that she would definitely be bullying the wolfgirl for more information when she got back. Maybe she should have earlier. Just, Malice had made it clear the information was valuable, and wanted to be properly ''convinced'': she couldn''t extract everything all at once. It was an odd sort of game the wolfgirl wanted to y, but any of her insight was invaluable, and honestly Natalie was a bit happy to y it. Making the hellhound squeal was a definite exciting pastime. "These two are new to the City," Acacia exined. "They''d like to buy rooms for the night." She paused. "Uh, right?" she asked them. "Yes, please," Natalie said, a bit by rote¡ªstill gawking at the automaton. Most of the metallic creatures were androgynous by default. This one was not. In fact, she was one of the bustier girls Natalie had seen. And she had clearly defined nipples, a shade bluer than the rest of her metal skin. Natalie''s eyes could help but linger lower, having to lean just a tiny bit forward to peek across the desk, and she saw, yes, the automaton had a pussy too. What would fucking an automaton be like, Natalie wondered with some incredulous hrity? Had its nature been altered by Lust as well? Or had the dungeon fabricated one from the ground up, and this was a dungeon soul inhabiting what delvers already associated with cheerful servility? Natalie paused; that made enough sense that suddenly her incredulity faded. Maybe this wasn''t a real automaton at all, just like this wasn''t a real city at all. Just manifestations of magic, brought to life by the dungeon. Still. Fake or not, she was fairly certain an automaton had never been seen in the dungeon. So it was still incredible. Vta also assented to checking out a room. They each passed over a token and were given a key, along with directions to their rooms in the same wing of the pce. "And remember, vitors of agreed-upon policies will be pilloried in the town center and assigned to free-use duty for other Citygoers," the automaton finished cheerfully. "A-Ah, right," Acacia stammered as Natalie and Vta''s eyes went wide. "That doesn''t happen often. There''s so few rules, staying in your room past sign-out and not assaulting other Cityfolk is basically the only ways to actually have the guardse down on you. You can pay in advance too, if you don''t want to worry about that." Vta hastily handed over two more tokens, and Natalie did the same. The automaton smiled brightly at them the whole time, either unaware or uncaring of the insanity she''d just spoken. "Really, the only people being pilloried are the, um, intentional vitors," Acacia said, her face turning bright red. "S-Some of the girls¡ªand guys," she muttered under her breath, "like the idea, I guess. And it enchants Tokens, like almost anything does, here. Quite efficiently too¡­" "Free use?" Natalie said a bit faintly. The heat on Acacia''s face said it was exactly what it sounded like. "People are actually pretty decent here, despite the insanity of the City," she said. "If someone gets pilloried and they didn''t mean to, there''s always volunteers to stand guard and protect them. But ¡­ like I said, it''s almost always intentional." "That''s ¡­ good," Natalie said, and though it was a mortifying situation, she was a bit proud of her fellow man, the basic decency shown there. "Alright," Acacia said. "I''ll show you your rooms and the assignment boards, then I''ll leave you two to your own devices. Follow me." 7.27 – The City of Eros IV 7.27 ¨C The City of Eros IV The rooms were everything Acacia had said they would be. Natalie was a bit awed that she would be living in all but luxury during the weekend delve. A plush bed, hot water, and even meals delivered by automatons. Plenty of space too. The bathroom was a number of timesrger than her own back at T. The basin-style bath tub was especially enormous, enough to fit six. Natalie wondered if that was to encourage multi-person use. Seeing how Lust had her hand in making this city, she assumed so. There were also ''pleasure dungeons'' in each room through a trapdoor at the foot of the enormous bed. Natalie had peeked in briefly and closed the hatch, blushing hard. Afterward, Acacia showed them to the Assignment Boards. "Since there''s a lot of people here, they''re broken up by first name," Acacia said. "The boards get busy on reset hours, of course, but usually it''s not too bad. It''s a good time to socialize, since lots of people hang around after the reset. A natural, uh, congregation time, I guess you''d call it." "Will we have assignments already?" Vta asked. "Not until the first reset after you enter the city for the first time," Acacia said. "Which will be around three hours from now, so you won''t have to wait long." "We''ll be able to use these boards to tell when Elida gets here, then," Natalie deduced, and Vta tilted her head briefly before nodding, clearly not having thought of that herself. "In a general sense, at least," Natalie said. "And if we don''t bump into her first." "Elida? Your teammate?" Acacia asked. "Yeah." "It''s a smart way to see if she''s shown up," Acacia said. "But you won''t be able to actually find her. Except by meeting up at the boards themselves, I suppose. Hadn''t thought of using it like that myself, but to be fair most groups get here in one piece. I''m surprised you two didn''t. You were split up." Natalie and Vta found the ''N'' and ''V'' boards respectively just to take a look, and to confirm their names weren''t there. The assignments were simple: they held the full name of the Citygoer along with concise instructions: Report to the Bordello, or Report to the Coliseum for your duel against, and then the name of their opponent. And so on. Some had more detailed instructions, but those were rarer. While Natalie lingered at her board, checking out a few of the assignments, Acacia approached her to speak privately. "I''m gonna get going now," she told her. "I''m happy to return the favor and get you two oriented, but the City is a valuable opportunity, and I don''t wanna waste my time. No offense or anything. I liked meeting you two." She chewed her lip and blushed. "That said ¡­ my assignment today was the Bordello, and I was waiting till near the end of the cycle to go. Was just gonna do some dancing on the lowest floor. But if someone wanted to be a client of mine on one of the higher ones, I might not be too against the idea. Think about it." The woman didn''t give a chance for Natalie to respond: blushing furiously, she waved goodbye, already starting to leave. "I''ll be there," Acacia called. "No big deal if you don''te, I know you''ll be busy settling in. Just an offer!" And then she had fled. Natalie watched her go, heat also having risen onto her cheeks at the girl''s bluntness. She wondered whether Acacia would have made the same bold offer even a few days prior. Lust''s goal with this city was clearly to get people to indulge in their desires, and perhaps even be more uninhibited in general. Which Natalie guessed wasn''t a bad thing, though it still made her feel some sort of way, the deliberate intent behind all these systems, trying to get men and women to show off their bodies and, well, fuck like rabbits, inly put. "What was that?" Vta asked. "Uh, nothing. Doesn''t matter." "She propositioned you, didn''t she?" The words were dry. Natalie cleared her throat, which was answer enough. Natalie wasn''t sure if she would be heading to the Bordello to take her up on the offer, which wasn''t implying anything about Acacia, just that it wasn''t a priority¡ªand she didn''t want to waste Tokens as a client. It would enchant some too, she knew, but there were more efficient ways to gain Empowered Tokens and her supply wasn''t all thatrge. Still ¡­ maybe. But probably not. "Didn''t find your name either, right?" Natalie asked. "No. It''s as she said. We''ll get our assignments on the reset." They stood quietly for a moment. "What do you think of all this?" Natalie asked curiously. "It''s an opportunity," Vta said, "as Acacia said." She thought for a second. "We would be stupid to leave after just two nights, in fact. T would understand the dy. For that matter, I''m positive they''d want us to stay and gather information and to squeeze every drop of advancement we could from such a unique dungeon floor. They''ll want a thorough report." That idea, of course, had wiggled into Natalie''s brain as well. She grimaced, not because she was antsy to get back to T to return to ss, but for other obvious reasons. "They''ll think something happened to me." Vta tilted her head, not understanding at first, but it didn''t take long. "Ah," she said. "Your girlfriends." That statement nearly made Natalie jump in ce. "Huh? What? They''re not my girlfriends." "Well, the ones that are, then." "None of them are." Vta stared at her. "Excuse me?" "What?" "The one with ck hair," she said. "Her, surely. At least." "Jordan? We¡ªwe aren''t even¡ªwhat are you implying?" Vta stared even longer at her. "Uh huh," she eventually said. "Does she know that?" "Does she¡ªof course she does! We''re just friends." "Friends," Vta repeated. She shook her head. "Anyway," she said, sounding extremely dubious, but returning to the topic at hand. "It seemsmon sense it''ll take longer than a few days to gain enough Tokens to buy out the best items in these ''shops'', and Acacia made it clear the items there were incredible. That they''re the whole end-goal of all of this." She paused. "So that''s our obvious next stop. We need to know what we''re working toward." "You''re nning on actually, ah, engaging, then?" Natalie asked, a bit flustered from the previous line of questioning. What the hell had she been implying? She and Jordan were obviously only friends. Sure, really close friends that had known each other forever, and were breaking each other''s pelvises every night, and Natalie was secretly in love¡ª She forcibly reined her thoughts in, waiting for Vta''s response. Her cheeks had colored. "I don''t know," she said honestly. "Probably not any of the more, uh, interesting stuff. But if I have to just stand around and watch ¡­" Even that idea clearly flustered her. "If the rewards are good enough, then just looking doesn''t bother me. And you? You''re nning on ''engaging''?" "Probably. I don''t know to what extent though." Despite being far more experienced and having fewer inhibitions than Vta, that didn''t mean Natalie was jumping at the idea of baring herself naked for a crowd. Much less fucking in front of them. Though the private encounters in the Arena or even the Pce Basement? Maybe. Maybe those would be interesting. She had fucked a dungeon-pussy the instant it''d been offered to her, after all. It wasn''t like private encounters of any degree of lewdness deterred her. Well. Not any degree. There were many things she would be hesitant about or outright refuse, but she was more adventurous than most people. "Right," Vta said. "Come on. Let''s go check out the shops. We''re waiting for the reset, anyway." 7.28 – The Shops of Eros 7.28 ¨C The Shops of Eros The shops were in a different district outside of the city center, which held the four important buildings: the Pce and its Basements, the Bordello, the Coliseum, and the Arena. It was only a short five-minute walk to start seeing the first stores. Each sold different categories of wares. The first they entered, by chance, was a shop that sold nes. "Natalie," Vta said faintly. "Natalie, it boosts damage with daggers by fifty percent." "But only when your nipples are visible," the automaton shopkeeper said brightly. "And at least one person must be able to see them at the time of attack. For women only! An incredible effect, as expected of such an illustrious Epic item." And indeed, the item for sale was an Epic. Only Malice''s monster core had been of a simr rarity. To be fair, this ne was absurdly expensive, one of the best items in the entire shop. There were no Mythicals for sale, the tier above Epic, and a rarity of item Natalie and her team had yet to find. "Natalie," Vta said, sounding distraught. "Fifty percent. What kind of delver would I be if I didn''t make that sacrifice?" "There''s ¡­ probably better items out there." Her own words were a bit choked, since she was also shocked at the sheer bonus the ne provided. Of course, the downside was major, at least from a propriety standpoint. And it required her to be visible to one other person at the time of the attack, which was a huge limitation for a [Rogue]. But still. "Situational," Vta mumbled. "But fifty percent. Fifty!" "Your teammates would be appreciative, Miss," the automaton said brightly. "And not just for the damage boost!" Vta turned an open-mouthed, red-faced look toward the metal woman. "They would surely enjoy seeing your naked chest exposed," the automaton rified. "I know what you meant!" Vta squeaked in outrage. "Aren''t you supposed to be¡ªbe a professional?" she sputtered. "You can''t say things like that to your clients!" "I can''t?" the automaton asked, blinking. "It''s apliment." She turned to Natalie. "Wouldn''t you wish to see her naked breasts?" "Uh," Natalie said. "You should encourage her to buy it," the automaton continued earnestly. Vta turned dagger-like eyes to Natalie, daring her to answer, or say anything at all. Of course, the internal answer was a resounding yes, she would like to see Vta''s breasts, and a lot more than that besides, but she had some sense in her head. "What other items do you have for sale?" Natalie asked loudly. The automaton, in their usual cheerful and clueless way¡ªthough not all automatons were like that, merely most of them¡ªanswered instantly, listing off the two other Epic items she had. They were equally as stunning as the first, and that brief introduction into their first Eros Shop was proof enough why Acacia had insisted so fervently that the City was an unparalleled opportunity for delvers. Though, Natalie did acknowledge it would take a significant amount of time to earn enough tokens, much less Empowered ones, to buy one of the Epics. The prices were eye-watering. They left the ne store some timeter, heads spinning. "I guess I could get used to having my tits out," Vta said, somewhat numbly. "And everyone else would get used to them, right? It''d stop being sexual, in a way." Yeah, Natalie doubted she would ever get tired of seeing a hot girl''s tits, but maybe she shouldn''t say that. "There''s gonna be other items," she said instead. "Some of them are normal." Not every incredible piece of loot had as bizarre of a drawback as that first Epic, though it had been stronger for it, certainly. "Do what makes youfortable," she said, voice firm. "Raw efficiency isn''t everything. Your feelings matter more than a bit more power." Vta rubbed her forehead and didn''t reply. Natalie wondered if she even agreed. They advanced into the next store. This one sold cloth armor meant for mages, which meant it was irrelevant to both Natalie and the rogue, who wore heavy and light armor respectively, but their curiosity was so piqued they perused the wares anyway. And besides, it might serve as a gift for Ana or Liz. They left that shop in a simr daze. "Natalie," the dark-haired rogue said. "Why did that robe cover everything except between her legs?" "It''s the fashion these days," Natalie replied, her voice less faint than her partner, but still obviously incredulous. "And it''s breathable." "Breathable," Vta repeated. "I bet." Since they had time to waste until the assignment reset, they wandered the shopping district, peeking into every store. Interestingly, wares restocked: what they found today might not even be avable when they finally earned enough Tokens. But it also wasn''t refreshed daily or anything so frequent, so taking notes on what they wanted wasn''t a waste of time either. Nothing ever rose above the rank of Epic, though regrly-spawned Epics were already of such a high rarity tier that a person might spend their life delving the third floor and never run into one. They were moremon at higher levels, yes, but this was the third floor, and so Epics were unbelievably umon, undoubtedly the first that any of these people had seen. There were other Citygoers lingering around the various stores, and a conversation with one of them revealed something important. "The Emporium?" Natalie asked curiously. "Yeah," Damien, the older boy, said. He was tall, well-built, and spectacrly on disy: his armor was only slightly less revealing than Natalie''s. He''d wasted no time running his eyes up and down Natalie''s body, grinning good-naturedly and a bitzily at her, though when she''d cleared her throat and adjusted her metal top, he''d brought his eyes up to hers and kept them there, the smile slipping¡ªnot in a rude manner, but simply recognizing the interest wasn''t returned. Natalie got the feeling that propriety was, reasonably, lowered in the City of Eros, and stealing obvious nces of other Citygoers'' bodies was far less frowned upon. Still, people showed basic respect, and Acacia''s exnations of what happened with idental pillory-events confirmed that. Flirting and honestly fucking was probably amon event among Citygoers, and Damien had been happy to check her out: but also quick to rein himself in when Natalie made it clear she wasn''t interested. Which she respected. She didn''t want to be ogled by men, only women, but such things couldn''t practically be avoided in this ce, and it was their follow-up that mattered. "It''s where the best of the best items are," he told her. "It''s the big building at the end of the district. Keep walking that way," he pointed the direction they''d already been headed. "And you''ll see it. Problem is, you need a key to get in." "A key? How do you get one?" "There''s no guaranteed way," Damien said, "but I heard Coliseum fights drop them pretty often." He shrugged. "Gotta do something that draws the City''s attention, generally speaking." He grinned a toothy smile. "One of the girls pilloried herself up for three days straight, and an automaton walked up and gave her a key when she finally stumbled away. So there''s some creative ways to get it done too." Heughed. "Ah, now that was an event. It''s a shame Jennifer left, I miss her." He briefly lost himself in a memory. "Right," Natalie said, even her cheeks coloring at that whole exnation. "Thanks for letting us know." "No problem." He patted her shoulder as he left, which Natalie raised an eyebrow at, but didn''t shrug the touch off. "Love your armor, by the way," he added. "Does wonders for your ass." "Thanks," she said dryly. Her eyes flicked down to his own. "Yours too." Her tone made it clear she wasn''t flirting. Damienughed, then left. Again, she couldn''t really me anyone for being a flirt, considering the environment they''d found themselves in. He''d been at the City for a while, it sounded like. Social norms adjusted quickly, considering these surroundings. "Well," Vta said, eying the boy as he left. "All it takes is offering yourself up in a pillory for three straight days to get a key. I''m sure we''ll find one in no time." Sarcasm dripped from her words. "Coliseum fights too," Natalie said. "And other ways. Just have to draw the City''s attention. I''m sure we can do that." Seeing how she was the Pdin of Lust? Natalie doubted she wouldn''t find herself the owner of such a key by ident,e time. Though, hopefully sooner thanter. She wanted to know what was in the Emporium, if even the basic shops sold Epics. 7.29 – Assignment Anticipation 7.29 ¨C Assignment Anticipation She and Vta spent the three hours before the next reset checking out the various stores of the city. There were all manner of goods, not just weapons, armor, and trinkets, but potions and even raw resources¡ªwhatever a person wanted to grind out Tokens for, they could. Naturally, foot-traffic was heaviest in the armor and weapon shops, but she and Vta still spent some time looking at the others. While much of the items had a lewd bent to them, there were plenty of regr items too. Extremely high quality healing potions, for one, which Natalie made a note of. And some more interesting potions too, though she put those out of her thoughts, for now. She had other things to focus on. Before she knew it, an enormous bell was echoing through the city, announcing the new wave of assignments. In the city of eternal twilight, that was the only means of easy time keeping. The bell rang from some distant clock tower twice per day, once every twelve hours. Acacia had informed them that this one was the ''midday'' bell, and the next one would be the ''midnight'' bell¡ªsimply an agreed-upon standard for the city folk to standardize schedules. Though people bustled about at any hour, there was more activity after the midday bell, and the midnight bell was when most people retired to their rooms to sleep¡ªafter checking to see what their morning assignment would bee morning, of course. "Looks like it''s time," Vta said, walking up to Natalie, who''d been inspecting a pair of boots. "Looks like it is," she agreed. They walked out into the streets, and the various Cityfolk had emerged from the many stores like rats out of the woodwork. They streamed in the direction of the pce, a mixture of expressions on their faces: curiosity, apprehension, nervousness, and in some cases, excitement. Everyone wanted to know what this cycle''s assignment would be, though they had varying levels of enthusiasm. It still felt surreal to see so many delvers walking about. They were in the dungeon. What the hell. "We should talk," Vta said. "The board is going to be swarmed, anyway. I''m not sure if I want to elbow my way to the front." The boards were broken up by name, and spread out, so while there would be a crowd, it probably wouldn''t be as bad as Vta implied. But Natalie stopped walking and turned to her partner. "Talk about what?" Vta seemed vaguely nervous, chewing on her bottom lip. The girl had opened up in their time together, or maybe Natalie could read her better. Going through bizarre experiences tended to break the ice. Still, she was reserved by nature, so she studied Natalie quietly before replying. "Acacia said the City''s assignments aren''t random, and teammates are often paired together, if there''s ¡­ chemistry ¡­ between them. I wanted to talk about how that might affect the team before it happens." A mature approach. She grimaced. It was obvious who Vta was referencing. Suddenly irritated, Natalie nced away, "Elida and I will deal with that when we get there. Even if we hate each other''s guts, and things be worse because of the City meddling, we can still be on a team together." She was certain of that. "Okay," Vta said. "But that''s not ¡­ entirely what I meant. Is there anyone else on the team that might get dragged into an assignment with you?" Natalie blinked. "Who''s in the city right now, for example," Vta said tly, unamused she hadn''t understood right away. "Are you asking if I want to fuck you?" Natalie asked in surprise. She hadn''t meant to be so blunt; she''d just been caught off guard. And, as Natalie already knew, the shorter girl clearly wasn''t used to addressing such topics so directly. Her face closed off, the forcible smoothposure of someone hiding their real reaction. Natalie could still read her posture easy enough though: the suddenly rigid spine. She was annoyed or angry, and ¡­ embarrassed? "I think it''s better if we talked about it beforehand, as I said. We''re still in the dungeon. We need to be professionals." "Right," Natalie said. She scrambled for what to say. "And ¡­ you want ¡­ honesty?" Vta''s posture became even more rigid. She abruptly spun away and began to walk. "Never mind," she said tightly. "It was a stupid question. The answer is obvious." Her shoulders hunched forward and she stalked in the direction of the Pce. Natalie hadn''t expected any part of this interaction; she hurried to catch up. She could sometimes be clueless to the undercurrent of a conversation, but she wasn''t horrible with people, and in fact, when she wasn''t blinded by other factors, she was even good with them¡ªespecially in these matters. To be fair, it was obvious what was happening. Vta wanted to know if she might get dragged into something with Natalie, but on Natalie''s reaction, had instantly assumed there wasn''t any interest. Which was wrong, but she''d assumed it so quickly and with such misinterpretation that something became instantly clear: She was ¡­ insecure? It was absurd for someone who might actually be the mostpetent student of their year, possibly without even a Patron Goddess helping her along, and also a girl who was very much attractive, but Natalie knew it was the truth. And she knew why, or at least suspected why. A girl who had grown up with so many scars on her face? The scars weren''t pretty, Natalie wouldn''t lie and say that. They were pretty in the sense that Vta was pretty, and that the scars belonged to her, and that Natalie even liked scars, but ¡­ there were a lot of them. Clean, straight white lines of various length and thickness that crisscrossed her face, more than a dozen, maybe more than two dozen. It was the first thing a person would notice when meeting Vta, and that was simply the truth. She was scarred. Heavily. And intentionally. Those weren''t scars from monster attacks. They had been inflicted by a de. Natalie still wondered the what, the why, behind them, but obviously that wasn''t the kind of thing she could just ask about. And even on someone like Vta, they''d left their mark. She''d instantly assumed Natalie wasn''t interested. Which was. Well. Ridiculous. But that kind of deep-rooted insecurity wasn''t the kind of thing she wouldugh at and dismiss, even if a part of her wanted to. How should she clear the air, then? As much for warning Vta for the sake of practicality as because she wanted the girl to know that she was attractive. Scarred or not, Vta had a stunning face: sharp features with hard gray eyes with flecks of blue that entirely captured her attention whenever their gazes met. Even if she hadn''t been pretty, physically speaking, Natalie would''ve been interested in her. There were few traits Natalie found more of a turn on than determination andpetence. All of those thoughts ran through her head in a few moments, Natalie deciding how to handle the situation. "I guess it is kind of obvious," Natalie said. "Sorry, I don''t want to make you ufortable, but you''re right, better to have it out in the open. It''s pretty likely we''ll be thrown into something together. Maybe more likely than Elida, even." Because Natalie''s interest in Vta came without one-tenth thepunctions it did with Elida. And the dungeon had already split them up to give her one-on-one time with Vta. It¡ªor maybe Lust herself¡ªknew Natalie''s preferences well. She hadn''t been hitting on Vta, obviously, throughout their trip. The dungeon wasn''t the time or ce for that. But yes, her interest had very much been sparked in the past few hours. Maybe well before that. Vta almost stumbled at Natalie''s words. She nced sideways at her, eyes widening slightly in surprise, having expected the opposite response, but Natalie didn''tment on her reaction. "Oh," Vta said. A short silence passed between them. Vta cleared her throat. "I just wanted to know," she said. "In advance. Thank you for telling me." Unfortunately, Natalie couldn''t tell if Vta returned the interest. And she didn''t offer any illumination onto the topic, which kind of went against the pretense of ''wanting to know for practicality''s sake''. She should''ve told Natalie whether she was or wasn''t, so they could know if the City was more likely to meddle. But Natalie didn''t press. At a very minimum, Vta was suddenly walking with a bit more energy to her step. Though maybe Natalie just imagined it. 7.30 – First Assignment I 7.30 ¨C First Assignment I The section of the Pce dedicated to the assignment boards was, as expected, packed. Near three hundred delvers stood inside the hall, crowded around their respective boards. They were broken up by name, so some were more packed than others. Natalie and Vta arrived a few minuteste to the reset, so people were already stepping aside to make space for everyone else. Expressions from the various delvers ranged from apprehensive to pleased to disgusted. Assignments were essentially a lottery system, especially to those with less adventurous tastes. Nervous, Natalie found her own board, squeezing her way to the front to find the paper with her name. Report to the Arena for your duo assignment, the paper read. Natalie blinked. Duo assignment? She eyed the paper warily. From what Acacia had said, the Arena was the least objectionable assignment. The Coliseum implied having a mandatory audience, the Pce Basement implied all manners of debauchery, and the Bordello was ¡­ well, a brothel. The Arena certainly wasn''t chaste, considering the staking system, but it was done in private, and the stakes varied in perversity. Acacia had made an off-handment that the Arena could include other people, but that it was usually a solo assignment. Natalie couldn''t say she was surprised her first task was non-standard. It ought to be more interesting with someone by her side, at least. Who, though? She met up with Vta to see what her teammate had gotten. "Arena," Vta said, seeming wary. "A duo assignment." Natalie paused. Ah. Apparently their earlier talk wasing into y sooner than expected. "What? Why that look?" "I also got a ''duo assignment''." The words sank in. "Ah. What are the odds it''s a coincidence?" A coincidence? That it wasn''t them that were the duo? Natalie looked at her dubiously. Vta cleared her throat. "Right. Not high." Together, they headed for the Arena. Technically, it was possible they wouldn''t be matched up, but Natalie would eat her boots if that ended up being the case. The Arena was one of therger structures in the city center, a few minutes'' walk from the Pce itself. It was smaller than the Coliseum, which Natalie found curious, since it was supposed to serve many fights at once where the Coliseum only needed to hold one. There was a receptionist desk in the entrance room, along with two arched doorways presumably leading into the arena. She watched one of the citygoers enter, and he just ¡­ fizzled out and disappeared a few steps in. Natalie blinked. Had he been teleported somewhere? Since this was their first time, she and Vta walked to the receptionist desk. The automaton servicing the Arena was shorter and thinner than most, though busty despite that. Something Natalie couldn''t help but notice, since the woman was naked. Not that other automatons wore clothes, but those ones didn''t have nipples and ¡­ other parts of human anatomy. "How can I help you, Miss?" the metallic creature asked in trademark cheerful style. "Uh, hi. I have an assignment here. Duo? It''s my first time." "Of course! Name?" Natalie gave it. The metallic woman scooted a thin book over and flipped it open, running a finger down lines of text before finding what she was looking for. "Here we go. Natalie and ¡­ Vta. Do you need a description of her?" "A description?" "To find her. Assuming she isn''t in the lobby. Looks like she has ck hair, gray eyes¡ª" she paused before she finished, her attention flicking to the girl at Natalie''s side. "Oh! You two came together. How fortuitous." Natalie and Vta nced at each other. They had hardly needed confirmation, but there it was. They had been assigned to the Arena together. "We figured," Natalie told the automaton. "Can you exin how everything works? Like I said, it''s our first time." "Sure. It''s simple. The two of you will enter, choose a stake, and fight through rounds of monsters until you''re either defeated or choose to leave. Each round provides more enchanting energy, umting uponpletion to empower an amount of Tokens of Eros appropriate to what you''ve aplished. You brought Tokens, yes? On your person?" Natalie and Vta nodded. They each had a few dozen in a pouch, their reward for several hours of trekking to the city as a two-person party. "That''s all there is to it," the automaton said brightly. "Do you have any questions?" Natalie did, as a matter of fact. Vta beat her to it, though. "How do the stakes work? Specifically." "The City gives you three choices before the first round begins, in the form of stone tablets that will exin the details of each stake." "And if we don''t like any of them, we can leave?" The automaton seemed surprised by the question. "Well, yes, I suppose, but to turn down such a boon¡­" she trailed off, baffled that Vta would even suggest it. She cleared her throat. "Upon sessfulpletion of a round, you may also leave without paying out the stake, should you decide." Even that the automaton sounded disapproving of. Perhaps she expected delvers to fight until defeat, every time. Regardless of the looming stake. "And if we do choose to leave, we''ll still have Tokens enchanted? For the rounds we''vepleted so far?" "But minus the amount you''d have gotten for stakepletion. Yes." "How muches from the stake itself?" "It depends on the stake and how many rounds youpleted." "Roughly speaking?" The automaton hesitated. "For a citygoer of average strength, and an average stake, I suppose ¡­ half? Not a small amount. But if you''re powerful and clear many rounds, and take a reserved stake, then the proportions will be different, of course." "Okay. And what if we die in there?" "The City will appreciate that you gave it your best effort," the automaton said cheerfully. There was a brief pause in which Vta and Natalie looked at her warily, but the automaton blinked and corrected herself: "Oh, but you don''t actually die, of course," she said. "Remember, the stake is the payout for defeat. All wounds will be cured upon sessionpletion, including lethal ones. I should mention that in a duo assignment, either of your deaths will count as defeat." Vta didn''t blink at the outrageous im of revival, instead intrigued by the minutia. "What if we trade deaths? To finish the round, I mean. If one of us and thest monster dies at the same time." "The round counts aspleted for the purpose of rewards, but you''ll also be considered defeated overall and need to pay out the stake." Vta considered this. She nodded slowly, then asked to confirm, "But we can always walk away afterpletion of a round. It doesn''t have to be to the death." "That''s correct, Miss." Vta nced at Natalie. "You got anything?" "Can we go more than once?" Natalie asked. "You can have as many sessions as you please. But you receive half as much enchantment power with each subsequent session." Natalie grunted. That meant a second session might be worth it, and maybe a third, but after that, one-eighth of the original benefit was getting to the point it wouldn''t be worth their time. "Do we get experience? For killing Arena monsters?" "No. But the Emporium sells experience potions, so in a roundabout way, you can progress in that manner if you so decide." "Experience potions?" Natalie asked, eyebrows shooting up. Vta too looked interested. "How much do those cost? And how do they work?" "I apologize, Miss. You''ll need to visit and ask the shopkeeper yourself. I''m not at liberty to discuss the details of the Emporium." "But we need a key to get in." "Correct, Miss." Natalie had already been interested in the Emporium, but now she was doubly so. She and Vta shared another look. They had no more questions. "Well, thanks for the help, then." "No problem, Miss. Good luck!" The two of them hesitated at the arched doorway leading into the arena. She could see a gate blocking the halfway point of the tunnel, and deeper inside was arge circr room she couldn''t fully make out. Another citygoer walked past them as they paused, and they fizzled and disappeared a few steps in. The dungeon definitely created private instances for each individual or duo assigned here, hence its rtively small sizepared to the Coliseum. She could ask the automaton, but it was obvious. "Ready?" "Let''s see what we''re in for," Vta mumbled, not quite meeting Natalie''s eye. 7.31 – First Assignment II 7.31 ¨C First Assignment II Natalie felt nothing as she transitioned from the proper City of Eros into their instanced assignment. There had been a conversation behind her from two delvers idling in the Arena reception area, and their voices abruptly cut off. The heavy iron gate blocking the path shuddered, then lifted, disappearing into the stone ceiling. They strode into the Arena. It was a circr space with firmly packed, tough dirt. Rocks and debris crunched underfoot as they walked. Above, the twilight sky of the dungeon floor sparkled. Despite teleporting into some ''custom instance'' of the Arena, it still seemed like they were in the middle of the City of Eros. She could see tall buildings peeking over the walls of the Arena. There were no features of interest. No stands of spectators as might normally be found in an arena. Just walls and a dirt floor, along with the arched doorways that led in and out. On the opposite side was another gate where presumably their opponents would enter. The gates behind them shuddered and closed, sealing them in. Ahead, three stone pirs rose out of the ground. Natalie eyed them warily, having summoned her weapon in preparation for a fight. Atop each squat pir was a tablet of lighter-colored stone with text carved onto each. And not just text, but images too. Lewd images. Much like the Tokens of Eros. Their three choices of stakes. With some concern¡ªand, admittedly, interest¡ªshe approached the pirs to peer at the tablets. The first held an engraved image of a nude woman, a minimalist illustrationpleted in as few lines as possible. Beneath the image read the text: Nudity. Both participants will remove all clothing and present their bodies to one another. "That''s it?" Vta blurted out. "Just get naked?" Natalie was simrly surprised, but after a second''s thought, it made sense. "This one has a single heart," she said, pointing to the bottom of the tablet, where said symbol was engraved. "It''s one of the easiest stakes possible." Ones that even reserved people would consider with how incredible the rewards were. Her eyes flicked to the other tablets. They had two and three hearts, respectively. "The others won''t be as ¡­ uh, simple." Simple might not be the right word, but she hadn''t wanted to say ''perverted.'' To plenty of people, even getting naked was objectionable, perhaps enough so they would refuse. And the City was structured to amodate all sorts. The second stone tablet held an illustration of a pair of lips. Kisses, the stake read. Both participants will strip naked and share a passionate kiss. Additionally, each must ce a kiss between their partner''s legs. Natalie flushed. It was hardly the lewdest thing that had been asked of her in the dungeon, but with Vta? Kissing her between the legs? That would be ¡­ uh, interesting. The dark-haired rogue had twice the reaction, at least by the color of her face. Her expression, though, she kept perfectlyposed, even if her cheeks belied how flustered she''d grown. "I see," Vta said, her voice level. She offered no furthermentary. Natalie herself wasn''t sure what she thought of it. Honestly, it wasn''t that bad, even if done strictly out of a utilitarian purpose. The ''passionate kiss'' would just be a kiss; even Vta would probably cede that to earn Empowered Tokens. The one lower down broke propriety far more, but even then ¡­ a quick kiss? The tablet made no requirements for any length of contact, or amount of passion. And sure, even cing a quick kiss on Vta''s pussy¡ªor receiving one¡ªhad her stomach squirming. But by the standards of what Natalie had expected going in? Hardly the craziest task. Her eyes turned to the third of the tablets. Completing the pattern, this one was a three-heart rating, the lewdness increasing from left to right. This one had an image of two somethings that took her a second to recognize. A cylindrical, hollow object¡ªa pocket pussy¡ªalong with its counterpart, a dildo. Use Toy. One participant will pleasure the other topletion using a provided aid. Natalie couldn''t help it. She snorted. ''A provided aid''? The descriptions were so circumspect. Not that she''d have preferred if it were overly crude, like one participant will fuck the other with a toy until they cum, but that would''ve been honest at least. Though she''d probably haveughed at that too. It was all just so absurd. Vta, by her expression, didn''t find it amusing. But at least she didn''t seem to find it objectionable. There wasn''t disgust on her face. Clearly she was struggling toe to terms with the situation, though. She wasn''t an old-hand to the ridiculousness that came with Natalie''s ss. Natalie sobered up. "Well?" she asked Vta. "Those are our choices. What do you think?" "The third one. It means either of us could ¡­ use a toy on the other? Not both?" "That''s what it says." "So we pick who? Who would, then?" Natalie raised her eyebrows, and Vta hurried to say: "Hypothetically. I''m not saying¡ª" she cleared her throat. "I''m not saying that''s the one we should go for. But if we did?" "Hypothetically, I wouldn''t care. This is entirely up to you." "We''re a team, so no, it isn''t entirely up to me." "It is. You can decide." Seeing Vta opening her mouth to protest, Natalie rified: "As in, I''m okay with all three, so you can pick." That only seemed to trouble her. "So it''s my fault if we get a worse payout." "No. That''s not what I¡ª" Natalie frowned. "I already told you. Don''t pick anything that would make you ufortable. Who cares if we lose some efficiency, or whatever?" "I would. And all of them make me ufortable. That''s the whole point. To make you ¡­ do things. That you wouldn''t otherwise." "Then we don''t have to do any of them." Stubbornly, she said, "We can also just skip. There''s ways to get Tokens where we don''t actually have to do anything personally. Or with each other." At the Coliseum, for example, they could just watch. Though progress would be slow. That only annoyed Vta. Her carefully controlled expression broke into irritation. "Stop doing that. I''m not yours to protect. I''ll decide what I decide, and you don''t have any say in it. I''ll pick how ''ufortable'' I''ll make myself." She faced forward, cheeks darkening again. "But to rify. You''d be fine with any of them?" There were a number of things Natalie wanted to say in response, particrly bringing up what Vta had just mentioned: that they were a duo, and so she did have a say in things. And maybe Natalie herself didn''t want to engage with a partner who was obviously ufortable. But she studied Vta for a second. She was right in that she was her own person, and could decide for herself how much out of herfort zone she was willing to go. Still, Natalie wouldn''t want to interact with an obviously reluctant partner. But Vta didn''t seem ¡­ reluctant. Just flustered. "We shouldn''t even have to pay out, as long as we don''t get greedy," Natalie said. "We can keep clearing rounds until it starts to get difficult, then leave." She nced at Natalie, then shrugged. "We''ll decide that when we get there." She focused on the tablets. "Still have to pick one, though. The nudity is too easy. And I won''t take the one with the least payout. Between the second and third though." She hesitated. "Isn''t the third ¡­ easier than the second?" Natalie''s eyebrows went up. "It feels like that to me, at least," Vta said hastily. "With the second, I would have to¡ª" She didn''t finish the statement. "The third would just be a toy. That I use on you?" She flushed deeply. "I wouldn''t even really be touching you." Natalie kept a straight face. Was jerking her off with a pocket pussy until she came less lewd than a kiss followed by a peck between her legs? Not at all, in her opinion. But in some twisted sort of justification, she could see Vta''s point. If Natalie was honest with herself, she often did simr mental gymnastics. They wouldn''t be touching, after all, in a literal sense. Still. It was definitely the lewdest of their choices. As backed up by the heart-based rating system. But it was the one Vta wanted to pick? "So, the third?" Vta shrugged, over-casual for how embarrassed she obviously was. "It''s the best paying, isn''t it? And if you''re okay with it¡­" Natalie wasn''t exactly thrilled that was the excuse she used, that she was acting like they were just seeking profit, but previous interactions and her persistent blush at least gave Natalie some confidence that it might not be pure practicality guiding Vta''s decision. "Besides," Vta said. "We can always bail, if we need to. We won''t even necessarily have to do it. So?" She stepped toward the third pedestal, giving her a questioning look. Natalie tried not to let her imagination overtake her. Vta, using a toy on her? Not that it would actually happen. "Go for it," Natalie said, shrugging. Also over-casual in a way that probably gave away her blend of nervousness and excitement. Vta nodded and, hesitating before she acted, tentatively pressed the stone tablet. It sunk into the pir like an oversized button, and the pirs shuddered and descended into the ground, swallowed by the hard-packed dirt of the Arena. On the far side of the arena, the gate swung open. And so, their first assignment of the day began. 7.32 – First Assignment III 7.32 ¨C First Assignment III She couldn''t actually die here, Natalie reminded herself, but it was a hard thing to keep in mind while fighting a bloodthirsty monster. The beast was bear-like, roughly, with dark orange fur that was filthy and matted. It stood as tall as Natalie and was many times bulkier. Vicious curved ck ws swiped with surprising speed, and even Natalie was finding it difficult to keep it in check with sheer strength. It was dumb, though, and rtively easy to outmaneuver. Though its thick hide and bulk absorbed her hammer blows with only grunts and staggers, rather than broken bones. Maybe it was better that she didn''t keep her partial immortality in mind, she briefly mused. Fighting for one''s life provided no small amount of motivation. Besides, she could still feel pain, and being disemboweled by massive ws would be an extremely ufortable experience, even if the Arena would somehow ¡­ put her back together at the end. It was the fourth round ofbat. The first had been outright trivial for delvers of her and Vta''s skill level. The second and third had been simple as well, though increasingly less so. Only now, on the fourth round, had the difficulty raised to the extent she wouldn''t call the fights easy anymore. Not hard though. If she were to pick a word, it would be ¡­ routine. Blood pounded in her ears, and her heart raced as she went through that deadly dance with her opponent, but it was nothing she found frightening. She didn''t even need to tap into her mana-based skills. Vta had imed the majority of finishing blows in their duo, but Natalie had the pleasure this time. [Valentine] crushed into the bear-like beast''s skull, and without a sound, it crumpled into the floor and went still. A second blow, an executioner''s strike, ensured the fight was over. Sure enough, the corpse evaporated, leaving neither core nor Token behind. They caught their breath, briefly, as two stone pirs emerged from the ground. Continue or forfeit, as the choices had gone each time before. The Arena was kind enough to let them recover between rounds. Only for a few minutes though. "So," Natalie said. "Time to talk about it." They hadn''t finished their earlier discussion, on when they should call it quits. The fights hadn''t warranted it; they were certain they''d be able to take on the next round, assuming the jump in difficulty wasn''t astronomical. So they''d kept going. With this medium-difficulty fight, though, it was technically possible they lost by some unlucky fluke on the next, Natalie had decided, and so they had to address it. Or ought to address it. "Talk about it?" Vta asked, though the sideways nce told Natalie she knew what she was referencing. "Not saying that was hard," Natalie said. "Haven''t even had to pull out basic skills yet, much less my heavy hitters." Vta seemed interested in that; she hadn''t seen [Smite], only her illusions. "But it''s getting there. And some unlucky misstep might end up with one of us dead." Especially Vta, the rogue. She was unbelievably skilled, but she was frail. All it would take was one wrong move. "So. Yeah. We should talk about it." "I guess you''re right." She didn''t offer more, so after a second, Natalie continued for her. "If we keep going, we might lose. Will lose eventually. When do you want to call it?" Vta shrugged. "Not yet. Let''s at least get to the harder fights before we worry too much." Natalie studied her for a second. She wanted to press the issue, but that would be patronizing. Vta knew what would happen if they lost. If she wanted to continue, she was weighing the risk of defeat against the potential reward. So, she nodded, and they pressed the stone button that advanced them to the next round. Two more fights followed. The first, against three tall skeletal warriors. She and Vta did best against single opponents, even if they were strong, because Natalie could distract while the assassin set up devastating nks. Even so, they dispatched the multi-enemy encounter without too much difficulty. Natalie did need to call up some illusions, though. The second fight was against a ck stone golem. The fight went much the same way as against the bear, but many times more difficult. The overall strength of each encounter wasn''t increasing exponentially, but even linear jumps meant they were rapidly approaching opponents that were bing too much for them. Against the golem, she actually had to pull out [Smite]. Vta seemed impressed by the immense ray of energy that burst from her hammer, though Natalie had only been able to charge it halfway; it was rare to find long enough openings toplete the channel. She hadn''t [Empowered] anything yet, and wasn''t sure if she would. These weren''t lethal fights. She had no intentions of trading permanent advancement points to get a little further into the Arena. Breathing hard, and bruised from a number of hits, Natalie broached the topic a second time. "Keep going?" she asked. "We''re getting to the point we might lose without a fluke. That guy was ¡­ tough." "Wasn''t that hard," Vta said. Natalie raised her eyebrows. Vta too was breathing hard, ck hair matted by sweat. She''d taken a ncing blow herself, which had to have left more than a simple bruise on her hip. The girl prodded at it gently, wincing, though didn''t seem to notice what she''d done. "Besides," Vta said. "If we really do give up, we''ve gotta get farther than this. The stake counts for a big portion of the reward, so we have to make up for it in rounds." Except they might end up paying out along with getting deep into the Arena, if they weren''t careful. But like before, Vta had to know that. So Natalie just asked, "You sure?" The rogue walked up and pressed the button to continue, which was answer enough. The next fight was brutal. The [Crystalline Seraph] was an angelic being made out of stained ss, and it tore into them with twin des. It was both a well-suited and a horribly-suited fight for Natalie: the former, because its ss body was weak to blunt attacks, and thetter, because it was fast, agile, and its long dual-wielded des had nearly the same reach as her massive warhammer. Still, they made it through,pleting round six. About an hour had passed. Natalie was aching all over, and she was bleeding from several cuts¡ªsome of them deep. She missed having a [Healer] on standby. For now, they relied on healing potions, but only enough to stop the bleeding. No point in wasting valuable resources for a non-lethal fight. "It''s a gamble to go again," Natalie said. "One not in our favor." The fight had already been a gamble. They''d eked out the victory using all their skills. Even Vta had pulled out something new: she''d grabbed a nearby shadow and had shed with it, somehow, dealing serious damage. Natalie would have been interested in talking about the ability with her if she wasn''t exhausted and woozy from blood loss. "Do we call it?" Vta hesitated. She looked away, cheeks flushing. "We can handle one more." No, Natalie didn''t think they could. And Vta had to know that too. The next fight would be even harder, and they were weak from their injuries. They would almost certainly lose. Maybe Vta wasn''t too worried about paying off their stake after all? Or was it determination and a need to prove herself, the reckless sort ofpetitive spirit that wasmon in T delvers? Either way, Vta walked up and pressed the button to continue. Natalie doubted they''d be surviving the seventh round. She would do her best, but she suspected Vta had just deliberately chosen to pay their stake. Which meant, soon, they would be ¡­ Well. She put that out of her mind. She had a fight to focus on. Taking a deep breath, she rallied herself one more time. 7.33 – ? First Stake I 7.33 ¨C ? First Stake I Tired, injured, and fighting the second-strongest monster of her life¡ªthe first being that juggernaut of Greed¡ªit wasn''t surprising they lost the next round. Vta had surely known it would happen going in. Natalie had never died before. Obviously. And she didn''t die now¡ªnot really. But she was cleaved in half by a giant ck-metal sword, and that was, well, a bit traumatizing, even by a delver''s standards. The world flickered, went dark, and then she stumbled forward, suddenly on her feet again and feeling¡ª Great? She whirled in a circle, looking at the empty arena. She saw Vta standing to her side, also re-materialized, seeming bewildered. She had fallen first between the two of them, even if she hadn''t died and ended the encounter. Just been knocked out. Left alone, Natalie hadn''t stood a chance. Natalie looked down at herself, rubbing the expanse of exposed midriff that held no scar and was¡ªnot severed in two anymore. She shuddered, briefly, before putting that experience firmly out of her mind. No delver was a stranger to violence, blood, and gore, but being cut in half? Not something she particrly enjoyed. At least the Arena hadn''t forced her to bleed out before ending the fight. "Damn," Vta said. "That''s my fault. I didn''t see¡ª" She sighed. "I was hoping we''d at least trade." Trade? As in, the enemy dying along with one of them? That would havepleted the round and given them rewards for doing so, so it would have been nice. But that confirmed Vta had been expecting to lose, with a draw as their best case. Which meant she really had intended to pay out the stake? Vta saw Natalie''s look, then colored, realizing the obvious deduction Natalie had made. She cleared her throat, then stered on a nonchnt expression. "That''s how it goes, I guess. Maybe we should''ve just withdrawn, like you said." Natalie raised an eyebrow at her, but didn''tment. Something else drew their attention anyway. Two stone pirs, simr to the ones holding stake-choices, rose from the hard-packed dirt floor. They held ¡­ What was expected. Two toys. One a solid cylinder of gel-like pink, and another, more transparent, though tinted the same color and hollow rather than solid. A dildo and a pocket pussy. A hell of a thing to see, randomly sprouting from an arena. "So we just pick? One or the other?" Vta asked. It was disorienting to go from fighting for her life to this. It also, oddly enough, enhanced the excitement? There was nothing quite like lethalbat to get the blood pumping. She was ready to vent her adrenaline. Though Natalie would''ve been excited no matter the circumstances. "Could be that we pick one, and the other disappears," Natalie said. "Locking us in. Both might stick around though, and the City just waits until the condition is filled." "The condition," Vta said tly. Natalie shrugged. Vta cleared her throat. "Well," she said. "I guess I''ll just¡ª?" She walked toward the pocket-pussy pedestal, giving her an unintentionally wide-eyed, nervous look. There was something unbelievably endearing about one of the best [Assassins] she''d ever seen seeming so timid. She''d watched this woman rip through equal-level threats like paper, a blur of shing steel and sprays of blood. Calm and reserved throughout, even the most brutal fights not breaking her demeanor. But now? Wide-eyed and blushing? At just the suggestion of what wasing? Look. Natalie had a type. Well, lots of types, but this was definitely one. "You can also change your mind," Natalie said, lips twitching. "I could be the one who takes care of you, if you want." Vta froze solid. Then she jerkily returned to motion. "If you''re okay with it, I''d prefer¡ª?" She reached out toward the pocket pussy. "Sure." She wasn''t surprised Vta would rather give than receive. Probably, she was a virgin. Maybe? Natalie wasn''t certain about that, but she did have a decent read on such things, and she gave much better than even odds on Vta''s inexperience. Vta''s hand wrapped around the pocket pussy, and sure enough, the other pir shuddered and sank down, removing the other option. "Ew," the rogue said, holding the toy out from her and wrinkling her nose. "It''s slimy." "Pre-lubricated?" Natalie asked. "That''s good." Secretly, she had supplies stored away. Not just lube, but also that useful cleaning material they''d earned in a previous delve. But it would be awkward to reveal it. Coming prepared for sex when entering the dungeon with strangers was ¡­ she didn''t need to borate on why she''d rather not. Even just holding the pocket pussy, which was indeed glistening with ayer of probably supernaturally effective lubricant, Vta was blushing furiously. She inspected the item from a few different angles, peeking inside the hole. "It''s bumpy. Is that normal?" "Probably. Texture is nice. Not that I know if it''s normal." "You don''t?" "I don''t need toys. I have¡ª" She cleared her throat. Maybe that was a bit crude to say. Dryly, Vta finished the thought for her. "Four girlfriends to take care of it." "They''re not my girlfriends." "Sex friends?" Damn. She guessed? ''Sex friend'' wasn''t the word that came to mind when she thought of any of her teammates. Sammy and Camille, maybe, but even then, the term just felt a little ¡­ degrading? They were friends who had sex, yes, but¡ªthis thought probably didn''t lead anywhere. "Whatever," Natalie said. "Sort of. Not really. But yeah, I don''t need toys. I definitely don''t own one of those." She gestured at the pocket-pussy. "Mm," Vta said. She was obviously trying to keep herposure. Trying to act like this situation was normal. She avoided Natalie''s eyes and instead kept inspecting the toy. ying around with it, tugging the hole open and sticking a finger inside to feel at the bumps there. "This is a really weird delve." Natalie couldn''t help butugh at that. "Wee to my life." Finally, Vta brought her gaze up. She visibly braced herself. "So. I guess we have to ¡­ yeah. Do this. So ¡­ ?" Natalie tried not to smile. There was something way too cute about Vta''s nervousness. She doubted this girl was anxious in any other context except this. Something stirred in Natalie''s chest, and her lips turned up as she strode over to Vta. The dark-haired girl froze, sensing the predatory approach, not moving a muscle until Natalie was standing next to her, looming with the height difference. "Standing or sitting?" she murmured, hands settling on Vta''s hips. "Up to you." Vta swallowed. She let out a shuddering breath. "S-Sitting would be easier." Natalie obeyed. She sat, then fiddled with the strings that tied her skimpy armor to her. Her bra came off first, and she tossed it to the side. Vta''s eyes went wide. "T-That''s not necessary, is it?" "Oh. Should I put it back on?" "I''m not saying¡ª Just¡ª we only needed¡ª" Vta abruptly sat down. "Uh, never mind." Natalie peeled off her lower piece of armor next, finally freeing the aching prisoner that had been confined inside the firm material. Obviously, she was well and fully hard already. But trapped, it hadn''t been able to straighten out. Now it did. Ten inches of girlcock stood at attention between Natalie''s legs, revealing her not-so-secret secret to the other girl, who had, adorably, frozen solid again. "I''m in your care," Natalie murmured. "Treat me right, yeah?" 7.34 – ? First Stake II 7.34 ¨C ? First Stake II Natalie watched the dark-haired rogue lower herself slowly to the ground, sitting on her knees between Natalie''s spread legs. Those light gray eyes¡ªdust-speckled with blue¡ªflickered between the exposed ten thick inches, and Natalie''s face. With a few lingering nces on the rest of her naked body. But mostly¡ªher eyes were for what she''d shortly be servicing. "Why is it so big?" she whispered. Natalie repressed a smirk. She tried not to have an ego about such things, but breathless questions like that didn''t help matters. "It''s not that big." Vta gave her an incredulous look. "I''m no expert, Natalie, but yes, it is. Even I know that." "Even you?" Natalie asked, teasingly arching an eyebrow. Vta flushed. She looked down and fiddled with the pink pocket pussy in her hands, avoiding Natalie''s gaze. "Is this your first time?" Natalie asked curiously¡ªand removing her smirk, recing her tone with gentle earnestness. Vta hesitated. Natalie thought she might refuse to answer, or give some snarky, deflecting reply. But after a second, she answered: "¡­ yes. It is." Natalie didn''t have to ask for rification: whether it was her first time with a girl, or first time doing anything. It was clearly thetter. She''d already had a suspicion. "Lucky me," Natalie said, grinning. "I love taking firsts." Vta squirmed on the floor, her cheeks heating up. She nced away. "So. What do I do?" Natalie''s smile softened. She spread her legs further, inviting the smaller woman in. "It''s not hard, I promise." "Just ... up and down. Right?" "And maybe throw a little mouth to the mix, if you''re feeling generous." Vta''s eyes shot open. "W-What? Mouth?" "That''s a joke." Her grin widened at the girl''s dramatic response. "Unless¡ª?" "Shut up," she stammered. "Why would I¡ª? That''s not part of the stake." Natalie stopped herself fromughing. She wasn''t trying to be patronizing, but at the same time, she couldn''t help herself from teasing. Vta breathed in. She rallied herself, her gaze locked on the intimidating length in front of her, then scooted forward, closing the distance between them. She raised the pocket pussy, tentatively, lowering it until it hovered over the head. "Just, up and down." "Maybe twist your wrist a bit." Vta''s cheeks flushed as she held the pocket pussy there, neither girl speaking, just the sound of their breathing filling the arena. The toy poised above the head of Natalie''s cock, but not descending. Frozen, briefly, before the moment of action. "Need some help?" Vta might be inexperienced and nervous, but like any T student, she took that as a challenge. Still blushing, she narrowed her eyes, then forced herself to act. She lowered the toy, pressing the opening of its hole onto Natalie''s tip, then pushed down. The toy enveloped Natalie. She sighed, feeling the warmth and the wetness, the lube letting the hole slide easily down. She watched the pink, ribbed object stretch to amodate her length and thickness, the material clinging to her skin. It was a surprisingly thin toy, and Natalie much, muchrger than average, so it bulged out around her, stretched to the limits of its sticity. It was also too small by length, because Natalie''s cockhead popped through the top as Vta kept sliding until it hit her base. Vta stared, transfixed, at the image. Natalie''s dick throbbed, and more than the toy''s clinging grip, it was Vta''s fingers¡ªthe sensation muted through theyer of gel-like material¡ªagainst her shaft that made her shiver. "Did that ¡­ feel good?" Vta asked breathlessly. "Keep going," she murmured back in response. Vta slowly raised the toy, slowly, before dropping it back down. And then she repeated, and repeated. Slowly, tentatively, she went up and down. Natalie groaned as the slick material rubbed over her sensitive shaft. It wasn''t just the sensation, but watching her cock, glistening with the lube, pop out the top of the toy with each stroke¡ªand seeing Vta''s hands, her nimble fingers clutching the pocket pussy, holding it as she moved it up and down her shaft. And best of all, the rogue''s face. The pink cheeks, her rapt gaze as the girl forgot entirely about Natalie, instead focused on her cock, her task. A second hand tentatively quested out, gripping the toy, and she pumped faster, now with a two-handed grip. Natalie moaned, hips squirming in pleasure. Vta''s breath caught at the tant disy of Natalie''s pleasure, and her fingers tightened. Her pace quickened, growing jerkier. Natalie forcefully calmed herself. She could, she supposed, give in and end this encounter quickly. But where would be the fun in that? Yes, she would enjoy herself, and she was more than a little pent up after so much indirect forey via learning about the City, and then finding out she was paired with Vta. But at the same time, of course she would prolong her first encounter with Vta. Because she had an image to worry about. She had to prove she had plenty of stamina. That she couldst a while. You know. For reasons. So she steadied her arousal as Vta stroked up and down, pumping the toy over her length. The rogue''s fingers traced over her skin through the thin, stic material, and Natalie shivered, but fended away the jolts of hot electricity arcing up her spine. Vta''s eyes were wide, still staring at her dick. They flicked up briefly to meet Natalie''s gaze, and Natalie smiled, half a smirk, half genuinely encouraging, which made Vta flush even harder. They stayed that way in silence, for a bit, the lewd, slick noises of Vta pumping vigorously away, trying to bring her to climax with the toy. Natalie didn''t let the sensation overwhelm her. Yes, it felt incredible, butpared to pinning Jordan down and pping into her? Well, if she could hold off when her best friend was begging to have her womb filled, Natalie could survive a bit of bumpy gel. "Is¡ªis this supposed to take so long?" Vta finally asked. "You''re doing great," Natalie promised. She leaned back on her elbows, enjoying the image of this dark-haired rogue between her thighs, pumping away at her length, the toy bulging with each stroke. "Just, you know, it''s only a toy." "Huh?" She shrugged. "I mean, the hot part of sex is the connection. Who''s doing it, not what''s happening. So this is¡ªhardly overwhelming. Might take a bit." "O-Oh?" Natalie shrugged again, acting casual. "Not implying anything, of course. Just ¡­ we don''t actually know each other that well. And it''s you that I''m interested in, not the toy." Vta''s pumping slowed, her face going several shades redder. "Excuse me?" Natalie grinned, getting to her point. "So. If you wanna, I don''t know, tell me about yourself? It''d help." "Telling you about myself ¡­ would help get you off." The words were t, incredulous¡ªyet her wide eyes and fast breathing gave away that Natalie''s request had done something to her. "It would, yes." Vta kept eye contact for a few moments, before a tremor went through her. She breathed out slowly, then firmly brought her attention back to Natalie''s cock and continued stroking. "Well," she said quietly. "I g-guess if it''d help. I don''t want to be here all day. What do you want to know?" 7.35 – First Stake III 7.35 ¨C First Stake III Who ever said Natalie wasn''t a clever strategist? This woman was obviously a hard nut to crack, and all it took was¡ª A supernaturally enforced sex encounter, plus a few careful words while the girl was heavily flustered. But still. Natalie deserved some credit. She''d found a way to get Vta to talk about herself. Vta''s stroking continued, up and down, the slick and bumpy sex toy caressing Natalie''s cock. The pdin was content to sit back and enjoy it. ''What do you want to know?'' Vta had asked. "Anything. Nothing serious, if you don''t want. Just, like I said, I don''t actually know much about you." She wasn''t trying to pry into Vta''s secrets in a moment of vulnerability. Yes, she had used the situation to encourage the girl to open up, but not in any exploitative way. Natalie just wanted to learn a few things. Not secrets. She knew T''s top performer, a girl with scars across her face and a shrouded past, had plenty of those. But Natalie genuinely wasn''t interested. Well, she was. But not right now. "Like, do you have any hobbies?" "Hobbies?" Vta seemed surprised by the question. Maybe expecting a more serious topic; she likely knew her past was a subject of interest. No doubt, Elida had pried into it a number of times. There was a flicker of wariness in her eyes, but it disappeared. "Hobbies. Do you have any? Besides the academy, and delving?" Natalieughed. "I guess not. T doesn''t give us enough time to have hobbies. I guess me and Jay used to hike a lot, run around and explore, but that was an excuse to find trouble more than anything." "Jay. That''s ¡­ Jordan?" It was maybe an inappropriate time to be talking about her best friend turned major-crush, seeing how she was being jerked off by another girl. But Natalie''s life had been ten sorts of ridiculous since arriving to T, so she took it in stride. "Yeah. On my team. Dark hair. A rogue." She paused. "Like you, actually." But Jordan''s hair was longer, and she had green eyes, not gray. "Your not-girlfriend," Vta added dryly. "We''re not¡ª It''s not even¡ª She doesn''t¡ª this isn''t about me," Natalie huffed. She was d her stumbling amused Vta, at least. The rogue''s lips twitched. "You''re not what I expected, you know." "What''s that mean?" "Nothing." It was a very strange backdrop for this conversation, the way Vta was milking the pocket pussy up and down Natalie''s length, slick and slippery with lube. They talked quietly, and Natalie did her best to keep her voice steady, not wanting to give away just how good it felt. The chat was a good distraction, at a minimum. "I guess ¡­ I do have one hobby," Vta said quietly. "But I''m not very good at it. It''s just something I do." "Oh?" "I draw. Sometimes." She shrugged, casually, but Natalie knew the admission was anything but casual. This wasn''t a girl who opened up about much of anything. "I''m not good. But when there''s a spare moment. When I''m not training or delving or in ss. I guess I sketch, here and there." Natalie considered that. "That makes sense, actually. You''re obviously good with your hands." Her stroking stilled, and she red, which wasn''t a response Natalie had expected. Then she understood. Sheughed. "It wasn''t an innuendo. I meant it. You''re an assassin. And I''ve seen you ying with your dagger. Those tricks you do." When she sat around, sometimes she danced one of her weapons between her fingers and hands with the grace of a street performer. "I wasn''t saying¡ª" sheughed again. "Good with your hands in that way." She grinned. "But that too, now that you bring it up." She thrust her hips slightly up to emphasize the point. Blushing hard, Vta resumed her stroking. "Sorry. I just thought¡ª" She cleared her throat. "Could I see, you think? Anything you''ve drawn?" Vta hesitated. "I ¡­ don''t know." "No pressure." She left it at that. She really didn''t want anything of Vta''s she wasn''t willing to share. "This is really helping?" she asked. "Talking about myself?" Natalie paused. "Sort of? I guess it''s also distracting me." Sheughed. Then, the short amusement quieting, she became more serious. Her heart started to beat faster, and refocusing on the heat of the moment, the way the slick noises of Vta jerking her off filled the air. Intimacy following intimacy of a different kind. She wouldn''t have said this if she didn''t have another girl''s hands on her dick, encouraged by the eroticism and heat of the encounter: "But yes. It''s easier to fantasize about you, now." The words came out husky as she held Vta''s eyes. "An artist. Who would''ve thought? It''s cute." Even Natalie didn''t expect the way Vta''s entire face went a brilliant shade of red. "Stop calling me cute. And this is¡ªwe''re just doing this because¡ª" She huffed and didn''t finish. Then, surprising both of them, Vta climbed onto herp, the girl''s petite body pressing down on Natalie''s thighs, straddled her while jerking her off with the pocket pussy. Vta''s eyes widened, and Natalie got the sense she''d moved without fully nning to. "You''re taking too long," the rogue dered shakily, justifying their new positioning. "This should¡ªmake you finish faster." She scooted another few inches forward, until her crotch was near pressing into Natalie''s cock, the slick toy sliding against her clothes and getting them wet. "We''ve got stuff to do. Cum already. Aren''t these things supposed to be easy to make finish¡ª?" Vta was clearly offended by her inability to get Natalie to cum after so many minutes, and her redoubled stroking was an attempt to fix that. And maybe avoid further personal questions. While Natalie would''ve loved to keep holding off, she''d been struggling before the woman had climbed onto herp and straddled her. After the show of vulnerability, and Vta''s quickening effort, Natalie was more than ready toe apart. By widening gray eyes, Vta recognized how close Natalie was getting. Natalie started to squirm and pant beneath her. Worse, or better, Natalie couldn''t quite control herself, her body responding to another girl''s weight being on top of her. She started thrusting. Bucking. Lifting Vta''s light body up and down as she pushed into the toy, meeting the long strokes with her own movements. Vta''s pumping stilled in surprise, then came faster. "Are you ¡­?" "Close," she grunted. "Keep going." Natalie''s hands settled on Vta''s waist, thrusting her hips up and down as she jostled the girl. Her eyes were locked on the way the woman''s breasts bounced under the light armor, and she moaned, thrusts growing stronger. It wasn''t hard to create a fantasy with this positioning¡ªwith Vta''s weight on her, watching her body bounce as she fucked into a toy that was pressed against her stomach, essentially mimicking the real thing. Vta''s pumping went faster, her tight grip milking the pdin''s cock, the toy''s bumps rubbing against her sensitive member and sending electricity through her. "Close," she gasped. Her fingers dug into soft skin hard enough to bruise. Vta''s pumping became frantic, sensing the end, and Natalie fucked the toy for all she was worth. The two girls worked toward the same goal, Natalie''s cock throbbing and pulsing as her orgasm rapidly built, the pleasure building, the heat of her core rising to a crescendo¡ª And she cried out and finally came. Her whole body tensed. Her cock swelled, then throbbed, and started to spurt. Vta''s eyes widened, and she held on, pumping the toy, the pocket pussy milking her length, squeezing her tip, as Vta¡ª Didn''t aim away? Sticky white strands burst up and onto Vta''s lightweight armor, soaking into the material with long pearly strings. A particrly virile jerk hit her chin, making Vta flinch, but she still didn''t aim away. On ¡­ purpose? Probably not. Forgetfulness, lost in the moment. But still, it thrilled through Natalie, coaxing out more and more, knowing she was coating her partner with her seed. When it was over, the two girls settled in ce, panting. The toy still wrapped around Natalie''s dick, and Vta still on herp, the rogue''s chest rising and falling, her cheeks bright red as she looked down at Natalie. "Wow. You, um ¡­ liked that?" Natalie''s head fell back, hitting dirt, and sheughed. "Yeah. I liked that, Vta." 7.36 – Empowered Tokens 7.36 ¨C Empowered Tokens When the two of them came down from their high, they were left with, like usual, the sticky aftermath. Vta looked nkly at her two hands, then at her leather armor, and nched. "You¡ªyou drenched me in it!" Natalie elbowed up and cleared her throat. "You were the one aiming. But, uh, sorry?" she offered diplomatically. A gooey drop of white stuff dripped from the underside of Vta''s chin¡ªwhich hade from one of the more dramatic stray shots. Vta reflexively wiped at it, only to cover herself in more of Natalie''s cum, since her hands had gotten well and thoroughly lubricated themselves. "Is this normal?" Vta huffed. "There''s so much." Natalie gave a lopsided grin. "Maybe you just did a really good job." Hearing the teasing tone of Natalie''s voice, Vta froze. "S-Shut up." She looked down at her hands, then at her cum-drenched armor. "No, but really, it''s everywhere. That can''t be normal." "I might have better output than most," she coughed. Another curse¡ªor blessing?¡ªof her ss. "I, uh, have something to help clean it off, if you want." Natalie slid the pink transparent pocket pussy off her mostly-softened cock with a shudder. The trial didn''t seem to have made it disappear, and the two pirs that had contained the toys had vanished into the ground. She looked around, briefly confused. "What are we supposed to do with this, anyway?" she asked, waggling the toy. Vta also looked around, her brow furrowing. "Guess it''s ours now? Maybe it''ll disappear when we leave." Natalie tried inspecting the item, but it wasn''t a supernatural piece of dungeon loot, just a mundane item, so no chunk of information inserted into her head. She paused for a moment, then dragged over her belt of pouches and scooped out an empty monster core. The pocket pussy¡ªstill sticky with lube and other fluids¡ªdisappeared. She''d deal with thatter, she guessed. "Of course you''re keeping it," Vta muttered. Natalie arched an eyebrow. "It''s loot from one of the strangest dungeon floors anyone''s ever heard of. Of course I''m keeping it." "And for no other reason, I''m sure." "Well, it''ll be a memento to remember you by, too." That, like usual, brought Vta''s ribbing to an abrupt stop, her blush returning. It was way too easy to tease this girl. Natalie pulled out the promised solution: the vial of cleaning fluid. "This stuff is amazing," she said, removing the stopper with a pop. "Cleans up anything, dries fast, and works on more than just skin. Good for clothes and hair. Removes any products if you had them, though, like makeup and whatnot. Useful in a pinch though." Vta eyed the vial. "Sounds useful." "Self-regenerates too, as long as you don''t use the whole supply." "Really?" Natalie nodded. "It''s one of my favorite pieces of loot." Not the star of the show like [Valentine] or, say, Ana''s very interesting ¡­ crystal ball ¡­ but undoubtedly an unsung hero. "Here, go ahead. Assuming you don''t wanna walk around smelling like¡ªyou know what, all day." Embarrassed, Vta wiped her fingers on her chest to clean them and took the vial. She peered inside before pouring some liquid onto the palm of her free hand. Stoppering the vial and setting it aside, she worked the liquid around¡ªthen blinked and marveled at how the sticky stuff covering her skin just disappeared. It left the affected parts glossy for a bit, but dried much faster than a thick lube-like material should''ve. Intrigued, she worked some of it into her dark leather armor, and the material dampened as it absorbed in. It dried even faster than when applied to her skin, and her armor was left unstained afterward. She sniffed it and found nothing to object about. Nice and clean. "Wow," Vta said, seeming genuinely interested. "I''d want some of this stuff even without, er, your need for it. Have any extra?" "Just enough for the team, sorry." "Mm. Fair enough." Vta finished cleaning herself up. Then she did something that took Natalie by surprise. Casual as could be, she poured out another glob into her hands and leaned forward and started cleaning Natalie too. It was only when her member stiffened at record speed, swelling up as Vta massaged the cleaning fluid into it that Vta suddenly froze. Natalie intuited a wonderful bit of insight: Vta hadn''t been flirting, or teasing. Some part of her brain had just decided to clean Natalie, automatically. Because she had the fluid in hand, and was cleaning up cum, so clearly it was her job. Her brain had turned off. "Could''ve done that myself," Natalie said with a shit-eating grin. "But thanks for the hand." Her cock twitched in Vta''s grip. She released Natalie''s member like it was a hot iron, scooting back rapidly¡ªand Natalie was rewarded with the most furious blush of the day yet. "I¡ª I was just cleaning. Because¡ª never mind." She thrust the vial at Natalie. "You can finish." Natalie decided not to press the advantage, despite Vta''s ming face. Because there was a dangerous glint in her eye daring her to say something, and Natalie knew how to pick her battles. She''d gotten plenty of victories anyway in the past twenty minutes. So, she poured out more of the cleaning liquid and made herself presentable. After putting her armor back on and securing her belt and such, she faced Vta, who was getting control of herself again. That blunder would be sitting in her thoughts for a while, Natalie suspected. "Alright," Natalie said. "Tokens should''ve been enchanted by all that, right?" She nodded at the exit gate of the arena, which had opened up. The encounter was over, officially. Unbuckling thergest of her pouches, the one with the hefty weight of Eros coins, she pulled out her supply of wide, thin currency. "Let''s see what we got." In their travel to the City of Eros, they had collected around seventy tokens, since the trip had been fraught with monsters and they''d needed to cover a fair distance. Which meant she and Vta had just shy of three dozen coins each. Pulling the mass of coins out, Natalie counted her supply. Some of the coins had changed, enchanted by magical energies. The new Tokens were a bright, lustrous pink, shining even more than polished erotite. A stark counterpart to the duller pink-purple non-enchanted tokens. She had neen, and sixteen of the basic coins. Natalie''s eyebrows went up. "More than half. Better than I thought. People were making it sound like enchanting tokens would take a while." "We''re probably more efficient than most, Natalie. We''ll need to ask around. We got to the seventh round, and almost beat that too. How far does the average team get?" Good question. Still, it meant they''d need to go hunting sooner thanter. They were already more than halfway done enchanting with their current supply. Though, with a twelve-hour dy between missions, she''d have gone hunting anyway. "Only half are enchanted, though," Vtamented. "Which means half aren''t." Natalie hesitated, then nodded. The implication was obvious. A smile tugged on her lips, and she met Vta''s eyes. "Round two, then?" 7.37 – Second Stake I 7.37 ¨C Second Stake I After collecting themselves, ensuring they hadn''t left anything behind, and making sure they were clean and presentable, they exited the Arena. The gate in the back led them onto the city streets, and they needed to walk around the building and re-enter the Arena from the front. Before throwing themselves into the fray a second time, Natalie approached a blonde girl sitting on a bench at the side of the reception area. She was leaning back and observing the other citygoers, perhaps waiting for someone. Their eyes met as Natalie finished crossing the room. She made quick introductions, then got to the point. "Just had a quick question, if you don''t mind. We''re new here. Trying to get a feel for how things work." "Sure?" The blonde girl¡ªAnnabelle¡ªsaid, straightening up. "How many tokens is it normal to have enchanted, after an Arena run? The receptionist," she gestured at the automaton, "was vague." "Depends on how far you get, and the stake." "I know that. I meant¡ªcan I ask you how many tokens you got, yourst run?" The blonde girl tilted her head. "Six. Then two. Then one. You get less with each series. Diminishing returns." Natalie blinked. Six enchanted tokens for her first run? She and Vta had gotten neen. Had they done that much better? She didn''t recognize this woman from T, so she might be an independent delver or someone from a less-known academy. So it wasn''t imusible she was¡ªwell, not aspetent. Still, only one-third? "Did you, ah, fulfill a stake? No need for the details, I''m not trying to be nosy. Like I said, just trying to get a feel for the system." Annabelle''s lips twitched. "Yeah, you two are definitely new. There''s no need to tiptoe around it. But yes. I paid out a three-hearts stake." Same as them. "What round did you get to?" "Sixteenth." "Sixteenth? Oh. Wow." "The rounds aren''t consistent in strength," Annabelle said, urately guessing why she''d been surprised. "Some series get stronger faster. Some drag out. It''s not that easy to benchmark the Token system. People have tried, but everything varies too much." "Ah." That was useful information to have, if disappointing. It would make estimating how much time and effort would be needed when it came to purchasing something expensive. "I see. That''s all we needed. Thanks for the help." "No problem." She and Vta stepped aside. "Good to know, I guess. Wonder if that means the next series will be harder? So we could get even more enchantments? Though there''ll be that fifty-percent debuff." And the third series, if they chose to pursue it, would be a seventy-five percent debuff. And so on. "We can hope. You ready?" Natalie nodded. They headed in for their second Arena series. The soundsing from the reception area faded as they entered the personalized pocket world. The arena hadn''t changed from ten minutes ago: simple construction and in dirt. Walking further in, the gates closed behind them and three short pirs holding stone tablets appeared. The stakes. Natalie admitted she was interested. What would it be this time? Her heart jumped seeing the engraved minimalist drawings. The left-most one, she saw, had three hearts carved at the bottom. If the trend she''d noticed continued, that meant their easiest task was a three-hearts stake. And that''d been the hardest of theirst set. Indeed, a nce showed that the second choice was four hearts, and the third five. Swallowing, she inspected the first tablet. Mutual Stroking. There was an image of two women, one stroking the other''s cock, the other rubbing between her partner''s legs. Befitting their particr arrangement. Both participants will bring each other to climax using their hands. Unsurprisingly, the three-heart rated stake was roughly simr to the previous. Just, both actors needed to perform, rather than one using a toy on the other. Less lewd in some ways¡ªmore in others. A sideways nce showed Vta''s cheeks were red, and her eyes had already moved to the second tablet. They would read all three and discuss them afterward, then. The second read: Oral. The image was of a woman with her face buried between the other''s legs. One participant will bring the other to climax using her mouth. Straightforward. Natalie''s heart beat faster in her chest. Finally, the five-heart task. Missionary Sex. The two participants will engage in unprotected missionary sex. Climax must ur during pration. "That''s, ah, blunt," Natalie said, equally amused and embarrassed. The picture associated with thest stake was the most explicit she''d seen yet. Reasonably. "Why''d they jump in rating so much?" Vta asked faintly. "The lowest is the highest of thest series." "Maybe because we picked the hardest,st time?" She shrugged. "The point of the City is to work us into more and more¡ªlewd things. So since we did that that reasoning once before. The excuse wasn''t nearly so convincing the second time around. She had to fight the smirk on her face. "Three hearts it is," Natalie said. Then, she winced and rolled her shoulders. She''d temporarily forgotten she would be fighting to the death a second time. "Let''s see how far we can get." 7.38 – Second Stake II 7.38 ¨C Second Stake II Their second arena series took much longer than the first. Ten rounds passed, then twenty. Though they weren''t earning experience from the fights, they were gaining experience of a more literal sort. Fighting the wide variety of monsters spewed out by the magical arena was valuable practice in its own right, regardless that thebat didn''t count toward leveling. And there was no risk of dying. Which made it an incredible training grounds. Eventually, they reached a point where the fights became a struggle. Then each was desperate,pleted by the skin of their teeth. But Vta never called them off, despite Natalie checking in on her every few rounds¡ªthen every round when they got close to losing. It was a repeat of thest series. Natalie might have taken a moment to smirk at that, but she was too wrung-out from the fights. Then it finally happened. She staggered back from a clever feinted kick, and before she could recover¡ª She was standing in the center of the arena, the monster gone, with all her slowly rued injuries healed. Magically restored in an instant. Even her stamina had been refilled. She felt fresh as she could be. She''d died too fast to even see what had happened. Better than thest time, she guessed. Quick deaths were better than slow ones. "Damn," she said, setting [Valentine] in the dirt. "My bad." "Good effort," Vta said, though like anypetitive delver, her nose wrinkled slightly in disappointment that they hadn''t gotten farther. But she''d have felt the same no matter how many rounds they''d finished. Same with Natalie. Natalie''s frown disappeared quickly. Because, now that the fights were over, it was time to pay out the stake. No pir rose from the ground, since there were no objects to provide. Their task was simple. Mutual stroking until they''d gotten off. "Kay," Natalie said, a grin slowly spreading onto her lips. "Now we get to have some real fun." Vta seemed less hesitant than she had earlier, but her eyes still widened as Natalie walked toward her¡ªand went even wider when Natalie unhooked her metal bra and threw it aside, exposing herself to the other girl. She pressed herself into Vta and tugged the other girl in close, their curves pushing together¡ªNatalie''s chest naked, the other girl still wearing her armor. Her hands slid down Vta''s sides and settled onto her waist as she leaned forward, bringing her face close to the other girl. Vta had to look up to meet her eyes, being much shorter. She was breathing hard already. "I''m excited to see how easy this''ll be," Natalie murmured. Whatever Vta had been expecting her to say, it clearly wasn''t that. Her flustered expression morphed into one of surprise¡ªthen mild offense. Taking the words as a challenge? This girl was way too cute. "And what does that mean?" "Mm. Three, I think." "What?" "Three, to my one." Her hands started fiddling at the straps and sps of Vta''s leather armor. Vta might have been embarrassed by that or protested in another situation, but her head was clearly stuck on Natalie''s words. "You mean¡ªyou won''t get me off three times before I get you once. That''s ridiculous. And, and, why are you undressing me?" she asked, her brain finally catching up to what Natalie was doing. "That''s not part of the stake." Despite saying so, she didn''t stop Natalie. She finished freeing the armor, pulling it off Vta and tossing it casually aside, like Natalie had her metal top. Then Vta''s bra started to slide off, exposing the rogue''s small tits, and that finally made her tense and reach out to catch her wrists. "We don''t need to be naked," she repeated. "That''s not part of the stake." "But I wanna." "I-It''s not part of the stake." "It''ll get me there faster? You''ll definitely lose if I don''t even get to see you naked." Vta paused¡ªthen narrowed her eyes. Natalie grinned, and they both knew the excuse for what it was. She looked away. "F-Fine, then. I guess that makes sense." She released Natalie''s wrist and let her finish tugging the bra off. Natalie took her time stripping the other girl, going down on her knees as she pulled off her boots, pants, and panties, each article of clothing making Vta tremble more. When she''d finished, she admired Vta''s naked form, taking in the girl''s toned, petite body. A number of scars covered her¡ªmore than most delvers their age, but her body wasn''t nearly as covered in the marks as her face. Vtasted all of three seconds of Natalie''s gaze scraping up and down her body before her hands covered her chest and between her legs. "Your turn," Natalie said, notmenting on the flustered reaction¡ªbesides a smirk. "Mine''s easy to take off, though." She fiddled at the strings holding her lower piece of armor on. Vta hesitated, then undid the two indicated strings and peeled the metal off, exposing Natalie for the second time. "Perfect," Natalie said¡ªthen pressed herself back into Vta, now with both of them naked. It was a much more indulgent experience, feeling her curves press into the rogue''s skin without any barriers between them. Natalie slipped her thigh between Vta''s legs and her partner sucked in a small breath of air. "Like I said. Three to one. Maybe more. You seem pent up." "Shut up," she said, shaking with Natalie''s closeness. "No, I''m not." Her voice inflected up as Natalie pushed her knee back and forth, grinding gently against Vta''s exposed sex. Natalie''s cock rested between their stomachs, thick and stiff and ready for round two, pulsing heat into Vta''s flushed skin. Those gray eyes were locked on her, despite the warring emotions on her face. Disbelief, excitement, embarrassment¡ªmore. She was panting and trying not to moan, already. "Look at you," Natalie said, letting one of her hands drop down to squeeze Vta''s ass. She teased Vta''s entrance with her knee as she rocked against the girl. "So sensitive, aren''t you?" "H-Hardly." "Shh. Just enjoy it. One tip though." "What?" Natalie pushed her knee in harder, drawing a louder gasp. "If you wanna win, you might wanna do something back to me," she teased. Vta froze, realizing she''d just been standing there and taking it. Then, as expected, the delver rose up to the challenge, spurring herself into motion. 7.39 – ? Second Stake III 7.39 ¨C ? Second Stake III Vta''s hand slid down between their stomachs with tantalizing slowness. Her fingers made contact with Natalie''s hot, sensitive cock, and Natalie sucked in a breath. Her grip continued to travel before wrapping tentatively around the base. Vta breathed heavily, eyes flicking between her face and down their pressed-together bodies. A thrill went through Natalie, feeling the other girl''s hand on her cock. Nothing in the way this time. Direct contact. Somehow it felt better than the toy. Vta started slow. She ran her hand up and down Natalie''s length, trembling slightly as she did. As before, her movements were cautious, even nervous¡ªwhich, if anything, turned Natalie on more. Watching the other girl fight back her nerves as she gave Natalie her first handjob was incredibly arousing. Of course, Natalie had a bet to win, so she didn''t just stand there and take it, as much fun as it would have been. Nor did she just keep rubbing her knee in. With Vta on the attack, Natalie reciprocated in turn. The hand that had been resting on Vta''s ass squeezed the firm, toned cheek one more time before sliding around the girl''s stomach and then down between her legs. She rubbed at Vta''s slit from the front, and the girl stiffened with a small gasp. Involuntarily, she pushed forward into the contact, and her hand tightened reflexively around Natalie''s cock. They stood there for a moment, bodies close, hot and sweaty, breathing hard with their hands resting on each other''s sensitive areas. Natalie leaned her face in, bringing their lips a few inches closer. Vta''s breath was warm on her face, and when she met Natalie''s eyes, her gaze was hesitant¡ªbut also eager, in that exciting contradiction. And hungry. Clearly turned on. Natalie felt herself throb in Vta''s hand, and with a smirk, she closed thest inch, slowly, giving Vta the opportunity to pull away if she wanted. But she didn''t. Their lips met in a soft kiss¡ªtheir first. She started slow and gentle, nipping at Vta''s lower lip and running her tongue over the rogue''s teeth. She sensed a thrill go through Vta, and she felt Vta''s mouth move. They started to make out in earnest. Sloppily, both of them growing more heated as they pushed their mouths and bodies into each other. Natalie shivered as Vta started to take the lead, apparently more than happy to reciprocate. Clumsy, but eager. Vta''s hand picked up speed on her cock, stroking faster, with more strength behind the movements. Natalie''s body grew hot, as much thanks to the kiss as the stroking. Her breathing came quicker by the moment, and her hips pushed forward into Vta''s hand, wanting more pressure. However much Natalie was enjoying being kissed and jerked off, though, Vta was twice as flushed. Picking up speed with her own rubbing, she had Vta starting to whimper and moan in only a minute. She transitioned from rubbing the girl''s entrance to actually pressing inside. Her thumb moved up and began to circle around Vta''s sensitive nub as her fingers slid inside and explored. The skillful thrusting proved to be too much for Vta. In record time, Vta was breaking the kiss with a gasp, panting as she tried to endure what Natalie was doing to her. "Fuck," she moaned. "How are you so good at that?" Natalie smiled, a bit smug. Her free hand squeezed Vta''s breast, pinching her hard nipple between two fingers and rolling. The rogue gave a shuddering gasp, knees shaking as she was pleasured by the other girl. "Close, already?" Natalie murmured. "Can''t have been more than two minutes, cutie." "H-Hardly." She let out a strangled moan as Natalie pushed two fingers in deep and thrust in and out, quickening in pace. Vta swallowed and gave a shuddering gasp, head tilting back and her lower half pushing into Natalie''s fingers. Natalie replied with a softugh, bending forward to give her exposed neck a kiss. Into her ear, she whispered, "You can lie all you want, but your body is more truthful." One more time, she picked up pace, fingering and using her thumb to grind and roll against the girl''s clit. And sure enough¡ªVta copsed against Natalie and started to shake. "Go ahead. Cum for me." Natalie supported Vta''s weight as climax rolled over the smaller girl, her pussy mping down on Natalie''s fingers as she was wracked by pleasure. Natalie didn''t slow or stop, fucking her through the orgasm as indulgently as she could. It went on and on, as if her body had been saving up the release for weeks or months. Maybe that was the truth. When Vta finally came down, it was with a shuddering breath, her eyes unfocused and her legs unsteady. Natalie had to keep supporting most of her weight. For the moment, Vta hadpletely forgotten about returning the favor. "That''s one," Natalie said. "Now, I wonder, how quick can I get the second? You one of those girls who can go back to back?" Vta blinked up hazily in confusion. "H-Huh?" Natalie eased Vta to the ground, since she had work to do. Climbing overtop her¡ªwith Vta opening her legs to provide ess¡ªshe perched over the other girl and returned to stroking at her pussy. She was still sensitive from her recent orgasm, and she gasped and tried to close her legs, but Natalie kept them pinned apart. "Yeah, I think two and three are gonna be easy." Natalie had a good intuition for this sort of thing. It wasn''t long before Vta''s gasps had turned back into moans of pleasure. Her eyes rolled up into her head as Natalie dragged the second climax out. Vta tried to return the favor, rallying herpetitive spirit, grip working halfheartedly on Natalie''s cock, but it was clear she couldn''t focus. The other girl whined and bucked as Natalie rode her through the second peak, her hips arching off the ground and trembling as the waves of pleasure crashed through her. Natalie slowed afterward, withdrawing her fingers and allowing Vta to rest for a moment¡ªafter which, Vta let out a shuddering gasp. "I guess I''ll be nice," Natalie said, augh in her voice as she leaned down and kissed Vta, who could only give a weak moan in response. "I can definitely get more than three, if I wanted. But I don''t wanna embarrass you too badly." "How ¡­ generous." Vta tried to muster up a re, but failed. After seeing Vta fall apart twice, Natalie''s cock was hard enough it was aching. Ironically, for all Vta had failed to keep stroking, she''d done quite a lot for Natalie just by how much she''d squirmed while cumming¡ªand the faces and noises she''d made. Vta had recovered enough by then that Natalie was able to start rubbing again, no longer over-stimted. She leaned in for another kiss, and Vta returned it. Rather than holding off, Natalie gave in to the sensations of Vta''s stroking hand, panting as she felt the rogue''s fingers running up and down her cock. Her chest was tight with anticipation. When she felt herself starting to climb toward that peak, she picked up her own pace¡ªwanting to finish at the same time. And with how easy Vta was to trigger, she ought to be able to make that happen. Vta whimpered in pleasure as Natalie started to take her task seriously again¡ªbringing the smaller girl over the edge for the third time. Her thumb worked at Vta''s clit and her fingers pumped in and out, working in tandem to bring the girl up to that cliff. When she felt Vta tighten around her fingers once more, Natalie also gave in, burying her face into Vta''s neck and moaning as she came with her. She shot load after load onto the rogue''s stomach, long sticky strands of white clinging to the girl''s smooth skin¡ªjumping all the way up across Vta''s chest, coating her tits. They climaxed together, Vta squirming underneath her as she weakly¡ªbut eagerly¡ªstroked Natalie while she had her third orgasm. When their climaxes had peaked and ebbed, Natalie rolled over andy next to Vta. She kept a hand resting above the girl''s pussy, enjoying the way she trembled next to her. Hot and flushed and panting, Natalie silently came to the conclusion that she quite liked the City of Eros. 7.40 – Betting Odds 7.40 ¨C Betting Odds Vta was delightfully shaky-legged when they climbed to their feet. More than that, seeing the long strands of white she''d pumped onto the girl''s body made Natalie dizzy¡ªand eager to jump into a round two, even if they no longer had a stake to fulfill. Vta looked down at herself, running a finger up across her stomach to collect a glob. "Seriously. You cum way too much." "Thank you?" "It wasn''t apliment." Natalieughed and handed over the vial of cleaning liquid. She''d have poured some out into her own hands andthered the girl up, but she didn''t want to make too many assumptions. Vta seemed to reciprocate her advances¡ªbut that didn''t mean she could do whatever she wanted. Moving too fast could put her off. Once again, they cleaned themselves up and got dressed. Cataloging their tokens, they discovered ten more coins had been enchanted. Which meant nearly their full collection had been converted. They were making excellent time. "I''m¡ªI''m not sure if I''m up for a third series, though," Vta finally mumbled, cheeks coloring. Natalie blinked, then worried whether she had gone too fast. Natalie gave her a concerned look, but Vta didn''t seem upset, just wrung out. That hadbeen her first time with another girl, Natalie reminded herself. And she''d pulled out three climaxes in a handful of minutes. Of course she was a little overwhelmed and needed time to cool down. "At least, with a stake," Vta rified, clearing her throat and not meeting Natalie''s eyes. "One more run to squeeze out a few more tokens is fine. We''ll bail when it gets too hard." And this time, it sounded like she meant it. "Sounds like a n. I think we should check out the Coliseum after. See how long we need to stay to get a token enchanted, passively. To do that, we''d need to keep some in tokens anyway." Vta seemed grateful for the pragmatic excuse. They headed out into the City, striding through the exit passageway, and Natalie tried not to be too smug about how Vta seemed a little unsteady as she walked. She''d done a number on the girl. They might have to sit down and take a break before their next series. They did just that, then proceeded into the Arena for the third time, selecting the lowest stake and having no intention of paying it off. Indeed, when the fights became difficult, they bailed. Their efforts enchanted four more tokens, leaving only three non-enchanted ones. As it turned out, not dying in the arena meant she wasn''t given the magical restoration effect, so she was tired and sweaty when they left. Unpleasant as dying was, it dide with its benefits. Another subtle encouragement from the City of Eros to see their tasks through. But Vta had gotten her fill, at least for now, and Natalie had meant what she said: she didn''t care about efficiency nearly as much as her teammates beingfortable. They left for the Coliseum afterward. The huge structure of white marble, pirs, andyered seating was the second most dominant building in the City, behind only the Pce. The Coliseum was the premier assignment that a city goer might hope for¡ªat least by some perspectives. Apparently, it paid out ludicrous amounts of enchanted tokens, but not only were assignments rare, the assignment itself was ¡­ not everyone''s cup of tea. After all, letting loose one''s inhibitions in private was one thing, but fucking in front of an arena''s worth of people? Yeah. Even Natalie was leery of that. But not entirely. She''d figure out how she felt about it when the day arrived. Like with every other building, there was a reception area to greet them when they strode in. Wide and spacious, though not luxuriously furnished, the area contained two items of interest. The first: the huge schedule framed in the center of the room listing off the ten fights that would be urring this twelve-hour period. One fight per hour, with none scheduled for the first andst blocks. Each line included two names, a time, and either a ''CONFIRMED'' or ''DENIED'' written afterward, presumably indicating those individuals who had decided to participate. An arrow indicated which fight was ongoing. Their names read: ''Brooklyn'' and ''Catarina.'' Two women. Lucky timing. Natalie wouldn''t have wanted to watch the stakes being paid out if men were involved. Though she would have taken a peek out of raw curiosity. Along with the massive schedule, there was a desk off to the side with a signbeled ''PLACE BETS HERE.'' Natalie''s eyebrows went up, seeing it. "Bets? There''s gambling?" "Seems so," Vta said. "Regr tokens, or is it for enchanting?" "Let''s find out." This most recent automaton receptionist had a darker blue skin tone than most. She was tall, slim, with shoulder-length hair. She greeted them brightly as was the wont of all automatons. "Wee, misses. Combat has already begun for this round, but you''re wee to ce bets on any other time slot." "Uh¡ªno, thank you. We''re new here. You can bet on the fights?" "Yes, ma''am. The odds are listed above." She gestured at the sign situated over her head. Sure enough, one of the pieces of text on each line was a ratio. The one for the current fight read ''1:1.75.'' Apparently Catarina was the favoredbatant. "What do you bet? Tokens?" "Of either denomination, empowered or not," the automaton said with a nod. "Huh." So that was another way to avoid ''stakes'' or simr sexual scenarios and still gain enchanted tokens. But gambling wasn''t exactly reliable. "How are the odds decided? Does the house take a portion of profits?" "No, ma''am. All proceeds go entirely to the winners." That put them head and shoulders above most gambling organizations. And made it more likely to turn a profit. "As for the odds, the City itself decides," the automaton continued. "I can assure you they''re generally urate¡ªbut not perfect, since odds are rounded to the nearest clean number." Wow. Fascinating. So a clever individual could evaluate whether, for example, the one-point-five odds should actually be one-point-four, and gamble ordingly. There was wiggle room to genuinely make profits with the betting system. Still ¡­ "But how are we supposed to make an informed bet?" Natalie asked. "I don''t know any of these names." She gestured at the list of today''s fighters. "On request, we''ll inform you about any given participant''s skill set and preferred fighting style. But it''s up to you to make the final decision, of course." Mm. That was as much as she could hope for, she supposed. In regr arena gambling, a person would have a much clearer idea of who the two fighters were going in, at least in high-level matches where the individuals were known quantities. It seemed it would be much more luck-based here, since everyone was a rtive unknown. With careful decision-making and prior research, it could be worthwhile, though. But Natalie wasn''t interested. She would earn tokens the normal way. "What about match-fixing?" Natalie asked curiously. "What if someone throws a match for their friends?" "That would be a pillory offense at a minimum," the automaton said cheerfully. "And earnings wouldn''t be paid out. The City would know, after all." Natalie paused, then shivered. It would be rather idiotic to cheat the dungeon when it could read minds. Or something simr to reading minds. "Interesting," Natalie said, sparing a nce for Vta, whose eyebrows had also raised. "Thanks for the info." She might have stood around and asked more questions, but the fight was apparently underway, and she didn''t want to miss it. "Through that door to the viewing area, right?" she asked, gesturing toward the most obvious entrance. "Quite right, miss." She nodded her thanks, then set off for the Coliseum interior. 7.41 – Coliseum 7.41 ¨C Coliseum Through the door, a staircase led up and into a viewing room. While the Coliseum was a huge ovr arena, the thousands of seats were for show; city goers weren''t lounging throughout. Rather, they congregated in a spacious elevated viewing room with an overhang that contained dozens of seats with an ideal view of the fight below, along with space to stand and watch. Only a few people were seated. There was a lot to take in as she finished her ascent up the stairs. First: the other city goers. There were around four dozen inside therge viewing room. More than she''d expected. Then again, idling in the Coliseum and viewing fights was apparently the easiest non-lewd way to gain enchanted tokens. So anyone who wasn''t inclined to tackle this bizarre realm in the intended way ended up at the Coliseum. Likely, along with that regr crowd, there would be curious viewers¡ªlike Natalie and Vta¡ªand perhaps teammatesing to watch a fight involving someone they knew. And maybe a few voyeurs sprinkled in. Those present for the love of it. Some were seated, some were standing, some were clumped together, and some were off by themselves, as far from the rest as they could manage. A number of conversations were taking ce, especially by the people standing in a group near the front, leaning on the railing that oversaw the arena. Natalie caught a few snippets, since they were the loudest: they were talking about the fight below. And it was still a fight; it hadn''t moved on to more yet. That woulde after a victor was decided as far as Natalie understood. The average attire was more conservative than on the streets. Far less lewd. Natalie assumed that was for previously mentioned reasons: the spectators who lingered in the Coliseum were those who didn''t want to take more drastic measures to enchant their tokens. So not only were they poorer, and thus couldn''t afford the lewd gear being hawked, they were also on average less willing to walk around in tiny metal bikinis. A few people nced over at Natalie and Vta as they walked in, but while their eyes lingered on Natalie''s revealing outfit, they turned back forward after inclining their heads in silent acknowledgment. She shared a look with Vta. The two of them swerved off and found a ce near the front to stand, to the side, and peeked into the arena grounds below. As expected, the fight was underway. The Coliseum wasn''t as massive as some of the ones that might be found at Aradon, but it was stillrge, so the figures below were made small by the distance. But that didn''t matter when there was a gigantic viewing screen on the opposite side of the arena. On that screen, an illusion¡ªor however the enchantment worked¡ªreplicated the twobatants inrger-than-life detail. There were simr devices for the higher-end arenas in Aradon, but Natalie was surprised to see one here. Maybe she shouldn''t be. Anything the real world could create, the dungeon could. Down below, two mages were dueling. The first was a short brown-haired girl wielding a staff. Bolts of fire magic were spewing forth from the wooden weapon, though she was on the back foot and having to weave the spells in between dodging her opponent''s attacks. Her ''opponent'', a dark-haired mage, came bundled with a skeleton warrior. A summoner? Necromancer-themed, or perhaps a full necromancer, based on the bone creation. The construct wielded a small round buckler and a short sword, and it fearlessly chased down the fire mage. "Summoner mage versus traditionalist, seemingly a pyro?" Vtamented, after only a few seconds of observation. "Catarina is the summoner, I assume. Since the odds were rated to be in her favor." Natalie made a noise of agreement. She agreed with the analysis. Summoner mages were exceptional solo duelists, since they could call up a frontline while keeping their backline power as a mage. Indeed, the pyro was needing to defend herself from two enemies at once, and a numbers advantage was no small thing, especially for a mage. "Doesn''t matter if her spells do more damage," Natalie mused. "Too hard to duel two people at once." Even if the bone warrior wasn''t a particrly effective threat. A single fireball would have it sprawling away, and the pyro¡ªBrooklyn¡ªcould fend it off with her staff too, despite being no physical fighter. Still ¡­ "She''s going to lose soon." "She is," Natalie agreed. They''d spent their lives analyzing fights. Maybe not in the same way a duelist would, but they were both more than capable of instantly identifying strengths and weaknesses of a set of enemies and deciding what shape the fight would take. And here, the summoner-mage would win shortly. They''d walked in toward the end of the fight, and Brooklyn was struggling to keep up, gging as she ran out of energy. Her spells were bing desperate, trying to sneak in shots at Catarina despite the skeleton''s pursuit. They watched in silence as the fight wrapped up in the way they''d both predicted. A moment of distraction, and the skeleton warrior''s sword plunged into the pyro''s stomach. Several gasps filled the Coliseum''s viewing room. Even Natalie flinched. Hard to fight away the first instinct that came with seeing someone ''die.'' The girl staggered a step back, still skewered by the sword¡ª And then the three figures flickered. In an instant, the skeleton disappeared, and the two mages were standing on opposite sides of the arena. Seemingly fully healed, like what had happened in the Arena. "Hell of a way to spar," Vta murmured. "No joke." Even T couldn''t facilitate to-the-death spars so effectively. Their solution was having a massively over-leveled instructor watching their students, ready to intervene. There were also high-ranked emergency healers on standby, of course, and potions and other failsafes, but there were certain blows that were impossible to cure, even for T. Like a giant warhammer popping a skull like a grape. Or a knife in the brain. Mostly¡ªcritical injuries to the head. The heart could be tricky to fix too, even for high-level magic. HP also mitigated idents¡ªbut idents happened nheless. T had a history of lethal sparring incidents. It was moremon in theter years, where the students became powerhouses in their own right. Now that they were separated, the screen above had split in two, showing images of the respective fighters. Brooklyn, the defeated, seemed disoriented¡ªthen annoyed with herself. Catarina''s expression remained neutral. ''Victor: Catarina. 2-0.'' "Oh. The fights are best of threes?" She hadn''t known the Coliseumsted multiple rounds. "Maybe it varies." Vta hummed. "Now, I wonder what the stake was?" 7.42 – Voyeurs 7.42 ¨C Voyeurs Brooklyn and Catarina probably knew each other. As Acacia had told her and Vta, the Coliseum tended to create matches where there was tension between the two parties, rather than pull random individuals. Which exined the looks on the two girls'' faces. During the fight, they''d been able to keep distracted. Now that the time to fulfill their stake had arrived, they met each other''s eyes and slowly turned red. What was the stake, anyway? Natalie and Vta had joined halfway through, and stakes were chosen before the fight started. Her question was answered shortly. Up above, on the screen that had been magically reflecting the fight, the image of the two girls disappeared and white text on a ck background took their ce. Introduction To a New Weapon The loser will be granted a temporary appendage between their legs. The victor must bring it to climax with three different methods, chosen by the victor. Natalie all but gaped at the words. She''d known stakes varied, but¡ªthat was an option? She wasn''t given much time to gawk in disbelief, because the words disappeared and the screen returned to the two women in the arena¡ªwho Natalie could see unaided, but the screen certainly gave a more premier view. The defeated party, Brooklyn, began to shiver, her hands shooting down between her legs. When they pulled away a few secondster, the girl was left standing there, naked, with the promised weapon freshly sprouted between her thighs. Natalie tried not to stare. Then again, staring was the point. She wouldn''t get enchanted Tokens if she didn''t. With the woman''s figure blown up on the screen, bigger than life, there wasn''t much avoiding it anyway. "Huh," Vta said faintly. "Is that how you got yours?" The words were obviously a joke. Spoken more out of disbelieving amusement than a real question. "¡­ something like that." So. Apparently the City of Eros could grant a girl a cock, just like Natalie had experienced when she''d first gotten her ss. Presumably there was a male equivalent? Maybe there were stakes that flipped a person''s biology entirely. Temporary or otherwise. It seemed there were lots of options on the table, in this crazy ce. And that made sense, the more Natalie thought about it. Lust had given her a cock. Why couldn''t the City do the same to others? The atmosphere in the viewing room shifted. Before, there had been plenty of conversations, both loud and quiet, as the various groups watched the fight take ce. Now that the more intimate encounter had arrived, everyone quieted down. From their ce off to the side, Natalie stole a nce toward the others¡ªto see reddening cheeks and lots of shifting around. Natalie wondered whether the existence of this type of stake was why she hadn''t received manyments on her strange lower armor. Most people already knew girls with cocks were a possibility in the City of Eros. Were there longer-term transformations? Stakes thatsted beyond the ''payout''? For hours or days afterward? After leaving the City, even, and returning to the surface? That would be ¡­ interesting. Down in the arena, the two participants had closed the distance. Brooklyn and Catarina exchanged a brief conversation, their faces red. They were ncing over in their direction every couple of seconds, keenly aware of their spectators. At least the distance made Natalie feel slightly less like a voyeur. The giant screen giving everyone a perfect view counter-acted that feeling though. She reminded herself everyone here had chosen to be. Natalie couldn''t hear what the two girls were saying to each other, and she was grateful for that. It would''ve been too intimate if their conversations had been on disy, too. Whatever they said, they came to a decision. Catarina spared one more look toward the viewing area, then took a deep breath and focused on her partner. And grabbed her cock. Dropping down onto her knees, she started running her grip up and down. The screen zoomed into the action, framing it as indulgently as possible. It was operated by the City itself¡ªby Lust herself, perhaps, or whatever fragment of her had spawned this ce. "Oh, wow," Vta murmured. "She''s actually doing it." "Would''ve been a bit toote to back down," Natalie said. That time to bail would''ve been before epting the Coliseum fight, or before they''d chosen their stake. "Could they, if they wanted?" Vta asked, curious¡ªeyes flicking between Natalie and the very lewd image on the illusion-magic powered screen, as if not sure whether she should look. "Back out, I mean?" Natalie thought about it. "Probably?" she eventually decided on. "But with a punishment. Get put into the pillory for a day, or something?" Thankfully, people guarded those to make sure the punishment had been intentional. It''d still mean a day of being locked up, however. A genuine punishment in its own right. "Huh." The two of them watched in silence as things heated up. Catarina seemed to be getting pretty into the task at hand. Her teammate¡ªor opponent, or whoever they were to each other¡ªhad been granted a generously sized weapon. Not as big as Natalie''s, not that she was, uh,paring or anything. But big. With a two-handed grip, the fully-clothed Catarina jerked the naked girl off. Brooklyn stood there, shaking in ce, both hands resting on her chest above her breasts. While the illusory screen didn''t project words, apparently it would amplify other noises. Brooklyn''s gasps and moans filled the Coliseum as her friend''s hands traveled her newly grown cock. She seemed to be falling apart at record speed. Natalie sympathized. Presumably this was her first¡ªor one of her first¡ªtimes dealing with the new set of nerve-endings. Natalie had been fast toe apart at the seams too, her first few sessions with it. It didn''t take long before Brooklyn''s hips were jerking back and forth, meeting Catarina''s thrusting hands. Then, with a keening noise that let everyone present know what was about to happen¡ªshe came. The defeated Coliseum duelist spilled long, sticky strings out into the open air. Catarina took her time milking out her friend. Which meant one of three, finished. And each one had to be different? What a stake. How many hearts had it been rated as? Five? Four? Being performed in the Coliseum must mean it was going to provide a ton of enchanted tokens, too. "Of course this is where I find you," a familiar voice said. "I''m not surprised in the slightest." Natalie jerked, then spun to face the neer. Elida stood there, along with their other two teammates. A look of immense amusement was on her face, green eyes flicking to the show and back to Natalie''s face. "E-Elida?" "The one and only. My, my," Elida mused, ncing at therge viewing screen¡ªwhich showcased a girling down from her high, cock still jumping a few times as it settled from her first orgasm. "That''s an impressive weapon she has. You might have a challenger, Natalie." 7.43 – Reunited 7.43 ¨C Reunited Natalieposed herself. She''d been flustered by Elida''s unexpected arrival, as if she''d been caught doing something inappropriate, but she hadn''t, really. She was checking out the Coliseum purely out of practical considerations. To see how it worked, and to see how fast the passive token-enchantment was. And for once, she wasn''t lying to herself. Natalie was a lot of things, but a voyeur wasn''t one. Well, she wasn''t especially a voyeur, at least. She wouldn''t pretend the show being put on didn''t get her a little excited. Nevertheless. She wouldn''t have shown up if not for curiosity on the enchantment function. "Elida," Natalie repeated, moreposed this time. "Faye. Clementine. When''d you get here? How''d you find us?" "About an hour ago," Elida said. "We just missed the ''cycle reset,'' apparently. How unfortunate. We saw your name and Vta''s and went hunting. Checked the Arena first, since that was what your assignment was, and figured you''d either be in the shopping district or at the Coliseum. And here you are." She walked over and leaned on the stone railing next to Natalie, casually peering out at the ongoing¡ªactivity. "This is truly the strangest floor I''ve ever heard of. What''s happening? This is a stake payout, I believe they called it?" Someone had given her the rundown on how the City worked, it seemed. The basics at least. "We only got here a few hours before you, so we don''t know that much more," Natalie said. "But yes, this is¡ªa stake payout." "Curious. What were the terms?" Slightly flustered, she ryed the stake''s description to Elida. "Ah. So the extra bits were created by the stake? Interesting." She leaned back to peer over Natalie''s shoulder. "Where are my manners? It''s good to see you again, Vta. I presume you and Natalie had some good bonding time? You were both sent to the Arena for a ''duo assignment'', no?" If Natalie had teasingly prodded Vta in such a way, she expected the dark-haired rogue would blush furiously. With Elida, her face waspletely deadpan. She met Elida''s gaze with barely a twitch. "Yes. I wondered when you''d get here. You must have been thrown farther from the City than us." "It was a hike," Elida agreed. "You two have gotten they of thend? You''ll need to catch us up." "You''ve gotten a room at the Pce?" Natalie asked. "Indeed. A lovely young man gave us the initiation spiel¡ªbut there seems to be a lot going on." "Yeah. But automatons are stationed at most buildings. They''re helpful. The only bit that''s not obvious is the Emporium. That we''ve heard about, at least." "The Emporium?" "In the shopping district. Apparently it''s where all the valuable items are sold. Well, the really valuable ones. The regr shops are already¡ªabsurd enough." "Oh?" "They sell Epics." Even Elida''s eyes widened at that, the news flooring her. "Epics? On the third floor?" "They''re expensive as hell, but yes. We''d have to be here¡ª" She ran a rough calction in her head. As she''d learned earlier, token generation and enchantment was inconsistent, not something that could be estimated with reliability. "Well, probably more than a week, just to buy one. And that''s assuming we''re very, very efficient workers." One of the other city goers had mentioned only earning six enchanted tokens for their arena run. Working at that pace, it would take all month even for a run of the mill Epic. ''Run of the mill Epic.'' Natalie shook her head. What a ridiculous statement. "I see," Elida said. "And there''s the matter of the time limit. How unfortunate." "The time limit?" "The two-week maximum." "Oh?" Natalie hadn''t heard of that. It must have slipped Acacia''s briefing, and she hadn''t thought to ask whether there was some limitation. "You didn''t hear? Yes. Apparently, you can only stay for two weeks. Then the guards wille to drag you out." The guards. She hadn''t seen any yet, but she knew of them. How else would people be carried off to their punishment at the pillory, for example? They were tall suits of armor, she''d heard, unbelievably strong and quick. Probably level six or seven, maybe higher. Not something that could be reasonably fought. Except maybe by their team? Level seven was a tall ask, however prodigious their squad was, though. Natalie had no intentions of trying her hand, because there was no respawning except in sanctioned assignments. And not even all of them¡ªthe Pce Basement had no such safeguards. "Huh. Good to know." "Which brings us to the obvious discussion," Elida said. "We have decisions to make as a team. Namely¡ªextending the timeline of our delve." Natalie grimaced. She and Vta had already broached the topic. It was perfectly rational to stay at the City of Eros as long as possible. There was Epic loot for sale. T would forgive them, she was certain. They would want full, detailed reports on what was happening on this unique floor. In fact, they might be reprimanded if they didn''t stay and perform reconnaissance. T didn''t like when their students missed sses and training, obviously, but this was a special case. The problem was Jordan, Sofia, Liz, and Ana. What would they think if Natalie went missing for two weeks? Beyond the immense stress she might ce on them worrying that the worst had happened, she was leaving them without a tank for that entire period. Thankfully, they''d discussed the topic on a smaller scale: what their ns were while Natalie was gone over the weekend. They would be tackling the second floor using a [Divinely Invigorated] Malice as their tank. The martial artist was more of a fighter than a true tank, but she could fill the role, especially when buffed by Natalie''s strongest skill. They ought to make decent progress, even without her. Since Malice fed experience to her active owner, they''d be rotating the monstergirl around to massively boost their gains. A four-party earning experience as a five-party. There was also her [Aura of Blessed Advancement]. It was an aura skill, which usually meant she had to be near them ¡­ but the description said ''Select up to four party members to receive amplified experience gain''. Not all aura skills were restrained by distance. Most were though. Therge majority. But there were rare exceptions. Unfortunately, intuition didn''t answer her question. It may or may not function even when she was separated from them. Hopefully it did? In either case, Malice could act as their front line and boost their experience gain. They weren''t suffering overmuch for losing their tank. So the dilemma was more about them thinking Natalie had died, rather than her simply being gone. Which was a rather major dilemma, since they were friends. At the same time¡ªthis City of Eros was an unprecedented opportunity. She couldn''t afford to give it up. Elida and probably even Vta would overrule any requests to go back early, anyway. "Right," Natalie said. "We do need to talk." She nced at the developing situation down inside the Coliseum. Catarina had justpleted her second ''milking.'' She''d chosen to use her thighs this time around. Good choice. "Maybe not here and now, though," she said, cheeks coloring. "I want to see how many tokens get enchanted, for this, ah, show. We can chat after." 7.44 – Catching Up 7.44 ¨C Catching Up Watching the Coliseum''s fight to the conclusion provided a single enchanted token¡ªwhich was an abysmal rate, at least based on how much she and Vta had benefited from their arena runs. Then again, the average delver couldn''t fight through so many rounds, and thus earned less. So the passive generation from the Coliseum wasparatively more attractive to a ''normal'' person. For her part, she doubted she''d be idling around much. Better to hunt for a supply of basic tokens, then perhaps visit the Bordello. That was likely the second-best way to empower tokens behind official assignments. Afterward, their team of five descended into the lobby area and stood in a corner for privacy. Natalie and Vta filled the other three in on what they''d learned. Elida, Clementine, and Faye did the same for what they''d heard and been told. The only major piece of information¡ªthough it was more theory or suspicion than concrete intel¡ªthat was brought up besides the Emporium was a suspected method to gain a key. Everyone knew that drawing the City''s attention could luck a person into getting a copy, but there weren''t guaranteed methods. Natalie had heard that story about the girl who''d gotten overly enthusiastic about the pillory, but copycats had had much less luck. Probably, some genuine passion would be required; it couldn''t be gamed. They had a lead, though. The Ruins of Elysium, which the City of Eros was surrounded by in all directions. "Those towers we saw," Natalie said. "And the other buildings. That¡ªthat makes sense actually. But it''s not confirmed? The person who told you didn''t actually clear one himself?" "He knew a guy who knew a girl whopleted one and got a key, apparently," Elida said, shrugging. "Even if it doesn''t have one, we''ll obviously be making a trip regardless. Why hunt the easy open areas? We have one of the best level-three teams in the world, maybe. Of course we''ll take the challenge zones." Natalie raised her eyebrows at that, because it sounded egotistical to state it outright. But damn. Maybe Elida was right. A team of elites, two of them god-sponsored. Their only major weakness was ack of synergy and familiarity. By raw stats and talent for their level, they were up there. So yeah. Of course they would tackle one of those points of interest now that the team had reunited. "And we''re gonna go do that now?" Natalie asked. "It''s a while before the next reset." The other three had gotten unlucky with the timing of their arrival. "Vta and I are low on non-enchanted tokens anyway. It wasn''t hard to enchant what we had." "Indeed. For that matter, we''re wasting time standing around and talking. I won''t squander this opportunity." Elida pursed her lips. "But before we go, Natalie, can I speak with you privately?" Natalie eyed the girl. "Sure?" she said hesitantly. Being cordial to Elida hadn''t been difficult in this team context¡ªand since she wasn''t acting like a major bitch, beyond the smirks and general aura she carried around. A private conversation might make her ten times more difficult to deal with though. And more importantly, what topic needed secrecy? Only ones rted to their ss and to waking deities, Natalie assumed, which was why she was leery. Regardless, she stepped aside with Elida. "I expected your patron to influence the floor," Elida said with no ceremony, "but this is absurd, Natalie." Natalie reflexively looked around to ensure no one was eavesdropping. "It''s hardly my fault. Nor even my ss''s fault. City''s been around for¡ªI don''t know how long, but a few weeks at a minimum. It''s luck who gets pulled in." "Maybe for the average person. I refuse to believe we were dragged in by chance." That might be fair. "Still wasn''t my ss. The City existed before we walked in, and has been pulling in all sorts of strangers." She narrowed her eyes. "Is there anything we need to worry about from your ss, since we''re on the topic?" "Probably not. And if we do, we''ll deal with it when we get there." She smiled politely at Natalie, and Natalie knew no amount of digging would get further details. A Parda-Halt yed their cards close to their chest. "Isn''t it interesting how no one''s heard of this ce, though?" Elida continued, before Natalie could try prying. "If it''s been around for weeks, as you say, surely some rumors would be floating through T. There''s hundreds of people here. More would''ve passed through. We certainly aren''t the first T students. I bet we could find some now, if we looked. Probably not any first-years. Laggard second-years, perhaps. Nevertheless. At least some." Indeed, their team was likely one of only a handful of first-years who could be on the third floor, being ahead of their ss. It was a shame Natalie knew the rest of her own party would be ying it safe and staying on the second floor. Maybe divine fate would''ve thrust them into the City of Eros alongside Natalie, if not for that. "Maybe T''s keeping reports on lockdown," Natalie said, shrugging. "Maybe there just haven''t been that many T students to pass through. There''s plenty of exnations. "Perhaps." "You think it''s something else?" "There could be stranger reasons. Clearly the typical rules of the dungeon have gone out the window. Look around." "Meaning?" Elida shrugged. "I''m not insinuating any one thing. But mind-erasing spells, when leaving? To keep it a secret? Not impossible. Or perhaps once we leave there will be some insurmountable trial no one has made it through. Perhaps we''re dead and we don''t know it. Simply food for thought. But, ah, that''s not why I pulled you aside." She cocked her head. "Truly, this is new to you? Or have such events happened before?" "You''re being stingy with your ss, so why shouldn''t I be?" Elidaughed. "Quite. Very well. I simply wanted to hear what you had to say. Whether this was ¡­ your normal." She peered at Natalie curiously, but Natalie kept her face straight. "It isn''t," Elida deduced. "I see. Thank you for humoring me. Let''s return, shall we? We have tokens to collect." Walking back to the other three, Elida continued speaking¡ªasking questions and making ns, at full volume as they strode over to include their teammates. "How many did you earn, anyway? And is there a market for conversion? Trading unenchanted for enchanted? Perhaps it could be worthwhile amassing an enormous supply through efficient hunting practices, then trading them off. I presume there must be at least some market, because enchanting tokenses with no risk of death¡ªeven those averse to casual sex will recognize that and value unenchanted tokens highly. Sex is more enjoyable than nearly dying to even those with reserved personalities, I would figure," she said,ughing. "Food for thought, food for thought. In any case, we need a key to that Emporium, and our best lead is one of those towers. So we''ll be exploring one regardless. Shall we?" 7.45 – Tower I 7.45 ¨C Tower I They picked a tower in the distance as their target. It was neither the nearest nor farthest of the visiblendmarks¡ªof the buildings more intact than the rest of the Ruins. The team was unsure whether the nearest points of interest had already been raided and cleared of valuables and powerful enemies, hence they picked one in the middle distance. They could see it going either way: perhaps the zones regenerated, and perhaps they did not. Natalie suspected the former: that valuables would restock over time. It only made sense. Otherwise, with the number of teams stationed at the City of Eros, everything would be stripped clean. Nheless, they hedged their bets, since even if valuables did regenerate, the nearest zones were the ones most likely to have been recently cleared¡ªand thus be depleted. They also picked their target based on how visually intimidating the building looked. The tower they decided on was the tallest and most menacing of the constructions they could spot, in the near or far distance. She wondered whether jumping straight into what might be the hardest zone was smart, when they didn''t have a standard of reference for what these ''points of interest'' would be like. Clementine was the one to verbally point this out, but Elida brushed past the worry with little willingness topromise. Vta, likewise, was set on not wasting time. Natalie also agreed, secretly, but it might have been smarter to test the waters. Regardless, if there was a team who could handle the worst the Ruins had to throw at them, it would be their squad. Unless a mid-rank team had been exploring the third floor and been thrown into the City, which wasn''t impossible, but was unlikely. With their destination decided, they set off. The City of Eros had a bubble of safety around it, but the moment they trekked outside¡ªand it was a stark difference, the polished and clean streets morphing into decayed ruins¡ªNatalie was reminded they were in the dungeon proper. Less than a minute''s travel in and one of those ghostly monsters that weremon to the Ruins was assaulting them. Finally, Natalie had the opportunity to focus on what had been the original goal of this mission, before Lust''s intervention had derailed them. Not that Natalie wasining about the absurdly beneficial opportunity presented to her ¡­ even if she''d much rather have been thrown here with her real team. Observing Elida. Natalie had agreed to this mission to get her to leave her alone, as Elida had promised she would, but also to gather information. She knew that would be a two-way street, with Elida studying her back, but Natalie and her team had decided it worth it. Some information was better than none. So. Elida. She was ¡­ Strong. Every bit Vta''s equal, and Natalie had already been astounded by how skilled the dark-haired rogue was. Even during the trip to the tower, in which they encountered no harrowing fights, Natalie could tell that the first and second ce titles of ''strongest fighters'' of T¡ªmuch less within their team¡ªwent to Elida and Vta. They were monsters, both of them. And Natalie hadn''t even seen the full extent of their abilities yet. It made Natalie concerned for the inevitable Coliseum fight. Begrudgingly, she admitted to herself she would almost certainly lose a one-versus-one against the red-haired rogue. And the reason why was obvious. No small amount of Natalie''s strength was tied to her teammates. [Aura of Blessed Advancement], [Divine Invigoration], [Stylish]¡ªsome of her strongest abilities were support skills, or if not support, then team-based. And all of them weren''t even power-based support skills. [Aura of Blessed Advancement] was undoubtedly one of the most incredible level-three skills Natalie had ever heard of, but gaining extra experience provided no utility in a fight whatsoever. For Elida, Natalie suspected her god-imbued ss benefited her more directly. She didn''t give absurdly strong buffs to her teammates nor elerate their leveling speed. Well, probably. Natalie wouldn''t know. Perhaps Elida didn''t even have an [Advance] skill like Natalie, granting a secondary progression path, and thus would be stronger earlier in her career, but would be outpaced over time. Regardless, her ss''s kit was clearly more selfish. And didn''t that make sense? It did in Natalie''s head. Lust implied a person to lust over; and thus her skills were targeted that way, not purely on herself. Like [Divine Invigoration]. Moreover, she was a Pdin of Lust, and pdins were traditionally fighters, tanks, healers, and supports all in one¡ªthough the exact ratios varied. But a Rogue of Rage, or whatever ss Elida had, would trend toward personalbat abilities, not team-wide buffs. In any case, Natalie had to acknowledge reality: Elida was her superior when it came to individualbat. For now. And only in one-on-one fights. Natalie wondered whether her team would beat Elida''s, at this point. She felt they would. [Divine Invigoration] was obscenely potent, especially when used with [Empower]. Natalie had given it to Malice before leaving, seeing how she needed to act as the team''s tank, and she honestly suspected the boost was so enormous that the wolfgirl would be able to stand toe-to-toe with Elida. If only she could apply it to herself. Honestly, she might be able to, though she doubted it. She had no intentions of trying, because while the boost in strength would be lovely, Natalie''s priority was for her teammates. They needed an empowered Malice as their front line. Even if she''d feltpelled to ept this delve with Elida, at least Natalie could be helping her team from afar. For now, Natalie appreciated that Elida was on her side. Having such a skilled teammate was ¡­ nice. Not that she would admit as much out loud. Unfortunately, beyond recognizing how skilled the girl was, Natalie failed to make useful observations on how her ss functioned. Vta''s conversation had been many times more revealing: the suggestion that anger drove the woman was more insight than Natalie discovered first-hand during the trip to the tower. Perhaps theck of insight came from theck of difficulty. These fights weren''t challenging enough to get her to show her hand. If that was the case, an opportunity wasing up. Because after a several-hour expedition¡ªwhich was useful for gathering unenchanted tokens, if nothing else¡ªthey had arrived at the base of the tower. The construction stretched hundreds of feet into the air and was as thick as several houses around. It would take a while to ascend even if there weren''t guardians inside. And of course there would be. There might be an Emporium Key at the top, too, and if not that, there would surely be interesting fights and some sort of loot. So, with building anticipation, Natalie shouldered the door open, the wooden b creaking loudly as the first room revealed itself. 7.46 – Tower II 7.46 ¨C Tower II It turned out that the tower''s imposing appearance did indeed hint at the danger inside. Natalie and Vta alone had been able to fight through the Ruins without overmuch difficulty, which meant for their full squad of five, travel had been close to trivial. Thus, they''d made good time. Inside the tower, however, they met a new caliber of opponent. After walking cautiously into the first room, spectral beasts flooded from overturned tables and behind crumbling pirs. Half a dozen at least. They were faster, stronger, and more durable than any of monsters they''d run into thus far¡ªa prelude and a warning to whaty higher in the tower. A frantic fight ensued in which Natalie was, for the first time in a few hours, pressed hard. When thest monster had been dispatched, she looked around and made sure everyone hade out alright. They had, of course, though Clementine had to cast a minor heal on Natalie. Thus, the real adventure began. They set a careful pace. There was no timer pushing them along, like with the Arena. And unlike her duo assignment, they had a healer. Clementine tended to any of their wounds, both during the fight and after, making the expedition less a war of attrition and more a standard dungeoneering trip. Token drop rates were nearly doubled, they discovered. And finding fights¡ªdifficult ones, withrge payouts¡ªwas as simple as ascending to the next floor. So the trip was quickly proving itself to be lucrative. Worth their time even without other rewards, since the alternative would have been mundane Ruins hunting. With each floorpleted, Natalie¡¯s curiosity grew on what they would find at the top. The best case scenario would be an Emporium Key. Well, the best case would be a Mythical item or something equally absurd, but the best reasonable expectation was an Emporium Key. Nobody they''d spoken to at the City had been inside the Emporium, so Natalie, and everyone else, was intensely curious what sorts of wares would be avable. If the public shops sold Epics, would there be Mythicals there? While it would be lovely, she didn''t have great hopes for finding a key. They had a few leads on how to earn one, such as high-profile Coliseum fights, deep expeditions into the Pce Basement, and odder methods like indulging in the Pillory a little too thoroughly, but there were no guaranteed methods. Likely, the City itself had to take interest in a person''s efforts and reward them personally. So no matter what, it wouldn¡¯t be a simple process to find an Emporium key. Natalie wasn''t sure whether being Lust''s champion would make it easier or harder. From one perspective, the City was interested in her by default¡ªand thus more likely to reward her. From another perspective, Lust''s champion might have greater expectations ced on her. She may have to work harder to impress the City. During the intense expedition up the tower, Natalie was given a better look at the full extent of Elida''sbat abilities. There were two observations of note. First that she was truly incredible at dodging¡ªshe had yet to take a single injury, even minor, despitecking a stealthy style like Vta¡ªand also that with the fights requiring more effort from all of them, Vta''s description from earlier showed itself: Elida fought angry. It wasn''t a fuming, boiling sort of rage. It was cold, repressed, and¡ªyes, even a little sadistic. Earlier, Vta had made a im that sent a shiver down Natalie''s spine: that Elida liked hurting things. Enjoyed the violence more than most delvers. That she became overenthusiastic, at times, during their fights. And indeed, Natalie started to catch hints of that. She was precise and vicious with those daggers of hers, and the further they went up the tower¡ªthe harder the fights got, the lower her stamina dropped¡ªthe more clear it became. As if, perhaps, Elida was relying on certain skills to carry her forward, ones that were affecting her mind. Rage based ones? She was no regr berserker, she didn''t think. Her judgment didn''t seem to cloud; there didn''t seem to be a ''rage resource,'' not in a traditional manner. She was fighting angrier, but¡ªpurposefully so. Or maybe, as if, with the rising difficulty, the mask was slipping? It was difficult to make any concrete deductions, especially because Natalie was busy with her own fights. She hardly had time to stand around and watch Elida. Her observations were stolen in snatches, between changing targets oring to help a teammate. Whatever the case, she grew more certain that the information Vta had given was urate. She tentatively confirmed Elida''s patron deity. Though, specific manifestations of her ss eluded her. To be fair, Elida didn''t know the details behind Natalie''s skills either. She had guesses at best, and probably not many. After a grueling ascension, they reached the top floor, which predictably held the boss encounter. [Knight-General of the 2nd Battalion - Lv. 4] It was a level four, Natalie noted grimly. Such a fight ought to be reserved for the fourth floor, not the third. But they had chosen to trek to the most menacing of the nearby buildings. The ghostly Knight-General sat atop a horse armored as heavily as himself. The beast pawed the ground, snorted loudly, and lowered its head. Without ceremony, the horse charged, the Knight-General lowering ance toward the nearest target¡ªNatalie. She also rushed in, eager to take the boss''s attention, noting the battlefield as she went. The tower wasrge by diameter, and this top room epassed an entire floor. Still, it wasn''t an open field; cavalry would be limited indoors. She also noted a sheathed sword. If they knocked him off his steed, would he discard thence and engage in a manner better suited to a footsoldier? With that sword, rather than hisnce? She kept that in mind too. Natalie preferred to preserve valuable cooldowns for deeper into a fight, or for emergencies, but in this case, the opportunity was too good to pass up. Seeing the knight charge with his spear lowered, she allowed her opponent''s weapon to hit true: dead center of her chest. Even to her, it would have been a killing blow, considering the level of her enemy and that it was a boss monster. But of course, she didn''t just let herself get skewered. She [Hunkered Down]. The charging knight''snce mmed into a near-invulnerable brick wall, and the impact was so jarring it nearly flung him off his steed. Not just that, but before using [Hunker Down], Natalie had hooked her arm in such a way that, as his momentum carried forward, hisnce was wrenched from his grip, secured by the angling of Natalie''s immobile body. [Hunker Down] was a niche skill, but a wonderful one when it came into y. The knight wasn''t fully knocked off his horse, but he was dangling precariously off his saddle, struggling to reorient, which gave her team several seconds to capitalize¡ªan eternity to professional fighters. Unfortunately, disarming him did little; the ghostlynce fizzled, then reappeared in his grip. Natalie couldn''t help but feel like that was cheating, but she had turned herself into an invulnerable statue a few seconds earlier, so fair enough. Dropping the skill''s active effect, Natalie charged in. An exhausting four minutester, both horse and general had died. Natalie was aching even through Clementine''s heals by that point, and Elida had taken her first injuries of the day as well; even she had been pressed by a level four boss. The ghostly remains evaporated, leaving an object behind. Natalie''s heart jumped, seeing a key, but to her disappointment, it wasn''t for the Emporium. [Tower Vault Key] The disappointment lingered for a second, but was quickly reced. Because¡ªloot from a level four boss. They hadn''t gotten Emporium ess with this expedition, but there would surely be interesting rewards. 7.47 – Tower III 7.47 ¨C Tower III The Vault was located on the floor above the boss room¡ªwhich she had previously and incorrectly assumed to have been the top. To get there, they climbed a ricketydder which had blended into the background during her appraisal of the battlefield. Plopped down on the floor of the next room was a huge metal vaultrge enough to walk inside, about twelve feet by twelve feet. The key slid into the keyhole, and arge mechanism engaged when Natalie turned. After spinning the handle, she pulled the door open and peeked in. Despite the dramatics of being stored away inside a solid metal vault the size of a small room, only a single wooden chest sat inside¡ªand not even all thatrge of a chest. Natalie''s enthusiasm wasn''t dampened, because the size of loot hardly affected its value. Besides, some dungeon containers yed fast and loose with thews of spatial continuity;rge things could fit inside small spaces. They checked for traps. Finding none, Natalie popped the wooden chest open. Unenchanted Tokens of Eros filled the box to the brim. She whistled in appreciation. "That''s a lot of coins." "Six hundred? A thousand? Maybe more." Elida peered at the pink-purple metal with a gleam in her eye. "That would''ve made this trip worth it alone. And there''s more. What''s the potion? And the ne?" Indeed, a hefty payload of Tokens of Eros had been all but expected, but their reward didn''t end there. A vial of purple liquid and a ney atop the treasure. Perhaps there were more trinkets buried inside the coins, though Natalie didn''t get her hopes up. To her side, Vta made a choking noise as, presumably, she read the item''s description, which set her expectations for what she was about to see. *** Ne of Gender Transformation When worn, transforms the wearer''s body into that of the opposite gender. Binds upon use. *** Natalie''s eyebrows shot up. That¡ªwas an interesting item. It wasn''t gear, with no associated stat bonuses or evenbat applications. It was something anyone could wear. No level minimum, no seeming cooldown or other requirements. Which made it valuable. But still, it wasn''t as strange as she''d expected, based on the choking noise Vta had made. Which meant the other object must be the culprit. Her eyes slid to the potion. *** Potion of Temporary Breast Ergement¡ª *** Of course. Natalie sighed before inspecting the item again. *** Potion of Temporary Breast Ergement Consume in tiny quantities to produce significant, but temporary changes to the drinker''s breast size. *** Yeah. That would do it. She risked a nce at her teammates. They were staring at her, a mixture of nk and incredulous expressions. At least with her old team, they were used to the weird loot. Here, she was getting the same strange looks back when this ordeal had started. "It''ll sell well, at least," Natalie said dryly. Elida recovered first, maybe because she saw the truth in Natalie''s statement. "The trinket especially. It physically swaps a person''s gender? Not even an illusion, but truly?" She shook her head in amazement. "Perhaps such a thing is possible with other magical means, but if so, I haven''t heard of them. Rtively straightforward requirement, too; just need to wear it. It''ll sell incredibly well. We should fight with T for an exemption to find a buyer through a private party rather than the Exchange." "That''s possible?" Elida shrugged. "It''s worth trying. Such an item would be wasted through traditional channels¡ªunless simr effects are easier to produce than I assume. I''m sure the right buyer would pay wonderfully for an item like that. It''s a shame it''s bind-on-use." Her attention swiveled back to the vial of purple liquid. "The potion, though," she said, amused. "That''s a stranger one." "Am I reading this right?" Clementine asked¡ªor rather, squeaked. "Breast ergement? As in, it makes your boobs bigger?" "So it seems." "Why?" Such was the question Natalie asked herself constantly, these days. "Shall I remind you what floor you''re on?" Elida said, rolling her eyes¡ªas if she hadn''t also been gawking at the absurd item. "It''s perfectly thematic. It''ll also fetch an excellent price. This is a great haul." She pursed her lips. "Unless, as I said, simr alchemical or magical solutions are moremon than I assume. Naturally, I''m no expert on the topic. Perhaps Natalie knows more?" "Why would I be the expert?" "Of anyone, surely you would be." The worst part was that it didn''t seem like Elida was teasing or taking a jab at her. Flustered, she said, "I have no idea. I don''t think there''s¡ªpotions like that on the market." Magic could be pretty varied, but as far as sex items went ¡­ she knew they existed, since the dungeon spat up all sorts of crazy items, but a potion of breast ergement specifically? Especially that could bemercially produced, rather than just found through loot? "I doubt it." "Mm. In any case, the tokens are the true prize. I''d estimate there''s eight hundred? Approximately one hundred and sixty for each of us, then. Not to mention what we''ve earned from hunting and clearing the tower, which is significant in its own right." She nodded. "Yes, I''m pleased with how this went. Even if we didn''t find an Emporium key." "Enchanting so many coins will be a problem," Faye said, interjecting for once. The orange-haired, serious mage was the least talkative of the party. "You said you earned thirty for your assignment, Natalie?" "Thereabout." "Then we have enough tost three or four days of enchanting, from this run alone. And we could clear two of these towers a day, if we wished. While still performing our assignments, assuming they only take a few hours on average." Elida hummed. "That assumes we get a simr haul every time, which is optimistic. We could''ve gotten lucky." "What I enchanted was just with the Arena, by the way," Natalie said. "Didn''t use other¡ªavenues. And we didn''t go too, ah, hard at it. With the stake, I mean." They all raised an eyebrow at her phrasing, and Natalie blushed. Vta''s face stayed stony. Whatever walls Natalie had broken down with the rogue had been fully erected again. Her embarrassment, which Natalie knew was there, didn''t show in the slightest. Natalie kind of hated that¡ªshe missed the more emotive Vta. "The Arena is the slowest active assignment for enchantment," Natalie rified. "The Pce Basement and Coliseum are the real ways to convert coins in bulk. And you can visit the Bordello in your off time to keep enchanting, even after you''ve finished your assignment for the cycle." Acacia had also said simply having sex or anything lewd in general would enchant tokens, but she would leave that implied. "So thirty coins per twelve hours isn''t an urate estimate for our top enchantment rate." Faye inclined her head in acknowledgment. "Point taken. Perhaps it¡¯ll be doable, then. Still, I think it''s more likely than not we end up with an excess of unenchanted tokens. As Elida mentioned, we should look into trading. Even at a poor ratio, it could be worthwhile from a time efficiency standpoint." "Hunting is also lucrative for outside the dungeon, though," Clementine said, eyeing the potion and trinket. "Since we''re getting real loot alongside the tokens." "Shop items might be more worthwhile than anything we find," Faye countered. She shrugged. "Hard to tell what the most efficient path is, with so little information." "Do the tokens store inside monster cores?" Elida asked, tilting her head at the chest of coins. "Otherwise, that''s going to be a pain to carry back." She fished out a small ss orb to check. Before pressing it against the side of the container, she withdrew the potion and ne and set them aside. The chest vanished into the orb. "Oh," Elida said. "Indeed. [Small Chest of Tokens of Eros (839)]. Convenient." Monster cores could also store various raw resources in bulk, like ore. So it wasn''t surprising it could suck in a whole chest of coins, even if it didn''t normally allow containers. Elida stored away the other two items into monster cores, and however many misgivings Natalie had about the other girl, she didn''t take her as a thief. Letting her take temporary ownership of their loot didn''t bother her. "Wonderful," Elida said, standing. "We''re already pressed for time¡ªlet''s not dally. We should try to make it back before assignment turnover. And we all need some rest." The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!