Dungeons and Dalliances

7.22 – Travel

They entered that familiar routine. Setting a path for the City of Eros in the far distance, Natalie and Vanetta 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 Vanetta 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—those were probably located in 'points of interest' buildings they'd spotted—but 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 place 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 regular human's, but the fights they engaged in were proportionally as exhausting: no regular human could swing [Valentine] as easily as she did or dash as swiftly as Vanetta. 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 Vanetta 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 Vanetta 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," Vanetta said. "Elida warned us about you."

The statement came somewhat out of nowhere, after a lapse in the conversation.

"Warned you?" Natalie asked. "About what?"

"You have a reputation. At Tenet. Even I knew about it, and I don't pay attention to our classmates."

Natalie had an idea of what 'reputation' she was talking about. But to make sure, she warily asked, "And what reputation is that?"

Vanetta 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— that— 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?" Vanetta 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 question come from?"

"Elida warned us that you might try to sleep with one of us," Vanetta said. "Or all of us."

Again, Natalie floundered for a response. The continued bluntness caught her off guard.

"She also said this delve might become a bit strange," Vanetta continued. "That you're a person of … particular 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. Vanetta respected Elida's combat 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—both new and old—weren't very endeared by her.

"And then all of this started happening," Vanetta said. "With these tokens." She was playing 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," Vanetta 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 Vanetta? Who obviously wanted her own answers in return.

"She does?" Natalie asked cautiously.

Vanetta seemed satisfied, and Natalie realized she had phrased her question as 'also changes the dungeon'—and Natalie hadn't denied her part of that comparison.

"She does," Vanetta confirmed. "I would know, since I've been in the dungeon plenty, both with and without her."

For that matter, Vanetta 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," Vanetta admitted. "But there's certain encounters, or certain events, sometimes, that are … strange."

"Strange how?"

Vanetta was quiet for a few moments, simply flipping the token from side to side. "How are yours different?" she finally asked—and there was a quiet implication of this for that. They were, after all, trading information, not Vanetta 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 place. "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," Vanetta 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 flashing through her head. She felt a blush arrive on her cheeks, a deep coloring that was noticeable even in the twilight.

Vanetta'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," Vanetta said. "Getting murdered isn't ever optional."

"I would argue that setting foot inside the dungeon is implicit consent," Natalie said.

Vanetta considered this, then inclined her head in agreement.

A short pause, and the girl snickered. It was the first time Natalie had heard her laugh.

"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—" Natalie stammered. "It's not me. I'm not—" She stalled out. She didn't think she could claim 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 Vanetta 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.

Vanetta sobered up, though the amusement hadn't lasted 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," Vanetta 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 blade 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 claw." The dagger stopped twirling.

"But Elida …" Vanetta said.

She took a moment to finish the statement.

"She likes the hurting things part more than the rest of us."