Dungeons and Dalliances

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 class, 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—or productive in an atypical way, considering her class—Sofia had attended the semester-opening party with Liz, hoping to get to know some of her classmates, 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, “apparently competent.”

“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—and 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 a competent mage, who cared? Natalie wasn’t marrying the girl. In fact, a detached, perfectly composed demeanor—even to the point of being unnaturally so—was 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 class? 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 place. 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 marketplace.”

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 compared 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—and the opening of the dungeon—was 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.

“Tenet’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 marketplace 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—which was a lot of money. At least by the standards of her and Jordan. To most Tenet students? Probably not.

She shook her head, incredulous. “But after that, we’re stuck trading in the Tenet branch?”

“Using tokens,” Jordan confirmed. “And requisitioning from the main Exchange will come with markups.”

“Outrageous ones,” Sofia added. “Certainly not worth it.”

Tenet 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 Tenet 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 glanced at the clock, blinking. Sure enough. The time had flown by. She picked up her fork and returned to her meal.