Dungeons and Dalliances

"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 classmates 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 display, 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 play 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 explain. She might have accepted a trial run upon Elida's insistence, but she wasn't going to go explaining her class, and in a similar if lesser vein, her gear.

"Pretty good," she said.

She nodded at the others, acknowledging them. Clementine's expression flashed 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.

Vanetta 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 Vanetta cared about, Elida's team would be mighty tempting to secure a spot on. She couldn't truly blame Vanetta for her decision.

"Sorry if I'm late," 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 Tenet year.

And, again, through the whole robbing-them-blind thing. Minus Vanetta; 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—except in the case of exceptional drops that are clearly suited to one of us. We'll bargain until we come 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—though I hope not for long—the split might be more difficult to arrange." She ended the explanation 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 'playing nice,' and Natalie reminded herself to do the same. She forced herself to relax. "I'll give you my own assurance that profit isn't a particularly 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—and preventing disagreements before they begin."

Natalie grunted in agreement.

"There's also the matter of our classes," 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—only explaining her combat 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-class 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 become 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 uncomfortable with. And if something did happen, she could explain it when they got there.

Elida also didn't explain any 'possible strange events' thanks to her class, 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 similar 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—or alluded to it—in their first meeting. But it didn't seem fitting for her to be a paladin of Lust. Natalie wasn't even sure whether there could be multiple paladins 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—and what had driven her to be the top performer at an academy as competitive as Tenet—but 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 explained their classes, Natalie broached one last topic.

"Also," she said. "There's a chance we run into a special pink ore, unique to my class. 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 it comes from your class?"

"Couldn't find a word on it anywhere," Natalie said. "And if Tenet'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 class. If we do find some, it can come out of my cut through other stuff. And I'll split other ore evenly."

Since having a miner sub-class on the team meant extra profit in the first place, 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 explained if they had.

After those discussions, they were coming up on Aradon's dungeon entrance. It was, naturally, not positioned far from Tenet, the premier delving academy of the capital city. Walking into the building and laying eyes on the portals set on the slab of black stone, she steadied her thoughts, readying herself for the upcoming delve.