Dungeons and Dalliances

Stepping into the inky black 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 plain 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 Tenet, and her teammates were no slackers either.

"You have no complaints 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 claiming 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 explanation, 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 a laugh 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 glance, even if not all the girls on the team had a preference toward other women. Even straight girls could admire an ass platonically speaking.

Making physical contact again—to tell the dungeon they were a team—the party of five stepped through the portal leading to the third floor, with Natalie leading.

She passed through that pane of black not-liquid, and something strange happened: she came out the other side missing three of her teammates.

Only Vanetta 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 Tenet, so she wasn't especially flustered by the extremely uncommon 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 places.

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. Some larger buildings maintained a semblance of their original shape. Piles of rubble dotted the landscape, creating obstacles and potential hiding spots, and broken pillars lay strewn about, some standing proudly and others resting against partially collapsed walls.

There was a dark twilit sky far above them, which was interesting, since enclosed floors were far more common 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 been completely ruled out yet, she supposed, but nothing outrageously unfair had occurred.

Seeing they were safe, she faced Vanetta, setting her hammer face-first on the ground.

"Well," she said. "Where do you think the other three disappeared to?"

Vanetta'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 worst combo. You have any healing potions on you?"

"Just one."

"I've got two as well, if we need them," she said. So lacking 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."

Vanetta 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 delay, 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 classes. So the lost hours—or if she were extremely lucky, maybe even a day or more—was only a plus.

Sometimes, the dungeon was kind of nice to her.