With Natalie's victory decided, the elevated ptform began to slide down into the ground with a cacophonous grinding, rejoining Natalie with her team.

  Thhly exhausted, Natalie sat on her ass, still catg her breath. Slowly, her teammates came into view. The ptform sealed itself flush into the ground with o shudder.

  Four pairs of eyes stared at Natalie—and the aftermath of her fight.

  Natalie and her e, both breathing heavily as they sat on their asses, rec. Cocks soft, wet, and glistening. Flushed and sweaty. Then, the Hellhound. Malice. Colpsed on the ground, mumbling i nothings as she yed out with her legs spread, both her holes leaking from Natalie and her illusion's bined loads. A sticky, goopy mess pooled dowh 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 i shape, as did the rest of the team. "You won, though. Good job." Her blue eyes g the Hellhound, and even faster away. She shook her head. "But why are there two of you, Natalie? You do that?"

  Other-Natalie leaned over to pat Natalie on the shoulder. "Good luck with everything, then. Gd 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 holy, 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 struct trolled by magic to appear so, imitating Natalie's own personality, but still.

  Natalie opened her mouth to reply tawking team—and also started to rise to get dressed, since she felt pretty exposed, sitting there with her cock out—but she was interrupted before she could. Once again, the ground rumbled, like it had wheform first elevated. Natalie's heart immediately started galloping, and she fianding 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 grouween Natalie aeam, from which a pedestal slowly raised. In a cwed grasp—literally cwed, like the paw of a wolf—an orb was held. Pink. It reminded Natalie of a monster core: perfectly smooth, with murky c in its depths. Except rger, and Natalie had never seen a pink monster core.

  Of course, she ied it by instinct.

  ***

  al Boss Capture Core

  Epic

  Lv. 2

  —

  ***

  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—well, no, Ana didn't, but she had slightly raised eyebrows, which was as close as that woman came to gawking.

  Natalie had gotteo their luck when it came to item drops. And rares at such a low dungeon level were exceedingly unon, 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 signifit resear the topic, but she retty sure that only a tiny colle eveed across the entire world, if any at all. Possibly none did. Or in reverse, maybe more thahought. The point was, she didn't know. Because for the most part, as far as on knowledge went, it simply didn't happen.

  Not that Natalie aeam had stumbled onto one of the stro artifacts ie was still a level two item. A level two epic robably less useful than a level five unon, 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 sed floor of the dungeon. 'A level two epic' was a ridiculous sentence.

  And each rarity came with signifit boosts in usefulness. So it would almost certainly be their best item yet.

  Hastily, Natalie tinued reading.

  ***

  al Boss Capture Core

  Epic

  Lv. 2

  Effects

  - HE DUNGEON DISLIKES THE FORCEFUL APPROPRIATION OF ITS PROPERTY.

  - Capture. Cim a defeated al Boss and store their essenside the Capture Core. Cimed entities be summoned as a familiar to aid in bat. When assisting, any experience earned by the captured entity is instead grao the summoner. Cimed entities match the level of the Capture Core. They are not perfectly obedient. Reduce the likelihood of rebellion by properly g for the cimed entity.

  Description

  A level two monster core altered by a divine influence.

  ***

  The word 'epic' alone had shocked Natalie aeam into silence. Reading the full description, much less the emphasized 'NOTE,' made them freeze entirely.

  "What does that mean?" Liz asked, breaking the stunned silehe dungeon dislikes 'the forceful appropriation of its property'?"

  "Is it saying we shouldn't use it?" Sofia asked.

  "We cim 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 't level up herself, though," Ana said, sounding ied. "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 ign that? Hello? Even if it's the most amazing item in the world, it literally says it'll upset the duo use it."

  "A pissed-off dungeo sound great," Jordan agreed.

  "It also says, altered by a divine influence," Ana said. "So clearly, in trast, Natalie's sponsor wants us to use it. Or at least she provided it for her. Are there flig desires, theween major entities?"

  "Holy," Liz added tentatively. "I'm more scared of angering the duhan a maybe-goddess, by ign her gift." She winced, looking up at the ceiling. "No, um, offense?"

  Natalie rubbed her face. Her head spun. She gnced down at Malice, who was lying in a suddle on the floor. She'd really been fucked senseless. Her eyes were closed, having passed out—or at least briefly bee catatoniatalie supposed it had been an overwhelming experience, especially when further promised by a guard break. At least it afforded Natalie aeam 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 cim 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 versations."

  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 make her own decisions."

  Natalie paused.

  Uh. Yeah. Obviously. That was the clusion 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 flig back up. "And 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 baodesty.

  "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, theed. Giving the woman a name had the effeatalie was hoping for: Sofia rubbed her face.

  "Yes, of course," Sofia said, though sounding frustrated. "If she's really, what, sapient now, and not—I don't know, a maniacal mohen we have to. We 't leave her to the dungeon."

  "There are practical bes to capturing her as well," Ana said. "Even if we ighe altruistic aspect. The item is amazing. So my vote is that we do; it's worth an adverse rea from the dungeon, whatever shape that might take. Surely it won't kill us ht—else Natalie's patron wouldn't have gifted the item to us."

  Sofia flicked an annoyed look at Ana. Natalie somewhat agreed; the 'practical bes' weren't what mattered, here.

  Ana paused. "Though, of course, the practical bes e sedary 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 c as she looked at her. "You really left her a mess," she said, exasperated. " you wake her up? Obviously, we o talk."