They ehat familiar routine. Setting a path for the City of Eros in the far distanatalie and Vaa carved their way through monsters at a steady pace.

  The expedition would have beely 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 Vaa 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 orength and [Valentine], rarely having to draw on her mana.

  It was a good thing Natalie had brought extra monster cores, si seemed these creatures didn't drop any. Not that they were running into loot chests—those were probably located in 'points of i' buildings they'd spotted—but they eventually would, and if she hadn't carried spares, that would have been a logistical annoyance.

  Their colle of Tokens grew at a steady rate. Natalie couldn't help but wonder what they would be spent oually. What sorts of wares would be hawked at a pce like the City of Eros? How would such a shop even be manned? By monsters? Would there be se creatures like Malice there? More than ever, Natalie wondered about the deeper nature of the dungeon. Wheurned, 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 regur human's, but the fights they engaged in were proportionally as exhausting: nur human could swing [Valentine] as easily as she did or dash as swiftly as Vaa. So despite their stamina, they needed breathers.

  During this down time, Natalie found herself striking up versations with the dark-haired girl. She retty sure Vaa could have sat through the breaks in silend not minded, or maybe she might even have preferred that, but she didn't seem annoyed, at least, when Natalie began talking.

  In faatalie suspected Vaa was as ied in finding out more about her as she was iurn. Because she was also not-so-subtly digging for information during their chats.

  "You know," Vaa said. "Elida warned us about you."

  The statement came somewhat out of nowhere, after a pse in the versation.

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

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

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

  Vaa side-eyed her. "Is it true your whole team is sleeping with you?"

  Even forewarned of the topiatalie hadn't expected that level of bluntness. She floundered for a sed, 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 waheir dalliao be public, "it's kind of a rude thing to just ask."

  "Is it?" Vaa asked. "I didn't mean to be rude. I was just w. You five seem very close."

  "We are," Natalie said, and decided to leave it ambiguous. "Where did that question e from?"

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

  Again, Natalie floundered for a respohe tinued bluntness caught her off guard.

  "She also said this delve might bee a bit strange," Vaa tinued. "That you're a person of … particur 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. Vaa respected Elida's bat proficy, 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," Vaa said. "With these tokens." She ying with one as they spoke, turning it bad 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 thahers: just a woman's bare bad shoulders, long hair running down to cover her ass. "I think I'm pieg a few things together, by now," Vaa said. "Elida also ges the dungeon when she goes into it."

  Natalie tried not to let a rea show too visibly. She'd expected she would o slowly tease out information about Elida through observation, or perhaps in their post-delve talk. But had she found a resour the form of Vaa? Who obviously wanted her own answers iurn.

  "She does?" Natalie asked cautiously.

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

  "She does," Vaa firmed. "I would know, since I've been in the dungeoy, both with and without her."

  For that matter, Vaa had gone in alone; she hadn't even had a team. A fact that was still incredible to Natalie.

  "What ges?"

  "Most of the time, not much," Vaa admitted. "But there's certain enters, or certais, sometimes, that are … strange."

  "Strange how?"

  Vaa 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 Vaa 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 ihis is a strange floor, even by my standards," she said. "Usually when things happen, it's smaller scale."

  "Something about you really ges the dungeon, then?"

  "Sounds like you figured that out yourself."

  "Yes," Vaa said. "But it's still surprising to have it firmed. What's yuess as to what this City is?"

  "I'm holy 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 s. 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 fshing through her head. She felt a blush arrive on her cheeks, a deep c that was noticeable even iwilight.

  Vaa's own face reddened in response. She turned back forward, tucked the 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 siderate," Vaa said. "Getting murdered isn't ever optional."

  "I would argue that setting foot ihe dungeon is implicit sent," Natalie said.

  Vaa sidered this, then ined her head in agreement.

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

  "I hought 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 cim in good faith that she wasn't perverted. "It's not my fault," she said. "Or, sort of. It's just something that happeo me. Us." Since Elida was included, and Vaa k, though not the details.

  "Oh?"

  Natalie shrugged, making it clear that despite their did trading of information, she wasn't going to go sharing everything.

  "What happens in Elida's delves?" she asked.

  This for that.

  Vaa sobered up, though the amusement hadn't sted long anyway. Her usual seriousness had returned before Natalie had finished replying.

  "It's less obvious than yours," she said after a moment. "Less straoo. And I don't uand some of what's happening. There's been murals, or challenges she uands what's being asked, but none of us do. I think … hm. The eg thread is how she reacts to it all."

  "And how is that?"

  Another silence. "I don't know her well," Vaa 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 trol of herself, most of the time."

  The girl shivered.

  "I think most of us like the violeo some extent," she said. "In dunge." She twirled a dagger in her hand, and the bde 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 cw." The dagger stopped twirling.

  "But Elida …" Vaa said.

  She took a moment to finish the statement.

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