Dungeons and Dalliances

7.90 – Trials II

To Natalie's horror, Vanetta looked at her with complete innocence.

"You think you know what it'll be?"

She had to bite off her retort of: 'How do you not?' Vanetta was an intelligent woman; she should have worked it out herself. This was more proof, she supposed, that everyone was blind to things too close to them. It wasn't a complicated conclusion to draw, what this 'special trial' that only Vanetta could pass might be.

"Virginity," she said, without much lead-in, because it was probably best to throw it out there and see how the idea was received. "In the classical sense, at least."

"… what?"

"Why do you think Cheri looked at you when she said it? And that it was something the two of us are uniquely positioned to deal with? No one's gotten into the Vault yet, and we can't have been the first to find it. What third trial would lock almost everyone out?" And what a devious requirement, if she was right. "One that's locked behind virginity, somehow, despite being deep in the Palace Basement, the craziest sub-section of a sex city. Like, really, how many virgins would come down here?"

'Virginity'. The concept didn't even apply to girls who liked girls, or, rather, she should say, not as strictly or uniformly. Everyone defined it differently. To some, it was being brought to climax—whether by a hand or thigh or anything else. Some thought you had to be naked while it was happening; rubbing over-the-clothes didn't count. That was probably where Natalie drew the line, a looser definition than others still, who thought penetration was needed, whether by tongue or fingers. And some defined it some other way, surely. Honestly, the whole concept was made-up in the first place, so she'd never given it too much thought.

All that said, 'virginity' definitely had a classical definition, and it made sense that Lust would nod her head toward it in one of her challenges.

It was somewhat endearing how Vanetta gawked at her. Somehow, the idea really hadn't crossed her mind, despite it being obvious.

"You—you think that's what it'll be?"

"Seems like there's a good chance. And if we're about to sacrifice everything we own, you should, you know." She coughed. "Decide if you're comfortable beforehand."

The two of them stared at each other, Vanetta's face slowly incrementing shades of red.

Really, Natalie had been fooling around with Vanetta for a week straight, and a few hours earlier had literally been slapping her hips into her ass … so getting to use that other hole would hardly be some huge jump.

But, if she were honest, she was excited about getting to be Vanetta's first. Not in a 'she was excited to steal away a girl's purity' sense, that wasn't what got her going, just that getting to be someone's first was special—she had been elated to be Vanetta's other firsts, too.

And Vanetta obviously placed value in it too. She'd been letting Natalie do more and more over time, but getting together in that way had been off limits. Clearly something she was 'saving'.

"Okay," Vanetta finally stammered, abruptly facing away. "Uh. I suppose you're right. That's … a logical possibility. A strong contender for what we might find. I'll keep it in mind." She cleared her throat. "But what are we doing about this trial?" She gestured at the altar.

Natalie opened her mouth to press the point, but then closed it. Obviously, that had been Vanetta's tacit acknowledgment—and approval. Her heart skipped a beat.

Was it wrong that she hoped she was right, now? She didn't want to pressure Vanetta into anything, but that girl loved her excuses, and a trial would be a great one.

Stepping next to Vanetta, she frowned at the altar as well, forcibly shifting her train of thought toward the current trial.

"Like you said, everything we own? Including our gear and weapons?" She wrinkled her nose at the prospect. "That'll leave us vulnerable on the way out."

"We'll be banking on the fact that there won't be another combat challenge coming up, too," Vanetta said with a grimace. "Comes down to a gamble. With so little information, we could be screwing ourselves either way. Keep our gear to be safe, but then get locked out for not giving enough. Don't keep our gear, end up unable to deal with monsters if the third trial is combat."

"We could maybe handle something with our fists," Natalie said hesitantly. "If it's on the easier end of what we've seen so far. And just maybe."

Armor and weapons went a long way in a fight, especially when she had skills specifically related to handling oversized weapons. She didn't know if Vanetta had something geared toward daggers, but as a rogue, it was more than possible. On top of that, the bonus effects and stats from their armor helped tons. A person's level and class mattered more than gear, but that didn't mean items didn't have a significant influence on combat readiness.

Her armor was replaceable, though she didn't know if she had enough erotite left to commission a new set—but she would run into another vein sooner or later, so it wasn't that huge of a deal. [Valentine] was a great weapon with an excellent conditional stunning effect, but it wasn't irreplaceable either.

That said, fundamentally, the idea of being left in the Palace Basements with neither weapon nor armor wasn't appealing. One way or another, their Basement run was coming to an end. It would be idiotic to keep clearing rooms without either.

"Honestly," Natalie said, slipping a hand into a pouch and fiddling with a monster core. "The only thing I really don't want to give up is this."

Withdrawing the item in question, she held up the vial of [Cleansing Liquid].

"It's not that valuable, strictly speaking. So it probably wouldn't have much effect on the trial. And it's so convenient."

"You care more about saving your cleaning item than your armor and weapon?" Vanetta asked, amused.

"Without it, we'd be walking around everywhere caked in cum, slime, and dirt," she said dryly. They had towels and drinking water, but hardly enough to take baths after every encounter. "What do you think?"

Vanetta considered. "Logically speaking, we should give it up," she said slowly. "Imagine if the secret requirement is that we really do sacrifice everything? Though, I would rather not be rid of it either."

The two of them mulled it over.

"Gah," Natalie said. "I'm not risking it." She placed the vial on the altar. It sizzled, then began melting into a vibrant pink liquid the stone altar greedily drank until nothing was left. "I've got spares back home, anyway," she sighed. The [Cleansing Liquid] had come in a bundle of potions, not just one. They would just have to deal with their sticky indulgences the manual way over the remaining week, though.

Vanetta nodded, then began undressing. Natalie did the same.