Dungeons and Dalliances

7.97 – Vault III

Like with the potion, a tingle went through her when she touched the loincloth, no doubt signaling that the item had bound itself to her.

The loincloth had a primitive design. A dark-brown string with two lighter tan cloths drooping down: one for the front, one for the back. Thankfully, it was soft to the touch; it wouldn't be uncomfortable to wear. Wrapping the new piece of gear around her waist, she felt a rush of Furor and Tenacity.

Vanetta equipped her item as well. The veil shimmered a midnight blue and was slightly transparent. She could make out hints of her mouth and chin underneath, but only if she looked carefully. The cloth added a surprising amount of allure, hiding her features away, only her gray eyes remaining unobscured.

She might've had an inappropriate thought or two, wondering how the veil might look covering up certain lewd activities—say, what Vanetta might look like with her face between Natalie's legs, the veil hiding her mouth wrapped around her cock.

The two of them appraised each other.

"It's almost worse," Vanetta muttered. "You, wearing that thing."

Natalie looked down at herself. Her previous armor had featured a metal cup to hold in her rather considerable weaponry. The loincloth did a much worse job at hiding anything … not that she'd ever successfully hidden her equipment.

"Worse? How so?"

"It just is."

Though Natalie had retorted with feigned innocence, she understood what Vanetta was getting at. Being partially clothed versus naked was easily as enticing. Case in point: nipples poking through a sheer shirt. Even discounting that, she could imagine a number of lewd outfits on Jordan and Sofia that would make her fuzzy-headed as effectively as their bare bodies being exposed … well, probably. It was hard to decide which was better, between alluring clothes and nudity. No comparing two sunsets, and all that.

But, she understood that this loincloth was a parallel. While it brought her modesty in the strictest sense, the flimsy fabric hardly hid her secret—and in some ways emphasized it.

The two pedestals retracted into the ground, and the next pair of items emerged. Framed on each was jewelry of a different shape. Natalie checked the descriptions.

***

Drops of Resonance

Epic

Lv. 4

Binds on Pickup

Effects

- Resonance. Select a skill to be mildly amplified while equipped. Selected skill can be changed out-of-combat.

Description

A pair of stud earrings. The inlaid gems sparkle with a bright crimson hue.

***

Natalie whistled. "No stat boosts, that hurts. But amplifies a skill?" That was incredibly useful. "Seeing how it's an epic, I'm guessing it's not by a small amount, even if it does say 'mildly'."

Her eyes slid over to the other piece of jewelry.

***

Verdant Covenant

Epic

Lv. 4

Binds on Pickup

Effects

- Covenant. On pickup, select a skill to be amplified so long as this item is equipped. Selection cannot be changed.

Description

A necklace with a silver chain. Attached, a jagged shard of forest-green emerald encased in silver filigree.

***

Fascinating. The two were thematically similar.

"They're almost the same item," Natalie said. "They both boost skills." Like a passive but probably weaker version of [Empower]. "But with the earrings you can change the target, and with the necklace, you're locked in once you pick."

"Hm," Vanetta said. "Well … both would work on me. I suppose you can decide which you want, since I got the better of the first set."

Right. That had been their agreement, hadn't it? Vanetta had gotten the [Mercurial Heart], which was better than the experience potion, no matter how incredible the potion also was.

But which of these did she want more?

Even if the earrings gave a lesser effect, being able to swap which skill she boosted would make up for it. Especially since as she leveled, she would be able to move the effect onto the newest 'strongest' skill she received—because one's highest-level skills were almost always the strongest. For example: [Divine Invigoration].

She rubbed her chin, thinking it over more carefully. She was a special case in this regard, though, wasn't she? Her level one skills were arguably her best, not her highest-level ones. Particularly, the skill that formed the foundation of her class, letting her evolve other skills into better versions of themselves.

[Carnal Harvest].

While skills like [Divine Invigoration]—and probably whatever she received for her next level up—were the showiest abilities and had the most direct impact in a fight, Natalie wasn't so delusional that she thought they were better than [Carnal Harvest]. The more she thought the situation over, the more she confirmed to herself that permanently empowering that foundational skill was the smarter choice. Boosting [Carnal Harvest] with the [Verdant Covenant] would effectively act as an 'experience boost' applied to her secondary progression method.

Not to mention, more earned carnal energy meant she could more liberally use [Empower]—which was a better version of either of these pieces of jewelry anyway. So it was win-win.

"Though it depends on the specifics," Natalie murmured, half to herself and half to Vanetta. "If I used the earrings to empower, say, [Divine Invigoration], then swapped the effect to a different skill, would the bonus persist? Or cancel?"

Vanetta considered. "It's bind on pickup, so we can't test the theory. If I had to guess though? You can't game the effect like that. I bet it's strictly for one skill at a time."

"That's what I figure too." She hummed. "I think the necklace is best for me, then."

Vanetta started in surprise. "Really?" She had clearly expected Natalie to choose the earrings. Probably for the reasons Natalie's mind had first gone to.

"The versatility is nice, especially being able to empower whatever new skills I get on level up. But for my class specifically, it'd be smartest to attach the effect to a … certain ability of mine."

"Really? Now I'm curious which. But I won't pry."

Natalie trusted Vanetta, but she wasn't in the habit of sharing the details of her skills for the fun of it; [Carnal Harvest] was something only she and her direct teammates needed to know about.

On the wall, the text read: 'Remaining Distributions: 2'. Depending on how the logic worked, they had either one set or two sets remaining after choosing from the jewelry.

"Unless you disagree?" Natalie asked, walking closer to the necklace.

"No. But I feel like I'm getting the better end of the deal again."

Natalie shrugged. "Good. We're both coming out on top." She was relieved there hadn't been any major conflicts in the selection process. Loot distribution was infamous for causing problems within teams, even ones on good terms.

They walked up and accepted their respective pieces of jewelry.