Dungeons and Dalliances

7.98 – Vault IV

Vanetta stuck the ruby earrings in without complaint or wince—apparently, she already had her ears pierced. Then again, she could easily grit her teeth and bear an impromptu piercing, so the more relevant indicator: there was no blood.

Natalie donned her emerald necklace, and the cold metal settled comfortably between her breasts. She felt a supernatural question enter her head—which?

She pointed the effect to [Carnal Harvest] and felt the bond take hold.

While this item wouldn't be that useful in the short term, it would in the long term. She wondered if she was stuck with it forever, even, despite its low level. Losing out on an item slot's worth of stat bonuses and combat effects hurt, but she wasn't upset: it was effectively an 'experience booster'. And an Epic-rated one at that.

Once more, this round of Vault loot had been incredible. Combined with the experience potion and the incredibly strong loincloth, those three items easily made up for everything they'd sacrificed. The experience potion alone represented months of hard effort for her entire team condensed into liquid form, so it by itself would have been enough to satisfy Natalie. Everything that followed was sweetening the pot. The risks they'd taken to get into the Vault had been well worth it.

And there was more to come. The 'Remaining Distributions' ticked down to '1' as the pedestals sank into the ground. The next set of items rose up, and Natalie twitched in surprise.

And started laughing.

"Well, not that I'm complaining, but this doesn't really count as rewards, in my opinion."

There, on the two pedestals, were the items Natalie had most reluctantly ceded to the trial of sacrifice. The [Cleansing Liquid] and the monster core filled with the [Spirit of Infertility]—the impotence potion. They were unmodified, so far as she could tell, and unlike the previous rounds, didn't have a 'bind on pickup' qualifier added to them.

Vanetta was pursing her lips. "I have mixed feelings. You're right, it doesn't feel like a proper reward. But at the same time, I would've hated losing them. So I won't complain either."

"Right? Would've had to start using condoms. And who wants that?"

Vanetta sniffed, though she didn't even contest the point. Apparently, she disliked the idea of not getting to feel Natalie raw enough that she had forgiven the crude remark. Natalie's grin widened. It was an easy opening, but she chose not to.

"This makes me feel better, too," Vanetta continued with a wave of her hand. "I've been getting the better deal on each of these rounds. You can take both. They were yours to begin with. And it evens things out a bit."

Natalie hadn't felt like she'd been getting the 'worse' options besides the first, and even with that she'd been fine with, since she wanted to bring something back for Jordan, Sofia, Liz, and Ana.

Still, she graciously accepted the offer and scooped both of the offerings from the pedestals.

"Thanks," she added.

"It's only fair."

The pedestals sank into the ground, and the text incremented to zero. One last time, pillars sprouted from the metal of the vault floor.

Natalie had strongly suspected this would be one of the rewards.

***

Emporium Key

Description: Binds on pickup. One-time use. Admits one individual into the Emporium at the City of Eros.

***

"Emporium keys," Vanetta said, sounding relieved. "Good. I was getting worried."

Since the items were identical, they hardly needed to discuss distribution; they stepped up and grabbed their respective key. The pedestals shrank into the ground, and the vault's payout was over.

Or maybe not, because two chests manifested from thin air, hitting the ground with a heavy, clattering thud. The unsecured tops popped open and coins went scattering in every direction.

Natalie and Vanetta, startled, stared at the unexpected final addition, having raised their arms defensively. The open wooden boxes were stuffed to the brim with shining pink coins.

"Well," Vanetta finally said, lowering her fists. "That ends things on a nice note."

They had brought down a decent chunk of their Tokens of Eros into the Palace Basement, expecting plenty of opportunities for enchantment. But they had sacrificed that entire supply in the previous trial. It seemed that, like the cleansing liquid and impotence potion, they were having their investment returned.

Except they hadn't brought a small chest's worth.

"Did it … double what we put in?" Natalie asked, gawking. She crouched in front of the chest closest to her; Vanetta went to the other. They were the same size, so the payouts had probably been split evenly. "This is at least double what we had, right?" It was hard to gauge, seeing how they had been stored in monster cores, not chests.

"At least," Vanetta grunted. Plucking two Tokens out and holding them up, she faced Natalie and said, "Depends on the ratio, though. Some are enchanted, some aren't."

Indeed, some of the metal coins were the bright pink of Enchanted Tokens of Eros, and some were the duller, slightly purple hue of regular Tokens.

"In any case, we're coming out richer," Natalie said. "I'd thought we'd paid for this loot with the Tokens we sacrificed, but I guess not. It's profit in every direction."

"The vault was a pain to get into."

Difficult and conditional or not, Natalie was impressed by the sheer haul. Three incredible items, a chest full of Tokens, and she had even gotten her impotence potion and cleansing liquid back. It was an unblemished victory—besides, maybe, that she would miss [Valentine] and her erotite armor. But she quite likely would have been replacing them shortly, anyway; whatever Epics or above for sale in the Emporium would outshine that gear.

The Vault's lucrative rewards had finally come to an end. The two of them hovered for a minute longer, to be sure. But nothing happened. They nodded. It was time to make their return trip. Their Palace Basement run had finished.

The return trip. Weaponless, mostly armorless, and without monster cores or a backpack or pouches to help carry their haul. She frowned at the heavy chests filled with metal.

"Let's hope there aren't any ambushes on the way back. That would be annoying."

"Please, Nat. Don't tempt fate."