Dungeons and Dalliances Ch. 180-189

5.20 - Blacksmithing IV

Natalie returned to Shara's forge the next day, a bit apprehensive about what she would find.

Part of the reason she'd given Shara such vague instructions was because she wanted to see what the woman figured out on her own, without influence from Natalie's suspicions. The rest of the reason was, well, obvious. Explaining to Shara that she thought erotite might have an affinity for, well, lewdness of some kind would sound downright crazy. And if she turned out to be wrong—reasonable as the assumption was from her perspective—that would be unbelievably mortifying. Better to let the blacksmith deal with it on her own.

Shara was in the middle of a job when Natalie arrived, as she usually was. Her eyes locked on Natalie, and immediately, she paused—then started to blush.

Blush. That was all the confirmation Natalie needed. Just what had she subjected this poor blacksmith to? Even Natalie, accustomed to her class by this point, could be caught off guard by how ridiculous it became. Shara had no such defenses.

Shara wrapped up her task as expeditiously as she could, then brought Natalie into her workshop, giving them privacy.

"So," Natalie started. "How'd it go?"

"It went well." She winced. "Sort of."

"Sort of?"

Shara chewed her lip for a moment. She seemed to come to a decision, nodding firmly to herself.

"I'll just show you." She walked over to a stand covered by a canvas tarp. "But first, know that I didn't mean for it to come out like this. I think it might be the specialty of the ore, as strange as it sounds?" The sentence was inflected up, more a question than a statement. Shara took a breath, then, without ceremony, yanked the covering off.

Natalie stared.

Had she expected anything else?

There, in four pieces—boots, gauntlets, torso, and lower armor—was a shiny set of pink erotite gear. Though really, only the boots and gauntlets could be considered armor in any traditional sense. Even just hung up on a stand for display, not worn by anyone, the heat on Natalie's face rose rapidly. The torso armor, especially, was scandalizing. And the lower even more so. A tiny triangle of metal with a thin strap to keep it attached.

Considering Natalie's unique situation, the armor wouldn't remotely keep her modest. And even most women, only technically. Since magical gear would reshape itself to fit the wielder, it'd probably rework itself if Natalie tried to wear it. But she couldn't imagine it would be much better.

The set of armor was, hands down, one of the skankiest ensembles Natalie had seen. The dungeon sometimes spat out revealing armor—since the dungeon created just about anything—but this set a whole new standard.

Shara, seeing Natalie's expression, scrambled to explain. Not that Natalie needed an explanation; this had been what she'd been expecting.

"Like I said, I promise it wasn't intentional," Shara said hastily. "The ore basically begged me to be shaped in that way. I just listened. It was the strongest connection I'd ever felt. And the effects seem quite strong. It's a full set of uncommons, and the chest piece is even a rare. And, and ...." Shara trailed off. "And ... you don't actually look surprised?"

Natalie jolted. "What? Of course I am. I mean, look at it. It's so ..." Natalie herself trailed off, giving up on her flimsy attempts to save herself. It sounded unconvincing even to her. Cheeks coloring, she cleared her throat and shrugged her shoulders. "Well. It is what it is."

Shara studied her for a long moment. Natalie nearly expected the woman to start questioning her—Natalie wouldn't have been able to help it, if she'd been in Shara's position—but, as before, the blacksmith didn't pester. It'd been one of the reasons Natalie had hired her in the first place: she was a woman who minded her own business. Something Natalie valued above most other things, at the current point in her career.

"Huh," Shara finally said. "Well, I only used up a bit more than half of what you gave me. It took less metal to make a full set than it usually would."

Natale grunted in amusement, eying the scandalously small pieces of armor. Of course it had taken less than usual: the boots and gauntlets had probably taken the bulk. The lower piece was genuinely a tiny triangle, a thin sliver of metal; it must have taken close to nothing. Ridiculous.

"The effects are strong, you said?" Natalie asked.

It was a rhetorical question, since she could check herself. And she did so now.

Scanning each of the four items, her eyebrows went up. Every piece came with a large Tenacity increase, which was phenomenal. The bra also came with an additional effect, the possibility of rooting her opponent on being attacked. Being the rare item, it was the only of the four to have a bonus effect.

"There's a set bonus, too?" Natalie asked.

"Can't see what it does," Shara said. "Not until you equip the full set. Didn't take the liberty—figured it'd be overstepping. I'm dying to know what it is, though."

Natalie paused.

"Not that you have to put it on here, of course," Shara hastily said. "On your own time. Though, I'd like to know, next time you stop by. Set bonuses are rare."

No joke. Set bonuses were a bit more common with crafted gear than items found in dungeons, but they weren't extremely rare there either. Typically they'd be found within a single region, with the items dropping one after the other. Natalie and her team hadn't come across such a situation yet, but the concept was familiar to them—as most delvers.

There were only four total equipment slots, but Natalie could still get the full set bonus so long as she officially equipped one piece and wore the others as mundane armor. Of course, she wouldn't get the magical bonuses of non-equipped armor—the Tenacity boosts, in this case—but the set bonus would still go through.

Natalie intended to wear their more important items like the treasure-hunting necklace, but equipping, say, the top and bottom, and using the boots and gauntlets as mundane armor, could be a reasonable strategy, if the set bonus turned out to be worth it.

"How's the durability?" Natalie asked. "The metal, itself. Is it tough?"

"Much better than iron and other low-level ores," Shara said. "It is a unique ore. Or a very rare one, at a minimum. I wouldn't call it anything phenomenal, though." She shrugged. "I didn't condense it all that much. Limited supply."

Most metals could be repeatedly condensed into tougher and tougher versions of the same material. Iron deposits showed up even in deeper levels in the dungeon, in increasingly huge quantities—and it wasn't all that unusual to condense it down into a level-appropriate piece of gear. Erotite followed the same trend, it sounded like.

Natalie stepped up to the armor and visually inspected it, peering at the craftsmanship. While embarrassingly scandalous, Natalie admitted it looked great: Shara had done a great job. Non-functional, perhaps, but aesthetic. And the various pieces matched, creating a cohesive design, something not found in most slapped-together sets of dungeon gear. Not that style was ever something on the forefront of a delver's mind.

Though, with [Stylish], in Natalie's case, maybe it should be. She literally got bonus stats for looking good, and so did her teammates.

For that matter, what would Jordan or Sofia look like, geared up in this? Her heart skipped a few beats, imagining it.

"I'll try it on and let you know," Natalie said. "Either way, you did a great job." Even without a set bonus, the armor was an upgrade from what she currently had equipped. The chest piece especially, with that snaring effect. "And you said there's some erotite left?"

"Little less than half."

"Could you make a pickaxe with it, you think?"

Shara paused at the request. "Don't see why not. But why? You think that would do something?"

"Not sure. It's possible." Her mining sub-class was taking on its own unusual—lewd—characteristics, so leaning into that by forging an erotite pickaxe could be beneficial. It could also be a huge waste, but that was the risk that came with experimentation. "I think it's worth trying."

"Hm," Shara said. "Then, I'll have it done as soon as I can."

5.21 - Doll

Natalie returned to the dorm well into the evening, her newly crafted armor stored inside monster cores. The team had chosen not to head into the dungeon today. Even the most active teams needed some evenings to themselves, whether to handle daily tasks, extracurriculars, or whatever else.

As she walked into her apartment, Natalie's thoughts were preoccupied. Primarily with what the set bonus would turn out to be, but also with other things: worries of the week, like the lingering concern over the whole Elida situation, who had yet to track Natalie down for a second talk. Natalie hadn't found even a hint of how the woman had learned about the Bestower—or what she knew about Natalie's class at all.

"Jay?" Natalie called out idly. "You back yet?"

Walking through the entry hall, Natalie peeked her head into their room. As the lack of response suggested, Jordan hadn't made her way home. She was out handling her own business, probably dealing with poisons or identifying and refining the plants she'd found in the dungeon. And other daily tasks.

"She hasn't," Sofia called from the living room. "It's just us."

Natalie grunted in reply. She dropped her things off in her room, then wandered out into the living area. Sofia, indeed, sat there on the armchair, knees tucked to the side as she read from a textbook laying on the armrest. Studying. Natalie rolled her eyes, seeing that, but didn't comment.

She plopped down on the sofa, stretched out her muscles, then lounged back. Propping her cheek on her fist, she took in the sight of Sofia. She wasn't wearing her Tenet uniform like Natalie still was; she'd changed into her pajamas, settling down early for the night. Her long white hair cascaded around her, not pinned or tied up like it usually was throughout the day. It made her look gentler. Domestic.

Blue eyes peeked up from the textbook, meeting Natalie's own. An annoyingly perfect eyebrow quirked in silent question.

"So, you're just staring at people, now?"

"Not 'people'. You. I'm staring at you."

Sofia's cheeks colored, Natalie's unabashed directness working as flawlessly as ever. Natalie doubted she'd ever get tired of that. How easy it was to make Sofia blush. Really, for the unassailable, way-too-perfect image Natalie had built up of her over the years, Sofia was a lot ... softer than she remembered.

"Well, do you mind?"

"Not at all. Please, continue."

"It's distracting."

"That sounds like a you problem."

"Heavens save me," Sofia muttered, closing her textbook. "Don't you have something else to do, besides harass me? Weren't you getting your armor?"

Natalie blinked. "Oh, right." She wanted to see what the set bonus was, but Sofia had briefly taken over her thoughts. Each of the four monster cores were cradled in-between her fingers; she'd been idly playing with them. She held up her hand and waved the four orbs at Sofia. "Got a full set. Don't think you'll be surprised by how the design ended up."

"Armor made from 'erotite'?" Sofia asked dryly. "No, I don't think I will be. Is it strong, at least?"

"Dunno. Decent, at worst. But it comes with a set bonus I haven't checked out. It'll make or break the set."

"Oh?"

A grin slipped onto Natalie's lips, which instantly put a wary look on Sofia's face. "I was gonna put it on myself, but seeing how you don't look busy, I have a better idea."

It didn't take long for Sofia to understand Natalie's implication. "I'm not your doll to play dress up with, Natalie."

"Until the week is up, actually, you are."

Sofia didn't have a retort to that.

"And honestly," Natalie said, "I haven't been taking enough advantage of you." She let out an overly dramatic sigh. "It's a shame all of us are so busy. I'd definitely be leveraging it more. But I guess I don't want to scare the poor blushing virgin away by taking things too fast, anyway."

"Blushing virgin?" Sofia asked, affronted.

"What? That's literally what you are. You come off as very delicate. Fragile. I wouldn't want to traumatize you." Natalie smirked, running her eyes pointedly up and down Sofia. "Why do you think I haven't bent you over, yet? It's not because I don't want a taste of that pussy—I'll tell you that."

Sofia's eyes went wide at the crudity of the sentence, cheeks quickly burning red.

"I mean, if anyone else just gave themselves away to me for a week," Natalie kept going, keeping her tone overly casual, "I'd be using them a lot more thoroughly than I am you. But, delicate, blushing virgins need to be treated with care."

"I am not delicate."

Natalie raised an eyebrow.

"Or a 'blushing virgin', either," Sofia said hotly.

Natalie joined the first eyebrow with a second, and Sofia could only hold her gaze for few seconds before she glanced away, face burning. She huffed loudly to make her displeasure clear.

Natalie just laughed at her.

"So yes," Natalie said, getting back to the main point. "I'll play dress-up with my pet. She's not ready to be fucked stupid, like she deserves, so I'll have fun in smaller ways."

Sofia made a sort of choking noise at the words, but Natalie interrupted the incoming outrage by tossing the four monster cores at her in a quick barrage. Sofia, of course, plucked them out of the air without difficulty.

"You are unbelievable," Sofia said, sniffing disdainfully. "Fine. A bet is a bet. And I do have to start training the collar." She unceremoniously pulled out the monster core holding the mentioned item, but Natalie cut her off from putting it on.

"Hey," she said. "Let me." Natalie patted the empty spot next to her.

Sofia hesitated, then sighed and stood, resigning herself to the command. She walked over to Natalie and sat, putting a conservative foot of space between them. Natalie rolled her eyes, then grabbed Sofia by the waist and—with a surprised noise from the girl—tugged her forcibly onto her lap.

"Don't be a stranger," Natalie chided. "I expect my pet to be affectionate. Why are you always so cold?" She slipped a hand underneath Sofia's shirt, placing it against her stomach. "I mean, you just said that you're not some blushing virgin. So you're not flustered by a little bit of touching, right?"

"Of course not."

"Really?" Natalie murmured. Her hand ventured up her stomach, stopping between Sofia's breasts. She wasn't wearing a bra. But Natalie didn't touch anything important; she was just teasing. She left it there, her thumb and pinkie grazing the sides of her breasts. "Not even a little bit?"

"Not even a little bit," Sofia repeated.

Betraying her words, the girl shivered atop Natalie's lap. Natalie herself was a bit intoxicated with having Sofia sitting on her. For the obvious reasons, but also—that she could just do this. Toy with Sofia whenever she wanted. And her reactions never failed to send a thrill through Natalie. She couldn't get enough of Sofia. She would never get enough of Sofia.

She paused at the thought, then corrected herself: because revenge was satisfying. Payback for so many years of the irritating woman showing her up.

She nuzzled her nose into Sofia hair, breathing in the smell—she'd showered recently—then squeezed her a bit closer, before pulling back and sighing.

"Alright. Hand it over."

Sofia wordlessly passed over the monster core holding her collar. Natalie summoned the item out from its confines—fiddling with Sofia's hair a bit, indulgently enjoying the way the pliable girl squirmed on her lap—then clipped it around her neck.

"There you go," Natalie murmured. "You know, it really looks good on you." She fiddled with the leather strip, then snorted. "Though, everything would, Miss Perfect."

"I can't try on the armor when I'm trapped on your lap, can I?"

"Why are you stuttering, already?" Natalie asked, amused at the quaver in the woman's voice. "We haven't even gotten to the fun stuff."

"Hmph."

Natalie laughed, then let Sofia go. She stood from Natalie's lap. Then, seeing Sofia's butt presented right there, she couldn't help herself: she delivered a hard slap, making the woman jump, squeak, and scurry away. She rubbed her backside, giving Natalie a scandalized look.

"If you didn't have such a fat ass, I'd be able to help myself," Natalie said. "So really, it's your fault. Get that thing under control."

"You are seriously insufferable."

"Yeah, yeah, the same back to you." She waved for Sofia to get going. "Get those clothes off. And go slow." She flipped up her uniform's combat skirt, bunching it to her stomach. Her thumb played at her panties' waistband. "And you don't mind if I have some fun while I watch, right?"

5.22 - ❤ Pet I/II

"You can't be serious," Sofia said.

"There's a hot girl getting naked for me. How am I not supposed to touch myself?" Natalie grinned as she teased her panties to the side, edging them down. They'd snagged on her quickly-stiffening cock, which Sofia's eyes were both trying to avoid and seemingly unable to. "And it's been a long day. I'm allowed some stress relief. Help a teammate out."

Sofia, predictably, just gave her a disdainful look, her fallback reaction for when Natalie was flustering her. But Sofia knew her position—that she belonged to Natalie for the week—so she did as she was told.

She started with her shirt, crossing her arms and grabbing the hem to pull it up and over her head. She didn't go slow, as Natalie told her to, but Natalie enjoyed herself nonetheless. Sofia's long white hair cascaded down her back as her breasts were freed. With no bra to hide herself with, Natalie's eyes roamed hungrily over Sofia's newly exposed skin. Her petite breasts were small but perky, cute pink nipples stiffening under Natalie's intense gaze.

"Look at those tits," she murmured, sliding her hand onto her panties and gripping herself through the fabric. "And don't cover up. Stop playing shy."

Sofia forcibly put her hands to the side. They twitched in place as Natalie continued to drink the sight in.

"You don't have to ogle me," Sofia muttered. "You look like such a pervert."

"Oh, please. You're loving this. Showing off. You can protest as much as you want. You're easy to read."

A flush spread across Sofia's cheeks at the accusation, but she just sniffed. "I'm sure you believe that." She hooked her thumbs under the waistband of her pajama pants, then shimmied them down over her wide hips, slowly revealing a pair of lacy black panties underneath. "And no," Sofia interrupted. "I did not wear these for you."

"Just like to lounge around in lacy underwear, do you?" Natalie asked, grinning. She tightened her grip on her cock, squeezing herself through her panties, which Sofia's eyes locked on before being forcibly dragged away. "What a naughty girl." Natalie, of course, didn't buy the excuse; Sofia definitely had worn them in anticipation for tonight. Maybe she'd been hoping Natalie would finally leverage their bet.

"As if," Sofia huffed. Her face burned crimson, but she made no move to cover herself as she bent forward to slide her pajama pants down. Natalie watched creamy white legs get revealed, and she raked her eyes up and down, drinking the sight in. Sofia tossed the garment to the side, now standing in just her panties.

Natalie leaned back, sighing in satisfaction.

"Turn around."

Sofia hesitated. Then, with an exasperated roll of her eyes that didn't mask the deepening blush on her cheeks, she obeyed.