Chapter 34

The aftermath was, to be honest, a bit awkward. The degeneracy all four of them had indulged in had been more than they had mentally prepared for, even if no protests seemed forthcoming.

Once Delta had ‘gotten the toy off’, the door had slid open with a grinding of stone. Unfortunately—or perhaps fortunately?—rather than being an alternate path of advancement, this particular obstacle had been a ‘rewards’ challenge.

Which perhaps explained why it had been so much more degenerate than the one Rosalie had needed to undergo. It hadn’t even been required to progress through the dungeon. But how were they supposed to know that?

Going forward, Zoey supposed, by when the obstacle is so lewd...

Live and learn, she guessed.

And Delta hadn’t complained.

Fuck, Zoey wasn’t complaining either. Even Rosalie—the most likely to have been upset at the development—had seemed into it. Not that Zoey thought Rosalie would have engaged in such degeneracy herself, without prompting, but spectating? Yeah, she’d made it clear she liked it.

A single green-banded chest lay in front of them.

“I thought you said these were rare.”

Rosalie gave Zoey an annoyed look. “They are. Either these past two delves with you have been astoundingly lucky, or your class—your presence—continues to give ... perplexing results. Have you even seen a common chest? A copper band?” She sighed. “Though I shouldn’t be surprised. Nothing about,” she waved her hand around in a distinctly irritated manner, “all this is normal.”

Well. A goddess did send me to save the world. Zoey supposed better loot than average was par for the course. Not that Zoey supplied that explanation.

“You sound upset that we’re getting lucky,” Zoey said teasingly. “And maybe it’s not even luck. We worked hard for it, didn’t we?”

“We?” Delta asked. “Try again.”

“Delta worked hard for it,” Zoey corrected.

“Using my body,” Rosalie muttered. “That better not cause ... lasting damage.”

“Having your entire body wrapped around a giant sex toy? Nah, can’t see how that could be bad for your anatomy.”

“There was a potion,” Zoey said pointedly. “Obviously she’s fine.”

“Want Zoey to come check?” Delta sneered. “Make sure you’re as tight as always?”

Zoey paused at the implication, then cleared her throat. Rosalie did the same.

“The chest,” they said at the same time.

They glanced at each other, and Zoey smirked. Rosalie’s lips—Delta’s? This whole, body-swap thing was getting annoying—twisted in amusement too.

They opened the chest.

The first item out—

[Cat Ears]: Uncommon. Highly sensitive. Amplifies senses and improves reactions.

“Excuse me?” Rosalie said.

“Sensitive. Like, in that way?” Zoey asked.

“Mine certainly are,” Delta said. “So it’d make sense. But ... why?”

“Why?” Rosalie sneered. “There’s no point asking that question, in these shards.”

“Your ears are sensitive?” Not-Zoey asked Delta.

“Not as much as my tail, but yeah.”

“They are?” Zoey asked. Almost without thinking, she stepped forward and rubbed Rosalie’s fox-ears between her thumb and fore-finger.

They flattened out, and Rosalie shuddered and took a step back. Her orange-and-white tail flicked in annoyance. “Hey! At least ask. What’s wrong with you?”

Rosalie’s glower had stopped being intimidating a while ago. Added to the twitching ears and tail, and the blush growing on her cheeks, Zoey couldn’t help the grin that split her face.

“I can’t believe I didn’t know that,” Zoey said. “Oh, I’m so making good use of it.”

“With her, sure,” Delta said. “If it’s me in my body, don’t you dare. I don’t like it.”

“You don’t?”

“It’s too sensitive. Dunno. Too personal.”

“Oh,” Zoey said. She shot a hesitant look at Rosalie, in case she felt the same way—but rather than asking the unanswered question, she sniffed and turned back to the chest.

She totally wants me to play with them. Zoey made note of the revealing reaction, the grin returning.

“We equipping them?” Delta asked. “I mean, one of you two can. Hardly need a second set of ears. Dunno if they’d even fit.” She paused. “So, uh, I guess I’d get them, since I’m in Rosalie’s body, right now. Rosalie’s the one who doesn’t need more ears.”

“That’s fine.” Rosalie passed the cat ears to Delta, who took them. “Like I said, we hardly care about second-advancement loot. Amplified reactions are better suited on you, anyway.”

“Don’t care about the loot?” Zoey asked. “Speak for yourself. If it’s perverted, I definitely care about it.”

Delta snorted, and Rosalie huffed.

“You can have first dibs on the gross items,” Delta said. “I appreciate the commitment to perversion, but I’m trying to advance, yeah? So I want the practical stuff.”

Zoey paused, feeling briefly guilty, because she ought to be trying to advance, too, for, y’know, the sake of saving the world. But she perked up quickly, seeing how her class was based on perverted stuff. If anything, she was filling her role.

Nice mental gymnastics, Zoey.

The next item out:

[Cat Tail]: Uncommon. Highly sensitive. Improves balance and acrobatics.

“You’re kidding me,” Rosalie said flatly, holding it up. “It ... it...”

It had a butt-plug at the end. Not quite as large as the biggest of the silver toys they’d earned in their first delve, but almost as big as the one Zoey currently had inserted into herself. Her hole clenched against the thing—she’d almost forgotten about it. I’m really getting used to it being in there. For how big it was, she really shouldn’t be.

Delta laughed, and she took the item as Rosalie passed it over. “That’s mine too, I guess. Pass me some lube, Zoey?”

“You’re going to—” Rosalie’s high-pitch response started, then she shook her head and said, “Of course you are.”

Zoey passed over one of the several lube-bottles she had stored in her inventory. Rosalie continued to dig.

Zoey was briefly torn between watching Delta coax a giant cat-tail buttplug into herself and the next item Rosalie pulled out.

The winner was fairly obvious. Delta winced as the toy spread her apart, sliding into her tight hole with a quick inhalation. Zoey drank in the reaction, which Delta noticed, and rolled her eyes at.

“Damn, blondie,” she said to Rosalie. “You’re tight down there. That actually kind of hurt.”

“I’m ignoring you,” Rosalie said.

Zoey’s attention was brought back to the item she’d drawn out. It looked like ... well, a wiggling mass of plant-life?

[Writhing Armor]: Rare. Enjoy amplified protection at the cost, or benefit, of constant stimulation.