Chapter 157

Before they got to the new items, Natalie had to catch the team up on what she and Ana had earned in the previous rooms: the stat-boosting potions, the cleaning liquid, and, of course, Ana’s buttplug. The latter Natalie outlined herself, rather than showing the item off for them to inspect—for obvious reasons.

The team was happy to have gotten an infinite supply of magical cleaning liquid. Any delver would be. Fighting monsters was gory business, and a material that instantly freshened them up was much appreciated. And it would be convenient to have for day-to-day life, too. Especially for Natalie.

Since the vials were self-replenishing, everyone got one, which they would ration out as needed. There was a single downside to the potion, though—it left behind residue. Using the cleansing liquid left them looking like they’d deliberately oiled themselves up. A glossy sheen on their skin. It stuck around for a decent amount of time, too. Nearly a half-hour before it faded naturally—though it could be wiped off, if with some difficulty.

Seeing her teammates oil themselves up, even mostly clothed and in a non-sexual way, was an unexpectedly erotic sight, to Natalie’s dismay. She doubted that was a coincidence. The dungeon obviously liked screwing with her.

Finally, there were the stat-boosting potions. The team was getting used to finding unbelievably good items, but that didn’t mean they could shrug their shoulders and be unsurprised by them. Permanent stat boosts were incredible, no matter how small. Even more than that, there was the implication they might get stronger ones. In lower levels of the dungeon, that ‘minor’ boost might become a ‘greater’ one. It was a form of passive stat scaling that most delvers simply didn’t have access to. All else equal, that meant they would outpace their classmates. How long before they were the strongest in their year, if their fortunes kept like this?

The mentions of deities awakening from their slumber was, of course, troubling, but for all they knew, it was the dungeon messing with them—no proof had ever been provided. Natalie was starting to doubt that, though. She really ought to look more into those implications. But where to even start? And her schedule was packed enough as it stood. Maybe leaving it to Ana was best: she was clearly far more educated on the topic. She’d been the one to describe the Reverie to them in the first place. She would be much more effective at digging up information on the topic than Natalie.

Sofia, Jordan, and Liz also displayed their earnings. They’d been through their own ringer, though of a completely different type than her and Ana’s. They’d found several pieces of pretty decent gear during their adventure. Nothing as broken as the lewd equipment that Natalie’s class influenced to drop, but still an impressive haul.

Finally, they got to what everyone was most interested in: the final rewards from her and Ana’s misadventures. Even Sofia, despite all her disdain for Natalie’s class, couldn’t hide her interest. She’d always been the most invested in loot, the first to scurry over to a treasure chest, and that intrigue extended to the lewd equipment too. Even if she found it—or pretended to find it—offputting.

Natalie pulled out the first of the three items, and the team all peered at it, eager to read the description.

Vial of Lesser Carnal Ink

Description

An ornate glass container filled with dark violet ink. Can be used to refresh and modify existing carnal markings.

“Wait,” Natalie said. “Carnal markings. Like—?”

“Like from the challenge room,” Ana agreed, sounding interested. She took the item from Natalie, turned it side to side, then looked down at her stomach. “It’s nearly faded, but I can still see it.” She traced the womb-like tattoo scrawled on her lower stomach. The ink had indeed almost disappeared, despite only twenty or so minutes having passed. But it could be renewed, with this?

“Sorry?” Jordan said. “Carnal markings? Ana has a tattoo? Catch us up?”

“The last room required us to—” Ana started.

“Don’t worry about it,” Natalie said loudly. “It doesn’t matter.”

Ana gave her an odd look, but didn’t continue. Natalie scrambled for a way to explain the situation without revealing ... all of that.

“Oh, please,” Sofia said. “We all know you two fucked, so just tell us what happened. Or at least what’s relevant. What is that thing?” She gestured at Ana’s fading tattoo.