Chapter 282

“I like your armor,” was the first thing Elida said upon Natalie’s arrival, her lips quirking up in obvious amusement.

In much the same way that Natalie had analyzed all of their gear and appearances, she was of course receiving her own scrutiny. She had grown somewhat used to people seeing her in the inappropriate erotite gear in public, but having fellow classmates raise an eyebrow was both more and less embarrassing than strangers. Not that anyone reacted so obviously as to raise an eyebrow, but the skimpy bright-pink metal top wasn’t something even other delvers saw every day.

She was wearing a cover-up skirt to obscure the more scandalous lower half of her armor, which she would remove upon entry into the dungeon. That prospect was mortifying; it put her ass on display, and seeing how she was the frontline fighter, anyone who wanted to steal looks wouldn’t have much difficulty doing so. At least she didn’t have much to be embarrassed by, back there. Though maybe that just amplified the problem. A nice ass meant it would be looked at more. Though maybe none of the girls here preferred other women? She didn’t have a read on anyone besides Elida ... who, having propositioned her, clearly wasn’t against the idea. Though that might have been a power play more than anything.

She ignored the possibility that Elida might be staring at her ass over the next several days. It made her feel hot, and she told herself it was purely annoyance.

“Thanks,” Natalie replied dryly. “Wouldn’t be wearing it if the effects weren’t so strong.”

“They’re that good?” Elida asked.

Natalie shrugged, making it clear she didn’t want to explain. She might have accepted a trial run upon Elida’s insistence, but she wasn’t going to go explaining her class, and in a similar if lesser vein, her gear.

“Pretty good,” she said.

She nodded at the others, acknowledging them. Clementine’s expression flashed to guilt, briefly, upon meeting her eyes, but Faye returned the nod with her usual unfriendly aloofness. Natalie suspected the woman didn’t think there was anything to feel guilty over.

Vanetta also inclined her head, and since she was the only one who hadn’t attacked and robbed Natalie’s team, she was her current favorite. The only mark against her was that she’d teamed up with Elida, but Natalie reluctantly conceded that if pure performance was all Vanetta cared about, Elida’s team would be mighty tempting to secure a spot on. She couldn’t truly blame Vanetta for her decision.

“Sorry if I’m late,” Natalie continued. “Live across campus. Got here as fast as I could.”

“No problem,” Elida said. “There’s a few things to straighten out, but we can handle that as we walk. Shall we?”

Since they were all eager to start working toward new item drops and experience gain, they set off without ceremony. Even introductions weren’t necessary, since they were all aware of each other, simply by being top performers in the same Tenet year.

And, again, through the whole robbing-them-blind thing. Minus Vanetta; she hadn’t been involved in that.

“First up is loot, of course,” Elida said. “We tend to handle it after the delve, rather than during—except in the case of exceptional drops that are clearly suited to one of us. We’ll bargain until we come to an agreement that suits everyone, and if no such arrangement is found, we’ve agreed to sell whatever causes issues and split the funds evenly. That standard is, however, held up rather significantly by the fact some delves will favor certain individuals in the short term, but over the course of many delves, will even out. Since you’re a temporary, Natalie—though I hope not for long—the split might be more difficult to arrange.” She ended the explanation at that, silently querying Natalie for her opinion on the matter.

“I won’t be annoying about loot,” Natalie said. “If I draw the short straw, that’s whatever. I’m sure it won’t be a problem.”

“An admirable attitude,” Elida said, and though there wasn’t an ounce of mocking there, Natalie’s eyes narrowed anyway. The woman really did seem to be ‘playing nice,’ and Natalie reminded herself to do the same. She forced herself to relax. “I’ll give you my own assurance that profit isn’t a particularly powerful motivator,” Elida said. “I don’t foresee this being an issue, but it’s something that does need to be discussed beforehand, in the sense of fairness—and preventing disagreements before they begin.”

Natalie grunted in agreement.

“There’s also the matter of our classes,” Elida said. “Any key information we might need to know. I don’t expect any of us are keen to go in depth, but the relevant skills should be disclosed. We’ll each have a bit to say on that topic.”

They took their turns doing just that. When it came to Natalie, she neglected the lewder half of her arsenal—only explaining her combat abilities, and only the parts her teammates would need to directly engage with, which frankly wasn’t that much. All they needed to know was that she was a hard-hitting tank who kept attention mostly because their opponents couldn’t afford to not focus on her. Which they were already aware of from inter-class spars.