Chapter 303

Their second arena series took much longer than the first. Ten rounds passed, then twenty. Though they weren’t earning experience from the fights, they were gaining experience of a more literal sort. Fighting the wide variety of monsters spewed out by the magical arena was valuable practice in its own right, regardless that the combat didn’t count toward leveling. And there was no risk of dying. Which made it an incredible training grounds.

Eventually, they reached a point where the fights became a struggle. Then each was desperate, completed by the skin of their teeth. But Vanetta never called them off, despite Natalie checking in on her every few rounds—then every round when they got close to losing. It was a repeat of the last series. Natalie might have taken a moment to smirk at that, but she was too wrung-out from the fights.

Then it finally happened. She staggered back from a clever feinted kick, and before she could recover—

She was standing in the center of the arena, the monster gone, with all her slowly accrued injuries healed. Magically restored in an instant. Even her stamina had been refilled. She felt fresh as she could be.

She’d died too fast to even see what had happened. Better than the last time, she guessed. Quick deaths were better than slow ones.

“Damn,” she said, setting [Valentine] in the dirt. “My bad.”

“Good effort,” Vanetta said, though like any competitive delver, her nose wrinkled slightly in disappointment that they hadn’t gotten farther. But she’d have felt the same no matter how many rounds they’d finished. Same with Natalie.

Natalie’s frown disappeared quickly.

Because, now that the fights were over, it was time to pay out the stake.

No pillar rose from the ground, since there were no objects to provide. Their task was simple. Mutual stroking until they’d gotten off.

“Kay,” Natalie said, a grin slowly spreading onto her lips. “Now we get to have some real fun.”

Vanetta seemed less hesitant than she had earlier, but her eyes still widened as Natalie walked toward her—and went even wider when Natalie unhooked her metal bra and threw it aside, exposing herself to the other girl.

She pressed herself into Vanetta and tugged the other girl in close, their curves pushing together—Natalie’s chest naked, the other girl still wearing her armor. Her hands slid down Vanetta’s sides and settled onto her waist as she leaned forward, bringing her face close to the other girl. Vanetta had to look up to meet her eyes, being much shorter. She was breathing hard already.

“I’m excited to see how easy this’ll be,” Natalie murmured.

Whatever Vanetta had been expecting her to say, it clearly wasn’t that. Her flustered expression morphed into one of surprise—then mild offense. Taking the words as a challenge? This girl was way too cute.

“And what does that mean?”

“Mm. Three, I think.”

“What?”

“Three, to my one.” Her hands started fiddling at the straps and clasps of Vanetta’s leather armor. Vanetta might have been embarrassed by that or protested in another situation, but her head was clearly stuck on Natalie’s words.

“You mean—you won’t get me off three times before I get you once. That’s ridiculous. And, and, why are you undressing me?” she asked, her brain finally catching up to what Natalie was doing. “That’s not part of the stake.”