Dungeons and Dalliances

7.30 – First Assignment I

The section of the Palace dedicated to the assignment boards was, as expected, packed. Near three hundred delvers stood inside the hall, crowded around their respective boards. They were broken up by name, so some were more packed than others. Natalie and Vanetta arrived a few minutes late to the reset, so people were already stepping aside to make space for everyone else.

Expressions from the various delvers ranged from apprehensive to pleased to disgusted. Assignments were essentially a lottery system, especially to those with less adventurous tastes. Nervous, Natalie found her own board, squeezing her way to the front to find the paper with her name.

Report to the Arena for your duo assignment, the paper read.

Natalie blinked.

Duo assignment? She eyed the paper warily. From what Acacia had said, the Arena was the least objectionable assignment. The Coliseum implied having a mandatory audience, the Palace Basement implied all manners of debauchery, and the Bordello was … well, a brothel. The Arena certainly wasn't chaste, considering the staking system, but it was done in private, and the stakes varied in perversity. Acacia had made an off-hand comment that the Arena could include other people, but that it was usually a solo assignment.

Natalie couldn't say she was surprised her first task was non-standard. It ought to be more interesting with someone by her side, at least. Who, though?

She met up with Vanetta to see what her teammate had gotten.

"Arena," Vanetta said, seeming wary. "A duo assignment."

Natalie paused.

Ah.

Apparently their earlier talk was coming into play sooner than expected.

"What? Why that look?"

"I also got a 'duo assignment'."

The words sank in. "Ah. What are the odds it's a coincidence?"

A coincidence? That it wasn't them that were the duo? Natalie looked at her dubiously.

Vanetta cleared her throat. "Right. Not high."

Together, they headed for the Arena. Technically, it was possible they wouldn't be matched up, but Natalie would eat her boots if that ended up being the case.

The Arena was one of the larger structures in the city center, a few minutes' walk from the Palace itself. It was smaller than the Coliseum, which Natalie found curious, since it was supposed to serve many fights at once where the Coliseum only needed to hold one.

There was a receptionist desk in the entrance room, along with two arched doorways presumably leading into the arena. She watched one of the citygoers enter, and he just … fizzled out and disappeared a few steps in. Natalie blinked. Had he been teleported somewhere?

Since this was their first time, she and Vanetta walked to the receptionist desk. The automaton servicing the Arena was shorter and thinner than most, though busty despite that. Something Natalie couldn't help but notice, since the woman was naked. Not that other automatons wore clothes, but those ones didn't have nipples and … other parts of human anatomy.

"How can I help you, Miss?" the metallic creature asked in trademark cheerful style.

"Uh, hi. I have an assignment here. Duo? It's my first time."

"Of course! Name?"

Natalie gave it. The metallic woman scooted a thin book over and flipped it open, running a finger down lines of text before finding what she was looking for.

"Here we go. Natalie and … Vanetta. Do you need a description of her?"

"A description?"

"To find her. Assuming she isn't in the lobby. Looks like she has black hair, gray eyes—" she paused before she finished, her attention flicking to the girl at Natalie's side. "Oh! You two came together. How fortuitous."

Natalie and Vanetta glanced at each other. They had hardly needed confirmation, but there it was. They had been assigned to the Arena together.

"We figured," Natalie told the automaton. "Can you explain how everything works? Like I said, it's our first time."

"Sure. It's simple. The two of you will enter, choose a stake, and fight through rounds of monsters until you're either defeated or choose to leave. Each round provides more enchanting energy, accumulating upon completion to empower an amount of Tokens of Eros appropriate to what you've accomplished. You brought Tokens, yes? On your person?"

Natalie and Vanetta nodded. They each had a few dozen in a pouch, their reward for several hours of trekking to the city as a two-person party.

"That's all there is to it," the automaton said brightly. "Do you have any questions?"

Natalie did, as a matter of fact. Vanetta beat her to it, though.

"How do the stakes work? Specifically."

"The City gives you three choices before the first round begins, in the form of stone tablets that will explain the details of each stake."

"And if we don't like any of them, we can leave?"

The automaton seemed surprised by the question. "Well, yes, I suppose, but to turn down such a boon…" she trailed off, baffled that Vanetta would even suggest it. She cleared her throat. "Upon successful completion of a round, you may also leave without paying out the stake, should you decide." Even that the automaton sounded disapproving of. Perhaps she expected delvers to fight until defeat, every time. Regardless of the looming stake.

"And if we do choose to leave, we'll still have Tokens enchanted? For the rounds we've completed so far?"

"But minus the amount you'd have gotten for stake completion. Yes."

"How much comes from the stake itself?"

"It depends on the stake and how many rounds you completed."

"Roughly speaking?"

The automaton hesitated. "For a citygoer of average strength, and an average stake, I suppose … half? Not a small amount. But if you're powerful and clear many rounds, and take a reserved stake, then the proportions will be different, of course."

"Okay. And what if we die in there?"

"The City will appreciate that you gave it your best effort," the automaton said cheerfully.

There was a brief pause in which Vanetta and Natalie looked at her warily, but the automaton blinked and corrected herself:

"Oh, but you don't actually die, of course," she said. "Remember, the stake is the payout for defeat. All wounds will be cured upon session completion, including lethal ones. I should mention that in a duo assignment, either of your deaths will count as defeat."

Vanetta didn't blink at the outrageous claim of revival, instead intrigued by the minutia. "What if we trade deaths? To finish the round, I mean. If one of us and the last monster dies at the same time."

"The round counts as completed for the purpose of rewards, but you'll also be considered defeated overall and need to pay out the stake."

Vanetta considered this. She nodded slowly, then asked to confirm, "But we can always walk away after completion of a round. It doesn't have to be to the death."

"That's correct, Miss."

Vanetta glanced at Natalie. "You got anything?"

"Can we go more than once?" Natalie asked.

"You can have as many sessions as you please. But you receive half as much enchantment power with each subsequent session."

Natalie grunted. That meant a second session might be worth it, and maybe a third, but after that, one-eighth of the original benefit was getting to the point it wouldn't be worth their time.

"Do we get experience? For killing Arena monsters?"

"No. But the Emporium sells experience potions, so in a roundabout way, you can progress in that manner if you so decide."

"Experience potions?" Natalie asked, eyebrows shooting up. Vanetta too looked interested. "How much do those cost? And how do they work?"

"I apologize, Miss. You'll need to visit and ask the shopkeeper yourself. I'm not at liberty to discuss the details of the Emporium."

"But we need a key to get in."

"Correct, Miss."

Natalie had already been interested in the Emporium, but now she was doubly so.

She and Vanetta shared another look. They had no more questions.

"Well, thanks for the help, then."

"No problem, Miss. Good luck!"

The two of them hesitated at the arched doorway leading into the arena. She could see a gate blocking the halfway point of the tunnel, and deeper inside was a large circular room she couldn't fully make out. Another citygoer walked past them as they paused, and they fizzled and disappeared a few steps in. The dungeon definitely created private instances for each individual or duo assigned here, hence its relatively small size compared to the Coliseum. She could ask the automaton, but it was obvious.

"Ready?"

"Let's see what we're in for," Vanetta mumbled, not quite meeting Natalie's eye.