WinterWhereof

3.17 - Formalized

Strangely, Liz and Ana joined them for lunch. Normally Natalie, Sofia, and Jordan sat off in a corner of the cafeteria, alone. Sometimes Liz would join them in class to chat or hang out, but not usually to eat, as she did now.

She slid her tray onto their table with a big smile, and Ana followed a second later.

“So!” Liz started ...

3.16 - The Competition

For a brief moment, Natalie considered turning the conversation back to Camille’s offer. But she wasn’t sure it had been genuine, and when it came to Camille’s endless teasing, it was better to not give her more fuel. So instead, she dropped it.

“I really don’t,” Natalie said. “I know who House Parda-Halt is, though.”

4.31 - The Truth

Zoey woke to an unfortunate mess.

A blonde woman glared at her, arms crossed, blue eyes like daggers.

“I put towels down for you,” Rosalie huffed, “but you really like to pump it out, so it only did so much. Do you have any consideration? We’ve ruined our bedsheets enough as is.”

Zoey sat up in bed, blinking in disori...

3.15 - Creativity

Days ticked by, and the daily routine of Tenet, while packed, became comfortable and nearly repetitive. Not that repetitive was bad. Repetitive was how practice became instinct, and well-honed instincts kept delvers alive.

Natalie, Sofia, and Jordan delved after class each day. None were as interesting as the first. They’d lucked into an...

4.30 - ❤ Working It Out

Rosalie swung open their room’s front door, rolling her shoulders as she walked in, working out sore muscles. Today had been a good day. She’d made progress with her newest skill, and had driven herself into the ground—her entire body ached in that comfortable, if painful, way of a training session properly seen through.

She noted Zo...

3.14 - Gear

“You’re really so lucky,” Sammy tsked. “Having an upperclassmen willing to help you sort out your gear situation? Give advice? Especially in the same role?”

“It’s a big ask, I know,” Natalie said. “But consider this … I’ll pay you back?”

“I will take you up on that, frosh. I’ll put that mouth to w...

4.29 - ❤ Gooey Explanations

“My … pants? Why?”

Mel dropped to her knees, fingers going to Zoey’s belt. Deftly, she popped the buckle open, her button next, then forcibly tugged Zoey’s pants down. Her underwear followed, revealing a long, still-soft girl cock, which Mel grabbed.

“Why?” Mel asked. “Because I missed her, obviously.” She slapped h...

3.13 - Kitchen Duty

Bright and early the next morning, after a quick, cold breakfast, Natalie attended to her punishment: kitchen duty.

Their team hadn’t been the only one sentenced to it. Unsurprisingly, a significant portion of the freshmen student base had overstayed their dungeon first run. Five hours from class end to curfew didn’t leave much time to...

3.12 - Split

Of course, the universe didn’t cut Natalie a break.

“Sixteen monster cores,” Ana said. “Natalie collected eight, Sofia six, and Jordan two. Sixteen total. Then there’s the ring, the gloves, the cloak, the ore, the herbs, and the bag of coins.”

“Bag of coins?” Jordan asked.

“Elizabeth found it,” Ana said.

4.28 - To The Rescue

For a moment, Zoey stayed there, staring at the blank void where Ephy’s dream orb had been floating.

Annoyance reared up. Again, their meeting had been cut off with Ephy gleefully shoving her through worlds and encouraging her to ‘get to it’. Zoey had plenty more questions she’d have liked to ask her enigmatic, morally dubious spon...

3.11 - Late

Upon emptying the flower’s pink liquid contents, the vines on the nearest wall shifted, then opened into a passageway. Natalie followed the offered exit up and out, returning after a short hike into the enormous cavern above, where she’d fallen from.

And where her friends were frantically searching for a way to help.

Natalie, of ...

4.27 - Divine Meeting

So, Zoey had finally managed an audience with her patron goddess. Unfortunately, she wasn’t prepared for it. Could she ever be? Even holding eye contact with the divine being turned her thoughts sluggish. If she’d had an airtight battle plan for this meeting, even then she might have struggled through it.

Had she really turned...

3.10 - ❤ Vines II

Vines looped around Natalie’s thighs, arms, waist, and neck, hugging her in a powerful, constricting embrace. The ropes were both stronger and gentler than she had expected. They lifted her into the air with ease, securing her with a slimy grip.

The vines dug into her armor, forcing their way in so they could fondle naked skin. The slipp...

4.26 - Visit

For a short while longer, Zoey explored the sparkling expanse of the dreamworld.

She was disappointed how her lustful indulgences with Kali had been abruptly cut off, but even interrupted, it had been fun. She wondered if she could find a way to meet up with the woman in real life. That park they’d gone to—was it real? She didn’t kno...

3.09 - ❤ Vines I

She bounced off springy material, then flailed as she soared through the air. After a few more bounces, and some tumbling, she scrambled to her feet.

Had it been a trap then, despite her instincts telling her otherwise?

No. She was unharmed. Thrown into a new room, activated by her use of the wall-pussy above, but safe.

Still, ...

3.08 - ❤ Hole

It was unlikely there’d be another vein of ore in the cavern, even large as the room was, but Natalie scoured the perimeter regardless. Her teammates were occupied with their own investigations. Beyond the natural resources available—which Jordan picked through to find poisoning herbs—there were other rewards scattered through most ‘big ...

4.25 - ❤ Audience

Kali pulled the strange woman along by her hand, shaking with excitement. Other park-goers gave her odd looks, obviously wondering why she was so flustered. The people seemed so real. Emotive, distinct, with realistic reactions. Were they actually other people dreaming, dragged in by Zoey’s arrival?

Maybe if she hadn’t been quivering w...

3.07 - Mining

Natalie leaned against the wall, panting. Sweat slicked her brow, which she wiped away. She’d set a brutal pace for clearing the last six encounters, and while everyone had held up—and no one was complaining—it’d taken a toll on each of them.

Natalie was in the worst shape. The last fight had degraded the worst out of any, each of ...

4.24 - ❤ Dream Delving

Kali felt the dream crystallize. One moment, she was blissfully enjoying a tantalizing fantasy at the park, hand slipped into her panties as she rubbed herself, and the next, the dream became both ten times more real, and also blatantly false. Not only was she suddenly aware, but she could feel herself sleeping peacefully in her bed, both in the...

3.06 - Loot Chest II

***

Gloves of Quick-Thinking

Common

Lv. 1

Effects

- Minor increase to magical Prowess.

Description

A well-timed spell can be the difference between life and death.

***

The item was, of course, more unequivocally useful than the previous. Though it granted a weaker effect—noticeably so, sinc...

4.23 - Kali

Zoey’s consciousness expanded, one awareness traded for another. She floated from high above, formless, with pinpricks of light bursting into existence beneath her. Tens of thousands of them, varying colors, linked by spindly, trailing ribbons connecting the points in a spiderweb of dizzying complexity.

It took a second to organize her t...

3.05 - Loot Chest I

“Perhaps I’m overthinking it,” Ana eventually said. “Because I don’t see a deeper meaning.”

“It’s just asking which are waking first?” Natalie said.

“All of the Passions are elevated, but only three are stirring,” Ana said. “Perhaps it’s seeking the ordering? From most to least? Even so, I would have figured...

3.04 - Reverie

It was an impressively outlandish explanation, and delivered in Ana’s monotone, somehow more impactful, not less. The room stewed in silence for a few moments, digesting the claim.

Liz tittered, high pitched and nervous. “And, like I said, it’s seriously blasphemous to present as if it’s real.”

“I did no such thi...

4.22 - Dreaming

With Zoey’s arousal having washed away, she would admit the aftermath was the the slightest bit awkward. Fortunately, Maddy also seemed intent on brushing past the horribly degenerate things the two of them had engaged in. Not that, literally speaking, they’d done much degenerate, not compared to Zoey’s new standards. Masturbating in front...

3.03 - Puzzle

“That wasn’t so bad,” Liz said.

Natalie didn’t disagree, though she’d taken more hits—even if just glancing—than she’d have preferred. And, intense as it’d been, she’d forgone her use of [Illusion]. She’d made strides with the past week’s training, but in the moment, she’d been focused on performing her role in th...

4.21 - ❤ Spectacle

Zoey set Delta’s pussy to the side, between her and Maddy, then popped open her pants button. Her blood thrummed with excitement. Though she doubted much would be happening between her and Maddy, today, getting to expose herself—and masturbate, using Delta’s pussy—in front of the blushing girl was, obviously, something that had Zoey’s ...

3.02 - Kobold

The team of five progressed down the cave tunnel, Natalie taking the lead. She set a slow pace, and not only because of the slippery footing, the faintly glowing blue moss clinging to floor and walls, but rather, the potential of traps.

While the first level of the dungeon wasn’t like to include lethal ones, maiming was still on the tabl...

4.20 - Easing In

“Inflame or mute internal statuses,” Maddy said thoughtfully. “I wonder how broad that is.”

Like Zoey had with Sabina, she’d revealed her newest skill with the tutor best suited to help her with it. Beyond the ability needing to be divulged, so that she could learn to use it, Zoey didn’t see a point to the stringent se...

3.01 - Entrance

The day had arrived.

Natalie stared around at the enormous dome enclosing the beating heart of Aradon, or indeed Valhaur, itself. The dungeon entrance. As one of the most mythical objects in existence, Natalie had of course seen it in textbooks, had seen the detailed artistic renditions of the one-story-tall, black obsidian slab.

It ...

2.33 - ❤ Advancing

***

[Illusion]: Progression advanced from 1 to 2.

***

***

[Illusion] - ACTIVE. PROGRESSION 2. Conjure a {moderately} powerful audiovisual mirage to distract or confuse an opponent.

***

As expected, progressing Illusion from one to two had resulted in the adjective ‘mildly’ shifting to ‘moderately’. Thu...