Dungeons and Dalliances

7.28 – The Shops of Eros

The shops were in a different district outside of the city center, which held the four important buildings: the Palace and its Basements, the Bordello, the Coliseum, and the Arena. It was only a short five-minute walk to start seeing the first stores.

Each sold different categories of wares. The first they entered, by chance, was a shop that sold necklaces.

"Natalie," Vanetta said faintly. "Natalie, it boosts damage with daggers by fifty percent."

"But only when your nipples are visible," the automaton shopkeeper said brightly. "And at least one person must be able to see them at the time of attack. For women only! An incredible effect, as expected of such an illustrious Epic item."

And indeed, the item for sale was an Epic. Only Malice's monster core had been of a similar rarity. To be fair, this necklace was absurdly expensive, one of the best items in the entire shop. There were no Mythicals for sale, the tier above Epic, and a rarity of item Natalie and her team had yet to find.

"Natalie," Vanetta said, sounding distraught. "Fifty percent. What kind of delver would I be if I didn't make that sacrifice?"

"There's … probably better items out there." Her own words were a bit choked, since she was also shocked at the sheer bonus the necklace provided. Of course, the downside was major, at least from a propriety standpoint. And it required her to be visible to one other person at the time of the attack, which was a huge limitation for a [Rogue]. But still.

"Situational," Vanetta mumbled. "But fifty percent. Fifty!"

"Your teammates would be appreciative, Miss," the automaton said brightly. "And not just for the damage boost!"

Vanetta turned an open-mouthed, red-faced look toward the metal woman.

"They would surely enjoy seeing your naked chest exposed," the automaton clarified.

"I know what you meant!" Vanetta squeaked in outrage. "Aren't you supposed to be—be a professional?" she sputtered. "You can't say things like that to your clients!"

"I can't?" the automaton asked, blinking. "It's a compliment." She turned to Natalie. "Wouldn't you wish to see her naked breasts?"

"Uh," Natalie said.

"You should encourage her to buy it," the automaton continued earnestly.

Vanetta turned dagger-like eyes to Natalie, daring her to answer, or say anything at all.

Of course, the internal answer was a resounding yes, she would like to see Vanetta's breasts, and a lot more than that besides, but she had some sense in her head.

"What other items do you have for sale?" Natalie asked loudly.

The automaton, in their usual cheerful and clueless way—though not all automatons were like that, merely most of them—answered instantly, listing off the two other Epic items she had. They were equally as stunning as the first, and that brief introduction into their first Eros Shop was proof enough why Acacia had insisted so fervently that the City was an unparalleled opportunity for delvers.

Though, Natalie did acknowledge it would take a significant amount of time to earn enough tokens, much less Empowered ones, to buy one of the Epics. The prices were eye-watering.

They left the necklace store some time later, heads spinning.

"I guess I could get used to having my tits out," Vanetta said, somewhat numbly. "And everyone else would get used to them, right? It'd stop being sexual, in a way."

Yeah, Natalie doubted she would ever get tired of seeing a hot girl's tits, but maybe she shouldn't say that.

"There's gonna be other items," she said instead. "Some of them are normal." Not every incredible piece of loot had as bizarre of a drawback as that first Epic, though it had been stronger for it, certainly. "Do what makes you comfortable," she said, voice firm. "Raw efficiency isn't everything. Your feelings matter more than a bit more power."

Vanetta rubbed her forehead and didn't reply. Natalie wondered if she even agreed.

They advanced into the next store. This one sold cloth armor meant for mages, which meant it was irrelevant to both Natalie and the rogue, who wore heavy and light armor respectively, but their curiosity was so piqued they perused the wares anyway. And besides, it might serve as a gift for Ana or Liz.

They left that shop in a similar daze.

"Natalie," the dark-haired rogue said. "Why did that robe cover everything except between her legs?"

"It's the fashion these days," Natalie replied, her voice less faint than her partner, but still obviously incredulous. "And it's breathable."

"Breathable," Vanetta repeated. "I bet."

Since they had time to waste until the assignment reset, they  wandered the shopping district, peeking into every store. Interestingly, wares restocked: what they found today might not even be available when they finally earned enough Tokens. But it also wasn't refreshed daily or anything so frequent, so taking notes on what they wanted wasn't a waste of time either.

Nothing ever rose above the rank of Epic, though regularly-spawned Epics were already of such a high rarity tier that a person might spend their life delving the third floor and never run into one. They were more common at higher levels, yes, but this was the third floor, and so Epics were unbelievably uncommon, undoubtedly the first that any of these people had seen.

There were other Citygoers lingering around the various stores, and a conversation with one of them revealed something important.

"The Emporium?" Natalie asked curiously.

"Yeah," Damien, the older boy, said. He was tall, well-built, and spectacularly on display: his armor was only slightly less revealing than Natalie's. He'd wasted no time running his eyes up and down Natalie's body, grinning good-naturedly and a bit lazily at her, though when she'd cleared her throat and adjusted her metal top, he'd brought his eyes up to hers and kept them there, the smile slipping—not in a rude manner, but simply recognizing the interest wasn't returned.

Natalie got the feeling that propriety was, reasonably, lowered in the City of Eros, and stealing obvious glances of other Citygoers' bodies was far less frowned upon. Still, people showed basic respect, and Acacia's explanations of what happened with accidental pillory-events confirmed that. Flirting and honestly fucking was probably a common event among Citygoers, and Damien had been happy to check her out: but also quick to rein himself in when Natalie made it clear she wasn't interested. Which she respected. She didn't want to be ogled by men, only women, but such things couldn't practically be avoided in this place, and it was their follow-up that mattered.

"It's where the best of the best items are," he told her. "It's the big building at the end of the district. Keep walking that way," he pointed the direction they'd already been headed. "And you'll see it. Problem is, you need a key to get in."

"A key? How do you get one?"

"There's no guaranteed way," Damien said, "but I heard Coliseum fights drop them pretty often." He shrugged. "Gotta do something that draws the City's attention, generally speaking." He grinned a toothy smile. "One of the girls pilloried herself up for three days straight, and an automaton walked up and gave her a key when she finally stumbled away. So there's some creative ways to get it done too." He laughed. "Ah, now that was an event. It's a shame Jennifer left, I miss her." He briefly lost himself in a memory.

"Right," Natalie said, even her cheeks coloring at that whole explanation. "Thanks for letting us know."

"No problem." He patted her shoulder as he left, which Natalie raised an eyebrow at, but didn't shrug the touch off. "Love your armor, by the way," he added. "Does wonders for your ass."

"Thanks," she said dryly. Her eyes flicked down to his own. "Yours too." Her tone made it clear she wasn't flirting.

Damien laughed, then left. Again, she couldn't really blame anyone for being a flirt, considering the environment they'd found themselves in. He'd been at the City for a while, it sounded like. Social norms adjusted quickly, considering these surroundings.

"Well," Vanetta said, eying the boy as he left. "All it takes is offering yourself up in a pillory for three straight days to get a key. I'm sure we'll find one in no time." Sarcasm dripped from her words.

"Coliseum fights too," Natalie said. "And other ways. Just have to draw the City's attention. I'm sure we can do that."

Seeing how she was the Paladin of Lust? Natalie doubted she wouldn't find herself the owner of such a key by accident, come time.

Though, hopefully sooner than later. She wanted to know what was in the Emporium, if even the basic shops sold Epics.