WinterWhereof

7.109 - Emporium VI

After Natalie paid for the item, the automaton glanced at the growing pile of discarded gear. "We'll purchase those at market price, by the way," she said, gesturing. "It's a service the Emporium offers all its clients, if you're interested."

Natalie blinked. "Seriously? For the same price I bought them?"

"Yes, Mistress."

"Then yeah, absolutely." The gear was cheap by the stan...

7.59 - ❤ Victory

Maddy was given one last opportunity to resist. As she went cross-eyed looking at the fat shadow-cock draped across her face, hot and pulsing and so incredibly tempting, she tried her hardest to remember her duty.

Wayfarer. Teammate. She should contest the shard at every opportunity, not let its host fuck her into mindless submission.

'Fuck her into mindless submission.'

Why d...

7.108 - Emporium V

After Malice's [Capture Core Upgrade Frame], and to a lesser extent the [Kinetic Catalyst Mallet], Natalie's expectations had been set high. So [Primordia's Embrace] didn't exactly make her jaw drop. Still, it was a mythical piece of gear, so she was more than a little excited.

She appreciated that the 'major' boost was to Tenacity, both physical and magical, providing an all-aro...

7.58 - Defeat

Their fundamental mistake, Maddy reflected, was relying on that conclusion they'd subconsciously come to earlier, despite Rosalie's warning.

They'd thought that hitting Delta's main body with a Confusion Bolt would affect both of her bodies, but no—her shadow had been immune to that gambit. Rosalie had pinned down Delta, and Maddy had unleashed a burst of magic toward her, all according...

7.107 - Emporium IV

The automaton mulled the question over, metallic eyes drifting up and to the right as she came to a decision.

"Hm," she said. "I think so? It's vague. Usually our problem is that you give us something too specific, not the other way around." She bit her lip. "I … I have an idea. I think it was meant for you. This is your request?"

That obviously made Natalie furrow her brow. "It w...

7.106 - Emporium III

Her hostess disappeared, giving her time to think. Getting the best possible weapon was undisputedly within her top three priorities, so she didn't second-guess herself there. She had a budget replacement weapon for now, but it was weaker than [Valentine], and she'd felt that painfully over the past several days.

The next two options were deserving of closer consideration, though. With th...

7.57 - Second Duo

When Maddy woke inside a cramped box, she panicked a little. Claustrophobia wasn't a huge thing for her, but she doubted anyone liked waking in strange places barely able to move. Thankfully, the lock yielded after an adrenaline-induced full-body shove upward. Wood splintered and the top crunched open. She popped up, breathing fast, but razor-focused on whatever she might find.

T...

7.105 - Emporium II

The automaton led them through the arched doorway and into the Emporium proper and quickly took a left turn down a smaller hallway. By then, Natalie had worked up the nerve to ask.

"Were you human once?"

The bluntness was deliberate. She didn't know what she expected—maybe a shocked look that would give the truth away. But the automaton slowly turned to blink at her, confusion obv...

7.56 - Relic

She and Astrid made a solid duo—definitely better than the last shard Zoey had been split up for, where Maddy had been her partner. Two backline mages weren't an ideal combo, but a tank and a damage-support hybrid? Nearly perfect.

Despite the strength of their opponents, a Bolstered Astrid was all but unkillable. Sure, she probably wouldn't be able to literally stand there and let a mon...

7.104 - Emporium I

Natalie walked through the shopping district of the City of Eros with growing anticipation. She'd been wondering what sorts of treasures might be found in the Emporium for close to two weeks now. Every citygoer wondered what was inside the most exclusive of shops, when the basic ones sold epics.

But she moderated her expectations. The Palace Basement Vault was even more exclusive than the...

7.103 - Loan

The City of Eros expedition continued as before. There were only two events to look forward to now: the Coliseum and the Emporium. And it would be highly illogical to enter the Emporium without first gathering as many Tokens as possible.

Over the following days, she familiarized herself with [Insatiable Strikes]. A part of her wanted to keep the skill hidden from Elida, but that would be ...

7.55 - Labyrinth

In the hallway exiting the protective artifacts room, they found a large red shield and a wooden staff leaning against the wall.

"That's a relief," Zoey said. "Shard didn't leave our armor, but we get our weapons at least."

Astrid hefted her dragon scale shield up, nodding to herself in satisfaction. She would have been the more disadvantaged between them. As the guardian of the tea...

7.102 - Homing

Though Natalie was excited to discover what her level-up had given, she put off checking for a bit longer. Instead, she dragged a complaining Vanetta to the shower. She hadn't intended to end up with her fingers inside her, but in retrospect, showering with a naked girl meant it was all but impossible to keep her hands away—and she ought to return the favor anyway.

Dried off, t...

7.54 - Protections

While the possibility of Rosalie becoming possessed and wreaking havoc was realistic, it probably wasn't a doomsday scenario. And they didn't know how possession worked in the first place. So while there was cause for concern, after the initial spike of worry, Zoey calmed. Rosalie was an incredible fighter, but not unbeatable.

Then again, possession seemed to empower the user, seeing how ...

7.101 - Stealth

Falling asleep when she knew new skills were on the horizon was no simple task. Thankfully, wringing herself dry—in a few meanings of the phrase—meant she was properly exhausted when she collapsed onto her bed. Though her thoughts raced for a quarter of an hour afterward, the comfort of her sheets and the exhaustion in her limbs eventually won out, lulling her to sleep.

She woke some ...

7.100 - Gearing Back Up

"The Emporium keys are one-time use," Natalie said as they headed for the shopping district. "That means we should hold off until the last day, right?"

"Unless we get another set, yeah."

"Just feels like a waste of tokens, buying gear outside. We should be saving up."

"I'm not disagreeing," Vanetta hedged. "But it's not cut and dried. It's probably better to buy cheap...

7.53 - The Scenario

Zoey woke to a dark, enclosed space. Her hands shot out, and she traced the interior of a stone box just large enough to hold her.

A coffin?

After taking a second to calm herself, she thought: how nostalgic. Unlike that first shard, though, she wasn't crammed inside with another girl to keep her company. Nor was she so weak that she couldn't break out. Flexing and pushing upward, th...

7.99 - Emerged

Despite 'tempting fate' as Vanetta had accused her of, they weren't subjected to any ambushes while lugging their earnings back. Once more, she held her breath as she passed over the inert mass of vines, only releasing it after they'd cleared the hallway without being scooped up and stuffed with aphrodisiac.

Reaching the stairway leading up and out of the Basement, Natalie hovered and cam...

7.52 - Fifth Advancement Shard

Zoey had to admit, she had gotten a better deal out of this than she'd hoped for. She had thought Rosalie would jerk her off onto Astrid at most—but getting milked by her girlfriend's thighs and watching her paint Astrid's face as if it were her own cock doing the job had been a delicious upgrade.

Coming down from the high, they were left with the reality of the situation: their thoroug...

7.98 - Vault IV

Vanetta stuck the ruby earrings in without complaint or wince—apparently, she already had her ears pierced. Then again, she could easily grit her teeth and bear an impromptu piercing, so the more relevant indicator: there was no blood.

Natalie donned her emerald necklace, and the cold metal settled comfortably between her breasts. She felt a supernatural question enter her head—wh...