Dungeons and Dalliances
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 too much self-sabotage. Plus, there was wisdom in showing Elida the skill but having her think it weaker than it was—since it was yet to be upgraded and empowered.

But Elida would know to expect unknowns; Natalie knew the rogue would have tricks up her sleeves in turn. Plus, it was impossible to not show her teammates that she'd leveled up. The jump in base stats alone would give it away. Anyone watching her as carefully as Elida would notice within a few fights.

Having a temporary weapon, the hulking two-handed club, didn't bother her. Honestly, she had missed the variety of weapons she'd trained with prior to coming to Tenet, so swapping added a freshness to her fights that she enjoyed. A club wasn't a difficult weapon to use, either. It took even less technique than her warhammer. So there was little adjustment needed.

Three days before their two-week time limit was up, the inevitable happened. After so long, she had honestly expected to wait until the very last day before they were booted out of the city, but instead, the event arrived early.

The Coliseum. Her against Elida—in four hours.

"Naturally, this isn't something we can skip out on," Elida told the other three after everyone had tracked down their names, read what they'd gotten, and met up again. "Our apologies. It seems you three received weak assignments this cycle. Normally we would've done another Ruins run."

Vanetta shrugged. "Could be worse," she said. "Can't help it. Four hours, right? I'll be there—this ought to be interesting."

"Indeed," Elida said, keeping her face polite and guarded. Without further discussion, she turned and began walking away. "I'll see you then, Natalie."

Natalie blinked. She'd expected the girl to speak with her. Why had she beaten a hasty retreat? She watched her go, brow furrowing.

"Good luck, I suppose," Faye said, hovering for a second to also frown at Elida, before turning to take her own leave. Clementine trailed after her; those two had mostly been associating with each other, in the same way Vanetta and Natalie had made an unofficial duo.

With just her and Vanetta left, Natalie looked at her and said, "Huh. This changes things."

"It does?"

"I didn't intend on going into the Emporium until the end of the week, because I'd assumed that would be when the Coliseum assignment would show up. But now? I can't afford to lose to Elida."

Vanetta didn't need her to spell it out. "So you're going early."

Yeah. And she intended on upgrading her skills too. But items first. What she got in the Emporium might adjust how valuable some skills were compared to each other.

"I am. It's worth bringing a little less Tokens in, I guess. There's only three days left anyway."

"But you're going to get a good chunk from the Coliseum bout itself," Vanetta pointed out. "So it's not a 'small amount'."

Natalie winced. "Yeah."

"You sure it's worth it?"

"I … am," she said, in a way that made it clear she wasn't.

"I guess you two are rivals, and I don't know the full story. But really? It's that important?" Vanetta hesitated. For several seconds—clearly deciding whether she wanted to continue. "You know," she sighed, seeming annoyed but coming to a decision. "You can ask for a loan, if you need."

Natalie was taken aback. "A loan?"

Vanetta gave her an irritated look. "There is someone right in front of you with a stockpile of her own. Take my supply in, and pay me back with your Coliseum earnings, and whatever else you get over these next three days. We'll have to estimate how much you can actually spend, but—you know." She shrugged. "A loan. We've been here long enough we can make a good guess what you'll earn over three days."

Natalie hadn't even considered asking for Vanetta's Tokens. It seemed like the sort of thing she'd have said no to, even if they were growing closer. And obviously Elida, Faye, and Clementine wouldn't have helped—except perhaps with a purposefully predatory loan, where Natalie would have to pay back much more than they gave her. But with Vanetta, it sounded like she was simply willing to help.

"Not that I'm doing it just to help," Vanetta said hastily, as if reading her mind. "If you see something in there that would be good on me, scoop it up. But only something ridiculous, a must-buy. We'll talk about what qualifies. Also, I want info on how the Emporium works."

Okay, so Vanetta was giving requirements, but they weren't exploitative ones. She was clearly offering to help more out of goodwill than to benefit herself.

"And I want a favor at a future date," Vanetta added, as if needing to insist she wasn't trying to help. Her cheeks were coloring. "Don't overthink it."

Natalie's lips quirked, and she chose not to tease—because Vanetta was doing her a solid. "Appreciate it. And yeah, if you're willing, that would be a huge help." It meant she could head into the Emporium early with the same amount of Tokens as she'd have had at the end of the week, with no downsides. "I bet everything is bind on pick-up, though," she pointed out. "That's what the rumor is. Otherwise everyone would be paying people to bring something out for them."

Vanetta had already known that, so she grimaced rather than seemed surprised. Which was why Natalie knew she was inventing these 'requirements' to make it seem like she wasn't simply being a good friend.

"In any case." Vanetta lifted her chin. "Let's go get them. They're in my room."

On the way over, the two discussed the relevant topics: how much Natalie was allowed to spend from Vanetta's supply—estimating based on current earnings and what they suspected the Coliseum would give—and what Vanetta wanted Natalie to buy for her, in the very unlikely scenario where there was a non-bound Emporium item that suited her. The hypothetical almost certainly wouldn't come to fruition, but best to chat about it just in case.

Despite giving Natalie a limit on how much to spend, Vanetta handed over her entire supply. It was a touching show of trust, because Vanetta clearly wasn't the kind of person to place much hope in another person.

"And stop looking at me like that," Vanetta said, poking her in the chest. "Like I said, you also owe me a favor. I'm doing this for myself, not for you."

Natalie stopped herself from rolling her eyes. "Thanks anyway. I really appreciate it."

With the generous loan given, it was finally time to tackle the Emporium.