Dungeons and Dalliances

7.21 – Small Talk

It didn't take long to understand why Elida had given such strong words of praise for Vanetta. It was a bit terrifying how easily she could cut her enemies down provided the right opening. Her class seemed particularly suited toward assassination, which was a common theme for many rogues, but Vanetta especially; if she managed to sneak up behind a target and backstab them, that was often the end of the fight, no matter how healthy they had been.

Natalie wasn't able to identify many of her skills, possibly because she didn't need to call on them considering the lack of real difficulty so far. She did, however, certainly have a stealth skill that worked well in shadows, making her all but disappear in the twilit ruins—an environment that Natalie suspected suited her.

She hoped she provided an equally good impression, not that she was hoping for a spot on the team, but because who wouldn't want to impress a rising star of their class? Even if said rising star seemed to be deliberately keeping a low profile, something Natalie found intriguing.

They didn't talk much as they fought their way forward, headed for the city-within-the-ruins in the distance. A collection of monsters faced them, mostly Wraiths, but many others including [Runework Golems], [Feral Direhounds], and [Malevolent Vinebeasts], the last of which had come as quite a surprise, with the flora coming to life to assault them. Not that such a thing was rare in the dungeon, but she'd unconsciously started to focus more on the ruins and hiding spots the detritus of the once-civilization provided than the actual greenery that had overtaken it. But unsurprisingly, everything in the ruins wanted to kill them, not one particular part of it.

After an hour of steadily working their way through, they sat down for a break.

"Doesn't seem like we're more than a quarter of the way there," Natalie said. "Hard to gauge distance though." They'd climbed up a nearby vantage point recently to check.

"It takes however long it takes," Vanetta said.

Natalie hoped she hadn't sounded like she'd been complaining. She'd just been commenting.

It was hard to strike up conversations with this woman. She was quiet and reserved wholly dissimilar to someone like Ana. Not unfriendly like the impression she got from Faye, but she suspected Vanetta might not want to fill the silence either. Natalie wondered whether she should stay quiet then, but she didn't want to trudge along for hours in dead silence.

Thankfully, Vanetta solved the dilemma, catching her by surprise by speaking first.

"You move quickly with that hammer of yours," she said. "For its size and weight."

Natalie seized the opportunity. For students from Tenet, a world famous delving academy, small talk about combat was as much a staple as the weather was for commoners.

"Thanks," she said. "I have a skill that makes it lighter." It was a friendly concession, giving away that detail about her class, but a nominal one, because anyone who thought about it would deduce that she had to have a skill like that, else her strength would have been totally absurd. Which it kind of was, for her level, but not so much she'd be able to handle [Valentine] so easily with just raw stats. "You're a nightmare yourself. Glad I haven't had to spar you." She paused, then added, "Kinda mad I haven't, either." Because as annoying as dealing with someone as slippery and deadly as what she'd seen would be, Natalie was also always spoiling for a good fight. Better to learn to deal with such an opponent in a spar than the real thing, too.

"Thank you," Vanetta said.

"I'm surprised you aren't higher on the ranking lists." She tried for a casual tone, though with a curious tilt of her head, making it obvious that she knew Vanetta's ranking was a deliberate effort on her part.

Vanetta was quiet for a moment. "I see no reason to draw attention to myself," she settled on eventually.

"I can understand that," she said. Sort of. "And I won't go spreading around what I see down here, by the way, that's just common courtesy." There was an implicit request that the favor was returned. Vanetta nodded idly. Natalie hesitated. "Am a bit curious, though. Wanting privacy is natural, but performing well at Tenet comes with all sorts of benefits."

"None that I need."

"Not even attention from potential sponsors?"

"No."

Huh. That sparked even more questions, because if she had no desire or need for outside help, did that mean she already had a powerful sponsor? Elida said she hadn't been able to discover much about the girl when digging into her past, but maybe Natalie shouldn't trust what Elida said in the first place. It had been an offhand comment, though, so likely not a lie. Then again, that sort of subtle deception would be perfectly natural for a Parda-Halt so—shaking her head, Natalie mused how that line of reasoning just went around and around, so she stopped thinking about it.

"Why Elida?" Natalie asked suddenly.

Vanetta cocked her head.

"Did you team with her, I mean."

"Because she's strong."

"But also a bitch."

"Yes," Vanetta said. "What does that matter?"

Natalie wrinkled her nose. It was hardly surprising to find out that Vanetta's only motivation for being on Elida's team was her competence. It was also nice to hear that she also wasn't fond of the girl's personality. But still. It didn't bother her in the slightest?

"I think I'd sacrifice some efficiency if it meant actually liking who I'm risking my life with," Natalie said.

Vanetta considered this. She at least didn't deride the perspective, which Elida might have.

"That's reasonable," the scar-faced girl eventually said.

She didn't elaborate further. They lapsed into silence.

"Is having two rogues an issue, on the team?" Natalie tried. "Generally speaking?"

Vanetta considered this question carefully too. She seemed to be a woman who, even when she did choose to be talkative—by her standards—would think over the words she used.

"It's not ideal," she said. "But we're different enough in style and function it's less of a problem than you'd assume."

"Oh?"

"As far as rogues go, Elida leans more toward being a fighter than an assassin. She's extremely capable at fighting a monster head-on, perhaps as much as an actual fighter. And I take the more traditional role of a rogue."

Natalie had noticed that, and already taken note of it. "She's good at dodging, even head-on. I've seen her go whole spars without taking a hit."

"Skilled," Vanetta agreed, and there was a hint of approval in her voice—a genuine bit of admiration that Natalie stopped herself from being annoyed by.

Vanetta took another swig from her canteen, then capped it and put it back on her belt. Natalie could read by the way she pushed off the wall their break was over.

"Shall we?" Vanetta asked.

Natalie nodded and did the same, readying herself for the second leg of their expedition.

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