Dungeons and Dalliances

"What the hell was that?" Natalie exclaimed. "That thing was harder to kill than most bosses. And it's a goblin."

"Was a goblin," Jordan said dryly, stepping up to join her. "Now it's pulp."

Indeed, layering an almost fully-charged [Smite] followed by half her team's strongest attacks had left the creature a gruesome sight. Several stages past simply 'dead.' And Natalie was perfectly fine with that. Anything that guaranteed it wouldn't be standing back up.

"Was it just me," Natalie said. "Or was that thing smart, too?"

"Definitely fought like it." Jordan cocked her head. "Or do you mean … sentient?"

Natalie frowned. It hadn't ever spoken to them, though maybe that was because either of their parties lacked the opportunity. She almost regretted not trying. Then again, starting a conversation mid-fight against something that powerful could have been a horrible idea. Her curiosity only went so far; she'd rather be alive than get answers.

Before she could respond to Jordan, movement at the goblin's corpse drew her eye. Incredulously, she rose her hammer, readying herself for a second wave of combat.

But it wasn't the goblin coming back to life. Which. Good. Because that would have been completely absurd.

Rather, the golden lines across its body were shifting. Moving. They snaked around, writhing, slowly pooling upward, strands of thick golden strings bundling around his chest. They began to detach from the creature's mangled corpse, flowing upward like liquid, growing shinier before hardening and taking on a crystalline composition.

When the process had finished, a jagged golden shard floated two feet above the dead monster.

"What," Natalie said.

***

Shard of Greed. It responds to the presence of a Paladin.

***

"What the hell," she said.

Shock rippled through the rest of her teammates as they read the item's description. It hovered there, otherworldly. Shining a bright gold that seemed almost too vibrant to exist.

"Hm," Ana said. "I predicted something like this would happen."

Sofia stared at the woman. "You did?"

"She did," Natalie confirmed. It had been part of Ana's reasoning for taking Natalie's [Empowered] [Divine Invigoration]—the possibility that 'something strange was going on with the world', and their quest might somehow relate to that. And thus Natalie's class.

And clearly, she'd been right.

Because 'Shard of Greed?' That definitely had something to do with the Passions.

"Is this why they've been acting so weird?" Jordan asked. "Hoarding stuff? Stealing items and bringing them back to base? Goblins don't do that, but something corrupted by Greed…" she trailed off.

"Influenced," Ana corrected.

Jordan gave her an odd look. "Same thing, no?"

"Would you call Natalie corrupted by Lust, then?"

Jordan blinked. She opened her mouth to reply seriously—then snorted. Green eyes flicked to Natalie. "Honestly? A little, yeah." She laughed. "But yes, influenced, then." She frowned as her seriousness came back. "But monsters can be paladins of the Passions, too? And that thing was one?"

"I don't think some random goblin was bestowed in the same way Natalie is," Sofia said dubiously. "It died too easy for that. But maybe in a lesser way?"

"It would make sense if a god or goddess could vary the extent of their investiture," Ana said. "Though the revelation that they can sponsor monsters and not just humans is an interesting development."

"An interesting development," Natalie repeated flatly.

"Indeed," Ana said, missing or ignoring Natalie's tone.

"So it's leaking onto the surface, too?" Liz asked. "People are in danger?"

They paused at that.

"Not really. It died easily enough," Malice said, sounding far less unnerved by this event than the rest of them. In fact, she was looking between each of their members seeming bemused. "Why are you all acting so weird?"

Everyone looked at her. The wolfgirl was roughed up from the fight: dried blood coated her shoulder where the arrow had pierced, and she was generally filthy, having rolled around in the dirt as she wrestled with the goblin. She had gotten plenty of other blood on her too, and some of it was surely her own, even if Liz's heals had mostly patched her up.

"What?" Malice asked, confusion deepening. "You're all being dramatic. It wasn't even that strong."

"Do you know anything about this?" Sofia asked.

Malice sniffed. "Of course not. But it sounds like your guesses are plausible. Greed sponsored a monster."

"Does that mean monsters in the dungeon can be sponsored, too? Or only surface ones?"

Malice considered the question, then shivered. "The Dungeon would not like that. We're her property, not theirs." She shrugged. "But again, I don't know. How would I?"

Sofia frowned at the lack of answers.

"Uh, guys," Liz said. "Is it just me, or is it growing brighter?"

Their attention had briefly turned away from the [Shard of Greed]. Natalie looked back to see that the crystalline chunk was indeed emitting a brilliant light, coating the forest in rays of gold in slow, deep pulses. Pulses that were growing faster by the second.

"Is it dangerous?" Jordan asked, alarmed.

"Is it valuable?" Natalie countered. "It says it's responding to me. Should I go grab it?"

The team shared looks of varying levels of concern and hesitation.

"Yeah," Malice said easily. "Do that. See what happens."

Natalie didn't think she would be taking Malice's advice on caution, so she glanced at Jordan.

The rogue hesitated.

"I mean … it's risky. But at the same time, it's there for a reason, isn't it?"

"Just be careful," Sofia said.

Apprehensively, Natalie approached the goblin's corpse, and the floating shard above it, tense and ready for whatever might happen. She might have just let it sit there for a while longer, discussing what to do, if the pulsing wasn't growing thicker and more erratic. While she had no way to know if her impression was correct, it seemed like if she left it alone, it would shatter, or explode, or otherwise become unstable. She was on a time limit.

Getting within a few feet, the shard reacted. It wobbled, sensing her proximity, then flung toward her. Natalie yelped and stumbled a step backward, almost falling in surprise.

The shard slammed into her chest. Heat immediately started coursing through her. Intense—like fire, then electricity, then pure magma coursing through her veins. All at once, the sensations disappeared, finished before she even had time to register pain. Just intensity. Some of it lingered, making her skin tingle.

***

A fragment of Greed has been subsumed by Lust. Carnal Energy has risen substantially.

***

Natalie stared down at herself with wide eyes, free hand grasping at her chest as she looked down at where the shard vanished.

"Woah," she said.

The team had rushed over to her the moment the shard had reacted. They surrounded her now, concerned.

"What happened?" Sofia demanded. "What was that?"

Natalie looked inward at her Carnal Energy reserves. That precious resource responsible for upgrading and empowering her skills.

"Okay," she whispered. "Now that's pretty awesome."