"Rules of e?" Malice asked, shivering as Natalie left her hands resting ohigh aomach. "What do you mean?"

  "You're an amazing fighter," Natalie said, feeling the wolfgirl straighten up proudly in her p, "but when I summon you, I want you to take a little loo make sure you know what's going on. Especially if it's other humans attag us. It might be a nohal fight. Or even if there isn't other people there, then we might have some oal, like with a boss." She shrugged. "Dungeon enters be weird, you know. Arbitrary. Lots of rules. So you 't just rush in."

  "Hm," Malice said. "I guess that's true."

  "But seriously," Natalie said, kissing Mali the o soften the words. "You were—are—incredible. One of the best fighters I've ever seen, especially hand-to-hand. If you wouldn't mind sparring sometime, there's a lot I could learn from you."

  Malice squirmed in her p, and while Natalie couldn't see her face, she imagi was burning with heat. Natalie was ying it on iionally thick—Malice obviously liked the praise. Not that she didn't mean the words, though. She absolutely did.

  "You were det enough too, I suppose," Malice said, flustered. "I also wouldn't mind sparring with you."

  "Cool." She kissed Mali the neck again. "But there's more. For when I take you out." She hesitated. "When we're around people, I think you maybe shouldn't talk. If that's fine?"

  "Hm? Why?"

  Natalie was relieved that Malice didn't sound offended. Simply curious at the request. "Because I call you a summon, but even with that expnation, it's still weird how human-like you look. Even more so, a summon that talk and has a personality would … draw eyes." To put things lightly.

  "Why would you care?"

  "Just as a matter of staying safe," Natalie said. "I guess. I don't know. Maybe nobody would give a shit. But if they did, I don't want them taking the [Capture Core] to study you."

  Malice bristled. "Take the core? Simply kill them if they try."

  That obviously wasn't a viable solution for a whole slew of reasons, but Natalie chose a different reason to reject the idea. "I'm hardly the stro person in the world, you know," she said wryly. "It's why I'm keeping my css a secret too. Plenty of people could force me to do what they want."

  Malice stewed in thought for several moments. Natalie closed her eyes and nuzzled her fato Malice's neck. Seriously—she could get used to having a pet wolfgirl to snuggle with whenever she wanted.

  "I suppose that is an unfortunate reality," Malice said sourly. "But the obvious solution is to bee strong enough that it doesn't matter. So you do whatever you want, to whomever you want, and they won't have a choi the matter."

  That perspective was uling, but nothing ued by this point. Malice was a monster. It was just how she viewed things—through a straightforward, primitive lens.

  Maliiffed. "Not that I care if you wao not talk when other humans are present. Just, I expect my Master to be strong."

  "I'm w on it," Natalie said. "I've only had my css for less than a month. It takes time."

  "heless."

  "That would be hough." Being strong enough to do whatever she wahat was a reason lots of people delved, even if they wouldn't admit it.

  "sidering who your patron is, it's well within yrasp."

  Natalie stiffened.

  "Right …" she said slowly, pulling her off Malice's shoulder. "That's actually the sed big thing I wao talk about. What you know."

  "What I know?" Malice asked, turning her head to hold Natalie's gaze briefly. She looked back forward, her voice taking an uncharacteristically cautious tone. "ecifically?"

  "The dungeon, for one," Natalie said. "My 'patron,' as you've called her twice. And everything else. I've alked to someone from the dungeon before. There's a lot to learn. Especially relevant to my css. Anything you tell me would help."

  Malice was quiet for a bit.

  "You're my temporary Master," she eventually said. "The Keeper of the Crypt owns me for all eternity. When I die, or the core is promised, I will return there. She'll know my mind. She'll know what I said. And I assume she doesn't want her secrets divulged, whatever paltry amount of them I know." She sighed. "So do you uand?"

  A chill went down Natalie's spine. She wondered what kind of territory she was stepping into here. The secrets of the dungeon. The dungeon. Hoeople had spent their lives studying that enigmatic, powerful entity? And here Natalie was, a wolfgirl cuddled between her legs, a reservoir of insight speaking about things they couldn't ever hope to have access to. A first-hand wito how the dungeon funed internally. Natalie might be one of the only people in the world to know how truly sapient the dungeon and its inhabitants really were.

  Gods. What kind of sario had Natalie nded i came to her css, Malice, her patron, the Bestower—all of this? It nearly made her head hurt. It almost seemed like gods and goddesses were the least of her problems.

  "It would cause you issues, long-term, to tell me anything?" Natalie said.

  "Likely."

  "For 'all of eternity,' no less."

  Malice shrugged. "Her moods are ephemeral, as I said. But even so. I suspect she would be upset for some time."

  Natalie was silent.

  "Then I obviously won't press," she sighed, eventually. "It could be important for my situation, but I'm not going to force you into saying anything that puts you in danger."

  A few moments passed.

  Malice huffed.

  "Ugh. Why?" she demanded, her wolf tail swishing, though blocked by how they were sitting, only thumpily against Natalie's leg. "Where did the you from our first fight go?" She made a noise of frustration. "Ag like this, you're definitely not going to get as from me."

  Natalie blinked. "What?"

  "What I do or don't say is entirely my choice," Malice tinued loudly. "You're my Master because I submitted to you—and I ge my mind at any point. I've decided I'm not going to tell you anything because it would cause me problems down the line. If you did, perhaps, want to forswers out of me, then you'd have to put in some work. A lot of work. I wouldn't break easily."

  Natalie digested that.

  She gave one short, incredulous ugh.

  "Malice, you aren't telling me I'm supposed to fuck the answers out of yht?"

  "You couldn't if you tried," Malice decred. "After your behavior my st few summons, I've lost faith in your ability to act as pack leader. If I'm being ho, I'm starting to doubt my servitude entirely. You clearly don't have a spine, or lost it somewhere along the way."

  Natalie bristled, however obvious the goading was.

  She took a breath, calming herself. She sidered the situation for a few moments. Malice's implications—her hidden request.

  Alright.

  Fine.

  If the brat wao be fucked stupid in exge fiving her some answers, Natalie could make that happen.