4.39 – ❤ Swapped VIII & IX

It was, indeed, something flashier. Coincidentally, it was another weapon—a magical casting implement just like Liz had received, though in this case, not a wand. Nor a crystal ball, like what Ana would typically wield.

Nor, indeed, a weapon in any traditional sense.

"Oh," Ana said. "That is … quite strange."

"Strange," Natalie repeated flatly. "That's the understatement of the year."

Liz's wand, at least, had changed into lewd form through a 'form shift'. This spellcasting weapon, on the other hand, seemed to be an item with a more static presentation.

***

Expanding Nexus Gem

Rare

Lv. 2

Effects

- Arcane Reservoir. Mana can be stored inside the Expanding Nexus Gem and later drawn upon. When the Nexus Gem is overfilled, maximum capacity and physical size grow.

- The Nexus Gem can only be used when inserted by someone other than the wearer.

- Maximum capacity can only be increased while unequipped.

- Moderate increase to magical Furor.

Description

A hands-free primary weapon made of smooth steel and capped with a sparkling gemstone. When the gem is emptied of mana, it has a dull, clear appearance. Filled at maximum capacity, the gem will glow a pale, lustrous blue.

***

"This is absurd," Natalie said.

"I agree," Ana replied instantly. "An item that increases mana pool? With a persistent moderate Furor boost? That isn't a weapon that remotely deserves to be called a 'level two' weapon. How is it so strong?"

"Strong," Natalie said. "That's what you're focused on."

Ana paused. "The method of equipping is, admittedly, odd," she conceded. "But I already agreed with you there. And yes—it's strength is the more astounding feature. Plus, from a practical standpoint, that it can be wielded hands-free is objectively good."

Was Ana joking? Messing with her again?

"Though the fact I can't insert it myself does make it less convenient," Ana said. "The logistics could be an issue, especially in sudden spars or other events hosted at the Academy." She tilted her head. "Perhaps the solution is to always leave it in."

Natalie stared at her. There wasn't much else to do in a situation like this, with Ana delivering sentences like that.

"I wonder how much it grows, too," Ana continued, either oblivious or uncaring about Natalie's incredulity. Or maybe intentionally playing it up. Natalie really couldn't tell when it came to this girl. "I don't have any experience with that sort of insertion, so hopefully not too much. At least it looks manageable as it stands." She eyed the buttplug. "Somewhat. It's rather large, even for a starting point." She held a hand out. "Let me see?"

Natalie mutely handed it to her. Ana turned the item over, then held the buttplug up and inspected it closely. She chewed her lip.

"Yes, it's going to be a tight fit. At least we were given lube. Think you can help?"

"Help?"

"I'm obviously going to equip it," Ana said matter-of-factly. "And the description says I can't put it in myself if I want its effects. So."

"You want me to plug you."

"Need you to plug me," Ana corrected. She paused. "Though 'want' would also be accurate. I realize these situations we're being put in are awkward, but I am having fun. Maybe that's worth making clear, considering our circumstances."

Natalie's head started to hurt. Why did she have to deliver that reassurance in such a monotone way?

As for the request itself. Plugging Ana. As a matter of necessity. Helping her equip her new weapon.

It was always one thing after the other with the dungeon, wasn't it?

"Okay. Yeah. Sure. Whatever. It's a good weapon, so let's get it in you." Ana had asked, after all, and who was Natalie to protest her unwavering resolve for practicality? "Do you want to fill it up with mana first? Since you can only do so while it's out."

"No. Better to see how I handle it at this size. And it doesn't say I can't fill it while it's in me—only overfill it, to make it stronger. If I had to guess, because each new upgrade should come with a challenge."

"Yeah. Right." Ana had paid more attention to the details than her. Natalie, personally, had been struggling to accept her new reality—no matter how often, and in how many ways, the dungeon shoved it in her face.

Ana unceremoniously handed the item back. "Okay. Then, thanks for the help."

"Just being a good teammate," Natalie said, feeling ridiculous. She sat down. "Here, get onto my lap. Easier."

Natalie patted her thigh, and without hesitation, Ana laid herself onto Natalie's lap, her butt sticking up. Ana's cock—obviously hard from anticipation—pulsed heat in Natalie's leg, sandwiched between her thigh and Ana's stomach. Natalie did her best to ignore it.

And, at Ana's naked body being so close to her again, she tried not to think about how amazing Ana's cock had felt stuffed down her throat, the noises she'd made while spilling seed straight into her stomach. Seeing how the girl was naked on her lap, asking to be plugged, it wasn't easy. Natalie desperately fought away her temptations for a round two.

Accepting her fate, Natalie uncorked the potion of cleaning lubricant, then poured some of the thick, slippery liquid onto her fingers. She looked down at Ana's ass. Or, her own ass. Natalie had known in an abstract way that she had a nice butt, but getting to admire it from an outside perspective was … different. That, also, she tried not to think about—also to little success. How perverted was it that she couldn't stamp down arousal at seeing her own butt? Gods, this was all so weird.

She wondered what it would feel like. Despite having her cock stolen, a phantom urge to have her weapon wrapped around a hot, tight hole coursed through her, seeing Ana laid across her with her ass sticking up. Except, it was her ass.

She seriously couldn't deal with this. Not that she had much of a choice.

Finally, Natalie brought her lubricated fingers to Ana's asshole. She rubbed the liquid around, teasing her entrance. Ana shivered at the cool sensation—or maybe more at Natalie's fingers caressing her. A sigh escaped the other girl, which Natalie ignored. She was already melting from this very unfortunate—or very fortunate—encounter, and she couldn't admit, even to herself, just how aroused she was.

Slowly, Natalie worked the lubricant around Ana's asshole, then slid a finger in, expanding the tight hole. Another noise of either pleasure and surprise escaped Ana, this time joined with a wiggle of her hips. Natalie felt nearly dizzy with her mounting arousal. Her reservations started to melt away—or any conscious thought at all. She had a cute girl—wearing her body, sure, but a cute girl nonetheless—on her lap, about to be filled up with a buttplug, and Natalie's brain was determined to enjoy the experience despite all of the oddities surrounding it.

She toyed around with Ana, wiggling her finger in, coating her insides with cleaning lubricant. A second finger joined the first, drawing another noise and another little wiggle of her hips. Natalie swirled around, then tugged her fingers apart, stretching the other girl in preparation. Moment by moment, Ana relaxed into the invasion.

Natalie replaced her fingers with two thumbs, then pulled gently in either direction, intensifying the stretch. She marveled at the noises Ana made, the reactions drawn by her arousal. It didn't matter how stoic the girl was—she couldn't sit silently through having her asshole played with. Just like she'd gone red-faced and panting while having her cock sucked. Even Ana had her limits.

"Taking your time, aren't you?" Ana groaned.

Natalie twitched in surprise. She'd almost forgotten where she was. She'd been playing around with Ana out of sheer enjoyment—enraptured by the way she could make her squirm.

"Just getting you ready," Natalie lied—though it was also the truth. "Better you're relaxed and stretched out. Like you said, it's gonna be a tight fit."

Natalie grabbed the buttplug and lined it up to Ana's hole. It tapered into a point, making it easy to insert, but at its widest, it had to be between two and three fingers wide—not an easy goal, seeing how Natalie's body wasn't exactly used to this sort of thing. She had to assume Ana wasn't experienced either, so the mental resistance of having something so large pushed up her butt would take some conquering. And Natalie was looking forward to that. Getting to help Ana push through.

"Ready?" she murmured.

With Ana's face buried into her forearm, she mutely nodded.

Natalie rubbed the plug around, working the lubricant into the cold metal, teasing the tip across Ana's rim. She pushed, and the loosened-up hole slowly spread as her backdoor accepted the tip of metal. Ana groaned at the sensation, and Natalie's heart slammed in her chest, despite not being stimulated in any way herself.

Bit by bit, Natalie pushed deeper into Ana. The plug was too much for the poor girl, that much was obvious right away. But Ana was up to the challenge. Natalie wondered how much was her arousal helping her push through, and how much was her persistent 'sense of practicality'—her desire to equip her new weapon.

"There you go," Natalie murmured. The words slipped out without much conscious input. "You've got this. Easy does it. How you holding up?"

"It's tight," Ana gasped. "Just get it over with. Push."

"I don't think that's smart," Natalie said. Better to work it in slowly.

Though, admittedly, Natalie was enjoying the way Ana was squirming. As much because it was the better way to handle this, Natalie wanted to take her time for her own enjoyment.

Natalie wiggled the plug in deeper, inching closer to the most bulbous portion. She met resistance, and Ana squirmed even more fervently than before, but she didn't tell Natalie to stop. She pressed her forehead into her arm, grit her teeth, and made noises of pleasure mixed with pain—her stoicism breaking in face of the slow, mounting pressure.

Finally, they reached the summit. Natalie gave one last push, and Ana's asshole spread to accommodate the entire plug—and her ass swallowed the toy. Ana made her loudest groan yet, her back arching as the toy slipped in.

But she'd taken it. A dull gemstone accessory—empty of mana—now adorned her back door. Apparently, Ana would be wearing it for the rest of the dungeon. And maybe to class, too.

"There we go," Natalie said, patting Ana's butt. "All situated. How's it feel?"

"Better than I expected, now that it's in," Ana said, surprising Natalie with her casual tone. She rolled off her lap. "And, admittedly, more painful going in. But not so bad, all things considered." She stood, then shook her hips side to side, as if getting herself, and her new toy, situated. Her cock wiggled around with the motion, hard and with precum glistening at the tip.

Ana frowned. "It's very … noticeable." She took a few test steps, walking around the room, then shivered, her back arching. "Even just moving around is a lot. Dungeoneering will be interesting, like this."

Interesting. Natalie snorted at the phrasing. It would definitely be 'interesting'.

"How visible is it?" Ana asked, turning around and displaying her butt—and the gemstone.

"Very," Natalie said plainly.

"Hm." She shrugged. "Oh well. It's an incredible item. I would be idiotic not to use it."

Idiotic might not be the word Natalie would use, but she didn't argue the point.

"So, that's it?" Ana asked. "The loot chest is empty?"

"I'm not sure I could handle another item," Natalie muttered. She stood, walked over to the chest, then closed and opened it. No new item materialized, so their loot was indeed expended. "Empty."

"Excellent. Shall we keep moving?"

Already composed again. Natalie might be able to extract physical reactions from the girl in the heat of the moment, but it seemed Ana would always regain her calmness not long after. It might actually be impossible to make her blush outside of actively pleasuring her. And if not so, then at least plugging the girl up hadn't done the job.

So unfair. Because Natalie herself was definitely burning scarlet from the encounter—as she had been since the start of these challenges.

"Keep it moving," Natalie agreed. She headed for the door.

"Should we talk about it?" Ana asked suddenly.

Natalie froze, then turned slowly to face the girl. "What do you mean?"

"Us," Ana said. "And all of this." She chewed her lip, her brow furrowing the smallest amount in what Natalie could only assume was concern. "What we just did. Because you seem—"

"There's nothing to talk about," Natalie announced loudly, cutting off that topic of discussion. "We're just doing what we need to. Right?"

Ana didn't reply right away, instead choosing to study Natalie. She didn't seem to know what to make of her response. Natalie appreciated the concern, the acknowledgment that what was going on was strange, and embarrassing—to her, at least—but Natalie cleared her throat loudly, again interrupting the girl's incoming response. She would rather not 'talk about it'.

"Seriously," Natalie said. "Let's just keep going. All of … that … doesn't matter. Or at least, no need to have a conversation about it. It's not a big deal."

"If you say so," Ana said slowly.

"I do."

Ana hesitated, but eventually nodded. Though she didn't seem satisfied leaving it there. After a moment, she opened her mouth, but seemed to rethink whatever she'd been about to say. Finally, words came out.

"Then, for the record, let me just say that I thought you did a great job."

"A great job?"

"Earlier." Ana gestured down at her crotch. Her cock, which was still glistening from the oil-like lubricant she'd covered her body with—and previously, Natalie's saliva.

Natalie stared at her. "A great job?"

"You're very skilled."

Like she was congratulating her on a good performance in a spar.

Somehow, despite Natalie's total lack of composure, she might be the one who knew how to handle this situation better.

Ana had shown a surprising amount of emotion during Natalie's pleasuring of her, but outside sex, it seemed that the girl returned to her previous unreadability—and also, her social cluelessness. Because she thought Natalie had 'done a great job' sucking her dick? That was what she felt like she should make clear?

Heavens Above.

She wished she could know what was going on inside Ana's head. What did she really think of all this? Knowing Ana, she might tell Natalie if she asked—in explicit detail. Though Natalie wasn't sure she was ready to hear the answer, delivered in the girl's stony monotone.

And, bizarre as the words had been, Natalie admittedly did appreciate the compliment. Not that she wanted to go further down that conversational path.

"Thanks," Natalie said dryly. "But, seriously, let's continue? We've got a dungeon to clear."

Ana nodded, also eager to move on. She gestured for Natalie to continue.

"And if I had to guess," Natalie said, "the next room's gonna be combat. We only have a pattern of two so far, but I bet it alternates. Fighting, then … other stuff." She hefted up her hammer. "Though, who knows what bullshit the dungeon will throw at us? Like always, be ready."