Luna’s new armor was sleek, purple-lined stormweave plates protecting vital zones while leaving room for the winds to dance across her lithe form. It was light, elegant, and practical... yet hugged her curves in all the right ways. Her [Stormblade] spell didn’t need physical weapons, just mobility, and this outfit gave her plenty.
Nyx, true to her original decision, went with dium armor again. A flexible black ensemble with pink accents, split at the thighs for movent, and reinforced around the vitals with enchanted leather. A shoulder cloak hung off one side, giving her the deadly air of a dark seductress-warrior hybrid.
But it was Aria who surprised them most.
Gone were the mage robes. No flowing sleeves. No fluttering skirts.
In their place was a snug, silver-colored set of light armor. It was form-fitting, minimalist, and functional.
Kaiden raised an eyebrow. "No robes?"
Aria shook her head. "I don’t like it... when you’re in danger."
There was a pause, none quite managing to comprehend her aning. Thus, the Moon Valkyrie continued, "If sothing happens to you, I want to be able to shield you with my body."
Before Kaiden could offer a strong case of protest, Aria smiled. "And, honestly, I’m so done with robes. I might be a mage, but I can’t cast properly if I’m worried about tripping over so glorified curtain. This feels a lot better."
The blunt honesty earned a few blinks from Kaiden and an amused whistle from Luna. But Aria didn’t shy away.
She ant every word.
"Well, alright. If mage robes are annoying, then it can’t be helped."
Kaiden turned toward Bastet next, only to freeze for a second.
She was wearing a thin, high-slit Arubian-style dancer’s dress. Golden rings shimred across her sensually wide hips, and her toned, tanned body was practically illuminating the whole room with all the glow it was giving off. The fabric was barely there in places, but sohow made the outfit more elegant than indecent.
"You do realize we’re fighting vampires, right?" Kaiden asked dryly.
Instead of responding, Bastet looked down at her bare belly, and a truly satisfied expression materialized on her felinid features. "I look good, don’t I? Master~"
"You do, but-" he admitted, then frowned, spotting sothing new.
A dull-silver bracelet on her wrist, etched with ancient scribblings.
"What’s that?"
Bastet raised her hand lazily as a smug undertone erged in her voice. "Silver warding. Its description says that this will weaken the blood magic of hostiles within ten ters."
Kaiden remained silent for a few seconds as he studied the item. Then, he chuckled. "So, even you didn’t go full fashion mode this ti. I’m pleasantly surprised."
She gave a proud little purr in return.
The air shifted. Quiet fell.
They were ready.
Kaiden quickly equipped his Dawnguard armor set. Then, his new greatsword, Twilight Ripper, was placed on his back.
He looked at the girls, his girls. His Valkyries and beloved tanned kitten. His family of aweso beings.
"Let’s use the remaining ti to prepare," he decreed.
They each nodded.
...
What followed was a period of days where Valhalla’s Sinners were nearly radio silent. They published an update saying they were going to undertake a vampire-thed dungeon in the coming days and needed to prepare, having no ti for variety streams like the days leading up to the announcent.
And indeed, they did just that: prepare.
What followed was a stretch that could be best described as ’total focus.’
No streams. No videos.
Just studying and training.
Valhalla’s Sinners locked themselves away in their bunker like they were preparing for war, because, in a way, they were. The only update released to their chaotic fanbase was a short announcent.
"Next stream’s going to be very different from what you might’ve gotten used to in the last few days. We’re heading into a vampire dungeon soon, one that is not only unclaid but even has multiple annoying limitations.
Thus, we don’t have ti to entertain. Every minute of ours will be spent training for the big day."
The internet exploded with reactions.
But none of that mattered to the group, now cloistered inside their hideout, focused entirely on getting ready.
...
The group crowded around the central projector screen in the common area. The room was dimd for ease of visibility, and a half-dozen recordings played at once.
These were carefully selected videos of high-tier awakened battling against the undead in various dungeons. From skeletal monstrosities to regenerating revenants and armored bloodknights, they absorbed it all.
The footage was brutal. Tactical. Fast-paced.
Luna pointed out monster weaknesses and opening windows. Aria dissected group formations and spell timings. Kaiden jotted down ideas on situational stance-switching.
Then Nyx slamd a fist on the pause button.
"Alright! Enough of this! We’re doing this the wrong way!"
Kaiden raised an eyebrow. "What do you an?"
She grabbed the remote, scrolling rapidly through the archive.
"This badass chick is who we need to study!" She hit play.
Scarlet.
The Fla Monarch herself. A stunning, confident, crimson-haired woman radiating heat and dominance as she tore through an undead battalion with overwhelming torrents of hellfire. Her enemies didn’t just fall. They were vaporized.
Luna couldn’t help but release a snort. "You damned bimbo, what are we supposed to learn from this? Do the undead hate being incinerated into carbon dust? Wow, let awaken my S-tier fla spells, just give a second."
"S-shut up!" Nyx deflected, eyes glued to the screen. "Scarlet has so much presence. I want to radiate that kind of dominance."
Luna smirked. "Sounds like to that you want to ride her dominance."
"Do not go there!" Nyx hissed.
"I an, we knew you were a big Scarlet bootlicker already..."
"I’m not a fangirl! I’m just... okay, fine, I’m a big fangirl!" Nyx admitted, cheeks nearly as pink as her hair. "Happy?"
"Not really..." Luna shook her head, turning a bit serious. "Listen, you can fawn over any woman for all I care, just do it on your own ti, okay? We’re facing a grave undertaking right now, I don’t want to waste my energy watching tapes I can’t learn anything from besides the fact that I got a damn long way to go."
"... Fair enough," Nyx nodded, and just like that, the catfight did not break out this ti. The two won found common ground.
The Space Valkyrie then returned to the previous video, and the group resud watching A-tier and B-tier groups: awakened who didn’t steamroll every encounter, but had to sweat for each win. They focused on squads from the prominent guilds in particular: Crimson Dominion and New Dawn, the guild Kaiden’s own family was a part of.
Watching them brought a complicated silence.
They were efficient. Every movent planned. Communication seamless. Precision like clockwork.
Luna whistled.
Bastet’s eyes narrowed, feeling a bit of discomfort.
"Thinking back to the performance of Nova Circuit in the desert dungeon now... it truly doesn’t paint them in a good light," Nyx said her thoughts out loud.
They were not only watching high-level people; there were groups who hadn’t yet passed their first bottleneck at level 25, aning they were similar in strength to Kaiden and co. It was a good experience to be shown that they were strong for their level, but they still had a lot to do.
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