“Watch your back!”

  The dark-haired teenager turned to see his partner ssh the neck of an enemy that had managed to sneak behind him. The beast fell to the ground with a whine leaving its dying body as it closed its eyes.

  He looked away from the dead creature and at his friend whose sword dripped with ooze. These monsters didn't bleed and smelled foul. Just like the wicked soul's that sat in their disgusting bodies.

  The girl wiped her weapon on the wet grass and moved her hand in the air. A status window appeared in the air and with one click it vanished along with her weapon.

  With her hands free she directed her attention at the boy she just saved and hit him upside the head. The sudden hit stung.

  “Ow!” The teenager rubbed at his aching noggin and scowled at her.

  She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest with an eye roll. “This is the fifth time I've had to save your zy butt from becoming lunch.”

  He wanted to scold her for hitting him and being snappy but he knew that she was right. He had been pretty distracted as of te and messed up on multiple missions they embarked on.

  Thankfully, she was used to the updated combat system and easily took down any enemies. But he could tell it was weighing on her and she was right to finally snap.

  “My mom has been getting on me for not having a job again.” He confessed to which her mood flipped instantly. “Hey, don't pity me.”

  “It's not me pitying you when your best friend's worried about you. Didn't you tell her what your teacher said about you needing to focus on your exams?” She asked as she put her sherbet hair into a ponytail.

  He struggled to answer as he knew whatever he said would put him into an awful mood. The teenager's retionship with his mother as of te had been rocky due to money issues.

  He was a dual degree early college student who spent all his free time gaming. This upset his mother as she was old school and found video games to be childish.

  She wanted him to get a masters and work in finance which he was not going to do. They managed to come to a brief understanding by him doing a dual degree but that understanding was falling apart.

  All because of money issues he fully didn't understand and she refused to speak to him about. It gave him a headache and anxiety filled nights.

  He didn't want to talk about it right now but he had no other choice. “My mother is just stubborn. There's no point in arguing with her.”

  His friend sighed and gave him a sympathetic look. “Nova, you should really move out if she keeps bothering and prodding at you.” This was something she kept bringing up and was serious about.

  But he just didn't feel ready to move and be independent. “Lottie, I don't even have enough for that yet.” He waved her suggestion off.

  The conversation quickly died out as Lottie knew that she was entering dangerous waters. They rarely talked about real life issues because they both tended to get overly emotional about it.

  Still, she knew about this since it was so prominent in his life. He liked to hear her opinion. It was just too much drama for the brunette right now. They continued to complete their mission, with enemies jumping out from their hiding spots with frothing mouths and cws.

  They were in a rge cave system with each nook and cranny being the perfect home for the disgusting beasts. There were booby traps on certain parts of the room so they also had to watch where they were walking.

  This wasn't out of the ordinary for the pair as they were doing a basic dungeon dive. Basically, you found a dungeon, searched every room and floor before finding your prize.

  The prize the brunette had heard about was pretty desirable and made his interest peak. It was a nice pted suit of armor that would fit his sword and his current outfit.

  Lottie just wanted to farm experience and gain more strength so she tagged along. The girl’s dual-toned hair flew behind her as she ran forward and took out her sword to butcher a beast.

  It was covered in disgusting boils that had puss ready to spurt out. To anyone not used to the dungeon they would vomit at the mere gnce of their body.

  They were used to it but still had moments of freezing from nausea. He watched as her bde punctured the creature and it bloated with a fearsome screech piercing his ears.

  The teenager winced and raised his hands to ears to block out the noise as Lottie lopped its head off. She looked exhausted as she kicked the dead monster out of the way.

  “I swear these guys are bubbling idiots. All they do is run at us with that little waddle of theirs and colpse at the weakest of hits.” She compined as they moved through a stone hallway and into a room.

  It was more so a floor than a room with a hoard of jewels and goods sitting at their feet. It reminded the brunette of a scene out of a fantasy novel where a powerful knight finds a dragon’s nest.

  They had the stereotypical massive pile of riches and the lumbering lizard that was ying in the middle. It was designed to resemble a komodo dragon with its snort huffing out steam and its cws dripping with poison.

  “I had no idea this game had dragons.” Nova whispered as he stared.

  His friend nodded and gripped her sword harder. “It's humongous.”

  He could only gulp in response as the dragon moved its tail in its sleep. The small move caused a rge gust of wind to come their way and nearly knocked the pair over.

  Gold coins and neckces flew in the air, raining down at them like a shower of hail. Nova lifted his arms to shield his face and Lottie quickly took cover.

  Seeing this made the brunette move much slower as the dragon slept peacefully. If it woke up before they could steal its prized armor they'd be in big trouble.

  Sure, they may be able to take the komodo dragon down by themselves due to their skills but it would be a lot of trouble. Nova also didn't want to kill such a beautiful lizard.

  It had a hard and worn hide that was covered in decades worth of healed wounds and scars. Despite this, it was incredibly gorgeous in its multicolored scales.

  They weren't bright like a rainbow or sparkly like a bucket of glitter. Instead, the dragon’s body was a dull color that stuck out in the gaudy room they stood in. It was that of something ancient that had existed for eons before a single coin touched its cwed hand.

  He was sure that if one of her eyes opened he'd be met with a deep color iris that took his breath away. Everything about the giant was enchanting.

  He looked over at Lottie and whispered to her. “We should try to find the armor without killing it. That will save us the trouble of a fight.”

  “A fight with it would be hard to win.” She said as she sat crouched down under the shade of a pile of boulders. Hiding in pin sight.

  Her tense expression became more animated as she eyed all those goodies under the komodo dragon's belly. “But it would be fun to try.”

  There was the Lottie he knew and loved. The dual-toned girl was never going to miss out on an opportunity to get into a battle. She just loved gaining experience and skills too much to miss out on a fight.

  Even if the fight would be incredibly hard to deal with. Nova watched as she brought up her status window and her sword was repced by a crossbow. The teenage girl had a ton of weapons that she used for fun.

  He chose to stick with his sword and update it whenever he felt it was weakening. It also was just more enjoyable for him to use a weapon he had always dreamed of having as a kid. Nova stood frozen in pce as his friend scurried from her hiding pce and aimed her bow.

  “Where should I hit it?” Lottie whispered at him as she tried to get a good look at the beast's massive body while sitting crouched down.

  He thought for a moment before answering. “Under his belly his skin is softer than the rest of body and he'll bleed out easier.” Nova had read before in books that the stomach was a weak spot for a dragon.

  He had no idea if this was the same for the dragon in the game with them but it was a good thing to try out. Lottie felt the same as she lifted her crossbow and fired. The automatic weapon shot out a silver bolt that had a head that was sharp enough to cut a log into pieces.

  Nova had seen her purchasing the bolts before from a snake woman by the name of Ann who spoke with a funny accent. Ann had told them that they turned an enemy into pulled pork and to be careful. She demonstrated on a slice of ham that was left shredded in a pile.

  Remembering this made his heartbeat quicken as the bolt hit its target with ease. Its head opened up to reveal spikes that dug into the flesh of the creature and wounded it. A scaly eyelid rose revealing a gem shaped iris that darkened with rage as the pain hit the dragon fully.