I just got out from one of the shadiest looking shops in the city. The shop is positioned in a dark alleyway where crooks and people who look like convicts live. The shop is totally legal though, in fact, it sells one of the best materials for people with my type of job. I told Randy a couple of times that he should change his shop position in some place more open for him to sell well, but declined. Something about “The scary aura my shop has promotes it instead.” So I just let him do his thing.

I pulled my five cases where my ammunition is contained. On a normal job, this is enough for six months. But my next job is not my normal job. I just got accepted as one of the escorts at Pharis, a company that’s mostly composed of Elven historians and researchers, and Elves care deeply about their history. This time, we’re going on an expedition to explore an Emperor Tomb.

I loaded my cases at the back of my car. It’s a dark red convertible that still uses the old four wheel system when most cars nowadays levitate instead. It’s not that levitation cars are necessarily better than wheel cars; it’s a show of wealth. Sure, it might be faster than wheel cars, but you never see levitation engines on heavy transportation since the control is atrocious. It’s better for long distance roads. What? Are you saying I’m just salty about not having enough money for that cool looking Black Galaxy Convertible levitation car which is a top product made by Dwarves? Nah. Totally not, I just prefer wheel cars. Yes that’s it.

I opened the car roof up and start to drive. I like driving while the wind touched my face. It’s specifically for this reason that I only buy convertibles.

My destination was the huge Pharis airship, just outside of town. After thirty minutes of driving, I finally saw the gargantuan airship. It was a kilometer long and 400 meters wide. Fully colored black except for the green logo named "Pharis" at the center of it. The airship is made by Dwarves. I’m sure of it. There was a line at the security check gates. It wasn’t long before it was my turn.

“ID”, said the guard. I showed him my ID, and then the other guards started to scan my car. When the guard thought everything checked out, he said “All good. Welcome Ms. Skutter. Escorts go at the back of the ship. There’s a guide there to help you. You can park your car in our building.”

I went to the parking space and unloaded my stuff. Some assistants helped me carry my stuff towards my room since they were really heavy.

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My room number was 204. I opened it and saw three unfamiliar faces already inside. They noticed me carrying heavy stuff so they helped me bring it inside and I thanked them.

I was still arranging my things when one of the guys walked up to me and said with a slight smile, “I assume you’re Ms. Skutter?”

I nodded at him and said, “Yes, call me Kelly. You are?”

“My name is Fang, Ms. Kelly. The team captains were called just a moment ago so he’s out.”

I replied, “I see, so you’re Fang. That means you two are Elrond and Soma?” I gestured towards the other two men in the room.

“Yes, that guy with the dark green hair is Elrond, our medic. He’s a quiet guy, but he’s reliable. That guy that’s still sleeping with all these racket is Soma. He’s same as me, an offensive magician.”

I knew from the report that Elrond was an elf that specializes in Life magic. Soma and Fang are both humans that specialize in both fire and light magic. “Common affinities for humans.” I thought.

I then introduced myself. “I’m Kelly Skutter. I’m a marksman, or a markswoman in this case. I know a bit of magic too. Mostly in wind and light magic, with a bit of fire too.”

Fang asked, “Wind, fire and light? I see, you got elf blood in you?”

I nodded, “Yeah, that’s why my hair is greenish blonde and my ears are a bit pointy.”

As I said that, the door opened. It revealed a very tall and buffed man with red hair, probably seven feet tall. He was wearing military uniform. He looked around the room and his gaze paused on me for a moment.

“Good afternoon.” He said as he fiercely smiled. “For those who do not know, my name is Durka Devon, your team captain. I specialize in barrier and body refinement magic. My job out there is to save you and the researchers’ asses whenever shit happens, and your job is to blow things up and kill whatever dangerous things that tomb brings us.

But we can’t just go and destroy things randomly within the tomb. So within three days I’m tasked to give you details about the mission – what to expect, when to not engage because inside the tomb there are a lot of precious artifacts and your insurance is not going to save you if you break something worth a million Romans. And trust me, there’s going to be a lot of those inside Emperor Tombs. We’re also tasked to familiarize with each other and other teams as well. Learn what we can do and build up our teamwork. After those three days we will finally start travelling to Khenga’s Emperor Tomb. Any questions?”

We were all silent. It seems we all don’t have questions. But it’s more of the fact that Durka has such a domineering presence. I really wanted to if he has Orc blood since he’s so unusually tall and wide for a human, but I let it go for now.

“No questions? Good. Let’s start your briefing of the mission.”