"Beautiful," Snow replied with a gentle smile on her face. The painting she had meticulously painted for three days was nearing completion, and she couldn't be more pleased. With a satisfied smile, she dabbed the last brush stroke of white paint on the angel's wing, and thus finally finishing it.

It wasn't often that she felt the rush to draw for three days without taking so much as a break. Usually, she would take the time to rest every three hours or so, but these days she was enthralled by the urge to finish the piece as soon as possible.

Pulling back a strand of black hair, she placed her bristled paintbrush behind her ears and let out another satisfied smile. It was an angel basking under the sunlight with dazzling, jet-black hair, singing with a passion so heartfelt that it seemed as if a faint voice was coming from the thin page.

The soft curves of the angel were wrapped with a toga underneath her armor, covering her chest with a dazzling golden armor that accentuated her hips and breasts. Behind her, a simple sword rested, plunged into the rock. It decorated with soft round sapphires on its hilt that entwined like leaves.

The angel's wings gently opened as if she was ready to take flight. Even the brilliant sky behind her brought out an ethereal beauty to the angel. Any moment now, Snow felt as if a sweet song would escape from the picture itself.

Placing down her palette to the side, she got up to take another look. "I’ve gotten better," she smugly mumbled to nobody in particular. She was thrilled her masterpiece was finished. These past few days, she had been working like a madman, trying to bring the piece to life. It was a sudden urge to draw a reoccurring dream that started three days ago, intensifying every night as the angel in her dreams continued to sing her haunting songs.

Even now, the mesmerizing melody still rung in her ears as she started to hum it out loud. She sighed with a cheerfully upbeat attitude, as she then turned around and glanced up at the clock on one of her shelves.

"It's noon already!" Her cheerful attitude dropped immediately. "Damn it!" With a hurried tone, she shuffled around her apartment as she ran to her bathroom, placing her paintbrush next to the sink, and stepping into her walk-through closet.

Her right hand reached for the lights as she quickly turned it on. With quick, flurried steps, she rummaged through her closet as she picked out a black tank top and skinny black jeans. Not a second after, she pulled out a long sleeve, loose see-through shirt, covered in a wide array of colorful fish. Pushing her hand through, she brushed back her hair, letting it fall behind her like a long, black waterfall.

It didn't take long for her to pull out a sock. Haphazardly hopping on one foot, she walked back into the bathroom. Reaching over with a half stumble, she picked up a comb and quickly combed her black hair. What stared back at her from the mirror was a young woman in her mid-twenties, her blue eyes that stood out from her sharp features casting a mesmerizing gaze.

She wasn’t conventionally good-looking but would be considered to have an exotic charm in many people's eyes. Her long lashes made her Asian features look less like her heritage and had more like a European trait. In comparison to most, she would be regarded as pretty tall, reaching up to a height of roughly five feet nine inches. If she wore high heels, she could easily hit six feet.

She quickly dabbed a bit of moisturizer on her face, then ran out to the front door as she picked out a simple pair of black sandals that comfortably wrapped around her foot. With a practiced motion, she grabbed the keys that were hanging next to her fridge and ran out. She flew through the hallway and into the garage, where the cars of the whole complex were parked.

It didn't take long before she found her black sports car sitting not too far away from the door. Opening the door, she started her car, only waiting for a moment for the engines to heat up before she rushed off to her destination like a maniac.

Suddenly, her phone rang as it automatically connected to her car's Bluetooth speaker, a male's grumpy voice spoke over her speakers. "Snow."

"Yes?" Snow quickly replied curtly without raising her tone of voice, she shifted her gears, pulling out of the garage and making her way out as she swiveled downwards to the first floor.

"Where are you?"

"Sorry, boss. I'll be there in twenty minutes." The blinker signaled right.

"Twenty minutes?" With a sigh, she could hear him grumble, and his hand rubbing his brows could be imagined whenever he was bothered by something. "This isn't like you."

Snow agreed with him. She was always one to be on time, but today was different. She had been entranced by her painting. The rest of the world seemed to fade away in those short few days. It didn't happen often, but when it did, it was difficult for her to snap out of it entirely. It was one of her more prominent traits, if she said so herself, but it was a quirk that got her into trouble more often than not.

"I'll be there." Snow replied with a sigh, "It's one of those days." She brushed it aside and responded with a half grunt.

"Fine, but you're staying an hour or two later to help out with the paperwork tonight."

"Understood." She replied. It wasn't a big deal if she stayed behind for one or two hours.

The phone call abruptly ended, leaving her with a peace as she mindlessly drove to work. When she arrived, she parked behind the strip mall where she worked. This time, she didn't hurry to her workplace and instead calmly walked towards the building with the words Dragon Express in bold letters above the door. She entered through the front door.

It was a simple office space with four booths spaced across the whole room. Comfortable sofas were laid out in a U shape around a square coffee table, as small palm trees decorated each corner of the room. What was quite eye-catching upon entrance was a unique Chinese green dragon design with feathered scales and a marble ball in its hands. The dim lighting inside the building gave it the illusion that the dragon was real and alive as it seems to glide across the floor, coiling around the crystal ball in its hand.

Besides the various ornaments, the entranceway itself was rather ordinary, with two female receptionists discreetly speaking with customers in private. If someone stepped inside, one would assume it was nothing but a bank. However, that definitely wasn't the case.

Walking over towards the left, Snow flashed a small card that was placed neatly into a keychain. The door swung open with its usual annoying squeak, allowing her to enter. With the tune still stuck in her head, she hummed her way over, taking a seat in her booth. Her's was in the middle of the two ladies, talking to their customers.

The new computer buzzed awake with a push of a button. Scanning from right to left, all her pen cups and cards were neatly placed.

Stowing her keys in her drawer, she sat down with a sigh. With a quick stretch of her arms, she dove right into work. It was nothing but leftover paperwork, just bits and pieces she couldn't finish last night because her mind was engrossed with painting. Now with a clear head, she was able to breeze through her customers’ paperwork without any problems.

Hours went by before she finished her work. As she took a small breath of relief, the woman who was located to her right groaned, before flopping onto her chair. Her long silver hair dropped back, and her gaze looked up at the ceiling.

Heather. She was considered a beauty and was undoubtedly one of the best people at her job. As a result, it wasn't a surprise to see the stream of male customers walk towards her, resulting in endless work. While her business attire was considered classy and not overly sexy, it also accentuated her figure in a few key areas, resulting in the inevitable attention that culminated in her current situation.

A small chuckle escaped from her as she watched on. It was enough that Snow wasn't swamped with work like Heather. Being forced under that workload wasn't something she ever wanted to experience. Instead, she was happy that she was given enough to keep her temporarily busy for short bursts of time.

"My god." Heather groaned, wriggling around in her chair, annoyed at the amount of work she had to do. "Why the hell do they keep bringing more annoying problems to me?" Her head flopped towards Snow's direction, catching her gaze.

Snow couldn't help but grin at her, and instantly knew what she was thinking without having to say anything.

"Don't give me that smug grin," Heather replied a bit peeved. "How about I send them all to you instead?"

"Pass." Snow replied, holding up her hand to deter her away from such thoughts. She didn't want a single customer that Heather worked with. "You know your fans would get upset if they didn’t talk to you."

"What fans…." Heather snorted at the thought of her customers. "They are just annoying children that beg for your attention every hour of every day and that’s all they are."

"Yeah. Yeah. Whine all you want." An elderly lady spoke up from the corner. Her name was Lily and although she didn't look a day over forty, her style of dress didn't make it any better. The lipstick she wore made her expression seem cold and although the amount of makeup she had on couldn't compare to Heather, she still looked surprisingly young.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Lily's auburn hair was curled and fell forward, covering her massive bosom. She wore a tight-fitting one-piece red and black dress with black high heels. Sometimes, Snow wondered how she was still able to walk in those heels without falling over but kept those thoughts to herself.

"We know you enjoy all the attention that they fawn all over you." Lily rolled her eyes. She also had an unusually large fan base of male admirers, although they all tended to be of a different… type.

With a tap of her paper works in her hand, she stood up and swayed her hips side-to-side as she went towards the back, where the copy machine was. The humming sound of machines scanning and making copies could be heard from behind.

Snow tilted her head, still grinning at Heather. Heather and Snow had been friends for over ten years now. She knew her habits, and her whining was her small cover-up of wanting out of the busier times.

"How many fans did you meet today?" Snow snicker, goading her. She knew full well that Heather didn't like her fans, unlike Lily, who adored the attention.

"Counting the ones that just left… ten." With a groan, she spun around her chair, making her glamor look less appealing, although Snow knew she didn't care. "These Hunters, can't they just have a day rest, so they can give me a vacation?"

"That's lower than usual." Snow couldn't help but allow her smile to widen even further. It was too funny to see her friend complain about her admirers when most people would love the attention. "It's close to a vacation for you."

"Take that smug look off your face," Heather replied sharply. Her fingers rapped against the chair, displeased at her friend's response. The way Snow seemed to enjoy her pain made her want to throttle her friend. "You need to be in my shoes to understand what I'm going through." She confessed.

"Can't help it." Snow replied, she was having fun with Heather, and Heather knew that she was just playing. "It's too enjoyable poking fun at you."

"Oh, be quiet." Heather sighed, flipping her hair at Snow's words, and eventually straightened herself up and stared at the front door.

Snow turned away from Heather, snickering under her breath. She couldn't help but continually smile at their small little banter, bringing back the relaxed air in the room that they usually had. Every day when the customers came and went, they would be tensed and strained from their customer's lewd jokes or sometimes their outrage.  

"You know," Heather placed her hand on her chin as she stared at the front door. "I just want one day where nobody comes through that door." She waved her finger in front of her, eventually dropping it on the table as she rapted her fingers on it. " It's always something, you know."

"Well, that's normal, hun," Lily replied with a roll of her eyes. "Nothing wrong with having more customers coming through that door. Honestly, it would be better if we got more customers. More commissions. Mr. Jay doesn't like paying us extra."

Snow couldn't help but agree with Lily, although there weren't many times they agreed, mostly because her opinions were judgemental and in a negative tone. Mr. Jay had a knack for wanting to cut them short on payment and rarely gave them bonuses, which was infuriating.The pay for his employees was high though since he knew that this job was a lot more dangerous than people thought.

Quietly sitting in front of others was smooth, and simple tasks like talking to them or finishing a file here, or there was no problem. That, however, didn't include the ruffled customers that would come over with a complaint or barge in cursing and screaming because they got paid less. This was because Dragon Express wasn't a tax company or a bank. They specialized in money and hunting down wanted criminals to exotic animals that were considered ... "special" that normal people didn't hear or know about.

People came to Dragon Express in groups of threes to fives as they hunted these "special" animals, while there were also bounty hunters that brought back the heads or pieces if their capture was unsuccessful. It was considered normal to bring back a dead body, although people who weren't used to such a thing tended to scream out in panic when they noticed.

Although it might have been considered normal here, Snow had to acclimate herself when she had just started working here. Some small part of her wondered if she had simply gotten used to the number of criminals that were brought here dead or bleeding, and simply dumped through the front door as a piece of luggage. Not that it mattered. She simply had a job to do.

Still, everything was done through legal paperwork, and they didn't have much trouble besides the stink of blood and sweat. Of course, there were a few mishaps here or there, but those were quickly covered up without much difficulty.

"Hey Heather, how many more do you have to file for the next monster report that Mr. Kim wanted to go on the C class mission list?" Snow asked. She was busy typing in the paperwork for a C class monster list that she had forgotten to do until now.

"Mr. Kim…" Heather groaned. "You aren't talking about that bald pervert, right?"

"Bald pervert?" Snow snorted, bursting out laughing. The names that she gave towards her clients were quite vicious. She had given every single one of her customers a nickname, and every time Snow would laugh out loud at her choice of words.

"Yea. That fatso who keeps coming in and trying to feel me up." Heather was disgruntled at the mention of his name.

"He's a client, Heather." Snow tried her best in holding in her laugh. "He's one of our repeat customers that always gives us a good amount of monster hunts for the Hunters to complete."

"So?" Heather snorted, rolling her eyes. "All his monsters are usually C class list. He rarely forks over a B class reward."

"Still," With a tap of her keyboard, she pressed enter, finishing her entry. "Money is money. Mr. Jay's motto is that customers and dealers are king. We are sellers and mediators."

"Mr. Jay can get a foot up his ass."

"Snarky as ever." Snow sighed. She could tell that Heather was getting irritated, wondering if it was one of those bad days.

"Look, Snow. All this paperwork for A, B, C, or whatever monster class filling is such a bore. Don't you want to go out and kill them yourself?" She spun around, eventually stopping as she looked towards Snow with a hint of excitement. "We could be top Hunters. Like Mary the Slayer, or Krusty the One-Hit-Wonder."

"You make them sound like some superhero with the names that you give them." Lily snorted, she came back over and sat on her desk. "Hunters are nothing special in this day and age. All they do is hunt the creatures on the list and get money from the person who posted it up. Fame? Glory? That's in the olden days. We don't slay dragons anymore or hunt the Demon King." She flipped through her paper, licking her finger to help flip through them faster.

"You know just as well as I, the Hunter profession is still well respected." Said Heather. "Without them, we wouldn't have been able to clear the haunted forest in Belgium, where mass suicide happened. You know that a rogue Necromancer was pulling in Sleepers left and right and turning them into his army."

"That's only once in a while, most monsters are almost hunted to extinction. Not only that, but there are also way more Sleepers than Hunters."

"Wait, Sleepers?" Snow asked, a bit confused at the sudden terminology.

"Non-awakened Humans," Heather replied, crossing her arms in front of her. "It's an old term that was used in antiquity, where humans who didn’t have magical gifts were considered sleeping from the world. They can't see the magical beast or magic even if they wanted too."

"Ah, Non-awakened humans." Snow thought over what Lily had said. The term Non-awakened humans was a much more recent name than the word Sleeper, which became more popular.

"I don't know about you, but those Sleepers are crawling on Earth like pests. It would be better if we had another Magical War to wipe them all out. There would be some who would awaken, but to have an explosive growth like this is ridiculous. They are the biggest cause of magical creature decline." Lily stated with a haughty attitude. "In the old days, we would have monsters roaming the field left and right, killing these Sleepers without much of a problem. Now the magical creatures are in hiding, making the hunt more difficult."

"Isn't it a good thing that we have less dangerous magical creatures?" Snow couldn't help but ask, she knew most of the monsters were dangerous to the point where they were more harmful than helpful to the magical society.

"No, it's a balance," Lily replied. "Too much of one thing can harm this world, mark my words. There will come a day when the Sleepers will have to be wiped out."

"Old hag, calm your tits. Just because you lived 300 years ago doesn't change the fact that you shouldn’t condemn a whole race. Look at Snow, she falls into the Awakened category of humans. That's like saying we should kill off the whole Succubus race."

"My race is noble and just." Lily snorted and stuck up her chest, scoffing at Heather.

"Noble, my ass." Heather rolled her eyes. "You're an old sex fiend. You live off of the Sleeper's lust. Without them, you wouldn't be here today."

Heather's retort caught Lily off guard as she couldn't say anything as she glared at her.

"You mermaids, think you know everything." Lily finally was able to say something.

Heather ignored her comment and continued speaking. "Either way, the Sleeper problem has been an ongoing one. It's not like it can be solved so easily. Even though we have had more demonic cases because of them." She sighed. "These Sleepers have quite a bit of pent up frustration and lots of negative emotions. It makes me wonder how in the world they keep it all bottled up and then explosively send out dark emotions to draw the demons. Humans…..they just don't make any sense."

"It's something even I can't explain." Snow replied. Even though she was classified as an Awakened human being, it was still odd to talk and get to know the Sleeper's mentality. Her whole life situated around magical creatures and people, so she wasn't considered normal.

"It's alright, Snow. Not like they are going to be able to do anything to us right now. We are just going to continue living our peaceful days…" Heather replied. "I'm thinking of becoming a Hunter. Why don't you join me." She bolted up on her seat, excited. "We get paid better than normal."

"Yeah, but we put our life on the line every day." Snow frowned. She wasn't too keen on going on a dangerous adventure. She was fine where she was at the moment.

"That's where the fun is at," Heather exclaimed, her eyes sparkling. "We get to adventure out into the world and see amazing creatures that have never been seen before, even meet some mythical or legendary creatures and get blessed. I know you love to travel and go on missionary work, why not do it both with me, while we explore the unknown."

The thought of doing missionary work and helping out the magical creatures interested Snow. There weren't many times when she would go out and do charity work, which she enjoyed.

"Highly doubt it." Lily burst Heather's bubbles. "The amount of previously unexplored terrain has been all discovered now. There is not even a quarter of the world that isn’t explored."

"Lily." Heather frowned. "Can't you just shut up?"

Lily smirked, giving her a coy smile. "Kid, you don't know how this world works and how long I have seen the changes this world has gone through."

"Yeah, yeah old-timer. You can continue to stay at home and be a grumpy grandma. I know you have five grown-up kids. Why don't you just go and pop in and say “hi” to them instead of giving us your opinion."

"I will gladly do that." Lily ignored her and continued on her work.

Heather ground her teeth, wanting to throttle her nasty coworker. Even Snow had to wonder what Lily's problem was, but she didn't say anything and just sighed. The tense atmosphere between Lily and Heather was always fierce and dense and they quite often fought against each other.

"Just ignore her." Snow replied, knowing full-well about Heather's temper.

"Oh, I will," said Heather, crossing her arms before her as she grumbled underneath her breath. When she finally calmed down, she asked Snow. "So, what do you think?"

Snow didn't give her a reply. Instead, they were interrupted by a ding that accompanied the opening door.