Catherine met up with her and Elizabeth was amazed by her appearance.

The elf had changed into a blizzard ready ensemble with goggles, elbow high gloves and a pair of thermal pants under her dress. Her hair was put up in a bun with strands falling down at the sides of her face.

The teenager was blushing at the sight of her guild member and quickly tried to hide it. With a timid glance Catherine noticed that she was online and walked over.

Her hands were full as she had already taken out her weapon so it dragged on the ground. The snow crinkled and crumbled under its weight, her feet crushing it until nothing remained besides white dust and wilted flowers.

“I'd like to thank you for coming on this mission with me.” Catherine’s words shocked the teenager as she realized something. That she'd never really heard the woman’s voice up close. “I hope I didn't bother you.”

Elizabeth waved her hands in the air in a frenzy as she responded. “Oh? No no no! You didn't bother me at all!” She hadn't expected this and felt like a chicken running around without its head when it came to the woman.

Catherine thankfully didn't appear startled by the teenager practically shouting at her and smiled. It was tiny with no teeth and her cheek muscle barely twitched as she did so.

But to the anxious girl seeing this made her feel a lot more secure in her decision. To her further surprise the elf reached down into her pretty coat pocket and handed her something sweet scented.

She unwrapped it and found the mysterious option to be a mouth watering slice of cake. Bringing it up to her nose to sniff, the teen recognized it to be angel food. A flavor she hadn't eaten since she was an elementary schooler.

[YOU'VE RECEIVED 🎁 ANGEL FOOD SLICE]

“I heard through the grapevine you were having a hard time so I figured this would cheer you up. Do you eat desserts?” The elf watched her observe the cake like a hawk, her eyes piercing the teenager and making her shudder.

“I heard through the grapevine you were having a hard time so I figured this would cheer you up. Do you eat desserts?” The elf watched her observe the cake like a hawk, her eyes piercing the teenager and making her shudder.

With sweaty hands, Elizabeth raised the slice to her mouth shakily. “Uh…”

Catherine looked blankly at her. “Do you not eat angel food cake?”

All the nerves in the world crashed onto the brunette's brain and she froze. She chuckled as her mind lost all sense and she replied. “It's my favorite!”

It wasn't her favorite, in fact that was triple chocolate, but she didn't know what else to do. The only thing that made sense after her anxious self was to shove the cake into her mouth.

Her cheeks puffed out as she nearly choked on the fluffy dessert that assaulted her taste buds. It tasted just as amazing as it smelled but the teenager was struggling not to cough it up.

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She tried her best to keep her composure in front of the staring elf, nervously smiling as much as she could. The woman seemed oblivious to her struggles as she watched her like a statue.

Her chest didn't even move as she breathed. It was scary and the teenager swallowed thickly feeling the entire clump as cake went down into her stomach. Elizabeth beat at her chest and blushed.

[YOU ACCEPTED 🍰 ATE ANGEL FOOD SLICE]

“It was delicious!” She said to which the awkward silence continued. It was deafening and Elizabeth didn't know if she was supposed to keep talking.

Eventually, the elf smiled some more and patted her on the shoulder. The woman's gloves felt like velvet, making the teenager's skin itch. “Thank you. Selene helped pick it out with me as we both wanted to cheer you up.”

“Oh?” Elizabeth had forgotten that the fox knew the woman in real life. It made perfect sense that she was involved. “I'll have to thank her later.”

Catherine hummed and pulled the hood up on her coat. It framed her face in a way that made Elizabeth's heart start and mouth drop. Truly, the elf was gorgeous in a way that made the teenager think of a Christmas doll.

She molded into the setting of the game with the sun making her eyes sparkle. This aura of beauty made it harder for the teenager to relax.

She felt like she was being engulfed in the elegance of the older more powerful woman. The elf was just intimidating without her even outwardly trying to be that way.

“It's good that you've eaten it all as we'll be walking for a while. Any mobs we come across I'll deal with since you're still at such a low level.” The teen found herself nodding along to Catherine’s surprising offer.

They were on two different levels and Elizabeth couldn't compete. “Sounds good to me. Where exactly are we going? You never made it clear to me besides slimes being involved.” She had been meaning to ask for a while.

“We're going to the Gummy Village. It's the home of gummy slimes and we can get plenty of goodies from killing some slimes. It'll be worth it, Eliza.” Catherine demonstrated a kill by twirling and stabbing with her weapon.

The woman was like a snow nymph with how fast she moved and how easy she made it look. Snow parted a clear path to the earth as she scraped it and pierced the ground. Shattering the rock and mud that was in its destructive path.

Her staff was absolutely badass and Elizabeth could only imagine how many coins it cost. The teenager still was using the meager weapons she'd earned from her first day of playing.

She was grateful that the elf was open to mowing down any mobs they came across. Elizabeth felt that her weak and flimsy dagger would snap in half if she tried. She stood no chance.

“That's fine be me. Are we leaving now?” She asked with a hesitant smile.

Catherine tapped the side of her staff and to Elizabeth's amazement it shrunk. The weapon turned in a charm bracelet that matched her outfit. “Yeah that would be for the best. More mobs come out later at night.”

This made perfect sense to the teenager as in most games the enemies would become more aggressive at night. So, she buttoned up her coat and followed after the elf. They walked onto the path that Elizabeth had taken earlier with Jake but took different turns.

Instead heading toward a bridge, they kept going further and further into the woods. The whole time the girl felt her mind drift as she thought about her day. She'd gotten on better with her mother after going out to eat and shopping for days.

Her mother was happy she was getting put as she promised and agreed to give her more spending money. As long as she was out of the house 3 days a week, she could game like before. Elizabeth found this more than fair along with the deal she had to go to therapy once her school schedule finally slowed down.

School was something she felt utterly swamped by. She had started the rounds of college interviews and had met up with plenty of private tutors. Her acceptance letters had slowly turned into being waitlisted by four of her ten top choices and dismissed by the other six.

This left her with only her state schools, two out of country universities and the summer program her school offered to everyone. The teenager wasn't happy with it but this just meant she needed to do more applications before final decisions came.

It left her feeling underwhelmed in a way. She had great grades and a lot of extra activities from her sophomore year. But so did the other hundreds of thousands of applicants in a greater income class than herself. The whole process made her feel increasingly insecure with her skills.

“You look upset,” The teenager frowned and awakened from her state of deep thought to see the elf had her back to her. But her tone of voice was crystal clear, her curiosity peaking. “You've been slouching with a pout.”

Elizabeth rubbed at her cheeks with a frown. The cold air was making her face feel fuzzy and her eyes watery. “I have a lot going on with school.”

“Ah.” The teenager walked behind the elf expecting to hear something more. But all she got was the crunch of the frozen leaves beneath them.

It would have stayed that way if the elf didn't suddenly stop and put her arm out. The wind blew like a shrieking bat in the teenager's ears as she winced.

She couldn't see anything as the shining sun reflected off the ground and then the wind kicked up the snow. This left her temporarily blinded to her absolute displeasure.

She wiped at her eyes, struggling to figure out what was going on as Catherine wasn't saying anything. She opened her mouth to ask but stopped once she heard two things.

Metal scraping against the earth and the snarl of a beast that was frothing at the mouth. Her body froze as she held her breathe with wide eyed and sweat dripping down her back.