After dinner, Tiffany made the decision to call Rick. He was the only one she knew who was able to teach her all about firearms and ammunitions and it seemed he was looking to share his knowledge more than her own thirst for understanding.

She needed to have a mentor. She tried to understand all this jargon but the more she tried, the more she fell in the abyss of confusion. Her training as an accountant in her last life was completely useless.

She started to hate having binged on web novels of her past life. Super soldier my ass! Instant martial art genius bullshit! Where was her super brain that gives her instant understand and eidetic memory.

For the last two years of college, she only did PE class twice a week and there was no combat classes.

A thought flashed through her mind and the more she ignored it, the stronger it became. It’s like someone telling you “don’t think about a red car.” Can you manage to not think about it?

Tiffany sight in defeat. She needed to learn how to shoot. And no, she had not learned how to shoot from her grandfather when she was living in the country side. She was borne and raised in London.

Picking up the card from her back pocket, finally dialled the number written on it.

Just when she was about to hang up, Rick picked up. After dealing with the usual pleasantries they agree to meet at the range in the afternoon. She could hear from his tone of voice that Rick as happy as a goblin who was told by his chief that he could spent the day in the breeding chamber.

However, their agreement was purely educational. Not that she had anything against him, he wasn’t bad looking with his tall and muscular body and the aura that came with being a boss. Only one small problem, he had the same age as her dad and this was a complete turn off.

If he was an elf, it might have been different as they live for centuries and they don’t age physically after their first hundred years. They look as if they were thirty. Only after passing a millennium will they start to age again.

This was the dream of all women, eternal youth and beauty.

Before going to bed she tried to create a bullet. The result was disastrous. The mana consumption for something complex she had no mastery was huge. It drained her mana pool so rapidly she ended up lying face on the ground amidst her own vomit. A clear symptom of mana overdraft.

It took her 10 minutes to gather enough energy to stand up. Staggering towards the shower she promised herself to only use this skill at home. Vomiting amongst others would be so embarrassing.

After a good shower and cleaning up today’s dinner from the floor, she eagerly went under the blanket for a good night sleep.

~

At the Capital, Jennifer was liying in her bed. She was wondering how Tiffany was doing. She missed her companionship. She never wanted to grow apart. She was simply following her mom’s advice that she needed to do whatever necessary to erase her past. She was an elite now.

Her mother had changed. She was always telling her that she needed to be the princess of the clan and only if she did this could her mother be happy. The fanatism and greed in her eyes was scary.

Being the clan princess was easy. She was the only S ranker with a SSS talent in her generation.

Jennifer was at first happy with all the attention and novelties that came with her status. However, this was short lived. The constant attention from the media, all the additional education she had to catch-up on.

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She didn’t make new friends. She could see that they were just told to be part of her circle. No one would be so friendly with a stranger. There was nothing she could do. She could only smile and accept the arrangement. She was like a canary in a beautiful golden cage, but a cage nonetheless.

And lastly, the sudden engagement, was the straw that broke the camel’s back. All those responsibilities were too heavy a burden for a young girl who just became an adult.

Eighteen years old should have been a period where she could be carefree any university with friends, forming new bonds with new people and hopefully finding someone who makes your heart throb.

Her happiness was simply a façade that she had to show the world. No one would care how she felt. There was nobody to give her a hug when needed.

Jennifer and Tiffany were the opposite side of the same coin. One gain everything and became a prisoner and the other lost everything but gained her freedom.

With trembling hands, Jennifer sent a text to her only friend. “I am sorry and I miss you”.

Thousands of kilometres away, Tiffany was pulled out of her nice spring dream by the alert setup on her phone a month or so ago when she was still craving for her friend’s attention.

In a daze, she stared at her phone wondering how the sexy hunk she was spending some time with got replaced by the harsh glaring light of her mobile phone.

Tiffany was shocked awake when she saw who the sender was and after hesitating for a second or two she read the text.

She knew that Jennifer was not doing well. She used to be carefree and cheerful. The complete contrary of what her last message portrayed.

Without another thought, Tiffany called her back.

After two rings, the phone was connected. None of them spoke, too scared to find out how the other person would react.

Knowing the state Jennifer was in, Tiffany took the plunge and spoke first.

“Hey Jenny, how are you?” In retrospect, this was a mistake. She had to spend the next half hour listening to Jennifer crying her grievances out and apologising for her behaviour.

Jennifer finally calm down and felt much better. She was truly glad that Tiffany called back. She could finally calm down and have a sense of safety.

Seeing that Jennifer was in a much better mood, a girly curiosity needed to be satiated and she asked.

“So… what is he like?”

Blushing, Jennifer pretended to not know. “Who are you talking about?”

“Come on Jenny, spill the beans.”

Jennifer couldn’t hold back and gave a soft laugh. “He is very nice. If it is with him, I don’t think I will have a problem to get married”.

“Hey, if you have a problem with him just pass him my way. He definitely check all my boxes for the overbearing CEO of my dream. I don’t need his love. I just need his money and body”.

“No way! He is mine. He was the only good thing that happened lately. He was very reassuring and he told me that if I was not happy with this he would stop the marriage”.

“Fuck!!! Are you sure you don’t want to change with donkey-face back from home?”

Retching sound could be heard from Tiffany’s phone and she kept laughing while flipping her feet in the air.

“Gross! No way! He is mine but… maybe… you can be the unwanted concubine that is used when I have my period”. Countered Jennifer.

“No thank you, I want a stud just for myself. I am too greedy to share someone with my bestie”.

The two girls laughed and kept chatting deep into the night. Her fiancé was the main subject and became the target for their various jokes and comments.

At that same time, the fiancé in question was in middle of a dungeon hunt. He was sitting around a fire pot waiting for the soup to finish cooking.

Without notice, he spun around, both hands changing into massive paws with claws the size of daggers.

His companions reacted in moments and all took guard positions.

Seeing and feeling nothing, Ragnar was starting to feel embarrassed. This was the first time he made a mistake in front of his juniors.

His deputy and friend, Zack Hlong, was an wood elf. And contrary to all stereotypes, was the most laidback person you could find. Ragnar and jack had gone through a lot of perilous situation relying on each other. They could almost share a sleeping bag, almost being the key word.

“So Ragnar, what happened?” Said Zack.

“I don’t know. I suddenly felt shiver down my back and an unknown fear.” Explained Ragnar.

“If there is nothin wrong here then it must be that young chick that you cradle-snatched who is talking about you!”

”Yeah, she probably is telling her side dish how uncaring you are to be leaving her alone when you just got engaged”.

“Nah, she must not have done anything yet. She has just finished choosing a hunk and this is your natural warning sign that you will be made a cuckold”.

The rest of the squad started to laugh. Little did they know that this created an unfounded worry for Ragnar and they would spend the next three days in order to clear the dungeon as soon as possible. What should have been a walk in the part ended up as a nightmare where their body were pushed to the limit.

Ragnar denied any accusations that he was worried about his fiancée and simply wanted to test their limits.

The two culprits who cause this unknown shiver where sleeping soundly in their beds. And even if they knew, they wouldn’t care.