’Er target dodged 112 bullets from ’er sniper rifle, hardly givin’ a crap ’bout ’em. She would dodge then go back to fightin’ somethin’ else. “What in the hell! This is ridiculous!” Amanda didn’t know what to do no more. She needed to find another way.

An’ fer some reason, there was an airship in the sky, hoverin' above the coastline. She took ’er binoculars from ’er inventory an’ had a look through ’em at the ship. There was a girl wearin’ glasses an’ fancy robes like she was some super smart wiz. She had a book too, lookin’ real studious. An’ she was jus’ standin’ there on the deck, lookin’ down at everythin’ like she was above everybody in the world. Like a god. She had a sword floatin’ ’roun’ ’er too. The airship was shootin’ down Lamentine’s units from the sky. “Not if ah can help it.”

Amanda loaded ’er rifle an’ put ’er crosshairs in the center o’ the girl’s head. Ah ain’t ’bout to fail this time. She ain’t no god. She fingered the trigger an’ focused. Is she an NPC? Well, that don’t matter anyway. It wasn’t like their lives mattered much in some game. She was ’bout to shoot that arrogance outta ’er head. ’Er finger pulled the trigger an’ let the bullet soar.

As the bullet neared the girl, the sword flew in front o’ ’er an’ deflected it with a swing. The girl looked Amanda’s way as if she spotted ’er hidin’ place on the mount’n.

Amanda’s heart jumped. “That ain’t possible...” The distance was far too much to see without binoculars er somethin’. An’ yet, she felt the urge to move to another spot. Yeah. She would do that jus’ in case. That missy gave ’er the chills. Didn’t like ’er one bit. She jogged far ’cross the mount’n ridge to a different spot then resumed ’er position on the groun’, belly in the dirt, an’ looked through ’er scope again. The girl wasn’t lookin’. Good. Jus’ one clean shot should do it.

She locked onto the girl again with ’er crosshairs…

Before she could pull the trigger, the girl looked ’er way again. It wasn’t a coincidence. That girl knew. Somehow. ’Er gaze was condescendin’ as if Amanda was jus’ dirt under ’er feet. “Ah ain’t no dirt.” She fired the bullet.

The animated sword deflected the bullet again, while the girl gazed at ’er disdainfully an’ adjusted ’er glasses with a hand.

“Blasted hell.” That was an NPC alright. No player had that much Intellect an’ Resistance. An’ ’er class wasn’t a player class. Amanda didn’t recall ever seein’ that class name on the list o’ classes to choose from. ’Er class was somethin’ akin to a Chaotic Spellweaver but a more dangerous version: Royal Elite Voidcaster.

Ping. She got a message. Openin’ up ’er inbox, she read Paige’s message: 👍. That made Amanda gladder than a sunbeam. Paige was all good.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

She closed the UI an’ glanced through the scope again. No point tryna hit the same targets jus’ to fail again. Now she wanted to take out some o’ the ranged units on the far west near the coast, but then she realized a tall, gray wall was blockin’ ’er view. In the wall was little, window-sized holes with alert heads pokin’ out an’ lookin’ ’bout.

It didn’t make no sense to shoot ’em. Killin’ some annoyin’ mages wouldn’t bring down the wall. What in hell was she supposed to shoot then, air? “Ah’ve shot ’nough air already,” she grumbled. She glanced down the mount’n past the trees an’ to the lake. Lamentine’s forces was crossin’ on a boat to the wall. They was prolly gonna go climb over it.

“Is that… safe?” she wondered aloud. It was prolly jus’ ’er anxiety. She hadn’t shot nothin’ yet, so it was gettin’ the best o’ ’er. It should be all good. The water had been quiet all along. Not a critter—

Somethin’ big leaped up outta the water. Real big an’ whale-like. It jumped into the air, opened its giant mouth that had many teeth, an’ came down onto the boat, makin’ a splash in the water an’ goin’ underneath. The water fell still again as if nothin’ had happened. Those boat-riders was gone.

Oh mah stars…

Amanda raised ’er head from ’er scope. Had she been drinkin’ too much again? Nah, she only had one shot this mornin’ after breakfast. Just one. Yessir, she was real sure…

…

She thought ’bout it again. Jus’ to make sure, she took out ’er liquor flask from ’er pocket an’ tossed it down the mount’n.

She went back up north again on the mount’n, passin’ the bridge so the wall would stop blockin’ ’er view o’ everythin’ on the groun’. After gettin’ comfy on ’er belly again, she peered through the scope at the airship.

That glasses girl was eyeing ’er suspiciously, lookin’ right back at ’er scope. It was like Amanda couldn’t escape ’er gaze now, since she had given away ’er position.

“Ah, shit.” That was one big fish she couldn’t fry, but she also couldn’t jus’ ignore ’er now. That girl could attack at any minute.

The glasses girl suddenly grabbed ’er levitatin’ sword an’ pointed it at Amanda.

What’s she doin’?

The air felt different, like somethin’ was suckin’ it in. Like a vacuum. When she looked above ’er head, she saw it: a growin’, black ball startin’ to pull in stuff ’roun’ it. If she didn’t get ‘er ass outta here, she was screwed. She unequipped ’er heavy sniper rifle with a quick thought, which sent it back to ’er inventory, got up, an’ ran like hell was chasin’ ’er.

The blackhole followed, but it was slow, so Amanda could outrun it. She slid down the east side o’ the mount’n away from the war. One way or another, ’er side was gonna win, an’ she was gonna get those sweet quest rewards: exp an’—more importantly—a fat stack o’ gold.

It stopped followin’.

~~~

Le Francia gazed at her assaulter, who now fled the scene and vanished from her sight behind the mountainside. She had no trouble seeing across vast distances due to the active telescopic spell on her eyewear. “Hmph. Nothing but an insignificant commoner. A pest.” She pushed her lowered glasses up the bridge of her nose.