Her feet sank into the sand. Outside of Felicity’s normal habitat of the refreshing forests of the world, the high elf wrapped the cloak around herself tighter, her long ears taut against the sides of her hood. “The worst,” she said behind the mask. “Deserts are the worst.” Only her large eyes were left uncovered.

“What was that?” the tall man asked.

“This is the worst zone I have ever been in,” Felicity said, kicking the bright sand. “There’s nothing here. It’s hot, dry, and filled with ruins. Do you know what’s at ruins? More nothing. They’ve been looted since forever.”

Cartiga said nothing. A man with hair splashed with a touch of gray, he was a cover model that made the salt and pepper look work. Shrugging his broad shoulders, Cartiga continued to trudge through sand, his feet sinking each step. His hand rested on the hilt of his saber, always wary. Wearing a strangely formal uniform, an image of a soldier became of him.

It made her wet.

But Felicity grumbled, then meandered after Cartiga. The burning sun reflected onto the sand and into her eyes and had done so for the past two hours. It made her curse the world and everyone in it. If she had known hell was on the agenda, she would’ve teased out a free pair of sunglasses from the fat merchant settled at the oasis.

“The sooner we find the tomb, the sooner we can leave,” Cartiga said. “You weren’t hired to complain.”

Felicity slipped behind Cartiga and pressed her chest against his back. She could not be described as voluptuous, but men were simple creatures. Wrapping her arms around his waist, her fingers wandered up and drew whorls onto his chest. With some difficulty she tiptoed on the sand and pulled down her mask, blowing into her companion’s ear. “We can do other things,” she said. “Somewhere darker.” And out of the heat.

Cartiga’s stoic face cracked momentarily before his lips formed a grim line. “My union normally doesn’t deal with vagabonds.” He elbowed her lightly off. Truly a gentleman. “It’s only through trusted sources were you recommended. You were our last pick.”

“Ouch,” Felicity said. “Definitely not a people person. I’m thinking there are other reasons everyone else backed out of the job now.”

“Why not you?”

“A girl’s got to eat, and the assignment listed the artifact only. Anything else is technically fair game.” Felicity skipped in front of Cartiga, her hood falling back. Her long ears wiggled. High elven ears picked up the smallest shifts in detail, sand dunes or not. Cartiga undoubtedly saw and heard nothing, and possibly thought they were lost.

Humans, she thought with a laugh.

It looked like they were lost, but a high elf’s connection to the elements was stronger than any race, and even in places of death could Felicity sense life.

Especially hostile life.

“Get down!” she yelled. Felicity shoved Cartiga, and tumbled onto the uneven sand alongside him. Sand got into her mouth, but she was otherwise uninjured. She was completely covered in enchanted leather, and not an inch of her body was exposed.

Something inhuman shrieked, and deafened Felicity’s sensitive hearing. She covered her ears. The sand where Cartiga once stood exploded like a geyser and left a sand worm in its wake. The name was simple and self-explanatory, almost laughable, but did no justice for the danger it posed. It slithered around the two until it lifted half its body into the air at a staggering height. Sharp, yellowed teeth lined the entirety of its maw, and the inside of its mouth seemed to oscillate with every move. Saliva oozed out of the worm’s mouth and down its body. A putrid smell hung in the air.

It smelled of rot.

Cartiga recovered and unsheathed his saber. He was on guard. As an experienced duelist, his weapon became extension of his arm. He could control it as if it were a part of his body. “Stay back,” Cartiga said, spitting blood.

Felicity inched backward. “We need to run.”

“We don’t know when this creature will cease chasing us. Its aggro range is unknown.” He was right. Because of its underground habitat, neither Felicity nor Cartiga saw its spawning point and could not judge whether they were at the edge of its range or the center. She was careless, and berated herself for not picking it up with her ears. “The sand has slowed our movement. Running is not an option.”

The woman cursed, and reached for her bow. It felt foreign in her hands. Felicity’s talents were in reconnaissance. Combat made her uncomfortable and was not her forte. Had someone given her the option of fight or flight, she undoubtedly opted for the latter, and considered it even now.

There was no loyalty between her and Cartiga. He was from a small union that boasted fifty members at peak time. For Viarem and its vast size, calling his union small was generous. It was hardly relevant.

Felicity would be a ghost to them, never to be seen again if she turned tail.

Cartiga staved off a large bite from the worm that thrashed wildly. It kicked up a miniature sandstorm and blinded him. His defenses held strong, however. Duelists had a deceptively powerful defense one-on-one, humanoid or otherwise.

“You’re going to die,” she whispered, then nocked an arrow with her bow. Felicity aimed, waiting with extraordinary patience. In high risk situations, nerves wrecked a person’s ability to act.

Felicity steadied her breathing.

Death was unpleasant. At lower levels, the setback was a minor headache. The loss of a day’s work. They neared the seventies. Their experience would take a huge hit, possibly go down a level. The dunes were far from town, and so their equipment could easily be lost in the sand, disregarding a random passersby looting it by sheer chance.

Raiders, she found, were the definition of insanity. A single night tackling an unknown boss or mechanic could set a player back weeks as they ran to their deaths repeatedly. But that was Viarem, the sole virtual reality that truly mimicked life. Besides some additional features, like sand worms or elves, it felt like reality.

The rush of adrenaline. Felicity understood how addicting it was.

She breathed out. An arrow cut through the wind and sank into worm’s throat. She heard a loud clang, like metal hitting metal. “Dammit,” Felicity said, setting another arrow. The line of teeth was like armor.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Cartiga threw himself to the side, barely dodging the worm’s mouth crashing down. Stumbling to get up, Felicity’s second arrow attracted enough attention for him to scramble to his feet. “I’m starting to think you had the right idea!”

Staying out of danger was always the right idea. “Cover your mouth!” Felicity tugged up her mask. She plucked a heavier arrow out of her quiver and pulled her arm back.

She breathed in.

She breathed out.

Felicity released the arrow. It exploded at the edge of the worm’s mouth, and a cloud of dark green expanded like the aftermath of a miniature nuke. Just being in the vicinity burned her eyes. Her mouth and nose barely functioned properly as tears streamed out.

The monster agreed. It roared, twisting and turning as if trying to rub the concoction off. It smashed into the sand and rolled as if driven to insanity, but the cloud would not leave it alone. Rather, it stuck to it, and the worm inhaled. The roars became pained, coughing fits. Felicity almost expected it to throw up its last meal. A camel, perhaps. Or a human. With Cartiga as an example, she supposed players that picked human were retards in general.

Cartiga dashed toward her and heaved the slim elf over his shoulder. He steadied her with one arm, while the other sheathed his saber.

“How heroic,” she said indifferently. Another woman may have found her heart fluttering then, but hers only beat in fear of turning into food. Her stamina was nearly full, too. She could run herself. But Felicity remained silent and enjoyed the sight of the sand worm floundering like a beached fish. She took off her mask and revealed a sadistic smile.

It happened occasionally.

Her heart was unmoved, but she felt something else. Viarem wasn’t limited to just monster slaying and treasure hunting. Her lower lips trembled. But she banished the thought and tapped Cartiga’s shoulder. “We’re safe, you can put me down. You’re quite the runner.” A strictly professional relationship on the job. Felicity worked in HR for a reason.

The duelist had hearing problems. Felicity raised her voice and repeated her words. Cartiga finally nodded in response and slowed at one of the ruins they passed earlier and set her down roughly, eliciting a moan from her. “Are you hurt?” he asked.

Felicity bit her lip. “No.” She leaned back against the stone block and shook sand out of her boots.

“Good.” He retrieved a flask from a pouch and chugged the red potion down.

Felicity furrowed her brow at the sight. She held back the vomit. The potion tasted like medicine — cherry flavored medicine. Felicity had experience with alchemy, though she did not advertise her craft. It amused her, considering her poor grades in chemistry many moons ago. Regardless, no matter how high she leveled it, the damned taste refused to improve, but her alchemy was second to none if she were the bragging type.

The solo life was rough. Taking care of herself was a priority, and alchemy helped greatly. Recipe prices lightened Felicity’s pockets frequently to her dismay. It was why few invested in multiple crafts if any. The time and cost was exorbitant.

Cartiga scratched at his jawline. Felicity sucked in air. It was a rather pronounced jaw, and squared. She allowed herself to swoon once the worm was dealt with. “Now we can get back to this godforsaken artifact. If we didn’t need it to level our union I swear I would never step foot here. You were right. This is the worst zone ever.”

“Luckily,” Felicity started, “you ran the right direction.” Her ears twitched, a habit she couldn’t seem to break. “I hear running water, and no mirage can mimic that. The very hungry caterpillar will no longer bother us, either.”

Cartiga grinned, revealing pearly whites. He offered his hand, and pulled Felicity to her feet. “Let’s go,” he said.

Felicity led her employer to the dungeon situated among plant life. The actual dungeon was a cinch compared to finding it, and the two came out unscathed.

Her job was done.

Felicity fanned herself within the shade of a palm tree. Boorish, yet effective. The dunes were cursed with an eternal sun, and so the heat wouldn’t dissipate unless a raid resolved it. Maybe. Depending on the boss, it could be a world-changing, or nothing at all.

The stakes in raids were too high for her pay grade, however, which was why she cooled herself by flapping her hand at her neck like an idiot. This was wrong, she thought bitterly. At an oasis, handsome men should be fanning me!

Cartiga fiddled with the emblem they had found in the dungeon. The artifact looked plain, but it was worth a lot. “Thank you.”

She rubbed her fingers together with the universal symbol depicting money. “Words are worthless.”

Coins appeared in front of her. “As agreed,” he said, “half at the start, the remainder upon completion.” Cartiga dropped the hefty pouch into her palm. The jingle sounded better than a Christmas song. “There were mishaps, but in the end you completed your task. Nice doing business with you.”

“Likewise.”

He opened his mouth. “You—”

Felicity laid a finger over his lips. “No, I haven’t joined one for a reason.” She let that sink in and, confident he understood, let go and counted the coins. It wouldn’t be the first time someone had screwed her, and not the fun kind.

With a sigh, Cartiga said, “Then that concludes it. Our sources were correct. You have a keen eye and nimble feet. Good job.”

“That’s not all I’m good at,” she said with a wink. Business was over. Business and pleasure had officially separated.

“True, they said you dealt with information as well. Impressive. You were knowledgeable about the traps and monsters we encountered inside.”

Felicity blew her blond hair away from her eyes. “Yeah,” she said, flatly. “Thanks."

“I have another job for you if you’re interested.”

Felicity rubbed at her neck awkwardly. “I love doing business,” she said, “do tell.”

Felicity the Untouchable

Level 69 High Elf Scout

Reputation 3349