"Watch your back!"
The dark-haired teenager turned to see his partner slash the neck of an enemy that had managed to sneak behind him. The beast fell to the ground with a whine leaving its dying body as it closed its eyes.
He looked away from the dead creature and at his friend whose sword dripped with ooze. These monsters didn't bleed and smelled foul. Just like the wicked soul's that sat in their disgusting bodies.
The girl wiped her weapon on the wet grass and moved her hand in the air. A status window appeared in the air and with one click it vanished along with her weapon.
With her hands free she directed her attention at the boy she just saved and hit him upside the head. The sudden hit stung.
"Ow!" The teenager rubbed at his aching noggin and scowled at her.
She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest with an eye roll. "This is the fifth time I've had to save your lazy butt from becoming lunch."
He wanted to scold her for hitting him and being snappy but he knew that she was right. He had been pretty distracted as of late and messed up on multiple missions they embarked on.
Thankfully, she was used to the updated combat system and easily took down any enemies. But he could tell it was weighing on her and she was right to finally snap.
"My mom has been getting on me for not having a job again." He confessed to which her mood flipped instantly. "Hey, don't pity me."
"It's not me pitying you when your best friend's worried about you. Didn't you tell her what your teacher said about you needing to focus on your exams?" She asked as she put her sherbet hair into a ponytail.
He struggled to answer as he knew whatever he said would put him into an awful mood. The teenager's relationship with his mother as of late had been rocky due to money issues.
He was a dual degree early college student who spent all his free time gaming. This upset his mother as she was old school and found video games to be childish.
She wanted him to get a masters and work in finance which he was not going to do. They managed to come to a brief understanding by him doing a dual degree but that understanding was falling apart.
All because of money issues he fully didn't understand and she refused to speak to him about. It gave him a headache and anxiety filled nights.
He didn't want to talk about it right now but he had no other choice. "My mother is just stubborn. There's no point in arguing with her."
His friend sighed and gave him a sympathetic look. "Nova, you should really move out if she keeps bothering and prodding at you." This was something she kept bringing up and was serious about.
But he just didn't feel ready to move and be independent. "Lottie, I don't even have enough for that yet." He waved her suggestion off.
The conversation quickly died out as Lottie knew that she was entering dangerous waters. They rarely talked about real life issues because they both tended to get overly emotional about it.
Still, she knew about this since it was so prominent in his life. He liked to hear her opinion. It was just too much drama for the brunette right now. They continued to complete their mission, with enemies jumping out from their hiding spots with frothing mouths and claws.
They were in a large cave system with each nook and cranny being the perfect home for the disgusting beasts. There were booby traps on certain parts of the room so they also had to watch where they were walking.
This wasn't out of the ordinary for the pair as they were doing a basic dungeon dive. Basically, you found a dungeon, searched every room and floor before finding your prize.
The prize the brunette had heard about was pretty desirable and made his interest peak. It was a nice plated suit of armor that would fit his sword and his current outfit.
Lottie just wanted to farm experience and gain more strength so she tagged along. The girl's dual-toned hair flew behind her as she ran forward and took out her sword to butcher a beast.
It was covered in disgusting boils that had puss ready to spurt out. To anyone not used to the dungeon they would vomit at the mere glance of their body.
They were used to it but still had moments of freezing from nausea. He watched as her blade punctured the creature and it bloated with a fearsome screech piercing his ears.
The teenager winced and raised his hands to ears to block out the noise as Lottie lopped its head off. She looked exhausted as she kicked the dead monster out of the way.
"I swear these guys are bubbling idiots. All they do is run at us with that little waddle of theirs and collapse at the weakest of hits." She complained as they moved through a stone hallway and into a room.
It was more so a floor than a room with a hoard of jewels and goods sitting at their feet. It reminded the brunette of a scene out of a fantasy novel where a powerful knight finds a dragon's nest.
They had the stereotypical massive pile of riches and the lumbering lizard that was laying in the middle. It was designed to resemble a komodo dragon with its snort huffing out steam and its claws dripping with poison.
"I had no idea this game had dragons." Nova whispered as he stared.
His friend nodded and gripped her sword harder. "It's humongous."
He could only gulp in response as the dragon moved its tail in its sleep. The small move caused a large gust of wind to come their way and nearly knocked the pair over.
Gold coins and necklaces flew in the air, raining down at them like a shower of hail. Nova lifted his arms to shield his face and Lottie quickly took cover.
Seeing this made the brunette move much slower as the dragon slept peacefully. If it woke up before they could steal its prized armor they'd be in big trouble.
Sure, they may be able to take the komodo dragon down by themselves due to their skills but it would be a lot of trouble. Nova also didn't want to kill such a beautiful lizard.
