บท 70: Black Box
"A rare artifact? There is such a thing?" Both Dairen and Mike spoke out loud, wondering what kind. They couldn't strip any information from their screen as a question appeared before them with no explanation.
"Yea, but it's not the strongest out there, but it's going to help us here." Snow tapped the end of the black box a few times. She waved a couple of the Players over in helping her pick it up.
"I need your help taking it near my tent." Snow replied. The Players nodded as they jumped up to hoist the machine out. It took four as they carried it out of the truck.
Snow followed behind with a bit of a hop. She couldn't wait to use it as they made their way towards the center of the fortress.
With a heavy thunk, the players placed the machine onto the ground next to her tent. Like an excited puppy, Snow circled the artifact before her. The players looked at the object with interest, but they all knew that they couldn't even use it because of the restriction and danger it had posed.
Snow placed her hand on the top, she gave both Mike and Dairen a big grin that bloomed into a contagious smile.
Dairen and Mike were bedazzled by her excited smile. Her eyes were like rainbows as her cheeks became slightly pink. She laughed joyfully at the gift that was sent to her.
They stared without shame until Mike nudged Dairen to snap out of it.
"Stare at her any longer, she'll finally catch on," Mike whispered over towards Dairen with a smug grin. "You aren't going to confess now?"
"It's not the right time." Dairen nudged back a bit harder.
"When is the right time?" Mike snorted at him as if he was crazy. "Twenty years from now? When your thing in between your legs stops working or when you become a monk? Oh god, please don't tell me you decided that route?" He said with exaggeration.
"Just, shut up," Dairen growled, which caught Snow's attention.
She looked at them, wondering what they were whispering about. Both Mike and Dairen waved at her as if nothing was wrong.
"You just have to make things awkward." Dairen hissed in a low voice, so only Mike could hear.
"Why, thank you." Mike grinned evilly. "Only for you, sweetheart."
"Oh, shut up." Dairen snapped, rolling his eyes at Mike. Mike snorted, trying to hold back his laughter. He kept smugly smiling at Dairen as they had their silent war.
"Are you guys, alright?" Snow asked a bit concern as she couldn't help but wonder if their friendship between the two was budding into something more. If it did, she wasn't going to stop it. Already, she could see how intimate they were with each other, realizing that maybe she was right.
Coughing a few times, Dairen looked over towards Snow, unsure what to say. He slicked back his hair and shoulder pushed Mike hard one last time, which caused Mike to stumble forward towards Snow.
Mike caught himself before he would fall face-first onto the ground and embarrass himself. He straightened up, looking over to Dairen, he silently mouthed: wuss.
Dairen flicked him off.
From that point on, Snow believed that there was something more. She silently prayed for their success.
Mike came over asking, "What do you have there?"
Snow patted the black box, taking a look at Dairen one more time to see if he was alright. "A special barrier creator." She spoke with excitement. "It just need someone with a strong light affinity magic to activate it and so far nobody, but me have it."
"You mean like a battery pack?" Mike asked. Mike and Dairen came over, Mike squatted next to her while Dairen stood on the right side of Snow.
"Something like that." Snow replied, "It converts the magical energy in the air to sustain it for a very long time. The only way the barrier can fall is if something more powerful overcomes it. So far, the Crystal Raptors or their pet is not going to be able to do anything about it." Snow smugly replied. "Let's start it up, and you'll see what I mean."
Snow rested her hand on the black box. Her hand tingled with coldness, she shivered as a shockwave of energy seemed to dip into her body like a vampire. Instantly, she felt bits of energy being snacked on her as it activated.
With a whirl, the box glowed blue as ancient words scribbled on the surface seem to dance and change. Suddenly, a blast of energy spread outwards, catching everyone off guard as they felt a wash of warmth past them. The barrier reached to the very end of the wall, stopping an inch or two short.
Ecstatic by the amount of area it covered, Snow was pleased. This way, she knew that the fortress was temporarily safe, allowing them to go on a more offensive tactic that they dearly needed.
"Not bad." Mike was pleased with one solution that would help them, this changed a few things around.
Suddenly, a high pitch yell reverberated in the camp. Lily was shouting in outrage at the piles of the carcass that was too close to her tent.
"How could you bring this stink near me?" Lily cried out in anger, she pointed at the carcass in front of her and the Players.
It was a large Crystal Raptor body that needed five to six people to carry in on a makeshift cart. They dumped in on the ground, close to the butcher shop to have it dismantled on the spot, but they didn't pay attention to Lily quarters.
"Do you know what it's like to smell that wretched stink in the air?" She stomped her feet, waving her hand wildly in the air. "How am I going to even go to sleep?!"
A young man frowned at her outburst, he came over to her. "I apologize, Ms. Lily. It was just a heavy load, and we did not know you built your tent near the butcher spot."
"I don't care what you bring. Get that filthy piece of meat out of my sight!"
The man furrowed at her outburst. He looked back at his teammates and then again at her. He slowly shook his head. "No."
"What?!"
"I said, No. Ms. Lily. We can not do that. Before you came here and pitched up your tent, the butcher and the blacksmith made it their spot."
"Then tell them to move as well."
"That is an impossible request." A buffy old man, who was a blacksmith, had soot on his body came over to look at Lily. He gripped the hot tongue in his hand and a hammer in the other, glaring her down. He waved it a bit threatening in front of him at her. "It would take a full three days to move, and we are in the midst of a raid. I will not curtail your needs when you can move instead."
Lily scowled, looking at the two as if they had lost their mind. She stuck up her nose, staring them down. "I don't think you understand what my kind can do."
"Well, I don't know what kind you ar-" the young man replied but was stopped suddenly by Lily's outstretched hand that touched his very chest.
Lily glowed red, her heavy perfume mixed in with the air around them. She sucked up the man's vital energy, causing him to pale and sway. He let out a moaning cry of pleasure and fell on the ground, unconscious.
"A succubus." The blacksmith hissed, glaring at her with disgust. "What is your kind doing here?"
Lily pulled out a handkerchief, wiping her hand on it a few times before dropping it onto the young man's face. She stepped over, walking straight up to the old man himself.
"I was sent by the Dragon Express to deal with you shitheads."
"The Dragon Express has no claim to this spot." The blacksmith growled, "Your spot is near the middle near the gate."
Lily clicked her tongue, "I'm not going to build my tent next to that goodie-two shoe of a human." She snapped, "I want my place, here." With a stomp of her foot, she amplified her words.
"Go home, succubus. You're kind is not needed here."
"I highly doubt that old man." Lily gave him a pompous look as her eyes darted back towards the young man. "Look at his young pup, he seemed to be pleasured in a way to relieve himself out in this wretched desert."
"There was no consent to that," the blacksmith waved his hammer in front of her. "You just forcibly took it without asking!"
"Pish-posh, same thing." Lily didn't care. She turned around to leave the young man and the blacksmith there to deal with it themselves. "So, with that being said. I want you guys gone."
"Didn't you hear me, lass?"
Lily didn't even seem to turn around or care. Just when she was halfway towards her tent, Snow, who saw the whole thing, walked over and grabbed her by the shoulder.
"Well. Look who came back to grace my presence." Lily spoke with a sarcastic tone of voice as she gave her a mocking bow. "The Queen of the fortress has arrived to check on her lowly peasant."
"Oh, quit it with your remarks." Snow rolled her eyes. "Why are you like this? You weren't as bad of a bitch when you were back at the store."
Even though she didn't care what Lily did, disrupting the community over some trivial matter was something that she wasn't going to allow. Mostly because Lily still fell under the jurisdiction of the Dragon Express, meaning it was her problem to deal with.
"I was sent out here to be killed. You think I'll be happy to be here?" Lily spat. "I am not like your-" She waved her hand up and down Snow's whole body, "kind. Dirty and disgusting street urchins who live off the land like some kind of cavemen."
"Oh, be quiet, Lily. Your dramatic words get old fast." Snow let go of her shoulder. "Just move your tent to the other side. You can have your little privacy there, where you still need to pull your weight. I'm not going to hand feed you everything, plus your presence here obstruct everyone."
Lily didn't say anything. She rolled her eyes, giving Snow a sloppy, dramatic bow as she turned away, leaving Snow alone. Snow felt a bit slighted at how Lily bowed at her, but she tried to not let it get to her.
"That lass has problems." The blacksmith came up next to her, clicking his tongue and shaking his head.
"You don't know the half of it." Snow sighed, praying silently to the Gods to be able to deal with Lily's drama throughout this dungeon raid.
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