High-level dungeon.
The sun hung high in the blazing orange sky. Its light fell perpendicular, scorching the expanse of sand below. A hot wind blew hard, carrying coarse dust grains that stung the skin.
In the distance, a giant sand worm jumped out from behind a dune. Its fat and long body arched in the air before hitting the ground again.
Boom!
Vibrations propagated for hundreds of meters, shaking the sand grains.
Under the shade of a giant ancient rib cage that curved like a natural dome, two human figures sat relaxed, sheltered from the direct sun’s sting.
Zalvarich sat upright on a mahogany folding chair he brought himself. His purple robe looked clean, without a speck of dust, contrasting with the harsh environment around him.
In front of him, a small table floated by magic, complete with a clean white tablecloth.
Clink.
A silver knife in his right hand sliced the grilled meat on a white porcelain plate. A fork in his left hand held the piece of meat elegantly. Zalvarich put the small piece into his mouth and chewed silently, his eyes closed, enjoying the taste.
Beside him, a woman sat perched on the dried and bleached skull of a lizard monster. One of her legs was lifted, supporting her chin, her elbow resting on her knee.
The woman had short light blue hair that was messy from the wind. Her eyes were bright blue, sharp and wild. She wore a black shirt with the top buttons open, displaying a blue crystal necklace on her neck. Tight black leather pants wrapped her long legs. A white jacket was slung carelessly over her left shoulder.
The woman held a whole grilled monster thigh with both her bare hands.
Crunch.
She bit the meat greedily, tearing the fibers. Oil and spices stuck around her lips.
"So that’s how it is?" asked the woman. Her mouth was still full of chewing meat, her voice slightly muffled.
Zalvarich swallowed his food slowly, then wiped the corner of his lips with a silk napkin. "Yes. That’s how it is."
Zalvarich sighed heavily, his eyes staring at the sand grains flying outside the bone shade. "That ashole. Now I don’t dare to look at my subordinates outside."
"Btw your name is complicated to say, Salksha..." Zalvarich glanced at the woman.
"I’ll just call you, hmm."
"the tomboy girl"
"Do I look like a tomboy?" Salksha stopped chewing. She spread her arms, showing her clothes, then raised her eyebrows high.
Zalvarich raised both his eyebrows and nodded slowly.
"Hm, whatever," Salksha muttered.
Salksha swallowed the meat in her throat forcefully, then laughed loudly. Her voice echoed under the giant rib bones.
"Hahahahah!"
"You’re so stupid, damn."
Salksha pointed at Zalvarich with the thigh bone in her hand. "How could you. You didn’t realize, huh?"
"Like... you should have been suspicious, you know!"
"Like this, like this." Salksha put down her thigh bone for a moment, then moved her hands, re-enacting the scene.
"You saw him whispering with his friends, then suddenly invited you to play chess? And the position was that he knew he would die in one hour?"
"Like... like you should have known there was something strange!"
Salksha tilted her head, putting on an exaggerated, confused face.
"’Oh, why did this kid suddenly invite me to play chess, huh? Is he crazy? What crazy person plays chess one hour before he dies, bro!’"
Zalvarich just snorted softly. He didn’t look offended. His hands went back to busily cutting the meat on the plate.
"But if you were me, what then?"
"They were low-level level and I didn’t know there was such an artifact." Zalvarich shrugged, then put a piece of meat into his mouth. "Like I thought whatever they wanted to do, they couldn’t possibly hurt me, damn."
Zalvarich then narrowed his eyes, chewing slowly. "Except for that, Fyar. He muttered nonsense about neutralize and shot using something I don’t know what, shaped like a monster’s dick."
"Then I was shocked too. My power went blank for two to three seconds."
"Yeah," Salksha nodded, admitting. "That kid is kinda genius though."
"Neutralize, huh..." she muttered softly.
She looked back at Zalvarich, her eyes glinting playfully. "But well. Knowing a man worth six hundred thousand gold coins was defeated by a level twenty-nine is kinda something."
"Ah. Maybe your bounty will go up."
Salksha tapped her chin, thinking. "Hmm, I bet on seven hundred to nine hundred thousand gold coins."
Zalvarich smiled crookedly at Salksha. "You’re a Bounty Hunter . Don’t want to try fighting me now and bring my head to the Kingdom?"
Salksha chuckled. "Good attempt."
"But how much did you spend to prepare sealing the city, making the Guardians leave, and killing all adventurers and guards?"
"How much did you spend to hire Whitening?" Salksha leaned forward, curious.
Zalvarich stopped eating. He put down his knife and fork, then leaned back. His eyes stared at the bone ceiling.
"Hmm, hmm."
"Expensive. I gave artifacts, gold coins, weapons, and some agreements."
Salksha laughed again, louder than before. "And that was only to be thwarted by a level twenty-nine kid."
"Hahahahaah!"
Zalvarich bit his lip. His jaw hardened until the veins in his neck were visible. His face turned red, holding back emotion.
He shouted, his voice splitting the desert wind. "AAAA FYAR FUCK YOU FYAR FUCK YOU, SON OF A BITCH, FUUUCKCCKKCKC, DAMN IT!!!!"
Zalvarich hit his floating table, making the plates and glasses shake violently.
After a while, his breathing began to regulate. Zalvarich sat back calmly in his chair, tidying his slightly rumpled robe.
Click.
He snapped his fingers.
Instantly, the food and dirty plates in front of him disappeared, replaced by two cold glass bottles containing clear drinking water. Cold dew dripped on the bottle walls.
"Here."
Zalvarich threw one bottle towards Salksha.
"Ooh, thanks, thanks ." Salksha caught the bottle deftly in the air.
Salksha finished the remaining meat on the thigh bone quickly, then threw the clean bone onto the sand in the distance.
She opened the bottle cap and gulped the water greedily. Her Adam’s apple moved up and down.
"Huaaa." She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Your class is indeed the best for situations like this."
"Can eat meat in a place like this."
She smiled at Zalvarich, her eyes narrowing. "You really intended to keep stuff like that in your pocket ."
Zalvarich chuckled softly. "Of course. Even though I’m strong, I’m always prepared for the worst-case scenario. Like now."
His eyes narrowed sharply. "Except with that Bitchas Fyar."
"Are you going to kill him?" Salksha asked. She twirled the empty bottle in her hand.
Zalvarich was silent. He stared at the undulating sand horizon.
"Of course not."
"I want to win against him in chess first, then fight him."
"But won’t your subordinates look for you if you disappear like this?" Salksha asked.
"Safe. I said if I don’t come back for more than five hours, I told them to just take a break first."
"Hmm, I see."
"Hmm, I thought so, I thought so." Salksha stood up from her seat on the skull. She patted the sand dust from her pants and jacket.
"Come on, let’s continue, get out."
Zalvarich nodded. He stood up too.
He snapped his fingers.
Instantly, the wooden chair and floating table vanished without a trace.
"Are you sure you don’t want to join me? Become 09?" Zalvarich asked. He looked at Salksha seriously.
"Nah. I don’t have a bounty ," Salksha answered while waving her hand, refusing casually.
Zalvarich sighed. "Whatever then."
He looked around, the endless desert expanse.
"But we’d better just look around first."
"Eeeh? No way, I want to get out of here," Salksha put on a lazy face, pouting.
"Four hundred gold coins."
Salksha immediately turned her head quickly. Her eyes sparkled, a wide smile blooming on her face.
"Where to?"