Lucas dazed at his computer screen for a while, and couldn’t believe his eyes. How? Charlie got the money, whatever she did. John did. Was all that crazy enchanting worth that much? There was no way, right? She couldn’t trade as much as two million players combined, could she?

A smile sneaked on his face, but the next moment a horrible thought returned - when she said that thing about a guy… He closed his eyes and shook his head. No, that’s not possible; John is a man, right?

As he checked the amount in his account again, he debated about sending the money right away. No. That would be a bad idea, because they would demand more - thus he set the delivery date six days from now.

“Good evening, Lucas,” someone spoke on his left out of the blue. Had someone broke into his apartment? Was it the ring, terrorists? No, maybe it was that player he killed ten times over and who said he’ll find him for real in reality?

Whoever it was, he reacted fast thanks to his training, and with one swift movement picked a gun hidden under the table before plunging to the other side.

“My name is Jeffrey, and I come in peace,” the stranger said with a hint of a smile. Lucas was the one pointing a gun at him, but he froze with his mouth open. A young punk. He lowered his gun and sighed. If this kid wanted him dead, he would already be dead ten times over. The kid’s face lit and he continued, “I am one of leaders of the ring of smiling people.”

“I… I am aware. Please, leave Charlie out of this! She did nothing wrong!”

“You mean agent Charlie, or is it now agent John-Charlie? See Lucas, you helped him retire. It was you who archived his ID, right? I heard some chatter, that there is a ploy to disrupt Charlie.” 

Lucas relaxed and dropped to his chair; everyone told him to be afraid of them, but Jeffrey was only a kid. Only with power beyond any means. “Why is John being hunted?”

“That is not relevant. I want to assist him; support the best hero in the game. I don’t know how it was achievable to change him into a female, but the cover is phenomenal. Excellent job, you two.”

“Yes, yes… But, we have a problem because I owe tens of millions to your colleague. If you can talk…”

“Then don’t gamble anymore? I have limited funds and power, for now. I need to consolidate it before I can be of any assistance. Although, if you can get through the following months, I promise to stand on your side. I need a seed, an item obtainable only in the game.”

“If I may ask-”

“You cannot. That would be foolish; Pearl is a rash person. Don’t ask odd questions. Others despise annoying flies like you two.” He flashed a weak smile, turned on his heel, and walked away with a confident stride.

 

Enchanting items was one of the hardest things I had to do. Ever. I gently threw a pair of gloves on the wall and let them slid down, where I kicked them with all my love. Three times.

Damn, that two months without whiskey were easier than suffering through the enchanting. Thinking about it, I took a sip from a waterskin and ate the cheapest bread. Yeah, I lived like a princess.

Break’s over, enchanting continues.

Why? This is just plain stupid! How many times I need to practice the damn rune before I get it right? Billion times?! As my nerves reached their breaking point, I struck the armrest of my chair, and it shattered into countless pieces.

“Wonderful. Just wonderful!” With another punch to the table, I deposited even that old thing. Fine! Now I had to sit on a ground - that was uncomfortable, but manageable. Calm down, John. Please calm down. Wasn’t I the one who found a bug in three flying sticks and flew at the speed of light? So why was I so bad at this?

What I hated the most was the actual enchanting. Since I was only familiar with the exploit in enchanting, I had to get it. That didn’t mean I was good at it. Dust, Essence, let’s go.

I hate it! I bet I am the worst for these kinds of things.

The minimum effect I needed to give Lisa was five percent. That meant I had to get the rating of forty percent or higher and I couldn’t do it fast enough! With another punch, I cracked a floor.

I stopped and glanced around. Something was wrong; that was very unlike me. I always methodically observed the problem and solved it in my head, before acting. Was it because of my female hormones? No way, Lucy was even better at this than I ever was.

Success rate? Only one in ten attempts, truly pathetic. One positive thing was that I stopped to fail completely, after only two hours of trying. I remembered the sweet fragrance of the bar and checked the clock again. Sorry Lucas, not tonight, I guess.

Later, when I was pushing the mana into the rune, the borders of the rune glowed with a weak ray of light. It connected the rune to the glove, centering on the Essence. Huh, maybe this could be some kind of key? I dusted the places of connection with two more layers of dust and pushed all the mana in, but at a slower pace.

It worked! I threw the gloves to the completed pile and continued with enchanting. Every time I dusted the shining place on equipment, it was an instant success! Yes, I learned the secret about Enchanting!

 

Pumping my fist in celebration, I quickly enchanted them all, surpassing my own expectations, so I could present them to Lisa. I sent a message to her and lay on the ground, exhausted.

“You called, sweetheart?” Lisa ran back the moment I sent her my message. Why else I would call you, you rich girl? I wanted to say. After I nodded, she rummaged through the completed things. Checking the stuff, her eyes sparkled, and her grin revealed her beautiful teeth. My face betrayed me as my cheeks turned a deep shade of red, and I couldn't help but look away from the person in front of me.

This time it was because her grin affected me on a deep level and I felt it boiling in my belly. John, are you falling for her? Wake up, you are a girl!

Only after she examined the pile of equipment, she pulled me into a hug and jumped around, like she did not that long ago. This time, however, I grinned and jumped with her, because the childish mood was contagious. Wonderful, now I am like the noobs who cheer when they kill a wolf.

“You helped me a lot, I needed money,” I clutched to her and tried not to fall during all that happy hopping around. That was the reason I placed my head on her chest. I swear.

Sadly, our happy jump didn’t last long because she pulled out a scroll. “One last favor, Ice Princess! Please. If you can enchant a staff for me, this rune is yours! But you need to promise me you won’t enchant anything for Dmitry!”

“Miss Lisa, I am not sure…” I spoke with difficulty, my gaze fixed to the ground. “I don’t want to damage your item.” Lisa squeezed my shoulder as if she wanted to break me and patted on my head. A warmth spread all over my body and I almost grinned like crazy.

“Princess! You are so cute! Try it, and if you fail, you fail. That is okay, I still like you! I have a tip - don’t inspect the item before you enchant it; let it be a surprise!” Her encouragement made me more relaxed, and I even smiled at her. Hey, past John, would you ever guess a noob was going to encourage you?

She was right. I might feel less nervous when enchanting anonymous things. She wouldn’t want me to enchant anything precious, would she? Right. For sure.

The Rune of Fire was bad news though; the system cheated! It said “Rune” but in fact, it was two runes connected. The first was the same as basic enchantment, but the second one was strange. The arrangement of the three octagons inside the rune turned out to be random, as if a child had drawn it and connected it without a plan.

To add more difficulty, the staff was more fancy than usual, made from a dark red wood, with a tip fitted with a bright red crystal. Cheap one. For sure, just a stick. Just a stick. I tried to calm my hear.

Lisa sat on the ground and happily sorted through all the enchanted equipment, singing a song to herself, as I tried to engrave the rune into my brain.

I calmed myself with a deep breath and dusted the staff evenly with four powders. As I was searching for the best placement of runes, I reached the bottom of the staff where it would look cool, so I placed the essences there. I deliberated for a while where to put the gem; I settled for the two third of staff, perfect place - If I succeeded.

Thankfully, the faint outlines of runes appeared, and I guided my shuddering hands through all the intricacies. No! Focus, John! Lisa was so kind to you!

So, I even slowed down and felt almost intangible tugging at my mind, where the mana was pushing against me. The force wanted to blow out, and I tried to hold it. There wasn’t a similar feeling like that in the real world-slash-simulation, but my toilet practices, where I hold it for so long, came handy now. As the ray of light shone on the staff, I hurriedly brushed the contours with the final dusting of powder.

The runes enveloped the bottom of the staff and glowed with a bright red light; the gem changed color to match the enormous crystal at the top and it even engraved my snowflake right onto the gem! I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that the thing I had only thought of was now in front of me.

I dropped to the floor, paralyzed in fear.

This… this was one of the best drops from the first boss of the Scorching Dungeon. She trusted me with an Epic dungeon loot? I couldn’t even speak and just blankly stared at the staff. Lisa energetically picked it up, and her eyes glistered when she examined the stats.

“Princess, you are amazing! The staff is so pretty!” she screamed and maniacally laughed. “Wahaha! I am the Fire Goddess! Everything belongs to me now! Eat that, Dmitry!” She slashed at an imaginary enemy in the air, where it left fire sparks in her path, and danced with the staff clutched to her chest. I had never danced before, but her confident steps looked professional. Since she was wealthy, did she take dance lessons? But why was she dancing with the staff?

The friendly atmosphere encouraged me to speak a little more. “I am happy for you. Can I ask for equipment? Level five Priest.”

“Yes! Tell Peter he is next door. No, I’ll tell him. Excuse me, I need to test it. Talk to you later!” I received a kiss on my cheek, and she ran so fast she tumbled around the door. What the… hell? Isn’t she a heartless bitch? No, the rumors were false for sure.

Warily, I followed in her steps, and as I entered the next room, the sight of a lone elf greeted me. With speed, I rushed towards him. The nervosity bound my tongue yet again, so I could only stare at him and tried to smile.

“Oh, yes, our glorious leader blabbered something about Priest equipment for you before she ran off, gods know where.” I nodded like that was the most normal thing in the world.

After his another sigh, we walked to another room, which looked more like a storage room, but without furniture; they neatly sorted hundred of items on the ground. So much work, damn. I accepted whatever he handed me and then ran without saying goodbye. Yup, I was the real Ice Princess.