45 Out of Gas

By the time both Shesmu and Ryuji finished their fights, Ryan had slain his way through the chessboard, killing fifteen wolves.

"Hahaha, Shes! Stop goofing around and start killing, I won't be waiting for you!"

Ryan dashed towards a pack of wolves, a grin plastered on his face. He disappeared from everyone's sight before pouncing from the shadows. His cloaked blade pierced through one of the wolves' chest, killing it instantly.

Ryan threw his dagger towards another wolf, but instead of hitting it, the dagger flew above it. In a silver flash, Ryan disappeared before reappearing above the wolf. He took hold of the flying dagger before slashing the beast's nape open with a spinning move. The wolf had fallen dead on the ground.

By the time Ryan landed on the white tile, three wolves were pouncing on him from all directions. His only escape—the black tile behind him. He gritted his teeth before summoning a mass of shadow from every corner. He was engulfed in a ball of darkness. The moment the wolves reached him, he exploded in a mass of gloom, pushing all of the beasts back. Once the mist of black cleared, Ryan appeared, and above him was a shadowy silhouette with a cross made of white orbs decorating its chest. It was the same one Shesmu had seen in the character creation phase. Just this time, it was holding a scythe.

With a swing of its weapon, the shadow harvested the lives of all three wolves. By the time their head rolled on the ground, it dissipated in a black mist.

"Huff, puff"

Ryan fell to the ground, exhausted. He was sweating cold bullets and his pupils were dilated. Looking at his state, Shesmu couldn't help but mutter under his breath, "You damn idiot. Why did you summon your shadow so early?"

"Hey Ryan, are you alright?"

Leo ran towards his friend the moment he fell. The latter took his hand as support and tried to stand before falling once again, his legs failing him.

Shesmu made his way towards Ryan before saying, "Check your status, is there something wrong?"

"I have this debuff: Weakened. It stays active for… a whole hour."

"Damn, that's a lot? Was that from the technique you just used?" Leo asked in surprise. He was already shocked by the summoning of the shadow, but things just kept piling up.

Shesmu clicked his tongue. "You're done for the round then."

"Yeah," Ryan scratched his head. "Seems like it will be your win this time."

"Really dude, why does everything have to be a competition with you."

"I don't know, I guess it's just more fun that way."

A joyful smile was plastered on Ryan's face, making Shesmu smile too. He chuckled and said, "I guess you're right. It is more fun that way."

Shesmu then turned around before saying, "Well, you rest here. We'll be clearing the floor before coming back to pick you up."

"Ehm, Shes, can you stay for a bit? I just wanna talk about something."

Shesmu heard Ryan's unusual request and stayed silent for a bit. He had an inkling on what Ryan wanted to talk about.

He then turned around and responded, "Eh, sure. I'm guessing it will take a bit of time." He looked at Leo, Ryuji and Sakura before he continued, "You guys can use this chance to learn some battle tactics. Leo will be your tank while you guys support him."

"Sure, let's do that, guys. Sounds fun," responded Leo. He then turned around and looked at his two new companions before cheering even more loud. "Guys, let's show Shes that we're not just pushovers okay? Let's do it!"

"Yes! Mister Leo!"

Ryuji matched Leo's volume while Sakura just smiled and said, "Well, it does sound fun. I'm in."

The trio made their way towards the packs of wolves with Leo taking the lead, while Shesmu sat down next to Ryan and looked at them from behind.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" He finally asked.

Ryan stayed silent for a couple of seconds before saying, "You asked me before why did I love competitions so much, right?"

"Yeah, and you said that it was because it was fun."

"Yeah, it is fun." Ryan's thoughts trailed off as he looked above, at the red rocks covering the ceiling of the cave. "But that's not why I'm competing with you, Shes."

Shesmu didn't respond. He waited for Ryan to gather his thoughts and listened.

"I-I hate to lose. Especially when it's someone I consider my equal, I cannot stand losing to them. I will do anything in my power to win."

"So, do you want to challenge me again?" Shesmu asked half-jokingly. He did respect Ryan's abilities, but his current self wouldn't be able to beat Shesmu.

"You can't imagine how much I want to do that," Ryan responded. "But no. We did agree to fight only after the tutorial, right?"

"Well, it's good that you remember the promise. I'll keep my end of the deal, you'll get the fight you so desperately want after we complete the tower."

Shesmu grinned while looking at Ryan. His teasing made Ryan grin back. Their eyes wandered over towards the trio of Leo, Ryuji, and Sakura. They were fighting tooth and nail against the horde of wolves.

With the unnatural terrain, Leo had a hard time adjusting. However, through swift movement, he was able to bash the wolves to gain their aggro before tanking their attacks using his Ki-enhanced shield. Whenever Sakura would throw a fireball or a thunderbolt, he would focus on the target of the spell so as to not lose its aggro. That way, the party kept rotating through their skills like a well-oiled machine.

Well, that is if we exclude Ryuji.

Leo would worry about Ryuji messing up the aggro if the latter was able to land a hit. Every time he swung his sword, it would either be too slow and the wolf would dodge, or it would just miss completely.

"Seems like Ryuji really isn't made for the sword. It's almost as if it's too heavy for him. Maybe he should switch to the clearly superior class and join the rank of the assassins?"

Ryan's teasing made Shesmu roll his eyes and chuckle. "Yeah, right. And become a glass cannon that can't do anything alone?"

Their banter soon turned into laughter. By the time he was done laughing, Ryan turned towards Shesmu and said, "You know the real reason why I wanted to talk, right?"

The sudden change of mood took Shesmu by surprise. However, he didn't show it in his face. Instead, he stayed silent, a faint smile on his face.

"You know, Ryan, opening the pandora's box is going to bring only hardship and suffering."

Ryan chuckled in response. "Of course I know that. You think with all the hints you dropped, I wouldn't have picked that up by now."

He then looked at Shesmu for a few seconds. The latter stayed silent—his expression serious.

"Dammit man, what's making it so hard for you to just spill the beans already—"

"It's because of your headaches," Shesmu finally said. "It's because of your headaches that I didn't want to say anything. Now, do you really want me to continue?"

However, Shesmu's question fell onto deaf ears. Ryan was already consumed by his thoughts, no stimulus from the outside could break his trance.

"My headache," He muttered. "I only got headaches when…"

A look of understanding dawned upon his face.

"I see."

As he uttered those last words, Ryan's body fell off balance and he fainted on the ground.

"Ryan!"