48 Red Wolf King

"Awoo!"

Shesmu's ears threatened to burst with the flame wolf's howl. He then instinctively used Inspect on the boss monster.

Red Wolf King

HP: 30000/30000

It was a monster of the same caliber as the Silver Wolf King, so Shesmu's worries immediately died down. He looked at his teammates for a second before his eyes stopped on the idiot duo.

"Hey, you two. Don't die." Shesmu didn't waste more of his breath on the two and focused back on the boss.

"Yes, Great Master!"

"You! When will you stop acting so conceited!"

None of the praise nor the curses reached Shesmu's ears. With Ryan's new equipment, he should be able to handle this boss pretty easily. But Leo… Okay, it's decided, I'll start training him seriously.

After going out of the portal, the boss targeted Shesmu as he was on the center and lunged at him. However, the three brothers didn't let it do as it pleases and countered with an attack of their own. Shesmu locked the monsters in a clash, while DepressedRyan and Leo attacked the boss from the sides. Shesmu then focused its right knee and performed Slash Thrust combo.

"Awoo!"

Blood gushed out from the wound and the Red Wolf King lost its balance and fell. Shesmu took this chance to make some distance between him and the boss, his two brothers followed suit.

"Ryan, step back. Leo will be the one to fight this time."

"What?! Shesmu, I can't handle that boss alone, this is suicide!"

"Haha! Don't worry, it's just a big dog anyway. You can do it, Leo, I believe in you!"

DepressedRyan kept laughing as he took multiple steps back, leaving Leo alone in a shocked state.

Shesmu's thoughts were still on teaching Leo. He wanted him to experience hardships so as to learn from them, and fighting this boss alone would be the best practice.

But… Leo is more of the team focused player. This dilemma made Shesmu hesitate. He then looked at Kazumi and Amaterasu. Should I trust them?

"You two, you will be supporting Leo. This will be your opportunity to show your worth. Also, one last thing, Leo is your team leader, so listen to his orders."

"Thanks, Great Master, We will show you our worth!"

"Humph!"

Shesmu then looked at Leo and said, "Don't worry Leo, if things become too hard I'll intervene. Just try your best for now."

Leo then nodded and said, "Well, if I'm not alone I think we can do it." He then looked at his new teammates.

"Kazumi, Amaterasu, let's do our best and beat that big wolf, okay?"

"Yes, master Leo!"

Amaterasu blushed for a bit before she exclaimed, "Yes! With Kazumi and master Leo here, we can definitely do it!"

"Haha," Leo just laughed awkwardly and scratched the back of his head.

Shesmu just looked at the scene, shocked at Amaterasu's attitude. This b*tch! So I'm the only one she is treating this way?! What did I ever do to her!

Shesmu was about to burst at Amaterasu, but he stopped himself. She was now Leo's teammate and he wouldn't say something that could mess up her or Leo's performance in the next fight.

"Anyway, the boss' injury won't last for too long. You guys should go and fight him while it still hasn't recovered."

Kazumi and Leo nodded at Shesmu's words while Amaterasu just humphed. In the end, they went and started fighting the Red Wolf King, leaving Shesmu and DepressedRyan behind.

"So, did you want to give Leo his time to shine?"

"Well, I think I just want him to experience everything the game has to offer. That way, he will have a bigger picture and can grow better and much faster."

"Hmm, I see." DepressedRyan then stayed silent and just kept looking at Shesmu's face.

The silence quickly turned awkward making Shesmu blurt out, "For how long are you going to keep staring at me like that. Just so you know I don't swing that way!"

DepressedRyan burst out laughing at Shesmu's reaction. "Haha, don't worry, it's not about that. It's just that… When are you going to tell me that secret?"

"What secret."

"Don't pretend to be dumb, you know what I'm talking about."

Shesmu didn't respond. He stayed silent for a long period of time before asking.

"Ryan, I know that this is way too late for this question. But that night, why did you suggest for us to be brothers? I know that you and Leo were friends for the longest time, but why me? We just met for eight hours at that point."

"Hmm, changing the subject now, aren't we?" He then thought for a second before answering with a question of his own, "Then let me return the question back to you. In that night, why did you accept the oath? Was it peer pressure?"

Shesmu was stumped for an answer. He looked up at the ceiling of the stage only to see the multitude of torches that were illuminating the room. The ceiling was dome-shaped and for a moment, Shesmu found himself lost in thought looking at it.

"We're really similar, Ryan. Even though you're so outgoing and happy go lucky, while I'm just grumpymu over here, we're still so similar. That's why I accepted being your brother, the few moments I spent with you guys were one of the funnest* in my life."

"Grumpymu, haha. Well, it's kinda the same I guess. When we first met, I already felt a connection to you. Then, with the incident at the goblin den, that connection just became much stronger. So yeah, that's why I asked you to become my brother at the moment, didn't expect you to accept though."

"I learned long ago that if you want something, then just go for it. If you keep social norms, pride, and all of these things shackle you from what is most important to you, you're just going to end up sad. Tha-that is something that I don't want to happen ever again."

DepressedRyan stayed silent for a bit. He knew that Shesmu had his own secrets and he didn't want to probe those. He kept his silence for a full minute before saying.

"Well, in the end, you didn't even tell me the secret, you just kept changing the subject. But, yeah I under-"

"It's because of your headaches," Shesmu cut in.

"If you ever feel those again, tell me immediately. My Id is 7XXXXX, just contact me through the network."

"Oh, the headaches." DepressedRyan then thought for a second. "I understand now."

As DepressedRyan's lips uttered those words, his body lost balance and he fainted.

"Ryan!"