13 Ready Stance (1/2)

Shesmu woke up to a slight headache. The only thing he remembered was fighting his shadow within resonance. After that, everything was blank. He looked up only to be greeted by the rays of light passing through the leaves of a tree.

”The princess of Voldorwing has finally awakened.”

By this point, Shesmu would be able to recognize Leonard's laughter between a million one. He turned towards the direction of the voice only to see Leonard standing next to a tall white man. His everlasting smile was like the spring breeze. His blue eyes were as clear as the sky.

Shesmu stood up from under the shade of the tree. ”I may be the princess of Voldorwing, but at least I'm not the old man of Summerrise.”

Leonard was surprised at first before he burst out laughing. ”Hahaha, so you outworlders also know about the old man of Summerrise. Good, good, that was a good one.”

Shesmu stood silent, just smiling in response to Leonard's laughter, before hinting at Shin with his eyes.

Understanding the nonverbal communication, Leonard coughed and said, ”Yeah, some introductions are due. This creep here is named Shin. Don't let his smile fool you, this guy is scarier than any vile you would ever encounter in the wild.”

Shin just shrugged in response to Leonard's introduction, a smile of defeat plastered on his face.

”Don't listen to this old man's rambling. I'm just a normal assassin instructor who is living in peace in this camp,” he said while offering his hand to shake.

Shesmu swiftly obliged while also introducing himself. ”Nice to meet you, I'm Shesmu. Just a normal outworlder.”

Shin looked Shesmu in the eyes for a few seconds before responding, ”Well, nothing you have done until now could be described normal.”

Shesmu just scratched his head awkwardly before looking away, trying to find a way to change the subject. His eyes fell on a person laying on a nearby tree. It was a teenage kid. His hair was red, and his skin fair.

Shin followed Shesmu's line of sight, before his eyes landed on Ryan. Understanding Shesmu confusion, he started the introductions.

”That's Ryan. He is my student,” Shin said, smiling.

Shesmu scanned Ryan once again with his eyes before thinking, Huh, his small frame definitely helps as an assassin.

”And he is as much of a monster as if not even more!”

Leonard's obnoxiously loud voice garnered Shesmu's attention immediately. He turned around only to be welcomed by Leonard's bear hug.

”You cheeky little brat. You didn't tell me that you knew about Resonance already!”

While Leonard's pats to the back shook Shesmu to the core, his loud, hearty laughter made Shesmu not have the heart to stop him. He just wryly smiled and waited for Leonard's excitement to die down.

”Ehm, hm.”

The new voice made everyone turn in the direction of Ryan. Still sitting under the shade of the tree, he scratched his eyes and looked around. When his eyes finally landed on the group, he stood up with one hop before giving the biggest smile a teen could show.

”Hi!”

”So the two monsters are finally awake.”

Hearing Leonard's comment, Shesmu was confused. It's normal for Leonard to think that he is a monster, he already showed it by being able to use Resonance, but what about Ryan?

”Ohh! I remember you! You were that cool dude with the sword who was doing all those fancy moves before. How did you do them?”

”Ehh…” Ryan's barrage of questions left Shesmu speechless for a bit. ”A lot of training, I guess?”

”Ah, you're right,” Ryan nodded in response. ”With enough hard work and training anything is possible!”