15 The Road To The Tower Of Might

"Okay, so before we make our way towards the tower of might. Let's do some checkups first," Shesmu stated with a serious tone. He then asked, "You all know how to access your map, right?"

"Yeah!"

"No…"

The two's voices overlapped. They both turned towards each other before Leo asked, "Wait, how do you know?"

Ryan winked and said, "That's a secret."

"Goddamnit, Ryan. Now isn't the time!"

"Just think "map" in your head." Shesmu immediately cut to the chase. "If there is one thing I understood about this game, it's that you can call almost anything through your mind that is related to the system, and it would appear."

"Ohh, I see, that's neat!" Leo exclaimed.

In the meantime, Ryan scratched his chin deep in thoughts before asking, "Hmm, if that's how it works, then it would make sense for there to be a list of commands somewhere that we can access, no?"

This kid is sharp, interesting.

"Yeah, I thought the same thing," Shesmu responded. "And after a couple tests, I found where the list is. Just think "System Command List" in your mind and it should appear."

The two stayed silent for a minute before they exclaimed in surprise.

"Oh! It works!"

"Ohh! That's neat! But how did you find out about it?"

Shesmu already prepared for Ryan's question. "First thing I did when I logged in was to play around with the system. Plus, since games like these generally do have a command list, I expected it to have one too. So, I just tried different combinations of words in my mind until one worked out."

"Hmm, I see. Interesting, I should have thought about it," Ryan said. "But you would think that such an elementary and essential feature would somewhere I could easily see, no?"

"Yeah, you're right. It's probably mentioned somewhere in the status window, I just haven't bothered looking for it," Shesmu answered.

"Anyway, guys, let's drop the chit-chat. I've already waited for half an hour, I'm not gonna wait for more to play this game!" Leo cut in.

"Yes! I can't wait to slay some three-headed ogres! The trailer got me hyped up, let's see what this game is all about!"

Listening to Ryan's excited speech, Shesmu just shook his head.

"Well, first, let's check the map to see where this Tower of Might even is."

Shesmu issued a command in the depths of his mind, and a 2d map appeared in front of him. It showed with blue dots their current position, in the middle of the camp. Outside was gargantuan forest that spread far and wide. Some parts were colored green, while others blood red. The tower of might stood behind the red spots, north-east of the camp.

"Oh, I see some red spots on the map. I'm guessing those are danger zones?" Ryan asked.

"Probably," Leo responded. "I mean, just focus on them with your eye and it will give you a description."

"Oh, yeah, you're right, my bad." Ryan scratched his hair awkwardly. He then coughed and took a more serious tone, "Okay, so we have to pass through two danger zones before reaching the tower of might. Let's go then."

Following Ryan's suggestion, the trio made their way out of the camp. As they passed through the gate, they could see from far the Tower of Might. It stood there in the distance, behind dense forest, towering above the trees. Red and black drawings decorated its ivory texture. Paintings of demons coming from underground, fighting elves and dragons. All the while angels descended from the sky illuminated by holy light.

"Ohh, those paintings are so cool! Are we gonna fight demons in that tower?" Leo exclaimed, his eyes burning with excitement.

"Silly you, if we fight demons this early, what will be there for us to fight in the late game? Galaxy destroying eldritch gods?"

Ryan's rebuttable made Leo drop his shoulders and awkwardly laugh. The three then continued walking down the main road before Shesmu stopped them.

"Guys, we probably should take a detour now and enter the forest."

"Hmm," Ryan checked the map one more time before responding. "Yeah, you're right. If we continue down the main road, we're gonna be way off course."

"Okay then," Leo said. And as he said those words, colorful light with little intensity shone next to his arm. After the light faded, a small shield appeared on his right arm.

"Oohhh!! That is so cool!" Ryan exclaimed. "How did you do it?"

"It's a system command. You just say "Summon" followed by the name of the equipment and it appears."

"Oh! I see. That's actually neat! You could do some real cool stuff with that. Wait, let me just check the command list and show you what I'm thinking."

While Shesmu stood by the sideline, he was interested about what Ryan would do. Ryan already intrigued him with the fight that happened before, and how natural he was with the dagger and the skills of the game. It would be interesting to see what else he had in store.

Ryan played with his dagger a bit before it suddenly disappeared.

"Okay then, now for the real trick!" He swung his empty arm in a swinging motion at the direction of Leo. The latter instinctively guarded against the incoming attack with his shield. When Ryan's hand finally reached Leo's guard, colorful light shone and a dagger appeared inside it.

"Oy! Why did you suddenly attack me?!"

Leo raised his eyebrows in surprise and confusion at Ryan's sudden hostility.

"Hmm, I guess the swinging motion isn't really the best idea when trying to assassinate." Finishing his train of thought, Ryan stepped closer to Leo, grinned and said, "Come here, let me tell you something."

"No no no, you stay the fuck back! You want me to approach you while you have that crazy grin on your face?! You outta your mind!"

"Tch," Ryan clicked his tongue when his plan failed before finally sheathing his sword.

"Haha." Shesmu's light chuckle made both Leo and Ryan surprised.

Ryan chuckled in return before saying, "See, so you can laugh too."

Shesmu raised his eyebrows in confusion at Ryan's comment. Wait, was I that broody? Shesmu thought.

"Hahaha, I'm just kidding. It's just that you haven't been talking so much so I feared that there might be some ice between us."

Hearing Ryan's concerns, Leo jumped in too. "Yeah, we still haven't even properly introduced each other."

Shesmu was elated by the duo's proposition. Since Leo came into the picture, he had been thinking of ways to integrate the group without being too pushy. But now since they gave him this opportunity, Shesmu would definitely take it.

"Okay, so who wants to start first?"

"Sure, I'll start," Ryan said. He then blushed before finally blurting out, "Ryan is my in game name. My real name is Ryan. Yes, I know, not the most original, but anyway. I normally play swordsman, but this game I wanted to spice things up a bit and play Assassin." He then thought for a second before concluding, "Ehh, I think that's it in terms of basic introduction."

After Ryan finished, Leo followed suit.

"Okay, guess it's my turn. My name is Leo, I usually play knight, or any other tank the game allows me to play. Also, games I played would be things like Last Stand and Demon Heart."

At the mention of Demon Heart, Shesmu's lips widened into a faint smile. "Huh, so you played Demon Heart too. I spent a long time in that game. Like ten years."

At Shesmu's response, Ryan raised his eyebrows before asking. "Your name is Shesmu, and you've been playing Demon Heart for 10 years. Are you, possibly, God Speed Shesmu?"

Ryan's question stirred quite the reaction from Leo. His mouth opened wide before exclaiming, "No way! God Speed Shesmu, for real?!"

Seeing the reaction of Leo and Ryan, Shesmu just sighed and shook his head in disappointment.

"Ehh, yeah, it's me, Shesmu. But don't worry guys, I also piss and shit like everyone else on the planet."

Both Leo and Ryan laughed awkwardly at Shesmu's response.

"Yeah, sorry for that," Leo apologized. "It's just that it was quite the surprise to find out who you are."

"Yeah, sorry," Ryan followed while laughing sheepishly.

Shesmu just shook his head left and right. "Nah, don't worry about it. It's normal. Now, my real question, is who are you Ryan to be able to fight at such a high level against me when you have never played the Assassin class before."