There was no such thing as noise inside the misty forest and, while everything else was covered in silence like it always was, only the constant ruffling coming from the bushes made a contrast amidst the silence.

“Huff... Huff... Gulp. Phew...”, Reizel gulped down a mouthful of saliva and tried to calm down. Even though his breathing was rough, the firmness in his gaze could be seen through the glint inside his icy cold pupils. Cold sweat was trickling down his back as he kneeled down further and closer to the moist ground.

He couldn’t help letting out a sigh to clear his mind of any random thoughts and while moving slowly, he picked up a sharp rock from the ground and aimed it towards the shaking bushes. With a swift motion of his hand, the rock left his hand and flew in a curve towards the bush.

“Woosh... Thump!”, flying through the air, the rock made its way into the ruffling bushes and definitely hit something. His brows were knitted as soon as the foliage ceased ruffling. Silence was restored inside the forest for a few seconds, but that didn’t seem to last long as a wild roar resounded.

“ROOOOAAAAR!”

It was a roar way too familiar for Reizel’s ears to forget, as the figure of a gigantic, pissed off black bear appeared before him.

‘Steady now... I can do this.’, his hairs were standing on edge as every inch of his body was screaming for him to run for dear life. Refusing to comply with his survival instincts, Reizel let out a heavy breath and forced himself to calm down. He didn’t know whether it was the title [Quick to adjust] working its wonders once more, or if he just felt confident that his plan would go as he wished? But, whatever it was, seemed to be working as he glared in the bear’s direction.

“Come and get me, you monster!”, he shouted as he crossed the two knives in his hands. The bear growled in his direction and, as if its victory was already decided, it slowly crept closer to the free meal that had decided to present itself.

‘4 more meters...’, Reizel thought as he glanced towards the lash greenery above his head.

‘3... 2... 1!’

“NOW!”, he shouted and rushed towards the bear’s direction.

“AHHHH!!!”, a scream came from somewhere above as the leaves shook and branches crunched. The figure of Zeke emerged, free-falling from a tree, the axe held tightly above his head as he neared towards the bear’s head.

Needless to say, the bear was quite baffled. The entire ordeal was way too out of its daily routine, stunning it for a mere second. But that second was more than enough for Reizel and Zeke to deal it a massive blow... Or so they thought.

Zeke couldn’t quite control his aim as he fell and missed the bear’s head by a few inches, stabbing the axe head deep into its shoulder, while Reizel’s attempt to slit its throat went even worse.

‘Its hide is too tough...’, he thought and jumped backwards, barely missing a paw flying in his direction. Looking up, he saw Zeke flailing on top of the bear’s back, trying to hold onto the axe as if hislife depended on it, which it actually was.

“F*ck! I told ya it wouldn’t work! Whoa!”, Zeke cursed as he flailed about. Thankfully, lady luck decided to once more grace Zeke with her presence, as the axe head drilled deeper into the bear’s flesh forcing it to let out a roar from pain.

“It would have worked if you didn’t... MISS!”, said Reizel while moving in for another attack. While Zeke was drawing its attention, he quickly moved behind the bear’s back and aimed to stab its hind leg with the knife thinking. ‘If slashing doesn’t work, then stabbing it is!’

And, true to his thoughts, the knife found its way through the bear’s hide and into its tender flesh, making it growl while at it. ‘It’s stuck...’, thought Reizel as he tried to yank out the knife buried a few inches into the bear’s enormous body.

“Growl...”

The bear let out a low growl as it turned to regard the pesky monkey stabbing it behind its back. “NO YA DON’T!”, Zeke screamed and thrashed the axe around in an attempt to divert its attention. He succeeded as the bear screamed in pain but the axe head was no longer firmly stuck in its flesh.

“ROOOOAAARRR!!!”, irritated and in pain, the bear screamed as it tried to stand on its two hind legs. Completely ignoring the throbbing pain coming from the knife, it managed to stand straight as it faced Reizel.

“F*CK!”, the curse, unlike what many would think, didn’t come out of Reizel’s mouth. It was from Zeke who fell down from the bear’s back as it stood up. The axe head was already loose and the weird angle didn’t help it stay in place making him fall straight on his ass. At the very least, the weeds under his buttocks lessened the fall’s damage.

While Zeke was scrambling to get up, the bear didn’t stop as it came sprawling on Reizel. Or at least it tried to, as the wound on its hind leg made it stumble and fall slightly to the right, giving Reizel an opportunity to dodge.

‘Sh*t!’ was the only thing he thought as he gave a quick glance downwards. The bear paw had barely grazed him, but it still ripped his shirt open. Four thin lines could be seen across his torso as a bloody red liquid flowed out of the wound.

“Reizel!”, shouted Zeke, the worry in his eyes self-apparent. He had finally managed to stand up and was now searching for a way to help. Or that's what he thought at least... His knees were trembling so much, that he couldn’t move a single step forward. ‘Move god damn it! This isn’t the time to hesitate!’, he thought but alas, his feet seemed to be rooted to the ground.

“ROOOAAAR!”

Right then and there, a wild roar sprang forth from somewhere nearby, making all three of them glance sideways for a moment. And, while crushing sticks, twigs and foliage, a slightly bigger bear than the one they were currently engaged with, rushed madly in their direction. The raging emotions it felt could be seen through its pebble-like black eyes as it run.

Reizel didn’t need to think twice before shouting. “Run, Zeke, run!”

⚔ ⚔ ⚔

“What?! There ain’t no way this is gonna work!”, were the first words Zeke uttered as soon as he heard ‘the plan’ Reizel came up with.

“Hush! Keep it down. What will we do if it hears us?”, muttered Reizel while closing Zeke’s mouth shut with his hand. Cold sweat was trickling down his back as he inspected the ruffling bush once more. ‘Why do they even do that?!’, his thoughts were naturally referring to the shaking... Was it a bear thing to keep shaking inside the bushes?! No, that might have been wrong as he wasn’t 100% sure whether it was a bear or not yet.

Letting out a slight sigh of relief, he looked back at Zeke and whispered. “It’s going to work! Don’t worry, if you stick to the plan, victory is guaranteed.”, taking a deep breath he added. “All you have to do is jump when I give the signal.”

“What do you mean ‘jump’?! There is no way it’s gonna work! Come on Reizel, this ‘s stupid. Why don’t we just leave it where it is and be on our way?”, Zeke’s pleading went unanswered as Reizel rolled his eyes and said.

“Ok. Let’s say we leave now and head to the cave. What if something stronger awaits us there?”, pausing for a moment he let out a mouthful of air and said in all seriousness. “What we have before us is an opportunity! An opportunity to get stronger. If we miss it, we will definitely regret it later!”

Removing the hand covering his mouth Zeke said in a whisper. “This is not an opportunity. It’s a death wish!”, his eyes still pleading to bail out of the situation. Alas, Reizel was having none of that.

“Come on Zeke. Just trust me on this one. Even if we fail to finish it off in one strike, we will still have a good chance of winning.”, his words weren’t reassuring but the firmness in his gaze turned out to be almost enough to convince Zeke who seemed to be in thought.

“Besides”, Reizel continued. “Without risking it all, you will never reach the top.”

“Which top are you even talking about?! F*ck it, if we die, I’ll turn into a ghost and haunt you all the way to the afterlife. Ya hear me?!”, Zeke exclaimed half dejected and half scared.

“Come on dude... Don’t say things like ghosts. Pff... Ghosts aren’t real... Anyway, climb that tree and wait for my signal. Just make sure you don’t miss! I’ll take care of the rest.”

⚔ ⚔ ⚔

‘This is ridiculous... No way is it gonna work...’, Zeke thought as he wrapped his arms around the tree’s bark and climbed all the way up to a thin branch. Looking down, the ground was 4 to 5 meters away making him feel slightly uneasy as he glanced in Reizel’s direction.

Right then, Reizel kneeled down to pick a stone and threw it into the bush. “Gasp...”, Zeke couldn’t help taking in a mouthful of air as he thought. ‘That madman actually did it...’

Silence fell for a moment before a roar along with the figure of a giant black bear appeared behind the bush. ‘No way! No way can we win against that thing! Come on Reizel, figure it out! It’s freakin’ huge...’

The bear slowly edged towards Reizel as Zeke stood up on top of the tree’s branch with trembling knees. ‘Don’t mess this up. Don’t mess this up. Don’t mess this up!’, he chanted in his mind as he held the axe tightly in his grip. And, while chanting, a loud shout came from down below.

“NOW!”

Perhaps it was due to fear and anxiety, but the moment he heard Reizel’s shout Zeke’s foot slipped and he began falling downwards.

“AHHHH!!!“, he couldn’t help shouting as he fell towards the bear. The tree’s branches brushed past him, scratching him here and there. His instincts were screaming ‘this is BAD’ but what choice did he have? He was already falling.

‘F*ck!’, he cursed inwardly and fell with his eyes closed. Right then, adrenaline seemed to kick in as he unconsciously brought down the axe with a thump. ‘I did it!’, he thought and slowly opened his eyes only to realize.

‘I missed its head!’, he thought as he grasped tightly the axe in his grip. The bear began thrashing, trying to get him off of its back, but he held on tight for dear life.

“F*ck! I told ya it wouldn’t work! Whoa!”

“It would have worked if you didn’t... MISS!”, Reizel shouted back and the fight went on for a while longer. All he could do was flail around on its back until it finally managed to throw him off when the bear stood on its two hind legs.

‘Ugh... It hurts.’, Zeke thought as he tried hard to stand up. Surprisingly enough, he wasn’t injured or anything. Well, he was definitely scared sh*tless, but he still managed to stand up. There was a gigantic bear before him after all, and, even if he couldn’t fight it at all, he couldn’t afford to be dead weight.

Glancing over, he couldn’t help exclaiming “REIZEL!” in fear when he saw the bear’s paw slash past him. And, true to his words, a bloody wound appeared on Reizel’s torso adding to the count of wounds he already had.

‘Move god damn it! This isn’t the time to hesitate!’, even though he wanted to help, his trembling feet had no intention of moving. A grim expression flashed by his face and immediately disappeared at the roaring sound of the second bear.

“Run, Zeke, run!”

His mind went blank for a moment and before he had time to think of anything else, the instinct of survival seemed to kick in as he launched off, running in the opposite direction.

⚔ ⚔ ⚔

The setting sun had already disappeared beyond the horizon, plunging the city streets in dim darkness. Alas, that didn’t seem to last long, as one by one the street lights turned on, illuminating the surroundings while lightening up the atmosphere.

Nighttime had just fallen and the streets were still buzzing with activity. Evidently, this was just the beginning of nightlife.

And amidst the crowded streets, a young man with chestnut brown hair and emerald green eyes walked leisurely among the crowd. That man was none other than Kyle, who had just left the Silverfun gaming studio. Lost in his thoughts, he walked aimlessly around the busy streets. ‘What should I do...’

Letting out a mental sigh, he moved on as he kept pondering. What went through his mind, you might ask? Well, it was none other than the offer he’d received about an hour ago from Bryan Fulton, the owner, or co-owner as it was later revealed to him, of Silverfun Gaming Interactive.

Going back a little, Bryan had indeed extended an offer too lucrative for him to refuse. Upon signing up with the studio, he would instantly gain 5% of the company’s shares and a regular salary of 15 thousand Universal Coins a month!

Leaving out the 5% shares for now, just 15k UC was already a lot. Just for reference, a regular office job would probably earn 4-6k UC a month while a well-paid job like a doctor should be around 8-12k UC. Fifteen thousand Universal Coins and above were usually offered to people with managerial positions. Not to mention, a regular family of four would be able to get through each month with around 7-8k UC, so him earning a total of 15k UC was already way out of his expectations.

As for the 5% shares, even though they were currently of little value, the company had yet to start earning money. If they managed to make it big, 5% of the company’s earnings each year would instantly go into his pocket!

Bryan was quite earnest with that deal. Never mind the salary, most companies wouldn’t even consider giving out shares as an option, that’s just how earnest he was. But that’s just how far Bryan’s genius extended. Even though he had to part with a percentage of the profits, this turned into an investment at the same time. After all, the contract stated: Should this contract remain valid for a period of 2 years, the signee will acquire 5% of Silverfun Gaming Interactive’s shares. Meaning, Kyle would have to be part of their group for at least two years before he got permanent ownership.

But that’s normal, after all, the company was still just a start-up, he had to have a lucrative deal to keep everyone together. In the end, if the company’s profits were their profits, they would give 120% of their effort to enlarge them.

Regarding how the shares were divided among them, that was quite easy. The gaming studio had a total of seven people, each of them holding a percentage. The major shareholders were Bryan and Kyle’s master William, with a grand total of 51% equally divided between the two of them, making them the decision-makers. There were 4 more members other than Kyle, each holding 1% and, if Kyle accepted the offer, the total dividends would reach 60%.

As for the remaining 40%, it was technically part of Bryan’s and William’s property but the two of them decided to leave it blank for now. 25% would be left untouched and reinvested into the company while the remaining 15% would be used for future contracts.

‘Hmm... What should I do...’, thought Kyle as he looked up at the starless sky.

*Ring~~ Ring~~*, Kyle’s hands wandered into his trousers' pocket as he fished out a phone. The caller turned out to be his best friend, Jacob. ‘Perfect timing.’

“Hey, Jackie perfect timing. Can you meet me at Grey Link park in... Let’s say 15 minutes?”, Kyle asked.

“Ahh... Sure, make it 20. I’ll tell you there then.”, Jacob’s childish voice resounded from the other side.

“Okay.”

⚔ ⚔ ⚔

Twenty minutes later, in Grey Link park.

“So, you got a job offer that pays really good cash, doesn't need you to be there all day, and you are pondering whether to accept it or not? Are you messing with me or what? Did a trillionaire's daughter fall in love with you?”, said Jacob as he took a sip of the canned coffee he held. “Blurgh... Black...”

Kyle glanced back at his friend and muttered. “Pfft as if. It’s just... Sigh. I hate beating around the bush, I’ll just come right out and say it, don’t be too surprised ok?”

Jacob’s eyes rolled as he asked. “As if anything you do will surprise me anymore! That master of yours was already more than enough for that.”

“I am Reizel.”

“YOU ARE WHAT?!”, Jacob’s eyes went wide open as he couldn’t help exclaiming for a second time. “YOU ARE WHO?!”

“Sigh... This is why I didn’t want to tell you. Keep it between us please.”, Kyle said as he glanced back at Jacob. The little guy couldn’t pick between angry and excited as he looked back at him.

‘Ahh... This is going to take a while...’

A few minutes later Jacob nodded as he slowly said. “I get the gist of the situation. So, you just don’t want to be their leader, is that it?”

“Yes, even though I have experience with the game, I have always played on my own. I don’t think I can meet their expectations.”, uttered Kyle after retelling the entire story to his friend.

“Hmm... Are you sure? I think you would make an excellent leader. In my opinion, you just don’t want to lose your freedom.”, Jacob pointed out as he drank the last sip of his coffee. “Still bitter...”, he wasn’t good with bitter stuff, but still drank it, thinking it made him look older.

‘You should just add sugar...’, were Kyle’s thoughts throughout their conversation but he didn’t say anything. Jacob was his best friend, after all.

“So, I am scared huh..?”, he said as he looked up from the bench he was sitting at and added. “Do you want to join me in the studio?”

“Pffft! *Cough* For real?!”, Jacob spit the last sip of his coffee out as he shouted back.

Kyle looked back at the pair of shining eyes and said.

“I already got you a contract just in case, hehe.”

“That’s my good brother, come here~ Let me give you a kiss!”

“STAY BACK!”