The embers of his aura would keep them safe for a time. Ryan didn’t know exactly how long it would last, but it should be enough time to get them situated and prepare for the monsters if they did come back.

  For the stronger Leafstalkers that were leaping from ledge to ledge to follow him down?

  His actions did nothing to sway them. Most of them probably didn’t even understand what he had done. Not that acknowledgement or understanding was the point. Ryan’s actions hadn’t been for them. It was for him.

  In his petty little war against the Witch Tyrant’s obvious ploy.

  Ryan moved his head to the side, following the pull of [Lesser Dangersense]. He grinned at where he assumed Crescent had just blinked at.

  Unlike the confused Leafstalkers above, the First Leaf of the Leafstalkers had heard what he said before. Crescent understood what Ryan had done.

  Did the leader still want to shoot him with arrows? Probably.

  Ryan stopped on a small ledge. Seeing scattered colored markers just below where he was standing. . He decided to take things slower. As arrogant as Ryan pretended to be, he wasn’t stupid. This was just the entrance to the real Abyss.

  For regular adventurers anyway.

  This was where the great ravine stopped. Where the great ravine of the Cataclysm Abyss ended. From here there were thousands of tunnels and pits. Many that were winding dead ends, lots of which were scattered far, far outwards. Some even said there were tunnels that left the leveled zone. Miles and miles out.

  Some of these openings on the ground led to great deathtraps and tunnels that seemingly went down without end.

  There were quite a few ‘main’ crevices that had been marked out. Adventurer symbols to show dead ends or those that had been looted. The holes that hadn’t been explored to the end had to have been over twenty, and those were just the ones around him.

  Ryan tilted his head. “Hey Crescent, how far have you delved into the abyss?”

  No response from his stalker. That was fine, Ryan had a big enough mouth for both of them.

  “You know, you could just leave me alone and hope that I get myself killed. You wouldn’t believe how good of a strategy that is. Do you really want to throw away everyone’s lives camping down here?”

  There was still no response. His [Lesser Dangersense] was no longer working in an easy-to-follow manner. There were just too many little threats that were pulling him from all directions.

  He tried a different tactic. “You know. Those were some pretty crazy lightshows from the Witch Tyrant. Things were a little convenient for me to get the [Undisputed Apex] title wasn’t it?”

  Still no response. Ryan might as well have been talking to a rock… which he realized, there was a good chance he was. He looked back up. The other Leafstalkers were still making their way down and there was some time until they caught up. With them just a little behind there was no way Crescent wasn’t within earshot.

  There might not have been enough time to tell an intricate lie but there was more than enough time to sow the seeds of doubt.

  “Then you know, I managed to escape from the Witch Tyrant. Kinda makes you think, whoa, that shouldn’t have been possible. Right? ”

  Ryan was not going to tell his full story to this elf. Not just because there wasn’t time, but because he had a feeling this hardass wasn’t going to take it well. While Ryan wasn’t as good as Clara at reading people, he did feel like he was getting better at it. He could tell.

  This elf was a hardass.

  People like Seffara and Barry only pretended to be hardasses. They were huge softies on the inside.

  This elven leader on the other hand was completely okay with letting his people die to increase the odds. Even when Ryan made it clear that the Leafstalkers had terrible odds of killing him, Crescent was willing to risk it all to ensure Ryan’s death.

  What would happen if someone like that were told the truth?

  Ryan had no idea. All he knew was that it would not be pretty. He didn’t need someone else snapping and bringing everything to light. Not just yet anyway. Especially not now when the Witch Tyrant seemed so… different.

  So… vague leadings with the truth. Just to get the Leafstalkers to piss off.

  Footsteps came from his side.

  “You expect me to believe that you’re working for the Witch Tyrant?”

  His [Lesser Dangersense] had been quiet from that area. Ryan understood then that every single time he’d noticed the elf it had been on purpose. Probably to lure him into a false sense of security before coming in to hit him at a crucial point.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Crescent revealing that, however, was probably a good thing. It meant that the seeds of doubt had started to take root.

  Ryan pushed. “It’s a very complex and delicate situation. But if the Witch Tyrant really wanted me dead, I would be dead. You and I should both know that. If she really wanted me to hex me she could have shattered my aura sword at any time with one of those light beams.”

  Words both true and false. Though Ryan was starting to realize that himself. The Witch Tyrant could have stopped him but she didn’t. Things to ponder on later. For now he had to keep pushing.

  “Like I said, it’s a complicated story. But think about how many Realmers have actually been hurt from my actions? I haven’t been perfect, but I’ve been careful to keep them out of it. Lots of big explosions, but no deaths. ”

  But that wasn’t his responsibility. He had stepped up when it happened.

  Ryan’s words had struck true and he had muddied the waters. He didn’t need to be explicit, not when the truth was too odd.

  “I’ve been doing my best to keep everyone alive while trying to prepare The Realm with its next generation. Don’t waste my efforts by throwing your lives away. If you keep coming, I’ll delve down at max speed and then everyone that follows will die, understand?”

  Crescent’s expression was like stone. Impossible to read. He took a moment, then just said one thing.

  “I see.”

  Ryan couldn’t tell if that was a positive or a negative. “So?”

  As if in perfect timing, the first of the Leafstalkers dropped onto a ledge above him. Sixth and fifth realms aimed their weapons at him as the First Leaf put his hand up.

  “Halt.”

  The Leafstalkers kept dropping, all aiming their weapons–though holding back from firing on the command of their leader. Ryan was surrounded by Trialist slayers but he felt little fear.

  At least not for his own life. If they started making noise then they’d risk activating old defenses.

  Crescent blinked to one of the ledges where the last of their members had just dropped down. The leader of the Leafstalkers grabbed his subordinate by the kevlar gear and then leapt back down to the ground. Two hundred yards from where Ryan was.

  The voice that came from underneath the helmet sounded young, he trembled. “Sir?”

  “You remember what I said, yes?”

  The figure stopped trembling in his grasp. He took off his helmet, he was a young elf, green hair signifying that he had origins from Sector Two. The kid looked like a young teen and didn’t belong here in full armor and weaponry. He saluted while being held. One palm on top of the back of the hand, inches in front of their chest. An elven greeting.

  “Yes sir. It’s been an honor.”

  All of the Leafstalkers and Ryan were watching their leader in confusion.

  Crescent dragged the kid over to one of the main pits. An adventurer marking indicating that the pit went incredibly deep.

  The leader of the Leafstalkers dangled the kid over the pit.

  The dwarven Artificer that had just arrived started shouting between breaths.

  “What the fuck are you doing Crescent?!”

  Both she and Ryan were about to move until Crescent gave them a glare. Finally the stalking Crescent started to speak.

  “The Witch Tyrant told me that if I found myself desperate. That if it seemed impossible to put you down, that I should throw the youngest Leafstalker into one of the few holes with a special marking.”

  His eyes glanced at a blue symbol by the pit that Ryan didn’t recognize as adventurer marking. He had ignored it thinking it was just some random symbol by a previous explorer.

  Crescent nodded.

  “I did not understand what she meant, but I believed her. I understand it now.”

  The First Leaf turned to the young elf. “Tar'el, are you willing to sacrifice yourself to make sure this Trialist dies?”

  Tar'el glared hatefully at Ryan and nodded at his leader. The kid did not understand but fully believed in his leader. “Yes.”

  Crescent’s eyes glazed over while he watched those steely eyes from his young subordinate. “I see. We were never meant to be able to stop you. We were just meant to be the nutrients for your future. To teach you a lesson on ruthlessness. That you cannot survive while showing weakness to your enemies.”

  “Stop.”

  But Ryan’s words enhanced with the aura of a Tyrant did not shake the leader of the Leafstalkers one bit.

  “You thought that by telling me you were being raised as the future of The Realm that you would sway me.” Crescent paused. “You are right. What you’ve done is convince me that this action is more necessary than ever.”

  Ryan clenched his fist, his anger rising into a fury. The leader of the Leafstalker let out the first smile in his stony face.

  “You would throw yourself to save an enemy wouldn’t you? Not even the kindest of the Tyrants did that.”

  Ryan sneered, his anger overwhelming sanity.

  “Because even they weren’t good enough to keep good people alive while waging their war. I promise you, more than anything. That the Witch Tyrant regrets killing some of the best standouts during their purge.”

  Ryan spread his arms.

  “So, go ahead, Crescent. Throw that kid down the pit. I’ll go save him and then conquer this pathetic Cataclysm Abyss. I’ve been waiting for a challenge anyway.”

  For a moment, the two stared at each other. One who had gone through war and hell and had learned that he had to do what was necessary for the greater good. The other who had grown up in a peaceful world, who had suffered, but held onto his ideals with an iron grip.

  Ryan’s aura started to expand, not visible to those around but still compounded by the copious amounts of aura based skills he had.

  This aura hit the leader of the Leafstalkers in the face and… something changed.

  Crescent turned to Tar'el. The kid who seemed more determined than ever… though a little confused as to what was going on.

  The First Leaf’s smile faded away as he was reminded of what he was about to do. That he was going to sacrifice one of their young just to teach a Trialist a lesson about doing what was necessary.

  “A saying… from Earth, though we have one similar to it. Our forests grow strong when we all show our children the work we put into growing it.”

  Crescent put Tar'el down on the firm ground next to him and shook his head. He sighed.

  “Leafstalkers, we will be retreating here. There is no Trialist to slay here today.”

  There were murmurs as the Leafstalkers looked at each other. Completely confused as to what happened.

  “I said, retreat. We will have to take it slower but there is no mission here. Get in groups and follow the main Leaves.”

  Tar'el looked betrayed. “But sir!”

  “I issued a command. I expect everyone to follow it, besides. We cannot take him down.”

  Ryan internally sighed a breath of relief. As much as he boasted, he really did not want to get stuck with an escort mission. His put his hands on his hips.

  “Man, that was really tense. I didn’t know what I would’ve done if you guys had kept chasing me. Not that any of you guys could have slowed me d–”

  That was when the stupid dumbfuck of an elf, who didn’t understand what was going on, who was feeling betrayed by all of his determination being turned meaningless, who probably also had a Leaflegend username on realment, decided to jump deeper into the abyss.

  Ryan learned a lesson that day about gloating over his victories to young elves.