MMORPG: Rebirth of the Shadow Mage

I and Ava were walking towards the church with a crowd following right behind us.

" Don't you wanna get rid of them? "

I quietly whispered only for Ava to hear. Unsurprisingly she slowly nodded her head trying not to attract attention from the group behind us.

Summoning Fenrir I quickly jumped on his back pulling Ava behind me before instructing my pet to run as fast as he could.

" She's Escaping! "

" Damn you Leo! How dare you steal our queen! "

I heard angry shouts of the crowd as we dashed through the streets. It was honestly very surprising that Fenrir could run at his full speed and not hit anyone.

Taking a peek at Ava I noticed her looking around with open eyes and a wide smile.

" Do you plan to go to university? "

I unknowingly murmured, attracting Ava's attention. Her big blue eyes stared at my faceless hood trying to sense malice or any other hostile emotion.

" Yes... "

Slowly replying she was still surprised by my question.

" Do you go to university? "

Shortly after she returned a similar question letting me sigh in relief.

' At least around me she feels safe to commune about real life '

Giving myself an invisible thumbs up for interacting with Ava to the point where we could hold a normal dialogue.

" I'll start this year "

Shrugging my shoulders I turned my head forward. I had no need to continue talking since we were already nearby the church.

" In which university did you choose to study? "

Ava said while looking around the constantly changing scenes.

" No comment "

I immediately squashed her attempt to find out my identity, not that I was against a beauty knowing me, it'd just be a problem if my identity somehow leaked to the Ava's worshipers. I still don't have enough money to oppose millionaires.

Thinking about the fan club of Ava I recalled that even a son of a Billionaire tried to court her, unsuccessfully of course. As a matter of fact I don't recall Ava having any boyfriends even after her initial fear of strangers died down.

' Weird '

I thought looking at her pouting face. Was she really that annoyed that I haven't answered her question?

Luckily I was saved from my thoughts, because we've arrived near Church.

Climbing down first I offered Ava a helping hand which she surprisingly took. Calling Fenrir back into the Beast Tattoo I felt Ava's gaze on my back and quickly gave her an explanation that Fenrir is a pet and upon reaching a certain trust level you'll get an ability to store your companion.

Moving towards the Church I noticed that we were the first ones to arrive. A minute later I saw two silhouettes approaching us.

When the people came closer I could identify both of them being Eli and Eric.

While Eli was greeting Ava, Eric upon the sight of me started nervously smiling.

" Hello... He hehe. I'm sorry I might have leaked some of your information... "

With a nervous laugh he continued to testify himself until a small chuckle escaped from my lips making my group members weirdly look towards me.

' He can laugh? '

All of them thought at the same time. If I would've heard the question I'd probably beat them to death, except Ava I wouldn't want to ruin our good term relationship, Eli as well... she's a girl.

...

...

" I'm not mad, just make sure next you speak slowly and think about what you say "

Giving Eric a thumbs up I waited until his initial shock disappeared and he started explaining why he invited all of us here.

" Uhmmm... Since we've defeated the Raid Boss and and have another day until we can retrieve our Loot. I found some fun activity, another boss! "

As soon as he mentioned the word ' Boss ' our attention was fully drawn towards him.

" As you probably know, at the side of the city there's a graveyard. Apparently in the middle of the night a Boss has a 50% chance to spawn. It is a Lv. 50 Grim Reaper and is easily taken care of by a group of 10 people, but since we have an Elite here "

Pointing his finger towards me Eric continued his speech.

" We should be able to defeat it pretty easily. I almost forgot... The boss has already been defeated multiple times and we'll not get the world announcement "

He said the last sentence as if it was a horrible thing.

I knew what the Boss he was talking about, I haven't been planning to kill the boss since I deemed it to be useless.

' Wait... I've seen this quest on Adventurers' Guild '

Recalling the huge billboard full of quests I remembered seeing a quest with a goal to kill the Grim Reaper.

" Have you joined the Adventurers' Guild? "

I spoke out loud grabbing everyone's attention.

~~~~

Tap... Tap... Tap...

I could hear Eric completing his rank measurements on the other side of the door. Eli and Ava have already done them and unsurprisingly both were G rank.

Sitting on the comfortable sofa I recalled the time a Blond dude wanted to strike a conversation with me.

I couldn't help, but let out a small chuckle recalling his face upon the sight of Fenrir.

" Are you okay? "

Eli asked me, seeing that I was giggling for no reason.

" Just recalled something funny "

Responding I made sure to fix my composure so I wouldn't look weird.

Thud...

Suddenly the door opened and Eric, drained in sweat, came into the room.

" You stink! "

Immediately I heard Eli voicing out her opinion with no disregard for Eric. Unfortunately he felt argumentative.

" That's a real man's smell. Tell her Leo! "

He turned his head towards me searching for backup.

' Don't get me into this '

I quickly opened my Friend List and navigated towards the chat window.

====

Ava:

- Can you please help me, somehow calm them both down?

====

I pleaded and was already happy, since I didn't see a reason why she would decline.

~ No

My eyebrows rose seeing her message.

- Why?

~ Tell me to which university you'll go

I couldn't comprehend what was happening. Is my identity that important? Well, I strangely felt as if I'd lose something if I revealed it that easily.

Lifting my eyes to meet Ava's gaze I was momentarily stunned since she met my eyes without avoiding my gaze.

Clicking my tongue I turned my eyes away while she flashed a quick smile.

' I feel like I lost a weird competition '

While I was trying to analyze what just happened a woman came in the room and quickly told us that Eric was G rank as well.

Suddenly Eli ran closer to my side.

" Leo, what rank are you? "

Her question made Eric's and Eli's heads turn towards my direction. Not thinking much about it I shrugged my shoulders.

" F rank"

I said without any hesitation. I wasn't in need to keep my Guild rank hidden, since it isn't a completely accurate power measurement. If the question was about my attributes I wouldn't reveal my Stats, but the Rank was okay. They could check my rank on the guild book anyway.

" Strong... "

I heard Eric murmur as we left for the Guild Hall to get a quest.

Looking through the papers I quickly grabbed the Quest from the bulletin board and moved towards the counter.

Since the quest was E ranked and we all were lower rank than the requirement stated, we needed to have at least a group of 4 people, which we happened to have.

" Good Luck with your adventure! Time limit is 10 days. "

The same old man bid us goodbye and we exited the Guild house. Looking at the quest I couldn't help, but look at the reward with greedy eyes.

1️⃣ < The Reaper > [ E Rank ]

-- The Guards have noticed a strange monster roaming around the graveyard

~ Subdue the Monster

Rewards:

1️⃣ 20,000 EXP

2️⃣ 6000 Gold Coins

~~~~

" You look creepy "

Seeing my staring into the system window Eli commented. She couldn't quite get why Leo's character was that of shapeshifter's. Sometimes he was as cold as ice other times he was salivating over loot.

' Did he grow up in a poor household like we did? '

Eli shifted her head and her eyes met with Ava's. Since both of them were friends from childhood they could almost read each other's mind.

' Probably '

Ava's message was crystal clear.

While they were transferring messages through gazes Eric was trying to talk me into helping him Level Up.

" Come on man... I need you to carry me till Lv. 8. do it as a sign for our friendship? "

...

...

...

' Should I beat him up? '

Lost in my thoughts I didn't even notice as we reached the graveyard.

Looking at the rusty gates, I took the first step into the area.

< You've Entered the Death's Graveyard! >

~ Once there was a little knight, he was killed on Tuesday's night.

~ Every night he has a chance to return to his homeland.

~ To regain his long lost glory and devour those who worry

A few system messages appeared on our screens.

' Damn... Even some poetry '