Meeting Sumeri inside Antigos Village, in the land of the Sprite, Ren spotted her immediately amidst the flock of crowds.
Unlike new players, Sumeri excluded poise by just standing and crossing her arms. She didn’t look like the other Dark Mages whose heads hung a bit low, eyes on the floor. She looked more like a swordsman with her posture and expression. She got that whole Princess warrior type of vibe. The kind that you wanted to go to war with and not against.
Sumeri’s face was serious and a bit strict, but it blossomed into a small smile upon seeing Ren.
“Yo!” she greeted.
Ren merely took a swift looked around and asked, “Where’s Nikolai?”
Sumeri’s smile dropped. “I don’t want to pull Nikolai in this escapade of ours.”
Ren’s brow raised. “Somehow, I have a feeling that I wouldn’t like what you’re up to.”
Sumeri grinned for the first time. The one that matched the cheekiness in her eyes. “Of course, you’ll like it.”
Ren took a deep breath and put his hands inside his pockets. “Then tell me what you refuse to tell me in the message.”
Sumeri looked to the side while licking her lips before she faced Ren. “I want to PK Invayne. Help me do it once, and I’ll work with you for free in this guild wars, or whatever it is you’re doing.”
“. . .” Ren was silent before he sighed. “Is this revenge? If so, I don’t want any part of it.”
“Of course, it’s revenge!” Sumeri raised her arms briefly in the air. “I was kicked out, cheated, betrayed, and had everything stolen from me by one single person! I need that revenge! I can’t sleep at night, not until I killed her! Even just one time!”
Sumeri shouting voice was not high pitch. Though it was loud and attracted a lot of attention, it was a little deep and a bit rougher to the edge.
Ren really wanted to turn away and escape the weird eyes peeking their way.
“Tell me again why I will help you in this revenge of yours? You do know that I can simply find someone else for the war, right?”
Sumeri caught her tongue, and it took a minute to regain her calm.
“I can’t ask Silvia since I already owe her too much. She’s busy too. And I can’t bring trouble into her guild with my revenge thing. I don’t want Black Lion to set their eyes on her.”
“And you think that it’s fine to rope me into this?”
Sumeri hid her guilt-stricken face behind an awkward smile while tapping the point of her fingers together. Her lips were a little bit pouty when she spoke, “I don’t have anyone to ask. And since you don’t belong to any guild and are in need of my help . . . I thought that . . . maybe we can work together about this?”
Ren looked Sumeri dead in the eyes. “You do know that the whole Black Lion will target you if you PK one of its core members, right? Are you sure that you want to be hunted for the rest of your life?”
“. . .” Sumeri couldn’t speak, and sadness crossed her eyes before she looked down a little, hiding the emotion on her face. She embraced herself in the act of comfort before she said in a low voice thick with frustration mixed with desolation, “It’s just . . . I just need to let out all these feelings inside me, or I’ll burst . . .”
“. . .” Ren was silent as he looked at Sumeri. He couldn’t say that he didn’t understand her. He knew that feeling too much. In fact, he saw himself in her. Something that made his heart tremble with anger when he remembered his past.
Who was he kidding? Of course, he wanted revenge for the past no matter how much he denied before. But he was powerless. He could only think about it in his head . . . the things he wanted to do to every people who wronged him.
But in this lifetime, he could finally do it . . . Revenge together with his goal was his only purpose in living.
Unconsciously, Ren placed a hand over Sumeri’s shoulder, and the latter filched a little before she looked over at the man’s handsome face. His eyes were emotionless, while his expression portrayed coldness that radiated and seeped into her bones.
However, instead of shivering from the cold, she found comfort in him and solace in his voice.
“Revenge, as you are now, is laughable. Get stronger first. Strong enough that the whole Black Lion couldn’t stop you and harm the ones you love. Then you can talk about revenge.”
Ren turned and decided to go to Deserted Valley. He could only hope that Sumeri wasn’t foolish enough to go with her plans, or she and Nikolai would get both in trouble. This was their second chance, and he hoped the woman wouldn’t screw it over.
Black Lion was too much of an opponent for them at the moment, and Sumeri was only starting the game.
Even Ren couldn’t just openly antagonize one of the powerhouses in COVENANT. A good thing that his bad blood was mainly directed at Sleeping Dragon, his former guild.
As Ren turned to pixels, all Sumeri could do was watch him disappear before she released a heavy sigh. Talking to Ren pounded some sense into her brain. Often times, she just couldn’t contain her anger, especially knowing that Invayne was just grinding not far from her location.
The woman was killing monsters like a fragile princess protected by her knights. The members of Black Lion lowered the beasts HP for her to finish and she bet that they weren’t in a group so Invayne could hug all the EXP.
It looked like their status now was too far off. So far that she was afraid she couldn’t catch up.
Looking at where Ren left, Sumeri took a deep breath and released a frustrating shout, garnering weird stares her way. While some even avoided her.
Her beauty attracted a lot of attention but so was her craziness. And everyone totally took the other path away from her, thinking that she was a waste.
After a short moment of her hysteria, Sumeri went on her way and grinded beasts like her life depended on it.
Someday . . . she would kill Invayne repeatedly until the woman was so afraid to log into COVENANT.