Shadow Author

***

I helped Charlotte clean up her room sometime after we had finished our… session.

The smell lamented as it served as a reminder while the stains that covered her bed proved what we just did wasn't a dream.

But now that everything was over I checked the time and gasped.

[9:48]

It was much later than I expected it to be and I figured that Miss Smith was stuck waiting on me.

Although it felt a little weird to get right into after banging her I needed to get clarifications of the dungeon.

"Hey, about the Black Wild Lands."

Charlotte, who was now fully clothed and sitting on the edge of the bed turned to look at me.

"Is that what you say to a girl after you take their first time away?"

Unfortunately, I didn't quite have the emotional capacity to connect with her as my sole goal revolved around becoming stronger.

One step closer to the goal would result from conquering the dungeon which is why I was far more preoccupied with it.

"I'm sorry, it's just- it's just I don't really know what to say."

A smile crept onto her mouth as she let out a cute giggle before crawling over to me on the other side of the bed.

"I'm just teasing, what do you want to know?"

Resting her head on the back of my shoulder, she pressed her weight up against me and relaxed.

"You talked with your dad and got it all figured out right?"

She fell silent for a few seconds before answering.

"Yeah, I talked with him, and he agreed to attempt to defeat it but…"

Thinking that there would be bad news to follow I questioned:

"But what?"

She sighed.

"He said he wanted to make sure you stayed safe in the dungeon since I told him you were an important part of accomplishing my mission. I thought if I praised you a bit he would be more willing to give it up but my plan backfired."

Hearing this made me think something went horribly wrong.

"How so?"

Leaning her head up against mine, she answered:

"He wanted to send a few shadows with you in case you ever got in over your head. When I tried to talk him out of it, he used my words back at me. I am sorry."

A thoughtful expression filled my face as I thought over the change.

"How many?"

"Five."

"What rank?"

"All E but the leader is a peak E-ranker who might even become a D-ranker while challenging it with you."

"Hmm."

Thinking it over the stipulation wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. There would be two paths I could choose from when it came to dealing with them.

I could leave them to do their jobs and ignore their existence as I defeated the dungeon or could get rid of them.

The former would be the smartest thing to do, but there was one problem with that plan.

Inside the Black Wild Lands, there is a special event that only I know about as the author and I would prefer that no one else learns about it.

This left me with the latter as I would have to find some way to ditch or remove them so that I was free to carry out what I wanted to do.

The problem with trying to lose them would be that they were of the same rank as me so it would be harder said than done. Plus they were trained shadows so I expected that it would be impossible to lose them.

That left me with only one choice. I had to get rid of them.

Fighting against even one shadow of equal rank to mine was a death sentence let alone five.

But all hope was not lost because there was a way I could get rid of them without even having to lift a finger.

As a plan began to formulate in my mind, I smiled as I turned around to come face to face with Charlotte.

"There's no need to apologize, in fact; it might be a good thing, but I do have one question."

Relief filled Charlotte's face as she learned that she did ruin things for me.

"What is it?"

A devilish smile reflected in Charlotte's eyes.

"How mad would your dad be if he lost a few shadows?"

*

Rushing down the stairs I moved as quickly as my legs could carry me toward Miss Smith's classroom.

I had just finished my conversation with Charlotte involving ways of dealing with the dungeon and the pesky shadows.

With everything set up including the coordinates of the portal, how the shadows would contact me, and what to do I was set.

What I learned from her was of little benefit due to all the knowledge I already had but it was still good to get as much as possible because anything could happen.

It was better to be over-prepared than under.

When I finally made it to Miss Smith's room and busted through the doors, I saw her meditating in the middle of her classroom.

I let out a sigh of relief, but it was eerily quiet when I arrived.

In a way, it reminded me of the hardships I faced when training with her.

Since it was the weekend, no one else was with her which meant I was the one stuck disturbing her.

Clearing my throat, I called for her attention.

"Miss Smith, I am here, are you ready to go?"

There was no response.

"Miss Smith?"

Still nothing.

Starting to get concerned I took a step forward.

"Miss Smith, are you listening? It's time for us to leave."

Yet there wasn't a response.

There wasn't any indication that she heard what I said or even registered it for that matter.

Walking closer to her I stopped a few feet away as I tried to get a good look.

I was starting to suspect that something was up with her but since she was meditating I also didn't want to touch her because it might disrupt whatever she was doing.

If it had to get with her strength, stopping her might do more harm than good.

But that thought was put to the test when blood started to trickle down her nose.

"Miss Smith!"