Reset: DPS to Support?!

In the evergreen forest of Gaveln, hidden far from the ancient city of Erendek a figure rushes up towards multiple monsters as he slashes through them.

It was Shinto.

Thuck Thuck Thuck...

"Heeyah!" Shinto cried out as he activated a skill, Lunar Sword, cutting through the two man-eating plant monsters named Plantresilk in his way.

Activating the skill, more Plantresilk appears from the bushes within the forest as they surround Shinto, quickly whipping their vines towards him for a pincer attack.

Noticing that the vines were coming towards him, Shinto jumped back from the attack as gripped onto his blue-black sword tightly, quickly turning around in a circle as he attacks all of the monsters which surrounds him.

"Kiiikkk....!!!" The Plantresilk screeched as they turned to grey ash.

"..." Shinto looked over to where the monsters had turned into grey ash, as he sighed.

'I should probably head onto better hunting grounds than here...'

'The experience given here is getting low...'

As he thought to himself he looked over to the east of the forest, frowning. 'Hmm... The east should have a few untouched high levelled hunting grounds, I should probably head there...'

'...'

'Though... Now that I'm free... There's no rush now is there?'

...

Previously...

"Hey, Shinto, can we talk for a bit?" Kaisus said.

"Huh? Is there a problem?" Shinto looked over to Kaisus as he gave off an eerie look towards him.

"Well, I've been meaning to want to talk to you about some matters regarding you."

"Matters about me?" Shinto glared at Kaisus blankly unable to make up the meaning behind his words.

"Right. It's about you." Kaisus replied in a serious tone.

"What about matters regarding me? Shinto asked still confused, giving kaisus a doubtful look.

"Well... I've been meaning to ask you," Kaisus said, "Are you tired of the game as of late?"

"W-What...? Tired of the game? What do you mean?"

The question that was said out of the blue made Shinto astonished. Why was he astonished? Well because Kaisus is Shinto's best friend, they started the game together and built the guild from the ground up to what it is today.

He should know that Shinto loves this game unconditionally very much, so why would he get tired of it?

As Shinto put his mind to work, Kaisus replied back,

"Well, you seem out of it as of late... The recent matches you played, I saw that you weren't trying your best at all, although you still can beat them single-handedly," Kaisus lamented, "I saw that you weren't having much fun as before..."

"A-Ah...?" Shinto stood there dumbfoundedly.

"All I want to know is whether or not you're tired of playing the game, or maybe you might need a break from it?" Kaisus looked at Shinto with seriousness in his eyes, "So I want to ask, do you want a break from the game? I feel as if you're burned out."

"W-What...? You know I can't do that..." Shinto helplessly.

"Yes, you can, I can switch you out of this upcoming match and future ones too if needed."

"W-What...?!" Shinto cried out, "You know that will be terrible for the guild!"

"No. It would not," Kaisus firmly stated "We've been relying on you for who knows how long? Taking up most of your gaming time with matches and arena invites from anyone from the unified rankings to see how 'much better they've become'"

"..." Shinto looked at Kaisus, unable to make up a sentence.

"You sacrificed yourself for us, right? You stagnated your own growth, not wanting to try out new content so that you won't leave us behind isn't it?"

"..."

"You can focus on content clearing if you want. No one would mind since in the first place, this is an MMO is it not? No one waits for anyone, it's an open world for everyone to explore." Kaisus said, "Isn't that what you love? Content clearing more than Crystality?"

"..."

"What do you say?" Kaisus asked.

"I... Don't know." Shinto replied weakly, "I just feel rather empty."

"Empty huh...? Being first is a burden in itself that no one besides the first can understand..." Kaisus lamented, "But if you want you can just free yourself from it."

"...And let Arceus throw a hand at my pride?"

"Well if that's what it takes to get yourself to good shape. I know you don't want to leave this game, this guild, us... but I think it's for the best."

"A-Ah...?"

"So... From today onwards, You will be free from all guild activities until you come back anew."

"Kaisus...! You know I don't clear advanced content because they're just too hard..." Shinto hurriedly said, "It requires teams! So it's only sensible I wait for you guys to catch up..."

"That's just an excuse is it not?" Kaisus raised a brow as he walked over towards the long table, placing his hand on it. "You can clear them just find with your character, the skills, the equipment and you."

"..."

"Don't ruin your fun for the sake of us." Kaisus looked at Shinto, "Don't force yourself to do this."

"..."

"So, that's it. Now that you're free, I'll ask the guild members to not bother you anymore, if possible I'd like for you to just cut contact from us."

"I-"

"My decisions final, you can leave the guild if you want. Come back when you're feeling up for it." Kaisus said as he lifted his hands off the table soon after he makes his way over to the door. "Anyways, this is goodbye, for now, I hope I get to see you smile again."

"..."

Kaisus leaves the meeting room, as he waved farewell to Shinto leaving him there standing speechless.

...

[ Location: Gavelvn Height Mountain ]

Thuck Thuck Thuck...

Shinto walks on the rocky pathways of the cliff of Gaveln, as he made his way up towards the cliff.

"Tsk... This mountain is always so annoying... It's always so steep!" Shinto clicked his tongue, as he meticulously climbs the high mountains, making his way upwards.

"...Why do I have to always climb this mountain when I have to go to the east of Galven... Ugh..." Shinto continued complaining as he continued upwards.

The mountains of Gaveln is one of the biggest mountains in the Kingdom of Zemul, mounting up to the height of 2,352 m. It is an area in which many sorts of unforetold stories reside, one of them was the story about the ancient ruins of Altric. Said to have stayed in the mountains in the primitive times.

Although it was in primitive times... Stories said that they made many unbelievable artifacts of the 'Truth'. The truth of what? No one knows as the records have been burned.

Many have tried to find out what it was but failed. No one could find the ancient ruins of Altric, many that went on an expedition to find this place suffered a horrible death in the mountains from all sorts of disasters, the players all couldn't handle the extreme difficulty of the mountains.

Then what about Shinto? Well; He 'couldn't' do it as well. Though as Kaisus had said, it was purely an excuse, he could do it. But it did require extreme meticulous planning to find the ancient ruins, it couldn't be found purely by luck right?

...

As Shinto made his way up the steep pathways still complaining about this place, stepping foot on the hard rocky grounds of the mountains, he continued forward.

"Ugh..." Shinto abruptly stops as he looked in front of him, it was a narrow pathway that required one to push their body towards the mountain in order to cross it.

"Sigh... Let's just get this over with."

Shinto made his way forward as he stepped onto the narrow pathway.

One step... Two steps... Three steps...

He continued making his way through on the narrow cliffs... As he stepped on it for the fourth time, the ground of where he placed his foot suddenly broke.

".....!!!"