Immediately, he tore away at Adrian’s clothing and Xenia exclaimed. “Res, that was so outstanding what you did back there. You were also kind enough to be merciful to your enemies - The sign of a true man.”

Once again Res was racked by the intensity of the lust that radiated out from Xenia. She had turned her previous assault of lust into pulses that mimicked being together.

“Bro that girl is fucked up if she feels that for you.”

Their bond confirmed they were as true as they would get and he suddenly felt bad for denying such feelings. Xenia felt him give in and walked towards him while swinging her hips. Yet, the blood on his hands made him come back to the present. He continued tearing off the shirt while turning away to hide the clear bulge in his pants. Xenia’s advance was stopped by Serafina, who elongated her nails and grabbed Xenia by the neck before Akeem could react.

She held the kicking and gurgling Xenia in the air for several moments and then sat her back onto the ground. Judging by the fire in her eyes, she had contemplated killing her. Serafina turned and left the gasping Xenia to her own devices. By now, Res had ripped Adrian’s shirt into a makeshift bandage, which Adrian turned out to be useless. For some reason, Adrian’s wounds had already clotted up. With a powerful jerk, Res’s shirt was pulled off his body. Outraged that Xenia would stoop so low, he turned around and came face to face with a blushing Serafina.

She turned away when he stared at her in incomprehension. Finally, she muttered under her breath. “I hurt you with my nails and I wanted to look at the wound.”

Res broke out into laughter at her blushing, pulled his undergarment off, and dutifully exposed his back. “You are too cute. I don’t think the cuts were that deep. I feel nothing.”

He felt her warm hand run over his skin and he got goosebumps at which she giggled. Xenia wasn’t about to give up and shouted: “Are you admiring something you know you won’t have? He won’t take you to bed, you know that? Not with your face, you ugly scarred piece of … !”

Akeem held his hand over her mouth and gave Res an apologetic look. Res gave Akeem a thankful nod and turned to Xenia: “Let’s clear this up once and for all. I don’t love you and I am not interested in you.”

Xenia pulled Akeem’s hand away. “Ahhh yes? Do you think I don’t feel how you lust for me? Do you think I don’t feel how you want to touch and experience my body? If you could, you would take me here and there, but you are chained by that witch! By that abomination! Stand to your feelings! Be a man!”

Serafina looked at him askance and with tears in her eyes while Xenia was having the time of her life. Res realized that he had made all this even worse and tried to paddle back: “What you feel for me and what I feel for you is lust. I have switched up lust with love, passion with admiration. Love is giving freely and you just want something. That is greed not sharing.” Serafina’s wide, confused, but grateful and loving eyes confirmed his belief.

“Bro, you have some serious talent at being corny. I really need to wash my ears now that they are clogged up with sickly sweet romance stereotypes.”

Adrian broke the silence with a groan and sat up. Judging by the incredible recovery rate, the Ghostbound organization had some interesting secrets. When he saw Res standing only a few meters away, he scrambled back and prepared another spell. Xenia and Akeem immediately searched for cover behind the tent, but Res only raised his hands, palms up: “I don’t want to hurt you and I have even rescued you. I want nothing in return, other than that you give me a chance.”

Adrian lowered his hand wearily and examined his body. “What did you do with me?”

Res sat down and sighed. “Adrian, at this point I doubt your ability to think. We are turning in circles. That is why I will ask you a question and you will answer either yes or no. Either way, you leave without harm. Will you give me a chance?”

“I would rather know why …”

Res ignored the objection and reiterated. “Will you give me a chance?”

Adrian tried to object, but Res would repeat this one question. Finally, Adrian cried out in annoyance. “Fine, I will give you your chance.”

Res smiled and reached a hand out to Adrian who took it. Slow claps resounded through the clearing and the Gamemaster emerged from the tent. Adrian pointed an accusing finger at the Gamemaster. “It is you again! Do you want to delay me again?”

The Gamemaster smiled and Res asked. “What happened?”

“I spotted the Gamemaster two hours before I attacked you. Suddenly, that guy appeared right in front of me with his tent. I had to play solitaire against him for over two hours! It delayed me, but also gave me an enormous amount of aether allowance.”

Finally, all the pieces fell into place and Res asked. “How many are watching us right now?”

The Gamemaster gave a sign to the heaven and then whispered. “I would prefer if you wouldn’t speak that out loud. All the other participants think this is a simulation. It is the appeal of our show that we have no actors.” He gave another sign to the heaven and continued in his usual tone. “You have a choice once again. Do you want to fight against each other or do you want to play a game?“

Before Res could object, everyone shot out: “The game”. The Gamemaster clapped in his hands and looked pleased with himself. A net spanning the entire clearing and a ball the size of Res’s head teleported in.

“Bro, you can do this. With your mobility, you won’t lose in a game of volleyball.”

Res asked Jason. “Do you know the game? Is it dangerous?”

“Bro, chill. I think I know it and however that asshole of a Gamemaster twists the rules, you will be on top.”

The Gamemaster motioned to them all. “Who would like to begin?”

Serafina made as if to volunteer, but Res put a hand in front of her. “I would like to play.”

Res turned to Serafina and Adrian. “I will test this out. There is a catch and I will make it easier for the rest.”

The Gamemaster only laughed, and Res had the feeling that he had made a terrible mistake. The announcer pointed at Adrian. “You will play against him. The winner gets a charge of their compass that allows them to leave.” Both of them wearily approached the ball and Res pushed himself over the net to the other side. “The rules are simple. You are allowed three consecutive touches every time the enemy manipulates the ball. If the ball touches the enemy’s side, you will get a point. You have five minutes!”

Digits counting down from 10 Minutes appeared on the net. Adrian looked at the ball for a moment but shrugged and grinned wickedly at Res. The ground under the ball turned to sand and a cobra carrying the ball in its maw shot out of the sandpit. Res reacted immediately by pushing himself forward. The well-placed kick that Orson liked so much crushed the cobra in an instant. The ball shot back and Adrian only had the time to summon a hasty sand spike. That deflected the ball but didn’t give it much velocity. Res calculated the trajectory of the ball, pushed himself into the air, and executed an aether-aided jab at the ball. With an eardrum-shattering boom, the ball impacted Adrian’s side.

Adrian didn’t look amused at being humiliated and immediately picked up the ball. Another counter appeared on the net, displaying that Res had won a point. With a wave, Adrian summoned a breeze that turned into a tornado. As if that wasn’t enough, he turned the surrounding earth into sand. On its own, it wouldn’t have even bothered him. In combination, it turned the annoying tornado into a deadly sandstorm. He tried to cry out, but every time he did, he would swallow kilos of sand. A quick glance at his surroundings revealed that a cube-shaped barrier was keeping the storm contained.

By now, he couldn’t see the net anymore, but he caught a glance of the counter changing to 1-1, then 1-2, 1-3, 1-4. Res cursed and pushed himself over the net. After several seconds of searching, he found Adrian throwing the ball back and forth over the net. He pulled at a small part of his inner strength and barreled into Adrian. The ball got lost in the storm and Res was left with Adrian trying to kill him with a sand spike. Res had to admit that he was pretty fed up with Adrian, but he didn’t counterattack. Instead, he evaded the sand spike which made him stumble into the ball.

Before Adrian could react, he bounced the ball ten times off the ground and the counter now displayed 11-11. The sandstorm stopped and an enormous anaconda emerged from the sand craters. It circled around and tightened its grip fast. Res had to sacrifice a small part of his pinky to push off back to his side of the field. Annoyed, he shouted: “Come on, let’s fight square and fair!”

To his surprise, Adrian shouted back: “Ok, I only wanted to test your strength, anyway.”

This turn of events pleased him so much that he threw the ball over to Adrian. “That’s the attitude. Bring it on!”

When Adrian had the ball in his hand, he cackled with glee. “You fool, you thought I would … ” The rest of his words were lost in another sandstorm.

“Bro, that dude is getting annoying hella fast. Are you sure that we don’t want to kick him out of our party or something?”

Res found himself agreeing more and more with Jason as he tried to regain the ball while avoiding a wide variety of sand snakes. When he stood on his side for the fifth time, he sat down and looked at the stump of his leg. “Adrian. This isn’t working out, you know.”

Adrian laughed gleefully and shot back. “It isn’t working out for you. I am fine.”

“It is because I didn’t hurt you so we can play. Do you think the time where I crushed your snake in a hit was only a farce?”

“Ahhh, those are the excuses of the weak.”

Yet, Res could hear that Adrian had recited this sentence a lot. “Deep down you know I speak the truth. Let’s put that all aside for now and focus on what is important. Look at the net.”

“We are even once again and there are twenty minutes left.”

“We will split the victory by drawing alright? No one loses. That is what teamwork is. I will give you the ball now. You already know how you will decide.”

“Bro, are you serious? Dude, that guy has serious mental issues. You are like holding your hand into the fire after being burnt for five times. Only to find out whether it will burn you again.“

“I have thought so too for a long time and I mentally slap myself every time I do. The thing is, I have met someone who gave me many shots at redemption and I can’t stop thinking about why one would to that. I want to find out why.”

Jason mumbled deep in thought: “Was it Orson? No, that can’t be … Serafina? No …

“The timer was counting down, but Adrian was only standing motionless in front of the net with the ball in his hand. When only two seconds were left, he jumped into the air. A sand spike he had hidden behind his back shot out to hit the ball dead center. Res watched the ball without moving a muscle. To Jason, Res said: “On second thought, you might be right. Some people might not deserve another chance.”

He could still stop the ball if he pushed himself right nowwwww … Torn, he watched the ball fall towards its inevitable impact. The grass under the ball turned to sand and a cobra shot out of it. It deflected the ball from its path and catapulting it back into Adrian’s field. The counter stopped and they could hear the excited cries of their onlookers.