When Ryuk held the guy's palm, it felt like holding onto a huge rock.
The sheer weight pressed down on his arm, and he had no choice but to exert a little force just to keep his strength stable.
What was shocking was that he didn't sense any momentous increase in power from the guy's hand.
That means that was just how heavy hsi hand naturally was.
What the hell would happen if he clenched his fist and threw a solid punch? Ryuk could only wonder.
But while he was surprised, his face didn't show it.
Instead, he struck up a conversation almost instantly.
"You seem to be quite friendly to humans, who are nothing but prey to your kind…" Ryuk said as both unconsciously walked side by side to a random location, as if previously agreed upon.
Ryuk's question wasn't just something he took from the top of his head—it was something that had truly bothered him.
The werewolf was too friendly to him.
Amongst the geniuses, he was the only one who had smiled and even waved back when Ryuk had appeared. He had even nodded when Ryuk finished the hierarchy test—a sign of acknowledgment at his existence.
And now, when Ryuk had seen him in training, he had taken the first step to familiarize himself with him by offering a handshake.
The stories Ryuk had heard about the old Core Hunters back in Grade E said that there were two apex predators most feared by humans.
The first was vampires, who were labeled as outright dark.
The second, none other than werewolves, who had an evil reputation almost equal to that of vampires.
"I can't argue that," the werewolf replied, "but I must say, humans aren't the only prey to us. Everything on Endearth is prey to werewolves, so long as they have meat in them."
"But that history of prey and predators is from the past Dark Era."
"With the appearance of Knulls, it is now nothing but history, since all races have been bound under the terms of Endearth's laws…" Fenrir continued.
"So you see humans—the prey of your kind during the Dark Era—as equals now? You, an Alpha Werewolf?" Ryuk asked with a smile, studying Fenrir's face closely.
He noticed a slight pause in Fenrir's expression as he furrowed his eyebrows at Ryuk.
"Obviously not," Ryuk completd for him, his expression also turning intensely cold.
Right now, Ryuk saw himself as a human, and before him stood a creature known to thrive on the screams and flesh of his kind.
The old Scrap Hunters might talk nonsense sometimes and exaggerate things, but the stories Ryuk had heard when he was young were enough to make him doubt whether he could ever accept a werewolf as just another student like him or even a friend.
Their friendly conversation instantly shifted into something else—a moment where prey had met its predator.
"I don't see humans as equals—just as I don't see any other race as equal," Fenrir said. "I measure everything with the only true factor in this broken world, and that is strength."
"No one is equal to me, except those who are either as strong as me or stronger than I am."
"Even if you were a vampire, known more as rivals to us werewolves than prey in the dark era, I would still see you as below me if you were weaker, and therefore a prey."
"That is my personal view of it," Fenrir finished, and Ryuk's eyebrows furrowed slightly.
'So that's why he seems so friendly…'
'He must have somehow sensed my power, and the thought of me being as strong as him must have echoed through his mind.'
'That must be why he gave a nod of acknowledgment when I placed in the top ten, and why this discussion is even happening in the first place.'
'He doesn't just think of humans as equal or below him—he bases it on strength, which in today's world is the sole determinant of how much respect a person deserves.'
Ryuk analyzed this deeply, as fast as lightning. Just two seconds later, he asked his next question.
"If I may ask, what was your ranking in the hierarchy test?"
"I'm number three," Fenrir replied, seemingly uncaring about the ranking.
"You're number three, and I'm number ten. So that means I must be weaker than you, right?" Ryuk asked, and Fenrir nodded without hesitation.
"Yes, you are weaker than I am."
"If so, why are you being friendly? You should see me as prey, shouldn't you?" Ryuk questioned, causing Fenrir's eyes to flash with light.
He had expected the human to argue about being weaker, which was why he had placed so much emphasis on that point. But surprisingly, Ryuk had taken a different route than he anticipated.
Fenrir was about to reply when his gaze narrowed, and instead, he asked a question first.
"If I may also ask, do you have bad blood with werewolves?"
His reason for asking was simple.
If, somehow, Ryuk's family members had died at the hands of werewolves, then there was truly nothing he could do to change Ryuk's mind.
No matter what, Ryuk would never see him as anything but an enemy.
If that was the case, then he might as well forget about trying to convince him or form a bond. It would yield nothing but a relationship of hate between them.
"I don't. You're the first werewolf I have ever seen…" Ryuk replied.
Fenrir nodded before responding,
"Your ideology—that since you are weaker than me, you should therefore be prey to me—doesn't work like that. The world itself doesn't work like that."
"If it did, then there would be no reason behind this school even existing."
"Our instructors can rip us apart with a single skill, yet they stay in the same class as us and teach us to grow stronger."
"Do you think every instructor in the academy sees us, students, as their equals?"
"But does that necessarily mean they see us as prey? Something they can hunt down for fun and kill at their whims?"