62. The Lucky, the Pretty, and the Thug

The main square was crowded when we arrived. Altogether, we were seventy trainees. Sixty-nine living beings I had to be wary of, and I wasn’t counting the trainers.

Noah was the first to approach, holding his hand as if to clap my shoulder as he was saying:

“Stupidstar! Thought you were dead!”

I was about to move backwards, when Zeeta grabbed Noah’s wrist.

“Stay away from him.”

Noah snorted.

“What’s wrong with that loser? Hey, stupidstar, is that jerk really your friend?”

“He is.”

My voice was curt. I didn’t want to be disagreeable to anyone, but I couldn’t act too friendly either. It would have been asking for trouble. I felt bad, though, when I saw Noah click his tongue with contempt and walk away.

“He’s hurt.”

“Can’t be helped.” Zeeta didn’t look so discontent about it.

“By the way, Zeeta. Shouldn’t you be with Cesarine right now?” I asked.

“Ugh. That’s right. I’m going… but I’ll keep an eye on you.”

“As expected of my stalker, thanks.”

“Don’t touch me, you moron!”

Oh. I had almost nudged him on the arm with my fist to say goodbye. I should really be more careful…

My eyes followed Zeeta as he joined the group with the corpulent, heavenly girl, the kid in a lab coat, and the four-armed guy that talked about himself in the third person. They had quite a few Independent trainees under their wing. According to Ray, a group of Starlanders had spent the whole badge hunt hazing the newcomers, but few of them had wanted to let any of them into their houses, only picking the strongest. As for the Amazonian Nyomin trainees…

“Straw Head!”

When I heard Linah’s voice, I stiffened. Holy Gods… Linah was the person I dreaded the most to face right now. Thank goodness a trainer began to speak, asking for silence, and Erma didn’t have the time to get to us, at the rear of the group of trainees.

I was so focused on keeping in check my life-lust and controlling the movements around me, that I couldn’t really pay attention to the trainer’s words; something about the achievements, the goals of the EPHT training, and the values of the Nyomin Heroes. Also, he was speaking in the Common Language, so I would have had a hard time understanding him in the best situation possible anyway…

The trainers all introduced themselves. They were no less than nine—plus the assistants. Ray’s mom was among them, with her pretty black braids, and her relaxed and dignified face… I wondered how her lifeforce tasted like. According to Ray, lifeforce’s taste wasn’t related to blood at all, so I couldn’t guess…

No, no, but I shouldn’t think about food right now!

Beside me, Ray looked uneasy. Cynsea the Hypnotist’s voice attracted my attention for a moment. The merfolk wasn’t among the trainers but among the supervisors, just like Mr. Huang. She talked about some rules the Independent trainees had to follow according to the deal between the Nyomin and the Independent Hero Association and politely suggested that the Nyomin trainees should treat us equally. I caught some amused expressions among the elite trainees, as if they were thinking, ‘Equally? How are we supposed to imagine we are equal to some random guys picked by some Heroes that didn’t even pass the Nyomin Exam?’. They had thoughts like that written all over their faces.

I shut my eyes for a bit and listened to my core. It was beating faster. I guess the presence of so many people was arousing my instincts despite the mask. Still, that mask the Lord had given Ray was amazing. Not even a streak of lifeforce was passing through. I was relieved. But not so much as to completely relax. A simple contact could intensify my life-lust, and there was no telling how I would react if that happened.

“Armen? Armen?”

Ray’s voice made me snap back to reality. The trainees had started muttering among themselves while moving. I carefully stepped backwards and said in a whisper:

“I’m okay. I just suck at Sarwish language. Did I miss something?”

“How could I know. Did you understand the rules, at least?”

“Ah…” The rules? What rules? Did he mean the training rules?

“In short, we’ll have to complete an obstacle race to get a prize,” Ray explained. “The faster you go, the better the prize. What worries me is that they say they’ll put us in groups of two and decide them by drawing straws.”

Which meant I could end up with Noah. I could already imagine him causing me trouble, making me lose my mind, and dying before my frantic eyes… The sinister picture shattered to pieces as I shook my head.

“What kind of prize?”

“You really didn’t follow, huh? First, let’s get in line like the others to draw straws.”

“’Kay. So?” I asked when we got in line.

“So, once your team reaches the goal, you can choose one item among whatever there’s left. Addison said they will be mostly giving crystal pills.”

“Addison, the serious guy with the ponytail?”

“Yeah… You do know pills are being used by practitioners to improve their abilities. Like, the inner energy, that is qi, or their power. They’re very precious items for Heroes.”

“Oh, yeah,” I recalled. “My sister told me something like good crystal pills were difficult to make and difficult to get.”

I remembered how, one year ago, Azritz warned me against a new trend among some youths who believed they could transform a piece of “raw crystal” into a pill to forcefully awaken their power. ‘Armen, listen, don’t believe any of this: swallowing a raw crystal can be lethal. A co-worker of mine works on the matter, and she’s been seeing dozens of accidents lately because of that DYPY movement of “Do Your Pill Yourself”.’ She had been rambling on and on until she made sure I wouldn’t do anything stupid. Of course, she didn’t know I had already been taking a temporary pill at the Tiger Clan for months.

“Some pills are extremely expensive,” Ray nodded as we advanced in the line. “Anyway, I guess elite trainees will try getting the best pills, since most of them probably already get low-grade ones on a regular basis. As for you, don’t—I mean, you shouldn’t use your pill until I read everything about their effect on unde—er, what am I saying. Anyway, just be—I-I mean, I hope you will be careful.”

After his blunder, the young necromancer was being warier than ever not to give me orders. Being so tired, if he let his guard down even a bit, he would mess up for sure. I was fighting my life-lust, but his battle wasn’t easy either. I shouldn’t add to his worry. I gave a firm nod.

“I will.”

The line advanced quickly. Ray drew a three. I drew a seventeen. Luck wasn’t on our side.

That’s what I thought until I learned who I had paired up with. When I cried out my number and saw Nina Clover raise her hand, I grinned under my mask. Speaking about luck…

I stepped forward to her.

“Hi, Nina! I’m glad to be with you again.”

The silver-haired girl tilted her head.

“And you are…?”

I was left puzzled.

“Huh? I’m Armen. Armen Moon. Armenilda, you remember?”

“Oh! Sorry, I didn’t recognize you because of the mask.”

“Oh, right, I forgot about that. I’m allergic to sponge cactuses. That’s why… I totally can’t remove it.” Or at least that was the story Ray had come up with to justify my sudden blackout on the beach as well as the mask.

“Oh.” Nina nodded as if understanding. “Those cactuses sure are weird. There is nothing like that back in the Hawaii Mountains. I was surprised when we arrived at Phoenix Island. Did you bring the mask knowing you would need it?”

“Nah, a friend lent it to me.”

“I see. The skull smile is funny. Makes you look like a pirate.”

I laughed.

“Thanks. I may be one in reality.”

“Well… That would make you an outlaw.”

“I may be one as well!” I chuckled. I certainly was, defiling a Nyomin training with my dark nature.

“Trainees!” A trainer’s voice made us turn. He added in Common Language: “Follow me.”

The trainers led us around the academy, past a magnificent tower and through a large courtyard. At the back of the latter, a small door was connected to the front part of the island, that is, the Turtle’s head. A sunny area full of cactuses, ravines, and rocks spread in front of us. Despite some ups and downs, the terrain ascended slowly but surely toward the highest point of the hill, which must be the “nose” of Phoenix Island. On the top, there was a pole. Were we supposed to reach that pole to get our prize?

As I was looking for Ray and Zeeta, my eyes were drawn by the new faces. Some trainees had real peculiar features. One of the elite trainees had a voluminous jaw in which incredibly razor-sharp teeth showed; next to him, there was a girl with a disturbing glowing skin that strangely made me feel dizzy just by looking at her. Geez… The way some powers were able to change the human body was amazing. My eyes set on Oliver, the telepathic boy with the helmet, then raised to a super tall gorgeous girl standing behind him. I was awestruck by her looks. Her hairs were like stems tipped with golden flowers, her eyebrows were green like moss, her livid skin, slightly greenish, was crazed like a wooden trunk. Her light gray eyes, stern and indifferent, were fastened on the woods ahead of us. Was she a human? Was she a tree?

I just looked down at her feet, maybe unconsciously expecting to see roots instead, when Addison gave the start signal with a simple word. Most of the trainees bounced forward in pairs. Lei and Axel Sunclaw glared at each other as they got past everyone at astounding speed, and I heard Noah rushing after the former while protesting:

“Wait for your teammate, you damned bastard!”

Lei replied without slowing down:

“Ain’t got pussies in my team!”

As for Axel, he just cast a glare at his own teammate, saying:

“You better catch up or you’re gonna regret it.”

I could not make out the pairs of the others before we all entered the woods and scattered. I think that Ray had been paired up with a black-haired girl, and Zeeta had hastily followed Ryu Buckbee, the young hydrophobic Black-Heart.

The colored sponge-cactuses were not the only flora in the woods. There were all types of algae, rocks, and even some stunted trees. The hot air rippled on the sandy soil.

Nina kept advancing calmly, and I followed her, admiring my surroundings. The cactuses weren’t just black and orange as I had thought on my arrival. There were also blue, pink, cyan cactuses, big as houses, or small as Rainbows…

Rainbows.

Was she really afraid of me? Was she angry? The thought kept bothering me. As soon as I would get back, I would try to make up with her… Wait, why was I thinking about the cat right now? I shook my head and hurried behind Nina.

My teammate didn’t seem to be in a hurry to get the best prizes, but honestly, neither was I. After all, Ray still hadn’t learned how the undead used crystal pills. Moreover, I was in no rush to compete with other trainees in my fragile state. I only hoped that Nina’s power would make her avoid touching me. She was a lucky girl, so there was a high probability that everything would be fine, right?

Anyway, worrying too much about what could happen wasn’t going to help.

For now… let’s just have fun.

As soon as I thought that, I heard a scream then a voice complaining:

“What’s the deal with that moss? It’s clinging to me! I can’t move!”

“Crap, I got caught too! The hell is that moss, I can’t cut it with my knife!”

Soon, we glimpsed two trainee girls caught in a zone covered with a sand-colored fuzzy plant. Nina stopped, turned around, and kept walking. I looked at her, surprised, as the trapped girls kept trying to free themselves unaware of our presence. After a while, the silver-haired girl stopped again.

“Oh. Maybe we should have helped them?”

I snorted with laughter. Did she only think about it now? I shrugged.

“Why should we? They seemed to be having fun.”

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Huh? Were they?”

“Haha, yes. Anyway, they didn’t look like they were in real danger—”

A scream rang in the woods. We jumped up at an outburst of voices coming from our right. As I heard something about cactuses and a “do not breathe, idiot, it’s poisonous!”, I grimaced.

“Guess there are more traps around here than expected.”

“Mm.” Nina hesitated then said: “Let’s get going.”

We resumed our walking among the sponge cactuses. I tried to watch my step, carefully looking for anything suspicious, but I saw nothing like a mimetic sandy plant or a miasma-emitting cactus.

“Oh, Armen,” Nina said, breaking the silence. “I was wondering, now that we’re in the forest… won’t sponge cactuses make you sick? Is the mask good enough?”

“Eeeh, are you worried about m—?” My head suddenly crashed into the branch of a cactus. Thank goodness that one had no thorns. I hurried to say: “I’m okay, I’m okay, don’t worry. About the allergy, my mask is of the highest quality, so there’s no danger at all.”

Geez… I should try to be more careful. I couldn’t always rely on Ray to patch me up. Nina bit her lower lip, slightly smiling.

“It reminds me, for the second test, I was the one being clumsy in the jungle,” she said as we kept walking. “It was because I was lying to you, though. My power still feels strange when I think about how it works. By the way, you’re a good friend of Arkifa, aren’t you?”

“Hah? Yes. We’re classmates.”

“Last night, I ended up being with her. She was most kind to me. She saved me from a Starlander who wanted to steal my badge, and then we made it smoothly to the gates. Some girls say she betrayed them for letting them down, but all they wanted was to take advantage of her. That’s sad. I think Arkifa is an amazing person.”

Nina’s way of judging people was amazing too. I grinned.

“But she is. I even fell for her last year.”

Nina blushed.

“Eh?”

“Ah, but she knows that already. So… last night you two passed the gates with your badges? Then you’re free from serving any snooty—I mean, you don’t have to follow any elite trainee. That’s great.”

“Well… I was planning on doing that, but this morning a girl with pink hair approached me, she tickled me and… w-well, I lost my badge to her. I guess that, since it happened, it was for the b—”

“A pink-haired girl?!” I squinted my eyes. “Did she wear pigtails?”

“Pigtails? No. She has short hair.”

Then it couldn’t be Linah. I didn’t know whether I had to be relieved about it or not.

We spent the next hour ascending the hill, going up and down gullies, and hearing occasional screams from trainees. Were there so many traps? I had a hard time believing it, since we hadn’t found any trap so far. But… maybe it was related to Nina’s power? Now that I thought about it, she was regularly slowing down and changing routes for no reason.

Together, we examined a colony of purple ants, collected some beautiful stones, gazed with awe at the glowing carapace of a white beetle, and saw a strange creature with spongy-looking orange thorns.

“Ooh. It’s like a stick bug,” Nina said in a quiet voice, as if she didn’t want to frighten it. “It’s way bigger than normal stick bugs, but the principle is the same: they camouflage themselves by imitating the trees of their habitat.”

“Eeh… Nature sure is wonderful. At first, I thought it was a baby cactus.”

“Well, it could have been. I’ve heard that some plants and even trees can move and even migrate.”

“Are they really plants, then?”

“Mm… Are they? … Some people say dryads are plants, though it’s considered racist. You did see that trainee, before, the tall girl you were staring at.”

The tall girl…? I looked at Nina, amazed.

“That girl’s a dryad?”

Nina nodded. Holy Crystals, it was my first time seeing one. As far as I knew, dryads were born in magical trees, far away from human agglomerations.

“Still… Dryads are humans,” I protested. “That’s what our teachers at school say. And that girl was definitely human.”

Nina cocked her head.

“Why? Because she can communicate with us and live like us?”

I was aghast by her questions. She added:

“Yet some dryads do not agree and prefer to be seen as tree fairies.”

“Huh? Really?”

While stroking a rounded rock with a spiral hole on it, just next to the stick bug, Nina calmly went on:

“At the bottom of my mountain, there’s a quote written on a small shrine that goes: ‘Once you put things into boxes to settle your code of morality, you’ll end up seeing only the box and forgetting its contents.’ If Elves and Orcs existed, would you think of them as humans? If you didn’t, would you treat them differently? That would be sad. In the same way, moving trees do not need to be assessed by humans to be there. Well, some are even deities to humans. You know, back in my hometown, there is a holy tree that grows on emotions.”

“E-Emotions?” I echoed, not knowing if I had understood all of her words.

“Yes. Its flowers are blue when it’s happy and green when it’s frustrated.”

“Wow. Nature sure is full of miracles.”

Nina gave me one of her rare, broad smiles.

“It is.”

A gust of wind swept the dry soil, stirring up a cloud of dust. Somehow, talking with Nina soothed my soul. At that moment, I would have forgotten I had just turned into a Fury if only my core didn’t feel so empty.

“Nina. When someone feels like they cannot give up on trying no matter what… what color are the flowers of the tree?”

She kept silent for a moment, then answered:

“On rainy days, its flowers turn silver. I guess it’s because people think the rain will bring a good harvest. Silver may reflect their obstinacy. Or maybe it’s the color of hope.”

Hope… My eyes lingered on Nina’s silver hair. I smiled under my mask. Nina was still looking at the stick bug.

“Say…” She hesitated. “Which color is the bug?”

“Ah. It’s orange.”

“Orange,” she echoed. “Thanks.”

I glanced at her with curiosity. Why would she care about colors if she couldn’t see them or even remember them?

I leaned over the beast. It had eyes. And it didn’t seem to feel very comfortable right now. However, it probably wouldn’t care at all if a passing human called it a stick bug, an orange mini-mantis, or a mutant alien. Like Nina said, boxes weren’t that important, after all. Arriving to that conclusion, I stood up, chuckling.

“The obstacle race… doesn’t feel like a race at all.”

Nina blinked, startled, and got to her feet.

“Right. Sorry, I’m not used to doing things in a hurry. And everything is so new around here…”

“Don’t worry, don’t worry, you already told me you weren’t that interested in this training,” I said cheerfully. “Still, you came. And I’m glad you did. You know, being with you feels a bit like being with my sister. Your love for nature matches hers. Oh, but the way of expressing it is different. Like, yours is much more peaceful. Well, you met her, so I bet you get what I mean.”

“Mm. Your sister looked to me like a very endearing person, so it’s an honor to hear you compare me to her—”

“Why the formal tone, all of a sudden?” I teased her. I gentlemanly waved toward the ascending hill. “Shall we go?”

As we continued our “race”, she took a chocolate bar out of her bag and gave me an inquisitive look.

“Ah… no thanks, if I take out my mask, there’d be trouble,” I said. She bit into her chocolate. “Say… I’ve been thinking… Given your power, does the fact that I teamed up with you mean I’m going to be lucky?”

Nina tilted her head, munching.

“Mm. I don’t know. My power focuses on my safety. But I guess that it can protect people around me if they care about my safety too?”

“Don’t ask me, I was asking you,” I snorted, amused. I rubbed my neck out of habit, thoughtfully. “Then, does that mean real friends around you are luckier?”

“That… may be. But I have no proof whatsoever—”

“Then what if I were to become your boyfriend? Or your lover?”

Nina’s face turned red. I had blurted out that out of curiosity, but I realized I may have gone a bit too far…

“BIRDBRAIN-DUMMY-FOOL!”

The sudden scream came from just ahead of us. I raised my eyes, just in time to see a fist fly at me. I wanted to dodge, but Nina was in the trajectory too… Could I move fast enough to protect her? The time I hesitated, Linah’s fist flew over our heads, punched a cactus, then came back at full speed like a returning boomerang… It knocked me over. I didn’t feel Linah’s lifeforce, either because of my knit cap or because Linah’s hand was strengthened with qi. As I fell over, I got scared that someone could try to help me up, and I rolled on the ground before jumping up to my feet and bursting out:

“Erma! Are you crazy?!”

“S-Sorry, I controlled the launching but messed up the returning! You’re too tall!”

“Is it my fault?! How can you assault us like that!”

“Assault? You birdbrain-dummy-fool, you were hitting on one of my subordinates! Of course I would intervene!”

“Wait, wait. First, I wasn’t hitting on anyone. Second, if I hadn’t been there, you would have punched Nina’s head and not mine!”

“If you hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t have punched anyone, you dummy!”

“… You got a point. What I mean is, we’re not as resistant as your brothers, and I… I… Aaaaah!”

I screamed when, as my anger died down, my eyes consciously looked at Linah, now standing before me. I lost my balance and fell, horror-struck, then pointed my forefinger in her direction. Erma threw a glance over her shoulder then looked back at me with an expression of mixed feelings on her face.

“I said I’m sorry, okay? And we’re not in a horror movie, Straw Head. Stop fooling around.”

I wasn’t fooling around. I was really shocked. Because…

“Erma, wh-wh-wh…”

“Whawhawhat, Straw Head?”

I blushed internally. I was so stupid but…

“Where is Erma?”

My question sounded childish and ridiculous to my ears. Linah’s eyes grew wider.

“N-No way… You don’t remember me? Holy Witches, could it be that my punch just now…? I’m so sorry, Straw Head! It’s me, Erma! The Lil Witch! Your muse! Is that for real? Maybe if I punch you again—?”

Did she think her punches had healing properties or something?! I backed hurriedly bolting:

“I’m fine! I’m fine! I know who you are! What I meant was…” I swallowed. “What happened to your pigtails?”

There was a terrible, brief silence, then:

“YOU! YOU SCARED ME TO DEATH, YOU BIRDBRAIN-DUMMY-FOOL!”

Her fist flew again, grazed my shoulder, made a pink cactus behind me crack and sway violently, then came back to its owner like a boomerang, tearing the air. This time, it came back safely, causing no further damage on its route. Still, the poor cactus had lost its prideful straightness and was shaking, just as my core was. Seriously, was she trying to kill me?!

“Er… Chill out?” I suggested.

Linah’s cheeks were puffed out and rosy. She snorted then muttered something.

“Sorry, I didn’t catch that.”

“I said I cut them!”

Her hair hardly reached her shoulders now. I still was in shock. I did overreact, but I couldn’t help it. I had spent so much time last year playing with her pigtails, pulling at them to tease her or draw her attention, tying pieces of tinsel on them… I had even told her I found them cute and funny, and not just once.

A gust of wind whipped up the dust of the dry soil, dragging it among the sponge cactuses. I cleared my throat under Linah’s gaze.

“Well, I can understand why you cut your hair. That reminds me of when I first arrived at Farskyer City and got lice. A schoolmate shaved off my hair—”

“I had no lice!”

“Oh, then… Is it because long hair is a pain to comb? Though I quite enjoyed combing yours back then, but guess it’s not the same to have to take care of it every morn—”

“Oi, oi, stop raving, Straw Head! Why are you so shocked about some hair? It’s not like mine is alive like my big sis’! Know what? Let me punch you one more time in the head. Hope you don’t lose too many gray cells.”

“Haha, please don’t, Erma, I think I’ve already lost all of them.” I didn’t even need a head to think to begin with.

Then a surprised voice intervened:

“I didn’t know you two knew each other.”

It wasn’t Nina who had talked but Arkifa. The black-haired girl stepped away from a big blue cactus and approached. Was she pairing up with Linah? I grinned with my eyes.

“Oh, a pretty girl appeared.”

“What does that mean?!” Linah feinted a punch at me.

I pointed out:

“Arkifa didn’t cut her hair.”

“What’s with your reasoning? Are you stupid?”

“Yeah.”

“… At least you accept it.”

“Mm. I’m courageous enough to face reality.”

Arkifa chuckled.

“You two sure get along! I didn’t know you were cheating on me, Armen.”

I froze at her words. Linah’s dangerous glare struck me like lightning. I hastily complained:

“A-Arkifa! Don’t even joke about it, Erma’s gonna kill me!”

Arkifa chortled.

“Sorry, I’m a bit of a demon at times. Linah Sunclaw, I was just kidding, you can have all of him. Make good use of it.”

“Does he come with warranty?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“Oi, you girls, I’m not some second-hand product, ya know!” I protested.

“Anyway…” Linah squinted at both of us. “How do you two know each other?”

“We’re classmates,” Arkifa and I answered at once.

“Ooh?”

Linah’s eyes pierced mines. I cringed backwards.

“What?”

“Your mask is cool.”

She blurted it out just like that. I smiled slightly under my mask.

“Thanks.”

Linah glanced at Arkifa then cleared her throat.

“I’m a bit surprised you two got there so fast. We were just going to climb the cliff.”

She pointed her thumb towards the cliff ahead of us. It was a good twenty meters high. I winced.

“Seriously? There’s no other way?”

“There is if you go around it, but this is the fastest way. What?” Linah smirked. “Are you going to back away?”

“I’m not. Just wait and see.”

I walked forward. I was a bit hurt by Linah’s reception and wasn’t in the mood of talking with her. Not only that: I was scared to stay around her as a Fury.

I grabbed one rock and hoisted myself up. I was already several meters above the ground when I remembered my teammate and cast a glance below. To my surprise, Nina was climbing like a goat. Well, she was a mountain dweller, after all. Linah and Arkifa began ascending too. The three girls were so fast. Dammit, at this rate, they were going to catch up with me.

“So slow, so slow, Straw Head!” Linah teased me, just below me.

My hands didn’t hurt, neither did any of my tensed limbs. What worried me the most was my balance. Lack of balance was the undead’s number one weakness. I grumbled.

“If you’re so fast, go ahead, no need to stay right behind me, the cliff is spacious.”

“Hoho? Believe me or not, your grips feel so awkward that just looking at you makes me nervous,” Linah confessed.

“Then don’t look at me.”

“Well, well, you’re still angry because I lost my nerves.”

“I’m not.”

“Seriously? Well, then you should be able to concentrate better and find better grips. Look, that one, over your head, a bit to your right, that’s a good grip.”

It did feel like a rock firmly embedded in the cliff. I grabbed it. Linah helped me with the next grips, all good ones.

“Didn’t know you were a good climber, Lil Witch.”

“Heh. Well, I like climbing, that’s all. You’re doing better and better.”

“Thanks!” Then I looked down, my excitement faded, and I sighed. “I thought professional climbers used special equipment. Do the trainers want us all dead?”

“Hwara-hwara, you’re exaggerating. This cliff is not that steep. You probably wouldn’t die if you fell.”

The “probably” ruined all of her efforts to make it look like a safe training.

I looked at the white clouds scattered in the blue sky. Nina and Arkifa had already made it to the top of the cliff. Only two more meters and I would make it too. I could do it.

“By the way, Straw Head: congratulations,” Linah added. To my surprise, her voice wavered. “I knew you would pass the examination for the Independent trainees. Well, it was unexpected, too.”

Unexpected yet she knew? Why did I feel like she totally didn’t expect me to pass… I mumbled and kept going up. Right hand, left foot, left hand, right foot… I finally reached the top, crawled forward, looked at the strange spiderwebby wood of branches that spread ahead, then raised my eyes to Linah. She had just landed on the narrow path between the cliff and the wood.

“Thanks for your help, Lil Witch.”

“You’re welcome, Straw Head! Not everyone can climb that cliff without having received proper training. You did pretty well.”

I looked down at the cactuses below and only then realized how high we were now. Had I been alive, I would have probably thought twice before acting like a mountain goat, but in my current situation, I only felt amazed at my own prowess. I still complained:

“I knew it, the trainers just want us to die. I wouldn’t have ranked first in the Indie quiz if I had known.”

“Yeah, sure, like you could have ranked first in the first place.”

“Hah? But I did.”

“He did,” Arkifa confirmed.

“Sure he did,” Nina added.

Linah blinked, confused, crouched in disbelief, stared at my face, and burst out laughing.

“Hwara-hwara! There’s no way that’s true! We both used to be the two knuckleheads of the Cheetahs, we always stood out with our poor grades at school, stop telling obvious lies, hwara-hwara…” She fell silent then muttered: “Wait, it can’t be, right? I mean, if you’re not joking then… YOU RANKED FIRST?!”

“Sorry, I didn’t want to get ahead of you, Lil Witch,” I stood up and reached out a hand. “I won’t forget our title of knuckleheads. We’ll always be one in mind and spirit.”

Linah met my eyes then chortled and accepted my hand, saying:

“Congratulations, dummy! I’m glad you’re here!”

It was only then that I remembered I had become a Fury and was supposed not to touch anyone for three days so my damaged core could heal. As soon as she grabbed my hand, my core bolted. I reacted brusquely drawing backwards, landed on the branches of the weird branchy wood, heard a loud cracking noise, and instinctively hugged Linah to protect her as we fell. Was there a hole behind the tangled branches? We rolled down as my life-lust rocketed. Dammit, dammit, dammit! Linah’s lifeforce had begun to flow into my core. How could I stop?! Ray!! I roared in my thoughts. But my scream didn’t reach him. I had no idea how to speak through our necro-bond. If only I had shown more interest in necromancy… No, but even Ray wouldn’t be able to really stop me. Why the hell did I tell him that I would be fine by my own? Did I seriously choose to put my friends’ safety at risk?! Was I actually the worst bastard on earth? If only I had abandoned the training and just stayed hidden somewhere away from everyone…

“Armen?”

Linah rarely called me by my name, but whenever she did, it always felt as if she was closer than ever. My panic crumbled like a piece of parchment. As we stopped rolling, I opened my eyes and met hers. There were twinkling lights reflected on her blue iris. Unexpectedly, there was a wide, barren understory beneath the hanging wood, made of a weird-looking, wavy, and snowy gelatine. Slightly transparent, it was spotted with cold lights that feebly glinted all over the place. Did we just fall… into a large slimy pit?

For a moment, we said nothing. Then:

“Wow, we sure rolled down a good stretch. Straw Head, can you let me go?”

What was I even doing?! Wait, my life-lust… wasn’t increasing? In fact, my instincts were telling me to… let her go? My eyes opened wide. Linah’s lifeforce was…

“Er… Straw Head? Are you hurt?”

“Nah… I’m fine.” I let go of her and sat up on the jelly-like ground, shaking my head. I was angry at myself for having made such a blunder. Angry for having put Linah in danger. “What about you?”

“I’m fine, of course! Looks like we fell under that hanging wood. Such a weird place… It was so hot out there under the sun, but the ground down here is so soft and cool! Ah, if we weren’t in a race, I’d fall asleep here right away…”

She yawned and shut her eyes with a face of pure bliss. I swallowed hard and swiftly passed a hand over my eyes, muttering:

“… Thank goodness.”

Geez. Who could have imagined it?

Her lifeforce’s taste…

Her taste…

Linah’s taste…

—was bad.