I froze.

What the **** on the *** in my ****?!

Please don’t tell me this is happening.

Please…

Did I make a mistake? Could it be that I hallucinated the whole thing inside the test chamber? Was Gomi just a baby and nothing more?

Doubt filled my head as I told myself how ridiculous I had been. How could I believe that I found a child that could turn into a SWORD?!

I turned toward Gomi, my mind racing to come up with a way to get me, no us, out of this situation. Based on what I saw on my Display earlier, assuming I wasn’t hallucinating about that too, I was a tiny bit stronger than before. This meant that fighting this monster was an option.

But fight with what? My bare hands? Or hold Gomi and swing at her tiny baby at the ogre?

Unlikely.

The more plausible alternative was to run and escape this situation. This happened to be my go-to strategy until now, so perhaps it was very fitting. But there were details I needed to sort out.

Gomi was faster than any babies I’ve seen, not that I’ve seen many, but I didn’t think she could outrun an ogre. Obviously, I would have to carry her myself, but I was already dog-tired as it was. An ogre may not have been the fastest monster out there, but it had bountiful stamina. I had no idea how far we were from the Door, so running while carrying her was going to be risky as well.

But this seemed like the only option I had. I looked down at Gomi and felt my instincts kicking in. I’ve been in bad situations before, and I always came out alive. I had to tell myself that I was going to do the same again and survive this.

I reached down slowly, trying my best not to make sudden movements and cause the ogre to sprint toward me. I was about to grab Gomi when her body jerked up.

Shit, what’s wrong now?

“P…pfft!”

Gomi covered her mouth with her plump hands. For a second, I thought she was going to scream or barf, but to my confusion, she burst into laughter.

“What the hell?!” I whispered, proud that despite the confusion I felt, I still didn’t yell. I haven’t forgotten that we were a moment away from being bulldozed by an angry ogre.

Ignoring her strange behavior, I was about to grab her anyway when suddenly, I saw her vanish.

Fwoom!

At that instant, I knew that she fooled me. Again.

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Now in her sword form and comfortably in my right hand, Gomi exclaimed, “Gotcha! I tricked you, get it? I made you think…”

“Yes! Yes, I get it. Just shut up and let’s go!” I didn’t bother keeping my voice quiet anymore. As annoyed as I was with her ridiculous pranks, relief took a much bigger space in my head as I grasped the handle tighter.

It felt so good to be holding a weapon in my hand. I felt strong and capable.

No, I WAS strong and capable.

Unlike the other times when I anxiously waited for the monster to charge toward me, I chose to make the first move this time. The rush of adrenaline made my legs faster. My heart pounded excitedly.

Ta da da da!

As usual, I was aiming for the neck, but at the last moment, I realized that the ogre had its thick arms already prepared to protect it. Realizing I still may not be strong enough to cut through its arm AND its neck, I made a split-second decision to change my aim. Quickly lowering my sword, I changed my target to its leg. If I couldn’t make a quick kill, the next best thing was going to be to immobilize my opponent.

Slice!

A splash of purple blood adorned the air. Some tiny droplets splattered on my face, but I didn’t mind it. Instead, it thrilled me as I slowly began to learn what it feels like to be a predator.

Without missing a beat, my body turned a full circle around to stand behind the monster. Now facing his ugly bareback, I swung Gomi in an arc to create a deep long gash on its back.

Slash!

The sound of flesh tearing was music to my ears. The ogre roared, I think more in surprise than pain because there was a theory that the monsters had a duller sense of pain. It must have thought something was stuck because it swatted its back, trying to find whatever had irritated him.

Definitely not the smartest monster.

It was as if I was possessed as I danced around the ogre. Unlike inside the test chamber, Gomi didn’t give me any instructions. I decided that this had to mean I was doing a good job.

Well, at least a better job than before.

But even though she remained silent, I felt her presence. She was with me, not just in my hand as a sword, but… in the way I needed her to be.

“Kwerrrk!”

Just then, the ogre turned and swung at me. I think I was being too cocky, perhaps drunk on my own arrogance, because he got very close to me. I saw its filthy claws less than an inch from my eyes as I leaned back as far as I could. It failed to wound me, thank goodness, but the force of it made me stumbled.

I didn’t fall on my bum, but I ended up in a position with one of my knees bent on the ground. If anyone walking by saw me now, I had no doubt it looked like I was proposing to the ogre.

Well, right before I stabbed its neck, of course.

I thrusted Gomi upward and forward, her already blood-soaked blade plunging deep into the ogre’s neck. I couldn’t see the back of the monster, but it was obvious at least a couple of inches of my sword must have poked out from its nape.

In an animated fashion that was much more dramatic than was necessary, I yanked my weapon out and shook it hard once. Purple blood splattered out in all directions, making it look like celebratory confetti falling from the sky.

I hoped that there were others who were watching and witnessing my glorious victory. Killing a single ogre might not have meant much to most, but this was a huge deal for me. I smiled like a slick cat pleased with a dead mouse it caught.

My real Rhombic career was just about to begin.