I stand there, stunned by the chunks of flesh scattered around. Yamanda is speckled with blood, but she seems unfazed. It strikes me then - even if we don’t consider these beings as people, the way we kill them is still weird.

Yes, they are evil. But most people struggle with the brutality of killing. Given the choice between a gun and a knife to kill a bad person, most would choose the gun to avoid the up-close and personal nature of killing.

Some might choose the knife, thinking they could withstand the screams, blood, torn flesh, and exposed organs. But when faced with the reality, many would back down or feign indifference, only to break down in private later.

Yet, I am certain that I will feel nothing when I return to our sleeping quarters. This indifference, you would expect from a person who has been killing for a while like Yamanda.

Perhaps we were chosen as defenders of reality because each of us has a screw loose...

Welp, who cares anyway!

Yamanda turns to us and asks, “How bad are your injuries? You two.”

I glance at her, then back at the chunks of flesh.

What is her skill card, really? She had mentioned pushing our skills to their limits. Instead of teleporting him whole, she had teleported him in sections around her...?

Insane.

She raises an eyebrow, looking confused. “Um… Did I scare you all with that?”

Vacinay replies, “I’m mostly okay. Oh right! You have healing shots, right? Give one to Lumine. I think she broke her back.”

Yamanda nods and walks towards me.

“What about you?” she asks.

“I’m not as hurt as her; I’ll heal my injuries on my own. Now… Hessien…”

He helps her up. “Got you.”

“Merci,” she replies.

Yamanda looks at my shoulder, and a healing shot appears. But then something odd happens. Without anyone pushing the plunger, it is pushed on its own. The needle pierces my flesh, and its contents empty into me.

Surprised, I ask, “Telekinesis?”

“No,” she taps her head. “That’s one of my secret techniques. I can’t tell you about it.”

She had specified ‘technique,’ not ‘skill.’ Interesting.

I can feel the elixir moving through my body, a cold sensation spreading through my veins. It reaches my back, and I feel everything there.

After a short while, I stand up. My back hurts, and I feel a little shaky, but I am mostly okay.

Ghomas then asks Yamanda, “So, ex-knights. I’ve been wondering. If those half-men are created because of some well or statue… Why not destroy it?”

“It’s a statue in a well. Anyway, it’s not that it can’t be destroyed, but because it’s not all evil. The strongest presidential knights have all contacted it and made exchanges with those wells.”

Wait, huh?

Vacinay, who is sitting on Hessien’s shoulders, asks, “Are you one of the strongest?”

She smiles as she answers, “Yes. I am currently ranked as the third strongest knight. In Second Cinderayul.”

Ah, I finally learn the country's name!

I ask, slowly, “So… You also made a deal?”

“Well yes, but I look human, don’t I?”

Hessien looks at her skeptically. “I don’t get it. Aren't you supposed to be a half-man?”

“No, since my form remained, it meant I made a proper exchange, unlike those that traded their being."

Still, it feels kind of weird…

Right, she did refer to half-men as, 'People who had their form transformed by trading their ‘humanity’ for certain limited wishes to the statue of Pasfell.'

I nod. “Okay. You didn’t trade your humanity, so what did you trade?”

She taps her abdomen. “The same thing the top 4 presidential knights, excluding number 1 have… Reproductive capabilities.”

“Eh, damn. So, if I want to beat Lumine, I need to sacrifice away my manhood, huh?” Hessien sighs.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

“Unlikely. There is a reason why number 4 - 2 knights are women. Even with a proper process to make us extremely attached or almost obsessed with the idea of bearing a child, because the process of bearing children involves the fetus growing in the woman’s womb for many months and birthing it and feeding it directly, the exchange for the women would be greater than a man.”

Vacinay asks, “So, number one is a guy, right? What did he sacrifice?”

Ghomas snickers, "He really liked his balls."

“Not even I know. All I know is that he is the strongest.”

‘Dude probably traded his family or something.

Though, I wonder about what Yamanda said.

They go through a process to make them extremely attached or almost obsessed with having children. If that’s the case, how don’t they just refuse to make the sacrifice when it’s time to do it? Or be affected really badly in the head?

Vacinay basically voices out my thoughts.

Yamanda shrugs. “Who said some don't refuse to make the sacrifice or suffer mentally? Eaten away by self-guilt and regret too.”

She taps her head. “But, there are many ways to get over it. Perhaps some mind-washing? Or just enduring it.”

Hm.... Well, I mean, if it works, it works?

Yamanda then walks deeper into the tunnel. “I am thinking we should wrap this up soon, today’s training that is. I am thinking of a test. Get to the top of the mountain and save those that are going to become sacrifices. Above on the mountain has a lot of chaotic energy.”

She looks at the gemstone embedded in her armor. “I already used my skill energy stabilizer back in the training field, so I can’t teleport you all there. That, and it would be against the point of the test."

She snaps. “Get to work.”

Vacinay grunts. “What a pain. Lumine! Is your back feeling good?”

“Yeah, on the most part. I think my healing is boosted. You don’t need to use your repair.”

“Good.”

Hessien asks, “You sure?”

“Totally.”

Ghomas forms two clones, one big and another lean. “They will function as feigns.”

Hessien nods and then before walking, asks Vacinay, “You still can’t walk?”

“Nah, I can. I just like being this high. Feels good.”

He shrugs and follows after Ghomas.

I follow too, while checking my knife’s condition. Still good for the most part. The tunnel is dark, but I can see… a bit.

I consider making a fireball and keeping it levitating, but that would give us away and alert the enemies that we were coming. But, I think we don’t have a choice.

Click.

Eh, the sound comes from Ghomas’s clone, strong variant. Everyone hears it and comes to a stop.

Three seconds Future sight!

Then from far ahead, I see the future of an endless amount of explosive darts coming for us.

“Ghomas

! Make a wall of clones if that’s possible—I used future sight to see incoming explosive darts!” I report.

“Future sight? Nice!" He acts fast. Making over 10 strong clones. But as soon as they are formed, the darts come like bullets. At first, the clones endure the assault, but after two seconds, they are ripped apart.

Fireball.

I create a massive fireball and crouch low a distance behind it. The others follow me, laying low. A second later, endless sounds of explosions come from the fireball.

Shit!

Maintaining its form is so… damn taxing!

I focus hard, but with every passing second, it feels like I am getting punched and kicked in the head. It isn’t just an EP problem, it is simply a concentration or will issue…

Then after 30 seconds, the sounds of explosions stop and I slop to my knees, feeling like blood is going to pour out of my nose.

...And I am basically out of EP.

I hate this…

Hessien asks, “You can move?”

I show a thumbs-up as I remain on the ground for a minute and then push myself up.

“Okay… Let’s go again."

But we need a better tactic… This place is way too dangerous for us.

Vacinay says, “Honestly. This isn’t going to work well. We don’t have a map either, so we would never know where to go. And there is no way this place only has one tunnel and not a fake one included.”

I agree, however, “There was that massive orc wannabe guy there. Either he traveled down there to check who shot a fireball outside or he was there guarding something."

Vacinay then makes an aha sound. “I will take on that cat form and use its sense of smell to try to track down what path the half-men take in these tunnels!”

Oh, that sounds good. She turns into a cat and has full control of her body.

She sniffs the ground and begins moving forward then paws at a wall. A secret door?

Hessien pushes against it, and a rectangular-shaped door moves in. After two seconds of pushing, it moves on its own. And a new tunnel opens itself to us.

Ghomas, who has recovered some EP, sends out a clone; the lean one. I guess he is locked with four skills: Playdead, Strong, Fast Clones, and Lightning Bolt.

In her cat form, Vacinay prowls behind Ghomas’s clone, her nose skimming the ground. Suddenly, she halts, her meow echoing off the cavernous ceiling above.

Unfazed, Ghomas’s clone continues forward. Three steps later, a monstrous snake materializes from the shadows, swallowing the clone whole before its cold, calculating eyes lock onto us.

Oh... shit.

As the snake recoils, preparing to strike, I activate my future sight, glimpsing a two-second flash of the impending attack.

It’s lightning-fast!

The snake lunges. I freeze time for a heartbeat as I sidestep its attack, leaping to safety. We should never have ventured here before I had fully recovered my EP!

Summoning a fireball into my hand, I hurl it at the snake’s head, eliciting a tortured scream.

Ghomas springs into action, a steady stream of electricity crackling from his fingertips towards the snake. The creature thrashes wildly, narrowly missing Hessien and Vacinay, who has morphed into a monkey form and deftly evaded the attack.

The snake rears its head, aiming to crush me, but I freeze time once more and dodge. As soon as I move, I strike it with another fireball. I need to be more creative… How could I modify it…

The snake lets out a blood-curdling screech and turns towards Ghomas, who is now drained of EP. Suddenly, a dense mist envelops the area, plunging us into blindness.

This was a terrible idea—

A gory spray of blood erupts from the center of the mist, accompanied by the snake’s dying screams.

“Die die die die!” A woman’s voice echoes chaotically through the mist.

Vacinay? But… How was she seeing without sight?

Laser shots, unmistakably from Hessien, pierce the mist. Then, the snake’s cries dwindle, replaced by the thud of its massive body hitting the ground.

Summoning another fireball, I burn away the mist, revealing Hessien and Vacinay, both panting heavily.

Vacinay… she has partially transformed her face to resemble a cat’s. She grins, “I got three levels from this beast; making me level 17.”

She stretches her arms and brings up her secondary card, adorned with an array of creatures.

With a swift motion of her finger, she draws a circle in the air, and a two-headed dog, standing a meter tall, materializes from it.

Crossing her legs, she declares, “Remember when I said I was going to become the queen of monsters?!”

I reply, “Wasn’t it centipedes?”

“Silence wench!”