Honey took the time to consider how she would destroy the four people in her presence if they turned against her. It was a tick left over from her previous life. She wished she could have left it behind when she abandoned that world for this one. It was unfortunate both worlds were equally full of violence, betrayal, and corruption. Perhaps this one more than the last.

The first step to plotting the best way to eliminate one’s foes, or former allies, was always the same in her experience. Study the environment.

They were in the Guild’s training grounds. Specifically, they were standing in the sparring arena, the designated meeting point for their daily training. The shifting sand might make some of their movements unpredictable, but Honey was confident she would be able to adapt. Some of her hardest won victories were on sands just like these.

She tried not to think about it. Sand always reminded her of death, despair, and hopelessly railing against destiny’s cruel twists as if some higher power would deign to free her from her fate. She didn’t know for sure, but she imagined that no one would like to be reminded of their time as a battle-slave. Regardless, the sand was not an issue as long as she could stay focused.

Escaping the training grounds after killing everyone —most everyone-- would be tricky if it was an ambush. However, once she was out and into the city, she had several designated escape routes, each equipped with hidden get-away bags.

Step two: analyze one’s opponents and the order they needed killed in.

Mordai would be first. Her co-instructor was a tall man in full armor, standing easily over six feet tall. She was not sure if she would count the horns protruding from his head as part of his height, but if so then he might be closer to seven feet. He caught her looking at him and gave her a grin that she assumed he thought was charming. His pointed teeth were a stark white against his blood red skin; the black, swirling patterns tattooed onto his skin gave him a rather fierce appearance.

It would be easy to describe him as looking ‘demonic,’ but she never would. She would kill him before making the mistake of hurting his feeling like that, even if he insisted on hiding how sensitive he was behind a jovial mask.

“Sorry, Honey. I didn’t mean to badger you about the new guy,” Mordai said, referencing their earlier conversation and laughing at his own pun before he could even finish saying it. Honey was proud of her heritage so the mention didn’t sting her like it would him.

However, there were some things she could not let slide.

She hit him in the side with a [Resonating Strike]. Being an incorrigible flirt was bad enough, the puns deserved punishment. Punishment. Ugh. He was infecting her.

The skill was able to bypass his enchanted armor and hit him where it would really hurt. She was careful not to channel too much Source into the strike, but she also wasn’t shy about causing him some pain. He had the coveted [Paladin] class. A [Paladin] could take a hit or two.

She tuned out his half-hearted whining and considered the crux of the issue. If it came to blows, he would be dangerous. Especially if he was able to support the other three. Just his [Healing Light] skill, a unique use of light energy to transport chemical energy, enabled by the System, would make everyone else much harder to kill.

“Why don’t you introduce yourselves?” Mordai said after Honey refused to acknowledge his play acting. He gifted the new guy, Snowflake, with a smile, leaning into his easy-going persona. “I’m Mordai, your instructor. Friend if you’re lucky.”

She would end it fast. Five exchanges if she could. It would be difficult, but she could leverage her superior speed and combat oriented skills.

A [Kinetic Step] to close the distance before he could prepare. Two feints and a blow to create an opening. Then, she would use a [Vibrating Blade] enhanced with kinetic energy to cut through his armor and chest, crushing his Core in the process. Another [Vibrating Blade] would get through his neck to take off his head. There was no use in taking chances with a normal strike, even if her blades could part steel like paper. He shouldn’t be able to heal from losing his heart and head, but she would crush his skull just in case.

The hardest part would be living with the guilt of killing a valued friend. But she would. No one was worth sacrificing her freedom. Never. Again.

The remaining three would be easy prey.

“My name is Ra’hel,” the lamia introduced herself to Snowflake. She swayed where her human-like torso met her snake body, reminiscent of how a human woman might sashay her hips. With a subtle gesture she tucked a strand of hair behind her pointed ear—to highlight her gorgeous features no doubt-- and bent forward to shake Snowflake’s hand, giving him a clear look down her low-cut shirt to her ample assets. “It is a… pleasure, to meet you.”

Honey wasn’t fooled by Ra’hel’s sensual upper body and demure attitude. Ra’hel would be a dangerous predator someday. Honey could sense the killer in her. She mentioned it to Mordai at one point, but he wouldn’t listen to her. It was beyond her how he could manage to miss the way Ra’hel sized up everyone she met as a potential meal.

She could feel Ra’hel’s predatory instincts in her iron-like coils and hidden fangs every time they sparred. It was obvious to her that the snake-woman’s species used their human parts as a lure, like the anglerfish she read about in the Dungeon’s Library.

Not that Honey had any reason to worry. Her ancestors hunted snakes for fun and her Unique Skill [Ancestral Apathy] reflected that. Sometimes Honey even had to resist the urge to take a bite out of Ra’hel and enjoy the tangy, venom-seasoned taste of her flesh. She was quick to squash those thoughts. Her ancestor’s instincts might try to control her through her Aspect and [Ancestral Apathy], but they could only try. She would not be controlled. Never. Again.

That said, she might take a few chunks for the road if it came to a life and death struggle.

“Nice to meet you,” Snowflake said, blushing and averting his eyes. Honey mentally shook her head at his reaction. The poor kid had heart, but he was so naïve.

Once the snake was killed in the traditional manner, crushed underfoot, she would address the dryad. Bonehammer, the dryad, was in many ways Ra’hel’s exact opposite.

“The name is Bonehammer,” they said, puffing out their meager chest and making aggressive eye contact with Snowflake. Bonehammer had the body of a budding young woman, complete with the assets you might expect. Woe to the person who made the mistake of referring to them as such. “Before you get any fancy ideas, yes. I am a dryad which means I am much older than I look. Older than you, probably. But no. I have zero interest in you sexually. My tree and I are asexual and we DO NOT adhere to your ridiculous genders.”

By all accounts, Bonehammer had been propositioned several times since arriving here a month or so ago. Honey wasn’t sure if they were unaware of the social nuances they were steamrolling, or if they just didn’t care. Either way, the little tree spirit was fierce and outspoken about things most people kept private.

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Honey suspected that the strong front was a façade. On occasion she would catch glimpses of savage burn scars peaking out from their clothes. That, paired with an intense interest in weaponry, suggested a violent, disturbed past. She thought Bonehammer’s Unique Skill might be related to how she got those burns, but she doubted it was a combat relevant Skill.

Regardless, Bonehammer was a rare talent when it came to utilizing their environment and any weapon at their disposal. Given a Class, a few Skills, and time to grow, the dryad might become a true threat. But that was a hypothetical future. In this absolute present, Honey would fell her like firewood. No contest.

“Ra’hel. Bonehammer. Go show Snowflake how the obstacle course is done,” Honey said once Snowflake shook Bonehammer’s hand. “Take it easy so he can learn. Consider it a warmup.”

“Obstacle course on the first day, Honey?” Mordai gave Snowflake’s departing form a sympathetic look. “Are you trying to kill the poor guy?”

“No. Second day.”

She was trying to push him.

Once she finished the others, in her theoretical scenario, she would offer to take Snowflake with her. There was nothing special about him as far as she could tell. She had a feeling his name ironic given his average height, moderate build, and lack of arresting features. However, he reminded her of simpler time and that was special in its own way.

Seeing his bright-eyed determination, quick mind, and naïve attitude was like looking back into time to see the faces of the soldiers she led into rebellion. A small voice in a distant corner of her mind whispered that doing right by him wouldn’t redeem her or bring them back from their terrible fates, but she didn’t care.

Besides, she had more practical reasons.

“He is three weeks behind the other two,” Honey said. It was a weak excuse, but the others would build on it. Always use multiple strikes instead relying on one.

“You and I both know that the Guild will just train him again with the next batch when he fails the evaluation.” Mordai cocked an eyebrow and waved a hand like he was brushing away Honey’s words. “Even if he pissed you off, its not like you to be unnecessarily cruel.”

“I think he can do it,” Honey said, wincing at how emotional the words sounded as soon as they left her mouth. Emotions were a weakness that could be exploited. “I mean, he has potential. He shouldn’t have to suffer under the Guild’s heel for longer than he has to.”

“Hmm,” Mordai reached up to tug at one of his horns. He did it whenever he was thinking or nervous. Honey suspected it was a deep-set habit from his childhood, when he regularly tried to rip his horns out. “I guess that makes sense. Almost twice as much training would land him in enough debt to keep him slaving away for years. I could see the Guild pulling a trick like that to keep an Awakened with a lot of potential under their influence.”

“Angosin delivered him, personally.”

Honey spent a lot of her time thinking about Angosin. If anyone was going to be a hindrance to her plans, it was the GuildMaster’s hound and his team. They were skilled at subterfuge and infamous as the Guild’s ‘secret police.’ The GuildMaster gave Angosin free reign to do as he pleased as long as the man used his unique talents to keep any disgruntled Awakened, and the occasional Native, in line.

If she ever managed to shake off the GuildMaster’s magical tax on the debt weighing down her soul, she would abandon this place and ascend the Dungeon without a second thought. Angosin would be the one to hunt her down. Although she was confident that she could give the low level [Scout] a good beating if she could overwhelm his [True Sight] and Tier 4 Magic Core, something about him made her wary.

She was sure [True Sight] could be rendered useless by volume, power, and skill. Being able to read intentions and movements wouldn’t help him if he couldn’t dodge or block her. It was a risky strategy given that he had an entire Tier more Source at his disposal, but she thought her Class would give her the edge she needed to beat him.

[Kinetic Battlemage] was the fruit born of her single-minded determination to escape the noose of debt that she’d been tricked into almost a year ago. She had taken the common classes [Mage] and [Body Enhancer] to attack the Dungeon and harvest Cores from its denizens with both the tools available to her. Physical and magical combat.

Advancing far enough along both paths gave her the unexpected boon of a class consolidation. The consolidation allowed her to keep her Skills and set her back several levels, letting her to level up again for even more Skills. She also suspected that levelling improved her more ways than just letting her access new Skills.

Her rare, consolidated level nineteen Class that she worked so hard for had to be better than a low-level [Scout]. She knew there was more to fighting than Classes and levels, but still.

And yet, it was clear that he felt confident about destroying any and all comers given how open he was about his Unique Skill, Class, and Core progression. He might be bluffing, but dissenters disappeared far too often to dismiss his apparent prowess. If she managed to pay off her debt by teaching new Awakened, she would never have to find out who would pull ahead in a fight to the death, but it always paid to be prepared.

What really worried her was his little entourage. By all accounts Grag, the orc [Brute], was a tough customer in both raw power and ability to take punishment. She had no idea what his Unique Skill was, but she assumed it had to do with his physical competence. There was a rumor floating around among fellow Awakened that Grag once tore a level twenty-three [Defender] limb from limb and ate the remains. The tale was exaggerated, no-doubt, but rumors often had a grain of truth to them.

Quinn, the angel [Illusionist], was on the opposite end of the spectrum from the orc. Her work with both light and sound energy was masterful, to the point that Honey could never really be sure if Quinn was hanging over her shoulder, watching, or not. Honey felt that [Ancestral Apathy] would allow her to ignore most attacks an [Illusionist] could bring to bear. However, the Class’s danger didn’t lay in its toe-to-toe combat potential.

Besides, despite Angosin’s reputation as an unapologetic womanizer and Quinn’s apparent subservience, Honey suspected the woman was no pushover.

Individually, she thought she could take them. As a group though? Only time would tell.

“Oh,” Mordai looked first surprised then thoughtful as he processed Angosin’s involvement. “Well, maybe he was just taking a break from being ‘the Enforcer’ and greeting new Awakened for fun? Everybody needs to unwind sometimes.”

“Maybe,” Honey could admit that if anyone could derive entertainment from meeting new Awakened, it was Angosin. “But he said he would get ahold of Snowflake in a few days.”

Mordai ran a hand through his snow-white hair and turned to regard Snowflake in the distance. Honey followed his gaze and watched their three students scamper along the lower levels of the obstacle course. The two more experienced students moved with ease, using kinetic and chemical energy to dodge and jump in ways Snowflake could not. Ra’hel had taken it upon herself to double back to physically help Snowflake with the more difficult obstacles while Bonehammer yelled out advice.

Honey took a deep, satisfied breath as she watched. It was true that Ra’hel and Bonehamer weren’t truly her proteges, but she couldn’t help feeling a warm glow of accomplishment when witnessing their improvements. She brought them this far in just three weeks and in three more they would be even further along. It was times like this when she sometimes wished she could pursue the life of a teacher.

As always, she basked in the fantasy for as long as she could before it came crashing back down.

Teachers didn’t raise their students like a farmer raising cattle for a life of servitude and eventual slaughter. It would be a mistake to allow herself to think there was anything more to it. She was paid by the Guild for each Awakened that could be turned into a profiting member. Their potential reflected how much closer she was to gaining her own freedom.

In her darker moments she compared herself to a slave selling others into slavery for her own freedom. She knew she was being unfair to herself, but still. She could never quite escape the looming sense of guilt that haunted her.

“Do you think he has a powerful Unique Skill?” Mordai broke the silence after a few minutes of watching Snowflake struggle.

It seemed that Snowflake was trying to complete the course with his own strength, only using Source to heal himself instead of using it to assist his movements. A valid, if difficult, strategy.

Honey wondered if it was on purpose or if he didn’t know any better.

“Why don’t you ask him?” She said.

“Maybe I will,” he shot her a grin and a wink, bumping his shoulder against her with obvious affection. “We should take them out for a drink tonight! Get a better idea of their Unique Skills and goals. A bit of bonding and stuff, ya know?”

“You’re not allowed to sleep with any of them, remember?” She knew he would probably behave himself, but with someone like Ra’hel around it was best to bring it up just in case.

“I would never!” He gasped, bringing a splayed hand to his chest like an offended [Lady].

A sudden thought crossed her mind and she jabbed him in his armored ribs.

“And you are not allowed to tell your dumb Awakening joke!” She said, her eyes narrowed and voice heavy with accusation.

“Heaven forbid,” he said, fluttering his eyelashes.

She groaned and rolled her eyes when his playful grin turned devilish. Not that she would ever use that word to describe him in any way.