5.

I thought my plan of action for socialising had worked, which was why I was quite surprised to find the point of a dagger resting against my throat after I followed May back into the dorm.

‘Why do you want to follow me?’ she said.

My eyes homed in on the edge of the blade so much I started seeing double. I knew I was supposed to fear for my life. But I frowned instead.

‘Where did you even get a knife?’ I said.

We’d moved straight from the assessment to our dorm and then towards elder Muyue’s lesson. They hadn’t even shown us where they stored the weapons yet.

‘Did you bring one from outside?’

The tip pressed into my skin, drawing a nickle of blood.

‘I ask the questions here,’ she hissed. ‘Why do you want to follow me.’

I breathed out. What would Mother do? Mother never lied. But mother was also strong enough not to end up in this kind of situation…strong enough, I repeated to myself. Honesty would work best.

‘Because we’re weak fish,’ I said.

A pause.

May’s brows touched each other.

‘You think I’m joking?’ she said.

‘No.’

‘You got a death wish, then, Rankless? That it?’

I frowned.

‘I want to live if possible,’ I said. ‘And my name is Djina,’ I added a moment later.

‘Then talk!’ She leaned so close I could feel her breath on my skin. ‘Did my father hire you to kill me? Well, tough luck, Rankless. I’m better than you.’

Arguing you were better than someone with a knife seemed ill-advised, so I didn’t.

‘But you’re still a weak fish,’ I said. ‘We need each other.’

May’s mouth fell open.

‘Your mother was called the Tidal, wasn’t she? You fish people or what?’

‘We are both human,’ I reassured her.

‘So. Why. The. Fuck. Do u keep talking about fish?!’

She pulled the knife from my throat and angrily pointed towards it.

‘You know what this is?’

‘A dagger,’ I said dutifully.

‘Good. Because this ain’t a game, pipsqueak! We’re not in a fantasy story, and you’re not the main character. So, I’m going to ask you one more time. Why do you want to follow me.’

I blinked.

‘Do you want the truth or a lie?’

She waved the tip of the knife in my face.

‘Because we’re weak fish,’ I said again.

6.

Of course, there was nothing wrong with my logic, and the truth always won out in the end. I raised my chin in defiance.

‘Schools of fish stay together—’

‘—because they’re weak! Yes. I get it. Can you shut up now? We’re trying to be sneaky here.’

After making a trip to the school’s storage room and picking out our weapons, May had led me down a secret path in the mountain. We were going outside.

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I adjusted the strap of the pouch I was carrying. I had filled it with the absolute essentials. A multi-tool pocketknife, flint and steel to start a fire and some dried fruits. I also packed a roll of bandages despite the academy supplies lacking any type of herbal salve or leaves to use as dressing. Probably on purpose, since they want to test us. I would need to find herbs out in the woods if we got hurt and needed emergency treatment.

The hood of the waterproof poncho May was wearing bobbed up and down as she walked, and the girl eyed it angrily. She also had to carry her sword in her hands since there had been no designated sword belt in the storage room.

Luckily, it was not so for the two daggers I chose to take with me.

‘How did you even find this path?’ I said. ‘We haven’t been here for a day.’

She shot me a glare.

Right. I had to stay quiet.

We stalked down the path. Forest filled the valley and surrounded the academy, so we stepped from the stone path right into the woods. The trees were tall, and they blocked most of the view. A consequence of the maura in the earth, which the trees absorbed.

‘You know the division of the forest?’ May said.

‘It’s alright to talk now?’ I said.

May rolled her eyes.

‘We’re no longer within earshot of any initiates. The layout?’

I checked my memory.

‘The monsters get stronger the further in the forest we go, right?’ I said. ‘It’s a circle with the academy as the epicentre.’

‘Exactly. We’re in the first layer, which means we shouldn’t meet any beasts above E rank. But It’s always possible we meet other, stronger monsters.’

May dropped suddenly, and I followed. My head swivelled around. Were we in danger?

She glanced at me and chuckled to herself, then raked her fingers over the forest floor and smelled her hand.

I edged closer to see better. There was a small puddle of blue liquid on the ground, which was not the colour of regular blood. However, beasts were not limited to red blood.

It was still wet and unclogged.

‘This is recent,’ May said.

‘You know what animal it could be from?’ I said.

I’d lived on a farm, but the beasts in this forest would differ greatly from the ones I was familiar with.

‘Not sure. Doesn’t have to be blood. Could also just be piss.’

I pulled my face away in disgust.

She snickered and mimicked flicking spatters of it my way.

‘Let’s keep going,’ May said.

So, we quickly started moving again.

We chased the blood trail a lot deeper into the forest than initially expected. Though we were not at risk of reaching the edge of the first layer any time soon, our flight home would also be longer, should we need to run.

‘I think it’s better if we give up on the trail,’ I said.

The reason why I was following her was simple. Staying together was essential—you couldn’t break off from the school at will, but that did not mean I would follow her off a cliff.

She did not respond to my remark. Rather, she continued walking in silence, her nose glued to the forest floor.

I had a thought, then: maybe—just maybe—she was trying to isolate me. Like an anglerfish would. Mother had brought one up from the depths once and explained their strategy. The trail would be the bait, which would definitely be an effective luring mechanism.

Just then, May raised a hand. I made myself smaller and immediately hid behind a tree. Smiling, May pointed diagonally in front of us, and I followed her finger.

I wouldn’t call the space ahead of us a clearing. It was more like an arena. Something big had smashed into a set of trees, breaking them into pieces. The result was a makeshift square without any real cover besides the undergrowth of the forest.

Two creatures that looked like a fox and a lupine were squaring off. The wolf would be a few heads bigger than me if it stood on its hind legs, while the fox would be about the same height.

If size was the deciding factor, the wolf would win. The corpse of another lupine between the beasts spoke differently, though.

Four, wicked and metal protrusions lined the front paws of the fox. They were shaped like a scythe. I peered. The fox was bleeding. Blue blood ran down the side of one of its front legs in rivulets, and its stance was wobbly.

‘Inspect them,’ May said.

Right. You should always inspect enemies, I chastised myself. That had been one of Mother’s lessons.

Inspect, I whispered in my head.

[Name: Scythe-pawed Fox - Grade: E]

[Name: Starved Forest Lupine - Grade: E]

Two E ranks. But one was obviously stronger than the other and definitely stronger than us right now. If it hadn’t been hurt.

‘You want to fight them?’ I whispered. ‘We haven’t learned how to shape properly yet.’

‘Speak for yourself.’

May closed her eyes and extended her palm. The maura within her pulsed, and a rotating puddle formed above her hand.

The rhythm of my breathing lulled. How had she learned that so fast? I thought I had been quicker than the other students or at least kept up…was her talent that high? Rankless, the term echoed in my mind, and my shoulders couldn’t help but slump a little.

Elder Sui had told me to join my present ilk. This was just a sign that I needed to do more.

Still—I puffed up my chest, and my breathing returned to normal.

‘That won’t help us in a fight,’ I said.

May let the expression of maura die.

‘True,’ she said. ‘But our weapons will.’ She turned to me, and her gaze was dead serious. ‘We have two options as I see it.’

I listened.

‘One, we can sit at home like the rest, honing our manipulation skills like well-behaved puppies.’

‘And two?’ I said.

She pointed in front of her, where the Starved lupine was lunging for the fox. Both beasts struggled in a fight over life and death.

‘We battle and grow through conflict,’ she said. ‘It’ll be quicker and allow us to jump ahead of the others.’

Which was exactly what I needed. It was also a sentiment my mother shared. The flip side to that mentality, however—I gazed at corpse of the wolf—was the increased risk of death. My lips pursed in concern. Did that matter, though? If I fell behind the other students and they stole my token, death would reach me all the same.

‘We’re weak fish, right?’ May whispered, trying to goad me. ‘We need to stay ahead of the competition.’

I glared up through my bangs. Mother had sent me here for a reason—to become a hunter. A formidable hunter. One who could gain the attention of a certain individual. Growing faster would aid me in that the most.

I shook my head and found myself grinning.

‘We’re kingfish now.’