Talia was slowly breathing herself back to normal as she picked up the glaive from the ground and used it to prop herself up.

She looked at Fiora, whose expression went from angry to confused, then kind of angry, and ending with complete disbelief at the end.

“You are going to Initiate yourself? You want to kill a monster with that?” Fiora pointed at the other girl’s unwieldy weapon, clearly meant for someone with heaps of Attributes dumped into Strength.

“Yes,” Talia breathed out. “I need to.”

“W-what?” Fiora looked at her like she was crazy, which was actually quite a fair assessment. “You’re going to die.”

Even though Fiora didn’t like Talia, this was folly.

In fact, even if the islanders had heard the girl’s plan, they would not have cared about her Initiating herself because it was simply impossible – a literal suicide mission. The Abyssal Creatures weren’t normal sea beings—they continuously absorbed the Mana that circulated in the Deep, making them grow stronger and more monstrous. To fight them without Attributes or Skills was just asking to be killed.

Fiora had the instinct to tell Talia not to, but then she stopped herself.

Something about Talia's attitude touched her very soul.

Fiora had been waiting all her life for the moment to prove herself, to show that she was more than a beautiful girl, that she had really trained hard to become a Water Rider. But then, in what seemed like an interminably tragic moment, she had lost everything. Her dream had shattered because of her mocking the girl in front of her – the same girl who would clearly rather give up her own life than give up.

That, despite the blonde’s feelings for Talia, resonated with her.

On the other side of the conversation, Talia looked at the blonde with a pensive face.

Fiora had always been mean to her, very mean. At the same time, as she looked at the puffy, crying face of the girl, she felt something stir in her stomach. Talia wanted nothing more than to become the strongest hero, a legend, and to be looked at the way her mother was once revered, and now her sister, instead of being looked at as a monster.

But still, despite her jealousy of Fiora’s talent, she felt bad for her.

If I were to bring her along, she would definitely grow stronger than me. Six-hundred counts means that her Primary Water Channel is at least Level Eight.

“Maybe I’ll die,” Talia nodded, and a smirk jumped on her lips.

Fiora turned her face away, still frustrated and furious, which only made Talia more curious.

Even though she knew how popular Fiora was, she could feel the same loneliness that had plagued her for years inside the other girl.

Fiora glared from the corner of her eye at Talia and started walking away.

At this point, Talia had the opportunity to be selfish, to leave this mean girl behind and grow much more powerful than she could ever imagine.

And despite having a Level Zero Primary Water Channel, she had no doubt she would be able to be a hero in the future.

So, why would she bring Fiora along, right?

Imagine her face if I Initiated myself and she had not come, said the devil on Talia’s shoulder.

But then, she shook her head and cleared her throat.

“Hey.”

“What?” Fiora snapped, turning her head.

“Want to come with me?”

***

The blonde just stared at the girl with blue eyes, trying to understand if Talia was mocking her: indeed, the girl with the glaive had been the reason she had lost her chance to become a Water Rider.

“I hate you,” Fiora stated matter-of-factly.

“Same,” Talia nodded back.

“Why are you asking me, then? Do you want to kill me?”

“It’ll make it easier to kill a monster. I know that my mother used to say that trusting people with a common interest is better than trusting friends – Riala used to repeat that to me all the time. Plus, I’m a much better swimmer than you are.”

“Barely,” Fiora wrinkled her nose.

“Well, I also have a small raft that we can bring to the Deep in a few hours of sailing. We can stay on the outskirts and hope that a weak monster will float our way so we can poke it dead with this,” Talia pointed at the glaive.

“Let’s assume for a moment that I’m stupid enough to come and get killed with you. Why would I do that? You cost me my chance to become a Water Rider.”

“The Water Riders choose to Initiate people they want to bring to their Academy,” Talia corrected her. “But anyone can join the Academy if they’re Initiated. Tulo said that they won’t Initiate you—he didn’t say anything about you not being able to join the Academy.”

Fiora’s mouth opened and closed multiple times before realizing that the other girl was right.

“So,” Talia pointed toward the forbidden shore, “are you coming?”

Fiora considered what would be of her life if she didn’t get Initiated: she would end up being someone’s wife, someone else’s greatest achievement.

“I’ll steer the raft,” Fiora said begrudgingly, turning her back to Talia. “And I’m done with you after we get Initiated. I don’t want to see your face ever again.”

“Sure, I just needed some bait anyway,” Talia replied.

“Wait, what?”

“Huh? Nothing, nothing. Hey, could you help me carry the glaive? It’s so damn heavy.”

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***

The Deep represented a stretch of the sea that housed monsters.

To be more precise, it was a zone with an elevated concentration of Mana that allowed creatures to level up. Once leveled up, though, they couldn’t really leave the place anymore. Unlike humans, who were self-sufficient in their magic and had their own souls to hold their Mana, monsters relied on the environment to continuously circulate Mana through their bodies, as they continuously expended that energy to move around and just to exist.

Humans could kill said monsters, and thus, some of their energy would be absorbed by them, allowing them to level up.

That’s why two teenagers were slowly pushing a small raft off the shore, grunting and swearing at each other.

“Shoddy craftsmanship,” Fiora sighed as they started floating on the water, looking at the sail made of woven reeds. “But it’ll do.”

“Would you mind coming off the seat?” Talia complained.

She had built the raft in her spare time in case something like this happened or just to escape the island if she ever needed to.

“I’m the Captain,” Fiora snorted. “That’s why I get the seat.”

It was when the raft started picking up some wind that they both saw someone running along the shore.

“Talia!” The voice, strained with desperation, pierced the tranquility of the moment like a shard of ice.

“Who’s that?” Fiora narrowed her eyes.

“That’s... Takai. Oh, dammit,” Talia swore.

Takai had been the only other person to know about her escape plan.

She had gotten help from the boy to put away some supplies and cut the wood for the raft.

He was the only other kid she could trust with such a secret. But he was too weak.

If he came with them, he would die without a doubt.

And, unlike Fiora, Talia would actually feel really bad if Takai drowned.

“Talia! Wait! Wait! Let me come!”

His plea, carried over the waves, echoed every fear Talia had tried to outrun.

The sword he brandished above his head seemed so fragile against the relentless pull of the sea.

“What are we doing?” Fiora asked, looking nonplussed.

“We can’t take him; he’s going to die in the Deep,” Talia whispered.

“He looks like he’s about to die right now,” Fiora said, looking at Takai getting swept by one of the waves as he had already reached the part of the water where he needed to swim.

“That mollusk,” Talia groaned, seeing Takai finally emerging from the water and awkwardly swimming towards them.

Watching him struggle against the waves, she felt a resolve steel within her.

“He’ll actually get killed right here if we don’t pick him up. Turn the raft before he pokes his eyes out with the sword.”

***

“Man, that was tough,” Takai coughed up some water as he rested on the raft, laying on his back on the small surface.

“Takai, you can’t come,” Talia declared.

“I have to,” the boy didn’t even look at her; he just kept staring at the sky.

The two girls glanced at each other, and Fiora shrugged, “We need bait anyway.”

“I’ll be the bait,” Takai said vigorously, almost tripping over his own words, and turned to stare at Fiora with a smile. “It’s not a problem.”

Even the blonde seemed taken aback by the boy’s eagerness.

“Shut up,” Talia groaned. “How did you know I was going to take the raft?”

“I heard that you failed the test,” Takai said, propping himself up into a sitting position. “I knew you would try and kill a monster yourself. I didn’t want to be left behind when you did.”

“He’s got some remarkable trust in you,” Fiora said with a raised eyebrow.

Talia sighed and nodded.

“Ok, just... don’t get killed, ok?”

“Sure,” Takai smiled ingenuously.

And so, they kept the raft on course while discussing the approach.

“We’ll be there in a few hours. We'll attract a monster, then, someone has to jump into the water to distract it, and then as it’s coming up, you get out of the way, and I jump on it with the glaive,” Talia said.

“Sounds great,” Takai said.

“Sounds like you’re going to get us killed,” Fiora groaned.

***

As the small raft bobbed gently on the deep, midnight-blue waters, a palpable tension hung in the air.

Talia stood at the ready with a tight grip on the heavy glaive. Beside her, Fiora clutched Takai's sword nervously.

In the water, Takai paddled with his legs while clutching the side of the raft, trying to attract the attention of any nearby monster.

“Be ready,” Talia said.

The Deep, with its almost impenetrable darkness, stared harshly at them.

It was into this abyss that they stared back, hearts racing, as they awaited the appearance of a monster that would either mark their Initiation or their death.

Suddenly, Talia's eyes widened in horror.

A sleek shape, reminiscent of a barracuda but imbued with the menacing aura of the Deep, cut through the water with terrifying speed.

[Abyssal Cuda - Lv. 7]

“Takai! Get back on the raft now! It's an Abyssal Cuda!”

Abyssal Cudas were rare this close to the coast, and not even a normal first-year recruit of the Water Riders Academy should ever face one alone.

If they faced such a monster head-on, they would certainly die.

Takai scrambled toward safety, but the monster suddenly changed its trajectory from the boy to the raft itself.

With a force that seemed to rumble the very sea, the creature headbutted the raft from below.

The impact was catastrophic, capsizing the frail raft and tossing its occupants into the churning waters.

In the chaos, Talia lost her grip on the glaive, watching helplessly as it sank into the depths.

The Abyssal Cuda, sensing its prey's vulnerability, darted toward Talia.

Its razor-sharp teeth tore into her side, drawing a pained cry from her lips.

Blood bloomed into the water around her, a stark crimson against the deep blue.

As the monster circled back for another attack, its jaws wide-open and aimed at Talia's throat, a flash of steel cut through the water. Fiora, wielding Takai's sword with desperate strength, slashed at the creature. The blade bit deep, sending the Abyssal Cuda reeling away from Talia.

“Talia!” Fiora shouted, terrified, emerging from underwater. “Swim!”

Talia, stunned by the pain and the sudden turn of events, realized with crystal clarity that Fiora had just saved her life.

Without the blonde girl's intervention, she would have been torn apart by the monster's second attack.

But their moment of respite was short-lived.

The Abyssal Cuda, enraged by its wound, charged again.

This time, its target was Fiora. The creature's teeth sank deep into Fiora's stomach, eliciting a gut-wrenching scream from the girl whose head was just above the water.

“No!” Talia cried out, watching helplessly as Fiora's blood joined her own in the ocean blue.

Takai, who had managed to stay close to the capsized raft, lunged forward. With strength born of desperation, he grabbed Fiora and pulled.

The Abyssal Cuda thrashed and inflicted deeper wounds on the girl but soon backed away, looking at Takai, who was dragging Fiora toward the overturned raft.

As Talia treaded water, trying to reach the capsized raft as her wound was painfully throbbing, she suddenly became aware of something strange.

The blood—her blood and Fiora's—wasn't dispersing as it should.

Instead, crimson filaments hung suspended in the water before her eyes, twisting and curling in unnatural patterns.

A peculiar sensation washed over her, a pull she couldn't explain. It was as if the blood itself was calling to her, responding to some hidden part of her being.

The crimson threads began to move, swirling and coalescing in the water around her.

As the Abyssal Cuda circled back, its eyes fixed on her, Talia felt a surge of... something.

Power?

Magic?

She couldn't name it, but as the blood continued to twist and writhe in the water, she suddenly felt something budge against her hand.