Cold steel cutting into skin before I even notice. A warm liquid drips down my neck and soaks into my shirt. Sitting stiff, I look my eyes over and see a glistening silver sword with a trail of blood sliding to the hilt.

“NO”

I hear it come from the end of the shining arm that swung the sword at me. With a deep, strong-sounding voice followed by a deep blue glare that said

“I'll kill you if you do that.”

I snatch my hand back from the curtain without breaking eye contact. When I do, he draws his sword back to his lap and looks forward again. I raise my hand to my neck and feel a cut on my neck, dripping blood down my neck. I didn't even feel a cut, and it still doesn't even hurt a little.

Everyone else has terrified looks, that doing such a thing warrants a warning, and that he could move with such speed that we only saw him when he stopped.

I look at my hand and notice I can still feel the cut on my neck as if I were holding a chunk of myself with my own hands. I imagine myself putting the two parts together again and feeling the skin on my neck shift. I startle in surprise and jolt in my seat a little, and everyone in the carriage turns their heads to me. I put my hand over my cut and smile awkwardly at them.

An Idea flows into my head: what if I close my veins to the cut so it stops bleeding? I focus on the cut, clot the blood before it leaves my body, and try it. It’s comparable to learning to walk for the first time as if I was made to do it, but I need practice.

Three minutes pass and the blood stops flowing, and I can feel the cut on my neck and poke into it. I reflexively heaved and almost threw up again but remembered that I hadn’t eaten for two days.

I don’t know how everyone thinks this is fine unless I completely missed a meal, although it's not out of the question. I see that I had moved the curtain to the carriage a little bit and can now see a sliver of the outside.

I see an orange morning sun illuminate a tiny wooden village. Through the closed windows, I see faces of humans and demi-humans peeking through, watching the carriages roll through. Shouting catches my attention as a demi-human runs up to the driver with his hands in a cup, holding it up to the driver, and I hear.

“Do you have a little change? My Fam-“

His sentence was cut short by an arrow to the back of his neck, splattering blood across the window. He falls to the ground, and the carriage lurches into the air with a crunch. The knight, still looking forward with my blood still dripping from the end of his sword, says in a monotone voice.

“Rock”

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Nope! That was not a rock! That was a guy! I need to get the fuck out of here now! But how!? Frantic thoughts rush through my head as I stick myself stiff in my seat so as not to draw any attention to myself.

Before I know it, the carriage stops, and the knight opens the door and escorts us into a small grass clearing next to a packed dirt road. At the edge of the clearing is a small arch made of mossy rocks about 6 feet tall…

The old man leads us into the dark opening of the arch, which has a rocky staircase downward. As everyone enters, I look back and see the knights stop at the entrance, facing inward with their weapons drawn.

As we walk deeper into the cave-like structure, now dimly lit by blue crystals jutting out from the walls, someone shuffles closer to me through the crowd. I see that it’s Arceil again and remember the night before. I shouldn’t have shrugged her off. I was just angry at everyone who wouldn't care. As she gets right next to me, she looks up at me and says

“I can’t apologize for everyone else, but I can say they are dicks. I don’t believe those rumors about you; it’s all Daimarion’s doing.”

She stops talking and looks around. And I realize how much of a size difference there is between us. She is relatively short compared to everyone else. With me being the tallest of the 30 people in the class, it feels like a three-foot height difference.

I look down at her as she nervously fidgets her hands. Her hair looks surprisingly good for the situation we are in. My eyes float past her glasses and land on the only other part I can see from my height. Two giant inflatable bags that you could float on a lake and bounce on. And boy, do I ever want to bounce on those.

I somehow snap back to my usual self. WHAT THE FUCK AM I THINKING!? I might die today, and that's what my brain thinks is important!? Arceil looks back up at me, and I quickly switch my gaze to her eyes as I am still gawking like a child in a toy section at MoteMart.

“Last night, you were going to say something. I figured it must be when you snuck off after we were summoned here. I know it's rude to ask, but could you tell me? I know you know this feels off, too.”

She said in a whispered tone only I could hear. First, I didn’t know anyone actually cared enough to know where I was. And I was wrong about her; she does care. So I lean down to her ear height and quietly say.

“Just watch your back. I know too much already.”

I don’t want to drag her down if I end up “going missing” because of what I know. She at least cares enough about me to ask, so I hope that warning is enough to keep her alive.

We round a corner, and the cave opens up on the right side. A large dark void stretching out with tiny sparkles on the outside is where the path loops back. Looking down, there is a seemingly endless darkness abyss—the old man in front stops and points forward.

“Those are zombies; they are an easy-learning opponent on the first floor of this dungeon.”

He points down the tunnel at humanoid figures slumped over standing. Everyone looks at each other, and then there is a roar of yelling as everyone runs forward to fight them.

I stay back and tap my helmet to make sure what's left stays on my head. I ready my sword by holding it out in front of me. But the sword's sudden stopping sends its tip flying into the dark abyss with a sharp *snap*.

“Damn”

Slips through my lips as my sword becomes even more useless. Arceil, who is still standing next to me, says.

“Oh wow, that sucks. Want mine?”

“Nah, let's get some EXP or whatever it is.”

Arceil laughs and jogs up to the rest of the group, and I’m left behind in the back. I swing my sword back and forth, trying to find the best way to use it now, as I see a blue glow from behind me.

I turn around to see the old man lifting his staff, which is now glowing as more zombies form from the ground.

“Oh shit”

I say with the breath that I was holding in. He turns and points his staff at me, and the zombies swarm around me and grab me before I can react. He walks up to me with a crooked smile.

“You know you did this to yourself. This Skeptic skill that you have, well, the goddess doesn’t like things she can't control. And well, That's you…”

He grabs my neck, and I feel my windpipe crushing with a mere touch from his hand, and he continues.

“I guess I should tell you my name now. It’s polite to know the name of the person who killed you… It’s Archbishop Michiel.”

He throws me free of the zombies and off into the black void. I try screaming as I fall, but nothing comes out. Before he vanishes out of sight, I see him turn back and yell.

“They got behind us!”