It was already night, and the moonlight shone through the leaves of the trees. Dark was training with his new sword, lying exhausted, sweat running down his body as he swung it, while Ingrid watched him, telling him how he should do it.

  — Dark, you have to keep your feet firm.

  Then, Dark missed again.

  — Dark, you're hitting the blade on the ground. If you do that in a real battle, the blade could get stuck in the ground.

  And again… Dark missed again.

  — Dark, you're handling it wrong. Hold it tighter and put more strength into your arms.

  Dark was already quite irritated with how much she corrected him.

  — Dark, you…

  Dark finally gave up, panting. He turned to Ingrid and spoke with a voice dragged by exhaustion:

  — Okay, that’s enough, Ingrid. I’m really tired, can I rest now?

  Ingrid sighed. She didn’t want to stop now, but since it was Dark’s first time:

  — Alright, you can stop. Besides, you’ve already done enough for today, you even hunted a monster for us to eat.

  Ingrid and Dark soon walked and sat around the campfire, where they cooked the meat to the right point.

  Dark looked at the meat with admiration, almost drooling from hunger, while Ingrid looked a little disgusted and ate it immediately. Dark also ate and soon spat the meat out.

  — What’s this awful taste!?

  — It’s normal… All monster meat tastes bad. Only true chefs can make decent food…

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  Both ate the food with disgust and soon finished.

  — I think it would be really good to have cooking classes at Verya — Dark seemed sick of it after eating only a little meat.

  — They train warriors or alchemists, not cooks — Ingrid seemed already quite used to eating meat or bad-tasting food, but maybe there are more survival classes that teach cooking.

  — You seem quite used to eating monster meat.

  — Of course. I’ve eaten a lot already. I intend to be a heroine, so obviously I need to learn to survive even with nothing.

  Dark diverted his gaze to Ingrid’s arm.

  — Is it better? — he asked, very worried.

  — No, not yet. It will take a few days to recover. It should improve by the beginning of the third day — Ingrid said in a serious tone — until then, you’ll have to defeat all the monsters. We can’t wait until I get better, or we’ll have a terrible score.

  — But are you sure you can trust me? You know how weak I am…

  — Now it’s not a question of whether I trust you or not. Now you have to do it, even if it means taking risks.

  — Okay — Dark said nervously, afraid of making a mistake and being judged by her — what do we do with Tyson’s body? — he asked, worried about what would happen after they leave the trial.

  — Well, he’s from a noble family, so his family will come after the person who killed him. You can say I was the one who killed him, that way there won’t be any problems.

  — But his family will still have problems…

  — Dark, I’m from a family even stronger than the Zawas. I can handle it, and besides, it will soon be proven by the academy that he became a demon.

  Dark still looked worried and nervous that everything would go wrong in the end and began thinking about what he should do if everything went wrong.

  Ingrid noticed Dark’s concern.

  — You know what? It’s already late. Go rest, Dark. I’ll wake you if something goes wrong.

  Dark decided to listen to Ingrid. He got up and went to a cleaner spot filled with leaves on the ground. Dark lay down and tried not to think about anything.

  The next day, Dark was awake, almost asleep, with dark circles under his eyes. He was sitting leaning against a tree.

  — Good morning, Dark — Ingrid said as she got up from the ground — looks like you at least didn’t sleep during your turn.

  — I couldn’t sleep because of all the nervousness… My mind wouldn’t let me.

  — It’s okay, was it your first time killing something yesterday?

  — Well… yes, but that’s not what I’m talking about.

  — Then I can’t do anything. Handle it yourself. You’ll train today too and hunt more monsters for us.

  Dark got up and did some stretches to shake off the fatigue.

  — Let’s go then… — the sword materialized in Dark’s hand, ready to train.

  Meanwhile, in another part of the island, far from Dark but still heading in the same direction, at the center of the island, Lavin had just defeated several powerful monsters. He looked quite worried, his body covered in blood. Asami was praying for the dead monsters, asking for their souls to be purified, a little away from the monsters.

  — That’s enough, Asami — Lavin said, walking over to her — take their mana cores and put them into your suit immediately.

  — Yes, Lavin! — Asami walked to the monsters. She felt something strange about Lavin; he didn’t seem entirely good…

  — Lavin! The monsters don’t have their cores exposed… Could you leave them exposed for me?

  — Why don’t you cut them yourself?

  Asami shook her head, puffing out her cheeks in refusal.

  — I’m a Saint!! I can’t hurt living beings like that — in truth, Asami was afraid of hurting them and therefore didn’t.

  — Alright, I’ll go… — Lavin soon returned and cut the monsters, exposing their cores.

  — Hey, Lavin, don’t you want a healing spell? You look really tired; a healing spell could ease your fatigue — Asami seemed worried about Lavin.

  — No, thanks, but I don’t want it. Just do what I told you, Asami — Lavin walked away, heading to where his temporary base would be.

  — Where are you, Dark? I hope you’re okay… — Lavin thought, worried about Dark’s health.