Vincent closed his eyes, bracing for the impact, convinced it would happen. He didn't want to see those sharp bones piercing Ayame, the disaster that would result even if her wounds ended up being less severe than the worst his imagination was already painting. Even if Ayame, as a vampire, regenerated in a flash, acting as if nothing had happened, he simply didn't want to see that, couldn't prepare for it in any way.

  Fortunately, he didn't have to test it.

  Vincent's eyes snapped open, not from the impact but because he realized there had been no impact. He looked around, no vine in sight.

  "I burned it," Tara said.

  Vincent looked back at her. Fire arrows, explosive arrows, or something like that? Well, that was the least of his worries now. They had avoided being stopped by the sharp bones but were still falling into the depths of darkness. The fall could be deadly, and there seemed no way to stop it.

  His heart pounded, each beat like a hammer hitting an anvil, only the anvil was his ribs. Vincent took a deep breath as Ayame got off him, looking around, trying to formulate a plan, he hoped. He really hoped. There was only the ground they were sliding on, the stones that… and the growing darkness, and shortly after, they ran out of ground too.

  They were in freefall. Vincent screamed, but not from fear. Lack of fear? No, just a scream. The wind howled, cold, piercing, swallowing his words. Ayame didn't stop anything, rather she accelerated her own fall, so to speak. Somehow she transformed into a bat and flew downward, quickly outpacing them. That was fine, but what exactly did she intend? Why? Surely not just to save herself. Ayame wasn't that kind of person, nothing like vampires were supposed to be.

  She… a net, she would act as a cushion softening the impact. Of course, she hadn't conjured a pile of cloth or anything out of thin air; the net was made of blood, her own blood. She had bitten her wrist, tearing, opening a vein with her fangs, and then she had done that. She was a vampire, what else would she have if not a bit of blood magic?

  The three landed on the net. Of course, it wasn't that she had placed it perfectly, but it was so large it was impossible not to land on it. It covered the entire hole. He knew how wide it was, but not how deep. He still couldn't see the bottom, only darkness. Vincent tried to stand up on the blood net. Slowly and very carefully, he asked the question that should have left his lips before moving an inch.

  "How long will this hold?"

  "Not long," Ayame said. The skill she had used to create this net had only used the vampire's blood as a spark. Naturally, she hadn't bled that much to form this net. It had expanded on its own, by magic. And something this size naturally couldn't hold together for too long. But he was complaining too much. She had given them a breather, and that was something.

  "What the fuck do we do now?" Tara asked, between coughs.

  "Cross our fingers, hope we don't have much further to fall," Ayame said, sounding almost like a question.

  It took him longer than it should have to realize it was sarcasm. Maybe because he couldn't think, maybe because he couldn't imagine feeling like joking in a situation like this. Anyway, everyone had their own way of coping with life. Everything was great, as long as they survived.

  "Ayame, what else can you do with your blood?" Vincent asked.

  "Well, many things," she replied. "Do you have an idea?"

  To his surprise, yes. One that should have occurred to Ayame herself earlier. But he supposed, in a way, it was a relief. She wasn't perfect, super strong, smart, always calm. She had to have some flaw.

  "Instead of this huge net," Vincent said, "couldn't you have made parachutes for us?"

  Ayame was speechless, though not for too long.

  "Well, you're right."

  Vincent extended an arm towards her, fist clenched.

  "If you need my blood, take it."

  "Yeah, me too," Tara said, her voice still slightly trembling. "Take whatever you need."

  Ayame shook her head, bit her other wrist, and got to work. There was something about watching her, that pale face, with touches of red from her own blood, gleaming even on her fangs, the way it added color to her lips. He was a fucking idiot, perhaps, but... she didn't need hypnosis to enchant him. Yes, I'm an idiot. But what the hell am I thinking about something like that now?

  A parachute for the two of them. More than enough blood, if biting her wrist a little had created something like that net in seconds. But she didn't start in time to prevent the blood net from giving way and them falling again.

  "Fuck me!" Vincent yelled at the top of his lungs, uselessly. The echoes of echoes quickly disappeared into the void.

  Luckily, their fall soon slowed.

  "There," Ayame said, sighing with relief. Then she transformed into a bat. There was plenty of blood to make three parachutes, but she, naturally, didn't need one. Still, she kept pace with them, following closely as they fell, alert.

  It took a long time, too long, it seemed, but finally their feet touched the ground, and Ayame dispelled the parachute without a drop of blood remaining on their bodies or clothes. All very clean and very useful.

  "My God," Tara muttered. "If I hadn't brought you here, I'd be… I would have been reduced to a fucking pancake on the ground."

  "Yeah," Vincent said. "Don't remind me how close all this was."

  If he could go back so easily, he almost would, despite everything.

  But they had ventured quite deep into the dungeon, so technically, the easiest way back faster was by completing the mission. The easiest way back faster was by conquering this labyrinth, killing the boss, or at least a mini-boss that stood in their way. There was no choice but to keep going, in short.

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  That sums up my whole life, he thought.

  "That pile of bones was more dangerous," Ayame said. "The fall was never a danger."

  "But that's not what I was thinking," Vincent replied. He almost added: I shit myself. Not literally, of course, but then he decided to bite his tongue. Maybe he wouldn't mind teaming up with Tara, maybe, but for now, there was no need for her to see him act too normally. He liked the image he undoubtedly had among the students now. Beyond his personal ego (he had one, he wouldn't deny it), it suited him. So idiots like Paul and his buddies wouldn't think they could mess with him so easily.

  "Well," Ayame murmured, "that's true. Next time I'll warn you sooner."

  "Thanks, thank you very much."

  There were no enemies around, so at least they would have a little well-deserved respite after all this shit. There were torches, but Ayame already had one. Yes, she hadn't lost it, despite everything. And besides, it wasn't convenient for Tara or him to grab one. He lost the use of his shield and wasn't willing to do that, while Tara couldn't use her bow at all. It was two-handed, yes or yes.

  A little further on...

  "Fuck, another narrow passage!" Vincent muttered. "Seriously?"

  "I don't see any other way through, to keep going," Tara said, looking around.

  Yes, by all appearances, there was only one way. Precisely why he didn't like it. Meaning, they were in a damn cave. This wasn't a natural formation; it was a dungeon. A place that existed specifically, apparently, to be a damn death trap. Full of riches and opportunities to level up, okay, lots of loot, but also monsters and all sorts of dangers. And that smelled like a trap. Fuck, it was obvious it was a trap, but Vincent said nothing. Here they were, and they had no choice.

  "I'll go first," Ayame said, sliding into the gap.

  The vampire was rather petite, but it was a narrow passage even for her, suffocating. He hoped they wouldn't have to repeat it again.

  Vincent put a hand on the small of Tara's back, pushing her forward. It wasn't that he didn't trust her completely, but... he thought she was a good girl, but he would feel calmer being behind her.

  They didn't get very far before something happened. Because fuck, of course something had to happen. The wall to the right exploded, and something with huge jaws entered the narrow passage. The teeth were enormous, and they didn't just gleam under the torchlight, but under their own light. It was some kind of giant lizard, charged with electricity.

  That was the only thing Vincent had time to register before it bit Ayame and dragged her into the hole, throwing her far away. Ayame bounced off the wall on the other side of the room and fell to the ground. The torch slipped from her fingers and rolled across the floor. The flame trembled.

  Vincent's heart raced for many reasons. The trembling flame finally went out.

  "Shit!"

  Vincent jumped after the lizard, after his friend. He heard Tara following close behind, preparing another arrow.

  It was okay. He didn't need light; the electricity radiating from the lizard was illumination enough. It would have to be.

  "Look at me, you son of a bitch!" Vincent exclaimed.

  Vincent swung his sword towards the creature's left eye. The attack managed to connect, but instead of sinking into the flesh of its eye, the steel simply bounced off harmlessly. The same happened with Tara's arrow, shot at the same time and hitting only an instant later.

  Useless. Of course, it wasn't going to be that easy. It was smaller than the dragon, but the fight with that beast came to Vince's mind anyway. Only there was an important difference: this monster wasn't designed by the professors to be relatively safe, safe enough to have considered putting it in the initiation exam.

  This was a real monster, something that existed for the sole purpose of killing them. Something that could... well, the dragon could have done it too, but here it was more likely.

  But there are three of us, he thought. Three against one. We should be able to.

  The giant lizard roared, striking the ground with its front paws. This caused an explosion of electricity that made him and Tara collapse. Vincent writhed as if against invisible chains as pain coursed through his body from head to toe. Somehow, he held onto his sword and shield; he managed it.

  Meanwhile, Ayame stood up as if to replace them. Good, but that didn't solve anything. Really, even with Ayame's strength, the strength of all three combined... there had to be an easier way to defeat the enemy than just hitting it harder until it fell. He had to be smart. That's what was going through his head as he struggled to stand up and helped Tara do the same.

  The heat, the pain... it wasn't easy to think, that was for sure. No one had said any of this would be easy.

  The room wasn't very large to begin with, but on top of that, the giant lizard occupied almost the entire space, leaving them very little room to fight, maneuver, and dodge. A combat arena that clearly favored the monster. That proved it was smart, that bastard. It had to be one of the possible bosses of this dungeon, or at least a sub-boss. That's why it had ambushed them, leaving them no choice but to enter terrain that didn't favor them.

  The situation was so dangerous that he had the feeling that if he stopped to think, if he wasted time thinking, he would die. But if he didn't think, if he just reacted, he could consider himself dead too.

  He was dodging as best he could and launching as many attacks as physically possible. Blocking them was out of the question; that damn thing could bite his sword in half, just like the dragon. The best he could do was dodge. But he had fought the dragon in the middle of the forest, in an open space. This was a bit different. Every time the gigantic beast attacked and he dodged, he crashed into a wall and the whole world seemed to tremble. Stones and dust fell from the ceiling. He feared that what would defeat them wouldn't be the enemy, but a cave-in.

  Sooner or later the room would give way under those blows. Tara was incredible: she could dodge by jumping here and there, but she still didn't stop shooting her arrows. She shot one, jumped, and before she had reached the highest point of her trajectory, she had already shot another and was in the process of preparing the next. Fucking fast. Although it was as useless as his own attacks; the arrows bounced off the scales, off the eyes, the nose, everywhere. They simply bounced off harmlessly. Even Ayame wasn't having better luck. She attacked like a wild beast, though completely silently, but so far she hadn't even torn off a scale, much less drawn a drop of blood.

  This damn lizard... He knew what they had defeated in the initiation test wasn't a real dragon, but how could this be more dangerous than a damn dragon?

  Tara was the only one who could attack from afar. Ayame and he had no choice but to get close, to wield sword, shield, or claws. But due to the electricity always running through the monster, that was also dangerous. Most of the time, proximity did nothing to him, but other times, following the path of the metal, the discharge reached him. It was a mild shock, just enough to leave him trembling, as if paralyzed. Just enough to leave him vulnerable for a second. Yes, more than sufficient to seal his death sentence.

  Although Vincent could say that, at least, he was surviving. Not winning, but surviving. And that was a lot. Another dodge, another crash against the wall, another small earthquake he felt down to his bones. Stones and dust seemed to fall non-stop.

  Vincent still hadn't found the answer. Ayame and Tara hadn't either, it was quite clear, because they hadn't changed their tactics at all; they just kept attacking, like him. What if it was a huge level difference? If they were, at most, level 20, and this monster was the boss of a dungeon intended more for second or third years... If this monster was level, say, 30... then it was like they were trying to collect all the water in the ocean in a bucket. They could lower its life to zero, of course... with centuries of effort. And they didn't have centuries.

  They didn't have... The air was knocked out of his lungs by the force of the impact. He flew against the wall, forming a crater in the stone that he heard explode behind him. His body trembled from head to toe, but he still didn't drop his sword or shield. He didn't know where he got the willpower for that, let alone the strength needed to recover instantly and step forward, ready to keep fighting.

  Maybe he truly was made for this and not for blacksmithing. Maybe he had the makings, even if his journey ended here prematurely.

  No, Vincent thought. None of that, dammit.

  Then, like a lightning strike, an idea came to him.

  "Tara, Ayame, listen!" he shouted.