To be honest... the sleep didn’t really help. I didn’t really get much of it before we had to move again. I sluggishly followed behind Ryker as he pulled me along.

"Where are we headed?" I asked, but he didn’t say a word. I was about to ask again until I sighted Elowen... my droopy eyes opened that instant. What was she doing here? Seeing her, I suddenly had a very bad feeling about this, especially seeing her effortlessly kill the low-level monster in front of her with Darian.

Her eyes locked onto mine, and a smirk curled on her lips. "You are still way behind, cousin." Her smug face said it all. I pulled away from Ryker’s grip and stopped where I was.

"What are you doing? We have to go," Ryker said.

"I don’t want to ru—"

"But you’re going to get injured. I don’t want to see you hurt. Look, it’s not that I don’t trust you, okay? I have to keep you safe," he said, and I sighed, staring up at him...

"That’s the thing, Ryker. I can’t keep running away or depending on you or the others. What if I get separated from you guys? I could get hurt or worse and look, it already happened once. Who’s to say it won’t happen again? I’m not running. I need to get stronger. I need to be able to stand on my own," I said, determined, and watched as his eyes shifted with multiple emotions. But in the end, he sighed in defeat.

"If this is what you truly want, I’ll fight alongside you," he muttered, and I nodded.

Someone must have done something to attract the monsters here. That’s why my sleep was cut off earlier: monsters were headed in our direction. It was just Ryker’s intuition, but trusting a beast-man’s intuition in this situation seemed like the best course of action. But since no one was here, everything led back to my precious Elowen... I thought sarcastically and stared at her from a distance.

She wanted to watch them trample on my body. I sighed and stared up at the sky.

They were coming.

I flung my sword towards the ghoul that rushed at me, and the instant my sword landed in it, the ghoul’s soul burned faint red and disappeared... while Ryker’s eyes flashed bright orange, his hands swirling with mist, strangling and crushing every ghoul that rushed his way.

I swirled my sword around, attacking the ghouls that approached. Gosh... I felt like I was in some action movie or something. I felt energized. Was it the sword doing this? Earlier, when I chose it... I didn’t really know if it was worth anything. It just looked more suited for a weak ranker. I didn’t expect it to be this powerful.

"Watch out!" I heard Ryker’s voice call out, and I looked forward.

That instant, my eyes widened. A bull-like creature was rushing towards me, its horn aiming for my abdomen, ready to strike, but then Ryker suddenly appeared, shoving me behind him.

"Nooo!" I screamed as I landed on the muddy floor. I didn’t realize when I had gotten above the bull and swung my sword, cutting deep into its flesh. Even Elowen, standing safely behind, shook in disbelief, staring in horror, her gaze dropping on me.

The bull’s head swirled in the air and then landed on the ground, while blood splattered all over Ryker’s face.

[Host personalized panel

Stability: 0

Strength: 20

Agility: 0

Speed: 0]

What just happened? Was I always this strong? I thought inwardly, but then I heard a groaning sound, snapping me out of my thoughts, and I leapt into the air, surveying the area.

Then I saw him.

Veyra was on the ground, clutching an open wound and coughing out pale blood. My heart sank, and I rushed towards him.

"Wa—" Ryker called out, but I ran off before he could finish. I got to Veyra and cradled him in my arms, scanning his wounds.

"Are you okay?" I asked, staring down at him. He looked so drained and battered. I couldn’t help but feel my anger surge.

"Behind you..." he voiced out weakly, I turned and there it was.

A dragon.

The creature blew its nostrils, a hot streak escaping. Its mouth opened wide, and fire launched straight at me. I gently slid Veyra away and picked up my sword, deflecting the flames.

If there was one thing that could handle this situation, it was my sword. It was forged with dragon’s breath, after all. I didn’t know much about it, but I did know it could protect its wielder from flames hot enough to melt steel and that it summoned something... something big.

The hot flames didn’t hurt that much; it felt like a mild inconvenience. It readied itself and spewed more flames at me. This time, I applied pressure and sent it back at the dragon.

It shrieked in pain, and its eyes turned dark, glaring straight at me.

I jerked, pointing the sword at the dragon, and watched as its lips curled into an uneven, mocking smirk.

"How dare you hold that?" I heard it say, and I froze.

But it didn’t move its mouth. Who was talking?

"Foolish human, do you not see me before you? That sword shouldn’t be with you."

"My worth is not to be measured by you," I replied inwardly, and it laughed.

I could feel Veyra’s gaze on me, filled with shock and confusion. We weren’t attacking each other, just staring.

From what I remember, the void had creatures beyond reason. They were kept here, or perhaps sealed here, because they brought nothing but CHAOS. If I remember clearly, there was indeed a dragon banished into the void realm years ago... after his female master died and it went berserk.

"You are not Raven," the dragon said, and I snapped back to my thoughts. How did it know?

"I am Raven," I countered, but I felt my grip on the sword tighten.

Before I could say another word, the dragon suddenly shifted... and a faint red light shimmered. I used my elbow to shield myself from the light, but when it faded, all that stood there was a naked girl.

The moment my eyes landed on her, I froze.

It was the girl that stood behind Headmistress Lysandra... the girl whose eyes followed me throughout the selection.

"What the fvck is happening?" I thought, watching as she strode towards me.

What was she—a beast girl? From what I know, females here are human and males are beastmen.

I blinked as she stood inches away from me.

"You. Are. Not. Raven..." she said again, and I felt the blood drain from my body.

"No. I am," I replied, composed and steady.

From the look in her eyes, she wasn’t sure if I really was Raven. She was doubting, and I knew I had to use confidence to win her over... even if she did know I wasn’t really Raven, I would still lie to confuse her.

"That’s—"

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" I asked, straight to the point, and her lips parted.

But then I saw Ryker rush out from the narrow bush and run towards me.

"Are you okay?" he asked, placing his hands around my arms, and I nodded.

But then I turned to Veyra and rushed towards him. I crouched down and reached for my sword, placing the dagger against my finger, ready to slice myself, but Veyra’s hands shot out.

"What are you doing?" he asked weakly.

"I want to heal you. My blood can heal you," I said, and his lips parted to say something, but he groaned in pain.

I felt my heart tighten... he was already injured. I had to save him.

"Don’t," he called out softly, but I still cut myself anyway, and Ryker hissed in anger, but I didn’t care.

I gently placed my finger into Veyra’s mouth. My blood would obviously heal him... I stared as he sucked softly.

"You killed a bull. That was a powerful monster and successfully injured me. Well done, Raven!" the girl from earlier said, and I snapped my head towards her.

"What’s your name?" I asked, and her lips curled.

"Sonia," she said, grabbing a light cloth from the ground and using it to cover her naked body.

I sighed. This novel had so many characters... I can’t even remember her being part of them.

"We should head out," she added, and my lips parted.

"Why should I trust you? You injured one of my beast-men?" I asked, and she furrowed her brow.

"Isn’t one of your beastmen still missing? I could help you find him," she said.

"That is true, but you hurt my beast-man. I can’t forgive that," I said, staring daggers at her.

"I hurt him just enough to injure him, not kill him, and I only did so because he attacked first." I sighed.

I turned to Ryker and then back to Sonia, nodding in realization, Azrael was still missing.

Finding him was more important now! Revenge can wait.

We were about to head out, but then Elowen rushed in with Darian.

"Sister, what happened?" she asked, feigning concern.

I gently pulled my finger out of Veyra’s lips and faced her. Her lips curled again.

"Oh my, what do we have here... You injured one of your beastmen, Raven. Isn’t this too much?" she asked softly, but I just glared at her, my anger visible.

"Raven, you’re never going to change. Just say you still love me. Why else would you hurt your beastman? Are you still not over me? Perhaps if you apologize, I might as well take you back," Darian’s cocky voice cut through, and I sighed...

Now this is a BitcHuation: a situation that makes me act like a heartless bitch...

"Your breath stinks, shut it," I said, and watched as his face turned red with anger.

Elowen’s eyes darkened as her hand raised in the air, but I caught it.

And...

POW!

I landed a slap on her face...