No one ever expects death from above.

I don’t know who’s more surprised, the monster whose head I landed on or the initiates I saved. You’d think the monster but the weight of my enhanced form and momentum of the jump drove its head to the ground. I imagine it’s a little dazed.

The initiates on the other hand are looking at my magnificent entrance with dropped jaws and wide eyes. They look worse for wear, bloodied and bruised. An unfortunate girl had the front of her robe torn, exposing her modest chest. Seeing where my gaze is, she lets out a shrill scream and wraps her arms around herself, crouching for good measure.

You would choose to preserve your dignity rather than fight the monster in front of you? Saints, no wonder one of your teammates is nothing more than bloody paste.

“Hey, idiots,” I call as I leap off the lizard’s head.

They jump at the sound of my voice. Did you all think I wasn’t real? A mirage wouldn’t speak, heh. “The monster is still dazed.” I point over my shoulder as I walk toward them. “Now would be a good time to kill it.”

“We’ve…tried.” A young man coughs as he steps forward, holding his side. “None of our spells are strong enogh to hurt it.”

“…then why aren’t you running?” I ask, giving them a look that should communicate how stupid I think they are.

“It’s…fast.”

“How fast can it be? How’d you even manage to piss the thing off?” The lizard bellows as it gets to its feet, stomping a foot in challenge. I sigh. “Hold that thought. And get out the way.”

I wait patiently for it to work up the nerve to charge. Doesn’t take long, each heavy step making the earth tremble. It lowers its head, ready to spear me with the large horn at the end of its nose.

I casually raise my hands and set my feet, staring it down. Someone behind me shouts but I ignore them. I catch the horn just beneath the point, grimacing at the impact. My feet make a furrow in the earth as the monster pushes me back.

But I stop it.

We stand there, me holding its horn, the monster glaring at me, for several long moments.

Then it snorts and takes a step back. It shakes its head a few times before turning around and slowly walking off.

Retreating in the face of a stronger opponent. It’s smarter than the idiots behind me. The Hall should do away with them and put that thing in acolyte robes.

“Thank you.”

The young man walks over to me. He puts a hand on my shoulder and smiles. It’s bloody and missing a few teeth. “We were in…big trouble. We owe you our lives.”

“Sit down first.” I help him to the ground, the rest of his team gathering around us and following suit.

“Didn’t even want to fight it,” he wheezes. “Darn thing got hit by a stray spell while we were fighting off these weird dogs. We had no idea why they suddenly ran off. I thought we’d gotten lucky.” He looks in the direction of his dead teammate but quickly looks away.

“Well, it’s gone now. You should find a place to hunker down for the night. You’re in no condition for another fight.”

“Yeah, yeah. You’re right.”

“By any chance, you wouldn’t happen to have found any of our targets before your unfortunate encounter?”

“Yeah. The dogs we were talking about were eating some of them.”

I smile. Who says good deeds go unrewarded?

“Though we got turned around fighting that thing. I don’t know where we saw them. Maybe that way.” He tosses his head in a vague direction.

…saints damn it.

Ah, well. It’s not a total loss. At least I know they’re in the area.

“Thanks for the information.”

“Wait!” He grabs my wrist. I look at the tense fingers and pale knuckles with a scowl. This fool is holding onto me like I’m his lifeline. He eventually notices my expression and pulls his hand back with a nervous clearing of his throat that turns into a coughing fit. “Sorry. I was hoping you could… help us?”

My expression turns nasty. Instead of dissuading him like I thought it would, the bastard gets bolder, words spilling out of him like a leaking beer drum. “All of us are exhausted and injured. I wouldn’t like our chances against anything that comes after us. We definitely can’t risk searching for shelter like this. I was hoping you’d…” he swallows. “After a night of rest, we could combine our teams and search for the mamaroons. We’d have lost some time but with the extra numbers—”

I hold up a hand. “Stop. The answer is no.”

He stiffens but I can tell he’s trying to stop his limbs from shaking. “I—”

“Stop trying to convince me because you’re not going to. You know first-hand how difficult this test is. Why would I drag along deadweight? I already saved you and you gave me some dubious information.” Not at all an equal exchange. “I’m generous enough to call us even. Best of luck, I’ve got to get going.”

“But we need help!” the girl shouts. Still covering herself up. You need lessons on how to persuade people. I might pause to listen to you if I had something nice to look at.

“A lot of people need a lot of things.”

“We could die out here,” she continues.

“That’s my problem why?”

She blinks in confusion, as if utterly astounded I could ask such a question. “What do you mean? You saved us! Why would you do that if you don’t care?”

“I cared then. Now I don’t.”

“That’s…that’s…terrible!”

“Thank you.”

“That wasn’t a compliment!”

“Enough with the jester routine. Look, maybe if you ask nicely, your guide will get you out of here? Right?” I look over at the woman. She inclines her head but doesn’t look at the others. Mm, definitely not impressed with their display.

“If we leave—” The man’s words are interrupted by another coughing fit. “—we’ll forfeit our chance at the qualifiers and most likely fail.” The others nod.

“You deserve to fail, idiot,” I say without mercy. “In what world is this test more important than your lives? You can earn more gold and retake your initiate year. There’s no second chance at life once you’re dead. Fucking saints, if you can’t realize something that simple, you’ve got no business at the Hall.” I scoff. “I don’t care what you do, I’m done.”

“Don’t you want to impress the instructors?” he yells at my back. “Who would want to teach someone that would let fellow casters die without a hint of remorse? There’s a guide right here. Don’t think they won’t know!”

Now you’re threatening me to do more for you? People really can be ungrateful bastards. “I’m sure there are plenty of people who’d want the woman who could single-handedly take down the monster that literally and figuratively stomped five of her peers,” I yell back without turning around. “They’d certainly pick me over you.”

“I’ll remember this!”

“If you survive!”

I laugh as I hear him cursing under his breath, heading in the direction he pointed out. Hopefully, fate will reward my good deeds with a lead.