The wagon bumped along the dirt road and Mira's head bounced in Ashara's lap.
"Ow."
"Stop complaining. You put yourself there."
"Your thighs are bony."
"My thighs are thick, and you know it."
Mira grinned up at her, fangs showing, her ears flat against her head from the wind. She didn't move. Ashara's hand was resting on her stomach, which Mira had placed there herself about ten minutes ago.
Besides them, the wagon held about a dozen other students. Among them, Vik sat near the front with his greatsword across his knees, looking bored. Jesse was toward the back, his bow in his lap. Isendra sat with her legs crossed and her chin up, looking like she'd rather be anywhere else. A handful of others Ashara didn't know well filled out the rest.
Rain stood at the front of the wagon, one hand on the rail, her greatsword strapped to her back. Celeste sat on the driver's bench beside the actual driver, her legs dangling off the side.
"Listen up," Rain said. Her voice cut through the wagon noise without her raising it. "The Greenveil is a wooded area about twenty minutes east of the city walls. Low-rank monsters, F-class. Goblins, mostly. Some giant rats, maybe a direwolf or two. Nothing that should kill you if you're paying attention."
She paused and let that settle.
"Today, you fight for real. No practice swords. No pulled punches. These things will try to hurt you, they will try to kill you, and you will kill them before they do that." She looked across the wagon, meeting eyes. "Some of you have killed before. Most of you haven't. I'm not going to sugarcoat it. Taking a life feels like something, even when it's a monster. Make no mistake, monsters are not misunderstood creatures that 'just wanna be left alone.' They're mana-born predators that will eat you if given the chance. But, still, killing one, killing anything, feels different than hitting a training dummy. You need to get used to that feeling, because it's not going away."
Nobody said anything.
Mira's tail had gone still in Ashara's lap.
[... She's not wrong. I've never even hurt anything in my life.]
The wagon rolled on.
The Greenveil lived up to its name. Thick trees, green canopy, dappled light on the forest floor. It looked peaceful. The wrong kind of scenery for the work the students would be doing.
They dismounted and Rain led them down a narrow trail in single file, Celeste bringing up the rear. About ten minutes in, Rain held up a fist. Everyone stopped.
"There." She pointed.
Through the trees, maybe thirty feet ahead, a cluster of goblins were crouched around something on the ground. Three of them, small and green, with pointed ears and jagged teeth. They were fighting over what looked like a dead rabbit, snarling and shoving each other.
They were ugly. Not in a funny way either. More so in a "these things belong in nightmares and yet somehow made it out into the real world" way. Their skin was mottled green and grey, their eyes were too big for their heads, and their fingers ended in claws that were black with old blood.
Ashara's stomach turned.
"Carroway," Rain said. "You're first."
Vik cracked his neck, drew his greatsword, and walked forward. He didn't sneak. He didn't hesitate. He walked straight toward the goblins like he was going to pick up groceries.
The nearest goblin looked up. Its eyes went wide. It opened its mouth to shriek.
Vik's greatsword came down and split it from shoulder to hip.
The sound was wet. Heavy. The goblin didn't scream. It just... came apart. The other two scattered, shrieking, and disappeared into the underbrush.
Vik flicked the blood off his blade and walked back. His face hadn't changed at all.
"Well done. Next," Rain said.
A few students looked green. Ashara felt Mira shift beside her. She glanced over. Mira's face was set, her jaw hard, her eyes sharp. No grin, no jokes, for once.
"Ashford. Go ahead."
Jesse stepped forward. His bow was already in his hand, an arrow nocked. Rain pointed him toward a goblin that had crept out from behind a fallen log about forty feet away, sniffing the air.
Jesse drew the string back. His arms were steady. His aim was good.
He didn't release, though.
The goblin spotted him. It shrieked and charged, pulling a rusty knife from somewhere on its body. It got closer fast. Twenty feet, fifteen, ten.
Jesse's fingers were white on the string.
Celeste moved. She was beside him in an instant, her hand on his shoulder. The goblin was five feet away when Celeste's other hand shot out and caught it by the neck. She squeezed. The goblin went limp. She dropped it.
The whole thing took about two seconds.
Jesse was shaking. His arrow was still nocked, still drawn, still aimed at nothing.
"Breathe," Celeste said, quiet and with a little bit of compassion.
Jesse breathed.
"It's a living thing," Celeste said. "That feeling in your chest is normal. But that thing was going to put a knife in your stomach, and it wasn't going to feel bad about it." She took her hand off his shoulder. "Try again. There's another one behind that tree."
Jesse turned. He saw it. A goblin peeking out from behind a thick trunk, its yellow eyes locked on him.
He drew. His jaw tightened.
He released.
The arrow punched through the goblin's skull and it dropped. Dead before it hit the ground.
Jesse lowered his bow. His hands were still shaking, but his face was different now. Harder.
"Good," Rain said. "Whitepaw. You're next."
Mira pulled her daggers and walked forward without a word. No tail wagging, no grin, no flirty comment. She moved through the trees low and fast, spotted a goblin rooting through a bush, and closed the distance in three quick steps.
She buried her dagger in its neck from behind. The goblin twitched once and went still. Mira pulled the blade free, wiped it on her pants, and came back.
Her face was calm, her ears were flat.
"Done."
Ashara looked at her. Mira met her eyes and gave a small shrug. Not proud, not upset. Just done.
[... Well, she's definitely killed before. Back in Ironhold, maybe. That could not have been her first time.]
"Valoryn," Rain said. "You're up."
Ashara's heart slammed against her ribs.
[What?]
She looked back at Rain. Rain nodded at the trees, as if to say "yes, you, go."
She stepped forward. Rain pointed toward a goblin that was crouched near a stream about twenty feet out, drinking water. It hadn't noticed them yet. Small, scrawny, alone.
Ashara looked at it. She looked at her hands.
"Um." She turned to Celeste. "Can I at least get a sword?"
Celeste shook her head.
"Nope. No sword." She smiled. "You're going to use your hands, remember?"