Noah leaned on the tree as he patiently waited for Will’s arrival. After his initial conversation with Natalie, he realized that he barely knew her at all and there wasn’t much to talk about… well, nothing positive and reassuring, anyways. If Natalie had initiated a conversation, he’d respond properly, but she remained silent as well. Noah guessed that she was anxious about Will’s safety, so such a reaction was understandable.

Ten minutes passed without anything of note occurring, and the silent forest was starting to get on his nerves. Though Noah found it hard for Will to fail where he had succeeded, perhaps due to his lacking dexterity he was having some issues in catching up to the Goblin Archer, or marksman. Noah wasn’t really sure if there could be two marksmen in a group, it made more sense for a marksman to travel with an archer for support. Adept opponents were fairly rare, after all.

Lost in his own thoughts, Noah almost failed to notice the silvery glint that approached him with frightening speed. A feeling of impending doom washed over Noah like an unstoppable wave threatening to engulf him, and at that moment Noah knew that if he couldn’t dodge, it was over for him.

His assailant had ambushed him from a shrewd angle, and by the time he had realized what was happening the sword was only inches away from piercing his throat. Even with his improved dexterity, there was no time to evade through footwork. However, while resting on the tree, his left leg was leaning against the surface of the tree, and he pushed against it with all the strength he could channel.

He felt a searing pain assail the back of his neck, forcing him to immediately apply pressure on the wound with his left hand, while his right hand let go of the sword he was holding to support the frontal roll he had planned. Noah could feel a sticky liquid leak into his palm, making him wonder how long he could last in this state. Thankfully, 10 dexterity seemed to induce a qualitative change, and Noah managed to roll forwards and make some distance between his would-be murderer, instead of dropping to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

Hurriedly getting back onto his feet, Noah pivoted 180 degrees with his right foot, to see a surprised Natalie with a curved sword that had fresh, red blood dripping off it. At that moment, Noah felt another wound, one deep inside his heart tear open. Even the open wound on his neck didn’t hurt as much as this betrayal did.

“I saved your life,” stated Noah, in a cold, cutting voice that shouldn’t belong to a 18-year-old happy-go-lucky teenager, “and this is how you reward me?” he asked, this time with a bit of pain seeping into his voice.

“Hahahaha,” Natalie lightly laughed, as if Noah’s accusations didn’t affect her in the slightest. “Saved my life? You were the one that brought this disaster upon us. And even then, did I ever ask you to save my life? Do I look like a little girl that needs your help, O’ great white knight?” asked Natalie, in a sweet, innocent voice that was dripping with sarcasm and poison.

“You… monster,” Noah muttered with despair, not understanding where this viciousness and hatred was coming from, as he continued to keep his left hand on the dripping wound.

Natalie shook her head and sighed, “I bet this is just a game to you. You just joined because of some stupid fantasy, hoping for a grand adventure or some other dumb shit. Sorry to break to ya, kid, but some of us have goals that we’d give up anything to achieve. ANYTHING,” she emphasized on the last word, with a maddened gleam in her eye, as she slowly started walking towards Noah, who slowly started inching backward.

“Fucking bitch,” Noah spat out with an immense amount of hatred and resentment.

“Don’t take it personally, kid. I’m doing you a favor here, no way a naïve idiot who’d risk his life for a stranger can last in this place for long. You see, this entire trial is designed to reward the worst of us, and in that regard: I win. If that means being called a fucking bitch, I'll happily accept that title,” she proudly proclaimed and flashed Noah a bright smile, the entire conversation up until this point just a ploy to crush Noah’s fighting spirit. She had seen him fight earlier, and didn’t like her chances in a fair fight. The wound she had left on his neck had cut deep enough, and enhanced constitution or not, it was only a matter of time before he’d bleed out.

“Why… Why are you doing this to me? FUCK!!!” Noah loudly yelled, unknown if his misery was directed towards Natalie or the accursed tower, and started breaking out into snivels and sobs. They started slow, but progressively got faster and louder, to the point where Noah was wiping his tears off with his right hand, leaving him completely defenseless.

Natalie saw the scene and found herself satisfied with the results. It made sense, from the amount of EP Noah had received after defeating the goblin marksman meant that the enemy definitely didn’t go down easily, and after an epic battle he was betrayed by one of the two people he’d deemed relatively trustworthy. Hell, most grown men would cry, let alone a teenager.

She again started walking towards Noah slowly, but this time Noah didn’t move backward. He just continued crying, making no moves to pull an item out of his inventory or try to run. “Don’t worry, I promise to make it painless,” she said, as only a few meters remained between them. For a moment, she paused to think about what she had become, but soon she reassured herself. The world had never done her any favors, and she had no obligations towards it.

Only a meter separated the two at this point, and Noah still didn’t make any threatening movements. Now convinced that he no longer had any will left to fight, Natalie covered the gap with two rapid steps and brought her sword down towards Noah’s throat, intending to keep her promise of a painless death.

The moment Natalie took her second step, it was clear that she was in striking range. Noah stopped applying pressure to his neck wound, and his sobs of anguish and misery were met with an abrupt stop as well. Both his hands snaked towards the coat pockets on either side, revealing two daggers a moment later. In his left hand was his trusty ol’ [Assassin’s Dagger] held in a reverse grip, while in his right was the [Serrated Knife] the goblin marksman had so kindly lent him.

Taking the biggest risk he had since the beginning of the trial, Noah bet it all on the crazy plan he’d formulated. The blood pouring out from his neck drained his vitality at a terrifying rate, and if he failed here he knew it would all be over. Following the trajectory of the sword with his eyes, Noah could have sighed in relief when he saw it targeting his neck. Natalie was still a civilian after all, not some reincarnated medieval warrior who’d first chop off his limbs before dealing the final blow, and his prediction had paid off.

Now came the hard part. Noah positioned his [Assassin’s Dagger] with a reverse grip, poised to catch Natalie’s blade atop it, gripped as hard as Noah possibly could manage. The shrill sound of two blades grinding against each other echoed out a moment later, and Noah’s dagger had almost buckled out of his grip after the initial impact. Thankfully, since Natalie had not expected resistance, the strength behind the blade was not at its peak, allowing Noah to hold it in place for a few seconds.

Those few seconds were all that were needed, as Noah’s wicked [Serrated Knife] brutally plunged into Natalie’s exposed chest. On her face rested a stupefied expression, one moment she was about to deal the deathblow, and the next she found a knife impaled in her chest, the reversal was too abrupt for her to even comprehend what happened. Gasping for breath, her figure collapsed onto Noah, sending them both falling towards the ground.

“I’m sorry,” said Noah, as he found himself unwillingly staring into Natalie’s eyes that reflected in them a mixture of shock, fear, anger, and most of all, regret.

“I’m so, so sorry,” said Noah, this time actual tears pouring out his eyes as Natalie’s body went limp with a final, wheezing breath of air.