Cole tumbled out the other side of the portal, landing a few meters away.

That was insane. Cole thought after regaining his composure. I’ve never felt anything like that before.

Cole winced as he tried to get up. After being violently flung through the portal, he’d scraped his left shoulder. Shrugging off the pain, Cole examined his new surroundings. To his surprise, the room Cole had been sent to was different than the one he’d woken up in. As Cole looked around, he saw a semi-circular room filled with people, all of which were staring at him. Well, this is awkward.

Looking closer at the room, Cole discerned that most of the people there were equipped with grumpy looks and all kinds of armor and weapons. They didn’t seem all that approachable.

There was a raised platform at the other end of the room, also in the shape of a semicircle. At the back of the platform was a large inscription identical to the one Cole had seen the portals emanate from. Above this inscription was a massive sculpture of what Cole could only assume was The Tower Sensei had been telling him about. The sculpture jutted out from the wall with supporting pillars, an engraving across its center displaying the roman numeral for sixteen.

“Hi,” A feminine voice said. Cole turned around to see two people had approached from his right.

“That was quite the entrance,” The other chimed in, “I thought everyone was here when they closed off the portal… you’re not one of those snobby rich kids who got their way, are you?”

Cole examined the two strangers before him. The one on the left was a girl who was similar in age to himself but slightly shorter. The boy on the right, however, was almost a head shorter.

“I’m Felix, by the way,” the boy said, pointing to his right, “and this is Azula. We’re partnering up for the first tier. And you are...”

“Cole… and nah, I’m not snobby or rich. Actually, I don’t have any money on me, so I think I’m poor.”

“Well, we have something in common then,” Felix grinned, elbowing Azula’s arm with his, “not like this one over here.”

“And what would you know?” Azula said, shuffling away from Felix.

“Aah,” Felix flapped his hand at Azula, “I was only trying to lighten the mood. After all, we should make our new friend feel comfortable.”

“I think you and I have a different definition of 'friend,'” Azula responded coldly.

As the two bickered back and forth, Cole couldn’t help but notice the truth in what Felix had said. While Felix was dressed modestly with a rugged breastplate and a short sword at his hip, Azula had clothing and equipment that looked exceedingly more expensive.

Equipped with a large bow along her back, Azula seemed to have a style to her, composing her attire with a strong mix of red and black. This extended from her short red hair down to her black laced combat boots. While her armor seemed practical, Cole couldn’t see any real signs of wear and tear. Conversely, Felix looked like he’d worn the same clothes every day. There were very noticeable patches on both his pants and armor, matching his unruly orange hair.

While Felix and Azula continued to bicker back and forth, Cole looked around to see that most of the people who’d been staring at him had yet to avert their gaze. Furthermore, most of the people there had moved to the side of the room opposite to where he was. The only person close to him besides Azula and Felix was a tall blonde girl sitting at the center of the room. Cole may have made a strange entrance, but a new thought popped into his mind.

“Are you two… um”, Cole said, interrupting Azula and Felix’s back and forth, “unliked or something?”

“Hmm?” Azula said, raising an eyebrow.

“What do you mean?” Felix asked, looking back at Cole. Felix scanned the room to see that the group he’d previously been talking to had migrated to the other side of the room, along with everyone else. “Ah, that is pretty strange.”

“Maybe it’s her,” Azula pondered, nodding her head in the blonde girl’s direction, “Felix and I were the first through the portal, but she was already here.”

“But I think everyone is looking at us,” Cole replied.

“Well, there’s nothing dangerous about the three of us.” Felix said, gesturing at Cole and Azula, “You should go talk to her. If you’re lucky, maybe she’ll form a team with you. They did tell you you'd need a partner, right?”

No, Cole thought, thinking back to Sensei's overtly smug face, he didn't. Looking back to the girl, Cole was a little hesitant. If everyone else avoided her, Cole wasn’t sure whether or not he should approach her, either.

“Of course he knows he needs a partner,” Azula said. “Why else would he think I’d team up with… you.”

“Words hurt, Azula.” Felix sarcastically replied. “But yeah, you should introduce yourself before there’s no one left to partner with.”

“Alright, alright,” Cole agreed, “I guess it couldn’t hurt.”

“That’s the spirit.”

With Felix’s final words of encouragement, Cole made his way over to the girl they’d been casually talking about. Unlike the other adventurers in the room, she carried no noticeable equipment. Dressed in a plain-looking shirt, pants, and shoes, she actually seemed pretty normal. The only noticeable item on her was the small pouch wrapped around her waist, hanging from the base of her back.

“Hi,” Cole said, now standing above the blonde girl, “how’s it goin?”

Instead of turning around, the girl tilted her head back, looking up at Cole from an upside-down perspective. Her grey eyes seemed to pierce directly through Cole’s soul as she stared blankly at him, as if waiting for him to do something.

“Um-”

“You’re bleeding.” She said. “Are you new at this or something?”

“Bleeding?”

Cole looked down to examine himself but was unable to see any blood. As he twisted to the right, he felt the pain from his abrupt entry return. Cole moved his hand to feel his shoulder, revealing a few small trails of blood.

“Sensei better not have messed it up,” Cole muttered to himself as he tried to rotate his shoulder.

Luckily enough, the discomfort he felt wasn’t as bad as he’d initially assumed. However, something completely out of the ordinary stopped Cole in his tracks. The blood that was now on his hand wasn’t the normal red he was used to, but a light purple. The hell…

“Sensei sent you here?” The girl asked.

“Yeah,” Cole replied, still deep in thought, “he’s the one who summoned me here… I think. You know him?”

“I’ve heard of him,” she replied, “but I think you’ve blown your cover.”

“Cover? I just wanted to see if you wanted to be partners.” Cole pointed his thumb behind him. “my new friends suggested it.”

“Friends?” She asked, displaying a restrained grin as she glanced past Cole, “you may want to check again.”

“Huh?”

Cole curiously followed the girl’s glance, looking back towards Felix and Azula. For whatever reason, their demeanor had changed entirely. Cole saw both Azula and Felix with shocked looks on their faces. With his purple blood in mind, Cole couldn’t blame them. He wasn’t sure if it was an aftereffect of him being summoned to a new world, but it looked to Cole as if he’d been poisoned.

“Hey,” Cole shouted, turning his head back to Felix and Azula, “Do you guys have any bandages?”

As Felix and Azula continued to look dumbfounded, Cole felt a gentle tug against his pant leg. His prospective partner had produced a small towel for him to wipe himself off with. She was now fully facing Cole, her left hand closing the pouch behind her.

“Thanks,” Cole said, taking a moment to wipe the blood from his body.

“Lucy.” The girl replied.

“Huh?”

“My name." She said, examing Cole with apparent curiosity. "It’s Lucy.”

“Oh,” Cole said, forgetting he hadn’t properly introduced himself. “I’m Cole. Nice to meet you, Lucy.”

“Likewise.”

As Cole finished cleaning himself off, he looked back to Felix and Azula to be again surprised by what he saw. Azula had taken a few steps back, attempting to put more distance between them. Felix, on the other hand, had hastily drawn his sword, pointing it at Cole with a furrowed brow. Felix took a step towards Cole.

“What’s the matter?” Cole asks, taking a step back himself, “It’s only a little blood.”

Felix seemingly ignored Cole, continuing to close the distance between them.

“Look,” Cole said, putting his hands up, “I’m not a threat or anything, so you can put your sword down, Felix.”

Felix stood his ground, watching Cole closely. What was his problem? He'd seemed like a pretty nice person, at least to Cole. Had he and Azula decided they wanted less competition rather than more?

“Felix,” Cole continued, taking a step forward himself.

“I didn’t think I’d get this opportunity so quickly,” Felix said, repositioning his hands on the hilt of his sword, “to think a demon would try to infiltrate The Tower.”

Demon? Cole thought to himself.

“Felix, you’ve got it all wrong,” Cole protested, “I was summoned here from another world. I don’t know what a ‘demon’ is in this world, but I was definitely human in my past life.”

Azula’s tense posture lightened at the revelation, but only slightly.

“Hm,” She said, “I’ve heard the stories of people being summoned from another world, but never as a demon.”

Felix took another step forward, bringing the hilt of his sword closer to his chest.

“Whoa,” Cole said, keeping his eyes on Felix, “You believe me, right Azula?”

Felix moved his eyes to Azula, who’d stopped her retreat. Unlike her previous appearance, her face showed signs of a hesitant interest in Cole.

She must believe me! Cole thought to himself, but why hasn’t she tried to stop Felix?

While Cole was lost in thought, and before Azula could respond, Felix took decisive action. By the time Cole caught on to Felix’s attack, the now short gap between them had already been closed. Felix swung his sword diagonally at Cole’s chest. With little time to react and no combat training, Cole staggered to his side. Felix brought his leg forward in anticipation, swiftly kicking Cole hard in the stomach.

Cole let out a loud groan as he was kicked backward, landing on his back beside Lucy. Felix may have looked nice, but he hadn’t toned down his kick in the slightest. Cole’s stomach hurt immensely as he tried to get himself off the ground. While he’d avoided Felix’s first attack, Cole looked up to see his situation hadn’t improved in the slightest. Felix stood above him, brandishing his blade overhead for another strike.