“This feels pretty awful,” I said, looking at the tiny Encroachers. A few cages with thick iron bars were set around me. Each pen stood as high as my waist, the infantile roaches snarling at me from inside.

“Try not to let it bother you,” Jeenie said with a dismissive wave. “They were born for this; bred for it. Try to look at it more like a farm—nothing here goes to waste once it’s all over. These babies’ll provide food and materials for the rest of the girls living here. Kittens included.”

“I guess that helps a little.” I was bullshitting. That didn’t help me at all. There was no way I could feel good about killing Encroachers who were already at an extreme disadvantage.

Then again, Jeenie had a point. It really wasn’t that much different from farming chickens or cows. At least it would be a quick death.

That should make it a bit less painful. Right?

“Do not hesitate,” Cailu said as he moved to stand beside me. “We must expedite your journey to Second Class. Do not make me repeat myself.”

I drew a deep breath and exhaled.

“Yeah, I get it.” I leveled my gaze with Jeenie. “So, how does this work?”

“We can do it in a number of ways. I can open the door, and you can start swinging—”

“No. Neither Matt nor Tristan will not learn how to defend themselves that way,” Cailu countered immediately.

“Yeah, Sanrai and Magni were the same way,” Jeenie said with a half laugh. “What I usually did was take them out to the arena to do battle.”

“The one we just came from?” Tristan asked.

Jeenie shook her head. “This one’s…a bit different. I’ll escort the Encroachers over and release them in whatever way you see fit.”

I leaned in and studied my first potential opponents. They were pale violet, about a foot high, and thin as a tree branch. Two tiny claws extended from the top of one’s scaly wings. Its head was round, bulbous, and its beak long and pointy like a hummingbird’s. Spirals were carved into the creature’s beak, which was strangely absent of nostrils. I tried to put myself in a child's mind and imagine that this could’ve been some kid’s bizarre interpretation of a pterodactyl baby.

“I guess one at a time would be best, right?” I wondered aloud.

“That depends,” said Cailu. He knelt to get a better look at the Encroachers. “Have you ever fought a didrilla?”

“A what?”

He pointed at the strange pterodactyl-looking Encroachers.

“I, uh, guess not.” I scratched the back of my neck. “Should I have?”

“No,” Cailu said, standing up. “A rare encounter in the deserts of Ichi Island.”

“Real annoying to fight, though,” Jeenie added. “If you’re going to fight one, then—”

Cailu raised a hand to silence her, and Jeenie’s cheeks turned a deep shade of red.

“Tell him not of what they do. I want to see how Matt deals with a situation he has no knowledge of.”

“Y-y-yes, Cailu,” Jeenie said, averting her gaze.

What is with this girl?

“I bet I could pluck one of these out of the air,” Keke said as she looked at them next. “Didrilla, you said? It’s cute, in a creepy sort of way.

“The color is interesting,” Tristan noted. “You have to wonder how it hides in the desert.”

Keke nodded. “That’s a good point. By the way, where are its eyes?”

“It has no eyes,” said Cailu. “It is blind.”

“You want me to beat up a blind Encroacher? What are you not telling me about this thing?” I asked. Looks were deceiving; I’d learned that the hard way. It seemed like every Encroacher or Defiled had some sort of trick up its sleeve, no matter what I brought to a fight. I wasn’t about to underestimate these things again.

“Worry not. Let us take these to the arena,” said Cailu. “Jeenie.”

“Huh? What? Oh, hey, uh, yes?” Jeenie stammered, blinking rapidly.

Cailu frowned. “Repeat what I said.”

“Um. Take these to the arena?”

“With haste, if you would.”

“R-right! I’ll take care of it.”

What have I gotten myself into?

I stood waiting at one side of the arena in [Combat Mode], axe in hand, waiting for the others to give the word that Jeenie had everything in place. I watched as Cailu, Tristan, and Jeenie carried on a casual conversation, Keke close behind me.

I say arena, but this courtyard was practically a colosseum. High walls contained us in an enormous bowl, complete with a row of seats behind a bar that prevented anyone from falling inside.

“Why wasn’t their duel out here?” I meant it rhetorically, but Keke tried anyway.

“The walls probably don’t stop Magic. If a roach uses a Spell, it won’t be as terrifying as a Third Class using a Spell.”

“Yeah, that makes sense.” I dug the heel of my boot into the sand. “What’s taking them so long?”

“Relax, Matt,” Keke cooed. “You’ll be fine.”

“I just wish he would’ve told me what I’m getting myself into,” I said, rolling my shoulder and cracking my neck to one side. I needed better sleep than I’d been getting for the last week. Hell, better sleep than what I’d been getting since we first arrived on Ichi Island. “Knowledge, you know?”

“Cailu’s not going to let you get hurt any more than you have to. This is good practice anyway.” Keke slid her arms around my waist and nuzzled her cheek against my back. “How are you feeling?”

Her body felt soft and warm against mine. I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed it. “Tired. Drained. Touchy. I want to get away for a while, you know?” I sighed. Cailu motioned to us with his good arm, and I waved back. “Maybe sometime soon.”

“Hmm. Maybe.”

“What about you?” I asked. “How’ve you been feeling?”

“Conflicted. I’m worried about Cannoli.”

“Have you talked to her yet?”

“No,” Keke mumbled against my top. “I’m not sure what to say to her right now. I can only hope Ravyn’s been keeping her calm.”

“It probably sounds crazy, but I believe in Ravyn,” I said, smiling. “She might be rough on the outside, but you can tell she cares. I never imagined she and Cannoli would get along.”

Keke giggled. “Neither did I.”

I rubbed the back of Keke’s palms with my off hand. Her skin had become a little coarser lately, probably due to the desert air and the unending sea of sand. I couldn’t wait to take Keke and the others back to the beach for a bit of R&R.

Cailu approached, and Keke let go, opting to stand next to me.

“The battle’s specifications have been finalized,” said Cailu. He wiped a bead of sweat from the side of his head. “You will engage with three didrillas. Are your preparations complete?”

“Yep.” I gestured to my axe. “Not a whole lot else to prepare with.”

“Potions? Tonics? Enchantments?”

Every word out of his mouth felt pointed and deliberate. It was hard not to see them as personal attacks, but I felt he already knew the answers to his questions.

“Potions, yeah.”

“Let’s let Matt focus on the battle, Cailu,” said Keke, her arms crossed. “We can offer advice when he’s done.”

“Very well.” Cailu put a hand on my shoulder as he and Keke walked past me to the stands.

The nearby gates shut, the ground beneath my feet trembling slightly. Ahead of me, the portcullis was rising, and I could hear a light screeching from within. After a few seconds, a didrilla hopped across the stone-laid entryway and out onto the arena’s pitch. Its jerky movements mimicked that of a finch; the creature occasionally whipped its head from side to side. Around its neck was a small black choker with a red diamond-shaped jewel at its center.

What’s that choker for?

“The hell?” I mumbled.

The Encroacher’s attention snapped toward me. I slowed my breathing, my feet glued to the spot. The didrilla and I “stared” at each other for a while. It felt like a game of chicken. But after a time, I rolled my eyes. What the hell was I doing? I wasn’t here to try and stay away from it. I needed to fight it, gain some Experience and move on with my life.

I readied into a battle stance, the sand scratching beneath my shoes.

“Shwa! Shwa! Shwa!” the didrilla squawked. At least, it had the resemblance of a bird that squawked. The sound was very much like the creaking of wood and—

“Ahh!” I spun on my heel as the creature launched itself at me like an arrow, narrowly avoiding my arm and landing in the sand behind me. There was no room for hesitation. Not when you were fighting. I was learning this more with each passing day. I lunged for the tiny pterodactyl, screaming, “[Adrenaline Rush]!” The axe grew lighter mid-swing, finding its mark against the Encroacher’s back. The sickening sound of crunching bone made its unwelcome return to my ears, and as I pulled my axe away, the bottom half of the Encroacher came with it, sticking to one side of the blade. “Oh, god.”

“Shwa! Shwa!” came the cries of others.

Two more barreled out of the arena’s corridor, each soaring through the air like Olympic divers. I sidestepped to my right, evading one. But the second one was a different story. I raised my shield to block it, but the beast moved like lightning. Its beak spun like a power drill, screeching against the metal and drawing a long line across the shield and my forearm.

“Ouch! Hell!”

“[Heal]!” cried someone from the crowd beyond. Within seconds of the word, the pain was leaving. The bleeding stopped within moments, and the wound slowly stitched itself together. My entire body felt lighter as if someone had breathed air into it, giving it the precious oxygen it desired.

One of the didrillas had recovered from its attack, fluttering toward me. It hopped, hopped, hopped, and as I stepped back, it launched at me again.

This time I was ready for it. I reeled to one side, catching it by the neck with the edge of my axe. The two pieces of its body continued their momentum, landing in the sand next to me.

“You’re next!” I cried as I advanced to strike the last one; its head was stuck in the dirt. Its tiny legs batted behind it while sand blew into my face. “Ack!” I shielded my face, mostly my eyes, stepping back until I could no longer feel the coarse dirt strike my skin. When I opened my eyes, the didrilla was gone. “Shit, where did you go?” I mumbled, both hands on my axe.

A scene from a movie I watched when I was a kid resurfaced. It was about a bunch of worms under the ground that could sense the vibrations of their prey. Then they’d erupt from the soil, swallow them whole, and retreat underground.

I wonder if I could trick him in a similar way?

Taking great care not to move my feet more than was necessary, I reached into my [Cat Pack] and pulled out one of the potions I’d made a while ago. A strange sticky film had begun to form across the surface. I couldn’t imagine this was safe to drink anymore. Not that it mattered.

Holding the bottle at arm’s length, I leaned forward and dropped the bottle on the ground.

Like clockwork, the little buzzard rocketed out of the sand right where my, uh, jewels would’ve been, its beak pointed to the sky.

“Gotcha!” Instinct guided my swing, and the hatchet found purchase in the beast’s breast. It squealed as I took it to the ground, leveraging my weight against it until it grew silent. My breathing rapid, I ripped the blade out and waved to Cailu and the others waiting in the wing.

That wasn’t so bad. Wonder how much I got?

“Appear, iPaw.” The device manifested in my hand. I gawked at the sight before me. …How in the hell?

Matt has gained: 93 XP!