"Run!"

  Vincent followed his own advice.

  He had been mesmerized just seeing Ayame, whether due to her supernatural powers or simply because he was an idiot teenager, but when push came to shove, he knew how to react like a man—that is, he immediately turned around and started running without a second thought and obviously without looking at her, without looking at the vampire for even a second. His survival was what mattered.

  The darkness was absolute, except for the flames in the dragon's mouth. Good God, a dragon! But he didn't need to see much. The path there had been very straight and narrow, so he just had to retrace his steps running and pray it would be enough not to die incinerated inside his armor, which didn't seem very likely, but it was possible, which didn't seem very likely, he was willing to admit.

  The dragon roared instantly. The blood in his veins turned to ice, ironically. He felt the blast of heat behind him, felt it expanding and approaching at great speed, intending to consume everything without a trace. He picked up the pace, of course, but deep down, as soon as he heard that roar, as soon as the flames exploded, a part of him was convinced he was dead, that it was all over. But it wasn't, he was completely wrong, the fire didn't even reach him.

  "That was way too close," Ayame said, running beside him.

  It hadn't taken her long to reach him; she was keeping pace.

  "Why not turn into a bat and get out of here at top speed?" He doubted she was protecting him, considering how quickly he'd been left behind. "There must have been some problem or drawback with shapeshifting. Well, even vampires had problems."

  "You say that as if we're already out of this."

  "Not much further, be optimistic."

  "That's a bit difficult right now. How can it be so big and slip through these narrow passages?"

  "Don't bother looking back, I'll tell you. Because it's widening them."

  Of course, that made sense.

  He felt as if his thoughts weren't even his own. What kind of nonsense was running through his head at a time like this? It was like he was getting hysterical. Wait, just "like"? He was hysterical, and rightly so.

  "A little more," Ayame said. "I see light."

  There was light. There was light. So she was right, they would soon be safe.

  In theory, but there was no way to know. His life could end in an instant. Even if he kept his shield, there was nothing he could do against a dragon's fire. If it caught him, even just once, he would surely die. That's how overwhelming dragons were.

  A legendary species. It was said that, without a doubt, they were the strongest type of monster in this world.

  They could tear down castle walls with their bites, so naturally, human armor was nothing more than a toy. To dragons, human beings were like ants. The few records that remained of them made it very clear, dragons were beings superior to humanity, that is...

  "Watch out!" Vincent exclaimed.

  He threw Ayame to the ground, covering her with his own body. He was being stupid again.

  He doubted anyone else in the world would have risked themselves like that, including the girl he was protecting. As much as the gesture was more or less futile, it meant something. Maybe he was trying too hard to be like the Knight he was supposed to be.

  In any case... too close. The flames roared right over their heads.

  There was a ten-second period where it would have been impossible to get up without catching fire. The heat and pressure of the flames were simply overwhelming. He had never felt so small. Yes, like an ant.

  "Get up, just a little more," Ayame said.

  A little more. A little more. The light was right there. He could reach out and 'touch' it. But it seemed very far away, and increasingly so, instead of the other way around.

  "I'm sorry I dragged you here," Ayame continued. "I assumed the test had a secret, a hidden side, but I never imagined the professors would go this far. It's a very well-done job."

  "Done?"

  If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  "Naturally, dragons are dead, everyone knows that."

  "I think at least twice in history, vampires were supposed to be extinct."

  "That's different, man, a matter of propaganda. Why am I wasting oxygen saying this nonsense?"

  Good question, indeed.

  It seemed impossible, it seemed they were going to end up swallowed or scorched by that beast before they could do anything, but in the end, they managed to emerge back into the forest. His legs gave out, as if the adrenaline had abandoned him, as if he thought he was safe just by this.

  Vincent fell to his knees on the grass.

  Far from the truth, however, of course.

  "Get up." Ayame pulled him up, hands on his shoulders.

  Then…

  A great crash, an explosion of stone and dust.

  The dragon burst out as violently as it had destroyed everything else in its path.

  It roared, throwing its head back, spitting fire towards the sky. It was a majestic beast despite the terror it instilled, or perhaps precisely because of it, and it definitely seemed real.

  Could an academy's initiation test be this dangerous?

  Professor Verona had made it clear that some might die, but she had also said the staff would be watching in case they needed rescuing, that they would do their best to save them, that it was only a possibility. But this... This was too much, wasn't it?

  We brought this on ourselves, he thought, as the dragon dived towards them from miles high. Its eyes burned almost as much as the flames in its mouth.

  "What do we do?" Vincent asked.

  "Fight."

  "How? Do you seriously think you can take this thing?"

  "We couldn't take on a real dragon, but this is a test designed to be passed, so I don't see why not."

  She made it sound so easy.

  But if he managed this, even with Ayame's help, everyone would admire him, wouldn't they? It wasn't exactly forbidden for an NPC to enter one of the Academies, just that no one had ever done it because, of course, they didn't have combat-oriented skills. They would surely want to kick him out if they ever found out.

  But if he killed this thing, if he made it clear he was worthy, then no one could push him off his path, his dream, right?

  The System couldn't 'correct' his trajectory.

  "Okay, okay, let's do it."

  Ayame smiled. Her fangs gleamed.

  "That's what I like to hear."

  The dragon had ascended many miles into the air, but it descended even faster, diving straight towards them. Vincent swallowed hard, preparing to dodge, though part of him thought he'd be run over, that he'd missed his chance.

  He wasn't run over, though only because Ayame put a hand on his chest, pushing him. She might be small and slender, but being a vampire, her body held great strength. With just that push, she sent him flying ten meters back, away from the firestorm, away from the dragon's gleaming jaws.

  Vincent took a deep breath, managed to control his fall, and landed, sinking his sword into the ground to stop himself sooner. The sword dragged through the earth for a few meters before stopping along with his body. It had been close, too close.

  As for Ayame, for a moment he thought she had disappeared, but no. The moment she pushed him, she had transformed into mist, easily escaping the dragon that way. The air stirred by the dragon's huge wings didn't hopelessly disperse her mist form. If that were possible, he supposed she would never have done that in the first place.

  He knew she had transformed mainly because he saw her return to her human, well, vampiric form. At that moment, he had been too scared to notice small details, like anything other than his own neck.

  Vincent got to his feet. The red dragon came for them again, opening its jaws wide, gathering fire to shoot, to spit. Vincent started running, looking at Ayame as if asking:

  "What do we do? What the hell do we do?"

  "Come here"—But Ayame hadn't shouted it at him, but at the dragon.

  Acting as bait. For what? What kind of trap could she have prepared in minutes? It turned out Ayame was even stronger than he had suspected. She grabbed the trunk of a tree with both hands, crouched down, then began to pull. She ripped it from the ground as if it were a toy, as if its roots had never been anchored in the earth. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Even less so when she used the tree like a bat, hitting the dragon on the forehead and knocking it to the ground with a growl.

  It continued to drag itself along the ground for a short distance, kicking up stone and dust.

  "Now!" Ayame yelled.

  "Yes, yes, of course."

  A roar escaped his throat without him even intending it. Holding the sword with both hands, he launched himself at the dragon. He struck its forehead, tried to cut its eyes, but the sword just bounced off the scales and failed to tear the eye tissue for some reason. Dragons were simply on a completely different level.

  Still, he didn't stop trying until the dragon recovered, probably more from surprise than any damage. The dragon flapped its wings, the generated wind throwing them back as the majestic beast rose again. They had achieved nothing, and even if they had, the same trick wasn't going to work twice. Next time, it would probably catch the trunk in the air with its teeth and snap it in half, as easily as a dog's toy.

  They had to change tactics, but they had no idea what that could be. He would say they should turn and flee. He would never be prideful, but that didn't seem like an option either, not with the dragon's flight speed. And not when the fighting ground was something it could turn into a giant bonfire in a second, in less than a second.

  Fleeing was impossible. Winning was impossible. So only death remained.

  No! Impossible! Unacceptable!

  He was here, right at the starting line of all his dreams.

  Whatever it takes, I'll kill you, he thought.

  There was no other path for Vincent, no other possible future. It wasn't about being destined, it was that he had decided it, period.

  The dragon spat again, but it wasn't fire this time. Five eggs fell from above, piercing the ground. He had never seen anything like it.

  "What the fuck?" Vincent exclaimed, his voice cracking.

  In reality, the madness had only just begun, as the eggs hatched and undead crawled out from within. All of them carried sword and shield. They might be dead, but they retained enough consciousness to handle those weapons, consciousness and coordination.

  Vincent lunged at the first one he could reach, cutting off both its legs with a single sword stroke. A thick spurt of blood... What remained of the enemy went flying through the air, spinning. Vincent brought it back to the ground, split it in half with a single blow. Then, he tore the shield from its dead hands.

  His situation hadn't improved much, it was just one less enemy, but at least now he had a shield.