Vincent followed Ayame through the forest on her detour. Her words made sense, so he was willing to risk her being wrong. If she was wrong, the lost time wouldn't matter much anyway. Except that they would expose themselves to danger more times than the students who had shot straight for the portal.

  Vincent wasn't sure if he thought this because it truly made sense or because the vampire had charmed him with her powers. If so, he supposed it didn't matter. He supposed he wouldn't be able to tell one way or the other. Thinking too much about it would send shivers down his spine. If he was trapped in her clutches, then there was no way to escape.

  No. The enchantment effect couldn't be that strong. Otherwise, vampires would already rule the world. No. He was just thinking nonsense, as usual.

  Eventually, they reached a waterfall.

  He didn't know what to do. He hadn't expected this.

  "Come on, we have to cross," Ayame said.

  "I suppose it'll be easy for you," Vincent replied. "But for me, with the weight of this armor, the depth of the water, and the strength of the current, I can't just cross like that."

  Ayame nodded, as if she hadn't really thought about it before.

  "Okay, fair enough. Wait here a moment."

  I'm not going anywhere, Vincent thought. I can't.

  The girl jumped towards the water, but transformed into a bat in mid-air. How else? At least that part of the stories he'd heard was also true. That way, Ayame quickly and easily reached the other side of the bank. But how did she expect him to cross?

  She answered that quickly too. She regained her human, well, vampiric form, and knocked down a tree, long enough to serve as a makeshift bridge.

  "Go ahead."

  Ayame crossed her arms, waiting.

  Vincent swallowed. It wasn't going to be that easy, even so. But he couldn't back down. He had long since lost any right to back down. All right and all desire.

  Vincent got onto the tree trunk, arms outstretched to his sides, trying his best to keep his balance. If he fell, certain death awaited him, unless Ayame was fast enough to rescue him, of course. And if she even tried. So he had to concentrate.

  One foot forward, the other back. Arms extended to adjust balance. It wasn't that difficult, in theory. As long as he could go at his own pace. The last thing he needed was some monster appearing, chasing him across the trunk.

  He committed the stupidity of tempting fate, but fortunately, nothing happened. He reached the other side, solid ground, without problems. He took a deep breath. He had never felt so relieved in his life.

  "Much further?"

  "No, it's around here. Come on, just a little more."

  Vincent hoped that was true. He didn't want to look foolish, any more than he already had.

  It turned out Ayame was telling the truth. It was just around the corner.

  "And what is that?" Vincent asked.

  He observed a kind of stone monument. The first thing that came to mind was a mausoleum, but he doubted very much there would be such a thing in this forest. Besides, there didn't seem to be any door or window. You couldn't see inside in any way.

  "Look," Ayame said. "Do you think there's something here?"

  "Otherwise, you wouldn't have wasted our time," Vincent replied, "But why? This is just a forest. It's not like they placed every branch for the test. This could have been here forever and nothing more."

  "It's possible," Ayame replied without a second thought, "but I don't think it's likely. Help me find some way to get in or open something. I promise we won't waste much time. Ten minutes, max. I'm not asking you to stick your head out and wait for the executioner to swing the axe. Just ten minutes of your time."

  "I understand," Vincent said. "I'll do what you want, okay? Besides, I know perfectly well it's not in my interest to turn my back on you. You're my best bet to finish this test."

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  He doubted the professors were listening to this conversation, so Vincent spoke with perhaps a slight excess of sincerity.

  Ayame tilted her head.

  "Okay, whatever the reason, it works for me."

  They began to investigate the stone and the immediate surroundings. If this thing was a hidden part of the test, as the vampire believed, then the way to open it, enter, or make something happen, whatever the fuck it was, had to be nearby. It had to be something possible to overcome.

  Vincent didn't see anything, and he felt increasingly uneasy, wondering if he had done wrong to trust the vampire's words. Everything had seemed so reasonable at the time, but right now he was feeling like a clown, and worse with every second that passed without seeing the fruits of his effort. It was also possible that there was something inside, but that it had no importance or relation to the test. That would be humiliating.

  Then, thinking useless thoughts like that, he finally found what he was looking for.

  Or at least he thought he had. Maybe he was jumping the gun, desire to please her... No, to prove to himself that he was worthy of this. That he shouldn't go looking for anyone else here.

  "Hey. Come here, take a look."

  Ayame approached. He didn't hear her footsteps, barely heard her breath, but he felt her. You could tell she wasn't human. But she wasn't a monster either, rather a 'rational species' with which humanity could coexist. Still, his hair stood on end.

  "Yes, I've seen those symbols too. What do you think they mean?"

  "I have no idea, but I haven't only seen them here."

  "Oh? Tell me."

  "Back there, engraved on a tree trunk. They caught my attention then, but I didn't think they'd be relevant," he admitted quietly.

  The vampire didn't reproach him, however, just nodded.

  "Alright, stay here… over there, you say?"

  "Yes, over there." She nodded again, approaching to take a look. She placed a hand on the trunk, tracing the symbols with a finger. He supposed they were runes, but very advanced ones. Yes, not even the vampire had any idea what they meant.

  Well, she hadn't started studying like him yet, she didn't have to know about these things. What did he know about how a vampire lived, how they were educated? Did he even know how old Ayame was? She might look young and beautiful, but her kind could live a very long time.

  Anyway, what did it matter?

  Ayame sank her fangs into her own wrist, squeezing hard. He heard the tearing of skin and flesh, smelled her blood, as red as his own, floating in the air. A gruesome spectacle. If the bite had been slightly deeper, perhaps he would have seen the gleaming bone of her wrist, beyond the bloody mess. God, that… she could regenerate, he knew that, but still, she had overdone it.

  He definitely wouldn't have done something like that without batting an eye, that was for sure.

  She let the blood fall onto the runes.

  "Do the same as me."

  "Seriously?"

  "Seriously. Otherwise, why would I ask? It doesn't have to be blood from the wrist."

  "Yeah, I'd already assumed that."

  In the end, Vincent decided to make a cut on his forehead. It was a place that bled profusely, but ultimately wasn't a serious wound. He had considered cutting one of the palms of his hand, of a palm… He had considered cutting a palm, but that would have made handling his sword difficult.

  Not everyone had such wonderful regenerative abilities, because, yes, Ayame's wound, Ayame's self-inflicted wound, had already healed completely. There wasn't even a trace of blood, apart from what had fallen on the runes, making them flash blue, like the ones on this stone monument, like the ones that had lit up with his blood.

  Even the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. A succession of thunderous sounds, as one of the walls opened, revealing stairs descending, swallowed by darkness. Not even the light of a solitary torch reached there. It gave the impression of being like a bottomless pit.

  "How did you know it would open like that?" Vincent asked.

  "I didn't know, I just guessed."

  "Just like that?"

  "Many rituals require a certain sacrifice. Shedding your own blood is the most common."

  "Ah, I see."

  Vincent looked away, returning his gaze to the bottomless darkness.

  "Do you really think there's something in there? Some special test or the true point of this initiation trial?"

  "Yes, of course I do. Otherwise, I wouldn't have come this far. Neither would you, or so I thought."

  "Makes sense. Besides, it suits me to stay close to you. But I just don't know. What could be so special in there?"

  "I don't know either. But come on, I'd love to find out."

  "You first."

  Ayame gave him a dry, expressionless look.

  "You're stronger than me, harder to kill. It's the only thing that makes sense."

  "Oh, if it's just that, okay."

  They began their descent down the stairs. The descent into an oppressive, omnipresent darkness.

  "Wait, wait, wait. Shouldn't we bring a light?"

  "Are you suggesting we make a torch? I don't know how. Do you?"

  "No, I… I don't either. Sorry."

  Ayame shrugged. At least, enough light still reached them to see that gesture.

  "It's okay. We'll have to make do with what's here. This is a test, so I'm sure they've prepared something for us. A torch, a light stone, I don't know."

  "Maybe. I hope we find out soon. Hey, sorry if this is a stupid question, but I can't resist." He asked a while after they had continued deeper. The light from outside was already very distant. "It's just… Can't you see in the dark? You know, like bats."

  "In bat form, of course I can. But not now."

  "Any reason not to transform now?"

  "Yes, a few. You ask a lot of questions, did you know that?"

  "I'm just trying to distract myself. This is all very new to me."

  "For me too. It was supposed to be…"

  Vincent raised an eyebrow. What did she mean? She was taking the initiation test, like him, of course. But one would think her family would have prepared her better for all this. Vincent's hadn't, but not for lack of trying. It was impossible for a family of blacksmiths and tailors to prepare him for combat. In any case, he didn't have time to ask even more questions, solely to satisfy his curiosity.

  It was too sudden. He didn't even see it coming.

  A bonfire erupted. It was fire gathered in the mouth of a monster, waiting for the moment to explode.

  "A dragon?" Ayame shouted.