“Should we run?” Todd asked, keeping himself extremely still in what was likely the vain hope that the monster hadn’t noticed them yet.

“Don’t bother. Slashers are much faster than humans,” Noah said. “Both of you, please watch closely. I don’t know who taught you up until this point, but they’ve completely failed in their role.”

“It was you,” Todd muttered, but Noah was already walking toward the Slasher.

The monkey’s beady eyes fixed on him. A globule of drool rolled down the side of its mouth and dripped onto its chest. It let out a furious screech and charged, smashing through a thin tree and reaching out to grab Noah.

He ducked, letting its hands fly harmlessly over his head, then glanced back at his students. Isabel and Todd had both pressed their backs to the trees. Their faces were masks of horror. It was clear that neither expected him to survive the fight, and there was no way they’d actually be paying attention to anything he said.

Noah sighed. The monkey raised its hands into the air and brought them down for him. Dodging the attack, Noah slammed his fist into the monkey’s side and unleashed his Vibration Rune.

It screeched in pain, staggering back as a wave rocked through its body, vibrating it so violently that its teeth cracked together. Noah saw the opportunity to send a wind blade into its throat and kill the monster, but he intentionally didn’t take it.

A roar echoed through the dry forest and the Slasher whipped a massive, clawed hand at Noah’s chest. He rolled toward the monster, allowing the strike to pass harmlessly overhead, then slammed his fist into its chest, vibrating it again.

The Slasher stumbled into the tree behind it, cracking its trunk and sending it smashing to the ground. Noah sent a wind blade into the monster’s chest and it screamed, clawing at the wound and piercing him with a furious, dull-eyed stare.

“Come on, then,” Noah said, beckoning the monkey on with a confident smile.

Huge claws carved through the air for his neck. Noah leaned back and the wind from the Slasher’s strikes ruffled his hair. Noah straightened back up and sent another blade of wind into the monster, this time taking it in the neck.

Its scream turned into a gurgling gag and Noah put it out of its misery with one final wind blade. He looked back at Isabel and Todd, taking a single step to the side just before the Slasher crashed down, falling where he’d been standing. Energy poured into him from the Slasher, but he didn’t let it show on his face.

Two awed stares met his eyes. Sheer disbelief mixed with shock on Isabel and Todd’s faces. Noah couldn’t deny feeling just a little bit smug at their expressions. After all the times the Slashers had killed him, it felt nice to the hunter.

“See? You don’t need a shield if you don’t get hit.” Noah rejoined them and grabbed his clothes from the ground. He pulled his shirt back on and threw the jacket over it, straightening the lapels.

“How?” Isabel asked. “You really didn’t use a shield?”

“I believe I already confirmed that. Did you see any colorful magic on my skin?”

“No, but…”

“No shield,” Noah said firmly. “I’m not saying shields are bad, but if casting one is crippling you to the point where you literally can’t fight anymore, then it’s only holding you back.”

“Aren’t you scared you’ll get hurt?” Todd asked. “What if you die?”

Noah shrugged. It would have been pretty disingenuous to say he feared death. Fighting made his veins pump adrenaline like nothing else. After all those years waiting in line, it was like huffing a drug straight from the source.

“Then I die. I’m not scared of pain, though. There are healing potions to deal with that. And did that fight look very painful for me?”

Isabel shook her head. A small light of hope sparked in her eyes. “So you’re really strong enough to take out monsters without ever getting hurt? How much strength have you been hiding? I’ve always thought you were a worthless, greasy lecher.”

“Thank you,” Noah said dryly. Even though it wasn’t technically him that Isabel was describing, it still didn’t feel great. “And no, that’s not what I’m saying. What you saw today was the result of weeks of agony. I got cut up more times than I can count. The vast majority of the last few days was spent in pain.”

Isabel swallowed. “You mean you let these monsters tear you to shreds?”

“I adapted. I learned how they fight. That’s how you get stronger,” Noah said with a shrug. “And now I don’t need a shield against them. When I fight an opponent in the future that’s similar to them, I’ll probably be better off against that one as well. Eventually, after enough experience, I’ll have all that extra energy to fight with that everyone else wastes on a shield.”

“And the scars to go with it,” Todd said darkly. “You’re telling us we have to rip ourselves to shreds every single day? I’ll admit that we seriously misjudged you, but I’m not going to subject myself to this insanity.”

Noah smiled and clapped Todd on the shoulder. He blinked in surprise, giving Noah a confused look.

“You don’t have to.”

“What do you mean? Wasn’t that what this was all about?” Todd asked.

“No. I did all of this so that you wouldn’t have to. That’s my job as a teacher.” Noah’s smile stretched even wider. “See, all the Slashers seem to act the exact same way. What I’ve learned isn’t instinct, it’s pattern. The Slashers attack in the same few ways. If you know what’s coming, you can react to it.”

“And you can show us!” Isabel exclaimed, understanding dawning over her a moment before Todd’s eyes also lit up.

“That’s genius, and it makes sense too. I bet they all act the same because all the Slashers are probably bound to the Hellreaver Ape because of its Master Rune. They probably can’t think for themselves, so they’ve defaulted to a common pattern.”

They what now? I seriously need to learn more about the capabilities of Master Runes. That would explain a lot, though. If the monkeys are basically hive-minded to the big boss, it wouldn’t waste a ton of energy making them all act individually.

“Now you see,” Noah said, plastering a knowing look on his face. “So, how about it? Want to try to pass this test legitimately and come out as stronger students at the end of it? Or would you rather cheat and leave the year scared of a pathetic little monkey?”

He nudged the corpse of the monster that had nearly killed Isabel with a toe. Isabel and Todd followed the movement, then looked back up at him.

“I want to learn,” Todd said.

“I do too,” Isabel added.

“Fantastic,” Noah said with a smile and starting off into the woods. “Then we’re going to give this another go, starting with one of the small monkeys. Todd, you’re up this time.”

“What do I do?” Todd asked as he and Isabel fell in behind Noah.

“Strike with confidence but not recklessness,” Noah replied. “Despite my words, I don’t exactly have any healing supplies. I’m confident I can protect you from most things, but I can’t do anything if you’re acting dumb. The small monkeys will sprint straight at you without any regard for their safety, and they’re really not all that fast. You should be able to kill it with a strong attack to the head. Just stand your ground and don’t panic.”

Todd nodded his understanding. Noah held a hand up for silence, listening to the sounds of the distant monkey calls in the woods before setting off again. A few minutes later, he spotted their next target.

A monster was hunched over near the base of a tree, gnawing on what looked like a legbone. Idly, Noah wondered if it was one of his. He’d certainly left more than a few lying around the forest in the past few days. That particular thought made him grimace.

I have to start cleaning up my bodies or someone’s going to notice something.

“You’re up,” Noah whispered. “And don’t waste all that energy on your shield. The monkey will be on you before you can finish putting the stupid thing together.”

Todd gave a terse nod. Flames sputtered to life around his clenched fists and the monkey’s head jerked up. Its dark eyes latched onto Todd and it let out a loud shriek, lobbing its bone onto the ground and pulling itself to its feet with a tree branch.

Isabel’s knuckles turned white as she grabbed onto the hilt of her sword. Noah put a hand on Todd’s shoulder and pushed him forward gently.

“Straight ahead. Don’t flinch. You mentioned having a ranged attack when talking with Isabel. Use it before it gets within arm’s reach of you, or I’m going to intervene.”

Todd grunted his understanding, not taking his eyes off the monster. The monkey bared its teeth and hooted, launching itself from the tree branch and charging them. Todd lifted his hands and drew in a deep breath, taking aim.

It reminded Noah of his first fatal wind blade. A small smile crossed his lips as Todd roared and thrust his hands forward, sending a lance of orange flame into the charging monkey. The spell enveloped the monster’s head.

In an instant, the flame leapt across the monkey’s entire body, lighting up on its greasy hair. It let out a screech of pain, giving up on the charge and desperately batting at itself to no avail.

The fire spread with terrifying speed, consuming the monkey within mere seconds. It crumpled to the ground, charred to a blackened crisp. Isabel and Todd stared at it. Noah clapped Todd on the back.

“There you go,” Noah said. “Was that so difficult?”

“Why didn’t it dodge?” Todd muttered.

“Because it’s stupid, and I bet that strategy probably works on a lot of people. Nobody’s natural response to getting charged by a terrifying monster is to stand their ground,” Noah said. “That’s the benefit of knowing your opponent.”

Isabel’s gaze lowered. Noah flicked her in the shoulder.

“Don’t feel bad about failing your first time around. You fight in much closer range, and you didn’t have any reason to believe in me yet, nor did you have the advice I gave Todd. Life isn’t a single run, you know. You’ve got more chances. Get it on the next one.”

Isabel raised her eyes and nodded. “Yeah. You’re right. Can we go find another monkey?”

“You took the words right out of my mouth. Let’s go, kids. We’ve got some training to do.”

This time, neither of them corrected him.