The person lunged at me. I dodged to the right, barely escaping their grasp.

“[Appraise],” I said, holding up my hand, palm facing the person. What greeted me was floating white text.

[Juden]

[Level 33] [Drachendoor/Angelic] (Assassin in training/Student) ♂

HP: [4,900/4,900]

MP: [2,000/2,000]

SP:  [1,900/2,000]

[Status Appraisal Failed]

[Skill Appraisal Failed]

"Impressive stats,” I said.

Juden growled and jumped toward me again.

He crashed into me, sending the both of us flying into the wall. I swiftly took the opportunity to punch Juden in the gut.

“[Double Punch],” I said. My fist struck his arm, which he had raised to block. The added magical force from the skill pushed him back. His health bar dropped a small bit.

HP: [4,860/4,900]

Juden stood up shakily. He braced himself on one of the beds with his metallic hand.

"Rude," He said. "Normal people don't punch other people for no reason."

"You literally attacked him," Ariel said.

“Ok, I guess that’s fair,” Juden said. He held out his hand. “Sorry. My name’s Juden, by the way.”

"Nice to meet you," I said. I shook his hand. "Shun."

"And I'm Ariel," Ariel said.

"Alright, I'm going to sleep," Juden said. "I'm frickin tired, man." He flopped into one of the two beds and promptly fell asleep.

"Guess I'll take this bed," I said to Ariel. I set down my bags and fell onto it. I fell asleep within minutes.

I yawned, sitting up.

"What time is it?" Juden asked

I glanced at the clock. “Fuck," I said. "Eight forty-five. We should probably get to class now. We're fifteen minutes late."

“Agreed,” Juden said. “Want to go the quick way?”

“What’s the quick way?” I asked.

“Watch,” Juden said. He brought up his tail, which ended in a sharp black point. Then, all of a sudden, the end started sparking. Juden moved his tail, leaving a trail of sparks behind. The fiery line danced in the air, shimmering with magic. When the two ends connected, the air in the oval rippled as energy flooded it. Dark reds and purples swirled in the space before it cleared. Through the ring, I saw a door.

“What’s this?” I asked.

“This is a portal,” Juden said. “Come on.” He stepped through, and I followed. When I was through, Juden slashed his tail across the portal and it shattered, golden shards of energy shimmering in the air for a second before dissipating.

“Here we are,” Juden said. He opened the door and stepped through. I walked in, looking around in confusion.

“Where is everybody?” Juden said.

“They’re testing,” Someone said. I turned to face a pink-haired woman in black clothes. “And you should be too, but you’re late.”

“We’re sorry,” I said. “We’ll start the test now.”

“Through here then,” The woman said, opening up a portal. “By the way, My name is Mrs. Sandi.”

“Nice to meet you,” Juden said, before stepping through. I followed and then stumbled. Everything was dark. And then a screech pierced the air. I looked up to see three sets of glowing red eyes shining in the dark.

“Dracibats,” I said.