As Viktor collapsed, Sonya felt a strange sadness creeping in.

"Did he really matter that much?" Sonya thought, sitting down beside his unconscious form.

"I guess… He was a capable fighter."

But now was not the time for deliberation.

"Anna, get the knife out and bandage the wound." Sonya said, getting up and regaining her composure. "I'll rope up Rosa."

"Okay." Anna shook herself out of her daze, ran over and started frantically trying to stop the blood from flowing out.

"Can I do it?" Lada asked, walking over.

"Sure."

"It's alright. He'll be fine."

"Oh, I see. That explains your cooking skills." Sonya said, tying Natalya against a support beam.

"So, I guess now we just wait and hope he lives, right?" Rosalind walked over to Sonya.

"Yeah." Sonya replied, sitting down.

"How boring…"

"That's really what you care about right now?"

"Yep. What else would I care about, Viktor's life?"

30 minutes later

"He won't die." Lada's voice echoed in the room, the relieving news finding its way into the ears of all of the students.

"Good. Do we just stay here?" Anna said, walking over to Viktor's unconscious form.

"Well, Viktor wanted us to ask Natalya to join our group." Sonya said. "So I guess we stay here."

"What kind of person is Viktor?" Rosalind asked Sonya.

"The merciful type."

"But he is stronger than you are."

"Hm… He is a strange person."

7:00 AM, Day 11

Natalya slowly woke up, trying to stand up… only to realize that she was unable to even move, thick ropes completely restraining her.

"What are you doing with me?" She said, struggling to keep the fear out of her voice.

"Ugh, you noble shitstains… Could you talk like a normal person for once?" Sonya said, walking over.

"I see no reason why I have to."

"The situation right now is not exactly good for you, Natalya." Sonya spat, her voice laced with venom.

"And what do you suggest I do about it?"

"That's your own problem. As you probably know, you severely injured one of our group members."

"Yes?"

"But before collapsing, the idiot told me to leave you alive."

"Alright. What are you referring to here?"

"I don't like asking another noble to join my group, but he did ask. Natalya, I wish to invite you to the U.S.S.G."

"Very well. Then let me out of these uncomfortable restraints first."

"And why would I do that?" Sonya said, raising her axe. "Do you swear on your honor that you will be a good member of our group?"

"Yes."

"Fine, then… I was hoping you would disagree." Sonya chopped apart the ropes and roughly pulled Natalya up.

"So, who are the members of your group?" Natalya asked, looking around. "Do you only have five members?"

"Yes. What did you think?"

"Anyways, who are these people?" Natalya said with a flick of her hand.

"I'm Sonya."

"Hm…"

"That's Lada, our cook." Sonya said, pointing towards Lada, who was currently excitedly looking through the storehouse shelves.

"That's Rosalind, one of our fighters." Sonya said, pointing towards Rosalind.

"That's Anna, our analyst." Sonya said, pointing towards Anna, who was currently reviewing her notes.

"And finally, that's Viktor, the only other noble in our group and the one which you severely injured."

"He's a strong one, isn't he?"

"Possibly the strongest."

"Stronger than you? Impressive."

"He has beat me twice in the last one and a half weeks."

"And you have defeated him how many times?"

"None."

"I see. So, what now?"

"I guess we wait for Lada to finally find something that she wants to cook."

"You have an interesting group dynamic."

"Just because you're a noble doesn't mean you can run your mouth all day. Shut up."

"Very well. What after?"

"Practice sparring, I guess… I want to see how good you are."

1 hour later

"Alright, let the fight begin." Rosalind said, laughing. "I'm going to enjoy this."

And with that, the fight started.

Sonya struck directly at Natalya's face, aiming for a quick takedown, but Natalya deftly jumped to the right and avoided the punch; only to take another to the arm when Sonya struck at her again.

"Ugh… I am not quite good at unarmed combat, Sonya." Natalya said, clutching her arm.

"Shut up and fight. Ura!" Sonya punched straight at Natalya again, but this time Natalya was prepared. She dodged to the right, punching back and sending Sonya stumbling backwards.

Sonya recovered rapidly, though, and just as Natalya was closing in, she launched off the wall, imitating Viktor's jump and easily knocking Natalya over.

"Where did you learn that?" Natalya said, struggling.

"Are you going to resign or not?"

"O-Of course." Natalya said, feeling the pressure on her chest immediately decrease drastically. "So where did you learn that?"

"Viktor." Sonya said, momentarily becoming lost in thought.

"Oh, I see. Any other details?"

"That's none of your business. So what did I do wrong?"

"Figure out for yourself. Anyways, now I need to watch Anna and Lada spar."

"Is this violence necessary?"

"It's a spar, not a fight."

"May as well be a fight."

"Oh, whatever. It helps us learn, as long as we try to learn from it. Anyways, I guess I'll start doing some exercises."

"May I join you?"

"Fuck off."

4 hours later

Four hours later, Sonya was busy trying to fix her now-broken axe, when suddenly, the door flew open.

"Kill the nobles!" Ten students ran in, charging forwards.

"This is going to be fun!" Sonya threw the axe head at a student, the axe head hitting him in the shoulder and immediately knocking him over, then charged forwards, the power behind her fists stronger than any weapon.

She punched at a student's face, breaking his nose, and kicked him in the crotch, the student crumpling to the ground, screaming in a very unmanlike fashion. Suddenly, another student jumped on top of Sonya, pinning her to the ground, but Sonya punched him in the face and kicked him away, getting up. Another student soon advanced on her, though, the student's fist aiming for her chin…

At that exact moment, Sonya futilely tried to jump back. At that exact moment, a silver glint caught Sonya's eye. At that moment, the student staggered back, clutching at a knife in his chest.

"Not bad. Where'd you learn that?" Sonya asked.

"Tutors." Natalya said, retrieving her knife from the student's body. "Now, shall we?"

"Stop talking fancy, and sure, we can fight together."

"This way of speaking is inherent in my upbringing. I cannot change it at moment's notice, Sonya."

"Oh, shut up." Sonya jumped back into the fight, punching and kicking left and right. Soon, the students were all down, dead, or unconscious.

"Impressive." Natalya said, stabbing every student in the chest with her knife to confirm their kills.

"Is this normal for you?"

"Of course."

"Ugh, you nobles are messed up…"

"Conflict between nobles and commoners was inevitable, Sonya."

"But not to the point of stealing and killing from all commoners on sight!"

"… Perhaps us nobles have overstepped."