Karkat groans, a rumbling thing not quite at the level of a growl, and puts his palm to his face. He would have answered her just for the first part, but the second guarantees that he won't walk away from her.

"First of all," he starts, "I'm not telling you to kill anyone. I'm telling you that you won't be able to defend yourself against even the animals if you don't learn how to wield that thing properly. And second, I meant just what I said."

His arms fold. He's frowning still, but there's little to budge that off his face. It's nothing hostile, at least.

"I died three times in the world I was in before this. Once on a technicality, twice directly. It's way too complicated to get into when it doesn't affect this place, so chalk up the times I revived to metaphysical bullshit so I can move on. Here, obviously, we're subject to the arenas. It's a giant death match, so obviously everyone who doesn't win dies, but they revive us afterward with their fancy science whatever. I don't know the specifics, but I've been through three regular arenas and two mini versions without winning any of them, so you do the math."