durnar

She's here!

Line up!

Yes, Instructor!

Yeah, looks like you're all ready. Excellent.

Instructor, may I ask a question?

(Kroos!)

Ask away.

Why did you bring an extra practice sword?

Come on, isn't it obvious? It's for our training, of course.

Man, during the break, I suddenly remembered a combat technique I used back in the day. I really want to try it out on someone.

Oh, of course, I'll be using the same stuff as all of you. Regular training equipment, not those electric swords I modified.

You'd better take it serious. Just because I'm not usually that hard on you guys doesn't mean I'll go easy when we're doing this for real.

If you don't want me to wipe the floor with you, then face me.

Have you read up on the steps to intercepting the enemy? It's in your training handbook.

Of course!

Good.

When we start off, we'll be facing each other, but we'll use the whole field after that.

Hm?

What are you spacing out for? Shouldn't you be more alert with an enemy right in front of you?

Uh, yes!

Stay alert!

Yep, that's more like it.

Since this is our first battle, I'll let you girls attack first.

Make sure to work with each other. If you aren't careful, it's going to be no different from me taking all of you on one by one.

Is that understood?

Understood!

Let's get started, then.

Beagle, keep an eye on her...

Hm...

Lava, Kroos, get ready...

Okay~

Don't have to tell me twice!

Hibiscus, I'm counting on you to heal us up. Beagle has more pressure, so prioritize her.

Understood.

Ready—

Go!

Too slow!

Uagh!

Oh no!

Hmph.

Beagle, push her back!

I'm trying!

Everyone, keep your eyes on her! As long as we got eyes on her, she doesn't stand a chance!

Take this!

Wah!

What the—?!

Ah, crap!!

Hmph!

Agh!

What's the matter, Lava?!

No!

Heyah!

Mmph!

Eh?

Ugh...

I have a clear shot on her!

Uhh...

Ugh...

Oh.

Instructor?

Gah...

Phew.

Stand up, all of you. I'll go over where you went wrong.

Yes, Instructor...

Lava, we actually had a shot...

My bad...

But how was I supposed to know Beagle would be in the way?

Sounds like we found our problem.

Y-Yes, Instructor!

(So scary!)

It's true that there's not much height difference in the terrain here, and those in the back could easily injure your teammates.

Aside from that, Lava, your Originium Arts are not very suitable for a closed environment like this.

Y-Yes, of course.

In a situation like this, you could've cast your Arts behind me to limit my movement.

Uhh—

Your teammates were already taking me on face to face.

So why focus your Arts on me?

*Whimpers*...

Beagle.

Yes!

(Guess I'm getting an earful...)

You still haven't solved that problem we talked about.

Right...

*Sigh*...

It's more stable now.

But not enough.

Cardigan really likes to rock around when she's on defense. It may create more openings, but that trick is never going to work on her.

I know you fight like that because you want to play it safe, but when you can't play it safe enough to fend off disruptions, you need to use your techniques to make up for it.

Come here.

Alright.

Shield up.

Shield up!

Do you remember what I did just now?

You blocked my attack and slammed my shield, and that led me into the path of Lava's Arts.

If Fang had been faster, she could've pushed me back before I rammed into you.

Just like what Kroos did the first time.

Sorry...

If you want to take my blow by yourself, however, there are three ways you can go about it.

One, come up with a way to counter the attack and dodge it.

This will expose your teammates to the enemy for a moment, but if you manage to take the chance and strike, you can quickly return to your defensive position.