Strengthening Training Part 2: The First Day of Training (Front Half)
“Alright! Let’s get started!! I was actually planning to teach you what it means to be a maiden from the very beginning, but my ally told me you all aren’t aiming to be maidens! So, we’ll just do some sparring instead!!”
With her beautiful flowing green hair swaying, Will called out to the eight individuals lined up before her with a voice that overflowed with charm, yet was filled with a lively wildness that one would not expect. Among them were Stella, Rio, and Fon, who had asked her to train them. The other five, including Ferno, who was preparing as if it were the most natural thing in the world, were all of equal or greater skill than Will.
After glancing at the five, Will told them to wait and then pulled the three main participants forward. She positioned them a few meters apart, a distance that even an average person could close in just a few seconds, and had them take their stances.
“Against you all in your current state, I think three of you at once without kicks should be enough. Now, come at me! If you have at least the minimum skills and knowledge to fight, all you need to do is gain experience!!”
With that, she raised her voice, and before Fon, who had been distracted, could react, Will’s fist struck his abdomen. Caught off guard by the unexpected blow, Fon was sent flying backward, only to be caught by Ferno, who had been watching.
“What about the time limit?”
“I’ll stop when I determine your limits, so keep going until then.”
“That’s what she said! Now, if you just stand there, you’ll only keep getting knocked around!!”
With Will’s voice as she tossed Stella by her collar and Fon’s groan as he was thrown toward Ferno, the three-on-one sparring match began in earnest.
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The first to attack Will was the unscathed Rio. She drew a knife and stepped back, trying to stab Will from behind as she took a strong stance with her hands on her hips.
“Good judgment! But a maiden has no blind spots!!!”
Maiden Theory 42: A maiden’s eyes see all.
This was one of the absurd theories that Ferno, who had experienced various unreasonable and supernatural phenomena, could not comprehend. Thanks to this theory, Will had a literal line of sight encompassing a radius of one hundred meters around her. In a blur, she grabbed Rio’s back, snatched the knife away, and tossed it aside.
“Oh?”
Just as Will was about to pursue Rio, a dagger pierced the ground in front of her. If she hadn’t noticed it and pulled back slightly, it would have struck her thigh, causing a serious injury. Though it was an unexpected attack, it was already in Will’s line of sight, so she easily dodged it, but it succeeded in halting her movements.
(…Coordinate)
(Understood, my lady)
A silent communication through eye contact and finger movements. Rio attacked from the front while Fon approached from behind, coordinating their breaths and timing for a pincer attack on the momentarily halted Will. A simultaneous attack from both directions, a pincer move that would leave a normal human unable to respond, forcing them to either take the hit or abandon one side to avoid severe injury.
“Nice try! But blades can’t reach a maiden!!”
Maiden Theory 23: Blades cannot harm a maiden.
However, their opponent was a kindred spirit of absurdity (Ferno).
Will approached Rio, who was dancing toward her, and seized her wrist holding the knife, pulling her close. With a swift spin, she sent Rio tumbling to the ground with a sweep of her leg, then moved toward Fon, whose timing had been disrupted. She grabbed his arm, spreading her own arms wide as she collapsed his knee, leaning in close to whisper a sultry breath that was different from before.
“Fall.”
Just a single word, neither a spell nor anything special. But for Fon, who had no resistance to women, the mere act of looking directly at Will, who radiated an aura of feminine charm, was enough to send him into a daze. With beauty that could turn heads in a crowd of a hundred, Will’s alluring whisper reached Fon’s ear, who was now literally at her feet.
“…Sorry.”
With that one word of apology, Fon’s face turned bright red as he lost consciousness.
“One down.”
Licking her upper lip lightly, Will tossed Fon’s unconscious body aside and swiftly subdued Rio, who was trying to sneak up with a knife. She pressed her fingers against Rio’s hand holding the knife, placed her other hand under her chin, and lifted her head to meet her gaze. As their eyes locked, Will licked her lower lip and slowly raised her brow, smiling.
“…You’re acting like a Succubus.”
“…You’re wasting your good looks.”
Just as Rio was about to fall into a daze, she heard the exasperated voices of Ferno and Fana from the sidelines, snapping her back to reality. Shaking off Will’s grip, she leaped back to create distance, switching the knife to her left hand while pulling out a folded spear from her sleeve with her right, readying herself to face Will.
“Now, I can see the challenge ahead. Let’s play a bit more before we wrap this up.”
Will caught three daggers that came flying in a straight line like items from a store shelf, tossing them back effortlessly. She dodged a thrust from Stella, who had emerged from the shadows, and while rolling Stella’s body, she spoke.
“Playing.”
“Not even a proper training exercise, just a game.”
Seeing Will, who bore no marks of injury or even a speck of dirt, the conscious Stella and Rio readied their weapons. They understood that she was superior, but they had yet to fully grasp the extent of their skill gap, so they fought with all their might, though not to the point of desperation.
“…Hah, here I go.”
“…I’ll kill you.”
Thus, they unleashed their murderous intent, showing their resolve to kill even if it meant trading blows. Their sharpened killing intent shot forth like drawn blades, aimed directly at the light-footed and vibrant Will.
“Ah ha!”
A laugh was all the response she needed.
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Thirty minutes later
“…Kyu.”
“…Impossible.”
“That was decent, I suppose!”
Stella and Rio lay sprawled on the ground. They showed no signs of serious injuries like fractures or torn armor, but they were drenched in sweat, breathing heavily in a state of utter exhaustion. In contrast, Will had only a bit of dirt on her, and she approached Lulu, who had come closer, cradling the two fallen girls.
“So, should I tell my ally now?”
“No, wait until they wake up. If we keep them going for about ten minutes, they should come around.”
“Am I supposed to do this the whole time?”
“That’s the plan, but is that too much?”
“Not at all! A maiden can handle anything.”
“Then first… it seems Zem can’t hold back, so deal with him.”
“Leave it to me! I’ll take him on!!”
“Alright!!”
“…The order will be Kuru, Jero, Fana, and then me. Jero, keep track of the time and stop us. I’ll have a quick chat with Philo.”
“Got it, boss.”
With that, Will and Ferno exchanged light banter before quickly wrapping up their conversation. With renewed enthusiasm, Will and Zem began their sparring match. The atmosphere shifted dramatically from when she had been facing the previous three, as they exchanged fierce blows filled with intent to kill. Meanwhile, Jero, calm and collected, took charge of timing as Ferno walked over to where the three fallen were gathered.
Watching as Lulu tended to them, he approached Philo, who was writing in a notebook.
“…How did it go?”
“Better than expected. I thought their skills would be lacking, maybe even as weak as mid-rank demons, but they can definitely hold their own.”
“They wouldn’t survive against Ferno, though.”
“True. Considering the average opponents Ferno faces, even if they were assigned to the mid-line, they’d likely get caught up and perish. They might survive if they were with Fana, but then Ferno could be in danger.”
“That’s why I asked you guys.”
“Right, good call. I wasn’t particularly inclined to teach, but they seem to have more than enough potential and are quite interesting.”
“…Make sure to get permission, alright?”
“Of course, they’re different from the others.”
“That’s fine. Have you come up with a training plan for the days ahead?”
“Hmm, it seems like they lack stamina. If they can’t last three hours even with breaks during a fight, that’s a bit concerning. Their attack power will likely develop over time, and their judgment isn’t bad. They seem to have at least the minimum mobility, and mentally, they should be fine, except for that one.”
“I’ll have to toughen him up with some harsh training eventually. At worst, if I help him with some matchmaking, he might lose his virginity. Considering his personality, that should do the trick.”
“Hmm, well, I’ll leave that to you. So, what about getting him accustomed to the supernatural?”
“That’s the top priority, but he won’t adapt that quickly. He’ll need to literally dance with death and claw his way back to life before he can reach that point. But there’s no reason to put him through something like that just yet.”
“Is that so? I think the sooner, the better.”
“…What?”
“Ferno was born under a star like that. He’s bound to face some unimaginable monster that makes the Demon Lord look like a mere nuisance, without a doubt.”