There are several famous sayings throughout history.
"Hell is just a sauna."
"What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger."
"Walk through the fires of hell, and you will emerge with a will stronger than forged steel."
As far as Gavin was concerned, all those kinds of sayings were bullshit.
True hell, is surviving two months being trained by the strongest of Valkyrie sister warriors. Two months of never having a peaceful moment. Two months of being broken, torn apart and rebuilt, day after day. Night after night.
By the time the summer ended, Gavin was praying for school to begin. His summer started off difficult, if he's being honest, but survivable. First came combat training every morning; then when they were so physically drained they couldn't stand up straight, they worked until dark on their magic.
Most of the days, Gavin sparred with Astrid while Erza worked with Kara. For eight hours every day, it was a constant fight for survival mixed with healing magic.
It didn't take long for Gavin's patience to wear thin. By the end of the first week, Gavin snapped. Frustration had boiled over and he shifted in anger. He stood before Astrid. Proud, furious and shaking with power as he glared at her. Wind had ripped through the clearing and ruffled his fur. The surge of power had brought a moments pause to Erza's match with Kara.
The end result was predictable.
Astrid beat him to within an inch of his life.
"Let this be a reminder, pup, control your emotions." She healed him without ceremony, then walked back to her mark. "Get in position. We don't have time for you to lie around." Her cold words irked Gavin even more as he laid in the dirt, broken and his ego bruised beyond measure.
Gavin tasted dirt repeatedly as Astrid forced him to learn new methods and face his limits. Over and over, time and again the result never changed.
Erza endured the same treatment with Kara as she struggled to refine her fire magic and how to apply it when under pressure.
Gavin noticed early on that Kara seemed to pull her punches with Erza. Maybe it had something to do with Lunaria's parting words. Keep her safe.
Gavin didn't understand why Lunaria had issued that order to the sisters, but it didn't matter much at the moment. He was too busy getting thrown in the dirt to think about it.
With Gavin, Kara never held back, and the work paid off. Through blood, sweat, and tears, both of them gained skill and experience. They could, at least for a while, hold their own against the Valkyrie sisters.
One afternoon after Astrid threw Gavin hard. He hit the ground, rolled, and lay there grinning through sweat and grit. Astrid raised an eyebrow and stepped over him. "What is so funny, wolf?"
"I made contact." He pointed at her cheek with one clawed finger.
A thin red line marked the skin.
Astrid smeared the scratch with her thumb and glanced at the blood. "All that excitement over a scratch?" Her tone held honest confusion.
"Improvement." Gavin corrected with a smug grin.
Astrid responded to Gavin's confidence with even more extreme training that night.
After combat came three hours of meditation. The sisters drilled them on harnessing Mana and attuning to their elements. Every day they emptied themselves and pushed again, repeating the same spell to lengthen duration, improve control, and increase output. The goal was measurable growth.
By the end of the summer Gavin could cast complex magic spells even while shifted. Every evening Kara taught Erza battlefield tactics and close-quarters skills. Erza took to strategy quickly while Gavin lagged behind there and knew it.
It was literally hell in a sauna.
His body never felt rested, and his stomach never felt full. That was his life for two and a half months. He grew lean and hard. His Stamina sharpened and his pain tolerance climbed off the charts.
There was one side effect no one intended.
Gavin developed a deep hatred for anything with white wings, especially certain Valkyries.