First Day Complete
"Hm." After attending to the other squads, Sergeant Alya came to squad 4 and looked at all of them thoughtfully.
In return, the group felt a bit nervous under her scrutinizing gaze. Was she impressed? Disappointed?
'Regardless, we did better than last time, so her assessment can't be that terrible, right?' Xander tried to comfort himself.
Alya spoke then.
"Okay. Compared to last time, you guys didn't perform half-bad, though, there was still a lot to be desired." She first addressed Xander.
"First of all, good on you for actually making this team function somewhat. I suppose you aren't totally incompetent in that area. Then again, you can still work better on your coordination with your team as a whole. Sure, you listened to that girl's callouts accurately, but you had no clue what the other two were doing, you guys need to figure out a way to communicate with each other completely, not just relying on one person." Hearing this, Xander blinked before slowly nodding.
'That's... exactly what I was thinking.' He thought with some surprise.
As nice as Aubrey's callouts had been, the whole thing was still pretty iffy. He obviously couldn't look back because his attention was fixed on his opponent, so he didn't know what Curtis or Falael were doing, making him act purely based on his trust in Aubrey and instinct. A single moment of miscommunication would have screwed everything up.
'Hence the plan I presented before the second fight. Our coordination isn't good enough to let us act as a single unit just yet. Also I do wish there was a way for us to communicate with each other without Aubrey shouting the next instructions. That would be dumb in a fight against smart people. Maybe there's a telepathy spell somewhere...' As he mused, Alya faced Curtis who had reverted to his usual nervous self.
"Your performance during that battle was also okay. Your spells were timely and helpful, but there's something I'm curious about," She tilted her head and regarded him with what looked to be amusement, making him shrink. "You said you were a defensive mage. But during that fight, you seemed to play a purely supportive role. I especially expected you to be the one to block that beam attack. So why was your frontline fighter doing it instead?" Hearing her blunt but correct words, Curtis shuddered.
"That's... I..." He floundered, and Alya nodded.
"Thought so. Next time you state your archetype, actually stick to it." Then she faced Aubrey.
"A pure support-type mage who focuses on perception magic. That's rare." Aubrey's expression tightened as she awaited her own judgment.
"It's helpful, I will admit. From the looks of things, majority of you guys' plan hinged on you. Meaning you were useful. But I have a question concerning that." Alya hummed.
"In this place, squads are placed in all sorts of situations so they learn to be flexible and adaptable. One of these is a survival simulation, and more often than not, squads get scattered in those. So what happens if you get separated from your squad with no one to to protect you? You're a bit of a sitting duck there, aren't you?" Hearing one of her primary fears stated so flatly, Aubrey looked down, her hands squeezing her clothes.
"Actually," Xander cut in. "I have an idea on how to address that issue, among other things. Please let her off for now." He said earnestly, making both Aubrey and Alya to look at him in surprise.
"Really now?" She raised an amused brow. "Alright, I suppose I'll hold you to that." She gave Aubrey one last glance before looking at Falael who stubbornly held her gaze.
"Your spell was quite effective. Saying it was the deciding factor during that fight wouldn't be a stretch," Her smile turned sweet. "Besides that, you were absolutely useless during the whole thing. Well, now that we know how pathetic your mana pool is, I suppose you acting earlier wouldn't have been wise. Still, that's kinda sad. I guess you're gonna have to be put on mana endurance training." She ripped into them mercilessly, and Falael gritted their teeth.
'Huh, I see,' Xander glanced at his Sergeant. 'If you perform decent enough, she gives biting but actionable feedback. But if you perform badly, she still gives you feedback... but she makes you feel terrible at the same time.'
At that moment.
Xander felt a tug on his sleeve and nearly jumped out of his skin.
He looked down with wide eyes and saw Mia looking up at him, incessantly tugging at his sleeve as her big amethyst eyes were fixed on him.
"... Yes?" He asked, barely managing to suppress his surprise.
'Holy... I nearly drew my sword.' He exhaled.
"Food." Mia said simply, and Xander looked around.
Curtis just looked confused, Aubrey was staring intently at Mia, but her brows were knit tightly together, like she was observing a puzzle that couldn't be solved. Falael was too angry at what Sergeant Alya said to pay attention to the anomaly. And the Sergeant herself was looking at Mia with what could be described as cautious amusement.
He then looked back at the small girl and scratched neck.
"Uh... Sure." He took out the same pouch from before and pulled out several strips of meat before handing them to her.
Mia hummed as she took them from his hand and started eating with enthusiasm. Only this time, she didn't fall to the ground and pass out. Granted, she looked like she could barely keep her eyes open.
'I wonder how her clothes are still clean and straight despite sleeping on the dirty floor all day...' He sighed. The girl was a mystery, that's for sure.
"... Anyway, you lot have another ten minutes before your next fight." Xander was startled.
"I'm sorry, again?" He frowned, and Alya turned her sweet smile to him, making him shudder.
"Of course. After all, in an actual battlefield, some squads can get deployed dozens of times in quick succession before getting any proper rest. And even the rest part is iffy. Compared to that, this is nothing." Xander held his tongue and sighed in his heart.
'Yup. This is a military school through and through.' He smiled wryly.
"Great, since you understand, use your ten minutes well." Alya clapped her hands together before walking away.
Falael grumbled something to himself while Aubrey looked at Xander curiously.
"... You said you have a way to rectify my lack of combat ability?" She asked carefully.
"Well, it's more like a theory. I need to understand how you function better before I can confidently say it's possible. But hey, seems like we're gonna be cooperating together for the whole day, so that might come easier than I thought." He smiled.
"... I see." Aubrey stared at him for a moment, likely gauging his sincerity before nodding.
"Um..." Curtis raised his hand.
"You don't need to raise your hand man, just say what you wanna say." Xander couldn't help but chuckle, and Curtis coughed in a embarrassment.
"R-Right. Sorry. Uh... About my lack of defensive spells..." He trailed off.
"Yeah... She was kinda right about that one." Xander admitted, and Curtis's face fell.
"Oh..."
"But," Xander continued. "If defensive magic is indeed your primary focus, then I can tell it's gonna be pretty good since your support spells are already so useful." His words made Curtis light up slightly.
"Y-Yeah! My defensive spells are much more potent!" He said with genuine enthusiasm.
"That's the spirit. Let's see some of them during the next fight." Xander smiled, and Curtis nodded.
He then turned to Falael who also met his gaze at that moment.
"... What?" They bit out.
"... Your spell was well timed. And the damage was impressive." Xander finally said.
"Tch, don't patronize me. I know you agree with what she said." They folded their arms almost petulantly.
"Doesn't invalidate what I said," Xander shrugged. "Also, Starlight Magic, huh. I've never heard of that." Falael narrowed their eyes at him.
"I see what you're trying to do and it won't work. I'm not gonna suddenly open up because you act interested." They scoffed.
"I actually am interested, but if you don't wanna share, that's fine," He shrugged again. "Just saying, I think it's cool." At that Falael's ears twitched.
"I... You...!" They floundered.
'Ego as large as the moon but more fragile than glass and doesn't know what to do with genuine compliments... There's a word for people like that.' Xander tried and failed to remember the term.
At that moment...
"Huh," He blinked as a weight settled on his back, and two arms wrapped around his shoulders and a small chin settled on one shoulder.
Instinctively, his arms went back to support a pair of thighs, and he looked to the side to see Mia's sleepy face.
"Uh...Mia?" He blinked.
"Comfy..." She mumbled and yawned, then she was out like a light.
'... Dude.' Xander just stared.
"... Heh." A chuckle made him look at Aubrey who had turned away, her shoulders shaking.
"I know you're laughing." He said dryly.
"Um... I think it's good she's comfortable enough around you to do that?" Curtis offered, but he sounded unsure of his own words, and Xander just sighed.
'Well, she's remarkably light, so it's not exactly problematic to carry her. But still...' He shook his head.
"Well, whatever. Since we still have another fight upcoming, we should get prepared. Something tells me our Sergeant won't be so graceful to make us fight the same creature again." He glanced towards Alya who was ripping into another squad with that same infuriating smile of hers.
So just like that, the team... most of them, anyway, began to plan once more.
***
By the time the first day of training ended, the sun had already dipped low beneath the horizon, painting the sky in a golden hue.
'Ugh, everything hurts.' Xander thought as he lay on his back, panting, and the rest weren't much better.
Falael was straight up unconscious, laying face down in the dirt as they had expended every last drop of their mana. Aubrey sat on the floor with a dazed express, holding a tissue to her nose which was bleeding profusely. Curtis looked like he wanted to throw up and was barely holding it back, and Mia...
Mia had settled on Xander's chest, sleeping soundly.
"Well, that was fun to watch." Sergeant Alya looked down at Xander with her arms folded and smiled bright.
Xander looked up at her. The view from below was certainly enticing, but he was too tired and too irritated by the woman before him to appreciate the view.
"Why... would you... make us fight stronger creatures?" At that, she tilted her head.
"Oh? Last time I checked, soldiers don't get to decide the difficulty when they encounter an enemy or enemies." Xander groaned at that.
'Of course she'd say that.' Alya then looked around.
"You people didn't do horribly, though. Definitely better than the start of the day. And now I've collected enough data on all of you to start training you lot properly, starting tomorrow." That made Xander shiver.
'What would "proper" training look like, then?' He tried not to think about it. Instead, he sat up with a grunt, supporting Mia so she didn't fall back and forced himself to stand.
'Thank goodness for Mana Breathing training. Otherwise, there is no way I'd be able to move after all of that.' He thought as he stood.
"... I don't think they are in any condition to return to their dorms." Xander pointed out as he looked at his half-dead teammates.
"Correct. But don't worry, they will be carried to their dorms. Students being to tired to move isn't anything new here." Alya explained, and Xander sighed.
"Alright..." He then looked at the sleeping Mia in his arms, then he looked at Sergeant Alya, whose smile turned a bit forced.
"... Give her to me, I'll take her to her dorm room myself." Hearing this, Xander immediately agreed and handed the girl over.
As soon as he did, he glanced at his teammates.
"Uh, good job you guys." He said and walked away, unsure of if they even heard him, heading straight to his dorm room.
Soon enough, he arrived, and Mary was already standing at the door waiting.
"Welcome back milord." She curtsied. "I have prepared your bath. I also prepared a meal for you, buying better ingredients with the credits you entrusted to me." Hearing this, Xander felt like Mary was the most beautiful creature he had ever laid his eyes on.
"Mary, you are a life saver." He exhaled.
"I'm simply performing my duties." She said humbly, and Xander smiled.
"Sure. Make sure you get something to eat yourself." He said and walked past her, patting her shoulder.
He quickly went to the bathroom, and sure enough, the tub was filled with heated water. He quickly stripped and entered, feeling the warm water move over his muscles, making him groan in pleasure.
'Hm?' That's when he noticed that the soreness in his muscles seemed to be receding quickly, and he blinked.
'Oh, did she also get that soothing powder and mix with the water?' He realized as he recalled a pretty popular product he'd seen when exploring the school market.
'Damn, she thought about everything, huh?' He sighed as he sunk deeper into the tub, silently thanking her as he thought back to how the day went and his teammates.
He recalled how they fought, the weaknesses he'd detected both in them and in himself, and how to improve.
'Falael's primary issue is their lack of Mana. Aubrey's is her lack of combat ability as well as some mistakes she makes with her callouts. Curtis needs more confidence and battle awareness. Also his ice, while pretty durable, could be better. Then there's Mia...' He sighed.
'She's clearly not simple. But as interested as I am in what she's truly capable of, it's not an exaggeration to say she is pretty useless right now. Maybe I'll ask her tomorrow...' With that, he cleaned himself and soon exited the shower, putting on a bathrobe.
As he prepared to put on his night clothes and get something to eat, his whole body froze the moment the stepped back into the roo.
'H-Huh...?' His eyes widened as he gulped.
Because, right now, in his bed, a familiar white-haired girl was fast asleep, her witch hat discarded next to her.
"M-Mia?!"