Chapter 29
AT A REMOTE TRAINING AREA, Alfina and her six sisters as well as Helknae and both of her sisters had been training for a few hours. After warming up with the basics, they’d split into groups and had a three-on-three-on-three-on-one mock battle.
Helknae and her sisters seemed to be struggling to keep up, and occasionally a shrill cry would reach Mira and Bruce’s ears.
“I wonder if they’re okay…” Bruce said anxiously, turning toward the cry’s location.
Mira smiled and answered, “Since you have time to worry about other people, I might have to crank it up a notch,” before summoning a dark knight.
The moment the words left Mira’s lips, the color drained from Bruce’s face.
Intensive training to improve Bruce’s skills had begun on their end as well. Its purpose was to help him fight more practically and become able to successfully evade his opponent’s attacks while using high-level evocation.
Using the tower shield partial evocation, which he’d begun to get the hang of, he blocked the dark knight’s vicious blows while muttering incantations.
No matter what others might say, Bruce was the real deal. He managed to do this after trying only a handful of times. And yet he was only just beginning, and there were further trials in store for him.
The dark knight wasn’t wielding its usual black sword, but rather a wooden training one. Furthermore, coiled around Mira’s arm was the healing white serpent, Asclepius, who was ready to jump into action. Unlike with Helknae and her sisters, Bruce only had a week to train, and so it’d be a particularly rigorous and intensive regimen.
What’s more, after training, he also spent time studying books to absorb new summoning techniques and knowledge. Bruce would later say that this week was both the most strenuous and most fulfilling of his entire life.
And so, time passed in a flash. Soon, it was dinner.
Helknae was among those sitting around in the dining hall waiting for dinner to be finished. Apparently Alfina had decided that they’d be living alongside her and her sisters until their skills reached the next level. However, while they’d initially been ecstatic at the prospect of entering the palace, things were now different. Their exhaustion from training seemed to have hit them all at once as, utterly burnt out, they lay slumped over the table. They looked half-dead, and they were really quite exhausted considering they’d been training only for a single day.
Meanwhile, the seven sisters themselves looked visibly worn out as well. While maybe not quite so much as the three sisters, they nevertheless all wore sullen expressions. It certainly seemed that one final, super tough exercise had been added to the very end of training.
And yet, given how they’d all quickly assembled for Floedina’s dinner, one could infer that they still had some energy left.
Furthermore, while Christina had looked as if she were on the brink of death during training, she seemed to recover extremely quickly once it was over. In fact, she appeared to have the most energy right after training ended.
“Master, Master! Apparently there will be dessert after tonight’s dinner,” she said with a bright smile on her face, applauding Mira for being the one who got the ban on desserts lifted. “Next time, you’ll have to join us for…” she then began to say, before cutting herself off. “Talk to you again when you have time!” she added, before returning to her seat as if fleeing.
A moment later, Alfina came over. She’d spent the day assessing the three sisters’ current skills and abilities, and she had come up with a plan for their training moving forward. Alfina then presented Mira with a handwritten copy of her plan for Helknae, Elenae, and Raglinae.
“Hrmm… I see. This seems to be quite well balanced.”
She’d been right to entrust Alfina with the job. She’d perceived where each of the sisters excelled and, taking this into consideration, had written out a very detailed training program.
Apparently, Helknae was best suited to be the tank, while Elenae was best suited for close range and Raglinae for medium range.
After giving her report to Mira, Alfina turned to Bruce, who was sitting beside Mira.
“What do you think, Master Bruce? Taking their strengths into account, I think this is what they’re best suited for. Of course, depending on how you plan on employing them, as well as your own tactics, we could go a different route,” she asked. She was seeking Bruce’s thoughts because, depending on what the summoner’s fighting style might be, focusing only on what they were most suited for might not necessarily be the best approach.
“No, it looks perfect to me. Please go ahead as you see fit.”
Two of the sisters would stand at close range, while the last would fight at medium range. Unlike Mira, Bruce couldn’t fight up close using Immortal Arts, so he’d have to fight from the back, which meant that Alfina’s training plan actually worked out perfectly.
“Just leave it to me,” Alfina answered with a bow before briskly walking over toward the three sisters. Then, patting each member of the exhausted trio on the shoulder, she showed them her training plan.
A silent cry passed from each of the sisters’ lips when they saw it.
“Oh ho, [Acoustic Detection], huh? That sounds pretty handy. Check…!”
After a spirited dinner, Mira lounged in her room while flipping through her Encyclopedia of Skills, looking for any skills that might be useful. Then, once again, a visitor came to her room.
“…All right, looks like the coast is clear,” Christina said after poking her head into the room and looking every which way. “Master, listen to this!” she then cried out.
“Hrmm, you said the same thing yesterday when you came by. What is it?”
The day before, Christina had stopped by Mira’s room, but when she saw Alfina there, she’d said it was nothing and left. But it seemed as if today she was good to go. Her behavior indicated she wanted to discuss something that she didn’t want Alfina to overhear.
Mira then asked what was up. And, sure enough, the reason for Christina’s visit was to complain about training and plead her case to Mira.
“…And so, that’s when practice usually ends. But…”
According to Christina, the most rigorous portion of training usually ended fairly quickly. They’d each have a one-on-one bout with Alfina, in which Alfina would sweep the floor with all of them.
But their new three-on-three-on-three-on-one training system meant a lot of work for Alfina. However, after their rigorous training session, Alfina had still mopped the floor with all of them in one-on-one bouts. As one might expect of the top Valkyrie in Valhalla, she was on another level.
However, Christina said the one-on-one bouts at the end of practice this time were unlike any she’d experienced.
“I’m sure it’s because you asked for her help that she’s going all out like this. And I’m thinking it’ll probably be like that tomorrow, and the day after that… So, Master! Would you please come and watch our training?! Because, if not…” Christina pleaded, a desperate look on her face as she clung to Mira.
However, someone else seemed to arrive just then, as the sound of knocking echoed through the air.
Christina immediately gave a start. Then, seeming to have perceived something, she shakily murmured, “Don’t tell me…” before turning toward the door.
“Come on in,” Mira replied, and sure enough, Alfina was standing in the doorway. Speak of the devil!
“Master, I wanted to continue yesterday’s practice. Would you allow me to borrow the sacred sword once more today?” Alfina declared. She wanted to train with the sacred sword Sanctia again so she could come up with a new special technique.
Or at least she seemed to think that this was a good way to justify being given the honor of having her master bestow her with the sacred sword yet again. And on her face was a slightly, nay, considerably eager look.
“Hrm, no problem. But you can only use it until midnight at the latest. Once the clock strikes twelve, you have to go to bed. Got it?”
This was Alfina she was dealing with, so unless she explicitly told her to rest, she would stay up all night training. And it seemed that Mira’s prediction had been right on the money, as Alfina answered, “Yes, Master…” sounding slightly dejected.
And yet, when Mira summoned the sacred sword Sanctia and handed it over to her, Alfina did a complete one-eighty. She kneeled and began trembling, as if overcome with emotion.
“Ah, it’s an honor!” she cried.
And after celebrating for a moment, she stood up, at which point Christina began praying that she’d just go on her way without any fuss. Right then, Alfina’s gaze turned toward her.
“By the way, Christina. Do you have some kind of issue with our training? I believe I overheard you saying something about watching.”
“Huh?! Um, well…the thing is…”
It seemed that Alfina had heard what Christina had just said. But, judging from Alfina’s demeanor, she’d only heard the very last part. Despite her inner panic, Christina began racking her brain for a way out. And after a brief moment, she found one.
“Um, I was just thinking that our training hasn’t really changed much from normal. But, like, Master has the sacred sword…and those ashen knight armor spirits. Don’t you think she’s evolved quite a bit…?” Christina began. She picked up steam as she continued winging it. It seemed like she’d gotten used to coming up with such excuses.
They’d been training for over thirty years. And having continued to train in the same way, she wondered whether this kind of training was still optimal given their master’s current situation, as well as their own.
If the techniques and tactics that were employed had changed, then wouldn’t their training need to change to reflect this as well? This was especially true because their master had become so much stronger since they began training, and the tactics she used had both changed and grown so much.