Combat training.

William’s body was bruised all over, with his arms hurting particularly bad. It was instinct that made him raise them whenever he saw the lethal wooden weapon come down to crack his head. It was instinct that saved him even worse pain.

Aoi would not let up!

‘Stand up, you big baby! This is nothing! Come on, come on! Fight back, you coward!’

An overwhelming and harsh trainer in front of him and a terrible and annoying second in his head. Add to it everything Will was supposed to be doing in this dangerous little spar, and he was feeling more than a little overwhelmed.

Aoi did not move like this last time.

“I was fighting on borrowed power the other day,” his trainer explained. She rested her wooden sword on her shoulder for a moment, giving Will a merciful moment to catch his exceedingly ragged breath. “It’s hard to say whether it made me stronger or not. I just know it wasn’t comfortable, and that made it difficult to use. Now I feel in my own skin again, so I can move the way I always have.”

‘She also doesn’t have to deal with us getting her horny and distracted.’

Yep. Enchantment magic was banned for this spar, since the point was to grow more accustomed to using other types of magic while in a straight up fight. As Aoi put it, adrenaline and danger are the best but harshest teachers. Either it works or you get hurt.

Mercy time was over, and Aoi went on the offensive again, bringing her sword in an upward strike from below her hip. Will managed to put up his arms in time. He was hit by the wooden sword with enough **** behind it to cause a small fracture in his bones. But that didn’t happen.

Will felt the impact, but the pain and injuries that a hit like that should’ve caused didn’t happen. It was strengthening magic used to make the body tougher.

“Not good enough!” Aoi chided him, yet didn’t pursue when Will walked back to put more distance between them. “At a bare minimum, you should be able to stop a bullet.”

“Stop a bullet!?”

‘Sounds useful. Guns are scary as shit.’

Will grunted. He shouldn’t be surprised that strengthening magic could reach that level, considering what other types could do. He doubted he could reach that level today, though.

“We’re not done yet, William.” Aoi took a stance, holding her weapon in front of her with both hands. After a deep breath, she was ready to jump on him.

Will clicked his tongue, tired and frustrated of being a sandbag. In a split moment, as he saw the sword coming down on him, he focused as much aether on his hands as he could and moved to stop the wooden blade. Bad idea.

It hurt. Oh boy did it hurt. Not nearly as much as it should’ve, and he did manage to stop the attack without breaking any fingers, but fuck did it hurt. Will groaned, grit his teeth and closed his fists around the sword, pressing hard. A soft crack was heard. He managed to damage the sword with grip strength alone, but it wasn’t enough. Something more…! He needed something more!

The lightbulb in his head lit up, and he tried something he only just found out was possible. He already felt the energy flowing within him and could control it to a moderate extent. It didn’t need to be precise. He just needed to push it out, but how?

The first things that came to mind were some games he’d played at a friend’s arcade machine way back. Characters would push out energy waves from their hands to do cool super moves. It was the closest thing he could imagine when thinking of what to equate evocation magic to.

It was crude and barely a spark, but the aether gathered in Will’s hands found its way out of his body through his palms. It almost looked like a flash of purple flames, but it didn’t quite resemble fire.

It did the trick, at least. The sword in his hands cracked in two, splintering violently. Satisfaction welled up in Will’s chest. He’d done it! He’d visualized something and it happened! And what did he earn for his efforts? A kick to the stomach for which he was unprepared for, leaving him without breath and throwing him back to the ground.

“Destroying your opponent’s weapon doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve lost. Remember that and never let your guard down,” Aoi said.

“...Sure.” Will grunted and tried to catch his breath first. That kick caught him without his strengthening magic up, but Aoi was nice enough to hold back and not shatter his ribs. So nice.

His merciless trainer dismissed her shattered weapon, letting it dissipate into the aether it was made from and vanish into thin air. Her shoulders relaxed and a proud smile rose to her lips. “Nevertheless, that was impressive. That was your first ever use of evocation magic, am I right?”

Will nodded tiredly, still not quite ready to talk.

Aoi awkwardly rubbed her neck and bit her lip with a grimace. “I… was a little too hard on you, wasn’t I? I promise I wasn’t trying to let my frustration out on you.”

It was a bit of a struggle, but Will managed to sit up and let words out. “I didn’t think you were, but I would’ve believed you if you said that was the case.”

Aoi walked up to Will and bent slightly to offer him a hand. “How are you feeling?”

“My everything hurts.”

“If nothing’s broken, then you’re officially a better strengthening user than 70% of people who use it.”

That made Will feel a lot better, but still out of petty **** for what was practically a beating, he wasn’t subtle in the slightest as he peeked at her cleavage inside her tank-top. Aoi helped him up without commenting on that.

“Let’s leave it at that for now. Your control of aether has improved, your use of strengthening magic is becoming more natural, and you’ve even begun to internalize the use of evocation magic. On top of all that, you managed to hold on for three entire hours. I’m genuinely impressed, William.”

“...It’s been three hours?” Didn’t feel like it. Felt like much less, somehow. And yet… “Urgh.” The room spun from a sudden attack of lightheadedness and the bruises in his body were beginning to hurt more.

“You used too much aether during this spar. You’ll experience some dizziness until you replenish it. Once aether awakens in your body, it becomes something similar to blood and nutrients in that losing too much can affect your health.”

‘Uuuurgh. Wiiiiill! You need to fuck her right now! I feel sick!’

‘She doesn’t want to, Ishtar. You know that.’

‘But I need sex! Three hours of that and no reward? I don’t think I like her teaching methodology.’

“Come,” Aoi said. “Let’s go back to the cabin for now.”

Walking wasn’t as difficult. Will’s legs felt heavy from the workout, but they hadn’t taken many hits. He followed Aoi to the cabin, dragging his feet until the smell of spices hit his nose. After getting closer, Will also noticed the back end of an old car parked behind the cabin.

Was someone here? Aoi didn’t look startled, so… she was expecting this?

The two went into the building, and the moment they passed through the door, they heard quick steps coming from the kitchen. Nanami came out to greet them with a bright smile and a pink apron around her.

“Oh! Are you guys done for now? Give me a moment. Lunch will be ready in five minutes.” The younger girl went back to the kitchen to finish whatever she was making.

Will looked at Aoi, wordlessly asking why Nanami was here. Not that he minded in the slightest, but he had assumed she was busy.

“She insisted,” Aoi said with a scowl. “Said we’d **** if I was allowed to cook. The nerve of this girl, I swear.”

Nanami was making them lunch? And it already smelled this good? Will was looking forward to it.