That first bout was the only time they won that day. Gin had the fire magi weaken their flames down to do mild burns only, as their rings normally only dimmed the fire. Two hits from a fire magi marked them as out, making things more challenging.
The next four days had mixed results, depending on which magi they faced. Vemril pushed each of them in combat. She discovered that Jenn was a tough fight, as she had been focused on using her aether in small bursts instead of letting it burn freely. Yukiko couldn’t match her in raw combat, so she stayed away from Vemril unless she could get in an attack from behind.
Five days of fighting had allowed them to get a better feeling for the overall battlefield. Their awareness of the arena began stretching beyond what was directly before them, helping each of them warn the others of impending attacks.
Every fight took a toll on their aether— only the aether-infused jerky let them keep going, but even that had limits. Each day left them drained and unable to do more than wash and eat before collapsing into bed.
Their novice friends had been jealous of their training, but used what had been their history class time to come and watch, after Dia approved them to do so. Every morning, besides Magi Squares and studying, they had a small rehash of the previous day’s fights so the novices could learn about what had worked and what hadn’t.
On the sixth morning of their week off, they all felt excited. They didn’t have fights all day that day— instead, they had other plans. Dia had agreed to what they wanted and wished them well when they’d asked her the previous evening.
~*~*~
“Good morning,” Daciana greeted them. As usual, she was the first of the novices to the table.
“Good morning,” Gregory replied.
“I had questions about yesterday,” Daciana said as she slipped into her seat beside Jenn. “Did you plan that attack with Yuki?”
Gregory thought about what Daciana was talking about. “You mean where I rushed past her, and she slipped into my shadow?”
“Yes.”
“Not in the way it happened,” Yukiko said, picking up the conversation. “We’d talked about how the position of the sun casting shadows could make it possible for me to use them to move.”
“You’re getting faster at it, aren’t you?” Nessa asked as she sat beside Yukiko.
Yukiko gave her a pleased smile. “I am. You noticed?”
“From the first day we watched to yesterday, it looked like it to me,” Nessa said. “Does it take more aether to do?”
Yukiko nodded. “Yes. Speed and distance do cost me more aether.”
“Which is why you started jumping less…” Victoria said slowly. “You’ve been using your aether sparingly.”
“We’ve all been trying to,” Gregory said. “The first few days left us all but dead. Last night, we were still tired, but not exhausted like we had been. Even with the jerky we had, it wasn’t enough to fully recover between fights.”
“But that was part of the training,” Jenn said. “I’m sure it was.”
“It would be what Gin would do,” Yukiko agreed with her. “We’ll rarely be in perfect condition for a fight. This lets us get used to being suboptimal.”
Daciana nodded. “That’s smart. I hadn’t thought of it.”
“I’d been wondering about that, and I agree with you,” Gregory told his wives.
“Yesterday was the last day?” Victoria asked.
“Yes,” Yukiko smiled, “which brings us to today. You’re going to train at Gin’s?”
Daciana nodded. “We’ve been looking forward to it.”
“Today is going to be more different than you thought,” Yukiko chuckled. “Indara won’t be there today.”
All three novices looked disappointed at her news.
“Instead, the three of us will be,” Yukiko said after a pause.
“Promise?” Daciana asked, her tail wagging fast.
“That’s what we have planned for today,” Yukiko replied. “We have approval from Dia and Indara. We didn’t think you’d object to a day of training with us.”
“Of course not,” Nessa said, a large smile on her face. The smile faded slightly. “Is… is it allowed?”
“Dia said it was a gray area,” Yukiko replied. “As long as you don’t object and we aren’t promising anything about you absolutely being in the clan, it should be fine. Gregory had training from a magi of the Eternal Flame during a day off once.”
“We would like to train with you,” Victoria said.
“After we study, we’ll all go to Gin’s,” Gregory said, “but first, Magi Squares.”
~*~*~
“Welcome to the Watashi residence,” Elsa greeted them, her smile growing larger when she saw who it was. “Welcome back. Please come in. We didn’t expect all six of you. I’ll let Baylyss know. Please excuse me.” Elsa shut the door behind them and then hurried off, not running, but clearly moving as fast as politely allowed.
“She was excited,” Daciana laughed.
“She didn’t expect us to be here,” Jenn said.
They were just putting their slippers on when Baylyss met them. “Apprentices, Novices, it is good to see you. We didn’t expect you three,” Baylyss said, looking at Gregory and his wives. “I will make sure refreshments are in order. Are you going to use the courtyard first?”
“Peaceful Fist first,” Gregory replied. “After that, if it’s okay, we’d like the children to have the majority of today off.”
“I had planned for it, as Indara has started to teach them unarmed combat,” Baylyss said. “Is she not coming today?”
“She isn’t, but we will take her place,” Yukiko said. “She had them working on falling? We can teach them that. We’ll need the second training room though, as the other one will be for us to spar in.”
“I’ll have it ready for you by the time you finish your meditation,” Baylyss said. “It hasn’t been overly long, but they have been just as focused on doing their chores and practicing as they were when you were out of the city.”
“Good. How is Elsa doing?”
“She is doing very well. When she does find free time, she has taken to reading.” Baylyss’ lips turned up at the corners. “I believe she’s trying to emulate those she looks up to.”
“As long as she doesn’t shirk her duties,” Yukiko smiled.
“Oh no, she is quite certain that her tasks are done before she goes off,” Baylyss replied. “They should be gathered by now, so if you’ll all follow me, please?”
“Baylyss, before we go,” Gregory said, “if it’s okay with you, the three of us would like to stay here tonight. We have tomorrow off and would like to spend the time with the children.”
Baylyss’ smile grew and she bowed her head. “That would be lovely. I will make sure dinner is prepared with that in mind. I take it this information is not to be shared with them until later?”
“Please, we want it to be a surprise,” Yukiko said.
“Very well. I’ll show you to the changing rooms. Your gi are still hanging up and waiting for you.”
“Thank you,” Yukiko smiled.
Entering the inner courtyard, Gregory smiled, as the children were all present. The six of them had stopped to change into gi, and Gregory was happy to see the children were similarly attired.
“We are ready for instruction, Sensei,” Elsa said formally, bowing to them. The rest of the children bowed along with her.
“Very well,” Yukiko said. “Everyone, spread out and take up the first stance.”
~*~*~
When their meditation came to an end, the children were all smiling.
“We were told you’d started training,” Yukiko said. “Indara will not be here to train you today, but in her place, the three of us will. We’ll be taking turns with you, as we’ll be sparring with the novices. Once we’re done training you, you’ll be allowed to sit along the edge of the room and watch us spar, but only if you do your very best today.”
Elsa bowed low. “We will not disappoint you.”
“Very well. Jenn will be your first instructor,” Yukiko said.
Jenn stepped forward. “Second training room. Let’s go.”
As the children filed out, led by Elsa and followed by Jenn, Victoria smiled. “They’re so cute.”
“They are,” Gregory agreed. “We get the first training room.”
Daciana was already moving, eager to fight.
“We’ll be fighting in rotation,” Yukiko said as they trailed Daciana. “Loser steps off, and the next person in line fights. This way, everyone has a chance to practice and, as we’ll be going for most of the day, you should get the chance to face everyone multiple times. After an hour, I’ll be switching with Jenn to train the children, then Gregory will switch with me.”
“Then we’ll pause for a snack and meditation,” Gregory said. “Once that is done, we’ll go back to sparring, and the children will be watching those fights, since I’m sure they’ll do their best today.”
“Understood,” Nessa said.
“This is all unarmed and without aether, right?” Victoria asked.
“That is correct,” Yukiko nodded. “This is the best we can do to help get you ready for the first tournament.”
“And we thank you for it,” Nessa said.
“Thank us afterward,” Gregory chuckled. “You saw the pain we endured over the last five days? Today is your day.”
~*~*~
The hours slipped by as they sparred. Daciana was aggressive, but controlled in her actions. Nessa was more cautious, ready to capitalize if given an opening. Victoria had the roughest time of it— she was the least trained among them, but she kept picking herself up and asking questions to improve.
When Gregory went to the children, he could see the tiredness in their faces, so he went a little slower. He corrected as needed, but made sure that none of them were pushed too hard. Elsa was nearly vibrating during the last hour, and Gregory just grinned as he watched her do her absolute best.
When their snack break came, they informed the children they would be able to watch them spar, which brought smiles to all their faces. Tea and small sandwiches helped rejuvenate the adults. The yard was quiet as they ate and meditated, with the children trying to copy them.
“There is one thing we wanted to tell you before we go to spar again,” Gregory said as they all got up. Seeing that he had all eyes on him, he cleared his throat, “Tonight, Yuki, Jenn, and I will be spending the night here.”
“Really?” Elsa asked with wide hopeful eyes.
“Yes. After our friends leave, we’ll have dinner, and after that, we were thinking of playing some games with all of you,” Gregory said.
The children began to chatter excitedly, each suggesting different things. Elsa cleared her throat after a moment, and they settled down. “We would love that,” Elsa said, “but that is after sparring, and we don’t want to distract you from that. I will speak with the others and we will have solid ideas about the games we’d like to play, if that’s okay?”
“That’ll be fine, Elsa,” Yukiko smiled. “We look forward to it as much as you all do.”
~*~*~
After they had finished sparring for the evening, Gregory was with the male children in the bath, the women and girls having gone first.
“What happened to your arm?” one of the youngest asked upon seeing the scars.
Gregory glanced at his arm before taking a deep breath. “Bane wolf.” Seeing the wide eyes and fear, he spoke on, “It’s fine. Bane wolves would never attack you here, but I grew up in a small village out on the northwestern fringe. On my age day, a bane wolf came into the village.” He glanced at the others and saw he had their rapt attention. “It was going after a friend of mine, and I yelled at it. As I had just received my blessing from Aether, it decided to come after me instead.”
“Did you run?” one of the boys asked.
“I couldn’t,” Gregory said. “You see…”
He explained the whole attack to them, and even let them touch his scars.
“Will they go away?”
“Maybe in time, but I’ll have them for a very long time, according to the proctor who saved me.”
“But you saved your friend?” another spoke up.
“Gunnar is still alive, yes,” Gregory smiled. “Friends are important. They help you when you need it most.”
The kids all exclaimed that they were friends with each other, and Gregory grinned. “Good. Hold onto the friendships, help each other grow and succeed. Now let’s finish bathing. We don’t want the women to think we’re just lounging around in here.”
~*~*~
Freshly bathed and changed, the children rushed off to see if they could help with dinner. Gregory found his wives and the novices in the parlor.
“I thought you three were gone already,” Gregory said as he entered the room.
“We were just having a chat,” Yukiko said. “They’re leaving now, but they wanted to wait for you.”
“I’m glad I didn’t take longer, then,” Gregory chuckled.
“That would have been problematic,” Jenn agreed.
Victoria was the first one to Gregory. “Thank you… For doing this for all of us, but also for taking the extra time to explain things to me.” She bowed formally to him.
“You’re welcome. I know how hard it is to get your feet under you when you first get here. Luckily, you, like me, found friends to help.”
Victoria moved aside, and Nessa went to stand before him. “You’ve shown us that we can succeed, even without a great clan. We will give everything we have to show that we’re worthy of joining Aether’s Guard.” With a deep formal bow, she stepped aside.
“Nessa is right,” Daciana said, having taken her place without giving Gregory a chance to reply. “The help you give us… that all of you give to us,” she added, looking back to Jenn and Yukiko, “means a lot. I know I push more than they do, but that’s because I know I have to if I want to achieve what I want. Knowing that you support me… us in that gives me hope.”
When she stopped talking and bowed, Gregory shifted so all three of them were in front of him, and he bowed back. “The clan would be stronger with you. Moreover, you are friends, and that makes it even more important to help you. If you keep giving your all, I’m sure you’ll get to where you want to be.”
All three women blinked at him, and their cheeks pinked.
“They do need to be going,” Yukiko said, coming to stand between him and them. “Elsa, can you show them out?”
“Yes,” Elsa said, moving from where she’d been watching from beside the door. “Please follow me.”
