Hokuto was quickly approached by a small group of three, consisting of one boy and two girls. Hokuto estimated that out of the three, the boy was the youngest, and he looked back at her with a mixture of fear and admiration. The other two girls appeared to be twins, you could only tell the difference between them because of the length of their hair - one had really long hair and the other had short hair.
The girl with the short hair extended a hand, to which Hokuto shook it promptly. "The name's Jane, my twin sister here's Crystal. The timid boy behind us is Jonas. However, he's really strong. He doesn't like to be disturbed very much."
Hokuto eyed Jonas who indeed looked shy and timid, but she could sense the energy flowing through his body. Jane was correct after all.
"So, why did you come to me?" Hokuto tilted her head and asked politely, trying not to sound offended.
"We saw how you took down Mercedes in a single punch. I think you should join us. You don't know this just yet, but we often break down the troop into smaller squads when we conduct our training. As we rarely operate solo, we train like this in order to promote competition, camaraderie and some other positive stuff."
Hokuto nodded in approval, the education level of these fellas were quite a notch up based on her own experiences in the North Blossom Kingdom. Deciding it would be good to make new friends in unfamiliar territory, Hokuto smiled. "Alright. I'll join you guys."
"That's really great," Crystal stepped in and hopped excitedly in place. "Compared to the other groups, we're lacking in numbers, so having a powerhouse like you would be really great. Do you know any weapon techniques?"
Hokuto shook her head in embarrassment. "The [Rose Sword Saint] was going to teach me sword techniques but due to some pressing reasons we couldn't start, I've only completed body training and hand-to-hand martial arts." she confirmed.
"Just be careful, I saw how you casually blocked Mercedes' attack with a steel weapon, but you shouldn't strain your body so much." Jonas quietly spoke. He seemed like the worrywart type. Hokuto wondered why that was. "Crystal and Jane are both sorcerers and focus primarily on using magic versus people like us who prefer to fight on the front-line. However both of them still have some close combat weapon in emergencies."
Hokuto mentally took this note in mind; in a small team like this it was important to know who had what role. "What does the training normally entail?" Hokuto asked casually.
"You'll see, Instructor Vermont will explain it to us. Actually, we normally aren't taught by him, but it seemed like the Mage Empress could have gotten him to take over our former instructor's position due to you. We should thank you for that, Vermont is a really great man." Jane answered with some reverence.
It seemed like Vermont was a highly respected man in the academy.
After some time, Mercedes' injuries were totally healed by Grenseal, who quietly left the hall without any words and left Vermont to his own devices. The gruff instructor smiled and clapped his hands, causing everyone to stop talking.
"Everyone, get into your squads," he bellowed out. He had already seen Hokuto join Jane's team, so he did not say anything to Hokuto specifically. "We'll begin the team training now."
Hokuto quietly glanced at Mercedes, who looked back at her with a mischievous face. She wasn't sure if she felt humiliated but one thing was for certain, Mercedes would probably still find ways to trash talk her.
Vermont had already learned about the current status of the troop with regards to how far along in their training they were. He also had to take into consideration the fact Hokuto was new to being a Magic Knight. After a couple of moments in silence, Vermont cleared his throat and began to discuss the importance of 'synergy' in teamwork.
It was similar to the concept of the chemistry between a group of people - it was having a tacit understanding between another and being able to transmit commands and orders without needing to speak much if at all. This was the first time Hokuto was hearing about any of this, so she listened to Vermont intently.
Eventually, Vermont told everyone to settle down and said he would take them to the outdoor training grounds which was behind the entire academy complex. This caused a number of the troop members to bubble up in excitement, including the ones in Hokuto's team.
"If we're going outside, it means we are going to have some proper field activity," Jonas explained to the clueless Hokuto. "It's a chance for us to display our increased strength now that we have you." he said in a rare moment of excitement.
Hokuto nodded. "I see, I guess that Vermont is going to have us do mock battles." she said quietly.
Everyone was guided out of the hall and it wasn't long before Vermont had led the entire troop to a vast green prairie behind the Royal Academy that seemed to stretch endlessly. The boundary of the field was marked by picketed fence, but Hokuto's improved eyesight allowed her to see faint traces of magic past the fence.
Dotted around the grassland were tents and some flag poles at supposedly strategic places, as Crystal decided to mention this to Hokuto when they arrived.
Vermont had the kids assemble near a giant statue of a cross.
"Today, I'm going to have you guys play a game out on the field. Grenseal has placed magic markers throughout the entire area, and in your teams, you will have to work together and compete to collect as many of them as you can. You may use whatever means you have at your disposal to steal the markers of other teams. The cross serves as a timer, and after thirty minutes, whoever has the most magic markers wins. The team with the least magic markers will be punished by me." Vermont explained.
Hokuto blinked.
"Any questions?"
A boy standing next to Mercedes asked a question. "Where do we begin?"
"I'll assign your teams to those tents scattered around the area. You have to start there and use your magic abilities to find the magic markers. When the time is over, the cross will start to make loud sounds, and you will need to return to your assigned tents."
"Gotcha."
Hokuto kept this information in mind, before looking at Jonas. "I guess we're sort of doing a mock battle?" she laughed.
Jane and Crystal already looked as if they were planning a strategy. Jonas simply laughed and looked back at Hokuto. "Yes, I suppose we are. Now we have a chance to win this. Let's show the rest of those guys what we're capable of!"