With a complicated expression, Tsubaki asked nervously, "D-did she have the same decision as Koneko Toujou?"
"Relax~ You already knew that Sona wouldn't give up her responsibility on you lot. Although she can't be here right now, she never stopped worrying about you. When I said that I'll be coming back alone due to the dangers of traveling, she requested to take care of all of you."
Everyone visibly sighed in relief after hearing that.
"And it looks like I came in at a good time since I was able to see the current state of your group," Kisuke continued, "It seems like you're falling behind, even with those Sacred Gears in addition."
Saji gritted his teeth and said, "We're doing our best here!"
"True. You might be doing your best, but did you honestly think that would be enough? Despite doing your best, did the gap between you and Gremory-san's group shrink? Saying that they have a Longinus possessor or their group was already strong from the start is not a valid enough reason for why you're being left behind."
"Then what are we supposed to do!?" shouted Saji.
"...Saji," Ruruko, fellow Pawn of Saji, tried to calm him down. Though like everyone else, frustration is obvious on her face.
"Chill. I'm not blaming you. I'm just saying that there has been a minimal opportunity for your growth. Although Azazel-san gave you those Sacred Gears, I doubt you received proper training. You probably received training from Serafall-sama, but someone like her training people? You might just find yourself chanting Magical Girl stuff."
Tsubaki and the rest of the girls shuddered as they recalled Serafall's magic training which for some reason, was always themed after Magical Girls.
"Ah... I guessed it right," muttered Kisuke after seeing their reactions, "Nonetheless, I came here to give you that opportunity. But before that, I have to ask a few questions. First of all, would you like to train under me?"
They already knew his capabilities so they didn't hesitate to come up with an answer, "Yes! We would like to take this opportunity!" Tsubaki answered while the rest nodded along with her.
However, Kisuke's atmosphere suddenly became heavy and his eyes became sharp which made them jump on their toes, "Good... Now my next question is, are you willing to risk your lives to become stronger?"
Everyone hesitated but Tsubaki was the first one to answer while gritting her teeth due to the pressure Kisuke was emitting, "We are already risking our lives fighting these battles with our measly strength. If we don't do it, then we won't have more opportunities as you already told us and we'll just die somewhere in those battles."
Hearing her words, everyone else from the Student Council realized their position and soon after, one by one said yes to Kisuke's second question.
Kisuke released a bit of his pressure and nodded, "Good... Now for the third one. But first, let me tell you that training under me won't guarantee you becoming stronger."
They raised their brows at his statement but didn't interrupt him.
"In fact, the chances of you dying is pretty slim with me around, but the training itself might cause you a mental scar that you may not be able to recover from which will make you inept in the battlefield and forever retire from the frontlines, only hoping that you'll never step on it again."
"Sure, you might be thinking that you could take on everything right now, but I could guarantee you that you won't like my training even after you finish it. If I were to guess, all of you would wish that you never took my training on the first day of your training. Of course, after you've already agreed on it, I won't allow anyone to back out anymore until you finish it."
"You might be wondering why I would push you to that extent. The answer is simple, it's because both you and I don't have much time. You really don't really have time to be training with how volatile the current situation is and I have to go back where the others are in a few days. Knowing that, are you still willing to take on this training?"
Tsubaki swallowed a mouthful of saliva in nervousness and instead of giving her answer to Kisuke, she first turned to her fellow members, "I already decided to go with this despite the risk... However, I won't force you to come with me. This probably won't be the same as all the training we've had, so it's perfectly fine to back out as the risks are too great."
"You're looking down on me, Vice President. Of course, I would accept this! I might regret this later, but this is the push I needed!" declared Saji.
Soon after, after a few minutes of hesitation, everyone said yes to Kisuke's final question.
"Great," Kisuke then stood up and activated a teleportation circle, "Well then. Let's go. If you're doing something, then you have to drop it. We don't have much time."
"W-we're going now?" asked Reya, Sona's Bishop.
Kisuke turned to her with sharp eyes and asked, "Got a problem with that?"
Reya shuddered and immediately shook her head, "N-no! None sir!"
Everyone then realized that the training had already started.
"I'll be contacting Serafall-sama and say that your group will be under my care until the day I leave. She'll also be coming later as I'll ask her to look after you since I can't be with you around the clock. Though don't expect her to help her with anything. I'll explicitly tell her that she can't interrupt."
They then disappeared from the Kuoh Academy and arrived at Kisuke's hideout within the Dimensional Gap.
"So it's this place..." commented Tsubaki as she looked around since this is not her first time here. However, she also noticed two cloaked individuals near them, "They are?"
"Ignore them. They have nothing to do with you," answered Kisuke before turning towards the cloaked individuals, "I'll be with you within half an hour so please wait."
The two of them nodded and stepped away from the group, silently waiting while standing.
"Follow me," Kisuke instructed the Student Council members. Although they were curious about who they are, they didn't dare voice out any questions regarding that.
After traveling for almost five minutes, Kisuke and the rest arrived at the spot where several Hotsprings could be seen.
Kisuke separated from the group for a bit before taking out seven featureless wooden mannequins holding a wooden sword each.
"These are the training dummies that you'll be using," explained Kisuke, "Within these dummies is my skill set that will move it. In other words, you'll be fighting these things for the first part of your training."
"...What are the rules that we need to follow?" asked Tsubaki.
Kisuke couldn't help but smile and approve of her question and answered, "The skill of these dummies will always be set higher than your own. However, that won't be much training and won't be able to achieve my goal for all of you."
"So while fighting these, all of you won't be allowed to use your Sacred Gear or any spells against it. In addition to that, you're not allowed to use any weapons."
"Huh? Then how are we going to fight it?" asked Momo, another one of Sona's Bishop.
"You have hands, arms, legs and feet. Heck, you can even use your teeth or forehead to fight them. Aside from that, you could also use Ki or Magic power circulation to strengthen your body which is different from active spells that do the same."
"The goal of this training is not for you to learn some skill set or improve your Sacred Gear usage but to amass personal battle experience."
"With that said, let me add a few more reminders. There are a few times these dummies would stop attacking you. First is if one is seriously injured. If that were to happen to you, you have to jump in that Hotspring yourself since the other dummies won't stop for the others to help you. It has some recovery features. Though not as much as the Pheonix Tears, it can mend a severed limb over time."
Everyone was again shuddered at his words wondering why they would need to heal a severed limb. But Kisuke didn't allow them to interrupt, "Second is if you're fatally injured. All the dummies will stop so that the rest can help you."
"F-fatal!?" shouted Saji.
However, Kisuke only raised his hand to stop him from further speaking, "I already warned you that you may die so don't ask for an explanation regarding that. If that were to be fatally injured, you have to jump on the other smaller Hotspring to recover, though it'll be painful, you'll recover as long as you're still alive."
"Finally, they'll stop at break times. Every four hours, they'll stop for fifteen minutes so you can take a break. I'll prepare a nourishing drink that you'll take within the duration of your training. It'll be specially designed so that it'll replenish all your bodily needs while also eliminating the need for using the toilets."
"And for your sleep, you could use that cabin over there that has a formation to help you calm your mental state while also recovering your tired bodies. With that, you'll only need an hour of sleep each day."
"I-in other words, we have to fight these dummies at least 21 hours a day?" asked Tsubaki with a twitching expression.
But Kisuke only shrugged his shoulder, "I already said this won't be easy. Well then let's start! Each one of you take one dummy! You can change your clothes later with your sleep time!"
Everyone followed Kisuke's instructions nervously and separated from each other with their dummies. Once Kisuke activated the dummies, they started moving slowly before suddenly brandishing their wooden swords at their Devil opponents.
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Editors:
28th00: Hell training time? Wait, the dummies are at HIS SKILL LEVEL? Oh boy, that's just bullying. It will increase your combat experience insanely fast though!