The location of Aravel's military training grounds and headquarters was located not far from where the palace was. Even the days prior, they could already catch glimpses of the activity ongoing over there. While it was no surprise that Aravel also had its own army, it did intrigue the group to what sort of army does a nation like Aravel have.
Upon arrival, the group were immediately greeted with heavy security checks and inspections. Even though the Emperor, Empress and the rest of the princesses were there to escort them, the security was taking no chance at their safety. The group obliged, knowing this was standard procedure for guests of their calibre.
"Welcome to the Aravel military base, everyone," Reginsleif declared. "I would like to guide you myself but I'm afraid I won't be able to provide as in-depth a guide as someone who works here. As such, we shall have our guide for the day, Shiina and Sakuya, to lead you."
At his words, the two aforementioned dragonkin showed up from the sky. Shiina and Sakuya, being commanders of the dragonkin troops who escorted the Emperor's family to Tristania, could not have been a better pair to show the group around with them being familiar faces to some.
"Reginsleif-sama," Shiina and Sakuya dropped to their knees at once, showing respect to the Emperor. "You are in your training outfit. Will you be following us?"
"Yes, please," Reginsleif nodded. "Proceed as previously instructed."
The two brought the group to the main building ahead, presumably where the offices and storage were. As the entire training compound was huge, it was only natural to assume that they had a lot to look out for.
"Now, we will give you a rough overview of our training facility as well as the structure of the place," Shiina told the group as soon as they had registered their names. "As Reginsleif-sama has requested, we will be your guides for today. I am Shiina, Commander of the Emperor's private dragonkin squad."
"I am Sakuya, Shiina's younger sister and second-in-command," Sakuya continued on her sister's behalf. "The last time some of us met was back in Tristania. Then, we were acting as His Majesty's family's escorts. It was unfortunate we had to end our quick meeting so suddenly."
"Right away, the room to your left is where we have some paperwork done and stored," Shiina gestured to a room with the door closed on her right since she was facing them. "There's nothing interesting inside other than tables and papers."
"As the official Aravelean military, we are in charge of a lot of paperwork process as well," a burly male dragonkin with scars on his upper arm showed up to address the group. "The way things are, we have a rather complex hierarchy work order too."
"General, aren't you supposed to be busy with training?" Shiina sharply glared at the man. "Need I remind you that you're in the presence of the Emperor."
"Haha, don't need to get so uptight, Ms Shiina. I heard that we had guests coming over, so I came to greet them myself," the man said, sticking out his name. "The name's Bourek, it's directly translated from dragonkin so there's no correct spell for how you want to call me."
"Yuuji, crown prince of Tristania," Yuuji shook Bourek's hand with a confident smile. "Thank you for taking your time to meet us."
"Please, how can I not greet our delighted guests? So much so that a quick notice was issued by the Emperor himself," Bourek grinned at this. "As Ms Shiina had stated, I'm a General, one of the higher-ranked personnel in charge of the ground units."
"As I was saying, the military here is focused on a few factions," Shiina sighed, ignoring Bourek. "It would be difficult to explain the factions themselves since we are rather different from what the human empires and nations have, so it would be better for a direct tour."
"Let's go to my place first then," Bourek suggested. "It would be a good start."
"As much as I want to disagree… lead the way," Sakuya grunted, looking away from him.
"A-Are Shiina and Sakuya always so unsociable?" Kaze softly asked Lunaria, afraid of being overheard while they walked.
"Well, they are known as the Ice Pair within our ranks, so it is no surprise," Lunaria giggled at this. "They just act unsociable to those whom they aren't familiar with."
"But they should know Bourek though?"
"They must not like the chummy character he is, I suppose."
Arriving at an open area with a huge rock formation that looked like reverse claws sticking out from the ground, the group knew they were close to another nearby mountain.
"All factions have their individual regime and training space, so don't feel too surprised by that," Bourek gave them a heads up. "For now, we are at the close combat faction. In Czech, it would be the vanguard, comprising of the shielders, swordsmen, spearheads, whatever. In Aravel, we have the physical fighters who use their hands as weapons."
"Ah, is that why your outfit does not have any sleeve?" Chris observed, looking at the black clothes that stuck tightly to Bourek's body, revealing his muscular build. "It looks like a shirt, but with armour plates?"
"Indeed. I am the general of the faction of dragonkins who fight with hands, otherwise known as the 'Claws'."
To show off what he meant, Bourek's arms morphed into a dragon's limb. It was now bigger and covered in hard scales, with his hands turning into claws.
"The name is self-explanatory, 'Claws' for us using our transformation to our advantage," Bourek grinned, transforming his legs in the process. "Our legs are also part of the transformation since we use it to strengthen our fighting process like running and kicking."
"U-Um… question?"
"Ah yes, you are?"
Kaze raised his hand timidly, which was met with Bourek's eyes.
"Kaze, sir. Doesn't your transformation count as partial transformation? I thought it is difficult and dangerous to maintain partial transformation."
"Hmm, that's interesting. I never thought someone here would know about partial transformation. Still, a good question. I would need some help on this though."
Looking at Shiina or Sakuya for help, the two rolled their eyes before stepping up in front. Unlike Bourek, the two wore the same outfit that they had back in Tristania, so they were incapable of doing the transformation that Bourek did. Instead, they stationed beside Bourek and used magic to hold him in place.
"What I am doing wouldn't count as partial transformation. This is just a process called morphing, which essentially involves me transforming only my limbs. Most dragonkins can do that without a problem. Partial transformation brings out not only appearance, but the innate strength we dragonkins do as dragons. It is risky not only because our bodies are unable to contain the strength of a literal dragon, but also because it messes with our biology of transformation. The side effects of an uncontrolled or overstretch partial transformation is severe and should only be done as quickly as possible within a manner of a few seconds."
Kaze unconsciously glanced at Lunaria, who looked at the floor guiltily. Obviously, Kaze and the others learnt about it from Lunaria, who did partial transformation to save them from the Tauzenpod. She knew the risks and the backlash yet chose to do so without worrying about her own safety.
"Now, Shiina and Sakuya will use magic to suppress me in case I overstretch. Even for us 'Claws' unit, we don't do partial transformation. There is no physical way to train it," a cold sweat ran down Bourek's forehead. "For demonstration purposes, I shall partial transform."
Everyone took a few steps back at once, knowing the safety procedure of such a risky transformation. Taking a deep breath, Bourek closed his eyes to focus and released his innate energy. The atmosphere around them instantly changed, the pressure in the air increasing drastically while Bourek's body grew in size. His appearance had morphed such that scales had appeared all over his body and his face started shaping to become a dragon. Shiina and Shoko casted their spell at the same time as this happened, suppressing Bourek to the ground.
"A-As you can see… this is what a partial transformation looks like," Bourek growled, his voice becoming much deeper and course. "K-Kuh!!"
His body shrank once he disabled it and collapsed to the floor, panting and wheezing violently. Shiina and Sakuya immediately bent down, using magic to analyse his body. Once they had concluded he only experienced fatigue, they got up and went back to the Emperor's side.
"So… any questions?" Bourek asked, standing up straight. "Kaze, you seem to be quite familiar with this, because you don't look surprised."
To this, Kaze could only nervously chuckle. Back when Lunaria had partially transformed, there wasn't anyone within the group closer to Lunaria than Kaze himself, Sera and Shoko. That day, the others merely thought of Lunaria releasing an ultimate skill when in truth it was something far riskier in exchange for a hint of her dragon's true power. Lunaria squeezed Kaze's hand at the memory of the event, him gasping softly when he felt her skin. It was cold and drenched with sweat, speaking volumes about her anxiety. Yet, all she did was give him a small smile when he looked concerned for her.
This made Kaze feel guilty. He wasn't trying to make Lunaria relive her moments of horror when she was close to death's door; he simply got curious and asked a question. It was this moment of carelessness that stabbed at Lunaria's heart from the memories she had. Despite her physical self being fine, she was still recovering from the devil's attack. Causing her to suffer emotional damage from remembering one painful moment definitely stressed Lunaria's wellbeing to the point that she had to grip him for emotional support.
Kaze zoned out some of the questions his friends had for Bourek as he was preoccupied with the fact Lunaria was feeling uncomfortable by his question. By no means did Lunaria blame him for it since she knew it was not well established before, but it still made Kaze guilty.
"Now, we have the swordsmen," Shiina took back her job as the guide from Bourek, due to him needing a break from the partial transformation. "Their training site is close to where we are right now, being the 'Claws' unit. If you look over there, you can see them training."
Turning to their right, the group quickly spotted a separate location where they previously did not notice from being engrossed with the whole setup and scene of how Bourek's group trained. Now that their attention had shifted, they noticed the dragonkin swordsmen training behind another small rock formation that separated their faction's training spots.
Upon walking up to it, they passed by a modified barrier used to block of any unnecessary sounds caused by their training, be it explosions or metal breaking, such that the people on the other side wouldn't be able to hear it and disrupt their training. The transition from hearing grunting sounds to swords clashing was strange since they didn't expect the barrier to work that way.
"As you can see, how we train involves flight as well," Sakuya said, referring to how some swordsmen were battling each other in the sky. "We utilize our wings a lot when it comes to swords or any combat move since it is our advantage."
"One question that immediately comes to mind would be the style of fighting. Everyone here specializes in something that is unique to them, mainly because of how you are all brought up," Shiina continued. "For the army, we aren't an exception to Czech in that we train our soldiers with the most uniform training regime we have. While it is good to have differences in fighting techniques, war is won by whose army is the most organised and well-trained, not one made up of a bunch of random sword styles."
"That is not to say that some of our soldiers haven't excelled. What is taught to them, other than strategic training and sword activities, would also include the promotion of learning together to create their own formation," Sakuya nodded at her sister's words. "While we might not have as many diverse sword styles or combat formation as the humans might have, Aravel has certain unique methods too. For example, you all would know about Lunaria-sama mastering her sword style already."
"And Lunatea here is in the middle of creating her own one," Lunaria quickly added, diverting the attention away from herself.
"H-Hey, Lunaria-nee, there's no real need to mention that…" Lunatea muttered, feeling embarrassed she was being the centre of attention now.
"No, Lunaria-sama is right. Lunatea-sama indeed is talented with the sword as well," Shiina agreed with Lunaria, a smile appearing on her face as she praised the princess. "We have personally assessed Lunatea-sama's strength."
"Hmm, Lunatea, why don't you give us a demonstration?" Reginsleif smiled at his second daughter. "I would like to see how well you have improved."
When faced with a request from her father, Lunatea knew she could not deny it anymore. She accepted it with a loud sigh, taking out her blade from its sheath.
"Sakuya, please," Lunatea gestured in front of her, referring to becoming her temporary opponent.
"Yes. Please excuse me, Lunatea-sama," Sakuya stepped forward, the others standing back for a good amount of fighting space.
"Do as you would. They wouldn't be satisfied if we fought half-baked," Lunatea grumbled, causing her sisters to giggle or grin. "Mou… how annoying."
Sakuya produced a sword of her own and took stance, ready to face Lunatea. Once Lunatea had calmed down and raised her sword, Sakuya attacked first.
Starting with a thrust forward, Lunatea sharpened her gaze to time her deflection. Once the tip of the blade got close enough, Lunatea stepped forward and flicked her wrist to the right, instantly deflecting Sakuya's attack. Not wasting any timing, Lunatea quickly advanced forward with a second step, swerving her right leg from behind to the front. This shifted her centre of gravity, adding in more attack to her next attack.
With another flicker, Lunatea directed the edge of her sword at Sakuya. Unlike Lunatea, Sakuya chose to dodge, using the thick scales of her tail to block the sword while she rolled on the floor behind Sakuya. Getting to her feet by placing one hand on the floor during her roll to throw herself upwards, Sakuya jumped at Lunatea and struck from above. Lunatea followed Sakuya's body posture and blocked the attack. Sakuya used the force that Lunatea applied to block her attack by moving backwards, distancing herself from Lunatea.
With their quick exchange breaking, the two got into stance once again, ready for another round of fighting.
Lunatea inhaled and exhaled to control her breathing before raising one leg. Instead of taking a normal stance, this time she balanced her body weight on one leg and straightened her back, further decreasing her centre of gravity. With her right hand holding her sword, she raised it above her head and clipped the edge of her sword between two fingers, facing Sakuya in a weird stance the others hadn't seen before.
"Ho…" Bourek widened his eyes at this.
"Mm, Eastern-oriented Fighting Style," Reginsleif recognised the posture at once. "This is very interesting."
Kaze and the others were unfamiliar with the eastern nation's swordfighting style, hence why they felt a little confused upon seeing the way Lunatea had positioned herself. It looked very unorthodox and fragile without a wider base to hold her weight. It was then that Kaze remembered seeing something like this once before.
It was during the Moon Festival competition when Lunaria duelled with Yu Quan, who once stated he was from the east. The footwork he displayed was light and agile, much like what Lunatea was doing to further lighten her reliance on the ground to swing her sword.
Sakuya looked equally fazed from the stance that Lunatea had taken. Still, she stood her ground and got ready to intercept Lunatea's attack.
Lunatea now attacked first. Dropping her raise leg to the floor, her entire body suddenly flew straight across the ground to where Sakuya was. It wasn't even her wings that helped her move that fast, catching everyone offguard since the increase in speed from before was so drastic that it couldn't even be compared.
"Wha?!" Sakuya gasped, only managing to respond when Lunatea had already arrive in front of her.
Still, she managed to catch Lunatea's attack, which came in from below. As if anticipating the block, Lunatea's attack managed to open up Sakuya's lower half to become vulnerable. With Lunatea already being so close to Sakuya, Lunatea kneed Sakuya right in her stomach, knocking the wind out of the dragonkin. This decreased Sakuya's strength put into her previous defence as well as stunned the dragonkin.
However, Sakuya wasn't immature when it came to close combat fighting. Realizing what Lunatea was aiming for, she quickly took a half-step back and decreased the impact against her stomach, giving her time to think and counter Lunatea's next move.
Another short exchange happened between the two, simply involving their swords clashing against each other. While Sakuya attacked in a more uniform and closely guarded way, Lunatea's looked like she was moving in accordance with the wind. She made the sword fight look as though it was a dance, with her leading the tempo.
It didn't take long for a victor to get decided. At the end, Lunatea struck Sakuya's sword out of her hand and hovered the sword close to her neck. Everyone applauded once the fight was over, with Lunatea giving Sakuya a hug.
"Good job Sakuya, you performed well," Lunatea gave the dragonkin commander a proud smile.
"I-It was nothing compared to you, Lunatea-sama," Sakuya stammered with a look of admiration on her face. "Your swordsmanship was superb."
"It was indeed, Lunatea," Reginsleif chuckled lightly while clapping his hands. "It might not be a flashy fight, but It certainly was entertaining."
"Ah… thank you for your praise, father," Lunatea bowed politely in front of the Emperor. "Your kind words are too much for my incomplete move."
"Lunatea, you do know that it is not easy to invent a new style of fighting from scratch, right?" Lunaria laughed at her sister's words. "I mean, you took inspiration from the eastern sword fighting style and tried to make it into something unique."
"Yes, it's not ready. What I did in the end was use what I have already learnt to beat Sakuya," Lunatea sighed. "If only I was able to employ more of my moves."
"It was difficult, considering that you are still in the middle of researching and not used to using it in battle," Reginsleif comforted his daughter. "You still have a long life ahead of you Lunatea, use it wisely."
With words of encouragement from her family and friends, Lunatea accepted the humble victory she achieved against Sakuya.
After the small display of Lunatea's swordsmanship, the group got another round of training showcase by the dragonkins involved, ranging from flying sword fights to imbuing magic with their sword attacks. Even things that went to the tiniest details like how much power one should be able to use when striking or defending was introduced on a general basis since dragonkins had to control their strength to prevent their swords from breaking every time they struck.
While everyone watched on, Kaze's heart constantly shifted away from the tour itself to Lunaria, who hadn't seemed to calm down yet.