Aerie had somehow instantly stuck to May the instant James gave everyone permission to choose their sparring partners.
"What are you doing?" May asked, looking down to see Aerie wrapping her arms around her own.
"What? You're not going to be my partner?" Aerie glanced up at May with teary puppy eyes.
"Urk..." May flinched from the sudden cuteness. "Cough... I never said no. Just don't get too clingy."
"Okay!" Aerie nodded.
Mike and Owen also somehow ended up together, mainly because it was Mike who was chancing after the fleeing Owen. Issac and Levi naturally partnered up together.
"So, what do you know about fighting?" May asked.
"Hit them, and don't get hit yourself," Aerie answered.
"That's right. That's all there is to fighting. Hit and don't get hit. May nodded. "But you're going to need a foundation for that to happen."
"Ummmm...." Aerie was confused.
"Don't give me that dumb look. Just let me see where your ability and talents lie."
Despite this, Aerie still had that look on her face.
A vain bulged from May's head. "I said... stop giving me that dumb look!" May shouted and threw a quick jab at Aerie.
"Eeek?!" Aerie yelped in fear and ducked down.
"Huh? She reacted to that?!" May thought in confusion as she pulled back her fist. "I thought you never had any fighting experience."
"Well, I only have a little thanks to the Second Lieutenant, but she barely taught me anything." Aerie sulked, remembering Ellia's little training exercise.
"Hey, I thought you a lot, kid!" Ellia shouted while weaving and slipping by flimsy and desperate attacks by Alex.
'Even if someone like the Second Lieutenant thought her, that was just pure reaction time. She may have a talent for close-quarter combat.' May thought in silence.
"Alright, then, let's see you attack." May smiled and signaled Aerie to attack her.
"A-attack you?" Aerie stuttered, her whole body coming to an abrupt stop.
"Yea." May nodded with a confused expression. 'Did I say something wrong?' All May wanted to see was what level of talent Aerie possessed.
"O-okay...!" Aerie finally replied after building up enough courage to do so.
"Don't take this personally!" Aerie yelled as she rushed at May.
May raised her guard to intercept May.
"Haaa!... eh...?" Feeling her balance tip, Aerie muttered in confusion.
"?????" May was baffled to see Aerie trip on nothing and face plant onto the snow. "We've got work to do...?"
Meanwhile...
"Should I fight back now?" Ellia asked while continuing to dodge Alex's attacks.
"No, please don't..." Alex grumbled with all hopes of his gone.
Puck!
Ellia drilled her fist up Alex's stomach. Hard enough to make him gasp for air.
"Hack! What the hell…?! How did you get so strong?" Alex wheezed on the ground, begging Ellia to stop.
"What do you mean? I was just always this strong." A strange light glinted from Ellia's eyes as she cracked her knuckles. "I'll slowly beat some sense into you."
"A-Argh…!"
Two hours later…
POW! POW! POW!
Ellia was in the middle of putting in three clean combo hits right into Alex's face.
It was a miracle that Alex hadn't passed out yet, but that was because Ellia had been controlling her strength and had avoided Alex's chin.
To Ellia, this was more of a strength training.
"Alright, now you try," Ellia said, looking at Alex's battered face.
"…" Alex didn't have any strength to respond. Only his guard was up to block any of Ellia's punches.
It was then that May had interpreted the two.
"Sorry for the intrusion, second lieutenant." May spoke.
"Oh, May! Perfect timing." Ellia smiled and pointed at Alex. "Heal him. I think he's finally getting the hang of it."
May's smile wavered when she saw the state Alex was in. May felt somewhat bad, so she decided to help out.
"Instructor James is calling for us," May said.
Hearing this, Ellia scratched her head and sighed. "Alright, let's go," Ellia said, leaving Alex. "Go train with Aerie."
When Alex heard that Ellia was leaving, he almost cried with joy. He slumped down on his bottom, tired from standing for two hours straight.
"Here." May leaned over and placed her cold hands on Alex's face. Alex quickly felt a warm sensation that soon enveloped his entire body.
In the next second, all the pain and aching from his body was washed away.
"T-thank you…" Alex thanked, looking up at May.
As a response, May smiled, which further comforted him.
Then without saying anything more, May scurried off to catch up with Ellia.
…
"So, how was Aerie?" Ellia asked when she noticed May now walking beside her.
"She's a bit clumsy at times, but I think she has the talent and proper mindset to grow exponentially," May replied with her honest opinion.
"Is that so..." Ellia muttered while staring at James not too far into the distance.
"Thanks..." James nodded at May in gratitude.
"Not a problem," May said back.
"Ahem... the reason why I called you both here is that it is you two are the only two that can proficiently take in my magic training," James said.
"Second Lieutenant can use magic?" May asked, a bit surprised.
"I'm also not sure..." Ellia murmured while secretly giving James the eye. 'Since when did he know that I was able to use magic?'
"Haha... if you're wondering how I knew, then it's simple." James chuckled as he felt Ellia's heavy gaze. "People with high proficiency in magic can pretty much determine someone's mana level, but you're also able to prevent that."
Ellia slightly nodded in understanding.
"That's something that will be taught to you later, but as of right now, I'll help you firm the base of your mana pool."
"Second Lieutenant, you wouldn't mind if I went first, right?" May asked.
"No, I don't mind," Ellia replied, simply because she didn't know how things were supposed to unfold. Perhaps it was better to watch it first.
Ellia watched May comfortably take a seat on the powdery snow, and James also sat right behind May.
"Deep breathes." James reminded while placing his hands on May's back.
Then as if a link between the two had been formed, May's body jolted, and a blue aura excluded from the two. That blue aura was definitely mana.
Although Ellia was sure that she shouldn't do this by herself, she just couldn't suppress the urge to perform what James and May were doing.
Sitting down in front of the two, Ellia copied their sitting posture down to their breathing pattern and closed her eyes.
'Two deep breath's with a pause in between, and a single exhale that expels all the air from your lungs.'
Remembering the books she had read before and examing the way May and James were circulating mana through their body, Ellia began attempting to try it herself.
While trying to circulate her mana through her body, Ellia felt something strange inside of her, akin to a bee's sting, but despite that, she continued to as if nothing had happened.