Aioze took everyone to train on a rocky and empty terrain. Aioze sits on a rock.
Aioze – Now I'm going to give you a pot with your names on it.
Aioze looks at Himeno.
Aioze – Himeno, you'll be the first to draw, if you choose your name then you'll draw again.
Himeno – Okay.
Himeno goes to Aioze and takes the pot.
Himeno – The name drawn was Koharu.
Aioze – The first fight will be Himeno against Koharu.
Himeno and Koharu – Okay.
Aioze – The rest will stay here with me watching.
Shana – (Himeno is weak, Koharu will win easily.)
Yuki looks at Shana and smiles.
Yuki – (Come on Himeno, surprise them.)
Koharu – You're not going to use any weapons, are you?
Himeno – I don't need to.
Koharu – (Himeno's strong point is long-distance techniques, and it takes a while for her to charge her techniques. If I inhibit her, I can win.)
Koharu then goes all out against Himeno. Koharu kicks Himeno. Himeno blocks the kick by placing both of her hands toward Koharu's face. Himeno jumps high behind Koharu. Himeno ends up tripping on the ground. Himeno crouches down. Koharu then tries to kick her in the face, but Himeno quickly dodges. Himeno then appears behind Koharu. Himeno grabs both of Koharu's arms and throws her backwards. Koharu tries to use her FEELINGS ability, but Himeno steps on her stomach, winning the fight.
Koharu – aaarrghhh!
Aoize – Himeno is the winner.
Fujimoto, Shana, and Max are surprised.
Shana – Did Koharu lose to Himeno?
Yuki – She's been training non-stop since yesterday.
Aioze – Himeno and Koharu, come back here.
Koharu looks at Himeno and smiles.
Koharu – You're very strong.
Himeno – Thank you, you fought well too.
Aioze looks at Koharu and Himeno.
Aioze – Koharu, you lost because you underestimated Himeno, and you, Himeno, still have to practice your movements because they were slow at times.
Himeno and Koharu stand near the others. Aioze looks at Yuki.
Aioze – Yuki, now it's your turn to draw.
Yuki then goes to the pot and takes one of the papers.
Yuki – The name written here on the paper is Shana's.
Shana – (Now it's my turn.)
Shana – But I'm a healer.
Aioze – And who said that's my problem?
Shana – But...
Aioze interrupts Shana.
Aioze – Being a healer doesn't stop you from fighting.
Shana – That's right.
Yuki and Shana are going to fight.
Shana – You're a swordswoman, but aren't you going to use your swords?
Yuki – That won't be necessary.
Shana goes after Yuki, Shana tries to punch Yuki who just dodges, Yuki then kneels Shana in the stomach and then kicks her, making Shana roll away.
Yuki – Our level is very different and you should have noticed by now, even if you recover your form it will hurt you.
Shana remains silent.
Aioze – Yuki is the winner.
Fujimoto – (Yuki is very strong.)
Aioze – Yuki and Shana come back here.
Yuki and Shana return to where the others are.
Aioze – Shana, you urgently need to train your hand-to-hand combat moves.
Shana – That's right.
Aioze – Now Fujimoto and Max are going to fight.
Fujimoto faces Max.
Fujimoto and Max – That's right.
Fujimoto and Max start fighting. Max uses his Physical Enhancement ability, he tries to punch Fujimoto, but Fujimoto manages to dodge, Max keeps punching at an impressive speed but Fujimoto manages to dodge.
Yuki – Since when does Fujimoto have that speed?
Shana – That's impressive.
Fujimoto – (I can't keep dodging forever, I need to find a gap to hit him soon.)
Max – You're pretty fast, but at some point you'll get tired.
Fujimoto then continues to dodge Max. Fujimoto finds an opening and kicks Max's left elbow, but the one who feels the pain is Fujimoto because Max's body in the Physical Augmentation form makes his body harder.
Fujimoto – Ouch, ouch, ouch, that hurts.
Max prepares to catch Fujimoto distracted.
Fujimoto – (It went wrong, I wasn't paying attention.)
Max then aims a punch towards Fujimoto's face, but Max's transformation ends and the punch ends with minor damage. Fujimoto then manages to counterattack Max by hitting him with a kick in the stomach. Aioze then screams.
Aioze – The fight is over!!!
Fujimoto – But there wasn't supposed to be a winner.
Aioze – You want to be the leader when you didn't realize something basic.
Fujimoto gets angry.
Fujimoto – What do you mean?!
Aioze – By the way, you four didn't realize what I'm doing to you.
Fujimoto, Koharu, Shana and Max are left confused. Koharu then realizes something.
Koharu – (It can't be, so that was it from the beginning.)
Koharu – You had already accepted us as Mercenaries of Good, but you decided not to say anything and to do this training to see if we would realize it or not.
Aioze – That's right.
Koharu – Besides, this training is just to improve our weak and strong points, as well as increase our hand-to-hand skills.
Aioze – It seems you understood correctly.
Aioze looks at Fujimoto and Max.
Aioze – Fujimoto, you have demonstrated great abilities in being fast, but you don't have much physical power.
Fujimoto – I understand.
Aioze – Max would like you to only use Physical Enhancement if necessary, using it right away is a waste, first analyze your opponent and see if it is really worth wasting your energy on him.
Max – I understand.
Aioze – Now I think it is time for the four of you to fight me.
Fujimoto – Mr. Aioze, do you have a sword?
Aioze – Do you know how to use swords?
Fujimoto – I am learning, your brother was teaching me.
Aioze – So Grinn was teaching you fencing, so I have already decided what to do.
Everyone is going to understand each other.
Aioze – Take this sword and fight Yuki in a fencing match, if you perform well you can keep this sword.
Fujimoto – Alright.
Yuki – Let's go.
Aioze – Shana, please heal Fujimoto and Yuki first.
Shana – Alright.
Shana heals Fujimoto and Yuji, Aioze hands Fujimoto a sword, Yuki takes his sword. Fujimoto and Yuki prepare to fight. Fujimoto charges at Yuki.
Fujimoto – (I can't let my movements be slow and like a beginner.)
Fujimoto then tries to attack Yuki with the sword, Yuki turns his body to the side, dodging and tries to hit Fujimoto with the sword, but Fujimoto protects himself by putting the sword in front of him.
Fujimoto – (I can't lose here.)
Fujimoto and Yuki then start exchanging sword blows against each other, but no one has managed to hit anyone so far.
Yuki – (How did he get to this level?)
Fujimoto seems tired.
Yuki – (I'm going to end this now.)
Yuki prepares to use a skill, but Aioze quickly arrives without anyone seeing and grabs Yuki's arm.
Aioze – What do you think you're doing?
Yuki – I would just win the fight.
Aioze – I don't remember saying I could use skills.
Yuki turns his face away.
Aioze – Fujimoto is the winner of the fight.
Aioze looks at Fujimoto.
Aioze – Now get your team ready to fight against me.
Fujimoto – Okay.
Fujimoto then goes to Koharu, Shana and Max.
Fujimoto – I know we have our problems, but we need to come together to show our effort to Aioze.
Koharu – Okay.
Shana – I understand.
Max – Let's go.
Fujimoto and his group go to Aioze.
Fujimoto – Let's go all out.
Aioze – Me too.
Aioze then takes two swords out of their sheaths.
Yuki – (It can't be.)
Himeno doesn't understand why Yuki is so afraid.