Chapter 40: 39: Last Minute Training~!

Walking into the practice gymnasium, Krystina exclaimed with a flourish, "So! Today we'll be having our final practice before the first monthly ranking battle! Of course our group, the 'Phoenixes' will be aiming for first place!"

Fiddling with her Phoenix badge, Erina mumbled, "I'm still annoyed we didn't choose the bunnies team name... it was still available when it was our turn to pick our badge!"

"It's all in the past now," Yuiko replied, patting Erina on the back, "But to be honest, throughout the whole world, Erina I think you probably love bunnies the most~"

Posing with stars in her eyes, Erina answered, "Because they are cute! They're soft, they're small, and they're cute! What else could you want?"

Walking in through the doors, Natsuki exclaimed, "Hello~! How are you guys? I heard you guys were going to practice, so I thought I might as well be the adult who supervises since I'm bored~"

Running up to Natsuki, Erina asked, "Ne, Aunt Natsuki... do you have any candy?"

Stopping Erina with a poke to the forehead, Natsuki teased, "Nope~, not now Erina~"

Getting down to business, Natsuki began, "So first of all, I wanna see your manipulation abilities, because they're essential in combat and just plain easy for people like you 5 who have high affinities."

Taking a few deep breaths to settle into a rhythm, Hiroshi started off by summoning a sword and a shield straight into his hands.

Following Hiroshi, Vladimir stomped his foot, creating a wall that spanned the area in front of him.

Waiting for the wall that Vladimir created to dissipate back into magic, Krystina waved her arms to create a net of lightning in front of her.

Dispelling her net, Krystina looked disappointed in herself when Natsuki explained, "Don't worry about it Krystina, when bending the Air/Lightning element, there isn't much you can do in the way of offense or defense. Until you get really good at bending the element, you'll trail behind your friends. However, once you reach the highest levels, you can fly and massively increase your speed during combat."

After Natsuki's explanation, Krystina's mood brightened as she watched Yuiko go after her. Waiting until Natsuki finished her explanation, Yuiko started off with a slight jog before conjuring some lava to slide around on while creating a wave of lava that shot towards the others.

Watching the wave of lava dissipate right before it reached her, Erina asked, "Hey, Yuiko? You never did tell me how you slide around on lava... like shouldn't your shoes be burning right now?"

Sliding to a stop next to Erina, Yuiko explained, "Well I got the idea from Hiroshi and Vladimir~ you see, they can create liquid metal, and they were sliding around on that... so I just made warm lava... and slid around on it."

Facing Yuiko with a bewildered expression, Erina rebutted, "Yeah, but, lava... is super-duper kill you hot... not... warm?"

Laughing, Yuiko replied, "Well~ when I had the idea, I just kinda instinctively knew how to do it you know?"

Nodding, Erina tapped her foot a few times creating an ice pillar that carried her high into the air, where she proceeded to spell "CANDY?" in large letters above everybody's head.

Descending back to the ground, Erina ran over to Natsuki with a happy yet smug expression, exclaiming, "Look I managed to create letters!"

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Natsuki dropped a piece of candy into Erina's hands while muttering, "If only you weren't so obsessed with sugar... I would have so much more money..."

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Clapping her hands, Natsuki pulled out a device while explaining, "During the ranking battle, each group member will be wearing one of these thingos~! The device will cover you in a thin layer of magic, acting as a substitute for your body."

Putting the device on, Natsuki continued, "Once broken, the device will break, signifying that you have been eliminated from the competition."

Getting into a fighting stance, Natsuki exclaimed, "So fight me! The next part of your practice is that you have to fight me! I won't attack, so Phoenixes, your goal is to break the device I'm wearing! Do that, you win, fail to do so before practice is over, you lose!"

Sighing, Erina complained, "That's not fair! Even if you aren't attacking, we still stand no chance at piercing the defense of the commandment of shamanism!"

"Don't worry," Natsuki reassured, holding her hands behind her back, "I'll only use my legs okay? Plus I'll go easy on you 5~! I believe in you~! Fight~"

Getting into formation, Hiroshi mused, "It seems that this is the best we'll get... so let's go! Real-ish combat for the win!"

Beginning their attack, Hiroshi and Vladimir each conjured a wall on each side while beginning to run ahead as the first wave. Casting a light body reinforcement spell on herself, Yuiko rushed in while tightening her gauntlets.

Launching a preemptive attack while Yuiko, Erina, and Krystina were summoning their specializations, Vladimir kicked from above, while Hiroshi punched from below.

Smirking, Natsuki teased, "That's not enough~" while leaning back to avoid Vladimir's kick.

Using Hiroshi's punch as a launchpad, Natsuki jumped farther back while laughing, "You gotta use magic~!"

Enchanting her dagger, Krystina threw it towards the left of Natsuki, controlling it using air magic to swerve towards its target. Kicking the dagger out of the air into the metal wall, Natsuki had a relaxed smile as she dodged a flurry of punches coming from Yuiko. Finishing her spell, Erina yelled, "DODGE!" as she released a flurry of ice shards, motioning with her hands to direct the shards towards Natsuki, passing through where Yuiko was moments before.

Her smile widening, Natsuki jumped into the air, kicking shard, after shard, after shard into the ground, before touching back down with a grin.

Stunned silent, Erina only got more irritated hearing Natsuki tease, "You guys have to try harder than that~! Fight~!"

Attacking Natsuki for the rest of their practice, the efforts of the phoenixes bore no fruit...

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Sprawled out on the ground as practice ended, Erina despaired, remembering how strategy after strategy had failed. Natsuki could just punch magic out of the air… while holding off Hiroshi and Vladimir at the same time!

Sighing as she sat back up, Erina complained, "How... it's impossible to beat you, Aunt Natsuki..."

Pulling Erina up off the ground, Natsuki reassured, "Don't worry~ I didn't think you guys would win~ but your teamwork got noticeably better throughout the practice session! So good luck with your ranking battles tomorrow!"