A bit of Training!

Ben and Elara stepped out of the main tent and headed to the right side of the base.
On the way, Ben was giving advice to the others who were training, smiling as he looked at them.

As they walked, Elara suddenly stopped.
Ben stopped a bit ahead and looked back at her.
“What’s wrong, little girl? Feeling down?”

Elara looked upset, like she had lost something important.
Her head was down, and her expression was filled with deep sadness.

Ben felt a bit awkward but approached her with a forced smile:
“Hello? Is anyone home? If something’s wrong, tell me.”

Elara raised her head and answered quietly, her face very sad:
“Do you even use the bathroom in this world?”

Ben froze for a moment, shocked, and asked with the same stunned face:
“What do you mean? Why would you ask something like that?”

Elara answered with a poker face:
“Well, obviously, I want to go to the bathroom,” she smiled softly, “if there is one here.”

Ben snapped back to normal and nodded, pointing outside the base:
“What we take from nature, we give back to it!”

Elara’s eyes widened in horror.
“Are you telling me there’s no such thing as a bathroom here???”

Ben replied casually:
“Of course we have one. It’s behind the main tent.”

Elara was surprised again and screamed loudly:
“Then why are you saying we have to do it out in nature???”

Ben looked at her calmly:
“Well, I thought maybe you’d like to know more about that.”

Elara was crying inside: “Obviously, I have no interest in that nonsense.”

Ben and Elara reached a large area. Unlike the rest of the base, where the ground was red, here the soil was sandy.
It was surrounded by a metal fence with only one entrance gate, and the roof was open.

As they entered, many strange creatures training there saw Ben and saluted him before continuing their exercises.

After seeing them salute, Elara asked Ben:
“By the way, Ben,” he looked at Elara, “why do the people inside this area salute you, but the ones outside didn’t?”

Ben suddenly looked thoughtful and paused for a few seconds…
“Now that you mention it, you’re right. Lately, they haven’t been bowing to me. I guess I need to give them a good scolding.”

Elara felt a bit guilty but answered with a fake smile:
“Ben, maybe don’t be too hard on them. Maybe they’ll forget...”

Ben laughed and casually replied:
“Doesn’t matter, I know what to do with them.”

He grabbed Elara’s hand and pulled her into the training area.
He gave her a sword to fight with and called one of his trainees.

The trainee wasn’t very big, but standing opposite Elara, they looked almost like a father and daughter.

Ben walked up to Elara and leaned in, his face close and directly in front of hers…
“Listen carefully, little girl,” he said, pointing at Elara’s opponent. “That guy’s kind of semi-human. The good thing about him is that he doesn’t go all out unless he’s sure he has no chance of winning.”
He stood up straight and started walking toward the corner of the training ground.
“Anyway, keep your guard up and try to make him surrender, little girl.”

Elara looked at her opponent. At first glance, he looked just like a normal human—just more athletic and agile.
Both of them drew their swords, ready to clash.
Elara was about to make the first move, when suddenly something hit her.

She turned toward Ben and shouted:
“I’ve never even held a sword before, you idiot!!!”
Her sword came up involuntarily, just in time to block her opponent’s first strike.
“Hey, at least show me—” she froze mid-sentence, noticing the reflexive movement.
“What was that? Did I… do that?”

While she was still trying to make sense of it, her opponent attacked again and managed to land a shallow cut on her arm. Blood started to trickle down.
Elara screamed in protest:
“Didn’t you say this was training?! Then why is he actually hurting me?!”

Ben yelled from the corner, “Hey, stupid girl! Have you ever been in a fight? Until someone dies, it’s called practice!”

Elara shouted back, “I may be stupid, but I do know what training means!!!”

She turned back to her opponent. He was already preparing for the next move, and Elara tried to focus on the fight.
“Okay, I took one hit. That doesn’t mean I’ve lost,” she told herself.

She quickly analyzed her opponent. Then she raised her sword to strike from above, but her opponent effortlessly blocked it and began a counterattack.
Elara was cornered. Her opponent unleashed a rapid flurry of strikes. The first two landed—one on her stomach and another on her right shoulder—but after that, something changed.

Time… felt slower? No, that wasn’t it.
Elara was dodging automatically—her body moving without her telling it to.
“What’s happening? What am I doing?”

She dodged the final attack, then a thought echoed in her mind: His guard’s down. This is my chance.
Without even deciding to, she moved. With perfect form, she placed the tip of her sword just beneath her opponent’s chin.

Elara lowered her sword and looked at him.
Her opponent smiled, took a step back, and bowed respectfully.
“That was a good fight, ma’am. I accept defeat.”
Elara smiled back and returned the bow.

From the corner, Ben let out a roar so loud it made Elara jump in the air again.
“Bravo, little girl! You keep surprising me more and more!”

Still catching her breath from the shock, Elara replied with a sweet smile,
“If there’s anything around here that might kill me, it’s your random yelling!”

Ben walked over, now serious.
“By the way! I noticed something while I was watching from the corner,” he said, pointing at her face. “During the fight, both of your eyes were glowing. What’s up with that?”

That’s when Elara realized what had happened—it was her eye powers. Excitement filled her face.
“I knew it! I knew my powers weren’t gone!!!”

Ben laughed.
“Glad to see you’re excited about using your powers. But you should come here more often to practice and get used to them—especially since you said the blue eye is new and your old one doesn’t work properly yet.”

He started walking toward the exit.
“Come on, little girl, time to show you your room! Don’t you wanna see it?”

Elara lit up with excitement and quickly followed after him.