Episode 37: Growing strength

Some time had passed since The Team started their classes, and they already had a certain fame brought by gossip. The nobles who dared approach The Girls were rejected by them while they held hands, held each other by the waist, or glared at the shocked nobles. However, the gossip of the romantic drama wasn’t the only one, there was also gossip that the third prince of the Baltrez had grabbed a poor soul to use as punching bag, and that a group of heroes had arrived to the city to help fight the Horde incursions

fancy boy did not care about gossip, all he wanted was to spar with Taro, the only one who was brave, or naive enough to stand face to face with him. The target practice teacher was standing as referee like last time, overseeing the duels in which both Taro and fancy boy were getting increasingly bruised and tired, but Taro looked the worst of them both. Meanwhile the girls were becoming restless at the sight

fancy boy: not bad Taro, soon you will be able to stand against the might of me using 2 swords!

Taro: (does this guy ever get tired?, but hmm, I feel like I’m making progress, maybe training with him is not that bad, I get to learn new things while also exercising, this has to be good for my mana growth) tank you, you, tough too

Ari: hey, aren’t you just bullying Taro at this point? only I can bully him, now it’s my turn to duel you

fancy boy: a new challenger?, I accept the duel!

Taro: Ari, no bully me please

Ari: shut it brute, I’m just trying to protect you

teacher: young lord, try not to hurt her too much, she’s from the countryside, you know they don't train like we do

fancy boy: do not worry teacher! I would not dare break my sparing partners again!

Ari: hurt me?, I’d like to see you try

the duel started and despite Ari’s initial dominance, fancy boy adapted and ended up disarming her

Ari: again! This is not over yet!

fancy boy: as you wish!

they had more duels that Ari felt confident about but ended up losing one way or another. She refused to give up until she was too tired to properly lift her mace, fancy boy was also panting, but he still had much more energy to spare

teacher: that’s enough girl, sit down, you clearly can’t win

Sidra: young lord, would you be interested in partaking in a special duel? me and the court mages’ daughter will take you on. I think it could benefit everyone in terms of training

Nagye’s expression was serious, she was not pleased with fancy boy’s relentless duels with Taro

teacher: young lord, I don’t think it’s a good idea, you’re tired from—-

fancy boy: amazing idea!, let us duel immediately!

the duel commenced and Sidra rushed in, she let herself be smacked by fancy boy’s strikes just to get a hold of him and restrain his movement

Sidra: Nagye, it's your turn!

Nagye was having a hard time hiding her hostility. She sent her two birds to attack fancy boy while he grappled with Sidra. He blocked the bird’s acrobatic strikes and managed to destroy one with a swing of his sword. Nagye didn’t wanna give up on attacking, so she focused and maintained the form of the bird, but this time as a mana construct with which she continued attacking. Sidra punched fancy boy, but it was like punching a tree. She and Nagye fought fancy boy to a standstill, he broke free, and they repeated the same pattern, both of Nagye’s birds were destroyed and became of pure mana, but it was not enough to best fancy boy. in the end, they all ended up tired and depleted of mana

fancy boy: that was absolutely amazing! I was not prepared to fight under these circumstances, I feel like I have become stronger by training with you all, I thank you for it!

teacher: young lord, it's time for your private tutoring, you must go now

Shizuka: huh? it’s my turn to duel, you can't just run away

fancy boy: I give you my word I will return tomorrow and I will duel you first!, it pains me to have to leave, but I promised I would work hard on my private lessons, I cannot fail, until tomorrow!

fancy boy and the teacher left the scene, leaving the girls frustrated

Shizuka: Seriously, what's wrong with that guy?!

Ari: Taro you need to stop playing along with him!, you’re gonna get seriously hurt, you heard the teacher right? he breaks his sparring partners

Taro: sorri, I just train, didn’t know he that bad

Ari: don't "sorri" me you brute, you gotta promise me you’re gonna take care of yourself

Sidra: Taro you are a bloody mess, I…

she considered healing him, but remembered the death of the secretary, she clenched her fists, and contained her own inner storm of emotions

Taro: don’t worry, I ok, I tough, it don’t hurt, really

Nagye: don’t say that! look at you!!

Nagye’s cracked yell resounded in the hall before she broke down crying

Ari: that jerk also broke both of Nagye’s birds…

Nagye: That's not—that’s not it, I just… I couldn’t d-defend Taro, no matter how hard I tried, I c-couldn’t, he just walked away!

Nagye said out loud what all the girls were feeling, they were all frustrated and sad to see Taro in such a state

Sidra: I thought I would feel better after breaking his face, but it didn’t work either

Shizuka: look at what you did Taro, now we’re all angry on your behalf

Taro took a moment to process what was going on, he cleaned what he thought was sweat but was actually blood. he wasn’t really feeling pain because of the mana enhancement plus his adrenaline

Taro: …sorri, I no want make you guys worry or sad for me, I take better care, I just want become stronger, I not see all my blood

Ari: I also want to get stronger, but, I don’t think it's worth getting stronger if the price to pay is ending like that every day

Shizuka: we should train among ourselves instead, screw that jerk

Sidra: We really went at him with all we have

Nagye: I was so an-angry, I didn’t n-notice I created bird constructs…

Ari: I also didn’t know I could do many of the things I did, he really brought the worst, or best in us

Shizuka: I propose we train among ourselves and also beat his fancy face. For now, a good healing wouldn’t hurt us, quite the contrary hehehe

a brief awkward silence invaded the air

Sidra: I, I’m—

Ari: we can’t depend on Sidra’s healing for everything, she must be tired after all that fighting, let's go to the infirmary instead—

Sidra: thank you Ari, but I must also explain myself. I’m no longer a priestess, I don’t think I will ever be, after what happened…

Shizuka: ah! I get it now, sorry, I understand now, I didn’t wanna come off as insensitive, I’m so sorry!

Sidra: do not worry about me, we should instead go to the infirmary, the pain is starting to kick in

They went to the infirmary to get healed by the priestesses there. They were told that the third prince was infamous for not knowing when to stop, and it was better to avoid him.

Despite the warnings, the girls were spiteful and Taro was eager to become stronger, so the following days, they kept showing up to the arenas to spar. The fancy boy had to face the team in a gauntlet style series of matches. Every day that they sparred, they learned new things and became stronger, and fancy boy ended up more bruised, tired, satisfied and learning new things.

Taro’s rock throws were more compressed and heavier, and his stick swings could crack the air like a whip, same for Sidra, and she could steadily become a pretty oppressive shield user, Ari became even better with her martial techniques and even manifested more than 1 mana arm, Nagye began to master the art of mana constructs, and Shizuka got creative with the dimensions of her explosions and the constructs she could make

one normal day when they were mid training, the alarms rang, it was a Horde incursion

fancy boy: how dare they?! I was just about to try a new technique!

teacher: we must go now, if we survive, we shall be here tomorrow

fancy boy: of course we will survive! I won't let any lowlifes interrupt our training!

Shizuka: at least the alarm rang before us being more tired

The Team, fancy boy and the teacher went to receive instructions on the checkpoint outside the school, one of the many checkpoints distributed around the city by the guards to evacuate people, give instructions to all who could fight, and tend to the injured during a Horde incursion

guard officer: prince Artoggio, you are needed in the palace, Teacher, please escort him. you guys over there, we need help in the west gate!

The team ran to the west gate, who was damaged by the Horde trying to enter, a few trembling guards held the line, knowing they would not survive if that gate were to fall

Shizuka: time to show off the results of our training hehe

Ari: Wait, we have the terrain advantage, I have an idea!. let’s shoot at them from over the wall!

town guard: we already tried that; our arrows don't penetrate their armor!

Ari: Who said we were using arrows?

Shizuka: ooh! I get you know hehehe!

as soon as they got on the wall, explosions rained down on the Horde, drastically reducing their numbers and advance, but before they could get comfortable, monster knights riding flying Horde creatures rushed in to attack, forcing The Team to the defensive, they were holding their own, but it was a matter of time to become overwhelmed by the sheer numbers. The tides of battle turned when a mechanical roar was heard, blasting the flying knights to bits

Shizuka: woah, was that a…

Taro: (a machine gun?!)

weapon hero: never fear, the weapon hero is here!

The rumored hero and his party approached the Team when the dust and bloody mist had settled. They were all holding weapons from Taro’s world, but made of mana

weapon hero: are you okay m’ladies?, I have come here to save you

sniper hero girl: here he goes again, our unfaithful hero never changes

healer hero girl: you shouldn’t be unfaithful my hero, or I’ll never forgive you

weapon hero: unfaithful? I'm just doing my job, and recruiting people for the team. for example you m’lady, wouldn’t you wanna join us?, I can give you a powerful weapon like this if you join, they are the best of the best, trust me, I was a soldier back in my world, I know what I’m talking about, and that also goes for your beaut—

the hero was interrupted by a sudden kick to the balls from the girl behind him

sword girl: excuse our hero here, he’s a certified unfaithful pervert

weapon hero: I think—I’m becoming a masochist—- but speaking seriously, I saw your amazing powers from afar, we could seriously use your powers to defeat the demon king, what do you say?

Ari: sorry, we’re not interested, at least not me, what about you gu—-

the girls shook their heads before she could finish her question

weapon hero: but why? we are here to defeat the demons, with your help, we could be invincible and save the kingdom

Shizuka: because we have our own hero right here

she held onto Taro’s arm, Nagye followed with the other arm, Ari grabbed Taro from the edge of the shirt, and Sidra hugged both Taro and Ari by the waist

weapon hero: I see, what a shame, oh well, let’s go girls, we have more work to do

healer hero girl: I knew you were trying to cheat on me again hero, I will have to punish you later

the hero’s party left for the next battle, and the girls still held on to Taro, he was feeling awkward and the girls just stared into nothingness while holding him

Taro: uhh, guys?

Shizuka: shh, enjoy it dummy, it’s a special service for today