Fear of weakness

The students of four classes gathered in the training grounds. The grounds were vast, with all sorts of training equipment.
This was the Arcane combat class, and generally, the 4 classes trained separately, however today was an exception.
In the International Arcanist Academy, classes were divided into 4. A, B, C, and F.
I, of course, was in class F.
Professor Izan waited for us in front of a giant portal. His coat flapped from the portal's energy, but he seemed unperturbed.
"Is everyone here?" He said, before he began explaining our assignment.
Apparently, we had a mission of clearing an island. On the island, was the reason why every one of us students was present here in the academy.
Aberrants.
They were monsters formed from corrupted Arcane energy. The main goal of Arcanists, was to eliminate and wipe out these creatures. Killing these creatures, that was why Arcanists existed.
"Recently, a pack of basic order Aberrants was discovered on this island. In pairs of two, you will be transferred to this island. When all of the Aberrants are eliminated, the assignment will end. Do not worry, precautions were taken to ensure that no monsters above the 3rd order were present."
With that, he took a piece of paper and began announcing the groups. Each time he announced a pair, they'd come forward and enter the portal. Then it was my turn.
"Akida Blue, Class F! Mia Sato, class A!"
I came forward, and looked at my partner.
Mia Sato.
She was tall and fit, with plain black hair. I could say with confidence, that this girl, was the most powerful combatant in the Academy. In melee combat and sheer strength, there was nobody who came close to her.
Mia Sato was in short, the opposite of me.
Extremely powerful.
Mia threw me a single glance, before walking forward into the portal. I followed.
"Things won't be easy with her..." After all, besides her strength, Mia Sato was also known...
For her fiery personality.
As we entered, the world blurred, and the landscape changed. Soon, we were surrounded by wilderness. Tall trees surrounded us in all directions, and very little sunlight seemed to reach us through the dense trees.
I clenched the hilt of my katana tightly. This was my choice of weapon. It was what I had worked hard on for a year, after all.
I looked at Mia Sato. Her choice of weapon, were two heavy looking gauntlets. They looked like they'd be too heavy for me to even carry, and they had the design of roaring dragons.
"Are you just going to stare, or are we going to move?" Mia sat, shooting daggers at me.
"Ah...y- yeah!" I stuttered, following her. She was intimidating. Her purple eyes were really piercing.
We walked through the bushes, until we came to a clearing. It was there, that we found our first targets.
The Aberrants in the clearing were humanoid. The creatures were white, with spaghetti-like limbs, and no facial features. The 3 of them had been walking around aimlessly, looking up at our appearance.
"Ugh... What are those?" I raised my katana. Then, I poured some arcane energy into the weapon. It wasn't much, but just enough. Aberrants couldn't be killed without the Arcane energy after all.
Mia Sato on the other hand, already tore forward at the creatures, her gauntlets flowing with energy.
"Damnit! I prefer defense!" I followed her unwillingly, preparing for the worst.
The three Aberrants began to run at us, their limbs moving awkwardly as they ran. It was both scary and funny.
Mia reached first, her gauntlets swinging. It met the head of an Aberrant, instantly blowing it off. She continued with the momentum, using it to spin. Her heel met another Aberrant, and it was sent flying. She landed agilely, before rising with a flash. Her gauntlets tore through space, and she sent an upper cut at the last standing Aberrant. Her gauntlets met its shin, and the creature's head was blown clean off.
I stopped in my tracks, watching in amazement.
I knew she was strong... But this...
She turned to look at me with a frown.
My eyes widened in panic.
"Behind..."
Before I could finish, her arm swung through the air. The back of her gauntlet met the Aberrant behind her, blowing it to bits.
"You?" I could only mumble like an idiot.
"Let's go. Don't hold me back." Mia Sato said coldly, before turning around.
I sighed to myself. When will I ever get to relax?

~~

I was beginning to feel sorry for the Aberrants. Mia Sato simply demolished them like it was nothing. Meanwhile, I hadn't even gotten a chance to swing my sword.
The two of us carried on through the forest, and at a certain point, something happened.
As we passed through some thick foliage, Mia suddenly spun around. She swung her gauntlet through the air, towards my face.
"Yikes!" I ducked, covering my head. Her first passed over me, hitting something. I stayed cowered for a few seconds, until an annoyed voice called to me.
"Hey! Stop wasting time!" I looked up, to see Mia already turned to leave. I looked behind me, and yelped. It was the remains of a giant Aberrant, its body already disappearing.
Oh, that was why.
We continued, until the bushes ended. Then we arrived to a seashore. There, 5 Aberrants were wandering about. These ones were bigger then the others, and they seemed to be the 1st 3rd order Aberrants we'd found.
They saw us, and immediately began running towards us. Mia walked forward, energy pouring into her gauntlets. Then, flames suddenly appeared around it.
The powerful girl dashed forward, ready to fight. The 1st Aberrant swung its hand at her, but she ducked low, before swinging her first at its torso. The gauntlet met it, and a wave of purple energy was released.
However the Aberrant stayed standing.
It tried to grab at her, but she expertly weaved it's attacks before releasing another attack. This time, the fire completely coated her gauntlet.
Boom!
With an explosion, the first Aberrant fell. Four remained.
I felt hesitant to join... I was only at the basic tier after all... These were too strong...
Mia continued fighting, taking out 2 more Aberrants. However, she was noticeably getting tired.
"Are you going to fight, or watch!" Mia roared at me.
I clenched my teeth. Yes, I couldn't just watch. I haven't even taken down a single Aberrant yet... I couldn't go back like this.
"Ahhhh!" I ran forward with my katana ready to attack.
It's easy! Just like I've practiced! Imbue energy! Swing!
I swung my blade, letting it cut through the air. It whistles as it tore through space, towards the Aberrants side.
Clank!
A metallic sound rang out, and my blade failed to penetrate skin. I froze in place, as the Aberrant raised its arm.
"Oh no... I can't..." It's hand dropped.
It was too late to dodge. I was going to die... Suddenly I felt someone push me. I flew into the ground, and opened my eyes to see Mia standing where I had been. The Aberrants hand struck her, sending her crashing to the ground.
The Aberrant raised it's hands, and clasped them to form a club. Then it dropped it's hands.
Mia raised her gauntlets, stopping its attack. She pushed back, slowly pushing against the creature.
"Ahh!" With a mighty roar she pushed it back a few steps, before jumping into the air. Energy and Flames began to dance around her gauntlet, and it swung at the Aberrant.
Boom!
The creature fell.
Mia panted in exhaustion. Then, she did something unexpected.
She removed her gauntlets.
"Why'd she do that?"
She turned around, and walked towards me. I struggled to stand, wondering what she intended. Then, suddenly, she swung her fist.
Thwack!
I felt the force of a truck hit my face. I fell down, clasping at my cheek. The stinging pain blinded me, and I felt hot tears sting my eyes.
"What the hell! What the hell did you come to this academy for if you can't kill a basic grade Aberrant! Huh? Always moping around and acting pitiful! Aren't you sick and tired of being so pathetic!? So... Weak!?"
She took heavy, and angry breaths, her purple eyes full of anger. Anger, that was justified.
I was hopeless. I hadn't done anything today but complained, and she'd done all the work. On top of that, I even got her hit. All I had been was a burden...
I looked away, hiding the tears in my eyes.
Suddenly, what seemed like regret flashed in Mia's eyes.
"Shit... I'm sorry... I..." She clenched her teeth and walked away quickly, before wearing her gauntlets.
Before I could say anything, a familiar voice rang out through the air.
"Well, well, well! What do we have here!?"
It was Colt. Colt Vipera.
"What do you want, Colt." Mia gave a cold look at him. They were both in the same class, and probably rivals, since they were both top ten students.
"Nothing really... I'm just pitying you, I guess... The great Mia Sato... Together with this piece of trash... Hahaha... I don't expect you to keep your position with this weakling."
Colt walked towards them, a group of his lackeys around him.
Mia clenched her fists in anger, probably wishing she could smash the arrogant guy's face with it. Me too.
As the tension hung in the air, a sudden crash distracted everyone. They turned their gaze towards the sound, and the dust cleared, revealing something.
It was an Aberrant. This one resembled the others, but there was one huge difference. It was muscular, Instead of having spaghetti limbs.
The monster roared, and a huge pressure was released.
"It's... It's a 1st order!" Colt shouted. "We need to get out of here!"
They turned and began running, away from the monster. The monster was however, closer to Mia than anyone, so she couldn't just run.
Mia stood frozen in place as she laid her eyes on the ferocious monster. The monster began to walk closer slowly, its eyes on Mia.
She could not win. She could never.
Mia was at 3rd order, and considering how huge the gap between 1st and 2nd order was, a 3rd order could not even scratch the monster.
The monster came closer, and closer.
Mia raised her hands, and despite her bravado, she seemed to be trembling slightly. It was expected... After all, she was facing imminent death.
Memories began flashing through my mind. Mia's words rang through my ears, and suddenly I felt an overflow of emotion.
"Aren't you sick and tired of being this pathetic!? This... Weak?"
I stood up, and walked forward.
I walked past Mia, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"It's fine." I said. Then, I walked past her, and came to face the monster. It towered before me, easily 4 meters tall. However...
I was not scared of weakness.
I could never fear weakness.
Because what I truly feared was not my weakness...
It was my strength.
I outstretched my hands.
One formed a fist, the other palm open, it's side pressed on the fist.
Now... I will summon him.