"A sense of competition is one of the best methods to foster growth, used properly. Used improperly it would just make people lose sight of what they ought to improve on and just try to win the competition by any means." - Old saying from the Elmaiya Empire.

"Teacher!" greeted Willa vigorously as the wolf-therian girl walked out from the gate building. Cal just happened to pass by it that evening, on her way back from Ying Xiao's training. The unexpected sight of her other students made her smile.

Behind Willa, Ognar, Giselle, and Fheeri walked out, and greeted her more politely, unlike the boisterous therian girl. They all looked well, and had grown a bit in the year she had not seen them, which made sense since they were all still at their growth period.

"Already your holidays, huh?" asked Cal as she affectionately rubbed the fur on Willa's head. Over their acquaintance she had learned that such physical gestures were favored amongst therians like her, so she obliged as her fingers rubbed the smooth fur atop the girl's head. Cal had needed to raise her hand a bit to do that, as the therian girl had grown almost as tall as herself. Presumably, by the time the therian girl stopped growing, she'd be of equal height to Cal, or even taller.

Now that she looked closer, all her students had grown noticeably taller, especially Fheeri who was still right in the midst of her growth period. That girl also had the potential to grow taller than her with a few more years.

Ognar filled out more in a sideways manner, his once chubby build nowhere to be seen, as hard muscles filled his broad torso everywhere the eye could see. The harsh training regimen had clearly agreed with the young half-orc and showed very visible results.

Giselle remained slender, barely above average in height for a human woman, so roughly a head shorter than Cal herself. The lean, defined muscles on her arms hinted of a lot of corded power held in the slender body, however.

Her students replied in the affirmative. For Willa, Ognar, and Fheeri this would indeed be their last winter holiday, as they were slated to graduate early in spring. The four of them had wished to join Cal on her trips next year, something she had not minded at all.

After all, while Elaina and Sidonie would still join her on the trip next year, Ying Xiao would have returned to Al-Shan by then, and Leila would not be able to join either. The young drake she acquired needed her presence during its first years for proper training and acclimatization, so she had to remain behind for it.

Cal brought them over for dinner at Magnus' place while she chatted with her students, and asked them how their year had been. She joined in their mirth when they told her that their teachers were all too happy to let them graduate early.

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In the past couple of years, Cal's students had basically dominated the podiums in the yearly tournament, which more than showcased just how much further ahead they were to their peers - and even students further ahead in years, as the tourney included students from all years - which was one reason their teachers happily allowed them to graduate early.

As they heard from Cal that Ying Xiao would return to Al-Shan later that winter, all of them - other than Fheeri, who stayed out of it and just quietly ate her meal while she snickered - were all too eager to have a spar with her while they could.

So the next morning, Cal brought them all to the stadium where she usually trained with Ying Xiao, and allowed her students to have their fun that day. She also told them that there was no need to hold back, since Aideen could get them back to fighting fit from anything short of an instant death, and their being blood mages made that a nonexistent worry for the time being.

Giselle went up first. None of Cal's students wore their armor that day as they didn't really want to damage their weapons or armor much, so they just wore light, disposable clothes instead, with the expectation that those would be in tatters by the time they were done.

To Ognar and Willa's surprise, Ying Xiao made short work of the older girl, as while she was even smaller than Giselle physically, her more advanced magical capabilities meant that she was as fast as the older girl, while her strength was far ahead.

Only five clashes took place before Ying Xiao sent Giselle flying away in a sorry state, a large gash around her abdomen from which her innards trailed out. Ying Xiao's halberd had torn the wound even as the blow sent the older girl airborne.

"Forgot to mention, but she's been making huge progress over these years, so you kids better give it your all," Cal said nonchalantly while Aideen chuckled and quickly fixed Giselle up. The wound would have been fatal to most, but to Blood mages like them it was pretty much just a flesh wound.

Ognar went up next, and while he had enough strength to match the younger and smaller Ying Xiao, she was fast enough to run circles around him. It still took her longer to beat Ognar, because the half-orc was notably tougher than Giselle. He finally gave in after Ying Xiao cut through the tendons at the back of his knees, and placed her halberd against his neck as he knelt.

On the other hand, Willa actually gave Ying Xiao an even fight. The therian girl was just a touch slower than her, yet vastly stronger, since her magic amplified her already superior physique. They clashed for a good while, where blood flowed as each of them scored injuries against the other. Yet both of them just grinned and continued their fight without a care.

Cal noticed how Willa seemed to have instinctively managed to do a little of what she had taught Ying Xiao of late, as several of the cuts she suffered should have disturbed her movements otherwise, yet the therian girl fought on without a care.

When the spar between the two girls ended over an hour later, the cheap tunic they had worn had been reduced to shreds, and barely any place on their body were spared from injuries. Both girls knelt down in the middle of the stadium, drenched in their own blood, their control over it at its limit, as the blood threatened to flow out from their many wounds.

Willa gave a laugh that sounded halfway between a bark and a wet, raspy cough, which was not surprising since half her throat had been torn out from an earlier strike, and her right arm hung limp against her side, barely attached to her shoulder just by a few stubborn bits of muscle. Several stab wounds on her torso had likely perforated most of her internal organs as well.

Ying Xiao was no better off, even as the younger girl returned the laugh. One of her hands held the massive open wound on her stomach, torn apart by Willa's claw so badly that her blood manipulation alone was not enough to keep her innards inside. Many other deep cuts criss-crossed over her body, as she looked as if a wild beast had just treated her like a chew toy.

Cal gave a satisfied nod, while Aideen just shook her head as she worked to heal the two girls, who still laughed with each other despite their injuries.