--- [Alex’s perspective] at the training grounds

“Alright, listen up. Before we can start training for real, we’ve got to figure out what you need to train. There are only two months until the D-rank exam starts, so time is limited. Therefore, we should try to focus on the areas that need improvement the most.” – Luna

Smart.

If we don’t have enough time to improve all our skills, focusing on the parts that are lacking the most will yield the best results.

“I’m sure you’re all capable of self-reflection and can give me a lot of insight into what areas you need to work on the most, but first of all, I just want to see you guys in action myself. We’ll do some quick sparring matches so I can get a good idea of your capabilities myself. After that, you can share your thoughts.” – Luna

“We’re sparring you already? Well, I’m ready any time.” – Shin

“Oh no, you’re not sparring me just yet. You’ll be sparring each other at first. It’ll be a lot easier for me to get a good grasp of your skillset when you’re fighting someone on your own level.” – Luna

“I see…” – Shin

“Alright. Alex and Shin, you two can spar first. After that, it’s Lett and Illian’s turn.” – Luna

I’m fighting Shin…?

I don’t want to hurt him, but…

“Oh, and Alex, don’t be worried about hurting him. You’re all going to get hurt while training with me, that’s just how it’s going to be. You won’t grow stronger if you can’t even properly spar with your own friends.” – Luna

“…” – Alex

“Let’s just get to it, Alex. Not gonna lie, I’ve wanted to spar with you for a while. I wonder which one of us is stronger…” – Shin

Before I get to respond, he charges at me.

He throws a barrage of blows, but without too much trouble, I avoid or block each and every hit.

I throw one back, and he puts his guard up to block it.

He gets pushed back a little, but is otherwise fine.

We continue to fist-fight for a little while, but I start to clearly overpower him.

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For every hit he lands on me, I land several on him.

For every bit of damage I take, he takes several times as much.

In terms of BDM mastery, I’m clearly superior.

I’m faster, stronger, and more durable than him.

He knows he can’t win without using his specialty, yet he still hasn’t used it…

I bet he’s deliberately not using it to more clearly show our strengths and weaknesses to Luna.

If he immediately used his specialty, it might not have been so obvious that I’m better than him at BDM.

“I guess it’s finally time to show off my specialty…” – Shin

He summons two ice swords; one in each hand.

As soon as he started using SDM, the fight immediately got much harder.

Although I could block his regular attacks with no problem, I can’t do the same with his swords.

Just getting touched by them is dangerous.

At best I get a cut, and at worst a large part of my body is frozen.

I can’t get careless.

He starts getting the upper hand, and I’m no longer able to get any significant hits in on him.

…

But I’m just doing exactly what he was.

I’m letting him show off his specialty to Luna so she can better evaluate us.

It’s time to fight back for real.

I activate my specialty, and a dark void appears in both my palms.

“Ooh… What’s that?” – Luna

We’ve worked together a little bit in past after we became E-rank, but not much.

She never got an opportunity to see my specialty.

“Just watch.” – Alex

Shin tries to stab me, but I block with my palm, absorbing the entire sword.

“How annoying…” – Shin

“I see…” – Luna

He summons another sword to replace the old one, and continues to attack.

He continues to swing his swords, but since he knows what my ability does, he tries to avoid my palms.

The issue is that I’m faster than him, so he can’t get past my defense; he’s just continually swinging, but then just as quickly pulling back to avoid having them get absorbed.

I should go more on the offensive; I can’t win without taking any risks.

Just as I’m about to rush in, he suddenly throws both his swords at me.

!!!

I put my palms in their paths, preparing to absorb them.

He quickly summons two additional swords and rushes in before the swords have even reached me.

Oh no…

I can’t absorb the swords he threw and stop him at the same time.

Only one of them is possible…

But…

I can’t let either of them happen…

If I do, I lose.

He made sure to throw his swords in such a way that I can’t dodge both.

One?

Sure.

But not both.

Damn it!

I have to just go for it…

I dodge to the side, avoiding one of the swords, while the other deeply cuts into my shoulder.

My right shoulder freezes, and my arm is hard to move properly.

He continues charging in, but before he gets to slash me, I manage to grab his swords, absorbing them both.

Before he can get away, I grab his wrist.

“Oh shit.” – Shin

I could knock him out if I really wanted to right now, but I don’t need to go that far.

Instead, I slap him in the face, leaving a visible mark.

“That’s enough.” – Luna

“Ouch… How’s your shoulder?” – Shin

“It’s fine. I definitely need a healer though…” – Alex

Luckily there are healers present at all times at the training grounds.

Luna signals one of them to come over, and he starts healing me.

Seems like he’s an E-rank hunter just like us.

Attacks caused by SDM can often be hard to heal, especially if they’re caused by someone at the same level or higher than the healer.

He struggles with getting rid of the frost damage at first, but I help him out by using my ability to absorb it.

It leaves an open and bleeding wound, but that’s no problem for him.

He fixes me up, then gets back to his post right after I thank him.