If there was one thing Sasha prided herself on, it was her refusal to be a failure of a student. Sure when they were in class she'd often tell Cici about how much she didn't care about her grades or graduation. She was fine as long as she wasn't getting sent away like so many others. But that was the thing about Shiny. No one survived down there without caring at least somewhat about academics. Failures didn't last long in the academy.

"3 minutes," Alexander called.

Sasha breathed easy, ignoring the heat coursing through her fur. She may not have been the best student around, but she at least knew to pay some attention. Enough to get the gist out of any lesson. And her liaisons had taught her many lessons while they were together.

"5 minutes."

Her eyes opened, the panther staring in the water around her. After the first minute or so, she hardly noticed the difference between being submerged and being in the air. Everything was the same when you were listening to the cosmos. Still, she missed being on dry land so she wasted no time in zipping to the surface, her field dropping away as she landed back on Toudy's stony surface.

Alexander frowned at his stopwatch.

"5.2 minutes," he said.

Cici immediately came over to pat her on the back.

"Well look at you, Ms. Fish Cat."

Even Iris seemed surprised.

"And you're not even breathing hard," she said. "How the heck are you so calm, Sash?"

She shrugged. It was one of many lessons Mr. Erin had taught her while they were on the ship. In hazardous conditions, one had to maintain focus at all times. Which, as it turned out, was the exact same lesson Alexander wanted to instill within the three today. He didn't look happy she'd had the longest time within his steaming lake. And the same would be the case in the other conditions they tried.

He brought them to a section of volcano mired by toxic gases and extreme heat. One slip-up left you coughing and spasming on the ground. She'd lasted three minutes while her friends couldn't get more than two. Iris needed medical attention by the end of it.

He brought them to a lava lake, ordering them to stand on an island in the center of it all. Cici outright refused while Iris called it an exercise in stupidity. Sasha managed to stay on the island for a minute before GT was warning her she was running out of energy. Cici gave it a shot after that, though she left with fur burns.

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No matter where they went or what they did, Sasha found that while the others struggled, her training made the obstacles Alexander put before them a cakewalk. She felt like she'd already mastered everything he had to teach before they'd even started. Which was a problem given one simple fact.

"How the heck are you still so weak?"

Sasha winced.

The words she'd been thinking in the back of her mind were finally thrown back at her by her human instructor.

It was after she'd jumped into a volcano to save a panicking Cici. She'd felt the fox's rocky barrier cracking and jumped down to try to calm her down. Even going as far as staying with her so she could last a little longer. But when they both came out, their instructor was far from happy. He'd practically screamed the words at Sasha.

"You can make a field fine," he said. "You're an expert with signals. You don't crack under pressure. So how in the ever-loving spirits are you still so friggin' weak?"

She could only shrink at the words. Cici tried to defend her.

"Hey, lay off! She's doing her best!"

But the words felt hollow coming from the same girl who took down multiple chatters without breaking a sweat. Alexander rubbed his temples.

"No, it's not just a matter of not trying hard enough," he said. "I could work with that. You're just...Are you even a graduate?"

Cici growled, but Sasha put a hand on her. Even if it hurt to hear, it wasn't something she hadn't realized a long time ago. Her trips through the cosmos always made her acutely aware of how weak she was compared to everyone else. No matter how much she grew, she'd only ever be making workarounds to an unbeatable situation. She was the weakest graduate around. That wasn't about to change.

But it wasn't like that ever stopped her before.

"Are you going to train me or not?"

Alexander's brow furrowed, the annoyance clear as day in his eyes. But Sasha didn't really care about that.

"I'm a weakling," she said. "So what? Are you gonna train me to kill gods or not?"

He frowned. "Panther, if you try to go at a god, you're gonna end up smeared on the pavement."

"Then teach me how to not get smeared, tail brain. Or how to smear them first. You're the expert, aren't you?"

He shot her a look. She shot one back. Godkiller or not, she didn't come all this way just to be told she wasn't godkiller material. Whether she liked it or not, there were people much stronger than her standing in her way. And if he couldn't show her how to beat them, the least he could do was teach her how to get past them. That's what her liaisons had taught her at least. To push what little power she had as far as she could. To use her own strength.

Alexander groaned.

"I'm not joking, kid," he said. "You're probably the weakest grad in the universe. I don't see you killing a god anytime soon."

She didn't relent. Neither did Cici, standing next to her with fire in her eyes. Iris stayed where she was, though Sasha knew she was with them in spirit. Alexander sighed, shaking his head.

"Fine," he said. "But you still have to take your turn in the volcano, kid."

Sasha grinned.

"With pleasure."

She wasted no time in jumping inside.