“Nice fight, Aroon and Athena. Not a lot of people can fight like you two at your age and stage, even with strong bonds. Both of you deserve to have them,” Sergeant Layla acknowledged.

“Thank you, Sergeant!” Aroon replied, while Athena nodded at the older woman.

“Now let's get to the discussion. Arthur, what do you think about their fight?” Layla focused on Arthur.

“Uh... they are so strong, I don’t know where to begin,” he started, which earned him a glare from Layla.

“Aroon did a good job trying to provoke Athena during and before the fight, while Athena did similarly a good job ignoring his provocation so as not to make any mistakes due to anger,” one thing Arthur knew even without learning about how to fight is that people are prone to making mistakes when they are agitated!

“I also think that the trick Athena used to stop Aroon from charging at her was great. The fight might have gone very differently if she allowed Aroon to do as he pleased!”

“Then Aroon's way of changing his grip to allow him to attack while being closer is also great! If I did not see it, I would not have thought to do that in that situation!”

“As for the final clash, I’m not sure about it. Aroon did something to stop his movement mid-charge while making his attack faster. What I know is Athena did not stop for a second even under such pressure and was able to disarm Aroon, which was impressive in those situations. If it were me, I would not have survived the sword strike!” he turned excited, explaining what he learned.

Arthur rarely talked to people; this was one of the longest things he had ever said, but he did not hate it. In fact, he loved talking about it. He was passionate during his explanation, something he felt for the first time!

Layla looked at him with wonder. For the first time since she looked at him, he did not look so hateful anymore, but it was just for a second.

“What about their mistakes? What could have gone better?” The sergeant asked.

“I think Athena should have asked for a different sword. If she had a longer sword, then she might not have lost,” Arthur said in courtesy to his talk with Kale and the others previously.

“I would have beaten her the same even if she got longer reach,” Aroon chimed in in annoyance.

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“Private! Did I ask for your opinion?!” Layla looked at Aroon with a glare, causing the man to sweat. Even Arthur could feel his skin tingle from her stare, even though it was not directed at him.

“No, ma'am,” Aroon quivered under Layla’s scrutiny.

“There better be no second time, Private,” she warned.

“Yes, ma'am,” the pitiful boy replied.

Layla stayed silent for a few seconds before taking over from Arthur, “Indeed, the fight might go differently if Athena Lance used a longer sword, but she didn’t. During a fight, you might find yourself using an improvised weapon that you are not used to. In this situation, you need to adapt and improvise as well.”

“Athena did great with the dirt trick, trying to blind Aroon, and there is nothing dishonorable about it. We are not traditional cultivators; we don't care about such nonsense. We are soldiers; our job is to fight and to win!” she sternly said.

While Aroon and some others might not fully agree with her, they kept their silence. On the other hand, Arthur embraced her teaching; he completely agreed with it.

“What matters is the result! How we did it is up to us to decide!” he thought.

“What could have gone better is, for example, Aroon should have provoked Athena better if he wanted to do that. He could have mentioned Alexander Lance and his wife, which I believe should get a better reaction from her. Isn’t that right, Private Lance?” Layla looked at Athena to prove her point.

Arthur could see Athena clench her fist and close her eyes but refused to answer Layla’s question.

“On the other hand, Athena should have tried to provoke Aroon. With his personality, it should not be hard for her to create an opening that way,” the sergeant pointed out while glancing at Aroon as a warning to the boy to temper his emotions in the future, lest it be his downfall.

“As for those who don’t know, Aroon's last move is a Martial Technique, or what we call a combat skill. As you know, every animal cultivator and their bond have Traits. While Traits' effects are passive, there is a way to actively use them, and that is Combat skill,” Layla explained.

“Normally, you need to be on the Amplification realm to use it, since Animal Cultivators could use their bond's Amplified Trait's active skill with the help of the system. But with a lot of training and hard work, even Deviation stage animal cultivators can use their own Trait’s active ability.”

Arthur's eyes practically shined from Layla’s revelation, “If I can use my Trait’s active ability, then it might not look so underwhelming!”

“Alright! Enough of that. We still have one more fight today!” The sergeant had a large grin on her face.

“Arthur, you are up next,” she called.

“Huh? Who am I fighting?” he got confused since the others already fought, and he got no partner to fight with.

Layla's grin widened, “Oops, I forgot we have no one else. But it's alright, Arthur; I will pair up with you. Consider this your lucky day!”

“Fuck! Are you kidding me!? Can’t you come up with a better lie? You just want to beat me up or prove a point! Let me guess you want to prove that I’m a spy or something!” he screamed inside his head, throwing profanity over and over again.

Arthur bet his face looked as white as paper at this moment. He even had an urge to run and find the colonel, asking him to help him from this mad woman!

“Ma'am, I think I’m feeling unwell. Can I take today off?” he begged.

“Nonsense! Quit acting and fight me. We don't have all day!” she chided him instead.