'Today, we will first cover fighting in teams, and then the practical session later will involve moving as teams now that your fundamentals with the weapons are mostly passable.

The largest problem with fighting in groups is that in the heat of combat it's sometimes almost as easy to hit an ally as it is to hit an enemy. While over time it's possible for people to learn to work together anyway, in our trade we often end up with groups formed based on whoever happens to be available, so there are some general principles you will have to drill with so you can work at a minimum level with people you've never partnered with before.

The base principle is that you want to focus your attacks on one target at a time since dead enemies can't retaliate, and it's difficult for anyone to guard against three attacks at once with only two hands. After thinning out the numbers, you will have a natural advantage for the rest of the fight, so the basic principle is to use your most effective abilities first to let your advantage snowball, rather than being too conservative and ending up in an attrition match. What is the problem with this approach though?' (Gwyn)

'You mentioned that we work in 4-man groups, so the 4th person's weapons will get in the way?'

'This is why we do not only train with weapons. It's difficult in the extreme to go 4-on-1 without colliding into each other, so the 4th person will usually act as a spotter, or use alternate methods of fighting, like magic. When one of the three weapon users gets injured or tired, that person will pull back and the backline will take his or her place, and the injured person will then apply first aid and get ready to replace the next person. In cases when one party member is incapable of fighting, there is no possibility of rotation, so the burden on those who can still fight increases accordingly.' (Gwyn)

'Is there any general principle to who stands where?' (Silas)

'Your strongest magic or ranged weapon user will generally start out as the 4th member. Since shields are generally held in the left hand, warhammer and morgenstern users will usually take the right flank. To limit exposure to an enemy's weapons, the vanguard will usually be a spear user or whoever happens to have the longest reach. The left flank is taken by axe, sword and dagger users who target the enemy's weapon hand and less protected side. However, if you observe an enemy who is left handed, you will need to invert this arrangement, so keep your eyes open. We will start the practice session with the groups you are most familiar with, and then start switching partners so each of you has an opportunity to fight alongside everyone else in this class at least once. Your opponents will be the instructors so we can correct any mistakes you make first before you switch to fighting against straw dummies later on. Practice makes permanent, and if you were to get any bad habits too deeply ingrained you might end up being useless, after all. I will be heading off to help with Elaina's class now, our class will be next, then Glenn's, and Sophia's class will be the last to practice. In that time, get to know each other better so you don't waste as much time during practice.' (Gwyn)

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'OK everyone, my name is Joshua, I'll start with my introduction, and after this, I'd like the other sword users to also introduce yourselves before we move on to the next weapon type. I think it'd be easier for everyone to remember each other if we group ourselves this way rather than in random order. My only affinity is with the air.'

'I am Alicia Reinhart. Affinities with fire, water, air and earth. I'm a sword user but my reach is slightly longer than normal from my magic.'

'Tony. Sword, earth.'

'Manfred. Sword, life.'

'Johann, twin affinities with space and time.'

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

'Wait what, didn't they say it wasn't possible to test for time affinity during the test?' (Dennis)

'It wasn't, but according to Sophia she should have eliminated Tony during his bath if my only affinity was with space. Apparently I can very slightly slow down things I focus on while making objects extend.' (Johann)

'Sorry, but, I'm just another boring earth sword user, Louis. And I think I'm the last sword user in this class.'

'I'll go next then. Silas, earth spear user. I'm with only Alicia and Matilda now that Rob's gone.'

'Good riddance, too.' (Alicia)

'I guess this is kind of awkward. My name is also Tony. I'm Johann's teammate, heh. Spear user, air affinity.'

'Oh boy, you guys mind if we call you Spear Tony and Sword Tony?' (Joshua)

'That sounds kinda lame. Call me Scar, I guess.' (Sword-To... Scar)

'Strange coincidence, but pleasure to work with you, Tony. (Tony)

'Same to you, Tony. (Scar)

'Didn't we just -' (Tony)

'I mean, it's just funnier this way if it's just between the two of us. The rest of you can use my nickname instead. At least until I become a noble.' (Scar)

'Nah, I'll be one first.' (Tony)

'Erm, my name is Albrecht. Spear, and water magic affinity.'

And then they all looked this way.

'...I'm Rachel, a spear user, and as far as they can tell, I have no affinity to any magic.'

'Err, what?' (Alicia)

'Ah, you're the death magic user.' (Manfred)

'I don't think so?'

'Everyone has at least one affinity right? Might be rough, but I guess that's why Elaina spent some time with you.' (Manfred)

'Well, if she doesn't know how to use it, it's no different from not having it, so we can go with 'no affinity' for now I guess.' (Scar)

'A... anyway, I don't recall seeing anyone else in spear classes.'

'Okay, it's my turn to show off! I'm a earth-air warhammer user, Gunter!'

'Kinda hard to show off in front of a quad-affinity user, to be honest.' (Dennis)

'Can it, pipsqueak, it's not like you're any better than me. (Gunter)

'Well, that's true', Dennis shrugs.

'Michael. Earth warhammer.'

'You're the nutcase who tried to kill Gwyn aren't you?' (Louis)

'It doesn't count as trying to kill someone if you know he can't die.' (Michael)

'Matilda. Earth warhammer.'

'Wait, a woman using a warhammer?' (Scar)

'You have a problem with that?' (Matilda)

'Yeah, can you evenumph!' (Scar)

...and his face ended up in the dirt.

'It's not just about how many affinities you have, but how strong you are in them. Matilda's affinity in earth far outstrips any of mine, and if she was being serious she could probably have killed you on the spot, so be grateful.' (Alicia)

Mental note: Matilda is an orc in human skin.

'Anneliese. Air-space morgenstern user.'

'Dorothy. Earth-space morgenstern user.'

'Wait, are women are the only morning sta-' (Scar)

*Crunch*

Manfred runs over with an annoyed expression and puts a hand on Scar's limp body on the ground.

'He's alive.'

'Dennis, fire dagger.'

'Er... I'm Kurt -'

'Love affinity.' (Alicia)

And there his face goes into his bag again.

'Erm, he's actually a life mage, so maybe?' (Dennis)

'At the rate he's going he's not creating any life for the next decade at least though.' (Matilda)

'Leonhart, air twin daggers.' For a nerdy looking guy it's kind of surprising he has no fire affinity.

'Adelheid, air-space affinity archer and the only archer in this class. And that's all nineteen of us, I believe.'

I think that's the girl who raised the question about mixed watches, but it seems like she ended up in a group with another girl anyway.

'Then it would seem the people who would take the centre positions are Silas, Tony, Albrecht, Rachel and Alicia, those who take the right wings are Gunter, Michael, Matilda, Anneliese and Dorothy, those who take the left wings are Joshua, Scar, Manfred, Johann and Louis, and those who start out back are me, Kurt, Leonhart and Adelheid?' (Dennis)

'Actually, with life affinity it's better if I start out back.' (Manfred)

'I can start out front, I can dodge pretty well anyway.' (Leonhart)

'Then I would recommend that instead of starting with our normal groups, we actually form new groups right now to be more effective, since there's a couple of groups with unbalanced compositions.' (Dennis)

'Makes sense. I'll still want to start with Matilda, but Johann and Manfred can join us.' (Alicia)

'I'll go with Gunter, Louis and Adelheid. (Silas)

'I think our group can stick together at the start.' (Joshua)

'Our group can also stick together at the start.' (Albrecht)

'I guess that leaves me, Dorothy and Scar?' (Tony)

'At this point I'm not sure if Scar can even take part anymore. He's not waking up.' (Manfred)

'I guess we'll just substitute in whenever. (Tony)