'I beg your pardon, Sir? We're fighting against each other?' (Kurt)

'Yes. The exercise the other day was for us to determine each of your strengths and weaknesses, as well as to test your resolve. Today you will be practicing in groups against straw dummies while each of you receives feedback from me regarding what each of the instructors noticed about you. The final test tomorrow is for you to fight each other and put into practice what you learned.' (Gwyn)

'Does that mean that only eight people will be retained in this course?' (Alicia)

'Don't be absurd. If less than eight people are capable of being Adventurers we're not going to send the unqualified off to breed more goblins to kill our citizens with. And if more than eight are qualified, we're not going to waste your ability just because you happened to enroll in a batch of geniuses. You will be appraised on an individual basis based on your abilities, affinities, and how much you've improved between the last fight against us and the final test against each other, and those who will be an asset to the nation will stay.' (Gwyn)

'What will happen if we accidentally kill each other? I don't think all of us are good enough at combat to be able to hold back the way you do against opponents who are too weak.' (Matilda)

'That's one of the reasons Instructor Elaina is here. Even if someone dies they... won't have died. But try not to kill each other anyway, and do go into the trial trying your best not to be killed.' (Gwyn)

'Have the matchups been decided already, or will we get to discuss this among ourselves? (Joshua)

'There's not much to learn if each group isn't nearly evenly matched, so we have already decided this. You, Rachel, Michael and Dennis will continue to stay in a group, and will face off against Alicia Reinhart, Matilda, Johann and Manfred. Silas, Tony, Gunter and Adelheid will face off against Albrecht, Leonhart, Dorothy and Kurt.' (Gwyn)

'Didn't you say the groups are supposed to be evenly matched? How are we supposed to match Silas and Tony with lover-boy?' (Dorothy)

'Kurt is the reason the team is matched against Silas and Tony, and you are the weakest link in your team, so try not to drag him down.' (Gwyn)

Two faces looked equally shocked at the same time.

'I apologize for questioning your decision as well, but why is someone as useless as me matched against clearly the strongest student in this entire year?'

Gwyn regarded me with an inscrutable expression.

'It's not my decision you're questioning, it's Elaina's. But I agree with her that the most promising students this year across all four classes are actually you and Joshua, which is why she stacked the next four most capable students within this class in the same team to face you.' (Gwyn)

... what?

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'Stop thrusting with just your forearms. You should lean into the thrusts and put your entire upper body into it.' (Gwyn)

'Wouldn't it be harder to keep my balance if I miss?'

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

'Stop thinking of what happens when you fail and act as if you won't. Follow through. Joshua, I saw that. Focus on your own swing. Michael, your stance is too high.' (Gwyn)

I lean into the thrust as advised, and as the spearhead enters the straw dummy, the resistance pushes me back upright... ish.

'Your stance is too high as well, Rachel, lower your centre of gravity or a shield bash will send you flying. Dennis, that throw was sloppy; your dagger should never spin more than a quarter turn between your hand and the target or you're wasting energy fighting the air.' (Gwyn)

Michael's warhammer thuds on the top of the dummy.

'I know you're tall but keep that shit up and someone parrying it with enough force will knock you on your arse. It's tempting to use gravity to accelerate the warhammer, but you're throwing yourself off balance if you use forces beyond your own control to empower your swing.' (Gwyn)

A dagger stabs directly into the top of the dummy.

'That was one and a quarter turns, which is five times too many! And Joshua, quit using your second hand on the hilt, your job is to harass someone's weak spots with the weapon, not stick your sword in so deep into his gut you can't pull it out!' (Gwyn)

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'I feel like fire control is kind of pointless in a real fight at the level of control I have of it right now. I'm definitely the liability here, but I'm not sure why he flagged you and Joshua when Michael seems to be the strongest member of this party.' (Dennis)

'Joshua might be impossible to hit for most students, so that's probably it, given he figured out what was going on with Sophia of all people. I get the feeling my job is just to be stabbed though. And against Alicia I think you're our only hope since you're the only one that can melt that icicle sword nonsense she uses.'

'I still can't get how he expects me to use the warhammer. What Gwyn was saying contradicts what Glenn says at points.' (Michael)

'Maybe it's because Glenn is a walking mountain of muscle, so the way he does things just doesn't work for people who aren't walking mountains of muscle. Aside from Matilda, it's probably better for others to operate on Gwyn's advice rather than his.' (Dennis)

'Speaking of Matilda, do you think you can outswing her in a one-on-one match?'

'No. She'll break both my arms if I did that. I have a better shot at trying to parry her and then hitting on the inside of her swing.' (Michael)

'You've been a lot more quiet than usual.'

'I'm trying to figure out how to deal with Manfred. Dude is a gem on our side, but his accelerated healing with Matilda's reckless swings is an overpowered combination. We can't last in an attrition match against her with his support, and even if Dennis manages to eliminate Alicia's range advantage, Johann is at least as good of a swordsman as me. If I hold him off, Dennis turns Alicia into a normal swordsman, and Michael holds Matilda off, we're still basically forcing Rachel to face both Alicia and Manfred at once, which won't work when Alicia is so goddamn skilled.' (Joshua)

'Didn't Gwyn throw daggers against you? Maybe you can throw them at Manfred?'

'He didn't. His right hand parried you, his left first threw Michael before throwing his shield at Dennis, and then he used both hands to thrust at you. Unless he had a third hand hiding the whole time, that wasn't a thrown dagger.' (Joshua)

'He blew both of us away with the wind once, so the force required is possible. Maybe his control is good enough when he's not panicking to throw a dagger with the wind.' (Michael)

'Do you think you can learn to do that before tomorrow?' (Dennis)

'So far, all I've managed to do is accelerate my blade with it. And I don't have any daggers anyway.' (Joshua)

'I have a set of five daggers they issued me. Since my hands will be full dealing with Alicia anyway you could probably take one of them, and I don't think they'd expect this.' (Dennis)

'Joshua, you sit out the watch cycle tonight. I'll take double shift while you practice.'

'You still going to be able to keep your eyes open tomorrow with only four hours of sleep?' (Michael)

'If we don't do well tomorrow I'll have all the time in the world to sleep once we're kicked out. And I'm the least useful member of this party anyway, so me keeping extended watch would at least make me slightly less useless. We're counting on you to hold off the gorilla and Dennis has probably the hardest job of disabling the magic of the walking Goddess, so we can't afford either of you to not get enough rest.'

'Then it's decided. Joshua, train as if your life depends on it, because all of our futures do.' (Michael)