Success?
'... I did not notice her move. At all.' Beyond his shock, immense suspicion filled Xander's heart.
While he wasn't exactly in a combat-ready state, his senses were still active, so, normally, he should have been able to notice when someone closed the distance. And yet...
'I already felt like she wasn't very simply when Sergeant Alya didn't comment on her lack of performance. But now... am I just being paranoid?' Before he could dwell on it further, he felt a tug on his sleeve, and looked down at Mia who was still staring at him expectantly.
He hesitated, then he pulled out two strips of meat and handed then to her.
She immediately used her mouth to snatch them from his hand, then she turned and rested in his crossed legs, almost immediately drifting back to sleep.
"... I can't be the only one who thought that was strange, right?" Falael—dropping their arrogance for once—asked warily, and everyone agreed, all staring at the sleeping form of Mia with mixed feelings.
After a few seconds, Xander sighed.
"Well, not much we can do about it, I guess." Shaking his head, he turned to Aubrey.
"By the way, how does your magic work?" Realizing the focus had been drawn to her again, Aubrey blinked and spoke.
"Right... Well, I have three main spells. 'Oversight' allows me to observe everything in a 360° radius around myself, and if I focus on a single thing while using it, I can 'see' far more with it.
The second is 'Source Watch'. I can use it to read the flow of Mana both in a target and in their spells. I usually use it in conjunction with Oversight.
The last one is 'Resonance Mapping', with it, I can detect vibrations around me. It helps with things like sneak attacks and such." When she finished, Xander rubbed his chin.
'All of those are pretty useful.' As he was considering that, Sergeant Alya's voice sounded from the middle of the field.
"You guys have another drill in ten minutes. So get ready." Hearing this, everyone's expression changed. Clearly, they thought they were done for the day.
'Clearly not, but I guess it's to be expected, this place is gonna push us to our limits.' Nodding to himself, Xander looked at Aubrey and Curtis, paused, then glanced at Falael.
"I won't force you to participate, but in case you choose to, I have an idea." Hearing this, the half-elf rolled their eyes, but surprisingly, they didn't move away or say anything biting, just quietly listened.
'Progress. Though, whether or not they choose to actually do anything when the time comes is a different matter entirely.' Xander sighed and began to explain his plan.
It wasn't anything complicated, really. He just intended to make use of the information Aubrey had already acquired and take advantage of the rabbit's capabilities.
'Hopefully, we won't get wrecked this time.' Xander thought as he listened to the opinions of the other two, and a plan was slowly made up.
***
Soon enough, the ten minutes ended, and the different squads once more went to different parts of the field where a colorful magic circle awaited them.
This time, squad 4 wasn't super scattered. Xander took the helm, and Curtis was a few meters behind him with Aubrey. Falael stood off to the side, far enough to ensure they wouldn't become a problem if they chose not to participate, but close enough to ensure they could render assistance if they chose to do so.
Xander had already drawn his sword, the weapon held in a middle guard or Chūdan-no-Kamae, which was known for its excellent versatility.
When each squad was settled, Alya—who was watching everything calmly—snapped her fingers, and the magic circles activated.
'Here goes.' Xander opened his eyes wide as, indeed, the figure of the horned rabbit started to materialized. Without looking away from it, he tilted his head towards Curtis slightly, and gave a nod.
The taller boy seemed tense, but regardless, he returned the nod and held up his wand as he began to chant.
"Endless frozen winds—" As soon as the words left his mouth, the rabbit shot out of the magic circle like a bullet, aimed straight for him.
But Xander had anticipated it.
Just as it moved, he too stepped into its path, sword raised.
Seeing this, the rabbit didn't stop but instead sped up, heading straight for him. Meanwhile, Xander's sword moved.
'For a creature like you that focuses on power, I know exactly how to match you.' He inhaled.
'Flowing Tide.'
Yet instead of using it as a movement technique, his blade seemed to flow like water as it met the powerful leg of the rabbit. But instead of the loud clash like in their last fight, Xander twisted his body, streams of water trailing after his sword as he redirected the rabbit's foot to the ground.
BANG
The impact created a crater and sent dust flying, briefly obscuring Xander's vision.
"Duck!" Aubrey's voice sounded, and Xander didn't think twice as he lowered his head. As soon as he did, he felt a powerful air pressure blow right over him, and he knew he avoided another concussion as he swung his sword upward.
'Rising Sun!' A move he created to be part of a set of two, its counterpart being Crescent Moon.
His blade moved in an upward arc as bright orange flames trailed behind it, mimicking the motion of the rising sun.
His blade struck the feet of the rabbit that had kicked down, and the clash cleared the dust that had filled the air.
Unsurprisingly, Xander still lost the clash, but instead of forcing the issue, he let the force push him back, and right on time, as Curtis completed his chant.
"... return all to your frozen embrace. Ice Magic: Flash Freeze." A wave a icy air passed by Xander, and he watched as the area in front of him was frozen almost instantly, everything getting covered in a layer of clear ice, the rabbit included.
However, it didn't take long for the thing to start breaking free.
"Solar-Edge Thrust." Xander thrust his blade without hesitation, unleashing the high-temperature beam at it.
"It's going to dodge left!" Aubrey gave another call out, her gaze fixed on the battle.
Xander immediately dashed to the side she'd indicated, and sure enough, the rabbit broke through the ice and narrowly avoided the beam, only to jump straight into the path of Xander's sword.
'Incandescent Haze.' He swung the blade, the heat created a haze around it and making its form distort unnaturally.
The rabbit abruptly canceled its momentum like before, and the haze-covered-sword seemed like it would miss...
Only for the true blade to emerge and slice straight for the rabbit's neck.
The creature was startled, but it was already too close to avoid. As such, Xander's sword struck true, however...
'Damn... It's sturdy!' He gritted his teeth as sparks flew from where his sword struck. It seemed like the rest of its body was just as sturdy as its feet.
That said, the force from the swing still threw the rabbit away, causing it to tumble through the dirt a few meters away.
Xander was about to give chase when Aubrey shouted.
"Beam incoming!" Eyes wide, Xander immediately halted his advanced and changed his stance, his feet slamming into the ground as he held the blade in front of him, his body resonating with the earth beneath his feet.
'Fortress Wall!' A brown glow suffused with his body just as the red beam reached him. He slashed his sword, and the two met.
The red beam was parted into two and flew besides him and his teammates.
'Come on...!' He dug his heels into the ground as he struggled to keep himself from getting blown away.
"Get ready to dodge and counter." Aubrey said again from behind him, and Xander yelled as he pushed his Mana even more before successfully resisting the beam fully, then he immediately squatted.
"... Ice Magic: Snow Substitute!" Curtis's voice came from behind, and where Xander had been, a snowman vaguely shaped like him appeared, only to get its head ruthlessly blown off as the rabbit shot out like a rocket.
'Bladed Net.' With the distance sufficiently reduced and an ample opening available, Xander unleashed Bladed Net.
Sword light flashes as his blade tore through his surroundings, carving up the ground and slicing through the air at am impossible speed to create a net around him, one the rabbit was caught in.
The sound of several impacts was heard as his sword slashed across its body several times, but even then, he frowned.
Because despite that, he only managed to rip out some fur, not break skin.
'Tch. This might take a whil—'
"...Starlight Magic: Stellar Ray." A beam of silver-white light suddenly engulfed the rabbit before exploding, and the force of it actually knocked Xander—who was the closest to it—back. He rolled a few times before regaining his footing.
He stared at the pile of smoke where the rabbit had been before glancing at Falael, who was on a knee and panting heavily.
'... Seriously?' He looked back at the rabbit, and he was shocked to see that the creature he'd been struggling to properly damage had it's entire right sight charred and burnt, one of its small arms completely blown off and its horn cracked.
"... Ice Magic: Spiral Seal." Two magic circles appeared above and beneath the rabbit before it hit the ground, and from them, coiling pieces of ice emerged and connected with the rabbit at the center.
The creature let out a screech and started biting into the ice binding it. And shockingly, its teeth started to break through!
'Ferocious thing you are.' Xander thought as he took a step.
Feather Steps
Flowing Tide
His speed spiked, and in a moment, he was in front of the struggling creature.
"Right side!" Aubrey yelled a bit frantically, and Xander shifted his body to the left.
BOOM
Red light flashed, but instead of the beam from before, a wave of pure concussive force erupted, and Xander felt cold sweat cover his back.
Had that hit him, almost every bone would have shattered.
'Still...' He glared at the creature which returned his stare, its cracked horn finally crumbling as that attack finished the deed.
His sword, which was raised, started to descend.
'I don't have a lot of attacks meant for pure power as I favor precision. Still, this should do the job, i just never hit you with it.' His sword flashed, and silvery light coated it as it cleaved downwards.
'Crescent Moon!' This time, the rabbit had nowhere to go.
As such, Xander's neck sliced straight through its body, and the spiral seal as well as the ground behind it were also cleaved into two.
The rabbit couldn't let out another sound as it slowly disintegrated into mana particles.
Xander stood there, panting as he gripped his sword tightly. But he didn't move, not yet, as he waited for confirmation.
"It... It's over..." Aubrey said behind him, her voice full of relief, and Xander finally let the tension bleed out of him.
'Holy shit.' He took a deep breath and straightened before turning.
Aubrey sat on the floor with her head back, her eyes closed with slight strain on her face. Curtis moved around her, looking both happy and worried.
Mia was being Mia.
Falael seemed to have caught their breath and simply stood with an unreadable expression. But when they caught Xander's gaze, they scowled and looked away.
'... They are probably embarrassed. They ended up helping in the end, also...' Xander scratched his head and suppressed a wry smile.
'Getting tapped out after just one attack... Their mana pool is worse than mine!' He shook his head.
'Well, the current me, anyway. The past Xander couldn't even cast any spell. Also, Starlight Magic, huh?' He slowly sheathed his sword, and the corner of his lip couldn't help but curl up.
"Maybe. Just maybe, we aren't as screwed as I thought."