Learning From Mistakes
Watching the sleeping girl in his bed, numerous thoughts surged through his mind uncontrollably.
How did she get inside? The door and windows were closed. He didn't sense anything. What method did she use? Was he in danger?
These thoughts filled his mind, and he subconsciously reached for where his sword should have been by his side, but he grabbed air.
'Ah, right.' He clicked his tongue as he spotted the sheathed blade leaning against the wall.
'...Calm down.' He took a deep breath to calm his turbulent emotions.
'First of all, despite the strange situation, she hasn't done anything particularly dangerous to me. So as unnerving as it is, I'm not in any danger. Also...' He grimaced. 'I get the feeling that if she wanted to harm me, I wouldn't be able to do much about it.' With a sigh, Xander straightened and cautiously approached the sleeping girl.
After a moment of hesitation, he gently shook her.
"Hey, Mia." He said in a hushed tone.
"Mm..." Her eyelids trembled before slowly cracking open.
With a yawn, she sat up and rubbed one of her eyes while looking at Xander.
"Yes...?" She mumbled, and Xander pinched the bridge of his nose.
"... Why are you in my room?" He asked straightforwardly.
"... I have to share my own room with other people, and the beds aren't comfy, so I came here instead..." She answered groggily, and Xander frowned a little at that.
'That implies she doesn't have a Gold card, since all the cards below gold mean the students share rooms. But more importantly...' He looked at her suspiciously.
'How did she know I had a Gold card?' At that moment.
Knock Knock Knock
"Milord, is everything alright? Who are you speaking to?" Mary called out from behind the door, and Xander flinched.
'Crap, she must have heard my exclamation.' He looked between Mia who seemed to be on the verge of passing out and back to the door, then...
'Actually, this could be good,' He realized. 'If it's Mary, then maybe she could help resolve this situation!' With that thought, he replied.
"Actually, could you come in? There's indeed a bit of a... situation." He called back while glancing at Mia.
At this, the door opened, and Mary stepped in. However, the moment she did, she froze, and her face did something Xander had NEVER witnessed it do since he met her in this world.
It went pale.
The moment she lay eyes on Mia, her pupils shrunk, and the blood drained from her face as her hands subconsciously gripped her dress.
"M-Milord... Who... Is that?" She evidently tried to maintain her composure, but the way she stuttered and the trembling in her voice was telling.
'Ah, I see...' Xander thought numbly. 'I might be screwed.' So he just nodded
"This... Uh, this is Mia. She is a teammate, and she has claimed my bed, it seems." He scrubbed a hand across his face.
"I... see..." Mary forced her neutral expression once more, but Xander could see the sweat beading at her forehead.
"Do you... need me to remove her?" Even though it sounded like she was offering, the way she looked at him was almost pleading, like she desperately wanted him to say no.
'Okay... If the literal Elemental Spirit is begging me with her eyes, then I suppose there's not much to be done about it.' Xander sighed for the umpteenth time.
"... No, that won't be necessary." He shook his head.
It's then that Mia's eyes, which had been slowly closing, opened again. She looked up and sniffed a few times, then her head turned towards the door, and Xander felt a slight breeze envelop her as she levitated off the bed and towards the door.
Mary instinctively gave way, and Xander walked over to see what she was doing, not bothering to think about how she was levitating.
Looking through the door, Xander and Mary watched as Mia landed at the dining table where a plate of food sat, giving off a tantalizing aroma.
Without hesitation, the girl sat at the table and stared at the food with glittering eyes. Then she grabbed the utensils placed beside the plate and started to help herself.
"... Mary?"
"... Yes, milord?"
"Is she like you?"
"Not at all, milord. She does appear to be human from what I can see."
"Interesting..." Xander sighed and retreated back into the room.
"Could you... watch her while I wear something more presentable?" At his request, Mary stiffened, but she nodded, even though the motion was like that of an unoiled.
"... Yes, milord." She mumbled, but it was clear she really did not want to.
Regardless, she stopped outside and closed the door behind her.
Xander stood there for a moment before he quickly changed into something proper and hung his sword by his waist before stepping out.
When he did, he saw a mildly amusing scene.
At the dining table, Mia was helping herself to what was meant to be his dinner. The girl was so small that she could barely reach over the table to the food, but she was managing somehow.
Then in the farthest possible corner of the dorm room, Mary stood, stiff as a statue as she watched Mia carefully.
'What a mess.' Xander ran a hand through his hair and exhaled through his nose.
He then walked over to Mia who was happily eating and sat opposite her. The girl didn't even look up, and Xander hesitated before speaking.
"So... Mia, I don't think we ever got the chance to talk properly." He said carefully.
No response.
The girl seemed to have a single-minded focus on the food, not even registering his words.
He tried a few more times, but to no avail.
'Welp, I tried.' He threw his hands up and stood.
"... You must still be hungry, milord." Mary, who had crept out of her corner slightly, managed to speak, and Xander nodded.
She seemed to steel her resolve before approaching. She entered the kitchen, always keeping Mia within her line of sight as she took out some more food from a storage container.
"I assume you are going to practice your usual training regimen. So I prepared extra for you." She explained, and Xander was pleasantly surprised.
"Oh. Well thank you." He said earnestly, to which Mary bowed as usual.
He sat opposite Mia again and started eating as well, feeling the food replenish his energy and heal his sore muscles further.
'It's just a small bit worse than what they had at the Lowell residence. So it's still usable. Then again, I'm soon gonna reach the point where even food of that degree won't help me much, so I'll soon have to invest in better stuff.' Xander mused.
As his body got stronger, the effects of healing he got from mana-rich foods at a certain level began to drop. So it would soon reach a point where he had to buy higher quality stuff to make up the deficit.
'Those credits are really coming in handy. I don't need to worry about my body training stagnating any time soon.' He nodded to himself and quickly finished his food.
He glanced at Mia who had almost finished her food as well and sighed.
'She's weird.' He noted, not in a condescending manner, just perplexed, then he went to his personal training room.
Compared to the training rooms in the Lowell residence, it paled quite a bit in comparison, but it was good enough for now.
Xander took his shirt off, revealing his toned physique before he drew his sword.
'There really is a difference between simple training and actual combat experience.' He thought as he began basic sword movements while recalling all the battles he'd done today with his teammates.
'I'd developed all my techniques and such, and I always came up with ways to use them together and synergize, but those battles showed me that more often than not, the pressure my opponents emit as they attack me barely gives me a chance to express my abilities to their fullest. Is that how people feel when they get defeated before they can go all out?' He completed a set before starting again.
'Then there's my squad to consider as well. Most of my moves are designed with only myself and my opponent in mind, not possible allies.' With that thought, he suddenly took a firm step and swung his sword.
Crescent Moon.
The familiar silver arc shone as he swung the blade in one clean motion. However, normally, the cutting power would have extended a few meters beyond the reach of the sword, but this time, Xander contained it strictly within the blade, increasing the cutting power by quite a bit.
He didn't stop there, though, as he suddenly changed his stance and swung upwards.
Rising Sun.
The blade swung upwards this time, scalding flames augmenting it's speed and power.
If Crescent Moon was meant for cutting and precision, the Rising Sun was for explosive power. They worked great together, and yet...
'The last battle we did today, we fought multiple opponents. Individually, they were weaker than the rabbit, but there were dozens of them. That exposed the lack of teamwork in our squad, it also showed the flaws in my combat style when it comes to team-based battles. I could only strike one at a time. And the two AOE skills I have—Tempest Stream and Boulder Strike—are indiscriminate, so they would have harmed my teammates as well. So it's clear,' He changed his stance again and his sword blurred.
'I need to adapt my combat style.' The blade stabbed out dozens of times in a moment, and at the end of each stab, a bullet sized bolt of wind shot forward, almost forming a wall of them.
Air Bullet
He then twisted his body again and swung in a vertical sweeping motion, and a thin reflective film of water formed in from of him, following the path of his sword.
Water Screen
He exhaled, then inhaled again, and his mana began to surge.
Without hesitation, he employed Mana Breathing, and his body moved faster and sharper, and the potency of his moves spiked.
He began to use different sword forms and styles, intermittently adding in his moves, but they weren't random.
In his mind, he was back in the training field with his teammates, fighting against the myriad of creatures Sergeant Alya summoned.
He imagined Aubrey and Curtis behind him with Falael off to the side.
He could almost see the way he moved before, and the mistakes caused from doing so, and he adjusted, rectifying his mistakes in real time.
He seemed to imagine Aubrey's callouts, only this time, he didn't rely solely on her as he gave commands of his own or adapted hers.
In parts where he originally noted a command she gave out and acted, this time, he noted the command and told Curtis to control the environment with his ice.
In a part where he failed and allowed a creature to get past him, instead of turning to deal with it himself, abandoning his post and letting more creatures pass by, he yelled at Falael to deal with it.
Instead of simply letting Aubrey passively read their opponents and telling the team how they would move, he told her to analyze ways to take advantage of their behavior to give them a better chance of taking them out while also easing their burdens.
He was so engrossed in his training that he didn't notice Mia appear at the door of the training room. Not that he would have noticed her regardless.
The girl watched him silently, her eyes following his sword as well as the way his mana moved in his body, and she blinked.
'How is he doing that?' She tilted her head, her confusion evident.