Student To King: The Transportation To A New World

Chapter 42: Time Before Depature

-The Next Morning-

Aria was already awake, eating breakfast beside her friends. They didn't have the entire class with them, as the majority was with Ancel's unit, already doing their drills. The rest, part of Olivia's unit, continued to eat until Olivia arrived. She had her soldiers carry various training equipment to suit every unique fighter, whether they used swords or spears.

"Before we head out, we need to evaluate ourselves in spars first before working on our desired skills. Everyone grab a partner and make sure you switch after two exchanges. You may use Arts, but no magic is allowed. Non-combatants will train in mana condensing and target practice on your own. Let's begin our drills now!" Olivia shouted.

"Close combat isn't really my thing, but I know I'll be in awkward situations without it," Freya said.

"In that case, do you want to spar with me?" Aria asked her.

"Sure, why not," Freya replied with a straight face, though her friends looked concerned.

"Aria is in a league of her own. Don't you think fighting her right off the bat is overkill?" Marcia asked.

"It's fine. I've had some sword training, and Aria is a perfect sparring partner. So don't worry, you can go all out on me," Freya said, grabbing a wooden sword.

"Understood," Aria replied, picking up a wooden spear.

"Well, we can't watch, can we? I guess we'll find out what it's like when it's our turn to fight Aria," Caspar commented.

The rest of Aria's friends began to spar with each other, leaving Freya and Aria together. They took their positions, with Freya holding her sword with both hands while Aria held her spear with one. As they assumed their stances, Freya struggled to find an opening.

Huh? How can I even approach that?

"If you're not going to move then I will!" Aria said charging in.

Aria let out a wild swing with her wooden spear. Freya's instincts kicked in, sensing imminent danger. She tucked her body and jumped away, barely dodging Aria's strike.

'Fighting her makes me want to run away. It reminds me of that bear incident. But I have to land a strike at least. If I can't hold my own, I'll be dead weight to everyone in our class,' Freya thought.

'[Offensive Art: Feinting Edge!]'

Freya took the initiative, gathering momentum for a powerful slash aimed at Aria's training gear.

'I've seen that Art before... I'll simply dodge and counter attack.' 

Aria closely watched Freya's body movements. As she had planned, she dodged the attack and gathered momentum to catch Freya off balance. With a powerful one-handed swing, Aria struck, and Freya barely blocked in time, the force pushing her back a few centimetres.

"[Utility Art: Quick Step]," Aria said, before appearing behind Freya, who quickly turned around. But it was already too late. Aria's wooden spear was at Freya's throat.

"Wow... I couldn't even last a minute," Freya said, trying to catch her breath. 'Now I want to see how she compares to Olivia and the other Holy Knights...'

"You've done pretty well for an archer," Aria says with a slight smile.

"Well if you say so, I'll wait for the others in the unit if they want to spar in close combat with an archer," Freya said.

"Ok I'll wait too."

Both of them watched as everyone in the unit sparred with each other. Ryu and Glenn took a long time to decide a winner, as they were evenly matched. Eventually, Glenn won by pure endurance, taking advantage of Ryu's constant attacks.