Beast Speaker, Monster Tamer

53: Summer Camp Amp

The next day started at a sharp five-thirty in the morning when the sun was just barely tinting the sky rose and lavender. Around Elise, most of the students were still in various states of sleepiness as they stood facing Aizawa. Elise herself was mostly unaffected, used to not sleeping enough so it barely showed despite her feeling dead tired.

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen!" Aizawa greeted. "Today we will begin training camp to increase your strength in earnest. The goal of this training camp is to increase everyone's strength and with that, for everyone to increase their provisional licenses. It is to prepare you all to face hostilities that are becoming more real by the minute. Proceed carefully. So, Bakugou," he lobbed a softball at the blonde, "try throwing that."

"This is from the fitness test..." Bakugou said as he gazed at the ball in his hand.

"Your previous record, from right after you started school, was 705.2 meters. Let's see how much you've improved."

"Ohhh?" Mina asked. "You're gonna check our progress?"

"Since a lot happened these last three months, huh? Maybe he can throw it a kilometer or something now!" Sero continued.

Kirishima pumped a fist, leaning forward to yell, "Do it, Bakugou!"

"Then..." Bakugou began. He leaned back, gearing himself into a pitch. "GO TO HELL!"

The ball burst from his palm in light and smoke. Silence was left behind.

Quite similar to his statements at the beginning of the year.

"709.6 meters."

Elise blinked.

"Huh? It's less than I thought..." Kirishima pondered.

Aizawa walked closer. "It's been about three months since you started high school. Through various experiences, you have definitely improved. But that improvement has mainly been at the mental and technical levels, with some increase in stamina. As you can see, your quirks themselves have not improved that much. That's why we will work on your quirks starting today."

A predatory smile spread over his lips and everyone felt a chill down their spine.

He tilted his head at them, pointing up a finger. "I'll be so hard you'll feel like dying, but try not to actually die..."

***

Sweat trailed down the side of her temple as Elise propped her hands on her knees. Before they were to start training their quirks, the class was supposed to warm up. That warm-up lasted several hours, featuring multiple miles of running through the forest and workouts similar to what they went through at the beginning of the year. Only much, much worse. Now, the sun was burning high in the sky and off into the greenery, and wildlife were busy with their day.

"Stand up straight, Wing."

Elise shot up, yelping, "Yes, sensei!"

Aizawa regarded her cooly, tired eyes gazing at her. "Since your quirk is a bit more complicated, we'll be focusing on one aspect today, and then the other tomorrow."

"Yes sir."

"Today, you will be focused on improving you and your Pokémon's fighting abilities. The plan is for you to spar with multiple Pokémons to train together simultaneously. I want you to face off against the maximum number of Pokémons you can call out at once. Understood?"

Elise nodded, a thoughtful look on her face. Going all out like that was only reserved for when she was alone to not draw attention to herself. It's a good idea. Much more convenient... But I wonder if it'll inconvenience anyone though.