Aka opened his eyes again, and this time he didn't wake up on the stone slab he called a bed — he woke up on a real bed. 29 was beside him, and she woke him with a kiss. They got up, and then, one by one, went to their teammates' rooms, woke them as well, and all headed to the field together.
Team 24 and her group were already there. They smiled and greeted everyone when they arrived. Today was the first day of the second week of their "vacation," but even if it was supposed to be a break, they couldn't really rest — thanks to Aka's discipline. Every single day they came to the field, sparred with each other or trained physically, constantly improving themselves.
Aka's team consisted of Numbers 34, 33, 32, and himself. Even though these were the weakest members of the second group, Aka actually thought this was a good thing — because their weakness meant they didn't rely on themselves too much. Instead, they obeyed Aka's orders without question.
Both 34 and 33 were classic dual-dagger users. But 32 was different — he used throwing knives as his main weapon, something only a very small number of people here had mastered. Since the instructors rarely found people who could fight like that, they made sure that in every major exam, even if 32 didn't kill his opponent, he at least took all their throwing knives. Thanks to that, 32 had more than fifteen throwing knives. For comparison, Aka only had five.
Aka's team and Team 24 decided to spar. The strategy of Aka's team was simple: Aka would go all-out against one opponent, while the others would try to defeat their assigned targets. But since they usually couldn't finish their fights alone, they would hold out until Aka finished his own fight — and then he would go help them, ending things quickly. Their biggest weakness was obvious: almost everything depended on Aka. If he were to ever lose, the team would have almost no chance of winning. Another weakness was that 32 wasn't very strong in one-on-one fights — but the benefit he brought far outweighed that weakness. His eyes were incredibly sharp, and he could instantly spot openings that enemies couldn't dodge, throwing his knives to support his teammates.
Meanwhile, Team 24 was filled with some of the strongest people after the team leaders — but each of them wanted to stand out individually. They had almost no teamwork at all. Whenever 24 tried to help one of them, the person she helped would say they didn't need it and reject her. So each member would fight one opponent alone, and even if they won, they would simply stop there — refusing to help another teammate, because they still thought helping was somehow disrespectful.
The fight began, and Aka immediately lunged at 24 to fight her, certain that nobody would go to help her anyway. But something strange was happening in the back — Aka's teammates didn't split up. The three of them stayed together and resisted Team 24 as a group. Even though Team 24 kept shouting that they should fight one-on-one, Aka's team never accepted and stayed close to one another.
At last, Number 25 from Team 24 lost his patience and charged forward. Then 26 and 27 followed — but all of them attacked 33, the strongest-looking one. Since they weren't used to fighting together, they just kept getting in each other's way. Seeing this opportunity, 32 threw a knife into each of their knees, making them all collapse to the ground. Using that opening, 33 and 34 cut the underarms of 25 and 26 with their daggers, severing one arm each. Now that there were fewer fighters left standing, things grew even more serious.
After that, Aka's team pulled back, forcing the enemy to come to them. Furious, 25 and 26 charged again — but once more, they were careless. 32 threw throwing knives into their remaining good knees, making it hard for either of them to even stay standing. But while everyone was focused on them, the still two-armed 27 appeared from behind and stabbed 32 several times in the back before throwing him to the ground. Then he stood alone before 33 and 34 — while 25 and 26, badly wounded and slow, were still dragging themselves closer.
Yes, 27 was strong — one of the strongest — but 33 and 34 fought in great harmony, and he struggled. Just as 33 finally found a chance to stab 27 in the leg, 27 noticed and dodged — stabbing 33 in the back instead. But then 34 slashed 27 deeply from shoulder to stomach and shoved him down. Once he fell, the already-stabbed 33 stabbed 27 three or four more times, finishing him. And without anyone noticing, 32 — using his last remaining knives — had already finished off the badly wounded 25 and 26. After seeing that, there was no way anyone could ever call him useless again.
Meanwhile, watching from the back, Aka and 24 shared their observations with one another.
Aka said, "Honestly, aside from raw strength, I don't see anything in your team — no harmony, no compatible weapons or tactics, nothing. The only positive I can mention is how 27 almost finished off one opponent and still fought two others well. Maybe you can try to train everyone in your team to at least handle fighting two people at once. That's all I have to say."
24 replied, "Thank you, Number 22. As for my thoughts — I didn't like Number 33's performance. He was very slow, and even though he had many chances, he never took advantage of them. So I can't say he did well. 34 was average — he also missed many chances, but when the moment really came, he reacted quickly. So I can confidently say he performed better than 33. Also, your teammates are clearly used to you finishing your fights early and helping them — but even without you today, they handled everything very well. You've managed to turn your team into something this coordinated in just a week — congratulations."
The two team leaders shook hands and returned to their teams. Team 24 grabbed their leader by the throat, demanding to know why she didn't fight. But Aka's team didn't say a word — they just greeted him with, "Welcome back, boss," and then all of them went to the training grounds to work out together. The healer had already treated everyone, so since none of them were tired anymore, they just burned off the rest of their energy with training.
If you've read or taken a look, thank you so much. If you have any thoughts — good or bad — please leave a comment. I'll probably see and reply right away. Thanks again, and I wish you a great day.