When they finished training, Aka's team faced 29's team this time. They greeted each other and stood ready to fight. 29's team consisted of Numbers 28, 29, 30, and 31. But since there was confusion, she got permission from the instructor and transferred Number 23's tag to the person newly reassigned as 29, so she was 29 again.
To be honest, 29's team was almost perfect. They had teamwork, but they were also above average individually. On top of that, the biggest advantage was that they had one more member than the others. Number 28 used spiked gloves like Aka and relied on speed. The girl who was originally 29 but now wore the 23 tag only used throwing daggers like Number 32, though Aka didn't know if she had more or fewer daggers than 32.
Number 30 used a single dagger, while Number 31 fought with two. Their team strategy was simple: 28, 30, and 31 fought the enemy head-on, while 29 either threw her dagger when she found an opening or joined a fight to use the numbers advantage. Even without a formal captain, they were already a strong team.
When the fight started, Aka went straight to 29 for a one-on-one. This time, unlike the fight against 24, she wouldn't stay back — she was going to fight, even if deep down she wanted to go all out against her lover. Aka's team stayed close together because they were outnumbered and waited for the enemy to come. Simply put, both teams were using the same strategy, except the enemy had one extra person — and that made a huge difference.
28 and 30 rushed in quickly, while 29 and 31 approached from behind at a slower pace. Aka's team couldn't tell if they were being underestimated. When 28 and 30 finally got close, the fight split into a two-on-two. Number 30 kept spinning her dagger from one hand to the other so fast that Aka's team hesitated to punch.
When the chance came, 33 dropped one of his daggers. He ducked under and stabbed 28 in the knee with his remaining dagger, then rolled back to escape. But while he moved away, 34 was left alone and took a dagger from 28 to the shoulder. He managed to duck down, grab 33's fallen dagger, and retreat. 29's team didn't quite understand what had just happened.
Now Aka's team possessed five of the enemy daggers — including the one stuck in 34's shoulder. Before 33 and 34 could rest, the enemy rushed back in again. Meanwhile, 28 and the girl wearing the 23 tag had already closed in. But just as 23 reached them, a dagger suddenly stabbed into her neck and the healer ran over to take her out of the fight. 32's dagger that hit her was now gone as well.
While 28 and 30 were shaken, 33 threw two more daggers and struck both of their shoulders. With a single move, Aka's team had pulled ahead. Now 28, 30, and 31 were all injured, while only 34 had taken a dagger to the shoulder on Aka's side. 34 and 33 advanced again, while 32 slipped out of sight.
Even so, 34 and 33 were at a disadvantage fighting three people at once, wounded or not. Just as 31 was about to slash 33's arm, 32 kicked 31's knee from behind, knocking her down. She then stabbed her three times in quick succession and kicked her in the head. Now it was two against three — but the enemy was surrounded from both sides and defeat seemed inevitable.
Aka's team had just begun to hope when they saw 29 approaching from behind. It seemed she had won the fight against her lover. But as soon as 32 noticed 29, she also saw 28 drop her guard for a split second of relief. 32 stabbed 28 rapidly in the back and then stepped on her to leap back to her teammates.
Now Aka's team stood close together, and only two enemies remained — but one of them was 29, the strongest fighter in Team Two who had even defeated Aka. Naturally, they were scared. 29 chuckled when she saw what 32 did and ran over to her last remaining teammate. But instead of staying, she told 30 to leave the field because she was too injured to continue.
Now the fight was truly between 29 and Aka's team. 29 let them rest for a bit, then suddenly grabbed 33 by the stomach and slammed him head-first into the ground. Still, 33 managed to stab her in the abdomen during the move. 29 respected him for fighting back until the very end and turned to fight the others.
But she couldn't, because 33 grabbed her leg with all his remaining strength. 32 saw the chance and threw two daggers into 29's legs — one in each. 29 finally got serious and spun her dagger in her hand as she fought 33. He held on with his dual daggers for a while, until 29 struck him in the groin and stunned him, then stabbed him five times so fast no one could see.
Now only 32 and 29 were left. 29 faced 32 directly, but 32 kept her distance. As 29 slowly approached, 32 suddenly lunged forward and threw a dagger at 29's throat. 29 dodged — and pain from the daggers in her knees hit her.
Her feet and knees were already stabbed, and she had taken many blows from Aka as well. She staggered, dropped to one knee, and 32 threw another dagger at her. But 29 had done it on purpose. At the same time, she threw her own dagger at 32's head.
For less than a second, 32's vision was blocked by the large dagger, and although her reflexes were good, her strength was only average, so she barely managed to deflect it. By the time she realized it, 29 had already rushed her, kicked one knee so she collapsed, and shoved her to the ground. One second 32 was blocking the dagger — the next, 29 was on top of her.
Even though 32 stabbed her repeatedly with a throwing dagger, 29 didn't stop punching her. But she eventually realized she couldn't last much longer. So she grabbed a dagger from the ground and stabbed 32 in the throat — then collapsed beside her.
The healer rushed into the pool of blood and began treating them both. Meanwhile, Aka and Number 30 had been watching the entire fight together. Aka had really fought 29, but after losing, she withdrew to the healer. 30 had been forced off the field by 29 herself.
Aka gave 30 some advice, then went to train, eat a lot, rest, heal, and train again. By the time she finished her second session, everyone was awake and greeting one another. 29 and Aka spoke out loud to each other first — and 29 began.
"29 — Your teamwork was good and you don't really have any major flaws. But you clearly lack strength and experience. Keep training at this pace until you leave here and get as strong as you can. Speaking individually, 33, even while taking my attack, you still found a chance to hurt me — your awareness is good, just improve it further. 34, you're the weakest in your team, so you need to urgently improve yourself in every area so you don't drag them down."
"Since you have food and healing here 24/7, push yourself — but don't forget to sleep. 32, as for you… you were simply amazing. You were almost perfect. Honestly, you're much better than Aka." Aka gave her a confused look but didn't interrupt.
"Your awareness and throwing ability are incredible, and your reflexes too. But your greatest talent is disappearing from sight. Since we'll become assassins, you clearly have more potential than us. Your only weakness is strength — so get stronger and gain experience."
Everyone shouted their thanks to 29. Then Aka spoke.
"Aka — Your teamwork was good too, but I don't understand why you split into two-on-two at the start. Sure, 29 throws daggers, but leaving someone just to guard her was a huge beginner mistake. You need to fix your formation urgently. Individually, 28, you're a good and experienced fighter, but your reflexes are clearly lacking."
"If you train blindfolded with the dagger throwers, you can improve. 29, you're good at throwing daggers, but you're not used to close combat — I suggest you train under 32, since no one here understands you better than her. 30, you're a good fighter but you avoid risk — try trusting your endurance more and be willing to trade blows sometimes. 31, you also have reflex problems, so take what I told 28 to heart — and that's all." They also thanked Aka loudly and left.
Aka gathered her own team and spoke again. "You've all improved a lot since day one — especially you, 32. But 33 and 34, you've improved too, you just didn't shine as much. I also watched your fight against 29, and you did great."
"As you know, 29 is probably the strongest person on this field. So don't look down on yourselves just because you lost. From now on, we'll switch to a different training method — so be ready."
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.