Sun rises over Atlantic Academy as another weekend comes. Despite having difficulty initially, Sigulf managed to drift off sleeping in the end, and thus woke up refreshed to face the day.

“Alright, let’s make it count…!” he said to himself.

Celina promised him extended practice sessions. That alone hyped him enough.

‘…wait, I shouldn’t be only thinking about that! It’s for improving myself in general, and preparing against the guests in particular, assuming a duel breaks out.’ Sigulf mentally reprimanded himself. ‘…and to catch up with her, obviously.’

He momentarily paused to take a deep breath and calm himself down.

“Enough, time to get serious. Let’s go, myself…!”

Feeling determined, Sigulf left his room and heads for the usual hill.

———

Sigulf arrived at their training spot minutes later, with Celina and Chelsea talking to each other, waiting for him.

“Oh, good morning.” Celina greeted him with a smile upon noticing him. “Did you get enough sleep?”

“Good morning.” Sigulf responded while trying to keep his cool. “I think I did…”

“Hmm, that doesn’t sound very convincing…” Chelsea chimed in. “How can you survive the bone grinding?”

The boy blinked at her words.

“…it’s going to be THAT intense?”

“Actually, no. …or so I wanted to say. But I believe it would be better if you think of it that way.” Celina answered. “Makes it more interesting, don’t you think?”

“…well, might be.” He gave a nervous laugh.

“So, shall we begin?”

Sigulf look at her in the eye and replied, “Yes! I’m in your good care today!”

His answer and enthusiasm surprised Chelsea a bit. Celina, meanwhile, simply chuckled and responded, “That’s good to hear. Prepare yourself then.”

———

After the initial warmups are out of the way, all three are doing preparations for their sparring.

“Alright, for now… Should I go against Sigulf like before?” Celina asked.

“Aah, about that…” Chelsea raised her hand. “I actually wanted to have a go as well. You don’t mind, right?”

“Oh, that’s a bit unusual from you. Well, normally I would not have problem, but I called first.”

“…what? You’re not even going to budge for this, are you?”

“Hm? Why would I? I want to fight him on his best too.”

Sigulf can only watch them with a little nervousness.

‘…calm down, they are not fighting over me. They just love to fight that much, yeah.’ He tries to mentally reassure himself.

“OK, then how about we settle this with rock paper scissors?” Chelsea suggested.

“…that’s not a contest of strength.” Celina retorted.

“Oh, but isn’t luck supposed to be a part of greater strength? Or… Are you too afraid to try?”

“U…”

Celina was hesitant at first, but she finally relented and brought out her arm.

“That’s more like it. Now…” Chelsea said while readying herself. “I’ll use paper.”

“…is this a mind game of yours, or—“

“Fufu, it’s up to you on how to interpret it.”

Celina said nothing and simply got into position.

“…ready?”

“Whenever you are.”

“Alright, rock—“

“Paper—“

““Scissors!””

There was the moment of silence as Sigulf and the girls confirmed the results.

“…you actually believed me?”

“Of course.” Celina sighed. “You are my best friend; how could I not to?”

“…alright, I actually feel bad now. It’s as if I’m the villain here…”

Chelsea ends up winning as she used rock instead of paper as previously said.

“That was a villainous thing to do, wasn’t it?”

“Th, that’s why… A, anyways!” Chelsea tried to change the subject. “You don’t mind practicing with me first, Sigulf?”

“Huh? Well, I guess…”

‘…yeah, I should be a bit more careful around her.’ Sigulf mentally noted.

“Alright, let’s do this! …so, umm, Celina. Can you—“

“It can’t be helped. I’ll watch you two first.”

“…augh, how can I make it up for later?”

While looking slightly worried, Chelsea stepped to the middle to face Sigulf for their sparring.

“300 seconds, standard rules.” Celina announced. “Get yourselves ready.”

Without any chanting, both of them summoned their weapons in safety mode before getting into combat stance.

‘Come to think about it, I haven’t even actually sparred against her, right?’ Sigulf thought. ‘A sword and shield combo… Those are usually simple but effective.’

“Think you can go easy on me?” Chelsea joked.

“…can’t do that. I have to be prepared against the Pacific.”

“Or you just wanted to show off your cool side, right?”

“Eh—“

“Begin!”

Chelsea’s words, coupled with Celina’s cue, caught him by surprise, not giving him enough time to think over it nor to take a start dash. He only barely managed to block her sudden strike.

“Gh…!”

“Oh my…”

“Sigulf, stay focused!” Celina shouted from the sidelines.

“I’m sorry…!”

He quickly broke away and took a huge leap back.

‘Right, I should focus on fight at hand! First things first, her fighting style…!’

In retaliation, Sigulf charged towards Chelsea and swung his axes, only to be cleanly blocked by her shield.

‘Just as I thought…!’

Chelsea returns with a slash, forcing Sigulf to guard against it.

“Oh, almost…!” Chelsea commented.

Sigulf reacted with a strike, but again, it merely grazed her shield.

‘While her attacks are not as strong, she makes up for it with a solid defense.’ He thought in between exchanging strikes. ‘That, and her lower speed means nothing if I can’t get around her shield. Talk about precise reaction…!’

Sigulf jumped away from her thrust and took a bit of distance.

‘…well, that’s to be expected from this Academy’s number 1 and 2.’

Strengthening his grip, Sigulf rushed in once more towards Chelsea.

————

“300 seconds passed. That’s enough, good job both of you.”

“Phew…”

Sigulf let himself drop down sitting on the ground while his axes instantly dematerialized.

‘As expected, while I have far greater movement freedom and offensive, I still can’t get a hit in.’ he mentally noted. ‘And she only looked slightly tired there…’

“Sigulf, here’s your drink.”

“Ah, thanks…”

Chelsea had approached him and hands a water bottle with a smile, though he got a feeling that it wasn’t as genuine as it seems.

‘She…’

“What’s the matter?”

“No, it’s nothing…”

“We’ll have a break for another 5 minutes. And then… Who should I spar with next?” Celina asked.

“Me, me!” Chelsea raised her hand. “I can still go for another round!”

“Then so be it. Are you fine with fighting last?” she turned her attention to the lone boy.

“I don’t mind. I’d rather not overestimate myself.” Sigulf answered. “Plus, I want to study how both of you fight.”

“So that’s how it is.” Celina chuckled. “Well, that’s good to hear.”

For some reason, Chelsea reacted to her words and glanced at Celina from the corner of her eyes. Before she can follow with it, though…

“What, so you guys are here after all.”

“!?”

Alba, seemingly just done jogging and looking a bit sweaty, came over to the hill.

“Err, yo…?” she greeted, albeit a little unsure.

“Yo…” Sigulf greeted back, slowly getting up on his feet. “Your muscles okay now?”

“Yep! Well, I did limit myself from going overboard. …and Chelsea did have a part in it too.” Alba answered, and somehow mumbled the last part. Unfortunately, Chelsea caught that.

“Ufufu, glad to be some help.”

“…so,” Alba continued, and upon shifting her attention back on Sigulf, she grinned. “I’m guessing they kicked your ass?”

“Badly.” He responded quickly and bluntly.

Alba blinked before saying, “…dammit, you’re supposed to get provoked and mad.”

“What can I say? You’ll know if you spar with them.” Sigulf simply shrugged. “Wanna give a try?”

Alba glanced at the council duo, before saying, “I don’t know, I thought this is supposed to be your super secret cool kids club?”

“Ah-hem.” Celina cleared her throat. “…well, it was supposed to be a secret. How did you find out?”

“Eh? Last week’s loud boom coming all the way from here… Just connect the dots.”

“Loud boom…? Wait, don’t tell me—“

“I told you.” Chelsea sighed. “Why did you use that move anyway?”

“But it would be impolite for him if I wasn’t serious!”

“But there’s no need to overdo it, though…”

“Ugh… So everyone heard that?” Celina asked Alba again.

“Yeah.”

The blonde covered her face.

“I got carried away…”

“But wait, there’s nothing from the newspaper club, right?” Sigulf tried to reassure her.

“Well, yeah. I think because it’s about you two, the club decided not to publish it. Or so I hear.” Alba explained. “And even knowing this, the boys gave up anyway.”

Chelsea sighed out of relief.

“Thank goodness, no paparazzi.”

“Ah, but if were you,” she continued and shifted her attention back to Sigulf. “I would be careful not to be found out.”

“Huh? Why’s that?”

“They do know it’s her sparring, but what they don’t know is who was her partner. Most people thought it’s Chelsea, so…”

“I’ll be targeted, again, and this time out of jealousy?”

“Something like that.”

Sigulf facepalmed.

“For Loki’s sake…”

“I, I’m sure it won’t be anything big…” Chelsea tried to steer away the conversation. “Rather than that, shouldn’t we start sparring?”

“O, oh, right. Let’s go then.”

“Then I’ll watch you two from here.”

“Please do.”

So Celina and Chelsea moved towards the center, while Sigulf sat back down at the sidelines.

“…you’re not going to spar with her?” Alba asked him.

“With Celina? Later, after this. This is a good chance to study them. Assuming I can catch anything, that is.” Sigulf replied.

“…I see. You’re really serious about this.”

“Hm?”

Alba sat down right beside him. It’s a bit too close for his comfort.

“Oi…!”

“Don’t mind me. I want to see how the top 2 fights as well!” she grinned.

Sigulf wasn’t sure on what to say, but he ends up dismissing it and returned his focus to the duo’s sparring.

“5 minutes, standard rules. Get ready, you two.” He announced.

At his cue, both Celina and Chelsea summoned their True Arms and get into fighting stance.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” Celina chuckled.

“It is.”

“Should we go all out for today?”

“Mm, I would rather pass on that. I prefer saving the surprise for the big moment.” Chelsea winked.

“I knew you are going to say something like that. Well then…!”

“Ready…!” Sigulf gave them the signal. “Fight!!”

Faster than Sigulf and Alba can follow, the two suddenly has dashed all the way to middle and locked their blades. Even on safety mode, the 1st-years can feel the sheer impact and vibration from Celina and Chelsea’s steel ringing.

‘It was almost all blur…! By Fenrir, this is another whole level…!’

‘So this is the summit of this Academy…!? Dammit, I will get stronger! I won’t lose, especially against those two…!’

Celina’s strength and speed meets Chelsea fortitude and precision. On this day, Sigulf and Alba witnessed a spectacle which ignites another flame within.