“They’re hopeless,” Rowan ranted. “Utterly hopeless. I’ve seen orphaned street urchins steal fruits with better teamwork than they display. We’re four practice sessions in, and it feels like we’ve barely progressed as a team at all.”

Kanna nodded sympathetically, her hands steepled while on the desk in front of her, a spoon stirred idly under its own power within a cup of tea. Behind her, the last rays of sunlight were still peeking out from behind the mountains, giving the world beyond a few minutes more before the darkness reclaimed it once more.

Catching his breath, Rowan took a brief break from ranting to sip from a glass of water in front of him. He was in Kanna’s office, two books open in front of him and a third sitting to the side waiting to be cracked.

“Honestly,” Rowan sighed. “I know it’s not just them. I’m a part of the team as well. But it’s frustrating watching them fight. I do my best to make it all work, but it’s just not happening. And we’ve only got a month and a half left before exams. I just don’t know what to do anymore.”

“Right,” Kanna said, waving a finger at the teacup as she did. Immediately, the spoon ceased its movements, completing one last revolution before its momentum faded and the liquid within went still. Taking it out, Kanna sampled the droplets on the spoon and nodded to herself, picking up the cup and taking a sip before letting out an appreciative sigh.

“Master?”

“Hmmm?” Kanna murmured.

“You looked like you were about to say something.”

“Oh, right.” Kanna nodded to herself. “Sorry, it’s just this tea is so good. An old friend procured it while traveling out east, and he sent me a packet recently. It’s absolutely divine, but I have to ration it because once it’s gone there won’t be any more.” Kanna looked sad as she said this, her eyes drifting down towards her mug.

Rowan restrained the impatience he felt towards his whimsical master. “Right, but you were saying?”

“I was going to ask what you’ve tried. From what you’ve told me over the last few weeks, it’s Miss Lunythe and Miss Westmarch that are the main problems, correct?”

“Morgana and Reinne, yeah,” Rowan confirmed. “Droon mostly tries to stay out of it, but he often causes them to fight when he makes mistakes like messing up the formation or attacking the wrong target. He doesn’t mean to, and he’s getting better, but it definitely doesn’t help. The main problem is still the girls though.”

Kanna nodded understandingly. “Before I go any further, do you feel Mister Glynsen will be up to the task of being your party’s vanguard?”

“I do,” Rowan affirmed. “When it comes to defending, he’s actually pretty good. Not at the elite level of some of the second or third year parties I’ve been with, but better than average. It’s when he tries to contribute on offense that things fall apart.”

“And you’re okay with this downside?”

“Yes. Droon’s aware of his failings, and he’s working harder than anyone to fix them. He should be fine as the vanguard for a brass-rank dungeon.”

“Do the girls feel the same way?”

“If they don’t, they’ve never expressed it,” Rowan replied. “Both of them have helped him with his training, and neither of them have ever asked to switch positions with him, or for me to let him be the archaeologist and have one of them take his role.”

Kanna nodded. “In that case, it seems like it’s just a personality clash. Not exactly a surprise since Miss Lunythe’s a part of your party, but not something you can just ignore either.”

Rowan groaned in frustration. “I’m aware. If I could ignore it, I would. I’ve tried ignoring it, talking to them about it, changing up our tactics so that they don’t have to coordinate as much. Nothing works. They always find something to fight about, and then it just spirals downwards from there.”

“Have you tried holding a teambuilding exercise?”

Rowan paused. “A what?”

“A teambuilding exercise.” Kanna waved her hand. “Middle-aged adventurers love them. Usually, they’re just an excuse to go out, have a good time, and get shitfaced, all as a party of course.” Seeing the skeptical look on Rowan’s face, Kanna grinned. “I say that, but they do work. It’s all about experiencing things with your party by your side. Things that aren’t related to monsters or dungeons. A night on the town, getting together to watch a show, playing cards together, basically you’re looking to get to know your teammates better so that you’ll be more inclined to want to help them when the time comes. From the sounds of it, both Miss Lunythe and Miss Westmarch could use some time to unwind, away from the demands of formation drills and tactics training.”

“They could both use a healer to remove the sticks in their asses more like,” Rowan muttered, softly enough that Kanna couldn’t hear him. Regardless, it seemed his master got the gist of what he was saying, and a delicate eyebrow was raised overtop the teacup that had reappeared in her hands.

“What would you suggest then, master?” Rowan asked, changing the subject before she could ask him to repeat himself.

“I’m not sure,” Kanna replied. “Give me a few moments to think about it. And while I’m doing that, you can tell me how your practice with that new whip of your’s has been going.”

“Not too badly,” Rowan admitted. “The various magic properties make it harder to use than the normal whips I’m used to handling, but the base mechanics are the same. I’ve been practicing the exercises you gave me and I can make it move in the way I want and hit the correct target nine times out of ten.”

“And that’s at the base mana level?”

“Yes,” Rowan confirmed. “I’ve been doing the practice you showed me, inserting different amounts of mana into the whip to see how it changes. I’m still not ready to practice while varying the mana levels, but I want to start soon.”

“Don’t rush it,” Kanna warned. “The greatest strength of the arcanowhip lies in its ability to attack from countless different angles with an intensity that can go from gentle to violent in an instant. But it’s those strengths that make it such a tricky weapon to wield. Until you’ve mastered the exercises I gave you, don’t try using it in real combat yet. You’re just as likely to hurt yourself or your allies as you are your opponents.”

“Understood, master.”

“Good. Now then, back to your original problem. The dungeoneering team finals are this weekend. You could all go there,” Kanna suggested. “A fun activity, and it will allow you to see what elite dungeon teams look like. Plus your house is one of the finalists this year, for the first time in a while. It certainly wouldn’t be a bad experience, at the very least.”

“Ah…” Rowan scratched his neck awkwardly. Not one to miss such an obvious cue, Kanna tilted her head.

“Oh? Is there a problem with what I said?”

“No, it’s just…” Rowan sighed. “Droon’s been badgering me to go for weeks now. He’s a huge fan, attended all the matches during the year and never shuts up about how our team performed. But he wouldn’t stop pestering me about going, so I made up an excuse about having to porter that day to get him off my back.”

“You didn’t want to go that badly?”

Rowan shrugged. “I just didn’t see the point. I have to study, there’s no reason to waste time watching a sporting event.”

“Well,” Kanna began. “It’s not that I don’t see where you’re coming from, but I can’t really recommend it as a good course of action. Grades are important, but so is life, and living only for school isn’t conducive to a very fulfilled life.” Eyes drifting down, she paused as they came to rest upon the books open in front of Rowan, in particular, the one assigned by her, for her class, the homework from which was laid out before him. “Of course,” she continued. “It’s not good to ignore your classwork either, but everything in moderation.”

“Nice catch, master,” Rowan said dryly. “But that life lesson doesn’t help me explain to my friend how I suddenly don’t have to delve into a dungeon that day on your orders.”

“On my orders,” Kanna repeated. “You used me as part of your excuse?”

“You’re a professor,” Rowan said simply. “Using your name lends credibility to the excuse.”

“The lie you mean. Stop tangling this web of deceit and just tell your friend that you got the date wrong. You’re going into a dungeon the next day.”

Rowan tilted his head. “But I’m not. How is that untangling my web of lies?”

“Because it’s not a lie,” Kanna told him, a dangerous smile on her lips. “Since you used my name, I can’t possibly allow the impressionable Mister Glynsen to think I failed to find you a party to dungeon with, can I?”

“But I have assignments to work on that day, master!”

“Then I guess it’s a good thing you’ve got such a helpful teacher, isn’t it?” Kanna said sweetly. “And since you’re so worried about your assignments, you should probably get back to work. Yours is still two pages too short.”

Suppressing his sigh of long suffering, Rowan bent over the books in front of him as Kanna sipped gently from her cup, the office returning to silence once more.

“I can’t believe we’re all going to watch the finals together!” Droon exclaimed giddily. He had been overjoyed to hear that Rowan was now able to come, and even moreso when Rowan had suggested inviting Reinne and Morgana along. “The team’s last match was incredible! The way Verking used the boar’s head formation to smash the monster blockade in Lykia’s dungeon was amazing, I didn’t even know people could move like that!”

“I was there for that,” said Reinne. “Verking looked so cool leading the team like that. The others weren’t bad themselves, but Verking is just dreamy.”

Off to the side, Morgana made a face at these words, but mercifully stayed silent rather than getting into it with Reinne. Rowan heaved an internal sigh of relief at this, his senses on edge as they found seats on the stone benches of the arena.

It had not been easy to get the four of them together to watch the finals, even with Kanna’s teambuilding exercise as a reason. Droon of course had been easy to convince, already intent on going and thrilled to have his friends along for company.

Reinne had been a little trickier. Similar to Droon, she too had planned on going, but unlike Droon, she’d already made plans with others to see it. Specifically, Tianna’s group. It had taken a few tries, but eventually Rowan had managed to convince her through use of the fact that she had voted to make him leader. While initially reluctant, after a few conversations and some unsolicited guilt trips about disobeying the leader she had created, Reinne had agreed to tag along.

Morgana had been the most difficult. Like Rowan, she had planned on skipping the whole thing in favour of whatever it was she did in her spare time. Training or studying in her secret room, probably. Persuading her had required much effort, and an understanding that if their party cohesion did not see an increase and soon, there was a high chance they would receive a bad grade on the final.

In the end, they were all here, and Droon was pointing excitedly at the two teams on stage, talking about the various achievements each member had earned during the regular matches that had been played throughout the year.

The dungeoneering matches were all played out in a large colosseum in the bowels of the academy. Made of stone, the colosseum could sit the entire academy if needed, and was apparently also useful as a safe bunker in times of war.

Right now, the colosseum was decorated with the banners of House Draigwyn and House Turul, the two finalists in this year’s dungeoneering finals. Banners bearing the pale dragon of Draigwyn fluttered magically opposite those bearing the monstrous bird of Turul, all aflutter despite the lack of wind beneath the earth.

The games were about to begin.