“Alright, pick something.”

“Julia, you’re just wasting time.”

“Come on, it’s fun!”

“…okay…I’ve thought of one.”

“Is it…a solid?”

“Yes.”

“Is it a primary colour?”

“No.”

“Traffic cone.”

“…!”

“Wess?”

“By the gods, how did you guess it so quickly?”

“Just a good guess.”

“Hey guys!” Joleicia called out, waving to Julia and Wess, as the rest of Team Valiant and Team Vanguard trailed behind her. “You ready?”

“We were ready twenty minutes ago…” Wess grumbled, as Julia rushed over to help with her equipment.

“Really sorry about that. My rifle started acting up, and the rest of the team insisted on waiting for me.” Joleicia apologised, as Chops playfully patted her back.

“She knows how to shoot it, but she can’t fix it for her life.” Chops remarked, as Joleicia blushed from pure embarrassment.

“Guilty as charged.” She smiled, putting her bag down. “Let’s get to some combat practice.”

Julia and Joleicia stood in front of the others, as Joleicia naturally took charge. “Alright, we’ve got the whole day to ourselves, so let's use it well. Who wants to pair with who?”

Harley shot her hand up first. “I’ll take Saxin!”

Saxin was a bit caught off guard and found herself blushing crimson. “If you insist…”

“I’ll take on ice queen.” Chops added, as Wess bit into her cheek.

“You’re really getting on my nerves with that.” She expressed.

“Just firing you up.” Chops smirked. “Might just melt that ice.”

“Alright then.” Joleicia said, pointing to Sola and Lenin. “You two good to pair up?”

Sola and Lenin both looked at each other and shrugged.

“Great! Essex and Florey can spar together, and…” Joleicia spun on her heel to Julia. “We can both practice our aim.”

Julia nodded happily. “Yeah, let’s do it.”

The teams split off into their groups, each taking a small part of the training grounds for themselves, with weapons being brandished and Whils being flexed, as Joleicia pulled out her custom sniper rifle, catching the sunlight against its black finish.

“Whoa!!!” Julia exclaimed, rushing over excitedly. “That looks incredible! I’ve never seen a model like it!”

Joleicia pulled it back teasingly. “But Julia, you have already seen this.”

“Huh?”

“On the day of the attack.” Joleicia clarified. “It flew out of my hands and you went to pick it up, before using it against the Behemoth Wailing. The security team were nice enough to give it back.”

“Oh. Right.” Julia realised. “I guess I just forgot about it in the chaos…”

“Well, feel free to inspect it now.” Joleicia beamed, holding it out for Julia to take.

Julia held out her hands expectantly, preparing herself for its weight, as she bore it in her arms and took her time analysing every detail. “This is beautiful…it’s so much lighter than the Q-38 model…” She let out. “I hope I get a custom weapon soon. Did you have this before coming here?”

“Funny story, actually.” Joleicia prefaced. “Back at the group-house I grew up in, my foster parents and the others got me this as a going away gift. They even etched my initials into the side.” Joleicia pointed to the side, where the initials ‘J.M.’ were carved into the barrel, as Julia was quickly reminded of why she brought Maxie to the academy as well.

“Thank goodness Dad worked as an engineer…” Joleicia reminisced, before snapping back to the present. “Oh, I guess that wasn’t actually funny. Well, if you wanna try it out, go ahead.”

“Maybe later.” Julia said, handing it back and holding up the spare sniper rifle borrowed from the academy’s Weapon Reserve. “I’ve always preferred getting better with the basics first.”

“That’s the spirit!” Joleicia cheered, excitedly jumping up and down. “Let’s get to training!”

Julia and Joleicia went about setting up some empty bottles for target practice, as Harley and Saxin started getting into the heat of things.

Saxin pulled another dagger off her belt, throwing it at Harley, before Harley caught it mid-air, tossing it to the side and continuing her sprint toward Saxin. Harley went in for the punch, as Saxin glided her off to the side with the blade of her dagger, sending Harley tumbling over and into the ground.

“That’s one point for me.” Saxin remarked, twirling delightfully, as her belt of daggers spun along with her.

“Lucky shot.” Harley replied, getting back on her feet with Saxin’s help. “Guess you can dodge all of my advances.”

Saxin chortled into her hand. “True enough. I suppose it’s a little cruel on my part.”

“Yeah, a little.” Harley agreed. “I could’ve sworn you were interested when we first met.”

“Oh, believe me, I am.” Saxin admitted, surprising Harley. “Very much so. But…”

“Is it Lenin?” Harley asked, turning to Lenin and Sola, who had decided to take a seat rather than spar. “I get that you guys are dating…”

“Oh, no, he’s up for the idea too. Even more than I am.” Saxin clarified, catching Harley’s interest. “No, I’m afraid it’s all me.”

“Sadist…” Harley grumbled, before sitting against a nearby seat. “You just like watching me squirm.”

“Of course I do.” Saxin giggled. “But Harley, I think we both know that the appeal isn’t the satisfaction…” Saxin said, before delicately leaning into Harley’s ear. “…it’s the foreplay.”

Harley gulped to herself, as Saxin backed off and brandished her daggers again. “You’ll get your time, when I feel like it. Now come on, no slacking off.”

I wanna pin her so bad… Harley thought, as she got back up and resumed their sparring, just as Wess threw down her sword after finally having enough.

“Stop talking about me so dismissively!” Wess complained. “What have I done to upset you?”

Chops scratched her head, before shrugging her shoulders. “I dunno, but you’re about as dismissive.”

“I…” Wess started, before realising she didn’t have a leg to stand on, and falling as Chops tripped her over. “Hey!”

“Don’t let your guard down.” Chops snickered.

“But you keep using your Whil. That’s hardly fair.” Wess argued, brushing the dirt off her clothes.

“Well, I didn’t bring my sword.” Chops pointed out, as she formed a large sheet of ice from the ground with her Whil to prove her point. “How else am I gonna fight you?”

“Quite ironic that you called me the ice queen.” Wess pointed out, before getting back up.

“Sorry, what was that?” Chops asked.

Wess sighed to herself. “I sai-“

Just as she spoke, Chops formed another ice shard under Wess’ foot, tripping her over again, as Wess attempted to stay standing by falling against her sword.

“Fight me seriously!” Wess yelled.

“You seriously need to lighten up.” Chops replied. “What would dear Julia think?”

“She’d think you’re wasting my time.” Wess said, before turning to Julia and Joleicia. “Julia! Chops isn’t fighting fair!”

“Julia, she’s taking it too seriously!” Chops added.

“Chops, stop messing with Wess.” Julia said, putting down her rifle.

“Come on, I’m just teasing her.”

Julia tapped her foot and folded her arms. “Am I gonna have to come over there, you two?”

“…no, I’ll stop.” Chops conceded, as Wess snickered to herself.

“Now you behave yourselves, or we’re going right back to the dorms.” Julia warned, resuming her practice.

Chops looked licked, as Wess couldn’t help but grin to herself.

“Don’t look so smug.” Chops pouted.

“Well, you’re the one getting chewed out.” Wess reminded her. “Poor Chops, whatever will sh-“

Chops tripped her again, causing another bought of arguing between the two, as Sola and Lenin watched on in lack of anything else they’d rather do.

“Those two are gonna rip each other apart.” Sola said.

“Chops, mostly.” Lenin clarified.

The two sat by the spectator seats, resting their heads in their hands, as Lenin looked down at the ground.

“We should probably get to sparring.” He said.

“Yeah.” Sola agreed.

“…”

“…”

“But not right now.” Sola added.

“No, we can wait.” Lenin agreed. “We never did this much training back home. I entered a couple combat tournaments, but that’s it.”

“Same.” Sola said. “I kinda just train whenever.”

Lenin leaned back in his seat and cleaned up his hair. “I don’t know why they teamed us up. My Whil lets me burrow in the ground, and yours shoots lightning.”

“It’s really obvious who’d win.” Sola said.

“You.” They said in unison.

They both looked back at each other.

“No, you’d win.” Sola argued. “I’m super sure electricity’s real bad with the ground. It wouldn’t even touch you.”

“But I’m wearing my cloak…” Lenin explained, showing off his metallic cape. “…to protect me while I burrow, so all that electricity would just go into me anyway.”

Sola looked back at the field, then to Lenin. “You wanna test it now?”

“Yes.”

They both hopped off their seats to try out their theories, as they passed a very on edge Florey going head to head with Essex.

“Do we have to fight?” Florey called out to Essex.

“This is for physical training. I will not hurt you.” Essex called back.

Florey gripped his spare sword with an unsteady hand, as Essex took up her defensive pose and looked over to him.

“I will begin when you are ready.”

Florey felt a few drops of sweat on his head, before he nodded to Essex and tried to take a stance as well. Essex studied Florey’s form and rhythmically tapped her foot against the ground four times, rushing right over to him before he could catch anything, and pulling his feet out from under him with her scythe.

The whole sequence lasted about five seconds, but Florey felt it all lingering through him, as he stared into the sky, only registering Essex’s hand above him. He grabbed it and pulled himself up.

“I will adjust my combative skill.” Essex realised. “Would you prefer that I go slower?”

“J-just a little.” Florey said. “I’ve never been great with hand-to-hand combat.”

“What weapons are you specialised in?” Essex asked.

“…none?” Florey admitted. “And I don’t have a Whil either. I’m more of the…scientific…kinda Venator. But, you know, I can run pretty good.”

“Running is an important skill.” Essex said. “The difference in a good runner and a bad runner could mean life and death.”

A moment passed.

Florey looked from side to side awkwardly. “Can we just keep practicing?”

“Understood.” Essex declared, entering her stance again. “I will let you start.”

“Thanks.” Florey said, as he took up the sword and nearly dropped it on his foot, as Julia watched on in hopeful anticipation.

Joleicia took notice and lowered her rifle. “He’ll be fine. Even though he’s not great with fighting, he still comes to a lot of our training sessions.”

“He never liked the fighting part of Venators anyway.” Julia explained. “It was really surprising seeing him here on our first week.”

“He’s even more of a nerd then Chops is.” Joleicia joked, before aiming upward again. “Come on, let’s get back to shooting.”

“Right.” Julia said, before aiming her sights at the next bottle and firing, just missing it by a hair. “Dammit.”

Julia heard the ringing of shattering glass coming from Joleicia’s end, as she noticed her taking out the last bottle on her side, finishing her shots, and leaving Julia still with three to go.

“And done!” Joleicia called out happily. “The smashing sound is always so satisfying.”

Julia decided to take aim again, as she pulled the trigger and clipped the top of the bottle, shattering half of it and leaving the rest still standing.

“Nice one, Julia!” Joleicia rang out.

“Nice would’ve been getting the whole thing.” Julia replied.

“Oh, don’t be so hard on yourself.” Joleicia said. “Wailing are huge anyway. I doubt they’d notice the difference.”

Julia giggled a little, as she took aim at the last two bottles, and with two quick fires, cleared both of them out with noticeable precision.

“Whoa! Look at Miss Quick-shot over here!” Joleicia cheered, as Harley took notice of Julia’s skill.

“Damn, Julia. Those poor bottles never saw it coming.” Harley joked, giving her a thumbs up. “Look at you, showing up the rest of us.”

“I wasn’t trying to.” Julia remarked, as Joleicia grabbed some more bottles.

“Let’s go for a few more. I wanna work on my quick firing now.” Joleicia beamed, rushing over to set up more bottles.

Julia smiled and shook her head, before feeling a tap on her shoulder, as Florey made himself known.

He shuffled his feet a little. “Is it cool if I practice shooting? I don’t think I’m a fan of swords.”

Julia blushed a little. “Wouldn’t you be better off with Joleicia?”

“Yeah, but I train with her all the time.” Florey said. “I’ll be stuck learning the basics today anyway.”

“If you’re free on Thursday, we can do some exercises together.” Julia suggested.

“Really?”

“Yeah! If you don’t screw up too bad today.” Julia joked, as she handed Florey another spare rifle.

“I’ll try not to shoot you.” Florey teased, as Joleicia came back from setting up the bottles.

“All done!” She exclaimed.

Julia happily looked to her, before looking back at the others training and appreciating the camaraderie on display. It was rare that both Team Valiant and Team Vanguard had time off together, so making good use of it was crucial whenever it came up.

“Have you guys thought of a team logo for the assignment yet?” Joleicia asked, as she took another shot at the bottles. “We haven’t been going great.”

“Not yet. Sola thought of a diamond with five points, but only Wess really took to that.” Julia replied, firing as well.

“We should totally compare notes! I’m sure it’ll help us both out.” Joleicia suggested, setting her rifle down to talk.

“Yeah, sure. Maybe after this.” Julia agreed.

“If you want, you can borrow Chops and have her draw something.” Florey suggested, as Julia laughed a little.

“I wouldn’t want to steal her away from you.” Julia said, before noticing a few more details to Joleicia’s gun in her side-eye. “Hey, what’s that part for?”

Joleicia looked at where Julia was pointing and got excited. “Didn’t I…? No! I totally forgot! Hold on, wait right here!”

Joleicia ran back up to Team Vanguard’s dorm room, as Harley and Saxin took notice and paused their sparring.

“Where’s Joleicia off to?” Harley asked.

“I dunno. I think she’s getting something for her rifle.” Julia said.

“She’s so excitable. Like a puppy made of sugar.” Saxin added.

“Or a dolphin hopped up on caffeine.” Lenin added, as him and Sola joined up with them, just as Joleicia jumped back down the stairs and onto the training grounds again.

She rushed back over with an object wrapped in fabric, before remembering what she was holding and slowing down, as she stood in front of Julia and unwrapped it.

“Whoa…”

The sun gleamed off the blade’s edge, as Joleicia revealed a katana to the rest of the group, beautifully crafted and straight, with the same ‘J.M’ initials carved into the handle.

“So you have tw-“ Julia asked, as Joleicia quickly put her finger up.

“Just a second.” She said, before turning back to her rifle, adjusting a couple things, and presenting her rifle again, but with the katana’s blade hanging under the barrel like a bayonet.

“Get out…” Julia gasped, as Joleicia nodded excitedly.

“Now if I’m in the back sniping and a Wailing gets close, I can still defend myself.” Joleicia explained, loosening the handle of the katana and disconnecting it from the gun. “Plus, I have a sword!”

“There’s so many sword users here at the academy…” Julia remarked, as Wess and Chops joined up with them as well. “Does that mean you’re trained in melee combat?”

Joleicia nodded. “Want me to demonstrate?”

“Go ahead, Jojo. We could use a little break.” Chops called out.

Joleicia went to set up another bottle, as the others filled out the spectator stands in anticipation.

“How does she make time for it?” Harley asked. “I only know the basics of firearms, but she’s managed to conquer ranged and melee. That’s some feat.”

“That’s our leader. Jack of no trades, and master of most.” Chops commented.

Julia took notice of that last comment, as she watched Joleicia carefully set up the last bottle, ready to see if her boasting held true.

Joleicia took a focused breath, holding the blade to her side, before swiping her arm in front of her and cutting directly through each bottle, one by one, until all five were in clean, severed halves on the ground, the slice near perfect.

Joleicia turned back to the crowd. “Sorry, my technique was a little sloppy there.”

The others stayed silent, before all getting up and joining Joleicia, cheering on her evident talents.

“That was incredible! How’d you do it so well?” Harley asked, as Julia followed behind.

“I mean, it’s just like shooting. Aim and fire.” Joleicia played off. “Nothing that special.”

“Nothing that special? Please stop being so modest.” Saxin asked.

“That was an impressive execution. You are very skilled.” Essex said.

“Come on, guys. You’re just as good.” Joleicia said, as she noticed Julia behind the others and got an idea. “Julia! You wanna take a swing too?”

“Me?”

“Sure! I insist!”

“I’d rather…not. But, thanks.” Julia excused, as the others returned their attention to Joleicia.

“Can you teach me?” Sola asked.

“I’m hardly qualified, Sola.” Joleicia laughed. “But I can try.”

The group kept joking together, as Julia decided to split off from them and pack up her rifle for something to do.

Wess caught her from a glance. “Going somewhere?”

“I’m just packing up before it gets too late. I’ve also gotta return my rifle to the Weapon Reserve. I’ll meet you at the dorms.” Julia explained, carrying her bags off the training grounds.

“Oh, bye Julia!” Joleicia called out, noticing Julia leaving, before returning to the praise and adoration of her peers.

———

“Really? You of all people?”

“I just want to try it, Harley. Please indulge me.”

“Alright. I’m thinking of one.”

“Is it a solid?”

“Yes.”

“Is it a primary colour?”

“No.”

“Traffic cone.”

“Wha-“

“Was I right?”

“How’d you guess it so quick?”

“So that actually worked? By Whilit itself…”

“But how did you…?”

“I brought my bag!” Sola called out, joining them, followed by Essex and Julia. “But I also forgot why I brought it.”

“Al-right! Trai-ning!” Time to-hit things!” Harley cheered, as the others followed and took their time setting up.

“Now, before we start, I want to hear some personal goals from everyone.” Julia asked. “What do you want to accomplish from this session?”

Wess rolled her eyes and raised her hand. “If you insist on doing this, then I will be working off my loss to Team Ferocity. The last thing I need is another bruise to my ego down the line.”

“Very noble.” Julia said, as Sola jumped up and down with her hand raised. “Sola?”

“I wanna shoot my lightning better!” Sola said. “Like, straighter, and less…everywhere.”

“Good idea. You wanna help with that, Essex?”

“I will aid where I can.” Essex said.

Harley lifted her hand too. “I’m just gonna keep up my punching. Pretty standard stuff.”

“No complaints here.” Julia grinned.

Team Valiant grabbed their equipment, each strapping on and swinging their weapons, as Julia went to grab hers, before drawing the attention of the others for something seemingly innocuous.

“Hey, Julia. Where’s your rifle?” Harley asked.

Julia had pulled out a basic broadsword from the Weapon Reserve, as she swung it a little in her grip.

“Oh yeah. I wanted to work on my melee technique.” Julia explained. “I figure I’m lacking compared to my skills with firearms.”

The others looked at each other, not sure what to say in response, before Harley smiled back at her. “Why not? It couldn’t hurt to try.”

“Yeah, exactly.” Julia said, setting up a borrowed training post. “I’ll do some more shooting another time.”

“You want some help with that? Me and Wess could do a little sparring, show you some melee moves?” Harley suggested.

Julia balanced the weight of the post, before she finished setting it up. “Maybe later. I’d like to get used to the basics first before attempting anything too intense.”

Harley smiled. “Yeah, I get that.” Harley turned to the others and clapped loudly. “Let’s do it!”

And with that, the afternoon was spent working on everyone’s individual projects. Harley successfully managed to punch things, Wess worked on focusing her backhand swing, with an impressive amount of commitment, Sola only burnt three trees with her lightning instead of four with help from Essex, and Julia did a good amount of damage to the training post. All in all, it was a worthy afternoon.

Wess packed away her training post, happy with the amount of progress she’d made in just one afternoon, as Julia finally stopped swinging and checked back in on her handiwork.

“Whoa, nicely done, Julia.” Harley remarked, noticing the large marks in the post’s sides.

“Yeah, I think I’m getting the hang of it.” Julia breathed, testing the weight of the sword in her hand. “I see why you really took to this, Wess.”

“Well, I’m not about to dance around with a tiny rapier. A real weapon needs some weight to it.” Wess clarified, coming over to inspect her handiwork. “Huh…”

“We should return to the dorm room soon in order to complete our assignment.” Essex stated, as the rest of the team grabbed their equipment and made their way off the grounds.

All expect for Julia.

“If you don’t mind, I’ll hang back a bit.” Julia said, picking up the sword again. “I think I’m really getting the hang of it. I’ll meet you back at the dorm later.”

“Okay!” Sola called, as the others waved to her and called it a night, as Julia continued her practice into the evening, determined to get it right.

———

“No…no…maybe?...no, never mind…why don’t they ever make enough orange ones?” Sola mumbled to herself, as the teams desk draw was proving to be difficult to navigate. “Found it! Spectrum Orange!”

Sola grabbed a few more art supplies from the study, before bringing them out for Harley and Wess in the main room, ready to work further on their logo assignment, as Essex stood out on the balcony in distant observation.

Wess exhaustedly rested her head against the coffee table. “…I’m drawing a complete blank. Do either of you have anything worthwhile?”

“At least you’re drawing a blank.” Harley remarked, showing off her completely empty page. “I haven’t had any ideas for hours…”

For some kind of inspiration, Harley scanned over Wess’ page, as a shape caught her eye.

“Wess, what is that?”

Harley pointed directly at Wess’ sheet, at what was clearly a bright orange traffic cone, as Wess looked a little ashamed. “I-It was on my mind! A-At least it’s better than drawing nothing!”

“Ouch.” Harley replied, as Sola added the finishing touches.

“Alright, I’ve got one!” Sola announced.

She held up a large sheet of paper with several incomplete ideas, before pointing to one off to the right. “It’s a gun!”

Harley and Wess both looked at each other. “How does that represent the team?” Harley asked.

Sola opened her mouth to answer, but unfortunately realised she’d forgotten her answer. “…cause we fight!”

The room refused to respond.

“And sometimes we shoot things…”

Wess grabbed the bridge of her nose. “Sola, please stop. I just can’t take it.”

“It’s not the best. And only Julia uses a gun, anyway.” Harley pointed out, before glancing back over the balcony cautiously. “Usually…”

She got up and joined Essex out by the railing and saw Julia out on the training grounds, taking measured swings at the training post over and over. “Is she still going?”

“She has not stopped for the last few hours.” Essex explained. “I have advised her that she will need a break, but she has insisted otherwise.”

“Talk about dedication.” Sola chimed in, joining them.

“Or delusion.” Wess commented, still struggling over her page. “She’ll burn out soon enough.”

“I don’t think she will. If that post isn’t giving out, then neither is she.” Harley assessed. “I wish she’d let me show her some techniques.”

“Maybe we should bring her some stuff? Like a drink or a fresh towel.” Sola suggested, as Harley patted her head.

“Good idea, Sola! While we drop those off, you two can keep working on the assignment.” Harley suggested, indicating to an unsatisfied Wess and unsatisfied Essex.

Wess darted her eyes. “Well…”

“Great!” Harley said, before Sola came back with their stuff, and the duo headed for the door, as Wess grabbed Harley’s ear before she left.

“You can’t expect me to work with Essex on this, right?” Wess said, as Harley rolled her eyes.

“Come on, Wess. Just try to get her input. It could help you out of your rut.” Harley said, as she headed down to the grounds with Sola, leaving Wess and Essex behind.

“…so.” Wess started. “What do you think of potential logos?”

“That they do not have value in our conflict with the Wailing.” Essex said.

Wess’ eye began twitching profusely, as Harley and Sola met up with Julia, just as she landed a good blow against the post.

“Hey, Julia!” Harley called out, grabbing her attention. “We got you some stuff.”

“You guys!” She replied, joining them, while breathing heavily. “You didn’t…have to do that.”

“You’re working really hard, and you shouldn’t go collapsing on the job.” Sola explained. “You’ve still gotta be our leader.”

“Yeah, exactly…” Julia said, wiping away at her sweat.

“You wanna finish up soon? We could really use some input on logos.” Harley posed.

“Yeah…sure. I’ll…see how I’m feeling in…about an hour.” Julia said, before quickly picking the sword up again.

Harley looked to Sola incredulously, before back to Julia. “Are you sure you don’t want to stop now? We’ve always got more team training later in the week.”

“Guys, I’m fine.” Julia advised. “I’ll probably…be spending that time with Florey…so I want to get my weapon training done now. I’ll…help out once I’m done, promise.”

Harley bit her tongue, before shrugging it off. “Okay. See you later.”

“Bye!” Sola waved, as Julia grunted and slashed the side of the post again. “I hope the post can take all that pressure. I know they’re supposed to be indestructible…”

Harley held her arms behind her head, as they made their way back to the dorm, catching Wess and Essex in the middle o-

“Branding defines us! Our image is an essential part of being a Venator!”

“Providing aid should be your only concern, not how you are presented.”

“But actions never stand on their own! Without the proper context…!” Wess continued, before realising Harley and Sola were back in the room and clearing her throat. “…oh, apologies. We were in somewhat of a heated debate.”

“Yeah, I noticed that.” Harley commented, before slumping into the couch. “Any progress?”

“No. I spent most of that time arguing with Essex.”

“Wess has yet to prove the importance of a ‘brand.’” Essex said.

“Don’t besmirch my debating skills.” Wess defended. “I’m clearly falling on deaf ears.”

“But hearing you was not the problem.” Essex earnestly explained. “You failed to convince me of your argument.”

“Don’t start with me again. You’re lucky that scythe of yours terrifies me.” Wess admitted. “I don’t want to have to make my point with Belvedere.”

Harley rested her head, as the others collectively gave up on the logo and went about their business as usual.

“I’m assuming Julia wanted to stay?” Wess asked, joining Harley in the lounge area.

“She’s a stubborn one, though she doesn’t come off as it.” Harley clarified.

Wess sighed. “Well, if she’s comfortable down there, then I see no point dragging her back up.”

“Fair enough.” Harley acknowledged. “I wonder if she felt like this during the start of the semester, when she’d encourage us all to hang out rather than do our own thing.”

“I tend not to think about that.” Wess added, before getting up and deciding to take a good nap in her top bunk, taking subtle glances at Julia through the balcony window, as it didn’t look like she was leaving anytime soon.

———

“…but needless to say, signing with a Venator Agency isn’t the ‘end all be all’ of your career, as funnily enough, you still need to put in the work. Plenty of them will screw you over if given the chance, and bleed you dry of any dignity you may possess, so my best advice is…don’t let them. Of course, choosing freelance is just as risky…” Ferris drawled, as she checked her watch for the fifth time and finally saw that it turned to 2:00pm. “…but who cares, we’re done.”

The class started packing up, as Ferris tapped her mic. “And remember, the logo assignment is due by Friday. I don’t expect a masterpiece, so if it ends up shit, I assure you that you can change it later down the line.”

“Phew…that’s a bit of pressure off.” Harley sighed, as Team Valiant left the classroom. “But we should still aim to get it right the first go.”

“Absolutely!” Julia cheered. “Let’s avoid do-overs if we can.”

“I would prefer if she taught more about combat.” Essex suggested. “I see no need for discussions pertaining to agencies.”

“Essex, please don’t. I can only handle so much within one week.” Wess bemoaned. “Just be thankful that we get the rest of the afternoon to train.”

“Yeah! I might stop burning trees this time!” Sola hoped, as Harley snickered to herself.

“I’m surprised the academy still let’s you do that. You’d think it would be a fire hazard.” Julia posited. “Still, I’m ready for more working out! My arms have been aching for more sword training!”

Harley stopped in the middle of the hall. “You’re still doing that?”

Julia stopped as well and looked back at her. “Well, yeah. I’m still only a novice. It’ll be a while until I’m anywhere near an expert.” Julia said.

“Sure, but haven’t you done enough? You only need the basics for now.” Harley reasoned.

“It’s better to be prepared than sorry.” Julia justified. “I can’t just focus on firearms.”

“But when’s the last time you did any target practice with your gun?”

Julia waved her hand. “I know guns back to front. If I want to be a competent leader, I need to get better at more than just firearms.”

“But if you don’t train, you’ll forget how to do it altogether.” Sola added.

“Neglecting a certain muscle will lead to said muscle weakening.” Essex continued. “If you wish to continue melee training, it would be best to variate.”

“Guys, you’re making a bigger deal out of this than you need to. I’m allowed to spend some time dabbling into swords.” Julia said, turning to Wess for support. “You get it, right Wess?”

“…I would prefer if you stayed the team gunner.” Wess admitted. “We already have three melee attackers, so having a fourth would be unnecessary, and leave Sola with the entirety of ranged targets.”

Sola shuddered at the mere thought, as Julia felt left on the spot by her team’s brash opinions.

She wasn’t about to get angry at them, but…

“…I trust you guys a ton, and I’d like to think you trust me.” Julia said. “I’m working really hard on this so I can be what the team needs for the future. So, I’m sorry, but I’m getting better at this.”

Julia walked ahead of the team before turning back to address them. “I’m gonna become the leader you should have.”

Julia headed back to the dorm room, as the others looked to each other in recognition that they may not know how to convince her otherwise.

———

“…Hyah!...Haah!...Come on!...Harr!...”

The sun had set about an hour ago, as Julia’s sword training went further into the evening than she initially planned. She didn’t have a set schedule, but considering the others were already having dinner, it should have been evidence enough that she was done for the day. Even Team Instinct had finished up their daily training, Donovan waving goodnight to Julia as they passed, as she swung away at the training post in the same rhythmic motions, back and forth.

“…one…two…come on…”

“Hey, Julia.”

Julia glanced over her shoulder and saw Florey, standing right behind her, as she continued attacking the post over and over. “Hey…Florey…” She replied between swings.

“You getting some good practice in?”

“…that’s…the idea…”

“Yeah…” Florey said, playing with his hands. “You know how you said we could train together?”

“…huh?”

“Well, you promised to show me how firearms work, and since we both have spare time right now…”

“…sorry…but can we…reschedule? I…need to…get today’s training done.” Julia answered, slowing down for a second, before stretching her shoulder and getting back into it.

“Right, but you’ve rescheduled twice already for…your training.” Florey confessed, shuffling his feet. “I get that it’s important, but can’t you spare, like, ten minutes to help my aiming?”

“…I would…if I could, Florey.” Julia replied, putting down the sword. “…but this is important to me. My team needs me to be stronger.”

“But you’re already really strong. I’ve always thought so, at least.” Florey admitted.

Julia started to get frustrated as Florey clearly wasn’t getting her point. “Florey, come on. I need to do this, no matter how useless you think it is.”

“I didn’t say it was useless.” Florey reasoned, as Julia picked up her sword again and continued her swinging.

Florey waited a second. “So, are we gonna train?”

“Maybe another time.” Julia said.

Florey sighed bitterly. “You’re rescheduling again?”

“Florey, stop pinning this on me. I’m not your babysitter.” Julia complained. “Why don’t you just go ask Joleicia for help?”

Florey was stunned at her bluntness, as Julia’s focus completely dropped from him and went immediately to her sword again.

“…yeah…yeah, I guess you’re right. I’ll just ask Joleicia.” Florey replied, a hint of spite in his voice. “Sorry for wasting your time.”

Florey trudged off, leaving Julia to her devices, as her practice looked to be going through most of the night.

I shouldn’t need to look over him all the time. Julia thought. I’m not about to drop everything just to show him something so incidental. I need to keep up, too.

As quickly as she picked it up again, Julia’s practice was halted by the four recognisable silhouettes of Team Valiant making their way over, as Julia continued with her practice.

“Hey there.” Harley greeted. “It’s getting pretty late. You wanna come back to the dorm with us?”

“…yeah, no problem…I should be finished…soon enough…” Julia replied.

“When would that be?” Essex asked.

“…maybe an hour? I’ll…see how I’m feeling…” Julia said, as her hand cramped up briefly.

The team looked to each other, as Sola stepped forward with a few sheets of paper. “We came up with an idea for the team logo.”

“…yeah?...”

“Yeah! We thought about a sun with, like, little triangle things coming out.” Sola explained, pointing to her sheets. “And there’d be five, so one for each of us, and they’d look like V’s, cause when you put them together, they become Team Valiant!”

“…sounds great…” Julia said, having not looked at the pages. “I’ll check them out…tomorrow.”

Sola held the sheets up again, before realising it would be a wasted effort and slinking back to the others, as Harley patted her back.

“Alright. Don’t overwork yourself, Julia. We still need to present this to Ferris.” Harley explained. “So…just come in when you want to join us for dinner.”

“Yeah…will do…”

Harley, Sola and Essex all looked to each other for any other ideas, before acknowledging they had no real way to deal with a problem like this. They slowly headed back to the dorm, before all that was left outside was Julia, her training post and sword, and finally...

...Wess.

Wess watched on, as Julia kept striking the post, each swing adding another notch into the side, but not furthering into the post’s impenetrable exterior.

Julia turned slightly to acknowledge her. “…I’ll go back soon…I promise…”

“You shouldn’t keep making promises you won’t commit to.” Wess argued.

“…I’ll make time…”

“And yet you haven’t.” Wess said. “You’re not doing anyone any favours wasting time.”

“…it’s not a waste…I know what…I’m doing…”

Wess sighed openly, before stepping over to where Julia was training, just a touch out of sight, and reaching to her side, drawing her own sword, Belvedere, from its scabbard.

Julia noticed the glint off the sword’s blade and stopped swinging hers. “Wess, what are you doing?”

“I’m testing you.” She answered. “I want to see your practice in action.”

Julia took a second to breathe, before nodding. “Okay. Just for a bit.”

Wess entered a combative pose, as Julia entered a similar one, before Wess started counting down.

“3…2…1…”

In an instant, Wess darted forward with her sword outstretched, as Julia felt her legs come out from under her, falling over. Julia froze for a second, before getting back up and trying her pose again.

Wess took the opportunity, before doing a near identical manoeuvre, which Julia failed to anticipate, as she fell over again, hitting the ground a bit rougher.

“Your grounding is sloppy.” Wess pointed out. “I shouldn’t be tripping you this easily.”

Julia stood back up, before determinedly entering the pose again and taking the first swing, as Wess blocked her sword deftly and knocked it out of Julia’s hands onto the ground.

“Your grip is lacking too. Not to mention your posture is slouched and you’re clearly malnourished.”

“Again.” Julia demanded, getting back into her pose.

“Juli-“

“Again.”

Wess breathed out, as Julia attempted another technique that Wess effortlessly blocked, before knocking Julia to the ground once again.

“Julia, this is pointle-“

“Stop saying that!” Julia yelled. “It’s not pointless, or a waste of time!”

“Then what have you been learning? You’re not getting better with that sword, you just want to think you are. If you’d let me or Harley teach you techniques, you would’ve improved much faster.”

Wess sheathed Belvedere. “This is clearly about you and Joleicia. You’re merely hiding behind training as an excuse.”

Julia went to argue, but realised Wess’ point and lowered her sword.

“You’re jealous of her sword expertise, and you were worried about falling behind.” Wess pointed out. “So, you’re trying to play catch up and meet some impossible standard that doesn’t exist.”

Julia looked back at the post, as despite the immense amount of effort she put in, all the sword slashes she’d taken weren’t even visible on the post anymore.

“You won’t do your team any good overworked and undertrained.”

Julia didn’t want to admit her own fault, but dropped the sword to the ground regardless, as Wess let out one last sigh and nodded to Julia.

“Come on.” Wess said, indicating for her to follow, as Julia looked back at her and left the training grounds and sword behind.

The duo headed back to the dorm, as they opened it to find the room empty, noticing a text from Harley saying they’d headed out to the campus bar for the night.

Wess put down her tablet, as she looked back at Julia, who was visibly uncomfortable.

“They’ll be fine.” Wess assured her, as she motioned Julia over to the balcony, where she’d set up a few glasses and a bottle of champagne.

Wess sat down and opened the bottle, as Julia was left somewhat confused. “What are we doing?”

“You need a break. It’s been a long day.” Wess said, as Julia tentatively joined her and picked up a glass.

Julia looked down at her glass, then back at Wess. “I don’t deserve this after being so selfish.”

“Oh, nonsense.” Wess dismissed. “It’s hard to blame you for being too dedicated.”

“It wasn't dedication. I was just letting the team down…”

Wess circled her glass with her finger. “To an extent, yes. But, I’m sure the others will forgive you with time.”

Julia kicked her chair a little. “I’ve been letting them down so much, all to meet some…impossible standard I set for myself. Just cause I convinced myself otherwise…”

Wess took another sip from her glass, before topping herself off. “Do you mind if I tell you a brief story?”

Julia shook her head. “No, go ahead.”

Wess got comfortable. “I’m sure you’ve heard that my parents disapproved of me coming here. I mean, they still do…” Wess admitted. “…regardless, before I came here, I got it into my head that the only way I could convince them I was worthy was to become a master swordwielder. Eventually, I trained for days on end by myself, over and over, obsessively going through training dummy after training dummy, and by the end of it, after all my labouring work, they still weren’t convinced and I was no better at handling my sword.”

“Did you ask Graham for help?” Julia interjected.

Wess took a beat, as Julia surprised her again with how much she’d listened. “No, unfortunately. He offered, but I believed I had to do this on my own. Eventually, I ended up convincing them with my words, not my technique, and, even then…I wouldn’t have gotten anywhere if Graham hadn’t stood up for me.”

Julia finished her glass, before resting it in her lap and looking solemnly back at the training grounds.

Wess reached over, somewhat boldly, and grabbed her hand. “Julia, you don’t need to be everything to everyone. And you don’t need to be excellent at everything either. You have a team for a reason, so focus on what you’re good at and let them carry you.”

Julia nodded, as she rested the glass on their table and let the moment breathe.

“…such as?”

“Huh?”

“What am I good at?”

Wess felt a bit thrown off. “I’m sure you know…”

“I wanna hear you say it.” Julia admitted, looking back at Wess.

Wess scratched the side of her face. “Well…you’re a very talented marksman, and a surprisingly skilled negotiator. You can also reign Chops in, which is very much appreciated.”

“And?”

“…and your cooking is excellent too.”

“What about my hair?”

“Julia, you’re just goading me at this point.”

“So? Tell me how pretty I am.”

“W-what’s gotten into you?”

Julia revealed her face, having cracked a smile, before laughing to herself in a fit. “Sorry…you put me in a good mood. I guess you can add sense of humour to the list.”

“Absolutely not. Quite the opposite, I’d say.” Wess replied, smirking a little too.

Julia leaned back in her chair. “I guess I felt I was…losing to Joleicia, in a way.” Julia admitted. “But I’m sure I’ll get to her level at some point. And even if I don’t, I’m still improving at my own pace.”

“As are all of us.” Wess said, as Julia caught her smiling, then subsequently hiding her blush.

Julia stared out over the balcony. “It’s a shame, though. If they ever make a story of my life, I’m not gonna come off as very cool.”

Wess took a sip and raised her finger. “Mmm, but, if they ever wanted to make a story out of Joleicia’s life, what would they have to work with?” Wess suggested. “She would start the story great, then end it just as great. That hardly sounds like a narrative to me.”

Julia giggled at Wess’ sentiment, happy she was putting so much effort into making her feel better.

Julia leaned over and rested her hand on Wess’ now. “Thank you.” Julia whispered, a little embarrassed. “I’m impressed you made me feel better about myself by pointing out how shit I can be.”

Wess chuckled to herself. “Please, you did the being shit part all on your own.”

“Well, I can’t take all the credit.” Julia joked. “I have my team to thank for making me so shit, after all.”

Wess nearly spilled her champagne from laughing, just catching herself and chortling into her hand, as Julia felt herself grin at the whole exchange.

Wess calmed down, as the post and sword caught her eye in the darkened training grounds. “We should return those before it’s too dark. Unless you want me to show you some sword techniques of my own?”

Julia rubbed her neck. “Maybe another time, after I’ve eaten, or when my body wants me to move again. But I really want to see the team logo you guys worked on.”

Wess rolled her eyes. “I had a feeling you might. I’ll show it once we return the equipment.”

“Fair enough.” Julia grinned, as the duo headed back to the grounds, signing the equipment back into the Weapon Reserve before it was too late.

The night was noticeably fine, Julia looking around them as they walked back, before spotting something prominent in the dark. She tapped Wess’ shoulder.

“What?”

Julia pointed up to a traffic cone stuck in a tree, as Wess stopped in place.

“Julia, why did you stop me for this?”

“Didn’t we pass this about a week ago?”

“Yes, I saw it when we got our weapons with Team Vanguard. What does tha…wait…”

Julia turned around and showed a proud grin. “You wondered how I guessed it, right?”

Wess blushed profusely, hiding herself from Julia’s view, as they took their time walking back to the dorm, Wess taking subtle glances back at a now brighter Julia, clearly very happy with herself.