Sparring with Emilia

"Okay, but are you sure about that? I haven't seen you fighting someone else before so…" I answered and was wondering what she as up to. She clearly had some kind of plan but I couldn't figure out what it was.

"Yes, I want to try to use my powers offensively for once. Just please don't hold back, Yoru", insisted Emilia.

She borrowed Iris sword and this time she was able to hold it in a single hand, unlike when we had our assessment at the start of the school. The sword was easily swung around by her but her technique looked a fair bit sloppy. As she got ready, so did I and this time I went for a more offensive stance. I wanted to take the initiative in this fight and didn't plan to lose to Emilia at all. I would have felt embarrassed if I lost.

We counted down from three again and at zero, I charged at her. I swung my sword at a path aiming for her stomach area and Emilia moved her sword in the way to block mine. But just before I hit her, I used all my might to change the trajectory of my sword to a stabbing motion.

The sword pierced Emilia in the stomach and as I pulled it out, I wanted to apologize for overdoing it. Emilia's wound however was already healed and she took the opportunity to attack me instead. I underestimated about how powerful her ability really is. Other swordswomen would have lost at this point but she even managed to get an advantage out of it.

I blocked her sword as it wasn't too fast but the power behind it surprised me once again. I couldn't manage to absorb all the force, so I let her sword drift to my side and made it miss me by an inch. My sword was pointing at her neck soon after and with that, I had won the harder than expected fight.

Emilia didn't give up immediately though, but after Iris explained to her that she wouldn't have been able to heal an incapacitation she finally accepted her loss. She skilfully used her abilities to get an edge over me but her lack of sword skills made her lose in the end.

I had to admit however, that she might surpass me soon if she decided to catch up with those. Slacking off wasn't an option for me less than ever, I truly had to step up my training to stay on equal grounds with the rest. Although both Iris and Emilia were exceptions from the rest of the class, I still felt too weak.

"Next time I will get you, Yoru", declared Emilia and handed the sword back to Iris. The sword however dropped on the floor, as Iris was still in a shock by Emilia's display of her power. She came to herself when the sword hit on the ground with a loud sound and rushed to pick it up. She also looked like she feared getting beaten by a healer one day. Maybe she made the same decision as I did.

"I fear so", I answered in a subtle tone.

"I think, I need to improve my strong suit, my sword technique, so I won't fall behind all of you guys", I declared after a while of us just standing there.

"Don't worry, I will protect you, no matter what comes", the cheerful healer vowed.

We went back to our regular training but Emilia decided to give sparring with the boys a try as well. She used her abilities to make her fist pack quite the punch and managed to come close to beating them. In the end, she lost because of her lack of experience but Julian and Lander also looked shocked.

They didn't expect her to improve her frail body's power by so much and they seemed to always hold back when punching her. In reality, Emilia was more like a strong, sturdy tank than a frail girl. Underestimating her might become deadly in the future. In a real battle such a trick is able to change the outcome of a battle drastically but it will only work once.

### In another room ###

"Interesting, very interesting. It seems like the human looking hybrid isn't the only special kid in your class, Michael. This other hybrid girl, Iris and the frail healer, Emilia are also special among the hybrids. They surpass Yoru by a fair bit in talent and might be the actual strongest students in your class. Yoru might have potential but from what I heard from Lisa, it seems to be locked in an unlockable way for us humans. We could ask an actual demon to help us, but the cost would be too great. If they find out about her, even they will stop playing around", the headmaster told Mr. Black.

Both of them were standing behind the mirror and watching the progress of the first years. Most of them had gotten adjusted to fighting and were way stronger than before entering the school. The biggest leap in fighting skills would usually happen in the first parts of the first year, so the headmaster and teachers always paid more attention to the students this time around.

"For now, let Iris and Emilia train on their own. Both of them are making steady progress without no bottleneck in sight. You will however have to teach Yoru some more fighting techniques. If we don't do that she will fall behind too far. Lisa said she wants to look for someone to help the girl out after all but even she will have a hard time doing that. If we can't manage to light up the spark of power within her, we will probably have to take her of our list of special students. If she can't get access to her dormant power, she will just be as strong as any regular student, maybe even weaker", decided the headmaster.

He had to deliver strong students to the military in the end to maintain his current positon. In the past this fact led to multiple fatalities in the different hybrid schools because of the risk they were taking in training session to awaken the dormant powers in students.

"Understood. I will make sure the girl will be worth the time we spend on her", Mr. Black said and went out of the room and towards where the students were training.