LIMITLESS SPARRING

The cadets gathered outside their dormitories; all of their eyes swollen from the tear gas. Most of them are still semi-asleep.

Franz, Jay and Nanami waited for them outside. Jay absent-mindedly looked at his watch.

"All arrived on time, acceptable," he said.

Nanami stepped forward, a teasing grin spreading across her face. "Poor things," she cooed, her voice dripping with mock sympathy. "Hope you didn't mind our little wake-up call." Her gaze flickered playfully across the groaning cadets. "Don't worry, sweeties, it only gets worse from here."

Jay pointed to the flag post nearby. "If you get eliminated or you choose to quit, drop your helmets and number plates there!"

"Today's training begins! 10km run standby!" yelled Nanami. The cadets all sprinted forward.

(1 hour later)

"Limitless sparring!" announced Maia. "Use any means at your disposal to take down your opponent! Exercise self-restraint."

Sean found himself standing in a muddy field, facing off Carl. The cadets are now dressed in full body sparring gear. They had been allocated pairs to fight against in a hand-to-hand combat training. Louis faced off against Albert, Ariel against Clara, Vera against Erika. Eddie is fighting against a Rein cadet numbered 92 named Giorgio Giordano.

Giorgio smiled at Eddie, "you need time to warm up?"

Eddie grinned. "Take care of yourself."

Maia blew her whistle, beginning the course. Eddie froze a thick layer of ice around his arms, then charged at Giorgio who dodged with ease and tackled him into the mud. Eddie grunted, smashing Giorgio in the head with his arm, pieces of ice shattering onto the ground. Giorgio blinked, disoriented from the impact. Had he not worn a helmet that force was enough to open wounds. Seizing his chance, Eddie pushed Giorgio off him into the mud, climbing up. Giorgio however was faster, quickly forming ice around his knees and kneed Eddie in the face, sending him back down into the mud.

Ariel grunted, kicking Clara, but she missed. Clara roared, charging at Ariel and traded blows with Ariel. Ariel elbowed Clara, quickly pulling distance, throwing a fireball at Clara who sliced it apart in the air with a gust of wind she generated that travelled like a sharp blade.

Erika winked at Vera, extending her claws and charged at her with extreme ferocity and speed. Vera avoided her blow, catching her in a backflip and smashed her into the mud. Erika stood up, Vera deployed the pincer on her tail and use it like a third arm, attacking Erika from 3 sides. Erika immediately froze the air around her to form shields, and Vera generated flames around her tail and hands to break them.

Louis tackled down Albert and hurled him into the mud. Albert caught himself before he fell in and levitated down, giving Louis a thumbs up. Louis gave Albert a thumbs up in return. Albert however, soon turned that to a thumbs down and threw a series of punches at him, generating strong gusts of wind that almost floored Louis. Louis immediately formed 2 ice daggers in his hands, and summoned 2 tentacles, each holding an ice dagger.

Louis charged at Albert, attacking him with fast and precise blade work from 4 sides. Albert immediately jumped back, forming flames around his hands, using them to block and melt the ice blades.

Meanwhile, Sean and Carl still walked around in ready positions, not trading blows. Both are waiting for the other to strike first. Finally, Carl lost his patience and threw a fireball at Sean. Sean immediately formed an ice shield, stopping the fireball and generating a veil of mist. Little did he knew that it was Carl 's trap, he took the chance to charge and punched him in the waist, sending Sean reeling back.

"Go to hell!" roared Carl . Sean shook his neck, then lunged at Carl , swiftly hitting him in the waist multiple times. Carl grunted in pain, punching Sean off. He then used his mind powers on Sean, causing Sean to lose focus, taking multiple blows from Carl .

Sean quickly recovered, dodging a blow by Carl and wrestling him down, before Carl can get up, another blow hit him in the face. Sean then locked Carl , twisting his arms, careful to control his strength to ensure that he does not accidentally yank them off.

Clara kicked Ariel down. Ariel then caught Clara in the middle of her second kick and tripped Clara. Seizing her chance, Ariel pinned her down and locked her knee joint around her neck, restraining her in a takedown.

Eddie charged at Giorgio, only for him to punch him in the face first with an ice coated fist, knocking Eddie down.

Erika grunted, pulling Vera's tail, causing Vera to lose balance, falling. She then jumped onto her body and plummeted blows down onto her face, which Vera feebly blocked.

Louis and Albert coincidentally punched each other in the face at the same time while generating bursts of wind, the result being that both of them are sent flying into the mud.

Nanami chuckled at them, then she blew her whistle, signalling the end of the segment.

Hearing the whistle, Sean loosened his grip on Carl , asking if he is alright, to which Carl angrily pushed him away. "No room for sore losers," joked Sean.

Giorgio helped Eddie up.

Clara tapped on Ariel, asking her to loosen her grip, which Ariel complied.

Erika stepped off Vera, allowing her to seat up. Vera rubbed her tail in pain.

Louis and Albert both crawled up, rubbing their faces in pain.

"Stay where you are! If you're standing up keep standing, if you're lying on the ground keep lying!" ordered Maia.

She looked at Sean who is standing up.

"Number 9!" she yelled. "Step out, let me spar with you!"

The cadets all turned to Sean, surprised.

Sean declined. "Ma'am! I don't think this is allowed?" he replied.

"Cadets have no right to reject orders from the instructors!" roared Maia angrily.

Nanami sauntered between them, her hips swaying as she blocked Maia's path. "Whoa, Maia," she purred, a sly smile playing on her lips. "Picking on Number 9 already? You're so eager, it's almost adorable." She turned to Sean, her voice dropping a sultry octave. "Number 9! You should be flattered. She's practically begging for your attention. But if you're feeling overwhelmed, I'm more than happy to keep her entertained."

The cadets exchanged awkward glances, some stifling nervous laughter.

Nanami tilted her head, her smile growing. She leaned closer to Maia, whispering, "Look, Maia," she said, her voice steady but still playful, "We all miss Katya. You're not the only one who's hurting. But this?" She gestured to Sean. "This isn't going to bring her back."

"C'mon," she cooed, grabbing Maia's hand. "We are all Artemis at the end of the day, one happy family!"

Maia shook Nanami's hand away. "I don't have a family member like him," she whispered in gritted teeth, walking to Sean. 

Nanami stopped her. "Enough," she warned. "This is the training field, not an arena to settle your personal scores."

"Not your business," snapped Maia, her voice low and dangerous.

Nanami raised an eyebrow, a small smirk returning. "Oh, honey, if I step aside now, who's going to stop you from embarrassing yourself even more?"

Maia had had enough. She abruptly shoved Nanami aside.

"Maia!" Nanami exclaimed, catching her balance, but before she could recover, Maia hurled an ice dagger at Reza's feet, who tried to stop her.

The dagger shattered on impact, shards scattering across the ground, silencing any further protests.

Nanami radioed Franz, alerting him of the situation. After some deliberation, Franz gave the order to proceed, while getting on a jeep and driving over.

"Alright then!" said Nanami reluctantly. "Consider this a demonstration."

Maia took off her load bearing vest and wore a set of sparring gear.

Sean looked away from her, not wanting to face her directly. He knows how much she hates him for his role in Katya's death.

Clara whispered to Ariel, "what's going on here?"

"I heard that Sean is re-enlisted," whispered Ariel back, recounting the rumours she had heard when she was selected for the Tier 1 course. "I think they have beef."

Maia charged at Sean, holding him in a throat lock, Sean immediately elbowed her, prompting Maia to loosen her grip, but before he can fully free himself, Maia grabbed Sean again and wrestled him into the mud.

Just as Maia is going to land another blow. Sean raised his arm. "I admit defeat," he said, not wanting to fight Maia.

He stood up slowly. Suddenly, out of the blue, Maia gave him an uppercut, sending Sean swirling backwards, landing back in the mud, disoriented.

Maia then directed a kick directly at Sean's head, Sean's survival instincts kicked in, recovering and fighting back, the 2 continued to trade blows, sending mud flying everywhere. The sound of flesh and bone clashing reverberated. Flames, ice, and bursts of wind also appeared time to time.

The other cadets watched apprehensively. They can tell that if this goes on, at least one of them is going to be seriously injured. Louis looked around anxiously, wondering if he should go break up the fight at the cost of breaking discipline.

Suddenly a gunshot resonated through the air. Maia and Sean turned to see Franz with a Walther PDP pistol in his hand. They released their grip on each other, facing Franz.

Franz kept his pistol back into his holster. "Maia, you tired?" he asked.

"Sir, not one bit!" yelled Maia. "I treat every training like live combat!"

Franz snickered. "You 2 are having live combat while the other cadets are there watching you 2 like circus clowns, do you think that's acceptable?"

Maia bowed her head, guilty.

"Sir!" exclaimed Sean. "Instructor Maia here asked me to be a volunteer for a demonstration, I have agreed to it!" he lied, wanting to end the hostilities here and save Maia some face.

Franz sneered. "One veteran and one instructor, sparring with each other without any restraint, YOU CALL THIS A DEMONSTRATION?"

"Did you get your head kicked by a donkey?" roared Franz, reprimanding Maia. "Since when did limitless sparring gave you the right to treat your comrade like an enemy?!"

"Remember! There is another relationship between the 2 of you, comrades!" roared Franz.

He directed his attention to the other cadets. "Most of you here have never been thrown into desperate scenarios, in such cases, other than your courage and skills, all you can rely on are each other!"

"Comraderie is the most important trait of all soldiers! No matter how big your differences are, it's never an excuse to rain down wanton violence on each other. Understood?!"

"YES SIR!" yelled the cadets in unison.

Franz then turned to Sean and Maia. "Head to your next course!" he ordered. "Maia, go run 50 rounds around the running track and I want a handwritten 1,000-word reflection by tomorrow morning. IS THAT CLEAR?!"

"Yes sir…" muttered Maia. Sean left with the other cadets, turning back to see Maia glaring at him. He looked away, trying to not let the raging guilt envelope him.