“Remember, Cadets: take care of your body, and it will take care of you. The moment you forget that…you are already dead.”

[url=https://imgur.com/gNm65J3]Sergeant Ken[/url] was a stern man while holding the first physical training for the pilots in the morning, his first lesson having been instructions for each pilot, one at a time, to attack him with all that they got until they landed a single solid blow. 
Of the pilots, only Minerva, Griffith and Rhylaen were able to succeed at the task thanks to their combat prowess, while Arrish and Serah managed a glancing hit. The others failed, including Ava, who was very close to succeeding but faltered at the last second, and Elora, who seemed to still be a bit shaken after the unfortunate locker room mishap from the previous day.

[hider=Elora's Exercise Equipment][img]https://i.imgur.com/LU49h6G.png[/img][/hider]

[i]I know I wore the same clothes back at the academy for physical education, but the classes were girls only. This is embarrassing…[/i] she thought, and felt self-conscious about now having to train while in the company of men.
[i]Well, the guys are only ogling Minerva or Ava, so I guess that’s better than being mocked for being so small and weak…But not much better…[/i]

The first few days were spent with a variety of activities after the initial martial arts test: strength and endurance training, learning the basics of Star Fist, a few matches of basketball, floorball, and soccer, and even some meditation. Despite being strict, the sergeant was also an insightful coach, and adjusted the training for each pilot according to the level of skill and physical prowess they exhibited, having seemingly gotten a perfect understanding of each pilot’s abilities from fighting them. The more advanced pilots were pushed past their already formidable limits, while the more novice pilots were quickly brought to a competitive level: a sign of a skilled teacher.

[url=https://imgur.com/QAyKZmt]Elora started learning proper weightlifting techniques thanks to Griff’s instructions.[/url]
Of course, when he [url=https://imgur.com/a/wxmZx5R]suggested moving up to heavier weights, the shy pilot had to decline.[/url]
The training sessions did not entirely go without mishap. Lieutenant Ritsu also joined the sessions:

[hider=Lieutenant's Lean Look][img]https://i.imgur.com/oDl9bgP.png[/img][/hider]

However, she was not a regular, and appeared once in a while when she was not swamped with paperwork, and sometimes [url=https://imgur.com/upkKXBQ]certain pilots ended up causing even more work for her.[/url]

Despite Elora’s initial difficulties, she had made real progress by the time the fourth session began, which was when Ken instructed the pilots to begin free-form sparring, one-on-one.

“Cade Liu’un, your opponent will be…Cadet Duval,” he announced after reading from a personal device, causing Elora to quietly gasp with a hand held before her mouth.

“Arrish? But…” She frowned, but Ken simply smiled. “I know you got what it takes, Cadet. Just remember to fight from the heart, and let your spirit soar.”She sighed, and walked over to the sparring corner, where a mat was placed to soften potential falls. She then took an uneasy fighting pose, as she waited for Arrish to take his position.

My sparring partner can’t possibly be this cute. His eyes were all over her as he took his position opposite her and mentally prepared himself for a sparring match. The young noble didn’t really think of himself as much of a challenge for some of the other squad mates, I mean, Griff practically dumpstered him so bad that he might as well have given up, found a nice corner to crawl into and cry. That didn’t mean he was going to give up or anything, he just didn’t expect much from himself.

But then, his opponent was Elora. She was cute, and man did he mean cute. The way she fidgeted around and blushed. He wondered if she compared herself to the other girls, I mean, there were some serious tough customers within their group and that wasn’t to mention the advantage in uhm… curvature.

But Arrish loved all women. She had some advantages where the other girls didn’t and he wasn’t just talking about that cute face, or the way she stared at him. She was shorter than some of the others, and that meant… it meant that she could really put the pain on his knees, and while she didn’t have the reach she could dance around him and take the advantage of having a smaller graceful frame. He couldn’t just underestimate her skill in hand to hand. 

[color red]“Come on princess, put your game face on.”[/color] he spoke with cool charm, or at least he thought himself charming. [color red]”From the heart? Spirit soar? Bunch of rubbish if you ask me. You wanna win a real fight then don’t fight fair!”[/color]
He charged at her, lunging a fist with an underhanded uppercut aimed straight for her stomach.

“Ah!” Elora dodged to the side with a bit of a stumble, but managed to correct herself.
“Remember your footwork!” Ken instructed over the crowd that soon formed, and Elora gave a silent nod. She gave a frown, attempting to look more intimidating even if it came out as kind of strange, and then delivered a kick in Arrish’ direction.
“Hiyah!”

Arrish had over thrown himself with his own punch, stumbling forward as Elora dodged out of the way. He managed to catch himself and turn around to face the young woman only for a flying kick to come swinging in his direction. He acted quickly and lunged to grab her leg and push her toward him with a harsh yank. He would smirk at her and say. 
[color=red]“You know I didn’t realize what a real gem you were, so cute~”[/color]

“C-cute?!” Elora blushed, and punched forward at his chin once she was pulled close: it was more like a close-fisted slap, but it was enough for her to jump back and gain some distance. “You’re…You’re not taking this seriously, right? S-stop playing!”

He rubbed the side of his face, the one where she had made his mark against him. Arrish smirked. Oh, he was enjoying this a bit too much. It fed the ego to see a girl like Elora blush at a little comment like that, but there was a purpose, though perhaps more of an excuse, to his method. 
[color=red]“Sure I am. Do you really think a Cruxi isn’t going to use everything at his advantage to defeat you? Ask yourself, Elora. Are you using everything you’ve got to your own advantage? You’re not a helpless little girl you know.”[/color] He let that settle in as he started to walk circles around her while plotting his next attack. 

Rhylaen agreed with Arrish’s assessment of fighting.  [color=mediumpurple]“No distractions!  Focus; use [i]everything[/i],”[/color] she agreed.  [color=mediumpurple]“Use whatever you must for winning!”[/color]

Elora grit her teeth, a droplet of sweat on her brow as Arrish started stalking her like a wolf. But she was no Little Red Riding Hood, she decided. Encouraged by Rhylaen, she also started walking in a circle, matching Arrish’ pace, trying to keep her composure even as the taller man came closer.

Then, she suddenly lunged: she went for what seemed like a sweeping kick, only to quickly push herself up and hit Arrish in the joint of his arm and shoulder…Which turned out to be a meridian point that numbed his arm muscles.

“There! I learned that from the lesson yesterday,” she spoke, managing a little bit of confidence.

[color red]”What the hell.”[/color]
Arrish had been about to leap into the air when she had caught him in the arm. Now his arm was numb and had gone unexpectedly slack. Once again his remarks had cost him, just like when he was sparring with Griff and made an offhand remark about sleeping with one of his relatives. Just like that, it was like a switch had turned on inside Griff and Arrish found himself face first onto the floor with Griff standing on his back like a conqueror. 

[color red]”Alright, so you know some tricks.”[/color] 
He switched from playful flirting to using his reach as an advantage, keeping a distance away from Elora and swinging wide with his arms and legs to try and keep her off balance.[color red]”Come on, you can’t touch me Elora. What are you gonna do, just stand there and let me ‘haa!’ Hit you!”[/color]

Elora stepped back, flustered by the wide-reaching punches and kicks that started coming her way. As she mistepped, she ended up getting a punch to her stomach, and she winced hard with a gasp.
“Ngh…” It wasn’t looking good: even if Arrish was temporarily at a disadvantage, he still managed to hold enough power and speed to keep her on the backpedal. If she took another blow like that, she would fall. So, as a last ditch effort, Elora quickly performed a slide under Arrish, grabbed him by the ankle, and twisted as strong as her weak, noodly arms could to slam him down into the mat in a leg lock.
“I’m not…giving…up!”


He felt himself go off balance as she slid beneath him to try and twist his ankle into making him fall, but Arrish had a good center of balance. There was no way he would simply fall over from that sort of action….

Arrish was a man of culture.

He let himself fall over onto the mat with a thud, making a groaning sound as she put him into a leg lock. 
[color=red]“What? What are you…”[/color] He sputtered aloud, failing and trying to get himself free. He met her eyes briefly then and gave her a cheeky wink and a grin.

“Don’t let him get away! Keep going!” Griff yelled out and cheered Elora on, then threw a glance to Minerva and he gave her an expression which read ‘what?’. “Keep your eyes on his hands! You never know where they might land!” Griff added finally.

Elora thought, for a fleeting moment, that she actually managed to grapple Arrish into submission, until his dastardly smile dashed those hopes away, causing her to wince. She let go of the leg, rolled to the side, and jumped up, aiming for a more decisive kick to his ribs, following it up with another jab at a meridian point. But, as much as she tried, she was starting to reach the end of her stamina, as she sweated buckets and breathed shallowly, trying to squeeze what strength she had left to her attacks.

“Luvey Duvey! Look over there! The lieutenant has some really short shorts on!” Griff said in a teasing tone towards Arrish, hoping that would distract him long enough for Elora to gain the upper hand. Then after using his ploy, he looked to see if Ken was deceived as well by his cunning plan. The sergeant, however, did not even flinch, his attention entirely focused on the bout with a stony face of observation, as the match started to come to a head.

Arrish winced and groaned in pain as she hit him in the ribs and for a moment he thought he was going to actually lose this sparring fight. Part of him actually wanted to see Elora win, but he wasn’t going to just make it easy for her. As she came in with another jab to his meridian point he would grab her by the collar and shove her down to the mat directly beneath him. Fierce eyes looked down at hers as he pinned her down with his remaining strength and caught his breath.

“Ahh!” Elora yelped as she hit the mat, and vainly tried to struggle from the hold she was put in. But having spent the last of her energy on that last attack, she could no longer break free…And she tapped the mat with her hand.

“Bweeh…” She quietly exhaled, as she realized she lost. The sergeant, however, gave a slow clap as he walked over.

“Cadet Duval has won the spar,” he announced dryly, and with a single arm lifted Elora off the mat like a ragdoll.
“But, Cadet Liu’un…You performed better than I expected. You still have much to learn, especially in conserving your strength, but you showed your ability to act under pressure, and use what you’ve learned. In time, and with proper practice, I know you will improve.” Elora was then placed standing back on the floor, and she held her head down, breathing heavily.
“Th-thank you, sir.”

[color=red]“With all due respect, Sergeant.”[/color] Arrish spoke but was staring at Elora. 
[color=red]“Cadet Liu’un is a capable fighter, but what she lacks isn’t skill but self worth. She underestimates herself, and her knowledge. She was met with adversity when I changed tactics on her and instead of using her strengths she went for a last ditch attack to my ankles.”[/color]
He shook his head and crossed his arms. 

“Nothing that a bit of training from yours truly cannot fix! We’ll do just like they do in the kung-fu movies! Stand shirtless under a waterfall and gather our fighting spirits!” Griff spoke to Elora and gave her a thumbs up followed by an arm-pumping motion. “Though… I am not sure where we can find a waterfall here.” Griff scratched his cheek as this dilemma presented itself.
Ritsu was in the sidelines, giving an incredulous look at him. “I don’t think that’s the problem with your suggestion…”

“There’s a problem with it…?” The blond blinked once, twice and then spotted some poster depicting a martial artist which he had to go check out.

[color=red]“Elora, what you really need isn’t just practice, but you need to have confidence in yourself. You need to be aware of your strengths, and not just your limitations. You were chosen among this squad because you were seen as a valuable asset. You should remind yourself of that when you start to doubt yourself.”[/color]

Arrish was really, really, really, really trying to ignore Griff right now. He wanted to pummel him for calling him Luvey Duvey and trying to distract him with Lieutenant Ritsu’s thighs.

Elora slowly lifted her eyes up to Arrish, and with a morose look she nodded.
“Y-Yes…I’ll keep that in mind. Um…”
She averted her eyes…And lifted her hand up in Arrish’ direction: a hesitant offer for a handshake.
“Th-thank you for the spar, Arrish…I learned a lot from it. Maybe…I could try again…Some other day?”

Arrish gave her a smile and took her hand. 
[color=red]“I did mean it when I said you were cute by the way.”[/color] He let off a single little laugh. 

[color=red]“And yeah, its a date.”[/color]

Elora quickly let go once Arrish responded, blushing with a confused look as she turned and headed to sit at a bench near the wall. 
[i]D-Date? Is he serious? After he beat me in a sparring match, he’s just calling it a date?[/i] In some strange way…The idea annoyed her. Yet…

…

[i]Well…I guess it could be…[/i]

Her last thoughts that morning, as she watched whatever sparring happened to come next, were on how to improve her fighting skills, and how to get over her indecisiveness.