"..."

Apathetically, the adults, consisting of Ophelia, Olivia and Elsa, watched the white class during their combat lesson on the next day.

Ophelia initially pondered about making Elsa participate in the sparring but she declined.

"I wouldn’t have expected that you, out of all people, would reject participating in a fight." Ophelia commented impressedly.

"Don’t put me in the same category as that woman-looking gorilla." Elsa retorted, offended by Ophelia’s statement.

"Be grateful that we’re in front of kids or else I would have beaten you up." Olivia remarked, glaring at Elsa.

"Oh~ Since when were you so mindful about your surroundings? Did joining Hunters make you softer perhaps?"

Olivia and Elsa pressed their heads against each other.

"I take back what I’ve just said." Olivia stated threateningly.

"Hey, Ophelia! Round up the kids! I will show them what happens if you act disrespectfully toward someone far superior to one’s self!"

Ophelia meddled in.

"Alright, let’s stop here. You’re embarrassing yourselves." she stated calmly, splitting the two up.

The two were still glaring and grumbling but they left it at that for the time being.

"I’ve trained and observed Sara for the past few years and before I knew it, I couldn’t wait to see the results of her efforts." Elsa sighed as she leaned against the wall in the training space.

"..."

Olivia looked over to Elsa.

Back then, the two were known for their similar and yet so different personalities. But since she was handed the position as the new captain of the Grand Order, it seemed like she matured and learned about things outside fighting and that those aspects were important, too.

Thus, she received the opportunity to teach others and learn the joy of seeing the efforts bearing fruits.

Olivia and the others also asked Elsa a few times if she wanted to join Hunters but in the end, she declined their offers every single time as she was satisfied with her current role as both a captain and a mentor.

"It’s been a while since Sara fought against her own peers or those guys." Elsa said with a soft smile.

"I can’t really imagine Sara losing but..."

Olivia sharpened her gaze as she pondered.

She fought with Sara side by side for a time and therefore, knew what she was capable of. However, the white class possessed some students who could potentially rival her.

"Well, it’s been a while for me, too, since I really saw those guys in action so maybe there will be an upset today." Olivia huffed softly.

"Hey, are you implying that Sara will lose?"

"Huh?"

Those two were about to go at it again.

"Ahem!"

But hearing Ophelia aggressively clear her throat made them realize that they should behave.

"..."

Naturally, the students noticed their spats and comments. They tried hard to ignore them but sometimes, it was impossible.

"W-where were we at again...?" Sara asked awkwardly.

"We’re all warmed up now so let’s start with the sparring sessions right away." Belian announced, holding two practice swords.

Those swords were made out of iron instead of wood.

"..."

Sara caught one after Belian threw one at her.

"As the special guest, you have the right to decide against whom you want to fight first." Belian explained.

The other students all stood ready beside Belian.

"Then..."

Sara had a smug smile on her face.

"Come at me all at once." she declared.

"?"

Belian slightly raised his eyebrows.

"I guess I should have expected this answer." Belian sighed.

Sara already took up her fighting stance.

And because the white class knew about her skills and strength, they did not take her words as disrespect. Instead, they readied themselves, too.

Aside from Lily.

"I’m out." she stated indifferently.

"..."

Sara stared at her.

"Fair, I guess." she said relaxedly.

During sparring sessions, everything was allowed, including the usage of weapons and relics, however, the relics of Belian and Sara were too dangerous for a mere spar and therefore, prohibited. Sara knew that she could not win against everyone here if she could only use a normal sword, whereas they had Lily who could freely use her relic.

"Why don’t you just restrict yourself to using only magic?" Ophelia asked after Lily joined them on the sidelines.

"I feel like that would be a waste. If I were to fight against her, then I want both of us to use everything we have." Lily answered calmly.

"Heh, look at her! Seems like she’s a battle maniac just like us!" Elsa joked.

"Ignore her words, Lily." Olivia replied bluntly.

Meanwhile, the sparring session between Sara and the rest of the white class began.

It started with Sara blindly charging at the huddled group.

"Scatter!" Belian ordered.

At his command, everyone jumped away in different directions but Sara did not care and chased after a random student. And said random student was Lisa.

Her rapier clashed with Sara’s sword.

"Tch...!"

When it looked like Lisa was pushed back, Rachel’s thorny stalks emerged from behind and were shot at Sara.

"Gah!"

Sara kicked Lisa away and cut through the stalks with ease.

"!"

However, Sara was then trapped inside a human-sized water ball by Harik.

"..."

Her surprise only lasted for a second as she prepared her stance and raised her sword.

A loud bang echoed in the space when Sara cut through the water ball and freed herself.

Following that, she applied water magic on her blade and launched multiple water slashes which were shot at Rachel and Harik like projectiles.

"...!"

The two were busy defending against her attacks, neglecting their attention on Sara who managed to sneak behind them.

"Sorry, guys." she said with a firm smile.

She stopped the blade from touching their napes when it seemed like she would strike them down.

"?"

Then, a lightning-enhanced Lisa charged at Sara, launching a barrage of thrusts with her rapier.

Sara parried most of them but surprisingly, Lisa managed to leave some small cuts on her body. Her thrusting did not stop until Sara flicked her rapier away by swinging her own sword.

"Good moves." Sara praised her as she pointed her sword at her throat.

Lisa sighed with a defeated smile and left the field with Harik and Rachel.

"..."

"..."

Only Belian was left.

The two stared each other in the eyes before taking up their stance.

"Why did you wait for them to leave?" Sara asked with a smirk.

"It’s not every day that I get the chance to have a duel with the ’Sword God’. I suppose I just wanted to have the chance to fight you with fair conditions." Belian replied with a faint smile.

Years ago, Sara was labeled as a ’Sword Prodigy’ but over the next years, she honed her skills even more so that she was soon called the ’Sword God’. Paired with her relic, there was no enemy that survived a fight against her, rightfully earning her a spot in Hunters.

"?"

Then, Ophelia remembered something.

The time for the lesson was up.

"It’s a shame but we have to wrap up things now before the next class enters." Ophelia sighed.

However, Sara and Belian ignored their surroundings and were fully determined to decide a winner.

"Isn’t it possible to ask them if they could spare us some time?" Lisa asked.

"I will go and ask." Lily volunteered.

"Lily? W-wait!"

Ophelia was about to go after Lily but then, she noticed the next class already appearing from the entrance.

"Ms. Ross? What’s the meaning of this? Shouldn’t you be already done?" Erwin Linster, a colleague of Ophelia and the current teacher of the second-year white class, wondered confusedly.

"Mr. Linster, may I ask for a few extra minutes? We were so immersed in our training that we forgot about time. As you can see, the two in the center have yet to decide the winner but I assure you that it won’t take long." Lily said politely.

She was one step ahead of Ophelia.

"S-sure, I guess that’s no pro-"

"Hey, don’t mess with us!"

"?"

Emerging from the students was Bakil, the face of the current second-years.

"Aren’t you all getting too cocky because of your status?!" he scolded her.

"We’re the white class, too! So shouldn’t we be treated the same way as the other white classes?" he added.

"B-Bakil!" Erwin tried to tell him off.

"Every class gets allotted a certain amount of time here. If your time’s up, it’s up. Simple as that, isn’t it? So make space for us now!"

"Bakil, that’s enough!"

Another student stepped forward and pulled on his arm.

It was a girl with silver shoulder-length hair. She had a fair stature and a spotless and somewhat lightly pale face, coupled with eyes belonging to an ice mage.

"Let go, Vasilya!"

Bakil shoved his fellow classmate, Vasilya Lyravil, to the ground.

"Ow..."

Bakil widened his eyes and was about to crouch down.

"A-are you o-"

"Let’s do this then, Bakil Melar."

"H-huh...?"

"If you land a hit against me, we will leave."