"A Girl's Troubles"
Early in the morning, Stella finished her morning routine and styled her hair in front of the mirror. She then struck a spirited pose, full of energy, preparing to head out.
Kusakabe Kagami poked her head out from under her covers. School hadn't officially started yet, so there weren't any news stories for her to pursue. More importantly… she picked up her alarm clock, which showed it was not yet five o'clock.
As a young woman, she truly admired Stella's willpower to forgo even precious beauty sleep.
"Stella," Kagami yawned, "are you going to be leaving this early every day?"
Stella, hands on her hips, declared, "Of course! Those stronger than me are all working hard, how could I be idle!"
Kagami gave a knowing smirk. "I see! So Stella's working this hard because of someone. I smell a big scoop!"
Stella's face flushed crimson, and she frantically waved her hands in the air. "Kagami, what are you talking about! We're not like that at all!"
Kagami had only intended a bit of playful teasing, but seeing Stella's reaction, her journalist instincts told her there was definitely something going on.
Kagami sat up straight, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Oh my! So who is this 'we' that Stella's referring to? Stella only arrived yesterday, so she couldn't have met many people yet. Could it be…?!"
Steam seemed to practically rise from Stella's head as she hurried to say, "Stop guessing! I have to go!"
Without another glance at Kagami, she spun around and fled the room.
Kagami stroked her chin, a wicked smile playing on her lips. This princess was unexpectedly innocent; her reaction alone gave away her feelings. It seemed she was about to get a major scoop.
The sun had only just begun to peek above the horizon, but sunlight already fell on Stella's face as she stepped out.
Squinting her eyes, Stella quickly tried to compose herself, her heart inexplicably racing.
"It's all Kagami's fault," she muttered, "all because of the way she spoke!"
A sixteen-year-old girl couldn't understand the strange feelings welling up inside her; she instinctively resorted to self-deception.
Stella patted her cheeks, feeling the heat subside slightly before setting off towards her meeting place with Drake.
Hagun Academy was enormous; so large, in fact, that there was a sizable forest right next to the school buildings.
Drake had noticed this forest yesterday upon his arrival, so they had arranged to meet and train in a clearing within it.
Walking along the forest path, Stella could already hear Drake's voice ahead.
After a final check to ensure her attire was appropriate, Stella quickened her pace.
Drake's figure soon appeared before her, but Stella also noticed another person standing there.
Drake also saw Stella and waved. "Stella-san, you've arrived!"
Stella approached, her expression darkening as she looked at the "third party."
The sudden drop in atmosphere left Drake completely bewildered, but he still spoke up. "You two should know each other by now, so let's have a proper introduction!
This is Kurogane Ikki, my roommate. Yesterday, he heard I was going to be training with Stella-san, and since Ikki-san has a daily training routine, I invited him to join us."
The regeneration pod truly was cutting-edge technology; yesterday, even after Ikki was so badly injured, he was completely healed before nightfall.
Although he looked incredibly listless when he was brought back, it was only due to exhaustion, and he had fully recovered by dinnertime.
Drake suddenly remembered that when he'd first seen Ikki that morning, he had just finished training, which is why he'd invited him to train together.
Ikki naturally wouldn't refuse, but he hadn't expected Stella's reaction to be… so intense.
Drake continued, introducing Ikki. "I don't think I need to introduce Stella-san to you."
Ikki nodded. "Of course, it seems like no one at the academy doesn't know the Crimson Princess. But… did I do something to offend Stella-san?"
Ikki asked this purely because Stella had been giving him rather unfriendly looks up until this point.
Ikki had experienced all kinds of malice growing up, but Stella's attitude was a first. It wasn't disdain or disgust; it felt more like he'd done something to hinder her, causing this reaction.
Ikki was overly kind, easily forgiving even malicious intent. In this situation, he immediately started to reflect on his own actions.
Stella suppressed her irritation; she knew her attitude was off, so she said, "It's nothing to do with Ikki-san. I'm just a little irritable from lack of sleep!"
Drake suddenly understood. "Ah, I see! Then we can start training a bit later. Rest is important too!"
Stella, afraid Drake would think she was being spoiled, quickly added, "It's okay, this is fine. I'll get used to it quickly!"
Ikki, observing from the side, remained silent; he felt Stella wasn't being entirely truthful, but he wasn't going to be so tactless as to call her out on it.
What surprised Ikki was that Drake, so perceptive in battle, actually believed Stella's flimsy excuse. It seemed this man was unexpectedly obtuse outside of combat.
Perhaps it was a case of being too close to the situation; it was ironic considering Drake had once told Asta not to learn from Yami, when he himself wasn't that much better.
With that little interlude out of the way, the actual training began.
Drake looked at the two of them. "While this might sound a bit blunt, you both have overlooked weaknesses within yourselves.
These aren't things like magic power or abilities that are innate; they are things that can be improved through training. By training to overcome these weaknesses, you can both become even stronger.
First, both of you need to work on your magic control."
Question marks popped up above both Ikki and Stella's heads.
Drake nodded. "That's right, both of your magic control is far too crude."
Ikki and Stella were at completely opposite ends of the magic power spectrum, but their magic control was equally underdeveloped.
Ikki's was due to his extremely low magic power; no matter how he used it, it was gone in an instant. Stella's was due to having too much magic power; what others would consider wasteful was nothing to her.
To this, Drake could only say…
"Your understanding of magic control is too narrow. Magic control isn't just about conserving magic power output for your abilities!"
Simply stating this wasn't persuasive enough, so Drake decided to demonstrate.
Drake spread his two palms open, and two identical flames appeared in his hands.
Then, the flame in his left hand suddenly began to contract, the flames deepening from orange to crimson red, and then, after surpassing a certain threshold, turning blue.
Both Ikki and Stella could sense that the amount of magic used to create both flames was exactly the same. Yet, the blue flame was undeniably many times more dangerous.
Looking at the two of them, Drake said, "Compressing magic—that's one of the things you can achieve by improving your magic control.
Ikki, if you had better magic control, you wouldn't have that magic overflow when using your ultimate technique, One-Sword Asura, and you could extend its duration.
And Stella-san, with enhanced magic control, even your ordinary attacks could unleash power comparable to ultimate techniques."
Both of them showed expectant expressions; Drake had truly hit upon their weaknesses.
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