"You sure look giddy," I remarked in bemusement.

"Hm? Well, yeah, I've been wanting to fight you again ever since the HCC final, and I'll finally get the chance today! And I also want to fight you, Ariella," Grinned Ciel, looking pretty restless.

"It's too bad your boyfriend doesn't feel the same way," I replied with a wry smile, as I glanced at Rex.

"Hm? Oh, yeah, I'm never fighting you again," He responded dryly.

Today's the 25th of November, 2169, it's been a bit over two weeks since the Guilds' restructuring.

The Demonsbane Guild had contacted us a few days ago, suggesting a joint training exercise to have our respective members spar against each other and whatnot, to help improve the abilities of our newer and less experienced members in particular.

We were currently at the outdoor training space, Aria and I were mainly here to observe and instruct, though we'll indulge Ciel and spar against her at the end of the day.

All four of the Demonsbane Guild's Aces were here, Rex and Ciel, of course, their Guildmaster Zian Akel, and their Healer, Cameron Del.

Oh, and Ciel is their new Vice-Guildmaster.

Incidentally, the Diva Guild's Vice-Guildmaster is Leed Bancroft, the former Guildmaster of the now-gone Paragon Guild, which Invidia was a part of when he was alive.

Rex evidently just got dragged along by Ciel, and with Cameron here, we can have Brid focus solely on fighting.

Brid and a number of our Combatants were participating in this joint exercise, the Demonsbane Guild had brought several of their own K-Ranked Combatants, plus a handful of new recruits from the recent Academy graduates, including one with Ace Potential.

It's been about an hour since we started, and we've been mixing things up, one-on-ones, two versus two, team battles, one against multiple opponents, and so on.

"You two really are polar opposites, aren't you?" Smiled Aria, as she stared at them in amusement.

The contrast between them visually right now is kinda hard to ignore.

Ciel was on the edge of her seat, an excited look on her face, while Rex was slumped back listlessly, absent-mindedly staring up at the sky.

Every time I've seen him, he's either spacing out or stressed, I don't think I've really seen him show any other emotions besides that.

Then there's also his pale white hair that sharply contrasts with Ciel's vibrant, orangish-blonde hair.

"Agreed, I know people say opposites attract and all, but it's pretty surprising how well they work together despite being so different. How long have you guys been together again?" Zian asked them as he chimed in.

"We got together a few months after he joined the Guild, it's been a bit over six years now," Responded Ciel with a smile.

"Mind if I ask how you guys got together? Like, who asked who out, or confessed, first?" Aria asked her.

"Heh, that was all me. I mean, he was my type to begin with, I found him attractive right off the bat. Then, a few months after he joined, the Guildmaster asked me to train him.

He really hated it, he got pretty banged up by my explosions, and that led him to push himself to master his Magic.

Once he pulled it off, my attacks were all but useless against him, which was the perfect excuse to let off my explosions freely and with reckless abandon.

And the sight of him strolling right through the blasts, my Magic erupting all around him, it made my heart skip a beat. So, I asked him out, he seemed caught off-guard by that, but he said yes. And we just got closer and closer from there," Recalled Ciel with a cheerful smile.

"Right, I remember...you really wrecked our arena and caused severe structural damage to our headquarters, we had to shut down the building for a whole week to get the repairs done, and that certainly wasn't cheap," Sighed Akel, before a wry smile appeared on his face.

"If you said yes, then I guess that means you were attracted to her too," I remarked as I glanced at Rex.

"Yeah, obviously," He nodded, before clamming up.

"Not gonna give us any more details than that?" Aria asked him with a grin.

"Nope."

"Heh, he's actually super affectionate and loving, he just never shows that side of himself when we're around other people," Ciel informed us with a laugh, before sheepishly averting her gaze as Rex frowned at her.

"There's no need to tell them any of this," He muttered in response.

"Aw, come on, what's the harm?" Replied Ciel with a smile, nudging him playfully as he averted his gaze.

His expression definitely softens a bit when he's around her, I suppose that's only natural, considering how long they've been together.

Alright, we should probably focus more on the training, we're supposed to be observing. We can't instruct or advise the other members of the Guild if we don't actually see how they perform.

Looks like Brid's up next, he's about to participate in a one-on-one match against the Demonsbane Guild's new Ace Potential Hunter.

Let's have a look at what they're capable of, Appraisal:

Personal Details:

Name: Rio Pentand

Age: 18

Gender: Female

Height: 5'4"

Weight: 71 KG

Hunter Details:

Type: Combatant

Class: Saber

Attribute: Wind

Spells: N/A

Skills: Taunt, Strike, Double Strike, Triple Strike, Wind Strike, Double Wind Strike, Slash, Double Slash, Triple Slash, Wind Slash, Double Wind Slash, Double Impact, Triple Impact, Low Accel...Mid Accel...High Accel Double Wind Slash, High Elemental Resistance, High Status Effect Resistance, Super Sword-Wielding Affinity

Stats:

HP: 301

MP: 466

Strength: 303

Agility: 357

Vitality: 299

Perception: 390

Power Level: 352,700

Potential: 899,600

Hm, pretty impressive, but kinda normal compared to Brid and Iqra.

Still, her Power Level, especially relative to her Potential, is significantly above average for a recent Academy graduate, and looking at her Skills, while she's mastered a decent number of them, they're all standard Skills for her Class, so she doesn't have any original Skills.

Of course, as I've experienced, there's often a lot more to someone's capabilities that their stats might suggest, so let's see what she's really capable of.

Rio Pentand, her hair was on the shorter side, dyed a shade of light blue and tied up in a high, short ponytail.

She had light green eyes, a fair complexion, she wore dark blue glasses with narrow rectangular frames, and she was a bit below average height, with a slender, attractive figure.

She had a sword strapped to her left hip, but it was unusually narrow.

Sabers usually have a more balanced build, their Strength and Agility are a bit more even, but based on her build and stats, she's focused primarily on Agility.

Let's see how she does...

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