It was three days later that Nightshade managed to come together for their first additional training session. The location they had found to practice was not the training hall, which was currently being used by the students of Lykia and Jangar, but a disused storage room in the west wing of the academy.

It was Morgana who had suggested it, apparently having been given a key by one of the professors, which gave Rowan insight into how she had come to use the abandoned classroom for her own private training.

Regardless of how it came to be, they now found themselves in the storage room. The empty crates and shelves had been pushed back against the wall, giving them a fairly large section of ground on which to practice on. Unlike the training hall, the floor here was made of stone, not padded mats, something Reinne had pointed out only to earn a retort from Morgana.

Since they did not have anywhere else to train, Reinne had thankfully held her tongue after receiving a pointed look from Rowan, who had privately decided that it would best not to fall today. It was not that he did not agree with Reinne that the hard stone floor was not ideal for training, but if he allowed her to get into it with Morgana then there would be no training done tonight.

“So,” Reinne began, sitting on a crate that had been pushed against the wall as she looked at their training area. “I know we said we wanted to practice, but what do we want to do here? No point training without a plan.”

“We should start with formations,” Morgana said. “Then once we’ve got those down we’ll practice tactics, individual drills, and teamwork.”

Both Droon and Reinne were nodding their heads at this, and for a moment Rowan was filled with pride at seeing the entire team in agreement for once. Then he immediately shattered that peace.

“Actually,” Rowan began. “I wanted us to focus purely on a small number of things. Just the stuff most important inside an actual dungeon.” Seeing that Droon was about to speak, he held up a hand to forestall any questions. “Yes, I know that everything we’ve been taught is useful in a dungeon, but some stuff is more important than others, and that’s what I want us to focus on.”

He had actually been thinking about how best to utilize their limited time these past few days, and had originally come up with the same idea as Morgana. They really did need to practice everything. However, with the time available to them, that simply was not feasible. Instead, what they needed to do was practice the most vital and impactful aspects of small group tactics, and leave the less important stuff by the wayside.

“We can’t do that!” Morgana appeared scandalized by Rowan’s decision. “Our grades and our performance depend on us being able to execute every element of what we’ve been taught. We can’t just abandon parts of it because we’re… lazy.” She almost spat this last part, the word lazy sounding like a slur coming from her mouth. But Rowan was undeterred.

“We can,” he insisted. “And it’s what we have to do. The bulk of the grades for the final exam come from being able to successfully clear the dungeon. Tactics, party composition, cohesion, these are all secondary to the actual goal.”

“Where did you hear that?” Reinne was the one to ask, interjecting before Morgana could retort.

“I heard it from a friend,” Rowan replied. This was technically untrue. He had actually received the information from Kanna the day before, after spending an hour finishing his theory assignment in her office during which time he had done his best to worm any useful bits of information from his master that he could.

Although she had refused to break her academic integrity for him, Kanna had taken pity on her prospective apprentice and given him a few tips about where to best focus his time. The importance of clearing the dungeon to his final score on the dungeoneering exam was one of them. The importance of finishing the assignment he was working on had been another.

“Anyways,” Rowan continued, doing his best to suppress the traumatic memory of the theory assignment. “Most parties don’t use more than one or two formations as it is. If we can become proficient with one, then our chances of beating the dungeon will be far higher than it would if we show up with a bunch of half-baked, unpracticed formations. Same for tactics and everything else.”

For a few seconds, no one responded, each of his party members appearing to consider his words. Morgana wore a troubled look, but she did not immediately shut it down, and both Droon and Reinne appeared pensive.

“I like it,” Droon said, offering Rowan his support. “We’re never going to perfect everything Professor Egil has taught us before the exam. But we can definitely improve one or two formations and tactics. If we sharpen them enough, we can make them like our secret weapon of sorts.” Droon’s eyes were shining as he said this, clearly enamoured with the idea.

“Glad to hear it,” Rowan replied. Turning, he glanced between Reinne and Morgana, both on opposite sides of him. “Either of you have any objections?”

“Nope, I’m fine with it,” Reinne said.

“Hmph,” Morgana folded her arms, but did not object. A win as far as Rowan was concerned.

“Perfect,” Rowan said, immediately seizing on the advantage before anyone could change their minds. “Now then, since we’re all in agreement, what do we want to focus on? I figure we should try to practice one offensive and one defensive formation. We can work on other stuff once we’ve gotten those down.”

“Diamond formation for defense,” Reinne called out immediately. “As for offense, I dunno, standard line?”

Rowan nodded at Reinne’s picks. The diamond formation was one he was intimately familiar with, where the vanguard took the point, and then the rest of the party arranged themselves behind him with one member taking up the rear to form a diamond shape with the healer in the middle. It was a very powerful and practical formation, and also the one that was drilled the most in combat class.

The line formation was another of the basics. Melee fighters in the front, with ranged in the back, forming two lines that both assaulted the enemy. It allowed for a balanced distribution of firepower, and could be quickly adapted into other formations on the fly. Not a bad choice by any means.

“For offense, we should practice the swallow-tail formation,” Morgana said. “It’s the most powerful at breaking through enemy positions, and it’s something we can execute without too much difficulty, regardless of who runs point. As for defense, the echelon formation would work best.”

Rowan nodded at the choices, both excellent suggestions. The swallow-tail formation was one that arranged its members in the shape of an arrow, with one person taking point and the others forming a V-shape behind them. As offensive formations went, it was the most suited for crushing opposing defenses, hence Morgana’s suggestion.

The echelon formation was slightly more basic. Similar to the line formation suggested by Reinne, the echelon required the party to arrange themselves in a line, only this one was slanted rather than straight, with the person on the far end in the lead and each successive member standing a step back and to the side from the one in front in order to create a diagonal line. Its main advantage lay in the excellent field of vision it afforded, the ability of its members to react individually to any situations that may occur, and the flexibility offered by the staggered positioning.

Rowan suppressed a smile as he nodded at her. Despite her misgivings, she had clearly put a lot of thought into her two choices. This had been a recurring theme with Morgana. No matter how much she pushed for something, the moment the party decided on a course of action, she would give her all to support it and make it work even if it ran counter to what she had proposed.

“I agree with using the swallow-tail formation for offense. But on defense, I agree with Reinne that the diamond formation would be better,” Droon said. “The echelon is good, but the diamond is the most practical defensive formation. There’s no reason not to use it, is there?”

“There is,” Morgana replied. “It’s true that the diamond formation is a very powerful formation for five person parties who wish to mount a balanced defense in every direction, but it’s main use is for omni-directional defense and the ability to protect a healer or other vulnerable member in the center of the formation. Since we don’t have a healer or a fifth member, the diamond formation is less useful for us than the echelon is.”

“But—” Reinne began, only to be instantly cut off.

“Also,” Morgana continued. “The diamond formation has disadvantages too. Because we’re clustered together, we become more susceptible to area attacks, and it can be difficult for the ones in the front to dodge out of the way of powerful attacks due to the proximity of those behind them. Since we miss out on several of the benefits of the diamond formation, while still falling prey to the downsides, I believe that we should practice the echelon instead.”

Reinne still appeared unconvinced, but it was Droon who spoke up.

“I still feel we should practice the diamond formation,” he said. “It’s the most used defensive formation for a reason. Even if we don’t make full use of it in the way another party could, we’ll still need to know it for later on in our adventuring careers.”

“Exactly!” Reinne said, following up on Droon’s words with gusto. “It’s a great formation. The echelon is good, but if we’re going to practice only one then we should practice the more powerful one.” As she said this, she appealed to Rowan with large eyes, the picture of feminine innocence.

Why is she so insistent about this? There was something strange about Reinne’s insistence that bugged him, but Rowan could not quite figure it out. Whatever the reason, he was forced to put it aside as Morgana and Reinne glared at each other.

“I stand by what I said,” Morgana replied. The moment she said this, all eyes turned to Rowan, the leader and tiebreaker in their even-numbered party. With the number of arguments their party had had early on, they had required a way to break the stalemate when no one could agree on a course of action. Having Rowan shoulder the responsibility of being the tiebreaker was the method they had chose, although it often meant that at least one member of the party was left annoyed by his decision.

Seeing their gazes, Rowan hesitated, considering the matter carefully. On the surface, there was nothing wrong with Droon and Reinne’s desire to practice the diamond formation. It was known as the most useful defensive arrangement for normal parties, and was used all over the continent, from Tirsiog to the eastern reaches of the Nuxiong Dynasty.

However, their argument lacked substance, and something about Reinne’s insistence that it be the diamond formation was throwing him off. Morgana’s argument on the other hand had been much more convincing, and it was not as if the echelon was a formation that lacked in any aspects either.

His decision made, Rowan caught each person’s eye as he nodded towards Morgana. “We’ll go with the echelon and swallow-tail formations. Morgana’s right, the diamond formation is strong, but it doesn’t suit us. The echelon formation plays to our strengths in a way that the diamond does not. Our party works best when everyone has the freedom to fight in their own way. The echelon gives us that freedom.” Which was a nice way of saying that their teamwork and ability to work as a functioning party was terrible, but Rowan wasn’t about to say that even if everyone knew it was true.

Reinne pursed her lips. “Fine.” The way she said it, Rowan could tell she was angry with him, but there was nothing he could do. Morgana was right, and Reinne was wrong. Thankfully, Droon appeared fine with the decision, and Morgana gave Rowan a grateful look, something that nearly caused Rowan to stumble, so unfamiliar was the look on her features.

As Reinne muttered rebelliously and Droon hefted his shield, Rowan grabbed his own practice weapon, removing the wooden sword from his belt and sticking it under his arm as he glanced at his party members once more. “Alright,” Rowan clapped his hands together. “Enough debating. We’ve said it too much, and the word formation has lost all meaning to me, so let’s start practicing the damn things.”

Small grunts of exertion filled the air, the room heavy with the smell of sweat as the four of them advanced in a slanted line, their echelon imperfect as they headed for the training dummy they had placed at the end of the room.

Droon was the pointman, his shield raised as he pretended to scan for threats. Behind him and to the right came Reinne, then Morgana, and finally Rowan who was stationed at the rear, his sword at the ready as he pretended to look for enemies behind them while also occasionally glancing forward to check their progress.

“Thimp!” Droon called. “11 o’clock!” Lifting his shield, Droon shifted from a walk to a run, moving towards the dummy with the intent to bash its face in with his shield. Behind him, Reinne followed, moving a step to the right in order to compensate for the change in Droon’s trajectory.

BAM!

With the sound of wood against wood, Droon slammed his shield into the soft straw body of the dummy, striking the wooden frame beneath. Immediately after, Reinne arrived, her sword producing two clear thwock sounds as she dealt a pair of quick blows to the dummy.

Spinning to the left, Reinne moved out of the way of Morgana, her own blade at the ready as she followed up on the attacks made by her teammates, assaulting the dummy with vigor before leaping to the right and deflecting an imaginary attack from the side.

Eyes on the positions of his party members, Rowan made his own move, leaping forward to deliver a sharp thrust to the misection of the dummy, following it up with a heavy slash before passing by it completely. There was no time for more attacks in a battle, so each of their attacks had to be precise, dealing mortal or close to mortal blows so that no enemies would be left in their wake. Should that happen, it was Rowan’s job as the rearguard to ensure that they were dealt with, a prospect he did not look forward to.

Luckily, despite the party’s lack of coordination, the two slayers of Nightshade were both top notch, and their strikes more than enough to be considered deadly to the unfortunate inhabitants of brass-tier dungeons.

Ahead of the party, a second dummy loomed, and Droon assumed the same position he had been in earlier, spearheading the attack as he made ready to launch a second assault. Both Reinne and Morgana hurried to follow, their footsteps quick as they formed into the swallow-tail assault formation just in time to support their vanguard.

In front, Droon had raised his shield, parrying an imaginary blow from another dummy just beyond their current target and raising his sword in order to strike back. Unfortunately, this was where it all went wrong for Nightshade.

With a cry of alarm, Reinne leapt out of the way of Droon’s blow, her intended path suddenly full of swinging wooden blade. Thrown off course, she slammed into Morgana who had come at the dummy from the other side, both girls going down in a heap as Rowan awkwardly leapt over them, somersaulting neatly to his feet on the other side of the pile of tangled fae limbs.

“Get off!” Morgana shouted, shoving Reinne off of her. Tumbling aside, Reinne rose to her feet, an annoyed look on her face as she rounded on Morgana.

“The hell?”

“That should be my question.” Morgana didn’t say bitch, but Rowan could hear it implied in the fury of her words. “What the hell was that?”

“He moved into my lane,” Reinne snarled, pointing a thumb backwards at Droon who had the good grace to look ashamed. “It was either I throw myself to the side or I get hit by his sword. You’re the one who should’ve jumped aside.”

“Sorry,” Droon tried to apologize, but Reinne ignored it, rounding on Morgana.

“I had time to react, but you couldn’t stop yourself from running into me anyways?”

“I was focused on my target,” Morgana growled, her fingers playing dangerously on the wooden sword in her hand. “You should’ve dodged the other way if you were going to bail out.”

“There was no room. You should’ve been paying more attention to the battlefield.”

“I was performing my role in an optimal way. You’re the one who should have been paying attention to the battlefield.”

“Enough,” Rowan said wearily, interjecting before things could escalate any further. The same scene had played out numerous times since they had begun, and it was tiring to deal with. Droon’s lack of physical ability was certainly a problem, but the main problems were the two girls.

At first, both had been content to just ignore each other, performing their roles as required. It had not taken long however for that basic truce to break down, and with every failure of their party to execute the tactics they were practicing, things got worse.

“You’re taking her side?” Reinne demanded, turning on Rowan.

“I’m not taking anyone’s side,” Rowan replied calmly. “Neither of you meant to run into each other. Droon was the one at fault, and he’s apologized.”

Behind him, Droon ducked his head in apology once more. “Sorry.”

“Tch.”

“Hmph.”

Neither girl appeared happy about it, but both went quiet, allowing their glares to speak the volumes their mouths were not.

Suppressing a sigh, Rowan checked the time. It had been two hours since they had begun practice, and with tempers flaring and stamina dwindling, it seemed like a good time to end it before anything was said that could not be unsaid.

“Let’s call it here for the night.” Rowan’s words received weary nods of acceptance from the others, each wearing a different expression.

Droon appeared troubled, doubtlessly replaying his many mistakes in his mind. Morgana wore an angry look, her eyes flashing dangerously whenever she glanced towards Reinne, who wore a resigned expression of her own that screamed that all she wanted to do was curl up in bed right now.

Briefly, Rowan wondered what his own face looked like. Quickly schooling it into what he hoped was a mask of placidity, he wiped the sweat from his brow and set to cleaning up. Even if the situation looked hopeless, he was still the leader. It would not do for him to show weakness or despair now.

Interestingly enough, it had been Fiin who had stressed this to him, not Dillo or any of the other party leaders that he had observed. In a way, it made sense. Fiin had been forced to deal with Dillo’s mood swings for over a year now, since the formation of their own party in the same class the year before. As the leader, Dillo knew what worked to keep the party happy. Fiin knew what didn’t.

Ten minutes later, they departed the storage room, Morgana locking it with the key that she had been given. It was a silent walk back to the dorm, each person submerged in their own thoughts.

In all honesty, it had not been the worst start, Rowan decided as he walked along beside Droon. Despite his fears to the contrary, they had accepted his plan without too much fuss, and even the lone dissenter, Morgana, had contributed to making it work. As a plan, it was perfect. It was the execution that they had flubbed.

Still, this was only the first session. There were another two and a half months to go before the final exam, during which time they would hopefully be able to work on their teamwork and bring it to an acceptable level for the exam. So long as things improved, they should do just fine on the exam.

Hopefully.