After about five more rounds of the cat and mouse game, Teacher Fuyuko finally allows Louis to take a break; however, the moment to meet his classmate again approaches quickly, even though the actual class has not yet started, and he is already feeling exhausted.
"Here you go, a vitamin drink! Your final tip is to remain hydrated! If you have no fuel to burn, you won't be able to fight anyway."
"Thanks, teacher! How are we for time?"
"Hm, let's see!" With a snap of her fingers, the same spell he saw before for time is activated again, but in a much more subtle manner. "6:85, your buddies should be here in about 15 minutes. If you have any questions, now is a good time. Want some info on your friends?"
"I see…" There is still too much that he feels is wrong, so hours here take 100 minutes to pass? He needs to relearn an entirely new common sense, and by now that just feels overwhelming.
"I think there are some things I need to figure out bit by bit; if I am having trouble remembering, it might be better to just adapt and learn again. The same thing about my classmates: I think if we knew each other before, we can just get to know each other again; that might be fine too."
Teacher Fuyuko's smile falters for a moment. "That is a good way to go on about it from now on, but you need to be careful not to hurt the ones that were there for you before, even if you don't remember it. Once a bond is made between people, it becomes a tie in time forever!"
"So, good luck untangling that! Someone is pretty much here already!"
"? I don't see anybody? Also, the door is closed?"
"Ah, yeah, Para-vision!" Fuyuko opens her hands, showing her fingers, and then makes a fist with both; still, 5 golden fingers stay in the place her fingers were before. "Remember that trick back at the throne?"
"Cool! Yeah, what was that about?"
"That is my soul! I kept the shape in place while I moved my actual fingers! "This is actually quite tough to pull off!" She says with a smug face.
"I see!" Louis does a quick clap and exaggerates a bit even if he doesn't get it fully yet. "And what does that have to do with seeing again?"
"Hm, long story short, if you practice your vision well, you can see people's souls through walls and get information! Miss Yamashita is a few jards away."
[Please God, not another unit I will need to remember later… At this point I would be happier if she had just said meters…]
"…Hello." Laura greets while they chat.
"AAH!" "KYAA!" Startling both instantly!
"Hey, don't spook me out of nowhere like that!" Fuyuko complains!
"Good morning, Laura!"
"I've been here for a bit already; it's not my fault you were distracted."
"Hm, it's good that you came in early as well; now only one person is still missing!"
"Ah!" Louis remembers his talk with the tall lady from yesterday: "By the way, teacher, this tall girl I spoke with yesterday told me a thing."
"Eh, do you mean…" Right then Louis interrupts, "Wait, wait, wait!"
"?"
"She asked me to remember her name today, so I want to give it a shot!"
"Oh ho! So you paid attention to what I said earlier, huh?" Fuyuko responds.
Laura frowns deeply and says, "What? So it's ok to not remember mine?"
"I think I figured it out, but I don't want to be impolite."
"You…"
With a booming entrance, the gym doors swing open! "G' Mornin' team!" The tall girl from yesterday
"Aw, just as it was getting spicy! Anyhow!" Fuyuko jumps back high and reaches the top of the arena and claps to get attention. "Everyone, gather now, and let's start!"
"…This isn't over, Louis…" Laura speaks in a low tone.
"Yeah, let's talk again later, and…" He raises his hand toward the newcomer while making his way to the arena. "Good morning to you too!"
She comes to his side and grabs his hand firmly. "Ha, what's with you? Got something to say to me?"
For a moment he slightly closes in and looks with intensity into her eyes; they are positioned a bit awkwardly due to the size difference. With that, the lady flinches slightly. "Uh, sorry?"
Louis closes his eyes and backs off a bit and responds, "Nothing much, it's just good to see you again, Jeanne!"
Jeanne blushes a bit and nods quickly. "HAHAHA, that's right! I knew you would remember me! Or maybe you remember everything already?"
"Nah, I still need to figure out a lot of stuff!"
"See, Laura! I told you he was gonna be fine!"
"Hmpt!! Whatever! Look, the teacher is waiting!"
"Oh, don't mind me! I don't get to see interesting stuff like this often!"
"Stop teasing! Let's start!" Laura is the first to get to the arena, right after the rest of them make their way up.
"Great, as you guys can see, the place is a bit messy. I did some warm-up with Louis, and now he is ready for a real workout. First of all, a quick introduction. Let's do the exercise as if it were the first time!"
As Louis braces himself and pays attention, the other two relax; they seem to already know what is coming up.
"You three are going to form a mission E team once more. As always, the standard structure is one instructor, one senior, and two juniors for technical tier sorcerers; you will now do a few quick dream matches among yourselves to learn about each other's abilities at the maximum, as that will help you coordinate in missions!"
"Team captain Jeanne Hood, year 3, you will now have a dream match with Louis. Start easy, and after a little bit, feel free to beat him up well! Remember to leave some for Laura!"
With a big grin Jeanne gladly responds, "Roger that!" It seems like she has been waiting for this.
"Ah, uh… Please go easy? The warm-up was a bit intense." Louis is still sweating from his earlier exercise.
"Don't worry." Fuyuko responds, "A dream match happens inside a dream kingdom, so you won't actually use your real body."
"What?"
"Don't worry too much; just pay attention. Knowing or noticing when this kind of sorcery gets pulled off will save your life!"
Fuyuko puts both of her hands together, pulls them close to her heart, and then spreads them out. After that, she says, "Did you see it?"
"Sorry, I missed it. I don't feel any different…" Louis responds.
"Did I do it too fast?" Fuyuko wonders as he sees her students get confused.
"You didn't even call it out; I would have thought you were messing with us, pretending to cast it if Laura wasn't gone." Jeanne responds.
"Gone?" With a brief look around, Louis can't seem to find Laura anywhere!
"Sorry, well, I will do it slower next time. Don't worry about her; she is just outside."
"I see…? Can you tell me a bit about this Dream thing?"
"It's complicated, but long story short, you can beat each other up as much as you want, and you won't get wounded or die. Also, it helps prevent damage to the property or wasting consumables, pretty handy overall in many ways. It will still feel pretty real, though."
"Everything else is the same?"
"It is because I did it that way for a reason! Don't worry; focus as much as you can on learning! This exercise will give you something to think about, which is crucial. Be ready to fight as soon as you hear START!"
Louis feels a sharp wind and dodges to the right instantly.
"So you really did a good warm-up, huh!"
"I got enough cheap tricks from the teacher to last me until tomorrow at least!"
"Hehe, I went easy!"
Jeanne sharpens her senses, lowers her frame, and extends her hands forward with clawed fingers, saying, "Get ready! I am not letting you slack off today!"
"I'll do my best!"
Jeanne's frame is at least one head bigger than Louis, not giving him much room for mistakes; after dodging the first few moves, he starts getting cornered in the arena. His experience with Fuyuko helped him do well up until now, but he feels reluctant to start hitting Jeanne with his fists!
"Come on, you can do better than this! You haven't even thrown a punch yet! What is your deal?"
"Uh, actually…"
"Oh, I get it!"
"Hey teacher, can I go all out now?"
"Sure, I told you before!"
"Uh…" Somehow Louis doesn't feel he will like where this is going…
"YAY!" Gradually Jeanne seems to get taller and hairier, gaining at least 2 feet, her proportions morphing grotesquely, her fingers growing claws, and her jaw protruding forward.
Louis starts feeling that it might have been way better to have gone all out to end the fight before this point!
"Werewolf…!?"
"AWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"