The Scarlet Paladin

Claire was overjoyed to see Ursa and Elsie get along. She noticed the two tended to avoid one another and was planning something herself. But Jasmine beat her to it.

She couldn't help but smile, even when she was supposed to be serious. She was supposed to be focusing on cohesion, but struggled to stay focused. It was annoying her former teacher to keep pausing because of her.

"Claire! Focus. You can ogle Ursa later." Jasmine yelled from the side. She had her arms crossed, and Claire could tell she was mad.

Claire shook her head before mouthing a 'sorry' to Jasmine. Jasmine was running the two through drills that would test their ability to fight together.

"Right!" She responded, her tone still cheerful.

Jasmine just let out a sigh. "Okay, back to square one."

The two frontliners returned to their starting positions. Roughly 20 feet away from the twins, the two readied for the drill. Claire took a moment to refocus herself before glancing at Ursa. She had a furrowed brow as she took in the last few rounds.

"Okay. I'm sorry, Ursa… just happy about you getting along with Elsie better." Claire whispered. Ursa glanced at her, the seriousness fading for a moment.

"Th-thank you." Ursa stuttered out. She wasn't used to others admitting fault so easily. Jasmine clapped her hands, getting their attention again.

"Now remember Claire! You are no longer alone on the frontline, your space is shared with Ursa. And Ursa, remember you have teammates. Elsie will be firing spells from behind, it's on you two to sync up." Jasmine commanded as she reset the dummies.

Ursa nodded. It took everything in her power not to react in anger when Elsie hit her with a rogue firespell. Thankfully, Ana was quick to heal her, and Elsie apologized.

"Alright, you two, remember your roles." Jasmine continued. She walked towards them as she spoke. "Claire, you support and enable Ursa's attacks while also being her shield. Protect her like you would any of us. Ursa, be the frontline's spear. Live by the best defense is a good offense."

Ursa clenched her jaw. It'd been years since she fought within a group. Her class did not work well in a team, her battle trance could easily cause collateral damage. She also had to worry about her teammates behind her, magic users weren't something she was used to fighting with.

Claire began to move forward as Ursa recentered herself. She moved cautiously towards the first dummy, her shield readied. Ursa studied the methodical, slow movements before joining her. She followed Claire's movements until they were close enough for her to charge.

Ursa let out her battle cry and charged. She focused solely on her target. She didn't notice the projectile. She didn't see Claire move to block it. All she could focus on was bringing her training axe down on the dummy.

She spun to the next target only to run into Claire, causing both of their balances to be thrown off. Claire felt a soft ball bounce off her head.

"Dead." Jasmine declared. She set her projectiles down and let out a sigh.

"Fuck, sorry!" Claire said, rubbing the spot the ball hit. "I was too close this time, and I wasn't expecting you to turn so quickly."

Ursa tensed up. She felt anger flare up within her, egged on by her berserker skills. It took every fiber of her to stop herself from lashing out, at least physically. She clenched her fist tightly, trying to ground herself, but some of it slipped out.

"Fuck!" She growled. "I can't stand this. There's too much I have to worry about. Not only do I have spells from behind, but I have someone in my way! I'm not used to this!"

Ursa threw the axe to the side and took a deep breath, trying to reel herself in. Before she could walk away, she felt Claire's hand gently grab her arm.

"I get it," Claire said softly. "I get being frustrated… but that's what training is for. Better to figure all this out here, then when we're in danger…"

Ursa just nodded. She felt shame for lashing out. Especially since she lashed out at Claire.

"I can imagine fighting in a team after being solo for so long can also be tough, but we can always work on that." Claire kept going. "I'm not mad at you for yelling, I'm not mad at you for being frustrated… I just want to figure this out with you."

Surprisingly,. Claire's voice was able to calm her anger. Usually, it'd take a lot more effort for her to de-escalate her anger, but Claire's voice made her feel calm.

"I-I just don't know this…" Ursa admitted. "My class isn't meant for a team… sometimes it's hard for me to even distinguish allies from foes...."

"That's okay," Claire whispered. "You're working on it. That's all we can ask of you…"

Ursa nodded before taking a long, deep breath. She picked her axe up, ready to go again. Only to be met with a frustrated Jasmine.

"Here I was going to scold you two, but Claire just had to steal my thunder," Jasmine said, her arms crossed. Ursa didn't pick up on her fake annoyance, but Claire did. Her expression softened into a gentle smile. "But Claire's right. All we can ask is that you are trying to improve."

"Right… thank you," Ursa said, her anger all but gone. "I'll try not to lash out again."

Jasmine stepped closer with a sly smile, her voice dropping to a husky purr, " Good. It's best to take out your frustrations in other ways. The Goddess knows how many times I've taken my frustration out on Elsie that way…"

Claire nodded in agreement. "It's very hard to stay mad after that…"

Ursa's face reddened as the tone shifted between the two. Jasmine teasingly bit her lip before continuing. "Mhmm, I'll definitely have to take some of my frustration out on you later…"

Claire stepped closer, pressing her body against Jasmine. "Promis?"

Ursa cleared her throat, snapping the two out of it. Her face was red, and her voice cracked slightly. "I-I think I'm ready to try again…"

Both women smiled at Ursa before getting back into position. The twins, who were chatting with Lily before, got back into position as well. All four were ready, though the two frontliners were noticeably aroused, and Ursa's face was still red.

Jasmine clapped her hands again, grabbing the fours' attention. "Claire, remember your positioning. You'll need to weave in attacks and blocks for Ursa. Ursa, remember to do your best to keep track of Claire. Even a rough guess is better than nothing."

The two nodded before Claire approached the dummy again. Ursa took another moment to steady her breath before joining her. Once the two got into position, Ursa charged again.

While she focused on the dummy again, she remembered to take note of where Claire was before she charged. This time, she caught the distinct clink of Claire's shield as it blocked Jasmine's projectile.

When she spun to face the next dummy, she instinctively stepped to the side, away from the earlier sound. Her eyes focused on her next target, but she felt the gentle brush of Claire's arm against hers. She felt a sense of pride swell for a moment as she got the movement in sync with Claire.

It was a tight transition but effective, Jasmine observed. Claire moved like Ursa's shadow, close enough to protect her while staying out of her way. She was dangerously close to the berserker, but somehow she made it work.

Now came the hard part. Jasmine glanced at Elsie, who stood proudly. Her wand at the ready and eyes focused on the third dummy. It was meant to be an ambusher trying to attack the two as they fought the second dummy. She had to protect them with her attack. Her sister watched her carefully, her own wand ready to block Elsie's attack with her barrier.

Elsie exhaled away the last of her nerves. While she knew Claire's movements and tells, she did not know Ursa's. She would have to launch her spell and hit the target right before Ursa charged. She had already failed three times today.

'Elsie, she tenses up before she charges…' Ana's thoughts called out to her. She nodded to her sister, her eyes studying Ursa.

She prepared her spell, just waiting for Ursa to tense up. Ursa was instructed to switch up her timing to keep Elsie guessing, but Ana's guidance finally helped Elsie understand.

It was a split-second opening, but Elsie let her fireball fly the moment she saw Ursa tense up. The ball shot past Ursa, the charging woman not even flinching as it passed before her. Relief washed over Elsie as the third dummy was struck by her fireball.

'Thank you, Ana.' Elsie said internally with relief. 'Good job picking that up.'

Jasmine took note. "Seems Elsie finally noticed Ursa tensing up before attacking… or Ana told her," She muttered to herself. She was just glad the three finally synced up enough to complete the exercise.

Jasmine launched another projectile, one final test for her former student. One Claire easily swatted with her shield.

Jasmine dropped her shoulders, relief washing over her like a cool breeze. Finally.

Lily approached her from the side. "I have lunch ready, hope it's a good time to take a break."