We began our training by circling the target punching balloon, keeping it contained. Our movements were only slightly faster than usual, yet navigating this unfamiliar speed range made it difficult to find the right moment to transition into an attack. I attempted to strike several times, but the moment I moved to commit, Yuji or Hiiragi-san’s silhouette would flicker into the edge of my vision, making me hesitate. This was likely a side effect of our previous drills where we practiced tight coordination, aiming for the smallest possible windows to avoid leaving openings.
I was glad I hadn’t tried a high-speed coordinated attack for the first time during a real fight.
“Yuji, Hiiragi-san.”
“Yeah, I know. Our timing is off because of the speed increase. If we aren't careful, we’re going to hit each other...”
“Since our physical speed has gone up, we have to initiate our attacks much earlier than before. Instead of aiming for the tightest gaps to minimize openings, I think it’s better if we start by taking a larger safety margin to ensure the coordination actually works.”
“I agree. Shall we try it that way for now?”
“Sure.”
“Yes, let’s.”
With the primary focus on simply completing the sequence, we launched our next assault. Hiiragi-san and I synchronized our timing, coming at the punching balloon from the left and right as a distraction. Hiiragi-san maintained her speed and trajectory, thrusting her spear toward the center of the balloon. To avoid crossing paths with her, I leaped over the top of the balloon, performing a forward roll in mid-air to invert my body and swinging my sword down toward the top of the target.
Naturally, I stopped just short of impact. Yuji was the primary attacker this time, and since it was just a balloon, it would pop instantly if we damaged it.
“Yuji!”
“Hirose-kun!”
“On it!”
The moment we pulled back from the punching balloon, Yuji closed in rapidly from the front. He swung the kodachi in both hands, slashing in a cross—from top-right to bottom-left, then top-left to bottom-right. The balloon Yuji sliced burst apart into four pieces with a sharp, short pop.
However... if this was the best we could do against a stationary target, we had a problem.
“...This is going to take a lot of practice.”
“Yeah. If we’re this pathetic after just a slight bump in speed, going all out seems impossible right now.”
“We’ve never practiced at this level before, so it’s only natural that we need more training.”
We stared at the lackluster results, holding our heads in our hands with grim expressions. We were struggling like this at only ten or twenty percent above our normal speed. If we went full power—no, even at a seventy or eighty percent increase, we were bound to have an accident. Even if a weapon didn't hit someone, at those speeds, the sheer force of a collision would be devastating.
Dissatisfied, we ran the drill again at the same ten-to-twenty-percent increase. Drawing on our previous attempt, we managed to produce something that could be considered a passing grade... but this was without incorporating any magic or skills.
“Mixing in projectiles is a long way off.”
“Yeah, combat with projectiles is out of the question with our current proficiency. We can’t even predict each other’s movements properly yet... our senses haven't adjusted.”
“True. But once we get used to it, I’m sure it won’t be a problem... at least, I’d like to believe that.”
As Hiiragi-san said, once we acclimated, we’d likely be able to coordinate with the same intuition we had before. However, that was going to take a significant amount of time.
It certainly wasn't something we could master in a day or two.
“Well, the purpose of today was to research high-speed combat—to grasp what we can and can’t do. Maybe we should just be glad we identified our limitations?”
“I guess. We just have to fix the issues as we find them, but... man.”
“Even if we wanted to investigate everything, we don't have enough time or targets.”
Just getting comfortable with a ten-to-twenty percent increase had already cost us two targets. Since we were only here for the day, time was also a factor. We only had ten targets in total, which meant practicing against multiple simultaneous enemies was off the table.
But...
“You’re right. Regardless, let’s gradually ramp up the speed and see what happens when we move at full power.”
“That was the original plan, anyway... though I didn't think we’d hit a wall this early.”
“Full power... we’ll have to be extremely careful to avoid an accident.”
Exchanging looks and light sighs, we turned our focus toward the next target.
We continued testing high-speed combat while steadily increasing the pace. Eventually, we were down to our very last punching balloon. So far, the highest speed we had tested was roughly 2.5 times our normal speed—about seventy percent of our maximum effort.
And believe me, we were working hard just to manage that much.
“The final one... what do you think? Since it’s the last one, should we try going all out?”
“I want to say yes... but that’s a dangerous gamble.”
“I agree. Even at our current speed, there were several moments where we almost collided. It was terrifying.”
Yuji and Hiiragi-san frowned at my suggestion. I was the one who proposed it, but even I knew it was a risky choice. At seventy percent, we were already moving at 2.5 times our normal speed. Our sensory processing simply hadn't caught up in such a short window of time. If we went all out, we could probably hit three times our usual speed, but if you asked me if we could actually coordinate at that level... honestly, I was filled with nothing but anxiety. We hadn't had an accident yet only because we’d increased the speed incrementally. If we suddenly jumped to triple speed... while it might not be fatal, some kind of accident was highly likely.
“True, we probably shouldn't try it, but...”
“There’s no guarantee this place will be available under these conditions next time...”
“That's a fair point. Even if we have to practice elsewhere later, we should probably see what our max looks like at least once. After all, that’s why we came here...”
To play it safe and stay within our limits, or to take a step into the unknown for the sake of future growth—it was a classic dilemma. We agonized over the decision.
After a long silence, we looked at each other and reached a consensus.
“It’s dangerous, but for the sake of future training, let’s see what we’re capable of at full power. If we don’t know our limits, it’ll hinder our progress later...”
“...Fine. But if we’re doing this, we use a high-safety coordination pattern. It might not be as effective for combat, but I want to minimize the risk of a collision.”
“I agree with that. As long as we can grasp what our full power feels like, that’s enough. There’s no need to be reckless on top of being unprepared.”
And so, we decided to conduct one final high-speed drill at full power, using only the safest movement patterns. I was still uneasy, but it was our original objective. If we didn't do this now, it would cause problems down the line.
Imagine accidentally hitting max speed during a real fight without knowing how to control it and just spiraling out of control... I couldn't think of anything worse.
“Alright, safety first. Let’s do this.”
“Yeah.”
“Understood.”
We focused our spirits on the solitary punching balloon standing in the center of the vast chamber.
Leveling our weapons at the target, we took deep breaths to steady our nerves. Honestly, I felt more tension now than I had when facing the ogre.
This was a full-power, high-speed test without proper acclimation—a complete shot in the dark.
“Okay... we’re starting. Ready?”
“Yeah. It goes without saying, but keep our paths from crossing as much as possible. Reducing the intersections is the best way to avoid an accident.”
“Yes. And be mindful of the attack timing. Since the speed is jumping so much, we need to take an even larger safety margin than before.”
“Right. Same goes for after the strike. Factor in the braking distance and keep your distance from everyone else.”
As we verbally confirmed the precautions, our concentration sharpened.
“Daiki is the main attacker this time.”
“Right. Yuji and Hiiragi-san are on distraction duty, but...”
“Don’t expect much from us. Safety is the priority... the distraction will be a bit clumsy.”
“Better clumsy than a collision. Got it, Daiki? I’ll be careful, but make sure you watch your timing too.”
“Roger that. I’ll move in only after I’m sure you both have cleared out.”
With the final movements confirmed, we were ready.
A few seconds of heavy silence filled the room.
“Go!”
“Yeah!”
“Yes!”
With determined expressions, we exploded toward the target at full power.
First, to get a feel for our maximum speed inside the dungeon, we ran across the room in every direction. We didn't just stick to the floor; we moved three-dimensionally, using the walls and ceiling as footholds to ensure we could strike the target from any angle.
We made frequent use of triangle jumps and wall kicks, moving like characters straight out of a manga or anime. I’d suspected we could do this during the fitness test, but to actually do it in a room with a ceiling this high and wide was something else...
“...”
With half-lidded, vacant expressions, we zipped through the room in silence. Even though we were the ones doing it, a part of us felt detached, almost dumbfounded by our own actions. Even if you think you can do it, actually seeing it happen leaves you feeling... well, complicated.
After about a minute of flying around the room, we exchanged glances, signaling with our eyes that we’d had enough of a warm-up.
“Hah!”
“Tei!”
Yuji struck first. He landed feet-first on the ceiling directly above the punching balloon, then plummeted straight down with a kodachi in each hand. Entering his range, he swung both blades, letting them whistle past the sides of the balloon. If that balloon had been a human-shaped pillar, both arms would have been severed at the shoulders.
As Yuji stuck the landing and immediately back-stepped away from the target, Hiiragi-san traded places with him. She closed the distance from the right, staying low to the ground and sweeping her spear toward the balloon’s base.
“Daiki!”
“Kokonoe-kun!”
Answering their calls, I lunged at the punching balloon from the front. I raised my sword high and brought it down in a single, powerful karatake-wari stroke. The balloon split perfectly down the middle, scattering into pieces with a loud pop.
Yeah... this was no good at all.
Once the high-speed training was over, we set about cleaning up the remains of the shattered punching balloons. There weren't many small fragments, so the cleanup didn't take long.
With the area cleared, I called for a review meeting.
“Alright, the testing and training are done for now... but we found a lot of problems.”
“Yeah... nothing but problems.”
“We might have to spend the entire rest of summer vacation just getting used to this speed...”
Thinking back on the results, we all sighed. We had expected challenges, but it wasn't the kind of prediction that made you happy when it came true.
“The first challenge is simply that we aren't used to this speed range yet. Even if our bodies can move that fast, it doesn't matter if our brains can't keep up.”
“Well, that’s just a matter of putting in the reps. It’ll take time, but we’ll get there eventually...”
As Yuji said, time and repetition were the only solutions. Fortunately, even though it was rough, we could at least maintain control at full power, so it was a straightforward problem to solve.
“The second challenge is coordination. Because we’re taking such huge safety margins, there are massive openings in our formation.”
“We just have to get used to it. We need to practice until we can shrink those margins and close the gaps.”
I nodded in agreement with Hiiragi-san. Like the first issue, this was something that could be overcome with experience. But the real problem was...
“The third challenge is... where are we going to practice?”
“...”
This session had made one thing very clear: to practice high-speed combat at full power, we needed a massive amount of space. The 29th floor was fairly large since it was designed for a boss fight against an ogre and its minions, but even then, it felt cramped when we moved at full throttle. We hadn't used the walls and ceiling just to look like anime characters; we used them because if we hadn't, we would have slammed into a wall the moment we started moving.
...Seriously, what are we going to do about space?