Battle Training

Now then, it wasn't as if all we ever did was have sex.

With my defeat as the trigger, I made sure to put real effort into training too.

"… So, the deadline for me to challenge Nezu is fourteen days from now. Two weeks. Honestly, part of me wants to just charge in and get it over with already, but rushing in headlong won't help. There's a saying that 'rough and ready beats slow and skillful,' but that only applies when you have more than enough strength to win and the enemy hasn't gotten themselves in order. If our side keeps growing stronger as time passes while theirs doesn't improve at all, it's obvious we should use that time to get as prepared as we possibly can. So in these two weeks, let's polish our actual abilities to the limit. The way I want to do that… first, I think we should stack up mock battles within our own team."

I made that proposal in front of everyone.

"… Mock battles inside the team won't raise our levels, you know?"

Yuria raised her hand and chimed in.

"Yeah, that's right.

"But even without experience points, mock battles among allies aren't meaningless.

"If anything, I think they're incredibly valuable. We should have been doing a lot more proper mock battles before now.

"This whole incident really drove that home for me.

"Kanan, Adelia, Maika, Lyuka, and I have just kept piling up combat experience at D-Class.

"That wasn't meaningless.

"We leveled up, we built up battle instincts, and our teamwork got better.

"… But when we fought Setsuna, we couldn't react to her speed at all.

"Because we'd been fighting D-Class battles where the movements were slow, we couldn't keep up in a faster fight.

"… The truth is, we should have been doing higher-level practice.

"Out of our current eight-person party, Leone is the fastest. Even lined up against every Garumon out there, she'd still rank on the fast side.

"If we'd been training to dodge Leone's attacks, I think we could have handled Setsuna's movements on the first try.

"It's an extreme example, but if you really polished Skill-less Skills like Cover and Evade to the absolute limit, you could shut down an opponent's attacks entirely without using any actual skills. That's pure technique of motion. Levels have nothing to do with it.

"… Well, saying base stats have nothing to do with it is going too far. Especially Skill-driven precision and Speed-driven, well, speed.

"But in the end, even if your specs are high, it's meaningless if you can't put them to use.

"So, our numbers have grown, and from here on out there'll be days when some members don't go into a real battle.

"When that happens, instead of wasting unused skill counts, let's use them for mock battles within the team and rack up more training.

"I'll say it again: a Garumon's strength isn't just about levels.

"The precision of every individual skill.

"Positioning, and movement outside of skills.

"A mountain of things matter.

"To polish all of that, let's keep stacking up practice.

"Especially right now, our levels have shot up too quickly. Are we conscious enough of our own raised stats to actually use them?

"When you're stronger than before, opponents get knocked back farther, and the recoil is bigger too.

"When you move faster than before, it goes without saying that moving itself gets harder.

"Even with techniques, just memorizing them doesn't mean you've mastered them. Only by using them over and over and polishing them can you bring out their full power and learn to use them more effectively.

"To get stronger, what really matters is steady, plain training. Anyone who neglects that will never become strong.

"… Or so I think.

"… What do you say, Yuria?"

I laid out the personal theory I'd been building up through all my previous Garumon Battles.

I wanted to hear the opinion of Yuria, who had fought all the way up to C-Class under a different Master.

"… You're right, Naoto… I didn't really get any of that either until I fought you."

Yuria gave a wry smile.

"No, I really am grateful that our levels went up thanks to you. Truly. In a level-based game, leveling up to get stronger is the basics of the basics… I just want to say it isn't only that."

"Yeah. I know. No objections."

I had Yuria's stamp of approval.

So with that, mock battles started.

Yuria's Team Haru's Team

Adelia, Kanan, Maika Setsuna, Leone, Lyuka

I had them battle in those teams. The play-by-play I'll skip.

My companions really were cute and wonderful, I thought to myself…

That such cute, wonderful girls were my companions…

… The result was a win for Haru's team… Leone really was just too strong.

Kanan couldn't defend against Leone's lightning-fast attacks, Adelia was taken out, Maika was taken out, and after that Kanan got slowly whittled down and lost.

"… Kyaaaa!"

Unable to react at all to Leone's lightning-bolt movements, Kanan was sent flying.

"… Tch… too bad."

"Ahaha… it was all thanks to Leone-san."

… Watching how other people fought was surprisingly educational. And being able to watch calmly from the outside was nice too.

"I have feedback for everyone, but first, Leone."

"Me? What is it?"

"Yeah, it's not really a complaint. You were truly impressive. There's just one thing I want to check. Are you okay with movement at high speed? You were at maybe two times speed today, but at top end you accelerate up to about eight times."

"When I accelerate, my thought speed accelerates too, so it should be fine in theory… but you're right, I should practice moving at eight times speed just to be safe."

"Yeah. Even if you can act four times in a turn, if your attacks turn into half-hearted swipes and miss, your damage gets cut in half. Let's put in solid practice. What about something like this: I throw a ball off in different directions, and you sprint to catch it and bring it back."

"That sounds like a good reflex training exercise for moving at high speed… I'll give it a try."

All right, then, and we tried it out right away.

Balls were easy enough to come by in any quantity we needed.

"… Hup!"

I threw one. About 20 meters, maybe? It was a wobbly throw, embarrassing.

But Leone went dashing after it from behind and caught it beautifully out of the air.

… Yikes. Even if it was a wobbly ball going maybe 60 km/h, the fact that she chased it down from behind and caught it midair… what speed.

If she ran for real, she'd top 100 km/h. And then she went whoosh, and ran back.

"… Here… This might be fun."

And she handed it back to me… Wait, wasn't this basically playing fetch with a dog?

Without meaning to, I might've picked a training method that perfectly suited Leone's Inugami class.

After that I tried throwing in different directions a few times, but with my arm there was no way I could keep up with Leone's speed for practice.

Still, Leone seemed to be having fun.

"Good girl, you fetched it well."

When I patted her head, Leone looked so happy she might as well have been wagging her tail.

… Come to think of it, even though she was Beastkin, she didn't have a tail. As a Beastkin fanatic, where did that fall on the scale? Personally, I didn't mind at all.

"My arm isn't going to cut it for practice… Haru-kun, please."

"O-okay."

Haru-kun threw the ball.

Originally Haru-kun threw like a girl, with no muscle to speak of. He couldn't have thrown it 5 meters even at full strength, but…

Now that becoming a Garumon had massively boosted his physical strength, the ball flew sharp and clean, zip. Easily twice my range.

If he got a little more used to throwing, he'd probably get even faster.

"Yep, just keep going like that, please."

"Yeah!"

"Mm!"

That settled Leone.

"Next is Kanan…"

"I get it, all right?! As Defender, letting the Attackers go down before me is a disgrace. This loss was my fault…"

Kanan was down in the dumps.

"Well, that one couldn't be helped. But you know we can't just give up because something can't be helped."

"… Of course!"

She bounced right back up.

"Just let me say one thing in my defense, though. If I'd been moving on Naoto's instructions, I think I could have stopped her a bit more. I'm not trying to shift the blame, but…"

She said this while looking at Yuria.

"Well, you're right about that. I was thinking the same thing, that there wasn't really a window for me to give instructions."

"… R-right?"

Yuria scratched her head, looking awkward.

"But! The standard for a Defender is the Haru type. Make yourself rock-solid and just draw fire with your defense. That's why you don't normally give a Defender that many fine-tuned orders! Running Kanan as a Defender is pretty peaky. It's something only Naoto can pull off…"

Yuria offered that as her excuse.

"H-huh… in other words, the reason I can shine as a Garumon is because Naoto is here."

So Kanan said. I wondered if she'd get cross, but…

"Well, in that case, I guess it can't be helped!"

If anything, she got into an even better mood.

"Anyway, watch enemy movement as lines. At that kind of speed, an opponent's movements get simplified to a degree. This world also has the law of inertia, apparently, so once they commit, they pretty much have to move in a straight line from a given point, or follow other relatively simple patterns. Which means as long as you don't take your eyes off them and pin down where the action starts, you should be able to predict it from your end. Most Garumon have telltale signs before they attack: bracing, dropping their stance, things like that. Don't miss those signs. Catch them and read the timing."

"… Right. Got it."

"Also, your positioning isn't great. You're a bit too far up."

"Eh? Really? But pushing forward narrows the area the opponent can move in. I was getting up there on purpose with that in mind…"

"But Leone's quick sidesteps and dash combo just shook you off easily, didn't they? That tactic worked because your opponent was a slow D-Class. When the enemy is faster than you, getting close just makes them look even faster. Things up close look fast, things farther away look slow. When the enemy is faster than you, the right call is actually to open up the distance. Position yourself in the middle, near Adelia and Maika. Leone is fast, but once she commits to an attack, from there it becomes a straight-line motion. So if you can read the timing, breaking in on it is easy. Which brings us back to the start. In the real fight I'll call the timing, but Kanan, you also need to brace properly and be ready."

"… Got it. Next time I'll stop her for sure!"

"Next is Setsuna. About your attack on Kanan… you were aiming at her belly, right?"

"Mm, was that not good?"

"… No, that one's on me for not saying anything.

"It's just, since this was a training match, I wanted you to go for critical hits.

"Aiming for the center of the body itself isn't bad at all. It really is hard to dodge.

"And as long as Bloody Masquerade just connects, it inflicts slip damage.

"Attacks on Kanan are going to get blocked by Wind Shield anyway.

"It's a rational call. Not bad at all.

"I just want to go for criticals when we can.

"Even with the same attack, damage can swing from 0.5x all the way to 2.0x.

"If they block solid with their arms, damage drops to 0.5x. Land a clean hit on the head or stomach and it becomes a critical for 2.0x damage. You already know this. So at the extremes, that's a 4x difference.

"The ideal is to land a critical on every single attack.

"Of course, the worst case is missing entirely, so Setsuna's choice really wasn't wrong, and in a real fight with no margin, going for the surest hit is what you should do. I feel bad calling you out on it like you did something wrong, but…"

"Mm, it's okay. This is practice, so I'll try hard to land criticals on purpose."

"That's what I'd like. As a general note, Setsuna, your movements are too straightforward. Try mixing in a feint. Make her think you're going for the head and hit the stomach, or aim for the stomach and hit the head. If you can punch through where the opponent's awareness isn't focused, criticals become much easier to land."

"… Mm."

"Also… aim for the eyes."

"… Eyes?!"

"Yeah, when you go for the eyes, the opponent reflexively closes them for a second.

"In this world, as long as they have HP they don't actually get hurt, but even Garumon born and raised here mostly have that reflex.

"If anything, because taking one or two hits in this world doesn't injure or kill you, people might not weigh getting hit as heavily.

"So aim for the eyes, and in the instant they close them, fire your real attack into an unguarded spot as a one-two combo. That gives you a really good shot at a critical.

"Bloody Masquerade is a kicking technique. Which means your hands are free.

"When you close in on an opponent, first thrust your fingers out like you're going to jam them into their eyes.

"Going through with the poke is fine. Even if you connect, you can't deal damage anyway.

"And if they misread it as a real attack and lose their balance, even better.

"In the moment they close their eyes, drive a kick into a spot they aren't guarding.

"Setsuna, from now on, practice that."

"M-mm."

"Yuria, Setsuna's about to attack you, so dodge."

"Right."

…Whomp

Setsuna, having pulled off exactly what I described, landed a beautiful critical hit on Yuria.

"Maika, were you listening too? I think the same kind of practice would be useful for your Accel Mirage as well, so I'd like you to do sparring drills with her."

"Yes, understood."

"Next is Lyuka. Just because you're using magic doesn't mean you can fire it off carelessly. Magic does have smaller damage variation, with halving and crits being harder to roll, but they're not impossible, so let's go for them whenever we can. The trick to getting the most damage out of Shining is to align the height of your casting position with the opponent's hips. And the closer the distance, the better. From the start of the turn until your action order comes up, move quickly to the optimal cast point and trigger Shining there."

"Yes, understood."

"What you have to watch out for is this: if you focus too hard on attacking, don't drift out to where the Defender can't protect you. So in that sense, coordinating with the Defender is important too."

"Understood."

"Lyuka, you'll probably also be acting as a Defender to protect allies a lot. On that note, let me say a few words to the whole Supporter team."

I addressed Lyuka, Yuria, and Setsuna in particular.

"It's a given that the Defenders will protect you, but once you Supporters have applied enough buffs, you can leave the rest to the Attackers, and it's fine to fall after that. When that happens, I want you to also think about acting as a second-tier Defender, protecting the Attackers."

"Yes, understood."

"Conversely, until that point, you absolutely cannot fall.

"Haru and Kanan fulfilling their roles as Defenders is a basic premise.

"But their defense isn't perfect either. When that breaks down, the one who can protect you in the end is yourself.

"So dodge the enemy's attacks. When you can't dodge, guard them properly.

"You absolutely cannot forget that kind of self-preservation.

"The worst is when you try to dodge, end up in a half-baked stance, can't dodge it after all, and take the attack anyway.

"When that happens, you're prone to taking critical damage.

"Judge clearly whether an attack is dodgeable or not, and when it isn't, focus on guarding well.

"So take plenty of practice attacks on the receiving end, and make sure to put real work into defense practice too."

"Right, got it."

That was the gist. Whenever we had time, I drilled everyone thoroughly.

After that, we also went over the theory side…

"About the damage formula: Base attack power × coefficient (0.5–2.0) × (Strength or Magic) ÷ (Defense or Magic Defense) × attack buff ÷ defense buff. It's that kind of multiplication-and-division calculation, right?"

"That's right. Each of those gets minor random coefficients added or applied through various operations, but the basic formula is exactly that."

"For buffs, 30% UP is 1.0 + 0.3, while a 1.5x buff is 1.0 × 1.5, right? So here's the thing. When you combine them: 30% UP then ×1.5 gives 1.95x, but ×1.5 then 30% UP gives 1.8x. The percentage-UP buffs absolutely have to be applied first."

"Yes, exactly. The 'multiplier' type buffs have a big effect, so even S-Class Masters with tons of powerful skills use them as a matter of course. Adelia's Boost Power and Leone's Accel Speed are techniques you'll be able to use for a long, long time."

"That said, while it's true that 30% UP and then 2x gives 2.6x, there's also the possibility that on the first turn the 30% UP is too weak and you get knocked out. I know I'm preaching to the choir here, Naoto-san, but you have to be conscious not just of efficiency, but of pouring the necessary resources into the necessary timing."

"Thank you, Yuria, Lyuka. I think you're absolutely right."

After that, on to formation.

Garumon properties, the way I saw it, could be classified as:

Attacker: attacks the enemy. Carves big chunks of HP, delivers the finishing blow.

Defender: protects allies from enemy attacks.

Supporter: everything else, the generalist. Debuffs on enemies, buffs on allies, healing, etc.

Roughly sorted, I figured it went like this.

Attackers: Adelia, Leone, Maika

Defenders: Kanan, Haru

Supporters: Setsuna, Yuria, Lyuka

Based on these patterns, I went around with each of them, talking through how they'd fight going forward.

"Kanan, the Defender role is already baked into how you operate. Honestly, in raw ability you could fight as an Attacker just fine, but…"

"My head's already more in 'protect the team' mode than 'attack' mode now anyway. Isn't it fine if I just attack when needed?"

"Yeah, I think that's good. From here on, please keep being the rock of our party's defense."

"Mm!"

"Adelia is… a complete Attacker. Even her buffs are mostly self-buffs. She has debuff abilities, but they aren't all that strong. The pattern of Kanan tanking while Adelia stacks up buffs and then unloads for the kill is fully ingrained at this point."

"Nya! I'll keep mowing down enemies left and right, nya! But Adelia can fight because of Kanan, nya!"

"Adelia shining is me shining. Let's keep working hard as a duo!"

The two of them had the trust thing locked down.

"Maika has Shadow Step for evasion, Dance of Frost for debuffs, and ice-element attacks. She can handle everything solo. A self-contained Attacker, you could say. As long as our team can deal with the freezing on our end, she's got high enough single-character performance to slot in anywhere and just fight normally. Thanks to that, she also slid into the Kanan-Adelia duo with no issues at all. I really am grateful for that."

"… Yeah."

"But Maika, you don't have to fight alone anymore. Going forward, it'd be nice if you started learning techniques that boost allies, or techniques that need allied support to be used."

"… Yes, I'll do my best to work toward that. But what should I do, exactly…?"

"I don't really know either, but…"

"… For now, slide in between me and Adelia. Let's all get cozy together."

Kanan said, inviting her in.

"… Fufu, then I'll intrude."

Maika accepted the invitation and slipped between the two of them.

"Nyaa, Maika and I are besties too, nya～."

"It's not like you're intruding."

A while ago, the idea of letting anyone else in between Kanan and Adelia would have struck me as wrong, but Maika fit there wonderfully. The sight of three beautiful girls being friendly together was strikingly beautiful.

"All right, Lyuka next."

Lyuka's level had shot up all at once, so I'd reposted her stats.

"Lyuka can use healing, defensive, offensive, and support magic. She can fill the Attacker, Supporter, and Defender roles all at a high level. She joined later at LV1 so her level is on the low side, but I really do count on you, Lyuka, since you're always so calm."

"Thank you very much."

"What I'm watching most closely is the powered-up Light Shield. Just by adding the words 'on demand,' it's become an extremely strong defensive skill that you can use freely whenever you want. Lyuka, you're going to play big as a Defender, or as a second Defender, with this."

"Yes."

"Leone, no question, is an Attacker. If Adelia's a power Attacker, Leone is a speed Attacker. I don't plan to put max-level Leone into real combat for a while, but in mock battles, I'll let her shine. LV 50 Leone has nothing more to gain from experience, but if she keeps stacking up training like this, I think she can keep getting stronger more or less indefinitely. I'd like you to keep being the backbone of our party from here on."

"… I'll do my best. Even if my flaws got picked apart in a few mock battles and I'm a bit embarrassed."

"No, all I can do is help everyone get a little stronger. Leone leading the way at the top translates directly into the team getting stronger overall, so I'll do my best to keep being someone who can flag things even for you, Leone."

"… Yes, that's incredibly reassuring… My previous master, even when I tried to talk strategy with him, would just say 'Leone is perfect, there's nothing to fix,' and trust me blindly. But maybe that wasn't really fighting together as a duo… Right now, I feel really fulfilled."

So Leone said.

"Next is Setsuna. In Yuria's party, Setsuna was active as an Attacker, but her skill loadout is more Supporter-oriented, isn't it? Stacking buffs centered on March of Exhilaration with Yuria as the Attacker, did you ever consider that direction?"

"My level only recently caught up to Setsuna's. Up until then, Setsuna had been our Attacker the whole time, so I couldn't suddenly change up the way we fought. Normally speaking, a musician is a buffer-type job."

"Bloody Masquerade's defense-piercing is useful at key moments, but if you don't stack buffs and the fight goes long, the attack power is low. Reaching mid-tier C-Class with that is impressive. You really are something, Yuria."

"Fufu, thanks. But I do wonder how things would have gone if you'd come to our side with Setsuna, Naoto."

"… If Kanan hadn't been a high-magic-defense type, the Adelia matchup might've gone south and we'd have been in real trouble."

Well, I really don't know.

"My starter techniques are 'Kick' and 'Lullaby Serenade.' I'm fighting for Onii-chan, so there's no way I'd lose!"

"… Then maybe I could win by kicking you a few times while you're asleep."

"Nya, if it means fighting against Goshujin-sama, sleeping sounds better, nya."

That kind of conversation.

"Next is Haru. No matter how you slice it, he's a Defender with very strong defensive effects. Especially after the early game, the reason Setsuna was able to play Attacker from D-Class onward was thanks to Haru-kun's high defense. Please keep doing your best as our Defender."

"Yeah! I'll protect everyone properly!"

Haru said it cheerfully. He used to be much more skittish, but he'd gotten a lot livelier. It seemed like this world's water suited him well.

The encounter with Yuria and Setsuna, and of course meeting up with me again, were probably making him happy too.

"Last is Yuria… Yuria's skills really are strong. Honestly, our match… if you'd wanted to drag it out longer, you could have, couldn't you?"

"I wasn't holding back. That was me at full power… My skills just don't perform up to their specs when I'm fighting you… Just how many times did you slip past me? I'm going to see it in my nightmares…"

"Ahaha… well, you can fight as an Attacker or a Defender, but you're best as a Supporter. You're extremely good as both a buffer and a debuffer. A small drop in Speed makes 2-action turns much easier to pull off, so we want to make sure Dark Sphere lands reliably."

"Thank you… Under you, I want to make my hits land properly and get my confidence back."

"That'll take practice. Let's both work hard."

"… Got it. Fufufu, this isn't bad, you know. Following another's commands in battle… I was born a Garumon, but I'd always thought taking orders from someone else was out of the question, and that's why I wanted to be a Master myself… But for you, Naoto, I can fight as much as you want. Being able to follow someone I genuinely respect from the heart… I'm getting to taste the joy of being born a Garumon. Thank you, Naoto."

So Yuria said, smiling.

After that, on to my own training. That was the most important part.

"About how I give instructions to all of you. Saying 'Kanan, right, Adelia, left, Maika, right,' naming the target and the direction in sequence, is inefficient, I think. Especially if I'm telling you to dodge an attack, that won't cut it. It'd absolutely be better if I could just say 'right, left, right' in one breath. So I want a method that lets you tell, instantly, which of three people I'm talking to."

"How are you going to do it?"

"I'm thinking of changing my tone of voice. High-pitched 'right ↑,' low-pitched 'right ↓,' normal-pitched 'right.' … What do you think? Can you tell them apart? If you think it's high, raise your hand. If you think it's low, lower it. If you think it's normal, hold it out forward. All right, let's try it. 'Forward.'" Everyone thrust their hand forward.

"'Up ↑.'" Everyone raised their hand.

"'Down ↓.'" Everyone lowered their hand.

"… Okay. Now let's swap content and pitch. Don't move based on the content. Move based on the pitch. Here we go: 'forward ↑.'" Everyone got it.

But as we kept repeating, mistakes started creeping in.

"Nya-nya!"

"And Adelia is out!"

"Aw, come on!"

"There you go, Kanan, focus."

"Geez! I won't mess up next time!"

Everyone was having fun and getting along.

"If we set up a punishment game for mistakes, wouldn't that help focus?"

"No, let's not do that. I don't want you to shift your awareness toward avoiding the punishment. I want you to react to the pitch as naturally as possible. Just rack up the reps. A hundred, a thousand, ten thousand if we have to… Next, let's decide which pitch each of you moves on. Defender team, Kanan and Haru. Since I'll be giving the most instructions to you, the easiest-to-produce normal pitch. Supporter team, Lyuka, Yuria, and Setsuna, calm low pitch. Attacker team, Adelia, Leone, and Maika, energy-up high pitch… With that, listen for the orders aimed at you and take a step. I'll also be careful with my instructions so no one bumps into anyone else. 'Forward.' 'Forward ↑.' 'Forward ↓.' 'Forward.' 'Back ↑.' 'Right ↓.' 'Left.' 'Back ↑.' 'Right ↓.' 'Left.' 'Forward ↑.' 'Back ↓.'…"

Step, step, step…

Confused at times, missing now and then, everyone got better and better at picking apart my instructions over many repetitions.

Of course, the worst case would have been me messing up an instruction and having everyone collide.

I paid extreme attention to not making mistakes myself.

There was something about giving orders and having a bunch of cute girls obediently move at my command that was…

kind of a nice feeling, maybe.

But I couldn't just enjoy myself. We trained seriously.

Last, I gave Kanan a special private lesson.

"… Kanan, that Otherworld Wind technique of yours has incredible application and versatility, I feel. If you can teleport, there's a chance you can dodge any technique. Even an AoE attack: if you teleport right to the opponent's feet, you'll be outside the area of effect. You can teleport into the weak part of a technique to limit damage. There's no end to the applications… Let's drill until you can use this perfectly. First, how does the teleport even work? Like, 'next to Adelia'? Or 'forward 3m, left 4m'?"

"… Let me try… Otherworld Wind, teleport to Adelia's left side!"

Kanan declared.

The skill activated as stated. In an instant, she teleported to Adelia's left.

"Next, Otherworld Wind, teleport forward 3m and left 4m!"

When she declared that, the skill activated in the next instant. She moved diagonally about 5m.

"… Looks like either way works."

"What happens if you try to teleport beyond the limit, like forward 10m, or forward 5m, right 5m, up 5m?"

"I'll try."

The result: a forward 5m teleport for the first, and a teleport diagonally up-forward-right by only 5m for the second. The directions held, but the distances got capped at the limit.

"Hmm… what to do. Specifying the destination, or specifying the distance moved, which is better?"

"Wouldn't the destination be better?"

"Yeah, but how do we handle cases where I want you to fly to a point in the air with no landmark?"

"Eh, ehm…"

Kanan looked up. Even if I pointed up there and said 'fly there!', she wouldn't be able to tell where along the line my finger was extended.

"How about giving coordinates inside the battlefield and teleporting to those? Coordinates can be absolute or relative, but…"

"… C-coordinates?"

"For absolute coordinates, set the center of the battlefield as the origin, with forward and back as the Y-axis, left and right as the X-axis, up and down as the Z-axis. The battlefield is roughly a sphere with a 10m radius, so the range is +10 to -10, with the Z-axis from 0 to +10. Specify in meter increments… No, absolute coordinates won't work. In the middle of an AoE storm of attacks, there's no way you can keep track of where you are. Let's go relative. With yourself as the origin, forward, right, and up are positive values; left, back, and down are negative. If I say '1, 2, 3,' that's teleport forward 1m, right 2m, up 3m. But minus signs add a lot of characters and the time loss is too big… and 1, 2, 3 still feels too long… All right. Hand signs."

"… Eh?"

"Kanan, did you know that with ten fingers you can count up to 1024?"

"Eh?"

"All fingers down, 0. Right pinky raised, 1. Ring finger, 2. Ring and pinky raised, 3. Middle finger only, 4. Counting in binary like that, with 10 bits you can count from 0 to 1023. That's how many combinations of finger states there are."

"R-right… wait, you can lift your ring finger cleanly on its own…?"

"So leveraging that counting method, I'll give instructions like this. Right pinky to right middle finger, three fingers, will be the Z-axis, up-down. Right index finger to left thumb is the X-axis, left-right. Left pinky to left index finger is the Y-axis, forward-back. We'll express the coordinates in 4-bit, 3-bit, 3-bit. First, three fingers down means 0, no movement in that direction. Pinky up is 1, ring is 2, pinky and ring is 3. The middle finger is the sign. If it's up, multiply by negative one. For the 3-bit fields, 1 means 1m, 2 means 3m, 3 means 5m of teleport. Positive is right, negative is left. The 4-bit field can express -7 to +7, so we use -5 to +5 directly. The unused +6 and +7, -6 and -7 can be assigned to other action patterns, like 'move to an ally' or 'move to an enemy.' This way, you can read three-axis coordinates at a glance, right?"

"E-ehm, ehm, ehm… 1, 2, 3… d-does that… include time for me to think about it? Saying '1, 2, 3' would absolutely be easier to understand!"

"No, with practice you'll pick it up. The ideal is reacting instinctively the moment you see it. If we can do that, you can teleport with practically zero time lag, right?"

"Instinctively… read the coordinates from how ten fingers are raised, in an instant, and teleport that way…?"

"Yeah. That's right."

"… Impossible! There's no way I can do that…!"

"You know, when people say they can't do something, it's just that they haven't practiced until they can. So let's keep at it until you can."

When I said that with a smile, Kanan looked like she was about to cry.

… After that, in any spare time, you would see Kanan endlessly raising the fingers of both hands while counting "1, 2, 3… 0, -3, 2… 5, -1, -2…"

Of course, I also kept practicing endlessly so I'd never give a wrong coordinate, "1, 2, 3…"

Incidentally, even if she tried to teleport into the ground or a spot overlapping another object, she'd properly stop just in front of it, never fusing into anything or ending up stuck inside stone, so on that front we could rest easy.

That way, even with plenty of mistakes, things gradually started taking shape.

And like that, we steadily kept building up our preparations.