Jaune was training Ritsuka in hand-to-hand combat. Not Jaune's greatest strength, but he is pretty capable. This is because when Ritsuka read the Tablet of Destinies, he passed out and had a dream of the King of Mage. This spooked him so much that he asked the one person capable of reaching the level of a Heroic Spirit while being human.
Jaune brought Ritsuka to his personal training room, and he bashed Ritsuka repeatedly. However, he was never hurt due to Armour of Fafnir. Jaune attacked him just enough to push him back but not enough to harm him. At best, the injuries that Ritsuka was incurring were light scratches.
Jab after jab, Ritsuka was getting better at blocking. However, blocking was not enough. Jaune told him not to only block but to find an opening and take the shot. However, Ritsuka's punches didn't have any weight in them. So, Jaune punched him and told him to follow through with his punches and not hold back.
"You have to stop hesitating in your attacks!" Jaune shouted. "To hold back is to give your enemy a chance to kill you! Now! Once more! This time put all your effort into it!".
"Understood!" Ritsuka said.
Ritsuka's punches had more substance to them this time, but it wasn't enough. Jaune told him to give it everything he's got, and Ritsuka did. The guy collapsed to the ground due to exhaustion.
"You did well," Jaune said. "We can continue after you've rested for a few minutes. This time, rather than sparring, I'll help you with endurance, stamina and strength training".
"You're joking, right?" Ritsuka said. "This is torture! Is this how you've trained to get as strong as you are now?".
"This is considered light," Jaune said. "When I train, I train as hard as I can, though I make sure to also know my limit. Then I break that limit. Slowly but surely, I got stronger and stronger".
"God! This is brutal!" Ritsuka said. "How long can I take a break for?".
"Ten minutes," Jaune said. "So, you better get hydrated and ready because you only have five minutes remaining".
Once Ritsuka's break was over, Jaune and Ritsuka continued their training.
While Ritsuka was training with Jaune, Mash was looking for him. But she couldn't find him anywhere. So, she went to Jaune's abode and asked the only person in that place, Scáthach.
"Excuse me," Mash said. "Do you happen to know where Ritsuka is?".
"Training with my husband," Scáthach said. "You don't have to worry about him. He should be back in a few hours".
"I-I see," Mash said. "Thank you. Do you know where they are training?".
"You won't find them no matter how hard you look," Scáthach said. "They are training in Jaune's personal training room. No one can enter unless they enter with Jaune. Not even I can enter it right now".
Back with Jaune and Ritsuka. They've been training for a while now. It's about time they leave the training room, but Jaune wanted Ritsuka to have a spar with the Iron Destroyer before that.
"Are you insane!" Ritsuka shouted. "I've seen that thing tank attacks of B rank and above without a scratch! And you want me to have a go with it?".
"Just have a spar with it," Jaune said. "The Iron Destroyer is very versatile like other servants. This way, you would learn to adapt on the fly when you're fighting. Besides, you have Armour of Fafnir. There is nothing to be scared of, except for when the Iron Destroyer charges its Unibeam".
Ritsuka eventually relented and decided to spar with the Iron Destroyer.
The Iron Destroyer kept its sight on Ritsuka, making sure to never lose sight of him. Ritsuka went towards the Iron Destroyer to get a hit in, but it quickly dodged his attack as he was pretty slow.
Ritsuka sent jab after jab, right hook after right hook, but he was far slower than the Iron Destroyer, making it hard for him to hit the war machine. Unfortunately for Ritsuka, he wasn't paying attention to the Iron Destroyer's weaponry, and he was grabbed by an extendable arm claw that the Iron Destroyer produced with nanomachines, and he was smashed into a wall.
Thankfully, it wasn't strong enough to cause Ritsuka any harm, and he could stand back up with ease.
Ritsuka has been fighting the Iron Destroyer for an hour without realising it. The resilience and persistence of Ritsuka are extraordinary. Jaune was disappointed that Ritsuka wouldn't be experiencing death inside (Training Room – Legendary) due to his Armour of Fafnir. Too bad.
At the end of the training session, Jaune and Ritsuka left (Training Room – Legendary). Outside, they saw Mash and Scáthach waiting for them. Mash then took the exhausted Ritsuka to their abode.
"You were training him quite a bit," Scáthach said. "So, did he die inside the Training Room?".
"No, the Armour of Fafnir is strong and didn't put a dent in him," Jaune said. "Well, at least we know that he can protect himself from low ranking attacks".
"You didn't use the full power of the Iron Destroyer?" Scáthach asked. Jaune shook his head. "That's surprising. I thought you would train him like how you trained Haruhime".
"Remember," Jaune said. "When I started training Haruhime, I started slowly as well, then I increased the intensity".
"I do remember," Scáthach said. "But the moment you started training her inside the training room, you taught her magic that blew her up".
"To be fair, I warned her of possible deaths," Jaune said. "Deaths with an s. It was her choice to continue the training".
While Jaune and Scáthach were talking, they heard a commotion outside, and they went to check it out. Seeing the situation, Jaune immediately went into action and eliminated the Demonic Beast that got into the city.
When that was done, Leonidas arrived, and he commanded all the soldiers to get ready to battle. A warning bell then went off. They all headed outside the city gates and went to formation.
"Third-wave incoming!" a Sparta shouted. "Multiple targets!".
Leonidas then ordered the men to ready Dingir. He then shouted to fire it. Three Dingir were fired in the direction of the Demonic Beast Horde, and a large hole was made in their path.
With that, the Demonic Horde was taken care of relatively quickly.
Later in the evening, Ritsuka and Mash were tired. They went to a pub to eat some dinner.
"Oh! Milk and cheese after training muscles are the best!" Leonidas shouted. "Truly a gift from the war god Ares! Would you like some, too, Lord Fujimaru?".
"I'll have some later," Ritsuka said. "I can even move a muscle, let alone move a spoon".
"By the way," Merlin said. "What is the situation of the war?".
"Allow me to explain," Ushiwakamaru said. "Further north of this Northern Wall is a fortress city called Nippur. There are people still stranded over there.
We can't brute force our way through a pack of Demonic Beasts, so we prioritise women and children. And we've slowly been rescuing them under the cover of darkness.
However, the Demonic Beasts began to act in an organised manner. And then, communication has been severed from Nippur".
"Please, next time you have to evacuate people, call me for help," Jaune said. "I can help you open a portal straight here to Uruk. Even the bounded field set up isn't capable of blocking my portal".
"I understand," Ushiwakamaru said. "Then, if you have time for tomorrow, we have other places to scout and see if there are any other survivors".
"I'll make sure to be free tomorrow," Jaune said. "Saving as many lives as we can is important".
"If the citizens are safe, they must be rescued," Leonidas agreed with Jaune. "To do that, we need to launch a large scale attack. However, after learning of Jaune's ability to open a portal, this would be a less challenging task. We may be able to save everyone in Nippur".
"I don't care how dangerous this is," Jaune said. "As long as we can help those people, I'll do my best to help in as many ways as possible".
The following morning, Leonidas and the other Servants are preparing to head to Nippur. Ritsuka is a bit anxious.
"Take a deep breath, Lord Fujimaru," Leonidas said. Ritsuka does as he says. "You're still afraid, but your muscles will loosen up".
"Even you Leonidas are afraid?" Ritsuka asked.
"Of course, I'm scared," Leonidas said. "My scared, and that's why I train on a daily basis".
"I always think…" Ritsuka said. "I think with each battle, I wish to be stronger. That's why I asked Jaune for training. It was brutal, but I can feel that I got stronger, and that's only one day's worth of training".
During their traversal to Nippur, the group ran into many Demonic Beast. But with the capable people at the helm, the Demonic Beast weren't much of a problem.
