Balamb Garden. 2F Classroom.

After class, Acma immediately rushed out of the classroom to catch up with Zyma. He had been avoiding her ever since their mission at Winhill, and she was intent on finding out why.

"Senior Zyma! Wait!" Acma called out, but to no avail. Zyma seemed to have made up his mind to run this time, as if she were some kind of ghost chasing after him.

He darted into another classroom, and Acma followed suit. To her surprise, she couldn't find him anywhere. She began to search under each desk, growing more and more frustrated.

"What are you looking for?" a voice asked.

"Shrewdya?" Acma recognized the girl in the pink hoodie who had been chatting with her friends. "I'm looking for Zyma, a tall guy with black hair and a headband. Have you seen him come into this class?"

"Yeah, Zyma the Great. He jumped out of the window," Shrewdya replied, pointing her head towards the large open glass window.

Acma rolled her eyes and approached the window, feeling a pang of unease at the height. And, of course, Zyma was long gone.

"Did he sell you fake items?" Shrewdya asked.

"What? No," Acma was puzzled but then remembered he tricked her into buying potions. "Does he usually sell something?"

Shrewdya nodded. "He's a mobile item shop. We often buy items from him when we don't want to go all the way to Balamb Town. He even sells customized items, if you know what I mean," Shrewdya explained.

Acma tilted her head, wanting to nod but deciding to shake her head instead.

It's not worth pretending to know something, Acma thought.

"Like items for cheating during field exams. Well, not that you need that kind of stuff. But he's usually based in the training center, near the Secret Area," Shrewdya added.

Acma's eyes lit up when she heard the mention of the Secret Area. I also need to get there tonight.

"Do you still remember where the training center is? I showed you the other day," Shrewdya asked.

"Yes, I do. Beware of T-rexes, right?" Acma nodded.

"Exactly. Bring some Blinds before venturing into the woods. There will be students there before, well, even after curfew. You'll know what I mean. So don't worry too much about the T-rexes. If you come across one, just run," Shrewdya made sure Acma understood the risks involved.

"Thank you so much, Shrewdya! That's very kind of you. I'll... look for him there," Acma said before parting ways with Shrewdya, suddenly feeling a sense of loneliness in the vastness of the new garden.

Balamb Garden's Training Center.

"How much is it?" a mobile shop customer asked.

"1000 Gil," replied Zyma.

"It was half that price last week!"

"Economic 101, supply and demand, mate," Zyma smiled. "This is one of the last ones. Take it or leave it."

The buyer sighed and reluctantly handed over the money.

Just as Zyma happily counted his cash, he suddenly heard the voice that had been haunting him for weeks.

"Sensei!"

Zyma gasped and immediately took out his shurikens at the sight of his mentee.

"What the..." Acma rolled her eyes in shock.

"Lay down!" Zyma screamed, but Acma's reflexes couldn't keep up with what was happening.

"Shit!"

Zyma jumped towards Acma and pulled her down, causing her face to hit the floor off-balance. Acma winced, prepared to confront her rude mentor. As she turned back, Zyma was pressing a scythe against a T-rex. He applied sleep powder to the creature before scolding her.

"Are you blind or deaf? How did you not realize it was coming?" Zyma snapped.

"I... I ran into a bigger one on my way. I cast Blind and ran away. This one..." Acma stammered.

"It's a mutant, smaller, smarter, and much more stealthy than the ones you often see outside," Zyma explained.

"I... I didn't know that. Thank you," Acma uttered.

"Geez, I knew you're bad at fighting, but I thought you'd better at running. Okay, your new assignment: run two arounds around Garden before seeing me."

"Sensei?" Acma's jaw dropped.

"What? You can't handle 2 rounds?" he smirked. "And you call yourself…"

"It's moving!" she exclaimed in shock, cutting him off.

"What?"

"The T-rex!" she screamed as the beast's eyes slowly opened.

"Bah! Is it immune to Sleep now?" Zyma realized the problem and was shocked himself. "What are you waiting for? Run!"

Being more skillful at hiding, Zyma escaped T-Rex's chase easily. The beast now ran after Acma.

"I'm right behind it, don't worry!" Zyma shouted to Acma.

"Ahhh… Cast more Sleep!" Acma screamed. "Wait a sec, are you sure that you used high-quality Sleep Powder?"

Shrewdya had mentioned this shady trader could sell fraud items.

"Oh… Freaking Hyne! I must have mixed 9 flour and 1 Sleep powder by mistake…" he yelled.

"What? For Hyne's sake!" she screamed with tears. "Do something else!"

"Keep running, pupil! I can kill it with one hit!" he reassured her.

Then Acma heard a scream from the T-Rex, indicating that he had successfully hit the dinosaur.

"Is it dead?"

"Or two hits…" he said, throwing another Shuriken.

"You must be kidding me! I can't run anymore!" she cried for real this time.

The T-Rex, being agitated, ran faster.

"Wow! We've finished one round already. Where did you learn to run that fast? Quite impressive given your short legs!" Zyma praised nonchalantly.

"This is no time for jokes! Kill it! Quick!" she urged, hopefully not her last words.

The T-Rex let out another shriek. This time, its steps seemed to slow down, followed by a big thud.

"Three!" the mentor exclaimed in triumph. "There. What a perfect blow! See, two rounds daily doesn't sound bad at all, huh?"

Acma dropped dead to the ground, grunting. Tears still rolled down from her cheeks. She couldn't believe she was still alive.

Zyma's hand reached out to her. As she tried to lift her hand to get his, thinking he must be offering to help her stand up…

"200 Gils, please, for the Sleep Powder," he said.

"What?"

"Come on, nothing is free, Miss Rainbow."

Jerk! What on earth! She screamed internally. Unbeknownst to her own self, she found the strength to stand up on her own, and gave this jerk what he deserved.

"Hey, what are you doing? Ouch! Did you just pinch me? What the… Ouch! Stop! Garden Council, over here! Help! Help!"

Later…

"Okay, my Lord! Stop whining! I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry Happy? But seriously, learn to run. That's the best way to defend yourself. Two arounds around the Training Center before seeing me, just do it. Don't die before even seeing Red Bats in the field exam. You'll bring shame to your sensei," he smirked.

"I can't guarantee anything if my sensei refuses to talk to me and runs away from me like a ghost!" Acma snapped.

"I have a business to run. Do you realize how much loss I would incur just to spend ten minutes talking to you?" Zyma replied, annoyed.

"But isn't this mentorship supposed to allow you to skip all the morning classes? Why don't you sell your stuff in the morning instead?"

"Who buys stuff in the morning when they have classes? Besides, I sleep in the morning!" Zyma retorted.

"Well, that's... a completely different topic. But okay, let's explore other options. Is there anything else that you value besides money?" Acma asked. "That way, I can offer you something as compensation for your time."

Zyma hesitated for a moment, clearly knew the answers but uncertain about how to respond.

"Go on, say it. You're wasting everyone's time," Acma prodded, which earned her a scoff from Zyma.

"GFs and women," he blurted out.

Acma blushed in response to his answers. She felt a mix of surprise and shock, wondering why he had the audacity to mention the word "women" in this academic context.

Pervert.

"And you have neither," he smirked.

And a jerk, Acma thought, closing her eyes forcefully.

"How about things like labor work or paperwork. I'm organized, good with numbers. There must be something I can do, and you can pay me with your training time," Acma suggested.

Zyma pondered for a moment, and Acma knew another opportunity had presented itself. She began reciting some ass-kissing lines she had prepared for these special moments.

"I've taken your feedback about my magic casting timing when we were at Winhill. It works like a charm every time. Your teaching method worked. I'd love to show you what I've improved and learn more tricks from you, my sensei."

There. Slam dunk. She was proud to replay the whole speech without bursting into laughter.

"Very well, if you insist," Zyma finally made up his mind. "Follow me. We'll have a real physical training today. No more whining. Do whatever I say. Is that clear?"

"Absolutely! Thank you very much!" She exclaimed.

Five minutes later…

Balamb Garden's boys' dormitory.

"Why... are we here?" Acma hesitated to enter Zyma's room. It was dimly lit with just a few neon lights, giving it a dark and gloomy atmosphere.

"Come on in. You should feel flattered. I don't bring just anyone to my sanctuary very often," Zyma said.

Acma covered her face with both hands. "Again, what are we doing here?"

"Uh oh, you already forgot my one and only rule? Don't ask any questions. I like doers and dislike whiners. Come in, or leave."

Acma reluctantly stepped one foot through the door, eyes fixed to Zyma.

"You're not gonna attack me or render me unconscious, are you?" She asked.

Zyma rolled his eyes. "Of course I will attack you and you may become unconscious! What's the purpose of physical training if I can't do any of that? In mercenary, anything is a fair game, kid. Here, take these if you want something to grab for defense." He gave her a broomstick and a French maid apron.

"These are the opposite of reassuring," she screamed. "You're asking a girl to enter your room and wear an apron? Excuse me, I'm 16 but I'm not dumb."

"Tch… this is why I don't want to have a female partner, anything could become a sexual harassment lawsuit." Zyma sighed. "Fine, we'll do it with light on tonight."

He slammed the door shut, nearly triggering a panic attack in Acma. Then, he switched on the light, momentarily blinding her.

"Welcome to my inventory. Take your broomstick and clean the armor area well. Do not go to the potion shelves on the right, I'll kill you if you break anything. While you're cleaning, I'll randomly attack you to improve your reflex. Geez… you're so slow."

Her head was spinning, but at least she felt relieved that she didn't become his victim today.

"We'll do it with light on today, with a faded light tomorrow, and then completely in the dark. Don't just watch out for my attacks, you gotta finish the work here, learn to multitask and improve your peripheral, understood?"

Zyma finished, waiting for a confirmation from Acma.

"Sensei…" she murmured.

"What? Spit it out. You're wasting..."

"You're the one wasting our time," she snapped back. "You could have just said from the beginning that you wanted me to clean your room and test my reflexes. But no, you lured me here and used extremely vague language to make me believe that you were about to..." She stopped, unable to find the right word.

"Ha..." Zyma had his first 'aha' moment, nodding. "That's a good point. Noted, I'm sorry," he said. "It's a good thing you brought that up. Keep doing that, pupil."

Acma couldn't believe her ears when he actually inclined his head towards her and sincerely apologized, devoid of his usual joking manner. It made her wonder if this guy wasn't truly a jerk, but rather severely lacking social skills when it came to treating women.

But, of course, the good image didn't last long.

"Now get to work, maid. See those armors on the floor over there? Hang them all up and clean them until they shine like mirrors. I have an important tour with some generous customers tomorrow..."

As Acma organized the items and tidied up his inventory, Zyma followed closely behind. Every now and then, he made sudden movements to test her reflexes after she finished cleaning an item.

"Elbow! Not like that! Adjust your knee! Lift it higher!"

"Left! No, the other left! Goodness, who's teaching martial arts in Trabia?"

"Now, use your fist. Oh my, put more force into it. Is that all you've got? No excuse! It's not because you're small. Look at Xu, she can break a big guy's rib in no time."

After a few attempts, fresh bruises caused her hands to tremble.

"I guess I'll stop; otherwise, you won't be able to hold the broomstick," he smirked. "Remember to practice escape from hands trapped and side headlock. You're tiny, learn how to escape first and then disable enemies with your lasso. Hyne, it's been a long while since I hit a girl. You're lucky I didn't accidentally break your bones."

"Um… Thanks?" she said sarcastically.

"I smell some ungratefulness here," Zyma furrowed his eyes. "Tough love teaches you well, Amy. Enemies won't wait for you to react."

"It's Acma! My name is Acma," she half-yelled, half-murmured.

"Whatever, I'll call you A for short," he scoffed.

Acma immediately felt a chill at that abbreviation.

"Please don't call me that," she turned to him, her expression turning serious. She noticed his demeanor shift quickly as he realized she was serious.

After a few seconds of silence, he broke it with a loud scoff. "Relax, Acma. You could star in a horror movie with that look."

"Sorry.'' Realizing she had overreacted, Acma redirected the conversation to an item on the shelf—a device with a long tube, a needle, and a button. "What is this?"

"I call it the 'siphon'—a simple device to quickly drain HP from your system," Zyma answered, walking toward the shelf and picking up the rudimentary device.

"Like draining HP from allies?" Acma furrowed her eyebrows.

Zyma nodded. "Can you guess its purpose, prodigy?"

Acma looked at the large syringe and the small motor connected to a plastic bag. "Judging from the size of this bag, it could draw enough blood from an adult. That's... kind of deadly."

"Which is exactly its purpose," Zyma elaborated. "Continue."

"I'm guessing... the only time you'd want your allies to have low health is when you want to trigger their Limit Breaks."

"Bingo! That's right. With this method, there's no need to slice your friends with a gunblade to trigger their crisis mode. Pretty smart, huh? Hyne, if only the underground trading community respects patents, I'd file one."

"Isn't it kind of dangerous?" Acma said.

"It is. That's why you have to know what you're doing. Don't use these without reliable teammates, or it's game over."

Acma nodded, then asked, "What's your Limit Break?"

"You don't want to know," he shrugged.

"Why?"

"If I ever have to use it, you must be dead," he smirked. "What's yours?"

"I don't know yet. Please help me find it, sensei, it's part of our checklist," she smiled.

"Sure thing. That involves beating you to near death, which I can do with in five minutes."

"Eh... thanks?"

"You're welcome,'' Zyma nodded, not reading her uneasy upon him, looking down on her ability. He looked at the neatly organized and clean shelves, said. "And I must admit, this deal is quite worth it."

Suddenly, Acma's pager rang.

"Gosh, it's already time for my meetup. I'm sorry; I have to go now, but this is great!" Acma excused herself and took off her apron.

"At this hour? You already take morning classes, work in a research lab in the afternoon, and attend evening training with me. Do you ever sleep?" Zyma inquired.

"Just temporary gig. I'll work hard, don't worry," she hung the apron back where it was and closed the door. "I'll come back tomorrow. Thank you, sensei!"

"Don't forget to run two laps..."

She had gone.

Zyma wasn't used to Acma willingly leaving him alone, and his curiosity about her meetup after curfew piqued. Since he intended to return to his shop anyway, he decided to follow her.

To his surprise, she returned to the training center and waited for someone. Shortly thereafter, a boy wearing a gray hoodie emerged. They both pulled up their hoods and put on face masks. With an air of clumsiness, they entered the Secret Area where couples usually meet up after curfew.

That much energy after my training. Teenagers. He coughed in amusement.