A Vulpo Girl's Life as a Rhodes Island Operator

Cardigan felt cold sweat starting to bead on her forehead.

Gavial's cheering reached Cardigan's ears from afar.

She remembered whose face she had seen a smile similar to Fengling's just now.

The moment a fight started, that wild and unrestrained smile appeared on her face. She was practically the spitting image of Gavial.

Boss-Level Fengling

Thrust, slash, upward cut.

Melantha's attacks were orderly and methodical. Every move was textbook-perfect, and her form was exceptionally standard.

The absolute model student.

The reason established techniques were called techniques was because they embodied the accumulated experience of countless predecessors, achieving the greatest results for the smallest possible cost.

Thus, Fengling had to evade Melantha's relentless advance with considerable care.

Cardigan, having recovered somewhat, would appear from time to time to block Fengling's scattered attacks for Melantha.

But... that was all.

Though Fengling did not have much experience with this type of real combat, if her physical attributes were compared to game stats, they differed far too greatly from ordinary people on Terra. She was not someone who could be defeated through conventional means.

Melantha's offense, Cardigan's defense, along with the occasional crossbow bolt and ice spike flying in—they worked together seamlessly. They had clearly spent a long time building up their team coordination to reach this level.

Because this was an exercise rather than a brawl with a bunch of hooligans like before, Fengling did not throw out any trash talk. She fought with utmost seriousness. As a result, under total concentration, her evasive movements were even swifter than usual. With the occasional use of Originium Arts, the members of the A4 Reserve Team had not even touched the hem of Fengling's clothes.

The string of missed attacks seemed to make the still-young Melantha grow restless without realizing it.

"An opening!"

After a mistimed synchronized attack and an overly forceful thrust, Fengling seized the opportunity. Her fist opened into a palm, which struck Melantha's wrist like lightning.

The instantaneous force made Melantha's hand lose its grip, and her longsword clattered to the ground.

"Damn..." Melantha's gaze hardened as she tried to evade and retrieve her longsword.

When a weapon user was disarmed during battle, if this had been real combat, even falling into an enormous disadvantage would have been getting off lightly.

But Fengling would not give her that chance.

With the A4 Reserve Squad making the first mistake and failing to synchronize their attacks, such a huge opening...

If Fengling did not eliminate Melantha here, she would practically be going easy on them.

A punch carrying a fierce gust shot straight toward Melantha's face—though Fengling steadily stopped it just before it struck.

Instead, she flicked Melantha's forehead with her thumb and index finger.

"Ow!"

After wincing in pain, Melantha understood that she had been completely defeated in this exercise.

In real combat, Fengling's punch aimed directly at a vital point would likely have been enough to take away her ability to fight.

And Melantha's elimination also meant that the A4 Reserve Squad had almost completely lost its frontal offensive capability.

Cardigan's offensive ability was much weaker than Melantha's. As a Defender, she could steadily push the battle line forward, but taking down an agile opponent like Fengling on her own was nearly impossible. Charging too recklessly would also quickly exhaust her in heavy armor.

So Fengling was in no hurry to deal with Cardigan first.

"You two up on the high ground~ Uh, Steward, Adnachiel! Be careful from here on out!"

After evading one of Cardigan's shield charges, Fengling shouted toward the elevated position.

""It's Steward/Adnachiel!""

The two spoke in unison.

Yet before the boys' corrections had even faded, two storms rose from where they stood and lifted them high into the air.

Fengling was not nearly so gentle with hot-blooded boys!

At most, it would hurt a little. Nothing serious would happen.

Of course, they were storms without wind blades.

But precisely because of that, the casting difficulty was lower, allowing Fengling to use two at once.

Unless they required special equipment, Operators stationed on elevated ground generally did not carry much weight.

At the very least, Steward and Adnachiel were conventionally equipped light troops.

That meant their "resistance" against Fengling was nowhere near sufficient.

Amid cries of alarm, the two were eventually dropped to the ground, landing squarely on their backsides.

They immediately let out matching yelps.

They probably would not be injured, but it would definitely hurt for a while.

Ordinary Medic Operators generally had no combat ability to speak of, so Ansel could essentially be ignored.

Well, "ordinary" Medic Operators.

Though she had only just arrived, Fengling could clearly sense that at Rhodes Island, Medics were probably the ones least worth provoking.

That only left Cardigan.

Fengling strolled forward calmly, gradually closing the distance. Her oversized Rhodes Island coat danced in the wind, accompanied by the distinctive chime of her bells.

"Uh... are we fighting some kind of boss...?"

Even Cardigan could not help complaining.

This was completely beyond what a Reserve Squad could handle!

If the A4 Reserve Team had any chance of winning, it would only be when all five of them were together, relying on airtight coordination and a bit of luck to possibly defeat someone like this.

The slightest mistake that got someone taken out would cause their defense line to collapse instantly.

Cardigan had spent enough time at Rhodes Island that she had fought powerful Operators before.

Although Fengling's most direct frontal impact was not quite on the level of Ace or Gavial, she was not far off.

But the trouble Fengling caused her opponents went far beyond frontal damage. Her Originium Arts were as outrageous as her physique. Strange storms could appear at any corner within a certain range around her at any time, and her use of wind—or rather, airflow—was not limited to storms alone.

She was truly versatile.

As for Fengling's weaknesses, even Cardigan could see them.

She really was relying only on her raw attributes in battle. Her techniques had been instinctively developed through trial and error, so they seemed rough and needed polishing. No wonder Fengling needed to start by learning alongside the Reserve Squad.

But... those shortcomings could all be remedied through training. If Fengling made up for her weaknesses...

She would absolutely reach the level of Rhodes Island's Elite Operators, perhaps even the kind renowned for their combat strength.

"I surrender, I surrender!"

With three members down, all that remained was getting beaten up, so Cardigan simply gave up trying.

As for Dobermann's face behind her, which had gone completely dark, Cardigan did not see it.

Things would probably get a little rough afterward?

Fengling silently took a step back.

She gave up on her own!

It had nothing to do with me, okay!

This exercise indeed ended in Fengling's overwhelming victory.

As for the A4 Reserve Squad's teamwork that Dobermann had wanted to see, or even the possibility of them defeating Fengling...

All that could be said was that they had a little coordination, but not much.

In any case, they were still very far from being able to take Fengling down.

Or, to put it another way.

Fengling's individual suppression ability might have been stronger than Dobermann had imagined.

Sweat It Out, Girls!

Under the brilliant morning sun, a group of boys and girls ran laps in perfect formation across the deck of Rhodes Island.

They were the current six members of the A4 Reserve Team, including Fengling.

"You finished warming up with that exercise just now, right? Come on, start with a lightly equipped twenty-kilometer run to loosen up."

After the exercise ended, they had barely rested for a moment before Instructor Dobermann gathered the entire A4 Reserve Team and, without another word, began a new round of training.

Fengling included.

When Fengling blinked her innocent eyes, twitched her ears, wagged her tail, and let out pitiful whimpers in an attempt to question this treatment after her victory, Instructor Dobermann immediately scolded her back into line.

"You're part of A4 now. Everyone receives the same training." Instructor Dobermann's strictness showed no mercy during training.

However, perhaps because she truly wanted to cultivate such promising talent, Instructor Dobermann gave Fengling an additional explanation. "A lightly equipped twenty-kilometer run is basic physical training for us. Don't be fooled by the others being weaker than you right now. They all complete this basic training very seriously. Run properly."

"No Originium Arts." That was Instructor Dobermann's final requirement.

Fengling's face instantly turned green.

Granted, Fengling had an excellent physique.

But without training, her "endurance" was not particularly extraordinary at present.

After all, what normal person went running that far for no reason?!

Fengling's physical foundation was sufficient, but endurance depended not only on natural constitution. It relied even more on long-term training and the scientific distribution of stamina during all kinds of activities.

If she could use Originium Arts, Fengling would not care even if the distance were doubled.

But going on a long-distance run while bearing her current body weight... at this stage, it could be considered torture.

Under Dobermann's urging, the boys and girls began their run.

Even for the people of Terra, a lightly equipped twenty-kilometer run was indeed more than ordinary people could endure.

Thanks to her strong body, Fengling could barely keep up, but her condition...

Was not very good...

"Hahahaha! What's with you? How come you're worse at running?"

"Shut up, Gavial! You're so loud! Hah... hah..."

Besides the A4 Reserve Team, Gavial had voluntarily joined the long-distance run.

She called it getting in some daily activity.

By the latter half of the course, Fengling's stamina management had fallen apart, leaving her gasping for breath.

Large beads of sweat covered Fengling's cheeks, and even the fur on her tail had begun to clump together.

She had even completely lost her usual hint of reserve.

Faced with Gavial's boisterous laughter, Fengling immediately snapped back.

After helping clean up the training grounds, Gavial had casually started running with the A4 Reserve Squad as well.

To catch up, she had even sprinted several laps at high speed first.

The facts proved that Gavial's superhuman physique was the result of her long-standing love of exercise combined with an excellent natural foundation, creating such a monster.

Fengling, meanwhile, relied entirely on raw talent, like an uncut gem.

"Want your big sister to help develop you? I guarantee you'll be transformed in three months!"

As she spoke, Gavial tossed over a burst of Originium Arts, restoring some of Fengling's condition.

After all, Fengling was the one forbidden from using Originium Arts, not Gavial.

And Rhodes Island was not some strange concentration camp. They could not possibly ignore someone's physical condition during training.

As a professional doctor, Gavial naturally had a more precise assessment in this regard, and Dobermann would certainly not say anything.