Early-morning training (早朝の鍛錬 Sōchō no Tanren) refers to Shana's training of Yūji Sakai on early mornings, usually in the yard of the Sakai Residence. The aim was to improve Yūji's physical ability and get him to learn to grasp the flow of battle (what Shana calls the sense of "killing"). Sometimes running was conducted instead.
Background[]
Early-morning training started after Yūji's proposal. Very different from the late-night training, no Unrestricted Spells or Power of Existence are used at all, and it is all human-level physical training.
There were several stages to Yūji's training:
- Watching the stick Shana was swinging without closing his eyes.[1]
- Dodging an attack he was informed of beforehand.
- After 19 swings which would miss him, dodge the 20th swing, which was supposed to hit him.[2]
- Dodge the serious attack mixed within 20 swings, and switch to a counterattack if he finds an opening.[3]
The training was conducted with Shana holding back her physical ability to match Yūji's, but was still severe for an average human's level of technique and power, as in the beginning, Yūji was sent flying by the stick. Midway through, Wilhelmina Carmel was added to the training, and her version was more harassing for Yūji.