Classes had ended for the day, for which Yu was grateful for. He hadn't been able to entirely focus on any of the lessons primarily due to what happened the other day in the TV-World. Judging from the frown Chie had on her face all day, she had similar thoughts to his. The girl sitting next to him had already packed her school stuff and was ready to go. The transfer student quickly followed up and swung his bag over his shoulder, looking for Yosuke. The brown-haired teen approached the other two Investigation Team members.

"Oh, man. I thought today's lesson was never going to end," Yosuke complained. "And man, I still feel sore from the butt-kicking we received the other day."

Chie looked down, depressed. "Yeah, no kidding. If Hamuko-san hadn't been with us…" she shook her head. "I don't want to think about it."

"It wouldn't have been pretty, that's for sure," Yu commented.

"Do you two remember how easily Hamuko-chan took out that black knight?" Yosuke pointed out. "She didn't even break a sweat. It makes me wonder how much stronger she is compared to us."

"Well, if her story is true, she was fighting on her own for an entire year," the local wild card replied. "I imagine anyone would get stronger if they have a "workout" routine as she had. Not to mention, we don't know much about her abilities."

Everyone crossed their arms.

"She said she used to be a persona user. But then she lost her persona, but now she can use persona skills without one. That's what she said, right?" the girl in the group asked and got a nod in confirmation. "And… she also said some big shadow was responsible for this? How does that work?"

Yu shrugged. "What exactly do we know about shadows? Aside from them being monsters that go on a rampage whenever the fog lifts, we don't have any information on them."

"Maybe Teddie knows more?" Yosuke suggested, but then dismissed the idea. "No, scratch that. That bear doesn't know much of anything. Reminds me that we don't even know what Teddie is."

"Urgh, the mysteries just keep piling up, don't they?" Chie added.

"Let's focus on one at a time," Yu declared. "Today, we train up in order to be able to rescue Yukiko-san. Once we have rescued her, we can ask her who threw her in that world and catch the killer. The rest we can then solve at our leisure without worrying about people dying."

"Huh. You know, I'm surprised how you always seem to be able to keep your head in the game, no matter what happens," Yosuke said in admiration.

"You think so?" the silver-haired boy asked. "I just try to keep my focus on the most important thing at the moment and put the other things in the back of my mind. And right now, the most important thing is rescuing Yukiko-san. But we can't do that with our current strength."

"Ah, so you order things inside your head, depending on how important they are," Chie stated. "And you're right. We need to get stronger, so we can save Yukiko."

"Makes me wonder how she plans on training us," said Yosuke. "What do you think? Pushups? Run laps?"

"We'll see when we get there."

When the trio of students arrived at the Junes Food Court, they at first thought that they came before Hamuko. She was nowhere to be seen. Or at least they thought they didn't see her until Yosuke spotted the unique shape of the young woman's hairclips. She was sitting right in the middle of the court and was wearing some unfamiliar clothes.

Instead of the Yukata or her old school uniform, the former persona-user was now wearing regular clothes: a pink sweater and light-blue jeans. The brunette appeared to be doing nothing in particular, merely rummaging in her bag.

"Oh, there you're," Yosuke called out to the girl who today would be their trainer. The three high schoolers went up to the table. "We didn't recognize you at first. New clothes?"

"Sup, guys!" Hamuko greeted the trio with a wave of her arm. "Yup. Scrambled some money together today, so I don't have to show up in a yukata anymore. I mean, people were giving me looks when I wore my old uniform, but with the dress?" She gestured towards her bag, where she stored her things. "Plus, it feels much better to wear normal clothes again."

"I couldn't imagine wearing a yukata all day long. I wore one once, and they're super complicated to get on," Chie commented.

"It looks good on you," Yu complimented.

"Eh, I just took some stuff that Junes had on sale," Hamuko replied with a shrug. "I didn't go for a particular style, just practicality. Anyway, you guys ready for some training?"

The three students nodded.

"You bet we're!" the girl in green declared.

"After you saved our butts last time, it became pretty obvious we need it," Yosuke said with a wince. "Definitely don't wanna have a repeat performance."

Hamuko nodded, understanding. Without further ado, they went to the electronics section of the store. They had to wait for a little until they got the chance to jump in. Given how long the four were falling, it was surprising that the humans didn't die from being turned into paste. The avatar of Nyx chalked it up to some sort of magic being at work here.

"Sensei! Everyone! Welcome back!" Teddie greeted them cheerfully.

"Hello, Teddie," Yu greeted the bear with a quick wave. The others followed with their greetings, getting their bearings together. Hamuko took her weapon and her "armor" out of her bag and quickly excused herself.

"Alright, I'm gonna change real quick, before we begin our training."

"Wait, hold on. You're gonna put on that?!" Yosuke asked incredulously. A blush began to form on the two boys' faces. "Why would you put that on in the first place?"

"Duh! We're going to fight!" Hamuko declared like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Wait. What?!" All three exclaimed.

"Fight you?" Chie repeated.

"Well, it won't be an ordinary fight. Look, I'll explain after I changed clothes, okay? I just bought those. I don't want them to get torn apart so soon."

Hamuko's eyes changed color when she channeled Nyx's power. "You guys better not peak or else I'm gonna sick my boyfriend at your hides. After I made you guys eat your own testicles understandably."

Yosuke gulped in fear, and Yu smiled sheepishly.

"I won't put on my glasses then just yet," he told the brunette.

"Good choice."

Hamuko turned around and walked into the foggy landscape until she couldn't be made out even if the others were wearing their special glasses. Yosuke shook his head and took out his hunting knives. Chie took off her regular shoes and put on the one with the metal plating beneath them. Yu, for his part, took a look at the Velvet Room door and wondered if he should do some last-minute fusions. He ultimately decided against it, firstly wanting to see what his de facto senior had planned for them.

Hamuko returned changed into her battle gear with a serious look on her face. The trio of newbie persona-users was not used to seeing someone dress up so scantily just yet, but none of them commented. They all knew that this armor was more than just for show.

"All right, here is how it is going to go. First, I need to know what your personas are capable of. That means skills, strengths, weaknesses, and specialization."

"Specialization?" Chie repeated with a frown. "What do you mean by that?" she inquired.

"Do you remember my explanation about how personas project a sort of invisible barrier around you all?"

Upon receiving three nods, Hamuko continued. "You see, your personas do more than protect you. They also strengthen you in all kinds of ways. Namely, your physical strength, mental strength, how much punishment your body can take, how quick you're on your feet, and finally, your luck. And yes, if anyone is reminded that this all looks like it came straight out of a video game, you're not the only one."

"Huh, you play video games, Hamuko-san?" Yosuke asked in surprise. "And luck? Do personas really have an effect on our luck?!"

The others could practically see the yen signs appearing in the male brunette's eyes. The former wild card didn't blame him. Arisato herself had shamelessly abused personas with high luck in all kinds of situations. This included buying lottery tickets. Not the big ones with top cash prizes, as she wasn't of age.

"It sounds ridiculous, but that is only the tip of the mountain. But let me get one thing out of the way. Do not try to rely on your luck during fights. Luck is a fickle thing that will rarely work out for you. Have you seen enemies, or do you know skills that can affect the opponent? Like making them dizzy?"

The three persona users looked at each other for a moment, each thinking back to the battles they fought so far.

"Not that I can remember," Yu answered after giving it some thought. "And none of our personas have any o those things."

"Never use them," Hamuko deadpanned. "They never hit. Trust me. It's a personal experience." The avatar pointedly ignored the goddess in her head, reminding her about the numerous times shadows had inflicted Hamuko with a status condition.

"Skills that inflict those status conditions rely on luck to work. They drain a lot of energy and are most of the time useless. It's better to knock an opponent out with an elemental weakness."

"I dunno. Wouldn't it be useful to confuse an opponent?" Yosuke asked. "I mean, if they can't tell where left and right is, wouldn't that allow you to get a free hit?"

"It would, but as I said, it never works. Not in my experience, at least."

"Anyway, I have drifted off my original point. Persona specialization. You should instinctively know in what way your persona supports you the most. Yu-san, you're a special case. Since you use more than one persona, your specialization changes whenever you do so. You don't need to tell me what all of them excel in, as you'll probably get more personas before we managed to rescue the girl from the castle."

Hamuko clapped her hands together. "Now then. Chie, ladies first. What's your strength, weakness, specialization, and your skills?"

"Huh, me? Alright, I guess I'll start. Let me see here." Chie closed her eyes and focused on her inner self. Truth to be told, she didn't feel all too comfortable reaching out to Tomoe that way. It was such an alien feeling having something at the back of your mind. It was even more foreign to reach out to it actively and communicate with it. As Hamuko said, Chie knew instinctively what her persona could do. But the girl in green also knew that she could get detailed information from her persona if she actively "talked" to it. This little revelation had come to her by pure accident on the day after her awakening. Specifically, she accidentally reached out to her persona when she was doing her morning stretches. That had freaked her out.

"Okay, so I'm good with ice, but I can't handle fire. My persona specializes in physical attacks, but I have low magic. My skills are Skewer, Tarukaja, and Bufu."

Chie opened her eyes, glad that she was done with it. The teenager wondered if she ever got used to her persona.

Hamuko put a hand under her chin, thinking. "Not much, but personas usually start with not so many skills. Tarukaja is a good skill to have. But if you don't specialize in magic, you won't be able to use it much."

That means she will have to use her skill at the right moment, or else it will go to waste. Nyx chimed in. The avatar nodded absentmindedly to the goddess' words before continuing.

"Alright, Yosuke-kun. Hit us."

"Gotcha. So, Jiraya is strong to wind but weak to lightning. I'm pretty fast, but for some reason, it's my luck that took a dampener." He moaned in disappointment. So much for making a quick buck with the local lottery.

"That's actually the best thing to trade. And if you ever want to play the lottery, just ask Yu-san. One of his personas is bound to come with great luck. Don't give me that look. You have all been thinking about it."

To his shame, Hamuko was right. Yu had been thinking about it, just like Yosuke. Although he justified it as having a monetary source to buy better weapons and armor.

"Anyways," Yosuke continued, "my Persona knows Garu, Bash, Sukukaja, and Dia."

"So you have a healing spell and can improve someone's mobility. Pretty useful."

The former wild card turned her attention to the current one. "It's pretty much useless asking you what your personas are strong and weak against, as well as how they affect your body. The only tip I can give you is to keep a healthy selection of varying personas. You need to be ready to jump in with any elemental skill your friends can't cover. Also, healing skills. Always have healing skills on you."

"Well, I can only have so many personas at once," Yu pointed out.

"Just keep those rules in mind: elemental attacks and healing. Having a variety of attacks for a variety of situations is the key to winning fights. With that being said, what skills do your personas have?"

What followed was Yu listing of a bunch of skills and Hamuko somehow being able to track and memorize what he said. The avatar noticed that the silver-haired boy lacked in fire-skills. Otherwise, his skills so far were pretty generic. He had physical skills that had no additional effects. Hamuko double-checked with Nyx, just to be sure. Additionally, Yu had three elemental skills, all single targeting. And finally, the boy had Rakukaja, Tarukaja, and Rakunda.

"I see, I see. Given that you guys have only been doing this for a couple of days, I couldn't expect you to have some high damaging attacks. Also, Yu, I noticed that you have neither Hama nor Mudo skills."

The leader of the Team tilted his head in confusion. "Hama and Mudo?" he repeated.

"They're light and dark magic skills, respectively," Teddie informed helpfully. "Hama and Mudo only have a small chance of hitting the target. The problem is, if you do get hit with one of those spells, you're instantly unconscious."

"Say what?!" Yosuke exclaimed. "So they're like instant-killers?!"

Teddie turned to the panicking boy and nodded. "Uh, huh. But like I said, they don't work all too often. At the same time, they're bear-y dangerous. Dodging them is easy enough, but if you're caught unaware, well… I guess you can think of what happens next."

"Honestly, they sound like cheating," Chie stated. "It's like pressing a button to win instantly."

"You can cry as much as you want. It doesn't change the fact that they exist. If you take on a defensive, you- that's right. Have you guys ever taken on a defensive stand?"

To Hamuko's relief, everybody nodded.

"Teddie told me about this technique when I was fighting Yosuke's shadow," Yu explained. "My original persona, Izanagi, is weak to wind. Yosuke's shadow had not only wind attacks, but also a move that Teddie described as Power Charge."

The former wild card winced after hearing that. Yu had fought something that could use Power Charge so early? She did not envy the boy in the slightest.

"Power Charge, huh. It takes a minute for the effect of taking hold, but when it does, your next physical attack, be it with your weapon or persona, does a ton of damage. I didn't meet anything that could use that attack until I was halfway through Tartarus."

"Oh, now that sounds useful. I wonder if Tomoe ever learns this skill," Chie mused with a gleam in her eyes.

"Maybe," Hamuko shrugged. "It certainly would suit your fighting style. Speaking of fighting, I think it's time we finally get down to it. So here is what we're going to do…"

The sound of metal clashing against metal echoed throughout the TV-Studio, as Hamuko blocked Yu's katana with her naginata. The boy grunted as he struggled against the girl. The said girl appeared to not even breaking a sweat while pushing her opponent away.

With a war cry, Yosuke came running from the side, trying to strike at Hamuko's open flank. "Don't announce yourself," the avatar chided. In a quick motion, she let go with her naginata with her left hand, grabbed Yu by the shirt, and before the boy could realize what was happening, he found himself being made into a make-shift projectile. Yosuke's eyes comically widened when he saw his new friend flying towards him. Yu smashed into his partner's stomach, and the two found themselves lying on the floor.

"Ha-chaa!"

Chie thought she could use the opportunity for an attack from behind. She made the same mistake as Yosuke, though: she announced her attack. Even though Hamuko had only a second to react, for a seasoned fighter like her, it might as well have been a minute. Add in godlike reflexes, and there is no way that attack would connect. Spinning around, Hamuko hit Chie with the blunt end of her weapon. The girl in green had been in mid-air when the attack connected. She was brutally brought down to the ground, where the air was pressed out of her lungs. From the corner of her eyes, the avatar could see the boys trying to untangle themselves. Before they had the chance to do so, the golden-eyed girl smacked both of them on the head with the back-end of her weapon. The boys groaned in pain. The young woman smirked.

From the sidelines, Teddie watched the whole spectacle, whimpering. For this exercise, Hamuko had forbidden the bear to do his usual support action.

"Oh dear," Hamuko bemoaned, even though she was internally laughing alongside Nyx. She had no idea how much fun it was to bully weaklings. With a snap of her finger, she cast a media-spell, healing the persona users.

"Looks like we're going to be here longer than I expected," she said, as she waited for the humans to get back up.

"I think I know now how a cannonball feels," the silver-haired boy groaned.

"Just how strong are you that you can lift a human?" Yosuke asked, still feeling the pain despite the spell.

The avatar of the night shrugged. "I dunno. It's not like you guys are pushing me into breaking a sweat or anything."

"Grr, are you mocking us?!" Chie growled, glaring at the young woman.

"Just stating the obvious. I mean, we've been at this for ten minutes, and you still haven't landed a hit."

"It would be different if we would use our personas," the girl in green retorted.

"If you need a persona just to land a single strike on me, then you guys are truly pathetic."

That was the entire exercise. Hamuko had ordered the humans to land a single blow on her while being restricted to their weapons alone. The avatar, in return, would not use any of her abilities while fighting back. Not that any of her powers were necessary. In the last ten minutes, she had been dancing around, blocking, and parrying attacks. Occasionally Hamuko would smack the humans to the ground, only to heal them a moment later.

"Come on, guys!" Teddie cheered. "I know you can do it! Don't let her provoke you!"

"Teddie is right." Yu took on his fighting stance once again. "She's just saying those fights to get us to make more mistakes. We need to focus, if-"

Yu couldn't finish what he wanted to say, as the avatar charged at him and his teammates. She swung her weapon in a wide area, trying to hit all of them. Luckily the trio of persona users managed to retreat from the weapon's range.

"Hey, what was-?!" Chie couldn't finish her complaint. The next attack was focused solely on her. The blade of the naginata slammed into the ground. Seconds earlier, Chie's feet were standing where it hit. She managed to jump out of the way in time.

"You talk too much," Hamuko said while charging at Yosuke. Thinking quickly, Yu charged at Hamuko. The avatar had to readjust her weapon to block the incoming attack.

"The shadows won't wait for you to finish your idle chatter."

Yu found himself losing grip of his weapon, and it fell to the ground. A second later, he received a kick to the stomach and joined his blade on the floor. Angry at seeing his friend hurt, Yosuke tried to retaliate. Hamuko side-stepped and smacked him in the back of the head with the flat side of her blade.

The avatar eyed Chie, as the high-school student came running at her. Using the superior range of her weapon, Hamuko hit her opponent before she came even in range. Once again, a media-spell was cast.

"I can do this all day. Is this some kind of fetish you three have? Do you want to be beaten up by a girl in a stripper outfit?"

Nyx was having the time of her life inside Hamuko's head. Seeing her avatar going to town with those weak humans was indeed a sight to behold. It may lack in the visual flair the fight on top of Tartarus had. But there was something about the brutal simplicity in which the trio of high-school students was dealt with. Ah, she did not regret her decision to make the holder of the Universe her avatar. If entertainment like this was what she was going to get from this deal, then she would happily accept her new prison inside the former wild card's mind.

"Come on, Yosuke-kun! I have seen dogs that can handle knives better than you."

The goddess wondered how long it would take before she got bored. Probably very soon if the humans didn't step up their game and pushed her avatar a little more. The scantily clothed female for her part was holding back considerably. More than once had she almost cast a spell to "finish off" her downed opponents. There was a real chance of her accidentally killing the teenagers if she wasn't careful.

"Hngh!" Yu gasped in pain, as he found himself thrown to the ground yet again. The pain disappeared as quickly as it came, as the healing spell was cast on him once again.

This isn't working out. We need a strategy. He thought to himself.

"Hamuko-san? May I call for a time-out?" he asked.

The avatar stopped herself from kicking Yosuke in the nuts (who was staring at her with dread in his eyes) and thought for a moment.

"Sure," she eventually relented. "Guess I have overestimated you guys. I thought for sure you'd last at least an hour before calling for a break."

"Why you…!"

"Calm down!" Yu ordered his female companion. Chie was taken aback by the sharp tone the voice of her leader had taken on and promptly shut up. Yosuke and Hamuko glanced the girl green. The latter shrugged and moved to the side, allowing the three humans to have some privacy. Yu motioned his two team members to join him in a huddle. Teddie came too.

"Why that girl…! I'm gonna kick her all the way to the moon when I get my hands on her!" Chie growled.

"The way things have been going, she's going to kick us to Saturn," Yosuke replied with a wince.

"We've been doing this all wrong. Hamuko-san is too fast. Even if we come from behind, her reactions are out of this world." Yu said to the others.

"I thought attacking her from behind was a great idea, sensei," Teddie chimed in.

"I thought so too, but there was something I wasn't counting on when I made that plan." Yu shook his head.

"And what was that?" the wind persona-user asked.

"Hamuko-san is a veteran. She fought shadows for an entire year all on her own. She's probably used to getting surrounded by all sides and fight her way out of it. Not to mention," the boy looked down on his sword. "Unlike us, she holds her weapon like a professional. She has disarmed Yosuke and me so often. I frankly lost count."

"My wrists are still hurting," Yosuke concurred.

"So, what are you getting at?" Chie asked. "Are you saying she's too good for us to take down?"

"Let's be real, if this were a real fight, we'd be dead," Yosuke pointed out.

"Luckily for us, we just need to get a hit to pass this challenge. And I think I have an idea how. I need you two to listen up because we need to time our attacks perfectly."