"Interesting..." Kirito said as a few ideas went through his head, seeing the defensive nature of the wood spirit. While not as sturdy as other defenses would be, the spirit could easily create obstacles to trip an opponent or to make it hard to reach Sakura. He had mentally clocked in the summoning at fifteen seconds, and while it was good, he wanted it to be under ten seconds, if not less than five. "Do you mind explaining what I have planned for today Sakura-chan? I have a feeling your spirits wouldn't like being summoned and being resealed without an explanation," he asked.

" I don't mind. " Sakura said and explained what she would be doing today to her card spirits. Some didn't agree with it but they were the ones that took longer to unseal.

Kirito had a small feeling that her spirits would come to hate him after this training was done with, but he knew it was better for her to be able to summon these spirits of hers quickly, especially since he couldn't be there all the time to protect her if she needed the protection. 'Like Asuna,' he thought before quickly shaking his head lightly. He wasn't going to think about what he could have done in the past; not anymore.

"Which card do you want to see next?" Sakura asked.

"How about one of your actual spells?" Kirito asked. "After you pick that, we can work on getting your speed down for summoning those," he added.

" I can do that." Sakura said and started to wonder which spell she should use.

"Then let's start," Kirito said with a small grin on his face.

(timeskip?)

(sounds good to me.)

(kk)

Kirito grinned lightly, knowing that she had five spells that she could summon quickly: Wood, Sword, Fly, Jump and Windy. "You did good today Sakura-chan," he said with a genuine smile on his face. Then again, he trained her the same way that he did Lyfa; attacking her with a blunted sword until she was able to summon the spell to block or evade the strike.

Sakura smiled. " Thank you very much. I have a good teacher. " She said with a smile.

"You don't have to thank me Sakura-chan," Kirito replied while rubbing the back of his neck.

" Alright. Do you want to meet Deanna and the others? I know I still need a few things for the trip. " Sakura said.

"Sure," Kirito said, especially since all of them would be going on the trip, and it would be a good way to get to know Deanna and Thalia.

" What do you think the mountains are like?" Sakura asked. She had never been anyplace else and was curious.

"cold, and treacherous. You may want to keep your Fly Card on hand," Kirito responded.

" I'll do that. It will be helpful if Angelus needs the rest. " Sakura said as they walked toward one of the stores.

"I'm sure she'll be glad to hear that," Kirito said as he walked with Sakura towards one of the stores.

" What do we need Salem? The extra jacket you have fits fine and so does the pants. But the boots won't work. " Eve said.

"We also need some gloves, for the both of us," Salem responded. He was glad that the parkas and pants worked, but wasn't surprised when he saw that the boots were about to fall apart.

" And hats. I know th parka has a hood but an extra layer would be nice. And some wool socks. " Eve said. She hated getting cold and dreaded the snow.

Salem nodded, knowing that it would be a good idea. "What about climbing gear, just in case?" Salem asked.

" Sounds like a good idea. You'll have to tell me what to do if we do go climbing. " Eve said.

"Will do," Salem said with a grin before opening the door for Eve. "Ladies first," he said.

Eve smiled and went out the door. " I hope Kirito is alright. " Eve said feeling really concerned.

"He's with his girlfriend, he'll be fine," Salem responded. Though he did understand, but he had a feeling that Kirito was doing okay.