( Luke's POV )
Around the eight month mark, academy exams officially began for Luke which were not only going to give him a huge level boost, but were also going to be instrumental in deciding which candidates were going to represent the academy in the upcoming Grand tournament.
The atmosphere within the academy became increasingly competitive, as everyone began training extra hard and putting in the extra work needed to stand out from the rest.
Unfortunately, it was too late for most at this point as while they had only began putting in the extra efforts now, there were monsters like Luke who had been working hard for the entire semester and had now created a big gap between himself and the rest.
With his bond with Brown Pudding also improving, Luke was now confident of getting good grades in even the Mounted Combat Class, as everyday he and Brown Pudding learnt a lot of aerial maneuvers and about fighting as a team, making up for the lost time in training for the past few months.
In and of herself, Brown Pudding was a battle machine on her own.
A high level Griffin who could tear apart knights of Luke's caliber with her talons with ease and could swoop in and out of any fortress even if it was guarded by a hundred archers.
Not only was she swift and agile, but she also had the strength to carry a roughly 100 kg rock on her feet and drop it at any designated target, giving her the capability of destroying enemy archer towers and siege weapons.
Although she herself was a battle machine, coupled with Luke she became nearly unstoppable as with Luke defending her from arrows and other attacks, she could solely focus on destroying enemy lines, making her a complete killing machine.
Alongside her, Luke was pretty much unstoppable in the mounted combat training class, as the only mount who could rival Brown Pudding's prowess was Jerome's Storm, but while he could fly and was fast, he did not have the same lethality as Brown Pudding as he was a defensive type mount unlike Brown Pudding who was a battle mount.
The other land based mounts could not even hold a candle to brown pudding as most shuddered and ran away in her presence, with even the better trained one's avoiding her sharp talons and not daring to come close.
At this point, it looked certain that Luke would clinch the first place in the academy rankings, claiming one of the academy's reserved seats, while the competition for the rest remained intense.
With exams starting next week and continuing for 14 days total, everyone's focus was on doing their best, but in their hearts they already gave up on being number one.
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( Meanwhile Leo )
Once Leo mastered the 'Mirror World' move, Ben finally agreed to him participating in the grand tournament whose open selection rounds would begin in about one month's time, as he took Leo's practical combat training more seriously.
It had been only about 7-8 months since the duo started training together, however, in these 8 months Leo managed to learn all three of his core moves and mold his body from that of a commoner, to one suited for an Elite assassin.
The difference in his skills now compared to before was like heaven and Earth, however, if there was one thing Leo still lacked, it was practical combat experience, as he did not have much experience of sparring.
While he did kill strong beasts on a routine basis, driving the population of local mountain lions to a near extinction point, the experience of killing a beast was different from experience of sparring against a human as at this point, Ben felt like that was Leo's only shortcoming that he needed to work on as a master.
" I don't think there's any talent in the empire that can stop you from winning the Grand tournament, however, you can still be defeated because of your inexperience, so starting today, we will only focus on real sparring" Ben decided as he finally began to train him for winning the tournament.
"Prepare to spar with me for real! For now you can't use any resources or skills, as we will focus purely on your hand to hand combat-" Ben declared as Leo nodded and held his daggers tightly.
"Here I come-" Ben declared, his figure turning into a blur as his exaggerated speed was too much for Leo to follow even after months of rigorous training.
*BLOCK*
Sparks flew as Leo managed to block Ben's first attack, purely on instinct as although he managed to block the dagger, he soon felt his feet being swept from under him, as he slammed face first onto the ground below.
" You know how to throw daggers precisely, you know some tricks, you have a flexible body…. But what you don't know is how to fight hand to hand combat, so when you find a skilled opponent in this department, you are screwed without your skills..." Ben explained as Leo got back on his feet and dusted the sand off.
" You should never fight a frontal battle…. We assassins are not made for it, however, you should at least know how to defend yourself in frontal battle until you have the chance to unleash your skills, as that is the only way I see you losing" Ben explained, as his words oddly made perfect sense to Leo.
" Again…. Let's work on your hand to hand combat skills until they reach an acceptable level" Ben said, as he encouraged Leo and helped him gain some much needed combat experience that he lacked, as he picked up a different weapon each round and exposed Leo to all sorts of enemies and fighting styles.
"Based on the strengths and weaknesses of your opponent, you need to come up with a unique battle approach each time, as there is no single method to fighting all opponents and you need to learn to be creative" Ben instructed, as he began working towards eliminating Leo's last evident weakness.
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/// A/N - Bonus chapter for hitting the PS target, good job everyone! ///