As Leo finished his meal, he could not help but feel slightly emotional.
Mount Faulkner had become like a sort of second home for him, and just like he left Earth, he was going to have to leave this place tomorrow, perhaps forever.
Thankfully, Ben had agreed to come with him to the capital and watch over all his matches as the old man did not plan on abandoning Leo just yet, however, Leo still felt slightly emotional about saying goodbye to this training ground.
As he and Ben wound everything up, Leo could not help but smile when he passed over the reflex training field, the stretching ground, the boiling pot where he was given medicinal baths everyday and the various trees that still had his dagger marks from all his practices.
"Don't worry kid, maybe one day you bring your own disciple here to train. Pass on the legacy. You never know-" Ben said with a soft smile, as 25 years ago even he did not know if he would ever return to Mount Faulkner again or not, but he did with a disciple and had the best time of his life grooming him.
As Leo unscrewed the rope Ben had set up for his vertical climb training and the safety net within, he could not help but glance at Mount Faulkner with awe.
This piece of rock had seen several generations of Faulkner family train here, yet it remained unmoving, immortal and always standing.
Unlike his first day, Leo no longer even needed a rope to scale the mountain as his muscles were elastic and strong enough to allow him to climb the mountain while hopping like a mountain goat, just like how Ben could, however, he could still vividly remember the days where he struggled with the rope and complained how it was too hard.
Finally, as he said goodbye to his hunting stream, the place where he had single handedly drove down the population of antelopes, squirrels and mountain lions, Leo hoped that they re-populated again, as he walked back to their base cave, where Ben had packed up everything just how he found it at the start.
"Well before we go to sleep for the night kid, I have one last surprise for you, a sort of graduation gift, but I'm not sure if you would want it or not, but if you do, this is for you-" Ben said, as he awkwardly handed over Leo a set of Assassin robes, gloves and boots.
Leo looked at his own gear and realized how battered and torn it was.
After 9 months of intense training, Leo had reduced the once pristine robes to rags as he was indeed in need for new robes.
" Thankyou-" he said, as he graciously accepted the neatly folded robes Ben passed to him, as once he opened them up he immediately realized that it had been refurbished, and that they were not a fresh pair.
[ Ben's old Assassin robes ] ( Epic )
The item description said, as a wide smile spread on Leo's face upon reading it.
" It's my old robes kid, you don't have to wear them if you don't want, I've tried to mend them as best as I could since yours are so tattered, but we can buy you a new one once we are at the capital.
As a master I should have prepared graduation robes for you, but the silly me never thought this day would come so fast. I expected you to take at least a few years to hone my craft but-"
" It's perfect old man, thankyou-" Leo said, cutting off Ben's speech as he saved the old man from the embarrassment of having to explain himself.
Putting it on, Leo wore the shoes, the robes that came with an in-built belt and the gloves, as he smiled brightly once he geared up.
" You were quite fit in your youth, old man, this fits nicely" Leo said, as Ben looked at him with a small tear in his eye, as Leo looked like a proper handsome assassin in them.
For Leo, this gift was more precious than any newly tailored robe as for him the sentimental value of this robe meant more than what mere money could buy.
While Ben was embarrassed, for Leo there could not have been a better graduation gift.
" Alright, sleep well now, we leave at dawn" Ben said, as he turned away from Leo, barely saving himself from shedding a tear in his presence as he slept in his bed with a warm heart, feeling proud of what the two had accomplished here in the past few months.
Leo too slept on his bed, before hitting logout, as he woke up in the real world.
*********
( The real world )
As Leo woke up, he found a smiling Amanda sitting on the lounge looking at him wake up, as she playfully said "Good Morning-"
As Leo heard her sweet voice, he could not help but chuckle for the first time in a while as he replied "Good morning".
" Whoa, someone looks happy today …. Something good happened in the game?" Amanda asked, as Leo scratched his head and said " Yeah, something nice did happen"
Clapping cheerfully, Amanda seemed genuinely happy for Leo, which made Leo happy as well, as lately Amanda was the only bright spot that was helping him hold his sanity while his life was literally on the line.
"What did I say? Bad times don't last forever, there is something good bound to happen every now and then! But no…. You just worry too much silly!" Amanda said, as she genuinely hoped Leo would smile more and be happy.
" Yep, you were right" Leo said, as the bathroom door opened at that moment, as a dressed up Luke walked out, seemingly ready for work.
" Morning Leo, glad you're not late to logout today" Luke said, as he walked out of the common hall and into his room, giving the two love birds privacy.
Over the last month, although neither of them had expressed it explicitly, Luke noticed the growing closeness between the two, and hence did his best to not be a third wheel.
Although it was impossible to give complete privacy in such a small space, he did his best to give them as much as he could.
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/// A/N - This bonus chapter is sponsored by patron HighlanderCharles, please thank him in the comments for the same! ///