Luke could not defeat the level 20 hellcat and had to request for the battle to be stopped once his HP fell below the 10% mark.
The hellcat was just too strong for him. The iron circuit was designed in a way where he was going to face opponents from level 15 upto level40 with 5 levels increment between them all.
It was a circuit meant to be attempted by people between level 20-40 for the most optimal growth, however, being strapped for time, Luke attempted it after Cervantez's suggestion.
Although he did gain valuable experience and a level, Luke did not get the comfortable lead that he was looking for to get into the top10% of sector E rankings with less than 16 hours to go for the first evaluation.
He had set his personal target at reaching at least level 12 and had roughly 6 hours to achieve it before his final day work shift started.
**********
( Meanwhile Leo )
Leo reached Mt.Faulkner alongside his master Ben and found an old spider cob covered cave with dusty equipment stored inside as the only sign of human life.
Mt.Faulkner was an uninhabited mountain because of its steep slopes, hard rock and wet conditions which made it difficult to form a settlement.
One could find all sorts of rare insects, mountain goats, mountain lions and other monsters in the vicinity, however, the nearest human civilization was 40 kilometers away in the form of a small village.
"Clear the cobwebs, and hand me those old tools-" Ben told Leo as he got to work to set up Leo's training camp almost as soon as they reached the old cave.
Mt.Faulkner was the same place where Ben's father taught Ben how to become an assassin and was a safe retreat away from civilization.
It was uniquely adapted to be a place to strengthen the fundamentals of becoming an assassin and Ben felt nostalgic and energetic just by revisiting the place.
While Leo cleaned the cave at the base of the mountain, Ben took his old tools and disappeared for a while.
A few minutes later, he came back drenched in sweat from head to toe as he grinned happily and said "Come let me show you the training you're supposed to strictly follow from today onwards".
Leo sincerely followed him, mentally ready to see some old school training course that would be physically challenging, however, never in his wildest dreams could he have imagined the sort of routine Ben hoped for him to follow.
Their first stop was at a point from where the slope of the mountain seemed to be the steepest as it was at this point that Ben had set up a large safety catch net, and an old rope hanging from wayy high above.
"Watch closely" Ben said, as he grabbed the rope and easily climbed the near 90° mountain slope as if it were nothing.
He climbed up as if he were walking on a flat surface and then at one point let go of the rope all together and still continued to climb without it.
" What the fuck?" Leo murmured as he could clearly see the laws of gravity being defied but Ben did it effortlessly.
Once he had climbed at least a kilometer, Ben stopped and started his descent which he did by literally running down the 90° slope and landing beside Leo in the most noise free way possible.
" First task of the day, Five sets of rope climbing, you go up, touch the red flag I've planted and come back down.
You do it five times, preferably before sun rises" Ben said as Leo's facial muscles started to twitch at the demand.
" What? I'm going easy on you, this requirement will only increase as time passes on.
Follow me" Ben said as he chuckled heartily and reminisced about the days when his father demanded the same routine from him and he was the one who cursed him in his heart.
Next, the two reached the nearby stream that flowed down the mountain and landed down a steep angle to form a small natural waterfall.
There were many insects and animals in this area who had came to quench their thirst with some animals even being above level 70.
" Every morning around sunrise, you will come here to hunt flying squirrels.
They're extremely agile and can fly from tree to tree which is why catching them while they're on the run is nearly impossible.
The only time you have a shot of killing them is when they come to drink water and you spook all animals once you take a shot with some aggressive goats deciding to ram into you
So best to make that shot count " Ben said as although there were no squirrels drinking water from the stream at the moment, he pulled a dagger out of his assassin belt and threw it towards the nearby tree branch.
*Catch*
Catching his prey before it fell to the ground making a sound, Ben showed Leo how it was done as he said " You need elite level dagger mastery to do what I just did.
Some assassin's prefer learning how to shoot arrows, but we will stick to close combat and daggers.
Succeed and you will have breakfast after your hard training.
Fail and you go hungry till lunch"
Leo was already spooked about the training that Ben was going to put him through and apparently they had not even crossed the breakfast mark yet.
" Hahaha, don't worry, for the first week, I will give you lunch even if you don't hunt anything, but my graciousness might end suddenly one day" Ben said as he slapped Leo on the back while laughing out loud and spooking all the animals near the stream anyways.
" What was the point of catching the squirrel if you wanted to laugh out loud anyways?" Leo asked Ben who laughed out louder in response, prompting a mountain lion to roar from afar.