Tring, Tring—
"Ugh~"
As the alarm ring disrupted my peaceful sleep, I attempted to cover my head with the pillow to dampen the noise in my ears.
However, the persistent ringing of the alarm refused to subside. In the end, I reluctantly sat up and rubbed my bleary eyes.
Upon checking the clock with my blurry vision, I found out it was only 4:50 AM right now.
"Arghh…"
It was early morning, and I groaned at the thought of facing the day ahead.
Dragging myself out of bed, I shuffled to the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face, trying to wash away the remnants of sleep.
As I brushed my teeth, I tried to motivate myself for the day ahead and reminded myself of the tasks I needed to accomplish before the second arc of the story starts.
Eventually, I managed to shake off the last vestiges of drowsiness and began to get dressed for the academy after taking a refreshing yet short shower.
With each article of clothing I put on, I felt a sense of readiness, as if I was preparing for battle.
Why in the world was I being so dramatic, one may ask? Because I might very well be actually preparing for a battle.
Yeah, I didn't get up so early in the morning for nothing. I hate early mornings!
The thing is, last night after Leo's inquiry session with me was over, he asked me to come to the training hall today before 5:30.
After I told him about my progress in learning a Level 3 weapon art in just under a month, he said he wanted to 'test' me.
Yeah, I didn't understand what the fuck it meant either.
When I asked him to explain, he simply said that he wanted to observe me in a live fight.
Apparently, being able to learn a Level 3 weapon art in such a small amount of time is an incredible feat.
I didn't know that. Since the novel was from Nero's perspective and he was shown to learn all the Level 3 weapon arts in mere days, I thought I was doing average, if not bad.
It seems that I've acquired not only Lucas' memories but also his talent from when he was a child.
Anyway, knowing Leo's character, I doubt he would ask me to fight with a combat doll. He would definitely fight me himself.
What I wanted to know was: Why?
Just why was he doing it?
Isn't he one of the legs of the Spider?
Shouldn't he have much more important matters to attend than 'testing' a very, VERY handsome cadet like me? Heh.
I mean, he never showed any interest in any of the other cadets before this. So why was he taking such an interest in me?
Even if I believe it's because of my talent, there were more talented individuals than me present in this academy.
Even with talent, I can't be called heaven-defying. So that should not be enough to pique his interest.
Haa, I don't know.
To be honest, if I could, I would just avoid him.
I don't want to associate with a terrorist, or should I say– a separatist, more than I have to. I don't want to catch the attention of Central Government officials, after all.
It's fine. I'll just entertain him this one time by complying with his 'test' and then stray clear from him.
Anyway, I was dressed up, I walked over to my closet and opened it to take out a backpack.
Opening its zipper, I took out the beast egg and gently yet carefully clutched it between my arms.
I sat back on the edge of my bed and quickly started channelling mana into it.
I didn't channel too much mana into it since I had to spar in a few minutes – only a small portion from my mana pool.
After a few minutes, I stopped and got up to leave my apartment. Upon making sure that I had locked the door, I let out a deep breath and walked off.
†
In just under a few minutes, I reached the academy and arrived in front of the training hall.
I looked in and saw a rather handsome man with waist-long red hair sitting cross-legged on the matted floor.
He had his eyes closed as he appeared to be in a deep state of meditation.
Should I disturb him? – I thought.
But then I quickly remembered he was the one who called me here in the first place.
"Sensei, can I come in?" I asked, finally deciding to disturb him.
Leo opened his eyes and looked at me. A frown appeared on his face as he asked, "Lucas, what are you doing here?"
…Huh?
Did this old man hit his head somewhere?!
While trying to calm my twitching eyebrow, I replied. "Sensei, you asked me to come here last night, remember?"
"Oh, that?" Leo arched his eyebrows as he remembered before a frown appeared back on his face. "But I asked you to be here at 5:30, Lucas. 5:30 as in PM not AM."
"...."
Oh lord, forgive me, for I am about to kill someone.
Leo's face remained stoic as he broke the silence with a calm voice, "Lucas, I am joking. Come inside."
"…Did you call me here this early in the morning to fuck with me with your dry sense of humour, you old bastard?!" is what I said in my mind.
But since I had no intention of dying today, I kept my mouth shut and barely managed to flash a smile with my twitching lips.
As Leo stood up, I went inside and faced him.
"You must know why I called you here, right?" Leo said, gently touching a ring on his finger.
Judging by all the runes engraved on the surface of that ring, I could only assume it to be a dimensional storage artifact.
"You mentioned you wanted to 'test' me, whatever that means. So I guess you are going to spar with me?" I answered in a questioning tone.
"Affirmative," Leo nodded his head.
"Sensei, can I ask why? With all due respect, you never showed interest in anyone's training before. So why now?" I asked.
"Well, none of them possess the talent you do," Leo answered. "They aren't worthy of my interest."
'Worthy' of your interest? What are you, a God?!
Suppressing such thoughts, I retorted.
"That is not true." I said, "There are many other cadets who are much more talented than me. Take Nero, Anastasia, or Amelia, for example."
You should've known that to be the case if you had ever paid attention in your own class!
Leo shook his head and let out a deep sigh. "Anastasia's skill with the bow is impressive, but she's better suited for close combat from the way she moves. And as for Amelia, her talent in archery is exceptional, but she'll never be the best. Nero, on the other hand, is a true beast. His basic swordsmanship is so honed to the point where even I couldn't teach him anything in that regard."
…Oh?
So he does pay attention to the students in his class. I never would've guessed.
"If you know all that, then–"
I started to interject, but Leo held up a hand to stop me.
"But here's the thing, the names of the cadets you mentioned don't possess the same raw talent that you do. Sure, they can fight well, but the spark in their eyes is that of a protector, fighting to defend what they hold dear. You, on the other hand, look like you want to win at any cost. That look in your eyes is a rarity, and it reminds me of myself when I was younger."
".....?"
…Yeah, I understood nothing of what he was saying.
The look in my eyes? Is he trying to sound like an old cultivation master in murim novels? Huh?!
Seeing the look of confusion and ridicule plastered on my face, Leo let out another sigh.
"If you don't understand what I said, then just think of it as my instincts. My gut feeling as a martial artist is telling me that you will surprise me. So I want to spar with you."
Now THAT'S what I can understand.
A battle maniac martial artist wanting to fight someone he thinks is interesting. Yeah, that's the troupe I am familiar with.
Suii—
"Now," after saying what he had to say, Leo summoned a katana from the pocket space of his dimensional ring. "Ready your weapon."
