Chapter 76: A New Friend

The lesson ended quickly as it only lasted for an hour and a half. Deacon left before both his students as they were still packing their new textbook and materials.

“Teo, are you taking the intermediate inscription class later?” Grifford inquired.

In his eyes, Teo was the only one who could match his skill in inscriptions among his previous peers. Seeing him take the talisman class as well made Grifford think that he was a kindred spirit walking on the same path. But Teo’s answer soon disappointed him.

“No, I’m only taking this talisman class. As for my remaining time, I will be training for the end of the year physical test.”

Teo’s words quickly extinguished any competitive spark relating to inscriptions within Grifford’s spirit. He did not bother hiding his disappointment.

“I see. Combat training is it? Are you attending classes for it?”

“Uh.. Yeah, at least my friends and I will be checking it out for a while, then later decide if we want to keep attending. Do you want to come too?”

Grifford pondered at Teo’s invitation. He had never been invited by anyone before and lacked friends because of his strange personality. Considering that he also needed to train for the physical test at the end of the year, he decided to take Teo up on his offer.

“Sure, I might as well check it out today.”

—–

The training grounds and the arena are located within the northern district. Combat classes were held there as well as it was spacious enough to accommodate thousands of fighters.

Several buildings held advanced classes relating to combat and medicine. These advanced classes focusing on techniques, combat theory and medicine were offered to students who had finished their third year of study.

A large medical center was placed in the middle of the district and was often used by students who were injured during training.

Aside from the students, academy guards and Red Guardians roamed these place often to keep the peace, but there were other visitors who visit the arena to spectate the youths in combat. Gambling is prevalent within the arena, and spectators would sometimes join in on the action.

The combat classes specific for third year students were spread out throughout the day and were held in different locations. There were multiple classes held at the same time which often lasted around three hours, instructors would always be the same within the same schedule.

Attendance were not recorded and students were free to leave, switch classes or even attend multiple classes if they desired. Instructors would be in charge on how many students they were willing to teach at the same time, so the number could go from only a handful of students to hundreds.

Within an opening of the forest, about thirty students started gathering. The location of a combat class was held here.

Lia and Windle stood around a tree, waiting for Teo to arrive.

“Guys, I’m here!”

Hearing Teo’s voice, both of them turned and found Teo walking along side another student.

“Teo, this is?”

“This is Grifford, a new friend. We had the same class together earlier and I invited him to join us.”

Windle recognize Grifford instantly, while Lia took a closer look, glancing at Grifford from top to bottom.

Grifford had a rounded face and had short black hair. His thin brown eyes and flat nose gave him the look that would be unnoticed within the crowd.

“Hmm..” Lia had a familiar feeling when she saw him but could not tell where she recognized him from.

“He was in our inscription class last year,” Windle whispered.

Lia blushed and coughed and replied, “I was gonna say that!”

Windle could only give out a helpless smile, and introduced himself and Lia.

“Hello Grifford. I am Windle, and this is Lia. I remember you from our previous classes as well, pleased to meet you.”

Grifford nodded and did not reply. There was a sense of awkwardness in the air but soon his and the others’ attention was called by a loud voice.

“Everyone can sit down, class is starting!”

The commanding voice was loud enough for all the students to hear. The man who spoke wore a purple and black sleeveless shirt. The students who had been here for two years all knew that this was the uniform of the combat instructors. The instructor was a bald man, that looked about 30 years old. His tanned muscular arms showed many lines of scars which caused the students to stare in awe.

“I am Valdim, the instructor for this session. I will be dividing the class into two. Those who are fit enough to spar will sit on the northern side, while the ones who have yet to be physically ready will sit on the southern side.”

The instructor took a wooden sword and drew a line, directly cutting the forest opening straight down the middle.

“Those who are confident to spar, step to this side, those who are not, step on the other.”

The class was split into two. Teo, Windle and Lia were on one side, and Grifford was on the other. It became quite uneven as there were only 9 students who were ready to spar, while on the other side, about 20 students were not.

“Good, I’ll be explaining this once so pay attention. The end of the year exam will be a physical exam. We will be testing your stamina, speed, strength, endurance, dexterity and agility. This is the first stage, if you do not pass this stage, you will automatically fail. You need to excel in two out of three areas, this should be simple enough.”

As the students heard the conditions of passing the first stage, the majority of them breathed a sigh of relief. The first stage was quite easy!

“The second stage will be testing your combat ability through two different tests. One close range, the other long range. We’ll be examining how proficient in combat you are. You can either use a weapon or not, this choice is freely given to you.

Within your close combat, you will be sparring with an elder. If you can land 3 clean hits on him, you will surely pass, if you can’t then it will be up to the decision of the judges. This elder will also be fighting back, but with a large handicap so be mindful.

For long range, you need to hit a live moving target in the distance while moving your body as well. You will get a total of 20 attempts. Out of 20 attempts, you will only need to hit it twice! If you are elementalists, you can freely use your power, but if you are not, you are required to use a long range weapon such as a bow and arrow, sling, or perhaps even a throwing spear.

You will only need to pass either the long range, or the close range test to pass the exam. Despite how it seems, it will be more difficult to pass the long range test so I suggest you work on your close combat skills. They will be looking for reaction speed, decision making, technique, proficiency with your weapon or style of combat as well as defense, and will make a decision if you pass or fail with these criteria in mind.

If you want to focus on range combat, I believe you have the wrong class. There is a range combat class a little further in that direction. If you go now, you will probably make it as they start a little later.”

This was the information that the instructors were required to announce during their first class as the main goal of this year was to pass the end of the year exam. Many of the students were already aware of the various stages but there were others who were not. Grifford was such a person who did not.

Following after, Valdim instructed the students who were on the south side to give him 1000 pushups, sit-ups and squats and 50 ten meter sprints.

“I will not be forcing you to do this, but know that if you fail, the following year you will be forced to do something more terrifying than this!”

His threat was effective but most of them were not fit enough to complete such a menu. Valdim then turned around and looked at the 9 students before him.

“You guys will pair up and spar. The one without a pair will spar with me, don’t worry I won’t retaliate.”

—–

At the same time, within the northern district, a group of 40 students roamed the area. They separated into pairs and scoured the district meticulously.

“Is that person we are looking for even going to be here?” the youth in uniform asked the other person who was with him.

Their sleeves showed that they were fifth year students, and the badge beside it indicated that they were from the Rizon faction.

“Boss Zachery said there is a big possibility that he’ll be in one of these classes,” the other replied.

“Hmph! Just because Daniel graduated, a third year can instantly become the boss?”

“Shh! You should know his status! A Triad in the family as well as the grandson of the headmaster, if you keep talking like that, you’ll end up in trouble!”

The academy was huge and it was not easy to find Teo’s location and so, Zachery ordered his new subordinates to find him on the first day after the tournament had ended.

The direction these two were heading was inching closer and closer to where Teo and his friends were taking their class.

[Proofread by Soeir]

[Author's Note: Since it is the new month, I am going to ask those who wish to support the continuation of this series to consider donating! Thanks for reading!]