Leon woke early the next day. The sun had barely started to rise when his eyes opened, and he estimated that he still had at least two hours before he needed to head downstairs.

It had been nearly two months since his father had been killed. He’d come a long way in that time and experienced a great many new things, but he still found himself starting to miss the smell of his father cooking bacon from a boar they’d hunted. He missed spending all of his time hunting and training with Artorias. He even found himself missing his house, which was nothing more than a cheap shack compared to this majestic tower.

‘Ugh… What am I doing, getting so lost this early in the morning?’ Leon shook his head to clear his mind of the morning haze and refocus on the upcoming day. He still didn’t get up, though. Instead, he spent a few minutes practically rolling around on the bed with an enormous smile on his face. For a young man who had spent his entire life sleeping on the ground or on a cheap bed frame only covered by a few furs, this was heaven.

[You’re such a child.]

When Xaphan’s voice resounded through Leon’s mind, he froze. He was unable to bring himself to move again for at least five seconds, but by then his gleeful smile had vanished and been replaced with a mortified look. He couldn’t bring himself to respond to the demon, and Xaphan himself said nothing more.

Leon rather stiffly rose from the bed and walked to the bathroom, deciding to pretend that what just happened actually hadn’t. He hoped Xaphan would do the same.

He spent half an hour in the bathroom cleaning himself up and then got dressed in some of the training clothes the Academy had provided. The shorts were just plain black, but the shirt was dark green with a white lion’s head embroidered onto the back. The remaining hour he spent meditating and mentally preparing himself for the day.

When that hour was up and Leon felt ready, he rose from his meditations, approached his door, and strapped a training sword around his waist, right next to his own sword. He did one last check to make sure he had his ID, then he reached for the door handle. He paused to take a deep breath, then left his room.

The other two third-tier nobles were busy chatting in the third-tier common room, but apart from a brief glance, they didn’t pay Leon much mind. Leon paid them just as much attention and made for the stairs.

Charles was awake and in the common room practicing a few of the basic swings Leon taught him with a practice sword. Henry and Alain were watching in fascination.

“He actually taught you that much? I thought you said it was only like one or two strikes! How did you get him to do it? Did you drug him or something?” Henry asked a flurry of incredulous questions.

Charles didn’t answer immediately as he’d locked eyes with Leon as the latter walked over, a smile playing at the corners of his lips.

“Well, if you tow want to ask him, now’s the time.” Charles nodded to Leon as he finally joined them.

However, instead of a greeting, first thing Leon said upon approach was, “Widen your stance, your center of gravity is too high.”

“Right!” Charles widened his stance by another foot or so and kept swinging. His swings were slow, more about building muscle memory than anything else.

“Leon, could you show me some of those moves too?” Henry asked, his eyes wide with hope and expectation. Leon was reminded of a begging puppy, and he almost burst out laughing, though he managed to hold onto his stoic demeanor.

“Me too, please?” added Alain, his expression a little more subdued though no less hopeful.

“… I’ll… think about it…” Leon didn’t consider himself much of a teacher and had taught Charles what he did mostly as a way to pass time and brush up on his own fundamentals. He really didn’t want to be bothered with showing too many people the ropes.

Henry and Alain were a little disappointed, but it wasn’t an outright refusal, so they left it as it was.

The Snow Lion’s three instructors arrived several minutes later. By then, all the first-tier trainees had assembled, and the second-tier trainees came downstairs at the same time. They waited a few more minutes for the remaining two third-tier nobles to show up, during which time the Senior Instructor almost lost patience.

He didn’t have to go and fetch them, though, as they strolled downstairs before the Senior Instructor got truly irate.

“Did you three decide who was in charge last night?” asked the Senior Instructor to the third-tier trainees once they’d sauntered down the stairs. Leon was predictably silent, but the pretty black-haired noble answered immediately.

“We did, Sir. Castor will be our centurion.” The black-haired noble nodded to Castor, the brown-haired and somewhat more rugged-looking noble, then took a position in the place of honor on his right.

“Alright, someone grab that banner and let’s get moving! We’re going to the training field!”

The Snow Lions ran out of their tower, the Senior Instructor leading the way, followed by the third-tier trainees, then the second-tier trainees, first-tier trainees, and the other two instructors all the way in the back. The unit arrived at the training field in fifteen minutes. They had run at an easier pace than the day before, but some of the first-tier trainees still nearly fell out.

Near the tree line and where the dirt roads that lead into the training forest began, a large platform had been set up. Scattered around the platform were dozens of knights serving the Academy, as well as a number of servants handing out sandwiches to the trainees.

The firt thing they did upon arriving was place the banner with the rest on the platform, where the Senior Instructor informed them that it would be completely safe from attempts to steal it—these platforms were the only places where trainees weren’t allowed to make attempts to seize the banners of their rivals. After that, the Senior Instructor split the group up by magical tier, with the first-tier trainees split off to learn from some of the weaker Academy knights. They were to learn basic combat techniques similar to what Leon had taught Charles as most of them barely knew which end of their swords to hold.

The second-tier trainees were to be taught by some of the stronger Academy knights. Their combat tests had made it clear that they already knew the basics, but the Academy still needed to give them adequate instruction in their fighting style.

Castor, Leon, and the final third-tier noble who Leon learned was named Alphonsus from his chatting with Castor, followed the Senior Instructor away from the platform. Giving third-tier trainees instruction in basic combat was pointless; they already knew how to fight if they were that strong at such a young age. Consequently, the ‘Basic Combat’ classes the Senior Instructor explained was more a way for those who were already destined for high office to network and socialize with each other.

About a quarter mile away from the platform was a long cloth wall raised between several dozen wooden posts. The Senior Instructor led the three to the other side of this wall where the rest of the trainees couldn’t see, then left them to be supervised by another unit’s Senior Instructor while he returned to the lower-tiered trainees to supervise their education.

The Snow Lions were beaten there by the all-female unit and two others, and over the next fifteen minutes or so the other nine units trickled in. During that time, Leon mostly watched and listened to the others. None of them invited him to join in their conversations, and he wasn’t feeling like interjecting himself into their business, so he felt sitting back and trying to learn the names of everyone else was a better use of his time.

He hadn’t managed to get very far by the time the rest of the third-tier trainees had arrived. Part of that was because he was just bad with names, but the main reason was because he noticed that he was attracting a couple of stares. He caught Gaius giving him side-eye every now and then, which was understandable given how their duel went, but he was also a little surprised to see that the large young man who had fought first during the test—Alcander, if he remembered the name correctly—was being quite blatant in his staring at Leon. He was grinning like a madman, but didn’t come over to break words, so Leon mostly just tried to ignore it, though his success in that endeavor was mixed at best.

After a few minutes of letting the nobles greet each other as they arrived, one of the Senior Instructors for one of the other units stepped forward, catching the attention of the third-tier trainees.

“Everyone, listen up! We’re going to get set up for a few duels in the same vein as those we had during the entrance test! No pressure to fight, no requirements, but consider this an opportunity to have someone who isn’t being paid by your parents analyze and critique your combat styles!”

Leon lightly frowned. If he wasn’t going to be required to fight, then he most certainly wasn’t going to waste his time. He acknowledged that it was good to train against other people, but for now, he just wanted to watch. Plus, this way he wouldn’t embarrass himself like he did during the duel with Gaius.

However, just as those thoughts flitted through his head, he felt the same couple of stares that he’d noticed only a few minutes before. It seemed like Alcander at the very least wanted to fight him, while Gaius was a bit harder to read but looked to Leon like he was contemplating a revenge match.

“These’ll be friendly duels,” the Senior Instructor continued, his eyes momentarily flickering in Leon’s direction—none of the other duels during the entrance test had ended as decisively as his and Gaius’ had. “This is a place to make new friends and to shore up your relationships with existing friends! Save your grudges for seizing banners!”

Leon’s light frown deepened slightly. He was a bit skeptical about having friendly duels in a place that was supposed to prepare them for fighting and killing, but then again, he was a newcomer to this Kingdom, he wasn’t overly familiar with how they did things here.

‘Ah, well, just another reason to stick to the sidelines, today,’ Leon thought. ‘Assuming, of course, that that is going to leave me alone…’ His drifted back in Alcander’s direction, who seemed positively electrified at the thought of getting out and sparring.

“Now, do we have any volunteers to fight first?”

Leon almost expected Alcander to leap forward and be the first just as he had during the combat test, so it was a tremendous shock when someone beat him to the punch—the silver-haired woman strode forward, a dark look in her sapphire eyes, her hand holding a training spear so tightly that Leon could see even from where he was near the back of the small crowd that her knuckles were completely white.

“Ah, Lady Valeria,” the Senior Instructor said with a smile as she stepped forward, “do you have an opponent in mind?”

“I do,” she quietly responded, her third-tier aura flaring for just a moment with enough killing intent for Leon to straighten up and take whatever was going to happen seriously—this woman meant business.

Valeria’s eyes swept over the small crown of thirty-five third-tier nobles, looking each one in the eye. Leon noticed a few of them averted their gaze from her, and when her eyes landed upon him, he could see why. Her gaze spoke of death and punishment, promising terrible things to whomever had drawn her ire. Whereas the others had apparently met her gaze and seen nothing they liked, Leon found himself utterly captivated by just that one look.

Her eyes lingered on Leon—or maybe it just felt that way to Leon—they slid off and kept moving around the small circle. Eventually, they settled on a young black haired man of deceptively slender build. He was quite pretty, with sharp, handsome features, short, perfectly groomed hair, and not a stitch of clothing out of place. His body, however, was covered in thin but dense muscle that seemed almost put on display by his skin-tight training attire.

“Tiberias,” Valeria growled. She raised her spear and pointed the end in his direction, her gaze so murderous, her aura radiating such killing intent that even though he wasn’t the target, Leon felt his heart flutter a little bit.

[Like what you see, human?] Xaphan asked from his soul realm. [She’s pretty, by human standards. Maybe you should try your luck with her, she might be more compatible with a social reject like you than that red-head you’ve been chatting up.]

And like that, the spell Valeria had over him was broken. Leon closed his eyes, smiled bitterly, and silently responded to his demonic partner, [I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about.]

[Yeah, sure you don’t. The past few seconds of dopey-eyed staring at all of her was for no reason. Gotcha. I’m just going to say right now, don’t get involved with that girl. She’s cute, she’s deadly, but she’ll cut your balls off before you even get a chance to use them. Trust me, I’ve known women like her and have seen greater beings than you succumb to their wily ways.]

[Whatever you say, demon,] Leon said, having tuned Xaphan out completely. His attention was taken by what was in front of him: Tiberias had seemingly accepted Valeria’s challenge while Xaphan was talking, for he’d strode out to meet her as the rest of the nobles circled around them. He had also drawn his weapons of choice, an arming sword in one hand and a dagger in the other.

Whatever they might’ve said to each other had been lost on Leon, distracted as he was by Xaphan’s comments, but Valeria looked livid while Tiberias seemed calm, composed, and unashamed.

“I assure you, My Lady,” Tiberias said as he slid into an aggressive fighting stance, “my intentions are honorable. I want her love and her happiness.”

Valeria scowled, then glared at the Senior Instructor running the duel. Getting the meaning behind, the Senior Instructor quickly said, “Remember, this is a friendly duel, so no taking things too far! You may begin!”

Valeria immediately lunged forward with her spear in a powerful strike that made Leon’s eyes go wide in appreciation. Tiberias blocked it with seeming ease, but he wasn’t nearly as aggressive as Valeria was; a moment later, she pivoted and rained strike after strike down upon the nobleman, each one with flawless precision and posture.

Leon could see that she was extremely proficient with her weapon. Tiberias, perhaps because of his weapon choice compared to hers, was unable to make up for the range difference between them and so remained on the defensive, barely able to block and parry Valeria’s blows as they came in.

Valeria’s footwork was even more impressive, as even when Tiberias managed to deflect one of her attacks, she swiftly regained any distance that he attempted to seize and used the superior reach of her spear to put even more pressure upon him.

After only a single minute of intense sparring that had Leon’s heart racing with excitement, it became clear to him that Tiberias wasn’t going to win unless something drastic happened. And it seemed that nothing drastic was going to happen, as Valeria managed to knock the young man off-balance for just a moment, but it was more than enough time for her to land a vicious strike to his sternum.

Leon’s face split open in an appreciative smile as Tiberias fell to the ground unconscious, while many of the watching nobles winced in sympathy for Tiberias.

“All right, that’s enough!” the Senior Instructor running the duels shouted as Valeria took a step toward the fallen Tiberias, seemingly not finished, yet. “He’s down, My Lady! You’ve won!”

The Senior Instructor placed himself in between Valeria and Tiberias, and it was only then that Valeria backed down. She gave the unconscious nobleman a hateful look, and then turned to rejoin her cheerful dark-skinned friend who had been cheering for her the entire time.

Tiberias, meanwhile, was dragged out of the center of the circle by his fellow third-tier nobles in his unit. Leon barely even registered that, though, as his eyes were locked on Valeria the entire time.

‘Wow…’ he thought to himself, unable to articulate just how impressed he was with her martial display.

“Damn creep,” the bronze-skinned woman quietly said, jerking Leon out of his appreciative haze, his heart stopping for a moment as he thought she was calling him out for staring. But he relaxed a moment later when he noticed that she was glaring at Tiberias. “How many times is she going to have to say ‘no’ for him to get it?”

“If she has to say it one more time, I’m going to start taking fingers from him,” Valeria replied, her tone soft and quiet, though they were close enough for Leon to hear with his third-tier senses.

He wondered who they were talking about, until a possibility entered his mind. They were friends with Elise, it seemed, if their arrival at the entrance test was evidence of anything. He felt like he might’ve been making assumptions, but it seemed to him that Tiberias was bothering a friend of theirs, and that friend could very well be Elise.

Instantly, Leon’s opinion of Tiberias dropped as low as it could possibly go. He resolved to watch the nobleman closely, just in case his suspicion turned out to be true.

‘And watch her…’ he thought to himself as his gaze drifted back in Valeria’s direction. Such a display had had quite the effect on him, and he could feel a desire to fight her welling up in his chest, to test his skills with the blade against hers. ‘Later…’ he vowed to himself, noticing that she seemed a little winded from how intensely she’d fought Tiberias. ‘Later…’