Rise of the Crusader

The next five days were spent with Almond.

When Almond had said it was going to be hell, the students had thought he was simply exaggerating, but it only took the first training session for them to realize that he wasn't joking.

Even hell seemed more comfortable than the workload he put them through.

"Hehe!" Almond chuckled as he stared at the twenty-one students, covered in sweats and blood in front of him.

In the last few days, they had been in the alley together. The only period that they weren't in the alley was the two hours break that was given them, after that, everyone was in the alley.

Bane glared at Almond and spoke to Aiden, who was beside him. "This is cruel, how are we supposed to compete with someone who has supernatural regenerative ability."

"We are all very exhausted, but look at him, it doesn't even seem something is wrong with him," Bane mumbled.

"He feeds on our energy after all."

Aiden, however, kept a straight face as Bane spoke. Even though Almond had been exceptionally cruel to them, he gained a lot from the hardcore training that he was put through.

"It won't cost you anything to keep quiet, and listen Bane," Camille said.

"Y-"

Bane was about to retort to the words that had just been spoken by Camille when he felt pain in his hand. He glared at Camille for a few seconds, before moving his gaze to Almond.

"As much as I wish, we had more time to spend together, I'm afraid we don't," Almond said.

"The first-year academy tournament starts in two days."

The expression on the student's faces changed from the mention of the tournament. A stern and grim look appeared on the faces of a couple of them, and as they thought of whom they will be going up against, some clenched their hands into tight fists.

It wasn't just their classmate or teammate they will be up against, but the other students in the division.

And there was only going to be one winner and a grand prize.

"Good!" Almond stated, seeing the look on their faces. "This is the sort of expression, I want to see on your face."

"Remember you're on your own. There's no friendship or teammates from here on, consider everyone as a competitor or better still an enemy." Almond exclaimed.

"You know the rules of the tournament, don't you? There are no rules… Everything goes." Amond said.

"If you haven't had an assassination attempt on your life before, then prepare to get one. Because, you certainly will, and if you have already dealt with one or two attempts, then prepare because it will only get more intense."

The students listened attentively to all that was said by Almond.

After a few minutes, Almond nodded his head.

"The elite division has dominated the first-year tournament five times consecutively, so don't bring shame to our glorious record."

"It's either first or nothing! I was brought here for this very reason and so help me devil, if you don't bring that prize home, I will rip you all to pieces." Almond blurted.

During the training session between Almond and the twenty-one students, he had spoken all sorts of words, but this felt different from all the harsh words he said.

There was murderous intent in his voice, and even as he glared at each of them, the look on his face showed that he really intended to put his work into action.

Suddenly, Jackson took a step forward, "Almond, I don't know about the others, but I certainly won't let you down."

"In fact, I want you to consider the prize won already. The academy might as well decide to call the tournament off because the elite division has won it." Jackson blurted.

While there was an eye roll from a few of his classmates, a nod came from Almond. Almond took light steps and appeared beside Jackson.

"That's the spirit. I will count on you, Jackson. If you don't make it to the top five, I will come for your head." Almond said.

The smile that was on Jackson's face vanished the moment he heard Almond. He removed the hand that Almond placed on his shoulder and took a step backward.

"I…"

Jackson was about to speak when Almond's voice rang out.

"We have a deal, Jackson. I wish you the best of luck, and I also wish myself the best of luck because I will rip you apart. That I promise." A sadistic smile formed on Almond's face as he spoke.

Jackson took a few steps, scratching his head and then lowering it.

A chuckle escaped Almond's lips. "Anyway, before I let you leave, there's something I need to address to you."

"My last piece of advice is for you to study every single metahuman within your division. You might not know this, but they have studied you all."

"Some even have details that you don't know about yourself," Almond said.

Almond had made mention of these words to them earlier and as he was stating it, here again, only a dumbo wouldn't take it seriously.

"As the students of the elite division, you will be the target of everyone in the academy. I expect that if others are working twice as harder, then you put in a hundred times the effort."

"I wish you good luck!" Almond said. "You may leave now."

After five days of hellish training, those were the most beautiful words that anyone could hope for. And as Almond uttered them out, the students wasted no time and rush out of the alley.

Staring at the students leaving, a light smile appeared on Almond's face.

Even though he had insulted and criticized them a lot, the truth was he was astounded by their potencies. He chose to keep quiet about it, so it wouldn't get in their head.

"Not so bad, isn't it?"

A few seconds after the students left the alley, a woman appeared beside Almond.

If Raphael were here, he would recognize her, as she was the one who always attended to him in the administration block.

"How long have you been here?" Almond asked as he stared at the woman.

"Since the beginning, I couldn't bear to miss his training." She replied.

Almond had no idea who, among them, she was referring to, but as he saw the glow on her face, he shook his head.

...

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