Benjamin arrived home to find his mother and siblings already eating.
His mother had bought three pizzas. They had already eaten two. "Hi Benjamin," his mother said, hugging him.
Benjamin nodded at his siblings as he sat down at the table. "Benjamin," Logan said. Benjamin turned to his brother, and shoved the last bite of pizza into his mouth.
"What?" Benjamin asked with his mouth full. "One of my friends heard that there was a tournament at the institute in a few days," his brother replied.
Benjamin nearly choked on his food. "What?!?" he asked after swallowing his food painfully.
The rest of Benjamin's family looked over at him, half concerned, half annoyed. "What tournament?" Benjamin hissed.
"It's a tournament for the top 30 sophomores," Logan replied, "The reward is supposedly some piece of gear that can boost soul potency by a crazy amount."
"Why sophomores specifically?" Benjamin asked, "Wouldn't that kind of thing be better for a senior."
"I don't know that much," Logan replied, "All I know is that it's a tournament for sophomores and the reward is a crazy piece of gear.
I should tell you though, everyone expects Jackie to win." Benjamin frowned.
Jackie was the top ranked student in his grade. Her scale rank was 4.1. If Benjamin wanted to get the artifact, he would have to beat her.
"That's gonna be an issue," Benjamin said. "You said it," Logan replied.
Benjamin picked up another slice of pizza and started eating. "You'd better find some way to grow to her level in a month," Logan said.
"Why worry about her when I've got to worry about fighting everyone else," Benjamin replied. Suddenly, one of Benjamin's other brothers, Xander, stood up.
"I'm gonna go for a run," he said, "Anyone wanna come with me?" Logan pushed Benjamin's shoulder.
"Go," he whispered. "I'll go," Benjamin replied, standing up.
This surprised his family, who were all used to him playing video games after dinner. "Cool," Xander said, smiling.
The two left soon after that. "What happened?" Benjamin's mom asked her husband. "He said he had a little breakthrough," Benjamin's dad replied.
Benjamin and Xander jogged down the street. They planned to go two miles and then head back.
They had only gone about half a mile when Xander started asking questions.
"What made you want to come on a run today?" he asked.
"I guess you could call it a revelation," Benjamin replied, smirking.
"Please don't tell me you're one of those religious guys now," Xander said, rolling his eyes. "No," Benjamin replied, "I just got a little boost is all."
"Really?" Xander asked, the doubt written all over his face. "Yeah," Benjamin replied, "I was in the blacksmithing shop's back room when I decided to do some training.
When I finished, I noticed black energy radiating from one of the suits of armor. I absorbed the energy and found that it boosted my soul potency."
"That sounds almost too good to be true," Xander said. "Luckily for me, it is true," Benjamin replied, "Somehow, absorbing that energy made my empowered attacks hit harder and cause what I hit to decay."
"Gruesome," Xander said, "Still won't help if you can't hit anything."
"Just had to go there, didn't you?" Benjamin said, frowning. "Sorry, it was just too tempting," Xander replied, laughing. "Weren't you the one who missed a point every slash in a fight one time?"
Benjamin said, grinning smugly. "That was a fluke," Xander laughed. The brothers continued poking fun at one another as they continued their run.
Benjamin laid in his bed. The run had exhausted him.
I really need to do more cardio, Benjamin thought. He rolled over, thinking about what Logan had said.
A tournament, he thought. Benjamin's earlier assumption hadn't been wrong.
He would need to find a way to beat the students right in front of him before he could set his sights on Jackie or Corey.
I'll start working out, Benjamin thought. Thanks to paladins being stronger than humans, they could gain physical strength faster.
He would start lifting weights and running with Xander whenever he got the chance.
Benjamin felt excitement well up inside him as he planned for how to win the tournament.
However, that feeling came crashing down when he made one realization, he would have to learn swordsmanship.
Benjamin already knew swordsmanship as he had picked the sword in 4th grade. However, Benjamin generally looked over his sword skills in favor of lamenting his abilities.
I have to do all of this in about 5 days, Benjamin thought.
Though the time constraint was tight, Benjamin wasn't nervous. In fact, he was excited.
The prospect of getting rare gear was too large an opportunity to pass up. Rare gear was usually immediately eaten up by the rich or the government.
The fact that the school was giving one up to the students was shocking. And a little suspicious.
Benjamin went over the information in his head. There was definately something strange about the tournament.
Best not to look a gift horse in the mouth, he thought. Benjamin got out of his bed and started doing push-ups
. I'll have to increase my physical strength in addition to improving my sword skills, he thought. After doing 20 push-ups, Benjamin laid on the floor and began to do sit-ups.
It's unfortunate that I haven't been doing this for a while, he thought. He stood up anf grabbed the pull-up bar in his room.
If the tournament starts next week, I'll have five days instead of three because of the weekend, Benjamin thought, pulling himself up. Benjamin did 20 pull-ups before dropping back onto the floor and doing squats.
I'll need to either get Coach Chrisante or Evan to help me with my swordsmanship, he thought.
Benjamin dropped back to the floor and began to do push-ups.
This is all I do for now, he thought, moving back into doing sit-ups. Benjamin continued to do basic bodyweight exercises.
He was so absorbed in his thoughts, that he failed to notice the hours slipping by. By the time he went to bed, it was already 3 in the morning.