Benjamin stood in front of a training dummy.
He was practicing empowering his sword faster.
So far, he managed to empower the sword while swinging it.
However, this still gave his opponent too much time to react.
Benjamin slashed at the dummy, empowering his sword mid-swing.
The empowered attack left a deep gash in the dummy's torso.
"You're getting better fast," Coach Chrisante said, walking up to Benjamin.
Benjamin turned around.
"I owe it to you for giving me the idea," Benjamin replied.
This was true.
Benjamin would have never thought to empower his sword in short bursts if it wasn't for Coach Chrisante.
"You're less than a second off," Coach Chrisante said.
"But it's that fraction of a second that can give people like Jackie an opening," Benjamin replied, wiping sweat from his forehead.
"Exactly," Coach Chrisante said, "Looks like you pay attention in class."
"We all do," Benjamin replied, "Some just don't need the info."
Coach Chrisante walked away, leaving Benjamin to his training.
Benjamin moved into an offensive stance.
After waiting for a bit, he slashed.
Right before his sword made contact with the dummy, Benjamin empowered it, black energy engulfing the blade.
The sword effortlessly cut through the dummy.
The moment the blade exited the dummy, Benjamin depowered it.
Benjamin let the sword keep its momentum, looping his arm around and slashing again.
Once more, he empowered his sword right before it hit the dummy and depowered it right as it left the dummy.
Benjamin did this over and over again, finding that the shadows he absorbed improved his stamina.
"Nice technique," Benjamin heard a voice say from behind him.
He turned around to see Isaiah and Charles jogging up to him.
They were both sweating and breathing heavily.
"How are you going to spar with Jackie if you exhaust yourself?" Benjamin asked Isaiah.
"A little cardio helps me warm up," Isaiah replied.
"You're getting better," Charles commented, pointing at Benjamin's sword.
"I try my best," Benjamin replied.
Charles and Isaiah turned to leave.
"Can I ask you guys a question?" Benjamin asked.
"You already did," Charles replied, turning around.
"Sure," Isaiah interjected.
"If one had some secret way of getting strong, when should they reveal their strength?" Benjamin asked.
Charles and Isaiah looked at each other.
"When they're strong enough to defend themselves from the majority of other paladins," Charles replied.
"Let's look at all of those web novels with protagonists in that situation," Isaiah said, "The reason they conceal their power is that they don't want to attract attention. This attention could lead to them being targeted by strong individuals that want to kill them. Without strength of their own, they would quickly be assassinated."
"The real world is a little different though," Charles explained, "You'd most likely have corporations trying to recruit you left and right.
A dead paladin isn't really of use to anyone.
If they didn't recruit you, they'd most likely try to keep good ties with you so they could ask for favors.
The real issue would be other paladins," Isaiah said, rolling his eyes, "They all somehow gain a superiority complex when they see someone weaker than them. This leads to them trying to kill you at any chance they get so they can claim extra shares of the money."
"I don't think there would be a problem with them revealing themselves a little early, especially if they're in school," Charles concluded, "As long as the person is willing to stand in the spotlight for a little bit, they'd be fine."
Charles and Isaiah turned to leave again.
"The sparring match will be at the end of the school day," Isaiah said, waving back at Benjamin.
Benjamin wasn't paying attention to this, however.
He was thinking about all of the information Isaiah and Charles had shared.
Benjamin was one of the weakest people in the school at the moment.
If he got too strong and defeated people near the top, he could throw the school itself into chaos.
Maybe I should take an intentional loss, he thought to himself.
Even though it would hurt his future career prospects, he wanted to make it to that future first.
Benjamin sheathed his sword and walked over to the weights.
He decided that he would ask his dad when he got home.
He took two 40-pound dumbbells and began to curl them.
"Such concentration," a voice said.
Benjamin looked up, startled. Lennox was standing over him.
Lennox put his weights back on the rack and turned to Benjamin.
"What's got you thinking that hard?" he asked.
"Superficial things," Benjamin replied.
"It's that important, huh?" Lennox asked.
Benjamin shook his head.
"I won't press you," Lennox said, shrugging, "I'd suggest you push it out of your mind though. You need to focus on the sparring match to see if you can spot any exploitable weaknesses in us."
"You're right," Benjamin replied, sighing.
"Damn right I am," Lennox said, "I don't care if you're the weakest, you can at least try."
This struck a nerve in Benjamin.
Who said he wasn't going to try?
Lennox turned to leave.
"If you see Corey, tell him we need to plan," he said, waving back at Benjamin.
Charles and Isaiah were jogging around the courtyard.
"So we agree that Benjamin was talking about himself, right?" Isaiah asked.
"Most definitely," Charles replied, "But we shouldn't tell anyone. He made it abundantly clear he didn't want to let anyone know."
"It's unfortunate that he found this secret technique right before a tournament," Isaiah said, shaking his head.
"He could take an intentional loss though," Charles replied.
"I never factored that in," Isaiah said, "Still though, that would set him back farther. I would just commit to getting stronger and try to get the gear in first or second place."
"Do you really think he'll be strong enough to beat Corey and Jackie in one month?" Charles asked.
Isaiah shrugged.
"It's possible," he replied, "The tournament bracket is divided from weakest to strongest for a reason."
"Let's hope you're right," Charles said, speeding up.