From the very start of classes, the material was more difficult and comprehensive than last year, but with how hard I'd worked on the grind over the summer, it was this period that felt more like a vacation. Especially since, and extraordinarily differently from my experience in real life, I had a solid friend group. It wasn't just me and Jue Zhu at our lunch table now—Jong and Shokoya had joined too. Shokoya had become Rank #4 after the summer, and after a few weeks of that rank going unchallenged, others in our year started calling us the Big 4.
It wasn't all easy street and big man on campus status, of course. A month in, Hasegawa started assigning essays, a task that frustrated Jong and outright confused Jue Zhu. Shokoya and I weren't happy about it either, not that it stopped us from helping out those two.
Too, the rankings for all classes but the freshman updated every week instead of only after exams. There was no movement in the top 5, with Mei rounding out the spot just after us Big 4, but by the week before midterms, things had shifted around quite a bit in the other half of the rankings that would, if they stayed there, advance to the "Inner Court" curriculum, had been shaken up quite a few times. The duo of rivals I'd taken to calling the Spear/Shield pair had fallen to 8th and 9th, a fact that had alarmed them enough that they were actually helping each other study and had gotten them to take more of a training attitude in their spars, which left a lot of people, even some teachers relieved. If there was something they couldn't help each other understand, they usually went to Shokoya, but once or twice they'd come to me.
Now at #6 was Shai Shan, a short, fierce girl from Class C, the same class with those two. She was fast and relentless, and I thought she could have maybe been higher ranked than me except that it had taken her a long time to get the hang of things, so she was behind in her cultivation compared to me. As it was, she was still a tough sparring partner. She mostly fought with knives or hand-to-hand, so the nickname currently being contemplated for her was Crazy Claws.
The new #7, Senyu Quan, was the only person in Class B who was even more taciturn than I was. He was also huge, and probably the best blunt weapon user in the year. He'd said—at least, according to Jue Zhu, since I hadn't paid attention much at the time—he was a bodyguard for one of the upper-class families interested in continuing their line, so his past had to have been full of some pretty dark things.
With more shake-ups proven to be possible, tensions were high among the upper, and even upper middle portions of the second year cultivators. We'd been reminded that even for those who had no realistic chance to reach the Top 10, if they scored high enough to be placed in Class 1 of the normal upperclassmen, they'd still have a shot at joining one of the four Top #100 sects of the Mortal Heaven. Of course, rankings would still change beyond that, but historically it was extremely hard to advance to a higher class after you'd already been placed in a lower one, or so we'd been told.
The tensest time was of course the sparring portion of the Combat final. Like last year, we'd have five bouts, plus another for those who won all 5 if a tiebreaker was needed. As I'd maintained my overall Rank #3, even my early opponents were at least Rank #20.
My fourth opponent was Senyu Quan—the first time I'd ever faced them. He'd refused to spar at all during free practice period, and not only hadn't he grouped up with anyone during the first summer camp, no one seemed to have any idea just what he'd done, though I suspected he'd trained beyond the Dark Forest even if he didn't go for any special targets, since his cultivation was at the peak of the Fourth Realm, on par or better than everyone but me and Jue Zhu.
It was apparent from the start that there were reasons he'd been able to grind that high in spite of having no stat talents at all, and why he'd been granted Rank #7 in spite of not sparring with anyone. In spite of having a higher speed stat, I was completely unable to get distance to use my bow, and even with higher strength, fending off his mace with my sword pushed my technique to the limit. Every movement he made was with automatic ease.
It wasn't until several minutes in that I managed to turn the fight my way. Hasegawa had emphasized for the last two semesters that with my Comprehension talent, a lot of my training should focus on analyzing an opponent's fighting style. After working at it for a year, I had a decent grasp of how to do that. Too, Senyu Quan's way of fighting was 100% brutal efficiency, with nothing deceptive about it. Even as hard pressed as I was, I was able to methodically get a handle on it. Finally, I was able to parry him in such a way that it shoved his arm to the side, and from there I could get my sword at his neck. The spars took place using wooden weapons that were weighted in some way, so all he got was a nasty bruise. However, under the exam rules, it counted as a deathblow.
"Bodyguard, huh. Guessing you're ex-military, before that?"
"Yeah," he grunted, "you really are a quick study, huh? I didn't think someone who only game-fought before would be able to beat someone like me who was trained as a real soldier."
"Hey, they may technically be games, but I still had a lot on the line...even if losing never literally meant death...directly anyway. I had to keep pushing myself to get better."
If we'd been the same cultivation base, though...
After a break, I faced off with Shokoya, who I was disconcerted to note was a lot easier for me to beat. He always focused on defending until his opponent made a mistake, and though he did try to pressure them into doing so when he needed to, his pressure wasn't as demanding as Senyu Quan's. Too, I was more noticeably speedier than him, so once I could switch to my bow it was basically over.
The time after that until the results were to be posted was a complete blur. I had once again come in the top spot on the actual exam, but this time I'd scored 3 points short of perfect. I had thought Senyu Quan might have promoted a few ranks with his impressive combat skills, but he'd come in 9th in the exam overall, and none of the current Top 10 ended up shifting at all.
That could easily change, though. Even I didn't feel totally safe going into the second half of the year. I wasn't likely to be relegated all the way out of the Top 10, but I'd gotten attached to my #3 spot and didn't want to lose it. As if sensing the fervor that had now entered the majority of the year, Hasegawa increased our workload, and it was easy to confirm that the other classes were doing the same.