BXBX NOVEL Chapter 232 231: Combat Finals
However, hearing Anput and Kat stumbling into the house, I shrugged as I helped Leone up, healing the Vampire with some small Light Magic for moment, allowing her to move and function properly.
With the Vampire leaning on me, I scooped up the two murky red vials that she had brewed, wanting to show them to my other two girls.
It wasn\'t the most eye catching thing to watch, but I was more focused on the adorableness of Leone as she concentrated on getting the amounts of each ingredient correct.
She would stick out her tongue slightly, narrow her eyes, and lean forwards to make sure she had every bit of the required amount, and I found that sight to be incredible.
Her first attempt at potion brewing had been, unsurprisingly, a failure; the downcast look on her face as the potion turned from the vibrant red to a dark, murky black was heart wrenching, and I made sure to comfort her as best I could during that moment.
The second try was a success, and the third was as well; I hadn\'t seen many potions in my life, but I knew that these weren\'t the highest quality healing potions.
Though, they weren\'t that bad considering the ingredients used were cheap.
I could tell that Leone wasn\'t happy with the results, but after a quick cheering up she had pulled me onto her bed, wanting me to pamper her more.
Which, I did; I\'d have to be stupid to not accept the bodacious woman\'s desire to have sex.
After thoroughly pampering my Vampire, and hearing my other two wives come inside, I got her up and brought her out into the living room, where Kat was preparing dinner again.
The citrusy scent wafting off her body, paired with the proud, arrogant smirk of Anput as she watched Kat stiffly move around made me chuckle as I sat Leone down on the couch.
Glancing at Anput, I raised a brow at the rusty looking dagger in her hand, which she was twirling around expertly between her fingers.
"Is that your first blade?"
Hearing my question, the Jackalkin nodded, her smirk widening as she spun the dagger around, offering the flattened hilt to me.
Taking it, I frowned at the lightness of the blade, raising it up and staring at the edge.
"It\'s kinda light..."
Anput chuckled, gesturing over to Kat, who was slicing up a large chunk of beef.
"Kat fights with agility first, power second. Besides, I can always make her a second dagger that\'s a little heavier if she needs it! Also, I think I\'ll work on something for Leone next..."
We both glanced at the zoned out Vampire, her cheeks flushed as she breathed in and breathed out.
Hearing her name, Leone turned towards us, her confusion evident in those crimson eyes.
Anput and I just smirked at one another, before I handed the dagger back to the Jackalkin, watching as she slipped over to the \'equipment\' table we had set up, the woman wetting a whetstone and beginning to sharpen the edge, alternating between a grainy stone and a smooth stone.
The rest of our day swept by easily enough, with Leone observing the dagger Anput made whilst Anput and Kat stared at Leone\'s brewed potions, the two nodding like they understood what they were looking at.
With a nice, hearty meal of steaks and potatoes, we all went to bed happy that night, excited for the future to come.
Part of that future was an extra few hours of free time that we would be gaining, as we were taking the Combat Final today; I had been drilling proper sword techniques into the woman whenever I could, and I believed that she was ready now.
I had no idea what this final would truly entail, but I knew for a fact that Anput Kat and I were going to be fine; the only worry we had was Leone.
She couldn\'t afford to lose, but if the final was just like our quarterly test, and it took into account her skill and talent, then we should be fine.
Should be.
Sighing, I went about the first half of our day with ease; I had enjoyed Vice-Headmaster Bijilo\'s classes immensely, more than I thought that I might, and had only dozed off twice during Professor Xiant\'s boring lectures.
When the time finally came for Combat Class, I approached Professor Liako and informed her that all four of us would like to take the final for the course, which made the blued eyed snake woman surprised.
However, she swiftly informed us that we would be tested after the class was over, so as to not take away from the others time.
Since we were taking the final, all four of us sat out of todays lesson, instead using this remaining time to continue teaching Leone some of the more basic, yet needed techniques, as well as theory.
Some of our classmates were giving us odd stares, wondering why we weren\'t doing anything with the class, whilst others seemed relieved that Anput and I would continue to sit out.
I watched the remaining weaklings flail around, before noting the few who I deemed had enough potential to be worth a damn.
Countess Aurim and her secret lover Greselda were talented enough, and Greselda had the air of a woman who\'s seen some bloody fights before.
Then Rialko, Draka\'s Lamia wife, was also incredibly talented with that spear of hers.
Giana Cryms, the Harpy that beat Leone during the quarterly tests, was an agile little thing, her lithe body making her hard to hit as she ran around her opponent.
Marco Sizzali was another, though it was more so that I knew he was hiding his strength, like Kat; he had talent and technique, but he was keeping it concealed, putting on an average facade as he sparred against a classmate.
There were a few others, but none stood out like those five, so I returned my attention to teaching Leone some more tells in a fight, hoping the woman could memorize this like she did her books.
When the class finally ended, we all watched as everyone filtered out of the room, with the only remaining people being our professors...
And Jillian, alongside Ayla.
The two Elven women were talking to Professor Hawn, who was nodding as they spoke to him.
Professor Liako approached us, Thorn walking behind her.
"So, you wish to take the final? Very well... you must fight, and gain the approval of one of the two Professors you haven\'t fought yet; so Lady Jahi, Lady Anput, you must chose between me and Hawn, whilst Lady Leone and Miss Kat must chose between Thorn and Hawn. It will be exactly like the quarterly test, but this time..."
Giving us a small smile, Professor Liako looked between each of us as she said "We won\'t be holding back as much."
Anput and I grinned, glancing between one another as we heard that, before Kat and Leone sighed as they approached Thorn.
Seeing that we were avoiding Hawn, the large Bearkin and the snake woman frowned slightly, whilst the Elves furrowed their brows.
Thorn was, by far, the most intimidating of the three, and yet the two \'weaker\' women chose him over the easier fight against Hawn.
However, the large man and the lithe woman simply shrugged, moving to opposite sides of the field as they had us go grab our practice blades.
Standing beside the wooden weaponry was Jillian and Ayla, the two smiling warmly at us as we brushed past them.
When I reached for a sword, Jillian leaned over and whispered "Are you enjoying your remaining time of freedom, Demoness~?"
Glancing at her from the corner of my eye, I hefted the blade and whispered back "Are you enjoying the remaining time of your life, puny Elf? Try as you might, but you will die by my hand; there is no doubt about that."
Her warm smile dropped, and I turned to stare at her furious expression, smirking as I added "If you truly think that whatever you and Ayla are planning will work, you\'re both sorely mistaken. The Asmodia\'s have been around longer than you could have imagined, and we\'ve always been this Empire\'s shield. Do you think you could replace us?"
Her lip raised into a sneer, and the Elf growled "Yes, I think we could. Brawn isn\'t everything, Demoness..."
With that, the Elf stalked away, grabbing her lover, who was glaring at Leone with a twisted smile.
Watching them go, I frowned as I contemplated her last words to me.
Brawn isn\'t everything...
She wasn\'t wrong; House Asmodia was a militant house ever since its inception, preferring blades to magic.
But that didn\'t mean we were weak against the Arcane; there was a reason we had managed to chain down a Fiend and force it to obey us.
We just preferred the brutal efficiency of stabbing someone in the heart, compared to trying to hit them with a spell from hundreds of feet away.
Sighing, I thrust her from my mind for now, turning back to the two Professors that were going to grade us.
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Going to do 2 chapters on this, split into ~750 word chunks of each PoV, then we being to get some more \'filler\' stuff done, like Anput and Leone improving their craft, while Kat continues to prepare for the future.
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