( Two days before the end of the year tournaments start )

" Ouch, can you be a little more gentle? " Asiva complained to Max as the latter applied medicine on her wounds.

" Are you not the same girl who had her skin ripped to her bones and still did not utter a single sound, are you not Asiva the Bloodless? ". Max teased as he began applying medicine a lot more gently.

" Max, I will rip your skin from your bones if you call me that name again " Asiva said gritting her teeth.

9 months had passed since the duo first entered college and 2 days later the top 10,000 rankings were going to be locked.

The reason why Asiva was so badly wounded was because today a group of over 300 students ambushed Sebastian, Asiva and Anna in the wild looking for their hard-earned merit points, however, the trio was successful in ditching them and reaching the dorms.

The three of them were all under the top 5000 ranks with over 1.5 million merit points saved, whereas the 10,000 spot was at 990,000.

With this lead it was all but assured that the group was going to enter the tournament as the remaining two days were simply too short of a time for anyone else to catch-up.

" The team rounds are going to be tough, I wish I had you to cover my back " Asiva said as she laid bareback in front of Max who applied medicine on her wounds.

" Ayy you don't want me covering your back, afterall I do it very hard, not gentle at all ". Max teased Asiva who turned just for a moment enough to slap Max before laying back down.

However, Max's speed had increased considerably after his training in the gravity chamber and he dodged the slap as he said " Nice tits ".

A deep red blush appeared on Asiva's face as she realised that Max had seen her privates for the one second that she lifted her body to slap him, as although Max could not see her face, looking at her red ears he smiled.

" Okay okay , I'm joking, I didn't see shit ".

Asiva breathed a huge sigh of relief when Max said this.

Max chuckled at her innocence, the dangerous princess was quite easy to bully if you knew how to.

" You know princess, if you were back at my planet you would not be considered such a big loser to be a virgin at 18, it's quite normal ". Max said

" What do you mean? I'm not a loser even here! Just because I don't sleep with cat-beast boys and frolic around doesn't make me a loser ". Asiva retorted

" That joke has run its course princess, not good enough ". Max said with a smile, satisfied that the insult could no longer wound his pride.

" All done " Max said as he stood up and washed his hands before crashing on the bed in his own room.

Asiva opened the metal shutter between the two and said " If possible, use the shuttle service to come and go these next 2 days Max, it's Pandemonium out there, even we are not going to go out anymore till the tournament".

Max nodded as he said " I understand siv, I have 60,000 merit points saved, I will be able to manage for a few days ".

" You know Max, although I've been fighting with those two for the last 3-4 months, I feel like our chemistry is still the best ". Asiva said in a sad voice

" Ofcourse, it's because I'm awesome " Max said with a Beaming smile

" I miss fighting with you …. " Asiva said as she shut the metal window between the two and went to bed.

Max was speechless about her last words for a while, but then sighed deeply as he murmured " So do I "

Truth be told, even Max wanted to participate in the tournament badly, but he did not have the opportunity to do it anymore.

He had missed the most critical points gathering time and focused on improving himself instead, and now even though he had a burning desire to participate, he did not have the merit points needed to do so.

***********

( The next day )

Max took the shuttle to university, and he was the only person to attend the usually jam packed principal's classes on this day, as the principal himself walked in shocked to see even a single student being seated.

" It's you … " the principal said as he recognised the mask instantly.

The principal had kept an eye on Max for the last few months and had talked to the various receptionists and trainers as to how he was doing, only to be highly praised as a training freak by everyone.

" Good morning Sir " Max said with respect

"Tell me boy, why do you persevere on the path of the perfect warrior. You are the only one to follow the routine I gave at the start of the semester.

Every other student dropped it by the 6 month mark, but you are still here ". The principal asked with great curiosity

" I have faith sir, faith that if an institution this prestigious with many tier 4 professors has a tier 3 warrior as principal teaching combat, the path he has chosen must be special ". Max replied

The principal's eyes shined brightly when he heard the answer as a rare grin appeared on his face as he sized up Max.

" So, how long till you perfect tier 1? ". The principal asked

" A month at best, 20-21 days I think if I go really hard and skip lectures ". Max replied

" Oh so close? Tell me, student, why did you not aim for the tournament? "

" No particular reason, it's not like I did not want to, but the time I have is limited and I could have either spent my merit points to learn and train, or saved them for the top 10,000 spot.

I came into the university to train and learn and since that goal is achieved I'm fine even if I miss out on the tournament ". Max replied honestly

The principal was silent for a long time, as he contemplated something big.

The principal really liked Max and his conviction, he was a honest and hardworking kid, hence after a bit of internal turmoil the principal decided to award Max some merit points.

[ Varsity Notification - You have gained 1,000,000 merit points ]

Max's eyes popped out when he saw the notification, as he was completely dumbfounded by what he saw.

" Listen to me boy, and listen to me well. When you go out of this class, the official reason that you say to receive these merit points is that the principal said that the tournament was a great place to learn team and one-on -one combat so he rewarded everyone in the class with 1 million merit points to get there.

But since it was only me, only I have received it.

On a personal note, consider it as a reward from my side for your hustle the last 9 months and as a loan for you to show the power of the perfect warrior to the students who missed out on this opportunity.

Don't disappoint me ".

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/// A/N - this chapter is a bonus for hitting the GT target, good job everyone! ///