“Tamara! You are back! How did it go with the colonel?” Simon immediately questioned her the moment Tamara returned to the dorm.

“Colonel Monroe promised to help, but I feel bad for Sergeant Hawkins; she got an earful for rescuing me by force,” she said, and some of her old vigor seemed to have returned already.

“You look better; is Tonny getting better already?” Simon asked, which made Arthur cringe, if Tonny was not better, then his question would make her feel down once more!

“Yes, the colonel told me Tonny is stable already; it will need two weeks to recover, but it should make a full recovery if nothing goes wrong,” she nodded.

“That's good to know! But too bad you can’t participate in tomorrow’s test after spending so much effort in your training,” Simon remarked.

Tamara laughed a bit, “Who says I’m not participating? I will still try since it would be a good experience to try fighting alone.”

Arthur was amazed by Tamara’s fast recovery. He knew that she is not weak, despite being called the little princess by the sergeant, but to see her recover less than a day after such an incident was still astonishing.

“How about you guys? Is everyone confident in winning? I might not win, but I’m sure I will not lose that easily,” Tamara grinned.

“Of course, we will win. I would be ashamed to lose after seeing Riley actually win while Arthur was fooling around,” Simon joked, which made the whole room laugh.

“Well, Simon, if you are that confident, how about we make a bet?” Arthur said lightly.

“Huh? Why are you looking so confident? Are you bluffing again or are you planning something, Arthur? I’m not going to get tricked again, you know,” Simon accused.

“No, I’m not tricking anyone. It's a simple bet: whoever takes the longest to win is the loser,” Arthur couldn't help but smile while proposing the bet.

“Or are you afraid, Simon? If I remember correctly, you were doing the best among everyone in our previous training with karina,” he added to taunt the other guy.

“Fine, if you want to lose that badly, then I’m in. What's the bet?” Simon agreed.

“Hmm...” Arthur hadn't thought that far; he was just having fun with Simon since he was making fun of him.

“How about the loser will have to give a compliment to Sergeant Hawkins? If you are lucky, then she would be happy, but if she got offended, then you might get punished instead,” Tamara suggested.

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“Sure! Why not!” Simon readily agreed. Sometimes Arthur wondered if Simon was brave or he just liked to seek death.

Arthur himself was apprehensive about the prospect of stepping on Layla’s tail, but after thinking about his recent improvement and secret technique, he readily agreed with him.

“Fine, but don’t blame me when you lose, and Sergeant Hawkins rewards you with a kiss from Lady Karina instead!”

The next day, Arthur and the others finished their morning physical training without a hitch, even when Sergeant Hawkins left Karina to oversee their training while she went to meet the colonel.

After lunchtime, they assembled once more in the yard where the sergeant was waiting for them with her bond.

“Alright, before today’s test, I have news for Tamara. Colonel Samson talked with your family, and they agreed to let you stay within the military for a year, but there is a catch... You will need to reach Integration realm within a year, and they will let you keep Tonny and even call off your marriage, but if you can’t, then you will need to do as they say,” Layla announced.

“What? That's a scam! The fastest record on cultivation was more than 2 years to reach Integration realm!” Stevan could not help but exclaim, while Tamara grimaced.

“Well, that's the best we can have without causing the city to split into two... We can’t just let the city burn for the sake of one girl...” The sergeant shook her head.

“Anyway, I’m just letting everyone know since for Tamara to ever hope to reach that goal, she will need to take the riskiest mission all the time, which means your squad will need to as well... you may talk with each other if you are okay with helping her,” she explained her reasoning to announce it to everyone rather than telling Tamara in private.

“That's it for the announcement; we still have a test for you! Tamara, you can skip this one since your bond is still on recovery,” Layla told the girl.

“No, ma’am. Thank you for your consideration, but I want to know if I can handle a Spirit animal on my own,” Tamara resolutely said, more determined than ever since she needed to get stronger faster if she wanted to keep her bond.

“Alright then, I will tell Karina to act as a 1st-tier Spirit animal for you instead,” the sergeant did not oppose her decision.

“Now let's start with our best performer last week!” when Layla said this, Arthur believed she meant Simon, since he lasted the longest in their previous training with Karina.

Sadly, he forgot one thing: last time, his team actually beat the tiger acting as the Spirit animal!

“Riley and its side-kick, Arthur!” Sergeant Layla Hawkins announced while grinning.

“Now that I think about it, since they won before, 2nd tier seems too easy for them. How about a 3rd-tier Spirit animal instead?” Layla barely able to hide her delight when she saw Arthur's expression.

“Umm... Ma’am, I think 2nd tier is fine,” Arthur tried to persuade her otherwise.

“You don't need to be humble, Arthur. Being too humble is no different than being arrogant! Now get to your position; Karina is itchy for revenge,” she dismissed his attempt.

*Squeak, squeak!* Riley pulled his pants, miming a sword stance he usually practiced.

“Huh? You want a weapon?” Arthur asked, trying to undestand the rat, to which the rat nodded in return.

“Ma’am, can I have another training sword for Riley?” He asked the sergeant.

Layla readily agreed; it was not unheard of for animal cultivators to arm their bond with armor or weapons.

Arthur was wearing his metal bracer and wielding his wooden training sword, and Riley was a few meters away already, holding another wooden sword in its mouth.

On the other hand, Karina was in front of them with a playful look on its face while licking the fur on the back of its paw.

‘Let’s see if my training is enough to fight a Tier 3 Spirit Animal,’ Arthur grinned unconsciously.