Steam could be seen coming out of Li Tianming's ears, obviously due to his seething rage. Li Tianming had been suspended for a whole week, as a result, he lost his allowance for that month.
"You stupid bastard of a son! I don't care what you do at school, but why do you have to create trouble for me too? What will the other families think when I have this conceited delinquent as my own son?"
"But Father, it's not my fault, I- "
"I don't care! To reflect on your mistakes, I'm taking away your allowance for this month!"
Li Tianming did not have a chance to retort before he was chased out of his father's study room last night.
"You stupid scrap metal, I was supposed to use that money to buy the newest miniature Chang'e Zeppelin! And now because of you, I couldn't get it!" Li Tianming stomped on the ground, pointing his finger at me.
"Hey! You were the one who attacked me to begin with!"
"I don't give a ****!" Li Tianming replied. He gestured his lackey with his hands. "Go and hold him up!"
The lackeys lunged at me. I tried to dodge them but they were too quick. The lackeys, a total of three of them, grabbed my arms and one of my leg respectively. "Hmm? Did they flinch or something, their grips are so weak!"
I immediately moved my hands and the two lackeys were immediately flung away. The last lackey that was holding my leg looked up at me with fear in his eyes.
"Please don't kill me! AAHH!"
I grabbed him by the shoulders and flung him away as well.
Li Tianming started at me wide-eyed. "You good for nothings!" He shouted at the lackeys currently running away from me at a very high pace. Li Tianming stretched his hands. "Ah… I guess I must do everything by myself!"
Before I realized what was happening, Li Tianming had already arrived in front of me.
"What speed!" I thought as I reflexively moved backwards. However, as I was moving back, Li Tianming used his right hand and grabbed my throat.
"I got you!" He shouted. Li Tianming then proceeded with squeezing his right hand in order to crush my throat.
"What in the world?" Li Tianming couldn't even make a dent on me. "How can such a piece of scrap metal such as yourself be that strong?"
Li Tianming used his other hand to support himself. However, before he could grab me using his left hand, I immediately struck him down. Using my right hand, I crushed his arm holding my throat while hand chopping on his other arm at the same time. I could hear my heart pumping a lot of steam throughout my whole body, making me feel very reinvigorated.
"Arrgh!" Li Tianming shouted in pain from having a crushed right arm. "I… I won't forget this!" He instantly ran off towards the direction of his lackeys which could not be seen anymore.
As I gazed upon Li Tianming's back, I thought, "What happened just now? How did I become this powerful?"
I immediately remembered the "coal" I found from yesterday. "That must've been it!"
The top floor of the school building was a restricted area reserved only for the most esteemed students, teachers and guests. A mechanical unit is currently meditating in a room, sitting next to the window overlooking the city. As the unit circulated steam throughout its body, refining it and then turning it to liquid, it suddenly felt a strong fluctuation in his heart. He immediately opened his eyes and looked out the window. Outside, he saw a few mechanical units having a quarrel with each other. The unit then saw the proceeding fight and widened his eyes. "Hmm… interesting." The edges of his metal mouth slightly curved upwards.
The unit walked out of the meditating room and walked down the long corridor before arriving at a large wooden door at the very end. He knocked on the door.
"Come in." An old voice sounded from inside the room.
"Pardon my intrusion." The unit said in an almost monotone voice, but a hint of emotion could be deduced by the old man. Was it excitement?
The unit entered the room and saw an oval table, with the old man sitting right at the very back. The total of chairs around the table totaled 10, with 4 people currently seated, including the old man.
"How is you training doing, #3?"
"It's going well. The overall efficiency of my filtration system has increased by 1.23%." The unit named #3 gave a very precise response.
"Hmm… Marginal compared to #1 and #2." The old man muttered under his breath. The unit #3's mouth twitched as he heard the old man gave that comment.
"So? There must be a reason for coming in this room during your meditation period, am I right #3?" The old man asked. The other members seated next to the table turned and looked at #3.
"Yes, shifu. I believe I've found the 10th candidate."
"Ho…. That's very interesting. I know every single mechanical unit this school but I think none of them are ready yet. Who gave you such an impression?"
"When I was meditating, a strong fluctuation could be felt from my room. It was released by the mechanical unit in question."
"And how strong is this fluctuation."
"I believe, by the intensity of the fluctuation, the mechanical unit had reached level 8 of the Steam Condensation Stage."
"What? Impossible!" Two of the members seated next to the table stood up in surprise.
"Quiet down, #7 and #9!" The old shifu banged on the table and silenced them.
"We apologized for the rudeness!" #7 and 9 bowed and sat back down.
"Are you sure about this, #3?" The old shifu narrowed his eyes while speaking to #3 in a dignified manner.
"Yes." #3 replied. "To be completely sure, I plan on having one of my disciples challenging him on a duel."
"Ho… Well go easy on him then, #3. After all, he might become our 10th candidate."
"Yes, shifu." #3 bowed before leaving the room, closing the door behind him.
Excluding the altercation with Li Tianming, today was another normal day. However, that abruptly changed when someone entered the room during breaktime.
"Ah! It's Senior Zhongcheng!"
"You're right! It's the 10 time consecutive champion in Sword Mastery, Peerless Sword Zhongcheng!"
"Kyaah!!"
All of the girls in the room immediately screamed and started crowding towards Zhongcheng. However, just like a ghost, Zhongcheng easily slipped past all of them and walked in my direction. When he arrived at my desk, he stopped moving.
"Di'ao (Dior), am I right?" Zhongcheng asked me.
"Yes?" I asked in confusion. As the 'scrap metal' of the class, the only people that payed any attention towards me were the delinquents, and they always had bad intentions. Why would a person with such a high rank such as Zhongcheng himself pay any attention to me?
"It's been a while since I came to the lowest floor." Zhongcheng paid no mind to me or the others trying to approach him. When I looked back towards my fan-crazed classmates, I realized that they aren't approaching our table at all.
"Is that… a steam wall?" Yes. A person can release a large amount of steam and bend it to his will, making a wall with steam is one of the most basic moves of a mechanical unit. I tried to touch the steam wall but was immediately repelled by it.
"Careful, the steam is a bit volatile." Zhongcheng smiled. "They really don't teach you anything in the lowest floor, do they." A hint of disdain and mockery could be heard from his voice.
Zhongcheng and I stared at each other for a while without saying anything. After a while, Zhongcheng opened his mouth. "Honestly, I don't see what my master sees in you. A mechanical unit filled with so many materials that it not only dilutes your power, but also decrease the efficiency in steam production. Ah, well an order is an order I guess. Dior. I, Zhongcheng, officially challenge you to a duel!"
In a flash, Zhongcheng handed me a challenge letter. "W-w-w-what???!!!??!!!" I yelped at the top of my lungs. "W-w-why would you want to duel me?"
"Don't ask me, it wasn't my decision to duel you, it was my master's." Zhongcheng replied nonchalantly.
"No way, having a 7th floor student duel a 1st floor student like me, isn't that just bullying?"
That's right, this school, like many other schools for mechanical units, divide student by floors. The people in the first floor are those who just entered this world with literally no liquefied formations in their hearts. Stage 0 of the Steam Refinement Stage. The second floor are those who managed to refine one drop of liquid in their hearts. Stage 1 of the Steam Refinement Stage. The floors go all the way up until the 11th floor. Stage 10 of the Steam Refinement Stage, where the whole heart is almost filled with liquid and is ready to be transformed back into a solid. Not only that, but the increase in liquid in one's heart directly corresponds to the increase in efficiency of steam generation and metal refinement in one's body, hence as the floors increase, the resources given to students by the school increases.
I am currently stuck in the 1st floor for the whole 14 years of my life, while most people my age should already be on the 3rd floor already. As I looked down on the challenge letter given to me, I made a fist, crumbling the letter to a ball. I was frustrated. I slammed both my fists on the table.
"Why?" I thought. "Just because I am made by lesser quality metal I was bullied by others for my whole life. And now when I finally beat down those bullies, some ridiculously strong opponent comes and tries to strike me down. FML! Just FML!" I became frustrated, but was more angry at my frail self.
Seemingly ignoring my frustration, Zhongcheng casually asked, "So are you gonna accept my challenge or not?"
I stared directly at my own table for a while.
"For many years I've been beaten to the ground by those stronger than me. But it's different now. I have obtained something I may never get a second chance of obtaining in my life. A miracle 'coal' that reinvigorates my low-quality body. I am definitely not going to lose this opportunity! I don't wanna cower before anyone anymore! I must take control of my own life!"
I stood up and stared directly at Zhongcheng's face. With fire in my eyes, I declared, "I accept!"