Chapter 16: Noob
Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Tehrn
The excitement of a new semester boiled over as Wang Tong ate lunch happily with a group of classmates. He couldn't wait to attend his first class and make his first friend at school.
"Hey, kiddo, what are you waiting for?"
"Fine, but don't rush me!" Wang Tong understood that Mr. Wannabe had been waiting anxiously since this morning, any more delay might blow his gasket. Therefore Wang Tong hurried down to Dream-Heaven as soon as he finished lunch.
The game was called PA or Practical Arena, a well-known game that was the most popular game of the world for many years. Although only half of the game content was open to the public, as indicated by its full name "Military Use METAL Fighter Practice Arena", it was also used by the military as their training platform for METAL fighters.
The DREAM Corporation had been engaged in long-term negotiations with the Military for the release of the PA system, yet no one had fully understood DREAM's intention since the amount of red tape they were willing to battle with, did not seem to be worth the release of a simple game.
There were two main leagues of the PA system, one was the commercial users, and the other was the professional military users of the Confederation, which included the Military Academies and the Confederation Military Forces. This PA system had saved the Confederation a significant amount of money since all the public schools in the entire solar system were connected online to this program, unfortunately, due to technical difficulties, none of the schools located in the Andromeda Galaxy were linked to it through cyberspace.
In most cases, the two leagues played together unless there was a covert operation being carried out by the military. Thanks to the mingling between commercial players and the professional players, a beginner or the so-called "noob" would have the opportunity to meet professionals such as academy students and even instructors; however, the real masters were hard to find on-line as they liked to remain elusive. Eighty percent of the users were commercial users or so-called IPA, and the rest were professional users, called TPA.
Although the two leagues were together, the cunning businessmen working for DREAM wouldn't let such an opportunity pass by without making a healthy profit. In order to stimulate the sales of the virtual METAL suits, the in-game equipment that did not exist in real life, they signed an agreement with the Confederation that allowed the IPAs to participate as bystanders when there was a fight between TPAs. Commercial users who became obsessed fanboys of the TPA tournaments would then become equally obsessed with purchasing in_game virtual equipment with real world money. This marketing strategy had made the PA system an extremely profitable game for DREAM.
Coincidentally, this very profitable business model of the PA system was the graduation project of Wang Tong's Principal Samantha while she was finishing up her MBA degree, on which she had, not surprisingly, scored 100%.
In cyberspace, there were very distinct differentiations between the two groups of players. The commercial players' in-game names were white, and the TPA players' names were displayed with different colors based on their origin. Earth was blue, Mars and Ceres were red, and the Kaedeians names were in purple which was also the color they adored so much in their culture. Just as in real life, Kaedeians were a cautious bunch even in the PA system as they barely participated as fighters but merely as audience members.
Although most people would use a pseudonym online, most top notch students from S-Class academies prefer to use their real names, since it was a good way of getting themselves noticed by the military. That being said, even the students who were eager to prove themselves had obscured their tactics since those were the top secrets of every METAL fighter.
Wang Tong logged on as he heard the system welcoming him as Einherjar and remembered that he wouldn't even be here if not for Mr. Wannabe's ceaseless pestering in the first place. After coming back from Norton, he started to disdain these virtual games: "A real fight means life and death, blood and gore, and preferably, Zergs' blood," Wang Tong thought to himself.
Wang Tong registered as a TPA fighter without thinking, and together with Mr. Wannabe, they entered a jam-packed player lobby. Wang Tong could hear Mr. Wannabe's words: "Find a good fighter and let's have some fun! Hurry!"
Wang Tong looked at Mr. Wannabe's apparition in pity since he had remained a formless shadow even in this intangible cyberspace.
"Don't you worry, let me see. How about him?"
"Boys and girls, Stock has won nine consecutive matches, if he wins the next bout, he will be able to ascend to the next level and gain access to level three METAL suits, now, do we have a challenger?"
The audiences let out envious cheers as the Master of Ceremonies announced Stock's impressive fighting record.
Stock, who stood on the stage, looked like an Earthling student in his twenties. He had fought his way there with a winning streak, one more victory and he would be able to successfully ascend to a higher level.
The METAL suits TPA used were programmed to resemble those employed by the military in real life combat so that the students would get used to them before they used them on a battlefield. Just like the METAL suits in real life, the METAL suits in the game were divided into six tiers.
The first tier, albeit basic, came with a variety of styles depending on the manufacturer, in order to fit different types of fighters.
The second tier, equipped by only the elite fighters, was still mass produced.
From the second to the third tier meant a leap in quality as the METAL suits were almost all custom-made for officers of the military.
As for the fourth, fifth and the sixth tiers, they were truly one in a million gears, which were often imbued with cutting edge technologies to aid the user during combat. They could rarely be seen, even among TPA matches, since the wearers, who were usually master fighters, wouldn't care to show off in front of rookies.
There was, however, one more tier above the sixth tier which was reserved exclusively for Einherjars and had never been spotted on the TPA system. That being said, in the virtual world of IPA, even the sixth tier METAL suit had flooded the online market, but they were merely fan-made replicas in the IPA league and should not be confused with the real deal.
Knowing that this fight could be the only way of getting a defense-focused third tier suit before he graduated, Stoke was thrilled and nervous at the same time.
"Who will challenge him?"
Many fighters hesitated as the MC called out for challengers. Some fighters present were at a higher level than Stock if they enter the ring, not only would they receive a debuff on their higher tier METAL suit as per the game law, it would also look bad on them for acting like a bully.
"Go Stock go!"
"You can do it!!"
"You are the best!"
The twenty or so teenagers who formed a ring surrounding the arena cheered for Stock, they were probably his classmates coming to witness his ascension.
Chapter 17: Piece of Cake
Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Tehrn
After a while, there still wasn't anyone willing to challenge Stoke. Most ascension matches like this were between two fighters of the same level. The cost of losing this battle would be steep on either side; therefore most of the same level fighters knew that Stoke wouldn't start this match without being well prepared, which was a factor that made them hesitate to take up the challenge.
"May I try it?" Wang Tong said as he walked towards the ring.
To the audience's surprise, the challenger wasn't a Kaedeian nor an Ivantian, he was an Earthling boy, despite this, the crowd gave him thunderous cheers and applauded for his courage.
Wang Tong's entrance was much less elegant than other competitors', who usually would perform a stunning backflip or some sort of stunt to get onto the stage. Instead, Wang Tong climbed the stage so clumsily that it seemed as if he would fell off at any time. He looked back from time to time as if asking for the audience's help. Nonetheless, he made it to the top of the ring.
"Einherjar Wannabe, are you sure you want to do this?" the referee asked Wang Tong. "According to your profile, this is your first fight, if you lose in an ascension fight, it might substantially impede your progress later."
"That's fine. I'll fight as long as I am allowed to." Wang Tong didn't have much time to waste and wanted to finish it as soon as possible.
"F*ck, Stock didn't hire this noob didn't he?"
"Nah, I don't think so, I've heard Stock is from Capth, a second-year student actually. I've never heard of a Capth student that desperate."
"I guess so. They are too pretentious to cheat anyways. On the same note, the Capth students have been becoming increasingly powerful lately. Who would expect so much power from a second-year student?"
"Where did this hillbilly came from anyways? He is suicidal!"
"No kidding, Stock has hit the jackpot! Usually, the ascension matches are the toughest."
"This is his first fight? Poor kid..."
"Hey, that Wannabe dude, get off the arena! Stock doesn't need a free victory." One of Stock's rowdy classmates yelled at Wang Tong. He and the other classmates had believed that Stock would successfully level up tonight and felt that such a cheap victory would only hurt Stock's reputation.
"Mr. Wannabe, please confirm your challenge."
Wang Tong nodded his head without any hesitation as he didn't want to be mired in the rules and conventions of the game. Those were things that he couldn't care less about compared to the thrill of a fight as they seemed superficial to the battle-hardened Wang Tong who had shed real blood and tears on Norton.
"The fight is on!" The referee announced.
"Here are the overviews of our competitors:
Stoke: Seventeen, defense-focused METAL fighter.
Equipped with the second class METAL suit of the Golden Shield -Type A, a standard military grade provision.
Score: Thirty-three wins and ten losses.
Einherjar Wannabe: Sixteen.
Equipped with... no... METAL suit."
The referee became baffled as he read Wang Tong's profile. It went without saying that all of the TPA fighters should have been equipped with at least a tier one suit, unlike Wang Tong who was currently wearing nothing.
"Mr. Wannabe, please initiate your METAL suit, the fight is about to start."
"What METAL suit? I don't have one, let's just do it, don't doddle," Wang Tong said impatiently as he did not care to use a METAL suit nor had he ever used one.
The crowd boiled over at Wang Tong's arrogance and bloated self-confidence. Even those who didn't care for the suit's amplifying effect of their offensive ability still needed it for defense, as the METAL suit was an effective, if not the only, way to defend oneself against deadly GN strikes on their mortal flesh.
Stock didn't know what to make out of his opponent, a naive noob who looked more buff than other boys his age, a sign of potential body modification, a fact that Stock was hardly concerned with. He had entertained the idea of dropping his METAL suit for the sake of fairness, but Stock decided to play safe. After all, his ascension was at stake which made this a fight that he could not lose. For the sake of the third tier METAL suit, so be it if he had to get it with a cheap win.
The referee consented to Wang Tong not wearing any METAL suit; he did it willingly so, at any rate, a referee's duty was to ensure a fair fight, but not the safety of the fighters.
"METAL, on!"
Stock roared as a piece of crystal strapped on his wrist burst out a shining beacon along which a sharp blade and a set of silver colored armor emerged to cover the vital parts of Stock's body.
Wang Tong watched with curiosity since this was the first time he had seen a METAL suit in live action and it had immediately piqued his interests.
"Hey buddy, don't expect me to go easy on you because you aren't wearing METAL for god knows what reason. Hope we have a good fight!"
All Capth students were very polite and respectful to their opponents in the ring.
Wang Tong shrugged his shoulders and said lightly, "Same here."
Wang Tong then noticed a soft glow pouring out of Stock's body as Stock initiated the Tactics of Nirvana-X, the audience gasped when the glow reached their eyes. Unknown to Wang Tong, this glow was an indication that Stock's soul power had reached twenty "sols", in other words, Stock was worthy of the third tier METAL suit whose minimum requirement of the wearer's sol amount was twenty.
(Author's note: METAL suits of different levels have different requirements of the user's sol: tier one METAL suits required one sol, tier two required five, the third tier required twenty, and from there, the requirement grew almost exponentially. For example, in order for one to wear the fourth tier, one hundred sols was required; over two hundred for the fifth tier and the sixth tier METAL suit required five hundred sols. Thanks to this requirement, audiences could estimate accurately a fighter's combat ability based on the level of METAL suit they wore.)
"I knew this guy had reserved his strength; it looks like he has at least twenty-five sols of soul power."
"Bahk... he should have leveled up by now, he has been too modest in his ascension progress."
The outcome of the match seemed obvious.
Stock plunged towards Wang Tong, using the striking technique called "Windward Consecutive Strikes"- a standard martial arts technique that was taught at Capth.
Seemingly simple and unflattering, this technique could strike fear into an opponent's heart when used right. After years of practice, Stock had mastered it; he delivered the impeccable three consecutive blows which formed a straight line that pointed towards Wang Tong, even the time intervals between the three quick strikes were precisely the same.
This was Stock's coup de grace, he had used it only twice out of nine matches before this one, and in both cases, he used it at the end of the match instead of at the beginning like in this match. Stock did so because he wanted to finish this accession match quickly and splendidly with a total victory.
Unfortunately for Wang Tong, he did not even have the protection of a METAL suit. This meant that once the three blows had reached him, he will have lost this game. Everyone held their breath anticipating Stock's apparent victory.
"...Stock missed?" The audience fell into a state of disarray.
Stock's aim was evidently true, but how come the blows had barely even grazed Wang Tong's chest?
Wang Tong didn't pay attention to the fists that had just passed his body. He stepped casually to the side and delivered a blow towards Stock. To everyone's amazement, Wang Tong's blow was aimed directly at the shield on Stock's METAL suit; everyone thought it was grimly comical that Wang Tong was going to try his human flesh against a METAL suit.
Stock thought it was a madcap move as well, but he had no intention of laughing since he was upset and surprised that his coup de grace had been evaded.
Wang Tong's strike fell silently, Stock's face was frozen as he heard two words from Wang Tong's mouth, "Too slow." One moment Stock's body was still upright and the next moment… "bang", his body was erect no more, and his METAL shield shattered.
Everything happened too fast! One second ago, his friends had raised their arms in excitement of the coming victory after seeing Stock had used his coupe de grace. But one second later, their arms were frozen in the air, and their mouths were wide open, but not a single syllable came out of those gaping holes.
"So quiet... what happened?"
"That shield must be a knock-off. A knock-off product in the ATP league?"
"He didn't smash that shield with his bare hand, did he?"
"Is he a real Einherjar?"
It was said that only Einherjars ignored METAL suits in battle, and they seldom used METAL suits due to their already immense destructive power.
Wang Tong shook his hand in pain and thought to himself, "s*it, it hurts, that was a sturdy mother f*cking shield." He did not notice the audience's stunned look as he signed off neither did he think that shattering a METAL shield was a big deal. To him, it was just a piece of cake, when compared to ripping apart Zergs alive.
Chapter 18: Attraction and Coercion
Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Tehrn
Wang Tong had already gotten bored with the game, but Mr. Wannabe was still thrilled by it. "Nice, nice! It was so much fun! However, your punch was too weak, if it had been me, I wouldn't even need to evade the strike in the first place, one blow would settle the matter."
"B*lls, this game is about skill, not brute force."
"Skill my a**, if you had stepped left instead of right, you could have saved half of the maneuver time."
"B*lls, the right side was more intuitive."
"How dare you question me? You wanna bet? Stepping left would have saved you 0.03 seconds of time."
"Yea I'm down for the bet, I know I'm right." Wang Tong had learned these techniques from battles with the Zergs; therefore, he was very confident to enter the bet.
"Alright, here we go."
Mr. Wannabe quickly performed two sets of moves, and stepping left was indeed quicker and more efficient than stepping right. Wang Tong felt dejected as he conceded his defeat. He felt like he could never be right in front of Mr. Wannabe as he always nipped away Wang Tong's newly sprouted confidence.
"Fine, a bet is a bet, what do you want, I don't have money."
"You piteous miser! Fine, let's play another round of the game tomorrow, the noob we fought today was a piece of cake, tomorrow, we will find someone tougher. "
"No, I don't have time, I need to focus on my studies."
"How about the day after tomorrow?"
"No."
"Oh.. for f*ck sake, don't you want to be stronger? These fights are your greatest opportunities. Haven't you seen those sleek moves of the Windward Consecutive Strikes? Why don't you learn from others?"
"Looking sleek would mean nothing when he had become a morsel in a Zerg's mouth." Wang Tong had been tired with these set moves that were taught at schools as if they were being manufactured from a production line. He knew that they would be useless on a battlefield where even the Zergs knew to change their moves from time to time.
"Yea, yea, I know you are disappointed, but your last opponent had been too weak, more powerful fighters, like myself, of course, know to strike unpredictably." Wannabe digressed as he realized that he had overrated Stock's moves which in truth were only fit for impressing girls. The principal of Capth might not react kindly if he had heard what these two had said about their student's training.
Wang Tong shook his head once again, unmoved by what Mr. Wannabe had said.
"Well, sc*ew you! When then?" Mr. Wannabe started huffing and puffing again. "You little sh*t, don't you know that being trustworthy is the number one merit of a man? A bet is a bet!"
Driven speechless by Mr. Wannabe's words, Wang Tong pulled his hair in frustration and finally said, "This weekend!"
"Haha, that's more like it! Make sure that this time you find a worthy opponent, not some freak with a METAL suit fetish. A man, ought to fight with his bare fist!" Mr. Wannabe said as he squeezed his fists and raised them high up to pose like in one of his vague memories of some warrior's statue.
Wang Tong hurried off to shut the crystal as he cringed at Mr. Wannabe's gross ostentatious posture. He didn't agree with what Mr. Wannabe had said; it was because of the METAL suit that humans stood a chance with the Zergs on the battlefield. If he had the chance to use one on Norton, he would have taken it in no time. Fighting in the game was nothing like fighting in a real war when soldiers act together as a group, which had given the Zergs a natural advantage due to their larger numbers.
"Stock! Stock!"
Stock's friends closed in on him in a circle around the computer. Capth had plenty of resources, it had installed a computer in every single classroom, although they were only allowed to be used for ATP training.
"This guy is suspicious, we should report him."
"That's right; I just checked his profile, he's only sixteen years old, I bet he's a freshman in some academy."
"No, I don't think he cheated, otherwise I would have already noticed," Stock said and fell into deep thought again.
"Stock, are you sure? Anyways, I smell something fishy in the air; there is not a single student even in our school that can defeat you without using a METAL suit. It was imp—"
Stock cut him short with a wave of his arm, "I'm fine, I'm just thinking..." suddenly Stock clapped his hands, the loud noise startled his classmates. "Holy Sh*t! Replay the video clip again."
One of his classmates clicked on the screen and brought back the video that Stock had recorded himself, his original intention, however, was to record his successful ascension.
When the video was replayed at a slower speed, everyone was astonished at what they saw- Wang Tong's attack wasn't a single action. Instead, he had attempted three other spots before he finally decided on a spot on the shield. "But why the shield? Everything seemed so crazy!" Stock thought to himself.
As a matter of fact, Wang Tong's attack wasn't as sophisticated as they thought, he was simply testing the shield's weak point, there was no point in wasting a strike without hitting the most vulnerable spot.
"Zoom in on his eyes, zoom in... Okay, stop!" Stock said abruptly.
Wang Tong had a cold and severe expression, as fearsome lights flashed inside of Wang Tong's eyes, his face was frozen on the screen, and it made everyone's hair stand on end.
The video record brought back Stock's memory of that terrible moment when Wang Tong struck while he was frozen in fear and felt like being suffocated.
"He has a terrible expression in his eyes." One of his classmates noticed.
Stock shook his head and said, "Not only does it look horrifying, but I can feel the equally horrifying power as well. Thescoco would finally have a worthy opponent after all if this dude is really from an academy."
"For real? No way! Thescoco has been the champion among our second-year students for three consecutive terms; he is almost invincible."
"Well, we will see when the two fight, if this guy continues to fight and win a few more rounds, I'm hopeful that we will see Thescoco taking his challenge soon."
Thescoco was the best fighter among the second year students at Capth, not only could no one in his school year challenge him, even in the military, his strength would be on par with higher level officials. However, he rarely participated in the PA fights, not even in TPA.
"Miao Xiu, come here, I found something interesting."
"What's up Luv Ma, I'm busy."
"Give me a break; I know you are just talking to girls, come here!"
Miao Xiu walked towards the screen nonchalantly, but as soon as he saw what was on the screen, he became serious almost immediately. "Interesting… send him an invitation for me please." Miao Xiu licked his lips, a reaction that had already become a muscle memory when he spotted prey.
"He he, I knew you would be interested, look, this guy has a heavy punch."
"Noob, can't you see how much more brilliant his maneuver was? No wonder you can only major in Battlefield Commander. Ohh… Look at his move! I really like this dude."
Luv Ma believed in Miao Xiu's keen observation. After reexamining the video clip, Wang Tong's clumsy moves suddenly appeared to be well orchestrated. However, Luv Ma was still wondering if Wang Tong was suicidal since he was fighting against a METAL fighter without wearing any METAL suit.
Luv Ma believed in Miao Xiu's judgment because he was well aware that despite his many notorious habits, such as being ignorant, and perverted, he was also one of the strongest fighters among the students. This was, allegedly, because he was born with an incredibly powerful GN power which gave him almost infinite potentials. Thanks to this gift, Miao Xiu was accepted into the S-Class Starry Academy despite being a notorious trouble maker.
"Luv Ma, what's up with your name? Every time I've brought a girl here, they always misunderstand me after I call your name. Can you change it please?"
"F*ck off, you dirty pervert."
Luv Ma can't help yelling at Miao Xiu, his best friend ever since childhood, who was also the only person that dared to make fun of his name. Despite Miao Xiu's bad joke, Luv Ma had noticed that Miao Xiu had an excited expression in his eyes which hadn't been seen in ages.
Chapter 19: Hellish Monthly Test
Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Tehrn
Stock was a relatively unknown player; therefore the match went unnoticed by the majority of the online spectators, and none of those who had attended learned the identity of the powerful yet mysterious boy. Soon, Wang Tong's victory became only one of the many miraculous fights on TPA, as it faded away like a faint ping among the clamors of the online world.
"Faculty of METAL Fighter? No, no, no!" Wang Tong wouldn't choose such a useless major; he had chosen the faculty of Battlefield Command which once he had graduated, would guarantee him an officer post in the military.
To Wang Tong, it went without saying that an officer position was not only a much safer occupation when compared to soldiers on the ground, but they also had a cushier paycheck, and more importantly, their silver-white attire would attract the admiration of many girls.
"There is no way," Wang Tong told himself, "That I will choose to become a METAL fighter over an officer."
However, Wang Tong had banged his head against the wall on the first day of class, and it turned out that to become a battlefield commander was much, much harder than Wang Tong had imagined. He needed to master not only the tactics, but also many other subjects such as astronomy, geology, biology, physics, and the list did not end there as each of the core subjects also came with a plethora of related classes whose unfamiliar jargon had churned Wang Tong's stomach.
Despite the falling reputation of Ayrlarng Academy, the atmosphere on campus remained healthy and competitive in opposition to the unfounded rumors about its lenient curriculum.
Wang Tong decided to deploy the "Tactics of Muddle Around" which he had learned from Old Fart, thinking that as long as he wouldn't make any major mistakes, he would be able to graduate eventually. However, a new message popup on his sky-net messenger system had blown up this wishful thinking and distressed Wang Tong tremendously. The message, from the principal herself, informed Wang Tong that he had been assigned to class-F of the battlefield commander major which opened six classes, ranging from A to F.
At first sight, Wang Tong had thought the arrangement of him in the lowest level was based on the order of registration, since he had registered late for the term. But he soon learned that the arrangement was actually based on high school grades. In addition, it depended on the score of the monthly test. One could advance into better classes or vice versa depending on the scores. Already at the lowest level, Wang Tong then faced a grim reality of being expelled if he failed the monthly test in twelve days.
Suddenly faced with an impossible task and assaulted by irrevocable stress, Wang Tong hallucinated the slip from the principal with a word in bold red ink that said "Expelled," which sent him into a panic attack.
In the former concierge's accommodation that was only a few paces away from the girl's dormitory, a saddened howl suddenly rose up and pierced the calm air of the quiet afternoon.
Fortunately, Wang Tong was not a person that gave up easily. He walked into the principal's office and was hopeful to make a case for himself.
He saw the young principal acknowledge him as he walked in, "Look at her," Wang Tong thought. "She is not that much older than me, but already the principal in an A-Class institute."
"Wang Tong, are you looking for me?" Samantha said it as if she had been expecting him. Indeed she was, she had seen it many times before, that people who fell behind were always the first ones to complain.
Wang Tong cleared his throat, he had to tread carefully. "Principal, I am wondering if you could delay my monthly test. You see, I have just started, I haven't really had much time to study yet."
Samantha cracked a smile, but her eyes shined a sharp light that pointed at Wang Tong like a steel lance ready to thrust. "I am sorry Wang Tong, I am afraid that I cannot make an exception for you since I don't want to send the wrong message to the other students. I hope you understand. I am in the process of revitalizing the school's discipline process. I hope you don't get too stressed out about the test, the first one will be easy, you will pass, as long as you study for it."
Wang Tong didn't believe her for a second as he saw through her deception as Samantha's cold eyes betrayed her. Wang Tong had heard that she was a "bee" with an itch when it came down to discipline and regulations, and he knew that she meant it was him that needed to be "revitalized".
"Please, this is not fair to me!" The air in the principal's office suddenly tensed up.
"Knock. Knock." Someone was at the door.
"Come in."
"Principal Saman—" A girl walked in and was aghast when she noticed Wang Tong as if she was expecting Samantha to be alone in her office.
One second Wang Tong was still engrossed in his indignant rage, and one second later, as Wang Tong turned his head to the new visitor, he had lost himself at the sight of the beautiful and innocent looking girl in front of him. She wore a fresh white T-shirt, a pair of dark denim hot pants which revealed her long and fine legs that drew elegant lines along lush curves. Her hair had been braided into a ponytail, Wang Tong's favorite style on a girl, which made her look both innocent and pragmatic. She watched Wang Tong and revealed rows of white and neatly set teeth as she gave him a charming smile.
Struck by her innocent beauty, Wang Tong ogled her for over three seconds thinking of nothing else.
"Xiaoru, you came just in time. Wang Tong, as I was telling you, everyone in our school gets the same treatment. Ma Xiaoru for example, entered our academy one day after you did, yet she is also subject to the monthly test, just like you and everyone else, and she accepted the tests as a challenge instead of a threat."
"Yes Principal, I will try my best," the girl said to Samantha.
Wang Tong's anger and indignation succumbed to the eloquent duet. Samantha was right, delaying his test wouldn't help him, he would fail the monthly test no matter how much extra time he was allowed. Studying just wasn't something that Wang Tong was good at.
By then, he had started to regret taking the major in battlefield command, but for the sake of his pride in front of such a beautiful girl, he didn't ask to change his major to METAL fighter.
"F*ck, I'll have to man it through then I guess, my luck can't get any worse after Norton anyways," Wang Tong thought as he walked out of the principal's office, looking deflated.
"Sam, is that the bad apple you were talking about?" The corners of Ma Xiaoru's mouth lifted as she covered them with a palm, trying to hide her smile.
"Yes, that is him. I have seen his middle school grades, it was a disaster. Sigh... if not for the referral letter from the Confederation, he would never have been able to step inside of Ayrlarng. Anyhow, he now makes a perfect target for my revitalization plan, it's a matter of time for him to be expelled, plus, I have you now, I'm confident we will be able to bring back Ayrlarng onto the right track."
"It is very nice of you to say that sister, I will try my best."
"No need to be modest, I know that there were lots of schools that fought for you, I can't be more grateful to you for coming here while turning down schools such as Capth," Samantha smiled as she spoke, something she rarely did, except for when she was talking to Ma Xiaoru.
"No matter how you look at it, we are responsible for putting Ayrlarng back on track again."
"Hehe, how's your old man doing? I hope you two have figured things out?" Samantha smiled.
Ma Xiaoru drew her teeth in a seemingly innocent grin as she nodded her head. If Wang Tong saw her smile then, he might have lost himself again.
Ma Xiaoru, heir of the FFC Corporation, descendant of Ma Ka, had accepted Samantha's invitation to Ayrlarng as soon as she received the message. She went there with the hope of helping her friend and sister Samantha to save Ayrlarng. Contrary to the older folks who would rather see Ayrlarng fail in accordance with the law of the jungle, the younger generations were more willing to make the necessary personal sacrifices to stop a formerly legendary school's recent declining trend.
The Ma family and Samantha's family had been friends over generations, and the two of them had known each other since childhood. Ma Xiaoru had become popular among schools not only because of her prestigious heritage but also the fact that she had been practicing the Tactics of the Enchantress, the most powerful tactics when practiced by a woman.
Due to the low morale of the school, Samantha figured that she would need a champion to lead the students, and an exceptionally talented student like Ma Xiaoru was the perfect candidate.
The cruel reality had clubbed Wang Tong's shred of hope in its infancy, not only would he lose the opportunity to become an officer, but an even more dire consequence was that he would have to also lose his accommodation, and that had set the last straw on Wang Tong's back.
As soon as he got back to his room, he buried himself in a pile of textbooks. As he was assaulted repetitively by the grotesque technical jargon, he felt that his study was even more daunting than fighting with Zergs.
"Ha ha ha, little shit, there is something that you can't do after all, why don't you ask for help from a wise teacher? There's one right in front of you," Mr. Wannabe's voice rose as the crystal lit up.
"Ah, that's right." Wang Tong said as he slapped his head, "Hehe, Mr. Wannabe, you have to help me, this test is a matter of life and death for me. Here, can you explain these to me?"
Mr. Wannabe nodded in approval of his modesty as he read through the page pointed out by Wang Tong.
"Fundamental principles in astral energy divergence as #%#! Morgen's Law from the ^$*&$ Theory of Entanglement."
Silence fell in the former concierge's tiny room.
Mr. Wannabe wrenched his gaze from the book after he had studied the pages for an excessively long amount of time as he broke the silence, "Kiddo, you need to learn to be independent, I can't help you for the rest of your life. Ahhh... my bones, I'm tired, I think I will hit the hay right now."
Mr. Wannabe disappeared and left Wang Tong speechless and helpless; his last shred of hope had just burst like a bubble.
Chapter 20: Lazy Bird
Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Tehrn
Wang Tong knew that the world would still go on its own way with or without him.
After his persistent requests, the school finally agreed to assign him a tutor; in addition, Samantha had also allowed an exception for Wang Tong such that he would pass the test with a score of 50%, instead of 60%. It was merely a perfunctory gesture as she knew that even 50% posed a challenge for Wang Tong.
After this turn of events, Wang Tong had given up on the "Tactics of Muddle Around" as he started to understand the reason behind the competitiveness of his classmates.
To the rest of the students, despite the stringent monthly tests, the situation at Ayrlarng wasn't entirely stark, as more equipment was being purchased as well as better teachers were being recruited. However, none of those improvements had piqued as much interest of the students as a development that had quickly become viral news: Ma Xiaoru had accepted Ayrlarng Academy's offer.
Pearl of the FFC Corporation, one of the top ten wealthiest people and also a member of the five major families, Ma Xiaoru was the embodiment of wealth and power.
On top of that, the tactics that she had been practicing, the Tactics of Enchantress, was not only one of the most deadly and well-guarded tactics, but it also proved to be inhuman in power on the battlefield, since the tactics required an enormous amount of soul energy beyond what an ordinary human would possess.
Thanks to her advantages, she was favored and fawned over by countless military academies even including those on the Moon and Mars, but she eventually had chosen to come to Ayrlarng. It went without saying that her arrival had boosted Ayrlarng student's confidence.
It seemed natural that Ma Xiaoru was accepted into an A level class, but to everyone's surprise, she had volunteered to attend the F level class as she wanted to prove herself through the monthly tests. This had made the indignant and wavering students who were upset about the new system become suddenly quiet over the matter.
Principal Samantha's plan seemed to be unfolding in the way that she had intended it to, and it seemed to everyone that restoring the former glory of Ayrlarng might not be that far-fetched after all.
All of the students of the F class had been instilled with anticipation; some found it hard to believe that a privileged "princess" would come to attend class with them in this dilapidated classroom with dated equipment.
On the contrary, the A class's classroom was spacious and came with all of the bells and whistles, including an attractive looking classroom stewardess.
Every day, as the F class students hurried off to clean their classroom under the stringent supervision of a grumpy middle-aged woman, the students in the A class were sipping fresh coffees brewed and served by their cute stewardess while they basked in the bright sunshine that poured through the immaculately clean windows tended by professional janitors.
It went without saying that the contrast of the lives in the two classrooms was drastic and resentment rose against the unjust system among those who felt it was repressive and inhumane to students with a lower grade.
Samantha had ignored their protests and rejected their appeals which might seem unfair on the surface; however, upon closer inspection, it was a well-balanced system that ensured that every student had the same amount of opportunity to access the school's resources, a crucial element in restoring order to Ayrlarng.
That being said, students of the F class had more or less received some morale shock after such extreme measures, if being pushed too far, they might quit school en masse like routing soldiers in a losing battle, and this was where Ma Xiaoru came into the picture.
The students boiled over the moment Ma Xiaoru walked into the F class classroom. "It was real! She is here!"
To be fair, the students of the F class still had above average grades when compared to the students of the Confederation overall, with Wang Tong being the only exception, like all of the other good students, they have the skills of getting a good grade, and all they needed was an encouragement.
There was no need to worry about the envy of other female students at the arrival of Ma Xiaoru because there were no other girls in the class. Most girls at Ayrlarng scored higher in tests than boys, resulting in the bleak and cruel scene of a sausage fest in the F class.
However, Ma Xiaoru had erased the bleakness and ignited the power of testosterone inside of her classmates, leaving the boys agitated and eager to prove themselves.
Ma Xiaoru cracked a smile and bowed: "Hi, my name is Ma Xiaoru, I will be your classmate. I thank you guys in advance for your support in the future."
Her words drifted across the classroom like a warm wind in the spring that melted the ice and beckoned the flowers to bloom. The boys of the class were touched by the soft words and felt like they were being surrounded by warmth and hope.
Wang Tong had noticed his classmates' agitation and stood in awe of his principal's ability to manipulate their state of mind. Meanwhile, he cautioned himself to not get in the way of Samantha, fearing any other ploys she had up her sleeves.
Despite being deployed by Samantha as a ruse, Ma Xiaoru's beauty was undeniable. Wang Tong's attention was drawn to her, by then with the knowledge of her heritage, he became mesmerized by her approachable personality in addition to her beauty. However, Wang Tong knew that her being approachable did not change the fact that he had no chance of dating a diva like her; the gap in-between them was unbridgeable.
"Wang Tong, nice to see you again," Ma Xiaoru said to Wang Tong with a smile.
Wang Tong nodded: "Nice to see you too; I didn't expect to see you here, though."
"Well, I'm here. We will work hard together from now on. Cheers!" Ma Xiaoru extended her hand for a handshake.
Wang Tong shivered at an uncontrollable sensation when his fingers slid into her smooth and soft little palm. He struggled to regain control of his mind and replied with great difficulties in pronouncing the two simple words, "Will. Do."
Ma Xiaoru sat side by side with Wang Tong, a clear message to everyone that the school would treat everyone as equal.
The boys in the classroom teemed with earnest enthusiasm in their study after Ma Xiaoru's arrival and all of them wanted to prove themselves in front of her. Inspired by his classmates, Wang Tong decided to study harder as well; after all, his grade was the lowest even in the F class.
For the next few days, Wang Tong had engrossed himself in piles of textbooks, even though the beginning chapters of most textbooks were simply scraping the surface, there was still a great deal of terminology which Wang Tong had to give up on due to his severely inadequate prerequisites.
Despite only being seen during classes, Ma Xiaoru had cleared her classmates' sense of inferiority which even made the students of other classes envious. Everyone devoted all of their testosterone laced energies into preparing for the monthly test, should they continue their hard work, then the coming monthly test would pose no threat to anyone in F class, except for Wang Tong.
"Don't you think I'm too dumb for this?" Wang Tong said as he was still unsure about the test.
Mr. Wannabe was watching a movie, hearing this he waved his arm impatiently to cut him short. "It has nothing to do with your IQ. You are simply too far behind. You won't catch up no matter how hard you try."
"But my soul power was able to increase so drastically when I tried, why can't my textbook knowledge be the same?!" Wang Tong said indignantly.
He had been trying his best and had devoted most of his time to studying the textbooks. He even skipped all of the METAL fighter classes and the class on Zergs, neither of which he thought were important at the time since the METAL class had been all about basic theories that he didn't care about and the latter seemed even more redundant to him since he had practically lived with Zergs on Norton.
"Pff, your puny power can only kill bugs and bully noobs. A real master can kill you with a flick of the finger."
Wang Tong never expected to hear any encouragement from Mr. Wannabe, he simply scowled at Mr. Wannabe who had already immersed himself in the clamors of the TV, and Wang Tong immediately buried his face once again in the pile of textbooks.
Chapter 21: Butterfingers
Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Tehrn
A great explorer used to say, "What exhausts me isn't the high mountain peaks, but that grain of sand that is stuck on my insole."
Wang Tong felt that Applied Math was that grain of sand rubbing him irritatingly on his climb of the seemingly impenetrable peak, the monthly test. It rubbed him in the classroom, outside of the classroom, on weekdays, and also on weekends. The ceaseless irritation exhausted him, and he didn't even have a moment of respite to savor the wonderful fact that he was only a few paces away from the girl's dormitory.
"I still don't understand this," Wang Tong thought, "Why would a battlefield commander need to know the application of math in building a warship?" Annoyance aside, the difficulties of these subjects had inspired awe in Wang Tong towards those who took the major in Applied Science. He could not even fathom their intelligence and thought there was no surprise that major weapon manufacturers chased after their talents as soon as they were graduated.
"Hey Kiddo, it's about time."
"About time for what?"
"Your debts, I had been waiting for a week, it's about time for us to go for another fight in the PA, and don't you complain about me disturbing your studies, I have given you a lot of time."
"Ahh, right, I almost forgot about it! Let's do it." Wang Tong was glad that Mr. Wannabe brought it up, since he had been desperate to take a break from studying over the weekend, and the fight had just given him a perfect excuse.
Surprised at how easily Wang Tong had agreed, Mr. Wannabe nodded: "Excellent, you are quite a help after all."
After Wang Tong's careful assessment, he was confident that Samantha would be disappointed at the outcome of her plan to get rid of him, thanks to two ace cards up his sleeve that he would leverage during the monthly test.
Knowing he wouldn't need to do well in any of the basic subjects, Wang Tong fled away from the hellish theories of numerals, leaving a gust of wind that swooped up a few pages and messed up the neatly arranged notes.
The owner of the Dream-Heaven recognized Wang Tong immediately as he stepped in, he smiled at Wang Tong and said, "Hey buddy, I left the terminal number five just for you, it's one of our best."
"Thank you," Wang Tong nodded. He didn't care about the quality of the terminals, as long as he could vent his thirst for battle. The sudden transition from the savagery on Norton to the quiet, if not boring, studies at Ayrlarng, had made him thirst for the thrill of battles.
He logged onto PA as he noticed a message in his mailbox, a challenge invitation.
"Kiddo, find a tougher opponent this time, they don't seem to teach the students like they used to anymore, they're too weak even for you," Mr. Wannabe grumbled.
Wang Tong knew there were tougher opponents out there somewhere, but the problem was where to find them, the search was made more difficult due to Wang Tong's low level since it would deter most strong players as they too were searching for worthy opponents.
Upon closer examination of the profile of the two challengers who had left him the message, Wang Tong noticed that both of them were under twenty but already had been using third tier METAL suits. Unfortunately they were both offline; otherwise, they would have been the opponents Wang Tong was looking for.
Since the time spent on cultivation had a significant impact on one's strength, TPA had devised an age rule which divided the players into a few age groups in order to balance the in-game competition.
Players who aged twenty or under formed a group and from there, every five more years of age formed a subsequent age group since five years' of cultivation would have made a noticeable uptick in one's strength.
The minimum age of fifteen for the mind opening operation was also carefully devised by the Confederation in order to minimize the risk of mental instability at any younger ages. Only a few prestigious ancient families who were said to be immune to becoming deranged had attempted to open their EMF at a younger age than fifteen, and there had been only very few who had successfully done that.
Both Wang Tong and Mr. Wannabe stared at the live feeds of a few dozen matches in search of a better opponent, and soon their vision merged onto the same screen which was broadcasting match number eighteen.
As Wang Tong walked into the arena with confident strides, he noticed that the place had been jam-packed with a couple thousand audience members, a clear indication of the strength and level of the players on the stage.
"Gale-Blade had won fifty-six consecutive fights; he is perhaps the best of the best among those who wear a third tier METAL suit."
"No kidding, his potent blade strike could overwhelm any opponent in an instant."
"I've heard that he's from the military, a ferocious beast chained by military discipline during the day, and in the night, he always comes here to vent his thirst for violence."
"He is just another typical Martian. They say Earthlings are superficial, Ivantians are pretentious, and Martians are ostentatious."
Wang Tong watched as Gale-Blade stood on the stage amidst the cheers, his blade was held pompously above his head. His taunting gesture had made Wang Tong think that he was waiting for a challenger, so Wang Tong walked up to the stage without any invitation.
"Mr. Einherjar Wannabe, the match is over, please arrange your challenge another day," the referee stopped Wang Tong and said, "And be aware that this match was for higher level competitors only."
"Ahh... I am sorry." Wang Tong felt embarrassed in front of a couple of thousand sets of eyes, and he cursed at the overly abundant rules of the game. A thin layer of sweat clung to his forehead then looked shiny under the dazzling stage lights.
"Yo, you there, challenge accepted, you won't last long anyway." Wang Tong piqued Gale-Blade's interest after he had seen that the challenger was an Earthling. Same as Wang Tong, brash Martians never cared much for rules, their motto was "punch first, think second."
"Great!" Wang Tong turned around to face Gale-Blade who was ready to teach this noob a lesson.
The audience didn't expect Want Tong's challenge to be accepted, nor did they care if it was since Wang Tong seemed to be even weaker than the last challenger who was K.O.ed by Gale-Blade in the blink of an eye. More and more people stood up from their seats and were ready to leave the arena.
"Hey, you wimp! I bet you won't even be able to withstand one of my strikes," Gale-Blade yelled at Wang Tong pompously. "Put your METAL on, and try not to cry like a baby after I have beaten your b*tt!"
"No need for a METAL suit, I'm just here for some fun," Wang Tong said and smiled at his opponent.
"Then you die!" Without even giving a fraction of a second for Wang Tong to get ready, Gale-Blade lashed out a strike which emanated a sharp and powerful force as it traveled through the air.
Silence fell, Gale-Blade's weapon magically disappeared from his hand before it reached Wang Tong.
This turn of events had shocked everyone. The audience who had stood up to leave then, sat down and watched in bafflement. "What the heck had just happened?" they all asked the same question in their minds.
Wang Tong cracked a broad smile as he handed the blade back to Gale-Blade and said, "I'm sorry, here is your blade, let's try it again, this time hold your weapon tighter, butterfingers."
Chapter 22: Gale-Blade
Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Tehrn
As he grabbed the blade that was handed over to him, Gale-Blade conceded the fact that Wang Tong was not a wimp, but a strong opponent, he gathered himself to concentrate on the fight. "Hey yo, put on your METAL suit man, I'm not gonna go easy on you this time."
"Don't you worry about it, do your best, I really wish to see the famous move 'Strike of the Gale Blade'."
The slightly arrogant tone in Wang Tong's words had provoked Gale-Blade. If he didn't know that this so called Einherjar Wannabe was only sixteen years old, Gale-Blade would have thought that he had met a master level opponent.
Gale Blade held a serious expression in his eyes, as a deep whir became audible after his soul energy erupted from the nexus, driven by the perpetuating pulses of GN force.
"Taste this!"
Gale-Blade took a step forward and thudded the sole of his boots flat on the ground as the blade, held tight in a pair of hands with whitening knuckles, swooped in a half circle.
This was a ferocious battle hardened strike technique, one could even feel the weight carried by the strike in a meter distance, but Wang Tong stood still without even flinching which made the audience think that Wang Tong might have gone mad.
"Gods" someone in the audience seats let out a disbelieving cry.
Just when the strike reached the peak of its strength, its momentum ceased as Wang Tong held the back of the blade with two fingers that had crept there unnoticed in the middle of Gale-Blade's powerful and swift strike.
"I told you, do your best." Wang Tong jolted his hand and sent Gale-Blade staggering a few steps back.
The crowd was sizzling with disbelief and astonishment. It had happened so fast that no one could see how a bare hand could stop such a powerful attack infused with GN force.
Gale-Blade did not take advantage of the amplifying effect of his METAL suit, the offense focused Martian Feral Beast-X. But after he tasted humiliation for the second time, he allowed his METAL suit's effect to kick in as his armor started to emanate a faint dark red light which contrasted with the fiery expression in his eyes.
Energy started to build up in Gale-Blade's dantian, his eyes locked onto Wang Tong like a stalking lion ready to pounce on its prey. He was about to deploy his coup de grace, the ultimate strike of Gale-Blade. It was this spectacular move which the audience had been waiting to witness at every round of Gale-Blade's fight.
Like most Martian's brash combat style, this coup de grace required the attacker to give up all defenses and to go almost berserk; in return, it would strike a paralyzing fear into an opponent's heart. Even a flinch of the opponent meant their catastrophic defeat under the overwhelmingly ferocious momentum of the attack.
Wang Tong could tell that this attack was different than the previous two as its aim was more precise, its force was more brutal, and above all, this strike was infused with sizzling GN force amplified by a METAL suit, which could disintegrate any human flesh upon contact. But Wang Tong simply stepped back casually without flinching.
One notable characteristic of a Martian's attack was its sheer speed as their non-stop assault would leave no opportunity for the opponent to counter, which always had turned the match into a solo performance.
As each and every strike fell towards Wang Tong, a swirling lance of ruby light spilled out from the blade, filling the arena with red flashes; however, Wang Tong didn't flinch nor did he step back any further and, instead swayed his body at will from side to side, evading the singeing attacks.
"Hack, hack, hack…" Gale-Blade seemed to have lost his consciousness as he poured out the momentous strikes like the suffocating wild gales on the ragged mountain peaks.
There was a total of twenty-eight consecutive hacks and slashes in one round of Strike of the Gale Blade, but when the 28th slash fell to the end of its strength, Wang Tong was perfectly unharmed. With one hand, Wang Tong clamped tightly to the back of the blade which had fallen still right below his groin, the other hand followed with a palm strike towards Gale-Blade.
The battle-hardened Martian suddenly swayed his body to one side, twisting the handle in one hand so that the blade broke free from Wang Tong's iron clamp. With the sharp edge of the blade then facing upwards pointing directly at Wang Tong's groin, Gale-Blade struck hard as he yanked his arm up to destroy whatever lies in-between his groin. Wang Tong didn't freak out at the despicable move out of primal instinct like most people would have; he calmly hugged closer towards the attacker and wrapped his arm around Gale-Blade's head swiftly and quietly like a python latching onto a large sized prey.
As Wang Tong's body turned around, so did the neck in his arms' firm embrace, and then the match was over with a crisp snap of neck bone.
Wang Tong didn't intend the battle to end in such a brutal way, but that "neck twisting" move had already become muscle memory while fighting against the Zergs, as it was necessary in order to prevent the severely wounded ones from willingly exploding their body as a suicide attack.
First, the audience members were speechless, then quickly arguments erupted among them over the origin of this mysterious "neck twister". Some had asserted that, based on their years of fanboy/girl experience, the "neck twister" must have executed his move many times before since his movement looked effortlessly fluid. But everyone was sure about one fact, that Wang Tong was not from the military nor any schools since "neck twisting" would never be allowed to be taught.
Wang Tong noticed the searing looks beamed at him, he turned on his heel to hurry off the stage as he feared the crowd would boil over at his unconventional technique.
"Why are we leaving? You just fought another lame noob, 'Gale-Blade'... pff… worse than a butter knife!" Mr. Wannabe said in an unsatisfied tone.
"He was not bad, especially the last attack, it was powerful; albeit lacking in speed, it's better suited to war rather than duels like this."
"Since when did you become so modest? Anyhow, we need to find a tougher opponent, there have to be some matches for truly powerful fighters."
"I agree," Wang Tong said as he checked the game manual, and indeed there were matches for higher level players, but with Wang Tong's current level, he stood no chance of participating in those matches.
"Miao Xiu, Miao Xiu, come see, Einherjar Wannabe has been playing again, and he has just defeated a dude with a third tier METAL suit."
"Watch him for me; I'll be there right away!"
Miao Xiu stopped messing around with a cute girl in his arms; to him, a thrilling fight always seemed more tempting than the soft body of a girl.
A challenge message appeared in Wang Tong's mailbox as he started to feel helpless in joining any higher level matches. He studied the challenger's profile: "Forty wins and zero loss." Wang Tong figured that he was either a bad-ass fighter or he cheated, that would be the only two explanation for a 100% winning rate.
"Maybe we should give it a try?" Mr. Wannabe pleaded as he didn't want to stand around and wait since Wang Tong likely wouldn't be able to wait for very long before he had to head back to school which meant Mr. Wannabe would have to wait for another full week.
"Sure," Wang Tong accepted the challenge.
"Hurry Miao Xiu, he has accepted your challenge, I have picked the location for you. Everything is the same old," Luv Ma cracked a smile as he spoke. Luv Ma was well aware of Miao Xiu's strength; after all, he had defeated forty high-level fighters without losing once. The reason that he was relatively unheard of was mainly because of Miao Xiu's pet peeve with the crowd, as he put it, "Too many audience members make me feel like a circus monkey." Therefore he gradually self-ostracized from the TPA but had been causing trouble in real life instead.
That was right; Miao Xiu had injured an instructor on the first day of school.
"There we go, don't let me down dude, I had to give up a sweet night just to come here to fight you," Miao Xiu muttered anxiously.
Both Wang Tong and Miao Xiu arrived at the designated battleground, and both were filled with anticipation. This battle ground was very secluded with a very small audience. Just like in the real world, there were also introverts and extroverts in the game world.
None of this mattered to Wang Tong since he did not know anyone anyways.
Soon the two challengers appeared, one called "Nonchalant Playboy" and the other called "Sharp Razor". Wang Tong watched them as he noticed how well-defined their facial features were, "They must be Ivantians," he thought.
Something stirred the air around Wang Tong's ear, a pulse of energy perhaps, he watched as Nonchalant Playboy gave him an agitated grin.
Chapter 23: The Followers of the Templar
Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Tehrn
"Hehe Kiddo, we have finally met a worthy opponent, I bet his soul power is on par with yours!" Mr. Wannabe was very excited to finally be able to watch a good fight.
Unlike most fighters who would focus on cultivating soul power while ignoring the technique of challenging one's GN power, Wang Tong's power was unconventional, although he had only about 100 sols of soul power, the effect of the 100 sols was deadly thanks to his almost impeccable skill in channeling his GN power, a talent that had even made Mr. Wannabe feel jealous.
Although he was impressed by Wang Tong's raw talent, Mr. Wannabe was also aware that Wang Tong still had a long way to go in order to catch up with master level fighters; therefore, he had been nipping away at Wang Tong's complacency, trying to drive him to improve. That was the reason why Mr. Wannabe always acted as if he never approved of Wang Tong's achievements. Although it would hurt Wang Tong's feelings, it was also an effective way to get the message across when Mr. Wannabe could not fight Wang Tong himself and make the point directly.
Wang Tong had learned many wild and unrestricted moves in desperate combat with Zergs, but that did not undermine the power of the coup de grace of major sects since they had withstood the test of time.
Sharp Razor cracked a smile and said to Wang Tong, "Fellow Brother, me and my friend Nonchalant Playboy, a master swords player, were utterly impressed by your performance—"
"Save the courtesy, let's begin, with METAL or not, you decide," Nonchalant Playboy spoke frankly and cut Sharp Razor short.
"I don't have a METAL suit; it's up to you if you want to wear it or not."
Nonchalant Playboy was bemused for a second and broke out laughing, "Sh*t, and I thought I was arrogant. It would take a Templar's follower to defeat me; you are just full of yourself."
"Templar's follower? What the heck is that?" Wang Tong asked in confusion.
Both opponents shrugged their shoulders at Wang Tong, it then seemed evident to them that Wang Tong was just another powerful but ordinary fighter since he was oblivious about the followers of the Templar.
"Don't worry about it, let's just fight." Miao Xiu reckoned that it would be just another match with an ordinary opponent; he just wanted to finish it as soon as possible.
Wang Tong liked his brashness and said, "Alright, let's begin."
Luv Ma, aka Sharp Razor, retreated to a corner of the arena. There were no referees to keep tab of both fighters' scores as these fights were usually quick and decisive.
As soon as the ring was cleared, Nonchalant Playboy smiled casually at Wang Tong as if he was waiting for Wang Tong to strike first. Wang Tong seemed to have understood his opponent's intentions, but just when he was least expecting it, his seemingly nonchalant opponent had acted first and attacked Wang Tong with surprise.
However, Wang Tong was not startled by the sneak attack, as he dashed forward, mirroring his opponent's move.
What followed were a few dozen exchanges of fist punches and sword slashes. Luv Ma observed every move of the two fighters and paid particular attention to Wang Tong as he noticed that Wang Tong's soul power was at least on par with Miao Xiu's; his GN power, however, as Luv Ma estimated, must be even stronger. It was hard for him to believe that someone with this much power was not one of the followers, not to mention being oblivious about it.
Although Wang Tong had proven to be a worthy opponent, Luv Ma was then still confident that Miao Xiu's victory was only a matter of time. Miao Xiu had been a follower of the Templar ever since he was sixteen, and under the Templars, he had been studying the sacred tactics of Hexa Solaires, and through years of cultivation, his EMF had reached at least one hundred sols. His deadly power was further enhanced by his keen sense on the battlefield. Miao Xiu's victory was imminent.
Both fighters had exchanged another fifty or so rounds of attacks, and the last exchange ended in an explosive impact which staggered both of them back.
"Awesome, f*cking awesome, indeed you are different from the other useless garbage!" Miao Xiu had been scolded by his teacher many times because of his profanity, yet it kept on pouring out of his mouth.
"You are not bad yourself." Wang Tong jumped to his feet, feeling fortunate to have such a strong opponent who fights refreshingly different from the Zergs, and he also restored some of his faith in human's combat ability.
Wang Tong cannot find any sign of weakness in any of Nonchalant Playboy moves as every one of Wang Tong's attacks were perfectly countered. He had never fought such a tough opponent like him whose defense and offense were so tightly interwoven with each other and every single movement was executed flawlessly with its full intent.
"I am just about to get serious."
"Same here."
Miao Xiu channeled his soul power into his sword as the wave of energy emanating from the sword expanded slowly. Seeing that Miao Xiu was about to unleash his true power, Luv Ma become agitated. He was excited to witness the Templar's coup de grace, a rare sight to behold despite the fact that Miao Xiu was still a follower.
The sword strike unleashed a concentrated beam of energy. Even the air around Miao Xiu seemed dreary when he became serious about his opponent. As Miao Xiu finished his move, Luv Ma had noticed that he had used the standard tactics taught at the Starry Sky Academy, the Tactics of Star Swords, which he had already mastered, although Miao Xiu had just learned it a few weeks ago.
Wang Tong immediately felt pressured by the incoming sleuth of attacks, every move was quickly followed by another, and with every move, both attack and defense were at an unstoppable rhythm, which rendered Wang Tong's counter attack ineffectual. There was a reason for the S-Class Academy to choose the Tactics of Star Sword after all.
Assailed by the articulated and deadly strikes, Wang Tong felt his space for maneuvering was shrinking drastically as if he was being entangled in a web of attacks. Despite the countless battles with the Zerg, Wang Tong still lacked combat experience against humans compared to Miao Xiu. Fighting humans was very different from fighting Zergs since even the higher tier Zergs, once you got used to them, were predictable.
After only a dozen rounds of slashes and hacks, Wang Tong started to lose his ground which disappointed Luv Ma who had expected Wang Tong to last a bit longer. But on the flip side, it also demonstrated the dreadful power of the Templar's followers.
Wang Tong's unstructured attack had become ineffective under Miao Xiu's intricate web of attacks, but he didn't feel frustrated, instead he felt refreshed.
The previous two battles were too easy, after all, ordinary students were no match for the battle-hardened Wang Tong, however Miao Xiu was different as Miao Xiu had a slight advantage over Wang Tong in terms of both strength and experience.
Mr. Wannabe was smiling as he finally saw another way of nipping away at Wang Tong's arrogance and complacency. Wang Tong's strength was still far from adequate to take him to Valhalla; he had to push him harder without giving him a moment of respite.
However, Mr. Wannabe didn't notice that the corner of Wang Tong's mouth was lifted up as he was equally as excited as Mr. Wannabe himself while he engrossed himself in planning attacks and defenses.
Wang Tong had noticed that his opponent's sword strike seemed to be full of faults that he could take advantage of, but he had seen through his opponent's bait, and he was confident that once he entered the trap, he would be punished ten times more severely.
Suddenly, Miao Xiu's lips formed a cold smile; it was about time to deploy the final strike, the coup de grace.
A swirl of light suddenly flashed in front of Wang Tong, through which the sharp end of the sword pierced at his heart at lightning speed. Judging by the speed and momentum, it would penetrate Wang Tong's body with ease.
However, having been forced into a defensive position for the entire time, Wang Tong suddenly closed in on Miao Xiu, could it be that he was going to catch the sword with his bare hand again? If so, Wang Tong might have to pay dearly for undermining Miao Xiu's strength, for Miao Xiu was not the same as the two rookies that he had just defeated.
However, should Miao Xiu let Wang Tong catch his sword, he would forever be looked down upon by other followers of the Templar.
Chapter 24: METAL Arm
Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Tehrn
In contrast to Luv Ma's prediction, Wang Tong's arm did not move to grab the sword senselessly; instead, Wang Tong attempted to deflect the blow, which, all the same, would have left him in a perilous situation, should he miss the target or fail to strike in time, he would be hacked in half by Miao Xiu's deadly strike.
Wang Tong did not hesitate, nor did he flinch, even though this was a fleeting moment of life and death in the PA world where emotions and feelings were emulated so vividly.
This unwavering equanimity was what made Wang Tong good combat material, and after being reformed in the hellish furnace of Norton, hammered a thousand times on the anvil made out of Zerg's body, and quenched in its blood, his will had been forged into steel, immovable and steadfast.
Wang Tong's counter attack had caught Miao Xiu in a vulnerable position as he had opened his chest to Wang Tong's retaliation. After losing the effective range of his sword, the follower of the Templar didn't retreat to a more advantageous position; instead, he lifted his thigh unflinchingly and aimed his knee directly at the abdomen of the incoming attacker.
Miao Xiu had reckoned that it had been too late to dodge Wang Tong's attack; however, he wouldn't go down without taking Wang Tong with him, for he had aimed at Wang Tong's dantian, the nexus hub of GN force, should his knee strike land precisely, it would cause more trauma and damage to Wang Tong than Miao Xiu would receive.
Although being forced into a defensive stance, Miao Xiu's calculated retaliations still boasted his ruthless aggression on the battlefield.
Seeing that the clash was inevitable, Wang Tong gritted his teeth as the two bodies collided into each other; an explosive force propagated outward from the center of the impact and threw both of them into the air, away from each other.
They had by then both registered the power of their opponent's attack, especially Miao Xiu whose initial strike was interrupted; a calculating and curious expression rose in their eyes.
"Who are you?" Miao Xiu asked. "Are you from one of the top six academies? Capth, or perhaps Yaldon?"
Wang Tong shook his head and said, "Neither, I am from a dingy little school you've probably never heard of. It's my turn now, try to block this!"
Wang Tong's body jerked forward abruptly, his footwork seemed elusive and strange to Miao Xiu, who started to feel dizzy as his eyeballs struggled to trace Wang Tong's movement.
Each step taken by Wang Tong carried a strange if not eerie quality. As a martial arts prodigy, Miao Xiu had seen many different types of foot movement for combat purposes, but none of which was as ugly as Wang Tong's. Calling it footwork was farfetched; it was simply an incoherent and disorganized shuffle.
Annoyed by the pestering footsteps, Miao Xiu hacked towards Wang Tong in a fit of pique, attempting to end his opponent's hideous performance. But Miao Xiu's strike missed and he was greeted with a powerful punch towards the face.
Miao Xiu deftly jerked his head to one side, avoiding the incoming blow, but Wang Tong's fist suddenly disappeared in front of him and reemerged, as Miao Xiu watched from the corner of his eyes, right in front of his chest, thrusting a devastating blow.
Miao Xiu initiated his METAL armor out of sheer instinct right before the impact. Although unharmed, he was blown away by Wang Tong's punch, and staggered back a few dozen paces.
Miao Xiu blushed as he felt embarrassed that he had broken his promise of not using his METAL suit. With his own ego working against him, Miao Xiao's morale tapered under Wang Tong's immense power delivered through his seemingly ragged moves.
"Nice footsteps, where did you learn that?" Miao Xiu asked curiously.
Wang Tong shook his head, "Nowhere, I made it up."
Although he felt even more humiliated by Wang Tong's inattentive answer, he swallowed a thick clog of sputum and conceded his defeat: "You have won this round, whenever you want a rematch, just leave me a message."
Wang Tong waved his hand, gesturing to Miao Xiu that he didn't want to end the battle yet. "It isn't over yet, you brought your METAL suit, why don't you use it?" Wang Tong had just sampled a small dose of the thrill of battle which only teased out more of his appetite.
"Do you mean you want to fight me while I am wearing my METAL suit?" Miao Xiu asked in disbelief. Although he had used the METAL armor out of instinct to shield Wang Tong's attack, it did not mean that without METAL, Wang Tong's strike would have ended the fight. After all, the Tactics of Hexa Solaris had quite capable defenses.
After Wang Tong had confirmed his seemingly suicidal challenge, Miao Xiu accepted the rematch knowing his opponent was about to eat crow.
With the help of a METAL suit, Miao Xiu's power increased substantially; however, Wang Tong still looked calm and unfaltering, giving no impression that he perceived any imminent threat.
Luv Ma also felt that Wang Tong's challenge was amusing. He had won the first round out of sheer luck thanks to his bizarre footwork. Luv Ma had reckoned that both fighters' strength were similar without METAL, but with the enhancements from the METAL suit, there would be no doubt that a decisive victory would belong to Miao Xiu.
"Is this dude really that ignorant of his own limits or..." Luv Ma pondered.
Wang Tong attacked first this time as he darted towards Miao Xiu with his bizarre and eerie footsteps. All the while, Wang Tong felt relieved that he could finally unleash his full strength without worrying about injuring his opponent thanks to the METAL suit.
Wang Tong's initial attack had been a straightforward thrust, but as he got closer to his target, the thrust somehow had turned into a parallel swooping slash.
Luv Ma watched as he felt that every infinitesimal movement of Wang Tong's body seemed to have contradicted human physiology, but instead, resembled that of Zergs.
Unknown to Luv Ma, his suspicion was not unfounded as Wang Tong had indeed learned his footwork from the spider-like Zergs.
Miao Xiu had accurately predicted the pattern and set his sword in Wang Tong's path as he initiated his METAL suit, it had seemed that Wang Tong had failed to deceive his opponent this time.
Wang Tong dodged the sharp point that emerged suddenly in his path with a half pirouette, and then he smiled. This was exactly the kind of practice he needed, he needed someone to scrutinize his attacks in a real battle to help him to keep on improving.
Wang Tong gathered himself after he dodged the attack, and retaliated immediately with his spider steps. Having seen through Wang Tong's trick, Miao Xiu lashed out with a ruthless counter attack, intending to end the increasingly pestering match.
Although Miao Xiu's strength had been increased exponentially due to the METAL suit, his strike had missed Wang Tong once again. Before he could pull back his sword, he saw Wang Tong's fist flying towards him.
Knowing that no ordinary attack would be able to harm him with his METAL suit turned on, Miao Xiu's subconscious had relaxed and slowed him down as a row of whitening knuckles grazed his body, but to Miao Xiu's surprise, the graze injured him.
Miao Xiu's face suddenly became grave as he realized that Wang Tong would be a tougher nut to crack than he had initially thought.
Realizing that he had been deceived by Wang Tong's elusive power, Miao Xiu spoke in a serious tone, "I have underestimated you. Why didn't you reveal your true power?"
Wang Tong's face lit up with joy, "Well, I will, only when you use your real coup de grace."
"Interesting, I have a hard time believing that you're not from one of the top six academies. Anyhow, there's no point hiding anything now, the fight ends here!"
Luv Ma registered that Maio Xiu was about to unleash his real coup de grace, the ultimate kill strike Miao Xiu had learned from the Templars.
Miao Xiu's body tensed up, as he held the hilt of his sword in both hands, his knuckles whitening. Suddenly, a plethora of sizzling GN force flushed out of his dantian, seeping into the sword, his eyes shined like fiery blaze as his body inched into the ground — a result of the swirling waves of unseen energy pushing down on its body.
He was by then ready to unleash his ultimate power and awaken his opponent with a sudden realization of devastation, making him repent while engulfed by the Templar's righteous blaze.
This was the Templar's retribution-Attack of Gaia.
Miao Xiu's body suddenly blurred before it completely disappeared, leaving only the path of the sword visible, which slashed up and down at a tilted angle. It sliced through the air like slicing open a fish's belly. Miao Xiu initiated and completed the coup de grace in one go, with flawless footwork and impeccable movements.
Wang Tong was not fast enough to dodge the sudden burst of energy at point blank, even if he had, he would not have anticipated the trembling and exploding earth under his feet, as swirling sharp lances of GN energy thrust out of the earth's crust while spitting at the sky, filling the entire battlefield with flying boulders the size of a cow or larger.
This was Miao Xiu's ultimate coup de grace, the move that has to kill once unleashed.
"Konnnnn." The strike landed, the trembling stopped, and the battle was concluded.
Luv Ma was elated, moved by the unbelievable power in front of him, executed in a flawless and unstoppable fashion, he felt that he was not watching a battle, but was appreciating a piece of divine art.
But... what Luv Ma saw next almost made his jaw drop. He rubbed his disbelieving eyes with the cushions of his palms and narrowed his eyes to reexamine the battlefield.
Miao Xiu's sword was resting on Wang Tong's right arm, which was completely unharmed.
Miao Xiu was rendered speechless even more so than Luv Ma. He knew that he had struck true, and Wang Tong's virtual body should have been sliced in half under the Attack of Gaia, like a block of butter under a molten knife. Instead, Wang Tong stood there in once piece as if nothing had happened.
This blow promised at least one hundred and thirty sols of energy, enough to disintegrate any human flesh upon contact.
Disheveled, Miao Xiu thought to himself, "Could it be that this guy's right arm is made out of the Templar's METAL suit?"
Chapter 25: I Am One Lucky Guy
Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Tehrn
Without hesitation, Wang Tong struck with his left palm towards Miao Xiu who wrenched away instinctively. Still off balance from what had happened, Miao Xiu babbled, "No… no way, how could you block my attack."
"Nonchalant Playboy, watch out!"
Wang Tong yelled as he raised his right hand, in the spitting image of Miao Xiu's Attack of Gaia, but with the side of his palm in the stead of the sharp blade.
Luv Ma could not believe this madness; everyone knew that deploying a Templar coup de grace required years of cultivation of corresponding tactics. Miao Xiu for example, wouldn't have mastered the Attack of Gaia if he had not learned the Tactics of Hexa Solaris by rote. Even so, it had taken him ten days to just pick up the basics, albeit having a relatively quick record for the learning process among the Templar's followers.
"Attack of Gaia?" Luv Ma watched incredulously as he started to doubt his senses.
"Attack of Gaia!" Luv Ma gasped as he watched the exact same move then executed by Wang Tong. His body blurred and disappeared before was reemerged; his right arm hacked from top to bottom, at a tilted angle.
However, Wang Tong was still three meters away from Miao Xiu when he struck, a fact that amused Luv Ma, "There is no way he will even reach Miao Xiu," he thought.
"Whoosh..."
A crackling bright light bolted from Wang Tong's right arm towards Miao Xiu who blocked it with his sword.
Luv Ma heard a barely audible crack which was followed by silence, there were no explosions, and Miao Xiu seemed unharmed. Luv Ma felt relieved. "Dumbass, he couldn't tell how far away he was?"
Miao Xiu's eyes rounded and allowed a few words to tumble out of his gritted teeth, "Who... Who are… y—" Before he could finish, his armor suddenly cracked open and shattered, his virtual body also broken into pieces.
Game Over!
When Luv Ma started to look for Wang Tong, he had already left the arena.
Wang Tong was laying on the sofa quietly with his eyes closed; his hands clenched into fists as he tried to calm the tumultuous undercurrents in his mind, a turbulence that was perpetuated by the discovery of the salient truth about the power of Tactics of the Blade.
For the first time, Mr. Wannabe simply watched Wang Tong quietly without dressing him down. Wang Tong's performance had finally exceeded his expectations. He regretted that he had talked to him like an ordinary sixteen-year-old, while Wang Tong had been far more than just ordinary.
Wang Tong had not only discovered the power in the Tactics of the Blade, but he had also come to really appreciate Old Fart's stringent supervision of his tactics practices.
Ever since the turn of event on Norton, Wang Tong had always been using the 16-GN nodes, as it was impossible for him to mobilize two hundred and forty nodes at one time during combat.
Mr. Wannabe had said that it was impossible for Wang Tong to miraculously achieve good grades without years of hard work to build a solid foundation first, and the same could be said about his martial arts practice. Since Wang Tong had been practicing the Tactics of the Blade for only a year, which was insufficient to master any tactics let along the so-called "most deadly" tactics. But Wang Tong's progression, albeit difficult, had been dramatically accelerated, due to the fact that he had been practicing the sixteen node version ever since he was six.
The sixteen nodes version happened to contain the core components of the complete version, cultivating the use of all the other nodes was simply an extension of any one of the sixteen nodes.
That explained Old Fart's stringency about Wang Tong's training, and the punishments Wang Tong had received for slacking.
For the first time in Wang Tong's life, he had realized the fact that his body was a hidden treasure trove, and it would be solely up to himself to discover the precious power locked inside. Today's battle for example, had he not used the little GN cluster on his right arm, Miao Xiu's sword would have hacked him into two pieces.
Mr. Wannabe's voice dragged Wang Tong's mind back to reality: "Hey, Kiddo, what had happened out there?"
Wang Tong's face lit up with excitement: "I am not too sure either, perhaps that was my true talent? Wahaha!"
The "Tactics of Playing Dumb" had always been Wang Tong's best way of dodging unwanted questions.
Mr. Wannabe rolled his eyes as he contemplated something for a while before he spared Wang Tong a stare. To Wang Tong's surprise, Mr. Wannabe didn't follow this up with more questions or profanities; his face looked stern as if he had just made a serious decision.
Wang Tong acted as if he didn't care about Wannabe's unusual behavior, he left Heaven-Dream and hurried off to his room, he still had to finish studying which was even harder than the Tactics of the Blade.
However, underneath Wang Tong's seemingly blithe appearance, a dark torrent swirled ever since Old Fart had warned him about the "trouble" in the crystal: a cryptic warning about Mr. Wannabe's true nature.
Miao Xiu was stoned and still found it difficult to comprehend what had just happened in the arena.
"Miao Xiu, you don't think this dude is a follower of the Templar as well?" Luv Ma asked.
Miao Xiu didn't spare him an answer as he was still moaning his defeat.
As time had passed, Miao Xiu suddenly pulled his hair in despair and frustration, and yelled at the top of his lung:"Sh*t! sh*t! sh*t! No, it's impossible! He's clearly never received any formal training; didn't you see his… unorthodox moves?"
"But he used the Attack of Gaia! There's no way he would have learned it from you after watching it only once..."
"Attack of Gaia wasn't even close to his power, not even if he was a Templar." Miao Xiu shook his head in dismay.
"You mean that was not..." Luv Ma's breath was caught in his throat as he was shocked at Miao Xiu's revelation.
Miao Xiu nodded, "Attack of Gaia can only be used with a sword, what he used was something very similar but stronger, much stronger, perhaps it's a well-guarded secret tactics." Miao Xiu resented the thought that Wang Tong's tactics were stronger than his.
"I reckoned that the tactics he used emphasized the conditioning of one's body, especially the right arm, which he used as a weapon," Luv Ma said as he straightened his eyeglasses.
"Or maybe he was one of the Lis?" Seeing Miao Xiu grew gloomy and quiet, Luv Ma half asked and half suggested in an attempt to console his friend, as being defeated by one of the Lis would seem more bearable than being defeated by an unknown boy of sixteen.
"Unlikely, he was not as aloof and pretentious as those from the five houses. He was rude and brusque, and he must have planned to use me as his free sparring target!" Miao Xiu said as he gritted his teeth, unable to control his anger.
Luv Ma understood his frustration as it was his first defeat after he had left the Templar's court. The usually talkative Miao Xiu had been too quiet. Luv Ma decided to leave Miao Xiu alone, as he knew that Miao Xiu had been hurt more than what he allowed others to see.
Wang Tong headed towards his dormitory in a joyful sprint; things could not be clearer then: Old Fart knew Mr. Wannabe existed. He gave him the space crystal and taught him the sixteen node version of the Tactics of the Blade before sending him off to Norton, hoping that Wang Tong would figure things out by himself. As for the message that he received after he returned to Earth, it was a warning from Old Fart that he had to stay low and to curtail his brashness.
Keeping a low profile was easy for Wang Tong since he had always considered himself a reserved person.
Wang Tong saw a throng of girls in front of his door as he approached his dormitory. "What the heck?"
As soon as he was spotted by them, the girls closed in on Wang Tong with great excitement in their eyes.
Wang Tong was not used to, albeit always welcomed, a situation like this. Could it be that he was going to become that one lucky guy in the videos he sneakily watched alone every night?