Chapter 59: The New Alpha
Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Tehrn
"Nothing. I have done nothing! Look at you, in cloth and all, what could I have done to you?"
Zhou Sisi fumbled as she patted herself down out of instinct. She found nothing, although she wasn't sure what she was looking for. She glanced at Wang Tong's innocent, watery eyes and then heaved a sigh of relief.
"I'm sorry, I can't remember what had happened last night."
With his weary eyes, half closed, Wang Tong briefly described what had happened last night, omitting a few details here and there. "The only thing that might have crossed the line was that I had touched your belly with my hand. I swear that was all. And I had no other options; you were on the verge of becoming deranged."
Zhou Sisi's face turned pale and then flushed red. Wang Tong regretted immediately. "I should have just told her that nothing had happened, only a fool would speak the truth," Wang Tong thought.
Some girls were outgoing and open, and some were more reserved and shy, if not overly-sensitive when being approached by the opposite sex. Instinct told Wang Tong that Zhou Sisi was the latter; therefore, he was not entirely surprised when he saw Zhou Sisi raised her hand for a slap on Wang Tong face.
Perhaps what Wang Tong told her was true and nothing had happened, but it must have been a close call. Zhou Sisi could have guessed that much, with or without Wang Tong's confession.
Wang Tong conceded his fate; he gritted his teeth and narrowed the eyes while waiting for Zhou Sisi's slap to come.
He waited for a while but felt nothing on his face. He opened his eyes and saw Zhou Sisi had already lowered her hand. She bit down her lower lip and then spoke grudgingly, "It's not your fault… But I hate you. I hate you!" Zhou Sisi stormed out, leaving Wang Tong sitting on the floor, mulling over the meaning of Zhou Sisi's confusing utterance.
"She said that it was not my fault, but why does she still hate me?" Wang Tong shook his head, unable to make sense of her logic. "Women are more perplexing than Zergs, considering we spoke the same language," he thought.
With the trouble out of his way, Wang Tong yawned loudly and quickly fell asleep again.
He didn't sleep long. While half asleep, he heard exciting screams outside of his room.
The morning news had just announced a shocking revelation. It might be good news for some people, but it would also break many hearts.
"Good morning everyone, our live studio had just received a shocking story: The son of General Hu Ben had passed his second mind opening operation, meaning that he will now be even stronger than if he had succeeded the first time. While everyone still guessed just exactly how powerful he is, he had just announced yet another news regarding his choice of school. Our reporter had just told us that he had officially accepted an offer from Ayrlarng Academy and will be attending Ayrlarng in a few day!"
The news went on to introduce Ayrlarng Academy, the once legendary military academy that had been forgotten.
The girls of Ayrlarng Academy were ecstatic: first came Hu Yangxuan, who was polite, gentle, and romantic, then came Wang Ben, who was wild, dangerous, and sexy. Unable to contain their fit of euphoria, the girls screamed Wang Ben's name at the top of their lungs.
With Ma Xiaoru, Hu Yangxuan, and Wang Ben joining its ranks, Ayrlarng had finally resurfaced into public's view. But no one could ignore the elephant in the room: "Why did Wang Ben choose Ayrlarng?" Regardless of the answer, what was done had been done.
Samantha hung up the phone. It was Martyrus. Apparently, even the old fox didn't anticipate Samantha's unexpected gain. "The old fox is finally becoming concerned," Samantha thought. She wagered that with Wang Ben joining her team, she could theoretically win the tournament. However, "theoretically" also meant that it was just as risky as before.
Samantha didn't let the good news lower her guard. Even with the all-star roster: Ma Xiaoru, Hu Yangxuan, and Wang Ben, she was still wary of the outcome of the fourth and fifth match. "What if Martyrus has a secret weapon just like I have Wang Tong?" Samantha pondered, calculating all the possibilities meticulously.
Wang Tong rubbed his dark eyes and reluctantly got out of his bed. He wondered if Wang Ben's arrival would make his mundane school life more interesting.
Wang Tong cleaned himself up and walked out of his room. He saw throngs of girls gathered around the entrance of dorm number five, prattling about Wang Ben. The girls' excitement suggested that Wang Ben might be even more popular than Hu Yangxuan. Compare to Hu Yangxuan, Wang Ben's family background had breathed a tougher and more masculine air into his character which was evidently more palatable in a military academy.
Wang Tong picked up his daily mail to be delivered and went to the classroom.
"You were never late... What took you so long?" Ma Xiaoru asked.
For no apparent reason, Wang Tong suddenly felt guilty, and then he answered, "I studied late... On another note, have you read the news? Wang Ben is coming to our school! Exciting eh?"
Ma Xiaoru didn't answer, she regarded him carefully, and brushed away few strands of loose hair on her forehead. She then spoke knowingly, "You are nervousness. Samantha told me that men like to divert topics when they are nervous."
Her observation had hit the mark. Wang Tong shriveled, "I confess… I lied, I was training until very late..."
"With whom?" Ma Xiaoru cut him short. Her cold stare landed on Wang Tong's shifty eyes.
"With Zhou Sisi. There was... a minor accident…" Wang Tong paused and scratched his head, hoping that Ma Xiaoru would drop the matter.
"I see," Ma Xiaoru said knowingly and didn't press further.
Ma Xiaoru's intonation and the sudden silence unnerved Wang Tong, "Ask me more!" Wang Tong screamed in his mind. He opened his mouth, trying to say something, but found no words, so the two sat there in an awkward silence, waiting for the class to start.
"The more you talk, the less you know." Quote by Old Fart.
Wang Tong conceded that he had to improve his soft skills and learn when to speak and when to keep quiet.
A teacher sauntered into the classroom, joy was written all over his face. He was just thinking about the envious looks of his colleagues from other schools when he announced that Wang Ben had joined the school he taught at. Every teacher in Ayrlarng had dreamed that that one day, Ayrlarng would return to its former glory, and thanks to Samantha's hard work and deep pockets, they had finally seen a glimpse of hope which rekindled their enthusiasm. Some teachers such as Gansus who was already passionate about their job had rolled up their sleeves upon hearing the news, ready to make a dent in the deteriorating situation of the school.
The morning classes were over quickly, when it was time for lunch, the trio: Ma Xiaoru, Wang Tong, and Hu Yangxuan sat together as they always did. They started to talk about Wang Ben, although Ma Xiaoru and Hu Yangxuan had never met Wang Ben before, they had learned enough on the news.
"I say we got lucky, Ayrlarng's team will be much stronger with him," Hu Yangxuan said.
"Be careful what you wish for, he might replace you as the new alpha. You have to see with your own eyes how excited the girls are right now."
"It's fair game; I'm not worried." Hu Yangxuan looked as confident as ever. He had started to feel bored of his school life and therefore would welcome any competition.
"Don't you find it strange though? Even if he disliked the S-Class Academy because of their previous refusals, there are still much better A-class academies out there."
"Strange indeed," Hu Yangxuan nodded, "There are indeed much better A-Class academies on the moon. Would it because of our Principal Samantha?"
"Not likely, she is as perplexed by his decision as we do. She knew of Wang Ben but never talked to him before. Even his acceptance letter had caught her off guard."
"Why are you so quiet?" Ma Xiaoru threw a glance at Wang Tong. Wang Tong was startled; he was practicing his soft skill: keeping quiet.
Chapter 60: The Lazy Bird
Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Tehrn
"I think it's great, what more to say about it? Ayrlarng will become stronger, Ayrlarng then defeats Bernabeu, Hooray... Why are you looking at me like that? "
"There's something odd about you today." Even Hu Yangxuan had smelled something fishy in the air.
"He is fine; he is just exhausted after spending a hell of a night with a beautiful girl," Ma Xiaoru's words carried a sour note.
Hu Yangxuan patted Wang Tong on his shoulder: "Bravo! What's her name?"
"Don't listen to her nonsense. It was Zhou Sisi; I was just teaching her the clone technique. Bah, it's all complicated, think of it as part of my job requirement as the caretaker of Dorm number five." Wang Tong felt aggrieved at the accusation; he barely even knew Zhou Sisi.
"No way! Zhou Sisi? The beauty from A-Class? Gee… That face and body… but with you? She won't even spare a look at me," Hu Yangxuan shamelessly added insults to Wang Tong's injury.
"Guys, drop it. We barely know each other. To me, it is not a big deal, but to her, it's a different story."
"Fine, fine! Anyhow, aren't you guys excited about Wang Ben's admission? Finally, I am going to see the Fist of the Racing Tiger with my own eyes!" Hu Yangxuan was brimmed with anticipation, as one of the followers of the Templar; he was not at all intimidated by Wang Ben's strength.
All cultivation methods, despite the varieties, could be grouped into three main styles: The Academy, The Great Houses, and The Military.
Almost all of the tactics of the Academy style was the basis of other tactics and was practiced by the largest number of fighters who formed the backbone of human's military force. The Great House style pertained to the tactics that were fiercely guarded by the Five Major Houses. Most of its practitioners held key posts at the top levels of Confederation government. Lastly, the Military Style included those that were conceptualized amidst the heat of battle, created by the bravest warriors. Similar to those of the Great House style, these tactics were closely guarded by their owners who passed it down only to their flesh and blood.
"How about you, aren't you excited too?" Ma Xiaoru locked her eyes onto Wang Tong's. His quietness seemed unusual to Ma Xiaoru, for she had been used to seeing boys puffed out their chests in front of her to show off their fearlessness whenever an opportunity presented itself.
"Me? Hu Yangxuan can try him first, I will just watch." Wang Tong shrugged. Although Wang Tong had been longing for real life practices, a direct challenge seemed to go against his style.
"No worries! You guys can count on my display of strength to show him the power of Ayrlarng!" Hu Yangxuan announced eagerly. He was pleased that Wang Tong was willing to step aside and gave him the stage.
If Ma Xiaoru was disappointed at Wang Tong's answer, she didn't show it on her face. Wang Tong, on the other hand, didn't know what to think of Wang Ben's arrival except for that it would help ease the burden on Samantha's shoulder.
There were two classes in the afternoon: METAL combat and Fundamental of Zergology. Such as most of the first-year classes, "Fundamental of Zergology" dabbled in the theories and thesis on the race of Zergs, including its habitat, offensive and defensive capabilities, and combat strategies. On the other hand, the METAL combat class focused on the hands-on practice of the Tactics of the Blizzard. It was a selective course so that some students such as Ma Xiaoru who had been cultivating much more advanced tactics could choose to spend their time on other issues.
Although Wang Tong didn't intend to learn the Tactics of the Blizzard, he attended the class for the sake of gaining insights into his EMF and GN force.
Soon Wang Tong had found out that the Tactics of the Blizzard was not entirely without any unique characteristics. After all, Ayrlarng had been a legendary school, and its tactics must have its mojo. While initiated, the tactics would gather around the flowing energy into the dantian, and from there, the energy was channeled into each and every primary GN nodes around the cultivator's body, forming an energy circulation, which in turn could amplify the power of the EMF. Its amplification was unique and useful as it could release a sudden burst of soul power that could stun one's opponents.
The instructors themselves were not particularly strong fighters, but the students needed their thorough understanding of the tactics, including its limits, effectiveness, and danger.
Hu Yangxuan and MaXiaoru were practicing their tactics, but from time to time, driven by curiosity, Ma Xiaoru would attempt one or two movements after the instructor, trying to understand the Tactics of the Blizzard. Ma Xiaoru's tactics, the Tactics of the Enchantress, was the most advanced tactics from the Li family, and interestingly enough, the Li's family were once inextricably connected to the Academy of Ayrlarng and its tactics.
The sixty-four nodes Tactics of the Blizzard was a child's play to Wang Tong, but he was intrigued to compare it with his Tactics of the Blade. He found that not only their path of energy flow but also the rhythms of the energy's movements were drastically different.
Wang Tong had learned that different tactics focused on various aspects: some emphasized defense, some excelled at endurance, and some, such as the Tactics of the Blizzard, focused on attack.
When the class was over, most of the students had finished only half a round of the tactics, suggesting that more practices where needed. This was an open class; therefore, there was a lot of students, and as far as the METAL combat training went, the more students in the same classroom, the better. Because once the students started their cultivation together, their energy would resonate with each other to form a perfect energy field that would help the students to stay focused.
As the leader of more than a dozen teachers who was supervising the students, Odis was in charge of keeping the overall energy field in check, while the rest of the teachers were responsible for overseeing students that had been assigned to them.
Odis shook his head, lamenting over the drastic difference regarding the energy field between the A-Class and the F-Class. Soul power was one of the most important factors in evaluating students, for, the more soul energy a student has, the easier it was for him or her to pick up on any other subjects. That being said, a high soul energy reading did not amount to success without hard work.
Despite the fact that both Ma Xiaoru and Hu Yangxuan had conserved their energy, Odis could still feel the significant advantage they had over the other students. This has been particularly true for Ma Xiaoru. Odis could sense the fluctuation of her soul energy output, indicating her perfect control over power.
There was another girl called Zhou Sisi that had caught Odis's attention. He flipped through her profile and was surprised to find out that her soul energy reading at the beginning of the term was only thirty sols, merely half of what Odis estimated of Zhou Sisi's current soul energy was. Impressed with Zhou Sisi's improvement, Odis made a mental note of her name.
Odis kept on scanning the students, hoping to find another would-be warrior. Suddenly, Odis noticed a student who was slacking off, his shifty eyes darted left and right, without paying any attention to his cultivation. If Odis wasn't worried about disturbing other student's practice, he would have bowled out at this insolent teenage boy called Wang Tong.
Wang Tong didn't mean to slack off, but he was distracted and unsettled by the two sets of burning eyes staring at the back of his neck. One set of eyes belonged to Ma Xiaoru, and the other belonged to Zhou Sisi. He could feel their soul energies permeated in the air about him, floating around like thick mist. Wang Tong was unable to discern the emotion shrouded within no matter how hard he had tried.
Wang Tong was counting the seconds until the class was over; impatience was written all over his face.
Odis put a red cross over Wang Tong's name and grunted, "Pff... Lazy bird, fail."
Chapter 61: Tempestuous Lectures
Translator: Double_L Editor: Tehrn
The bell for the next lesson rang, at last, Wang Tong couldn't wait to attend Gansus' Zergs Analysis lectures. Lucky for him, it wasn't a major lesson; finally, he didn't have to worry about Zhou Sisi's stone-cold glares.
Meanwhile, Ma Xiaoru came and sat right next to Wang Tong. "So, I see you have been dodging me for the whole day. What's the matter with you, Mister?" the pretty lady questioned.
Whenever Ma Xiaoru addressed Wang Tong as "Mister", it meant the matter was quite serious.
Noticing her curious expression and her "you better not lie to me" vision, Wang Tong gave up and honestly told her what had happened the day before.
"I see, no wonder she was glaring at you all day long."
"I swear to God, nothing happened! I was upset too for the incident. Gosh, girls are so weird." Wang Tong was puzzled.
"Maybe she fancies you!" somehow it felt different when Ma Xiaoru said that.
"No way, she hated my guts! She was the one who led the girls to screw me up when I first arrived at the Dorm No.5; nevertheless, I was able to sort it out with my slick moves. As for now, she and I are only helping each other out, that's all."
"Bullshit, that was the worst idea that I've ever heard of, and all thanks to you, now Hu Yangxuan looks like a flamboyant playboy." Ma Xiaoru chuckled.
"I'm not kidding, I was actually helping him while benefiting myself at the same time. Instead of being surrounded by a bunch of admirers and causing chaos, of course it's better to handle them one by one every day!" Wang Tong explained while pinching the tip of his pinky.
"You really are a weird dude, always full of silly ideas yet has your own principles at the same time. What on earth are you, Wang Tong?" all of a sudden Ma Xiaoru asked in a serious manner.
To Ma Xiaoru, there were multiple personalities living inside Wang Tong, sometimes he would be acting very mature, yet sometimes he would look like a damn fool. Anyhow, she would like to "study" him badly.
Initially, Ma Xiaoru was a pure little lady that would have easily fallen for a person she admired, but the practice of the Tactics of the Enchantress had changed her gradually, as the crux of this set of Tactics was to be fickle and unpredictable. Falling for an individual was against the nature of her practice, yet only its disciples were taught how to subdue this and outliers were kept from knowing this secret.
Ma Xiaoru's curiosity made Wang Tong wanted to say something, but as he was about to speak, Gansus stormed into the classroom as always and halted his words. "Alright punks, let's get started! Everyone looks superb today. Mr. Wang Tong, be a good role model for yer mates and sit in front will ya?" Gansus commanded.
It was indeed a complicated moment, Wang Tong wasn't even sure if he was happy or sad about it. Of course, he always enjoyed showing off, but right now all he wanted was to attend the lecture like a normal person. Anyhow, Wang Tong had no choice against Gansus' passion and sat in front as being told.
In the eyes of Gansus, Wang Tong was his favorite student.
"Today, we're going to analyze the basic five land troops of Zergs. Which are also Zergs' main forces on the ground," said Gansus as the fully detailed images of the five Zergs were shown one after another on the screen. Their menacing appearances gave everyone goosebumps.
Then, Gansus waved his pointer at the image as he explained, "Spider Zergs, Scythe Zergs, Skulk Zergs, Kamikaze Zergs, and last but not least, Flamethrower Zergs." Gansus seemed to be excited about them even though they were only images.
"Zergs' main forces on the ground are made out of these five species of nasty roaches, they have the fastest spawning ability. In the beginning, there were only Spider Zergs and Scythe Zergs, and the other 3 types evolved during the war with mankind. Even though these creepy crawlies are the champions of evolution throughout the galaxy, yet they are nothing but a bunch of roaches as the mankind was blessed with knowledge and wisdom!" Gansus' speech sent the whole class laughing, his lectures were always filled with scoldings about Zergs.
"Y'all might be laughing now, but I bet y'all wouldn't be laughing when y'all ended up on the dinner plates of one of these five creatures, make sure y'all understand how deadly these roaches are! The toughness of a living Spider Zerg is 5 times stronger than the dead one that we had dissected previously during Anatomy class. So don't ever underestimate these creatures!" Nobody was laughing except Gansus himself, who would be laughing out loud whenever he made everyone kept quiet.
"Pay attention punks, this is Spider Zerg, the type of Zergs that spawns the quickest. Basically, they're also known to mankind as cannon fodders because they are the expendables. However, every single human life isn't meant to be expendable like these creatures, so don't get too cocky even if you've killed hundreds of these, their life is not as valuable as yours!"
"Sir, does it have any weaknesses? I'd like to play it safe if I'm required to deal with one," asked one of the guys.
Gansus took a glance at him and then said, "This gentleman is such a… fool! You must understand, 'safety' is the only word that doesn't exist on a battlefield! If you couldn't get what I'm saying, I guess I'll be seeing your name very soon on the List of Memorial during the founding ceremony of our academy."
Gansus looked at everyone and continued saying, "Listen up lads, y'all might still be able to enjoy having yer asses wiped by someone else for now since y'all are still studying in the academy. But when y'all will join the military, nobody will be assigned to change yer diapers, so suck it up! As for its weakness, that's a good question. All ya need to do is attack its soft underbelly. Remember folks, you're endangering yourself to go head-to-head against these roaches because their spawning abilities are hundreds or even a thousand times stronger than mankind, hence we have to fight smart, is that clear?!"
"Yes, Sir!"
"I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" Gansus roared.
"YES, SIR!"
Some might be against Gansus' teaching methods, yet this was his unique style of teaching, and it definitely lifted the spirit of his students. "Very well. Let's move on to the topic about its brain. A Zerg's 'brain' might be small, but it is capable of controlling every movement of its enormous body. So far, scientists were not able to make any specific findings regarding its brain, but there's one thing for sure — the easiest way of killing it is to damage its brain. Now let's take a look at a few bad examples."
Gansus waved his hand and showed everyone a video clip: A soldier slew a Zerg, he dismembered its body into halves and presumed it to be dead, but the soldier was then stabbed from the back by the dismembered half, puncturing his heart and got killed in the end.
"See what I meant? Even these nasty bugs know what our weaknesses are, so remember, you must either attack directly to its weakness or kill it by destroying it. Don't get cocky or it will get you killed instead!" Gansus said while making crosses with his pointer.
Zergs had indomitable vitalities. Even if dismembered, attacks could still be made as long as the "brains" were still attached to the remaining body parts.
Chapter 62: The World of Inferior Zergs
Translator: Double_L Editor: Tehrn
"Scythe Zergs are like enlarged praying mantises, their main weapons are a pair of blade-like forearms. Do take note that this breed of Zergs is expert in performing leap attacks. Now let's take a look at the analysis of its body parts, the toughness of its thorax and abdomen are weaker compared to its front part, also be sure to avoid its scythes when you're facing one unless ya think ya have what it takes."
Gansus seemed to know more about Scythe Zergs. These creatures had stronger mobility than Spider Zergs and were capable of adapting their formations according to different terrains, which caused a lot of troubles to mankind battle forces.
"Sir, how high can these creatures leap?" one of the students raised his hand and asked, and everyone was drawn to an in-depth question like this.
"I'm glad you asked, generally speaking, a leap of 5 meters should be a piece of cake, but please do not believe only in the data itself, as the information in yer textbooks could vary from time to time. Truth or not, everything could only be verified when you're standing on the battlefield."
The students nodded when Gansus said that. Although Gansus was known for being hot-tempered, and some students even complained about his teaching attitude, yet Ayrlarng didn't fire him because he was one of the only few experienced teachers amongst Ayrlarng. Gansus was a good teacher other than him being too attached to his military-like teaching methods, after all, there were still some differences between the army and the academy.
The video continued on the analysis of Scythe Zergs, showing statistics of the toughness, attacking range and some basic data about each of its body parts. Of course, everything in the video was only for reference. The information was meant to vary as Zergs were evolving from time to time.
"Now that we have learned enough about Spider Zergs and Scythe Zergs, let's move on and talk about Skulk Zergs, also known as the 'A-hole' Zergs. Scientists believe Skulk Zergs evolved from Spider Zergs, this species of Zerg might be smaller in size, but they are way deadlier than Spider Zergs. Even though Skulk Zerg has a weaker toughness, it is able to bury itself underground within seconds using the mandibles underneath its body, and then blend into the surroundings with the camouflage ability on its back. The attacking range of a Skulk Zerg is within 10 meters to 20 meters. It has an extremely long, flexible, and sharp vertebra that is capable of stabbing through yer body like a barbecue skewer!"
The screen then turned to a clip of how the Skulk Zergs "hunted". Gory videos like this weren't supposed to be shown in the academy; at least not to the freshmen; however, Gansus was able to get his hands on the uncut version and played it to the whole class. It was indeed a violence video, both METAL fighters and mankind machinery were not able to withstand the ferocious projections of these camouflaged beasts, normal METAL suits couldn't have stood a chance against such perfect and sneaky ambush. Skulk Zergs should be categorized as Zergs' underground sniper troops.
Everyone in the class turned pale as they saw the soldiers screaming in fear, the blood-curdling cries of the troops were more than enough to send chills down to their spines. They could only imagine the pain of having your body pierced and punctured upwards.
No wonder people always said not to eat during Gansus' lectures, as some of his topics might be bad for your stomach.
Gansus was pleased by his students' reactions because it was better for them to be afraid now than getting killed on the battlefield later. He was always complaining about the modern education methods for being too gentle and easy like a child's play, the curriculums were all about discovering the courage within, and motivating youngsters to be fearless, but they didn't tell what was going on at all. This was mainly because the Confederation had to maintain the consistency of new recruitments, and it hasn't been easy.
Gansus looked around the whole class and observed their reactions. He saw Ma Xiaoru wasn't bothered by the content. Although Ma Xiaoru was confident and strong, nevertheless she was definitely a little shaken by the gruesome scenes a moment ago. But Gansus was shocked as he looked towards Wang Tong, the boy's eyes were all on fire. Gansus was no stranger to his expression — those were the eyes of a veteran, and his murderous aura was beyond dread, but this reaction was supposed to be seen only in those who had survived countless of brutal battles, how was that possible?
Wang Tong's murderous aura wasn't something that would be brought up by learning a single tactic, he must be some kind of experienced fighter to possess such raging spirit!
Gansus had been teaching for many years, yet this was his first time seeing a young boy with such aura. Normally Wang Tong wasn't like that, but now he was covered in rage, something's weird with that kid.
"Can anyone tell me how to deal with a Skulk Zerg?" Gansus asked suddenly.
Nobody said a word because no one would wish to face a Skulk Zerg. Even though Spider Zergs and Scythe Zergs were bigger in sizes and looked more frightening, everyone was terrified to witness Skulk Zergs' horrible attacking methods.
"Sir, then how does the military deal with Skulk Zergs? Is there a way to perceive them?"
"That is a good question, but I'll leave this to yer future researches because currently, we haven't got any device to detect them."
"So what are we supposed to do? Their camouflages are too perfect to be noticed." The students were puzzled by the fact that there were no specific devices to deal with Skulk Zergs because no one would like to put their lives at stake anyway.
"Sir, what about Heat Vision Goggles?"
"A Skulk Zerg has the ability to adjust its body heat to match the temperature of the surroundings. Besides, they are known to hide amongst a troop of Zergs and attack in silence, so the possibility to detect them using Heat Vision Goggles is extremely low due to the interruption from other Zergs' body temperature." Gansus shook his head. "What about you, Ma Xiaoru? What would you do?"
Ma Xiaoru stared at the screen and said, "These species of Zergs has a weakness, there'll be vibration from the ground when it is about to attack. We need to stay alerted and take cover when the vibration occurs, then its position will be exposed when it attacks. Skulk Zergs have weaker toughness compared to the first two species, and also they couldn't move underground, so shouldn't be too difficult to handle."
"Well done, and that's how you deal with Skulk Zergs. Soldiers will carry a Vibration Detector that has the function to capture its frequency. It'll give out a warning buzz when vibrations detected, but there's only a 3 seconds window for you to respond, which is somehow useless if you're caught in the middle of a battle. My advice to y'all is — finish off yer opponents with the fastest and most efficient methods, but please don't go all-out-attack mode," said Gansus.
Still, the students were not relieved to hear Gansus' tactics, because they could tell from his expression, that lives must be put at risk in order to deal with Skulk Zergs.
It was already too difficult to negate Skulk Zergs' attacks, let alone the functionality of a Vibration Detector during battle.
"What about you Wang Tong?" Gansus turned towards him all of a sudden.
"Me? Basically, I'll sniff it out and kill it before it attacks," Wang Tong said immediately, he remembered how horrible it was during his first time dealing with it. If Einherjar Wannabe didn't warn him about it, he would have been dead for sure.
Everyone in the class burst into laughter when Wang Tong said that. They thought he was bullsh*tting because anyone would have killed it first if they were able to see one, and humans were not like dogs, so how were they supposed to "sniff it out"?
Chapter 63: Smelling Danger
Translator: Double_L Editor: Tehrn
Everyone was laughing except Gansus and Ma Xiaoru. Ma Xiaoru wasn't laughing because what Wang Tong said was actually his ability to foresee danger, which is also his sense of the menace. Most inferior Zergs like Skulk Zergs were not very good at hiding their urge to kill; still, it would take a lot of practices for a person to identify the menace around oneself, especially on the murderous battlefield.
Gansus didn't laugh as well because he knew only a veteran would say that. Only someone who had numerous near-death experiences would know how to deal with Skulk Zergs. This wasn't something printed in the textbooks, he had killed tens of them before, and it all came to the "sense of smell" of a soldier!
"Stop laughing! Yer sense of smell is the key to survive on the battlefield. What we've learned will only increase yer chances of survival for 30 to 40 percent. It is impossible for a person to stay alive if one couldn't pick up the scent of danger. Y'all will not find this in yer textbooks, and nobody will teach ya this except through yer own experiences on the battlefield. Look at yourselves, half of ya punks will end up dead if ya still couldn't get what I'm trying to say!" Gansus' roar silenced the class immediately.
"That's not fair Mr. Gansus. How could you prove that Wang Tong's answer is correct? The sense of smell is too abstract to be the truth!" someone refuted. Not everyone was able to accept Gansus' teaching methods. Everyone was being pampered for too long in Ayrlarng.
Yet Gansus kept cool and played the next video clip to back up his speech about the correct way to deal with Skulk Zergs. In the clip, a squadron was about to advance when the squadron captain suddenly stopped his troops and ordered to attack, in the end, they were able to subdue the creatures before they could attack. Skulk Zergs were easy targets when they got busted and unable to hide. No one in the class said another word when they saw the clip.
"See what I meant? That's how ya get the job done! Only captains and other higher ranked officers in the military would be able to do so."
"Sir, we are the students of the Command Force, we are trained to pilot Battlecrafts, not hand-to-hand combats!"
"Ya might think you're safe by being in the Command Force, but look at the statistics of our fleets getting hit; especially Space Battlecrafts, the chance of these planet patrols and eradicating fleets getting hit are up to 40%. This means that there's a near 50% chance for ya punks to meet and greet these roaches on the ground, and it is all up to y'all to hang around and stay alive amongst these creatures before the rescue team could find you. Do take note that the Confederation is not as efficient as ya think, if yer old man isn't some big shot or a high-rank officer, then you're all on yer own."
The students kept quiet. Even though they couldn't accept Gansus' teaching methods, but everyone in Ayrlarng was smart enough to understand the big picture.
Gansus was teaching them about the true meaning of survival in the battlefield, and to learn by avoiding a bloody lesson.
"Next will be Kamikaze Zergs. These roaches are what we call the 'Terrorists of Zergs', they will get close enough to mankind and self-destruct. In order to deal with them, all ya need to do is chop its head clean off before it ignites, yes that's the head right there. If ya missed or chopped the wrong part, BOOM..." Gansus made a gesture of explosion with his hands. There was nothing much to say regarding Kamikaze Zergs. Basically, things might go south if you were not strong enough. Fortunately, these creatures would be handled by specific personnel in most squadron missions.
Wang Tong knew how to handle one because Einherjar Wannabe had taught him before. The man was quite knowledgeable when it was about Zergs, yet there were still a lot of new breeds that he hasn't seen before. Gradually, Wang Tong began to rely more on himself due to a few mishaps, and that was when he developed his survival skill of smelling danger.
Now that he was able to combine the theories with his practical experiences, Wang Tong began to know more about Zergs, and he promised to give them a warmer "greeting" with his fists the next time he saw one. He wondered if the Zergs on Norton missed him.
"Flamethrower Zergs are like the previous Heavy Armed Forces in our military. These roaches can weight up to 5 tons and are capable of spraying hot and corrosive flames that would be able to melt human bodies and body armors. I'm warning y'all, not to approach them from the front even if y'all are protected in METAL suits unless ya wanna get roasted. These roaches are covered in thick and tough exoskeletons, for most of the time, their soft underbellies stick to the ground, and their weaknesses will only be shown when they are going to spray flames," Gansus said while pointing toward the screen, and followed up by another clip about Flamethrower Zergs' destructive capabilities.
A group of soldiers that were wearing Grade 1 METAL Suits were torched and melted in a flash by the flames of these creatures. Their GN forces couldn't stand against the ferocious attacks.
One of the unlucky soldiers in the video got torched on the lower part of his body. The poor guy was half dead as he watched every muscle under his torso turned into ashes.
This was how the battlefield looked like. War heroes were not as glamorous as it sounded like. The success of a hero was built on piles of dead bodies and bloodsheds, that was the undeniable fact about war heroes.
The class was dismissed as the bell rung. The freshmen began to understand the cruelty of a war as they watched Gansus left the classroom with his crippled left foot. Success and fame would be made only if you were able to stay alive.
Students were not sure which type of Zergs got Gansus' left foot, but they began to respect him. After all, only warriors who survived on the battlefield were qualified to say so.
On the other hand, Wang Tong was happy with his lessons. He learned a lot about the structures of different species of Zergs, and these information would be able to aid him in his future battles.
"Hey Wang Tong, where did you learn all that?" asked Carl, a rebellious hard-headed dude in F-Class, and the person who was refuting Gansus a while ago.
"Haha, I read it from a book some time ago, it must be real if Mr. Gansus said so," Wang Tong answered.
"Please forgive my rudeness for what happened just now." Normally people wouldn't admit their mistakes even if they were found wrong. Yet Carl openly said he was sorry; he was a straightforward person.
"It's okay, we are classmates after all!"
Wang Tong wasn't spiteful, he knew Carl said that because he didn't understand about the sense of smell. Even though Carl was weaker in strength, Wang Tong still categorized him as a unique person in F-Class.
"Yep, I have heard about the theory of smelling danger before, but there isn't any opportunity for me to put it to the test," Ma Xiaoru came by right after the two dropped their conversation.
"It is possible to achieve when your Soul Energy reached a certain level. I believe it shouldn't be a problem to you since you practiced the Tactics of the Enchantress. What Mr. Gansus said was actually addressed to the vast range of normal fighters, because their Soul Energy couldn't reach that certain level and would be relying more on their instincts to detect the menace instead," Wang Tong seemed gloomy as he replied. He understood how Gansus must have felt. Gansus was angry because he wouldn't want to see his students end up dead on the battlefield. He was the kind of person that would proceed with whatever he thought was right, even if others would misunderstand him.
"By the way, do you have any idea what was Mr. Gansus doing before he became a teacher?" Wang Tong asked.
"I have no idea, why don't you ask my sis during the weekends? I'm sure she knows," Ma Xiaoru was actually inviting Wang Tong to come over as she answered his question.
Wang Tong only nodded, and Ma Xiaoru was feeling a bit disappointed because she could tell that Wang Tong wasn't thinking about her at this moment. Sometimes he would be nice and warm to her, yet sometimes he would give her the cold shoulder. Ma Xiaoru was frustrated over Wang Tong's uncertainty as if he were the one who practiced the Tactics of the Enchantress.
Chapter 64: Miao Xiu's Nightmare
Translator: Double_L Editor: Tehrn
It was another busy week for Wang Tong, his schedule was jam-packed. Zhou Sisi did not disturb him ever since their little incident, and he had nothing to worry about regarding his caretaker duty as long as the letters from the girls at Dorm No.5 were sent on time to Hu Yangxuan every day. Obviously, Samantha's plans of educating Wang Tong had failed, but she was still having sunshines in her pocket due to the admission of Wang Ben, so for now, she still wouldn't take any action on Wang Tong.
As usual, Wang Tong visited the DREAM-Heaven outside Ayrlarng campus on Saturday morning when it wasn't crowded. He sat on his favorite seat No.5 and dived into the PA, and was surprised to see his mailbox glowing in red — those were all challenge invitations.
Wang Tong's Einherjar Wannabe avatar has gotten quite famous in the PA after his duel with Wang Ben, and when there's fame, there'll be challengers. Anyhow, the most eye-catchy one was a system-generated email from PA Official Administration, mentioning that they would like to organize a few one-on-one matches and were willing to pay him for participating. Wang Tong deleted the email without hesitation.
"Some pennies are safe to earn, others have a price." Quote by Old Fart.
Crowded or not, it was always troublesome to have to choose an opponent. Wang Tong was startled by a screenful of usernames and winning records. He had no idea which of them was worth challenging.
In the end, he picked User ID: Skyscraper, he picked that because of its simple name.
Wang Tong immediately received a reply as soon as he clicked "Accept", and then he walked casually toward the agreed location. Wang Tong wasn't a rookie at this, the flow of users and the excitement of the players indicated that today was the open day of TPA and IPA.
User ID: Skyscraper was already there when Wang Tong arrived. The person was a normal-looking Earthling with a balanced win and lose record. But records are only for references, actual strength could only be tested when the match began.
The Arena would make announcements for every upcoming match. It got many players' attention when the name "Einherjar Wannabe" was announced; especially the players from TPA, they were eager to see if the person who had subdued Fist of the Racing Tiger was just some lucky bastard.
5 minutes before the match began.
Meanwhile, on the Moon, Miao Xiu was training hard and sweating all over. His normal clothing had been hiding his robust and muscular body, his muscles were well balanced and looked powerful. In fact, Miao Xiu would not be in his usual nonchalant character during training sessions.
He was feeling depressed recently due to the arrival of Patroclus. Miao Xiu would be trembling in fury whenever he thought about that jerk!
Miao Xiu was gifted with incredible talents and was chosen by the Court of Templar to become its Follower because of that. Of course, Miao Xiu wasn't the strongest amongst all, but he strongly believed that time was all he needed to surpass the rest. He wasn't the only youngster with that confidence, after all, one had to be really gifted to be chosen by the Court of Templar.
But that was all before Patroclus, who was younger than all of them, showed up. Even their stern and strict teachers were all being nice to him as if he was some sort of big timer. Everyone was not cool with Patroclus's arrival, and Miao Xiu was the only one that couldn't wait to teach that kid a lesson.
The mischievous Miao Xiu decided to sneak attack Patroclus who he thought looked like a sissy, but soon, his mischievous decision turned into his lingering nightmare. He had no idea what happened, all he knew was nineteen of his bones got fractured, and he could still remember the horrifying eyes of that kid whenever he recollected his memory from that day. The funnier thing was, Patroclus even visited him during the month of his recovery, but Miao Xiu closed his eyes and ignored him. People thought that he had closed his eyes because he was angry, but he was actually traumatized.
Miao Xiu was haunted by nightmares every day during his recovery period, even though his trauma was cured after receiving special therapies, he could still remember the physician sighed and said, "Too bad you were up against that fiend, you won't be able to defeat him even if you trained for another 100 years."
Of course, that statement was just a hyperbole, and Miao Xiu was confident about defeating Patroclus if he were to train for another 100 years. Since then, Miao Xiu's legs couldn't help trembling whenever he saw Patroclus. Yet, God played a game of fate with him by arranging that kid to attend Estrella Academy as well.
All Miao Xiu could do was to train himself harder to impede his lingering nightmare, and even swore to God that one day he would vanquish that fiendish kid. Flames of fury were all over Miao Xiu as he recalled that harmless face of Patroclus.
Bam…
Miao Xiu vented off his anger within as he rapid-fired the Punch Training Machine with his fists. For now, he had to be patient... until he became stronger.
"Yo, Miao Xiu stop training, Einherjar Wannabe has appeared!" Luv Ma yelled, he wondered why Miao Xiu was training that hard.
"Yup, coming!" Miao Xiu slowed down gradually and adjusted his breathing. In order to defeat Patroclus, he needed a strong opponent as his training target.
"Wassup dude, you look weird recently."
"Hey stop being nosy like a woman will ya? I'm training hard because I don't wanna fall behind for the upcoming Templar's Examination."
"Alright, hurry up man, I knew he was gonna surface during the weekends, too bad he didn't pick you this time as well."
"Whatever, my latest target is Gust." Miao Xiu was getting confident as he grabbed his fists. Since he couldn't challenge Einherjar Wannabe, he would start with Gust then, the so-called "Top Notch of the Second Year" was good enough to be his stepping stone.
Back in the Arena, Wang Tong had nothing much to prepare, but the Skyscraper dude was very serious about the match, he was already in his METAL Suit when he arrived, it was a common grade 1 Suit — the conventional Feng Edge Type-E METAL Suit manufactured by Earth Confederation.
This model was now upgraded to the 5th Generation, and the name "Feng Edge" was named after General Li Feng who invented METAL Suit and saved humanity. The Feng Edge Suits had moderate boosters, the attack boosters were weaker than usual, but the defense boosters were not bad. The advantage of this model was its wide adaptability and could be used by any mind opened fighter. This suit was the best for the Earth Confederation since it had the highest population; after all, quantity was as important as quality.
"What the hell? Who's this dude to challenge Einherjar Wannabe? This is absurd!"
"Such low winning rates, and not to mention he's only a TPA player wearing a Grade 1 METAL suit. Go home dude!"
Some IPA players were not pleased with Einherjar Wannabe's opponent before the match began. As for the all set Skyscraper dude, he examined the condition of his Suit and then began his warm-up exercises. IPA players burst into laughter as they saw this, they were expecting a match between ace fighters. After all Einherjar Wannabe has defeated Wang Ben previously, and even if it was because Wang Ben wasn't going full force, Einherjar Wannabe's victory had already proven that he wasn't some nobody to be challenged by a rookie.
Yet Skyscraper didn't pay much attention to the scoffs and sneers around the Arena, he only smiled and continued with his warm-up exercises.
Chapter 65: An Ace Who Came Out of Nowhere
Translator: Double_L Editor: Tehrn
People were clamoring, hoping that Einherjar Wannabe would take it seriously this time, while some began to contact their stronger friends.
"Hey, Miao Xiu, why don't you go prepare yourself? I'm sure Einherjar Wannabe will not be satisfied after this, and he might wanna challenge you!"
"What was Einherjar Wannabe thinking? Choosing this dude amongst the list of names. Skyscraper? What a boring ID!"
The audiences were not as many as speculated, some TPA players that expected it to be a big match were somehow disappointed, but they were still hoping for Wang Ben to show up and rechallenge Einherjar Wannabe. Even though it was not long ago since their last duel, nevertheless Wang Ben must have improved since then, and wouldn't be taken down easily as he used to be. If the rechallenge really happened, the fight might not be as intense as expected, but people were eager to witness Wang Ben's ultimate Fist of Racing Tiger, after all an amazing skill like this barely appeared in public, especially during unofficial matches.
Einherjar Wannabe waited patiently for Skyscraper to finish his warm-ups, yet the referee was getting impatient.
"Ready? 3… 2… 1… GO!"
Skyscraper smiled and said, "Here I come!"
"Please!"
The default weapon of the Feng Edge Type-E was the Alfar Blade, a hybrid between a sword and a saber created by Alfar, the Weaponry Expert. Feng Edge model suits were improved and upgraded from time to time, but the design of the blade wasn't changed at all, the only thing changed was the forging materials.
Boom!
Skyscraper dashed toward Einherjar Wannabe in a jiff like a bullet. He leaned his body forward, almost touching the ground, tilted his right hand and attacked like a joust.
Einherjar Wannabe slightly angled his body, rays of light and energy forces gathered around his fist, and he threw out a punch in a flash.
Bam!
The two tremendous forces collided, yet their steel-like bodies were not affected by the huge impact. None of them backed down as their energy nullified the recoil. Everyone was shocked when they saw Skyscraper was the one who made the first move!
With his elbows worked as core leverages, Skyscraper's hands came slashing rapidly like a pair of scythes; he was like a human Scythe Zerg with a more devastating power.
As the crowd was cheering, it only took 5 seconds for him to launch more than 60 attacks. His Soul Energy reached 113 sols! That was one hell of a crazy hack and slash!
Setting aside being a fighter with 4th tier GN Force, if the opponent had been just a normal person, he would have been chopped into minced meat when facing such an attack.
The key of the attacks was the speed and the angle, yet no one in the crowd could capture every slashing movement.
Both IPA and TPA audiences were left silent, such attack would have one-hit-KOed 99% of them.
Miao Xiu and Luv Ma looked at each other in surprise, their observations were normally correct, yet they were so wrong this time, those attacks were marvelous!
"God Damn! Where the hell did this guy come from again?" Miao Xiu asked as he twitched his lips.
"Amazing! Hack and slash attacks like this must incorporate specific tactics. Or else the arms would have been broken before the opponent does anything."
Meanwhile, excitement was building up as the brawl continued. It would be impossible for a normal fighter to handle such attacks, but it wasn't a problem to Wang Tong. The hands of his opponent had become a pair of lethal scythes, not even the slightest gap could be seen in his attacks, and the most important part was that his steps were well coordinated with his slashing actions.
He was definitely the scariest opponent Wang Tong had ever met since his debut.
Usually, a person would focus on the upper part of his body when defending against slashing attacks from his opponent. Knowing that, Skyscraper suddenly exerted his killing move by launching a fatal thrust with his knee. It was an unpredictable close range attack that was more than enough to catch his opponent off-guard.
But at the same time, Einherjar Wannabe stepped forward and launched a quicker kick toward Skyscraper's standing foot. It looked like they were going to perish together when Skyscraper suddenly changed his knee strike into a bounce back action, separating himself from Einherjar Wannabe. Skyscraper who was supposed to look clumsy then gracefully somersaulted backward to widen the range between him and Einherjar Wannabe. He wasn't even gasping for air after such a rough round of attacks as he looked over and calmly smiled toward Einherjar Wannabe.
That moment, someone finally understood the meaning behind "not to judge a book by its cover!"
Wang Tong learned most of his battle arts from his fights with the Zergs. To other people, Skyscraper's attacks looked bizarre, but somehow he found it familiar as he observed his opponent's attacks. In fact, he was surprised to see the Zergs' attack method could be utilized this way.
Skyscraper hoisted his arms again and slightly curved them in front of his chest, at the same time, the opposing Einherjar Wannabe was doing the same gesture.
But Skyscraper didn't care about that. No one had ever copied his techniques because it required specific training for the arms to be able to adapt the high-speed slashing attacks, and it wouldn't have any effect if it was just an imitation.
The two clashed on again, like a couple of mantises.
Swoosh!
This time, Wang Tong was the first to attack, instead of clashing their hands together, Wang Tong attacked with the inner sides of his arms, soon as the back of his arms hit Skyscraper's arms, he executed an outward force and shifted his opponent away as his arms advanced towards Skyscraper.
Skyscraper's blade-like attacks were countered!
Facing such disadvantageous situation, the innocent-looking Skyscraper turned more aggressive as he rapidly attacked with his blade-like arms, thrust his knee upward again, and wasn't even bothered by the fact that it might cause them to perish together; a tough opponent indeed. With all of his strength focused on the upper part of his body, Einherjar Wannabe wouldn't be able to channel enough strength to defend against a full force attack on the lower part of his body, which would lead the match to a draw since it wasn't a real fight.
Yet surprisingly, Einherjar Wannabe made an impossible move, he countered Skyscraper's knee thrust with a left kick even though there wasn't enough strength on the lower part of his body!
Wham!
The force of the attack shot Skyscraper across the Arena.
Everything happened in a flash, only a few were able to tell what had happened.
Wang Ben's eyes were not blinking as he watched the match during his flight. Some people thought that there was no need for him to rechallenge Einherjar Wannabe even though he was defeated because he had succeeded his second Mind Opening Operation and was already Earth Confederation's top tier fighter of the younger generation. If he were to rechallenge him, most people would think that all he wanted was just to reclaim his dignity.
Yet only Wang Ben knew that Einherjar Wannabe was definitely worth to be rechallenged because, even if he had already succeeded his second Mind Opening Operation, he might still not be able to stand a chance against Einherjar Wannabe.
Chapter 66: Wang Ben's Double
Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Tehrn
Some techniques, such as the one used by Skyscraper, were complicated enough so that it was impossible to be imitated, thereby, it narrowed down the possible origins of this mysterious fighter to one of the two groups: the Military and the Templar's Court. Nowhere else would they train fighters to strike with their upper and lower limbs in such peculiar rhythm that made the attacks as deadly as it was unpredictable.
Wang Tong's movement was faster. The moment Wang Tong caught his opponent's knee bash with one hand; his free hand had delivered six blade-like arm strikes.
Six deadly strikes at the same time.
The tremendous force threw Skyscrapers into the air and shattered his METAL. When he thudded back onto the ground, he laid on a bed of what was left of his METAL suit.
Everyone's breath was caught in their throat as they were wondering if the match had ended so quickly. Cheers erupted when Skyscrapers sprinted back to his feet and casually brushed away the remaining pieces of METAL suit still hanging on his cloth.
Wang Tong quickly conceded that it was not the METAL suit that had saved his life, it was his strength. A new-found curiosity flashed across Wang Tong's eyes as he realized that his opponent was not just quick handed.
"You are as strong as they had said." Skyscraper scratched his head. He narrowed his lips as if conceding certain fact, and then he said, "I will have to use weapons, should you permit."
Wang Tong extended his arm toward the weapon rack and gestured Skyscraper to help himself to any weapon of his choice. Wang Tong was not worried even the slightest of losing the fight, for, his intention of fighting was not to win but to challenge himself. Skyscraper's unconventional strike technique was refreshing, and Wang Tong was eager to find out what his opponent could muster up with a weapon.
Skyscraper removed a pair of curved blades. The glint of the sharp edge reflected in Wang Tong's eyes. Skyscraper had chosen a pair of Alpha Blade. The curve of the blade mimicked that of the Skyscraper's blade-like arm strike. The similarity quickly drew out the audiences' speculation of his blade technique- the Aeromancer's Bane. The blade-like arm strike was merely a dumb-downed version of the technique since the technique was meant to be used with blades. It went without saying that the pair of blades would breathe a new life into the already stunningly-powerful, blade-like arm strike.
Skyscraper dashed toward Wang Tong ferociously, his footwork was firm but nimble, revealing the strenuous training he had received, whose original was still a mystery.
When the attack landed, no one could see exactly what was happening. The pair of Alpha blades turned into a shapeless shadow under the lightning movement, and only the glint of their sharp edges flashed from time to time. The blade howled as each strike cut through the air like cutting open a fish's belly. Wang Tong started to pull back to allow himself some time to get used to the unprecedented intensity. Nevertheless, he remained calm. Wang Tong knew that although his opponent's attacks were deadlier than it had ever been, his techniques had remained the same.
Meanwhile in the real world, Wang Ben watched the screen unblinkingly. He paid particular attention to Wang Tong's movements, reading the elusive intention within even the smallest maneuvers. Wang Tong's movement was short but effective at dodging attacks; his positioning was intuitive but exhausted his opponent's move effortlessly.
Wang Ben narrowed his eyes. "What a brilliant change of pace!" he murmured as he conceded that Wang Tong's victory was evident. In a whim of anticipation, Wang Ben's blood boiled, and he clenched his fists, "If only I could show him the Fist of the Racing Tiger."
A wave of excited shouts erupted in the arena and pulled Wang Ben's attention back to the heated match. He heard someone screaming, "The Aura!"
Wang Ben quickly noticed that the shapeless shadow caused by the movement of the Alpha blade had taken on a hue of yellow. The whir of the blades was also turning louder by the second.
On the giant screen above the arena, the soul energy readings sore up and eventually settled around one hundred and fifty-six. Beside the soul readings were the indicators of the strength of the attacks, converted into units of earth gravity "g", and it was then sitting at 8g.
This intensity was beyond the level of GN force of any academy students. People quickly speculated that it was highly likely that this Skyscraper was a professional soldier, if not from a special unit.
It was common knowledge that the blade's aura was deadly upon contact, so the audiences lamented over Wang Tong's carelessness. Should Wang Tong have played it safe and wore a METAL suit, the advantage of the blade aura could be alleviated. But then in the arena, Wang Tong was left with only one option: evade the attack entirely. This disadvantage would undoubtedly turn the tide of the fight.
Skyscraper gradually forced Wang Tong into a corner and finally grasped an opportunity to unleash his coup de grace: The "X".
As soon as Miao Xiu saw the familiar move of the "X", he leaped out of his seat and shouted, "Hey! He was one of our special units!"
The special unit of the Templar's Court was a base for training gifted humans: those that were born with supernatural abilities. There were rumors that they had recently recruited a freakishly strong student, who excelled at physical strength and speed.
This must be the Skyscraper.
If not because of Skyscraper's older appearance that concealed his age, Miao Xiu would have recognized him as soon as he saw the blade's aura.
Skyscraper was confident that he would end this fighter with his killing strike. No one could have escaped the attack that was infused with the power of the blade aura. The blade fell, and the edge glinted one last time as Wang Tong suddenly bore down on Skyscraper.
A blaring roar of a ferocious tiger.
A racing fist, that fished all.
When the deafening roar finally settled down, people saw Skyscraper lying on the ground, two curved blades scattered aside. Wang Ben leaped out of his chair, "The Fist of the Racing Tiger!"
With the loud roar still lingering inside of their eyes, the audience was dumbstruck. They had thought that no one should have come out of the "X" unharmed since it was impossible to evade the blade aura.
Wang Tong did not evade, he simply stroke back, and all it took was one punch to pin his opponent to the ground, face down.
"Can he still stand up?"
"What a strange match! Wasn't he supposed to be a rookie? Yet, he was able to use the blade aura?"
"What aura? He is eating the dirt now."
On the ground, the stoic face of Skyscraper finally held some painful expression. Slowly, he struggled to stand up, inch by inch. No one was breathing as they were cheering for him in their minds. Skyscraper's face suddenly lost the last bit of expression, and he collapsed back onto the ground. The fight was over.
Wang Ben gritted his teeth, trying to contain his seething emotions. "The Fist of the Racing Tiger..." a few words escaped his mouth.
It was true that the TPA was full of surprises. First was Einherjar Wannabe, then it was Skyscraper who looked like 26 but was only 16. There were only a handful of fighters that could have achieved the blade aura at his age. But, he had lost the fight and was defeated by the even bigger mystery of TPA: Einherjar Wannabe.
This fight had opened the floodgates of speculations on online forums about the identity of the mysterious Einherjar Wannabe.
After all, not everyone could replicate their opponent's renowned tactics after only seeing it once.
Chapter 67: One Riddle Solved
Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Tehrn
A boy inside of Bernabeu's campus was writing maliciously on his notebook. After a while, he paused and looked at the handwritten notes that sprawled a few pages satisfyingly. Handwritten notes had been his favorite despite its cumbersomeness. It was much better than audio notes in capturing the essence of his thoughts.
This boy's name was Cao Yi, and he was Skyscraper. The riddle was solved, but even Miao Xiu had guessed wrong.
An image projected out from the open pages. It was the fighting actions reanimated based on the boy's precise descriptions. These pages were of advanced technology, to use it was a privilege not to be given freely by Martyrus unless it was a genius like Skyscraper, discovered by Martyrus himself.
Martyrus had always believed in the hidden potentials among seemingly ordinary students. Therefore, he had established a series of guidelines that would make sure students with even the slightest hint of talent would not be left out.
When Cao Yi first entered Bernabeu, he had failed almost every single subject, which made his admission seem like a fluke. Martyrus never believed in flukes. After a few days of investigation, the old fox was shocked by what he had found: the boy was from one of the worst high schools in the city, and ever since he entered Bernabeu, he absorbed knowledge in an inhuman pace.
He had discovered the boy's talent: tenacious learning ability, an ability that sounded incredulous even to Martyrus when he first realized it.
The image finally flickered and disappeared, Cao Yi nodded as he felt satisfied with the overall accuracy of his description. He lifted the pen again to draw the final, conclusive notes regarding the strength of the opponent — a routine he followed ever since he started to partake in TPA fights. But the tip of the pen hovered over the page as he found himself lacking words. Something was nagging him at the back of his mind, making him hesitant to draw any conclusions. He had a strong feeling that his opponent didn't even reveal his real power.
"Hurry up Luv Ma! What takes you so long? I thought that you were always fast handed!" Miao Xiu grunted impatiently.
"Shut up or get the hell out of here!" Luv Ma refuted without sparing his friend a look. Visual analysis was a sophisticated work, and Luv Ma's task was even more challenging since he did not have the raw footage.
"Please! You know I don't have patience. He only saw the Fist of the Racing Tiger once, and there he was, the roaring and all. How could I be patient?"
Luv Ma ignored his friend's complaint and focused on his hands that danced swiftly over the keyboard. Although Luv Ma was not a fighter, he possessed the unmatched ability of digital analysis.
"Done!"
"Oh honey, I knew you were the best! Kiss." Miao Xiu closed into Luv Ma, and the latter kicked him away out of disgust.
The video of the entire fight had been broken down into segments. The segment that appeared on the screen was the finishing confrontation of the two fighters when Wang Tong had used the Fist of the Racing Tiger.
"It has to be the real Fist of the Racing Tiger. Look, I have compared Einherjar Wannabe's move with Wang Beng's move frame by frame, they look exactly the same. I wonder what kind of tactics can transform one's arm into such a deadly weapon," Luv Ma said as he showed his finished product to Miao Xiu.
"Only Wang Ben would know. It's hard to tell based solely on the magnitude of the power, it ought to be the Fist of the Racing Tiger. That Skyscraper still needs more training, and he was not matched yet against the most aggressive attack of the entire Confederation."
"Agreed. General Hu Ben was indeed a legendary fighter."
"PAUSE!" Miao Xiu suddenly yelled. "Rewind... a bit more... Yes!"
Luv Ma watched Miao Xiu as he bit his fingernails: a sign of distress.
"Look at Einherjar Wannabe's face. There was no fear, nor excitement. He looked like as if he didn't even care that Skyscraper was using the "X" on him!"
"You mean you don't think the "X" would even scratch him? "
"Who knows. But there is one thing that is for sure: he had many other options other than using Wang Ben's Fist of the Racing tiger, some might be even deadlier," Miao Xiu spoke with certainty.
"...faced with the deadly "X", and he was still able to take his time to pick and choose, that sounds like far-fetched."
"It's achievable, I know of at least three persons who can do that." Miao Xiu knew many high-level fighters, but none of those three he thought of could care to fight in the TPA. "Who exactly is this Einherjar Wannabe?" Miao Xiu mulled over the question and repeated the name in his mind.
Suddenly, he found a sense of irony in the name "Einherjar Wannabe".
"What is he trying to prove? His arrogance?" he thought.
It had been a while since the TPA offered a good fight. There had been some great fights among the Military pro-users, but those contents were not meant to be published. Therefore, the fight between Wang Tong and skyscraper attracted a lot of attentions.
Both Wang Tong and Cao Yi, a.k.a. Skyscraper, had demonstrated a great deal of strength and quickly various speculations started to circulate regarding the relationship between Einherjar Wannabe and Wang Ben. However, the more people speculated, the more riddles seemed to surface.
"Why does Einherjar Wannabe know how to use the Fist of the Racing Tiger?"
"Is it because they had fought once? Or was it because of anything else?"
Eventually, the DREAM Corp. released a video analysis of the fight, which they haven't done for many years. It was the Fist of the Racing Tiger that had convinced the corporation to make the decision. Unexpectedly, this video analysis opened doors to more mysteries.
People quickly noticed that the Fist of the Racing Tiger was far from the most peculiar piece of the puzzle as they discovered Wang Tong's miraculous footwork. No matter how aggressive Cao Yi's attack was, his strike was dissolved quickly by Wang Tong's seemingly simple and short maneuver. If it were anyone else, it would have been an entirely different story. Every twitch of Wang Tong's muscle seemed to serve a purpose at dodging attacks. Wang Tong's ability suggested that he was a seasoned warrior, but his profile said that he was only sixteen.
Everyone weighted their hope and anticipation on Wang Ben's shoulder as more and more of them started to understand the motives of Wang Ben's request for a rematch. The general's son had realized the exceptional strength of Wang Tong after their first fight. Wang Tong's imitation of the Fist of the Racing Tiger screamed like a taunt at Wang Ben, making him even more determined for a rematch.
Chapter 68: Too Generous
Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Tehrn
As the son of a general, Wang Ben was expected to avoid public TPA fights at all cost, but the reality was far from that: Wang Ben had publicly announced his challenge to Einherjar Wannabe, and the lack of response from the latter made the situation even more embarrassing for Wang Ben.
Smelling profit in the air, the DREAM Corp had also attempted to reach out to Einherjar Wannabe as soon as his fight with Skyscraper was over, but they had received no response either.
Wang Tong had no time to respond. He had been busy. Hu Yangxuan was going to pick him up to go to Ma Xiaoru's place together right after the TPA fight. Besides, he also needed a break after a tough fight, and he thought Ma Xiaoru's place would be ideal.
Wang Ben was early when he arrived home from the virtual cafe. Soon, he received a message from Hu Yangxuan, informing Wang Tong that he would be there in a few minutes.
Five minutes later, Hu Yangxuan arrived with his Meg-lev in front of his dormitory. "Sorry, I am late."
"That's fine, I was just watching it as well."
"You too? That fight between Einherjar Wannabe and Skyscraper?"
Wang Tong nodded.
"Well, I think we have a problem," Hu Yangxuan said as he furrowed his eyebrows.
"What's going on?"
"Someone on the forum had recognized that Skyscraper, he is a first-year student from Bernabeu. Our Principal is not going to like that."
"Interesting. Heck, we have Wang Ben now, shouldn't be much of a problem, don't you think?"
"You forgot about the tournament rules. The order of the players is predetermined, so we don't know who will be fighting that freak."
"Balls, that sucks." Wang Tong nodded in agreement. The tournament was not only a test of the strength of the students but also to the minds of the principals.
"Well, I say we are still lucky to have Wang Ben. Otherwise, we would be skating on thin ice." Hu Yangxuan cracked a smile.
Unlike Wang Tong, who could barely afford more than one T-shirt, Hu Yangxuan was well dressed for the occasion and carefully picked the appropriate style and color that complimented his complexion. But Wang Tong was simply happy that the number of t-shirts he owned had saved him from the headaches of picking and choosing.
Hu Yangxuan didn't want to be late, he drove fearlessly, zipping through streets and corridors. Thanks to his great driving skill, the two of them arrived at Ma Xiaoru's house safely.
They met Ma Xiaoru and Samantha in the main hall; both were casually dressed. A wide projector screen stood behind the two girls, and it was showing the recording of the previous fight. The exclusive recording reminded the two visitors that Samantha was the heir of the DREAM corp.
"I believe you two have already heard about it, this Skyscraper is called Cao Yi, a student of Bernabeu, and he is going to be the secret weapon of that old fox." Samantha had suspected that Martyrus would have a wild card in his hand. Seeing her suspicion becoming a reality, Samantha conceded the fact that she would have to exercise extreme caution in planning the tournament fight.
"Do you guys think that you can defeat him?" Samantha lolled on the sofa and asked the two boys. Her voice was softer than usual.
"I would like to know myself," Hu Yangxuan said eagerly. As one of the followers of the Templar, Hu Yangxuan had enough confidence to take on the challenge.
Seeing Samantha's gazed landed on him, Wang Tong shrugged and said casually, "I can try."
"Where the hell did this Einherjar Wannabe come from? If only we could have him in Ayrlarng," Samantha said as she licked the juice off her lips.
"The topic had gone viral on the internet; so far no one seemed to have any clue. I thought you might be the first one to know, Principal," Hu Yangxuan asked curiously.
"Well, you don't understand the rules. PA is more complicated than you think. It involves the Earth Confederation, the Moon, the Martians, and even the Kaedeians. Despite the fact that DREAM is the company that operates everything, it, however, does not have the exclusive rights to the data in the system. It had been like that ever since the company was formed," Samantha said helplessly.
Wang Tong heaved a sigh of relief. He had thought that much since if it were otherwise, DREAM would have controlled the military intelligence of all human factions, and no one would have agreed to that.
"If it were the IPA, we might have been able to bend the rules and scrape some information, but it was in the TPA. What makes it even more infuriating is his silent treatment. He didn't even respond to DREAM's official request."
"Interesting..." Ma Xiaoru said as she pondered on the information.
"He doesn't seem to be concerned with money. The DREAM paid their official fighters at least ten grand per match. Only if he was as desperate for money as someone else…" Samantha said as she locked her eyes with Wang Tong's. Their settlement cost her only six grand.
Hu Yangxuan and Ma Xiaoru refrained from laughing out loud; not only they were aware of Wang Tong's destitute financial condition, but they were also aware how annoyed their principal was at Wang Tong's uncooperative attitude.
Wang Tong didn't care about Samantha's jesting, and he was too busy lamenting over the ten grand that he could have earned. If he had known it earlier, he would have accepted their invitation in a heartbeat.
"Anyhow, let's talk about it later and have our lunch first, we have a special dish today," Ma Xiaoru broke the awkward silence.
Ma Xiaoru's announcement of a specialty dish had piqued everyone's interest.
Everyone had enjoyed their lunch. Although Wang Tong was not a picky eater, he was not a big fan of overly sophisticated meals that, for some reason, always came in extremely small portions. Perhaps Ma Xiaoru had guessed that much because today's main course was veal. The so-called specialty was a kind of fruit from the Andromeda Galaxy. Wang Tong took a bite, and he found that the refreshing flavors of the fruit danced on his pallets, making it an exceptionally enjoyable experience after having eaten the greasy hearty meal of veal.
Samantha and Ma Xiaoru were having a healthy amount of food, so they were clearly not on a diet. Despite this, they had kept their body in great shapes. Wang Tong tried as much as he could to keep his table manners, and not to make too much noise as he chewed. But he didn't hesitate when it came down to shoveling as much as he could down his throat at lightning speed.
Hu Yangxuan also picked up his speed, and he knew that if he didn't do so, there would be none left very quickly.
Chapter 69: True Friends
Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Tehrn
As the host, Ma Xiaoru was quite happy that her guests seemed to have enjoyed their lunch.
"These are the things that can only be tasted inside of this house." Hu Yangxuan marveled at the extreme wealth of Ma Xiaoru's family.
Money could buy some produce, but not all. However, as the hegemony of an entire industry, Ma Xiaoru's family could get anything they desired.
"The lunch was good, now let's talk business," Samantha announced. The word "business" sent a chill down to the two boy's spines. They knew there was no free lunch.
"Don't fret, I just thought that perhaps one of you could do me a favor. When Wang Ben eventually arrives here, we will need to put on a display of strength so that he wouldn't look down on our students," Samantha's wide and mesmerizing eyes attracted the two boys as she explained her intention. She had figured that Wang Ben's acceptance of her offer did not amount to his obedience. Therefore, a proper display of strength would be required to guide Wang Ben onto the right track.
"Him!"
Both Wang Tong and Hu Yangxuan pointed at each other. Samantha found their response both funny and annoying and wondered why the boys all lacked manly courage.
"Um… I am too busy with the Templar's routine test that is coming up, so I am afraid that I won't have time to prepare for the fight with Wang Ben. I would be more than willing to do it for our school once my test is over," Hu Yangxuan explained. What he had said wasn't entirely an excuse: he wouldn't want to fight Wang Ben because if he couldn't focus on a bad fight, it might scare him for the rest of his life.
"What about you Wang Tong, what is your excuse?" Samantha stared at Wang Tong.
Wang Tong had thought that he might raise others' suspicions should he partake in a fight with Wang Ben, but quickly, he realized that a fight with or against Wang Ben would be inevitable in the future once Wang Ben arrived in Ayrlarng. Samantha's persuasion made it even more compelling for Wang Ben to accept the task.
"Fine, I will try. But the school would have to pay for my medical bills if I am injured."
"You won't get injured; it's just a sparring," Ma Xiaoru announced. She could have taken on the task if she didn't need to worry about the name of her family.
Samantha rolled her eyes at Wang Tong and said coldly, "Xiaoru, don't you worry about it. I am more concerned about Wang Ben's medical bill."
"I'll take it as a compliment," Wang Tong said out loud. He enjoyed talking to Samantha as if he was her equal.
Contempt was written all over Samantha's face. She refrained from retorting back, trying her best to keep her composure.
Everyone had sense Samantha's interest in this mysterious Einherjar Wannabe as she had reviewed many times the recording of the fight. The predecessor of DREAM, YU-ZHAN had once benefited by a man with god-like ability, Samantha wondered if Einherjar Wannabe would be the next legendary warrior that would bestow profit and success to DREAM. However, she reminded herself not to keep her hope high since many before her had waited for such a legend, but none had appeared.
Wang Tong stared at Samantha's wide and alluring eyes as her thoughts drifted away. Beside Wang Tong, Ma Xiaoru gazed at Wang Tong's face thoughtful. In this awkward silence, Hu Yangxuan felt left out. However, thanks to his cheerful personality, Hu Yangxuan didn't mind the lack of attention.
The party went on, and the evening had approached before they realized it.
Under the beautiful night sky, Hu Yangxuan and Wang Tong descended from the floating mansion.
"Are you always happy like this?" Wang Tong asked.
"If you smile at your life, it will smile back. I envy your life. People always thought that the life in the great houses was the best, but they wouldn't know the chains and balls that came with our family name. I am quite a rebellious one, but still, there are things that I cannot fight."
"Makes sense, but there were also many benefits of being born into a great house."
"That's true to some extent. We are no more than standing on the shoulder of our ancestors. Look at all the recent heroes and heroines; you would find that almost all of them had started from scratch, like Wang Ben's father, Hu Ben. In comparison, the great houses like the Li were a dying breed who were clinging too tightly to their ancestor's great deeds."
"Haha, I couldn't agree more. Life would be boring if I could get anything without working hard for it." Wang Tong showed the whiteness of his smile, to him, earning ten grand was something that was worth celebrating, but to a member of the great house, it was not even worth mentioning. Therefore, success was a rather relative term.
"On another note, do you know anything about this Wang Ben? I have heard that he hits pretty hard, even during training. I have a friend that might be able to get us some information; I will send that off to you."
"Thank you! I didn't want to accept the task, but you know that our principal won't give up," Wang Tong said as he blushed.
Hu Yangxuan rounded his eyes and stared at Wang Tong abruptly. "Gee, you got balls. Do you want to make a move on Samantha? Please, don't tell me you are serious. Haven't you heard about her nickname she had earned while she was in Capth? They call her the Hammer for the many hearts she had shattered, including those of the Li's!"
Wang Tong was unruffled. "I can't help with how I feel. She is different than other girls indeed, but same as you. I don't believe that you came here just because you wanted to chase after Ma Xiaoru. I wager that you also didn't like the mindless competition from the S-Class Academies."
"Haha, interesting! Not a lot of people know that much about me. Indeed the S-Class academies had the top notch talents and seemingly endless resources, but they focused too much on competition, and it felt too restrictive to me. I liked Bernabeu a lot; their principal is a nice old man. You will know what I mean when you met him," Hu Yangxuan said sincerely.
"Well, I am interested."
"Haha, it's still early, do you want to grab a few drinks somewhere? We need to celebrate our friendship."
"I think you want to celebrate for the apparent elimination of your competitor."
"Nah, if Ma Xiaoru likes you, I still couldn't do anything about it. I don't like to dwell on the outcomes, the process itself would be a more enjoyable experience."
"Just kidding. Sure, why not, let's go grab some drinks."
Wang Tong never liked drinking after seeing what it had done to Old Fart, but since Hu Yangxuan had invited him, he felt it hard to refuse his classmate's friendly invitation.