Unfortunately, we were underage, so we weren't allowed to drink alcoholic drinks. We weren't even allowed into a bar without showing ID, and our ID was proof that we were below the minimum age required.
So we ended up going to a barbeque restaurant instead. Given plates of raw meat so that we could grill them ourselves over a small fire, we ate them along with tea or soft drinks. I preferred tea because I didn't like carbonated drinks, though according to my grandparents, the tea brewed these days were entirely fake.
As were the meat, to be honest.
"Hard to believe that meat used to come from animals," Pang Fei commented as he put a well grilled piece into his mouth. I nodded, remembering reading about how they used to have entire farms or ranches in the past, rearing animals, only to slaughter and dismember them for meat. I couldn't imagine us doing that now.
Instead, I preferred the modern way of fabricating meat. We had city-housed plants that constructed imitated meat based off protein formulas and chemicals. My grandparents said they didn't taste as well as the real thing, but given that they probably only consumed "real" meat a century ago, when they were just kids, I wondered if they actually remembered the so-called authentic taste or if it was just nostalgia talking.
"How did you do it, Zhi Ming?" Lei Shu asked, his mouth half-full with meat. Xin Xia frowned.
"Swallow your food before talking."
"Yeah, sorry." Lei Shu gulped his meat down, and then turned to me. "So how did you do it, Zhi Ming?"
"Do what?"
"How did you survive the wasteland? How did you get away from the grotesque?"
"Didn't I tell you that I blew it up?" I asked, which earned a laugh from the rest of class. Cheng Yan snorted.
"Come on, did you really expect us to believe that?"
I shrugged. "I can't do anything if you don't believe me."
"He probably ran away with his tail between his legs," Qi Ren said with a snort. Everyone turned to give him a stare.
"You're the last person to be saying that," Nian Qing grumbled. Qi Ren flared up at that.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You should know," Pang Fei replied with a sneer. "When it came to volunteering to distract the grotesque's attention away from the rest of the class, you were very quick to refuse. Zhi Ming was the one who ended up doing it instead. And you're criticizing him for cowardice? Have you looked in the mirror, you hypocrite?"
"Not to mention, unlike somebody, Zhi Ming didn't grab me and throw me to the grotesque," Nian Qing added resentfully, glaring at Qi Ren. The big guy clenched his fists and rose from his seat.
"Say that again!?"
"Do you really want us to repeat what we just said?" Lou Qian asked coldly and quietly. Qi Ren blanched, but he stared defiantly at her.
"Lou Qian, you also…!"
"Yes, I was a coward. I admit it." Lou Qian sighed and raised both of her hands. She turned to apologize to me. "You're right to blame me, Feng Zhi Ming. I was looking for an excuse not to fight the grotesque or lure it away. I'm sorry. It should have been my duty, as the representative of the class, but I allowed other people to do my job for me. I owe you too much."
"Nah, you led the class to safety and opened up a path for everyone to escape. I wouldn't have been able to do that." I waved her apologies away. "Everyone has their own role to play. I'm aware of my own abilities, and I knew there was a good chance I would be able to escape from the grotesque once I had bought enough time. I have an advantage over you as a ranged evolver, after all. It'll be more difficult for a close combat type of evolver like you or Qi Ren to withdraw from the grotesque's attacks."
"T…that's right!" Qi Ren blustered. "It's just different abilities for different roles! I wasn't being a coward!"
"Oh, just shut up, would you?" Lei Shu snapped. "You're the one who insulted Zhi Ming for being a coward first when he's the bravest among us."
"What, it's just fighting a warrior category mutant, even I can do it!"
"Then why didn't you?" Nian Qing retorted. "You were the first to run away. Not only that, you threw me toward the grotesque to save your own skin. Don't think I don't remember that."
"Shut up!" Qi Ren surged across to strike him, but I caught hold of his fist and shoved him back.
"Sit back down," I told him. "No need for violence."
Qi Ren looked shocked at first, but he recovered quickly to glare at me. "Trying to be a hero now, eh? Do you think you're so strong now that everyone thinks you're a hero? You're still weaker than me, especially in close combat!"
"Maybe." I shrugged and adjusted my glasses, not caring about his words. I never took the whole ranking system seriously. I had more important things to worry about.
"You say that, but at least Zhi Ming could survive an encounter with a grotesque. You ran away from it." Pang Fei couldn't help but taunt him. Qi Ren bristled.
"He was just bragging, there's no way he could have blown it up!"
"Actually…" Lou Qian was checking her smartphone. "Satellites detected a swell of energy, as well as tremors not far from the place where we retreated from. They recorded high temperatures and shockwaves indicative of a colossal explosion. That lends credence to Feng Zhi Ming's claims that he overloaded a generator to blow the grotesque up."
"What?"
"Let me see that!"
"Oh, I found the same report!"
The rest of the classmates were busily browsing through their smartphones to find the report Lou Qian had mentioned. A few of them looked up to gape at me.
"It happened yesterday night too…too much to be a coincidence."
"Isn't this where you met class 3 afterward?"
"Yeah," I affirmed. "It took a bit of walking, but I did finally encounter them shortly after."
"Hey!" Lei Shu exclaimed. "The people of class 3 were talking about how you took down an aberrant in less than thirty seconds!"
"How the fuck is that possible!?" Qi Ren exploded. "The aberrant is a warrior category mutant just as powerful as the grotesque! How would trash like Feng Zhi Ming defeat it?"
"Since when is Zhi Ming trash?" Pang Fei retorted. "Is there something wrong with your head?"
"That's what class 3 said. They saw it with their own eyes."
"You've got to be kidding me!" Qi Ren stormed. He glared at me. "How did you deceive them? What tricks did you use to fool them? Or did you bribe them to increase your own reputation?"
"Do I look like I have so much money to spare?" I asked dryly.
"Why are you so…antagonistic?" Nian Qing sneered. "Don't like the fact that Zhi Ming's achievements are making your own cowardice and failures more pronounced?"
"You…!" Qi Ren snarled, but he forced himself to calm down. "If it's true, then why didn't Feng Zhi Ming defeat the grotesque in an instant yesterday? He simply distracted it away from us."
"Which is more than what you did, so why are you finding fault with him every step of the way?" Pang Fei said with a disgusted expression.
"I'm trying to expose him for the fraud he is!"
"The only fraud here is you," Nian Qing pointed out. Qi Ren snapped in anger and reached out to seize him by the collar, but I grabbed his wrist and stopped him once more.
"Stop that," I told him and shoved him back into his seat. He gaped at me, rubbing his wrist, and then fury contorted his features.
"Feng Zhi Ming! If you have the guts, have a duel with me tomorrow! I will reveal to everyone the truth!"
"Fine," I said, getting annoyed with his behavior. I recalled that I had divided the 50 points from the aberrant among my stats, and now they were all 33 each. The exception was my Ability stat, which now stood at 34. I should reevaluate the way I distributed my points – since 25 was enough for me to fight a warrior-ranked mutant, I probably should start pumping all the Kill Count points into my Ability stat now to unlock something new.
I couldn't wat to see what the 100 points get me.
"All right, all right." Cheng Yan stepped in, trying to placate his boss. "Let's not argue over such trivial matters! Tonight, let's eat and drink until we drop!"
"Yeah!"
The class began raising their cups and toasting each other for a better tomorrow or something to that effect.
*
The next morning, I almost forgot about the duel, but thankfully Pang Fei reminded me.
"Make sure you kick Qi Ren's ass!" He told me eagerly. "He's been so insufferable. Someone needs to put him in his place!"
"Didn't Lou Qian already do that?" I asked grumpily, regretting having accepted the duel last night. Admittedly Qi Ren did annoy me, but now I was finding the whole thing a complete waste of time. I would rather go out there and hunt more zombies to unlock my Ability as soon as possible.
"I don't think they've actually fought each other before," Pang Fei said thoughtfully. He swept through his smartphone and frowned. "Yeah, there are no records of them dueling against each other. Qi Ren tends to fight only people ranked lower than him."
"Hmm." I suspected that he didn't dare to fight Lou Qian because he knew he would lose.
The both of us proceeded toward the big stage in the middle of the Fourth Evolver Academy. With combat being an essential part of the curriculum, the school had built an arena in the center for students to conduct mock duels and other combat activities. We were encouraged to challenge each other, particularly so that we could raise our rankings or something similar to that effect. Apparently, the higher your rank, the more resources you received from the school.
Apparently, this was supposed to be meritocratic, but wouldn't the divide grow larger because those ranked higher already had more resources than those ranked lower? Basically, the rich got richer, and the poor got poorer. Speaking of which, mission accomplishments would increase one's rank too. I had already reported my encounter with the grotesque, and it was currently being processed. Not only that, the reports from class 3 about my victory over the aberrant were also being considered as the school sought to reevaluate my rank.
That was the academy's problem. I never had much interest in the rankings anyway.
"You're finally here!" Qi Ren crowed when he spotted me. He was waiting in the arena, his arms folded. From his posture, it seemed that he had been there for quite a while now. Damn, someone was eager to start. "I thought you wouldn't be coming, coward."
"You're the coward!" Nian Qing shouted. The whole of class 4 had gathered to watch, along with students from other class. I recognized a few from class 3, including Lisa. I didn't know why the goddess had come to spectate, but I guess some people had nothing better to do. Then again, these matches were usually popular. I sometimes participated as an audience, probably to learn combat techniques from others. Nian Qing's retort drew support from the others. "Your whole family are cowards!"
"Yeah! You ran away from the grotesque and tried to sacrifice other people to draw it away from you! And you have the face to call other people cowards?"
"Have you looked in the mirror?"
"Shut up!" Qi Ren roared. He then turned to me, and just as I stepped into the arena, he immediately lunged at me. "The match has begun! Now go lie down for me!"
His gauntlets glowed with brown energy as they hurtled toward my face with the impact of a meteor.