Stock was a relatively unknown player; therefore the match went unnoticed by the majority of the online spectators, and none of those who had attended learned the identity of the powerful yet mysterious boy. Soon, Wang Tong's victory became only one of the many miraculous fights on TPA, as it faded away like a faint ping among the clamors of the online world.
“Faculty of METAL Fighter? No, no, no!" Wang Tong wouldn't choose such a useless major; he had chosen the faculty of Battlefield Command which once he had graduated, would guarantee him an officer post in the military.
To Wang Tong, it went without saying that an officer position was not only a much safer occupation when compared to soldiers on the ground, but they also had a cushier paycheck, and more importantly, their silver-white attire would attract the admiration of many girls.
"There is no way," Wang Tong told himself, "That I will choose to become a METAL fighter over an officer."
However, Wang Tong had banged his head against the wall on the first day of class, and it turned out that to become a battlefield commander was much, much harder than Wang Tong had imagined. He needed to master not only the tactics, but also many other subjects such as astronomy, geology, biology, physics, and the list did not end there as each of the core subjects also came with a plethora of related classes whose unfamiliar jargon had churned Wang Tong’s stomach.
Despite the falling reputation of Ayrlarng Academy, the atmosphere on campus remained healthy and competitive in opposition to the unfounded rumors about its lenient curriculum.
Wang Tong decided to deploy the "Tactics of Muddle Around" which he had learned from Old Fart, thinking that as long as he wouldn't make any major mistakes, he would be able to graduate eventually. However, a new message popup on his sky-net messenger system had blown up this wishful thinking and distressed Wang Tong tremendously. The message, from the principal herself, informed Wang Tong that he had been assigned to class-F of the battlefield commander major which opened six classes, ranging from A to F.
At first sight, Wang Tong had thought the arrangement of him in the lowest level was based on the order of registration, since he had registered late for the term. But he soon learned that the arrangement was actually based on high school grades. In addition, it depended on the score of the monthly test. One could advance into better classes or vice versa depending on the scores. Already at the lowest level, Wang Tong then faced a grim reality of being expelled if he failed the monthly test in twelve days.
Suddenly faced with an impossible task and assaulted by irrevocable stress, Wang Tong hallucinated the slip from the principal with a word in bold red ink that said "Expelled," which sent him into a panic attack.
In the former concierge's accommodation that was only a few paces away from the girl's dormitory, a saddened howl suddenly rose up and pierced the calm air of the quiet afternoon.
Fortunately, Wang Tong was not a person that gave up easily. He walked into the principal’s office and was hopeful to make a case for himself.
He saw the young principal acknowledge him as he walked in, "Look at her," Wang Tong thought. "She is not that much older than me, but already the principal in an A-Class institute.”
"Wang Tong, are you looking for me?" Samantha said it as if she had been expecting him. Indeed she was, she had seen it many times before, that people who fell behind were always the first ones to complain.
Wang Tong cleared his throat, he had to tread carefully. "Principal, I am wondering if you could delay my monthly test. You see, I have just started, I haven't really had much time to study yet."
Samantha cracked a smile, but her eyes shined a sharp light that pointed at Wang Tong like a steel lance ready to thrust. "I am sorry Wang Tong, I am afraid that I cannot make an exception for you since I don't want to send the wrong message to the other students. I hope you understand. I am in the process of revitalizing the school's discipline process. I hope you don’t get too stressed out about the test, the first one will be easy, you will pass, as long as you study for it."
Wang Tong didn't believe her for a second as he saw through her deception as Samantha's cold eyes betrayed her. Wang Tong had heard that she was a “bee” with an itch when it came down to discipline and regulations, and he knew that she meant it was him that needed to be "revitalized".
"Please, this is not fair to me!" The air in the principal’s office suddenly tensed up.
“Knock. Knock.” Someone was at the door.
"Come in."
"Principal Saman—" A girl walked in and was aghast when she noticed Wang Tong as if she was expecting Samantha to be alone in her office.
One second Wang Tong was still engrossed in his indignant rage, and one second later, as Wang Tong turned his head to the new visitor, he had lost himself at the sight of the beautiful and innocent looking girl in front of him. She wore a fresh white T-shirt, a pair of dark denim hot pants which revealed her long and fine legs that drew elegant lines along lush curves. Her hair had been braided into a ponytail, Wang Tong's favorite style on a girl, which made her look both innocent and pragmatic. She watched Wang Tong and revealed rows of white and neatly set teeth as she gave him a charming smile.
Struck by her innocent beauty, Wang Tong ogled her for over three seconds thinking of nothing else.
"Xiaoru, you came just in time. Wang Tong, as I was telling you, everyone in our school gets the same treatment. Ma Xiaoru for example, entered our academy one day after you did, yet she is also subject to the monthly test, just like you and everyone else, and she accepted the tests as a challenge instead of a threat."
"Yes Principal, I will try my best," the girl said to Samantha.
Wang Tong's anger and indignation succumbed to the eloquent duet. Samantha was right, delaying his test wouldn't help him, he would fail the monthly test no matter how much extra time he was allowed. Studying just wasn’t something that Wang Tong was good at.
By then, he had started to regret taking the major in battlefield command, but for the sake of his pride in front of such a beautiful girl, he didn’t ask to change his major to METAL fighter.
"F*ck, I’ll have to man it through then I guess, my luck can't get any worse after Norton anyways," Wang Tong thought as he walked out of the principal’s office, looking deflated.
"Sam, is that the bad apple you were talking about?" The corners of Ma Xiaoru’s mouth lifted as she covered them with a palm, trying to hide her smile.
"Yes, that is him. I have seen his middle school grades, it was a disaster. Sigh... if not for the referral letter from the Confederation, he would never have been able to step inside of Ayrlarng. Anyhow, he now makes a perfect target for my revitalization plan, it’s a matter of time for him to be expelled, plus, I have you now, I'm confident we will be able to bring back Ayrlarng onto the right track."
"It is very nice of you to say that sister, I will try my best."
"No need to be modest, I know that there were lots of schools that fought for you, I can't be more grateful to you for coming here while turning down schools such as Capth,” Samantha smiled as she spoke, something she rarely did, except for when she was talking to Ma Xiaoru.
"No matter how you look at it, we are responsible for putting Ayrlarng back on track again."
"Hehe, how's your old man doing? I hope you two have figured things out?" Samantha smiled.
Ma Xiaoru drew her teeth in a seemingly innocent grin as she nodded her head. If Wang Tong saw her smile then, he might have lost himself again.
Ma Xiaoru, heir of the FFC Corporation, descendant of Ma Ka, had accepted Samantha's invitation to Ayrlarng as soon as she received the message. She went there with the hope of helping her friend and sister Samantha to save Ayrlarng. Contrary to the older folks who would rather see Ayrlarng fail in accordance with the law of the jungle, the younger generations were more willing to make the necessary personal sacrifices to stop a formerly legendary school's recent declining trend.
The Ma family and Samantha's family had been friends over generations, and the two of them had known each other since childhood. Ma Xiaoru had become popular among schools not only because of her prestigious heritage but also the fact that she had been practicing the Tactics of the Enchantress, the most powerful tactics when practiced by a woman.
Due to the low morale of the school, Samantha figured that she would need a champion to lead the students, and an exceptionally talented student like Ma Xiaoru was the perfect candidate.
The cruel reality had clubbed Wang Tong's shred of hope in its infancy, not only would he lose the opportunity to become an officer, but an even more dire consequence was that he would have to also lose his accommodation, and that had set the last straw on Wang Tong’s back.
As soon as he got back to his room, he buried himself in a pile of textbooks. As he was assaulted repetitively by the grotesque technical jargon, he felt that his study was even more daunting than fighting with Zergs.
"Ha ha ha, little shit, there is something that you can't do after all, why don't you ask for help from a wise teacher? There's one right in front of you," Mr. Wannabe's voice rose as the crystal lit up.
"Ah, that's right." Wang Tong said as he slapped his head, ”Hehe, Mr. Wannabe, you have to help me, this test is a matter of life and death for me. Here, can you explain these to me?"
Mr. Wannabe nodded in approval of his modesty as he read through the page pointed out by Wang Tong.
"Fundamental principles in astral energy divergence as #%#! Morgen's Law from the ^$*&$ Theory of Entanglement."
Silence fell in the former concierge’s tiny room.
Mr. Wannabe wrenched his gaze from the book after he had studied the pages for an excessively long amount of time as he broke the silence, "Kiddo, you need to learn to be independent, I can't help you for the rest of your life. Ahhh... my bones, I'm tired, I think I will hit the hay right now."
Mr. Wannabe disappeared and left Wang Tong speechless and helpless; his last shred of hope had just burst like a bubble.