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Chapter 26: Mailman

Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Tehrn

"Kyaaa! Wang Tong! He's here!" Wang Tong felt like a movie star, walking on the red carpet.

"Wang Tong! You are finally here!"

"We have been waiting for you for an hour!"

The girls looked excited, some were blushing as they watched Wang Tong ardently, each with an envelope in their hands.

Presently a paper letter always meant something sentimental, for example, a love letter, since most ordinary messages would be communicated online.

Wang Tong was feeling agitated, he had never had the attention of this many girls. His family was poor, and his face wasn't handsome, no girl would like a no account like him, plus, he had been busy in between studying which meant that he barely had any time to participate in any activities to meet any girls.

"Wang Tong, there is a favor we all would like to ask you for," one of the girls walked out of the throng, she seemed to be talking on their behalf.

The word "favor" cooled Wang Tong's head. He had guessed right, these girls were not here for him.

Wang Tong smiled reluctantly and said, "No problem, what is it?" The last thing Wang Tong wanted was to p*ss off the girls that live next door to him.

"Could you please forward our letters to Hu Yangxuan in your class?"

"Hu Yangxuan? I am afraid that I do not recognize the name," Wang Tong stopped and thought for a second, but still could not recall anyone in his class with that name.

The girls started to get impatient after seeing that Wang Tong was unaware of the name of their most adored idol, they only put up with Wang Tong's ignorance because they still needed a favor from him.

The leader of the girls seemed to be calmer, she said, "Yes, he has just been transferred to our school, and since he has not yet taken the monthly test, he was assigned to the F class. Would you please do it for us?"

Wang Tong noticed that the girl's eyes suddenly shined with anticipation. Wang Tong accepted the request and packed the letters in two big boxes. He felt that he didn't have any other options as Mr. Simon had warned him about the sensitivity of the matter that he was living next door to a girl's dormitory. Should any of these girls complain about him to the principal, he would have to move out of his precious accommodation.

As soon as Wang Tong returned his own room, Mr. Wannabe appeared out of the crystal quietly and said, "Kiddo, I am going into a long meditation, it will be a while before I meet you again."

Wang Tong was shocked at Mr. Wannabe's announcement, and then a sad expression appeared in his eyes. Although he was annoying, Mr. Wannabe had kept him company all the way through. "Why would you need a long meditation?"

"Well I am tired, you idiot. I should have done it a while ago, but I wasn't sure if you would be Okay being on your own, so I had to keep on showing up which drained my soul energy tremendously, you know, if you died, I would have been trapped in that crystal as well."

"Ha Ha, don't you worry about it, we are in the Confederation now, I will be fine," Wang Tong nodded as a reassurance to Mr. Wannabe.

"Stop pulling my leg, I just wanted to tell you something before I left for my recuperation. I had reckoned that the Tactics of the Blade I had taught you was indeed the real deal, and I knew that you have realized that fact as well, although you didn't want to admit it.

But it seemed like you have only scratched the surface, I recommend you not to show off in front of anyone until you have absolutely mastered everything.

One more thing, you still need experience in real combat so keep on going to the TPA. Anyhow, listen to me or not, those are my earnest suggestions to you, but I can't live your life for you."

Mr. Wannabe ended his statement in a serious tone. Unknown to Wang Tong, it took Mr. Wannabe a tremendous amount of soul energy to emerge from the crystal in order to offer him "guidance" and not until today, after seeing Wang Tong's victory, had Mr. Wannabe felt that Wang Tong would no longer need him and that he could finally start his meditation to regain some of that lost soul power.

Having his ruse of eluding the true power of Tactics of the Blade being seen through by Mr. Wannabe, Wang Tong felt embarrassed, after all, Mr. Wannabe had gone through a lot with him.

"Kiddo, no need to be embarrassed, you did the right thing, the Tactics of the Blade wasn't mine, we simply made a deal. It's not always so chivalrous in the world of martial arts, do what you really want to do, and don't get slowed down by trivial things like this."

"Einherjar, take care… farewell—"

"F*ck off, I am not leaving forever, I will be back as soon as I am recuperated, and remember not to bother me!"

Mr. Wannabe disappeared into the space crystal as soon as he finished the last word, leaving Wang Tong sitting alone in his dormitory.

Old Fart had left him, Charcoal was still in a box, and then Mr. Wannabe was gone, Wang Tong felt lonely and empty inside. It was easier said than done to not miss them. "Perhaps," Wang Tong thought to himself, "Perhaps, Mr. Wannabe had left because he was upset that I still haven't taken him to the Hall of Valhalla yet."

The Hall of Valhalla, the mystical place that existed only in legends, was a place where Wang Tong really wasn't confident he could reach. However, since he had promised Mr. Wannabe, he decided that he had to give it a try no matter how hard it would be.

He clenched his fist; at least he had the Tactics of the Blade. With such a powerful tactics, it didn't matter where his destiny would take him, his fate would always be in his own hands.

Over the centuries, many families and super organizations had attempted to recreate General Li Feng's legend, Mr. Wannabe was sure that whoever mastered the Tactics of the Blade would be the second in history to become an invincible legend; therefore, he wanted to believe that the Tactics of the Blade was real and he didn't teach Wang Tong any other tactics out of the fear of diluting its power. Meanwhile, Mr. Wannabe had always doubted the credence of the Tactics of the Blade, since no one had seen it, just like no one had ever seen the Blade Warriors.

Wang Tong watched the two boxes of love letters, feeling lost. He had always wanted friends, but over the sixteen years of his life, he had lost all of them. The loneliness deprived him any appetite for studying, he hoped that sleep would bring him some comfort and by tomorrow, things would get better.

Wang Tong arrived early in his classroom, but the entrance was already crowded with boys who were waiting for Ma Xiaoru, and more girls who were waiting for the handsome Hu Yangxuan. Wang Tong lumbered into the classroom with two boxes of letters, looking like a tired mailman.

Although it was still early in the morning, Wang Tong found that all of his classmates had already started their studying, since everyone knew that Ma Xiaoru would be assigned to A class after the monthly test, and everyone wanted to follow her there.

Inadvertently, this had caused a lot of stress among students who were already in the A class, because the seats of the A class were limited, and more qualified students meant that the bar would have to be raised.

Very quickly, everyone in Ayrlarng had been studying hard as they all wanted to be in the A class.

Chapter 27: Public Enemy

Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Tehrn

Everyone in the F Class knew that getting a good grade was the only way to get Ma Xiaoru's attention, they had even blatantly written it into their new class motto: "Fight, for Xiaoru."

It had been by then crystal clear that Principal Samantha's plan had come up all roses, and the success was further touched up by the arrival of Hu Yangxuan after he had left Yalen halfway through registration and came to Ayrlarng with a clear purpose of pursuing Ma Xiaoru.

These favorable developments had greatly boosted Samantha's confidence. Although Hu Yangxuan was not from one of the five major families, he was nonetheless from the Court of Templar. Samantha did not know much about this elusive organization, as it related to the class-S secrets of the Confederation, the Sacred Land.

Every once in a while, the court would choose a few talented children and test their abilities and aptitudes. Should they prove themselves worthy, they would be provided training on par with that in major houses.

Once they had completed their training, they would be asked to leave the court and to remain in touch with the rest of the world since a real master not only needed to be good at tactics but also needed to mingle with other human beings.

More than half of the candidates would fail the Templar's stringent tests, but those who were able to successfully finish their training were deemed exceptional by the society and were chased after by all major academies once they left the court.

Hu Yangxuan was the cream of the crop among the followers of the Templar. He had shown exceptional talents while he was only ten years old due to his natural EMF, and thanks to that, he had been taken on by the Templars, and when he graduated, Yalen and Capth almost waged war in pursuing him, but Ayrlarng had unexpectedly come out as the winner.

In addition to his extraordinary combat ability and a good looking face, he was also a prodigy in piano performance. At the piano contest held by the Confederation, he had won first place by charming the judges with his Nocturne in b-flat minor and Polka in A major.

All in all, it was not hard to see why he had become so popular, especially among the teenage girls, including Wang Tong's excited neighbors, who adored him like an idol.

Ayrlarng had finally started to catch the attention of the other S-class academies after the arrival of Hu Yangxuan. Although the school still seemed to lack solid middle range students, Samantha had at least gained two trump cards, Ma Xiaoru and Hu Yangxuan.

Samantha knew that although the two top level students would embolden the rest of the students, there was still a long way to go for Ayrlarng to catch up with the other top notch schools, and the key to this rested on her ability to draw out other students' potential.

As Ma Xiaoru sauntered into the classroom, the boys let out waves of howls and catcalls as they had been doing ever since Ma Xiaoru had arrived. Ma Xiaoru had already gotten used to it and sat down calmly and stoically. Many envious eyes peeked through the window at Ma Xiaoru, to them the desolate classroom seemed like a heaven. Those students who were already inside of "heaven" knew that they had to work harder in order for their heaven to last long.

Wang Tong also had been working harder, although for an entirely different reason, as he never thought of entering A class, he only wanted to pass and not to be expelled. As long as he could endure the hellish school life and finish his degree, he would then be able to become an officer and live a happy life.

Ma Xiaoru spared Wang Tong a glance and was immediately moved by his great efforts and focus on his studies. She even started to blame Samantha for being too ruthless. Then she saw those two boxes of letters.

Wang Tong had sensed Ma Xiaoru's glance, but he decided to stay pragmatic and not to meet her eyes. He promised himself to avoid any attention, stay out of trouble, especially out of trouble with her.

To Wang Tong, Ma Xiaoru was an obvious bait deployed by Samantha, Wang Tong knew that she would never take an interest in a no-account like himself. She was the heir of the FFC Corporation, the future of the Confederation, even as a student, her every move were under watch. She would likely be married to some other powerful house, in order to gain political alliances for her family, a strategy favored by many large corporations.

Wang Tong had lived in a real and harsh world ever since he was a child, he learned to be reasonable and stay cool-headed even in the matter of relationships.

"Hot stuff in the magazines would never become part of my life," a truth he had learned from Old Fart which he had never forgotten to remind himself of.

Wang Tong had been intentionally ignoring Ma Xiaoru despite the fact that they had been sitting side by side, a fact that had never made other boys in the class green with envy since they knew Wang Tong would not stand a chance because of his poor grades.

To everyone else, Wang Tong was a hopeless classmate with nothing special, he was the only one that would be tolerated to be seen sitting right beside Ma Xiaoru as he posed no threat to anyone.

However, that had quickly changed when Hu Yangxuan had arrived, followed by the ear-piercing shrieks of girls.

"Kyaaaaa! Hu Yangxuan!"

"So handsome..."

"I love you! Kyaaaa!"

The overly excited girls made the boys jealous of their new hotshot classmate.

Hu Yangxuan's agenda was well known among other students, which had caused a great deal of animosity even before his arrival, as there had been some students that planned to scare him away from Ayrlarng. After they had learned of Hu Yangxuan's reputation as a fearsome fighter, the schemers had quickly dropped the direct means and turned towards more devious and costly methods, such as bribing the school officials to reject his entry, but thanks to Hu Yangxuan's connections with the Templar and the military, all attempts had ended in vain.

When these students saw his handsome features in reality, they had lost all of their hopes of competing against him for Ma Xiaoru.

Hu Yangxuan had walked into the classroom quietly as he figured that there was no need to attract more hostility. He walked straight toward the seat next to Ma Xiaoru at the back of the classroom as many eyes burning with envious fire singed him with their hostile blaze.

Hu Yangxuan and Ma Xiaoru exchanged a smile, they had known each other before, Hu Yangxuan turned to Wang Tong and asked, "Excuse me, fellow classmate, may I ask you for a favor?"

Everyone's eyes fell on Wang Tong as they had hoped that he would answer "no" to Hu Yangxuan with an indifferent look, and gain the upper hand in the battle for the rights to the seat beside Ma Xiaoru.

However, things didn't go as they had anticipated, Wang Tong looked up from his pile of books and smiled at Hu Yangxuan, "Yes, of course, ah, and these two boxes of letters are for you from the girls in dormitory number 5."

Everyone cursed at Wang Tong's naive reply as he brought out the two boxes in front of Hu Yangxuan. He looked happy to be done with his duty as a mailman.

Hu Yangxuan nodded his head and said, "Much appreciated, what is your name please?"

Chapter 28: Eight Minutes and Thirty-five Seconds

Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Tehrn

"My name is Wang Tong."

Hu Yangxuan stood still and asked, "Wang Tong, would you be able to exchange seats with me? Me and Ma Xiaoru are old friends, and..."

Without waiting for Hu Yangxuan to finish his request, Wang Tong had ignited every other classmate's fury with his reply: "Yeah, absolutely, you guys catch up, I will move over there." Wang Tong picked up his pile of books and got up from his seat.

Hu Yangxuan packed the two boxes of letters into his space crystal as the girls outside of the classroom screamed again. "Some of those girls must be from building number 5," Wang Tong thought to himself.

Wang Tong felt speechless at those girls' obsession with Hu Yangxuan, a guy like Hu Yangxuan would toss away their letters without even opening them, just like he, himself, did not stand a chance with Ma Xiaoru.

Ma Xiaoru spared Wang Tong a glance and felt disappointed as she couldn't believe Wang Tong was so timid and had given up his seat so easily. "A man is allowed to be weak" thought Ma Xiaoru, "but he is not allowed to be afraid of standing up for himself."

Wang Tong couldn't care less about what Ma Xiaoru thought about him. He packed up his books and moved to a corner of the classroom, continuing to plow through the confusing terminologies in the book. The monthly test was at the doorstep, he had to focus, and he had no time for infatuations.

Unfortunately for Hu Yangxuan, he didn't have enough time for a brief catch up with Ma Xiaru since the teacher had walked in as soon as he sat down. The rules of the classroom were the same for all students, Samantha had made sure of that.

The F class sat in agony while they watched their goddess sat side by side with someone who actually posed a real threat. Wang Tong felt safer in this corner than his previous seat since all of the malevolent glances were diverted to the new hot shot.

The next class was an open lecture on Zerg's Anatomy, an open lecture was one that students from different classes would attend together, and it often sparked fierce competitions among the different classes.

Zerg's Anatomy was a subject loved by many adolescent teenage boys who would love to break things apart, but it was deeply despised if not feared by girls, the girls wouldn't have attended the class if it was not part of the mandatory curriculum.

Students of all majors attended this class, and the goal was to let students study mankind's biggest enemy as well as to alleviate their fear when faced with a real Zerg.

The classroom was packed with over one hundred and fifty students from the D, E and F classes. The instructor's name was Gansus, a retired veteran. His left leg had been lost to a Zerg and was replaced with a mechanical limb, which he wore like a badge of honor that commemorated his bravery. Despite being the culprit of his lament, he considered the Zergs to be a "weak and useless bunch" as he had always declared with a loud and raspy voice.

"Today is the most important day in your life because you are going to witness the weakness in our enemy. Underneath those shells, these useless bugs are soft and fragile, and that is what they are, weak and soft! You boys and gals have learned enough on paper. Today is the day that you dissect your enemy and show them who they really are, with your hands!" Gansus snarled at the students, peremptorily as ever.

As Gansus gestured for the start of the dissecting session, a few students were jaunty, fewer were banal, and the rest were disgusted. Simply looking at the cadavers made one's skin crawl, and the grotesqueness was exacerbated by the stench that made one's stomach churn.

Even though they had appeared to be unaffected by the gross scene, Ma Xiaoru and Hu Yangxuan could not hide the disgust in their eyes.

Gansus quickly noticed the student's reluctance, and he bowled out, "You bunch of miserable fledglings, don't think you can muddle around under my watch, no one will be allowed to leave the classroom until their Zerg has been dissected into eighteen pieces based on my instructions. And on a side note, today's exercise will count towards the monthly test, 99.9% of the total mark in your monthly test will come from your performance today."

That was Gansus's trump card, and it was extremely effectively. He handed over every student a hammer and a knife before he examined the time on his watch, "The best record so far was from the A class, one hour and eight minutes, I will give whoever can beat that record a 100%!"

"100%?" A fire lit up in Wang Tong's eyes; finally, he saw hope.

Gansus glanced indifferently over the roomful of skittish students as he announced, "Start!"

In one corner of the classroom, a male student struck the corpse with the hammer infused with his GN power, the shell of the dead Zerg crumbled as it was soft after days of decay, and the soft and mushy entrails splattered everywhere. Some girl puked instantly as the smell of putrefying death permeated throughout the classroom.

"Hurry now, whoever can't finish everything in three hours will get a 0%! Just an FYI..."

Gansus gave the students a ruthless warning as he had found the students of the battlefield commander faculties were noticeably softer than the previous group of students from the METAL fighter faculty. However, the battle-hardened Gansus knew that on the battlefield a commander needed to be even more indifferent to feelings than a bloodthirsty warrior.

None of the splashes of Zerg's bodily fluids had reached Ma Xiaoru since she had shielded herself inside of her soul power. She clearly had prepared well for this test as she deftly albeit curtly on a few gruesome occasions, separated and removed the Zerg's organs.

Hu Yangxuan had also managed to pry open the Zerg's shell and moved on to cleaning up the entrails, skeletons, and then the hardest parts, tissues, and glands.

Gansus watched the two of them and estimated that it would take at least one hour for the two best students to finish everything.Their speed didn't have a lot to do with their combat strength, it more so was to test their emotional balance when faced with the gruesomeness of a battle, a difficult task especially to the girls, whose senses were easily overwhelmed.

Ma Xioaru's calmness had impressed Gansus, what impressed him further was her fluent usage of her soul power.

As for the rest of the class, Gansus found they still had a long way to go in order to catch up with those in the A, B and C classes. The best record of fifty minutes was set by one teenage boy in the A class from the METAL fighter faculty, who apparently had previous experiences in dissecting Zergs.

"Mr. Gansus, I am done!"

A raucous voice rose among the frustrated mumbles of hesitant students who were still struggling with their first incision; it came from the very end of the classroom.

Thinking someone was making a fuss in his class; Gansus strode toward the voice and was ready to restore order in the classroom.

When he reached Wang Tong's desk he was bewildered to see piles of tissue, bones, and organs set on the table, Gansus looked at his watch: Eight minutes and thirty-five seconds.

Gansus's knee jerk reaction was that Wang Tong had done it in a desultory fashion since it would take himself half an hour to do everything according to the textbook.

Upon closer inspection, Gansus saw eighteen piles of organs neatly arranged according to their shape, function, and texture with such meticulousness and with a unique artisan taste which rendered the grotesque entrails into a morbid but somehow pleasant sight to behold. It was beyond techniques of dissection, it was a masterful art crafted by someone who knew the Zerg's body inside out.

Wang Tong indeed knew the Zergs inside and out after an entire year of butchering the Zergs for food. Sometimes, when he was extremely bored, he would even catch and dissect one Zerg or two just for fun, a morbid habit that had by then turned into a life changing skill.

After he had noticed the suspicious stares from Gansus and other classmates, Wang Tong had realized he had overdone it as he had become too hot headed by the temptation of the 100%.

It would have been wiser if he had slowed down to around fifty minutes, which would guarantee his 100% but was still within a normal person's capability.

Ma Xiaoru and Hu Yangxuan were both shocked at Wang Tong's speed and reckoned that they had underestimated this seemingly no-account, if not loser.

"Good. Good. Good! 100%! Lad, you can take off now," Gansus patted heavily on Wang Tong's back as he praised him in front of everyone.

"You guys should look at this and learn. He should be your model to follow, now try harder!"

Gansus's eyes lit up with glee as he looked forward to his bonus for this record-breaking performance in his class.

Gansus looked at Wang Tong and changed his usual brusque tone and said softly, "Go now, make sure to wash your hands."

Wang Tong made a mental note to never expose his power again as he hurried across the classroom under hundreds of disbelieving stares.

Chapter 29: Investigation

Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Tehrn

As soon as Wang Tong walked out of the classroom, he was immediately troubled by another pressing issue: the Math test. Unlike some subjects that Wang Tong could rely on his memory for, there seemed to be no methods to improve math without having a tutor. But, everyone in F class had been busy with their own studying; Wang Tong figured that there would be no one available to help him. He almost wanted to give up on the subject entirely.

Gansus turned on the CCTV recording. Everyone in the classroom encircled the screen out of curiosity.

To everyone's surprise, Wang Tong didn't use the hammer but his fist to crack the hard shell. He then slid the knife into the crevices forced open by the punch. He finished the whole set of moves in one go, in a perfect control of his power. Gansus watched his moves as he nodded in approval.

Wang Tong peeled off the entire shell and went on to separate the rigid skeletons from the intricate muscle tissues which was the hardest part of the entire dissection procedure. However, the labyrinth of organs didn't slow down Wang Tong as his knife swam inside of the Zerg's body, separating even the most delicate glands.

Gansus knew that every effortless slash required a stunning degree of control of the GN power since the relentless force would only slow things down.

Wang Tong finished separating the entire Zerg's body into eighteen piles in one go without a single error. It had then become apparent that Wang Tong not only possessed robust GN power, but he also knew the anatomy of the Zerg by heart.

Gansus drew a clear conclusion: Wang Tong was an exceptional student with greatly underrated talents.

Everyone in the classroom found it hard to believe what they had just seen on the screen. No one would have expected such power from any F class student, other than Ma Xiaoru and Hu Yangxuan.

"Wang Tong?" some classmates chewed over the name as it sounded unfamiliar to them.

After watching the recording, Gansus drew a few large gulps of the stench-filled air in the classroom and cried out at the top of his lungs: "This is… awesome!"

Judging by Wang Tong's fluid knife technique, Gansus would have never thought Wang Tong was a 16 years old boy. It was every teacher's dream to discover and unlock a student's potentials, and Gansus felt like he had hit the jackpot in that aspect.

A genius with almost freakish talent such as Wang Tong was what Ayrlarng truly needed, and it was a shame that the school had ignored his talent and assigned him to the F class.

Feeling indignant for Wang Tong, he walked out of the classroom towards the principal's office elated beyond eloquent. The rest of the class could wait, as none of the students but Wang Tong were of any interest to him anymore.

Gansus walked into Samantha's office carrying glee with his footsteps. Samantha cracked a smile, "Mr. Gansus, you must have good news for me."

Being caught off guard by Samantha's greeting, Gansus said, "How would you know that I have good news for you?" He looked at the principal as if he was looking at a psychic.

"Well, to you, I am just a babe in the woods; I believe that you wouldn't even care to come and say hi to me unless you have something important to say."

Gansus was impressed by Samantha's observation. Despite Samantha's long if not redundant list of rewards and honorary titles, he had mixed feelings about her. Although Gansus liked her no nonsense and unapologetic attitude, he had doubted the effectiveness of her new rules.

"You are joking with me, principal. I am here to recommend a student to A Class. It is our teacher's fault to assign this genius to the F class."

Gansus had been looking for students like Wang Tong for his entire life. Like a jeweler discovering a flawless diamond, the discovery of Wang Tong had filled Mr. Gansus's shining eyes with joy.

"Ah, Mr. Gansus, were you talking about Hu Yangxuan?" Samantha smiled, finally, her hard work was noticed and appreciated by her arrogant colleagues.

To her surprise, Gansus shook his head and said, "No, he is good material, but he's still within the normal range, nothing exceptional."

"Oh? Not him?" Samantha felt perplexed at Gansus's reply.

She had spent a whole week going through even the most meticulous details of each student's background. Samantha possessed a superhuman memory, a natural gift that the Gods had offered her for her lack of martial arts talents. So it was impossible that she had missed anyone, or that she had forgotten any exceptional students.

Samantha watched as he set up the screen to play the recordings. To her amazement, the brash and direct Gansus didn't let the cat out of the bag like he always did. Samantha had to discover the answer for herself.

She was shocked as soon as the screen lit up with Wang Tong's, the "bad apple", face. When the clip reeled to its end, Samantha was frozen; she couldn't believe her eyes.

Although Samantha was not a METAL fighter, she had registered that something fishy was up in the air.

Gansus said in a pleased tone, "Principal Samantha, don't you think Wang Tong would be qualified to attend the A?"

Samantha straightened her eyeglasses as she pondered for a while. She looked mature and pragmatic.

"Mr. Gansus, thank you for your recommendation. Like you said, this student indeed seems to be a genius. I am confident that he would bring our school many honors and awards, especially under your guidance.

But, as you already know, I have promised to treat every student the same. Even students like Ma Xiaoru and Hu Yangxuan had to remain in the F class until the monthly test. It would be a good thing for Wang Tong to take the monthly test as some hardship is always good for youngsters, don't you think?"

Gansus chewed on her words for a second as he reckoned that this young principal indeed had a few aces up her sleeve. The way she carried herself was impressive.

"Fine, but I am still going to give him a 100% for my test."

Samantha nodded, "Of course, that is your prerogative. Congratulations to you again Mr. Gansus for having discovered such a true genius."

Gansus laughed proudly, his candid but obnoxious laughter echoed throughout the principal's office. Having achieved his goal, Gansus turned around and sauntered back towards his classroom; he still had a class to finish.

The tip of Samantha's fingers drummed a rhythmical beat against the desktop as she watched the tape over and over, in slow motion.

She froze the screen at the frame that captured Wang Tong's eyes, finding it hard to relate what's on the screen to that timid and helpless "bad apple".

By then, the truth seemed to have surfaced into plain view. The real persona of Wang Tong that he had exuded all the while was caught by the recorder and realized on the screen to be a relaxed, confident, and powerful fighter.

Samantha decided to re-investigate Wang Tong's background. She connected the line with the sky-net, "Colonel Kolan, how are you doing, this is Samantha."

"Ahh, my dear lady, what an honor it is to have received your call, I thought you were busy with your principal matters?"

"Come on, my dearest fellow sister, I have a favor to ask of you," Samantha's voice had never sounded so sweet and innocent before.

Chapter 30: Cunning Principal's Plan

Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Tehrn

"Fine, fine, stop buttering me up. What do you want? I will help as long as it won't break any rules."

"I wouldn't dare. I only need a file for a student named Wang Tong, he had a referral letter from the Confederation and used to stay on Norton."

"That shouldn't be a problem. I will flip it to you as soon as possible. Hang in there, sister. It's a sticky situation for both you and the Military. He was a survivor of the Confederation's f*ck up, if the military doesn't appear to be taking care of him, the media will blow things out of proportion." Kolan's career instinct tingled knowing the sensitivity of the issue, and she thought Samantha planned to expel Wang Tong.

She felt wary of Samantha's situation; Wang Tong's presence must have thrown another wrench into the gears for her.

"Understood fellow sister, rest assured."

Wang Tong's documents arrived soon after their conversation ended. Although the documents seemed ordinary at first glance, upon her scrutiny, contradictory evidence surfaced, evidence that had apparently been missed by the useless government workers.

She had discovered a salient fact that all the survivors, except for Wang Tong, were from well defended main bases equipped with vaults; however, the mine cave where Wang Tong had been hidden at was not stocked like a vault with food supplies. This discovery led Samantha to ponder, "How did he manage to survive a year under such desolate conditions?"

The documents mentioned a nutrient transformer, but even a nutrient transformer would require organic raw materials. It went without saying that rocks wouldn't turn into nutrients pills, and the situation would have been exacerbated by the fact that Zergs would have turned the whole planet into their hive. "The fact that Wang Tong had survived without immediate food, and surrounded by Zergs can only mean..." Samantha's focus shifted toward the screen.

Things could not be clearer to Samantha as she watched Wang Tong's nimble moves. All of the evidence had confirmed her suspicion. The riddle was solved.

"Pff... trying to hide your true strength right under my nose, I think you've picked the wrong school, you little fool," Samantha thought to herself. She always believed that it was the teacher's responsibility to draw out a student's true talents, with or without the student's consent.

The dissecting class was truly an awful one, especially for the light-hearted girls. Mr. Gansus always acted just and fair, and never showed any sympathy toward either the puking or fainting students, or both.

Anyone who failed the dissecting test had to keep on trying until he or she passed, although the best score for any second attempts was only 60%. Even so, it was still better than failing it outright as that would mean being demoted into the F class.

Only 80% of the students had passed the anatomy test, but Gansus still felt that he had accomplished something great, that something being the discovery of Wang Tong, a genius that Ayrlarng truly needed at this trying time.

Ma Xiaoru walked into the Principal's office after the dissection class, exhausted. Although her soul power had protected her from the splashing blood and the stench, she found that dissecting an entire Zerg was still hard work.

"Hey, cutie." Samantha smiled at Ma Xiaoru as the latter walked in.

"You have heard about it?"

"Mr. Gansus has told me everything."

"You look happy. He is just a good embalmer for Zerg you know, not that much of a big deal," Ma Xiaoru said.

"That embalmer was one thing, Hu Yangxuan was another notch on our belt. I bet he came here only because of you. Now that's what making me happy."

"Sam!" Ma Xiaoru stomped her feet on the ground, and her face turned red, "that's nonsense!"

"Oh, my little princess, don't be picky now. Hu Yangxuan is not bad looking don't you think? And he plays the piano so well, he ought to be the romantic type, c'mon, he might not be suited for a serious relationship, but he is a stud! Don't you want to enjoy your youth while you are no longer under your old man's constant watch?"

"If you think he is attractive, why don't I hook you up with him?"

"I am the principal, and he is too young, and too... inexperienced for me."

Ma Xiaoru chuckled and poked fun at Samantha: "Since when have you become so scrupulous? The guys you have wrapped around your little finger can queue a line from the capital city to the Moon."

"Fine, fine, so be it. Come sit here; I want to talk to you about the embalmer." Samantha gestured Ma Xiaoru to come closer as she pointed to Wang Tong on the screen, "Wang Tong, a wolf in sheep's clothing."

"Why? He was just familiar with the Zerg's anatomy, wasn't he?"

"Look for yourself." Samantha tossed Wang Tong's documents to Ma Xiaoru.

The single page document encapsulating the history of Wang Tong contained nothing extraordinary, and only a tinge of sadness. He had endured an alcoholic adoptive father who used him merely as a bargaining chip with the welfare department. Then one year ago, he sold Wang Tong for some quick cash to the Confederation's Norton task force. Upon Wang Tong's return, he quickly became homeless as his sordid "father" had left the city and sold the house.

Ma Xiaoru returned the piece of paper to Samantha as she watched her ruthless sister with a scowl for bullying such a hapless classmate.

"Hey, hey miss, don't waste your sympathy on trivial matters, pay attention to what's important." Samantha knocked on the table as she spoke, hoping to rein in her sister's flood of sympathy.

"Sam, his life has been difficult enough, let's stop giving him grief."

"Gods! They say girls who cultivated the Tactics of the Enchantress are the most steadfast and pragmatic, and you have definitely proved them wrong."

Ma Xiaoru seemed embarrassed, "I just feel that we should not be the bully."

"Bully? Did you say bully? I wonder who will be the bully in a real fight between you two." Samantha's words struck Ma Xiaoru's heart.

"It's... impossible."

"Have you ever felt the presence of his power? The feeling of an imminent threat that you've always felt whenever there's another strong force nearby?"

"No... not with him." Ma Xiaoru shook her head. Although she sat side by side with Wang Tong, she had never sensed a tinge of Wang Tong's power.

"There you have it. Among all the tactics, yours are the sharpest in sensing even the faintest trace of energies. If you've failed to notice his presence, don't you think that speaks to his ability? Look at his eyes."

Samantha fast-forwarded the video to a zoomed-in shot of Wang Tong's face. Deep within that pool of darkness, a powerful undercurrent seemed to swirl with confidence and audacity.

"I can assure you that it was not low self-esteem behind the sheepish façade, he simply didn't care to show off!" Samantha announced as she slammed her palm on the desk, she spared Ma Xiaoru a glance and said, "Perhaps, he thought that you were a rookie as well."

"It doesn't add up. If what you said is true, why would he suddenly reveal himself?" Ma Xiaoru said as she shook her head.

Samantha ignored her protest; Ma Xiaoru was too young and too naïve after all. She felt it was ironic considering the fact that the stereotypical enchantress was cunning and devious.

"Of course it does, that was because he really needed the marks, so when Gansus announced that he could get 100%, he accidentally showed his true power," Samantha clenched her fist and waved it excitedly as she spoke as if she wanted to strike Wang Tong's head.

Samantha's explanation reminded Ma Xiaoru of the incident this morning when Wang Tong had easily given up his seat, she told Samantha, finally agreeing to her suspicion.

"Interesting, he even resisted the temptation of having you sitting right beside him, don't you want to win him back?" Samantha winked at Ma Xiaoru.

"Very well, I do want to see if he indeed is hiding anything."

"Great, I have a perfect opportunity for you coming up, we shall find out by then. Count Ayrlarng and I lucky if he really is a genius, otherwise, we will just let him muddle around until graduation."

Chapter 31: Poor Man's Repair

Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Tehrn

"Sam, you want me to seduce him?"

"Oh, come on. Don't tell me that you are not interested in him. I am only giving you a free excuse, if it doesn't work out, just do it for fun, isn't that why you escaped your old man to come to me? Don't you worry; I will cover everything for you… ah… you sneaky little fish, that's what you wanted me to say isn't it?"

Ma Xiaoru showed her tongue as she grinned at Samantha, revealing the naughty side of her. "Well, thank you sister, but how are we gonna seduce him?"

"Come closer, let me tell you."

Upon learning Samantha's plan, Ma Xiaoru was convinced that Wang Tong was about to walk right into Samantha's trap.

Wang Tong stopped by a domestic robotic mechanical repair shop after school. The girl working there gave him a warm smile as she watched him walk into the store.

"Sir, what would you like? We have any kind of intelligent robots you can imagine."

"Actually, I am just looking to repair my robot."

"Ah-why of course, what kind of robot is it?"

"Type C, it's an older model, I only have the main frame, would you be able to bring him back?" Wang Tong said as he took Charcoal's main frame out of his space crystal.

The girl's face turned awkward. "I'm very sorry sir, but the manufacturer has already discontinued this model. It wouldn't be impossible if you weren't asking to replace the whole body. The parts are very difficult to come by you know. It will be cheaper if you consider any of the newer models."

"How much would it be to restore him, including the parts?"

"You have to understand sir, that it's quite an arduous job to go through our inventory for very specific parts, especially for dated models like yours.

I estimate that it would be roughly over two hundred thousand credits, labor and parts included. You might as well just buy a new model. Our entry level, the E series starts at twenty grand, if you would like to add more sophisticated features, the price might vary quite a bit."

Regardless of if it was twenty grand or two hundred grand, to Wang Tong, they were both astronomical figures.

Failing to find any solution, Wang Tong had to give up. He walked out as he sighed at the ridiculous cost of reviving a robot, very much similar to reviving a human.

It seemed that Charcoal might have to remain in his mainframe for a while.

Wang Tong took the City Express home. He looked out of the windows as the flying vehicles whirled by him like many flies. He thought about his future, his life and decided that he would have to start to save more money, as soon as the monthly test was over.

Instead of going straight home, he stopped at a few stores close to school to see if they were hiring any part-time employees. It wouldn't be hard to find a part-time job, but the tricky part was to find one that could fit into his school schedule.

By the time he got home after a few hours of fruitless search for a part time job, it was already night. The light in his house was lit. "Could it be a thief?" Wang Tong thought. "I don't have anything, why would the thief want to steal from me?"

Wang Tong was shocked as he walked into the house and saw the person inside, it was Ma Xiaoru.

Ma Xiaoru stood up as she watched Wang Tong walk in. "One hour and five minutes, I never would have thought that waiting could be so annoying. Sorry for the intrusion, I had the caretaker open the door for me since it wasn't very comfortable waiting outside."

"That's fine, please sit. What's up Ma Xiaoru?" Wang Tong asked.

"Call me Xiaoru, the principal told me to come tutor you; she's worried that she hasn't given you a fair chance," Ma Xiaoru said with a cunning expression in her eyes.

"There's only four days left..." Wang Tong felt speechless as the help came so conveniently late.

"Wang Tong, you didn't come out as someone that gave up that easily," Ma Xiaoru spoke as if she was alluding something.

"This is…too much to ask," Wang Tong hesitated.

"It's nothing. Hey, be a man, don't be so sheepish."

Wang Tong shrugged his shoulders and said, "I'm fine with it, but it would be a lot of work for you as I do have a pile of questions."

"We will help each other; I might have some questions for you after we are done."

Wang Tong could smell something fishy in the air. They said that there was never a free tutor.

Wang Tong listed all the questions he could not solve and showed them to Ma Xiaoru, doubting that she would be able to answer every single one of them. But to Wang Tong's surprise, Ma Xiaoru did just that. Having been equipped with a private tutor in every single subject, Ma Xiaoru had learned every subject by heart. She didn't feel that any of Wang Tong's questions were even remotely challenging.

Years of neglect of studying had led Wang Tong to accumulate a lot of questions, and Wang Tong had feared that the sheer amount of questions would have quickly scared Ma Xiaoru away. But to his surprise, Ma Xiaoru explained every question patiently without showing any sign of being annoyed. Thanks to Wang Tong's EMF, it was then easier for Wang Tong to pick up the new knowledge once everything was explained by Ma Xiaoru.

When Ma Xiaoru finally finished explaining the last question, two hours had already passed. Wang Tong marveled at the how quickly time flew when it was spent with a hotty.

Ma Xiaoru took a deep breath and smiled, "Is there anything else? I don't think you are slow at studying at all."

"I never said I was slow, do you think I'm stupid?"

"No, but you wanted others to think so, right?"

Without answering Ma Xiaoru, Wang Tong poured a cup of water for her and sat on the opposite end of the table, "What do you want to know from me?"

Ma Xiaoru was shocked by the question, "From you?"

"Haha, yea, the principal wouldn't want you to come help me for no reason, feel free to ask me anything you want."

Ma Xiaoru didn't seem embarrassed about having Wang Tong see through her ruse. "We both watched the recording of your performance at the anatomy class, and we were both intrigued about how you did that."

Ma Xiaoru said it candidly, feeling that there was no point in hiding anything since their ruse had been seen through.

"Ah, that was nothing. Anyone can do it under extreme circumstances. You see, while I was on Norton, I had to face Zergs corpses every day, and I had to keep the nutrient transformer running as well, so I..." Wang Tong suddenly stopped, fearing that the details might gross out Ma Xiaoru.

"You did that all by yourself!?" Ma Xiaoru exclaimed from the bottom of her heart. "If it had been me, I wouldn't have been able to survive a single day. What about your tactics, it seemed very powerful. You don't have to answer me right now, but I believe that the principal was also very interested in your ability. I think it would be very favorable for you to clear things up with her, should you want to remain in Ayrlarng."

Ma Xiaoru's words made Wang Tong feel comfortable about sharing his secrets. And he knew it would only be a matter of time before the cat came out of the bag anyways.

Chapter 32: Beauty Pay the Bill

Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Tehrn

"Tactics of the Blade?" Ma Xiaoru asked in disbelief.

She had practiced the Tactics of the Blade as well before she used the Tactics of the Enchantress. It was a very ordinary, but popular tactics due to its slow but safe progression. Most tier one METAL fighters in the military practiced it as they did not have a chance to receive training in more advanced tactics

However, judging by Wang Tong's moves and the weight they carried, Ma Xiaoru found it hard to believe that these seemingly ordinary tactics were what Wang Tong had used.

Having sensed her doubt, Wang Tong finished a round of the eight node version of the Tactics of the Blade to prove his point.

What Ma Xiaoru saw shocked her as she had never thought anyone would be able to draw so much power out of the most common tactics. She would like to try it out herself, but since she had already been practicing the Tactics of the Enchantress, she could no longer practice the Tactics of the Blade.

"I was surprised as well. It all started with me being chased by a Zerg. Perhaps it was a result of fear, but my soul power increased a little which helped to improve the strength of the Tactics of the Blade."

"It was indeed amazing, how fast is your soul energy increasing now? If it's at a fast pace, you should not learn any other tactics; otherwise, it would make you very susceptible to becoming deranged."

"Hehe, yea, I've hesitated about it as well. Perhaps not now, anyways, thank you for the reminder." Wang Tong nodded and felt relieved that even Ma Xiaoru didn't suspect that he knew anything stronger than the eight node version of the tactics. He would not reveal the sixteen node version so easily unless it was a moment of life and death.

"Are we friends now?" Ma Xiaoru asked.

"Hmm… perhaps?" feeling like he had just made a deal with Ma Xiaoru, Wang Tong hesitated, unsure of Ma Xiaoru's intention.

"Are you still paranoid about me? Although it was Samantha who sent me, don't you think that you would have met someone else if I had refused to come?" Ma Xiaoru asked as her bright wide eyes stared at Wang Tong.

Her questions embarrassed Wang Tong. He did feel Ma Xiaoru's feelings towards him, and he was also eager to respond, but should his feelings have deceived him, it might leave her with the impression that Wang Tong was obsessed with her.

"Um..." Wang Tong still hesitated.

"Am I not worthy of being your friend?" Ma Xiaoru pushed him further.

Wang Tong gave up his struggle as he let out a smile, "Fine, we're friends now."

"Perfect, why don't you take your seat back tomorrow? I don't want Hu Yangxuan to disturb me. Would you be able to do that for me?"

"That shouldn't be a problem. I didn't want to be the showstopper while you two caught up, but since you didn't want to talk to him, I will just take my seat back then."

Ma Xiaoru watched Wang Tong in silence; she could sense his confidence. Clearly, Hu Yangxuan did not pose any threat to him.

"Urgh... I'm so hungry." Ma Xiaoru blinked a pair of innocent looking eyes at Wang Tong.

Wang Tong had quickly registered the cue. She had given him a precious opportunity to ask her out for dinner, but Wang Tong faltered.

He remembered that he still needed to save money for another friend, Charcoal, who was more important than Ma Xiaoru.

Ma Xiaoru was stunned, as it was the first time in her life that anyone had ever hesitated when given an opportunity to butter her up. "He is so... frugal," Ma Xiaoru thought.

Ma Xiaoru's conscience returned after she remembered Wang Tong's hapless financial situation. "To celebrate our friendship, I will help pay the bill, do I have the honor of your accompany?"

Wang Tong nodded, anything was okay as long as he wouldn't have to pay. His priority right now was not to impress Ma Xiaoru but to save enough money to bring Charcoal back to life, even if it meant being cheap in front of a girl.

To Wang Tong's surprise, Ma Xiaoru didn't go after the expensive, luxurious restaurants which cost thousands per meal, an astronomical cost to Wang Tong but ordinary to Ma Xiaoru. Instead, she led Wang Tong to the cheap street food vendors outside of the school. After they were done eating, they spent under fifty credits, which Wang Tong gladly paid.

Watching the smile on Ma Xiaoru's while she enjoyed her snack gave Wang Tong more pleasure even than the surprisingly low cost. Wang Tong had even forgotten about the unbridgeable divide between them. Instead, he felt a bond forming between them, pulling them closer to each other by the degree.

On the boulevard outside of Ayrlarng Academy, two young hearts felt the inescapable gravity of each other, as they helplessly tumbled and spiraled into a sweet collide.

Wang Tong had trouble sleeping that night, as his mind was all over what had happened a few hours before. An image kept re-emerging: a cascade of dark silky tendrils flowing from Ma Xiaoru's head to her shoulders.

On the following morning, the F class entrance was jam packed with not only the boys here for Ma Xiaoru but also throngs of girls coming to see Hu Yangxuan, who had set up a grand piano at the front of the classroom.

It went without saying that he did this for Ma Xiaoru, in order to win her heart.

The other boys of the F class sat in agony as they took Hu Yangxuan's action as an assault. But most of them felt helpless since they knew they wouldn't be able to stop him. He indeed had the talent and showing off was his prerogative.

However, much to Hu Yangxuan's dismay, Ma Xiaoru walked into the classroom without paying any attention to him which made the rest of the boys lit up with joy. Even though his target didn't care for his performance, Hu Yangxuan still had to finish the music.

Wang Tong walked in a while later chewing a mouthful of stale bread when a bento box appeared in front of him. "You need proper nutrition every day, stop eating that garbage."

Ma Xiaoru smiled at him; Wang Tong prayed that he would be greeted with this charming smile every morning.

"I appreciate—"

"Save it."

"Haha, I feel like the happiest person in the world, with your bento, and listening to Hu Yangxuan's music, things can't get any better."

Ma Xiaoru couldn't hold in her laughter either, "Don't make fun of other people."

"I learned from the best."

"How dare you make fun of me, haven't you heard that girls are the most vengeful? Aren't you afraid that I'll mix some poison into your bento next time?"

Chapter 33: Lost at the Starting Line

Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Tehrn

"As long as you made it, I'd eat it even if it was poisonous," Wang Tong patted his chest as he spoke.

"I will hold you to it," Ma Xiaoru spoke with a sweet voice and followed the rest of their classmates into the classroom.

Wang Tong noticed that Ma Xiaoru had braided her hair into a ponytail, his favorite style, it looked even prettier on her than on any other girl.

Hu Yangxuan finally walked into the classroom after he had completed his piano performance. He was surprised to see that Wang Tong had taken his seat back.

"Wang Tong, you said..."

"Ahh, excuse me Hu Yangxuan, I didn't realize that the classroom regulations forbade exchanging seats at will."

"That's right; we should all strictly follow the rules of the classroom."

"That's right."

Wang Tong wasn't surprised at the fact that Hu Yangxuan seemed to be even less popular than him, after all, he must appear to be much less of a threat.

Hu Yangxuan acted mature and replied calmly, "That's fine, and congratulations on your excellent performance yesterday. I wish I could have an opportunity to spar with you for a round or two."

Wang Tong did not answer him as if he didn't hear what Hu Yangxuan had just said. All the other boys were surprised as they didn't expect Wang Tong to change from soup to nuts in one day.

Hu Yangxuan didn't lose his composure, as he knew that it would only be a short stay at the F class for him. Soon he would attend the A Class with Ma Xiaoru, and he would have endless opportunities. In addition, he could use his continuing support of Ayrlarng as a bargaining chip to win some favor from the principal for his cause.

Hu Yangxuan had always been patient with his prey.

Ma Xiaoru made a circle with the tip of her thumb and her index finger, signaling to Wang Tong a job well done.

Ma Xiaoru had rejected Hu Yangxuan once before, but Hu Yangxuan had been persistent in his efforts. The way he saw it, he would have the rights of pursuing her as long as she did not have a boyfriend.

Although being persistent, Hu Yangxuan never came off as pushy. From his presence at Ayrlarng to his morning piano performance, he had done it without giving Ma Xiaoru too much pressure.

"Why are people so different?" Ma Xiaoru asked herself, "One agitated like a blaze while the other is as cold as ice."

Although it had been a painful few weeks of waiting, the monthly test had finally arrived. The test was about as destructive as Samantha's beauty, and after one day of testing, Wang Tong felt a bit dizzy. Clearly, the teachers of Ayrlarng were trying to send a message through the test.

Although Wang Tong had found the questions on the test hard, neither Ma Xiaoru nor Hu Yangxuan felt the same, and neither did any of the students from the A class.

The next test was METAL combat, time to take off the gloves. Regardless of which faculty one graduated from, as a soldier, it was only a matter of time before one stood face to face with a Zerg. Therefore a METAL combat test was necessary for every student.

Despite the fact that METAL combat was more important to a METAL fighter, it did not mean that the students of the commander faculties were weak. Ma Xiaoru, for example, was living proof of a powerful METAL fighter in the commander faculty.

The subject of the exam sounded easier said than done; it was called "Needle threading".

Fortunately for everyone, the examiner didn't take the test title too literally. Instead of threading a needle, the students would be threading a copper hoop that was three inches in diameter.

Everyone was surprised at the unconventional testing method. Every student had five minutes to complete the test, during which time the student needed to engage a cotton thread with their soul power and guide the thread through the loop.

The distance to pass the test was six meters away from the hoop, but with every other meter, the student would gain ten more points.

This was not a simple test of brute strength, but rather a test of students' control and manipulation of their power. Should one use too much strength, the fragile wire would simply disintegrate.

Although strange and unconventional, this test method could be applied to students in all years since it only tested the student's skills.

To the students, it was a rather refreshing method of testing, and it had quickly piqued their interest. Through trial runs, students had figured that the easiest way to complete the test would be to first, infuse the thread with soul energy and allow it to become stiff, then one could throw the thread towards the hoop like throwing a dart. However, the soul energy had to remain steady and strong; otherwise, the thread could go astray very easily.

Most students felt comfortable with six meters, although there were a few that lacked patience and had given up on the test after a couple of trials.

With the helpful suggestions and advice from the ones that had failed, the ones following them had learned about the key factor to passing the test: the soul energy had to be steady.

However, as they pushed their distance even one meter further, they found their precision decreased dramatically.

Five minutes seemed very long, but it felt like a fleeting moment while the students were engrossed in the test.

There were hails and more sighs rising and falling inside the classroom, as everyone seemed to be enjoying watching the test like a show, in which one brief second would define one's success or failure.

Suddenly a loud hail erupted as Hu Yangxuan, the new trouble maker, had completed the test with a distance of twelve meters. It was the best record across the entire four years of students. This had also upset the boys in the F class as they had realized the gaps with their competitor were not only in looks but also in skills.

Soon it was Ma Xiaoru's turn. Hu Yangxuan couldn't help but draw all of his attention to her. After all, it would be exciting to watch Ma Xiaoru's performance with the help of the Tactics of the Enchantress.

Even the instructor of METAL combat was interested as he was curious about the power of one of the five deadliest tactics.

Ma Xiaoru stood at the starting line calmly as purple-colored soul energy flashed around her. In contrast to what everyone else had done, Ma Xiaoru carefully channeled her soul energy into the thread forcing the thread to slowly but surely glide toward its target.

The classroom suddenly quieted, fearing they would disturb Ma Xiaoru, an unnecessary consideration for such a powerful fighter as Ma Xiaoru. But it sure had helped her to concentrate on what she was doing. The instructor nodded approvingly as the thread passed through one after another copper loops.

The instructor was very impressed, as he figured that Ma Xiaoru's ability to control her power was even beyond his own. He doubted that he could move the thread using his soul power this far without throwing it like a dart.

Finally, Ma Xiaoru took a gentle breath as the thread drifted away and fell to the ground. Fifteen meters was her final score.

The class immediately erupted with applause, Ma Xiaoru bowed, polite as ever.

All the while, Wang Tong had been calculating his odds of passing the monthly exam. Despite his slow math, he figured that he might have failed every other subject except for the dissecting class. So much for Ma Xiaoru's tutoring efforts. He conceded that he had to do exceptionally well on this test to even have a chance of passing the monthly exam.

Chapter 34: Sixteen Meters

Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Tehrn

Seeing that everyone had devoted their attention to Ma Xiaoru, Wang Tong seized the opportunity, he moved toward the instructor and asked, "Can I start now?"

"Oh, yeah of course."

Wang Tong felt the thread in between his thumb and index finger as he weighed his options and the risks: his options were limited, and he knew that he had to risk everyone's attention to pass the monthly test.

The lead of the thread wafted out of Wang Tong's hand as he wrenched his arm forward. It was the same move used by all the other students. The instructor lay the tip of his marker down on the "Fail" checkbox, waiting for the thread to lose its momentum quickly. It did not. Instead, it glided swiftly and steadily toward the target, just like Ma Xiaoru's thread.

Seven. Eight. Nine. The thread drifted across the classroom, unfaltering.

More students joined the instructor's gaze at the drifting thread. Their mouths opened wide in disbelief as the thread glided passed the twelve-meter line.

Thirteen meters.

Some students held their breath as they watched Wang Tong's performance. One of the students was gesturing to his classmate, who was still watching Ma Xiaoru, to get him to watch Wang Tong. The other classmate replied brusquely, "Why did you poke me?" before he turned his head over his shoulder. His jaw dropped as soon as he looked in the direction his friend had been pointing.

Fifteen meters!

Wang Tong had made it to the same distance as Ma Xiaoru.

The thread didn't show any sign of slowing down until it reached the sixteen-meter line.

"Bravo!" the instructor yelled at the top of his lungs after the thread landed softly on the ground. His face was red from excitement.

Wang Tong's heart dropped when the instructor's yelling attracted the attention of the entire classroom. He quickly moved his soul energy, forcing perspiration to seep out of his skin to decorate the exhausted mask he was fumbling to put on.

Some observant student yelled out, "Sixteen meters, he reached sixteen meters!"

The crowd sizzled with disbelief. "Sixteen meters? That's impossible!"

"WANG TONG, SIXTEEN METERS!"

The instructor announced as loud as he could. He was eager to share this record breaking result with everyone in the classroom.

"No, please, stop yelling!" Wang Tong shouted in his mind.

"Mr. Lester, are you sure?" the chief examiner asked.

"Why, do you doubt me? Everyone has seen it."

A dozen students nodded their heads. One of them confirmed, "Yea, his thread drifted through all the loops, just like Ma Xiaoru's did."

Ma Xiaoru was looking at Wang Tong suspiciously. Being an expert butcher was one thing, but this test was an entirely different story. Maneuvering the thread with soul energy seemed simple, but it required an extraordinary degree of control over one's power, an ability that was beyond an ordinary human's capability.

Ma Xiaoru had excelled the test because of the Tactics of the Enchantress and her superior genes. "How did Wang Tong manage to do even better than me?" Ma Xiaoru thought curiously, narrowing her eyelids as she stared at Wang Tong.

Wang Tong wiped his glistening forehead, looking exhausted. "Teacher, I feel dizzy, can I please take a rest?"

"Yea, of course, feel free to do so. You have finished the test anyways," Mr. Lester said kindly as he watched Wang Tong's limp figure. He was pleased that Wang Tong was willing to go above and beyond to achieve the best score.

Wang Tong lumbered toward a seat and lolled down. He exaggerated a raspy breath, trying to make his facade more convincing. He figured that he should be able to pass the monthly test after securing this 100%.

Wang Tong hadn't wanted to reveal his power again, but the circumstances had given him no other options. If he had been confident about the test results of other subjects, he would not need to risk another unnecessary exposure. It would be a shame to be expelled from the school simply because he didn't try as hard as he could in subjects that he knew he would be good at.

"This is for you," a fragrant, clean handkerchief appeared in front of Wang Tong, "aren't you tired of acting?"

Wang Tong let out an ugly grin, he knew there was no need to hide anything from Ma Xiaoru anymore, she would have already known more than he thought she had. "Life is a stage, and we are all actors, but please forgive me, Xiaoru."

"Whatever. I'm only happy to see that you haven't lost your mind yet. Don't take your role too far. We will have much to talk about after all is done." Ma Xiaoru rolled her eyes at Wang Tong as she turned away and set off.

Seeing the handkerchief that was still clenched in Wang Tong's hand, many boys, especially Hu Yangxuan tasted sour jealousy in their mouth. He had never even considered Wang Tong as a competitor in his love affair, but this no-account seemed to have already gotten Ma Xiaoru's attention from right under his nose.

Smelling the fragrance of the handkerchief, Wang Tong felt that the strenuous effort of forcing out the sweat was well worth it. His youth was kind to him to leave him such an unforgettable moment.

Wang Tong was called to the principal's office after the test. The continuous surprises required Samantha's immediate attention.

Wang Tong opened that familiar door that led to the principal's office. For the first time, he paid attention to the details of her office. It was furnished with the most lavish and comfortable furniture and decorated with the most intricate decorations.

He figured that the virtual game must be extremely profitable. "Being rich must be awesome," Wang Tong marveled.

Samantha seemed to have been waiting for Wang Tong as she sat in her chair behind a clean desk.

"Principal, you were looking for me?"

"Yea, grab a seat. I have learned that you have broken another record of the school? Congratulations!"

"Oh… I was just... lucky," Wang Tong tried to look as innocent as he could.

"Ah... why of course. Your luck was truly exceptional. Even your misfortunes on Norton must have been a blessing in disguise.

Anyhow, I have something else here that I need to discuss with you. You see, it is the school's custom to partake in the annual METAL tournaments with other schools. We used to compete with S-Class schools, but right now, we were only able to compete with A-Class schools since we started to experience many difficulties.

What had made the matter worse is the fact that even our current competitor, the A-Class Academy called Bernau has looked down their nose at us. They think that we are not worthy to be their opponent," Samantha said with a painful expression on her face.

Wang Tong felt that something about this conversation seemed to be going against the grain. There was no need to discuss such an important issue with an F-Class student.

He decided to tread carefully. "I get it, principal, and I will work and study harder from now on."

"Fresh blood like you are the future of Ayrlarng; I can't count on any of the senior students. Although Bernau was an A-Class Academy, they are well known for their METAL fighters, I am afraid that we will lose to them again in this year's tournament, and that they will eventually get fed up with our performance and pull the plug. It would be a catastrophe to Ayrlarng should that ever happen."

Wang Tong nodded absently.

"This year, in preparation for the fight, I have personally recruited Ma Xiaoru and Hu Yangxuan, but I still felt like we were missing something, perhaps, a secret weapon that we could hide under our sleeve. Wang Tong, would you be interested in filling that role?"

"Me?" Wang Tong's mouth was wide open, his finger pointing at his nose.

"That's right. I can tell that you have great potential as a METAL fighter and have decided to help you to make the best out of your potential. Are you interested?" Samantha cracked a smile. She had extended the olive branch to Wang Tong. Should Wang Tong agree to join the team, he would be exempt from being expelled.

Samantha was well aware that one cannot govern without the balancing scruples and feelings. She was willing to tip the scale slightly when subtlety was called for.

Wang Tong weighed his options for a while, and shook his head, "I am sorry, principal, I don't think I want to do that. I want to just focus on building a solid foundation in my first year. I must learn to walk before I can run."

Samantha was speechless; her body was frozen in disbelief. No one had ever refused one of her offers.

Chapter 35: Repair Charcoal

Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Tehrn

"Are you sure?" Samantha's stern eyes lit up.

Wang Tong did not waiver, and he acted as if he didn't notice her interrogating stare. "Principal, they say only diamond cuts diamond. At my current state, I am not sure how much use I can be. But once I have learned more, I will strive to earn more honors for our school; you have my words!"

Seeing that Wang Tong was unwavering, Samantha relented, "You are right, let's leave it for now, maybe we can discuss it later."

"Sounds good. Is there anything else?"

Samantha shook her head as she watched Wang Tong set off. The youngest principal in the entire Confederation had tasted defeat for the first time.

"You are dead, Wang Tong," Samantha thought to herself bitterly.

Without looking, Wang Tong could feel Samantha's chilling stare landed on the back of his neck. His hair stood on ends. He wouldn't have to confront Samantha if she hadn't have tried to force him into the limelight again.

The tournament was a waste of time for rich princes and princesses: flaunt and unpractical. Wang Tong's focus was on the Tactics of the Blade and TPA. The latter was not only a great place for sparring, but it also allowed Wang Tong to do so anonymously.

The monthly test was over, and Wang Tong had left the results to fate. He figured that it was about time to start reviving Charcoal. The astronomical price tag had pretty much ruled out the major department stores and outlets, leaving Wang Tong to try his luck at dingy shops that scattered about in the darkest corners of the city.

Wang Tong had frequented these shops ever since he was little, usually being led by the sleazy Old Fart. Despite the occasional skirmish with the law, these squalid shops had always strived to satisfy the needs of their customers.

As Wang Tong searched every corner of the city, he stumbled upon a grocery store that he had frequented with Old Fart years ago. Disguised as an ordinary grocery store, the owner's supply was far more diverse than a grocery store should be.

The owner was an old man, older even than Old Fart. He wore a pair of ancient and heavy far-sighted glasses on his face like wearing a badge that honored his old, albeit stubborn, ways.

"Little Tong Tong, long time no see!" The old man smiled, revealing a row of crooked yellow teeth. Some teeth were missing, leaving only a dark hole gaping toward Wang Tong.

"Old Bonehead, do you think you can fix this for me?"

Old Bonehead studied Charcoal's mainframe for a moment and replied, "The C model, it was discontinued a while ago, it's a bugger to fix you know."

Feeling that he was about to arrive at another dead end, Wang Tong quickly digressed, "It doesn't have to be the same replica, as long as it works."

"If that's the case, I can give it a try. I have a lower tier cleaning robot that's just lying around collecting dust; I can use it for parts."

Old Bonehead was referring to an ancient floor-cleaning machine that was three feet tall. It lacked the joints that Charcoal had and therefore would be even clumsier than the C models.

"A robot even clumsier than Charcoal..." the thought made Wang Tong cringed. But considering that this might be Charcoal's only chance of being revived, Wang Tong had to compromise. "How much?" he asked.

"You have been my loyal customer, so I am just going to be honest. The parts are not expensive, but the labor is. Say I will give you 20 percent off that will be thirteen thousand, omitting the extra three grand for the sake of a smooth transaction, and I will throw another twenty percent off on top of that, the final price would be eight grand. Just the labor would cost that much; you are practically getting the parts for free."

Wang Tong shook his head and extended only two fingers.

Old Bonehead was flustered after being low-balled by Wang Tong. "No way!" he yelled out and extended all five fingers at Wang Tong.

Seeing that Old Bonehead had quickly slashed three grand off the original offer, Wang Tong was confident to haggle even further. He shook his head and said, "Twenty-eight hundred; a discount for my kindred.[1] That's all I have; you know how poor I am, I really can't afford anymore."

"Fine you little brat, taking advantage of me as soon as you come back from Norton, aren't you? Anyhow, so be it, I don't want others to scold me for not helping a "kindred". The assembly will take an hour, are you waiting here or would you like to pick it up tomorrow?"

"I will wait."

"Okay. You are lucky that the mainframe was unharmed. Otherwise, you would never be able to bring him back."

The Old Bonehead led Wang Tong inside. The shop was small and squalid, and heaps of junks were scattered everywhere. Old Bonehead cleared a path toward one side of the wall. As he placed his palm on an impression on the wall, a bright light flashed, and the wall was lifted up by some kind of contraption, revealing a whole different world inside.

The Old Bonehead was quickly engrossed in his work. He tampered with various nuts and bolts enthusiastically with great attention to detail, all the while, he seemed to have transformed from a half dead shrunken husk to an energetic and lively youth.

Wang Tong registered that Old Bonehead had used the eight-node version of the Tactics of the Blade while conducting the repair. Although Old Bonehead's soul energy was meager, he had maintained delicate control over it.

Although Wang Tong could not follow the repairing procedure, he enjoyed watching Old Bonehead's fluid movements, perfected by countless hours of practice.

One hour had passed, and Old Bonehead had finally finished his work. "Haha, Fini!"

"Kerh… Kerh… Booo"

The light on Charcoal's new face lit up for a brief second before it dimmed.

"Urghh! Why? Impossible!" Old Bonehead growled as he rechecked the circuits. Everything was normal, but Charcoal had refused to be turned on.

"The mainframe must be pooped, he is useless now, only the manufacturers could deal with a fried mainframe, but I doubt that they would waste any time on a C model. You might as well throw him away now."

"No! You must return the mainframe to me, be careful while you do it!" Wang Tong bowled out.

"It's just a piece of junk; the youngsters of today's world are ridiculous," Old Bonehead mumbled to himself as he unscrewed the mainframe from the body.

Wang Tong was desperate as he carefully packed the mainframe back into his crystal, all the while, he kept on reminding himself not to give up, as long as he had the mainframe, he would continue looking for a way to bring Charcoal back.

Although the monthly test was over, Wang Tong didn't feel like his mood was any lighter. A living and lovely Charcoal had been at his fingertips, but it had then slipped away in a snap.

Just like Wang Tong, Miao Xiu had been in a bad mood lately as well. Every day, he would log on to the TPA but never participated in any fights as if he was waiting for someone. Only Luv Ma knew his intentions and who he was waiting for. Einherjar Wannabe had disappeared after defeating Miao Xiu, and Miao Xiu was hungry for revenge.

Carrying a chip on his shoulder, Miao Xiu had since bullied many other classmates to let off some steam. So much anger to vent for the most despicable deed was done to him: Disappearing after one victory and therefore refused him a chance for revenge.

He pocketed his hands as he walked towards the school gym.

"Yo, isn't it Miao Xiu? Why that stupid look on your face? Can't handle the fact that your ass got beaten at TPA?" A group of second-year students taunted him. They had despised this pompous first-year student for undermining the senior student's authority and constantly stirring up scuffles.

"F*ck off!" Miao Xiu greeted them back with a curse.

The senior students quickly encircled him, emboldened by their advantage in number. "What did you say?"

Miao Xiu shook his head. "I said, 'You dumb*sses are D.E.A.D.!'"

Notes:

In the raw, it was "twenty-eight hundred, let's get rich together", and it rhymed. We decided to change the later half a little to keep the rhyme.

Chapter 36: Patroclus

Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Tehrn

Miao Xiu cracked his knuckles as threats tumbled out from between his teeth, "Would you like to be a cripple or a vegetable?"

They knew that Miao Xiu's student profile was already filled with previous records of violent conduct, one more serious offense, and he might be expelled from school. Leveraging on that, the five second-year students ignored the fear that tickled at the back of their mind and closed in on Miao Xiu.

Many classmates had been anticipating a fight as soon as Miao Xiu walked in. The promise of confrontation riled them up, and they quickly formed a circle around the five students, waiting for a show to start.

"Hold! All of you!" a deep and raspy voice echoed inside of the gym. The second-year students disengaged from Miao Xiu as soon as they turned toward the speaker and there stood Gadus, the number one fighter of all second-year students.

"Would you dare to spar with me instead?" Gadus asked Miao Xiu.

Miao Xiu's gut turned at the question, he was aware of Gadus's strength. But if Miao Xiu had felt threatened, he did not wear it on his face.

"I would love to, and I have always admired your Tactics of the Star Shift."

Tactics of the Star Shift was an advanced tactic that was meant for the elite students. No one in the second-year would be able to yield more power from it than Gades.

Another voice rose out of the speculators: "Why the fuss? Senseless fighting would only hurt our morale. If you two want to spar, you can perhaps arrange it at another time?" There were very few students in the entire school who would dare to interrupt Miao Xiu and Gadus, even fewer among the first-year students.

Annoyed by the interruption, Miao Xiu turned his head towards the source of the voice, ready to utter a curse. But as soon as he saw the speaker, he choked back his anger, and the curse slurred into a barely audible grunt.

Gadus cracked a smile. "Patroclus, what brings you here?"

"What a strange question. I am one of the students of our academy, am I not?"

"Pfft… you two catch up." Miao Xiu dodged an exchange of glances with Patroclus and scurried off. He knew the fight was over.

Patroclus was the No. 1 fighter among the first-year students, and perhaps among all the students of Starry Sky Academy. He bore a prestigious family name that had been passed down by heroic ancestors.

Patroclus Dower, the direct descendant of Rilangalos Dower, was indisputably the brightest star of the Starry Sky. When the news of his entrance to Starry Sky was first made public, the principal of the Light Ray Academy, a rival of Starry Sky, had turned green with envy.

"It seems that Miao Xiu has learned to fear your strength the hard way; look at how quickly he runs away." Gadus smiled broadly, seeing Miao Xiu fleeing quietly had made him feel good.

"You have overestimated me. Miao Xiu is a tougher nut to crack than you think."

"Yea, yea, if you say so. Anyhow, would you be interested in joining me in the gym? Perhaps you would be even so kind as to point out where I should improve my technique?" Although Gadus was the number one fighter among second-year students, he didn't dare to be uncouth with Patroclus, whose power needed no further proof other than the fact that a pompous trouble-maker such as Miao Xiu had shriveled in his presence.

A smile appeared on Patroclus's elegant, if not slightly feminine, face. "That's very nice of you to invite me, fellow brother, but I need to go to the library to retrieve some documents, perhaps next time."

Gadus shrugged and let the matter rest. Like most exceptionally talented students, Patroclus was better to be left alone when he wished to be so.

Many great houses of the Moon had crumbled under the constant political turmoil, but not the Dowers. They had since risen to become the dominant power on the Moon. They guarded the Tactics of the Deva King, one of the most powerful tactics, created by General Rilangalos Dower, and also one of the most difficult to master. Even if the Dower family had failed to protect its content, the tactics itself had a built-in fail-safe in the form of its nearly impossible xinfa [1].

It can be cultivated only by one who was perfect both physically and psychologically, such as Rilangalos himself. Any infinitesimal flaw in either department would render the practitioner into a deranged state.

Even though the Dowers had gained the reputation as the House of the Perfect Humans, the risk of cultivating the Tactics of the Deva King had caused each generation to approach their ancestral secret with extreme caution. For two consecutive generations, the Dowers had failed to produce a successor who was worthy of the tactics... until now.

Despite the expectation of two entire generations of house members weighing on his shoulders, Patroclus never let it slow him down and had always been a happy-go-lucky kind of guy.

"Let's roll; we are no match for him."

"Gadus, are you for serious?"

"No kidding, Gadus, he doesn't even look that strong."

Gadus flashed a sly smile on his face and said, "Don't mistake ignorance for bliss. No one knows how strong he is, and I don't even have the slightest interest in finding out," Gandus's words spoke loudly to the strength of Patroclus that was hidden behind that meek appearance.

Wang Tong didn't wake up until noon on the weekend. It was a perfect time for him to recharge after losing many nights of sleep to the monthly test. Although the preparation for the test had been arduous, he felt happy that it was finally over. He checked the sky-net anticipating a message and sighed after finding that there were none. He drew a few large gulps of fresh morning air and started to get ready for the day.

In addition to studying, practicing the tactics remained a major component of Wang Tong's day. Mr. Wannabe had reminded him of the importance of improving his physical strength in addition to the EMF strength, for it would greatly complement his fighting style. And as far as TPA match goes, losing a match because of lacking physical strength would be even more humiliating than losing because of EMF.

After cleaning himself up, Wang Tong picked up some cheap fast food at the school's cafeteria, which might not satisfy as a normal meal for ones born with a silver spoon in their mouth, but to Wang Tong, it had always been a tantalizing feast.

"My lady, the weather looks good, why don't you go out and seize the day?"

"I still have homework to finish."

Ma Xiaoru wore a white sweatshirt and lolled on the sofa in her private mansion that hovered above the city of Shangjin. She glanced at the sky-net from time to time, anticipating a message.

"Idiot, why wouldn't you take the initiative and ask me out on the weekend?"

Far below Ma Xiaoru's mansion, in a squalid corner of the city, Wang Tong entered his favorite VR café, the DREAM-HEAVEN. As he turned on terminal number five, he was astonished to see the large number of participants online.

It was the day the IPA and TPA players mingled together. The day that had a special meaning for both leagues. The IPA players, equipped with METAL suits that were useless in real-life but overpowered in the PA system, had an unfair advantage over TPA players. While the TPA players were eager to observe a great variety of tier six or higher METAL suits wore by the IPA players.

However, should the TPA players decide to experience the power of the IPA METAL suits at first hand, they might have to pay dearly. A few TPA players had tried, but their catastrophic defeats had deterred other TPA players. Therefore, it was rare to see a fight between the two different leagues. After all, none of the players wanted to embarrass themselves by losing to fanboys.

TL note: Soul energy and human emotions are intrinsically bonded. Many fighters take advantage of the bond by manipulating their mood to facilitate the progress of their cultivation. This method is referred to as "xinfa" - the way of the heart.