Tempest of the Battlefield

"Let’s begin with Intel Programming Battle. Capth’s ace will be King, a first grader. He was recruited by Capth for his excellent and extraordinary skills in this category. Zhang Kui, Zhang Yan and Rumi, pay attention. I’m about to show you a footage of one of his recent battles in Capth."

The Zhang Brothers were familiar with the name "King". As Samantha played the video footage, they saw a decent and rather thin young male with a pale complexion. However, his eyes were menacing.

In that video, King fully demonstrated his insane algorithm and also his spectacular cogitation. So, it was obviously a landslide victory. However, the most unbelievable thing about the match was the fact that King was actually up against four opponents at the same time. Not to mention the fact that those four were not amateurs, but the Intel Programming Battle pros of Capth, and they were strong. Yet, the four of them were beaten like crab-cakes even though four brains were working on the algorithm, while on the other hand, King seemed very relaxed and confident throughout the whole match.

Most people only knew that King was strong because he was able to defeat four opponents at the same time, since they wouldn’t pay too much attention to the technical stuff. However, the faces of both Zhang Brothers immediately turned pale after witnessing that insane footage.

"Next, Heavy Arm Brawl. They’re sending out Jia Gang." Samantha then waved her hand and swiped to the next footage about Heavy Arm Brawl.

Basically, students majoring in Heavy Arm were larger in terms of body size. GN Force wasn’t really that important in this category, but one had to have a bold physique and awesome stamina for the operation. Students needed to be strong because the operation would bring immense physical stress to one’s muscles and bones, which was the reason why there were almost no Kaedeians in Heavy Arm Classes, since most of their bodies were thinner and smaller.

Scarlet and Tita were huge, but Jia Gang was larger than them. It was almost like the body of a bodybuilder, muscular and tough; after watching the footage of how Jia Gang fought, both Scarlet and Tita went completely silent.

Samantha didn’t say anything and carried on, "Capth will be sending out their No.1 among the first graders for Battlecraft Combat, the candidate known by the ID: Kal. He was crowned rookie of the year and later recruited by Capth after winning the first place in Battlecraft Combat. Aside from Kal, they would also be sending out Flash and Bisu for this competition."

Kal was a newcomer, so there was not much info about him, but Flash and Bisu were no strangers to most people, as they were known as the geniuses of Battlecraft Combat throughout Earth Confederation. It seemed like Capth was trying to break a butterfly with wheels.

No doubt they were planning for an overkill.

There were a lot of video clips regarding Flash and Bisu’s Battlecraft Combat matches. Most of them were quite educational; Samantha selected two of the recent ones and played for the whole team. Everyone was immediately startled by what they saw.

Flash’s performance was perfect. His terrifying perspective and all-rounded control were completely out of this world. Turning his opponent into a chess piece in a game of chess, yet he was the chess player instead, whoever was up against him would be swirled into a whirlpool of despair for sure.

Bisu, on the other hand, was known for his top-of-the-world controlling maneuvers. But unlike Wang Tong, Bisu was good in every other aspect besides that. It was like he had turned Battlecraft Combat into a video game with his controlling maneuver. He was practically undefeatable even if his opponent had four arms.

"Mr. Karl, where are you going?"

"I need some fresh air..."

"Me too..."

"Sorry, I need to use the restroom."

Obviously, everyone was kind of depressed by the information regarding those monstrous elites. Nevertheless, Samantha had expected them to react like that. Everyone left except students in charge of METAL Combat, and the info Samantha was about to feed them would also be sort of hard to swallowed.

"METAL Combat had always been the main event of the whole competition. Winning this category is equal to winning the whole competition, which is why Capth would be sending their best candidates for sure. Aside from the top three fighters of their first graders, they are also sending out the descendent of the House of Li, Li Ruo-Er, and last, but not the least, Wang Ben."

Samantha didn’t show any footage of Li Ruo-Er and Wang Ben, because it would be pointless since both of them were well-known for their capabilities. Instead, she showed them the video clips about Wally, Capth’s No.1 fighter among first graders, who was extremely skilled in sword fights. He specialized in confusing and defeating his opponents with his dazzling stabs and slashes. There was technically no way to defend against his perfect sword-strikes. Wally’s fighting style was rather elegant and magnificent, unlike Wang Ben’s straightforward and clear-cut attacking methods.

As for Li Ruo-Er, no doubt everyone would be expecting a duel between Tactics of the Enchantress. Not to mention anything else, Li Ruo-Er and Ma Xiaoru were equal in terms of strength and ability.

Nevertheless, based on the current situation, Ayrlarng and Bernabeu’s best hope of winning Capth would lie in METAL Combat for sure.

Wang Tong was amazed by the top three fighter’s strength and their skills in battles, but somehow those three were still manageable. However the descendent of the House of Li was definitely the biggest challenge of all.

He had always been hoping to see the real power of Tactics of the Enchantress. Even though he had fought Ma Xiaoru before, yet that wasn’t a true battle, and she didn’t get the chance of showing him the absolute dominating strength of Tactics of the Enchantress, which made it one of the Five Greatest Tactics. That previous fight was like a friendly match between acquaintances.

Wang Tong seemed to be kind of excited after learning about the descendent of the House of Li. He had been wishing to test out his original Tactics of the Blade against Li Ruo-Er’s magnificent Tactics of the Enchantress. He was curious if Tactics of the Blade would be able to withstand the great amount of pressure from her Tactics of the Enchantress. It was normal for those who practiced Tactics of the Blade to develop this kind of curiosity.

As the saying went, "Cream always rises to the top". Every talented person seemed to love challenges, and sometimes, it wasn’t driven by fame, but because of the huge enjoyment from the process of challenging itself.

"Good, you guys are still with me!" Samantha was relieved. If they were to ask for fresh air, Ayrlarng and Bernabeu’s fate would be doomed for sure.

"Ma’am, can I have a copy of the data? I’d like to do some research, and perhaps I could find some useful information for everyone." Cao Yi asked while scratching his head.

"No problem. However, make sure doing that doesn’t affect your training."

"Yes, Ma’am."

"Alright, that’s all for now. Remember, learn from your enemies to know yourself better. Be prepared for what you’re about to face… Dismiss."

Ma Xiaoru intercepted Wang Tong as he was about to leave along with Hu Yangxuan and the rest, "Wang Tong, I need your help."

"Oh, Sure." Wang Tong nodded.

The two of them walked alongside as they talked, "So, you were saying that Li Ruo-Er was actually targeting you?"

"Haha, it’s complicated and kind of personal. Anyways, I knew I’d be facing her someday… You don’t have to look so grim, it’s not that serious. She is just hoping to settle the score with me."

"Since both of you are practicing Tactics of the Enchantress, there might be a huge chance of hurting yourselves. Are you feeling confident?"

"Not quite, since she practiced earlier than me. Descendents of the House of Li are known to be talented, and judging from what I saw, her practice in the tactics has reached a certain level, probably even higher than mine. But, I’m not planning to lose!"

"So, do tell what I can offer to help!" Wang Tong patted his chest and said. Now that the thing between him and Samantha had gone back on track, he could finally act more normal around Ma Xiaoru, and started to treat her more like a friend.

"Obviously Li Ruo-Er knows more than I do regarding Tactics of the Enchantress, which puts me in a bad position. So, I was hoping if you could be my sparring partner." Ma Xiaoru said.

"I see, so you are planning to use Li Ruo-Er’s confidence of winning for your own good, huh?" Wang Tong nodded. Generally speaking, Ma Xiaoru was standing in a disadvantageous position.

"I’ll tell you about the details later."

"Why wait? Let’s begin today after training. Judging from the situation, it might take us some time to find the perfect solution. So, I think the earlier we start, the better." Wang Tong replied excitedly.

"That’s perfect!" Ma Xiaoru seemed touched. Usually, she didn’t like competing with others. However, she did have her own reason for defeating Li Ruo-Er.

Most of the time, Ma Xiaoru would have the advantages when she was up against most of her opponents, not to mention she had not even utilized the ultimate moves of her Tactics of the Enchantress before. However, those advantages would turn into disadvantages if she were to fight against Li Ruo,-Er given by the fact that Ma Xiaoru’s practice progress and battle experiences were slightly lower than her opponent. But most importantly, Ma Xiaoru knew lesser intel than Li Ruo-Er.

Recently, Wang Tong was performing badly in his Battlecraft Combat training. He was defeated from time to time, because he was only allowed to use one hand in a single match, which made it impossible for Wang Tong to use his controlling maneuver. However, he really was able to learn something new during his multiple defeats, Wang Tong noticed he had begun to pay more attention to his timing and also his perspective on the overall situation, due to the fact that he was restricted from giving in to his usual habits. Nevertheless, it required the perfect touch to aim for the perfect timing. It didn’t matter much if he was extremely good in his maneuvers, but if he was put in a handicapped situation, every second mattered.

It seemed to remind Wang Tong of his early days in Norton, when he would be extremely cautious with his movements. He began to feel the essence of battle as he paid more attention to it, not to mention FlyWing was giving him advice from time to time. It took him quite some time to see results, but a little failure didn’t matter as long as there was an improvement.

Finally, Wang Tong had finished his maneuvers and analysis training. He was sorting out the information he learned today as he walked out the classroom, and noticed Ma Xiaoru was already waiting in the hallway.

"Master Wang, what brings her here?" Zhou Sisi asked.

"I’m helping her to think of a plan to counter Tactics of the Enchantress. By the way, you seemed to have remarkable improvements lately. I guess soon it’ll be my turn to call you Master Zhou." Wang Tong joked.

"Aw, shaddup. Don’t even try to divert the conversation. Well, enjoy your time with the pretty lady… and be careful." Zhou Sisi seemed kind of jealous.

"Don’t worry, although Tactics of the Enchantress is strong, I’m not that easy to be defeated."

"I mean, be careful not to get eaten by the pretty lady, you idiot!"

Zhou Sisi’s relationship with Ma Xiaoru was a little awkward. They didn’t hate each other, but they also were not very fond of each other. However, Wang Tong was unaware of the awkwardness as he shook his head. But even if he knew, he still would have no idea how to handle the girls.

Anyhow, Wang Tong was blessed with the luck of a fool in this kind of a situation according to Hu Yangxuan, yet mister expert said he wasn’t as blessed as Wang Tong if he were to be placed in similar situations.

Wang Tong immediately knew Ma Xiaoru was planning to head to the Sky Mansion when he saw her maglev vehicle, clearly because the academy was not the perfect venue for their own fight.

"You can drive?" Wang Tong asked. He had never tried driving before, or to be exact, his financial status didn’t allow him to develop expensive hobbies. Nevertheless, he was born and raised in a city filled with metro and other public transports. Hence, there was no point of him getting one of those maglev vehicles.

"Yeah, but I barely drive since it has the autopilot function." Ma Xiaoru laughed and replied. Somehow, she looked prettier than usual today. She had let her hair down, and was seen wearing a simple white dress that set off her gorgeous figure. There was also a faint scent of orchid… Somehow, Ma Xiaoru’s Tactics of the Enchantress started to look different, and even Ma Xiaoru herself felt weird about such changes. But her training days at the House of Li had ended a long time ago, and for some reason, she had no intentions to head back and ask for the explanation.

"Let’s go."

"You wanna give it a try?"

"Nah, I’m too broke to break one of your belongings."

Wang Tong wasn’t quite familiar with the brand of the vehicle, yet, judging from the expressions of other people, it was definitely one of those super expensive ones. Nevertheless, Wang Tong was sure that the House of Ma was rich enough to own a few of these.