Chapter 198 – All-rounded Star
Clang!
The rune sword fell out from his hands and dropped onto the floor. However, Cecil neither moved to pick it up, nor gave it a single glance.
For a swordsman, losing his confidence over something as simple as a loss meant that he did not deserve to wield a sword.
Since he had issued the provocation, he would bear the repercussions of defeat.
Wang Zhong was at one side of the hall, dissecting each detail of the match that had just ensued in order to learn from experience. At times, he drank a bit of alcohol while carrying out his analysis. This is the real way to relax and liberate himself. This kind of fights is very enjoyable indeed.
In contrast, the person beside him had a gaze that held a passion so ardent that it was like the sun. Throughout this ordeal, Scarlet felt that she had drunk too much and everything that had just happened felt way too surreal. Perhaps, everything that had happened was just a dream. A very beautiful dream.
Wang Zhong could not help but to turn and take a look at Scarlet. Before him, Scarlet was still with her tiny mouth slightly agape in surprise, unable to close up for quite a while. Her beautiful eyes were like saucers as she tried to take what had transpired.
Wang Zhong thought that her acting this way was quite funny. Extending his hand and waving it in front of her eyes, Wang Zhong asked, “Scarlet? Scarlet?”
“Eh?” responded Scarlet after quite some time when she had regained her clarity.
He had actually won! His opponent was Cecil! His opponent was THE Cecil! Wang Zhong had won against such an opponent! And he used a sword! A sword! Oh my god!
“The fight has ended. Now, let us take our leave,” said Wang Zhong with a smile. “ I don’t wish to spend the entire night here.”
“Spend the night together, j-just the two of us? ” stuttered Scarlet back. She finally came back to reality as her face turning red. After clearing her throat, she replied, “Okay, captain Wang Zhong. You’re truly something. To think that you have managed to keep such a trump, even from me. I’ve always thought that you were just an archer. None of us knew that you were that proficient with a sword as well. Should you practice using a couple more weapons, you might even chase up to All Mouthy King!”
With a smile, Wang Zhong nodded his head before replying, “I’ll let you on a secret. I’m actually All Mouthy King!”
Scarlet gaped at Wang Zhong for an instant before bursting out in laughter. “Here am I thinking that you would rather to keep a low profile all the time,” replied Scarlet in between giggles. “It turns out that our esteemed captain has a tendency to show off as well. Seeing that your performance today was splendid, I’ll treat you as All Mouthy King. Brother King, I’m your fan. Would you have supper with me?”
With a shrug, Wang Zhong replied, “ How could I reject the invitation of such a beautiful lady.” His comment caused both of them to burst into another bout of laughter. Such a beautiful night this was. Now, Scarlet was filled with even greater hope and anticipation for the future of the Tianjing squad.
☀
Scarlet was clearly not the only one who held hope for the future. The dawn of the next day was met with much enthusiasm from the students of Tianjing. The entire atmosphere of the academy underwent a complete upheaval.
In the past, Tianjing Academy was famed as the military logistics academy. The tinkling and clanging noises from the research departments that focused on understanding and developing runes and technology were able to overwhelm the sounds of battle coming from the training grounds. As such, not much hope had been placed on the future of the academy. The only thing the academy could do was to wait to die.
However, that was in the past. Now, almost every student had a fervent expression on their faces and a fire burning in their soul. Everyone now exuded youthfulness, and regardless of what they were doing, they did it with vigor. And though it was still early in the morning, the academy grounds was already alive with students.
“Looks like our academy will put up a great show in the CHF this year. Do you think we may make it big like that time Teacher Grace bravely rushed into the quarter finals?”
“That possible! When Copperfield was matched against Adolf last year, Copperfield only emerged as the winner only after the arduous group battle. In comparison, how long did our Tianjing squad take? Three minutes? Moreover, we didn’t even lose a single person!”
“For those squads who were in the top tiers, the group battles are the most crucial element! With such a strong group battle formation as ours, we’ll destroy Copperfield!”
“It’ll still be extremely hard to equal Teacher Grace’s record of rushing into the quarter finals. I’ve heard that there will be quite a number of great aristocratic families that always kept to themselves participating in this year’s CHF. This would mean that many of the hidden young experts in the Federation will be participating. The competition will be much more intense in comparison to last time. Even a squad that entered the quarterfinals like Copperfield might not be able to make it into the top sixteen.”
‘We have Grai! Not only him, but also Barran and Scarlet! The strongest soldier, heavy soldier AND dual gunner! It doesn’t matter if we engaged in far- or near-ranged combat, we have such an invincible lineup! It doesn’t matter who our opponent is! There’s nothing to be afraid of!”
“Speaking of which, who do you think is stronger in a duel, Grai or Barran?”
“It should be Grai, right? I’ve got a feeling that he has not displayed his full strength yesterday. Barran is indeed very strong. But his capabilities shines in group battles. Therefore, he shouldn’t stand much of a chance in a duel against Grai.”
“I was scared shitless by Barran yesterday. Never did I expect that he was that formidable. Didn’t his soul sea suffered such severe injuries that it was on the verge of collapsing? Looks like all of those rumors were nothing but fabrications afterall!”
“That’s also a possibility. To disguise one’s true strength to gain the upper hand! To think that I wasted so much of my energy worrying about the match yesterday.”
“While we are on this point, Scarlet strength was truly awe-inspiring. Although she lost her match, her performance in the group battle was simply remarkable. Furthermore, the person she had lost to was Cecil. He was the one to have fought against our squad one vs five during the final part of the group battle.”
“One against five…being forced into such a situation is not something to be admired. I knew it! You cheeky bastard…you saying this on purpose!”
“If anyone goes to Adolf and tell them that, they will definitely go crazy!”
The academy grounds was littered with pockets of conversations here and there, the topic of contention being anything under the sun. The lively atmosphere was a testament to the hopes and dreams the excited students held for the upcoming CHF. This sight was a far contrast to the one a week ago.
Without a doubt, Barran and Grai had become the most popular celebrity amongst the students, and were heralded as the heroes of the academy. Regardless of their performance in the solo matches or the group battle, both of them had managed to pull true and reversed their losing situation into a victory. Just like in any other athletic competition, the audience would always focus their attention on superstars who were worth millions of dollars, going crazy for any inconceivable and unfathomable attacks pulled off by them. In a similar sense, the coach, the one who was constantly keeping tabs of any on-goings and changing tactics to counter their opponents, would often go unnoticed. And yet, the coach is the most critical element in attaining the victory.
The actions of a single person would always be drowned out when compared to a squad. However, the actions of a superstar would never be missed. This had been the same since ancient times.
Today, Scarlet had worn a beautiful white pleated skirt. She went with the intention of having a meal earlier than usual in the academy dining hall. After dilly dallying for half an hour, she “unexpectedly” met Wang Zhong, before leaving together with him for a meal.
“ Looks like nobody remembers the hard work of our esteemed captain.”
“Oh really?” replied Wang Zhong. He was feeling exceptionally well rested and refreshed today. “Looks like we’ll have to print large words on the back of our uniforms saying “ Our esteemed captain is the outstanding one”.”
Scarlet burst into laughter when she saw the look on Wang Zhong’s face. “As long as you wear it, I’ll make sure to make it exceptionally eye grabbing. Even making it 4 dimensional wouldn’t be a problem!”
“Wang Zhong? Scarlet?” Hymin’s voice rang out from behind them, before walking over with a newspaper in her hands.
“Senior sister Hymin actually has a habit of reading the papers?”
“I typically would not bother about nostalgic things like this. The Skylink is clearly more convenient, and news need not be spread in such a formal fashion like newspapers. However, this newspaper is different.” replied Hymin in an extremely satisfied manner.
“What paper?” asked Scarlet as she tilted her head in curiosity.
“Take a look for yourself!”exclaimed Hymin. Unable to keep it in any longer, Hymin burst out in laughter as she flipped the paper open for the two. The front page was taken up by an enormous picture depicting the instant when Barran had sent Rosenberger flying during the solo match yesterday. Pictures like this was something that was truly worth keeping. Even so, the main channels of communication was still through the Skylink.
Although Barran wasn’t exactly handsome in the picture, the picture has completely captured his manliness in full with his imposing mannerism and posture. His eyebrows scrunched up in focus as his mouth was wide open in a furious roar clearly illustrated his aggressiveness during the match. At the top of the picture, an eye-catching headline Added to this as an eye grabbing headline that filled half of the front page, saying “Tianjing Academy triumphs over Adolf Academy, the best result in ten years of exchange competitions!”