Chapter 23 – Their First Meeting
Milami held up her black-rimmed spectacles and took a quick glance at Ma Dong, but didn’t say anything.
Only after she left the area did Ma Dong take in a deep breath of fresh air. The look on his face was akin to that of seeing a ghost, too afraid to even speak.
On the way back, Ma Dong still commented on how envious he was of Wang Zhong. He spoke about stuff like how Wang Zhong’s luck was finally turning around after a year of suffering. He had earned the praise of Teacher Grace and the favor of Scarlet; this all seemed too much like a dream.
The key problem, however, lied with how much of a blockhead Wang Zhong is. With such a carefree free attitude, he had only chased the little pest Emily. Being a veteran in the matters of relationships, Ma Dong felt the need to give some advice to his fellow brother.
“Wang Zhong, this weekend will be the most important weekend of your life. Scarlet sending you an invitation shows that she has a thing for you; this is an opportunity you definitely must grasp. Therefore, you need an undefeatable divine weapon!” Ma Dong said.
Wang Zhong gawked and replied, “Divine weapon?”
As he laughed loudly, Ma Dong proceeded to fish out outfit after outfit. This was so unbearable for Wang Zhong to watch that he felt an irresistible urge to punch and beat up him.
Laughing bitterly, Wang Zhong said, “Please stop talking about this. There isn’t anything going on between Scarlet and I.”
“Fuck, you stupid block of wood. You actually have such an old-fashioned way of thinking! All feelings originate from a single spark. This isn’t something that can be suppressed. This is the opportunity of a lifetime!” Ma Dong then added, “During such an opportune moment, men must showcase their masculine appeal. To not do so would just mean you are a coward! I’m telling you this because you’re my buddy, or else I would have been too lazy to bother!”
Ma Dong started to brandish his fists against an illusionary foe, as if the one with this opportunity was him.
“What I mean is that Scarlet isn’t my type of girl. It’s possible that I’m not her type of guy as well. In my opinion, this is just an ordinary invitation, a simple meeting to discuss our thoughts and opinions of combat techniques.” Wang Zhong laughed as he spoke.
Hearing that, Ma Dong clutched his head and replied, “No! This can’t be happening. Argh, my head hurts. You really are a stupid pig! Scarlet is the most beautiful, gentle, and exemplary girl in our academy and you dare to say that you don’t like her. Don’t tell me…”
Ma Dong’s face suddenly looked like a frightened little rabbit. Seeing that, Wang Zhong wanted to kick as he sighed in his heart. Sometimes, this guy’s mouth should be sewn shut to prevent him from spouting such ridiculous nonsense.
Wang Zhong didn’t continue to look at Ma Dong. Instead, he was immersed in his own happiness. Grace’s lesson had given him a lot of inspiration. The vision and experience of a veteran Heroic Soul Soldier was extremely valuable.
Although battle control techniques were very important, they were harder to practice and master than normal techniques. Furthermore, most manipulation techniques originated from special abilities. Although battle control techniques could be manifested through the exquisite control of soul power, it further increased the difficulty. Yet after Grace’s explanation in class, Wang Zhong felt some hope and confidence in one day succeeding.
“Hey, hey. Where are you going?”
“Training; go have fun by yourself,” Wang Zhong said as he waved his hands.
Feeling helpless, Ma Dong shook his head and thought, What kind of friends are they, just leaving the president to do all the dirty work.
☀
The gravity room was undoubtedly the best place to do physical training, and it was also the one place in the academy that was quite unpopulated. Most students preferred to train their combat techniques as the utilisation of soul power was the most critical element of a soldier.
In the case of physical training, most students felt that minimal body strengthening was adequate. Through the utilisation of soul power, the body would gradually become stronger. Coupled with the pain and repetitiveness associated with physical training, few students would actually use this room, and even if they were to use it they would only use the first few levels at the most.
As a matter of fact, the process of physical training couldn’t be forced. The greatest benefit of the gravity room was training the body, so it wasn’t an aspect the academy focused on.
Yet, this didn’t apply for Wang Zhong. Ever since his freshman year, he had treated the gravity room as his playground. He loved the isolation found in the room, and the benefit of being able to clear his mind and thoughts due to the pressure of high gravity.
The earlier one awoke their soul power, the higher their corresponding talent would be. This would also result in the development of a strong body. During his adolescent years when he had just met Simba, Wang Zhong had already awoken his soul power. Ignoring the fact that he couldn’t utilize his soul power due to it being sealed, the early awakening had allowed his soul power to strengthen his body. Due to him enduring through an indescribable amount of pain over the years, this has led Wang Zhong to put a lot of emphasis on the body’s physical training.
All of the freshmen in the previous year had been training under 2 times gravity, and were now training under 4 and 5 times.
Wang Zhong had loved the feeling he received when he attempted to break past his limit. It was the sensation of having not the least bit of strength left as well as some lightheadedness. Afterward, the sensation of being filled with strength after one’s soul power was restored, as well as when the soul power showed signs of increasing slightly that was purely addictive.
It was only due to the fact that the primordial chaos seal and the fate stone were in balance and had mutually restricted one another that Wang Zhong was able to survive. The chance of such a thing happening was extremely small. Although he was like a small weed between two brewing storms, he was extremely unyielding, squeezing out power bit by bit over time.
For the previous year, he had managed to accumulate and increase his soul power by approximately 10 or so. Others might have thought it insignificant as it wouldn’t make a single difference during combat, but Wang Zhong was extremely pleased by his progress.
The valiant sacrifice of Simba had enabled his soul power to reach 50, finally allowing him to reach the prerequisite for unleashing lethal combat techniques.
Simba realised that if Wang Zhong reached a bottleneck with his own methods, then he would miss the critical age and period for the cultivation of soul power. As such, Simba had intervened and managed to get Wang Zhong pass the bottleneck, albeit at an extremely high cost. This did, however, serve to motivate Wang Zhong every time he saw the palm-sized Fate Trickster that Simba had turned into.
Within the 1 times and 2 times level gravity rooms, other than a few random people doing some foundation training, there were quite a few freshmen from the soldier department present. Freshmen were required by the academy’s curriculum to use foundation physical training to increase their toughness and bolster the strength of their bodies. If not for the requirement of first rate academies, the virtually empty gravity levels would have already been demolished.
At the 5 times level, Wang Zhong completed a set of basic exercises. These exercises had been taught by the academy and included the soldier’s onrush bayonet moves, as well as an archer’s and ranged soldier’s maneuvers. Wang Zhong was quite interested in abilities, but the only way to possess an ability was to be born with one. It wasn’t something that could be sensed or taught by any academy.
A good example would be if there was a long-ranged soldier that possessed the ability of freezing, and used it in unison with their attacks. The combination would produce a stagnation effect. This would then be classified as a form of control, which would then bring about great auxiliary benefits to any team.
This was the natural advantage ability soldiers possessed over other soldiers, and the main reason why Emily was extremely sought after within the academy. Practically all the famous soldiers that shook the world were Heroic Soul Soldiers that were also ability users.
Since he was the only person around, Wang Zhong took off his sweat-drenched shirt and laid on the ground, enjoying the gravity pressure that still pressed down on him. His soul power radiated from him without any form of control, forming a natural barrier against the higher gravity. This was a process which made him feel extremely comfortable.
After the changes made by Simba, Wang Zhong’s growth rate after training had increased drastically. During the past couple of days, his soul power had risen to 55. Due to the fact that the few days after breaking the bottleneck were extremely beneficial as it increased the sensitivity of the soul, Wang Zhong wasn’t willing to let it go to waste. Thus, he reaped quite the reward.
If he were able to replenish the lost energy within the Fate Roulette, then he would no doubt use it to restore Simba to its original appearance!
All of a sudden, the doors of the high gravity level opened, causing a shudder to run through Wang Zhong as he thought, Who would come to this level?
A senior? That wasn’t possible; all third and fourth years greatly valued their practice time and no one would be focusing their precious time on doing something less important like physical training. They would instead focus on training their soul power.
Yet, in the instant when the eyes of the two met, they both stood still, dazed.