Chapter 33 – Theories on the Importance of Pacing
Of course, to increase the students’ level of interest in the curriculum, most of the teachers would bring up some classic battle techniques and conduct an explanation and discussion. After obtaining their attention, they would proceed with conducting fundamental training. In their second year, the amount of fundamental training required was reduced. The students themselves would tread upon their individual paths toward strengthening their battle techniques.
A soldier’s lunge and heavy stab, a ranged soldier’s triple burst shot and recoil control, plus some of the basic movements, steps, pacing, and so on. These were the progressive steps after fundamentals.
“Brother Wang Zhong, over here!” Emily shouted aloud and waved the moment she moment she saw Wang Zhong in the distance. Beside her, Ma Dong curled his lips as he thought, I’m really an unnecessary older cousin.
As Emily was specially recruited, she was given the freedom to openly choose her curriculum from any grade.
Giving up his seat, Ma Dong said, “Little boy, your face is glowing. Did something good happen? Don’t tell me that Scarlet and you…”
Wang Zhong shook his head and said, “Stop making fun of me. Why is it so noisy around here? What’s everyone discussing about?”
Ma Dong glanced at Wang Zhong, an incredulous expression on his face. “Little boy, did you get knocked out by her beauty? Don’t you know about All-Mouthy King?”
Hearing that, Wang Zhong gawked. Since the key to replenishing the fate roulette’s energy lay with battles inside the OP system, he’d always kept a low profile about it. How did it suddenly turn into a topic?
At this moment, the class quieted down as the teacher, Mr. Boca, entered the room. At 60-years-old, Mr. Boca was a soldier who had already cast his heroic soul. He’d sustained an injury during battle, however, and along with his declining age, he had returned to his alma mater to teach. With his solemn and amiable character, he was well received at the academy.
“It looks like everyone’s very excited. Is the reason because of the footage involving All-Mouthy King?” Mr. Boca spoke and laughed, garnering a unified reply.
Seeing such a spirited response, Wang Zhong felt relieved. Up till now, no one knew about his ID yet. The amount of fame attached to his name, as well as this fervent attention, wouldn’t help him at this time.
“Where did you guys see the footage from?” Wang Zhong asked with a lowered voice.
“Brother Wang Zhong, that footage was ranked tenth on the Federation Academy lists. What do you expect would happen when a combat footage from the cannon fodder division appears in the top ten?” replied Emily. Although the knot in her heart due to the loss had already been untied, it was still embarrassing. Now that Anlor had lost to All-Mouthy King in such a pitiful way, however, it had revealed that her own loss wasn’t due to a lack of strength. It was truly that he was too strong. Maybe he really was the smurf account of a certain expert.
Federation Academy networks were a collaborative system that included—within the entirety of the Federation—the Major Academies, academies from the hundred cities, and lower ranked academies. For a battle in OP to be able to break into the top ten rankings, it had the minimal requirement of being at the heroic soul division and above. Rarely would a heroic division suffice, unless it were an absolutely extraordinary battle. Yet, this was the first time that a battle from the cannon fodder division broke into the top ten. This would naturally attract the attention of numerous students.
As such, the subject of All-Mouthy King became a widespread phenomenon and a topic of debate. From what Wang Zhong saw, at least fifty people in a hundred were discussing All-Mouthy King’s PK.
Really, people are quite afraid of a famed pig suddenly becoming strong, thought Wang Zhong as he touched his nose.
Raising his hand, Mr. Boca indicated for the class to quiet down. “Since everyone is quite interested about this, and there are numerous versions of the posted analysis flying around, let us start today’s class with this topic.”
Mr. Boca opened the projected video of the battle through his skylink. Although many of the students had already seen it, every time they rewatched the battle, a stronger feeling of shock came over them.
“Alright then. After seeing this, everyone, please speak your thoughts,” said Mr. Boca as he laughed.
“All-Mouthy King is definitely a smurf. Using such techniques to suppress Anlor twice, it’s insane!”
“Managing to win using minimal effort, has sharp judgement and hawk-eye vision, this battle sure to make one’s blood boil…”
Everyone was extremely eager to share their thoughts and opinions. None of the already numerous points of views on the post were repeated as everyone had their own thoughts and viewpoints.
Mr. Boca didn’t comment and just glanced around the classroom. When he spotted Emily, he gave a slight smile and said, “Emily, you have fought a battle with All-Mouthy King. Please, share with us your thoughts.”
Everyone turned their heads to look at Emily. She was the successor to the Assassin clan and had a high profile upon enrolling into the academy, then lost prolifically against the then-unknown All-Mouthy King. This had led to many talking bad behind her back. Luckily, Emily had a free-spirited and carefree nature. If it were any other person, they wouldn’t have been able to hold it in. Looking back on this, however, Emily had no such problem.
“He possesses abnormal judgement skills and has nerves of steel,” she replied. Emily didn’t have anything to comment on about the topic of his techniques.
Mr. Boca nodded his head. Although Emily was a freshman, her perception was far superior when compared with her peers. This allowed her to list the critical points.
“What student Emily said was extremely right, but I was not going to talk about this point, nor about the Arc shot, nor the double flying combat axes, nor about the cumulative attacks that broke past the defenses. What I am about to speak about is his combat pacing and footwork.”
Mr. Boca added, “No matter if it is close or ranged combat, one’s pacing and step is very important. Good pacing allows one to attack and defend, allows one to control the battlefield faster and restrict one’s opponent.”
He began to explain a different point of view and highlight all of the movements made by All-Mouthy King and Anlor during the battle. For both of them, before launching an attack, their feet would display a sort of prediction of their future actions.
“Regardless of whether you are all able to cast your heroic souls or of how strong your heroic soul would be, based on my personal experience, any stance you reveal will lead to your early demise. In battle, the most important thing is to stay alive. Alright, for today, let us discuss the three most basic and practical set of steps…”
Although he spent quite a fair bit of time, Mr. Boca succeeded in drawing in his students and making them engrossed with his teachings. While an expert may not necessarily be a good teacher, Mr. Boca was definitely an excellent one.
What Mr. Boca said served as a reminder for Wang Zhong. He now knew that his actions could have been predicted.
Regarding the higher ranked techniques and how they were displayed, Mr. Boca didn’t delve deeply into them. They were too far out of reach at the moment and thus would be of no use. For both All-Mouthy King and Anlor, being able to fight such a battle showed the amount of hard work they had put in, work that required a great deal of attention and countless torture.
After listening for a while, Emily began to busy herself. What the academy taught were the basics and fundamentals. Some of those high ranking techniques were kept in the hands of the great clans and not released for outside use.
Wang Zhong was also analysing the footage of his battle with Anlor. This seemingly perfect battle still revealed many faults.
☀
Upon receiving the summons of President Ma Dong Dong, the members of the Prodigy Society finally gathered together in the afternoon. This would be the first group meeting of the Prodigy Society. Ma Dong Dong began with a spirited and emotional speech.
The three seated below, Wang Zhong, Emily, and Barran, watched Ma Dong’s performance. Gray had asked for leave due to some matter, and his lack of presence emphasized the emptiness of the Prodigy Society.
After a short while, Emily became restless and said, “Ma Dong Dong, are you done speaking? There are only a few people here, so stop with the bullshitting.”
The glorious image of a great president was shattered, and Ma Dong could only say, “Hey, hey, club activities have now officially started. Everyone, please resume your personal training.”