Chapter 4: Support Should Add Some Defense
The next day.
At Chenshi, the morning sun rose, casting faint rays of light that illuminated the peach groves of Peach Blossom Spring Academy.
Inside the Peach Blossom Spring Academy's school hall, however, the sounds of 'thwack, thwack, thwack' could be heard early, accompanied by the screams of a young girl.
"You're a full two quarters of an hour late. You'll be punished with thirty palm strikes. If you're late again next time, the punishment will be doubled. Understand?"
Su Ran held the bamboo board and struck Ning Rongrong's palm thirty times.
Ning Rongrong's eyes were teary from the pain, her face full of resentment, as she clutched her purplish palm:
"I just overslept a little, and you hit my palm thirty times. Teacher, you're too much! I'm dropping out! I'm going to Shrek Academy next door!"
This teacher doesn't know how to cherish a beautiful woman at all!
"As expected of a support system Spirit Master, her body is still too weak."
"If you want to drop out and go to Shrek, you can, but you need to think it through carefully."
Su Ran shook his head, ignoring Ning Rongrong's willfulness. This disciple simply needed training.
He walked directly into the school hall and wrote a few large characters on the blackboard with flowing strokes, as the theme of today's lecture:
"The Core Cultivation of a support system Spirit Master"
Evidently, today's lesson was originally prepared by Su Ran for Ning Rongrong.
Are you going to learn or not?!
Wang Sheng, standing nearby, wisely advised:
"Student Rongrong, the teacher's exclusive teaching is hard to come by. Why don't you listen to the teacher's lesson before deciding whether to drop out?"
Ning Rongrong's face was full of grievance; even at home, her elders had never punished her like this. This Teacher Su Ran actually hit her thirty times without mercy, and her little hand was swollen!
"Hmph, I'll just listen and see what he can teach me!"
Ning Rongrong glanced at the ruthless Teacher Su Ran and also recalled something Wang Sheng said yesterday.
The reason Teacher Su Ran wore a mask was because he was very handsome.
No matter how handsome he is, being so heartless, he'll never find a girlfriend!
She wanted to see just how handsome this Teacher Su Ran was! And what he could teach!
Otherwise, joining this Academy for no reason, learning nothing, not even seeing the teacher's face, and getting her palm hit, would be too much of a loss!
Ning Rongrong took her seat with a look of grievance.
Because Wang Sheng was not a direct disciple, he merely stood to the side, listening in. The primary teaching subject was still Ning Rongrong.
"Bring out your Spirit."
Su Ran said indifferently.
Ning Rongrong reluctantly extended her little hand, which was still trembling slightly from the beating, and a radiant glow emanated from her body. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda appeared in her hand.
"The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda is renowned as the most outstanding support system Spirit on the continent."
"Of course." Ning Rongrong was very confident in her Spirit.
"Unfortunately, the limitations of support system Spirits are too great; many times, they're no different from trash Spirits."
But Su Ran's next sentence made Ning Rongrong stop smiling.
A trash pagoda? This was the universally acknowledged number one support Spirit on the entire continent!
"That's not true," Ning Rongrong pouted.
"I ask you, what are you support system Spirit Masters best at?"
"It's amplification and healing, providing a boost in strength or sustain for teammates."
"Then I ask you, what is the weakness of your support system?"
"Of course, it's a lack of offensive power and inability to fight alone; this is a common problem for all support system Spirit Masters."
Ning Rongrong pouted.
"You're not trying to say that because I'm a bit weak and lack offensive power, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda is a trash Spirit, are you? Then, Teacher, your skill level is... ordinary."
Although she had witnessed Su Ran's strength yesterday, if he dared to belittle her Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, she would still be angry.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda itself is a support system Spirit; it naturally doesn't possess powerful strength but rather makes teammates stronger. Otherwise, why would it be called support?
"No, what I want to say is that not only the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, but also the vast majority of support Spirits are trash Spirits in their early stages, and their effectiveness in Spirit Master battles is too limited."
Su Ran said indifferently.
Ning Rongrong's face clearly showed defiance:
"If support is so useless, why is there an iron rule in Spirit Master duels: kill the support first?"
"Support can make people in the team stronger, even allowing them to fight above their level. Teacher, don't you even understand this?"
"Yes, support can indeed make teammates stronger; I haven't denied that."
Su Ran said indifferently:
"However, have you ever considered a problem: in Spirit Master duels, the weakness of a support system Spirit Master is not their lack of offensive power, but the burden caused by insufficient self-preservation ability."
"In most teams, a support system Spirit Master needs a defense system Spirit Master or an attack system Spirit Master to protect them, which means that a seven-person Spirit Master team, due to the inclusion of a support system, will directly reduce its offensive strength by 2/7."
"And the improvement that a support system brings to the team, taking the initial level of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda as an example, can provide a twenty percent increase in strength and speed for Spirit Masters, and it cannot quickly apply this buff to the entire team. Even if calculated by the improvement of the entire team's strength, it's only 20% x 5/7 = 1/7."
"Only when you become a four-ring Spirit Ancestor, and your Spirit Ability can provide a 40% increase (40% x 5/7 = 2/7), can you barely break even with the burden on the team. Only above four rings can you bring substantial enhancement to the team."
"Do you see the problem? The improvement brought by a support system Spirit Master to the team is less than if you didn't use a support system Spirit Master and instead directly replaced them with two attack system Spirit Masters, control system Spirit Masters, or agility-attack system Spirit Masters, which would be more powerful."
Su Ran calmly calculated the Spirit Master formula for Ning Rongrong on the blackboard.
Although Ning Rongrong couldn't understand the calculation, she was greatly astonished.
Because it was the first time she had seen someone use numerical calculations to express the role of a support system Spirit Master in a team.
This was too novel.
But she still felt a little uncomfortable. Any Spirit Master from any system would feel uncomfortable if their Spirit was told by a teacher that it was actually a burden to the team, right?
"I'm not listening, I don't believe it."
"Then why do almost all Spirit Master teams use support Spirit Masters?"
Ning Rongrong was about to break down.
"Because the stronger get stronger. When there are Spirit Masters in the team who are stronger than everyone else, the value of the support system's amplification (healing) will be magnified. My premise assumes that the Spirit Master strengths of both teams are equal."
Su Ran smiled faintly:
"You don't need to be anxious; I have a third formula here."
"If a support system Spirit Master doesn't need teammates to protect her and has self-preservation ability herself, then how much is the increase and decrease that the support system Spirit Master brings to the team?"
"If that's the case, the weakened strength in the team would only be 1/7, while the increase would be at least 20% x 6/7 = 1.2/7."
Wang Sheng, who was dutifully standing by the school hall taking notes, answered quickly.
"What if the support system Spirit Master also has offensive power?"
"Then the advantage will further expand."
"Hey? Wait, how can a support system Spirit Master protect herself? And how can she have offensive power?!"
Ning Rongrong's small brain was greatly impacted.
The teacher, Su Ran, wearing a celestial dragon mask, said indifferently:
"This is today's main lesson: a support system should add some defense."
"Before this class officially begins, if you still want to drop out, you can leave immediately. I, Su Ran, never teach disciples who are insincere, half-hearted, or who might betray me at any time."