"Oh, you’re awake! How was it? Are you okay? Did it work? Successful?" Wang Tong asked.
Ma Xiaoru’s face was blushing, perhaps it was the excitement of achieving Tactics Advancement, or maybe it was the warm feeling from Wang Tong’s care.
Ma Xiaoru nodded!
"Haha, see? I told you it’ll work!" Wang Tong grabbed his fist.
"All thanks to you. I owe you a big one..."
"Nah, don’t say that. Of course, I’ll be there for you when you need me. Speaking of which, I’m starving." Wang Tong was still hungry, even though he had drunk a lot just now.
Ma Xiaoru blushed again. She was overjoyed when she heard what Wang Tong said, "Let’s go check out the kitchen, shall we?"
"Haha, sure, I love making my own food!" Actually, Wang Tong had checked out her kitchen a while ago.
It was already quite late, and Ma Xiaoru didn’t want to wake her maids up. So, they decided to creep into the kitchen like thieves. The only thing Wang Tong remembered about her kitchen was its spaciousness. How could he forget a kitchen that was bigger than the house he used to live in with Old Fart.
Old Fart used to brag about him being born in a wealthy family, and how good his early life was. How Wang Tong wished he could show Old Fart what the true meaning of "wealthy" was.
Speaking of Old Fart, he really had not been in touch with Wang Tong for a long period of time. Perhaps he was having too much fun somewhere else.
"Ahh!"
Ma Xiaoru made fun of Wang Tong by putting a dollop of cream onto his face. The little princess giggled over her mischievousness.
Wang Tong sighed and shook his head, then said in a deep voice, "How dare you make fun of me? I’ll make you pay for sure!"
Wang Tong then dipped his fingers into the cream and charged towards Ma Xiaoru. However, she dodged and said, "You can’t catch me, you big elephant!"
"Oh, taunting me huh? You asked for it, take that!"
Wang Tong wiped Ma Xiaoru’s pink cheeks with a handful of cream. Her face was covered in cream like a facial mask.
They were having fun.
Ma Xiaoru sat beside Wang Tong, quietly looking at him gobbling up the food, and even poured him a glass of water. The boy was enjoying his food, while the girl was enjoying her view. To Ma Xiaoru, it was indeed a blissful moment, and at some point, she even forgot about her tactics Advancement.
Perhaps, one really didn’t need any reason to fancy a person.
She wasn’t sure at the beginning, or maybe she was struggling. But now, she had finally realized that she did adore Wang Tong after all.
"Hey, you’re not eating? This is good stuff!"
"Nah, help yourself. Have some water, or else you’ll choke."
"No worries! This body of mine was specially designed to gobble up anything. Back then, when I was at Norton… Well nevermind, I don’t wanna affect my appetite." Even though Wang Tong had an iron stomach, he would still feel nauseous as he remembered those disgusting "meatballs".
"Here, have some rock melon juice. It’s delicious too."
"Oh, thanks… Wow, not bad!"
"You want more?"
"Yea, you bet."
Ma Xiaoru was happy as she saw Wang Tong enjoying himself. Somehow, she looked like a wife serving her husband with good food.
Meanwhile, someone was sleepless back at the dorm. Apparently, Zhou Sisi had been spending her night checking downstairs to see if the two of them had returned from their little detour. However, there was no light in Wang Tong’s room, which meant that the heartless bastard was still somewhere out there! Hu Yangxuan was also looking for Wang Tong. Since the kid wasn’t around the campus and also wasn’t replying his messages, automatically he knew that Wang Tong was still at Ma Xiaoru’s place.
Their days in Bernabeu were getting shorter. The teachers had stopped feeding them with information and gave them time to make their own preparations instead. Nevertheless, the teachers were still around, ready to answer any of their questions.
Everyone knew what would they had to do after obtaining the intel regarding Capth. Carl locked himself in the training chamber to work on his secret strategies of Battlecraft Combat. The Zhang Brothers and Rumi were also seen working out on their counter strategies. Their opponents were too strong, hence everyone had to find out a loophole as soon as possible for the sake of their victory.
The Heavy Arm team had no other options but to train harder. Boosting their physical strength was the best they could do for now.
Wang Tong was also busy making his own preparations. His Battlecraft Combat maneuvers had improved a lot, and he had even remembered the crucial points. He was happy to regain the sense of control, and was now confident of knowing what he was supposed to do and what he was about to do. Furthermore, he was also confident in understanding and predicting his opponent’s movements. In other words, Wang Tong was finally able to make decisions based on his opponent’s strategies and mental state.
The atmosphere of Ayrlarng was getting better all thanks to the special team, and also the encouragement from the challenge against Capth itself. Aside from caring about her special team, Samantha was also focusing on the rest of her students, and also the facilities of the academy. She was keeping herself busy, doing her best to bring in more benefits to Ayrlarng, especially activities that were good for her students.
Military academies were not much different than ordinary schools, especially at times like this. Instead of sitting there and do nothing like a big boss, they had to take the initiative to polish themselves from inside out. Staying passive would be practically "suicidal".
However, Samantha was not hasty. The first step would be lifting the status of Ayrlarng in Shangjin. Although Ayrlarng was already the best around Shangjin, they still had to do better in order to remind everyone of its past glory.
For the sake of its resurrection!
Once the condition of Ayrlarng improved, the competition amongst students would also become more intense. Although it would be difficult for some students, they had to learn that this was part of the game. Only the fittest would be able to survive, and the rest would be eliminated, or even expelled. All of this was for the sake of Ayrlarng’s future, and Samantha was very strict with this matter; mercy was not an option.
Everyone was seen spending the next few days getting readied. Finally, the weekend had arrived. Their time of departure was scheduled on Sunday afternoon, since it would be a long flight towards Capth. Apparently, Ayrlarng and Bernabeu’s alliance was not the only one who was participating in this event. There would be four other A-ranked academies joining as well, and they were also aiming to become the next S-ranked academies. Hence, they shouldn’t be underestimated as either.
Nevertheless, Capth was not intimidated at all. Although they would be challenged five times in a row like a tag duel, they wouldn’t bother to give a damn, because they were confident of their strength.
Aside from challenging Capth, this event would also be the competition between A-ranked academies, and the whole event would take about one week.
Samantha and Martyrus then gathered all of their students and praised them for their performance throughout the training. Somehow, Martyrus felt that the final outcome was not important anymore as he looked at his energetic students. Perhaps it was due to his age, but Martyrus was not as ambitious as he used to be after Bernabeu’s defeat against Ayrlarng. Now, all he wished to see was the improvement amongst his students. As for their future, it would be up to them to decide.
List of candidates:
Intel Programming Battle:
Main lineup: Zhang Kui, Zhang Yan
Substitute: Rumi
Heavy Arm Brawl:
Main lineup: Scarlet
Substitute: Tita
Battlecraft Combat:
Main lineup: Best, Zhou Sisi, Wang Tong
Substitute: Carl
METAL Combat:
Main lineup: Wang Tong, Ma Xiaoru, Hu Yangxuan, Apache, Cao Yi
Substitute: Luo Manman, Deng Jia
Although some of them were not selected as the final candidates, they would still be joining everyone towards Capth. After all, this was still an important event in their lives, even though they were not able to participate in any matches.
Carl was shocked when he heard that he was selected as the substitute; he was expecting himself to be eliminated…
"Enjoy your Saturday, folks. We’re leaving towards Capth on Sunday afternoon!"
"Yes, ma’am!"
Wang Tong secretly gave Samantha a wink, and she was startled by his sudden mischievousness. Luckily, no one noticed what happened.
The group meeting was dismissed, and everyone went back to make their own preparations again. Carl, who was surprisingly selected as the substitute, headed back towards the training chamber and continued with his secret strategy. Carl had even invited FlyWing to the training chamber, as he would demonstrate his new idea to his coach.
"Principal Martyrus, why did you pick Carl?"
The result of Bernabeu’s Styia was obviously better than Carl’s. Although Carl had been working really hard, he was still weaker compared to the rest.
Martyrus smiled, "Actually, he was chosen by FlyWing. Perhaps he really is talented."
Samantha nodded. The selection of candidates was actually decided by every trainer according to each student’s personal performances. However, Carl was truly one of a kind; first, he was recommended by Gansus, and then Massa, and now even got selected as one of FlyWing’s recommendations. Hopefully, he would be able to meet their expectation.
Apparently, teachers would not only judge a person by his or her results. Instead, they would also look into the heart of a student. Clearly, teachers trusted that Carl had his own good qualities.
He might have the potential to become stronger, but that didn’t mean he was strong enough already, as he might be affected by some factors, especially his perspective. Nevertheless, from this moment onwards, everything would be up to him to decide.
"Hey Wang Tong, did you do anything to Ma Xiaoru yesterday?" Zhou Sisi asked Wang Tong directly.
"Yup, I did."
"YOU!"
"I helped her to achieve her Tactics Advancement. Now we’re officially one step closer to victory!" Wang Tong laughed.
"You… you jerk!" Zhou Sisi stormed back towards her room.
Wang Tong looked at the sky and scratched his head, wondering what did he do wrong. No man would be able to fully understand women after all.
Wang Tong had nothing much to pack, since he only had a few things in possession. A new shirt was added to his belongings, which was the team jersey given by the academy a while ago.
"Hey, old man, c’mon out. I was thinking of having a match in PA." Wang Tong knocked on his Space Crystal.
"Shaddup you idiot! I’m not old. As you can see, I’m still strong and fit." Einherjar Wannabe appeared.
"Yea yea, judging from your age, I should’ve called you mister fossil instead." Wang Tong waved his hand. It was kind of disgusting when Einherjar Wannabe was trying to act like he was still young.
"Hmph, well hurry up then, what are you waiting for? I’m not gonna teach you anything this time though!"
"What a miser, let’s go." Wang Tong closed the door and headed towards DREAM Heaven.
The shopkeeper was overjoyed when he saw his "fortune bringer" finally arrive.
"Hey boss, got any room for me?"
"Well of course, you’re the VIP after all. Here you go, your usual room." The shopkeeper answered with a smile. Wang Tong felt good as he sat down at his usual spot, then he swiped his fingers and turned on the VR system.
Ding Dong!
System notification: Einherjar Wannabe logged in.
Bam…
The whole PA went crazy in a flash. Many players had been camping in PA waiting for this to happen. They knew weekend was his preferred time of logging in.
Nevertheless, whether Einherjar Wannabe would appear or not, many would still be there, waiting for his arrival.