Chapter 77: None of My Business
Translator: OneshotwonderEditor: Tehrn
The students started to gain a certain measure of admiration toward their principal as they hailed for Wang Ben's arrival. They had initially questioned Samantha's ability to run the school. But, to their surprise, she was able to bring the school back onto the right track. The recent series of good news had significantly motivated the student as none of them wanted to be the one that dragged the entire school down.
Everyone in the cafeteria was discussing Einherjar Wannabe.
"Einherjar Wannabe! Ah, what an interesting character, mysterious and powerful. I had dug into his background; it was very perplexing, to say the least," Hu Yangxuan said.
"He must have cultivated a rather bizarre tactics that allowed him to copy other fighter's powers."
Wang Tong kept quiet as he watched Wang Ben knowingly.
"Don't look at me like I know him that well. I wasn't even mind opened yet when I fought him. I was at the lowest point in my life, so I didn't pay much attention while I fought. To be honest, though, I appreciated his encouragement at the end of the match. I want a rematch, but I just can't find him!"
"Did he use the real Fist of the Racing Tiger?" Hu Yangxuan asked curiously.
Wang Ben straightened his back and explained with a serious voice: "It is hard to say. It looked like real and sounded like so too. You know it is almost impossible to fake those roars. That being said, I highly doubt that he would be able to repeat my tactics after seeing it only once."
"That's true. The Fist of the Racing Tiger is the secret of your family, I don't think that he would have learned it. My guess is that his tactics is very similar to Wang Ben's regarding its aggressiveness, and it is not entirely unlikely that he had faked the roar."
"AHH! Who kicked me!?" Wang Ben yelled suddenly and distracted the other two boys.
Ma Xiaoru's face blushed. "Sorry, wrong person. Wang Tong, you pig! You have eaten everything while we were talking."
Wang Tong didn't mind her scolding at all, he smiled and retorted: "I was trying to be a good listener and stuffing my mouth with food so that I don't interrupt you guys."
Ma Xiaoru was not impressed by Wang Tong's sly retort even though she had never met a boy that would talk to her in such a ballsy manner.
"You can have my portion as well if you tell me what you think of this Einherjar Wannabe," Hu Yangxuan announced, curiosities flashed in his eyes.
Wang Ben was also very curious about Wang Tong's take on Einherjar Wannabe since Wang Tong had defeated him. Wang Ben had thought that Hu Yangxuan would be his toughest opponent here in Ayrlarng, but after the fight with Wang Tong, he had quickly forgotten about Hu Yangxuan. Although The Templar was considered strong among ordinary fighters, Wang Ben felt that only the ones from the major Houses were worthy of being his opponent, such as Ma Xiaoru. However, as a descendant of a pride military family, Wang Ben could not put himself into a position where he had to fight against a girl.
Wang Tong didn't answer right away; instead, he kept on chewing the cabbages, dragging out the anticipation. He lamented the lack of interests of his friends in these delicious dishes. "Let them try staying on Norton for a year, then they would know how I feel about food," he thought.
"Einherjar Wannabe? What about him? He seemed pretty powerful, but what does that have anything to do with us?"
"Lame... On the bright side, perhaps you were right to some degree. It could have been someone from the great houses fooling around. I wonder if there will be any other stronger fighters that will come to challenge him," Hu Yangxuan said as he cracked a smile.
"I will try to find him and have a rematch with him. But for now, I need to recover from my injuries," Wang Ben announced and he shoveled a chunk of meat into his mouth.
"I had noticed something was odd in the way you walk. Are you alright? What happened to you?" Hu Yangxuan was still oblivious to what had happened.
"Nothing," Wang Tong answered abruptly.
"I am not asking you," Hu Yangxuan cut him short.
"It's nothing. I was just sparing with Wang Tong the other day, and we both get a little bit careless. When I get better, I would love to spar with you," determination shined in Wang Ben's eyes as he answered candidly, without hiding his defeat.
Wang Ben's answer reminded Hu Yangxuan. He turned his head around to face Wang Tong and asked, "When is our fight gonna happen? You keep on procrastinating it."
"Could you please spar with Wang Ben first? Please? I have lots of subject to work on. You can ask Ma Xiaoru, and she can attest that I am failing almost every single one of the subjects: physics, astronomy, math, history, and battle tactics, you name it! You don't want to see me getting expelled from Ayrlarng next month, don't you?"
Hu Yangxuan and Wang Ben looked to Ma Xiaoru for proof of what Wang Tong had just said. But Ma Xiaoru didn't speak for Wang Tong; instead, she added more fuel to the fire: "It's not as bad as he said. By the way, we still have a fight that we need to finish, when do you think you can do that?"
Wang Tong didn't want to agree to any of the requests because he was afraid that if he couldn't control his power, he might hurt one of his friends again — just like how he did it with Wang Ben — and it would take him a while to learn to control his power. Although Wang Tong was forced into the corner by his friends, he still refrained from telling them his concerns, fearing that it would only exacerbate the situation.
"How about this: I will give Wang Ben some time to recuperate, and then I will fight him first. This would also allow some time for Hu Yangxuan to focus on preparing his Templar's routine test. I will then fight Hu Yangxuan after he finishes his test." Before anyone had taken in the information, Wang Tong snatched another drumstick and shoveled it down his mouth.
"What about me?" Having noticed that Wang Tong didn't even answer her question, Ma Xiaoru pressed on.
"My lady, haven't we already fought once? AGAIN?"
"That one doesn't count, rematch!" Even Ma Xiaoru was surprised by her persistence. Perhaps in her subconscious, she only wanted to spend more time with the boy she liked so much.
"Fine, fine! As long as you help me with my assignments. Is that all, guys?"
"Yes, let's eat now before it's all gone." Having seen to it that his goal had been achieved, Hu Yangxuan snatched the food he had given to Wang Tong back.
This is the first time the four of them met each other, and it would be much later when they realized the importance of this day. But for now, they were just innocent college students, living a carefree life.
Wang Tong felt relieved that Wang Ben didn't recognize him. He didn't want to give up the disguise as Einherjar Wannabe that had allowed him to fight in the TPA without consequences of revealing his power. It would be handy when he test the 256 nodes version of the Tactics of the Blade in the TPA.
Without the guidance of a teacher, Wang Tong had to be the trailblazer in his journey of cultivation. He conceded that mistakes would be inevitable; however, he also reckoned that it was what he could learn from these mistakes that would bring him closer to success.
Wang Tong's week had been eventful thanks to Wang Ben's arrival. On the other hand, Wang Ben was apparently still perplexed by Einherjar Wannabe's counterfeit Fist of the Racing Tiger as he kept on switching the topic to the mysterious Einherjar Wannabe.