Chapter 22 – Pie or Pitfall?

The student who replied was Pedro, a third year student of the soldier department and the vanguard of the core squad, Holy Judgement,. He was famous for being a brutish and crude person, feared by all the juniors in the soldier department for being unforgiving. His actions usually resulted in his training partners being sent to the hospital for injuries.

Grace was not angry at his comment and smiled slightly, saying, “This is also one point of view.”

Pedro proceeded to nonchalantly sit down. Hailing from Stogel City, he was sent here by his family as he had offended people that couldn’t be offended. Thus, he held no sense of patriotism to this academy, much less his views of Grace.

Grace glanced at Wang Zhong. This kid is quite interesting. His expression seemed carefree, unaffected by the views other people had about him. Such a calm and collected person. Behaviour like this was extremely hard to come by. She felt that this was turning out to be a worthwhile trip.

“Wang Zhong, seeing that you are quite accomplished in this area, please share your thoughts on this topic.” This was the second time Grace had singled out Wang Zhong, puzzling the crowd. Even Scarlet felt confused. Although the papers Wang Zhong published weren’t bad, they weren’t world-breaking or revolutionary. Furthermore, his personal strength was extremely weak and could be easily denounced in this current situation.

Ignoring the crowd, Wang Zhong replied indifferently, “I personally feel that even if there was an invincible existence, they wouldn’t bother with me, and instead, face those of similar strengths. In the case of facing multiple enemies, battle control techniques would have a substantial effect as it allows simultaneous offense and defense. These techniques would also be essential within a team, and would thus be one of the critical requirements.”

Grace clapped her hands, appraising, “I too feel the same way. A well-polished execution of battle control techniques would reap substantial rewards on the battlefield. Furthermore, the requirements of having a deeper understanding of the workings of soul power does not impede with the pursuit of greater combat techniques….”

With her high appreciation of battle control techniques, Grace proceeded to present her opinions and ideas based on personal experiences, offering subjects for discussion. Utilizing this method, she gradually introduced critical thinking within the students. Being very experienced, Grace employed a method that differed from what a teacher would normally do; she used her past experiences and history to more effectively teach the students.

In a short span of time, silence enveloped the area, the only sound being Grace’s voice. This was the effect of the high charisma the Goddess of Tianjing possesses. As students of different years had different processes for understanding topics, only a teacher of high proficiency would be able to induce critical thinking amongst students.

Time quickly flew by and the class was near the end. Grace took a look at the crowd of students before her, thinking about whether to give the students standing outside a chance, when a small, weird little girl squeezed out from the crowd.

It was extremely obvious that the little girl Grace had identified was none other than Emily.

“Teacher Grace, my name is Emily and I have a question to ask!” She pleaded while staring at Grace with her big, round, sparkling eyes, looking extremely adorable. Her earnest actions made the rowdy crowd, one that was about to scold her, cease all of their actions.

“Emily of the Assassin clan, welcome to Tianjing Academy,” Grace said with a smile.

Discussions start to spring up within the crowd. so she was a member of the cold-blooded Assassin clan. They all felt lucky that they hadn’t scolded her.

“I possess a flame ability, but I wish to become an ability soldier instead of an ability user. Do you have any suggestions on how I can do that?”

Emily felt high hopes, as the person standing right before her also possessed aflame ability, and had become an extremely strong flame ability soldier.

“Flame abilities are very strong, and can be used to counter many other abilities. The way they are used, however, differs from person to person. Take, for example, two famous figures of this generation; Sharmie from Flame City and Laura from Copperfield City. Sharmie’s flame ability favors explosiveness, and she also has an abnormally large soul sea. Laura, on the other hand, possesses a Fiery Explosion Bear sentient soul beast, and pays great attention to the assistance of her soul beast. Every single person has their own special trait which all Heroic Soul soldiers have unlocked. The key to unlocking this trait is by being yourself; only this will unlock your path to being a powerful person!”

After Grace finished speaking, the lecture hall erupted into applause. Clapping could be heard emanating from outside as well.

As the class ended, a large group of people chased after Grace’s shadow. As a result, the lecture hall returned to its originally quiet state.

Ma Dong exclaimed excitedly, “Holy shit bro, you’re awesome! Is it just me, but somehow I felt that our warrior goddess is up to something fishy. Did you peek on someone showering… no, that’s not right. If that had happened, then I wouldn’t be able to see you.”

Wang Zhong rubbed his nose and said, “Nothing good ever comes out of your dirty mouth.”

“Hehe. It seem like you’re in trouble now; Reeves and his bunch of guys don’t like you,” Ma Dong replied. Reeves and his bunch detested people who were arrogant, while obviously lacking the ability to back it up.

“Ma Dong Dong, you coward. When we’re outside don’t say that you’re my older cousin!” Emily exclaimed exasperatedly. “Brother Wang Zhong, if anyone tries to bully you, tell me and I’ll make sure to squash and beat them up for you!”

“Hey, hey, I’m the one that’s your brother. Please don’t do stuff that might cause trouble for Wang Zhong.” Although Ma Dong was a natural troublemaker, he valued his friendship much more than others

“Hmph. Alright I know. Jeez, you’re so annoying. I not stupid!” Emily laughed and said, “Brother Wang Zhong, I’m treating you to lunch as thanks for your guidance last time.”

“Sure. Is the construction of the weapon completed?”

“No, I rejected the weapon!” Emily said.

“What? You rejected Mr. Moore’s weapon; are you out of your mind!?” Ma Dong shouted.

“After some consideration, I felt that for now, I should not use such a good weapon as I might get lazy. This would be very disadvantageous when casting my Heroic Soul. As to what brother Wang Zhong had said, a sacred blade can only be created through repeated tempering!” exclaimed Emily, as she laughed.

Hearing this, Wang Zhong gawked. When did I spout such philosophical words.

“Student Wang Zhong, congratulations on finally being acknowledged.” A clear and serene voice resounded, the owner being the smiling Scarlet.

“President Scarlet, how do you do. Our Prodigy Society is just beside yours, so now we can be considered neighbours,” Ma Dong replied with fervor.

“Is that right? Welcome, then. Wang Zhong, are you free to attend a party at my house this weekend?”

Hearing this, the three of them gawked. Ma Dong followed up with a vicious glare at Wang Zhong, saying, “Sure, there’s no problem. His weekends are extremely free!”

Scarlet gave a slight smile and said, “Alright. It’ll be on Saturday night, 7pm. There will be a surprise waiting.”

As soon as Scarlet walked off, Ma Dong couldn’t resist as he immediately grabbed Wang Zhong’s collar, growling, “You cunning little bastard. Are you still trying to hide your relationship? She clearly has a thing for you, seeing that she specifically invited you to her party!”

Wang Zhong felt extremely confused. Honestly speaking, he had felt that Scarlet was an exemplary person with a good character, but…

“I’m pretty sure that I’m not really familiar with her.”

“Fuck, you pig brain. It only takes a bit of time for relationships between a man and a woman to become familiar. Furthermore, you have such a beauty sending the invitation. In a situation like this, no matter how perilous the journey, I would definitely try to woo her. Don’t worry; I will lend you my lady killer’s suit. You will look absolutely fabulous in it,” Ma Dong said excitedly, although he looked much more worried than Wang Zhong did.

Curling her lip, Emily, who stood at the side, added, “Ma Dong Dong, throw that stupid idea away. God only knows what her motive is.”

“Little kids who don’t understand should not interrupt, this here is the affairs of adults!” Ma Dong replied. He continued, ”This is Scarlet we are talking about, not that witch, Milami…..”

A short distance away, a person could be seen standing up, packing away some items. Upon seeing the silhouette of that back, Ma Dong immediately came to a stop and froze. That couldn’t have been Milami, right?