Chapter 82 Retire
Naturally, not only the city and academy leaders had come to watch the competition. At the other end of the valley, Class 252's Renault, Xiu Yi, stood on the cliffs, proudly sticking their chests out . Behind them there were a few others who were also aristocrats, and standing further back, there were the commoner Knights, nodding and bowing.
Seeing how Fang Xingjian had first eliminated Barbara and four others from his own team, Renault started laughing loudly, "This Fang Xingjian is interesting, very interesting.
"When we’re fighting against him tomorrow, I must have a good time with him."
"Interesting?" Xiu Yi pierced him with a cold glare and said, "There are only two possibilities as to why he would be doing this. One would be that he has already given up on the competition. The other would be that even if they are missing five people, he believes that they would still be able to defeat their opponent."
"Oh?" Renault rubbed his chin, saying, "Although Class 253 joined the academy one year later than we did, if I, the Prefectural Champion would be sent to deal with them and that burly lout, wiping them out all by myself would be a bit difficult.
"Hehe, so, does Fang Xingjian feel that his abilities are more or less at the same level as mine?"
With a poker face, Xiu Yi said, "Who knows?"
"Because of their great progress, Most Knights who’ve recently completed their transition and then started picking up Killing techniques develop wrong ideas which they should not have, misjudging their own abilities.
"As for whether Fang Xingjian is overly arrogant or he has really gotten that strong from his training during the past month, that we shall see in a moment."
"Hehe, his one month of training is able to match up to four years of mine?" Renault licked his lips, revealing an excited expression, "If that's really the case, it'll be even more interesting.
"Defeating such a genius would be really exciting."
…
Just as everyone was standing astonished by Fang Xingjian's actions, on the other end of the battlefield, right in front of Class 253's fortress, ten Knights, dressed in Knight attire, were all waiting fully prepared.
The leader of the pack was a burly man who had an incredible height of 2.5 meters. His lower arm alone was as thick as an ordinary man's waist. He looked just like an enormous King Kong in the shape of a human.
He was Class 253's leader, the one who came first in the Prefectural Selection three years before, Claude. He was an extremely talented individual who, despite being a commoner, had been blessed with four inborn specialities.
And although he had been under Netherworld Valley’s protection since young, he had never really practiced their poison arts.
However, his physical attributes were monstrous, and in addition to the advantages he had been born with, while growing up in the Netherworld Valley he had also received the nourishments of countless poisonous and nutritional medicinal herbs.
He had just reached level 19 this year, but his five major attributes had all exceeded 70 points. Also, because of the existence of his four inborn specialities which had bestowed him with great stamina, immunity from all poison and tremendous strength, even the layers of dead skin cells on his body were as thick as the skin of a rhinoceros. Ordinary blunt force would be completely useless against him.
This was an individual born to be a valiant general in the battlefield. Moreover, he had transitioned into the job Death Vortex, which was known to be the mincing machine on the battlefield.
A brutal smile appeared on his tanned face as he licked his teeth, saying, "So many people have come to watch today's competition, to see that Windstorm Sword Hero. Hehe, to think that a b*stard who has only transitioned a month ago is thinking of riding on top of us, and acting so atrociously."
"But this has a good part to it as well. With so many important characters here, as long as our performance is good enough, we can be sold for a decent price even if we were to leave the academy in a few years’ time."
Saying this, he raised up two short axes with each of his hands, bellowing, "Hahahaha, everyone, attack! Break that Windstorm Sword Hero chap's legs! I'll bear the responsibility!"
Seeing how Claude charged like a tank all by himself, the other members in his team exchanged glances and shook their heads helplessly.
An archer sighed and said, "I knew it..."
Another blue-haired Knight who was holding a longsword smiled, replying, "Since you knew, why are you sighing? Charging forth recklessly, crushing the opponent with the overwhelming difference between our strength and theirs... Hasn't this been the boss's style all along?"
The other team members smiled as well. It was obvious that compared to Class 252, which Renault and Xiu Yi were in, Class 253, led by Claude, seemed to not care for the status difference between aristocrats and commoners, and seemed to be on more friendly terms.
All the team members followed under the blue-haired swordsman’s command. The blue-haired swordsman smiled and said, "Do you guys still remember?
"How it was when we first started participating in the inter-class competition three years ago?"
"Of course." A man dressed in a mantle who was unceasingly moving through the shadows said, "We were bullied for the whole year. If it hadn’t been for those new students who joined, we'd probably be tortured to our deaths this year as well."
"Hehe," The blue-haired swordsman smiled and said, "Fang Xingjian?
"As a Windstorm Sword Hero, what means do you have to reverse the situation?
The absolute gap between us brought by time, the massive gap between our powers, are you be able to overcome it?
As he advanced, he did not see any of his enemies. The blue-haired swordsman rubbed his chin and said, "It's just as I thought. Rather than taking the initiative to attack, they've decided on securing the fortress?
"Because of the massive difference between our abilities, are they thinking of staying in the fortress, relying on homeground advantages to win the battle or to bring it to a draw?"
He advanced forth for another minute. Although he had anticipated the opponent's battle plan, the blue-haired swordsman still gave out the orders to his team mates in an orderly fashion, closing in without haste, and scouting on their way, as they usually did.
But they did not encounter any attacks on their way to the fortress.
"What's the matter?
"The team leader should have arrived, right?
"Why are there no sounds of battle?"
He had long gotten used to Claude being the one charging towards their opponents like a rhinoceros, wreaking havoc amongst them, after which they would surround their opponents, eliminating them all.
But today's battle seemed to be a bit different.
Everyone advanced to the front of the fortress and saw Claude standing there in a daze, looking like a mini-giant at his full height of 2.5 meters.
The blue-haired swordsman swept a glance towards the fortress, his pupils shrinking as he said "Hey hey hey, Claude, is this your doing?
"Have you dealt with five of their people in such a short time?"
The mini-giant Claude shook his head, "It wasn't me. Be careful, don't move first."
Hearing this, everyone was shocked. All of them knew that amongst Claude's inborn specialities, there was one known as Wild Beast’s Instinct. It could sense the presence of danger and killing intent, and it was extremely sensitive. They had relied on this to overcome many obstacles.
However, it was only their third time hearing Claude speaking with such a serious tone.
At that moment, Zhou Yong's stream of curses rang out once again.
"Fang Xingjian!
"You b*stard!
"Why are you all just standing there?!
“Bash this fellow up quickly and you'll win!
"Go for it, go for it! Bring this fortress down, we've surrendered!"
Hearing Zhou Yong's curses, Class 253's members all went into a daze, and the blue-haired swordsman fell into a daze, and frowning he pondered, "Internal dispute?
"Or is it a trap?"
Just as everyone in Class 253 was standing there, extremely astonished, Fang Xingjian, who had been sitting cross-legged on the floor suddenly trembled slightly and fluttered like a willow leaf before landing with his feet on the ground.
He wore an indifferent smile on his face, his eyes were opened slightly, almost as if they were hiding countless mysteries.
He raised his fingers, pointing towards the people from Class 253, one by one.
Claude spat, wearing a nasty grin on his face, "Are you that lucky chap who had transitioned into a Windstorm Sword Hero?
"What is your side up to?"
"Nothing much. These few people on the floor are none of your concern." After Fang Xingjian finished pointing at each of them as if he was counting out how many they were, he smiled and walked over, speaking slowly, "Other than the four of you who use swords, the rest can retire."
Before his words ended, Fang Xingjian's silhouette suddenly disappeared. Claude was instantly encompassed by a killing intent so strong as he had never felt before. He let out a cry like a tiger or a lion before its death, the two axes in his hands slashing forth.