Chapter 45: Tactics of the Enchantress-Round One
Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Tehrn
Although Wang Tong had spoken lightly about his life on Norton, the hardship had greatly disturbed the girls. It also started to shed light on the side of Wang Tong that was previously unknown to Ma Xiaoru, leaving her in awe of Wang Tong’s bravery.
“They say scar is a man’s badge of honor. Perhaps one day I would be able to fight alongside with you. Toast! For the victory over Zergs! Haha!” Hu Yangxuan raised his cup of champagne and beamed from ear to ear. He displayed his emotion in plain view, regardless if it was joy or remorse. It was a trait that Wang Tong was very fond of.
“Haha, very well. I will take you up on that, cheers! Haha!” Memories of Norton had drawn out the taste of fire and blood in Wang Tong’s mouth, filling his body with excitement as if he was back on the battlefield and ready to tear apart Zergs, limb by limb. He let out a gale of laughter that pulled Ma Xiaoru’s heart closer to him. To Ma Xiaoru, Wang Tong was no longer a meek F-class student, but a big and tough macho-man, chest hairs and all.
A smirk flashed across Samantha’s face; she could almost hear Ma Xiaoru’s heavy and irregular heartbeat, like a helpless little bird flapping its wings and trying to escape a trap of her own making.
“Why don’t you show us what you have learned on Norton? Seeing is believing. We are all very curious as to exactly how good of a fighter you are, especially our principal,” Hu Yangxuan spoke as he rubbed his hands together in anticipation.
“Good call! Xiaoru, why don’t you spar with him. Seeing how red you are after only a cup of champagne made me question your strength as well. Truth be told, sometimes I wonder if you were kicked out the Li’s private training school because of slacking off.”
“Sis! I happened to be one of the most accomplished disciples of the Li’s.” Ma Xiaoru pouted her lower lips. The tinge of rosy-red that hang on her cheek moments ago turned deeper in color by the second. She then darted her eyes to Wang Tong.
“Wang Tong, do you accept my challenge?”
“I do! I have always wanted to witness the Tactics of the Enchantress, it is an opportunity that I could not pass up.”
The four of them filed into Ma Xiaoru’s training room. Although this room was intended for only one person, it was much larger than the gym at school. A gravity simulator was set squarely in the middle of the room; the simulator itself would have cost as much as an entire gym. House Ma evidently spared no expense at Ma Xiaoru’s training, but to Wang Tong’s surprise, most of the equipment focused on physical training instead of EMF.
What was unknown to Wang Tong was the fact that when most cultivators had been struggling to push their limits of EMF, the five great houses had abandoned that route, and focused instead on the GN power. It wasn’t long before they discovered the inextricable relationship between one’s physical strength and the GN force output, and therefore, they had since emphasized the importance of physical training.
Few servants brought out a weapon rack, Ma Xiaoru picked up a sword and gestured toward Wang Tong: “Please help yourself.”
It was well known that the Li were master of swordplay, as it was equally well known that the Dowers were masters of yielding lances. Both were being regarded as the epitome of the fighters of their races: Earthlings and Ivantians. The fame and influence of the two households had been neck and neck until a few decades ago when the Dowers had failed to pass down their Tactics of the Deva King. That being said, the recent rumors had it that a boy from the youngest generation of the Dowers had demonstrated exceptional talent, some even purported that he was the second “perfect” human after his ancestor General Rilangalous.
Wang Tong cracked a smile as he picked up a sword from the rack, weighed it in his hand and nodded satisfyingly. Should Miao Xiu and Luv Ma were here to see his choice of weapon; they would most likely be shocked. It went without saying that a sword would be a hindrance rather than help to Wang Tong who already used his right arm as the weapon.
“Please.” Ma Xiaoru straightened her back and leveled the sword about her waist. Wang Tong could feel a sharp belligerence emanating out from Ma Xiaoru’s tensed body. The air suddenly became somber and was laced with iciness; she was ready to strike.
“Please,” Wang Tong replied gallantly while keeping his eyes fixated on his opponent. Although he was as excited about this fight as anyone else, he reminded himself to tread carefully because what he about to face was one of the five deadliest tactics of the Confederation.
The two fighters stood still, patiently and carefully brooded their first move. The anticipation had kept Hu Yangxuan on the edge of his chair.
“What is Wang Tong hiding underneath his facade? How powerful is the Tactics of the Enchantress, does it live up to its hype? How does it compare to the Templar’s Tactics of the Hexa Solaris?” Old and new questions sprout out in his mind, and the answers, Hu Yangxuan reckoned, would soon lay in front of his eyes.
Samantha could not suppress a snicker after seeing how quickly Wang Tong had risen to the bait. “The bait is always the key ingredient of any trap.” A smug crept onto the corner of her lips, “And I happened to have the prettiest one,” she thought. They say human were too smart for their own good, and Samantha was the shiniest example.
As Ma Xiaoru started to draw her inner power through the Tactics of the Enchantress, the air about her suddenly took on an otherworldly quality, as if her soul energy had torn through the very fabric of reality and materialized in front of Wang Tong’s eyes. Within a mist of eeriness, Ma Xiaoru’s body started to become blurry, and then multiple copies of her figure seemed to appear at different locations. Wang Tong tried to focus onto one of the many fuzzy apparitions, but it disappeared before it re-emerged at the corner of his eyes.
This technique was called the “Enchantress’s Deception”. It was a psychological attack to confuse the opponent’s visual senses, to disturb their inner balance, and eventually, to make them crumble from inside. However, as Ma Xiaoru dashed forward to strike the supposedly weakened opponent, she revealed an infinitesimally small imprint of her true form, and it was more than enough for Wang Tong to see through the visual illusion. He then thrust his sword without any hesitation to meet the incoming attack.
The fact that Wang Tong was able to see through the Enchantress’s Deception shocked Samantha in a very pleasant way. “Luck has favored me after all,” she thought to herself.
The two fighters charged toward each other with drastically different styles. Ma Xiaoru’s seemingly casual advance had hidden more than what it revealed, aloft but deceptive. On the other hand, Wang Tong had placed everything beneath the plain view, but he had managed to conceal no less, thanks to his chaotic and shambolic execution.
When the two swords eventually collided, the impact sent a loud clank that pierced through the air. Ma Xiaoru’s first attack was merely an attempt to probe Wang Tong’s strength. This overdose of cautiousness was not entirely without personal motives. Unsure of her infatuation-tinted imagination, she had feared that the real Wang Tong might let her down and feared even more that she might hurt Wang Tong’s feeling should she unleash her full strength and defeat him with ease.
However, the numbness in Ma Xiaoru’s palm taught her something about Wang Tong’s true strength, but it also comforted her.
“Brother Wang, now we will fight.”
Her grip tightened, whitening her knuckles, she shifted her weight left and right before taking a half step back and hunkered down in a stance that was unmistakably the starting position of the sword technique: The Enchantress’s Sword.
A gale swept across the room as Ma Xiaoru tapped deeper into the source of her power. She turned a half pirouette, raised the hilt of the sword to about her face and pointed the sharp tip directly at Wang Tong. Amidst another icy wind that had seemingly come out from nowhere, she executed a full pirouette in the opposite direction, and while cutting the sword edge downward, the tip of the sword traced an arc in the air. The sudden change of direction resulted in an undulation that started from the center of the sword, propagating to the very tip, and making the tip to trace two arcs within the first. This was the potent technique of the Enchantress’s Sword: the Triple Arc of the Enchantress.
Ma Xiaoru finished the move in a swift and elegant motion, looking dazzlingly beautiful. The power of her strike was no less in magnitude than her beauty. Even the slightest distraction would have spawned Wang Tong’s doom, and Ma Xiaoru’s enchanting appearance was undoubtedly not helping him in that respect.
He was less than a fraction of a second slower than he should have, and his sword was nearly pried away by the force of the impact. Almost immediately, Wang Tong registered that Ma Xiaoru’s deadly force did not come out from her dantian alone, but also her tenacious body.
Wang Tong’s mind raced, and suddenly he saw the gravity simulator. “Physical training.” Wang Tong nodded slightly, “That’s what made her hit so much heavier than the others.”
Despite Ma Xiaoru’s amenable appearance, the rigorous training had molded her into a fearsome fighter who was capable of executing the most physically demanding maneuvers and unleash GN forces of unmatched magnitudes.
Wang Tong could feel his throat dried by the fume of belligerence inside of him, making him thirst for more thrill of the battle. Truth be told, Ma Xiaoru was the strongest opponent Wang Tong had ever faced since he came back from Norton. Wang Ben could have taken that title if not for his failed operation.
Ma Xiaoru’s second attack quickly ensued; it came so fast that Wang Tong had no time to evade, forcing him to block the assault at point blank.
Hu Yangxuan’s breath was caught in his throat. He doubted that Wang Tong would be able to come out unharmed.
Wang Tong clumsily yanked his sword in an attempt to block the attack. The two swords clanked, and Ma Xiaoru stumbled back; her body shaken by the force of the impact. Wang Tong had countered her combo attack without much effort.
“Ma Xiaoru, please don’t conserve your strength. Otherwise, you won’t be able to defeat me.” Wang Tong stood proudly. Regardless of Ma Xiaoru’s intention in conserving her power, it was not the fight he wanted.
“My apologies, fellow brother.” Seriousness flashed across Ma Xiaoru’s face. The pain had finally awakened her from her infatuation, and she came to term with the fact that Wang Tong might be even stronger than her.
Ma Xiaoru struck again, this time she did it with full force. She infused her blade with GN power, and as it cut through the air, the edge stirred up an icy gale. The tip of the sword pulsated violently, making it impossible to block.
Wang Tong closed in, but instead of blocking, he maneuvered suddenly to his side. The sudden change in direction had caught Ma Xiaoru off guard, and her strike missed the target.
Before she had time to steady herself, she registered Wang Tong’s counter attack as a wild gale brushed at the back of her neck.
