Wang Tong was amazed at his speed, and he was equally puzzled at its cause. He wished that he had attended military academy so that he would be able to answer his questions about these developments.
"Charcoal, how fast do you think I was running out there?"
"Master, based on my readings, your speed is comparable to a base level METAL fighter."
Wang Tong smiled, although his speed wasn't top notch, to have it placed on par with a METAL fighter made him very proud of himself since it couldn’t have been a fluke out there. He closed his eyes to reflect on the details of what had happened.
Upon careful contemplation, he figured out what had to be the cause of his new speed: it was the now much faster speed of initializing of the “Tactics of the Blade”.
Before he had gained his EMF, his GN nodes had responded sluggishly to his command of initiating of the tactic, what's more, it would often take a while until it started to take effect, again thanks to the slow movements of his GN nodes.
However, ever since Wang Tong had linked his EMF, the initializing of the tactics had almost become an instinct.
When faced with a perilous situation, his subconscious would begin the “Tactics of the Blade” entirely on its own without the need of Wang Tong's conscious command. His EMF had also made the movement of the GN nodes swifter and more fluid; therefore the tactics would take effect almost immediately.
Wang Tong cherished the miraculous accident that had led to the release of his EMF. The sweet taste of triumph made him more eager to become a METAL fighter, but for now, Wang Tong had to gain a better understanding of his new abilities.
Charcoal had helped him light up the cave corridor as his testing ground. He took a deep breath and dug one heel into the ground, then commanded the GN nodes to accelerate their speed; power started to burst out of the EMF and was channeled by Wang Tong throughout his entire body...
“Komnnhh…” Wang Tong suddenly bolted forward in lightening speed.
Wang Tong found himself with his mouth hard pressed against the wall, in an intimate kiss with the cold hard cave, sand and grit filled the groove between his lips. He laughed in joy as he thudded to the ground. "I wasn't dreaming; my speed was real!"
Wang Tong had been busy adjusting to his speed for the next two days. He tried to control his speed so that he wouldn't dash into the gaping mouth of a Zerg. Not only had his speed improved, but also his strength. He tested his strength with a rebar by thrusting it into one of the cave’s walls which ended up being pierced deeply into the hard rock, and the rebar got stuck firmly inside. He couldn't even dream of having strength like this before. Eager to test his new powers in a real life situation, he decided to see if he could kill a Zerg.
To kill a Zerg, he had to find a Zerg first, and he knew there was one nearby that would make a perfect practice target. He was thinking of the previous Zerg that he had barely escaped from. Zergs were patient predators; many documentary films had mentioned their persistence and patience. Although Wang Tong couldn’t hear any movement outside, he knew that it was still out there, waiting for him somewhere in the dark.
To prepare for the hunt, Wang Tong and Charcoal started digging a booby trap at the mine entrance. It was Wang Tong's first time hunting a Zerg, although he was confident about his new abilities, capturing a Zerg would further boost that confidence. It would give him the courage to stand up against even stronger Zergs.
Wang Tong mumbled as he finished his preparations: “Booby trap-done, Weapons-loaded, Plan B - heck, who cares about plan B, thinking too much only makes you cowardly.”
After one night of preparation followed by two hours of rest, he was rejuvenated and ready for a fight. Before he signaled Charcoal to crack open the gate, he took a few large gulps of the cheap wine.
The gate was raising slowly; Wang Tong couldn’t hear any movement outside and wondered if the Zerg was already gone?
Wang Tong darted his eyes left and right to scan his periphery. Suddenly, he saw that the Zerg was hidden in a bush. A pair of emerald colored eyes stared straight at the gate that was still rising.
As soon as the gap between the gate and the ground was about the same height as the Zerg, its body jolted forward and rushed towards the opening. It moved too fast for Charcoal to shut the gate in time.
Seeing that the Zerg was about to dash through the threshold, Wang Tong roared a battle cry in half-drunkenness and flung a metal plate towards the charging Zerg.
The Zerg didn't even flinch; it quickly raised one of his eight arms to block the incoming projectile. The metal plate pierced through the Zerg's sharp claw tip. The attack didn't slow down the Zerg, but as soon as it had crossed the threshold, it fell through the hole and into the booby trap.
"Attack! Now!"
Wang Tong felt a buzz in his ear as blood suddenly rushed toward his brain. A strong emotion took full control of his body and mind; he had no time to think, no time to use the EMF, he had to attack and attack now.
He advanced and smashed the trapped Zerg with massive boulders and sharp metals pieces. Even Charcoal had joined the smashing, albeit being slow and clumsy. The Zerg let out waves of ear-piercing wails.
The two stoned the trapped Zerg for nearly ten minutes. When they finally stopped, the pit was filled to the brim with rocks and metal pieces, and the middle of the pile bulged up like a hill. Wang Tong shivered in disbelief as he noticed the hill. "Sh*t, did we really do this?"
Then he quickly remembered what was buried underneath, and he cheered with glee in his voice: "Ha ha Charcoal, we did it! I am a genius!"
It was Wang Tong's first Zerg kill, although this particular Zerg was weak like Wang Tong had deduced on their first encounter, Wang Tong was still immensely proud of himself. He sprung up in excitement and hugged an equally excited Charcoal, whose cold metal body felt almost warm.
But they had celebrated too soon...
"Ssss..."
An arm burst out of the rocks and slithered towards Wang Tong with its pointy claws. Wang Tong dodged the attack immediately, but even with his heightened senses and improved agility, the claw still cut a foot long gash on his arm. Blood gushed out uncontrollably and splattered all over the ground; some even got on the space crystal lying nearby. Wang Tong watched as the severely wounded Zerg slowly stood up to reveal its hideous head, struggling its way out at the top of the hill.
Stimulated by blood and liquor, a battle rage suddenly burst inside of Wang Tong, he picked up an iron rebar on the ground and hopped onto the giant wiggling head.
He lifted the metal bar with two hands right above the head, the sharp end pointed directly at the cranial cavity, and he thrust with full force. “One... two... three...” dark green blood gushed out of the Zergs brain and splattered on his face. “Four… five… six...” the Zerg twitched in excruciating pain; green blood blurred Wang Tong's vision. “Seven... eight… ni—” suddenly the defiant Zerg channeled its last strength into a free limb and hacked towards Wang Tong. Wang Tong quickly hopped off the head to dodge the attack, and in midair grabbed onto the swinging arm. The arm swung in the air a few times before it finally plopped back to the ground with Wang Tong's arm still wrapped tightly around it.
Wang Tong cleared the gluey liquid off his face. The same substance had covered Charcoal's optical sensors; spiral patterns flashed on Charcoal's display unit- an indicator for temporary sensory overload.
"This is ... f*cking hard."
Wang Tong limped off the pile of stones. He couldn't believe that he had butchered a Zerg with a coarse iron rebar.
"Charcoal, shut the gate!"
Wang Tong became exhausted and sober as the power and rage instilled by drunkenness were completely gone. Being as powerless as he was then, a baby Zerg would be able to kill him with a flick of its claw.
Wang Tong didn't lower his guard until he saw the heavy gate shut in front of him. He then examined the dead Zerg and started to savor his victory for the second time.
Wang Tong took a quiet moment to reflect on his heroic battle. In the faint light, only his heavy raspy breathing could be heard throughout the empty mine cave.
"Analyzing..."
"Gene type - Human... Purity - near a hundred percent...First Criteria Check - criteria satisfied..."
"Initiate self-checkup..."
"10%....20%... 100%."
"Finalized."
Wang Tong's Space Crystal started to radiate an eerie light through Wang Tong's blood that was smeared all over its shiny surface. Being as exhausted as he was, Wang Tong didn't even notice the light.
"Czeng.."
A beam of bright light shot out of the space crystal and filled the cave entirely with brightness. The sudden eruption of light startled Wang Tong who were still resting on the ground. To his relief, he found out that it wasn't another Zerg.
Light always brought hope to Wang Tong, but as he stared at the iridescently lit space crystal, he felt only confusion. He’d had this seemingly ordinary space crystal for over eight years, and he had never discovered that it was able to shoot out bright lights. He pondered why a discount item that Old Fart had picked up as a last minute gift could have such an unusual function.
A grandiose looking middle aged man emerged out of the light. He was accompanied by a sensation of immense power that engulfed everything in this cave.
Wang Tong felt the power passing through his body; he knew the man in the light must be an incredibly powerful master.
The middle-aged man looked at the dead Zerg in a pool of green blood, then looked back and studied Wang Tong and Charcoal for a second and said
"Pfff... power is less than 100, what a loser."
"Who did you call a loser?!" Wang Tong jumped to his feet and yelled at him. He would not let him mock his victory.
"Of course I was talking about you kiddo. Humph...now, tell me, lad, where is this place?“ The middle-aged man asked contemptuously.
By living with Old Fart for his entire life, Wang Tong had learned a thing or two about dealing with lunatics with grandiose delusions, such as this one in front of him. Instead of answering his questions, Wang Tong asked him back: "Well, Who are you? Shouldn’t you introduce yourself first?"
"You don't know me? Ha-ha... Everyone knows who I am, Have you been living under a rock? Ha ha ha."
Wang Tong could feel that great energy was carried with his ostentatious laughter. However, he also felt that the power had quickly faded away once it was outside of the light, leaving only the sound to reverberate in the dark parts of the cave.
"Save your nonsense, who the heck are you?"
"I am ...I am..." The middle-aged man seemed to be scrapping his memory.
One minute later...
"Old timer, have you remembered who you are yet?" Wang Tong asked.
The middle-aged man was still pondering about his name and had since changed his “thinking” position n-times. All the while, Wang Tong had already finished dressing his wound to stop the bleeding. He did not have the luxury of worrying about infections, applying a simple dressing was all that he could do; the rest was up to his fate.
"Damn, I have forgotten who I am... Anyways, all you need to know about me is that I am a prominent person, well-known too, and I was the grandest of the grand masters. Many rookies have dreamed of becoming my disciples, rookies like you. "
"And?" Wang Tong slanted his eyebrow perfunctorily. He was unimpressed, Mr. grandest of the grand could be just another Old Fart.
"And?...and...and I hereby offer you an opportunity to become my disciple, you little sh*t. You may kneel now and offer your hundred kowtows to your new master; I might be so moved after that and consider teaching you one of my coup de graces." The middle-aged man said excitedly and with a smirk on his face. He had already overcome the depression of forgetting his own identity.
Wang Tong was dumbfounded by the man's “kind gesture”, he asked Charcoal: "Have you ever seen a Space Crystal do this? What the heck is happening right now?" Charcoal looked in the direction of the light, not sure where to look besides the bright light.
Before Charcoal could reply to his question, Wang Tong turned to the middle-aged man in the bright light and barked at him, "And you, you can Kowtow my ass!"
"Kiddo, save your energy, only you will be able to see me. Balls, who the heck sealed me inside of this crystal?... humm… humm? The Hall of Valhalla? ... bakh! I can’t remember. It doesn’t matter, the fact that you could break the Sigil of Matrix Gaol means that our destinies were bound to be crossed." Although the middle-aged man seemed to be suffering from dementia, he also appeared to be very absent-minded, and he likely wouldn’t be bothered by trivial things like forgetting his own name.
"Break the Sigil?"
"That is correct; this was primarily due to your simple and pure genes."
Wang Tong laughed in joy: "Does that mean my genes are superior? Ha, I knew I was special."
"Piss on that, it only means that you and all of your ancestors were poor peasants, that was what made your genes 'simple'. Most families would have already altered their genes if they could afford it."
The middle aged man not only doused Wang Tong's high spirit with cold water, but he also touched on something personal. Wang Tong pouted and said, "I don't even know my parents, let alone my ancestors."
The man seemed shocked: "Fine, it doesn’t matter; lords and princelings all had peasant ancestors at some point in time. Come, let me teach you a few moves and you should be near invincible in this world. Ahh, I forgot to ask, what year is it and where are we?"
"It is 2565, we are inside of a mine cave on the planet of Norton in the Centaur Galaxy, and we are surrounded by Zerg forces."
"2565...When was I...balls, I can't remember. Doesn't matter, no need to fret lad, they are just bugs, let's fight our way out. Even a massive Zerg army barely poses a threat to me. I recall the days of....of...Bahh, I can't remember...." The expression on the face of the middle-aged man seemed to suggest that he was either a genius or an idiot.
Wang Tong was eager to discover whether the man would truly be of help, but the man's capriciousness had quickly used up Wang Tong’s patience.
"Hey old timer, don’t just talk, show me how you kill an ant."
"Boom.."
Amidst the light, Wang Tong could see that the middle-aged man seemed to have caused something to explode and released a wave of power, however as soon as the power propagated to the edge of the light, it dissipated immediately. The light seemed to have contained the middle-aged man's power.
The man had attempted the explosion a few more times and finally gave up his retaliation of insults. He turned to Wang Tong and asked helplessly, "Lad, let’s make a deal. I will teach you how to fight, and you will take me to Valhalla. I can still vaguely remember that the reason for my imprisonment has something to do with Valhalla. Perhaps it's the jerks who live there that jailed me in here."
"Dear Sir, do you happen to know what is this place called Valhalla and how to get there?" Wang Tong stared at the man like watching a halfwit. Even babes knew that Valhalla, the sacred hall built by the Blade Warriors, was as legendary and mysterious as the Blade Warriors themselves. It was a place of eternity and invincibility and was said to exist in the Astral Realm, a place that can only be reached by the decedents and the disciples of General Li Feng.
Despite his naive question, Wang Tong had a gut feeling that this man was the real deal. Although his soul storm blast was confined within the light, its power looked very impressive to Wang Tong.
"It doesn’t matter; this is a great deal for you. Once you have helped me to reach Valhalla, I will teach you a set of powerful tactics. What do you think of that?"
The middle-aged man seemed to be too eager to become Wang Tong’s master.
Wang Tong thought about his offer for a second and asked suspiciously:"Why are you so insistent to have me as your disciple? What’s in it for you?"
One should beware of deceptions as much as blatant animosities.
This was another one of Old Fart's favorite life lessons, this one, in particular, was told to Wang Tong everytime Old Fart had lost his pocket money in obvious street scams.
"What's in it for me?... Yea, what is it?... Why would I offer to teach you the tactic?" The man seemed dumbfounded by his own actions as if something or someone had controlled his consciousness to say things that he didn't mean to.
The middle-aged man soon returned to his normal self, coming out of his lost memories and said, "Doesn't matter what's in it for me, let's first talk about you. What kind of garbage have you been practicing? Who would need a trap to capture a low-level Zerg? And you almost got yourself killed! I remember those days..."
He suddenly realized that he could no longer remember those days and waved his arms in frustration.
"I was practicing the ‘Tactics of the Blade’." Wang Tong was confident about his answer. The version he had been practicing required sixteen GN nodes instead of eight in the conventional version, it ought to impress the middle-aged man.
"The ‘Tactics of the Blade’?" The middle-aged man said in disbelief and laughed ostentatiously: "Wahahaha... If that were the ‘Tactics of the Blade’, then I would be a Blade Warrior!"
"It really is called the ‘Tactics of the Blade’, it is a common tactic to improve the strength of EMF for us, humans, mind opened or not! It's not just me who calls it that, everyone else does, and my version requires using sixteen GN nodes, unlike the eight nodes in the conventional version."
Wang Tong said it indignantly, he held more respect for Old Fart and his tactic than this middle aged man who had so far shown him more words than actions.
"Humf" The middle-aged man suddenly shifted his eyes and gazed at Wang Tong as if he were studying him. Bright lights shone in his eyes, and Wang Tong felt as if his thoughts were naked under his penetrating gaze. A translucent scene of Wang Tong practicing the tactic appeared in the light, in front of the man's eyes.
"Interesting... who would have thought the ‘Tactics of the Blade’ could be dumbed down into a useless piece of garbage like this? I wonder what the real Blade Warriors would think of this dumbed-down knock-off version of their almost invincible tactics. Time can do terrible things… Lad, do you want to learn the real ‘Tactics of the Blade’? "
"Yes!" Wang Tong nodded without hesitation. No one would pass up the opportunity to learn the tactic used by the legendary Blade Warriors. They were the legends themselves, some even say they were the embodiment of the Gods. Their power which helped humans to win the Great War four hundred years ago surpassed even the technological capabilities of the current era.
But could Wang Tong really be so lucky as to have the chance to learn the real “Tactics of the Blade”? Wang Tong became suspicious again.
"What's the catch?" Wang Tong asked. He knew there were no free lunches.
The middle-aged man sighed and said, "There are none. I only want you to bring me out of the crystal from time to time; it’s really stuffy in there. Look, lad, without me, you will never be able to get out of here in one piece anyways."
"That's fair," Wang Tong nodded. "Umm... there's just one more question that I have, and I’m not sure if it’s appropriate to ask."
"F*ck it, spit it out and be a man, don't act like a baby."
"Okay... Are you a… bully?"
...An awkward silence filled up the cave...
"WHHHOAAT?
"Me? Excuse you! I happen to be the most honorable, the most famous as well as the most revered Einherjar in this world. How could I be a bully? Question my honor again, and I will beat you to a pulp!" The middle-aged man shrieked at Wang Tong furiously.
Wang Tong shrugged his shoulders. Although this middle-aged man's violent inclination and aggressive temperament were close to that of a bully, Wang Tong felt that he was not wretched in his heart.
"Fine, you want me to start the disciple initiation? Let's do it now."
"No need for the initiation, I'll teach you how to fight, in return, you will help me to break free from my imprisonment. We wouldn't owe each other anything."
"Whatever you want, let's start the lessons then." Wang Tong couldn't wait to learn more power and stronger abilities.
"Very well, here we go: The source of human's strength is the sea of consciousness, the stronger the sea of consciousness, the more power one gets. And the ‘Tactics of the Blade’, I mean the real one, was the most effective way to strengthen one's sea of consciousness. "
"Are you really a Blade Warrior? Please don't be; otherwise, I would be very disappointed."
"Piss on you, of course, I’m not!"
"Then where have you learned the real ‘Tactics of the Blade’? Haven't you just told me that only the Blade Warriors knew how to use it? Furthermore, if you are indeed that bad ass, why were you trapped inside the crystal?"
Wang Tong's questions came one after another; he clearly still doubted his new teacher's credibility.
"Balls, you are one hell of a fastidious kid. Yes, what I am about to teach you is indeed the ‘Tactics of the Blade’, and no, I have never learned it myself. I personally used a different kind of tactics which I may or may not want to teach you.
Anyhow, as you know, I am now trapped inside of this crystal sealed by the Sigil of Matrix Gaol, not only my body but also my consciousness was imprisoned and controlled by the power inside the Sigil. Now the power wants me to teach you the ‘Tactics of the Blade’. Therefore I have to; otherwise, it would torment me until I do so. Believe me or not, I have told you the truth."
"Why didn't you tell me earlier? Well fine then, I will give it a try; my situation can’t get any worse, and nobody cares about my well being anyway. Since you can't remember your name, I'll have to pick a nickname for you, let's see, you had insisted that you were an Einherjar, although you could never prove it, how about I call you Einherjar-Wannabe."
"No, not a wannabe, I am one of the Einherjars!” Einherjar-Wannabe protested.
"Come on Mr. Wannabe, Einherjars are the greatest of the great fighters who definitely would not care to argue over something as trivial as a nickname?” Wang Tong's words had rendered Mr. Wannabe speechless. Wang Tong always had been good at dealing with conceited old fools.
"Kiddo, the ‘Tactics of the Blade’ is one of the most powerful tactics that has ever existed, it was created by the Blade Warriors, and only the Blade Warriors themselves have used it. I have no clue how the tactic got inside the crystal, and neither do I have any idea why the power inside the Sigil wanted me to teach you that.
“Anyhow, I have taken a look at the tactic, and it is not that difficult nor is it that different than the ‘Tactics of the Blade’ you have been practicing. The only difference is in the number of GN nodes it requires to be mobilized, instead of 8 or 16, it requires two hundred and fifty-six GN nodes. Every node has to revolve around your EMF fluently without interruption.
“Since I have never learned it myself, I can only teach you the basics; it will then be up to you to master it. I do believe you can do it though, the power inside the Sigil wouldn't have chosen you to learn it for no reason."
"I told you I was special" Wang Tong cracked a smile.
Mr. Wannabe scowled at Wang Tong for his over confidence. A diagram emerged out of the crystal's bright light, and it was the anatomy of a human covered with red dots. Upon closer inspection, Wang Tong realized these red dots were the GN nodes, and without counting, he knew right away that there must be two hundred and fifty-six of them in total.
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