Chapter 57: Chapter 49: Battle of Stars
Long Yi looked around. All the spectators were wildly excited. Even though he couldn’t hear what they were saying, they must be cheering for me, right?
Nope, that’s not what they were talking about.
"Damn it! I paid twenty credits just for this crap?"
"I thought that legendary Anonymous would be really strong, but turns out he is only a pathetic One-Star!"
"Isn’t it? Aren’t those his only skills? Invisibility and assassination? That is so outdated!"
Among the audience, there were two men who stayed silent. Dressed in black robes, their faces were hidden, only a golden hand on each of their bodies was visible.
One left hand, one right hand.
Those familiar with the Dragon God Space knew that these were the renowned "Golden Hands" partnership inside.
"These fools have no idea, this twenty credits they paid is totally worth it."
Said the Golden Left Hand.
"Yeah, this Anonymous guy, he figured out the One-Star clown’s movement trajectory in just two moves. I don’t believe he has a dog nose that can sense his own blood to find his opponent."
Golden Right Hand said.
"But the final move of that One-Star wasn’t that simple, even I was completely caught off guard the first time. Anonymous made an accurate judgement in such a short time, such calmness, it’s truly terrifying. Who could he be?"
The gaze of Golden Left Hand was totally fixed on Anonymous, but this fighting style, it was totally unlike anyone he knew. Moreover, would a First Year be able to afford a hundred-credit battle space every time?
There was this audacious Long Yi who emerged among the First Year recently, this strangely named guy was quite popular recently. But he didn’t believe this was Long Yi, because in his view, Long Yi’s fighting style was brutally unsophisticated, totally unlike this extremely calm man.
Golden Right Hand pondered for a while then said, "Do you think it might be Lei Zhen from the Seventh Year? This kid loves to play rookie and impersonates a newbie every time he advances grade and his credits reset to zero. Plus, he also loves bare hand combat. Seventh Year is when you officially enlist, ever since he advanced to Seventh Year, he has been executing tasks outside. He just returned recently, he seems more likely."
Golden Left Hand listened and nodded, "If it’s Lei Zhen, this One-Star clown wasn’t wronged to lose, once Lei Zhen gets crazy, even both of us together can’t stop him. But, the fight style doesn’t match. This Anonymous, is a lot calmer than Lei Zhen."
Golden Right Hand chuckled and said, "Whether it’s him or not, we’ll find out when we meet him tonight. We will get him drunk with three bottles of liquor, he’ll spill everything, and then we will know."
Just then, a deep voice came from behind them.
"You two don’t need to bother, I’m right here."
They quickly turned around, only to see a sturdy man sitting behind them. His eyes gazed at the gradually disappearing Anonymous on the field, expressing an interest.
With a flash of light, the three returned to the private space.
"You asshole, ever since you advanced to the Seventh Year, you’ve forgotten all about your pals, haven’t heard from you for half a year!"
Golden Left Hand and Golden Right Hand took off their hoods, revealing two identical faces that were pale and tender, gender unknowable.
Lei Zhen burst into laughter and said: "I’d love to have heard from you guys, too! These six months have almost worn me down to a dog! Monster activities have become more frequent in this time. The Dragon Rider Camp where I’m stationed, is almost deployed daily. My Hammerhead Dragon can’t even breathe fire anymore, complaing all day! Finally, the campaign ended. Oh right, in the next few months, the higher-ups might release a series of Academy Tasks. Those above Second Year can participate to help clean up the aftermath of the war. Make sure you don’t miss out, do as much as you can."
"Tut, we brothers ain’t interested! Putting our lives at risk for a few measly gold coins and a tiny bit of credits, that’s not as fast as being here."
The Left Hand and Right Hand say almost simultaneously.
"You brothers? Hahaha!" Lei Zhen burst out laughing inexplicably. "But this time, if you guys don’t participate, you are going to miss out big time. It’s not just gold coins and credits this time. This time, it’s about earning merit!"
Damn!
Both of their eyes widened in surprise!
Merit!
In order to encourage the soldiers on the battlefield, the Empire developed a system to calculate military merits. All matters within the army were incorporated into the system of military merits, and were transmuted into a certain value. After a set number of merits were accumulated, they could be immediately exchanged for military honors. You could apply for a promotion, get equipment for free, and even after accruing a certain amount of merits, the Empire would help you buy land and build a house in your hometown, taking care of your children and the elderly. By the time you retired, you would be able to return to your hometown in glory!
Because of this, during wartime, all soldiers fought desperately on the battlefield—killing enemies not only served the country, but could also earn them a great amount of gold coins.
The Left Hand and Right Hand brothers were not lacking in money.
What they needed was glory.
As descendants of a powerful noble family, they never flaunted their status or wealth because it was all inherited. They hoped to attain merits on the battlefield as that was their greatest glory!
Of course, it was not that easy to earn merits. Every enemy on the battlefield, every horse, even every piece of enemy equipment they captured could earn them a certain amount of merits. There weren’t enough merits for all the soldiers, and enemies were not infinite. Moreover, after the seven countries reached a peaceful era, large-scale battles seldomly took place. To earn merits, one could only join the Third Legion, but unfortunately, the Third Legion did not consider them worthy as they allegedly lacked vigor!
Damn it, where do we lack vigor?
Now, the much-desired merits had appeared.
"I’m telling you, this is a secret. Even the Emperor hasn’t been informed yet. So, don’t let anyone else know or else you will only have yourselves to blame if you miss out on the rewards."
Lei Zhen warned.
"Rest assured, there will definitely not be a fourth person who will know about this."
Right Hand eagerly said.
Lei Zhen nodded, sat down heavily, and took a deep breath before beginning to speak.
"During this half-year assessment, the Empire even dispatched the four White Dragon Knights. In the initial month alone, the White Dragon Knights were dispatched four times! My God, I always thought that the White Dragons were no big deal, but when I saw the White Dragon Knights in action, I realized that we so-called Dragon Knights are like feeble moths in front of them. By the way, I heard that the White Dragon Knights attended the opening ceremony recently?"
"Yes, all four White Dragon Knights attended the ceremony. Elsa was incredibly beautiful; it was as if she was glowing!"
Golden Left Hand said wistfully.
"Yes, especially Elsa. Only sixteen years old, but she already possesses eight dragon marks. The monsters that we struggled with for seven days were frozen into ice sculptures with just one strike from her. A swing of the Dragon-slaying Sword, and all the ice sculptures turned into pieces. Oh yes, a few days ago during her final mission, she was wearing a pure white tight body armor! Her figure! Goodness! I bet my life, that body armor is definitely from the Elves! Even her new dazzling Dragon-slaying Sword should have definitely been crafted by the Elves. It’s absolutely magnificent! The sword suits her brilliantly!"
Lei Zhen rarely showed such a reaction. But it was clear that he, like all men who had seen Elsa, was entirely enchanted by her beauty.
Golden Right Hand laughed at Lei Zhen’s words, "Haha, you big fool, we didn’t see what the white body armor looked like, but the dazzling Dragon-slaying Sword was actually a gift from a first-year student from our school who is even taller than you! Moreover, that taller fool almost killed the Third Prince in front of the Emperor! That isn’t even the craziest part, he even demanded a ’thank you’ from the Emperor before handing over the half-dead Third Prince!"
"Holy shit, is he so badass? Is he the son of the First Legion’s commander?" Lei Zhen’s face showed disbelief.
Golden Right Hand continued, "No, the boy is a blacksmith’s son and his parents are dead. During the period just after school started, he beat up the entire Second Year Air Force Division. After that, Kai Long’s useless granddaughter Ai Lin suddenly showed her strength and defeated the entire Second Year Land Forces Department. Now what we know is that he has a good relationship with Iron Blood Prime Minister Kai Long’s granddaughter. That Wesley who likes to snoop around seems to be close to him. It seems that the fat one and the skinny one from the Elvins family are also close to him."
At this point, Golden Right Hand paused and said with a mocking look, "I don’t know what Elsa’s tight body armor looks like, but that girl named Ai Lin has recently been flaunting around the school in silver armor. It appears that she also changed after meeting Long Yi, just like Elsa."
After hearing this, Lei Zhen was silent for a moment, then chuckled, "Are you suggesting that I, a seventh-year student who has already joined the army, should bully a newbie?"
Right Hand heard this and laughed, "Yes, that’s exactly what I was thinking."
Lei Zhen, however, burst into laughter, "Alright then, bullying it shall be. After all, isn’t it natural for a senior to bully a junior?!"
Once One-Star returned to his private space, Two-Star and Three-Star looked at him.
"I did my best, but I’m still not his match. I’ve realized the gap between us, and I think it’s time for me to leave for a while. I need to find the battle that truly belongs to me!"
After speaking, One-Star nodded at Two-Star and Three-Star. Without waiting for their responses, he slowly disappeared. They all understood that if One-Star couldn’t find his true strength this time around, he would not return.
"Next time, it’s my turn."
Two-Star said quietly.
