Chapter 9: Manliness is Impulsiveness (2/2)

It is, therefore, easy to see why the number one priority of any EMF cultivation method on the market was to maintain a proper speed of progression. People naturally avoided the tactics that were too ”effective” and instead, they favored ones that were less effective. This had led to the popularity of the current version of the Tactics of the Blade, thanks to it having little to no effect on EMF.

In his current condition, Wang Tong was very close to the state of derangement if he was not already there. Filled with rage, he had started a mindless killing spree and, in the blink of an eye, a few hundred Zergs had been slaughtered by him.

Wang Tong slumped to the ground after he could no longer find a target. The wind rustled his thatched hair as his pupils returned, but his face was deprived of any emotion. The booming battleground had suddenly fallen into complete silence; sadness permeated the blood tinged air. Wang Tong sat on the ground like an empty husk.

For the first time in his fifteen and a half years of life, he tasted real sadness in his mouth.

A streak of bright light brought the apparition of Wannabe out of the crystal. He saw Wang Tong sitting still on the ground, and turned to look at the piles of Zerg corpses. He sighed slightly and said, ”What a reckless but genuine fool, no wonder the power in the crystal chose him. Lad, there's a long way ahead of you, be strong.”

Wang Tong saw the sun that heated his face as he opened his eyes, the bright light brought back his consciousness. Without saying a word, he stood up to look for the remains of Charcoal. He crawled on hands and knees on the ground to examine cracks and gaps in a giant pile of Zergs corpses. Finally, out of a metal box, he found Charcoal's central mainframe which was miraculously unharmed. Wang Tong blew off the dust and tucked it under his arm very carefully.

”Ouch!” Wang Tong felt a sudden shock of unbearable pain as if he had fractured every piece of bone in his body.

”Kiddo, you should thank the gods for still being alive.” Mr. Wannabe's apparition drifted into Wang Tong's view.

Wang Tong cracked a broad smile, and said, ”What happened? Am I still alive?”

”If you knew that Charcoal could be revived using his well protected main frame, then why did you risk your own life? You almost paid for your recklessness with your life! And mine too!”

Wang Tong scratched his head and said: ”My bad, I should have thought twice.“ Wang Tong felt that Mr. Wannabe always seemed to overly stress about his own life, Wang Tong had never heard of an Einherjar as cowardly and selfish as him.

”Anyhow, you have to understand that battles like this happen all the time in a war and you cannot save everybody-You are not an Einherjar! You were lucky this time to be able to unlock your GN force in a fluke. You were even luckier to be able to pull back from your unbalanced mental state, and by the way, your GN power was not impressive at all, you need much more training in order to use it properly.”

Wang Tong sometimes wondered if hurting his pride would bring Mr. Wannabe joy.

”Yeah, Yeah, I got it.”

”Fine, I'll give you a day-off from training tomorrow,” Mr. Wannabe disappeared into the crystal after he had finished talking with Wang Tong.

At the relief of his day-off, Wang Tong suddenly felt Mr. Wannabe was more approachable. Wang Tong patted Charcoal's mainframe tucked safely underneath his arm. He would never regret saving his friend, even if it meant to risk his own life.

A man is gonna do what a man is gonna do. At least now he wouldn't have to feel bad about leaving his friend to die.

”...Ouch!”

Wang Tong stumbled limply towards the mine gate; he counted himself fortunate to still have four limbs attached to his body.

This hellish day had seasoned Wang Tong in the art of battle. He had gained many insights and wisdom from this miraculous journey to the very edge of life.

It took Wang Tong thirty minutes to eventually reach the mine. All the while, he had been on alert for any more Zergs - he had learned it the hard way to never let his guard down, like a real soldier. He then thought it was ironic that he had always wanted to become a scientist, but now it seemed that he was much better at punching Zerg's brains out than squeezing pipettes.

After Wang Tong had reached the inside of the mine, he sat down immediately to practice the tactic. He knew that he could only bring out his full potential after he was utterly exhausted so he could not waste such an excellent opportunity.

While practicing the tactic, Wang Tong felt that his body had gained an additional singularity of energy in addition to the EMF. This new center node was called Dantian, a nexus of free-flowing GN forces inside of his body. It seemed that his near-derangement had led him towards the first step in unlocking the full power of his GN force.

To Wang Tong's amazement, he had finished one round of tactics in just five hours, a process that usually took him nearly a day to complete since he learned it from Wannabe. He felt famished and started munching handfuls of nutrient pills. He carefully stored Charcoal's mainframe into the space crystal. He decided to revive Charcoal after he returned to Earth, no matter how slim that chance was.

Without Charcoal, Wang Tong's life started to become lonely. Although Mr. Wannabe was still around, he was just a shadow in the light after all, and unlike the obedient and quiet Charcoal, Mr. Wannabe had high expectations and was never happy with Wang Tong's progress.

Wang Tong knew that Charcoal's tragedy was partially his fault, guilt and shame had motivated him to train even harder. He had become absorbed in Mr. Wannabe's hellish training program.

Mr. Wannabe never provided any specific instructions on the matter of the tactic itself, he had never learned the tactic himself after all; instead, he often provided insights on the battlefield based on his own experiences. Wang Tong appreciated the value of these lessons. No matter how contemptuous Mr. Wannabe's criticism sounded, Wang Tong knew deep in his heart that Mr. Wannabe no, the honorable Einherjar was right about everything.