Left to the Dirt..

Cheng Tu and Bao Bao stood three feet away from her, eyes wide, and mouths open. They seemed to be drooling as they stared at Xi Lian's badge. Bao Bao stomped over to her with fists on her waists, and tip-toed to get a better view of her badge.

"We've only been gone for two hours and you already left us to the dirt!" Bao Bao pouted angrily.

Cheng Tu also tried to get a closer look. "A blue-rank badge is different compared to the red-rank badge. I never noticed it before when I looked at other people's badges but the blue-rank badge shows us the amount of points we need to surpass the person one position ahead of us."

Xi Lian nodded, "That's right. The person one spot ahead of me should have 95 points. I have 79 points right now, and the badge says I need 17 points to get ahead of him."

The edges of Bao Bao's pouted lips dipped down slightly, "If your points come to a halt but the person in front of you keeps getting more points then the gap would widen. This is so stressful", she shook her head.

"Relax," Xi Lian said, "It's only the second day and we're ahead of the game. How did you guys do?"

They flashed a smile and held up their badges at the same time, showing Xi Lian. 'Little Rabbit, 18 points. Bao Bao, 14 points.' Although the points were a bit lower than expected, it was quite reasonable...It must have taken them a long time keep finding opponents for two hours. And they seemed happy anyways, she didn't want to let down their spirits. She gave them a thumps up and bright smile.

Cheng Tu was unexpectedly determined, "Boss Lian, we won't let you down! We'll keep getting points and catch up to you!"

"Un! But I realized how far the gap is between my skills and the older students. I had to find freshmen to duel with when I saw how fluently the older students used their equipment. The lab didn't have a lot of freshmen either...at this rate I won't be able to duel if I can't find opponents."

Xi Lian rubbed Bao Bao's head softly and guided her, "Don't be intimidated by the skill of others. All you have to do is improve your own skill. One day, you will stand high above those you had feared and realize your worries were for nothing."

Cheng Tu also rubbed Bao Bao's head full of soft hair, "Bao Bao don't be discouraged! You have your friends here to help you!"

Bao Bao glared at Cheng Tu, "Little Rabbit, you're not qualified to put your hand on my head!"

He quickly took his hand back and stammered, "Wh--What, why? I have more points than you!"

"Wait until you're silver-ranked!" Then changing her attitude into an obedient child waiting to be pet, she faced her Boss Lian and fawned over here, "Of course, Boss Lian is always qualified! After all, she's a blue-rank now!"

"But you said silver-rank..."

"Shut up! Boss Lian doesn't have to be any rank to love me alright?"

Cheng Tu felt pain, 'This fawning is too over the top!'

Xi Lian realized something. 'Being fawned over by a child three years younger is quite nice and relaxing...'

"Oh right, did you guys know there was a school forum?"

Cheng Tu perked up at the sudden change of topic, "I heard of it today, a girl asked me for my forum username and asked if she could post my pictures in archery on it."

Bao Bao asked, "We have a school forum? I didn't know that!"

Xi Lian nodded. "Let's make our accounts right now. Just double tap that button on the right of your badge." The three of them made their accounts and followed each other. Cheng Tu's username was Little_Rabbit, Bao Bao's was LittleCuteBaby, and of course, Xi Lian's was Daoist_Food.

"If you have any contacts here, then contact them and tell them about your account. I have an idea that needs a lot of followers." Bao Bao and Cheng Tu grunted in agreement.

Xi Lian busily typed to the list of sixty contacts on her badge while the other two finished quickly. When Xi Lian was done, she checked the amount of followers her two friends had.

They awkwardly stood there when she saw that they only had two followers. Her, and the other. She sighed helplessly. It really couldn't be helped at all, if she hadn't expanded her contact circle through duels earlier then she would have been the same as them.

"It's alright", she said, "Next time when you duel then just ask the crowd to show support by following you on the forum." They nodded embarrassingly.

"So what was your idea?" Bao Bao asked.

"We can use the school forum to our advantage. Seeing the forum full of threads with the same idea I had, it means the idea isn't new. We can make our opponents come to us, instead of us trying to find them. It saves our time and most importantly, we could list requirements for our opponents. But most threads like these are ignored if you're not known because it's a waste of time for higher-ranks. Higher-rank students don't care much about three point single duels. However, I can show the notification I have as the first freshman to reach blue-rank this year to attract more people. I can add the two of you as owners of the thread as well so more people find about you guys."

Cheng Tu didn't show any expression but he asked, "It's unknown whether it'll work or not. There's a high probability that our thread will just be flooded away with all the other threads and no one challenges us."

"We can always try." Xi Lian was also uncertain but she wanted to try other means.

"Isn't there any other way to earn faster points than single duels? Besides earning one fourth the opponent's points using three variety duels I mean..."

Bao Bao suggested, "What about the point events?"

"Point events only occur once per month to help students suddenly gain more points. We still don't know when this month's event is."

Bao Bao grinned, "Well, we do now! Look at the newly updated thread listed as number one, it's tomorrow!"

Cheng Tu and Xi Lian scrolled up on their screens and found the thread. However, the thread contained only a few sentences:

The monthly point event is finally here! September's point event is tomorrow! The event will be a marathon from two to four in the evening. Everyone interested in obtaining more points will meet up at Area G Park. Be sure to put on sunblock, don't skip breakfast, and pack your weapons!

Cheng Tu was the first to speak, "There's no rules. The school will probably tell us the rules when we reach there tomorrow."

Bao Bao gave her analysis, "It seems fairly simple. But something's wrong with the last few words."

Xi Lian murmured, "That's right. Telling us to pack our weapons is a warning and a hint."