The Real Deal

Wang Tong looked at the clusters of red dots scattered around the image of human anatomy, and he realized that the locations of the centers of the clusters matched exactly to the positions of the sixteen GN nodes in the Old Fart's version of the tactic.

"Have you noticed the flickering red dots on the right hand? Let's focus on that cluster today." Mr. Wannabe said, "I’ll teach you, but I need you to focus—b*lls, I never would have thought that I would be a teacher one day—Anyways, Wang Tong, you need to channel your soul power out of your Sea of Consciousness."

Wang Tong followed Mr. Wannabe's instruction carefully. Slowly but surely, he channeled his soul energy towards the sixteen GN nodes on his right hand as indicated on the diagram.

"Excellent, but that was the easy part, now pay close attention to what I say. You need to direct your soul energy into each and every GN node; you should do it one at a time because it would be impossible for you to control them all at once, at least for now. The more you practice the tactics, the stronger the synergy between the soul energy and the GN nodes becomes.”

Mr. Wannabe's tone started to get serious; it signaled to Wang Tong that there were great difficulties ahead. Mr. Wannabe was very interested in learning the tactics himself; however, that would mean that he would have to give up all of the existing power that he had gained by practicing his own tactics. In addition to that, Mr. Wannabe had heard that there were only a few chosen ones who could master the “Tactics of the Blade”. He was unsure whether he would succeed and he thought that it was better to play safe.

“Position your soul power towards the first GN node; enter the node on my command- now!”

Wang Tong gritted his teeth, released a pulse of soul energy towards the first GN node. He had gone through all of this when he practiced his version of the tactics, so he knew what to do. But after he saw Mr. Wannabe’s serious and somber face, he figured it must be much harder than his previous practices.

"Kommm..."

Wang Tong's soul energy connected to the first node, the second node…the third node... without any further instruction from Mr. Wannabe; Wang Tong had easily taken control of all sixteen nodes using his soul energy.

"Mr. Wannabe, am I done?" Wang Tong asked Wannabe in confusion, this practice was too easy, nothing like what Wannabe had described earlier. Perhaps this version of the “Tactics of the Blade” was also a knockoff like the others?

Mr. Wannabe seemed to be embarrassed by Wang Tong’s question; he said "Yes, you are done. That will be it for today, keep practicing." He then quickly disappeared with the light. Right before the light went out, Wang Tong could hear Mr. Wannabe grunt peevishly to himself: "Pff... Beginner’s luck."

Wang Tong didn't mind if it was just a case of beginner's luck or not, he practiced with the sixteen new GN nodes every day with great enthusiasm. The sixteen new nodes formed their own system of revolution; it formed an additional system to the larger scale GN nodes revolving around his entire body.

Although it took Wang Tong a long time to get used to the interaction between the smaller system in his right hand and the body-wide system, he found the challenging new practice very refreshing. He had gotten tired of the Old Fart's version of the tactic a long time ago, anything new was more than welcome; what’s more, it was the real deal practiced by the Blade Warriors.

It was two days later when Mr. Wannabe re-emerged out of the crystal again. Wang Tong’s ability must have shocked him. "Kiddo, show me what you got so far."

Wang Tong channeled his soul energy to the GN nodes, and at his command, they circled each other fluidly. Without much effort, he had finished one entire round of practice. Wang Tong had been practicing the “Tactics of the Blade” ever since he was six, although he had never felt it useful then, Old Fart insisted on supervising his practice every day. Old Fart couldn’t have been more serious about Wang Tong’s practice, unlike anything else about Wang Tong. He had to see to it that Wang Tong finished the entire round of practice and that Wang Tong had practiced to the best of his best ability.

"Hmm... Are you sure you aren’t related to the Blade Warriors? Well, I mean, you did very well, now, try using your soul energy on the cave wall."

Without asking any questions, Wang Tong dug his heel into the ground and punched the wall with his bare fist. A thunderous crash shook the entire cave; rocks on the top of the mine cave fell at the impact. The cave had suddenly filled with powdery dust. Wang Tong's punch had put a giant crack in the wall.

"You D*mb-A*s! I told you to give it an air-punch using your soul energy, not a physical punch. You almost buried us alive." Mr. Wannabe yelled at Wang Tong outraged. If Wang Tong were buried alive here, he would never be able to get out of the crystal again.

Wang Tong scratched his head and looked embarrassed, but then joy quickly appeared on his face. He’d never thought that he could have so much strength; his entire body had been filled with soul energy when he delivered the punch.

"Was that the power of the GN force?"

Mr. Wannabe sneered at Wang Tong; his eyes were cold and contemptuous. His dismay and discouragement really haven’t made him a great teacher "Of course not... the human race would have been doomed if that's all that the GN force could do.

What you released a moment ago was merely the power stored inside of your EMF, perhaps there was a trace amount of GN force that resulted from the revolving GN nodes, but the amount was negligible. You won’t be able to use the GN force until you have fully mastered the complete version of the ‘Tactics of the Blade’."

Despite what Wannabe said, Wang Tong sensed a tinge of approval in his tone. Wannabe had been amazed at Wang Tong’s ability to quickly master the “Tactics of the Blade” which was known for its tremendous difficulty.

For the month that followed, Wang Tong had to live a destitute life in the cave. He had depleted his rations and had started to use plant leaves in the Nutrient Transformer to create nutrient pills in order to survive.

Wang Tong did not mind the horrible tastes of the artificial pills; he had spent most of his attention on practicing the tactics. He had never been so devoted to his training, despite the daily squabbles with Mr. Wannabe. All the while, Charcoal looked after his everyday life attentively. When he wasn't busy cooking or cleaning, he stood quietly in a corner without disturbing Wang Tong’s practice. As long as Charcoal was in sight, Wang Tong never felt lonely. Wang Tong felt that Charcoal had gradually become more than a robotic assistant, he had become a friend.

Wang Tong had now finally completed the “Tactics of the Blade”. He didn't feel the excitement that he thought he would, there were no drum rolls or cheers, it just happened, and it happened almost too easily.

At one time Wang Tong even doubted whether he had indeed completed the tactic, even Wannabe wasn't too sure about it, since he had never practiced the “Tactics of the Blade” himself. Their only indication of his progress was the flickering red dots on the human anatomy diagram. Every time one GN node had been connected by Wang Tong’s soul power, one corresponding red dot would disappear from the diagram, and when Wang Tong had connected the two hundred fifty-sixth GN node, all of the red dots were gone.

The two hundred and fifty-six GN nodes revolved around each other, forming an intricate system of moving energy throughout Wang Tong's body. A full round of the tactics would now take an entire day to finish.

It truly was a pity that no one was there to witness such an unprecedented feat. If Wang Tong had done it in broad daylight instead of the pitch dark cave, the five major houses of the Confederation would have sent their men to track down Wang Tong in order to learn his secrets.

This legendary tactic hadn’t stood the test of time, not only did the original version seem to have been lost in time, but the current version had been dumbed down to a pedestrian level. The only use for the current version of the tactic was to help increase the rate of success in a "Mind Opening Operation".

"You did well, lad. The next month we will focus on two things: one, continue your tactic training, and two, real combat. "

"Real fight? Haha! Awesome! I can't wait to test my power. Will I be able to use my GN force then?"

"Idiot, of course not! What’s the hurry anyway? Haven't you learned about the rules of ‘Tactic first, GN force second’ at school?"

"Umm… I have never attended any military academy. So no, I’ve never learned that before."

Unknown to Mr. Wannabe, Wang Tong had been struggling to self-fund his "Mind Opening Operation" just a few months before they met, let alone any academic knowledge seemingly basic to Wannabe.

"Humph, lad, you should thank the gods for the things I have taught you. You would never be able to learn it at any military academy; it is my years of experience as the ..."

"The greatest Einherjar... Blablabla... Yes Mr. Wannabe, I know the rest." Wang Tong cut him off nonchalantly.

"Fine, now listen, this is important. Real combat is not child's play; it's a situation of life and death. Make sure you strike deadly and true. Do you understand me?"

"Ya Ya, Mr. Wannabe, I have survived many times under the Zerg's attacks, I know what I’m doing."

Wang Tong had quickly found his first target, another one of the lower tier Zerg that looked like a spider. It took Wang Tong only a single blow before the Zerg wailed and fell to the ground. A rice bowl sized hole appeared on its belly where Wang Tong had struck, revealing colorful innards.

In his apparent triumph, Wang Tong had underestimated the still struggling Zerg. His own belly was struck by a tossing arm and caused a severe wound that was almost fatal.

Wannabe glared at Wang Tong's wound after they returned to the cave, he didn't say much except for one line that underlined the lesson that Wang Tong had paid in his own blood: "You should only celebrate over dead bodies."