Tempest of the Battlefield Chapter 47

"Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me." Samantha clenched his jaws at the feeling of being humiliated.

Ma Xiaoru cracked a smile after noticing Samantha's taut face. "You are the one that makes the rules in Ayrlarng. It is only a matter of time before he came under your thumb."

"True that." Samantha loosened her jaw slightly and hissed: "We have to remind him who he is messing with. Time to give him the wake-up call."

"Which trick in your bag are you going to pull out this time?"

"Come closer." A dim light gleamed in Samantha's eyes as she whispered in Ma Xiaoru's ear.

Ma Xiaoru hesitated: "Are you sure?"

"Why not? It's also a rare opportunity to see who he really is. Two birds, one stone!" Samantha pressed on. As an expert in psychology, she understood that road blocks in a love affair were bound to inflame desire and torment the infatuated soul, but it would also drive them to work harder. It was necessary for an insolent teenager like Wang Tong to gain some degree of respect and appreciation for the love that was otherwise too easy to obtain.

It had been a relaxing and joyful weekend for Wang Tong. Well rested, he sauntered toward his classroom on Monday morning. Just like every other day, the fans of Ma Xiaoru and Hu Yangxuan had already been waiting outside of the classroom. They let out a wave of screams in fits of uncontrollable excitement after seeing their adored idols.

Wang Tong heaved a sigh at the sight of the mindless craze. Should these students spent half their zeal on their study instead of pointless teenage-crushes, Ayrlarng would have already restored its former glory. Wang Tong reckoned that the problem at Ayrlarng was with the students. Thinking of Samantha's strenuous and unfaltering effort toward a difficult if not impossible goal, Wang Tong felt sympathetic toward her for the first time. "Perhaps, I had misunderstood her," Wang Tong thought to himself.

Ma Xiaoru sat down beside Wang Tong. She smiled broadly at him and looked at him as if an old friend. But something behind her smile nagged at Wang Tong, making him feel disquieting. He told himself that perhaps he was thinking too much and then dived into his study. Wang Tong understood that he had to study hard and work his way up to avoid becoming a cannon fodder after graduation. Unlike the METAL fighters, Battlefield Commanders required a vast amount of knowledge, the ability to make decisions, and above all, control over their emotions. Engrossed in his study, Wang Tong had hardly realized it when the first class was over. He stretched his arms and was ready to take a short break when a classmate approached him and announced that his presence was requested again in the principal's office. His classmates shook their heads as they watched Wang Tong walked out of the classroom. They pondered as to why this seemingly meek Wang Tong would have required the principal's attention for so many times.

Samantha hung up the intercom with Martyrus, principal of the Bernabeu Academy and was perturbed by the conversation, not because of the latter's arrogant and patronizing demeanor, but the real intent behind the message he had brought up to her.

His message was clear: Bernabeu had officially challenged Ayrlarng to a METAL-combat tournament. But it came with stakes that were too high to Samantha's liking. Martyrus had asked for the transferring of two of Samantha's best students: Ma Xiaoru and Hu Yangxuan to Bernabeu in the case of Bernabeu's victory. On the other hand, should Ayrlarng win the tournament, Bernabeu would renounce its prerogative of competing with S-Class Academies, a privilege that was rightfully Ayrlarng's before Martyrus stole it decades ago in a similar ill-intended tournament. To make the matter worse, Martyrus had wrapped his intention in a blatantly unconvincing excuse: "To encourage the students, we need to raise the stakes," as he put it.

"He took me for a green gullible teenage girl!" Samantha hissed in her mind.

Although Samantha knew very well that it was a bait, the reward was tempting enough for her to consider accepting the challenge. The day that Ayrlarng lost the privilege of fighting with the S-Class academies decades ago had marked the turning point from which it had started to fall apart and eventually reached the state so decadent that none of the original sponsors were willing to continue their funding. On the contrary, the Academy of Bernabeu had benefited greatly by sharing the same stage with S-Class academies; the development had also helped their new principal at the time, Martyrus, to establish his authority and rise to power.

Samantha didn't accept the challenge on the spot and asked for more time to consider the matter. However, after she had given it much thought, and in a bout of vindictive rage, Samantha made up her mind to accept the challenge. But before she announced that to Martyrus, she needed to speak to the student that would play the critical role in her plan of revenge.

Samantha straightened her eyeglasses and felt invigorated by the duty of the principal to right what had been wronged for so many years. Should Ayrlarng win the tournament, it would bring a much-needed confidence boost to its students, and with the right to compete with S-Class academies being restored, Ayrlarng would eventually be able to resurface out of its slumber.

Martyrus had outlined the condition of the match: Five winning games were required for the final victory, but Hu Yangxuan and Ma Xiaoru each were allowed to attend only one round. Samantha reckoned that the only person that she could count on to bring in three more wins was Wang Tong, her secret weapon. It seemed like that her personal retribution might have to wait until the tournament was over.

Wang Tong showed up at the door and disturbed Samantha's train of thoughts.

"Principal, you were looking for me?"

"Hehe, yes. Please, grab a seat and help yourself to some tea," Samantha said politely.

"Thanks, but what is it?" Wang Tong was direct to the business. He knew Principal Samantha wouldn't invite him to her office just for some tea.

"Some of your classmates had accused the school of giving you special treatment, and I do see where they are coming from. I know that there are no other available rooms, but you see, most dormitories were shared, not only you have an entire room to yourself, but also it is uncomfortably close to the girl's dormitory number five."

Wang Tong seemed unruffled by her questioning tone. He didn't choose to live there, it was Mr. Simon who had offered him this room in alignment with the school's promise to meet student's basic needs. Wang Tong wanted to argue with Samantha like he always did, but he felt his words melted away in his mouth as Samantha's alluring eyes locked onto his. "What do you think I should do?" Wang Tong heard himself asking her meekly.

Wang Tong's compliant response caught Samantha off guard. "He wants to butter me up because I am Ma Xiaoru's friend." She chuckled in her mind.

"I understand that you have many difficulties in your life so how about this: you can stay where you are, but you will have to take up the responsibility as the caretaker of building number five. It should be an easy job for someone capable like you."

She paused for a second, allowing her words to sink in, and then she said in a stoic tone, "I hope you understand that this is not a request."

Chapter end