Support Should Put Some Points into Defense

The next day.

At the hour of Chen, the rising sun was scattering faint light, shining through the peach grove of Peach Blossom Spring Academy.

Yet in the classroom of Peach Blossom Spring Academy, the sound of smacks had already begun ringing out, accompanied by a young girl's cries of pain.

"You were a full two quarters of an hour late. Thirty strikes on the palm. If you're late again next time, the punishment doubles. Understood?"

Su Ran held the bamboo ruler and struck Ning Rongrong's palm a full thirty times.

The pain left Ning Rongrong's eyes brimming with tears, her face full of resentment as she clutched her purpled palm.

"I only slept a little longer, and you hit my palm thirty times. Teacher, you're way too much! I'm dropping out! I'm going to Shrek Academy next door!"

This teacher had no idea how to be tender toward a girl!

"As expected of a Support System Soul Master. Your body is still too weak."

"If you want to drop out and go to Shrek, fine. Think it through yourself."

Su Ran shook his head and ignored Ning Rongrong's willfulness. This disciple simply needed training.

He walked straight into the classroom and wrote several large words across the blackboard in bold, sweeping strokes, setting them as the topic of today's lesson:

The Core Training of Support System Soul Masters

Clearly, today had originally been a lesson Su Ran had prepared for Ning Rongrong.

Were you going to learn or not?!

Wang Sheng stood beside her and, very sensibly, tried to persuade her.

"Student Rongrong, Teacher's exclusive lessons are hard to come by. Why don't you listen to Teacher's class first before deciding whether to drop out?"

Ning Rongrong's face was full of grievance. Even at home, the elders in her family had never punished her like this. This Teacher Su Ran had actually shown no mercy and struck her palm thirty times. Her little hand was swollen from the beating!

"Hmph, I'll just listen and see what you can teach me!"

Ning Rongrong glanced at this heartless Teacher Su Ran and remembered something Wang Sheng had said yesterday.

The reason Teacher Su Ran wore a mask was because he was very good-looking.

No matter how good-looking he was, with such a ruthless heart, he would never find a girlfriend!

She wanted to see exactly how good-looking this Teacher Su Ran was! And just what he could teach!

Otherwise, she would have joined this academy for no reason, learned nothing at all, not even seen the teacher's face, and gotten her palm smacked too. That would be far too much of a loss!

Ning Rongrong sat down with a face full of grievance.

Because Wang Sheng was not a Direct Disciple, he only stood off to the side and listened in. The main target of the instruction was still Ning Rongrong.

"Show me your Martial Soul."

Su Ran spoke calmly.

Ning Rongrong unwillingly stretched out that small hand that had been struck and was still trembling slightly. A glow radiated from her body, and the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda appeared in her hand.

"The Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda is hailed as the finest Support System Martial Soul on the continent."

"Of course it is." Ning Rongrong was very confident in her Martial Soul.

"Unfortunately, Support System Martial Souls have too many limitations. In many situations, they're no different from useless Martial Souls."

But Su Ran's next sentence made Ning Rongrong unable to keep smiling.

A useless pagoda? This was publicly recognized as the number one support Martial Soul on the entire continent!

"It's not," Ning Rongrong said, pouting.

"Let me ask you. What are you Support System Soul Masters best at?"

"Boosts and healing, bringing teammates an increase in strength or giving them endurance."

"Then let me ask you. What is the weakness of you support types?"

"Of course it's lacking offensive power and being unable to fight alone. That's a common problem for all Support System Soul Masters."

Ning Rongrong curled her lip.

"Don't tell me you're trying to say that just because my body is a little weak and I don't have killing power, the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda is a useless Martial Soul? If that's Teacher's level... it's average."

Although she had witnessed Su Ran's strength yesterday, if he dared to belittle her Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda, she would still get angry.

The Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda was a Support System Martial Soul to begin with. Of course it did not possess any powerful strength itself; instead, it made teammates stronger. Otherwise, why would it be called support?

"No. What I'm saying is that not only the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda, but the vast majority of support Martial Souls are useless Martial Souls in the early stages. The role they can play in a Soul Master's battle is far too limited."

Su Ran spoke calmly.

Ning Rongrong's face was clearly filled with defiance.

"If support is so unbearable, then why is there an iron rule in Soul Master Duels: kill the support first?"

"Support can make the people on a team stronger, even letting them fight above their level. Teacher, don't you even understand that?"

"Yes. Support can indeed make teammates stronger. I don't deny that."

Su Ran spoke calmly.

"But have you ever considered one problem? In a Soul Master Duel, a Support System Soul Master's weakness isn't a lack of killing power, but the burden caused by insufficient ability to protect themselves."

"In the vast majority of teams, a Support System Soul Master needs a Defense System Soul Master or an Assault System Soul Master to protect them. That means that in a seven-person Soul Master team, the addition of a support type directly cuts the team's offensive strength by two-sevenths."

"And the boost a Support System brings to the team—taking the early-stage standard of the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda as an example—can raise a Soul Master's strength and speed by twenty percent respectively, and it can't rapidly apply this buff to the entire team. Even if we calculate it by the increase in the whole team's overall strength, it's only 20% x 5/7 = 1/7."

"Only when you become a four-ring Soul Ancestor, and your Soul Skills can bring a forty percent increase—40% x 5/7 = 2/7—can you barely offset the burden you place on the team. Only above four rings can you bring a practical enhancement to the team."

"Do you see the problem? The boost a Support System Soul Master brings to a team is weaker than simply not using a Support System Soul Master and replacing them directly with two Assault System Soul Masters, Control System Soul Masters, or Agile Attack System Soul Masters."

Su Ran calmly calculated a Soul Master formula for Ning Rongrong on the blackboard.

Although Ning Rongrong couldn't understand the calculation, she was deeply shocked.

Because this was the first time she had ever seen someone use numerical calculation to express the role a Support System Soul Master played in a team.

It was far too novel.

But she still felt a little uncomfortable. No matter what system a Soul Master belonged to, if Teacher said their Martial Soul was actually a burden to the team, wouldn't anyone feel uncomfortable?

"I'm not listening, I'm not listening. I don't believe it."

"Then why do almost all Soul Master teams use Support Soul Masters?"

Ning Rongrong was about to break down.

"Because the strong become stronger. When there is a Soul Master on the team whose strength surpasses everyone else's, the value of a Support System's boost—or healing—will be magnified. The premise of what I said is that the Soul Masters on both teams are equal in strength."

Su Ran smiled faintly.

"You don't need to be anxious either. I have a third formula here."

"If a Support System Soul Master doesn't need teammates to protect them and has the ability to protect themselves, then how much strengthening and weakening does a Support System Soul Master bring to the team?"

"If that's the case, the strength weakened in the team is only 1/7, while the boost is at least 20% x 6/7 = 1.2/7."

Wang Sheng, who had been standing honestly at the edge of the classroom taking notes, answered first.

"What if a Support System Soul Master also has attack power?"

"Then the advantage would expand even further."

"Hey? Wait, how is a Support System Soul Master supposed to protect themselves? And how could they possibly have attack power?!"

Ning Rongrong's little brain suffered a tremendous impact.

Teacher Su Ran, who wore the Immortal Dragon Mask, only said calmly, "This is the theme of today's lesson: a Support System should put some points into defense."

"Before this class officially begins, if you still want to drop out, you can leave right now. I, Su Ran, never teach disciples whose hearts are not sincere, who are half-hearted, or who might betray me at any time."