The lights on the training grounds were still on.
After the evening's match had ended, the groundskeeper hadn't had a chance to turn them off. The white Soul Power lamps brightly illuminated the entire field. Fragments of the stone steps Tang San had smashed when he was kicked away still littered the ground.
Oscar stepped over the rubble and walked to the center of the field, glancing back at the two people following him.
Ning Rongrong walked to the opposite side, stopping about fifteen meters away from Oscar.
Her blue skirt looked vivid beneath the lights. A thin belt around her waist accentuated its slender curve.
Xiao Wu didn't join them. She leaned against a stone pillar by the edge of the training grounds, the hem of her long pink gauze skirt spread out in a small pool on the ground.
Her crystal high heels were crossed, and her Scorpion Braid rested against her chest. She propped her chin on one hand, looking ready to enjoy the show.
There weren't many people left on the training grounds. A few students passing by stopped to watch from a distance.
Oscar rolled his wrists and neck. His joints cracked twice.
"Ning Rongrong, let me make one thing clear first: don't cry if you lose."
Ning Rongrong ignored him.
Oscar glanced over the girl's stance. Her feet were slightly apart, her center of gravity steady, the heels of her ankle boots planted in the seams between the flagstones. She looked ready to spring into action.
Looking closely, both girls had the faintest hint of a smile on their lips. What did that mean?
Oscar couldn't help feeling a little uneasy again.
Something was off tonight. First, Xiao Wu had suddenly turned into a monster and beaten Tang San up. Now Ning Rongrong looked so confident. Had the two of them taken some kind of miraculous pill together?
But he dismissed the thought almost as soon as it crossed his mind. The fight was about to start; he couldn't afford to get distracted.
Oscar took a deep breath and flipped his right hand forward.
"Third Soul Skill, Speedy Flight Mushroom Sausage!"
Soul Power surged, and a grayish-brown Mushroom Sausage took shape in Oscar's palm. It was one of his signature Soul Skills. After eating it, a pair of transparent wings would sprout from his back, allowing him to fly.
When fighting an auxiliary-type Soul Master like Ning Rongrong, Oscar's plan was simple: eat the Mushroom Sausage to gain the ability to fly, then dive down from the air and defeat her with a single move. A level 59 support-type Soul Master couldn't withstand a level 64 Soul Emperor's close-range attack.
Across from him, Ning Rongrong moved too.
She pressed her hands together, and a miniature Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda took shape above her head, radiating a gentle, multicolored light.
"The Seven Treasures turn, and the Glazed Pagoda appears! Seven Treasures Have Names!"
"First: Strength!"
"Second: Speed!"
Two beams of light shot out from the Glazed Pagoda and fell upon Ning Rongrong. Her strength and speed were enhanced at the same time.
Oscar took one look and scoffed.
"That's it? You're using the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda to boost yourself? You're not an attack-type Soul Master. What good are strength and speed going to do you? Just wait until I finish my Flying Mushroom Sausage. I'll beat you to a pulp!"
With that, Oscar raised the grayish-brown Mushroom Sausage to his mouth and opened wide to take a bite.
His teeth had just touched its skin.
A pair of eyes appeared in his field of vision.
Ning Rongrong's eyes—no, something was wrong.
Her once-gentle eyes changed in an instant. Her pupils stretched into vertical slits, and her whites took on a cold, dark-gold sheen. A snake's eyes. They had no warmth, no emotion, only an oppressive force that chilled him to the bone.
The change lasted less than half a second.
Medusa's Gaze!
Ning Rongrong merely thought those words to herself. She made no sound.
Oscar heard nothing. He only saw Ning Rongrong's eyes seem to flash, then he bit down.
Crack.
Oscar's face twisted instantly.
A violent pain shot from his front teeth through his entire skull. It felt like he'd bitten into a rock.
No, he had bitten into a rock!
Oscar lowered his head and stared at the thing in his hand.
A second ago, it had been grayish-brown, smelled of mushrooms, and was soft and springy. Now his Flying Mushroom Sausage had turned into a gray-white rock. It still had the shape of a Mushroom Sausage, but its surface was rough and it was heavy—solid stone.
A sharp, stabbing ache shot through Oscar's front teeth. He ran his tongue over them and found that his left front tooth was already loose.
"What... what happened?"
Oscar stared blankly at the rock, turning it this way and that. He couldn't understand what had happened at all.
At the edge of the training grounds, Xiao Wu was already doubled over with laughter.
"Ahahaha! Oscar, where'd you find a rock to stuff in your mouth?"
Xiao Wu's Scorpion Braid bounced with her laughter. Her rabbit-ear hair ornament had tilted to one side, and she stamped her crystal high heels against the flagstones several times, laughing so hard she could barely stay on her feet.
Oscar's face turned red, then pale.
He was just about to say something when a moving figure caught his eye.
Ning Rongrong moved.
With the strength and speed boosts from the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda, Ning Rongrong moved far faster than usual. Her blue skirt whipped up a gust of wind as her legs, sheathed in white stockings, moved in quick succession. Her ankle boots struck the flagstones in a rapid, steady rhythm.
The fifteen-meter gap vanished in the blink of an eye.
Oscar was still caught up in the question: Where's my sausage? Damn it, who'd swapped it for a rock?
His Flying Mushroom Sausage had turned to stone. He had no ability to fly, no advantage in the air, and as a food-type Soul Master, close combat was his greatest weakness.
With the strength boost from the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda, Ning Rongrong's right fist shot straight toward Oscar's face.
Thud! Her fist landed squarely on Oscar's face.
His nose gave a sharp crack, and his whole body flew backward. The front tooth that had already been loose was knocked right out of its socket, flying through the air with a thin streak of blood and landing three meters away.
Oscar's body rolled twice across the ground before his back slammed into the low railing at the edge of the training grounds with a dull clang.
The few students watching from the field were all stunned.
Oscar lay at the foot of the railing, his head ringing and the taste of blood filling his mouth.
His tongue swept over his gums. The spot where his left front tooth had been was now an empty gap, and the breeze blew through it, making it ache with a chill.
Before Oscar could even get up, a pair of ankle boots stopped in front of him.
Ning Rongrong looked down at him, her blue skirt swaying in front of his eyes. Her snake-like eyes had returned to normal, but her expression was cold, her brows faintly knitted. There wasn't the slightest trace of a smile.
"Ah! A ghost! A ghost!" Oscar shouted, scrambling backward. Both hands scrabbled wildly at the ground, and his boots slipped on the flagstones. He was a complete mess.
Ning Rongrong took a step forward, and Oscar shrank back.
"Don't ask me if I want a sausage again. Got it?"
Ning Rongrong's voice wasn't loud, but every word rang out clearly.
"Otherwise, every time I hear you ask, I'll hit you. Understand? Answer me if you understand."
Oscar leaned against the railing, one hand covering his mouth. Blood seeped between his fingers.
"I understand, I understand!"
Oscar bobbed his head like a pecking chicken, afraid that even a moment's delay would earn him another punch.
Ning Rongrong straightened up, brushed off her skirt, and turned around. "Xiao Wu, let's go."
At her words, Oscar shrank back again. He thought Ning Rongrong was going to turn around and hit him once more. Instead, she didn't even look back and walked straight toward Xiao Wu.
Xiao Wu had laughed so hard she was crouching on the ground, both hands braced on her knees, shoulders shaking. She hadn't even noticed that her rabbit-ear hair ornament had fallen to the ground.
"Let's go, Rongrong. Time to head back."
"Mm."
The two girls walked side by side toward the women's dormitory, leaving Oscar leaning against the railing, his mouth full of blood, his front tooth knocked out, and his Flying Mushroom Sausage turned to stone.
He was as dazed as if he'd been struck by lightning, his mind a complete blank.
What kind of day was this, anyway?