I, Fang Heng, Feel Great

Combat artificers in Aethelria had always faced one problem: how to further improve the control efficiency of Flexible Constructs.

Four-Winged Dance was one such technique. It controlled four wing surfaces at once, allowing a Clockwork Sprite to enter a high-speed flight posture in the shortest possible time. Developed by the combat artificer Roken-J-Rodlinka in Aethelria's history, it and Short-Range Takeoff had always been a dazzling pair of Twin Stars, as well as one of the foundations of advanced control techniques.

After the Star Gate Era, these two techniques had been used as the benchmark for measuring the standards of Second World combat artificers. It would not be wrong to call them fundamental techniques that every top combat artificer had to master.

In fact, this was also the only takeoff method Fang Heng knew.

Almost all of his techniques came from Second World videos, along with the experiences and notes of various "experts." He had certainly put considerable thought into them himself, but they were all unorthodox methods—and as for the basic takeoff techniques discussed in the Chosen Combat Artificer Handbook...

Sorry, Fang Heng had never read the Chosen Combat Artificer Handbook.

Naturally, he had no idea at the moment how shocking his actions were, having entered a state of total concentration. Only after overtaking three or four Clockwork Sprites did Fang Heng realize he might have been showing off too much, so he slowed down slightly.

But that was only what he considered slowing down—

In everyone else's eyes, Fang Heng's Clockwork Sprite was like a golden meteor, streaking straight into the first stage's artificial obstacle zone. Compared to it, the other Clockwork Sprites seemed like clockwork snails.

The venue fell silent.

Only distant exclamations came from the direction of the main competition grounds, where the first round of the official event also seemed to be underway.

Every Clockwork Sprite slowed sharply upon entering the artificial obstacle zone. Compared to that, Fang Heng's so-called "deceleration" was like an unleashed wild dog running freely across the plains.

Fang Heng quickly noticed this as well.

He had overtaken another three Clockwork Sprites and was still thoroughly puzzled—hadn't he already slowed down? But the artificial obstacle zone was right ahead, so he had no choice but to refocus.

Only when he truly stood on the field did Fang Heng realize how ingenious the obstacle layout was. From a participant's perspective, unlike that of a spectator, the internal structure of the artificial obstacle zone was positioned to obscure itself from view.

In other words, the controller could only observe its complex interior through the visual link with the Clockwork Sprite.

This invisibly increased the difficulty by a great deal.

Only then did he somewhat understand why so many people had failed at the first stage. But this was no problem at all for him. Fang Heng raised his left hand and clicked the brass outer ring of his goggles a few times.

Most people failed to notice that subtle movement.

Only Blood Night Demon Moon, who had just been about to sit down, straightened up again with a startled look on her face. Like her, quite a few people in the contestants' seats let out low cries. "Wide Field of View Mode—?"

This was a movement whose meaning only combat artificers understood.

Clockwork Sprites possessed three scouting modes—Normal Mode, Narrow Field of View Mode, and Wide Field of View Mode.

Wide Field of View Mode was somewhat like a wide-angle lens. Through the Visual Link Crystal's own capabilities, it provided the controller with a broader field of vision. But circular vision did not suit human visual habits, so it was generally only used for special tasks—overlooking a battlefield, monitoring a large area, and so on.

In confined spaces and during high-speed movement, however, Wide Field of View Mode was not suitable. Under those conditions, combat artificers needed to maintain intense focus and good reaction speed. Excessive visual information would only interfere with judgment and divide their attention.

"So is this guy insane? Is he deliberately doing the opposite?"

The contestants around the venue could not help exchanging baffled looks.

The Chosen Combat Artificer Handbook stated clearly that Wide Field of View Mode was forbidden in tasks involving confined spaces and high-speed movement. It was a classic major rule. So had this guy simply slept through Chosen training?

But Fang Heng was neither insane, nor had he ever attended Chosen training.

In fact, he had always believed that Wide Field of View Mode was designed specifically for situations like this—confined spaces and high-speed movement. It made it easier for him to remember the spatial layout above, below, ahead, and behind. He believed that under such conditions, what was needed was not reaction speed.

It was information—

The moment Wide Field of View Mode activated, the entire artificial obstacle zone looked completely different in Fang Heng's eyes. The state of the space—front, back, above, and below—naturally formed itself in his mind.

Every obstacle, every dead end, every trap, and the layout of every passage entered his memory. He raised his head slightly, brought his five fingers together, and swept them from the lower left to the upper right. The Clockwork Sprite suddenly rose and slipped into the narrowest passage at an unimaginable angle.

Everyone could not help crying out.

They had all nearly thought the Clockwork Sprite had crashed, but the contact sensor outside the artificial zone did not sound.

That Clockwork Sprite was like a little fairy dancing through a dense forest, incomparably nimble. The tangled thorns seemed like its own backyard as it strolled through them with graceful ease.

The crowd involuntarily sucked in breath after breath.

The dwarf referee even leaped down from his table, ran two steps closer, and checked the buzzer. Only after confirming there was no problem did he raise his head and stare in shock toward Arena Twelve.

Meanwhile, Fang Heng stood there in his goggles, utterly unaware of everything around him.

"He didn't slow down."

Someone gasped.

A whole group of people looked as though their eyes were about to fall out. Short-Range Takeoff and Four-Winged Dance might still have been within the contestants' understanding, but the ability Fang Heng displayed at this moment had already gone beyond their imagination.

Even top combat artificers returning from the Second World could not possibly pass through this artificial obstacle zone without slowing down at all, right?

They could not help thinking so.

Even the fat man stared blankly, unable to stop himself from rubbing his eyes.

Among the crowd, only Blood Night Demon Moon slowly sat back down. But the words from her conversation with that person echoed inside her head—

"Your calculating and analytical abilities are both good, but the path of a combat artificer isn't suitable for you."

"Have you ever seen the dance of a Clockwork Sprite?"

"When you see it one day, you'll understand."

"Someone with that kind of talent... even now, I've only ever seen one."

And someone like that?

She looked at Fang Heng, her eyes filled with disbelief.

At last, Fang Heng flew out of the obstacle zone. He used his hand to switch back to Normal Mode—in an open area, using Wide Field of View Mode always felt rather strange to him. But then he suddenly realized—there were no Clockwork Sprites ahead of him anymore.

That meant he had flown into first place.

Cold sweat immediately broke out on Fang Heng's forehead.

To be honest, with military personnel right beside him, he had never intended to stand out so much. All he wanted was the prize money. Wiping away sweat, Fang Heng could not help feeling somewhat annoyed. "Why are these people so slow?"

He had clearly already slowed down so much.

He had actually adjusted himself according to the level of that Jefflitte Redcoats combat artificer, suppressing his performance to a level below the other's. He had thought that would put him roughly on par with everyone else.

But Fang Heng's single-celled brain had clearly forgotten one thing: Kaka had flown like that in midair, while he had been happily flying like that inside an obstacle zone.

Just as he was feeling at a loss, the corner of his vision caught a streak of golden light emerging from the artificial obstacle zone—it was another Clockwork Sprite. It even flew directly over his head in an overtly provocative manner, then shot into the curved corridor ahead.

Yet Fang Heng did not feel provoked in the slightest.

In fact, he was even a little delighted. As long as I'm not first, it's fine. Second place shouldn't attract so much attention, right? Fang Heng's thoughts were filled with innocent naivety, so he confidently followed after it.

He simply lowered his speed further and followed behind the other sprite at an unhurried pace.

But Fang Heng never imagined that doing so would instead instantly enrage the other party.

The Clockwork Sprite suddenly came to a sharp stop ahead, then turned and charged straight at him. Fang Heng jumped in fright and hurriedly dodged. At the critical moment, the two Clockwork Sprites crossed paths in midair.

Seeing that dangerous scene, the people around them could not help crying out.

But before Fang Heng could breathe a sigh of relief, that Clockwork Sprite refused to let up. It plunged after him and prepared to ram him again. "Is this person crazy?" Fang Heng was momentarily flustered. He remembered that getting hit meant elimination.

But though he was flustered, his reactions were extremely practiced, as if by instinct. His right hand turned, and he could almost hear Silver Rail spinning rapidly beneath the cloth curtain.

The Clockwork Sprite traced a precise arc, dodging the other within an incredibly small space.

The two Clockwork Sprites danced above and below each other like golden beetles during mating season, leaving everyone dazzled in the blink of an eye. One was determined to ram, while the other was determined to dodge. Both sides' reactions and movements were astonishingly fast, leaving the surrounding spectators dumbfounded.

First, no one had expected such a scene to occur in a competition.

Second, no one had expected it to be so spectacular.

It took the dwarf referee quite a while to react. He grabbed his loudspeaker in exasperation and shrieked, "Contestant Number Six, watch your behavior!"

Only then did that Clockwork Sprite come to a sharp stop in midair.

After hesitating for a moment, it finally flew forward.

Only then did Fang Heng breathe a sigh of relief. He could not help opening one eye and looking toward Contestant Number Six's position.

What he had not expected was that the other person was also looking in his direction. The first thing he saw was a pair of cold yet remarkably beautiful eyes—those of a young man. The other party looked at him with some indifference, his gaze lingering on Fang Heng as though he intended to remember him.

But like Fang Heng, he wore a long cloak with the hood drawn up and the collar raised, revealing only his eyes. His features were almost impossible to make out.

All Fang Heng could vaguely tell was that he was an exceptionally handsome young man.

Then the other party turned away.

Fang Heng froze for a moment, then had no choice but to refocus—the competition was not over yet.

During their earlier clash, two Clockwork Sprites had overtaken them one after the other. But Fang Heng was not worried. In fact, this was exactly what he wanted. He naively believed that the lower his ranking, the less attention he would attract.

The second stage, the curved corridor, was one of the easier parts of the competition. The contestants began accelerating here one after another, while Fang Heng had become even more "experienced."

He was slowing down.

Right before everyone's eyes.

The spectators watched the scene with utterly bewildered expressions.

At first, they thought the previous clash had exhausted Contestant Twelve's energy and lowered his control level, so it was only natural that he had slowed somewhat.

"Ha," the fat man seemed to have found his voice again. Turning to introduce Fang Heng to the others, he said, "Looks like this guy's all flash and no stamina. His technique is passable, but he can't keep it up—"

What a pity the first assessment did not require rankings.

He secretly felt a little regretful.

But he soon could not regret it anymore.

Under everyone's gaze, Clockwork Sprite Number Twelve continued slowing down, even falling all the way to third from last. At that point, even an idiot could tell that this guy was deliberately reducing his speed.

What exactly was this guy thinking?

Everyone was utterly confused.

No matter how much one's control level declined, it should not look as though a completely different person had taken over. The dwarf referee in the distance turned alternately green and pale. If not for the competition rules, he would have loved to give this guy a warning for passive competition.

But Fang Heng knew nothing about any of this.

He was even faintly pleased with himself. This should count as being more mature and steady, right? he thought. Miss Scarpe had once told him that standing out in Aethelria was not always a good thing.

Now, he deeply agreed.

"Miss Scarpe, the newcomer from the Dawnstar Adventurer Group is gradually growing too," Fang Heng silently thought to himself.

But even the curved corridor had an end.

Soon, he reached the entrance to the third stage, and Fang Heng was at a loss again. He did not know how else he could slow down here. If he reduced his speed any further, he would stall and fall in the turbulent currents.

The third stage was undoubtedly the most difficult part of the competition, and everyone without exception found it troublesome.

Outstanding combat artificers worried about how to fly better and faster.

Poor combat artificers worried about how to safely reach the finish line.

Fang Heng worried about how to fly slower.

But he had no choice but to grit his teeth and fly in.

Thus, a bizarre spectacle appeared.

Everyone saw Clockwork Sprite Number Twelve being buffeted left and right by the airflow, swaying as though it might be eliminated at any moment. Yet it remained as steady as a rock. No matter how low or perilous its flight became, no matter how outrageous its posture looked, it simply would not hit the ground.

Not only did it not hit the ground, it overtook the Clockwork Sprites ahead one after another.

Fang Heng became so anxious that sweat covered his forehead. But what worried him was not how to clear the stage—it was how to let the others overtake him. Carrying that endless conflict in his heart, he crossed the finish line third.

He could not help letting out a long sigh.

Then he lifted his goggles.

And then?

There was no then.

Because the moment Fang Heng removed his goggles, he saw that nearly every pair of eyes in the entire competition zone was focused on him, staring wide-eyed.

He immediately froze and stammered, "Y-you... why are you all looking at me?"

"I'm... I'm only third place?"

Our protagonist was steady as a POI. Also, please vote and add this to your collection.