I, Fang Heng, Feel Good

The problem that Aethelria's Combat Artificers have always faced is how to further improve the operational efficiency of Flexible Constructs.

Four-Winged Dance is a technique that manipulates four wing surfaces simultaneously, allowing a Clockwork Sprite to enter a high-speed flight posture in the shortest possible time. Developed by Roken-J-Rodlinka, a historical Combat Artificer of Aethelria, it has always been a dazzling Twin Star alongside Short-Range Takeoff, and one of the cornerstones of advanced manipulation techniques.

Since the Star Gate Era, these two techniques have been used as a benchmark for measuring the skill level of Combat Artificers in the Second World, and it would not be an exaggeration to call them essential basic skills for top Combat Artificers.

In fact, this is the only way Fang Heng knows how to take off.

Because almost all of his techniques came from videos from the Second World, as well as the insights and notes of some 'great gods'. Of course, he put in a lot of effort himself, but it was all self-taught—as for the basic takeoff techniques discussed in the Chosen Combat Artificer Handbook.

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

Of course, at this moment, he hadn't realized how astonishing his actions were, as he had entered a state of complete immersion. It was only after surpassing three or four Clockwork Sprites at once that Fang Heng realized he might be showing off a bit too much and slightly slowed down.

But that was only what he thought was slowing down—

In the eyes of others, Fang Heng's Clockwork Sprite was like a golden meteor, streaking directly into the first artificial obstacle zone. Compared to it, the other Clockwork Sprites seemed to have turned into clockwork snails.

The scene was silent.

Only distant bursts of exclamations could be heard from the official competition grounds, where the first round of the main competition also seemed to be underway.

Every Clockwork Sprite would inevitably slow down significantly upon entering the artificial obstacle area, while Fang Heng's so-called 'slowdown' was like a wild dog off its leash, running freely and unrestrained across the open field.

Fang Heng also quickly noticed this.

Because he had overtaken three more Clockwork Sprites, he was quite puzzled—he had clearly slowed down? However, the artificial obstacle zone was already close at hand, and he had to refocus his attention.

It was only when he was truly on the field that Fang Heng realized how cleverly the obstacles were designed. Unlike the spectators' perspective, from the participant's point of view, the internal structure of the artificial obstacle zone was perfectly obscured from each other.

In other words, the operator could only observe the complex internal space by linking visually with the Clockwork Sprite.

This invisibly increased the difficulty significantly.

Only then did he somewhat understand why so many people had failed in the first stage. But this was not a problem for him at all. Fang Heng adjusted the brass outer ring of his goggles with his left hand with a clack.

Most people didn't notice this subtle movement.

Only Blood Night Demon Moon, who was about to sit down, straightened up again, a look of surprise on her face. Like her, many people in the participant seating area let out a low gasp: "Wide Field of View Mode—?"

This was an action whose meaning only Combat Artificers would understand.

Clockwork Sprites had three detection 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. It used the capabilities of the Visual Link Crystal itself to provide the operator with a broader field of vision. However, the circular field of vision did not conform to human visual habits, so it was generally only used in some special missions—such as observing the battlefield from above, monitoring large areas, and so on.

In narrow and high-speed movement states, it was actually not suitable to use Wide Field of View Mode. Because under these two conditions, Combat Artificers needed to concentrate highly and maintain good reaction speed. Excessive visual information would only interfere with judgment and distract attention.

"So is this guy crazy, going against the grain?"

The participating contestants couldn't help but exchange glances.

The Chosen Combat Artificer Handbook clearly stated that Wide Field of View Mode should not be used in narrow and high-speed missions. This was a classic major rule, so was this person sleeping during the Chosen training?

However, Fang Heng was neither crazy nor had he participated in Chosen training.

In fact, he had always believed that Wide Field of View Mode was specifically designed for such situations—narrow and high-speed movement states. Because it made it easier for him to memorize the spatial distribution above, below, front, and back. He believed that what was needed under these conditions was not reaction speed.

But information—

As soon as Wide Field of View Mode was activated, the entire artificial obstacle zone appeared completely different in Fang Heng's eyes. The spatial situation, front, back, up, and down, naturally presented itself in his mind.

The distribution of every obstacle, every dead end, every trap, and every passage was imprinted in his memory. He slightly raised his head, brought his fingers together, and swept from bottom left to top right. The Clockwork Sprite suddenly flew up, entering the narrowest passage at an incredible angle.

Everyone couldn't help but let out a gasp.

They almost thought the Clockwork Sprite had crashed, but the proximity sensors outside the artificial zone did not sound.

The Clockwork Sprite was like a tiny fairy dancing in the dense forest, extremely agile. The overgrown thorns seemed to be its backyard, and it moved leisurely and gracefully within them.

In the crowd, there were involuntary gasps of cold air.

The dwarf referee immediately jumped down from the table, ran a few steps closer, and checked the buzzer. After confirming there were no problems, he looked up in shock in the direction of competition zone twelve.

Fang Heng stood there wearing his goggles, oblivious to everything around him.

"He didn't slow down."

Someone gasped.

Everyone's eyeballs were about to fall out. If Short-Range Takeoff and Four-Winged Dance were still within the participants' scope of understanding, then the ability Fang Heng was currently displaying had already exceeded their imagination.

Even top Combat Artificers, when they returned to this arena from the Second World, couldn't say they could navigate this artificial obstacle zone without slowing down at all, right?

They couldn't help but think so.

Even the fat man was stunned and couldn't help but rub his eyes.

Among the crowd, only Blood Night Demon Moon slowly sat back down, but her mind was buzzing with the conversation she had with that person back then—

"Your calculation and analysis abilities are good, but the path of a Combat Artificer is not suitable for you."

"Have you seen the Dance of the Clockwork Sprites?"

"One day, when you see it, you will understand."

"I've only ever seen one person with this kind of talent in my life."

And such a person?

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

At this moment, Fang Heng finally flew out of the obstacle zone. He used his hand to switch back to Normal Mode – using Wide Field of View Mode in open areas always felt a bit strange to him. However, it was only then that he suddenly realized – there were no more Clockwork Sprites ahead.

This meant he had flown into first place.

Fang Heng broke out in a cold sweat.

To be honest, with military personnel watching nearby, he had never intended to be so conspicuous. All he wanted was the prize money. While wiping away the cold sweat, Fang Heng couldn't help but feel annoyed, thinking, "Why are these people so slow?"

He had clearly slowed down so much.

He had actually adjusted his speed based on the Combat Artificer from the Jefflitte Redcoats, lowering himself to a level below theirs. He thought that would make him about the same as everyone else.

But Fang Heng's single-track mind had clearly forgotten one thing: Kaka was flying in mid-air, while he was joyfully flying within the obstacle zone.

Just as he was feeling a bit lost, a golden light suddenly caught his peripheral vision as it flew out of the artificial obstacle zone – it was another Clockwork Sprite. And with a provocative air, it flew past him overhead, heading straight into the curved corridor ahead.

However, Fang Heng wasn't provoked at all.

In fact, he even felt a little pleased. "As long as I'm not first, second place won't attract as much attention, right?" Fang Heng thought with pure, naive innocence, and then confidently followed behind.

He even further reduced his speed, following leisurely behind the other party.

But Fang Heng never expected that doing so would actually enrage the other party.

The Clockwork Sprite suddenly stopped sharply ahead, then turned and charged directly at him. Fang Heng was startled and quickly dodged. In the nick of time, the two Clockwork Sprites crossed paths in mid-air.

The surrounding onlookers let out a gasp at the thrilling scene.

But before Fang Heng could breathe a sigh of relief, the Clockwork Sprite relentlessly pursued, diving down again to ram him. "Is this person crazy?" Fang Heng became flustered, remembering that being hit meant disqualification.

Despite his flustered state, his reaction was extremely skilled, almost instinctive. With a twist of his right hand, he could almost hear the sound of the silver rail spinning rapidly beneath the fabric.

The Clockwork Sprite drew a precise arc, narrowly evading him within a very small space.

The two Clockwork Sprites danced around each other like golden beetles in mating season, their movements becoming a dazzling spectacle in an instant. One was determined to ram, the other determined to dodge, and both their reactions and movements were astonishingly fast, leaving the onlookers stunned.

Firstly, they hadn't expected such a scene to unfold during the competition.

Secondly, they hadn't expected it to be so spectacular.

After a long while, the gnome referee finally reacted, picking up his megaphone in exasperation and shouting, "Contestant Number Six, mind your actions!"

Only then did the Clockwork Sprite stop abruptly in mid-air.

After a moment of hesitation, it finally flew forward.

Fang Heng finally breathed a sigh of relief and couldn't help but open one eye to look towards the position of contestant number six.

To his surprise, the other party was also looking in his direction. He first saw a pair of cold but quite beautiful eyes – the eyes of a youth. The other party looked at him with a certain indifference, their gaze fixed on him as if to remember him.

However, like him, this person wore a long cloak, pulled up the hood, and the collar was raised, revealing only their eyes, making their appearance almost indistinguishable.

One could only vaguely discern a remarkably handsome and beautiful youth.

Then the other party turned their head away.

Fang Heng blinked and had to refocus – the competition wasn't over yet, after all.

While the two were fighting, two Clockwork Sprites had already overtaken them, one after the other. But Fang Heng wasn't in a hurry; in fact, this suited him perfectly. He naively believed that the further back his rank, the less attention he would attract.

The second stage, the curved corridor, was a relatively simple part of the competition. Contestants began to accelerate here, but Fang Heng had become even more 'experienced.'

He was slowing down.

Under everyone's gaze.

The onlookers watched this scene with utter confusion.

At first, they thought that the previous fight had exhausted the twelfth contestant's energy, causing their control to decline, and thus they had inevitably slowed down a bit.

"Ha," the fat man seemed to have found his voice again and turned to the others, introducing, "This guy seems to be all flash and no substance, his skills are just average, and he doesn't have the stamina--"

Unfortunately, the first assessment didn't require ranking.

He secretly felt a bit of regret.

However, he couldn't continue to feel regret for long.

Because under everyone's watchful eyes, the twelfth Clockwork Sprite was slowing down even further, even falling behind to third-to-last place. At this point, even an idiot could see that this guy was intentionally slowing down.

What on earth was this guy thinking?

Everyone was bewildered.

No matter how much their control declined, it wouldn't suddenly look like a completely different person was operating it. The gnome referee nearby, seeing this, had a look of shifting emotions on his face. If the competition rules hadn't restricted him, he would have loved to issue this guy a warning for passive play.

But Fang Heng was completely unaware of this.

He even felt a little proud, thinking that this was a more mature and steady approach. He thought about how Miss Scarpe had once told him that drawing attention in Aethelria wasn't always a good thing.

Now he wholeheartedly agreed.

"Miss Scarpe, the newcomer from the Dawnstar Adventuring Group, has also gradually grown," Fang Heng thought to himself.

But the curved corridor eventually came to an end.

Soon, he reached the entrance to the third stage, and Fang Heng was once again at a loss. He didn't know how to slow down any further here; if he slowed down any more, he would lose speed in the turbulent currents and fall.

The third stage was undoubtedly the most difficult part of the competition, and everyone, without exception, would get a headache here.

Excellent Combat Artificers got headaches figuring out how to fly better and faster.

Incompetent Combat Artificers got headaches figuring out how to safely reach the finish line.

Fang Heng got a headache figuring out how to fly slower.

But there was no choice; he had to brace himself and fly in.

And then, a spectacle unfolded.

Everyone watched as the Number 12 Clockwork Sprite was buffeted left and right by the air currents, swaying precariously as if it might be disqualified at any moment. Yet, it remained as steady as an old dog. No matter how low or how perilously it flew, or how absurd its flight posture was, it simply refused to land.

Not only did it not land, but it overtook the Clockwork Sprites in front of it, one after another.

Fang Heng couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. However, he wasn't anxious about passing the stage, but rather about how to let others overtake him. With this infinitely conflicted spirit, he was the third to fly across the finish line.

He couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

Then, he lifted his goggles.

And then?

There was no "then."

Because as soon as Fang Heng took off his goggles, he saw that almost all eyes in the entire competition area were focused on him, staring intently.

He was stunned and couldn't help but stammer, "Wh-what are you looking at me for?"

"I-I was third place, wasn't I?"

Our protagonist remained as steady as a POI, and we humbly request votes and collections.