He had even read plenty of additional books in the library.
Not long ago.
Quantity had brought about a qualitative change.
He felt all his knowledge connect.
Everything he had previously memorized by rote suddenly made sense.
It had truly become his own knowledge.
His results on the last few theory exams had been good.
He had even placed first in the class on the final one.
So, of course, he knew the four criteria for identifying a Troll's attributes.
But these two Trolls were young, only recently reaching adulthood, and their muscles and centers of gravity had yet to develop distinctive traits.
Those criteria therefore could not be used.
He could only judge by their warpaint and bone ornaments.
Combined with the way the two Trolls walked, he could be fairly certain they were agility types.
If Cao Feng refused to listen, that was his business.
But Lu Yi had helped Zhao Chi before, so he still needed to warn her.
He replied in the main class group chat:
[Lu Yi, no matter what happens in a moment, focus all your attacks on the Trolls drawn away by the Shadow Leopards. Shoot their legs out, and you can win.]
[Cao Feng, if you get careless this time, two of your Shadow Leopards will definitely die.]
[Stop yelling at your classmates while sucking up to every noble you see. Even if you lick those nobles' asses, you'll never be one of them.]
[Lu Yi helped me, so I'm warning her. If you want to get yourself killed, that's none of my business.]
[Your dad isn't dead yet. Go learn some manners from him.]
Cao Feng's anger surged.
Zhao Chi's tone sounded like a father lecturing his son.
Cao Feng immediately launched into a torrent of profanity.
A whole string of insults involving family members and genitals followed.
His lackeys joined in, too.
Anyone unaware of the situation would have thought Cao Feng and his lackeys were cursing each other out.
A few students even tried to persuade Cao Feng and his lackeys to stop fighting among themselves.
Zhao Chi looked at the string of voice messages without opening a single one.
Soon, Cao Feng received a warning from the system.
His lackeys were warned as well.
At last, things quieted down.
In this world, strength was everything.
Family background and individual grades were both part of that strength.
Zhao Chi was an orphan. Although he had a clan, he could not rely on it without results. With his poor grades on top of that, he was indeed an easy target for contempt and bullying.
His good relationships with both Li Ruanyu and Lu Yi only made certain people more jealous, turning them against him.
Lu Yi, in particular, had many suitors, leaving Zhao Chi with even more enemies for no good reason.
But Zhao Chi could hardly stop taking tutoring sessions.
After all, having someone tutor him was more than he could ask for.
Besides, Zhao Chi was cautious in everything he did. As long as he made no mistakes, he could remain undefeated.
There were still some friendly classmates, though, such as Yang Xiong and Lu Yi.
"My lord, the rice porridge is ready. Please have a taste."
A gentle voice interrupted Zhao Chi's thoughts.
Chapter 18: Tang Ruan
Gu Qing stood beside him, smiling warmly.
She held a bamboo cup filled with freshly cooked rice porridge.
The piping-hot porridge brought out the bamboo's fragrance.
The scents of rice and bamboo mingled into a pleasant aroma.
Looking at Gu Qing's lovely face and radiant smile, Zhao Chi felt his mood lift.
Tang Ruan and the other women also stood nearby, watching him.
Zhao Chi waved a hand. "Don't just watch me. Start eating. Eat plenty and recover your strength as soon as you can."
They had no bowls or chopsticks at the moment.
The village women used bamboo cups instead, one each, blowing on the steaming porridge as they drank.
Before long, they were sweating all over.
Fine beads of sweat appeared on their foreheads and the tips of their noses.
They kept eating, cup after cup.
They polished off the entire large pot of rice porridge.
Zhao Chi could tell they still wanted more.
So they cooked another pot and kept eating.
He opened the system and saw that their stats had indeed not fully recovered.
Glancing down, he noticed that the class group chat had once again reached 99+ messages.
He tapped into it again.
He browsed through the messages.
The earlier ones were all ordinary chatter.
But the latest messages were all discussing Cao Feng's video.
Cao Feng had posted another video.
It looked like a live recording of the battle.
He seemed determined to prove himself.
At the beginning of the video, his three Shadow Leopards spread out in a triangular formation to draw the attention of the two Trolls.
Lu Yi's five Elves and her Elf hero lined up in a fan formation. They drew their wooden bows and aimed at the Trolls.
After using his skill, Cao Feng gave his orders.
The three Shadow Leopards rapidly approached the Trolls.
They successfully drew the Trolls' attention.
One Shadow Leopard quickly lunged in, bit once, and ran.
The Troll instantly flew into a rage, its speed rising sharply.
Seeing its companion attacked, the other Troll also entered combat.
"Fuck, why is it so fast? Is it really an agility type?"
Cao Feng sounded shocked.
"Cao Feng, have your Shadow Leopards lead them away! Don't go near the Trolls. It's dangerous!"
It was Lu Yi's voice.
"That's fucking impossible! Both these Trolls have their centers of gravity toward the rear, and their arm muscles are just as developed as their leg muscles. How could they be agility types?"
"Forget about that! Get back here!"
"That bastard Zhao Chi..."
"What does this have to do with Zhao Chi? He was right! Get back here now. Everyone, on my command, concentrate your fire on the Troll on the left!"
The Elves loosed their arrows together.
The Shadow Leopards sprinted away, with the Trolls in hot pursuit.
Against strength-type Trolls, the Shadow Leopards could indeed have drawn them away with ease, and with the Elves' arrows supporting them, they could have killed the Trolls without taking any damage.
But agility types were a different matter.
Although the Shadow Leopards were still faster than the agility-type Trolls, kiting them was virtually impossible.
"Watch out! The Trolls are about to throw their stone axes!"
Lu Yi shouted.
"I know! Dodge!"
Cao Feng gave the order nervously.
As a Troll ran at full speed, it hurled its stone axe sideways.
The Shadow Leopard leaped clear.
But another stone axe came flying at it.
"No! It can't dodge!"
Cao Feng shouted anxiously.
Thud!
The stone axe struck the Shadow Leopard and broke its hind leg.
Before you continue