Chapter 293: The Stubborn-Mouthed Kid
After seeing her teammate’s performance and the surprised look from the opposing [Heart]-type extraordinary user, Xu Zhi confirmed that she could indeed “enhance” her teammates. Of course, she could also weaken them—or even strengthen the enemy.
However, enhancing her teammate consumed very little extraordinary energy, whereas severing the [Heart]-type ability had taken quite a bit out of her. At the very least, it was far more difficult than suppressing Chun Ming’s flames.
Seeing that her teammate had successfully landed a strike, and that the opposing [Heart] and [Forge] had already reacted and were about to retaliate, Xu Zhi immediately spoke:
“Don’t move!”
Her target was the enemy, so the ones who received this “command” were also the enemy.
Almost instantly, nearly half of the extraordinary energy within her body was drained. The circuitry of the [Lamp] attribute lit up in that moment, and an invisible shackle formed through her “Cursed Speech,” falling upon her two opponents. In the next instant, they obediently stopped moving—standing stiff and still at a critical moment, as if completely compliant.
Her teammate was shocked, but his actions were decisive—he stabbed each of them once more. The strikes were not fatal. After the two piercing attacks landed, the indicator light signifying victory lit up. In the next second, the two opponents controlled by Xu Zhi regained their ability to move.
There was still confusion in their eyes. Clearly, they had no idea how the match had ended so quickly—they had not even had the chance to make a move.
Blood was still pouring from the wounds inflicted by the triangular stiletto, but since the test environment was equipped with healing-type extraordinary users—and one of the students was a [Heart] type—such external injuries were not a big issue.
As for Xu Zhi’s teammate, the two stabs he delivered while they were immobilized were merely a “statement”—a demonstration that they could freely attack at that moment. He had clearly held back; otherwise, it would not have been just two non-lethal strikes. In an actual battle, that moment of immobilization would have been enough for him to deliver killing blows.
Moreover, both the referee and the supervising system were aware that Xu Zhi still had a “pet” that had not acted. The two immobilized opponents also lacked any ability to resolve the situation. The outcome had effectively been decided at that point, so the system directly declared Xu Zhi’s team the winner.
“That’s not right!”
The large [Forge]-type opponent clutched his still-healing wound, looking dissatisfied as he glared at the [Blade]-type senior.
The senior waved his triangular stiletto with a grin. “What’s not right? At that moment, neither of you had any ability to fight back.”
As he spoke, he cast a subtle glance at Xu Zhi beside him. This freshman was truly a monster.
He had a strange feeling of being carried.
No—more accurately, he really had been carried.
After all, without this junior, the opposing lineup actually countered him. He wouldn’t have been able to win.
…Wait.
Did that mean the grouping had been intentionally arranged to place this freshman here?
“I didn’t even get the chance to make a move!”
The [Forge]-type big guy still looked indignant. In his view, his strength had not been displayed at all—the match ended right after he was ambushed. Who could accept that?
“If you’re not as skilled, don’t try to argue it away.”
The [Blade]-type senior patted his shoulder. This was big news. The freshman’s performance was far beyond expectations. He guessed that many people were already waiting for their match results. After thinking for a moment, he turned to Xu Zhi and asked, “If people ask me about this match later, can I talk about it?”
Xu Zhi nodded calmly. There was nothing that couldn’t be said. In fact, it would be better if future opponents were aware of [Cursed Speech] and came prepared—that would make testing more meaningful.
At that moment, the referee also spoke: “You may leave now. Return to the assembly point and await the second test.”
The test rooms recorded all combat data. After detailed analysis, the data would be sent to analysts, who, together with the system, would determine the next round of opponents.
However, when the data from Xu Zhi’s match was sent over, several analysts showed surprised expressions—including the Director of Studies.
“Hm? This match… exceeded expectations.”
Nearly 95% of battle outcomes fell within their predictions, but Xu Zhi’s match was clearly one of the most unexpected.
“The prior prediction was fifty-fifty, right? Although Xu Zhi’s abilities are powerful, considering she just advanced to the [Longevity] stage, we expected some lack of familiarity. But now it seems she’s not inexperienced in combat at all—the timing was perfect.”
“Though her actual combat ability didn’t show that much. It mainly relied on Cursed Speech.”
“That’s the broken aspect of abilities similar to ‘Word Spirit.’ Without prior knowledge, they’re almost impossible to guard against.”
“They’re at similar levels, yet she could directly suppress them?”
“It looked like she suppressed them for a full three seconds. The question is—how much extraordinary energy did that consume?”
“Probably all of it, right? Suppressing someone at the same level isn’t easy. Without going all out, they could easily break free.”
This was not something they could directly ask Xu Zhi. However, for Xu Zhi, suppressing two extraordinary users of the same level to the point where they could not move did not require her full strength at all.
Of course, since they were at the same level and Cursed Speech itself was not of particularly high rank, she did need to expend more energy than before—but for her unusually large reserves, it was not a problem.
She even felt that if there were more opponents like this, she could control them all at once with Cursed Speech. As long as they were at the same level, it wouldn’t be an issue.
After this test, the next round of opponents would likely be even stronger. And if nothing unexpected happened, she would probably encounter opponents who specifically countered her.
Xu Zhi was quite looking forward to the next test. She also noticed many people approaching her previous teammate and opponents to ask about the match. From time to time, subtle gazes swept toward her—it seemed the seniors were inquiring about her abilities.
Good.
Xu Zhi smiled faintly. It would be best if everyone became wary of her. Otherwise, if it was just one-sided crushing, there would be no fun at all.
During the half-hour break, Xu Zhi had already fully recovered the extraordinary energy she had consumed in the previous match. The advantage of high affinity was evident here. Of course, those who made it into this test all had high affinity—so in the first half hour, everyone seemed to have restored their energy well.
But as battles continued and opponents grew stronger, could they still maintain peak condition?
Xu Zhi was full of anticipation.
She entered the second test room. This time, she actually recognized her teammate—it was the [Heart]-type senior who had been on the opposing side in the previous match.
Xu Zhi tilted her head slightly.
What was the meaning of this?
This senior’s three extraordinary abilities were mostly focused on support and healing—a fairly traditional [Heart] type. However, because her healing and support abilities were both quite strong, she had been selected.
Assigning her such a teammate…
Were they trying to test Xu Zhi’s capability as a primary combatant?
