99 Chapter 99: Campfire Invitation (1/2)

”And so Instructor Feng Hai told us that we were selected for the representative team!”

Dong Fang Yue Chu finished off his story to a captivated audience. Harvey watched him in wonder, his eyes shining.

”Awesome! Vice-president Richard is really awesome!” he turned to me. ”You've to teach us how to nuke monsters too!”

”Uh…if you're willing to change your specialization and become an archer, sure.” Then again, it wasn't as if I was purely an archer. I knew swordsmanship as well, because Dad trained me in both archery and swordsmanship. Unfortunately, I sucked at bare-handed combat. Fighting with purely my fists (and kicks) would be to my detriment, especially against a skilled combatant. And obviously I couldn't handle a spear, staff, axe, hammer or other weapons. I mean, I was not even proficient with a whip (Ophiuchus). Honestly, that was just me randomly flailing around than actually wielding a whip effectively. As long as it worked, I didn't care.

”Hmm…that will be difficult. I think I should just learn the sword from you.”

”If that's the case, you're better off learning from my dad.”

Harvey nodded thoughtfully, conceding the point. After all, I learned everything from Dad. So it was natural that learning from the master himself was the most efficient method to grow stronger.

Stan seemed to agree.

”We should head to your dad's dojo afterward. He's in today, right?”

”Yeah.” There was a reason why Stan sought confirmation. Dad sometimes left for missions, which normally took several days or even weeks. When that happened, there was no point going to the dojo except for self-training. And we could just do self-training at home. That said, the dojo was still an ideal place to train undisturbed. ”My dad is home today.”

”Sounds good. Let's all go together after this.” Dong Fang Yue Chu asserted his position as the president and made the declaration. Everyone nodded their consent, even Wang Fei, who was the least enthusiastic of us.

”It also sounds like your fire magic has gotten a lot stronger, President,” Stan remarked as he returned to the topic at hand. Dong Fang Yue Chu grinned as he puffed his chest out.

”I know, right?”

”President Dong Fang, can you nuke monsters like Vice-president Richard?” Harvey asked somewhat innocently. Dong Fang Yue Chu grimaced.

”I…don't think so. I don't have a fire spell that massive.”

”…oh.”

Harvey sounded disappointed, which annoyed Dong Fang Yue Chu.

”Hey! Come on! I contributed to the battle too, you know?! It wasn't as if Richard was the only one fighting and killing monsters!”

”Yeah, Yue Chu incinerated a lot of those Crimson Spiders, even though they are heat-resistant. You should know how impressive that is.” I was trying to cement Dong Fang Yue Chu's authority. After all, he was the president, and deserved respect. He had clearly earned it. ”Without him, I wouldn't be able to cast Rigel at all.”

”That's true,” Harvey conceded. ”I guess that's why teamwork is so important.” He scowled. ”The education system places too much emphasis on individual ranking and neglects teamwork and cooperation.”

”It happens.” I shook my head bitterly. It wasn't just in the present. In the long distant past, where I came from, the Asian education systems had tended to emphasize too much on grades and test scores, valuing rote learning and memorization over creativity and flexibility. Sports and other activities were overlooked in favor of academic results. It was the same no matter what time period you were in. ”But they've realized it and began to change.”

Fortunately, that also happened in the past, where the government realized the changing needs of the present and altered the academic curriculum accordingly, to allow for more flexibility and creativity. After all, not everyone could be a white-collar worker. A nation also relied heavily on blue-collar workers and a vast repertoire of technical skills.

”Anyway, let's get ready. My dad is waiting for us.”

Okay, that wasn't really true. Dad was most likely spending his time watching anime, and would only pause his recordings to train us in the dojo.

We were in the midst of preparing to leave when there was a knock on the door. Dong Fang Yue Chu glanced up.

”Come in!” he hollered.

The door swung open, and Alicia walked in, relief evident on her pretty face.

”Oh, good. You guys haven't left yet.”

”What's up?” I asked, puzzled to see her. The president of Black Rose rarely visited our society room in person.

”Are you guys available this Saturday?” Alicia asked.

”Nope,” I replied, but the others answered in the affirmative.

”Yup!”

”Yeah.”

”I think so.”

”I'm always available!”