382 Chapter 382: Tank Wars (1/2)

Cain regarded our team from his side of the technical area, his expression unreadable as always.

\”What's your plan, Captain Harrison?\” he wondered, his eyes narrowed. \”Well, not that it matters anyway.\”

The guy was confident that his team would win no matter what we did, or who we chose. I really wanted to show him the finger, but I was too polite to do that. Instead, I suppressed my anger and glanced at our team captain.

Harrison was still pretty calm, despite our teaming being down two matches. He was contemplating for a moment, and then he turned to Theodore.

\”Theodore, this match will be yours.\”

\”Oho! Seems like Captain Harrison has full trust in the veteran third year students of his team! Even though they are down two matches, he is choosing the experienced members! Perhaps that would allow them to mount a comeback?\”

\”…Theodore?\”

\”Who is that?\”

Unlike the commentator, however, the audience seemed puzzled. Theodore, despite being a third year student, did not participate in the national tournament last year. Therefore there wasn't many people outside our school who knew about him. He was a relatively unfamiliar figure on the big stage, as was many of the other students in the team.

Even so…

\”Isn't Jing Tian Academy's faith in their third year students misplaced?\”

\”Yeah, they already lost two matches.\”

\”Wouldn't now be a good opportunity to inject new blood into the team? Allow the younger students to show what they can do?\”

\”What is Captain Harrison doing?\”

As usual, Harrison ignored the armchair commentary from the people who played too much Fantasy Football and thought they could become managers or something. They believed they knew more than the manager, except that they really didn't.

\”I understand!\”

Instead of bowing to pressure and responding to the jeers and mockery from the crowd, Theodore stood strong and nodded resolutely. Rearing to his full height – which was considerable, he stepped onto the stage.

\”You can do it!\” Yue Chu told him. \”Ignore those jerks!\”

\”I…no, we believe in you,\” Sheila added.

\”Show them how it's done!\” Craig shouted enthusiastically, while showing a finger to the crowd who was baying for blood. \”And screw the haters.\”

\”Do your best, and don't place too much pressure on yourself.\” Pearl looked concerned, but if she had any doubts she didn't voice them.

\”You only need to do your best, Theodore.\” Harrison was his usual charismatic self. \”The results will follow naturally.\”

Theodore clenched his fists, visibly moved. I could tell what he was thinking. The whole team has placed their trust in me. I can't let them down. I don't want to be a burden for the team!

\”You're not a burden, and will never be,\” I assured him. \”You will always be an important part of the team, no matter what.\”

Theodore stared at me, surprised, as if he was wondering how I knew what he was thinking. He took a deep breath and nodded.

\”Yeah, thanks.\”

\”Go get them!\” Craig yelled, pumping a fist into the air. Theodore responded with a smile, and stepped onto the stage.

\”You seem to have a lot of confidence in Theodore.\” Pearl turned to Harrison with a smile. \”Do you know something that we don't? Or maybe you've already anticipated who the other team will field?\”

\”Ha ha, yeah.\” Harrison beamed confidently. Seriously?

\”Hey, you're not copying Battle Frenzy, are you?\” I asked suspiciously. \”Deliberately sending Lily and Cody out to lose the first two matches so that they can see the difference between their strengths and those of elite schools, and then mastermind some genius plan to see us overturn the deficit and win eventually? You're not pretending to be Wang Zhong, who's some sort of tactical genius foreseeing every single scenario and planning accordingly, while also being the strongest fighter capable of mastering every single weapon in existence?\”

\”I've no idea what you're talking about,\” Harrison replied smoothly. Like hell you didn't, you pretty boy!

\”So who is Adorno Team sending?\” Pearl asked, dragging us back to the topic at hand. Harrison turned back to her.

\”For this match, they will send…\”

He never got to finish his sentence, for the commentator cut him off. His voice boomed excitedly across the whole arena.

\”Adorno Team's fighter for the fourth match has stepped onto the stage as well! Seems like they are sending their main tank, Roseville!\”

\”…tank?\” I repeated incredulously. \”That's a human, not a tank.\”

\”Oh, come on. You know what they mean.\” Yue Chu rolled his eyes. \”They mean the class of mage who serves as a frontline fighter, drawing all fire and buffing himself with defensive spells to become as durable as possible. They serve as a decoy to absorb the enemies' attacks so that they can protect other teammates.\”

\”Number one, this isn't a game. Number two, what's the fucking point of sending a tank-class in an individual match where there's no other teammates to protect, to serve as a decoy as?!\”

\”I don't know. Ask Skeleton Wizard.\”

I was getting sick of these Battle Frenzy references. They made no sense whatsoever.

Roseville studied Theodore with a smug smirk, and he was clearly looking down on our teammate. Like Theodore, he was also sturdily built and burly, the both of them being of similarly immense sizes. Despite the lack of difference between their bulks, Roseville clearly thought this would be an easy match.

\”Captain told me to destroy their fighter and win decisively to deal a crippling blow to their morale. If possible, humiliate them a little, so that we can send a statement to the rest of the teams competing in this tournament…\”

He paused in his thoughts when he noticed something strange about Theodore.

\”!!\”

Even though Theodore had not cast any spell yet, his fighting spirit was ablaze and his eyes were as hard as steel. So much so that Roseville could actually sense the tremendous killing intent emanating from him. Well, not killing intent exactly, but he could tell from Theodore's determined posture that his foe would not be lying down and taking his punches.

\”So they haven't given up yet, huh? Seems like they still hold onto the hope that they can somehow turn this around. Naïve fools.\”