Cannon fodder in the Interstellar

“Well, Dudley, you don’t know how lucky you are to become the elite class instructor this time. There’s one monstrous second prince, a monstrous telepath, and on top of that, the young masters and mistresses from the Atchison, Hua De, and Olli families. Tsk! Such once-in-a-century geniuses have all gathered this year, and they all ended up in your hands. It makes people so envious that they want to beat you up.”

“Rumor has it that this student, Ruo Manni, grew up on a third-tier fringe planet and is an orphan. Such talent was hidden for so long. I wonder what kind of instructors are at the intermediate academy she attended; they didn’t grab such a big achievement. Didn’t anyone notice?”

“This child is definitely someone with a plan. At such a young age, being able to keep a low profile and hide her talents is real intelligence. Fortunately, her talents were only revealed during our testing at Xuan Gu; otherwise, who knows what would have happened to an orphan with no protection. From what I’ve seen in these past few days, Ruo Manni’s temperament is really very steady, much more mature than the average fifteen or sixteen-year-old.”

“Cough, don’t underestimate Ruo Manni’s background. Although she’s an orphan, don’t forget that she’s still a minor and must have guardians. Her two guardians are her mentor and a military bigwig from that fringe planet. This couple isn’t after empty fame, so they’ve been protecting her well.”

“I see. It seems that she’s quite lucky to have guardians who look out for her.”

“Actually, most of you know her male guardian,” Instructor Dudley said.

This rough crowd, who were more interested in violence and cultivation than gossip, didn’t know much about Ruo Manni’s unusual background.

“Who?” several instructors asked curiously.

“Lin Changfeng.”

“Lin Changfeng! After that incident, there’s been no news of him. I thought he’d been sidelined by his family. How did he end up in the military on a fringe planet?”

“Don’t forget, Lin Changfeng was injured and couldn’t cultivate anymore, and his skills were declining. Going to the fringe planet was his chance to find a foothold. The military leaders there are usually only level five warriors.”

“Rumor has it that shortly after his incident, he was expelled from the Lin family for refusing to marry…”

“No wonder there’s been no news of him for years. Thinking back to then, he was so full of himself. I still haven’t had my revenge on him…”

“I saw Lin Changfeng a few months ago. He’s now a mid-level sixth-grade warrior. If he’s made a name for himself in that kind of place, you might not be able to beat him,” Instructor Dudley said with a complicated expression.

The reason he was able to rise after that incident was that he effectively signed a contract of servitude. Unless there are special circumstances, he has to stay as an instructor at Xuan Gu First Military Academy for the foreseeable future.

The other instructors were aware of his situation, so whenever this topic came up, it seemed like everyone forgot he was also a victim.

“Ah! You’re not joking, are you? Before the incident, he was only a level-five early warrior. Didn’t they say he couldn’t cultivate anymore?”

“How could that be? Didn’t he get exiled to a fringe planet? How could he still be lucky?”

“It can be said that his loyalty saved him. He saved an alchemist, who, fortunately, obtained a valuable item that restored his cultivation,” Instructor Dudley remarked with some emotion.

The other instructors fell silent. That guy was suppressed and fell into that kind of situation because of his loyalty. Yet, unexpectedly, his loyalty gave him a new lease on life. It’s hard to say what’s better or worse.

“He’s really lucky. Those who had the same incident with him back then—some had their cultivation stagnate, and some had their cultivation regress by one or two major levels…”

…

“Not good, the telepath from Team Asimu is in danger…”

“Instructor Lu has already gone out…”

“He’s very worried about Team Asimu…”

While the instructors chatted casually near the cliff, the cadets on the cliff fought desperately. It was truly two different kinds of life.

The telepath from Team Asimu was in a very unfortunate situation. He had been targeted by a fourth-grade Red-Mouthed Strange Bird, possibly because, among them, he appeared to be the one with the lowest cultivation level in this area.

This telepath was a level two late-stage warrior, but his telepath level was mid-fourth grade. Apart from Ruo Manni and Mina-Olli, he was the strongest telepath among the first-year students.

However, against a fourth-grade Red-Mouthed Strange Bird, his telepath skills couldn’t inflict any damage. His teammates couldn’t break free to help him. To avoid the bird’s attacks, he accidentally fell off the cliff and was hanging in the air from the climbing rope, making him an even more obvious target.

The fourth-grade Red-Mouthed Strange Bird swooped down, quickly making a turn in mid-air, and attacked the boy again. The boy swung his longsword, but the bird completely ignored his attack and grabbed him with its claws, attempting to carry him upward.

The members of Team Asimu were all connected by climbing ropes. When the fourth-grade Red-Mouthed Strange Bird grabbed the telepath and pulled, the boy’s teammates reacted swiftly and managed to withstand the bird’s pulling force. The climbing ropes they were using proved their worth, holding firm and not snapping.

However, their situation was still dire. The telepath boy was held by the bird’s claws, and despite a strong tug, the bird couldn’t pull him up. The bird flapped its wings violently, trying to use greater force to lift its prey into the air.

During the second pull, the two boys closest to the telepath could no longer hold on and were pulled away from the cliff, hanging in mid-air. The struggle then fell to the next pair of boys, who were laboriously trying to resist the pulling force.

However, the fourth-grade Red-Mouthed Strange Bird stayed out of the range of the other team members’ sword attacks. Despite their anxious attempts, they had no way to reach it. What’s worse, the bird continued flapping its wings, preparing to exert more force to pull again.

If this continued, and if the others didn’t give up on these three people, the entire Team Asimu would be pulled into the air. But it was clear they wouldn’t abandon their teammates, so Team Asimu was in a dangerous situation.

Although they knew that being pulled into the air would not be life-threatening due to their equipment and the instructors hiding nearby ready to rescue them, this would still mean a failure for Team Asimu in this exercise. For these boys, this was a very distressing outcome.

Even though they were competitors and had never spoken, Ruo Manni, who admired this team and was within range of her telepathic attacks, decided to act.

Just as the fourth-grade Red-Mouthed Strange Bird was trying to pull up the remaining two team members who had been torn from the cliff, it suddenly let out a long cry, as if it had been attacked. The telepath boy seized the opportunity to struggle vigorously and fell from the bird’s claws.