By the second year, every student in the Noble Class had obtained their First Spirit Ring, so ordinary lectures were cut back even further while physical training, Cultivation, and combat classes expanded. For this combat session the Noble Class had enough students to form its own matches, so Jin Bao no longer had to sit in with the older grades.
Still, the teacher held up him and Mei Lele as examples and told the pair to demonstrate a fight for the others to watch.
Watching Jin Bao block Mei Lele's attacks from every angle using only his First Spirit Skill, one student raised his hand. "Teacher, is this what our fights are supposed to look like?"
He put on a bit of exaggerated tone on purpose, but most of the class knew that the Jin Bao–Mei Lele duo had beaten every other one-ring Spirit Master team last year, so what he really meant was: he didn't want to watch another one-sided instructional beating.
"In that case, why don't we just form teams and fight for real? Nothing sticks in the mind like actual combat. Don't you agree, teacher?" Jin Bao asked with a smile at the class mentor.
The teacher glanced at Mei Lele; seeing no objection, she nodded. "There are twenty-four of us, so we'll make eight teams of three and hold a round-robin."
After saying this she looked first at Mei Lele, then at the three aristocratic students standing off to the side.
Sure enough, each of those nobles picked two classmates as teammates.
Jin Bao turned to Mei Lele. "Planning to make your own team?"
Under the expectant gaze of the rest of the class Mei Lele said, "I'm not used to working with anyone else; find one more person and we're good."
Jin Bao chuckled and waved Balu over.
The others watched Balu dash excitedly to Jin Bao's side, then disappointed split off to form their own groups.
On the open ground, the eight squads quickly finished drawing lots.
Ten minutes to plan tactics; ten minutes until the fighting began.
Jin Bao glanced at Balu. "Your First Spirit Skill just gives the two of us stamina support, so stay put; I'll shield you."
Balu nodded. "I definitely won't mess up on my end!"
Mei Lele: "So same old style? They've probably studied us." She shot a look at the three noble teams.
Jin Bao: "Stay constant to handle change. Anyway, after nearly a year of fighting together our teamwork can handle whatever they throw at us, right?"
Mei Lele nodded. "Just don't drag me down."
The ten minutes were up. The first match didn't involve Jin Bao's team, so they watched to size up everyone's Spirits and Spirit Abilities.
They knew the real threats were the three noble squads.
The nobles had two Beast Spirits and one Tool Spirit among them.
Twin-Headed Serpent, Iron-armored Bear, Purple-gold Shield.
The other two members of each team existed purely to fight around their noble core.
The Twin-Headed Serpent's partners: a spiked-mace Spirit, power-type, drawing enemy attacks, and a repeating-crossbow Spirit, agility-attack system, harassing from the flanks—both covering until the serpent user could deliver a single lethal strike.
The Iron-armored Bear's teammates were both Beast Spirits—turtle-types, pure defense. The trio charged together: slow but almost impossible to crack, grinding the opponent down until they collapsed.
The last noble, the Purple-gold Shield user, had copied Jin Bao's tactic from last term: a shield-blade in each hand, fighting up close while his teammates controlled the field. One partner had a plant Spirit for heavy control; the other a spider Spirit that spat extremely sticky silk.
Jin Bao's squad fought fourth; their opponents were only average classmates.
Still, no one in the Noble Class lacked resources, so not a single ten-year spirit ring appeared.
"Three Tool Spirits: red-tassel spear, boomerang, whip." Jin Bao listed them, exchanged a glance with Mei Lele, and the fight began.
"First Spirit Skill: Money Shield—Scatter!"
"First Spirit Skill: Multiple Wind Blades—Eight-sided Gale!"
Both released their First Spirit Skill at once; the instant Mei Lele's shield formed she charged.
Only then did Balu react, casting his First Spirit Skill over the pair.
Feeling his spirit power recover noticeably faster, Jin Bao felt even surer of victory.
Jin Bao's side moved fast, but so did the opponents.
"First Spirit Skill: Spear-shadow Overlap!"
"First Spirit Skill: Precise Hit!"
"First Spirit Skill: Entangle!"
The three showed little coordination. The spear user rushed Mei Lele, thrusting so quickly the single spear blurred into dozens of points.
The other two flanked her; in their eyes Mei Lele was the only real threat—take her out and they win.
Jin Bao, seeing Mei Lele already in close quarters, smiled.
"Spin!"
The Money Shield around Mei Lele flipped its sharp edge outward and whirled like a buzz-saw.
"What?!" The spear user's Spirit Ability was deflected and the shield smacked him flying, tearing his uniform but drawing no blood.
The other two attacks were likewise blocked, only to meet another volley of Mei Lele's wind blades.
Having swept aside their opponents, Jin Bao's team now faced two of the remaining three squads—both of them noble.
Across the field the three nobles looked their way.
Just as the teacher was about to draw lots for order, the Twin-Headed Serpent noble spoke up. "Teacher, we've heard that Mei Lele and Jin Bao have beaten many upper-classmen as a pair. Now that they're in teams of three they must be even stronger."
He grinned. "So if we let them recover spirit power between fights, could they take on all three of our teams in turn? After all, the point of today's class is learning through real combat, right?"
The teacher hesitated. "Well…"
Mei Lele stepped forward. "We accept—but why should we?"
The noble's smile froze. "If Mei Lele doesn't want to, forget it. Teacher, let's draw lots."
At that moment Mei Lele said, "I didn't mean you one at a time—I meant all of you, together."