The next day.
At Chen Shi, the sun rose in the east, casting a faint glow over the peach groves of Taoyuan Academy.
Inside the Taoyuan Academy classroom, however, there were already 'thwacking' sounds, accompanied by the screams of a young girl.
"You were two full quarters late. The penalty is thirty strikes to the palm. If you're late again next time, the punishment will be doubled, understood?"
Su Ran held the bamboo board and struck Ning Rongrong's palm thirty times.
Ning Rongrong's eyes welled up with tears, her face full of resentment, as she clutched her purpling palm:
"I just slept in a little, and you hit my palm thirty times? Teacher, you're too much! I want to drop out! I want to go to the Shrek Academy next door!"
This Teacher doesn't know how to cherish and pity a girl!
"As expected of a support system Spirit Master, her body is still too weak."
"If you want to drop out and go to Shrek, you can, but you need to think it through yourself."
Su Ran shook his head, ignoring Ning Rongrong's willfulness. This Disciple just needed training.
He walked directly to the classroom and wrote several large characters on the blackboard with the grace of a Dragon and Phoenix, as the theme for today's lecture:
"The Core Cultivation of support system Spirit Masters."
Clearly, today was originally the lesson Su Ran had prepared for Ning Rongrong.
Are you going to learn or not?!
Wang Sheng stood by, very sensibly advising:
"Student Rongrong, Teacher's exclusive teaching is hard to come by. Why don't you listen to Teacher's lesson before deciding whether to drop out."
Ning Rongrong's face was full of grievances. Even at home, her elders had never punished her like this. This Teacher Su Ran had mercilessly struck her palm thirty times, and her little hand was swollen!
"Hmph, I'll just listen and see what he can teach me!"
Ning Rongrong glanced at this heartless Teacher Su Ran, and she also recalled something Wang Sheng had said yesterday.
The reason Teacher Su Ran wore a mask was because he was very handsome.
No matter how handsome he was, being so cruel, he would never find a girlfriend!
She wanted to see just how handsome this Teacher Su Ran was! And what he could teach!
Otherwise, joining this Academy for no reason, learning nothing, not even seeing the Teacher's face, and still getting her palm struck, would be too much of a loss!
Ning Rongrong took her seat, her face full of grievance.
Because Wang Sheng was not a Personal Disciple, he only stood on the side to listen; the main teaching object was still Ning Rongrong.
"Bring out your Spirit."
Su Ran said indifferently.
Ning Rongrong reluctantly extended her little hand, which was still trembling slightly from the beating, and a radiant glow emanated from her body. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda appeared in her hand.
"The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda is hailed as the most outstanding support system Spirit on the continent."
"Of course." Ning Rongrong was very confident in her Spirit.
"Unfortunately, the limitations of support system Spirits are too great. Many times, they're no different from Waste Spirits."
But Su Ran's next words made Ning Rongrong unable to smile.
A useless pagoda? This was the universally recognized number one support Spirit on the entire continent!
"That's not true." Ning Rongrong pouted.
"I ask you, what are you support system Spirit Masters best at?"
"It's amplification and healing, providing a boost in strength or sustained combat ability to teammates."
"Then I ask you, what is the weakness of your support system?"
"Of course, it's the lack of attack power and the inability to fight alone. This is a common problem for all support system Spirit Masters."
Ning Rongrong pouted.
"You're not going to say that because I'm a bit weak and lack destructive power, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda is a useless Spirit, are you? Then, Teacher, your skill level... is mediocre."
Although she had witnessed Su Ran's strength yesterday, if he dared to belittle her Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, she would still get angry.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda itself was a support system Spirit. It naturally didn't possess powerful strength but instead made teammates stronger. Otherwise, why would it be called support?
"No, what I mean is that not only the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, but also most support Spirits are useless Spirits in their Early Stage, and their role in Spirit Master battles is too limited."
Su Ran said indifferently.
Ning Rongrong's face clearly showed her defiance:
"Since support is so useless, why is there an iron rule in Spirit Master duels: 'kill the support first'?"
"Support can make people in the team stronger, even allowing them to fight above their rank. Teacher, don't you even understand this?"
"Yes, support can indeed make teammates stronger. I haven't denied that point."
Su Ran said indifferently:
"But, have you ever considered a problem? In Spirit Master duels, the weakness of support system Spirit Masters is not the lack of destructive power, but the burden caused by insufficient self-preservation ability."
"In most teams, support system Spirit Masters require a defense system Spirit Master or an attack system Spirit Master to protect them. This means that a seven-person Spirit Master team, due to the inclusion of a support, will directly reduce its offensive strength by 2/7."
"And the boost that the support system brings to the team, taking the Early Stage level of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda as an example, can provide a 20% increase in strength and speed for Spirit Masters, and it cannot quickly apply this buff to the entire team. Even if calculated by the overall team strength increase, it is only 20% x 5/7 = 1/7."
"Only when you become a four-ring Spirit Ancestor, and your Spirit Ability can bring a 40% increase, 40% x 5/7 = 2/7, can you barely offset the burden on the team. Only above four rings can you bring substantial enhancement to the team."
"Do you see any problems? The boost that support system Spirit Masters bring to the team is less effective than not using a support system Spirit Master and directly replacing them with two attack system Spirit Masters, control system Spirit Masters, or agility-attack system Spirit Masters, which would be more powerful."
Su Ran calmly calculated the Spirit Master formula for Ning Rongrong on the blackboard.
Although Ning Rongrong didn't fully understand the calculation, she was greatly shocked.
Because it was the first time she had seen someone express the role of a support system Spirit Master in a team using numerical calculations.
This was so novel.
But she still felt a little uncomfortable. Any type of Spirit Master would feel uncomfortable if their Teacher told them their Spirit was actually a burden to the team, right?
"I'm not listening, I don't believe it."
"Then why do almost all Spirit Master teams use support Spirit Masters?"
Ning Rongrong was about to break down.
"Because the stronger get stronger. When there are Spirit Masters in the team whose strength is higher than others, the value of the support system's boost (healing) will be amplified. My premise assumes that the Spirit Master strength of both teams is equal."
Su Ran smiled faintly:
"You don't need to be anxious. I have a third formula here."
"If a support system Spirit Master doesn't need teammates for protection and has self-preservation ability, then what is the boost and weakening that the support system Spirit Master brings to the team?"
"If that's the case, the weakened strength in the team would only be 1/7, while the boost would be at least 20% x 6/7 = 1.2/7."
Wang Sheng, who was diligently standing by the classroom taking notes, answered quickly.
"What if a support system Spirit Master also has offensive power?"
"Then the advantage would expand further."
"Hey? Wait, how can a support system Spirit Master protect herself? And how can she possess offensive power?!"
Ning Rongrong's small mind was greatly impacted.
The Teacher Su Ran, wearing the Immortal Dragon mask, said indifferently:
"This is today's main lesson: A support should add defense."
"Before this class officially begins, if you still want to drop out, you can leave immediately. I, Su Ran, never teach Disciples who are insincere, indecisive, or who might betray me at any time."