Chapter 10: Is This What You Meant By Being Professional?
Chapter 10: Is This What You Meant By Being Professional?
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
When the sun was about to set, Baiyi finally saw Mia at the campus square feeding the pigeons with bread from her leftover dinner. The scene of a young girl, the sunset and the pigeons painted a soothing and splendid picture in the evening. It would have been even better without all the weird comments from those people in his mind.
"What a kind girl Mia is! But then, I don't think feeding the pigeons with her dinner is a good idea though. No wonder her body's development is so slow!" said the 'Gentleman' who only cared about Mia's body growth.
"Oh, there's not much meat on this species but the taste is extremely delicious!" The Caveman who had suddenly turned into a gastronome commented.
"Erm... that sculpture of that old man in the middle of the square is so out of place! Who the hell decided to put that sculpture in such an unsuitable place anyway?" The Painter, known for placing great value and emphasis on aesthetic values, criticized.
"I'm s-sorry, that is actually my sculpture..." The original muse of the sculpture, the Apprentice, apologised immediately and it made the whole situation turned awkward.
When Mia noticed Baiyi was approaching her, a cheerful smile instantly appeared on her face. After saying goodbye to the pigeons, she stood up and pulled on the hem of her skirt before running to Baiyi's side like an obedient kitten. They subsequently walked back together to Mia’s dormitory as they engaged in small talks along the way.
After they got back to the room, Baiyi did not immediately request for Mia to repeat the Summoning Ceremony yesterday but instead, he listened as she talked about the things that she had learned in class. It was basically some basic theories about the application of Magical Runes. She had missed some of her lessons because of the Appraisal that happened during class so she had to borrow the notes from her classmates for revision.
Sweeping his eyes over the words on the notebook, Baiyi shook his head and proceeded to close the notebook. "I can teach you all these actually." Having said that, he waved his right hand in front of him and a bright display board that was formed by his Mana immediately appeared out of thin air. Written on the board was exactly the runes that Mia was about to learn along with the Magical Formations that they were derived from.
At that instant, Mia’s eyes went as wide as saucers. She had never thought that the paltry amount of Mana that Baiyi possessed would be able to conjure up something like this. He just created a dancing figure in the morning and now this display board? She was so impressed that she could not stop herself from exclaiming with admiration, "Wow you can even do this, Mr. Hope? B-but is this okay? Won’t it deplete your Mana?"
"Don’t worry," Baiyi replied confidently. Even though his strength was restricted to the Intermediate Level, it did not mean that his actual power was at that level. Such an inconsequential thing like Mana? Well, he had a lot of them.
Of course, the time had not arrived for him to tell Mia about all this so Baiyi just skipped the explanation and moved on to the extra lesson, "You are not being taught comprehensively about Magical Formations and how Magical Runes were derived from it in school, are you? Well, I guess there are both pros and cons in this situation. There’s no doubt that the learning process in school has been simplified but it really is not comprehensive enough. Mia, you should know that Magical Runes are actually the simplification and interpretation of Magical Formation. Even though the runes are much easier to use but when it comes to accuracy and range, Magical Formations are more superior. It is for this reason that most strong spells used Magical Formation instead. If you want to achieve remarkable results, you WILL have to learn the methods to cast these Magical Formation by heart."
As he was explaining, Mia was making notes in her notebook earnestly. In truth, the lesson on Magical Formation was still a little too advanced for somebody who was only at the Immediate Level like Mia. This subject was quite difficult to learn and it could be pretty cumbersome to teach as well. Because this technique was not as popular as the runes, students usually only need to master 5 basic formations that were more commonly used in order to meet the graduation requirements, and that includes the Celestial Fortress Academy who was known for their strict standards.
With that being said, that was the criteria to graduate but Baiyi and the rest of the Voidwalkers naturally expect Mia to learn much more. A real powerful sorcerer would always use Magical Formation to cast spells. That was why it was vital to teach Mia all of it so she could master them. The only drawback was that it was a slow and tedious process, Baiyi had only just started to touch on the surface of the subject but Mia was already in a confused state. One could indistinctly see the circles that were spinning around in her eyes.
Erm.. I guess this is a little too fast for her? Looking at Mia who was in daze, Baiyi turned to ask the rest of the Walkers inwardly.
"Well, Mia-chan is not a naturally gifted person so you will have to be more patient with her." The Archmage replied. "Let's just call it a day for now. What's more important right now is to let her redo the Summoning Ceremony from yesterday."
Nodding his head in silence, Baiyi ended the lesson and proceeded to let Mia redraw the Summoning Circle. Although he did not give her an explanation, Mia obediently did what she was told to do without any question. It was when she had finished checking on her drawing that she asked awkwardly, "But erm... Mr. Hope, I- I don't have any extra armour."
"It's alright. Just simply find anything as a substitute instead," Baiyi said as he picked up the little hammerhead doll from the bed and passed it to Mia, "Use this then."
An uproar erupted among the Voidwalkers instantly.
"Whoa whoa whoa, WAIT A MINUTE! Don't you think this is a little too much, Sir Hope? At least the militia's plate armour has a complete set of body but what the hell is with this hammerhead doll? Do you want us to become a doll after going through the tedious process of summoning?"
"Well, this doll is always being hugged by Mia all the time, you know? She even kisses and snuggles up to the doll when she sleeps. Wouldn't it be a wonderful thing to become that doll?"
"You are such a pervert! Mia is still a young little girl! It's a different story if it was that gorgeous girl just now but Mia-chan? Well, it's true that she's pretty cute but... don't you think it's kind of weird?"
Oh gosh, these people! Aren't you guys a little too optimistic? How can it be so easy to summon a Voidwalker? Baiyi silently thought to himself. Just as he expected, despite a few tries of yesterday's Summoning Ceremony, there was no other Voidwalker who could hear the summon at all.
"Well, I guess the summoning that had succeeded yesterday was purely out of luck then. Perhaps there was a moment of weakness in the barrier when she performed the ritual and the timing was right therefore it resulted in you being summoned successfully. It must have been a golden opportunity then. We could even call it a miracle actually. Since it is like this now, we can't place our hope on this method anymore. We really have to find some other ways to escape instead," a few of the Walkers who specialised in the field of Magic concluded.
Since the second summoning had failed, they had decided to carry out the second step of their plan--- which was to have a detailed check on Mia's body for abnormalities.
In order to make sure that the plan to conduct a body check went smoothly, Baiyi patiently waited for Mia to fall deeply asleep before he slowly walked up to her bed softly. Looking at the peaceful expression on that little girl’s face, with her arms hugging the hammerhead doll tightly to her chest, he asked the Walker with the title Incubus, "Are you sure everything will be okay?"
"Please relax, Sir Hope. I'm not showing off but I'm definitely the expert when it comes to dream-related situations. Please have faith in my professionalism. This sweet dream that I'm about to cast on her was modified from the Nightmare Weaving Spell and since it is a fantasy, I can assure you that Mia would have a fantastic dream and will not wake up till later," the Incubus explained with great confidence.
"Alright, I'll trust you then." As he was speaking, he placed his palm on top of Mia's head and used his Psychic Energy to cast the spell on her. In that instant, Mia let out a moan before falling deeper into slumber.
Seems like it's working pretty well... Relieved, Baiyi started to use his Psychic Energy to carefully check on every part of Mia's body. Every single blood vessel and every piece of muscle was taken into consideration as well. Every inch of skin on this little girl was thoroughly examined by Baiyi.
It was not a big deal for Baiyi but it was a whole different situation for those group of people that was stuck in the Void.
"Now that I think about it, Sir Hope is such a frivolous man! How can he do that to such a cute girl..."
"Mia-chan's body really have no trace of development at all. There is no part of her that would be attractive to a guy except for that cute little face of hers..."
"Well you can't say it like that. I think being a Loli is pretty cute as well, don't you think so?
Dear Lord, why can't these people be a little more reliable? Out of all 33 Walkers, is the Incubus, who is usually reserved, the only one that can be depended on? Just as this thought took form in his mind, a voice could be heard from Mia.
"Uhhh... N-No... Not that place... No p-please… Uh... Uh..." she moaned as she huddled up in a ball while clamping her legs together.
....Okay, I'm taking back my words! Oh gosh, I can't rely on you too, can I, Incubus? What sort of dreams are you giving her anyway? Why is she saying such weird things?
"This is not my fault at all! My dream only guided her to what her heart really desires and turns her wish into reality. Well, looking at that kind of reaction, all I can say is that she must have this sort of thinking for quite some time now. Isn't she almost 16? She has already reached a marriageable age. Isn't it perfectly normal to be thirsty for love?" The Incubus replied defensively.
Are you sure this is the reaction for being 'thirsty for love'? Yeah right! This is something that would show up in an AV instead! But all jokes aside, the most important task for her right now is to improve her strength! Such silly thing as being in love is totally prohibited! At that moment, Baiyi suddenly had the feelings of a father as he continued telling the Incubus, I must correct her dream. This is detrimental to her health!
"Alright alright. Please use this other spell that I named 'To Kill A Mockingbird'' instead. I'm sure it will get her dream back on the right track. Please have faith in my professionalism! You have my word this time, this dream WILL BE a dream that is good for her health!" The Incubus promised.
Tsk tsk! I never would have thought that this guy have any knowledge about literature at all, he thought to himself as he placed his palm back on Mia's forehead again, wiping beads of sweat away as he corrected the direction of her dreams.
Once the girl in front of him became quiet, Baiyi continued with the body check.
Not long after, another sound could be heard coming from Mia again, "W- why is it like this? It’s.. It's supposed to be m-me who was..."
INCUBUS! Is this the professionalism that you were talking about? Is this the fantastic dream that you were telling me about? Or is this a dream that will be good for her health now? Baiyi coldly asked.
All the other person could do was to lower his head in shame.