Chapter 243: Resume Testing...
Chapter 243: Resume Testing...
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
"Sir… You have finally started defiling Mia?"
Tears bubbled in Tisdale's eyes, and her expression became filled with anger, grievance, and dissatisfaction.
She strode towards Baiyi with large steps and shielded "Little Mia" with her own body as she rambled on furiously, "And! And, to be doing this in broad! Daylight! Wh-what were you thinking?! If you couldn't contain yourself, at least come at me!"
She lowered her scarlet face, and her hand slowly lifted her own equally-short skirt. With her legs adorned with fitting black pantyhose, coupled with her natural attractiveness, Tisdale's actions were enough to challenge a normal man's self-discipline.
Baiyi helplessly extended his hand — and gave the girl a hard rap on her forehead.
"Owwww!" The girl tumbled, and her arms flew to cover the sore spot on her head.
"Come on, back to your original look with you. You're pushing me into a bad position here," Baiyi said to "Little Mia".
Tisdale's eyes widened as this Mia turned back into her new classmate, the owl.
"I was just ascertaining the limit of its shapeshifting ability." Baiyi opened his palm as if to show his innocence. "Didn't you notice that its clothes were merged with the skin? I only wanted to make sure that it was really the case, and I did. Pure academic inquiry!"
There were a few comments he had not said out loud: he had already seen everything. 'You girls always wear skimpily at home, running around in your underoos. Do you think I actually need to make effort in order to enjoy that sort of scenery from you girls?'
"I'm so, so sorry, Sir. My assumption was wrong," Tisdale looked down in shame, and suddenly, she remembered something even more shameful. Oh, the words she had uttered to scold Baiyi!
With another scream, she dashed away, and the question she had regarding her homework was forgotten.
"What's with Big Sister Dale?" Attie asked quietly from her position atop the fur of the big fox.
"Hmm, no idea. Maybe she angered Sir again. I'll ask her when we have our meal…" Little Mia replied nonchalantly as she lay on the other side of the kitsune.
After the incident was over, Baiyi still had to continue with his interviews. This time, he came face-to-face with the sunflower Sunny.
Nota had carried it into the room. After she left, Sunny bowed respectfully, and then out of nowhere, the sunflower sprouted a few tendrils that spelled "Mentor Hope, good day!"
'Tsk. This is quite wholesome.'
He repeated the same interview questions to the plant in order to gauge its power, but to his slight dismay, the sunflower fared worse than the owl.
'Well, it is just a potted plant.'
Nevertheless, the plant had a surprisingly large amount of general knowledge. It even correctly deduced that the last "rune" was really a color-blindness detection image — a feat that even the fox could not achieve!
"Your talent, aided by your race, is illusion, right? It is very excellent," Baiyi said. "Another talent of yours would be Druid magic, specifically: plant style Druid magic, yes? Well, I was thinking… since Zakum and Potter also want to learn Druid magic, would you be so kind as to teach them the basics?"
The sunflower nodded, and the disk it called a face broke into a smile.
Plants that had gained conscience and powers, like this potted sunflower, were natural druids. The lowest standard for any druid was the ability to communicate with plants, and this sunflower could no doubt do the same. In fact, it even agreed to talk to Baiyi's own plants so that they could grow up healthy.
To be honest, Baiyi would not be able to teach Druid magic as well as he would have liked, even though the Eighth Voidwalker himself was a powerful Druid. Just like Baiyi did from the other Voidwalkers, he had learned much from The Druid. However, there was something even more difficult, and even trickier, to grasp this type of magic. Even Baiyi himself had not mastered much of this magic. One could even say that there was a blank space in his mind where the knowledge of Druid magic should have been.
It was not that the Eighth Walker was being petty and miserly; it had taught Baiyi everything it knew, but the knowledge had been very cryptic. The Fifth Walker was sure that the most mysterious parts which he was not able to wrap his mind around were the essences of Druid magic, or more simplistically termed 'the Gnosis of Nature'.
The Gnosis was what all druids aspired to master and understand, but it was the type of knowledge that could not be learned by reading any text or theories. In fact, one could only understand the Gnosis through instincts and insights, so when the Eight Walker had tried to pass the knowledge it had to Baiyi, it was akin to someone was asking Baiyi to memorize the entire concept and theories of quantum physics, without any basic knowledge. Baiyi could not even tell what was what, let alone why something was what it was.
Not that anyone could blame the Eighth Walker — it was not even human! It was a plant, and not just any plant — it was a tree. Not a tree nymph or an Ent. An actual tree. Thus, who would expect a tree to try to explain the Gnosis of druid magic using human language?
Despite failing to understand the essence of the Gnosis, Baiyi still managed to gain a few perks from learning it. First off, he was able to form a very close bond with his plants, and in response, they grew happily; he also appeared endearing to Kitty Cat Maids like Attie, and he could easily obtain the affection and devotion of the wife he had bought over cheaply, the Fairy, etc.
Alright, so maybe those were more of social skills. How much could "natural friendliness" affect one's social life anyway? Especially when the Fifth Walker had failed to discern the cryptic essence anyway.
Fun fact: The Eighth Walker never slept and never talked because it could not, really. On normal days, if a game in the void had too few players, the tree would be forcefully taken in as one of the participants, but it would always disconnect from the server. Everyone in the Void just treated it as a tree, somewhat.
'Fine. It was a tree.'
Back in reality, Sunny the Sunflower had finished its test. It politely bowed again in gratitude, and then with a loud 'boing!', it jumped down from its seat onto the floor. Then, with a 'boing!''Boing!''Boing!', it hopped to the exit, and then it extended a tendril and opened the door for itself…
'This thing could move on its own this whole time!'
It was the fairy's turn.
She would probably be the only one normal one among these weirdos, right? Baiyi was sure because the fairy was even more normal than the only human in the group of new students, Vidomina; saved for her pointy ears, the fairy would look no different from any adorable human girl. Her feeble mien even made everyone around her feel instinctively protective towards her…
Baiyi was not sure why, but he had the urge to quickly bring this girl all the happiness that the world could offer.
"I noticed that your specialty lies in Ancient Rohlserlian Formations. Please, tell me: why did you choose to invest your effort into this field? It's the least popular and desired field in the current age, right? It's also hard to learn, so most people just use the much more convenient Modern Runic magic," Baiyi started with a solemn question.
"B-b-because… because I found formations t-to be more natural and… r-real," Nota replied. Her voice was melodious and demure; however, it shook slightly due to her timidity and shyness. There was just something soothing about it.
"Your judgment is very commendable. It is true that formations were created by an attempt to mimic natural sigils and their flows, so you're not wrong that a formation is a magic that is close to nature. I'm very pleased with your understanding!" As a Rohlserlian sorcerer himself, Baiyi was naturally very happy with Nota's answer. He was so happy that he decided to forego the others questions that he had asked others. He just found them unnecessary.
"May I see your current innate strength?" Baiyi summoned his psychic energy and asked politely.
Nota blushed as though she had felt embarrassed, but she still nodded in the end. Her hands were still placed before her chest.
Baiyi inspected the girl thoroughly, and he made many amazing discoveries. For example, the girl did not possess any organs, unlike humans; instead, her entire body was instead made out of vital energy.
A complete energy being, similar to those beings who were manifestations of the elements without matter, yet they still completely and truly existed. What a unique lifeform! No wonder the fairies were called the fae of nature.
Although Baiyi had known a few facts about fairies from the Walkers' memories, this was still the first actual encounter he was having with a fairy. His curiosity had long gotten the best of him as he continued checking with his psychic energy — while deep in thought about his new student — unconsciously lengthening the time of his examination.
Nota seemed to be very sensitive to psychic energy, so a soft cry escaped from her mouth accidentally.
"Oh! Apologies… I was starting to think of something else." Baiyi withdrew his psychic energy immediately. He had no lust for the delicate creature, only the instinct to be protective of her.
Next, Baiyi quizzed the fairy on formation theories and knowledge, and she replied in her soft, feeble voice, and to his surprise, her basic knowledge was even better than the systematically-educated Mia and Tisdale 1 !
"Just from my tests alone, you're the most exceptional of these new students," Baiyi said after comparing their data. "Your knowledge of formations is also impeccable. I suppose HQ really did send me an excellent student!"
"Th-thank you, Mentor," Nota replied very quietly. "I.. I heard that you're a master in formations, so... So, I volunteered…"
'What a good kid! She even came to me on her own.' Baiyi felt a surge of joy and contentment, so out of habit, he got closer to Nota and inched his hand to her head for a good pat.
An expression of fear flashed in Nota's eyes, and her legs trembled in preparation to flee, yet to her credits, she stayed put, trying to contain her fear.
Baiyi noticed her little fright, so he made his pat extra light. He even said, very softly, "It's alright. No one can hurt you with me by your side."
Maybe it was that sense of security from his soft assurance — or maybe it was because of the gentle taps made on her head — Nota did not refute or deny him. She nodded lightly, and then she quietly replied, "Mm…"
"Well, according to my old records, fairies are supposed to be bold, daring, and very optimistic. I don't think they are even supposed to act as timid as this one," the Archmage said in the Void. He was one of the Voidwalkers who had come into contact with fairies before.
"Maybe she has had a sort of traumatic experience?" Baiyi replied.