Why Did You Summon Me?

The punishment doled out to the Cleric Walker for pushing a valuable hostage to insanity was forced silence was twenty-four hours. Baiyi used this punishment to issue a warning the other two Voidwalkers tasked with similar jobs. “Don’t repeat his mistake, or else!” Only after that was he able to regain his composure.

The Archmage continued trying his luck on summoning his card, while Baiyi turned his attention back to the Book of Servitude he had just obtained.

“This thing… Is it capable of bending Laws like that tight leather suit from before can?” Baiyi asked the Archmage after some quiet contemplation.

The Archmage laughed out loud. “Ahahahhaha! Finally, an SSR! And all I exhausted was two thousand Saint Quartz only! I’m on fire today!”

“Would it kill you to be a bit more serious…” Baiyi muttered, flatly.

“Please! Those things are already yours. Plus, when it comes to the Laws, who here could possibly be as knowledgeable as you are? So really, why even bother asking me? Just tell me what comes to your mind when you figure something out. Oh, and also, chop chop! I ache for more Saint Quartz,” The Archmage, whose full attention was on his game, exclaimed.

Baiyi had to admit that his teacher had a point.

Baiyi believed that the Book of Servitude was similar to the Divine Leather Suit, in that they both had the ability to manipulate natural Laws by a small degree. Although these changes would look catastrophic to mortals, on a grander scale, it was nothing but a slight tweak.

Despite that, this book was not as useful to Baiyi as most would think. First, before getting the book, Baiyi did not lack powerful accessories. Secondly, the forbidden spells in the book were a mouthful and took a very long time to cast. Lastly, each spell required the consumption of an alarming amount of mana, which was starkly inferior to Void Energy.

To him, one of the few things this book was good for was its usefulness in casting certain useful forbidden spells, such as the special forbidden space spell and the Trans-realm Collective Transporting Spell. With the Book of Servitude in his possession, Baiyi would no longer have to build a trans-realm portal formation to make trips between Isythre and the small realm where his future Academy would be located.

“You could try putting more spells to use with that book, you know,” the Lich Walker suggested. “A long time ago, I was handicapped by a lack of powerful souls, so I was forced to spend some time researching the art of merging souls; this was so that I could merge smaller souls into one powerful composite. There were significant results, but the experimentation was too complex and plagued by various difficulties; so I gave up. However, now that this book is in our possession, I can pick that research up again.”

“If your research is successful, does that mean we could more souls as powerful as the one we’re using now?” Baiyi asked with interest. If this plan worked, that would mean that the Voidwalkers could acquire more powerful soul containers to host them, instead of splitting the only powerful soul container they owned at the moment. In other words, the Voidwalkers would possess, more or less, the same abilities they did in the past!

However, the burden it would have on Baiyi would be tremendous. With the amount of amount of consciousness he currently had available, Baiyi could not manipulate so many soul containers at once.

“If I had known better, back then, I would have smuggled in more of my consciousness! I didn’t think of this… What a wasted opportunity!” Baiyi lamented.

“Hmm, hmm. Sir Hope, if you’re stumbled by the limitation of your soul, may I suggest using some of my secret techniques?” The Incubus Walker said, suddenly. “You must know already; our species is weak, but we can normalize a man’s soul easily. That way, you will never have to worry about this anymore, right?”

“You make a good point, but…” Baiyi understood what the Incubus Walker was suggesting, and it was a good solution; however, that process was a step over his personal line, and this made it difficult for him to agree to it.

“Oh? Still holding on to that hypocritic mask of yours? I hope you remember that you’re an agent of the Void, not some savior or immaculate mother,” the Incubus Walker reminded him carefully. “Or perhaps, you thought that Sir Lich’s research wouldn’t require any human sacrifices? To make a strong composite soul using only average souls… Even someone who only knows little of these sort of things could guess how many average souls would be needed.”

“I get it. I get it! I’ll make my choice when the time comes.” Baiyi hurried replied, eager to dismiss him. “There’s always a way around it, right? If worse comes to worst, I’ll just imitate the Cleric Walker’s old adventure in the Abyss, freeing trapped and tormented souls from the claws of the demons… in a different way.”

“You hypocrites bore me,” the Lich Walker made his final remark on the subject.

“Alright, let’s move on from this! Now that the Archmage’s back, Lich Walker, do you want to try this out?” Baiyi asked, quickly changing the subject.

“Why? So that I can play house with your little pets?” The Lich Walker snapped, as though he had lost his desire to descend to the real world. This was actually pretty good for Baiyi, however; at least, he would not need to worry about putting the Lich Walker on a leash.

“Ey? You’re not gonna go out? Good; lemme out then!” Lady Assasin Walker spoke up, quickly taking the chance that had presented itself. She also poked Baiyi severally as she spoke.

“Whatever,” the Lich Walker replied, exiting the conversation. Baiyi proceeded to convene a gathering with the Soul Armature Practitioner Walker and the other Voidwalkers to continue his research.

“Hee hee! Thanks!” The Assassin Walker replied, mirthfully.

A while later, she poked Baiyi, urging him to hurry. “Hey, Doofus! Could you do it a little faster? I have never descended before… not even in that hammerhead shark plushie.”

Baiyi stifled his chuckles and agreed to her request. He cast the Pseudo-Descent Secret Spell, sending the female Voidwalker right into the old militia armor set.

The armor set rose to its fit, but this time, its countenance seemed jovial and perky. The Assassin Walker danced around Baiyi and chuckled adorably, then she pushed open the door and dashed out of the lab, with an intention to jump around inside the mansion. Since it was already late at night, Baiyi did not move to stop her. She was no a kid anymore, so she would, at least, know what she could do and what she could not.

With an understanding of that implicit leeway, Lady Assassin Walker hummed a perky tune that Baiyi had never heard before and pranced all the way to where Aya lived. Moments after, Baiyi, who was still in the underground magus lab, heard a piercing scream ring out from Aya’s place.

He hurried out of the mansion just in time to see Lady Assassin Walker happily skipping back home. “What did you do?”

“Taught that dragon lady a lesson! She’s always taking advantage of you ¹ ,” Lady Assassin Walker said, with a hum.

“You killed her?”

“What? No! I told ya I never liked killing. I just pretended to be a ghost and gave her a good fright! I didn’t know that a big dragon like her could be so scared of this armor,” she replied, nonchalantly.

‘I did not expect you to be so childish that you would pull this prank off, okay?’

“Hey, Doofus! Let’s take a walk around, shall we?” Lady Assassin Walker said, flirtatiously, and held onto his arms tightly, clinging to him like a cat.

“It’s midnight. Where can we even go?” Baiyi asked, a little helpless.

“Anywhere! I’m an assassin, after all. I live in the shadow and the darkness,” Lady Assassin Walker replied very casually.

Baiyi could not refute her reply, so he let her pull him out of the house and into the streets, like a couple on a midnight date.

However, she never said a word throughout their walk; she just hummed that song only she knew and beamed with happiness.

They used the night to walk around the entire Arfin City. All through their journey, they hardly said anything to each other. This was not something they needed to do, however; after all, they had shared their memories with each other, so they did not need any words.

At the crack of dawn, Lady Assassin Walker finally began to look a little tired. She sat on a random bench by the street and tilted her head a little, looking at Baiyi, who had taken a seat next to her. “I’m boring, aren’t I? I finally got to have a date, but what I chose to do was tour the empty streets in the middle of the night like a mental person. A girl like me is just unlikeable, right?”

Baiyi calmly shook his head sideways. “That’s just who you are. Pretty cute, too.”

“Heehee. I rarely get to hear you say anything sweet!” She stood up and stretched like a normal human. “Alright, the sun’s up. Cinderella has to go home now.”

“Cinderella goes home by midnight though, doesn’t she?” Baiyi asked, puzzled.

Lady Assassin Walker was just about to throw a little tantrum, but she stopped herself in time and shook her head. “If I talk to you for too long, Doofus, I’ll just get mad. Alright, send me back to the Void.”

“You don’t wanna stay longer?” Baiyi asked.

“Why? In a body like this? I can’t do anything, and I look horrible! Besides, if I don’t return soon, won’t you be worried about how your dragon lady will feel?” She replied with a discernible tone of dismay.

Baiyi nodded, and just as he was about to touch the armor to dispell the spell, the Assassin Walker suddenly blurted, “Hold on. There’s one thing I forgot.”

“The last step of a date… we haven’t done that, right? But since I’m only a Soul Armature this time, I suppose I could forgive you for forgetting. Next time, when I’d descend as a human, remember to take this last step!”

“Huh? What last step?” Baiyi asked, dumbfounded.

“Hmph! You doofus!”

After that, Lady Assassin Walker, who had stayed in the real word for only one night, returned to the Void in fulfillment.

Baiyi brought armor back home, alone. As his students were still asleep, he stayed behind in the courtyard to water the mutated plants. These florae, who now delighted in welcoming visitors into the manner with physical attacks and horrifying expressions, gathered beside him to enjoy the water; just like it had once been.

For some reason, Baiyi felt really upbeat.