Why Did You Summon Me?

Now that the academy had been built, purchasing class materials was all that was left to do. As for the number of staff members he currently had, Baiyi believed that they were enough. Currently, he had, under his payroll, the Voidwalkers, his old colleagues from the Celestial Fortress Academy, some good teachers he had managed to scout whilst on his adventures, and some sages from the Doors of Conundrum, who had been sent over by his bald friend — Baldy Kris. These people were enough to meet his present requirements.

As Da Xue’s fees were on the high side, most middle-class families would definitely choose other academies over it. Furthermore, although Baiyi was famous, his academy, Da Xue, had yet to hold a graduation ceremony, meaning that it had no alumni. With these in mind, Baiyi was sure that not many students would register for Da Xue’s first session.

On the month after New Year’s day, Mia had her sweet sixteen. In her honor, Baiyi hosted a heartwarming party for their family and closet friends. After that, he settled some trivial matters pertaining to Da Xue, and then, finally, he began its enrollment campaign.

Every stratum of society, including the wealthy and the aristocrats, had heard about — and shared a collective interest for — the new academy created by Great Sage Hope, an exalted existence who only vanished from the limelight two years ago. Although Hope rarely made the news these days, his name was a household one. Hence, when the public heard that his academy was open for registration, they immediately congratulated him and expressed their interests in sending over their wards.

There was something that managed to garner more attention than the identity of Da Xue’s principal, Hope: a short holographic video.

This video was making rounds in public in the form of a nondescript pebble. These pebbles had been enchanted with an image-capturing spell, which had not yet been trademarked in the Sorcerers’ Association. The moment anyone touched the pebble, a high-definition holographic video would begin playing.

The video seemed to have been recorded by an object flying at a high altitude; in it, one could see an ariel view of Da Xue. At the start of the video, a sea of beautiful flowers, which adorned the land around the academy’s buildings, could be seen from above. It was a scenery capable of improving anyone’s mood.

A young maiden with black ponytails could be seen hopping down one of the fine paved paths that parted the sea of grass and flowers. Her white dress and bare feet made her seem like a young angel who had just descended to the world. Her dress fluttered occasionally, baring her supple, fair thighs to the camera. It was a scene that could tug the heartstrings of all viewers, as they reminisced about their own past school years.

Soon, the hopping girl stopped by the side of the paved path that she was on. She bent down and picked up a fluffy little cub from the thicket. She gazed at it softly, and soon, her lips curled into an adorable smile. She did not hesitate to nudge her forehead against the cub’s furry head.

The scene ended there, and another took its place. The view had suddenly shifted to the middle of a brightly-lit classroom, where another girl was seated. This girl, who was just as beautiful as the previous girl, was completely focused on a book she was reading. Her posture and countenance made her out to be quiet, studious, and wise. The camera zoomed in on her, quickly panning past other parts of her body before stopping on her jade-like fingers, which were flicking the book’s pages in a manner that seemed elegant.

After a couple of seconds had passed, the camera zoomed back out. The girl stirred at this point and looked away from her book, her gaze focused on something outside the camera’s field of view. Suddenly, the camera zoomed back in, shifting its focus to her hair. Her hair was pale-blue, and it was fluttering gently underneath the warm sunlight.

The zoomed-in camera focused on the ends of her hair, which had been tied into a ponytail. The warm sunlight made them seem golden; this made the girl look as inviting as the sun itself. Her smile was one that could not be easily forgotten. Her appearance was enough to spread warmth to the depths of many hearts. She stretched her hand towards the camera and beckoned it to come over; however, a mysterious dark-skinned hand grabbed the camera before it could.

This hand belonged to a skinny girl, whose smile was so wide, her eyes seemed to have become lines. Her head was cocked to the side in an adorable way.

The skinny girl let go of the camera and ran to hold hands with the studious-looking girl, and they bolted out of the classroom together. The camera followed the girls as they raced through the lush green field within the academy. The camera, which was behind the girls, began to ascend fast, and soon, all it captured was the clear, bright sky above the academy.

Suddenly, the camera succumbed to gravity and began to plummet, and soon, it slid down a huge tree before regaining its flight ability. Sitting in the shade of this huge tree was a young female fairy with long, pointy ears. She was leaning against the tree’s trunk, taking a nap. Visible below her short skirt was a lean pair of legs, signifying how slim and delicate she was.

At that moment, the fairy stirred and slowly opened her eyes. When she noticed the camera, she grinned.

The camera zoomed in on her lips; her smile was really heartwarming. It seemed capable of making one forget their greatest misfortunes. The camera then shifted its focus to her jade green pupils.

Within these green pupils was the reflection of a beautiful noblewoman. This noblewoman’s hair had been tied into a bun; this complemented the long, evening dress she wore. On her lap sat an adorable little girl.

One look was enough to tell that this two are a mother and daughter duo. The daughter looked in child-like wonder at the buildings in the garden-like surroundings. It was as though she could not wait to grow up just so that she could enroll in this academy. The noblewoman lowered her head to the child’s face and whispered something to her.

The video lasted for three minutes. After showing the noblewoman and her daughter, the camera began to explore the academy’s facilities. At the end of the video, the camera pointed its lenses at a strange-looking armor set, which had a scarf draped over its face. Anyone could have easily mistaken this armor set for a highwayman. When the camera zoomed in on this bizarre armor set, a voice rang out. “Da Xue awaits you…”. This scene was forgivable because a lot of pretty girls had appeared before the strange armor set did.

The video had started off well, exploring beautiful sceneries and zooming in on pretty girls, but it had ended in a jump scare. The bizarre armor set really did give the viewers a fright.

The video did not contain music, dialogue, or even subtitles. The viewers were left to imagine songs that they thought would fit the video.

Baiyi was no accomplished cinematographer. Producing this promotional video with magic had been hard for him because of his mediocre experience at editing. Fortunately for him, this world was not familiar with Earth’s YouTube or beautifully-made A-list movies, so the public was quick to be impressed. Fortunately, the jumpscare at the end of the video had not frightened potential students away.

Baiyi was also glad that video-streaming websites — specifically those that support live-commenting — did not exist in this world. Not only was his video one of a kind, but the females that appeared in it were really beautiful. If their images were posted on certain websites, it would be no surprise if the comment section contained comments like “XX IS MY WAIFUUUUU”, “LICKING MY SCREEN CLEAN”, etc..

As for why Baiyi had decided to advertise his academy using his pretty students, it was because he hoped to entice more people to join Da Xue. The academy’s monthly expenditure was mind-blowing. Materials used for different magic formations, daily overhead cost, allowances for the teachers, and other expenses combined to reach a total of 1 million gold coins; this was monthly! Without enough students, there was a large probability that Da Xue would go bankrupt in a short time.

Hence, the need to attract over many youngsters to take the entrance examination could not be downplayed. Afterward, he could scout and develop applicants with immense talents. Once these talented students graduate from Da Xue, his plan for the Voidwalkers would have taken a huge step forward.

For one to spread a message easily, the person would need to bring many people over to his side.

Baiyi’s promotional campaign was a success. A large number of youngsters turned up on Da Xue’s opening day to write the entrance exam. A large portion of them were single males; the real reason they wanted to join Da Xue was anyone’s guess.

The exam was held at a location situated on the same street as the Aegis mansion. After Da Xue’s construction was finished, Baiyi began to remodel the area around the Aegis mansion. This street had been gifted to him by Vidomina. Baiyi erected a huge fence around the street, barricading it completely. His plan had been to place a huge gate in front of the street, which had been fenced, and build a large waiting hall.

As for his home, he and his crew had moved to the Micro realm where Da Xue was.

The move was a festive one. The girls had ensured to make it resemble a festival as much as they could, but, as was fast becoming the norm, Baiyi had not joined them. This was probably the reason why no calamity had befallen them on that day. In his place was a Soul Armature, who was the Vice Principal of Da Xue. This Vice principal had prepared, conducted, and coordinate the entrance exam, as well.

This Vice Principal was, of course, the thirty-third Voidwalker, the Apprentice Walker, who was the former principal of Celestial Fortress Academy. He was highly knowledgable in the processes required for entrance examinations, and with the help of the other instructors, the preliminary process was carried out in an orderly manner.

Meanwhile, Da Xue’s Principal, Baiyi, was sitting alone in the pitch-black darkness of a secret dimension, which he had used the Book of Servitude to create. From there, he watched the events that unfolded through the shared vision he had with the other Voidwalkers.

He nodded in satisfaction when he saw his own students, who were closely followed by Vidomina’s army of maids, troop into the hall to register for their exam. “Sir Apprentice really is someone you could rely on when it comes to protocols,” Baiyi mumbled. “Hmm. Looks like the time’s almost up. Time to see how the exams are going.”

When the clock struck nine in the morning, the exams began, and Baiyi, who was still watching via shared vision, switched views at a rapid pace to see how all the exams being written were coming along. ‘When selecting invigilators, I did pick Voidwalkers who are experts in the exam courses being written, right? There should be no problems.’

The first exam he decided to look at was the martial arts exam. It was being headed by the Hitman Walker, who was being assisted by the newly-employed Mr. Sorry[1]. Baiyi was watching the proceedings through the Hitman Walker’s vision.

The Hitman Walker had Descended into a large, sturdy, black armor set. Standing on a stage, which towered above a large number of students, he announced, “In order to become a qualified hitman, you must first be capable of demonstrating power! You must be able to wield your weapons in this way. Only then will your enemies feel hopelessness, and eventually, face death!”

With that, he picked up a double-handed ax with his left hand, and then, he used his right hand to collect a dual-handed battle scythe from Mr. Sorry. Afterward, he began to swing them, generating gales that stung his students’ faces.

“Now, the first round of this exam requires you to swing your weapons as I did mine!” The Hitman said. “So, who wants to go first?”

“Sir! I have an inquiry!” A candidate blurted. “This is an exam for melee fighters like knights, right? Did you not say that you were a ‘qualified hitman’?”

“There’s no need to look that deeply into those words. They mean the same thing anyway,” the Hitman replied dismissively.

[1] Just a throwback— he’s Baiyi’s old pal back in Celestial Academy, remember?