Chapter 8: This is All I Could Do For You
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Looking at how the dancing little fire princess effortlessly transformed into a water nymph on his hand, one question came to their mind. What level could this crudely attired person possibly be in his past life? A sorcerer who is at the Master level could not even do this. Could it be the Legendary Level? Or wait… THE IMMORTAL LEVEL?
At that moment, most of the people who were at the surrounding area had put aside the matter at hand and could not help but wonder as they were admiring the performance that Baiyi was putting up. Even the gorgeous Soul Armature beside him had stopped what it was doing and was staring at Baiyi in awe.
Still, it seemed like Baiyi had no intention of stopping just yet. Followed by the flicking of his fingers, the little water nymph once again leapt to his ring finger. This time, the lymph changed its color to brown and its form into the Earth element. Without pausing, the figure continued jumping to the last finger where it became green as it transformed into the Nature element. Then, as the grand finale, Baiyi opened up his palm and the little figure which had transformed into the Light element slowly turned into sparkling starlights before the show ended.
The whole process was as natural and smooth as it was before, with no pause in between the transformation at all. It was only right and natural that a huge applause could be heard from the surrounding onlookers when he finished his performance.
"Having such good command in five freaking elements ? How could he have such terrifying power?"
"Wow! That girl beside him really lucked out! How did she managed to get such a powerful soul like that? Not only that, adding to the fact that he was willing to accept such an ordinary-looking militia's armour, I'm sure he must be a modest and kind person! This is literally the most perfect Soul Armature that one could have! Well, if it wasn't for the fact that his Mana is still slightly shaky..."
"Oh come on! Mana isn't everything! The most valuable thing that a Soul Armature could give to us is wisdom and knowledge not Mana. Have you forgotten what Master Syphrose said? The most precious treasure of the soul is his knowledge and experience. With these two things, he could easily educate and cultivate the practitioner to become an outstanding person."
As she listened to their conversation, Mia who was blown away by the performance finally returned to her senses. Opening her mouth in excitement, she could not get a single word out at all. Even though she did not have any comprehension towards the things that Baiyi just did, but at the very least, after looking at the reactions of the onlookers and admiring looks from the Appraisal teacher, she now had an idea that Mr. Hope was far stronger than she had initially imagined. The disappointment that she felt before had long been washed away by the overwhelming excitement that she was feeling right now.
After watching how Baiyi could easily handle the few different elements just like that, even she understood what this actually implied. Usually, switching between elements was something that was extremely energy consuming. Along with the restriction of time and resources, a sorcerer who could command 2-3 types of elements would already be considered remarkable. Yet, Baiyi was able to demonstrate five different elements in one breathe! This was already enough to blow her mind away.
"Mr. Hope, y-you really are amazing!" she said sincerely from the bottom of her heart.
"Mia, I'm actually stronger than you think," replied Baiyi casually. In fact, controlling five elements was not all that he could do. He was actually able to command much more. For example, like the advanced level of Water element -- the Ice element or the advanced level of the Nature element-- the Life element and even the Undead element from the Darkness element. Not only that, he was also able to use a Warrior's Chi Prowess. If he had been really serious just now, he could actually make the little figure leap from his right hand to his left and then even go to his toes without repeating all of the element transformations.
After all, Void Energy was an energy that was of a higher order that could be easily transformed into any energy of the lower order. He could effortlessly play with the power however he liked.
However, with the current predicament that he was in, he figured that it would be better if he maintained a low profile at the moment. Baiyi was not a person who liked to show off and make his presence known. The exhibition this time, however, was actually intended to build Mia's faith towards himself and to create an image of a reliable being in her heart.
Mr. Hope is actually stronger than I thought? Oh my, how could I have doubted him in the first place? A-am I even worthy to become his partner? Mia could not help but wonder as she started to have mixed feelings of guilt and inferiority playing in her mind. She was totally at loss for words.
Mia was just a little kid after all. That little conflict in her heart could easily be seen through by Baiyi. Stroking her little head once again, he reassured, "Don't worry. I'll teach you eventually."
The little girl who just had her mind read turned coy as her face flushed with embarrassment. But at the same time, she finally could breathe a sigh of relief. Nodding her head shyly, she let out a sweet smile.
At the same time, the Appraisal teacher spoke suddenly, his voice interrupted the current atmosphere, "Sir Hope, would it be okay for you to let us know your name? I'm sure that such a strong and powerful being as you would be recorded in the historical books, am I right?"
"Is this really important?" Baiyi turned his head to the teacher as he replied, "I'm nothing more than a spirit who was accidentally summoned into this world."
Faced with such modesty, the Appraisal teacher did not dare to ask another question. Instead, he proceeded to write on the appraisal form: Able to command five different elements. Although his power is only at the Intermediate Level right now, in his past life his power was at least at the Legendary Level. A supernatural being from the ancient period.
The teacher raised his head again as he finished writing the report, "If this gorgeous lady beside us does not perform better than the both of you, then the both of you would be the group with the highest potential to win this round. As usual, as per the rule of the academy, we will work out a subsidy scheme for you in a short period of time."
Even though there's actually nothing wrong with this sentence but why did it sound so modernized? Slightly creasing his non-existent brows, Baiyi looked at the beautiful Soul Armature by his side.
Because the show that Baiyi put up had already ended a while back, all of the attention of the onlookers were now back on this head-turning Soul Armature. Everyone was anticipating a performance that was as enticing as her appearance but then, there seemed to be no progress as the Appraisal teacher tried to communicate with her again. The language that she spoke was too strange and foreign.
It was a good thing that there was at least one person who could understand what she was trying to say. "That is one of the unique tribal language of the caveman during the ancient period," said Baiyi suddenly. He was not the kind of person who would poke his nose into other people's business but he decided to help out solely out of sympathy.
"As for the things that he was trying to say, well.. it was something like this. Please just kill me off! and Please just grant me a quick and painless death! and also Please stop humiliating my soul... Oh! The last one was him trying to thank me instead..." Baiyi continued his translation and then switched to the caveman's language seamlessly, "You're most welcome. I'm glad I could help."
"Eh? EHHH?! A CAVEMAN?" Mia's beautiful eyes were as wide as saucers from astonishment, her face filled with disbelief. The surrounding onlookers began to talk animatedly. A cavemen that was stuffed in such an exquisite armour? Oh my god! This is so, SO embarrassing! Nobody dared to doubt the legitimacy of Baiyi's word after witnessing his awe inspiring performance.
"That's right! On top of that, that is a male caveman. Pffft....! Alright, I feel quite sorry for him..." Trying to hold back his laughter as he said this, he grabbed Mia's little hand and led her away. As for the pitiful caveman, Baiyi could not be bothered with him any more. There was nothing more that he could do to help him anyway.
Under the envious and curious looks from the other passersby, they started to walk back home. As they were walking back through the same quiet tree-lined trail back home, Mia could not contain her curiosity anymore as she lifted her head up to ask Baiyi, "Mr. Hope, what was your rank in your past life? I-I really want to know..."
"Well, actually, during my time, there was no such ranking yet so I don't really know either. Could you explain it to me please, Mia?" said Baiyi as he gave out a small laugh. Obviously, he was just pulling her leg.
Instead, Mia became serious all of a sudden as she started to explain the general idea of this realm to Baiyi, "There are a total of 9 ranking starting from the Primary rank, Intermediate rank, Advanced rank, Elite rank, Master rank, Legendary rank, Immortal rank, Holy rank and lastly, the Demigod rank..."
As Mia was explaining seriously, Baiyi listened half-heartedly as he started to converse with the rest of the Voidwalkers, "Although I actually know all of these things a long time ago but listening to this girl explaining with such enthusiasm right now, why do i feel like I'm experiencing a sense of deja vu?"
"It's not only you, even I, myself feel like I'm reading some sort of online novel right now. What sorcery is this? The thing that she is explaining now is something that we all know since a long time ago. Could it be that I have been unconsciously seeing myself as an Earthling now?" said the Devil.
Oh please! There is no such thing as the devil on Earth okay? And besides, what sort of Devil are you to actually get addicted to online novel actually? These novels usually tell stories of how your kind is being hunted or slaughtered anyway! thought Baiyi in his mind.
"Ah? Why can't I like online novel? Most of the protagonists are as cunning and ruthless as my kind anyway. It's just that they have the appearance of a normal human being but inside they’re all the same!" the Devil replied confidently.
Errr... what a cynical remark...
In just a short period of time, Mia finally finished telling her story. She looked up at Baiyi and stared at him eagerly with her cute and pretty face as she asked again, "So, Mr. Hope, could you try to guess what rank you think your power was last time?"
Tsk tsk, Mia, you are so young and immature. Why do you have to keep holding on to such petty things? Then again, how do you want me to answer you actually? I really can't place my power in any of the ranking level, Baiyi thought to himself and he did not know whether to laugh or cry. After a slight moment of consideration, he tried to change the topic instead, "What rank I was at last time is not important. The most important thing is, which rank do you wish to achieve, Mia?
"Eh? I... I have never thought about it before..." Mia lowered her head in embarrassment as she tugged on both of her ponytails nervously, her awkwardness could be seen with her body gestures. "Well, if it were me, I- I guess I would be happy as long as I manage to graduate from the academy.."
Having said that, she guiltily lifted up her head and quickly stole a glance at Baiyi as if she wanted to see what his reaction would be. Then again, Baiyi's face was nothing more than just a piece of rucksack cloth.
"This girl is really bad at lying. It's obvious that she is hiding something." Looking at Mia's reaction, the Archmage asked Baiyi, "You don't plan to find out more?"
"It's alright. Every girl has their own secrets anyway." Baiyi was not bothered by it at all. "I believe that she will tell me eventually."