Chapter 5: This is the Perfect Age!

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

As Baiyi was browsing through Mia's textbooks, the rest of the Voidwalkers continued their discussion about Mia, "Anyway, the innate aptitude of that girl is kind of average, don't you think so? She should be around 16 years old and yet she is still an Intermediate Level sorcerer? What an ordinary little girl."

The Paladin also joined in the conversation, "It's not only her innate aptitude. Her body doesn't seem to be fully grown as well. There are no curves at all! It is still completely like a kid's body! Yeah, I agree that the pigtails can be quite cute but she is almost 16 years old now for God's sake! What does she usually eat to have such a slow development?"

Excuse me? Paladin? Why are you focusing on this part instead? How are you worthy of the title 'Paladin'? You are more like a 'Hentai' now instead! Or how about I just call you 'Hentai' from now on? Baiyi scoffed coldly in his heart.

"No, no, it's not like that!" The Paladin immediately explained himself, "The development of the body would influence the speed of the power growth! If the body is not well developed, the growth of power would be slow as well! I'm really not that kind of pervert who is only interested in the growth of a girl's body!"

Hmm, even though you have a point right there, you still sound pretty lecherous to me, Sir 'Hentai'!

Strictly speaking, being able to become an Intermediate Level sorcerer before hitting 16 years old actually showed that Mia's innate aptitude was still slightly better than other ordinary people. Of course she could not be compared to all of those perverts. To them, not being able to reach the High Level before 10 years old was something extremely embarrassing.

On top of that, she was such a hardworking girl. Come to think of it, why is she so hardworking? This question suddenly appeared in Baiyi's mind. Logically thinking, a girl at her age would still be goofing around and slacking off right? But Mia is not like this at all. I wonder why? Is it because she has a desire to learn and do better? A thirst for power? Or is it external pressure?

Baiyi had no answer at all. As he was about to discuss this with the other Voidwalkers, he realised that the topic was slowly veering off course in quite an uncontrollable manner.

There was a person who was defending her innate aptitude, "Isn't 16 years old the perfect age? This is the most suitable age for a person to become the Hokage, finding ONE PIECE or to start piloting a huge Transformer!"

Okay, that person had obviously gotten too addicted to the many things from Earth until his knowledge on Earth had reached a point of no return… But it was his words that had led the proper conversation concerning Mia's Grooming Plan into some strange and weird directions, where it eventually developed into a conversation about… the skirt style of the 'Magical Girl Mia', and what sort of monsters she would encounter in the future.

Alright fine! All of these guys are absolutely hopeless! The moment their topic touched on which rank Mia would be after she had become the Heroic Spirit (T/N: in reference to Fate/Stay Night) Baiyi became fed up and decided to give up on joining their conversation.

Being a regular Voidwalker, surviving amongst this group of people was definitely not a stroll in the park. Come to think of it, it was quite funny actually. He had become more like someone who came from this world ever since he re-lived their memories while the rest of them started becoming more and more like Earthlings instead…

Therefore, as the only normal person in the group, Baiyi could not get a word in the conversation at all. There was nothing that he could do other than to save these questions for Mia later. He continued browsing through the textbooks that was left behind by Mia in silence. Not long after, he asked again, "How long has it been since these textbooks were last updated? Why does it seem like most of the things inside here are outdated and old-fashioned?"

"A few decades, probably?" The Apprentice was the only person who replied him, "The Celestial Fortress Academy had a long history spanning a few thousand years but the textbooks have only been updated and replaced a few times. I think the last time they got updated was during my term as President of the academy."

"So, the progress of the theoretical research is not even up to par with the discussion that we have among ourselves?" asked Baiyi.

"There is not much that we can do. Our world is not like Earth that is blessed with so many convenient and fast channels of communications. An academia that lacks communication and interaction is pretty much a pool of stagnant water. Adding on to the fact that we have many rigid and unyielding mentalities and perceptions in this world, it is naturally difficult for us to move forward. The speed of progress, of course, would never surpass our group. Even though there are not a lot of us in the group, all of us are wise and insightful. And on top of that, we have a very efficient way of communicating through our consciousness. It is without a doubt that we are more advanced when it comes to theoretical research," the Apprentice replied.

"Alright then. I feel kind of sorry for them but at the same time, I guess I have to be glad that the knowledge that we have is not outdated." Baiyi continued, "Though, I still think that it's a shame that I can't use the Void Energy as I please. Otherwise, Mia would make a faster progress if I could just directly pass on my knowledge to her."

As he was still deep in his thought, the sound of light footsteps could be heard coming from the dormitory hall. Shortly after that, the door opened as Mia pushed her way in, her face was flushed in an adorable manner from jogging back just a short while ago. Even though she was excited but she still remained courteous, "Mr. Hope, can you follow me out for a while? The teacher of the academy just told me that I need to get an appraisal after I have succeeded in summoning a Soul Armature."

"Alright. Why not?" With movements that spoke of agility, Baiyi stood up and walked across the table to Mia's side. Holding her delicate small hand, he motioned, "Let's go."

Just like that, the cute and pretty little girl walked through the tree-lined trail in the Celestial Fortress Academy while holding hands with a crude and ugly armour, attracting a lot of attention from passersby as they went along. After all, it was a weird and unexpected combination.

The Soul Armature thing was actually invented by a person named Syphrose. As it turned out, he was actually the Ninth Walker with the nickname the Soul Armature Practitioner. The principle was actually very simple. Through the Summoning Ceremony, one could easily summon dead souls that still retain their consciousness but who had already lost their physical bodies, into a set of armour and then subsequently affix the summoned souls to the armour by using the practitioner's own soul. Both parties would then enter a relationship where they become partners, teacher and student or even master and servant and embark on a whole new adventure together.

Unlike the minions that were summoned by the conjurers, the devilish puppets of the alchemists or the pets of the hunters, Soul Armatures were a lot stronger than all of them. Once the soul of a supernatural being become a Soul Armature, he would still retain the great strength and rich knowledge that he used to have in his past life. Basically, it could be treated as the reincarnation of that person. As for the relationship between the Soul Armature and the Practitioner, most of the time, they would become equal partners or one would become the protector and the other the protege. But no matter what, the Soul Armature must fully protect the Practitioner at all time. If the Practitioner happened to pass away, the summoned soul would not be able to remain in the armour anymore and would go back to the indefinite form of a spirit.

Because of that, the souls of those beings would usually choose a practitioner who was more powerful and ignore the summoning of those weaker practitioner. If they happened to have a weak practitioner, not only do they have to carry a heavier burden on their shoulders, they would also have to stay close to the practitioner in order to protect them. This would inevitably result in movement limitations and make it hard for them to get around.

Without a doubt, as a powerful supernatural being, they would have a high sense of pride and would certainly prefer to have a magnificent and almighty armor as well. Even if one did not care about the look of the armor, the function and performance of the armor was still important to the soul.

Ever since Soul Armature was invented and had undergone plenty of development and evolution, both souls and practitioners understood this principle very well, which was why there was only strong-strong combination of both parties that could be seen in all realms. As a result, human being was able to excel and stand out amongst all intelligent beings, occupying most of the realms that were suitable for living things to live in.

That was why it was extremely rare for an Intermediate Level sorcerer like Mia to be able to summon a Soul Armature who was willing to lower his pride and stay in an ordinary militia's armour. Such a scene really did make many passersby wondered among themselves. Their conversation went along the lines of this:

"What a weird combination this is! I guess this soul must have come from an era where Soul Armature had not existed yet for him to be willing to enter that kind of armor?"

"Yeah, I think you are right! Ever since Soul Armature was invented, souls of those supernatural beings have a knack on how things are run over here. Nobody would choose an Intermediate Level wizard and a militia's armour."

"I wonder how much strength this soul actually is left with now? It has been over 4000 years since Soul Armature was created, hasn't it? How much power would still be left in him after such a long time?"

"Looking at the direction that they are heading, they must be going for an appraisal, right? Why don't we follow them and have a look together? Hehe! Who knows? Maybe we could witness the weakest Soul Armature that has ever been summoned in history!"

Of course, such sarcastic remarks did not go unnoticed by the two of them. Well, truthfully, Baiyi could not care less about such petty things at all. That tranquil mind of his that was as calm as the sea was not disturbed in any way. In fact, he found it funny instead.

As for Mia, she was just a shy little girl who would get embarrassed easily after all. Having heard such words, she immediately felt awkward and troubled by them . Her little face started to flush as she started to whimper lightly in a pitiful manner.

Noticing this, Baiyi lightly brought up his hand and stroked Mia's head gently as he said in a low voice, "Ignore them, Mia. These people have no idea what true power is."

"Sniff sniff... it's alright. I-I don't mind." Lifting up her head, Mia forced a smile on her face.

Even though the remarks made by these people were pretty hurtful and nasty, there was still a kernel of truth in it. Without a doubt, Mia understood the things that they were saying as well. It was just that she was too carried away by her excitement previously and so these things had totally slipped her mind when the summoning had first taken place. Now that she had heard such comments from other people, she could not help but have mixed feelings in her heart.

By all means, even though Mr. Hope was a kind, gentle and wise person, she really could not sense the power in him at all. It feels like he would be even worse than some of the Advanced Level seniors... Mia thought to herself. But as she recalled the pleasant exchange that they had in the morning, she could not stop herself from feeling guilty again.

H-how selfish and greedy I am! Mia scolded herself. Now that you have such a gentle and nice Mr. Hope by your side, why can't you be a little bit satisfied? But... but... If I couldn't summon a strong and powerful Soul Armature, I would be a step further away from the promise! W-what should I do?

With all that conflicting emotions in her heart, her whole body started to become uneasy and tensed. But at the same time, she did not dare to show it openly because she did not want to hurt Baiyi's feelings. For this reason, she pretended to act as if nothing was on her mind and continued on her journey with Baiyi.

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