Chapter 2: The Opportunity that Came Abruptly
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
"I guess I’ll just continue to practice the drawing of the Summoning Formation today." The moment Mia got back to her simple and small dormitory, she went to the corner by the window where a set of militia’s full plate armour was discreetly placed. It was a cheap body armour that was distributed by the academy for the students to practice their skills on.
A complex magic circle known as the Summoning Circle was drawn underneath the feet of the simple and crude armour. Complicated inscriptions and lines were fully drawn on the circle. It was so confusing that with just a glance, it would give an ordinary person a headache. It was because of this reason that Mia was still not able to fully master drawing the Summoning Circle even though it had been two years since she had joined the Celestial Fortress Academy.
However, she did not feel discouraged nor did she thought about giving up. There were many traces of corrections that could be seen on the magic circle. Opening the notes that she had taken in class, she checked and corrected the circle once again. She had done this boring and tedious task countless of times and yet, she was still calm and patient. Traits like that were definitely rare in a girl who was barely 15 years old.
Before she knew it, the sun had already set and the sky was dark outside the window. Mia lit up the magical lamp in her room and once again, checked the Summoning Circle that was on the floor with the help of the faint light from her lamp. "Hmm, it should be more or less like this…" She uttered softly to herself. She then proceeded to stand beside the magic circle and chanted the spell that she had memorised in her heart under her breath.
As she was chanting the spell, the magic circle on the ground started to glow faintly but that was the extent of it, no other reactions could be seen at all.
"Another failure?" Mia’s brows furrowed as she sighed slightly while staring at the militia’s full plate armour. But very quickly she lifted her face up and smiled again. The slight disappointment evident on her face and body was gone in a split second as she said to herself cheerfully, "It’s alright. I’ll just continue my practice tomorrow!"
As she said this, she patted her cute and puffy cheeks lightly with both of her delicate hands. Fisting both of her palms together, she encouraged herself again, "I’m now already familiar with the procedures. I WILL succeed eventually!"
This was the type of girl Mia was. Optimistic, cheerful and much more determined than her peers.
At that moment, Mia, who went to her desk to resume her revision of the subjects that were taught in class would never have thought that her seemingly failed summoning technique had actually triggered a slight ripple in the Void.
If Baiyi had been a little less attentive, he would have missed the almost negligible shift in the immutable darkness. He immediately gathered his consciousness and focused on the area where he could feel the shift in the atmosphere. He could sense a voice that was summoning for something.
Has the window of opportunity that the Voidwalkers have waited thousands of years for finally arrived at such an unexpected moment?
Without any hesitation, Baiyi immediately tried to respond to the voice using his thoughts and consciousness. He was not worried at all. It did not worry him that it could be an evil or vicious person, like a devil or a lich, who was doing the summoning because he knew the most powerful devil personally. And it was precisely that person that was supposed to be the most powerful who used the Death Riders to attack the Moving Forts. What a noob player! It was because of that reason that he boldly accepted the summon. In a flash, a part of his consciousness managed to break through the barrier that appeared to be impenetrable and arrived in a crude body armour at the realm of Isythre.
All at once, Baiyi could feel the air, temperature and the light emitted from the magical lamp enveloping his body. The feeling of these simple elements that did not exist in The Void made him tremble with excitement. Finally! After thousands and thousands of years, he had found a chance to escape to the realm of reality at long last. Even a man as composed as him could not contain the excitement in his heart.
The Voidwalkers had been waiting for that moment to come for so long now.
Despite his excitement, Baiyi still retained his senses and composure as he quickly extended his five senses to survey his surrounding — a simple, small room, an ordinary reading desk, a typical wardrobe, a normal tiny bed, a plain hammerhead shark doll on the bed and a weak underage age little girl in front of him. Not to mention the magic circle that was riddled with mistakes by his legs.
Could it be that it was this pitiful-looking girl who had manage to summon a Voidwalker by using such a noob summoning charm to this… this female dormitory? Baiyi could not help but wonder.
However, it was not the time to deal with these trivial little things. According to the plan and strategy that they had concocted in their idle time, Baiyi should first construct a new body for himself. As per the prediction of the Voidwalkers, the window of time that they have to break the barrier would be very limited, which was why he needed to create a body for himself first as a precaution.
As a result, Baiyi decided to cast the Specialised Encasement Shaping Spell. It was a spell that was invented by the First Walker that was meant exactly for a situation like the one he was in.
He was about to use the energy in his body but before he even got the chance to start chanting, the little girl in front of him who was staring at him from head to toe fainted on the floor with a dull ‘thud’ suddenly. Poor Mia who was still at loss at what was going on fell into a deep slumber just like that.
Baiyi’s magic got cut off abruptly at the same time. Was it because he had insufficient magic power? Usually, such reasoning would never occur to a Voidwalker at all. It was even more unlikely for it to be an operational failure. Such error could probably be made by other people but he definitely would not make such a mistake.
Therefore, Baiyi could not help it but he felt a little puzzled and strange. As he was about to give it another try, the calm voice of the First Walker rang in his ears, "Succeeded?"
As it turned out, only a part of his consciousness was able to cross the barrier into the female dormitory with the rest of him still in the Void. That was why he could communicate with the other Voidwalkers. The First Walker could feel the shift in Baiyi’s consciousness earlier, which prompted him to ask about Baiyi’s situation.
"Barely." Baiyi replied, "But the situation is kind of different from what we thought." As he was saying this, he notified the rest of the Voidwalkers of this breakthrough. The boring, lifeless Void once again bustled with excitement.
"Is this… the Soul Armature Summoning Formation? But isn’t the drawing of this circle a little ugly? I almost thought that this was a Demon Summoning Spell," one of the Voidwalkers said. With the help of Baiyi’s ability to share consciousness, they had a direct view of what he saw. Amongst the excitement and noises, somebody noticed the circle that was meant for practice near Baiyi’s feet.
"The preparation of the Soul Armature was not even done correctly. There was no incantation to solidify the sight and hearing senses at all! Sir Hope totally has to rely on his own spiritual force to survey the surrounding. And what exactly is with this armour? Isn’t this a militia’s body armour? I remember this was the favourite style of those extravagant landlords and nouveau riche, wasn’t it?" Another voice could be heard saying.
"It was also the favourite of the academy for the students to practice on. After all, this was the cheapest body armour in the market. Look at that weakling on the floor. Could it be that Sir Hope was summoned by a student during her practice of the Soul Armature Summoning Formation?"
"Why didn’t he construct a new body for himself? With the knowledge and power that Sir Hope possessed, isn’t this a walk in the park for him?"
The lively discussion got louder and louder because everyone was trying to get a word in so Baiyi had no choice but to say out loud, "Please be quiet for a while everyone. Let’s hear the opinions of the expert instead." He motioned to one of the Voidwalkers as he spoke.
A Voidwalker with the nickname Soul Armature Practitioner began to talk, "There is no doubt that this is a special summoning ceremony. It has a big difference from the normal summoning spell which has lead to this situation right now. Because of that difference, Sir Hope’s power was not able to enter the realm of reality along with his consciousness. In fact, there is even a part of his thoughts that still remain here."
You are an expert and you could only tell us the things that all of us already knew by just looking at the situation? Baiyi could not help but criticised in his heart as disappointment towards that unreliable fellow rose in him. He had no choice but to add on, "My power can only enter this body through a very mysterious and narrow pathway and there is no way for me to gather my powers now. It’s pretty weak and based on my deduction, I am just at the Intermediate Level now."
"This.. this is even worse than ‘weak’," the Voidwalkers could not help saying. To these monsters that were once almighty and formidable, the Intermediate Level was as feeble as an ant.
"At least this level allows me to move freely around." Baiyi said as he tried to move his limbs on this new body. Even though the Specialised Encasement Shaping Spell had failed, but at the very least, he managed to give himself a few things like eyes, ears and even joints. As a result, he could see colours and lights that he had not seen in ages. Not bad! It was pretty much the same with when he was just a human.
Looking down, he stared at his own hands. They were actually just gloves that were made of thick leather. It was pretty much the same for the rest of his body: breast plate that was made of hard rattan, arms and legs that were made of animal leather, a round helmet that was made of copper and a face guard that was just a mere sackcloth. It was all these little things that form this militia’s body armour. It was not really a surprise as it was just a cheap item with a low-cost production. If it wasn’t for his magically constructed joints it would have been almost impossible for him to move freely.
"I guess I’ll just live with this for now." Baiyi did not really mind his appearance. He took rigid and halting steps towards the little girl who was still unconscious on the ground and lightly picked her up with rusty movements after checking on her conditions before slowly walking towards the small wooden bed.
Looking at her carefully with the magically constructed eyes in such close proximity, he thought that the little girl was kind of cute actually. With her adorable look, soft body, enticing short skirt and the white silk stocking on her legs, he would have easily lost control if he had been the old Baiyi. However, after everything that he had gone through and also because of his status as the Fifth Walker, he merely placed the little girl onto the bed lightly and then gently covered her with a thin blanket.