Chapter 87: This is So Unfair!
The next morning, when Baiyi informed Tisdale that he would be going to watch her match, she lowered her head down in embarra.s.sment and hesitated, “… I-I will try to not… l-let you d-down…”
Ah? No confidence at all, eh? Baiyi thought. As a matter of fact, he had an inkling that Tisdale would be unlikely to get good results in the battle arena. After all, she was too busy and had not much time left to train. No matter how good her innate apt.i.tude was, without any training, she certainly would not be able to keep up with the other students.
In a calm manner, Baiyi replied, “I understand, just enjoy your match. This is your last time partic.i.p.ating in the battle arena, isn’t it? Once you’ve entered your senior year, you won’t have the time for these anymore.”
In Celestial Fortress Academy, the fourth and the fifth graders would spend most of their time outside of the academy, where they would start to partic.i.p.ate in actual combats.
Unfortunately, during Tisdale’s final partic.i.p.ation, she was doomed to be not as high-spirited and enthusiastic as she was last year. She did not even prepare any sorcerer robe nor equipments in advance. The staff and accessories that she would be wearing tomorrow were all borrowed from Mia at the last minute.
Even though Mia actually intended to lend her hammerhead shark plus.h.i.+e to Tisdale, her kind gesture was stopped by Baiyi. It was not that he was unwilling to part with it but he found it to be unnecessary as there were no significant gain that Tisdale would get even if she had gotten herself a good ranking.
For that reason, with a relaxed heart, she walked up to the stage and fought her way up to the Top 16 where she was finally defeated by the hands of a golden-collared boy. With her current condition, her performance was undoubtedly quite a good one, especially when the champion turned out to be the guy who defeated her earlier on. It made her feel a little better about her results.
“It’s alright! Once you’ve officially received the orthodox Rohserlian training, everything that you’ve learnt in the past will not be useful anymore,” Baiyi comforted her.
“Yes, I know. Thank you very much, teacher!” Tisdale replied.
“So, how’s the thing going on with your house right now? You can’t be distracted once you start the training!” Baiyi added. Tisdale had always been caught up with petty things from her family and it would obviously be a hindrance to her if it continued in the future.
The moment the topic was brought up, a relaxed look appeared on her face, “Everything is more or less done now. I’ve already given them the treasures and the seals that they wanted as I only want that old house for myself. I’ve also given them one of the alchemist workshop in exchange for my own freedom so just let them use the Aegis name as they like. Let them become the normal aristocrats who get obsessed with power and money while I become an ordinary civilian girl. Oh, yes! And as your student too!”
Tisdale finished all of that in just one breath. It looked like she had been holding them in for quite a long time now.
Baiyi could not help but applaud her for her courage and decisiveness. For a girl like her, who grew up in an aristocratic environment from an early age, to be able to discard and give up on her own aristocratic status so decisively required high fort.i.tude and determination that not everyone possessed. The aristocrats in that world were different from those aristocrats on Earth. Over here, they enjoyed many privilege and were usually looked up to by the commoners unlike those on Earth that would always have their lives chronicled by the papparazis and bashed on social medias.
“It is much better to become my student than becoming an aristocrat!” Baiyi announced in all seriousness, “Don’t worry, Tisdale. Be it power, knowledge, wealth or status, I can give you all of this with just a snap of my fingers. This is the reward for the 6000-years worth of loyalty that your family had shown to us.”
“B-But teacher, I’ve already cut all ties from my family…” Tisdale pleaded in a charming manner and playfully stuck out her pink tongue. Such a cute action wouldcatch anybody who saw her off-guard, even Baiyi could not help but be stunned by her for a moment before he went on saying, “In my opinion, you, who inherited the duty and glory, are the real member of the Aegis family. As for the rest of your family? Well, they are nothing more than strangers who happened to share the same surname as you,” Habitually, he reached out a hand and stroked Tisdale’s head, drawing a delighted smile from the little girl standing in front of him.
To Tisdale, it was no doubt the biggest reward that she had obtained today.
Everything went well and everyone was happy, so as a matter of course, Baiyi planned to bring the two girls to the lamb-chop shop last time to have a good meal. Just as they were about to leave the arena, a teacher came forward to look for him and stopped him in his track.
“Master Hope, it’s like this. Just like how it was since a few years back, after the match between the students, we still have a showcase that will be taking place. We would like to seek your opinion on this.”
“A showcase? Alright. Why do you need my opinion?” Puzzled, Baiyi asked the teacher. At the same time, he asked the Apprentice inwardly— who had expressed the same puzzlement as well. It seemed like it was something that was created after he had left the academy.
Tisdale, who was by his side, was reminded about it as well. Quickly, she helped the teacher to explain to Baiyi. In the past few years, after the final exams every semester, the academy would arrange a showcase for the students and the partic.i.p.ants were two Soul Armatures who would battle it out with each other. Usually, it would the Soul Armatures of the students who had obtained the first place, one from the Soph.o.m.ore year while another from the Junior year. If the first place was not a Soul Armature pract.i.tioner, then the second place would take the place instead and if the second place was not a Soul Armature pract.i.tioner as well, the third place would be the one taking the place. In short, two Soul Armatures of the best pract.i.tioners from the Soph.o.m.ore and Junior year would be battling with the purpose of educating the students and let them have a glimpse of a real combat.
After all, a Soul Armature was the second teacher of a pract.i.tioner. Being able to produce such an outstanding student would mean that the teacher itself was a powerful and knowledgeable person too. For that reason, the match usually would be particularly mind-blowing and sensational, with many brilliant moves and points that would be very educational for the students, thus making it the most antic.i.p.ated match of the final exam. Many students would purposely hang around in the academy after their exam just to watch the showcase.
“In that case, I won’t let anybody down!” Baiyi expressed his consent right away. In truth, after watching his two students giving their all in the past two days, he himself also started to itch for some action. It would be the perfect opportunity to give his two students a glimpse of his real strength and power.
“Thank you for your support, Master Hope. However, I do have to warn you that your opponent is a little unusual. Please take your time to consider it.” After saying that, she continued, “You can refuse it if you find it to be inconvenient, Master Hope. Actually, we were supposed to ask another master to go on the stage but because Mia was the victor of the Soph.o.m.ore year, we decided to ask your opinion first.”
“Hmm, that’s sounds interesting to me…” With his one finger gently tapping the back of his other hand, Baiyi nodded his head after deep consideration, “I’ll accept the challenge!”
“Eh? T-Teacher? B-But isn’t this unfair?” Tisdale immediately shouted, “You won’t be able to win!”
She was not the only one who was taken aback by Baiyi’s decision. The Junior year students sitting in the distance, who had obtained the first place, could not help but expressed his disbelief after hearing the teacher’s confirmation as well, “R-Really? Master Hope really accepted the challenge? B-But this would be unfair to him!”
“Master Hope said that since this is just a demonstration match, the outcome does not matter much to him. What’s important to him is to let the students learn some skills from the match. That was why he decided to accept it,” the teacher said with a bitter smile.
“Oh, is that so? Then, I guess we’ll have to live up to his good intentions, won’t we?” The student’s Soul Armature who was sitting by the side interjected suddenly. The Soul Armature had an armor that looked pretty ordinary except for the fiery red color that was sprayed on his armor. A stalk of Prince’s Feather was sticking out from his visor where his mouth should be, making it look like like it was dangling from his mouth— well, if he had one.
“Ah, but won’t the other people come to hate me if I defeat such a respected master in front of the public? I heard that he’s good in repairing, right? Perhaps I should show him a little mercy…” The red Soul Armature murmured to himself.
In no time, Baiyi and his opponent were ready to go on stage. The arena that was put up temporarily by Earth-type magic was filled with many students— not only the soph.o.m.ores and the juniors but other students from other grades as well who rushed in from all parts of the academy the moment they heard about the showcase.
President Rhansey personally came forward to preside over the match. Sitting in the middle of the spectators’ stand, with his Hailer spell, he took on the position of a commentator. After giving the formal opening speech, he began to introduce the two opponents to all of the students.
“Our first opponent is none other than the famous Master Hope! I’m sure most of you have heard about him, haven’t you? Especially the students from the Soul Armature course. He’s the one who had helped repair countless other Soul Armatures in our academy! Right now, he’s the mostpopular, mysterious and powerful sorcerer in the Celestial Fortress Academy! Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for a round applause!”
“As for the other opponent, I believe many of you may have only heard of his occupation before but have never seen with your own eyes. Can you guess what he is? Drum rolls anybody? YES! This is a long-lost occupation that was long wiped-out by the merciless flow of time. Even I would be witnessing it for the first time in my life. He is a…”
“MAGI-BREAKER!”
The moment the spectators heard the words, the arena instantly burst into a huge uproar. As the President had said, it was an unusual occupation— Magi-breaker was an extinct occupation, it was exceptionally rare to come across a Soul Armature who was once a Magi-breaker as well. With no other options, many people only heard or learnt about it through records and doc.u.mentations.
As implied by the name, a Magi-breaker was the ultimate nemesis of a sorcerer. Through an intermixture of mystifying training, a Magi-breaker would intensify his own magic resistance to be almost 100% immune towards magic, to the point that he would be even more powerful than sorcerers who had a higher level than he did. Coupled with their one-of-a-kind Mana-break Chi prowess, defeating a sorcerer was something as easy as a stroll in the park for them.
However, the road and training that one had to undergo to become a Magi-breaker was not an easy task. For unknown reasons, the occupation suddenly disappeared from the eyes of the public, the training methods no longer existed as well. With no emergence of new Magi-breakers, they were reduced to figures in historical and legendary pa.s.sage. Perhaps, their disappearance could be considered as a blessing in disguise, otherwise, the occupation ‘sorcerer’ might have been extinct.
For that reason, the few outstanding Magi-breakers who were well-known to the public were also commonly named as ‘The Sorcerer’s Nemesis’. Well, of course, it certainly did not mean that they would use their Battle Fury mighty axe to recklessly slaughter any sorcerer that entered their sight…
When Baiyi decided to partic.i.p.ate in the match, Tisdale and Mia strongly opposed his decision. Even his opponent could see that it was clearly an unfair match for him.
Be that as it may, he still decided to accept the challenge no matter what. Yes, it was true that a Magi-breaker would certainly restrain a sorcerer but then again, who was Baiyi?
The Fifth-Walker was not someone with a feeble existence who only had one ident.i.ty that could be easily defeated just like that.