Chapter 85: This One’s Limited Edition
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
With the Warrior showing off so hard on stage, Baiyi felt even more motivated. Without attracting anyone’s attention, he walked briskly towards the elder.
He was standing at the corner at the side of the audience’s seat, his eyes were shut. It was peculiar, even as Baiyi was fast approaching him, the elder did not seem to rouse nor did he seem alert. It suggested that he was using a sort of Borrowing spell, splitting half of his consciousness and transferring it to Vidomina, then borrowing her body to perform the summoning of that lindworm.
"Playing a dangerous game when everybody’s here? Pretty callous of you— and so excuse me for returning the sentiment!"
Baiyi retracted his arm and swung it forward in full speed. The fist landed squarely on the elder’s stomach—
... And the only thing that happened was that his stomach quivered a little. That was it. There weren't even any movements from his pupils.
"Hmm? What, you even had all five of your senses transferred over to her?" Baiyi raised his eyebrow, amused. He scanned the old man using his Psychic Energy, only to be even more surprised at his total lack of self-defense. He was not wearing any magical item and he was not even equipped with a basic multi-space storage pouch. Did he gave it all to Vidomina before her battle?
"Aww, you care about this match more than I’d expected, old man," Baiyi sneered. An Immortal Level sorcerer without any equipments? No different than being naked in the wild. The danger he posed would be lesser than a Legendary Level being. In addition to that, in his current state, a child could kill him just by holding a knife and tripping accidentally.
Too easy . Baiyi cracked his knuckles. It’s almost disappointing if I don’t take his pathetic life right now—
"Not so fast, Sir Hope!" The Apprentice’s voice rang out in alarm. "Please, not within the grounds of the Academy! He might even be connected with a marquis or the likes. That would certainly invite trouble."
Reasonable, yes, but Baiyi was not bothered with reasons at the moment, no matter how sound the reasonings were. The old geezer certainly wasn’t being reasonable when he unleashed such a dirty technique that could have gotten Mia killed! And she wasn’t the only at stake— with Mia gone, the Voidwalkers would have lost their chance to escape the prison made out of pure nothingness!
"Just pry the foundation of all of his cultivation 1 right out of his system and let that sorry excuse of a sorcerer live," The Archmage suggested at the tail of the Apprentice’s warning. "This would be the most befitting punishment."
Baiyi nodded in affirmation and reached out his right hand over to the crown of the elder’s head. He was going to turn the old man’s Psychic Energy foundation into complete pulp so that even if he lived, he would not be able to live long enough in that crippled state.
By then that old man would wish that Baiyi had just mercifully killed him instead—
Another voice chimed in, jaunty as a choir of fine bells. "Please, hold on a moment, Sir Hope."
The Warrior had temporarily released her hold on the hammerhead shark plushie right before Baiyi was about to do it.
Why are you guys suddenly being so compassionate? Did you people spend all your years in the Void meditating that you have all turned into Buddha? Baiyi sneered. Oh, right— one was a wimpy teacher, whose most grueling fight was probably with a rich kid’s mom about cafeteria food; while another fought every day on average up till her ‘death’, but had never taken anyone’s life in any of those fights. Of course those two would pick that moment to be Mother Mercy.
"Listen. This man’s consciousness is not possessing the girl— it is possessing the lindworm . He is controlling its action, and the reason why his mind cannot return to his body right now is because I’d sealed him within that body," the Warrior explained, her tone still lackadaisical. "That means he didn’t intend to hurt Mia for real— it was all just for show, trying to get her to willingly forfeit the match. In that context, what you are about to do is clearly not right."
It was true. Once Baiyi calmed down enough to remember the details critically, he noticed it too. Despite it being a naturally ferocious carnivore, the lindworm did not leap forward the moment it saw Mia and devour the helpless girl for breakfast. All it did was advance slowly and menacingly towards her, backing her into a corner.
Even when the Warrior, in the guise of the hammerhead shark, had headbutted the reptile into submission, the lindworm reacted in a curiously human way of hugging itself in a fetal position instead of trying to run away or getting enraged and killling the two helpless girls in its vicinity.
In that sense, it was obvious that someone was controlling the lindworm.
In fact, other hints that the lindworm was possesed started becoming more apparent after Baiyi cleared his head. For example, an Immortal Level sorcerer would not be content with summoning a being that was several levels too weak for his rank. The reason why a lindworm was chosen was only because that old geezer needed something he could firmly possess. If he was going all out, it would have been monsters that were of Leviathan proportion. By then, the arena— and the students within it— would already be completely decimated.
After much debate, Baiyi came up with a solution. He injected fine mana of his own into the elder’s body, which in turn, sealed the old man’s key mana generation points. Now all that was separating the elder from turning into a mortal with a perennially-crippled mana system, was Baiyi’s will.
That secret technique was borne out of the Archmage’s own hands a long time ago, invented to deal with dangerous sorcerers whom for some reasons, were exempted from death sentence. It was called the Magi Forbidding Curse and no one had ever learnt it from the Archmage when he was alive. What’s more, the Archmage had even made additional changes to the curse after becoming a Voidwalker, it had been modified that the curse would remain so long as the caster’s mana was left in the afflicted person’s system.
In other words, unless the elder abandoned all of his powers by exorcising his mana to flush out Baiyi’s mana, he would forever be under Baiyi’s control.
"Not bad, my child. Better to keep an Immortal Level pawn than to throw a resource like that away," The Archmage nodded at his disciple’s decision.
"We might need him the future," Baiyi replied and turned to the Warrior. "It is done. Let him back in."
"Yes."
The hammerhead shark hovered in the air and struck down hard, headbutting the heart of the lindworm, simultaneously igniting the water spells hidden within it.
Instantaneously, the lindworm’s organs and tissues ruptured and the beast fell, before the summoning circle retrieved it and the spell dissipated entirely.
To the naked eye, the beast looked as though it was swooning before it fell to its death right after one last attack from the plushie. The audience immediately exploded into a galvanized discussion.
"Hot damn, where can I get this doll?— I don’t care if I’m a guy, this doll has more action than action figures!"
"It looks so normal… But it just ejected a jet of terrifying water magic and then slayed the dragon with powerful physical attacks! This isn’t some normal plushie, it is possible that it's some lost artefact of the Gods!"
"Is it me, or can this doll destroy the world as we know it? It’s larger than a button, and it works!"
"A mere plushie that has so much power. I must be high…"
Vidomina laid on her back. Her entire body was bruised from the fight but her face was still filled with longing instead of agony as she watched the hammerhead shark plushie flew back to its master. The plushie patted Mia’s head with its snowy-white underbelly before returning to her embrace.
She shook her head with a dejected smile on her face as she sighed, "I… wish I have a doll like this too…"
The infirmary units had set up a stretcher and they took the beaten girl out of the arena. The judges entered as well, to declare Mia as the victor among spirited cheers and applause.
Even Baiyi had entered the stage from the side inconspicuously, wiping the blood on his fingers clean.
The atmosphere was supercharged with so much excitement and felicitation that no one noticed the bloodied face of the elder as he lay helplessly on the floor from where Baiyi came from. His consciousness had barely returned when a blurred fist landed straight on his face. He had wanted to conjure his mana to counter, but at that split second when he realized he couldn’t feel his mana, the punch had already landed on him.
Baiyi punched him so hard, he could hear the sound of his bones cracking.
"This is your retribution for cheating, old man. I hate it when someone destroys the sanctity of a fair match... Don’t worry, you can reflect and repent on your sins while lying down on the bed for at least six months. Also, don’t think of telling anyone about this— or you will never be able to use your mana again."
Baiyi lifted his finger in the air and made a pointing gesture. The elder’s mana seal was opened a little, turning him into a sorcerer at a beginner's level. Baiyi thought better of it so he unlocked the seal a little more and had him restored into an Intermediate Level sorcerer.
Then he screwed it tight again, demonstrating his complete control over the elder’s mana. "You got that?" He said icily.
The elder could not even speak after Baiyi’s assaults. He could only nod feebly at him before laying down on the floor in agony.
Quietly pleased with himself for taking care of a possible threat, Baiyi returned to Little Mia’s side. The girl was surrounded by curious students asking questions and congratulating her, but all she said was, "Mmf mfffmm mfmff".
Baiyi pushed the students aside and grabbed the girl with one arm, before heading back to her dorm.
Throughout that short journey, Mia was hugging his neck, grinning ear-to-ear like a fool.
Once they reached her room, Baiyi set her down and immediately checked on her wounds.
"She’s good. She’s hardly hurt," The Warrior spoke again with her trademark fine voice. Baiyi caught a light wisp of affection— could it be that the woman had already taken a liking to Mia?
"Thank you."
"It’s alright. She’s a good kid," the Warrior replied.
She never spoke again after that. Baiyi felt that it was quite a waste for a voice this beautiful to stop talking. He dismissed that idea and turned to Mia, patting her head as he said, "Good job out there today, Mia. Congratulations!"
"Mmmffffff! Mff!"
Oops. I forgot to remove the spell…