A Special Throwing Skill
After praising her, Baiyi had to talk to her about the mistakes she made as well. Playing with Mia's hair that was tied into a single ponytail, he said, "But, there's one thing that you need to pay more attention to. Just now, after you've gained the upper hand, you dawdled too long before you made your move. In that kind of situation, you should have thrown out a scroll and end the battle as fast as you can because you have no idea what other tricks the opponent has up his sleeves."
Usually, in that kind of turn-based strategy battle between the lower tiers sorcerers, in addition to the power of one's equipments, psychological games and all sorts of deceitful means also played a major role as well. Take the duel between Mia and the white-tulled girl as an example, even though Mia had the upperhand in the battle, it was also possible for her opponent to have a scroll that could turn the whole situation around--- cases where the tide of the battle changed in a blink of an eye had been seen by Baiyi countless of times in the memories of the Voidwalkers.
In truth, the ranking level of that world only represented the superficial strength that one had on the surface and not the actual strength when it came to real combat. As long as the gap was not too big, a battle between two people with different levels was quite a common occurrence.
Of course, Baiyi intended to pass down all his experience and combat awareness to Mia in the future but with her kind and gentle temperament, he had no idea how much she would be able to learn. She was more skilled in acting spoiled than playing psychological games with her opponents.
After listening to Baiyi's constructive criticism, Mia nodded her head obediently and then suddenly shook her head freeing her hair from Baiyi's hand. Oh? Looks like this girl doesn't like having her hair played with...
"Remember to use more scrolls in the next round, okay?" Baiyi reminded again.
Instead of quietly obeying him as usual, Mia asked in a very light voice, "B-But, wouldn't it be wasteful? You spent a long time making these scrolls, didn't you, Mr. Hope? E-Erm... Wouldn't it be better if we use less of it and only use it when it's absolutely neccessary?"
Has this girl been poor her whole life? What are her parents thinking? You're a small feudal lord but why are you so stingy with your daughter? Baiyi could not help but wonder. "Don't worry about these things. These scrolls's quality are not that good so they can't be kept for a long time. They're going turn into scrap if you don't use them up as soon as possible!"
As a matter of fact, the Mana that he infused into the scrolls was actually his own Mana that would volatilize easily in that realm. All of those inexpensive materials that he had used on the scrolls were there to actually give a longer shelf life to the temporary scrolls so those scrolls can neither be sold nor stored. It must be used as soon as possible.
In other words, Mia was like a temporary premium game user who was enjoying the VIP experience for a limited time, which was why she needed to seize the opportunity to kill all enemies from all directions when there was still time. After hearing Baiyi's explanation, she nodded her head earnestly and then continued to concentrate on the competitors.
For the practical part of the final exam, not counting the students that did not participate, there were actually less than 200 sophomores who registered to join the battle. Half of them were from the Magical Faculty and the other half were from the Warrior Faculty. After two rounds of battle, there were only 32 students left in the Magic category, with another three more rounds to go before they entered the finals.
As for the two most noteworthy opponents, their performances were still as eye-catching as they successfully entered the next round. One of them, the rumoured daughter of a Duke, even took out a staff so dazzling that it almost blinded everyone's eyes. The entire staff was made by a material known as Saint Quartz, which emitted a colourful and glittering blaze when it was illuminated by light. At the tip of the staff, several magical stones that were the size of a fist were embedded on it.
Why are there so many rich people in this generation? Baiyi could not help but wonder. Saint Quartz was a natural treasure that was formed from the condensation of Natural Energy. Whether it was used in making magical equipment or in the layout of a formation, the crystal was one the best material that one could get in the world! Its excellent performance and the scarcity of it in the market made the price exorbitant. It could also be used directly as a common currency in many places and realms.
Baiyi and his teacher had always had this idea in mind that if they could use that material to create a Summoning Formation, there might be a possibility that they could summon a super powerful presence into the world. Unfortunately, it was extremely hard to get one's hand on the material, let alone the fact that they were planning to use such a lavish material for experimental purposes.
But this rich girl actually uses a staff that was carved out Saint Quartz? Even the inconsequential parts like the handle are fully covered in it! Life is so unfair!
"How much benefit did the human race actually gain from the last few decades from realms exploration? You know, that amount of Saint Quartz on that staff would definitely spark a war during our time and now it's being used on a mere Intermediate Level sorcerer's weapon?" The Thane could not believe his eyes at all.
"Well, it's natural for society to keep developing and progressing, isn't it? So, isn't it a normal phenomenon for the materials to be more abundant and easily accessible in this era?" The youngest Walker, the Apprentice, explained, "Because the technology of realm exploration has become more advanced compared to the past, there are already many realms that were explored and reclaimed by mankind, this undoubtedly allows humans to obtain these resources much easily than how it was back then."
Pausing for a while, he lamented as he continued, "Even though there are not many breakthroughs in the reseach of theoretical magic, but our development has never ceased to progress when it comes to the application of magic. Just take the magic lamp as an example, I'm sure there's no such thing back then in your time, right? Even though the speed of the development in this world is not as fast-paced as Earth, but at the very least, we're still constantly advancing and therefore, many items that were once considered luxurious can now be obtained easily with money."
Without a doubt, this situation is definitely advantageous for us, Baiyi added, We, who have mastered all kinds of knowledge and theories, will deinifitely thrive in this era where resources are abundant.
"But still, a staff created entirely from the Saint Quartz? Ahh... How I wish I can get my hands on that! Sir Hope, what do you think? Do you want to consider instigating Mia-chan to snatch that staff over? Oh! Or maybe, you could steal her storage pouch when she's not looking!" The Charlatan suggested.
Urghh! This guy is really despicable! Okay, fine! Expecting a swindler to act noble is stupid anyway! Baiyi shook his head and proceeded to ignore him while telling the rest of the Walkers who had the same malicious intent, You all better not come up with anymore deceitful suggestions, too! Even though that girl is not a Soul Armature Practitioner, I noticed that there is an unusually powerful sorcerer who keeps following her all the time. Perhaps that's her private tutor or something...
As Baiyi spoke, he looked over to the elder who was dressed modestly like an ordinary old man, sitting at the corner of the stand. The person sitting beside him was no other than the rich girl who seemed to be in deep conversation with him.
Splitting part of his Psychic Energy, Baiyi tried to probe the situation over here but the old man was quick in his reaction and very quickly, he dispelled Baiyi's Psychic Energy and quickly conducted a search to look for the intruder. However, when he was doing that, Baiyi had already collected his energy back rapidly, thus leaving no trail behind for that sorcerer at all.
"Milady, someone just tried to probe us again but this time, the culprit is quite clever. He did not leave any trace behind at all." The elder whispered to the girl immediately.
"Again? Sigh! You really shouldn't have borrowed your staff to me in the first place, grandfather! It's too eyecatching..." A bitter smile appeared on the girl's face. Even since she took the staff out on stage, they had been subjected to multiple attempts by others to investigate them.
"Milady, you're the daughter of the Grand Duke. You're born with a dazzling existence. It is unfair that you even have to attend this academy in the first place. You don't have to bother with all these commoners, just leave them all to me." Even though that guy was the girls's grandfather, he still maintained a humble attitude when he was talking to her.
After one simple investigation, Baiyi, who had just been called a mere commoner, told the rest of the Walkers, Immortal Level. Vigilant as well. Hmmmm, it seems like he's part-timing as a bodyguard? An Immortal Level bodyguard... Hmmm... Actually, I think it's very likely that she is a Duke's daughter. Somehow, I feel like the treatment that she's getting is almost the same as a princess...
"Gee~ Aren't those two more or less the same anyway? I'm quite curious as to why she'd come to this academy when her background is pretty good!" The Thane chimed in, "I can smell the foul odor of politics at play here. Hmmmm, even the academy would choose sides too? Oh well, I suppose that makes sense. An academy would not be able to exist for so long if it stays neutral, am I right?"
The discussion in the Void slowly began to move towards that boring direction and Baiyi was not interested in the things that they were discussing. Ah, well~ Watching these naive kids are much more interesting anyway…
Shortly after, it was Mia's turn to face her third opponent who was a female sorcerer as well. The equipment that she was had seemed fairly decent and based on previous observation, her strength seemed to be quite satisfactory as well. If Mia were to adhere to her own set of strategy,they would probably end up in a tie.
Therefore, just when she was about to step on stage, Baiyi had to remind her again, "You must remember to use the scrolls and those special magic this time! Otherwise, you'd end up in an arduous struggle!"
At that time, the little girl had decided to be obedient and listened to his word. After she had cast a defensive spell the moment she got on stage, she did not rush to cast another spell but instead, she took a scroll out from her pouch--- she vaguely remembered it was the third scroll--- and threw it directly at the opponent after she crushed it. Mia quickly shut her eyes and covered her ears up.
In a flash, an intense glare flared out from the scroll and jarring noises appeared out of nowhere... And her opponent who was still coming up with a strategy to deal with the scroll had her gaze and her entire attention concentrated on it...
In an instance, her opponent could be seen covering her eyes as she rolled on the floor. Her ears were tingling in pain and her brain was shaken by that wave of noise to the point that it felt like she had a concussion. Not being able to see anything, she rolled towards the edge of the ring and fell over the edge grunting in pain. Well, it was to be expected considering she took the full brunt of a magical version of a stun grenade without any protection at all. Anybody would have the same reaction as her if they were in her position.
There were no cheers nor applauses for Mia's victory for that round. The spectators sitting below were seemingly stunned by the stun grenade as well. They were completely taken aback by such a monstrous method and it was only until Mia went back to Baiyi's side that they began to whisper about it among themselves.