One Last Hope

Mia stumbled as she made her way back from the ring back to the resting area. Her eyes looked unfocused and from far, she had her arms wide open as she ran towards Baiyi in a wobbly manner. As soon as she got close enough, she pouted and said in a daze, "M-Mr. Hope? M-My head is so dizzy... H-Hug me..."

Seeing how close she was to the explosion that had taken place in the battle arena, Mia was also suffering from the after-effect and although she already had her palms over her ears, she still felt light-headed and giddy from the loud noise. It was through sheer will that she did not collapse on the spot on stage.

Baiyi quickly caught on to the little girl who almost lost her balance and fell on the ground, he pulled out a magical hammock from thin air and lowered her down gently on to it. Then, he reached out his hand and touched her forehead to check her condition. After performing a thorough check on her and finding nothing wrong, he let her rest for a while.

"Next time, when you use this scroll again, remember to cast a Sound Barrier over yourself first, okay? Don't be so reckless next time!" Baiyi reminded her and at the same time, used his own Psychic Energy to gently stimulate Mia's brain, helping to alleviate the pain that she was feeling. He then took out the hammerhead shark doll out of her storage pouch and offered it to her.

"Awwww~ " A cute kitten-like voice could be heard at once from Mia. Immediately, she took the soft and fluffy doll into her arms and curled herself into a ball in the magical hammock.

"Do you still wish to continue?" Baiyi asked.

Mia nodded without hesitation before whispering softly, "I-I'm alright. I just need to rest f-for a while."

"Okay, just rest then. Here, have some food!" Baiyi said as he placed the water and dessert that he had prepared early in the morning in front of her. Instead of bringing her to the stand to observe the other competitors, Baiyi decided to let her rest and recover in the resting area.

As for the spectators, well, they were still in heated discussions about the scroll that Mia had used.

"I never knew that Flare and Blare would produce such a great effect when combined together! Why have I never thought of that before?"

"If the opponent was taken off guard then yes, the spell would be really effective but what if the opponent was well prepared? Would it still work if the opponent cast a Sound Barrier beforehand?"

"And this can only be cast through scrolls, right? Flare is a Light spell and Blare has no attribute so I don't think there's any person alive who could release those two spells at the same time! One can only rely on equipments or consumables to cast the spell, right? But, as far as I know, being able to combine two spells of different elements into a scroll is not an easy task. No ordinary sorcerer can do this!"

"I've heard many people mentioned that Mia's Soul Armature is the renowned Master Hope. I guess the scroll must have been made by him then. As expected from Master Hope..."

All in all, even though the students feel that Mia's move was brilliant and effective, they realized that there was no way they could duplicate the move. The Immortal Level elder, on the other hand, who was sitting by the corner watching the whole episode, had a different view.

"There's a powerful person guiding that little girl just now. Milady, you have to be careful if you happen to meet her in the next round."

Puzzled, the pink-robed sorceress turned to him and asked, "Grandfather, what did you see? Even though that scroll is indeed unusual, but it's not that great, is it?"

"No, no, no, the main point is not the spell but the idea itself. The idea is very novel and unique. As far as I know, even at the Sorcerers' Association, nobody have ever thought of combining those two spells together. That spell combination is an original."

"Eh? They used it without patenting it first? Isn't he afraid of other people plagiarizing his spell?" That was the first thing that came to her mind, as she asked curiously. 

"Spell combination is not an easy thing, let alone two spells that are of different elements. Even if the spell is a low level one, it still takes a lot of time and effort to create one." Having said that, he paused before he continued, "For this reason, he's not afraid of being plagiarized at all because he knows that it is not easily duplicated... Or, perhaps, he still has more tricks up his sleeve so he doesn't mind one or two of them being plagiarized by others. If it was the latter, then this guy must be terrifyingly powerful."

The girl laughed again and said, "How can there be such a powerful man? Besides, grandfather, don't you have a few spells of your own as well? There's nobody who is more powerful than you are in Arfin city, grandfather!"

"But I won't use my new spells on just a mere battle between students..." The elder said again. Hearing her words, he could not help but feel warmth all over his body. Subconsciously, he reached out a hand to pat her head but as soon as he remembered the identity of the girl sitting beside him, he immediately retracted his hand embarrassedly before he added, "Anyway, you must be careful if you encounter her, Milady. It's highly likely that there are other tricks up her sleeves!"

"I understand." The girl nodded her head and chuckled, "But, I don't believe that the person behind her is more powerful than you, grandfather. But I can sense how much that person cherishes her, he actually developed a new spell for her specifically for this occasion!"

In truth, her guess was slightly off point. Although it was true that Baiyi cherished Mia a lot, but the stun grenade was not developed specifically for Mia's battles. It was just one of the things that he reconstructed from Earth.

As Baiyi had expected, the effect turned out to be quite good. After Mia's demonstration, he believed that there would be many people who would be interested in it. It seemed like he had to find time to register the patent at the Sorcerers' Association.

As for the question of who was more powerful between that Immortal Level elder and Baiyi? Pffft~ What a stupid question...

When Mia had enough rest and was finally restored to her previous state, a round of battle had also came to an end. A new round quickly kicked off in a fast pace, leaving little time for the students to rest and recuperate their Mana.

Apparently, that was the deliberate arrangement of the academy because endurance was also an important criteria in the practical test. Then again, there was no need for Mia to worry about that at all. After eating a few biscuits, her body had rapidly returned to its optimal condition.

The next opponent that she was about to face turned out to be an acquaintance--- it was no other than the practitioner of 'Mr. Owl' the Soul Armature, the girl who gave Mia a chicken drumstick in the park last time. As both of them knew each other, the duel between them was a lot more normal.

Sitting in the rest area together, Mr.Owl and Baiyi watched the two girls on stage while giving out comments from time to time.

"Master Hope really taught Mia well. Look at my girl, she's forced to assume a passive stance now!"

"Mia only has the upperhand because of her equipments. I think their levels are more or less the same," Baiyi commented tactfully.

Just like that, the two of them kept chatting throughout the entire duel and as expected, by virtue of her equipments, Mia won the round again. Mr. Owl did not feel unhappy about the outcome at all as he felt that his own practitioner had already done her best and proved her innate capability. He was pretty satisfied with the result of the final exam.

At the end, he even said out loud generously, "So, Mia is the only competitor left from our park, right? I wish you the very best!"

"Oh? Only one left? How about Mr. Sorry's kid? I remember that he's not only talented in physical combat but he's also personally taught and trained by his father, right? His strength should be very good. Why did he get eliminated so quickly?" Perplexed, Baiyi asked.

The Soul Armatures from the 'Elders Park' usually talked about their practitioners a lot so all of them were familiar with the conditions of all the kids. But how could Mia be the only one left in the battle? The situation was somewhat unexpected when Baiyi thought about all the bragging that the Soul Armatures had done back at the park.

"Ah... That kid? You probably missed it just now. He was trying to imitate Mr. Sorry's ultimate move, you know, the Plunge of Angel or something! But in the end, he slipped and the one who plunged down and knelt at the feet of the opponent was no other than the boy himself!" Mr. Owl could not help but let out a chuckle as he told the story.

Baiyi could not control his laughter as well. The group of Soul Armatures from the park really did blew their own horns a little too loudly. He remembered that some of them were boasting about how powerful and how gifted their practitioners were but who knew all of it would be exposed the moment they stepped into the battle arena. In the end, it was Baiyi who made the least noise, who had the best performance out of the entire group.

But in truth, the situation was actually not that surprising. After all, the students from the Soul Armature course usually need to spend more energy and efforts in developing their Soul Armature instead of themselves. Since Soul Armatures were not allowed to enter the battle arena to aid their practitioner, not being able to stand against the students from other courses like the Sorcery course or the Warrior course was to be expected. 

When Mia returned to Baiyi's side after another round of cheers and applauses, she had already entered the Top 8 in the 'magical combat' category--- a result that Mia had never dreamt of achieving before. As a matter of fact, even if she did not become the champion in the exam, with that innate aptitude that she had demonstrated in front of the presidents, it was already more than enough for her to enter the Golden Rose class proudly.

However, since the two of them, Baiyi and Mia, had set their sights on the first place, then she must continue to work hard in the upcoming battles. Mia, who had gained her own battle experience from the previous matches, was gradually adapting to the environment and atmosphere. As a result, her performance was more outstanding in the next match that determined the 'Top 4'. As per Baiyi's reminder, she no longer refrained from using the scrolls but she interchangeably cast her spells and used the scrolls at the same time. Just like how a paid premium player bullying a free player, she forced her opponent into a corner and he had no other choice but to quickly lift both of his arms up in surrender.

That strategy allowed her to win the duel faster than her two biggest rivals.

Looks like this kid is adapting pretty well! Baiyi praised Mia in the Void while playing with the hammerhead shark doll that he had taken from her. Then, he proceeded to make a final inspection on the doll as he had a feeling that the doll would come in handy very soon in the next couple of rounds.

"Yeah, this is beyond our expectation as well. And, I had thought that she would get stage fright and not be able to perform well," the rest of the Walkers agreed as well.

However, in the next round of battle, it looked like Mia was not going to have it easy anymore. There were only four students left in the round and guess who her opponent turned out to be?

... That's right! It was no other than the boy named Jerry.