I don't think we can get any more information at the moment. Let's just wait till I get the King to my side before we perform a thorough study on her mark later. As for the War God's Sword, I'll settle the woman on my shoulder first before I check it later, Baiyi concluded.
"But it'd be a little troublesome for you to keep her by your side with the grudges between Undine and her, no?" The Alchemist asked.
Don't worry, Undine is a merchant and since she's a merchant, there's no conflict that can't be solved if there's benefits for her , Baiyi replied confidently, Just leave it to me.
By the time the Voidwalkers had come to their conclusion, Baiyi had also reached the meeting point that he had set with the rescue team earlier. Along the way, Undine kept trying to ask Baiyi questions. "Why did you come to rescue me? How's my uncle now? What kind of punishment the Barbarian King will be receiving?" to "How old are you actually? And what is your ideal type of woman?"
Baiyi did not bother to answer her. Instead, he just kept ignoring her until she began to feel tired at one point and gave up in displeasure in the end. When Baiyi finally put her down, she started to ask again, "You're tired? Are we taking a rest now? Thanks for carrying me for so long..."
It looked like she had already regained her senses. Relieved, Baiyi prepared to leave but before he did that, he handed over a storage pouch to her, "There are still some potions left here. Oh, and your uncle too."
"M-My uncle?" Undine was stunned. Somehow that sounded a little ominous.
Baiyi did not answer. Instead, he lifted a hand up and blasted a firework up to the sky. That was a simple spell that even the Scholar could cast. It was a spell that was commonly used as a communication tool especially in such a dark night. The rescue team would definitely see it when the golden fireworks exploded in mid-air. The location was close to the campsite that Baiyi had directed them to not long ago.
"Somebody will pick you up here," Baiyi announced before using his magic to ignite a small campfire beside Undine. Then, he made a gesture to leave as he could not wait to study the sword that he just obtained.
"You're leaving?" Undine asked sadly, the pair of large eyes were staring at him earnestly, making her look particularly attractive. Although appearance-wise, she was in a sad state now with her messy hair and ripped clothing, but still, nothing could take away her beauty after all. In her current state, she looked very pitiful, like the poor little girl selling match from a certain classical story, completely different from the usual strong female knight aura that she carried.
Still, the Undine in such a state still did not appeal much to Baiyi in comparison to the War God's Sword. With just a simple "Take care", he quickly disappeared into the night.
"Urghhhh... I wish you'd die lonely!" Undine shouted in annoyance towards the disappearing silhouette. Frowning, she looked around in the dark grassland and hastily edged closer to the campfire that Baiyi made for her. With nothing else that she could do, she wrapped both her arms around her legs and buried her face between her knees, quietly recalling the events that had taken place tonight. A gush of sadness hit her hard, as tears began to trickle down from her eyes.
When the defense fighter and Xillians who were on duty finally came to check on the fireworks, she quickly wiped off the tears from the corners of her eyes to prevent them from seeing it. The instance she was carried back to the campsite by the two of them, Tisdale immediately threw herself onto her and hugged her tightly.
"S-Sister Undine, I'm here..."
Without warning, the two girls who were hugging tightly promptly burst into tears, waking everyone else who were deep in their slumber. Even Mia was awakened by such commotion. Curious, she walked towards them with her hammerhead shark doll, "Please stop crying okay? I'll let you hug my sharkie!"
After the two of them had finally calmed down, a question suddenly flashed in Tisdale's mind, "W-Where's teacher? He didn't come with you?"
"Teacher?" Undine was lost. She did not know about the fact that Baiyi had now accepted Tisdale as his apprentice as well.
"My Mr. Hope of course!" Mia replied on behalf of Tisdale, "Was Mr. Hope the one that saved you?"
"Y-You're Mia? Aww... You're so cute!" When Undine saw Mia, she could not help but lifted up one hand to pinch the cheek of the girl standing in front of her. "But I did not see Mr. Hope at all. The person who rescued me was a stin... I mean, another weird fellow."
"EHH?!" Mia and Tisdale shouted out loud at once. They could not comprehend what had just happened actually.
By the time Undine had given a brief explanation on the whole situation, Tisdale, whose face was filled with bewilderment, asked unhesitatingly, "So, you meant, the person who rescued you was actually a man named Mr. Sven? B-But we didn't come across any black-cloaked man at all along the journey!"
"Maybe he saw the notice of the Dole family and decided to come by himself? He's very powerful but he has a odd personality. He's completely not gentle at all. I'm sure this kind of person prefers to have his one-man-show rather than coming in a team," Undine murmured in low voice. The rest sitting by the side inevitably found that to be a little strange. Why did the lady give such a weird and bad comment towards a man who had just saved her from a dire situation?
"Before we cam tae th' grassland, we spent a day at th' alpine remember? Mibbie that's how we brushed past him in th' first place. Bit still, travelling in th' Northern Wasteland 'n' infiltrating th' Barbarians' territory tae save Missy a' by his-sel? Ah cannae even imagine how dangerous that feat was! Looked lik' Missy really means a lot tae him," Big Brother Zhang the Northern hunter exclaimed with disbelief, "Sigh, it's just too bad that nobody knows this gentleman at all, he's so powerful and yet he values friendship above everything. What a hero he truly is!" An admiring look appeared on his face at once.
"Yeah I think so, too. Out of all Miss Undine's admirers, Mr. Sven is the most reliable one. But then again, why didn't you bring him along on the trip with you in the first place, Miss? Wouldn't that save you a lot of trouble if he's right by your side?" Xillians put in more good words for Sven the Rogue Knight.
"H-He's not as good as you said!" A hot flush suddenly crept up on Undine's face... So burning hot that she did not want to continue to talk about the topic any further. To be exact, she was too embarrassed to continue the topic any further. Hearing the words of those two people, Undine's teenage fantasy mode was switched on again as a delusion started to form in her head--- Could it be that he actually likes me?
At that moment, only Mia had her attention focused on another thing. Anxiously, she asked, "Then, how's Mr. Hope now? He already infiltrated the enemy camp to rescue Sis Undine, no?"
Immediately, everyone seemed to be a bit lost not knowing what to say. After a moment of silence, the defense fighter reasurred her, "Don't worry, Miss Mia. Master Hope's strength is powerful and unpredictable. Along with the three Divine Warriors beside him, I'm sure that he will be okay. Since he wants us to wait for him right here, let's just place our faith in him and wait for his good news, okay? Unfortunately, Master Hope's efforts would probably go to waste now."
Out of all of the people who were present, he was the one who had most faith in Baiyi's strength. The spear-catching scene had left a profound impression in his mind.
Undine held Mia's hand and said, "Don't worry, Michan. My family and I will remember the sacrifices all of you made for us in such a critical time. Even if Master Hope efforts had gone to vain, I'd still owe you a debt of gratitude which I will never be able to repay."
"Hmmm..." Mia nodded her head lightly before hugging her hammerhead shark plushie tightly. The sense of unease was still lingering in her heart. After all, it was the first time for them to be so far apart ever since she first summoned him.
"Everything's going be okay, Mia. Teacher's strength is far beyond our imagination. He'd be much safer if there's no need for him to rescue Sister Undine anymore. We just have to wait for him patiently right here," Tisdale joined in to console her. Compared to Mia, she was more aware about the concept 'Rohserlian sorcerers'. She knew exactly how terrifying the presence of those people were.
At that time, Baiyi, the lead character that Mia was so concerned about, was lying on an earth mound playing with the War God's Sword that he had just snatched from the King. The reason why the word 'play' was used instead of the word 'study' was because he had wasted a long time studying it a moment ago and came to a conclusion that there was nothing for him to study at all.
Ever since the sword fell in his hands, it had stayed in its deactivated mode, with just the hilt and no blade at all. Baiyi had tried everything to stimulate it--- Psychic Energy, Mana, Chi Prowess, all sorts of weird spells, you name it--- and the sword still refused to bow down to him. There was no red light forming from the hilt nor any signs at all that showed some changes on the hilt.
From his observations, he could tell that the hilt was made by a material called the Realm Stone. The stone was totally different from all the other magical ingredients in the world--- like the White Dragon's Blood, Saint Quartz or even black gold which could be found in certain places. Even the Voidwalkers did not know th origins of the Realm Stone, it was a truly ultrrare material.
According to the speculation in the academia, the material is the cornerstone that constructed a realm. The stone would only present itself when a realm was created or destroyed, making it almost impossible to be found on the market. As for those stones that had made their appearance in the history, nobody knew where those stones came from and nobody knew where it went in the end. Even among the Voidwalkers, the only person who had it was the Devil--- who stored it in the deepest corner of his treasure vault--- and that stone that was in his possession was just as big as a fingernail.
As for how he obtained it in the first place, he could not remember as well. After a long time of trying to recall his memory, he finally told them, "I think my army brought it to me. If I'm not mistaken, it was embedded in a staff and if I had not sense the special magical wave coming out from it, I would not have discovered it at all. I believe that the previous owner of the staff also did not know what that thing was for."
To most people, the Realm Stone was just a passage recorded in the encyclopedia. Nobody had ever seen it with their own eyes before, let alone understanding its functions. Every information about the stone was pure speculation.
Without the Devil's memory, Baiyi would most likely not know that the sword hilt was made from the Realm Stone. He believed that with the rareness of the item, nobody would recognize it at all even if it suddenly dropped from the sky in a street full of people.
So, the question was, who was the first to discover the stone? And who was the person who named it in the first place?