Chapter 286: A Riveting Game

“Would you… Would you like to have a go at it with me?” Aya asked, her voice brimming with anticipation. She added, in a more hushed tone, “Y-you know, for the benefits of the students’ understanding…”

“Sure!” Baiyi’s answered before his mind even had time to consider the offer completely. He had never seen something like this, even from the Voidwalkers’ memories, so he was driven by his own curiosity. He even summoned his students to watch the upcoming game.

“Shall… Shall we just use this amount of force and frequency?” Aya found herself feeling even bashful and embarrassed, and her expression matched her students’ excitement. She held Baiyi’s gauntlet softly. Strangely, as she showed him the designated frequency, her heart began to beat faster.

A little trick like this — releasing a set amount of power in a highly-specialized way — was not just an exercise on building a degree of rapport, it was also a special communication technique used within the dragon knights’ inner battle circle. This was useful because, in battles, an entire team of close-knitted dragon knights rode on a single dragon, making the need for a highly-effective communication method important. The team members could not possibly risk their messages getting obfuscated by loud wind and audio limitation. Furthermore, hand signs were limited whenever team members sat on different parts of the same dragon; most would be stationed on its back, while others will have their spots on a dragon’s belly and thighs ¹ .

That was where magical codes like communication via frequencies came into play. They were simpler and more convenient than common communication magic — similar in uniqueness to morse codes used on Earth. It was not just for tactical discussion among teammates, but it was also used to give direct commands to the dragon.

At that moment, Aya’s demonstration to Baiyi was, in fact, a message made in the code that dragon knights used to communicate with each other during battle. The code, more or less, meant: I like you.

Of course, because the message was in the dragon knights’ own secret code, Baiyi had no way of knowing the meaning. He followed Aya’s instruction, completely in the dark, and held on her slender hand as they held onto the Windmill Grass.

“Okay, let us begin.” Aya’s eyes were closed, savoring the intimate moment. Dazzling pale blue mana began to glow from both their hands, at the same time.

The students were aghast. The Windmill Grass was not budging even an inch! Even when small drafts of wind blew past, the blades remained perfectly in place. This meant that the synergy between Baiyi and Aya had reached its paragon!

“Wow… my teachers sure seem amazing…” Little Mia exclaimed, with astonishment.

“It’s not difficult to master,” Baiyi replied matter-of-factly as if he was back in class. “You can actually try to release a little psychic energy while doing this exercise to sense your teammates’ power fluctuations. That way, you’ll find it easier to adjust your own output to complement your partner’s, just like what I’m doing now — ay? Why is your heart beating faster? And your body’s slightly heating up, too? Did I get it wrong?” Baiyi turned to Aya.

“I have a nagging suspicion that Miss Aya is up to something…” Tisdale chimed in quizzically.

The lady in question, Aya, had already turned completely crimson. Nevertheless, her gaze was meek, like a calm pond, and her entire body gave off an air of euphoria ² . She stammered, “N-n-no! It-it’s just… The weather is a little hotter today…”

The dragon-lady was completely engrossed in the activity. She held hands with her crush, and both hands emitted mana in a very specialized frequency and rhythm, sending a secret code that meant ‘I like you’ to each other. How could she not melt at this experience?

If Aya had to pick a bone with this scenario, however, it was that Baiyi had no clue about the meaning of the frequency he was emitting.

As the intended result of the demo had been achieved, Baiyi pulled his hand away from Aya’s grip. With one of its mana sources cut off, the Windmill Grass lost its harmony and spun with a low chatter. It spun faster than the beating of Aya’s heart.

She pulled the grass to her chest quickly. Was she trying to cool her cheeks off with the breeze brewing from the grass? Or was she just trying to hold on to that palatable moment a little while longer?

Baiyi, however, did not share the same sentiment for the experience. He was still giving his lecture to his students somberly. He only turned back to face her when he was finished. Watching the dragon-lady staring at him, Baiyo extended his hands forward and asked, “May I borrow that Windmill Grass? I would love to try it out with the young’uns again, using the same frequency we just used.”

Wham! Aya’s heart sank heavily like a sledgehammer that had just slipped off from her grip. An expression mixed with scorn and bitterness suddenly graced her face — and in a flash, she tossed the grass at Baiyi and stormed off, without turning back once.

“Hey, what’s wrong? Why is she suddenly throwing a tantrum?”Baiyi picked up the Windmill grass and watched her back in confusion. ‘It must be the way dragons are wired, right?’

‘Meh, I’m not gonna bother myself with this. She’s gonna return to normal after a while,’ Baiyi thought as he waved at Little Mia. “Mia, give this a try. Of course, I won’t try to sense your state; instead, I need you to try to match my state…”

As Baiyi expected, when he handed the students the task of balancing their powers to match their partner’s, the results were less perfect than the synchronization he had achieved with Aya during the teachers’ demonstration. As the students tried their best, the blades of their Windmill grass kept spinning

“Remember to practice controlling your mana more often,” Baiyi said before dismissing the class. He stuck the Windmill grass into Little Mia’s braid as a pretty dowdy hair decoration and walked back to his room.

Baiyi could not help but praise Aya’s tactful teaching. He had really liked her fun approach to teaching. However, why had she gotten bitter so suddenly?

At that moment, he heard two thunderclaps resound in the Void:

“Hmph.”

“Hmph!!!”

‘Oh no. How did that lone sound become a choir of two?’ Baiyi thought helplessly. Very softly he asked, “What’s wrong with the two of you?”

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“Happy?”

“Oh, you must be sooooo full of yourself now!”

“Look at how pleased he is right now…”

“—Practically beaming with pride!”

“I was just conducting my class with my usual professionalism!” Baiyi found himself speechless as the two Voidwalkers huffed and puffed in perfect synchronization. “I believe that you two understand the importance of good teamwork, right?”

“I don’t. I never had many friends.”

“Ditto. I finished my missions alone.”

Baiyi froze, and he remembered the story of these two. They may have been gorgeous when they were alive, but they had never paired themselves up with anyone during their missions. ‘However, aren’t these two habitual lone wolves making a perfectly synced choir at this moment?’

Baiyi took a moment to steel himself before he continued explaining the situation, “Look, it doesn’t matter if the two of you liked working together or not; the main point here is that all Aya and I did today was to conduct a class normally. Sure, there was some form of physical interaction, but no one’s thinking about those things except you two!”

“Hmph.”

“Hmph!!!”

With another steely “hmph”, they left him completely alone.

‘These two are getting weirder and weirder. They used to be so much more normal…’Baiyi reflected, unsure of what was going on inside their heads.

Perhaps Baiyi’s confusion was due to his lack of experience in certain aspects of life, or because he did not look at some parts of the Voidwalkers’ personal memories. Whatever the reason was, he simply failed to understand that to certain traditionalist and conservative girls, exchanging memories was an even more sacred and binding ritual than matrimony. This was something the Fifth Walker may never be able to realize.

Not that he had the luxury to figure that mess out! At that moment, a certain hyperactive master of his had begun to sing praises of Baiyi, in the Void, congratulating him for passing the Power Level Examination. In other words, someone was itching to play games again!

‘As if the Power Level Exam itself is over… Plus, all I did was pass a Legendary-level rank exam! He’s making it sound like I finally secured a job in the White House — which sure can be enough reason to throw a party!’

‘Then again, it is not too bad an idea to let them play a game. They have this look that seems to say that it has been eons since they played. Too bad all the enthusiasm did nothing to improve their lackluster gaming skills. Every attempt they made at being epic in a game only ended as epic fails!’

“So, what do you wanna play this time?” Baiyi asked. “Dueling cards? Or Civil War of the Druids?”

“I may be luckier than finding a lost nickel, but winning with overwhelming odds on my side — which will result in me curb-stomping everyone into submission, on my rise to the top of the scoreboard — is not my style. This is because doing that would be unfair to them,” the Archmage replied solemnly. “Since today’s theme is ‘teamwork’, I suggest we play a game that centers on that! You know — a game that requires a long playtime, just like that last one.”

‘Here he goes again! Sputtering drivel with a straight face…’ Baiyi sighed to himself. “Master, could you, pretty please, be a little more reasonable? The sort of game you’re getting your hopes up for is very bothersome and complicated, alright? I would have to use a lot of my consciousness just to construct the world and power the random number generator. Not only will that tire me out, but it would also leave this body of mine an empty husk!”

“And? What’s the risk here? You’re pretty safe here, aren’t you? Aya is the one who’s conducting the class, while you’re practically idle. Hence, all you really need to leave behind is enough consciousness to undertake basic functions and stand guard!” The Archmage was quick to suggest — a sure sign that he was very excited for the game he was about to play.

Honestly, this type of game was perhaps one of those rare games where the Voidwalkers would not look too much like fools.

While Baiyi was still trying to make his decision, the Archmage kept nagging. “This isn’t all fun and games, you know! The way we play and the way we form our team could actually be helpful references for proper battle tactics or something — er, materials for your future team-building classes.”

“Oh yes?… Oh yes! Er, our experience would prove to be valuable references,” agreed a random, poor sod in the Void, who seemed to have been roped into the conversation by the Archmage.

“Perhaps, is it that in the euphoria of showing off your powers and attracting the warmth of ladies in the real world, you have forgotten all about your brothers who have been suffering the coldness of the Void with you for millennia? Dude, we are still here, imprisoned in this chilly, pitch-black darkness!”

“Alright, alright, alright! I get your message loud and clear!” Baiyi buckled under the pressure, surrendering to the rising flood of comments.

Hence, the Fifth Walker informed the students that he had to do something important that required focus, so there were absolutely not allowed to enter his room and or disturb him in any other way ³ . Afterward, Baiyi locked himself in his room, preparing to act as the game server for a bunch of dangerous gamers.

“Remember to give me a template that is more than decent—” The Archmage’s whisper came echoed in Baiyi’s, just as the game was about to start…

A bright light suddenly flashed before the Archmage’s eyes, and he found himself in the game. In front of him was a character who had a commanding aura and the most generic facial features that a game character could have.

The man spoke in a steely but seriously badass baritone, “So, you’re the first to wake up, huh? Not bad. You must be the best we have here.”