405 The Sisterhood's Little Gathering

Under the watchful eyes of the perplexed onlookers, the steely beauty, her Soul Armature companion, and a black panther climbed the stairs in front of the Sorcerers' Association's building. When they reached the door, a young guard blocked their path and said, " Sorry, Ma'am, we do not allow pets or mounts past this point. If you intend to enter with your pet, then I dare suggest that you use our side entrance, which is for the transportation of large cargo." 

The young guard was a new employee. Instinctively, he had regarded the beautiful, black-haired lady as the attendee and the ugly armor set as her Soul Armature. This was why he had addressed her and ignored the Soul Armature. 

This left the Warrior Walker amused. She was about to say something when an older and more experienced guard showed up. He dragged the new guard by the arm and glared at him, then he turned to the trio and smiled respectfully. With a bow, the experienced guard greeted Baiyi, "Our most esteemed High Counsellor, Sir Hope, good day. Welcome to the Imperial City branch of the Sorcerers' Association."

"Thanks," Baiyi replied flatly and walked into the building with the Warrior Walker and the panther. The young guard was confused, and he raised a finger to scratch his head; before he could do so, however, the experienced guard smacked the back of his head. 

"Are you blind, boy? I can't believe you blocked the path of a VVIP like that!" The older guard chided. "Do you know who that man is?"

The newcomer shook his head sideways.

"Okay, how about this... Do you remember what motivated you to come to the city?" The older guard asked. 

"A good-paying job. I came here to get a good-paying job, in order to make enough money to enroll in Da Xue. Becoming a student of such a prestigious academy will enable me to learn a new set of skills. When I graduate, I'll be able to return to my hometown and save my people!" The young guard replied with glowing eyes. 

"Um, you could have stopped at 'enroll into Da Xue'..." The senior guard sighed. 'How did I even end up with a simpleton as my partner?' 

Fortunately, the VIP, who they almost offended, was the good-natured Sir Hope; had he been an aloof noble, the senior guard may have also had to pay for the blunder. 

"Listen, boy, that Soul Armature you just saw… is the Principal of the academy you dream of joining. Not only did you block his path, but you also treated him as though he was an orderly!" The senior guard chuckled, exaggerating a little. "Furthermore, he's our High Counsellor, specially invited by the higher-ups. One word from his mouth is enough to have you sent back to your hometown! See? Do you understand the offense you have committed? Do you understand the extent of my rescue?"

The senior guard moved to pat the young guard's shoulder — intent on asking the young lad to buy him a drink — but the young guard had gone pale; with a cry of alarm, he dashed in the direction that Baiyi had gone. 

The senior guard froze, wondering if his young partner was born with less sense than a normal human should have. The boy had gone after them, despite learning of their lofty status! 

"You country bumpkins scare me," The senior guard quietly said, sighing. He decided to speak to his immediate superior to clear his name from the mess. He hoped that Mr. Hope was as good-natured as people say. However, deep down in his heart, he believed that no big shot like Hope would let such a treatment slide. 

'Seriously... Why the hell did my boss recruit clueless temporary workers like him?' The senior guard thought.

Fortunately for him, the young guard was unable to catch up with the trio. By the time the young guard saw the pair and their panther, they had just stepped into one of the many transportal portals there, vanishing a second later. The young guard could only stand there helplessly, staring at the many transporter portals in front of him. 

In a daze, the young guard slowly turned around and went back. He bumped into a superior on his way back, who decided not to pay him for the day because he had abandoned his post during his shift. 

Baiyi knew nothing of this, though. Even if he knew, he would not wait up; after all, there were many other employees who wanted to apologize to him for similar mistakes, as they also wanted to get into Da Xue. This junior guard was just one of many. 

Biayi, who was now alone with the steely but beautiful Warrior Walker, suddenly remembered that he had forgotten an important matter. "Now, as for your evening ball gown… Our objective is to promote the new clothing as much as possible. If the Southern Duke warms up to it enough, we could even sell it through him. So, I would need your help again later. Show them a few of your dazzling transformations, please."

"Oh, I see," the Warrior Walker replied steelily, and then she shook her head sideways. "I decline."

"You... What?" Baiyi did not expect such an abrupt refusal.

She flashed him a cheeky smile and blinked in a coquettish manner, which was quite unlike the waifu trope she was supposed to embody. "Kiss me and maybe I'll say yes."

"Oh for the love of..." Baiyi almost threw his hands in the air. What was the point of having your avatar kiss another avatar? As someone who knew the Warrior Walker's personality, Baiyi clearly understood that if he did not do as she asked, no amount of sweet-talking will be enough to change her mind. 

Hence, he could only relent. He leaned forward and nudged her forehead with the part of his facemask where lips should be. 

The Warrior rubbed the spot and smiled in satisfaction. Her smile almost lit up the world, and the happiness that exuded from her illuminated the surroundings. With a calm expression and a low voice, she said, "The Assassin was right. I need to be proactive with you."

'Oh, so this was a trick you learned from the other Huffing Piggy, aye? That troublemaker... She must be in dire need of a good poking!' Baiyi glowered in his min. 'Wait, no, that doesn't work on her anymore. Poking her consciousness used to hurt her, but now, she responds to them with a ditzy grin. She has evolved! I need to come up with a new form of punishment!

By the time the duo and the black panther walked out of the transporter portal, Baiyi had yet to come up with anything good. 

The Warrior Walker climbed into a coach that was waiting for them, and Baiyi mounted the black panther. They began to advance towards the Southern Duke's large, private estate. At the same time, Tisdale had finished running the errands she sought out to do. As she walked towards a transportal portal, which she wished to use to return to Da Xue, she looked up at the darkening sky, thinking of her sisters who awaited her arrival. 

When she arrived at Da Xue, she forewent a bath and change of clothes and hurried to Attie's house. 

Like the others, upon arriving at Attie's door, the first thing Tisdale noticed was the charred mailbox filled with pink envelopes. She ignored them and entered the house, and upon reaching the living room, she found no one there. When she went to the kitchen, she saw Attie and Nota. 

"I'm here, Attie! Oh, I saw a large number of letters outside. Do you want me to and get them?"

"Oh, nah," Attie replied. She turned around and saw Tisdale standing by the open kitchen door. "Big Sister Dale, can you move to the left a bit?"

Despite feeling puzzled, Tisdale did as she was told. Attie pointed two fingers at the door and flicked them a little. A ball of fiery, red combat chi shot of her fingers and blazed past Tisdale. The front door opened, and the ball of combat chi flashed past, striking the mailbox outside with acute precision.

In moments, the crackling of flames could be heard inside the house; the envelopes were burned to crisps. This was Attie's go-method of ridding herself of those letters. This explained why her mailbox was charred. 

When Tisdale looked away from the flaming mailbox, Attie had already gone back to work. Moments later, Attie said, "Mia and the others are upstairs. You should go and get them; dinner's almost ready."

Tisdale, who was still bemused, rubbed her cheeks and asked, "Aren't you worried that your house might catch fire?" 

Attie replied instantly, "Nah. The house is fireproof."

As expected from her maid-like little sister, Attie. The way she did things was abnormal. With nothing left to say, Attie shrugged — something Baiyi would do in the same situation — and walked upstairs. 

In the living room upstairs, Mia and Modred were lying on a couch, with identical frowns on their faces. Zakum the fox and Potter the owl were there as well. One could mistake Mia and Modred as members of a war council, with Zakum and Potter as their war advisors. Laeticia and Nydore stood by a window sill, on which one could find Sunny the sunflower. Laeticia and Nydore both held potted plants in one hand and garden shears in the other. 'Could they be talking about pots and plants?' Tisdale thought. 

She did not see Vidomina, though. Perhaps she had not yet finished her work. 

It was at this point in time that Mia noticed Tisdale. She got up from the couch and hugged Tisdale. Mia stood on her toes, and Tisdale had to bend a little, just so that Mia could rub her cheek against Tisdale's. 

"Big! Sister! Daleeeeeee!" Mordred's face lit up, and her laughter rang out as she hopped over to Tisdale. This time, for Mordred's hug, Tisdale had to bend even lower. 

For some reason, whenever Mia was with the other ladies, she would change her appearance to how it was ten years ago; only when she was alone would she assume the form of a tall and slender beauty. This begged a serious question: keeping up with these transformations, does it not get tiring over time? 

However, Tisdale knew that only when Modred assume the loli appearance did she look her age; after all, to other dragons, Modred was nothing but a kid. Furthermore, teaching a bunch of adolescents whilst one looked like a child… sounded interesting. This may be one of the reasons why Modred did what she did.

Laeticia and Nydore walked up to Tisdale and hugged her consecutively. It was as though the ladies were part of a mafia. 

Technically, Tisdale was not the oldest one there. Nydrore, Nota, and even Mordred had lived longer than she had; however, within their clique, she was the boss; the only one who enjoyed the 'Big sister' title. 

There were two possible reasons for this. First, Tisdale had the air of a leader about her; second, for the past ten years, Tisdale was the strongest and most capable of them all.