Mia jogged towards the second floor, heading to the direction of the resource room. She stuck out her tongue sheepishly in a childish manner when she realized that the echo of footsteps, clanking in the otherwise silent corridor, was hers.
Trying hard to calm her giddy heart, she lightened her footsteps and switched to tiptoeing instead. After all, the second floor was still part of the the library. Despite her efforts, she still managed to attract the attention of the occupants in the room once her black leather Mary Jane shoes stepped into the room.
It was not as empty as she had expected. The occupants were mostly seniors, most of them sporting a golden clasp on their collar. Despite their obvious and lingering attention on her second year uniform, they did not make any noise nor did they looked overtly surprised. Their calm expression seemed to be devoid of the naivety and impatience that is prevalent in sophomores, instead it was replaced with the wisdom and conviction that one gained with age and experience.
Those students were the crème de la crème of the academy— all of them prodigies and geniuses in their own right. They exuded confidence with their poised bearing, likely a result of their self-assuredness, which intimidated Mia-chan into freezing by the entrance. A middling student like her would never have dreamt of sharing a space with them.
A silhouette quickly stood up from a seat close by, flipping the book in her hands shut, before making its way to the startled girl by the entrance.
Mia’s face instantly flushed red as she saw the figure approaching her. She opened her mouth, her breath drawn in to say something— but the figure playfully placed an index finger her lips. She grabbed Mia’s hand, bringing her to an open space opposite the resource room. It was fortified with a Sound Barrier, perfect for loud and lively discussions.
Once they were outside, Mia’s face beamed brightly in a smile, she was about to say something—only to be cut off by the figure’s bearhug. "I can't believe it! We meet again, Mia-chan!"
It was the same gorgeous girl Baiyi had previously encountered by the lake.
The difference in height between them forced the girl to bend her back, her golden hair flaring out like rays of sunlight, while her short skirt hiked up a little. Although the hiked up skirt hid her sensuous thighs, baring only her long white silk stockings, a man with well-trained (in other words, perverted) eyes could still see through the semi-transparent cloth.
To be so comfortable and unguarded, she must have thought of Mia as more than just a mere acquaintance.
When they finally broke from the hug, a relieved smile broke on her face as she pinched Mia's cheeks lightly. "Aww... you really kept me waiting! I thought you have forgotten all about me."
Mia could no longer hold back her joy from this reunion. She sniffed, her eyes brimming with unshed tears as she pulled the girl close to her, pressing her own cheeks against the girl's cheeks. She was in tears as she cried out, "Big sister Dale! I-I-I can’t believe I’m seeing you a-again! Sniff. T-this is… t-too good to be true!"
"…Mm?" Tisdale was taken aback by how enthusiastic Mia was but she reveled in it nonetheless. She gently rubbed her cheeks against Mia’s, her arms unconsciously tightened around Mia’s back in affection. "I’m just as glad as you are, Mia…"
The scene was exactly like how it was three years ago when they embraced each other. The only difference was that, right now, this serene picture of love was not witnessed by anyone else.
Mia finally calmed down a little from her intense joy. Freeing Tisdale from her embrace, she sheepishly looked down as she rubbed her reddened eyes. "Um…Um! I-I-I think I o-overdid this…."
Tisdale chuckled lightly, gently nudging her to a nearby chair before pulling out a silk handkerchief. Like a mother, she dabbed the handkerchief on Mia’s teary eyes then she quickly moved to straighten out her outfit. Under her quick hands, Mia was restored to her sweet look.
Nothing had changed at all. This was exactly like how it was three years ago.
Tisdale took her hands as she said kindly, "I’m so glad that you made it to the Academy but why didn’t Mia-chan come visit me earlier?"
"I-I! U-um….!" Mia struggled with her words.
Why didn’t I talk to her?
Because she was radiant like the sun. She had always been radiant. It was difficult not to notice someone like her who radiated an aura of self-assuredness in the academy.
She was no longer just the sister that Mia had known three years back— she had evolved, like a graceful swan into a poster child of beauty and wits. Her brightness resembled the dazzling light reflected from the golden rose clip on her collar, attracting the eyes and attentions of so many others like sunflowers gawking at the sun.
Meanwhile, Mia had remained unimpressive in her own eyes and Tisdale’s glow only highlighted her own shortcomings. The wide rift between them had been stopping Mia from reaching out to Tisdale time and time again. As time passed, the amount of missed chances made the rift grew wider, until it looked as though they were worlds apart from each other. It was almost preposterous to think that they could ever talk to each other like old times again or that their little promise would ever be fulfilled.
Mia did work. She worked hard to close the gap between them but her lack of natural talent and resources worked against her. Mia had given up on the idea that she could ever reach Tisdale’s level and had stopped chasing to close the gap. Instead, she became one of the many sunflowers behind her, always watching the sun.
It was by sheer luck that Mia had met Mr. Hope, who unknowingly created this chance for her to meet Tisdale again… Not only that, he had given her a chance to see that despite everything, Tisdale was still the same kind person that she was three years ago.
"I’m so sorry for making you feel so intimidated," Tisdale’s voice turned apologetic as she absent-mindedly ran her fingers through Mia’s twin horsetail.
"Oh nooo! P-please don’t feel bad, Big Sister Dale! It was me, I didn’t do well…." Mia replied bashfully, snuggling comfortably on Tisdale’s pearly lap. It was the ultimate fantasy for boys who had just hit puberty— sleeping on her thighs which extended into a pair of smooth, slender and long legs covered in tight, white lacey knee-length stockings. It was the perfect place to sleep on before heading towards the Land of Dreams. (T/N: I think I can see drool stain over here, Mr. Author! Tee hee)
"You didn’t do well? Dear, you unraveled the spell on the door to come to the second floor! That means something, it definitely does not count as ‘didn’t do well’. When I was in my sophomore year, I couldn’t undo the spell at all!"
Mia’s face flushed from hearing Tisdale’s praise. She shook her head hard, explaining truthfully.
"Huh? So… You undid the seal with this… Mr. Hope’s help?" Tisdale thought out loud. "And he did it using such a simple method! This Mr. Hope of yours is very impressive."
"’A method as simple as that’?" Mia asked curiously, sitting up.
"Yes. He had used a shortcut— a loophole, if you will." Tisdale answered thoughtfully. "To undo this seal properly was very difficult. I had to spend time under the tutelage of an expert in the arts of Magical Formations to see through it and I have no doubts that many others had to go through a lot of similar efforts as well. And yet in the end, the solution is something so simple," she continued, "It's not a stretch to say that Mr. Hope is very proficient in seals and their formations. Maybe he didn’t tell you about it because you might feel inferior... What a thoughtful man!"
"I guess…" Mia murmured. Her mind replayed the scene when Baiyi had demonstrated his abilities during the Appraisal. She only thought that it looked cool and amazing but she knew from the looks of others that she was missing the bigger picture.
And... it was happening again. There was something about Mr. Hope that she could not yet understand because of her lack of knowledge. To be able to understand Magical Formations so well that he could easily see through it— how strong is he?
"Looks like Mia-chan is very lucky! You have gotten yourself quite a formidable Soul Armature," Tisdale added. "It doesn’t even matter that his strength is a bit weakened. That treasure trove of knowledge in his head is already amazing enough."
"Mm-hmm!" Mia chimed in excitedly, nodding her head. "And Mr. Hope is the kindest teacher ever! He’s very friendly and kind. With him teaching me, I know our promise will be fulfilled soon!"
Tisdale chuckled at her childlike eagerness. "Oh, silly you. Our promise is already fulfilled!"
She pinched Mia’s cheeks again. "I must say though, precious little Mia-chan is getting more and more adorable as she grows up! I bet she has all the boys pining for her now."
"N-no way! They would rather date Big Sister Dale!"
The girls started chatting about harmless, girly topics until Mia remembered her task to copy the academic journals that were located in the resource room.
She hurriedly set out to accomplish her task. As lunch time quickly approached, the students in the room were starting to leave one by one but it seemed like Tisdale was in no hurry to leave. She pulled out her lunch box— a few soft buns could be seen in the container.
"I planned to stay here until evening," she explained. "I’ll see you around, I guess?"
It made Mia realized that it was precisely that level of dedication that brought her to such height.
"Yeah. I've got to go for my evening class, too." Mia wanted to chat a little longer but she was feeling quite motivated to use her time more effectively after seeing how much dedication Tisdale had.
"Alright, then! Oh, and one more thing, if you will— please introduce me to Mr. Hope should we ever get the chance! I think he might have been an Immortal-tier fighter. I have never met anyone as strong as that!"
"Immortal level?" Mia mused, breaking into a proud grin, her heart flutterred and she thought about how she had successfully summoned a helpful soul like Baiyi. Not only was he kind, it turned out that he may be even stronger than Mia had expected!
Little did the two girls know that their prediction of his power level could not have been more wrong.
He was much, much more powerful than they could have imagined.