reincarnation npc, but tomorrow's ark

Margaret smiled and said:

"It's probably just a chance for the master and apprentice to bond."

"Now? We just had a match recently?" Maria was confused.

"The battle just now wasn't particularly taxing for Melantha," Zofia remarked, clearly noticing how easily Melantha had won. Even against the well-known "Plastic Knight," Melantha had easily defeated him.

Although she wasn't much older than these younger people, Zofia felt as if she had grown old, having been left far behind.

"Hmm." Maria nodded, then looked up at her sister. "Sister, you haven't seen my new armor yet, have you? How about we have a long-awaited sparring session?"

The girl showed off her newly acquired power armor to her older sister.

This was also provided by Bai Ye for Maria. However, Maria herself was also an excellent engineering apprentice. With the help of other craftsmen, she fought while wearing power armor and personally modified her armor to make the equipment more suitable for her combat habits and spells.

"It seems you're quite confident too." Margaret was pleased; she was happy to see her sister's transformation. It wasn't because Maria had become stronger; in truth, she didn't care about such things.

Margaret was very happy that her sister had found something she loved to do, instead of being forced to do something she didn't really want to do for the sake of the family's reputation or to bear some messy burdens.

For example, Maria actually prefers to be an engineer or a craftsman in the workshop rather than a racing knight.

However, Margaret now believes that her sister is genuinely enjoying herself, testing the power armor's performance in the competitions and then modifying and fine-tuning it in the workshop afterward. Maria has found her own enjoyment in it.

……

“Of course, Bai Ye also said that with my skills, I could apply to his research institute to become an engineer. He said that people who have personally piloted power armor have a different understanding of how to design and modify it. I might go to Lungmen in the future.” Maria didn’t know what her sister was thinking, but she just wanted to tell her sister, whom she had been separated from for too long, about the changes and experiences she had gone through over the years.

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As the long-separated sisters began to talk, Bai Ye and Melantha had already arrived at the manor's own arena.

Of course, it was more of a large open space in the garden than an arena.

Zofia participated in the Major as the "Whipblade" Knight and even made it to the top 16 of the main tournament, naturally earning a considerable amount of money. This manor was the one she purchased with her own money.

However, she clearly had no interest in tending the garden, so over the years it had become a desolate, overgrown wasteland.

It would be quite suitable as a training ground for knights.

When Bai Ye stepped onto the grass, he looked down at the ground and then smiled.

"Teacher, what's wrong?" Melansha turned to look at Bai Ye with some confusion.

"You train here every day? You've worn the ground down to a pulp." Bai Ye pointed to the lawn.

This one patch of land in the entire garden has become completely barren. Clearly, the daily training of the two knights in power armor has ravaged this land, leaving it devoid of any vegetation.

Compared to the lawns in other parts of the area, it does look somewhat out of place.

"I feel a little bad for Sister Zofia..." Melantha also felt a little embarrassed.

Incidentally, this was the name Zofia requested.

If it were a normal way of addressing her, Melantha would call her "Auntie." Well, after calling her that once, Zofia strongly demanded that this absurd form of address be abolished.

"Just right here."

Bai Ye stopped in front of Melantha and turned to look at her.

“Mm.” Melantha nodded.

"Then... let's begin."

The next moment, she saw a long sword appear in Bai Ye's hand. Even though the sky was gradually darkening, the sharp blade gleamed with a bright, cold light in his hand.

The instant the blade appeared, Melantha felt as if Bai Ye, standing before her, had completely transformed. The teacher who had been so casual and approachable had vanished in an instant.

Bai Ye seemed to have merged with the entire world; simply standing in front of him, Melantha felt as if she were fighting against a natural disaster.

The long-lost pressure once again enveloped the girl's heart. In fact, this time it was even stronger than before, after all, Bai Ye seemed to be serious.

Even with her growth, Melantha still felt powerless. The pressure from Bai Ye was the same as before; she felt as if her body was locked, the surrounding air was almost frozen, and she couldn't move.

Melantha felt that even if she wore her power armor now, it wouldn't make a difference. Besides, after the afternoon's match, her power armor had been taken for maintenance, repairs, and data collection.

At this moment, Melantha held only a long sword in her hand.

'As expected of a teacher...'

Chapter 161 Graduation

"You're actually taking it so seriously?"

Laurentina and Titi, who were still chatting in the living room, clearly felt the unbridled aura that Bai Ye was exuding.

Because they were familiar with Bai Ye, they knew that this was Bai Ye's aura.

As for Zofia and Maria, their strength wasn't particularly high, so they only vaguely sensed that something was wrong, like the air pressure suddenly dropping. It felt like the oppressive atmosphere before a sudden natural disaster.

As for Margaret, she frowned at first, but after turning her head and seeing the Deepsea Hunters beside her looking normal and hearing their discussion, she immediately relaxed.

Since it's Baiye, then everything's fine.

"After all, they are students I value. If I let them win, their sense of defeat will definitely be stronger. Besides, if Bai Ye really lets them win, even if Melantha wins by chance, she probably won't be happy. She will definitely be able to sense whether Bai Ye is serious or not. Letting them win will be seen as not taking it seriously and being perfunctory," Gretia replied seriously.

"Swordfish seems to know a lot about this," Skadi said, scratching her face.

“Well, after all, I used to be the captain and I taught them.” Grandia said, looking at Laurentina, who was sitting obediently on the other side.

Laurentina's fighting skills were almost entirely taught by her.

After all, Goredia had watched this deep-sea hunter go from a commoner to their sister through surgery. She witnessed the entire process.

“The captain wasn’t always this kind, or rather, the captain was no different from a robot.” Laurentina blinked.

Goredia fell silent.

As an outsider, you can see things very clearly when you're observing others, but when it comes to yourself, you can easily become blinded by your own experience. Perhaps she was indeed very strict with her team members in the past…

However, Goredia spoke up:

"Because what I taught you in the past was all to help you survive on the battlefield as much as possible... unlike that little cat on land."

After all, deep-sea hunters have to go through incredibly brutal wars, not only facing powerful sea creatures, but also being wary of mutated teammates, and even maintaining their sanity to avoid turning into monsters.

In this way, daily training becomes invaluable, at least it gives people a greater chance of survival.

Laurentina nodded. She naturally understood all of this, and so she was actually quite envious of Melantha, who was now being carefully cared for by Bai Ye. A carefree land cat...

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Melantha, of course, was unaware of the discussion taking place among the people inside the mansion.

After all, at this moment, she was directly opposite Bai Ye, bearing all the pressure from her master.

Melantha felt that her teacher seemed more serious than before, even drawing his sword at the very beginning, though she wasn't sure if it was just her imagination.

Well, thankfully it wasn't the "Wind Chime," but another weapon called "Arc Light," which seemed to have been broken in Melantha's memory. It seems that Bai Ye reforged the weapon at some point.

Melantha knew she couldn't wait any longer, because the pressure around her body was increasing, even to the point of affecting the material world. Melantha felt the hair on her tail being pressed down by some unseen force.

Gripping her longsword tightly, Melantha leaped into the air and charged towards Bai Ye. For her, this was the real battle. The previous matches were merely appetizers.

Although she lacked powered armor and auxiliary information processing systems, Melantha felt that she was in pretty good condition.

Having grown accustomed to the high-speed combat of the power armor, Melantha found that her mind became more agile even without the external armor. However, while her consciousness could keep up, her body, without the support of the power armor, could not keep up with her reaction speed.

Even so, it was enough for the girl to dodge Bai Ye's casual strike.

Although he seemed very serious, Bai Ye clearly still held back the entire Agor. It was obvious that aside from his imposing presence, he used almost no abilities beyond what was expected, not even his most proficient predictive swordsmanship.

However, for Melantha, it was a thoroughly enjoyable battle. This was also a benefit of Bai Ye's strict training of Melantha; even if Bai Ye secretly went easy on her, Melantha wouldn't notice.

After all, in her mind, this wasn't something Bai Ye would do.

After the final attack, Melantha collapsed from exhaustion, but Bai Ye caught her and helped her up.

"Teacher, how did I do?" Melansha asked softly, her eyes half-closed, looking at Bai Ye.

"Very good." Bai Ye nodded with a smile, glancing at his feet that had been forced to move.

To this extent, being able to force Bai Ye to move her feet can be considered a victory for Melantha.

"Congratulations, Melantha, you've successfully completed your apprenticeship. I have nothing more to teach you." Bai Ye said, ignoring the girl's abruptly stopped smile and astonished expression. He then had Melantha sit down to the side and stood a short distance away.

He looked up at the sky and slowly began to speak:

"I have never taught you swordsmanship before. This is the first and the last time. Watch carefully, remember it. I will only teach you this one sword technique."

Melantha looked at the tip of the sword in Bai Ye's hand, and then Bai Ye swung the blade.

In an instant, it seemed as if heaven and earth were upside down, and the sword light converged into a waterfall flowing upstream towards the starry river...

Melantha imprinted the sword light in her mind and then fell into a deep sleep.

Bai Ye brought Melantha back to Zofia's mansion.

……

"Let her go back to Rhodes Island after this... She shouldn't be involved in the battles that follow."

Bai Ye looked at the students who were already asleep and said softly.

Melantha has reached her limit. With her current power armor, she has reached the height set by White Night. Going beyond that is no longer a realm that an ordinary person like her can, or should, venture into.

Bai Ye had already adjusted her fighting style to be most suitable for her during her daily training, and had also subtly taught her the swordsmanship that best suited Melantha. In the battle just now, Melantha herself probably didn't realize that the swordsmanship she was using was actually completely different from what she had initially used.

Bai Ye never taught her rigid, systematic sword techniques. His lessons were hidden in various sparring and practice sessions. In fact, this set of sword techniques was not so much taught to her by Bai Ye, but rather created with his help.

Only Baiye, a humanoid database capable of simulating anyone's swordsmanship, can do this.

"I have nothing more to teach her... Perhaps the only thing I can do next is to improve the performance of the power armor." Bai Ye didn't want to drag his student into the upcoming battle and the mess.

After being busy for so long, Melanie should return to her normal life.

As for that final sword strike, it was merely Bai Ye's expectation of his student.

"We've achieved all our objectives, it's time for us to go."

Bai Ye came to Kazimierz solely to fulfill his promise to his students, and now it's time for him to set off.

Chapter 162 We Individuals

Melantha opened her eyes.

Before her was a familiar ceiling; she had been living here for several months, and before she knew it, the cramped cabins of the Rhodes Island ship seemed to have drifted far away from her.

Although her limbs felt weak and her whole body felt like it was falling apart, Melantha felt an unprecedented sense of fulfillment. In the battle with her teacher, she truly experienced her own growth.

However, Melanie vaguely remembered that at the end, her teacher said goodbye to her.

"So, I've... graduated?"

Although she had gained Bai Ye's approval and had long anticipated this day, Melantha still felt a sense of loss when it actually arrived.

“It seems I really can’t continue following you… Teacher.” Melantha suddenly smiled with relief.

She knew very well that this was her limit. Bai Ye was right; he had nothing left to give her.

It wasn't that Bai Ye had nothing left to teach her, but rather that what followed was something she simply couldn't learn.

However, it wasn't entirely without something to learn. Before leaving, Bai Ye gave her an assignment: simply close your eyes, and the sword light would flash before Melantha's eyes.

She didn't know when she would be able to learn it. However, this sword light was indeed the best gift her teacher had given her. Bai Ye somehow imprinted this light deep into Melantha's mind, allowing her to study and explore its mysteries at any time.

Taking a deep breath, Melanie sat up in bed.

Walking to the window, she drew back the curtains. In the bright sunlight, Melanie looked out; the cars that had been parked in the manor yesterday were gone. Clearly, White Night had left.

……

"Teacher, I hope you have a smooth journey ahead."

Melantha had been following Bai Ye for some time now, and naturally knew a little about his upcoming plans: Victoria, the Deep Sea, Columbia… the battles to come would be far from minor. Compared to these, the battlefields Melantha had witnessed in the northwestern tundra of Ursus were indeed nothing.

The forces fighting the Reunion Movement weren't even the regular Ursus army; the main force of the army group was basically stationary, so the intensity of the war wasn't considered too high. For Melantha now, her strength was more than enough to handle that level of combat, but it was still insufficient against the monsters and demons that Bai Ye had to face.

Although she wanted to help her teacher, all Melantha could do now was send her blessings. She also had her own tasks and work to complete. Rhodes Island, Chernobog, Lungmen—this world is vast, this land is expansive. It needs people to save the world, but it also needs many more to do those ordinary tasks.

Of course, what Melantha didn't expect was that after the situation in Londinium stabilized, she would unexpectedly end up in Victoria due to a "normal" Rhodes Island mission, and experience a thrilling and bizarre adventure there...

That's another story.

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