Chapter 9
"Stop explaining!" Virgil dramatically clutched his chest, even the gentleman in the deep blue suit who was mending Sylas's clothes couldn't help but laugh. "You magical creatures are naturally close. I've been with her for five days and I didn't even know she could speak human language. But you managed to ask for her name. Oh, she's wearing your clothes, right? This outfit looks familiar."
Xerath laughed, perhaps remembering scenes from her youth.
The weather outside was still terrible, with strong winds carrying sand and attacking the mage tower. There were even Earth Children mixed in, but they were blown away into the sky by the rising wind barrier. Virgil sighed and whistled towards Titus, who was peeking halfway through the door. Titus happily ran over.
"We can't leave, but luckily I have Titus with me, right old buddy?"
Xerath also sighed, clearly Sylas was afraid of Virgil, so she suggested, "Why don't you leave through the magic circle?"
Virgil refused unexpectedly, "No, I want to go to the other side of the desert. It's too far from the magic circle. I can't believe you would drive me away just for a little creature. Our friendship is so fragile…"
"Okay, okay, Virgil. You can stay as long as you want. Now, let's think of a solution, alright?"
Virgil stopped pretending to cry and hesitantly said, "But I've never raised a child before. Wanderers like me instinctively fear such things."
Xerath raised an eyebrow imperceptibly, "You really know yourself."
Virgil is a wanderer, and there are probably girls all over the continent whose hearts he has hurt. They always try to trap him with a child, so you can imagine how scared he is of children.
"But Virgil, let's think from a different perspective. What if it's a wild animal? For example, if you want to raise a new magic wolf, how should you treat it?"
"Of course, first you give it food… obviously, it has already eaten. Then, you need to make it familiar with you."
"How do you make it familiar?"
Virgil shrugged indifferently, "Sleeping together with it?"
Xerath showed an incredible expression. The wizards always instinctively resist contact with people. "Virgil, even if I have a child on my own, I won't sleep with them."
"Before that, you have to sleep with a man to have a child. Okay, old friend?"
"No, don't mention that." Xerath drove away this topic seriously. "I mean, how about Hyectra keeping her company?"
The elegant gentleman in azure blue put the needle and thread into the golden wristband on his wrist. "Forgive me for speaking frankly, madam. Mr. Virgil said 'You are familiar with her,' not me. Also… you are her kind, whether it's being humans like each other or having a natural affinity for the elements."
Xerath felt the child in her arms move. As expected, Sylas saw Virgil and her whole body tensed. Xerath covered her mouth just before she screamed. Feeling her struggles, Xerath had to say, "Virgil, I have an unpleasant request…"
Virgil stood up and said, "I'm going to feed the horses."
Sylas struggled harder and even pushed Xerath away.
Xerath didn't try to stop her—after all, long-distance attacks were easier for wizards. Her fingers silently wrote complex spells in the air, with a large amount of magical energy escaping, causing the writing in the air to linger for a long time.
The whole room fell into an indescribable silence. Sylas shouted and screamed, but couldn't make a sound. She wanted to push the door and run to the terrace, but found herself floating, with the elements surrounding her like curious fish in the sea. However, once again, they didn't obey her call.
Xerath walked up to her and reached out to hug her.
The sound gradually appeared, rustling and growing louder. The dim Fire Lord floated up from downstairs, looked deeply at Sylas, and then returned to the fireplace.
The sound completely returned to normal. The howling wind and the sound of sand hitting the wind barrier finally returned to their normal volume.
Surrounding her was the smell of old parchment, slightly warmed by someone's body heat. The archmage's voice was steady and gentle, "I won't hurt you, okay? You understand. If I wanted to, I could, but I don't."
The little one's body tensed up, quickly turned his head to search for Virgil.
"Are you looking for Virgil?" Xerath reached out to touch the back of her head. "I sent him away."
She felt Sylas relax slightly, so she sat down on the couch, dispelling the levitation spell, and then asked, "What's wrong? Why can't you sleep? Aren't you tired?"
Sylas grabbed her black robe with her hand. "I heard 'wind', the 'wind' is calling me, and the 'earth' is calling me too."
Xerath became slightly interested. "How…are they calling you?"
Sylas suddenly lifted her hands and said, "They say 'ho! ho!'"
Xerath squinted slightly and said, "Ho" is a root word in the ancient Saiti language for spell activation.
As Sylas said this word, a water droplet appeared in the air and floated towards her. Hyectra quickly caught the water child baby that came into the real world due to the tidal forces between dimensions.
"They're calling you over, so you want to go out?"
Sylas nodded happily.
However, Xerath shook her head and said, "No, the weather is too bad. You can't go out. Let's do it another day."
Sylas pouted and seemed unhappy. Xerath had no choice but to let Fire Lord Elvis cook first. In the meantime, Xerath summoned a water droplet in front of Sylas.
"'Water' 'come'." A deep blue water droplet appeared under Sylas's gaze. Xerath carefully observed the child's reaction, and then pushed the water droplet towards Sylas.
Sylas carefully accepted it, her expression becoming excited. It was clear she had received a new toy and was very happy, even giggling.
The water ball floated in her hand, but soon it started to spin restlessly and suddenly burst with a "pop". Xerath was prepared and a shield of ice appeared in front of her, catching all the splashing water drops that made a splashing sound. The deep blue gentleman suddenly grew bigger and thinner, and caught all the splashing water drops.
He returned to normal and shivered, whispering to Xerath, "That really hurt, my lady… I feel like any element in this young lady's hands is a dangerous weapon. Can you please not let her play with these…" He observed the subtle change in Xerath's expression and changed his tone, "I mean, could you maybe let her play with these a bit later?"
"But it seems she only likes elements, it's a child's nature, isn't it?" It seemed that this big elemental envoy intended to indulge this dangerous little elemental envoy.
Hyectra remained silent, but had plenty of opinions in mind: How could I possibly win when my master is trying to argue?
