Chapter 46
Xerath said calmly, "Unless this person who wants to switch from applied research to theoretical research masters the research methods, it's what I'm teaching you now."
Sylas suddenly understood, "That's why... they've been writing letters to criticize your paper for years?"
Xerath took off her glasses tiredly, "Exactly. Most people are afraid of being seen as workers doing applied work, they dare not even touch this. However, if you use your rational thinking, you will realize that nothing built on falsehood, no pure theory, can be proven or disproven without being tested in practice. On the contrary, all abstractions are induced and summarized from phenomena, research cannot be done in imagination."
"Yes, I fully understand this point, and I agree with the explanations you have given. Teacher, don't worry about those who fail Logic Rhetoric."
Xerath couldn't help but chuckle, warm flames dancing in her gray eyes. She held her chin in one hand and gently gazed at Sylas in front of the desk, "My little wild beast, when did you learn to say such harsh words?"
"I think it must be because of the influence. There's a mischievous sparkle in the emerald eyes as she playfully winked, "And I don't think speaking the truth is being harsh. It's unfair to consider it as being mean."
Xerath lowered her gaze, smiling and shaking her head, "Let's get ready to eat. I'll look at these later tonight and give you some initial feedback tomorrow afternoon. By the way, do you enjoy the process of your research? I mean, compared to going out to play, do you find it boring?"
"Of course, I enjoy this process very much. I hope to share my achievements with you."
This is surely her heartfelt words, she never tells lies, but she has gradually learned how not to tell the truth.
They have spent time together day and night for more than three years. Sylas believes that she is already familiar with Xerath. She knows all of Xerath's daily habits, preferences, and of course, she knows very well that in order to win her affection, one must excel in academics. And if she wants to see the spark in Xerath's eyes, it would be best to discover something that even Xerath herself doesn't know, or at least something she hasn't paid much attention to.
But setbacks often come when one becomes too proud. Sylas understood this principle early on. So even though she looks forward to seeing Xerath's smile, she still mentally prepares herself before leaving the room. The refreshing morning light shines through the narrow window, offering her some encouragement.
Just as she nervously straightens her shirt, she hears three knocks at the door.
This is Xerath's habit, and she has taught Sylas the same: knock on the door three times, not too fast, not too light, and not too heavy.
"Teacher?" Sylas doesn't even have time to button her shirt. She turns around and runs to the door, still wearing slippers.
Xerath appears at the door, her golden hair almost blinding in the morning sunlight. Surprisingly, her hair is loose, partially obscuring her face in a thin shadow, as if it has been adorned with a mesmerizing glow.
"Is there... something... is there something you need?"
Xerath doesn't speak, she just stares at Sylas's neck. She reaches out her hand, pinches Sylas's collar, and brings her closer. Sylas takes a half step forward. The archmage leans lightly against the door, focused on buttoning the remaining buttons for her.
Leaving the top one unbuttoned, she straightened Sylas's collar and brushed her hair by her ear. "It's getting long, should we cut it this weekend?"
"Okay. Teacher, why didn't you comb your hair?"
Xerath smiled lazily, "I stayed up late last night, so I woke up late today and didn't have time to comb it."
"Then let me help you..." Xerath's hairstyle was difficult to manage. The braids needed to be woven little by little, alternating on top of her head. If she didn't have time, she would make a three-strand braid. Maybe she had only just woken up ten minutes ago. Thinking of this, Sylas indeed smelled the warm breath coming from Xerath, carried from under the blankets.
Warm and charming like the morning sunlight.
"No, let's go upstairs. I really like the little surprises you've given me. In fact, I think it’s a big surprise. You have completely met my expectations of you: starting at the end, with a small entry point, thorough research, and I have greatly benefited from it. What’s even more valuable is that this is not even your area of study."
Sylas's eyes slowly widened, looking at Xerath in disbelief. Later, she squinted her eyes to scrutinize her, trying to find traces of irony on her face.
Unfortunately, she seemed genuinely sincere, to the point that Sylas felt it was unreal. Unconsciously, she raised her hand and gently tapped her own face.
"Do you really like it? I mean... I'm not sure because it may not be a topic that others find interesting."
"Just do what you like, doing things for your own interests is the best state, I hope you can remember this feeling."
"Oh, of course. Do you have any opinions for me? I mean... I just feel like you didn't come down just to praise me."
Xerath sighed, "Well, if you insist. I have two complaints."
Sylas breathed a sigh of relief, "Please tell me, I am always ready to correct my mistakes."
Xerath raised an eyebrow, "How can you be sure that I'm right and you're wrong?"
Sylas paused for a moment, then narrowed her eyes cunningly and said, "Based on reasonable judgments from experience, if I believe that the criticism is unfair, I will definitely argue, my teacher."
Xerath patted her head and held her hand, walking upstairs, saying, "Let's talk while we eat, oh, I can already smell the aroma."
The living room door was open, and Titus probably heard the footsteps, so he poked half of his paw pad out of the door and let out a soft woof.
"Titus, you're such a good boy." Xerath politely praised the footstool, because it patiently waited until everyone arrived before eating, otherwise it wouldn't wait anxiously at the door.
Sylas walked faster and arrived in front of Xerath to open the door for her. Even though the magician could open the door easily with a spell, Sylas still enjoyed the privilege of standing by the door and watching Xerath raise her chin. After Xerath walked in, Sylas went to pull out a chair from the stone table.
Breakfast was already on the table, and the narrow beams of light coming in from the window illuminated them perfectly. The misty steam revealed constantly changing shapes in the light. Today's combination was pork patties, pancakes with creamy scrambled eggs, topped with honey and a piece of butter. The butter had already melted halfway under the hot pancakes, and the aroma spread far.
Xerath sat down at the table, gently folded her hands, and said, "Thank you, Elvis, for our breakfast."
"Thank you, Elvis, for our breakfast," Sylas repeated.
The Fire Lord Chef was hiding in the fireplace, but a burst of bright red light still emanated from it.
"Woof!" A smacking sound came from under the table. Xerath smiled and cut the soft pancake into small pieces, dipped them in honey, and put them in her mouth.
"I have two main criticisms of your essay, one of which is that your choice of words is too formal, to the point of being unnecessarily complex. In other words, it's evident that you intentionally chose these slightly difficult words."
"Um... I think I should make an article sound more academic."
"Hmm... that's a good idea, but before I affirm that idea, I want you to answer me a question." She glanced at Sylas, took a bite of a biscuit with a small piece of pork patty, and Sylas imitated her eating method absentmindedly, answering with a distracted voice.
"What is it?"
"What is the basic purpose of writing an article?"
"Um... to explain my own opinion."
"To whom?"
Sylas paused, and the piece of meat on her fork fell off. "Um... to the readers?"
"What is the likely identity of your readers?"
"Um... members of the scientific community?"
Xerath smiled gently, "Your paper might be included in a journal and sold to libraries all over. So anyone who walks into a library could potentially read your article. What do you think they are?"
I guess... there would be, of course, wizards and mage apprentices, clergy, knights, scholars who study other subjects but occasionally read journals, um... officials who visit the library, some literate craftsmen, Demon Hunters - though I'm not sure if they would go to the library to read?
"They also watched."
"I think... maybe anyone who can read would go to the library and accidentally come across such a collection of essays, as long as it is placed in the reading room."
"Yes, anyone who can read and has an interest in reading. The educated 'general public'."
Sylas certainly remembered this word.
"Educated ordinary people, they probably wouldn't be able to understand certain obscure words, so you have to remember to explain them. Or for example, like me, I actually haven't heard of 'creatine', I rely on the author to explain it to me, but in the end, I understood it reluctantly after reading the entire text."
"Oh, yes, my mistake. I thought it would be a simple word, that everyone understands except for me."
"I really don't not understand," Xerath took a sip of milk and wiped the milk stain off her lips with a napkin, "I'm just giving an example, it's indeed a word that is mentioned in all of their books. But it's not a word commonly used in everyday life, you wouldn't know it until you start reading articles related to the subject. Show some consideration to your readers, they will appreciate your thoughtfulness."
Sylas secretly mocked Xerath's defense in her heart, perhaps the archmage had some strange pride and didn't want her students to think she had any knowledge gaps.
"And another thing, I believe you are subtly criticizing me for not exercising enough, to the point where I will gradually be unable to handle the heavy mental labor." She glared at Sylas, as if she was angry, but Sylas could see at a glance that she wasn't really angry, the archmage's gaze was too gentle, she just looked like she was scaring her.
