Chapter 24
However, it wasn't what she had feared. The water lord extended an "eye" from the crack of elements. It was much more difficult for a powerful water lord to cross the spatial rift than for an ordinary water droplet. The elemental space strongly restricted its actions, imprisoning it within the Elemental Realm. Only elemental mages with certain powers could summon them to create an elemental vortex, allowing them to freely enter and exit the spatial rift. Hyectra must have exerted tremendous effort to tear open such a small gap, only allowing a column of water to come out. This was quite rare, rare enough for Xerath to think that it was a warning of some great disaster related to water elementals.
"My lady, I think it would be best for you... to go outside and take a look."
"What happened?"
"It's related to the young lady, I can't say more unless you're willing to drag me out."
"Is she in danger?"
"Oh... huh? No, not at all."
Xerath got out of bed and let the messenger of the water lord sink into the crack without any intention of reaching out to help.
"Lady... Oh, oh, how could you..."
It completely sank.
Xerath opened the door and carefully scanned the surroundings. Finally, on the carpet in front of the door, she saw a little stool that had been spread out and still had slight movements. On the stool, Sylas curled up into a small ball.
The archmage breathed a sigh of relief. She had already thought of some sarcastic words to mock the water lord. He was too easily swayed by children. He even left the Elemental Realm on his own to inform her that Sylas was sleeping outside the door. She had drawn a feather in the air, and golden light silently exploded like fireworks, attaching to Sylas. She bent down and picked up Sylas, gently poking Titus with her toe, but there was no reaction at all.
She closed the door, but Sylas woke up and realized that she was moving. Sylas instinctively struggled and let out a short scream. Before that happened, Xerath quickly opened a wind shield (she was really fast at casting spells). The two winds collided, causing destruction and making loud noises in the quiet room.
Sylas's eyes weren't fully open yet, but she recognized Xerath's magic and got scared. She stammered in apology, "Xerath... Xerath, I didn't know, I didn't know it was you."
"It's okay, don't be afraid. You're in my house now. Do you remember?"
"I remember."
"There won't be any danger." She lifted the blanket and placed Sylas inside. She then gave Sylas the warm side of the bed. "Why did you come up? Is it because it's cold?"
"No... dark, thought, 'wind,' 'earth,' 'water.' Thought, Xerath."
"So you couldn't sleep? And then you went to find Titus?"
Sylas nodded. "Titus, couldn't open, that one." She pointed to the door.
"Couldn't unlock the door."
"Door locked."
Xerath thought that the noise of these two little kids opening the door startled Hyectra, and then they both fell asleep at the door. The archmage also thought about sending these troublesome little kids back to their own rooms, but she really didn't want to get up. "Alright, you can sleep here for today. I'm tired, don't disturb me."
Sylas lay stiffly, too nervous to move. From her few words, the archmage guessed that Sylas gave her and the elements directions: her kind. And obviously, the archmage, who had control over the elements, didn't want her to play freely in the tower with them. So she had to obediently follow orders, but when she was lonely and couldn't sleep, she had no choice but to seek out her last kind.
Her hand was very cold. The archmage felt a pang of sympathy, held her hand, and Sylas clearly moved a little.
"Don't be afraid, sleep."
Xerath always slept alone, and no one ever told her what her sleeping position was like. But when she woke up in the morning, she was still holding Sylas's hand, while the little girl was not in the same position except for her hand.
She even had one leg out of the blanket, hanging outside.
The clock downstairs had already rung, which meant it was time for the archmage to get up. But Sylas hadn't woken up yet. Considering that she probably didn't sleep well last night, Xerath gently let go of her hand, got up, washed and changed, and planned to go downstairs after everything was ready to have the cook make breakfast. She almost tripped over Titus at the door.
Maybe afraid of being punished, Titus let out a whimper and ran away.
Overall, the disrupted life was gradually returning to normal. The archmage woke up the fire lord chef and went upstairs to watch Sylas get up.
Breakfast was a little delayed, but it was within Xerath's tolerance range, allowing her to start the first day's work on time. This made her feel much better.
Everything finally returned to its original state.
The initial experiment went very smoothly, even beyond Xerath's imagination. She realized her previous expectations of Sylas were unrealistic. Why would she expect a wild little demon beast to learn to control its own magic? Sylas could freely play with the elements without considering any consequences.
Just like now, like an ever-flowing spring of elements, the wind element swayed freely with her will. The impact it caused was blocked by a barrier, absorbed by crystals, and then heated a container of water.
The water droplet lens in front of Xerath magnified thermometer inserted into the transparent vessel, allowing her to see the numbers clearly from her desk. Time, temperature, and spells were all part of her records. Now, she only needed to collect as much data as possible and analyze them to eliminate errors between individual materials.
The archmage pursed her lips tightly, her gold-rimmed glasses matching her hair color perfectly. With a meticulous hairstyle, she appeared even more serious.
However, her eyes were exceptionally bright, like colorless flames or some cold starlight. Xerath focused on the readings, recording the data every time a small hourglass was flipped. In the gaps as the sand trickled down, she had a brief moment to check on Sylas's situation.
She was having a lot of fun, as if the elements were her friends - something she had discovered long ago. Sylas seemed to have already become a huge element herself, and being within it, she never felt lonely.
Xerath had seen many slaves who became confused due to being imprisoned for too long, and she had also experienced a bit of loneliness. Therefore, she didn't really understand why a child who had been imprisoned for three years could still remain mentally strong. Now she could probably understand it emotionally: she never lacked playmates underground; her friends were always by her side and would respond whenever she called.
She had vividly experienced this feeling of freedom before.
