Chapter 42
"I'm so sorry, I ruined your game."
"Teacher!" Sylas seemed completely unfazed by the interruption, her bright eyes fixed on her. She looked extremely excited and exclaimed, "I did it! Look! I told you it was possible!"
Xerath smiled gently and said, "Yes, you're amazing. Do you want to try again?"
"Yes, I will!" Sylas quickly climbed up and jumped off the edge of the terrace. Xerath immediately climbed up and raised her hand towards her.
However, the little creature quickly floated up again, stepping on the wind element that had spoiled her little sister and rising higher and higher.
Xerath soon couldn't see her anymore. She couldn't help but lean over the edge of the terrace, almost half of her body leaning outside. Sylas must have moved to the back and was already out of her sight. Xerath shouted, anxiously waiting every second, but couldn't hear any response. The archmage turned and climbed up the stone edge of the terrace. The height of over a hundred feet was dazzling. She took a deep breath and was about to jump onto the wind shield when she heard someone calling her from above.
"Teacher!"
It was Sylas's voice, sounding extremely happy. Xerath turned around and saw Sylas sticking out half of her body from the top of the tower, waving excitedly at her.
She was already standing at the highest point of the tower, near the core of the wind wall on the tower top.
Aimekotes was surrounded by a circle of mithril spell formations. Mithril, an expensive material, was a great conductor of magic, and the wind barrier was powered by the Energy Storage Crystal at the very top. Both of these were very valuable treasures, entrusted with the responsibility of protecting the archmage's incredibly fragile life.
Xerath also waved at her, and Sylas cupped her hand to her mouth and shouted, "I'm going to slide down from here!"
Doing the same, Xerath put her hands to her mouth and replied loudly, "Alright! I'll watch you!"
The little creature happily leaped and slid down at high speed. The invisible wind shield started to show a faint shape as the wind elements on its surface were eroded. Sylas lowered her body and slid on the unseen updraft of the swirling air. The wind, responding to her shouts, lifted her falling body by constantly leaping out from the slanted surface of the airflow.
She had already glided past the height of the terrace, sliding towards a lower place. It seemed really fun. As Xerath thought about how she had been planning for this day for three years, a feeling of satisfaction rose in her heart. If she wanted to go further, perseverance was an essential gift.
Xerath stood at the edge of the terrace and looked down. She saw her little creature carefully tearing open a crack in the elements, and water droplets gushed out from the small crevice, eager to find their summoner, the elemental envoy.
She was truly welcomed by the elements. Unlike the power that submitted to Xerath, these peculiar wills, existing between ignorance and enlightenment, truly liked Sylas. Water droplets trailed behind Sylas, leaving long streaks in the air. However, the unstable crevice was quickly torn apart by the unpredictable tidal force of the Elemental Gate. Sylas stood on a thin, translucent light-colored disc, drifting and swaying as the wind dragged her downwards.
Due to her instincts as an Elemental King, Xerath quickly sensed that something was not right. Before she had time to think further, she leaped out of the terrace. The terrifying fall was something no mage had dared to subject their fragile body to before Sylas. Xerath also wasn't too confident in her ability to slide so well in the turbulent flow of the wind, but she had no time to hesitate. Sylas was too far away, and Xerath couldn't fine-tune the elements at such a distance. She had to find a closer position immediately.
Suddenly, the disc under Sylas's feet shattered—perhaps "shattered" was not quite appropriate. The soft watery film was dispersed by the wind, and its own weight was much greater than an equal volume of wind. It couldn't bear its own weight for long and disintegrated in mid-air, losing its wind-facing angle. Sylas fell out of the rising turbulence without any means to gain momentum, plummeting rapidly.
The archmage's worst fear came true, but luckily she was already in the air and rapidly approaching the ground.
As Sylas flipped in mid-air, she finally saw Xerath, who was falling below her line of sight, and unbelievably screamed, "Xerath!" She even reached out her hand and made two gestures in the air.
The archmage didn't have time to comfort her and shouted, "Sylas! Don't breathe!"
A long golden light trailed behind her, and the high speed didn't affect the accuracy of the spell, but only stretched it. The archmage's left hand tore open a crack directly, and a large burst of water suddenly overflowed from the void, wrapping Sylas completely inside. The silent golden writings in the air burst, and the golden brilliance attached to the surface of the water ball that enveloped Sylas, forming a chilling barrier.
The land rapidly expanded in her eyes, and Xerath took a deep breath, curling her body up. Suddenly, another stream of water expanded and swallowed her whole. The sudden liquid caused her to temporarily enter a blind state, hearing the sound of freezing ice, followed by the shattering sound of a heavy object falling.
She tensed all the muscles in her body, and an impact suddenly attacked her. The high inertia liquid weakened the impact she received, but she still heavily collided with the inner layer of the ice barrier.
The sound was extremely muffled underwater. She hadn't used this spell for a long time, but the tremendous roar quickly evoked the fear of it in her memory. Due to her professional nature, there weren't many spells that required physical exertion, except for this life-saving spell.
Fortunately, the ice shell was very smooth, with no dangerous sharp corners. The water that had been released flowed out through the cracks in the shattered ice, leaving a dark mark on the sandy ground. The archmage dispelled the ice and walked out from a puddle of water, drenched. Hyectra timely ran out from a crack in the elements, calling many droplets to soak Xerath. The droplets struggled to remove the excess water from her body, pulling off a series of water beads from her wet black robe. However, they still couldn't completely dry it.
The sudden change in buoyancy caused the careless archmage to stumble. She walked to another pile of shattered ice nearby and moved aside a piece of ice, pulling out Sylas whose lips were turning pale from being frozen inside.
"Are you injured?" the water lord steward followed the routine and dealt with Sylas's completely soaked clothes, unfortunately still unable to dry them completely. Fortunately, Aimekotes' wind was very dry.
Sylas shook her head, but then frowned and said to Xerath, "I bit my lip."
Xerath lifted her chin and saw that the inside of Sylas's lip was indeed cut. She patted her face and said, "I am a mage, not a priest. Does it hurt? Let's go upstairs and find some medicine for you."
"Maybe... it doesn't have to be so complicated, this little wound will heal in a day. Teacher..."
"Hmm?" Xerath didn't understand, but felt Sylas leaning towards her, so she opened her arms and hugged her. "Are you cold? But let's go upstairs and change clothes first."
The golden feathers disappeared between Xerath's arms as she lifted Sylas up. She smiled and said to her, "You've grown taller. Last time I held you, I could hold you with just one hand."
"Teacher... I can... I think I can walk by myself..." Sylas was lying in her arms, almost afraid to look up, and her voice became softer.
Xerath looked ahead, but the smile on her face didn't fade. "No one who uses this spell for the first time will be fine. 'Whirling Breeze.'"
The warm wind enveloped the two of them, and Sylas couldn't help but recall some past memories. Back then, she also stood in the wind and felt an incredible warmth.
This combination of spells is really challenging for mages. Mages are usually a group of lazy people who use spells to replace many daily physical activities just to be lazy. Their prolonged desk work also makes their bodies very weak: thin muscles unable to protect their bones, long-term sitting causing pathological deformities in the lumbar and cervical spine (this is also one of the reasons why many mages choose to become Liches: they can no longer endure the torment of pain). They try to keep their spell targets away from their bodies and strike their opponents from a distance where they cannot be reached, so they don't have to do anything except aim.
Xerath took her to the library.
Behind the archmage's exquisite and expensive large desk were rows of bookshelves, and behind those bookshelves was a small bed. Xerath put Sylas on the ground, undressed her, and told her to quickly get into the covers.
The wet clothes were picked up by two Earth Children who appeared out of nowhere and laid them on Xerath. Xerath thanked them politely and nodded at Sylas, saying, "Wait here for me, about the time it takes for an hourglass to empty."
The vast hall suddenly became quiet without a person's breath. Silence surrounded Sylas as she tried to reach for a book from the nearby shelves, but it was too cold outside. She curled up in her blanket which had a faint scent.
The library had the smell of old parchment, which lingered on Xerath who had been here for a long time. But underneath this scent, there was a very delicate warm fragrance, a special smell that only occurs when a person's body is heated.
Sylas snuggled up in the blanket, savoring the scent she liked very much. Xerath was not around, so for now, this place belonged to her, although she knew it wasn't true. The feeling of sneaking around always felt exciting. She held the blanket tight, staring blankly at the empty desk in front of her.
The library was incredibly quiet, to the point where the howling wind sounded even more clear in her ears. It was Aimekotes' eternal flowing wind, usually acting as background noise, almost unnoticed.
However, the sound of shoes hitting the floor suddenly broke this rare silence. The howling sound faded beneath the clear footsteps as Xerath walked over, carrying a cup. Behind her was the loyal water lord steward, holding a set of clean clothes in his hands.
Xerath threw the clothes on the bed and sat at its edge, snapping her fingers towards the cup. The wind softly called as it blew across the surface of the deep brown liquid.
The archmage tested the cup with his other hand over the top, then handed it to Sylas who had just sat up.
"Drink this."
Her expression had disappeared, and the annoyed, happy, and gentle looks she had before were gone, replaced by her usual coldness. She picked up the top shirt and draped it over Sylas, watching her take small sips.
It was the same spicy "medicine" as last time, but it was quite sweet, probably because they had added a lot of sugar to cover the spicy smell.
