Chapter 45
Xerath hesitated for a moment, grabbed a little tighter in front, and Sylas said, "Um... it should be tighter."
Sylas, being higher than Xerath only by her chin, actually didn't want to make any forceful movements on such a small girl. She seemed young and delicate, and should be protected instead of being squeezed. However, as Xerath hesitated, Sylas grabbed her arm and made her completely wrap around her waist, saying earnestly, "High speeds are very dangerous. You should hold on to me as tightly as possible."
Xerath felt a bit uncomfortable and regretful for climbing up when she got a sudden burst of excitement. Even archmages are afraid when land creatures leave the ground.
But Sylas didn't do that. Instead, she created a mist barrier to protect herself. Maybe she learned her lesson from the previous flying accident. Whenever she flew into unfamiliar areas, she needed to create a mist to check the direction and speed of the wind. After a strong acceleration, she clearly flew out of the area where the air was rising around the tower.
"Sylas！"
"This will be fun!" Sylas remained unaffected, but they were about to crash into a wind wall!
"Sylas！"
Suddenly, Sylas leaned backward and spun Xerath around in the air. She created a short spell between her hands, forming a wind shield. Xerath noticed that Sylas had omitted the subject of the wind shield spell, leaving only the word "activate."
The wind shield spell became extremely short, which relieved Xerath. Although her own wind shield didn't require a spell, only a simple gesture, she had learned it during an intensive crash course before the graduation test. It's true that children learn survival skills while playing.
She was lost in thought for a while and when she snapped out of it, she found herself staring straight at the ground.
"Sylas!" This was the third time she called her apprentice's name, with fear in her voice. Sylas pushed the wind shield in her hand forward, in the direction of the air cannon blowing from below. The two spells of the same elemental type collided, but not violently. As a result, the orderly elements on the surface returned to chaos, continuously peeling off from the spell sequence. Like mist, they dissipated into the air and were carried away by the wind.
Because of this, they were pushed tightly against the wind wall. Sylas's wind shield reformed beneath her feet, while Xerath was so nervous that she almost clung to Sylas. However, the dignity of an archmage prevented her from finally doing so.
The windshield glided diagonally across the wind wall, as if riding a giant wave. Sylas adjusted her body's direction to face the wind completely.
A stretch of white sand turned into a sky of light blue. The sky was much brighter than the ground, and although the sun was hazy, it still dazzled her eyes. Instinctively, she wanted to shield her eyes with her hand, but Sylas suddenly held her hand tightly, saying, "Teacher, don't let go!"
She couldn't see, but could only feel the rushing wind and bits of moisture. The speed was incredibly fast, almost surpassing Pegasus. The wind blew against her face, making it difficult to see, and she felt suffocated. She clung tightly to the little girl in her arms.
"Oh my, oh my, this is too dangerous..."
"Don't you find it exciting?" Sylas held her tightly with her arms wrapped around her. The two weak mages stood on the wind shield and slid rapidly on the wind wall that surrounded Aimekotes. "You should open your eyes and take a look! Have you seen the tower beneath your feet? It's really magnificent!"
The wind wall followed the curve of Aimekotes, narrow in the middle and gradually widening towards the top and bottom. So as they slid along, they slowly stabilized in the upper half. The smooth speed and relative stillness allowed the archmage to gradually recover from her tense state. She quietly opened her eyes, but the only feeling she could rely on was still unsettling.
Land creatures couldn't understand the feeling of having both feet off the ground! The Soul Messenger Shamodial, who had probably never seen an archmage fly before, curiously flew out from its perch and circled along with them. Xerath didn't notice at first, until she heard Sylas greeting Shamodial.
After a while of smooth sliding, the archmage's rationality finally overcame her senses, fully realizing that she wouldn't fall down, at least with Sylas's support.
In order to stay close to her, the water lord who couldn't fly dropped the graphite plate from his hand, and using the tension on his surface, he struggled to climb from the outside of the tower to the very top. Opening his body, he glided onto the wind barrier, vigorously paddling.
Sylas looked left and right, giggling. Suddenly, she accelerated and Xerath could feel a strong gust of wind pushing them. They ascended along the inner wall of the wind barrier and in a blink of an eye, they were already standing on top of the tower.
Xerath felt a bit dizzy, but she knew that the wind barrier had a limit. If Sylas flew above it, they would undoubtedly be thrown out in a parabolic path, flying away from Aimekotes indefinitely.
"Sylas, we can't go any higher."
"Why?!"
"You should be able to 'see' it, we're almost at the top."
"Can't...we stay outside?" Xerath could hear the difference in Sylas's tone, from her previous excitement to a gloomy one.
The wind slowed down, their speed decreased, and they slowly descended in circles.
"Just one more time?"
"Unfortunately, no. The winds outside Aimekotes are much more chaotic compared to the relatively ordered conditions inside. I don't want... I don't want such a talented young student like you to meet an early demise. I still want to see you wearing the Four Elements Robe. And if we recklessly fly out, perhaps even I wouldn't be able to protect you... just like that one time."
The Robe of the Four Elements is a symbol of the archmage's complete control over the four elements. Xerath has one, but she has never seen her wear it. She says that this symbolic item is only worn for formal occasions.
Sylas held tightly onto the arms wrapped around her. She remembered when the archmage, all alone, took her out to see the wind when she first arrived in Aimekotes. They almost perished together under the lightning.
Being too stubborn can lead to death, not just for oneself, but also for important people. The archmage taught her this lesson through personal experience.
"Okay... Teacher, please hold onto me tightly. We are probably going to land soon."
Xerath was very surprised. She had prepared a long speech to persuade Sylas not to take risks. She didn't expect her usually stubborn student to give in so quickly. Feeling disappointed that the rehearsed words were wasted, she hugged Sylas tighter and said softly, "Alright, this will do, right?"
Sylas nodded and suddenly recited a short incantation. The wind froze in front of her, barely visible. She pushed forward with all her strength, causing the wind element to peel away between the wind shield and the wind wall. The strong force pushed them away from the wind barrier, and they started descending around Aimekotes.
"Wow—!" They were freefalling, and Xerath shouted out. She wanted to release her magic, but Sylas kept holding onto her. Sylas quickly adjusted her position in the air, placing a foot on the left side. With a low shout, she called upon the wind, but there was no natural wind flow here. The insufficient buoyancy made it impossible for them to take flight. Xerath was ready to take action, but Sylas still held onto her.
"Just one more step!"
The ground suddenly trembled beneath their feet, forcing Xerath to step down for stability. A powerful gust of wind lifted them up. It turned out they had stepped onto a wind vein, where the highly active wind element made it easy for Sylas to summon a strong wind wave.
They were flying towards the terrace, but Sylas, who had been calm and composed just a moment ago, suddenly turned around and dove into her embrace. She looked ahead in fear and shouted, "Teacher! We're going to crash!"
Even though she called out, she still pulled Xerath inside, with her back against the wall.
"Let go!" Xerath broke free from Sylas's tight grip, tore open the Elemental Realm, and the water lord, who was trapped by the wind wall and unable to return, was sucked into the void. Then, a new rift appeared, and a wave surged out. Xerath held the terrified girl in her arms, with her muscles tense, and collided with the wave, turning her back to it.
The waves happily swept them up, and the archmage, holding the apprentice who was fearless in the sky but terrified during the landing, landed on the blue body of the water lord that was spread out. It took a while before everything settled down.
Xerath sighed in relief towards the sky and said, "I think it's not just you, but I will also have sore muscles tomorrow... Don't cry, don't cry, I won't blame you. I just want you to hand in your homework, okay?"
"But... sniff... but..."
The archmage interrupted her with a stern tone, "No 'buts', stop crying. The main reason I agreed to fly together with you is to protect you up-close in various unexpected situations. Everything is under my control."
Unfortunately, the girl cried even harder. Xerath helplessly held her and looked at the clear sky in front of her. The sky was very blue, the wind was very comfortable. It was nice to just lie down and don'thing. She patted the sobbing little girl in her arms, thinking it was alright.
As expected, the next day, both the master and apprentice were sore all over their bodies. Xerath relied on the archmage's dignity to hide any flaws, while Sylas almost screamed with every step she took. Xerath walked back and forth in the library with no energy, a book floating in front of her, while Sylas refused to get up, studying the materials she had found from the shelves behind her very seriously. She even procrastinated going to the bathroom.
Xerath's assignment was to present her research findings on flying in the wind, but Sylas handed in two booklets bound with loose pages.
"What's this?"
Sylas smiled and said, "It's my little achievement."
Xerath smiled back at her and said, "Is it a little surprise for me? I'll take a look."
The title on the cover of the booklet read "Gentle Balance: How Muscles Support Human Uprightness."
Is this the result of your research on those books from last time?
"Yes, that's right, teacher. I found that there are very few theoretical books in other professions. I didn't find much at the library in Withered Leaf City last time."
"Yes, there is a big gap between theory and practice. People who are willing to study theory are usually not limited to a single profession. This is the biggest difference between applied and research disciplines: theory can often serve as a guide for multiple disciplines, but if you want to switch from an applied discipline to theoretical research, you often feel inadequate."
Sylas asked worriedly, "What should we do then?"
