Chapter 101
Just like people in the countryside have never seen His Majesty the King on a tour, the elements in the Keatler region have never seen the Elemental King before. Even someone like Virgil, who doesn't like elements, could feel the restlessness of the wind. It feels similar to the elemental ripples that brought Sylas here, with some differences that he couldn't quite explain.
"Old friend, I feel like your attraction to the elements has become stronger, right?"
"Maybe, sometimes I don't even want to be an archmage. Sometimes I feel like the archmage is being driven crazy by these flattery-seeking and unrestrained elements. Who knows, when the power of an archmage grows to a certain extent, appearing in certain places might spontaneously cause elemental disturbances, resulting in natural disasters. It's a despairing kind of ability."
Ordinary people simply cannot imagine it.
However, no one was able to appreciate this joke. Xerath looked disappointedly at Sylas, trying to find some resonance from her, but Sylas looked around, deep in thought.
"Sylas? What's wrong?"
"It feels very familiar..."
"You must have walked through here before."
"There should be a river over there." Sylas pointed to a mound of dirt near the road.
"There is indeed a river." Xerath nodded, not surprised as water elementals are quite active and Sylas can definitely sense it.
"There's a bridge ahead..." She looked ahead, worried.
Xerath beckoned her to come over, gently holding her hand and whispered, "Don't get distracted. Supporting two Earth Children in the mortal realm for a long time can be exhausting. Let's not fall down."
"Oh... okay."
Sylas's current task is to continue her studies and qualify as a mage, not to waste time investigating the past. Xerath decided this silently in her heart.
But that wasn't the real reason. The real reason was that Sylas might not be as indifferent to the past as she appeared; she might leave because of it.
Not allowed. Emotions spoke before reason firmly and decisively.
Sylas had never shown any attachment to her past when she was in Aimekotes. There were only a few instances where she mentioned her mother from her childhood, without sadness or resentment, as if talking about someone else's story. But now, the tension and fear felt so real.
After about the time it takes for two hourglasses to pass, they crossed over to the top of an uphill slope and a bridge appeared. Sylas tightly held onto Xerath's hand.
"Don't worry, Virgil is here, and so am I. No one can harm you."
Sylas trembled a little, "I'm sorry, teacher... I'm too nervous. Whenever I get close to this place, I feel scared for no reason... I've actually almost forgotten what happened back then, but these scenes always overlap with fragments of my memory. I can't even distinguish some of them from my imagination or real events that happened."
"Bringing you here might have been a mistake..."
"No... that's not true! I have to come, don't I? I don't want to miss my first practice lesson, teacher... Don't worry about me, I know there won't be so many people united in chasing after me again, and I know they're no match for you."
Virgil touched his own nose, feeling like his abilities had never been taken seriously.
The two people in front suddenly turned their heads and looked at him together.
"What are you looking at me for?"
"I was also wondering... what exactly is your strength, Virgil? So many people couldn't catch the Keatlerdemon beast, but you managed to catch it in the end."
Finally, Virgil had a great opportunity to show off, "To win a fight, you need good timing, the right place, and teamwork. If you use these three skills well, even the archmage can be defeated."
"Okay," she turned and taught Sylas, "Don't underestimate Virgil. When we were little, we defeated many criminals who were much stronger than us."
"They're adventurers."
"Kidnappers who are also adventurers?"
"I'm also a part-time adventurer. People who don't have a permanent home call themselves adventurers."
"He's really good at using cunning schemes, the unexpected kind. Actually, I have a plan. I want to pay him to study the recent years' practical exams, find some patterns, and teach them to you. That way, you won't fail in the exams because you're too straightforward."
"Xerath? Are you joking?"
"I'm serious. I've never encountered such an easy exam before."
Virgil's eyes widened in surprise, "Easier than the monthly exams? Are you joking?"
"Yes, I accidentally passed without even realizing it. In the past, exams used to require more effort to write." Xerath said earnestly.
Virgil walked up to Sylas and said, "Uncle Virgil is not compatible with elements. I come up with many ideas, but can't implement them myself. Your teacher is my best partner."
Xerath chuckled and squinted at Virgil, "Virgil, are you shy?"
"Oh, darn it! You cunning old magician!" He stepped out of the group, with his back turned to the two ladies.
Emotions can infect each other, and Sylas's attention shifted to the banter between the older folks. The tense atmosphere was diluted.
Xerath looked at Sylas's bright profile and couldn't quite figure out from where Virgil started this plan to amuse the little one. But one thing was certain, and confirmed once again: he could definitely make any girl he wanted laugh.
It was a dangerous skill indeed. She silently stepped down from Earth Child and onto another, standing between Virgil and Sylas.
One second before nightfall, they entered the town. Many places were still lit up, especially the taverns and inns.
Virgil specially found a decent-looking inn. Of course, Sylas was nervous the whole way, until she found out that she would be sharing a room with Xerath.
She looked relieved and lay on the bed strangely. Xerath sat by the bed and asked, "What's wrong? You don't seem well when you entered the town."
"I feel familiar, and it reminds me of many things... not really many things, but I feel like I've hidden here before, and I somehow know how to hide and avoid others' gaze when I pass by certain places."
She looked up and saw Xerath's serious gaze, then shyly smiled, "I don't even know why I'm thinking about these things, there's no purpose, it's quite boring, isn't it?"
Xerath kneeled by her bedside, with her golden hair flowing down. "Hmm... I used to think that you didn't remember much about the past, but I remember you telling me that your mother was killed. Have you ever thought about avenging her?"
"To be honest," her face looked a bit troubled, "I haven't... I can't tell you, a research paper seems to describe people like this, with poor emotional development, often dangerous criminals..."
Xerath couldn't help but laugh, "You're worrying too much, someone with poor emotional development is not like you. Maybe you haven't met anyone like that yet, but once you do, you'll understand how good of a child you are. Hmm... do you know, among doctors, there is often a phenomenon. They will have a period of time when they feel that they perfectly fit the symptoms described in books, suspecting they have a terminal illness. I suspect you now have similar worrying signs."
"And in fact, most people don't have a chance of getting a terminal illness, right?"
"Of course," Xerath touched her smooth black hair, feeling that she was more like a well-behaved little pet than Titus, at least Titus was not well-behaved at all, sometimes even mischievous. "So don't worry, you are a very good child, we spend day and night together, and there's no way I could be wrong about you like this."
Spending day and night together, this phrase had a vague and ambiguous feeling, the warm and sugary colors made Sylas's heart skip a beat inexplicably. Her face gradually started to flush, she was a bit afraid to look up at Xerath, afraid that she would ask about her flushed face, but Xerath's hand was still within her line of sight.
She has fair and slender hands, with a callus below the middle finger joint from long-term writing. But this actually makes her hands look more interesting. There must be someone who sees her hands and can't help but wonder about her profession, right? Maybe not, because most people are paying attention to her face.
Sylas reached out her hand, coincidentally and unexpectedly, and grabbed Xerath's hand. Xerath moved slightly in her grip, as if trying to pull away, but with little strength. Sylas timely held onto her.
"Sylas."
Sylas was prepared to let go of Xerath when she asked, but instead heard her ask a completely unrelated question, "Do you remember what your mother looked like?"
"I... I only remember that she had long black hair, a bit wavy, and she always wore it down."
Xerath turned on the bed, facing her, looking at her seriously.
"Her eyes were green too, and she loved to smile, she really loved to smile. I remember feeling uneasy when she wasn't smiling because that meant we had to run."
"Is there anything else?"
"No, I don't remember."
"Green eyes, black hair, maybe you look a lot like her, let's ask tomorrow?"
"Will it, will it be very troublesome?"
Xerath lay back on her own bed, "Not troublesome, just satisfying my curiosity. I have always been curious about your background. Hmm... but if you don't want to remember, I won't ask."
"Actually, I'm... kind of curious too." She lay on her side, still looking at Xerath. Their gazes met between the two beds. She showed a gentle and calm smile, "Saying you're not curious is definitely fake."
Xerath also smiled along, her smile didn't always curl up her lips, but more often just crinkled her eyes, which quickly melted her usually serious and cold expression. "I often think that you should be a child who loves to smile, like you... like your mother said, just because you've always been with me, that's why."
"I'm fine like this!" Sylas protested in a soft voice, half of her face hidden in the blanket, only her eyes, which looked a lot like Xerath's, were visible. "You're fine like this too."
She said seriously, nodding, and after a while, she added, "Better than anyone else, anyway, the best."
