Chapter 106
Her laughter made her sound much more mature than her actual age, and Xerath felt a kind of embarrassment that she had been caught. She tried to explain, "Females always have a soft spot for young ones, that's how I feel about you... well, not exactly accurate, but there are always some people who have a soft spot for young ones, like Virgil does for you. There are not only bad people in the world, there are also people who lend a helping hand, like me."
"I... the little beast finally agreed to come out of her embrace, lifted her head slightly, with a pinkish hue around her eyes and a pink nose. "I'm not... not so afraid... Sylas said solemnly, "I will protect you from now on."
Xerath hooked her waist, feeling a little surprised. So in order to talk to her better, she leaned her upper body back and smiled, saying, "Really? You think so? I'm... I'm very happy that you feel this way."
"I mean it! I will... I will graduate, I will become a formal mage, know many spells, write many papers... although I may never catch up to you, but I... I will protect you!"
Xerath smiled and reassured her, "Alright, alright, I'm glad to have someone to protect me. I enjoy the feeling of being protected."
"That's great!" The little beast's eyes were still red, but she smiled again, the familiar adorable smile, her eyes curving, and two laughter lines appeared under her eyes, her apple-like, slightly chubby face looking soft and tempting, making people want to pinch it or...
Give her a kiss.
She thought it was time to retreat, but Sylas still held her. Her first attempt to break free had failed, and now their posture must be comical. Similar white robes, hooked together at the waist, only their hips were touching to maintain balance.
"Hmm...?" The little girl quickly shifted her attention away from Xerath and looked at the opposite mountain, one of the two mountains that enclosed Doloru Town and led towards the desert exit. "That mountain... There should be a river coming down from that mountain, right? I remember it."
Xerath looked at her and smiled gently. "If you remember this place, do you remember what happened back then?"
Sylas had a bad feeling, but she tried hard to recall. She pointed to the slope below the mountain peak and said, "I remember climbing up the mountain from there because I saw a gap ahead. That must be a new place without any bad people."
"And then?"
"I was very scared. It was all water around me, and I wanted them to protect me..."
"What happened next?"
"Hmm..." The little girl thought carefully for a moment. "I climbed up the mountain, someone was chasing me from behind, and I think I was crying because I was so afraid. 'Wind' was pushing me from behind, and 'water' said they had a plan. Then suddenly, water gushed down from the mountain and washed away the bad people. 'Wind' urged me to hurry, and it blew me into a hollow. I ended up behind the mountain from there."
Xerath nodded, and Sylas suddenly realized. "You mean..."
"It's because of you. The lake on the mountain burst open, and almost all the water flowed down. This used to be a desert, but because of the water flowing down from the mountain, the water level of this river increased, and grass grew along the way. The lake disappeared and turned into a river. The river water nourished the desert and made grass grow. The water seeped into the sand and became an underground river. It might show a bit in areas with shallow rock formations, turning the surface into an oasis."
"Oh, I see..."
"The road we need to take is along this river."
"Is it because of me?"
Xerath smiled and scratched her nose, a gesture she used to do to Sylas sometimes because Sylas's serious and nervous look was too adorable. She would often make many affectionate gestures without thinking. But this time, after touching her upturned nose, Xerath felt that maybe this behavior was too intimate.
How intimate a gesture can be, she felt like she couldn't define it on her own. Apart from some commonly understood suggestive gestures, some gestures she thought were natural, Virgil thought were inappropriate. And some gestures were clearly affectionate enough to make one's face blush, like holding hands, but everyone seemed to ignore it.
Now, it doesn't seem like a good time to seriously analyze this issue. Sylas is still anxiously waiting for her answer. Xerath explains, "No, not entirely. This river... the Vasar River is originally a seasonal inland river. Do you know what a seasonal inland river is?"
Sylas thought for a moment and said, "It appears during the summer when there is abundant water and disappears during the winter when there is drought in the desert, right? Because water disappears quickly in the desert. Is that correct?"
"Yes, that's right. The water from the mountain keeps it flowing for several years, disrupting the balance and causing the oasis to erode the desert."
After explaining, Sylas still didn't seem relieved. Xerath touched her forehead and asked, "Is there something else?"
"Isn't that... isn't that because of me, causing imbalance and breaking the guild rules?"
Xerath chuckled, "Are you worried about this?"
Sylas nodded honestly.
"Don't be afraid. I don't think the responsibility lies with you. You did what you did to protect yourself, and the changes you went through are not catastrophic. Most importantly, not many people know that you were the demon beast that triggered the Keatler Elemental Chaos."
"That was also me. It doesn't make a difference just because I changed my identity."
What a well-behaved child, Xerath thought happily. She also sincerely defended her, "I believe you didn't have control over your magic abilities back then. You were naive and almost ignorant, so you weren't bound by the Mage Guild's rules. To categorize it, it would be better to classify you as a 'wild demon beast.' It was foolish to provoke a wild demon beast for no reason, and any disaster caused was not the demon beast's fault. So don't worry, only Virgil and I know about this."
The emerald green eyes blinked and sparkled as they looked at her.
Xerath leaned against her forehead and said, "Even if you insist on blaming yourself, it's just a mistake. Don't dwell on it. If you're worried about punishment, it's completely unnecessary. Besides me and Virgil, no one can link this incident to you. I will absolutely not mention it. If you're still not reassured, we can kill Virgil to keep him silent."
"What! Why suddenly kill me to keep me quiet?" Virgil must have been eavesdropping and heard that they were going to take action against him. He immediately turned around, "Hey, Xerath!"
The two ladies hugged each other and turned to look at her. Xerath freed one hand and started casting a spell. Sylas grabbed her wrist and said, "Don't... Virgil is a good person, don't kill him."
"Even if it will bring you trouble, you shouldn't kill him?"
Virgil nervously looked at Sylas. Sylas smiled at him reassuringly and said, "Yeah, my troubles are my troubles. Why should I kill him? My troubles aren't more important than a life."
Xerath leaned in close to her and said in a whisper, "So, it's completely unnecessary for you to worry that you have 'emotional developmental issues.' Those kind of people can't understand others' emotions well and are indifferent to life, only caring about themselves. Look, none of that describes you. A naturally bad person would never spare him so easily."
"Like this... like this? You're not just saying this to comfort me, right?"
"Of course not!" Virgil always answered questions related to himself exceptionally quickly. This time, he enthusiastically agreed with the archmage's statement. "Xerath is absolutely right."
Xerath glanced at him, forcing Virgil to step back a few steps. She then put on a gentle expression and whispered to Sylas, "If you're still worried, we can go to the library in Withered Leaf City and read that book together. Are we talking about the same book? The one about exploring criminal motives?"
"That's right, I'm talking about that one too."
"I know where it is."
Virgil watched as two ladies in white robes, who were standing a dozen steps away, said to Hyectra, "Hey, do they usually go to the library for their dates?"
The gentleman in deep blue politely replied, "Yes, if your definition of 'date' here means going out together."
"Oh."
Finally, Sylas let go of Xerath. After the emergency situation was resolved, the archmage had to say, "Next time, you can't just casually hug like that."
"Why not?"
"Firstly, I don't like that kind of physical contact."
Sylas was not satisfied with this explanation. She thought Xerath liked it, and she enjoyed being close to her teacher. She admired her graceful figure, which had more beauty than the famous artistic treasures of Gu Gaoboren. Moreover, in terms of touch, the archmage's body was much colder and less lively than a statue or a painting.
"Secondly, you're almost an adult now. You can't always express your feelings like a child, without restraint. You have to learn to express your emotions appropriately and with self-control."
The archmage felt quite guilty as she said this. When it came to controlling emotions, she didn't think that dispersing a storm required more control than a simple hug. But Sylas didn't know that, and she couldn't use this as an argument to refute herself anyway.
"But I'm still not an adult..." Sylas pouted in disagreement.
"Can you guarantee that you can reach such standards in an instant when you become an adult? From my experience, it's impossible. Expressing these kinds of emotions takes time, just like writing an article. Well, there won't be a next time." The sun started to rise, and the archmage walked towards Virgil. As he walked, he wrapped his head with a transparent scarf hanging from his neck and covered his head and face with a linen scarf, leaving only his eyes exposed.
Even Virgil covered his head, which was already wearing a white hat, with a piece of white cloth.
Sylas, who was left behind for a moment, only then noticed that Xerath was dressed similar to her today. She wore a white robe, beige boots, grey-white knee socks, and a lace-trimmed skirt covered by a loose white robe. The robe was embroidered with vine-like patterns in deep blue.
The archmage looked stern even without wearing a black mage robe. The wind lifted the hem of her robe, while the heavy metal edges dutifully pressed down the skirt. Her slender legs appeared and disappeared intermittently. Sylas was fascinated, until Xerath snapped her fingers and Sylas's Earth Child, on which she was sitting, woke up and caught up with the group with a rumble.
