Chapter 115
Sylas was rescued from her strange silent state. The confusing thoughts in her mind finally straightened out. "Sister, I want to try flying here! Will you come with me?"
Xerath thought for a moment and pursed her lips. "No, I'll stay here and watch over you, Virgil?"
Virgil hesitated and said, "As long as you promise she won't cause another elemental disturbance, I don't mind..."
Xerath smiled lightly and said, "Go ahead."
Sylas was about to run outside, lifting her skirt. But Xerath stopped her. She paused and Xerath crouched in front of her, tying a knot with the metal in the middle of her skirt. When she looked up, she smiled at Sylas.
Sylas reached out her slightly trembling hand, seemingly wanting to touch the archmage's face. Xerath gently grabbed her hand and said, "After you've had enough fun, it's time to work. It will get hot once the sun rises."
The little girl ran out swiftly and went to a distant spot where the "wind" insisted on "playing." The archmage had been watching her from afar since she ran out of the camp. The wind passing through the dragon bone noticed her and made a special circle around the place where she was, causing her large outer robe to billow.
Virgil walked over and slowly lifted his hand. He stopped when he reached his waist, pretending to hold her waist.
"What does the little beast want to do?"
"To fly."
Sylas's cheerful voice came from mid-air as she stood in a strange pose, surrounded by white mist. About ten yards in front of her, the wind traced a path, pushing through the ever-changing wind shield. The originally transparent wind shield turned milky white.
Sylas, with this trail, flew across the sky, gliding over the magnificent River of Elements, surrounded by 'wind', 'water', 'fire', and 'earth'. The wind shield repeatedly hit against the edge of the "river" and bounced back up. As she neared the dragon spine, Sylas exerted a little force, but her weight seemed unable to counter the lift coming from the bottom. This lift was supposed to be the basis for her ability to fly using the wind shield. As it seemed she was about to collide, Sylas quickly dismissed the Levitation Spell, and her body sank and disappeared into the colorful river.
Joyful cheers grew louder as Sylas approached. Through the translucent wind shield, people could see her white, billowing robe being blown by the wind. Everyone looked up at her, but unfortunately, the inner skirt had been tied into fluffy pants. Xerath heard someone next to her sigh in disappointment and sneered.
Sylas swiftly followed the direction of the dragon's backbone, and from a distance, she locked eyes with Xerath. As she approached, she finally confirmed that Xerath's eyes were fixed on her. Overjoyed, Sylas shouted, "Sister, look at me!"
With not enough lift to counter the weight without the Levitation Spell, Xerath quickly drew feathers in the air and whispered, "Get ready!" Golden feathers scattered in the air, and tiny golden light was absorbed by Sylas's body. The suddenly ascending air duct blew against the weightless Sylas, propelling them both towards the sky. The archmage ran outside the camp, jumped onto Dvořák, tightened the reins, and galloped away.
Everyone was familiar with this. Xerath whispered, "Go!" Dvořák sped up, and she said, "Keep up with Sylas." Dvořák headed in the direction Sylas flew.
Sylas had already lost speed and was falling. Xerath watched her with concern when suddenly, an oval-shaped ice ball formed in the air. Sylas opened the ice barrier in mid-air. But this height may not be safe enough. A crack in the elements appeared, and Hyectra emerged from the much longer crack than usual. It took longer for Hyectra to form due to the rapid flight, and its body absorbed a large amount of gas, almost becoming a bubble. When the ice barrier hit the first layer of water, the speed slowed down, and Sylas inside felt the impact, sinking briefly. The barrier broke through the water film and then hit the second layer of water film, causing a much smaller impact. By the time it hit the ground, everything became calm.
The little girl stood up all wet, with her black hair sticking to her face. After the barrier broke, the flowing water on the ground gathered together to form a big blue water bubble. It spun around disgustingly and washed away the impurities and dirt on its surface.
"Yuck! Even I, who was once pure, am becoming impure." It also used its tentacles to rub against Sylas, absorbing most of the water from its body and leaving Sylas instantly dry.
The remaining water condensed into Hyectra, a loyal water lord steward who, like a close relative, brushed off the dirt from his body while coughing and complaining, "You're really heavy."
"Clearly, it's not because I'm heavy! It's all because of my speed!"
"Oh, my lady, my body is too weak. I need your extra magical energy to..." Xerath waved her hand, banishing it back to the Elemental Realm to recover, so it wouldn't keep picking fights with Leunen.
"Sylas？"
"..." Sylas was unsure whether to call her "teacher" or "sister." Finally, she opened her mouth and called her "sister," saying, "I'm sorry..."
"You should have jumped earlier, instead of waiting until it was very high. Let me see, before Virgil catches up." She commanded Sylas to take off her outer cloak, revealing a sleeveless dress underneath, and quickly examined her body.
--Of course, using a touch-based examination. Strictly speaking, it was already inappropriate, but Xerath thought she had to make sure Sylas wasn't injured. She quickly pinched and kneaded every inch of Sylas's body that could be injured (which was the whole body), moving too fast to form any thoughts. However, being too fast could also be rough, and Sylas always made high and low sounds when she caught her off guard, especially when Xerath pinched her buttocks and thighs, there was always something a little off about her voice.
Because Hyectra acted as a cushion, even though the fall was higher this time, it didn't cause more serious impact, and Leunen protected her well.
"Put it on, there's nothing to worry about," the archmage reached out to tidy up Sylas's clothes and headscarf, climbed onto Pegasus first, and then pulled Sylas up to sit in front of him.
"I haven't taught you how to ride a horse yet, have I?"
Sylas shook her head, Xerath's hands passed through her ribs and held her waist, whispering in her ear, "Go tell Dvořák to go back and find Virgil."
The breath that brushed against her ear unexpectedly made Sylas's heart race. She immediately bent down and said to Dvořák, "Dvořák, take us back to find Virgil."
Dvořák suddenly turned around. Sylas screamed, feeling like she was about to be thrown off, but Xerath was familiar with it, knowing its temperament well. He bent down early, tightened the saddle, and used both hands to firmly secure Sylas in his arms, allowing her to stay safely on the horse's back.
Virgil stayed in the camp and couldn't help but complain, "Why does the supporting character have to steal the spotlight from the main character?"
Someone elbowed Virgil and teased, "It seems like you don't have much chance to show off in the hero saves the beauty scenes, huh, Virgil?"
"Tsk! There will always be!" He swatted away the hand that seemed to comfort him on his shoulder and walked out of the camp, feeling annoyed.
"Teacher, is it over?"
"Yes, it's over."
"Great, to be honest, calling you 'sister' really makes me feel embarrassed..."
Xerath smiled and asked, "Why?"
"Because... I can't really say why, but I feel my heart beating fast, almost breathless from embarrassment, and my face is so hot... Teacher, I just saw a small crystallization in the northwest direction. Should we go and take a look later?"
"Is it far?" After asking, she felt like she asked too much. According to the formula for calculating the horizon, this place should not exceed sixty kilometers. "Let's go, after measuring here, we'll go."
"Hmm!" Sylas nodded happily, not wanting to see Virgil at all, wanting to ride Dvořák with Xerath like this and be held by Xerath. "Teacher, can we slow down a bit?"
"Hmm? What's wrong?"
Although Sylas wasn't good at lying, she had learned not to tell the truth a long time ago. "I'm a bit afraid of falling... And besides, we're not in a hurry, right?" This was only one aspect of the reason. She was far from being afraid to let the horse run.
The caring Dvořák has slowed down.
After walking for a while, Dvořák slowly returned to the camp. Xerath on the horseback felt a bit stiff, Sylas might not have noticed, but Virgil, being someone who was used to close combat, looked at the archmage with a teasing expression, raising his chin and asked, "How about it?"
His chin was pointing towards Sylas, and of course the archmage knew what that expression on her annoying face meant.
"I'm fine, not injured," answered the archmage, who was well-versed in not telling the truth, and warned Virgil with his eyes not to speak nonsense.
Virgil chuckled and came over to hold the horse. Xerath dismounted, reached out her hand towards Sylas. It was the first time the young girl dismounted, so she was a bit clumsy. She carefully swung her leg over the horse and then jumped down unsteadily. With Xerath protecting her by her side, Virgil was happy to let the two clumsy mages figure it out themselves.
This scene was really interesting. The feeling of joy in Virgil's heart reached its peak when he saw Sylas lose her balance and fall into Xerath's embrace. Xerath, burdened by the heavy responsibility of being her guardian, had to catch her.
Guess what the archmage would do if it wasn't Sylas but someone else? Virgil asked and answered himself in his mind: She would certainly take a step back and let the person fall onto a puddle of water that seemed to appear out of nowhere.
Obviously, the archmage had given her young apprentice too many privileges. Virgil didn't say anything, mounted his horse, and walked ahead, leading the way for the two mages standing on Earth Child.
There were people in the camp looking over in the distance.
In a place far away from the crystallization area, the Earth Child carried luggage and entered a sleep state under the enforcement of the archmage, so that they wouldn't wander around uncontrollably. Sylas summoned more Earth Child and stood in the center of the crystallization zone she determined, commanding six Earth Child to run in six different directions, while also setting down the crystallization measuring device.
