Chapter 116
The measuring device was considerate enough to come with a half-hour hourglass.
Following Sylas's request, Virgil went directly to the nearby camp to find helpers. After Virgil brought back some workers carrying shovels and pickaxes, Sylas looked at Xerath admiringly and said, "Sister, did you already anticipate that Virgil would go find people to help, so you specifically mentioned the matter of giving him money?"
The term "sister" was called very naturally. As the archmage's heart was about to crystallize, Virgil approached with envy and said, "Dear Lady Hevel, when will you allow your esteemed sister to call me 'brother'?"
The archmage looked at him with a half-smile and said, "Aren't you already an uncle?"
"If you can be called 'sister,' why can't I bask in the glory?" Virgil replied.
"Hmph, if sister says no, then it's no," the archmage waved his fingertips and muttered softly. The wind barrier slowly revolved around, orderly dispersing the unusually active wind from this area, keeping the center calm so that sand wouldn't fly around uncontrollably. Sylas tore open a crack of elements and moistened the designated area of sand. The workers started digging here and moved deeper. After digging around ten meters, which seemed like quite a substantial amount of work, Sylas thought to herself that there must be thirty meters of sand beneath Aimekotes, with the tower itself sitting on top of a rocky bed. She couldn't help but multiply the volume of the dark, moist sand by 8 and then by 3, coming up with a result that startled herself.
It seemed like the archmage could see through her thoughts. He whispered to her, "Aimekotes didn't just dig out eight channels, but rather a tower base in the shape of an inverted truncated cone with a diameter equal to the area of its top. To prevent the sand from sliding down, the slope on the cross-section of the truncated cone is approximately 30 degrees."
Sylas was amazed and asked, "From your experience, is this depth enough?"
The archmage chuckled and said, "I don't have much experience. If there are rock beds that are thirty meters deep like in Aimekotes, this might not be enough... How many measuring devices do we have?"
"If we leave six for the small crystallization area according to the plan, we might only have four that can be used here."
The archmage was about to give instructions to the workers that Virgil had brought, but they expressed their concerns, saying, "There might be veins of darkwater underground, and we might accidentally dig through them."
Sylas asked in confusion, "Why is it bad to dig through them? I heard that darkwater is a good fuel. Isn't it good to have darkwater in a place without wood and grass?"
The workers smiled and said, "Miss, you're right. Darkwater is indeed an excellent fuel. But the scene when it's dug open is often very frightening. When it comes from deep underground, it can either gush up or cause the ground to collapse. People standing on top usually don't fare well. It's not something that a few of us can handle, so..."
Sylas looked at Xerath, who shrugged and said, "A depth of ten meters should be enough. If we take three readings, we can approximate a linear measurement. What do you think?"
Sylas gladly accepted this suggestion. After about another half an hour, she finally finished reading all the numbers. She noted down the data in her notebook, completing the preliminary measurements. Virgil paid the workers and sent them away. Then, they walked towards the second crystallization area. The second area was much smaller, requiring less effort. With the help of "Elemental Vision," Sylas marked the crystallization area and placed the measuring devices one by one using geometric techniques.
Xerath held one end of the rope for her the whole time, watching Sylas carefully draw lines under the scorching sun with squinted eyes. She couldn't help but laugh.
"Very satisfied, hmm? Archmage?"
Xerath shrugged and hummed in her nose, but her smile never stopped. "She will leave the mage tower one day, and then..."
"And then?"
"And then she will soar high with her wings." The archmage's gray eyes narrowed slightly, his gaze fixed on Sylas.
Virgil's nose tingled for his old friend, because what could be sadder than a beloved pet returning to the forest? Overcome with sadness, Virgil immediately ran to embrace Dvořák, who kicked his hooves and jumped around for no apparent reason.
After waiting for about half an hour, Sylas dropped the things in her hands and ran back to Xerath. She glanced at Virgil first, then sweetly said to Xerath, "Teacher, now we just need to wait. Would you like to sit next to me for a while?"
Xerath smiled and said, "Do you have any other plans? I can help you."
Sylas tilted her head slightly, her bright smile directed at Xerath.
From the perspective of an observer, no matter what standard is used to evaluate, this scene is very pleasing. Virgil had more and more words bottled up in his heart, and he was considering how to reveal one or two sentences that would make the archmage less comfortable. It seemed he had already grasped Xerath's patterns when it came to Sylas; when he praised her beauty, Xerath would show her claws, but when he praised her abilities, she would be proud yet worried.
Although it made people feel a little sad, it was worth it to see the archmage's angry expression, soft and sweet smile, and sad emotions.
"I have a plan, but I'm not sure if I can make it happen."
"I'd like to hear your magical idea first, would you be willing to tell me?"
The archmage was always overly polite to her young apprentice, which may have seemed distant to others, but after getting used to that distance, Virgil could still distinguish the difference.
"Of course! I was thinking, since earth elemental creatures have the 'fusion feature,' why not let them explore the range of crystallization underground? What do you think of this idea?"
Xerath laughed and asked, "If Earth Child has the 'fusion feature,' then how does it determine crystallization? Wouldn't it just pass through the crystallization directly?"
Sylas asked, "Teacher, this is a question I've been wanting to ask too. If the Earth Child can directly enter the crystallization, would anyone still wonder what's inside the crystallization? So, I think there must be some special interaction between the Earth Child and the crystallization, right?"
Xerath said, "Your idea makes sense. I heard that Lapis said Earth Child will get burned by the energy of the crystallized veins, similar to the feeling of a living creature getting hurt, but I haven't seen it before, so I don't know exactly what it looks like. Because it will get burned, Earth Child doesn't get too close to the crystallization. Your suggested method is worth a try."
But Sylas hesitated and didn't leave. Xerath asked, "What's wrong?"
Sylas was muttering and took a couple of steps back, when suddenly there was a disturbance in the elements. Two small stones fell from the sky, just a little bigger than two fists combined. The Earth Child, invisible gravitational force, pulled their "hands" and "feet" back to their rightful places.
She softly chanted a spell, and the two Earth Child began to submerge, like seashells on the beach. Sand entered their bodies from the front and was thrown out from the back. The Earth Child seemed a bit clumsy doing this. As they submerged further, the sand-covered the ground, making it impossible to tell that anything had dug into it.
Masters who were skilled in controlling Earth Child could be quite powerful in any battles that occurred on the surface. It was probably because of the unique fusion properties of the earth elemental creature. However, the Earth Child didn't have much talent for digging, which was a bit of a pity.
Sylas was skilled in manipulating "wind" and water, two relatively lively elements that liked her a lot. She didn't need to give them many commands; they already knew how to please the Elemental King's heir. But "earth" was different. It was a bit slow and dull. Unless you clearly stated your intentions, it wouldn't know how to act. You had to describe every detail, big or small. It was because of this that Sylas gradually felt overwhelmed and couldn't help but say to Xerath, "Teacher, my... I... I can't really sense them. It's like there's a thickness of more than two to three yards. Why is that?"
Xerath said, "That's normal. Is it almost time? Let's finish your readings first, and then we can do the rest."
Sylas obediently checked the readable crystals and marked them on the topography map that Virgil got from somewhere.
"I just bought them from the store and gave them to you."
"Thank you, that's really helpful," Sylas said, quickly writing down the previous readings and then carefully rolling up the map and putting it in her backpack.
At the same time, Xerath took control of Sylas's Earth Child and immediately felt how challenging it was to control the elements below the surface.
This is not strange, the wizard can hardly cast spells on things they cannot see. When Sylas first arrived at the mage tower, she continuously attacked the archmage with simple wind blades, making it impossible for the archmage to counterattack and forcing them to take cover behind a large Earth Child for a surprise attack. The situation is similar now, except that the two elemental envoys are particularly favored by the elements, so even if their line of sight is blocked, they still willingly listen to her. In this almost invisible connection, Xerath digs down with great focus, while Sylas finishes reading and walks back to her, staring at her without turning away.
Xerath is very focused, her gaze falls on the girl's chest, but she doesn't actually see anything. Under the strong light, she can't help but squint, while her young apprentice kindly conjures up a dark cloud to cover them both in shadows.
Sylas sees her eyes slowly open, the silver-gray eyes gradually dilating, instead of the irises being a bright silver like before.
Sweat even trickles down her forehead, Sylas wants to reach out and wipe it clean for her several times, but is afraid of disturbing her, her hand keeps lifting and then putting back down.
Virgil is left outside the dark cloud and can only put on his bone goggles, looking elsewhere. Dvořák snorts softly, his hooves moving around, making the sand run wild.
Finally, the archmage's tense muscles slowly relax, visibly loosening like a string being let go, the tight corners of her lips suddenly soften.
"Sylas, would you like to give it a try?"
