Chapter 117
"What? Manipulating the Earth Child to walk underground?"
"Yes, I think Earth Child misbehaves when it reaches a depth of two or three levels because of a 'spell blind spot'."
"But... I always thought that Earth Child didn't have a spell blind spot. Can't we make the Elemental Lord do anything upstairs or downstairs?"
"Actually, you can't, right? You can ask Leunen."
Leunen eagerly extended a tentacle from the crack of elements and politely bowed to the archmage. Sylas pulled it out, and without her needing to ask, Leunen responded dutifully, "My lady, the water lord can move freely throughout the entire tower, not because of 'commands', but because of 'instructions'. We advanced elemental creatures are clever, wise, and knowledgeable about human social rules, so we can understand complex situations beneath simple requests. This is different from Earth Child, a solid-headed creature."
Everyone instinctively looked at its head, where the water lord had cleverly created a brain-shaped bubble.
"Please allow me to continue explaining. In places where the contract holder can't see, we rely on our own cognition to act. For example, if the young lady in the living room wants me to go downstairs and ask Shamodial to help mail a letter she wrote yesterday, I will go to her room and put the letter in an envelope for her. If there's no address written, I will even help write the address, and then go downstairs to put it in the mailbox near Shamodial's feet. These are not 'commands', so you don't need to judge and give instructions for each one. I can do them on my own."
"Thank you very much for your explanation," Xerath conveyed to the water lord.
"It's my honor, madam," its mouth seemed to form the word "your majesty".
"But Earth Child can't do it. Earth Child is a type of elemental creature with very low activity, but there are still ways to control them. Come."
The archmage knelt on the ground, "This can help you get a little closer to them. Come." Sylas also knelt beside her, just like when Xerath taught her magic and writing hand in hand when they were young. Sylas stood behind her, her hands held by Xerath.
"Let go of one, focus on the other, so you won't be disturbed."
"Okay."
Sylas was very nervous, but unlike before, she was no longer nervous about controlling these overly flattering elements, but about someone else's body temperature.
The loose robes interweaved together, slightly deformed by each other, as if they were intimately attached to each other. Virgil turned his face away, afraid that he would be silenced because he knew too much. Leunen stood considerately beside him, holding up a dark cloud for him.
"Can you feel it?" Xerath turned her face to look at Sylas's profile. Under the thin veil, Sylas's face turned slightly red and sweat dripped from her forehead.
"Mm."
"Thirsty?" Xerath wiped the sweat off Sylas's forehead with her own scarf, causing the little girl's face to blush even more. Xerath turned her wrist and held a water droplet for Sylas to drink from her fingertips. Sylas lightly sucked it away, but her lips touched Xerath's fingers.
The archmage pulled back her hand, awkwardly clenched her fist, and no longer looked at Sylas's profile, nor did she speak. But it was okay, the young apprentice dared not look at the archmage either.
"What about now?"
"It's getting... more and more blurry. A kind... a kind of softening feeling, Earth Child... hmm..."
"Hmm, this place is... well, it's still okay for now. Let's try again, focus. There's a lot of 'noise' around here, but Earth Child is different from them, it's a more constant feeling, not fluctuating, no changes."
"I understand, I can feel it... okay... let's walk a bit further... It's a bit strange... a bit strange feeling..."
"What kind of?"
"'Shell'." Sylas was already speaking in ancient Saiti language, using a word to describe a more abstract shell-like outer layer. Xerath quickly searched her memory for things related to "shell," "earth," and "desert," with a spiderweb-like chain of associations, connecting almost everything she knew.
"If we can't merge and walk, then we'll tap? Based on the feedback from the 'sound,' we can easily tell if it's crystallization or some other bone."
Sylas's fingertips moved slightly, and the golden glow like powder kept drilling into the ground, maintaining a faint connection between it and the little Earth Child.
"No, don't!" Xerath suddenly awakened from a state of shallow meditation and reached out to grab Sylas's hand, but her delicate little fist had already tapped down. She caught Sylas around her waist, falling towards a distance, and didn't forget to shout to Leunen, "Protect him!"
The water lord quickly formed a shield of water and wrapped Virgil inside. Suddenly, dark pieces fell from the sky, hitting the water shield.
The spot where they were standing was replaced by a black pillar. Sticky liquid kept falling down. The archmage grabbed Sylas and ran forward. The wind shield and water shield behind them were constantly being hit. After running for a while, the archmage suddenly stumbled and fell to the ground.
She wanted to get up, but Sylas suddenly held her back. "Teacher, it's almost safe here. But you..."
Xerath lowered her head and took off the thin veil on top. However, the veil didn't cover her hair well, and the sticky black liquid stuck to her hair.
It slowly slid down, like a string.
In the distance, the deep hole continued to spray black water, but its power had clearly diminished. Virgil went around the danger zone and pulled Dvořák along. However, Dvořák didn't seem happy. Upon closer inspection, its white mane also had some black liquid stuck to it. It kept shaking, trying to get rid of it. Virgil tried to comfort it, but it lifted its hoof in a threatening manner, so he had to agree to shave its fur.
To prevent the sticky black liquid from dripping onto her clothes, Xerath had to continue lying down. The two loyal water lords tried to remove the liquid for her, but in the end, they could only apologize and say, "Madam... we have no way to deal with it. Although it's a liquid, it's not water, so we can't control it."
The archmage regretfully lay back on the ground and tried to manipulate the sticky liquid by calling for stones. There was a faint response, but nothing more. Its sticky nature made it impossible to move.
She looked unusually disheveled, with beautiful golden hair covered in black sticky liquid. The surface of the liquid was also stuck with sand.
Virgil led the horse over and plopped down on the sandy ground next to it. His shaking body made it obvious to everyone that he was about to burst out laughing.
Even Sylas felt like laughing, she had never seen the archmage look like this before. But she didn't dare to be so bold. "I'm sorry, teacher... I shouldn't have..." She stopped herself halfway, although she felt sorry and knew it was her fault, she just couldn't help but want to laugh.
Xerath's expression became extremely gloomy. If it weren't for Sylas and Virgil being there, she would have already killed someone to keep it a secret.
"Virgil, stop laughing and think of a solution quickly, or I will start tormenting you."
Virgil suddenly jumped up. "Why torment me! It won't help your current situation!"
"When someone who is in pain sees someone else suffering, it brings them a sense of balance psychologically. Even if it doesn't provide any substantial help."
"Why don't you torment Sylas instead! If you torment her, I'll help you come up with a solution."
"No, I refuse. I want to torment you."
It sounded as if the archmage valued Virgil more. Listening to them argue, Sylas couldn't simply watch the comedy like before. She stood between Xerath and Virgil, trying to change the topic and at least regain Xerath's attention.
"Teacher, I think you can... cut your hair. That way, you won't need to find a way to take it down and it won't be hard to clean. Plus, because of the surface tension of liquids, it will quickly reach your scalp, right?"
Xerath's eyes widened suddenly. "Is it almost reaching my scalp?" She even felt a strange chill on her scalp, as if a monster was sticking to it.
"Not yet... but soon, teacher. Please make a decision quickly."
Xerath's face struggled. She had kept this hairstyle for a long time, it had almost become a part of her identity.
"Does that mean I have to shave it all off? That's just not proper!"
"Pfft... Dear archmage, your baby face... hahaha... it suits all hairstyles. Make a decision quickly, it won't be easy to wash it off the scalp hahaha..."
Xerath ignored him and remained hesitant. Sylas said, "Teacher, hair will still grow, and you don't often go out. No one will notice a change in your hairstyle."
"There will be endless troubles."
"But are you planning to go back like this? Your image will also be ruined."
Virgil giggled from time to time, but he had already taken out a small and delicate... tailor's scissors. "How about using this? Dvořák's hair trimmer is too big for you."
"Why do you still have this thing? I seriously suspect it's part of your plan," she said.
"Don't be like that, old friend. How can you go outside without some sewing skills? Sylas, go ahead. This guy is just all talk. She won't resist if you really want to cut her hair."
"Oops..." Sylas knelt on the sandy ground and cut off the first strand of golden hair, pressed against her scalp.
"*snip*"
The sound was crisp. The scissors were very sharp. The part covered in black fluid was carefully snipped off bit by bit. Some parts were so close to touching the scalp that Sylas had to straighten the hair and cut it, strand by strand.
The left half of the archmage's hair was gone. Her hairstyle was now messy and disheveled. She regretfully used a wind blade to shave off the other half of her long hair.
This was a dangerous move. Wind blades were lethal weapons, and the archmage was casting magic on herself without any defense. Sylas tried to speak but hesitated. Xerath walked up the sand dune with a grim face, looking at the large puddle of black fluid below.
