Chapter 134
The archmage couldn't control the urge to stand up, but didn't want to lose composure in front of Sylas. However, the more she restrained herself, the more restless the nosy winds became. They were stirring up the room, making the papers rustle loudly. Sylas looked at her in confusion, scanning the surroundings before her gaze settled on her.
"Teacher, are you not feeling well?"
Xerath frowned and shook her head slowly. The wind around her became quieter, but some of the mischievous ones kept bumping into her, repeatedly asking in a low voice, "Are we still playing?"
Sylas heard it too, so she looked at Xerath even more uncertainly, and even stood up and walked to her side.
Xerath kept watching her with her eyes.
Sylas walked to her side, looked at her, and seemed to think for a while before speaking, "Teacher, I am a bit hungry. Shall I go downstairs to find some food for you? Is there anything you want me to bring up?"
Xerath breathed a sigh of relief, grateful that she didn't continue to ask, otherwise this embarrassing answer would surely have been asked. "Bubble tea, thank you." she reluctantly showed a smile.
After she left, Hyectra spoke worriedly, "Ma'am... you..."
"Be quiet." She pulled out a piece of draft paper, her face regained its indifference, and the wind surrounding her instantly turned icy, even forming snowflakes beside Hyectra. "I am about to think of an experiment, don't disturb me."
When Sylas came back, the archmage was already writing and drawing. The warm sunlight illuminated her as usual, making her feel as if she was bathed in light, and the dark parts of human nature were once again far away from her, allowing her to be closer to truth, purity, and beauty.
She stood quietly at the doorway, holding a tea dish, afraid to disturb the divine beings who had descended to the mortal realm.
But at the same time, a sour feeling arose in her heart: how could she capture the attention of a divine being on an ordinary person?
The wind had already calmed down, and in this large library, the only sound was the scratching of pen tips, magnified infinitely, echoing between the archmage and the young apprentice.
The sound of paper being replaced shattered this constant calm. When Xerath looked up and to the right, she found Sylas's desk empty. Surprised, she turned her head towards the doorway and saw Sylas standing there. "You're back? It seems like you've been gone for a while?"
Sylas quickly walked over to Xerath, placing a teacup and a small piece of cake in front of her, and held her own portion while pacing back and forth, eating as she went.
"Sylas..."
"Hmm?" Sylas heard someone calling her and quickly turned her head, a bit of cream still on the corner of her mouth.
Xerath gestured for her to come closer and pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket, wiping it away before putting it back.
"It's been about two more weeks," the archmage sat upright in his chair, hands flat on the table, calmly asking, "Is your outline finished?"
"Uh... not yet..."
"Any ideas? Tell me!" The archmage shifted his legs under the table, thinking, since trying to stop it only made things worse, why not just see it through this time.
Sylas frowned and said, "Um... at first, I thought... I thought of something very strange to me. That is, why do different rocks crystallize into the same crystal, or sometimes not crystallize at all. I think that's something to take note of."
"Yes, it does sound like that."
"Do you think so too...?" the young girl said sadly, then she continued describing another point, "There's also something I mentioned before, I think I can write about the things that each element is excited by when it comes to crystallization."
"So you're asking if fire can be excited? Anything else?"
"Different terrain features have different phenomena when excited. For example, the whirlpool in the Sam Sorolo Valley. It was determined in the Yearbook that it was caused by the excitation of a water elemental through crystallization. We also observed how crystallization can excite the 'wind'."
"Speaking of excitation," Sylas pinched her fingertips, "there are often such phenomena near volcanoes: awakened earth elemental creatures constantly fleeing from the volcano, some being swallowed by lava, some escaping the area. But you also told me that earth elementals fear crystallization, so..."
"Do you think it's possible that they are brought to life through crystallization?"
"So it's possible that volcanoes are formed because of the stimulation of the Earth's veins."
"That's right," said Xerath. "I like you... You're so curious about everything." She didn't finish her sentence, but just smiled at Sylas.
A smile may be enough, and Sylas smiled too. "And the dragon bone, it can also stimulate the wind. So in the first category, the relationship between rock types and crystallization is interesting, I also want to know about the joints at their boundaries; and the relationship between topography and crystallization: Does topography affect the direction of crystallization? Does crystallization prefer valleys or mountains? And the relationship between landforms and crystallization: I think crystallized rocks and volcanoes belong to 'simple landforms', meaning the structure of the landforms is relatively simple, while plains, deserts, and rivers belong to complex landforms, which means crystallization can only directly affect rocks and indirectly affect other parts..."
She felt her words became quite confused as she spoke, but Xerath still looked at her as if she said nothing wrong, even giving her a feeling that these words were like praises.
Xerath even nodded occasionally, silently urging her to continue.
"Teacher...?" She finished speaking and waited for Xerath's opinion, but Xerath seemed reluctant to speak.
Hearing her call, Xerath smiled faintly. "You've been thinking a lot, huh? And also read a lot." She waved her hand and the top book on Sylas's desk flew over automatically. Xerath took it and looked at it. It was a record of the distribution of "black water" in various places.
"Hmm... Finished reading all the borrowed books and made handwritten copies of the relevant parts."
"That's great. This process is necessary, and you can complete it without me prompting you." Faded flames burned on her, and the sudden heat in her heart made Sylas blush shyly. Until now, she couldn't face Xerath's praise with ease, but at this level, she was so happy that she wanted to jump.
But it's really exciting.
"But..." the archmage furrowed his brow, as if contemplating his next words. Sylas took a deep breath, preparing herself for whatever was to come. Whether it was criticism or praise, she needed courage to endure it.
"But do you remember what I said when I assigned the task earlier?"
Sylas paused for a moment before answering, "You said, 'Write a paper about crystallization.'" She took out a small notebook from her pocket and flipped to the page, reading out the previous record, "According to the measurement experiment report..."
"Yes, this is the crux of the matter. Although you've read so many books, your writing still needs to be connected to our measurement experiments, and the closer the connection, the better."
After snapping out of her reverie, Xerath's agile thinking started to function again. She could even multitask, contemplating the challenging problem Sylas presented while criticizing herself for being too infatuated with Sylas and praising her too much, neglecting the strict supervision she really needed.
It's... it's ridiculous, it's shameful. The archmage scolded himself while feeling an unusual thrill in his heart.
"Um... I..." Sylas glanced at the checklist she had made, "I'm afraid I won't have enough content to meet the requirement of twenty thousand words."
Xerath smiled and said, "Yes, I can tell you want to write a lot. If you had to delete some content, what would you remove?"
Sylas looked at the list for a while and awkwardly smiled.
"Can't decide? It's normal. Earth energy and crystallization are categories that you're not familiar with, so everything others say seems reasonable to you. It's a process that everyone goes through. It's normal to want to write everything when you think everything makes sense. But remember, what you write should have some connection to what you've learned before."
"You mean..." Sylas suddenly realized.
"Exactly. My little beast, are you trying to write an all-encompassing masterpiece in just 20,000 words? Think about how other articles are written."
"Uh... oh..."
"So you feel indecisive because you want to include too many things. Things that are close, things that are far. You haven't categorized the content and core based on their significance. Therefore, you can't logically connect the things you want to write. Do you have that feeling?"
Sylas nodded in a daze and instantly blushed again. Lately, she had become a bit too conceited, especially after receiving Xerath's praise. She believed that reading more books and having more ideas would continue to earn her praise from Xerath.
But now, she realized that Xerath might have been secretly mocking her. Her smile was even plastered on her face. Only foolish creatures from the wilderness wouldn't notice!
Her expression still stuck on her face, Xerath asked her in a gentle voice, "What's wrong? Did what I say deflate you?"
She pouted, and her little face puffed up, "In any case, it's all my fault. But why didn't you say earlier? It feels like... like I've taken a lot of detours..."
Xerath raised an eyebrow, can't just say she forgot about her, right?
"Hmm... seeing you busy bustling around is quite interesting." More than just interesting, it's absolutely adorable. "Aren't you enjoying it?"
"...You're mocking me, finding joy in watching me embarrass myself." Sylas expressed her dissatisfaction. Her reason for enjoying it was that she thought completing this part would make Xerath take notice, but it turned out to be the opposite!
"No, no, how could that be? I sincerely admire the beauty you present while thinking." The archmage's mood was extremely good, and they were eager to say something to express their fondness, but in the end, they restrained themselves and only mentioned appreciating it from an aesthetic perspective.
They restrained themselves and remained rational, without going to the point of fanaticism.
