Chapter 138
"Yes...yes." What other choice did she have? A goodnight kiss was alright too. Sylas stood up and climbed back into bed, with Xerath following behind and sitting by the bedside after she lay down.
"Sylas... Can you please not be stubborn?"
"But I just wanted..."
"On this matter, I hope you respect my opinion," she unconsciously held the hand Sylas quietly reached out to her.
"Hmm..." Sylas also quietly held on, as if trying to keep Xerath from leaving.
But Xerath didn't forget their deal, didn't forget that she promised a goodnight kiss. With one hand held, she hadn't reacted yet, but felt that if she couldn't use that hand... to maintain balance, she had to kneel on the bed.
She unconsciously pulled the held hand to her chest, in case it was in the way, and lowered her head to slowly kiss Sylas's forehead, then pulled away slightly, saying softly at a very close distance, "Sleep now."
By some strange force, Sylas's free hand touched Xerath's cheek, slowly caressing her cold, marble-like face. Her fingertips pulsated with a magical power, but lacked the golden glow.
Xerath slightly turned her head, for a moment Sylas felt like she was about to wrap her lips around her fingertips, but then she withdrew into the darkness.
The rest of the day was spent traveling, and the two tried hard to interact as usual. Sylas hesitated in her heart about whether or not to apologize, to apologize for her repeated attempts to invade Xerath's "personal space." But she also vaguely understood that Xerath's desired "disguised tranquility" meant that no one should mention this matter.
After returning safely to the tower, life continued as usual for Sylas. Xerath's attitude towards her was sometimes close and sometimes distant, making it difficult to understand. Sylas was worried and wondered if she had upset Xerath. She even secretly designed an experiment to find out.
However, whenever Sylas tried not to initiate conversations with Xerath for a while, Xerath would subtly bring up topics that interested her. The intimate atmosphere would unconsciously be restored, and the experiment's second step couldn't be carried out at all.
Time flies by quickly when you have a purpose. Sylas had just finished writing her paper, but the experiment was only half completed when it was time for the new school term to begin. This meant she had to leave Xerath and go to a place far away.
Time passed by so quickly that when Sylas looked back, she realized she hadn't spent enough time with Xerath during this short period. Therefore, she felt nervous and anxious when she returned to school.
Xerath brought her to Star Song Castle a day early. The campus was still empty, and the water lord steward had prepared her bed. This meant that Xerath would be leaving soon.
Sylas felt reluctant, even more rushed than the last time they met. She grabbed Xerath's hand before anyone else and said, "Teacher..."
"What's wrong?"
They hadn't walked together in the alley, haven't visited the stationery store, haven't tried on pretty clothes together. When she wanted to speak, her throat tightened.
Perhaps it was because Xerath saw her expression and softened. A trace of confusion mixed into Xerath's indifferent expression as they explained, "Um... this semester is only four months long..."
"Afterwards, will I be able to...?"
Unfortunately, Xerath shook her head, "Afterwards is the New Year and Revealing Day, there will be a ten-day holiday. Very few students from the advanced school choose this time to go home. It is officially winter vacation until the end of January. I will come pick you up then."
Sylas looked at her, not knowing what to say, "Do you mean I have to study for five months?"
"Don't forget your tasks, okay? Sinian language, world history, hmm?"
Silence.
"You will have your new friend, she will come tomorrow. The twins are also at this school, right?"
Silence.
"Sylas？"
The emerald was surrounded by crystals, as if they could fall with a simple shake. It would be condemned to make the beautiful girl cry, right? At this time, what should be done is pull her into a hug, delicately hold her face with gentle hands, and wipe her tears with a silk handkerchief.
But it's not allowed. The archmage might not be able to resist using their lips instead of the silk. After it happens, maybe there won't be any significant outcome. Sylas loves their intimate contact so much, she definitely wouldn't resist a kiss either.
This reason makes this action very tempting. But it's not allowed, it's unfair. Sylas doesn't even know what this kiss represents.
This would disappoint her admiration and respect...
Xerath stood there in a daze, with a wall behind her. She still had the hat on her head, her hair remained short, and she didn't want anyone to recognize her.
"Write me a letter, hmm? I'll write to you too..." Before she could finish her sentence, she suddenly got pushed by a strong force and slammed into the wall. The girl crashed into her arms, holding onto her back tightly, with her face pressed against her neck.
A youthful breath, a warm scent, filled the emptiness in her arms. Xerath could see the mischievous strands of hair sticking up on her head. Everything perfectly matched her imagination and desire.
"Sylas, let go of me..."
She replied in a muffled voice, seemingly on the verge of tears, "You're leaving me, and you won't even hug me?"
"Sylas..." Upon hearing the archmage's low and helpless sigh, their hands gently wrapped around her back.
Sylas thought she had compromised and felt unlimited joy in her heart. But before her smile could fully appear, she felt an invisible hand forcefully pulling her out of Xerath's embrace. A small whirlwind appeared out of nowhere in the room, and she was caught in the middle. She could only see golden light overflowing from Xerath's fingertips, along with extreme silence, hitting her.
The archmage still looked at her silently, sighed deeply, said something to her, and turned around to walk out the door.
Sylas panicked and flailed her limbs, shouting Xerath's name loudly, but it was useless. She couldn't hear her own voice and knew that her voice couldn't be heard outside either.
With Xerath's power, these two small spells could last for a long time, enough for her to leave the school and walk back to the nearby Mage Guild. When Sylas was put down, she immediately ran to the balcony.
Unable to see, Xerath might have already returned to Withered Leaf City. Dazed, she stumbled back into the room and deflatedly collapsed on the bed.
How could she not have noticed? Every time she tried to get closer to Xerath, Xerath would rudely reject her, be cold for a while, and then try to repair their imbalanced relationship. Over and over again, she didn't speak up, maybe just waiting for herself to discover this pattern, but she always had to anger Xerath.
But the desire to be close to her was always hard to control, her limbs often reached out to her uncontrollably, sometimes wanting to warm her, sometimes wanting to be close to her. It's just that this time, she must have annoyed her...
Tears slowly slid down from the corners of her eyes, and the little girl cried sadly. As she cried and cried, she fell asleep.
"Hey? Hey? Are you okay?" someone patted her back and tried to turn her around by grabbing her shoulders. Sylas gradually regained consciousness, got up, and asked in a daze, "Hmm? Who are you?"
There was a girl with blond hair standing next to her. Her hair was slightly curly and tied into two braids hanging down behind her head. Her face had a little bit of baby fat, and she had deep blue eyes. She looked just like a finely crafted doll.
"I am... I'm Luna, your new roommate. You must be Sylas? Nice to meet you!" Luna grabbed her hand and shook it back and forth.
"How did you... how did you know my name? How did you get in?"
"I have a key! Our names are written on the door. Didn't you see?" This girl spoke with a lot of energy. She used to think twins were the most lively, but now someone had surpassed their record.
Sylas shook her head in confusion. Her attention was completely focused on Xerath. All day long, she hadn't done anything besides crying and sleeping here.
She looked outside the window. It was already dark, and a dull, reminding bell rang throughout the grey castle.
Yes, a new life was about to begin. A life without the dullness of Xerath.
The twins quickly joined her and took charge, helping her choose many classes when they realized she didn't understand almost anything about the advanced school.
"Wait, I want to choose world history and Gustavian language..."
"Those are mandatory courses, look at your class schedule."
Sylas lowered her head and looked at her empty timetable. She found out that it was indeed true. There were also subjects like ancient Saiti language syntax and rhetorical logic. This indicates that these subjects must be taken, spread out on Monday and Wednesday mornings.
Fill in the empty slots on the timetable with the subjects you want to take. By earning enough credits at school, you can qualify to participate in the graduation exam. However, about one-third of the students in advanced school graduate and do other things after earning enough credits, without being able to pass the graduation exam.
"So, you're saying... as long as we earn enough credits? And there are no requirements for school hours?"
"Yes, that's right. Wait... Sylas, what do you want to do?" Luna quickly noticed that she was trying to fill in all the boxes, and the subjects she chose were high-scoring subjects.
"You can't do it this way. Some subjects require you to have completed the beginner level before you can study the advanced level. It's written below, I hope you give up this method of overworking yourself. For example, water elemental spell combat requires a passing grade in water elemental syntax beginner's class, and this class itself requires a long practice time. Why don't you skip some other subjects? It's not worth it."
"Okay, I'll choose them next semester."
Swis also understood Sylas's motivation and explained, "It will take at least two years to graduate if you fill up your entire timetable. Why not take it easy?"
Caroline also said, "Here are some recommended choices."
Sylas asked in surprise, "What reference?"
Caroline replied, "Oh my, didn't you attend the introductory course for elective courses? Your studies should have a direction. Look here, it says, 'Students who aspire to become inspectors are recommended to choose all subjects under Category A.' Elemental magic researchers choose category B, pharmacists choose category C, and spatial magic researchers choose category D. Of course, you can also choose some subjects that interest you, but these are almost mandatory because you will need them in your future career."
Sylas took a look and noticed that there were many high-scoring practical subjects under Category A, while there were several courses under the Elemental Researcher category that had words like "theory" and "overview". Luna whispered to her after seeing where she was paying attention, "Be careful, theoretical courses require extra reading and writing assignments."
