Chapter 23
The archmage let go of the hand, and the water ball lost its magical support, falling to the ground and breaking into a puddle of water. When she was little, she was always clumsy. When she first learned to use the water ball, she also played like this. However, she would only play with it a few times before it fell to the ground. If she couldn't control it well, it would completely break. This embarrassment continued until she could fully control the water ball.
"Madam, you are really good at soothing children," Hyectra whispered to Xerath.
"Oh no, not at all. I was just inspired by you," the archmage humbly replied.
Sylas also had moments when she couldn't hold onto the water ball, and it would burst when it moved too fast. Hyectra would then give her a new drop of water.
It wasn't until noon that the mess was completely cleaned up. The archmage gave Sylas a new water ball that was ready, looking at her happy figure and said to Hyectra, "I remember once reading a paper that said 'playing' is a way for animals to practice their hunting skills..."
"Yes, I think I know where that paper is. Do you want me to find it now?"
"No, I just felt that theory made a lot of sense when observing human infants. If you come across similar papers, please let me know. I'm very interested in learning more about it."
"It's hard to say, unless someone like Mr. Virgil, an animal expert, wants to write a paper about it."
"Oh, let's give him a thrill." She pretended to have a knife on her neck. "Sylas, aren't you tired of playing?" She waved and led her back to the living room.
During lunchtime, Xerath tried to add some cooked food to Sylas's plate (like hot tomato bean sauce, because Elvis said human children might like sweet and sour flavors), and happily watched her eat it.
The afternoon was very calm. The wind wall allowed Sylas to stay quiet for the whole afternoon, while Xerath completely tidied up the lab. The experimental materials - it was time to reveal the mystery - were all piled up in an inconspicuous hidden door in the lab.
The inside was folded with space magic, so it was quite big inside. The light from the only long strip window couldn't fill the whole room, so artificial light sources were needed.
It wasn't time for dinner yet. Xerath looked around and said, "Sylas, would you like to play by yourself here? I will go back to the living room to read, but it might be boring. I can ask Hyectra to stay here with you."
"Oh, ma'am." Xerath's gray eyes were cold and intimidating. Hyectra only said these two words, then decided to stay silent.
Sylas held a water balloon in one hand and Xerath's robe in the other. The gentleman in the deep blue secretly sighed in relief, silently evaluating, "Humans indeed tend to prefer being with their own kind, even if the activities aren't that interesting."
On the other hand, the water lord couldn't help but miss the archmage when she was young - quiet to the point of being boring, giving her a book would keep her quiet for the whole day without needing anyone's company. He hoped the little lady would be like this in the future too.
After dinner, Sylas and Hyectra were full of energy playing chess, while time passed slowly as the sand trickled down the hourglass. Xerath secretly observed and realized that this little wild creature still had a typical human rhythm.
Around nine o'clock in the evening, she started to feel sleepy, but she resisted going to bed. Xerath imagined Sylas's life in the underground cave and couldn't quite comprehend how she managed to spend three years all alone, considering how much she loved playing. What would she eat if the mayor, as mentioned by Virgil, forgot to bring her food? She had good habits, but how could she sustain them underground?
The hourglass turned for two more weeks - this magical hourglass would automatically flip over and the adjacent pointer would move one notch after the sand ran out, marking the time. It was now twenty past nine, and Xerath felt it was time to put Sylas to bed. This was her biggest challenge of the day, and she had a premonition that Sylas would gaze at her with her emerald eyes, making it impossible for her to leave her alone in the lonely guest room.
"Sylas."
Sylas paused and then smiled, as if asking, "Is it your turn to play with me?"
Xerath sighed and said, "It's time for bed."
"But... but...?" She looked at the gentleman in the deep blue color and then at her floating chessboard, reluctant to leave.
"Haven't you played enough yet? But you should sleep on time. Come on. You'll have plenty of time to play tomorrow, don't forget you also need to help me with the experiment."
When Xerath mentioned the "experiment," Sylas's eyes lit up. Perhaps she saw it as a synonym for "play." The archmage felt relieved because most children considered magic something to be feared, and there were always those who thought, "It's amazing, but I'll never be able to learn it in my lifetime." Yet, Sylas had already reduced the use of magic to the level of "having fun."
Being interested is always a good thing. Xerath took her hand and led her into the guest floor. There was a room for Virgil, and the other rooms were empty. The water lord steward had already laid out new blankets with a subtle grass pattern that Archmage liked, but the room was still too simple. Under the watch and guidance of Archmage, Sylas took a bath in the guest floor's shared bathroom, but Xerath still helped her put on the nightgown.
The child's gruesome scars were exposed before her eyes - burns, blunt force injuries, and lacerations. Most of them were not very serious, with scars piled upon scars. Luckily, Archmage carefully inspected the main bones and found that they were unharmed. After yesterday's adventures, she began to suspect that most of these wounds were caused by her own improper spellcasting. Throughout history, many mages have accidentally killed themselves due to spellcasting mistakes.
Xerath lifted the blanket and let the sleepless child lie down, tucking her in. "If you wake up early, go to the living room and play with Titus. If I wake up early, I'll come and get you. But don't play with the elements casually, okay? That's my only request."
Sylas nodded, understanding that she had caused Xerath a lot of trouble. "Okay."
Xerath touched her head. "Good child." However, there was nothing that could be called warmth in her gray eyes. It seemed that emotions had nothing to do with her when she didn't smile.
She walked out, taking the lighting spell with her. Outside the tall window, the sky was dark. The bright sand reflected the starlight, becoming the most dazzling color in the wasteland.
But in the early morning, Xerath was awakened by a strong disturbance of elements. Her first thought was, "Sylas caused trouble," and she quickly jumped out of bed.
