Chapter 47
She giggled and laughed, Xerath can be so cute sometimes.
"This is a serious accusation, but I hope that when others criticize me, they also provide specific reasoning and possible solutions. Otherwise, I can only consider it baseless criticism."
Sylas said, "I didn't mean to accuse you of anything, I was just offering a friendly suggestion."
Xerath said, "Considering you're currently my only reader, I hope you value this reader."
Sylas gently reassured, "If you feel offended, I can remove that part to make your reading experience more pleasant."
"No, I have seen it, I can't forget it."
"Oh... well, okay, but, teacher, I really didn't mean to." She finally lowered her head, panicked about upsetting Xerath.
Xerath said, "No need to apologize, my intention wasn't to make you feel unhappy from the beginning of the day."
"No... I am truly sorry!"
Xerath leaned slightly forward, took Sylas's hand, and said gently, "I am not unable to accept criticism, on the contrary, I just want to accept criticism that is reasonable and well-founded."
Sylas grew a little braver, raised her head, and said softly, though with concern evident in her voice, "After reading the article, you should also agree with my main argument, right? The bones in the human body are a framework with a lot of flexibility, and it is the skeletal muscles that keep them in a normal form. If there is a pathology in any of the skeletal muscles, the body will deviate from its normal form."
"Yes, based on my limited knowledge of the human body, that statement is roughly correct."
"So, you also agree that most mages don't have enough physical activity to maintain the same muscle mass as melee professions, right?"
"In fact... yes." Xerath couldn't deny it. Her and her apprentice's daily exercise consisted of walking from the living room to the basement study and back up. Whereas most melee professions engage in intense physical activity for at least two hours every day.
The report had been submitted before Tuesday, and Xerath moved the chalkboard to the living room for her. She took the opportunity to lower her head and read a few pages of the book while Sylas was drawing on the chalkboard.
It was a newly purchased collection of poems by Gu Gaoboren, written by a female poet who had long been labeled as "vulgar." However, this book highly praised the poet's achievements and pointed out that she had pioneered new rhythms and themes in mainland poetry.
Sylas coughed and pulled out a reddish-brown magic wand, something that belonged to Xerath in her childhood and had been stored at the bottom of the wardrobe. She hadn't used this kind of auxiliary magic tool since entering the mage tower, and she had found it while rummaging through an old trunk.
"This is what I called the 'normal state' in my last assignment. In the 'normal state', the muscle tissues marked with diagonal lines are in a contracted state," she pointed to the picture on the blackboard. Xerath was sure that her posture and expression were just like what she had learned. Maybe she had been longing to stand in front of the podium for a long time. Children love to imitate what adults do, even archmages have played pretend games when they were little, and Sylas had only been imitating her.
"Is that so?"
Sylas nodded confidently, with the same arrogant expression as the archmage, "You can touch your own back, but I guess the muscles there are quite thin."
Yes, last week she hugged the archmage tightly and tried to protect her from hitting the wall directly.
Xerath reached her hand behind and felt the muscles near her shoulder blades, "Hmm... it's a bit vague, but I did feel that it was contracted." The archmage also attempted to answer impartially and objectively, while persuading herself in her mind: all mages are like this, it's a professional condition, and of course, it's honorable.
However, she also understood that many people become Liches because of problems with their lumbar spine and neck. The book mentioning this matter - the one she really liked, written by that elven scholar - was placed on her own bookshelf, causing Sylas to miss this argument.
"So when you bend over to write for a long time, this long strip-like muscle, which feels like a strange tentacle, is stretched for a long period of time, gripping onto your spine and ribs."
Sylas pointed to the blackboard, her emerald eyes focused on Xerath with great seriousness, just like the archmage often did, as if to say: do you understand?
She suddenly found it amusing, and quickly nodded.
Sylas nodded happily, and Xerath couldn't help but smile. Sylas asked cautiously, "Teacher, did I say something wrong?"
"No, not at all. Why do you ask?"
"Your smile makes me unsure."
"No, no, quite the opposite. I'm actually very pleased with your progress. You look confident, which is great."
"Muscles cannot stay in the same position for long, so after each class, you need to do some exercises with me."
"Oh, that's no problem."
"Also, I think we all need to strengthen our back muscles. I've done some research and collected some exercises, which I've written in the appendix."
Xerath quickly flipped through the pages in her hand, filled with illustrations showing her apprentice's careful artwork. Xerath looked up and asked, "First of all, I am a wizard, and I have been one since I was young. I cannot even imagine these moves. Can you ensure that your understanding is correct?"
Sylas choked for a moment and stuttered, "I think... maybe I can?"
After saying that, she regretted it. She should have been more confident and assertive, at least it would have taken Xerath more time to expose her, instead of losing in the first round like this.
Xerath chuckled softly, "I also heard that using incorrect body posture can cause injuries. I prefer to be cautious when it comes to using my body."
Sylas pouted, "Do you not want to exercise at all?"
"Oh, it's not completely like that. But I also hope you don't try to change the subject this way. If you can't confirm its effectiveness, then I refuse to practice."
Xerath's gaze was teasing as she easily found Sylas's weakness. Sylas stood there dejectedly, knowing that she couldn't prove it. Even if she managed to get the Warrior Guild to sign and stamp, Xerath would find a way to argue, saying "They also don't have concrete evidence to prove its viability."
"What's wrong? Giving up already?"
Sylas said indignantly, "I can't quantify this data, and you definitely won't admit it."
"Oh, my little wild animal, of course not."
Seeing her calm demeanor, Sylas felt a bit uneasy. It seemed like Xerath didn't appreciate the thing she had offered, and Sylas couldn't convince Xerath because she could defeat herself with just one blow.
"Oh..." she suddenly lost all her confidence, like a young puppy drenched in water, hanging its ears that have not yet stood up, even the bright eyes lost their lively expression, slowly putting away the blackboard and handouts.
"Sylas," Xerath called out to her.
"Teacher..."
"Come over here."
Sylas walked over sluggishly and sat down next to Xerath.
"I think you forgot something important. In a certain situation where someone is suppressed."
"...What is it?"
"Should I question you? Should I?"
Sylas's emerald eyes suddenly regained their brilliance, "Should... I prove that I'm wrong? Instead of proving that I'm right?"
"It seems like you haven't forgotten yet?" the powerful wizard said, squinting his eyes and opening his hands.
Sylas wanted to smile, but tears suddenly fell from her eyes. The wizard quickly took out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped them away. She hardly ever used this handkerchief herself, but it had become one of its most frequent uses when wiping away Sylas's tears.
"I... I always forget such basic things..." and I'm always so weak.
"Do you remember it now?"
"I remember... I remember... but..." it's because you let me.
As if understanding her thoughts, Xerath softly said, "You are my student, so it is necessary for me to teach you. Being defeated by me is not something to be ashamed of."
Sylas's mood seemed to have calmed down a bit. She raised her tear-stained face and confidently said, "So, teacher, why don't you personally prove that it is ineffective with your own body?"
Xerath narrowed her eyes. There were many flaws in this statement, but between "refuting her and watching her cry" and "shutting up and satisfying her cunning idea a little bit," she chose to stay quiet.
"Alright, I will prove that it is ineffective, but you have to accompany me. If my proof fails, you can also avoid the troubles of shoulder and spinal pain from the beginning."
"So, you really have pain in your neck and lower back?"
Xerath shrugged her shoulders without giving a clear answer.
This confirmation test started on the second day, but Xerath was very uncomfortable.
"This exercise is so embarrassing. Are you sure they use such embarrassing movements for training?"
"Yes, I'm sure. It's all drawn in their charts."
They were discussing an exercise that targets the muscles between the shoulder blades. Since they didn't have suitable equipment at home, the archmage held Sylas's hand, fixed her feet, slowly leaned backward, and then pulled Sylas back up.
The archmage persisted eight times and small drops of sweat appeared on their nose.
"Are you really sure? My goodness, do we have to get this close to each other?"
Sylas had been growing quickly in the past few days. She was already almost up to the archmage's nose. She held Sylas's hand and slowly pulled herself up, getting closer and closer to those clear green eyes. She could even smell the faint scent of milk on the child, as well as a complex mix of fragrances from scented clothes and parchment in the library.
Very special, to the point where the archmage was certain that he could find her among a group of people just by her scent.
She is also becoming more and more beautiful, her face slowly unfolding from a small ball into something delicate and exquisite, like a classic maid painting. Generally speaking, a little girl who grows up looking like this would definitely be cherished in an ordinary family, maybe even arrogant and full of themselves. But in Aimekotes, none of this matters.
