Chapter 55
She had never seen it before, but it was a book she was very familiar with, "Book of Elements: Scroll of Water." The cover style was similar to a bedside read she had seen before, with a simple but slightly chubby and cute writing style for the elements. But that book was already complete, Sylas never doubted that there would be any sequels. They weren't even placed together, which was strange because a series of books are usually kept together, sometimes even sharing the same number. When you search for them with the index of the book, they fly out together.
She even curiously walked to the entry "Am" to check, and found that it was surrounded by some profound spell principles. Why "Book of Elements: Scroll of Water" was placed here remains unknown, but the gap in the middle was definitely left by this book.
Sylas put it together with other books and took it to her seat. She wanted to not raise Xerath's suspicion, so she even turned this side of the book pages towards Xerath and had the spine facing outwards.
Hyectra noticed her small gesture and winked at her.
When she returned to her bedroom in the evening, she couldn't wait to take out this book and get ready to read. However, crisp footsteps were heard outside the door, it was Xerath.
Lately, Xerath has been coming to bed less often before sleeping. Most likely it's because she's been busy at the library and lost track of time. At first, this made Sylas very worried, but she tried comforting herself by thinking that Xerath must have been falling asleep after finishing her tasks. However, when Xerath started saying goodnight to her every night and then returning to the library, Sylas felt even more anxious. She started going to bed early every time, hoping Xerath wouldn't have to keep running up and down for her.
But today, she actually forgot to turn off the lights!
Xerath gently knocked on her door and asked, "Sylas, are you still awake?"
Sylas quickly responded, and Xerath pushed the door open and sat down on the chair by her bed.
"I went to the living room and noticed that your lights were still on. Is everything okay? Can't sleep?"
"No... no, I'm studying vocabulary words."
"Don't study too late. If you can't wake up tomorrow, you'll end up rushing and buttoning your clothes wrongly again."
"No, that won't happen. I really won't..."
Xerath stood up, gently touched her head, and admired her soft hair for a moment. Then, she lightly kissed Sylas's forehead and said, "Lie down, go to sleep quickly."
Sylas obediently lay down and closed her eyes. Xerath tucked her in and took away the light ball beside her, then closed the door.
Hearing Xerath's leather shoes gradually getting distant, Sylas suddenly opened her eyes and sat up. She pulled open the drawer on the bedside table and took out a beetle pendant. Holding it and the Book of Elements, she slipped them under the covers.
The pendant had a brass chain and didn't look particularly special itself. Sylas quietly placed it on both sides of the beetle's mandibles, and the beetle's shell suddenly opened up, emitting a bright yellow light from its abdomen. The light slowly alternated between bright and dim, as if the beetle was breathing.
Sylas bought this little thing at the market and found it interesting. She looked at it a few more times, and Xerath said, "If you like it, buy it, but keep it in your own room."
Actually, it wasn't very useful. The end of this little thing was embedded with a glowing fluorite. It was of the same level as the wholesale absorbing crystals that Xerath brought back as consumables. The flickering light could at best be a child's toy. However, it was useful now.
The Scroll of Water was a completely different book. Although it was also full of stories, it was completely different from the fun-filled book before. It began with a description of how the Water Elemental Realm was a different world: a world filled with water, boundless and with water elementals evenly distributed throughout. It was a chaotic place, with everything shining like gemstones in a transparent blue color, not knowing who was emitting the light or what made it so translucent.
But the world was ever-changing. Some elements clustered together, causing further fusion of water elementals. Finally, on one day, the greatest water elemental, Grand Lord Akuiang, was born from the endless fusion of water elementals and entered the conscious world from the realm of chaos.
It was very lonely in the chaos by itself, but fortunately, the other water lords also gained great power from the fusion of elements, transforming from unconscious elements into conscious lords. Their power was second only to Grand Lord Akuiang.
However, the fusion of water and the birth of lords caused the size of the Endless Water Realm to greatly decrease. Although no one knew its true size, it still remained boundless. But above the water, a void was undoubtedly exposed, giving the wind element an opportunity. They reached the Endless Water Realm through the thin membrane between the Elemental Realms. The Four Wind Lords had just conquered the realm of earth, carrying the blades forged by enslaved Earth Child, and came to the Endless Water Realm, stirring up trouble.
The upper part of the Endless Water Realm only gives birth to weak babies and water children, who are quickly defeated. Grand Lord Akuiang emerged from the depths of the Endless Water Realm to confront the Four Wind Masters led by Vantogara, along with their powerful four Wind Lords.
The war between wind and water officially began and lasted for an unknown amount of time. Even before the Elemental Realm had a way to measure time, the war had already started. So, all the records of time were named after the battles that took place.
In this prolonged war, the water elemental, Grand Lord Akuiang, gradually began to break down. Being so close to the water's surface, it was unable to maintain its concentrated form and needed magical support from the deep waters to sustain its massive body. As a result, it had to retreat to the depths of the water realm to rest.
Vantogara believed that by doing this, it could completely occupy the Water Elemental Realm. However, the endless depth of the Endless Water Realm greatly hindered its plans. Water elementals couldn't be eliminated; they only changed form. For every defeated lord, they would become unconscious water again, compressing their space over and over.
And, it couldn't even take a short rest, as the endless war left the Sons of the Wind tired. So, Vantogara threw the enslaved enormous Earth Children one by one into the water, letting them take its place in attacking the lairs of the water lords. Among them was Uria, the eldest son of Lapis, the Earth Mother. Akuiang was full of wisdom, and it broke Uria's bewitching curse, allowing it to establish contact with Lapis, who was hiding underground to avoid the hurricanes. Together, they fought against the raging winds.
Upon reading this, Sylas couldn't help but close the book and ponder aloud, "The water lord cannot exist in shallow waters?"
She couldn't resist shutting down the beetle and flipping open the covers. In the darkness, Sylas cautiously tore a crack in the elements. Water gushed out from the fissure. She quickly pinched it closed and the water droplet suspended between her hands began to spin, constantly changing shape. Sylas sent it back to the void and summoned a new water droplet.
The droplet appeared underground, summoned by magical powers, and slowly crawled towards Sylas. Once again, she banished it back to the void.
She paused, sensing something different about them. However, she couldn't put it into words. A vague idea drifted in her mind, and unable to find the right words, she wrote down "Endless Water Realm" in her notebook.
That night, she dreamt that she was pulled into the deep water, unable to see anything and the promised bright blue color was not as expected. The water pressure and suffocating feeling woke her up in a cold sweat several times, and she finally fell asleep properly just before dawn. However, because of this, she was going to be late.
No time! She hurriedly got up, washed her face, and brushed her teeth. Suddenly, the door opened silently. Xerath's finger was still pointing at the lock, it seemed that she had used magic to unlock it.
Sylas was startled and turned around to meet Xerath's smiling eyes. Water was still dripping down her face.
Her teacher smiled and said, "You slept too late, so you woke up late too?"
"Teacher...how did you come down?"
"Breakfast is getting cold and you still haven't shown up. I thought maybe you haven't woken up yet. To prevent you from rushing and buttoning the wrong buttons, I thought I should come and help you." She tilted her head and smiled slightly, even her meticulous hairstyle was not as serious.
Sylas blushed and lowered her head.
Xerath took off her black wizard robe and set it aside. She was dressed almost the same as Sylas, in linen trousers, a shirt with slightly puffed sleeves, and a waistcoat that matched the pants. Sylas guessed that there must be suspenders inside to secure the pants, which were slightly wider for her.
She gestured for Sylas to raise her hand and turned her head towards the mirror. Sylas hadn't taken off her nightgown yet, so Xerath obviously meant for her to help take it off. Sylas felt a bit shy, but Xerath whispered in her ear, "Don't move."
Her warm robe, which still had the heater on, was pulled away from her body. The cold made her shiver, but then she heard Xerath softly chanting a spell. Warm air began to swirl around her, and the goosebumps that had formed on her skin from the cold started to disappear.
Xerath rubbed her shoulder and smiled, asking, "Feeling warmer now?"
Sylas shyly shook her head as Xerath held out a shirt but hesitated to put it on her. Sylas opened her eyes and felt Xerath's gaze on her chest.
The archmage in the mirror looked at her body. The branding on her collarbone had faded a bit but was still visible. The young girl's naked body seemed somewhat thin, and if it hadn't been for the exercises they had been doing, her shoulders would have looked undeveloped. Now she appeared slightly underdeveloped.
However, there were slight bumps on her previously flat chest, soft little points that were slightly reddened. Xerath puzzledly asked, "When did these appear?"
"A long time ago..." Sylas blushed like the soft little points and quickly defended herself, saying, "Because... because it doesn't hurt! And there haven't been any other abnormalities, so I didn't say anything... Teacher, what is this? Is it some kind of illness?"
Xerath chuckled and helped her put on her clothes. "Don't move, let me check."
Sylas stood up straight, puffing out her chest. Xerath pressed her fingertip gently against the young girl's recently developed breasts and tapped a small core, laughing again. Standing behind her, Xerath looked up at the young girl in the mirror, wrapping her arms around her and buttoning up the shirt, tucking it into her pants. She then helped her with the suspenders and put on a dark, lightly trimmed knitted vest. Leaning in close to her ear, she said, "I think you will soon need to wear another vest. Don't worry, girls always go through changes like this."
