Chapter 172

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Chapter 172

"Yes," Sylas gestured seriously, "you weren’t aiming at where you hit, you were pointing a little above it, and then it flew lower and lower."

"Yes, that’s called ‘aiming’. The most important basic skill for a hunter is aiming, which relies on your senses. Want to give it a try?"

Sylas nodded. She didn’t actually use this little spell much, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have a shortened incantation. The old mage on the summit of the elements had a whole set of tricks to shorten the length of spells, which she had passed on to the beloved prince of the elements.

"Don’t rush, take it easy. At first, you need to let your body get familiar with the ‘right’ feeling, so first, you need to find out what the ‘right’ feeling is. Here."

Sylas raised her arm, imitating Virgil’s stance. With one hand aiming, her other hand wrote a very messy and abrupt line near her right wrist, and she softly spoke only one character, "ho."

Virgil sighed silently in his mind: Beast!

Only wild beasts can cast spells without incantations. The skilled hunter remembered the night when he was nearly killed by this wild beast. However, he never understood why he could form a contract with the demon beast. Normally, it would be impossible for ordinary humans to form substantial contracts.

But who knows, archmages are powerful. As for the old wizard living deep in the chaotic element desert, every part of his body may have been replaced by elements. Maybe he can no longer be considered a human.

He speculated randomly, watching the mixture of ice and water hit the edge of the previous trace, forming another circle.

"Do you remember that feeling? Let’s do it a few more times!" Virgil clapped his hands to encourage her, and this intelligent and lively beautiful beast repeated the precise movements from earlier, launching the dangerous weapon in her hand with just a few gestures and a root word. And she was hitting the target more and more accurately.

"This is basically the fastest spellcasting. Guess how it would feel if it hit your face?"

Sylas was surprised and suddenly burst into laughter. Getting hit in the face with the ice ball would not only be painful, but it would also probably leave her with a face covered in mess. Most people wouldn’t be able to resist wiping it off, which means the biggest use of this spell is to interrupt others’ spellcasting, as long as she hits accurately.

"Can you also use a water ball?"

Virgil winked at her and said, "You probably haven’t seen snow before? When the old wizard and I were wandering in the north…"

"Have you ever experienced such miserable times?"

"No, no, no, being a wanderer is just an exaggeration. She must have said that during our vacations we would go and find some very dangerous but highly profitable jobs. One year, we went to the northern region and played a game of throwing snowballs at each other with the local people."

"That sounds like a lot of fun!"

"Some people wrapped stones in the snowballs, so they would fly farther. On the other hand, loose snowballs would break apart in the air. So, the mixture of ice and water is a type of substance that, when thrown, doesn’t require much attention and creates a lot of confusion. It can be said that this spell is the most balanced and perfect form. But someone like you, an elemental envoy, will quickly discover various ways to use it, just like Xerath did back then."

Sylas’s face showed a look of longing. "I also want to go wandering with the teacher."

Virgil smiled gently. "Maybe she hopes so too."

Sylas said in a low voice, "No… her job is more important. How could she leave her work to go play?"

"Maybe she would, for you," Virgil shrugged. "As long as there are fun things in the distance."

Sylas smiled. Virgil’s comforting words were kind, but they also accurately touched on the archmage’s interest: she wouldn’t change her target for her contract demon, only follow along with things that are fun.

"Thank you, Virgil."

Virgil was confused, but clearly misunderstood. He said, "Don’t thank me so soon, naive little girl. Uncle Virgil is very strict, and the training has just begun! Now please give me a ‘gentle breeze’ and then… try to hit me with just this one spell."

"No problem!"

Virgil took a few steps back and started running along the rooftop. Sylas had good aim, but Virgil kept hiding behind the rooftop, causing her shots to miss every time.

Suddenly, Virgil’s voice came from behind her, "Sylas, it seems like you forgot that you have legs and can move?"

Sylas was startled and quickly turned her head. Virgil stood calmly behind her and said, "Magicians can only cast spells on visible and unobstructed places. Shooting spells like yours can easily get blocked by various obstacles. So, in a real fight, you need to learn how to use the terrain. Of course, it’s not enough just to know how, you also need to have a good body to move around. Most of the time, magicians get beaten up in close combat because they don’t want to move." He shrugged and added, "Well, that can’t be helped. Magic provides convenience but also breeds laziness."

Sylas couldn’t help but laugh. Her daily exercise probably amounted to going back and forth from Snowfall Yard to Spring Hall to Falcon Fortress, with a lot of stairs involved. She felt it was similar to walking with Xerath from the top to the bottom of the tower every day. That was the most exercise magicians usually got.

"Don’t laugh. The old magician was also very healthy back in the days. I don’t know about her in Szelonkren, but there wasn’t a single rooftop at the school that we hadn’t been on. Well then, let’s continue."

Under his guidance, Sylas spent the whole morning practicing running, tracking, and aiming. In the end, she was exhausted, breathless, and her face was all flushed. She had already achieved a week’s worth of exercise.

Virgil remained calm and nonchalantly said, pretending to be surprised, "Oh my, so quickly you’re already done?"

But practicing is still very fun. She was enjoying herself, but suddenly she heard the bell for the end of class. There was another class next, so she had to say goodbye to Virgil.

Virgil led her along a decorative line into the stairs of the lookout tower. There was actually a staircase that led downstairs, but it was hidden in a secret spot on the ground floor. It looked like a dead end from the outside, so she had never walked through it before.

After Virgil said goodbye to her, he couldn’t help but sigh. He moved his shoulders and shook his legs. "It’s like taming a beast." Then he thought, "If the little wild creature lived with me, it would definitely become an excellent mage hunter. But who let the archmage come first?"

The hunter’s work, of course, didn’t stop. Playing tricks on people sounded really interesting. And teaming up with the person closest to the archmage, while keeping it a secret from her, added a hidden excitement to this interesting plan.

After finishing morning classes, Sylas felt sore all over her body. She didn’t feel it while she was playing. She even thought she could play for another two or three hours.

Not to mention the afternoon. She dragged her tired body and persisted until the end of the fourth class, then eagerly bought some food and collapsed back in her dormitory.

The dormitory was empty. She just realized that she hadn’t seen Luna all day since saying goodbye in the morning. But she was too tired now and couldn’t care less about where Luna had gone. She fell asleep in no time.

Luna of course went to see Virgil. In the morning, she followed Virgil’s instructions, took out her notebook and made a copy of the list after Sylas left. Now, she was secretly delivering it to Virgil.

"Good girl, I knew you were just like your father, full of the qualities of a spy."

"My dad is a supervisor."

"Oh, oh, what’s so different about that? That’s a good job! You think his job doesn’t require secretly copying names? The old hunter has helped him out!"

"Have you ever worked with my dad before?"

"Oh, more than that, we have even risked our lives together," Virgil said absentmindedly, quickly writing down the names, but the faces didn’t quite match. He would have to investigate slowly, but that wasn’t difficult for the seasoned hunter, after all his job was to talk, fight, deceive, hold grudges, and observe in secret.

It’s tiring to think about it.

"Can I go back now?"

Virgil flashed a furry smile and said, "Sure, just remember not to tell Sylas, okay? Are you busy with romance?"

"…Don’t! Don’t tell my dad!"

Virgil waved his hand, "Don’t worry, it’s not my turn to worry, I’m just asking."

Luna was very upset. She went back to her dormitory and saw Sylas doing homework. Luna greeted her casually.

"What’s your boyfriend’s name again?" Sylas’s greeting undoubtedly failed. "Windon?"

"Oh, I’ve already changed to a different one. Windon always wants me to take him to the activity room, but I’ve refused him several times and he got angry."

"Don’t you want to take him?"

Luna jumped up dramatically. "What are you thinking? He’s only known me for a few days and already wants to go to the activity room with me?"

"What criteria do you need to enter the activity room? In terms of looks, I think Windon is decent."

"He’s…uh, too immature! In the end, it’s better to find someone older to date, even if it’s just a year or two older, than to take care of a same-aged brat."

"Um…what’s the name of the new one?"

"You don’t need to know, I’m planning to break up with him anyway." That’s the truth. These past two days, Luna has been busy dealing with Virgil’s half-threatening, half-pleading work. She has no time to deal with the whiny little boy. They had a big fight tonight, and Luna decided to break up with him.

Sylas turned around and innocently looked at her. Luna thought she was going to say something, but after waiting for a while, she curiously asked, "What’s wrong?"

Sylas shook her head, sighed, and said, "The ‘teacher’ once told me that ‘romantic love’ is an emotion that develops from ‘liking’ someone. But I noticed that you and these guys haven’t even developed the emotion of ‘liking’ each other, yet you want to ‘fall in love’. You’ve given it… given it a definition, and then you do things according to that definition, but I think… I think maybe you’ve misunderstood something. I haven’t experienced it myself, I’m just sharing my analysis. Do you still want to hear more?"