Chapter 185

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Chapter 185

This short road should be longer and slower. They haven’t taken a leisurely walk in a long time, and they haven’t seen each other in a while. But Sylas immediately immersed herself in that comforting atmosphere.

Suddenly, someone gently held her elbow. It was Xerath.

She was no longer an ignorant young person. On her way back to the dorm at night, she saw many intimate couples strolling in the dark. Most of the time, they would walk arm in arm, and sometimes the girl would lean on the boy’s arm. This made their conversations feel closer than normal.

Although girls may also hold hands like this, it’s different for her. At least, it feels different to her. She doesn’t daydream when another girl holds her arm, and she doesn’t blush or feel her heart race.

"Sylas."

At her most shy and embarrassed moment, the archmage called her name at the perfect time. Sylas trembled all over, as if she had been scalded. She was afraid that her innermost thoughts had been exposed, and she was even scared to answer.

"Sylas？"

"Hmm? Hmm? Teacher, I’m listening."

"Your grades have been sent home."

"Oh, oh, how did I do on the test?"

Xerath chuckled softly and said, "Your grades are quite impressive, and I’m glad to see that you seem to have no trouble with the Gustavian language."

"I… I have been studying hard. I usually get tired after about an hour, so I split my studying into five sets of training, each lasting ten minutes," she shyly smiled. "I always feel sleepy, I don’t know why."

Xerath’s pleasant voice whispered in her ear, "I guess maybe your mother used to sing lullabies in the Gustavian language to put you to sleep."

Thinking that even the serious old mage next to her could make jokes, Sylas smiled and replied, "Is that so? It seems quite possible."

Xerath replied seriously, "It’s highly possible. She can speak to you in the ancient Saiti language, so there’s a good chance she also sang Gustavian language lullabies to help you sleep."

"Hmm, that’s a very strong piece of evidence."

"Hmm, I always speak with reason. But what I want to ask is, do you have a lot of courses? You have four practical courses and you had four theoretical courses last semester?"

"Hmm… I don’t find it very difficult, so I chose them all."

"Did you choose the researcher direction?"

"Yes, but… but the practical experience sounds interesting. I still remember when we had a few battles in the tower when I was a kid, it was quite fun."

Having fun is not usually an easily accepted reason. It makes serious studies sound like casual play. But for Xerath, this reason seems enough. Learning for her own interest and achieving good grades is the basic goal of Sylas’s education.

The archmage nodded and Sylas breathed a sigh of relief.

"I saw that you even have a Portal design class. Why are you taking that class?"

Sylas chuckled awkwardly. She didn’t want Xerath to realize her intention of graduating early, in case the archmage started thinking of ways to keep her outside the tower. The outside world is quite fun, but it’s not where she wants to stay. Those fun spots became dull and insignificant the moment she saw Xerath.

"It’s to accompany Luna," she said, feeling very uneasy. Using this reason doesn’t sound convincing at all. She already lives with Luna, so why does she have to accompany her to class? If the archmage asks this question, she doesn’t know how to answer.

Sylas stopped talking from that moment onwards.

Unconsciously, they arrived at the rented inn. The environment here is decent, but Sylas suddenly felt that it was too shabby and even hesitated to let the archmage in. But Xerath didn’t seem to mind, so they stepped inside the dimly lit lobby together.

They went upstairs together and entered the room. Clothes and her novel were scattered on the bed, which made her blush, especially when Xerath walked over with great interest, as if she wanted to pick up a book and care about what her diligent student had been researching lately.

The cover had gold letters that shimmered as she approached from different angles, "Teacher Gingko".

Sylas was almost scared out of her wits and quickly said, "That, that belongs to Caroline! Don’t touch her stuff, there might be some mischievous spells on it." After saying that, she felt pretty clever.

After Xerath heard this, she paused for a moment and indeed stopped paying attention to the book. Sylas nervously said, "Teacher, can you wait for me in the hallway while I tidy up? Just a moment, it’s really messy in here…"

"Where do you usually study?"

"We usually go to the restaurant downstairs or the city library, we don’t stay here… so we haven’t really cleaned up." She spoke the truth because most of the day was spent devouring books outside, and when she came back, she would just collapse and go to sleep, so the room gradually became incredibly messy.

Xerath smiled at her, her eyes seemed to scold, but it wasn’t that serious, it was as if she was saying, "You little lazy bum."

The line of sight seemed sticky, sticking to her face. Even when Xerath’s eyes weren’t looking at her, she still felt the emotions in that gaze.

The archmage walked to the hallway with their back facing the entrance, and slender legs peeked out from under their robe. Sylas stared at their figure and momentarily forgot to look away, standing there dumbfounded until Xerath turned back for some reason.

"What happened?"

Sylas quickly shook her head and hurriedly threw the books she borrowed from Fenika onto the bedside table. Her clothes floated up one by one and she flew into the open belly of a box. Soon, the box was filled with clothes in a messy way. The "mouth" of the box seemed alive and struggled to swallow the pile of clothes.

She quickly left a note for Caroline, telling her that she had to go back home and that they still had to split the room fee. She also asked Caroline to help her return the stack of books.

After finishing everything, she walked out of the room triumphantly and lightly patted the shoulder of the archmage, saying, "I… I’m all packed. Can we leave now?"

Xerath took her suitcase and handed it to the silent water lord. She walked home with her apprentice.

It only took a moment to reach the teleportation to Withered Leaf City. Sylas watched Xerath closely, afraid that she might feel dizzy or something, but it seemed that she worried too much. The archmage was in a good mood and appeared to be in good health. Xerath turned back to Sylas and smiled, taking her hand and heading towards the Portal in the innermost part of the guild hall.

"Is playing with Portals fun?"

"It can be fun. Teachers always come up with certain conditions and then you try to meet those conditions in creative ways. It’s an interesting process. It’s just that I don’t really know how to use spatial magic yet."

"I know some." Suddenly, Xerath took two steps forward, her figure swayed. Sylas thought she was about to fall, but upon closer observation, it didn’t seem like she was going to fall. And indeed, the next moment, she completely disappeared, only to reappear far away from two bookshelves.

With her hands clasped behind her back, she turned around cheerfully and asked, "How do I look?"

As her dress twirled, the hem flew up, perfectly matching her triumphant expression. Sylas couldn’t help but smile and whispered to her, "Absolutely splendid."

This is a spell Luna uses every time to sneak Swis into the girls’ dormitory. She can sense the trace of magic, but it’s… just like that. But when Xerath uses the same spell, she can feel its elegance and precision.

It’s like the difference between a calligrapher and an ordinary person writing.

Sylas went back inside to pack her things, while Xerath leaned against the door and casually chatted with her. Actually, what Sylas really wanted to know was the story behind those few thin sheets of paper. So, she asked, "Is Titus really getting fat?"

"Yes, he gained two pounds, but don’t ask him directly, or he’ll get angry and refuse to eat, and then he’ll keep shedding fur. One time, when I brought him back, the shedding was particularly severe. The store clerk told me that if I collect the fur and give it to them, they’ll make me a present. I still haven’t received it, but tomorrow… um, tomorrow, let’s go together to pick it up. How does that sound?"

Xerath extended an invitation, and Sylas happily lifted her head, looking up at her and replied, "Sure!"

Seeing her clear smile, Xerath casually asked, "I heard Virgil calling you the ‘little fairy’ at school?"

Sylas’s smile froze for a moment, and she widened her eyes as she explained, "It’s just, it’s just what my classmates call me, I don’t know why! I’ve asked them not to call me that, but it doesn’t work…"

Xerath reached out her hand and giggled as she drew a few circles in the air. Around Sylas, a ring of powdery light descended, gently floating down and wrapping her inside.

Luna told her that in fairy tales, when a fairy casts a spell, they carry a circle of light, very extravagant.

But the feeling within it wasn’t any elemental magic. Then Sylas saw her teacher cheating and pressing against the Sunstone embedded in the nearby wall, which was originally used for casting the Illumination Spell.

Sylas smiled at the playful pranks of the archmage, who would occasionally appear and vanish. The atmosphere became lighter, which was her favorite way of interacting. To maintain this good mood, she immediately decided to be careful and not provoke the archmage, who disliked contact with people, during the time between leaving Aimekotes and returning to school.

Thinking about this, she suddenly felt a bit melancholic. Besides relaxed conversations, she hoped that they could embrace each other without restraint and sometimes lie side by side on the water lord mattress, carefree.