Chapter 188

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Chapter 188

A short, bearded dwarf looked up and waved happily at her, "Isn’t this Miss Magician!"

The archmage nodded slightly, "Old Joe." Then he whispered to Sylas, "He is a gardener and knows a lot about succulent plants. Sometimes we write letters to discuss your little plants."

The dwarf approached with a hoe in his hand, "Miss Magician, bring another Miss Magician? Don’t you introduce her?"

"This is my apprentice, she’s called Sylas. Sylas, this is Old Joe."

Old Joe took off his dirty and rough cloth gloves and shook hands with her, "Your apprentice? You already have such a big apprentice?"

"I’ve already told you, I’m thirty-eight years old."

"Sure, sure. The young magician who looks like she’s only 18 years old even though she’s actually 38, found some fresh peaches in the backyard, so she continued working."

Xerath nodded and led Sylas to the backyard.

The backyard was much larger than the front yard and it was a very beautiful garden. Everywhere was filled with shades of green, and colorful fruits were hidden among them. There was even a lovely greenhouse that was clearly built by dwarves.

"This is the work of Old Joe himself. Everything in his house was built by the dwarves."

Due to their traditional culture, dwarves were fond of mining and forging weapons, so dwarf magicians were very rare. (Although there were a few in school, most dwarves preferred to study with the elves and then do business with humans). Those who worked in gardening were even fewer.

She led Sylas through the hot greenhouse, introducing her to some tropical plants, and then they sat at the end of a highland.

There was a gazebo there, furnished with tables and chairs. On the table were glass containers filled with sparkling peaches. The archmage took a peach in his hand and softly chanted, "Icy Splash."

"Icy Splash," a phrase that wasn’t commonly heard from a magician’s mouth outside of battles, but it wasn’t completely unfamiliar either. After all, the syntax was the same.

A mixture of ice and water floated in the air, with the peach wrapped in the middle. After a while, it even started spinning. Xerath took out the peach and gave it to Sylas, then put another peach in.

Sylas took a bite and it was cold, refreshing, and very sweet.

From here, you can see the beautiful scenery of the valley. Looking down, the various shades of green are so beautiful. It must be full of pink in the spring.

"If you can come back in the spring one year, we can come together to see the peach blossoms. They usually bloom in early May," Xerath casually said. "The slope on the opposite side will be covered with them, and any place without pink will be a lush green or light green. The morning I arrived, it was foggy…" She looked up and smiled at Sylas, her warm gray eyes filled with indescribable emotions. "I can’t describe it, so I hope to have the chance to bring you here to see it."

"I will," Sylas’s heart pounded. She tried to answer calmly. She almost told Xerath about graduating early, but she couldn’t. She had to hold back and not let her find out.

The two of them spent a while in silence. Sylas said, "I should bring a book to pass the time."

Xerath closed her eyes, as if feeling the breeze. Hearing Sylas’s words, she smiled. "You don’t need a book to pass the time. You can try meditating here or simply close your eyes and daydream."

In Sylas’s mind, the archmage’s dictionary seemed to never have words like "daydreaming" or anything related to wasting time. Suddenly hearing her say that, it felt very fresh. She asked, "Teacher, if you like these vibrant scenery, have you ever thought of moving the mage tower to another place?"

Xerath opened her eyes in surprise and shook her head. "The desert also has its majestic beauty, and the Elemental Gate is perfect for elemental mages." She had a feeling that Sylas would appreciate these calmer landscapes, which is why she impulsively brought her here. Sylas and her were very similar, but they also had noticeable differences. Her apprentice was gentle and kind, clearly different from her own coldness and sharpness.

"Oh…" Sylas thought, yes, the silver desert would definitely suit Xerath’s aloof temperament.

"If you’re feeling impatient, let’s leave."

Sylas smiled and said, "Although we’re far from being impatient, Teacher, it’s getting late and we need to pick up Titus and go to the market."

After the afternoon shopping frenzy at the market, many fresh items were gone, especially meat, so they needed to go early.

The archmage had a sudden realization, it seemed like he had really forgotten the time.

They returned to the city to pick up Titus, the giant magic wolf, who had been acting as a footstool for too long. It always had a wrong estimation of its own body, running around the streets and scaring many people. The archmage had to punish it by burning its bottom to make it behave a little bit. The magic wolf had special saddles with saddlebags for carrying things, and they gradually filled up while wandering around the market.

"Have you been coming to Withered Leaf City often lately?" Sylas keenly noticed these changes. This solitary and otherworldly person seemed to have acquired some human qualities.

"Sort of, there have been more meetings recently. Not only mages, but also gardeners sometimes write letters asking me to attend gatherings."

"Have you made many new friends?"

"Not really, they can’t be considered friends, maybe just a few acquaintances whom I can exchange a few words with when we meet."

Even though Xerath denied it, this answer made Sylas a little unhappy. It seemed like Xerath wasn’t just hers anymore, there were many people talking about the topics she was interested in.

In order to pretend that she would study well in the next semester, Sylas had to start practicing her scroll calligraphy. The scroll required special silver ink to be dipped with a special water brush and written in a specific format. The principle of it was unclear to most people, even Xerath only had a vague hypothesis.

"Parchment and silver dust can be seen as props for elemental spells, but they also have a preserving effect. They temporarily hold back the magic attached to the words, and when used, they are ignited by flames, causing the magic within them to ‘spring’ out."

Nevertheless, the intensity of scroll spells can be roughly quantified and calculated. There is an annoying constant involved, and the numbers can be very fragmented. As a result, every neat value obtained after aligning with the constant becomes a not-so-neat number.

She had probably written about seventy scrolls already, and this one in her hand was not dry yet. Seeing Xerath moving her shoulders and waist expressionlessly, she took advantage of the brief moment when the teacher rested and said, "If Virgil comes, can I sell all of these to him?"

"What are those?"

"The ones he likes, ‘Icy Splash’."

"Hmm… sure, he really likes ‘Icy Splash,’ but how do you know he likes ‘Icy Splash’?"

Oh no! Sylas almost covered her mouth, but the most important thing now was to quickly dispel Xerath’s doubt. "Ah, it’s just a guess. Didn’t Virgil say he likes disruptive tactics? ‘Icy Splash’ is a pretty good choice then."

"Even if you fan it quickly, it won’t change color quickly," said Xerath, staring at her hands fanning back and forth on the paper.

"Huh? Is that so?" Sylas exclaimed in surprise.

Xerath said, "Indeed, speeding up the airflow will make the ink dry faster, but it won’t make it change color faster."

"So… it’s not a reaction between the ink and the air, but something else that makes the silver ink change color?"

This ordinary descriptive sentence unintentionally struck a chord with the speaker and the listener. Xerath furrowed her brow and nodded absent-mindedly, while Sylas quickly rushed to her desk and said, "Teacher! Let’s try to figure out what kind of light makes it change color! If it’s not the air, then it must be the light!"

"What if, what if it’s not?"

"You won’t know unless you try!" Leunen found an opportunity to come out and quickly extended his tentacles. Sylas grabbed a hold of the tentacles, pulling the mischievous water lord rudely out of the crack of elements.

"You’re so rough! Oh my goodness, Your Majesty, do you turn a blind eye to such undignified behavior towards my little master?"

Xerath smiled and said, "I’ve always seen it as an affectionate playtime between the two of you."

Hyectra also agreed and said, "Yes, it’s just playfulness between little spirits."

Leunen curled up into a ball and created a fountain above his head.

"Alright," the young elemental envoy waved her hand like a conductor, and all the curtains closed by themselves. The moose stood up and the sound of trees rustling against the wall could be heard.

It was even darker than nighttime, with no lights on in the library it was pitch black.

"Leunen, I want a beam of light and a rainbow."

"Yes, yes," the water lord reluctantly opened a small gap in the curtains, allowing a bright sunshine to come in. It passed through the prism above and created a rainbow on a nearby desk.

Sylas traced the width of the rainbow and drew nine horizontal lines on the white paper, using the colorful glow as her guide. Then, in the completely dark area, she casually drew a flower.

"It’s starting! Leunen, hold on and don’t move around."

Then she heard a soft exhaling sound, probably Xerath laughing.

She turned her head and searched for Xerath’s eyes in the darkness, but it seemed like it was nowhere to be found. Sylas looked around and suddenly someone grabbed her shoulder. She turned around and finally saw the eyes she had been searching for.

Colors overflowed under a warm gray, and gently lowered their gaze towards her.

Maybe they were looking at her, maybe they weren’t.

There was only a beam of light in the darkness, and they were both in the darkness, but there was a fire burning in her chest. The only beam of light illuminated Xerath’s face, making Sylas unable to resist the urge to move closer and seek the fire.

The darkness itself seemed to suck away all the sounds, making actions bolder. The howling wind blew endlessly, rustling through the forest of moose. Xerath’s eyes were very close, and she was captivated by them, even able to smell the scent she adored.