Chapter 227

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Chapter 227

Sylas swallowed nervously and reluctantly asked, "Besides taking short courses, what else can I do?" She had a strong intuition that her teacher, who was skilled at exam preparation (thanks to a helpful older sister), would have some suggestions. The Four-Color Silk Thread exam was already difficult enough, and if she could pass it in one go, Xerath surely could too. The written exam for graduation couldn’t be twice as hard, right? And why did Xerath need two years to just finish it?

This course must be very relaxed if Xerath has time to take many other classes, like seemingly useless Demonology.

"Yes," Xerath readily admitted, "some people prefer to study at home instead of attending classes at school. The school’s courses are relatively expensive and accommodation costs extra, so many people simply go to the public libraries in big cities for self-study. Withered Leaf City has quite a few."

"Um, I’ll take the exam in six months!" We’ve decided," she immediately made up her mind, "I’ll stay at home and not return to Star Song Castle."

Xerath made a non-committal "Hmm" while sipping the light brown liquid in her cup, "What about after that?"

"After that… how about trying a practical exam?"

Xerath looked up at her and said, "I suggest you carefully review any areas where you have doubts during your studies. These areas usually serve as the starting point for your thesis. After the exam, you’ll have a general idea of what to write in your thesis, so it would be good to plan for more reading when waiting for the results."

"Oh…"

"About the practical exam, you might eventually need to go back to Star Song Castle because the practical exam requires a partner. You have to go find your friends and study together."

"What exactly does the practical exam test?"

Xerath looked at her meaningfully, and Sylas shamefully lowered her head. She hadn’t thought about understanding what the graduation exam was about. Now it seemed like Xerath was more concerned than her, the person involved.

"Besides a few tasks that are slightly easier than the Four Color Silk Thread, you just need to complete any A-rank mission at the Adventurer’s Guild." Plus, the Four Color Silk Thread allows you to skip some tasks.

"Is that it?"

"Yes, it’s quite simple."

A-rank missions are not all easy. A-rank and above are S-rank missions, which are basically limited to dragon slaying, Lich slaying, and archmage slaying. Luckily, within A-rank, there are also three different difficulty levels. As long as you can determine which task belongs to A-minus difficulty and quickly snatch it, you have already succeeded halfway in the exam. So, Xerath was not lying about this point.

"So, for me, this should be scheduled for the same year that Caroline and the others plan to take the exam?"

Xerath nodded, "This level is quite easy for students who have graduated from advanced school. When they just finished school, it was easy for them to find partners, so they would complete this task first."

"Oh…" Sylas wrote this down in her little notebook too.

She now had a preliminary plan, it seemed that the archmage didn’t intend to let her take even a day off.

"Do you understand?"

"Um… I almost understand…" Sylas could only obediently nod, not wanting to provoke Xerath too much. She felt quite helpless in this matter, yet Xerath still had to think about the details for her.

"Let’s eat." With that, she unfolded the napkin and the waiter placed a bowl of fish soup in front of her.

After eating, they naturally went to the bookstore. Holding hands, they browsed through different counters. Sylas looked nervous and Xerath noticed her unease. She turned her head and asked, "What are you afraid of? Are you afraid that ‘Beauty and the Duel’ will be available in Withered Leaf City?"

Completely exposed, Sylas’s face turned completely red. What she was most dissatisfied and confused about was why her teacher was so eager to attack her, as if she couldn’t wait to see her make a fool of herself.

Compared to Sylas’s wrinkled face, archmage’s laughter seemed a bit excessive. Looking at her bright smile, Sylas ironically recalled her self-proclaimed sacred role this morning: the pet demon beast that amuses the archmage.

Xerath lifted her hand and gently touched the books on the top shelf. She said, "The books sold in each city’s bookstores are usually different. People tend to prefer books from local publishers because it can be quite troublesome to transport books. So, there’s no need to worry too much."

"What about the library then?"

Xerath smiled and said, "Libraries are better in some ways, but each library in different places still has its own unique features and special collections. For example…in Sotralo, their censorship system is particularly lenient, so many books from other countries can be found in the Sotralo library. And in Saint Trelanxi, they have various language versions of the ‘Book of Genesis’, which attracts many linguists."

Sylas shyly smiled and said, "I also wish to go to many, many places like you."

Xerath thought for a moment and said, "There will be many opportunities in the future."

"Will you go with me?" she asked anxiously, trying to appear less desperate. "We have already been to some places, like Withered Leaf City, Tabletop Mountain City, Sunlight Town, and even Star Song Castle. Will we go to more places together?"

Sylas looked at Xerath with hope, but Xerath didn’t immediately agree or show any sign of approval, making Sylas feel a bit of hope slipping away as she waited.

"Maybe there will be an opportunity for both of us to go somewhere, but you know, I don’t often go out. My work doesn’t require me to travel, so I’m afraid such opportunities are not common."

It was just a promise that she hesitated to give. Sylas lowered her head in disappointment.

This reaction was expected, but Xerath felt like she had done something wrong when she saw her like this, awkwardly adding, "There will be… there will be a chance."

What chance could there be? The chance to sleep on the same bed and accidentally end up hugging each other while sleeping? Just the thought made her heart beat faster and her breath quicken, but Sylas lifted her head at that moment, her emerald eyes shining with hope.

"Will there really be?"

Xerath took a deep breath and calmly said, "In theory, there will be, and you know that yourself, right? I can only give a cautious and careful answer, to avoid breaking my promise."

Yes, yes, in theory, everything makes sense, it just hinted that Xerath had no desire to leave her job and go on a trip with her, not even a tiny bit.

At Mage Guild, Xerath was given a "key," a teleportation stone for her to enter and exit Aimekotes on her own. Under Xerath’s supervision, a staff member took off a piece from the top of the Portal, and within the next two days, a similar one would be duplicated based on the "mother stone" she submitted.

Sylas couldn’t exactly say she was happy about this. Before, she always had to go out of the tower with Xerath’s company, even when going to school, it was the archmage who personally escorted her. Now that she was back here, given the freedom that apprentices should have, she still felt dissatisfied.

This meant that there were many things Xerath wouldn’t be with her for. Teachers had their own things, and she had her own things, making the boundaries between them even clearer.

Life gradually returned to normal.

Sylas went back to her old routine of waking up at seven and going to bed at ten-thirty, syncing up with Xerath again. Sylas sat back at her writing desk, not far from Xerath’s right side, and studied under Xerath’s guidance. They nearly woke up together in the morning, sitting down to eat breakfast made by the Flame Lord. After dinner, they would each read their own books in the living room, sometimes having beneficial and purposeful conversations to get to know each other better, and then find ways to delay going back to their rooms until after eleven o’clock.

Xerath was not allowed to do intense mental work like this, so she often unknowingly fell asleep after ten o’clock and struggled to wake up again. Sylas noticed but never mentioned it.

A sleeping Xerath was more in line with her expectations.

They watered plants together, went to Withered Leaf City to buy supplies and books, took care of the footstool, and had only one connection to the outside world: Shamodial. The occasional storm was the only unpredictable variable that disrupted their peaceful life.

Sylas leaned against the window frame with her teacup, just like the ironwork pattern on the glass surface. Xerath stood against the cabinet and lightly tapped her nails on the porcelain cup, creating a rhythmic "ding-ding" sound.

The mechanical rhythm was just like her, lost in the silhouette of a young girl, until Sylas turned around and abruptly interrupted it.

The old magician tried to look calm as she asked with her eyes what was wrong. Sylas smiled at her, as if indicating for her to come closer.

Xerath left the cabinet and walked over to Sylas. Her young apprentice pointed to the dark red storm core in the distance, flickering with terrifying lightning, and said with a laugh, "Doesn’t it look like poor Shirley?"

"Shirley?" She paused for a moment before remembering who that name belonged to – the Terrifying Spider that roamed freely in the activity room. Xerath herself had some fear of spiders and hadn’t had a close look at Shirley’s appearance. When she heard Sylas’s question, she could only casually ask, "Are you referring to how it looks when it spreads out?"

"Hmm… yes," she suddenly felt unable to explain the funny situation to Xerath. If Luna were here, she might just raise both hands and pretend to be scared, running around making a screaming sound like "Ah~~~".

This is the core funny part of the whole scene – a red (and) terrifying spider that got scared and ran around with a red shame mark on it.

She felt a bit frustrated herself, and Xerath looked at her without understanding at all. Despite the archmage’s polite smile, Sylas could tell that she didn’t find it funny at all, just reluctantly dealing with it.

This disappointment felt deep, she turned her head lacklusterly and continued to look out the window, thinking that Xerath probably considered her childish.

The human voice disappeared again, and the constant wind stood out in the background sound. The sound became more obvious by the window, to the point that Xerath’s soft voice almost got drowned in it.

"… Why do you say Shirley is pitiful? Terrifying Spider is a dangerous type of demon beast."