Chapter 257

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Chapter 257

Xerath widened her eyes in disbelief and said, "You flew back on the west wind? That wind vein crosses the Elemental Gate, it must have been so…"

The elements on the Elemental Gate were wild and untamed. Here, the empty space separating the mortal realm and the Elemental Realm could spontaneously break, unleashing dangerous firestorms or freezing winds. Casting spells recklessly could even cause elemental unrest.

"It is very dangerous, no, I mean it looks dangerous, but there is actually a trick," Sylas explained earnestly. "Space fissures come in two types, ripples and disruptions. Ripples may not be easily noticeable to me or to you, but they don’t contain anything too dangerous. With a wind shield and a water lord, we can defend ourselves quite well. Disruptions, however, are more dangerous, but they often have many signs of their impending arrival, so we can avoid them completely."

"But you must have flown very fast. Weren’t you going to Star Song Castle? There must have been strong winds up there. How did you counter the wind resistance?"

She smiled and attempted to tear open a space fissure. "I made Leunen become a shell, and it ended up very sharp. So the wind didn’t offer much resistance."

Xerath could imagine exactly how she must have looked, surely very happy, shouting and cheering, just like when she first flew using a wind shield.

She gazed into Sylas’s green eyes, imagining the radiant light that must have been shining in them back then.

"What are you talking about? Sylas said she ‘flew’ back, how did she fly? How did she fly back in such a short time? What is the west wind?"

"Diego, do you know that there is a West Wind Vein above Aimekotes?"

"I… I don’t know."

"Can’t you see it either?" Sylas looked at him, a bit disappointed. This made Diego feel overwhelmed, like forgetting Luna’s birthday and being asked "Daddy, don’t you remember what day it is today?" when he got home.

"I…"

"Sylas, not many people can see it." His youngest junior sister held Sylas’s hand to explain for him.

"Oh… but it’s really fun up there." She hurriedly opened another rift, hoping to bring out Leunen as proof. But this time, to her disappointment, there was only a faint crack in the void. Leunen extended its tentacle and waved it twice before being swallowed by the void again.

"Huh?"

Xerath once again held her restless hand, "After overusing your magic, you need to rest for a few days. You definitely won’t be able to summon the water lord."

"Me?" She tried to open her hand, but the pure magic that used to come easily seemed to have vanished completely. A strange emptiness surrounded her, just like Xerath had described, an indescribable hidden hunger, like when your stomach is full but you still want to eat more.

"It will get better in a couple of days," Xerath held her hand, trying to bring them together.

"Hello?" Diego had to interrupt their private conversation once again.

"Basically, the West Wind Vein was created because of the unique magical properties of the Elemental Gate. The active wind element gathered together and formed a ‘river’ that runs through the entire Elemental Gate. Sylas came back from this ‘river’."

"Use?"

"Wind shield," Xerath said honestly, but it gained her a skeptical look from Diego.

"I trust your character, I know you don’t lie, but this is unbelievable."

Xerath sighed and said, "I mentioned this during our last gathering, I even wrote a letter to you about it."

Diego suddenly realized, "Oh, that thing? It’s hard to imagine, I thought it was something… special, or like a circus act where a father carries his daughter and flies around, but you used some kind of magical trick to fly with her."

"I said she is a… miracle."

She still had a calm face, as if she had just objectively described something. There was a hint of a smile on her face, but it quickly disappeared, and even Diego, who was facing her, couldn’t see it clearly. She lowered her head after speaking and carefully mixed the proportion of meat sauce and rice, then fed it to Sylas’s mouth again, watching her eat.

Sylas’s face couldn’t help but blush. Xerath just used a term of praise to describe her, and it was a very good word…

She stared at me… at my lips…

She didn’t know where to look with her eyes, so she could only stare at the plate of rice on the small table. However, this action made Xerath misunderstand that she really wanted to eat, so she spoon-fed her bit by bit, until Sylas finally had to refuse her, with a blushing face, stuttering, "Y-you should eat some too…"

Inviting Xerath to share a spoon with her was a kind of special shame, no less than saying "Can I kiss you?"

"And then? Sylas, when you returned to Aimekotes, what did you see?"

Xerath stared at Sylas again. Sylas looked at Xerath uncertainly and said, "I saw dragon bones flying in the sky. I caught onto them, and they crashed into the tower, so I fell onto the terrace. After entering the living room, the Fire Lord at home said the teacher wasn’t very good, and the footstool said the library was creepy, so I planned to go save people."

"Only you?"

"Um… and also, footstool, water lord, frost child, fire lord. There are five of us."

"Not referring to these… it’s humanoid beings."

"Of course, only me, the humanoid." She smiled especially cutely. This answer is absolutely correct, they are all contract parties, belonging to different categories – elemental, beast, and humanoid.

"And then?"

"I had Elvis burn down the door, and we rushed in. Inside, it was all… all… um… very dark. Is there a common abstract noun for them?" She had to seek help from the teacher.

Xerath stopped her from continuing and said, "Inside, it was ‘darkness’. Diego, I hope to describe everything I saw professionally and meticulously, but I’m a bit tired now. Let’s talk about it tomorrow. She just woke up, exhausted her magic, and needs rest even more."

"Oh… oh… okay, then tomorrow?"

Xerath yawned, "Hmm, Sylas, you stay, don’t forget to have the meal delivered."

Sylas still wanted to leave with Diego, but was stopped by Xerath, so she had to sit back down.

When Diego closed the door, Xerath called Sylas over.

Sylas’s heart was pounding. Xerath was too close, and her breath was even blowing on Sylas’s exposed neck. They were so close that they could almost kiss just by turning their heads… They had just fed each other face to face, and all of this seemed to go beyond the boundaries that Sylas had expected, not to mention the kiss at that moment…

"Sylas, don’t mention anything about the origin of the Liches, don’t mention anything about your mother. Don’t say a word. Pretend it doesn’t exist."

"Why…"

"There’s no why. You must do as I say."

"Okay…"

Maybe Xerath felt like she was being too harsh, like she was repeating her attitude towards Sylas before something happened. So she changed to a much softer tone and said, "…I will explain everything to you slowly after we get home."

At that moment, someone knocked on the door, and another meal was brought in. Xerath seemed really tired. She looked at the empty plates being taken away, then laid down and said, "You eat, I’ll sleep."

Sylas moved all the things on the bed, including the small table, onto the desk, as they were blocking her from sleeping. Little did she know, when she turned her head to ask if Xerath wanted to eat, Xerath had completely lost consciousness.

Staring at Xerath up close was a great challenge, and now she was lying unguarded in the soft mattress, with only her face visible. Her thin and fair side profile blended almost seamlessly with the white bedsheets. The vulnerability arising from their closeness made one inevitably want to hold her in their arms and give her a tender kiss.

Having the archmage as her company, she hastily finished the meal, thinking that perhaps the teacher’s worries were not unfounded. This place was a temple, and the people who had imprisoned her underground had a similar aura to the temple. Moreover, if people found out she was the daughter of a Lich, it would surely raise widespread suspicion.

She wanted… to stay a bit longer, maybe even lie down next to her. But would she get furious when she woke up? She found an excuse for her cowardice. She couldn’t have her teacher feeling so poorly and also have a bad mood…

Reluctantly, she carried the plate out of the sickroom and returned to her own room, but she ended up sleeping for two days straight. Xerath’s physical condition remained poor, with occasional bouts of unconsciousness. The priests and bishops felt anxious. In addition to the morning and evening prayers, she also had to receive daily soakings in holy water, and under the Mage Guild’s demand, the temple specifically improved her diet.

Sylas thought it was the right thing to do. If she didn’t start eating better, she would have to find herself a Fire Lord somehow.

During this time, someone came to take her testimony, describing every detail she knew. Luckily, Swis had taught her many techniques for lying, and she had become well-versed in the art of not telling the truth. So, all her focus was placed on how to fight the Lich. This didn’t raise too much suspicion, as everyone’s focus was on whether Xerath would recover or not.

Perhaps the Mage Guild had given a significant amount of money, or there were private agreements made behind the scenes. But in any case, they couldn’t let an archmage die under the Lich’s attack. Otherwise, it would mean that evil had triumphed over righteousness, chaos over order, and ugliness over beauty. Either scenario would result in a devastating blow to human beliefs.

But as an apprentice and a beloved comedic pet star, she had other responsibilities as well. Saint Trelanxi didn’t have a teleportation array, so when one needed to travel, they had to go to the outer parts of the city. And as a holy city, it was only connected to one city: the magical city of Sotralo. Therefore, she had to make two jumps to return to Withered Leaf City.

She had also modified the portal at home, and now she couldn’t return to Aimekotes from Withered Leaf City. The old portal had been confiscated as evidence, and she didn’t know how to pass through the dangerous desert using the new one.