Chapter 285

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Chapter 285

A mysterious atmosphere, like bursting bubbles, disappeared without a trace. Xerath said, "Let’s keep going. I feel like we’ve only walked a little bit."

"Not yet, less than one-fourth."

"It feels like I haven’t walked this far in a long time."

Sylas stood up and reached out her hand. "You should walk more. Sometimes, I think you would make a good Lich. If the transformation process wasn’t so painful, that is."

Xerath held her hand, feeling the warmth in her palm, and forced herself to shift her focus, concentrating on what she wanted to say. "What were you saying?"

"Don’t worry about your physical body, just focus on your work."

Xerath interrupted and said, "Just care about your Life Casket. No, I still long for my physical body."

There was a wizard who often used forbidden spells to become a Lich, in order to forever dedicate himself to his career. As a Lich, he couldn’t be protected by the law and became a target for everyone due to his endless wealth and treasures.

Sylas smiled and nodded. Xerath had good reasons to long for her physical body. Powerful wizards could almost be forever young because of their advanced magic. Having a physical body allowed them to enjoy the pleasures of the human world. What’s not nice about being an archmage?

Most importantly, Sylas secretly commented that Xerath was very beautiful. She often wondered that if she were Xerath, she might not even have the chance to become a wizard. Most of her time would be spent on dressing up and staring at the mirror.

They walked slowly and rarely talked. There were many animals by the lake. Besides the common birds, deer and squirrels often appeared by the lake to drink water. The squirrels were not afraid of humans. When Xerath passed by, they sat by the roadside, munching on pine cones in their paws. When they noticed Xerath stopping to look at them, they hid the pine cones behind their backs.

"You’re right, I haven’t gone out for a walk in a long time. I’ve almost forgotten that there are creatures other than elemental creatures and Humanoids in the world. Maybe I should disguise myself as an adventurer and go on a long journey."

"Are you alone?"

"Who else could it be?" Xerath hoped Sylas would ask her to go along, just like when they were younger and she used to playfully plead. But unfortunately, her once pet unicorn seemed to have transformed into a calm forest king, and probably wouldn’t playfully plead with her anymore.

Indeed, Sylas said, "Virgil is such a smooth operator."

Xerath laughed to disguise her disappointment. "Virgil won’t bring along someone like me, even during our practical exams. On the way there, he constantly blamed me for delaying him from finding a girl."

Sylas also laughed. A journey with a boy and a girl would often be mistaken for a romantic couple. With such a beautiful companion, any girl interested in Virgil would think twice.

"Actually… I’m sure he did well in his practical exams." Sylas secretly envied the experience since she was exempted from them.

Xerath nodded and smiled. "Unfortunately, he can never pass the written exams."

"But he has you…"

"I offered to help him with his writing, but he refused."

"Unbelievable. Virgil seems like the type that…" After being caught by Virgil and taken on a journey together, Sylas couldn’t believe that he would never cheat on an exam, as he always looked for shortcuts.

"I don’t take his money, and he doesn’t agree," Xerath added.

"more…"

Xerath smiled and talked about her old friend, always unexpectedly gentle. Even though Sylas knew there was no other relationship between Virgil and Xerath, she couldn’t help feeling jealous. She also hoped that Xerath would show this kind of expression when talking about her, so that the whole world would know that Sylas was very, very important to Xerath.

"He is such a person, always drawing the line in weird places. Fortunately, he didn’t become a wizard, otherwise he would have suffocated. He often feels that he has taken a long detour. It would have been better if he had become a hunter from the beginning."

But how could that work? If Virgil didn’t have a mage apprentice background, he couldn’t have become a Demon Hunter, and he wouldn’t have been able to capture Sylas. And she wouldn’t have been conveniently delivered into Xerath’s hands.

"You don’t seem to agree with what I’m saying," Xerath asked.

"I think in his apprentice days, he must have had many other gains, like getting to know you."

She turned around and caught Xerath’s gray eyes landing on her. Their gazes briefly met, then each reluctantly looked away to different places.

Hidden from Sylas’s view, Xerath smiled. She liked the way Sylas indirectly praised her, even if it was fake. In a place unknown to Sylas, she could fantasize about how her student carefully tried to win her affection.

"Hmm, getting to know me. And then what?"

"He has so many cheap scrolls to use, the money saved from just this can build a mage tower."

"Should I have him gift you something, like a stool?"

Sylas burst into laughter, "How’s Titus doing?"

"When I’m not here, and you’re not here, it might feel a little lonely."

"Oh, poor Titus, I kind of miss it."

"What about me?"

Sylas couldn’t understand what Xerath meant and turned back to look at her. But Xerath kept her head down, as if concentrating on the path at their feet.

"Do you miss me?" Xerath asked absentmindedly, as if she was just saying something offhand while focusing on the road, so as not to bore Sylas.

When you’re not here, I think of you every single moment. And when I see you, I thought you were ‘wind,’ created by my longing.

Sylas was afraid to say it out loud. She had so many words swirling in her mind but couldn’t express them. It felt like there were countless needles pricking her inside her veins, almost piercing her heart with a sharp pain.

She also lowered her head, not wanting Xerath to see any of her thoughts. It would be better if Xerath thought she was just being casual, "Yes, of course," she said, as if she didn’t care.

That way, Xerath would surely think there was a misunderstanding in that uncontrollable kiss and that I don’t have any improper thoughts about her.

Xerath nodded slightly, accepting her answer. "Then I’ll bring a stool. I’ve been holding back from telling him that you passed the defense, but even if he finds out, he’ll probably just cry his heart out."

Sylas blinked her eyes, trying to forget the bitterness in her heart and reluctantly responded, "Really? Would he still care about a defense he didn’t pass when he’s been so successful as a Demon Hunter?"

"Of course he cares. The defense is a lifelong scar in his heart," Xerath said. "He told me himself that he has nightmares every defense season, dreaming of standing on the podium with a group of old men with white beards interrogating him, pointing out flaws in his thesis word by word. He couldn’t answer any of their questions and everyone was mocking him. He ended up crying on stage."

Sylas herself had been interrogated by a group of old men with white beards and understood the feeling of this nearly torturous experience. Before her defense, Xerath had sternly questioned her, and even the smallest issues were relentlessly brought up. For young people living in the mage tower for a long time, this situation was enough to leave a lifetime of heartache.

The thought of Virgil, with his arrogant face, showing such fear that he was on the verge of crying, made Sylas want to laugh more and more. She couldn’t hold back her laughter any longer.

Xerath’s mood could easily be influenced by Sylas. Seeing Sylas laughing so happy, she couldn’t help but laugh along.

In one moment, Xerath regretted not learning more tricks to make girls laugh from Virgil. Virgil could easily make any girl – except her – laugh endlessly. Back then.

However, she soon couldn’t laugh anymore. The road was cut in the middle, breaking the perfect lakeshore. This small stream with little water neatly cut through, revealing a riverbed of gray stones. The stone bank twisted its way to the end of the cliff, and she couldn’t go around.

"There’s no road, how do we go?"

Sylas answered strangely, "Just keep going…"

She jumped directly into a pile of stones, landing gracefully. Xerath glanced down and estimated that it was about ten feet high. She was certain she would sprain her foot if she jumped down.

Seeing her hesitate for so long, Sylas smiled and said, "Come down with ‘as light as a feather.’"

Xerath said, "No, I don’t use magic, I promised."

She nervously took a step back.

Sylas gently comforted her, "It’s okay, you take one step, I take one step, we’ll balance it out."

"No, I said I don’t need it," she unconsciously repeated, as if trying to jump off, but unfortunately, several times she returned without success.

Sylas opened her arms wide, "I’ll catch you, don’t be afraid, it’s not very high."

Xerath stared straight at her, asking cautiously, "Really?"

"Really, how could I let you fall?"

Xerath nodded and closed her eyes as she plunged down.

She really didn’t know much about landing techniques. Falling down was completely different from landing softly. Before her feet touched the ground, she fell into a soft embrace, and collided solidly. Sylas took two steps back before stopping completely.

During this process, her once serious and reserved teacher held her tightly, looking like a startled rabbit. Even after they stopped, it seemed like she didn’t have any intention of letting go.

This is good, isn’t it? As Xerath fell into her arms, Sylas daringly wrapped her waist. They maintained their embrace beneath this desolate riverbed.

Sylas dared not move, afraid of scaring away the rabbit in her arms. Xerath held onto her neck tightly with one hand, her face buried in her shoulder, while her other hand encircled her shoulder and pressed against her back.

Xerath was scared mostly because of the sudden fall and Sylas’s unexpected hug. How on earth could they cast a spell to stop time like this? But Xerath knew that the longer time passed, the stranger it seemed. Sylas would surely start to suspect their unusual teacher if they were too close while casting a spell. Xerath had to dismiss this thought, reluctantly letting go of Sylas’s hand and saying, with a hint of apology, "I’m not used to it not being ‘light as a feather’… Do you usually jump like this?"