Chapter 270

Chapter 270: A Brief Rest on a Winter Night

From the top of the Tower Academy, night had fallen.

Towers stood distributed across the mountain range, their light gray stone walls felt icy to the touch. White snowflakes piled up on the rough surfaces, edges, and tops of the towers, blending them seamlessly with the mountains in the darkness. Only a few yellow lights shone through thick glass, revealing a hint of life.

Lan Li’er stepped down from the air, wearing heavy boots, and came to a stop on the observation platform outside the eighth floor of the tower. She first pushed open the wooden door of the observation deck, entered inside, then closed the door behind her to prevent the wind and snow from blowing in.

After entering the inner part of the tower, she walked to the door beside the stairwell entrance. From her coat, she took out a copper key etched with patterns and inserted it into the stone door. As a glow of light flowed over the door, there was a slight click, and then she gently pushed it open.

Inside was their common lounge on this floor, connected to four thick wooden doors leading to four bedrooms, each sleeping two people, with individual bathrooms.

Compared to the crowded central school building, the facilities of the four academies were much more spacious and abundant. After all, there were fewer people around these mountains and lands, and the school had ample space for additional buildings. This indeed brought great comfort.

Three students were already in the common lounge, naturally all girls. Two sat at a brown wooden table, quickly writing and drawing under candlelight. The only sounds in the large lounge were the crackling of the fireplace and the scratching of pens on paper.

The other student stood by a wall cabinet, holding a kettle and pouring hot water into her black porcelain cup. As the boiling water curved slightly into the cup, a splash of sound echoed, followed by rising steam and the rich aroma of tea spreading throughout the room.

“Welcome back, Lan Li. Good evening,” said a girl in a brown and white dress as she slowly approached with a steaming cup of red tea.

“Do you want some hot tea? I have a bit left.”

“Then I won’t be shy, Antoli. Has Lingxin returned?”

Lan Li brushed off the snow from her hat, removed her thick coat, revealing a snug cashmere sweater underneath, and then sat at the table, looking at her roommates’ construction drawings.

Antoli brought another cup of tea and placed it in front of Lan Li before saying, “Lingxin has been learning advanced Sequence 6 matters from her mentor recently. She’s about to break through, so she must be quite busy.”

“Thanks.” Lan Li picked up the warm teacup and took a small sip, finding it too hot, and put it down temporarily.

“It’s amazing how fast time flies. It feels like just yesterday that Tirela graduated.”

“Yes, when we first joined the Tower Academy, we encountered many problems, which Tirela helped us solve,” Antoli nodded and sat with her back to the fireplace, her silhouette somewhat blurred by the firelight. The two talked softly.

Lan Li rested her arm on the warm wooden table and looked at Antoli, saying, “My mentor advised me not to advance this year and to stabilize first before entering fourth year next year.”

“Although the mentor means well, if that’s the case, I’ll be separated from Lingxin, falling a grade behind. It really doesn’t feel good,” Lan Li supported her face, slowly expressing her thoughts.

“Lan Li, this is truly a happy dilemma. We’re still worried about our end-of-term design this year, and we won’t be able to advance to Sequence 6 anyway,” said the two girls drawing nearby, grumbling a bit before continuing their complex and precise designs.

The four girls in the room were all at Sequence 5, with the oldest being no more than 20 years old. They could be considered geniuses in the outside world, but here at Emanas, they were merely above average. Although Lan Li could advance to Sequence 6 by the end of this year, doing so would be very risky, so her teacher suggested she slow down.

The bright yellow flames of the fireplace burned, bringing warmth and dispelling the chill around them. The shadows of the girls were projected onto the opposite wall, swaying with their movements. The side bookcase also flickered between light and dark, with complex and lengthy titles of professional books bathed in a warm glow by the firelight.

“Alright, let’s not talk about this anymore. The ‘Winter Festival’ is about to start. Let’s relax for now and work hard in a few days,” Lan Li told her friends, then laid her head on the table to take a brief rest.

“Don’t sleep here, get up and take a bath, go back to your bedroom.”

“Mmm, I don’t want to move. The water in winter is too cold, and heating it myself is too troublesome,” Lan Li said from her position on the table, her voice sounding like dried fish.

“Lan Li’s laziness is acting up again. She’ll probably only get dragged in by Lingxin,” the two nearby whispered, watching Lan Li’s eyes gradually close.

“What a lack of effort.”

—

After finishing her classes, Lolan Hill returned to her residence. The location was quiet, with the indoor fireplace burning warmly, while the small courtyard outside was covered in snow, with only a few green blades of grass and vines peeking through.

She wore a comfortable pure white dress, sitting on a wooden chair, facing away from the fireplace. Her white cotton socks covered knees rested a thick book. As her fair fingers turned the pages, the pale yellow pages fluttered, and the black words clearly reflected in the firelight.

“The origins of the chaotic vortexes cannot be traced back. Their appearance can be traced back to the age of giants and dragons. It is said that the royal court of the giants once permanently eliminated several chaotic vortexes.”

“According to archaeological excavations, scholars believe that before the age of giants and dragons, there might have been another era. Some of the ruins have rather intricate facilities, unsuitable for use by large giants and dragons. From the traces in the ruins, it can be inferred that these prehistoric civilizations may have been about the same size as humans, elves, or orcs today.”

“They used special sandstone and steel to construct buildings, showing a high level of craftsmanship. Unfortunately, no remains of the civilization’s inhabitants were found in the ruins, and their activity traces seem to have suddenly vanished one day, disappearing without a trace.”

“This civilization seems to have rarely used written language. The only relatively clear record is a mural discovered 300 years ago at the World Tree site. After restoration, the scene depicted was a purple-red sky filled with clouds, with the sun on the horizon, a green forest on the ground, and floating structures resembling cities in the sky. Based on this painting, scholars named the era of this civilization the ‘Dusk Era.'”

It was truly wondrous. As the night deepened, Lolan Hill closed the book and her mind still lingered on the fascinating world recorded in history.

Tomorrow, she stood up, placing the book and the warm stuffed bear from her chest on the table. She stretched her body, preparing to sleep here tonight, since she had already informed her roommate that she would be ‘studying all night’ in the library.

As the clouds dispersed and the snow gradually stopped, a luxurious airship sailed over the mountains in the distance, slowly approaching Emanas.

The emblem on the airship, intertwined red and green roses, glowed brightly under the moonlight.

— End of Chapter