Holy Institution Chapter 25

Chapter 25: Teaching methods (6)

The old man's unceasingly twinkling eyes fixed on Di Lin. "You're Hydin's student?"

Di Lin nodded.

The old man suddenly stood up, turned, and looked with bright eyes at Hydin. "Let me have him?"

Hydin replied without any hesitation, "Dream on."

"I'll exchange the magic array I invented recently with you!"

"Someone seems to have admitted just recently that his magical talent was terrible," Hydin said leisurely. "Why would I want a magic array by someone whose magical talent is terrible?"

The elderly man's eyes rounded the room before he said reluctantly, "I'll exchange my pictures with you!"

Hydin gestured at Di Lin. "If you have anything to say, quickly say it."

Di Lin saw the old man still staring at Hydin with 'deep emotion' and couldn't help hesitating for a moment.

"Or do you want to be an equivalent exchange for the paintings here?" Hydin raised a brow.

"Can you tell me why you can't undo the seal on Suo Suo?" Di Lin asked swiftly.

The elderly man saw that Hydin remained unmoved by his entreaty and thus gloomily sat back down on the old-fashioned chair. "Because his sensitivity to the elements is too strong."

Di Lin stared blankly. "Too strong? Isn't that a good thing?"

Suo Suo also looked at him in astonishment.

The old man said, "En, it was originally a good thing. But it wasn't handled well, so it became a bad thing."

Both Di Lin and Suo Suo were at a loss.

The old man asked, "Do you know why the Holy Institution's criteria for enrollment is to be at least thirteen years old?"

Di Lin shook his head.

"Because children who are too young have no understanding of the dangers of magic," The old man stretched out his fingers and lightly brushed them against the painting in front of him. "Magic is a weapon. An extremely dangerous weapon."

Di Lin acknowledged this point. When comparing the range and severity of the harm dealt, swords and magic were not at the same level.

"So, it is very likely that children who are too young and whom possess too powerful a sensitivity to the elements may conversely be taken advantage of by the elements," The old man looked at Suo Suo, a bizarre light flashing across his eyes.

Di Lin wrinkled his brows. "The elements have no consciousness."

"The elements don't, but elemental spirits do."

Di Lin asked in shock, "Could it be that Suo Suo is capable of inciting an elemental spirit?"

The old man stated, "Moreover, it's an elemental spirit with an exceedingly ruthless disposition."

Di Lin blinked, quickly summarizing and analyzing the information he had just obtained in his mind. "Could Suo Suo be controlled by that elemental spirit if the seal was released?"

"It's unknown if he would be controlled but it would definitely result in trouble that isn't minor," The elderly man even sighed as he spoke.

Hydin stated, "You seem to have encountered this trouble before."

The corner of the old man's mouth twitched. "If not, why do you think I put a seal on him?"

Suo Suo asked cautiously, "What trouble did I create previously?"

Di Lin's brows creased. As if recalling something, he mumbled, "I heard that Julan's imperial palace… once underwent large-scale renovations." Julan had been in existence for so long; renovating the imperial palace or whatsoever was very normal. The reason why he remembered it so clearly was because his father's expression had been a little odd when he mentioned the issue. In addition, the two words 'large-scale' seemed to be hinting that the imperial palace could no longer be lived in as per normal.

Hydin and the old man's gazes landed on Suo Suo.

The corner of Hydin's mouth suddenly hooked up. "Interesting."

The old man shot a glance at him. "You want to take him in as a student?"

Di Lin and Suo Suo looked at him impatiently. If Hydin was willing to accept Suo Suo as his student, then they could attend classes together.

Hydin didn't answer directly. "Your tutor is Chai Fuang."

The light in Suo Suo's eyes swiftly dimmed.

Di Lin wanted to say something more but was dragged off by the old man to appreciate his other paintings.

Di Lin was born into nobility and possessed a certain degree of appreciation for paintings. But as the old man continued his introductions, he realized that the variety of vocabulary he could use started dwindling. Just as he was in a predicament, Hydin stood up and took his leave.

Di Lin hastily pulled Suo Suo along and followed after him.

The elderly man watched him slowly make his way down the ladder. He lay flat on the floor with yearning, calling after him. "Remember to come often. I can complete a new painting every day."

Di Lin turned back and shot him a smile, but his footsteps quickened as he walked.

After exiting the workers' dormitory, Hydin threw them aside and returned to his own residence.

Di Lin could only return to their dormitory with Suo Suo.

Suo Suo noticed Di Lin's moodiness and said, "Actually, I don't have much interest in magic. It's fine even if I don't learn it."

Di Lin remarked, "I don't want you to waste your time here."

"It can't be counted as wasting time. Xi Luo allows me to do many things every day."

"Xi Luo?" Di Lin's footsteps suddenly halted, and his gaze fixed on him in shock.

Suo Suo's mouth thinned, not daring to meet his gaze. "En, Tutor allows him to guide me."

Di Lin asked anxiously, "Then did he give you any trouble?"

"Not yet."

Did 'not yet' mean that he eventually would, but hadn't yet managed to put it into effect?

Di Lin's brows creased. "What is he guiding you on?"

Suo Suo thought about it and replied, "Helping him to flip through books."

"And?"

"Copy books."

Di Lin's voice became increasingly heavy. "And?"

"Hiccup, I'll also occasionally make coffee…" He saw that Di Lin's face was nearly identical in color to the school's colors and said hurriedly, "All of them aren't complicated."

Di Lin took in a deep breath. "I'll take you to see Tutor Macreis."

Suo Suo looked at him in confusion.

"I'll help you to apply for a change of tutor." As Di Lin spoke, he turned in preparation to go in search of the tutors' dormitories. However, he hadn't even taken a single step when he heard Suo Suo utter in a soft voice from behind him, "I don't want to."

Di Lin stiffened.

This was the first time in the period he and Suo Suo had known each other that Suo Suo directly rejected his suggestion.

Suo Suo seemed to have also been startled by the words that had slipped out his mouth. Only after a long time did he continue speaking, "Anyway, I can't use magic. It'll be the same no matter which teacher I switch to."

Di Lin turned to look at him.

Suo Suo raised his head, his round eyes curving into two crescents as he smiled. "As long as Di Lin becomes a rank ten mage, you'll be able to protect me. Anyway, I'll be living beside you in the future. If there's anything, it'll be very convenient to call for you."

……

Di Lin regained his senses and stroked his hair.

The more Suo Suo smiled, the less his eyes could be seen.

"If I protect you, who will protect your wife?" Di Lin asked with a smile yet not a smile.

Suo Suo looked blank for a moment. "Wife?"

"En."

Suo Suo contemplated it very seriously. "Then, Di Lin can protect her too. Anyway, she'll be living with me next time and will also be your neighbor. Protecting her will also be very convenient."

"…" He would need to learn magic well then, because the family he needed to protect was too big, thought Di Lin.

Although Di Lin didn't help Suo Suo switch tutors in the end, he still instructed Suo Suo to attempt as far as possible to be with Ning Ya when he was free and keep his distance from Xi Luo. As for himself, he put his efforts into studying as if his life depended on it.

Seeing that it had been challenging all along for Di Lin's sensitivity towards the fire elements to improve one step further, Hydin turned towards studying the wood element.

This sort of learning method was not dangerous but was very dry and dull.

Every day, Di Lin would face a tree and stare at it continuously. He would stare at it with his eyes open or use his mind to stare at it with his eyes shut. He stared at it so much that in the end, he dreamt that he had become a tree, yet still didn't know what exactly the wood elements looked like.

Upon asking Hydin, the reply he obtained was to continue.

After thinking about it, among the people he knew, Aridi was the only one who practised wood magic. Hence, he took the initiative to inquire about it from him.

Although Aridi had always harbored hostility towards Di Lin, it was rare for someone to ask for guidance regarding wood magic from him. His vanity having been greatly satisfied, he pretentiously mocked Di Lin for a while before starting his explanation.

"Wood and earth elements are the same. They will always be attached to each other. Unlike fire and water elements, which exist separately in the air," Aridi's words were actually common knowledge. However, Di Lin had been assessed to have exceedingly strong sensitivity to the water elements prior to entering the Holy Institution and thus had always been studying the water elements, never before taking note of the knowledge regarding these aspects.

"So, it's even easier to sense them compared to the fire and water elements," After uttering this statement, Aridi felt that he was belittling himself and hurriedly added, "Of course, someone who has learnt wood and earth magic well can also become extremely, extremely outstanding mages!"

Di Lin smiled. "That's of course."

Aridi saw that his attitude was good and continued to speak, "The wood elements are very willing to get close to people, especially weak ones. Cough, what I meant was that they will notice you as long as you're a little more amiable, a little gentler." Aridi felt that the more he spoke, the more it seemed like there was something wrong. Why did it seem like he was degrading himself? Therefore, he switched topics. "Aren't you a water-type mage? Why are you asking about the wood type?"

Di Lin said, "This is an assignment."

"Assignment?" Aridi pricked up his ears. "What assignment?" Actually, he was very envious of Di Lin for being tutored one-on-one by Hydin. This was because Melina frequently appeared and disappeared unpredictably. Every time she appeared, she would carelessly point out a few things, let them comprehend it by themselves, and following which immediately disappear with no trace of even her shadow left.

It was said that many Holy Institution tutors acted this way. They didn't have a choice; guiding students to graduation was part of their duties and thus wasn't of much help towards promotion. Only their contributions in the magic research field would increase the speed at which they were promoted and given a higher salary.

Di Lin replied without any impatience. "Homework."

Aridi was impatient. "Can't you just say the entire thing on your own?"

Di Lin could only elaborate a bit more to complete his statement. "Homework assigned by the tutor."

T/N: Happy Valentine's Day!

Chapter end