PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

499 Chapter 499 Different Kinds Of Understanding

Calm and cold was all there was; a limitless expanse of white with a hint of blue was all in sight, eternal ice stretching to the end of the cosmos. At first glance, there seemed to be nothing but ice and snow in this world, portraying how the cold could wipe out all traces of life, but if one looked more carefully, one would find someone sitting in the middle of the eternal blizzard.

Due to not only her appearance but also her presence that blended in so well in this world, it was easy to lose sight of this person, but the sparkle in her blue eyes gave Silvia away.

Silvia didn’t remember how she got here; her memories of the last minutes were fuzzy, but, for some reason, it didn’t seem to bother her, as if being in this world of ice and snow was natural to her.

Silvia didn’t know how much time had passed because her mind began to wander long ago, absorbed and hypnotized by the beautiful landscape. Others might see only ice and snow, but Silvia saw more. Silvia saw coldness, calm, solidity, stubbornness, time, death, and much more.

Some concepts she had never related to ice before now seemed so linked to this element that she controlled. It was a new understanding on her part; despite this, Silvia began to feel that these were things that she always knew.

So many ideas, images, and concepts filled Silvia’s calm mind, deepening her understanding and control of ice. The solidity of age-old ice that surpasses even steel, the coldness that devours the warmth of life, the stillness that ice could bring, and the freezing of time itself; are all notions within the domain of this frozen world.

Hours turned into days, days into years, or had even a second passed? Silvia didn’t know. All she knew was that she now understood ice differently than she did in the past.

But not only did Silvia’s understanding change, but also her mentality and maturity. In the same way that understanding and channeling certain mana elements altered and influenced Desmond’s mood, Silvia underwent her own mindset changes.

Cold as frost, calm as a snowfield, beautiful as a white lily, unbreakable as ancient ice, unstoppable as a blizzard, always hiding the aggression and retribution of an ice storm; Silvia had matured a lot during her time in this world.

.....

But wasn’t time just an illusion? What was eternity but a blink? What was this world of ice and snow but more than the result of a contradiction? Questions that were never asked got an answer as the world of ice and snow began to crumble, leaving behind nothing but black and white feathers.

Silvia opened her eyes, forgetting that she had even closed them, and looking around her, colors that she had not seen in a long time delighted her gaze again. She was again back in this world, which, although it was not as beautiful as that world of ice and snow, was where the person who meant the world to Silvia was.

At a glance, Silvia found that her stone platform was covered in frost, while the platform Sasha used to stand on had been reduced to ashes. It was strange, it felt like years had passed, but not considering the stone platforms, the environment around Silvia hadn’t changed much.

The only visible change from Silvia’s point of view was the position of all the people in the house and what they were doing. Starting with Sasha, she was no longer on the stone platform; in its place, she was lying on someone’s lap on the porch.

Claire, one of the few people Silvia thought of while in that white world, was now dozing with her face resting on someone’s shoulder. The person who brought her here and put her through all this strangeness, Desmond, he was asleep now, his body leaning against the edge of the porch exit, with Claire leaning on his shoulder and Sasha asleep on his lap.

The last person present was Cecilia; she was the only person who was not in some way enjoying physical closeness with Desmond. Instead, Cecilia sat on the opposite side of Desmond reading a book while drinking a cup of hot tea.

The change of scenery would have momentarily stunned old Silvia, but that was no longer the case; she calmly got up from her spot, scattering all the ice and snow around her with nothing more than a wave of her hand. Beautiful frost particles dispersed in the wind, an ice princess exuding an air of elegance, maturity, and calm, a moment that could well become a work of art.

With a different kind of calm, exuding a feeling of warmth and motherhood, Cecilia flashed a friendly smile in Silvia’s direction before gesturing for silence as she gestured at the trio of sleeping people.

Unlike the sharp, cold, and insensitive feeling she used to have, Silvia showed a smile full of freshness and serenity, nodding in Cecilia’s direction as she approached.

Once she was close enough to her, Silvia asked a question that had been haunting her mind ever since she woke up. “How long has it been?”

Having a vague idea of ??what Silvia had experienced from Desmond’s explanation, Cecilia didn’t find the question strange. “It was an hour before Sasha was able to get out. You spent another couple of hours there.”

Silvia found the difference between her perception of time and the actual passage of time disconcerting, but her strong sense of calm made her face stay the same, and her thoughts continued to flow smoothly.

Others might find the change in Silvia’s personality subtle, but Cecilia could practically see into people’s hearts, so she noticed Silvia’s new maturity as soon as she woke up.

Showing that she did not need to take orders to be helpful, Estela silently appeared at Silvia’s side, extending her small white marble hands and offering Silvia a still steaming cup of tea.

Silvia had matured and strengthened certain aspects of her own mentality, but the central core of her personality and who she was was still there. As soon as she was offered a hot drink, that need for warmth within Silvia came out. Finding this instinctive need for warmth quite endearing, Silvia hugged the feeling happily, taking the cup and savoring the tea in small, leisurely gulps.

While they both enjoyed their tea, Cecilia and Silvia spent a few moments in silence. Sometimes there was no need for words between two people; sometimes, silence brought its own comfort.

During this silence, Silvia’s gaze found its way from her to Desmond on more than one occasion, finding the scene rather fascinating. Silvia was used to dealing with the all-powerful, domineering, and intense Desmond, and this was something else entirely.

Desmond looked exhausted, helpless, and incredibly calm, different from the violent and strict side that he consistently showed, different even from that caring and passionate side that he sometimes showed. Desmond looked almost weak, but Silvia didn’t feel sorry for him; on the contrary, she envied him to a certain extent.

Silvia envied Desmond because he seemed extraordinarily content and calm, bathed in the warmth and love of the two people he loved who refused to leave his side.

Silvia was not interested in romance; she had never had much interest in the subject, which became more evident after she obtained her powers. Even now, it was as if a layer of frost surrounded her heart, ensuring she did not yearn for such things. She did not desire the company of a man or a woman; the only thing that existed within Silvia’s heart was the love for her sister, but that didn’t stop her from finding something moving about seeing Desmond like this.

After quietly asking Cecilia, it turned out that Desmond had practically passed out after using his new power, so Claire quickly went to him and brought him aside to rest. By the time Sasha emerged from her feather dome, Desmond and Claire were already asleep. After hearing Cecilia’s explanation, Sasha immediately took possession of Desmond’s lap and rested.

In a way, Desmond and the rest were a bunch of happy-go-lucky people, able to take a nap while such a grand, brilliant, large-scale event was happening in their yard only feet away;. However, according to Cecilia, the whole process was actually relatively silent.

Silvia processed all the new information smoothly, looking with feelings of gentle affection at the sleeping trio. She had changed; this went beyond her new mentality. Silvia could feel it even now as she rested and talked; she had become much more powerful.

This power that once felt alien and incomprehensible was now part of the essence of her existence. It was like another aspect of herself, part of her body and mind, an extension of her will.

Interestingly, one of the first things that went through Silvia’s mind when she felt this new power was how it would help keep Samantha safe, a thought that made her look back at Desmond. It’s not that she didn’t know or understand in the past, but that she refused to accept the notion of her and Desmond not being too different from each other.

Maybe it was this new, more mature, and calm mindset or this new understanding and view that Silvia gained from Desmond, but those resentments and complaints she had held against Desmond were melting away like a snowflake.