"What did you see?"
Elder Attar's weathered voice echoed through the hall. He raised his head, his clear gaze falling on the young wizards. There was not the slightest hint of aggression in it, yet it made them feel as though they had been seen through completely.
"A spinning top." Zheng Qing was the first to answer the old man's question. Then, feeling his answer was a little too simple, he hurriedly added, "A spinning top that's spinning."
Adding a classifier and an adjective made his answer seem a little more complete. The young government-funded student thought to himself that this answer could not possibly be wrong.
"A perfectly proper answer." Elder Attar smiled without offering any further evaluation. He merely nodded, then shifted his gaze to Jiang Yu beside him.
The witch pondered for a moment.
"Balance." She stared at the spinning top whirling at high speed and elaborated, "Balance is founded on mutual trust. It is a dynamic process."
The old man raised his brows slightly.
"A very interesting explanation." A trace of interest appeared on his face. "But I can tell that you have not voiced all of your thoughts."
Jiang Yu reached up and touched a jade pendant at her chest, then closed her eyes.
A flash of blue light passed over the pendant.
When she opened her eyes again, the respect in them had vanished, replaced by calm detachment. Her voice had also become somewhat hollow.
The change was extremely subtle, however, and difficult for others to notice.
After pausing for a moment, the witch spoke again. "Zoogs and cats, truth and falsehood, yin and yang, Wizards and Demons—everything in this world exists in dynamic balance..."
The old cat that had led Zheng Qing and the others to meet Elder Attar let out a loud