CHAPTER 345: STUDYING SPELLS

After losing to Flame Dancer Nosse, due to the nature of the point-based selection system, the opponents Lyra faced the next day were noticeably weaker. Having already fought strong opponents, facing students slightly inferior to herself, Lyra won much faster than before.

Riding a winning streak, her points rising steadily, she soon encountered another Magnus level senior. Though she still didn’t win this time, two consecutive battles above her level had accumulated valuable experience. This precious insight allowed her to perform far more skillfully in her next match against an opponent one full rank above her.

Of course, while her combat experience had increased, her fundamental strength hadn’t improved significantly. Winning against sorcerers remained unrealistic. Ultimately, after five days of preliminary matches, Lyra finished with twelve wins and three losses, securing the fourth and final spot to represent Elizabeth Academy of Magic in the main tournament.

At this moment, less than a week remained before the official competition began.

In the city of Seville, Kingdom of Velvys, Monica offered a final prayer before the holy statue, then handed her pendant, the symbol of her status as Saintess, to a nun, instructing her to keep it safely within the Church.

According to her agreement with the Emperor of Valeria Empire, the moment she stepped onto imperial soil, she would no longer be the Saintess, the second-highest figure in the Church of Light beneath the Pope, but merely an ordinary noble accompanying a delegation of exchange students from a neighboring country.

Additionally, Monica was forbidden from spreading her nation’s faith to any citizen of the Valeria Empire. Should she be caught, the Emperor had the right to punish and expel her from the empire.

Stepping out of the church, the sunlight outside was blindingly bright. Monica spotted the carriage waiting on the street. After confirming her identity, she stepped into the cabin.

Though officially listed as an attendant, Monica’s status in her homeland was clear. No matter how things were arranged, it was impossible for her to share a carriage with ordinary servants. For most of this journey, she would be sharing the same cabin with Princess Iris Kroyd.

Seeing a flash of brown long hair enter her vision, followed by a slender, smooth leg sheathed in white sheer stockings, Iris sat holding a folding fan, her expression unchanged.

"We meet again, Your Grace, the Saintess."

"Good morning, Princess Iris."

Monica softly replied, sitting down across from Iris with her legs neatly together.

Though nominally, Monica was Saintess and Iris was Princess, both of equal standing, when it came to political influence and overall power, the former far surpassed the latter.

King Velvys had eight children. The eldest and second sons were the most likely to succeed the throne. Iris not only had no chance at succession, but was also the least favored by her father due to political disagreements. Monica, on the other hand, was the legitimate incumbent Saintess, second only to the Pope within the Church, above all others.

"Our last meeting was too brief; I didn’t get the chance to speak properly with Your Grace..."

"Would now be an acceptable time to talk?"

A faint magical fluctuation lingered in the carriage. As a Magnus, Monica immediately recognized it as a soundproofing barrier, at least at the Magnus level in strength.

"If Princess Iris wishes, of course we may speak."

"After all, our short-term goals align. We should support each other during this journey."

Upon hearing this, the wariness in Iris’s eyes did not fade. She continued to gaze at Monica, with a voice low.

"As far as I know, the mainstream ideology within the Church of Light has gradually shifted, from freedom and equality, to spreading the faith across every corner of the continent..."

"This coincides perfectly with my father’s current actions. He hopes to use this holy war to expand our territory, thereby easing the irreconcilable tensions between nobles and commoners."

In Iris’s eyes, the royal family and the Church had rarely agreed on anything in recent years. Just a few years ago, the Church of Light had openly opposed the King’s increased military spending and condemned his deliberate instigation of border conflicts.

Now, with the Church advocating outward propagation of faith, Valeria Empire, the nation that once expelled the gods, became the largest gathering of heretics. Freed from the Church’s constraints, the royal family passed multiple bills strengthening the military. Anyone could feel that war was imminent.

"If Your Grace truly shares my goals, doesn’t that mean you’ve betrayed the entire Church of Light?"

The moment Iris finished speaking, Monica across from her smiled faintly and softly replied,

"Princess Iris speaks too harshly. Do you not also hold political views different from your elder brother? Does that mean you’ve betrayed the royal family that raised you, or your noble father?"

Throwing an accusation of heresy right at the start, Monica wouldn’t take that bait.

Iris didn’t trust her now, and Monica didn’t fully trust Iris either. If the other side had recorded their conversation with a crystal stone, it could become highly damaging evidence later.

Better to be cautious with words and actions.

Hearing Monica’s reply, Iris inwardly thought, What a sly fox. She quickly explained,

"Though my views differ from my father and brothers, they are still for the sake of the kingdom."

"And is Your Grace acting for the sake of the Church of Light as well?"

"..."

After a moment of silence, Monica answered, "Naturally."

Having been baptized by the Pope since childhood, Monica had long resolved to sacrifice everything for the god she served.

Upon hearing this, Iris fluttered her eyelashes, gazing intently into those orange-golden pupils before her.

The wheels rolled over uneven pavement. Trees on both sides of the road briefly blocked the sunlight, dimming the brightness inside the carriage.

"To speak honestly about faith, Princess Iris..." Monica smoothed her pure white Saintess’s dress, the silken hem covering her shapely thighs sheathed in white stockings.

"I truly find it difficult to sense genuine devotion in your words."

In the past Iris rarely attended church prayers. Even now, despite claiming faith, her weekly daytime prayers seemed like mere formalities, never lingering a second longer than necessary.

At Monica’s words, Iris’s fingers lightly tapped the armrest. After a long pause, she spoke.

"Perhaps Your Grace simply doesn’t know me well enough to make such a judgment."

"I am unquestionably a believer of the God of Light, upholding ’His’ teachings and enjoying ’His’ blessings."

The current Kingdom of Velvys was unlike any period in its past. If one didn’t follow the Church of Light’s teachings and was branded a heretic, life would become extremely difficult.

Seeing Iris’s quick response and firm tone, Monica sighed inwardly, though her expression remained calm.

"I hope so."

Even a princess must constantly avoid giving others grounds for accusation. She didn’t know whether to be glad that the Church’s control over the kingdom had strengthened, or to feel helpless at the increasingly narrow interpretation of doctrine and the faith enforced through coercion.

Fanaticism, obsession, arrogance, aggression, the Church of Light should not be like this.

The air inside the carriage fell into a brief silence. Neither spoke again. The carriage passed from shade into the open plain, and brilliant light once again poured through the windows, spreading across the wooden floor beneath their feet.

"Saintess, what do you intend to do?"

After an unknown length of time, Iris spoke first.

She desperately wanted to prevent the kingdom from stepping onto the irreversible path of war, but reality seemed indifferent to her personal wishes.

Monica glanced at the scorching sunlight outside the window. After a moment, her pink lips parted slightly.

"To be honest, I myself am completely confused about what I should do now."

"But I think, once I truly set foot on Valeria Empire’s soil, I might find a relatively reasonable solution."

This was the answer she had sought from the gaze projected by the deity.

In that distant empire, there might exist someone capable of altering the fate of both nations.

Someone whom even the sun bows to, a person blessed by the gods.

Staring at the brown-haired Saintess across from her, now with eyes closed as if about to pray, Iris brushed her hair aside, about to speak, when suddenly Monica spoke again.

"Your Highness."

"Have you ever heard the name Astrid Calliste?"

Perhaps this adopted, non-blood royal daughter of Hibbort might be the one she was searching for.

............

"Lyra, after meditation ends, come to my room."

That night, in the training tower of Elizabeth Academy of Magic, Lyra was slightly surprised upon hearing Astrid’s words, but obediently nodded.

"Understood, Astrid."

She’d heard that tomorrow was the day foreign guests would enter the capital, and the magic exchange competition would officially begin the day after. Astrid meeting her privately now likely meant she had something important to say.

Watching Astrid walk into the training room, Lyra used her key to open the door. Once the door closed, the light mark on her fingernail flashed, and a semi-transparent longsword materialized from a shadowy form into reality.

Time was running short. She needed to work even harder.

At the same time, just one wall away, Astrid gently touched the ruby brooch at her chest, and a neatly bound parchment book emanating magical fluctuations appeared in her hands.

Thanks to her access to the artifact storage room, Astrid had frequently copied ancient spell incantations from it. Due to her ice affinity being exceptional and dark affinity outstanding, her daily focus was mostly on spells from these two elements.

This didn’t mean Astrid ignored other elemental magics. She had also studied light magic, Lyra’s specialty, wind magic, which Charlotte researched extensively, and water and lightning dual-element magic, Amalia’s forte.

With the competition approaching, seeing Lyra working so hard every day, Astrid wanted to help the girl improve her strength just a little.

She flipped through the pages and found the Sorcerer-level spell she had previously studied: [Fleeting Light and Shifting Shadows].

Astrid activated her elemental vision. Her lips parted slightly as she softly chanted the common incantation she had translated.

"Pure light that wraps the world, you are the mother of shadows, the foundation upon which all things are built..."

The deeper Astrid delved into Gemini’s common-language magic system, the more she noticed its differences from ancient incantations. The latter achieved various effects by interpreting and communicating with world elements, while the former allowed a mage’s mental energy to be perceived by elements through specific arrangements of words, thereby drawing them to produce the desired result.

In Astrid’s view, Gemini’s magic system had many commendable aspects. Although spells cast with common incantations were far weaker than those using ancient ones, they offered significant convenience, such as the self-created spells Charlotte had repeatedly emphasized.

Creating a new spell required not only familiarity with elemental particle arrangements and constructing the corresponding array, but also a magical incantation to release it, one that had to be stitched together from fragments of other spells.

For instance, the standard incantation for the Fireball Spell "The spirit of the fiery fire, bestows upon me the power to scorch my enemies" contains an opening line that refers to the enduring nature and qualities of fire. This initial part, which highlights the fire element and its characteristics, can also be reused as the introductory phrase in other fire-based spells.

For example, Fireball Explosion: "O mighty flame, sovereign of brilliance and blaze, unleash your wrath and bring justice to the wicked."

When creating a new spell, if the circle structure resembled both Fireball Explosion and Fireball Spell, the creator could chant "O mighty flame" as the first line. Similarly, if the second line resembled other fire spells, that phrase could also be grafted in.

In other words, the more spells one learned, the more fragments of incantations one could cut and combine, leading to greater freedom in formulation.

This was also a key reason why mages generally believed knowledge was the source of power.

Of course, ultimately, the most important aspect of creating a new spell was one’s understanding of arrays and elemental particle arrangements. Common incantations were merely tools for release, not directly pointing to the core of the spell like ancient language did.

"...Please turn your mercy and love into a sharp blade."

The incantation ended. Countless fragmented specks of light suddenly appeared around Astrid. These once-harmless shards of light now carried destructive radiance capable of harming targets.

Feeling the intense destructive power attached to each speck, the area within five meters became a deadly zone, any being attempting to enter would be instantly melted by light elements.

Within her elemental vision, agitated light elements scattered and shifted actively. Astrid guided them with her mental energy, the dense light points rippling like waves on water.

Without ancient language, the spell’s strength was only about that of a high-tier caster.

It should be just right for Lyra.

She ceased channeling mental energy, and the light specks quickly dissipated. Astrid silently repeated the incantation she had just chanted, once again confirming her translated version was correct.

That way, her little maid would have a slightly better chance of victory, and wouldn’t have to keep miserably locking herself in the training room every day.