Calca stared in a daze at the rotating magic circle before her. This meant the most difficult hurdle in the entire casting process had been cleared; as long as she adjusted her state of mind and synchronized the circle construction with her incantation, everything would fall into place.
She instinctively gave a light wave of her hand. That strange sensation surged through her heart once more—the sound of crashing waves echoed in her ears, and the phantom silhouette of Brilliant-Angel-Mao~Miao flickered into existence. Invisible mana, once dyed by her will, traced through her thoughts at high speed, blooming in the air like an ultramarine flower.
The moment it fully blossomed, Calca slowly exhaled the command: "[Sleep]."
Instantly, the magic locked onto Mariana standing nearby. Calca's heart jolted; she wanted to pull it back, but it was already too late.
"[First Tier Resistance Boost]."
Mariana gave a soft smile, her counter-spell arriving first. A faint blue glimmer enveloped her before shattering and vanishing like glass. The [Sleep] spell was perfectly neutralized.
"Princess Calca, casting requires focus, but you must not invest your entire spirit into it. We must still observe our surroundings and confirm our targets," Mariana teased with a smile. "A teacher wouldn't want to go face-down in the middle of a classroom, after all!"
A ripple of laughter from the young princes and princesses broke out in the room. With a single look, Mariana restored silence to the rowdy classroom, displaying the authority of the Temple's second-in-command. She ruffled Calca's head to comfort her. "It's a common occurrence for those casting for the first time. Even if I had been hit, I could have resisted it. I only did that to teach you: you must be fast—fast enough that your opponent cannot react."
Mariana had never lost sight of her true goal: she needed Fifth-Tier magical knowledge. The complexity of a magic circle directly dictated its Tier, and the cost of trial-and-error in creating high-tier magic was astronomically high. The genius girl before her was her only hope.
"Now then, let's adjust the plan. Why don't we try to master the rest of those spells?"
"I am at the Great Priestess's disposal."
In the instruction that followed, Calca once again displayed a suffocating level of talent. There wasn't a single spell that required more than two attempts; she succeeded on her third try at the absolute latest, usually mastering them in one go. If Mariana hadn't intentionally throttled the pace of the lessons, Calca could have overtaken everyone in the room in a single day.
The previously lazy atmosphere of the classroom was utterly detonated. The princes and princesses practiced like mad, terrified of being completely left in the dust by a sister who had only been in school for two days. The sheer pressure of being in the presence of the "Wind God's Favored" caused even the grumbles about the new curriculum to vanish.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, Calca skipped back to her quarters clutching her books. Today, she had mastered four lifestyle spells, along with [Protection from Evil] and [Light]. Her progress had already surpassed Damien's and that of the eight-year-old Fourth Prince, Ian.
While I'm in the zone, I might as well fleece a little more wool!
Calca jogged into her private chapel and knelt to pray. The world spun, and she once again arrived in that ethereal space. Only this time, she wondered if it was just her imagination, or if the radiance surrounding Brilliant-Angel-Mao~Miao seemed a little dimmer than before?
────────────────────────────────────────
Support me here: https://[email protected]/AuAuMon
Spring Sale Special – 20% OFF!
I'm not the Queen Greatsword. (70 Chapters, Ongoing)
────────────────────────────────────────