Valtava's words left Hisui montarily at a loss.
The young girl turned to Marco with pleading eyes.
"Accept it."
After so thought, Marco spoke.
"You can always buy another one to return to your grandmaster later." Marco smiled.
Since Master Valtava was willing to give the Celestial Spirit Lyra's key to Hisui, she should accept it.
Valtava had even invoked the "master-disciple lineage" argunt—clearly he was serious, and there was no need to go against his wishes.
"R-really? Is this okay?"
Hisui stared blankly at Marco, hesitating to reach for the key.
"Don't feel burdened, child. Your master is a genius, so he doesn't need Lyra. As for , I've studied for so many years that I no longer need her either. Right now, you're the one who needs Lyra the most."
Valtava smiled warmly as he persuaded Hisui.
His words rang true—among the three of them, only the fledgling Hisui truly needed Lyra's companionship.
"Why do I feel zero joy hearing you put it that way?"
Lyra, who had been grinning cheerfully until now, looked deeply wounded.
What stung her the most was that Valtava wasn't just spouting nonsense—she genuinely couldn't refute his logic.
Neither Valtava nor Marco needed her; she was utterly useless by their sides.
"Then... I'll humbly accept."
Under Marco and Valtava's encouragent, Hisui finally stopped hesitating and reached out to take the silver key of the Celestial Spirit Lyra.
Valtava and Lyra dissolved the contract they'd maintained for years.
"But now I'm feeling reluctant."
After the contract was dissolved, Lyra suddenly spoke up with a smile, making Valtava shake his head at her in amusent.
Having spent so many years together, their bond had long transcended the ordinary.
In truth, Valtava believed passing on the key now was for the best—better for everyone than waiting until he died of old age soday.
"It's not like we'll never see each other again. I should still have a few years left in ." Valtava chuckled.
At his age and with his experiences, he'd long made peace with matters of life and death.
"You better live a long ti. I'm not ready to say goodbye to a friend so soon." Lyra spoke sincerely to Valtava.
As a Celestial Spirit, she should theoretically be more detached from mortal partings.
Across their endless lifespans, Celestial Spirits had bid farewell to countless humans.
Of course, individual personalities varied—so spirits might have grown numb, while others still cared deeply.
For a friend like Valtava—soone who'd accompanied her since youth—Lyra clearly cared very much.
"..."
Marco watched silently, understanding the bond between Valtava and Lyra.
For so reason, it gave him a "diamonds are forever" kind of vibe.
Unlike Marco, Hisui stood nearby with tears welling in her eyes, already imagining herself as an old woman parting from Lyra soday.
This seed to be the inevitable fate of every Celestial Spirit Mage who lived to old age.
The thought felt cruel—cruel for the mages, and cruel for the spirits too.
Perhaps even crueler for the spirits.
After all, they not only had to face their friends' mortality, but also the possibility of failing in battle to protect them, leading to their friends' deaths.
Therefore, Marco thought it was quite normal for Celestial Spirits to be sowhat indifferent to life and death.
Even if it was a self-preservation chanism, a little indifference was understandable.
With Hisui and Lyra signing the contract, Valtava and Hisui had essentially completed the formal handover of the key.
That things would end this way was sothing Marco hadn't anticipated.
He wasn't sure if it was just a whim of Valtava's, but now that things had co to this, it would be awkward for him to take the key back.
"You should still have your father help you collect keys," Marco reminded Hisui.
It would be best to find another Celestial Spirit Lyra key.
After all, Lyra had accompanied Valtava for so many years—seeing things through to the end would be a worthy tribute to their friendship.
"Yes! I understand, Master," Hisui readily agreed.
She, too, had been moved by the bond between Lyra and Valtava, so she would ask her father to do his best in the search.
But such things truly depended on fate.
"Focus on learning the lyre well."
With this matter settled, Marco, Lyra, and Valtava began joint lessons for Hisui.
Having three lyre masters teaching her alone was a stroke of great fortune.
However, opportunities for such combined instruction were rare.
Whenever Marco went out on missions, he'd be absent for ten days to half a month.
Ironically, as her master, he ended up spending the least ti teaching her.
*****
Half a year passed and the year turned to X779.
In those six months, Marco's actual teaching ti hadn't been extensive, but he was undoubtedly the most crucial one—because only he could guide Hisui in connecting with the Lyra constellation.
This fact left the Celestial Spirit Lyra particularly disheartened.
More than once, she had remarked that Marco should be the one to inherit the title of Celestial Spirit of Lyra instead.
Of course, this wasn't actually possible, and Marco himself had joked that if anyone should step aside, it ought to be the Celestial Spirit King—after all, he wasn't limited to resonating solely with the Lyra constellation.
"Good, you're getting the hang of it, aren't you?"
Under the starry sky, Marco guided Hisui in attuning herself to the Lyra constellation.
The truth was, his disciple's progress in this regard couldn't compare to his own.
Even with his constant guidance, it had taken Hisui half a year just to grasp the basics—barely managing to absorb a small amount of Star Magic for her own use.
There was no helping it.
She couldn't wear a Cloth, so she couldn't take the sa shortcuts Marco had.
He had noticed early on that the Cloth indeed helped him quickly establish a connection with the celestial constellations.
But his disciples had to first forge that connection with the stars before they could earn the right to wield a Cloth—a far more daunting challenge.
Marco had spent a long ti practicing the "Pegasus teor Fist" before he could communicate with the stars.
Without his persistent guidance, Hisui wouldn't have even co close in just six months.
"Such pure magic… Is this the power of the stars?"
Feeling the radiant Star Magic descending from the sky, Hisui was deeply astonished.
The pure energy flowing into her body seed to invigorate her entire being—which made sense, as magic was the very essence of life.
Infused with such refined power, it was only natural for her to feel revitalized.
This is precisely the "bug" of Dragon Slayer Mages.
Those Dragon Slayer Mages can rapidly replenish their magic power by consuming their elents, instantly becoming fully energized and vigorous again—giving them a trendous advantage over ordinary mages.
In a way, Marco's Celestial Spirit Magic—which draws Star Magic from the sky to empower himself—is even more overpowered than Dragon Slayer Magic.
After all, elents such as fire, iron, and lightning aren't necessarily available everywhere, but the stars in the sky remain eternally suspended.
No matter where you are, you can always look up and see them.
-----------------------------
Read 40 chapters ahead and support on patreon.
patreon (.)com/Newbietranslator
User Comments
0 comments from readers