Born into a poor family, Lyra had no extra money to hire a specialized magic teacher.
When she first gained access to magic, she accidentally purchased a magic book with missing pages and sections from a street stall.
Left with no choice, she had to slowly explore the unannotated parts of the book on her own.
Of course, self-study couldn't compare to learning under a teacher's guidance.
To compensate, Lyra privately prepared a notebook dedicated to recording the doubts and difficulties she encountered while practicing magic. She planned to consult a teacher once she entered the academy.
However, she never got the chance to et a teacher, instead, she found herself detained.
"Did you have any difficulties learning magic?"
When Her Royal Highness Astrid asked her this, Lyra's initial excitent faded as reality set in. She recalled her eting with Miss Lina earlier that morning. Lina had shared a lot of negative rumors about Princess Astrid, including the fact that she had voluntarily given up her admission to Elizabeth Academy of Magic because she was "too lazy to use her brain."
In other words, Astrid had never formally studied magic.
"Yes, there have been so difficulties," Lyra replied softly.
She assud Astrid's question was rely casual.
"Can you be more specific?" Astrid pressed.
Lyra hesitated for a mont before recalling a persistent issue she had faced with a particular spell.
"I've been struggling with an entry-level spell called the Flowing Wind Guard..."
The Flowing Wind Guard was a spell that enchanted a weapon with wind elental energy, making it easier to deflect stray arrows or parry attacks. Astrid had read about it in a wizard's prir but had never attempted it herself due to a lack of proper tools.
"Perhaps I'm doing sothing wrong... The book says the ntal energy cost for the Flowing Wind Guard is minimal, but every ti I use it, I find it incredibly draining. It feels much more difficult than other spells of the sa level..."
Not only was the ntal energy consumption excessive, but the spell's duration and effectiveness also fell far short of the description.
"Show ,"
She raised her hand and pushed open the window, allowing the outside wind to sweep into the room.
Though unsure of Astrid's intentions, Lyra obediently picked up the knight's sword from the corner and quickly entered her elental vision.
"Free wind elent, please grant the strength to cut through iron."
As the incantation ended, Astrid felt the air in the room begin to stir. Her hair and skirt swayed gently in the growing breeze.
At the sa ti, Lyra expanded her elental vision. The knight's sword in her hand beca heavily entangled with several light green, filantous currents of air.
Astrid noticed that the wind elents on the blade's surface seed to be suppressed by Lyra's ntal energy, forced to flow and squeeze in a single direction.
No wonder... She's expending so much ntal energy just to control the wind's direction...
Lyra swung the knight's sword slightly, and the blade carried a stronger gust of wind than usual.
After half a minute, Astrid spoke softly, "Stop."
She had identified the problem.
Hearing this, Lyra terminated the flow of her spiritual energy and slowly lowered the tip of her sword to the ground.
"Give the sword. I'll demonstrate."
Lyra froze at Astrid's words, a flicker of doubt crossing her eyes.
Princess Astrid... wants to demonstrate in person?
Her gaze fell on Astrid's hands, delicate, slender, and impeccably maintained, without a single callus. It was clear they had never gripped a sword hilt before.
"...Just let see your sword." Seeing Lyra hesitate, Astrid repeated herself.
"I'm not going to break it."
Hearing the coldness in Astrid's tone, Lyra quickly handed over the hilt of the sword, explaining softly, "I... I'm just worried about Her Royal Highness getting hurt."
Lyra was less concerned about her weapon being damaged and more about the silver-haired princess accidentally injuring herself.
Astrid snorted softly, taking the knight's sword without further comnt.
The tal hilt felt slightly cool, still carrying the residual warmth of Lyra's palm. Astrid channeled her spiritual energy, beginning to gather the free wind elents in the air.
Through her elental vision, Lyra observed an occult reaction on the surface of the knight's sword. The previously unruly wind elents beca docile under Astrid's control, smoothly flattening against the blade.
Princess Astrid's casting speed... was much faster than hers...
"Free wind elent, please grant the strength to cut through iron."
As Astrid recited the incantation for the Flowing Wind Guard, the light green, filantous currents of air swiftly wound around the spine of the sword, forming several tiny whirlwinds.
Lyra's mouth opened slightly, her eyes filled with disbelief.
With the ability to gather wind elents so quickly and achieve such precise control, Princess Astrid was clearly no entry-level novice in magic.
Could she really be the sa person rumored to have given up her enrollnt at the academy because she was "too lazy to use her brain"?
To help Lyra understand more clearly, Astrid brought the blade of the sword close to her hair.
The gentle wind it generated flowed through her silver locks, soft and soothing.
But when the sword moved away, the wind elents attached to it suddenly turned aggressive. Lyra could even hear the faint sound of air being sliced around her.
After a while, the wind eased slightly, and Astrid held the sword, asking in a cool tone, "Do you see clearly now?"
Lyra nodded. "Yes... I think I understand sothing..."
Astrid had activated the Flowing Wind Guard, but she hadn't used all her ntal energy to control the wind's direction. Instead of forcing the wind elents into a specific path by blocking their movent, Astrid had woven her spiritual energy into a net, sifting through the winds and guiding them where she wanted.
Rather than exerting rigid control, her thod was more about subtle guidance, leading each wisp of wind to its intended destination. Even if the wind didn't cooperate perfectly, it never beca an obstacle.
Listening to Lyra's earnest explanation, Astrid nodded, her expression as cool as ever.
"Good understanding. No wonder you were admitted to the Elizabeth Academy of Magic."
She didn't need to explain further; Lyra had grasped the essence just by observing.
Truly worthy of being the protagonist of the original story.
On the other hand, when Lyra heard Astrid ntion the Elizabeth Academy of Magic, her emotions grew complicated, and she couldn't help but feel a pang of resentnt.
If you hadn't gone so far... I wouldn't be in this situation either...
"Your Highness Astrid... Why did you suddenly decide to teach magic?"
But to return to the point, Astrid's unexpected act of kindness left Lyra puzzled.
After all, because of that dance invitation, Astrid had always treated her as a rival in matters of the heart... Why would she help soone she clearly disliked?
It was all too strange.
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