“Are you ready?”
Right now, I’m having yet another dejavu, but this time… the dejavu is from my current self’s memory as Lyra.
Same setting, same people, same atmosphere.
But the magic tool used is different.
Yes, you may have guessed what usually comes after sixth birthday?
Today—just one day after my sixth birthday—Mom brought me over to her workplace so I could get my magic tested.
“Un,” I nodded.
But before I can approach the testing machine, Mom stopped me.
“Ah, wait a minute, Lyra.”
I reflexively turned over and faced her with a big question mark over my head.
Her hands went over my neck and removed my necklace.
“Congratulations on graduating from the ‘training-safety’ necklace, Lyra,” She calmly took my necklace and placed it in her arms.
That’s right, I’m 6 now. My magic’s fully developed, so there is no need for me to wear the necklace!
Aah, what a pity, though. I liked the necklace, and it was from Mom, too…
But then I recalled Mom’s words yesterday morning.
She postponed her birthday gift and promised to give me one after this final magic test. Could it be… magic tools? To aid my magic training? Another necklace?
In a split second, my dejection turned into anticipation.
“Alright, now put your hand on that machine over there. My Provice will show the result,” Meredea turned over her chair and reached out her hand to pat my head.
“My, you’re getting taller, Lyra!” She exclaimed.
Of course, Meredea! I’m in my growth period, after all! It would be scary if I don’t get taller…
Back then, my height as Reinst was categorized as slightly above the average girl my age.
Right now, my height is similar to Luca’s. Can I consider this as a good sign? That I will at least be considered tall?
“Lyra, is something the matter?”
Mom’s voice pulled me back to reality.
“Nothing, I was just dozing off… I’m ready!”
Yup, there is no need for me to be so anxious.
I mean, I’ve done the first test before… it’s not like the result will change, right?
Eeh but if it can change… I hope that my strongest magic will be Ice~
The moment I put my hand on top of the machine, it made a weird noise and the lights blinked.
Uhm, is this alright?
I have forgotten the moment I took the magic test as Reinst, as it was not important to me at that time.
After a short while, the machine stopped reacting and that was my cue to lift my hand up.
“How is the result?”
I turned over and asked Mom and Meredea, who were glued on the Provice’s screen.
Their faces looked so serious!!
Mom seemed to be thinking of something and she moved her hands around the table to do something I couldn’t really see… (Naturally, my height lost to the table’s height!)
clatter, clatter
Her hand movement made that sound.
Alright, now I’m a bit nervous…
“Uhm…”
My voice managed to bring back the two magicians lost in their own worlds to the reality again.
“Oh, that’s right, of course you would love to know it, Lyra,” Mom quickly grabbed a paper and brought it to me. She seemed to be holding something else in her other hand, but she only handed me the paper. Seems like it’s a work-related thing…?
“Here is your result.”
I happily read the content of the paper and…
[Name : Alrescha Lyra Hartmann
Mana Capacity : 999
Magic Affinity :
- Neutral : 5/10
- Fire : 4/10
- Water : 7/10
- Thunder : 6/10
- Wind : 6/10
- Ice : 10/10
- Earth : 5/10
- Plant : 6/10
- Dark : 10/10
- Light : 8/10
- Life : 9/10
- Void : 0/10
Note : 0 = unable to use, 1-3 = weak, 4-6 = normal, 7-9 = strong, 10 = very strong]
“…”
It’s true that Ice is my strongest affinity, but so is Dark!
However, I don’t know why the first testing tool recorded Dark as my strongest affinity before Ice.
Was it sorted alphabetically in case of equal affinity?
And what is with that number of mana capacity? I’m only one mana less than Alt-nii?
“Amazing, Ophelia-sama! Your daughter’s mana capacity exceeds yours by exactly 111! What wonderful number!” Meredea looked at me and Mom with her usual sparkling eyes.
Then, she continued to hum these lines:
“Mother 888, Add 111, Daughter 999, what a wonderful math~♪”
“…”
Meredea is nerdy, it’s a fact.
“Amazing, Lyra! We have guessed your other affinities thanks to your independent experiment, but… no matter how we see it, this result is simply amazing!!”
Mom hugged me instead of lifting me up in the air—oh, let me tell you that I think Mom really wants to lift me up in the air in happiness, but sadly, I’ve grown up to be taller and heavier. Mom can’t really lift me up in the air like when I was a toddler.
Talk about the sadness of growing up and to be bigger…
Either way, Mom’s embrace is warm as always, it always makes me glad that I was forced to reincarnate as Lyra.
“Is it that amazing?”
—Whoops, that’s the only thing in my mind that I can utter… not a good choice. Since it’s quite a rhetorical question!
“Of course, Lyra! The mana capacity, the magic affinities… It’s truly… A-ma-zing!!” Meredea’s eyes sparkled even more, and that convinced me.
“The Head of Royal Magicians’ children are such talented magicians!! The future of the Royal Magician Court is bright!!” Meredea then put her hands up in the air, as if saying ‘banzai!’
“Haha, I don’t want to exaggerate things, but I also feel the same!” Mom showed her proud smile.
Mom’s proud smile is somehow warmer than my Mother’s proud smile.
Let see…
Mom’s proud smile = pride + warmth/love
Mother’s proud smile = pride + arrogance
…somehow, that’s the impression I got. Not that I discriminated against Mother… But that’s my deduction so far.
“Uhmmm, is it okay if I stay lowkey about this… when I enter school?” I quickly asked.
After all, being special has the consequence of being ostracized by the other children. I don’t want that.
“Well, nobody is against that, but… I doubt you can stay lowkey about it, Lyra…,” Mom’s face became quite conflicted before she continued.
“Altaire tried to stay lowkey but after a magic practice session at school…”
Even without her continuing, I can guess the rest of the story. There is no way you can hide your real ability, unless you really want to pretend like you’re bad at it. But by pretending, you would have less chance or opportunity to improve.
Then I should just enjoy my short lowkey period while I can…?
While I was dazing out imagining my school life, I suddenly felt a cold sensation around my neck—wait, this is?!
I turned over at Mom with a puzzled expression on my face.
Could this be…?
“I promised you, right? Here’s another necklace for you, but the magic enchantment is different,” Mom smiled.
After hearing her clarification, I picked up the necklace hanging on my neck and lifted it so that I could see the pendant well.
“This is…!!”
Such a cute pendant!
The framework forms the shape of a cat with a heart-shaped white gemstone in the middle of it! Judging from the appearance of the gemstone, this should be a moonstone.
“Do you like it?” Mom asked.
“Of course, I love it so much!” I quickly replied.
Yup, it’s no exaggeration.
“That’s good to know. Actually, you will still get this necklace regardless of the test result. The only thing that can potentially be changed is the gemstone and the magic enchantment,” Mom said.
“Then, is this moonstone? What about the magic enchantment?”
“Yes, that’s indeed moonstone. You sure know a lot! And as for the magic enchantment… Let’s say, it’s simply a charm to protect you from any negative influence that could cause imbalance in your Dark magic power. As I don’t want you to be in danger should anything happen.”
“Negative influence? Imbalance?”
“Yes, lots of factors can cause that. You will also have to deal with the negative influence when you decide to learn more about Dark magic. Which is why, the pursue of Dark power can be dangerous.”
Mom paused, and a mix of emotion could be seen in her face.
“Some of the dark magicians failed to conquer it and went astray… So, I don’t want you to be exposed to it before you are prepared.”
She proceeded to pat my head and hug me tighter.
“Don’t worry Mom, I will be careful!”
I can’t help but reassure her.
As long as I try to not cross the line with my dark magic, everything should be fine, right?
So, no problem! I’m not a child who wants to experiment with her own magic—I mean, for Dark element only!! Yes, stop looking at me with those doubtful and judgemental eyes!
I’m just an innocent and your ordinary little girl!!!
“Lyra, you’ve learned basic dark magic?”
“Yes, Meredea! And I also trained my other strong affinities!”
“How do you feel after practicing your strong affinities first? Like, [Dark] and [Ice], was it…?”
“Yup! Yes, training the other affinities seems to be easier after I tried learning [Ice] and [Dark] magic first… But would it be okay for me not to dwelve deeper into [Dark] magic?”
Whoops, I reflexively mentioned my doubt.
“Seeing that both [Ice] and [Dark] have 10 out of 10 affinity, then it should be alright as long as you keep training your [Ice] magic. After all, we advise you to be very prepared before dwelving deeper into [Dark] magic,” Meredea mentioned the same line that Mom just told me.
“Uhh, I don’t think I’m that interested in [Dark]…,” I reflexively answered.
“Well, having 10 out of 10 affinity… it’s really something else… so I thought you would naturally want to dig up your talent in [Dark] magic!” Meredea said with an expression that seemed to say, ‘That’s too bad…’
“Many dark magicians would kill to get a very high affinity and power in [Dark] magic,” Meredea continued to murmur.
“…”
“Lyra here doesn’t really like the idea of high level dark magic that involves mind manipulation or any nasty stuff,” Mom said as she patted my head.
“Eh? Then that’s easy! You could just learn the other magic! [Dark] magic has lots of branches!! With your affinity, I think anything’s possible—the super nasty stuff or the not nasty stuff!”
“Meredea. She needs time before she can try advancing her skills in [Dark] magic. Remember our former comrade…?”
“…My bad, you’re right, Ophelia-sama. I was too excited by her potential… I forgot to take into account about the difficulty and risk…,” Meredea finally decided to stop coaxing me to quickly advance my skills in [Dark] magic.
“Then, you should train the other magic while strengthening your mentality!!” Meredea curved her lips in satisfaction towards her own advice.
Strengthening my mentality…?
Oh well…
“Okay~!”
That’s what I’m planning to do from now on, anyway, so I can only give my consent.
“Okay, Lyra… Since we’re done here, do you want to go to play with Luca now, or…?” Mom asked me.
Hmmm, right.
Since I’m already here, I think it’s better for me to play with Luca and Kiri?
“I think I will—”
The sound of the door opening interrupted my words.
“Excuse me, Ophelia-sama, but the crown prince is looking for you…”
A royal magician timidly appeared from behind the door, followed by the familiar figure of the crown prince, yes, Luca.
Before Luca passed by the royal magician, he stopped and looked at him.
“Thank you for escorting me!”
“No problem, Prince Lucius!”
Hmm? Luca, looking for Mom?
I wonder what’s the matter?
“Oh, Lyra! You’re here for the second test, right? How is it?” Luca stopped in front of me and asked.
I spontaneously saved the test result paper inside my pocket and answered.
“My mana is 999, and well, nothing changes from the first test. My strongest affinity is [Ice]… and—uh, followed by [Life], [Light], and [Water]… Uhh, I guess I can do all magic moderately or strong enough except for [Void]…,” I summed everything.
Hmm, yes, I didn’t lie. Indeed, my affinity to each magic element (except for Void) is moderate to strong. I just don’t really want to bring up my [Dark] affinity being the strongest one, equal to [Ice].
It’s the truth, though. Since I only trained some basic [Dark] magic. Naturally, my ice, life, light, and water magic can be considered stronger than my current dark magic spells.
“Hee…,” Luca stared at my face—uhm, is there something on my face?
“What is it?”
“Oh, nothing… It’s just… your result is amazing!”
“What about yours, Luca? I forgot to ask you and you didn’t brag anything to me about your test result!”
“Ah? Me? Oh right, I haven’t told you, huh. My mana capacity is inferior than yours, tch. It’s only 843…”
…Actually, you chose the wrong object of comparison as it might be a cheat that god bestowed on me! Wait… Having 843 mana capacity is quite high! Ah, as expected of The Greatest Magician’s descendant!
“That’s already awesome enough! What about your affinity? I remember [Fire]…?”
“Yes, [Fire] is my strongest magic and… ah, my other strong affinities are [Thunder] and [Earth].”
“Amazing, we can make a good team!!”
Yes, our strongest affinities don’t match at all, so we can complement each other in any battle!
“Anyway, why are you looking for my mom?”
Oops, sorry for distracting you a bit there, Luca.
“Ah, right. There’s something I want to discuss…”
“Ohh, I’m already done with my test, and I was just about to look for you since I’m free, so I will wait for you!”
“Eh? Ah… No, I think it’s going to take a while. You have some books you want to read in the library, right? Wait for me there. I will also get Kiri on my way to the library.”
…Luca is rejecting my kind offer to patiently wait for him to be done here?!
“You sure you don’t want me to wait for you here so we can go together?”
“No, read the book first so we won’t get distracted. Besides, I want to discuss my… personal training.”
Ah, so that’s it.
I understand, Luca. You wouldn’t want me to hear the parts where you’re having difficulties with, right?
“Okay then, I’ll be going to the library first!”
I shouldn’t stay and hear his weakness—it would make his pride crumble, fufufu!
While thinking about the book I want to read, I feel like my steps are so light~!
***
Normal P.O.V
“So, what is it, Luca?”
Cassie asked Luca right after the door was closed.
“It’s actually about Lyra…”
Ah, as I thought.
Cassie had a hunch about it. After all, she hasn’t heard about Luca having some sort of meaningful difficulties in his magic training so far.
“Her test result… Is she telling me the truth?”
Luca stared at Cassie full of question.
“What made you ask that?”
Cassie spontaneously asked back.
“I mean, it might be my imagination alone, but… during my sixth birthday and her sixth birthday… I noticed. I mean, I sensed…”
Despite Luca’s incomplete remark, Cassie finally understood what he was getting at.
“Yes, but she isn’t so fond of it. Also, you did the same thing to Lyra just now when she asked you, didn’t you?”
“Well, she did hide something from me, so I just made sure we’re even,” Luca casually answered.
“Ooh, in other words, you were so sure of your hunch?”
‘Because you would go as far as positively thinking that Lyra hid something, so you hid something from her, as well. You wouldn’t do that if you were not quite sure… right?’ Cassie thought to herself.
“Absolutely.”
Cassie shuddered at the little boy’s remark.
So young, yet so sharp and determined already…?
His behavior clearly doesn’t resemble a child his age.
Come to think about it, he was crowned as the next ruler because he showed strong signs that he inherited that, right? Like this attitude of him…
Just like King Titus who always seems to be a step ahead her and Cyan… right, that’s part of the royal family’s [Oracle1OracleSpecial power bestowed upon an individual. Some Oracles even run in the family! ]—[Insight]. No wonder it’s used as the selection criteria for the next crowned ruler. Possessing it would basically guarantee your superiority among the other people in many aspects. No wonder it’s dubbed as [The Symbol of A Ruler] in Riviera.
“Yeah, as you expected. That’s right, and she has a strong gift for that magic, too,” Cassie responded.
“Will that be alright? I mean, if she has a strong talent for it…,” Luca hesitated.
“No problem, she has learned the necessary basic. And for protection, I have given her a kind of magical gemstone. She will be fine. At least she will have the time to prepare herself more, to strengthen her mind.”
“That’s good, but… Nevermind. Ophelia-san, would you mind teaching me something? It’s a win-win deal for both of us!”
“Oh?”
Cassie raised her eyebrows in amusement.
“Sure, do tell me, my crown prince.”
Luca smiled in response.
He then stated his request and offer.
“How does that sound?”
Luca asked after he finished explaining his deal with Cassie. Cassie lifted her eyebrows in amusement.
“Of course I’ll gladly accept it, Luca. I will arrange your training with your tutor, then.”
“That’s good to know! Thank you, Ophelia-san!”
After striking the deal, Luca left the room with a satisfied expression on his face.
Cassie only sighed because she just thought of something…
Come to think about it, why does it feel like I’m associated with extraordinary children?!
Cassie is worried that her degree of adaptability to children like Luca and Lyra would shatter her logic on how children are supposed to be like… Not to mention that Altaire was quite eccentric despite being on a better level than Luca and Lyra.
Well, her job doesn’t really require a lot of exposure to children, how fortunate of her!
Truth to be told, Cassie has actually forgotten the normal standard for normal children…
