“Lady Ayaka, how can I measure my mental strength?”
Ayaka’s eyes were a bit misty, “Usually, you can judge your level of arcane arts through a certain realm. It’s just that your case is a little special. After all, you already have a deep foundation in the samurai realm. Even if you only rely on your current comprehension and perception, your arcane arts will far surpass those of beginners which slightly complicates things. I do have a way, but I’m afraid you won’t want to do it.”
“Lady Ayaka, please tell me. No matter what kind of method it is, Lily will definitely be willing!” Lily had a strong thirst for knowledge at this time and this was the cornerstone of her obsession. With her current strength, she could only be at ease under the protection of Ayaka or Kimiko, but what about her senior sister? Lily couldn’t afford to slack off in the slightest. The woman who sacrificed her life for her without regrets would always be important in Lily’s heart, even more than herself— more than everything!
Ayaka nodded, “I will teach you a spell and you will follow my instructions to cast it. During that time, I will personally measure your mental strength.”
“Okay.” Lily nodded
Ayaka casually picked a leaf with her hand, “Lily, I will suppress my strength just to demonstrate this method for you whereas you have to perform it with your full strength, understand?”
“Understood.”
Ayaka examined Lily again, ruffled her hair, and leaned in close to whisper the spell incantation in her ear. It was a simple incantation, but Ayaka’s tickling breath slightly distrubed Lily’s posture.
After that, Ayaka performed the spell for Lily to see.
She pinched the leaf between two fingers and chanted the incantation under her breath. Her long sleeves fluttered as she freely flicked her fingers forward.
Whoosh–! The leaf flew with incredible speed that was several times faster than Tamurakonoe’s sword swing!
Crack–! Lily saw that the leaf left a strange white energy fissure in the air, and between the branch-like cracks, it seemed that even the air was drained away!
After a short while, the leaf dissipated into ashes in the distance.
Vacuum! Although Lily still couldn’t fully understand it, she felt that the terrifying speed generated by Ayaka’s causal leaf throw had expelled the surrounding air and created a brief state of near vacuum along its trajectory! What kind of incredible method was this? If this leaf was aimed towards an opponent, what could block its path?
Lily’s chest heaved up and down. This was her first time seeing Ayaka make a move. This tall, beautiful, and mature woman with a caring heart and political ambitions had achieved a supreme level of power.
Genius!
Ayaka was definitely a remarkable genius. At only fifteen years of age, she had become the world’s number one onmyoji master. Although Lily considered herself as very talented, she felt inadequate compared to this truly top genius of the Heian Dynasty!
Moreover, Ayaka was now ranked among the top strongest in the world and was no longer a simple genius.
“So powerful…” For some reason, seeing Ayaka’s talent and incredible means caused a warm throb in Lily’s heart.
“Come on, Lily. Give it a try.”
“Okay…”
Lily picked a leaf, recited Ayaka’s incantation, and was about to cast the spell when Ayaka suddenly said, “Wait a minute.”
She held Lily’s back with one hand and pinched her bra with the other before pulling it down. Lily’s bra was pulled all the way down to her waist and her two full hemispheres were completely exposed towards the inside.
“Eh–?” Lily subconsciously wanted to retreat but Ayaka’s hand firmly held her back. She wanted to cover her chest with her hands but Ayaka once again stopped her. Lily’s current clothes were twice as open compared to what she usually wore! Didn’t Lady Ayaka herself say that girls shouldn’t show their chest?
“Don’t be afraid, I’m going to help you test your mind.” Ayaka said very calmly.
“Eh?” Lily was taken aback.
“To measure your mental strength and distinguish it from your intent, perception, and spiritual power, the most effective way is to put my hand directly on your chest. Of course, it is better to do it without clothes in the way to achieve utmost accuracy. Just continue to perform the arcane technique and I will be able to measure the process,” Ayaka said in Lily’s ear, almost touching her earlobe, “If you can’t accept this, forget it. You can find someone else to learn arcane arts from, such as Seimei.”
Her gentle breath invaded Lily’s ear and made her brain go blank1.
“So that’s how it is… Lily understands. Lily will listen to Lady Ayaka.”
“Mm-hmm.” Ayaka smiled softly and nodded. Her slightly cool and slender jade hand stretched into Lily’s lapel.
Ayaka was 1.9 meters tall and naturally had long fingers, yet there were still some things she couldn’t fully grasp with one hand.
“Relax.” Ayaka felt Lily’s increasing heartbeat.
Do I have to be held like this to test my mind…? Lily’s expression was slightly bitter as she complained in her heart, but there was nothing she could do if she wanted to learn arcane arts.
Since she was already touched, it would be a shame if she failed the mental test.
She must work hard!
“Senior Sister… forgive me. I’m doing this to wake you up soon!”
Lily concentrated her mind, recalling the spell incantation and technique performed by Ayaka. She immediately felt that the technique was not that important. The most important thing was how to use the incantation to channel her spiritual energy. She had to rely on her spiritual guidance to impart the tree leaf with incredible speed.
The power of the wind.
Lily was not good at the wind attribute, but she could feel the power of the wind that carried the leaves. Lily perceived the breeze around her, and at that moment, Lily found that the spell seemed to have formed a deconstruction of the source of the wind’s power. She suddenly understood how the power of the wind was generated.
The next step was to use the spiritual energy in her own body to generate the power of the wind. This power was generated through the perception of the Great Thousand World Wind. The simple incantation was not enough to describe this esoteric method!
Lily recited the incantation, but she knew that she no longer needed to chant the incantation to perform this simple spell from now on.
Whoosh–!
The light leaf flew out like a dart and stirred up a sharp wave of air. A butterfly that happened to fly near the air wave was reduced to powder with a ‘puff’!
Although there was no vacuum, the speed of this leaf was probably not much slower than Tamurakonoe’s sword. The power of this leaf alone was much more than the flying sakura blades conjured by her domain!
Ayaka was also shocked and subconsciously tightened her grasp.
“Ah…” Lily was caught off guard after performing the spell and cried out. This was her first time being squeezed like this… Although there was a legitimate reason, they were having direct skin-to-skin contact and she was squeezed pretty hard, after all…
“Splendid!” Ayaka stared at Lily’s open chest, “Lily, it’s unbelievable that you can achieve such power when using arcane arts for the first time! Your mind…”
Ayaka’s breathing quickened, “You are obviously such a delicate and soft girl, why do you have such a strong mind…?”
“No, this is an obsession. Lily, your psyche holds a firm obsession beyond imagination. It is this obsession that makes your mind incredibly powerful!”
Ayaka became a little distracted. After all, there was a tingling feeling in the palm of her hand. This girl’s mind was already stronger than that of ordinary people, plus she had an unswerving obsession deep in her heart. She was a little better than herself when she was at the Spirit Jade stage, just like her full2…
“Lady Ayaka, Lady Ayaka?”
“Hmm?” Only then did Ayaka come back to her senses.
“Uhm…is the test over?” Lily looked down in shame at Ayaka’s hand that reached into her chest.
Ayaka smiled casually, “What’s the hurry?”
She deliberately moved her five slender fingers like playing a piano, causing Lily’s body to tremble uncontrollably to the point where she almost couldn’t stand. She then pulled out her hand and placed a finger on the tip of her nose.
“It’s really soft and deep like the sea, full of fragrance, far beyond that of an average young girl’s…mind.3” Ayaka closed her eyes with a somewhat intoxicated look and spoke as if reciting a poem.
“My Lady, please…” Lily wanted to say not to smell it like this, but she remembered that if it wasn’t for Ayaka kindly teaching her and performing that superb demonstration, she wouldn’t be able to harvest such gains, so she chose not to say anything.
“Please what? Do you want me to help you test the other side of your mind?4” Ayaka ruffled Lily’s hair. While speaking, her lips seemed to have touched Lily’s ear.
Lily’s body went soft for a while, but she forcibly twisted her waist to dispel the weakness she felt, “Where is the other side of the mind? Lady Ayaka, don’t be ridiculous.”
“No mind? So what is here? Don’t you want me to take a look?”
“My Lady… please, please continue!”
“Oh, continue what? Say it yourself, otherwise I will stop.”
Lily was really ashamed of herself. What did she mean? It’s not like she had to beg her to do that or whatever. What did she mean ‘otherwise I will stop’?!
Lady Ayaka was really nice to teach her arcane arts, but Lily always felt that she had suffered a big loss when she learned something… However, what made her so powerful? She had to learn from her no matter how much she had to endure. She had to refrain from angering her while also keeping a certain distance from her… Lily’s thoughts were a little chaotic.
“Lady Ayaka, please continue to teach me arcane arts!” Lily said.
Ayaka nodded in satisfaction and caressed the hair behind Lily’s ear, “Your mind is so powerful that it exceeds my expectations. Such a good female disciple, I will devote myself to teach you. However, my teaching is very strict. You must study hard and be obedient, otherwise, I will have to punish you.”
Lily turned around and looked up at Ayaka with sincere eagerness, “Lady Ayaka, Lily will study hard. If Lily doesn’t do well, Master can discipline and punish Lily harshly.”
Ayaka gently lifted Lily’s chin with her fingers, “You are well-behaved. I like obedient female disciples, do you understand?”
“Understood, My Lady.” Although Lily thought this dialogue was a bit weird, she couldn’t care less as long as she could learn arcane arts. Besides, she couldn’t say she didn’t feel anything inside after listening to Ayaka’s words.
“However, I am busy with my work and I cannot always teach you hand in hand. I will teach you some introductory knowledge first and you can practice in the meantime. I will regularly check and give you some pointers, and if you practice well, I will reward you, but if you slack off while learning or practicing, you will be punished. Are you willing?” Ayaka said in a somewhat gentle yet severe tone.
“Lily is willing.” Lily looked up at the beautiful5 chief advisor and said without thinking.
