Chapter 243: Flying
Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion
The spacious living room was right now filled with a cheerful melody. Annick, Layria, Sprint and all the apprentices who studied there were dancing with the music, trying to picture how those nobles danced in those fancy parties. At the same time, the apprentices were also peeking at Mr. Evans.
Mr. Evans’ upper body was very relaxed, and his fingers moved fast and flexibly. His profile was charming, as he was very dedicated to his playing, with a big smile on the corner of his lips. The whole scene looked like an elegant picture.
Finishing his playing, Lucien stood up from the piano chair and said to all the apprentices, “Ladies and gentlemen, happy new year.”
“Mr. Evans, happy new year!” the apprentices said together happily.
Their voices were quite different—some were low, some were hoarse, and some were clear. Among those teenagers, some were experiencing their voice-changing period, which made Lucien a bit emotional. After all, another year was gone, and all of his students were growing and changing.
“Today’s the first day of 818.” Lucien picked up his glass from the table, “I wish every one of you can make further progress in your study this year!”
The apprentices also lifted their glasses, “Wish you become middle-rank sorcerer this year, Mr. Evans!”
During the new year period, all of Lucien’s friends went back to their own hometowns to see their families, so he invited all the apprentices from across the strait to his place to get together.
In the past year, because of Lucien’s teaching, Annick, Layria, Heidi, Sprint and Katrina had all moved to senior apprentice class, and Chely also had become an apprentice.
The dinner was pleasant, and after it the apprentices started saying good night to each other and heading toward the guest rooms. Because they were too excited for the whole night, they were feeling quite tired now.
Chely was the last one who left the hall. When she was walking upstairs, she turned around and said to Lucien a bit shyly, “Mr. Evans… I just want to say… When you were playing piano, you really looked like the talented musician from Aalto, who wrote For Silvia, which always reminds me of Jacques. I’m sure that he’s still striving for our future, and I feel really encouraged. Thank you, Mr. Evans… Thank you for your playing.”
“That’s very romantic.” Lucien smiled and nodded.
After the servants came in, Lucien went back to his study upstairs. Sitting in his armchair, he turned on the desk light and opened the letter lying on the desk.
The letter was sent from Aalto half a year ago, but just arrived today:
“… My Blood Burning Syndrome is gone now, and my power is becoming more and more stable. I miss my sword. I miss the blue sky. I miss those fights. I miss that wonderful music.
“… You must have arrived in Allyn. I wonder if the City in the Sky still looks the same…
“Is food in Holm monotonous like what I told you? In my mind, Holm food is the worst. Every time when I thought of the fact that you have to eat grilled fish and fries everyday, I felt that it was bad and funny at the same time…
“When I was young, my mom always told me stories about arcana and magic, and that is a fabulous world full of mysteries. I hope that you can forget all the pain and suffering you had from before and really enjoy exploring this whole new world. And I’m confident that you, my friend, can become a middle-rank sorcerer in a few years…
“By the way Lucien, did you ever meet my uncle Patrick? I wonder how he’s doing right now. He never mentioned about his health condition in his letters, which makes me feel quite worried…
“Your friend, John, has awakened his Blessing and become a knight. What slightly surprises me is that his Blessing is Elimination. Fortunately, he does not serve the Church, and thus he will not join the Night Watch, or it would be another horrible joke from destiny, like what happened to Silvia and me. However, even so, I believe that you will never yield to destiny, my friend, and you will beat down the so called destiny and stamp on it! For me and Silvia… It was a mistake, but I don’t want to complain and I won’t. Because this was Silvia’s and my own mistake, and we should be responsible for it.
“Anyways, let’s talk about some pleasant things. Your uncle, Joel, still enjoys playing on the streets a lot, and your aunt, Alisa, just lost her job working in Textile Association because no one dared let a knight’s mom wash clothes for them. Right now, Alisa is majorly managing John’s manor and also yours.
“As for Iven, he’s learning how to read and write now, and he’s also receiving knight training after Lord Venn. Elena has left her job in the Musicians’ Association to focus on her violin playing. Mr. Victor and Felicia have come back from their trip and they really like your Moonlight Sonata. Right now, Felicia is preparing her own concert, and I’m really happy for her.
“Mr. Rhine never showed up again after the music festival. I’m not sure what happened in Aalto at that time…
“Lucien, please don’t forget what I told you before—life is more than just magic. We have music, cuisines, fights, friends, and also romance. I know that you’re a gentleman, Lucien, and I know that you’re still waiting for your dream girl. Be brave when you find her! Chase her! Conquer her! Don’t be shy! If you need more strategies, feel free to write to me and ask!
“In the end, happy birthday, my friend.
“Natasha,
“June, 30th, 817”
Lucien was smiling when he was reading the letter. The words in the letter were for sure not fancy, but it comforted Lucien a lot, as if he was sitting right in front of an old friend, and he felt very peaceful. Although they had not seen each other for a long time, Lucien still felt close to Natasha.
But seriously, Lucien thought to himself, still with the smile on his face, that if he was really going to ask for Natasha’s suggestions to chase a girl, he would definitely lose the chance because their communication would take a whole year…
Feeling peaceful and refreshed after reading the letter, Lucien stood up from his chair and came to his meditation room.
After closing the door and sitting on a special chair, Lucien took out a flask of green potion from his storage pouch. The green potion looked clean and tasty.
This was the potion called Flying, and it was made of the fallen leaf of and elven tree and other precious ingredients, which cost Lucien more than seventy arcana points. Together with all the money that he spent on doing experiments and making magic potions, Lucien only had sixty-one arcana points now. He had to say that learning magic basically meant burning money.
Feeling rather peaceful, Lucien slowly pulled the potion into his mouth. The potions tasted cool and sweet, way better than many other potions that Lucien took before.
Lucien suddenly felt that his soul was very light, and he easily entered his meditation environment. This time, his meditation world was clear like crystal, like the limpid water of a still lake.
The potion was slowly absorbed by Lucien’s soul, and his spiritual power rocketed. Then, a complicated magic model appeared—it was the spell, Flying.
The model was constructed with distorted lines and curved cambers. A sorcerer who had zero understanding in arcana or who was not good at mathematics needed to manually draw a real magic model based on this half-transparent model from the potion, which required high level of spiritual power. However, Lucien, as an arcanist, did not have to worry about this. He had previously calculated and analyzed the model, and thus he could use his spiritual power more wisely by referring to the power of his Host Star of Destiny and the elemental particles around him to build the model of the spell.
Once Lucien could analyze third-circle spells using his own arcana knowledge and become a middle-rank sorcerer, which meant that his knowledge had a solid mathematical basis, he could choose his own study interest in arcana.
Lucien right now was surrounded by those complicated mathematical symbols and formula, and he stayed focused and paid all his attention to finishing the construction of the model.
As soon as the model became complete, dazzling light suddenly burst out of the model, and it started to absorb spiritual power like crazy. Lucien’s soul was enveloped in it as well.
Lucien’s spiritual power was enough for nurturing the model, so he calmly prevented the extra spiritual power from the magic potion from approaching him, while at the same time let the dazzling light change his soul.
Feeling slightly itchy and numb, Lucien’s soul was almost substantialized because of the power, and it looked more clear and pure. All the magic models that he constructed in his soul before had shrank to small crystal size and were now rotating around a bigger magic model, Flying, as if they were worshiping it.
It was the symbol of a successful upgrade to the third circle!
However, Lucien did not stop, but continued to construct magic models for Elemental Order and Lucien’s Great Fire Ball. The latter was an attack spell based on the study of nitroglycerin, and it was as powerful as the fourth circle magic, Chain Explosion, improved by Timothy. The only shortcoming of Lucien’s Great Fire Ball was that it was not stable enough, and sometimes a fire ball might explode before it arrived at its destination, and thus extra shaping spells were needed to assist the casting.
After a long time, the window of the meditation room suddenly opened, through which Lucien flew out of the window and soared into the air.
The starry sky above Allyn right now looked close enough to touch, and the night wind refreshed Lucien. When he looked down at the city below him, his chest was filled with the pleasure of freedom.
This was how flying felt like!
