Princess's Struggle for Survival-Chapter 251: Hibbort’s Shadow

As Ms. Case said, the essence of magic is to drive the arrangement of elemental particles with the mana converted from mental power, or to control the free arcane particles to achieve specific effects.

The whole process seems to require no participation of magic spells, but in fact, even Arcanist who are powerful enough to cast spells without chanting still need to silently recite the universal spell in their hearts to fully release the corresponding magic.

Hearing the teacher’s question, whispers of discussion rose again from below the podium.

This knowledge is not within the learning scope of apprentice-level mages, and not many people know about it. Even Lyra only heard a part of it from Astrid and didn’t fully understand it.

After a while, a tall and thin boy raised his hand, and Ms. Case nodded, signaling him to speak.

"Yes, please."

The man stood up and spoke in a calm tone.

"Ms. Case, I think the role of magic spells in this process is to make the already converted mana be sensed by the elemental particles and react accordingly."

Case nodded in approval and praised softly.

"Alaric is right. Chanting magic spells can not only speed up the conversion of mental power into mana, but also make the elements sense the existence of mana."

"Strictly speaking, what we often call elemental affinity is the closeness and sensitivity of elements to mana producers. The stronger the affinity, the more elemental particles the same amount of mana can drive, and the stronger the magic released."

"Of course, this innate kind of thing is hard to change, so we won’t discuss it too much for now. Let’s get back to the original topic."

Case continued to write on the blackboard, adding explanatory suffixes after the magic spells. The teaching assistants sitting at the back saw this and copied the drawings in their notebooks.

"Magic spells are to make mana be sensed... Affinity is an important factor affecting elemental particles..."

"Since we’re talking about elemental magic, let me test you all. Besides elemental affinity, what other factors will affect the actual release results?" fгeewebnovёl.com

Hearing this, Lyra instantly thought of several concepts, but she looked around and saw no one raising their hands, so she continued to sit, her pink lips slightly pursed.

The three major factors affecting the release of elemental magic are affinity, mental power quality, and the specific magic circle constructed.

After a few minutes, Case announced the answer, which was the same as what Lyra thought, the three key points.

"Magic circles are something that you will come into contact with later on, so we won’t expand on that for now. The key point we need to understand today is mental power quality."

"This should also be the knowledge you are most eager to understand, because to advance to a mage, besides sufficient mental power reserves, you also need high enough mental power quality as the cornerstone for climbing to the next level."

"Please continue to look down, the second paragraph on the current page, about the improvement of mental power quality."

......

After class, Astrid packed her things and handed them to Elise. Just as she took Amalia’s hand, she heard someone calling her from behind.

"Princess Astrid, do you have time later?"

Astrid turned around and saw a woman dressed in luxurious clothes.

Linda Jostlin, the daughter of Marquis Jostlin, who had just been elected as the class president of Class A.

"If you have time, I’d like to invite you for afternoon tea."

After speaking, Linda noticed the black-haired girl held by Astrid, as well as Lyra, whom she called her best friend. Thinking of the information she had previously investigated, she continued.

"If possible, I hope Livia and Miss Lyra can join us."

Facing Linda’s invitation, Astrid and Amalia briefly exchanged glances. She turned her head and slowly spoke.

"I happen to have nothing to do, so I can go for a cup."

"Lyra, are you going back to the dormitory, or are you coming with us?"

Hearing Astrid’s words, Lyra wanted to agree, but considering that Linda probably invited her to make Princess Astrid agree more easily, she hesitated for a moment and shook her head.

"I’ll go back to the dormitory first."

The accommodation and three meals a day at the Elizabeth Academy of Magic are included in the tuition fees, but afternoon tea is not. This aristocratic lifestyle habit is quite expensive and not something she can easily afford.

Even though a wealthy lady like Linda doesn’t mind treating one more person, Lyra feels guilty and doesn’t want to receive too many favors from others.

She will go back and read, digesting what Ms. Case taught this afternoon.

Seeing that Lyra really didn’t want to have afternoon tea, and knowing that offering to pay might hurt the little knight’s pride, Astrid didn’t insist, just nodded and said.

"Alright."

The group parted near the restaurant. Astrid took Amalia and Elise and continued inside, while Lyra turned a corner and walked alone into the dormitory area.

When Lyra saw Astrid again, it was already past five in the afternoon.

Hearing the crisp footsteps outside the door, the pink-haired girl sitting at the desk unconsciously straightened her back, and the next second she saw Astrid push the door open and enter the room.

Almost reflexively, Lyra put down the pen in her hand, stood up like the former personal maid, walked to Astrid, took out the slippers from the shoe cabinet, and placed them at her feet.

Seeing her actions, Astrid covered her lips and giggled.

"It seems Lyra really liked the previous maid work."

She gently removed her high heels, revealing her delicate black silk-clad feet, and changed into the cotton slippers. She took the exquisitely packaged dessert box from Elise and said softly.

"Here, the blueberry cake I brought for you."

"Today, Linda and I went to another shop. I feel the desserts at this afternoon tea restaurant are also particularly good. Try it."

Because it was delicious, she wanted to bring you a share. This approach, compared to her covering all the expenses every time they went out, should be more acceptable to Lyra.

After all, they are friends, and sharing is normal.

Lyra looked at the small gift box tied with a beautiful ribbon and spoke softly.

"Thank you, Astrid."

As soon as the girl finished speaking, Astrid nodded, walked into the room, and sat in her seat.

Like most young nobles, Linda invited her for afternoon tea just for socializing, trying to use the chat during tea to get closer to her, a classmate and imperial princess.

Astrid doesn’t dislike frequent socializing, or as a princess, she is already used to these highly purposeful exchanges.

Linda needs to build a good relationship with her, and she also hopes to unite these potentially friendly noble forces.

Linda’s father, Earl Jostlin, has a relatively vague political stance and doesn’t particularly favor either the first or second prince in the issue of succession.

The only clear thing is that he is quite optimistic about the development prospects of magical devices and holds a relatively open attitude.

When the first batch of magical devices was released, he was one of the few who started using it first.

Closing the door and setting up a silencing barrier, it was time to talk about topics only family members could discuss.

Astrid crossed her black silk-clad legs, her voice a bit softer than usual when speaking to her sister.

"Amalia, what do you think of Miss Linda?"

Besides trying to win over all possible noble support, Astrid agreed to Linda’s invitation for two other reasons.

First, Linda is now the class president of Class A, and building a good relationship is beneficial for future arrangements. Second, Linda also invited Amalia, and she hopes the latter can interact more with her peers.

As an elder sister, Astrid is most worried that Amalia doesn’t interact with people often, so she might be lacking in interpersonal skills. In the future, when she becomes the emperor, she will need to understand people’s hearts and weigh the pros and cons.

Hearing this, Amalia remained silent for a moment, then answered after half a minute.

"Miss Linda has a gentle personality, and the topics she talks about are also very appropriate..."

"Starting with the just-ended class, she placed herself in a slightly lower position, as a seeker of knowledge eager for answers, to win the elder sister’s initial favor. Then, through ordering, she understood the elder sister’s general taste preferences and said some nice words to affirm her taste."

"When the desserts were served, she chatted with the elder sister about the relevant information of the Elizabeth Academy of Magic, modified bringing the two to the same perspective and quickly closing the distance."

"Finally, she expressed admiration for the elder sister’s high elemental affinity and the pleasure of this meal..."

Listening to Amalia’s explanation of Linda’s series of actions, Astrid remains calm but couldn’t help but admire in her heart.

As expected of the future emperor in the original novel, Amalia’s talent in this aspect is undeniable.

After her sister analyzed more details of the rhetoric, Astrid continued.

"Amalia, do you know Miss Linda’s background?"

The black-haired girl nodded, her voice soft.

"I remember, she is the daughter of Earl Jostlin, whose ancestors were awarded several times for their extraordinary contributions in the war against the Kingdom of Velys. Her father, Joestrin Jostlin, leans more towards the reformist political faction..."

"What about Alaric de Varnay? Amalia, do you remember him?"

"He is the son of Earl White de Varnay. White de Varnay is one of the quite conservative nobles. In the previous mineral dispute between the two dukes, he sided with Duke Thomas Redgrave, which means he supported the second prince, Alistair..."

Listening to Amalia’s long speech, Astrid exhaled. After she finished, she put down her crossed legs, pulled the girl into her arms, and hugged her gently.

"What’s wrong, elder sister?"

Feeling the softness from the woman’s front and the warmth spreading through her body, Amalia’s voice was soft as she slowly wrapped her arms around Astrid’s waist.

"Nothing, I’m just a bit surprised Amalia remembered so much."

Amalia used to often communicate with the head maid, Elise, and learned a lot about the internal power dynamics of the empire from her.

What surprised Astrid the most was not only Amalia’s excellent memory but also her ability to get to the essence of certain issues with pinpoint accuracy.

It might make Amalia uncomfortable to say it, but Astrid truly feels a shadow of the current emperor, Hibbort Valeria, in this girl princess.

Listening to the sisters’ soft conversation behind her, Lyra finished the cake in small bites, then went to the bathroom to clean her face.

When she returned to the dormitory, Astrid had already let go of Amalia and was turning to look at her.

"Lyra..."

"Yes, I’m here."

"Is there anything you don’t understand about what Ms. Case taught today?"

After caring for Amalia, it was time to ask the destined female lead about her studies.

Looking at Lyra, whose cheeks were slightly damp from washing, her sky-blue eyes clear and bright, with a flowing luster hidden under long, upside down eyelashes.

Astrid couldn’t help but look at her a few more times, inwardly marveling for the umpteenth time that the protagonist is indeed the protagonist, born with first-class beauty.

Hearing this, Lyra thought for a while and said softly.

"Ms. Case said that the prerequisite for improving mental power quality is that the mage’s mental power reserve reaches a certain extreme threshold..."

"I’m curious, before that, can the quality of mental power really not improve at all?"

The quality of mental power affects the effect of magic release. If the quality is insufficient, a portion of mental power can drive too few elemental particles, and may even prevent the mage from releasing the corresponding spell.

In real life, Lyra could feel that as her mental power was drained and then replenished, those invisible and intangible forces were constantly becoming more resilient.

"That’s not the case." Astrid’s fingers gently tapped the table, her smooth hair falling over her shoulders. The black silk dress contrasted with her silver hair, making her skin appear even more delicate.

"Ms. Case mentioned that when the mental power reserve reaches the peak of the current level, it stops growing. At this point, mental power quality is the key to breaking through the level, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be improved before that."

When the mental power reserve reaches the threshold, continuing to cast spells will cause the mental power to break through from the original quantitative level to a more obvious qualitative briskness, just like exercised muscles, which not only have stronger endurance but also can burst with much greater force than before.

"As long as there is the process of consuming mental power, the quality of the replenished mental power will always be stronger than the last time, although the effect is not so obvious."

"If you need to enhance quality in the short term, you can occasionally try chanting spells beyond your current level."

This method will probably be mentioned in the next class, but it is only suitable for mages whose mental power is about to reach the threshold.

Because objectively, spell failure has certain dangers and instability, and if it causes magic backlash, it will be counterproductive.

After explaining softly to Lyra why she shouldn’t be too anxious, Astrid took off the ruby necklace hanging around her neck and gently placed it on the table.

"Don’t be too anxious, take it slowly. I believe in Lyra’s talent."