The Useless Duke's Daughter Saves the World

♧ [V2 || Chapter 28] ♧

"That's it. Concentrate on feeling the energy within you. It should feel warm but not hot. If it's hot, you're using too much energy."

Evangeline calmed her breathing and closed her eyes.

It was a cloudy afternoon at the Alcmene mansion and both Luca and Sylvia are here for Evangeline's training.

The breeze had started to grow cold so everyone was dressed in a little more layers nowadays. The orange leaves from the tree nearby shook in the wind as bunch of them broke off and fell to the ground.

"You know, I never expected your divine spirit to be a hō-ōh of all things, especially one as fat as this," Sylvia narrowed her eyes at the chubby bird sitting on top of Evangeline's head. She was sitting on top of a tree branch, her legs swinging back and forth in sync.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING FAT?!" Nova chirped angrily. He left the head of his master which caused Evangeline's power to dissipate.

"Arghh! Nova why can't you concentrate?" Evangeline groaned in frustration.

"Sylvia, please. You're distracting them." Luca sighed.

Sylvia raised her eyebrows and put up both her hands in surrender. She was surprised to see Luca being so gentle with teaching Evangeline. Back when the he was training with Sylvia, he pushed them until she wanted to pull her hair out hence why she refers to Luca as a "demon instructor".

'Hooo? Could it be because she reminds him of his older sister? Is that why he's so nice to her?' she pondered.

"Let's take a break," Luca sighed.

"Fine," Evangeline agreed. She felt her body starting to ache from training all afternoon.

Brushing the ground, she sat on a patch of grass and leaned against a tree that still has red and orange leaves.

Her progress has been a little slower than most mages but for someone who came from a world without magic and mana, it's pretty extraordinary she picked it up so easily.

'It's like a level 0 player attempting hard mode in a game,' she chuckled inwardly. It reminded her of the time her friend made her play an RPG game. Her character choice was ironically a mage as well. Perhaps it was foreshadowing to her future situation now.

As she was reminiscing her old life in silence, Luca spoke up.

"Lady... Are you sure you want to apply to the Holy Mages Ministry?"

He held a troubled look on his face. Evangeline didn't know why but she realised that Luca seems to hold a deep hatred for them. Regardless...

"It's important that I join them."

Since the fate of this world rests on her hands.

Her teacher sighed and shook his head. He knows that Evangeline will likely not be severely bullied like his older sister due to the fact she's an actual noble, however the fact that it was a corrupted place filled with dirty hands remains unchanged.

In the first place, Luca assumed she wanted to join the mages to be a support mage. Noble ladies who aspire to be mages usually join the support team because they are placed in the back ends where they are away from danger.

To his surprise, his pupil insisted she wants to fight in the front lines.

Luca didn't know if she was too sheltered to understand the dangers or just reckless. Either way, he secretly hoped he could change her mind.

"Say, teacher? When am I able to produce a weapon with Nova?"

After establishing a student-teacher relationship, Evangeline started to refer to Luca as her teacher. At first, he desperately insisted to call her using honorifics. After all, even if he is her teacher, she is still a noble and he is still a commoner. How could he dare ask her to call him with such an honoured title? However, Evangeline insisted that it was only right for him to be called her teacher out of respect. Luca thought his pupil is indeed very strange.

"Until you've learned to control and understand your mana, you won't be able to unlock your spirit's second form," he explained. "And even so, it's incredibly rare for mages to use it."

A spirit in their weapon form is incredibly draining and difficult to use. Not only is it the purest version of a spirit, it is also the most powerful– capable of destroying a whole legion of demons.

"There are stories of mages exploding because they took in too much mana, you know?" Sylvia chimed in. She floated down and sat on Luca's shoulder.

"E-exploding?!" Evangeline widened her eyes in horror. What a terrible way to go!

"As much as I want to refute her, she's right. Most mages take decades to unlock their second form. Although..." he paused.

"I believe I've heard a rumour that Sir Malakai managed to unlocked their spirit's weapon form last year."

"Yes! As expected, he's definitely above everyone else," Evangeline put her nose high in the air with pride. You'd think she was talking about her son or something.

"Oh! And Sir Elijah as well. Isn't it amazing? We have two geniuses in this century," Luca praised the two of them with a smile.

'Ugh! Of course he did as well,' Evangeline groaned internally. Isn't it a little unfair she's at such a disadvantage against Elijah? She's barely able to produce a regular light ball at the moment.

'No! This isn't the time to be depressed.' she shook her head. If she was the only one who could change the fate of this world, she can't move forward with this kind of thought.

"Teacher, let's continue!" she jumped up. Now is not the time for comparisons. She HAS to catch up to Elijah and Malakai before the novel officially starts.

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Author's note: Short chapter this time that serves as a bridge to the main arc for this season! Next chapter will finally be the start of the selection ceremony! Yayyy~ I've planned for this part for a while now and I'm excited to finally be able to write it. Also, while Luca and Sylvia will take a backseat for now, Malakai and Elijah are finally gonna be properly introduced and have more presence for the upcoming chapters :D  expect lots of interactions and development! Finally, thank you to all the readers who are both old and new. I always look forward to seeing your reactions and support! It really keeps me wanting to write more ❤️