As it turned out, Serveyia didn’t consider ‘bad taste’ a negative comment at all.
On the contrary, in her eyes, the way Liuli helplessly uttered those three words after being teased was itself part of the fun.
The next day, the Magic Introduction Class that Liuli had been anxiously awaiting—or perhaps, from another perspective, slightly dreading—finally began.
Still, the fact that she could have a one-on-one lesson within Qingli Hall put her at ease in many ways.
“Princess, are you ready to embark on the path of Magic?”
Serveyia didn’t sit in on the lesson.
Instead, she left the class entirely to herself and Teacher Lin Ya.
“I’m still a bit nervous…”
Lin Ya’s nervousness came from curiosity about new things.
To be honest, anyone would be nervous in her place.
Just a few days ago, she had been an ordinary person, and now, in the blink of an eye, she had the chance to learn Magic.
Of course, that would make anyone anxious, wouldn’t it?
“It’s alright, Princess. Today, our lesson will start from the basics, so it won’t be too difficult to understand.”
Clearly, Teacher Lin Ya misunderstood the reason for Liuli’s nervousness.
But since Teacher Lin Ya had already tried to reassure her, Liuli felt it was hard to explain her real reasons for being anxious.
So she let it go.
This was fine, too.
“Since the Princess is going to learn Magic, the first step is to achieve Magical Resonance. Only after resonance with Mana can one have enough power to cast spells.”
Once the lesson started, Teacher Lin Ya showed Liuli what it meant to be a true teacher.
Gone was the initial laziness from their first meeting, replaced by complete professionalism.
“Although Magical Resonance is usually mastered naturally as one ages, considering that the Princess wasn’t familiar with Magic before, you might not have experience with natural resonance. So this step requires artificial intervention.”
“Artificial intervention?”
“That’s right. I’ll guide you step by step on how to resonate with Mana. Specifically, I’ll release a large amount of Mana so you can feel it. In such circumstances, resonance usually happens naturally.”
“Can it really happen that naturally?”
“Probably. After all, that’s what the books say… I think…”
Liuli felt she needed to retract her previous praise for Teacher Lin Ya’s professionalism.
Such vague words hardly inspired confidence.
“Don’t look at me like that. The students I’ve taught before never had such issues. Either they mastered resonance early on, or they couldn’t resonate at all.”
“To be honest, I never thought I’d need to teach Magical Resonance, so with no practical experience, I have to rely on the textbooks.”
“I really am unusual, huh… Sorry about that.”
Teacher Lin Ya’s explanation left Liuli at a loss.
She didn’t know who to blame.
After all, it made sense that Teacher Lin Ya had never encountered this before.
It’s hard to cook without rice, as the saying goes.
Still, even if she understood, it didn’t stop her from feeling uneasy when it happened to her.
“It’s not the Princess’s fault. Let’s try as the book suggests first. If it doesn’t work, we have other methods.”
“Teacher Lin Ya, does that mean I can’t achieve Magical Resonance on my own?”
“…Theoretically, it’s possible.
The essence of resonance is understanding Mana and identifying Mana factors.
But since the Princess has never been exposed to Mana for extended periods, your body might not instinctively distinguish it.
Under such circumstances, establishing resonance is a matter of luck.
That’s why the best method is to come into contact with a large amount of Mana and force yourself to remember the feeling through sheer quantity.”
Force-feeding education—without a doubt, that’s exactly what this is.
Still, if Teacher Lin Ya wasn’t wrong, Liuli couldn’t think of a better approach.
“But if I remember correctly, when you tested my Magic Affinity, Teacher Lin Ya, didn’t you use Mana? In that case, why didn’t I achieve resonance then?”
“Magic Affinity only measures how large a Mana Container you have. As for Magical Resonance, it’s more about the source. Hmm, let me think.”
“If I were to use a comparison the Princess could understand, affinity represents the maximum mana capacity, while resonance represents mana regeneration.”
“But what’s the difference between the two?”
Although this explanation was easy to understand, it just raised more questions for Liuli.
“Aren’t both about using a large amount of Mana on me?”
“Because testing Magic Affinity doesn’t require the Mana to belong to anyone in particular, I used my own Mana. But resonance is different. I can’t have the Princess resonate with my Mana, can I? That would be a huge problem.”
After saying this, Teacher Lin Ya drew a Magic Array on the floor with her wand.
“And besides, in general, Unowned Mana is harder to gather than normal Mana. It requires special methods to collect in large quantities. Like this—this Magic Array gathers Mana from the surroundings. It’s all Unowned Mana, which is better for the Princess to achieve resonance. Please stand in the center of the array.”
Alright, her doubts were nearly all resolved.
All that was left was to follow Teacher Lin Ya’s instructions.
Liuli stepped into the center of the array and waited for Teacher Lin Ya to activate it.
At that moment, another important question occurred to her.
“Oh, right, Teacher Lin Ya, how do I know when I’ve achieved resonance?”
Real life isn’t a game; there’s no notification that pops up saying ‘Resonance Achieved’.
You have to figure it out yourself.
“Everyone feels it differently, but generally, it’s an unforgettable sensation. Something you’ve never experienced before. When you feel it, Princess, you’ll know.”
“I’ll… try…”
As the Magic Array beneath her feet began to glow, Liuli could already sense the Mana with her legs.
It wasn’t much different from the Magic Affinity test before, still bringing a pleasant comfort.
Right now, Liuli was struggling to suppress that feeling.
A unique sensation.
What exactly counted as unique?
Surely, the comfort she was feeling now wasn’t it.
Then what was it supposed to be?
Pain?
Liuli was most afraid of pain.