"What is the pinnacle of music? It's the ability to influence human emotions—joyful melodies can make one forget sorrow, while mournful tunes can bring one to tears."

After Lila finished playing, Voltaire spoke with emotion.

Though his skills were already masterful, he still couldn't compare to Lila's ability to touch people's hearts.

"Truly magnificent."

Marco opened his eyes, unable to contain his admiration.

Lila's lyre playing genuinely possessed the power to soothe souls.

Marco couldn't yet discern technical mastery, but one thing he knew for certain—the magical energy in this music was minimal.

This meant that the heart-comforting power didn't solely come from magic.

It was the genuine power of music itself.

This was precisely why Marco found it so remarkable.

Had it been achieved through magic alone, it wouldn't have been surprising at all.

Magic could accomplish countless things—comforting hearts would be nothing special.

But influencing emotions through pure musical power? That was impossible.

'This is incredible! I must learn it!' Marco thought excitedly.

If the effect was already this powerful with minimum amount of magic, how unstoppable would it be if he use more magic?

The only question was whether he could actually master it.

Could this ability even be considered magic?

"Let's begin the lesson."

Seeing Marco's moved expression and obvious admiration for Lila's performance, Voltaire felt satisfied.

They'd finally regained some dignity.

Seizing the opportunity, he quickly suggested starting the lesson, fearing Marco might pull another unexpected stunt.

Marco had no objections.

He refrained from provoking Lila further—it wouldn't look good to actually make this Lyra constellation spirit fall into depression.

*****

In the following days, Marco visited Voltaire daily for intensive training.

To his surprise, he discovered he had some natural talent, progressing remarkably fast.

Of course, credit also went to Lila's exceptional teaching.

This spirit born for the lyre explained everything with such meticulous detail, as if breaking down every musical concept and technique into digestible pieces for Marco.

"Hum!"

Marco cradled the seven-stringed lyre, his fingers lightly plucking the strings as magical energy continuously radiated outward in all directions.

The pure, crystalline notes soared with extraordinary clarity, piercing straight to the heart.

Though his technique remained unrefined—barely passable—the magical enhancement amplified the music's power to supernatural levels, even surpassing Lila's performance.

"..."

Lila's mouth hung open while Voltaire stood speechless.

Both of them appeared profoundly shocked, rendered mute by astonishment.

Marco's progress and learning speed were visibly astonishing.

In mere days, he'd mastered most techniques, showing no signs of being a complete novice.

But most shocking was Marco's ability to replicate Lila's magic—the power to comfort hearts through music.

This was Lila's innate ability as the Lyra constellation spirit, something even Voltaire couldn't achieve.

Voltaire's music comforted through pure artistry alone.

However, Marco wasn't actually using the Lyra constellation spirit's magic.

He was employing the inherent power of the Lyra Silver Cloth.

This seven-stringed lyre itself possessed the ability to influence human hearts.

This lyre carried too many legends.

As Marco's skills improved, he gained a deeper understanding of its power.

The music from the Lyra constellation could make the sorrowful forget their grief, the joyful even happier.

It could halt flowing rivers, make still mountains move, tame ferocious beasts, and give voice to silent trees and stones.

When the seven-stringed lyre played, all creation would listen quietly, moved by its beautiful melodies.

Of course, Marco's current skills couldn't achieve such feats yet.

But if he ever attained mastery comparable to Lyra, making these wonders real would be possible.

"This lyre..."

Lila's body trembled slightly as she stared at the lyre in Marco's hands, her mind replaying his earlier words.

Clearly, Lila had realized that ninety percent of the effect in Marco's performance came from the lyre itself.

"Could it be... that's truly the power of Lyra?"

The lyre's displayed power left Lila bewildered.

Her own abilities paled in comparison—before this instrument, she, the celestial spirit of Lyra, felt utterly unworthy of her title.

"Lila! Lila!"

Voltava called twice, snapping her out of her daze.

"Sorry, Voltava. I think I need to... readjust my state."

Coming to her senses, Lila looked apologetically at Voltava.

"You'll have to take over the teaching from here."

After handing teaching responsibilities to Voltava, Lila fled back to the celestial realm in utter disarray.

"..."

Voltava stared wide-eyed, at a complete loss for words.

He'd intended for Lila to teach Marco a proper lesson—how had it ended with the celestial spirit's confidence shattered instead?

"Master Voltava, why did Lila leave?"

Meanwhile, Marco approached Voltava after finishing his piece, looking puzzled.

Could she have thought his playing was that bad?

Surely not?

This piece wasn't easy, and he'd managed to play it relatively smoothly after just a few days of practice.

At least, it was decent, right?

"Lila wasn't feeling well."

Faced with Marco's question, Voltava hesitated before offering an explanation that made Marco's expression turn peculiar.

"Celestial spirits... can feel unwell?" Marco asked hesitantly while eyeing Voltava.

Those were beings who could recover in the celestial realm even after being killed...

"...Maybe? Celestial spirits might have their own... celestial problems."

Voltava pinched the bridge of his nose—he truly was terrible at lying.

"Let's continue the lesson. I'll teach you now. My skills might not match Lila's, but they're not far behind."

To prevent further questioning, Voltava quickly changed the subject.

"Alright."

Marco smiled and nodded, deciding not to press Voltava further.

He'd probably guessed what happened—that celestial spirit of Lyra must have suffered quite the blow?

Despite the vast difference in skill, the heart-soothing power Marco could unleash with this lyre far surpassed Lila's abilities.

If she'd managed to keep her composure after that, her mental fortitude would have been truly remarkable.

As it turned out, Lila finally couldn't hold back and retreated to the Spirit World in defeat, probably to secretly shed a few tears.

'Sigh~ Poor Lila, I really didn't mean to target you.'

Marco sighed inwardly.

He actually quite liked Lila, the Lyra constellation spirit.

The lively and cheerful Lila was a complete joy, always wearing a comforting smile on her face and teaching him with great dedication.

Marco truly hadn't intended to single her out.

But Lila really needed to get used to Marco's abilities sooner rather than later.

Right now, Lyra's power had only revealed the tip of the iceberg.

The real show was yet to come!

The capabilities and potential of the Lyra constellation were truly terrifying.

If she couldn't handle this now, what would happen later when Marco gradually revealed more of Lyra's powers?

Lila might be so ashamed she'd want to kill herself—though that would be quite difficult to achieve.

*****

In the following days, Marco continued his musical studies, now learning from Valtava instead.

Lila seemed to have genuinely withdrawn, not appearing before Marco for a long time, and Valtava didn't summon her again either.

However, even Valtava was nearing his limit.

Faced with Marco's extraordinary talent, he too was on the verge of breaking.

Marco learned too quickly, as if he was born for this.

Any complex technique seemed simple in his hands, and he could master them effortlessly.

In just over a month, Marco had already reached a proficient level with the seven-stringed lyre, leaving Valtava with almost nothing left to teach—this was a craft he had spent his entire life mastering!

After teaching everything he could, all that remained was practice and familiarity with more pieces, but those were just matters of time and didn't require much guidance.

By the stream at the edge of the woods, Marco sat casually on a rock, holding a lyre.

Sunlight bathed him in a soft glow as his fingers plucked the strings, producing pure and melodious music.

Magic dispersed with the music, blending into everything around—flowers, birds, trees, rocks, the earth, the sky, rivers, and mountains—all influenced by the melody.

"He seems more like the spirit of Lyra."

Standing beside Valtava, Lila spoke softly.

The Lyra constellation spirit looked up at the twinkling Lyra constelation in the sky, as if it too was responding to Marco's music.

The sight gradually entranced her.

"Truly... a wondrous melody." Valtava marveled.

Who would have thought that just over a month ago, Marco had been a complete novice who didn't even understand basic music theory?

Yet now, both he and Lila could only stand by and marvel at Marco's performance.

"Hum!"

A surge of magic rippled through the air as the Lyra constellation above shone brilliantly, its starlight descending and enveloping Marco.

Under the stunned gazes of Lila and Vltava, everything around them seemed to freeze in the pure, resonant music.

The river stopped flowing, the fish became still, the breeze halted abruptly, leaves ceased rustling, birds stopped chirping, beasts no longer roared, and even the clouds in the sky appeared motionless.

The entire world fell into silence.

It was as if only Marco's fingers were still moving in the world, as if only one sound still echoed—only that melodious and pure lyre music continued to resonate.

Staring blankly at the bizarre scene before them, Lila and Valtava lost the ability to express themselves in words.

Lila couldn't help but look up.

In the sky, the constellation Lyra had fully emerged, every star seemingly shining for the figure gently plucking the lyre strings.

-----------------------------

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