"What is the ultimate state of music? It is the ability to influence a person's emotions—joyful music can make people forget their worries, while sorrowful music can make people weep."
After Lyra finished her piece, Voltava spoke with emotion. His skill was already extremely refined, but when it came to influencing the human mind, he still had no way to compare with Lyra.
"What truly wonderful music."
Moen opened his eyes and couldn't help but sigh. Lyra's harp music genuinely possessed the power to soothe the heart.
Moen still couldn't really tell how advanced the technique was, but there was one thing he could be certain of, the amount of magic power contained within this music was not high.
This meant that the heart-soothing power was not entirely due to magic power. This was truly power that came from music itself.
That was precisely why Moen was so impressed. If it were because of magic power or magic, then there would be nothing particularly surprising about it.
Magic could do far too many things. Being able to soothe the heart was perfectly normal and nothing special. It couldn't compare to influencing people purely through the power of music.
'This is amazing! I want to learn this!'
Moen thought to himself. Without adding much magic power, the effect was already this strong. If more magic power were added, wouldn't the effect be invincible?
The only question was whether he could actually learn it. Did this kind of ability even count as magic?
"Let's begin the teaching."
Seeing Moen's face full of amazement, clearly captivated by Lyra's music, Voltava was very satisfied. They had finally regained a bit of face. Seizing the opportunity, he hurriedly spoke to the two of them, afraid that Moen might pull off some strange stunt again.
Moen naturally had no objections. He also stopped provoking Lyra. If he really pushed this Lyra constellation Star Spirit into self-doubt, that wouldn't be good.
Over the next few days, Moen kept coming to Voltava's place, studying intensively every day. He discovered that he actually did have some talent, and his learning progress was quite fast.
Of course, it was also possible that Lyra, the Lyra constellation Star Spirit, simply taught extremely well.
This Star Spirit born for the harp explained things far too carefully, practically breaking down all the knowledge and techniques of harp playing and feeding them to Moen bit by bit.
"Buzz!"
Moen held the seven-string harp in his arms, gently plucking the strings with his fingers. Magic power continuously overflowed and spread outward in all directions.
The crisp and pure harp sound was extremely melodious, going straight into the heart. Although his technique was not refined and could only be described as barely smooth, under the effect of magic power, the strength of this music displayed an extraordinary effect, one that was even stronger than when Lyra played.
"…"
Lyra's mouth hung open, while Voltava fell into silence. Both of them wore expressions of profound shock, so stunned that they couldn't speak.
Moen's improvement and learning speed were visibly fast. In just a few short days, he had already mastered most of the techniques. He didn't look like someone who had never touched a harp before.
Of course, the most astonishing thing was that Moen was actually able to replicate Lyra's ability using magic power, the ability to soothe the human heart with magic power. That was Lyra's Lyra constellation Star Spirit ability. Even Voltava couldn't do that.
Voltava relied purely on the power of music to soothe the heart. His music was purer.
However, what Moen was using was not the magic of the Lyra constellation Star Spirit Lyra.
What he was using was an ability inherent to the Lyra Silver Cloth. This "seven-string harp" itself possessed the power to influence the human heart.
This harp carried far too many legends. As Moen's harp skills improved, he gained a deeper understanding of its power.
The music of the Lyra constellation could make sorrowful people forget their grief, make happy people even happier, give endless strength to those who labor, make surging rivers halt their flow, make still mountains move, tame ferocious beasts, and cause silent trees and stones to speak. Once the seven-string harp was played, all things would quietly listen and be moved by the beautiful music.
Moen's current skill level, of course, couldn't achieve any of this yet. But if he truly reached a level comparable to the Lyra constellation Star Spirit Lyra, turning these legends into reality was not impossible.
"This harp…"
Lyra's body trembled slightly as she stared at the harp in Moen's hands, repeatedly recalling what Moen had said earlier.
It was obvious that Lyra had already realized that ninety percent of the reason Moen's playing had such an effect was due to that harp.
"Could it be… that really is the power of the Lyra constellation?"
The power displayed by this harp was something Lyra couldn't understand. Her own power was completely insignificant in front of it. Compared to this harp, she, a Lyra constellation Star Spirit, truly lived up to her name in neither sense.
"Lyra, Lyra!"
Voltava called out twice, snapping Lyra back to her senses.
"Sorry, Voltava. I think I need to adjust my state."
Lyra came back to herself and looked at Voltava apologetically.
"I'll leave the rest of the teaching to you."
After handing the responsibility of teaching over to Voltava, Lyra fled back to the Celestial Spirit World in a very flustered manner.
"…"
Voltava stared with wide eyes, completely at a loss for words.
He had originally wanted Lyra to properly teach Moen a lesson. How did it turn into Lyra having her resolve shattered instead?
"Master Voltava, why did Lyra go back?"
On the other side, after finishing his performance, Moen came over to Voltava and asked somewhat strangely. Could it be that she thought he played too poorly?
That didn't seem likely. The difficulty of this piece wasn't low. After only learning for a few days, he could already play it relatively smoothly. Even if it wasn't extraordinary talent, it certainly wasn't bad.
"Lyra isn't feeling very well."
Faced with Moen's question, Voltava opened his mouth and gave an explanation that immediately made Moen's expression turn very strange.
"Celestial Spirits… can also feel unwell?"
Looking at Voltava, Moen asked with some hesitation. After all, Celestial Spirits could recover in the Celestial Spirit World even after being killed.
"…Maybe. Celestial Spirits might also have problems of their own."
Voltava pinched the bridge of his nose. He really wasn't very good at lying.
"Let's continue studying. I'll be the one teaching you next. Even if my level isn't as good as Lyra's, it won't be much worse."
In order to prevent Moen from continuing to question him, Voltava hurriedly spoke.
"Alright."
Moen smiled and nodded, not continuing to make things difficult for Voltava. He had already roughly guessed what was going on. That Lyra constellation Star Spirit had probably suffered quite a heavy blow.
Even though their techniques differed greatly, relying on the harp in his hands, the heart-soothing power Moen displayed far exceeded Lyra's.
If Lyra could still hold it together after that, then her mental resilience would truly be impressive.
And reality proved that Lyra ultimately couldn't hold it together. She directly broke down and returned to the Celestial Spirit World, probably secretly shedding a few tears.
'Sigh~ poor Lyra, I really didn't mean to target you.'
Moen sighed inwardly. He actually quite liked Lyra, the Lyra constellation Star Spirit.
Lively and cheerful, Lyra was a complete bundle of joy. She always wore a comforting smile on her face and was extremely dedicated when teaching him. Moen truly had no intention of deliberately targeting her.
However, Lyra really did need to get used to Moen's abilities sooner rather than later. Right now, the power of the Lyra constellation had only revealed the tip of the iceberg.
The big stuff was still coming! The abilities and upper limits of the Lyra constellation were extremely terrifying.
If she was already breaking down now, then when Moen gradually revealed more of the Lyra constellation's abilities later on, wouldn't Lyra be so ashamed that she'd commit suicide? Although dying would be very difficult.
In the days that followed, Moen continued learning harp techniques, only now he was learning from Voltava. Lyra seemed to have truly withdrawn into herself. For a very long time afterward, she never appeared in front of Moen again, and Voltava also didn't summon her.
However, Voltava himself was also close to breaking down. In the face of Moen's terrifying talent, Voltava was on the verge of losing it as well.
Moen learned far too quickly, as if he had been born to do this. Any complex technique appeared incredibly simple in front of Moen and could be mastered and applied with great ease.
In just a little over a month, Moen had already brought his seven-string harp skills to a respectable level, to the point where Voltava was almost out of things to teach him. This was a craft Voltava had studied his entire life!
After teaching everything that needed to be taught, what remained was just constant practice—familiarizing himself with more pieces. Those were merely matters of time and repetition and no longer required much guidance.
By the edge of the woods, beside a small stream, Moen casually sat on a rock, holding the harp in his arms. Sunlight shone upon him, giving off a faint glow. As his fingers plucked the strings, a melodious and pure harp sound rang out.
Magic power diffused outward along with the music, spreading and then merging into everything around it. Flowers, birds, trees, stones, the earth and sky, rivers and mountains, everything was influenced by the sound of the harp.
"He looks more like the Lyra constellation Star Spirit."
Standing beside Voltava, Lyra spoke softly. This Lyra constellation Star Spirit raised her head. The Lyra constellation hanging in the sky flickered faintly, as if responding to Moen's harp music. This scene gradually left Lyra completely entranced.
"Truly… beautiful harp music."
Voltava sighed with emotion. Who could have imagined that just over a month ago, Moen had still been a complete novice who didn't even understand basic music theory?
Yet now, he and Lyra were standing to the side, sighing in admiration at Moen's harp music.
"Buzz!"
A surge of magic power erupted, and the Lyra constellation in the sky burst forth with brilliant light. Starlight poured down, attaching itself to Moen's body.
Under the shocked gazes of Lyra and Voltava, everything around them seemed to come to a standstill within that melodious and pure harp sound.
The river stopped flowing, the fish became motionless, the breeze abruptly ceased, leaves no longer swayed, birds stopped chirping, beasts ceased their roars, and even the clouds in the sky seemed to freeze in place. The entire world fell into silence.
It was as if only Moen's fingers were still moving, as if only a single sound still echoed—only that melodious and pure harp music echoed on.
Staring blankly at this extremely bizarre scene, Lyra and Voltava both lost the ability to express themselves with words.
Lyra couldn't help but look up.
In the sky, the Lyra constellation fully revealed itself. Every single star seemed to be shining for that figure gently plucking the harp strings.
[For additional chapters Patreon. Com/ALLISWELL123]