"After sleeping for a while, it feels like a lot of time has passed. How old are you now, Hestia?"
The awakened Ghost Princess emerged from the ice, her icy eyes reflecting the girl's figure.
"Me? I'm about 17 now," Hestia calculated her age carefully. That should be correct—she couldn't possibly count the time she was frozen as an embryo, right?
"Still so young? I thought a decade had passed," the Ghost Princess remarked, as if this wasn't the first time she'd encountered such a situation.
"That's impossible. If it had been ten years, I wouldn't look like this anymore," the girl protested.
"Not necessarily," the Ghost Princess teased, her eyes scanning Hestia up and down as if trying to determine if she had grown taller or developed more.
After catching up for a while, the two finally sat down on the floating ice island in the lake.
"It seems you've been through a lot in the past six months, Hestia," the Ghost Princess said, her wide, layered skirt spread out on the ground as she knelt and poured a cold drink into an ice cup for Hestia. Given that it was summer, the chilled beverage was particularly refreshing.
Taking the icy cup, the girl took a small sip of the refreshing drink and then began recounting her recent experiences and the challenges she was about to face.
"Edess Academy? I'm not very familiar with it, but I do know a bit about Saint Ingo," the Ice Elf Princess said, a hint of nostalgia in her expression.
"It was once the surname of the elven royal family, but as their bloodline dwindled, fewer and fewer people use it now."
"So, does that mean you're from the Saint Ingo family?"
"Are you trying to trick me? I won't fall for such a simple trick."
The Ghost Princess waved her hand dismissively.
"Fine, avoiding the question is almost like admitting it. I do have a strong connection to the Saint Ingo name, but that was a long time ago. In this era, I'm not sure who still carries that name."
"There were once three branches of elves. The Silver Elves left no descendants, and the Ice Elves have always been few in number. It's likely only the descendants of the Forest Elves who still use the name," her analysis quickly approached the truth.
"So, little Thilan, do you want to defeat them?"
"Defeat them? Not exactly. This isn't a life-or-death battle, but given the current state of the star region, defeating them and securing the top position for our academy is necessary."
"Hmm, very clear and rational. It seems I don't need to worry about you."
The Ghost Princess set down her cup and didn't press further about Thilan's specific plans or thoughts.
"Um, actually, I still need your help with something."
The girl hesitated for a moment before deciding to ask directly.
"Go ahead."
"Since there's going to be a confrontation soon, I might need to use my Songstress abilities to lead everyone to victory. But I'm not sure how to control the extent of my powers or how the Federation evaluates Songstress abilities. I wanted to ask for your guidance."
"I see. You want to hold back some of your strength, right? That's not too difficult," the Ghost Princess thought for a moment, then raised her finger and lightly traced a mysterious pattern in the air. When it stabilized, it looked like a closed, perfect spherical net.
"This is a self-sealing secret art. Originally developed to deal with Chaos Phantoms, it protects the mind from external erosion and contamination. But with a slight modification, it can also reduce your external influence and perception."
"As long as you're not using your soul resonance ability at full power, this seal will help lower the external impact and manifestation."
"The reason I say 'not at full power' is because the soul resonance ability of a Color-Grade Songstress is almost akin to a divine authority. It has a superior suppressing and penetrating power over common transcendent secret arts."
"Is that really how it works?"
The girl was hearing this explanation for the first time.
"Indeed. Transcendent power is essentially the use of Aijeka particles as a medium, allowing the mind to influence reality and achieve certain effects. On a microscopic level, it's like human observation altering experimental results. If only instruments record the results without human observation, the outcome would be different."
"It's like issuing orders to achieve a result."
"When an ordinary person uses a transcendent secret art, it's like a captain giving orders, and the soldiers carry them out. But what if a conflicting order is introduced?"
"If a general's order conflicts with the captain's, the soldiers will prioritize the general's order and ignore the captain's."
"That's why the authority of ancient witches is so powerful. They can ignore many secret arts and directly dismantle your defenses. Unless the opponent possesses a sacred artifact, they can't resist this suppression in terms of authority and hierarchy."
"Now, if you've studied ancient history, you'll know that witches and sacred artifacts are essentially fragments of the Crown, inheriting part of its authority."
"If the Crown were complete, it would be like a god, effortlessly performing miracles and directly denying or nullifying other transcendent abilities."
"If we were to rank them, it would be Crown > Witch = Sacred Artifact > Fantasy Secret Arts >> Common Transcendent Abilities > Item Enchantment Effects. Fantasy Secret Arts refer to specific secret arts, such as the Seven Movements of the Fairy Realm or the Flame Sacrifice of the Giant's Court."
"Fantasy Secret Arts are a unique and independent category. While most aren't as powerful as a witch's authority, they can still pose a significant challenge to witches because these arts can't be directly dismantled or negated by authority. In past eras, many witches died at the hands of such arts."
"During the era of the Beastman Empire, the Saint Shaman used the Flame Sacrifice inherited from the Giant's Court to burn captured witches to death. In the Second Epoch, during the conflict between the Mercury Dynasty and the elves, the Seven Movements of the Fairy Realm made many witches wary."
"I see…"
Thilan nodded, but more questions arose in her mind. For example, where did the abilities of Color-Grade Songstresss come from? If it were just talent, they shouldn't have authority-like abilities. And what was the principle behind Fantasy Secret Arts that allowed them to achieve effects similar to Crown fragments?
"Little Thilan, you're thinking about something else again, aren't you?"
Seeing the girl lost in thought, the Ghost Princess wasn't surprised, but she didn't plan to explain further—like why Color-Grade Songstresses had abilities far surpassing other Songstresses or the origins of Fantasy Secret Arts.
It was too early to tell her these things. Knowing them prematurely might not be a good thing. But seeing her so deep in thought was quite adorable.
The Ghost Princess wasn't in a hurry. After letting Thilan ponder for a while without reaching any conclusions, she finally looked up and saw the Ghost Princess's amused expression, realizing her teacher was teasing her by withholding information.
"You know what I'm thinking, don't you?"
"I can guess some of it."
"Can you tell me the answer?"
"Not yet. When you reach Sequence 7, I'll explain it to you."
"It feels like you're treating me like a child."
Thilan turned her gaze away, knowing she wouldn't get an answer.
"Little Thilan is still quite young, after all, hehehe~"
The Ghost Princess laughed, seeing Thilan's pouting expression.
Time passed leisurely on the gently undulating ice island as the Ghost Princess continued to teach Thilan about Songstress-related secret arts, how to use them, and how to better disguise herself when questioned by others.
Before leaving, the teacher also assigned Thilan a new assessment task.
"If you can win this confrontation by only using Starlight-Grade Songstress abilities, I'll teach you three rare elven secret arts, like the Seven Butterfly Phantoms or the Twin Rose Swords you've always admired."
Though she knew it was a carrot dangled in front of her, the girl couldn't help but be tempted. After all, during her battle with Themisia, she had suffered greatly from these secret arts.
Although she had inherited some of her sister's memories, they weren't complete or detailed enough for her to replicate these arts. She had to rely on other means to counter them.
“It seems I'll have to work extra hard this time.”
Nodding slightly, the girl bowed to her teacher in thanks, then waved goodbye and left the hidden pond, returning to the warm summer world outside.