Chapter 63: The Great Hymn Hall

  The night sky was pitch black and profound, with countless stars twinkling. Lucien once again used the star power in his meditation to temper his spiritual power and soul.

  Among these star forces, the star force lines that come from their own destiny master stars are the clearest and easiest to control.

  A hint of spiritual power dyed with pure starlight and spread to the soul, making the soul seem to emit a faintly sparkling light.

  This layer of light slowly merged into his soul, and Lucien only felt that his own soul was growing stronger at a speed that could be clearly felt.

  Before becoming a high-ranking magic apprentice, the growth and strengthening of mental power and soul were so obvious that witches would only take one year to become high-ranking from probationary magic apprentices. In this regard, Lucien was not slower than her.

  Under the effect of the Storm Medicine, Lucien's mental strength was even stronger than usual, so he could grasp more stellar energy and use it to temper himself. Soon, Lucien's soul had a feeling of fullness.

  However, within this feeling of fullness, there was also a power that expanded outward, which made Lucien see an opportunity and not stop his meditation.

  The soul seemed to be expanding and contracting, compressing and fusing the star power with itself. Finally, Lucien discovered for the first time that his soul had a thick, solid illusion.

  The meditation ended, the hallucinations disappeared, but Lucien felt his mind clearer than ever before. He realized that he had finally become a formal magic apprentice. His soul had undergone an imperceptible change, which would effectively weaken attacks that controlled the mind, confused the spirit, and suppressed one's will. His recovery speed was nearly twice as fast as before, and his spiritual sense of perception became clearer.

  "But such a breakthrough, the damage to the body is not small. Even if I persist in training, but later if I can't become an official magician and use magic to extend my lifespan, I'm afraid I won't live to be sixty years old." The effects of the Storm Potion's overdrawn potential dissipated, leaving Lucien feeling deeply fatigued and weak, and after checking his condition, he fell into a deep sleep once again.

  After becoming a formal magic apprentice, Lucien's spiritual power will usher in another period of rapid growth until the small obstacle of high-ranking magic apprentices.

  …………

  In the following days, with the help of Lucien, this "original author", Victor perfected the melody and details, and adapted it into a symphony. Then, through repeated rehearsals, with the assistance of Rhein, an excellent performer, the orchestra finally performed the piece flawlessly when Osairo came to listen.

  After listening to the Symphony of Fate, Osero stood up in the empty concert hall and applauded for a long time: "Beforehand, relying solely on the melody was not enough to accurately judge the value of this piece of music, but now I am at ease. This must be a piece that can cause a sensation. Once again, Viktor, you have a good student."

  "Moreover, Lucien, you are indeed a genius beyond imagination, but geniuses always invite criticism, especially when you can't even play the piano proficiently yet. If you can't maintain the pace of producing an outstanding work every one or two years, be prepared to face overwhelming doubts and criticisms."

  "It's not good for you to become famous too early."

  Othello shook his head in regret that Lucien had not devoted his musical talents to serious religious themes, and turned away.

  As Osero's figure disappeared into the concert hall doors, Viktor said to Lucien with some guilt: "That day, this piece of music struck my soul, making me too excited and impulsive. Although no one would suspect you of plagiarism, although a genius doesn't need a reason, I didn't consider that rising to fame too early would bring pressure on you."

  "It's all right, Mr. Viktor, I have a resilient heart and pressure only gives me motivation." Although Lucien himself didn't want to become famous too early, since he had already reached this point, he might as well make good use of his fame. At least he could start to get in touch with high society, and wouldn't have to worry about buying moonlight rose powder or not having anywhere to buy it. Maybe he could even earn some gold Taler through his fame and create conditions for his own magical studies.

  Victor nodded: "I believe your will in the face of difficulties and pressure, but for the past year, I'll try to shield you from other things and let you focus on mastering the piano. Otherwise, a talented musician who can't even play his instrument well will be strongly questioned."

  "After that, Viktor continued: 'Two days later, you and Lott will follow me to the backstage of the Sacred Song Hall, and as the creator of the song, if you want, you can invite some friends to listen to the concert, but the number of people cannot be too many, keep it below five.'"

  The concert in the Great Hall of the Tonhalle was, although aimed at the upper class and with ticket prices equivalent to one to two years' savings for a commoner, that is, a gold Taler, humanely reserved some seats for musicians, conductors, performers, etc., so that their relatives and friends could attend.

  "Really? That's great." Lucien replied happily, thinking of Uncle Joel's wish, because he didn't know when he would leave the City of Hymns and didn't know if he had the chance to hold a concert in the Great Hall of Hymns.

  Although Lucien himself didn't feel regretful, and instead felt a sense of relief, if he could fulfill Joel's wish right now, Lucien would be very happy. "Uncle Joel, Aunt Elisa, John, Evan, plus Elena, exactly five people."

  …………

  In the small living room of Elisa's home, Lucien brought up the matter during dinner: "Uncle Joel, Aunt Elisa, Evan, it's like this. My teacher Mr. Victor will be holding a concert at the Symphony Hall on Saturday night, so I can invite some friends to attend. Would you like to go?"

  "Symphony Hall? Really?" Aunt Elisa asked excitedly, for attending a concert at Symphony Hall was the dream of every Altorian, but expensive tickets and subtle discrimination made it impossible for Elisa, a poor woman, and most commoners to enter Symphony Hall.

  Seeing Lucien nod in affirmation, Joel asked with a mixture of joy and doubt: "Aren't only the relatives and friends of musicians supposed to receive invitations?"

  "Maybe the musician's student friend would do... " Elisa thought of a reason for Lucien, while Evan said with shining eyes: "Go to the Sacred Song Hall to listen to a concert? I must be the most enviable kid in Adrien District."

  Lucien thought that each guest attending the concert would receive a program with the title of the piece, composer and arranger, so he answered without hiding: "I helped Mr. Viktor complete a work, so I have the right to invite my own friends."

  "You? Helped Mr. Viktor complete a piece?" Joel, as a traveling bard, understood the difficulty of creating a tune more than Elisa and Evan did, and the wooden dinner fork in his hand fell onto the table, "Little Evans, really?"

  He had meant to say, "Little Evans, lying isn't a good habit." But thinking of Lucien's behavior all along, it didn't seem like he was the kind of person who would lie about this sort of thing, so he simply asked back.

  Lucien smiled without explaining: "Uncle Joel, you'll know when the time comes."

  Joel shook his head and laughed: "Little Evans, you've grown up, have your own secrets now. Although I still can't believe it, maybe our little Evans is a music genius after all? We need to rent some formal wear and wait for the start of the concert, wait for your composition to be performed. I think you won't let me down." Without hearing the music, Joel's surprise quickly recovered, with an attitude of half-belief and half-doubt in anticipation.

  Aunt Eliza's face was flushed, as if she had grown younger by several years. Then, with some concern, she said: "We'll tell John, but he doesn't know if he can come. If he misses the performance of your first composition, it would be a real pity."

  ……

  As for Lucien's invitation, Elina, who had already accepted that he had created an excellent work, was very happy and nodded without hesitation. For her, who wanted to develop on the road of music, the significance of the hymn concert hall was even more significant, and this showed that Lucien really regarded himself as a friend.

  …………

  Saturday evening at eight o'clock, outside the Sacred Song Hall, one by one, carriages slowly drove up, pulled by powerful and sturdy dragon-scale horses.

  Some carriages were luxurious, some were low-key, some were exquisite, and some were grand, but on the outside of each carriage was engraved with their own family crest. One by one, the beautifully dressed gentlemen and ladies got out of the carriages, took over the music sheets from the servants' hands, and followed them into the entrance hall of the hymn hall, greeting each other along the way.

  "Earl, I didn't expect you to have returned from your domain to Alto." A middle-aged man bowed to a red-haired gentleman, and the surrounding nobles also showed great respect for him, as he was the head of the Hain family, one of the five major families in Alto, Earl Hain, and Phillys' uncle.

  "Ah, this is my young niece's music teacher, and with all that has been happening in Altor recently, we old folks naturally have to come back to serve His Imperial Majesty," said Count Hain, a third-level Grand Knight of the "Flame" bloodline, who despite being over fifty years old showed no signs of aging, and whose son, 32-year-old Harlington, had just become a sixth-level Sky Knight, solidifying their family's position.

  "Earl, you are indeed a loyal knight." The other nobles chimed in with praise.

  The Earl of Hain took the sheet music, glanced at it casually, and smiled slightly with curiosity: "Lucien Evans? I didn't know Victor had a student like that, who could already compose music."

  A noble lady, Yvette, followed with a puzzled expression: "Ferith has been helping her teacher prepare for the music festival all this time, and I haven't seen much of her, but when we went to the manor for vacation a few months ago, she didn't mention Lucien at all, it's really strange."

  "Then let us look forward to the works of this strange composer." Count Hein said, walking towards the entrance hall of the Psalm Hall, handing over his sword to the guards and letting them inspect his belongings.

  Because Grand Duke Vauriot is attending, the inspection was more stringent to prevent assassination incidents.

  However, the guards did not check too carefully, because a super-large anti-magic array was set up throughout the entire Psalm Hall, and any magic or supernatural powers under the legendary domain would be sealed. This is a masterpiece that the church took more than 100 years to complete.

  Not long after Count Heinrich entered, two teams of guards wearing red uniforms with a gold stripe on the left chest ran in step to clear the way. Under their escort, two dark purple low-key carriages drove over.