Chương 40: Useful Grace

The book started unassuming. At first glance, it read like a guide on maintaining appearance and grace. It emphasized the importance of hygiene and proper presentation, noting that perfume alone was never sufficient to maintain a refined presence. The author went into detail about the expectations placed on young noble ladies, especially during social gatherings, where even small imperfections could be noticed and judged. However, the tone shifted as the author began to acknowledge a practical issue.

Daily bathing was not always available. Travel, extended visits, or even being a guest in another household could limit access to proper facilities. In those situations, maintaining one's appearance became more difficult, and relying solely on servants was not always an option. To address that, the author offered a spell. Yorad. Luneth. Velar. Click. She did not need to think twice before trying it.

"Yorad. Luneth. Velar." The effect was immediate as a subtle sensation washed over her. Her body felt refreshed, as if she had just finished an hour-long scribing session followed by a proper wash. The lingering discomfort of sitting too long faded, replaced by a clean, balanced feeling. Even her clothes shifted. The fabric smoothed itself out, wrinkles disappearing as if they had been pressed. Dust and faint traces of ink vanished without a trace. Lira exhaled slowly.

The convenience alone made the spell tempting enough to use repeatedly without thought. However, that could be extremely dangerous. Nobles must be familiar with the spell's effect, and a perfectly clean maid inside a dust storm was extremely suspicious. Still, what mattered most was the structure of the spell. Yorad. She had encountered it before when she learned the water absorption spell. In her father's lexicon, it was translated as body.

But observing its usage here, it was clear that the meaning extended beyond that. It did not only refer strictly to the physical body, but to the self as a whole, including what was worn as clothing. Luneth was a new word. She reached for her father's lexicon and found it without much difficulty. Purity. That made sense. She could have arrived at something similar on her own if she had started working on the book restoration spell, especially with her growing understanding of spell construction.

A purification effect applied to an object or a surface implied a state of perfection. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. But it was the final component that caught her attention. Velar, meaning clarity. She had used it before in a different context, tied to perception and the mind. There, it had served as a sharpening of understanding and helped refine what was observed. Here, it served a different purpose altogether. It acted as a filter.

The spell did not blindly cleanse everything. It identified what needed to be purified and left the rest untouched. It preserved the core while removing only what was considered unwanted. Lira leaned back slightly, letting that realization settle. That was the part she would have missed. Without Velar, a purification spell risked being too broad, potentially damaging what it was meant to preserve. With it, the spell gained more precision. She could already see the application in the book restoration spell.

The pieces of the spell were already beginning to align in her mind, but she forced herself to slow down. There was still more to learn in this primer. She should finish it just in case. She turned the page. The next spell was not nearly as impactful, but it carried its own form of practicality. A hair styling spell. Pika. Cavira. Frushum. It added a single new word to her vocabulary: Cavira. She could not find it in the lexicon, but its meaning was obvious from context: Hair.

The author insisted that the user needed to learn how to style their own hair before relying on the spell. Having a maid do it would not translate into a new hairstyle added to their catalogue. Lira decided to test it.

"Pika. Cavira. Frushum." Her loose orange hair shifted almost immediately, strands weaving together into a neat, simple braid. The motion was smooth, guided more by intent than force. She blinked, slightly impressed. Then she tried again.

"Pika. Cavira. Frushum." This time, she attempted something more complex. A layered style she had seen on noble ladies before but had never attempted herself. Nothing happened. She nodded. The spell used Pika. That meant the magic relied on mental visualization, which meant the user needed a clear understanding of the structure they were trying to recreate. That limitation made sense, although she had expected a failed attempt rather than nothing happening.

She considered the reason for a second before deciding to move on. The next section of the book took an unexpected turn. After a long and somewhat tedious chapter about calling cards and their importance in noble etiquette, the author introduced another spell. Yorad. Asatan. Kaldris. Body. Paper. Retrieval. Lira paused. She already knew every word in that incantation. Even before casting it, she understood its function. Still, she decided to try it.

"Yorad. Asatan. Kaldris." A loose sheet of paper lifted from the ground and drifted toward her, settling neatly into her hand. She raised an eyebrow as an idea came to her without effort. A slight modification to the spell. Asatan referred to Paper. Linasara referred to books. She closed her eyes briefly, adjusting the structure.

"Pika. Selan. Tureth." After entering a meditative state, it did not take long for her to succeed. Click.

"Yorad. Linasara. Kaldris." Her grand uncle's calligraphy book slid free from the stack it rested in, lifting smoothly before crossing the space between them and settling into her hands. Lira allowed herself a small smile. That was a fast way to create a new spell, but it made sense. The primer had already primed her mind on how the original spell worked, and adjusting it into a similar concept was not too difficult. She decided to test it further.

"Ladar. Linasara. Oshkan. Cognar. Turat." Her divination spell activated, and she focused her intent on book restoration. Seven signals appeared within her awareness, all of them on the main floor. There was also a faint signal from upstairs, but she decided to ignore it for now. Without hesitation, she followed up with:"Yorad. Linasara. Kaldris." One by one, the books responded. They slid from their positions on the shelves, lifting and moving through the air in controlled arcs toward her alcove.

They even managed to navigate the tapestry hiding the entrance before stacking neatly into her waiting hands. Lira stared at the pile for a moment. Then her eyes widened. This changed everything. The combination of spells made searching, locating, and retrieving books streamlined into something effortless. This was exactly what she needed to finally organize the library according to her exacting criteria. But first things first, she was ready to create a book restoration spell.