Chapter 1733. Cecile Tries Talismans.

Chapter 1733: Chapter 1733. Cecile Tries Talismans.

Cecile walked toward the Talisman room built in their estate. The room was smaller than the others, something Cecile was curious about. When she arrived, she was welcomed by one of the maids.

This maid was of a fairy species. She had light pink hair, dark pink eyes, and translucent pink wings with purple patterns. She was quite short, and her body was curvy. Although she was a fairy, her stature was similar to a human’s, at around 150 centimeters tall.

A touch shorter than Angel.

Her name was Raciela, with a cheerful attitude and a meticulous personality. "Madam Cecile, welcome. Come with us. We’ll show you around."

Cecile nodded and stepped inside. The Talismancy room was much simpler than she expected. It was a large room with a wooden floor, wooden tables and chairs, and drawing utensils at each table.

"There is not much here."

Raciela blinked her pretty eyes and laughed. "Madam Cecile is right. Talismancy doesn’t need much. The complicated part is creating the ink and the paper you’ll use. That is done in the other rooms. However, that can come later. First, we need to check how good Madam is at drawing talismans."

Cecile nodded and sat at the pre-prepared table. The wooden table held chalk, a thin ink brush, and a small book covered in drawings. "For now, these two tools are enough. They are the most basic and straightforward. Background chalk and a painting brush. The background chalk is placed over the painting if you want it sealed for a long while. Or, if you want to create a reusable talisman, you cover the paper with the chalk first and then paint over it."

A pondering look flashed in her mind. "How does it become reusable?"

Raciela buzzed her wings and sat beside Cecile, picking up the chalk and thin brush in one hand. "This paper is the foundation. Talisman papers are the foundation, but the material can vary. You can use wooden tablets, jade tablets, metal sheets, and more. Each of them has different characteristics. Later, you can even use Fate Metal, Sun Rock, and other materials. That’s for much later, though. For now..."

She pointed at the white, rectangular piece of paper. "We’ll use this one."

"Ok."

Raciela smiled. She wasn’t bothered by Cecile’s blunt answers. All the maids understood Yasenia’s lovers almost as deeply as Yasenia herself. Raciela naturally knew that Cecile was a woman of few words. If she didn’t know something, she would ask.

"Alright. You asked how it makes it reusable, right? Let’s start with the basics. How does a talisman interact with Energy to create its effects? Do you know?"

Cecile commented simply. "The Talisman Paper and Ink interact with each other to draw and push energy through the drawn paths. The patterns are Heaven Language, similar to what it’s used in formations, and it creates different effects."

"Exactly." Raciela pointed at the chalk. "This chalk is made with a material that seals energy interaction. That’s why, if you paint the paper with chalk and then you paint over it..."

Raciela moved the chalk left to right, covering the middle, then easily used the thin brush to paint a simple spiral pattern with flame-like symbols in the middle.

"...you create an isolating layer between the paper and the ink. This reduces its strength, but it gives the talisman longevity. As long as the ink doesn’t burn through the chalk and doesn’t make contact with the paper, you can reuse it by just pouring energy. Try it."

Cecile picked the talisman and pointed at a wall. "Use."

A spark of energy left her fingertip, landing on the paper, and a ball of fire rushed out. At the same time, a breeze covered and fed the fireball, increasing its size.

It hit the wall with an explosive sound.

Bang!

Cecile blinked and looked at the symbol. "Hm... There is a bit of burning around the pattern."

"You noticed," Raciela exclaimed faintly, pleased. "That’s right. How many more times do you think this talisman can be used?"

Cecile answered. "Three."

Raciela blinked. "Oh? How did you know?"

Cecile tilted her head and flapped her phoenix wings. After thinking, she looked at Raciela. "Instinct."

Raciela laughed wryly. "I see... Well, it does indeed have three uses left. Try it."

Cecile nodded and did so, firing off three more fireballs. Each of them was incredibly weak, but Cecile didn’t care. Instead, she was focusing on how the pattern lit up to create the effects.

When the final one activated, the pattern burned through the chalk, causing the ink pattern to touch the paper. When that happened, the entire talisman transformed into a fireball and rushed forward, about twice as strong as before.

"The principles are similar to formations."

Raciela partially agreed with Cecile’s comment. "Similar, but fundamentally different. A good formation master won’t automatically become a good talisman master."

With that demonstrated, Raciela nodded. "Alright. You have decent instinct to see through the patterns and usage. That’s good news. Next. Draw the symbol I just drew on this paper and make it work."

"Huh?"

Cecile blinked as Raciela placed a sheet of white paper, chalk, and an ink brush in front of her. Raciela smiled faintly. "Go ahead. Give it a try."

"...Alright."

Since the teacher said so, Cecile would not disagree. She picked up the chalk and used it on the paper. However, when she pressed down, she applied a very thick layer of chalk. "Hm... thick."

Raciela giggled, but she said nothing. Cecile then painted the symbol she saw before. A spiral with flame symbols around it. She then picked it up and pointed toward the wall. "Go."

A spark of energy landed, and then... nothing happened. Cecile blinked and looked at the talisman. "Hm... Go."

She failed again. So, she turned toward Raciela and spoke bluntly. "It doesn’t work."

Raciela laughed. "Why?"

Cecile pondered. "Too much chalk?"

"Yes. The insulating layer you apply is like a metal wall between two pools. The water of the pools won’t ever mix. What you need to do is put something thin, like a towel, in between them."

"Oh."

Cecile picked the chalk and, this time, painted delicately. "...Thin. Now, Go."

Good news: the talisman activated and the fireball burst forward.

Bad news: the whole talisman combusted into flames and disappeared.

Raciela smiled and looked at the stunned Cecile. "What happened?"

"Before, it was a metal wall. Now it is an air wall."

Raciela’s wings buzzed as she laughed. "Pfft. Hahaha. Yes, that’s exactly right. You put too little chalk. Still, your pattern drawing was on point. If it wasn’t, the talisman wouldn’t have activated. Good job on that. Continue trying."

Cecile nodded and proceeded to try. She succeeded in creating a four-use talisman in her 177th attempt. However, Cecile considered it dumb luck. ’Unless I can do it constantly, it isn’t a success.’

It happened again in her 198th, 211th, 219th, and 224th attempts.

By the time she drew the symbols over the chalk for 432 attempts, Cecile had only failed to draw out four uses from one of nine talismans.

Raciela stood by her side, never commenting on anything and letting Cecile experiment. When she saw Cecile put down the brush and look at her, she blinked. "Yes?"

"How do you make it more consistent?"

Raciela answered with a calm smile. "Practice. This is like asking an alchemist how to make their pills consistently top grade. Practice is all there is."

Cecile hummed and placed the brush and chalk on the table. "How is it?"

Raciela knew that Cecile was asking about talent, so she pondered seriously. "We have yet to give it a fair chance, but from what I’ve seen, it’s not bad. For instance, the first talisman you drew functioned perfectly since the beginning. I haven’t seen you draw a failed talisman once, even if it is a basic one."

Cecile tilted her head and asked. "So, am I a genius?"

Raciela laughed. "We can’t tell yet. We need to practice a bit more. Now, I’ll act like a proper teacher. We’ll keep painting talismans for the next two months and get accustomed to different tools. Once we are done with that, you’ll get on to creating your first ink sample and chalk stick."

"Alright."

***

While Cecile worked, Yasenia handled another very important matter.

"I’m jealous!"

Yasenia hugged her dear tightly, both of them naked on the bed. "I know, I know. Aren’t we trying our best?"

Evelyn pouted at Yasenia and bit her chest, drawing milk to soothe her thirst. Yasenia patted her back gently, her tail moving between her legs and piercing deep inside. The soothing back-and-forth relaxed Evelyn as she sucked deeply.

It wasn’t until she was full everywhere that Evelyn snorted and used Yasenia as her personal mattress. "...Why isn’t it working? The others are pregnant already."

Yasenia patted her back and kissed the top of her head. "That’s because my Dear is very picky. Look at our Skye? Isn’t she a super beautiful and talented girl? I am sure your body is just being picky because it wants another baby as excellent as our Skye."

Evelyn’s pouted lips relaxed as a smile appeared again on her lips. She rubbed her face against Yasenia’s breasts and giggled. "Yeah. That’s right. My body is just being picky."

Yasenia secretly cleaned a droplet of sweat from her eyebrow. ’Wow. I didn’t expect Dear to become this clingy when she got the news of Andrea’s pregnancy. We have not left this room for two months already...’

As she thought, Evelyn shifted her hips and grabbed Yasenia’s stiff pillar, lowering her waist as she aimed. Yasenia groaned and looked at Evelyn’s exotic purple eyes. With her sweaty, electric-blue hair clinging to her face, and her slim yet gorgeous figure, our dragoness could only gulp.

Evelyn smiled, her eyes flashing with electricity. "Again~. I won’t let you go for another month, so you better fill up every single corner with your most fertile seed."

Yasenia didn’t need to be told twice. She flipped Evelyn around, and another battle began.

***

Meanwhile, Angel was walking the streets with Tatyana. They were headed to the Formation Plaza in the capital. Behind them, twenty maids walked in an orderly fashion. Tatyana asked Angel. "Didn’t you want Yasenia to be with you?"

Angel laughed faintly. "She can’t divide her body. Evelyn is probably wringing her dry as we speak. Moreover, I am sure all the girls would want Yasenia to be with them. So, it’s better if, at least this time around, we aren’t too selfish and just move without her for a while."

Tatyana chuckled. "I didn’t expect that from you."

Mirrory, as always, floated around Angel, her seductive figure like a lingering spirit. "Wow! Heaven is going to flip upside down. Angel has grown out of her need for Yasenia."

Angel rolled her eyes. "I have not. If I could, I’d tie myself to Yasenia with a rope and never leave her side. Where else, other than by her side, can I feel that much happiness? I just learned to hold it in."

Qinqin was walking with them as well, so she asked. "Angel, do you want me to guide you to where Master Zhuo Lianyu is? He can guide you around. Zhuo Shuyun might be with him as well."

Angel nodded at her. "Let’s do that. Thank you, Qinqin."

Qinqin smiled. "No need for thanks between us! Hehe."

Angel raised her blonde eyebrow, her blue eyes arching with faint laughter. "Oh, we do. At least for now, we do."

Qinqin pouted. "Meanie."

"Good you noticed~."