Chapter 412: Chapter 412: The Maiden

[Third Person Pov]

“Master! Your dutiful student has come to visit!” Lucian exclaimed loudly as he burst through the door without knocking, announcing his presence with dramatic enthusiasm.

“Lucy~ I was expecting you to come sooner or later,” Hecate said pleasantly, her tone warm and amused, as if his arrival had already been anticipated long before he even stepped onto the path leading to her home.

Lucian froze mid-step and just stared at her in stunned silence, his mind struggling to reconcile what he was seeing with what he expected.

She was…different, to say the very least.

Her long blond hair was tied neatly into a thick braid that rested over her shoulder, the golden strands catching the light faintly. She wore a lighter, more delicate gown than the darker, heavier garments he associated with her, and she was lounging comfortably along her couch in a relaxed posture. In one hand she held an open book, her finger marking her place, while in the other she casually held a chalice, its contents shimmering faintly. The entire atmosphere around her felt softer, brighter, and somehow younger.

Lucian blinked slowly, his expression blank with confusion as his brain attempted to process the contradiction in front of him. “…Who are you?” he finally asked, unable to stop the question from slipping out.

Hecate smirked faintly, clearly entertained by his reaction as she teased him. “I changed my face a bit and now suddenly you don’t recognize your own teacher anymore. I don’t know if I should be a little saddened by this.”

Lucian frowned and instinctively took a couple of cautious steps backward, his suspicion overriding his embarrassment. He stepped back outside the doorway and glanced at the address, carefully confirming every detail before stepping back inside again. His eyes moved around cautiously as he muttered, “Am I not in the wrong house?”

Hecate rolled her eyes at his behavior, clearly unimpressed. “I have three faces, remember? You normally meet with the face of the Mother. At this moment, you’re facing the Maiden.”

Lucian froze again as realization dawned on him. “Right… I was so used to seeing the other side of you that I completely forgot you did that.” He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly before looking at her again with curiosity and lingering bewilderment. “How come this is the first time I’m actually seeing one of your other forms?”

Hecate shrugged casually as she began to sit up properly, her relaxed posture shifting into something more attentive. With a small flash of fire, the book and chalice in her hands dispersed into glowing embers before vanishing completely.

She stretched her arms high above her head with a quiet groan, her joints popping faintly. “The opportunity never arose, I suppose.”

Lucian quickly approached her, his earlier confusion forgotten as he dropped into a crouch and gently took hold of her hands. He stared up at her with passionate, almost exaggerated devotion shining in his eyes. “Anyways, Master, your disciple has come seeking your infinite wisdom. I beseech thee for your enlightenment.”

Hecate rolled her eyes again as she stood up fully, her expression caught somewhere between fondness and exasperation. “I already said I was expecting you, so there’s no need for the dramatics,” she said, patting his head lightly as if he were still a child. “After the beating Agares gave you, I suspected you would appear at my doorstep sooner rather than later.”

Lucian stood back up slowly, his posture stiffening slightly as he looked at her with a weary, slightly embarrassed expression. “So you saw that, huh.”

“Hahaha, oh boy did I,” Hecate laughed openly, clearly having enjoyed the spectacle far more than he would have liked. She casually draped an arm over his shoulders with surprising intimacy. “It was amusing watching that arrogant form of yours get his ass handed to him.”

Lucian glanced at her from the corner of his eye, his gaze shifting to her smiling expression and the arm resting comfortably across his shoulders. A wry smile formed on his lips as he thought to himself, ’Yeah… this form of her is going to take some time to get used to.’

Hecate chuckled softly behind her hand before speaking again. “I just didn’t expect you to come the very next day.”

Lucian scratched his cheek awkwardly, avoiding direct eye contact for a moment. “Then you already know what I came to seek guidance on, right?”

“I do,” Hecate replied calmly. “I figured you realized what you lack after your battle with my daughter,” she added as she guided him forward, keeping him close beside her.

Lucian blinked in surprise. “Your daughter? Oh right… Circe is your daughter,” he said with a quiet sigh.

They stopped in front of a closed door, and Hecate finally released him. “Oh right, and one more thing.”

Lucian looked at her in confusion, barely having time to react before—

THUNK.

Her fist came down on the top of his head with frightening precision.

“Oww!! What was that for?! What did I do?!” Lucian shouted, clutching his head tightly as tears prickled at the corners of his eyes. The fist of a titaness was not light, and the pain radiated sharply through his skull.

“For dying and making me worry about you,” she scoffed, her expression annoyed yet unmistakably concerned beneath the surface. “Do that again and I’ll hit you with something more than just my fist.”

She opened the door and motioned for him to follow with a simple tilt of her head. “Follow me.”

Lucian stared at her back in stunned silence, completely caught off guard by her reaction. He hadn’t expected that. He hadn’t expected her to care that much. A faint, warm smile slowly formed on his lips as he thought to himself, ’So she was worried about me, huh.’

He followed after her and stepped through the doorway. His eyes widened immediately in astonishment.

They had entered a library, but calling it a library almost felt like an insult to its scale. The entire space expanded far beyond what should have been possible, stretching upward into multiple towering floors connected by winding staircases and floating ladders that moved on their own. Every wall was covered in shelves upon shelves of books, ancient tomes, scrolls, and grimoires of every size imaginable. The air itself felt heavy with knowledge, thick with the presence of accumulated wisdom gathered over countless centuries.

“The library? You never let me go into your library. This was the one place you forbade me from ever entering,” Lucian said in surprise, his voice filled with disbelief as he slowly turned his head from side to side, taking in the immense scale of the place.

“Yes,” Hecate replied calmly as she walked ahead of him, her footsteps echoing faintly against the polished floor. She glanced over her shoulder at him, her golden braid shifting gently with the motion. “Because some of the books here are not meant to be laid upon mortal eyes. Don’t make me regret bringing you here.”

Lucian straightened immediately, placing a fist firmly against his chest in a formal gesture of loyalty and gratitude. “Yes ma’am! I thank you for the honor you have bestowed upon me,” he declared with dramatic sincerity, his voice echoing slightly into the vast open space.

Hecate snorted softly in amusement at his theatrics but said nothing as she continued leading the way deeper into the library. Meanwhile, Lucian’s eyes wandered endlessly around the elaborate interior, unable to settle on any single detail for long. Lanterns floated freely through the air, drifting and bobbing as if they were living creatures rather than inanimate objects, their gentle glow casting warm, shifting light across the endless shelves.

Faint, translucent figures moved silently throughout the library. They were ghostly servants bound to Hecate’s domain, their forms flickering faintly as they organized the shelves with quiet diligence. Some carried stacks of books in their arms, while others floated upward effortlessly to reach higher levels. One young ghost maiden pushed a small cart filled with tomes, her movements gentle and precise. As she passed Hecate, she paused and bowed respectfully before continuing on her task without a word.

Lucian watched the interaction with quiet fascination before continuing to follow behind Hecate. They ascended a spiraling staircase that led them to the second floor, where the view opened even further, allowing him to see just how impossibly vast the library truly was.

They eventually arrived at a table positioned near the pristine wooden railing overlooking the lower level. The table was crafted from deep polished mahogany, its surface gleaming under the soft glow of a nearby lamp positioned neatly off to the side.

Lucian quickly hurried ahead of Hecate and pulled out the chair for her, bowing slightly with exaggerated elegance. “My lady,” he said in a gentlemanly tone.

“Just sit down, you clown,” Hecate replied dryly, rolling her eyes as she smoothed out her gown and took her seat with casual grace.

Lucian obeyed immediately, sitting across from her, his posture straightening instinctively as the atmosphere shifted. The playful air faded, replaced by something more serious.

Hecate wasted no time.

“There’s a reason as to why I brought you here, you know,” she began, resting her cheek lightly against the back of her hand as she studied him. “You wish to improve on your spellcraft, correct?”

Lucian nodded without hesitation. “The spells I’m able to cast feel… incomplete in a way,” he admitted, his voice quieter now, more thoughtful.

“You are not wrong about that,” Hecate said with a confirming nod. “This is mostly because you’ve been brute forcing your spell creations. You draw fancy magic circles, write pretty runes, slap a bit of magic and intent into it, and boom, there’s your spell.” She gestured dismissively with her fingers. “What you’ve been doing so far only works for minor spells. Fancy party tricks, really. But this isn’t entirely your fault. Your knowledge is incomplete.”

Lucian frowned slightly at that, caught off guard. “Is it? I haven’t been exactly slacking off on my magical studies. I’m pretty confident in my theoretical knowledge on magic.”

“And you’re not wrong to think so,” Hecate acknowledged. “You are knowledgeable. But to put this into a perspective you would understand, the knowledge on magic you possess is equivalent to high-school level education. You’re using high-school level math to solve a college-level calculus exam.” She leaned forward slightly, her eyes locking onto his. “With what you already know, you understand most of the components and principles, but it isn’t enough to create what you truly want.”

Lucian listened carefully, absorbing every word.

“What you’re missing now isn’t power,” she continued. “You have plenty of that, and much to spare. What you need is knowledge.”

She snapped her fingers.

Poof.

Small bursts of magical smoke and mist appeared in the air above the table, accompanied by faint popping sounds like miniature explosions. One by one, books began to materialize out of nothingness, dropping neatly onto the table in a growing stack. Thick grimoires bound in ancient leather, thinner instructional texts filled with precise notation, and worn tomes that radiated age and authority piled up in front of him.

Hecate watched him carefully, her expression curious.

She expected exasperation. She expected hesitation. She expected him to feel intimidated by the sheer amount of study she was placing before him.

Instead, Lucian calmly summoned his reading glasses.

They appeared in his hand in a small flicker of magic. He opened them with practiced familiarity and slid them onto his face. The thin frames and circular lenses gave him an unmistakably scholarly appearance, sharpening his already refined features and amplifying his natural charm.

Without hesitation, he reached forward and picked up the first book.

He opened it carefully and began reading.

“Let’s begin,” he said calmly. “I hope you will be patient with me if it takes me a while to understand something.”

Hecate stared at him for a moment before a small, genuine smile formed on her lips, one filled with pride and approval.

“Not at all,” she said warmly, one thing she will admit is that she loved Lucian’s diligence. “That’s why I’m here. To guide you and teach you.” She leaned forward slightly, her golden eyes soft yet focused, “Don’t hesitate to ask me anything.”

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