"So, how are you finding Book Three?" Marco smiled and asked the question.
Of course, he knew Lucy was a devoted fan of the Great Detective Holmes series—after all, he had even gifted her signed copies of the first and second books.
"It was amazing! So when will the third book be finished and published?"
The moment Great Detective Holmes was mentioned, Lucy immediately perked up, her eyes shining with anticipation as she eagerly asked Marco.
"Uh, soon, soon."
Faced with Lucy's direct request for updates, Marco chuckled in response.
As for how long "soon" actually meant, even he wasn't entirely sure.
"How's your training coming along lately?"
Putting away the unfinished Great Detective Holmes III, Marco's expression turned serious as he switched into his "strict mentor" role, deftly steering the conversation toward Lucy's progress.
"I… I still haven't been able to sense a connection with the constellation."
Looking at Marco's stern face, Lucy bit her lip and answered softly, her expression one of utter shame.
She knew that by this point in her training, her senior sister, Princess Hisui, had already managed to sense the constellation of Lyra.
It made her feel stupid, as if her aptitude was lacking.
But Marco actually thought this was perfectly normal.
After all, the constellation Lucy had chosen was Cygnus, one of the "Five Warriors."
Though Cygnus itself was only a Bronze Saint Cloth, due to the special nature of the "Five Warriors," its accompanying skill set was entirely on par with Gold-level power.
Establishing a connection with such a constellation was indeed challenging for Lucy—no easier than Hisui sensing Lyra, which was already a difficult feat in itself.
The key issue was that Lucy had never trained in ice-related abilities before.
Unlike Hisui, who had always loved the harp, it was only natural that Lucy's progress would be slower.
In truth, Lucy's choice of Cygnus had been a compromise.
Her first choice had been Aquarius, one of the twelve Zodiac constellations.
Marco understood this well—Lucy shared a very special bond with Aquarius, the Celestial Spirit.
If possible, she would have naturally wanted to make Aquarius her primary focus.
Unfortunately, Marco currently didn't have the "Aquarius" option available.
He himself was still trying to unlock it.
Thus, he had recommended Cygnus as her secondary choice.
In a way, Cygnus truly was the next best thing—after all, Hyoga of Cygnus was the disciple of Camus of Aquarius.
Once Marco unlocked Aquarius-related abilities or the Gold Saint Cloth in the future, he could also upgrade Lucy's Cygnus.
Mastering Cygnus's abilities would make the transition to Aquarius seamless, as Cygnus's skill set was directly inherited from Aquarius—a perfectly natural progression.
In a way, starting with Cygnus would be much easier for Lucy than diving straight into Aquarius, which would have been a hellish difficulty from the start.
This realization gave Marco some insight—for example, someone aiming for "Libra" could first train under "Draco."
Of course, the prerequisite was that their compatibility couldn't be too poor.
After checking the compatibility between Lucy and the "Cygnus" constellation, Marco let out a slight sigh.
The overall score wasn't particularly high—just 81 points.
While this might seem decent at first glance, it was only because Lucy's magical aptitude had pulled up the composite score.
The compatibility between Lucy and Cygnus was only 70 points, while her magical aptitude scored 92, resulting in the final composite score of 81.
This was even two points lower than Princess Hisui's composite score with Lyra, despite Hisui's magical aptitude being a full ten points lower than Lucy's.
Without any prior training in ice-related abilities, it was indeed difficult to achieve high compatibility with the Cygnus constellation.
If it had been Gray instead, the compatibility would undoubtedly have been maxed out.
"There's no need to rush. Take your time with the training. Your talent is excellent—you'll definitely be able to sense the star map eventually. It's just a matter of time."
Marco reached out and ruffled Lucy's hair as she looked ashamed, offering words of comfort.
What Marco said wasn't a lie—Lucy's magical talent was truly remarkable.
A score of 92 in magical aptitude spoke for itself.
However, Lucy had never really put much effort into training before, leaving much of her potential untapped.
But now that she had joined the Fairy Tail guild and become Marco's apprentice, slacking off or living as leisurely as before was naturally out of the question.
Marco himself was a relentless workaholic, and under his leadership, the younger generation of Fairy Tail had developed a fiercely competitive training culture.
Everyone pushed themselves hard, and as Marco's disciple, Lucy had no hope of taking it easy.
In the less than a year since joining Fairy Tail and becoming Marco's apprentice, Lucy had already developed her magical aptitude far more than in all her previous years combined.
It could truly be said that not a single drop of her sweat had gone to waste.
Even relying solely on traditional Celestial Spirit Magic now, Lucy could already be considered an outstanding A-class Magic user.
The advantages of traditional Celestial Spirit Magic were on full display here.
Even someone like Lucy—a sheltered noble girl with no combat experience—could wield considerable power once her magical reserves grew, especially with two Zodiac Celestial Spirit Keys in hand.
"Yes! I'll keep working hard!"
Encouraged by Marco, Lucy quickly regained her spirits.
She wasn't the type to wallow in pessimism or self-pity.
Though she had some spoiled habits, they weren't insurmountable.
She understood that Marco pushed her to train hard for her own good.
Speaking of "spoiled habits," Princess Hisui had even more than she did.
Yet now, her senpai was anything but idle—having already sensed the Lyra constellation's star map, Hisui had spent the past six months diligently training in the "Death Trip Serenade."
This ultimate technique of the Lyra constellation had pushed Hisui to her limits, as its difficulty was exceptionally high.
Lyra's skills required not only channeling magic but also simultaneous musical performance, making it far more challenging than other abilities.
"After your birthday this year, you'll be thirteen. Your physical combat skills need improvement too. A proper Magic user can't rely on magic power alone—you need strong muscles and bones to ensure you can still defend yourself even when your magic runs low."
Seeing Lucy regain her spirits, Marco spoke with a serious expression, but Lucy's face immediately fell upon hearing his words.
"Yes, Marco-san." Lucy responded weakly, her eyes somewhat lifeless.
Her senpai Hisui had already begun this training earlier, so Lucy knew it was far more painful than magical cultivation.
"Hehehe~ Wonderful! Finally, Lucy gets to join me!"
Hisui, who had overheard the commotion, happened to catch these words.
Before she even entered the room, her cheerful laughter had already drifted in, clearly overjoyed to have Lucy accompany her in the training.
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Got a new FT fic where mc can perform take over of digimon royal knights, should i upload it or someone already done it ?