Cornflower Witch

Chapter 348 The Black Violin and Memories
Griffin Mansion
Hiltiya sat on a stool in the bedroom, tilting her head to tune her violin, which was made of black oak with an elegant tone.

This violin was a gift from Mrs. Sarah a few days ago, because she thought that with Hirutia's temperament, she would look very beautiful playing the violin.

When Hilti was a child in this life, she studied music with her mother for a period of time, but that was when she was very young. At that time, her mother mainly encouraged her interest and did not provide very strict training.

Holding the bow, Hilti recalled the teachings she received as a child and slowly sought out that musicality.

She calmed herself down and used the 'memory maze' meditation technique she had learned before to explore the scenes from her childhood that she had forgotten in a corner.

"In the iris-blue room, the floor was as clear as a mirror. Various musical instruments were hanging on one wall, and on the other side was a large floor-to-ceiling window. The sheer curtains partially blocked out the sunlight. At that time, my mother would sit in front of the blue porcelain piano and play notes, making me follow her rhythm and slowly pull the bow."

At that time, Hilti was probably only eight years old. She held the trumpet that was made for her and played it clumsily. The music was intermittent. In her memory, her mother was wearing a beautiful blue iris dress, with her long silver hair tied up at the back and a bow headband decorated with pearls and silver leaves. She was beautiful just by looking at her back.

"Tiya, you need to slow down when drawing the bow."

"Ah."

At that time, Hilti responded softly, then pressed her fingers with slight tension, though there were still some obvious flaws in the process.

After practicing a few times, the young Siltia became somewhat discouraged and didn't want to continue.

"What's wrong, Tiya? Aren't you going to practice today?" Sheryl stroked Xilutiya in her arms with a touch of affection.

"I feel like I can't learn well and I always make mistakes."

"Really? But I think it's pretty good. Even though I'm playing the piano behind your back, I can still picture Tiya's adorable face in my mind," the mother replied with a smile.

"That's because she's Mom, that's why she says that." Tia pouted. Sometimes even she couldn't stand listening to the intermittent and unstable sound of the strings.

"It's okay, you'll get used to it after practicing for a while longer."

"For something to feel good, you need to go through a rather bitter and uncomfortable phase beforehand, Tia."

"But that's too far away." Tia was still quite discouraged at that time. After practicing a few more times, she gave up on the instrument.

The scenes in her memory gradually became clearer. Hilti could even recall how many kinds of musical instruments were hanging on the walls of that music room, and which piece she was practicing at the time.

Compared to when she was a child, her fingers are now much longer, and her body coordination and control are much stronger. Things that seemed difficult back then now seem to be easy.

A piece that I had never practiced in its entirety before, I was able to play completely today in the room after a few simple adjustments and familiarization sessions.

After it was over, Silti opened her eyes, put down the bow, and then gently stroked the violin with her fingers, recalling the past and feeling a lot of emotions.

The memories of children and the feelings of adults are very different. What seemed like a high step back then is now just a step away. What seemed like a large room back then may now be just a few steps away.

At the age of 8, her body was not yet fully developed, and her control over her fingers and body was far less than it is now. However, her hearing was already very acute at that time. In other words, a piece of music that seemed good to other children her age would reveal more flaws and shortcomings to her own ears. This was a huge blow to her because her musical instrument playing level was far below that of her family members.

Many members of the Mezalans family were skilled in musical instruments, and even many of the maids were proficient in several. In that environment, Siltiia felt inferior to everyone and was completely unable to build self-confidence. She even believed that she had not inherited her mother's talent and was a 'useless' child. At that time, she seemed to cry a lot and often ran to her mother, Sheryl, for help. Her mother would always gently comfort her, which led to Siltiia developing a dependency on her mother when she was young.

Because of her personality, she rarely played with her peers at that time, until she met Elizabeth...

When she first met Ilya, she felt that Ilya had a terrible personality, always bullying other children around her and teasing her quite a bit. It wasn't until she made Ilya cry one time that Ilya stopped. Later, their relationship strangely improved.

After having Ilya as a playmate, she seemed to cry less often and stopped running to her mother whenever something happened, unlike before.

In a sense, Eliza changed parts of her personality.

After recalling the events, Hiltiya emerged from her meditative state, moved her body slightly, and put away the meticulously crafted violin, returning it to its case.

……

After solidifying her essence, Hilti continued her studies with Nox. Now her task was to combine the 76 basic runes she had learned into the most basic spell model.

"Hedra, do you understand what 'runes' really are?" Knox asked Hiltiah one day after she finished a lesson.

"It is probably what people have summarized in the past as 'extraordinary patterns' or 'marks'."

“That’s true, but that’s just the surface,” Knox continued.

"You should have heard that 'rituals' are a re-enactment of 'legends,' and 'runes' are also a kind of re-enactment, only they are broader in scope and simpler in conditions."

"A simple example is that in ancient times, no living creatures could fly because in the most ancient era, everyone lived in the water and relied on swimming to move around."

"This instinct is still passed down in the blood of many creatures. Even humans living on land have offspring who are born with basic paddling and swimming skills."

“In an era when no living creatures could fly, insects were the first to grow wings and become the earliest flying creatures. It was also at that time that ‘moths’ were born from ‘centipedes’ and became a completely new ‘sexual form’.”

"Why can insects fly? What is the biggest difference between them and other life forms? Ancient life forms also observed and imitated them, and they believed that the key was 'wings'."

"So other creatures also began to imitate the structure, shape, function, and so on of 'wings'."

“'Wings' are one of the most basic runes. As long as their appearance and shape are reproduced, living beings can be given the ability to fly.”

"The 76 basic runes you are learning now are all similar reproductions, and are also summaries of certain phenomena and abilities from past eras."

"Combining the five runes 'Triangle, Sharpness, Solidity, Speed, Flight' creates the most basic attack spell 'Missile Shot'."

"Your assignment for today is to construct a spell model for 'Missile Shot' and condense it into a basic ability card."

"Yes, Professor Knox."

(End of this chapter)