Stealing her light? Myr was confused. What did she mean by that? She looked at Luna, but only saw her clenching her fists tightly without saying anything.
Apparently, Solis found this funny. She laughed without restraint. [Isn’t it funny? You worship the moon that stole its light from the sun. And here you are, acting all high and mighty.]
This was the first time Myr saw Luna cowering like that. She didn’t want to let her companion be insulted like this. She didn’t know the validity of Solis’ claim, but she had to retort. “As if! It’s like saying that the world’s a spinning globe! I didn’t expect a Shard like you to be so stupid!”
Solis stared at Myr dumbfoundedly, trying her best to suppress her laughter. [Lunae, it’s only fitting that your wielder is an idiot. She’s stupid, and not even Abnormal-ranked.]
Before Myr could say anything, Luna tugged on her sleeve. [Do not waste your breath with her. We must leave this place, lest she sows more doubts into us.]
“Good ide—”
[So you’re running away from the truth? How typical. Isn’t that how Assyra died aw—]
[You will regret finishing that sentence.] Energy suddenly boomed from Luna as her hair slowly dyed black.
Myr could only catch a glimpse of it, but she could tell that she was much, much stronger than anyone else inside this room.
Solis gulped. Her condescending attitude nowhere to be seen. Hiding behind Hellion, she stuttered, [H-Hey, no hard feeling, r-right? A-Are you sure you want to go Eclipse here? I’d be forced to go Bloodmoon, and everyone’s gonna die!]
[...Unmanifest yourself, and I shall follow. Although I cannot hurt your wielder, the same cannot be said for yourself.]
After some more tense moments of staring, both Shards went back to their respective swords.
The oppressing pressure disappeared instantly. Despite being much weaker than Hellion, Myr was the first to recover. She immediately knew what to do, and it was to shut her brother up at all costs.
“You… Do you want to visit mother?”
At Myr’s sudden question, Hellion could only truthfully nod.
“Then, I’ll allow it under one condition.” She stared right straight into Hellion’s eyes. “Form a Mana Pact with me. We shall not divulge what happened here to anyone or anything. You are not to harm mother, and I am not to impede you from seeing her. Understand?”
Hellion furrowed his brows. His eyes scanned Myr’s body up and down. “...You have a Pact with you?”
“Of course not! You’re filthy rich! Just get some!”
Hellion sighed. He reached into his pocket and took out a powerful piece of parchment.
Huh, so rich people do keep empty Pacts on them at all times.
Myr took the pen Hellion handed her. She inspected it. Gilded with silver and gold, it was uselessly lavish. Regardless, she still wrote down the conditions that she’d stated. She handed the Pact to Hellion. “Read.”
Hellion obliged. He read the Pact line by line, trying to find any possible loophole. After a few minutes, he nodded in satisfaction. “It’s fine.” He extended his hand out to Myr, expecting her to return his pen.
But Myr stuffed the pen in her pocket. “You’re rich. Get another one.” Then, she bit her thumb and let her blood stain the Pact.
“Your turn.”
Similarly, Hellion let his blood drip onto it.
The Pact flew out of Hellion’s hands and levitated in the air. It burned away in a bright violet flame, forever cementing the Pact between the pair of siblings.
Taking one last, long look at Hellion, Myr curtly turned away and left the room. It’d be bad for her mental health if she stayed with that disgusting bastard any further.
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Myr arrived back at her mother’s hospital room. She picked up the bouquet that she’d thrown away and entered the room, making sure to lock the door behind her.
Other than her mother lying unresponsive on the bed, her eyes were also drawn to something else, but she decided to ignore it for now.
Myr sat down on the bed and placed the flowers next to her mother. “Sorry. I’ve been busy the past few months.”
She was still unresponsive, but it didn’t stop Myr from cupping her mother’s cheek. “Have you gotten healthier? I swear, your face was so pale last time. I guess the treatment is really working.”
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
After spending a few more minutes talking(?) to her mother, Myr stood up and ran her hand through her mother’s brown hair. “Mother, I must confess something. I’ve…” No, I can’t worry her. “...Found a job. Elsewhere. It’s high-paying, so you don’t have to worry. Until you get better… Joseph with take care of you.”
Myr stared at her mother intensely, hoping that by some miracle, she’d wake up again and wish her farewell. But reality is often disappointing. Nothing of the sort happened. Suppressing a sigh, Myr let go of her mother and let her eyes drift toward the drawer, where a set of leather armor lie.
Judging by the lack of leg and arm guards, she could tell that it was the same set of armor that she wanted to buy. “Old man Lewis… Thank you.”
But she soon noticed something else on top of the armor—an envelope. Written on it was a line of text, “For Myr.”
She opened the envelope and watched as 2500N revealed themselves. She sniffed the stack of Nurens. Smells like cold, hard money. They’re not fake. Now, there were only two people who could’ve possibly left this here.
The obvious choice would be Hellion, who had just been here, but Myr quickly shook such thought away. She couldn’t imagine that bastard actually caring for her.
Then, the only option left was Lewis. Is he trying to drive me into debt or something? Seriously, giving me stuff like this… She could feel her eyes heating up. But she held the tears in. Lewis wouldn’t want her to cry. Her mother wouldn’t want her to cry. No one would.
Equipping the armor and putting the money away, Myr looked at her mother one last time. She almost gave her a casual farewell, but caught herself. Mother believes in Nanthos. It was only right for Myr to do it the way the zealots did.
Even though it was the first time she uttered such words.
“Mother, may you get better… And may you stay safe.”
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Myr got back to her home and checked her backpack again. Rations, check. Money, still there. I think I’m good.
Just as she was about to put on the backpack, Luna appeared again. [Do you have a few moments to spare?]
“Sure…”
[Splendid. I have been thinking, and it is time that you learn the First Movement of my Moonlight Art of Speed.]
“Uhh… What?”
Luna sighed. [What I mean is, you can officially learn Quick Flash now.]
Myr’s eyes lit up in excitement. Picking up the rapier, she quickly asked, “What do I do!?”
[Calm down. All you need to do is watch my Mana Pattern.]
Luna took a few steps away from Myr and let Mana flow through her ethereal body. She swirled her fingers like a conductor, flawlessly and quickly guiding Mana through an intricate Pattern.
It was so fast that Myr had to slow down time for herself to catch it all.
When Luna finished, both she and Myr clutched their respective head in pain; Luna for using her powers, and Myr for overusing her Eyes.
When the headache subsided, Myr placed her hand on the handle of the rapier and tried to repeat the pattern. However, Luna stopped her.
[Do not. You will have the opportunity to use it later. Although you can use it now, it would risk damaging the house.]
“Awww… fine.”
[Now, let us move on to something more important. You are aware of the way in which Shard owners get stronger, correct?]
“Kill stuff, right?”
[Yes. As opposed to slow cultivation, you directly absorb the Causality of the souls you reap and use it to increase your power. I have a way to quantify Causality, as do any other Shard. To view it, you simply need to… give me access to your soul. Your entire being.]
“...”
[I know that it is much to ask of you, but you need not decide right away. A—]
“I’ll do it,” Myr replied without any hesitation.
[...Are you certain? What if I took advantage of this and crushed your soul?]
“Then too bad, I guess. But this will make me stronger, right?”
[Not directly, but it will aid you.]
“Then I have no problem.”
Luna stayed silent for a few moments, thinking, before sighing. [Do be this trusting toward another being. It would only harm you. Even trusting me to this extent is stretching the line.]
“...I’ll keep it in mind.”
Luna nodded. Moving closer to Myr, she placed her hand on her head.
Myr could feel some kind of warm energy flowing inside her, making her head feel all fuzzy. Unfortunately, that comfortable feeling only lasted a few seconds before it disappeared when Luna removed her hand.
[Nothing went wrong. Have a look.] Luna snapped her fingers. Then, a translucent blue screen appeared between Myr and Luna.
{Name: Myrellion L’adovec
Race: Human || Wyvern
Level: 9 (current maximum: 20) (Normal)
Progress to the next level: 68%
Current rank: Normal+
Current progress to the next rank: 9/30 (levels)
Skills: [Eyes of Clepsydra] || [Quick Flash]}
“This is…”
[Your soul, summarized by text,] Luna explained. [Since power is subjective, I used my own power as a base.]
“...So you made this.” Myr studied the screen closely. Eyes of Clepsydra is probably my time slowdown thing. Didn’t know it had a name, to be honest. “Can you remove the Name and Race section? I feel like they’re useless.”
[Very well. They shall be removed next time.]
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After that, Myr put on her backpack and left her home. Standing at the town’s gate, she took one last look at her hometown before curtly turning back. Any more and her determination would waver, however small it would be.
She traversed down the beaten road, unfolding a map while munching on a piece of jerky.
Let’s see, Linder City would be a good start.
As she was surveying the distance to Linder City though, she heard rustling in the bushes nearby. Turning around, she saw five Wolves closing up on her.
Myr threw the map down on the ground and placed her hand on the handle of her rapier. This time, she didn’t need [Eyes of Clepsydra] to carve the Pattern out of her own Mana.
Swallowing the last bit of jerky, she grinned arrogantly at the Wolves.
“[Quick Flash]”
{+0.2% progress to the next level.}