Goddess of the Moon (1)

"One moment…" the calm voice echoed through the vast spiritual plane with no apparent direction. The owner of that voice delved into Luanne's thoughts. "Ah, yes, your godson. How is he?"

"Better now. I used the lunar amethyst of ether that you recommended, and now his core is entering harmony."

"I see. So, why are you asking for help regarding him?"

"Elemental resonance. When he fell into Nirvana, I noticed the mark appearing on his hand. It was exuding a cold, damp ether. It's definitely the mark of the northern wind… I spoke with his mentor, and apparently, Theo used some spell so powerful that it caused a gale throughout the entire forest…"

"I understand. And what exactly do you want to know? The magnitude of it all?"

"Exactly. What is the shape of the mark? Test his potential, see if there's a connection to any cardinal…"

"Hm…" she murmured. "I just don't know how far I can go with him… I'm afraid he might not be able to keep up with my methods…"

"Why? If he's incapable, then it's you who's failing. Luanne, my child. You came here just out of… insecurity? You don't necessarily need me, but you still think so. Why?"

"I don't know," she stammered. "I'm so lost with him. We solve one problem, but… another always appears. He's been like this since he was a child. I don't know where to start…"

"Problematic deviants are the most complex; it means strength. Like Amiah Neidr, the lord of Chaos. I remember when you two first met… He was so lost he couldn't even breathe. But do you remember what he did to overcome it?" Alune asked.

Luanne pondered for a moment until she remembered what happened eighty years ago.

"He pushed his own limits by battling those twenty thousand men from the Southern kingdom," Luanne replied.

"There's your answer. Push the limits and see the being Araav created."

"Push the limits, huh? Thank you for the advice! By the way—" she recalled. "He's already started using the codename Lumen. There's really no issue, right? I mean, him using your son's name. What would Master Lumen think of that?…"

"Lumen has no thoughts. He's dead; he chose to trust humans and sacrificed his life to save them. And no, there's no issue. My son was the only man who received my blessing, and as your godson, I see no problem in him inheriting that name. After all, it's just a name to me; it will never be more than that."

"I still don't understand your perspective, but I'll simply obey. Even if one day you lead me to my death…"

"I won't. Back to your Theo… Force him to use everything he can draw from that mark. The greater his proficiency, the better the essence will manifest. Test him during the night as well; I want to see results…"

"Lady Alune…"

"Did I give you permission to speak my name?" Her tone turned dark. Luanne swallowed hard, but Alune soon laughed. "I'm just teasing. You're allowed. Now, back to work!"

Luanne opened her eyes and stepped down from the altar. Looking at the engravings on the walls, depicting ancient battles and myths related to Alune, Luanne clapped her hands to her face and continued toward the door.

The three figures from before greeted Luanne again. However, before she could say anything, Luanne looked at one of the two girls and ordered, "You! Come with me."

"May I ask why?" Mahina inquired.

"A favor for me and Alune…"

☽✪☾

Theo spun tirelessly in an office chair. With his eyes closed, he didn't feel dizzy but could sense everything. Controlling his breathing, he tried to calm himself.

"Nalleth Zala. Chaos Empire. Mark, elemental resonance. Core limitation, demons… Why am I worrying about things beyond my reach? For now, only my limitations matter… The rest, leave it to the guards. Maybe in the future, I'll try to join them…"

The image of a faceless young woman appeared in Theo's mind, opening a reflection for him.

"Things that are beyond me… I guess that sums me up well."

"Stop spinning; you'll get dizzy like that," Luanne ordered, abruptly stopping the chair. Theo was thrown against his godmother's waist.

"You're back…" Theo murmured, trying to shake off the momentary dizziness.

"Yes, and we're leaving again. Are you ready?"

"No…"

"Great! Alex, did you two get along?"

"Yes. We talked a bit about my projects. He's intelligent," Alexander replied.

"Too intelligent… Thank you for everything. We'll be back soon. Come on, Theo."

Luanne tried to distract Theo's mind on the way to the mountains of Fulmenbour, showing tourist spots and recounting myths about religion and culture—a subject he loves.

For the residents of Fulmenbour, the concept of science is absolute. If something truly happens, it ceases to be "magical" and becomes something "real." They often lead a life of work and more work, with no apparent rest, only to relax at the end of the day.

To Luanne, they lead a sad life. Slaves to themselves and to a few bills. Forced to work to buy food and something that is the foundation of life: water. And the greatest absurdity of all to the priestess: paying for knowledge.

Water is the basis and reason for life, and knowledge is what makes human existence so complex. So why would they work themselves to death, laboring for hours and hours just to… live?

Unfortunately, this is the routine of humanity, but it's much more prevalent in the commercial city of Fulmenbour. Theo understood every word from his godmother and agreed with it all. After all, his upbringing was always against this: Sir Ethan is a duke who always seeks less human effort and more prosperity.

One of the measures the duke came up with was the use of technology. In a world where everyone was accustomed to manual labor, Ethan, alongside the dwarves, tried to bring technology to advance humanity as a whole. After Ethan, several dukes and kings also embraced the idea, leading to the creation of mana machines by the physicist, inventor, and engineer Christopher Laste.

However, it couldn't have gone worse. On a day under a cloudless sky, all the machines on the two allied continents exploded simultaneously at 10:30 a.m. That day, the entire world took a step back in the trust they had in technology.

As they walked toward the mountains, a glow caught Theo's eye. The temple of the sun stood at a point where the sun shone at noon and reflected directly onto the city. However, what Theo least expected was that his own godmother was leading him to something exhausting…

Accompanying the temples of the sky, sun, and moon were several floating mountains in the region. Difficult to access, it was necessary to climb the stairs, as carriages couldn't get close enough. On these same mountains were the monasteries of each religion (for each member of the mentioned trinity, there is a devoted religion).

Seeing the tallest mountain in Fulmenbour and knowing the path to Alunne's monastery, Luanne turned to her godson and simply said, "Your mission is to reach Alunne's monastery without using your wind attribute. You'll have to climb step by step to the top… I'll see you up there!"

"Godmother, wait!"

"Did you think I'd just help you with the amplifier and let you go? Wrong. I've already spoken with your mentors, and you'll only return to Vagus once I've helped you with everything you need. If you want more answers, climb the stairs!" she encouraged, suddenly disappearing from Theo's sight.

"Damn it!" he cursed. "Do I really have to climb all this?" he grumbled, staring at the endless staircase obscured by dense fog.