"Sorry, Mother, I just can't learn that kind of power right now." Sylutia woke from her sleep, looking at her hands with an amused, helpless expression.
That power and its techniques, even though her mother had deliberately demonstrated every skill detail that day and etched the practice thods into her mory, were still beyond her. She was simply too weak to recreate the miraculous scenes stored in her mind.
If her guess was right, her mother must have enjoyed the Aster blessing, which differed from her own Cornflower blessing. In addition, their family bloodline seed to have a natural affinity for Luminous Moon. Many of the thods and abilities her mother displayed bore the signature of the Luminous Moon Aspect.
Transcending space and ti to manifest imagination, freely switching between illusion and reality, dominating dreams — Luminous Moon was indeed powerful, one of the upper-tier Aspects.
But mastering Luminous Moon was exceptionally difficult. This was not an Aspect you could easily comprehend by hoarding resources. Whether soone could perceive that strange, quasi-illusory rhythm depended entirely on their spirit and talent.
Sylutia floated quietly in the purified water, thoughts turning in her mind, light reflecting in her eyes.
Though she couldn't reach the miraculous effects of her mother, after simplifying the technique by innurable folds and using it for escape, it did present a possible way out.
She closed her eyes again, gradually adjusting her posture. Her hands slowly ca together in front of her, palms and thumbs forming a faint triangular shape.
In the hollow of that triangle, pinpricks of starlight appeared. At the sa ti, the silver teors on the card in her Fate Plate began to vanish one by one.
Girl Under the Starry Sky (First-Tier · Alien Star) → Slumbering Maiden (None)
The hard-earned First-Tier Aspect dissolved again, and the precious Aspect power condensed within it gathered drop by drop into Sylutia's palm, forming a tiny, enchanting whirl of stardust.
'Power of the stars, please reveal yourself now'
'Reveal in the form I yearn for'
The spinning stardust gradually took on the Luminous Moon silver of the purified water, expanding bit by bit and continuously absorbing more…
Until finally a huge vortex ford underwater, the flow emitting a faint silver glow as it surged upward, carrying countless twinkling lights out of the pool.
In the temple ruins, black mist and white bees still tore into each other, but now the black mist was nearly gone while many white bees remained.
Water spray filled the air as the vortex tornado shot up, reached the heights, then fell like a curtain.
A transparent water curtain, a curtain tinged with silver, a curtain dotted with stars.
The falling curtain embedded one white bee after another, then the specks of starlight swiftly slid across the water, sketching drawings on the curtain. Blooms of Cornflower appeared, not real but manifestations enabled by her talent, which allowed Sylutia to relatively easily control this arduous secret technique.
Finally, the silvery water curtain hung motionless in the air, and the painting traced by the wandering starlight froze with the last flow of moonlight.
Sylutia stepped out of the pool, gazing at the giant flowing water painting in the sky. With the last of her energy, she completed it.
Soon the giant painting slowly descended, shrinking until it beca an illusory card floating before Sylutia.
Bees and the Night Garden (First-Tier · Alien Star · Insect Moth)
'At night, white bees flit through the illusory field of Cornflowers like fireflies, as if in a dream.' (The starry flower field seals the swarm, their powers held in a fragile balance)
Phew… Sylutia exhaled. That finally dealt with those bloodthirsty swarms.
However, since this was her first use and heavily simplified, all she could manage was to seal the swarms. If her mother had cast it, not only would the Luminous Moon Aspect have been retained, but she could have commanded the bees to her will and granted them the blessing of starlight.
She was still too weak. She probably couldn't even beat the household maids. She vaguely rembered the maids in her family were almost all above Third Tier, skilled in many techniques and nearly omnipotent.
Although she still couldn't recall her full na or her mother's na, given the many clues obtained from this dream, recovering her past identity would be only a matter of ti.
"Ilythia…" she rembered the na ntioned in the dream.
Even though she could not rember her mother's na, she oddly rembered the na of her childhood best friend. Were their childhood bonds really that deep? She couldn't rember her mother's na, yet she recalled Ilythia.
Ilythia—she seed to have golden hair, a mischievous streak, with eyes like polished gold.
…
After readjusting her dress, the girl returned to the fountain pool. The clear water beneath the white stone statue had been completely used up by Sylutia; the water jug that once stread had dried and solidified, leaving only the stone female statue standing in the pool.
Even without expertise, one could tell this statue was a masterpiece passed down through the ages. Sylutia approached the statue, tiptoeing as she carefully inspected it, trying to find sothing different.
But now she had lost her previous Aspect and returned to zero rank; the effect of Discernnt Eyes had also diminished considerably, so she could not see anything definite.
Well then, if there had been any conspicuous secret, soone would have unearthed it long ago. She lightly jumped down and landed in the emptied pool.
The pool water now reached only to her waist, lacking the previous bottomless sensation. It seed the pool itself was a strange artifact capable of holding far more purified water than was currently present.
Putting those thoughts aside for now, Sylutia abandoned the fountain and searched the temple ruins.
Along the way she did find sothing: a fallen stele in a corner, carved with a brief historical inscription.
From the text she inferred the temple had belonged to so church whose influence once spread across the continent. In the Eighth Epoch they fought many forces over the legacy of the Silver Moon Dragon.
Silver Moon Dragon? Wasn't that the dragon that governed the Luminous Moon Aspect in the Sixth and Seventh Epochs? Rumor had it that in the Sixth Epoch dragons rose, elevating the Serpent-Lizard Aspect into Dragon Eye and seizing the authority of the Fairy Monarchs, becoming the world's overlords.
Later the Silver Moon Dragon fell, and the Hours who managed the Luminous Moon beca rather mysterious. Today the Fairy Monarchs hold the rule of Luminous Moon, since they were the previous masters and are familiar with its control.
Unexpectedly, special secret histories were hidden here. In a sense, knowledge is power. If she could understand this history, she could rely on rituals to borrow the legendary power contained within.
After reading the stele, Sylutia found nothing else useful, and by then she was tired.
In this world the sky seed permanently low and overcast, with no clear day or night. She had no idea how many days she had been here.
Since the place was relatively safe, she decided to sleep for a while.
She walked over to the stone bench beside the central fountain and slept on one side.
Gradually her breathing evened out, and the ancient temple ruin fell silent once more.
Long after, a faint, invisible moonlight slowly rose over the girl, carrying her into a distant, strange dream.
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