In class, Scholar Haide once again recounted the origin of the current world to everyone.
"After vast shifts of generations and changes of time, the age we inhabit today is the Ninth Era, known as the Covenant Era."
"What is the Covenant?"
"To counter the expansion of the Dragon of the Corona and bring an end to the horrific War of Cataclysm, the Fae Monarch and the Hours forged an agreement demarcating the boundary between mortals and higher beings. From then on, the Celestial Courtyard was severed from the earthly realm, forbidding casual travel between them, with only select passages and rituals capable of bridging the two. At the same time, it constrained the intensity of warfare, confining those mythical entities beyond mortal reckoning to the Celestial Courtyard so they could no longer meddle at will in the mortal world below.
"In this era, various factions recovered from the ruins of the War of Cataclysm, reestablished nations, and reached a balance over the course of more than two thousand years. The present year is 2145 of the Covenant Era."
The Ninth Era... Xilutaiya noted it down in her notebook, marveling at how ancient this world's history ran.
The Blazing Sun and the Phantom Moon were born in the Third Era. They brought an end to the Second Era, the Vault Sea Era, when sky and sea were one; thus, that age where sun and moon shone together came to be known as the Sun and Moon Era (the Third Era).
Once the Blazing Sun and the Phantom Moon fractured, the Third Era reached its end as well, giving way to the Fourth Era.
***
After class, Xilutaiya packed up her books and prepared to grab a bite to eat when a female student with chestnut-red hair walked over.
Xilutaiya recognized her. Her name was Walaini, daughter of Knight Laiwen, though the two had hardly ever spoken.
"Your name is Tiya, right?" Walaini asked as she approached, twirling a lock of hair by her ear with one hand, her brow slightly furrowed.
"Yes," the young girl replied, inwardly thinking that this would likely be troublesome.
"I see you taking very good notes every day. Let me see them." She held out her hand directly.
"Um..."
Several thoughts flashed through Xilutaiya's mind. Lending notes was a minor matter, but she doubted the girl would ever return them once borrowed; after all, Walaini had not left a good impression on her.
In the eyes of nobles, commoners were insignificant beings; asking you for something was doing you an honor, and you ought to feel pleased.
"I understand." Xilutaiya considered it briefly, then pulled her notebook from her satchel and handed it over.
Her memory in this life was sharp enough that she didn't strictly need notes, but habits from her past life had led her to take them anyway. Besides, it made her appear more normal, as all students kept notes.
Taking it, Walaini flipped through it casually. The girl's elegant, neat handwriting, well-structured paragraphs, and finely sketched diagrams gave the notebook a rare aesthetic charm.
"Hmph, not bad." Walaini gave a slight nod. "I'll remember you. After graduation, you can come to Wheatfield Town for a clerical post." Wheatfield Town was Knight Laiwen's fief.
In Walaini's eyes, this was an immense bestowal of favor; ordinary commoners rarely had such a fine prospect, especially girls.
"Thank you."
At the girl's bland response, Walaini cast a few more glances at her before walking away with the notebook.
After the first week passed, the material taught by Scholar Haide grew progressively deeper. Even the educated noble students knew nothing about the subjects he covered, and the disparities among the students began to show.
Some might understand in the moment only to forget right after, while others struggled to grasp the material from the start and, too embarrassed to ask during class, could only seek answers from others afterward.
"What does he mean by 'Radiant Moon is not Phantom Moon, yet Phantom Moon will surely be reborn within Radiant Moon'?" Kemiya clutched her head in frustration.
"Kailun, why don't you look troubled at all? Did you actually understand it?" She turned around.
"No, I didn't understand it from the very beginning." Kailun sat at the dining table, chewing on the black bread provided to the students.
"Then why aren't you panicking?" Kemiya pressed.
"Because I was never capable of learning such complicated things in the first place," Kailun continued. "Teacher said that as long as I do well in the three most crucial subjects, I can become a good hunter," she explained.
"But that definitely won't be enough if you want high marks." Kemiya bit her lip. "Haven't you ever thought about getting top marks and going to the Hidden Woodland?"
"That's far too distant for me." Kailun already felt fortunate just to study under Scholar Haide. Hailing from a remote village, she harbored no grand ambitions.
"Sigh, there's no talking to you." Kemiya slumped listlessly across the table, pinching off bits of bread with one hand and feeding them into her mouth, looking altogether like a wilted slug.
Just then, she spotted a familiar figure enter the dining hall and sat straight up again.
"Tiya, over here!" Kemiya waved.
Carrying the bread and water she had received from the kitchen servants, Xilutaiya walked over and sat down across from Kemiya.
The dining hall was built of stone brick and rather dimly lit, with a very long table in the middle right next to the kitchen, meant for routine, casual meals. Formal guests would be entertained in another grand dining hall elsewhere in the manor.
"Tiya, how did your studies go today?" Kemiya asked, unable to contain her curiosity.
"Fairly well," the young girl replied with her usual placidity, nibbling delicately at her bread.
"Does 'fairly well' mean you understood it?"
"I did." Xilutaiya blinked, puzzled by why Kemiya would ask.
"Huh? You really understood? Then let me test you." Kemiya was somewhat skeptical; she considered herself quite bright, and everyone in her family said so.
Kemiya then repeated the question about Radiant Moon and Phantom Moon.
"Oh, that." Xilutaiya set down the piece of bread in her hand. "It's actually quite easy to grasp. If you look back at how the teacher described the three moon attributes, you can pretty much understand.
"[Radiant Moon] (Gentle radiance and spirit, mental vitality and beautiful reverie)
"[Mist Shadow] (The absence of radiance, indistinct forms, and lightless shadows)
"[Nightmare] (The shattering of spirit, as well as the collapse of reason and despair)
"Mist Shadow is the manifestation of absent radiance, while Nightmare is the despair of the spirit. The two are like companions born of Radiant Moon—one is its shadow, the other its mirror image.
"In other words, their concepts require Radiant Moon as a point of reference. Without Radiant Moon, both would lose the conceptual fulcrum upon which they stand.
"Just as a shadow requires light to cast it, and a reflection in water requires the original object to exist.
"This means that if someone wishes to recreate the Phantom Moon attribute, they must take Radiant Moon as the core, draw the other two together, and achieve a kind of curious balance.
"Hence Teacher's words: 'Radiant Moon is not Phantom Moon, yet Phantom Moon will surely be reborn within Radiant Moon.'" Finishing the last bite of bread in her hand, Xilutaiya concluded her explanation just on cue.
"I feel kind of stupid now... ugh." Kemiya understood the general idea now, but she also realized that she might not be all that clever after all.
Chapter 25