The Novel's Sidekick

Q: What is the Night of Brilliance?

A: The one night every month when all the five moons share the same sky.

- - -

I tried to whistle on my way back to the dormitory. After cleaning the dorm room, I decided to go shopping a little. I did not think it would take me such a long time to buy a few groceries and household items and now even the moons have appeared in the evening sky. You heard that right, it's moons—plural. There were five moons in the Forbidden realm, or Shrankor—I should say.

The sky currently houses two moons. The first moon, Pra’moon, was at the far horizon in the west while the second moon, Dai’moon, was in the mid-sky and another one, Sa’moon would rise in a couple of hours. I was so busy practising the newly acquired Purgatory that I had no time for sightseeing the other day.

The Night of Brilliance was coming as well and with it would come the year-end festival. Once every month in Shrankor, the five moons appear in the sky together, though it is only like that for an hour or two—it was the most brilliance of the lunar light, and calling it the Night of Brilliance was no overstatement. I have read it is one of the most beautiful views to watch in Starlight City, or more commonly known as the City of Stars.

Then there was the year-end festival on the occasion of the triumph thousand years ago. I am not looking forward to the festival, although I was not so disapproving of watching the five moons together. It reminded me that there was something I needed to find on the night of the five moons, though it might not be possible this month.

Coming back to the topic, the reason I was so late with the shopping was because whenever I went to a shop, nobody was ready to sell their things to me. Scar seemed to have amassed quite a debt in a few stores, and when I entered even a single step into their shop, they asked for the money before hearing anything out. I got myself safely out of here today, though it took a lot of effort.

I need to do something about the money problem. I made a mental note of that.

While there were shops where Scar did not have any debt, he similarly caused some catastrophes with his delinquent crew instead. I wondered why I had not seen them yet, even though I had been in this world for more than a couple of days now. Perhaps they were enjoying their vacation and would come back before the upcoming year-end festival. At least that baldie will surely come. Will he be alright seeing his boss change so much?

I had read about the festival in the book, but it held no interest for me. Perhaps it’s because I'm a little introverted, or maybe because I don't have any friends in this world. Well, even in my old world, I had only a couple of people who could be called friends. I wonder what they were doing? Perhaps at my funeral? Though I have no recollection of dying before the transmigration, it's very probable that I died when the earth shook and the light came for me.

A gust of icy wind blew, my muffler drifted along with it. The cold reckoning reminded me I was reminiscing too much about that mindless rambling. I walked along the sidewalk, shaking my head. Even during these hours, people were still at work, building the stage for the festival. The stores on the path were glittering with white light, which ran on something different from electricity.

It was some luminescent stone that was worked through by artisans and made into a lamp-like shape. Providing there was enough fuel, it could go on for decades. Still, electricity was far more efficient. But I like the silence of this world. People were not busy all the time like my old world, though it would all change in a couple of years.

I sighed and found a steel bench outside the park where the preparation for the festival was ongoing. Without a thought, I sat on the steel bench. The Starlight Academy was about a ten-minute walk from here. I could have gone straight to my dorm, and yet here I am, sitting alone and sighing. Was there really no way for me to go back to my old life?

It was not that I was super happy with life in my old world, but still . . . I wonder what dad is doing. Is he taking his meds on time? If I am dead, then . . . I dismissed those thoughts, shaking my head.

Still, the worry and emptiness did not leave me. Well, the emptiness will be filled when the story begins. I will have more things going on than I can probably handle, not to mention the protagonist will soon arrive. I wondered what Edward would be like up close. He was described as somewhat earnest and a little naive at the start, though he evolved through the course of the story.

Abruptly, some cacophony entered my ears, bringing me back to reality. I looked in the direction where it was coming from and found a kid being chased away by a couple of middle-aged men. They were not obnoxious to the child and only yelled a few times. The kid did not utter a word in protest, but bowed a little before leaving.

I heard something about wages. The kid was demanding money for something, but all she got was yellings from the men.

As the kid came closer, I noticed to have seen this kid before. She was small and had not reached five feet yet. But the silver hair of the girl reminded me. The other day when I was about to enter the academy, she was trying to get in. It appeared she had not left yet.

The girl, of fifteen-something age, gave a look towards me and the stuff in my arms before taking a seat on the same bench, though she was in the far corner. She seemed to remember me as well, as my face was far from being forgettable. She was shivering a little from the cold, though she was coping far better than I would have in those clothes.

I wondered if I can comfort her, though the look the kid was giving me told me she was unapproachable and did not need any comforting.

"Life is hard," I uttered while my eyes were drawn to where the construction workers had yet to finish the day's job.

The girl did not say a word, and I gave up. I could barely manage to talk with another stranger, not to mention trying to comfort one. The girl took out a small chunk of bread from her bag. She ate it without a word while I left my gaze on her.

I returned to whistling, but no rhythm came. What happened? I used to be good at this. Abruptly, I saw another person coming. A girl in her teenage years, though by the way she presented herself, made others think she was older.

Then the whistle came out successfully, just the way I wanted.

And my God, she is gorgeous. She walked with poise, and it was like contempt for the models of my old world. Even though she was not as tall as Yasmine, nor as warm and pleasant to look at, there was something about her that drawn me in. Something I could not quite put my finger on. A tight blue dress hugged her body. Above it was another thick sweater, all buttons unbuttoned, displaying her immature curves and edges.

Her pale skin and the thick sweater indicated she was most likely from Victoria. Even though her exterior was quite cold and not much of her skin was exposed, she appeared quite the provocative type. I wondered why.

"That's a stunner." I discovered I said it aloud, albeit in mumbles. The chick, on the other hand, seemed to hear it as well. Not just the one who was eating bread in one mind, but the one I expressed the words for. I wondered how I became so . . . daring in this area? Picking up on girls I never knew.

The young lady from Victoria faltered on her walk and came before me, resting her luggage on the side. She seemed to recognise me. Well, there were not many people with strikingly red hair and a cut mark on their right-hand brow. I am also quite famous here, or rather, Infamous would be the right word, but this young lady before me seemed to know me for more than the infamous rumours.

In her haughty expression, the signs of empathy, sadness, and some rage came one after another before she turned tranquil. "I heard you are still wasting your life," the pale young lady said in a cold and slow voice. "Aunt is definitely proud of you if she is watching from above."

The girl did not wait to exchange more words, bit her lips, looked at me for a couple of seconds more and strode away slowly towards the direction of Starlight Academy.

My eyes lingered on the haughty girl walking nonchalantly, and I could faintly guess who she was. And if she is who I think she is. . . Shit! This young woman was probably Ciara Wintermoon.

I stopped at that thought, my eyes glued to the disappearing figure.That explains why I acted like that.

Like I have the ability to draw in the tyrannical flames of Purgatory, Ciara can actually influence others' emotions to some degree. She most likely aroused my interest in her before giving me cold shoulders. She was as odd as it was mentioned in the book, but I found myself with a thin curve on my lips. It was like watching my favourite stage play with my favourite actors, giving her best performance.

Ciara and Scar used to be good friends from childhood, but it turned into something nasty with both of their brutal personalities. Scar and Ciara had a good relationship, and the same was true for their family. But cracks appeared slowly in the relationship and with the endless depression Scar got from his mother's death, they drifted apart more and more. Coupled with the fact that both of their families had a rivalry going on, which later escalates into archenemies, the friendship turned to something that they could barely stand the others' company.

I returned to my whistling, though the rhythm I made was as awful as the chilly wind. For some reason, I felt more chilled than before. Perhaps the thought of the girl was the reason. Even though nothing was wrong with her, Ciara was quite the odd type and behaved erratically on occasion. She and Scar broke into some scenes occasionally in the book. Violent scenes that looked apart from simple bickering.

"Life is hard." said the girl, returning my words to myself. It did not look like she was pitying me or scorning me. She seemed far more understanding than anyone her age should be. I wondered what she had been through to get to that point.

"Sure is." I could not help but sigh. I looked at her and found she still had not finished her meal yet. The piece of bread she had was barely enough for one meal, yet she appeared to be saving it for later.

"Meow." A stray cat came and went straight towards the thin girl. It seemed to have noticed the food in her hands and rubbed its furry body against the thin girl's leg as if asking for some.

The expression of the thin girl stiffened, and she looked at me. I avoided her gaze, as if I saw nothing. I could have solved the problem with the cat, but I did not. Honestly, I wanted to see what she would do with the stray now.

Gaining no pity from me, she broke off a small part, almost as small as the tip of her thumb and gave it to the stray. The cat meowed again and ate it. It did not leave after eating the small piece, but meowed again. The thin girl was considering again if she should give more.

I could not watch it anymore, stood up slowly and brought a big chunk of bread—far better quality than the one the girl had. I broke a small piece off of it. The girl was looking right at the other piece when I stooped to give it to the cat.

"This stray seems to like you," I said, bringing the other piece of bread to her. "Here."

The thin girl shook her head. "I don't need it," she said, as if too stubborn to take it.

Looking at the resolute expression of the girl, I did not choose to convince her to take it. I stored the bread inside the bag and saw the pained expression on her exterior seeing the chunk of bread go away. She looked cute, as she motioned her head away.

I was about to stand up when I noticed a bloody mark on her knees. It seemed to be strained for a few days and had not been taken care of. "You don't need food, but you definitely need to care about this," I said, pointing at her knees. "Let me help."

Just as I was about to put my palm on her knees, the girl shouted out.

"What are you doing?" she asked and was trying to escape, but before she could do that, I caught her ankle. It was quite easy to catch her. Who knows how many days had gone by since she had a proper meal?

"Sit down." I said in the most commanding of a voice as I could muster. The girl sat down and I gave a not-so-good gesture that told her to hold her clothes above her knees. Seriously, I was fearing that I looked like an offender now. But no further shout from her gratified me.

I breathed in slowly and imagined the flames of purgatory. I visualised the flame appearing on my palm, swaying a little along with the wind. A thin strand of scarlet flame appeared in my palm slowly. It was not a raging flame, but a soothing one.

The girl was frightened again and was struggling to escape, but when the flame touched her wound, she stopped moving. It was not painful in the slightest. The flame of purgatory was known for its extreme effect on demons and evil, but it had some healing factors as well, if used properly.

"No sudden movements. I am not very good at this." I said quietly, beads of sweat forming on my forehead even in the cold weather. It's only been a day since I awakened this ability and I don't know how long it will take me to use it easily. I could use it on myself easily, but for anyone else, it was another story.

After training in Purgatory for almost the entire day yesterday, I was able to do some smaller healing with it, though it was still damn hard for me, and it took a dozen more seconds to heal the slight wound. Other than healing, I could also attack with the raging flame, though I almost burned my dorm room practising that, which earned me another round of cleaning.

"Is it really hard to get into the academy?" the thin girl asked.

I pondered for a second and answered, "I'm not sure."

"How could you not? Aren't you a student?" the girl asked again. Her voice was not pitiful in the slightest, but had a rather distinctive edge to it.

"Have you not taken the admission test yet?"

"They told me to come at dawn a couple of days later."

"I guess there is no harm in trying," I said, trying not to break the kid's heart. It was not just about talent and hard work, money was a huge factor in the education. Well, when it was not?

"I'll get in for sure." the girl said, as resolution flashed in her eyes as if certain she would. I myself have never been that certain about anything before.

The healing was finished and even though there was a bit of bruise left, I was damn happy with what I did. Charity does help. "There you go."

The thin girl thanked me, and I stood up with the intention of hitting the road. I did not look back. There were many things left for me to do at the dorm. The little shopping I got done already wasted so much time, I did not even get to practise any arts today. And there was the appointment I had with Ben at dawn.

[You have gained 4 destiny points.]

What! I looked at the transparent text in confusion. What did I do to get these points? Was it because of Ciara? I had no idea. Usually, you get destiny points for doing something that may change the world in a way, for better or worse. So in essence, if you have an impact on the world, you will get destiny points. But so far, what I have done was to just heal a kid, and the wound was not something serious either.

That could mean only one thing, this kid will be a big player later or there is no way I would get destiny points for healing her.

I looked back instantly in search of the thin girl, but could only find the stray cat licking its paw.

_____________________

Edited by Mysteries.

Proofread by kqwxz.