My Moonlit Declaration

Chapter 13：Witch Power Test

“What?” Elara’s voice rose sharply, almost an octave higher. “You want me to go and marry for political reasons?” She grabbed Herman’s sleeve tightly, refusing to let him keep walking.

“Then I definitely can’t go! Am I just a tool for marriage alliances? I was chosen by the Moon on my very first day in the Snow Moon Clan, and now they want to send me to the Moon Ember Clan just to marry someone?”

Herman stopped in his tracks and looked at her for a long moment before speaking. “All members of the Frost Shadow Clan and the Moon Ember Clan have been afflicted with the ‘Bloodline Curse’,” he said calmly. “Not only does it cause them to become irritable, easily enraged, and bloodthirsty, but the most terrifying part is that the curse is passed down through generations, affecting their descendants.”

“Bloodline Curse? Affecting their descendants? What do you mean?” Elara looked at her teacher in confusion.

“In recent generations, most of the werewolves born into these two clans have died in infancy due to bloodline rampages,” Herman explained as he patted Elara’s shoulder and continued leading the way.

“Why is this happening?” she asked.

“During the Thousand-Year War, the clansmen who rebelled against the Snow Moon Clan advanced too quickly without the guidance and purification of the Moon Spring, which resulted in this fatal curse. Their bloodline power became like a wild horse that had broken free from its reins — uncontrollable — and eventually tore them apart from within.”

The teacher’s pace remained steady. “This is the Moon’s punishment for them.”

If this was true, the Moon Ember Clan and Frost Shadow Clan would no longer be able to produce new offspring to continue their bloodlines.

“Yes, their descendants find it extremely difficult to grow strong because they cannot endure the suffering caused by the ‘Bloodline Curse’,” Herman added as his final explanation.

“I am from the Snow Moon Clan. I don’t have the Bloodline Curse. Even if I’m only half-werewolf, I’m still a Snow Moon clansman,” Elara said, suddenly seeming to understand everything.

“I get it now,” she continued. “They want me to go back and obediently give birth to healthy offspring for the Moon Ember Clan, so their children won’t have to suffer from the curse!”

“You’ve guessed correctly!” The teacher glanced back at her, the corner of his mouth curving slightly. “For the past year, the Moon Ember Clan and Frost Shadow Clan have been searching everywhere for lone Snow Moon clansmen — especially women.”

Elara fell silent.

A bargaining chip for marriage alliances. A tool for reproduction.

She thought of Susanna. So that was what her mother meant by “gaining a foothold” — by giving birth to a pair of healthy children.

And what she called “coming home to enjoy a good life” actually meant making Elara do the same thing.

So her mother had come with this intention all along. Keeping the benefits within the family?

Unknowingly, they had arrived in front of a temple at the northern corner of the city.

The temple was built of stone and wasn’t very large. Intricate patterns were carved on the two pillars at the entrance. A plaque hung above the door with two words: Witch Domain.

“We’re here. Let’s go in,” Herman said as he stepped forward. “The Witch Power Test will be conducted here.”

“Here?” Elara stood frozen in front of the temple. “Herman, aren’t you mistaken? This is a temple dedicated to the Witch God. Every human city has one.”

She looked at the bustling crowd around them. “I used to come here often to beg. There was never any place for testing witch power.”

“Stop dawdling,” the teacher gave her a gentle push. “Just follow me inside and you’ll understand.”

They entered the temple. Straight ahead stood a massive, tall statue of a deity with a ferocious face and an open mouth, as if roaring in anger. The two of them bowed respectfully to the statue. Then Herman led Elara into the prayer room on the far left.

Standing in the center of the small prayer room, the teacher began chanting a spell. Elara felt the stones on the wall shifting, as though someone was assembling a giant puzzle. Soon, a large black stone wall — five meters long and two meters wide — appeared before them.

“This is the real Witch Domain,” the teacher said. “Humans worship the Witch God in the Witch God Temple, but only werewolves worship the Witch God in the Witch Domain. Every Witch Domain has a space dedicated to testing witch power.”

“Does every werewolf enter through that prayer room?” Elara asked. Then she laughed at her own wild imagination. “What if too many people come one day? Wouldn’t it get overcrowded and explode?”

Herman flicked her forehead hard. “Sometimes I really don’t understand what kind of things are running through that head of yours.”

“Ouch! That hurts—” Elara stuck her tongue out, rubbing the sore spot.

“The Witch Domain only allows one group of werewolves to enter and exit at a time,” Herman explained patiently. “If the people inside the prayer room haven’t left yet, naturally no one else can come in.”

He looked at her helplessly and sighed. “Alright, from now on, no more interruptions. Focus and concentrate on testing your Witch Power Source.”

“Oh,” Elara stood beside her teacher, staring at the huge black stone wall in front of her.

“Place both of your palms on it,” the teacher pointed to a raised white crystal on the left side of the stone wall. “You don’t need to press hard, and don’t resist. The crystal will automatically detect your Witch Power Source.”

Half doubtful, Elara pressed both palms onto the crystal. It felt cool to the touch. She turned her head to look at the teacher. “Like this?”

“What are you looking at me for?” the teacher said impatiently. “Look at the stone wall. The reaction will come soon.”

Herman truly had no way of dealing with Elara. He had said it many times before — he had never had a student as troublesome, mischievous, yet incredibly quick to learn as her. She made him both love and hate her at the same time.

Soon, the stone wall lit up. A burst of red light exploded from the center of the wall, and instantly the entire surface blazed with crimson brilliance. Above the red glow, three words emerged:

Wood Power

Immediately after, purple light surged up from beneath the red, piercing Elara’s eyes. The words Fire Power appeared within the purple glow.

The two colors intertwined across the stone wall — a brilliant, dazzling purple and a piercing, eye-catching red.

“Dual Fire-Wood Witch Power Sources! Excellent!” Herman exclaimed, his eyes widening. Then his expression suddenly changed. “By the Moonlight God! ……”

The rest of the words were swallowed back into his mouth.

In the upper right corner of the stone wall, a small, faint silver-white halo began to glow. Within the silver light, four faint words slowly appeared:

Space Power

“Space Power!” The teacher’s voice came from behind her, trembling with excitement. “It’s Space Power! In the past thousand years, aside from the late Holy Elder, no one in the clan has ever possessed the power of space!”

“Where? Where is it? I can’t see it!” Elara was so anxious she wanted to let go and run over to look. “I can’t see it!”

“Don’t move!” The teacher’s voice suddenly turned stern. “The test is not over yet. You cannot let go.”

Elara tilted her head and made a funny face at him.

The three-colored lights on the stone wall gradually dimmed. Then — a burst of rainbow-colored light exploded outward. Red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple — all the colors burst forth at once, filling the entire stone wall.

A sharp, stabbing pain suddenly struck Elara’s head, as if someone was piercing her brain with needles. She could no longer stand. The whole world began to spin, and she collapsed softly to the ground.

“Elara! Elara!” The teacher’s voice seemed to come from very far away.

She opened her eyes and saw the teacher’s face hovering above her, his brows tightly furrowed. “What happened to you?” His voice was full of urgency.

“Teacher… my head hurts so much… it feels like someone is stabbing me with needles…” Elara leaned weakly against his chest and shook her head. His embrace carried the faint scent of medicinal herbs.

“What’s going on? What exactly were my test results? Does that last burst mean all the witch powers I tested are invalid?” she asked.

The corners of Herman’s mouth curved upward into a full, warm smile. “Even though you are only half-werewolf, you are a genius who possesses three Witch Power Sources!”

Elara was stunned. “Genius? I’m a genius? Herman, you’re not lying to me, right?”

Herman’s smile grew even deeper — warm and genuine.

“I’m a genius…” she repeated softly, then broke into a happy laugh. “Teacher said I’m a genius.”

After saying that, she buried herself in the crook of his arm and began to cry quietly.

“Why are you crying? This is something to be happy about!” the teacher said as he helped her stand up.

Laughing and crying at the same time, Elara realized that deep down, she still cared a great deal about her half-werewolf bloodline. If it weren’t for that, perhaps Kael wouldn’t have…