My Moonlit Declaration

Chapter 10: The Moon-Pointing Stone

At the same time, he had been searching the human world for the previous Holy Elder’s wife and daughter.

She—Elara Lewis—was a half-wolf hybrid who had survived for eighteen years at the very bottom of human society.

Ever since she could remember, life had been like a stinking swamp. Every step she took sank deeper, making it impossible to pull herself out.

Elara’s mother, Susanna, was a vain woman who had never given Elara any real maternal love—only endless complaints and disgust. Her mother always resented fate for being unfair, for making her give birth to Elara, this half-wolf monster.

When Elara was young, her mother would occasionally beat her when in a bad mood. Those wounds not only scarred her body but were also deeply etched into her heart. Later, when her mother met a wealthy man, she left without hesitation, abandoning Elara to struggle alone in this cold world.

From then on, Elara survived by scavenging trash and polishing shoes on street corners. In human society, she was like a transparent person—discriminated against, ostracized, with no friends and no warmth.

Elara often found herself staring blankly at the moon in the dead of night, imagining how wonderful it would be if she could run freely under the moonlight like a true wolf.

Teacher Herman had not decided to become her teacher the moment he found her.

When he used a secret technique to test her bloodline purity and discovered she was only a half-wolf hybrid, he immediately turned and left.

However, the moonlight continued to guide him back. He noticed that the moonlight enveloping his body was growing dimmer. After he had walked a few hundred meters away, the moonlight surrounding him suddenly vanished completely, as if a dark cloud had appeared above his head and blocked out all the moonlight.

Herman turned around and gazed at the inconspicuous little beggar in the distance, hesitating whether he should try again.

Only when he turned back and walked toward that corner did a miracle happen. The moonlight gradually brightened again. By the time he stood once more in front of the little beggar, the brilliant moonlight illuminated the entire dark corner as if it were daytime.

The moment Elara agreed to become Herman’s student, she felt a warm current slowly rising in her chest, as though some kind of ritual was being completed.

“Can I stay with you forever?” she asked timidly.

Teacher Herman smiled. “Good child, I will teach you and protect you always. Now, follow me and perform the ‘Radiant Moon Ritual’ three times to thank the Moon for its guidance.”

After completing the Radiant Moon Ritual three times, the moonlight surged brilliantly, turning the deserted, shadowy corner as bright as daylight.

At the same time, a silver-white crescent moon totem was imprinted behind the ears of both Herman and Elara, then gradually faded away. It would only burn like fire when either of them was in danger.

So this was the guidance of the Moon. Elara had found her own teacher. After the age of eight, she finally had someone to rely on.

“Oh no! Teacher Herman,” she suddenly sat up straight, “the Moon Oath requires clansmen to return to the tribe once every seven days. How am I supposed to go back? The journey is so far, and I still have to cross the Shadow Abyss Forest. It’s… it’s too difficult for me!”

“Haha—haha—” Teacher Herman burst out laughing loudly. The birds perched on the tree were startled and flew away in a flutter.

“Elara, don’t worry!” His eyes curved with amusement. “All Snow Moon clansmen carry a special ‘Root Chain.’ As long as you activate the spell, you can instantly teleport back to the tribe.”

“Wow, that’s amazing!” she couldn’t help exclaiming. “How can I get a ‘Root Chain’?”

“But,” Herman’s tone suddenly shifted, “with your current level of Witch God power, you probably won’t be able to control it yet.”

“Why?”

“The most basic Root Chain can help Snow Moon clansmen remove the scent of the beast race when walking in the human world and also repel insects. However, to activate the ‘Return’ spell, you need at least ten shuttles of Witch God power.”

“How can I find out exactly how many shuttles of Witch God power I have?” she asked. “I’m only a half-wolf hybrid. Does that mean I won’t have any Witch God power at all?”

Teacher Herman didn’t answer. He rummaged inside his Root Chain — a thin chain woven from the roots of a banyan tree, worn at the waist and looking quite ordinary. He took something out.

It was a transparent, sparkling oval crystal about the length of a finger. Sunlight reflected off it in tiny, fragmented sparks.

“Here,” he handed the crystal to her. “Hold it tightly and use all your strength to sense its presence. Then you’ll know how much Witch God power you have.”

Elara took the crystal. It felt cool in her palm, like holding a piece of ice.

“What is this?” She examined the crystal up and down. “It’s that simple to test? What if I don’t have any Witch God power at all?”

“What a talkative little girl,” Herman rolled his eyes at her. “Just try it when I tell you to. Even half-wolf hybrids in the Snow Moon Clan can absorb Witch God power.”

“So this is the legendary Moon-Pointing Stone? I thought it was supposed to be a treasure with five colors. Why is it just a shiny transparent rock?” I held it up, pointing it toward the sun overhead. “What happens if I point this crystal at the sun?”

“Give it back to me!” Herman reached out to snatch it back, looking somewhat annoyed. “You don’t even appreciate it when I let you use it. Moon-Pointing Stone, Sun-Pointing Stone… are you going to test it or not?”

“I’ll test it, I’ll test it! Fine!”

She gripped the Moon-Pointing Stone tightly, focusing all her attention on the crystal. With all her strength, desperately and with everything she had, she tried to sense it.

A warm sensation began spreading from her palm. Slowly, the warmth grew stronger, turning into intense heat, and finally becoming scalding hot.

Light began to glow between her fingers—red light spilling out from the gaps, growing brighter and brighter until she could no longer see her own hand clearly.

The burning Moon-Pointing Stone seared her palm, but she refused to let go. Teacher Herman had said to use all her strength to sense it, and she hadn’t used everything yet.

The red light grew even more intense. Her entire hand had become a glowing red orb. Elara felt as if she were holding a red-hot branding iron.

“Ah! It’s too hot!” She couldn’t hold on any longer. The moment she loosened her grip, the crystal slipped from her palm, but Herman quickly caught it.

“Let me see the words on it… 56… Mortal Tier, Fifth Grade?” Two lines of small characters appeared on the surface of the red crystal. They were so tiny she couldn’t read them clearly.

Teacher Herman stared at the words for a long time, stunned.

Then he looked up at Elara with an astonished expression.

“Teacher Herman, why are you looking at me like that? Is something wrong?” she asked.

“56 means you possess fifty-six shuttles of Witch God power,” he said.

“What does ‘Mortal Tier, Fifth Grade’ mean? Can I activate the ‘Return’ spell on the Root Chain?”

“Yes, of course you can!” He gave Elara a very firm answer, but his brows remained furrowed.

“But—”

“But what?”

“How did you know this is the ‘Moon-Pointing Stone’?” Herman suddenly fixed her with a sharp gaze. “Who told you?”

Moon-Pointing Stone? Elara was momentarily stunned.

“No one told me,” she said. “I just looked at it and knew. It felt like I had held it and pointed it at the sun before…”

She trailed off, unsure of what she was even saying. When had she ever pointed anything at the sun? She had never seen this crystal before.

Teacher Herman’s frown deepened.

“Then how do you have fifty-six shuttles of Witch God power?” he muttered to himself in a low voice. “When I first met you, I knew you had no Witch God power at all. Besides, you weren’t baptized by moonlight at birth, so you shouldn’t be able to absorb it on your own…”

“Teacher, Herman Teacher? What are you talking about? What baptism? What absorbing power? I don’t understand!” Elara tugged at his sleeve.

He didn’t answer, only looked at her with a complicated expression.

“Did you encounter any strange people while you were in the Snow Moon Tribe?” he asked. “Tell me everything.”

Elara tilted her head and thought for a moment. “Strange people? The Great Elder, Penny, the clansmen at the bloodline awakening ceremony, and the four elders… then the people at the sacred altar.”

“Did you eat anything strange?” Herman pressed.

“Oh, right!” She suddenly remembered. “I didn’t eat anything at all. Doesn’t the Snow Moon Tribe provide food?” Elara rubbed her stomach, feeling like she had grown thinner from hunger. She hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday.