"I was thinking about something." Red replied.

"Hmm." Domeron hummed in understanding and didn't comment any further.

A silent atmosphere settled between them as the man continued to watch the chicken coop. The boy, too, was lost in his own thoughts and indecision, staring at Domeron's figure. Eventually, the swordsman frowned and looked over.

"What is it, kid?" The man asked, clearly bothered.

"Nothing." Red shook his head.

"Then why are you staring at me?"

"I was thinking."

Domeron grunted in annoyance before getting up from his chair.

"Come." The man spoke, waving at Red.

"Where?" The boy was confused.

"To train, of course." Domeron looked exasperated. "Isn't that what you wanted?"

With everything that happened yesterday, Red had almost forgotten about this. However, it would be strange for him to deny the man. He simply nodded, and the two of them walked off to the training field.

They entered into the footwork routine like usual, but a few minutes in and Domeron called their training to a stop. Red walked out of the circle, confused as to what was happening. The man, however, only stared at him with a judging gaze.

"Did I do something wrong?" The youth asked.

"You're distracted." Domeron frowned at him.

Red was indeed distracted, but he didn't see how that was relevant.

"I managed to do all my footwork correctly, though." The boy argued back. He had yet to be hit through the short training session.

"You did, but your heart's not into it." Domeron explained.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Red frowned.

"I repeated the same pattern of swings five times in a row, and you didn't notice it."

The youth was startled. Had that really happened?

"There's no point in training if your heart is not into it, kid." The man continued. "What I'm teaching you is more than just about repeating the same movements. It's about constantly surpassing your limits with time and practice. Being distracted by anything else is not going to cut it."

Red had a mind to protest, but he knew Domeron was right. He wasn't in the state of mind to focus on training.

"What should I do, then?" The youth asked.

"You need to get your problems sorted, of course." Domeron replied as if the answer was obvious. "Cultivators need focus for training. If you don't have it, then there's no point in practicing."

These words made Red go quiet. As the swordsman saw the boy silently pondering, he couldn't help but sigh.

"The most important thing for a cultivator is their mental state, kid." Domeron explained. "This might not be obvious to you right now, but it'll become more apparent in the future. Even in the face of death, one's attitude can make all the difference."

"I understand." The youth nodded. "May I go, then?"

"Sure." The man shrugged. "Just make sure the next time you come to me, you have the right state of mind."

Their odd conversation ended just like that. Domeron's words were simple and to the point, and their meaning was not lost on Red. He didn't feel like he would be able to focus before he solved this issue. The only problem was - could he even solve it?

The youth wasn't sure, but he knew where he needed to start.

...

There were still no sounds coming from Goulth's workshop, and no smoke was coming out of the chimney. Red wasn't sure if the man was awake, but he didn't feel like waiting any longer. He knocked on the door.

No response.

He knocked again.

Still no response.

Just as Red was about to knock a third time, he heard steps from behind him. The youth turned around and saw Goulth approaching the workshop while carrying a large wooden crate.

"What are you doing here this early, kid?" The giant asked. "I haven't even gotten the breakfast ready."

"I was too distracted to train with Domeron." Red replied nonchalantly.

"Oh, really?" Goulth looked surprised. "Well, you can help me cook then. Maybe that'll help you."

The boy nodded and followed his master into the workshop. The man set down the crate he was carrying on top of a table before turning to Red.

"Go light the furnace up while I get everything ready." The blacksmith instructed.

The youth did as he was asked. Although he had only worked on the forge for three days, Red still felt confident handling such a simple task. After shoveling out the old coal, the boy added new fuel and lit a flame using the fire steel. As he was getting the coal burning, Goulth returned to the room carrying a large pot.

"Let me look over the fire. You go get the ingredients."

Red nodded. After ten minutes of cutting, peeling, and stirring ingredients inside a pot, the meal was finally underway. The boy sat in a chair, watching the giant examine the temperature and consistency of the soup. The man finally nodded with some satisfaction before looking at Red.

"So, what's on your mind?" The blacksmith asked.

The youth was taken aback by the sudden question. However, before long, he realized what the man was referring to.

"I read a few books Eiwin showed me last night." Red revealed.

"You already know how to read?" Goulth looked shocked.

"Not really. I only learned small words." The boy shook his head. "I mostly tried looking at pictures."

"Ah, I see... Wait!" The giant almost looked relieved before his expression changed again. "Didn't you only start learning how to read a few days ago?"

Red nodded.

"And you already know a few words?"

The boy nodded again.

"That's... Impressive!" This time the blacksmith looked happy. "Eiwin was right! You'll be able to read my book before long!"

The youth watched the man jump in joy at the revelation.

"I knew I wasn't wrong about you, kid!" Goulth laughed. "But we're getting distracted... What is it that you wanted to talk about?"

That question left Red silent. The boy had already resolved to ask for help, but now that the time came, he wasn't sure how to proceed.

"...I was actually looking up a certain material." Finally, the youth threw his hesitation aside.

"What material?" Goulth asked with some interest.

"It's called..." Red struggled to get the words out. "Moonstone."

When the sentence was finally out, the boy felt like an enormous weight had been taken off his back. Red cautiously examined the giant's expression and braced himself for the worst.

However, to his surprise, the man had a look of confusion on his face.

"Moonstone?" Goulth shook his head. "Never heard of it."

For some reason, this answer was even more of a blow to Red.

"It's a green stone." He explained. "It glows in the dark."

"I know plenty of stones that glow in the dark. Some of them are kind of green too. None of them are called moonstone." The giant shrugged.

All of a sudden, Red felt like all his worries and caution were for naught.

"What is that stone used for? Maybe I know it under another name." Goulth proposed once he saw the boy's silence.

"I... Don't know." The youth actually had never figured out why the guards wanted the moonstones.

"Well, let's think then..." The man scratched his beard in thought. "A green stone, glows in the dark... There are tree-hearts, which grow below the roots of Spiritual Trees. Does that ring a bell?"

Red shook his head.

"Hmm..." The giant frowned. "Some unique emeralds glow in the dark, but these aren't really stones... What about Arcane Malachite? It's a special kind of copper, and it kind of glows in the dark too."

"Copper?" The boy frowned in thought. "I don't think so..."

As far as he knew, there was no metal in the moonstones. Plenty of slaves tried melting them in the past, to no avail.

"I'm afraid I'm all out of ideas then, kid." Goulth sighed in defeat. "This isn't to say that these moonstones don't exist. My knowledge of materials is not exhaustive."

While that might be true, the blacksmith was still one of the most knowledgeable people in town on the subject. If not even he knew about these moonstones, was there a point at all in asking anyone else?

"Actually, there is something that name reminds me of." Goulth spoke.

"What is it?" Red had his interest piqued.

"Well, it's not exactly similar, but more like the opposite." The blacksmith tried to explain. "I'm talking about sunstones."

"Sunstones?" The boy had never heard the term before.

"Yeah, those are stones said to contain power similar to that of the Sun within them." Goulth continued. "They aren’t actually formed in our world, but rather in the sky above us. They say rays of sunlight accumulate at certain points within our atmosphere, before gaining solid form. Once that happens, the sunstone falls down onto our world like a meteor. It's an extremely rare and powerful material, and factions have gone to war over it in the past."

"Why did that remind you of moonstones?" Red asked in confusion.

"Well, they say the moon and the sun are like opposites, right?" Goulth explained. "Maybe the same way sunstones can be formed by sunlight, moonstones can be formed by moonlight."

Red was intrigued with the proposal, but there were a few problems with it. First of all, moonstones were extracted like any other ore and did not simply fall from the sky. There was also the fact that moonstones didn't seem to be nearly as powerful as these so-called sunstones.

However, at the same time, Red knew for a fact that the lunar being from yesterday had extracted moonstone energy from his body. There was an undeniable connection between the moon and moonstones.

"How could that happen if the moon doesn't shine all the time?" The youth took this opportunity to ask something that had been on his mind since the conversation with Allen.

"Well, you see, the moon doesn't really shine at all." Goulth explained. "It's merely reflecting the light of the Sun. It goes through cycles depending on the time of the year."

Red was startled at the revelation.

"If that's the case, wouldn't moonlight be the same as sunlight?" The boy concluded. "Wouldn't its light also form sunstones?"

"People thought so too in the past, kid." Goulth shook his head. "Moonlight, as you might have noticed, is far weaker than sunlight. But that's not all. Cultivators figured out that the Spiritual Energy transmitted by sunlight is different from the one transmitted by moonlight. It's like once the light from the Sun is reflected off the Moon, it goes through a transformation."

At these words, Red couldn't help but recall the being on the Moon's surface. He quickly shifted his thoughts away from that image.

"What kind of transformation?" The youth asked after some hesitation.

"It becomes more ephemeral." The blacksmith replied. "Cultivators found that kind of energy was very interactive with a person's soul. Later, however, they noticed that this Moon Spiritual Energy was also extremely beneficial for certain kinds of creatures."

"What creatures?"

"The bad kind, kid." Goulth looked hesitant. "The ones that find life in death and consume the souls and flesh of the living. The curse that was unleashed upon a world by that damned Queen of the Dead thousands of years ago..."

The man paused.

"They're the ghosts, zombies, ghouls, and other denizens of the Nether Realm... The undead."