“How did this happen…” General Hermond muttered with a grim expression. He decided to visit Loid after the incident and what he saw shocked him. His arm is completely separated from his body with a clean cut. He knew it was a strike from a sword by how it was cut. A spear can indeed cut enemies but it wouldn’t be as clean and sharp as the sword. According to Loid, he was attacked by Lawrence but Hermond knew it wasn’t possible.

“He’s merely a 2-star paragon and it’s clear that the attacker used a sword. Still, what Loid did is extremely risky for our plan. If Lawrence was injured or died, he will be pinned and blamed for the crime. Besides, no matter how useless Lawrence is, the duke still cherishes him. What should I do…”

“How about killing Lawrence while he’s in the fourth wall?” a seductive voice echoed in the room as Hermond gazed at a beautiful woman smiling at him. She is wearing an audacious red gown with her black flowing hair reaching her waist. Her sweet red lips turned into a big smile as she gazed at Hermond lovingly.

“Amanda, I know what you’re thinking but it’s too risky. We can’t use the black syndicate because the duke has a close relationship with them and he has some allies in the organization that we can’t compete against” he sighed before caressing her back with lust filling his body.

“How about using my connections~” she whispered as Hermond smiled deeply

“The red syndicate? How?”

One of the organizations running the black market together with the black syndicate. The organization specializes in seduction for information gathering and for assassination but it has been changed by the current head of the syndicate to focus on wealth and political power. While the black syndicate fights in the dark, the red syndicate lures in the light. With their business in every corner of the continent, they amassed a large number of customers and wealth that they are near untouchable even in the Swordwin Empire. Their main agenda now is influencing the nobles and the higher-ranking officials to do their bidding and amass more wealth.

“He’s a teenager with certain ‘needs’. We know that at his age, he has a lot of passion~”

“You’re thinking of doing a honey trap? Indeed, he has been caught in the red-light districts doing business before but how would it be possible in the fourth wall?”

“I have some girls in the fifth wall offering service to the poor soldiers. You can use that general in the fourth wall to give Lawrence the mission of heading to the fifth wall to get the supplies.”

“Even though the duke detests the red syndicate, he will still know if his son is assassinated by one of your girls. Don’t underestimate the duke Amanda, it might be our downfall” he said seriously as Amanda chuckled before leaning towards him.

“Who says about assassinating him? One of my girls can seduce him and overwhelm him with passion and lust that he will never think of becoming the head of the Aenir Family and instead would become a wastrel spending time in the red light district and wasting his money on alcohol. I also have some ‘medicine’ that can increase the pleasure by a multitude if ingested during intercourse. " she smiled seductively as Hermond grabbed her by the waist as the moonlight is the only thing giving light in an otherwise dark room.

“I knew I married a smart woman” he nodded

“Only smart?”

“and of course beautiful” he teased before embracing her.

In the morning after the exciting night, Amanda attached a letter to the crow’s feet before shooing it away. The letter would arrive at the girls she put in the fifth wall before they would pass it to Legor. The bringing of supplies such as food, armor, cleaning products, and basic needs to the soldiers usually happens in the first week of the month that would last for 2 months for usage and consumption of the soldiers. This is usually guarded by the fourth wall soldiers since they are the nearest to the fifth wall and no one would attempt to rob such cargo without being hunted by the three kingdoms and by the empire.

After their tomb raiding, Lawrence and Catalinna were able to head back to the mansion without any interruptions. There were no monsters that attacked them and there were no travelers to talk to. He bid her goodbye as he hurriedly went to his room. Excited about the prospect of mastering a spell.

In his room. Lawrence can be seen sitting in a lotus position with the potions beside him. He gazed at the potion before opening the lid and drinking it. Cool air entered his body as his eyes glowed with a bluish light. It was an amazing feeling, he felt like he can solve every problem if he thinks hard enough. Not wasting any time, he started thinking about how to master the moonlight beam.

Suddenly, he found himself in a white room. He looked around but as far as he can see, there was nothing. Suddenly, the sky went dimmer as he gazed upwards to see the moon almost covering the sky. The sound of shoes tapping in the ground can be heard as he saw a red-haired man with his hair reaching his waist. He is wearing a red suit torn in different places and his black pants have different holes with blood spots in some parts. The jagged black spear he’s holding is glowing with a bluish light. A grin is apparent on his unkempt face.

“Who are you?” Lawrence asked while readying himself to fight. With his fist bawled, he would punch the man if needed to escape. This wasn’t supposed to happen and he has no idea why this is happening. It’s clear to him that the man has the same facial features as him but he didn’t lower his guard. This might be just an illusion.

“I’m sure you already know” he grinned as Lawrence gazed at him with suspicion.

“Man, I can’t believe you are the one who is controlling my body. Well, it doesn’t matter. I’m here to teach you how to master the moonlight beam.”

“You’re Lawrence? I mean the true Lawrence??” his mouth is agape as he surveyed the man.

“One and only baby! Yeah, after we-” he stopped himself from talking before glaring at the sky.

“I can’t even talk to the one who controls my body. What a pain in the ass. Stop asking questions man, you’re not gonna waste the enlightenment potion on talking to me. Besides, don’t worry. I can’t affect your world in any way” he smiled before stretching his arms.

“Fine. Perhaps you’re right” Lawrence gave up questioning the man as he knows there is a higher power preventing the true Lawrence from giving any substantial information.

“So first, to properly master moonlight beam. You need three things. A moon ore, a 3-star mana heart, and fighting with only the moonlight beam during nighttime” he explained

‘Huh, why is it so weird? To master a spell, one would need to remodel the magic node of the spell and use it every day until the mage is comfortable using it without taking too much focus’

In the world of this novel, to learn a spell. One would need to get the book of that spell and study the magic nodes to be able to use it. Once knowing how the spell’s magic nodes are, one would need to weave the mana to that specific pattern of the magic node to activate the spell. Usually, it’s a pattern but as one would use it continuously. That magic node of the spell would be memorized and would activate instantly once the mages wills it using his mana. For the creation of new magic, it’s a lot more complicated than usual that only the child of mana or people with extreme talent in magic can do.

Finally for mastering a spell, one would need to remodel the magic node by either changing the pattern or adding new lines inside the pattern to alter the original spell. Such example is the famous fireball, some mages would remodel it by themself while others would only copy in the books. Some fireballs explode, some fireballs move like they’re alive and some fireballs would stick to their target and slowly melt the enemies. This would usually create stability problems inside the magic node but as long as the mage is determined and continually experiment. One can master a spell. Of course, the more complicated and lines the spell has, the more mana it uses to be activated.

This is why Lawrence only focused on one spell and it was one of the basic ones. It was easy to use and it doesn’t have that many lines inside the pattern of the magic node so he can use it continuously and without using too much focus on activating the spell.

“You have a weak connection to the moon to properly use the moonlight beam that it even hurts to see your pathetic attempt on using it. Sorry, no offense hehe.” he chuckled as Lawrence already knows it. Although the moonlight crystal flower indeed change its attribute to moonlight, it didn’t give him a connection to the moon.

“Of course, it was commendable that you ate that flower without any preparations. But it isn’t enough to have a strong connection to the moon. That’s why you can’t practice the lunar and gravity enhancement” he explained

“Wait, how long have you been stalking me?”

“Stalking? That isn’t the right word. It’s checking up on you so you wouldn’t die. Anyways, in short. You need to establish a proper connection to the moon to properly use the things given to you.”

“How do you know all about this? The true Lawrence didn’t train and only use the light magic”

“Can’t answer man. The moon is gazing” he vaguely replied as Lawrence can only sigh before shaking his head

“Fine, but where do I get a moon ore? What even is that?” Lawrence asked. There wasn’t anything in the novel that mentioned a moon ore.

“In the moon, you can get plenty but only the moon diamond is the best moon ore you can get. Give me a thousand gold and ill give it to ya” he grinned

“Huh?! Wait, how can I even give you gold if i’m Lawrence. Are you in the different d-an unbearable pressure crushes Lawrence to the floor as he can’t even breathe. Blood started spurting from his mouth as he gritted his teeth. He felt his body getting squeezed to a bloody paste. He tried hiding his screams of pain but it was for nothing. He felt like he will really die.

“Stop!” the true Lawrence shouted as the pressure was removed and Lawrence sat on the floor with his expression drained and full of fatigue. He breathes roughly as he gazes at the true Lawrence. Questioning what happened.

“Don’t question anything anymore. I have warned you already” he said grimly as Lawrence weakly nodded.

“Anyways, it will appear in your room once you woke up. You just need to ingest it. Don’t worry, it’s smaller than a pebble. Next would be fighting in the night only with the moonlight beam. Seeing you like this, its better if you rest first.”

“Lastly, never question why i’m helping you, where I am from, what happened to me, and never speak of what you see. That illusion that you saw of me stabbing you is just as it is. An illusion of my past in the eyes of the hero” he waved his arms as Lawrence suddenly jolted awake. He glanced at the window to see it’s already nighttime as his stomach growled. He walked towards the table with some food he got from the cafeteria earlier and started eating silently.

‘What the hell was that? Does that mean that I just pushed Lawrence’s soul out of his body? And how did he gain such powers, we have the same moonlight affinity and everything. If he isn’t the future me then how? Did we exchange souls? That isn’t possible, i’m sure I was hit by that truck. Ah. just thinking about this annoys me already. Besides, what does he mean by the illusion of my past in the eyes of the hero? Does he mean Cain and why did he tell him not now? I have too many questions with no answers given. What should I do?’ he sighed as his head started hurting. A cold chill descended in his body like he was trapped in ice. He gazed at his hands to see them covered with frostbite. He dropped to his knees as he feels like a thousand daggers is stabbing all around his body. He shivered like a possessed man and his heart felt weaker and weaker. The plate smashes to the ground and the food laid waste on the floor.

“Damn…it” he said behind his gritted teeth as he slowly felt sleepy and drowsy. A scream escaped from his mouth as he dropped to the ground. He spasmed likes a poisoned animal. The door busted open as in the corner of his eyes, he saw Catalinna. He didn’t know what to do, he tried asking for help but what escaped from his mouth is an incomprehensible mess of gurgling and vague words. He didn’t expect to rely on someone to survive right now, if he can chuckle he would from the irony but he can’t. Catalinna is understandably confused and worried? Lawrence can’t make out what she’s saying or what expression she’s making. His eyelids grew heavier and he wanted to pass out but he can’t. It was pure agony.

Suddenly, Catalinna ripped his suit open and flames started converging in her fist. She gritted his teeth, her eyes looked pensive while her fist is shaking. She looked lost and stumped by what she saw. With a deep sigh, she raises her fist before smashing it beside Lawrence’s face.

“I hope i don’t regret this” she muttered before Lawrence loses consciousness. Unbeknownst to him, a symbol of the silver half-moon appeared on his chest. Seemingly tattooed out of nowhere. Catalinna looked torn but she already made the decision. She can only hope that this decision won’t be something she will regret in her life.

Somewhere in the dark cave, a woman wearing a black cloak with her face hidden by a silk mask laughed joyously. Her eyes are full of madness and her laugh contains a hint of excitement. Her hands are in the air before bowing to the moon.

“The successor of the silver moon has appeared” she muttered like a mantra before heading back to the cave.