In class, Scholar Hyde once again recounted the origin of the current world.
"After vast generations and the passage of time, the era we are currently in is the Ninth Epoch, also known as the Covenant Epoch."
"What is a Covenant?"
"To counterbalance the expansion of the Corona Dragon and end the extremely brutal 'Calamity War,' the Fairy Monarch and a host of Constellations agreed to delineate the boundaries between mortals and higher beings. From then on, the Celestial Courtyard and the Great Earth were separated, with no free passage between them. Only certain passages and rituals could open a path. At the same time, the intensity of warfare was limited, ensuring that those mythical creatures beyond mortal imagination were confined to the Celestial Courtyard, no longer able to arbitrarily interfere with the mundane world."
"In this Epoch, all parties recovered from the ruins of the Calamity War, re-established nations, and achieved balance. Over two thousand years have passed, and it is now the year 2145 of the Covenant Epoch."
The Ninth Epoch, Sylvia wrote in her notebook, marveling at the ancient history of this world.
'Blazing Sun' and 'phantom moon' were born in the Third Epoch. They ended the Second Epoch, the Epoch of the Dome Sea, where sky and sea were one. Thus, that era of the sun and moon shining together was called the'Sun and Moon Epoch' (Third Epoch).
When 'Blazing Sun' and 'phantom moon' split apart, the Third Epoch also came to an end, entering the Fourth Epoch... After class, Sylvia packed her books, preparing to get something to eat, when a female student with chestnut-red hair walked over.
Sylvia recognized her; her name was Valerie, Knight Leven's daughter, but the two had barely spoken.
"You're Tia, right?" Valerie walked over, twirling a strand of hair by her ear, her brows slightly furrowed.
"Yes." This feels like it's going to be a troublesome matter, the young girl thought.
"I see you take very good notes every day. I want to see them." She extended her hand directly.
"This..."
Several thoughts raced through Sylvia's mind. Lending notes was a small matter, but she suspected the other party would borrow them and never return them, as her impression of Valerie was not good.
In the eyes of nobles, commoners were insignificant beings. Asking for something from you was a sign of their regard, and you should be happy.
"I understand." Sylvia thought for a moment, then took her notebook from her satchel and handed it over.
Her memory in this life was excellent, so even without notes, it wouldn't matter. However, her habits from her previous life still led her to take notes, and it also seemed more reasonable; all students took notes.
After receiving it, Valerie casually flipped through it. The young girl's elegant and delicate handwriting, the clearly structured paragraphs, and the fine-lined diagrams gave the notebook a rare aesthetic beauty.
"Hmph, not bad." Valerie nodded slightly.
"I'll remember you. After graduation, you can come to Wheatfield Town for some clerical work." Wheatfield Town was Knight Leven's fiefdom.
In Valerie's eyes, this was a great favor. One should know that ordinary commoners didn't have such good prospects, especially girls.
"Thank you."
Valerie glanced at the young girl's calm reply a few more times, then took the notebook and left.
After the initial week, Scholar Hyde's lessons gradually deepened. The material he taught was unfamiliar even to educated noble students. At this point, the differences among the students became apparent.
Some might have understood it at the time but forgot it immediately. Others didn't quite understand it then and were too shy to ask in class, only daring to ask others after class.
"What does it mean that 'Brilliant Moon' is not 'phantom moon,' but 'phantom moon' will definitely be reborn in 'Brilliant Moon'?" Komiya clutched her head in distress.
"Karen, why don't you look worried at all? Did you understand it?" She turned her head.
"No, I didn't understand it from the beginning." Karen sat at the dining table, eating the black bread provided to the students.
"Then why aren't you panicking?" Komiya continued to ask.
"Because I can't learn those complicated things anyway." Karen continued.
"The teacher said that if I just master the three most crucial subjects, I can become a good hunter," she explained.
"But that's definitely not enough to get high scores." Komiya bit her lip.
"Didn't you ever think about getting high scores and then going to the Secluded Forest?"
"That's too far away for me." Karen already felt very lucky to be studying with Scholar Hyde. As someone from a remote village, she didn't have very high aspirations.
"Ugh, there's no talking to you." Komiya slumped onto the table in boredom, pinching a piece of bread with one hand and feeding it into her mouth, looking like a softened slug.
Just then, she saw a familiar figure enter the dining hall, and she straightened up again.
"Tia, over here~" Komiya waved.
Sylvia carried the bread and water she had gotten from the kitchen servants and walked over, sitting opposite Komiya.
This dining hall was built entirely of stone bricks, with dim lighting. A long table was placed in the middle, right next to the kitchen, used for casual meals. If formal guests were to be entertained, it would be in the mansion's other large dining hall.
"Tia, how was your learning today?" Komiya asked with a hint of impatience.
"It was alright." The young girl replied calmly, then ate her bread in small bites.
"'It was alright' means you understood it?"
"Yes, I understood it." Sylvia blinked, puzzled as to why Komiya was asking this.
"Huh? Did you really understand? Then let me test you." Komiya was a bit incredulous; she thought she was quite intelligent, and her family always said so.
Komiya then repeated the question about 'Brilliant Moon' and 'phantom moon'.
"This, you see..." Sylvia put down the slice of bread in her hand.
"It's actually quite easy to understand if you look back at how the teacher described the three essences of the Moon."
[Brilliant Moon] (Gentle brilliance and spirit, mental activity and beautiful fantasy)
[Mist Shadow] (The absence of brilliance, vague forms and lightless shadows)
[Nightmare] (The destruction of the spirit, also the collapse of reason and despair)
"Mist Shadow is the manifestation of the absence of brilliance, and Nightmare is the despair of the spirit. They are like companions to Brilliant Moon; one is Brilliant Moon's shadow, and the other is Brilliant Moon's reflection."
"In other words, their concepts require Brilliant Moon as a reference point. If there were no Brilliant Moon, both would lose their conceptual foundation."
"It's like how a shadow must have light as its backdrop, and a reflection in water must have the original object's existence."
"This means that if someone wants to recreate the essence of [phantom moon], they need to use Brilliant Moon as the core, condense the other two, and achieve a certain strange balance."
"Thus, we have the teacher's saying, 'Brilliant Moon' is not 'phantom moon,' but 'phantom moon' will definitely be reborn in 'Brilliant Moon.'" Sylvia finished explaining just as she ate the last piece of bread in her hand.
"I feel a bit stupid, ugh." Komiya now generally understood but also felt that she might not be as clever as she thought.
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