Red had never heard the term before, but Goulth's description was enough to alarm him.

"What exactly do you mean by "undead"?" The boy asked.

"Well, they are dead, but still alive at the same time." Goulth shrugged.

"That doesn't make it any clearer." Red frowned.

"It's hard to describe..." The giant struggled to find the right words."You can think of them as the exact opposite of the living. Humans are full of life essence, and it serves as 'fuel' for us to function and live normally."

Red recalled that Eiwin had given him a similar description of life essence.

"Eventually, when someone is close to death or is dead, that life essence turns into death essence." The blacksmith continued. "Undead use that death essence as their fuel, and their whole existence is based on it. In this manner, they manage to find life after death."

"You called it a curse, though." The youth brought up another point. "I assume there are side-effects to that."

"Of course, kid." Goulth continued. "Most undead are no different from unthinking beasts and lose all the memories they had before death. Some may still retain some rationality, but their entire existence is a waking nightmare."

"But how do people get this curse?" Red asked, eager to know if he was in any danger.

"Well, there are many ways." The blacksmith explained. "Generally, undead may be formed from people who died with a lot of grievances. They may also be created by infection from other undead, and there are Spiritual Arts that can make them."

Red paused to think. He already had the crimson energy to worry about, so the revelation that even moonstone energy itself could be used to cause spiritual infection was concerning. He glanced back up at Goulth.

"Is Moon Energy only useful for the undead?" The boy asked.

"No, that's just the most well-known use for Moon energy. Over the years, the undead became very closely associated with the Moon. In fact, the connection is so strong that their strength often even varies depending on the phase of the Moon."

"In what ways?" The boy's interest was piqued by this new information.

"The closer to a full moon we are, the stronger they get. They are weakest during new moons, too." Goulth replied.

This explanation only inspired more questions. The youth had been trying to draw a connection between what had happened to him and this undead curse. Yet, he knew too little to draw any conclusions.

"What I know is just the basics." The giant continued. "In fact, it's rare even for cultivators to see many undead. There are some organizations out there that exist specifically to hunt them down. Eiwin should know more about it."

"I understand." Red nodded.

As curious as he was, though, learning about the undead wasn't a priority for the boy. After all, he still had to address the most important issue he was facing.

"Anyways, if you'd like me to, I can help you by asking about that moonstone of yours." Goulth offered his help. "Some merchants I buy stuff from might know about it, but no guarantees."

"There's no need." The youth shook his head. "I can find them myself."

Since the blacksmith didn't know about it, it was unlikely it would be available for purchase in town. Even if Goulth could help him acquire it, who knew how long that would take? Not to mention, Red would still like to keep his interest in the stones a secret.

In the end, there was just one option left for him.

"Well, you sound pretty confident, kid." The giant was surprised by the boy's response. "Either way, since you're here already, you might as well assist me. Working the forge clears the mind, so it might help you out too.

Red nodded along. After the two were done eating, the youth began attending to the repetitive work under Goulth's instructions. Surprisingly enough, the man wasn't lying. As the boy got immersed in his work, he felt some of his agitation dissipate.

...

A few hours later, Red left the workshop. He was physically tired from the work, but for some reason, his mind felt more at peace. Now that the youth knew he couldn't acquire moonstones in town, he was faced with a single, unavoidable fact.

If the being tried to absorb energy from him again, he would have nothing to give. His stash was more than three days away, and he obviously wouldn't be able to reach it before nighttime. Not to mention, Red didn't even know how he was supposed to absorb the moonstone energy into his acupoints.

The boy's only hope was that there would be no repeat of last night's events. The youth felt frustrated for having to rely on chance, but there was simply no way he could have predicted this, nor was there a way for him to fix this right now.

The one thing Red could do was to prepare himself. Even if he could do nothing for tonight, it didn't mean he shouldn't act with urgency. The boy needed to recover his stash as soon as possible.

"Red, are you finished with your lessons already?" Eiwin's voice called to him.

The youth looked up to see the woman not too far from him. She was currently carrying a few wooden boxes and staring at the boy with a curious expression.

"Yes, I finished early today." Red nodded.

He wasn't lying.

"I see." Eiwin smiled. "Would you like to have your lesson with me before lunch, then?"

Her question gave him some thought.

"That sounds like a good idea."

In the end, Red accepted her offer, and the two of them moved towards the library. When they got settled, though, Eiwin took out a few new books, which Red did not recognise.

"I'd like to try something new today." She smiled at him.

"What is it?" The boy asked.

"You see, so far, I've been treating you as a complete beginner when it comes to literacy." Eiwin responded. "However, you've been surprising me over the last few days. I've never seen someone learn as fast as you did, so I thought... Why not try to see how far you can go?"

At that point, she picked up a few pieces of paper. On them were written all kinds of words Red had never seen before. The woman then passed him a quill and an inkpot.

"I wrote some more difficult words and simple sentences here." Eiwin explained. "I'll guide you on how to read them, and then you'll copy it down on the paper. If you learn what everything means, then maybe you can even try writing your own sentences."

Red felt interested in the prospect. With eagerness, he picked up the quill and dipped its tip in the ink. He looked at Eiwin, patiently waiting for her instructions.

"Where do we begin?"

...

A little bit over an hour had passed. Red had been absorbed in the task at hand, and for a moment, he even managed to forget about his predicament. The words flowed smoothly from quill to paper, and by the end of it, the boy could confidently write a few sentences by himself.

Eventually, the youth didn't even need Eiwin's instructions to continue. He began to experiment by himself. Whenever the boy came across an unfamiliar word, he asked for the woman's help. He never needed to have something explained to him twice, though.

More than ten minutes passed, during which Eiwin had remained silent. Red was slow to notice this, and when he did, he stopped writing for a moment to look up at the woman. When he gazed at her face, though, the youth noticed Eiwin was staring at him with an astonished expression.

"Are you really sure you didn't know how to read or write?" She asked.

"I'm sure." Red nodded.

"At first, I thought you were just very talented, but this... This is incredible." Eiwin explained. "Maybe you are a reincarnated cultivator."

"What do you mean by reincarnated?" Her words made the boy frown.

"Well, I wasn't being serious." The woman tacked on awkwardly.

"I know that." The youth tried to assuage her. "I have just never heard this term before."

"Ah, I see..." Eiwin looked relieved. "Well, they say that when people die, their souls are guided through the Nether Realm. In that realm, some of these souls may find a way to live a second life. They are reborn and eventually recover their memories from their previous lives."

"Is all that true?" He eventually asked.

"Well, no one really knows." The woman explained. "No one has been able to prove it for sure. Some of the people who claimed to be reincarnations turned out to be charlatans. Others, though... Well, they may have a better case."

Her words sent Red into a ponderous silence. The boy's pensive expression made Eiwin feel troubled.

"I shouldn't have said that earlier." The woman spoke. "I demeaned your achievements with my comment about reincarnation. Although your talent is rare, it doesn't mean it's because of someone else's knowledge. I apologize."

Eiwin bowed her head slightly, with a remorseful look on her face. Red was taken aback by the gesture, and for a few seconds, he didn't know how to respond.

"It's fine." The boy shook his head. "I wasn't worried by what you said... I just found it curious."

Truthfully, what the woman said didn't necessarily apply to Red's case. His first memory of this world was as a grown child and not as a newborn. However, the boy had these strange dreams to consider. He lived as other people in them, but Red had never really felt that these memories belonged to him. They didn't modify his way of thinking, and neither did they awaken any hidden knowledge. Whatever the case, his interest in the subject was genuine. After all, it might involve his origins.

"I see." Eiwin looked relieved at the youth's words. "In either case, I feel like our lessons will not last much longer at your rate of improvement." For some reason, the woman almost looked sad as she said that. "Soon enough, you'll be able to learn things on your own."

"Maybe." Red didn't deny her claims. "But there are still things I can't learn from a book."

"You're right..." A smile returned to her face. "Speaking of that, is there anything you'd like to ask me?"

'There's a lot I'd like to ask...'

Obviously, Red couldn't do it, though. He had already revealed the existence of moonstones to Goulth and hadn't gotten what he had wanted out of it. There was no point in asking Eiwin about them. There was, however, something else she could help him with.

"Can you show me the map of the region again?" Red asked. "There are some things I wanted to ask you about."