Spiritual Energy continued to radiate powerfully from the crystal, completely undiminished. The boy, however, didn’t dare to continue his practice for fear of injury. Still, there was something else he could do.

Red grabbed the crystal and focused on the sensation. Spiritual Energy forced its way into his body and an aching pain spread through the boy’s Spiritual Veins. Yet, he held on. With extreme focus, he directed some strands towards one of his already opened special acupoints. There was no reaction.

‘It’s full.’

The revelation came as a shock to Red. He had directed none of the earlier energy towards these acupoints, so how were they full? After some more effort, he checked the rest of his acupoints and confirmed the situation was the same for them. In the end, he let the energy he had just taken from the crystal dissipate.

‘That sensation from earlier.’

Finally, being done with his practice, Red reflected on what had just happened. He had felt a stirring within his Special Acupoints once he had looked up at the Full Moon. Could that have been moonstone energy entering his body? That could only be it. If the crystal wasn’t responsible for it, that was the only other option.

Still, Red didn’t feel the stirring of Spiritual Energy, nor did he see the misty green moonstone strands. Whatever the cause for it was, it was hidden from the boy’s senses. Or perhaps not.

‘The Full Moon.’

He connected the dots. Goulth had told him about how undead were at their strongest during a Full Moon. The reason behind it, as he claimed it, was because of the moonlight. Was it the same for the boy? Maybe this was the secret behind his acupoints - converting moonlight into energy. It would explain a lot, now that he thought about it.

Viran mentioned nothing about having to ‘recharge’ his acupoints. He was secretive, but such a large oversight seemed unlikely, in Red’s opinion. Whenever he spoke about moonstones, the man also only spoke about using them for cultivation, and not for energy replenishment or anything else. Indeed, refilling his acupoints with the moonstones seemed inefficient. Even with the crystal, worth more than a 100 moonstones, Red hadn’t been able to refill even a single one of his special acupoints after more than a week, and that task would only get harder with time.

‘It seems I had the wrong idea.’

There was never any way he could have manually recharged his acupoints in time. The Full Moon was what was supposed to do that. This revelation made him happy, but it didn’t change his fundamental problem. Even if he didn’t have to worry about refilling his acupoints, there was still the matter of continuing to open his veins. Apart from his moon-attuned special acupoints, the Full Moon wasn’t injecting Spiritual Energy into his body, so its light wouldn’t affect his training speed. It was, however, affecting something else.

Red looked down at the insectoid crystal. It had emitted more Spiritual Energy since night came. It was only because of its help that the boy had opened three acupoints in one go. Now, however, he was spent. Even if he wanted to continue practicing, Red would risk injury. He could only watch the Spiritual Energy wavering with pain in his heart.

‘If Hector didn’t know about the stone before, he certainly knows about it now.’

Indeed, if even the boy could feel the Spiritual Energy without touching the crystal, what about Hector?

Any hopes of keeping the crystal hidden were dashed. Red had considered hiding it in the forest earlier, closer to town this time. He was afraid it would attract attention and someone else would steal it, though, and seeing how it was emitting this much energy, his concerns were justified.

The boy wondered how to deal with this issue. Perhaps it would be better to get ahead of the problem while it was still manageable.

Red got up. He looked around for a hiding spot, before choosing to hide the crystal below a loose floorboard. Then he walked up to the door and walked outside. A few dozen meters in front of him was the main sect building where Hector lived. The boy examined it before something attracted his gaze.

A light. On the second floor, by an open window, the figure of an elderly man stood, looking down at the boy. It was Hector.

Red felt his heart skip a beat as he looked up.

“Having fun?” the old man asked.

The boy hesitated. “… I need to speak to you.”

Hector scoffed and waved his hand dismissively. “Don’t bother. I’m about to go to sleep.”

“But-”

The elder interjected.

“I know what you’re about to say. The only thing that matters is if that core is going to end up a problem for us or not.”

‘He knows it’s a monster core.’

The elder continued to surprise him. Red thought deeply about how to respond.

“… I don’t know.” in the end, he was honest.

“Did you steal it from someone?” Hector frowned.

“Not really.”

“Then it doesn’t matter. If someone tries to take it from you, we can just send them running.”

“What if they’re too strong?”

At these words, Hector smiled.

“Then you’ll just have to give it up… If they’re still not satisfied with that, we can only offer your life as compensation. It’s only fair, right?”

Red was at a loss for words. However, he appreciated the elder’s honesty. His attitude still confused him, though.

“Why don’t you just take it for yourself?” the boy asked. Since the old man already knew about it, there was no reason to mince words.

Hector, however, just laughed. “It would be pathetic on my part to steal items from juniors. Besides, I have no use for a core in the Lesser Ring Realm anymore.”

Red only believed the latter reason. The elder continued.

“I have to warn you about something, though. Monster Core energy is often overwhelming and harmful to the human body. There is a reason cultivators don’t use it for practice.”

This new information alarmed the boy. “Then what should I do with it?”

“Cores can be used to craft spiritual items, none too useful at your level. The best course of action for you, is to sell it and buy cultivation medicines with the money.”

Red nodded, but he immediately eliminated that option. This core was his only source of moonstone energy, after all.

Hector continued. “Either way, do it before the energy in the core runs out.”

Red frowned.

“Runs out?”

“Of course, brat! Do you think Monster Cores have infinite energy? Some of its energy will dissipate naturally, but the more you use it, the quicker it will run out until it’s nothing but a useless rock.”

This piece of information shocked Red into silence. However, the boy immediately noticed something strange about his crystal’s situation.

Hector, noticing the boy’s silence, grumbled to himself before turning around. “Just go to sleep, brat, and make sure you don’t kill yourself while cultivating. You still have a role to play in the Sect’s future.”

Before Red could ask the old man about his cryptic words, he had already closed the window. Left with his own thoughts, the boy went back to his room and took the insectoid crystal out of its hiding spot. The object was still glowing intensely, and the concentration of Spiritual Energy was high.

The boy examined the crystal with interest.

‘Hector said monster cores only get weaker with time, and yet…’

This clearly wasn’t the case with this core. Under the influence of the Full Moon, it had increased in strength instead. Red decided against informing the elder of this, worried that the new information would prompt a change in the man’s attitude.

After hiding the crystal again, the boy went to bed and had a full night’s sleep for the first time in weeks.

This time, he had no dreams.

…

The next day arrived and Red returned to the training field with Domeron. They were joined by someone else this time, though.

“What’s he doing here?” the boy pointed at Allen.

The child was jumping around and doing a set of warm-up exercises. He didn’t seem to hear Red’s question.

“He’s your new training partner.” Domeron was the one to respond.

“Why?” the boy frowned at this new revelation.

“Because you need to fight someone at your level, of course. How is getting pummelled by me every session going to help you in the long run?”

He had a point.

“Hasn’t he opened more veins than me, though?”

“Yes.” Domeron nodded.

“Then how is he an opponent at my level?”

“It’s the closest we got.” the man shrugged.

At that moment, Allen approached them. “I’m done with my exercises, Master Domeron!”

The young master looked extremely eager.

“Very well.” Domeron pointed at the center of the field with his sword. “We’ll start with hand-to-hand combat. Get ten meters apart.”

The two of them followed the man’s instructions. A few seconds later, Red was staring at an energetic Allen across from him.

The boy had taken on an exaggerated combat stance and was smirking at him. “Don’t worry, I’ll go easy on you this time around.”

Red was confused, but he nodded back. If the opponent wanted to give him an advantage, why wouldn’t he take it?

Domeron, who was watching the interaction from the side, sighed in resignation. “Begin!” he swung his sword down to start the session.

Allen dashed ahead without hesitation. Red, who was already on guard, retreated to increase the distance between them. His opponent was faster than him, though, and it took him but a second to catch up.

With a jump, Allen sought to strike him with a flashy kick. Red, however, had been prepared for such an attack and easily dodged it with a sidestep. Just as he thought about counterattacking, though, his opponent had already recovered his posture and struck at him again, this time with a punch.

‘He’s good.’

Red had this thought in his head as he was forced to dodge again. It didn’t matter how stupid Allen may act; he was still the most talented and nurtured person in the sect. His combat skills were a testament to that.

On the back foot, Red was forced to retreat again and again. He had to put his entire focus on footwork to avoid getting hit, but even then there were a few close calls.

‘I need to change strategies.’

Allen, perhaps frustrated at his slippery opponent, increased his rhythm yet again. Red, who had been waiting for such a moment, dove onto the ground with his entire body. The young master saw the poor spot the boy had put himself in, and eagerly dove in to take advantage of his position.

Red waved his hand in Allen’s direction just as he was about to strike, and a handful of sand hit him in the face.

“Agh!” the child screamed as grains got into his eyes.

Taking this opportunity, Red jumped at Allen and punched him in between his legs. The young master doubled over in pain, and the boy took this opportunity to sweep his legs off the ground with ease.

Just as he was about to continue his attack, though, Domeron yelled. “Stop! What are you doing?!”

Red froze midway through a kick and looked at the man in confusion. “I thought we were sparring.”