“I've just been watching your words and actions,” Jack said seriously. “Teaching by example is still teaching.”
“Cut the sass,” Elias glared at him.
After the words left his mouth, he paused subconsciously, as if waiting for someone to reply.
Based on past experience, that old voice in his head would have jumped out by now. It would either mock him for setting a bad example, or sarcastically praise him with “a great master produces a fine disciple.” Then Elias would shut the old man up with a couple of sharp retorts, enjoying his furious sputtering in the process.
But this time, there was nothing. His mind was quiet, almost empty.
The smile on Elias's face faded slightly.
Many days had passed since the incident in the cellar. Old Ed had never appeared again.
He had checked the bracelet. It wasn't damaged, but no matter how much spirituality he poured into it, or how many times he yelled, “Lao-Deng, open the door,” he received no response.
In the past, when the old man cursed in his head every day from being angered by him, Elias had only found it noisy. Now that it was quiet, he felt like something was missing.
His occasional teasing of Jack wasn't entirely out of boredom either; he was simply used to bickering with someone. And now, Jack was the only one left whom he could tease at a moment's notice.
Yet Jack had failed to learn any of his good qualities, while his backtalk had improved at lightning speed. If this continued, the boy might actually surpass his master and anger Elias to death first.
Elias raised his hand to touch his wrist.
It was empty.
The bracelet was still stored inside the Gluttonous Stomach.
He didn't know if someone who had already died could die a second time. Nor did he dare to dwell on what had happened to the spiritual body that called itself Edmond Russell.
False memories. The wrong corpse. An identity that didn't belong to him. In the end, the old man couldn't even confirm who he really was.
When it came down to it, he was just another poor soul struggling in this ridiculous era, much like Elias himself.
“Sir?” Jack noticed his expression and called out cautiously. “Is something wrong?”
Elias snapped out of it and holstered the elemental revolver back at his waist.
“It's nothing. Just thought of a certain Lao-Deng who owes me a lot of things.”
Jack looked puzzled. “How much does he owe you?”
“A lot.”
“How much is a lot?”
“Shut up!”
Elias realized the kid had a strong potential to become a chatterbox. If they kept talking, Jack would probably turn his melancholy into a financial dispute.
“Come,” Elias patted the holster at his waist. “Let me show you this gun.”
The two of them quickly walked out of the cottage.
The afternoon sea breeze blew through the reefs, carrying a damp, salty scent.
Elias searched the rocky beach for a while before finally picking out a piece of driftwood bleached white by the seawater.
“Watch closely.”
He drew the elemental revolver and spun the cylinder.
A crimson spiritual bullet rotated into position.
The gunshot rang out suddenly.
A burst of fire exploded in the center of the driftwood, scattering rotten wood chips in all directions, which left charred sparks as they hit the ground.
Jack instinctively shrank his neck.
With a flick of his wrist, Elias pulled the trigger again.
An icy-white stream of light skimmed across the rocky beach, striking a reef soaked by the tide.
White frost spread rapidly.
Within a few breaths, a layer of solid ice covered the surface of the reef, even freezing a corner of the splashing waves nearby.
“How's that?” Elias blew on the nonexistent smoke at the muzzle. “Don't I look like a master?”
Jack stared at the frozen reef, then looked at the gun. He clearly didn't care about the look.
“It doesn't need to be reloaded?”
“Nope.”
Elias gently spun the cylinder.
The empty chamber from before was already starting to gather spiritual light.
The owl's eyes on the grip flashed twice, and a thread of spirituality flowed from his palm into the gun, slowly condensing into a new bullet.
No need to buy ammunition. No need to stuff gunpowder. And certainly no need to stand in the sea breeze cleaning the barrel with a ramrod.
In this world, the money-saving aspect alone was enough to make many gunslingers develop an unhealthy desire to possess it.
The envy in Jack's eyes was almost impossible to hide.
“Are there really no side effects?”
“There are,” Elias said, feeling the drop in his spirituality. “It consumes quite a bit of spirituality.”
“How much?”
“Anyway, you can't use it.”
“Oh.”
Jack responded with disappointment. He sounded like someone who had just set his eyes on a fine steed, only to be told he couldn't afford the feed.
However, he quickly looked up again. “Is there any issue with aiming?”
Elias glanced at him. “Just say it if you want your flintlock pistol back.”
Jack didn't deny it. “It was mine to begin with.”
“Not yet,” Elias said righteously as he holstered the elemental revolver. “Let's test the Waning Moon Key first.”
He turned and walked back toward the cottage. “As long as we can open the door regularly, this thing is a god-tier artifact!”
As for the elemental revolver's ability to absorb curses, he would have to test that slowly once he had the time and was fully prepared.
Night fell quickly.
Once the clouds dispersed, bright moonlight covered the entire reef.
The sea looked like a sheet of undulating silver metal, with occasional waves swelling in the distance and silently breaking in the darkness.
Elias and Jack took the Waning Moon Key and went to the reef where the moonlight was brightest on the island.
There were no shadows from the lighthouse here, nor was it blocked by the cottage.
Elias sat cross-legged, holding the silver pendant in his palm.
The gap in the center of the pendant was dim and lusterless, its edges showing tiny wear marks worn down by time.
“Are you ready?” Jack asked.
“You're the one who needs to be ready,” Elias closed his eyes. “Don't let it drain you into a pale-faced pretty boy again.”
“I'll let go immediately.”
“Good.”
Jack's face stiffened slightly.
Elias's Rational Circuit began to operate, and his abundant spirituality flowed down his arm into the pendant.
In the next instant, the Waning Moon Key seemed to awaken from a long slumber.
The familiar suction suddenly appeared.
His spirituality poured in rapidly through the point of contact without any resistance.
The pendant devoured it all, showing no sign of restraint.
Moonlight fell upon Elias.
The cool energy seeped into his skin, replenishing his continuously draining spirituality.
One side was recovering, while the other was infusing.
The two forces formed a cycle within his body, but the Waning Moon Key devoured it faster, and his total amount of spirituality continued to slowly decline.
Jack had been standing by with a relatively calm expression.
Five minutes later, he began to frequently check Elias's complexion.
Ten minutes later, he squatted down, staring intently at the pendant.
Fifteen minutes later, he forgot to even say any words of warning.
How could anyone sit under the moonlight and continuously pour spirituality into an extraordinary relic?
This was no longer a question of how much spirituality one had in reserve. This was like pouring water from a bucket into a bottomless pit, except there was a rainstorm pouring directly into his bucket and his bucket alone.
Only after a full half hour did Elias's fingertips begin to feel cold.
A slight buzzing also sounded in his ears.
He opened his eyes, actively cut the spiritual connection, and exhaled a long breath.
The Waning Moon Key remained quiet.
It wasn't full, nor did it give any feedback.
It was as if that half-hour had only been an appetizer.
Jack looked at the pendant, then at him.
“Sir. Your face is really pale now.”
“Normal consumption,” Elias placed the Waning Moon Key on the reef. “It really is pale this time.”
“I know. I'll be fine after a short rest.”
“?”
He sat back down in the spot where the moonlight was most abundant.
The cool glow fell on his shoulders, and his depleted spirituality gradually recovered.
The sea breeze kept fluttering the corners of his clothes.
Jack stood guard beside him, wanting to speak several times but holding back in the end.
Elias rested for quite a while.
Only when his fingertips became warm again, the buzzing in his ears completely disappeared, and his spirituality was fully replenished once more did he pick up the Waning Moon Key.
“Round two.”
Jack's expression was complicated. “Again?”
“What else?” Elias gripped the pendant tightly. “It's already eaten this much. If I stop now, wouldn't the spirituality from before just be a free buffet?”
He established the connection again.
Spirituality poured in.
The Waning Moon Key continued to devour it, but its silver surface gradually began to glow.
This time, the change in the pendant was much clearer than before.
Deep within the gap that symbolized its incompleteness, a faint cool glow flowed.
It was as if a moon that shouldn't exist was slowly growing out of the void.
Jack's breathing slowed down unconsciously.
He could clearly feel that this relic, which had tortured his family for generations, was gradually becoming whole.
As the second infusion neared its end, the continuous suction suddenly vanished.
The spirituality Elias sent hit the surface of the pendant and scattered back into his palm.
“Hmm?”
He tried again.
The Waning Moon Key showed no reaction.
It had stopped absorbing.
Within the silver gap, a ring of illusory moonlight slowly emerged, filling the missing portion into a complete full moon.
The cool light flowed along the edges of the pendant.
The surrounding sea breeze seemed to be briefly cut off by some force, and the sound of the waves receded for a moment.
Jack suddenly clutched his chest.
“Wait.”
Elias immediately looked at him. “What's wrong?”
Jack closed his eyes, feeling the changes within his Rational Circuit.
A spell structure so massive it made him dizzy projected into the depths of his consciousness without warning.
It did not squeeze his original circuits, nor did it truly fuse with his spirituality.
It simply attached itself there temporarily in an incomprehensible way.
It was as if the Waning Moon Key had pushed open a door for him, then shoved the method of opening it directly into his mind.
“There is an extra spell in my Rational Circuit.”
Elias's spirits lifted. “The 【Moon Gate】?”
“Yes.”
Jack closed his eyes and felt it for a moment.
“But it's only temporarily attached to the circuit. I can only cast it; I can't analyze the circuit itself.”
Elias stared at him. “How complex is it?”
Jack fell silent for a moment, seemingly searching for a sufficiently intuitive analogy.
“It's roughly equivalent to stuffing an entire library into your head.”
“That's not too bad.”
“And then requiring you to memorize it all.”
“Farewell!”
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