Because the girl appeared to have a very low level of education, or to put it bluntly, was a bit dim, although she could understand Violet’s meaning with the help of the device, communication still had to rely on the inefficient method of Violet asking questions and the girl nodding or shaking her head to respond.
“Are you Novia Moon Shadow?”
The girl neither nodded nor denied, just tilted her head slightly in confusion. Through this exchange, Violet could understand that the girl simply didn’t comprehend the meaning behind that name and didn’t know how to respond.
But to be honest, she should be Novia.
Although they were vastly different in appearance, the aura emitted by the same individual, especially on the level of the soul, wouldn’t differ too much no matter how they changed.
It wasn’t something visible to the naked eye, but in the feedback Violet received from her scanning, the spiritual fluctuations of this girl with silver-gray long hair were almost identical to that of the little wolf cub.
If there was any difference, it was that the former’s soul was in an active state, and the concentration of magic contained within her body was almost a hundred times stronger than before.
Although still not comparable to individuals of ultra-high levels like Violet or the little dragon girl, this level of magical reserves had already surpassed legendary standards and even exceeded them.
Moreover, although invisible to the naked eye, the dense and viscous magic in the air was pouring into or being absorbed into her body like a tidal wave. The concentration of magic in the air above this lake had even reached thirty times its usual level.
The entire forest, almost everything with magic, became the nourishment of the girl, forcibly absorbed by some sort of rule-like power. It’s just because her absorption rate was a bit slow that it temporarily accumulated in the air in a high concentration state.
Violet could almost be certain that the abnormality in the Spirit Puppet Forest tonight originated from the harmless-looking girl in front of her, who couldn’t even speak.
And there was a high probability that she herself wasn’t aware of this, just passively behaving on instinct, like breathing. That’s why the priestess didn’t resort to violence right away.
“The Source of Magic... Only powers related to the Rules can unreasonably achieve this level,” Violet thought to herself. “She should be Novia, but why such a sudden change...”
In her contemplation, the black-haired girl suddenly raised her head as if sensing something, gazing at the unusually bright and radiant sky, and then it dawned on her.
Tonight was the Day of Triple Moonshine.
Triple Moonshine referred to the night of the full moon. Unlike Earth, this world had three moons, one main moon and two companion moons.
The main moon always maintained a constant perfect round shape, the largest and brightest. Its two attendant moons, however, underwent periodic changes throughout the year.
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The concept of years and months in this world’s universal calendar is based on the cycle of changes in March, and the day when the three moons simultaneously embody the “First Moon” only occurs once a year.
It’s happening tonight.
Violet had read in books that the Moon Shadow clan, Moon Shadow werewolves, were a unique race that could absorb the essence of the moon at night, strengthening themselves with the ebb and flow of the three moons. Some of their transformations also corresponded to the lunar cycle to some extent, hence the name “Moon Shadow.”
While Novia was undoubtedly a source of magic, she couldn’t deny that she was also a Moon Shadow werewolf, perhaps even of royal descent among them. In fact, Violet realized at this moment that this lake was the most open and suitable place in the entire forest for absorbing the power of the moonlight.
With this in mind, the priestess changed her question.
“Did you come here alone?”
“Woof woof!”
This time, the girl who seemed to be Novia didn’t seem confused anymore. Instead, she nodded happily, then pointed to the bright and full moon sky, showing a comfortable expression.
So that’s it. It seems... it’s already clear now.
The power of the Spring Full Moon caused Novia, who is a Moon Shadow werewolf, to undergo certain changes. She woke up, transformed into her current state, and then instinctively activated some kind of power, probably the “Source of Magic,” in order to better absorb the essence of the moon. She actively came here to bathe in the moonlight.
She probably came out through the window. When scanning with SP, Violet did notice something she hadn’t paid attention to before—the window of Esther’s room was open. This forest was the most unusual place in the whole area.
So... what exactly is the “Source of Magic”? Why does it exist in the form of Novia?
The events of tonight seem to be the result of a coincidence where Novia’s two identities and the celestial phenomenon overlap. But is it really that simple? If so, why was there no hint for Esther, who is also a Moon Shadow werewolf?
The ancient Gnir language song that Novia sang instinctively earlier is also intriguing...
Regardless, let’s first try to control her current state of endless absorption of magic.
Violet gently placed her hand on Novia’s body and, in the puzzled but unguarded eyes of the silver-haired girl, activated “Information Detection.”
A stream of data representing bodily information flowed into her mind. With the help of her skill, Violet quickly grasped the other’s more detailed status and basically confirmed that this girl should indeed be the little wolf cub called Novia Moon Shadow without a doubt.
Just as she was about to further explore deeper, that is, the current state of Novia’s originally dormant soul.
“Sizzle... Sizzle... Crack!”
A burst of intense electricity suddenly lit up from the fingertips where they touched, abruptly interrupting the effect of the “Information Detection” skill!
“Yip!”
At the same time, Novia, as if struck by some heavy blow, turned pale, and her delicate body suddenly went limp, falling towards the priestess who was close at hand, only to be caught by the latter in astonishment.
“What?”
A faint scent of milk drifted into her nostrils as the soft body gently nestled against her chest, but Violet had no time to appreciate this comfort now. She just stared at her unscathed fingertips, feeling a bit dumbfounded.
“Information Detection” malfunctioned?
No, it wasn’t a malfunction. All the information she had investigated before had been presented properly, but it was abruptly interrupted only when she touched upon certain crucial content.
There’s only one explanation: the mystery of the things she just sensed was too high, exceeding the limit that this skill could detect, and there’s some kind of self-defense mechanism at play.
Violet wasn’t a specialist in intelligence gathering. She could handle certain low-level things, but when it came to high-mystery content, the general skill of “Information Detection,” which wasn’t even considered part of the Holy Light system, sometimes didn’t work very well.
For example, Sethlin, the Goddess of Life, she could barely uncover any information about her, or the mysterious silver key obtained by chance from Ben Melchior, the former second prince of the Human United Kingdom, she could only see fragments of description.
Wait a minute? Speaking of that strange key that had been lying dormant in her backpack for a long time... Although it seemed unrelated to the current situation, Violet suddenly had a thought.
After helping the still dizzy Novia sit back down, she retrieved the inconspicuous little thing from the corner of her backpack, held it in her hand, and carefully examined it in the moonlight.
“This is it!”
Under the illumination of the moon in the night sky, this oddly shaped silver key emitted a faint glow, sparkling like a heartbeat!