Luna jolted awake, her eyes snapping open as fragmented memories of her last moments in the Ivory Tower flickered through her mind.

  Knowing her damn luck, Luna had expected pain or broken bones. But neither of that had happened so she was glad she didn't have to fall from the sky like she did a while back.

  Ah...A weak groan escaped her lips as she pushed herself up, her body still weak with exhaustion. Slowly, she took a good look at her surroundings.

  The first thing she noticed was the ground beneath her—soft, rich soil, unlike the cold stone she had expected. Towering trees surrounded her, their trunks stretching impossibly high, their leaves a deep crimson that seemed to drink in the darkness. She couldn’t see where they ended, only that they reached far beyond her sight.

  It was night time and the sky was devoid of stars like some endless void. However, a single celestial body hung in the night, glowing with an ethereal white brilliance. Its gentle radiance bathed everything in a warm, ghostly light.

  A moon!

  But it wasn't just any moon.

  As Luna stepped into its glow, something within her stirred. Strength flooded her limbs, her exhaustion fading like mist under the morning sun,

  ‘The light is life essence…pure essence,’ Her eyes shimmered with realization. The life essence she had lost during her self-recovery was returning to her to her. It was pure and powerful to a point where she didn't even need to refine it for herself.

  “I can’t believe I healed myself. I must be close to awakening then.” Luna sighed heavily, trying to recall what Storm Rider explained to her when they were training. The Fire Keeper had already explained that qi tends to follow the user’s desires more than commands.

  Could it be that when the ice bird unleashed its sound attack, the Qi in her body listened to her desire to survive?

  If so, the damage must’ve been worse than she had imagined…forcing the qi in her body to do the needful.

  ‘Life essence tends to become more responsive when you’re close to the First Gate.’ Luna recalled Storm Rider’s teachings, her mentor’s voice echoing in her mind.

  "Alright… I guess I’m about two steps away from awakening."

  She glanced down at her hands, flexing her fingers as energy pulsed faintly beneath her skin. A thrill ran through her—this was more than just progress. It was proof.

  Proof that she was finally drawing closer to standing alongside her mother and sister as an Ascender. Proof that she would no longer be overlooked or dismissed. That one day, she would take the mantle of leadership—not as an underdog, not as an outcast, but as someone worthy of the Feng name.

  The world around her was unnervingly still. No rustling leaves, no distant calls of creatures—just silence, thick and suffocating. It felt like time itself had frozen.

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  But Luna knew better. Time was slipping away, and hesitation was a luxury she couldn’t afford. With that thought, she picked up the Sun Ember and started moving, her senses on high alert.

  Her destination was the Silent Pond. But to find it, Luna needed to first locate the Two Rivers. If she found these rivers, finding the Silent Pond wouldn’t be so hard because the pond was connected to the rivers.

  Storm Rider hadn't dropped this important detail directly, of course. But she had carefully explained the origin of the rivers first and then mentioned the Silent Pond. Her mentor often skipped out important information when she wasn't sure if it would activate the curse or not.

  This meant that the rivers were connected to the pond which was the prison. So, to find the prison, she needed to find the rivers and the Mildrith.

  On top of that, Luna needed to stay vigilant. This world was guarded—patrolled by creatures she had no intention of facing just yet. Avoiding them for now was the smart choice. The real battle would come later.

  'I hope they’re safe.' The thought of her companions lingered in her mind, tightening her chest. But there was nothing she could do for them now, except survive long enough to reunite.

  She moved carefully through the silent woods, her steps muffled against the soft earth. She had no clear destination, no reliable sense of direction. Because here, everything was saturated with Qi.

  It pulsed through the air, the ground, the trees, thick and unending; making it impossible to pinpoint a path forward. No matter how far Luna extended her senses, it all felt the same, like standing on an endless flat plane with no distinct markers.

  She was blind to hidden dangers. Which meant she had to rely on her instincts.

  Hand resting on her sword, Luna pressed on, scanning her surroundings for the first sign of movement—or anything that didn’t belong to the stillness.

  ***

  Luna walked for what felt like an eternity to her. The night didn’t grow any older and there were no signs of dawn.

  “I guess I should expect something like from a place built by the actual Moon Goddess.”

  Artemis’s Garden, that’s what Storm Rider called it. To Luna, this means it's the Moon goddess’s garden since she wasn’t particularly a follower of Greek Mythology.

  In modern society, it was revealed that the goddess of the moon was also the goddess of Time, Hunting, Beasts, and Forests. Before the fall, mythologies and beliefs were usually scattered across the world with every culture having its version of mythology following their gods. But after the catastrophic event and learning about the death of the gods, the mythologies started to make sense and soon they would fade with time.

  Of course as a legacy, Luna still knew a lot about these mythologies from the old world because it prepared her for situations like this.

  Also, Luna noticed that this floor was covered in a forest that flourished under the moonlight, which wasn’t normal for most vegetation. This was also the only level of the Blood Tower with a real moon compared to the floors before which only had suns. The first floor had night and day, the second was stuck between night and day. While here, it was darkness and light.

  'The darkness represents the god of death and the light is the moon goddess. Maybe Everlight has never been here because she's not represented here as the Servant of the Sun god.' This thought crossed her mind when she noticed how untouched this floor was. It wasn't some put together mess like the previous floors, no. This Floor was purely the product of the moon goddess and the god of darkness.

  Luna quickly shook her head and jerked her mind back to reality. “Not now, Lunaris.” She whispered to herself. “I need to find the prison before I run out of time."

  After what felt like an hour of wandering, Luna finally heard something, something other than the soft crunch of dry twigs and leaves beneath her boots.

  A sound...

  Gentle. Steady. Flowing water.

  Her heart leaped in her chest. 'It’s the rivers. It has to be.'

  Hope flared within her, pushing aside the unease that had settled in her bones. She quickened her pace, excitement fueling her movements as she sprinted toward the sound.

  Without hesitation, she dismissed her sword, allowing herself to move more freely. The trees blurred past her as she ran, her breath steady, her pulse thrumming with anticipation. Then, after a few minutes of running, Luna finally saw it...

  One of the Twin Rivers.

  Tucked deep within the forest, its waters glowed faintly under the moon’s light, flowing in quiet defiance of the eerie stillness around it.

  Relief washed over Luna, and for the first time since arriving in this strange place, she allowed herself to smile

  The river was moving gracefully with a gentle type of flow, its surface shimmering with a silvery luminescence that mirrored the light of the moon above. Each ripple and wave was infused with a soft, ethereal glow, casting a serene light upon the surrounding trees and underbrush.

  The water itself is crystal clear, yet it sparkled with a faint, otherworldly iridescence that hinted at the divine sorrow that gave it life.

  As it flowed, the river seemed to hum with a gentle, melodic tune, a hauntingly beautiful song that soothed the soul and whispered secrets to those who listened closely.

  The air around it was cool and fragrant, filled with the delicate scent of the night—blooming silver floors that rested on its banks along with the silver bark trees bearing white leaves that illuminated under the moonlight.

  “Beautiful…” she murmured. Admiring the work of a real goddess. To some point, Luna could feel the goddess’s sadness that created this half of the river.

  This was Artemis’s pain and sorrow.