The Pride of the Orphans

"All the orphans of the Haiyue clan, especially in this village, love you. You will definitely become a legend if you manage to win the Black Moon Ceremony."

"I can't take it anymore..." Trevor began to cry after Vera said this.

"Let it all out; you must have been holding it in for so long." Vera patted Trevor's back, harder than one would usually do to comfort someone.

Jun's expression darkened as Trevor continued to cry. 'These two brothers are going crazy again.'

On the way, Jun had to endure these two talking, telling him more things than he actually wanted to know. Still, it was good to know all that, so he remained silent.

These two brothers were the type to talk nonstop all the time. The things they said were really either unnecessary or necessary; it seemed like they were just saying whatever was on their minds at the moment.

"You cannot go any further from this point, you pair of fools." A voice cut through the twins' conversation.

Jun, Vera, and Trevor's gazes simultaneously turned toward the source of the voice.

At the end of their sight, there was an old man with a hunched back walking out from an ancient house with a cane.

He was an old man who could easily be considered someone who had entered the twilight of his life, his most striking feature being his faded white hair tied into a single braid.

Age spots were blooming; just seeing his wrinkled skin was more than enough to take this into account.

But even though he was an elderly man, apparently dressed in a plain white robe with no decoration, Jun felt a chill down his spine as soon as he saw him.

Even with his hunched back, his large body, which seemed a little taller than his, and the bloodlust emanating from each of his steps made him look that way.

Trevor and Vera, who had been in the middle of a shared cry, lifted their gazes in shock when the old man appeared and vanished, leaving Jun with some questions in his mind.

"We forgot to tell you where we were taking you, but we really hope to have a better conversation where you also tell us about yourself and the methods you used to survive, but not now. Rest in peace—I mean, I hope you learn."

Jun frowned at the twins' behavior as they quickly continued with their words and disappeared. Then he shifted his gaze back to the old man.

'Who is he?' Judging by the aura Jun felt, it seemed the twins were afraid of him; this told him that the old man was not an ordinary person.

The old man clicked his tongue in bitterness as he watched the twins retreat, then turned his gaze to Jun, who was staring at him in confusion, and spoke, "What a rude kid. Isn't it polite to greet an elder first when you meet one?"

At his rebuke, Jun's body trembled. "I am Jun, elder."

"Too late, you clueless fool." The old man shrugged and smiled. He laughed for a while, then walked very slowly with his cane and stopped only after leaving a gap of about three steps from where Jun was.

"Let's see..."

A distance where you could attack or be attacked at any moment.

While Jun tensed up watching the old man enter his personal space, the old man continued with a wide grin, revealing all his yellowed teeth.

"You reek of blood, you hateful child." At these words, Jun's body tensed.

It was the result of many deaths that he was still alive now.

He had changed clothes, but even so, this old man could smell it.

It was as if he had seen all the killings at Jun's hands, something that few could perceive after only a few minutes.

"You are a Crescent Moon, aren't you? I suppose I'm here to be evaluated; you must be curious how an orphan beat the descendants of this village who had better privileges."

It was certain that this old man was a Crescent Moon; only someone with that title could exude such a cold aura.

The oldest elder of the Asura village, the father of all the Asura assassins.

This elder, nicknamed Vargo, was the source of Asura village's prosperity and the reason they had been respected for a hundred years.

Vargo simply smiled, proving Jun's reasoning correct.

"Yes, but you also received help. I can sense the internal energy circulating with the Asura method; I suppose that boy offered you that method when you left the annual confinement."

"I have received such grace from who I assume is the youngest Crescent Moon of this village." Jun knew that these elders had to be spoken to with respect; it was ingrained in the flesh of every citizen of this country.

Whether in the era of the seven warring kingdoms or in the future, respect had to be imparted to the elders without any consideration for denial.

"Stop licking my boots like that... Anyway, I am sure there is an even more logical reason why you have been selected as one of the representatives of our village for the Blood Ceremony, where the next Black Moon of the Haiyue Clan will be chosen. Come with me. I'm too old to be standing here."

After saying that, Jun watched Vargo turn around, creating a bit of tension within him.

He had never considered that even with all his achievements, in the eyes of this old man, he was still just an ordinary person. He thought he had surpassed all expectations for a child, but it seems it still wasn't enough to please this old man.

'... A monster,' Jun thought, feeling all that cold aura, which he assumed was Vargo's internal energy, a true monster.

…

Asura Village

Being a village of assassins, there weren't many people one could get to know, but there was one man everyone was talking about, and that was Jun.

Every twenty years, the Blood Ceremony is held to find the new Crescent Moon who would earn the title of Black Moon. Twenty years ago, the Asura Clan won the title, so it was expected that this year they would have it in their hands again.

Jun had been announced as the orphaned survivor who was now an Asura of the village, someone who had passed the annual confinement test in the most deadly section of all the participants.

The orphans were placed randomly in the five lower levels, while in the five upper levels, the descendants of the Asura village were assigned by drawing lots.

It made sense; not much was expected of the village descendants because they were naturally excellent. But who would have imagined that Asura Jun would earn his privilege as the first candidate for the blood ceremony to be held in four years?

All those who had once been orphans respected Jun; as for the descendants, there was an equal respect for something that hadn't been done in over a thousand years.

The test was the same for all nine villages; they all had the same rules to ensure fair selection. Choosing Jun was no mistake; it was possibly a blessing.

Having a second Crescent Moon in forty years was something to be celebrated, and it would position them in the first place on the Haiyue Clan's power ranking for the next hundred years.

Jun hadn't realized the magnitude of his current fame within the village as he was conversing with an old, but terrifying, monster whose intentions were unknown.

"All right, you can sit down before you answer my question: why did you cling to life so fiercely?" Vargo asked as he took a seat on a platform floating over a small lake.

Jun bowed his head again and gave a brief answer: "I thought that if I had a mother, it would hurt her to see her son die."

What came out of his mouth was an infinitely polite and sincere tone.

All natural, without adding anything that might cast doubt on his words.

Jun knew he needed to make a good impression on this elder; as long as he earned the favor of this ancient figure, he could earn the right to claim his title as the Black Moon.

With that thought in mind, Vera made a comment: "A childish answer..."

Vargo's words, filled with laughter, followed: "There are three types of people who survive what you went through. The first is seeking revenge. The second is crazy—totally insane. As for the third, they seek something else that they don't even know themselves."

After saying this, Vargo leaned the upper part of his body toward Vera and continued laughing, "Let's see, from the way you speak, you don't seem like a fool, and your eyes don't reveal madness, so you're not even insane... So, are you seeking revenge against the clan that locked you in that dark place?"

"I would never dare."

"Are you saying I'm lying?"

"Not at all."

Vargo still didn't let Jun sit down and said, "Your words tell me nothing. I want you to be more specific; tell me why I shouldn't believe you survived out of revenge."

A question of life and death.

If Jun lied, he would be killed. It wasn't common for someone to harbor murderous intentions, but it wasn't a situation that hadn't happened before.

"I thought it wouldn't make sense to leave the place that was making me stronger; the world outside is chaotic, and an orphaned child like me wouldn't survive. In a short time, I would be a slave again, so I decided to take every opportunity I had to become stronger."

After saying this, Jun looked Vargo in the eyes for the first time and said, "I'm grateful to the clan for making me stronger, but I know there are still many things I need to learn."

"An interesting answer..."

...

Vargo continued asking some more questions.

From questions about identity to cliché questions like how much he knew about swordsmanship and what he would do after becoming a Crescent Moon.

Jun tried to answer him as honestly as he could, but the answers weren't very good.

"Then get up and follow me." Vargo did not give Jun a chance to sit down.

"Where are we going?" Jun was a bit confused by the elder's randomness.

"Didn't you say you wanted to become a powerful warrior? Then we should first see your skills with a sword."

Words that seemed simple and clumsy at the same time.

Jun, who had such thoughts, nodded slightly, and Vargo, with his characteristically mischievous smile, posed a question: "So, are you good with a sword?"

Jun's gaze turned back to Vargo: "I memorized some moves, prepared my hands for a strong grip; I don't think I'll be that pathetic."

"Ha, ha, ha, you might be prepared, but what you will need most is combat experience, which you currently lack," said Vargo, pointing out Jun's most evident weakness at the moment.