Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Regarding Shard's idea, Luviya naturally agreed, and since Iluna also knew Priest Augustus of the Dawn Church, she had no objections. Luviya refused to accept the qualifications of The Chosen One, and Iluna, just like on the autumn death marsh, refused to accept The Chosen power outside of Balance.

"To be honest, I once considered giving the qualification to Witch Miss Sylvia."

Shard frowned slightly, and facing Luviya and Iluna, he didn't need to lie:

"But I eventually gave up. Miss Sylvia is different from Sister Delphine. Although the Sister is very close to the Witch Council, she herself is the leader of the Spiritual Practice Order, and she can make decisions for all her actions. The Council cannot directly influence her.

But for the Grand Witches of the Witch Council, we don't fully understand, let alone Miss Isabella, the Thirteen-Ring Sorcerer who is also a Thirteenth Rank Witch. Rather than causing trouble, it's better to give up this candidate. So, I didn't even mention this arrow to the witches, I just said that the qualification for the fourth Chosen One has disappeared completely just like the qualification of Darkness."

He looked into the eyes of Luviya and Iluna respectively:

"The only people who know about this arrow are Sister Delphine, you two, and me, just four in total..."

"Meow~"

The cat under Shard's hand meowed.

"Oh, and Mia. Speaking of which, I also considered giving the qualification to Mia."

He suddenly said something that surprised the ladies:

"To a cat?"

Iluna asked with some surprise, while Luviya looked at it:

"Does Mia also meet the requirements of the arrow itself?"

"Yes, it meets the requirements, and... sometimes I really feel that its wisdom is really very high. I can hardly imagine any other cat being smarter than little Mia."

His fingers played with the chin of the "smartest cat," and the cat immediately purred, enjoying the playtime with Shard.

"This can be a backup option. I believe your cat will never betray you, even if it is given greater wisdom and power. However, if you choose to keep the qualification of The Chosen One within the arrow for a long time, it means you can no longer use the power of this arrow."

Luviya warned, and Shard nodded:

"I understand, but more than a powerful weapon, I want to keep the qualification of The Chosen One in our hands and make a choice at the last moment. This way, at least while waiting for the final gate to open, we have complete initiative."

Luviya and Iluna exchanged a glance, and the ladies nodded together:

"Alright, let's agree to make the choice for The Chosen of Knowledge and Wisdom at the last moment."

Iluna secretly rejoiced in a small dark corner of her heart that the three of them were still three, and she was still the irreplaceable one.

After some thought, the seventeen-year-old girl called forth her Ring of Fate.

Quite unexpectedly, the originally Five Rings Iluna had advanced to Six Rings, once again surpassing Shard by one ring. Among the Spirit Runes filling the Five Rings, the Enlightenment of the Light of Wisdom caught Shard's attention:

"This is..."

"That's right, it's the new ability I gained from the Enlightenment of The Chosen One Ceremony!"

Iluna said excitedly, as five Sage's Glowstones flew out of her pocket, arching and floating above her head:

"Through these five Glowstones, I can transform my own Spiritual Light into rays with tangible damage... I've tested it in the church, it's similar to soul damage, real damage. Theoretically, the more Spirit Runes I have, and the stronger my understanding of my Spirit Runes, the stronger the power of the rays."

She commanded the five Glowstones to shine:

"Right now, there are only five rays, but in the future, it can become a torrent of five light streams... it's similar to the use by the witch Shard found."

"Lakin Prisia also used a similar ability."

Shard added, glancing at Luviya. The latter said nothing, but both understood that Iluna had once again gained an ability that didn't belong to her from The Chosen One. Although this power was just a small part of The Chosen power, it was indeed The Chosen power.

Besides the power of the Light of Wisdom, the bone whistle Iluna carried with her at the time also gained the possibility of permanent repair due to the influence of the Light of Enlightenment, increasing the summoning times of the Skeleton Horse beyond the remaining three times.

However, the cost of repairing this bone whistle is quite significant. Even though Iluna is a Chosen One, the church cannot just give her a large sum of money to do this for free. Fortunately, Iluna's bonus for every "business trip" was not small, and combined with the year-end bonus issued during the Year-End Festival and her savings, repairing this whistle is still feasible.

Iluna's regular expenses are actually not high; she doesn't have many hobbies apart from reading novels. Plus, as a Chosen One receiving special church training, she doesn't have to spend much on learning Spirit Runes and Arcane Techniques, and she also receives additional fieldwork and mission allowances every month, so Iluna's financial situation is actually much better than Shard's.

"Apart from the qualification of The Chosen One..."

Shard then took out his Roder Card Deck from his pocket, finding the Genesis: Knowledge:

"Just like when the Impermanence Card had a door appear after defeating Daknis, after I defeated Sir Lakin Prisia and contained his identity as The Chosen One, a door appeared in this card as well, leading to the space left by the Ancient God, the Hall of the Keeper of Secrets. However, since I didn't completely kill the Chosen One, which would make the qualification disappear entirely, the door needs both the arrow and the card as keys to open it, and the arrow should not be kept away from the door for too long, or it will cause instability."

It seems that those mysterious spaces are indeed closely related to the power of the Ancient Gods.

"A space left by the Ancient God of Knowledge and Wisdom?"

Iluna was quite curious, and Shard nodded:

"I've heard about this place from Miss Danester of the Academy. To be precise, the Three Major Academies have methods to reach this wondrous location. Last night, I met the Lake Goddess again in Huntington City, who gave me knowledge about the Hall."

It was Tree Father who provided the knowledge that revealed the role of the "Dark Dungeon."

"Then let's try to enter and see."

Iluna suggested, and Shard nodded:

"No problem. Entering the space left by the Ancient God from different entrances means we won't meet unless previously arranged, so we don't have to worry about running into people from the Academy. But... where should we place this door?"

"Your basement has two doors, the third-floor hallway has one door; this time, why not choose the first floor, second floor, or the attic?"

Luviya suggested, showing her interest as well.

"Let me think..."

With Mia in his arms, Shard pondered for a moment, looking around his house:

"Definitely not in Room One on the second floor, that's where Mia and I live, and guests visit from time to time, so I prefer not to involve supernatural power... Let's put it in Room Two then."

He rose with the card in hand, followed by Iluna and Luviya through the hidden door in the wall to the adjoining room.

Shard had never furnished Room Two on the second floor, but its structure was basically the same as Room One. Since Miss Galina's maid came to clean every Saturday, the floor and walls of the room were quite tidy. Shard held the card in one hand and the arrow in the other, with Mia following at his feet, curious about what Shard was doing.

Looking at the moonlit empty living room, Shard had an idea:

"It seems we've also solved the placement issue of the Aikenora - Arrow of the Chosen One."

The Ring of Fate emerged from the depths of the Steam Mist, and, with the cooperation of the moonlight, produced shadows, revealing the secret compartment with a yellow moonlight pull ring on the wall.

A century ago, Astrologer Mr. Euclid used the mysterious space and moon's power to create this secret compartment; Shard could not fully understand its creation principle, which involved quite advanced Alchemy techniques:

"I want to store the arrow here, and unless necessary, I will never take it out."

He said to the girls, and Iluna praised:

"There is no better place than this, as even knowing about it, without a Moon Spirit Rune, one cannot open the secret compartment."

"This is a secret known only to the three of us."

The girl with purple eyes told the other two, and Iluna smiled as Shard reached in to place the arrow inside, then closed the secret compartment's door, watching it blend back into the wall.

Afterwards, he threw out the Impermanence: Knowledge card, and under the moonlight, the card, guided by an inexplicable force, flew to the wall, with its back sticking precisely where the hidden compartment was originally located.

Looking serious, Shard extended his right hand, with the index and middle fingers together, and touched the card.

As his fingertips made contact with the card, a strange halo radiated from the card's surface. At the same time, a thin white mist emerged from the gap between the card's back and the wall, spreading along the wall as if it possessed intelligence, until it covered a doorframe-sized rectangular area.

Shard withdrew the card from the wall, watching as the white mist door slowly vanished:

"Everything's fine; the door's location has now been fixed here. Next is the incantation for entry—"

He cleared his throat:

"May the Mentor bless me, lost in the Sea of Ignorance."

With his palm on the wall, the white mist door opened once more. Typically, entering the space left by the Ancient God requires three conditions: Spirit Rune, Artifact, and Spell Words. However, the door formed by the Impermanence Card only requires the Spell Words, without needing a Spirit Rune and Artifact.

And the Angel-given knowledge shows that the Artifact usually required to open this door is the Sage's Glowstone.

"Follow me."

The three curiously observed the fourth white mist door in Shard's house, as Shard beckoned to the girls, then bent down to pick up Mia, and the three of them stepped inside together.