Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

On Sunday morning, while Dorothy was in a good mood and preparing breakfast in the kitchen, the ready Shard took out the key and stood at the guest room door.

This time, Mia didn't insist on following. The cat was now attracted by the aroma of food from the kitchen, probably not even noticing Shard preparing to leave.

"Dorothy, see you in three seconds."

He called out to the Blonde Writer across the dining room. After the girl in the apron turned and waved, Shard inserted the key in his hand into the lock of the room:

"Another adventure is about to begin. I wonder what kind of story it will be this time—may the World Tree bless me within infinite time."

Click~

The door opened, and the Mist Gate, swirling with white fog, was so familiar and friendly to Shard. He gave his carried items one last check, then stepped inside.

[Outlander, you have entered the "Time Corridor."]

[Message from the Ancient God "Father of the Infinite Tree":]

[Fifth Era, Autumn of 4791, Southern Continent, Worm Cave.]

[Event: Butterfly Festival.]

[Duration: Thirty minutes (1/3).]

"Southern Continent? However, 4791... it's been 1767 years since I said goodbye to Miss Orland in the Gadis Library of the Valley of Dead Silence; 386 years until I step into the Lost Lake to meet the Witch Empress. This is another era without acquaintances. Butterfly Festival... this doesn't sound like a ceremony of the Evil God..."

Shard mused in the white fog, as so far, he had only encountered one Evil God in the past times, and the impression left by that Evil God was indeed profound:

"Worm Cave... although I'm not afraid of insects, but..."

[You have obtained extra information.]

[The presence of the Father of the Infinite Tree is watching over you.]

[The Ancient God of Time tests you.]

[Help mortals complete the Old God—'Thousand-Eye Illusion Butterfly' festival and allow one of them to earn the favor of a Familiar.]

[The Father of the Infinite Tree will reward you: Arcane Technique—Fiona's Housekeeper, a piece of true information—the Mermaid.]

"Hmm?"

The information reward about the Mermaid race didn't surprise Shard, as he had already acquired racial knowledge about Elves and Vampire Kind. What surprised him was that arcane technique, corresponding to the Spirit Rune of Sloth. Although its specific effects were unknown, the name suggested it wasn't a combat ability.

"This is really... wonderful!"

Although he had Miss Maid to help clean the house every Saturday, Shard still had to wash dishes, wipe tables, or tidy up the mess on Mia's desk on weekdays. Fortunately, the cat almost didn't shed hair, otherwise, daily cleaning would be even more troublesome.

If this arcane technique is really what he imagined, a lost lifestyle series arcane technique from the Fifth Era, it would be incredibly useful to him.

The transition from the Fifth Era to the Sixth Era caused much knowledge to disappear. In terms of arcane techniques, most combat techniques were preserved, but the private arcane techniques created by Witch Empresses for their convenience mostly got lost.

But for Circle Sorcerers living in relatively peaceful times, the techniques of the Witch Empresses were actually quite important.

"Butterfly God's festival... I wonder what kind of story I will encounter this time."

He took a step forward in the white fog, and as the thick white fog slowly dispersed like a curtain around him, the putrid air almost suffocated Shard.

In fact, the stench of the slum alleys, the Outlander had smelled in this world more than once, but the stench now was ten times more disgusting than that smell.

The white mist completely dissipated, and the warm, humid air, mixed with a foul smell, permeated every inch of the surrounding air, clinging to Shard's skin. It even made Shard feel an urge to discard all his clothes and jump into a water tank as soon as he got home.

"Worm Cave..."

A bad premonition arose in his heart, so he lit a sliver of moonlight at his fingertips. Wary of disturbing whatever was sleeping in the darkness, the glow was very faint. Yet, it allowed him to see that he was in a narrow passageway, which seemed to be bored out by a giant worm, neither straight nor smooth, with an extraordinarily rough interior.

The surroundings were limestone-gray rock walls, covered with countless tiny holes. As the moonlight drew closer, Shard could almost see that in every small hole, there was a fine, multi-legged worm wriggling:

"Oh!"

His whole body was covered in goosebumps at this moment. Even though Shard was not afraid of bugs, he was already a little overwhelmed. Compared to the brief life threats he encountered in every instance of past times, the "spiritual threat" this time was even more terrifying.

He was glad he started this adventure at the beginning of the day when his spirit was most vigorous. If it were at night when he was a bit fatigued, he couldn't guarantee what he might do.

The appearance of Shard in this narrow tunnel passageway also agitated the other creatures living there. As various insects of various sizes and colors began scuttling out from all directions, including above, Shard dashed forward at full speed.

He even felt that even in the Horror Fortress, when facing the "fear" behind him, he hadn't run as fast as he was now. Fortunately, the Father of Trees would not throw him too far from the site of the event; he had been running for less than twenty seconds through the narrow, winding passageway when the end appeared ahead.

"Glad there are no forks!"

The rapid running caused the ground to vibrate, triggering the insects to fall from above like rain. Naturally, Shard was not going to let himself be drenched in this "bug rain." He gritted his teeth and transformed into a swarm of red butterflies that flew forward. The end of the passageway only had a faint glimmer, but he could no longer care what might be there as the red butterfly swarm flapped its wings, rushing out like a stream of red light.

It was the first time he realized that if he focused intensely, he could make the butterflies fly extraordinarily fast.

However, the end of the passageway was not level ground at all. Only when the red butterfly swarm flew out did Shard realize that there was no solid land beneath his feet, and outside the cave entrance was a vast downward cave.

Thus, under the gaze of the three people who had already arrived at the bottom of the cave, the red butterfly swarm, glowing with a crimson light, flew out from one of the countless cave openings surrounding the area. As the red butterflies slowly descended to the ground, Shard, feeling itchy all over, also emerged from them.

The air here was much fresher than inside the cave tunnel just now. Looking up, the cave opening he flew out of was a full two stories high from the spacious ground he now stood on.

The insects did not follow him out from the end of the passageway, as if the insect swarm earlier was just Shard's imagination. The current location seemed to be the deepest part of an underground cavern, with crude gray stone cliffs surrounding it, filled with various-sized cave openings. The largest could allow a carriage to pass through, while the smallest was only as thick as a pinky finger.

Looking upward, light from above fell downward but failed to illuminate the surrounding cliffs. Boundless darkness restricted his vision all around, and the cliff walls extended upward endlessly. It was impossible to see where the highest point was, but one could be sure that the insects here probably outnumbered the living people of this era.

The ground was as spacious as a square but strangely vacant. The ground was relatively level, and in the center of this open space sat a gigantic circular wooden table, large enough to be used as a stage.

The table had not been varnished, so the wood grain on the surface was very clear. However, Shard saw no sign of any joints, suggesting the entire table came from a single tree, unimaginable in its original size.

The faint glimmer he had seen at the end of the "bug rain" passageway was exactly the same beam of light from above that illuminated the round table in the center of the empty space. Besides that, there were some dim candles on the table. Each candle was made from the twisted white corpses of long worms and was placed in wooden candlesticks.

The candle's light was not bright, but the edge of that beam of light was enough to illuminate the three people sitting on round wooden stools by the table, along with Shard as he emerged from the red butterflies.

It is worth noting that because the table was too big, the three of them did not choose to sit evenly spaced, but instead moved their seats to the same side of the table.

As the three watched in astonishment at the last red butterfly landing on Shard's shoulder and then dissipating into red light particles, he also observed them.

These were two ladies and a gentleman, but only one of them was a witch.

She was a woman who appeared to be in her forties, with brown long hair styled into a simple bun, layering the hair strands smoothly to create a chignon-like effect. A few short pins resembling pink flower petals adorned her hair, covering the clips.

Of course, although she looked to be in her forties, thanks to a witch's long lifespan, her actual age was probably nearing one hundred.

The other lady appeared to be in her thirties, her features lacking refinement but exuding an inexplicable sense of compassion. Though not a witch, the jewelry on her as well as the short dagger placed on the table, all carried elemental responses, indicating these were alchemical items. She had light brown long hair, wore a floral crown, and tied her hair into a bundle that looped behind her neck and rested on her left shoulder, with the ends tied with green tender branches.

She was not wearing a dress but a robe. Judging by the style, it was a typical clergy member's robe.

As for the final gentleman, he appeared to be around thirty years old, with remarkably bright brown eyes. His facial features were very pronounced, and his thicker eyebrows suggested a mature gentleman despite the absence of facial hair. A pink flower was tucked into the chest pocket of his black coat.

He was dressed formally, with a large fire gun placed on the table in front of him. The black iron casing was engraved with glowing runes, also indicating an alchemical item, which was likely how he ultimately arrived there.