Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

In short, the matters in Tobesk have been temporarily dealt with, and a new adventure can now begin. Considering he'll likely return very late, on Tuesday morning, Shard entrusted Dorothy with taking care of Mia today, which Miss Writer readily agreed to.

"May the Primordial Rift protect me in Infinite Space."

In the basement at home, Shard reached out to touch the Ancient God Statue alone, as thick white fog quickly enveloped him, he entered the mist.

[Outlander, you have entered the 'Spatial Labyrinth.']

[Message from the Ancient God "Primordial Rift":]

[Current space markers: 5.]

Glancing at the five worn-out signposts along the path, Shard raised his head and drank the Magic Potion "Oak's Luck Potion" in one gulp, then lifted the White Stone Crystal high in the mist:

"Offer the sacrifice to the Spatial Labyrinth."

The stone turned into a thin wisp of white mist and disappeared from Shard's hand, and at the same time "she" prompted:

[You have obtained new information, you can search for new space markers, please choose a direction.]

"Southwest."

Shard said in a very steady voice. As his words settled, the sixth signpost appeared on the misty pathway, still that kind of dilapidated shape, ravaged by time for a century.

Passing by the first five signposts, Shard reached out and pressed his hand on the decayed wood.

[The Primordial Rift will guide you.]

The white mist around slowly dispersed, like curtains moving aside. Shard looked at the Ancient God Statue he touched, and as he gazed, it emitted a soft light, illuminating the dark circular space.

"The size of each hidden space seems to be the same."

He muttered quietly and then looked at the other items besides the statue in the space.

Actually, due to similar hidden spaces, as long as one possesses the "Space" Spirit Rune, they can enter. Therefore, before Shard arrived at a certain space, this place itself might already contain items left by others.

For instance, he found information left by the "Guiding Light Hermitage" in his basement, discovered a corpse of unknown identity at the White Valley Vineyard, and came across an empty rough gray stone bookshelf at the Pantanal Lake Heart Island.

At this time, the hidden space corresponding to the sixth space marker was not empty either; there was an iron-hooped chest against the wall. The chest itself had a wooden lid, with rusty iron bars encircling the chest, which inexplicably reminded Shard of the Relic "Treasure Chest Monster" he encountered on the [Fishbone Pirate Ship].

[No, it can be confirmed, this is just an ordinary chest.]

"She" lightly reminded.

Thus Shard did not rush to leave but knelt down on one knee in front of the chest to confirm which city this actually was.

The chest itself had an embedded lock, and judging by the shape of the lock, this chest was probably quite old. Fortunately, under the effect of the [Key of the Door], this lock was equivalent to not existing. Just when opening the chest lid, Shard worried a bit that this ancient wooden chest might disintegrate because of this.

Squeak~

Luckily, it was more solid than it appeared, and upon opening, he saw the half-filled chest was full of books.

"Randall Valley Folklore Study, Spring City Fairy Tale Collection, Elf Gem, The Mad Land, Ode to Flowers..."

He took out a few books and looked through them, confirming that as many as seven of them were Circle Sorcerer's writings, while most of the others were religious texts from the True God Church, or ordinary books recording folklore or mythological stories.

Then, checking the other items in the chest besides books, he saw two extremely luxurious metal medals embedded with gemstones inside a box, an unsealed letter, and gold coins covering the bottom of the chest.

Those two medals, Shard had seen them multiple times at various banquets during winter in Tobesk; the medals hung on the chest of Carsonrick's nobles who attended the banquets included these.

"Let me have a look..."

Rubbing his fingertip along the metal medal, he noticed the medal's serial number. This made it quite simple to find out the original owner of these medals.

The unsealed letter also lacked any information like stamps and addresses, but the envelope's faded dark blue ink told Shard who this letter was meant for:

[For you who have seen this letter.]

"Give me my letter."

Shard nodded and took out the letter paper. The exaggerated cursive letters used by the nobles came into view. Reading these cursive letters was quite laborious:

[To you who opened this letter. I do not know your identity and cannot ascertain the identity of the next Circle Sorcerer who will come here, but if you are willing, could you read my story?]

Shard continued reading, and the following described the story of a Low Ring Sorcerer named "Thomas Granger." Mr. Granger was born into a noble family in Randall Valley, unexpectedly awakened to his talent, and successfully became a Circle Sorcerer under the guidance of a Circle Sorcerer passing through the area.

"It seems this is indeed Randall Valley."

He spent ten years advancing to the Four Rings, but also realized that this was probably his limit. As life entered middle age, Mr. Granger focused more on his ordinary life as the descendant of a noble, until he became cursed in an accidental event. That curse not only left him with only a few weeks to live, but it also tainted the belongings he carried.

The other belongings did not matter, but the two family heirloom medallions could not be left unattended. That strange curse, rather than weakening with the passage of time, would grow stronger. Therefore, at the end of his life, Mr. Granger placed these books and medallions here to suppress the curse with the Miracle Element.

He hoped that his successors could return the two medallions to his family. The gold coins at the bottom of the chest and the books he cherished were the reward for returning the medallions.

"The medallions indeed no longer have a curse; it seems his approach was correct. But why doesn't this letter mention how he found this place?"

Shard muttered to himself, noting that the date at the bottom of the letter was 1780, and now it was 1854. Though less than a century had passed, it was still a long time ago.

The items in the chest no longer showed any traces of the curse, and the gold coins covering the bottom, as per Shard's rough assessment, were gold coins minted by the original "Duchy of Randall" in the Randall Valley Region, before the establishment of the United Kingdom of Carsonrick. These antiques are now known as "Randall Crowns."

He counted them; there were a total of 51 gold coins, and their condition was quite good. Though uncertain of their sellable value, Shard believed that if converted into money, it would surely surpass his current savings.

"Thank you, Mr. Granger."

He whispered, planning to return the medallions. Not only because of the gold coin recompense but also because he knew nothing about Randall Valley, and to search for the key mentioned by "Luviya," he needed to establish some local social connections.

"I hope the Granger Family has not also fallen."

The books and gold coins were left in place, to be moved back home upon return, while the letter and medallions were tucked into his own pocket. Shard turned to look at the wall facing the Divine Statue, and under the glow of the Spiritual Light from the [Space-Time] Spirit Rune, the Hidden Passage was revealed.

As before, outside was dark, with only the faint cold air flowing in.

"I wonder what lies outside?"

Stepping out through the narrow Hidden Passage and confirming no one was around, he lit the moonlight on his fingertips.

This was the corner of a certain dilapidated room. The space here was not large. The surrounding walls, including the ceiling, were of a square brick structure. Leaning against the right wall were some half-collapsed stone shelves, indicating that this might have been a storage room of sorts.

Though the floor was dusty, there were no visible cobwebs or animals like mice or bats. The air, though not fresh, did not have the unique rotting smell of abandoned buildings:

"Perhaps someone still lives here."

The door leading out of the room was at the side, but the staircase leading upward was blocked by collapsed shelves, suggesting they were still underground.

However, when Shard reached the top of the stone stairs, he unexpectedly found that the stone gate would not budge.

"Feliana's Witch Light!"

Golden light emanated from his right palm, and as the arm melted and penetrated the wooden door, Shard saw that the outside corridor had collapsed, with part of the ceiling blocking the doorway.

There was no other choice; Shard had to use the [Moonlight Greatsword] in conjunction with the [Witch Light] to forcefully carve a way out. Fortunately, the ceiling's collapse was limited to this doorway, allowing him to continue forward once out of the underground storage room.

"It's in such a state; it seems there's indeed no one living here. But why are there no small animals?"

This place was indeed an abandoned building, and its internal space was quite large. Although the collapsed walls and ceiling greatly limited Shard's overall exploration, he sensed that this might be an abandoned church.

Churches of the Church of the Five Gods would of course not be easily abandoned, but those of the long-gone Old Gods might, for various reasons, have been preserved into the Sixth Era.

Sadly, time is equally fair to faithless churches; no trace indicating the chapel's affiliation was left here.

Using his understanding of church buildings, Shard broke through a wall before finding the corridor leading to the antechamber. Following the semicircular corridor to the end, the sunlight made eyes accustomed to darkness somewhat uncomfortable.

Shard raised his hand to shade his eyes, squinting to see the sunlit main hall of the church in the snow.

Above the church door in the eastern part of the ceiling was a large hole, allowing the winter sunlight to slant inside. The dust particles twirling around the light pillar, illuminating the ancient stone pulpit. This image was extremely striking, with the marks of time and history clearly visible here, while the pulpit seemed to witness all the stories in that light.