Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Shard lowered his head to examine the text transcribed by Iluna:

"One, Angel-Level relic 'Fountain of Youth,' controlled by the Witch Council, has been lost;

Two, Liquidized Sage-Level relic 'Philosopher's Stone,' rare samples are retained by few organizations such as the Church of Creation and Destruction, the Sun and Earth Church, Zaras Academy of Sorcery, and Saint Byrons Integrated Academy, but cannot be lent out;

Three, Water of Moonlight, the purest liquid formed from condensed moonlight;

Four, the World Tree Pool, can be traded with the Elven Race in the Fifth Era, the Sixth Era pool has already dried up;

Five, event-type relic–Unclassified Level 'Holy Rain' water, the occurrence of this event has a probability of leading to the end of civilization, suspected to be related to the end of the Third Era."

Shard paused for a moment:

"What kind of relic is this?"

Iluna supplemented:

"The event manifests as golden rain falling from the sky, with this liquid having enormous destructive power against any demonic force. Any creature that touches this water will turn into a winged cannibalistic monster within two to three hours, and such creatures cannot be destroyed, even if their bodies are burned to ashes, they will revive within 24 hours. There is no way to reverse the effect."

Shard apprehensively skimmed over this text, knowing that each Unclassified Level relic is directly related to the divine. 'Holy' though it may drive away evil, being 'too holy' is evidently problematic.

"Six, Thirteenth Pool. Hmm? Why is there no description for this?"

Asked Shard with suspicion, and Iluna regretfully shook her head:

"Though my authority is high, I cannot see any information whatsoever. I wrote to my mentor whom I followed during my time at the Papacy, and she told me that 'Thirteenth Pool' and relic 'Itch' are alike. Just knowing the specific details will lead to being cursed or worse fates more terrifying than curses. I am currently only at Five Rings, and the Papacy does not open such information to me...but Mr. Hog Lendel with the Sunlight Greatsword informed me that Thirteenth Pool involves dealings with demons and advised not to become interested in it."

"Demons indeed require caution."

Shard nodded:

"Seven..."

He merely recited the number and then saw the line behind it was smudged by fountain pen ink. The letters were covered one by one by uniformly tall black rectangular ink marks. Even if Shard intended to draw, he couldn't replicate such perfect rectangles.

"What does this mean?"

"Restricted content, known only to those permitted to read the material. When I attempt to speak, write, or disseminate the information by other means, it automatically becomes obscured. The seventh type of offering involves secrets from some churches which I am not authorized to disclose."

Iluna stated and regretfully added:

"I know the contents, so I'm very certain that even if I inform you, we will not be able to find it."

"So that leaves the last two types."

Shard continued to read with deep concern:

"The eighth type, Keeper of Secrets Level relic 'Water Cube'-soaked morning lake water."

"This relic can endlessly generate a clean water source, and unless consumed in large quantities continuously, the generated water poses little harm to human bodies. The negative trait is that while the relic's effects can be activated at any time, halting the relic's effects requires a sacrifice of at least 1,000 live individuals. Yes, 'at least,' you know what this means."

Iluna continued divulging these eerie relic traits to Shard.

"Where is this relic located now?"

Shard asked again:

"I don't need it to generate a water source, just need it to soak some water."

"In the crater of Fatir Volcano between the New Continent and Old Continent, used to suppress the ancient evil entity sealed within the crater..."

She hesitated without revealing the true name of that entity:

"Even if we were able to think of alternate ways to seal the entity, traveling between the islands and the Old Continent would still take several weeks."

Iluna understood Shard's desire for a swift solution.

"The ninth type, water from the Mysterious Lake."

This sentence was already written at the bottom of the notebook page. Shard turned the page to find a short poem written in the script he had learned from the end of the Fifth Era.

"'Mysterious Lake' is not a name, but rather the Old God Cult members of the time did not reveal the true name of the lake to the church. It is said to be a lake hidden within an unknown dimension. Under certain conditions, even ordinary people can directly enter from the material world. This poem following it describes that lake. My ancient script is not very good, hope I haven't copied incorrectly."

The seventeen-year-old girl sheepishly stated, and Shard shook his head and recited the poem:

"Lake of the forest,

Island within the lake,

Water within the island.

With wisdom to open the way,

With courage as evidence,

With talent as guidance,

The wise ones in white robes,

"Waiting for the soul to arrive."

After reading it, Shard hesitantly looked at the words in the notebook. Iluna cautiously asked:

"What do you think, does this description provide any clues? If there are no clues, I'm afraid we still need to check more information. Compared to the first eight types, at least the ninth offering seems possible to find."

"Is this the original text?"

Shard asked, and Iluna nodded:

"Yes, the photo of the parchment I saw was written like this, but those photos can't be borrowed."

"Look, if you connect the first letters of this short poem, what does it sound like?"

Shard handed the notebook to Iluna. Under the gaze of Shard and the cat, the girl, not very good with ancient script, blushed and worked hard to pronounce:

"Journal?"

"That's the pronunciation of a Second Era word, Cherub."

If Priest Augustus hadn't pronounced the name "Cherub," Shard also wouldn't have seen what these letters' pronunciation pointed to. If Iluna's pronunciation was like Mia trying to mimic a dog's bark, then Shard was a white mouse in Huntington trying to speak like a human.

"Lake Cherub?"

Iluna also knew what Shard was searching for a while ago; she had given him many clues back then.

"Yes, the water from the Heart Lake on Heart Lake Island in Lake Cherub. I happen to have it, right in the basement, but... isn't it too much of a coincidence?"

He found it hard to believe and handed the notebook back to Iluna. This time, it was Iluna who comforted Shard:

"Luviya once told me, 'In this world, there are no coincidences, only the inevitability composed of innumerable necessities.' Did someone entice you to visit Lake Cherub?"

"Of course not."

Shard shook his head immediately, and the seventeen-year-old brown-haired girl smiled and said:

"When the Chosen One appears, it seems that everything around becomes related to him. Cherub, the test of the Sage, wisdom—maybe this isn't a coincidence you caused, but an inevitability caused by the fourth Chosen One."

Shard understood what Iluna meant. He looked at her in amazement, and Iluna shyly turned her gaze away:

"Surprised I'd say something like that? Shard, although I'm not like Luviya in understanding fate, I am also a Chosen One... It's not just Luviya who can guide you."

It was clear that saying this made her very happy.

The seventeen-year-old girl pointed to her own head:

"Wisdom, I have it too."

"You're right, there's no point thinking about these things."

Shard smiled and nodded:

"With this, the second test of the Time Key is concluded... Iluna, how should I thank you?"

Iluna was just about to say that thanks wasn't necessary, but suddenly her glance swept over to the clock in the corner of the room, so she hesitantly changed her tune:

"Since it's almost noon, how about treating me to lunch? With this snowy weather, there's no need to go too far. I remember there's a nice restaurant at the street corner, we could take a walk down the street, today's weather is not..."

She was just about to say not bad, but her glance caught sight of the heavy snow outside:

"This is the largest snowfall I've seen since I came to Tobesk. My hometown is further south inland in the Kingdom, and it seldom snows in winter there."

Upon saying this, she pursed her lips and looked at Shard with those lively eyes. At this moment, Mia probably understood the word "lunch" and stood up, calling out to Shard, then was picked up by Iluna.

Shard couldn't refuse the proposal from Iluna and the ginger cat.

This heavy snow, which began on Thursday afternoon, continued until Saturday afternoon, only stopping when Shard went to Dr. Schneider's clinic. Though the poet's description renders the snow beautifully, it actually brings significant issues to the city.

Tobesk formally enters the winter season, and this silver-white attire will last until March 1854. Finding jobs in the city will get tougher, posing another hard time for the impoverished living at the city's bottom.

Shard hadn't gone out during this snowy weather. After having lunch with Iluna on Friday noon, he stayed home. Except for Saturday morning when Lecia sent her maid with gifts to apologize for his gas poisoning fainting in the Prophet's Society, nobody visited No. 6, Saint Delan Square during this period.

As for Saturday afternoon's learning meeting, nothing interesting happened. The group didn't discuss the incident from Wednesday night, merely acting as if nothing had occurred.

Dr. Schneider tirelessly emphasized again that today is the thirtieth day of the Frostfall Moon, the penultimate month of the year:

"I haven't received the detailed schedule for this year's exam week yet, but it's either in the last week of this year or sometime during the Year-End Festival holidays. This year is crucial for our group, although we have agreed not to head to Saint Byrons in the coming years, the upgrade exam remains essential as it will determine our group's status in the region and the Academy's support for us. Ladies and gentlemen, please take it seriously!"

The doctor seemed more anxious than anyone, but the rest of the group took it in stride.

"He's like this every winter."

Apart from the doctor, the oldest, Dorothy, whispered to Shard:

"Once Priest Augustus gives the doctor a calming potion, it'll be fine. Although Dr. Schneider is a psychologist himself, he always gets this anxious when it comes to exams."

This phenomenon, in the psychology of this era, is referred to as "pre-exam anxiety disorder," a problem that even Circle Sorcerers cannot avoid.