Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 495: Methods of Obtaining Light

Shard dismounted from the carriage at the street corner, initially interested in the flower parade. However, due to the overwhelming crowd, he gave up the idea of watching it. Instead, while he was taking out his keys to open the door, he encountered the next-door neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, who were preparing to set out.

They had also been invited to tonight's banquet at Yordle Palace and were now heading out to pick up their custom-made attire.

"So, Mr. Smith was definitely not just an ordinary secretary in the finance department before his retirement,"

Shard concluded.

When he got home and was changing shoes in the hallway, he did not see Mia running down from upstairs. Probably because the noise outside was too loud, the cat hadn't heard the sound of the door opening on the first floor.

Thus, when Shard found Mia scratching the wall in the empty Room 2 on the second floor, the astonished expression that emerged on Mia's fluffy face was truly comical.

"Don't use the wall to sharpen your claws,"

Shard quietly warned, bending down to pick up Mia. The soft cat meowed a few times as if being affectionate and did not struggle from Shard's arms.

Miss Galina and Tifa appeared only at two in the afternoon, when Shard was in the study browsing through a second-grade textbook on the topic of "Basic Rituals - Illumination," and the badge heating up on his chest informed him of the witches' arrival, even before the downstairs doorbell.

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Miss Galina would later go to Yordle Palace to do her hair and change clothes, but she brought Shard's formal attire for the banquet and planned to leave two maids to help Shard with his hair and dressing.

Of course, the most important thing was that Miss Aphrola had agreed to meet Shard at the Witch Council this afternoon. To avoid being discovered by other witches, their meeting could last no more than ten minutes, and just before Miss Galina began singing at the end of the third-floor corridor, she specifically instructed Shard not to exceed the time limit.

"Do you always have to sing in a corridor-like terrain before entering the Council?"

Shard, still somewhat puzzled about the Witch Council, took the opportunity to inquire.

"It doesn't have to be a corridor; it must be a flat terrain where one can walk straight for a certain length. There are no requirements as to whether the surroundings are open or flat."

While saying this, the Red-Haired Duchess grabbed Shard's hand:

"The appointed time has come, follow me."

She began to sing softly, and Tifa followed behind them with a smile, while Miss Maid, of course, also possessed the right to enter the Witch Council.

Miss Aphrola was doing something unknown and appeared two minutes past the appointed time. Miss Galina seemed to want to complain, but since Shard could not stay long, she let Shard ask his questions first.

Miss Hevy Aurora, whom he had not seen for over a week, seemed not much different; she had probably reached the Kingdom of Carsonrick by then, wearing clothes heavily influenced by the Southern Kingdom.

"Enlightenment - Light? Have you been reading 'The Mad Light Chaser' for two months now? Saint Byrons really lacks novelty, always recommending that book,"

Hearing Shard's question, the witch raised her eyebrows and, resting a hand on the stone table, twisted her brown hair tips:

"Your talent is not bad. Since you think you can obtain the Spirit Rune within a week at most, you need not seek Relics related to 'Brightness' to feel the power at this last moment.

My suggestion is, Shard, that you seek Relics related to 'Darkness,' using darkness to force a deeper understanding of light. Of course, interacting with Relics is risky, and you must consider this yourself."

Saying this, she glanced at Miss Galina, who waved her hand:

"Don't worry, I'll protect him."

"Darkness..."

Shard nodded. The 'Dark Realm' was an Angel-Level Relic and really too dangerous, but fortunately, he had other options:

"Miss Galina, I was wondering if you still have the 'Box of Darkness' in your possession."

He turned and asked Miss Galina, who was sitting at the round table and, while scraping her nails with a small knife, replied:

"I still have it, but I've lent it out. I think you can come to my estate to retrieve it tomorrow or the day after,"

The 'Box of Darkness' was the Relic that Shard first "saw" when he met Miss Galina at the Lucky Southern Cross Club, an item with which both had a deep impression.

"Of course, while experiencing the power of darkness, suppressing yourself with negative emotions will have a better effect. My suggestion is that you immerse yourself in the powers like fear, plunging into darkness while engulfed in fear."

Miss Aphrola pondered for a moment and then reminded:

"The greater the fear, the more apparent the effect. But you don't seem to be a coward, so you would need multiple attempts to force yourself to touch the purest 'Brightness' within your heart. With this method, you might succeed in just a few days."

Although a few days was not long compared to the time to obtain the Spirit Rune, Shard did not think Daknis would remain sedate in the city.

So, Miss Aphrola's method indeed worked, but Shard was even faster. Fortunately, he had a better idea. Since the usual fear was insufficient, he decided to choose a more powerful fear, which was the "Horror Fortress." The fear triggered by the eerie presence lurking in the corridor before entering the gambling room was the most intense fear Shard had ever experienced.

Although the "Box of Darkness" could not be brought into the past, Shard could still confront that creepy entity directly in the corridor just before leaving the year 1784 of the Fifth Era. Running away from it had already triggered fear, facing it directly would likely be even stronger.

As long as he controlled the timing well, he could recite the spell to make the Box of Darkness go out of control immediately after being sent back to the Sixth Era by the Father of the Infinite Tree, before encountering real danger. By doing this, he could almost guarantee that he would immediately obtain the Enlightenment Spirit Rune related to "light."

But this gave rise to another problem: there was only one last chance left in the year 1784 of the Fifth Era. If he could not resolve the gambling matter effectively this time, then the mission for this Time Key would be a failure.

Thinking of this, Shard recalled a conversation he had with Luviya not long ago:

"The content of the last four slots, two Impermanence Cards replace two, another experience replaces one, now only one is missing. Besides, inserting the Impermanence Cards into the slots, it's uncertain what will happen..."

Therefore, the real problem Shard needed to solve for acquiring the Spirit Rune related to "light," was to obtain the last part of the Fifth Era's prophet, Mr. Riddle's life experience.

Seeing Shard in a pensive state, the witches knew he already had an idea in mind.

Miss Aphrola drew back and forth in the air with her fingertip, leaving behind traces of "darkness" and "brightness" in the air.

"Of course, giving you this advice is also because light and dark are inherently one, they are opposites yet unified."

"I understand, the teachings of the Dawn Church are written just like that. However, it seems like you all can do this technique of leaving light traces in the air," Shard said.

Since he had already clarified his own matters, Shard was able to joke lightly.

"Don't underestimate this technique, controlling one's own light meticulously requires talent. I don't know if you noticed, but the God Summoner splitting the giant mermaid corpse in Coldwater Port used a similar technique."

She probably mistook the Moonlight Slash as some other Arcane Technique.

So, Miss Galina escorted Shard out of the Council to prevent other witches from noticing.

An unyielding Shard still inquired about Sludge Riddle's matters with Miss Galina. However, as Luviya had said, apart from the Prophet's Society, no other organization would record the life of this ordinary man from the Fifth Era.

"Although I can enter the 'Dark Realm' without the 'light,' for the sake of making things easier, it's still necessary to have it. Should I give up the mission of the third Time Key for the sake of 'light,' or should I carry that door-shaped pendant, entering the past only as a last resort?"

While comparing the importance of the Time Key and the second Chosen One, after Miss Galina left, Shard also began preparing his attire for the evening banquet with the help of the two maids. Although in his view, a suit and a combed hair should suffice, evidently Miss Galina thought otherwise.

Thus, as the evening came, Shard thanked and bid farewell to the two maids downstairs at his house. After saying goodbye to Mia, who insisted on staying at home and not going out, he first went to Old John's Antique Shop and picked up the silver ring embedded with three diamond-like crystals.

Shard bent down to inspect the beautiful silver ring, after Old John teased him that he looked like he was "dressed to seduce some naïve noble ladies," he curiously inquired about what was inside the gift box tied with ribbons that Shard was holding.

The birthday of Queen Diana was the headline of all newspapers today, and Old John guessed that Shard was going to Yordle Palace, so he was very curious about his gift.

"Old man, you can unwrap it to check, but make sure you can tie it back properly," Shard said, then remembered the scene when he had asked Miss Galina's maid to help tie up the gift.

"Detective, don't underestimate me, I guarantee I'll tie it better than before. I'm capable of packaging products so well that customers..." he paused, "But you, being such a stingy guy, what exactly would you give?"

Old John truly looked curious, and after getting permission, he carefully untied the ribbon. Upon opening the box, his forehead wrinkled in surprise:

"Oh, this is indeed... I've seen many large pearls, but such round ones are indeed rare."

"This cost a lot of money, got a friend to bring it from Coldwater Port," Shard said softly, slipping the silver ring onto his finger, fitting perfectly. A regular Circle Sorcerer with "Psychic Shockwave" could only target one individual at a time, but Shard blessed with "Divine Afterglow" could target up to three individuals.

When casting a spell, he would point the finger with the ring towards the head of the target, or the part equivalent to the head. The closer the distance, the more pronounced the effect of the "Psychic Shockwave." If the target's mind was particularly fragile, directly pressing his fingertip against their forehead could potentially shatter their head with the Arcane Technique.

"You really are willing to spend, such a large pearl could even be exchanged for a practical Poet-Level Relic," Old John remarked in wonder.

"This should be considered as an investment, so it's not a waste of money," Shard corrected, to which Old John nodded in agreement. However, as he found tools to repackage the gift box, he continued to tease Shard:

"I just want to remind you, detective, unlike the Red-Haired Duchess, Queen Diana is already married," Old John joked.

Shard chose not to respond.