Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 671 - Yellow Moon Red Dragon and Glasses
Chapter 671: Chapter 671 Yellow Moon, Red Dragon and Glasses
Chapter 671: Chapter 671 Yellow Moon, Red Dragon and Glasses
The witch with the blonde hair, who looked to be only twenty-two or twenty-three years old, was the lady who had been assisting Miss Mana Feliana with the ceremony to call upon the Old God known as the Blazar Gate in the Forest of Thousand Trees. At the same time, she was Miss Feliana’s first-generation student and the future first Librarian of the yet-to-be-established Saint Byrons.
Twenty-two years had passed, from the Forest of Thousand Trees in the Western Continent to the Valley of Dead Silence in Midland, Shard encountered this witch once again. This was also the first time in his past where he continuously met the same person, and Miss Orland, who should not have any memory of him, clearly also remembered Mr. Shard Hamilton.
“Teacher, who is this… Is he a man?”
The red-haired girl cautiously asked, and it was only then that Shard noticed her tail—indeed a tail and not a trick of his eyes. It was… a very thick tail, with deep red traces that resembled the scales on a lizard, belonging to a powerful exotic creature.
“Fiona, this is an old acquaintance of mine and Teacher Feliana, Mr. Shard Hamilton.”
The half-elf witch came to her senses and shook the hand Shard had extended, then introduced him to her student.
“Shard, this is Fiona Drago, my student. Don’t be surprised by her physical traits; she is of mixed Dragon Clan blood, even of the Red Dragon Nobility lineage.”
She introduced the red-haired girl, who nodded at Shard somewhat reservedly:
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“Hello, um… sir?”
She had not yet grasped Shard’s gender.
Only then did she introduce the witch with the curious gaze and round glasses, who sized up Shard with an inquisitive look. Of the three, she appeared to have the most scholarly demeanor:
“This is Becky Samuel, an Eleventh Rank Witch from the Zaras Academy, and she is our companion on this adventure.”
“Zaras Academy?”
Shard’s expression brightened with realization as he quickly recalled the origins of Zaras Literary Academy, one of the Three Great Magics Academies. Zaras, to be exact, had a much longer history than Saint Byrons. Saint Byrons was started from scratch by the legendary Thirteen-Ring Sorcerer Miss Mana Feliana, while Zaras Literary Academy originated from the Fifth Era witch academic organization, Zaras Academy. Just like Miss Mana Feliana’s information, all that remained of Zaras Academy was its vague name.
Coincidentally, the establishments of the Three Great Magics Academies occurred almost in the same era. This meant that the witch wearing round glasses could very likely be one of the future founders of Zaras Literary Academy.
“Hello.”
Shard nodded politely. Although the other party did not understand what he was saying, she understood it was a greeting, so she also nodded:
“Hello, sir.”
This witch was very clear about Shard’s gender:
“Do you mind sharing your origins? I’m quite curious about that.”
As she spoke, she attempted to reach for Shard’s wrist, which seemed to be a common habit among witches. However, Becky Samuel was not successful. Her hand was swatted away by Miss Orland, whose shoulder was already touched by snowflakes. She spoke somewhat reproachfully:
“Becky, he is a friend of mine and Teacher Feliana’s, and he is here to help us now. If you have questions, you can ask Teacher Feliana after we safely return.”
Miss Orland’s words silenced the witch from Zaras, then signaled for everyone to change locations for their conversation.
The group of four moved from the entrance of the Ruins to a vigorous bonfire. Miss Orland sat facing the entrance, with her Dragon Lineage student to her left and the Zaras witch to her right, while Shard sat opposite Miss Orland with his back to the entrance.
In order for everyone to understand what Shard was saying, the Zaras witch, Becky Samuel, rummaged through a pile of books beside her for a long time and pulled out a book titled “Mysteries of Language”. After whispering an incantation, she tore a page from the book, burned it to ash in a stone bowl beside her, then mixed the water with ashes and gave it to the other two witches.
“Shard, it has been 22 years since we last parted, hasn’t it?”
Miss Orland certainly remembered the events at the Forest of Thousand Trees. By the light of the fire, she showed a face full of nostalgia:
“Teacher has always remembered you. It was only after I advanced to Thirteenth Rank recently that I fully recalled the events of that year. Teacher and I often talk about you. If I’m not mistaken, your reappearance here, just like last time, is to help us.”
“Yes.”
Shard nodded, as it was not yet time for reminiscing:
“So, may I know what you are here to do? I still only have thirty minutes to stay.”
“Sir, it’s for this library.”
Without waiting for Miss Orland to answer, the witch from Zaras spoke up:
“Our current location is known as the Valley of Dead Silence, covered by heavy snow throughout the year, and almost impossible to escape once entered. Here lies a place where time and space are in turmoil, with countless lost and forbidden Ancient Ruins nestled within the valley. Our present location is the Gadis Library, which even preserves valuable knowledge and documents passed down from the First Era. Zaras Academy and Miss Feliana both wish to obtain some materials from here, hence they dispatched us.”
Shard nodded. The event was described by the Father of the Infinite Tree as “the destruction of the Gadis Library, meaning the exploration of the three witches would lead to the complete collapse of this library that predates the current Fifth Era.”
But he had questions, looking at the witch across the fire with caution:
“Is your mission related to… a deity?”
“Sorry, what do you mean by that?”
Miss Orland asked with curiosity.
“Do you know if…”
Shard subconsciously lowered his voice and wondered if this time, the deities had already come but chose to stay hidden:
“…The Great One—Gray Robed Sage?”
In this era, the Old Gods had not yet departed, so they could not be called “Old Gods.”
Miss Orland and the Witch with round-framed glasses from Zaras exchanged glances, the glow of the campfire tinting their incredibly beautiful faces red and illuminating their spirited eyes. The charm of witches was incomparable to ordinary people, and even though they were in a bad state, and even the Witch from Zaras’s hair was disheveled, they still looked unmistakably lovely.
The Witch with the round-framed glasses, Miss Becky Samuel, answered:
“The deity known as the Gray Robed Sage, also called the Guardian of the Library, can often be seen in large libraries where His shrines are found. But our purpose for this trip is merely to collect the knowledge within the library, not to… Could it be that this library ruin also contains a shrine to the Gray Robed Sage?”
Shard didn’t know about this, but since the Father of the Infinite Tree had tasked him with helping this deity collect knowledge, even if the deity wasn’t present in person, there should at least be an altar, a shrine, a divine statue, or a holy emblem for Shard to make offerings.
“Teacher, when we went on our seventh deep exploration of the library two weeks ago, I saw a shrine quite close to here, but I didn’t pay attention to whose it was.”
The Red Dragon Witch spoke softly, still kneeling before the flames, her thick tail wrapped around her waist. Seeing everyone look towards her past the light of the fire, she frantically searched through a small backpack beside her, pulling out a hand-drawn map of the library ruins, marking the parts they had already explored.
The shrine was indeed close by; judging from the map, it was just three large rooms away from their current location at the library’s entrance.
“A shrine, that’s good.”
Shard nodded:
“However, what’s happened to you all? You don’t seem to be in good shape. Are you trapped again?”
“Did you see the blizzard outside?”
Miss Orland pointed towards the door:
“The Valley of Dead Silence is snowy year-round, but it goes through different phases: Light Snow, Black Snow, Crimson Snow, and Blizzards.
During the Light Snow Phase, aside from the extreme cold, there’s no other impact; Black Snow revives all the undead in the valley, greatly suppresses the power of all living beings, and anyone touched by the Black Snow dies instantly; Crimson Snow usually appears with an abnormal Yellow Moon, and at that time, the valley is shrouded in night and strange humanoid creatures will visit, perhaps Humanoid Relics, Evil Spirits, or even weirder beings; during the Blizzard, even if one does nothing, their Stamina and Mana will wane little by little, and the recovery of both comes to a complete halt. Most who freeze to death here do so during a blizzard.”
“The recovery of Stamina and Mana comes to a complete halt?”
Shard, having just arrived and only traversed outside for a short distance, hadn’t experienced this. Now knowing that the witches were somewhat weakened, he put on a Moonstone ring as a Spellcasting Medium, activating his Arcane Technique:
“Silent Moonlight!”
Above the campfire, an ethereal silver full moon appeared, and its cold light shone upon the four individuals. The witches immediately moaned softly, their expressions showing they finally had some relief.
“There’s absolutely no regular pattern to the durations of the four different phases. We entered during the Light Snow Phase and explored for just over a week when we encountered the Black Snow, during which we found some texts to take with us.”
Miss Orland pointed towards the pile of books next to Becky Samuel, the blond Witch from Zaras:
“But before we could leave, we ran into a blizzard that lasted for two weeks. No one can leave the Valley of Dead Silence in a blizzard; we could only wait.”
“Things are a bit better now, and though the effect of your Sorcery isn’t very pronounced, at least our strength isn’t waning anymore, but slowly recovering.”
The Witch from Zaras also said, looking up at the moon above the campfire:
“This power clearly isn’t that of witches; it’s more like Divine Arts, but it also doesn’t quite seem like Divine Arts. What exactly is this…?”
“After we get out, you can ask Teacher Feliana yourself,” Miss Orland cut her off again.
“I can only stay for half an hour; I can’t keep you recovering indefinitely,” Shard pointed out, then inquired:
“Are you now able to leave the Valley of Dead Silence?”
“If it’s the Light Snow Phase, we could, but during the Black Snow and Crimson Snow, we definitely cannot leave the range of the campfire. As for the Blizzard, unless we recover more than half of our strength, our Stamina won’t be enough to sustain us if we leave the protection of this fire.”
“I see…”
So not only did he need to help that deity who had yet to show its face to collect knowledge, but he also had to find a way to ensure the witches could leave safely:
“Miss Orland, give me a list. Next time I come over, I’ll bring some of the things you’re missing to at least make your stay here more comfortable. Also, I’d like to see that shrine.”
“Alright.”
The blond Witch across the fire flashed a smile:
“While we’re not short on food and water, we do need new personal items. I’ve never had to use a comb for more than two weeks.”
The lifestyle of the top Grand Witches of the Fifth Era was indeed hard to imagine. Now Shard was quite worried about what exactly might be on the list he’d be given in a moment.
