Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 672 - Song of God Summoning
Chapter 672: Chapter 672: Song of God Summoning
Chapter 672: Chapter 672: Song of God Summoning
Seeing Shard wanting to stand up, Miss Orland told him to sit down, speaking in a gentle tone:
“The library is very dangerous. You better not go there.”
Then her tone became more serious:
“Fiona, you go and bring back the shrine.”
She said to her student, so the girl with fiery red hair immediately stood up, nodding slightly with restraint:
“Yes, Teacher.”
Her red hair had more texture under the firelight, and as she stood up, a huge shadow with a tail immediately appeared on the wall behind her. The mural on that wall was already mottled, depicting the library’s bygone glory days and parts of the map, where the huge shadow with a tail seemed almost like a prop in a puppet show.
Miss Orland then explained to Shard:
“Fiona is only Seventh Rank. We chose to bring her because her Red Dragon Bloodline can somewhat resist the loss of power during the blizzard period.”
“I see.”
Shard learned something new and then watched the young witch pull out a prepared torch from behind the clutter, lit it with the campfire, and walked toward the corridor on the left.
Miss Orland signaled the witch from Zaras Academy to prepare a list of living essentials, and Shard thought of another matter:
“Miss Orland, I have one more thing I want to ask. After the year 3014, has anyone who attended the Vampire God’s banquet ever come to look for you all?”
He further explained:
“In 3014, I attended the Vampire God’s banquet with a witch, a pair of twins, and an elderly gentleman,”
“I don’t know about the elderly gentleman but the teacher seems to have mentioned the twins and the other witch. However, the twins visited whilst I was not with the teacher,”
Miss Orland shook her head:
“However, I heard that under the teacher’s assistance, the twin girls officially became witches and regained some memories related to that banquet. Unfortunately, they didn’t mention you. But they thought of another witch at the banquet, and with the teacher’s help, they found that witch and subsequently started to study under her.”
“What happened next?”
According to Lecia’s intelligence, the twins summoned Deity in the Sicarl Mountain Region and defeated the sealed evil entity, but he did not know the details of the process.
“I know very little about what happened next, it seems they called a Deity in a certain area of Midland and fought with a Subspace evil entity,”
“I know this!”
Miss Becky Samuel, who was writing, said:
“The appearance of the Deity and the sealed ancient evil entity was a major event that had far-reaching effects. The academy once sent people to observe the scene after the battle, but they only found a witch who was severely injured and had seemingly received the Vampire God’s grace. She is currently recuperating at the academy’s headquarters, but her condition is still not good. We hope to learn from her what exactly happened at that time, so we are providing her with ongoing healing. As for the twin girls, I’m sorry, but in that region, there was no other living being.”
“That was three years ago. After the witch and the twins disappeared, the teacher felt regret for quite some time,”
Miss Orland added.
“So it is…”
Shard also sighed.
That is to say, among the other four attendees of the gathering, the armored elder with the Demon Hunting Seal had died in the Sicarl Mountain Region; the middle-aged witch, after assisting her two students, had not awoken yet; and the twins were missing.
He suddenly realized he did not know what kind of emotions he should harbor to accept the story’s ending. Miss Orland remained silent, with only the howling wind outside the door, the crackling of the campfire in front of them, and the clear sound of Miss Becky Samuel writing.
Fortunately, in the Midshire Fort during the Sixth Era, an entire era after the story ended, this lost tale related to blood, twins, contracts, and witches still had chapters following the conclusion. And the traveler from abroad still had the opportunity to continue learning about the stories that had not yet occurred.
[Perhaps, that is also your story.]
She was chuckling softly.
“Alright, this will be all for now.”
The witch let the parchment roll float from beside the campfire to Shard’s side.
Shard moved forward slightly, with a particularly anxious mindset, he glanced at it in the light of the campfire and discovered it was just a list of very ordinary household items, with a specific note that material did not need to be considered. It seemed these knowledgeable witches could judge Shard’s financial strength just by his clothes, so they did not demand much.
Although the list wasn’t short, the total price would definitely not exceed 100 pounds, with only six sets of women’s long robes marked with sizes being the most expensive. And while 100 pounds could be the annual income of skilled workers, train drivers, or senior tailors in Tobesk, it was not a lot of money for the detective who had recently made a fair sum from the hands of the foreign princess.
Just as Shard was about to continue inquiring about Miss Feliana’s recent condition, such as her health, the witch from Zaras asked out of curiosity:
“Sir, while there’s time, could you explain this power? What is this sorcery?”
Miss Becky Samuel also asked, pointing curiously at the illusory image of the Silvermoon above the campfire.
“This is not Sorcery, but rather an Arcane Technique from the Circle Sorcerer System.”
While speaking, he summoned his Ring of Fate behind him, a brass circle slowly rotating amidst the steam:
“You must have heard of the Circle Sorcerer System, right?”
“Yes, I see.”
Miss Becky Samuel nodded, then turned to ask Miss Orland:
“I know Miss Feliana has been studying this somewhat weak Supernatural System, so you must also have some basic theoretical knowledge. Briony, since you also excel in the power of the moon, could you possibly learn this interesting sorcery?”
This indeed was a good idea; with[Silent Moonlight], at least three witches could safely leave the Valley of Dead Silence.
“I don’t mind sharing the power, but this Arcane Technique was a gift from the Great One, I don’t know how one could learn it.”
He explained further, and at this moment, footsteps were heard again; the young witch with red hair had actually returned, struggling to roll up the sleeves of her thin white shirt, carrying a heavy stone shrine with both hands.
Her physical strength was absolutely terrifying.
The three temporarily ceased their discussion about the Arcane Technique, helping Fiona, the witch with Red Dragon Bloodline, place the heavy shrine on top of Miss Becky Samuel’s pile of books—the shrine could not be placed directly on the ground, a very traditional rule.
The stone shrine looked particularly unadorned, with no decorative patterns on its surface, only some peeled-off colorful traces on the two small doors. These doors were closed at the time, bearing symbols representing books. The shrine’s surface was covered with a thick layer of dust, appearing untouched for a long time.
Shard quietly apologized for the impolite behavior of the four of them, then reached out to pull open the doors of the shrine. There was no special Holy Light effect; they only saw inside the empty shrine a spider’s corpse which seemed to have died of starvation at some unknown time. On closer inspection, they noticed a nondescript stone slab at the bottom of the shrine. The material of the slab was ordinary, but it was decorated at the four corners with reflective metallic materials, each corner featuring designs of a new moon, a first quarter moon, a full moon, and a last quarter moon.
“Outlander, you have felt the miracle.”
“The library and the moon… wait, why are there no Holy Emblems and Divine Statues?”
Shard asked with some suspicion, the other three were also unclear.
No one dared to directly reach in, instead they used the light of the campfire to barely make out the content on the stone slab.
The decorative patterns around the edges of the slab made it resemble the hardcover of a book. The surface, however, was covered in ancient text that only Shard could understand.
“Is this Second Era script?”
The witch from Zaras Academy exclaimed in surprise:
“Is it that old?”
“No problem, I can understand it, it seems to be a short poem…”
He whispered in translation:
“Knowledge passes on power,
Books carry civilization.
When the fire of civilization is extinguished,
The libraries of bygone days will also fall silent.
There will come a day,
When the Book of the Past, the Book of the Present, and the Book of the Future appear,
The Old Sage with a staff will come from the sky,
To reclaim the knowledge that does not belong to mortals.
This is,
The termination by Gadis.”
“And then?”
Miss Orland asked.
“There’s no ‘and then,’ unless there’s more text on the back.”
Shard replied:
“It seems… like a ritual, requiring us to offer the Book of the Past, the Book of the Present, and the Book of the Future.”
“Is it that simple?”
The young witch with red hair whispered behind her teacher, as if afraid to disturb the shrine:
“Although the Book of the Future is hard to comprehend, would a God Summoning Ritual be this simple? Not even needing a Ritual Circle.”
“Perhaps, that deity has been waiting for us already.”
The witch from Zaras reminded, Miss Orland furrowed her brows and pondered, but Shard had already understood her point:
“Let’s try this ritual.”
“Alright, let’s try this ritual.”
Miss Becky Samuel nodded, adjusted her glasses, and casually picked up an old book from nearby:
“Most of these were found in this library, they could be called the Books of the Past.”
“Then this one will serve as the Book of the Present; it’s a new book written by my teacher, meant for me to read on this adventure.”
Miss Orland had her student take another book from the backpack, the title was ‘Mana’s Adventure Stories Volume Three’. Twenty-two years ago in the present timeline, and two months ago in Shard’s timeline, he had seen Volume One in the Forest of Thousand Trees.
“Then, let’s use this as the Book of the Future; I often carry books on my adventures, and read them when I have time.”
Shard said as he unbuttoned his bulky coat, layer by layer down to that black jacket. After unbuttoning, he pulled aside the side of his jacket and then pulled out a bunch of small toys from the inner pocket.
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“Sir, is your profession a toy merchant?”
The witch from Zaras asked with a smile, then saw Shard cover the toys with a handkerchief, and the toys transformed into a real book:
“Such an interesting power again.”
The book Shard took out was his first-year textbook ‘Introduction to Astronomy’, which despite having passed the first-year exams, still contained useful information.
“But a Book of the Future? I think I understand…”
Miss Becky Samuel raised her eyebrows, handing her own old book to Shard. Then, Miss Orland also handed her book to Shard, even though he was the weakest of the three.
The witches moved back a few steps in unison, standing on the other side of the campfire watching Shard. Shard turned to look at them, and Miss Orland gave him a smile, seemingly encouraging Shard to be bold:
“Shard, it’s up to you this time.”
“Can such a simple ritual really work… The ritual of the Evil God ‘Lord of the Blood Feast’ was so complex, and the ‘Blazar Gate’ ritual of the Old God almost caused Miss Feliana to make a mistake… Could it be similar to the God of Gambling, just a simple projection?”
Thinking this, Shard placed the three books inside the shrine. He leaped back abruptly to avoid any accidents, but nothing happened. Thinking it over, he then closed the doors of the shrine and waited a while, but still, nothing happened.
“It seems ineffective.”
He hesitantly turned to tell the witches, but found that they had moved back even further, sticking together in fright, almost standing on the edge of the campfire light.
“You, you, behind you…”
The witch from Zaras pointed frantically behind Shard, the redhead girl had lowered her head, while Miss Orland covered her mouth with one hand and gestured for Shard to look at his own hands.
