Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

"Outlander, you have returned to the present time."

A gentle voice reached his ears, and emerging from the white mist, Shard found himself back in his warm and comfortable home.

The cat, reverting from a toy, merely shook its body vigorously to dry its slightly damp fur, and then eagerly went to the table in anticipation of breakfast.

But Shard didn’t possess the cat’s peculiar ability. Fortunately, he had previously mentioned the troubles he would encounter in the past, so the maids had already prepared a change of clothes for him.

Once Shard had tidied up and emerged from the washroom, the Red-Haired Duchess also stepped out of the bedroom. Mia’s long-awaited breakfast finally began, and while Miss Galina lazily ate breakfast, she listened to Shard recount the events that had just occurred.

The Twelfth Rank Grand Witch was quite knowledgeable, and since Shard inevitably inserted many of his subjective assumptions while narrating the story, she understood what Shard had speculated:

"This is really interesting. If that’s the case, wouldn’t Miss Eles be... How are you going to verify it?"

"No need to verify; let her remember by herself. She’s not simply amnesiac; what she describes sounds like the content of a romantic novel. To me, it’s more like a metaphor, similar to when Chloe mistakenly thought that the group of 13 was climbing the Snow Mountains in the Silver Mountains."

Shard was quite optimistic about this:

"Of course, to prevent my conjecture from being wrong and to investigate the true reason for the sinking of the Radiant Messenger, I still need to talk with Miss Eles thoroughly."

"So, are you planning to spend more time in Moon Bay lately?"

The Red-Haired Witch sipped her teacup while looking at him:

"Speaking of which, I haven’t asked you yet, how is your relationship with Bella? Has there been anything interesting happening in the past half week? She hasn’t mentioned you in the Council with Vanessa lately."

"Recently..."

Memories of the midnight hill, the treatment by the creek, smooth shoulders, and the bite marks on the neck surged up together. Seeing Shard lost in his thoughts, the Duchess smiled contentedly:

"Looks like there’s been progress. Now I can be at ease."

"Have you misunderstood something?"

"My understanding is that you successfully made the Countess of Moon Bay have a fondness for you, isn’t that right?"

She blinked as she said this, and seeing Shard’s expression of not knowing how to refute, she laughed even more joyfully.

After breakfast, Miss Galina left with the maids, giving Shard a passionate farewell kiss as a thank you for last night’s hospitality.

But Shard didn’t rush to head to Moon Bay. Instead, at 8:30 in the morning, he performed a projection ritual to reach the Library of Saint Byrons.

He had sent a letter requesting a meeting with Miss Danester the night before upon returning home, and the librarian’s reply came quickly. That morning, under the giant astrolabe above the library, he met her. As usual, she sat on the sofa in the open area, with the coffee table in front of her neatly arranged with trays of snacks and tea sets this time, rather than piled with files and books.

"Have you run into any trouble again this time?"

After the two Elf Girls who helped prepare the ritual left, Miss Danester put down her teacup to ask, even joking:

"Surely it’s not that girl from the Moon Creek Clan causing trouble within half a week’s time in Tobesk?"

"No, no, it’s not about Emilia."

Shard quickly shook his head, adhering to the agreement not to mention the Cursed Letter:

"I’ve been active along the West Coast in Moon Bay City recently and bumped into people from the Dragon Feast Cult and the Light Worshipper Training Association. The latter used a peculiar glimmer that can melt almost anything, and I wanted to ask you to investigate."

He described the strange glimmer and mentioned the most crucial fact:

"I suspect ’Light’s Chosen One’ might appear in the Moon Bay Region; there are more and more signs pointing to this."

"Oh? Light, Dragons, Justice..."

The Red-Haired Female Sorcerer seemed thoughtful:

"This information is quite valuable, and the Academy can also prepare in advance."

She had no doubt about the correctness of this intelligence:

"As for that glimmer, I’ll begin investigating it. Saint Byrons doesn’t interact much with the Light Worshipper Training Association, and I don’t know much about the Thirteen Rings’ Light Chaser. In any case, be careful in your actions locally."

Shard nodded, then spoke of the second matter:

"I’ve recently come across a High Ring Sorcery, and I wanted to ask for your help."

The Red-Haired Sorceress showed an increasingly interested expression:

"What type of Arcane Technique? I thought any Arcane Technique wouldn’t be a problem for you."

"Please don’t say that... It’s not a Moonlight Series Incantation; it’s a time-based Arcane Technique."

Shard didn’t want to reveal too much about Miss Adel Isabella’s matters, and even more so didn’t want to disclose the secret of her Arcane Technique without permission, so he tried to describe it simply:

"This Arcane Technique comes from a High Ring Sorcerer. It’s a top-tier time-based Incantation they created after mastering their own abilities. For some reason, this kind-hearted High Ring Sorcerer taught me this Arcane Technique. I successfully conducted the ritual but couldn’t successfully use it."

Miss Danester continued smiling and asked:

"Another female sorcerer?"

"Hmm... yes."

"I am actually not proficient in time-based power, but seeing how you look, I know you don’t want too many people to know about this. Okay, let me give you some advice, but at least tell me, what is the effect of the Arcane Technique."

Shard summarized:

"Reverse attack."

"The power of time returning an attack, that is indeed a remarkable Arcane Technique. I really don’t know where you meet so many High Ring Female Sorceresses."

She looked up at the huge astrolabe above her, watching the silver-blue glimmer dissipate within:

"Those Arcane Techniques that only the inventors themselves could master, from ancient times to the present, are not uncommon. Those extraordinary abilities tailored exclusively for oneself, or techniques mastered due to unrepeatable luck, indeed suit only their creators. But every Incantation invented inherently holds reference value for others. Even if you can’t learn it, you can still gain your own power from it."

This perspective Long-Haired Luvia had also discussed in dreams.

"So what advice would you give me?"

Miss Danester smiled and pointed to the plate of cookies on the table, one of which was a cream sandwich cookie that "whooshed" towards Shard, who instinctively raised his hand to catch it.

Because he was in a projection state and couldn’t eat, he didn’t taste it either, and Miss Danester asked:

"Why catch it instead of deflecting it?"

"Because it’s a cookie, not an attack... You mean, if you can’t fully master this Arcane Technique all at once, start with some of its characteristics?"

Shard understood immediately, the reversal of time he could already achieve, experiencing the return of the stars by observing the starry sky was also possible, and experiencing the feel of a reflected attack was even simpler. He needed to approach these aspects separately rather than attempting a full-scale imitation each time. Even if he still couldn’t completely learn it, at least he could grasp part of the Arcane Technique’s power:

"Wait, the technique taught to me by the Deity in the Sea of Darkness using the fishing rod to leverage with power, wasn’t that also a hint for me?"

Miss Danester naturally didn’t know what he was thinking, she nodded with satisfaction:

"You really understand."

She waved her hand, a streak of red moonlight flew out; this time Shard didn’t try to catch it but raised his hands and spun them in front of him. The moonlight wasn’t strong, almost equivalent to a simple Light Spell. Combining the experience of last time’s failed spellcasting and the fishing techniques learned from the Sea of Darkness, Shard finally managed to rotate half of the red moonlight in the faint starlight glimmer, offsetting it with the other half.

Light particles scattered before him, although this attack couldn’t even be considered an attack, but as Shard’s feet were off the ground in his projection state, he couldn’t exert full power. Thus, this attempt was very successful, Shard looked at his hands in amazement, Miss Danester had really given him directions with just a few words.

"This Arcane Technique is quite unusual, I can’t think of its complete form for now, but I look forward to seeing you demonstrate your new abilities someday."

The Red-Haired Sorceress said with a smile, Shard quickly expressed his gratitude but didn’t linger, exchanged a few more words with Miss Danester then ended the projection. When his vision returned home, he stood up from the chair and picked up the cat lying on his lap:

"If the reversal of pure energy feels like this, then what if it’s a physical attack..."

He pondered for a moment, walked into the dining room, and put the cat on the table:

"Come, pounce at me."

Although Mia might not understand human language, it at least understood Shard’s beckoning gesture. The cat eagerly took a few running steps and then suddenly pounced at Shard. Originally intending to "deflect" the cat, Shard instead stretched out his hands and caught it, scratched the cat’s chin, realizing that using the cat to practice Arcane Techniques was indeed impossible.

Today was Friday, there were three matters to attend to. The most important being the card game in the evening at the Senator’s Club in Moon Bay City; he promised Miss Belindel he wouldn’t be late. Of course, he couldn’t forget about the afternoon meeting with the porter and his son at the docks, who had clues related to "Eternal Light," and the boy was involved in Miss Eles’s task.

But before that, as there was still time in the morning, Shard continued to visit the coroner Mr. Ptolemy Albert’s kin. He had given three addresses, and until now Shard had only met one.

However, on this Friday morning outing, two unexpected things happened: First, Shard successfully brought the cat to Moon Bay, occasionally taking it for a stroll outside at his insistence; the second was that in Moon Bay City, during Thunder Moon, thin snow began falling under the overcast sky of the morning:

"Thunder Moon is July, and in July, it’s actually snowing..."