Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Chapter 267 Toy Making

Of course, although the relics in the ruins couldn't be taken, there were still other spoils of war to be found.

Besides the Keeper of Secrets Level Demon Eye "Greedy Silver", the Silver-Eyed One also had a relic on him. It was a blood-stained pair of iron scissors, likely a collectible item for synthesizing the "Blood of Mercury". Actually, there should have been more relics around him, but the three could not find any despite their efforts, eventually guessing that they had been absorbed by that burnt-to-ashes tree.

On the mutilated body of the vampire, they found two relics. One of them was very familiar, the "Puppeteer's Script", totaling five pages, the first two smudged black, leaving three pages unused. The other was a sharp fang, embedded directly in the vampire's mouth. If it weren't for the hints from the woman in his heart, Shard might have missed it.

The four relics from the Silver-Eyed One and the vampire, along with the "God's Gift Box" and the mercury vial from the underground storage, summed up to a total of six relics collected from this adventure.

Apart from the relics, Shard himself had advanced to the Second Ring, gaining the Whisper Rune - [Toy Manufacturer], two Arcane Techniques [Toy Manufacturing] and [Moonlight Greatsword], and a drop of Divinity, making this outing truly significant.

Being in the company of The Chosen One, whose life is entangled with fate, was undoubtedly very dangerous, but the rewards surpassed the usual, with Shard never having had such abundant gains from a single adventure before.

This time, having well prepared and braving great risks to oppose a High Ring Sorcerer, the rewards they got were sufficiently satisfying.

Beyond these, the Silver-Eyed One and the vampire also had notebooks and letters on them, which also constituted part of the spoils for Shard and his companions, giving no reason to leave them to the Order. However, the current environment was too dangerous, so they decided to wait until they were back on the surface to assess the relics and letters.

"But how are you going to carry these two bodies away?"

Miss Annette was divining whether there would still be great dangers when leaving, while Miss Beyas pointed at the two mutilated bodies on the ground. The body of the Silver-Eyed One was something Shard had already promised to Miss Galina, and since the vampire was a member of the Blood Spirit School and although the body was severely damaged, the witches might have necromancy means, so he planned to take it as well:

"You're not planning to carry them on your back, are you?"

The young Female Sorcerer displayed an expression of disgust.

"Of course not, I find them repulsive too. Look, I've just learned a new Arcane Technique [Toy Making]."

Saying this, Shard squatted down to manipulate the bodies, trying to group them as much as possible. He then took off his own coat, which had accompanied him on this journey and was now ragged but perfectly suitable as spellcasting materials.

He shook the coat in his hands a couple of times, then suddenly tossed it upwards. It unfolded in the air and upon landing, completely covered the body of the Silver-Eyed One.

Shard picked up the coat, and underneath there was no longer a body but instead a doll resembling the Silver-Eyed One, curled up and in a very bad pose:

"Look."

He picked up the doll, and Iluna looked at it curiously:

"You can turn dead things into dolls?"

"Not just dead things, living things too, but they must trust me completely. Besides dolls, it can also be turned into puppets or clay figures, but only into toys. Depending on their actual size, there is a limit to how small they can become. For example, this corpse could only shrink to the size of two fingers. As for the level of trust of living things... I need to experiment to find out."

Saying this, he used his coat again, covering the disgusting remains of the vampire, turning it into a doll as well, and continued explaining:

"But this arcane technique is ineffective on any relic and works poorly on spellcasting materials; otherwise, it would be too convenient,"

Shard lamented as he looked at the scattered mess of spellcasting materials next to the vampire puppet:

"However, it can be used to identify relics. Just throw a large canvas randomly, and anything that doesn't turn into a toy definitely has a problem."

With a map in hand, Shard easily led the two girls to a hidden chamber that held eighteen gold plates and religious scriptures. There were other items, such as notes from past Circle Sorcerers of the Order and the history of the Order. Each of them picked a few books to take away, and Shard took all the documents related to God's Gift Box.

Experience tales with My Virtual Library Empire

Entering the ruins was nerve-wracking, but leaving was much easier. The maze candles were destroyed, so there was no need to navigate the maze again; the repaired mirror had no effect on the Second Ring Shard this time, and he kicked it over; the Giant Divine Soldiers known as gargoyles were still in hibernation, so there was no need to sacrifice eyes a second time.

The trio was in good spirits along the way, and when they lit the Bodor Candle, which had only one minute of use left, and crawled out of the tunnel excavated from the Blood of Mercury, they saw the warehouse was still in its usual state, and no one had noticed anything amiss, their spirits rose even more.

They took away the Mercury vial and burned the last piece of the candle, then left the printing press.

The city's night breeze dispersed the earthiness and stuffiness from their bodies. The moonlight and thin fog felt exceptionally welcoming to them after being underground for several hours.

They did not stop but continued forward until they were far away from the district where the printing plant was located, then they confirmed the adventure was truly over.

Standing in the alley, the shadow engulfed the three of them, but with the moonlight up close, they could all see each other's faces:

"Thank you for everything you did for me tonight."

Miss Beyas said, embracing the two of them. She instinctively reached for her eye patch on her left eye:

"I'm going to the party to find the captain and inform him that there are still a second and third Divine Descent Vessel. Hold on to what we've gathered tonight, and we'll split it at Shard's house tomorrow night."

"No problem,"

Shard and Miss Annette said, and since their identities weren't suitable, they didn't go with her to the manor where the charity dinner was being held. Moreover, the Church already had control of the situation, and even if there were extra Divine Descent Vessels, as long as the banquet was interrupted, there would be no "Blood Feast," a crucial ritual condition, and divinity would still be impossible.

But they couldn't relax their vigilance yet, so Iluna Beath hurried to get there as soon as possible.

"Then see you tomorrow night, Miss Annette, see you tomorrow night, Shard."

She said softly, then tiptoed and very naturally kissed Shard on the cheek.

Blushing, she stepped back a bit, looking into Shard's blurred face in the shadows with a gentle smile:

"I don't mean anything else by it."

Saying this, she quickly left along the alley.

Shard looked wistful; tonight was the second time he had been kissed. Miss Annette, standing beside him and now in a very good mood, laughed and patted him lightly, the female Diviner was feeling quite delighted:

"What are you thinking about? We should head back and rest," she said.

Although the angels healed everyone's wounds except for their left eyes, the weariness in their hearts still lingered:

"Okay, see you tomorrow night. But these six relics..."

He spoke with difficulty, unsure of the specific containment conditions for the relics, which were potentially more dangerous than a steam bomb.

"The 'God's Gift Box' is yours; take it with you. The two Demon Eyes, 'Greedy Silver,' which lack human host installation conditions, require periodic contact with silver dust; you hold onto them for now. As for the 'Puppeteer's Script,' keep that as well since you're the only one who has touched it,"

the female Diviner said, pausing to think:

"I will temporarily keep the remaining three relics whose names and uses are unknown. By helping Iluna Beath, you can consider that I've completed an important fate node, hence my divination abilities have also improved."

She pointed to her purple eyes:

"When I return, I'll do my best to divine the information about the other three items. It might not be that useful, but at least we can know their containment conditions."

"All right, but be sure to be careful,"

Shard said with some concern.

"You should be the one to be careful. I'm close to advancing to Four Rings, while you're only at Two Rings, yet holding so many dangerous items,"

in the darkness, those purple eyes watching Shard seemed to glow.

She suddenly moved closer to Shard, their faces just inches apart, and the woman asked quietly:

"Before we part, could you satisfy my curiosity and answer one question?"

"Please ask."

Shard was already prepared to be questioned about secrets; they had just seen the Maze Lock, and he knew they must understand that the recent Merman event was connected to him.

But Shard guessed wrong.

"Between my kiss and Iluna's, which did you prefer?"

Her light laughter reached his ears, but the purple eyes very close to him seemed intent on searing into Shard's heart. Gazing at the beautiful girl, smiling so merrily before him, Shard inexplicably felt his heart stop for a moment:

"Is that what you wanted to ask?"

he asked softly.

"Yes, you must answer,"

the girl with short brown hair said, her smile broad.

"Well..."

He thought for a moment, his cheeks flushing slightly, but then he spoke honestly:

"I can't really say; after all, both were too brief."

The girl with purple eyes smiled and shook her head, her shoulder-length hair swaying with the motion. She didn't bring up the topic again. Her eyes still smiling, her tone shifted slightly:

"Shard, would you join me in witnessing the remaining twelve Chosen Ones, just like this adventure?"

"Of course, I already said so underground."

His response was without hesitation. These adventures, though risky, were indeed necessary; after all, he was still lacking ten drops of Divinity. If every future encounter with the Chosen Ones could be as smooth as tonight, that would be great.

"From tonight onward, the fate of the three of us will truly be entwined. Let us hope we can keep going,"

Luviya Annette's smile was unexpectedly somber, and she said nothing more, only whispering goodnight to Shard before turning away to leave the alley.

Shard stood there, watching her figure disappear into the dense night fog before clutching the cold gift box and also stepping out of the alley.

"What exactly has Luviya Annette been through?"

he wondered.

[Everyone has their own story.]

"Indeed."

He thought again of the two ghosts in the cemetery:

"I, too, have my own story, as long as I have no regrets..."

Standing at the alley's mouth, he took a deep breath. The smell of burning waste filled his lungs, mingled with the warm feeling of a summer night:

"Anyway, this night is finally over."