Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 1421: Chips and Potions

In any case, at least for now, no one can see any trace of the Guardians, so it’s impossible to determine their current situation.

And after meeting Sister Delphine that night, Shard finally received the documents sent by Miss Danester at the Abundant Land Inn. These documents contained some rumors and uncertain history about the early days of Saint Byrons’ establishment.

Shard took the documents home to review them, arranging the handwritten and photocopied materials one by one under the gas lamp on his desk.

In fact, although the materials were thick, there were actually only three parts in total.

The two handwritten parts were only discovered in recent years by Principal Pigman. They consisted of part of the notes left by a Witch Principal from a previous era, as well as some content hand-copied from the principal’s memos. The photographed part was a segment of a large stele with no noted source from Miss Danester.

The three documents mutually indicated that the current location of the Academy indeed originated from the territory of a God of Bygone Days in the Fifth Era. As for the trade conditions proposed by Miss Mana Feliana, the three documents provided completely different answers.

The notes of the unknown Witch Principal indicated that the original founders used an interesting story to win the favor of the God of Night, thereby obtaining the land;

The ancient principal’s memo recorded that the real leverage offered by the founders came from a First Era Ancient God, a treasure that even the Deities of Bygone Days couldn’t refuse;

As for the stele, it recorded that the founders did not offer leverage but released an astonishing Ancient Evil Beast, forcing the God of Night to relinquish a small part of the territory.

Of course, Shard thought that among "an interesting story," "First Era treasure," and "Ancient Evil Beast," the last possibility was the lowest. Having been in this world for almost a year, he naturally understood what deities truly represented, so he didn’t believe the God of Night, the Veil of Eternal Night, would be scared by any Ancient Evil Beast.

Moreover, Miss Feliana and Miss Orland did not seem like people who would release an Ancient Evil Beast.

"So, what Fiona forgot is most likely the First Era treasure. An interesting story sounds more like my proposed leverage."

Shard speculated.

Since the decisive battle in Randall Valley was likely to happen this week, Shard didn’t use the Time Key of 3028 for the last time on Monday, to save those precious 40 minutes of rest. However, he did remember to open the God’s Gift Box, to receive this week’s gift.

Last week’s gift was an ivory comb, and this week it turned out to be a very beautiful white porcelain teacup, with a pattern of various colored cats playing on it. Although it was an ordinary item, Shard liked the teacup very much and planned to keep it for personal use. This week’s task was to learn how to brew black tea and serve it to someone older than himself.

This was quite easy, as there were few people around Shard younger than the body he was in.

Since it was already the third day of the Month of Rising Wind, Shard didn’t rush to Randall Valley but used the morning to attend to his private matters at the beginning of the month.

After having lunch and returning home with Mia in the afternoon, he then headed to the city in the Southern Nation. Upon stepping out of the Church of the Forgotten, he found the city atmosphere to be even more tense than in the previous days. Upon reaching the Wilder Opera House, he learned from Miss Lathis that a minor earthquake had occurred in the east of the city early in the morning.

Although the direct impact of the earthquake was just some cracked walls of a few buildings, a fire broke out after the quake, spreading from residential areas in all directions, and it wasn’t completely put out until this morning.

"Look over there."

Miss Lathis stood by the window, pointing towards the east of the city:

"See the smoke over there?"

The city was already foggy, so Shard had difficulty seeing the black smoke rising in the distance:

"I thought that was smoke coming from the chimneys of the east city steam factory."

"That’s the smoke and dust from the fire, which has caused at least a hundred deaths..."

The blonde young lady looked out the window. Among everyone, only she was truly a Randall Valley native, and only her hometown was truly here.

Miss Aphrola and Miss Benanis were out of the city investigating the situation outside, and Miss Sylvia was with Miss Galina at Miss Benanis’ estate. So after leaving the Wilder Opera House, Shard headed to the estate.

Upon entering the grand entrance, he saw Tifa and the apprentice of the Old Witch, the pretty, flaxen-haired Miss Rita Swift, cheerfully leading a team of maids, carrying teacups and pushing a dining cart, heading towards the right corner of the corridor.

Seeing Shard’s arrival, the black-haired Miss Maid greeted him warmly, while Miss Swift seemed a bit reserved, unlike the bold girl who had kissed Shard during the Year-End Festival last year.

Miss Sylvia and Miss Galina were in the basement, and the maids were preparing to deliver afternoon tea and snacks to them.

Shard found the two Grand Witches in the basement’s potion workshop, where they were discussing a bottle of yellow-brown liquid.

"Those fallen Earth Elemental Giants are quite troublesome. Miss Swift brought Granny Cassandra’s magic potion recipe ’Mud Potion,’ which can turn solid rock into mud, similar to the downgraded effect of the sorcery ’Fossil to Mud.’ However, if you’re willing to spend money, and add some expensive catalysts and enhancers, it can achieve an effect not inferior to that of sorcery."

The Duchess of the Northern Country said, dressed today in a black long skirt with boots, and a black leather coat over a white blouse, with the coat left unbuttoned. This was the first time Shard had seen such an outfit, likely because here there was no "Duchess," only "Grand Witches."

"We tried mixing a magic potion, but its color isn’t quite like Granny Cassandra described."

Miss Sylvia said somewhat troubled and then handed the potion to Miss Swift for her to check:

"Granny’s potion brewing technique is quite strong. We have so much to learn."

And Miss Swift had already uncorked the bottle to sniff the aroma inside:

"The scent is fine. If it’s just the color that’s different, I don’t think it should affect the effectiveness much."

"Why not give it a try?"

Thus, Miss Galina suggested, and Shard was a bit surprised:

"Give it a try? Go out of the city now to find a monster?"

"No, no, we already have one."

Miss Sylvia said with a smile:

"To properly research local monsters, Benanis went out of the city last night and caught one to put in the basement."

Saying this, the group left the Potion Workshop and headed deeper into the basement.

On Saturday night, at the location where Miss Sylvia opened the portal, there was now a gigantic solid ice block. The surface of the ice was engraved with ancient golden sealing runes, and inside the ice was a monster quite familiar to Shard.

Miss Galina waved to Tifa, and the black-haired maid led the other maids to release flames, melting the symbols on the surface of the ice.

Once the seal was almost destroyed, the maids retreated to Shard’s side. Miss Galina glanced at Shard again, and Shard casually swung his hand forward:

"Moonlight Slash."

The silver moonlight cleaved a deep crevice in the ice, and a clear cracking sound came from within. As the crack widened, finally, in the midst of a roar, the ice shattered, and the Fallen Earth Elemental Giant gained its freedom.

Unfortunately, this freedom lasted only a second:

"Web Spell."

Miss Sylvia’s languid voice came. Although the Web Spell was one of the basic sorcery spells, when she cast it, it didn’t produce the usual effect of shooting white cobwebs as thick as cables.

Shard keenly detected the spatial anomaly, and then three almost entirely transparent, human-head-sized eight-legged spiders appeared from the void. Almost instantly, they wove a large transparent web connected through the space, trapping the Earth Elemental Giant within.

Due to the power of space, the effect of Miss Sylvia’s "Web Spell" was more remarkable. The trapped monster’s head could still move slightly, but the rest of its body stood completely still like a specimen.

"Enlightenment - [Weaving] Spirit Rune’s effect."

The young Grand Witch responded modestly to Shard’s query, while Miss Galina reminded from the side:

"Shard didn’t even ask out loud."

Saying this, she gestured for Miss Swift to step forward. So the girl with flaxen hair approached with the potion bottle and then threw it at the chest of the elemental giant.

The bottle shattered upon collision with the creature’s body, and the liquid splattered, adhering to the stone surface. As the potion faintly glowed, sounds of corrosion hissed, and white smoke appeared. The monster’s chest began to collapse inward at a visible rate, and after half a minute, as the damage exceeded the threshold, the fallen elemental giant, under the onlookers’ gaze, crumbled into a pile of black rubble with a sound akin to a sigh.

"So this is Fundamental Rock? This is my first time seeing it."

Miss Sylvia curiously picked up the stones, while Miss Galina discussed the potion’s effects with Miss Swift. As for Tifa, she and the other maids cleaned up the shattered ice and stones to prevent complaints from the manor’s owner.

"For ordinary elemental giants, this potion is sufficient. This time, the Speaker allocated us extra funding for the operation, so we don’t need to worry about expenses. We can even sell a batch to the True God Church; they would be very eager to purchase it."

Miss Galina seemed in a very good mood and, seeing Miss Sylvia approaching with the selected stones, asked her:

"You arrived a little earlier than I did. Do you know how the relationship between Shard and Benanis has progressed?"