Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 1537: The Red Butterfly’s Magic Potion
Among all the female sorcerers Shard knew, besides Miss Danester herself, Sister Delphine and the nuns of the Spiritual Practice Order were most adept at arcane techniques that required deep meditation. Recently, the nuns even taught Shard a meditation method unique to the Spiritual Practice Order, but unfortunately, during that time, Shard was busy participating in the final story of the Randall Valley and was thus negligent in his practice.
After listening to Shard’s request for help, Sister Delphine expressed that they could assist him. However, the study of the "Dream of the Moon" was best done at night, and since it was currently morning, the order needed some time to prepare in advance.
Since he was already there, Shard was in no hurry to leave. Earlier, he had sent a message to the Cassandra Auction House in Midshire Fort, telling the Old Witch and Helen, Grace that he would visit them in the afternoon, so he was free to spend the morning at his leisure.
This ritual site at the mountain summit had many interesting places. Shard initially planned to spend the morning in the library of the ritual site, but after conversing with Sister Delphine, he decided to practice his swordsmanship with the Fire Holding Nun instead.
Of course, he did not bring the Night Watchman with him, but there were many cold weapons in the ritual site, such as single-handed longswords, two-handed greatswords, and armor, which could be treated as antiques.
Sister Delphine also did not use her Ashes but practiced with Shard using ordinary weapons.
The practice took place at the deepest part of the ritual site, in the circular area used for storing the Fire of the Primordial. Even though Shard had learned superior swordsmanship from the Night Watchman’s inheritance and dared to call himself a Swordmaster, he keenly felt the gap when battling opponents like Sister Delphine, who were equally skilled in cold weapons.
After all, he had only been fighting with a sword for less than half a year.
Sister Delphine was skilled not only with the one-handed sword but also had insights into scythe use. Before becoming The Chosen One and obtaining the scythe symbolizing Death, her commonly used scythe was the spiritual weapon "Ice Scythe," summoned by arcane techniques.
In the latter half of their sparring, when Shard used the Moonlight Greatsword, Sister Delphine wielded a sword in one hand and a scythe in the other, maneuvering on the ground as if sliding, effectively countering Shard’s attacks.
She remained silent throughout, her fierce attacks overwhelming Shard. He could clearly feel that the nun was intentionally holding back. After all, in terms of skill and Ring Mage Level, Shard was the weaker one, yet after sparring all morning, he felt as though he was always just a step away from winning.
In any case, the exhilarating battle made Shard feel quite good after recovering from a serious illness. He could feel the delight of his soul from the sparks created by the collision of swords, and when the nun’s longsword blocked and deflected his attacks, he could sense stronger power being instilled into his body from the force on his wrist.
Using this method to go through the recovery period after a serious illness was most suitable for the Outlander. When Shard finally used the greatsword to block the nun’s scythe and took advantage of the momentum to knock her away with his body, the morning practice finally concluded:
"Oh, this was excellent. Sister Delphine, can I come and practice with you again when there’s time?"
Sister Delphine retreated a few steps away from Shard, the intense battle leaving no trace of sweat on her, as if all the light and heat of her body and soul had long been absorbed by the Fire of the Primordial:
"You can."
She said with her head lowered, the scythe in her hand transforming into icy blue light and disappearing, its shimmering glow illuminating her fair face.
Sister Delphine had some matters to attend to, so she didn’t return to Midshire Fort with Shard at noon, thus her absence was noticeable at the lunch table of the Cassandra Auction House.
The Old Witch of the auction house, Miss Rita Swift, and the Red Butterfly Twins all knew about Shard’s illness. At the lunch table, they specifically inquired about Shard’s current condition. The illness came quickly and went away just as fast, such that even Granny Cassandra, who had seen much, couldn’t quite determine what had happened to Shard.
However, the more knowledgeable Grace and Helen seemed to know something. After lunch, when the Old Witch took her apprentice to handle the auction house’s trivial matters, leaving Shard with them, the fifteen- or sixteen-year-old girls sat side by side on the sofa, looking as if they wanted to say something but hesitated.
"I didn’t ask anything unusual just now, did I?"
Shard blinked while holding the teacup:
"I just wanted to know what kind of magic potion you gave me, the one that tasted sour and sweet but also somewhat like Blood Brew... Oh, I get it, there are some things you can’t tell me yet, right?"
"No, sir, it’s not like that."
Grace in a white dress supported herself with both hands on the sofa, her legs wrapped in white stockings swinging back and forth. She looked at her sister and seeing that she remained silent, spoke shyly:
"Actually, the raw materials were extracted from our bodies. After participating in the Feast of the Earth Mother Goddess, the power of our relics was further suppressed, while the blessing power once granted by the Deity, cleansed by the Power of the Earth, fully belongs to us. So..."
"Twenty drops of our blood."
Helen in a black dress said softly, while Shard frowned, Grace carefully observing his expression continued:
"A small cup of specially procured... sweat."
"Mixed with the early spring dew collected from the tender leaves of that great tree at the Sicarl Mountain Summit, added with amethyst powder, Holy Water No. 3, a small amount of grapes, as well as daisy, grass, leaves, olive, and butterfly wings."
Helen spoke slowly, as if reciting poetry.
"Stewed overnight in a dark room, and before dawn, an innocent maiden bares herself, holding the cup, exposing the potion to the first ray of sunshine."
Grace said, her young lips slightly parted, speaking the final step:
"We undress, stand back to back, and the witch braids our hair together. The long hair forms a sieve to filter the residues of the magic potion. The raw potion still needs the final brewing. I hope you don’t mind the brewing process... Umm... Have you heard, in ancient times, female priests..."
Grace hesitated to continue, but after a pause, she finished the last process:
"In ancient times, female priests used their mouths to chew and ferment fine wines as rewards for devout heroes."
"Hmm..."
Shard felt that he shouldn’t keep asking what they had done:
"It actually tastes pretty good."
He could only say this, trying his best to forget the brewing method of this special magic potion.
Helen tilted her head shyly against her sister’s shoulder, while Grace, although also bashful, still smiled with pressed lips:
"Sir, if you would like to taste it again, we can provide you with some every month."
The girls, around fifteen or sixteen years old, had rather beautiful eyes, but Shard dared not meet her gaze:
"No, no, I’m good for now."
He decided to steer away from this dangerous topic:
"Speaking of which, do you know what happened to me? I know my illness is related to the ’twisted filth of the Earth Origin,’ but why the persistent high fever?"
Grace gently combed Helen’s long hair as she lay on her shoulder:
"Although the memories of the past are lost and blurred due to power being sealed, it’s not impossible to find answers. Sir, remember some time ago, we brought a relic to determine your bloodline."
"Yes, I’m human, and Mia has some ’Son of the Sun’ bloodline."
Shard nodded:
"So..." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶
"Relics, though magical, are not omnipotent."
As the Red Butterfly Twins, they had more authority to speak on such matters:
"We suspect the relic’s bloodline determination for you was inaccurate, or partially inaccurate."
"Do I really have an exotic bloodline?"
Shard suddenly snapped out of his post-lunch drowsiness.
"It’s uncertain, after all, we’ve never heard of an exotic species that could directly absorb such a level of twisted filth... Sir, may we taste your blood now?"
Grace made the request, and Shard naturally agreed. He intended to cut open his finger with a knife, but the Red Butterfly girls stood up, took one of his hands each, and bit into his thumbs.
He didn’t feel much pain, and after sucking Shard’s blood, they looked at each other as if to confirm the answer:
"We don’t have the ability to identify bloodline ourselves, otherwise, we wouldn’t have needed to find a relic for you earlier. But when the Vampire God coveted our soul of flesh, He did grant us part of His power. Hence, regarding blood... Sister, you tell him."
Helen and Grace sat back in their places, and the girl in the white dress licked her lips as if savoring something:
"You are definitely not a pure human. There is a very strange power in your blood, very faint, almost undetectable. If it weren’t us, and your blood wasn’t voluntarily offered to us, no method would be able to sense it. That unique feeling, hmm... like a stone."
"And very cold."
"Very supple."
"Feminine power."
"It contains the color of the starry sky."
"Older than us."
They were confirming their answers with each other, but still couldn’t conclude what issue existed with Shard’s bloodline:
"It’s okay, this is my first confirmation that there is something wrong with this body of mine, you’ve already been a great help."
Combined with the fact that this body had fallen from the top of the High Tower in the spring of 1853, the past story seemed to be getting more and more complicated.
Shard then mentioned the Keeper of Secrets Level Relic flower seller he encountered in the Randall Valley sewers with Iluna. The little girl with the flower basket also took his blood in exchange for releasing the girls she had "kidnapped" to help plant flowers, implying she knew the value of Shard’s blood too.
"That flower-selling girl."
As fellow humanoid relics, Helen and Grace naturally knew of her.
