Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 1650: Angel-Level Relic Derivatives
This traveling merchant mainly sells handmade polished ornaments and other shiny things in the countryside, all of which are packed in satchels and baskets. Shard certainly doesn’t expect to find any treasure among them; indeed, these items are quite ordinary.
With just a glance, he realized there was no elemental reaction, but during a simple search, when his finger touched a small, round metallic coin the size of a fingernail, he unexpectedly detected a slight elemental fluctuation:
"What is this?"
The coin was so small that he worried it might fall to the ground. Both sides were engraved with the number 1, and there were no other patterns.
Seeing Shard’s interest in it, the merchant found all the similar coins. There were a total of 8, all with similar weak elemental reactions, detectable only through direct contact.
The merchant himself didn’t remember where these were collected from, so he gave them all to Shard. Shard intended to take them back to Old John for a look, perhaps he really had stumbled upon some luck.
After bidding farewell to the enthusiastic traveling merchant, he contentedly carried the cards and those small coins, planning to return to the camp near Crossroad Village with Professor Boulanger and the others to find Captain Lades. However, upon returning to the west side of the tavern where they had just eaten, he found people gathered around without knowing when, seemingly watching a quarrel. Listening to the voices, it was clearly Professor Boulanger.
Shard hurriedly squeezed through the crowd and indeed saw the professor and three others confronting two men in short sleeves, who appeared to be dock sailors. The chaotic crowd had already clarified the cause of the incident. Two sailors accidentally spilled alcohol on the professor’s clothes, and when the professor demanded an apology, the sailors used insulting terms, calling the professor and the others "southerners."
"Professor."
Shard called out, leaving the crowd and approaching the professor’s side. Neither the professor nor the two students seemed adept at resolving such issues, so he nodded to Professor Boulanger, indicating for him to handle it, then spoke to the two sailors:
"Gentlemen, this is a place for dining; let’s handle this matter peacefully."
The sailors assessed Shard’s attire and physique, ensuring he didn’t look like a bodyguard or a boxer:
"As a Draleon person, how can you mingle with southerners?"
This statement gained considerable agreement from those around them.
"So what do you want?"
Shard asked again.
"You compensate us because you’ve wasted our time. Then get out of this tavern; you’re not welcome here. Otherwise, we can resolve this with our fists."
With that, the short sailor even clasped his fists and clapped twice, prompting the onlookers to cheer for a fight. The bartender, who had arrived to dissuade the sailors, was intercepted by the taller sailor.
The professor behind Shard looked somewhat troubled, but Shard was unfazed:
"That’s what you said." 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶
With that, he stepped forward; the sailors didn’t expect him to be so bold, but they were not afraid of Shard either.
Both rushed at Shard. One aimed a punch at Shard’s face, while the other kicked toward Shard’s stomach. Shard, who could now even see flying bullets, deftly turned his head to dodge the punch, then lifted his leg to kick away the leg aimed at him.
As the sailor clutching his leg screamed and fell to the ground, the other sailor tried to retract his missed punch but was caught by Shard. The sailor exerted all his strength to retrieve his fist but found Shard astonishingly strong.
"You’ve brought this upon yourself."
Shard sharply twisted the other’s fist, then released and lifted his foot, kicking the second sailor toward the wall. The process was crisp and efficient.
"Professor, let’s go."
He waved to Professor Boulanger and the three others, then headed toward the door. Having witnessed the scene, no one dared to stop them, and thus Shard left the tavern.
"Is this the second tavern brawl I’ve encountered in the Green Lake region?"
He thought to himself.
The first conflict occurred in Crossroad Village’s tavern, where southerners spoke disrespectfully to the tavern’s female owner. The second time was northerners speaking disrespectfully to southerners. Although they seemed like minor incidents, without the tense atmosphere and incited emotions from the negotiations, these might not have escalated into a fight.
"Mr. Watson, I think we might as well hire you directly."
Professor Boulanger, having come out from the tavern, caught up with Shard, and together they walked on the muddy path of the village, with the students following behind.
Shard shook his head:
"Professor, you can’t afford to hire me. Oh, I mean I have a bunch of trouble to deal with as well. But your judgment is correct; if you and your students plan to stay long at the north shore of Green Lake, hiring some bodyguards is very necessary."
The professor nodded in agreement:
"We can still travel in Draleon for now, but who knows about a few years in the future? Whatever happens will happen; instead of worrying about that, I’d rather think more about my own article."
He wasn’t frightened by the brawl but rather discouraged by other matters. Shard understood the professor’s mentality well; after all, as an outlander living in Draleon, he didn’t have a strong sense of belonging to Draleon, and his fondness for Draleon was more due to the ladies from the House of Cavendish.
Therefore, he could more objectively evaluate the negotiation and its repercussions than anyone else.
"There is no justice or evil, at least in my eyes, truly none."
After successfully finding Captain Lades with the professor and his group, Shard departed. Captain Lades was receptive to the professor’s plea for help; he didn’t have much bias against Carsonrickians, particularly those Carsonrickians willing to pay him.
As for Professor Boulanger’s assistance in investigating the name on the fountain pen, as soon as he had results, he’d directly send a letter to Green Lake Hotel. However, Shard harbored little hope for this investigation, still believing Rot-Eye Barry might surprise him tomorrow.
Since there would be a long-awaited group activity tonight, Shard soon used the Crystal Shoes to return home. After taking a small sip of Pink Essence to relax, seeing that it wasn’t too late, he embraced Mia, enjoying the pigeon-viewing from the windowsill during the afternoon nap.
Shard wondered if it was his imagination that Mia, after basking in the sun all afternoon, seemed warmer than usual, like holding a small furnace. He briefly thought the cat was feverish, but Mia’s temperature returned to normal shortly after leaving the sunlight. It was a very peculiar phenomenon.
He first took Mia to the Prophet’s Society, but this time it wasn’t to consult with Luviya for a divination; rather, he brought the newly acquired Star 13 card, "Dove of Peace - Kansas Mountain Meeting," for identification at the Society. Hearing that Luviya was busy, Shard decided not to go out of his way to meet her, knowing they would meet in the evening.
Next, he went to Old John’s pawnshop.
Ding-dong~
"Good afternoon, oh, Priest Augustus?"
As he pushed open the pawnshop door, he immediately noticed the old man in a priest’s robe at the counter, discussing something with Old John. Hearing Shard’s voice, Priest Augustus turned to look at him:
"Oh, good afternoon, Shard. Let’s leave together later; it’s getting late, and we can head to the train station together."
"Alright."
Priest Augustus was there to order a batch of special reagent bottles to store some high-temperature liquids. Once Augustus finished his business, Shard finally approached the counter with Mia in his arms. He placed the cat on the counter and laid out eight small fingernail-sized coins:
"Old Man John, could you help me take a look at these? They don’t look like ordinary items, but I couldn’t find anything unusual about them."
"Such small coins are rare. You should understand that currency was invented to be used, and its size relates to the user’s hand size. Such small coins might not be for human use."
He took out his tools to examine them while Shard chatted with Priest Augustus about matters concerning the church. The delegation from Carsonrick, sent for negotiation, was not only keen on participating in Tobesk’s noble social activities lately but also frequently contacted the Church of the Five Gods in the region.
The Priest hosted more than one "distinguished guest" and felt that they weren’t very devout:
"They all come with their own agendas, and I do not approve of using the church as a social venue."
Old John’s inspection took a full twenty minutes. After removing his retractable brass monocle, he wiped the sweat off his forehead with a nearby towel:
"I was wondering why it was so strange. Detective, you’ll likely be disappointed; these are not coins at all."
"What? But what else could round objects with numbers on both sides be, if not coins?"
Shard asked, somewhat surprised. The old man behind the counter glanced at the cat that Shard was petting and used an apt analogy:
"Your cat, like us, has two eyes, one nose, one mouth, and two ears, all made of flesh. But is your cat human? Detective, don’t let conventional thinking mislead you."
He stacked the eight small coins together:
"This is very rare; I’ve only heard of it."
He opened a thick book he had fetched from upstairs and turned it towards Shard:
"Here it is, though it looks different from the record, its function is the same. This is a relic derivative, and a derivative of an Angel-Level (Level 1) Relic."
Shard, Priest Augustus, who was interested, and Mia all leaned forward as Shard read the text in the book out loud.
"Angel-Level Relic [Feynman’s Gold Storage Warehouse], this relic takes the form of an ordinary warehouse and cannot be opened by normal means; any attempt to open it will cause the relic to lose control. Detailed description omitted. Each natural day, a varying number of standard square, round, equilateral trapezoid, or isosceles triangle metal pieces can be found in the cracks of the door. Numbers are inscribed on the metal pieces to identify the relic derivatives.
The characteristics of these relic derivatives are as follows—
Metal No. 1: Through spiritual resonance, it can be shaped and manipulated by Circle Sorcerers, changing its color and shape, but not other physical properties. This trait is lost once away from the manipulator;
Metal No. 2: When it comes into contact with any metal, it transforms into that type of metal. It has been shown to work on supernatural metals like Mithril;
Metal No. 3: After continuous consumption, there is a probability of acquiring Spirit Runes such as [Metal], [Iron], [Hardness], and a very small chance of one’s internal organs irreversibly turning to metal;
Metal No. 4: Mix with cast iron in specific proportions and forge to create Mind Shielding Alloy;
Metal No. 5: Once Metal No. 5 appears, any metal item within a three-mile radius from the containment area must be melted within 24 hours;
Metal No. 6: Omitted."
"Is this a location-based relic? If I’m not mistaken, it’s under the custody of the Church of Creation and Destruction, right?"
Priest Augustus looked up and said, and Old John nodded:
"Yes, there are rumors that this relic is actually a seal for an evil object created in the Second Era. The warehouse is actually imprisoning something indescribable. I know more, Metal No. 5 is called ’Metal of Wisdom,’ and its appearance bestows the souls and wisdom of any five metal products within a three-mile radius, harboring extremely malicious intent towards humans. Metal No. 6 relates to the relic itself; its appearance indicates that whatever is inside the warehouse is about to emerge."
Priest Augustus wasn’t surprised that Old John knew so much. Shard, however, was more concerned about his eight small coins:
"I thought they were eight Special Coins... Looks like such a good thing doesn’t exist."
As instructed by the book, he used spiritual power to resonate with the eight coins. Mia then watched as the stacked coins merged into a single cylinder, which hovered in mid-air before melting, changing shape and color, and finally becoming a blooming metallic gradient rose. Under Shard’s mental influence, the flower’s gradient color changed along the visible light spectrum from long to short wavelengths, and after turning purple, it shifted back to longer wavelengths.
"Seems rather useless."
Shard lamented, and the old man behind the counter nodded:
"Your spiritual power is quite strong... Did you think it would be useful? They’re just relic derivatives, not even the main attribute of the Angel-Level Relic. However, you can use them to copy someone else’s metal key, or temporarily turn it into a blade to hide on yourself, or when you can’t find a sewing needle... some Circle Sorcerers skilled at manipulating metal enjoy these kinds of things. I won’t charge you for the appraisal fee; it’s too cheap to bother with change. We’ll settle it with the next one."
Shard nodded, as he already possessed the "Key of the Door" and the ability to turn items into toys. These Angel-Level Relic derivatives weren’t really needed by him, but he’d already figured out how to deal with them.
