Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 1724 - 1723: Special "Healing
This trap is exceedingly elaborate; it’s not a mystery that manifests directly, nor does it have immediate lethality. No one can rescue us, and as time passes, even the space forcibly shattered by the ritual will restore itself to normal.
But they cannot wait here because there must be other creatures in this area. If any fish or beasts drinking by the water’s edge create too much commotion, something terrifying is bound to appear in the shattered space.
Though the two sides are adversarial, since cooperation has begun, there’s no harm in a second attempt. Besides, Shard’s conversation with the demon was full of strange information, and the brothers dared not express any dissatisfaction with this ’elder’:
"We are willing to cooperate; regarding the ancestors, we stand on the same side."
"Don’t take any action."
Shard noticed that Megan’s condition was quite poor, so he cautiously reminded her, then spoke to the two brothers:
"Let’s quickly solve the problem. I’ll cast a spell to stabilize the surrounding space, and then you can use your spatial locking abilities to secure a safe exit. Once we’re out, we can seal off this area together to prevent anything from breaking in before the space completely stabilizes."
"No problem, Uncle. Please cast your spell."
Being called "Uncle" felt quite odd to Shard, but the silver cat still nodded before jumping off Megan’s shoulder and transforming into the form of a young, handsome man.
This was the first time the brothers had seen Shard’s human disguise up close, but before they could further assess, Shard had already hoisted Megan onto his back. The witch, blushing, clung to his back, too embarrassed to say anything.
Shard apologetically said to the two brothers:
"My sister, her Ring Mage Level and soul resistance are far inferior to mine. The demon had quite an impact on her, so let me carry her; it won’t be an issue."
The brothers had nothing more to say. As Shard pulled the key from his chest to reveal a magic wand, they each extracted the false eyes from their eye sockets. Though ordinary items, when removed from the sockets, Shard clearly felt a unique power filling the dark cavities.
"Their spatial talent is more manifest in their eyes. It’s not just because of the special methods the doctor used back then that their eyes haven’t been healed."
Shard thought to himself, then reminded the two:
"Get ready, three, two, one! Space Stabilization!"
Megan hugged Shard’s neck, and Shard struck the water surface with the wand in both hands. As the wand’s base made contact beneath the water surface, rippling waves spread across the entire body of water.
The Spatial Stabilization Aura, boosted by Enhanced Spatial Awareness, stabilized the fragile space with power far beyond its original level, even causing the spell-ready brothers to feel a momentary stagnation in their power.
The effect of the Enhanced Spatial Awareness exceeded Shard’s expectations; he even ’saw’ the most stable areas in the fragile surrounding space:
"This way!"
Pointing to the left, the brothers clasped their hands together; this time, they closed their normal eyes and used their blinded eyes to aim the frame, which immediately shifted toward the direction Shard indicated.
Click~
An almost inaudible sound was simultaneously captured by all four; the water spread ripples, but only to the left did a narrow, stripe-shaped ripple-free zone appear, indicating that within the stabilized space, a near-completely restored passageway had indeed manifested.
Click~
The brothers shattered like glass, and as numerous glass shards fell towards the water, they had already appeared outside the fractured space. At the same time, Shard, with Megan on his back, glanced in the only safe direction, then took a step forward, and using Lagre’s Leap, also left the danger zone with Megan.
They thought they would have to handle the area’s dangers further, but once all four had left, the fragmented space surprisingly repaired itself instantly, as if everything had been merely an illusion.
The subsequent cleanup was much simpler; they also found a very concealed ritual marking in the underwater silt. This indicated that everything had indeed been set up by that Thirteen-Ring Diviner half a century in advance.
The mood among the Edwards was heavy; the brothers expressed their gratitude to Shard before departing with reverence:
"Uncle, Aunt, we can cooperate again next time. In the matter of dealing with family history, our stance is unified. We will convince the Mirror Keeper to have the Mirror Association work with you. We are always family; please believe in that."
Megan was in truly poor condition. Shard waved goodbye to the startled brothers, swiftly found the carriage waiting for them in concealment, and took Megan back to the Duin Riverbank, returning to the witch’s ship.
In the room on the cruise, Megan, still somewhat pale, lay on the bed as the maids busily selected suitable magic potions from a long table nearby, while the witch looked toward Shard standing by the bed.
She barely managed a smile:
"Don’t you have something this afternoon? You should go; I’m fine, I just need to... rest a bit."
"Your condition doesn’t seem fine at all. I know demons very well; I know what kind of damage they can inflict on people with fragile souls."
He retrieved the Water of Moonlight once more, but Megan pursed her lips and shook her head:
"I told you, don’t waste such precious material. If you want to help me, you can leave it, and once I feel better, I’ll use it to concoct a magic potion."
So he entrusted the small bottle of Water of Moonlight to Miss Jill, the Head Maid, who cautiously accepted it. Although she had encountered many rare materials with the witch, something so precious was still rare.
"Also, about the mithril you left with me last time..."
She brought it up again, and Shard shook his head:
"Let’s talk about it after you recover. Rest well. Don’t do any spellcasting for now. You see, you were expected to recover soon, yet now things have turned out this way. The plan to investigate the island next week can be postponed..."
"No!"
The brown-haired woman shook her head, her golden eyes, now without disguise, looking at Shard:
"You’ve always been the one investigating. If I can’t even accomplish the matter of accompanying you to the island, what value do I still hold in your eyes?"
Shard shook his head, sitting sideways on the edge of the bed and holding her hand. Megan’s face flushed, then she motioned for her head maid to take the other maids out first.
The footsteps faded away, and the door was closed. Shard looked at her and asked:
"Value? Are we still, in your eyes, just in a simple cooperative relationship?"
"Of course not!"
The witch blurted out her thoughts, then pursed her lips and looked at Shard with burning eyes:
"Actually, there’s something I’ve been deceiving you about... I’ll tell you next week."
"I also have something I’ve been hiding from you. I’ll tell you next week, but it definitely won’t harm you... You can punch me when the time comes."
Shard said, gazing into the witch’s eyes, as if he could see those two intertwined souls:
"Megan, or perhaps Audrey, take a good rest. We still don’t know what the island’s Thirteen-Ring Diviner wants to do, but at least you need to recover your strength to help me."
She nodded gently:
"Alright."
Her heart was already eager to wait until next week to tell Shard everything.
Following her heart’s desire, she raised her hand to hug Shard’s neck, then rose and kissed him. At that moment, her heart almost leapt out of her chest, but the feeling was also very wonderful.
She enjoyed this moment of passion and serenity, while Shard felt even more wonderful.
[Outlander, you’ve had deeper contact with them. You’ve sensed the state of their soul.]
"What state?"
[Deep, but you’re not deep enough yet. Based on current investigation, there’s actually only one soul in her body, but this soul is double. Audrey Edwards and Megan Edwards can be seen as two people, but also as one.]
"So, the truth about their injury and madness for more than ten years is..."
[The soul has tendencies for independence and fusion, leading to continuous self-injury. Now they’re more stable, which is the soul’s self-healing nature.]
It seems that Megan and Audrey’s situation is completely different from Lecia and Dorothy’s, but similar to the fused state of Helen Grace.
"She" gently reminded again:
[The soul injured by the demon can be treated in a very simple way, it’s not permanent damage. Using intense stimulation to stabilize the chaotic and unstable soul, you’ve done it once.]
"Oh, are you thinking about other girls?"
Megan suddenly pushed Shard away, her face flushed with shame and a hint of anger:
"Why so distracted?"
"I was thinking, I know a way to heal you, at least to bring you back to the state before we set out this morning."
Shard said confidently, but hesitated:
"It’s just... this method is somewhat..."
"Unsafe?"
"Very safe, it won’t harm you. But it will be painful, very painful."
The female sorcerer and witch didn’t care about that at all:
"Shard, please trust me. Compared to the soul pain and mental chaos I encountered before, any pain is not a problem."
She signaled Shard to try:
"You can cast now, although I don’t quite believe you can just heal me. I’ve looked for many years without finding a way, but I’m still willing to try."
"It’s not healing completely, just stabilizing the soul’s chaos caused by encountering the demon... It’s really painful."
"I don’t care, please don’t underestimate me."
Shard then cast aside the Silence Charm, but still hesitated: 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎
"I warn you again, it’s really..."
"If you say that again, I’ll be angry."
"Alright then."
Shard bit his finger, then looked at the brown-haired lady who had been changed by the maids into pajamas, sitting against the headboard. Her gaze carried a warning that if Shard spoke again, she’d really be angry, so Shard raised his hand:
"Soul Lashing!"
