Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Shard halted in the thick fog, looked around, and then asked in his mind:

"Is there a problem?"

This fog seemed to be naturally formed, quite different from the fog beyond the White Mist Gate. Not only was its density far less than the latter, but it also had a very "real" sensation.

[No.]

Shard then took a deep breath, the moisture in the fog was immense, and there was an indescribable rotten odor that made him cough uncontrollably:

"How about now? Any problems?"

[Elements are very weak, all four of them.]

"Which means, this fog might also be related to the 'Interstice of Life and Death'."

Thinking this, he continued forward. Without the guidance of the sun, Shard worried he might get lost in the woods.

He hadn't walked much further when Shard stopped again. Ahead in the white fog, a strange human silhouette loomed, appearing to float mid-air.

"What is that?"

He raised his eyebrows slightly.

With the chilly wind weaving through the dense fog, the figure suddenly moved towards Shard. It wasn't a physical body but a pure spiritual body. One could barely make out that it was a male spirit, his feet hanging in the air as if his neck was strangled by a rope. Within a few flickers in the white fog, it was already in front of Shard.

"An evil spirit? So the negative effects of that hair strand haven't faded yet..."

With a sweep of his finger through the air, a brilliant Silvermoon gleam drew a line parallel to the ground and struck forward. The pure moonlight hit the body of the evil spirit, cleaving it into two halves. The light continued to fly backward, severing a large tree before streaking deeper into the fog.

The average Circle Sorcerer of the same level would find it difficult to handle Shard's moonlight, let alone an evil spirit.

As the large tree fell to the left with a heavy thud, the lower half of the spirit turned to ash and vanished, but the upper half still floated towards Shard.

As it drew closer, Shard felt as though his neck was being throttled by a noose, but along with his constricted breathing, he held his breath voluntarily. With his physical condition, not breathing for tens of minutes was not an issue.

The choking sensation on his neck grew stronger, but Shard didn't use his moonlight again. Instead, he took out the "Mind Crystal Ring" from his pocket and wore it on the forefinger of his right hand:

"I've actually been very curious about the effect of 'Psychic Shockwave' on a spiritual body."

He endured the pain on his neck, took quick steps towards the floating evil spirit, and with a fierce push of his right hand, placed it on the cold spiritual body.

Resentment, accompanied by the evil spirit's strange soul power, tried to invade Shard's flesh, but he easily blocked it with his spirit.

The Arcane Technique "Soul Echo" allowed Shard to touch the spiritual body directly, which seemed to enhance the effect of "Psychic Shockwave." A transparent ripple appeared in the palm of his hand, and then the evil spirit, presumably a suicide by hanging, was thrown back as if hit hard, emanating black light traces from his body.

The outer shell of the evil spirit vanished, revealing the soul's original appearance inside.

"The synergy of these two Arcane Techniques has such good effects?"

As Shard marvelled, he saw the spirit stretch out a hand towards him, as if seeking final salvation from him:

"I saw a huge Flying Bird..."

It was in Carsonrick's language, but it was only half a sentence. The spirit disappeared completely:

"Flying Bird?"

Shard looked up at the sky blanketed with white fog:

"And where exactly did this evil spirit come from?"

Shard frowned slightly, looking at the surrounding dense fog, and ventured a new guess:

"Could it be that this abnormal white fog is also drifting from the interstice between life and death beneath the Sicarl Highland?"

This conjecture was highly plausible, as Shard had encountered three evil spirits in the foggy woods while descending the mountain. One looked as if its head had been blown apart by a shotgun, another was completely shattered, possibly crushed by a heavy object or fallen from a great height, and the last one had no visible cause of death, but its combat ability far exceeded the first two, requiring two blasts of Shard's "Psychic Shockwave" before it disintegrated.

Whether it was the influence of Shard's Arcane Technique or not, each soul left behind some strange words before dissipating. Some related to themselves, some to visions seen before death, and some were completely meaningless.

Each had emerged from the fog and charged directly at Shard. Although the negative effects of that strand of hair would attract evil spirits, Shard had walked this path the previous days without incident. This indicated that the appearance of these evil spirits was definitely related to the white fog.

Having taken the wrong path and delayed by evil spirits in the mountains, it wasn't until 4:13 p.m. that Shard finally arrived in the city, taking twice as long as it would without the fog.

He had prepared for this trip, carrying most of the Relics on his person, except for "God's Gift Box" and the "Soul Fishing Rod." Thus, upon entering the city, he did not linger but headed straight for the House of the Blind.

Ms. Michelle was already waiting for Shard:

"The carriage will take you to Sister Delphine."

A carriage was parked at the back door of the House of the Blind, and Shard was glad to see that the driver had not covered his eyes in any way:

"Sister Delphine will be there too?"

Shard was quite curious.

"Yes, Sister Delphine will conduct the ceremony for you."

Ms. Michelle said, noticing Shard's confusion, she explained:

"A ceremony that communicates between the living and the dead is best conducted by an individual with strong spirituality, so Delphine is the most suitable choice. Besides..."

She hesitated, standing next to the garbage bin at the back door of the three-story House of the Blind, and said in a low voice while holding the door handle:

"Regardless of whether the ceremony is successful, whether you can successfully rescue Priest Augustus or not, the very experience is of great significance to the Order. After all, it is rare for someone to willingly face danger, and also have the capability to enter the world of the dead to save a friend or relative."

The "entrance" identified and secured by the Order is on the outskirts of the city, more precisely, in a deserted mansion at the foot of the mountain. The vicinity was almost within sight of the woodlands of Sicarl Mountain, but this area was by no means a remote part of Midshire Fort. Because the environment was nice, local nobles liked to carve out woodlands at the foot of the mountain to build their estates or mansions, and nobles from other regions also liked to purchase estates nearby, even the Royal Family had its own vacation estate at the Foot of Sicarl Mountain, somewhat akin to Sophia's Mansion at Coldwater Port.

As for this particular mansion, it was a locally famous haunted estate. Once Shard knew the destination, he remembered a mansion referred to as "Russell Estate" by the locals, as mentioned in the materials about Midshire Fort provided by Lecia.

The last owner was Viscount Russell, a man with strange habits and no relatives, living in the mansion with two servants. About 58 years ago, when the estate failed to pay its gas bill for half a year, the gas company dispatched someone from the city to check on the situation, only to find the viscount and his servants dead within, their bodies nearly decayed.

No one knew what had happened here, whether it was a robbery or something more terrible. But since then, the estate had fallen into disrepair. The rights to the property were sold by a distant heir of the viscount to the Midshire Fort City Hall, and thereafter, no one dared to take it over. Except for the maintenance workers who occasionally visited, the property remained untouched.

"That sounds terrifying... Wait, isn't this similar to No. 6 Saint Delan Square?"

Shard thought to himself as he sat in the carriage, of course, this place didn't have the notoriety of No. 6 Saint Delan Square.

After all, the Shard Family had seen the actual deaths and disappearances of many owners, with a death toll well into the triple digits, forcing the church to buy the property and seal it for many years, and even after it was unsealed, another owner died. But, Russell Estate had only seen the deaths of three people so far.

"It's really not that impressive."

With that thought, Shard lost his interest in the haunted estate.