Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

"Divine item? Oh, yes, it certainly counts."

The priest holding the teacup introduced with a chuckle:

"It has two basic characteristics. Based on the characteristic of the 'Angel', it praises death, then injects one's own spirit to actively trigger it, forming a special area within a 30-foot (about 9.15 meters) radius centered on the badge. It can inflict relatively strong attacks on evil creatures like evil spirits and demons. Even if it cannot defeat them, they definitely won't attack you under the glow of the badge."

Since they were in the church and couldn't experiment, otherwise he really wanted to resurrect a skeleton for Shard to test it out.

"Based on the characteristic of 'Death's Herald', when this badge directly contacts the wound of a flesh creature for more than five seconds, the target will be cursed with death. In the following period, organ failure, muscle atrophy, and the probability of contracting various diseases greatly increase. Although it can't be said for certain that they will die, generally they will not survive. Of course, when you call upon the power of death in battle, this badge can also give you some assistance, but the enhancement isn't significant for you, considering it can't compare to the blessing I personally give you."

Priest Augustus wasn't worried that Shard would use the badge for wrongdoing; if Shard wanted to do something bad, he wouldn't need this:

"Be careful not to let it touch your wound when you're injured. Besides these two characteristics, the badge also has minor effects like [Wearer won't turn into undead], [Wearer won't be actively attacked by undead], [Resist instant death attacks], [Enhance sorcery and arcane technique related to undead and angel], but for you, it's inconsequential."

Compared to relics and magical spellcraft, this badge has no side effects and almost no cost in use, making it a genuinely divine item of the Ancient God, valuable even for Shard.

Of course, this morning's specific search for Priest Augustus wasn't just to question the priest's reason for appearing at Saint Delan Square on Wednesday night, but also to inquire about the Old God Cult information tasked to the priest earlier this week. In Year 5177 of the Fifth Era, the second trial of the Old God [The Undefined Sage] required offering a sacrifice to the god, and the sacrifice must be some form of "water," which Shard hoped the priest could help find records of past sacrifices.

Though busy at the year's end, Priest Augustus found time to look up the information, given Shard's comprehensive details. He didn't take out the documents but recited what he saw.

The Old God [The Undefined Sage] was quite a famous deity of bygone days, partly because this god didn't depart until the end of the Fifth Era, and partly because the sage's cult was partially absorbed by the Church of the True God [God of Creation and Destruction], preserving and maintaining much of the knowledge and historical legacy.

Priest Augustus had a significant influence locally and had a good relationship with other heathens within the Church of the Five Gods, easily obtaining publicly available information within the church.

As known to the grand witches of the Fifth Era, the followers of that bygone deity typically offered "clear lake water, morning dew, tears of a newborn baby crying" as sacrifices because they were the purest and most pristine water. The offering process wasn't merely placing offerings before shrines or holy emblems, sometimes requiring decorations of purple sage, eight-leafed lily-of-the-valley, or green chrysanthemum petals in the vessel.

The entire sacrificial process has been recorded and passed down to the modern age; this process itself is a form of ritual, and repeating it in the modern era after the Old God has left can temporarily enhance wisdom and inspiration for the ritual performer, classifying it as a relatively basic ritual.

"Is there nothing else? Like special offerings?"

Sitting on the chair, Shard curiously asked, holding a teacup, Priest Augustus stood by the window watching the snow, watching children chasing and playing; elderly people often like to reminisce about the past:

"There is. I asked someone to find information ordinary clergy members like us cannot see. But you probably won't be able to find these offerings in the short term, for example, the water from the Angel-Level Relic 'Fountain of Youth'."

Shard sighed while stroking the cat, and Mia looked up at Shard, mimicking a sigh.

The Relic [Fountain of Youth] originally belonged to the Witch Council, a shared asset of the archwitches of the Fifth Era's council. However, it was lost in the transitions of eras. The archwitches of the Sixth Era have been longing for this relic but have been unable to find it, Miss Galina has complained about this to Shard.

Unlike the "Mermaid's Elixir of Youth" Shard once sold to Miss Galina, although the water from the Angel-Level Relic [Fountain of Youth] also cannot grant immortality, its effectiveness in maintaining appearance is stronger.

"However, the Witch Empress Miss Violet, who knows if she carries this water with her."

He speculated.

"Anything else?"

"Liquefied Philosopher's Stone."

This is even harder to find. If Shard and Miss Violet, Miss Teresa had the Philosopher's Stone, there would be no need to write the paper efforts for the first trial.

"Is there anything slightly easier?"

Holding the lazy cat, Shard asked again, the priest pondered for a bit:

"The information I've seen is all publicly available internally. If you want to find more secretive information, you'd probably need someone to search the papal archives of the Church of Creation and Destruction, or wait for me to contact some old friends, which would take time. However, don't you know a Circle Sorcerer from the Church? I think you could let your friend try their luck."

After bidding farewell to Priest Augustus, Shard braved the heavy snow to visit Blackstone Security Company. Even when taking a carriage, he could feel the chill of the snowy weather. The talkative cab driver engaged Shard in a conversation through the small window at the front of the carriage, discussing winter in Tobesk. Shard thus learned that the area in the entire city capable of affording the unified heating fee was less than one-tenth of the city's total area.

"So how do you stay warm in winter?"

"We buy loose coal sold in the North City Mining Area, and we prepare some wood ourselves. The steam pipeline company allows families to retrofit pipelines to connect to their stoves. When my father and my father's father spent winters in this city, they didn't have the conditions we have now. More than thirty years ago, when I was just a teenager, at least hundreds of people froze to death in the city every winter."

With his back to Shard, the driver said, then shook the bell to warn pedestrians ahead to give way.

There was an extra tip required when traveling by carriage in the snow, so when Shard alighted, he gave the driver an additional shilling. The driver smiled, wishing Shard good luck today, then was called away by others. In such weather, he would have plenty of business. Before the deep winter set in, earning more money was the only way to survive the long winter.

To protect the secret that "the second Sage's Glowstone has appeared," others in Iluna's team did not know what the ordinary man, Shard, had experienced on Wednesday night. Therefore, when Shard pushed open the door of the security company downstairs, the receptionist lady was not surprised at his appearance.

Seeing that Shard was there to meet with Iluna, she directed them to the parlor on the first floor for their conversation. After closing the door, the seventeen-year-old girl appeared quite delighted:

"Shard, how is your health? Oh, when I saw you faint at your house, I was really worried."

She originally didn't know that during the incident at No. 6 Saint Delan Square, it seemed as if it was [Thief Jack] fighting against Shard. In reality, it was an entire group plus a cat who were opposing the thief. Before Shard woke up, Iluna had already learned the truth of the night from Luviya.

The girl with violet eyes, of course, did not disclose the identities of other team members; Iluna only knew that Shard had been hypnotized.

"I just slept for a long time, and felt quite good once I woke up."

Shard pointed to the folder he had casually set aside, which contained the documents he had just signed:

"I have already reached a deal with the Prophet's Society; I should receive [Genesis: Knowledge] by the end of the year. I heard from Miss Galina that you made the suggestion to the church? Thank you so much; you really helped a lot."

"No need to thank me; I have to thank you for the issue with [Mandela's Serpent Nest Bottle]."

Iluna felt herself blushing slightly, and she tried hard to control her expression:

"I heard from Luviya that you used the chance of obtaining a relic for yourself to help us retrieve the lost relic."

After saying this, she pursed her lips.

"You were the one who caught that thief, Iluna; what you did on Wednesday night was quite impressive."

This was not an exaggeration from Shard; if it weren't for Iluna's cooperation, the situation that night might have been very troublesome.

Hearing Shard's praise, the seventeen-year-old girl couldn't help but show a sincere smile:

"It's nothing. Oh, Shard, did you know? We don't need to write reports and reviews anymore. Luckily, I only wrote the beginning of my report; I was worried about what to do. But the captain wasn't as lucky: his review and report were almost finished. He remained silent for quite a while when he heard our punishment was canceled."

Iluna spoke with Shard about things around them. When Shard asked about the matter of [The Undefined Sage] Order, she grew serious:

"Yes, I found some information. But the required offerings are extremely harsh. Many materials that were hard to obtain during the Fifth Era are simply nonexistent by the Sixth Era. The few materials still available, we can hardly get our hands on."

"Fountain of Youth, Philosopher's Stone?"

Shard asked, and Iluna nodded. As The Chosen One, she had greater access and had found more information:

"Apart from these two liquids, many pure liquids were once offered to that bygone deity. As the God of the Lake, most offerings accepted were similar materials."

Iluna handed her notebook to Shard, listing a total of nine special liquids, including the Fountain of Youth and Philosopher's Stone. Among them, the "Water of Moonlight" also looked familiar to Shard.

The reward for completing the Year 5177 of the Fifth Era key includes "Ritual - Water of Moonlight." But the problem is that Shard must find the offerings to possibly complete the task, while completing the task requires finding the offerings.