Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic
Chapter 891 - 891: The Lake Goddess's Trial

When Shard concentrated all his attention on the notebook in front of him and tried his best to recall and organize language to complete a complete logical framework, time seemed to pass by so quickly.

Even "she" did not disturb Shard, who was fully immersed in the woods, on this quiet afternoon. It had been a while since Shard had focused his mind for intellectual work outdoors, and he found the feeling of writing things down in the wind in this undisturbed forest rather pleasant.

His plan was to use the contemporary mathematical knowledge of the Sixth Era to complete the proof of what his homeland referred to as "Euler's formula" and some of its extensions. But halfway through the outline, he realized that the topic involved too many issues, and the existing mathematical tools were still quite lacking, so he had to supplement with things like mathematical induction, which he considered common sense.

Although all this was knowledge Shard had learned in his homeland, he was not merely writing from memory, nor could he remember the original text of the papers and the proof process verbatim. Any omissions were unavoidable, and Shard could only say he was doing his best to meticulously construct this bridge connecting complex exponential functions and trigonometric functions.

"Only when I start writing, do I realize there is so much I can put down."

Thinking in his heart, he circled the just listed chapter titles with a fountain pen and wrote the word "tentative" next to them. Then he wanted to briefly jot down the content of mathematical induction, but just as he finished the second letter, his head hurt, and he was struck by something falling from above:

"Oh!"

He covered his head with his hand and reached out to catch what had hit him and fell to the side. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a green apple:

"Hmm?"

He looked up and saw that the sun had already set slightly in the west, and the empty black treetops above didn't even have dry leaves. Shard was sure that before he sat down, there were definitely no apples on this tree:

"Where did this apple come from?"

He looked down at the apple in his hand. The green fruit seemed immature. Holding it tightly, he didn't feel any traces of the Four Elements, so Shard hesitated for a moment, rubbed the apple on his clothes, and then took a bite.

The apple was a bit sour but also had a slight sweetness, and it was very crisp. Chewing it slowly and swallowing it down, he felt that his head, which had become a bit swollen from the afternoon's work, was suddenly much clearer.

He was about to take a second bite but suddenly stopped:

"Does that lake always appear in such an interesting manner?"

Still sitting against the tree trunk, he raised his left hand to call over the chestnut horse, and when it lowered its head, he handed the apple to it.

The horse took a big bite of the apple, chewed a few times, then stretched out its red long tongue to lick away the rest of the apple, snorting and munching.

[Do you know what will happen?]

The wind carried "her" voice, and Shard stood up with his notebook, tucking it and the fountain pen into his arms:

"Isn't that how fairy tales always go?"

He stretched lazily, then untied the reins, and climbed onto the horse's back using the stirrup. Without Shard guiding it, the horse, having finished eating the apple, leisurely walked to the left on its own.

Shard didn't speak, simply holding the reins while the horse carried him into the woodland. The shadow of the sunset was partially appearing in the sky, as the cold winter breeze blew past barren apple trees, and horse and rider moved silently forward as if both knew where their destination lay.

Suddenly, ahead in the rather sparse woodland, a high shrub unexpectedly appeared, an odd sight in this season. When the chestnut horse carried Shard through the bushes, he saw a tranquil lake with rippling waves under the setting sun, and in the middle of the reddened lake water, a lush green grass-covered Heart Lake Island.

[Outlander, you have sensed a miracle and a whisper.]

"Yes, exactly. Whisper signifies an unrecorded relic. Miracle indicates I've found the right place."

With "her" guidance, Shard smiled as he dismounted, patting the horse that had started grazing, and he approached the lakeside.

Unlike Old Greyfoe from Lower Lutherville said, the lake water was not frozen, nor was there a small boat waiting for him as poet Roland said there would be. Before him was only the reddened lake water under the sunset.

"Water Walking!"

Carefully stepping forward, he stood atop the lake water, gradually finding his balance before walking forward.

Shard was now fully certain that Lake Cherub of the Sixth Era was definitely not the Lost Lake located in the Shattered Isles in the year 5177 of the Fifth Era. The scenery of this mysterious lake is very good at present, and only small fish were swimming within the water underfoot; there was nothing strange.

Lake Cherub wasn't large, at least not as large as the Lost Lake. Walking across the water, Shard quickly reached the Heart Lake Island in the middle.

He was first greeted by yesterday's "resurrected" wild wolf, still carrying the Whisper Element, and seeming to recognize Shard, it scampered off in fear upon seeing him.

Shard stepped onto the grassy island, walking through standing stones and sparse trees, discovering a shallow lake in the center of the Heart Lake Island. The lake water was clear, with tadpole-sized red and black small fish swimming freely.

In the middle of the lake stood a giant gray stone, irregular in shape but with incredibly smooth surfaces on each side, covered densely with golden runes, as if several long, rectangular stones were joined together.

Standing on the lake surface beneath the stone, there was a young lady with a cane, smiling at Shard as he approached from afar. She was not the old woman described by the One-Eyed Fisherman, Mr. Greyfoe, nor the middle-aged woman described by poet Mr. Roland. She appeared to be around twenty-five or twenty-six years old, wearing a white robe like a hermit. Her long staff made of white oak and the white robe both emitted a pure white light.

"Heart Lake Island Center Lake?"

Shard muttered softly to himself, intending to step onto the water surface again to enter the final Island Heart Lake, but as he extended his foot, he stepped into the water:

"Hmm? Forbidden Water Walking?"

He was somewhat surprised, then took out the Wind Vane Bluegrass Extract, dropped it on his tongue, attempting to stride across the water, yet the power of space was also ineffective here.

The young lady in the center of the lake smiled at him, and Shard carefully examined the shallow lake water; if he waded through, the water wouldn't even reach his knees. However, he felt that wading across would be quite disgraceful, so he first took out the frog's leg, used the sorcery [Frog's Leap], then activated the sorcery [Power of the Red Dragon].

He took a few steps back and charged forward, leaping at the lake's edge, gliding across the water and landing firmly beneath the giant stone on the island's center lake. The sorcery "Water Walking" functioned smoothly where the White-robed Lady stood, allowing Shard to approach her.

The concentration of the Miracle Element here is almost like standing under the Holy Emblem of the Archdiocese's church, but Shard was sure that the young lady in front of him, dressed in a pure white hooded robe with silver hair, was definitely not a deity.

She was quite ancient, her youthful appearance did not mask the aura of antiquity that came through time.

"Hello."

Glancing at the sunset on the horizon, Shard, standing on the water, saluted the White-robed Lady, who did not avoid it, and softly responded in Delarion:

"Hello, congratulations on finally arriving here."

Her tone was very gentle, somewhat like Granny Cassandra.

Shard raised his head, looking at her with some expectation and asked bashfully:

"May I ask if you know why I have come here?"

"Oh, of course I know."

The White-robed Lady nodded with a smile, she, under the sunset, along with that white robe and the white oak long staff, all emitted a pure white radiance, much like Shard, who seemed to glow in the dark:

"You are here for the power of the deities."

"Yes, so then..."

Shard smiled sheepishly, feeling that the Ancient One seemed to understand his feelings at the moment:

"You don't need to speak that word aloud, but indeed, I possess what you desire."

Shard's eyes widened, not surprised that the other could see through his search for divinity. Though this "Lake Goddess" was not a deity, she was very close to one.

His surprise lay in the other's easy-going nature:

"Then what do you want from me...which organ? I've seen three mortals who once made a wish here with you, and they all lost parts of their bodies, not losing them physically, but wiped away from existence past to present."

The White-robed Lady shook her head with a smile:

"Yes, getting something requires giving in return, but you are different from them; your body holds no meaning to me. What you wish to obtain is a treasure unimaginable to mortals, so you must offer more."

"You don't want my body? Alright, what do I need to do?"

Shard inquired, and the "Lake Goddess" held up four fingers, Shard noticed she wore no rings:

"You need to complete four trials to prove you are worthy of that power."

"Four trials?"

Shard was stunned; in the Fifth Era of 3177, the trials of the deity were threefold, the Keeper of Secrets' trials for the Fragment of Poem Chapter were fivefold, and now the Lake Goddess presented four.

"No problem, and what are the tasks?"

Not to mention four tasks, Shard would agree even if there were forty.

"Not tasks, trials."

The White-robed Lady corrected with a smile and then said:

"Do not hurry, we can go through them one by one. These trials are also a process for you to validate yourself, proving your abilities. Upon completing the last of the four tasks, you will once again ignite the power of the Great One. Every time you complete one of the first three tasks, I can additionally offer you a gift; after completing the fourth, you shall receive what you desire."

"Yes, no problem!"

Shard quickly nodded, and the other pointed toward the sharply defined boulder at the center of Heart Lake Island's Heart Lake beside her. It was inscribed in gold runes with virtues like Wisdom, Kindness, Sacrifice, and now, there was another line.

Shard read it aloud:

"The first trial, at the upcoming wedding banquet, prove your wisdom, strength, and charm. Huh? A wedding banquet?"

"Yes, you know what it is,"

The White-robed Lady smiled, then sprinkled some white light towards Shard:

"When you successfully prove yourself, you will understand, so don't worry about evaluating your actions."

Shard wanted to ask more, but the lady, facing Hope, spoke first:

"Yes, it is that simple, you need not defeat any formidable enemies, nor seek special materials. Outlander, prove yourself at the grand wedding feast, prove yourself. You have only one chance. If you fail, I will not give you another."

The shadows of the two, drawn long by the sunset, stretched across the grass beside Heart Lake Island's Heart Lake. On the lake surface, Shard remembered these requirements, and then closed his eyes, bowing slightly:

"I am willing to accept your trial, all for the greatest of powers."