Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic
Chapter 928 - 928: The Stone Tablet of Time

The purpose of Shard's late-night visit to Mr. Benhart was not to boast about his actions at the banquet but to entrust Mr. Benhart to use his priest friend from the Peace Church and the church's connections to investigate if any strange occurrences had happened in the city when Professor Drake sought the Lake Goddess over a decade ago.

This would be quite easy for the church's Circle Sorcerer, as such basic information is unrestricted. Mr. Benhart readily agreed and promised that Shard would receive the results by Sunday:

"However, are you still investigating the Lake Goddess? It's a legend I heard as a child, but our family has lived here for generations, and no one has ever sensed its authenticity."

As Shard bid farewell at the manor gate, the gentleman asked again. Shard shook his head and mounted his horse:

"It's something else. Strange things have happened, are happening, and will happen in Huntington City."

After saying this, he waved and rode off into the night. The middle-aged vampire kind watched Shard's departing figure with suspicion and recalled the series of events they had experienced in Midshire Fort during the autumn:

"Could something major also happen in Huntington...? Oh, by my lord, should I consider leaving town?"

Upon returning home from Huntington City, Shard projected himself as scheduled to the Saint Byrons Library to inform Miss Danester that he had met the one known as the "Guiding Moon."

Miss Danester took this matter very seriously, especially after learning that Shard had established contact with the person and confirmed their connection with the local Seksex Correspondence Circle of Sorcerers in Tobesk. The Thirteen-Ring Sorceress did not hesitate to praise Shard.

She had prepared the alchemical item capable of collecting spiritual light. Since the academy mustn't know of this matter, it couldn't be sent to Shard through the poetic manuscript pages. Instead, it would be mailed to Shard's home from one of the academy's establishments in Draleon over the weekend using regular mail.

What Shard needed to do was to operate the alchemical item to collect the spiritual light when the "Guiding Moon" unveiled the Ring of Fate. If the core spirit rune "Guiding Moon" could truly replace "Yellow Moon," then the Silvermoon Ancient God's remnant, the Silvermoon Library, might be found before the year ends.

"By the way, Miss Danester, when can I visit the library again in person?"

Before leaving, Shard didn't forget to ask, naturally hoping to locate the alleged one-third "Time Perception" stone tablet within the academy library. Although his sorcery, Library Retrieval, couldn't fully manifest in the projected state, visiting personally to cast might allow him to find the stone.

"Once the role of the Guiding Moon is confirmed."

The Thirteen-Ring Sorceress, resting her face in her hands, sighed with some frustration:

"I hope it truly works; otherwise, we can only hope for the 'Yellow Moon' core spirit rune to reveal itself to us."

(Mia on the run...)

At the end of the Gadis Library adventure in the Valley of Dead Silence, the knowledge the Old God Gray Robed Sage promised to leave behind appears suspected to have split into three parts after the order disbanded, now held respectively by the Saint Byrons Integrated Academy Library, the Apna Library, and the Guiding Light Hermitage.

Shard exchanged the stone tablet from the Hermitage with Mr. Edmund at Coldwater Port, using content from the Fragment of Poem Chapter in the Immortal Mystique work as a trade. It took most of a week to deliver that tablet to Mr. Edmund, and Shard finally saw it on Friday morning.

Interestingly, perhaps because he slept so well at Galina Manor on Wednesday, on Friday morning, Shard defied his usual biological clock and opened his eyes to see the familiar bedroom ceiling before six o'clock.

Turning his head to look at the cat beside his pillow, the cat was still asleep in a curled-up ball, its rhythmic breathing causing it to expand and contract slightly. It wasn't until Shard got up that the vigilant cat opened its eyes, languidly realizing it was not yet breakfast time—it understood the milkman hadn't arrived yet, so with a "meow~," it plopped back down onto the bed.

Since he woke up early, Shard, having had breakfast, went to Coldwater Port alone. First, he changed his sea-soaked clothes at Aphrola Manor; it was only eight o'clock when he met with Mr. Edmund, but other customers were already at the old lighthouse for transactions.

Standing on the sea cliff, Shard gazed at the ocean breeze, and only after the Three Ring Sorcerer with the comical monkey mask departed did he enter the tower.

"Good morning, Mr. Edmund; has the stone tablet arrived?"

Shard greeted as he sat down. The old gentleman, appearing to have already had breakfast, had the scent of boiled eggs lingering in the tower.

"Yes, it has. I thought you wouldn't arrive until the weekend. Hold on; I'll fetch it."

With those words, he went up the spiral staircase to the lighthouse's upper level. As Shard examined the new fish specimens within the tower, the elderly man returned, holding a redwood box. The box had a flip-top design, with a small copper lock hanging on its clasp.

This design seems completely unnecessary, since destroying the wooden box wouldn't be difficult. But Shard, whose knowledge of Mysticism has gradually enriched, can see how the lock itself and the patterns on the wooden box form an intricate ritual. Without opening the lock, even if the box is broken, you absolutely won't be able to 'take' what's inside.

Mr. Edmund used a key to unlock the box and pushed it across the table to Shard. Upon opening it, Shard raised an eyebrow. Inside the small wooden box, slightly larger than a human palm, lay a thick lining with four corners wrapped in silver, housing a stone tablet the size of an adult's hand. This could probably be used as a surfboard by Mia.

Specifically, the size is comparable to the portable little book people carry during long train journeys. The Guiding Light Hermitage has kept it extremely well, with almost no trace of time visible. The stone's surface is smooth, with only a few unnoticeable scratches.

"Mia won't like surfing."

Shard thought to himself, then smiled and said:

"Judging by appearance alone, this is quite an exquisite piece of art."

He reached out to take the stone tablet from the box, expecting one side to be blank and the other to have some text or design. But the result was surprising; there was only an ancient symbol representing the number "two" on the other side.

"Since it came into our possession from the fragmented Old God Cult, aside from a few lucky individuals who obtained Spirit Runes or Arcane Techniques by touching it, we've been unable to decipher any further specific functions. We can only confirm it's a book. If you find a way to discern its function, don't forget to tell us how to interpret it."

Mr. Edmund said this while Shard furrowed his brow. He initially thought that this stone tablet was akin to the First Era ancient texts in the Gadis Library, where merely stating the name reveals the contents. But it seems he was too naive.

Rushed home with the stone tablet, Shard originally worried about how to acquire the knowledge within. But after swimming from the seabed to the cave beneath the sea cliff and seeing the statue of the Ancient God [Primordial Rift] behind a hidden wall, he gained new inspiration.

The gray-robed Grand Sage once said that although he seemed to inherit the power of the Ancient God [Secret-Keeping Mentor], in reality, his power came from the Ancient God of the moon [Sage of Silvermoon], because this Ancient God had the authority of "Recorder."

Moreover, during the God Summoning in the Gadis Library, there was a stone tablet in the shrine inscribed with symbols representing the moon phases (chapter 672).

"Does it mean that to unlock the stone tablet's contents, what's needed is..."

With his theory, and completely soaked, Shard returned home. He first took a quick shower, then sat on the sofa and solemnly opened the wooden box.

"Meow~"

Mia curiously poked her head in to sniff. After the cat lost interest and walked away, Shard summoned his Ring of Fate. Amidst the sound of whistles and bells, the Ring of Fate emerged from the scorching steam. The vast ring emitted Spiritual Light, causing the orange cat's fur to reflect an extraordinary sheen.

Shard controlled his core Spirit Rune "Silvermoon" to radiate light, and when the Enlightening Aura shone on the stone tablet with corners wrapped in silver, the tablet resting in the box seemed to respond to the aura by emitting silvery particles, floating autonomously in the air to the cat's surprised expression:

"Oh, it truly is like this!"

Shard excitedly grabbed the cat off the coffee table and placed it on his lap:

"That Old Sage also realized I possess the power of the moon, hence setting up this activation method akin to how [Space-Time]'s Spiritual Light reveals hidden walls... Yet after all these years, no one has tried using Spiritual Light to illuminate it?"

He puzzled over this when "Her" whisper offered an explanation:

[Perhaps, it's simply because others lack sufficient Human Aura.]

"Indeed, the [Gray Robed Sage] prepared this gift for me."

Under the Silvermoon's Enlightening Aura, the stone tablet emitted a faint silver moonlight. Though initially having only very thin Miracle Elements, the current overflowing elements were akin to a Divine Item found in a church.

"Great, now to unveil the answer—does it truly contain the knowledge of Time."

Shard attempted to reach out to the stone tablet. As his hand touched the glowing tablet, streams of silver light flowed to his fingers, while the Silvermoon engraving prominently emerged on the tablet's surface.

Enclosed in an olive branch pattern was the most pristine full silver moon, the engraving flickering briefly before vanishing. The flowing light trace into his fingers had already delivered the intricate chaotic knowledge into Shard's mind.

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