Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Chapter 1789: 1788: The Power of Girard Stone and Cards

Capítulo 1789: Chapter 1788: The Power of Girard Stone and Cards

The moment Shard saw the nun at the entrance of the ritual site shrouded by the budding leaves of springtime trees, an odd question crossed his mind. Coincidentally, he seldom made appointments to see the nun in advance, yet he always managed to meet her.

“This is ‘Girard Stone,’ even in the Fifth Era, it was a rare material.”

At the lowest level of the ritual site, the nun with the silver blindfold sat on the second-to-last step beside the open space, gently rubbing her fingers over seven “stones” one by one:

“In the Fifth Era, Girard Stone was one of the core materials for crafting space-related alchemical tools. Yes, the kind you imagine, a small pouch capable of holding the load of a carriage.”

Shard’s eyes widened instantly:

“So, is it possible you could…”

“In today’s Sixth Era, such alchemical items no longer exist. It is not due to loss of crafting methods, nor have the materials all disappeared, or that alchemical items from past eras haven’t been preserved. It is because the space in the Sixth Era is far more unstable than in the Fifth. Therefore, apart from special items like relics, any other attempts to create independent spaces are akin to making bombs that could explode at any moment.”

The nun spoke softly, her voice clearly reverberating within the ritual site:

“Although crafting alchemical items is impossible, using these stones in spellcasting makes it easier to harness ‘space-creating’ abilities. Like with Maze Lock, for instance.”

She handed the string of stones back to Shard, who nodded in understanding. The value of this gift was far greater than he had imagined. As for the weekly task that came with receiving this gift, it involved personally tidying his own room.

The task was limited to his bedroom and only required minimal effort—tidying clothes, making the bed, sweeping, and mopping.

However, Shard had come not for material appraisal. After putting away the stones, he seriously asked the nun:

“Sister Delphine, I would like you to take a look at two cards for me. No, these are not Roder Cards; they are very special cards. Please do not tell anyone about this matter.”

Last night during his venture into bygone eras, the Primal Fire spontaneously appeared and repelled Mrs. Lemaire the Merman, which led Shard, who hadn’t planned on discussing anything from “the past,” to think about consulting the nun.

He presented [Twin Lovers] and [Shadow of the Deep Sea]. Upon receiving the cards, the nun paused momentarily. She didn’t look down to inspect them, as she lacked vision. Instead, she placed the cards on her lap, beneath her gray nun’s robe, and delicately traced over them with both hands:

“The Apocalypse…. the calamity of space and darkness. It’s unimaginable that such power of calamity could still exist after everything has ended, so terrifying.”

As expected, Sister Delphine could tell what it was.

“Sister, could these two cards be burned as firewood?”

Shard asked, to which Sister Delphine actually nodded:

“They could be, though it’s not advisable. These are not of this time, and burning them would only prematurely unleash the calamity’s power.”

The nun’s fingers, slightly marked by light burn scars, shimmered with tiny sparks of firelight. The firelight brushed the surface of the cards without causing any harm:

“Merely touching these two cards allows me to ‘see’ the impending apocalypse and world destruction, filled with despair and suffering. Fortunately, the inevitable conclusion of the world reaching ultimate death won’t change, but the future these cards represent may not necessarily come to pass.”

She refrained from asking about the origin of the cards, giving Shard a little relief:

“I can use these two cards to cast spells and seal, release the demons stored within. The Primal Fire appears to have had an extraordinary impact on the evil within these cards.”

He further inquired, the nun nodded slightly, making Shard all the more curious about the expression beneath her silver blindfold:

“I once said, the Fire of the Primordial comes from the very beginning and will burn till the very end. Even if the world falls into total darkness, the fire will still burn, hence it has a peculiar effect on creatures symbolizing darkness from the era of calamity.”

After a brief pause:

“When Ivan Daknis, the Chosen of Darkness, appeared, I once led a team to Tobesk out of concern. At that time, it was precisely because the Primal Fire could restrain the darkness.”

The nun didn’t immediately return the cards to Shard but continued to examine them carefully. She quickly realized that if Shard used these sealed calamity demons in battle, it might trigger a disaster in the material world prematurely.

However, from Shard’s perspective, the calamity cards, seemingly limited to “releasing sealed items” for combat, were discovered by the nun to have alternative uses:

“The power exists within the cards; don’t release it all at once. You may attempt to channel only a portion of it. The text described on the cards also indicate the nature of their powers.”

She got up, clasping “Twin Lovers” with her fair right forefinger and middle finger, giving it a gentle flick. The card surprisingly spun and stayed suspended in mid-air. It was uncertain whether this was due to deftness or sorcery. Subsequently, the nun’s right forefinger was enveloped in the firelight of the Primal Fire. Her finger aimed forward but abruptly halted:

“Hero of the Flame, may I request permission to utilize the power of this card?”

This was likely not the nun being polite with Shard but that the card was sealed by him, preventing others from using it:

“No problem, I allow you to use the power of these two cards.”

The nun touched the rotating card with her finger, and the card stopped spinning, remaining motionless in mid-air, facing the direction of the nun, precisely touched at the center by her finger.

The card gave off a slight glow, and then the nun took a step forward and suddenly appeared next to the brazier with the [Ashes] longsword inserted into it, equivalent to moving from the ritual site’s edge to its center in an instant.

Shard’s eyes widened:

“Spatial Leap!”

Though Sister Delphine was quite formidable, Shard was very certain she absolutely didn’t have this ability before.

The nun walked back, nodding slightly:

“Each card can guide forth different powers; this card is Spatial Leap.”

As she spoke, she again tossed [Shadow of the Deep Sea] in front of her and lightly tapped it with a finger imbued with the Glow of the Primal Fire.

In the ancient ritual site, only the brazier in the center with the [Ashes] longsword inserted emitted firelight. At that moment, except for the flame itself, all other light vanished, leaving even Shard and Sister Delphine enveloped in darkness.

“Dark Magic. It absorbs all surrounding light, creating an area of complete darkness.”

The nun said softly, moving her finger away and handing the two cards to Shard:

“Using the cards like this, although it still can’t be used too frequently, won’t draw on the power of Calamity. However, currently only I can do this, Hero of the Flame, the power of the Primal Fire is still insufficient. Unless a new Primal Fire Spark is found again, you temporarily can’t freely use the power of these two cards.”

Shard nodded in understanding:

“But this is just equivalent to granting me two Arcane Techniques with minimal consumption, which truly isn’t a significant enhancement.”

The nun shook her head:

“No, these powers from the Apocalypse’s Calamity, in their form influencing the Material World, have an extremely high precedence. Powers wielded through these cards are very difficult to be offset by other powers, even when against Relics…. or rather, they themselves are Relics.”

Shard suddenly realized:

“But this time I only found a burnable Demon, without any clues of the Primal Fire. Klein Laplace Howard collected many strange things, maybe his collection also houses the Primal Fire?”

“I have a premonition.”

Sister Delphine slightly bowed her head:

“On this trip to Green Lake, there will surely be clues about the Primal Fire. Then, these Calamity Cards will become your new power.”

She was a nun who guards the fire, her premonitions would certainly not be wrong.

Shard intended to have a conversation with Sister Delphine about the so-called ‘Termination’ that the world was about to face, after all, apart from the doomsayers of the Guiding Light Hermitage, only the [Spiritual Practice Order] believed this from the very beginning.

But as the words were about to come out, he didn’t know what to say. The nun also noticed Shard’s hesitation:

“Hero of the Flame, don’t worry about the destined future. You are already on the right path, and the [Spiritual Practice Order] stands with you.”

“Sister, since your eyes can see the past of souls and the secrets deep within memories, what do you see when you look at me? I know when we first met, you tried this, but this time I want you to tell me as the ‘Chosen by Death’ what exactly you saw about me.”

The nun placed her hands together in front of her; this time Shard definitely didn’t see it wrong, she actually showed a slight smile and shook her head, then proceeded towards the center of the underground ritual site, gripping the Angel-Level Relic [Ashes].

The flames in the brazier licked the longsword and surged towards her arm, igniting her whole body in a burst of flame, with fiery red embers branding patterns onto her skin and robe, she motioned for Shard to draw his sword and spar with her.

Shard then drew the Holy Silver [Moonlight Greatsword] from the void, the transparent blade resembling glass and crystal now inscribed with more ancient runes than before:

“Sister, during the Night of the Eclipse, I received the Moon’s blessing, this time beware.”

Though knowing he would surely lose to the nun, Shard still said that.

The nun remained silent, drawing her sword and pointing it at Shard. Thus, within the two hours before lunch, Shard once again experienced the power of Sister Delphine which approached the limits of the Twelve Rings.

Perhaps there was no need to absorb another Primal Fire Spark, Sister Delphine could advance at any time. After all, unlike doctors and priests, although Sister Delphine coexists with the Primal Fire, her talent and power are certainly not limited to it.