Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Chapter 1918: Fire of Return

"Nun, what are you..."

Shard was very curious about where the wood came from, and then realized it was similar to his Arcane Technique - Traveler’s Camp, a power that can directly create a scene.

The bonfire was not bright, but watching Sister Delphine kneeling by the fire, Shard inexplicably felt reassured.

"Won’t you come up with me?"

He asked, and the gray-haired nun with the silver eye patch nodded slightly, still not speaking. Even though Shard didn’t know what her plan was, since the nun said so, he walked upstairs alone, treating it as his solo investigation.

The interior of the apartment was not shabby, appearing to still be in use, but for some reason, there was no one now. After reaching the second floor, Shard did not notice anything unusual in the darkness, so he continued to carry the lantern and walk up. And as he approached the third floor, the Whisper Element gradually became active:

"What could it be?"

He was prepared for battle, but upon reaching the third-floor corridor, he still found nothing. Attempting to continue inward along the corridor, a flicker of eerie blue flame suddenly appeared in the darkness.

Amidst a chilling wail, the flame quickly expanded until it became a person engulfed in blue flames, who charged at Shard with outstretched arms.

"What is this?"

Shard frowned slightly and took a step back. His figure disappeared and reappeared immediately behind the flaming figure. But as he materialized, another flaming humanoid appeared out of nowhere behind where he had just appeared, also lunging at him with open arms.

This time, the distance was too close to evade. Shard turned and lashed out with a Moonlight Slash. Even though he decapitated the opponent, the body still flew at him.

"Heaton Seal!"

Summoning the Moonlight Greatsword, the subsequently deployed golden spherical shield filled the narrow corridor. In the next moment, the flaming figure with outstretched arms crashed into the luminescent shield and exploded into blue flames throughout the corridor.

The sound of the rain outside completely drowned out the dull explosion. Although Shard felt the shield blocked the blue flames, he did not feel any damage, but still suddenly felt dizzy. When he steadied himself against the wall, Sister Delphine kneeling by the bonfire was once again in front of him, indicating he had returned to the first-floor entrance hall.

Though it was stormy outside, the interior was exceptionally quiet. At this moment, even though the nun didn’t even lift her head to look at him, Shard distinctly felt embarrassed.

He said nothing, picked up the lantern, and dashed up the stairs again. Soon, he was back on the third floor.

At the spot where the flaming figure exploded, there were no signs of damage on the floor or walls. At the staircase entrance, he still couldn’t see anything, but when Shard took two steps deeper into the corridor, the blue flame again flickered, and the flaming figure with open arms appeared out of nowhere and lunged at him once more:

"Moonlight Slash!"

This time, the silver arc of light directly severed the flaming figure’s legs, and it fell to the ground with a dull thud. As Shard counted to "three" in his heart, the figure’s blue flames exploded in place, but it didn’t affect the surroundings:

"It seems that as long as I don’t let this thing get close to me, it’s okay. Spatial Stabilization Aura!"

Since these blue-flame figures appeared out of nowhere, interfering with their appearance was also a method.

Knowing the rules gave him more confidence, and just as he planned to continue forward, he suddenly felt something was off behind him. Turning around, the flaming figure with open arms was already within reach, and Shard felt no spatial disturbance:

"These things, don’t appear through spatial movement?"

Another dull explosion sounded, and instead of invoking the Heaton Seal, Shard willingly let a small amount of blue flame splash onto his clothes. In an instant, extreme heat engulfed him, and his whole body was set ablaze with blue flames before he disappeared again from the third floor.

Dizzily bracing against the wall, he again saw Sister Delphine kneeling by the bonfire. This time, the nun made a movement; her trembling hands plunged into the fire, the burned hands gently cupping the heart of the flame. Consequently, the blue flames on Shard’s body were absorbed by the bonfire, disappearing into the reddish-orange flame as if being absorbed.

Sister Delphine remained silent, but Shard had almost figured it out. There was probably a special flame-related Relic in the building upstairs, and the nun hoped he could help contain it.

The strange blue flames weren’t highly lethal, at least not to Shard. But if the body or maintained shield made contact with the flames, it would result in forced space transfer, and this trait was indeed troublesome.

Sister Delphine didn’t comment on Shard’s first two actions, but as her silence continued, the more Shard felt his own embarrassment. Carrying the lantern, he quickly ascended the stairs in two steps.

The gentle voice of "her" in his ear commented:

[The pride of a man.]

Shard did not deny that his self-esteem had been hurt, which is why he wanted to quickly and thoroughly find out what was at the end of the third-floor corridor.

Thus, two minutes later, with another muffled thud, Shard returned to the first floor, holding onto the wall. This time, only the hem of his pants was tainted with blue flames, which were quickly absorbed by the bonfire before the nun.

"Besides appearing out of thin air, those flaming figures can also extend their hands directly from under the floor."

Without anyone asking, he spoke to himself and didn’t look at the expression of Sister Delphine, who was kneeling by the campfire, as he briskly picked up the lantern and headed upstairs again.

Again, two minutes later, with the fourth thud, a large swarm of butterflies suddenly appeared on the first floor, a quarter of which were burning with blue flames. As the red butterflies converged to form Shard, the blue fire was once again absorbed by the bonfire before the nun.

Shard swiftly turned around and dashed upstairs without uttering a word, thus missing the slight smile under the eyepatch of the nun by the fire.

This time, Shard persisted upstairs for quite a while, and from the first floor, one could hear the continuous sound of impacts, explosions, and the indistinguishable scurrying noises of small animals coming from above.

After another thud, Shard appeared on the first floor and quickly rushed upstairs for the sixth time. Five minutes later, he finally descended from the third floor back to the first floor. By then, the wick of the old kerosene lantern he held had an extra flicker of blue flame.

"Scribe Level Relic [Fire of Return], often found in ancient tombs, complex forest depths, and closed-off dilapidated mansions. Its trait is that, when a living person approaches, it continuously generates flame-shaped humanoids, which explode and send beings tainted by the flames back to the ’origin.’

Shard descended the stairs as Sister Delphine rose and revealed the truth about this relic:

"Legend has it that an unknown adventurer from the Fourth Era left this Soul Flame behind.

If one can withstand the scorching heat, they can return to the original point.

Although it’s a regret of someone lost in the maze upon their death, it’s also a lingering desire for return left behind."

"Sister, you could have told me what was up there before I went upstairs."

Shard said as he approached the nun. He opened the lantern’s cap, and the unholy fire from the relic flowed towards the nun’s hands, holding up a slender flame with a black circular core.

The blue flame was quickly absorbed by the "Fire of the Primordial," and did not even alter the color of the flame in the nun’s palm. She silently closed her hands until the slender flame was completely covered.

On the back of her hands, pitted with burn marks, red flames flickered and disappeared, resembling fire veins on the white skin. Shard clearly sensed that, after devouring the new flame, Sister Delphine seemed to have gained Spatial Power.

"Yes, the Primal Fire inherently possesses Spatial Power."

She lowered her head, as if understanding what Shard was speaking of:

"Tomorrow night, I need the power of space."

Keeping her habit of being succinct, the nun explained everything clearly in just a few words. Shard nodded, asked for the witch’s mission checklist and, after crossing off "the burning blue apartment," the checklist only had three unimportant tasks left.

"The Grand Witch of Time is indeed impressive."

He sighed softly, not noticing the nun’s expression of wanting to say more but holding back. He put away the parchment, grasped the doorknob to open the door, but a hand reached out to hold his hand on the doorknob.

At this moment, there were only two people in the apartment, naturally, it was Sister Delphine holding his hand from behind. Shard was a bit perplexed, then felt the nun’s palm heating up, and the same fiery red cracking appeared on both of their hands. The flame surged from the nun’s hand into his arm, granting the Primal Fire flowing within him a new trait.

[Outlander, when you use "Enhanced Spatial Awareness," you can perceive a wider range of flame shards scattered by the "Fire of the Primordial."]

[Outlander, you can recover your spirit by absorbing flames... although the effect is very subtle.]

Though he hadn’t gained the new ability of Spatial Movement, perceiving the position of the Primal Fire’s shards was quite useful, considering he would soon set foot on the island.

In the dark, the nun behind him did not release Shard’s hand:

"Tomorrow night, before confirming the sealing of the Green Lake Central Island, please do not break the seal of the Primal Fire."

"Of course, I understand. Once the seal is broken, it would spell catastrophic disaster for the Material World. We originally came to prevent this from happening; it would be foolish to become the very cause."

The nun nodded, finally withdrawing her palm. Shard resisted the urge to turn back to see her expression as he pushed open the door and then, with a thud, opened the umbrella. The rainy night was mildly cold, and the sound of rain intruded the room, disrupting a peculiar atmosphere between the two.