Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Chapter 233 Bordeaux Candle

After getting permission, Shard took the candle out of the wooden box and confirmed that it was indeed a relic.

He sniffed it lightly, and the candle had no scent; although its surface appeared unmarked, he could feel fine lines when he touched it. However, the candle had burned down to its last bit, and even if there had been any text originally, Shard was unable to discern what it was.

"Scribe Level (4) Relic [Bordeaux Candle], found in the year 201 of the Common Calendar of the Sixth Era by Zaras Literary Academy from the central part of the continent's 'Ghost Town' Bordeaux. Originally a total of twelve candles, they were placed in the mouths of corpses in the debris of a ritual.@@@@

Each of the twelve candles had the same function, making the person holding the ignited candle invisible. In this state of invisibility, one's body temperature, air disturbance, voice, and other factors completely disappear, and almost all conventional and unconventional detection means are unable to locate the person in an invisible state.

You can consider the invisibility provided by the candle almost undetectable.

However, note that you cannot use any supernatural powers during invisibility; otherwise, the candle will extinguish automatically. The effects of supernatural powers before lighting the candle will not disappear (note). Remember, this is invisibility, not entering an unknown space, thus you are still susceptible to attacks in this invisible state."

Many forms of Sorcery and Arcane Techniques can achieve so-called "invisibility," but the level of undetectability this candle offers seems almost impossible, which could be very useful for Shard:

"Can I carry objects while invisible, or do I have to take off my clothes?"

"Any substance that weighs less than twice your own body weight and is in contact with your skin before entering the invisible state, including living beings, can also become invisible due to the candle being lit. However, after becoming invisible, you cannot make any substance you touch turn invisible.

Once the candle is ignited, its burning speed cannot be affected by any means, hence the remaining length can be used to determine the remaining usage time. This one can be used for about 7 minutes and 23 seconds."

The old man, reminiscing about the past, couldn't help but sigh:

"It was a rainy night twenty-two years ago when a Six Rings correspondence student from Zaras Literary Academy left it with me as collateral. Since then, I have never seen him again, and this candle has been stored here all these years. I thought, rather than selling you a relic with heavy side effects, I'd better give you this one, at least it could save your life."

Shard could not verify the truthfulness of the story, and although a small part of him suspected this was a fabrication to increase the price, the story's authenticity seemed highly plausible:

"What about the negative traits then?"

"How much would it cost if I sought your help?"

Shard jokingly asked, and Old John, quite pleased with himself, said:

"Hire me? Oh, young man, gold pounds alone aren't enough, I'm quite an impressive Circle Sorcerer."

"How impressive?"

"Very impressive."

Leaving Old John's Pawnshop, he went straight home. After lunch with Mia, he patiently waited for a reply from Miss Galina.

At home, Shard also experimented with the newly acquired candle's effects and calculated using the length-time conversion formula provided by Old John, reducing the 7 minutes 23 seconds to 7 minutes 01 second.

But at least he managed to figure out most of the candle's traits, starting with the method of lighting; the Arcane Technique "Firestarter" was sufficient to light the candle. While in an invisible state, no matter how he shook the candle, it wouldn't extinguish, which meant that it was possible to perform a lot of extensive actions while being invisible.

The experiment involving invisibility with intelligent life was also successful. He stood in front of a mirror holding the cat, and the moment the candle's flame lit up, the man and cat in the mirror vanished instantly, a bizarre phenomenon that even frightened Shard.

Mia was quite a vigilant cat, so Shard used it to test the effectiveness of the candle's invisibility. He placed Mia on the floor, lit the candle himself, and while shouting and hopping around loudly, circled around the confused cat squatting on the floor.

It indeed did not notice Shard, otherwise, Shard's bizarre actions would have made the cat bristle.

Although it wasn't offensive, the function of "complete invisibility" was powerful enough. It wasn't just useful for escaping; the sudden disappearance during a direct battle, combined with the "Lalleg's Leap" for a stealth attack from behind, was also quite a good strategy.

Even lending the candle to the more powerful Miss Beyas and Miss Annette could play a significant role in battle.

"With this, I now have invisibility, healing, life extension, illusion technique, tracking, eavesdropping, spirit summoning, and other support abilities. Although the attack power of First Ring is not strong, at least my capabilities are quite comprehensive,"

His offensive capabilities in head-on battles were weak and could not be compensated for in the short term. After all, being just First Ring, the Ring Level was the current biggest limitation for Shard.