Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Chapter 28 Remnants of the Old God

In a very safe situation, having obtained intelligence that had nothing to do with him, Shard was satisfied and intended to turn around to leave, planning to share today's experiences with Dr. Schneider.

But at that moment, the woman's graceful whisper came again in his ear:

[You have encountered 'Enlightenment.']

He stopped in his tracks and furrowed his brows. The element of 'Enlightenment' was related to civilization, yet the rich traces of Arcane Techniques and Sorcery could also possibly lead to its emergence, but here...

Standing in the narrow space between the pipes and the walls because it was a blind spot, there was less rubbish, and instead more animal feces.

Shard examined the wall in front of him carefully, the wall was almost completely covered with all kinds of filthy words and shapes representing private organs, along with many other strange traces that he was unwilling to imagine.

His only two Spirit Runes, for the moment, did not have the effect of enhancing vision, but what really set him apart from others was his ability to decipher almost any text.

Under the sentences that insulted the Deities, at a height above Shard's waist, some strange patterns caught the young detective's eye. Treating them as text, he was able to discern the meaning and pronunciation of those words:

"Reveal."

The ancient language took six syllables to express such a simple meaning.

In the thin fog, a white light flickered before Shard. He stepped back but still stayed between the gap of the pipes and the wall.

The curious cat was startled by the white light, while the person holding it saw a worn stone statue slowly rising from the ground.

Its base was square, and the statue was only half the height of Shard, depicting a nobleman with bat wings and draped in a cloak.

Shard closed his eyes, allowing tears of blood to seep out from beneath his eyelids. He covered the cat's eyes, quickly turned around, and heard a whisper by his ear, a joyful whisper, reciting untold stories:

[You have come into contact with the remnants of the Old God "Vampire Duke Lowell."]

But whether it was because he didn't deeply perceive the "Desecration" of this Old God or because the power of the stone statue with a base leaned more towards "Miracle," Shard gained nothing from "Desecration."

The gains from the sorcery were pretty good though, as Arcane Technique required the corresponding Spirit Rune to be used, while sorcery didn't require a Spirit Rune and was a universal mystical ability of Circle Sorcerers. Since it was "universal," the effects of sorcery were often not as good as Arcane Technique, but in reality, certain sorcery also had usage restrictions.

And judging from the doctor's notes, the sorcery obtained through contact with remnants of Old Gods usually couldn't be learned in other ways.

So, Shard had incidentally come into possession of a rare sorcery, a pity that its effects were not very significant.

Having gained the benefit, the next step was of course to leave immediately.

Shard couldn't take the Old God Statue with him; he didn't even dare to touch it directly with his skin. The existence of the stone statue was clearly related to Lady Lassoya, and it was impossible for the Old God Statue to naturally exist in the city; it had to be that she had brought it into this alley to hide.

Such an act of bringing an Evil God Statue into the city was a serious violation of the law, so Shard had finally concluded that Lady Lassoya did not belong to the side of good.

He then read the six syllables of the ancient script meaning "manifest" in reverse order, causing the Evil God Statue to slowly re-enter the ground.

Only then did he cautiously slip away from the alleyway, not even bothering to save money, and immediately boarded a carriage at the next intersection, without any hesitation, taking the cat with him towards the psychological clinic of Dr. Schneider in the Eastern District of Tobesk City.

But unfortunately, Dr. Bill Schneider was not in the clinic.

The clinic staff still recognized Shard from when the doctor had invited him over as a guest the day before, so Dr. Krei, who was in charge of receiving him, informed him of Dr. Schneider's whereabouts.

An Earl in the city, who preferred not to disclose his name, had a wife and daughter who recently developed Gluttony. The Earl's private doctor thought it was a psychological issue, hence they specially invited Dr. Schneider to diagnose and treat them. Dr. Schneider would be staying overnight at the Earl's estate outside the city and would not be returning at least for today.

As for the address of the estate and the surname of the Earl, they couldn't tell Shard in order to protect the privacy of the patients.

"But Mr. Hamilton, you can leave a note for Bill, and he'll see it as soon as he gets back,"

Dr. Krei said kindly, yet firmly refused to reveal the location of the Earl's estate.