Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

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."]

[The Old God born from the original blood of desecration, craving blood and driven mad by it. At the dusk of bygone days, he developed familiars with the curse of blood, his mind clouded by the blood curse, roaring in the depths of the castle in the dark night.]

[You have heard the story of the Old God "Vampire Duke Lowell," and you have learned one of the miracles of the Old God "Vampire Duke Lowell."]

"Can it inscribe a Spirit Rune?"

A moment later, having confirmed that this was all the information, Shard, having emerged from his surprise, asked with an expectant voice, as the headache from being in close proximity to the Old God Statue lessened.

Afterwards, Shard heard the woman's voice in his heart laughing softly:

[You have acquired the Sorcery, Echo of Blood. You have not yet obtained enough stories of this Deity, outsider, miracles are not so easy to obtain.]

As the whispering in his heart subsided, the Old God Statue transmitted a new power to Shard. The Ring of Fate hidden behind his soul began to rotate, drawing on slight golden elements, allowing the brass ring to be tinged with particles of gold, and extracting a spirit unique to the soul.

Shard's right eye suddenly turned a bloody red, and he gained the power to see inconspicuous residual traces of blood.

Having fully understood what was happening at the moment, Shard didn't check the power he had received first, but instead examined the cat he was holding in his arms.

Although the cat had witnessed the entire process of the Old God Statue's appearance along with Shard, luckily, it had been distracted by the scattering white light at that moment, so it didn't observe the full appearance of the Old God Statue first like Shard did. Therefore, Mia was a bit listless but hadn't suffered the mental impact in the same way as Shard.

The power that Shard had acquired was, to put it simply, his right eye could now see the inconspicuous blood traces lingering on the air and the surface of objects when sorcery was actively triggered.

This ability could also be achieved in Shard's world through certain technological means. But when he used sorcery, he didn't need instruments and merely needed to open his eyes; and as long as there were remnants of blood, no matter how faint, he could see them.

Although it was not a particularly powerful ability, it surprisingly matched Shard's profession as a detective very well.

Shard had never heard of the Old God "Vampire Duke Lowell," in fact, he had not heard any names of the Old Gods besides the "Father of the Infinite Tree."

The story of this Old God didn't make Him sound like a Benevolent God. This judgment was completely correct, therefore, after obtaining the sorcery and the story, the voice in his mind also hinted to Shard that he was coming into contact with the silver element of "Desecration," an element only Evil Gods would possess.

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.