Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 1738 - 1737: Mineralogist

The two figures in the mist embraced tightly, attempting to vent some unspeakable emotion derived from "desire" in this way. Ultimately, Shard was the first to regain clarity, trying to push Megan away, but the body led by the Female Sorcerer instantly switched to one dominated by the Witch, continuing the kiss even more passionately.

Evidently, both Megan and Audrey were affected.

In the end, Shard successfully parted from Audrey, and both were entirely lucid at this point; however, Shard still felt a flame dancing in his heart, hoping that Luviya’s astrology wouldn’t last very late tonight.

The Witch was unaware of Shard’s thoughts. She wiped her lips, feeling as though her heart was about to leap out of her chest:

"You’re quite skilled."

She said, lightly biting her lip again, and lifted a hand to her face, revealing her true appearance as the Illusion Technique concealing her visage vanished. Not much had changed, merely that her face looked more exquisite, a beauty beyond normal levels, and because her complexion was pale, she possessed a unique allure that other witches did not have.

Golden eyes gazed at Shard:

"Am I beautiful?"

"Very beautiful."

Shard praised, thinking for a moment, then revealed his true face as well. However, neither Megan nor Audrey recognized who he was. Although Shard’s photographs had appeared in newspapers, most were profile or rear shots. Coupled with the distortion issues in black-and-white photos, she didn’t immediately associate him with the detective from Tobesk.

"Are you feeling better? If so, let’s be on our way."

Shard suggested, and the Witch nodded slightly, her little finger subconsciously twitching before she felt the vibration of the golden thread:

"Much better, let’s go, there’s plenty to do today."

With that, she moved forward again, her lips brushed against Shard’s, savoring a warmth that made her soul resonate:

"If today’s actions go smoothly, come to my place for dinner tonight. We can discuss what you’ll wear to the banquet with me on Friday. I can tell you’re not skilled at preparing a gown for yourself, right?"

She was indeed correct; the girls around Shard were the ones who prepared his clothes, with Lecia particularly interested in it.

"At the banquet, I’ll tell you everything and introduce you to my friends."

She held Shard’s hand, and Shard looked at her with caution, saying:

"As long as you won’t get angry with me at that time, we can do anything."

He was growing more concerned about what plans that red-haired Duchess had.

The terrain of Green Lake Central Island was relatively flat in the north, with mountainous regions in the south. The island wasn’t large; Green Lake Town was located in the northern part of the island, while the Edwards Family mansion was almost at the center of the island.

And today, to obtain keys, Audrey didn’t take Shard to the Green Lake Town Cemetery located in the forest but instead used a forest path to enter the already abandoned Green Lake Town, then took Shard southeastward in the town, eventually stopping in front of a very ordinary building.

The buildings in Green Lake Town were mostly low, and the two-story building at the town’s edge didn’t look much different from others. The first time Shard followed Megan to the island, although he wandered around the town, he hadn’t entered this building.

"This is it, the residence of the mineralogist, Mr. Rudy McMahon. I investigated his life history; he was a mineralogist with significant academic achievements over a hundred years ago. He moved to the island five years before Green Lake Town’s demise and died six months before the town was abandoned."

Megan said while looking at the building:

"I found the descendants of the surviving townspeople and confirmed through various inquiries that this scholar didn’t actually die but disappeared. When the townspeople couldn’t find him, they had to assume he had died. As a result, he had neither a grave nor a body."

"I recall your key requires precious metals like Mithril, mountain copper... Is this scholar still in the house?"

Shard asked, and Megan nodded slightly:

"Yes, I even suspect his disappearance is related to my ancestor. Follow me, although meeting him doesn’t require the spatial disorientation state like with the Blacksmith, but it’s no easy feat."

She opened the door and walked inside with Shard.

The house wasn’t large, and Megan was familiar with its interior layout, leading Shard through the living room to the stairs, then up to the bedroom on the second floor.

Since this was just an ordinary house in the small town, no adventurers coming to the island specifically looted it, so everything inside remained.

Megan led Shard to the desk, then pointed to a painting on the wall above the desk:

"This is it."

Over a hundred years ago, painting was an excellent option for people who wanted to preserve their appearance, as photography technology was not as mature as today. The painting on the wall was a portrait of the mineralogist. Although it seemed unremarkable at first glance, when Shard reached out to touch it, he indeed felt traces of elements:

"How do we summon the soul?"

Shard asked, and Audrey pointed to a display cabinet on the room’s side, featuring a variety of stones:

"Solving puzzles, yes, don’t look at me like that, I’m not joking. Each time I come here, the stones are arranged a little differently. You need to select the stones with Transcendent traits and place them on the desk; only then can the scholar’s spirit appear. It’s called solving puzzles because there are clues in the room."

"Hmm... how did you know these rules the first time you came? Did someone leave a rulebook on the desk?"

"I learned from my father’s relic; the Edwards who left should all have similar key clues."

Megan was somewhat downcast, but she shook her head to dispel the emotion. In the current situation, it seems the Edwards Family descendants have it easier dead than alive:

"Let’s not talk so much, there are 23 stones in total, let’s get to it."

This room possesses a special power, preventing Circle Sorcerers from directly perceiving whether a stone is ordinary; distinguishing them requires knowledge. Shard was actually curious if he broke the display case and directly touched the stones himself, would his perception be of any use, but he cautiously refrained from doing so.

Audrey was clearly not here for the first time; she recognized most of the 23 stones. The ones that confounded the Grand Witch of Wisdom and Knowledge were precious minerals rarely seen in this Era, and those stones were familiar to Shard, who possessed Witch Echo — they were materials largely used by witches in their magic potions and alchemy knowledge, which are now hard to find.

The two ultimately distinguished 20 stones, but although they couldn’t identify the remaining three stones, Audrey, relying on her past puzzle-solving experiences here, found their names and functions in less than an hour.

Five stones were placed on the desk, and shortly after, as they turned into sand and scattered across the desk, the frozen man in the oil painting suddenly blinked, then moved within the frame:

"Descendants of Edwards, you’re here again?"

His tone was not as rigid as the blacksmith Shard and Audrey had previously encountered, but it also unfortunately lacked the spirituality of a normal soul.

The Witch nodded lightly and took out the materials prepared for the key:

"You required any of the three special metals, I found you mountain copper. Additionally, a black pearl, a steel ingot with a specific carbon content, the Edwards Family’s experimental research memories, family member’s blood, a flawless deep orange gemstone, Green Spine Ore."

The Green Spine Ore was something Shard had encountered before; he found a piece in the Water Ghost Nest and still keeps it at home. This ore enables those without Spatial Talent to temporarily acquire it through special means and is mostly found in areas where space is unstable, while "research memories" are densely written words on yellowed notebook pages.

"Give them to me."

The man in the frame said, with a click~ the painting slightly popped out from the wall. Pulling the painting to the right revealed a hidden compartment in the wall where items could be placed.

Shard looked at Audrey, asking if she needed help to place these ores and materials inside, but the Witch indicated Shard shouldn’t rush:

"Last time you said if I were willing to give you more, you’d reveal more information to me?"

She slightly frowned:

"Can you tell me now what exactly I need to give you?"

She reached into her satchel, clearly having prepared many items in advance.

The man in the painting nodded:

"Philosopher’s Stone."

"Are you joking?"

Audrey asked severely, so the man said:

"Or the other two metals among the three special ones; the more you give, the more I can tell you."

That means "Mithril" and "Mithril."

The brown-haired lady finally breathed a sigh of relief, first taking out the Mithril, only half the size of a fingernail, encased in a small glass bottle. As for Mithril, Audrey looked at Shard, and Shard nodded:

"Just use mine."

His Mithril came from the buyout money of the Circle Sorcerer using an invisible long sword during a team task, later given to Megan when he asked for blood, and he never retrieved it.

Audrey nodded again:

"I will compensate you."

The Mithril ores had already been refined and purified into Mithril by her. The quantity is very small, only the size of a full thumb.

So all materials were transferred into the hidden compartment behind the painting by the two, and when Shard pushed the painting back to its original position, the man in the painting already had a key in his hand.

He tossed the key and looked at Audrey outside the painting with a gaze of Compassion:

"You are no match for your ancestor; you cannot imagine his terror."