Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 786 - : The Cat and the Sun (Extra - for Votes)

Chapter 786 -786: The Cat and the Sun (Extra Chapter for Votes)

Miss Samuel had spread a blanket by the bonfire, and after Shard carefully set down Miss Orland, he inquired about the extra stone platform here with five slots.

“Yes, this is the Altar sealing the ‘Nameless Ritual Book.’ After you left, Briony and I managed to bring it here,” she explained.

The stone altar was about half the height of a person and somewhat resembled the courtyard fountain Shard had seen at Miss Galina’s estate.

Surrounding the circular altar were five evenly spaced slots, and in the middle of the altar was a raised square stone block, where the ‘Nameless Ritual Book’ was probably located.

Miss Samuel handed Shard a bottle containing the Kindling Flame, then reached into her robe and handed him the relic — the body of a ‘Sun Worm,’ apparently using it as a hot water bottle.

But Shard didn’t immediately reach for the five items he had prepared, instead, he rummaged in his pocket for Mia’s doll and used a handkerchief to transform it back into a real cat:

“Meow!”

The cat squatting in Shard’s palm looked up, basking in the firelight, emitted a gentle cry, and then curiously widened her amber eyes to look around.

This indeed let Shard breathe a sigh of relief; he had risked bringing Mia into the Land of Death, and even though Mia was in toy form, he’d still been worried that the cat would be affected. Now it seemed his worries were unfounded.

Carefully setting Mia down on the ground, the timid cat did not dare to run around but lay by Shard’s legs, cautiously observing her surroundings.

Miss Samuel, too, was spiritually healed by the appearance of this lovely little creature, and said softly with a smile:

“Is this your pet cat? Most witches from the Academy prefer pets that can be used in battle, like magical creatures or birds like owls that can carry messages. However, this cat is so adorable it’s surely more popular than those practical pets.”

She extended her hand to stroke Mia, but the frightened orange cat dodged her touch.

“It’s not quite my cat yet, but I’m trying to make it mine,”

Shard said with a smile, seeing Mia lifted his spirits a bit.

The orange cat Mia, barely a year old, was usually very fearful of unfamiliar environments but would afterwards exhibit the curiosity typical of her species. After noticing that the only stranger here was the bespectacled woman, she shifted her attention to the two items in front of Shard, the ‘Sun Worm’s corpse’ and the glass bottle containing the Kindling Flame.

She reached out a paw to grab it, but Shard, mistaking her interest for the bonfire, hurriedly scooped her up with one hand.

“Miss Samuel, do you think there is something wrong with this cat?”

In her laughter, Shard posed this question.

The witch from Zaras chuckled lightly:

“What, you think like some witches of our time that your pet cat will one day turn into a beautiful girl? That’s not possible without magic potions or special relics; a cat is just a cat.”

As she spoke, she adjusted her breathing and then gently sprinkled some grey glimmers on the cat that Shard was holding. The glimmers also touched Shard’s arm but felt like nothing since they were not solid.

“A completely normal pet cat.”

“Good, let’s get back to the matter at hand. We need five items; I’ve collected some after I left,”

He began taking things out of his pocket:

“This one will definitely work.”

The Sun Holy Emblem Brooch made by Iluna, along with the two items prepared by the witches, was placed together.

“And then these five, we can try them one by one.”

The five items were a ‘Parchment branded with a Sun Rune’ purchased from Mr. Edmund, an ‘Antique badge that slightly enhances Sun Power,’ a ‘Heated Pebble’ gifted by Miss Galina, a ‘Suspected fragment of a Sun Knight’s broken sword,’ and a ‘Ruby with natural sun pattern flaws’ obtained from Old John.

The ruby was the most expensive, while Miss Galina’s two items had cost Shard nothing.

He was short on time and did not delay any further. Standing up with the items, he went to the altar. Although Miss Samuel was not in great shape, she forced herself to stand and followed behind Shard.

Shard first placed the bottle containing the Kindling Flame and the relic into two of the altar’s slots, and as the items were placed, dense warm yellow lines spread from the circular slots towards the square stone box in the center of the altar. On closer inspection, these lines formed two-fifths of a Sun Pattern.

“Meow!”

Mia seemed extremely excited, trying to break free from Shard’s grasp, but he held her tightly.

“Look, Briony and I were right,”

Miss Samuel remarked.

“Then next…”

The brooch made by Iluna was placed into the third slot, and even denser patterns crawled over the surface of the stone altar; Shard’s guess was also not mistaken:

“Then it’s two out of five; I hope my luck isn’t that bad,”

Shard said softly, first stuffing the ruby into a slot, but it had no effect. Then the heated pebble and the broken sword were tried, also to no effect.

He immediately became nervous, as did the witch behind him.

“Miss Samuel, your turn next. I think my luck might be a bit off.”

“Is this some kind of silly superstition?”

The witch asked, but still picked up the parchment from the Sixth Era New World, placing it into the groove. Warm yellow patterns slowly spread from around the groove toward the altar, making the sun pattern on its surface more pronounced.

“See, your luck is indeed better.”

Shard breathed a sigh of relief as the witch then placed the last emblem into the final groove. Both of them watched intently, but to no effect; even after a silent ten-second wait, nothing happened.

“Good thing we have a backup plan. Shard, summon that deity, using my power to form a book.”

Miss Samuel staggered, trying to sit back by the campfire. Shard, worried she might fall, quickly reached out to help her, which gave Mia the chance to leap from the confines of Shard’s arms.

“Miss Samuel, we could think of other methods. If you use up your last wish here, how will you leave the Valley of Dead Silence?”

He supported the seemingly frail High Ring Witch, and the scholar from Zaras Academy said helplessly in a soft voice:

“But do we have any other options? Without breaking the seal to retrieve the ‘Nameless Ritual Book,’ the deity won’t allow us to wish for an escape.”

“Let’s think of something else, maybe you have something else in your hands…”

A burst of warm yellow light appeared behind Shard, the light even momentarily overpowering the campfire’s glow. Warm, holy—Shard couldn’t exactly describe the light behind him, but for a moment, he truly felt as if the sun itself was there.

Turning around, he saw a complete sun pattern had formed on the altar. As the light subsided, cracks appeared on the surface of the stone box at the center of the altar. Eventually, the square stone box split open, revealing a stone slab inside.

Without approaching, he could see Mia quietly squatting by the final groove, back turned to Shard and the witch, gazing at the stone slab at the center of the altar.

Shard couldn’t see the cat’s front, only its fur from behind and the short tail hanging from the edge of the altar.

“This…”

Before Shard could draw nearer, Mia scurried towards the stone slab. It sniffed with its nose, then lifted its leg onto it, and eventually settled down in a seated position—an all-too-familiar posture for Shard, the one it always took before settling down to sleep.

“What is going on? How can my cat…”

Shard could not comprehend, gazing in astonishment at the cat. Then he turned to Miss Samuel, who asked in a soft voice:

“Has this cat ever exhibited supernatural powers?”

Shard considered it:

“Aside from being exceptionally smart, it doesn’t have any other traits.”

Aside from absorbing a hint of divinity, but the divinity Shard had used came from the ‘Lord of the Blood Feast,’ a deity that had no connection to the ‘sun.’ Moreover, none of the divinity Shard had absorbed so far had any relation to the sun.

“Has it shown any anomalies, like disappearing occasionally or using any magic potions related to the sun?”

Miss Samuel asked again.

“Not while I’ve had it. This cat is even somewhat shy, very reluctant to go outdoors with me. As for its time before I adopted it, its previous owner, Miss Mia Sun Gold, was just an ordinary girl who returned to the countryside to inherit her family’s estate.”

Miss Samuel nodded:

“Then there’s only one possibility left…”

Shard watched her expectantly.

“Your cat has a special lineage, a noble lineage related to the sun.”

Shard was greatly disappointed; this conclusion had been suggested by Miss Galina and even Luviya. They all believed Mia’s high intelligence stemmed from some unknown ancestor’s special lineage. Perhaps neither Mia’s paternal nor maternal line expressed this peculiarity, but in Mia’s generation, suddenly the lineage became dominant.

This wasn’t impossible — Xerxes Higher Medical Academy had respective research.

[So, why do you expect that this cat has something else special about it?]

The voice in his ear also sounded, Shard had no answer, so he didn’t respond:

“We’ll investigate this cat’s matter later, let’s quickly hand this over to that grey-robed Old Sage.”

Shard said, reaching out to lift Mia from the slab, intending to then take the stone slab. Unexpectedly, the cat for once resisted Shard, stubbornly clinging to the stone slab, reluctant to move—a sight that reminded Shard of a hen nesting he had seen in the countryside at Midshire Fort.

It took a while before Mia reluctantly stood up, swept the slab’s surface with its tail, and then jumped into Shard’s arms. Perhaps it was an illusion, but Shard thought the orange part of the cat’s fur seemed glossier than before.

Shard pinched the cat in his arms, first the ears, then the belly, then the paws, and then the tail, ending up getting swiped by Mia. He had hoped to uncover some new clues about the cat from pinching it, but Mia probably didn’t have the trait of dropping little notes with each pinch.

He reached for the stone slab, and the altar immediately collapsed. The stone material turned into a pile of dust, and the three items in the grooves, except for the relic ‘Corpse of the Sun Worm,’ turned to dust as well.

Shard once again lost the brooch made by Iluna.