Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Chapter 1944: The Teacher’s Help and Praise to Tree Father

Miss Danester’s mouth twitched:

"This is one of the few times I’ve acted alongside you. Come with me. My projection body doesn’t contain much power, but it should be able to help you."

Her eyes gleamed slightly in the darkness, and after placing her hand on Shard’s shoulder, the two of them lifted off the red sandy beach and flew towards the surface of the lake.

Suddenly, a massive black tentacle shot from the distant water surface like a cannonball. Before Shard could make a move, the Red Moon hanging discreetly in the sky cast a clear red light, causing the tentacle, which Shard barely saw, to quickly rot and decay.

"Remember, the Red Moon represents flesh and reproduction. Although the Red Moon shares most properties with the Moon, its true power lies in impacting flesh."

Flying above the waves and rocks, she whispered in Shard’s ear and then chuckled:

"All this time, it seems that only now have I truly taught you the first piece of knowledge about the Red Moon... No wonder you’ve never called me ’teacher’."

Shard couldn’t respond to that statement. They gradually moved away from the dock, and beneath the surging green lake surface, an incessant supply of tentacles, corpses, and more peculiar aquatic chimera monsters were trying to attack them, while Miss Danester’s ability to manipulate flesh to self-destruct rendered Shard’s intervention unnecessary:

"It’s also because I’ve been busy with my own matters for so long. Once the Green Lake affair is over, I’ll focus on attending the Academy every day, listening to your lectures."

He could only say that, and Miss Danester smiled. Although this was a projection of her body, due to the nature of the Red Moon and her own spellcasting characteristics, this projection felt exceedingly real, and Shard could even feel the touch of strands of hair grazing his cheek.

Finding the stranded boat was easier than Shard imagined. Enhanced Spatial Awareness couldn’t detect very small objects, but the wreck that was almost fused with the scene was still easy to find.

The boat wasn’t far from the dock, now only its front half remained, almost grown into the rocks, and the stern had long disappeared.

After placing Shard on the rocks, Miss Danester turned to face the creatures continually emerging from the water. Compared to the jungle, the number and strangeness of these aquatic monsters were strikingly greater, likely due to Laplace Klein Howard tossing most of his failed experimental products into the water.

The half-sunken boat wasn’t from a distant past, as it bore traces of steam power. However, despite not being separated by much time, it had already worn away most of its traces.

Behind the clouds, the Red Moon was receding rapidly, and although Miss Danester swiftly eliminated the encroaching underwater monsters from all directions, the lifespan of this incarnation was rapidly decreasing.

Fortunately, after Shard hacked at the boat, he finally discovered a human skeleton at the bottom of the cabin. Sprinkling bone powder and using the Arcane Technique "Soul Echo," the skeleton’s spirit indeed emerged, unexpectedly called forth by Shard’s necromancy.

The appearance of a wraith usually brings chilling winds, but in this environment, the deathly wind from the undead was no longer the eeriest thing.

The spirit manifested as an ordinary fisherman, and as Shard reached out to touch it, he confirmed that its soul wasn’t under any external control.

Shard quickly posed his question:

"Who are you?"

"A resident of Puhov Village."

The voice was utterly monotonous, yet the accent was indeed the rustic dialect of the Lakeside Fishing Village.

"Why have you appeared here?"

"Summer of 1840, fishing in the rain. A monster from below the water bit into my fishing hook and dragged me here."

Shard paused, considering another method of island arrival:

"How did you die? Your corpse bears no bite marks."

"This place is terrifying. Just a single glance around drove me insane. I hid in the cabin, letting the monster drag the boat forward until it crashed into the rocks. My neck broke; I died."

These details were of no use to Shard:

"What else do you know?"

The spirit flickered twice in midair, its previously blank expression transforming into one of terror:

"Those who escaped from the coffin... Enemies from past times... Guardians of Space-Time, the tree? Tree~tree! Oh, it is the tree!"

Under Shard’s amazed gaze, it shouted loudly:

"Praise—Father of the Infinite Tree!"

The spirit vanished immediately, as if erased from existence. Shard slightly opened his mouth, as this was the first time he saw someone other than himself voluntarily worship the Tree Father. Combined with his mention of "the one who escaped from the coffin," it appeared the fisherman had interacted with the Edwards Family’s third-generation Firstborn, Envy Edwards, who transcended space-time and lost control.

"But what does this mean?"

Attempting to communicate with spirits again, Shard found the fisherman’s skeleton had disappeared, leaving only a dark pool of blood on the ground. From the traces on the ground, it seemed as if the skeleton had never been there.

This discovery only reinforced Shard’s feeling that the Diviner had perhaps touched a formidable power.

He reached into his pocket and touched the Time Key obtained from the Treasure Chest Monster. Although tonight the cooldown period of the key isn’t enough to open a new one, the power of the Father of Trees might still reveal itself on this island.

With a slight frown, the pool of blood on the ground wriggled and grew into a small sapling. Shard reached out to touch it, as he had in the cemetery and town, and "she" gave another hint:

[Outlander, you feel a miracle, desecration, enlightenment, and a whisper.]

[Outlander, you touched the "Edwards’ Ascension Technique" and extracted the power symbolizing "transcendence of time."]

[The island’s suppression on you has weakened; the island shows goodwill towards you.]

"This blood isn’t the fisherman’s, it’s Envy Edwards’... Miss Danester, you can leave now!"

Shard turned to Miss Danester behind him, who was floating with a large yet illusory Thirteen-Ring Life Ring. The red-haired lady waved her hand and slashed down with a red blade at a massive skeleton emerging like a mountain from beneath the water, stepped back two steps, grabbed Shard’s shoulder, and flew into the sky.

A familiar dizziness suddenly came over him, the "Spatial Chaos" he hadn’t experienced in a while seemed to appear due to their rapid movement.

"Spatial Stabilization Aura~Enhanced Spatial Awareness!"

Instead, Shard grabbed Miss Danester’s hand in the air, and the Female Sorcerer felt the chaotic space around her being firmly anchored by Shard like a "nail." Then she looked down and hurled a dazzling red light at the numerous octopus tentacles surging upward from below:

"Arcane Technique - Blood Burst!"

How the exploding flesh contaminated the green lake water, Shard couldn’t see. Miss Danester quickly brought him back to the dock, her body now turned into a translucent red, the temporary projection clearly about to end.

Shard shared the recent achievement:

"The body on the boat is a fisherman who strayed onto this island. He didn’t get here by luck; some of the creatures lurking in the real Green Lake have the ability to come and go between the two islands."

Danester quickly understood Shard’s meaning, her red eyes growing brighter as her body became translucent:

"Following those creatures, you can find a way in?"

She nodded and looked up at the almost disappearing Red Moon, then said to Shard:

"Take care of yourself, I can’t continue with you. However, this projection still contains some unused power, which I bestow upon you, wishing you a safe journey."

After speaking, her red translucent figure extended her arms and embraced Shard. A gentle and warm power surrounded Shard’s body, and then the red light forming the lady gathered onto Shard’s arm.

Rolling up his sleeve, the symbol of the Red Moon appeared on his skin. This one-time power left by Miss Danester was explained tenderly in Shard’s ear on how to use it, with most of the Red Moon Magic she mastered left here, but Shard could only choose to activate one.

Wanting to express gratitude, the gentle figure had already disappeared. The Red Moon in the night sky was gone, and Shard couldn’t quite describe what he was feeling then.

"So many people have been helping me..."

Suddenly, his chest pocket grew warm. Reaching in, he found the talisman used to communicate with the girls at the inn had spontaneously destroyed itself. So Shard, not thinking about anything else, bent a Return Charm and vanished into the thick fog at the dockside.

"Shard."

Just as he adjusted to the bright flames on the inn’s first floor, Granny Cassandra’s voice directed his gaze aside.

The oldest Old Witch of the current Council, using some unknown power, appeared in a black robe on the inn’s first floor.

She walked straight toward Shard, handing him a golden Holy Emblem held in her hands:

"This is a one-time alchemical tool made by the Speaker to assist Witch Apprentices trapped on this island. It contains the power of those seven witches, allowing any Witch Apprentice to release their combined power once. Although you are not a Witch Apprentice, we believe you can use it as well."

Shard held the ancient God’s Holy Emblem in his hand. The power contained in this Divine Item far exceeded the brooch with Iluna’s "Sunlight Gun" and was only slightly weaker than the Sun Holy Emblem from Sister Perry of Randall Valley, passed down from the Fifth Era.

"Granny, how are things outside? Are you all okay?"

Shard asked with concern again, the old woman smiled and shook her head:

"Don’t worry about us, we will arrive in time. The Church of the Five Gods has confirmed that Iluna Beath has also arrived on the island and is attempting to project more power to help him. If you encounter the projections of the Church’s Thirteen-Ring Sorcerers, you can also try to persuade them to help you. Additionally, your two friends known as the ’Doctor’ and the ’Priest’ entered the lake alone, they said, the coffin can...