Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Unfortunately, Shard was only a beginner and his understanding of the "Silvermoon" Elemental Rune was shallow, and his Spirit was weak. As a result, those Light Traces could not even leave obvious marks on the walls.

But if it were merely to harm the fragile human body, close-range strikes would probably suffice.

Although this Arcane Technique was currently of modest power, the Light Trace left in the air was extremely beautiful—more elegant and refined than the depictions in books, which captivated the curious orange cat, Mia.

Of course, the above four Arcane Techniques from the courses were just provided for free by the Academy. And if Shard wanted to obtain more Arcane Techniques from the Academy, he could go to the library, look them up, and then pay for the knowledge of those spells.

The various professors also had their own collection of Arcane Techniques and Sorcery, and getting high scores in their classes was another way to obtain free Arcane Techniques and Sorcery.

According to Dr. Schneider, the library\'s prices were unreasonable, and it was the Academy\'s "exploitation" of Correspondence Students.

Shard preferred to buy from his groupmates and local Circle Sorcerers rather than the Academy, which he would use only as a source of rare Arcane Techniques and Sorcery.

Whatever the case, the outlander had thoroughly stepped into the mysterious and transcedent gateway of the Steam Age.

Summarizing his current situation, the Outlander found that his biggest deficiency was neither time nor experience, but Gold Pounds. Thus, he became even more determined to operate the Detective Agency, which was the best way he could find to make money at present.

"By earning Gold Pounds from assignments and acquiring knowledge from Saint Byrons. Obtain the Four Elements Rune and keep advancing, and even if I can\'t go back, I will witness this mysterious and magnificent world," he resolved.

Now that he had his own house, Shard no longer felt the oppression that he had experienced in the past days.

As for copying books from his past world or using knowledge from the past world to profit in the Steam Age, those plans would wait until he was firmly established here and had gained more power.

Having spent the entirety of the day playing with the cat and reading, Shard, who had mastered his first Arcane Technique, was still very happy even though he hadn\'t earned a penny today.

So came the night. Upon seeing that it was eleven o\'clock on the clock, Shard first locked the nocturnal orange cat Mia in the bedroom, then moved the coffee table and sofa aside to create space.

He arranged the four chairs from around the dining table into the living room, adjusting their orientation meticulously with a compass, and finally placed a full basin of water at the center of the chairs.

He put on the only suit he had in his wardrobe, closed the curtains, and adjusted the gas lamp in the living room to a dim, warm yellow.

Only then did he sit in the chair facing due north, with a match in one hand and the elective class list parchment roll in the other. Fixing his gaze on the clock as it approached twelve, he quickly struck a match along the armrest of the chair.

Because he struck too hard, the match broke in half. Shard was slightly startled, but he immediately drew another match from the box on his knee.

In this era, matches were not the safe kind - there was no friction strip on the side of the matchbox. Striking a match on the ground, the sole of a shoe, or a wall was the common practice.

Finally, the second match lit successfully. Shard looked up at the clock and, upon hearing the first chime, immediately ignited the parchment roll. The parchment roll caught fire almost instantly, and as soon as the flame appeared, he promptly dropped the roll into the water before him.

Although he had prepared himself, Shard was still somewhat surprised to see the submerged parchment roll dissolved into specks of blue light that scattered across the basin:

"What is this?"

As he pondered in his heart, the voice of the woman in his mind unexpectedly spoke:

[It\'s not an Arcane Technique or Sorcery, it\'s an even older force of Mysticism, this is some kind of ritual.]

"A ritual?"

Before he could receive any further explanation, he saw the entire basin begin to emit a glimmer. With the windows closed, a wind arose inside the room at that moment, and within that wind, three beams of light were projected from the basin in the east, west, and south directions respectively.

Consequently, three blue transparent human figures gradually became distinct from being blurry and appeared on the chairs Shard had prepared. Shard even noticed characters swimming within their translucent bodies, but even deciphering a single one caused his head to ache, so he learned from the lesson of the "Box of Darkness" and did not maintain such an ardent curiosity.

The appearance of the three figures suddenly made the room feel colder.

Sitting directly south, facing Shard, was an elderly man wearing round glasses. He was dressed in formal black attire and was even taller than Shard, with a pocket watch chain extending from the pocket on his chest fastened on the button in front:

"Vice-principal of Saint Byrons Integrated Academy, Head of the Student Affairs Office, Professor Hams Sanchez of the Academy of Library Management."

Professor Sanchez introduced himself in very standard Draleon language and nodded slightly to Shard.

This name was the same one left on the message for Shard, the one who had arranged to meet Shard in this manner.

The man sitting in the eastern chair looked to be in his forties, thin but with a resolute expression. Similarly dressed in black attire with a white shirt, the cufflinks bore the emblem of Baylens Comprehensive Academy, a book chained shut.

His ears appeared somewhat pointed, unlike an ordinary person:

"Vice-principal of the History Academy, Professor Hensinger Garcia."

His Draleon language clearly wasn\'t as standard as Professor Sanchez\'s—in the present world, Southern Carsonrick language and Northern Draleon language were widely spoken; maybe Professor Garcia was originally a Southerner.

The last person, sitting on the western chair, was a lady in her thirties with curly hair. She wore a monocle over her right eye and was dressed in the common style of blue ladies\' clerical uniform, holding a writing pad and pen in hand.

She nodded to Shard in a friendly manner, her speech was not as formal as the professors\':

"I am Lax Jones from the secretarial department of the Academy. According to regulations, when an Academy professor communicates with a Correspondence Circle Mage in a non-teaching capacity, a secretary from the secretariat must record the content of the conversation and archive it. This is to protect both you and the secrets of Saint Byrons."

"I understand, Professor Sanchez, Professor Garcia, Miss Jones, good evening… would you like some hot tea? My black tea here is quite good."

After a brief moment of surprise, Shard politely addressed the three transparent figures. He wondered if this ritual was akin to the principle of a projector. Meanwhile, the chilly atmosphere suggested that perhaps the original purpose of the ritual was not intended for remote meetings.