Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Upon hearing a sound from the edge of the clearing, Miss Feliana and the Tree Witch looked up to see the Moon Witch emerging with a torch, followed by Shard.

The area showed little change from when Shard had last left; rings of powder were scattered around the campfire as the center, and beside the reddish-gold fire lay two small tents, a water kettle, a small mirror, a wooden box, a basin with soaking clothes, and other assorted sundry items. This time, however, there were additional piles of wood, seemingly stockpiled for the campfire.

"You've returned."

The witches by the campfire stood up, all smiling as they saw Shard appear.

"Good evening, Miss Feliana. I've returned alive, thanks to the advice you gave me. Oh, and here is the information I found."

Shard, following the Moon Witch to the campfire, handed a briefcase filled with documents to Miss Feliana, the text of which was in the language of the Sixth Era, but presumably, the witches had means to translate it.

Clearly, the witches wanted to ask Shard how he had faced the deity in the future, but in the end, nobody spoke.

"May I ask how long I was gone? A few hours? A few days? Or perhaps a few weeks?"

Shard asked curiously, but Miss Feliana shook her head, saying regretfully:

"We cannot answer that question."

"Why?"

"Because this forest is a unique location in terms of time and space, where time is not fixed, and the perceived rate of time flow is inaccurate, so I cannot answer your question."

When asking the Old God about the situation in Hope Town, the response was the same, implying that this place was similar to Hope Town. Shard promptly used "Time Perception" to check the time, but the answer was only a vague "Autumn of year 3002 of the Fifth Era."

"Is this place some kind of large positional relic?"

Shard wondered.

"One could say it's a relic, or something else entirely. It's complicated to explain, but thinking of it as a positional relic is also acceptable."

Miss Feliana explained, then confirmed:

"Are you still only able to stay for half an hour this time?"

"Yes."

"Then we should not waste time, please sit down. You two, translate these documents into our language and then copy them down. The originals cannot be left here; I wouldn't want to cause any instability in time."@@novelbin@@

The witches were still unaware that Shard had accessed this place using the Time Key.

The students grimaced as they copied the documents by the fire, but it wasn't actually handwriting; it was more like manipulating puppets, controlling the feather pens to move on their own, an ability Miss Feliana described as necromancy.

Meanwhile, Miss Feliana herself updated Shard on the current situation. The three-person party's venture deep into the Forest of Thousand Trees in the Western Continent wasn't due to being lost. The conditions for the God Summoning Ritual were strict, and it could only be conducted in a similar uncontrolled, unstable area.

The instability of time prevented them from knowing how long they had stayed under the trees, but even for Thirteenth and Twelfth Rank witches, their endurance was waning.

"The Forest of Thousand Trees" was eroding their powers, corroding their spirits, and devouring their souls, necessitating the completion of the God Summoning Ritual as soon as possible.

"Why contact that deity? Given how perilous the situation has become, why not abandon the ritual and leave immediately?"

Shard asked quietly while sitting by the campfire, as the witches' and Shard's shadows stretched far off, the crackling sounds of burning wood almost drowning out their conversation.

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Shard would have liked this environment if it weren't so dangerous.

"The initial purpose of contacting that deity is not something I can reveal, but it certainly wasn't for malevolent intentions. We're not leaving because we can no longer do so; we are at the heart of the Forest of Thousand Trees, and I admit I underestimated the dangers here."

Miss Feliana glanced at Shard, who was sniffing the air around her. From Miss Feliana's body, he detected the perfume referred to by Miss Maid as "Witch's Scent," albeit this one had a slight hint of rose.

"Now, we can only summon that deity. With its help, we might have a chance to leave."

Miss Feliana concluded.

Since the Old God "Blazar Gate" itself controlled the powers of time and space, helping the witches leave this eerie place should not be difficult.

"What difficulties has the ritual encountered now? Are there missing essential ritual materials? Is the ritual itself incomplete? Or are some demanding ritual conditions yet to be met?"

Shard inquired further, having experienced it twice in Tobesk but admittedly not fully understanding such large-scale rituals, though he knew they wouldn't be simple.

"All the difficulties you mentioned exist."

The information Miss Feliana revealed was worse than Shard had imagined:

"The basic ritual circle has been set up here in this clearing. However, entering the Forest of Thousand Trees wasn't smooth, and we lost some crucial ritual symbols along the way; having stayed here too long, the Forest gradually erased our memories, plus the notebook recording the ritual details was damaged, causing us to forget what the final step of the ritual should be; to open the God Summoning Ritual, witches embodying the powers of time, space, and nature must be present. We initially prepared two Angel-Level Relics to substitute for the witches with time and space powers, but the Forest devoured these Relics. It wasn't a physical devouring, but rather the forest drained their powers; one day when we woke up, they had become just ordinary antiques."

There was no daytime here, only eternal night, so Miss Feliana didn't say she woke up early in the morning.

She had her students search the tent for an antiquated hourglass pendant and a cube suspected to be made of glass; Shard also held it in his hands for inspection but indeed felt no elements.

"Perhaps I can resolve the powers of time and space, in fact, I possess these two powers, but I am not a witch," he said as he handed back the hourglass and cube.

Summoning his Ring of Fate, he pointed to the core spirit rune in the center, unrecognizable to the witches:

"This represents space-time, thereby granting me the abilities to perceive time and make short spatial leaps."

"That's good, I knew it, since you can travel through time without a cost, it would not be possible without the favor of space-time."

Miss Feliana revealed her smile:

"It doesn't matter if you are not a witch; it's just that in our era, only witches exist, so I used the term 'witch'. With this, one of the three problems is resolved."

She waved her hand toward one side, and the stacked wood automatically flew into the campfire, making the strange reddish-gold flames grow more vigorous. The Tree Witch and the Moon Witch were listening to the conversation while ordering their quill pens to write; Shard was actually curious about this technology, but upon reflection, he thought Miss Luisa's "Mind Writing" was a bit more convenient.

"We can search for the lost ritual items, repeatedly leaving the campfire and venturing deep into the forest, aiming not only to find some firewood but also for this reason. However, the forgotten conditions for the ritual cannot be conjured out of thin air; you need to search in your own era."

"But I can find only the information about that deity; the time point where I am from might be different from what you imagine, that era's..."

The Sixth Era had lost much knowledge from past eras.

"No, do not continue."

Miss Feliana softly interrupted, her bright golden eyes watching Shard in the light of the fire:

"Do not tell us anything about the time point you are from; if I really wanted to know the future, I should be asking why you know me, given that witches do not leave descendants. Now, answer a question, why don't I want to hear about the future?"

Her tone was like a teacher posing a question to a student, so Shard also became serious:

"Because... although I myself do not bear the cost of obtaining information through time travel and do not cause large-scale temporal chaos, you cannot afford the cost of receiving future information."

"Yes, now answer my second question, why don't I choose to let the future me directly pass the answer to you? Since you know me, it represents that I will not die here and will surely succeed in leaving the Forest of Thousand Trees."

Miss Feliana asked again, and Shard took some time to think as he looked at her face, which held a bit of expectation:

"Because... you do not wish to manipulate time?"

The witch revealed a smile:

"Yes, do not attempt to manipulate time, for time will show its power to us. I would rather die in the forest than be involved in a chaotic temporal event."

"Just like not manipulating fate!"

Shard blurted out, and Miss Feliana's smile deepened:

"Yes, that's a very good example; it seems you understand deeply. All actions against time must be carried out by you, not us, otherwise, there would definitely be problems."

Although the witches had not experienced time expedition, her words gave Shard much inspiration.

Miss Feliana shifted the topic:

"Although I cannot directly inquire of you, I can still get limited information indirectly and find a way to help us. Now, I will ask again, and you answer, never deviate from the scope of my question."

The witch finished speaking and looked toward the two students. The young witches shook their heads in dissatisfaction at their teacher, but under Miss Feliana's gentle gaze, they still got up and moved to a distance to continue writing.

"Please ask."

Shard and Miss Feliana also sat closer, with the treetop swaying in the breeze. Shard realized he still didn't know what this astonishingly large tree was, but Miss Feliana didn't give him time to ask.

"First question, do you belong to an organization that originates from the Fourth Era or even earlier?"

"No."

Shard shook his head, the founder of his organization was right in front of him.

"Then the second question, do you know of any organizations in your era that originate from the Fourth Era or earlier? Name one."

Miss Feliana posed the question again, and although the other two witches sat a bit farther away, they too could hear bits and pieces of the conversation.