Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Chapter 1982: Progress of the Princess and the Writer

Looking at the girl in front of him, Shard touched his lips somewhat bewilderedly, and the girl sitting sideways was amused by his expression:

"Luviya and the witches are still on that island, but they should soon know you’ve awakened. It’s not troublesome for us to find them since, for some strange reason, both hotels have now become permanently real buildings, making it convenient to travel from here to Green Island. Would you like to hear about what happened during the day?"

"Hmm... actually, I’m more curious about how I should address you. Also, you shouldn’t maintain this state too often, it’s not good for your souls."

He reached out to touch her long golden-red hair, and the girl allowed him to do so:

"You should eat first. I’m fine in this state for a short time. Plus, it’s really interesting."

She described to Shard the sensation of this special fusion state:

"It’s not a complete fusion of soul with soul into one, but rather a bridge built through contact between souls. What I think is what she thinks, and what she thinks is what I think. As for how you should address us..."

She thought for a moment, and Shard lowered his head to deal with his dinner amidst the sound of a cat meowing. The dinner was even still warm; the maids must have been either constantly urging the kitchen to prepare food or they accurately predicted that Shard would wake up at this time.

"It doesn’t matter, it’s a small issue. You could call us Lecia or Dorothy, or even Miss Princess if you prefer."

Hearing the pseudonym Lecia used in Coldwater Port, Shard couldn’t help but smile:

"Miss Princess... can you show me your current Ring of Fate?"

"Of course."

What emerged from behind her was a complete six-ringed Ring of Fate. However, it was one size larger than Lecia’s and Dorothy’s individual Rings of Fate, but not as large as Shard’s.

The spiritual runes on the Ring of Fate were the sum of their individual runes, making her runes twice as many as usual. As for the core spiritual runes, there were five: Enlightenment - [Writer], Enlightenment - [Role Playing], Enlightenment - [Princess], Whisper - [Red Butterfly], and Enlightenment - [Space].

Shard had no opinion about the first three runes. [Writer] and [Role Playing] were core spiritual runes that both individuals shared. As for Lecia’s [Princess] and Dorothy’s [Other Princess], here it only showed as [Princess], which Shard didn’t see as a problem.

Although they originally didn’t have [Space], Shard could understand considering the uniqueness of the Chosen of Space.

Whisper - [Red Butterfly] was the only one that seemed off; originally, their core spiritual runes didn’t include this, and normally a Circle Sorcerer’s core spiritual runes were of the "Enlightenment" type. Runes of the "Whisper" type often indicated a permanent influence on the soul due to relics:

"Do you both feel okay now?"

He asked with a lot of concern, holding her hand again.

Lecia shook her head with a smile:

"Don’t worry about us. Haven’t you noticed, we’re at six rings now?"

Thus, while Shard was eating, she narrated how they and Angelina were accidentally transferred to the underground old house of the Edwards Family during their stay at the hotel. Subsequently, they overcame the urge for soul fusion and absorbed the power of the "Edwards’ Ascension Technique Core Ritual" mentioned by Miss Danester to ascend to six rings.

"Although our core spiritual runes include an extra Whisper [Red Butterfly], the witches have checked, and it’s not a harmful influence. Moreover, see here."

With red butterflies fluttering, one person became two. The Ring of Fate, which had been hovering behind them, also split into two normal-sized ones amidst the re-emerging steam mist.

Lecia and Dorothy appeared hand in hand, their core spiritual runes numbered five and then reverted to four, having gained Enlightenment - [Space]. Additionally, outside the core spiritual runes, each had gained an incredibly brightly colored Whisper - [Red Butterfly]:

"In our normal state, our core spiritual runes only gained [Space], and it’s a normal Enlightenment type. Grace and Helen have also checked, and their influence on us is limited to when we are combined into one."

Dorothy said somewhat troubled:

"The abrupt increase in core spiritual runes is not easy to explain. However, the witches said they have secret techniques to conceal core spiritual runes, so I suppose we need to learn that."

"So, other than the increase in runes, do you have any new abilities?"

Shard asked curiously again, and Lecia immediately nodded:

"Look."

She stepped forward and then appeared on the other side of the bed:

"Spatial Movement."

Dorothy also smiled and said:

"This is just the most basic content. We can now touch the Ancient God Statue and set landmarks. Oh, Miss Sylvia is very curious about our situation and will give us some learning materials on space knowledge before we leave. She also mentioned that she might consider making us apprentices in the future... just consider."

Unlike Margaret, they now had Spatial Talent, but their mathematical skills still didn’t meet Miss Sylvia’s requirement of being ’passable’.

Shard shook his head with a smile:

"Miss Sylvia is quite strict, and she’s still young, not in a hurry to recruit apprentices for herself. But perhaps we can interact more in the future to learn Spatial Sorcery... Well, I’m actually more proficient with the power of the [Moon]."

His Core Spirit Runes are [Silvermoon] and [Space-Time], but if ranked by importance, Shard’s time and space powers are mostly auxiliary.

Lecia moved once again from the other side of the bed to Dorothy’s side. Their Spatial Movement skills were not Arcane Techniques but more like a talent. Apart from both having spatial talents, the more crucial aspect was their special connection.

Lecia and Dorothy demonstrated this to Shard. Miss Writer casually picked up an apple from the bedside table, tossed it upwards, and then the apple fell into Lecia’s hand not far away.

This wasn’t an instance of her throwing the apple to the princess; rather, the apple transferred between the two:

"Currently, living beings are not possible; even small creatures like Mia can’t be transferred. But non-living things can, even relics as long as they’re not uncontrollable. The transfer of objects between us has no distance limits—there is a weight limit, but as long as it’s not excessive, it’s fine."

Lecia was quite satisfied with this new skill, while Dorothy noticed the worry on Shard’s face:

"Are you worried about us?"

"Yes, it started with soul exchange, then turned into constant communication, and now we can exchange touched objects..."

"This hasn’t pushed our fusion forward, but rather strengthened our determination not to become one."

Lecia gently said, her beautiful emerald eyes looking at him:

"We prefer being three rather than two people. After this, you no longer need to worry about our determination."

"So, how Lecia and I can ultimately resolve our uncontrolled gradual soul fusion depends on you."

Dorothy also said, and Shard gave a firm nod:

"I already have a plan. I’ll tell you after I finish eating... Oh, Mia, don’t scratch me, I won’t forget you."

Seeing Shard’s reassurance, the two wanted to revert to their previous state again, a novel feeling they enjoyed, especially Shard’s awkward expression when he couldn’t look at them. But Shard stopped them immediately:

"Alright, alright, I understand already. I prefer having both of you together in front of me. Have you eaten? Would you like to eat something with me?"

"You’re always so good with words."

Lecia laughed but also gave up merging with Dorothy again.

So, Shard continued his dinner, also making sure to feed the cat who supposedly behaved well last night under Angelina’s care.

And during Shard’s meal, Dorothy and Lecia informed him of what happened during the day.

Now, in the real world, only a thin mist was left on Green Lake Central Island. Even though the final mist couldn’t be dispelled, the island had returned to a habitable state for ordinary people.

As for "Green Island," the raging fire finally incinerated the fiery red giant tree, but likely because it served as firewood for the Fire of the Primordial, not a trace of ash was left behind.

Currently, the only thing remaining on that island was the verdant giant tree that appeared because of the "Kiss of the Tree." Its base was beside the lighthouse on the southern hills of the island.

Although the island itself was resealed, it still retained three paths that allowed two-way access to the real world.

One of these was the Green Lake Hotel in the woods, which had been hidden by the witches, unnoticed yet by the church’s Circle Sorcerers.

The second was the path forcibly cleared when the Circle Sorcerers of the church led a large force into the waters around Green Island last night. As space stabilized, the path became a permanent space corridor.

The last path was the one Laplace Klein Howard had been using.

No one knew about this path before, but after Shard went to sleep this morning, Sloss Edwards, the highest-ranking member of the family, came to the hotel, found Megan and Audrey, and handed over the jurisdiction of the island to them.

This jurisdiction wasn’t a worldly ’land deed’ or ’house deed’ but was instead a near-complete control over the island, a power granted by the success of the Edwards’ Ascension Technique.

The ritual, of course, succeeded, but after the success, ’Edwards’ was defeated by Shard, causing most of the power to dissipate, and Green Island didn’t break away from the Material World. The remaining trace of power was inherited by the highest-ranking Sloss Edwards, and it was sufficient to manage the island.