Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

After parting ways with Old Cleric, Shard found a three-story gray building that housed a carriage rental company's office three streets away, according to the map. The main business here was to book carriage services in advance for important trips, but there were also carriages available for transporting goods.

Shard knew that it was best not to let ordinary people see his books, so he specifically asked the coachman if he would examine the goods.

"We are a professional carriage rental company. Even if you're transporting a corpse, no, even a whole carriage full of corpses, as long as you don't leave any traces, it has nothing to do with us," the coachman said.

The middle-aged accountant, who took the money from Shard's hand, emphasized with drooping eyelids:

"We are very professional."

The carriage for hauling goods was much cheaper than the one for passengers, even though it was also taking Shard back. By the time Shard personally moved his books into his home at No. 6, Saint Delan Square, one trip at a time, he had spent less than 8 shillings in total.

The number one room on the second floor had seemed quite spacious in the past, but after moving in so many books, the study felt cramped. While keeping his curious orange cat Mia from touching his books, Shard thought that when he had time, he definitely needed to develop the remaining space in the house.

He didn't go out again that day; the exaggeratedly heavy fog outside was not conducive to venturing out, so he honestly stayed at home and perused the books that had cost him 50 pounds, using up coal and steam whose price he did not yet know.

Most of the first-year curriculum for Circle Sorcerers only involved knowledge, not transcendent aspects, so the majority were memory-based test subjects. As an Outlander who had gone through a complete educational system, Shard was good at this and believed he was confident in finishing most of the first-year courses by the end of this year's exam season.

As for the courses that required practical operations, he was very curious about strength and believed in his self-learning abilities, so he felt he wouldn't need too long to get through those courses.

Now that he had acquired the textbooks, of course, what Shard was most concerned about were Sorcery and Arcane Technique, as these were the paths to directly acquiring power. Although he remembered the doctor's warning, Shard still believed he needed the most basic ability to protect himself.

As a first-year Circle Sorcerer just starting out at Saint Byrons Integrated Academy, the textbooks "Basic Circle Mage-Arcane Technique" and "Basic Circle Mage-Sorcery" didn't directly mention too much about Arcane Technique or Sorcery, and the few types that were described seemed fairly ordinary.

Saint Byrons Integrated Academy provided three Sorceries and four Arcane Techniques for free to first-year Correspondence Circle Mages.

The free Sorceries followed a standard system; no matter which Academy's students, the first Sorceries they encountered were the same.

The recommended initial Sorcery techniques to learn and use were Ignite, Water Summoning, and Moving Objects, which have been the forms of the most primitive mystical powers since ancient times, with more advanced Sorceries available for further exploration.

Moreover, studying these three Sorceries did not require a lot of materials, and spellcasting did not need Spellcasting Materials, making them the most convenient Sorceries. Shard learned and mastered them in just half an evening—

"Ha!"

Staring intently at the newspaper in his hand, the newspaper finally emitted a puff of burning smoke, scaring the orange kitten on the other side who had been playfully batting at the paper into Shard's arms.

"Ha!"

He continuously shook the empty cup in his right hand, and as he shook it, the inside of the cup began to dampen. Wiping sweat from his forehead, Shard placed the cup back on the table, but before he could check, the soft orange cat Mia curiously pounced on the cup.

"Ha!"

With a look as if his eyes were about to pop out and bleed, Shard stared at the cup on the table that moved back on its own. The orange cat that had pounced toward the cup changed direction in mid-air, pushed off the table with his little paws, and once again jumped back into Shard's arms, seemingly frightened again.

This was a somewhat timid cat, whose aggression towards strangers was merely a way to protect itself.

At Saint Byrons Integrated Academy, the Arcane Techniques provided to first-year students were determined based on the Core Spirit Rune of the Circle Sorcerer.

Shard's talent was quite impressive; Space-Time and Silvermoon were rare but not obscure. In the basic class of Arcane Technique, the Academy recommended a focus on techniques related to Silvermoon, as for beginner Mystic Scholars, the Space-Time Spirit Rune was both dangerous and complicated.

Therefore, among the four free Arcane Techniques provided by the Academy, only Perception of Time was related to Space-Time, which was to grant Shard the ability to know his position in time at any moment.

While this Arcane Technique seemed not very useful, it was quite troublesome to learn. Being a basic Arcane Technique provided by the Academy, the materials needed for study were naturally provided by the Academy as well.

An old pocket watch with a hundred years of history was easy to find, but the "Four-Leaf Clock Flower," a peculiar plant, though cultivated in the Academy's nurseries, had a complicated harvesting process. Therefore, Shard wouldn't be able to obtain it from the physician until next month.

As for the three Arcane Techniques related to Silvermoon, the Academy provided the following:

Cyndia's Silvermoon Blessing granted healing abilities under the Silvermoon's light, allowing one to heal oneself or others. This Arcane Technique was unique to the holders of the Silvermoon Spirit Rune and could only be used at night.

From its naming, one could discern that this was an Arcane Technique developed by Academy's Circle Sorcerers, using their names as prefixes. If Shard developed a strong enough Silvermoon Light Spell, he could name it Shard's Silvermoon Light Spell.

Illusion of the Moon Shadow allowed the casting of some simple illusions utilizing the power of the moonlight at night. Any holder of a moon-related Spirit Rune could learn this Arcane Technique, but, depending on the Spirit Rune and the user, the illusions would have slight differences, and it could only be used at night as well.

Silvermoon Slash created a slash of silver moonlight in the air to attack enemies, dealing significant damage to those with Enlightenment and Desecration elements. This Arcane Technique was also exclusive for Silvermoon holders, but other holders of runes related to moons, stars, and even the sun had similar techniques, albeit with different effects.

It was the only attack-type among the three Arcane Techniques.

In this world, there were three moons in the night sky: Silver, Yellow, and Red. Each had different meanings in Mysticism, with the Red Moon associated with flesh and reproduction, the Yellow Moon a "guide" and "Moonlight," while the Silver Moon represented the synonyms of "Guardian," "Sanctity," and "Mystery."

Therefore, the Arcane Techniques related to the Silvermoon concept were different from the other moons. Had Shard's Spirit Rune been the higher concept of "Moon," he would have had access to even more Arcane Techniques.

The three Arcane Techniques were carefully selected by the Academy, each leaning towards healing, illusion, and attack, making them quite comprehensive.

And the learning materials were still given along with the books: a mercury-like liquid inside a thumb-size glass bottle known as "Moonlight of Silvermoon," a piece of silver fabric embroidered with the Holy Emblem of an unknown Old God, and a silver knife broken so only the blade remained, engraved with a waxing crescent moon.

But having the materials didn't mean one could instantly learn; Shard still needed to prepare the corresponding environment and master the relevant Spell Words. These were not issues that could be resolved in a single day, so until this night, he had only learned Silvermoon Slash.

The learning requirement for Silvermoon Slash was simply for the Circle Sorcerer to be able to attach Silvermoon's moonlight to the broken silver knife, which was quite simple for Shard at this stage.

He repeated the process under the moon at night, and with each attachment of moonlight, the knife grew shorter. Upon the 13th adhesion of the silver moonlight, the light fully dissipated the Broken Blade. Looking at his faintly glowing hand, Shard had an epiphany and learned this attack-type Arcane Technique.

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