“Power? You are too weak. The power I possess is not suitable for you.”
This once again demonstrated the other’s strength, something Shard deeply believed.
The woman paused for a moment before continuing, as if in thought. The temperature in the room had returned to the same level as the corridor, indicating that her mood had also stabilized:
”But I happen to have a decent [relic] in my hand, although its value is far less than that of the statue of the Old God. No, it’s not the [Dark Box]; that’s just a toy for poets (Level 5). I’ll give you a document-level (Level 4) relic and tell you the secret of the [Blood of Mercury], helping you avoid danger, in exchange for the address and spell. How about it?”
”No problem. Thank you for your generosity, madam.”
Since saying nice things didn’t cost money, Shard was happy to use the “Northern Common Language Gift Pack” in his brain, translate Chinese into exotic languages with a translation accent, and compliment the other party.
However, this time, Shard did not willingly disclose the contents of the spell. The woman behind the door obviously knew his intention:
”Recently, a sage-level [relic] has appeared in Tobeysk City.”
This first sentence was somewhat surprising. He initially thought the woman was going to mention a keeper-level relic related to the [Blood of Mercury], the [False Philosopher’s Stone], which Shard had seen in the academy’s bounty notice.
But fortunately, it was only a sage-level (Level 2) relic, not an angelic level (Level 1). But upon careful thought, it wasn’t likely he would suddenly encounter an angelic-level relic, as Shard believed he had certain confidence in his luck.
The woman in his heart laughed again.
”This isn’t really a secret. At least, the church and academy know, as well as other local agents. The sage relic is the [God’s Gift Box], an artifact once used by an Old God who possessed the ability to create.”
The woman behind the door spoke in a teasing tone:
”The one currently holding this sage-level relic is indeed the Blood of Mercury, classifying them as an illegal organization.
For certain reasons, the Blood of Mercury is temporarily unable to move this relic, so the [God’s Gift Box] is still in Tobeysk City. The relic’s power is very strong. Every ring warlock who touches the box for the first time will automatically learn a synthesis formula. By inputting specific relics into the box in a particular order, a more powerful relic suitable for the person can be synthesized—Detective, do you understand?”
”I understand, roughly.”
Shard carefully memorized this information; it was the first sage-level [relic] information he had encountered.
”It’s somewhat similar to the synthesis in alchemy. However, the side effects of the sage-level [relic], as perceived by the ‘Silver Eyed’ Dyrk of the Blood of Mercury, suggest he believes he can master an angelic-level (Level 1) relic [Blood of Mercury] synthesis method through that box.”
The woman laughed, but that laughter was far less pleasant than the laughter currently in Shard’s mind.
”The Silver Eyed intends to use this unmovable sage-level [relic] to synthesize the true Blood of Mercury, which is also the founding goal of the Blood of Mercury organization—to pursue a possibly non-existent [relic]. Therefore, this group brought a bunch of miscellaneous items to this city, including that statue. It’s said there are several other excellent [relics]; unfortunately, I only want that statue for now.”
”What do you think about that sage-level relic, the [God’s Gift Box]?”
Shard hesitated, suspecting that if everything the woman said was true, whether the academy would tell local correspondents the real situation.
If the truth was told outright, then the bounty notice seemed to be a bit evasive. The actual goal of that academy reward notice he saw at the doctor’s place might very well be “finding the traces of the Blood of Mercury,” with the False Philosopher’s Stone being a side issue.
The academy currently had no plans to share this information with the correspondence ring warlocks.
”I’m not at all interested in that item. I know what that box is, so I would never touch it. It appeared in the autumn of Epoch V 1068, very old, very powerful. If I were you, in the coming months, I would definitely hide from the Blood of Mercury in this misty steam city. That group is almost going insane now.”
”Alright, madam, thank you very much for the information. Here is the spell.”
It took a few seconds to remember every word the woman said without missing any, and then he voluntarily recited the six-syllable spell. He added that it was due to the effects of his core spirit runes that he could obtain such knowledge.
However, the woman didn’t seem to care about this statement, just as she didn’t care why Shard could easily make the [Dark Box] lose control.
”Very well, detective. I appreciate people like you. This has been a rather good commission. Then, please accept this [relic].”
The sound of a drawer being pulled came from behind the door, followed by the sound of footsteps. But when the door finally opened, the person who came out was just a young maid. In her twenties, she wore a classic thick black and white maid uniform.
Her long black hair was netted with a white hair accessory, and since she wasn’t working in the kitchen, she didn’t have the apron Shard imagined over her long skirt.
This certainly wasn’t the lady Shard had been conversing with; the outline of the lady behind the door had been described in golden hues in the earlier dark, quite different from this black-haired maid.
The maid opened the corner door of the bookshelf, immediately returning it to an ajar state, preventing Shard from having a chance to peek inside at the “noble lady.” Then, she carefully held a small square box in both hands and approached Shard. The box was wrapped in red velvet, and she held it with one hand. With a slight sound, she opened the box to reveal a ring embedded in the lining to Shard.
The faint scent of blood was caught, but neither the naked eye nor the [Echo of Blood] saw any bloodstains on the ring itself.
The ring seemed to be made of pure silver. As for the ring’s surface, it was covered with yellow amber encasing an unknown insect. The insect looked like an ordinary gnat but was blood-red all over, as if it could come alive from the amber at any second.
[You have encountered ‘Whispers.’]
”A document-level [relic], [Vampiric Ring]. When injured and wearing the ring in direct contact with the skin of any humanoid creature, it can absorb the opponent’s blood to heal oneself.
It cannot cure diseases or curses but can alleviate them. However, if the injury needing healing is too severe, it could result in the contacted person’s blood being drained instantaneously. But don’t use the ring as an attack means, even if you are willing to self-harm. This is a document-level [relic]. Using the ring’s ability to heal frequently will result in the user displaying symptoms similar to bloodthirst.”
This was the woman behind the door explaining. She did not conceal any information about the [relic]:
”Do not wear it when uninjured, or at least do not wear it for a long time, otherwise, I can’t guarantee what will happen. And not just for the [relic]’s side effects. It’s better not to wear it lightly, since I also took it from the Blood of Mercury. They don’t know who took it, so you should be cautious.”
For a moment, Shard didn’t know whether to mock the contradiction between the woman and the Blood of Mercury, or to ponder the relationship between the Blood of Mercury collecting so many extraordinary items related to [blood] and synthesis formulas.
