Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

"So, after finishing this book, did you feel a headache?"

Dr. Schneider asked again.

"Did you? Probably..."

He observed the expressions of the two:

"Probably yes, I fell into a deep sleep after I finished it."

Shard hesitated, actually he had spent some time playing with Mia in the evening which delayed him, and he read the book late into the night until he could no longer stay awake. He indeed felt a headache, but it was likely because he had slept too late and was woken up too early by a hungry cat.

"That's normal. Books that contain frenzied knowledge will affect the reader. Even Circle Sorcerers have another self to block the direct power of knowledge, but Circle Sorcerers themselves will still be affected. Shard, actually, you don't need to rush, acquiring the Spirit Rune requires a process."

The doctor kindly consoled, and Shard nodded with his mouth closed, wondering in his mind:

"Is my spirit strong, or are you the one shielding me from those effects?"

[You are me, and I am you, there's no difference.]

During the learning session, Dr. Schneider and Miss Luisa mentioned difficulties encountered in Circle Sorcerer studies, Shard could only understand half of it.

Dr. Schneider recently participated in an elective course called "Aether Mechanics," which was only open to magicians of Five Rings or above but did not teach power, focusing only on theory. The formal name of the course should be "Spirit Mechanics," which is the study of the spirit, existing as idealism, and its interaction with matter.

However, the professor teaching this course, Professor Rutherford, preferred the spirit's old nickname from past eras, which is "aether," hence the course was named Aether Mechanics.

This course was very difficult to comprehend and belonged to the forefront of theoretical courses for Circle Sorcerers. Of course, the doctor was not intent on pursuing theoretical research; he was not even interested in the course itself but wanted to use it to get closer to Professor Rutherford.

This professor from the History Academy was quite formidable, having considerable skills in the arcane techniques of time and space, and Shard would also contact him in his senior years.

Dr. Schneider could hardly understand the course content, doubting his own intelligence, while hoping to discuss topics like "the completely different theories of spirit," "Hilbert Aether Space," and "transformation of appearances" with Miss Luisa, who was a grade below him, in search of new ideas.

Shard believed, the bewildered expression shown by Miss Luisa at that time, looked very much like him when he first dipped into the theory of Mysticism.

Compared to the doctor who had ambitiously chosen "Aether Mechanics" and thus fallen into deep distress, Miss Luisa's problems were much simpler.

She was preparing for the exams in July, planning to complete the non-practical course curriculum of the fourth grade. So recently, she had even temporarily put down her main activity, which is novel writing, fully focusing on memorizing and understanding the theoretical knowledge.

The blonde writer's biggest problem at the moment was Ancient Language, Shard's course was just basic, whereas Miss Luisa already needed to apply it practically.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

She had already been informed that the examination content would be selected from the book "Chasing the Four Elements: Wind and Fire," written in the language of the Southern Tribes' fourth season—Xavigo language. The book itself is also one of the Mysticism books inscribed with elements [Wind][Fire].

Miss Luisa hoped the doctor could help her with a preliminary translation of this thick book of over a hundred pages, but the doctor just shook his head immediately after hearing the book title:

"The dozen or so Ancient Languages I studied, I just passed the tests with barely passing grades. Luisa, it's not that I don't want to help you, but I can't."

He was clearly recalling the scene from many years ago when he prepared for his Ancient Language exam, completely avoiding the book in Miss Luisa's hands.

Seated nearby, Shard, taking advantage of the argument between the two on how to pass the exam, peeked at the opened old manuscript on page 29 with blue ink. Stay connected via empire

He immediately understood the content of less than 200 runes on both pages, roughly describing a personified story of the wind element traveling through the Abyss of Frenzy.

Feeling a slight throbbing in his temples, Shard turned his gaze away. He indeed read and understood a language he was completely unfamiliar with again, but the power of the language itself was harming him.

"I think I can help you with the translation,"

Shard said softly.

The so-called "Golden Finger" of foreigners in this world, that is, special ability, besides the woman with a pleasant laugh in his head, was only the ability to understand all languages. This ability was quite dangerous, as the older and more mysterious the language, the greater the danger. A recent example was the Poet-Level Relic, the "Box of Darkness," losing control.

Perhaps one day, Shard might die from translating something he should not have, with his head exploding.

However, for the learning of Circle Sorcerer, this ability was very useful. He had considered hiding this fact from everyone, but evidently, revealing part of the secret would bring him more benefits.

"Shard, can you understand this?"

Dr. Schneider hesitated to ask as he had just leaned back on the couch to avoid Miss Luisa's passed pen and paper, and now sat up straight, pointing casually at a rune on the page:

"What does this mean?"

"Abyss."

Shard replied, then looked at the doctor, who then looked at the writer:

"Is the translation correct? I'm just at passing level, I don't understand these."

"It should be… right."

Miss Luisa, who was not even at passing level, said:

"But how do you understand this?"

"I'm not sure either. Just now, the 'Space-Time' Spirit Rune suddenly flashed on the Ring of Fate... and then 'another me' hinted to me, and I understood the language."

The doctor and the writer both showed a look of sudden realization:

"At the moment of your contact with the ancient language, the power of 'Space-Time' guided you to gain knowledge from the past, that's how it is."

They made an explanation for Shard.

This was not just a random talk, because indeed, sometimes Spirit Runes do function without being touched at all.

"So, Mr. Hamilton, can you help me translate this book?"

Miss Luisa once again handed the pen and paper to Shard:

"Two weeks' time, by mid-July, a simple translation will do, it doesn't need to be very precise. On one hand, for your mental health, I wouldn't want a Circle Sorcerer on my team to lose control due to my exam; on the other hand, if I score exceptionally well, I wouldn't be able to answer the professor's questions."

Her considerations were very meticulous.

"I think two weeks should be fine."

Shard nodded, and Miss Writer finally showed a relieved smile:

"I wouldn't let you work for free, I can give you a rare sorcery, 'Frog's Leap.' This can give you enhanced jumping ability for a short period, apart from needing disgusting frog legs as spellcasting materials, there are almost no drawbacks. This is quite a rare sorcery; when I contributed it to the school library, I instantly received two practical credits."

Of course, Shard didn't refuse.