Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 427 - 285: Before the End of the Competition (Part 1)_2

Chapter 427: Chapter 285: Before the End of the Competition (Part 1)_2

"I remember you should be part of the Sage Sequence, right?"

"It’s the Old Era Historian Sequence."

This self-mocking explanation made Malin pause before he remembered—indeed, even though the Sage Sequence was a T0 Sequence, basically no one could truly become a Sage, as the last three steps didn’t require Magic Potions but required the Tier Three Old Era Historians to climb up on their own.

The Sage Sequence, one of the few publicly known T0 Sequences, was powerful because it could give anyone who embarked on this sequence a sufficient boost in intelligence, but the danger also started from the Tier Three Old Era Historian.

In fact, as early as Tier Five, this sequence was already showing its dangerous form—the Tier Five Archive Librarian, Tier Four Old Era Story Scribe, Tier Three Old Era Historian, then moving to Tier Two Old Era History Writer and Tier One Think Tank Curator, each promotion was a sublimation and refinement of Spiritual Energy.

For those Transcendents with poor spell formation affinity, the position of Archive Librarian was already a very dangerous attempt, for from the Tier Five Archive Librarian onwards, this sequence already started to lean towards Spiritual Energy, all spell formations were replaced by Spiritual Energy spell formations, and it was from the Archive Librarian that the Sage Sequence began to step into the Psychic’s domain.

Transcendents with low spell formation affinity had a certain chance of being captured by Chaos during their first deep dive into the Subspace.

They would become coordinates of Chaos, yet be completely unaware of it.

For such Archive Librarians, the Supernatural Realm had a brand new name for this tier—Tier Five: Dark Archive Librarian.

And for those with high spell formation affinity, reaching Tier Three Old Era Historian was just a matter of course, but after that, to ascend further would become very dangerous.

Because starting from the advancement to Tier Five, to grow, one must deeply dive into the Old Era within the Subspace—yes, crossing time and space, entering the timeline of the Old Era to obtain knowledge.

This was an extremely dangerous act, with every deep dive a test for the owner of the sequence, because diving deeply into the Subspace was not like dog paddling in a swimming pool. Even if you were a top existence in the realm of Psychic abilities, you still had to directly face all the threats and dangers in the Subspace.

The histories of the Third and Fourth Old Eras at Tier Five and Tier Four have mostly been excavated by predecessors, but starting from Tier Three, Old Era Historians will embark on adventures into even the Second or perhaps the First Era.

The First and Second Old Eras were extremely dangerous—those fortunate enough to return spoke of terrifying war machines, dangerous Dark Zones and Death Zones, and dreadful mindless beings. These dangerous factors turned every deep dive of the Old Era Historians into a gamble, for seeking knowledge in those vast, tens of kilometers-long ruins was like finding a needle in a haystack.

Not even one in ten Old Era Historians might become a Tier Two Old Era History Writer.

"I remember your spell formation affinity isn’t high, right?"

"Yes, but I feel I at least can become an Archive Librarian. However, the day before yesterday, one of my cousins... fell to corruption. She was an Archive Librarian. During her fourth deep dive, she was activated by Chaos. When she returned, she opened a gate directly in the Church, and it took the lives of seven people to close that gate." Logan said with a bitter smile, "I just claimed I was a genius, but that’s because I think I have a knack for dumb luck."

"Don’t worry, if all else fails, you can just choose a safer long Sequence, ascending just mid-way through Tier Six of the Sage Sequence should suffice," Malin patted Logan’s arm.

Logan had a bitter expression, "I’ve done tests, I can only have one long Sequence. If I want to change, I must completely forget the Sage Sequence, but this kind of forgetting becomes very dangerous after Tier Eight, so I’ve always been seeking a short Sequence that could boost my Spiritual Energy affinity, but neither my family nor my friends have heard of such short Sequences, not even long ones."

"Well, I’ll keep an eye out for you. But you don’t need to worry too much, times have changed. Firearms are now the newest and best in warfare, no matter how strong the Spiritual Energy is, it can’t beat an Armor-Piercing Bullet," Malin reassured Logan.

The kid stayed silent for a long while before finally saying thank you.

"I knew you’d say that, but thanks, Malin."

"It’s nothing. In the future, if you come across any big deals, remember to bring me in," Malin said, noticing the cake being brought over, "Here comes my dessert."

"Okay, let’s eat first, but... oh, right, Malin." Logan began his typical hesitant manner of speaking.

"Go ahead, what is it? I’m listening," Malin picked up the spoon.

"After the competition, when we get back to Carterburg, I’m planning to marry Miriam." Logan said, looking at Malin, "Can I have you as my best man?"

"Leave it to me. I’ll tear off the heads of any guy who tries to steal the bride from your hands and pull them straight off their necks," Malin boasted, slapping his chest.

"I won’t be needing that, but if someone tries to get me drunk, you’ve got to help me out, I hear you giants can’t get drunk."

"Oh, that? Easy, leave it to me." Malin, being a giant and proficient in certain spell formations, thought the idea of alcohol harming him would probably be the biggest joke of the era.

......

"Why would Malin go to dinner with Logan, what’s so tasty about two boys eating together?" Miriam sat at the table, puzzled, as she came out with Maya and Jessica: "Aren’t you guys worried about anything?"

"What’s there to be afraid of, Miriam? Two men, talking business in a restaurant is perfectly normal, isn’t it?" Jessica said while gesturing for her to come over: "I think this dress looks nice, it’ll suit you well."

"Thanks, but doesn’t Maya want it?"

"No, I don’t like dresses."

Maya was dressed today in overalls and a short-sleeved shirt, with a pair of soft-soled walking boots on her feet.

She was holding her tail in both hands, tempting the grandson of the ready-to-wear shop owner, who was not yet three years old, fixated on Maya’s tail, continuously babbling away.

"No one will like you if you dress like a boy."

"As long as Malin likes it, that’s enough." Maya looked up and replied with a smile.

"Ah... sometimes I’m really envious of Malin." After speaking, Miriam took the dress and went into the changing room.

"Miriam seems a bit... anxious." Maya said to Jessica.

Because Maya could very easily sense the emotions in her peer’s heart, as her own heart was without any defenses.

"Yes, she’s about to get married, after all. Speaking of which, what would you think if you were getting married?" Jessica started laughing: "I think I’d be even more anxious than she is, especially since Mr. Malin is so excellent."

"I wouldn’t be anxious, because I know Brother Malin, just like he knows me." Maya replied, while her mind drifted off to that moment, somewhat absent-mindedly.

Ah, could she not wear a bridal gown? Maya hated dresses, and among them, she hated tulle dresses the most.

"Careful!"

"?!"

Maya looked down and belatedly realized what was happening as Jessica warned her, the little leopard cub was biting at her tail.

The atmosphere froze unprecedentedly.

The old shop owner came running over.

Maya pulled out a candy, the cub chose it over the mysterious taste and released his grip on the tail. Maya handed over the candy to the cub and then pulled her tail out of the little thing’s mouth.

"Doesn’t it hurt?" Jessica asked.

"How could a kid possibly bite hard enough to hurt?" Maya answered with a laugh.

Jessica smiled at this: "You’re going to make a great mother."

"Mhm, I certainly will." Maya boasted a little.