Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic
Chapter 1070: The Desire for Knowledge

Chapter 1070: Chapter 1070: The Desire for Knowledge

The book contains another two pages of content that describe the situation of this item being passed among transcendent individuals during the Fourth Era.

The Fourth Era was an age of darkness and chaos. Dark creatures dominated the vast majority of the material world, and cannibal clans ran rampant. The intelligent races could only assist each other for mutual survival, leading to relatively good relations among humans, elves, dwarves, elfin kind, and dragons in the early Fifth Era, which directly resulted in the emergence of multi-racial hybrid creatures.

For example, Miss Fiona Drago, whom Shard encountered at the ruins of the Gadis Library in the Valley of Dead Silence, clearly has both human and red dragon bloodlines.

The powerful relic, the "Source of Chaos," also has many stories from the Fourth Era. The "Book of the Fool" revealed those tragic yet terrifying past events to Shard. As Shard skimmed through, he realized that the stories written in the ancient language carried a peculiar power of their own.

But unfortunately, even the writer of the "Book of the Fool" could not have predicted where the relic could be found by an outlander in the winter of the year 1853 of the Sixth Era.

"This book doesn’t abruptly present unnecessary content. It seems the ’Yellow Moon’ required by the bard refers to the Angel-Level relic ’Source of Chaos.’ Yesterday, Miss Danester also mentioned this relic."

Thoughts in his mind, Shard closed the book and somewhat embarrassedly said to Sir Plisha:

"This book gave me the knowledge of the recipe for the potion—the Enchantment of Desire, and the learning method for the arcane technique—’Enchantment Spell.’ This quite unethical arcane technique can unconditionally gain the favor of the opposite gender for a limited time, with the learning conditions requiring spirit runes like ’Reproduction,’ ’Red Moon,’ ’**,’ ’Love.’

He spoke out part of the content from the "Book of Pink," and Sir Plisha did not doubt him. Instead, he smiled and said:

"Perhaps the ’Book of the Fool’ believes that you are currently troubled by emotional issues and need this."

"Yes, yes."

Shard responded with a half-truths, slightly helpless:

"Let’s not talk about Margaret’s matter."

"Oh, detective, I didn’t mention Her Highness’ name."

The smile on the knight’s face grew more evident. Seeing Shard’s embarrassed look, he chose not to tease him further and instead said, "From the information, only a few people can directly gain the most useful knowledge from this book. Mr. Hamilton, your wisdom truly has been recognized by this book."

"What wisdom do I have? I only happen to have seen more things than most people."

Shard modestly said, and Sir Plisha thought Shard was referring to his extensive knowledge as a Circle Sorcerer, unaware that this was an outlander’s metaphor.

"Sir Plisha, what did you see earlier?"

Shard pretended to be curious in inquiry; it was a test.

The knight hesitated for a moment. Considering that Shard had actively shared what he saw, the knight finally spoke:

"Some secrets about this world, regarding knowledge and wisdom."

He spoke vaguely, but these contents seemed to be the conditions revealed by Luviya’s divination for the Chosen One Ceremony. Yet judging from Sir Plisha’s earlier disappointed expression, the knowledge granted by the "Book of the Fool" seemed insufficient for him.

"Knowledge and wisdom, indeed."

Shard softly sighed, steering the conversation in the direction he wished to discuss:

"Speaking of which, mortals are truly miraculous. Through the inheritance of knowledge and the spark of wisdom, our civilization can advance to this point."

Sir Plisha nodded. He didn’t mind sharing his understanding of wisdom and knowledge with Shard:

"Indeed miraculous, it’s the great work of mortals. I think that the deities favor us, like ants, precisely because they see the miracles our knowledge and wisdom have created."

"But knowledge always bears weight, and we can only bear a little bit."

Shard said pinching his fingers, and Sir Plisha laughed:

"I love knowledge, and I also love books. To me, even if the pursuit of knowledge comes at a cost, I am willing to pay it until I reach the point where I can advance no further."

"I recently met an old professor who pursued knowledge and wisdom with the same attitude."

Shard again mentioned Professor Drake:

"But it’s really unfortunate when he truly touched the knowledge and wisdom he craved, he became afraid instead."

The carriage was turning a corner, and the knight frowned slightly:

"Apologies, but what do you mean by afraid?"

"He craved the knowledge and wisdom he didn’t know, but when he truly realized what he had gained, he was terrified of the truth of the world being so frightening."

Shard shook his head, recalling the words of Professor Drake:

"We live on a calm island called Ignorance, surrounded by an endless black ocean, and we are not meant to set sail. The dark tomb is right before me, and I am willing to rest here, listening to the waves—these were the professor’s words. Ultimately, he sacrificed his talent, his memory, and part of his body, permanently abandoning that knowledge."

Regarding Professor Drake’s choice, Shard didn’t have much of an opinion. After all, during their last meeting, the professor had said that he had no regrets left in his life, and when he journeyed into eternal slumber, he would be incredibly at peace.

Yet on Sir Plisha’s face, there was a mocking expression:

"Mr. Hamilton, I do not intend to criticize your friend, nor do I wish to criticize others for the lives they choose. But that professor, wasn’t he a bit too... cowardly?"

Even though he was sitting opposite Shard, he seemed to be embracing the sea:

"Even if the world is like a black ocean, and we reside on a calm island called Ignorance, we still must set sail. To explore, to witness, to desire, to seek knowledge. Without personally seeing those unknown landscapes, merely seeking a peaceful slumber, then why live at all?"

Shard understood this perspective:

"The old professor also feared the dangers of transcendental knowledge once he learned about them. After all, if an accident occurs, the disasters caused by that knowledge and wisdom would also affect others."

Shard said with a smile:

"There are many who have the courage to break through the Isle of Ignorance and explore the dangerous black ocean, but people must also consider whether their actions will attract the dangerous and peculiar monsters living in the black ocean to the calm island."

For a moment, Shard seemed to see an ironic smile on Sir Plisha’s face; he wasn’t sure if he had seen incorrectly.

[You didn’t see wrong.]

"Mr. Hamilton, the process of seeking knowledge is always dangerous, but one cannot therefore be hindered from moving forward."

"So, we must gauge it well. Balance, yes, balance the scale between danger and knowledge-seeking."

Shard said, and Sir Plisha nodded, but he had already lost interest in conversing with Shard.

Shard also sensed that he and the gentleman from the United Kingdom of Carsonrick sitting before him were seemingly not the same kind of people. They both pursued knowledge, but Sir Plisha, was perhaps a bit too unconcerned.

The carriage first took Shard to Saint Delan Square, then carried Sir Plisha away into the distance.

Shard had no other plans for going out today, so he spent his time in the study reading books and checking the year’s accounts. After all, the year-end had arrived, and he needed to manage his finances well to prevent any errors when the Kingdom’s tax bureau conducts checks.

After lunch, Mia lay napping on the window sill of the study, and Shard took out the Book of the Fool to check the Sage-Level Relic [Source of Chaos]’s information. But downstairs, a bell rang, prompting Shard to get up and open the door.

The napping cat heard Shard’s departure and jumped from the window sill to the floor, then from the floor onto the chair, before jumping onto the desk.

"Meow?"

It noticed the book Shard had opened on the desk and looked down at it. Plain paper suddenly filled with vast texts and illustrations.

Its amber eyes were full of confusion; Mia took a few steps back to see the paper’s full view. It stared closely at those incomprehensible things, then the book automatically flipped to the next page before the cat, filled with dense text and images, and the cat continued to watch intently, nodding slightly as if it truly understood the content.

"Doctor?"

Appearing downstairs at Shard’s house was Dr. Schneider. Seeing Shard invite him upstairs, the doctor waved his hand:

"I have other matters to attend to, I’ll leave soon. Last Tuesday, you asked me to observe Lakin Prisia’s desires, and today marks a week. I’ve come to share the situation with you."

He spoke in the hallway to Shard:

"He’s a very strange person, extremely peculiar. As per your request, I didn’t contact him up close, nor did I enter his dreams, merely observed from afar. Actually, I’d like to thank your invitation letter; this week, I attended quite a few upscale banquets... got sidetracked. Anyway, Lakin Prisia’s desires are larger than anyone’s. Not to compare with ordinary people, even among Circle Sorcerers, his desires are somewhat excessive."

Seeing Shard frown, the doctor added:

"Rest assured, they’re not bad desires. They’re desires for knowledge—a very intense desire for knowledge, yearning for new knowledge, yearning for wisdom. The intensity of that desire is so strong, I don’t even need to use supernatural power; I can feel it directly with my eyes."

He pointed to his eyes:

"I dare say, with desires this powerful, as long as he doesn’t die, he is certain to accomplish remarkable feats."

Shard asked with some concern:

"No matter what kind of desires, being too strong is never a good thing, right?"

"But it’s not necessarily a bad thing either; the key lies in whether Sir Lakin Prisia can control his desires well,"

the doctor cautiously assessed.