Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

The spontaneously used powers stemming from Core Spirit Runes were organized in ancient times and collectively referred to as "Arcane Techniques"; the power related only to thought and used spontaneously without learning was organized into a system and referred to as "Sorcery."

Of course, the Academy believed that the classification of "Sorcery" also included "Divine Arts" related to the True Gods, originating from faith and the direct grants of the True Gods, but Shard and the doctor\'s studies did not involve these. The Church, however, believed that the classification of "Divine Arts" should be separate from Sorcery, as they are fundamentally different.

In the early stages of this era, after continuous fierce debates in the Circle Sorcerer academic community, the "Divine Arts" of the five True Gods as well as the existing Evil Gods were officially listed alongside "Arcane Techniques" and "Sorcery" as the most external expression of the Circle Sorcerer power system.

The Divine Arts of the vanished Old Gods still belonged to "Sorcery," because their believers had no say.

Therefore, the Sorcery known as "Echo of Blood" that Shard acquired from the Old God "Vampire Duke Lowell," in essence, should be seen as that Old God\'s Divine Art, which couldn\'t be learned through ordinary means without the power of this Old God.

Thus, the core of the Circle Sorcerer System is [Spirit Rune], powerful and significant [Arcane Technique] which must be learned through Spirit Runes, [Sorcery] which is of lower priority but can be learned by all, and [Divine Arts] related to gods and faith, which are the manifestations of the power of the Circle Sorcerer System.

"To level up the Circle requires one Spirit Rune of miracle, desecration, enlightenment, and whisper each, and the relationship between Spirit Runes and Sorcery, Divine Arts, Arcane Techniques is similar to that of [Way] to [Technique]. Indeed, obtaining Balance Spirit Runes and learning Arcane Technique are also very important matters."

This was the understanding of the Outlander.

Shard attempting to ignite a piece of paper with just his fingertips belonged to the rudimentary form of simple Sorcery. And on this day\'s experiment, he also successfully performed telekinesis with lightweight objects using the power of thought.

He seemed to have a remarkable talent for using this kind of spirit, for besides almost popping a blood vessel in his eye while moving a tuft of Mia\'s fur and a Roder Card, when he concentrated on the target in front of him and clenched his fist to strike at the pirated compendium "Detective\'s Lament," the book flew several centimeters without touching the dictionary-thick novel—rather than toppling over from a gust of wind.

This pirated detective novel wasn\'t something Shard frivolously spent money on; it was a relic of the former detective, including "The Queen and Her Lovers," "The Silver Knight," and "Western Front Memorabilia," the only few novels he possessed.

The first one is a colorful court novel, the middle is a very traditional knight adventure narrative, and the last is a novel leaning towards documentary literature.

Detective Sparrow Hamilton often flipped through these books, and the telltale signs such as dog-eared pages and tea stains confirmed that this was his hobby.

As for the only [Relic] in hand, the Scribe Level Relic [Vampire Ring], Shard couldn\'t experience its specific effects as he couldn\'t find a living person to test it on.

But he had already dismantled the pocket watch chain and turned the ring into a pendant around his neck; this wasn\'t considered wearing it, so as long as it wasn\'t worn 24 hours a day, the impact on him wasn\'t particularly significant.

Shard planned to seek advice from the doctor and others the next day, the experienced Correspondence Circle Mages were sure to provide good usage recommendations.

Finally, it was Wednesday, but Shard didn\'t wake up early due to excitement; rather, he was startled awake by a nightmare of something heavy pressing on his chest.

In the early summer morning, it was barely light, and the minimal brightness penetrated into the room through the tightly closed curtains. When Shard woke up, he still felt a stuffiness in his chest and realized about 5 seconds later that a cat was lying there.

There was only one fostered orange cat in the Shard household at the moment, so it was indeed Mia who had awakened Shard.

Staring with her amber eyes, she lay on the blanket over Shard\'s chest, watching him. When she saw that he had woken up, she immediately jumped off the bed. Judging from the thumping sound of her footsteps, she was heading towards the front door of the house.

"You learned about it just after coming here yesterday? The milkman won\'t be here for another half an hour."

Shard shouted at the cat, his chest filled with passion as he imagined the books and courses worth 50 pounds he would receive today, and only then did he leave the bed.

The Number 1 apartment on the second floor was quite spacious, but it had only two bedrooms. Shard lived in the smaller one, which was also the dwelling of the original owner who had some cognitive issues. He didn\'t feel frightened by the fact that the previous detective had died in the larger bedroom, but he didn\'t plan on moving there either.

Once he contacted a merchant to haul away the old furniture and asked Dr. Schneider about methods for detecting ghosts, he would consider moving into the larger bedroom.

After leaving Mia at home to watch the house and ensuring that her bowl was filled with enough cat food, Shard set out. He had an appointment with the doctor at ten in the morning, and the clinic was quite far from Saint Delan Square.

Shard thought he could arrive around nine-thirty, but perhaps out of eagerness, by one minute to nine, he had already spotted the sign for Schneider Psychological Clinic.

Without spending time elsewhere, Shard went straight in. The doctor had already instructed the receptionist that the Hamilton Detective, "sunk in sorrow because of his uncle\'s death," would come today, so he directly guided Shard to the psychological treatment room on the second floor.

Right after Shard knocked, the doctor immediately came to open the door, where another person was already present in the room.

The grey-haired old man, dressed in a respectable black suit, stood up and nodded slightly with a smile towards Shard, exuding a friendly and pleasant demeanor. His eyes were the commonly seen grey, wrinkled with age, seemingly well over fifty but looking very spirited.

He was slightly taller than the doctor but shorter than Shard, with a build that was medium and leaning towards slim, giving the impression that his life wasn\'t very affluent.

Shard\'s eyes were drawn to the ornament hanging from the old man\'s chest—a brass-colored broken circle pendant hanging from a silver chain.

This was the holy emblem of the True God "Mr. Dawn," that is, the God of Light and Shadow. The practice of hanging the holy emblem on the chest is commonplace among clergy members.

"Hmm? A clergyman? Although the Academy isn\'t hostile to the True God Church, but…"

Shard was puzzled in his mind.

"Let me introduce."

Detecting Shard\'s confusion, Dr. Schneider warmly said:

"Shard, this is Lat August the Cleric, a Second Ring Sorcerer of our group, a faithful believer of Mr. Dawn. Despite being a priest, he didn\'t become a Circle Sorcerer through the Church, but rather, he is one of the rare individuals who awakened his talent at an older age, and due to a twist of fate, joined the Academy as a clergyman.

He holds no prejudices against the Academy, and as long as we do not harm the Dawn Church, he will not disclose our identities to the church. He can be trusted."

Though the talent of Circle Sorcerer theoretically can appear at any age, it is generally concentrated between the ages of 16 and 40. Old Cleric Augustus is an extremely rare case.

"Rest assured, I can swear upon my personal reputation as Bill Jane Schneider that Cleric August is absolutely trustworthy. His joining us was vetted by three of us, including myself, as well as the Academy. With Cleric August onboard, some of our operations will be quite convenient,"

the doctor added. The grey-haired old cleric took the initiative to approach Shard for a handshake. Shard naturally trusted the doctor\'s word and hastily extended his hand. The old man\'s palm was broad and surprisingly strong.