Chapter 1309: Chapter 1309: Darkness and Saint Byrons
Shard didn’t leave the doctor’s office until two in the morning on Wednesday, and after returning home, he got up yawning after only a few hours of sleep to have breakfast. Seeing the manuscript pages glow, he confirmed that Miss Danester was available at the moment, then arranged the ritual and waited for news. At seven-thirty, he projected himself to Saint Byrons.
“Good morning, Shard. What’s the matter?”
It was the familiar academy library. It was still early, but Miss Danester seemed very spirited. Now that the new semester had started, even though official students of Saint Byrons still had a long “winter break,” it had already ended by the beginning of the Sparse Star Month.
The library at seven-thirty in the morning was quite crowded. Looking around, he could see figures moving between those dense bookshelves. Miss Danester and Shard had cake and red tea on the coffee table between them, which was breakfast for the female sorcerer. Being able to have breakfast in the library was probably her privilege.
And by the coffee table stood a young maiden wearing a maid’s dress, a white lace headband on her head, and black leather shoes on her feet. Seeing the projected man glance at her, the young girl blushingly held her dinner plate and fled.
“There are maids in the academy?”
Shard asked curiously, noting that the girl appeared to be pure human.
“The academy has hired a batch of maids, but she isn’t one of them. She is a maid I recruited from the students by issuing academy tasks. Young girls always look pretty wearing this uniform.”
Miss Danester elegantly held her red tea and explained to Shard as she saw him looking at her:
“Shard, don’t look at me like that. The benefits I provide are very good. Not only is the pay high, but after work, they are allowed to browse some of my private collection, an opportunity that others can’t have even if they wish.”
This is probably also the privilege of the librarian; throughout Saint Byrons Integrated Academy, apart from Mr. Pigman, the principal, no one else has the authority to reproach her.
“Don’t think I’m someone who recklessly exploits students because of privilege. So honestly tell me, if you were sitting in my position, would you use your privilege to recruit students to help you with some things?”
Shard answered honestly:
“No.”
“Hmm?”
“Because I have maids, or rather, there are girls with the maid profession willing to help me.”
The female sorcerer laughed:
“Let’s talk about the main issue. Specifically seeking me out, it shouldn’t be just to inquire about ‘whether the academy is selling star grass at a low price.'”
She tossed her red tea cup aside, and the cup slid smoothly through the air, causing ripples on the surface.
“Recently, I… never mind, no need to make excuses. Actually, for some reasons, I discovered during my investigation that the founding of Saint Byrons is related to the Old God [Veil of Eternal Night], so I want to learn more from you.”
Miss Danester, knowing Shard the best among those at Saint Byrons Integrated Academy, naturally knew Shard carried many quirks. Hearing him say this, she couldn’t help but sigh and respond:
“You are indeed straightforward, but I won’t delve into your secrets. Yes, that Old God is indeed related to the founding of the academy. You seemed interested in the academy’s foundational history since you enrolled. Last autumn, you even asked me about the relationship between the Old God [Gray Robed Sage] and the academy library, didn’t you?”
She beckoned behind her, and soon, a massive book thicker than Mia floated over. The book had no title, and Miss Danester let it hover in the air and automatically flip through the pages:
“That was during the Fifth Era. Compared to current records, it detailed the relationship between the library and the Old God [Gray Robed Sage], but the academy’s ties with that God of Night are quite vague and unclear as if someone deliberately erased parts. However, most early campus history tends to be like this, so it’s no surprise.”
She flipped to the corresponding page:
“According to the records, the second principal of the academy, Miss Fiona Drago, who was still an apprentice at that time, found the city where the God of Night temporarily resided, which wasn’t truly located in the material world, in the snowfield of the Far North under eternal night. She obtained the night blessing from the deity for the great academy to be established on that ice plain. Therefore, every time night falls, Saint Byrons Integrated Academy receives the blessing of night, which has helped the forebears of the academy through many challenging times.”
After reading this, she let the book return to its place.
“Is this all the content?”
Shard asked.
“Yes, the specific records are just these. But the content is accurate; the God of Night’s blessing still remains effective to this day. Although you’ve visited Saint Byrons at night, you might not have noticed that the nights are incredibly serene and peaceful, with no completely dark corners. When night envelops this academy city, the probability of dark creature appearances decreases, all malicious entities are suppressed, and every week, three types of special blessing effects are available—for instance, this week includes ‘increase in moonlight power,’ ‘enhanced healing speed for flesh creatures,’ and ‘slight improvement in luck.’
She laughed and added:
“But everyone’s luck is improved, so don’t expect to win more at card games in the tavern. Oh, and the Circle Sorcerers with the academy’s highest management authority receive substantial enhancements within the academy at night. You can consider that no mortal can defeat the principal or me within the academy during the night.”
“The academy’s highest management authority” refers to the formal principal and formal librarian. These top two positions have existed since Miss Feliana founded Saint Byrons and are theoretically of equal status.
Seeing Shard frown as he pondered, Miss Danester also did not interrupt.
It was quite a while before Shard asked:
“These are all concrete historical records, but are there any legends that aren’t quite accurate?”
“Of course there are. According to the investigations of the Time Investigators from the History Academy, before the establishment of the Fifth Era Academy, the land beneath my feet was a kingdom of darkness, inhabited by the familiars of the God of Night. Later, the deity voluntarily ceded a small piece of its territory to Miss Feliana, allowing for the establishment of Saint Byrons.”
“Since it was verified by the Time Investigators, why is this considered a legend?”
Shard asked curiously.
“Because later we discovered that the Five-Ring Sorcerer had gone mad before the third Time Investigation, so we cannot be certain whether what he said is true or false. The Time Keys around the era of Saint Byrons’ establishment are very scarce, and most do not refer to the establishment of the Academy itself, making it very difficult to uncover the truth Before the Era using Time Investigation.”
If the claim that “the location of Saint Byrons Integrated Academy used to be part of the territory of the familiars of the God of Night” is true, then Miss Feliana sending Fiona to the City of Eternal Night to meet the deity is very likely for this reason.
“But the mission location is the Northern Continent, and according to my investigations, the Midland of the Fifth Era is now the main body of the Old Continent, while the current location of Saint Byrons is the great ice cap of the Far North… The Fifth Era had five continents and countless archipelagos, unlike today’s times…”
It’s considered a small gain, even if Fiona hadn’t remembered what she was supposed to do when she met the deity after four missions, at least Shard already knew what she should do.
“The relationship between the Old God of Darkness, Veil of Eternal Night, and Saint Byrons is scarcely documented in books. I’ll have some students compile the information later, and send it to you tonight or tomorrow morning for you to determine its authenticity.”
Miss Danester suggested, then asked Shard:
“It’s been a month since you told me at the beginning of the year about your promotion to Five Rings. How many Five-Ring Spirit Runes do you have now? Three? Or four?”
“No, no, it’s not that easy. I still only have one, Whisper – Puppet.”
The Ring of Fate slowly surfaced behind him, and Miss Danester seemed somewhat disappointed:
“I thought you had already advanced to Six Rings.”
“Perhaps your expectations for me are too high. I’ve been busy with other matters recently. However, if only speed is pursued, not the quality of learning, it is possible to advance quickly.”
For instance, exploring the ruins of those Old Gods or Ancient Gods, for Shard, who is highly sensitive to souls, acquiring the ‘Miracle’ or ‘Desecration’ Spirit Rune is not difficult. But the problem is, moving too fast is not always a good thing.
“Speaking of quality, have you learned any new arcane techniques recently?”
Miss Danester asked again:
“I checked your recent applications, and it seems you’ve only sought some information. For you correspondence students, the new term has already begun for quite some time, Shard, you wouldn’t tell me that you’ve done nothing during this time.”
In a daze, the outlander felt the mistaken impression of being questioned by a mentor when he was in his hometown. But Miss Danester was correct; since his break ended at the beginning of the year, he’d been running around Randall Valley, and his studies only involved reading at night upon returning home, which is not a good study habit:
“I understand, I’ll double my efforts. Actually, recently I’ve been conceiving a new moonlight attack arcane technique. Sorry, may I demonstrate my arcane technique?”
Upon obtaining permission, Shard used the Binding Aura. This was an arcane technique acquired before the Battle of Pantanal and wasn’t very recognizable, so there was no need to worry about being identified.
A glow flew from Shard’s wrist, heading towards the lady seated opposite him. Miss Danester did not intervene, allowing the aura to encircle her neck:
“A binding effect? Looks quite impressive.”
With a casual tug, the aura turned into light particles and vanished.
“Yes, and it even has an automatic tracking feature. I want to explore other attack methods of moonlight magic based on this arcane technique.”
“That’s a great idea, but you’ll need to make double efforts.”
The female sorcerer encouraged, which made Shard increasingly feel he had been neglecting his studies:
“Then I’ll aim to advance to Six Rings before spring arrives.”
“You needn’t hurry; the promotion to the Inner Ring isn’t as easy as the Low Ring, and there is still over a month until spring arrives… However, it’s good for young people to have ambition. As your mentor, even if you rarely seek my guidance proactively, I still need to teach you some things. Forget about advancing to Six Rings before spring arrives, but before spring, learn this arcane technique. This is my challenge to you for the first half of the spring semester of the 1854 academic year.”
The parchment roll already placed on the tea table soared toward Shard and automatically unfolded before him, revealing its contents to him.
“Moon’s Arcane Technique – Dream of the Moon.”