Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 1731 - 1730: Arcane Technique - Heart Connection

Chapter 1731: Chapter 1730: Arcane Technique - Heart Connection

"Are you a psychologist?"

Shard asked curiously.

"Just a scholar, let’s begin."

Mr. Richard said, and Shard nodded. The cover of the album was a hand-drawn landscape, nothing noteworthy. Turning to the first page, Shard looked at the strange artwork where black, purple, and white intertwined. The colors seemed to squirm and swap dynamically between blocks, and after a moment’s hesitation, he said:

"The first one, eyes."

Mr. Richard noted it down with a pencil in his notebook:

"Please continue."

The second picture was even more abstract, featuring hundreds of eyes of various sizes densely packed, set against a variegated black background. The eyes blinked constantly, enough to drive someone with trypophobia insane. Shard forced himself to look for a while, and since he had already used "eyes" as an answer, he barely managed to identify another shape:

"Butterfly."

The third image transformed into a colorful butterfly with abstract eye patterns, filling the entire frame against a colorful background.

The butterfly appeared violently torn apart, with finely depicted fuzz and antennae still trembling.

"A violently shredded beauty."

He made this answer a bit more complex.

The fourth image depicted a pure black background, with blood-red irregular strips dividing the painting in two, and the strip oscillated up and down.

"Tail."

Continuing to answer the questions, he reached page thirteen, which happened to be the last page. Having seen various strange and uncomfortable patterns earlier, the surprisingly normal picture of the large moon in the starry sky on the last page startled him:

"The last one... a silver moon, yes, Silvermoon."

"Is it over?"

Mr. Richard asked, then nodded and took back the album handed over by Shard:

"Different people see different content and page numbers when flipping through this album. Usually, it’s three or four pages; seeing thirteen pages like you is quite rare."

His tone was very calm, but he cast a glance at Shard, making Shard feel more and more guilty:

"So can you tell me the test results? Or do you need time to analyze?"

He was very curious about the results.

"I can tell you now, but I must declare: this isn’t divination or prophecy, just psychological analysis, so it could be completely wrong. If you’re dissatisfied, you can treat my words as a joke."

After Shard nodded to show he understood, the older man continued while looking at his earlier notes:

"Clearly, you like many kinds of girls, with beautiful eyes, twins, more powerful and exceptionally charming, and having tails are your favorite traits."

"This... I..."

"I’m just doing analysis; I don’t guarantee right or wrong, so there’s no need to defend yourself."

Mr. Richard said understandingly, seemingly having witnessed such reactions many times. Then, he drew a Holy Emblem in front of him:

"I swear in the name of God, this result won’t be passed on. Besides, I don’t even know you, so even if someone hears about it, they won’t know to whom it relates... By the way, your result is actually quite normal. I’ve seen people liking humanoid steam dolls, humanoid cockroaches, decaying female corpses, or pierced high heels; yours is nothing."

"Hmm... please continue."

Shard thought it best not to dwell on this topic.

"You have a rather conservative inclination towards marriage and love, willing to give your true heart to gain love, hoping the other does the same. You have a certain controlling desire, but it’s not very strong. You’re quite greedy, longing for more..."

"Ahem, can we skip to the next section?"

"Sure, it’s almost finished anyway. The last section is about your innermost desires, not the type of girls you fancy, nor the love story you yearn for, but something perhaps even you can’t see clearly, your most genuine thoughts... You crave the moon."

Old Mr. Richard said calmly, not caring how Shard responded:

"By the way, could you tell me about your age and family background? If convenient, your income status too, as I need it for my records."

"I’m around 22 years old, without any relatives... at least I haven’t discovered any blood-related family members. As for income... not much, but I do have shares in a mine, and the ladies around me like to take care of my expenses... Oh, God, to be honest, I’m kind of regretting sitting down."

"Well, I’m very glad you don’t have the ability to reverse time, or I would have one less record... Okay, it’s all recorded."

Mr. Richard hurriedly scribbled down the last few notes:

"I only do psychological analysis, but most people who accept my invitation enjoy when I give a conclusive summary at the end. Are you interested in hearing it?" 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Shard nodded. Since the investigation was already done, naturally, he wanted to hear the conclusion:

"Of course, please proceed."

"You don’t even know what you want yourself; you’re chasing a dream-like goal. You’re very lonely, so you strive to be loved, yearning for much love. You’re afraid of loss, so you desperately try to hold onto what you’ve already got."

Shard nodded again, pursed his lips, and didn’t speak for quite some time, and he suspected the person wasn’t a believer in the God of Love, but rather a believer in the Mind Reading Technique.

Mr. Richard, having seen much of this, didn’t disturb Shard’s thoughts. After a while, he suddenly asked:

"Speaking of which, why did you come to see me?"

Shard awoke from his own thoughts, having been greatly shaken by the earlier psychological test:

"I read a passage in an ancient book: Emotion, the blending of souls; Sexuality, the collision of bodies; Passion, the connection of spirits; Love, the promise of two becoming one.

This passage was abruptly inserted into a paragraph, without any relevance to the context before or after, so I wanted to know what it truly represents. Coincidentally, I know Mr. Furen, and they recommended that I seek your help. I will offer compensation."

Mr. Richard shook his head:

"Compensation aside, since you’re friends with the brothers and you’ve undergone my psychological test, you’re also considered my friend. The sentence you mentioned is indeed one of the most important proverbs before the Order perished. In the distant Fifth Era, before my Lord departed, it was printed on the first or last page of every church tome. But now, it is part of the spell words of one of the few Divine Arts we can still use... You could call it an Arcane Technique, but this requires the corresponding Spirit Rune to learn."

"May I ask what kind of Divine Art it is?"

"The Furen Brothers also know that Divine Art — Heart Connection. It requires Spirit Runes like ’Connection’, ’Duality’, ’Emotion’ to learn.

The basic function of the Divine Art is merely allowing two people to communicate without speaking while holding hands. In circumstances of mutual trust and emotional connection, injuries can be transferred between each other. However, the Furen Brothers have special talents, and they’ve developed other functions for this Divine Art, so slightly altering the spellcasting approach allows joint spellcasting. But if you wish to do this, the spellcasting requirements are higher."

The requirement likely refers to ’twins’ or ’complete trust’, though Shard doesn’t have the corresponding Spirit Rune and cannot learn this Arcane Technique.

"Will this enhance the connection between Dorothy and Lecia?"

He asked in his heart.

[No, the blending of souls won’t be pushed forward so easily.]

Although Shard wasn’t sure if Chloe meant to lead him to find this Arcane Technique, Shard was still thinking of letting Dorothy and Lecia try it, remembering that they possess the ’Emotion’ Spirit Rune.

"So, can this Divine Art be taught to me? I can pay money or help with other tasks."

Shard thus spoke, and Mr. Richard shook his head again:

"That’s not within my jurisdiction. This Divine Art is both the knowledge of the former Order and of the present Rosicrucian Society. If you want to learn, go downstairs and find Mr. Upton and Mrs. Hope. Upton is the Secret Keeper inheriting from the Order, and learning Arcane Technique requires his consent. Hope is our financial supervisor for this outing; she’ll give you a quote... I suggest you first find Kelly Hope, Upton has a peculiar character, and if you go directly to him, you’ll likely get nowhere. But if you say Hope has already provided a price, he might be willing to talk with you."

Thus, Shard bid farewell to Mr. Richard and prepared to go downstairs. Before leaving, the old gentleman gave Shard a business card, inviting him to visit his psychology consulting office in Velindale City whenever he has time. Apparently, the old gentleman is considered a colleague to Dr. Schneider.

Kelly Hope, temporarily staying in room 211 of the inn, is a lady appearing to be in her forties. She has wrinkles on her face but still possesses great charm. She wore a black gown, with a pink crystal earring on her left ear, and her attire was otherwise quite modest.

This lady made no special requests to Shard. After inviting him in, she listened to him recount his experiences at Mr. Richard’s before gently nodding:

"No problem, this Divine Art is knowledge that can be sold. But I must warn you beforehand; both parties must simultaneously learn this Arcane Technique to communicate and connect while holding hands. As for the effects of injury transfer and joint spellcasting, there are stricter prerequisites; ordinary friends cannot achieve these."

"No problem, I want to give it a try."

Because Shard is a friend of the Furen Brothers, Mrs. Hope did not quote a very high price. In Shard’s estimation, the price of such an Arcane Technique with numerous unique traits, excluding materials, should be around 350 pounds, but Mrs. Hope only asked Shard for 320 pounds.

When Shard held her note, ready to persuade the last Mr. Upton, Mrs. Hope asked Shard to wait a moment:

"I have a different view on the proverb you mentioned to Mr. Richard."

"Isn’t it the spell words of this Divine Art?"