Chapter 1298: Chapter 1298: Sand of Time
The raindrops carried away the warmth as they fell on him, making Shard yearn like never before to lie down and remain united with the night. This wasn’t the worst of it; he actually heard familiar voices calling him in that deep night—the first voice came from Miss Feliana:
"Shard, you’ve appeared again! I had Fiona lure you out, and it worked!"
"Hmm?"
Shard instinctively wanted to look to the left, but the Red Dragon Girl swung her tail fiercely against his arm:
"Don’t look into the darkness, look at me, never get distracted! It’s all false, everything is false! Only I am real!"
The last sentence had a hint of hysteria, quite possibly because the young witch who survived alone in this city before Shard appeared had gone through a lot.
"Yes, I’ll remember!"
Just as he spoke, the first candle was almost extinguished. The vanishing flame darkened large patches of their clothes, not as a metaphor, but their clothes and exposed skin truly turned black. Shard even felt as if part of his body had merged into the vast, indescribable entity that was the "night."
Fortunately, the second candle was lit in time, and the warm flame illuminated them once more, driving away the darkness.
And at that moment, an indescribable feeling of panic surged in his heart. The surrounding night turned into corporeal monsters for an instant, but having witnessed more terrifying things, Shard immediately realized that this was entirely an illusion. Fiona, however, was frozen in place, so this time Shard reminded her:
"Don’t pay attention to the night; look at the candlelight; it’s all false!"
He grabbed Fiona’s right hand and desperately ran forward. When she recovered from the panic and fear, the second candle burned out, and the last candle was taken out and lit by Shard from Fiona’s maid’s dress pocket. The power of the primal fire could not make the light last longer.
The last candle represented the final ten seconds of a safe period. The darkness did not harm them, but Shard felt an unprecedented sense of oppression from the night. At this moment, the Outlander seemed transported back to childhood, to the age when he feared darkness, feared closing his eyes, feared shadowy movements. But this time, he had no blanket to cover himself, only the girl accompanying him.
The candlelight in his hand shrank to a size as small as a grain of rice. The light wasn’t sufficient to cover both of them, so they held the candle together, ensuring neither of them would melt into the night.
The small bright spot at the clock shop entrance lay just ahead, but at their current pace, they definitely couldn’t reach it. Just as the last candle was about to extinguish, Fiona forcefully tried to push Shard forward, but Shard was faster; when she got her balance, she had already stumbled into the bright spot at the shop door.
The candle completely went out.
The girl steadied herself against the wall and looked at the pure dark night behind, unable to see any light or Shard’s figure. She fearfully covered her mouth, then saw Shard’s hand extend from the edge of the night.
His entire body seemed to have turned black, yet a slight silver glow emitted from his surface. As Shard stepped into the illuminated area, the blackness quickly faded away:
"Oh, I was really scared earlier, nearly forgot that I can glow myself. Although my friend doesn’t think much of this skill, it has saved me many times."
He staggered out of the night, feeling as if his whole body had nearly frozen. The Red Dragon Girl immediately hugged him again, unable to control her tears due to emotional ups and downs.
Of course, Shard wasn’t entirely unaffected as he claimed. There seemed to be tentacle-like things that touched his left arm during his brief pause in the darkness, rendering his left half nearly uncontrollable. Though still able to stand, he felt no sensation.
Luckily, upon returning from a previous timeline, any damage (excluding mental harm caused by gazing directly at a deity)—would heal, thanks to the rights possessed by all Time Investigators.
[Outlander, you have gained insight into "darkness" and "shadows."]
This was Shard’s second insight into "shadows" according to the Academy’s accumulated records. Regardless of talent, three to five insights into the same Spirit Rune lead to an above eighty percent chance of acquiring the Spirit Rune.
The voice beside his ear faded, but another remained silent. She simply held him, even wrapping her tail around his waist.
"Let’s head inside; no need to soak in the rain here.
Shard advised, prompting Fiona to softly utter, "Mm~," wipe her tears, and accompany Shard into the illuminated antique shop.
Inside, the shop bore decor reminiscent of a bygone era from before the Sixth Epoch of the Steam Age. The vintage interior used dim gold wallpaper, and various clocks of different colors and sizes adorned the walls, ranging in style and including even cat-shaped clocks. The materials of the pendulums varied widely: metal, gemstone, even the wall clock by the door employed a skull as its pendulum, each sway casting a line of fire from the green glow in the skull’s eyes.
The shop contained low two-tiered shelves displaying small clocks. Mantel clocks were piled like cabbages on the left side of the shop wall near the door, with pocket watches randomly arranged in glass cabinets and windows, nearly all intertwined by their chains.
All clocks showed different times, and even their speeds varied, but they all indicated that it was nighttime. The only shop Shard knew more chaotic than this one was probably Old John’s pawnshop.
Shops that trapped Outlanders had others present, but here there was nobody. They avoided touching anything, finding their way through the gap between clocks to the deepest part of the counter, where on the wall behind the empty counter hung a painting of a golden throne veiled by a transparent curtain.
The product manual sat in a corner of the counter and compared to the exquisite menu at the café, this clock shop’s manual seemed too simplistic.
"I don’t have much time left, let’s see what I should trade this time. Maybe I can bring something."
Shard urged, Fiona Drago was never the type of girl who would let her emotions affect her actions. She quickly suppressed her feelings and flipped through the catalog, quickly finding the target:
"This is it."
The layout was still a picture on the left and description on the right, but unlike the finely colored pictures in the café, these were just rough black and white pictures. It was a massive gear:
[Lost Wheel of the Clock, holding it grants immunity to some effects of time powers, and one’s aging speed is halved.]
[Just a gear from a clock within the Monarch’s Palace.]
[Requires payment of 4 ounces (about 113.4 grams) of Sand of Time tainted by Darkness.]
"Sand of Time?"
It was a famous relic, Shard had encountered it twice in moments from the Sixth Era. The first time at Coldwater Port, while attending a cruise auction with Lecia, who was under the alias Miss Princess (Chapter 321), and the second time last winter when Iluna played [Dice Game] and, together with Shard, caught that vile thief [Thief Jack] at home. It was one of the three optional rewards given by the latter (Chapter 988).
But on both occasions, Shard had only seen it rather than acquired it. [Sand of Time] is a Keeper of Secrets Level relic. Its essence is a desert outside the Material World, and the sand itself is just a derivative of the relic. When sprinkled, this sand can affect the flow of time in a given area, proportional to the amount used.
However, due to various issues involving time, it is often used for research rather than combat.
Acquiring this relic is not particularly difficult, but the prefix "tainted by Darkness" puzzled Shard.
Seeking counsel from Fiona, even the Red Dragon Girl did not know. Miss Feliana had prepared various materials that might be needed, but unfortunately, she had already lost them.
"No problem, next time I return, I’ll bring this material."
Shard promised her, and the young witch was visibly somewhat disheartened:
"Are you about to leave?"
Shard knew it was cruel to leave her alone in such a place, but he couldn’t decide on such matters.
With some time still left, he restored the toys from his pocket and, in the corner where there were few odds and ends, he used tents, blankets, and other items to set up a small camp. Fiona only needed to crawl into the tent to be covered by layers of blankets, surrounded by food and drinking water left by him.
However, in the nightfall of the City of Eternal Night, hunger and thirst didn’t actually exist. Shard left these just to make her feel at ease.
"Before I return, try not to leave this store."
Shard instructed, as white mist gradually rose around him, a sign of imminent departure.
"You’ll definitely come back, right?"
The Red Dragon Girl asked, pursing her lips. Her eyes made Shard hesitant to leave, but if he didn’t leave, he wouldn’t be able to search for the Sand of Time.
"Yes, I’ll definitely come back, accompany you to meet that monarch, and then safely see you off. That’s my promise."
Fiona nodded gently:
"I still can’t remember exactly why I’m here, but it seems to be related to the Academy that my teacher and my teacher’s teacher wanted to establish... You must come back."
She tugged at Shard’s sleeve, then shyly asked:
"Could you... leave your coat for me... I’m not scared, just..."
Shard didn’t let her continue and instead took off the coat and handed it to her. Fiona silently held onto the clothing, both of them holding each other’s gaze until Shard was engulfed by the white mist.
Normally, Fifth Era deities can see that patch of white mist, but people generally couldn’t. However, this time, Fiona could.
The Ring of Fate and the Golden Stairs slowly emerged behind her, the young witch timidly looked around at the clocks everywhere, then tucked her tail and curled into the blanket inside the tent, deciding to "hibernate" until Shard returned.
The [Time] Spirit Rune long engraved on the Ring of Fate shone brightly, Fiona buried her head into Shard’s coat, covering herself completely with the blanket:
"This is what the trace of time looks like."
Various clocks clicked, and raindrops pattered against the window. The darkness was thick; this city had no daytime.