After reading the note, Xia De blinked and muttered:
"What a fancy thing."
Then holding the silver cube:
"You need to collect stories to open it and get the so-called gift... ... The invisible abandoned church on Cherry Leaf Street."
The cube, which had not yet been warmed by the temperature of Xia De's palm, immediately began to heat up. Xia De's palm keenly noticed that one of the faces of the cube had uneven marks. He opened his palm and saw that one of the six faces had densely packed letters.
"Why don't you just leave me a note?"
The letters were so small that even if Xia De looked closely, it was difficult to make out the complete sentence. Fortunately, there was "she". After Xia De rubbed the metal block with his fingertips, "she" repeated the sentence above:
Between No. 11 and No. 12 on Cherry Leaf Street, there is an abandoned church that cannot be observed under normal circumstances. The church belonged to the old god "Forgotten Old Man". After the god left in the Fifth Era, the church was supported by mortal believers and eventually became completely dilapidated. It is very simple to observe the church. Put the middle finger and index finger, ring finger and little finger of any hand together, look at the wall between No. 11 and No. 12 through the gap between the fingers, and pray softly - praise the departed gods, the world is with you and me!
“So simple?”
Xia De thought about it, and then tried his best to recall the old god "Forgotten Old Man". But no matter how hard he tried, he seemed to have never heard of the name of this god through any channel.
Looking down at the silver cube in his hand, the tiny letters on the surface of the cube had disappeared, so Xia De tried again:
“The only time key that leads to the Sixth Era of the Past World.”
Seeing that Silver Cube didn't respond, he changed his words:
"The key to the mystery hidden in the Randall Valley."
Still no response.
"The time key of the sixth era of the cycle."
Still no response,
"I knew it wasn't that simple... However, if this silver cube records other secrets related to this city, even if there is nothing hidden inside the silver cube, Mr. Thomas Granger really left me an extraordinary item... The key, isn't it in here?"
It was already afternoon, and Shade had no intention of staying here any longer, after all, Luvia would not arrive until tomorrow. After leaving the hotel, he quickly returned to Cherry Leaf Street and found a location between number 11 and 12.
After making sure that no one was paying attention to him, he followed the instructions on the silver cube, looked at the wall through the gaps between his fingers, and then prayed softly:
"Praise the departed gods, the world remains with you and me."
The light began to distort, and then, as if the space was expanded, the courtyard of the abandoned church forcibly "squeezed open" the brick and stone gaps in the wall and appeared on Cherry Leaf Street.
Xia De looked at this scene in surprise, and when no one noticed, he used the "Ragray Jump" to directly enter the courtyard. Then he stood in the snowy yard and watched people coming and going outside:
"How interesting... There are no footprints on the snow, and no signs of activity inside the church. So, will this unknown courtyard belong to me from now on?"
When he came here just now, he just found a way out of the church. Now, taking advantage of the time, he explored this old church more carefully, and then he had to admit that apart from the construction waste, at least he could not find anything valuable here.
So he returned home through the hidden space in the church basement. Of course, he did not forget to take the books and gold coins in the box back home, and the box was left here as a pointer.
When I walked out of the basement, I was a little confused because I didn't see the excited cat. Then I realized that Mia had been taken away by Dorothy to be taken care of.
So that evening, Shad had dinner with Dorothy on Silver Cross Avenue and excitedly described to her what he had seen and heard today. Compared with previous arrivals in new cities, this experience was particularly interesting, and Dorothy obviously thought so too:
"An old church that can't be seen in the city? Yes, it's a very good subject. Just hearing the outline, I can think of an interesting detective story!"
However, the writer had never heard of the name of the forgotten old man. However, Leisia had found out how Shade tried to learn the singing ability:
"Since you want to gain the ability to sing permanently, then excluding potions and alchemical items, the only options left are spells and thaumaturgy. Among your spiritual runes, only echo can be associated with similar power."
The blonde and Shade sat opposite each other in the restaurant, which was a high-end restaurant on Silver Cross Avenue. Both of them were dressed formally, and Mia was lying on a high stool obediently. The light of the gas lamp in the restaurant was deliberately adjusted to be very weak, but the light of the candles on each table was very bright.
People were talking in low voices, and each table covered with white tablecloths was far apart. It was indeed a very suitable place for a date.
"The sound of thaumaturgical music."
Dorothy looked at Shad with her green eyes:
"This is not about learning to sing, but about recording a piece of music yourself. Whether it's through an instrument like a piano, a phonograph, or a real person singing, it can all be recorded and then sung by yourself. Of course, the timbre will become your own voice, after all, the human voice cannot simulate the sound of a violin."
Xia De nodded, and waited until the waiter who brought the fried senbei with foie gras sauce left before saying:
"It sounds great. After I go back tonight, I will go to the academy to apply for the two new magics awarded to me in the academic year evaluation. The academy can even directly provide the materials for the rituals. But what was this magic originally used for? Was it created and passed down just to record sounds?"
Simple alchemical items can do this.
"It's for the ringmasters themselves, to record the sounds of nature. The sound of wind, rain, thunder. It's rumored that a skilled ringmaster who can get in touch with nature will go into the mountains and forests alone, and use himself to record the music of nature and the earth, so as to receive enlightenment from the world... But for you, if you just want to record a song and then sing it yourself, this is enough."
“I’ll be there soon,” said Dorothy, smiling and pointing at Little Mia.
"Your cat is just short of having 'give me food' written on its face."
"This cat has been eating a lot since the end of the year. I'm considering putting it on a diet... Of course, it's just a consideration."
Shad said with a smile, patting the cat's little head. Mia also squinted her eyes and rubbed her head against Shad's palm.
Dorothy continued:
"There are still some problems with the learning materials for thaumaturgy. I know the academy provides them to you for free, but the main ingredient of the potion required for this type of thaumaturgy is three purple echo grasses that are over thirty years old and have complete roots. Leicia said that the three major academies are out of stock recently. Of course, it's not that they are completely unavailable, but it takes time, but don't you hope to use your time key again by the weekend?"
“Where is the origin?”
"The Stardew Valley town of Carsenrick and the surrounding areas. Yes, the Randall River Valley is also within the range, which is where you are going now. Leicia also found this magic considering that you could go there."
Xia De nodded:
"I'll go look for the local black market. If that doesn't work, I'll look for other methods. But after that, I need to record a beautiful ballad. Do you know anyone who has a nice voice?"
The writer coughed modestly, then blinked and looked at Xia De, who nodded in understanding:
"When the time comes, I'll have to trouble you again."
The writer blushed and then said "hmm" softly.
(Little Mia is running...)
Early Wednesday morning, Shad did not rush to Randall Valley to meet Luvia who arrived today, but went to Old John's pawn shop first.
"Father John, can you tell what this is?"
There were no customers in the pawnshop early in the morning. Xia De exchanged greetings with an old man who was reading a newspaper, and then took out the silver cube.
Old John, wearing reading glasses, tilted his head from behind the counter and took a look at the metal block on the table:
"If it's not a relic, it's hard for me to give a specific result, but it's no problem to identify the material."
He put on gloves and briefly checked it, then exclaimed in amazement:
"What a waste! If I'm not mistaken, the metal layer of this thing is a layer of mithril. And it's not ordinary mithril, it's blessed by the priests of the gods. Moreover, there are other materials besides mithril. Let me see... About three hundred years ago, the Sexes Higher Medical College invented a new mithril alloy formula that can make the mithril material extremely flexible. If I'm not mistaken, this piece of metal should be able to change shape, right?"
"It can show words, but I don't know if it can change shape."
Shade said that he had heard of the so-called "mithril" in the basic courses and the witches' knowledge. Of course, the name "mithril" was also translated by himself. This is an extremely expensive material metal, more precious than the so-called "mithril" in the hometown stories of foreigners' memories. It has extremely excellent resistance to impact and top spiritual adaptability.
The price of mithril is inestimable because it cannot be found on the black market. Even if professors in the academy want to do experiments, they must apply strictly to the academy to obtain this material.
Of course, Shade had seen items made of mithril before, namely Sister Defulin's eye mask. The eye mask with intricate patterns was a top-level divine item handed down by the ancient Death Cult. Although the power of the eye mask had little to do with the material, it was enough to show the preciousness of "mithril".
Therefore, the value of the small silver cube in Shad's hand was even more exaggerated than he thought yesterday afternoon.