“But I managed to do it without any tricks or gimmicks.”
Xia De said, the statue was silent again, and then spoke:
"Yes, you completed it. I admit that it is better than I could have imagined. The material world may not produce an artist who can carve such a work for hundreds or thousands of years. Ordinary craftsmen cannot give the statue such beauty, and there is also such a wonderful sense of mystery. The combination of the two is so wonderful that even if it is placed in a temple, people will be willing to worship it... You have passed the test. There is no doubt that there will never be a better work of art than this."
Xia De heaved a sigh of relief. Although he had confidence in his hometown's memory, he was finally relieved after hearing these words. Luvia didn't react much, still looking at the statue in amazement. As for the old stonemason Humphrey, at this moment, light spots were emanating from his body again, and this time he was really leaving:
"It's great to be able to see this kind of work before leaving. Young man, you are very good."
The old stonemason said, and Shade stretched out his hand and cut a dark crack, allowing the soul to go directly home.
"Thank you very much for your help, may your soul rest in peace."
He gave his sincere blessing, and the old stonemason smiled and shook his head:
"I should thank you... Oh, maybe I should give you a small gift. Before I died, I found a metal medal inside a stone when I was chiseling it. God knows where it came from. I hid it in the association's warehouse, but I didn't expect that something bad would happen to me before I could sell it. Now it belongs to you."
After telling the specific hiding place, the old stonemason's soul completely turned into a stream of light and entered the dark crack. The stream of light gathered on the calm dark water surface, and the old stonemason reappeared. He turned around and waved to Shade and Luvia, and the glowing soul, along with thousands of departing souls, calmly went away towards the half-sunken dark moon.
The crack closed again. Shade sighed slightly and asked the stonemason's statue:
"Now that I have passed the test, what can you give me?"
Luvia thought that what Shade said was a bit too straightforward, but she didn't seem to care:
"The master who created this place left a portion of power for you."
The sound of gears turning could be heard from inside the stonemason statue. With a click, a small door suddenly opened on the surface of the stone statue, which originally had no trace of joints. Inside the small door was an even smaller stonemason statue, which looked exactly the same as the human-sized stone statue.
The small statue is covered with golden glowing runes, and one can feel the miraculous elements even without looking at it. There is also a letter and some documents under the small statue.
Shade took the statue and handed the document to Luvia to read. He then read the letter himself:
Latecomers:
Place the statue on your chest and sink your consciousness into the earth, and you can learn "Power of the Earth - Calling the Statue". If you are interested in the power of the earth, if you want to understand the secrets of the Randall Valley, the stonemason statue that tests you can give you the next clue. It will be a long road of exploration, and I will wait for you at the end of the road. The document below the letter is one-tenth of my shares when the Stonemason Association was established. I hope this can help you. - Stonemason Fleming
"Um?"
"Shad, these documents are..."
Luvia had already seen the contents of the document and handed it to Shade in surprise.
"I know, but the original shares of the Stonemasons Association have long been divided up or sold by the successors. It's hard to say whether the current Stonemasons Association will recognize these original documents."
Shade said that the share documents were not important. He frowned and handed the letter to Luvia:
"Take a look at this. The contract I saw in the president's office just now shows that the association was founded in 1037 of the universal calendar. And the stonemason Fleming, who lived about 800 years ago, actually also had the power of the earth, so it is very likely that he became the guardian of the Randall Valley after his disappearance. It's very interesting. What mission do these souls have? Inherit the power of the earth and guide the next generation of guardians. Everyone will leave one or even many clues, waiting for later discoveries. This is obviously an older clue. If we trace it down..."
He looked up at the statue of the stonemason:
"I need clues for the next step. I'm very interested in the secrets of the Randall Valley."
Unexpectedly, the stonemason refused this time:
"I'm sorry, you're late. The chain of clues left by the founder has been broken in this era. If you want to know the secrets of the Randall Valley, you can look for the answer somewhere else."
“After all, it’s been so many years.”
Luvia said softly, and Shade felt a little regretful. But at the same time, he also understood that the guardians of the past generations must have left more clues and more power in this city. In addition to them, it is not ruled out that the "Power of the Earth" has the possibility of other inheritances.
As they spoke, everything in front of them began to become blurry. When the surrounding scene stabilized, Shade and Luvia stood on the third floor of the Stonemason Association again, as if everything just now was just an illusion.
But it was definitely not an illusion. The documents and letters were in Luvia's hands, and the small statue was in Shade's hands. Even the broken-armed statue that Shade had "carved" still stood in front of him. Everything else, the densely packed statues, the charcoal stove, and even the work of the old stonemason and Luvia, had disappeared.
"It's amazing. How did that space just now appear independently?"
Luvia sighed and looked up at the ceiling, but she couldn't find the hidden room again. After Shade passed the test, the secret room disappeared completely.
"The construction of the secret room should not only be the work of stonemason Fleming. I guess the other guardians at that time should have helped him. Otherwise, considering his age when he disappeared, it would not make sense for him to have so many skills."
Shade replied, jumping up and touching the ceiling with his hands, but felt nothing.
Luvia thought for a moment:
"From this incident, it seems that the secret guardians of the Randall Valley are recruiting people everywhere... Well... It is certainly not appropriate to describe them as scammers, but they obviously did not explain that it is possible that all the guardians are dead undead."
"For so many years, they have not been discovered by others and have maintained a relatively intact inheritance. There must be a reason for this. I am really curious about this. How did they do it?"
As Shade spoke, he took out a small handkerchief from his pocket, restored the canvas toy to canvas, and covered the artistic stone statue:
"This can't be wasted. It happens to be Princess Ajelina's birthday this weekend, and I'm still worried about what gift to give her."
Although the princess received the crown on Monday, it is now kept by him, so he promised to give her another gift.
"Ajelina Cavendish? Princess Leisia's sister?"
Luvia raised her eyebrows, approving of Shade's approach, and then raised the document in her hand:
"What are you going to do with the original shares of the Stonemasons Guild?"
"If I take it to cash it out myself, the association will most likely not recognize it, or only give me a few crowns as compensation. I plan to give this to Margaret. For her, the symbolic meaning of this document is far greater than its practical significance. If she handles the affairs of the Stonemasons Association and this share can really be cashed out, she will not treat me unfairly then."
"You really know how to take advantage of others."
Luvia smiled and agreed that this approach was appropriate. The two turned around and prepared to go down the stairs. They also wanted to go to the warehouse to see the medal that the old stonemason Humphrey mentioned before he left.
"As for the Power of the Earth: Summoning the Statue, even though it's a free power, I already have healing aura, and learning new power won't make my healing aura stronger. Summoning spells or magic are usually very useful, but... this is not suitable for me, and I want to try and see if there are other possible candidates."
Shade said, and looked at Luvia again, but the purple-eyed girl was not interested either:
"I also have the Power of the Earth and the Field of Plenty. So who are you going to give it to? Yin Luna?"
"Yin Luna has clearly stated that she does not want the power of the earth. She has already shouldered enough responsibilities."
"Miss Lasser? Or Miss Benaness?"
Luvia asked again.
"Ms. Benannis. After all, she is the eleventh ring, and can exert greater power. Let her increase her combat effectiveness, which will also help our next local operations. And if she is the chosen one, I know the possibility is very small, but if she really is, then the affairs of Randall Valley City will be much easier to handle."
Although Luvia had seen Miss Benannis many times and was sure that she was not the chosen one of "Earth", this did not mean that Miss Benannis was not a candidate for the next succession. The next succession candidate would only appear when the chosen one was getting closer to his own destiny. For example, Father Augustus, Luvia had known him for so many years, but it was not until the Midhill Castle incident was almost over that she recognized him as the next succession to "Death".
"I'm afraid it won't be that simple. In my opinion, Mr. Lathers and Mr. Granger are more likely. They must be related to the Chosen One."
Luvia shook her head slightly, but this matter was just speculation.
When he went to the warehouse again to look for the medal, nothing went wrong. The old stonemason hid it in the gap between the tool cabinet and the wall, and even found a stone to cover it.
Fortunately, no one discovered it in the past six months, so Shade just used the "moving object" spell, and the metal medal flew out automatically.
The medals officially awarded by Carsenrick usually have the name of the medal printed on the back. Luvia didn't know much about the medal system of the South Country, but Shade had learned a little from Margaret, so he knew that this was a "Carsenrick Third Class Combat Hero Medal."
The "Kasenrick Third Class Combat Hero Medal" was a very low-end medal, so it didn't even have a number on it. But the owner of the medal had words engraved on the back. The light from Xia De's fingertips illuminated the words and the slightly familiar surname:
In memory of Fred Oxenfurt's lost left index finger.