Capítulo 1804: Chapter 1803: Fate’s Pedestal
In front of this black shadow was still the sa table thrown together from rotten planks, and among the three items on it, originally only a pitch??black severed hand was not shrouded by the black mist. After the boy expressed his desire to purchase sothing, the remaining two items also revealed their appearance.
One was a rolled??up blood??stained parchnt, tied around with a piece of rotten at that looked like an umbilical cord; the other was placed in a glass jar, a red gel that looked like an embryo.
Shard had no idea what the forr was, but he recognized the latter at a glance:
“Relic—Imitation Philosopher’s Stone.”
This thing, after he ca to this world, was the direct fuse that ignited the sumr Godfall night in Tobesk, so it left a deep impression on him. The Witch clearly knew this thing as well. Although she sowhat wanted to buy it to study, she was worried that she had already lost quite a few coins, so she did not speak.
The boy also heard Shard say the na of the Relic; he knew that wasn’t what he wanted, so between the severed hand and that roll of parchnt, he chose the latter.
The small black Balance dropped onto the tabletop, the parchnt was placed by the black shadow onto one side of the Balance, and the boy then nervously added coins.
He only had 4 coins in his hand at this ti; with every one he lost, his face turned a shade paler. Fortunately, just two coins were enough to buy this item of unknown use. It wasn’t a Relic, and no one could identify exactly what it was.
But when the boy reached out and pinched the paper roll, the umbilical cord tying it suddenly wriggled like a worm, one end plunging into his flesh; then, together with the parchnt, it burrowed into the boy’s body as he clutched his mouth and scread.
Shard and Miss Higgins both watched the boy warily. His entire body was drenched in sweat from the pain, and only after he finally cald down did he lower his head and say softly:
“I know you don’t trust
now. I’ll go back to the camp and wait for you there.”
With that, he turned and left alone along the path they had co, and the torchlight quickly vanished into the mist.
“What do you think is actually happening to him?”
Miss Higgins asked Shard. Shard glanced at Old Lady Miles’s face, and after confirming she could still keep going, said:
“Don’t worry about him. We’ll talk when we get back to the camp. I just hope he doesn’t make the wrong decision.”
According to Miss Higgins’s calculations, the three of them were already not far from the rchant Old Lady Miles was looking for. They had thought this adventure was nearing its end, but after they left the new rchant, before they had even gone fifty steps, yet another special stall appeared by the roadside.
This ti it was no longer a black shadow with a street stall. Between stall and stall, a pointed, shabby blue tent suddenly appeared. Neither Shard nor Miss Higgins had any desire to approach a place that was clearly out of the ordinary at a glance, but even when Miss Higgins tried to bypass it, several attempts proved that if they wanted to continue forward, every path except this one was a dead end.
This tent clearly would not allow them to just walk past. At its entrance, a signboard with “Divination House” written in contemporary Fifth Era script creaked in the windless black mist. Already familiar with the camp, the three of them could only brace themselves, holding their torches as they walked into the ever??colder air.
The inside of the tent was quite spacious. At the very back, a black shadow sat behind a table, and the only thing placed on the tabletop was a Crystal Ball. The base of the Crystal Ball was made of brass tal, sowhat crown??shaped, just enough to hold that murky Crystal Ball in place.
But the Crystal Ball itself was just an ordinary object; the one truly possessing an abnormally powerful Whisper Elent was that brass base. On the base’s naplate was a line of tiny characters, which Shard only made out when he stepped closer:
[See through the mist to the truth]
Shard suddenly heard the breathing of the young woman beside him grow rapid. He turned and shot her a puzzled look, and she clutched her collar as if she could barely breathe:
“It’s that, it’s that… I didn’t expect sothing written in the books to actually appear here.”
“What is it?”
Miss Higgins did not answer imdiately. Instead, she first handed Old Lady Miles a pair of earplugs, and only after confirming the old woman couldn’t hear did she explain:
“Sir, I don’t know if you’re familiar with how Witches classify the danger Levels of Relics. But in fact, above the five Levels, there is still an ‘Unclassified Level.'”
This was actually consistent with the Sixth Era.
“Look at that base—oh my God, it’s actually this one. Unclassified Level Relic, Fate’s Pedestal, a Fate and Divination??type Relic. Put any Crystal Ball on it, and you can activate the Relic’s Trait. Fate’s Pedestal’s only Trait: Divination. It can divine anything. Up to now, there has never been a case where Fate’s Pedestal could not perform a Divination! I once had the honor of attending a paid lecture by a Witch Empress, and from her casual chatter I learned that this thing is said to have once been the Divination tool of the Ancient God of Fate—Mr. Ring!”
She drew in a sharp breath, her over??excitent leaving her sounding almost short of oxygen when she spoke:
“If we had this thing, we wouldn’t even need to enter this camp to find Old Lady Miles’s lover’s soul!”
“Don’t get so worked up yet. Even if we sold all three of us, we definitely couldn’t afford it. At most, we might be able to pay for a single Divination.”
Even so, Shard still couldn’t help looking at that Relic. Even after all he had been through, the number of Unclassified Level Relics he had directly co into contact with was very small, and of those he had personally used, aside from Desire, that special existence, there was only the Ti of Retrospection hourglass, which he had borrowed—contained by Luviya and Priest Augustus—to seek the truth of Ti.
Luviya once said that every Unclassified Level Relic is directly related to a Deity. And the Traits of an Unclassified Level Relic can even slightly affect a Deity in a Saint state. All this was enough to show just how powerful the Relic before their eyes really was.
Even Shard, who had always been cautious and never greedy, couldn’t help imagining at this mont what would happen if Luviya obtained this Relic.
He hurriedly shook his head, forcing himself not to imagine that scene:
“What are the Relic’s Negative Traits and usage limits?”
Shard asked in a low voice. Miss Higgins was still trembling as she spoke, and only then did Shard belatedly realize that she was being affected by that highest-Level dangerous Relic:
“Only beings from before the Third Era, or entities whose soul is abnormally strong, can activate its Divination Trait. So even if people like us, who live in the current age, get it, we most likely can’t use it—we’d need to combine it with so Magic Potion to temporarily strengthen the soul. Also, the conclusions this Relic divines are absolutely correct, so you must never use it to divine the future, absolutely not! Everyone’s future is uncertain, but once it’s observed, you truly fall into Fate’s trap.”
“So it can only divine things about the past? Like where a lost key went, or whether my neighbor is cheating?”
“That’s roughly what it ans… but there’s no need to divine trivial stuff like that. Oh, don’t let Grandma Miles try it. Since we already know the rchant’s location, don’t let her co into contact with an Unclassified Level Relic.”
She had always been wary of the shadows in the camp, yet now she took the initiative to walk toward that table. The Black tal Balance was put down again, and Miss Higgins took a deep breath:
“I want to divine sothing!”
The Balance imdiately lost its Balance, and only recovered after Miss Higgins placed two Coins on it. That was clearly the fee for Divination:
“Where in the Material World can I find an ownerless Mithril Vein that I can afford to buy?”
When she finished, she widened her eyes in a listening posture, then her face suddenly flushed red:
“Got it, got it!”
She bit her own lip, desperately holding back her laughter, and stepped back to Shard’s side. In the firelight, it was as if this lady had shaken off the double influence of the “Black Mist Camp” and the Unclassified Level Relic. Her excitent was fully revealed through her eyes, which seed to be glowing.
“You…”
“Two Coins in exchange for a lifeti without money worries. Witches have very high living expenses, and I still have to prepare funds for the materials of my advancent ritual… I have never in my life made such a worthwhile deal! As long as I can get out of here alive, what else do I have to worry about for the rest of my life?”
Grandma Miles still had her ears covered. Although she didn’t know what Miss Higgins was saying, seeing her so excited and elated, she still smiled and nodded at her.
Shard rather admired this way of exploiting a Relic, but he still had doubts:
“Can it really divine anything?”
Strictly speaking, the sign of the “Divination House” swaying at the tent entrance was no longer creaking, which ant that as long as one person had perford a Divination, they could already leave. But Shard had also beco interested in this Relic.
“At least as far as I know, it can divine anything. But it’s best not to divine matters that aren’t closely related to yourself. The more you know, the worse it is for us. And of course, don’t divine knowledge related to Gods. This Relic may be able to give you answers, but that doesn’t an you can accept that knowledge.”
The excited Witch reminded him, and Shard nodded:
“Don’t worry, I know the rules of Divination.”
Shard then also walked to the table with the Crystal Ball on it. He likewise took out two Coins, but didn’t imdiately place them on the Balance:
“If this Relic can’t give a Divination result, then you’ll have to compensate
double.”
He said to the shadow behind the table, and the shadow nodded. Shard’s heart gave a jolt, and he imdiately gleaned more information:
“These speechless shadows are not chanically repeating so action—they can make independent judgnts.”
He placed the Coins on one side of the Balance:
“I want to know, hmm… why did I co to this World?”
The Outlander asked softly. He wasn’t trying to win more Coins; he was genuinely puzzled about it. Although he had long since abandoned the idea of giving up everything here and going ho, he still very much wanted to understand the cause of it all.
A voice appeared by Shard’s ear.
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