Sage Level Relic: God's Gift Box

"Power? You are too weak. The power I possess is not suitable for you."

This once again demonstrated the other party's strength, something Shade firmly believed.

The woman paused before continuing, as though she were thinking. Meanwhile, the temperature in the room had already returned to the same level as the corridor, indicating that her mood had also calmed:

"But I happen to have a decent relic in hand, though it is far less valuable than that Old God statue. No, not the Darkness Box. That is merely a Poet Level (Level 5) toy. I will give you a Document Level (Level 4) relic and tell you the secret of Blood of Mercury, helping you avoid danger, in exchange for the address and the incantation. How about it?"

"No Problem. Thank you for your generosity, Lady."

Since saying nice things cost nothing, Shade was happy to use the "Northern Common Language Gift Pack" in his mind to translate Chinese into foreign-world phrases with a distinctly translated flavor and praise her.

But this time, Shade did not take the initiative to reveal the incantation. Naturally, the woman behind the door understood what he meant:

"A Sage Level relic has recently appeared in Tobesk City."

The very first sentence was rather surprising. He had assumed the woman wanted to discuss the Keeper of Secrets Level relic, Falsified Philosopher's Stone, related to Blood of Mercury. Shade had seen the Academy's wanted notice at the Doctor's place.

Fortunately, it was only Sage Level (Level 2), not Angel Level (Level 1). But on second thought, it was unlikely that he would suddenly encounter an Angel Level Relic anyway. After all, Shade still had a certain degree of confidence in his luck.

The woman in his heart laughed again.

"This is not really a secret. At the very least, The Church and the Academy both know, as do others with informants in This Area. That Sage relic is God's Gift Box, a tool once used by an Old God who possessed the power of creation."

The woman behind the door spoke in a teasing tone:

"Blood of Mercury currently possesses this Sage Level Relic, and they have been classified as an illegal organization.

"For certain reasons, Blood of Mercury is temporarily unable to move the relic, so God's Gift Box remains in Tobesk City. The relic's power is very formidable. Every Ring Arcanist who touches the box for the first time automatically learns a synthesis formula. By placing specific relics into the box in a particular order, they can synthesize a more powerful relic that is guaranteed to suit them. Detective, do you understand?"

"I think I understand."

Shade carefully committed this information to memory. This was the first Sage Level Relic he had learned about.

"This is somewhat similar to alchemical synthesis, but the side effects of a Sage Level Relic... Diake, the 'Silver-Eyed One' of Blood of Mercury, seems to believe that he can use that box to master the synthesis method for the Angel Level (Level 1) relic, Blood of Mercury..."

The woman was laughing, but her laughter was far less pleasant than the laughter currently ringing in Shade's mind.

"The Silver-Eyed One intends to use that Sage Level Relic, which cannot be taken away, to synthesize the true Blood of Mercury. That was also the original purpose behind the founding of the Blood of Mercury organization: pursuing a relic that might not even exist. That is why those people brought all sorts of miscellaneous things to this city, including that statue. I hear they also have several quite impressive relics, but for now, I only want that statue."

"Then what do you think of that Sage Level Relic, God's Gift Box?"

Shade asked hesitantly. He greatly doubted that, if everything the woman said was true, the Academy would tell the correspondence-course Ring Arcanists in This Area the full truth.

If they had stated the truth, then that wanted notice seemed to be deliberately downplaying the matter. Therefore, the Academy wanted notice Shade had seen at the Doctor's place most likely had "search for traces of the Blood of Mercury organization" as its real objective, while the Falsified Philosopher's Stone was merely incidental.

The Academy did not currently intend to share this intelligence with correspondence-course Ring Arcanists.

"I have no interest whatsoever in that object. I know exactly what that box is, so I will never touch it. It only appeared in the autumn of Fifth Epoch 1068. It is ancient, and powerful... If I were you, I would definitely hide from Blood of Mercury in this Great Fog-shrouded Steam Capital for the next few months. Those people are nearly insane now."

"Very well, Lady. Thank you very much for the information. Here is the incantation."

He spent several seconds memorizing every word the woman had said, then voluntarily spoke the six-syllable incantation. Afterward, he added that he had only learned it due to the effect of his Core Ling Rune.

But the woman did not seem to care about that, just as she did not care why Shade could so easily cause the Darkness Box to lose control.

"Very good, Detective. I appreciate people like you. This has been quite a good commission. Now, please keep this relic safe."

The sound of a drawer being pulled came from behind the door, followed by footsteps. But when the door was finally pushed open, the person who emerged was only a young Maid, perhaps in her twenties, dressed in a classic, thick black-and-white maid uniform.

Her long black hair was held in place by a white hair ornament. Since she did not work in the kitchen, there was no apron over her long maid dress as Shade had imagined.

She was definitely not the Lady Shade had been speaking to. The outline of the Lady behind the door had been Depicted in a golden hue amid the darkness just now, and she looked very different from this Black-Haired Maid.

After opening the door concealed in one corner of the bookshelf, the Maid immediately returned it to a half-closed state, giving Shade no chance to see the "noble Lady" inside. She then cautiously carried a small square box over to Shade with both hands. The box was wrapped in red velvet. Holding it in one hand, she opened it with a snap and showed Shade the ring embedded in its lining.

A faint smell of blood was caught by his senses, but neither his naked eyes nor Blood Echo could detect any bloodstains on the ring itself.

The ring had the texture of pure silver. As for its setting, it was a piece of yellow amber containing an unknown insect. The insect resembled an ordinary gnat, but its entire body was blood-red, as though it might come alive from within the amber at any moment.

You have come into contact with 'Whisper'.

"Document Level Relic, Blood Ring. While injured, wearing the ring and directly touching the skin of any humanoid creature allows you to draw their blood to heal yourself.

"It cannot cure diseases or curses, but it can alleviate them. However, if the injury needing treatment is too severe, the touched person's blood may be drained dry in an instant. But do not use the ring as an offensive tool. Even if you are willing to injure yourself, do not do so. This is a Document Level Relic. Frequently using the ring's ability to heal yourself will cause symptoms similar to Blood Thirst Syndrome."

The woman behind the door was explaining. She did not conceal the details of the relic:

"Do not wear it while uninjured. At least, do not wear it for long periods, or I cannot guarantee what might happen. Of course, even apart from the relic's side effects, it is best not to wear it casually. I also took this from Blood of Mercury. They do not know who took it, so... you should exercise that degree of caution."

For a moment, Shade did not know whether he should complain about the woman's conflict with Blood of Mercury or consider the connection between Blood of Mercury gathering so many extraordinary items related to blood and their synthesis formula.