In the midst of a massive roar, the entire secret chamber, and even the ruins outside it, trembled.
Fortunately, this ancient ruin was located in the desolate Gray White Hills, far from any village or store. Had it erupted in a city, it likely would have sparked public panic about earthquakes and other natural disasters.
Shiayar still stood at the center of the secret chamber, sediment and dust cascading down beside him. But his gaze remained locked on the bronze platform.
The Crimson glow from the stone carving intensified, illuminating the entire chamber with a distinct brightness. After a long while, the crimson light finally began to recede, and the roaring sounds around him gradually faded as well.
Although the appearance of the stone carving hadn't changed in the slightest, Shiayar could feel that the filthy and deathly aura that had once lingered around it had vanished. The stone carving was no longer the strange and magical artifact tainted by the Evil God, but merely an ordinary stone craft.
In its place, twisted beams of light converged upon the bronze platform, forming something akin to a doorway.
The little white ferret on Shiayar's left shoulder opened its delicate, ruby-like eyes and curiously examined the doorway Shiayar had summoned. As a High Order Illusion Technique controller, Silver could clearly perceive that the twisted doorway before it was not a trick of light refraction or a visual displacement. Instead, there truly was a crack in the Space Law in that area, causing even light to distort as it passed through.
Shiayar stared at the twisted doorway, his heart swelling with an uncontrollable excitement.
"Echo of History." Or perhaps "Historical Echo," "Fragment of Time," "Remnants of the River of Years"... So many terms were used to describe the extraordinary phenomenon occurring at this moment.
This phenomenon was exceedingly rare and directly involved the laws of time and space. Ordinary civilians, even if they heard of it by chance, would dismiss it as an urban legend. Even those at the Legendary Rank possessed no definitive understanding of such extraordinary phenomena.
The prevailing mainstream belief was that "Echoes of History" only appeared in ancient sites with extensive histories, often bearing a substantial past, formed by the lingering obsession of some immensely powerful being.
As the name implies, it represented an echo of a lost piece of history from the long river of time.
As for the specific details, even Shiayar, despite his considerable efforts in gathering information, did not have a complete understanding.
However, to complete the third phase of his novice task, finding an "Echo of History" was the only possibility. Only within the crevices of the river of time, among the fragments of history, would Shiayar have the chance to see Silvia, the "Gray-Silver Witch," who had long since vanished from the real world.
After all, if even the cheeky act of writing his name in the family tree could be recognized by the system as completing the task, then trying to improve his favorability within these fragmented pieces of history should also be quite feasible, right?
And fortunately, Shiayar had won his bet.
As the last remnant of a glorious ancient kingdom, this ruin indeed contained an "Echo of History."
Just as Shiayar had speculated, the token of the Evil God—perhaps the very entity responsible for the destruction of this ancient land—was the key to unlocking this Echo of History.
Shiayar composed himself and reached out towards the twisted light and shadow.
As soon as he extended his hand, he felt a repulsive force pushing his arm away, accompanied by a cold, mechanical voice in his mind.
[Entering the historical fragment requires the host to have sufficient affinity with time and space. The current host's space affinity is insufficient.]
"I knew it," Shiayar said, his eyes lighting up slightly.
The phenomenon known as an "Echo of History" was extremely mysterious, not only because of its rarity but also because entering such a world, distorted by the laws of time and space, required a high affinity for those very laws. If one lacked sufficient spatial affinity, even if they stumbled upon an "Echo of History" by sheer luck, they could only watch helplessly from the outside as the extraordinary phenomenon slowly dissipated over time.
Shiayar had prepared for this moment for so long; naturally, he had considered the current situation.
Shiayar's consciousness stirred slightly.
The next moment, a round stone, half the height of a man, quietly landed on the floor of the secret chamber.
The little white ferret on Shiayar's shoulder chirped a cheerful "SQUEAK SQUEAK!" at the large, round stone, conveying, "Long time no see!"
The large, round stone rolled, and a muffled "CHIRP CHIRP!!" replied from within, meaning, "Long time no see!"
Following that, the large stone rolled slowly a couple of times and headed straight toward Shiayar. A joyful "CHIRP CHIRP!" came from the stone; through the Soul Pact, Shiayar understood its excited query: "Master, is it finally time to power me up?" The connection through the Soul Pact conveyed an overwhelming joy, allowing Shiayar, as the master of the pact, to roughly understand the meaning behind the sounds.
[Species Name: Sealed Stone Monkey (Sealing Stone State)]
[Soul Pact Status: Second Soul Pact (Master-Servant Contract: Shiayar Egutt)]
[Combat Level: 1]
[Species Rank: low-level Extraordinary]
[Pet Beast skill (Unique): Nurture (Perfection)]
Although a transmigrator, Shiayar had not inherited the classic weakling trope of many of his predecessors. On the contrary, his soul quality as a Beastmaster was quite exceptional.
At the mere age of seventeen, he had cultivated to the level of an intermediate 2-Ring Beastmaster. According to the system panel, this was level 28, not too far from becoming a high-order 3-Ring Beastmaster, and he had already opened his second Soul Pact. Such a rate of advancement was impressive, even when compared to the scions of the Great Nobles in the Empire Capital.
However, even Shiayar's classmates in the Empire Capital had never seen the Pet Beast he had contracted with his second Soul Pact. Many speculated that Shiayar was the type of Beastmaster who focused solely on nurturing a single Pet Beast, lacking the energy and resources for multiple.
This guess was quite rational. After all, Shiayar did not have any prominent background. Nurturing his snowy plains ferret to such strength that it could defeat the young of many sovereign species was an astonishing achievement. It was naturally expected that he lacked the capacity to divide his attention among other Pet Beasts.
But only a very few knew that Shiayar's second Soul Pact had long been occupied. Moreover, most of the resources he had gathered over the years had been poured into this second Soul Pact. Compared to Silver, whose basic abilities were already set, Shiayar had invested even more in his second Pet Beast.
Shiayar crouched, picked up the slowly rolling stone, and stroked it, a faint smile playing on his lips.
Since I already have a white ferret that can perform Moon Reading, then it should be perfectly logical to nurture a monkey that can wield Space-type skills as well, right?