"No, my heart tells me—my Erik is in danger."
Sigrún quickly shook her head and commented in a heavy tone as she walked toward the door, closely followed by Eleonora and Seraphina, who both wore incredibly dark expressions on their faces. The uneasy feeling in their hearts only grew worse with each passing second.
Meanwhile, Jessica and Thalia could only look at each other in silence with bitter smiles, though both could see a light of worry in the other's eyes, most likely affected by Sigrún's panic. But just at that moment, when Sigrún was about to leave the room, a flare of blue fire materialized in front of her, then took the shape of a beautiful phoenix made of flames.
"Did something happen, Ignis...?"
Seeing her contracted spirit appear without being summoned, Sigrún asked with an apprehensive voice, her heart starting to race wildly, filled with panic, almost as if telling her that something truly serious had happened. The beautiful phoenix spirit spoke in a dark and incredibly heavy voice.
"Erik is in danger."
"""What happened?!!"""
Upon hearing the announcement, Sigrún, Eleonora, and Seraphina exclaimed in unison, practically on the verge of a panic attack, while Thalia and Jessica stood up from their seats with incredibly solemn expressions. Ignis explained with a voice filled equally with anger, worry, and helplessness.
"I don't have the details, but Ebonique contacted me in the spirit dimension and informed me that something happened in the ruin—some golden chains appeared out of nowhere and rendered all magical artifacts completely useless, including the storage rings."
Sigrún and Eleonora visibly paled and staggered backwards, completely drained of strength, being supported by Seraphina, who—before anyone could notice—had changed out of her Victorian maid uniform. She was now almost completely concealed beneath what looked like an elegant, form-fitting black outfit with a hood that covered her face entirely, revealing only her bright light-gray eyes.
"Is Erik still alive?"
At that moment, an incredibly cold voice, filled with crazed bloodlust, echoed through the room while the equally pale Jessica and Thalia stepped forward with solemn expressions. Ignis turned to look at Seraphina and nodded before speaking in a serious tone.
"Yes, he is still safe and Ebonique is with him, but there is something incredibly troublesome inside that makes it difficult for Ebonique to communicate with me easily, so the information I have is scarce. For the same reason, I can't interfere much with those ruins, though I will try to lend a hand. Ultimately, it depends mainly on you."
Eleonora and Sigrún felt as if their souls had returned to their bodies and their eyes, with small tears welling up at the corners, filled with unmatched resolve. At that moment, their bodies were surrounded by golden lightning and blue fire, respectively, as armor began to appear on them.
"Leave it to us. No matter what happens, we'll get Erik out of there, even if we have to blow that place to pieces."
Sigrún spoke in a deep voice, filled with endless resolve, to which Seraphina and Eleonora nodded before starting to walk out of the room with Sigrún. At that moment, Thalia's serious voice sounded from behind.
"You can count on us. We won't abandon our disciples to their fate."
...…
Feeling the sun's rays on her eyes, Zoe opened her eyes and sat up abruptly, then began to look around. She found Elara and Frank nearby, sleeping peacefully in front of what seemed to be a campfire that had already burned out, which helped her remember what had happened. The night before, she had fallen asleep outside with the others while Erik stood watch.
With her beautiful face flushed from embarrassment, Zoe began to look around for Erik, until she finally spotted him about forty meters away, methodically practicing the bio-mystic technique she had seen before when they were searching for an unsupervised entrance. But for some reason she couldn't quite understand, that scene completely captured her attention.
Erik's movements were so fluid and precise that, despite being incredibly fast, they seemed slow and deliberate, naturally shifting between four different sets of movements: one light and almost ethereal, another firm and full of strength, the next swift and aggressive yet incredibly precise, and the last seemed fluid and elegant.
As the sun's rays filtered through the trees and illuminated Erik's hair, Zoe somehow thought she saw it shining with an almost mystical golden light, which somehow made her heart skip a beat. But what happened next made her eyes open wide, almost doubting reality, to the point where she had to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't still dreaming.
Even though she was far from being able to fully adapt to the strange concentration of Myst in that ruin, she could still feel how the Myst in the surroundings stirred and began to gather around the star-haired young man. The Myst was forming a sort of furious vortex, which quickly started to grow in size and intensity, to the point that soon she felt as if the vortex was pulling her in.
Almost immediately, Elara and Frank woke up in alarm, to the point where they thought the Basilisk had awakened and was attacking. But as soon as they opened their eyes, they found Zoe staring into the distance, almost hypnotized, with a strange blush full of passion on her delicate face, while her blue eyes shone brightly.
Looking in the direction Zoe was staring, Elara and Frank saw Erik practicing methodically, seemingly completely unaffected by the vortex of Myst that showed no sign of slowing down, making them dizzy. After about five minutes, the Myst vortex slowly began to subside until it disappeared.
At that moment, the three of them could feel Erik's mana shooting out in all directions—a classic Ethereal Projection—but as they sensed its range, they all realized one thing: Erik had advanced; he was now an Ascended-Virtuous, just one step away from the Peak sub-rank, leaving everyone present a little speechless.
Leveling up as a mana user was, in essence, a transcendental advancement as a form of life, and although moving from one level to another was even more important, advancing a sub-rank was no small matter either. Many things could go wrong, and failure—not just a lack of progress—could mean damage to the mana circulatory system, the mana gathering points, the Dantian or Nexus point, among other serious problems.
To prevent something like that from happening, each advancement was handled with extreme care. Usually, a mana user would isolate themselves for a while, nourish their body in the best way possible, prepare a suitable place to make the breakthrough—preferably with equipment and doctors on hand in case the worst happened—and even take some potions to reduce the risk. But now here was a guy treating an advancement so casually, doing it before breakfast as if it were just an everyday thing.
The trio of youths quickly exchanged serious looks, each one aware of what the others were thinking. Erik felt so pressured that he had forced a breakthrough in the precarious situation they were in—all just to increase their chances of survival, even if only slightly—which left him with a tangled mess of conflicting emotions.
On one hand, they felt respect for the star-haired young man—not everyone was capable of making the decision he had made: risking his brilliant future at the top of the galaxy, as a talent even greater than Master Eldurdóttir's, in exchange for a boost in strength, which, while not insignificant, still fell far short of providing any real sense of security in the precarious situation they were in.
But at the same time, the trio felt guilty. After all, Erik—though mature, intelligent, and capable—was still a 'child' of thirty, practically a baby who hadn't truly experienced anything yet, since even Elara, the youngest among them, was three times his age. Because of that, it should have been their responsibility to look after and protect him. Yet, from the very beginning, they had been relying on his knowledge and leadership to survive.
Bearing the weight not only of his own life but also of three other people's lives on his shoulders was not something a young person should have to endure, especially Erik, the youngest of them all—something they all understood, but because of their fear of death and desire to survive, they had conveniently chosen to ignore. This realization hit Zoe particularly hard.
She had been trained by her grandfather since childhood to be a leader and a fierce, brave, and capable warrior—but what had she done? At the first sign of trouble, she had panicked, lost her way, and even allowed Erik—someone immensely talented and whom she valued—to end up with all the pressure. It was a complete disgrace to the upbringing her grandfather had given her.
"What's wrong? Why those faces? Didn't you sleep well?"
While the three youths were lost in deep thought, they suddenly heard a calm, casual voice in front of them, prompting them to turn toward it. They found Erik standing there with a relaxed expression, popping what looked like a grape into his mouth, while his dragon spirit, only a few centimeters long, peeked out from the top of his head.
"Erik… I'm sorry. We demanded too much from you and took advantage of you…"
After a few seconds, Zoe sat down with her knees together, then bowed deeply and apologized, causing Erik to open his eyes a little wider, caught between surprise and confusion. He spoke in a somewhat awkward tone.
"Why are you apologizing? For last night? I already told you, It's normal; don't take it to heart. Really, it's fine. Let's get to work; we have a lot to do."
"Erik." At that moment, Elara spoke in an incredibly serious tone, then continued with a voice filled with guilt.
"We took advantage of you and put too much pressure on your shoulders, to the point that you were cornered into taking the risk of advancing in this precarious situation… we're really sorry…"
Erik stared in astonishment at the beautiful blonde girl, but to his surprise, Frank also seemed to want to add something, so Erik quickly gestured for him to stop and immediately spoke in a serious tone.
"Hold on a second. Pressure? Risk of advancing? What are you talking about? I just advanced the same way I always do."
Hearing Erik's words, Zoe, Elara, and Frank opened their eyes wide, looking at the star-haired boy as if he were a monster. That was when Zoe asked in a tone full of disbelief.
"You always advance like this? With no preparations, no specialized nutrition, no prior meditation, no potions—just like that, just practicing your bio-mystic technique, and that's it?"
"Yes, that's how it's always been." Erik replied, a bit puzzled as he looked at his companions, but noticing that their expressions were only getting worse, he couldn't help but ask, somewhat confused.
"Is it really necessary to do all that just to advance a sub-rank?"
"Yes… It's common sense to make those kinds of preparations…" Elara replied, with a strange feeling churning in her chest. At that moment, Frank, who seemed to be cursing the heavens over the huge differences between people, asked in an almost fearful tone.
"Boss… Do you also advance through the levels like that…?"
"Well… when I advanced to the Ascended level, my masters made me enter a meditation room and prepared a bunch of potions and artifacts…"
Now understanding where the youths' sudden outburst had come from, Erik replied in a somewhat evasive tone, which only made the three of them, realizing what he meant, smile bitterly.
Even though they were geniuses in their own right—especially Zoe and Elara—standing in front of a monster like Erik was truly frustrating, to the point that they could now somewhat understand what the less fortunate felt toward them.
(I truly have sinned…)
While Zoe and Elara slipped into a strange state of contemplation, Erik waved his hand casually, causing a delicious aroma to waft over to everyone, snapping them back to reality and making them look around. That was when they saw that behind them was a campfire with a large amount of roasted meat, which began to float toward them, while what looked like a skewer of meat landed in Erik's hands.
"For now, let's have breakfast. We still have a lot to do." Erik commented calmly, then took a bite of his skewer.
"Where did all this food come from…?"
After taking a bite of a large skewer of meat, Elara asked with a bit of curiosity. Erik replied casually, gesturing with his thumb toward the shelter where he had slept for a while the night before, while handing out grapes to the others with phantom hands.
"I sent Kaiser out to hunt a little while ago, and he just happened to find an Aldarion and some Dewberries."
Upon hearing the answer, Zoe and Elara quickly extended their ethereal projections and soon found that behind the shelter a fresh hide was drying, and inside were dozens of bunches of grapes along with a pile of perfectly cut boards. At that moment, Erik added casually.
"Once we finish eating, we'll get to work. Zoe and Frank, you'll go through what's on the tablets, and Elara and I will start working on the potions."
"…Erik." Zoe spoke with a voice full of discomfort, drawing Erik's attention, before she continued in a serious tone.
"Even though your advancement was just a misunderstanding, the fact remains that I haven't behaved up to the situation. So from now on, I promise to act as I should."
Hearing this, Elara and Frank quickly nodded with serious expressions, which made Erik smile a little, somewhat amused, before shaking his head and replying.
"I don't agree with that. You've all been a great help, and, above all, you managed to stay focused and calm. This just caught all of us a bit off guard, that's all. You'll adapt soon, don't worry."
Zoe, Elara, and Frank looked at each other with different expressions, but after a few seconds, they nodded to Erik and focused on eating, each a bit lost in their thoughts. Meanwhile, Erik simply started eating and shared his food with the wolves, who had brought their own food to eat beside their contractor.
...…
Once they finished breakfast, Zoe and Frank began to read the tablets that Erik had stored in the shelter. Then, after selecting the ones they considered most important, they set off with Hiyori—the fox spirit who liked to keep a low profile, almost as if she didn't exist—the wolves, and Lirio, Frank's adorable newborn spirit.
For his part, Erik took the barrier containing his coat with SARI over to a "table" of stone he had made by cutting some large rocks that Ebonique had brought. Elara watched him with eyes shining with curiosity, eager to start working, which made Erik smile in amusement. After creating a barrier around them, covering about 20 meters, he spoke in a calm tone.
"Well, the first thing we're going to do is create what is possibly the most basic element in both alchemy and artificery: Magic Chalk."
"Chalk…?" Elara couldn't help but ask, a bit confused, to which Erik nodded and explained as he deactivated the barrier covering the SARI.
"Yes, chalk. It's mainly used to draw the runic-geomantic refinement circles, which are responsible for modulating mana flow, adjusting temperature, synchronizing the reactions during the process, and more. They're a very important part, and they're drawn rather than conjured with magical formations to keep the artisan from splitting their attention."
"I see… and how do you make it?"
Elara commented with some curiosity, since she had never really tried to learn Alchemy or Artificery, being completely focused on training and mastering mathematics—something of vital importance for Sacred Geometry. Erik responded in a calm tone as he took a small portion of SARI in his hands and began channeling mana through it.
"The truth is, it's not that complicated to make. This time, we'll use SARI as the conductive base, clay as the binder, some ground charcoal for structural reinforcement, and animal fat to slowly hydrate it and prevent cracks or anything like that."
"I understand." Elara listened attentively, then nodded and commented before asking as she looked around.
"What do you want me to do? Should I grind the charcoal?"
"No, I want you to prepare the fat." Erik said, as he took a small leftover piece of the improvised sack Frank had made to carry the samples, and added.
"In the shelter where Frank and I stayed, there are several improvised jars made of bamboo. That's where you'll find the fat. I need you to heat it over a low flame for about an hour—that will separate the impurities and leave us with clear tallow, which is what we need."
"Leave it to me, then."
Elara quickly responded in a serious tone and set off, while Erik, using the piece of cloth—which was quite fine and durable—began to sift the SARI with his own hands, without using a single spell. At that moment, Ebonique floated up into the air and then ended up right in front of him, asking calmly.
"Should I help by grinding the charcoal?"
"That would be a great help." Erik replied with a small smile, then added.
"Just remember not to use mana—use stones or something like that, since mana could interfere with the activation of the SARI. Also, make it as fine as you can."
"I'll do it that way."
Ebonique replied, showing her teeth slightly, then calmly flew off toward the charcoal, visibly subdued—something that had persisted since the appearance of the basilisk. This inevitably made Erik sigh, as he knew his reliable contracted spirit was nervous, but there really wasn't much he could do. The situation was simply too dangerous.
***
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