"Reviving?!"
Elara exclaimed in surprise upon hearing Erik, quickly turning to look at the hanging corpses, which showed no apparent change. They remained still, frozen with expressions of terror and pain. Erik nodded and explained in a serious tone while creating several Myst hands around the 'corpses.'
"Although it's subtle, their 'presence' appeared in my Mystic Awareness, and it's 'growing' little by little, as if they are somehow reviving…"
As he spoke, Erik drew a horizontal line in the air with his fingers, causing a swift, invisible flying slash to shoot towards the ropes holding the corpses, easily cutting them. Surprised, Tomás turned to look at Erik and commented with a hint of disbelief as the Myst hands caught the 'corpses.'
"Will Projection…?"
"Yes, Erik has mastered Blade Qi." Zoe commented with a somewhat strange smile, a mix of seriousness and a hint of pride. Tomás couldn't help but mutter, full of incredulity.
"What a monster…"
While the strongest youth of his generation seemed to be reconsidering life's injustices, Erik and Elara began to carefully analyze the rune-covered 'corpses' now floating before them, held by the Myst hands. As she took a cloth from her storage pouch to cover the three naked girls, Zoe stepped in front of the corpses and asked seriously.
"Are they really 'reviving'? I don't sense anything, not even with Ethereal Projection."
"Their hearts have stopped and they aren't breathing, but their 'presences' are getting stronger. It's strange." Erik commented thoughtfully, stepping forward and then starting to circle the corpses with a hand on his chin. Elara, doing something similar to Erik, commented while placing a finger under the nose of one 'corpse.'
"That's impossible. At our level, we are still mortal. We can't survive without a heart or oxygen. There must be some trick…"
"I once read about something similar. It's known as the Corporeal Prison Curse." At that moment, Chen stepped forward and commented in a serious tone, drawing the attention of everyone present, before continuing to explain.
"As I recall, the Corporeal Prison Curse induces a state of false death where a mortal's metabolism slows down so much that unless a very intensive check is done, they will appear dead. But, although the body enters this state of suspended animation, the mind does not, so they are still capable of feeling and hearing everything. It's one of the worst tortures."
"They're still conscious?!" Frank couldn't help but exclaim with disbelief and a touch of panic, holding Lirio tighter, a sentiment shared by all present. Chen nodded solemnly and explained.
"According to what I read, yes. Those who fall victim to that curse are conscious the entire time and can't even 'sleep' or anything like that. However, whether these people are actually victims of that curse or not, I have no way of knowing… I really only read about it in passing, and I don't even know if such a curse can be dispelled."
"Interesting…" Erik commented thoughtfully, looking at all the corpses in the place, before turning to see the expressions of his companions.
Although everyone looked uncomfortable and even a little scared, Erik could see that each and every one of them understood his intentions, to the point where they nodded seriously at him; even Hiyori glanced at him for a moment to nod. At that moment, Erik turned back to his companions and spoke seriously.
"Although we don't know if they are alive or dead, it's still not a good idea to let the enemy achieve their objectives. Therefore, we are going to recover all these bodies. Any objections?"
Erik made a small pause to look at his companions, who remained silent with no intention of refuting, so he soon looked at Chen and Ethan and began giving instructions.
"Chen, Ethan, after deploying a formation to contain Xiao Tianji, I need you to return through the portal first and deploy a healing formation similar to the one you used to stabilize me. Although we don't know if they're still alive, we don't lose much by trying, so it's best to do it."
""Understood!""
Ethan and Chen quickly announced in unison. Immediately, Erik turned to look at the rest and instructed seriously.
"Meanwhile, I need the other direct disciples to gather with me. And Frank, I'll put you in charge of coordinating the recovery and transport of the bodies. You can use the golems to help, but keep in mind for now we've only figured out how to give them basic instructions. Also, we don't know much about curses and such, so avoid direct contact."
"Understood, boss!" Frank quickly responded seriously. Erik nodded and then manipulated the core a little.
Shortly after, Frank directed the golems and the other youths to recover the bodies, while Erik sat at the head of a long table made of solidified Myst, accompanied by Elara, Zoe, Tomás, and Christine. Looking at everyone seriously, Erik announced calmly.
"This is too good an opportunity to waste. Although we don't know exactly how much time we have, we are in enemy territory undetected, so we need to leave some 'surprises' for them."
Upon hearing Erik, small smiles formed on the faces of all present, and they soon began sharing ideas, which Erik started jotting down in a notebook after discussing them a bit.
…
…
…
After a while, Erik was left alone at the table while the others worked, preparing traps for those who would come after them and moving the corpses, while he himself studied the giant core. Something had powerfully caught his attention, and he wanted to investigate it: the difference between the various 'portal pits.'
For some reason, the pit they found in the strange labyrinth had fire, just like the ones the initial exploration team had used to exit the ruins. But the one in the basilisk cave and the current one in this cave were different. They didn't have fire, just a strange dark liquid matter inside.
But, although they were different, they were equally functional, as they had used the one in the cave, and it was very likely the Virelian had used the one in the basilisk cave. This strange difference inevitably made Erik curious, wondering if it meant something. So, with determination, he entered what he believed was the 'portal' map and began analyzing it.
At the same time, Erik took out a small crystal tablet from his storage bag. Activating it, it displayed a rough, incomplete map of the ruin, which Zoe had drawn using data from the initial exploration group and what they themselves had discovered. With both maps active, Erik superimposed them and then made a couple of adjustments to align them, using as reference the points marked as the locations of the exits discovered by the pioneer group.
After several adjustments, Erik finally managed to match two portals with those marked on the map, and he began studying the positions of the others. Luckily, one of the portals matched fairly closely with the estimated position of the geometric labyrinth Zoe had drawn, which gave him more confidence in the alignment. But immediately, something jumped out at him.
The two portals he had positioned to match the 'exits' had a slightly different glow from the others, but they were quite similar to each other. This was difficult to perceive before due to how corrupted and unclear the map appeared. The only somewhat clear thing on that map of lights was precisely the light of the portal they had activated to reach the cave, which was a slightly different color, which is why they activated it first.
But while studying the map, paying special attention to the subtle differences he found with the two 'exit' portals, Erik immediately noticed that if he set aside the portal they had activated. The light points could be grouped into three groups. Although he still didn't understand the reason for the difference, it was there. The problem was they didn't know exactly where the basilisk island was, and the one they activated was different from all the others, so he didn't have many references.
(Wait! It's highly likely the Virelian didn't have a core and still managed to activate the portals, even figuring out how to find the basilisk. Was it pure luck, or did he know something I don't…? In any case, whatever it was, I should have some advantage because the core seems quite special, so I should be able to discover how he did it.)
While reflecting without getting anywhere, Erik suddenly looked at the ring on his finger and had a revelation. He quickly closed his eyes, immersing himself completely in the Myst, increasing his perception, while simultaneously sending his mana into the ring.
Although nothing strange happened at first, as Erik tried different things following the model Elara had calculated, a kind of network of interconnected points suddenly appeared in his mind, like a chaotic network graph. With this image in his head, Erik began mobilizing his mana and the Myst while trying to understand the convoluted graph, as it was quite confusing.
But within the confusing graph, there were points that seemed slightly larger than the others, and two that seemed special. One was significantly larger than the rest, and the other seemed to pulse slowly, albeit somewhat subtly and arrhythmically, like a damaged warning signal. But at that instant, Erik noticed the largest point of all moved abruptly, almost vibrating, and almost immediately, another did the same, as if they were connected.
At the same time, Erik felt the Myst move slightly, so he opened his eyes just in time to see a golem passing through the portal holding several bodies. Feeling a sudden revelation, Erik quickly placed his hand on the core and then performed exactly the same steps as before.
At that moment, instead of the graph image forming in his mind, it formed directly on the holographic map. Soon, the disorganized graph began to take shape and then matched almost exactly with the light points. Erik focused his gaze on the pulsing point, which matched perfectly with an opaque light point that, upon closer inspection, seemed slightly set apart, as if subtly isolated.
Without a word, Erik waited with contained excitement for another person to pass through the portal. Finally, another golem passed through the portal carrying bodies, at which moment the point on the bigger graph—the one matching the differently colored point—moved, followed by the one he believed was the portal of the strange square anthill.
"I think I figured out how to use this thing…"
Erik couldn't help but comment with a smile as he looked at the map. He then closed his eyes and concentrated completely, wanting to somehow mark the anthill portal. After trying things for a while, Erik finally felt a change, so he quickly opened his eyes and fixed his gaze on the map. There, indeed, the light point of the Anthill changed color, which put an even bigger smile on his face.
"Did you discover something?"
At that instant, Erik heard a voice nearby, which made him turn, finding Elara looking at him and the map with curiosity. Without losing a second, Erik gave her a summary of his discoveries, causing Elara's beautiful green eyes to shine brightly as she concluded with a huge smile on her face.
"You found the exit!"
"It's still not certain. For now, I'm only about 80% sure I can find portals identical to the ones the preliminary exploration group used to get out of here. Whether they are usable exits remains to be seen." Erik commented with a small smile. At that moment, Elara couldn't contain herself and leaped to hug Erik.
"Thank you, Erik, thank you. I owe you my life… If it weren't for you, I'd probably be another one of those bodies…"
With tears in her eyes, Elara clung to Erik and thanked him, which inevitably drew the attention of everyone present and led Zoe, Tomás, and Christine to approach.
"It's still early to thank me. You can do it after we get out of here…" Erik consoled the beautiful young woman in a calm voice. At that moment, Christine couldn't help but ask, full of hope and anticipation.
"Did you really figure out how to get us out of here?!"
Upon hearing the question, Erik again explained a summary of his discoveries while helping Elara sit in a Myst chair. This caused Christine's eyes to well up, and she jumped to hug Erik, pressing her sensual body against his without restraint.
Visibly uncomfortable, Erik looked at the weeping Christine, who seemed to have much to say but no words to express it. At that moment, Zoe grabbed her by the collar and pulled her away forcefully. While Christine tried to complain and cry at the same time, Zoe looked at Erik and asked with a smile full of pride, as if she weren't the least bit surprised, while giving a subtle smile to the proud fox spirit.
"So, is our next step to reach an exit? Or will we try to go to other places using the portals?"
***
You can support me on patreon.com/lordanl and get up to 23 advanced chapters.