Sensing the presence approaching, Erik focused on his contract with Tiberius and, through it, 'looked' at Lirio, who was sniffing every corner of the room with no intention of stopping—something necessary since they didn't know which trail they needed to follow and had to keep their options open. All Erik could do was grip his machetes tightly and get ready to either fight or run, depending on what happened next.
Soon, the presence reached the window, prompting Erik to ignite his mana and narrow his eyes, which gave off a cold, almost predatory glint. He was completely ready to leap from the shadows and silence whoever came in with a single blow, while Ebonique began to flicker with black lightning, completely silent.
As the presence climbed the wall toward the window, Erik slowly began to poke his head out of the shadow with Tiberius's help. But at that moment, Lirio stopped sniffing around and quickly flew over to them. Ebonique then extended one of her arms to grab the adorable cloud with paws and pull him into the shadow, before withdrawing her claw from the man's head, while Erik also pulled his head back into the darkness.
A few seconds later, Erik saw a new man come in through the window, also dressed in leather armor. He began to climb up to the dome, scaling the wall like a gecko. At that moment, the man on the roof blinked a couple of times, then shook his head and looked around with a hint of confusion on his face. But before he could think much about it, a soft, whispering voice reached his ears.
"Switch."
Hearing the voice right next to his ear, as if someone were whispering to him even though the other person was some distance away, the man on the roof pushed aside his slight confusion and quickly responded in a calm tone.
"I understand. Any news?"
"Yes, one of the sacrifices turned out to be an illusion, so the boss is pretty angry. Try not to upset him."
Soon the voice came again to the man's ear, and he couldn't help but click his tongue in annoyance—when his boss was in a bad mood, it always ended with one or more people dead. But regaining his composure, he quickly turned to face the roof, moving along the wall like a gecko as he replied.
"I understand. Thanks for the warning."
…
Taking advantage of the guard's movement, Erik ordered Tiberius to blend into his shadow and move along with him, all while considering the words of the second man. Although they had been sent using a low-level technique called [Sound Transmission], which—as its name suggested—allowed sounds to be sent directly to another person's ear, it was easy to intercept for anyone with keen senses.
Although Erik himself didn't have sharp enough senses to intercept a sound transmission, his reliable Tiberius did. By focusing on his contract with him, Erik was able to hear everything. After thinking it over for a moment, he communicated with Ebonique through their contract.
[Why do you think they're gathering 'sacrifices'?]
[There are many possibilities—blood, mana, even the souls of mana users, especially the talented ones, all that are useful for all kinds of things, so it's hard to know.] Ebonique quickly responded in a calm tone, which made Erik nod his head before replying.
[That's true, but for now, let's focus on avoiding them and getting some food, and, if possible, finding shelter.]
Soon, Erik managed to get far enough away that he could barely sense the nearest Revealed-level beings. At that point, he ordered Tiberius to stay still, remaining in place for almost five minutes, waiting to see if anyone would catch up. But since nothing happened, he quickly emerged from Tiberius's shadow. Tiberius lay down on the ground, breathing heavily and visibly exhausted.
After all, unlike hiding in his master's shadow with Kaiser—which he could do all day while sleeping peacefully—moving between shadows with more entities hidden within his own, especially two spirits, consumed too much mana, so much that he couldn't maintain it for more than 30 minutes, or he would be completely drained.
"You did an excellent job, Tiberius."
Erik quickly praised Tiberius and began to stroke his dark fur while sending him large amounts of mana, which made the wolf howl happily. At that moment, Kaiser approached and started rubbing his head against Erik's back, measuring about a meter tall just like Tiberius.
"It's okay, it's okay. The fact that you didn't have to do anything this time is actually a good thing, so don't throw a tantrum. I'll give you some mana too."
Speaking somewhat amused, Erik reached out his other hand to pat Kaiser's head and send him some mana. At that moment, Ebonique came over and started rubbing her head against his cheek—she was also about a meter tall—while speaking in a spoiled tone.
"I worked really hard too, and someone promised me mana…"
"Then wrap yourself around my neck and keep an eye on Lirio."
Erik quickly replied, rolling his eyes, which made Ebonique let out a mischievous laugh. She glanced at Lirio, who moved away—though only a little—so she promptly curled herself gently around her beloved contractor's neck. At that moment, she received a large amount of mana, which made her purr with delight.
After several minutes, Tiberius recovered enough to stop breathing heavily, so Erik abruptly cut off the mana supply while speaking in a serious tone.
"That's all for now. If we take any longer, we'll go past the thirty-minute limit."
"What a shame… it was really delicious…" Ebonique spoke up with a slight note of reluctance in her voice, to which Erik replied as he stood up.
"I'll give you more later. For now, we need to head back." Erik quickly turned to look at Tiberius and calmly asked.
"Tiberius, can you make a portal so we can return?"
In response, Tiberius barked softly, then turned into darkness and formed a dark circle on the ground. Erik quickly jumped in, followed by Kaiser and Ebonique, reappearing behind the building where the others were waiting, all looking incredibly nervous and indecisive.
""Erik!""
Seeing the starry-haired young man emerge from the darkness, Zoe and Elara exclaimed in unison, filled with joy and relief, while Frank let out a sigh of relief and reached out a hand to Lirio, who quickly flew over to him, chirping sweetly. At that moment, Erik spoke in a serious tone.
"Lirio managed to sniff out the whole 'entrance' without anyone discovering us. But I overheard that the Revealed-levels are looking for 'sacrifices' or something like that, and apparently someone managed to escape using illusions. So we should move quickly—they might have started a search."
"Illusions?" Upon hearing Erik, Elara couldn't help but comment as she turned to look at Zoe, who quickly turned to Erik and spoke seriously.
"Erik, Ethan Williams—the disciple of Master Roa—has illusion and mist affinities. I'm not trying to imply anything with this information or ask you to look for him, but I thought it was important for you to know."
"Ethan Williams? Laura's brother…" Hearing Zoe, Erik couldn't help but murmur thoughtfully, then looked at Frank and calmly asked,
"Frank, does Lirio still remember Ethan Williams's mana?"
"Yes, direct disciple Erik. Actually, I tried to look for him at the start, but he's probably too far away, since Lirio didn't find any trace of him." Frank responded quickly, to which Erik nodded and then said.
"Try again."
"Lirio."
Hearing Erik, Frank quickly turned to Lirio and gave the order, causing the cute little cloud with paws to sniff the air for a few seconds before letting out a soft chirp. Frank then turned back to Erik and spoke seriously.
"No trace—he must be too far away."
"Is it possible he's dead, and that's why Lirio can't find him?" Erik asked calmly, to which Frank shook his head and explained.
"No, direct disciple Erik. A corpse still retains its mana for quite some time, so Lirio would still be able to find him if that were the case."
"I see." Erik nodded and commented, then fell silent for a few seconds before announcing in a serious tone.
"Since we can't be sure if it was really Ethan Williams or not, we don't know if the event I overheard happened nearby or somewhere else entirely, and the 'enemies' might have a way to communicate or move quickly through these ruins. So, either way, we need to move quickly and can't afford to stop for long—we can't risk being discovered.
"As for Ethan Williams, if we happen to run into him, although we'll assess the situation first, if possible, I want to bring him into the group. On one hand, he's the younger brother of a personal friend of mine, and on the other, Master Roa is a renowned specialist in array formations across the galaxy. So if he's learned anything from her, he'll be a great asset when the time comes to build a base."
"Disciple Williams actually has a strong foundation in matrix formations." Elara quickly commented in a serious tone and continued.
"Especially those related to illusions and similar techniques. His skills were very useful for our group during the selection tournament."
"Perfect, then he really will be a great asset." Erik nodded and commented, then turned to Frank and said.
"Frank, from now on, we'll move while making the most of Lirio's ability to find an unwatched entrance to the 'garden.' So ask him to stay alert for both the scent of the entrance and of Ethan Williams, although the entrance is the top priority—the rest can wait."
"Understood."
Frank quickly nodded, then took Lirio in his hands and began to explain things seriously to the adorable spirit. At that moment, Erik extended his hand, conjuring a good number of runes that began to spin in the air, forming a small circle, and with a single thought, Erik created several cups of solidified Myst.
Soon, crystal-clear water began to fall from the circle of runes in the air. Erik collected it in the cups made of solidified Myst, taking one for himself and making the others float toward Zoe, Elara, and Frank, who thanked him with a smile.
"Thank you, Erik. All this tension made me forget how thirsty I was." Elara commented with a smile before she began to drink the water. At that moment, Zoe, who had finished her whole cup, asked.
"Is it possible to have more, Erik?"
"Of course, don't worry—and sorry, I didn't think of it earlier myself. I only realized when I felt thirsty." Erik replied calmly, as he created more runes to refill everyone's cups and made two huge bowls of solidified Myst, so the wolves could drink too.
"…Thank you very much, disciple Erik. I was really thirsty." Frank said sincerely after drinking four cups of water, to which Erik replied calmly.
"Don't pay too much attention to it, but let's move quickly. Although I can create water and purify it with that spell, it doesn't contain minerals or electrolytes, so it's basically distilled water. While it's fine to drink for a few days, we still need to replenish electrolytes and such, or we could end up with serious imbalances. So let's move—the sooner we find the entrance, the better."
With Erik's words, the group quickly set off, moving erratically to cover as much ground as possible without overlapping Lirio's maximum scent range. They didn't want to leave any area unchecked or waste time searching the same place twice. But as the hours passed, not only did they fail to find an unguarded entrance, they also saw no signs that a search was underway for the 'sacrifice' who had escaped.
But although the journey had been relatively safe, Elara, Zoe, and Frank's expressions only grew heavier as time passed. After all, they were hungry and tired from carrying their heavy armor, but more importantly, the constant tension and lack of results were slowly eating away at their hopes of survival. This made them grip their weapons tightly or bite their lips in frustration.
"Things are getting complicated…"
As they walked, searching for an entrance, Erik couldn't help but comment, already feeling hungry himself. In his mind, he started considering the idea of attacking a 'lightly' guarded entrance—since those people would definitely have supplies and other essentials—which made Zoe, Elara, and Frank nod as well, since they were thinking the same thing and feeling a bit desperate.
(No, it's still not the right time. The risk is too high. Let's try something else first…)
After a few seconds of consideration, Erik decided not to recklessly attack stronger enemies. He quickly stopped and looked at the others before speaking in a serious tone.
"Let's stop for a moment. I want to meditate for a few minutes."
Although they were confused by the oddness of wanting to meditate in their current situation, the others quickly nodded and sat down to rest, clearing their minds as well so they wouldn't focus on their hunger. Meanwhile, Ebonique looked at Erik, full of doubts, unsure whether she should materialize part of her true body to help her beloved contractor or if she should just wait in silence and let him handle things on his own.
As Ebonique debated with herself, trying to decide and mentally calculating how much of her true body she could materialize and for how long without "that bastard" noticing, Erik took a deep breath, then closed his eyes and began his bio-mystical exercises slowly and methodically. This drew a bit of attention from the others, who glanced at him with some curiosity.
For his part, Erik focused completely on the Myst in the surroundings, stretching his perception to its limit as he performed each movement of his routine with special attention to detail. As he did so, the Myst around him began to "dance," connecting with him in an increasingly intimate way. At that point, he started to feel it subtly guiding him to make slight changes to his movements, which he quickly followed.
The reason he had started doing his bio-mystical exercises was very simple—he wanted a clue, a hint, a direction. And since he had nothing else to rely on, he decided to trust his strange intuition. Although it wasn't the most accurate thing in the world and usually only activated to warn him of danger, Erik suspected that this strange extrasensory ability was somehow linked to his connection with the Myst.
Although it was just a suspicion, and he had never really tried to intentionally activate his intuition before, the situation was complicated enough to give it a try—after all, it wouldn't take much time, and it was preferable to "dance" for a while than to end up in a life-or-death fight against a couple of dozen people stronger than him.
After several minutes of performing his bio-mystical movements, Erik somehow began to feel a certain "need" to head southeast—a feeling similar to when the Myst communicated with him to adjust his movements, though at the same time different. He continued with his routine, hoping for more details, but unfortunately, nothing else changed, so he stopped and opened his eyes.
"Let's try heading southeast." Erik quickly turned to his companions, who were sitting on the ground meditating, and spoke in a serious tone, causing them to open their eyes.
"…Sure, let's go."
Although they weren't very sure why, since they didn't have any better ideas, everyone nodded while Zoe answered for the group in a calm voice. They all got up from the ground, resumed their formation, and moved southeast, though none of them—including Erik—had high hopes of actually finding anything.
…
"…Lirio found something!"
After a few hours of walking, just as Erik was starting to doubt his "intuition," Frank suddenly announced joyfully, causing everyone to quickly turn to look at him, visibly excited. Erik immediately asked,
"The entrance?"
"Yes! Although it's not exactly the same, something similar enough entered Lirio's scent range. According to him, it's at the edge of its maximum range east of here!" Frank replied, just as excited, clenching his fists tightly. Erik quickly nodded, then looked at Zoe and asked.
"Zoe, do you remember any 'entrance structure' in that direction?"
"No, actually, that direction on the map was completely blank." Zoe quickly replied, visibly holding back her excitement. Erik nodded, then looked at each of his companions before speaking in a serious tone.
"We're going to head there, but stay alert—it could be another guarded entrance."
After a unanimous nod, the group advanced cautiously. Thanks to their impressive physical abilities, even with the extra weight of their armor, they managed to reach the location, where all they could see were a few ruined buildings scattered around. The place was practically deserted—even the glowing stalactites were scarce, which made visibility drop significantly.
***
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