Stellar Echo: Heart of the Myst

[lordanl]

In the middle of the main hall of Sigrún's mansion, Erik was seated on a single sofa with a calm expression. His masters sat across from him with serious faces, looking directly into his eyes, almost as if they were about to conduct an exhaustive interrogation of a prisoner.

Sitting in his chair, Erik didn't quite understand why his masters looked so angry, but not wanting to make a rookie mistake as silly as speaking first. He quickly pulled his notebook from his storage ring and began jotting down various things as if nothing were happening.

"Erik." Eleonora commented in a serious and somewhat angry voice while watching her disciple write in his notebook without a care, as if he were innocent. This caused Erik to look up and ask with an innocent expression.

"Yes?"

"Why were you flirting with that woman?" With evident anger in her voice, Sigrún asked slowly, which for some reason sounded terrifying. Without changing his expression at any moment, Erik asked, confused.

"Flirting? Me? When? With whom?"

"Oh, so you don't know?" Eleonora asked, narrowing her eyes while watching her disciple's innocent expression. He quickly responded seriously.

"No, honestly, I don't recall ever flirting with anyone."

"Oh really? Then what were you doing with Thalia just moments ago?" Sigrún asked sarcastically, crossing her arms. Erik replied with a casual smile.

"Oh that, I was simply socializing as you've been asking me to do."

"Oh, so to you that's socializing?" Eleonora asked in an even angrier tone than before, something that didn't affect Erik in the slightest. He smiled calmly and responded cheerfully.

"What else could it be? Master Sunforge called me to meet me, and I was just having a cordial conversation with her." Erik turned to look at his reliable personal maid and asked with a smile.

"Isn't that right, Seraphina?"

"The young master is absolutely correct; he was just having a 'very friendly' conversation with Master Sunforge." Seraphina nodded and replied in a serious and professional tone, though she didn't forget to emphasize the 'very friendly' with an ambiguous tone.

Hearing her response, Erik looked at Seraphina with a betrayed expression, causing the beautiful maid to avert her gaze as guilt gnawed at her conscience. But because her anger was greater than her guilt, she remained firm and ready to see this through to the end.

Realizing he had a 'mole' who had passed information to his masters, Erik decided to change strategy and move to aggressive tactics to solve the problem. He quickly got up from his chair and went to sit between his masters, who crossed their arms and turned their backs to him in annoyance, although they didn't get up from the sofa. This made the star-haired boy smile amusedly. After sitting in the middle, he took them by the waist and pulled them close.

"Really, I wasn't flirting with anyone. It's just that since you always tell me to socialize, I read a couple of books on the subject and was putting them into practice, that's all."

As he tightened his embrace around Sigrún and Eleonora's defined waists, Erik spoke in a low, warm voice, trying to calm the pair of 'millennia-old babies' who were throwing a tantrum. They allowed themselves to be hugged and rested their heads on his shoulders, though they still avoided looking at his face.

"I don't believe you at all." From her position with her head down, Sigrún commented 'angrily', sporting an adorable pout on her face. This made Erik smile, and he quickly replied in a calm and affectionate tone.

"It's the truth. Why would I want to go flirt with someone I don't even know when I have my beloved masters and personal maid at home who take such good care of me? It's just that since I want to start my own business, socializing is important for that, so I was simply putting into practice what the book said. But if that bothers you, I'll look for another reference from now on for those situations."

"Hmph, I hope so. And give me that book so I can burn it." Eleonora retorted angrily while hugging Erik's arm that was around her waist. The star-haired boy responded warmly.

"Of course, of course, it's in my room. I'll look for it later."

"I hope so." Eleonora replied in a tone that tried to sound strict, at which point Sigrún commented in a slightly irritated tone.

"Besides, you don't need to 'socialize' with Thalia for your business."

"I didn't try to socialize with her because I needed her for my business. It's just that I don't know many people, and since she's also a Master-level, I thought it was a good opportunity to develop my communication skills. But I don't think I'll talk to her again." Erik responded in a calm and assertive tone, simultaneously taking Sigrún's hand intimately. She adjusted herself a bit, so her beloved disciple would be comfortable and commented.

"I understand, but make sure to practice with your classmates in the future."

"I will."

In a soft and somewhat tired tone, Erik commented while closing his eyes, something Eleonora and Sigrún quickly noticed. After exchanging a glance, they settled on the sofa to embrace their beloved disciple and rested their heads on the shoulders of the star-haired boy.

(Hehe, I win.)

Erik opened his eyes for a moment and looked at his masters, who now hugged him warmly with peaceful expressions and joyful smiles, and added to himself. Knowing he had won the first battle, he quickly turned to look at the last opponent he had to defeat to win the war.

Still standing near the sofa, Seraphina watched the situation with a serious expression, showing absolutely nothing on her face, leaving an impression full of professionalism and elegance. But suddenly, she was bombarded by an angry look from the visibly tired Erik, which made her tremble slightly.

Gripped by 'panic', Seraphina bowed deeply in apology, but suddenly felt an invisible hand slap her buttocks forcefully, though without making a single sound. This colored her cheeks a deep crimson, while her eyes filled with joy and excitement, which she hid by lowering her head.

After a while, Seraphina turned to look again at her young master, who was no longer looking at her and was embracing his masters while resting his head atop Sigrún's, eyes closed, creating a tranquil and peaceful scene.

Seeing this, Seraphina bit her lips hard, trying to suppress the incredible pleasure she was feeling, which increased her attractiveness to absurd levels, endowing her with a seductive and very sensual aura. She tried with all her might to hide it, to regain her elegant and professional demeanor.

Meanwhile, Erik was gauging Seraphina's expressions through Myst in the room. When he sensed her captivating expression filled with desire, he knew he had won, so he disconnected from the Myst, letting himself drift into the world of dreams. After all, he was really tired; it had been a very long day.

...

A couple of hours later, Erik heard someone calling him in the distance while feeling his body move slightly. This slowly began to bring his consciousness back to reality, allowing him to hear Sigrún's voice calling him warmly.

"Erik, wake up, Erik."

Opening his eyes, Erik found his masters looking at him with sweet and loving smiles, a far cry from the annoyed pouts they had earlier. A smile spread across his face, and he commented between yawns.

"Good morning, masters."

"Fufufufu, you've only slept about two hours, sleepyhead." Eleonora gently caressed Erik's left cheek and commented in a soft and melodious voice, to which Erik replied amid a lazy yawn.

"Really? I felt like I rested especially well."

"That's good, but first you have to eat before going back to sleep. Your body needs many nutrients to develop properly, so come on, to the dining room." Sigrún added sweetly while helping her dear disciple up from the sofa.

Rising from the sofa, Erik stretched lazily and then followed his masters to the dining room, where an incredible amount of all kinds of food awaited him. It emitted monstrous amounts of mana, to the point where the Myst in the room seemed to vibrate with excitement.

"This looks delicious." Seeing the food, Erik commented enthusiastically, which slightly widened Seraphina's smile. She stood beside the table with a professional expression and commented in a formal tone.

"It's just an energetic meal for the young master to recover the energy he spent today."

"Thank you, Seraphina." Erik thanked her with a smile as he sat at the table in the company of his masters. At that moment, Seraphina bowed respectfully and spoke professionally.

"It's my pleasure, young master."

Quickly, Erik picked up a fork and knife and began cutting into a juicy steak. But just as he was about to bring it to his mouth, he suddenly remembered something. He set the utensils aside and took his notebook out of his storage ring, starting to write at great speed, something that surprised the three women a bit, as it was very uncommon for Erik to postpone his meal.

"What are you writing so much, Erik?" Sigrún asked, a little curious about what her disciple was jotting down in his notebook, which, judging by its gray cover, was something relatively important.

Erik was a curious person, and one of his peculiarities was that he tended to take notes on everything. Interestingly, he used different notebooks to record information, which he seemed to recognize by the color of their covers.

"Today's research results." Erik replied without stopping his writing, which caused the curiosity of the three women to increase as they approached him.

"Research? What were you investigating today?" Eleonora asked as she leaned in a bit to see what her disciple was writing. He responded in a calm tone without ceasing his notes.

"Today, Seraphina and I were researching potential competitors for the tournament, so I'm writing down the results. Earlier, I left it halfway, and later I might forget important details."

"So that's what you were noting down before..." Sigrún commented as she peeked over Erik's shoulder to see what he was writing, to which Erik calmly nodded.

"Yes, it was this."

Wanting to know what information her young master had obtained while talking to the direct disciples, Seraphina approached from behind Erik and began reading what he was writing. She quickly discovered that it consisted of several lists separated by power levels and affinities, starting from the first rank of the Ascended level up to the second rank of the Revealed level.

Seeing the information, an expression of surprise and pride couldn't help but form on Seraphina's face. After all, her young master had stealthily researched his opponents while talking to the girls, avoiding raising any suspicion while managing to obtain very valuable and surprisingly detailed information.

Spoiler: Patreon

If you like it, you can support me on https://www.patreon.com/lordanl and get up to 10 advanced chapters.

 

[lordanl]

In the lists that Erik was compiling, the initial Ascended-level ranks—from novice to expert—were written without much more information than a counter enumerating the number of people in that rank, divided by affinity. Except for one in the expert rank, which was written separately and enclosed in a box.

Although, for obvious reasons, the box didn't contain a name, it did have a unique identification number plus a brief description of the person's physical appearance. Additionally, something that surprised the women a bit was that Erik had marked him as someone with two affinities.

Starting from the expert rank, all the subsequent ranks more commonly included a unique identification number and a slight description of the person, as well as their respective affinities. This indicated that Erik had paid special attention to them as potential threats in the tournament.

After a while, Erik finished writing in his notebook and sighed with relief. He then handed the notebook to his masters with an amused smile; after all, they seemed incredibly interested in what he had written.

"So you can read it at your leisure." Erik commented playfully as he handed his notebook to Eleonora, who was beside him. She smiled somewhat embarrassedly and said.

"Fufu, thank you."

As Erik began to eat happily, Sigrún and Seraphina gathered around Eleonora to examine Erik's notes more carefully. After all, they were truly a surprise to them, since they contained different findings from the results of the investigation they had conducted on their disciple's—or young master's—potential competitors. In their research, they had only marked about 20 as possible threats, far from the more than 30 threats highlighted in the notes.

But what really surprised them was that there ended up being seven people with double affinities, even though in their investigation they had only found four. Of those four, two had hidden it quite well, requiring some effort to confirm the information. But now Erik, in just a couple of hours and in a completely stealthy manner without raising suspicions, had not only managed to detect those two who liked to hide. He had also seemingly discovered three more who had managed to evade their network.

"Erik, are you sure there are seven people who have double affinities?"

After reviewing the notes several times to make sure she wasn't misreading, Sigrún asked, a bit confused, while looking at the star-haired boy who was eating at high speed. He quickly took a sip from a glass of what seemed to be wine, then responded with a smile.

"Quite sure; I checked several times. Seven had double affinities, and there was even one with synergistic affinities."

That was what puzzled the beautiful women the most: one of the three people who had apparently managed to escape their research network not only had double affinities but also synergistic affinities—something very rare and valuable. To the point that, among the 800 most talented disciples under 300 years old in the Arcane Order—the paradise for talents—only one person had that characteristic, and honestly, that was about the same as winning the lottery.

Moreover, it was foolish to doubt Erik's judgment in determining others' affinities. After all, as a way to ascertain whether it was true that he possessed an affinity that allowed him to control the Myst, the boy had taken it upon himself to search for and try different and varied methods to detect his own affinity. But in the end, it led nowhere, as the results only told him that he had no affinity, although as a consolation prize, he could now determine anyone's affinity with astonishing precision.

The method Erik used to discover others' affinities was something that, in their family of four, only he could do—and perhaps Seraphina, who had the best connection with the Myst after Erik. But even for her, it would be an incredibly difficult task, and to this day, it was impossible for her to have as impressive precision as Erik's—to the point that it was more reliable to simply examine the mana of individuals, something that Sigrún and Eleonora could also do.

Although the method to detect affinities with such precision might seem very complex, in reality, it was quite simple. Over the years, Erik had discovered something interesting: the Myst reacted slightly differently when it came into contact with a person, depending on their affinity. Based on that slight difference—something almost imperceptible to others—Erik was able to detect anyone's affinity with absurd precision, to the point that, until now, he had never been wrong, and they had been testing it for several years.

On the other hand, magical affinities were divided into two major categories: the basic ones, which were six—Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Light, and Darkness—and the composite ones, which were a mix of two or more affinities, giving rise to more specialized affinities. This was the case with Eleonora and Sigrún, who possessed the Lightning and Wood affinities, respectively—being a mix of Fire and Light for Lightning, and Water, Earth, and Light for the Wood affinity.

Being born with an affinity that turned out to be a mix of the basic affinities might make one think that the mana user could use the component affinities separately with ease, but the answer was no. Despite it being more than proven that they were indeed combinations of the basic affinities, they still had no capability with them. Apart from the mix they were born with, they would be as inefficient as others when using them.

For the same reason, a synergistic affinity was so valuable because not only did they have two affinities that they could use independently with high efficiency, but these even interacted naturally. Allowing a mana user to combine their affinities on a deeper level and achieve greater power and versatility than the simple basic combination.

But there was an aspect of synergistic affinities that made them infinitely more valuable than a normal double affinity: with synergistic affinities, there was the possibility of reaching the legendary state known as "perfect synergy", a combination so deep of the affinities that it gave birth to something new and extremely powerful.

"This is truly surprising—a double synergistic affinity..."

Seraphina commented with some surprise while memorizing the description of his appearance given by Erik, aiming to find out a bit more about that person. At that moment, the star-haired boy commented after eating a piece of meat.

"Yes, I was also a bit surprised when I noticed it, since, for some reason, his second affinity was a bit dim, almost hidden—I almost overlooked it."

"Are you sure his second affinity was fainter than the main one?"

Filled with interest, Eleonora asked with evident curiosity in her voice. After all, according to the description Erik wrote in his notebook about the person's clothing, he seemed to be just a regular university student without any faction behind him. And although neither Sigrún nor Eleonora really intended to accept more disciples, managing to incorporate someone with a double synergistic affinity into the Arcane Order would always be welcome; after all, it was quite a lucrative business.

"Yes, his main affinity was a mix of Earth and Air, very possibly Sand or something like that due to its proportions, while the second was undoubtedly Darkness, and they seemed to complement each other well, which is typical of synergistic affinities." Erik responded calmly while setting a plate aside and using his phantom hand to draw a new one toward him.

"Darkness...? If that's the case, he will be quite powerful if he applies the gravity properties of darkness to the sand." Sigrún commented with some interest. After that, she looked at Eleonora with a calculating expression on her face and asked.

"Are you thinking the same as I am, Eli?"

"Fufu, of course I am, Sig." Eleonora replied with a slightly wicked smile, which made Erik roll his eyes. He couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor fool who was going to suffer because of his beautiful masters.

"Erik, can I borrow your notebook for a moment?" Sigrún asked with an innocent smile on her face, to which Erik nodded and commented with a smile.

"Sure, I have more spares; just don't lose it—I have important things written in there."

"Hehehe, how could I possibly lose my love's precious notebook? Please, trust your master a bit more."

After speaking with a huge smile, Sigrún approached and tenderly kissed her beloved disciple on the cheek, then immediately ran out of the room excitedly. At that moment, Eleonora approached Erik and likewise kissed his other cheek before commenting.

"Eat well and rest; your masters have something to do, fufufu."

After saying that, Eleonora left the room following Sigrún, leaving Erik speechless. After a while, he could only shake his head and go back to eating calmly, while Seraphina stood behind him like the perfect maid she was. Eventually, Erik finished eating and began to stretch lazily.

While Seraphina was collecting the dishes from the table, using whips of darkness, Erik walked over to one of the sofas, where he settled comfortably. At that moment, Tiberius and Kaiser entered the main hall running in their puppy forms after having a sumptuous feast, then jumped onto the lap of the star-haired boy.

"You two are really a pair of spoiled brats." Erik commented amusedly while stroking the little heads of the wolves, who barked happily while wagging their tails energetically.

Not long after, Seraphina re-entered the room, carrying a tray with a teapot and a cup. She quickly poured the tea and handed the cup to Erik, who received it with a smile after settling the wolves at his sides. He thanked her in a calm tone.

"Thank you, Seraphina."

"It is a pleasure to serve you, young master." Seraphina bowed respectfully while speaking in a professional tone. But after straightening up, she added with a smile as a book appeared in her hand.

"Young master, since you've had trouble socializing, I took the liberty of preparing this book for you."

"Really? Let me see."

Erik commented curiously while extending his hand toward Seraphina, who handed him the book with a smile. She then walked to stand behind her young master with professionalism. At that moment, Erik began to peruse the book with interest, an expression that quickly turned into a forced smile, as the title of the book was [Young Master's Survival Manual] and it had an even worse subtitle: [Written by someone with more common sense than the young master].

Imagining what the book said, Erik opened it to find an index separated into chapters and subsections, each with a small explanatory description of their contents. Just by reading it, it was obvious who had written it.

+++

Chapter 1: Attitude and Behavior

1.1 The Young Master's Smile: Smile only when absolutely necessary, such as in meetings with important people. Smiling too much could be mistaken for neediness or, worse, accessibility.

1.2 The Calculated Disdain: Learn to look at the horizon as if you own everything you see, even if you have no idea what you're looking at. This creates an illusion of power.

1.3 The Ceremonial Speech: Speak as if you were narrating the epic of your own life. Example: "Today, I have defeated the most fearsome enemy: a fried egg that dared to challenge my frying pan."

+++

The more he read, the harder it became for Erik to contain his laughter, as each point was even sillier than the last. But he quickly came to a chapter that wiped the smile off his face, which seemed written with an intention, as it had the longest "summary" of all.

+++

Chapter 3: Social Interactions

3.1 Flirting: A Dangerous Art: Although flirting may seem like a useful tool to strengthen social bonds, it must be used with extreme caution. Some key reminders to avoid embarrassing or disastrous incidents.

*Avoid redheads, especially if you are prone to "forgetting" your limits.

*Never flirt with an auction house owner.

+++

"... At what point did you manage to write this, Seraphina?" Erik asked with a bitter smile while leaning his head back on the sofa to look at his personal maid's expression, who responded brightly.

"While you were sleeping, young master. It is the duty of your personal maid to share your burdens and help you correct your mistakes."

"... And I told you I wasn't flirting." After a sigh, Erik commented in a tired tone, to which Seraphina quickly responded with a professional smile.

"The book is merely a general knowledge guide for interpersonal relationships, young master. Any resemblance to reality is purely coincidental."

"Yeah, right. Better prepare me a bath; I'm tired." Erik commented sarcastically, which made Seraphina smile happily.

"Fufufu, it will be a pleasure, young master."

After bowing respectfully, Seraphina spoke in a cheerful tone, then proceeded to walk toward the second floor—making sure to sway her hips temptingly for her young master, who could only laugh amusedly while shaking his head.

Spoiler: Patreon

If you like it, you can support me on https://www.patreon.com/lordanl and get up to 10 advanced chapters.

 

[lordanl]

A couple of weeks later, Sigrún entered the university's meeting room accompanied by Eleonora, where they found the director seated in the principal chair. He was a handsome man who appeared to be around 50 years old, with an elegant and firm demeanor, blue eyes, short black hair neatly combed but graying, and a perfectly trimmed beard shaped like a lock. He wore a more elegant version of the typical white robes embroidered in gold and silver of the university.

Seated to the director's right was Adrian, looking somewhat tired. He was a man who appeared to be around 30 years old, with olive skin, pronounced cheekbones, a well-defined chin, and a beard similar to the director's, though thinner. His slicked-back hair was black, as were his eyes, and he wore the university's white robe, although his seemed a bit more minimalist.

With great familiarity, Sigrún and Eleonora walked gracefully to the meeting table and sat together at the other end, facing the men who were waiting for them. They bore confident and cunning smiles on their faces, which seemed to enhance their already impressive beauty.

"Sigrún, I've already told you I won't tell you where Master Jessica is."

The moment the beautiful women sat at the table, Adrian commented with exhaustion in his voice while staring intently at the troublesome blonde in front of him. She responded with a playful smile as she looked at the director in the main chair.

"Hehehe, I didn't come for that; it's just that I received some information that might interest the old man."

"Oh ho, what's so interesting then?" Upon hearing Sigrún's words, the director, who was sitting relaxed in his chair, asked with some interest while looking directly into Sigrún's eyes.

"Hehehe, and you want it just like that, for free?" Sigrún commented with a bit of cheekiness and then added in an uninterested voice, as if she were talking about something unimportant.

"I heard that a couple of cosmic leviathans fell into the hands of the order; how about you give me one for the information."

"Don't exaggerate, Sigrún; you know that's out of the question."

Upon hearing the ridiculous demand, Adrian retorted with a bit of annoyance in his voice while massaging his temples, to which Sigrún smiled mysteriously while elegantly crossing her legs, then added in a slightly playful tone.

"Hehehe, don't be hasty in denying it. After all, what I have is information regarding a student with dual affinity in synergy and high possibilities of achieving perfect synergy."

"Are you serious?"

Upon hearing Sigrún, the director couldn't help but ask, a bit surprised. After all, those who achieved perfect synergy were very valuable, with Eleonora and Sigrún being the perfect examples. Despite being Masters who had ascended not long ago, they could already fight on equal terms with much higher-ranking Master-levels, relying solely on their affinities in perfect synergy.

"Fufufu, it's quite serious. Moreover, that student doesn't have a faction supporting him yet, so what we're offering you is the opportunity to invest at the best moment in a future major player." Eleonora added with a small, confident business smile, already planning what to give her beloved disciple for this lucrative commercial opportunity they had brought.

Upon hearing Eleonora and Sigrún's statement, the director and Adrian looked at each other and began to speak telepathically, trying to make a decision. Since that pair was saying it with such confidence, it must be true, and although a cosmic leviathan was too much, they could try to negotiate a bit. After a moment, Adrian commented in a serious tone.

"It's truly valuable information, but a cosmic leviathan is too much. How willing are you to negotiate?"

Upon hearing Adrian, Eleonora and Sigrún looked at each other with pleasant smiles on their faces, and then Sigrún turned to look again at the men in front of her, leaning back in her chair. She then commented almost disinterestedly, though somewhat reluctantly, as if assuming a significant loss.

"I'd be willing to settle for one of its leviathan hearts and about 200 liters of true blood, but that's the minimum. Anything below that would be too little for such an important investment opportunity we're offering you."

"As for me, I need about 300 tons of pure scales, one of its fangs, and a few tons of leather would be fine. Keep in mind we're talking about a young man with dual affinity in synergy." For her part, Eleonora commented in a more serious and formal tone, having a professional smile on her face, like a respectable businesswoman.

Upon hearing the demands of the most famous troublemaking duo of the Arcane Order, the director and Adrian could only look at each other with bitter expressions. After all, that pair was truly ruthless; basically, their request didn't change since they went for the most valuable parts of the leviathan without hesitation.

Despite a cosmic leviathan being a colossal beast the size of a planet, what was truly valuable were its true blood—which was the blood that accumulated in its main core and, at best, amounted to about 400 liters—and the pure scales, which were the oldest scales of a leviathan and were usually near its main heart. These scales received the most mana throughout the leviathan's life, which could span millions of years, and at best amounted to only about 500 tons.

The problem is that cosmic leviathans were terribly rare, and they weren't found in the galaxy. Usually, they could only be seen in very distant areas that were difficult to access, which made them extremely valuable and not something they could part with easily.

"Please, although that information is valuable, the price is too high. Also, keep in mind that now we know there's someone like that, so we could simply look for him." Adrian commented with a firm attitude, though open to negotiation. But Sigrún scoffed at his words and commented dismissively.

"And you could also alert the other factions in the process. Besides, why do you think no one has found him until now?"

"He hasn't awakened his second affinity?" the director asked in a more serious tone, to which Eleonora nodded and replied with a small smile on her face.

"Fufu, you're absolutely right, Director; he hasn't awakened it yet, but it shouldn't take more than about 20 years for him to do so naturally."

"Then how could you detect it?"

Adrian couldn't help but ask, a bit confused. After all, although Master-level individuals like them could determine a person's affinities from the residual mana unconsciously released by a mana user, that only worked for awakened affinities. To recognize unawakened affinities, a fairly expensive magical artifact was needed, and although Eleonora had one in her possession, it's not like that pair would have gone around testing random people to discover it.

Moreover, that artifact had a significant flaw: it was difficult to detect a second unawakened affinity through it since the awakened affinity would influence the reading, causing it to go unnoticed in the vast majority of cases. It would only start to become evident when the examined mana user was about to awaken it.

"That's a trade secret." Sigrún replied with a mysterious smile, but the director commented with a small grin.

"Little Erik is really surprising, isn't he? Hehehe."

"Was it that young Erik who discovered it, Director?" Adrian turned to look at the director and asked, a bit surprised, to which he nodded and replied with a small smile while looking at Sigrún and Eleonora.

"Yes, it must have been him; just look at their expressions."

Adrian turned to look at Eleonora and Sigrún, quickly noticing their bitter expressions, which greatly surprised him. After all, just that ability would make the boy with iconic starry hair immensely valuable to the Arcane Order, and that's without mentioning his terrifying talent or inventive capacity—which couldn't help but make the second-in-command of the Arcane Order a bit jealous of that troublesome blonde's incredible luck.

"And if Erik says so, it must be true, so..." The director commented thoughtfully, with a hand on his chin stroking his beard, then asked in a more serious tone while looking into the eyes of Eleonora and Sigrún.

"What do you say we offer you half of what you came to ask for?"

"No way! If you're going to negotiate like that, then we won't tell you anything." Upon hearing the proposal, Sigrún retorted angrily while crossing her arms and giving the director a piercing look.

"Don't you think we could then ask little Erik directly about it?" For his part, Adrian tried to join the conversation, commenting in a defiant tone, but to his surprise, what he received were mocking looks from Eleonora and Sigrún.

"Fufufu, I'd love to see you try that, just to see how you end up..." Eleonora commented with an elegant and malicious smile, which made Adrian's hair stand on end, since nothing good ever came when that woman said something like that.

"Hehehe, really, it would be entertaining to see you try, whether by fair means or foul; you'll have very interesting results." Sigrún added with disdain and an evil smile on her face while staring intently at Adrian, who began to break into a cold sweat. He quickly coughed a bit and commented seriously.

"I was only speaking of a possibility; of course, we would always negotiate with you, his Masters, first."

"Hahaha, Adrian, you really dodged a bullet there, hahaha."

The director laughed heartily, genuinely amused at Adrian, who had a bitter expression on his face, although at the same time he felt curious about what that starry-haired boy had. That even the director thought he had dodged a bullet by backing down.

After a while, the director calmed down and then added in a firm tone while looking at the pair of troublemakers in front of him.

"As for you two, I'm interested in the information, but the most I'm willing to pay is 65% of what you asked for—not a millimeter more. Take it or leave it."

"As always, it's a pleasure doing business with you, old man." Sigrún commented with a pleased smile on her face, to which the director commented sarcastically.

"You mean scamming me."

"That sounds very unpleasant, Director; it's simply a business where both parties benefit. That's the basis of the prosperity of our Arcane Order—the win-win." Eleonora commented elegantly while looking at the director, who couldn't help but roll his eyes, then commented in a sarcastic tone.

"Yes, whatever you say. Better leave the information before you go; I'll send you your share in a few days."

"Hehehe, thanks for the sponsorship, Director."

Sigrún commented with a mischievous smile and quickly took out from her storage ring a beautiful crystal tablet with intricate runes carved all over its surface with surgical precision and placed it on the table. She then added cheerfully.

"Here is all the relevant information we gathered—detailed observations, background, and several affinity tests that were done without alerting the target."

"We trust you'll find the information as valuable as we believe." Eleonora added in an elegant manner, at which point the director took the crystal tablet and activated a holographic screen, which he casually reviewed, then nodded.

"The information looks really interesting. You can go now; I'm not giving up anything else today."

"Hehehe/Fufufu"

Still with 'evil' smiles on their faces, Sigrn and Eleonora disappeared from the place surrounded by runes and a beautiful magic circle, looking quite satisfied with the lucrative gains they had achieved. Leaving the director and his right-hand man alone again in the conference room.

Spoiler: Patreon

If you like it, you can support me on https://www.patreon.com/lordanl and get up to 10 advanced chapters.

 

[crimson666devil]

Maybe you should put the titles and their subranks in the extra category. I always had trouble remembering which is basically cultivation levels

Titles

From lowest to highest, they are: Initiate, Apprentice, Ascended, Revealed, Illuminated, Sage, Arcane, Master, and Legendary."

Title ranks
Each title actually has nine ranks, from lowest to highest: Initiate, Novice, Practitioner, Skilled, Competent, Advanced, Expert, Virtuoso, and Peak."

Did this mainly for my self but thought I should post it anyways not really a detailed description of each title and rank since I just copied and pasted from the chapter the MC was told about them

 

[lordanl]

In the middle of Sigrún's mansion garden, Erik stood before Kaiser, Tiberius, and Ebonique, each about a meter tall, dressed in black athletic wear that didn't hinder their movements. Behind him was Seraphina, wearing a professional smile that tried to conceal her amusement.

With a firm step and his hands behind his back, Erik began pacing back and forth in front of the wolves and Ebonique. He spoke loudly in a tone laden with authority, somehow resembling a military commander instructing his troops.

"Well, team, we'll soon make our public debut. Therefore, it's necessary to prepare an entrance worthy of us."

"Sir, yes, sir!"

In response to Erik's announcement came Ebonique's serious voice, accompanied by three pairs of cheerful barks that sounded in unison with her. At that moment, the star-haired boy spoke with authority, keeping his hands behind his back.

"I can't hear you!"

"Sir, yes, sir!!"

Ebonique replied loudly and seriously, as if she were in the midst of something very important, once again accompanied by the wolves, who barked three times in unison. This made Erik nod in satisfaction, prompting him to ask while looking at the pair of wolves.

"Perfect. Kaiser, Tiberius, have you mastered the sky-walking spells?"

In response to Erik's question, Kaiser and Tiberius barked happily as they leapt into the air. They landed on a cloud-like formation that formed out of nowhere just beneath their paws, which they used as a base to jump again, repeating this a couple of times. This allowed them to run through the sky with grace and style.

"Very good."

Evidently pleased, Erik congratulated Kaiser and Tiberius, who quickly landed near him while furiously wagging their tails. This made the star-haired boy smile somewhat amused as he began to pet their heads and even gave them a few cookies as a reward.

"Ebonique, how's your full dragon form coming along?" While petting the pair of spoiled mystical wolf pups, Erik turned to look at his reliable contracted spirit and asked in a firm tone.

Without saying a word, Ebonique rose into the air while increasing in size, quickly reaching 30 meters in length. She transformed into an elegant and terrifying oriental dragon with black scales, possessing magnificent horns that resembled a crown on her head, five claws on each paw, and black electric rays covering her figure—giving off a mystical and majestic aura, like a queen of the sky.

"Hahaha, you look super cool! You're the best, Ebonique."

Seeing the impressive form of his reliable contracted spirit, Erik couldn't help but laugh with excitement as he praised her, his green eyes shining like lanterns. He looked like a small child who had just received the gift he'd been waiting for all year.

Quickly, Ebonique shrank back to her size of 30 centimeters and landed softly in Erik's hands. He began channeling large amounts of mana and Myst into her while gently stroking her, causing her to emit pleasant sounds, feeling completely satisfied with her excuse for the full dragon form.

Lately, Ebonique had been growing impatient and wanted Erik to praise her in her true form. So she came up with the excuse that she had learned an ability that allows her to take the form of a dragon for a limited time, just so she could present herself to Erik in her true form and receive his compliments.

"Do I look good in my dragon form?"

With a tone pleased by Erik's skillful hands, Ebonique asked while looking into her contractor's green eyes. He responded with a huge smile on his face, simultaneously intensifying his massages as a way to show how pleased he was.

"You look perfect—super cool and majestic. You'll steal the show at our debut."

"Hehehe, you dummy, don't praise me so much..."

Upon hearing the praise, Ebonique commented shyly while hiding her head in Erik's chest. He couldn't help but smile amusedly as he increased the amount of mana he channeled into his adorable spirit companion.

Not far from there, seated around a beautiful carved glass table, were Eleonora and Sigrún. They watched the entire 'training' of Erik for his perfect entrance with amusement—something that got into his head once the tournament date was confirmed, and now he did it twice a week, acting like a general while the wolves and Ebonique played along.

Beside the pair of beautiful Masters was Ignis, Sigrún's contracted phoenix spirit, who watched Ebonique filled with jealousy while trying her hardest to restrain her urge to run over there. Knowing this was Ebonique's moment, she could only endure in silence.

After finishing the day's training, Erik approached his Masters along with Seraphina, who quickly arranged the chair, so her young master could sit between Eleonora and Sigrún. He looked at the beautiful blue phoenix on the table and then commented with a slight smile on his face.

"Ignis, long time no see. Have you been well? If it weren't for my Master telling me you were busy in your world, I would've been worried—you haven't even come by for your daily mana ration."

"Yes, I had to sort out a couple of things on my side, but I'm finally done. Though I really missed you, for now, just give me all the mana I missed during this time." With agile and elegant movements, Ignis rose into the sky and landed on Erik's lap, then commented in a somewhat sad voice.

"Of course."

With a cheerful smile, Erik began to stroke Ignis's head and back. Despite appearing to be made of blue fire, she actually felt like a normal bird to the touch, while he gave her abundant amounts of his mana. At the same time, Ebonique settled on his head in her smallest size, and Seraphina served tea and cookies for him with a professional smile.

Using his phantom hands, Erik took a few cookies—one for himself and others for Kaiser and Tiberius, who were putting on a dramatic show, 'crying' and lamenting while looking at the cookies on the table. At that moment, he greeted his beautiful Masters with a smile.

"Hello, Masters. How did it go?"

"Fufufu, quite well. Although there were plenty of things to do regarding the planet's security for the event, so we worked non-stop to see you as soon as possible." Eleonora commented with a smile while kissing her beloved disciple's cheek—something Sigrún quickly did as well, kissing Erik's other cheek and commenting with a smile.

"Yes, it was really exhausting, but all for the place to be perfectly safe to hold the tournament."

"What did you have to do?" Erik asked, a bit confused, since for his Masters to consider something exhausting, it must have been a monumental task.

"Well, we actually had to secure five parsecs of space around the planet and set up all kinds of high-level protection, alert, defense, and counterattack formations in the place." Eleonora replied with a smile while tidying up some of Erik's starry hair. He commented in understanding.

"That sounds like something really exhausting."

"A bit, but what's truly tiring is the attention to detail that's required. There can't be a single point of failure, or it would be a possible attack window for the enemy, so you have to stay very focused the whole time. Normally, a job like that would take a couple of months, but who can endure so much time without their love? So we did it all in two weeks, hehe."

Sigrún commented with a tired smile while hugging Erik tightly—something that made her feel calm, safe, and finally at home, something that Eleonora quickly imitated with a beautiful smile on her face.

"You really worked hard."

After properly settling Ignis on his lap, Erik gently patted his Masters' heads and commented in a warm tone while they hugged him tightly at his sides. They all remained in a comforting silence, feeling each other's warmth, which ended when Seraphina commented in a professional voice.

"Young master, you'll be late for your meeting with the director."

"Oh, that's right. I'm sorry, Masters, but I have to go." Upon hearing the reminder from his reliable personal maid, Erik opened his eyes and commented in realization, simultaneously releasing his embrace from his beautiful Masters.

"Leave that old man's appointment for another day..."

While capturing Erik's arm between her ample bosom, Sigrún commented in a low voice with a reluctant tone. After all, she had been working non-stop for two whole weeks without being able to contact her beloved disciple, so she urgently needed a huge dose of Erikium, and nothing would stop her from getting it—much less that stinky old man who loved taking advantage of people.

"Yes, send him a message that your masters won't let you go out today, that it's better to wait for another day."

For her part, Eleonora commented in a honeyed tone while trapping Erik's hand between her luscious thighs and resting her head on his shoulder. Erik could only comment with a playful smile while gently squeezing his Masters' legs, indicating that they should let him go.

"Hehe, I can't do that. I have pending business with the director, and I need the money to finance my brand."

"And we've told you dozens of times that you don't have to work for that stinky old man. You have dozens of rings filled with maximum purity mana crystals. Use them and stop playing hard to get." Sigrún commented irritably with her eyes closed, simultaneously accommodating Erik's arm better between her breasts and squeezing her legs to immobilize his hand.

When Eleonora and Sigrún found out that stingy Erik had spent 500 million high-purity mana crystals, they got excited, thinking he was finally willing to spend money. So they loaded him up with dozens of storage rings filled with maximum purity mana crystals, intending to send him to various auctions for fun spending.

But to their complete disappointment, that stingy star-haired boy flatly refused to return to an auction, to the point where he started calling them devilish places full of temptations designed to take money from honest, hardworking people like him.

"Well, actually those rings are kept by Seraphina, and it's not a good idea to spoil me like that—it'll make me arrogant and unprincipled..." Erik commented in a defeated voice while moving his hands in an attempt to escape the clutches of his indulging Masters.

"That won't happen. If you could really end up like that, we wouldn't give them to you." Eleonora joined Sigrún in her protest and commented in a serious tone, still with her eyes closed, while immobilizing Erik's arm between her breasts. He could only comment in a conciliatory tone.

"But I really want to develop this prototype, and working there will give me opportunities to meet interesting talents for the future development of my brand..."

Spoiler: Patreon

If you like it, you can support me on https://www.patreon.com/lordanl and get up to 10 advanced chapters.

 

[lordanl]

"But I really want to develop this prototype, and working there will give me opportunities to meet interesting talents for the future development of my brand..."

"Please, Erik, you have enough funds in those rings to finance the creation of that device several times over, so stop being stubborn and use them already. Besides, if you want talent, a single word from you is more than enough. The galaxy is crazy about you now that the latest edition of the university journal has been published; I even heard it has achieved a sales record not seen in two centuries."

Sigrún commented, annoyed by her beloved disciple's stubbornness about using the family's money. At that moment, Eleonora added, already feeling somewhat offended by his constant refusal.

"Yes, Erik, you're going to make us feel bad if you don't use the family's money and keep treating us like strangers."

"It's not that I treat you like strangers; it's just that I didn't earn that money myself, and I really want to see how normal researchers work..." Erik commented, somewhat uncomfortable as his body sank into the flexible and soft bodies of his masters, to which Sigrún replied angrily.

"Don't you have our assistants? Use them for your research."

"Damn!" Erik felt as if struck by lightning when the word "assistants" was mentioned, so he quickly turned to look at Seraphina and asked, almost panicking.

"Seraphina, how much time is left before my deadline for the assistants expires?"

"Young master, actually, due to your recent publications in the university journal, the council has decided to grant you an extension of five more years for your two licenses. In a few days, you will receive the official communication regarding this." Seraphina responded with a beautiful smile on her face, which allowed Erik to let out a loud sigh of relief, then commented in a thoughtful tone.

"...That's a relief, but I'm back where I started; I still don't even know where to find good assistants..."

"Fufufu, we already told you, just say the word, and they will flock to wherever you call them." Eleonora commented in an amused tone as she adjusted her head more comfortably on her beloved disciple's shoulder, who replied in a somewhat uncertain tone.

"But if I do that, all kinds of people will come, and it'll be a mess to know if they're trustworthy or not..."

"You're right about that, but it's a good way to gather people; afterward, you can test them out. That's how I discovered Valeria. Besides, with the blood contract, they can't do much to you." Sigrún commented in a soft and relaxed voice, a cheerful smile on her face as she slipped one of her cold hands under Erik's jacket to warm it.

"That's true; maybe I should try it..."

"Well then, Seraphina, inform the director that Erik is very busy today and won't be able to attend the meeting." Eleonora commented cheerfully as she imitated Sigrún and slipped her cold hands inside Erik's clothes, to which the perfect maid nodded professionally.

"What do you two think you're doing spoiling your disciple like that?"

Suddenly, a melodious voice was heard in the garden, although none of them turned to look at her. After all, they knew perfectly well who it was from the moment she arrived and simply continued with their activities, ignoring her.

"Mind your own business, Thalia; this is a family matter and doesn't concern you." Sigrún commented irritably, still with her eyes closed and without the slightest intention of moving from her comfortable spot, to which the beautiful redhead replied in a strict and accusatory tone.

"Hmph, what kind of masters are you if you're teaching your disciple to skip his appointments, especially with the director?"

"Erik is busy today, so go tell the director that the meeting can't happen today; it will have to be rescheduled for another day."

Equally annoyed, Eleonora commented from her spot, while she softly traced Erik's well-defined torso with her fingers, without the slightest intention of turning to look at Thalia. Thalia was floating in the air with her arms crossed, an exasperated expression on her face.

"Well, that's not going to be possible, because it turns out the meeting isn't just to talk about the work the director proposed to Erik; Master Jessica also wants to meet him." Thalia retorted angrily as she looked at the pair of troublemakers who seemed to lack even a shred of decency, which inevitably drew the attention of the pair of beautiful women.

"Jessica is here?" Sigrún turned to look at Thalia and asked, evidently surprised, to which the beautiful woman in the air nodded, then explained in a serious tone.

"Yes, for some time the director has been in talks with her to officially join the faction, and one of his objectives is for her to give advice and guide Erik a bit with the non-affinity fighting style. Apparently, they've already reached a preliminary agreement, but she wants to meet Erik first before deciding."

Upon hearing Thalia's explanation, Eleonora and Sigrún released their beloved disciple with some reluctance, then settled into their seats and adjusted their appearances, at which point Eleonora commented elegantly.

"Then I suppose there's no other choice; let's go to the meeting, Erik."

"Alright, then I'll go get ready; I won't be long."

Erik nodded in understanding, then quickly went to bathe and get dressed, feeling genuinely curious about whom this "Master Jessica" might be and what she could teach him about fighting without affinities.

After a while, Erik returned to the garden, now dressed in the elegant white university uniform, where he found his masters and his personal maid waiting for him, while the red-haired Master was nowhere to be seen.

"You look very handsome." Eleonora commented with a smile as she approached him upon noticing his arrival, at which point Sigrún added cheerfully.

"Yes, the uniform suits you a lot, hehe."

"You both look gorgeous as well." Erik commented with a smile, which made the pair of Masters smile cheerfully. They quickly came to his side, along with Seraphina, who stood professionally behind her young master.

At the same time, a beautiful and intricate magic circle formed beneath the group, which, after a few moments, teleported them in front of an impressive jet-black door with an astonishing amount of finely carved runes all over its surface. It stood at the end of a wide corridor with floors resembling black marble, its left side decorated with all kinds of artworks and sculptures. The right side was a panoramic glass, offering a bird's-eye view of the entire landscape of the main city of Planet University.

As Erik looked around with curiosity, the enormous doors before them opened by themselves, revealing on the other side an impressive meeting room, where the director was seated at the head of the table, accompanied by Adrian and Thalia, who were sitting to his right and left respectively. Meanwhile, on the left side of the table sat a beautiful woman who seemed to have an aura of innate power and dignity.

The woman had a serious and emotionless expression, which could not hide her extreme beauty and charm. Her perfectly styled ash-blonde hair was short, reaching near her shoulders, framing her delicate and fine features that seemed sculpted with millimetric symmetry and precision.

Her skin was a color similar to white roses, while her eyes, of a penetrating and captivating light gray, held an almost mesmerizing glow charged with power. This was accentuated by the elegant and intricate dark blue tunic she wore, featuring complex geometric embroideries in what seemed to be threads of gold and silver.

"It's a pleasure to see Master Jessica after such a long time." Eleonora commented with elegance and distinction upon entering the meeting room, as she took a seat at the table, sitting across from the beautiful woman, who responded with similar mannerisms.

"It is equally a pleasure to see the most famous Masters in the galaxy once again."

"Well, allow me to doubt that, since you seemed to be hiding from us, Jessica." Sigrún added with a slight challenging smile on her face as she sat at the table, also facing the woman and placing Erik in the middle between her and Eleonora.

"It seems Sigrún still has trouble respecting her elders." Jessica commented with a small smile on her face, at which point a beautiful blue flame began to flicker in Sigrún's hair, while a defiant smile appeared on her face as she commented.

"Hehe, why don't we test how useful your seniority is, old witch."

"It wouldn't be bad to check how good those perfect synergy affinities of yours are."

Upon hearing Sigrún's challenge, Jessica smiled elegantly and responded calmly, although a monstrous pressure began to emanate from her body, so powerful that it even caused slight discomfort in Erik—something that inevitably caused Seraphina to narrow her eyes and start looking at Jessica like prey, which magically caused the pressure on the star-haired boy to vanish as if by magic.

"'Having nothing only means I can have everything', right? Hehe, even my disciple can say that you just want to seem important by throwing out a cool phrase." For her part, Sigrún retorted with arrogance and amusement, which caused Erik to glance at her sideways, sighing somewhat defeated after being thrown into the fire like that.

Upon hearing Sigrún's taunt, Jessica's expression could not help but twist slightly, though almost imperceptibly. She looked at the handsome star-haired young man who, since he sat at the table, had been jotting things down in a notebook he pulled out of nowhere, ignoring almost everything happening around him.

Meanwhile, Seraphina, who was standing behind Erik with an elegant expression, offered a plate of cookies to her young master, who smiled at her and took one, then returned his gaze to his notebook to continue jotting down his ideas. But at that moment, Jessica commented in a neutral and hard-to-decipher tone.

"It seems your disciple has an interesting interpretation of my words."

Upon hearing her, Erik looked up, only to find an elegant smile on the beautiful woman's face, which exuded a feeling of restrained anger that made his hair stand on end. He could only smile elegantly, then nod slightly in greeting before returning to write in his notebook the flash of inspiration he had when he felt the Myst around Master Jessica.

Jessica's smile twisted slightly upon seeing the boy ignore her so completely, but at that moment, Eleonora's voice—laden with a hint of mockery and a touch of pride—resounded in the room, drawing her attention.

"You're wasting your time trying to intimidate our disciple like that, Jessica."

"I don't know what you mean; I just wanted to know where such an 'interesting' opinion comes from." Jessica responded in a firm tone that tried to feign innocence, to which Eleonora retorted mockingly.

"Fufufu, I can answer that for you."

"Oh, I'd love that then, please, Master Silverwood." Jessica replied in a serious and elegant tone, which hid her genuine curiosity. After all, he was right; at that moment, she felt desperate and only said that to give herself courage to move forward, never imagining that, over time, that little phrase of hers would become almost an anthem for the small minority of people without affinities.

"Well, actually, it's quite simple. When Erik found out he didn't have magical affinities, he casually mentioned a phrase similar to yours. When we asked him why he said it, he said he just wanted to seem cool by sounding important—fufufufu, it's really adorable." Eleonora smiled with joy and a hint of nostalgia in her tone, then tenderly stroked Erik's starry hair.

Meanwhile, Jessica's expression couldn't help but become a bit kinder as she looked at Erik. After all, she could imagine what had happened at that moment and how difficult it must have been for the boy. In a galaxy where miracles were a daily occurrence and almost everything could be fixed, being born with an incurable disability was very hard to accept.

"Well, actually, today I wanted to take a look at your disciple's abilities to make a decision." Jessica commented in a serious and elegant tone as she looked at Sigrún and Eleonora. Then she turned to the director at the head of the table and asked,

"What do you think if we go to a more suitable place, Director?"

"Of course; there's already a place prepared. Let's go."

Spoiler: Patreon

If you like it, you can support me on https://www.patreon.com/lordanl and get up to 10 advanced chapters.

 

[lordanl]

"Of course; there's already a place prepared. Let's go."

The director replied in a calm and serious tone. At that moment, a powerful flash filled the room, and with it, everyone vanished from the meeting room. Everyone reappeared in a beautiful valley surrounded by enormous mountains where nothing could be seen but a gorgeous green lawn stretching as far as the eye could see.

Due to the sudden teleportation, Erik was caught off guard and nearly fell, as he had been writing intently. When he steadied himself on the ground, he couldn't help but send a resentful glance at the director, while Seraphina handed him his notebook and pen that had fallen to the ground, which he stored in his storage ring.

The director smiled slightly as he looked at the annoyed Erik. He felt how the Myst of the place 'got angry' and refused to fall under his control, almost like a resentful mother throwing a tantrum for having bothered her little baby.

"Well, Erik, this place is all yours to show a couple of spells." Thalia, who was beside the director, commented with a slight smile on her face and a hint of anticipation in her expression as she looked at the star-haired boy.

Thalia genuinely felt some anticipation about what Erik was going to show today. After all, he had already displayed impressive feats in the duel that had taken place not long ago. Something she now knew was that Erik had not given it his all, since he had not shown that exquisite connection with the Myst that she had witnessed in her private room, a spectacle she would love to see again.

"A spell?" Upon hearing the redhead's words, Erik couldn't help but ask in a low voice as he turned to look at his masters, a bit confused.

"Just show them a bit of your 'WarSigil' project." Sigrún commented cheerfully, with a slightly playful smile on her face that couldn't hide her pride and her evident desire to show off.

"WarSigil? Not MystFrame?"

Upon hearing Sigrún, Erik couldn't help but ask, somewhat confused. After all, when it came to showing off, as his master evidently wanted, there was something much more 'impressive.' But Sigrún shook her head and commented with a mysterious smile.

"No, WarSigil is more than enough."

"Okay."

Erik nodded while everyone except Eleonora, Sigrún, and Seraphina wondered what those strange names referred to. The truth was that, being a good engineer, Erik liked to give cool names to his projects, to the point where he spent more time than he was willing to admit choosing them.

As for the MystFrame project, it referred to his endeavor to develop rune circles, which his masters had joined some time ago, though without much progress to date. Despite Erik having developed several more rune circles and his masters trying countless ways to reverse-engineer them, there had been no luck; each rune circle seemed an impossible puzzle that only Erik could solve with the help of his absurd intuition.

Because of that, the MystFrame project was almost at a standstill, advancing at such a slow pace that it was demoralizing for Erik. Therefore, Erik was forced to look for other options to solve his problem of lack of affinities. He then thought of resuming one of his projects that was based on something with a solid theoretical foundation and ample development and testing time.

The first project Erik undertook to increase his efficiency with elemental spells was his [WarSigil] project, which was about developing combat applications of the runic-geometric refinement developed by his master Eleonora—a project he set aside when he started MystFrame.

Erik's idea with WarSigil was to take advantage of the great efficiency that geometric-runic refining achieved and apply it to combat, with the goal of reducing the cost of his elemental spells. Although he made good progress and really achieved several interesting applications. Not long after, he realized that as soon as his combat applications became popular, he would return to the starting point and once again spend more mana than mana users with the respective affinity to an elemental spell.

Because of this, Erik began studying ways to utilize his greatest advantage—his connection with the Myst—to nullify his disadvantages. He sought to create something that used the Myst as a central part of its structure rather than externally, like current magical systems, which ultimately led to the rune circles, or, in other words, the MystFrame project.

Thanks to his return to his WarSigil project, his masters were now able to help him more actively, where he developed different combinations of combat-oriented magic circles and runes. They helped him discover weak points and develop the theory behind them, and had even already started writing the academic papers about it.

…

Upon hearing Erik's response, everyone present turned to look at him with a bit of anticipation, waiting for what he was going to do, while he casually extended his hand. This small action seemed to trigger a massive reaction in the Myst, which gathered in large quantities around him, greatly surprising Jessica, who was seeing for the first time someone so young with such a deep connection to the Myst.

Not long after Erik extended his hand, an exquisite magic circle typical of sacred geometry formed in front of him, which was instantly surrounded by different runes functioning as microcontrollers. They recycled part of the mana that was usually lost, greatly reducing the mana expenditure needed to create the spell, and provided more precise control over it—an extra benefit that the group of masters and disciple had discovered along the way.

Once the runic-geometric circle was fully formed, which took only fractions of a second, a deep red fireball the size of a basketball materialized at its center. It shot out at blinding speed moments later, traversing several kilometers in an instant, ultimately crashing into the ground.

The moment the fireball struck the ground, it emitted a powerful flash of light, followed by a massive ball of fire and gases that expanded in all directions. Simultaneously, the ground shook violently, and a brutal shockwave burst forth, compressing the air around it and generating a white mist that shrouded the explosion for a few moments.

A few seconds later, the group heard the deafening sound of the explosion, which resembled a prolonged thunderclap, as they were hit by the shockwave. At the site of the explosion, a huge column of smoke rose into the sky.

Seeing the brutal destruction caused by a 'simple fireball', Erik couldn't help but marvel once more at how impressive magic was, even though it was a scene he had witnessed thousands of times. After all, that power was comparable to an explosive warhead in his past life, and he could release dozens of those fireballs without much difficulty, which basically turned him into a strategic bomber on legs.

For her part, Jessica couldn't help but look at Erik with surprise written all over her face. Although the power of Erik's spell was nothing extraordinary, his mana expenditure was. After all, it hardly differed from that of someone with a fire affinity—practically the same, perhaps even a bit less—which was undoubtedly insane in terms of efficiency. Normally, a person without the corresponding affinity would spend twice the mana of someone with it.

Similarly, Adrian and Thalia stared absolutely stunned at the magic circle surrounded by runes fading in the air. Great geniuses and talented researchers from all over the galaxy had spent millennia searching for ways to apply runic-geometric refinement to combat spells, but until now, they hadn't achieved anything. Yet, as if mocking all the work of those geniuses, they were now witnessing a perfectly functional application being carried out by a young Ascended-level disciple of only 30 years.

"Master Eleonora has truly taken another great step; the galaxy will be turned upside down when this great advancement becomes known."

After recovering from the surprise, Jessica turned to Eleonora and genuinely congratulated her with an elegant smile. To her surprise, the mother of runic-geometric refinement gently shook her head, then commented in a serious tone, while a proud smile settled on her face.

"I wouldn't dare take my disciple's credit for myself."

Upon hearing the shocking statement, Jessica's eyes widened in surprise. She turned to look at Erik, who seemed to be deep in thought with a hand on his chin, then looked back at Eleonora and asked, full of incredulity.

"Your disciple managed to develop that on his own?"

"Of course. Erik is my first disciple, after all; something like this is the least to expect."

Sigrún responded with elegance as she stepped forward, placing a hand on her beloved disciple's shoulder. A proud, arrogant smile graced her face, drawing a collective roll of eyes from everyone present. Inwardly, however, they couldn't help but feel envious of the blonde troublemaker. After all, having such a disciple was every mana user's dream. Just then, Eleonora stepped forward, resting her hand on Erik's other shoulder and adding her own 'graceful' comment.

"That's certainly the case. Our Erik has long been seeking ways to overcome his disadvantage when using elemental spells. Although his communion with the Myst prevents him from running out of mana, the more powerful spells are beyond his reach because they require more mana than he can produce at his level. And this is just one of his first achievements."

"Communion with the Myst...?"

Though it was obvious that Eleonora was 'humbly bragging', Jessica couldn't help but exclaim softly, absolutely stunned, as she closely studied the pensive, star-haired boy. After all, she had just heard that a 30-year-old youngster had managed to master a Master-level technique that many at that level couldn't grasp.

(What kind of monster are these two troublemakers raising...?)

"It's truly amazing, though even more astounding is where he finds the time. Right now, his inventions are spreading across the galaxy, and now he's going to turn it upside down with this..."

While Jessica was lost in her thoughts, Adrian commented softly, and Thalia nodded in total agreement. Without a doubt, that boy was more monstrous than his monstrous masters combined.

"Well, Master Jessica, what do you think of our Erik?" the director asked with a small, inscrutable smile, pulling Jessica out of her reverie. But just as she was about to respond, an angry female voice interjected.

"'Our'?" Sigrún looked incredibly angry at the director, standing protectively in front of Erik as she added, full of vigilance.

"That sounds like too many people; he's mine and Eleonora's, and no one else's."

"Hehehe, don't be like that; Erik is part of our Arcane Order, so he's one of us." Thalia commented with a mocking smile, watching Sigrún act like a mama cat protecting her kitten.

"Stay out of it, Thalia; it's none of your business." Sigrún retorted irritably, shooting Thalia a blank stare. Thalia couldn't help but laugh genuinely, thoroughly amused.

"Hahahahaha"

Spoiler: Patreon

If you like it, you can support me on https://www.patreon.com/lordanl and get up to 10 advanced chapters.

 

[lordanl]

Discreetly, Eleonora stepped away from the argument that was about to erupt between those two fiery women and approached Erik, who, ever since meeting Jessica, seemed to be constantly lost in thought. She then asked in a calm tone.

"What's the matter, Erik? What are you thinking about so much?"

"Oh, it's just that I found it curious how the Myst behaves around that woman, which gave me ideas to finally achieve elemental synchronization." Called by his master, Erik turned to look at her and replied, still somewhat lost in his thoughts.

The elemental Synchronization was one of the advanced techniques of mana control and harmony with the Myst. It allows the user to synchronize their affinities with the natural elements through the Myst, enhancing not only the power of a spell but also its control.

The problem was that Erik had no affinities. Until now, it was the only advanced-level technique he hadn't mastered, and although he had tried various methods over the years, nothing had worked. Even though his connection with the Myst was even deeper than what a Master-level could achieve, it was impossible for him to use the Myst to connect with natural elements, so he had put it on hold.

But the moment Erik sensed the Myst around Jessica, he noticed something curious. Despite the Myst showing some strange fluctuations unlike anything he had felt before, there were also fluctuations suggesting the existence of magical affinities in her, although they were slightly different.

The point is that, according to those fluctuations, she had all six basic affinities separately and simultaneously, which didn't make sense. So Erik began thinking about how that could be possible, which brought him endless ideas to try, aiming to achieve something similar to the 'pseudo-affinities' that Jessica had.

"Are you serious, Erik?"

Upon hearing Erik's words, Eleonora asked, a bit surprised. After all, she and Sigrún had been searching everywhere, using the full extent of their power and influence across the galaxy to find a solution, but so far, they hadn't had any luck.

In the end, they had even started looking for Jessica everywhere, but in such a vast galaxy, coupled with such an elusive woman, locating her was quite a complicated task. Moreover, whenever they found her, she would 'coincidentally' disappear again. So now that Erik, after seeing her just once, already had ideas to fix one of the major problems they faced, it was a delightful surprise.

"Yes, although for now, they're just ideas; I don't have anything concrete yet." Erik replied thoughtfully, which made Eleonora smile cheerfully as she commented in a sing-song voice.

"Fufu, it's still excellent news; we must celebrate."

"It's still too soon; I don't even have anything clear yet." Erik responded with a small smile as he looked at Eleonora, who replied happily. "It doesn't matter; today we're going to celebrate, fufufu."

"Then I'll prepare a special dinner and a full batch of cookies."

Always standing behind her young master like his faithful shadow, Seraphina commented in a low and professional tone, which caused Erik's eyes to light up like lanterns. This made the two women chuckle softly, who had to restrain themselves from hugging their little walking bundle of adorableness called Erik.

"Then I'll prepare a good amount of delicious desserts for us to enjoy without reservation."

Suppressing the urge that arose within her to smother her beloved disciple with kisses, Eleonora added with a small, cheerful smile on her face. At that moment, Erik commented in a calm tone, trying to hide his enthusiasm, which caused a small giggle from the personal maid and the master.

"Today will be a great day then..."

"Then I'd like to join that celebration."

Suddenly, Thalia's voice sounded behind the small group of three who were planning their 'celebration,' which caused everyone to turn to look at her with different expressions.

"And why should we invite you to a family celebration?" Eleonora asked with elegance and class, although a trace of annoyance was evident in her eyes, to which Thalia responded with a playful smile.

"Hehehe, because we've been good friends for millennia."

"That doesn't get you an invite to our family celebrations." Sigrún also approached and stood beside Erik while commenting with irritation, which widened Thalia's smile. But at that moment, Jessica's voice was heard, interrupting the small quarrel.

"You can resolve your issues later."

Curious, Erik turned to look at the enigmatic Master-level, which allowed him to see how she approached gracefully with her gaze fixed on him. She then added in a calm and elegant tone.

"Better yet, tell us about the ideas you have; they sound interesting."

"I'm sorry, Master Jessica; it's my personal project, so it's something I only share with my family. I hope you can understand." With a small, neutral smile on his face, Erik replied with a very polite and diplomatic tone while making a slight bow in front of Jessica.

Upon hearing Erik, Eleonora, Sigrún, and Seraphina discreetly puffed out their chests and smiled with joy and a bit of arrogance while looking at Thalia and Jessica, who had slightly crooked smiles on their beautiful faces.

"Well, this is a topic we can leave for later. For now, let's continue doing what we came here to do and let Erik continue showing us his abilities." In an attempt to calm the situation so it wouldn't escalate further, Adrian spoke politely and calmly, to which Erik joined in, trying to quickly end the situation.

"Of course, let's continue." Quickly, Erik moved a bit away from the group, attracting everyone's attention. He then called out in a calm tone.

"Ebonique."

At Erik's call, powerful dark lightning bolts materialized behind him, from which a colossal and imposing black-scaled dragon formed. It roared powerfully the moment it appeared, making the air vibrate and causing the skin of the spectators—who were among the most powerful in the galaxy—to tingle. Erik then added with a cheerful smile.

"Well, let's continue."

...

...

...

The galaxy was experiencing a stir not seen in centuries, and as could be expected, this was reflected in the number of ships surrounding the university planet waiting to enter. Thousands of starships of all styles, shapes, and sizes could now be seen. All hoped to enter one of the most important centers of commerce and education in the entire galaxy, which happened to be the main venue of the event.

Although for many it was still hard to believe, all of this was due to a young man of just thirty years. Who had published revolutionary production methods and devices that would not only greatly reduce production costs in countless industries but also allow for more stable production with higher quality. This was essentially every businessperson's dream: reducing costs and increasing quality.

But as if that weren't enough, the young man had also published documents about two inventions that would completely change the industry's landscape across the galaxy. On one hand, there were those who wanted to obtain licenses for the patents on the revolutionary material Manalite, while others wanted to be part of the revolution that the new potions—also known as healing pills—that would forever change the market would bring.

...

In the distinguished auction house Aetherion's Hall, seated in the midst of a private room that boasted luxury and elegance as few could afford, was a lady of stellar beauty. With olive skin, chestnut hair, and dark eyes that seemed to contain infinite wisdom, she was dressed in an elegant yet simple fitted black dress that enhanced her beauty and elegance.

As the woman read with interest, a beautiful journal that seemed to emit a slight magical light, having an incredibly attractive design that appeared to be the source of infinite knowledge. A man of about forty with dark purple hair and turquoise eyes, wearing an elegant butler's suit and embodying pure elegance and distinction, placed a steaming cup on the table with practiced movement.

"Fufufu, little Erik truly is a man full of surprises. Although I knew his academic papers would be published in the university's journal, I didn't imagine they would be so impressive..."

Upon seeing her coffee, Laura set her magazine aside and commented with a smile that seemed both excited and surprised, which couldn't help but slightly astonish the elegant butler. He quickly composed himself and stood behind his young lady as she took a good sip of coffee, who then added to herself in whispers.

"Maybe I should try giving him a call..."

Not quite sure what to do, Laura lost herself in thought, analyzing every possible outcome of each potential course of action. After a while, her musings were interrupted when her butler professionally commented.

"Young lady, Arcane Sardas has just arrived requesting an appointment. How should the situation be handled?"

"Sardas is here?" Laura couldn't help but ask, a bit confused by the unexpected visit. But seeing the journal on the table in front of her, a smile formed on her face as she added with a mysterious tone.

"How interesting, let him in."

"At your service."

The butler responded promptly and respectfully, then manipulated a dark blue card that appeared in his hands. Shortly after, he walked to the door of the room. Upon opening it, a dignified-looking man of pale complexion appeared on the other side, with long pale green hair tied in a ponytail and dark brown eyes. He was dressed in an elegant black business suit with a dark blue tie and a white shirt.

"A pleasure to see you again, Sage Sánchez."

Entering the room guided by the butler, the man greeted her elegantly, then sat on the sofa across from Laura, who responded with an elegant and professional demeanor without rising from her seat. This didn't seem to bother the man in the least, despite the significant difference in power level between them.

"It is equally a pleasure to see you in my humble abode, Arcane Sardas."

"As humble as ever, Sage Sánchez." The Arcane Sardas replied gracefully while taking the cup of tea served by the butler. At that moment, Laura asked calmly.

"Fufu, you flatter me, Arcane Sardas, but to what do I owe such an unexpected visit?"

"Actually, I wanted to stop by to say hello, and incidentally, I wanted to ask how much truth there is in a little rumor I heard." After taking a sip of the exclusive tea, the Arcane Sardas commented with a smile while looking into Laura's dark and captivating eyes. She asked with interest.

"Oh, what rumor are you referring to, Arcane Sardas?"

"I heard that Sage Sánchez has an excellent relationship with Direct Disciple Erik." The Arcane Sardas replied in a casual tone, wearing a calm smile. This led Laura to ask, after elegantly sipping her coffee and feeling truly amused inside.

"Where did you hear that, Arcane Sardas?"

"A friend of mine mentioned it randomly at a business dinner." The Arcane Sardas commented with a slight smile, not giving it much importance. Laura nodded, then explained in a more serious tone.

"Is that so? Well, honestly, I don't know where that comment came from. I've only spoken with Direct Disciple Erik once, so I wouldn't dare say I have a good relationship with him."

Upon hearing Laura's words, a hint of disappointment crossed the Arcane Sardas's face, but he quickly hid it and took a sip of his tea. He then elegantly crossed his legs and commented in a calm tone.

"I see, so it was nothing more than a rumor."

"Yes, you could say so. But why the question? Is there something you need from Direct Disciple Erik, Arcane Sardas?" Laura asked with a calm business smile while carefully studying the elusive businessman before her.

On the Arcane Sardas's face, a slight trace of doubt could be seen, which Laura noticed immediately. Instead of saying anything, she simply waited in silence while sipping some coffee that her butler had refilled. After a while, the Arcane Sardas seemed to make a decision and spoke with a smile.

"Actually, there is something I need, and I would appreciate it if Sage Sánchez knows any way to resolve it."

"If it's within my capabilities, rest assured that it will be so, Arcane Sardas." Laura commented with a calm smile while looking into the man's eyes.

Spoiler: Patreon

If you like it, you can support me on https://www.patreon.com/lordanl and get up to 10 advanced chapters.

 

[lordanl]

Upon hearing Laura's words, Arcane Sardas did not speak immediately. Instead, he sipped his tea in silence, discreetly studying the woman in front of him. After a few seconds, he set his cup on the table and began to explain in a serious tone.

"As Sage Sánchez well knows, my family has been part of the health and potion industry for a long time. Seeing the great innovation of Direct Disciple Erik—the healing pills, which can help countless people across the galaxy—we couldn't stay idle. Therefore, we want to contact him and offer all our help and support."

An unperturbed smile could be seen on Laura's face as she listened attentively to Arcane Sardas's speech, even nodding a couple of times—not only as if she understood him but even supported him. But inside, she was maliciously laughing at the man.

(Hehehehe, so you're afraid of losing your market share, and since Erik has two immovable titans behind him in the form of Master Silverwood and Master Eldurdóttir, you can't play your usual dirty tricks and want to try appealing to Erik's naivety due to his youth by bringing a cheap speech about helping the people of the galaxy. Hahaha, you're really funny, Sardas, and too naive...)

"I understand—a noble cause your family wants to undertake, Arcane Sardas. But I really have no idea how to help you. My contact with Direct Disciple Erik was just a brief conversation before the auction, and nothing more." Laura commented with a calm smile as she looked into the eyes of the man in front of her, who responded with a similar smile.

"I see, that's a shame. But perhaps you could help me by giving some advice to avoid making mistakes when I manage to contact Direct Disciple Erik. Although it was a one-time conversation, I heard that the disciple had a very good impression of Sage Sánchez."

(Hehehe, you want to know weaknesses to exploit—naive, very naive, Sardas.) Laura couldn't help but laugh mockingly at the man, but her expression remained as calm and elegant as ever, not changing for a single second. She replied in an almost contemplative tone.

"The truth is, it's hard to think of something like that. I can only tell you that he is a serious person and that it's best to treat him with due respect."

Arcane Sardas's smile couldn't help but turn into an ironic grimace upon hearing Laura's generic words, as she was basically telling him nothing. Who would dare treat a direct disciple without due respect? Which direct disciple wasn't 'serious' or rather liked to put on airs? But as an experienced man, he quickly hid it and commented with a dignified smile.

"Your information has been very useful, and it's truly a pleasure to converse with such a charming lady as Sage Sánchez. But I have an appointment later, and I must go."

"Of course, Arcane Sardas. It was a pleasure talking to you, and I won't take up more of your time."

As Arcane Sardas rose from his seat, Laura commented with a smile as she also stood up, which led to a brief, more formal farewell. After that, Arcane Sardas left the room guided by the butler. At that moment, Laura returned to her seat and took a good sip of coffee while watching the door close, at which point she couldn't help but whisper to herself, looking truly amused.

"Hehehe, Erik really hit these old bastards where it hurts. They're desperate to contact him. I suppose today will be a long day..."

Just as Laura expected, she spent the rest of the day receiving 'unexpected visits' from a bunch of old men who sought to establish a connection with Erik through her, using all kinds of excuses. Apparently, contacting him was not easy, and any other route besides the diplomatic one was absolutely sealed. After all, he was a direct disciple, which in itself was quite problematic. But with the two youngest Masters of the galaxy behind him, it was better not even to consider doing anything other than negotiating, or losing money would be the least of their worries.

"Fufufufu, I just came up with a good business idea."

After the hectic day full of incessant visits, an excited Laura commented to herself while her butler served her more coffee. After a couple of sips from her cup, a beautiful golden card appeared in Laura's right hand, from which a hologram was emitted. After manipulating it a bit, it changed to become a call icon, with the name Erik at the top.

[Hello, Laura. To what do I owe the call?] Erik's voice was heard from the golden card, sounding a bit tired, which led Laura to ask in a serious and somewhat worried tone.

"Hello, Erik. I was calling to greet you and also to discuss with you a small idea I have. But is it not a good time?"

[No, I'm just testing a couple of things, so I'm a bit tired. But tell me, what is the idea about?] Erik spoke after a small sigh, with a somewhat strange tone of voice, as if he were stretching, to which Laura commented seriously.

"Well then, I'll try not to take too much of your time."

[Don't worry. Tell me, it's rare for you to call me, so I'm curious.] With a much more comfortable and calm voice, Erik responded, to which Laura replied in a friendly tone.

"Well, I would like us to meet so we can talk more calmly."

[Fine by me, as long as the place isn't your auction house.]

Erik responded calmly, although his tone couldn't help but show some wariness when he mentioned the auction house, which worried Laura, as she feared that the star-haired boy had gotten a bad impression or that something had bothered him. So she quickly asked.

"Did something bother you? If so, tell me, and I'll do my best to improve it."

[Not at all; it was great, and that's precisely the problem. That is a devilish place full of irresistible temptations for a good and hardworking man like me. Last time I spent a fortune, so I won't go back to your auction house even if I'm tied up.]

At the unexpected response, Laura couldn't help but blink, speechless. Even the expression of the professional butler couldn't help but tighten a bit. After all, although the young man spent quite a bit at the last auction, he only bought three items out of the ten high-value ones that were auctioned. They even were the least coveted of all, so his spending wasn't as exaggerated as he said.

Moreover, if one took into account the young man's identity—not only was he the disciple of two of the most important Masters in the galaxy, but now he himself was the sensation of the galaxy thanks to his recent publications—his response directly entered the realm of the ridiculous, which inevitably led Laura to ask with a hint of incredulity in her voice.

"Are you serious, Erik?"

[Very serious. I won't go back to that devilish place until I become a billionaire.]

Through the hologram, Erik responded in a serious and cautious tone, as if he were really talking about a terrifying place, which inevitably made Laura laugh out loud. It was really one of the best jokes she had heard in a long time—the disciple of some of the richest women in the galaxy talking about becoming a billionaire was too hilarious, so much so that even the butler had to discreetly pinch his hand to contain himself.

"Hahahahaha!"

[What are you laughing at?] Upon hearing Laura's melodious laughter, Erik couldn't help but ask, sounding genuinely confused, to which Laura replied cheerfully, still amidst laughter.

"Hahaha, it's just that it's funny to hear you talk about becoming a billionaire. You're quite the joker."

[Why? It's normal for people to want to become billionaires, and I'm just one more.] Erik asked, sounding even more confused than before, only making Laura's laughter worsen, to the point where she had to hold her stomach while responding between laughs.

"Hahaha, that's for those who aren't 'billionaires', Erik."

[Exactly like me—a poor man seeking wealth.]

Erik replied, half serious and confused, as if he were stating an irrefutable fact, which caused Laura to laugh like a little girl, to the point where she let herself fall onto the couch while holding herself and spinning. This inevitably disheveled her beautiful black dress, revealing one of her incredibly attractive legs, although curiously, the professional butler didn't even give a glance at such an incredible spectacle.

After a moment, Laura was finally able to calm down enough and lay face up on her couch, looking disheveled and happy, as if she had just come out of a wild romp. She then commented in a pained tone between sporadic laughs, a cheerful smile occupying her face.

"Hahaha, no more, Erik. Don't make me laugh anymore."

[What are you laughing at? I really am a poor man.] Erik asked in an already helpless tone, to which Laura replied between sporadic laughs while she sat back on her couch.

"Hehehe, sure you are. If the disciple of two of the most important Masters in the galaxy is poor, what remains for the rest of us mortals?"

[What does it have to do with my Masters having money and me having it? I don't know what you think of me, Laura, but my personal creed is that only money earned with honest work is good money; everything else only brings problems. So I'm just another poor man seeking wealth.] Erik responded in a more serious tone, which finally managed to control Laura's laughter, although a different kind of smile could be seen on her face as she responded and adjusted her dress.

"That's a very interesting mindset you have there, Erik."

[Hehe, what can I say? I was raised well.] Erik responded in a more cheerful tone, which for some reason widened Laura's smile. She received a mirror from her butler and began to fix her hair while commenting.

"I can see that, but if you're a poor man seeking wealth, then you'll really be interested in the proposal I have for you."

[You've managed to pique my interest, but I don't know if you know, but soon there will be a tournament at the university, so I'll be busy.] Erik commented, evidently interested, which pleased Laura, who asked in a calm tone while returning the mirror to her butler, now looking perfectly neat and elegant again.

"Yes, I heard something about that. Does it sound good to you if we meet after the tournament ends?"

[Fine by me. I should be back on the planet by then...]

Quickly, Laura and Erik agreed on a meeting at a luxurious restaurant, to which Erik agreed because, although he wasn't rich yet, he had his own income sufficient to afford a meal. So after warmly saying goodbye to Laura, he hung up the call to continue with his experiments.

"Hehehe, Erik is really an interesting person..."

While drinking one last cup of coffee, Laura commented to herself, having a curious sparkle in her eyes. After that, she got up from her chair and left the lounge with the intention of making the necessary inquiries to organize and plan her new business proposal for Erik. She already knew this would not only be incredibly profitable but would also be an important opportunity for the recently stagnated growth of her beloved auction house. Something that would undoubtedly lead to the name Aetherion's Hall resonating powerfully throughout the galaxy.

"Fufufufu, I have a lot of work to do, but... how long has it been since I felt so excited...?"

While walking down the corridor that led to her personal study, Laura couldn't help but comment with a beautiful smile on her face—a genuine smile that hadn't graced her hectic life in quite some time.

Spoiler: Patreon

If you like it, you can support me on https://www.patreon.com/lordanl and get up to 10 advanced chapters.

 

[lordanl]

One day like any other, Erik woke up surrounded as always by his wolves and Ebonique. Recently, Ignis had also joined the "party" of sleeping in his bed. Fortunately, she knew how to make herself smaller; otherwise, he would have had to get a bigger bed.

As with every day, Erik woke up before dawn and followed his daily routine of practicing his ever-changing bio-mystic technique in the garden, feeding Ebonique, Ignis, and the wolves with his mana. Then he went to get his own breakfast in the main dining room. But today, something was different.

Around the dining table, already filled with food, sat Eleonora, Sigrún, and Liliana, calmly drinking tea, while Seraphina stood to the side with a professional expression. She quickly bowed respectfully before Erik and greeted him politely.

"Good morning, young master."

""Good morning.""

Eleonora and Sigrún also greeted Erik with warm smiles on their faces, pointing to the main chair at the table, which was empty—showing that this was the place reserved for Erik. The star-haired boy could swear that in all his years at the mansion, he had never seen anyone else sit there besides him.

Meanwhile, a slight expression of annoyance formed on Liliana's face. After all, it was very irritating for her to see the exaggerated condescension that not only Master Eldurdóttir had for that guy, but worse still, her own master treated him as she had never before treated her or Desmond. But with effort, she managed to hide her discomfort and quickly greeted Erik with a small smile.

"Good morning, Erik"

"Good morning, everyone. What's the occasion for this gathering?"

As he sat in his place, Erik returned the greeting and asked a bit confused, which made all the women blink in slight surprise. Sigrún then asked in a tone that was both amused and incredulous.

"Erik, what day is it today?"

"Monday?" Erik looked at Sigrún and replied a bit puzzled, though it sounded more like a question than anything else.

"Erik... we're supposed to leave today to arrive on time at the planet where the tournament will be held." Eleonora commented with a sigh upon seeing Erik's expressions shift from surprise to realization. He then nodded and commented a bit embarrassed.

"That's right, it was today..."

"You'd better eat quickly and go get ready; we're leaving." Sigrún said with an amused smile on her face while looking at her adorable disciple, who quickly nodded with a grin.

"Understood."

Erik began to eat rapidly, and after sending a couple of flying kisses to Seraphina for the delicious food. He then ran off to his room with the intention of getting ready and storing several things he needed in his storage rings, which had somehow increased in number over the years.

A couple of hours later, Erik was standing in front of the boarding station accompanied by his Masters, Seraphina, and Liliana. For Erik, this place was quite nostalgic; after all, he had only been here twice in his life: the first time he arrived on the planet and the day he saw his masters off when they went to the Zephyria border.

It was so rare for Erik to come to this place that sometimes he even found it hard to believe that it was really possible to travel to other planets and star systems with relative ease. But today, finally, after more than a decade, he would once again experience something as surreal as interstellar travel.

Meanwhile, Eleonora and Sigrún looked tenderly at their beloved disciple, who gazed around with a bit of nostalgia and curiosity—a strange mix that only made him look more adorable in their eyes and inevitably awakened in them the urge to smother him with kisses, an urge they had to struggle to keep under control.

"How do you feel about your second space trip?" Sigrún asked with a cheerful smile on her face as she looked lovingly at Erik, who replied a bit excited.

"Excited! It's been more than a decade, so I don't even remember what it was like to travel through space, hahaha."

"Fufufu, if you like it so much, from now on, we can make trips more often. Besides, now that I think about it, you don't know anything about the galaxy, so we could travel a bit so you can get to know it better." Eleonora joined the conversation with a small, beautiful smile on her face, which immediately filled Erik with great expectations for the future, leading him to comment with a smile.

"That sounds like a great idea."

Soon, the group of five—composed of four cheerful and excited people and a young woman with chocolate-colored hair containing her annoyance—passed through the VIP zone. This allowed Erik to see again, after almost 20 years, the hallway full of thick metal doors, guards, and those invisible membranes, making him feel incredibly nostalgic.

Upon reaching the end of the hallway, the group entered the elevator, where they were greeted by a spacious, well-lit, and luxurious space, very similar to the first-class ambiance of an airplane that Erik remembered. The floor was covered with a carpet that felt soft to the touch, while the seats were made of high-quality leather and automatically adjusted to fit the body's contour.

Now much calmer than the first time he rode it, Erik looked again at the elevator, noticing things he hadn't seen the first time he entered. For example, the seats could emit a holographic screen with various functionalities like playing music, reclining the chair, or changing the inclination—features Erik didn't think were used much since, if he remembered correctly, the trip only lasted about 30 minutes.

After everyone took their seats, an emotionless voice announced the start of the 'ride', and just as Erik expected, there was no other indication that they were ascending—no g-forces, inertia, or anything like that. Then, less than 30 minutes later, the same voice announced that there were 5 minutes left until their destination. Everyone stood up from their seats, and shortly after, the elevator doors opened automatically.

Upon exiting the elevator, Erik once again strolled through the city in the orbital station, looking everywhere like a country bumpkin. This couldn't help but put a charming smile full of happiness and nostalgia on Sigrún's face, who began to remember the day she met Erik and the first time he arrived on the planet.

Soon, the group reached the boarding area, which was behind a huge black metal door guarded by two guards in futuristic black armor with different runes engraved on its surface. They bowed respectfully and opened the way for them while greeting loudly, as the enormous doors opened automatically.

For his part, Erik looked around with curiosity, now realizing that this 'port' was very similar to the one they had arrived at the first time he came to the university planet. It was also quite exclusive, as in the distance he could see something resembling a massive launch platform, somewhat reminiscent of an airport, where a large number of ships landed and took off nonstop.

As they reached the edge of the boarding platform, a small, incredibly beautiful and detailed white cruiser appeared in Sigrún's hand. It rose into the air and grew in size until it became an enormous ship, seemingly built to traverse the vast cosmos as if it were an endless sea.

The group of five boarded the ship, after which it left the port slowly, leaving behind a beautiful trail of colors that seemed like waves made of stars over which the impressive cruiser sailed.

"Master, I feel a bit tired. Is it possible for me to sleep a little?"

While Sigrún, Eleonora, and Seraphina happily accompanied Erik on the deck—who looked fascinated at space—Liliana approached and asked in a polite and respectful manner. This caused Eleonora to turn to look at her and nod her head, then comment with a smile.

"Of course, go inside and choose any room you like."

"Thank you very much, Master." Liliana bowed respectfully to Eleonora and then to Sigrún, who smiled softly in response.

After Liliana left, Eleonora, Sigrún, and Seraphina moved even closer to Erik, who was looking almost hypnotized at the vibrant planet surrounded by a barrier formed by hexagons that was slowly moving away. They rested their bodies on him—Eleonora and Sigrún at his sides and Seraphina behind him—all with warm and loving smiles on their faces.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Sigrún commented softly while hugging one of Erik's arms and resting her head on his shoulder.

"Yes, the first time I saw it, I was so overwhelmed with all the new and shocking information that I couldn't enjoy the beautiful view..." Erik said in a soft and relaxed voice. At that moment, Eleonora hugged his left arm, and imitating Sigrún, also rested her head on his shoulder, then commented with a soft and melodious voice.

"After the tournament, we'll visit several beautiful places."

"Really?" Erik turned to look at Eleonora with a cheerful smile on his face, to which she responded with a gentle smile full of happiness.

"Of course, it will be a wonderful trip. In the galaxy, there are all kinds of beautiful places we have to see."

"Yes, I have to introduce you to my base planet; it's spectacular." Sigrún commented with emotion while squeezing her beloved disciple's arm between her ample bust, which led Erik to ask somewhat curiously.

"Your base planet, Master?"

"Hehehe, yes. Many mana users from the Arcane level onward have base planets; it's almost like a ritual of initiation when leaving behind the 'mortal realm'." Sigrún replied with a cheerful smile, which made Erik ask with curiosity while looking into his master's beautiful blue eyes.

"'Mortal realm'?"

"It's what the levels before the Sage-level are known as, since from that level on, you no longer have most of the basic human needs like sleeping or eating, and life expectancy starts to be counted in tens of thousands of years. Although since the creation of the Sage advancement potion, many already consider the Sage-level as 'mortal'."

Instead of Sigrún, Eleonora was the one who answered. She spoke with a cheerful and clear tone while squeezing her big breasts around Erik's arm. He turned to look into her beautiful golden eyes, then commented a bit thoughtfully.

"I see... I didn't know any of that."

"Well, that's something that isn't written in books, and since you never go out to talk to anyone, you didn't know, hahaha." Sigrún commented in a teasing tone while moving her head on Erik's shoulder like a cat, which led the star-haired boy to comment amusedly.

"That sounded mean."

"Fufufufu, then socialize more." Eleonora added with a smile while closing her eyes to enjoy the warm moment.

Meanwhile, Seraphina, being the perfect maid that she was, chose to remain silent to let her young master enjoy his moment with his masters. Instead, she began to gently massage the back of her beloved young master's neck, which inevitably—and definitely not because she wanted to—caused her to have to press her body against his, allowing her to feel the relaxing warmth of his body.

Shortly after, the ship entered hyperspace travel, so there was nothing left to see. They all went to sit around a beautiful table that formed from the wood of the upper deck, at which point Seraphina served a relaxing and warm-smelling tea, which they drank while talking about random things amidst laughter.

Spoiler: Patreon

If you like it, you can support me on https://www.patreon.com/lordanl and get up to 10 advanced chapters.

 

[lordanl]

A couple of weeks later, Sigrún's beautiful ship emerged from warp travel, appearing not far from a magnificent planet surrounded by an energy shield made of hexagons similar to the one around the university planet. It glowed in blue and golden hues, with enormous rivers and mountains visible from space.

Orbiting the planet was a gigantic space station that looked like a floating palace, with towers, domes, and bulwarks extending into outer space. Its entire surface was covered with beautifully carved runes emitting a soft light, making it seem like a jewelry box beautifully decorated with stars.

Soon, Sigrún's cruiser docked at the space station, and shortly after, Erik disembarked, closely accompanied by Eleonora, Sigrún, and Seraphina. A little behind them followed Liliana, who was the last to leave the ship, wearing a complicated expression on her face as she watched the group of masters, disciple, and maid ahead of her.

The reason behind Liliana's expression was very simple: these days on the ship had been too revealing for her, to the point where they had her doubting reality itself. Not only was Erik different from how she had imagined him, but it also became obvious to her that the relationship between her master and the star-haired boy was very different from what she thought.

Since Erik had intruded into her life-almost twenty years ago now-Liliana could easily count the times she had interacted with him. The longest of those interactions did not exceed a couple of hours, something that had never bothered her and even pleased her. After all, the mere presence of the star-haired boy irritated her; besides, she believed she knew who he was and what he thought of her and Desmond, so she never showed any further interest. He was just an arrogant thief who had come to steal her master's attention.

But during the journey, that perception was forcibly changed. It all started with how evident it became to her that her master, the great Empress of Lightning, Eleonora Silverwood, always dignified and elegant, seemed like a different person when she was with Erik—always smiling, talkative, and even playful—something inconceivable. After all, the entire galaxy knew that Master Silverwood was practically synonymous with elegance and poise.

Furthermore, there was the way she treated the annoying Erik; she treated him with too much care, paid him too much attention, and it almost seemed like she wanted to be by his side all day, which at first greatly angered her. But she only needed to pay a little more attention to realize that the way her respected master looked at the star-haired boy was not the gaze of a master to her disciple.

That gaze went beyond; in it, there was love, attraction, and devotion—basically the way her mother looked at her father, a realization that almost blew her mind. After all, it was too irrational, too absurd; no one could even begin to imagine that one of the most powerful and prestigious Master-level individuals in the entire galaxy would take notice of a mere Ascended-level. No matter how handsome or talented he was, since they were almost like two different species.

Although that realization was extremely shocking, at the same time it was incredibly liberating; she was not fighting with the monstrous and unattainable star-haired boy for her master's love and attention. He was something different, on a different track in her master's heart, which meant she didn't have to keep killing herself day and night looking for ways to improve just to at least match someone so monstrous.

That feeling of liberation allowed her, for the first time in who knows how long, to sleep peacefully, without waking up in the middle of the night covered in sweat from a nightmare where her master abandoned her.

Without staying up late into the night training her spells over and over, terrified that that star-haired idiot would master a new spell with the irritating ease with which he always did, and that her master would be disappointed in her.

Finally, a peaceful night's sleep without the constant anxiety of losing her place, the woman who was like her second mother and everything she had worked so hard to gain.

That simple night's sleep was incredibly restorative, and the change was evident to Liliana from the moment she woke up; after all, she no longer had dark circles or puffiness under her eyes—they were clear and bright. So for the first time in almost twenty years, she didn't have to apply the creams and potions she had to use every day to hide the traces of her tears, which had become her nightly companion.

The world also seemed brighter, more colorful, and much more peaceful, which allowed her to see much more clearly the dynamics between the reason for her suffering and mental torture and her beloved and respected master. This could not help but make her smile with bitterness and some regret, since if she had paid a little more attention before, she would not have had to suffer so much.

Her master treated him practically like her husband and behaved like a lovestruck teenager around him; she cared for him, pampered him, and respected him perhaps even more than her own mother did with her father. This allowed her to realize that her master was happier than ever and that perhaps the talkative and playful Eleonora was the real Eleonora Silverwood, while her typical elegance and poise were just a facade.

Similarly, she also noticed the strangeness of Erik; he was strange, somehow he seemed to have a unique charm that made not only her master but also Master Eldurdóttir, the terrifying maid, the wolves, and even everyone's contracted spirits orbit around him—all cheerful, all calm, and without a doubt, all happy.

That strangeness inevitably intrigued Liliana, who, curious, began to interact a bit more with Erik—not too much, just casual and sporadic—but those small interactions made her realize that he was a bit different from what she imagined. Rather than arrogant and disdainful, he was quiet and calm, focused on his own things, and for some reason, obsessed with cookies. To the point where she could swear the boy could eat cookies as his only food for the rest of his life and never tire of them.

Moreover, somehow, that tranquility and calm of Erik seemed to infect others; maybe it was his way of speaking or his way of doing things, but being around him caused a certain feeling of quite pleasant peace and tranquility. This seemed to greatly please her master and Master Eldurdóttir, although that tranquility wasn't really her thing; she preferred excitement and adrenaline.

But besides that calm, there was one more thing about Erik that was very intriguing: everything he said and did, for some reason, felt "real", as if there was no falseness in him, and he was incapable of lying—something very pleasant, since being in a position like hers, being a disciple of one of the most prestigious Masters in the galaxy, sincere conversations without ulterior motives were very rare; whenever she met or talked to someone, she had to be on guard and totally focused to detect any trap or slip-up she might commit.

For the same reason, direct disciples like her only interacted with other masters' disciples. Since being in a similar situation, they could understand each other and not be so cautious with one another, but even so, caution could never be lost; after all, there are always conflicting interests, and they would always be competitors for opportunities, so there was always a certain wariness.

That's why it was so relaxing to talk to Erik; the guy never beat around the bush, he never asked for anything and much less expected anything, he didn't desperately try to get her attention like others or look at her with lust or desire; moreover, she hadn't seen him in a bad mood even once. In the time they were on the ship, the darkest feeling she saw from him was a tired sigh or the constant back-and-forth with his masters because he didn't want money or something like that.

But if she had to point out what impacted her most from her few interactions with Erik, it's that she realized he was very aware that she disliked him and even intuited the image she had of him, but he didn't even hold a grudge for it. In his own words, wanting everyone to like you is foolishness—Not even money pleases everyone, much less a person—something he told her with a smile while handing her a cookie, an image that inevitably remained etched in her memory.

...

With Liliana lost in her thoughts, the group walked through the port of the space station until they reached a large lobby with high ceilings supported by columns carved with all kinds of runes. The floor, made of what seemed to be marble, reflected the constellations, creating the illusion of walking among stars and highlighting a large floating crystal obelisk in the center, which emitted a soft light, serving as a guide to newcomers.

"They really never skimp on decoration..." Looking at the impressive place, Erik whispered to himself, which caused small smiles on the faces of Sigrún and Eleonora.

"Hehehe, yes, in the Arcane Order we are known for our aesthetics." Sigrún commented softly as they all walked through the station, which was designed in concentric levels, ascending in a spiral.

The lower levels housed common areas like training rooms or libraries, and as they ascended, the areas became more exclusive with more spacious suites on the middle levels, which had balconies offering panoramic views of the cosmos.

They all continued walking calmly through the beautifully decorated corridors, while talking about random things among themselves. Although, in reality, only Erik, Sigrún, and Eleonora were talking among themselves; Liliana just kept walking silently in an almost robotic manner with a thoughtful expression on her face, and Seraphina followed behind Erik with a professional smile.

Not long after, the group of five arrived at a beautiful common room that looked like a fantasy park, filled with lush grass and trees of all kinds, with beautifully sculpted fountains bubbling with liquids of different colors. At that moment, Eleonora turned to look at Liliana and commented with a smile.

"Liliana, from here we're going to a meeting with the other Master-levels; if you want, you can go rest or maybe take a walk. Thalia's and Ryoma's disciples are already around here."

"Of course, thank you very much, Master." Her master's voice pulled Liliana out of her thoughts, and she quickly responded elegantly, then bowed respectfully and took her leave.

"Then I'll be going."

"Have fun."

Eleonora commented with a smile, to which Liliana responded with a similar smile, then separated from the group, going in another direction while a beautiful crystal card appeared over her hand. She quickly manipulated it to make a call and put it near her ear, avoiding the hologram from appearing.

"Well, then I'll go look around this place; it looks interesting."

Seeing Liliana leave, Erik commented softly, trying to hide the excitement he felt about discovering how this place worked. It not only had gravity identical to that of the university planet but also had tons of interesting things everywhere, but his eyes that shone like flashlights due to his enthusiasm didn't help him at all.

Without waiting for a response, Erik took Seraphina's hand and ran out of the place, hoping to find someone to bother to tell him where to find the information he wanted about the space station. This couldn't help but put a cheerful smile on the perfect maid's face.

Meanwhile, Sigrún and Eleonora watched Erik, who was running, with small happy smiles on their faces, then turned and continued walking until they reached a beautiful and imposing dark wooden door full of intricate runes carved all over its surface.

Upon entering the meeting room, several people who were gathered and exuded an unfathomable pressure, like massive stars full of colossal power, turned their heads to look at the pair of women who had arrived.

"Well, now we can start this meeting; remember that only topics regarding the imminent tournament will be addressed. Anything else, unless it's of vital importance, should be set aside."

As Eleonora and Sigrún took their seats, Adrian spoke with a powerful voice to all the Master-level individuals present, who nodded their heads, initiating the meeting. In which the rules and challenges that the tournament participants will have to overcome were reported if they want to secure a spot in the exploration of the ruin.

Spoiler: Patreon

If you like it, you can support me on https://www.patreon.com/lordanl and get up to 10 advanced chapters.

 

[lordanl]

The name of the planet chosen as the venue for the tournament was Eryndor, a beautiful habitable world orbiting a binary star system in a very sparsely populated area within the domains of the Arcane Order. This caused the planet, despite its rich flora and fauna, to remain uninhabited and without a trace of human civilization.

The planet boasted stunning forests that glowed with shades of purple and emerald, enormous mountains and valleys visible from space, as well as vast and majestic deserts that shimmered under Eryndor's two suns. This created mirages of palaces and cities that vanished as swiftly as they appeared.

As time passed, more than 800 participants began appearing in the designated area of the planet using various means. Some arrived in imposing ships of all sizes and shapes, while others appeared directly on the ground using different kinds of spells and magical artifacts, each more intricate and spectacular than the last.

A few hours later, most of the participants gathered on a huge, beautifully carved platform in the middle of a vast green valley filled with all kinds of flowers and grass. In a somewhat distant corner stood Liliana, Zoe, and Elara. Zoe and Elara were looking around, searching for a certain young man with starry hair, whom they couldn't see anywhere.

"Stop looking for him; you look like love-struck teenagers." Liliana commented irritably as she glanced at her friends, who now seemed like fervent admirers of that no-longer-so-annoying guy.

"Fufufufu, there's no need to talk like that, Liliana. We're just a little worried because Disciple Erik hasn't arrived." Zoe remarked with an elegant smile on her face, though she continued to discreetly glance around.

"Yes, yes, it's just concern. Maybe he overslept and is running late." Elara added with an adorable smile, still openly looking around.

"Hmph, most likely he's deliberately arriving late to make a dramatic entrance and draw attention."

Liliana, who unknowingly had hit the nail on the head, commented a bit irritably, but her expression changed immediately when she saw a beautiful woman who appeared to be about 25 years old. With skin like polished ebony and long silver hair that matched the white robes of the Order, yet contrasted wonderfully with her skin, giving her a mystical and sophisticated air. She approached flying through the air, seeming like a goddess capable of controlling the world with a single finger.

Moments later, the beautiful woman arrived before them and stopped in midair, in a position where all the participants could easily see her. She then spoke with a magnetic and powerful voice that seemed to course through the bodies of all present, filling them with infinite respect for the colossal power embodied in her attractive figure.

"I hope all participants are present." The woman scanned all the participants with her beautiful silver eyes, but quickly seemed to notice something and added while looking to her left with an ironic smile on her face.

"It seems someone is missing."

Upon hearing her words, all the participants curiously looked in the same direction the beautiful woman was gazing. Only to find a terrifying accumulation of clouds that completely covered the two suns, turning that place into an area filled with shadows.

Surprise filled the hearts of all the participants present. After all, just moments ago, one could see a beautiful clear sky as far as the eye could reach. Such a massive change must have occurred in mere instants without anyone noticing—something absurd for many who looked at the sky, doubting their own senses.

Many of those present had a strong connection with the Myst, which made them feel deeply proud. Thanks to that connection, it was as easy as breathing for them to notice climatic changes on the planet they were on, especially a change as significant as the one they were witnessing. But for some reason, they felt absolutely nothing and only realized something was amiss when the beautiful woman in the sky mentioned it.

Meanwhile, on the platform, Elara's and Zoe's eyes began to shine with anticipation as they looked at the incredible mass of clouds, eager to see how Erik would appear, as it was almost certain he was the only one missing. At the same time, Liliana couldn't help but smile ironically as she looked at the sky.

"I knew it, that guy wanted to make a dramatic entrance..."

Liliana murmured to herself, but at that moment, from the thick mist, a titanic eastern dragon with scales blacker than the abyss of space emerged, surrounded by terrifying black electric arcs that seemed to affect the climate. It roared powerfully, sending chills through the bodies of all present.

Flanking the dragon were two gigantic wolves: one with silvery fur luminous like the moon, and the other as black as the deepest night. They advanced majestically through the air, treading on clouds as if they were solid meadows, leaving behind trails of electricity and shadows. The silver wolf flashed with rays that seemed like threads of pure silver, while the black wolf enveloped its surroundings with a darkness so dense it absorbed nearby light.

But it was the figure seated atop the head of the colossal dragon that drew all eyes. A young man of almost ethereal appearance, with white skin contrasting his black hair, which seemed to be an extension of the cosmic vault where stars and galaxies danced and shone—almost like a crown of stars proclaiming him the king of the cosmos. This greatly highlighted his bright-green eyes.

Everyone on the platform gazed in surprise and shock at Erik, who landed near the platform with a dignified and elegant bearing. Elara and Zoe cast almost obsessive glances at the handsome young man, who descended from the head of the terrifying dragon by walking on air. Then, with a single movement of his hand, he made the colossal dragon and the majestic wolves disappear amid flashes of black and silver lightning, accompanied by a deep darkness that seemed like a bottomless abyss.

With a demeanor full of style and elegance, Erik approached the platform, ascending it with the help of an intricate staircase of solidified Myst, which formed out of nowhere in mere instants. This surprised those present once again, who felt nothing when he did it, filling them with deep caution and a hint of fear.

...

"Hahahahaha, what a grand entrance, worthy of my first disciple!"

In the midst of the meeting room on the space station, Sigrún's voice, full of pride and arrogance, echoed as she continuously cast condescending glances at everyone present while observing the situation on the planet through holographic screens arranged throughout the room.

"Hmph, it had to be your disciple; something like that could only come from someone raised by you." A handsome man with dark hair and Asian features who appeared to be around 40 years old commented with a bit of annoyance in his voice as he looked at the young man on the screens.

"What? Jealous, Ryoma?" Sigrún retorted with a voice full of condescension to the handsome man, who responded firmly.

"Jealous? Please. Putting on that kind of spectacle is nothing to be proud of. Luckily, my Zoe understands well and prefers to keep a low and modest profile."

"Poor granddaughter of yours, having such a boring and smelly old man like you as a grandfather." Sigrún remarked disdainfully while looking at the man with a mocking gaze.

"Sigrún!! I demand respect!" Ryoma retorted angrily, raising his voice slightly as he shot a piercing look at Sigrún.

"Hehehehe, well, come and demand it and see how it goes for you, Ryoma."

With a mocking expression, Sigrún spoke with a voice full of contempt for the man, which angered him quite a bit. But just as he was about to rise from his chair, the director spoke with authority, so he could only sit back down—not without first casting an annoyed glance at Sigrún, who merely responded with a defiant smile.

"That's enough. Stop causing trouble, Sigrún."

"Hmph, it was that smelly old man who started it." Sigrún crossed her arms in annoyance and turned again to look at the holographic screen showing the gallant figure of her beloved Erik, determined to ignore those envious old folks.

...

On the platform where all the participants were gathered, Erik was in a distant corner, seated on a beautiful throne made of solidified Myst, with a calm and serene expression. He gazed at the absurdly powerful Master-level in the air, who seemed to have an even more terrifying presence than his own masters—similar to the director's right hand, though perhaps a bit 'smaller', but not by much.

Although Erik did enjoy showing off from time to time, he was actually doing everything possible now so that Sigrún could boast to her heart's content to the other Master-levels—something she herself had asked him with a mischievous smile on her face. So it was certain they were watching them at that moment.

"Disciple Erik, I hope you refrain from making more displays like that; this is a serious tournament."

The beautiful woman in the sky spoke with a voice full of authority, to which Erik nodded in understanding and bowed slightly from his chair—without standing up—to express an apology. This only made the woman sigh, as she could see the influence of the boy's masters in him.

(This is going to be another troublesome one... Why do all the talented ones have to be like this...?)

The woman thought to herself with a bit of regret for the dark future she foresaw when the trio of disciple and masters would be together in the Order's meetings. That would be an utter mess—even worse than it already was.

"Well, now that everyone is gathered, it's time to begin." The woman commented with a magnetic voice, once again drawing the attention of all the participants. She then added in a clear and firm tone.

"My name is Ngozi Iyanda, Master-level of the Arcane Order, and I will be supervising this tournament. For this tournament, it is forbidden to use any artifact, potion, pill, etc., above the Illuminated level, and I will personally disqualify anyone who attempts to use such things, so be very careful." Ngozi cast a piercing gaze at the participants, who trembled slightly where they stood, but she quickly continued explaining the rules.

"The format of this tournament is very simple. On this planet, there is a palace that holds a special treasure. The first person to obtain this treasure will be declared the winner and will claim all the treasures within the palace, including potions, artifacts, and even bio-mystical techniques and spells. However, don't worry if you miss out on this prize—there are several other palaces where you can find 'pass treasures'. While these treasures don't come with extra rewards or make you the champion, those who manage to find them will earn a spot on the exploration team for the ruins."

Everyone present was filled with enthusiasm and determination to find the main palace and claim the promised treasures while securing a spot on the exploration team. But some strange emblems that suddenly appeared before them pulled them out of their thoughts.

"One more thing: these emblems recognize you as participants. So, to be worthy of the spot, you must present an emblem along with the pass treasure." Ngozi commented with a slight smile as she observed several participants who seemed to instantly realize what those emblems meant. She then asked in a calm tone.

"Any questions?"

In response to Ngozi's question, a burly young man with brown hair, dressed in a slightly different version of the university's robes—looking more like elegant light armor—raised his hand.

"Yes, speak." Ngozi quickly looked at the young man and commented calmly, to which he nodded and began to speak in a tone filled with respect.

"Excuse my impoliteness, Master Iyanda, but are there any other rules besides not using items above the Illuminated level?"

"None; that's the only rule." Ngozi commented with a slight smile, which caused the young man to ask again without changing his expression.

"Is even killing allowed?"

The young man's question slightly widened Ngozi's smile, and she quickly responded in a calm and clear tone, casually observing the different expressions her words brought to the participants' faces.

"Yes, even killing is allowed. But you don't have to worry about that; the moment your lives are in danger, you will be automatically transported to the space station. So for this tournament in particular, your lives are safe."

"Thank you very much for your guidance, Master Iyanda."

The young man bowed respectfully and spoke in a respectful tone, while simultaneously glancing sideways at Erik, who seemed bored as he ate cookies from a tray on his lap. Two wolf cubs—who knows when they had appeared—sat on his shoulders, eyeing the cookies with desire.

"Any other questions?"

Spoiler: Patreon

If you like it, you can support me on https://www.patreon.com/lordanl and get up to 10 advanced chapters.

 

[lordanl]

"Any other questions?" Ngozi asked again as he looked at the group of participants. At that moment, a beautiful young woman with black hair raised her hand, prompting Ngozi to point at her, indicating that she could speak.

"I apologize for the inconvenience, Master Iyanda, but do we have to turn in the same emblem we received, or can it be another one?"

Ngozi smiled softly at the question and explained in a clear tone, while looking at the intelligent girl with a hint of approval.

"You're smart, and no, it doesn't have to be the exact same one. As long as it's one of the emblems we just handed out, they will be accepted. However, do not try to forge them. It would be very easy to discover, and you would be disqualified."

"Thank you very much for your guidance, Master Iyanda." The young woman bowed deeply, grateful and excited because she had noticed the approval of the legendary Master-level. Once again, while looking at the participants, Ngozi asked.

"Any more questions?"

This time, it was Erik who raised his hand, attracting a few glances from the crowd. Ngozi asked while looking at the boy with some curiosity, wondering what the disciple of the order's most troublesome pair might ask.

"Yes? What do you want to know, Disciple Erik?"

Without getting up from his 'throne'—something curiously recommended by Eleonora, who also seemed to enjoy showing off as much as Sigrún—Erik asked, ignoring the annoyance that, for some reason, everyone now knew his name.

"How long will we be here?"

"Good question, and there's a time limit of one year." Ngozi responded in a calm tone, internally pleased that Erik hadn't asked something strange, as his Masters usually did. But the boy's next words ended his small moment of happiness.

"One year? Can't it be shorter? I have things to do..."

Everyone present directed murderous looks at Erik, who, for some reason, didn't realize they had to explore an entire damned planet to find a palace holding a special treasure. Managing it in one year without any artifact above Illuminated-level would already be a titanic feat, comparable to finding a needle in a desert. Yet, he wanted to reduce the already limited time even further.

"No, it cannot be less time. But if you find a 'pass treasure', you can leave earlier and still keep your spot." Ngozi replied, holding back the ironic smile trying to appear on his face. Hearing this, Erik commented with a visibly relieved expression:

"That sounds better..."

Ngozi shook his head as he looked at that young man, identical to his blond-haired Master who loved to overestimate herself—though it was better to ignore the fact that this trouble-seeker, in some strange way, always managed to get by with her foolish ideas.

"Well, I suppose there are no more questions." Ngozi looked at the participants one last time, who remained silently staring at him, and then he added with a small smile.

"Then, from now on, you will be transported to random parts of the planet. Good luck."

The moment Ngozi finished speaking, a bright flash emerged from the platform where the participants were standing, catching them all by surprise. In an instant, everyone was teleported to different places on the planet at random.

After all the students disappeared, Ngozi moved his right hand slightly, causing the platform to vanish completely. At that moment, the beautiful woman faded into the air, as if she were a mirage. Something very similar happened with the remaining traces of activity on the ground, restoring the meadow to its original appearance.

…
…
…

In the middle of a scorching desert, filled with blood-red sand, Erik appeared with a flash of light about 100 meters above the ground, still sitting, and immediately began plummeting toward the earth at great speed. This made him open his eyes slightly, surprised by the sudden sensation of vertigo.

Staying calm, Erik quickly created a platform of solidified Myst a bit beneath him, which he kicked forcefully, changing his movement from vertical to horizontal. At the same time, he spun his body in the air and then kicked another Myst platform, which this time propelled him upward. Just as he was about to fall again, he created a new platform right under his feet, ending up standing in midair as if stepping on the wind.

As for the wolves, who had been on Erik's shoulders and also fell with him, they quickly began to hop on small clouds that emerged from nowhere beneath them. Since they were in their miniature form, they looked quite adorable—especially when they jumped back onto the star-haired boy's shoulders, barking happily.

The clouds the wolves used to 'fly' were actually simple spells developed by Erik, which he had taught them with the help of their contract. They were essentially steps of solidified Myst covered with special cloud effects to make them look more mystical and spectacular, since his main intention in developing them was to make them look cool.

Although the wolves couldn't manipulate solidified Myst like Erik, the spell worked in such a way that Myst steps were generated under their paws when activated. After a bit of practice, both Tiberius and Kaiser could easily master it, as the spell was quite simple.

Furthermore, to make them appear more impressive, Kaiser and Tiberius's spells were slightly different. In Tiberius's case, the clouds created around the Myst platform were deep black, seemingly absorbing the light around them. It looked less like clouds and more like an amalgam of darkness.

As for Kaiser, his clouds were gray storm clouds that released lightning in all directions at random intervals, giving the silver wolf a spectacular effect. When he covered his body with lightning, he looked like a thunder wolf god.

"They really dropped me in the middle of nowhere, how inconsiderate…"

Shielding his eyes with his hand—since the two suns in the sky were incredibly bright—Erik grumbled softly to himself as he looked around, seeing nothing but an endless sea of red sand as far as the eye could see. After a small sigh, he quickly shook his head and decided to summon his reliable contracted spirit.

"Ebonique."

From Erik's back, a mass of black lightning materialized, rapidly taking the form of a serpent with tar-black scales, very much like an oriental dragon with limbs bearing five claws and impressive horns on its head that resembled a crown. Though it looked slightly different from its dramatic entrance before—now it was just a serpent that looked like a dragon, not one in full form.

"Where are we, Erik?" Ebonique, who measured a couple of meters, approached Erik and gently coiled around him while asking and creating shade for her dear contractor. He responded calmly.

"Honestly, I don't know. I was suddenly teleported here, but what matters is that we need to find a palace with treasures so we can leave, and I can get to work on finishing polishing my latest project."

"Then what are we waiting for? Hop on, let's go find that palace." Ebonique said cheerfully as she uncoiled from Erik, then grew larger, reaching about ten meters in length.

"Though I doubt we'll find it easily. After all, they gave us a year to find a palace, and apparently there are several, so there must be some trick to it." Erik commented as he jumped onto Ebonique's huge head. She replied in a cheerful tone.

"Well, you're right about that, but we certainly can't stay in this desert."

As she spoke, Ebonique began moving through the air at a blinding speed, easily surpassing the speed of sound several times over. Yet, this terrifying speed didn't even ruffle Erik's hair. He was comfortably seated atop the enormous serpent's head, never feeling the aggressive air resistance that should have been present in such a situation.

Even stranger, no sonic boom occurred despite Ebonique's ludicrous velocity. It was as if they were passing through the air rather than colliding with it. Still, Erik could breathe without difficulty. As usual, the laws of physics seemed not to apply to them—no inertia, g-forces, or anything of the sort.

...

After flying around erratically for a while, searching for anything that might resemble a palace or at least offer a clue, and finding nothing, Erik finally spotted a beautiful forest not far away. It was filled with all kinds of trees and plants, and adorned by several gigantic lakes. He quickly gave Ebonique's head a soft pat and commented calmly.

"Ebonique, we've been searching for a long time with no success. This search will be lengthy. It's better to change tactics. Let's land in that forest—it looks like a good place for a base. Later, we can map the whole area."

"You're right, it does look like a good spot."

After responding, Ebonique flew toward the forest and landed gently near a gigantic lake, which looked like a sea from its shore. Erik jumped from her head, landing calmly on the ground. Ebonique then shrank and settled atop her contractor's starry hair in her smallest form, almost blending in.

With a relaxed step, Erik walked toward the lake and started looking around. Simultaneously, he extended his ethereal projection along with his mystical awareness as far as possible, aiming to get a sense of the area and the potential dangers lurking there. After a moment, he spoke in a thoughtful tone.

"Mmmm, it seems there are a couple of pesky critters around here, but I don't think they'll be hard to handle. This really is a great place to establish a base. We just need to find a good spot…"

"Do you want me to take care of them?" Ebonique asked from atop Erik's head, but he simply refused as he explained.

"No, leave them to me. I have several things to test, so this is actually a good opportunity."

As he spoke, Erik moved his hand slightly, and dozens of what looked like copper spheres appeared on the ground. Each was about 30 cm in diameter, covered in countless tiny and intricate routes carved into their surface. This caught the attention of Ebonique and the wolves, who were hanging on Erik's shoulders.

At the same time, a crystal tablet appeared in Erik's left hand, its entire surface etched with runes. It emitted a holographic screen showing a blank space in the center, along with what looked like controls and buttons with different macros around it. Erik pressed one of those buttons, causing the copper spheres to come to life and rise into the air, then shoot off at high speed in different directions.

"What are those things, Erik?"

Ebonique asked, puzzled as she watched the copper spheres darting off in all directions. Erik responded while examining the three-dimensional map that began to slowly form in the blank center of the holographic screen.

"I call them 'scouting spheres', a small artificing experiment I worked on some time ago but never really used. They serve mainly to map an area, and they also work as a surveillance and early warning system, making them perfect for this situation.

Also, they use relatively basic runes and very cheap materials, so they barely qualify as Ascended-level artifacts, meaning I can use them freely to save a lot of time and effort."

"Why didn't you use them before?" Ebonique asked, somewhat curious, as she looked at the holographic screen. Erik replied with a slightly embarrassed smile.

"I forgot I had them. Though, to defend myself, I can say they're much slower than you, even if there are many of them. But anyway, since we need to conduct a thorough search now, I started thinking of ways to do it passively while I work on other things to make better use of my time, and I remembered them. So we can use them and maybe even make some improvements."

"You really are very interesting, fufufu." Ebonique commented with a little laugh, mixing amusement and pride. Erik replied, somewhat amused.

"You think so?"

Spoiler: Patreon

If you like it, you can support me on https://www.patreon.com/lordanl and get up to 10 advanced chapters.

 

[lordanl]

The scouting spheres were one of the many experiments Erik undertook to better understand Artificery. They were born from the idea of creating something similar to tactical drones, but cheap and easy to produce. Although there were things somewhat akin to what he wanted in existence, they were quite expensive and complex, and not as specialized in exploration or support as he desired. But the best he managed to achieve were these spheres, which could only be considered a half-success.

While the spheres themselves were exactly what he wanted—cheap and easy to produce, consisting only of a not-too-complex rune matrix carved onto "true copper"—their control system posed a problem.

The true copper was the cheapest material with which one could craft a magical artifact, boasting impressive mechanical properties, high resistance to heat, oxidation, corrosion, and more, along with mana conductivity superior to normal copper. It was composed of copper with a minuscule amount of what was known as falamite slag, a mining byproduct.

However, the same could not be said for the crystal tablet he used to control them, which was made from the same material as his student card. This material was known as maximum-purity Chantinolite Crystals, a very rare and expensive mineral with incredible properties, including the ability to transmit information instantly at a planetary scale.

Although there were lower-purity versions that were cheaper, they offered a far more limited transmission range and a drastically reduced number of runes that could be engraved—this was the true limitation. The way he intended to make the scouting spheres work was a bit different from how similar artifacts functioned. Those relied on wisdom runes that did all the work locally, very similar to artificial intelligence. But such runes required enormous amounts of mana to function, and thus needed a material capable of withstanding it.

Not all artifacts worked this way, since that would make them unaffordable for most people. There was another method: using runes as if they were some type of analog computation—in other words, designing rune matrices so that they modeled physical, mathematical, and even social processes. This not only introduced a certain margin of error, but also made it impossible to create something with general-purpose use; every design served extremely specific functions.

Because of this great limitation, every detail had to be carefully considered when creating a magical artifact, as each function had to be painstakingly carved into the artifact itself through runes. This process was not only complicated, but that margin of error—while it might not matter much on a large scale—could be fatal in tasks like mapping an area from the air. A single millimeter of error could lead to erroneous propositions or result in completely nonsensical, useless maps, just to give one example.

To overcome this limitation, Erik spent a great deal of time trying to create something that would far surpass analog computation: digital technology with logic gates. However, he had little success. Even though he could design a transistor chip thanks to his decades of experience as an engineer in his past life. However, none of the materials, runes, or even magical circles he tried could function in a manner even remotely similar to a semiconductor, which is the initial step to creating a logic gate.

Because of that, Erik simply attempted to make a processor with basic materials, as he had done in his previous life. With some effort, he managed to do it, although it was an enormous prototype that, at best, worked like a very limited calculator. But shortly after finishing it, he realized several drawbacks.

First of all, the prototype was incredibly fragile, to the point that a single sneeze from Kaiser in his puppy form was more than enough to fry it. He had to create some protection for it, but even then, it left much to be desired. Testing various scenarios, he discovered that for a mana user, it was incredibly easy to manipulate the processor's functioning from a distance, causing it to fail—something that didn't happen with the traditional method. The traditional method was not only much more resistant to such intrusions, but it was also a well-studied and refined system, honed over who knows how long.

He also had trouble getting the processor to communicate with magical artifacts, which had been his initial goal. While the precision of digital technology was incredibly useful, the power, versatility, and capability of magical artifacts were even greater.

Taking these limitations and a few others he noticed over time into account, Erik decided to turn the transistor microchip project into a long-term endeavor. Instead, he chose to focus on improving the accuracy of the mathematical modeling through runes using the Chantinolite Crystals as a foundation. The scouting spheres would only send raw information for his model to interpret and assemble into a fairly accurate three-dimensional map.

"You know, Erik, now that I think about it, you should rename those things. 'Scouting spheres' sounds really ugly…"

Some time later, while Erik studied the map on the holographic screen, trying to find any errors, Ebonique commented in a somewhat dissatisfied tone of voice. This made Erik chuckle slightly, and he quickly brought a hand to his chin while thinking of a new name.

"So… how does ' Watchful Probes' sound?"

"That sounds better, but I'm not fully convinced. What else do you have?" Ebonique replied enthusiastically, slightly poking her head out from Erik's hair. He thought for a moment before adding.

"Mmmm, ' Arcane Eye' could also work…"

"It's not bad, but I feel like it's missing something, like it doesn't have impact…"

While Ebonique and Erik amused themselves by discussing what name to give the scouting spheres, nearby, right where the forest trees interlaced, a creature watched, hidden in the darkness with predatory eyes, its drool almost touching the ground.

The creature was bipedal, with a head reminiscent of a type of canine. It had long, sharp claws of a deep black color that blended perfectly with the darkness, while its skin seemed a mixture of scales and bristling fur that occasionally blurred into the shadows. This made its bright red, hunger-filled eyes stand out even more.

After carefully observing every detail of the young man by the lake, the monstrous entity prepared to attack, taking a stance that would let it propel itself forward. Its legs displaced the earth as if it were rubber, its nostrils flaring wide and releasing a heated vapor, while its large, upright ears fixed on the young man, managing to hear even his calm heartbeat.

With the help of its powerful legs and the elastic deformation of the ground, the monstrous entity shot forward at a blinding speed, silently heading straight for the young man, claws outstretched. It intended to end its victim's life with a single blow. But just as it was about to reach the neck of the young man—who still had his back turned and seemingly hadn't noticed—a beautiful geometric circle materialized almost instantly before it. The circle conjured a barrier that seemed to be made of crystal, which sent the creature bouncing back several meters.

Calmly, Erik turned and looked at the curious beast over three meters tall with interest. The creature managed to twist midair to land on its legs with enviable agility, then let out a defiant 'growl' as it watched him with evident wariness in its eyes. However, the sound it made was sharp and uneven, causing Erik's expression to wrinkle with discomfort.

"This thing is quite ugly, but it has a presence similar to a Revealed-level being, so I suppose it'll be useful for experiment number one." Erik commented to himself, as two beautiful ebony-black machetes, decorated with countless rune carvings, appeared in his hands. They glowed faintly, giving them a mysterious, ethereal aspect.

"It really is very ugly, and that growl is horrible… finish it off quickly and don't use that technique. It's still far from being complete, and it can hurt you." Ebonique said from atop Erik's head, her voice laced with disgust as she looked at the monstrous creature.

"Don't worry, nothing will go wrong. Besides, I'll make it quick." Erik replied as he approached the creature at a calm pace. The creature began preparing to attack again, manipulating the earth so that it deformed as if it were rubber, which made the starry-haired youth comment with interest.

"What an interesting way to manipulate the earth. That gives me an idea for an interesting spell, but let's leave it for another time. For now… Kaiser, Tiberius."

At their master's command, the wolves that had been hanging calmly from Erik's shoulders leapt into the air and quickly entered a state of elementalization, transforming into incorporeal versions of themselves, one of lightning and the other of darkness. They then fused with the machetes in Erik's hands, causing them to release auras charged with darkness and lightning, respectively.

Sensing great danger from the weapons the young man held, the creature quickly released the energy accumulated in the ground and shot forward at high speed, sweeping its long, sharp claws to shred its prey. But to its surprise, Erik simply smiled calmly as a small gust of wind surrounded him.

With a movement so smooth and fluid that it looked as if it were in slow motion, Erik crouched, dodging the creature's sweeping strike and then moved to the right with absurd speed, as if the wind itself was propelling him. He left two trails of darkness and lightning in his wake, which soon vanished into nothingness.

Once at the creature's side, Erik spun on himself, slashing the monster with both machetes. The blades tore its flesh open, exposing the beast's bones as the wound blackened due to the darkness and its body was paralyzed by electricity. In that moment, Erik moved again to attack the monster's back.

As the wind swirled around him, Erik began moving around the monster at a scything speed, disappearing from sight and only appearing fleetingly to unleash fierce, perfectly interconnected attacks with his machetes. He left deep wounds covered with darkness all over the monster's body. Curiously, the trails of his machetes vanished whenever he disappeared from view, making it impossible to track his movements.

Quickly, the monster lost its arms, and flesh separated from bone in many places. At that moment, Erik appeared once more in front of the monster, spinning several times in midair before slicing precisely at the creature's neck. This caused its head to detach from its body and fly off, leaving a semicircular trail in the air. A cascade of blood gushed from the beast's neck, which Erik avoided by jumping backward with the help of a Myst platform.

After landing a few meters away, Erik gave a quick flick of his machetes toward the ground, causing the blood on them to fall away, revealing their black blades once more. At the same time, the small gust of wind around him calmed down. He kept his gaze fixed on the monster as it fell with a soft impact, forming a pool of blood while its internal organs spread out across the ground.

As Erik stood victorious, suddenly a trickle of blood dripped from his mouth. This brought an ironic smile to his face, shattering the imposing aura he had exuded. In that moment, Ebonique grew in size to drape herself around his neck and look him straight in the eyes, then scolded him in an angry tone.

"That's what you get for being stubborn. How many times did I tell you it wouldn't work?"

"Hehe… sorry." Erik replied with a guilty chuckle as he wiped the small trace of blood from his mouth with the back of his hand.

Spoiler: Patreon

If you like it, you can support me on https://www.patreon.com/lordanl and get up to 10 advanced chapters.

 

[lordanl]

"Don't look so impressed, it was just a small demonstration of my first disciple's skill, nothing out of the ordinary."

In the midst of the impressive meeting hall, Sigrún's voice, brimming with self-assurance, rang out. She was trying to make it seem as if what everyone had just witnessed through the holographic screens—where a young Ascended-level had completely dominated a Revealed-level beast and killed it within a matter of seconds—was nothing special. A typical case of "humble bragging."

Everyone present, including Eleonora, rolled their eyes upon hearing the boastful blonde woman. Sigrún wore an enormous grin that nearly stretched from ear to ear and gazed at her disciple's gallant figure with shining eyes. He, in turn, appeared to be saying something to the spirit still around his neck, his hand on his chin as he thought deeply.

"Those movements look slightly familiar..." Adrian remarked, his hand on his chin as he tried to recall where he had seen similar techniques before. However, his thoughts were cut short when Sigrún's voice once again sounded, brimming with conceit.

"Those moves aren't much, just something my disciple stumbled upon by chance at a university auction some time ago. He played around with them a bit, and this is the result. It still needs a bit of refinement, but it's good for young people to experiment on their own."

"You're not serious, are you? Did Erik really manage to modify Zhang Tao's sword technique?" A shocked Adrian asked with his eyes wide open as he looked at a Sigrún, who had a not-so-well-concealed smug expression on her face, as her words reminded him where he knew the technique from.

"Yes, it's not much, and it still needs some polishing, since my Erik didn't have much time to play with it." Sigrún commented as if it were a trivial matter that a mere thirty-year-old Ascended had managed to modify a complex Arcane-level sword technique to fit his dual-machete style—something that would take even a Master-level practitioner some time.

Not wanting to inflate Sigrún's vanity any further, those present avoided responding. Still, the look in their eyes changed when they regarded the star-haired young man on the screen, who seemed tireless in displaying increasingly impressive and valuable abilities.

This stirred a slight sense of envy in their hearts for Sigrún's luck in finding such an outstanding disciple—a fact that Eleonora, Sigrún, and Seraphina noticed with ease. Proud smiles graced their delicate faces as they began considering what rewards they might grant their beloved Erik.

Seated in his place, Ryoma observed Erik with a deep, idea-filled gaze but decided to watch the monstrously talented boy a bit longer before taking any action. Thus, he remained silent, splitting his personal holographic display to show a divided screen: his beloved granddaughter occupying almost the entire central section, and the boy displayed in a smaller pane on the left.

As for the Director, he watched Erik on the holographic screen with a calm smile. Though it was truly astonishing for someone so young to accomplish such a feat, if Erik really was a child of the Myst, something like this wasn't entirely beyond the realm of possibility. It would, however, make him a rather talented and capable individual among them, from what he knew.

…
…
…

After being scolded by Ebonique for a while, Erik sheathed his machetes once the wolves emerged from them. This time, they didn't climb onto his shoulders; instead, they began to play around him in their one-meter form, sniffing out threats and wagging their tails proudly.

"The damage wasn't severe, but it certainly hurt. I need to work on that spell more before using it in a serious battle." Erik commented with a sigh as several runes formed in the air around him, casting a spell to heal the small wound his experiment had caused.

"I've told you many times to stop trying to make things 'perfect'. That happened because you altered the mana movement pattern in your body."

Still wrapped around Erik's neck, Ebonique spoke, a bit annoyed by his stubbornness. She sent her mana through his body to ensure everything was fine and that her adorable yet obstinate contractor wouldn't suffer any lasting effects from his recklessness. The star-haired youth nodded and commented with a thoughtful expression.

"Yes, it seems those ugly and strange mana routes were there for a good reason. I need to study the technique more carefully..."

From Erik's perspective, the sword techniques of the Zazen Discipline were curious. Apart from having strange, extravagant names, like the technique he had bought, called [Heavenly Storm that Rips Through the Nine Horizons], they were complete sword-based martial arts styles complemented by spells. Moreover, it seemed each one had a different number of what they called [Movements].

Each of these 'movements' was a specific way of attacking complemented by a spell, which in a certain way could even be interpreted as a 'finishing moves'. For example, the technique he had purchased had five such movements, each with its own unique and equally odd name.

The first movement of the technique was [Flutter of the Faded Hawk], a frontal slash starting from a neutral position, combined with a spell that compressed and expanded the wind into a single focused burst, like a flap of wings. This was supposed to disorient the opponent and send them flying several meters, or at least throw them off balance.

But what was truly interesting about the sword technique were actually the spells themselves. They were full Zazen Discipline spells, allowing Erik to gain a much clearer understanding of this curious magical system—beyond what his masters had explained and what he had read—and to arrive at his own conclusions.

In truth, the Zazen Discipline wasn't so different from the Aegis System or Sacred Geometry as he had initially imagined. In some ways, what the Zazen Discipline did was use the body's mana circulatory system, or what they called meridians, similarly to how magical circles worked. But because mana naturally flowed through these pathways, it was quite complicated and required great control.

Another major difference he found was that the Zazen Discipline spells depended more heavily on the user consciously providing many of the "orders" that made up the spell, probably due to the limitations of using the body as a magical circle. This was quite complicated, so they had something extra that other systems didn't use: hand signs.

Hand signs were strange hand positions very similar to yoga mudras and the like, which, along with the movement of mana in the body, were able to give the "orders" necessary to cast the spell. This, with time and a superior mastery of the spell, could be put aside and only mentally given the orders. According to what he had read, that was used as a way to determine mastery over a spell, the fewer hand signs, the greater mastery.

But even with the hand signs, mastering a Zazen discipline spell was extremely complicated, or well, it was supposed to be because the reality was that he didn't have to use any hand position or anything like that. The mental orders were easy to give, and his mana always did what he wanted, so by just reading the spells a couple of times, he was able to cast the simplest ones without many problems. Although the more complex ones were slightly bothersome since he had to get used to circulating his mana in a highly unnatural manner, which he suspected, was the real limitation.

But back to the point, after studying the technique and understanding how the spells worked, Erik set out to master it and adapt it to his dual-wielding style. This really wasn't too complicated, he just spent some time in the library and some money to get a good amount of dual-wielding martial techniques, then modified the spells to fit them. While he was at it, he also thought it would be a good idea to simplify them, since it was really annoying to make his mana flow in such an unnatural way.

The result of that work was what he had used to kill the ugly monster, which was actually his modified version of the third 'movement' of the technique, which was originally called [Path of the Incessant Hummingbird]. It consisted of a series of rapid stabs around the target, combined with a rather complex spell that not only increased the speed to the point where one disappeared from sight. Also, along with each stab, a small shockwave of compressed air would impact the opponent, not only dealing damage but also confusing them.

For his modified version, he got rid of those shock waves, which were the most complex part, and focused solely on speed and movement. He modified the spell, the footwork technique, and other details so that it would combine with a high-speed dual-wielding martial art known as [Storm blades]. Although in the end, simplifying the movement spell so much hadn't been the greatest idea.

…

After examining the monstrous creature a bit, Erik took several of its scales and some of its skin for research and stored them in one of his storage rings. He didn't take much, since they didn't look promising and didn't seem very useful. He then walked for a while along the lake's shore, studying his surroundings as he finished healing.

A few hours later, lying on the branch of a rather tall tree, Erik, with Ebonique's help, carefully reviewed the map generated by the scouting spheres. They had already managed to map the gigantic forest he was in, but he didn't see anything even remotely resembling a palace, causing him to sigh lightly.

"It really wasn't going to be that easy. Let's set up camp; this is going to take a while."

"How can I help?" Ebonique asked from Erik's head, which now seemed like her favorite bed, while the wolves, for their part, now rested on Erik's shoulders again.

"Not with much. I've had tons of things prepared for a long time, in case I ended up stranded on a deserted island again, so I pretty much have everything ready."

After saying that, Erik enlarged the map of the surrounding area on the hologram projected by the crystal tablet, searching for a suitable spot to set up camp. After a while, he found one that seemed promising, so he zoomed in further and asked casually.

"What do you think of this one, Ebonique?"

"It looks good. It's peaceful, and there's water nearby. I like it." Ebonique answered, quite pleased with the place shown on the hologram. Erik nodded and stood up.

"The scouting spheres didn't find any creatures nearby either, so that's the place."

Quickly, Erik jumped off the branch and landed softly on the ground. After marking the route on the hologram, he glanced back and forth between the pair of wolves on his shoulders and asked.

"Well, the area doesn't seem very suitable for Ebonique to move, so which one of you two is going to carry us?"

Hearing the question, both wolves barked at the same time, but Tiberius was faster. He leaped from Erik's shoulder and grew until he was just under two meters tall, about the size of a regular horse. Then he stood in front of his master, happily wagging his tail.

"Then this time it'll be Tiberius." Erik commented cheerfully, causing Kaiser to "cry" in lament. After jumping onto the impressive black wolf's back, the star-haired boy spoke, looking at the sad silver wolf on his shoulder.

"Don't be so dramatic, Kaiser. Next time it'll be your turn."

Hearing his master's words, the silver puppy wolf barked happily and started wagging his tail rapidly, making both Ebonique and Erik laugh. At that moment, the star-haired boy showed the black wolf the route he should take, then casually ordered.

"Alright, let's go."

Spoiler: Patreon

If you like it, you can support me on https://www.patreon.com/lordanl and get up to 10 advanced chapters.

 

[lordanl]

In the heart of the forest, where the last rays of evening light struggled to filter through the canopy of green leaves, there was a clearing that seemed to have been designed specifically to welcome travelers or adventurers. The terrain was unusually flat for a forest, with soft, lush grass underfoot.

The trees, tall and majestic, rose like pillars around the clearing. Their thick, sturdy trunks offered protection against the wind and a support for any structure one might decide to build. All around the perimeter, shrubs and lower plants formed a natural barrier, providing both privacy and security, as well as resources like berries and herbs that could prove useful for food or medicine.

Additionally, the place boasted a stream of crystal-clear water meandering nearby, ensuring a source of fresh water. Tiny fish sparkled among the stones, and on the banks were footprints and other traces of small animals that came to drink, thus guaranteeing a source of food and leather.

With a satisfied smile, Erik breathed in the pure and almost aromatic air of the place. He then looked around with a pleased expression on his face. After all, the spot turned out even better than what the map had suggested, fully convincing him that this would be his base for who knows how long from now on.

"A good place, don't you think?"

As he climbed off the black wolf's back, Erik asked with a small smile, at which point Kaiser jumped off his shoulder and began exploring the area, with Tiberius joining in shortly after.

"It looks pretty good. Will you build a cabin?" Ebonique asked as she rose into the air from atop Erik's head to look around. The star-haired boy answered with a grin.

"It might be interesting to build one after so long, but maybe another time. For now, let's use this."

In Erik's hand appeared a small, intricate sphere no more than 30 centimeters in size, a bright silvery color, covered with tiny runes of various types carved all over its surface. He then tossed it onto the ground, where it lit up and rose into the air, spinning slowly, until it reached several meters in height and began to grow in size.

Not long after, in the midst of the giant trees that covered the area, there floated a majestic metallic sphere of intricate design, reminiscent of Gothic cathedrals, adorned with pointed arches and ornaments shining with multicolored lights. Its surface was carved with an infinity of softly glowing runes. At that moment, small spheres of similar design emerged from its upper part and quickly surrounded it.

Swiftly, the small spheres formed a sort of defensive formation around the surroundings. Then several runes appeared in midair, only to vanish into nothingness, prompting Erik to nod in satisfaction. The magical artifact worked perfectly—the artifact he had shamelessly and brazenly copied from one Chen had given him a long time ago, though he'd made his own inspired by Sigrún's Victorian-style mansion because he didn't like the Oriental style of the one Chen had provided.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Erik asked Ebonique with evident pride in his creation, to which the dragon spirit agreed with a nod.

"It truly looks very good." Ebonique flew close to the sphere and inspected the beautiful spherical refuge a bit, then turned to look at Erik, a bit confused.

"But isn't such a complex artifact against the rules?"

"Though it's certainly complex and quite expensive to make, it doesn't even have an integrated weapons system, so it can only be considered a daily-life artifact. As for its defense, this baby can barely withstand a couple of attacks from an Illuminated-level individual before its structure completely collapses, so even if it's considered a specialized artifact, at most it would be classified as a maximum Revealed-level artifact in the best scenario."

Erik explained calmly as a beautifully carved staircase, adorned with all kinds of runes and made of the same metal, extended from the sphere like some sort of spaceship gangway. Ebonique and the wolves quickly approached the star-haired boy in excitement.

After climbing the stairs, the group entered the sphere, finding a space far more spacious than the exterior suggested. There was a black marble floor reflecting elegant golden details, curved walls with Victorian-style windows and curtains, and what appeared to be a small chemistry lab in one corner.

In the center of the refuge, a small pool emitted a bluish glow, and over it floated delicate luminescent flowers that released relaxing essences into the air. Off to one side, a beautiful library with shelves carved from ancient wood held all sorts of books and scrolls. In front of it, a fireplace burned ceaselessly, but its fire, instead of producing heat, emitted a cool breeze that balanced the refuge's temperature, making it pleasantly fresh and leaving behind the humid, hot forest atmosphere.

The furnishings, though sparse—just a bed, a desk, a table with some chairs, and a few other items—were designed with an elegant style that complemented the refuge's aesthetics. They showcased all kinds of precious woods and metals, which always caused Erik a slight heartache whenever he thought about how expensive those materials were. Still, thanks to them, the interior of the refuge exuded an elegant, almost aristocratic aura.

"Your maid is really very talented." Ebonique commented with satisfaction as she flew around inside the refuge, while the wolves began sniffing everywhere.

"Hey, even though Seraphina made the design, I'm the one who brought it to life, building every single thing you see here, so I deserve at least half the credit." Erik commented 'offended' as he flopped onto the beautiful bed at the edge of the refuge.

"Please, you blatantly copied another magical artifact and didn't even do the design. I'll give you 30% of the credit only because of our relationship, and I'm taking a risk." Ebonique followed Erik and lay down on the bed beside him, speaking in a playful tone.

"Then I humbly accept the credit that is mine, hehehe." Erik replied shamelessly as the wolves leaped onto him after 'inspecting' the entire refuge, prompting Ebonique to laugh amusedly and comment.

"Fufufu, you're doing well."

"Hehe, I know. But seriously, Seraphina is really talented at design, and I had no idea. Lately, she's even been helping me redesign several of my projects, and they look much better now." Erik said casually as he stretched out on the soft bed, causing Ebonique to ask, somewhat confused.

"How come you didn't notice if she spends all day by your side?"

"Well, because she never showed any particular interest in doing something like this before. But lately, it seems her artistic vein has awakened, and she's been helping me a lot, which I appreciate, since I'm quite bad at the artistic side of things." Erik responded casually as he struggled to push away the wolves trying to lick his face, tails wagging furiously.

"That's quite curious. Why would her 'artistic vein' awaken so recently?" Ebonique asked, full of curiosity, as she settled closer to Erik, who replied with a smile.

"Who knows? But I'm not complaining. Most of what I produce now looks much better thanks to her."

"Then you're lucky." Ebonique commented cheerfully, to which Erik nodded with a small laugh.

"Hehehe, I'm not complaining at all."

…
…
…

In the faction's meeting room, all the present Masters-level were getting up to leave, as night had already fallen on the planet and all their disciples had found good shelter. At that moment, Thalia and Jessica approached Eleonora and Sigrún, who were about to exit the room.

"The Masters Sigrún and Eleonora have taught their disciple well." Jessica said as she reached the two youngest Master-level individuals in history, a slight smile on her lips. This caused a pair of smiles to form on the faces of the beautiful women.

"Fufufu, Master Jessica exaggerates. It's just that Erik is a great learner and absorbs knowledge like a sponge, making it very easy to teach him."

Eleonora spoke in a calm and elegant tone before Sigrún—who was preparing to make a scene with a haughty expression—could do so. This prompted the beautiful blonde to turn and glare at Eleonora with evident annoyance, to which she responded with a mischievous smile.

"Erik is, after all, my first disciple, so it's only natural that he can learn so quickly." Sigrún added, a bit annoyed as she turned her gaze away from Eleonora, causing the master with golden eyes to laugh amusedly.

"Seriously, Sigrún, will you die if you don't brag for a second or something?"

As the group of four women walked out of the hall, followed by Seraphina, who walked with a straight and elegant posture, no expression on her face but a professional smile, Thalia couldn't help asking with an ironic grin. This prompting Sigrún to retort angrily, giving her a piercing look.

"And who asked you, Thalia?"

"Seriously, sometimes I worry about the future of little Erik under the guidance of such a troublesome woman as you…" Thalia shook her head and commented in a tone full of regret and weariness, which made Sigrún jump like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, quickly responding, furious.

"That's none of your business! Erik is my disciple, so your worries are unnecessary. Besides, I'm not a troublesome woman, hmph!"

"If you say so…" Thalia looked suspiciously at Sigrún as she glared back indignantly, but their 'fight' ended when Jessica spoke again.

"But changing the subject a bit, I'm really curious about what Erik developed using the advice I gave him."

Upon hearing Jessica's comment, Sigrún quickly spoke up, cutting off Eleonora, who was about to speak, with a triumphant smile on her face. This caused the master with golden eyes to wrinkle her expression in annoyance.

"Hehehe, you'll really be surprised by what Erik has accomplished in this time. I assure you, you won't expect it."

"Now I'm even more curious…" Jessica murmured to herself, seeming lost in thought, but she quickly recovered and asked with a smile.

"And how long do you plan to stay here at the station?"

"Until Erik finishes the test. We have an interesting journey to take afterward. Our beloved disciple doesn't know the galaxy yet, and he has worked very hard, so he deserves a fun vacation." Eleonora commented with a small smile, which quickly spread to Sigrún, who nodded in agreement.

"Yes, it's time for our Erik to get to know the 'world' a bit."

"Are you serious?"

Hearing the pair of troublemakers, Thalia couldn't help asking, a bit surprised. After all, aside from the security personnel and Ngozi, who was in charge of the tournament, most of the Master-level individuals present at the space station would leave after a month. They were busy people, and most of what their disciples had to show would come to light within the first month or so, so staying longer made no sense.

"Yes, it's already planned. So we'll wait for Erik to finish the test, but I don't think it'll be too long. We might even leave here before you, hehehe." Sigrún commented haughtily, looking down at Thalia, who responded in kind, crossing her arms beneath her ample bosom before speaking in a challenging tone.

"Oh really? What do you want to bet on it?"

Although it was true that Erik was an unparalleled talent, Thalia was certain that it would be very difficult for him to pass the test, let alone finish before a month. After all, his age would work against him in this trial. Though his rise in power levels was undoubtedly meteoric, he was still only an Ascended-level, and there were several talented individuals close to 300 years old who were already at Revealed-level, far more powerful and experienced. They were far superior to a simple mercenary like the one Erik faced.

"Now this got interesting. I heard that you recently got your hands on a few Nebulon seeds. What do you think? Dare to bet?" Sigrún commented confidently, crossing her arms in a manner similar to Thalia and looking at her as if she were a walking bag of money.

Spoiler: Refuge

AI generated for reference only.

Spoiler: Patreon

If you like it, you can support me on https://www.patreon.com/lordanl and get up to 10 advanced chapters.

 

[lordanl]

"You truly have an appetite that knows no bounds."

Upon hearing Sigrún's words, Thalia sighed and shook her head slightly, then went on to comment in a somewhat bitter tone of voice. After all, what that golden-haired troublemaker was asking her to wager was a very important element required to repair the spatial isolation formation—one that those two wildcats had damaged some time ago.

The Nebulo Tree was an extremely rare tree that only grew in places where the fabric of space was especially thin, allowing it to be nourished by energies from other dimensions. Its fruits, the nebulon seeds, were a very useful resource, mainly used to enhance large-scale spells, to brew potions that strengthen one's mana, as a critical component in forging certain types of magical artifacts, or in the construction and reinforcement of various kinds of formations.

"If you don't want to bet, then why do you even open your mouth?" Sigrún replied with disdain, causing Thalia to look at her in annoyance, while Jessica and Eleonora moved away, talking quietly among themselves about random matters in an elegant and calm manner.

"Hmph." Thalia snorted, intending to leave the annoying Sigrún fighting by herself. But unexpectedly, an idea came to her mind that made her smile mischievously, so she quickly added with elegance.

"But I might be willing to accept if, in return, you wager leaving me alone with Erik for a month. How does that sound?"

"No way, that's out of the question." Sigrún responded instantly in a defensive manner, eyeing Thalia warily. This greatly broadened the smile of the fiery Master, who then asked in a challenging way, staring intensely into Sigrún's blue eyes.

"What, are you afraid of losing?"

"Say what you will, but that's completely nonnegotiable." Sigrún replied with an unusually serious attitude as she walked away, leaving Thalia utterly stupefied. After all, it was the first time she had ever seen Sigrún refuse a bet after having her pride provoked.

Meanwhile, Eleonora, who was a bit removed from the pair of fiery women, looked at Sigrún with a proud expression, seeing how her younger sister was maturing, growing to the point of not letting others' words provoke her—a weakness that until now had been one of her greatest.

"So you're afraid of losing your little disciple, Sigrún?"

Not willing to give up, Thalia commented scornfully, trying to provoke Sigrún. This caused the beautiful, golden-haired Master to halt and turn around to look at her, but instead of Sigrún's anger, what Thalia received from her was a look full of contempt, accompanied by words laden with disdain.

"Are you so desperate to spend some time alone with my disciple? How low have you fallen, Thalia?"

Sigrún's provocative words caused a slight blush to form on Thalia's beautiful face. She clenched her teeth tightly, feeling genuinely embarrassed, but quickly recovered and responded with elegance.

"What a distasteful comment you've made, Sigrún. In reality, I'm only doing it as an altruistic act to guide a talented young man down the right path, in order to prevent him from falling into disgrace under the tutelage of a problematic and inexperienced Master like you."

"Hehehe, keep saying it until you believe it…" Sigrún left those words dripping with scorn as she walked away with grace and elegance, at which Eleonora, from afar, nodded proudly.

For her part, Thalia watched in silence as Sigrún left in the company of Seraphina, while a complicated tangle of emotions formed in her chest. Without a doubt, she had lost that little verbal skirmish a moment ago. The worst part was that she had lost to the one who, to put it elegantly, had the least eloquence among the Masters of the Arcane Order and usually ended up resorting to her fists.

Shortly after, Eleonora, wearing a proud smile on her face, bid farewell to Jessica and Thalia to follow Sigrún and Seraphina. The group of three women headed toward Eleonora's private room with the intention of continuing to watch their beloved Erik's broadcast, while also finalizing the itinerary for their upcoming vacation trip.

…
…
…

While Erik relaxed in his magical refuge in the middle of a beautiful forest, life was not so easy for the other participants. Such was the case for a beautiful mage with short blond hair and captivating green eyes, who usually looked energetic, but now only a frown could be seen on her lovely face as she traveled over a crystalline ocean on what appeared to be a magic carpet.

"Seriously, why did I end up in the middle of nowhere? I've been traveling half a day and I can't see even a shadow of solid ground…" Elara muttered to herself under her breath, full of frustration, as she looked at the water-filled horizon as far as her eyes could see.

At the moment of teleportation, Elara had fallen onto a tiny island about two kilometers across, seemingly located in the most remote place on the planet. After spending a night there to rest, she had set off before the two suns rose, using the only thing she could—a flying artifact of maximum Revealed-level. But now the suns were at their zenith, and she could not see the slightest trace of firm land, much less a palace.

"Seems like I'll be at this for a while…" Elara sighed softly, trying to take something from her storage ring to pass the time. But just at that moment, the water a short distance ahead of her began to bubble violently.

Elara quickly made her flying carpet change direction, right as a gigantic sea serpent emerged from the ocean, lifting its head at least ten meters above the surface. Immediately afterward, a huge wave at least eight meters tall surged in her direction, so large and fast that there was practically no way to dodge it with her low-level flying artifact, causing her eyes to widen considerably.

"You've got to be kidding me." Elara muttered under her breath, filled with annoyance, as a beautiful, short, and sleek black staff with a red crystal at the top and various engraved runes appeared in her hand.

Wasting not a second, Elara aimed her staff at the wave. At that moment, a beautiful and intricate magic circle formed in front of her, conjuring four fireballs that shot toward the wave, creating a huge hole in it upon impact. Elara quickly passed through that gap, then began ascending into the air while pointing her staff above the serpent's head.

"[Flame of Judgment]…"

With Elara's whisper, a huge magic circle formed where she aimed, surrounded by fire. At the same time, something like water tentacles emerged from the sea, attempting to capture the beautiful mage, who quickly began to dodge them with erratic flying.

Instants later, from the magic circle formed what seemed to be a gigantic spear made of fire, which fell upon the serpent's head, killing it instantly. As a result, the tentacles reverted to water and splashed back into the sea.

While Elara watched the serpent's burned corpse floating on the water, the surface began to bubble violently in hundreds of places all around her. She gripped her staff tightly, her expression darkening as she spoke with incredulity.

"This has to be a joke…"

Seeing different creatures beginning to emerge from the sea, Elara quickly poured large amounts of her mana into the carpet, causing it to accelerate greatly. At the same time, she aimed her staff forward, causing dozens of magic circles to form in the air above the creatures that were starting to surface. At that moment, she spoke in a low voice, looking visibly exhausted.

"[Fiery Plague]…"

With Elara's silent announcement, hundreds of fireballs formed in the air and rained down like an apocalyptic shower upon the emerging creatures, while she fled the area as fast as she could. But more and more sea creatures began to rise from the ocean, with not the slightest intention of letting her escape, which severely soured her expression.

"Well, if that's what you want, then let's play—every last one of you against me!" Elara announced loudly, now visibly angry. She took a potion from her storage ring and downed it in one gulp, then aimed her staff at the sky.

…
…
…

In the middle of an arid desert with sand of a strange bluish hue. A beautiful young woman with jet black hair and blue eyes stood looking emotionlessly at about ten people in front of her. Her hand resting on the hilt of what appeared to be a gracefully sheathed katana that floated magically near her hip.

"So, to what do I owe such a warm welcome?" Zoe asked in an elegant and calm tone, at which one of the young men in front of her—a robust male with light turquoise hair holding a spear in his hands—responded with a defiant smile.

"We want to extend an invitation to the great direct disciple Laverne, asking her to join our humble group."

"Is that so…?"

Zoe commented casually as she looked over the people before her: all men, and none especially remarkable at the university. In other words, a bunch of weak nobodies. Consequently, there could only be one reason why they dared something like this—a certain very annoying bitch with blue hair. This realization caused Zoe to form a grimace of contempt and irritation as she said.

"Sorry, but you're not qualified for that."

"I see, that's a pity…" The man with the spear, who seemed to be the leader, commented with genuine regret while shaking his head. Then he lowered his center of gravity and took a combat stance, adding in a serious tone.

"Because then we will have to reduce competition."

With the man's words, the other nine took their positions. At that moment, Zoe moved her left hand to make three different hand signals at high speed, simultaneously lowering her center of gravity to take an Iaido stance. Legs slightly bent, one in front of the other, left hand on the katana's scabbard and right hand on the hilt, her body slightly inclined forward. At the same time, a kind of wind mantle enveloped her as she spoke in a cold tone.

"So be it then."

At the moment she spoke, Zoe vanished from sight, only to reappear behind the group. A strong light surrounded the four people who stood in a straight line, then vanished from sight. The leader held his spear in front of him with a grave expression, his arms trembling visibly as if strained by a great impact. Panicking, he shouted.

"Mages!! Attack with everything you've got! Don't let her get close!"

With the young man's words, those on the outermost part of his 'formation' raised their staffs and aimed them in Zoe's direction, while magical circles and runes formed before them. This made the beautiful black-haired girl smile softly, who commented as she drew her katana from its sheath.

"Then let's go all out."

…
…
…

"Did they really have to drop me in the middle of a damn volcano?!"

A terribly enraged Liliana cursed the heavens as she flew with all her might using a pair of beautiful wings on her back. She sped through a huge volcanic cavern, fleeing what looked like a gigantic humanoid mass of lava chasing her at incredible speed, hurling huge lava bullets to try to shatter the light shield protecting her.

"[Solar Shards]!"

While flying erratically to dodge the lava bullets, Liliana aimed a delicate white wooden staff in her hand toward the lava monster and shouted angrily. This caused several magic circles to form in the air, creating dozens of spheres of light, which fired powerful whitish lasers at different intervals.

The hundreds of lasers hit the monster head-on, and though they only managed to deform its body, that was enough damage to force it to take several minutes to reform completely. This gave Liliana time to get away by a good margin, and she soon reached a passageway where she could see light at the end.

"Finally!!!"

Upon seeing the exit after so long, Liliana gripped her staff tightly and exclaimed with excitement. Shortly after, she managed to leave the gigantic cavern, beholding a beautiful mountain range filled with all kinds of trees in various shapes and colors. The beautiful view allowed her to relax for a moment, but just as she intended to land, the ground began to shake violently.

Dozens of what appeared to be gigantic stone golems emerged from the ground, each with entire ecosystems of trees on their backs. The sight caused Liliana's jaw to drop wide open—wide enough to fit an egg in it—utterly stupefied. She quickly composed herself and flew away with all her might to escape the area, cursing the entire time.

"Are they targeting me especially, or what?!!!!"

Spoiler: Patreon

If you like it, you can support me on https://www.patreon.com/lordanl and get up to 10 advanced chapters.

 

[lordanl]

From the start of the tournament held to select participants for the exploration of the recently discovered ancient ruin, about 20 days had passed. During which Erik had not taken a single step outside his refuge except to do his daily routine and play a bit with the wolves whenever they got bored of being cooped up.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to continue like this without trying to look for those palaces?" a worried Ebonique asked from atop Erik's head. He was sitting at a modest worktable, carving runes into what looked like a crystal tablet, and he responded in a calm tone.

"Quite sure. The Scouting Spheres…"

"We'd already agreed not to call them that." Ebonique interrupted firmly, causing the star-haired boy to chuckle softly before continuing.

"Hehehe, that's true. As I was saying, the 'Sentinel Probes' have already mapped a good portion of the planet and haven't found anything of interest besides other participants and estrange creatures, so it's pointless to go out searching. Besides, I have a feeling that clues for finding those palaces will start appearing soon, so I'd rather use my time for something more useful."

"If you say so… and what are you doing?" Ebonique asked curiously, watching the crystal tablet that Erik was carefully and skillfully carving.

"An improved version of the Sentinel Probes' control platform. Over the past few days, I've had several ideas and also found a couple of problems, so I intend to fix them while adding a few new functions."

"Ohh, and what will it have now?" Ebonique asked in a cheerful tone, as she focused her gaze on the carved runes. Erik replied calmly without stopping his work.

"Nothing special, just some improvements to the mapping algorithm, a couple of functions for real-time live image and sound transmission, plus a geopositioning system, interest zone marking, and a mini-map."

"Geopositioning? What's that?" Ebonique asked curiously, poking her little head out of Erik's hair. After giving it a thought for a moment, Erik explained.

"Hmm, think of it as a system capable of determining where something is on the planet with almost millimetric precision—whether it's an object, a person, or even myself."

"Sounds like something useful for weak youngsters." Ebonique commented with realization, to which Erik nodded in agreement.

"Exactly. Even though something like that becomes useless at higher levels, at my current level it's very convenient, especially in this situation."

While Erik and Ebonique discussed the new features that would be available in the new version of the Sentinel Probes, the star-haired boy suddenly stopped talking, even ceasing his work and turning to look to his left with interest. At the same time, he murmured quietly.

"I guess that's the clue I was waiting for…"

"I guess so..." Ebonique agreed, looking in the same direction before flying off from Erik's head so he could prepare more easily.

Wasting not a single second, Erik quickly stowed away the tablet he had been working on, while the wolves jumped off the bed and slipped into his shadow. He then ran out of the refuge while muttering a few words that caused the refuge—which had been closed and camouflaged—to reappear and retract the hexagonal energy shield that covered it, simultaneously extending the ladder so he could descend.

After leaving the refuge, Ebonique grew in size until she measured about thirty meters and took on her dragon form. At that moment, Erik leapt onto her head, and they took off flying at great speed. Meanwhile, the small spheres surrounding the refuge glowed softly, conjuring various runes in the air, which reactivated the shield and once again made it invisible.

Some time later, Erik saw on the horizon a monumental column of whitish light that seemed to connect sky and earth, almost like a beacon calling the participants. He inevitably smiled in amusement, as it seemed that at the Arcane University there was no such thing as subtlety—they either went for excessively extravagant displays or didn't bother at all.

What caught Erik's attention as he talked with Ebonique was a strange fluctuation in the Myst. It suddenly changed from its usual calm to moving furiously, pointing in a certain direction, as if urging anyone who could sense it to head that way.

Upon arriving at the place, Erik looked with some curiosity at the column of light, which measured about 10 meters in diameter and rose to a height lost among the clouds. He then examined the surroundings. After all, he wasn't the first to arrive: around the area were already dozens of participants, some waiting patiently, while others fought against all sorts of beasts.

For some reason, these beasts were immensely interested in the column—some so much so that they jumped at it, only to turn into ashes shortly thereafter—while other monstrous creatures, on the contrary, seemed to watch the surroundings attentively without attacking anyone, almost as if they were waiting for something, just like the participants.

Seeing the situation, Erik prompted Ebonique to move to a secluded area, then jumped off her head to land on the ground. At that moment, he called for Kaiser and Tiberius, who easily dispatched a couple of beasts in the vicinity. Meanwhile, on the grass appeared a beautiful carved crystal table with a book and a plate of cookies on top.

As the pair of wolves returned after clearing the area of beasts, Erik sat down in front of the table in an intricate crystal-carved chair matching the style of the table. It featured ergonomic cushions that automatically adjusted to his figure, providing the greatest comfort possible.

Ebonique, for her part, lay down on Erik's grass without changing form or decreasing in size, surrounding him protectively. She acted as a powerful deterrent to both the beasts and other participants in the area, who eyed the mighty black dragon with evident caution.

Not long after, Kaiser and Tiberius arrived at Erik's sides, each about three meters tall, and lay down beside him with their heads held high. Kaiser emitted tiny lightning bolts that vanished into the air, while Tiberius seemed to merge with the shadow cast by Ebonique.

Satisfied with the pair of wolves' performance, Erik gave each one a special cookie, took one for himself as well, then picked up the book and began to read with a relaxed expression. This inevitably attracted the attention of all the participants present, who looked at the star-haired boy surrounded by powerful creatures with various expressions.

Time passed, and more and more participants and beasts of all kinds arrived, all looking at Erik, but a single glance from Ebonique was enough to keep any of them from even trying to approach. Thus, they fought among themselves, while occasionally several participants were forcibly transported to the space station.

In places far from where Erik was, some participants seemed to imitate him, as they too produced tables, chairs, and even picnic blankets and relaxed on the spot while reading or eating elegantly. They were protected by contracted magical beasts or magical barriers emitted by formations or magical artifacts of all kinds.

But if there was someone who caught Erik's attention, it was a young man with dark skin and finely braided black hair falling halfway down his back. He was flying in the air on the back of an imposing 4-meter eagle that seemed to hover without moving a single millimeter from its position. For some reason, it had positioned itself at the opposite end from where Erik was and occasionally cast "worried" glances at Ebonique.

"Is it just my impression, or is that eagle a spirit, Ebonique?" Erik asked, watching curiously as the eagle controlled the air around itself with incredible precision to remain suspended in the air.

"Hehehehe, yes, you're right. It's a little juvenile spirit." Ebonique remarked from her sprawled position, giving a slight look towards the eagle, which seemed to start sweating cold as it moved away from its spot, leaving the young man on its back a bit confused.

"So it's a lower rank than you, but we'd better be careful…"

Erik's words put a complicated expression on Ebonique's draconic face, as it was more than an insult that her beloved contractor had to be cautious against a mere juvenile spirit. One that only dared remain in her presence because she had ordered it to, fearing that Erik would notice something strange.

Ebonique sighed inwardly, regretting the moment she let Ignis convince her to lie to Erik. Even though she understood perfectly the reasons why it was necessary, that did nothing to reduce the guilt she felt in her heart for having to lie to her sincere and beloved Erik. After all, and unlike her, he almost never hid anything from her, and showed himself exactly as he was.

"You don't have to worry about that, Erik. The difference between spirit ranks is even greater than the difference in levels between humans. So even if a pack of juvenile spirits came along, they couldn't do anything against me." Ebonique commented in a firm and confident tone, making Erik smile, evidently much more at ease. He then commented.

"I see. That's a relief. The boy himself isn't very powerful, so I had overlooked him, but I was starting to worry."

Erik's concern stemmed from his full awareness of the absurd power boost that spiritual empowerment represented—one of the abilities that could be used when contracting a spirit. In his case with Ebonique, it almost doubled his base power, a rather terrifying enhancement. Moreover, spirits themselves were quite powerful and possessed very peculiar but incredibly useful abilities, which could make situations a bit unpredictable if one showed up.

"You don't have to worry about any spirit with me by your side, so you can put that out of your mind." Ebonique commented in a calm tone, but one filled with innate authority. This made Erik laugh, and he cheerfully remarked.

"Hahaha, it's good to see you're confident in yourself, but it's not a good idea to be arrogant. Monsters like Ignis are out there, so it's better to be cautious. You never know what we might run into."

Hearing Erik's words, Ebonique had to bite her mental tongue to keep from blurting out that Ignis could at best equal her, but never surpass her. Saying something like that would basically give her away, so gritting her teeth, she commented with great difficulty.

"You're right, it's important not to fall into arrogance. I'll keep that in mind…"

"Hahaha, you don't have to get like that. We're still weak, but that won't last forever. Eventually, we'll be even more powerful than they are, so don't worry."

Noticing that Ebonique was in a bit of a bad mood, Erik got up from his chair and approached her, speaking cheerfully. He then began to stroke her gigantic scales while simultaneously passing huge amounts of mana to his reliable companion. At that moment, he asked with a smile.

"Better?"

"Much better." Ebonique replied in a pleased tone, almost as if she were about to purr, making Erik smile happily. He gently commented without ceasing to caress his companion's scales.

"That's good."

Spoiler: Patreon

If you like it, you can support me on https://www.patreon.com/lordanl and get up to 10 advanced chapters.

 

[lordanl]

After pampering Ebonique for a while, Erik returned to his spot, where he ate some cookies while reading his book. Every so often, though, he had to share a few cookies with the wolves; otherwise, they would start to 'whimper' softly. After some time, he sensed through his mystical awareness a familiar presence, prompting him to turn his head in that direction with a smile.

Seated on what looked like a flying carpet was a beautiful young woman with gorgeous emerald-green eyes and short golden hair that highlighted her lovely, delicate features. She wore a calm, serious expression as she observed the other participants and the beasts gathered around the column of light.

When the beautiful young woman saw the young man with iconic starry hair greeting her from the ground, a lovely smile graced her lips. Without even noticing the imposing wolves or the intimidating dragon, she quickly changed course and landed near the young man.

"It's a pleasure to see you again, Disciple Erik." Elara said after putting away her flying artifact into her storage ring. She approached with a firm, steady step.

"It's equally a pleasure to see you again, Disciple Elara. If you'd like, please take a seat." Erik greeted in return with a smile, indicating another chair that had appeared out of nowhere before him.

"Then I shall accept Disciple Erik's kind offer."

With a pleasant smile on her face, Elara thanked him and sat down across from Erik. At that moment, several desserts appeared on the table, served on beautiful porcelain plates decorated with what looked like gold filigree. Meanwhile, in a delicate cup with a design similar to the plates, aromatic tea was poured from what seemed to be a teapot floating in midair.

Somewhat curious, Elara tasted the cake and the tea, then widened her eyes slightly, pleasantly surprised by the delicious flavor. After setting her cup back on the table, she asked familiarly as she looked at Erik.

"This is incredibly delicious. Did Disciple Erik make it?"

"Hahaha, no, I'm not that skilled. In fact, my maid prepared a whole lot of supplies for this tournament. This is just part of it."

Erik commented with a smile before taking a sip from his own cup of tea. Meanwhile, in the meeting room of the space station, Seraphina smiled cheerfully while Eleonora and Sigrún cast her sidelong glances with bitter smiles. After all, that woman had prevented them from preparing a good snack for their beloved Erik to remember them by during the tournament, jealously monopolizing his care.

"Truly, Disciple Erik is blessed." Elara remarked casually as she studied Erik with her gaze. He nodded in agreement and spoke in a calm, though clearly serious tone.

"You don't even have to say it, sometimes I wake up scared thinking I'm just in a dream."

"Hahaha, you're joking." Elara said, caught off guard by Erik's sudden seriousness. She couldn't help but laugh, amused. But a serious, meaningful voice interrupted her mirth.

"Not at all. My life is so good now that it honestly feels like a lie."

"..."

Erik's serious tone, coupled with his eyes that suddenly became deep and full of meaning, took Elara by surprise. She was almost hypnotized as she looked at the star-haired boy, who no longer seemed like an energetic youth. On the contrary, he now emitted the aura of an old man laden with hardships, contemplating his past with melancholy.

Meanwhile, in the meeting room, Eleonora, Sigrún, and Seraphina watched with concern in their eyes as the melancholic Erik appeared on the holographic screens, while Jessica and Thalia observed the young man, somewhat surprised by his sudden change. He almost seemed like a different person.

"Hehehe, let's hope this isn't a dream. Now, Disciple Elara, tell me, how has the tournament treated you?" Suddenly, Erik shook his head and reverted to the same cheerful, carefree young man as always, asking with mild curiosity as he looked at the silent young woman before him.

"..."

Elara, still a bit in shock from Erik's sudden shifts, took a moment to understand his words. But she quickly recovered and began talking as if nothing had happened.

"The truth is, it's been a bit complicated. This is the first time I've faced a situation like this. So, even though I had all sorts of things in my ring, it was difficult to find things like a good spot for my camp or manage my time to get back to it before nightfall. At night, a bunch of those monsters come out to hunt, each more powerful than the last, especially in the sea, which is quite dangerous."

"Hahaha, that's normal, but it's good that you came prepared."

Erik commented with laughter as he ate a cookie from his plate and handed one to each wolf. This caused Elara to fold her arms and pout angrily, seeming quite 'offended' by Erik's laughter. At that point, she remarked.

"It's rude to laugh at people, Disciple Erik."

"Hahaha, sorry, sorry. I'll avoid doing that in the future." Erik said, even more amused by Elara's expression. She retorted, still sulking.

"And you're still laughing."

"..." Erik opted to remain silent and took his cup of tea, at which point Elara commented irritably.

"Even if you don't laugh, your expression says it all…"

"Hehehe, sorry."

After sipping some tea, Erik apologized with a smile as he looked at the sulking Elara. After a moment, she spoke with a calm expression, looking straight into the star-haired young man's eyes.

"Better tell me, Disciple Erik, how has the tournament treated you? I imagine this has been a walk in the park for you, so you can laugh at me."

"A bit, honestly. Having resources makes all the difference. I hardly even notice a change from my normal days, and I've even been able to make progress on several of my projects." Erik nodded and explained calmly as he set his cup on the table, prompting Elara to comment with a slight smile on her face.

"It seems you have a lot of experience."

"Something like that. A while back, I was stranded on a deserted island for several years, so I learned a few things." Erik nodded casually before biting into a cookie, which greatly surprised the beautiful green-eyed girl.

"Are you serious?"

Elara asked, astonished, as she had never heard that before. It was hard for her to believe how someone like Erik, talented enough to be a disciple of two Masters-levels, could end up stranded on a deserted island. The star-haired young man responded calmly.

"Yes, years ago, before I met my masters, I was stranded on a deserted island and had to survive there for several years."

"That sounds really tough…"

Elara commented empathetically and somewhat sadly. If it had been before he met his Masters, Erik could only have been a very small child, meaning that experience must have been exceptionally difficult and painful. At the same time, it made her admire the young man in front of her even more. After all, a small child managing to survive alone on a deserted island was almost miraculous, yet he made it seem like it was nothing, and his expression didn't even change while he spoke.

"It's not that bad. Over time, you get used to it, and it even becomes fun to watch your life improve with everything you do. It's even an enjoyable experience and a great story to tell."

...

Time went by, and Elara and Erik continued pleasantly chatting about random things while drinking tea and eating. Suddenly, Erik looked in another direction, catching Elara's attention. She turned to look in the same direction and saw two beautiful young women flying using different means.

On the right was a beautiful young woman with jet-black hair and sky-blue eyes that exuded elegant, understated charm. She flew through the air on what looked like a white-furred fox with multiple tails, its face and tail tips adorned with crimson-red fur in various patterns.

On the left was a young woman flying with the help of two angelic wings. Her wavy chestnut hair resembled a beautiful cascade of chocolate, contrasting with her lovely sky-blue eyes, which projected a serene yet authoritative gaze.

The two divinely beautiful young women landed near Erik's makeshift camp and walked gracefully. The wings of the young woman on the left vanished, and the beautiful two-tailed golden fox faded away in a burst of flame. Not before, however, discreetly bowing its head in respect to the imposing dragon that watched out of the corner of its eye.

"It's a joy to meet Disciple Erik again." Zoe commented with an elegant smile, though her face showed an enchanted expression.

"It's equally a pleasure to meet Disciple Zoe again." Erik replied cheerfully, then indicated two chairs that appeared beside the table and added.

"Please, have a seat."

"Then I shall accept Disciple Erik's offer."

Zoe sat in the chair closest to her, and once again more desserts appeared on the table, while tea was served from the floating teapot. At that moment, Elara commented in a calm yet indecipherable tone.

"So now you're not going to greet me, Zoe?"

"How can you think that, Elara? I was just greeting Disciple Erik first after not seeing him for so long." At Elara's words, Zoe responded with a diplomatic smile on her face. Elara, in turn, smiled disdainfully before commenting.

"Yeah, right…"

While Elara and Zoe began their small argument, Liliana sat in the other chair and, without a word, started eating the delicious pastries with impeccable manners, sipping tea occasionally. This drew the attention of the pair of direct disciples.

"But it seems like someone else who doesn't know how to greet is Liliana. Look at her, eating without a care in the world." Elara remarked with feigned anger, which made Liliana glance at her for a moment before responding.

"Well, I lost my timing due to your fight, but now that we're here, hello Elara, Erik. How have you been?"

"No complaints. Things have gone quite well for me, honestly." Erik answered without much importance, as he turned his gaze and picked up another cookie.

"Let me guess, you spent your time holed up somewhere playing with your artifacts." Liliana said, rolling her eyes. Erik could only respond with a smile.

"You know me well, hehehe."

"Hmph, I knew it. And how about you, Elara?"

The group continued chatting about random things for a while longer, but fewer and fewer participants were arriving, and practically no beasts could be seen anymore. Those foolish enough to hurl themselves heedlessly into the white tide of participants around the column of light had long since been eliminated. The only ones left were the more cunning beasts, watching the situation from a distance.

But while Erik chatted, he suddenly sensed a change in the Myst around him, prompting him to discreetly glance at the column of light from the corner of his eye. What Erik sensed was that the Myst, previously stirred up by the column of light, had calmed slightly—an undetectable change for any of the participants present, but incredibly evident to him. He paid close attention, and in his mind he started calculating the changes over time, forming an idea of when his moment to act would come.

As if nothing had happened, Erik continued chatting with the girls, calmly eating cookies and drinking tea, while secretly sending his intentions to the wolves and Ebonique through their contracts. They remained in their positions without any visible changes, though the subtle shifts in their mana were enough for him to understand that they were preparing for the exact moment he would make his move.

Without raising any suspicion, Erik's mental countdown continued for almost an hour as he simultaneously analyzed all possible variables on the field: the strength, speed, and potential reactions of the participants and the beasts. At the same time, he discreetly tested the pillar of light with the help of Myst. Then, after a moment, he suddenly commented.

"Well, ladies, it's been a pleasure, but it seems I have to go."

Spoiler: Patreon

If you like it, you can support me on https://www.patreon.com/lordanl and get up to 10 advanced chapters.

 

[lordanl]

The sudden comment from Erik took the 3 young ladies by surprise, who looked at him a bit confused, not really understanding what he meant. At that moment, Tiberius hid in the shadow of the star-haired boy, while he extended his left hand, resting it on Kaiser's neck.

At the same time, the imposing column of light that pierced the sky dimmed slightly, revealing within it the silhouette of a majestic staff that floated, defying gravity, at the center of the column. This immediately drew the attention of all the participants, including the 3 young ladies, which made Erik smile.

While all the participants were distracted, in an instant, Erik metamorphosed into an entity of pure energy with Kaiser's help, becoming a sort of human-shaped lightning bolt that held by the neck an imposing two-meter-tall wolf. And, before anyone could realize it, he hurled himself toward the column of light at a speed that defied all perception, leaving an electrical trail in his wake.

Just before Erik struck the column of light at a blinding speed, the Myst began to swirl around him, then condensed, forming a kind of impenetrable barrier that surrounded him like a halo of invisible force. Moments later, he collided head-on with the column right at its center.

With the help of the help of the Myst defense he had created, Erik penetrated the column of light, almost as if he were a divine arrow. At that moment, he took hold of the staff and continued his flight at such an incredible speed that, in a matter of mere instants, he disappeared from sight, leaving everyone present in shock and without any chance to react.

A moment later, all the participants slowly began to rationalize what had just happened, left speechless. Some stared, stunned, at the column of light that was slowly fading with a huge hole in its center, while others turned to look at where Erik had stood just a moment ago. Only to find three beautiful women who looked around with the same expression of stupefaction as the others. Meanwhile, the wolves and the dragon that had accompanied that cunning bastard were nowhere to be seen.

Likewise, some of the participants began to pick up their weapons and organize teams, casting looks filled with ill intent at the three young ladies who accompanied the cunning bastard, causing bitter smiles to appear on the women's faces. At the same time, they looked at each other wordlessly, but after nodding to each other, they quickly took up their weapons and two magic circles appeared in the air. The magic circles created a great explosion and a brilliant flash that blinded everyone's senses.

"Quick, chase them!! They are the key to recovering the staff!!!"

With the cry of a female voice, a horde of participants flung themselves into the air to pursue the three young ladies, who fled with all their might. Even in that situation, the trio did not forget to turn and throw venomous glares at the sensual blue-haired woman who had spoken, who merely smiled with confidence and coquettishness.

…

In the meeting room of the space station, all the Master-level individuals present looked at Sigrún and Eleonora with disbelief written on their faces, evidently having trouble believing what they had seen and felt. Meanwhile, the pair of sworn sisters sipped tea calmly and refinedly, as if nothing special were happening, with Seraphina serving different pastries for them with a serene and professional smile on her face.

The surprise was even more evident in Jessica, who knew perfectly well how incredibly challenging elementalization was for someone without affinities, to the point that it was practically impossible to achieve. She herself was the only known person in history to have accomplished it. What's more, when she first met the boy, despite possessing impressive power for his young age, he was not even capable of achieving elemental synchronization, the first and most basic step toward elementalization.

That was precisely what convinced her to join the Arcane Order: seeing someone who, using only his ingenuity and monstrous talent, could overcome his disadvantage of being born without affinities by taking a completely different path than hers, putting himself on equal footing with any "genius". It filled her with incredible expectations for the future because if Erik's amazing creativity and talent were combined with her own and her vast experience as a mage without affinities, what they could achieve together would be staggering.

But what she had just seen went beyond anything she could have imagined. She truly struggled to understand how Erik had accomplished something like that. Moreover, the arrogant, self-satisfied smile that Sigrún directed at her only seemed to indicate that this was the advancement Erik had reached thanks to the advice they mentioned earlier, which left her even more confused.

The great Master-level without affinities, Jessica Roa, the one who was born with nothing but obtained everything, was completely incapable of understanding how a couple of pieces of advice she gave the star-haired boy the day she met him could produce such a result in such a short time. Not only had he assimilated them in an unexpected way, but he had also taken them beyond anything she could have ever imagined.

"Not only does he master communion with the Myst, but now he even controls Mystical Transcendence. What kind of monster are you two raising?" Thalia asked, absolutely astounded, as she looked at Eleonora and Sigrún, who continued to behave calmly, as if nothing were happening.

"You're exaggerating, Thalia, it's just a little trick that my FIRST DISCIPLE managed to master after a few pointers, nothing more, just something natural for someone I personally chose." Sigrún commented in a vain, self-satisfied voice as she set her cup down on the table.

"Yes, Thalia, Erik is naturally curious, so upon meeting Master Jessica he had several ideas he couldn't help but start putting into practice. Don't make such a fuss or our disciple might become arrogant." Eleonora added elegantly, causing the others present in the room, including the director, to frown in annoyance. It was truly frustrating to see these two troublemakers calmly boasting.

"Could you both stop bragging and instead tell us how Erik is able to master 2 Master-level techniques at only 30 years old?" An astonished Adrian asked, dropping his usual polite and elegant mannerisms, which made the duo of Master-levels and the maid smile.

"It's not much, it's just that our Erik has an innate ease in mastering Mana and Myst, to the point that mana control and Myst harmony techniques aren't a challenge for him. But due to his lack of affinities, he had trouble mastering elemental synchronization. That changed when he met Jessica, as he got several ideas and now has partial mastery of the technique, allowing him temporary access to mystical transcendence." Sigrún explained with the grace befitting a Master-level of her status. Even so, the others present couldn't help but roll their eyes at her behavior.

"Don't tell me the boy already masters all the Master-level techniques?" Ryoma asked, full of surprise, while at the same time glancing sideways at his beloved granddaughter fleeing from the pursuit.

"Actually, no. We haven't wanted to talk too much about the Master-level techniques so he can master the others perfectly and build a solid foundation. Additionally, we wanted to give free rein to his great creativity to see what things he could create from what he already knew. The problem is that our disciple is very curious and ends up discovering them on his own, as was the case with communion with the Myst, which he discovered by himself even before meeting us."

Eleonora responded calmly to the question while sipping her tea with a somewhat resigned expression, as if it were truly something problematic and difficult to solve. But the small smile escaping at the corner of her lips showed what she really felt, only making the Master-levels present even angrier.

"This is impossible. I've never heard of anyone like him…" Ryoma murmured to himself, stupefied, sinking deeply into his thoughts, but he returned to reality quickly when the director spoke in a firm tone full of authority.

"Erik is a genius unparalleled in the galaxy and an asset of utmost importance to the Order, so I hope those present will maintain discretion and that this will not leave this place."

"We understand, Director. This will not leave these walls." Adrian answered on behalf of everyone present, who nodded in agreement. But suddenly Jessica asked aloud.

"Won't the information leak anyway, given how many participants saw Erik elementalize?"

"Not really. Although what Erik did can be interpreted as elementalization, it's something only a Master-level can confirm without error. No one will believe that a 30-year-old young man could do something like that on his own, so they will likely think it was the product of some magical artifact. Furthermore, our lack of action on the matter will only confirm their suspicions. If we act hastily, we would only generate curiosity in others, and that would be worse."

The director replied with a smile, then looked at Erik on the holographic screen as he wandered flying over the continent on the head of a majestic black dragon, examining the staff in his hands with a curious expression.

"The director is right. I apologize for my discourtesy." Jessica said sincerely, but she was stopped by the director, who raised a hand and commented in a relaxed manner.

"You don't have to apologize for something like that. Now you are one of us, so it's good that you ask that kind of question. Besides, it only shows that you truly feel part of our Order now."

"Thank you very much, Director." Jessica thanked him and bowed her head, and the director nodded with a smile.

…

"Hehehe, you really left them with nothing to do back there." While flying at absurd speed, Ebonique commented in a cheerful, proud tone, to which Erik nodded casually without taking his eyes off the staff in his hands.

"Well, I measured the timing well. The power of the column was weakening enough, so at the moment it reached the minimum necessary, I attacked. Though it's lucky that no one else noticed that concentrated Myst could partially interrupt its functioning, or things might have gotten complicated."

"You're too modest, Erik. None of those present have as deep a connection with the Myst as you do, so they can't perceive what you perceive or manipulate it the way you do. Not to mention that none would have been able to catch you. Elementalization is quite challenging for humans." Ebonique replied with evident pride, causing Erik to shake his head before commenting seriously.

"It's not that I'm modest, it's that the galaxy is too big, and although I have a good connection with the Myst, I have no elemental affinities. So, imagine if there were someone with perfect synergy affinities and a connection to the Myst similar to mine? I would have nothing to do against them, even if that person were weaker than me, they would still easily defeat me.

"Besides, although I can achieve elementalization, it's extremely inefficient, and I basically have to focus all my mana capacity to maintain it. I can only do it for a few minutes before my mana circulatory system becomes strained and damaged, so it's useless for anything other than running very fast; thus we must be very careful."

"Well, you're right about that. It's better to be cautious."

Ebonique commented in a calm tone, feeling that it was indeed better for Erik to remain cautious and vigilant. But at the same time, she couldn't help adding silently to herself with absolute certainty.

(But don't worry about someone matching your connection with the Myst. It's practically impossible for anyone to even equal you. You are the Myst's baby, practically its heart.)

Spoiler: Patreon

If you like it, you can support me on https://www.patreon.com/lordanl and get up to 10 advanced chapters.

 

[lordanl]

Late into the night, Erik returned to his refuge after wandering across the continent for several hours, trying to avoid leaving any kind of trail that might lead someone to his hideout. After all, he was certain he had made plenty of enemies with his clever stunt, and he was sure there were even more who wanted to take his emblem to keep him from winning the tournament.

Once inside the refuge, Erik sat down at his workbench and began to carefully analyze the staff. Meanwhile, the wolves lay down beneath the table, close to his legs, and Ebonique settled on his head in her smallest form. At that moment, she asked curiously.

"So, what did you find out about that staff?"

"Well, actually, this staff is quite curious. It's actually a magical artifact made from relatively common materials, but it's unnecessarily complex for its single function, which is to display different stellar cards."

As he spoke, Erik channeled his mana into the staff, causing various holograms to appear in the air around him, each showing a different stellar card. He continued explaining calmly.

"That got me really curious, so I started carefully analyzing the inscribed runes and found something peculiar. The staff is only pretending to use all of its runes to display this hologram, and it actually has more functions. It's just that these are locked and seem to have different kinds of conditions that must be met to activate."

"Hoho, that sounds like you have a plan." Ebonique commented with a mischievous voice, and Erik responded with an evil grin.

"Of course I do. Tonight, we're going all out, hahaha!"

Erik laughed cheerfully and began working on the staff without paying attention to the passing time. After a while, he could hear the wolves "snoring" beside him in their puppy forms, which made him shake his head. Those two refused to sleep anywhere other than by his side.

In the past, Erik had tried making them sleep in their doghouses in the garden or on his own bed. But in the end, they always got up in the middle of the night and came back to lie down beside him while he worked. So he simply gave up and let them do as they pleased, since, in a way, they were quite adorable.

The rest of the night passed with Erik modifying the staff, using different types of materials he kept in his storage rings to deactivate runes and carve new ones. He took great care not to damage the set of runes responsible for its various functionalities, focusing solely on those that evaluated the activation conditions.

The process of modifying the scepter was quite complex and somewhat exhausting for Erik, since the runes in charge of evaluating the activation conditions were located in different parts of the staff and seemed deliberately obfuscated. On many occasions, they did not even connect directly to the function they were supposed to activate.

On the contrary, they seemed to have an inheritance system, where they interconnected through sets of child runes that did different things simultaneously, making the entire modification even more complicated—something Erik expected, so he did not complain and continued his work in silence, occasionally munching on cookies.

…

When the first rays of light began to peek over the horizon and birdsong started to fill the air, a nearly maniacal laughter echoed throughout the refuge. The wolves looked around in confusion as they grew in size, preparing for combat.

"There's no need to laugh like that, Ebonique. It wasn't that big of a deal."

Erik commented, rolling his eyes at an excited, 30-centimeter-tall Ebonique surrounded by jet-black electric sparks, who was laughing maniacally as she circled around a beautiful, floating staff on Erik's workbench.

"Hahahaha, but you really did it! You completely erased the security those idiots who created the staff put in place. Their faces must be hilarious right now, hahaha!"

Ebonique remarked, genuinely amused, in a mocking tone that could not hide the pride she felt as she looked at her beloved contractor. Erik merely shook his head, sporting an ironic smile on his face, then he spoke while taking hold of the staff that floated over the table.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that."

"Why do you say that?" Ebonique asked, confused, as she lay back down on Erik's head. He began examining the staff and explained in a calm, assured tone.

"Because, even though bypassing the staff's security to activate all its functions at will was a bit challenging, it wasn't that extreme. Moreover, it was made of materials that are quite easy to work with and not too costly, which makes me think that in that palace there must be different kinds of trials, and this staff is the key to solving them."

"Doesn't that make your achievement even greater, Erik?" Ebonique asked, even prouder, as though she herself had been the one who modified the staff. Erik replied calmly while running a finger over each carved rune.

"Not really because if no one was supposed to modify the staff as I did, someone should have stopped me when I tried. But that didn't happen. Also, do you remember what Master Iyanda said?"

"The only rule is not to use anything above Illuminated-level?" Ebonique answered with a question, looking somewhat confused. Erik nodded and explained.

"Exactly. There was only one rule, allowing even stealing and 'murder', so I think modifying the staff was some kind of 'hidden test' or something along those lines. It's probable that exploring the ruin requires different kinds of talents and skills, so the way to evaluate them would be through different levels of difficulty when traversing the palace.

"For example, they might evaluate puzzle-solving ability and participants' strength at the first difficulty level—the 'correct' way—waiting for each necessary condition to be met to activate the staff's functions and continue. Meanwhile, modifying the staff to pass through the palace in easy mode, as I did, would be a way to evaluate Artificing skills, since making those modifications requires a bit of skill and experience."

"That makes sense…"

Ebonique commented quietly with understanding, feeling that humans were quite interesting to be able to think of something like that and leave the clues so visible, but at the same time difficult to see. She made a mental note to apply something like that to her domain, and immediately after she commented in a cheerful voice.

"But now, let's go to the palace and win this tournament. Take out those stellar cards that must be the key to finding it, right?"

"Hehehe, exactly. The first trial was to find a specific location using the clues left in the stellar cards, but we don't have to waste time doing that." Erik responded with a cunning smile on his face, prompting Ebonique to ask with evident excitement in her tone.

"Your modifications?"

"Exactly. It turns out the condition to activate the staff's first ability was to be in a specific area of the planet." Erik smiled as he showed Ebonique the crystal tablet connected to the observer probes, where a specific point on the map was marked.

"So what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Ebonique rose from Erik's head, intending to leave the refuge, but she stopped abruptly when Erik asked in an amused tone.

"Why are you so excited? Who said we had to go there?"

"Didn't you just say so?" Ebonique asked, confused, looking at Erik, who returned her gaze with a sly grin on his face.

"I never said that. I only said that was the condition, but I haven't yet told you which ability the staff unlocks."

"Which one?" Ebonique asked curiously and excitedly, to which Erik answered cunningly.

"Teleportation."

A single word was more than enough for Ebonique to understand everything, causing her to laugh heartily and spin around Erik.

"Hahahahaha, so the palaces aren't on the surface! No wonder we couldn't find anything."

"You're right. The teleportation coordinates point to deep underground, about 5 kilometers down, to be exact." Erik responded, amused, and Ebonique replied, her eyes shining like lanterns.

"How clever. But let's not waste any more time and go. I want to see that palace."

"Of course."

After that, Erik stepped out of his refuge and deactivated all the defense and camouflage systems, causing all the small spheres around to return inside the refuge. At that moment, it shrank back down, turning once again into a small silver sphere, which he quickly stored in his storage ring.

With everything packed, Erik took one last look at his now empty camp, with Ebonique on his head and the wolves on his shoulders. At that moment, he asked the excited creatures, with an almost adventurous attitude.

"Ready?"

"Ready! Let's conquer a palace!!" Ebonique responded with great enthusiasm, accompanied by the wolves' cheerful barking, making Erik laugh heartily as he nodded and joined in on the fun.

"Then let's go!!"

With those words, Erik activated the staff in his hand, causing it to glow for a moment and release different images of stars. Then it conjured various runes in the air that circled the group, emitting a powerful flash that made them all disappear from the area, restoring the place to its peaceful and pristine appearance, full of nature and life.

…

…

…

In the middle of the meeting hall, all the Master-level individuals present looked at a silent Ngozi, who wore a grim expression as she spoke with the director, who was all smiles, looking genuinely amused and pleased.

"What are we going to do about that boy Erik, Director? Now that he's hacked the staff, all the other trials mean nothing to him." Ngozi commented in a dark tone, crossing her arms and looking directly into the director's eyes.

"Hahahaha, he really hacked that staff like it was nothing…"

The director commented, laughing, causing an ironic smile to appear on the faces of the others present, except for Eleonora, Sigrún, and Seraphina. Their delicate faces were filled only with pride and vanity as they looked at everyone else with hauteur and glowing smiles.

"This isn't a laughing matter, Director. That boy Erik just blatantly cheated. We must stop him." Ngozi retorted with a serious and dissatisfied tone. The director replied, amused.

"Erik didn't cheat, Ngozi. As he himself said, the only rule was not to use items above the Illuminated-level, something he hasn't done. And really, hacking that staff isn't something just anyone can do—it requires true skill. So let's just pretend it really was a hidden test and let him be. Or do you want to be the one to suffer the embarrassment of going back on your words in public? Because I don't, hahahaha!"

While the director laughed gleefully at the whole situation, Ngozi could only sigh in defeat. She then looked at Eleonora and asked with a complex expression.

"How did you teach that little monster, Eleonora? That staff was made by a very well-known and talented Arcane-level artificer. If word gets out that Erik hacked it in a single night, his reputation could plummet."

Spoiler: Patreon

If you like it, you can support me on https://www.patreon.com/lordanl and get up to 10 advanced chapters.

 

[lordanl]

The reality about the staff was that, despite being made from relatively common materials as Erik claimed, it was crafted by highly recognized artisans of the faction. These artisans adhered to military-grade safety standards to precisely prevent what Erik had done. While the staff's security fell far short of the highest safety standards for specialized artifacts, it was significantly superior to that of a common artifact.

On the other hand, only common materials were used for its creation because it wasn't worth using anything more expensive. These were items meant to be used exclusively by Revealed-level individuals under 300 years old in a single tournament, never to be used again. Hence, there was no need to worry about durability or anything of the sort, making it unnecessary to use rarer materials or more complex techniques. At the end of the day, none of the participants were supposed to so much as dent it, let alone modify it.

"What can I say? Erik is a very dedicated disciple who makes us proud. As for artificery, he's taken it very seriously and is already a certified one-star artificer. I gave him a couple of books on creating more complex artifacts as a reward, and he's been studying them. Occasionally, I explain some concepts to him—nothing extraordinary."

After setting her teacup down on the table, Eleonora responded with an expression full of pride and vanity, though she tried to hide it a bit—unlike Sigrún, who quickly added, in a manner that could only be described as the epitome of haughtiness and shamelessness, while attempting to sound elegant.

"Eli is right. Our Erik is very curious and investigates all kinds of things in his spare time, which allowed him to see an opportunity born from the artificers' lack of skill this time and take advantage of it. Simple as that. Next time, hire better ones if you don't want the same to happen again."

As she brought her teacup to her lips, Sigrún's gaze swept over everyone present with an air of arrogance and disdain, prompting eye-rolls from the group. None of them were willing to entertain the troublesome blonde, as doing so would likely result in her bragging endlessly about how great of a master she was, even at her age, and who knows what else.

"… Well, I suppose I'll wait for him in the final chamber of the palace. He shouldn't take long to arrive with the modifications he made to the staff." Ngozi spoke in a resigned tone as she rose from her seat. But before teleporting to the location, she heard the director's voice chuckling.

"Make sure to congratulate him for finding a secret trial or something; otherwise, you'll be the one facing the embarrassment of not planning the tournament properly, hahaha."

Upon hearing the shameless director, Ngozi could only roll her eyes before quickly vanishing from the room like a mirage. As she did, she faintly heard Sigrún 'apologizing,' brimming with boastfulness and pride.

"I apologize for the trouble caused by our disciple. I will ensure he learns to restrain himself properly, so such incidents don't occur again. It truly becomes a problem when someone's abilities so thoroughly exceed expectations, leaving their peers far behind."

"Hmph!!"

Besides Eleonora, the director, and Seraphina, everyone else present huffed in irritation, casting disdainful looks at Sigrún. The woman, however, merely responded with a radiant smile, resembling a child in a toy store, delighted by the grand show her beloved Erik was putting on—something she was sure to reward with a barrage of kisses for the wonderful time he was giving her. But what no one expected was for the director to play along with that troublesome woman, laughing as he commented.

"Hahaha, you're right, Sigrún. We must make Erik understand that he needs to restrain himself properly to leave some opportunities for the others, or he'll end up making too many enemies. That's a complicated fate for those who are too gifted."

"Hahaha, I see you understand, old man, and you're right. Being too talented indeed comes with those sorts of problems. I must speak properly with Erik about the courtesy and concessions us talented folks must make to common people to live correctly in society. Once again, I offer my disciple in apology for my own carelessness. I totally overlooked this and caused trouble for everyone." Sigrún spoke with an elegant tone, full of righteousness and a bit of regret at the end, as if she really believed what she said.

Everyone present, except for the director, who was laughing heartily, rolled their eyes at the sight of this walking mass of vanity who couldn't open her mouth without trying to show off. The worst part was when she pulled off those ridiculously fake acts of humility, which filled anyone who heard them with an uncontrollable urge to give her smug, smiling face a good punch. Unfortunately, she was far too troublesome to deal with in a fight.

What made her comments truly exasperating, however, was the fact that the damn woman really was an unparalleled genius. And now she even had a little monster following in her footsteps—one even more monstrous than she was—who had not only matched her speed in leveling up his power but had even surpassed her in mastering two complex professions like Alchemy and Artificery. He had gone so far as to register patents that caught the attention of the entire galaxy, and even managed to execute a "fair cheat" in the tournament.

(…The world is truly unfair…)

The same thought appeared simultaneously in the minds of all the Masters-level present, accompanied by a heavy sigh as they watched those two troublesome women chat cheerfully about how handsome and elegant their disciple looked—all while being attended to with extreme professionalism by that demon in a maid outfit, someone no one even wanted to comment on.

Meanwhile, Ryoma, Zoe's grandfather, was intently watching his beloved granddaughter, who had been forced to retreat underground with her two friends to escape the relentless pursuits of the other participants—all because of the monstrous boy with the starry hair. This left him with a bitter taste in his mouth.

As an experienced Master-level warrior who had faced all kinds of situations to reach where he was, he could appreciate and celebrate the talent and intelligence of the young man, who had acted with cunning and speed, leaving no room for the other participants to act. But at the same time, he couldn't help feeling dissatisfied that his beloved granddaughter had been negatively affected by his actions, leaving him uncertain about his next steps.

(He really is an outstanding seedling with monstrous talent for the Zazen discipline and swordsmanship, but the fact that he harmed my little Zoe rubs me the wrong way. It'd be best not to get involved with him in any way, at least not in the short term…)

…

…

…

Five kilometers underground, Erik appeared in the middle of a vast hall carved into solid rock. The space was adorned with majestic arches, a polished floor that gleamed like a mirror, and walls embedded with crystals emitting a soft, calming light. The air was fresh and pure, indistinguishable from the exterior.

"So this is the entrance to the palace." After rising from Erik's head to take a better look around, Ebonique commented with mild curiosity, to which the starry-haired boy nodded and quickly added in a similar tone.

"It seems so, but we'd better head inside."

With a mutual nod between the dragon spirit and the starry-haired boy, the two approached an imposing black wooden door framed by softly glowing runes. The door began projecting various holograms displaying different instructions, which themselves formed a puzzle that needed solving to gain entry into the palace. Erik, however, ignored all of this entirely and simply activated the staff's function to open the door.

Shortly after, the door opened, revealing a descending spiral of stone steps illuminated by torches burning with an ethereal, cold blue flame. Erik floated down the staircase using another function of the staff, carrying the wolves on his shoulders and Ebonique perched atop his head. The group observed their surroundings with excitement and curiosity, as if they were exploring an amusement park.

At the bottom of the long spiral staircase, they arrived at a cavernous chamber so vast that its ceiling vanished into the darkness above. It seemed supported by gigantic, smooth rock columns that emitted a soft light and were so enormous they made the group seem like tiny ants by comparison. They gazed at the columns curiously for a while before continuing deeper into the chamber.

At the center of the cavern stood a magnificent palace, constructed from softly glowing bluish stones. Its architecture was a blend of pointed arches, ascending towers, and floating balconies that defied gravity. Springs of pure water flowed from the walls, feeding into tranquil ponds where beautiful translucent fish swam peacefully.

The air in the cavern, unlike the previous hall and staircase, was filled with a mix of sweet fragrances emanating from the palace gardens. These gardens were adorned with bioluminescent flowers of all kinds, dotted with magical creatures like crystal fireflies and emerald butterflies that danced gracefully through the air.

"Whoever designed this palace has excellent taste. Do you think we can keep it, Erik?" Ebonique asked from atop Erik's head, a little awestruck by the incredible beauty of the underground palace.

"Do you really want a place like this? It's nice, sure, but there's nothing special about it. Most of the materials used here are quite cheap, you know?" Erik replied as he walked toward the palace entrance, to which Ebonique softly responded.

"I like it. It has good style and design. Besides, the rarity of the materials doesn't matter to me; that's secondary for someone like me."

"Hmmm, in that case, why don't we ask about the designer and commission a better design? We can build it ourselves as a secret base." After thinking for a moment, Erik suggested, continuing his approach toward the palace. The suggestion made Ebonique's eyes light up like lanterns as she commented with excitement.

"Hahaha, you're right! That's a much better idea. It'll be our exclusive secret base!"

"Glad you like the idea." Erik said with a small, amused laugh, prompting Ebonique to nod enthusiastically before flying closer to his face and adding with excitement.

"I don't just like it—I love it! Our secret base will be the best that's ever existed!"

"Hahaha, it's good to see you so motivated. Once we finish here, I'll try to find out about the designer and a good place to build it." Erik said with a smile as he looked at the excited spirit.

"No, that won't be necessary anymore. For our secret base to be the best that's ever existed, we need to design and build it ourselves; otherwise, it wouldn't make sense." Ebonique replied with a strict tone, though her immense excitement was barely concealed.

"Well, we could try, though you know I'm not particularly good at art or design…" Erik commented casually as they reached the palace entrance. At that moment, Ebonique lay down again atop his head and cheerfully added.

"That doesn't matter; we'll find a way. Let's finish this quickly so we can start designing it."

"Alright, then. I'll start exploring the palace now."

Spoiler: Images

AI generated for reference only

Spoiler: Patreon

If you like it, you can support me on https://www.patreon.com/lordanl and get up to 10 advanced chapters.

 

[lordanl]

Floating with the help of the staff, Erik entered the palace and made his way through all kinds of places, such as a labyrinthine library, a room where the floors moved, extreme areas with lava or ice tombs, and other strange locations filled with all sorts of trials. The star-haired boy ignored them completely, activating the corresponding functions of the staff to overcome them with extreme ease while collecting spherical crystals of different colors in each spot.

"What are those things you're picking up, Erik?" Ebonique asked curiously as she looked at a pale blue crystal in Erik's hand. He answered in a calm tone while storing it in his storage ring.

"Well, they're actually Chantinolite crystals. They're used to create things like the crystal tablet that connects to the Sentinel Probes or the university student ID cards, but I'm collecting them because they were part of the conditions to activate certain functions of the staff, so they'll probably be needed later on."

"I see…"

Ebonique nodded with equal parts understanding and curiosity, enjoying this little adventure like a child—an experience so simple and straightforward yet overwhelmingly wonderful and refreshing, something she'd never been able to enjoy in her incomparably long life, and therefore a happiness she had been unable to understand in the past.

After being at the top of the food chain for so long, worshiped and feared wherever she went, the world had lost all its color before she even realized it; everything turned into a dull gray, and the days went by without her even noticing. She simply repeated her eternal routine of sleeping for several decades, centuries, or even millennia, only to wake up and either sit in her cold, lonely palace or meet with other eternals even more bored than she was.

After so much time, even one of her greatest hobbies—collecting treasures—had stopped being interesting. In the end, one of her few moments of amusement was sitting in her garden and drinking rare teas. But in the midst of that tedious monotony, there was a hint of color coming from a certain crazy blue phoenix who wasted her time with weak mortals.

Among the eternal spirits, Ignis was incredibly strange, debasing herself by posing as a mere ancestral spirit to while away her time with mortals—something beyond what other spirits at her level could understand. Yet oddly enough, she was the only one of them who could smile sincerely, radiating genuine happiness, unlike the silly, feigned smiles that everyone else wore.

That smile was precisely what drew Ebonique in because it was the only spark of color in her gray world—something that fascinated and, at the same time, intrigued her. How could that foolish spirit smile like that? But as much as she tried, she could never understand the reason for that happiness, until now, which inevitably brought to mind the words of that silly phoenix.

{It's just that you don't understand the beauty of the mortal world, but I think you'll begin to understand it little by little alongside young Erik.}

(Who would have thought? In the end, you were right, Ignis. The mortal world truly is something incredibly beautiful and full of color, something I could only understand by being at Erik's side. Honestly, following you that day was the best decision I could have made, fufufu.)

…

While Ebonique was lost in her memories and rediscovered emotions, Erik traversed the palace at an impressive speed, bypassing all the trials until they reached a magnificent door over twenty meters tall. It appeared to be made of a gold-like metal, its entire surface carved with all kinds of runes. But what most caught the attention of the door were nine striking spherical slots arranged in a circle at its center.

"See? I told you they'd be important, hehe." Erik said in an amused tone upon seeing the slots, to which Ebonique quickly nodded happily.

"Fufufu, yes, you nailed it. But hurry up and place them, I want to see what happens."

"Of course."

Promptly, Erik placed the nine crystal spheres he had and activated the staff's final function. This caused an iridescent light to surround the door, which began projecting images of all sorts of people fighting bravely in all kinds of settings. It then opened slowly, releasing massive amounts of Myst from the other side, almost suggesting that something astonishing lay beyond.

"What an impressive display. They really don't skimp on the special effects, hehe." Erik commented humorously as he watched the door open, revealing a flash of white light shining from the other side, at which point Ebonique laughed and added.

"Fufufu, yes, but I think it's worth it. After all the 'effort' we had to make to get here, we deserve an epic entrance, don't you think?"

"You're absolutely right. It's the least we deserve for all the hard work we put in to get this far, hehe." Erik answered playfully, then burst out laughing. His laughter was contagious, making Ebonique and even the wolves, who barked happily as they wagged their tails, join in.

"Well, it's open now. Let's go claim our prize." As soon as the door opened enough, Ebonique spoke excitedly, and Erik nodded calmly.

"Let's go."

Upon passing through the door, Erik found himself in the middle of a vast square expanse that stretched far beyond his range of sight. The ceiling was a dome mimicking the night sky, inlaid with precious stones that twinkled like constellations. The floor was a complex mosaic composed of tiles made from various luxurious-looking materials, forming abstract representations of the different trials in the palace.

Meanwhile, at the center—beneath the point where all the lines of light from the constellations converged—there was an elevated platform made of marble so pure it seemed to glow on its own. Standing upon it was a woman of ethereal beauty, with dark skin that contrasted beautifully with her long silver hair cascading down her back like a waterfall. Her expression was filled with dignity.

"Congratulations, Disciple Erik."

While restraining the urge to roll her eyes at the shameless conversation she'd overheard—one that basically confirmed the boy was a lost cause, hopelessly corrupted by his problematic masters—Ngozi congratulated him in a serious, neutral tone. Erik immediately bowed respectfully and elegantly, then responded firmly.

"It is an honor to be received by Master Iyanda."

"There's no need to be so formal. I'm quite familiar with your Masters." Ngozi spoke with a small smile, feeling slightly pleased that at least the boy knew how to behave himself, unlike a certain blonde in her youth. Erik responded with a courteous smile.

"Thank you very much for your consideration, Master Iyanda."

"Think nothing of it. But please allow me to truly congratulate you on your outstanding performance. Not only did you finish the trial in record time, you also managed to pass the hidden trial, creating a great achievement for yourself." Ngozi said, a bit uncomfortable, trying to sound as genuine as possible.

"Hidden trial?"

Erik asked, looking a little confused, to which Ngozi responded with a smile, forcefully holding back the new urge to roll her eyes at the cheeky young man who wanted to play it cool. Believing that they had not heard his whole little ramble about the 'hidden test', which was ultimately what forced her to play this little theatrical.

"I'm referring to how you modified the staff. That was a very impressive display of skill."

"You flatter me, Master Iyanda. They're just little tricks I learned from my Master, that's all."

Erik replied with an elegant demeanor, causing Ngozi's smile to nearly twist as she worried the young man had already been fully corrupted by his problematic Masters and was about to start 'humble bragging'. She managed to compose herself enough to notice that the boy did not seem to be showing off and appeared to be speaking sincerely.

"I see. Then you are blessed with great Masters." Ngozi said, a slight smile on her face. Erik answered with an equally bright smile and added.

"I think so too. They're my greatest stroke of luck in this life."

"You say pleasant things. But let's proceed to your award ceremony. Now, hand over your emblem and the special treasure."

Ngozi spoke with a small smile on her face, trying to tease a little the star-haired youth for breezing through the trials so easily by 'cheating'. However, her eyes widened slightly in surprise when Erik respectfully offered her his emblem and the staff, which inevitably led her to ask curiously.

"Why do you think the staff is the special treasure?"

"What could be more special than the key needed to locate and get through the entire palace? Besides, there are countless references to the staff all over the palace, in various murals, paintings, books, etc." Erik replied in a calm tone while gazing at Ngozi's captivating silver eyes, as Ebonique lifted her head proudly from where she was perched among his starry hair.

"Fufu, you're quite observant." Ngozi responded with a smile, discreetly studying the boy and the spirit on his head. At that moment, Erik offered her a slight, respectful bow.

"Thank you for the compliment, Master Iyanda."

Right after Erik spoke, the emblem and the staff in his hands floated on their own over to Ngozi, who simply observed them for a moment before looking back at the star-haired boy and speaking seriously. In that instant, the two artifacts moved behind her and hovered there, suspended.

"Well, everything checks out with the staff and emblem, so now you have to choose between two options. You can stay on the planet, find the main palace, and try to retrieve the treasures, or you can decide to end here and leave the planet, keeping only your spot to explore the ruin. The decision is yours."

"Mmmm, the idea of the treasures is tempting…" Erik muttered quietly, appearing to consider it for a moment before quickly shaking his head and adding in a serious tone.

"But I have things to do, so I choose to leave now."

"Then congratulations, Disciple Erik. You're the first to complete the trial, and since you managed to beat the secret trial, you're entitled to an additional prize." Ngozi took out from her storage ring a beautiful crystal card finely decorated with edges that looked like platinum, which had on the front and almost covering the card the image of a beautiful book. She then added with a smile.

"This is an access license to the university library so you can obtain knowledge more advanced than what you can access now, related to all things artificery across the three magical systems. It might not be of much help to someone like you, who has Eleonora as a Master, but perhaps it can still assist you."

"Thank you very much, Master Iyanda. It's the best prize I could receive."

After respectfully expressing his gratitude, Erik took the card, which floated over to him, visibly excited as he looked it over carefully. Then he stored it in his storage ring, as though afraid someone might take it from him. Ngozi nodded in satisfaction and briefly commented.

"I'm glad you liked the prize."

"I love it. It's definitely far beyond what I expected; now I really feel like I've won the jackpot." Erik said with a bright smile on his face, prompting Ngozi to reply in a calm tone.

"I'm glad to hear that, but it's time to go."

With a flash of light, Erik reappeared in front of the meeting hall at the space station, accompanied by Ngozi. She immediately started walking toward the hall but stopped when she realized the star-haired boy hadn't moved from his spot. She turned around and asked.

"Why are you still standing there? Let's go. The Master-levels in the hall want to meet you."

"Well… that's precisely the problem. I have a terrible feeling something very bad for me is going to happen in there…" Erik commented without looking directly at Ngozi, who smiled softly.

"There's no need to worry. You're part of the Arcane Order; this is your home, and we'd never hurt you. Besides, your Masters are in there too."

"That's exactly the problem…" Erik said with visible unease, causing Ngozi to laugh and beckon him with a graceful wave of her arm.

"Hahaha, don't worry. Go on in; nothing bad is going to happen to you."

Spoiler: Patreon

If you like it, you can support me on https://www.patreon.com/lordanl and get up to 10 advanced chapters.

 

[lordanl]

After letting out a defeated sigh, Erik entered the room behind Ngozi, where he found several Master-level individuals with overwhelming presences gathered around an elegant figure. They all immediately turned to look at him with various expressions. But without a doubt, the most notable were those of Sigrún and Eleonora, who wore huge smiles on their faces and exuded an aura that seemed to shout happiness and satisfaction.

"I greet you as the disciple of Master Eldurdóttir and Master Silverwood, the Ascended-level Erik."

While Ngozi walked over to her seat at the table, Erik bowed respectfully and spoke in a formal tone, which made the people present nod in satisfaction. At that moment, Sigrún spoke with a huge smile and a sing-song voice, just as Seraphina was arranging a new chair between Eleonora and herself.

"Come, Erik. Sit next to your masters."

"Right away, Master."

Erik quickly responded in a serious tone and went to sit on the chair, at which point Eleonora placed a large plate filled with a mountain of special cookies on the table. This made the star-haired boy's eyes light up, which caused his master's smile to grow considerably wider.

At the same time, Seraphina quickly served a cup of the finest tea that money could buy and set it on the table next to a plate. Erik thanked her with a smile, which greatly pleased the dedicated maid, who immediately began carefully massaging her young master's shoulders, completely ignoring the looks from everyone else present.

"Congratulations on making it through the tournament, Erik." the Director said with a pleasant smile on his face, ignoring Eleonora and Seraphina's actions. Erik immediately bowed his head respectfully and thanked him in a serious and formal tone.

"Thank you very much, Director."

"There's no need to be so formal, but I am curious about something: why did you choose to withdraw and not try to claim the champion's prize?" the Director asked with genuine curiosity, to which Erik responded in a calm tone.

"That was because I didn't feel it was worth it. I'm really not lacking anything. I have a bio-mystical technique, many spells to learn, tons of artifacts, and I even got the advanced pass for the library, which is what interests me the most. So I had no reason to keep going."

Upon hearing Erik's reply, the Masters present couldn't help looking at him with a bit of surprise on their faces. After all, the boy seemed to be ignoring the best part of winning the championship—precisely what typically motivated other direct disciples to participate in such events. After all, like him, they rarely lacked anything thanks to having a Master-level mentor behind them.

"And what about reputation? That doesn't interest you either?" The one who asked wasn't the Director, but rather Ryoma, which surprised everyone present, since he was well known for only caring about his granddaughter.

"…" For his part, Erik hesitated a bit before speaking, but upon seeing his masters smiling confidently, he decided to go on.

"The truth is, I'm not interested."

"Why not? Reputation is very important. It's your calling card to the world and makes many types of things much easier." Ryoma asked as he carefully studied the boy with the iconic starry hair, who began to explain seriously.

"The esteemed Master could be right, but I still don't feel like I'm lacking 'reputation' at this moment—or at least I'm not lacking the reputation that comes from being the tournament winner because it's just a tournament for mana users under 300 years old, and there are countless like us throughout the galaxy. So, in terms of 'reputation', winning it wouldn't be anything out of this world.

"But by the same token, although it wouldn't be too impressive, it would certainly be quite complicated and would require its fair share of effort. Winning would bring me nothing more than a not-so-impressive achievement. And if things went badly, I'd have a bunch of enemies everywhere. So it's not worth it—especially considering that my publications in the university journal are quite well known, which is already a great source of reputation for me."

"And what about your own pride? Don't you want to be recognized as the best of the young generation of the Arcane Order?" Ryoma asked with an unreadable expression, staring directly into Erik's green eyes. Erik took a sip of his tea before answering, returning Ryoma's gaze.

"And what good would that do me? In the best-case scenario, it'd make some people treat me with more respect or give me certain benefits, thinking about my future potential—things I honestly don't need. I'm already the disciple of the two youngest Master-level individuals in history, the youngest to be a certified Alchemist and Artificer, and I publish as a main author in the university's journal. So whether I win the tournament or not, they'll still treat me with respect and try to use me by offering benefits.

"So, what point is there for me to win the tournament in the first place? Frankly, it doesn't give me any real benefit. Besides, pride is a tool that must be used intelligently and not wasted worrying about meaningless things like being recognized as the best or anything like that. That's a reckless way of squandering a valuable asset."

"Pride is a valuable asset? What do you mean by that, Erik?" Thalia asked, sounding somewhat curious as she regarded Erik with a smile that Eleonora, Sigrún, and Seraphina did not like. He responded with a calm, composed expression.

"Of course it's a valuable asset, Master Sunforge, and very useful if used correctly. For example, even though the life of a Master-level individual like you is hard for me to fully grasp, I'm also human and can understand that in your long lifespans, you've had to face crises, defeats, weaknesses, temptations, and all sorts of things just like everyone else. What kept you firm, with steely will, and humble enough to keep striving tirelessly to achieve what you have today?

"I believe a large part of the reason for that was pride because I've experienced it myself. What drives me to keep improving? My pride in my own abilities, which gives me the confidence that I can be better and not let others surpass me. Why do I keep working non-stop when I could live without doing absolutely anything? Because my pride won't let me become a parasitic freeloader—I'm better than that.

"What motivates me to take on tasks that initially seem impossible? My pride in my own capacity and intelligence. What's the most common trait in natural leaders? They're proud of who they are and what they have to offer others, which gives them an overwhelming charisma that draws in the masses and the confidence needed to lead them.

"In short, there are thousands of examples showing that pride is a very useful tool. The problem is that it's a double-edged sword, and the line between pride and arrogance—the mother of laziness and personal decline—is extremely thin and can be crossed quite easily if one isn't careful."

"What an interesting philosophy you have there, Erik…"

Adrian commented, looking somewhat surprised, a sentiment shared by everyone present, including Eleonora, Sigrún, and Seraphina, who never stopped being amazed whenever Erik spoke such wise words. This filled them with even more pride, causing them to puff out their chests with broad smiles on their faces.

"It's not that big a deal—just random thoughts I have from time to time." Erik replied calmly before picking up one of the cookies, at which point Ryoma asked with an intrigued expression on his face.

"But if you know that pride is important, why not win the tournament? That would strengthen your pride in your own abilities, which could lead you to achieve great things in the future."

"Because, as I said before, pride is a tool, and like any good tool, you need to know when and how to use it to get the most out of it. Winning the tournament just wasn't worth it. After all, as I already mentioned, for me, its costs outweigh its benefits."

While his mood improved by leaps and bounds thanks to Seraphina's incredible massage and Eleonora's exquisite cookies, Erik responded in a more relaxed tone. That was when Jessica asked, leaning on the table with interest.

"What kind of costs does winning the tournament specifically entail for you?"

"Mainly time. In the best-case scenario, winning the tournament would take about six months, time I could invest in working on my projects, reading many books, and more. Besides, I have a trip planned with my masters, which in itself is far more valuable than winning a tournament.

"Moreover, an opportunity like this tournament is something that will come around sooner or later, and even if it doesn't, the loss isn't that great. After all, there are countless ways to gain reputation in the galaxy, and I'm only thirty years old—I've got plenty of time."

"And why do you think winning the tournament would take you six months?" Ngozi asked, somewhat interested in the reasoning behind Erik's assumption. He responded with a slight smile.

"For several reasons, really. First of all, you're required to obtain a staff in order to qualify for entering the palace I went through. Which implies that you can easily control the tournament's pace and how it unfolds, sending out at precise moments the elements needed to enter these palaces. And since the palace I entered wasn't the winner's palace, it only means that speed isn't an important factor in deciding the champion.

"Also, if we consider that the tournament is nothing more than a facade to select the most suitable individuals for the group in charge of exploring the ruin, one conclusion naturally comes to mind: They will control the tournament in such a way as to allow them to assess the skills they consider essential for exploring the ruin in all the participants, which will undoubtedly take time."

"That explains why you think it'll be a good while before they determine the champion. But what leads you to give that exact figure of six months?" Thalia joined in, asking with evident interest in her tone. Erik nodded and answered after taking another sip of tea.

"Well, that's because of certain considerations. For instance, in the tournament there are too many participants, and they vary incredibly in terms of strength and abilities. But if raw power were a vital criterion for selecting participants, you wouldn't have done this kind of tournament. You'd simply host a quick combat-based tournament with a minimum power level to enter, pick the strongest, and that would be it—something easily done at the university, and you wouldn't need to spend so many resources as you have on this one.

"So it's easy to conclude that although strength is important, it's not the only thing you're looking for in this tournament. Somehow, you need a simple and effective way to select participants best suited for exploration, minimizing costs and maximizing benefits. While there are various ways to do that, I'd guess the easiest method would be to split the tournament into two phases.

"That way, you could evaluate the strongest in one phase and those who aren't as strong but have valuable skills for exploration in the other. And since the tournament lasts one year, it's logical to assume that the championship—what the stronger ones stayed for—would be taken off the board halfway through, leaving the playing field open for the rest. In other words, six months."

Spoiler: Patreon

If you like it, you can support me on https://www.patreon.com/lordanl and get up to 10 advanced chapters.

 

[lordanl]

"Hahaha, you're a smart boy, Erik."

The director laughed pleasantly at the sharp inferences Erik had reached with the little information he had. After all, the only ones who knew how the tournament would unfold were Adrian, Ngozi and himself.

Although the Master-level individuals present had been at the meeting where the rules were discussed, several of them had their own disciples in the tournament. Therefore, they were not informed of everything and only general guidelines were discussed. That was why it was a bit surprising how close his conjectures were to what they had planned.

"You flatter me too much, Director. It's something anyone could have thought." Erik responded in a formal and respectful tone, then took his cup of tea and a cookie. At that moment, the director replied with a cheerful tone, albeit filled with conviction.

"Don't be so sure about that. You're quite brilliant and perceptive to assume something like this."

"Well, you've interrogated our disciple enough. My poor Erik must be tired after surpassing a tournament in record time, so please excuse us; we'll take him to rest." Sigrún commented with a calm and measured voice that could not hide the vanity she felt as she rose from her chair, followed by Eleonora, who added elegantly.

"I apologize for our early departure, but Sig is right, Erik needs to rest."

"Yes, we've talked enough. Go and rest, Erik; we'll continue this conversation another time." The director nodded and spoke calmly, bringing the questioning of Erik to an end, to which Erik promptly replied with gratitude.

"Thank you very much, Director. I'll take my leave, then."

After saying his farewells, Erik bowed respectfully before everyone present and then walked toward the exit accompanied by Eleonora, Sigrún, and Seraphina, who seemed to be floating with happiness. Everyone looked on with profound, meaningful gazes at the monstrously talented, star-haired boy.

"That boy is an absurd monster…" Once Erik left the room, Ngozi commented in a somewhat tired voice as she looked at the other people present, who could not help but nod in agreement. Then she added thoughtfully.

"Besides, I have a strong suspicion that the spirit accompanying him is beyond just a simple mature spirit."

"Are you sure about that, Ngozi?" Adrian asked in surprise as he looked at her. A feeling shared by all the other Masters present. Ngozi nodded and responded with a much more serious tone.

"I'm not certain; it's only a suspicion. Although everything around that dragon spirit indicates it's a mature spirit, there was something peculiar: in the competition there was a member of my clan who also has a contract with a mature spirit, but curiously, his spirit was incredibly afraid of the dragon spirit accompanying disciple Erik."

"Aren't you exaggerating a bit, Ngozi? Even among mature spirits, there are differences in their power levels, and it could just be that this dragon spirit is more powerful." Thalia remarked somewhat incredulously. Ngozi shook her head and explained.

"The issue is that you don't have contracts with spirits, so you can't fully grasp how strange the situation is. Spirits show respect toward power, not fear. After all, spirits are, in themselves, quasi-immortal creatures. But the spirit that accompanies the member of my clan—and even the guardian spirit of the Sakuraba clan—reacted in a strange way around that dragon." Ngozi turned to look at Ryoma and asked with interest.

"Don't you think the same, Ryoma?"

"In that regard, Ngozi is right. Hiyori-sama behaved a bit oddly around that dragon…" Ryoma commented thoughtfully, recalling the brief encounter between Hiyori, the nine-tailed fox spirit allied with his family, and the dragon spirit accompanying Erik.

"Let's cut these diatribes short." The director suddenly remarked with a firm tone, drawing everyone's attention and forcibly pulling them from their thoughts.

"Do you know something, Director?" Ngozi asked curiously, but the director shook his head and replied.

"It's not so much that I know something; it's just that it isn't worth trying to pry into the secrets of such a valuable member of the Order as Erik. His future is practically limitless, and he also has a strong attachment to this faction, to the point that he offered to donate two of his patents to the Order. It's not worth alienating him over something like this, and you already know his Masters."

The Master-level individuals present—apart from Adrian, who already knew this information—looked at the director in surprise. After all, donating patents was incredibly rare throughout the entire Arcane Order, and giving a patent to the faction by one's own free will was something that likely had never happened before in history.

That was because patents as useful as Erik's typically required an immense amount of investment and represented a massive profit for their owners. Furthermore, within the Arcane Order, patents held a certain special status, granting both the inventors and the organization investing in them the standing of "creators of knowledge", a highly attractive distinction not only for reputation but also for business. Since it generally commanded a great deal of respect from the public.

Because of the respect the title held in the Arcane Order, it was seen as unfair for an inventor not to benefit from their own patent. To the point that it was considered an aberration for someone who had not invested directly in the research to profit from it. Moreover, it wasn't as if the faction lacked funds or anything like that; they were by far the wealthiest faction in the galaxy. Even with their low tax rate—the lowest in the galaxy—their annual budget was orders of magnitude greater than those of the other factions.

That didn't mean the faction had no patents of its own, of course; they invested heavily in research and development, so countless researchers worked for the Order. The patents they developed were the property of the Order, although the researchers retained 30% of the royalties generated by their patents, and their names were recorded as the inventors.

"Director, did Erik really do that? Did he really donate two of his patents to the Order, not just the licenses?" Thalia asked, filled with surprise. The director responded with a satisfied smile.

"He really tried to donate the patents in their entirety, but in the end, we ended up purchasing them at a good price because it wouldn't look right for us to accept such a donation, and it's highly useful technology with plenty of applications."

"But why did he do it? I don't see Eleonora or Sigrún advising him to do such a thing, and really the faction hasn't done much for him. After all, if he's grateful to anyone, it should be to his masters, who brought him here and have cared for him." Ryoma asked, somewhat confused, to which the director replied cheerfully.

"You're right, Ryoma; the Order hasn't done much for him. But according to Erik's own words, the Arcane Order is a paradise come true, and he only wants to show his support in some way. As he said, 'A place with equality before the law, a free market, low taxes, and without collectivists doing stupid things is like a dream come true', hahaha."

"Collectivists?" Ngozi asked, somewhat puzzled by the unfamiliar term. Adrian answered with an ironic smile:

"Yes, it's something Erik mentions from time to time, and he tends to refer to that group in rather disparaging terms. Apparently, he calls 'collectivists' those who believe that the group is more important than the individual."

"Is it okay for him to have those thoughts? His words only seem to indicate that, for him, the individual stands above the common good, which isn't very healthy if we're thinking about the benefit of the Order." Jessica asked, somewhat worried. The director answered with a faint smile as he looked at the Master-level with ashen-blonde hair, who was no longer wearing her usual suit but was now clad in the Order's uniform.

"Although indeed an individualistic mindset could be harmful for someone who will undoubtedly hold a very important position in the faction—since it could mean they'd seek personal benefit over the interests of the Order—the reality is that his 'individualism' is somewhat different. The simple fact that he offered to donate his patents to the faction, very likely against his masters' wishes, is a clear example of this.

"For Erik, individualism is less about excessive selfishness and more about personal freedom to make decisions and assume the consequences of them, whatever those may be. That's why he loves our Arcane Order and considers it a paradise—because here, he's free to choose, and it appears he's quite fond of low taxes as well, to the point where he submitted several proposals about different revenue sources and potential cost reductions that would allow taxes to be lowered even further, hahaha." The director laughed happily as he recalled the documents Erik had sent to the government offices with his suggestions. Jessica, a bit unsettled, commented.

"Erik is a strange and somewhat contradictory boy…"

"You're telling me. Eleonora and Sigrún don't stop complaining that Erik only accepts a tiny fraction of the money they give him, which he spends in just a moment, and then goes around 'with no money' for the rest of the month, as though he were a poor man—so much so that he ends up 'saving' for several months to buy more expensive materials, even though he has mountains of crystals to spend." Thalia added with an ironic smile, recalling some of her conversations with Eleonora and Sigrún.

"Hahaha, Erik really is a strange boy, but most likely thanks to that, he was able to present so many valuable patents that greatly reduce the cost of different devices and production methods. Perhaps that way of thinking is what's led him to achieve so much in such a short time." The director commented, amused by Erik's quirks. Among the Children of Myst, those with such uncommon behaviors weren't unusual; in fact, Erik would be considered among the 'cute' ones.

"The director is right about that. They say that genius and madness are two sides of the same coin…"

Ngozi remarked, somewhat distracted, as she gazed at the door through which Erik had left. But she quickly shook her head and added with a more serious expression, looking directly at the director.

"Well then, leaving the matter of disciple Erik aside, I'd like to confirm what we're going to do about the rest of the tournament. Will we change the rules or keep them the same?"

"There's no need to change anything. It's unlikely someone else can pull off what Erik did, and if anyone does manage it, that would be far from a bad thing. It would be quite good, actually, because knowledge in Artificery and Alchemy, as well as special skills, will be extremely valuable during the exploration.

"If anything, perhaps we should add a few extra rewards for those who manage to overcome the trials in 'unorthodox ways' and pass those events off as 'hidden tests', since if they can do well here, it's equally likely they'll do well in the exploration and bring back plenty of benefits." The director spoke in a calm tone as he looked around at everyone present, who nodded in agreement. At that moment, Ngozi asked with a professional tone.

"What rewards do you think would be best, Director?"

"Hmm, let's have Adrian handle that." The director turned to Adrian, then continued speaking calmly.

"Adrian, coordinate with Ngozi and look through the vault for some things the participants might like."

"Understood, Director." Adrian answered seriously, then glanced at Ngozi and nodded with her before leaving the room. The director then commented happily.

"Well then, let's continue to see what surprises the younger generation will bring us in this tournament."

Spoiler: Patreon

If you like it, you can support me on https://www.patreon.com/lordanl and get up to 10 advanced chapters.

 

[lordanl]

After leaving the meeting room of the space station, Erik walked through the station's beautiful corridors until he arrived at a lovely private chamber. He entered the chamber accompanied by Sigrún, Eleonora, and Seraphina, all of them wearing an elegant and serious, almost aristocratic expression. This caused amazement among all passersby.

Just as the doors to the private room closed, a barrier extended, completely covering the room. At the same time, Sigrún leaped onto Erik in excitement, letting any hint of elegance or seriousness fly out the window without the slightest concern.

Absolutely delighted, Sigrún began to give Erik a rapid succession of kisses on his cheek, then hugged him tightly while exclaiming with excitement and spinning in small hops, as if she were a teenage girl.

"You're the best, Erik!!! Did you see the faces of those old bastards? Did you see how they were dying of envy for not having such a brilliant disciple? I was able to show off all I wanted thanks to you, hahahaha, you're the best disciple in the world!!!"

Hearing the happiness in his master's voice, Erik smiled warmly and returned the hug, causing Sigrún to stop hopping. Instead, the beautiful master buried her face in her beloved disciple's chest, allowing her heart to melt in his warm and loving embrace.

Initially, Erik had been a bit worried that he hadn't done enough for his masters to boast the way they wanted. After all, he didn't get too many chances to perform aside from his dramatic entrance at the start and his brazen theft of the staff. But it seemed his worries were unwarranted, and everything turned out just fine.

Meanwhile, Eleonora observed Sigrún's behavior with a gentle smile on her face, genuinely happy to see just how excited she was. But upon seeing the hug that her beloved disciple and sworn sister were sharing, she quickly drew near and hugged him affectionately from behind, then kissed his cheek and spoke in a soft, delighted voice.

"Erik, you really outdid yourself. You made me feel truly proud."

"I'm glad you liked my performance."

Erik commented warmly, at which moment Eleonora rested her head on his back, initiating a comfortable silence in which they conveyed their emotions through the warmth of their embrace. Sigrún and Eleonora's hearts filled with a gentle, soothing sensation, leaving only gratitude in their minds for the day they met their beloved disciple who brought them so much happiness.

After a moment, Erik turned to look at his reliable maid, Seraphina, who, despite having a serious and highly professional expression, inevitably appeared a bit lonely—a sight that brought a playful smile to Erik's lips. His beautiful maid was very dependable, but she was also stubborn to a fault, so she sometimes needed a little push.

Seeing her beloved young master free one of his arms from Sigrún's embrace and extend it toward her with a pleasant smile, Seraphina couldn't help showing a startled and conflicted expression, lowering her head right after. Indeed, she very much wanted to join the hug, but at the same time, it was not the kind of behavior befitting a perfect maid, which filled her mind with endless doubts about what she should do.

Noting Seraphina's conflicted look, Erik grinned in amusement and cast the most powerful spell he knew to convince his stubborn personal maid. A ghostly hand materialized from thin air behind Seraphina, delivering a resounding, but soundless, smack on her backside. This caused her to jerk her head up in surprise to look at her young master, who wore an imperious, dominant expression, sending Seraphina an ultimatum with his gaze.

Seraphina's face quickly turned an attractive shade of pink as she began casting shy yet pleased glances at her beloved young master, who understood her better than anyone else. Shortly after, she approached him with short, hesitant steps, almost fearful of what she was about to do.

Upon arriving at Erik's side, Sigrún grinned mischievously and made room for Seraphina, who then hugged her young master, burying her face in his chest and refusing to look at anyone—almost like a frightened turtle retreating into its shell for protection—causing the pair of masters to smile in amusement.

"Seraphina, the perfect maid, is intruding on her Young Lady's affectionate moment with her young master. How disrespectful, fufufu." Eleonora said with a laugh, giving a teasing look to Seraphina, who used Erik as a shield, unwilling to raise her head.

"Yeah, Sera, the perfect maid, has broken character. What a tragedy, hehehe." Sigrún immediately joined in, making fun of Seraphina with a broad grin.

"Don't make fun of Seraphina. She didn't want this; I forced her." Erik spoke calmly, attempting to keep his masters from teasing his poor maid, but Sigrún showed no mercy and added mockingly.

"Don't defend this shameless maid, Erik. Look at her, wedging herself between her mistress and her young master—what nerve, hehe."

"Yes, Erik, let us speak our mind about this 'perfect shadow', fufufu." Eleonora commented playfully, causing Erik to simply shake his head and tighten his embrace on Seraphina, who trembled slightly against his chest each time Eleonora or Sigrún taunted her. At that point, Sigrún cheerfully remarked.

"What's more, as punishment, we should take away her chance to serve Erik for a week. What do you think, Eli?"

"I think that…"

Eleonora tried to speak in a teasing tone, but her words got stuck in her throat, and in the blink of an eye, the mocking look on Sigrún's face morphed into outright panic. All because of a simple, frigid glare that Seraphina shot them from beneath Erik's embrace, where he couldn't see it.

"…we've already teased Seraphina enough. It'd be better to do something more productive and start planning our trip, don't you think?" Eleonora quickly continued, making an effort to sound steady, while Sigrún nodded repeatedly and spoke in a slightly shaky voice.

"Y-yeah, you're right. Let's stop fooling around and plan our trip."

Erik, for his part, was somewhat taken aback by the abrupt shift in his masters' attitudes, as they suddenly ushered him toward a beautiful table to discuss the trip. Turning his head, he cast Seraphina a mildly suspicious look, but she merely smiled amiably at him, as if nothing had happened, then set a plate of cookies on the table.

"All right then, how about we keep watching the tournament for one more week and then set out?" Sigrún proposed, sipping the tea Seraphina served her with a smile, while Erik—after wolfing down the sweet bribe offered by his lovely maid, who now stood beside him wearing a sweet smile—asked.

"Aren't we going to wait for Liliana?"

"It's not necessary; she'll take quite a while to come out. In reality, none of the masters here stick around until their disciples come out. Chances are, they wait for about a month and then leave, returning only when their disciples are about to come out, or at the very end of the tournament." Eleonora explained in a calm tone, at the same time beginning to arrange Erik's hair with a soft smile on her face.

"I see… then I'm glad I got out quickly…"

Erik muttered to himself, pulling out his notebook with the intention of writing something in it. However, at that moment, the hands of Eleonora, Sigrún, and Seraphina landed atop his notebook, preventing him from writing. He looked up to find his masters and his maid gazing at him with small smiles on their faces. Feeling somewhat confused, he asked.

"What's wrong?"

"You're about to write down that you should remember to come out quickly or find something to do while we come back for you, right?" Sigrún asked, looking Erik in the eye. He just nodded as he responded.

"Of course. I need to write it down so I won't forget next time, or else I'll be super bored waiting for you all to return."

"You don't have to write anything; that's not going to happen to you." Eleonora spoke softly, removing her hand from the notebook, followed by Seraphina and Sigrún. Once Sigrún removed her hand, she placed the notebook at the center of the table, out of Erik's reach.

"This time, it was just by chance that you got out quickly. If there's a next time, I need to be prepared for things not to go so smoothly…"

Erik commented, still somewhat puzzled, staring longingly at his notebook in the middle of the table, almost as if he were watching the love of his life being forcibly taken away. At that moment, Sigrún extended a hand to gently caress his face, then spoke with a tender smile.

"We've already told you, Erik, there's no need to write that down because it's not going to happen. What we explained is the general circumstance for a disciple—and that doesn't apply to you."

Sigrún's words left Erik somewhat confused for a moment, but he quickly glanced at the three women. They all offered him meaningful smiles, prompting him to connect the dots, nod with a look of realization, and respond with a pleasant smile.

"Ohhh, I get it. Thank you, Sigrún, Eleonora, Seraphina."

Erik smiled happily as he addressed the three by name, causing Eleonora and Sigrún to blush slightly. Even so, they nodded with smiles on their faces. Eleonora quickly got ahold of herself, though, and asked with a loving smile.

"Fufu, so where would you like to go for vacation, Erik?"

"To be honest, I'm not sure. I don't really know anywhere, though I'd love to see interesting sights in space."

Erik responded casually after taking a bite of a cookie, at which point Sigrún retrieved a crystal tablet from her storage ring. A holographic display of a star map appeared, which she began manipulating as she spoke in a thoughtful tone.

"Mmm, in that case, we can look for cosmic events nearby, since we do have to come back eventually."

"We should also find a tourist or cultural spot to visit, preferably somewhere not too crowded." Eleonora suggested with a grin, pulling out her own crystal tablet that likewise displayed a star map, prompting everyone to nod in agreement.

"Yes, let's look for a place in the galaxy that isn't too well-known, so we can relax."

Sigrún remarked with a knowing smile, at which point Seraphina placed her own crystal tablet on the table. It projected a series of images as she spoke in a professional tone.

"I believe the Auroria system meets all of these requirements, so it might be a good option."

Seraphina's words caught everyone's attention, at which point Sigrún made a gesture with her hand, causing the hologram emitted by the crystal tablet to enlarge significantly and display more photos and information. At the same time, Eleonora commented in a thoughtful tone.

"You're right; it's perfect. It's fairly close, it's backward enough that nobody will recognize us, but it has quite an interesting style."

"Its main planet has a moon…" Erik noted under his breath while gazing at the moon in one of the pictures, making Eleonora, Sigrún, and Seraphina look at each other with mischievous smiles. Then they all spoke at once.

"""That's the one!"""

"So, that's the one."

Hearing the excitement from his masters and maid, Erik looked up, slightly amused, then nodded and commented with a cheerful smile. All of them nodded in agreement, while Sigrún waved her hand to make the hologram on Seraphina's crystal tablet disappear. She then enlarged the one on her own tablet before speaking.

"Since it's decided, let's choose the interesting spots in space we're going to visit. I heard a white dwarf is about to form not far from here; we could go see it..."

Spoiler: Patreon

If you like it, you can support me on https://www.patreon.com/lordanl and get up to 10 advanced chapters.