"You're truly impressive to come up with this in such a short time."
As she drew a refinement circle on a wooden board, following Erik's instructions and calculations from the notebook, Christine couldn't help but comment with a voice full of admiration. Erik, who was seated a few meters away on Myst's platform amidst a formation of mana crystals, with Elara standing behind him casting healing spells, responded in a calm tone.
"Actually, it was an idea that had been forming in my head for a while. It's just that the current circumstances forced me to rush and improvise a bit."
"It's still impressive. Developing something like this would take an expert several years at least…" Christine replied softly, at which point Elara chimed in with a voice full of admiration.
"Besides, it opens a path for us. If this works, opening our storage rings wouldn't just be a dream."
"That would be difficult." Erik replied while making calculations in a notebook. "I have some confidence in opening my rings because I made them myself with relatively common materials, so at best, they're Illuminated-level artifacts. But I highly doubt anyone here has something like that."
"Boss… Actually, I do have an Illuminated-level ring." At that moment, Frank, who had been sitting in a lotus position recovering, opened his eyes and commented while looking at Erik. Soon, Dalai Lin added with a serious tone.
"Me too. Though I only store some basic pills and low-value items in it, they'd be immensely valuable here."
Erik turned to look at the other young members of his group, noticing two of the youths accompanying Tomás, members of the Bikerea, nodding as they each removed a ring from their fingers. After thinking for a few seconds, Erik commented calmly.
"Perfect, then we'll do the following. Since I didn't make those rings, which increases the difficulty by several levels, we'll first test with my second ring, which has things I can afford to lose. If it doesn't work, we'll try with your rings to avoid risking the portable shelter. Do you agree?"
"Absolutely." Frank nodded with a serious tone, and the others followed suit with equal seriousness. Erik nodded back, then looked at Chen and Ethan, speaking calmly as he handed them the notebook he was writing in.
"Then, Chen and Ethan, I want you to review these rough calculations for the spells I plan to use to harness the black fire. Considering the resources we currently have, I want you to study ways to avoid drawing attention."
"Leave it to us." Ethan quickly took the notebook and replied in a serious tone, then began discussing it with Chen with a focused expression. Meanwhile, Erik took a healing potion, then looked up and commented calmly.
"Elara, check the calculations with Ethan and Chen and help me refine the 'rough edges.'"
Elara, who had her hands extended toward Erik's back with a magic circle in front of her, bit her lower lip hard but soon nodded seriously. Turning to the other sacred geometry mages in the group, she ordered in a firm tone.
"Those who've recovered enough will act as my support. The Sacred Geometry practitioners will review the calculations and take notes to ask me about. Meanwhile, those who can cast healing spells will take turns with me."
""Understood.""
The mages, including Frank, responded in unison, at which point Erik turned to Zoe and spoke seriously.
"Zoe, I'll leave you in charge of making a full inventory of what we have and organizing the entire camp."
"Leave it to me." Zoe soon nodded and turned to the knights in the group, then ordered with a serious tone.
"Knights, follow me. Half of you will help me with the inventory, and the other half will set up support points to keep us elevated without relying on Erik's Myst platforms."
"Understood." The knights nodded seriously, at which point Erik looked at Tomás and commented calmly.
"Tomás, I want you to give me some data on how the controlled collapse of the inner space in storage bags works. We need to reduce the probability of failure to the absolute minimum."
"Count on it. Give me a pencil and paper, and I'll write down everything related to save time." Tomás replied seriously. Erik nodded in satisfaction and quickly reached into his storage bag, pulling out a notebook, a pencil, and a healing potion.
"Perfect."
Meanwhile, Christine continued drawing the refinement circle and polishing some minor details, but her gaze inevitably wandered toward Erik. Though the young man looked pale and sickly, with his dull hair and the pattern of stars and galaxies almost faded, to the beautiful blue-haired woman, he exuded an almost intoxicating charm.
Erik, though on the brink of death, sat with his back straight and a calm expression as he wrote in his notebook and gave orders in a steady tone, like an experienced leader. In Christine's eyes, it was as if, with him in command, everyone was safe, everything was stable, and any problem had a solution. This gave her a sense of security she never expected to feel in the middle of this hell.
But as Christine reflected, she suddenly noticed a change. The strange song echoing in the distance, which Tomás had categorized as a lullaby, began to fade. Surprised, Christine quickly set the chalk aside and grabbed her staff, turning to look at Erik once more.
Beside Erik, Zoe and Tomás were already on full alert along with the wolves, while Elara and the mages formed a circle around Erik, holding their staffs high, ready to conjure barriers at any moment. Meanwhile, Erik himself remained seated with a calm expression as he drank a healing potion and surveyed the surroundings.
As she took her place among the mages, with the other knights positioning themselves in front of them for protection, Christine noticed the light on the walls beginning to dim. At the same time, through Myst's crystalline platform below, Christine could see the golems pause for a moment before starting to move again, their motions slower and more rigid.
"This might not be good news…" Shifting his gaze between the golems and the walls, Erik commented in a thoughtful tone. Elara soon added in a similar tone, looking directly at Erik.
"Do you think this change will affect the exit portals?"
"I imagine it will. According to the hologram's message, the ruin suffered catastrophic damage, which triggered an evacuation mechanism left by the creators of this place. So, it's logical to think it could fail, especially considering how ancient this place is."
"That makes sense… So, are we trapped now…?" Zoe commented in a soft voice, to which Erik replied after a small sigh.
"Hard to say. Maybe yes, maybe no. We won't know until we reach an exit."
"Speaking of which, something's been bothering me… Why did the hologram mention small children and play a lullaby? Could this place have been designed for children in ancient times…? Is that why there's an age limit? But that doesn't make sense.
"Someone who's 300 years old, though young, is far from a child, and I'd sooner lose an arm than believe those hunters are under 300. Plus, why is there a basilisk here…?"
Tomás spoke, full of intrigue, as his gaze wandered over the golems and the corridor, alert to any changes. Erik, also keeping his eyes on the golems, responded in a calm voice.
"I don't see why not. On the planet where I was born, someone at 30 was considered middle-aged, and lifting 300 kilograms would be a titanic, almost impossible task for them. Meanwhile, at the university, it's not uncommon for people to call me a baby for being 'only 30 years old,' not to mention that 300 kg is something any random 30-year-old can lift with one hand. The concept of maturity and strength varies greatly depending on culture and life expectancy.
"Therefore, if we consider that these ancient ruins come from a civilization so powerful that even our Legend levels are helpless against their creations, it's only logical to think that for such a civilization, someone 300 or even 1,000 years old could be considered a child, and a terrifying basilisk might be little more than a somewhat troublesome pet. Not to mention, that thing could have grown and strengthened over time."
Upon hearing Erik, everyone except Elara and Zoe turned to look at him in surprise, at which point Tomás couldn't help but ask, full of astonishment.
"You were born in such a backward place?"
"Yes, what I am today is entirely thanks to my masters." Erik replied with a smile, eliciting a strange feeling in all the listeners. But wanting to get back to the important matter, Elara quickly commented in a serious voice.
"Back to the topic, there's something that doesn't add up to me—the golems. Despite how mysterious this place is and how evidently advanced and powerful, the golems are too weak. Even though the hologram called them 'logistical units,' their strength is around the Illuminated level. Not at all what you'd expect from a place like this."
"They're certainly not strong, but from what we've seen so far, they can be generated in absurd quantities from the walls. If, for example, we say this place can produce an infinite number of Illuminated-level golems, would you still think the same? Besides, no one says the golems were originally this 'weak.' Time could have affected them, or this place might have more intricate restrictions that we don't know about."
"That's true…" Elara nodded with a serious expression, at which point Zoe asked in a firm tone.
"So, what do we do now? Do we move, or what?"
Erik silently watched the golems for a few seconds, pondering his options, but before he could say anything, Christine spoke in a serious tone.
"The best thing is to stay here. The formations have proven effective, and this might just be a temporary pause. Right now, our priority should be opening the ring and healing Erik. Without him, even if no more golems come out of the walls, we have practically no hope of reaching the bottom of this damned place alive, and getting out of here is suicide with the basilisk roaming around."
"Though I don't like agreeing with her, I'm on board. We already have a 'map' of this place thanks to Erik, so there's not much need to explore. There's not much we can gain." Elara soon added, looking at Christine with a bit of distaste. For his part, Erik looked up and commented in a calm voice.
"I agree with your opinions. We don't know if this is a temporary pause or something permanent, or if it's the prelude to something else. Therefore, let's wait and see what happens. This way, we can recover and use the time to open the ring. So, let's get back to work, but knights, stay alert to any changes."
""Understood!"" The knights of the team responded in unison, at which point the wolves, detecting no danger, shrank back down to lie carefully beside Erik's legs.
"Let's get back to work."
Tomás nodded seriously, and soon everyone returned to their tasks while keeping an eye on the golems below. The golems walked slowly through the corridor, almost as if patrolling, while the walls, despite still having many glowing golden runes, once again revealed their shiny black color.
For his part, Erik took his notebook and resumed his calculations, though internally, he couldn't help but let out a small sigh as he studied the Myst around him. Since his body had reached the pitiful state it was in, his senses had dulled, and his connection to the Myst felt distant, almost blocked by a wall.
This caused the Myst he could control to be limited to just one or two meters around him, while the maximum range of his Mystic Awareness had shrunk to nearly a third. Added to the fact that more than half of his mana circulatory system was in tatters and he could barely control his mana effectively to cast spells. It made him feel like the blind, deaf, and mute monkey all at once.
But though he felt tired, dizzy, and alone without Ebonique's company, Erik still took a deep breath and focused entirely on his task. While he wasn't particularly afraid of the almost imminent death, he still wanted to continue living his joyful life with his beautiful masters and his mischievous maid. Therefore, he had to make the utmost effort to escape alive and receive the scolding he was sure they'd give him upon his return.
After all, he was fully aware that Ebonique was right—his actions were foolish and practically suicidal, and they didn't even bring him any real benefit. The worst part was that he didn't even do it because he was a good person or considered himself a hero. He simply lived the way he had been raised, as that was the only way he could feel that his grandparents were still a part of his life.
The sacrifices that old couple made to raise a random orphan who took nearly half of his life to understand what empathy was were not few. As long as he lived, no matter the situation or circumstances, he would never allow them to be forgotten.
Even if he were the last living being in existence, he would continue remembering, valuing, thanking, and respecting the only two people who had the heart to dedicate their lives to teaching him through example. What love, compassion, and family were.
***
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