After some time, as everyone prepared in their own way for what was to come, Dalai Lin stood up and announced in a serious tone, clenching his fully healed hand in front of him.
"We are ready."
"Perfect, then let's get to work."
Erik, who was sitting at a table made of solidified Myst, eating cookies and drinking a brew prepared by Zoe while taking notes in a notebook, raised his head and commented in a calm voice. With Erik's words, the young group quickly got up from their places and grabbed their weapons. At that moment, Erik took his machetes and ordered with seriousness.
"We're moving in a tight formation of two rings, but this time all mages will activate barriers, and the knights will activate their shields. If anything happens, I'll try to grab the lantern and get us out of here as fast as possible."
"""Understood."""
Once everyone was in position, Erik looked at the lantern and the giant core, swiftly using magic circles to conjure powerful hands of Myst. He sent them toward the two objects while the mages reinforced the barriers to their maximum strength and the knights powered up their mana to full capacity.
Under the focused gaze of everyone present, the Myst hands finally reached the two objects and, without hesitation, attempted to grab them. But to everyone's surprise, the moment the Myst hand brushed against the lantern, it rose into the air and began to spin, then shot toward them at high speed. Erik watched in slow motion as the lantern pierced through the barriers as if they were paper, yet for some reason, he felt no danger.
Soon, the lantern arrived right in front of Erik, stopping abruptly and beginning to rotate gently in the air. For some reason, the subtle movement of the lantern reminded Erik of the way Ebonique used to ask him for mana, and almost instinctively, he ended up touching it to send his mana into it before anyone could stop him.
"Erik!"
As several urgent shouts echoed in the area, Erik felt his mind shake for a moment, and shortly after, he could sense a strange connection with the lantern in front of him. A connection deeper than with a mere magical artifact, something more akin to a contract with a spirit or a magical beast, yet at the same time, it was different—something quite unique.
"What are you…?"
Erik asked as he almost involuntarily tightened his grip around the handle, at which point the lantern emitted a strange, heavy sound. To his surprise, Erik realized he could understand what the lantern was trying to convey—it wanted mana. Feeling no danger from it, he began to give it large amounts.
Meanwhile, the other young members watched in astonishment as the light from the lantern began to intensify, growing so bright that, after a short while, everyone was dazzled and had to cover their eyes. But at that very moment, Erik's voice echoed in everyone's ears, though it sounded somewhat strange, a mix of uncertainty and confusion.
"Guys… It looks like I've 'secured' an Exit… Or something like that…"
The light faded at the same time as Erik's voice, allowing everyone to see again the star-haired youth holding the lantern, which now had a calm and steady flame. At that moment, Elara and Zoe stepped toward Erik simultaneously and asked in unison with worried expressions.
""Are you okay, Erik? / Are you hurt?""
"I'm fine. Actually, this lantern is a magical artifact with an artifact spirit, but it's damaged, and its spirit is now very limited, barely moving on 'instinct.' It recognized me as its 'owner' because it needed my mana to avoid going out." Erik explained calmly while looking at the worried Elara and Zoe. At that moment, Tomás asked seriously.
"It's good that you're okay. But what did you mean by 'securing' an Exit?"
"It's because of this lantern's ability. From what I understand, it can act as a beacon pointing toward a desired target as long as it's something physical and concrete, and there's at least a chance of reaching it." Erik explained with a hint of disbelief as he carefully analyzed the strange lantern. At that moment, Chen couldn't help but comment with a voice full of doubt.
"It shows a path as long as it's possible to reach it…? Will it work…?"
"I don't know, but that's what the artifact spirit conveyed, so there must be some truth to it. Though we'll only have one chance to test it—apparently, it can only be done once a year." Erik remarked while directing his gaze toward the hallway on the other side of the 'door' of the strange room.
"Well, the lantern can keep those things outside at bay, so it might really be powerful. It could work…" Christine commented while looking at the lantern with curiosity, at which point Elara couldn't help but ask while glancing outside.
"It's worth a try, but will the lantern really be able to keep those things at bay if we take it out of here?"
"I think so, since I'm starting to get an idea of what those tentacles really are…" Erik said in a thoughtful tone while using the Myst within the lantern's light to take control of the strange Myst, solidifying it to create a hand and bringing it into the light.
At that moment, everyone could see a slightly dark crystal hand entering the light, releasing a strange, semi-invisible smoke before disappearing. The scene prompted Zoe to look at Erik and comment in a surprised voice.
"Those tentacles are Myst constructs…?"
"That seems to be the case…"
Erik remarked in an incredibly serious tone, as he had sensed it the moment the tentacles appeared—those things were made of "sticky" Myst. That's why he had tried to activate the forced Myst control technique to take over the Myst forming them by force.
Though he had felt it before, now seeing it with his own eyes, he couldn't help but feel shocked. After all, for the first time in the 30 years of his new life, he had encountered something or someone capable of doing the same thing he could.
"So as long as we have the lantern, we can move freely in this place?" Elara asked with visible excitement in her eyes, at which point Erik commented in a voice full of curiosity.
"Maybe more than that…"
As he spoke, Erik connected to the sticky Myst outside and forced it into the range of the light, causing a strange, semi-transparent smoke to fill the area. At the same time, with complete disbelief, each of the young members present felt the amount of Myst in their surroundings increase rapidly, soon becoming so saturated that they felt they could touch it. At that moment, Erik commented with a small, satisfied smile on his face.
"How well do you all know how to use Mystic Confluence and Elemental Synchronization?"
Hearing Erik, the eyes of everyone present lit up with a force even greater than the lantern in Erik's hands. They then began to mobilize the surrounding Myst with ease, feeling a connection deeper than they had ever experienced before. At that moment, Tomás couldn't help but comment in a voice full of surprise while mobilizing his mana at full power.
"I think we don't have to fear Illuminated-level beings anymore…"
"Don't get overconfident. Though we're not defenseless against one now, the power boost you're feeling has a limit. Facing an Illuminated-level being would still be a life-or-death battle."
Erik explained in a calm voice. Having a deep understanding of what could and couldn't be done with a profound connection to Myst, he considered it important for them to remain cautious. Yet, at the same time, internally, he was full of surprises and doubts—surprise that his idea of drawing in Myst worked even better than expected and doubts about the lantern.
After all, the lantern had an artifact spirit, something that depended on functional neural connections, which the golden chains were supposed to 'steal.' Beyond that, it was very strange how similar the lantern was to him. Its only two abilities—purifying the Myst under its light to the point that anyone could connect with it and pointing the way to an object—were almost enhanced versions of things he could do naturally.
He already had the ability to control Myst even better than the lantern allowed, and his senses somehow always subtly guided him toward things he wanted. Though he had felt this subtly since his first life, ever since he learned to use mana on that deserted island, it had been amplified several times, though it wasn't precise or infallible.
These strange coincidences inevitably led him to think that the mysterious lantern might have a connection to him, or perhaps to his strange mana. Unfortunately, the lantern's spirit was too damaged, to the point that its way of communicating with him was even clumsier than Myst. The only clear thing it had conveyed were its abilities; beyond that, it could only ask for mana and little else.
"Well, we can't keep wasting time. Let's get into formation. I'll try to grab the core so we can leave. I'm getting a bad feeling, so it's best to hurry."
Erik finally let out a small sigh after thinking about the matter for a few seconds and ordered seriously. This prompted everyone present to nod seriously and then reorganize into formation. At that moment, Erik created a Myst platform beneath them and lifted it into the air, then created several Myst hands to grab the core while preparing to flee at the slightest sign of trouble.
But to his surprise, the core fell into the Myst hands with ease, causing everyone to let out a small sigh of relief as they watched Erik bring the core toward him. At that moment, Erik made the lantern float just above his head, then announced seriously.
"Let's move! Stay alert!"
Immediately after speaking, Erik encased the core in a Myst barrier and controlled the platform to exit the room. At that moment, large quantities of tentacles formed from the mana, attempting to attack them. But thanks to the light of the gas lantern, all the tentacles vanished long before they could touch them. Erik then noticed that as they moved, the lantern's light was somewhat strange.
Unlike normal light that spreads in all directions, this light stopped abruptly about 20 meters from the lantern, forming a sort of sphere. Though the phenomenon was curious, Erik soon put it aside and accelerated the platform to its maximum while announcing loudly.
"Everyone, use the journey to get as accustomed as possible to using Myst in battle. For now, I don't dare activate the lantern's beacon function since I don't know what might happen to this protective light. So let's first reach the 'original exit.' If things don't work out, we can take a risk with the lantern."
"""Understood!!!"""
The group of young members spoke in unison, filled with newfound confidence in their survival, and then focused on adapting to the new power. Meanwhile, Erik kept one eye on the path and the other on the Myst tentacles forming endlessly outside the lantern's 'field of light,' genuinely amazed and full of curiosity about them.
Even feeling confident due to the lantern's protection, he attempted to take control of the tentacles, though with little success. While he did manage to control a couple, the Myst of the tentacles felt extremely heavy, similar yet different from what the formations do to the Myst. So, while he could control them, he couldn't handle more than five or six at a time, and not for long, which was less than a drop in the "sea" of tentacles.
Soon, Erik gave up on trying to control them and instead began to mimic them, wanting to create something similar. After all, their power was undeniable, managing to pierce through his barriers and shields as if they were nothing, so it was a good opportunity to learn how to improve his own Myst constructs.
…
After some time of a calm journey under the protection of the light, Erik, calculating the time they had traveled, concluded that they weren't far from their destination. He quickly stopped experimenting with Myst and announced loudly.
"We're close! Get ready!"
With Erik's order, solemn expressions appeared on the young members' faces, and they soon started taking potions to quickly reach their optimal condition, gripping their weapons tightly. Not long after, the group finally saw in the distance the entrance to a large hall from which subtle lights of different colors emanated, practically telling them they had arrived at their destination.
***
You can support me on patreon.com/lordanl and get up to 25 advanced chapters.