From the start of the tournant 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 ti for sothing 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 so improvents to the mapping algorithm, a couple of functions for real-ti 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 mont, Erik explained.
"Hmm, think of it as a system capable of determining where sothing is on the planet with almost millitric precision—whether it's an object, a person, or even myself."
"Sounds like sothing useful for weak youngsters." Ebonique comnted with realization, to which Erik nodded in agreent.
"Exactly. Even though sothing like that becos 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 sa ti, he murmured quietly.
"I guess that's the clue I was waiting for..."
"I guess so..." Ebonique agreed, looking in the sa 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 asured about thirty ters and took on her dragon form. At that mont, Erik leapt onto her head, and they took off flying at great speed. anwhile, the small spheres surrounding the refuge glowed softly, conjuring various runes in the air, which reactivated the shield and once again made it invisible.
So ti later, Erik saw on the horizon a monuntal column of whitish light that seed to connect sky and earth, almost like a beacon calling the participants. He inevitably smiled in amusent, as it seed 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 so curiosity at the column of light, which asured about 10 ters in diater 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, so waiting patiently, while others fought against all sorts of beasts.
For so reason, these beasts were imnsely interested in the column—so so much so that they jumped at it, only to turn into ashes shortly thereafter—while other monstrous creatures, on the contrary, seed to watch the surroundings attentively without attacking anyone, almost as if they were waiting for sothing, 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 mont, he called for Kaiser and Tiberius, who easily dispatched a couple of beasts in the vicinity. anwhile, 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 ters tall, and lay down beside him with their heads held high. Kaiser emitted tiny lightning bolts that vanished into the air, while Tiberius seed to rge 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.
Ti 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, so participants seed 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 soone 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-ter eagle that seed to hover without moving a single milliter from its position. For so 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 seed 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 re juvenile spirit. One that only dared remain in her presence because she had ordered it to, fearing that Erik would notice sothing strange.
Ebonique sighed inwardly, regretting the mont 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 ca along, they couldn't do anything against ." Ebonique comnted in a firm and confident tone, making Erik smile, evidently much more at ease. He then comnted.
"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 stemd from his full awareness of the absurd power boost that spiritual empowernt 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 enhancent. 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 by your side, so you can put that out of your mind." Ebonique comnted 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 ntal tongue to keep from blurting out that Ignis could at best equal her, but never surpass her. Saying sothing like that would basically give her away, so gritting her teeth, she comnted 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 mont, 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 comnted without ceasing to caress his companion's scales.
"That's good."
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