Elara and Zoe looked in the direction Erik was pointing, only to find several young mbers of the Jade Union staring back at him with hostile intent—especially those from the Xiao family, who seed to be overflowing with murderous intent.
"Hahaha, since when are we afraid of the Lotus Union? Even if nothing had happened, they would've co after us anyway, so don't underestimate us, Erik." Elara said with a defiant smile, to which Zoe added gracefully.
"Elara's right. Those small-minded would've found any excuse to co after us no matter what. Or… could it be that you don't want to team up with us anymore?"
"Of course not; I was just asking to be sure." Erik replied with a smile, then turned to look at Chen and asked casually while grabbing a cookie.
"And you? Are you sure you won't get into trouble for being here?"
"Not so much getting into trouble. They might try to co after a bit, though. After all, the one who just ran off was none other than Xiao Tianji—or Tianji Xiao in Galactic Standard—one of the most prominent young mbers of the Xiao clan.
"He's a Revealed-Peak cultivator at just 250 years old, so he's pretty famous and commands entire legions of followers, not to ntion he's highly valued by his family. So yeah, it's a bit problematic."
Chen Ming replied in a serious tone, then brought his teacup—just refilled by Seraphina—to his lips while discreetly glancing at the wolves beside Erik. They had managed to catch off guard soone who should have been able to kill them effortlessly—a truly insane feat. Everything surrounding the star-haired boy was undeniably strange.
"I see… that might be a bit of a problem. If I give it my all, at best, I might be able to hold my own against a Revealed-Advanced for a short ti. But a 'Peak', three sub-ranks above, that's completely beyond my capabilities." Erik said calmly, not a hint of fear on his face, which made Chen feel compelled to ask, sowhat concerned.
"So, what are you going to do? If you run into that guy inside, you can be sure he'll try to kill you."
"Well, if it were a direct fight, I'd definitely lose. But Kaiser and Tiberius proved sothing—while I'm weaker, he can't easily detect . So it's not a lost cause. Besides, killing isn't that easy."
Erik replied calmly, knowing that the various rings on his hands were filled with all kinds of protective asures his masters and Seraphina had prepared for him—almost obsessively. Then the star-haired boy looked Chen straight in the eyes and added, calmly but firmly.
"If we et inside, don't attack —or I won't show any rcy."
"How could you even think that? In fact, if we et inside, let's team up."
Chen quickly replied, a bit nervously, as for so reason Erik's gaze gave him a slight chill. Still, his words were sincere—he truly believed that teaming up with Erik was the right decision. After all, he had never in his life t soone so intelligent and talented.
On top of that, the star-haired boy had the backing of two of the wealthiest Master-level figures in the galaxy, as they stood at the very top of the pyramids of Alchemy and Artificery. That ant Erik wouldn't bother fighting over minor gains, which gave a less fortunate young cultivator like him a chance to earn so valuable items if he negotiated properly.
…
After a while, the Director's voice echoed in the ears of Erik, Zoe, and Elara, while a much heavier, authority-laden voice resonated in Chen's mind—the voice of the Legend-level Regent of his faction. After exchanging farewells, Erik once again lined up in order—though this ti without Seraphina, who had to walk away with a sad expression on her face—before taking his place behind Sigrún and Eleonora.
Before long, the group from the Arcane Order, followed by the other three factions, marched in perfect formation toward the massive tal bunker, which was heavily guarded by agents from all four factions. Soon, the enormous tallic doors of the bunker slowly began to open automatically.
On the other side of the door lay an imnse hallway seemingly built for giants, with tightly packed runes of all kinds carved into the tallic walls and even more heavily ard agents standing guard—clearly stronger than those stationed outside.
The young mbers of the four factions quickly entered the bunker, leaving the Master and Legendary level ones behind. anwhile, Erik, with the help of the surrounding Myst, could sense the curious 'invisible barriers' they passed through every so often. Shortly after, they ca upon another door.
After passing through four similar doors, the young ones arrived at an imnse hall, which was guarded by only eight individuals—two from each faction. Unlike everyone they had seen so far, these eight wore no armor or weapons. On the contrary, they emanated a colossal presence, comparable to that of a star.
As all the youths entered the massive hall, the eight Master-levels—seated with their eyes closed at various spots around the room—opened their eyes simultaneously. Then they muttered a few words, causing one of the 'walls' of the hall to slowly rise, releasing a faint light.
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On the other side of the 'wall' was a chamber where every square inch was covered in thousands of runes. At the far end stood a pair of circular structures, one on the ceiling and one on the floor, both with a powerful spectral blue light at their center, interconnected by a thin line of the sa glowing hue.
"This is the entrance to the ruin, which, as you all know, only opens once every six months. That is the minimum amount of ti you must remain inside. According to the initial exploration missions, the only way to exit is through a similar structure that activates on the sa interval."
One of the Master-levels suddenly spoke in a solemn and heavy voice that, for so reason, seed to carry the weight of age and experience—a world apart from the jovial and relaxed tone Erik had grown accustod to from most Master-levels. In response, all the young people nodded respectfully, just as another Master-level added in an equally heavy and ancient voice.
"The gate has already begun to open and will remain open for exactly 35 minutes. The mont the light covers the entire structure—that is when you must jump in."
After delivering the ssage, all the Master-levels returned to their positions, closing their eyes once again and appearing like hyper-realistic statues—it was even hard to tell if they were breathing. At that mont, Erik quickly called Zoe and Elara over to join him. As soon as they were close, he created an invisible isolation barrier and began to speak.
"Girls, I don't know if we'll get separated after crossing that gate, like during the exam, so I've been working on a little counterasure. Want to try our luck and see if it works?"
Hearing Erik's words, Zoe and Elara's eyes lit up like lanterns. After all, that had been one of their main concerns—the random teleportation during the trial wasn't done without reason; it was because such phenona were common in ancient ruins.
"How confident are you that it'll work?" Elara asked excitedly, to which Erik replied in a calm tone.
"Although so far, I've only tested it with Liliana a couple of tis using one of my master's teleportation spells—and it worked—I don't know how well it'll hold up here, so it's more of a gamble."
"It's always a gamble when trying to interfere with the workings of a ruin." Zoe added, a bit excited, and continued.
"But if your thod worked with a Master-level spell, then there's a high chance it will work here too. It's definitely worth trying—we'd gain a huge advantage by staying together."
As she spoke, Zoe found Erik's calm expression increasingly attractive, sothing that made her heart stir. Elara nodded in agreent, her eyes shining as she looked at the star-haired boy.
"Zoe's right—this is a great opportunity. So tell us, Erik, what do we need to do?"
"Not much." Erik replied as a pale gray braided cord appeared in his hand, covered with a multitude of carved runes. He continued, pointing to it.
"We'll hold hands, and I'll channel mana into both of you, while this artifact will aid the process by masking your mana with mine—making it seem like we're just one person, which should trick the spell or formation trying to separate us."
Erik's words brought a soft blush to the cheeks of both maidens. Even though it was only holding hands, physical contact with n wasn't common for them—especially not with soone as remarkable as Erik.
"Sounds good to . Though I don't think we'll be the only ones trying sothing like this, if we succeed, we'll gain a huge advantage." Elara quickly said, doing her best to hide the slight blush on her cheeks.
"I agree. But… is there any chance we could bring more people? Wouldn't having a larger group help us capitalize on that advantage?" Zoe asked with a small smile, though her cheeks were also temptingly tinged with a soft pink.
"With my thod, it's not really viable. Masking another person's mana with mine—even with the artifact—is already quite complex. That's why direct contact is necessary. I'd say two people is the absolute limit." Erik explained as he looked at Elara and Zoe, who both nodded in understanding and added.
"Makes sense. And besides, we don't have any guarantee that it's even going to work. After all, there were others who tried to trick the random teleportation in the past, and as far as anyone knows, only a few have succeeded, and only just, since luck plays a big role." Elara said thoughtfully, to which Zoe added with a smile.
"That's true too. But the thods recorded in the archives are quite different from the one you've developed, Erik—so it just might work."
"Well, it's still a gamble, so let's go in with that mindset." Erik nodded and replied calmly.
"Then let's go!!"
"It's ti for the adventure to begin."
With Elara and Zoe's words, the light connecting the circular structures on the ceiling and floor expanded in size until, shortly after, it ford a beautiful column of bluish light.
"The gate is open. You may enter."
When the voice of one of the Master-levels—who, for so reason, gave Erik the impression of being an ancient turtle, "slow" and "heavy"—resonated through the hall, many eager young people began jumping into the column of light. Others held hands and jumped in groups, and so even activated artifacts that enclosed several mbers together before leaping.
"Are you ready?"
At that mont, Erik asked in a calm voice as he extended his hands toward Elara and Zoe. A soft, alluring blush appeared on the cheeks of the beautiful ladies, but even so, they timidly took the young erald-eyed boy's hands.
As soon as Erik's hands t the delicate ones of Elara and Zoe, two rope-like artifacts wrapped themselves around their hands and wrists on their own, almost like living serpents, and then began to glow softly.
Almost instantly, both Zoe and Elara began to feel a warm and powerful mana slowly flooding into them, sending waves of strange sensations through their bodies—especially as this unfamiliar mana started flowing through their mana circulatory systems, giving them the distinct feeling that it was taking control of them.
Little by little, the girls felt Erik's mana intertwining with their own, then gradually enveloping it completely—sohow masking it. This made them feel as if, in so strange way, they were becoming one with Erik. And the mont that thought crossed their minds, both of them entered a strange state in which they began to feel the surrounding Myst with astonishing clarity.
"All right, let's jump."
Lost in that unusual state, Elara and Zoe could only nod in autopilot, so Erik quickly led them toward the column of light. Then he jumped into it—channeling all his focus into masking the girls' mana with his own, while simultaneously drawing the surrounding Myst to envelop them like a cocoon.
***
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