With Erik's question, Zoe and Elara turned to look at Frank, who couldn't help but feel a bit pressured. However, he quickly took a deep breath to keep his breathing under control, as he was still exhausted and nearly out of mana, and then began to explain seriously.
"I would say it was bad luck, Direct Disciple Erik, but allow to tell you what happened from the beginning. When I passed through the pillar of light, I appeared in a stone house a few kiloters from here. After exploring the surroundings a bit, I didn't find anyone else, so I asked Lirio, my contracted spirit, to search the area for people or familiar mana.
"Not long after that, Lirio inford that he had detected the scent of mana from the esteed direct disciples, so I decided to approach, hoping to offer my help. But halfway there, so strange golden chains caught , and all my magical artifacts stopped working—even my flying skateboard—so I fell from the sky onto a strange ruin.
"Although I managed to land safely with a spell, that seed to awaken that Golem, who erged from beneath the rocks and began attacking . At first, I tried to take it down, even using my strongest spell, but I barely managed to push it a few ters back. So I had no choice but to run."
"And you ran in our direction, hoping we would save you." Elara remarked in a calm voice as she looked at Frank, her arms crossed in front of her chest. This caused the young student to bow and apologize sincerely.
"At first, I was just trying to lose it, but even with my speed, that Golem always managed to catch up. So I had no other choice. Without my artifacts and unable to access my storage ring to retrieve potions or even my staff, death was the only thing waiting for . Still, I apologize for my boldness. I know I might have put you in danger, and if my presence bothers you, I assure you I will leave and try not to trouble you again."
"Although it certainly wasn't pleasant for you to bring danger to us, I can understand you—and I forgive you." Zoe said in a serious voice. At that mont, Elara added in a slightly annoyed and sarcastic tone.
"And it makes no sense for you to leave. As long as you have that spirit with you, you'll be able to find us. And unless you die halfway, it's highly likely you'll co running back if you're in a desperate situation."
"…"
Upon hearing Elara's words, Frank chose to remain silent and lower his head, as he didn't dare lie to the direct disciples by saying he wouldn't do it again. After all, he didn't want to die just yet, and desperation has no sha. At that mont, Elara turned to look at Erik and asked in a calm tone.
"And what do you think, Erik?"
"Let him stay. His spirit's ability is valuable enough to overlook this minor setback."
Erik replied in a composed voice as he studied the enormous golem, nearly seven ters tall. It appeared to be made of so material between rock and tal, perfectly smooth and slightly reflective. At that mont, Erik placed one of his fingers on it and began to trace a line while channeling small amounts of mana.
As Erik passed his finger over the surface, he noticed that faint characters—typical of the Jade Lotus Union—began to light up. However, unlike the usual runes, which were either carved or embossed, these Zazen discipline runes were invisible unless mana was infused into them, appearing more like a kind of glowing tattoo on the material or sothing similar.
"Did you discover sothing?" Zoe asked, full of curiosity, to which Erik responded in a thoughtful tone, bringing his hand to his chin.
"Not so much a discovery. It's just that there are two things about this golem, aside from the obvious—that it's an artifact of the Zazen discipline. First, it's extrely simple, but not in the way a novice would make it. It's more like sothing that's been simplified by an expert—stripping the golem's various functions down to their bare essentials, as if trying to determine the absolute minimum required for it to work.
"Secondly, the material this thing is made of is called [Oricalite], which has several interesting properties, and it's usually used to create complex artifacts. Not only is it an excellent mana conductor, it's also highly resistant to corrosion and wear. But most importantly, it protects the runic arrays from the vast majority of external interferences."
"Do you think that protection is what allowed it to survive those golden chains? Or was it its simplicity?" Elara quickly asked, a bit surprised, to which Erik shook his head and replied, still deep in thought.
"I don't know. Though it's certainly noteworthy that it's made of Oricalite. My armor and machetes were crafted by my master and offer protection against external interference several tis greater than what Oricalite provides. So the best option is to take at least part of it with us for further study."
"Erik, couldn't this thing be useful to create the cauldron?"
As she handed the belt back to Erik—one that was linked to the relative positions of the barriers and the resources he had gathered—Elara asked with a hint of excitent. Erik, however, shook his head and replied as he put the belt back on.
"No. While it could technically be used to make one, it's not the right material, so the result would be quite disappointing. Besides, it's a very difficult material to work with without the proper tools, so it's better to look for sothing else."
"I see… that's a sha."
Elara said with so disappointnt, while Zoe could only let out a regretful sigh—sothing that caught Frank by surprise. The ntion of a cauldron could only an that the direct disciples were preparing to make potions, which would undoubtedly be vital given the situation they were in.
But at the sa ti, Frank couldn't help but look at the starry-haired young man with so confusion. If he had understood correctly, that was the one who had destroyed the golem—and from what he had heard, he was only at Ascended-level. That kind of feat should have required a trendous amount of mana. Yet, he looked perfectly fine—not even short of breath like Frank was. But before he could ask anything, the starry-haired young man spoke to him in a serious tone.
"Well, Frank, since I assu you'll be staying with us, I'd like to understand a bit more about how your spirit's ability works. If it's what I suspect, it could be crucial in the future."
"I understand, and actually, it's a simple ability. Lirio can 'sll' mana and track it back to its source—he just needs a sample to rember the scent." Frank quickly replied in a serious tone, which led Erik to ask with interest.
"Does it have any kind of limitation? For example, distance? Or could I give it a magical artifact and have it find the one who made it? Or maybe let it sll a plant or sothing with mana, and it could find more of the sa kind?"
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Hearing Erik's rapid-fire questions, Frank took a mont to think through his answers and organize his thoughts before beginning to explain in a serious tone. He wanted to make the way his adorable companion's ability worked as clear as possible—after all, they were basically telling him that his place in the group depended entirely on that.
"You could say one limitation is that Lirio tends to forget how certain things sll after cycling through around 30 to 40 different scents, forgetting the oldest ones. There is also a maximum effective range of about 25 kiloters in which he can perceive the sll of mana.
"However, if there's an abnormally high concentration of Myst in the area, or a magical battle or similar disturbances that alter the environnt, this range is greatly reduced. Also, the more mana the target emits, the easier it is for Lirio to find it.
"Otherwise, Lirio can only sll mana. So if there's still so residual mana from the creator of an artifact, he might be able to track them down. But if soone else has been using it, Lirio would only be able to sll that person's mana.
"As for finding things of the sa type, that also depends on specific circumstances. For example, he's very good at finding mana crystals of the sa type as the sample he's given to sll.
"But with plants and similar things, it's a bit more difficult. Their mana—while very similar to others of the sa type—still has differences, whether due to their age, the location where they grow, the environnt, or other conditions.
"So, for example, if you give him a magic plant you've cultivated at ho, it'll be hard for him to find another one like it because the 'scent' would be different from that of a wild one or one grown in another field."
"I see. While it's a bit limited, I can already think of several ways to take advantage of that ability…" Erik comnted in a thoughtful tone, then turned his gaze to the top of Frank's head, where he could see the small spirit breathing rhythmically as if asleep. This led him to ask.
"Roughly how long will it take for Lirio to recover?"
"About 7 to 10 hours. He used up a lot of mana while helping escape." Frank replied with a slightly guilty expression. At that mont, the impressive dragon flying above Erik spoke in a calm tone.
"Leave it to ."
After speaking, Ebonique looked directly at the little cloud-like creature on top of Frank's head. After nearly a minute, a purple flash shone from her eyes, and in that instant, Lirio sprang up from his contractor's head, then looked around in confusion. He quickly spotted a beautiful white nine-tailed fox, who seed to want to vanish without a trace—and then he saw the impressive black dragon staring at him.
Sohow, knowing who had helped him, the newborn spirit let out a joyful chirp, then flew over to Ebonique and hugged one of her claws. This caused the dragon to narrow her eyes slightly, but at that mont, Erik softly comnted with evident wistfulness.
"Newborn spirits are really adorable… I would've liked to hold one…"
"Don't worry, you'll be able to soon enough." Ebonique quickly replied in a cheerful tone, with no trace of her earlier annoyance. After all, it would be good to get a little practice before 'having' a newborn of her own with her Erik.
"Are you going to introduce to one?" Erik asked with mild curiosity, to which Ebonique answered in a bright voice.
"Yes, just let us get out of here first."
"I'll be looking forward to it."
While Ebonique laughed inwardly with playful mischief, Erik cheerfully spoke up as he grabbed one of his machetes with his right hand. He then ford a magical edge along its blade, mixing it with a bit of Myst and arranging it according to a structure he had copied from one of the "moves" in the sword technique of the Zazen discipline that he had purchased so ti ago. With that, he began slicing off one of the giant's arms while speaking.
"But setting that aside, we've already lost too much ti here. So after taking a sample, we'll start looking for scrap to see if we can make the cauldron while heading toward that structure with the garden pocket dinsion. It's possible we'll find the missing ingredients there."
"Understood, though that will take so ti. From what I rember of the map, this area had very few details—I could barely recognize where we are thanks to the shape of that bridge." Zoe quickly replied, pointing to what looked like a partially destroyed stone bridge to the west. At that mont, Elara turned to look at Frank and explained seriously.
"Frank, Erik is the leader of the group, in addition to being a one-star artificer and alchemist. Right now, we're searching for ingredients to create a basic mana recovery potion. Our tactic is to avoid any combat unless we have an overwhelming advantage or Erik gives a different order—we can't afford a prolonged battle."
"Understood, Direct Disciple Belmonte. I'll focus entirely on trying to recover mana."
Frank responded quickly in a serious tone, prompting Elara to nod in satisfaction. At that mont, the young student turned to face Erik, who was just about to finish cutting off the golem's arm, and added in a formal tone.
"I'm at your service, Direct Disciple Erik."
"Done..."
Erik finally finished severing the arm, quickly sheathed his machete at his waist, and then extended a hand to conjure a magic circle. As he turned to look at Frank, he spoke in a calm tone.
"I'm counting on you, Frank. For now, have Lirio sll these mushrooms and roots, so he can stay alert in case he detects anything similar nearby."
As he spoke, Erik manipulated the prismatic barrier protecting the Mycelis mushrooms, bringing it closer to Frank and removing one of its faces. At that mont, Frank turned to look at Lirio, who was still clinging to Ebonique's claw, and spoke in a serious tone.
"Lirio."
Understanding what his contractor wanted, Lirio reluctantly let go of Ebonique's claw, then entered the barrier to sniff both the mushrooms and the crystalline roots. Afterward, he flew out and sniffed the air a few tis, then turned to Frank and let out a couple of adorable chirps.
"Lirio found sothing very similar to the mushrooms about 300 ters to the east." Frank quickly turned to Erik and reported in a serious tone, which brought a smile to the faces of the two beautiful young won. At that mont, Erik comnted with satisfaction.
"He's really effective. Let's head in that direction—but give a few minutes first."
As he spoke, Erik encased the golem's arm in a prismatic barrier made of solidified Myst, which he also linked to his belt. Then he crouched down to touch the ground and created a large magic circle, causing the solid rock to behave like a liquid. The massive golem slowly sank until it completely disappeared.
"All done. Rember this area in case we need to co back for more golem parts." Erik said as he dusted off his hands, prompting Zoe to nod quickly and respond.
"I'll keep it in mind."
"Alright, now that we have everything, let's move."
With Erik's command, the group quickly reorganized. Zoe led the way with the wolves, followed by Erik, Elara, and Frank in the middle. The rear was guarded by the two spirits—the fox and the dragon. They moved quickly toward the east, where Lirio pointed to the ground. Erik promptly created a hole, revealing a "bubble" that contained trapped water vapor along with a couple of mushrooms.
"Lirio detected a few roots about 3 kiloters to the north."
After collecting the mushrooms, Frank reported seriously, prompting the group to head north with great excitent. As they moved, they inspected the buildings they passed, but just like the first one Zoe had checked, they were completely empty—containing only so stone furniture-like structures inside.
…
After several hours, the group got close enough to see the building marked on the map. Along the way, they had managed to gather a good amount of mushrooms and roots thanks to Lirio, who was incredibly effective at finding them since they had grown in terrain and conditions similar enough to the original samples. At that point, Erik gave a serious order.
"Stop."
At Erik's command, the group ca to a sudden halt and turned to look at him. Zoe imdiately tightened her grip on the hilt of her katana, already suspecting what was happening, and asked seriously.
"Enemies?"
"Most likely. There are 20 people hidden around us, organized in groups of five—but there's sothing strange..."
Erik replied in a serious tone, then closed his eyes and focused on his mystical awareness, wanting to confirm what he was sensing. The tension among the younger mbers of the group rose slightly, and at that mont, Ebonique spoke in a grave tone.
"They're all at the Revealed level."
Upon hearing Ebonique's words, the three young disciples opened their eyes in disbelief. While it was true that so geniuses could reach the Revealed level before the age of 300, having 20 of them gathered in one place and hiding—no matter how you looked at it—was incredibly strange and suspicious, not to ntion extrely dangerous. Then Erik spoke, his tone slightly heavy.
"To be more specific, the weakest is at Revealed-Skilled, and the strongest are Revealed-Peak—there are three of those…"
"Do those people really have less than 300 years...?"
***
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