"It's not such a big deal; I just got lucky; simplification forces you to make sacrifices." Erik replied in a calm tone as he examined the medallion.
"You're too humble." Elara commented with a small smile, to which Erik answered with an equal smile, then set the medallion aside and began checking the inside of the storage pouch.
In the storage pouch, Erik found a pair of swords, food, and some potions. Finally—and even better—the bag held nearly a hundred intermediate mana crystals, which made his eyes gleam with delight. Putting the medallion back into the pouch, Erik removed the barrier that protected the boxes they had brought and spoke in a serious tone.
"The haul was better than expected—there are mana crystals. But for now, let's make use of the space left in the bag to store some critical ingredients, the cauldron, and the pseudo-armor in case something happens and we have to abandon the boxes. We still need to meet up with Zoe and secure the temple."
""Understood.""
Elara answered in a serious tone, then, together with Frank, opened the boxes, from which they took out various herbs, containers filled with liquid, fungi, sap, and other important ingredients named by Erik, then put everything into the storage pouch. Once the pouch's capacity was more or less filled, Erik took the cauldron from one of the boxes and slid it into the bag, which stretched like a snake to "swallow" it.
Once everything was ready, Erik created a Myst barrier to cover Lucien again, who was now little more than a vegetable and wouldn't live much longer, and then turned to look at Elara and Frank.
The youths wore serious, focused expressions, fully prepared for combat, with Elara holding her damaged staff and Frank a branch shaped like a staff he'd found on the basilisk island, which had great mana conduction.
"Perfect. Take concealment potions, and let's meet up with Zoe—it's time to sneak into the garden."
With a firm nod, Elara and Zoe took a concealment potion from the woven bamboo pouch at their hips and downed it in one gulp. Meanwhile, Erik looked at Hiyori on the back wall and asked gravely as he created a Myst barrier to seal the boxes.
"Hiyori, how good are you at stealth? Without Tiberius, I have very few means for it beyond the potion."
"Don't worry, Erik-sama. Although I'm not an expert, I can hide my presence quite well. I assure you we won't be discovered before we meet little Zoe."
"Perfect." Erik nodded, satisfied, took a concealment potion that Elara offered him, and drank it in one gulp, then ordered seriously.
"Let's go."
The group advanced cautiously toward the second temple and stayed behind a half-ruined structure about 300 meters from the temple by Erik's orders. Tiberius soon arrived there, followed closely by Zoe, who let out a sigh of relief upon seeing them and sent a sound transmission.
"So it was you, Tiberius suddenly tugged and made me come this way."
"Any news?" Erik quickly asked in a serious tone, to which Zoe replied in a similar tone.
"Not yet. It seems they haven't noticed the leader is missing, but it's only a matter of time."
"I understand." Erik replied solemnly, then took a notebook and a charcoal pencil from behind his pants, where he began sketching a rough map while he explained.
"We can't waste much time, since the island's barrier could be destroyed at any moment, releasing the basilisk. Therefore, we need to make the most of this time and explore the garden as quickly as we can to identify an exit and determine whether it's as safe as a temple. If it is, we'll take it; if not, we'll quickly return to our base. Any thoughts?"
Erik swept his gaze over his companions, who looked back at him with serious expressions, so he continued explaining gravely while drawing.
"Although Lucien D'Arvos said only the squad leaders have soul tracers, it's better to play it safe, so we'll do the following…"
Erik quickly explained the plan, whereupon the others nodded without comment, and he promptly deactivated the Myst barrier around the boxes, which he buried in the rock using a spell. Now they needed to be fast—the boxes were in the way. Once the rock returned to its original form, he gave the order to move, at which point Kaiser and Tiberius hid in Erik's shadow.
With a quick pace, the group advanced toward the temple while avoiding passing near any hunters in the area, soon managing to get about 20 meters from the temple, at which moment Erik turned to look at Zoe and said seriously.
"Now it's your turn, Zoe."
"Leave it to me." Zoe replied in a serious tone, then took hold of the hilt of her katana at her waist and took a deep breath as she closed her eyes.
After a few moments, Zoe snapped her eyes open and leapt to slip in through the temple window, followed closely by Erik, Frank, Elara, and Hiyori. Upon entering the temple, Zoe fixed her gaze on the man who was on the temple roof, who, thanks to the concealment potion, couldn't detect her and react in time.
As the man opened his eyes in disbelief at the semi-transparent woman who had suddenly slipped in, Zoe drew her katana at extreme speed. At the same time, Erik, Elara, and Frank crossed the temple, and without even looking toward the man on the roof, Erik kicked off a small step of solidified Myst in the air and shot toward the stone door.
The moment Erik touched the stone door, the man's head on the roof separated from his shoulders. But without so much as a glance, the star-haired youth flung the door open and entered the corridor, at which moment Kaiser came out of his shadow to follow him. Behind the wolf came the other youths and the fox spirit.
"Now!"
When the door at the end of the passage came into view, Erik ordered in a grave tone, which caused his shadow to darken and lengthen, while Kaiser moved up to be at his side. Without a second's hesitation, Elara, Frank, Zoe, and Hiyori jumped into Erik's shadow, sinking into it as if it were some kind of liquid.
For his part, Erik grabbed Kaiser's fur, then flung the stone door open. With a single leap, Erik reached the window of the second temple, and the moment he went through it, his body was covered in electricity and soon transformed into an entity of pure electricity. Without losing an instant, Erik shot straight ahead like an arrow while four Ethereal Projections spread out at the same time.
After leaving the Ethereal Projections behind, Erik canceled the elementalization and returned to his real form in midair. As he moved through the air thanks to inertia, Erik, with a somewhat uncomfortable expression, extended his right hand and conjured a magic circle, which created a Myst platform that stopped his fall and Kaiser's.
Soon, Erik managed to land with Kaiser on the ground, at which point Elara, Zoe, Frank, and Hiyori were expelled from his shadow, and Tiberius appeared, panting. Placing a hand on Tiberius's head to pass him mana, Erik looked at Zoe and asked seriously.
"Do you remember the positions?"
"Perfectly." Zoe quickly nodded with gravity, so Erik ordered in a serious tone,
"Then let's split up as we agreed. If anything happens, fall back to this spot—we'll meet here."
With a solemn nod, Zoe quickly jumped to mount Hiyori, while Elara mounted Kaiser, then shot off toward the temple. For his part, Erik looked at Frank and ordered seriously.
"We're moving too. Remember, our goal is to finish them as quickly as possible—don't be afraid to spend the potions."
"Got it, boss." Frank quickly nodded with seriousness, at which moment Ebonique came out of Erik's hair and grew in size, large enough for Erik to sit comfortably on her head.
Once seated on Ebonique's head, Erik placed Tiberius, who had shrunk to his puppy form, between his legs and created a Myst barrier surrounding Frank. Once Frank sat in the spherical barrier, Erik linked the barrier's relative position to his belt and ordered gravely.
"Go!"
Ebonique shot off toward the temple at astonishing speed, flying just a few meters above the ground. Shortly after, Erik could feel one of the Revealed-level along with a golem, so he quickly ordered firmly.
"Attack!"
In sync, Ebonique shrank, leaving Erik in the air, who quickly deactivated the barrier around Frank while extending his right hand forward, conjuring a magic circle. The magic circle summoned a huge fireball, which shot out at high speed. Meanwhile, Frank conjured a great number of runes, which began to spin rapidly, creating a hurricane of cutting wind.
Soon, the hurricane consumed the fireball and turned into a hurricane of searing fire that struck the incredulous hunter head-on, who quickly created a rock barrier around himself. On impact, the fire hurricane swept away everything in its path and ended by exploding, creating a brutal shockwave that spread in all directions.
The mage's rock barrier barely withstood the blast and began to crumble, revealing the hunter inside, who looked filthy, with light burns in different parts of his body. Seeing the pair of mages in the air, the hunter unleashed his full killing intent while he struck the staff he held against the ground, creating a huge magic circle.
"Stonefang Burst!!"
The magic circle caused a vast number of sharp rock spikes to appear in the ground beneath the pair of youths, at which point the golem at his side began to run toward them. With an expression full of rage and murderous delight, the man saw one of the youths, who had strange starry hair, create a magic circle to form a prismatic crystal barrier, protecting himself and his companion.
"An ant should know its place and die obediently…" The mage commented in a cold voice that called to mind the sound of shattering crystals as he pointed his staff at the youths, conjuring a new magic circle.
"I think the same."
At that instant, the mage suddenly heard a feminine voice behind him, which made him turn with a face full of terror. Behind him, the man could see an enormous muzzle full of sharp teeth closing over him—which was the last thing he saw in life. The powerful bite of the giant dragoness created a strong gust of wind that spread in all directions along with an unpleasant sound of bones and flesh being shredded.
At that moment, the golem running toward Erik stumbled and fell face-first to the ground, while the sharp stone spikes lost strength and then vanished as they came into contact with the prismatic barrier of solidified Myst. At that moment, the barrier disappeared, and Erik announced in a serious voice.
"Ebonique!"
With the call, the dragoness turned into a dark electric bolt that crashed straight into Erik, who was surrounded by dark lightning as spectral horns and scales began to form on his body. At that moment, Erik took his machetes from his waist and charged them to the maximum with dark lightning using Ebonique's ability, then aimed them at where he knew the golem's core was.
With a swift motion, Erik made three cuts using every ounce of his strength at the golem's back, which opened its round body, revealing the crystalline core inside. Without hesitation, Erik deactivated Spiritual Empowerment and created an arm of Myst to snatch the core as he landed on the ground with agility.
"Let's keep going!"
With no intention of stopping, Erik began running toward the second hunter while taking a healing potion from the bamboo pouch at his waist. Ebonique, Tiberius, and Frank quickly followed him at full speed with their mana boiling, ready for their next quick kill, soon reaching the second hunter, who had a bastard sword surrounded by four small magic circles that released fire.
"Myst Arrows!"
Without stopping his run, Erik created six magic circles in front of him, which released a tide of swift arrows of solidified Myst. At the same time, Frank conjured a great number of runes and announced firmly.
"Shear Vortex!"
With Frank's declaration, the runes around him began to spin, and the air surrounding him started to whirl violently, then compressed into a greenish sphere and shot toward the man along with the arrows.
But at that instant, the man drove his sword into the ground, whereupon a wall of fire rose from the ground, covering him and incinerating the arrows and the greenish sphere of air.
"Above!"
At that moment, Erik exclaimed urgently, which made Frank look up, only to find the man in the sky in a combat stance with two small magic circles on the hilt of his sword, which made him swallow hard.
***
Hello everyone, if you haven't seen the public note on Patreon, I'll use this note to explain that I haven't dropped the novel. It's just that, due to personal circumstances, I no longer have the time to keep publishing two novels at once. Because of that, I created a poll on Patreon to decide which one to pause, but since it ended in a tie, I'll be dedicating one week to each novel. This week belongs to this one.
Thank you very much for the support so far, and if you don't like this new publishing schedule and decide to leave, I completely understand, but there's nothing I can do. It's impossible for me to keep publishing the way I used to.
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You can support me on patreon.com/lordanl and get up to 12 advanced chapters.