"Finally…"
After three hours of being submerged in a bathtub full of viscous liquid, Erik let out a sigh and commented with a small smile as the glow of the liquid faded. Standing outside the bathroom, Zoe, Elara, and Ethan stepped forward with different expressions on their faces.
"How do you feel, Erik? Was it effective?"
Elara asked as she watched Erik rise from the tub, causing the transparent liquid to spill over. The young man with starry hair commented with a small smile while stretching lazily, triggering a cascade of cracking sounds that echoed through the bathroom.
"Better than I expected. I've recovered at least 90%."
"You really do look a lot better than you did earlier."
Ethan remarked as he eyed Erik's body, where almost all traces of bruises had vanished. Zoe and Elara nodded with small smiles, and then Zoe asked in a visibly relaxed and calm voice.
"What's next? What do we do first?"
"First, Frank and I deserve a proper meal. Then we'll get to work at full speed. We need to escape this damn ruin as soon as possible." Erik said with a grin as he glanced at the pair of wolves that came running into the bathroom, each holding a paper bag full of cookies in their mouths.
"We're ready to work whenever you say, Erik!"
Elara exclaimed enthusiastically, raising one of her fists to chest level. Meanwhile, Erik took a cookie from one of the bags and ate it with a clear expression of pleasure. He then looked at Frank, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor recovering, and said,
"Frank, let's eat. You'll have plenty of work from now on."
"Got it, boss!"
Frank quickly opened his eyes and jumped to his feet, announcing seriously while Lirio, perched on his head, raised her chubby little arms in the air and squealed adorably, full of enthusiasm. Erik nodded, satisfied, then turned to Zoe and spoke in a calm tone as he stepped out of the tub.
"Zoe, I'm going to need you to find someone to act as my personal assistant. I'll be working on multiple things at once, so I need someone to attend to me, help manage my time, relay my instructions to others, and so on. They need to be attentive, quick, and have some experience in cooking since my automatic teapot is broken. Oh, and preferably a knight, since the mages will be busy."
"I'll be your assistant. Tomás is in charge of the knights, so I'm pretty much 'free.' And while I'm not an expert, my grandmother taught me everything needed to be a 'proper lady,' so I know a bit of everything." Zoe said with a small smile that hid her excitement. Erik looked at Zoe with slight surprise while munching on a cookie, then asked, visibly unsure.
"Are you sure? It's not exactly a job suited to your talents or position."
"It doesn't matter. Right now, we need to do whatever it takes to survive. Besides, my 'talent' and position will be useful for moving quickly and relaying your orders efficiently." Zoe replied with a calm smile, which inevitably made Erik nod. After eating another cookie, he spoke seriously.
"You're right about that. A difference in position could cause issues when transmitting information… Alright, let's do this: you handle the administrative tasks. I'll manage the domestic stuff with the wolves and ghostly hands."
"Leave it all to me. I assure you I can assist you satisfactorily and won't complain once, no matter what you ask." Zoe said with a slightly wider smile while Elara looked at her with slightly narrowed eyes. Erik hesitated for a few seconds but quickly shook his head and replied calmly.
"Then I'll trust you. I need a new set of armor since I want to study the one I had, and also some good tea along with food for Frank and me. I'll take a shower and meet you outside in a bit. If you can't find something, ask the wolves; they'll guide you."
"Immediately."
Zoe replied, then beckoned Kaiser with one hand. Seeing the wolf approach, she turned around and left the bathroom with a firm step under the surprised gazes of Ethan and Elara. Meanwhile, Elara stared at her friend's back with narrowed eyes until Erik's voice called out.
"Elara, find Disciple Taylor and get ready to start working on the furnace. As soon as it's ready, I'll come down to begin working on it. We need to start smelting true copper as soon as possible."
"On my way." Elara quickly glanced at Erik and replied with a small bow before leaving the bathroom. At that moment, Erik looked at Ethan and asked seriously.
"Disciple Williams, are the defense and attack formations ready?"
"They're properly deployed and integrated with the concealment formations." Ethan nodded calmly, prompting Erik to look at the ceiling and comment thoughtfully.
"Perfect. I assume you've already heard from Chen about my idea to create pseudo-formation discs… Do you think it's feasible?"
"It's theoretically viable, and Chen Ming and I came up with several ways to make it possible, but we'll need to see if we can put it into practice." Ethan nodded with a more serious expression. Erik looked at Ethan and said with a small smile.
"As long as it's viable, it's worth a shot. Give me a few minutes to get ready, then we'll go look for some things I want you to study."
"Then I'll wait for you outside." Ethan nodded before leaving the bathroom with Frank, who gave a small bow before closing the door.
Meanwhile, Erik, accompanied only by Tiberius, walked to the shower area, where he created a small set of runes to produce water over his head while carefully studying his new condition as he clenched his right fist.
(Really better than I expected… Once I'm out of this, I have to do something for my masters, especially Seraphina… If it weren't for her constant massages, I wouldn't have lasted this long…)
As he showered to wash off the oily liquid from his body, Erik thought to himself with a smile on his face. Though his left eye couldn't help but twitch as he saw Tiberius carefully pull a cookie from the bag and sneak to a corner to eat it slowly.
…
Just as Erik was drying himself with a towel, soft knocks echoed on the bathroom door, soon followed by Zoe's calm voice.
"Erik, I've got your armor ready."
"Thanks."
Erik replied with a slightly awkward voice, then created two Myst hands to open the door, take the "armor," and close it again. Zoe's voice resonated once more from outside.
"Your food and tea are already set on the table."
"Couldn't she find something simpler…? Though Seraphina's designs are something else…"
Feeling Zoe walk away, Erik looked at the "armor" in his hands, shook his head, and whispered to himself. But he quickly dismissed it and put on the "outfit" Zoe had brought.
…
Outside the bathroom, Frank, Ethan, and Zoe sat at a simple dining table where a steaming teapot and elegant plates full of food were already set. After a few minutes of waiting, the bathroom door opened, releasing a faint mist, and soon Erik emerged with Tiberius in his small form on his shoulder.
Seeing Erik dressed in the "armor" she had chosen—a sleek dark ensemble of trousers, vest, long-sleeved shirt with a tie, and tall boots, blending elegance with functionality—Zoe couldn't help but swallow hard. The attire, combined with Erik's chiseled face, robust yet agile build, and shiny, starry hair, made him look almost like a sexy mafia assassin, boosting his allure by at least 20 points in her eyes.
"Thanks for the food, though you didn't have to make it so fancy. Just having the ration bags ready would've been more than enough." Erik said in a calm voice as he sat at the table, looking somewhat helpless at the beautifully arranged plates.
"It wasn't much trouble."
"Thanks. I'll eat quickly so we can get to work." Erik said with a smile before digging in at a rapid pace while Frank and Ethan, sipping tea they had poured themselves, glanced at Zoe with odd expressions.
…
"Alright, Disciple Williams, let's first get the items I want you to study with Chen." Erik said in a calm tone after eating as he stood from the table. Ethan quickly nodded and approached Erik, who created a Myst platform to lift them into the air.
As they neared the ceiling, Erik formed several sets of runes that forcibly activated rune arrays carved into a false edge of the ceiling. Soon, several metallic spheres about 30 cm in diameter, densely engraved with runes across their surfaces, detached. Catching the falling spheres with Myst hands, Erik looked at Ethan and said calmly.
"These are formation flags created by my master that work in conjunction with the rune array carved into the ceiling. Together, they can deploy Illuminated-level concealment and defense formations. My idea is to reactivate this entire system using the 'pseudo-formation discs' I mentioned to Chen. If that's not possible, we can use them to create manual formation flags."
"We'll study them thoroughly."
Ethan replied seriously as he examined the runes on the ceiling. Erik nodded, satisfied, then created Myst stairs connecting to the floating platform before starting to descend while speaking.
"Then I'll leave this Myst structure here to make your work easier. I'll be in the workshop if you need anything."
"Got it."
Ethan nodded calmly, his gaze fixed on the ceiling runes. Meanwhile, Erik finished descending, at which point Tiberius and Kaiser jumped onto his shoulders. He looked at Frank and Zoe as he spoke.
"Let's head to the workshop then. There's a lot to do."
After the pair nodded, Erik led them to the floor below, where he found Christine and Elara arguing with dark expressions while staring at the massive furnace. Upon seeing Erik, both Christine and Elara couldn't hide their surprise. At that moment, a clear sound of swallowing echoed in Elara's ears. Turning to look at Christine, she saw her licking her lips in an almost predatory manner, which inevitably made Elara frown.
"Good to see you ready. Let's get to work right away. The furnace needs to be operational as soon as possible."
"I'm always ready for you, Erik~"
Christine replied in a voice dripping with sensuality and flirtation, making Zoe and Elara frown even more. Erik nodded calmly, unbothered by the double entendre in her words, and walked toward the furnace while commenting.
"Thanks for the hard work, Disciple Taylor."
"Disciple Erik really has a bad memory, still calling me so formally~" As satisfied smiles formed on Elara and Zoe's faces, Christine replied with a small pout. Erik could only respond in a flat voice while picking up several tools in the workshop with Myst hands.
"My apologies, Disciple Christine. I genuinely forgot."
"As long as you remember from now on, I forgive you. Though the 'Disciple' part is unnecessary." Christine replied in a playful, flirty tone, which Erik completely ignored. Instead, he said seriously.
"Let's start engraving runes. I'll handle the delicate ones, Frank will take the simpler ones, and Christine will manage the intermediate ones. Meanwhile, Elara will make the necessary adjustments to the model as issues arise."
"Understood." Frank, Elara, and Christine nodded in unison, at which point Erik turned to Zoe and ordered calmly.
"As for you, Zoe, I need you to start organizing the workshop a bit so we can set up a sort of makeshift assembly line to mass-produce Scouting Spheres."
After Zoe nodded and walked off in another direction, Erik began working alongside Elara, Christine, and Frank, who couldn't help but cast admiring glances at him. The star-haired young man engraved the most complex runes in the trickiest areas at a speed surpassing theirs, demonstrating skill and precision beyond what his power level would suggest.
…
After several hours, Erik stood in front of the massive furnace, now patched in various places, with Elara, Zoe, Frank, and Christine behind him, looking at the furnace with serious expressions. With an almost solemn demeanor, Erik placed several mana crystals into a metallic cabinet engraved with runes not far away, connected to the furnace as a new power supply, and closed the metal door.
Immediately after, Erik walked to a nearby table where a large, transparent Chantinolite tablet, almost entirely covered with densely carved runes. He quickly activated it by channeling mana into it. A holographic screen with rudimentary but relatively complete controls soon emerged from the tablet, including a vertical slider marked as temperature, which Erik slowly raised.
Soon, under the expectant gazes of everyone present, the massive furnace came to life, first emitting a reddish-orange glow that gradually shifted to a pure blue as Erik operated the tablet.
After several minutes of watching the furnace glow softly, Elara wiped an imaginary bead of sweat from her forehead as Erik lowered the temperature control, grabbed a pair of tongs near the furnace, and opened its hatch.
As a brutal wave of heat washed over everyone, Erik slowly pulled out a crucible from the furnace without showing the slightest discomfort. Once the crucible was out, the group rushed over to Erik and focused their gazes on it, where a molten, red-hot liquid moved sluggishly inside. At that moment, Erik couldn't help but comment with excitement as smiles formed on everyone's faces.
"Habemus Furnus!"
***
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