After a few seconds, Erik recovered from the surprise brought on by the sudden wave of sincere gratitude from his teammates, and, ignoring Ebonique's 'fervent' gaze, he smiled calmly and remarked.
"… You don't have to do this, guys. We're a team. If we keep thanking each other for every little thing, we won't have time to get anything done."
"You're right about that." After readjusting her posture, Zoe commented with a calm smile, and continued.
"But even so, I wanted to thank you at least once, properly, Erik. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to feel at peace with myself."
"It's the same for me." Elara quickly added, having straightened her posture as well, and continued.
"I just wanted to do it once, but from now on, we'll focus on contributing as a team."
"Direct disciple Erik, if you need anything from me, just say the word. I will follow all your orders to the letter." Frank quickly added in a serious, firm voice, completely convinced of his words, to which Erik could only give a somewhat helpless smile, but he quickly pulled himself together and replied in a calm tone.
"All right then, guys. I also want to thank each of you for the help you've given me so far."
Hearing the words of the starry-haired boy, Zoe and Elara couldn't help but smile with a hint of bitterness, since they truly didn't feel like they had done anything worth thanking. But at that moment, Erik spoke in a serious voice, bringing them back to reality.
"But let's get to what's important. We need food, shelter, and fresh water, so we have to move quickly, since according to the reports, this place has a day and night cycle indistinguishable from that of a normal planet, and things will get pretty complicated in the dark."
"Understood. What should we do?" Returning to her composed and serious demeanor, Zoe quickly spoke on behalf of the others in a serious tone, to which Erik asked.
"How good are you at finding your way and moving through the jungle?"
"In this limited situation, without magical artifacts, it's much more complicated than it was during the selection tournament, but as you've seen so far, I have some talent in that area, so I should be able to get around without too much trouble." Zoe was the first to answer, at which Erik nodded and then turned to look at Elara, who responded just as firmly.
"Although I'm not as good as Zoe in that regard, I won't get lost easily, since I can always leave a trail with my fire to follow, or something like that."
"I have Lirio with me, so as long as we stay within his scent range, I can find my way back to any place." Frank quickly added as soon as Erik looked at him, which made Erik bring a hand to his chin and comment in a thoughtful voice.
"Alright, right now, we need fresh water, food, shelter, fuel, and if possible, the other ingredients for the potions, so we're going to divide ourselves as follows." Erik turned to look at Elara and said.
"Elara will handle the fuel, since keeping a fire going long-term with mana isn't viable. We need wood or charcoal, so I'm putting you in charge of that."
"Understood. The easiest way will be to make charcoal. About how much do I need to gather?" Elara asked in a serious tone, to which Erik replied after thinking for a moment.
"Not too much; around 50 kilos will be more than enough for now."
"Got it." Elara quickly nodded, so Erik nodded as well and then turned to look at Zoe.
"As for you, Zoe, you'll be in charge of hunting. Whatever you hunt needs to be big enough to fill all of us up, including the wolves, since they eat a lot. Also, you'll go with Kaiser and Hiyori, since we don't know what might be in this place, and in case something happens, he can sense my position through our contract. Plus, he's experienced at moving through forest and jungle areas, so you'll be able to find your way back easily."
"Understood."
Zoe quickly replied in a firm tone as she tightened her grip on her katana. At that moment, Kaiser walked over to stand by her side, following his contractor's instructions, and Erik turned to look at Frank.
"And Frank, you'll have a very important role: finding water. We need fresh water to stay hydrated in the long run. Also, I want you to collect samples of the surrounding flora. I want to get an idea of what's around us, and those samples will help us create a sort of 'scent catalog' so we can make the most of Lirio's sense of smell to navigate the jungle."
"I understand, direct disciple. I'll do my best." Frank quickly replied in a serious tone, which prompted Erik to add in an equally serious voice.
"But you need to be very careful with plants—avoid picking things up directly, since they could be poisonous. Also, you'll go with Tiberius, who will help you escape or hide if things get out of hand. He also has some experience living in jungles and forests, so he can warn you about danger."
"I'll keep that in mind, direct disciple Erik. Thank you very much." As Tiberius moved to stand by his side, Frank responded seriously, and Erik nodded before adding.
"Alright, then you can head out. I'll take care of setting up the shelter, hiding the entrance, and everything else. Try not to take more than three hours, but in the case of Zoe and Frank, I'll be communicating with the wolves if you take too long or go too far. Also, try not to attract too much attention—we're in a delicate situation and need to keep a low profile."
"""Understood."""
With Erik's instructions, Elara, Zoe, and Frank responded in unison, with the latter two heading off in different directions. Elara moved about 50 meters away, venturing a little into the surrounding jungle as she created several axes made of fire in the air without the need for a spell. At that moment, Erik turned to look at the entrance of the structure and brought his hand to his chin.
"How should I hide this…?"
"Why do you need to hide it?" Ebonique, who had climbed back onto Erik's head in her miniature form, asked curiously. Erik replied in a thoughtful tone as he began to walk around the structure.
"Because so far, everything seems to indicate that whenever you go through an entrance, you always end up in another linked one. There are no humans around, and the building we entered didn't look like anyone had discovered it before.
"And since we're in a situation without magical artifacts—and therefore without food or anything else—and there's also an unknown group hunting around the known entrances, this 'free' entrance is an incredibly valuable strategic resource, basically the key to our survival.
"That's why we have to make sure it stays hidden and unknown. Not only are we outnumbered, but they're also stronger and almost certainly more experienced. So the only thing we have on our side is this entrance—as long as no one but us knows its location, we'll always be a wild card to the others, since we can always escape."
"I see… to survive when you're weak, you have to be very clever…" Ebonique commented in a voice full of realization, which made Erik roll his eyes and reply in a slightly sarcastic tone.
"It's not like you were born invincible and wouldn't know something so basic… then again, they do say spirits are almost immortal…"
"Hehehe, yes, since we're almost immortal, we don't worry about things like survival…" Ebonique quickly replied with a playful giggle, though inwardly she was scolding herself for being so loose-tongued.
"Even if it's a bit sloppy, for now, the best thing is to cover it with dirt. Once I manage to get some materials, I can improve it." Erik decided after thinking for a while, crouching down to the ground, to which Ebonique cheerfully responded.
"Actually, I can help make it very hard to detect."
"Then I'll trust you. I'll cover it with dirt, and you do your magic." Erik said as he conjured a huge magic circle over the ground. At that moment, Ebonique flew out of his hair and began to grow in size as she spoke with energetic enthusiasm.
"Leave it to me! I'll hide it so well that no one will ever notice anything strange!"
While laughing at Ebonique's strange enthusiasm, Erik, using a variation of a spell he had created himself, quickly manipulated the earth to gradually cover the entrance building, since he was afraid that moving it might affect the 'portal'. Eventually, he finished covering it completely, creating a small mound of earth. At that point, he canceled the magic circle and began conjuring a good number of runes.
The runes Erik conjured began to spread over the earth, releasing small motes of green light. Upon touching the disturbed soil, this caused grass and small plants to grow rapidly, quickly covering the little hill and erasing any trace of the moved earth. Erik then stood up, brushed off his hands, and commented with a smile.
"Sigrún's wood-element spells are really useful, hehe."
"But not more useful than me; just watch this."
Ebonique quickly replied, then stared at the mound for almost five minutes until her eyes lit up with an electric purple glow. Suddenly, all the shadows around them grew darker, then stretched out, covering the mound of earth, which was completely shrouded in darkness for a few seconds before everything returned to normal. This made Erik open his eyes in surprise and comment.
"Impressive… even with the ethereal projection, I can't detect any difference with the surrounding terrain…"
"Hehe, I told you, I'm very impressive."
Ebonique replied in a cheerful and playfully 'arrogant' voice, though it was clear she was joking. At the same time, her eyes returned to normal, prompting Erik to reach out and touch her black scales as he sent her a good amount of mana.
"You really are."
Receiving mana from her beloved contractor, Ebonique began to purr like a cat, visibly satisfied. After a few minutes, Erik withdrew his hand and began to carefully study the surroundings, trying to figure out how he should build the shelter, so Ebonique lay down on his head once again.
"I guess for now it's fine to create a temporary shelter for us and a place for storage. We can improve it later."
After mentally measuring the terrain, Erik commented in a thoughtful tone, then asked in a calm voice as he reconfigured the barriers with all the materials he'd gathered so that they were linked to the position of a nearby tree.
"Ebonique, can you hide me if I rise into the air?"
"Of course."
Ebonique quickly replied cheerfully, while the shadows around her began to stretch out and cover Erik. This happened almost instantly, since this time, unlike when she hid the entrance building, she didn't materialize parts of her true body. After all, she couldn't do that too often, or she might alter the aura and alert the other Eternal. Besides, she had checked the area and hadn't found anything especially dangerous to warrant it.
Once Erik saw himself turned into a shadowy humanoid figure, looking somewhat ghostly and translucent, he quickly created an invisible Myst platform with just a thought. Then he rose into the air to survey the surroundings, quickly taking mental notes of everything.
Afterwards, he closed his eyes and extended his mystical awareness to the fullest, but just like before, there was nothing but animals at the Revealed-Initiate level and below, so he quickly landed with renewed confidence.
"Well, let's get to work. It's been years since I built anything with my own hands—I'm feeling a bit nostalgic." As he took the machetes from his belt, Erik commented softly, at which point Ebonique spoke in a gentle, warm voice.
"You know, ever since you told me about everything you went through on that island, I wished I could have been with you back then. And even though I probably shouldn't, I can't help but feel a little happy about this whole situation."
"That's a rather curious feeling you've got there, Ebonique. But I can understand you a little, although it's certainly dangerous, at the same time it reconnects me with my early years."
As he walked over to one of the nearby trees, Erik spoke in a calm voice, almost lost in his memories. He began striking the trunks of the nearby trees with the flat side of one of his machetes, which made him realize that the tree was actually tougher than regular steel. At that moment, Ebonique cheerfully commented.
"Then let's relive those moments—let's push forward with our own hands!"
"Yes, we'll make it through."
Erik replied with a big smile. At the same time, he created a magical edge with his mana that extended from the blade of his machetes, which, although they no longer functioned as magical artifacts, were still excellent mana conductors with an incredible maximum capacity—several orders of magnitude greater than those copper machetes he once used. With just a casual motion, he managed to cleanly cut through the trunk in front of him, which was a little over two meters in diameter.
To avoid making noise, Erik quickly extended his left hand, holding his machete, and created a magic circle in front of it. The circle conjured several hands of solidified Myst, which caught the trunk—nearly 100 meters tall—as it began to fall slowly. At that moment, Erik moved his machetes at high speed, sending out several invisible flying slashes that cut off all the branches.
Thanks to the extremely expensive sword technique from the Zazen discipline that he bought at Laura's auction, Erik was able to improve his flying slashes, mainly because the technique contained two "moves" focused on ranged slashes. Although they weren't entirely applicable to his own 'flying slashes', they still helped him extrapolate the structure and improve his technique, making them useful and quite lethal once again.
"Well, with this, I have all the wood I'll need, so let's get the rest."
"Do you want me to help?" Ebonique quickly asked, peeking out from Erik's hair, to which he replied casually while looking around.
"If you want to. Right now, I need large stones and clay soil." Erik said, pointing toward a distant mound of earth, then added.
"It's the one that looks reddish or orange."
"I'll look for the rocks, I'll leave the soil to you."
Ebonique replied cheerfully and quickly flew off into the distance, which made Erik laugh in amusement as he shook his head. Then, he created several constructions of Myst in the shape of giant excavator shovels, which started digging up the earth. After that, they transformed into prismatic barriers, containing the soil inside, and floated back to rest behind his back.
Once he had gathered all the soil he needed, Erik extended his hand and conjured a magic circle, which created several thick, crystalline-looking arms of solidified Myst. These grabbed the trunk and began dragging it, just as Ebonique returned—now about six meters tall—flying while carrying two enormous rocks, nearly three meters in diameter, in her front claws and tail.
"Erik, I've got the rocks!" Ebonique said cheerfully as she arrived, her eyes shining with a strange excitement, which made Erik laugh. He nodded and praised her in an equally happy tone.
"You did perfectly, Ebonique. They're exactly what I needed."
"Fufu, as soon as I saw them, I knew that would be the case."
Ebonique replied full of joy and satisfaction, feeling more alive than ever. Deep down, she realized that all the eons she had lived meant nothing compared to the few years by Erik's side, which had made her feel young and energetic again, always filled with curiosity, emotions, and happiness—something she had long forgotten in her endless existence.
"Well, let's head back. We've got a camp to build."
Erik said with a smile, then turned and started walking back, followed by Ebonique, who flew by his side carrying the rocks, moving as if she were dancing in the air thanks to her good mood.
...
"The shelters should be somewhere around here."
Once back at the area where he had buried the entrance, Erik began making marks on the ground while murmuring to himself. Then he walked several steps to the left and commented as he made new marks.
"The storage shelter should go around here, and over there I should put other 'shelters' so everyone has their own. I could also build a water tower for the bathrooms, and I can't forget the septic pit outside the camp—though I'll need to make the pipes first. But that's for later; for now, I should raise the ground a bit…"
As Erik spoke his thoughts aloud to create a mental image of the future camp, Ebonique stayed silent and just listened to him work, somehow feeling at peace and incredibly relaxed. Her constant worry about the aura of that Eternal faded considerably—a magical effect that made her drop the rocks, shrink down, and return to Erik's hair, wanting to feel more of his warmth.
...
"Well, the camp should end up more or less like this."
After several minutes, Erik commented with a satisfied smile as he looked at the "blueprints" he'd drawn on the ground with his machetes, which made Ebonique snap out of her daydream and ask cheerfully.
"So, are we going to start building now?"
"Yes, although this time it'll be much easier than when I did it on that island. Now we're going to build the shelters with compressed earth, so with my strength and spells, it'll be a piece of cake."
Erik replied with a somewhat nostalgic smile, remembering everything he'd gone through to build his cabin back then—especially the water tower. That was a real challenge, since even though he had super strength, he was alone and didn't know magic yet, but things were very different now.
"Let's get to work! Tell me what I need to do, I want to build the shelter where we'll live!" Ebonique quickly replied, excited and eager as she rose into the air, prompting Erik to comment, a little amused.
"Well, for now, we need to clear the area. Do you see the marks I made on the ground?"
"Yes! Should I clear the whole place following them?" Ebonique asked excitedly, to which Erik nodded with a smile.
"Exactly, but don't make too much noise, or we might attract something troublesome. Also, if possible, gather up the branches, roots, and straw you pull out—they'll be useful."
"Got it, leave it to me."
Ebonique quickly replied, nodding her head, as several black lightning bolts began to crackle from her body. Meanwhile, Erik turned to look at the massive trunk and the small mountains of earth he had brought. He took his machetes and began stripping the bark from the trunk, then started cutting it into long, square planks using his flying slashes.
***
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