"We know where he is right now." Tomás replied calmly, turning to look at Ethan beside him, who explained in a serious tone.
"Ever since we found Christine in the desert and she told us about him, I've been keeping a close eye on him. He's currently at a base about 300 kilometers from here, and I have a surveillance formation nearby—if he leaves, I'll know."
"Do you have formation materials?" Erik looked at Ethan and asked, somewhat surprised.
"Some. We've taken down several lead hunters and stole their storage bags. Although we can't modify them like you, I know a few tricks to destroy them without losing what's inside."
Tomás answered with a confident smile as he glanced at the discreet leather pouch at Erik's waist. Christine, Ethan, and their other three companions looked at Erik's waist with barely concealed surprise; if Tomás hadn't mentioned it, they might have missed it.
"You're truly impressive, Disciple Erik…" Christine commented in an almost seductive way, gazing fervently at Erik's pouch. For his part, Erik looked at Tomás—obviously the leader—and spoke seriously.
"How about we make a deal? Recover the bags from the corpses, and I'll modify them for you. In exchange, you'll give me 20% of what's inside, and I reserve the right to choose first."
"An acceptable price; it's a deal." Tomás replied, visibly satisfied, and extended his hand to Erik, who quickly took it with a smile.
"A pleasure doing business."
"Likewise. But what do you plan to do now—keep going on your own, or do you want us to stick together?" Tomás let go of Erik's hand and asked.
"For now, let's exchange information and explore this place together; we can decide later." Erik replied in a calm tone, his gaze settling on the dark tunnel in the depths. Tomás nodded and asked back.
"Perfect. Besides the storage bags, do you need anything else?"
"Yes, a part of the original owner's body makes things easier." Erik replied evenly. "But for now let's fall back. I have a way to probe for dangerous presences, but I'll need about 30 minutes to get ready. In the meantime, we can exchange information while I prepare the pouches. There are important things we need to share."
Tomás looked at the tunnel behind him for a few seconds, then nodded and looked back at Erik.
"Sounds good. Though reinforcements could come—if there's another Illuminated-level and he catches us inside, we're dead."
"Perfect, let's fall back." Erik nodded, satisfied, and Tomás ordered his companions to gather the loot and retreat.
As they moved through the tunnels, Erik noticed that Tomás was guiding them along a route different from the one they had used, which made him narrow his eyes and focus on the man. But fortunately, after a few minutes, Erik realized they were actually leading him to another exit, one that lay opposite the one they had used.
Upon leaving the black mountain, Erik looked around and realized they were in a dense forest with trees torn apart. At that moment Ethan spoke, visibly cautious, while Tomás drew his sword with a serious expression.
"What happened here?"
"Wait, didn't you feel the earthquake?" Zoe asked in visible surprise, which greatly confused Tomás's group.
"What earthquake?" Tomás asked, baffled, which surprised Erik's group even more. With a serious expression, Elara quickly explained what had happened.
…
"So that's what happened… That place is really strange—we didn't feel anything."
Tomás spoke in a serious tone as he looked at the mountain. Erik couldn't help but nod, then looked at his companions, who quickly understood what he meant. With a grave expression, Erik turned to Tomás and spoke seriously.
"But that's a good thing. We discovered a Devouring Basilisk on the verge of awakening; if this place is that 'special,' it might be able to withstand the basilisk. If we're lucky and there's an exit inside, taking it is the top priority."
"A Devouring Basilisk?!"
The others shouted almost in unison, full of disbelief and terror. Meanwhile, Tomás smiled with a trace of bitterness and, looking at the sky, muttered.
"This place really wants us dead."
"I agree, but we have two formation specialists and the most talented mana users of the younger generation of the Arcane Order. If we do things right, our chances of survival are good—and this strange mountain might be the key." Erik spoke calmly as he gazed at the mountain. Tomás let out a booming laugh, then put his hand on Erik's shoulder and said.
"Erik, you're a real man! I like how you think—just our crew's style. If you're interested, come join the Clown Family!"
"The Clown Family?" Erik asked, confused. Elara quickly explained with a smile.
"That's what the Bikerea call themselves. They're a mercenary group Master-level Arismendi founded in his youth, and they're famous nowadays. Even Disciple Arismendi created a fraternity at the university with the same name."
"I see, I didn't know." Erik nodded in understanding. Tomás smiled with a hint of pride, patted Erik's shoulder, and added.
"Now you know, and you are officially invited to be part of our family at the university."
"I'll keep it in mind, but for now let's focus on the serious stuff."
Erik spoke gravely, shifting Tomás's expression; Tomás quickly nodded, and they began exchanging detailed information with Elara and Zoe while Erik, simultaneously, started modifying the storage pouches.
Although Christine was actively taking part in the exchange, her gaze couldn't help drifting toward Erik, who had begun drawing a geometric runic circle on a large stone split in half.
(Where did he get magic chalk…?)
Confused, Christine focused on Erik and soon found herself utterly captivated by his actions. As an artificer, she couldn't help but drop her jaw in surprise when Erik finished the complex magic circle and then began embroidering runes onto the leather bags with ease. But when she saw him manage to stitch the runes and activate them using the circle, then slip his hand into the bag to check what was inside, her jaw fell completely.
From start to finish, Erik had taken no more than five minutes. He had used runes to interfere with the function of a carved magic circle without a single mistake or hitch—utter madness. Creating a single artifact was already complicated and prone to catastrophic errors, but he had modified one that worked under another magical system. This was something even her mother, a renowned Artificer, might not be able to do—at least not so effortlessly.
As if he'd already settled into the process, Erik modified the other two storage bags they had managed to recover and checked what was inside, all while making comments on what Zoe and Elara were saying. This left everyone present with complicated expressions; watching a monster show off like that wasn't pleasant.
"All right, it's done. I've already taken a look, and I know what I want. You check them, and then I'll take my share. For now they're totally unsecured, and anyone can use them, so be careful."
With a calm expression, Erik briefly interrupted Elara and showed the three pouches in his hands, which put incredibly complicated looks on the faces of those who didn't know him.
As for Chen and Frank, they had to try their best to hold back their laughter—but in that moment they noticed each other. Seeing they shared the same thoughts, Chen nodded at Frank with an amused smile, which Frank returned in kind.
"Hahaha, you're really something, Erik. I'd heard you were a genius on par with Master Eldurdóttir, but only now do I understand what they meant. You're not talented—you're a damn monster."
Tomás said, genuinely amused, then took a bag and confidently put his hand inside, checking its contents with his mana. Erik shook his head and replied as he stretched his shoulders.
"It's not that much; any one-star Artificer could do something like this. The artifacts the hunters are using have been simplified to the extreme to work without activating the golden chains, so the security system is relatively simple."
Hearing Erik, Zoe and Elara turned to look at Christine with mocking expressions, which greatly darkened the beautiful girl's face. But realizing that Disciple Erik was even more valuable than she'd expected, Christine set those thoughts aside and focused on him, getting ready to stroke his ego—a very useful tactic for catching geniuses.
"You're far too modest, Disciple Erik. I'm a one-star Artificer and I can't do anything like that. You're a genius far superior to me."
"Are you really an Artificer?" Erik turned to look at Christine, a faint light in his eyes. The beautiful blue-haired girl nodded with a smile.
"That's right, I'm a certified Artificer."
"Have you made formation disks or flags before?" Erik asked, eyes shining, completely ignoring the praise. Christine pursed her lips a little, but quickly replied.
"I've made formation flags in the past."
"Perfect. We'll need to make some, so I hope we can work together." Erik said, eyes bright, to which Christine nodded.
"It'll be a pleasure to work with someone as talented as Disciple Erik."
"Likewise. But for now, let's get back to where we were—you were telling us how you managed to sneak into the temple, Disciple Christine." Erik spoke seriously as he erased the magic circle he had drawn and began sketching a new one. Although curious about the new circle, Christine nodded and began telling her story.
…
"May I take a closer look at your necklace, Disciple Christine?" After finishing the magic circle, Erik took the pseudo-armors from his storage bag and asked with curiosity. Christine looked at the leather armors and spoke with similar curiosity.
"Sure, but I'd like to know what those armors are."
"They're more like pseudo-armors; they'll lighten our real armor and give us minimal protection against the temperature." Erik said as he began inspecting the armors. Tomás widened his eyes in surprise and asked.
"Are they magic artifacts?"
"Yes, but very simple—you'll see."
Erik nodded and fixed a few stitches in the pseudo-armor's embroidery, then placed it in the center of the magic circle. Under everyone's surprised gazes, Erik activated the circle and stirred the surrounding Myst. Ethan turned to look at Elara and Zoe and asked in a slightly strangled voice,
"Does he always do things like this?"
"Usually."
Zoe nodded with a small smile, for some reason feeling proud of the others' looks of surprise and disbelief—especially Christine's. After a few minutes, the light of the magic circle faded while Erik watched the sky cautiously. But seeing that nothing happened, Erik smiled, satisfied, tossed the armor to Zoe, and said.
"This one's yours."
Receiving the armor, Zoe quickly excused herself and slipped into the forest while Erik handled the second armor. By the time he finished the second pseudo-armor, Zoe descended as light as a feather, then looked at Erik full of admiration and said.
"It works perfectly, Erik. I can hardly feel the weight of my armor now."
"Good news."
Erik said cheerfully and handed Elara her armor. Visibly excited, the beautiful blonde went into the forest while Erik began on the third. Tomás's group exchanged odd looks among themselves. At that moment, Tomás asked in a calm voice.
"Erik, would you be willing to make a deal to prepare armors for us? This gear is pretty basic, and we still have our armor. Combining it with your 'pseudo-armors' would be infinitely better."
With the magic circle still active, Erik turned to look at Tomás and his companions—especially their gear. All the men had equipment similar to the hunters', while Christine, though she wore a leather cuirass and gauntlets like the others, still had those strange greaves that looked like a metallic garter.
"I could make a deal, but I'm short on materials—aside from the cost, you'll have to get the materials yourselves."
"No problem; that's the usual when you order a custom magic artifact. Just tell us what you need, and we'll get it." Tomás replied, full of confidence. Erik nodded as he deactivated the refining circle, but just as he was about to speak, Ebonique reached out to him.
[I'm ready, Erik. Let's connect through the contract so you can feel what I feel as well.]
[Perfect, give me a moment.]
Erik's expression turned serious; he quickly looked at the others and announced.
"I'm ready to use my ability. Give me a moment to check the surroundings."
After seeing everyone nod gravely, Erik quickly tossed the armor to Frank and sat in a lotus position—more for show than out of need—and focused completely on his contract with Ebonique. In that instant, Erik felt himself connect deeply with his contracted spirit, much as he did with his wolves, and soon his mind 'opened,' letting him feel everything around him.
***
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