"Could it be that you don't need to adapt to the Myst in this place, Erik? You can already connect to it at your full capacity?"
"More or less."
Erik replied with a calm smile, which made Elara swallow hard, trying to keep her instincts under control. At that moment, she turned to look at Zoe, who already seemed to have lost the battle, as she gazed at the young man with fascination, her eyes practically heart-shaped.
(At least I'm doing better than her…)
Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Elara added to herself, then turned to Erik and spoke in a calm tone.
"In that case, there's no point in staying here. Let's move together—although the power of our spells and techniques will be somewhat diminished, it's manageable, and for now, it's more important to understand this place's characteristics."
"…I agree, splitting up right now doesn't seem like a good idea." After taking a few deep breaths, Zoe managed to calm herself enough to speak in a measured tone, to which Erik nodded casually and said.
"Alright, then let's check out the surroundings first." Erik quickly turned to look at the pair of wolves, then gave a firm order.
"Kaiser, Tiberius, you two lead the way. Stay alert for anything strange and don't go too far."
After two powerful confirming growls, the pair of wolves moved ahead, walking with a rather attractive style, as if they had a special rhythm. Then they stopped a few meters ahead, where they began to sniff the ground and the air, searching for possible threats. At that moment, Erik communicated with his contracted spirit.
"Ebonique, if you notice anything strange, let me know."
"You can count on it."
Ebonique quickly replied in a cheerful voice, which immediately caught Zoe and Elara's attention, since the fact that the spirit could speak meant she was a mature spirit, making her combat potential equal to Erik's—turning her into a powerful ally.
After all, a mature spirit was equivalent to a human Sage level, but because of how spirit contracts worked, they could only unleash power equivalent to the maximum mana potential of the contractor who summoned them. For example, Hiyori, the fox spirit contracted to Zoe, was actually an Ancient Spirit—equivalent to a Master-level—but when summoned by Zoe, she could only exert power equivalent to Ascended-Peak.
With the wolves up ahead, the group walked through the rocky cavern, staying completely alert. But no matter how far they went, the scenery barely seemed to change, making them think they might be walking in circles, until, after a while, they heard a couple of faint wolf howls. That immediately made Zoe and Elara reach for their weapons, but at that moment, Erik smiled cheerfully and commented in a relaxed tone,
"They found an air current."
Hearing Erik's announcement, Zoe and Elara smiled with a hint of excitement but still kept their hands on their weapons—since finding an exit was good but also carried risks. Zoe quickly looked at Erik and asked in a serious tone.
"Erik, how much experience do you have with team combat?"
"Not much, honestly."
Erik replied with a calm smile, which made the two girls nod in understanding, as they had suspected as much. After all, he was only 30 years old—it was already an inconceivable miracle that at such a young age he had achieved such impressive academic accomplishments, as well as a battle feat as remarkable as defeating a knight two centuries older and several times stronger than him in a one-on-one duel. It was only natural that he might lack experience in some areas.
"I see. So, in your duel, I noticed you were able to fight both at close and long range, but I imagine you're more focused on the path of magic, is that right?" Zoe quickly asked seriously, to which Erik nodded and explained.
"Yes, although I know a sword technique from the Zazen discipline, I'm only halfway there with it. I have much more confidence in my spells."
"You really never stop surprising us…"
Upon hearing his explanation, Zoe couldn't help but look at Erik in surprise once again. It didn't really make much sense for a mage to learn a sword technique, since they could never truly bring out its full potential—especially from the Revealed level onwards. If his masters had let him try, it was for a reason. But quickly returning to reality, the beautiful black-haired young woman spoke again.
"But putting that aside, since you'll be fighting mainly as a mage, you'll stay in the center with Elara. She'll explain what you need to keep in mind." Zoe turned to Elara, who nodded seriously, already holding her staff in her hand, so the beautiful knight continued.
"In the meantime, I'll take the front along with your wolves and handle any melee fighters, and I'll leave my contracted spirit to watch the rear. In turn, you could have your spirit or one of your wolves join her at the rear."
"Understood. Ebonique, would you like to cover our rear?" Erik quickly nodded and asked his reliable spirit, who immediately rose into the air and began to grow in size, speaking in a calm and elegant tone.
"Leave it to me. No one will touch your back."
"Perfect. Hiyori-sama."
Zoe quickly nodded in satisfaction and called her own spirit, at which point a burst of fire materialized in front of her, quickly taking the form of an elegant nine-tailed fox. Once fully materialized, with its beautiful white fur accented with red, it bowed respectfully.
"Greetings. I am Hiyori, spirit of the celestial flames."
"Hello, Hiyori. I'm Erik—we've met before, but I didn't get the chance to greet you." Erik quickly replied with a calm smile, and the beautiful nine-tailed fox straightened up, then spoke in a cheerful yet courteous tone.
"That is indeed the case, Erik-sama. It truly is a pleasure that we finally have the opportunity."
While Hiyori and Erik chatted pleasantly, Zoe couldn't help but look at her contracted spirit with a slight surprise. Although she herself was not particularly arrogant or dismissive, Hiyori was still an Ancient Spirit, possessing great dignity—she would not bow easily to anyone. This also caught Elara's attention, as when she first met the impressive spirit, Hiyori hadn't bowed or anything of the sort, just offered a polite greeting.
This fact inevitably made the pair of beautiful young women look at the star-haired young man with growing interest and curiosity, feeling that the handsome youth was truly a box full of endless surprises and mysteries. This only magnified his charm several times over. But at that moment, Erik's voice sounded again, pulling them out of their little daydream.
"Well, Hiyori, this is Ebonique, my contracted spirit. She'll be watching the rear with you—I hope you two can get along."
Erik said with a calm smile as he placed his hand on Ebonique's scales, who had grown to nearly two meters and was now in her dragon form. This caused an almost imperceptible shudder in the fox spirit, who forced herself to speak after the dragon's bright purple eyes glanced at her with a dangerous light.
"Of course, Erik-sama, you can count on it."
"Thank you very much, then. If we have some free time later, I'd like to talk with you a bit more." Erik said with a cheerful smile, to which Hiyori quickly nodded elegantly and replied.
"It will be a genuine pleasure."
After answering, Hiyori walked slowly toward the rear, where she discreetly bowed in front of the impressive dragon, who simply looked at her for a moment, then put her head back next to Erik so he could gently stroke her scales and give her a bit of delicious mana.
"Alright, let's get moving. Stay completely alert and be ready to fight at any moment."
With the formation ready, Zoe spoke in a firm voice and then positioned herself at the front between the two wolves, who quickly began to lead the way by following the air current. At that moment, Erik activated the dynamic mapping functions of his armor and walked confidently behind Zoe. Elara turned to look at him and began to explain in a serious tone.
"Erik, to fight as a mage in a group, you need to pay attention to two things. First, you must always keep enough mana to cast a defensive barrier—never try to cast a spell that consumes too much because even though the knights will handle melee defense, their usual tactic against spells is to dodge, so they're not very good at blocking those attacks.
"Second, in every attack team, there will always be two commanders: a general commander, who sets the overall pattern for the team, and a second who focuses on directing the tactics of the mages. So, while you should listen to the first commander, the orders of the second are vital, and you must follow them as closely as possible, since failing to do so could bring down the whole team.
"Since you lack experience in this area, for this occasion, Zoe will take the role of first commander, and I'll be the second. And although we'll get to this later, keep in mind that to coordinate well, we need to determine the spells we can use together, since they're a powerful weapon in crucial moments. And although I heard from Liliana that you mainly excel at Myst constructs, I'd like to know if you're familiar with elemental spells."
With a calm expression, Erik took a notebook from his storage ring and began to take notes, paying close attention to Elara's explanation. When he heard her request at the end, the star-haired boy took a different notebook from his storage ring and offered it to the beautiful young woman with short golden hair, explaining in a clear tone.
"I suppose Liliana must have told you that I don't have elemental affinities, so I mainly focus on Myst constructs. Even so, I know several attack spells with fire, electricity, and darkness affinities. In this notebook, there's a list of them—you can read it and tell me how we can best combine our efforts. To be honest, I've never cast a spell in combination with someone else before."
Looking at the notebook, Elara couldn't help but find the star-haired youth a bit unusual. It was really the first time someone had given her a list of the spells they knew. Also, the fact that he lacked experience might be a bit problematic, since it was a clear sign he'd never taken a combat class at university. But recalling the impressive display of skill Erik had shown in his duel, Elara convinced herself it wouldn't be too serious.
"I'll read it later. For now, you can focus entirely on using Myst constructs while we get used to each other. We'll only fight if we have the advantage; otherwise, we'll withdraw—so stay very alert." After a few seconds, Elara extended her left hand, retrieving the notebook, to which Erik nodded in understanding and put it away as he spoke.
"Understood."
"By the way, always keep your weapons ready—you never know what might happen."
Noticing that the star-haired youth's weapons were still at his waist, Elara kindly reminded him. Erik nodded again, then took hold of the handles of his machetes. At that moment, for some reason, Elara felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, as if the young man's calm and scholarly demeanor had suddenly been sublimated into an infinitely sharp aura, capable of cutting with just a touch.
Although surprised, Elara chose not to say anything and instead focused entirely on her surroundings, ready to react to the slightest change. Not long after, in the distance, the group saw a flash of light—giving the impression of light at the end of the tunnel—at which point Zoe asked in a firm tone,
"Erik, do you detect any presences?"
"Only what seem to be large insects—there are quite a few, but they're weak. At best, they're Initiate level." Erik quickly replied, which made Zoe nod before she spoke seriously.
"I see. Even so, we'll proceed with caution. Be ready to engage in combat at any moment."
After a unanimous nod from Erik and Elara, Zoe began to move cautiously toward the light, until they soon came across an irregular arch. There, just as Erik had mentioned, there were several insects resembling moths about 40 cm long, carrying rocks in their legs as they flew toward a hole in the ceiling of the cavern.
Curious, Erik focused on the strange moths. At that moment, a screen materialized in his field of vision, thanks to his impressive armor, displaying a detailed summary of what he was seeing, which easily allowed him to get an idea of what they were—and more importantly, how to deal with them.
...
[Species: Geomoth.]
[Typical Strength Level: Initiate-level.]
[Habitat: Abandoned mines, natural tunnels, deep caverns.]
[Elemental Affinity: Earth]
[Known Weaknesses: Highly vulnerable to electricity.]
[Threat Level: Medium-low.]
[Known Abilities:
[*Rock Manipulation: Capable of lifting, throwing, or shaping rock in amounts proportional to their numbers. When acting as a swarm, they can cause massive collapses.
[*Mineralized Wings: Their wings are coated with a fine layer of crystalline dust. They can reflect light, partially camouflage in mineral environments, or deflect small projectiles.
[*Swarm Coordination: Geomoths are linked by a rudimentary echo-impulse system that allows them to act as a single unit when they detect intruders.]
[Behavior:
[*Extreme Territoriality: They attack in swarms as soon as they detect vibrations foreign to their colony. They do not retreat, even if several are killed.
[*Nocturnal: Rarely seen on the surface. They detest direct sunlight.
[*Accelerated Reproduction: They lay crystalline eggs hidden in cracks; a single mother can produce up to 100 larvae in one lunar cycle.]
[Important Data:
[*At deeper levels, they can form "Hive Cores," led by a Geoqueen, which is much larger and more dangerous.]
***
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