Upon hearing Ebonique, Erik fell silent and began to circulate his mana, his expression a mix of surprise and confusion. Creating a miniature machete of solidified Myst in front of him, Erik asked.

[Is it because of my strange mana that I can move Myst constructs…?]

[Probably.] Ebonique replied, eyes fixed straight ahead. Erik began changing the shape of the Myst construct and commented, a little incredulous.

[But what makes my mana so special? I'm not the only one without affinities—though it's rare, there are many in the galaxy with a condition similar to mine…]

[If you're referring to that woman who advised you, she isn't like you. She does have affinities; she just can't use them.] Ebonique replied in a calm tone, which made Erik open his eyes with a hint of surprise.

[Master Roa has magical affinities?]Ebonique nodded slightly and explained in a serious tone.

[Yes, she does. In fact, all living beings have the capacity to use mana and, therefore, are born with affinities, which are nothing more than a deviation of the spirit and body toward a certain spectrum of mana that affects Myst. But just as not everyone can make use of their innate capacity to wield mana, there are those who cannot take advantage of their affinities.

[In those people, the 'deviations' in their body or spirit are so small, or so perfectly synchronized with opposing ones, that they can't use them, though their mana still contains traces. But you are different; you truly have no affinities. Your mana is 100% pure in every aspect—it's almost miraculous.

[Now, whether that is what makes your mana resemble 'primordial mana' is, truthfully, very unlikely. Your 100% pure mana—although incredibly rare, almost nonexistent, in nature—can actually be synthesized in certain ways, but that still doesn't bring it as close to 'primordial mana' as yours is. Ignis and I have been doing some small investigations, but we still don't understand why you're so special.]

[…]

With a complicated expression, Erik made the Myst construct he was playing with disappear. His mind was filled with an infinity of questions and doubts, but at the same time many things were starting to make sense. His supernatural connection to Myst and his control of mana were possibly due to that 'primordial mana.'

(So you want my mana too…)

With a look of realization, Erik gazed up at the sky, focusing on the 'small spheres' he could feel in the air—the Myst. As if it had read his thoughts, the Myst began to bubble around him and soon somehow started to 'strike' him. Shocked, Erik opened his eyes and looked around without understanding what had happened, since the Myst was conveying 'anger.'

The Myst was angry with him!

(It's true! You were with me even before I could use mana!)

Having a revelation, Erik thought to himself, which caused the Myst to calm down completely and gather around him in a quiet, orderly manner. Feeling the Myst now convey 'satisfaction,' Erik kept staring at the sky with an incredibly complex expression. He no longer understood what was happening—although the Myst had always been 'alive' to him, this was the first time it had done something like this.

In a way, he felt he had been scolded by the strange energy that filled the universe, a sensation so odd and surreal it left him somewhat unsettled for a while. For her part, Ebonique did not subtly lift her gaze to look at her contractor with equal parts curiosity and surprise.

Although Myst had spirituality, even a being as ancient as she was found the way Myst behaved with Erik unheard of. In her long existence, she had never seen or even heard of anything like it; not even a child of Myst would have that kind of interaction with Myst. Erik was strange and mysterious even by her standards, but that was precisely what made him so captivating to someone of her level.

For someone who had practically seen it all, only an entity as unique as the star-haired youth could interest her and make her empathize, treating him as an equal. After all, no matter how compassionate you are, you could never empathize with an ant or a cockroach. There had to be at least some level of closeness for communication to even be possible.

…

While Erik lost himself in thought, he suddenly felt the Myst begin to stir again, which made him put on a strange expression, wondering what he had done. But shortly after, he began to see the trees start to tremble, and soon the ground began to move violently, almost as if it were the surface of the sea on a windy day.

"Did the basilisk get loose?!!"

With a panicked expression, Zoe asked as she looked around, but she quickly turned to Erik and spoke in a voice full of urgency.

"Erik, we have to go back!!"

"Ebonique, do you feel anything?" For his part, Erik placed his hand on the dragoness's scales and asked in a solemn tone. Ebonique replied in a serious tone.

"I don't think it's the basilisk. I can't feel it—it must be something else."

"Let's wait a few seconds…"

Hearing Ebonique, Erik ordered in a serious tone as he drew his machetes. Inside the Myst vehicle, Elara and Frank gripped their staves tightly, while Zoe looked at Erik for a few seconds, then moved closer to him while clutching her katana. As the earth moved as if the end of the world were approaching, Erik closed his eyes and focused entirely on the Myst, trying to understand what was happening.

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"I get it!"

After a few seconds, Erik opened his eyes and announced with an expression full of realization with a hint of relief. From inside the Myst barrier, Elara looked at Erik and asked hurriedly.

"Did you figure something out?!"

"I felt something similar before—someone is trying to slip into this closed space from the outside!" Erik announced, recalling the moment he spoke with the red-haired Master-level woman and his masters forced their way in.

Hearing Erik, Frank, Elara, and Zoe's eyes widened in disbelief, but soon their expressions filled with hope and joy.

"They're coming to rescue us!" Frank was the first to speak, proclaiming happily while taking Frank in his hands. But at that moment, Erik announced in a more serious tone.

"It's too soon to celebrate. The Legendary-levels already failed once to enter this place…"

At Erik's words, everyone's expressions darkened slightly, but soon they tightened their grips on their weapons and filled themselves with resolve. The simple fact that someone was trying to rescue them was a relief—at least those outside knew what was happening.

Therefore, even if the first attempt failed, more would always come, and that would at the very least put pressure on the hunters, which could lead them to make mistakes, making their lives easier.

…

…

…

In front of the doorway through which the youths had entered the ruin stood beings of such colossal power that their mere presence made space itself threaten to shatter. The three Legend-levels of humanity were gathered with somewhat grim expressions, accompanied by at least a dozen Master-levels.

"The soul tracers for at least twenty of our youths reported their deaths, but we weren't able to recover any information of any kind; it seems there's some kind of block."

Yrsa, the Legend-level of the Boreal League, a beautiful woman with ashen-blond hair and various runic tattoos across her body, reported in a serious tone. Aelric, a man with piercing golden eyes and the Legend-level of the Meridian Federation, added in a similar tone.

"We managed to contact the contracted spirits of two of our youths, but they reported they completely lost contact with the incarnations they summoned."

"The same is happening with our youths. Although the stronger ones are fine, the soul plates of the weaker ones are broken. But we didn't get any information either, and the number and speed are far too abnormal."

Xiuwen, the Legend-level of the Jade Lotus Union, added seriously. At that moment, the director of the Arcane Order, Lysander—who looked the most 'elderly' of them all—spoke in a serious, almost solemn tone, a world apart from his usual demeanor.

"Then it's confirmed the information is correct—something happened inside. We're going to intervene."

At the director's words, what seemed to be a shadowy specter with bright gray eyes materialized in front of the 'entrance' and extended one of her hands. A brutal wave of mana swept through the chamber, forcing the present Master-levels to mobilize their mana to protect themselves, at which point the Myst began to gather in front of the shadowy figure at high speed.

With a serious expression, Sigrún clenched her fists and looked at Seraphina—the shadowy figure—heart in hand. She could feel that her Erik was in danger; every part of her being screamed that she had to rescue him, but she couldn't do much. Although they had tried, not even the four of them acting together could do anything against the ruin's restrictions, so now they could only rely on the Legend-levels.

Soon, a small sphere of darkness formed in front of Seraphina and space began to fluctuate violently, at which point the four Legend-levels began mobilizing their mana. In the Director's hand appeared an elegant sword that released what looked like purplish fire, and complex magic circles began to form on its blade at high speed.

At the same time, two battle-axes appeared in Yrsa's hands, and her runic tattoos began to shine with a whitish light, as did her eyes, while her hair began to lift. For his part, Aelric conjured an enormous, absurdly complex golden magic circle, while in Xiuwen's hands there appeared a kind of ornamental plate, which he began to manipulate, causing runes to materialize around the sphere of darkness.

Soon, the Myst congregating around Seraphina organized itself under the command of the runes of the Zazen discipline, creating connecting threads that allowed exaggerated amounts of mana to begin circulating. This activated an excessively complex formation.

With the activation of the formation, what appeared to be a tiger, a tortoise, a dragon, and a phoenix materialized in the corners of the chamber, and the fluctuation of space worsened greatly. In that instant, the surrounding Master-levels gathered around the four phantom beasts in the corners, then began pouring all their mana into them.

In a synchronized motion, the Director and Yrsa slashed at the void, and Aelric's circle began to spin at full speed. At that instant, the space around the point of darkness began to warp, creating a kind of gravitational lens that caused the light to distort.

With a solemn expression, Eleonora directed all her mana toward the figure of the tiger in the chamber while gripping her spear tightly. She had a terrible premonition weighing on her heart. If she couldn't rescue her Erik now, it was possible she would never be able to again.

Thanks to the combined power of the Legend-levels and the Master-levels, space began to fluctuate and crack, causing horrible spacetime fissures to appear in the chamber. But little by little, the sphere of darkness in the center began to grow in size, which made Seraphina's bright eyes flare and the Myst roar.

Holding back her emotion, Seraphina tried to draw near to slip inside, ready to sacrifice whatever it took for her young master's safety. But at that moment the asteroid began to tremble violently and collapse in on itself, and an infinity of runes appeared in space. With the appearance of the runes, space literally exploded, creating a furious spatial storm that sent them all flying without distinction or mercy.

…

…

…

Under the expectant gazes of Elara, Zoe, and Frank, the trembling of the ground began to intensify to the point that enormous cracks started to form. But soon the shaking weakened, and things returned to normal, leaving them confused.

After scanning the sky and surroundings for any anomaly, the group understood that no one had arrived to save them. For his part, Erik focused entirely on the Myst, but upon sensing that everything had returned to normal, he looked at the others and spoke in a serious tone.

"Don't get discouraged—it's still too soon to know whether they failed or succeeded. We'd better move. If they fail from the outside, we'll still have to save ourselves, and we don't know what this tremor might have caused with the basilisk."

"You're right. This could have caused damage to the barrier or affected the basilisk—it's best we hurry."

Zoe spoke solemnly, then asked Hiyori to advance with everything she had. Erik followed close behind atop Ebonique, though his eyes remained closed, fully focused on sensing the surroundings so he could react in time if something happened.

***

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