Upon entering the state of [Spiritual Empowerment], one of the abilities he could use thanks to his contract with Ebonique—which allowed him to merge with her—Erik felt his total mana capacity nearly double. However, the reason he activated a time-limited ability like that wasn't because of the empowerment itself, but because in that state, he could use a specific spell that took advantage of Ebonique's unique ability. This would be incredibly effective against that ball with legs.
With a calm motion, Erik drew a horizontal line in front of him with his machete, causing several rune-geomantic circles to form a few meters away. These circles conjured 11 arrows made of solidified Myst, with engraved runes on their surfaces—something that Elara and Zoe watched with wide eyes, completely stunned.
The moment the arrows fully formed, the runes on their surfaces activated simultaneously, causing them to glow with ominous black electric arcs before shooting off at high speed toward the Golem, tracing different paths through the air. At that same moment, Erik kicked the ground hard, launching himself toward the Golem and leaving behind a faint trail of dark electricity.
Almost instantly, the 11 arrows struck the Golem in a precise pattern—five hitting its limbs and head, while the other six impacted the front of its spherical body, forming a perfect hexagon. At that moment, thick arcs of dark electricity surged across the Golem's body, causing it to freeze abruptly, completely locked in place.
At the same time, the Golem's body began to glow erratically, as if struggling against the dark lightning, but the arcs only grew larger and more powerful, holding it firmly where it stood. The hexagon of arrows on its chest caused that specific area to appear dull and dim.
In that instant, Erik appeared in front of it, surrounded by dark electricity. He then moved his machetes so fast they nearly vanished from sight, unleashing a barrage of invisible flying slashes that sliced the front of the Golem into tiny pieces—leaving a hexagon-shaped hole right at the center of the arrow-formed hexagon.
Through the hole, Erik could see a crystalline sphere floating in the center of the Golem's chest. Inside it, a large number of Zazen Discipline runes glowed faintly, resembling a snow globe, while dark electric arcs crackled around it. He quickly sent a phantom hand to grab it, managing to separate it from the Golem's body after a bit of effort.
Once the crystal sphere was detached, the Golem stopped glowing entirely and then began to slowly fall to the ground. At that moment, Erik deactivated his Spiritual Empowerment, separating from Ebonique while gritting his teeth to endure the burning sensation coursing through his mana circuit system.
After all, even though his mana capacity doubled—allowing him to cast more powerful spells—it still took a toll on his body. That was an ability he couldn't afford to overuse, or he would end up in a serious condition.
"Your unique ability is seriously broken, Ebonique. This thing couldn't even fight back." Shifting slightly to adjust to the pain, Erik remarked as he watched the Golem fall to the ground—at which point Ebonique cheerfully responded.
"This is Ebonique Nox for you, hehe."
Ebonique's ability could be described as either simple or complex, but without a doubt, it was extremely powerful. If mana was defined as a combination of Myst and the physical and mental energy of a living being, Ebonique's ability allowed her to forcibly separate them—almost like electrolysis—which essentially made her immune to magic. Any spell that entered her Domain would simply break down into nothing.
But even more terrifying was the fact that this "decomposed mana" wasn't lost. She could absorb it to enhance her own mana and nearly indestructible body, pushing it beyond its limits temporarily—and in some cases, even permanently. So while Ignis was virtually immortal, able to recover from any wound, Ebonique couldn't even be wounded. Any attack aimed at her only made her stronger.
Of course, that was the full extent of her special ability when using her true body. The version Erik was able to use through her incarnation was much weaker—barely able to manifest through his dark lightning, extremely slow at decomposing mana, and incapable of extending the lightning beyond his own body. Normally, this would have forced Erik to make direct contact with his target in order to use the ability.
But Erik wasn't her proud contractor for nothing. Over the years, he had come to understand her special ability well enough to, using his knowledge of Artificery and Eleonora's help, activate the lightning through magical artifacts perfectly synchronized with him. He later applied that knowledge to his ongoing personal project to create magical artifacts made entirely of mana, ultimately developing a spell capable of using her special ability at range—something that left Ignis so stunned, she couldn't close her mouth for several hours.
…
…
…
When the Golem finally collapsed to the ground, creating a loud crash that made the earth tremble, Elara and Zoe—who had seemed lost in thought—snapped back to reality. They turned to look at each other, disbelief written all over their faces. After all, that starry-haired boy had just shown them something almost absurd, far beyond anything he had displayed up until now.
First of all, Zoe couldn't even comprehend how he was able to use Spiritual Empowerment—one of the most advanced abilities that could be executed through a spirit contract. It required synchronizing mana and consciousness with the spirit, a task so complex and difficult that not even an Arcane-level, let alone herself, could easily accomplish it.
But even more terrifying was that the power she had sensed from Erik in those brief moments was at least twice his normal strength—something incredibly strange, given that Spiritual Empowerment was only supposed to increase total mana capacity by 50% and allow the contractor to partially use the spirit's special ability. What Erik had shown was far beyond that—but that was only the tip of the iceberg.
Meanwhile, Elara was in shock, struggling to believe she had truly seen rune-geomantic refinement being used to cast a combat spell—the dream of many mages across the galaxy. But that wasn't all; there was something even more frightening. Those arrows had engraved runes on them, almost as if they were magical artifacts. And if what she imagined was true, she had just witnessed a revolution that could change magic as she knew it.
…
Upon hearing the loud crash behind him, Frank—who was running with everything he had and on the verge of passing out from mana exhaustion—turned his head to look back. He came to a sudden stop. After all, behind him was the imposing Golem that had nearly killed him several times, now completely defeated and lying on the ground. A young man with starry hair was gently descending, entirely focused on the crystal sphere in his hand.
"Frank."
As he struggled to catch his breath, with Lirio collapsing onto his head, completely exhausted, Frank heard an elegant and melodic voice to his left. He recognized it instantly and quickly turned to look, finding a young woman of exquisite beauty, her features perfectly symmetrical in a way that made her appear both energetic and endearing. Her short golden hair and green eyes complemented her presence, and several prismatic barriers made of a crystalline material floated behind her.
"Dear direct disciple, it's a pleasure to see you again…" With a heavy breath, Frank greeted her respectfully, bowing as best he could. At that moment, Elara replied in a calm tone.
"There's no need for such formality, though I would like to know—was it a coincidence that you're here?"
"No, it wasn't. I actually asked Lirio to track you down." Frank quickly responded with sincerity. The beautiful young women nodded in acknowledgment, and then Elara spoke again, her voice steady.
"I figured as much. But let's meet up with Erik first before we continue. Come."
Upon hearing the voice of the beautiful golden-haired young woman, Frank turned to look at the starry-haired youth in the distance. Erik appeared to be examining the fallen Golem while speaking with Zoe, surrounded by two impressive wolves, each about two meters tall—one silver-white and the other jet black—and a majestic eastern dragon, roughly three meters long, flying above him.
Noticing that Elara had started walking toward the young man, Frank quickly took a deep breath, trying to catch a bit of air, then followed behind her. Soon after, he got close enough to hear Zoe's voice.
"Erik, the truth is I've been meaning to mention this for a while, but the opportunity never came up, so I'll take advantage of the moment and ask now. If it's not too much trouble, when there's time, I'd like us to train together a bit. Experiencing your 'Blade Qi' firsthand would be a great help to me."
Zoe spoke with a heavy but humble tone, her gaze fixed on Erik, who was studying the Golem with interest. He quickly turned to look at her and asked with curiosity.
"Blade Qi? Is it the same as Sword Qi? I read about the concept in a sword technique I bought some time ago, but I really couldn't understand what it meant when it said: 'Sword Qi is the shadow of the swordsman's soul, of his Dao, projected beyond the edge of his blade. It is the echo of a simple truth: iron is fleeting, but the will that drives it is eternal.'"
Hearing the genuine confusion and doubt in the tone of the starry-haired boy, Zoe couldn't help but laugh a little, amused. After all, it was quite entertaining for her to see that even a genius of his caliber had fallen into what was known as "the Zazen Discipline Trap." But she quickly composed herself and explained with a smile.
"Fufu, so even you fell for that. But those are just euphemisms. For some reason, practitioners of the Zazen Discipline love them—especially the ancient ones. You were lucky not to run into a 'poet.' Those guys write their books and techniques in the form of poems, and some are so convoluted that you spend more time trying to figure out what they mean than actually learning the technique.
"But to put it more clearly, when they talk about 'Dao', they're referring to the deep understanding of a specific art—in this case, the martial art of swordsmanship. And when your comprehension of that art becomes so refined that it resonates with the Myst and allows you to manifest your will, that's when you get things like 'Blade Qi' or 'Sword Qi'. Among other effects, this means you can cut at a distance—and at the most advanced levels, even with a mere thought."
"So that's what it is… Why don't they just call it 'long-range magic edge'? That's what I called it…" Erik replied in disbelief, which made Zoe look at him strangely before asking in confusion.
"Why would you call it long-range magic edge? They're not even similar."
"What do you mean they're not? They're the same. With the magic edge, you just tell your mana to become sharp, and it can cut. From there, you just mix in a bit of Myst to extend the effect at a distance, and that's it—you've got an invisible flying slash." Erik explained, sounding a bit puzzled. Zoe's eyes widened in disbelief, and she asked in a quiet voice.
"You really see it that way…? You just tell your mana to cut and mix in Myst to extend it…?"
"Yeah, it was even easier than creating my first Myst construct."
Nodding calmly, Erik replied without hesitation, which triggered a strange mix of defeat, frustration, and injustice in Zoe's chest. After all, the magic edge was an incredibly complicated technique, known as the first true trial of a knight. Not only did it require precise mana control, but the user's mind also had to be incredibly clear and focused—since even a single distraction could cause the physical manifestation of mana to dissipate.
Moreover, that magic edge was typically based on elemental affinity, as that made it significantly easier. Elemental mana was far easier to manifest in reality. Neutral mana, on the other hand, was a completely different matter. A magic edge formed from neutral mana was one of the most difficult knightly trials. While elemental magic edges were effective, they inevitably suffered from elemental weaknesses—for example, a fire-based magic edge would lose much of its power against water.
Meanwhile, neutral mana magic had no weaknesses, remaining effective against any element and in any situation. Therefore, the vast majority of people born without elemental affinities—or with affinities inappropriate for combat—choose to become knights. It is a sure path to prominence, and once they achieve this great feat, they could even become stronger than someone with elemental affinities.
"I see… anyway, I'd like to train with you at some point…"
After taking a moment to calm the urge to punch someone that had risen in her heart, Zoe commented in a restrained voice, to which Erik easily nodded and responded with a calm smile.
"Of course, once we manage to stabilize a bit, we can give it a try."
"I'd also like to talk with you, Erik." At that moment, Elara spoke in a calm and elegant voice and continued.
"Although I won't ask you about spellcasting using rune-geomantic refinement, since I imagine Master Silverwood will publish that in due time, I would like to ask you a bit about that black lightning spell you used. I've never seen anything like it, and it intrigues me a little. Though if it's a secret, I'll understand."
Hearing the blonde girl, Erik turned to look at her, then responded in a casual tone, without the slightest interest in correcting the beautiful girl's misunderstanding.
"It's not really a secret, but it's something still in development, and for now, it's something only I can do, so there's not much to say about it."
"I see..." Elara commented, with a slight trace of disappointment in her tone, but she quickly composed herself and pointed to Frank before continuing to speak.
"Putting that aside for now, I'd like to introduce you to Frank Svensson, a university student who was part of our team in the selection tournament. He's a skilled wind mage, and his spirit has a very useful, unique ability."
"Svensson?" Upon hearing the last name, Erik couldn't help but comment with some curiosity, which led Frank to quickly introduce himself in a serious tone.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, direct disciple Erik. I'm Frank Svensson—my family owns and founded 'Svens Shoes.'"
"Oh, so it's not a coincidence. Nice to meet you; I'm Erik. I really like the boots your company makes."
Erik greeted cheerfully as he extended his hand toward Frank for a handshake, which caught the young student slightly off guard. He quickly composed himself and shook the famous direct disciple's hand with a bit of nervousness as he spoke.
"Although Direct Disciple Faye had mentioned something to me, it's truly an honor for us that our product is worthy of such praise."
"Don't flatter me too much, or I might end up believing it." Letting go of Frank's hand, Erik replied in a calm tone, though his gaze inevitably landed on the small cloud with legs above Frank's head. With a hint of interest in his voice, he asked.
"Would you mind if I took a closer look at your contracted spirit?"
"It's better if you don't, Erik."
Before Frank could respond, Ebonique interjected in a serious tone, prompting Erik to turn and look at her with a bit of confusion. At that moment, the dragon spirit explained in a firm voice.
"If that little one comes into contact with your mana, it's highly likely it will break its contract with that young man, regardless of the consequences."
"Are you serious?" Erik asked, somewhat surprised, to which Ebonique nodded solemnly and replied. Meanwhile, Hiyori, not wanting to hear any of it, hid her head.
"Very serious. So avoid coming into contact with him."
"I see… I didn't know my mana had that particular effect…" Erik said, a bit thoughtful, prompting Ebonique to shake her head and explain.
"It's not that it has that property—it's simply that it's 'delicious' enough to become addictive for younger spirits. But we'll talk about that later. Right now, you have more important things to take care of."
"Well, you're right about that—though remind me to bring up the topic later." Erik said in a calm tone as he turned his gaze back to Frank. At that moment, he asked in a serious voice while pointing at the Golem.
"Frank, how did you end up being chased by this thing?"
***
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