The director shifted his gaze to the list Erik had handed him. The list was filled with a bunch of resource names, none too expensive, though a couple were quite useless and, therefore, hard to come by in the university market, especially one in particular. Out of curiosity, he decided to ask the star-haired young man.
"Mmmm, I could get you everything on the list, they're fairly easy to find. Just, why do you need the petroleum?"
"A little idea I have. If it works, I'll show you." Erik smiled mysteriously, giving a vague response, clearly not willing to talk much about his research.
"You remind me a lot of your Master." With an ironic smile, the director shook his head at Erik's answer, who only offered a diplomatic smile, unwilling to delve further into the matter.
"Are you sure this is all you want?" After a moment, the director confirmed as he looked at the boy in front of him, who had clearly been influenced by those two troublemakers.
"Mmmm."
For his part, Erik thought for a bit as he looked at everything he had in the garden, soon focusing on a curious artifact he had made himself. This led him to comment in a thoughtful tone.
"An industrial mana condenser would be nice. The one I made is pretty basic."
"You made a mana condenser on your own?"
A little surprised, the director asked curiously as he looked at Erik, who nodded and then pointed to one of the artifacts in the garden. It had a spherical shape and appeared to be made from a black metal, adorned with various carved runes all over its surface.
"Yeah, that one. And although it's quite basic, it works. The problem is that it's very slow and leaves a lot of impurities, so I waste a lot of time and effort working with it."
"Can I take a closer look?" Full of curiosity, the director asked while looking at Erik, who nodded casually.
"Sure."
With Erik's approval, the mana condenser floated into the director's hands, and he began examining it with curiosity and some surprise. Though it was very basic and had several design flaws, something deeply caught his attention: it was made from very common and cheap materials, easily obtainable at the university. Nothing like what you'd expect from specialized equipment of this kind.
But the most surprising thing about it was the runes on the artifact. They were incredibly well simplified and structured, to the point where even he could only see a couple of areas for improvement. If the process were refined a bit, the cost of the equipment could be significantly reduced, which would allow for an increase in the production of many things by a large margin, having a positive economic impact on the faction.
"How long did it take you to develop this mana condenser?" After a moment, the director asked while looking into Erik's green eyes, who responded after thinking for a bit.
"Mmm, about a year, more or less. It was quite complicated to find substitutes for the materials, since I couldn't afford the more commonly used ones."
(Sure, like your Masters or that demon in a maid outfit lack the resources and influence to acquire one... Definitely Sigrún's disciple, even boasts in the same way...)
Hearing Erik's comment, the director thought to himself while resisting the urge to roll his eyes, then asked with a business smile, sharpening Seraphina's gaze from a corner.
"Would you be interested in working on a project to improve this mana condenser to industrial levels?"
Though a bit surprised by the sudden offer, Erik thought for a moment before asking out of curiosity, while Ebonique above his head opened her eyes again to watch the annoying insect testing its luck.
"How much are we talking?"
"How does a salary of 5 million high-purity mana crystals and a 50 million research budget per year sound?"
Noticing the young man's curiosity, the director spoke confidently, showcasing his majesty as the leader of the faction. He looked directly at the star-haired boy while pretending not to notice the glances Seraphina and the dragon spirit were sending his way.
For his part, Erik, although he truly wanted to accept the deal immediately, held back because he still had things to do. He also remembered his master's words, so after calming down a bit, he spoke in a serious tone.
"It's a very tempting offer, but I can't accept it at the moment. I'll be busy for at least two more years, so if the proposal still stands by then, I wouldn't mind considering it with my masters."
"I'll be waiting, then. By the way, how did you manage to simplify the runes?" The director nodded at Erik's response and then asked curiously, relaxing a bit now that the terrifying spirit and the demon in a maid's outfit had stopped eyeing him like prey.
"With a lot of effort," Erik, as usual, wanted to leave it at that, but after thinking for a moment, he decided to truly explain this time and avoid problems with the faction's LEADER.
"But to be honest, I'd say I have good intuition. I'm good at these things; even my masters ask me for help with that from time to time."
"I see. You're truly talented, and it was a pleasure talking to you, Erik. In the coming weeks, you'll receive everything on the list and an industrial mana condenser," the director commented, secretly surprised to have confirmed his suspicions, to which Erik responded with a cheerful laugh.
"Hahaha, thanks in advance then, director."
"Don't worry, it's the Arcane Order's duty to compensate you for the security failure."
After a few more words, the director disappeared and reappeared in front of a cabin in the middle of a beautiful, lush forest. He entered slowly and then calmly sat on a small cushion, the only thing in the cabin.
Once seated and comfortable, the director sighed deeply and murmured to himself in a voice filled with meaning.
"That boy is definitely a child of the Myst. To be able to simplify runes purely by intuition… Also, the feeling I got from him was very similar to what I felt back then, so much so that I almost had visions of that massacre..."
The director's mind submerged in memories of an ancient war—or rather, a massacre—from a distant galaxy in which he had participated in his youth. There, he learned what the children of the Myst were, individuals born with the ability to connect instinctively to the Myst at levels a normal mana user could never reach in their lifetime. He had experienced firsthand the terror that title embodied.
After a while, the director returned to reality, letting out a complex sigh, before whispering to himself.
"But just as I thought, although Erik gives me a similar feeling to Tal'veren, it's still different. Also..." The director stared into the void for a moment before adding, "The Myst behaves strangely with Erik, almost as if it's alive, to the point that it seemed to get 'angry' when I scared him. And during the duel, I definitely felt murderous intent coming from the Myst itself when Gareth attacked—something unheard of…"
The main reason the director wanted to interact with Erik, despite having to ignore his promise to Eleonora and Sigrún, was precisely that. When referee Gareth attacked Erik on the duel platform, the director thought about stopping the attack but hesitated when he felt the Myst around him spiral out of control. At the same time, it began emitting terrifying murderous intent, almost threatening a Myst calamity.
The whole situation left the director stunned. He was undoubtedly one of the humans with the strongest connection with the Myst, even standing out among other legendary-level humans in this regard. And although his incredible connection with the Myst made him aware that there was a certain spirituality within it, it never reached the extremes he felt that day, almost as if it were an intelligent, living entity.
Moreover, it was something he had never heard of—not even as a rumor. Even at the moment of Tal'veren's death, something like that hadn't happened. Although, back then, the director was still young, and his connection to the Myst wasn't as strong as it is now. So, perhaps something similar did happen, and he just didn't notice it, much like how no one at the university planet realized what was happening with the Myst around Erik, except for him.
"I need to find more information on this..." the director whispered to himself, deciding as he stared into the void with a contemplative expression.
...
...
...
On a cruise ship of impeccable majesty, pure white in color, with a design reminiscent of the graceful curves of a swan and wide, wraparound windows offering unparalleled views of the stars. With delicate runes intricately engraved across its entire surface. Three divinely beautiful women stood, each with a different expression.
"THOSE SONS OF BITCHES!!! I'M GOING TO KILL THEM ALL!!!"
A furious Sigrún, surrounded by blue flames, screamed into the void with a voice full of hatred and murderous intent. Meanwhile, Eleonora, sitting on a chair made from the same wood as the ship's upper deck, kept her head down, hiding her expression. She held in her hand a beautiful mirror covered in runes, with golden lightning occasionally flashing around her body.
"Calm down, your disciple is fine. Didn't you see how happy he was with the compensation the director gave him?"
Thalia, who was standing near the railing with her arms crossed, commented in exasperation as she looked at the pair of exaggerated women in front of her. All she got were powerful looks full of murderous intent coming from the two women.
"What did you just say, Thalia?" Eleonora asked in a cold, emotionless voice, her piercing gaze directed at Thalia, who felt a slight chill down her spine. But unwilling to back down, Thalia quickly retorted, irritated.
"Hmph, stop overreacting. The boy is fine. It was just a small event that could help toughen his character."
"It seems you want to make your way back to the university on your own, Thalia," Sigrún glared at her with utter disdain and rage, speaking through gritted teeth as she stared at the red-haired woman.
"Oh? So, you're going to throw me out? Go ahead, I'd like to see you try," Thalia grinned defiantly as deep orange flames surrounded her, ready for a few rounds with the troublesome woman standing before her.