Chapter 52

"Do you feel anything about it, young master?" Seraphina looked a bit worried at Erik and asked again.

"Not really, it has never seemed special to me. I also killed many animals on the island for food and leather, it's more or less the same."

"I see..."

"Do you have another question?"

"A couple more, Young Master, but first I would like to know, for what reason would you kill another human being?"

"One can only kill another human being in self-defense; any other way is immoral and will ultimately harm the mind," Erik responded with a proud expression, almost like a child correctly repeating a learned lesson.

"That is a relief, Young Master," Seraphina smiled slightly at Erik's answer, making a mental note to delve deeper into his response at a later date. But first, she decided to ask one more thing, "One last thing, young master, how did you manage to avoid the knight's last attack?"

Erik grinned cheerfully at Seraphina's question and answered, "I was able to do that thanks to a trick I've been working on lately; I call it 'Overdrive.'"

"Overdrive?"

"Yes, the idea comes from the theory that communion with the Myst grants me an unlimited amount of mana, so I wanted to release all the mana from my body at once, either for a spell or to strengthen myself. The problem is that although this sounds good, in reality, it puts incredible strain on my body, so I can only do it for a couple of seconds before the pain becomes too much to handle."

Seraphina looked at Erik with evident surprise on her face; after all, this 'Overdrive' that Erik speaks of was something that, despite there being quite a lot of information on the subject, was very rare and only occurred in life-or-death cases of mana users who had perfectly mastered communion with the Myst.

A mana user under normal conditions could never release all their mana at once. After all, the pressure that occurs in the body is so great that it's a suicidal act, and the body itself inhibits any possibility of doing so. In the same way that a normal human can lift tons in an extreme life-or-death situation at the cost of severe injuries, the same happens with the regrettable release of all the mana. Therefore, that Erik could do something like this at will was sheer madness.

"That's impressive, young master."

"Hahahaha, yes, it gives very good results as you can see, although it's very painful."

Seraphina smiled a little and poured a cup of tea as Erik returned to his notes. He pulled out a plate of regular cookies and began eating while reviewing his agenda and making corrections.

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"It was determined that the attack on disciple Erik was orchestrated by the Blackthorn, Xuanling, and Leifs families, under the assumption that getting rid of him would give them a window of opportunity to marry Master Sigrún to the youngest son of the Blackthorn family," Adrian reported to the director in the meeting room in a serious and professional manner, to which the director asked, a bit perplexed.

"What gave them such a stupid idea? What were they hoping to achieve?"

"We actually discovered something interesting. Apparently, a few years ago, Oberon Solaris took Aurora Blackthorn, the eldest daughter of William Blackthorn, as his disciple, and it was she who contacted Gareth to attack Erik at the instigation of her younger brother. We were also able to determine that Gareth is a loyal follower of Oberon Solaris, because apparently he cured his daughter of a hopeless disease, and he has been following him unconditionally ever since."

"Don't tell me those fools think they can form a new faction with Oberon's 'support'?"

"That is precisely the thought they have, Director."

"Hahahahahaha," the Director laughed heartily while Adrian wore a forced smile on his face. The Director continued after calming down, "I knew that William was a bit stupid, but with this, he's outdone himself."

"Well, William Blackthorn is known for not having a good head on his shoulders and being more ambitious than is good for him. But it certainly defies understanding how he could think of causing problems for the man who hates them the most."

"Hehehehe, he is really stupid, but that old bastard took on a disciple, which is quite unusual. Well, I guess it's time to go steal some resources from that old geezer," the Director laughed cheerfully as Adrian put on a tired expression and asked,

"How should we handle this matter with the Blackthorn, Xuanling, and Leifs families, Director?"

"With the Blackthorns and the Xuanlings, make sure to get a good cut from them, and if they dare to refuse, finish them off. We must send a strong and clear message about what happens when you dare to mess with the Arcane Order. As for the Leifs, leave them to Sigrún; she will know how to handle the situation."

"Understood, Director. And how should we deal with disciple Erik?"

"Mmm, that's a great question, but first, I want to speak personally with the boy to make a decision."

"Are you sure, Director? Didn't you commit to not interacting with him?"

"Hehehe, this is an extraordinary situation; it's necessary to talk to him to determine the emotional impact he suffered from the attack."

Adrian sighed in defeat, feeling his heart tighten at the thought of the huge scandal that Eleonora and Sigrún will create, and the amount of resources they will swindle from the faction's coffers.

"Well, better to get it over with quickly, see you later." The Director suddenly stood up from his chair, and Adrian wanted to stop him, but the Director disappeared from sight in an instant.

...

The Director appeared in the sky several kilometers away from Sigrún's mansion garden, from where he could see Erik arranging all sorts of equipment and magical artifacts while reviewing his notes. He was accompanied by his wolves, Ebonique and Seraphina, who watched him from a distance.

After curiously watching Erik for a moment, the Director blinked and reappeared about 100 meters from Erik, but this time something surprising happened. The moment he appeared, he realized that Ebonique had increased in size and was circling Erik, while in the young man's hands two silver machetes appeared. At the same time, a terrifying murderous intent filled the air, making it almost thick.

Seeing himself discovered so easily, the Director bitterly smiled and commented, "Hahahaha, you have good senses, kid."

"Who are you?" Erik asked cautiously as Tiberius appeared beside him like a shadow, and Kaiser like a bolt of lightning.

"Well, everyone calls me the Director."

Erik turned his gaze toward Seraphina, who nodded while glaring annoyedly at the Director and crossed her arms.

"So you're the leader. I apologize, but appearing above the sky and then next to me made me uneasy," Erik commented with some relief and sheathed his machetes. His wolves returned to their normal form, and Ebonique shrank down, settling on his head while giving the Director a warning look. The Director felt a cold sweat running down his back.

"Hahaha, don't worry, I just wanted to talk to you a little about the recent incident and ask what you'd like as compensation."

"You'll give me compensation? What can I ask for?" Erik's eyes lit up like lanterns upon hearing the Director's words, and he asked excitedly.

"Hehehe, just tell me what you want and we'll see if it's possible."

"How about a couple of things from this list?" Erik ripped a page from his agenda and handed it over to the Director with one of his spectral hands.

"Do those hands of solidified Myst have a name?" The Director asked, somewhat intrigued by Erik's display.

"Oh yes, I call them spectral hands. After seeing how useful telekinesis was, I wanted to do something similar, so I developed them."

"You're very creative."

"Haha, thank you."