Stellar Echo: Heart of the Myst

"What do you think of Alchemy, Erik?" Sigrún asked, feeling a bit offended by Erik's excessive enthusiasm for artifacts, as her first disciple seemed to have forgotten that she was his master in the first place.

"It's the foundation for everything, I'd say. It doesn't just create medicines but also all kinds of incredible materials, so I'm dying to start learning as soon as possible."

Erik replied with a big smile, which made Sigrún's expression change to a broad smile as she shot a smug look at Eleonora, who responded only with an elegant smile, not letting her little sister's games get to her.

Sigrún's joy was due to the fact that Erik wasn't lying, something both women could easily tell. The starry-haired young man truly thought highly of alchemy and was eager to start learning, which not only made Sigrún very happy but also filled her with a great sense of duty and belonging toward her new disciple.

"Well, it's great that you're so enthusiastic about studying, but the first thing you need to learn is the languages and basics of magic, so it'll be a while before you can start with alchemy or artificery."

Eleonora threw a bucket of cold water on Erik's excitement. He looked a bit surprised and then went back to eating his cookies in silence, emanating an aura of deep disappointment, which elicited a soft laugh from the two women.

Some time later, the joyful chat between the masters and their new disciple was interrupted by the arrival of two new people on the balcony—a young man and woman dressed in robes similar to those of Eleonora and Sigrún, white and embroidered with the same emblem on the chest.

Despite her appearance as a young girl of 18, the woman possessed an aura of maturity and unique elegance, with sapphire-colored eyes and long, wavy chestnut hair framing her delicate, feminine features. Her white robe clung to her athletic and well-proportioned body, accentuating her slight curves.

The young man, on the other hand, had a dignified bearing with an imposing stature and athletic build, his skin like polished ebony, smooth and radiant, contrasting beautifully with his immaculate white robe that framed his slender and well-proportioned figure. His dark, deep eyes gleamed with sharp intelligence, and his closely cropped hair gave him an air of sophistication and elegance.

"I'm glad you've arrived," Eleonora turned to look at the newcomers and greeted them gracefully.

"Greetings, Master." The young woman with chestnut hair bowed slightly and greeted in a warm, melodious voice, while the young man placed a hand on his chest and bowed with a dignified expression, greeting in a firm voice, "Your teaching is our guide, Master."

Erik, meanwhile, looked at the strangers with curiosity. Although they didn't seem much older than him and, aside from being quite attractive, they didn't seem to have anything special, the presences he could sense with his 'mental radar' told a very different story.

In the case of the woman, her presence was at least four times more powerful than his own, but the man's presence was on another level—at least twenty times his own. If he hadn't already become somewhat accustomed to the monstrous presences of his masters, he would have run away without looking back.

Eleonora smiled at her dear disciples and then turned her gaze to Erik as she commented, "Well, Erik, let me introduce you to my disciples." Eleonora raised her hand towards the young man, who approached, and continued, "First, this is my first disciple, Desmond Atticus, and..." Eleonora pointed to the young woman, who also stepped forward, "Liliana Faye, my second and youngest disciple."

Erik stood up from his chair and introduced himself in a serious and formal tone. "Nice to meet you, my name is Erik."

"Erik is Master Eldurdóttir's first official disciple and will also be under my tutelage, so I expect you to look after him as your younger brother," Eleonora completed Erik's words and added in a serious tone.

Eleonora's words greatly surprised the young disciples, who looked Erik up and down, the boy who had returned to happily eating cookies thanks to a signal from Sigrún. But they quickly composed themselves and greeted him properly.

"Hello, Erik, from today I will be your older sister, so if you have a problem or a question, don't hesitate to come to me," Liliana said in a cheerful voice.

"Welcome to magical learning, fellow disciple Erik. Do not hesitate to seek my help if you need anything," Desmond said in a firm and serious tone.

“Thank you, I will make sure to keep that in mind”, Erik said, slightly nodding his head before returning to his cookies, as there were now some with different flavors, and he was really fascinated discovering them.

"Well, now that you all know each other, I'd like you to show us some of your abilities, Erik. Sig told me a bit about them, but it's better if we see them for ourselves." Eleonora waved her hand towards the balcony railing, which began to twist and form a staircase to the garden. "Let's go to the garden."

Erik took one last reluctant look at his plate of cookies but ultimately accepted his fate and descended the stairs, a bit downcast, until he reached the garden. When he turned around, he noticed that the only one who had used the stairs besides him was Liliana; everyone else was flying.

"What should I start with?" Erik asked as he watched his masters land in the garden not far from him.

"I had a better idea, Erik. You're going to have a little practice bout with Liliana. That way, we can see your abilities more clearly," Eleonora announced, to which Liliana bowed slightly and approached Erik.

"Alright."

Erik drew his two machetes and took a combat stance that appeared free and light, while Liliana stepped back a bit. Suddenly, a huge and intricate magic circle appeared beneath them, and shortly after, they were covered by a transparent sphere emitting a soft light.

"Well... begin!"

After Eleonora's signal, two magical circles with beautiful lines and shapes forming an intricate geometric design appeared in Liliana's hands. Immediately after, she raised her right hand towards Erik.

A beam of light shot out from the magic circle towards the boy, who only moved slightly with light and elegant movements, perfectly dodging it, before launching himself forward at a blinding speed.

A frontal charge was something very easy for Liliana to handle, so she smiled softly as she prepared to intercept him. However, before the new magic circle in her left hand could change, she quickly jumped back purely on instinct, sensing five invisible arrows heading towards her vital points at great speed.

After landing, Liliana tried to look at the impact zone of the arrows, but again felt a great source of danger, this time from her left side. Through her ethereal projection, she could sense the range and speed of the attack, and it was evident she couldn't dodge it again.

With quick thinking, Liliana crouched down rapidly and struck the ground with one hand, causing a large geometric magic circle to appear beneath her, and a sphere of yellow light enveloped her completely.

The moment the sphere formed, a powerful invisible flying slash collided with it, violently deforming it until it exploded, revealing Liliana once again. She had a slightly surprised expression on her beautiful face, but quickly composed herself and thrust her hands forward from her crouched position.

Shortly after extending her hands, a large magic circle with intricate details, different from the ones she had used before, formed in the air in front of Liliana, who ignited her mana to the maximum. While a small whisper couldn’t help but escape from her beautiful cherry-colored lips.

[Light Arrows]

With Liliana's whisper, hundreds of light arrows, large enough to completely destroy a human, and even more so the young boy in front of her, formed in the air and shot towards Erik from all directions at blinding speeds, trying to surround and attack him from all angles.

But Erik, with great calm, simply sent a few of his own 'crystal arrows' towards Liliana. At the same time, the boy used 'crystal walls' occasionally to slightly delay the light arrows or directly dodged them with ethereal movements. He even had enough flexibility to occasionally send invisible flying slashes towards Liliana.

As the exchange of arrows and slashes continued, all the spectators watched the battle with some surprise. Although the level of skill displayed was nothing extraordinary for beings at their respective levels, what the fifteen-year-old boy was showing was not something you'd expect from someone his age.

The boy seemed to use mainly two different movement styles: one agile and ethereal for dodging and another fast and aggressive, primarily for attacking. He combined them with incredible ease and fluidity, while simultaneously sending arrows towards his opponent's vital points, keeping Liliana in a constant state of alert and pressure, preventing her from unleashing her full power.

The battle continued with their almost choreographed exchange of attacks until, suddenly, Liliana summoned a new magic circle and aimed it at the sky, causing a shower of light bursts to rain down on Erik, leaving the boy with no escape route.

Liliana smiled beautifully, seeing her opponent without a way out, knowing it would be the end of the match. At the same time, she felt the frustration she had accumulated during the battle slowly dissipate. After all, not being able to finish off someone at a lower level than her, and younger too, was even embarrassing, not to mention that he was her junior disciple.

Meanwhile, the spectators' eyes widened in shock when the light bursts were about to strike the boy. But Erik, showing a calm and composed expression, indicative of his extensive experience in similar situations, suddenly changed his movements to ones that were more 'fluid' and elegant.

Using his machetes like batons, Erik moved as if following some kind of flow, and to everyone's surprise, the light bursts quickly followed his movements. Shortly after, they returned toward Liliana, but this time much more dangerous, as Erik had added more mana to them and shaped them into light slashes, taking the beautiful chocolate-haired girl by surprise.