NOVEL NEXT Chapter 39: Do you think my words are just air?
A few moments later, Sigrún and Eleonora appeared in the private room of the library where Erik was, with the help of his wolves, gathering several books and stacking them into a large tower. Sensing the arrival of his masters with his mystical awareness, he turned to look at them with a smile.
"Hello, masters, how did the meeting go?"
"Not well, but we can talk about it at the mansion. First, return the books." Sigrún replied, a bit irritated, her arms crossed, to which Erik quickly nodded.
"Alright, but how do I do that? When I took them out, the shelves filled up again with more books."
"See that compartment over there?" Eleonora pointed to a small hatch visible on a wall and continued, "You just need to put them in there and insert your card into the slot."
"I understand."
Erik quickly opened the hatch and saw what seemed to be a dumbwaiter, so he swiftly placed all the books inside, then closed the hatch and inserted his card into a slot similar to an ATM. This caused a hologram to appear in front of him, listing the books he had returned.
"By the way, Erik, where is Liliana?" While Erik confirmed the book return on the hologram, Eleonora asked with a tone that sounded quite angry.
"I don't know, master. She said she was busy and left, but more importantly, what's the name of the class to learn how to make one of these cards? They're so cool." Erik asked with a smile, causing Eleonora's frown to deepen visibly as she inquired.
"Liliana left and left you here alone?"
"Something like that," Erik replied casually as he retrieved his card from the slot.
Meanwhile, Eleonora felt a vein begin to throb on her forehead in anger. It was the first time one of her disciples treated her words as if they were nothing, and from the way Erik was trying to avoid the topic, it was obvious that Liliana had not left him in the library.
"Let's go, Erik."
Equally annoyed, Sigrún spoke as she placed one of her hands on Erik's shoulder. At the same time, a multitude of runes appeared in the air around them, surrounding them before they vanished from the spot in a flash, leaving Eleonora behind. She quickly took out her crystal tablet and called her disciple.
"Hello, master; it's a pleasure to receive a call from you." Liliana's voice, full of respect and admiration, was heard from the call hologram, to which Eleonora coldly asked.
"I'm going to ask you this only once, Liliana. Did you accompany Erik today, as I told you?"
"…"
Hearing her master's tone, Liliana completely panicked; after all, it was the first time she had spoken to her that way, causing her mind to go blank, which seemed to worsen Eleonora's already terrible mood as she shouted loudly, making the whole room shake.
"ANSWER ME!!!"
"N-no master, I thought it would be better for his development if he discovered things on his own, the path of the ma…"
With a voice filled with terror, Liliana quickly tried to give the excuse she had been thinking about all day, only to be cut off halfway by Eleonora's cold and emotionless voice.
"Liliana, do you think my words are just air?"
"Of course not, master; your words are full…" Liliana responded in a tone that seemed on the verge of tears, only to be interrupted again by Eleonora, who ordered coldly.
"It doesn't seem like it. I want you at the mansion first thing tomorrow. Understood?"
"Yes, mas…" Liliana replied in a clearly tearful tone, but Eleonora cut the call without letting her finish.
After furiously ending the call, a magic circle appeared beneath Eleonora's feet, and she vanished in a burst of light, reappearing in Sigrún's mansion. There, she found the beautiful golden-haired master sitting on a sofa, gently stroking Erik's hair as he rested his head on his master's lap, while showing her an informative hologram of the student card.
As she let out a tired and annoyed sigh, Eleonora sat down on the sofa across from the master and disciple pair, then spoke as Seraphina handed her a freshly made cup of tea.
"Erik, forgive Liliana for leaving you alone today. It must have been difficult for you."
"Don't worry about it, master. It was actually very easy. I just had to ask for a few directions to get to the Registration Tower, and there everyone treated me very well and explained everything I needed to know."
Erik replied, not giving much importance to the matter, and instead, he turned his card to show the hologram to Eleonora and continued.
"Besides, look, I even enrolled in a class."
"That may be true, but I've lived millennia in this city, and I know how the students here are. They're not exactly known for being particularly cooperative, especially with new students," Eleonora responded as she received her cup of tea and gave Seraphina a somewhat tired smile, to which Seraphina nodded with a smile.
"Really? I didn't notice. Everyone was actually very kind," Erik commented casually, to which Eleonora responded after tasting her tea.
"But don't worry, I'll punish Liliana for her little game tomorrow."
"You don't have to do that, master. It's not like it's her obligation to take care of me or anything like that. She probably had something to do, or maybe she just doesn't like me and doesn't want to be with me, which is perfectly understandable and normal. Besides, even though it may not seem like it, I lived on the streets for a long time; I know how to take care of myself."
Erik commented calmly as he waved his hand, causing the beautiful, golden-eyed master to lean in and lovingly kiss Erik's cheek. Then she lifted his legs a little and sat down on the sofa, resting the star-haired youth's legs on her own.
"Better show me which class you enrolled in."
Eleonora gently stroked Erik's legs and looked at the hologram displaying his schedule. At the same time, she felt her bad mood dissipate, and a warm and peaceful sensation enveloped her as she added with a beautiful smile.
"Fufufu, a good class."
Meanwhile, Sigrún watched the whole event in silence, as she was a bit upset with Liliana for leaving Erik alone, but since she was Eleonora's disciple, it was a bit complicated to intervene. However, her beloved disciple's words made her relax enough to join the conversation.
"Indeed, he's my disciple after all. That was the first class I enrolled in too; we're master and disciple, after all," Sigrún commented proudly, then lovingly kissed Erik's forehead.
"Really, Master?" Erik asked Sigrún with a smile, who responded with an even bigger smile.
"Of course, I still remember it: Introduction to the Unification Theories of the Grand Aconte. I must say that unifying the three magical systems has been something many have attempted throughout human history, but so far, no one has succeeded."
"Is it that complicated?" Erik asked, intrigued, to which Eleonora commented as she recalled with nostalgia.
"Yes, the main problem is that, although very similar results can be achieved with any of the three systems, they are all based on concepts that are very different from each other. So, although many have tried to unify them in different ways, myself included, nothing has been achieved, with runic-geometric refinement being the only thing I could accomplish in over a millennium of research."
"Runic-geometric refinement? Did you create that, master?" Erik asked, a bit surprised, to which Sigrún responded with a chuckle.
"Hehehe, Eli won the Auric Award for that, and it was quite a revolution—a new refinement method for raw materials and artifact creation that reduces production costs by about 50%. It turned the galaxy upside down for quite a while."
"That's impressive, master."
Erik looked at Eleonora with bright eyes, who elegantly smiled in response while Seraphina handed her a new cup of tea. But Erik thought of something and looked at Sigrún as he asked.
"Master, how did you win the award?"
"Hehe, not much; I just developed artificial mana crystallization." Sigrún commented casually as she stroked Erik's hair, who opened his eyes wide in shock and exclaimed.
"What?!!!"
"Hehe, that's right! Thanks to me, humanity can now store large amounts of mana to power all our technology." Sigrún added with a tone that was both proud and cheerful, to which Erik quickly asked.
"That's crazy, but master, why are mana crystals still used as currency if they can now be produced in large quantities?"
"Well, for the same reason I said 'technology' and not 'mana users,' Erik. While my method certainly allows for mana crystallization—a process that humanity couldn't reproduce before—it still has its limitations, and they aren't exactly the same as natural ones.
First, their energy density is less than one-third of that of natural crystals, which means you need an artificial crystal three times larger to achieve the same results as a natural one. Moreover, they offer virtually no benefit for training like natural ones do, though the reason for this is still being studied with no results so far.
But they're very useful for magical artifacts, matrix arrangements, and things like that, which is why they're mass-produced for that purpose. This has significantly reduced the cost of creating fortresses and planetary barriers, and many even list my artificial crystals as one of the main reasons for the significant increase in economic growth in recent times."
With a beautiful smile on her face, Sigrún explained, full of pride, which brought warm smiles to the faces of Seraphina and Eleonora, who looked at the beautiful golden-haired master with affection and pride.
"You two are really amazing; now I'm scared to say loud you're my masters." Erik couldn't help but comment, a bit awed, while making a mental note to study the economy and social environment of the Arcane Order in depth.
"Hahaha, don't be silly, Erik. You're the best disciple I could wish for, and even if you never win an Auric Award or something like that, that will never change." With a loving smile on her face, Sigrún hugged Erik's head tightly against her chest, speaking to him with affection.
"Sig is right, Erik. You're our disciple, no matter what happens. Besides, don't underestimate yourself—you have a lot of talent, and I know you'll achieve great things." Eleonora added with a big smile as she placed a hand on Sigrún's shoulder, making her release Erik since she was suffocating him with her impressive chest.
"Hehe, I hope to achieve that, and thank you so much, masters. You're the best thing that's happened to me in this life; you have no idea how much I love you and how grateful I am to you."
Eleonora couldn't resist and pulled Erik, leaving him sitting on the sofa between the two of them, where each of them hugged one of his arms, resting their heads on his shoulders. Meanwhile, Seraphina approached with a huge plate of cookies that made the star-haired young man's eyes light up.
"You don't have to thank us for anything, Erik. I love you, too, from the bottom of my heart, and these years with you by my side have been the best I've had in my entire life." Sigrún spoke in a soft and loving voice as she closed her eyes and rested her head on Erik's right shoulder, feeling her heart fill with warmth and love.
"Yes, Erik, you've truly changed the way I see life. When you came into my life, I learned what true happiness is. You're a fundamental part of my heart, and now I can't imagine a future without you by my side. Everything I do is because I love you and want you to be as happy as I am."
Eleonora whispered soft words that only the four people in the room could hear as her head rested on Erik's left shoulder, feeling her heart fill with happiness and joy.