Stellar Echo: Heart of the Myst

Erik's gentle whisper caused a mischievous smile to form on Sigrún's lips. She quickly tilted her head a bit to look directly at her sworn sister on the other side of her beloved disciple, then asked in a playful, teasing tone.

"How much should I charge for helping out, Eli?"

"Fufu, that's a great question. Maybe I should think about the same thing."

Amused, Eleonora returned the look to her sworn sister and joined in with an equally roguish smile. But their little act was cut short by Erik, who smiled arrogantly and puffed out his chest almost theatrically, then declared with amusement.

"Hehe, there's no need to think about it because your help won't be necessary. I just so happened to develop the perfect spell for this situation."

As he spoke, Erik conjured a beautiful and complex geometric magic circle beneath the group's feet. It quickly created a circular barrier of pale yellow light that enclosed them all. Shortly afterward, the group of five began to descend rapidly into the earth, as though it had suddenly turned into some kind of liquid.

Although the descent was incredibly smooth and steady, Sofía couldn't help but wobble slightly as she watched in shock the extraordinary sight of sinking into the ground. Meanwhile, Sigrún, Eleonora, and Seraphina observed the barrier and the magic circle beneath their feet with equal parts curiosity and interest.

"This really is an interesting spell..." Eleonora remarked with a smile as she studied the magic circle beneath her feet, to which Erik responded with a cheerful chuckle.

"Hehe, it's really just a somewhat curious application of a trick I saw one of the monsters use in the tournament. It seemed so interesting that I copied it out of curiosity, and luckily, it turned out to be useful."

"You mean the one you used to test your modification of the sword technique, right?" Sigrún added with a proud smile as she looked at her beloved disciple, who nodded happily.

"Yes, that monster controlled the earth in a very peculiar way."