Stellar Echo: Heart of the Myst

In the middle of a luxurious hall with wooden floors and enormous glass panels in place of walls on its northern side—panels that revealed the location sat atop a vast lake nestled within a sprawling metropolis filled with buildings of every shape and kind—sat a woman behind a gleaming four-seat wooden table. She had delicate, harmonious features, wheat-toned skin, long, softly wavy hair black as onyx, and piercing dark eyes.

The beautiful woman wore an elegant black dress that left one shoulder bare, lending a touch of subtle sensuality to her dignified and graceful image. She was slowly sipping a glass of red wine while gazing out the window, almost as if lost in thought, an air of melancholy surrounding her that elevated her natural charm to another level.

After glancing at the clock near the wooden door, the elegant woman smiled softly and rose from her seat. She walked over and opened the door, where she found a handsome young man with starry hair and green eyes, dressed in the university's pristine white uniform. He was followed by two stunning women—one with black hair dressed in a maid's outfit, and the other with light chestnut hair wearing a black uniform that identified her as an assistant.

"A pleasure to see you again, Erik." The beautiful woman greeted warmly with a captivating smile, to which the star-haired young man responded with a calm smile of his own.

"The pleasure is mine, Laura."

Without delay, Laura guided Erik to the table, where he took a seat. Sofia sat to his left, looking a bit nervous, while Seraphina remained standing behind him with a professional expression on her face. Still, that didn't stop her from casting Laura a sharp, almost warning glance as the older woman sat across from Erik, revealing one of her long, well-shaped legs through the slit in her dress.

"Do you have a preferred drink, Erik?"

Though curious about the young woman accompanying Erik, Laura asked in a warm voice that conveyed both confidence and ease, to which the star-haired young man responded with a smile.

"Not really; anything non-alcoholic is fine."

"Oh, you don't like the taste of alcohol?" Laura asked with mild curiosity, to which Erik softly shook his head in response.

"It's not that I particularly dislike it; I just prefer not to consume things that could negatively affect my decision-making ability."

"Hehe, an interesting personal policy." Laura replied with a hint of surprise in her tone, prompting Erik to ask calmly in return.

"Do you think so? Honestly, I just don't want to have any excuses for my foolish decisions."

"That's even more interesting..." Laura said, genuinely intrigued, when a gentle knock came from the door. Laura quickly gave the order.

"Come in."

Soon, a man of about thirty entered the room. He had short, well-groomed, slightly reddish hair and wore an elegant black suit. With a polite and respectful tone, he bowed slightly and asked.

"Dear guests, how may I assist you?"

At his question, Laura looked at Erik and asked with a smile.

"What do you think of the lavender tear tea, Erik?"

"Tear?" Erik whispered quietly, confused, prompting Seraphina to lean in and whisper softly into his ear, in a voice only he could hear.

"It's just lavender tea, young master."

"Yes, that sounds fine." Erik said, nodding after Seraphina's explanation. Laura then turned to look at the nervous young woman sitting to the left of the star-haired boy and asked.

"Does that sound good to you as well?"

"Y-yes, it's fine." Sofía quickly replied, visibly nervous, which made Laura chuckle softly. At that moment, Erik spoke with a smile. freёwebnoѵel.com

"I completely forgot the introductions; my apologies. This is Sofía López, my assistant-in-training."

"Nice to meet you, Sofía; my name is Laura Sánchez; it's a pleasure to meet you."

Upon hearing Erik, Laura turned to look at Sofía once again and spoke in a warm, reassuring tone, hoping to help the nervous girl feel more at ease. Sofía quickly responded in Galactic, which she could more or less speak, though her pronunciation was terribly poor.

"N-nice to meet you, it's a pleasure..."

"You don't have to force yourself to speak Galactic. Actually, my grandparents were from the Meridian Federation, so you can speak in whichever language you feel most comfortable with." Laura replied with a smile, which visibly relaxed Sofía, who quickly responded in Meridian.

"Thank you very much."

With a calm smile, Laura nodded toward Sofía, then turned her gaze to Seraphina, who simply smiled with professional poise. The beautiful olive-skinned woman then turned to the waiter and spoke in a composed tone.

"Bring us a pot of lavender tear tea and some desserts."

"And cookies." Erik quickly interjected, which made Laura smile gently before adding.

"And the best cookies you have."

"At once, madame."

After a courteous bow, the man promptly left the room, carefully closing the door behind him. At that moment, Laura turned back to Erik and asked with a smile.

"So, how did the tournament go, Erik?"

"Quite well, actually. I managed to secure a spot for the ruin exploration and a few other things." Erik answered calmly, prompting Laura to congratulate him with a smile.

"Congratulations! I heard from my brother it was a rather tough tournament."

"You have a brother?" Erik asked with a bit of curiosity, to which Laura nodded.

"Yes, I have a younger brother, Ethan; he recently joined the Order with his Master. He took part in the tournament as well, though he didn't manage to earn a spot in the exploration." Laura answered with slight enthusiasm—but her words took Erik by surprise, prompting him to ask.

"Are you talking about Ethan Williams, Master Roa's disciple?"

"Oh, you know my little brother?"

Laura asked brightly, although she was mostly trying to keep the conversation flowing. It was obvious that a direct disciple like Erik would have at least heard of the Order's newest direct disciple. Erik then explained.

"Not personally, but I've spoken with Master Roa, and she happened to mention her disciple."

"You've met Jessica and talked to her?" Laura asked, a bit surprised by Erik's words, and the star-haired boy nodded.

"Uh, yes. She actually gave me some very useful advice on how to use magic without affinities."

"You don't have affinities?!"

Erik's words left Laura nearly speechless, her surprise so great that she couldn't help but raise her voice slightly when asking. Although Erik was well known for being a monstrously talented individual—not only in magic, but also in alchemy and artificery—the fact that he lacked magical affinities wasn't widely known. The star-haired young man, however, responded casually.

"That's right, I don't have any."

"Now everything makes sense..." Laura murmured thoughtfully, prompting Erik to comment with mild curiosity.

"But who would've thought you had a connection to Master Roa."

"Well, what can I say? It's a small world—or maybe, I should say, the world of Master-levels and direct disciples is a tightly-knit one. Jessica is actually my mother's and younger brother's Master, so you could say we share a certain connection." Laura explained with a soft sigh, then took a sip from her glass of wine. At that moment, Erik added casually.

"That really is quite the coincidence."

Just then, the door knocked, and after Laura gave permission, the waiter entered carrying a beautiful glass teapot and a tray filled with various desserts and cookies. As he moved to serve Erik, Seraphina quickly stepped in and politely but firmly declined on his behalf, moving with elegance. As a result, the man could only serve Laura and Sofía—after Laura gave him a wry smile and a nod.

The man soon exited the room with a respectful bow, and Laura turned her gaze toward Erik, who was now receiving his tea and cookies from Seraphina. With a faint smile, she remarked.

"So, you're the young man without affinities that Jessica spoke to me about—the one with monstrous talent."

"I wouldn't know what to say about the 'monstrous talent' part, though it's true I have no affinities."

Erik replied without much concern, handing a few cookies to the wolves that emerged from his shadow, while Sofía—visibly nervous—sipped her tea in small, careful sips. At that moment, Laura spoke with a voice tinged with admiration.

"You're truly humble, Erik."

"I wouldn't put it that way, but thank you for the compliment." Erik replied calmly as he took another cookie. At that moment, Laura let out a soft, cheerful chuckle.

"Fufu, you really are a fascinating person. It's a shame you didn't get to meet my younger brother at the tournament."

"Well, there wasn't even a chance, really. I was the first to leave the planet." Erik said in a laid-back tone, clearly unfazed, which made Sofía glance discreetly at her boss, once again realizing just how impressive he truly was.

"Wow, that's quite an accomplishment."

Laura remarked, a touch of surprise on her face—though the growing interest and curiosity she felt toward the young man in front of her were even stronger. Seraphina noticed this, prompting her to glance at Laura with subtle annoyance.

"It wasn't that big of a deal. I just happened to stumble upon a hidden trial especially suited for artificers, which made it easier for me to pass the tests." Erik replied with a modest smile, to which Laura responded with a slightly flirtatious one.

"You're far too humble, Erik. The youngest artificer in the current young generation after you is around 200 years old, so there couldn't have been more than ten artificers in the entire tournament. That trial must've been something truly difficult."

"Well, in a way, it wasn't easy or hard. The whole challenge was just to 'hack' the command staff, and that was it. So from my point of view, the real difficulty was in even considering that as a possibility—and being bold enough to try it." Erik answered casually, which caused Seraphina's smile to widen slightly, her pride clearly showing.

"You hacked an artifact?"

Laura asked again, visibly surprised. After all, hacking an artifact—even a simple one—was not something just any artificer could do. It was said that to pull something like that off, one not only needed extensive knowledge of runes, but also a high level of mana control and precision in technique to avoid damaging the artifact in the process.

"Yes, it was actually a bit challenging—it took me the whole night to pull it off."

Erik replied as if achieving something like that were the most natural thing in the world, while grabbing another cookie from the dessert tray. Meanwhile, his response brought a conflicted smile to Laura's face.

In the end, even though it was somewhat irritating to hear such a shameless attempt at humble bragging, Laura couldn't help but feel a certain intrigue and excitement toward the mystery and unpredictability surrounding the young man before her—something that drew her in like a moth to flame. This led her to speak in a restrained voice.

"You have great talent in artificery, Erik."

"Thanks for the compliment." Erik replied with a smile, which, for some reason, made Laura's heart skip just a little. She didn't allow it to show in the slightest and quickly responded with a serious tone.

"It's not a compliment—it's just the truth. Hacking a magical artifact is no small feat, not to mention the patents you registered... they really shook the galaxy."

"It's really not that big of a deal. Honestly, I just got pretty lucky." Erik replied calmly, which inevitably made Laura shake her head.

"You really are humble..." she murmured under her breath, feeling a tangle of unfamiliar emotions. But she quickly composed herself and shifted to a calm, clear tone—much more fitting for business.

"But speaking of that, what do you plan to do with your patents? Are you thinking of selling them or keeping them?"

"I'm planning to sell them, though I still have to handle the whole process of meeting with potential buyers and all that... which I'm really not looking forward to." Erik said, letting out a resigned sigh. That earned a charming smile from Laura, who promptly continued in a polished, businesslike tone.

"In fact, the business proposal I wanted to discuss is directly related to your patents."

"Oh? That does sound interesting. What do you have in mind?" Erik asked with curiosity, his eyes focused on Laura's delicate and beautiful face as she answered with a smile.

"Well, since I couldn't help but notice that it's a bit difficult for interested parties to gain access to you, I'd like to serve as a sort of intermediary. And if you're agreeable, of course, I'd also like to organize a private auction for the interested buyers on your behalf."

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