Against The Eternity Chapter 88: [87] Chapter - 54: Begins (Part - 1/2)

Read chapter 88 of Against The Eternity by Phoenixfly_steller on NovelPedia.

[87] Chapter - 54: Begins (Part - 1/2) A note from Phoenixfly_steller Sorry for the late update! There was a festival yesterday, and I got caught up with some work, so I couldn’t post the chapter on time. But don’t worry—I’ll be posting two parts today to make up for it. The second part will be released after some hours. I just want to read through it once more before posting to make sure there are no mistakes. Thank you for your patience and for continuing to read the story! After Eklavya finished explaining the purpose of the mark, the meaning of the faint golden imprint upon their wrist became clearer to both Zeliang and Chandra. It was not merely a symbol or a temporary binding technique. According to Magha, the mark would allow them to sense the positions of the members of the Falling Leaf Sect within the forest while simultaneously monitoring the condition and location of their own group. If anyone encountered trouble during the mission, the others would know immediately and could respond without delay. Zeliang lowered his gaze toward the faint golden mark resting at his wrist, studying it with curiosity that slowly replaced his earlier caution. “Alright,” he said thoughtfully, “that’s good and all… but how exactly are we supposed to use it?” Almost the moment the question left his mouth, Magha’s voice echoed inside Eklavya’s mind. ‘Tell them to focus a small amount of ki into the mark,’ Magha instructed calmly. ‘That will activate the array connected to it.’ Eklavya nodded inwardly before repeating the instruction aloud. “Just focus a little bit of ki into the mark.” Zeliang and Chandra exchanged brief looks before doing exactly that. Both of them gathered a small portion of their internal energy and directed it carefully toward the golden symbol. The moment their ki touched the mark, it responded instantly. A soft golden shimmer spread outward from the imprint before condensing into a translucent yellow projection that appeared before each of them. The screen hovered in the air, no more than thirty centimetres wide, its surface glowing faintly like a calm lantern in the dim forest light. Zeliang blinked in surprise. “What—” Before he could finish speaking, shapes began forming within the floating display. A map slowly materialised across the screen. It resembled a bird’s-eye view of the surrounding terrain, simplified yet precise. Forest outlines, elevation curves, and faint grid-like divisions appeared across the surface, all framed by a large circular boundary stretching near the edge of the projection. Within that boundary were numerous small glowing dots. Near them, all of them were green. Many coloured clustered near the position where they currently sat, though several others were scattered throughout the surrounding forest. Chandra leaned slightly closer, eyes narrowing as he examined the projection with disciplined focus. Zeliang, however, looked openly fascinated. “Where did this come from…?” While the two of them inspected the strange display, Magha continued explaining the deeper functions of the array to Eklavya through their mental link. Eklavya activated the mark himself, allowing the same translucent map to appear before him as well. For several moments, Magha calmly described each part of the interface—how the marks synchronised with one another, how the sensing radius functioned, and how the energy signatures were interpreted by the formation embedded within the technique. By the time the explanation ended, Eklavya understood the system clearly. He nodded faintly. “Alright,” he said inwardly, “I understand how it works now.” Almost at the same moment, Zeliang spoke again while pointing toward the map with a large curiosity. “So… how do we actually read this thing?” Eklavya glanced at their displays before answering. “The circular line you’re seeing,” he explained, “is the outer boundary of the array’s sensing range. It covers a radius of roughly fifty kilometres from our position—about one hundred kilo