I am an Eldritch Entity

"I hope it's the one which was near Paulina."

Eryndor commented, while gazing at the Support Shrine in the distance.

Paulina had mentioned in the past how she had found a Support Shrine near her and used it to unlock some portions of the map.

They were already in the tundra, and if the one before them was the one Paulina had visited, it meant they were nearby.

"Let me message her."

Valentina offered, and took out her phone.

Since she had already been expecting them to arrive around this time frame, her reply was quick.

"Sorry, but everything looks the same in tundra. Instead, could you please tell me the number of the Support Shrine?"

"Twenty two."

Eryndor spoke after reading the reply.

All three of them looked at him with a shocked expression.

The Support Shrine was visible to them due to how open the tundra was with barely any trees or other obstacles in sight.

However, that didn't mean it was close enough that they could view the number engraved upon its entry pillars.

The Support Shrine was far enough that even if they used their surveillance skills, they wouldn't have been able to see the number on the pillars.

Back in the past, whenever Eryndor used to notify them of the beasts earlier than everyone else, they just used to be surprised that he had such a large range.

It further used to bring them a pleasant surprise when they noticed how long it would take to actually meet the beast.

However, they never knew how far the beast was, or if it had walked towards them or away from them.

In short, there were a lot of factors into play if one wanted to calculate how far the beast or any person Eryndor had sensed was when they couldn't see it themselves, making it vague for them.

But now? They had a distinctly clear idea of how far Eryndor's range truly went, which was why they were so shocked.

Nothing was more impacting than seeing it visually first hand.

Valentina momentarily forgot to send Valentina the number of the Support Shrine. The latter didn't find it odd either, if they had only just spotted the building, it was obvious they would have to walk towards it first.

Breaking out of her stupor, Valentina sent the message.

No one spoke about it, as they had already been over the topic of 'Eryndor's range', countless times, but they still refreshed their understanding of his range and made a mental note of it.

Paulina soon sent a reply to them.

"No, that's not the one. My Support Shrine is numbered thirty seven.

"But if Eryndor had led everyone along the common forest terrain through the route I pointed out, he should have reached my place not there.

"Anyway, it seems like you guys aren't too far away either. I know about that Support Shrine, just keep heading west from your current position."

After reading her answer, Valentina asked the question which was on everyone's mind.

"You sure you'd read it correctly? The one we're near is twenty two, while you're near thirty seven. Shouldn't they be far away from each other?"

Paulina: "The naming is randomized, not in order. It's to prevent students from guessing the map through the Support Shrine numbers.

"Well, I don't know how you all ended up there, but Support Shrine number thirty seven is only like an hour of jog away in the west. You can reach earlier if you speed up, I've already arrived here with Syndra."

"Heh, our navigator seems to be broken."

Drakarion sniggered after he finished reading.

Eryndor simply shrugged. "You're free to take up the job next time. No one seems to even have an iota of map reading skills, I did the best I could."

As if he was looking for support, Drakarion turned to Edward who was a senior and had completed plenty of missions. The latter replied before the former could even say anything.

"Don't look at me, I am directionally challenged."

"Jeez, alright. I'll learn it even if just to be better than Eryndor."

Drakarion snorted and began walking. Eryndor called out from the back, "That's east."

Valentina chuckled, while Edward whispered, "At least I am not this bad."

"Hey hey, I can hear you." Drakarion yelled as he turned around and followed the group.

Edward mimicked Eryndor's expression and shrugged. "And? What can you do? Can you beat me?"

All three of them laughed at that while Drakarion angrily muttered. "Just wait, I'll pay back all the bullying."

The one hour jog didn't feel long as they bantered throughout the trip.

Finally, Eryndor caught sight of Paulina and Syndra sitting in a well hidden spot not too far away from the Support Shrine number thirty seven.

The building would naturally teleport you far away to avoid being ambushed by the teams outside, but it couldn't do anything if someone sat near the entrance waiting for students who wanted to enter the Support Shrine.

If the team which arrived later was weaker? The one sitting at the entrance would get those points, if not, the situation would reverse.

Some teams who had confidence in their strength had already begun camping on the entrance of Support Shrines.

Of course, this strategy also had a downside, there were plenty of Support Shrines in the secret realm.

If the new team had good surveillance skills and spotted the team camping on the entrance earlier than the opposing team did, they could entirely choose to leave and look for a safer Support Shrine.

Since it was only the two of them, Paulina and Syndra didn't risk waiting near the entrance but chose a well hidden spot which they already notified Eryndor about, which was why he was able to find them quickly.

Eryndor led everyone towards their hiding spot, finally completing their team.

As everyone conversed with each other, Paulina subtly gestured to Eryndor with her eyes. He instantly understood she wanted to talk away from the others.

When they were far enough, she handed him her phone with a chat open.

When he saw who it was, he looked back at Paulina.

Why would he contact me now?