Echoes of Heroes in Crystal Depths
Broom of Extermination was packed to the brim with people, not a single inch of space to spare. Irel pushed her way through the crowd with grunts of effort.
"Chickie! Over here, over here!"
"Chickie...?"
"Haha! I knew we'd see each other again soon!"
Irel rushed over with obvious delight and grabbed Zien's hand, shaking it up and down enthusiastically.
"Heard from the guild master you're touring the Crystal Cave?"
"Don't tell me you're the guide?"
"Yup, that's me."
Irel puffed out her chest proudly and sidled right up close, but Zien took a step back.
"I heard you're pretty busy. You sure it's okay for you to handle the tour?" Zien had heard that despite being in her early twenties, Irel held a key position in the guild. The faint sense of her mana suggested around 4th rank, which lined up with that.
"Nah, busy? Pfft~ I handle guides and stuff all the time."
There was no way they'd assign someone of Irel's caliber just for a tour. Given that Bluma had assigned her personally, there was only one logical conclusion.
She's a watcher, huh.
Zien figured it was just Bluma's curiosity about his unpredictability. No malice there.
Doesn't matter anyway. The Crystal Cave is...
His mind raced, but Zien kept his expression calm and offered a smile.
"Looking forward to it."
"Me too. Portals are all set up. Man, it's crowded and noisy, huh? All this fuss over one student."
Student?
Zien glanced toward the crowd just as the people parted to either side, revealing a student striding forward. She wore the Celia Academy uniform. Zien didn't recognize her face, but he knew instantly she was the famed "Celia's Genius."
"What do you think made your family choose you as the official heir?"
"Any guilds you're looking to join after graduation?"
"Who's the biggest rival you're watching out for in this off-campus event?"
The student halted amid the barrage of persistent questions.
"The reason I was chosen as heir is simple." Rare black hair and blue eyes. A composed air beyond her years.
She was a beauty worth a second glance, but her aura was icy and sharp.
"Because I'm the strongest in the family. And the one who needs the most watching—"
Her clear, resonant voice rang out.
Celia's Genius whipped her head around. Her gaze landed squarely on Zien.
"Zien Russell."
She turned her eyes back toward the exit and continued in a subdued tone.
"The off-campus event is a head-on clash between Arcana and Celia."
Click-clack.
The student walked off, leaving the crowd behind. Only after meeting her eyes did Zien realize why she'd captured his attention. He pinpointed the source of that odd familiarity.
She looks just like her.
[Location - Crystal Cave]
As Irel activated the portal, she glanced slyly at Zien.
"Lucia picking you first? You're a big deal, huh?"
"Guess I'm getting famous."
"You don't know Celia’s Emperor? And that girl’s from a hero’s family."
"Hero’s family?"
The grandiose nickname piqued his interest, but "hero’s family" hooked him completely.
"Lucia... what's her family name?" Zien asked with a hopeful look. Irel finished setting the portal and skipped over.
"You really had no idea, huh."
Irel pointed playfully at the translucent oval portal with both hands, guiding Zien forward.
"Elquines. Lucia Elquines. Curiosity satisfied? Let's head out."
Black hair like Sina’s.
Blue eyes like Peil’s.
Stunned by the uncanny connection, Zien let out a short laugh.
"Yeah. Let's go."
Sabers clear gates to prevent penalties. Fail to clear one, or fail outright, and you face those penalties.
Mana rampage.
Desolation.
Manifestation.
The big three.
First, mana rampage: the gate’s mana goes berserk, unleashing disasters. Tidal waves, storms, blizzards, earthquakes—the abnormal mana spews out natural calamities.
Second, desolation: depending on the gate’s difficulty, a chunk of land turns into a lifeless wasteland.
And the last, manifestation. Places like the Crystal Cave or Mount Ebes underwent it fifty years ago.
Maybe a blessing in disguise.
Zien scanned the Crystal Cave’s interior. Amid beautiful crystal pillars, bat monsters glared with red eyes.
Thanks to those beasts, the [Seed] hasn’t been found even after a century.
"All pushovers, but still creepy, right? And chilly too..."
Using the cave’s chill as an excuse, Irel hooked her arm through Zien’s and snuggled close. She was in short sleeves, so yeah, it was cold—but only for a normal person. Zien gently pushed her away.
"Dunno. With that much mana, you could probably sleep on ice."
"Aigoo. So young and no mood for fun."
Irel slipped a coin between her fingers and flicked it expressionlessly behind her.
Whoosh! Splat!
A meter-sized spider lurked there, its head pierced clean through by the coin.
"Heard the buzz around you’s been wild lately? Arcana’s so tight-lipped about info, even our side’s asking about you."
As Irel said, more people had been seeking Zien out recently. Selphis, eager to impress Yubel, kept probing about Isabel over tea. Karsen and Romina brought off-campus snacks. And then the guilds, Broom of Extermination included...
"More importantly, is that student Lucia really that famous?"
"She’s insanely strong, for one. Not as much as me, though."
Irel split a forearm-thick salamander’s head with another coin toss.
Whoosh! Crunch!
"Plus, she’s pretty cute. Not as much as me, of course."
Zien was impressed by her skill. Even as she prattled on with a prim expression, Irel casually dispatched every monster in range.
"And the Elquines family—is it something special?"
Zien flinched at the name but tried not to show it and pressed on.
"What kind of family are they?"
How was his old comrade treated by her descendants?
"What kind? Two 7th-rank Sabers among the ancestors, 6th-rankers every generation... A true hero’s lineage."
Irel paused and eyed Zien sideways.
"Hold up—you got a thing for Lucia?"
"She’s someone I have to beat."
"Hmm. Nothing else?"
Irel leaned in close, prying relentlessly. Sure, he was interested. Just not in that way. Peil and Sina were comrades from his past life, friends since academy days.
They bickered like that... and in the end...
Zien smiled faintly. A future he’d never have known, dying in that 8th-rank gate. Lucia Elquines. One more reason to win the event.
"Who knows."
Irel stared blankly at Zien’s bright expression.
Tours and cleanups were similar—different goals, same grind. Cleanups kill monsters to purify dungeons; tours dive in for research or career-padding monster kills.
"All cleared." Zien sat atop the crumbled crystal golem. The 3-meter transparent giant was a 4th-rank difficulty monster, but Zien and Irel’s combo had shattered its core.
"Whew! Golems make my hands numb after. Hate that, Chickie~ Tour over now?"
Hop.
Irel bounded lightly onto the golem beside him.
"Yeah, pretty much."
Zien answered curtly. But his gaze wasn’t on Irel—it fixed on the cave’s depths.
"But was the crystal golem really the goal?"
"Tough matchup for swords, right? Wanted to try it."
"Fair enough."
Irel nodded as if convinced.
"I’ll grab the byproducts?"
"Yeah, go for it. Not here for cleanup anyway."
Zien wasn’t after pocket change from scraps. He’d come to the Crystal Cave for the reward from the 6th-rank gate Protecting the World Tree: the [Seed of the World Tree].
An incredible artifact.
One of the unprecedented treasures. The World Tree’s Seed was a divine-grade artifact. But in his past life, Zien and Peil couldn’t claim it.
100 years.
Yeah, 100 years. The seed grows on mana instead of sunlight. Takes a full century to ripen. Swallowing it unripe does nothing. So Peil and Zien planted it in the mana-rich Crystal Cave for the next generation.
Never thought I’d be the one retrieving it.
Fortune or misfortune, no one had found it even after a century. It’d stay hidden until Broom of Extermination purified the cave.
"Uh, gotta hit the bathroom."
"Huh? Suddenly? Okay."
It’d take a while, but Zien wasn’t worried about Irel. Even if every monster in the cave swarmed her, she’d be fine.
Boring for her, probably.
Zien headed deeper into the cave.
"Found it."
A crystal wall abutted the outside world.
Sunlight filtered through, bathing the cave in blue glow. It was like the surroundings had turned to sapphire—a breathtaking sight.
"This guy’s seriously skilled."
Zien eyed the crystal wall. Etched in 3rd-zone script: Dream Bubble. Just as Peil said, after 100 years, the words appeared.
Dream Bubble
[Who sets a riddle like this?]
Evan had asked.
[It’s too precious for just anyone. A 3rd-zone expert junior deserves it.] Peil replied.
That’s right.
Planting the seed, the riddle—all Peil’s ideas.
He was already 6th-rank then. A barrier like this would’ve been child’s play.
But the puzzles had lost their meaning.
Zien knew all the answers as co-creator.
Dream Bubble
Dream. Illusion. Bubble. Shadow.
Metaphorical, but the wall’s riddle already contained the answer. What you see isn’t always real,
Real isn’t always visible.
Zien etched the words into the wall with mana. Shunk—his hand passed right through.
Eerie, but Zien crossed calmly.
Swoosh.
The wall swallowed him whole.
Beyond lay a scene utterly unlike the cave.
My Previous Life was the Strongest Sword God