‘The tombs feel a lot more threatening and sinister when I am alone.’

Walking through the long dark corridors, I could hear each one of my steps on the cold stone floor. It was very disturbing; having visited this place for almost a whole week already, I always had the light hum of Levi’s wings in the background.

Holding a lit torch, I carefully made my way through the Commoner’s section, heading toward the unexplored Soldier’s section. I encountered a few giant rats along the way and even without Levi, was able to detect their presence in time. After spending almost an entire week here, I had gotten used to the sly giant rats’ attack pattern.

Finally, I once again faced a closed stone door, the one leading to the Soldier’s section. And once again, the headache of puzzle solving started.

There were five square holes in the stele and five coloured stone blocks placed at the bottom of the stele. The colours were red, black, blue, purple and yellow. On the stone stele, the following words were written in the Nazlock language:

[Yellow is to the left of Red and Blue which is NOT next to Black. Purple can only lie beside Black and none else. Black is to the right of Yellow]

I sighed. ‘A colour combination puzzle… This is going to take a while.’

I picked up the coloured blocks and started randomly arranging them, doing what I could to follow the riddle of the Nazlocks.

‘So annoying. This makes me question the use of the stone door. What is their purpose if anyone who can solve the puzzles or anyone with enough time to waste can get in?’

Eventually, I managed to find the correct solution: Yellow, Blue, Red, Black and Purple from left to right. The loud rumble of the door sounded and was quickly followed by the confused and high-pitched squeaks of the giant rats behind the door.

I drew my spear from my storage pouch and rushed at the closest giant rat, giving the rodents no time to understand how the door that had remained closed for decades suddenly opened.

…

I lost track of time. My arms were in pain from swinging my spear and my torch around so much. The number of giant rats I came across was nothing like the previous sections. I barely had time to rest between each battle. While I kept complaining, I was also rejoicing at the increasing number of corpses in my storage belt.

Eventually, I once again heard the all too familiar buzzing hum that I have come to miss over the past hour or so. “Levi. You look terrible.” I said jokingly. Even though I was unable to gauge the amount of mana he had, it was evident that he his mana pool was almost depleted.

The fairy looked exhausted. It was slowly floating toward me, looking sullen and defeated. “Don’t mock me, human! I went through all of this to protect you! You better not be lying about the Crown of Belavir!” He weakly raised his fist but, in the end, quietly landed on the floor next to me to rest.

“Don’t worry. I did not lie. The Red Barons, this scummy merchant caravan has the crown, but they are unaware of it. Of course, if someone suddenly shows interest in one of the items that have been lying around in their shop for centuries, the Red Barons will think twice before trading it. It is up to you to find a way to get the crown. It will naturally not be easy. After all, the rule of the fairies is that the fairy in possession of the Crown of Belavir can contend for the throne, regardless of their status before acquiring it.”

“D*mn. I hope you did not trick me with a treasure that is impossible to receive. Facing two fairies at once is not easy…” Levi grumbled. “Anyway, what did you manage to collect from this section?”

“Just Nazlock coins. There are a few weapons lying around but they have all be worn out by time. The metallic weapons are already covered with rust, the wooden ones have turned into dust and anything else have been munched on by the giant rats.”

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Levi frowned lightly and grumbled. “How many?”

“300 coins. Those buried here were poorer, and I did not have as much time to plunder as I wanted. There are more giant rats in this section than I expected and some of them look smaller and younger. There may be another nest nearby.”

“Possible but I think it has more to do with the fact that the giant rats’ drinking point is not very far from here. My guess is because of how humid it is; there’s moss growing in some corners. It is unusual considering what we’ve seen so far of the tombs but not impossible. For the giant rats to live here, there should be a source of water nearby.” Levi answered with a thoughtful expression.

I nodded calmly. “Makes sense. It will also explain why I came across more giant rats than usual. How long do you need to rest before you recover?”

“I don’t know. But the faster we return to the village, the quicker I will get back in shape.”

I looked at the fairy’s tired expression. Then, without a word, took out a handful of mana stones from my storage belt.

“What?”

“Take them. They should help you recover a portion of your mana. I know it is not much for a person who has reached the fourth circle, but every little bit will help.”

“At least you are grateful, human!” Levi’s eyes lit up as he greedily accepted the mana stones. Soon, his complexion improved slightly.

I waited for him to consume the mana stones before once again facing the empty dark corridor. There was still a lot to explore.

…

“Knock Knock!”

“Who is it?” Xia Shiyu jumped in fright when she heard the knock on the door. She subconsciously grabbed onto the dagger she kept on her belt.

“You already know the answer.”

Hearing the familiar voice of her fairy, Xia Shiyu let out a sigh of relief. She put down the piece of paper she was staring at. On it was a hand-drawn map of the village and the canyon. She carefully documented each one of her hunts at the canyon.

“You scared me. Knocking on my door like that in the middle of the night.” Xia Shiyu complained as she opened the door and let Yrelinna in.

The female fairy chuckled. “You know I cannot enter your house without permission, and you should have been impatiently waiting or my return.”

“So? What are the results? Did you find out where that guy hunts every night?”

“Well, sadly, I failed. That guy was on guard against the other fairies and he managed to get his fairy to chase me away.” Yrelinna explained nonchalantly.

“His fairy chased you away? So he is aware that you have been spying on him?”

The fairy nodded. “Yes. He even saw me too. There was nothing I could do since his fairy has already detected me.”

“D*mn! Then, remove 50 points from my debt! I demand a refund!”

“No way! I did not go out in the middle of the night for nothing. I have already offered my services, but it did not include facing another fairy who is just as strong as me. If you want me to confront Levi, then you should be prepared to pay at least 200 points.” Yrelinna smirked evilly.

“You! This is so unfair. How can you take payment without completing your job? Since you are as strong as his fairy, you should have at least been able to stick to Alex.”

“In theory yes but things are not so simple in real life. Levi is annoying to deal with. Furthermore, I was not the only fairy tailing them. There was another one, but he was also chased away.”

“You mean that you lost in a two versus one?”

Yrelinna frustratedly smacked her lips. “We were outsmarted. We avoided fighting and kept an eye on Alex, but his fairy is sly and full of tricks; we ended up losing Alex’s trail and had no choice but to return.”

“Could you not just have followed his fairy? I am sure he would eventually return to his host.” Xia Shiyu argued.

“Tailing a human is easy but that is not the case for a fairy, especially one that has the Time element. Furthermore, he has the Earth element; for him, escaping in the rocky canyon is an easy task.”

Xia Shiyu smashed her fist on the table in frustration. “Useless. You cannot find the secret area by yourself. You cannot even tail Alex to that place. Yet, you keep asking for more and more points.”

Yrelinna shrugged her shoulders. “I already explained. Alex’s fairy mastered the Earth element. It is easy for him to find secret areas in this environment. You can go and ask your party members if their fairies have the Earth element if you really want to know where Alex hunts.”

“No way. If I do so, would I not need to share it with someone else? Possibly even my entire team?” Xia Shiyu exclaimed loudly.

“Well, nothing I can do. If you are willing to give me 50 points, I am willing to give it another try and look for the secret area myself.” Yrelinna said with a faint smile.

“You still want more points? Do you think I am stupid?”

“A bit.” Yrelinna chuckled when she saw Xia Shiyu turning red in anger. “But that is not the point.” She pointed at the nearby window. “Look!”

Xia Shiyu shifted her gaze and focused her attention on the window. There was not much to see; it was completely dark outside. Then, she noticed a small point moving on the windowpane, leaving a faint trail behind. Upon closer inspection, she realised that it was a droplet of water.

A few seconds later, another drop of water appeared at the top of the windowpane, slowly sliding down.

“The next few days are going to be a bit wet and rainy.” Yrelinna said with a proud and excited smile. “And water is my element.”