Dawn had barely brushed the eastern sky with its first pale strokes of cold gold when Kai and Cana stepped out of the village inn.
Balsam Village still slept. The street lanterns were guttering out one by one, their lacrima elements dimming as a few early-rising vendors rolled up the wooden shutters of their shops. The smell of wet stone, woodsmoke, and cooling spring steam drifted lazily through the crisp morning air.
Cana let out a long, theatrical groan that sounded like a dying floorboard, a half-empty bottle of premium sake tucked securely under her arm. "Ugh... why in the name of the stars are we awake before the sun has even figured out how to rise properly?"
Kai didn't look back. He simply adjusted the leather straps of his oversized component pouch, rolled his shoulders to loosen the tension, and kept a steady pace heading due east.
Cana trudged a few steps behind him, rubbing the sleep from her eyes with the back of her knuckles. "You know... normal people who were half-dead and leaking magic yesterday would still be snoring right now."
"Then normal people are weak," Kai replied blandly.
"No, you're just a weird psycho," she muttered, though there was no real heat in it.
They left the last terraced houses of Balsam behind, stepping onto a narrow dirt forest path that twisted deeper into the uncharted mountain territory. According to the official guild flyer, a grueling two-day trek awaited them through the dense, rocky elevation.
Naturally, Kai had absolutely zero intention of walking it.
Halfway down the trail, once the village had completely faded from view, he abruptly crouched down and began rummaging through his side pouch with the single-minded intensity of a raccoon digging for treasure. Cana leaned over his shoulder, her interest piqued despite her exhaustion. "What are you doing? Don't tell me you're going to—"
Her suspicion was instantly confirmed when Kai pulled out a series of interlocking brass plates, a handful of low-grade lacrima shards, a coil of flexible synthetic tubing, and four heavy-duty metal bearings that looked suspiciously like wheels.
"Oh boy," she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Here we go."
Kai ignored her completely. He sat flat on a mossy log, lifted his right foot, and began tinkering with a mechanical speed and precision that always made her brain ache just to watch. Screws were twisted with flickers of localized telekinesis; brass plates shifted and molded over his leather footwear; and the lacrima shards slid into designated heel compartments as if the boots had been engineered for them from day one. Tiny, bright blue sparks snapped between his fingertips as the metal fused and reshaped itself.
Within seconds, his standard traveling boots shimmered, segmented, and unfolded into a pair of sleek, low-profile magic skates humming with tightly compressed kinetic energy.
Kai stood up, shifting his weight to test the balance, then leveled a blank, expectant stare at her. "You hopping on, or do you want to test your stamina over the next forty miles?"
Cana grinned, her sleepiness instantly evaporating. "As if I'm walking through the mud. Move over, big guy."
With an easy, practiced motion, she jumped onto his back. Her legs hooked securely around his waist, and her arms looped over his shoulders. Kai barely budged under the sudden addition of her weight, his posture remaining perfectly centered. She snickered right against his ear. "I swear, I still don't understand how this 'tinker stuff' of yours actually works. It violates every rule of standard magic."
The skates let out a low, pleasant hum as Kai glided forward onto a smoother patch of dirt. "I feel the exact same way about your cardboard habit."
Cana immediately tugged a lock of his hair. "Hey! My cards work on an established system of probability and channeled magic sealed within localized carriers! It's called holder-type magic, you uncultured brute. Not... whatever chaotic physics-breaking nonsense you do."
Kai reached back with one hand and pinched her butt without a shred of hesitation.
Cana yelped, nearly losing her grip as her face flared scarlet. "HEY! Mind where you put your hands, Sunveil!"
Kai hummed, his tone perfectly flat. "Then don't pull my hair. You reap what you sow, Alberona."
He picked up speed, his voice remaining as calm as still water. "The same basic logic applies to Tinkerer magic. I take raw physical materials and utilize my magic as a highly reactive thermal and structural catalyst to fuse or dismantle them. Everything depends on inherent properties and geometric structure. Tires roll because they are circular. Lacrima stores and releases energy. Gears compress force. Bolts reinforce structural integrity. It's an equation. It's not a series of random ass-pulls like your 'card luck'."
"That's not how card magic—" Cana stopped herself, realizing mid-sentence that her magic literally relied entirely on luck, intuition, and cosmic convenience. She gritted her teeth. "...You are deeply annoying."
Kai merely hummed again, leaning his upper body forward as the lacrima elements in the skates activated fully.
The wind began to rush around them in a deafening roar as their speed skyrocketed, the dense forest trees whipping past them in a continuous blur of green and brown. Cana tightened her legs around his waist as the landscape streamed by like liquid, the mechanical hum beneath Kai's boots growing steadier and more resonant as they ate through the miles.
An hour later—weeks faster than any ordinary archaeological team could have dreamed of traveling—they reached the coordinates.
The forest thinned out with jarring abruptness. The dirt path simply ceased to exist, the ground dropping away into nothingness. A massive, jagged crack in the world itself yawned before them—a colossal ravine carved miles deep into the continental crust, looking like an ancient wound that had never truly healed.
Cana slid off Kai's back as he let out a short breath and dispelled the magic skates, the metal plates collapsing and folding cleanly back into the soles of his standard leather boots. She walked up to the sheer precipice, peering down into the abyss and letting out a low, appreciative whistle.
"That is... terrifyingly deep," Cana muttered, instinctively reaching into her coat to pull out another small bottle of liquor.
Kai walked up beside her, his golden eyes scanning the drop. "Still not quite as deep as the bar tab you currently owe me from last month."
He ducked his head by an inch just in time to avoid the empty bottle Cana hurled at his skull. She glared at him, utterly unimpressed, while he stood back up with a faint, amused twitch of his lips.
The ravine stretched endlessly in either direction, its vertical walls jagged and layered with dark, mineral-veined stone. Massive iron pitons and climbing hooks hammered into the rock face marked the exact trail where the previous archaeological team had made their slow, agonizing descent. Far below, the ghostly, muffled echo of rushing water drifted up through the shadows.
"So, is the ruin down there?" Cana asked, shielding her eyes against the glare of the rising sun.
Kai nodded. "Likely. See the alignment of the hooks? They focused their descent right over that shelf."
Cana looked at the rusty iron hooks, then down at her loose, practical-but-revealing outfit, and finally at Kai. "Right. So... how exactly are we planning to get down there without breaking every bone in our bodies? Should I pull out a wind card to give us a slow glide?"
Kai didn't bother answering with words.
Instead, he stepped right to the absolute edge of the cliff face, turned around to face her, and flashed a slow, thoroughly wicked smile. "Hey, beauty without brains."
"What did you just call me, you—"
"Ever jumped from five thousand feet?" Kai interrupted smoothly.
Cana's eyes widened in sudden, horrifying realization. "Wait, Kai, what do you mean—"
She didn't get to finish the thought.
In one fluid, seamless motion, Kai reached out, grabbed her firmly around the waist, and stepped backward off the cliff.
Cana's scream rent the morning air instantly, a high-velocity shriek of pure, unadulterated terror. "KAIIII—YOU ABSOLUTE PSYCHO—WE'RE GOING TO DIE—STOP—PUT ME DOWN—NOT LIKE THIS—!!"
The wind roared like a furious beast around them, whipping her dark hair across her face as gravity claimed them with a vengeance. Her cards flew into her hand on pure, survivalist instinct, her fingers frantically shuffling through three different decks as she desperately searched for a localized gale or gravitational dampener. "Kai, what the actual HELL are you doing?!"
Kai laughed. He actually laughed—a deep, genuinely amused sound that remained utterly unbothered by the fact that they were accelerating toward solid stone at terminal velocity.
"Calm down," he called out over the violent rush of air, his grip on her waist remaining iron-clad. "Just trust me."
"TRUST YOU?! YOU JUST JUMPED OFF A MOUNTAIN!"
He didn't answer. As the jagged floor of the ravine rushed up to greet them, his right foot lifted slightly. His angle shifted in mid-air, as if he were stepping firmly onto an invisible staircase, and then he stomped his heel violently downward into the empty air.
"Feather Fall."
A brilliant, intricate magic circle of glowing silver lines flashed into existence directly beneath his boot.
Instantly, the deadly, violent momentum of their plunge softened. The rushing air died down to a gentle breeze, and the terrifying descent transformed into a smooth, weightless drift, as if they were caught on a warm summer thermal. Cana could finally breathe again, though she absolutely refused to unclench her white-knuckled fingers from the thick fabric of his leather coat.
They drifted downward like two leaves caught in a lazy wind, floating gracefully into the dim, shadowy depths of the ravine.
When their boots finally touched the rocky ground, the very first thing that registered was the rhythmic, cool rush of water. A narrow, crystal-clear underground stream snaked its way beside the canyon floor, its surface glowing with a faint, iridescent blue hue from the heavy mineral deposits embedded in the surrounding stone.
But far more eye-catching was the monolithic structure looming directly ahead of them.
A colossal stone doorway towered into the darkness—easily three times Kai's height—its surface intricately etched with ancient, sweeping patterns that spiraled out from the center like a frozen hurricane. Symbols and foreign runes interlocked in delicate, seamless swirls, resembling complex constellations carved by a master hand. Time, dampness, and rot had weathered the edges of the stone, but the sheer, ancient craftsmanship was breathtaking.
Cana stared up at it, a rare look of genuine awe washing over her features. "We... we can actually still walk," she whispered, checking her limbs before her eyes locked onto the beautiful, sweeping patterns of the gate. "Wow. No wonder the archaeology team got so worked up over this place."
Kai stepped forward, his golden eyes instantly narrowing as he began scanning every pattern, groove, and microscopic indentation in the rock. "We found the front door."
Cana approached the colossal stone door with slow, deliberate steps. The air down here was remarkably cool and damp, carrying the sharp, metallic tang of the mineral stream. She lightly brushed her fingertips against the ancient surface—expecting the rough, crumbly texture of weathered mountain rock—but was startled to find a smooth, strangely cold finish, almost like polished jade.
"Huh... this is actually kind of beautiful," she murmured, leaning in closer.
As her gaze tracked downward, she noticed a narrow, vertical sliver of absolute darkness splitting the twin slabs right down the center. The previous archaeological team had clearly forced it open, at least enough for a human to squeeze through. A faint, incredibly stale current of air drifted out from the gap, brushing against her skin like the cold breath of a ghost.
Cana was about to duck her head inside when she realized the rhythmic sound of Kai's boots had stopped.
He was standing several paces back, his eyes slowly sweeping across the natural canyon walls surrounding the stone gate rather than the door itself. His fingers traced the air just a hairbreadth above the carvings, as if he were feeling for invisible magnetic currents or magical residue.
Then, without a single word of explanation, he abruptly turned on his heel and walked straight toward the rushing underground stream.
Cana blinked, thoroughly confused. "Uh... Kai? What are you doing? The door is over here."
He didn't stop.
Kai crouched down at the edge of the water, staring into the dark, rapid flow as though reading a text only he could see. Then, without a single warning or breath—he dived headfirst into the freezing current.
Cana nearly choked on her own spit. "WHAT—HEY—KAI?!"
She rushed to the edge of the bank, her heart hammering against her ribs. The stream flowed directly into a tight, low-ceilinged natural stone tunnel, vanishing into absolute blackness. The roar of the water drowned out everything else.
"KAI!" Her voice echoed uselessly against the ravine walls. "If you drown down there, I swear to God I'm going to track your soul down and kill you myself! Are you LISTENING to me?!"
Five long, agonizing minutes ticked by. The silence stretched, heavy and suffocating.
Then, a sudden, violent splash echoed near the mouth of the dark tunnel. Kai emerged from the churning water, drenched from head to toe. His leather coat was plastered to his frame, his dark hair was dripping into his eyes, but his expression was utterly, infuriatingly unbothered—as if taking a casual swim through a subterranean death trap was just a standard part of his morning routine.
Cana stared at him, her mouth agape. "What... what the hell were you doing in there?!"
Kai shook his head violently, flicking droplets of water in every direction like a stray dog. "An investigation. Something you're clearly unequipped for."
"An invest—why would you jump into a random river?!"
"To catalog all possible entry and exit paths before we wander blindly into an enclosed maze," he said simply, wringing out the hem of his coat. "The water pressure indicates it's originating from a deep geothermal aquifer inside the structure, not from surface runoff. I wanted to verify if the drainage system connected directly to the internal ruins. Older civilizations almost always used adjacent waterways for structural sewage or cooling."
Cana blinked, processing the rapid-fire explanation. "And... what exactly did your brilliant dive yield?"
"Nothing your tiny, alcohol-soaked brain could properly comprehend, Brownie."
She gaped at him, her face twisting into pure, offended rage. "I am going to use a water card to drown you myself if you make another joke about my intelligence, Sunveil."
Kai brushed past her as if she hadn't spoken a word, leaving a trail of wet footprints as he headed straight back toward the cracked stone door. Cana glared absolute daggers into the back of his wet head, but she quickly fell into step behind him.
The narrow gap between the stones was tight, just wide enough for them to slide through sideways. The moment they crossed the threshold, a thick, absolute wave of ancient darkness swallowed them whole, cutting off the faint sunlight from the ravine completely.
Cana exhaled a breath of pure disbelief, her hands extended to feel the walls. "How did the archaeology team even explore this place? Did the idiots forget to leave any lights behind?"
Kai didn't answer. Instead, he reached into his wet pouch and pulled out a small, metallic, multi-limbed device no larger than his palm. He tapped its center chassis, and its tiny optical sensors flickered to life with a pale, brilliant bluish light that instantly cut through the immediate gloom.
Cana let out a sudden laugh. "Pixie! I completely forgot you kept that creepy little mechanical spider around."
Kai murmured, a touch of amusement in his dry tone. "It's highly efficient. Besides, it would look infinitely more concerning if I carried a cute doll around a ancient tomb, wouldn't it?"
Pixie scurried up his wet sleeve, anchoring itself firmly on his shoulder before projecting two highly focused forward-facing light beams like a pair of high-intensity flashlights.
Only then did the light reveal exactly what the vanished expedition team had left behind.
Dozens of specialized magical lamps were mounted along the stone walls at regular intervals.
Every single one of them was dead, unlit, and completely drained.
Kai approached the nearest bracket, snapping off the protective outer casing with a casual twist of his wrist. He plucked the tiny lacrima core from the center—now a dull, cloudy, completely colorless stone—and held it up to Pixie's light.
Cana stepped closer, peering over his arm. "Burnt out? Did they use cheap materials?"
Kai shook his head slowly, his brow furrowing. "Unlikely."
"Why?"
"The expedition team arrived here exactly one month ago, which means that is the absolute maximum amount of time these lamps could have been operational," he said, tossing the dead core into his pouch with a faint click. "Standard illumination runes drain lacrima at a glacial pace. A core of this density should have lasted a minimum of six months. Something actively siphoned the ambient magic out of them."
Cana's expression hardened, her casual demeanor slipping away. "That... doesn't sound particularly comforting."
"No, but it makes things infinitely more intriguing," Kai replied, already dismantling the next bracket along the wall and pocketing the raw copper pins like a vagrant picking apples.
Cana sighed deeply. "So we're just going to ignore the deeply creepy, magic-eating anomaly and resort to petty theft?"
"Priorities, Cana. Now remember, we aren't here on a casual picnic. Keep your eyes and ears completely open for anything that doesn't consist of standard rock or dust."
She rolled her eyes but drew closer to him as Pixie's twin beams illuminated the damp path ahead. As they moved deeper, the rough, excavated stone of the entrance hall gradually shifted into perfectly smooth, dressed blocks carved with massive, continuous murals. They were primitive in style, yet incredibly expressive.
The first panel depicted a mass of terrified people fleeing from an obscured, jagged shape in the sky. Massive buildings were shown shattering into dust. The next section showed a dense cluster of geometric symbols surrounding dozens of kneeling figures in despair. Then, further along the corridor... the narrative shifted. The same people were shown celebrating, dancing, and constructing grand stone towers directly beneath a series of large, swirling symbols.
Cana frowned, her eyes tracking the ancient story. "What is all this supposed to be? Some kind of ancient religious cult?"
Kai paused before a specific section of the wall, noticing how the stone carvers had subtly connected each individual mural through a continuous, unbroken baseline of carved geometric waves. "Meso-period architecture, if I had to guess. Maybe even older."
Cana blinked. "What does that translate to in normal speech?"
"Think 'incredibly ancient, Pre-Fiore.' We are talking about a civilization that rose and fell long before the current Magic Council or the royal lines were even a conceptual thought," he translated flatly.
"That's still not very educational, professor."
"Neither are you," he shot back with a quiet sigh, resuming his stride.
Cana instantly threw her empty sake bottle at his back. Without turning around, Kai reached out, caught the glass by the neck in a frictionless grip, and casually slid it into his bottomless pouch.
"This is exactly why nobody in the guild likes you," she muttered under her breath.
Kai ignored the jab entirely, his focus locked onto the path until they abruptly stepped into a massive, cavernous junction chamber. The floor was perfectly circular, and from its center, three identical, towering tunnels yawned before them like a set of dark, open throats.
Cana stepped forward, her hand hovering instinctively near her card deck. "Alright, genius. Which way? Left, right, or center?"
Kai pulled a small glass vial of shimmering, violet-infused ink from his pocket, dipped his index finger into the fluid, and casually drew a sharp, glowing geometric X on the stone wall beside the left tunnel. He walked over and did the exact same thing to the right tunnel.
He stepped back, wiping his finger on a rag. "Middle."
Cana stared at the glowing marks. "Why the middle? Do your instruments detect something?"
"No. I marked the other two because they looked boring, and because we've been walking in a straight line since the door."
"...That is the least reassuring navigation logic I have ever heard."
"It wasn't designed to be reassuring, Alberona, considering the fact that I am not entirely assured myself."
Cana let out a theatrical groan, muttering a string of curses as they stepped into the center tunnel. Their footsteps echoed softly against the high, vaulted ceiling. Atop his shoulder, Pixie clicked its mechanical legs, sweeping its sharp blue beams across the dust-covered floorboards of stone.
Then—
A sound.
It was faint. A soft, distinct scraping noise. The unmistakable sound of stone dragging against stone, accompanied by a heavy, wet shuffling just at the absolute limit of Pixie's illumination range.
Both Kai and Cana froze instantly, their bodies locking into perfect combat readiness.
Cana's fingers hovered a millimeter above her primary deck, her eyes narrowing in the dark. Kai's right hand twitched toward his side, his fingers ready to draw an active catalyst from his pouch, his entire demeanor sharpening into something lethal.
The faint, obscured figure shifted again just a few yards ahead of them—hovering right at the edge of the blue light.
It was a silhouette.
Distinctly humanoid in shape.
Perfect, completely unmoving, and utterly silent.
Just... watching them.
Cana swallowed hard, her voice dropping into a tense whisper. "Kai... what the hell is that?"
Kai didn't respond immediately. His magic signature flared for a fraction of a second, his shadow visibly expanding across the stone floor as he calmly but firmly extended an arm, pushing Cana completely behind his broad shoulder to shield her from a sudden frontal assault.
He blinked, Pixie adjusting its focus to maximum output, cutting through the gloom. The space was empty.
"It's... gone?" Kai muttered, his golden eyes narrowing in genuine, quiet confusion as he tried to confirm the space. The corridor ahead was completely bare.