With a low hum, Marth appeared in the heart of the Purple Wood Forest.
The trees here were called Purplewood Trees—named for their dark violet bark and the purplish-green color of their leaves. But right now, none of that mattered. The place he arrived in was pitch black. The trees were so tall and tightly packed that they blocked out the sunlight completely. The forest's famous purple tones were swallowed in darkness.
Marth stood still, eyes calm. He didn't need to admire the scenery.
He had been here before.
In his past life, after his grandmother died, he came to this forest chasing the clues she left behind. Her final notes hinted at an ancient ruin hidden deep inside. He searched carefully, followed every step, but when he finally arrived, the ruins were gone. Not destroyed. Not hidden. Just gone. As if they had never existed.
That memory stayed with him.
This time, it was different.
He reached into his coat and pulled out a strange, round device—something like a compass, but with mana lines carved into its shell and a faintly glowing dial at its center. He had made it himself in his past life, based on techniques another continent where magic and machinery were merged.
This continent did not have such technology
Marth whispered, "Begin scan."
The compass vibrated slightly as a pulse of blue mana rippled out in all directions. This wasn't just a detection spell—it was a layered scan, filtered through his Dimensional Aberration ability. It didn't just scan the world—it looked between its folds.
After a few seconds, the needle twitched and locked slightly to the right.
He turned his head. "There."
To his right, behind a wall of old vines, something flickered—just barely visible on the edge of reality.
He pointed forward. "Flame Lance."
A thin spear of fire shot from his fingers, burning the vines away. Smoke curled into the air. Behind them, buried in roots and dirt, was a stone marker. Old, cracked, half-swallowed by the forest.
He crouched and placed his hand on it.
Cold.
"This is real," he said quietly.
He stood and stepped back. "Earth Break."
The ground trembled. A chunk of earth in front of him split apart, opening into a steep staircase that led into darkness. Faint air rose up from below—musty and old.
He summoned a small orb of light that floated above his shoulder and walked down the stairs without hesitation.
The deeper he went, the colder the air became. His footsteps echoed through the tunnel, and the stone walls around him were covered in strange runes—some cracked, some faintly glowing.
At the bottom, he stopped in front of a giant stone door. Black and smooth, with six small round slots in the wall around it. Clearly a sealing mechanism.
He stepped closer and touched the center of the door.
It was warm.
That shouldn't be possible. This ruin had been buried for centuries. But the warmth was faint, unnatural. Like something was active behind the stone.
He narrowed his eyes. "Just like before."
Except this time, the door existed.
He took a small pouch from his belt and pulled out six glowing mana cores—each one a different element. Fire, water, earth, wind, light, and shadow.
He placed them in the slots, one by one.
Nothing happened.
He removed them again and frowned slightly. "Not elemental…"
He placed his hand on the first slot. "Mana Sync."
A pulse of magic moved from his palm into the mechanism. His spell scanned for the required type of mana. The result came back quickly—high-frequency, artificial, vibrating at a strange rhythm.
He reached into his coat again and pulled out a modified core—one he had crafted himself by twisting space magic around a normal crystal. He placed it into the center slot.
Click.
One of the runes lit up.
He said nothing, just moved to the next slot.
As he was about to place the third core, something scraped behind him.
He didn't move right away. Just listened.
Another scrape. Soft. Careful.
He raised his left hand. "Shadow Bind."
Tendrils of dark energy shot out from the ground and wrapped around a creature lurking in the shadows. It hissed and struggled, flickering strangely—part solid, part ghostly.
Its eyes glowed faint purple.
"A guardian," Marth said coldly.
He pointed. "Flare Burst."
A wave of fire exploded around him. The creature screeched and vanished into black smoke, leaving nothing behind.
Marth lowered his hand and turned back to the door without a word.
After placing all six modified cores, the entire mechanism began to glow. Runes lit up one by one. The door groaned, dust shaking from the ceiling, and slowly began to slide open.
Cold air poured out from the darkness beyond.
He stepped forward. His light orb followed.
There were no second thoughts. No hesitation.
This time, he wouldn't let the ruin disappear.
This time, he was ready.