Elishia walked ahead of Cetas, her flintlock pistol drawn and ready if there were any discrepancies that would appear right in front of them.

It took them a while to cross the pillars due to their slow and careful pace. Along the way, Cetas marveled at the mighty backbone of the cavern.

He wondered how they were made but alas, he couldn’t ponder further due to being alert at the current situation.

Within many moments, Cetas and Elishia arrived at the doors of the mausoleum.

Up close, the grandiose of the architectural wonder seemed even more elegant. It seemed to be purely made out of diamond, reflecting the light coming at it from all around.

The door was made out of a similar material, a crystal that maintained a hard nature as the gem around it.

To test for its durability, Elishia loaded her gun and shot at the crystalline walls. To her surprise, it didn’t make a dent nor a crack at all.

Supposedly, diamonds were the hardest material conceived by the earth, as believed by humans.

However, the simple impact of bullets would shatter the beauty in an instant.

Elishia knew this and had to test, however, the material right in front of her seemed to just reflect the bullet that she had pierced it with.

’Come to think of it..’

Elishia walked in front of the lustrous walls.

’Odd..’

The walls reflected her entire stature perfectly, her petite figure showcased in its shiny glory.

Yet something seemed weirdly eerie about it.

Elishia trusted this feeling and decided not to dig deeper.

She turned back and faced Cetas.

"Something’s off about the walls.." Cetas stated as Elishia walked back towards him.

"I know.. Be sure not to look at them." Elishia cautioned, her tone strict.

With a nod, the two of them faced the similar shiny doors of the mausoleum.

"Be ready.. Let’s not repeat what happened before.."

"Aye."

Cetas, who already activated his Zeal, scoured through the insides of the mausoleum. Numerous grains of sand moved like waves, forming illusory images of the objects within.

He looked for a while, trying to slowly scan everything inside.

However, his skills were still limited, he could only see a few objects at most.

There are what seems to be murals depicted on the walls and a singular coffin resting amidst the silence.

The two clutched their weapons in their hands and slowly pushed open the door.

It’s size towered over them, but opening it didn’t seem too much like a hurdle.

It’s as if it was welcoming them inside.

Once it opened, Cetas and Elishia pointed their guns inside, wary of any danger that it may possess.

It wasn’t as dark as the cathedral so Elishia and Cetas could see really well.

They remained cautious, looking over every nook and cranny inside.

Inside a golden coffin remained stoic as it dimly shone. The murals inside also depicted weird figures—a king with a crown, a tentacle with mouths for suckers, and a chained individual.

The king with a crown was portrayed on the left side of the walls, whilst the tentacle was on the right.

Above the coffin lies the depiction of the chained individual.

"These murals.. What are they?" Cetas asked with a curious tone.

"I don’t know either.. It’s my first time seeing them."

After finding nothing of peculiarity, Elishia signalled over to Cetas.

Cetas used Sands of History once more and scouted the insides of the mausoleum.

Even though their naked eyes could not see anything wrong, perhaps Cetas could find a secret entrance or some sort in the Metaphysical Realm.

And that he did!

After looking for a few minutes, Cetas found a stairway leading down at the bottom of the coffin.

"There’s a way down there," Cetas pointed at the coffin.

Elishia nodded.

"Alright.. So? How do we move it.."

"I can’t see any method to do so.."

"I see.."

Elishia made a curious expression as she thought for a while. Alas, she only came up with one solution.

"Let’s break the coffin open.."

Stunned, Cetas’ mouth widened, "Are you sure? There could be troubles that could follow.."

"I’m not sure, but there’s no other way.."

Elishia pointed her pistol at the coffin, preparing to fire.

"W-wait! Let’s find another way.."

Slowly lowering her gun, Elishia raised her eyebrows at Cetas.

"There has to be a catch somewhere.. A place as beautiful as this wouldn’t just let its wonders be tainted would it?"

Elishia sighed, "I guess you’re right, but if we don’t find any other way.. Then I’m breaking it open."

Cetas activated his Zeal once again, forming illusory visions of sand waving around at the mausoleum. He tried to see where the grains would go, however, this time it didn’t do anything.

He looked at the murals, trying to figure out who they were or what they meant. For a few minutes, Cetas remained silent.

Every now and often, he would touch the murals to get a feel of what would happen but still, nothing happened.

Time passed as Cetas tried to find a way and yet he never found anything.

For the first time in a while, Elishia opened her mouth and asked, "It’s been an hour, found anything yet?"

Disappointed, Cetas shook his head.

"Alright. Now let’s go with my method."

Elishia raised her pistol and pointed it at the lock of the golden coffin. Cetas stood at the back, near the doors and watched as Elishia pulled the trigger.

Just then, the flash of light coming out of Elishia’s flintlock reflected something in the mural above the golden coffin.

Elishia’s bullet bounced back upon impact, falling on the crystal floor.

She loaded it once more, pushing gunpowder inside and cocking it again.

"Wait Elishia! I saw something!"

Elishia turned around, and tilted her head to the side, "What?"

"When you shot the coffin, I saw a reflection on the mural," Cetas pointed at the mural with the chained individual, "It was only an instant though, I can’t make it out completely.."

Cetas walked forward, "Try to shoot it again.."

"..Okay?"

Once again, Elishia pulled the trigger. Cetas, focused on the mural above the golden coffin, waited for the reflection to appear.

Once the light from Elishia’s weapon sparked, a reflection instantly appeared and vanished.

"That’s it!"

"What is it?"

"I can’t see properly.. We need a long-lasting light or something that can make it reflect.. Like a fire or something else."

Elishia blinked twice, her face blank as looked at Cetas.

Then, she brought her finger up and momentarily a spark of flame appeared within its tip.

"Like this?"

"Yes, w-what? I didn’t know you could conjure flames!"

Elishia grinned, "I did take Elemental Zeal after all.."

Then, Elishia increased the size of her flames, now the size of a pouch of Solis.

Slowly, the reflection appeared on the mural, although faint.

"Quick, engrave it in your mind, I can’t focus that well due to me maintaining this flame."

"Alright!"

Cetas hurriedly paced towards the mural, looking at the reflection closely.

His eyes widened in realization of what he saw. Suddenly, he turned around and ran towards the door. He looked behind to where thousands of pillars stood great.

Then, his face contorted into amazement as he saw a shining mausoleum, similar in appearance and size as the one that they were currently in.

But that didn’t last long as Elishia’s flame dissipated.

Soon, the mirage at the distance disappeared too.

"Elishia.. Did you see it?"

Looking a little exhausted, Elishia breathed deep, "No.. See what, exactly?"

She turned around and looked at Cetas who had a wild look on his face.

"There, on the other side of the pillars, another mausoleum like this one exists!"

*

"So you’re saying that there’s two and the other one vanishes when the reflection doesn’t exist?"

Cetas nodded his head in quick succession.

"Yes! Precisely!"

Elishia rubbed her forehead as she slowly shook her head side to side, "I can’t believe this.. I’ve seen weirder things in the world of Zeal.. But this is the first time I’m encountering something like this."

"Still, there is no other choice so.." She looked up, "Let’s do it.."

"Alright, I’ve thought of some ways that we can approach this other mausoleum."

The two sat down on the diamond floors for a while.

"One, you keep conjuring your flames and I run full speed on the other side."

Immediately, Elishia shut her down.

"That wouldn’t work because I can’t keep my flames up for long and another, I won’t let you act alone agian. So it’s a no."

"Figured as much. Well, for the next plan, we keep flames inside this mausoleum so it reflects the other one naturally. And then we run back as fast as we can."

Elishia raised her finger but then lowered it again.

"That.. might actually work. Let’s consider that."

"Good good. Now for the last plan," Cetas stood up and pointed towards the other side of the pillars, "I’ll go to the other side now, and give you a signal. Once the signal goes off, you light your flames as long as possible. I enter the other mausoleum, investigate very quickly, and report back to you."

Elishia’s eyes twitched.

"That’s.. Similar to your first plan! Again, I’m not letting you act alone!"

She breathed out a deep sigh, "Additionally, we don’t know how the other mausoleum works yet, so if my flames go out while you’re in it, then you may be lost forever with no way back.. If it works the same as the one we’re in right now, you would need a source of light for the reflection.. Therefore, we’d be separated indefinitely."

"You’re right.." Cetas slowly spoke out, his words filled with guilt once more.

I got her in this mess, I should at least listen to her.

With another deep sigh, Elishia stood up and started to unravel her red bandana.

"We’ll do plan 2. I’ll burn this bandana and cast my heat resistant skill on it. It should buy us time."

"Are you sure?"

Elishia nodded, "Certainly, I wouldn’t want to get grouped up with the Red Bandana Pirates anyways.."

She placed the bandana on the golden coffin, then laid her hand out and poured some sort of Zeal into the bandana.

"This may take me a few minutes, go rest for a little bit, we have some distance that we need to run to, after all.."

Cetas looked concerned.

"What about you, aren’t you gonna rest? Physical activities aren’t your best abilities, after all.."

Elishia clicked her tongue.

"Damn it."

Suddenly, her moment of annoyance vanished when something clicked in her mind.

"Hold on, wait!"

Using her free hand, Elishia reached out within her coat’s pockets, then, she grasped something that gave her hope.

"I have this!"

In her hand, she held a dull sack and inside of it was a piece of bread that she’d packed this morning.

"Yes! We can share this Cetas, and regain some of our energy before we run."

She then stopped letting her Zeal out to the bandana, reaching out inside the sack and separating it into half.

She sat down near Cetas and offered him a piece.

"Here eat this.."

Cetas wanted to deny at first but seeing how scary Elishia can get, he reluctantly agreed and grabbed his half.

Elishia began munching down on the bread, her face delighted with its unique taste.

It looked like a normal well-baked pastry, however, when Cetas tried it, his mouth exploded in flavors.

But how? She doesn’t even have a Unique Zeal related to this?

Elishia may not have a Unique Zeal unlocked yet but her ability to cook was otherworldly! After all, even Zealots reveled in her cooking—giving them energy and great buffs to their strength.

Although the bread is probably aged for hours or days now, its nutrients still seem preserved.

There was no mold or any signs of hazardous health issues.

Still, if Elishia knew that several insects—worms, centipedes, and many more—crawled on her as they made their way to the cavern depths, she probably wouldn’t even consider touching the bread.

Actually, she would’ve fainted in shock if she learned that such an event transpired.

Nevertheless, it was best to remain ignorant.

So, after a few minutes, the two of them finished eating and Elishia went back at it.

And a moment later, Elishia finally finished applying a heat resistant skill on the bandana.

The red bandana remained normal, looking as if nothing had changed.

"Are you ready?"

With a nod, Cetas stood close to the door of the mausoleum. He turned around and directly looked in the distance.

"Alright." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Elishia conjured a spark in her finger tips, directing it at the edge of the bandana. A few seconds passed and the bandana lit up a small flame.

And then it grew, singed by the little glow climbing up its body.

Once it made 1/3rd of the way in the bandana, the mausoleum in the distance began to appear—faintly.

"Now!"

Cetas dashed through the pillars, heading towards the reflected mausoleum with great pace.

Elishia followed behind him, running slower than Cetas did.

Still, the two ran amidst the molten lava flowing at the cavern walls, chasing through time as a red bandana blazed inside the reflective mausoleum.