The teleportation ended without warning.
Gun's boots touched soft earth.
For a second, he didn't move.
Neither did the others.
Then Luna looked around.
"…Okay."
Jack slowly turned in a full circle.
"What the hell?"
Gun looked up.
Towering over them was a forest so enormous that it barely felt like a forest anymore.
Massive trees stretched into the clouds, their trunks wider than buildings and their branches forming enormous layers of emerald canopy. Strange flowers glowed between roots. Streams of silver water crossed the forest floor, reflecting a sky filled with floating lights that looked almost like stars despite it being daytime.
Birds with translucent wings flew between the branches.
Massive glowing insects buzzed around ancient stones.
The entire floor felt alive.
Mystical.
Almost unreal.
Waver looked around carefully.
"Looks like some kind of elven forest."
Jack pointed toward the horizon.
"Uh…"
Everyone followed his finger.
At the center of the continent stood a tree.
Calling it a tree felt insulting.
It was enormous.
Its trunk was wider than entire cities.
Its branches stretched so high into the sky that they disappeared into clouds.
The roots spread across the land like mountain ranges.
Gun stared.
"…That's one tree?"
Waver shook his head slowly.
"That thing is bigger than some countries."
Jack laughed.
"It's literally impossible to miss."
Gun rested his hand on his sword.
"Well, guess we know where we're going."
They started walking.
Even with their ridiculous speed, the tree was so massive that reaching it still took time.
The closer they got, the more unnatural the environment became.
The forest grew quieter.
The glowing flowers disappeared.
The creatures that had been watching them from the shadows stopped making sounds.
Even Gun noticed.
"Something's off."
Jack looked around.
"Yeah."
"No monsters?"
"Not one."
Waver glanced at the gigantic trunk ahead.
"They're probably avoiding it."
Eventually they reached the base of the colossal tree.
And there, carved directly into the enormous trunk, was a gate.
It looked completely ordinary compared to the scale of everything around it.
Two enormous wooden doors.
Ancient symbols carved across them.
Gun approached.
The moment he stepped in front of the entrance, the symbols lit up.
The doors opened.
A figure stepped out.
Tall.
Pale.
Long silver hair.
Pointed ears.
He wore elegant green and white robes and carried a thin staff covered in glowing runes.
Jack whispered.
"Elf."
Gun nodded.
"High elf, probably."
The elf looked at the four of them without expression.
"You have reached the Heartwood."
Gun glanced behind him at the colossal tree.
"That's what this place is called?"
"Yes."
The High Elf raised his staff slightly.
"To pass Floor 12 is simple."
Gun raised an eyebrow.
"Simple?"
"You only need to answer one question."
Jack looked at Gun.
Luna looked at Waver.
Everyone had the same thought.
That sounds way too easy.
After everything the tower had thrown at them, there was no chance it would simply let them answer one question and leave.
Gun folded his arms.
"What's the catch?"
The elf smiled faintly.
"There is none."
"That makes it worse," Gun muttered.
The elf stepped aside.
"You may hear the question."
He paused.
Then spoke.
"I have no breath, yet my pulse shatters glass.
I am forged in a fire that never warms,
Born in the high sky, but bound to the dark earth.
I carry the weight of a thousand prayers,
Yet I am hollowed out at my core.
I drop my voice down from the heaven-spire,
And every living heart in the valley beats to my rhythm,
Though none can ever see me move.
I am the iron heart that sings only when beaten.
What am I?"
Silence.
Long silence.
Jack stared blankly at the elf.
Luna blinked twice.
Then quietly said,
"…What the fuck is that?"
Jack looked at her.
"I have absolutely no idea."
Gun didn't laugh.
He was staring at the ground.
His mind was already dissecting every line.
No breath.
Pulse.
Shatters glass.
Forged in fire.
Born in the high sky.
Bound to the earth.
Carries prayers.
Hollowed at its core.
Voice from the heaven-spire.
Makes every living heart beat to its rhythm.
Iron heart.
Sings when beaten.
Gun slowly looked up.
"Can we ask something first?"
The elf nodded.
"How many attempts do we have?"
"Three."
Gun's expression tightened.
"And if we get them wrong?"
The elf's smile disappeared.
"You will be sentenced to death."
Jack's face went blank.
"…Gulp."
Luna looked toward the forest.
"Can we leave?"
"No."
"Of course."
Gun sighed.
"Alright."
He turned to Waver.
"What do you think?"
Waver was already thinking.
"A storm."
Gun nodded.
"That's what I'm getting too."
They went over every line.
The pulse could be thunder.
The voice from heaven could be thunder.
Born in high sky.
Bound to earth.
The heart of a storm.
It made sense.
Gun looked at the elf.
"Our answer is…"
He paused.
"Storm."
The elf shook his head.
"Incorrect."
The word felt heavier than it should have.
One attempt gone.
Jack rubbed his face.
"So we have two left."
Luna crossed her arms.
"What else could it be?"
Gun started pacing.
Waver watched him carefully.
"Something that has no visible movement but creates a rhythm."
Gun nodded.
"Something that can shatter glass."
"An echo," Jack suggested.
Everyone looked at him.
Jack shrugged.
"Don't know. It carries a voice without being visible."
Gun considered it.
The heaven-spire could create an echo.
A valley could carry it.
A thousand prayers could become echoes.
The iron heart that sings when beaten…
That part was harder.
Still, it was worth trying.
Gun looked at the elf.
"Echo."
The High Elf shook his head again.
"Incorrect."
Jack groaned.
"Oh, come on."
Luna sat down on a nearby root.
"We're going to die because of a poem."
Gun looked at the elf.
"Do we have to answer immediately?"
"No."
Gun blinked.
"You don't care how long we take?"
The elf shook his head.
"You may take as long as you wish."
Gun looked at the others.
"Then we're camping."
The High Elf simply nodded.
"As you wish."
That night, the four Divers made a small camp at the base of the enormous tree.
There was no dinner conversation.
No jokes.
No stories.
Just the riddle.
Gun sat near the fire, staring into the flames.
Waver was lying against a root with his arms folded.
Jack had covered the ground with notes.
Luna was lying on her back and staring through the canopy.
"Maybe it's thunder," Jack said.
"We already tried storm," Luna replied.
"Maybe we should've said thunder."
Gun frowned.
"No."
Jack looked at him.
Gun continued.
"The riddle specifically says the iron heart sings when beaten."
Jack shrugged.
"So?"
Gun stared into the fire.
"There's something we're missing."
Waver nodded.
"Definitely."
They thought until late into the night.
Eventually exhaustion won.
Gun fell asleep.
And dreamed.
He was back in the Depths.
The water.
The darkness.
The ruins.
The familiar atmosphere.
Drake Eshet stood across from an enemy, sword raised.
Gun smiled.
He knew this.
He knew everything.
The timing.
The attack.
The movement.
The parry window.
His body reacted.
CLANG.
Perfect parry.
Counterattack.
Another enemy.
Another parry.
Another.
Then more.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
He wasn't fighting anymore.
He was remembering.
Every build.
Every wipe.
Every victory.
Every stupid hour spent staring at the screen.
Then something changed.
Drake stopped.
A faint ringing echoed through the Depths.
Gun looked up.
The sound came again.
DING.
A Bell.
His Bell.
His Resonance.
Gun's eyes widened.
The scene around him began cracking apart.
The dream shattered.
And Gun woke up.
He sat upright instantly.
His heart was racing.
"...A Bell."
Waver opened one eye.
"What?"
Gun looked at him.
Then at Luna.
Then Jack.
His expression was different now.
He had found something.
"The answer."
Jack sat up.
"To what?"
Gun stood.
"A Bell."
Everyone stared at him.
Luna frowned.
"Why?"
Gun started speaking faster.
"Think about every line."
He held up a finger.
"No breath, but a pulse."
"That's the Bell."
Another finger.
"Pulse shatters glass."
"Bell."
Another.
"Forged in a fire that never warms. Metal."
"Born in the high sky, bound to the earth."
"It falls from high places. It rings below."
Waver's eyes sharpened.
Gun continued.
"Carries the weight of a thousand prayers."
"A Bell is used in temples."
"Hollowed out at the core."
Jack's eyes widened.
"Because it's literally hollow."
Gun nodded.
"Every living heart beats to my rhythm."
Luna slowly sat up.
"The sound of a Bell can synchronize people."
"Maybe not literally," Gun said, "but that's what the riddle is describing."
He looked at the final line.
"The iron heart that sings only when beaten."
Gun smiled.
"That's it."
Silence.
Jack slowly grinned.
"…A Bell."
Luna nodded.
"A Bell."
Waver closed his eyes for a second.
Then nodded.
"The clues line up much better than Storm or Echo."
Gun looked toward the High Elf's gate.
"Then that's our last answer."
The sun rose.
The High Elf was waiting exactly where they had left him.
Gun approached.
The elf looked at the four of them.
"Have you reached your conclusion?"
Gun nodded.
"Yes."
He looked back at his team.
Nobody hesitated.
Gun turned forward.
"Our answer is…"
He smiled.
"A Bell."
The High Elf stared at him.
For several seconds, there was absolutely no reaction.
Then—
He smiled.
"Very well."
The symbols on the gate lit up.
"You may pass."
Jack let out the biggest breath of relief of his life.
"YES!"
Luna laughed.
"I genuinely thought we were going to die here."
Gun grinned.
"Never doubted us."
Waver looked at him.
"You absolutely doubted us."
Gun paused.
"…Okay, maybe a little."
The High Elf raised his staff.
"And because you answered correctly, I will grant you rewards."
Three objects appeared.
A glowing scroll.
Another scroll radiating powerful energy.
And a black leather jacket.
Jack picked up the first scroll.
"Mastery Scroll."
Luna looked at the second.
"Epic Scroll."
Gun picked up the jacket.
A notification appeared.
Mantle of Waving
A black leather jacket infused with spatial magic.
Sub-Dimensional Storage
Creates a small storage space capable of holding up to 20 kilograms of objects.
To retrieve an item, the user need only visualize the desired object and reach into the jacket.
Gun stared at it.
"…Damn."
Jack laughed.
"That is actually sick."
Luna looked at the jacket.
"You can store anything in that?"
"Within twenty kilos."
Waver nodded.
Gun put it on his shoulder kinda like a cape immediately.
After all, he promised himself that he wouldn't use any armor, so he had to use it more as an accessory.
He grinned.
"I like this."
The High Elf stepped aside.
The enormous doors behind him slowly began opening.
Beyond them was a staircase leading deeper into the tree.
The next floor.
Gun looked down at the rewards.
"One mastery and one epic scroll."
He looked at the others.
"We'll decide who gets what on the next floor."
Jack nodded.
Luna smiled.
Waver simply turned toward the staircase.
Gun followed.
The four Divers disappeared into the enormous tree, leaving the High Elf behind them.
Another floor conquered.
Another mystery solved.
But as Gun walked into the darkness below the Heartwood, one thought stayed with him.
The Bell.
The thing he had spent thousands of hours using in Deepwoken.
Something that had once been nothing more than a game mechanic.
And somehow...
it had just saved his life.
Gun smiled.
"Yeah."
He looked ahead.
"This tower is getting weird."
And the Divers descended toward Floor 13.