System vs Rebirth

"Huh?" Anna was startled to see Noel's tears. She hadn't shed any tears in this life, but she certainly had a lot in the previous life when transforming to a better person.

So, she could understand if Noel cried like in the Sword Saint Tomb.

"Are you alright?" Anna stopped while going back to him to check his condition.

Noel remained silent while wiping the tear. He walked past her while saying, "I'm sorry."

"Huh?" Anna's body trembled as chills went down her spine. Noel was only saying, "I'm sorry," but she could feel the emotion behind those words.

The sadness, regret… all the complicated emotions mixed into one. Anna didn't know why Noel apologized when he had done nothing wrong, but it felt like there was another burden lifted from her heart. It felt like this apology was directed to something in the past.

"What did…" Anna turned around, looking at Noel's lonely back. A thought appeared in her mind. 'Why do I feel like Noel has changed once again?'

Anna feared that Noel changed for the worse when she was currently enjoying the current Noel, who was able to work together with her this well. It felt like they were true comrades in the past one month.

So, she didn't want it to be changed, afraid that Noel would just return to the previous one.

Anna slapped her cheeks as if trying to return to her energetic self, planning to transfer this energy to Noel.

She playfully walked beside Noel while teasing him, "What's wrong? You're a grown man already… No, wait. You're still 15 years old, right? How many days are left until your birthday? This is an important celebration since you're going to be an adult."

"…" Noel glanced at Anna with a troubled expression. He knew that Anna wanted to brighten the mood and considering they were on a mission, he shouldn't be this down.

He took a few deep breaths and said, "Yeah, you're right. I guess that'll be the last time I shed any tears since I'll become an adult soon."

"Come on. You can cry. Come come…" Anna spread her arms as if preparing to be an adult to calm him down.

"What are you doing? You're the same age as me." Noel shrugged. "Anyway, we should focus on our mission. I apologize if I made the atmosphere awkward a moment ago."

Anna checked Noel's expressions again and knew that he was trying to shift the mood. So, Anna played along and forgot about it.

"Alright. Let's go!" Anna pointed at a steep slope that could be said as a wall as well. This steep wall had vines covering the wall.

Anna grabbed the vines and pushed them to the side, showing a bit of opening on the wall. The gap created a rectangle shape as if it was an artificial stone that blocked the cave like a door.

"This is…" Noel narrowed his eyes. "A door."

"Yes. According to the legend, it's rumored that a great figure from one thousand years ago was using this cave in the past. The man lived inside this place because it had water dropping from the ceiling and that water allowed him to stay alive inside. It could even make him feel full…" Anna pointed at the ground and made Noel realize the muddy ground near the entrance as well as the wet part of the rock.

"Doesn't that mean it's already flooding inside?"

"What do you expect? It's already one thousand years, you know." Anna shrugged and took out her sword. "Help me up in pulling out this rock."

Noel thought for a moment and nodded. He stabbed the gap between the rocks, trying to cut everything that connected the rock with the entire wall.

After making sure there was nothing that stopped them from moving the rock, Noel stabbed a single gap and used his Ice Control to extend his sword and looped it around on the rock.

He took a glance at Anna's sword and connected this ice to her sword.

"Hmm?" Anna felt the change in her sword as if something entering her sword. She glanced at Noel who winked his right eye.

There was actually ice that connected their swords. Noel planned to used this to pull the rock out.

"Ready?" Noel asked with a smile.

"Got it." Anna nodded with a serious expression.

"Pull!" Noel gave the signal as they pulled their swords with all their strength.

Luckily, the bottom part of the rock was wet, reducing the friction and allowing Noel and Anna to pull the rock with half the effort.

*Grumble!*

*Grumble!*

"!!!" They felt the slight movement from the rock, indicating it was possible to pull the rock out.

They looked at each other, thinking the same thing. As soon as they nodded their heads, they pulled the rock again, moving it a little at a time.

It took them a whole five minutes to pull out half of the rocks.

Noel even asked, "Is there any need for us to do this? Can't we just destroy it?"

"No. We have to do this. Do you know if you put a lid when you're cooking without creating a hole on the lid, your food will suddenly burst out?"

"Hmm?"

Anna was explaining about the pressure the steam built up inside if there was no hole to allow them to travel.

Although Noel didn't understand completely, he knew what she wanted to do. "You're pretty bad, you know."

"You called me evil witch in the past."

"You like that name?"

"…"

The two chuckled and started pulling again. Finally, after their continuous effort, they managed to pull the rock out of the entrance, revealing the cave.

The cave wasn't big or long. There was a small basin in the middle of the cave, which was used to store the water, but because a long time had passed since someone took this, the cave was already flooded.

"By the way, did you say you can drink it, not bath in it?"

"If it's a small amount, it can work like ration. If it's a huge amount, you'll die from overdose. So, it's better for the pore in your skin to absorb it bit by bit to strengthen it. That's the principle."

Noel noticed something in that explanation and asked, "So, we will take a bath one at a time…"

Upon hearing that question, a sly smile appeared on Anna's face as if she had been plotting something.