[Larval Tear (Elden Ring)]
[Use at a bonfire to reset all ability points and redistribute them.
Can only be used by the first heroes to clear the dungeon. Extremely rare. Use with caution.]
When everyone first read the description of the Larval Tear, a wave of stunned awe swept through them.
Reset? Ability points?
Did that mean they could reassign the levels they'd gained from the bonfires?
No one in the party had ever heard of such a concept before—"resetting."
If someone had distributed their points poorly and later regretted it, the Larval Tear could fix everything. The words "extremely rare" in the description only emphasized how valuable it was.
But there was one small problem—
Half the members of the expedition had never even stepped into the Sein Dungeon before. Though they now understood how the bonfire's leveling system worked, they hadn't gathered enough souls to make much use of it.
Because the experience gains were divided among the group—and because everyone was already quite strong—each level required tens of thousands of souls.
Even Perry, the weakest among them, had only managed to raise his level eight times.
With so few points invested, was it really worth using such a precious reset item?
Perhaps the Larval Tear's true value would only be realized much later, once they had climbed far higher in level.
As a result, though everyone knew it was an incredible find, none could use it immediately. Their excitement faded quickly, leaving a strangely flat feeling behind.
That blandness vanished the moment Leon lit the bonfire.
This time, the bonfire didn't project any illusion—but everyone gathered around it felt their health completely restored. Then, a glowing status panel appeared before Leon's eyes:
[Leon]
[Level: 55]
[HP: 10 | Strength: 13 | Intelligence: 9 | Endurance: 7 | Dexterity: 10 | Perception: 6]
"Huh!?"
Leon jumped to his feet, startled.
What was going on? At the last two bonfires, all his stats had been in single digits, and any unallocated points showed up as "1." Why were they suddenly this high?
He flexed his hands—but he didn't feel any stronger.
Was the bonfire malfunctioning?
He quickly called the others over. One by one, they checked their own status—and found the same thing.
[Stella – Level 33]
[Perry – Level 29]
[Roger – Level 51]
[Drew – Level 48]
[Terl – Level 50]
Yet the number of souls needed to level up was exactly the same as before, and none of them felt any actual increase in power.
Then, when they touched the bonfire again, a stream of information flooded their minds—and the truth became clear.
The third bonfire showed a quantified reflection of their real strength. However powerful they were in reality, that's what appeared as numbers.
The first two bonfires, by contrast, treated everyone equally, displaying all stats as "1" by default.
Aside from this cosmetic difference, the leveling mechanism itself hadn't changed. The cost to level up was the same—it's just that now they could clearly see their own strengths and weaknesses.
But… when paired with the Larval Tear?
Wouldn't that mean they could completely reset their builds?
As the realization sank in, everyone's breathing grew heavy.
Many adventurers carried regrets about their class choices—mages who wished they'd become warriors, warriors who envied assassins, assassins who longed to study alchemy. But class changes were nearly impossible.
Once someone trained in a class, their stats naturally molded to it: mages gained overwhelming Intelligence, warriors sky-high Strength and HP. Switching paths required retraining from scratch—and that was brutally difficult.
Should it be called a curse or a blessing?
The longer one trained in a profession, the more their body adapted to it. Class-related stats rose rapidly, while unrelated ones became agonizingly slow to grow.
For example, raising a warrior's Intelligence was possible—but it required dozens of times more effort than Strength or Endurance.
Researchers called this phenomenon "class adaptation."
And it afflicted every single person in this world without exception.
For adventurers dissatisfied with their class, it was sheer torment. What kind of gods designed a world like this?
Sure, with double or triple effort, you could become a well-rounded jack-of-all-trades—but who had the time? People already spent their lives struggling to survive. After a full day's labor, who still had the strength to train until collapse?
If there really existed a way to start over from zero, from legendary heroes down to common folk, countless souls would pay anything for it.
Leon thought of one such man—an adventurer he personally knew, who despised the class fate had given him.
Holding the strange, teardrop-shaped crystal, Leon felt as though he were holding an invitation—a second chance.
If he presented this Larval Tear to that man, it could erase his regrets... and earn Leon an enormous favor in return.
Roger, however, saw something different.
If he used the Tear to reset and pour points into stats that were normally hard to raise—while keeping Strength, a stat that could still grow naturally through training—wouldn't that make leveling far easier?
But the item's description was clear: "extremely rare."
The odds of abusing such a method were slim.
Still, Roger murmured softly, "As long as there's hope, people will always chase it."
Carefully tucking the Larval Tear away, Roger felt certain—Sein Dungeon would become the hottest dungeon in the world.
Even if the drop rate was absurdly low, if even a single Tear appeared among thousands—or tens of thousands—of challengers, it would be enough to drive adventurers mad.
In the Lord's Chamber
"It seems they've figured it out," Wade said, watching the adventurers' reactions with amusement. "So these otherworlders aren't as slow as I thought."
"If the bonfire's upgrade system is purple-grade," he mused, "then stat resetting must be golden legend. Regret medicine is always priceless."
"Perhaps the Larval Tear will lure the world's elite adventurers here. Should I make preparations?"
Of course, he had no intention of fighting them directly.
He thought of other methods—filling the dungeon with powerful monsters, weaving tragic stories to tug at their emotions—anything to increase the Mana they released.
The stronger a person, the more Mana they exuded.
Just one day of survival from someone like Leon generated more Mana than the deaths of several ordinary adventurers.
And those stronger still…
Wade's expression darkened in thought.
"The drop rate must be extremely low," he decided. "Each one must pass through my hands personally. This thing is too valuable to release unless it brings in Mana worth far more than it costs."
For now, the Larval Tear would become the signature treasure of Sein Dungeon.
As he finalized his plan, Wade returned his gaze to the crystal ball's projection. Watching the adventurers' delighted reactions as they uncovered rare loot—ah, those expressions were truly delicious.
So absorbed was he that he failed to notice the faint light glowing beneath the altar.
[Dungeon Master Threshold Reached. Activation in Progress…]
In the Crucible Knight's Boss Room
Each adventurer carefully stored away their Larval Tear, eyes gleaming with complicated emotions.
The air hung heavy with silence until Maru finally broke it.
"Hurry up and open the treasure chests! The dungeon's about to close!"
Everyone blinked, then turned to the neat row of chests—one per person.
"One chest each?"
"Fine, but if I pull something I don't want, we can trade, right? Don't be stingy."
"Yeah, yeah."
What they didn't realize was that each chest's contents had been tailored to the person who opened it.
Stella was the first to lift her lid.
[Black Bow (Elden Ring)]
[Weapon Skill: Barrage]
A slender, blade-like longbow light enough to slice through the wind. Though built as a longbow, it can be wielded one-handed like a shortbow.
[Ash of War: Rain of Arrows (Elden Ring)]
A technique that lowers stance, then fires a storm of arrows into the sky—raining death upon enemies below.
[Crafting Recipes: Bone Hypnosis Arrows, Bone Bleeding Arrows, Bone Poison Arrows (adapted to local materials).]
"Not bad," she muttered, testing the drawstring. The grip felt perfect—far beyond her old bow.
Rain of Arrows, huh? She'd test that later.
Roger's chest, meanwhile, revealed several small orbs—suspiciously similar to Poké Balls.
[Great Ball ×2]
[Heavy Ball ×2]
[Poké Ball ×4]
[Spell: Ambush Shard (Elden Ring)]
[One of the night sorceries of Sellia, Town of Sorcery. Launches a projectile from afar to strike from behind. Can be cast repeatedly. Sellian sorcerers were assassins, known for hunting even their own kind.]
Roger, already a master of stealth spells, could only grimace.
"Great. As if I wasn't shady enough already," he muttered.
And what were these "Great Balls"? Upgraded Poké Balls? Such rare treasures—and he'd gotten a full set!?
Clutching them protectively, he tucked them away like sacred relics.
Terl pulled a massive, oddly-shaped hammer from his chest, gave it a few swings, and grinned.
[Flaming Fury (Monster Hunter)]
Maru opened hers and instantly froze. Two jagged, ugly curved swords stared back at her.
[Scavenger's Curved Sword ×2 (Elden Ring)]
[Weapon Skill: Spinning Slash]
Crude blades once favored by scavengers who haunted ancient battlefields.
"Seriously?" she groaned.
The Fire Priest, on the other hand, fell to his knees, shouting praise to his god as divine power washed over him. His rewards were—
[Flame, Grant Me Strength (Elden Ring)]
[Flame, Cleanse Me (Elden Ring)]
[Pyromancy Flame (Dark Souls)]
[Flame Sling (Elden Ring)]
The Holy Knight opened his chest next… and paled.
Inside lay an enormous iron cross—almost the size of Terl's hammer. His face twisted with discomfort.
According to his church's legend, the God of Light had once been crucified upon such a cross by a dark god.
For him, the symbol was practically blasphemy.
"Please let it be one of those instant-learning scrolls," Perry muttered nervously.
Though he often claimed that true spells should be studied slowly, deep down he longed for an easy shortcut—like Stella's Lightning Stake.
But what emerged from his chest was—
[Crystal Scroll(Dark Souls)]
[A scroll inscribed with crystal magic. With patience and study, one may achieve great rewards.]
Perry froze, then let out a heartbroken wail.
Drew glanced at him, then at his own scroll, and said dryly, "You youngsters really should learn the value of hard work."
Finally, Leon opened his chest.
Inside lay three items, glowing with vivid violet light.
He picked up the first:
[Ash of War: Carian Grandeur(Elden Ring)]
[A royal Carian battle technique. Infuse your sword with magic to create a massive blade, then cleave downward to shatter all before you.]
Then the second:
[Saw Cleaver (Bloodborne)]
[A hunter's weapon, stained with inhuman blood. Said to transform in battle.]
"Nice," Leon grinned. "These look strong!"
Finally, he reached for the last item—the final purple glow.
[Recipe: Fetid Pot (Elden Ring)]
Leon blinked.
"...Huh?"