One-Eyed Monster

Chapter 20: Chapter 20: The Cave

Igor rubbed his aching arm and flopped down inside the cave.

”I couldn’t catch the rabbit, but I caught a half-dead pheasant,” Liko announced, his face beaming.

”Is it really that hard to catch a pheasant?” Pita mumbled, his eyelids drooping as he continued to flip through the Spirit Book in his hand.

Liko chuckled. ”Little Igor was being watched and was almost caught. The funniest part is that our little Igor actually ran right into their arms! HA HA HA!”

”I just ran over to see the Exchange Beast. After all, under the cover of night, I could only make out a silhouette,” Igor said, scratching his head. ”I had no idea they were all after this Spirit Book.” He still hadn’t quite grasped what had just happened.

”But it’s not all bad!” Liko continued. ”Right outside the cave entrance, I caught this pheasant. HA HA HA! We owe a big thanks to that Alchemist for this!”

”That’s true... Wait, Senior Pita, didn’t you see what happened outside the cave just now?” Igor asked. He suddenly felt something was off.

”Outside the cave?” Pita replied. ”Hasn’t it been pitch-black the whole time?”

Upon hearing this, Igor and Liko immediately looked towards the cave entrance. Indeed, it was pitch-black, revealing nothing.

”How bizarre!” Liko and Igor exclaimed in unison.

”Is something wrong?” Pita asked, confused by their surprised expressions.

Leaving the stunned Liko and clueless Pita behind, Igor dashed out of the cave. He vanished instantly, as if swallowed by the pitch-blackness outside.

”Senior Liko! Senior Pita! I can’t find the entrance!” Igor’s voice called out from the darkness.

”Just head for the fire and come in!” Pita shouted back.

”Senior Liko, Senior Pita, where are you? Why can’t I hear anything?”

This took Liko and Pita by surprise. Without a word, they walked out of the cave, only to find a flustered Igor fumbling right at the entrance.

”Can’t you see the bonfire in the cave?” Liko demanded, exasperated.

”Bonfire? Where? All I see are rocks!” Igor exclaimed, scratching his head again.

”Strange!” Pita muttered, rubbing his own head. ”The bonfire is right inside the cave.”

”That’s right. Look, it’s right there.” As Liko spoke, he pushed Igor into the cave. ”Don’t just stand outside, get in and help roast the pheasant!”

”Seniors, Seniors... those are rocks! Don’t push me into—” Before Igor could finish, he found himself back inside the cave.

”Huh? What just happened?” Igor wondered aloud, scratching his head yet again.

They tried a few more times, going in and out of the cave entrance repeatedly.

The result was always the same: Igor couldn’t find the cave on his own. He could only enter unobstructed if Liko and Pita guided him. Otherwise, he’d feel like he was walking into solid rock or about to fall off a cliff.

Furthermore, if he wasn’t close enough to Liko and Pita, he still couldn’t enter. At a certain distance, they would simply vanish before his eyes!

It was truly a bizarre cave.

”It seems only you Seniors can see this cave,” Igor remarked, facing the bonfire with a poignant sigh.

”We’ve never noticed this before,” Pita said, rubbing his calf, which ached from their recent experiments. ”We usually just sleep in the cave and continue up the mountain the next day. We’ve never had this much trouble.”

”Why worry so much? Roasting this pheasant is what matters!” Liko declared. He quickly cleaned the bird and set it over the fire.

”People outside can’t see this cave! This is so strange,” Igor mused.

”Likewise, we can’t see anything outside either,” Pita added.

”But those outside can’t hear what’s said inside, while we in here can hear them,” Igor concluded from their repeated tests.

”What perplexes me even more,” Pita added, ”is that Liko and I could see what was happening inside the cave when we were out there, but we couldn’t hear a thing from within.”

”Who knows the answer?”

”Let’s eat first! That Spirit Book everyone’s after must be hungry too, right? We didn’t find a rabbit, but we got a pheasant. We can feed it some later!” Liko said, ever practical. Just as when he had faced Musa of Black Mountain, he preferred to understand the world in his own straightforward way, never dwelling on complexities.

”That half-dead pheasant you picked up had all its Spirit Power drained by that Alchemist. As a Medium for summoning an Exchange Beast, it can’t replenish the Spirit Book’s Spirit Power,” Pita stated.

A beat of silence passed. Pita and Igor looked utterly bewildered, staring at Pita, who offered no further comment.

Then, Pita continued his long-winded explanation, ”The book says that as long as it’s regularly infused with Spirit Power, the Spirit Book will remain active. Actually, this book is mostly about the geography, people, and customs of the Kayne Realm. There’s nothing particularly special about it. I don’t understand why anyone would be so interested in it.”

”Senior, you finished reading it so quickly?” Igor asked, amazed that Pita could have digested such a thick book in so short a time.

”Of course. I am a Scholar, after all,” Pita said, a hint of pride in his voice.

”Give me a break! You’re just a third-rate, penniless bookworm. Stop trying to pass yourself off as a Scholar,” Liko retorted, seizing the chance to tease Pita.

”But Senior Liko, you were amazing!” Igor interjected, his eyes wide with admiration. ”I couldn’t believe it. In the blink of an eye, that man was on the ground! What kind of move did you use?”

”HA HA! Of course, I’m amazing! I’m a Fighter, after all,” Liko boasted. ”Dealing with a small fry like him doesn’t need any special moves. My aura alone is enough...”

”Oh, please! With your clumsy skills? You call that an aura?” Pita scoffed, not missing his chance for a comeback.

”But Senior Liko really did block his fast punches!” Igor argued, defending Liko, who now wore a smug expression.

”He’s just thick-skinned and tough. Good at taking a beating, that’s all,” Pita retorted.

...

The pheasant sizzled over the fire, its delicious aroma filling the cave. Occasionally, a drop of fat would fall into the flames, sending up a spray of sparks with a HISS.

Today, Igor had encountered many strange things, and his mind was in turmoil.

He had not only learned the Concealment Spell but had also seen a Flowing Water Beast and an Exchange Beast. He had even witnessed the legendary Physique Technique of a Fighter. These experiences filled him with a thrilling joy.

He was also now in this bizarre cave, a place whose strange properties no one could explain. This part was confusing, yet also exciting.

But another emotion had also taken root in his heart today, one that had flashed through him—an emotion he felt he shouldn’t have.

As Liko and Pita bickered, Igor sighed quietly. To become an Adventurer, I shouldn’t feel things like that.

That feeling was a fleeting sense of fear.

When Musa had fallen, Igor had wanted to check on his condition. He had leaned closer, about to speak, when his eyes were suddenly drawn to a low bush beside Musa.

In that bush, a large blue eye stared back at them, unblinking, emitting a faint, ominous glow.

That eye looked like it belonged to a wild beast... no, something far more ferocious, more terrifying than any beast...

That single eye had filled Igor with a flash of terror, so potent that he had instinctively jumped back.

Just as Igor was replaying that sliver of fear in his mind, a familiar voice suddenly echoed from deeper within the cave.

”Oh, wow! That roasted pheasant smells incredible! It’s making this old man’s mouth water!”