Jasper advanced carefully inside the cave passage. He could only see a few meters ahead with the light the lantern provided. If any dangerous predator lived deeper inside the cave, it could easily maul him before he had time to react. If that happened, he would have to fight with his bare hands.
Once he earned enough money, he needed to buy a weapon. In the future he might have to take dangerous jobs like this, and without a proper weapon he would struggle.
The passage looked clean. He didn't see anything that suggested something was living inside the cave.
After walking for about five minutes, the passage began sloping downward. As he followed the slope, Jasper eventually noticed a dead end ahead. Moving quickly, he soon stood in front of a large stone structure that looked like a door.
Do I need to open the door? Could a dangerous predator be waiting behind it? His thoughts raced.
But it didn't matter. He had to finish the job. Otherwise he would remain stuck in this village.
With a determined mind, he placed the lantern aside and prepared to push the door open, ready to fight if any monster attacked him.
Jasper placed both hands on the stone door and leaned forward. Using all his strength, he pushed.
With the grinding sound of stone scraping against stone, the door moved inch by inch. With a loud grunt, he pushed again with all his strength.
Rrrrumble!
With a long, harsh friction of rock grinding against rock, the stone door slowly swung open to the right, leaving a gap large enough for an adult to enter.
Jasper instinctively jerked backward. He quickly grabbed the lantern and checked whether anything was coming out of the room.
However, after waiting for a moment, nothing happened.
But he noticed a faint glow shining through the gap in the stone door.
"Does someone live inside that room?" Jasper muttered.
He quickly dismissed that thought. When he looked more carefully, he realized the glow was golden.
Curious, Jasper decided to enter and see it for himself. His curiosity quickly overwhelmed the cautious thoughts of potential danger.
Jasper squeezed through the narrow opening in the door. When his eyes fell upon what was inside the room, he froze in shock.
A strangely familiar feeling washed over him.
He had seen something like this yesterday on Obsidian Rock Mountain.
Glowing veins.
The entire room was filled with glowing veins similar to the ones he had seen inside the abandoned cave. All of them extended outward from a central stone wall.
There, embedded in the wall, he saw something similar to the Blue Stone.
But this one was golden.
From the golden stone, glowing veins spread across the entire room.
"Is it similar to the Blue Stone?" Jasper murmured as curiosity surged within him.
He slowly walked toward the stone. Fortunately, there were no predators inside the room.
Soon he reached the wall where the stone was embedded, glowing brightly.
After examining it for a moment, Jasper decided to remove the stone from the wall. But before he punched the stone, he suddenly remembered Barry's instructions.
Whatever is inside the hole—once you take it, the fish will come out of the inner lake.
"Does that mean the fish is protecting this stone?" Jasper wondered.
However, he couldn't see any reason why the fish would benefit from it. He also couldn't find any visible path connecting this cave to the inner lake.
Jasper stopped himself from taking the stone immediately.
If this stone is the same as the Blue Stone, will it give me some kind of magic power after obtaining it?
The thought made a smile spread across his face. He wondered what kind of strength this golden stone might grant him.
Suddenly another thought appeared in his mind.
How has no one found this place until I came and opened the door? Could this be some kind of illusion created by whatever triggers the Giant Orange Snakehead to appear?
Are these kinds of stones common in this world?
He wondered about that because he had found one yesterday, and now he had discovered another.
The situation left him confused.
Jasper took a few steps backward.
What were the chances of seeing something like this two days in a row? If this thing were real, why had no one discovered it before?
He couldn't understand it.
But if the golden glowing stone was similar to the Blue Stone, he would take it without hesitation.
He stepped forward again toward the wall.
Whatever the reason, he could not leave the stone behind. First, because it might give him power. Second, because he needed to retrieve it in order to lure the fish out.
That was important because he needed money to survive.
Boom!
Crumble!
With that thought, Jasper punched the stone wall around the golden stone four times. On the fourth strike, the rock surrounding it loosened.
Gulp.
Jasper swallowed nervously as his heart began pounding with excitement.
He slowly extended his right hand, grabbed the golden stone, and pulled it free from the wall.
It came out easily.
He held it in his palm, brushing away the loose fragments of rock and dust. It looked exactly like the Blue Stone in shape and size, except for its golden color.
Once he cleaned the stone, he brought it closer to his face.
Just like when he found the Blue Stone, text suddenly appeared in front of his eyes.
Name: Anchor Stone (Bind)
Grade: ???
Origin: ???
Description: ???
"Anchor Stone…" Jasper read the name and noticed the word Bind beside it.
He had seen similar details on the Blue Stone.
"What was that name again?" Jasper tried to remember what he had read yesterday, but he couldn't recall it clearly.
"What does Anchor Stone mean?" Jasper wondered, trying to understand something from the name. But nothing came to mind.
He remembered that the Blue Stone had disappeared when he accidentally said the word Bind.
"Should I do the same with this one? Or should I bring it outside and show it to Barry?" Jasper stood there in dilemma.
If he brought it to Barry, Barry would definitely demand a share of the profit.
Although Jasper felt somewhat guilty about betraying the man who had discovered this place, he was neither wealthy nor powerful enough to generously share something that might give him the strength to protect himself and his family.
In the end, he decided to keep the stone for himself.
With that decision made, he spoke the word that would bind the stone to his body.
"Bind."