We had been travelling for a couple of days already since we had left the manor. Now we have arrived in front of a huge mountain with a cave entrance above the ground.
Though we did not encounter any danger. Every night, I could feel my sanity and mentality crumbling. This is not healthy for a four-year-old mind. What's worse is that we still have to return, repeating the same night events. I promise, the next time, I will be more prepared.
Back to the cave, just seeing or even being near it is already letting my immature senses send me danger signals to my entire brain, warning me that this place is too dangerous or there is something terrifying inside.
The reason for this expedition is to find the important ingredients, or the necessary ingredients, for a growth elixir that I am planning to make. How do I know that the ingredients that I am looking for are in the cave? It was very simple.
Greed, is this the place?
"Yes... But I must warn you, my lord. This place has all the ingredients that you seek or need. Though the price is—" Greed warned with a tone that sounded both cautious and excited.
A risk of death... Huh... I guess I got bad luck this time...
One of Greed's Authority's abilities, Predatory Greed Seeker, is a useless combat skill, but a useful exploration skill if you have something that you wish to seek.
For example, if you wish to seek a treasure, it will guide you to the treasure that you wish to seek, as long as you have a vision of the treasure that you wish to seek. If you have a bounty that you wish to find, it will also guide you.
The consequences? It would either guide you to a peaceful area or a dangerous area. It is either high-risk and high-reward or low-risk and high-reward or high-risk and low-reward or low-risk and low-reward. Which is literally gambling with your time, luck, life and fate.
This time, I could see it as either high-risk and low-reward or high-risk and high-reward.
"Don't worry, my lord. This is definitely a high-risk and high-reward," Greed declared slyly.
I have trouble trusting you, especially given the many times I have used that ability.
Just like how an immature four-year-old mind can sense a terrifying presence from this cave, Yukino and Aurelia could also feel the terrifying presence in the cave of the mountain. Even the wolf pup, Dawn, that has been with us, is wary of the cave in front of us.
"Young... master... is... this... the... place?" Yukino asked, her voice trembling as fear shook her entire body, and caution was shown on her expression.
Aurelia was also shaking in fear. Especially the wolf pup, Dawn, was shaking in fear, as they could feel a terrifying presence residing in the cave of the mountain.
I nodded my head without speaking a word, as my body was also shivering with fear. Everyone was afraid, afraid of the terrifying presence inside the cave. Everyone did not move, as they were all frozen in fear.
Soon, I stepped forward, and as I took one step, my body was screaming even more as it became even more frightened. I did not care about the screams or the fear it sent towards my brain. All I did was take one step at a time, walking towards the cave.
Yukino and Aurelia, who were watching me take one step at a time, also took their steps forward, following behind me. The wolf pup, Dawn, also followed, though it was following behind the two.
Once I had reached the entrance of the cave, I steadied my breath, as my body was shaking from the terrifying presence in the cave. The others did the same as me as well.
The wolf pup, Dawn, whimpered cutely, probably to convey that it is also being brave. Aurelia, who saw it, patted it gently and focused on the darkness in the cave.
Pride, if you may.
"Activating Authority," Pride said firmly.
[Pride's Authority: Indomitable Pride]
I could feel the fear that I had in my mind slowly being empowered by my own pride to not back down from a challenge, but it was not enough to empower the fear itself. It could only suppress it. Then I calmly walked towards the cave with a cold look, making me look like I was confronting a monster that did not know its place, but in the end, it was me who did not know my own place. Though as much as I was giving a brave front, my entire body was still shaking.
"It is understandable. You have not awakened the first stage of your mind realm yet, and also, your body relation isn't your original life, so without awakening the mind realm, you are simply just a nobody who has not achieved anything yet, nor any past achievement or history that you have gone through in your previous life without its link. So you do not have any achievements or anything that you have acquired to be able to boost your pride," Pride warned firmly.
Yukino and Aurelia, who saw me, walked towards the cave with no fear, as if I were simply either brave or arrogant to not be aware of the danger. Panicking, they quickly followed after me, and so did the wolf pup, Dawn.
The cave was very dark. I had to extend both of my arms and try to reach the sides of the cave walls. As I did, I managed to grab a proper feeling of my sense of direction and calmly followed the path, feeling the side of the wall, which guided me to the other side of the cave. Though each time I walked forward, the fear that I had merely suppressed was slowly overpowering my feeble pride.
Yukino and Aurelia wanted to do the same, but the wolf pup, Dawn, moved ahead of them, emitting a small glow of light and heat like the sun. Its head was close to the ground, with its nose sniffing for a scent that it could follow. It was following my scent, so Yukino and Aurelia calmly and slowly walked behind the wolf pup, Dawn, as it served as a guide. The three of them were scared, but they still took a step forward, following behind me.
As I slowly navigated my path, I saw a blinding light in front of me, hinting to me that it was the other side of the cave. I calmly and slowly walked towards it, not wanting to rush, as I did not know what lay behind there. All I know is that whatever is there is a powerful being that can send all of us into a frightened state, and not only that, my body was already shaking even more as I got even nearer.
Soon, I reached the end of the dark entrance of the cave, and then my eyes widened in amazement. The sight I was seeing was a huge space with a huge hole as its ceiling, letting the sun shine through, with many plants that had certain effects in the huge space on rich soils. It was like a treasure trove cave.
Yukino, Aurelia and the wolf pup, Dawn, that were behind me also soon reached the end of the dark entrance of the cave and had their eyes widened in amazement – well, not the wolf pup, Dawn, though I doubt their reason for being amazed is the same as mine and more about admiring the beautiful and colourful plants in the huge space that resembles a beautiful garden than a treasure trove with sunlight shining the cave with its brillance light and warmth.
Though sadly, most of the plants are just colourful flowers that grow in this huge cave, leaving some of the plants here just rare herbs that contain medical properties, but that did not mean they were useless as well.
Though sadly, I doubt I would even need them for any of their medical properties. After all, I have Sloth's Authority to compete against any needs for medical properties that could heal or help my body. But that could not be said, that I do not need them.
After all, although the medical herbs would not benefit me, they will benefit my future allies. Like my two knightesses, Lourel and Aurelia, right now. There is also a possibility that I may gain more allies in the future, which makes the plants with medical properties even more important. I could also make potions and probably have someone to go to town to sell them as well, though it would be nice if I had someone who knows how to sell them, though.
Though, despite seeing such a treasure trove in front of my eyes, I calmly looked around, especially at the centre of the huge space.
The centre of the huge space was a huge patch of land that was surrounded by a huge lake, showing an even rarer kind of plant growing healthily. Seeing them almost makes me want to drool, as I know their effects.
As much as I would love to rush over to obtain them, there was a creature in the centre of that huge patch of land. To be precise, a huge creature slumbering on it.
The huge creature resembled a bear, with features and a shape that were unmistakably bear-like. Its body was covered in thick rocks that looked like armour that would protect its body. It was also adorned with many embedded gems, though if one looked carefully, those were mana crystals. The creature had numerous scratches, indicating a long and difficult life that it had lived. Both its armour and body were marked by many scars, evidence of its harsh experiences over the years. Notably, a large scar ran across its right eye.
The bear-like creature also has brown fur, so I could guess that if one were to look at it from afar, it would look like it would blend with the trees in the forest, allowing it to rush towards its prey easily, but this one is way too big, so instead of rushing towards the prey easily, it is going to make the trees falls and make so much sound that hunters or anyone who heard it would run away as fast as their life is counting on them to escape, or they would be squashed.
Although it was slumbering, with every breath that it breathed out, I could feel faint traces of aura in the air flowing towards us. Even from such a far distance away, everyone could estimate how strong the creature at the centre of the land was, considering that we could feel the presence of its aura from a far distance.
We all understood one thing. The creature is an aura user. Looking at its appearance and features, I could probably guess its species. It was an Ursus Terranus, a bear that has the features of the creature that we are looking at right now. The size of a regular Ursus Terranus is usually between four to five meters. Though unlike regular Ursus Terranus, this one is bigger than average, like, way bigger than the one I read in the book. Which makes me question how it got inside here? Like this one, the sizing was like twenty meters.
Since it resembles a bear, I should probably not underestimate it, as bears are quite intelligent creatures. Especially this bear. Monsters usually do not awaken easily, so seeing an awakened monster would be rare. As they are blessed with mana, I know that they would usually have formidable strength, unlike the regular bears in my home world.
However, considering it has an aura, it must be either very intelligent or have been taught by its own parent, which managed to awaken it, or... when it learnt from humans or other species it encountered due to hunting or a chance encounter.
Though as much as I would wish not to go near it, there was a tree with huge fruits hanging from each of its branches. It was the fruits that I had been looking for, Nectarbind Fruit.
The Nectarbind fruit had a shell as its exterior, and its colour is amber-like, protecting the true worth inside. It is also like a coconut, having flesh inside the shell, though unlike a coconut, its flesh is not for germinating its seedling, and its flesh is much thicker. Its flesh is meant to cushion the true Nectarbind fruit inside.
From what I read, the inside of the Nectarbind fruit is like a cluster of banana-shaped flesh inside, but the flesh colour is a golden amber-like colour, like honey, which is actually what it looks like inside. So you could imagine that it is a cluster of banana-shaped honey flesh.
Though as much as I would like to grab one of them, it would be impossible. So I try to suppress my greed, as the herbs that are in the outer area are good enough to make a lower-quality growth serum that I would need.
So I turned to look at Yukino and Aurelia and told them the ingredients that I would need. Although they suggested that it is very risky, I reassure them that it would be fine, although its presence still makes our body shiver with fear, like all creatures, it is slumbering.
"But, young master, what if that monster wakes up?" Yukino asked, her voice trembling with worry and fear.
"Miss Yukino is correct, young master, it is very risky", Aurelia answered, her voice also trembling with worry and fear.
"It will be fine... right now it is slumbering, as long as we are careful, we will not wake it up", I reassured them calmly as I took out metal vials from the bag that Aurelia is helping me carry. I distribute more metal vials to Yukino, as she has pouches to carry them, and I did not need to pass the metal vials to Aurelia, as she is carrying the bag. As for me, I took out a small bag with a few metal vials inside.
Then I took out the botany book that I brought with me, and told them the types of plant seeds that I need by showing them the picture that was drawn in the botany book.
Yukino read and tried to understand for a while and nodded her head. Aurelia had trouble understanding, but after a while, she nodded her head as she understood what she needed to collect. The wolf pup, Dawn, we ordered it to stay near the cave as it could not help at all, and I doubt it would be useful in this situation.
Soon, we slowly separate and do the tasks I have given. Yukino went to the left side, Aurelia went to the right side, while I went to the centre side.
Yo, Greed, could I use Insatiable Greed in my current state?
"Should be able to, just that the limit is 5 kilograms in your current state", Greed answered firmly.
That is good enough.
I slowly walked to the herbs I needed and tried to harvest their seeds calmly and slowly. I filled each of the metal vials that I had with the seeds of the herbs that I harvested.
As all of us were harvesting and collecting the seeds of the herbs, we all heard a loud sound, and by all of our instincts, we lowered our position to the ground, hiding among the plants and watched where the sound was coming from.
The Ursus Terranus, which was slumbering, slowly turned around its body as it adjusted its sleeping posture, with its front body facing up to the sky, and it lay its head comfortably as it extended its limbs outward.
Some of the plants that were in its direction were flattened by its huge size and weight. Luckily, there were no plants that I needed there, which were flattened as they were just flowers with more vibrant colours.
Though I could feel the ground shake when it turned around. I am starting a question. How heavy is that bear? And I do not want to know, as I am afraid that it may cost my life.
Once it stopped turning around and continued slumbering, I slowly continued my work, and I could also see that Aurelia and Yukino had a tense expression as they also continued slowly and calmly collecting the seeds.
After a while, I head back to the cave entrance at a slow pace, filling all the metal vials with the seeds I need in the area that I went.
Then, a long while later, Aurelia and Yukino returned together. The reason why they took quite a long time was that the area they went, had more of the herbs I needed as well, and they had to go to the far end of the other side of the cave. There was also the stupid bear turning around, adjusting its sleeping posture, making the situation even more tense.
Once we all met up in the cave entrance, we all put the metal vials inside the big bag that Aurelia was carrying. Feeling that the expedition was a success, I glance at the Nectarbind fruit.
I clenched my fists. I know that I should not risk it, but... I slowly walked out of the cave entrance and walked towards the huge lake.
Yukino, who saw what I was doing, quickly grabbed my wrist. Preventing me from walking towards the huge lake and making me look at her.
"Young master, what were you going to do?" Yukino asked softly with a shocked expression.
"Aunt Yukino, you need to let me go. I have to acquire that fruit," I replied softly.
"Young master, it is too dangerous, we should head back right away", Yukino replied softly, but her eyes contained a trace of anger when she realised what I was going to do when I replied to her.
Her grip strength in holding my wrist was firm enough that I knew that if I tried to resist, I would not be able to due to the strength difference.
"You are right, I acted too rashly. I am sorry, let's head back," I said calmly with a gentle smile.
Yukino, who was observing my facial expression, wondered if I was lying, but she found that I was telling the truth. So she nodded her head calmly and calmly pulled me as everyone went through the dark cave entrance, with our guide, the wolf pup, Dawn, guiding the direction back with its fur emitting a soft glow of light and heat.
"Aunt Yukino, could you let go of my wrist? It's kind of hard to walk, and it's quite painful," I complained softly.
"I will have to refuse, I am afraid that if I let go, you may rush back", Yukino replied calmly and coldly, as it feels like her voice was quite cold.
Hearing her response, I did not ask anymore. As we walked, I tripped, letting Yukino, who was holding onto my wrist, feel the sudden stop when she was holding onto my wrist and also because sound of me tripping resounded softly in the cave, letting everyone know the situation.
Aurelia, along with the wolf pup, Dawn, halted their movement and turned around to my area. Concerned, Yukino let go of my wrist and turned around, and Aurelia and the wolf pup moved towards me too.
"Young master, are you alright?" Yukino asked calmly, a trace of worry could be felt in her voice.
"I am alright, it was just hard to catch up, that is all", I replied calmly, as I slowly stood up.
"I see. I will not hold onto your wrist anymore. I am sorry for this," Yukino apologised sadly.
"It is fine..." I replied calmly.
After that, we continued walking out of the cave tunnel, but this time, Yukino was no longer holding onto my wrist. Although she occasionally glanced back to see if I was following, I was indeed trailing behind her. After a few more looks to check on my progress, she seemed reassured that I wouldn't rush back, and then she stopped looking back at me.
Soon, everyone saw the end of the cave tunnel as they walked. The first to go out was the wolf pup, Dawn, followed by Aurelia, then Yukino.
As they went out, they squinted their eyes for a while, trying to adjust to the sunlight outside, since they had just come out of the cave.
After adjusting, they turned to look at each other, but felt something was off. Yukino did a headcount, thinking maybe she was hallucinating, there was Aurelia, the wolf pup, Dawn, and her... There were only three of them. Yukino turned to the cave.
"Young master, Ragnar. Please come out of the cave," Yukino ordered firmly, trying to believe that Ragnar was just playing a trick for not getting what he wanted.
Hearing no response, Aurelia and Yukino felt unease. Yukino repeated her words again and again, probably thinking I was actually playing a trick, but there was no response.
Yukino and Aurelia looked at each other for a while, then they both suddenly rushed back towards the cave, with Aurelia dropping the big bag onto the ground. The wolf pup, Dawn, followed after both of them. The two of them felt panicked and prayed that the thoughts they were having weren't true.
They do not know how long they have run through the cave tunnel. Soon, they saw the light of the other side of the cave. When they reached the end, what they saw was a boy who was swimming in a giant lake to reach the huge patch of land in the centre of the entire cave with a huge creature slumbering on it.