Later, after the two had rested.
The light inside the cave slowly awoke... Yesterday's torch, left by Ryo, had faded, but a faint glow remained on the edges of the walls as if clinging to life.
Ryo was the first to open his eyes, adjusting his bandage and inspecting his wounds, while shimoro was still half-asleep, hugging his bag as if it were a pillow.
Ryo got up and stretched a little, then said in a low voice:
"Alright... Today we look for metal ores. And if we don't find any... we dig until we do."
shimoro immediately flinched, even though he wasn't fully awake:
"You didn't say... dig... you said try..."
Then he turned to the other side, attempting to go back to sleep.
Ryo chuckled lightly.
"Get up, you lazy ice-wielder... before I send you off to train with the monsters again."
shimoro jumped up immediately:
"I'm awake! Awake!"
Though his hair was messy to the point where he looked like a wet hedgehog.
Ryo laughed and said to him while standing confidently:
"And then, you lazy one, you will delve inside."
shimoro got up and stood beside Ryo, running his hand down his hair to restore its natural look.
They then took the small torch Ryo had lit from a remaining spark and began advancing deeper into the cave.
The walls were narrow, the floor uneven, and the air was damp.
But the further they progressed, varied pieces of stone appeared in the walls... some dark, some slightly silver.
shimoro pointed excitedly:
"Are these minerals? These? These?"
He didn't wait for an answer; he immediately touched the wall.
But with the first touch, a small rock crumbled onto his head.
"Ouch!"
He raised his hand over his head with childish anger:
"This place hates me..."
Ryo replied, examining another wall with a very calm tone:
"Not the place... you are just bad at choosing the right rock."
Then he approached a large rock and lifted it easily with one hand.
He looked underneath... nothing.
Just dirt.
Ryo shook his head in complete disappointment, then... he threw it carelessly.
Boom!
Something hit shimoro's head again.
"Oww—Ryo, you idiot!!!"
Ryo turned around with a completely innocent expression while laughing:
"Oh... you were here? I thought you were behind me."
Then he added as if giving precious advice:
"Don't stand behind the rocks I lift."
shimoro responded with childish impulsiveness and anger:
"I'm not standing behind them... you are throwing everything at me!!"
Ryo gave a short, guiltless laugh.
After a few more steps, Ryo suddenly stopped, placing his hand on a dark wall that leaned towards blue.
"Here."
shimoro approached, staring intently at the surface.
There were thin silver lines resembling threads extending inside the rock.
"Is this... metal?"
"Yes. And the kind that is carvable... but it's a bit hard."
Then Ryo punched the rock with his fist.
A resounding sound echoed throughout the cave.
shimoro flinched:
"Ryo... if the cave collapses, I'll kill—I mean, I'll try to stop you!"
"It won't collapse," Ryo said confidently,
"These rocks are old and solid."
He punched the rock another powerful blow, scattering parts of it, and a small metal piece fell to his feet.
Ryo smiled as he picked it up and threw it to shimoro.
"Try it. This is your first metal."
shimoro caught the piece, barely containing his excitement.
It was heavy, cold, and had a dull sheen.
"I can... carve a small dagger from this."
Ryo:
"Start with something simple. Then we move up... until you make my sword that I will fight the Red Scale Fish with."
shimoro's enthusiasm surged.
"Okay! I will make something amazing!"
Then he looked around to start working, but...
"Ryo... where do I sit? The whole place is full of rocks..."
Ryo picked up a rock from the ground, looked underneath, nothing.
He shrugged, then threw it behind him.
Boom!
It landed on shimoro's head for the third time.
"Ryyyooooooo!!!!, you idiot!"
Ryo answered with absolute confidence, but he meant it:
"You are just in the wrong place... at the wrong time... three times."
The two finally sat near the cave entrance, the torch between them.
shimoro began making his first real piece of metal,
and Ryo sat watching silently, smiling to himself,
as if he saw a future slowly taking shape.
"Go on... make your first real weapon, you foolish Ice Boy."
And so... their first day in the cave began before facing the Sea of Fireflies.
The morning inside the cave was strangely cold, and the light entering from the narrow opening at the entrance drew a silver thread over the floor, like a natural lamp specially prepared for work.
shimoro sat on a smooth rock, the metal piece Ryo found yesterday placed before him.
It was slightly shiny, heavy, and had extending lines.
He took a long inhale, then began moving the ice between his hands.
He said to himself quietly:
"First step... fixing the shape."
Ice began accumulating around the metal, shaping it, defining its edges, creating a cavity that would help him grip it without slipping.
And in that moment...
A sound came from behind him.
Crunch... Crunch... Crunch...
shimoro turned to see Ryo standing on the other side of the cave...
He put his hands on his hips, took a deep breath... then—
He started doing squats.
Calmly.
With discipline.
In succession.
One... two... ten... twenty...
Each one showed that his muscles were still strained and injured, but he didn't stop.
shimoro raised his eyebrow with clear concern:
"Ryo... you... you are still injured... why are you training now? You'll exhaust yourself and reopen your wounds, you idiot!"
Ryo continued the squats without even looking at him.
Then he said with absolute boldness:
"Do you want me to be just scum who sits and watches you work?
I am building my body... and you are making your weapon.
Both of us are working... there is no room for laziness on the journey to the Sea of Fireflies."
shimoro felt a strange feeling... a mixture of admiration and worry.
Then he smiled a small, faint, but genuine smile.
"...Okay. But don't overdo it."
Ryo immediately transitioned to push-ups.
Every push-up caused him slight pain in his injured shoulder, but he ignored it.
"I won't stop. Not now."
shimoro raised his head from his work and said in a tone with a little childish stubbornness:
"Don't you dare collapse before I finish the dagger."
Ryo smiled despite the pain:
"I won't collapse... before you at least make something that works."
shimoro returned to work.
Ice around the metal... slight heat from the friction of his hands...
He was practicing what his grandmother had taught him at the age of 13 as a hobby.
Tap...
Carve...
Rub...
And Freeze...
The sound resembled a blacksmith's hammering... but in a quiet, icy style.
While from afar:
Hush... Hush... Hush...
The sound of Ryo's breathing as he performed the Plank exercise until his body shook.
shimoro suddenly shouted:
"Ryyoo! How long will you stay like that?!"
He replied in a voice strained from exertion:
"Until...
You stop your right hand from trembling."
shimoro looked at his hand... it was indeed trembling from excessive concentration.
He smiled:
"You're watching me?"
"I'm not blind, you foolish ice boy."
After about an hour...
shimoro lifted the small metal piece.
It wasn't a complete dagger, but its shape was clearly beginning to emerge:
A preliminary blade, a small grip, sharp edges needing refinement.
shimoro looked at it with obvious childish pride:
"There... This is just the beginning. I'll make it better tomorrow."
Ryo stood up tiredly, wiping the sweat from his forehead:
"That's good...
At least you didn't make a shovel."
shimoro huffed with slight anger:
"I'll make you eat your words when I finish the sword!"
Ryo sat near the small torch, breathing deeply:
"If you do... maybe I'll stop calling you a coward."
shimoro froze for a moment, then said sharply:
"I am not a coward!"
"Then prove it..."
Ryo said with a calm smile.
"Make the sword."
shimoro sat down again in front of his work, and a spark of excitement lit up in his eyes.
At the end of the day...
The two sat in front of a small fire Ryo had lit from leftover wood.
The air was cold, but the light was warm.
shimoro looked at the metal piece he had finished carving, a simple dagger, but a dagger nonetheless.
Ryo looked at his injured muscles, which were beginning to regain their vigor.
Then Ryo said:
"Tomorrow... we start the big step."
shimoro turned:
"Making the sword?"
Ryo nodded:
"And we'll also start preparing... for our journey to the Sea of Fireflies."
shimoro's eyes flickered with a faint shine of worry and excitement at the same time.
"...I'm ready."
Ryo smiled confidently:
"Then let's make our future... with our own hands."
To be continued...