After the battle, Carl led their group across the bridge, leaving the vast forest behind. After a few minutes of travel, they emerged at the heart of Caroline Mountain.
Here, a large lake stretched out, and on either side of it stood two massive castles.
"Oh?! A castle! A huge castle!" Carl shouted excitedly.
He eagerly headed toward the castle on the left side of the lake. As he approached, he was overwhelmed by its size, taking a few minutes to explore and look at the entire area before finally entering inside.
"Oh! Some of the furniture still looks intact. I just need to find rooms for the four of them," Carl muttered to himself.
Carl began searching the enormous castle for rooms. Once he found them, he placed each of his companions in separate rooms and attended to their wounds.
As nightfall approached, Carl started preparing everything he would need for the evening. He sealed the door to keep anyone from entering and wandered around to see if there was anything useful left in the castle.
Finding nothing, he climbed out of a window with a lamp in hand, heading to check on their carriage.
"Hello, Horsey. I hope you're not scared of being alone for the night," Carl said softly to the horse.
After a brief conversation with the animal, he searched the carriage for any food, finding a small loaf of bread. Satisfied, he returned with the bread in hand.
"This should be enough for me, I guess," Carl said, hopping back through the window from which he'd exited earlier.
As he ate, Carl climbed higher up the castle. When he reached the top floor, he spotted a large open window. Approaching it, he could see the castle on the opposite side of the lake, which now appeared to be nothing more than a large rock formation shaped like a castle.
"Hm? Maybe I'll check it out tomorrow. There could be something valuable over there," he muttered to himself.
After finishing his exploration of the castle, Carl went back downstairs and settled near the door to sleep.
Morning arrived, and Carl checked on his companions in their respective rooms. They were stable, though still unconscious.
Satisfied that his friends were okay, Carl exited the castle and summoned a guardian to help him cross the lake. The guardian began swimming while Carl clung to its back.
Water beasts soon emerged, attacking Carl. He fought them off for a while, managing to defeat the creatures before continuing across the lake.
After a few more minutes, Carl reached the other side.
"Oh! Haha! I was right—it’s just a rock formation! But it doesn't seem like an ordinary one formed by nature. Hmm... this looks like it was created by earth magic," he observed, walking around the area.
As Carl explored, he realized that there was no visible entrance anywhere on the structure.
"Hm... I can feel something from these stones—a strong eternal energy leak trying to break free. Is it a person? A magic orb? A weapon?" Carl pondered, trying to determine the source of the powerful energy.
Curious, he used wind magic to lift himself, flying around the structure in search of an entrance. However, he found none.
Giving up on entering, Carl turned his attention to finding food. He began hunting for land beasts, eventually spotting one near the rock castle. After killing it, he took the meat back to the other side of the lake to roast it.
Once back, Carl searched for firewood to start a fire, lighting it with matches since he wasn’t a fire-element user and couldn’t create flames easily. He summoned the guardian once more, instructing it to watch over the roasting meat while he searched the castle for something else.
Recalling that the castle had a library, Carl climbed back to the top floors and began searching for books about the area, particularly the mysterious rock formation across the lake. He spent several minutes browsing the shelves but found nothing useful, eventually giving up and heading back downstairs.
As night fell, Carl ate outside the castle, the bonfire crackling in front of him. The area was strangely silent—no frogs or crickets, just the sound of burning wood.
The quietness frightened Carl, but he continued eating, trying to distract himself by talking to their horse, which he had named Horsey.
"Mmm! This is delicious, Horsey! If the others were awake, they'd love this too!" Carl laughed to himself.
After finishing his meal, Carl returned inside, locking all doors and windows before settling in for the night.
The next morning, Azrael was the first of the group to awaken.
"Finally, you're awake. Are you feeling any pain?" Carl asked.
"I'm okay, more or less," Azrael replied.
Carl checked on him before they both headed downstairs for breakfast. Carl reheated the meat he had gathered the previous day, and that became their meal.
Afterward, the two of them bathed in the lake. This time, there were no water beasts, allowing them to wash peacefully.
Azrael’s body still bore the marks of the injuries he had received during their battle with the cannibals. To pass the time, the two of them meditated and practiced their magic.
Azrael, realizing that his dagger hadn’t been much help in the previous battle, began practicing with it to improve his skills, hoping to use it more effectively in combat without quickly exhausting his mana.
He also noticed that he still didn’t fully understand the curse blessing of the weapon, nor did he know when he would be able to unlock its full potential. For now, he focused on channeling small amounts of mana into the dagger, determined to master it eventually.
Before nightfall, the two of them went searching for food, looking for land beasts they could hunt. After several hours, they managed to catch a few small creatures and gather some fruits as well.
As evening approached, they prepared firewood to use for cooking and as a light source. The land beasts they caught were small, making them easier to hunt and cook.
As night fell, they began roasting their catch. Like the previous nights, the area was silent, the only sound coming from the crackling firewood. To break the weird silence, they started a conversation.
“How are you feeling, Azrael? ”Carl asked.
“I’m doing okay, I guess. The wounds still hurt, but I can manage,” Azrael replied.
“That’s good. All we have to do now is wait for the others to wake up.”
“By the way, earlier I saw a huge castle across the lake. Have you thought about going there? ”Azrael asked.
“I did, but sadly, it’s not a castle like this one. It’s just a rock formation, though how it got there is still a mystery. I looked for information about it but found nothing.”
“I see,” Azrael said thoughtfully.
“But... There’s something about those rocks that I can’t explain. I can feel a strong eternal energy leaking from within them,” Carl added.
“Do you think it could be a magic orb storing immense eternal energy?”Azrael asked, intrigued.
“That’s what I think. The energy inside might be too powerful for the orb to contain any longer,” Carl responded.
“Should we check it out when the others wake up?”Azrael suggested.
“Of course! Ever since I saw it, I’ve been dying to know where that energy leak is coming from. I just hope they wake up soon,” Carl said eagerly.
The two spent the rest of the night eating the roasted land beast, and unlike the previous nights, the sky was clear, revealing a breathtaking view of shimmering stars in different colors. It was a beautiful sight.
The sky was painted with glittering stars, and they admired the night before eventually heading back inside the castle. They closed all the windows and doors and spent a little more time talking before finally going to sleep.
Morning arrived, and before the others woke up, the delicious smell of food filled the air.
“Mmm! Something smells good,” Carl murmured, still half asleep.
Azrael woke up and saw that the castle door was open. Stepping outside, he spotted Mika cooking breakfast.
“Uh, good morning? ”Azrael greeted, surprised.
“Oh! Good morning, Azrael,” Mika replied with a smile.
“Are you feeling better, Mika? ”Azrael asked as he approached.
“I’m fine now, as you can see. I’m back to cooking again,” Mika said cheerfully.
“That’s good to hear.” “Oh, by the way, Kyle and Jarred are awake too, but I told them to rest for a bit longer. I’ll wake them up once breakfast is ready,” Mika added.
“I see. By the way, where did you get the ingredients for cooking? Carl and I finished all the meat we caught last night,” Azrael said, sitting down beside her.
“I went out and caught some more,” Mika replied casually.
“H-huh?! You’re still recovering! Why did you go hunting? ”
“Don’t worry too much about me. Besides, there are plenty of edible herbs around here, so it wasn’t hard to find ingredients,” Mika reassured him.
Mika was still covered in herbs, her wounds carefully wrapped in the healing plants. She looked like a walking tree with all the herbs stuck to her, but thanks to Carl’s knowledge of herbs, he had found the right ones to help heal the group.
Azrael, too, was still wrapped in herbs, though his condition had improved significantly. Slowly but surely, the entire group was healing and recovering.
After Mika finished cooking, Azrael went inside to wake up the group. Once everyone was awake, they gathered outside for breakfast.
“Good morning! Please sit down; the food’s ready,” Mika said cheerfully.
“Oh! This looks delicious! ”Carl exclaimed, clearly excited for the meal.
The group sat together, enjoying the breakfast Mika had prepared. As they ate, their conversation turned to the strange rock formation they had seen across the lake.
“What do you think about it, Jarred? ”Carl asked.
“It’s possible that it was made intentionally,” Jarred replied thoughtfully.
“Right. It seems impossible for an eternal energy leak to occur in those rocks if they formed by chance,” Kyle added.
“In that case, we’ll head over to the other side of the lake by noon,” Mika suggested.
After some discussion, they each went off to do their own tasks. Mika returned to the castle and headed to the large library to read, while Jarred wandered around the area, admiring the beautiful scenery.
Kyle, on the other hand, began meditation with Azrael. Intrigued by what Kyle was doing, Azrael decided to join him in meditation. Meanwhile, Carl stood by the lakeshore, staring intently at the rock formation across the water.
There was something about it that he couldn’t quite explain, and today he was determined to find out what it was. Later that morning, the group made their way to the other side of the lake, where the rock formation stood. They approached it slowly, examining it closely.
As they approached the towering rock formation on the other side of the lake, its jagged spires stood in stark contrast to the surrounding landscape. The towering columns of stone resembled the remnants of an ancient structure, shaped by time and possibly magic.
It displayed an eerie, otherworldly aura, as though it held a mysterious power within—perhaps even the source of the eternal energy leak they had sensed. Its presence was both frightening and appealing, hinting at secrets long forgotten, waiting to be uncovered.
“W-wow... It’s huge, and the structure is incredible,” Kyle remarked, awe in his voice.
“Yeah, this is no ordinary formation,” Jarred agreed.
Azrael cautiously stepped forward and placed his right hand on the rock. Slowly, he ran his hand across its surface, feeling it carefully. He closed his eyes for a moment to focus, and in an instant, he felt something strange—a connection, as though something within the rocks was reaching out to him. Startled, Azrael opened his eyes and quickly pulled his hand away.
“Azrael! Are you alright? ”Mika asked with concern.
“I'm fine. But when I touched it, I felt something... like something inside was trying to connect with me,” Azrael explained, still shaken.
“Hey, what if someone’s trapped inside? What if it's an enemy? We’re still recovering from our last fight,” Carl cautioned.
“Wait a minute, didn’t you mention there was a strong eternal energy leak coming from these rocks? ”Kyle asked, turning to Carl.
“Uh… yeah? ”Carl answered, confused.
“But here’s the thing—I’m not sensing any eternal energy leak,” Kyle said, frowning.
“Now that you mention it, I haven’t felt anything either. But when Azrael touched the rock, there was a brief energy spike. It was so quick that I almost missed it,” Jarred added.
“Do you think the eternal energy transferred to Azrael? ”Mika asked, concerned.
“I don’t think so. It wasn’t trying to enter Azrael’s body... It wanted to connect with him. I think it was sending him a signal, like a call for help, trying to reach out to him,” Jarred speculated. “It’s just a theory, but... It’s not impossible.”
The group fell into deep thought, considering Jarred’s words. It made sense. At that moment, they all shared the same idea: there was someone—or something—inside the rock formation, sending out a signal, a plea for help, through the release of eternal energy, seeking to be freed.