Gléonwon led us around the mountain's side.
"Here," he said, gesturing toward a cave entrance that was much larger than I'd expected—easily wide enough for him to walk through without ducking.
The entrance itself looked unremarkable.
"The crystals start about fifty meters in," Gléonwon explained. "At first there are only small ones, but deeper inside they get much bigger. Some are taller than you!"
The temperature dropped as we entered. The cave smelled earthy, of what I assumed was minerals and damp stone.
Penguin jumped out of my pocket and turned into a fire fox, to light up the way and project some warmth.
"How deep have you explored?" Llewellyn asked, his voice echoing slightly off the walls.
"Maybe... eight hundred meters? But there are many branching paths. I haven't explored them all yet. The System gives me more Coins for crystals from deeper sections."
That was interesting. Why would the System reward him for exploring deeper into caves? What did it need all these crystals for? It didn't make any sense.
Suddenly, Llewellyn stopped.
"What?" I said.
He took out his phone and pointed the torchlight toward a wall. Then, he went closer to check.
"Runes," he said, sounding stunned.
Uh?
"Magical?" I asked.
He extended a hand and let it hover over the symbols.
"Yeah," he said. "Very old."
So, pre-System.
What was going on?
"System?" I asked. "Do you know anything about this?"
There was a pause. Then:
[System Notification: No details found.]
"…"
Llewellyn and I stared at each other.
What the hell?
The last few weeks had felt like it didn't matter how much I found out about the world; that knowledge just kept changing.
"Have you seen more of these?" I asked Gléonwon.
"I don't know," he said. "I wasn't paying attention."
Mmh.
I took out my phone too and took a picture.
We followed Gléonwon around another bend in the tunnel, and… suddenly we could see them.
The cave walls were studded with crystals of every size imaginable, from tiny clusters to formations that stretched from floor to ceiling. They caught what little light filtered in from the entrance and amplified it, creating a glow that lit up the whole cave.
I stared in shock.
Penguin made an awed sound from my shoulder, too.
At the far end of this cave, various paths wound down the mountain, looking like they went in different directions.
"Isn't it great?" Gléonwon said, tail swishing. "So many!"
It was indeed great.
"When did you start collecting these?" I asked Gléonwon, watching him navigate between crystal formations with surprising grace for something his size.
"Yesterday afternoon. The System gives me ten Coins for regular ones, but the special colors are worth more." He pointed with his tail toward a cluster of pale pink crystals. "Those are fifty each."
Llewellyn was already examining another section of wall, his phone light sweeping across the stone. "There's another rune here," he said. "It's different from the other, but its magical signature is similar."
I walked over to look. This symbol was smaller, but more intricate.
"System," I asked. "Can you at least tell us if these runes are dangerous?"
The System chimed.
[System Notification: Magical signature detected. Threat level: Minimal.]
Well, that was something at least.
"Can you tell what they're for?"
There was a pause.
[Negative.]
I frowned.
Suddenly, Penguin chirped and turned into a sugar glider, running up my arm and launching himself from my shoulder.
He glided toward a particularly bright cluster of crystals near one of the branching paths, landed, and immediately started pawing at something.
"Huh? What'd you find?" I asked, heading over.
Penguin chittered.
It wasn't a crystal. It was a small brass plate, partially hidden behind a crystal growth.
There were symbols on it, but these looked different from the runes. More recent, maybe? I was sure I'd seen them before, but… where?
"Llewellyn."
Llewellyn joined me, his fingers tracing above the plate without touching it.
"This isn't ancient," he said. "Maybe... fifty years old? Sixty?"
Exactly what I thought.
"Doesn't it look familiar to you?"
Llewellyn frowned. "Now that you mention it— But I can't place it."
Yeah, same. This was annoying.
I took another picture.
Gléonwon's head appeared over our shoulders.
"Oh! I saw more of those deeper in. I thought they were just old human trash."
Huh? I looked up at him.
"Can you show us?" I asked.
"Yes, follow me. I think I remember the location of at least another one."
Penguin turned back into a fire fox and we followed Gléonwon deeper into the cave system. The temperature kept dropping as we walked, but the crystal formations grew larger and more elaborate.
About a hundred meters in, Gléonwon stopped at another junction.
He was right, there was another brass plate here, and it had the same symbols.
Llewellyn studied it for a moment and took a picture too.
We eyed the rest of the tunnel, which wound downward.
"We should go back," I said, suddenly feeling uneasy. "We don't have the gear for cave exploration."
"That's true," Llewellyn said. "But—" His hand hovered over the brass plate. "I think this is what's making you say that."
I frowned. "What do you mean?"
Llewellyn pondered for a moment.
"System," he asked. "Is there some kind of repelling magic on this?"
A beat.
[System Notification: The System is not authorized to disclose that information.]
Huh? That was weird.
"Isn't that as good as admitting that there's something going on with it?"
[System Notification: The System is not authorized to disclose that information.]
"Can you tell us anything about the inscription at all?"
[System Notification: The System is not authorized to disclose that information.]
Llewellyn and I looked at each other.
I stared down at the tunnel.
"You can explore it easily, right?" I asked Gléonwon. "It doesn't bother you?"
"Nothing bothers me here," Gléonwon said, swishing his tail. "It feels very good."
Mmh. Well, that was good at least.
"We'll leave it to you then," Llewellyn said. "At least for now. Can you take note of anything weird?"
Gléonwon's tail swished faster.
"Yes!" he said. "If I find anything I will let you know."
***
We made our way back toward the cave entrance. Gléonwon followed us outside, where the sunset had started casting long shadows across the mountain.
"We should head back," I said, checking my phone. I didn't want to risk skipping the Core Partition today. I had so much to look up I didn't even know where to start, and only an hour to do so.
"You're leaving already?" Gléonwon's tail drooped slightly.
"We'll visit again soon," I promised. "Maybe in a few days?"
"Tomorrow?" Gléonwon countered hopefully.
I glanced at Llewellyn.
"We'll see what we can do," he said. "We don't want to promise we'll come if we can't make it."
"We'll bring food next time," I promised.
Gléonwon perked up immediately. "Food? What kind?"
"What would you like?"
"Meat. Big meat."
Well. That wasn't really a surprise.
"We can do that," I said.
Penguin, who'd climbed back into my pocket as soon as we'd left the cave, chirped in agreement, too.
"We'll bring you something good," I said. Though, now that I thought about it— "Do you like your meat cooked? Or raw?"
"I roast food myself," Gléonwon said, tail swishing. "With my fire. But I don't mind if it's already cooked."
Mmh. "Okay. We'll do our best."
Gléonwon sat on his paws, clearly vibrating with excitement at the thought of meat. I couldn't help but grin.
"I'll collect more crystals," he said. "Maybe explore deeper into the caves. I'll remember everything unusual, I promise."
Ah, he was adorable!
Still, I felt a bit bad about how he seemed to have been put to work, first by the System and now… by us.
I tapped his side gently.
"Hey," I said. "Don't overwork yourself. Only do what you want to do."
Gléonwon looked down at me.
"But I want to get crystals," he said. "And Coins. Lots of Coins."
Well, that was good then.
"Just saying," I said. "If you get tired, enjoy the ones you already have."
Gléonwon looked at me dubiously but nodded.
That was that for today, it seemed.
We said our goodbyes, but instead of teleporting off, Llewellyn just started walking down the mountain.
I frowned but followed him.
It was still very cold here—what was he doing?
"Shall we teleport together?" Llewellyn asked after a moment.
Uh… That's what I had assumed we'd do? Though now that he said it… teleport where?
"I still need to do my daily hour," I said.
Llewellyn nodded. Then, after a moment, he said, "After?"
Um.
"After what?"
He eyed me and looked away.
"We could have dinner," he said. "If you like."
His ears had gone red.
Oh.
Um.
We ate together all the time. Why was he embarrassed? Hadn't we had lunch together recently? In fact, maybe it was happening a bit too much?
The thing was…
I really wanted to.
"Um, yes," I said. "I'll text you after?"
Llewellyn eyed me and, for some reason, swallowed.
"Later then," he said, nodding, his ears even redder.
Then he teleported away.
"..."
Uh. What the hell was that?
And why was my face hot?!
I looked down at Penguin, who was peering up at me from my pocket.
"What am I doing?" I asked.
Penguin chirped.