Chapter 7: A beacon of hope.

Adam’s POV

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I managed to break my fall with a quick roll, ensuring that my legs remained undamaged. Glancing around cautiously, I confirmed the absence of any nearby monsters. "Woah... Now that's cool," I exclaimed, marveling at the unexpected beauty surrounding me. Positioned on a small cliff overlooking a pond of water, the cavern walls displayed a stunning array of hues.

The dark expanse was illuminated by small orbs of yellow and blue radiance, emitted by delicate flora clinging to the cave's edges. The sapphire glow from these blooms contributed to an otherworldly luminescence. In the heart of the darkness, luminous stones embedded in the walls cast a warm golden radiance, creating a celestial dance of light and shadow.

Stalagmites hung like stony chandeliers from the ceiling, and natural stone pillars rose from the cavern floor, adorned with ethereal strands of glowing blue algae. The cave was not just a dark void; it was a living canvas, a symphony of light and life where the ordinary transformed into the extraordinary. Unable to resist the allure, I stood next to the cliff's edge and gazed down below for a moment.

"Wow, this is beautiful. But... How the hell am I supposed to get out of here?"

"I recommend storing some water for future use," Nove quietly chimed in.

"It’s nice that we can just store water in our inventory" I said before looking over the algae and getting an idea, "Hey, Nove, you can purify the water right? But what about those glowing algae by the pond? Can we do something with them, like metal weave them into a torch? Or maybe create a core node that gives me a torch-like ability?"

Nove responded in her usual monotone voice, "Unfortunately, you don't know the Metalweaving arts needed to mold biological materials. And we're out of Nexus blood or Nexus crystals."

"Wait, hold on," I interjected, puzzled. "Since when did we even have Nexus blood or Nexus crystals?"

"From the Muck Worm. All monsters have Nexus crystals and Nexus blood. Unfortunately, while they have a lot of Nexus blood, they only have one Nexus crystal," Nove explained. She paused for a moment before continuing, "While it's better to use Nexus crystals to create Core nodes, you know of an alchemical technique that can use Nexus blood as a substitute. But, be aware, the core node made with it will be of lower quality. That's why all the recent core nodes I made, besides the dirt core node, are of 3 and 2-star tiers, because I had to use Nexus blood for them"

Oh… I didn’t knew she had been using that single muck worm I killed so efficiently that not even it’s blood is wasted… Wait, was that why its meat was tender? All of its blood was already drained?

Regardless, Nove collected some water and purified it for me, My hands were dirty and bloody, so I had to make a small stone cup and use some of the purified water to clean the cup for usage.

"Ahh," I sighed in relief as the water quenched my thirst. "Feels like I’m born anew."

“Alper, What’s your next move?” Nove suddenly asked.

"Well, let’s see… Since this cave is gigantic, and I don’t want to go back. I think it’s a good idea to make some sort of torch first." We didn’t have wood; otherwise, we would’ve just created a fire. So the only thing left to do is to extract some of the glowing rocks and use them to fashion a makeshift torch. Too bad those glowing rocks were quite a distance away.

Plus, it’s probably better not to go deeper but rather higher. While this cave was huge, I could see a small entrance in the wall a bit ahead of us. Also, I've been hearing movement every now and then from the cave below. So while I do need some nexus core and blood, I’d rather not risk it. I also don’t want to be captured by the rescue team either, so I need to make a move fast.

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"Okay, I have a plan," I told Nove before collecting all the algae near me. It’s weird that I have a near-limitless inventory, but Nove told me before that this is the advantage of having a sentient core.

Unlike regular cores, Sentient cores don’t give any physical benefits, but a lot of supportive benefits. For example, the sentient core can help you think better, give you more core nodes than normal, and an extra-large inventory space. Normally, at this stage of evolution, people have either 2 or 3 core node slots, but I have 4 core nodes. Also, a normal person’s inventory would’ve gotten full a long time ago, but for me, only half of my inventory is filled, so Nove is a really good supportive core. However, the ability to control fire, make fists or whips of fire or explosion, create icicle blades, do a Kamehameha, or make a Rasengan from a certain ninja anime—or anything else—sounds so much cooler.

Regardless, I looked around and care fully slid down the dark cave. It wasn’t a huge drop but it was dark. Thankfully I grabbed all the glowing algae and mushrooms and flora from beside the pond and started chucking them everywhere as a makeshift glowsticks. My main reason for doing that was just to see if there’s any monsters using the dark as an advantage but no. There didn’t seem like any monsters were nearby, which was why I made a beeline towards the nearest glowing rock while also collecting the nearby glowing flora that I threw.

I safely reached there and extracted the magical material.

Glowstone Ore (1.5/6 Star Tier):

Yields a gentle glow, often used in the creation of glowing pathways or enchanting jewelry and items.

Ohhh, I didn’t know that enchanting was a thing here... Is it like alchemy’s cool cousin or something?

After getting my hands on it, I extracted some Glowstone before making a beeline toward that entrance I spotted earlier, I had a decision to make. The cave seemed to plunge deeper into the abyss, and all I could hear were mysterious sounds down there. I’m no adventurer seeking a dragon showdown, so I decided to head towards the entrance that went upwards.

Reaching the opening, I chucked a few glowstones ahead, smacked my spear next to the wall to create noise before a good swing for dramatic effect, and then pointed it forward like I was in some epic movie. Sure, it might seem a bit dumb, but you know, better to look ridiculous with a quick exit strategy than to be surrounded in the dark cave, right?

After a couple of heart-pounding seconds with nothing jumping out at me, I let out a sigh of relief. I scooped up the glowstone I'd tossed, plopped down on the cave floor, and reluctantly decided to burn through all three of my precious metalweaving arts to craft a torch.

Here's the twist—I didn't go for the usual stick-with-a-glowstone-at-the-tip setup. Nope, I went full fusion forge mode. I processed a hefty chunk of glowstone and shrunk it down. While it became small as my hand, it also became much brighter and I forged it right into the hilt of the blade and back end of my spear. That way, If I have to fight, I won’t have to hold a torch and a spear, since my spear will double up as my torch. Efficiency, right?

I did the math—only about 100 NEP left. As much as I was itching to test-drive my shiny new Core node arts, it seemed smarter to keep my NEP in reserve, just in case things took a turn for the worse. Priorities, my friend. Priorities.

Oh man, it's been a hot minute since I've basked in the glow of some good ol' light. The illumination from the glowstone had just the right amount of kick. It wasn't blinding, but after I worked my fusion forge magic on the ore, it shrank down, and the light it belted out got a serious upgrade. So, this upward-sloping entrance turned out to be a beacon of brightness.

Let me tell you, I was practically throwing a gratitude party for this newfound light source. It hit me that I'd really been blind stumbling around in the dark before, clueless about what was lurking in the shadows. This torch in my hand? A game-changer for sure.

As I slowly made my way up the cave, I'd spot some funky-colored rocks or ores every now and then. The urge to scoop them up was real, but my remaining NEP was like precious gold. Gotta save it for the big guns—rock armor, petrifying strike, or the sticky web. No way I'm leaving these goodies behind, though. I'll be back for a little mining fiesta once I've powered up and graduated from the edge-of-life circus.

As I traverse through the cavern's darkness, I decide to delve into a quiet conversation with Nove about my life before I took an unexpected plunge into the abyss. As it turns out, my fall wasn't a mere accident—it was a premeditated act of murder.

In a nutshell, I had a fiancée from another minor clan, and we were slated for marriage a few years down the line once we matured a bit. However, some individual from a different minor clan harbored such jealousy over my relationship that he orchestrated a cunning plan, leading me to this cave and giving me a not-so-gentle push.

The motives of a 14-year-old resorting to murder over a romantic rivalry are beyond my comprehension. This world really is weird.