Aira snuck out the next day before sunrise, heading towards the forest shielding the town from various creatures and beasts coming from the mountain. There were various paths Aira could have chosen to take so she could quickly reach the cave which sheltered the mysterious plant. However, all but one were sowed with monsters.

Thus, she took the longest but safest path, which not even adventurers found convenient. The outgrown bushes, the annoying yet harmless insects and steep rocks were unattractive to many.

Adventurers preferred hunting beasts and monsters, eying the awards they could receive for cleaning the paths. Aira, on the other hand, had no mana and no training to afford that choice. It was safer for her to rather arm herself with a sharp knife and the bug repellent potions she stole from the baron’s shelves.

“Uh!”, she breathed heavily while climbing a steep portion of the mountain. The cave was visible but hard to reach and she had forgotten to bring a rope with her.

“I will have to exercise as soon as I get home.”

“You definitely should!”, a voice replied, taking Aira by surprise.

She saw a young tall, dark-haired man, sitting on a tree branch that grew against the odds, rooted in the rocks. The voice and his sudden appearance startled her so hard that she missed to grab on something, thus starting to fall.

“Are you perhaps an idiot? Did you climb the mountain just so you could fall to your death?”, he asked, grinning, holding her by her wrist.

“You piece of …!”, she huffed as she tried to catch her breath as soon as she was on safe ground. “Are you crazy? You almost had me killed!”, she yelled, her heart almost bursting out of her chest.

“You chose the hardest path. Up to this point that was an easy walk, I could say - a child’s play. Did you really believe that it’s going to be this easy from now on?”, he mocked.

“Who are you to care?”

“I was looking for some entertainment when I noticed a little rabbit struggling to climb a mountain. It turned out to be a reckless little human with no trace of mana, throwing herself into the mouth of wolves herself. Do you expect the same luck once you are in that cave? Do you even know the reason why no one in this country managed to get their hands on this Acarasa?”

“I don’t know and I don’t care!”, is all Aira said, then proceeded to climb the remaining wall of the tall mountain.

She did not bother to find the man’s identity, whether he was human or a ghost, or why he was truly there. She died once. She was not scared of the unknown.

Whatever waited for her inside that cave, she was ready to face it or die a second time trying. What she knew is that she could no longer endure in that family reminding her of her previous life.

“Do you even know what you are doing?”, he asked.

“Not a clue! Goodbye!”, she replied one last time.

Aira did not know how long she had been climbing. The young man she left behind was no longer in sight. The sun was already behind the mountain, thus the entrance to the cave gave off an eerie feeling and Aira already started making up horror scenarios in her head.

She took out a lamp crystal out her pocket, stolen after she noticed it in one of the baron’s house’s halls, and stepped in. She did not care about the beating awaiting her once its stingy owner found out. She already ran away from home to chase a fleeting dream, so she knew that a punishment would be inevitable upon her return, if fate allowed her that chance.

The cave walls were cold wet, water drops falling from time to time, which annoyed Aira at some point after she walked for who knows how long. She could only hear her breath and her heart beating. The murderous silence between each water drop sound ended once Aira started to see light. She arrived at what seemed to be an underground ancient, fallen temple with an open roof above, through which the sun rays gloriously made their way in.

A stone altar was placed in the middle of the round cave chamber, and on top of it she saw a golden flower in a strange, cracked stone pot. She first checked her surroundings, then walked towards the altar where she noticed a creature resembling a white fox near the pot. The foxy creature looked asleep but, as Aira walked, its ears started to stick out and in with each step she took. The snowflake-like little creature finally opened its eyes, but did not move, only observing, looking at the intruder with curious eyes.

Aira waited for a while before reaching for the mysterious potted plant. She was not afraid but the excitement went through her hands which trembled when extended gradually towards the flower. When her finger tips touched one of its petals, the ground started to tremble and rocks started falling from above.

A large crack cut under Aira’s feet, swallowing her together with everything in that room as a whole. The fox’s smile was what she first remembered as soon as she woke up between scattered boulders and rocks.

Author notes:

QUIZ:

What would you do if you found yourself inside a dark cave?

A. Sing to check how your voice sounds inside a cave.

B. Pray.

C. Speak to the lonely walls.