###
He was taken aback for a moment. At first, he thought it might be another mountain due to its sheer size, but its outline betrayed that.
He could see the source of the red light at the highest part of the castle.
"I wonder what that red light is," he muttered, half to himself, half to the cold air around him.
"Well, I will know when I get there."
Feeling an unsettling thrill, he allowed himself a rare moment of joy.
He danced on the spot, a grotesque imitation of happiness in this haunting landscape, before deciding to finally take a nap for the journey ahead.
"Whatever. I have to find a spot to rest."
He started to descend the mountain, searching for somewhere to take refuge from the perpetual twilight.
His back was drenched with sweat from today's grueling activity, and the fog clung to him like a shroud.
After what felt like hours of wandering through the oppressive gloom, he found an entrance to a small cave.
He had to lower his head to enter, brushing against the cold stone. The space was dark and cold, barely large enough to fit three or four of him.
"Better a cave than no shelter," he muttered, the sound of dripping water echoing ominously.
He ventured outside to collect leaves, using his sword to cut the larger ones.
With each swing, a peculiar exhaustion settled deeper into his bones, draining not just his stamina but something more profound.
"I'm probably hallucinating," he rationalized, trying to dismiss the eerie sensation. "It's just the hiking and tiredness."
He switched to ripping the leaves off by hand. The sword had become unbearably heavy, each swing sapping his strength.
He gathered leaves as large as his hand, stuffing them into his bag, and trudged back to the cave repeatedly until he nearly collapsed.
He pinched himself to stay awake, driven by sheer willpower and a growing sense of desperation.
Eventually, he cobbled together what could generously be called a 'bed.' Looking at it, he laughed a hollow, joyless laugh.
"Well, I can't complain. It's the best I can do now."
He arranged the smaller leaves as a base, laying the larger ones on top. He stuffed his sport bag with leaves to use as a makeshift pillow and took the largest leaves he could find to cover himself.
It barely did the job. He withdrew his blade, feeling an odd sense of companionship with the cold steel.
"I should sleep with you, I guess," he said to his sword, his words slipping into delirium as exhaustion clouded his mind.
He approached the bed, eyes heavy, body screaming for rest.
Every muscle ached, his hunger and thirst gnawing at him. It felt like he was carrying a mountain on his back, each movement a battle against his body's relentless demands.
He collapsed onto his 'pillow' and, in an instant, the world went dark.
---
---
---
"w_k u_p…"
"wAke Up…"
"WAKE UP!!!"
"HUHH?!"
He jolted awake, swinging his sword wildly. The leaves covering him scattered, and he hit his head hard on the cave's low ceiling.
"Owww…"
He covered his head with one hand, clutching the sword with the other, eyes darting around in a panic. His heart pounded like a war drum.
"Who's there?" he shouted, voice cracking.
A chill ran down his spine. He wasn't hallucinating, was he? His eyes scanned the cave and the entrance, but there was nothing. Only the constant drip of water broke the silence.
"Sigh~. I must really be tired to be tripping this hard," he said, attempting to calm himself.
"I should go back to bed." He said still feeling tired
As he prepared to lie down again, he noticed the leaves scattered around him had turned black and lifeless, as if soaked in acid and left to rot.
"How did this happen? Wait, did something come here?" He glanced around nervously.
"Why go after the leaves? Am I worth less than the leaves right here?"
The leaves emitted a foul stench, one that made him recoil. He picked one up, bringing it close to his nose, and instantly regretted it.
"Öughh!!! What the??!!"
The smell was vile, making his nose twitch in rebellion. He looked at his filthy hoodie with growing horror, lifting an arm to sniff the armpit.
The stench was overwhelming, a rancid odor that seemed to ooze from his pores.
" UGhh~" he gagged, nearly retching. It smelled like milk left out for months, sprayed with a toxic fart.
He felt a mix of anger and despair. 'Why would anyone come to this cave and do this to me? What did I do to you!?'
"Oh, come on. I was already sweaty and smelled bad from the trip here, and now this?" He sighed.
"Thankfully, I have a spare change of clothes, but I still need a bath."
He took his sport bag and started emptying the leaves from it. As he did, a question crossed his mind.
'Why did only the big leaves wither and rot, and not the smaller ones?'
As he was emptying his sport bag, he looked at the ground to see another surprise that stunned him.
"Ugh… where is my shadow???"
Was he hallucinating again? He was startled and shocked but regained his composure and inspected the area where his shadow should have been.
The light from the colossal star was enough to cast shadows and light his way, but the ground remained bare and flat.
His shadow was missing, not cast behind him or distorted by the light—it was simply gone.
"What the hell?" he muttered, stepping to the side and waving his arms as if it might somehow make his shadow appear. It didn't.
However, his heart skipped a beat when he noticed something even stranger: the shadow of his sport bag lay clearly on the ground, dark and defined against the cave floor.
The sword, lying beside it, also failed to cast any shadow.
"Wait, what?" He knelt down, lifting the bag slightly. Its shadow moved with it, responding normally to the light. But his hands, his arms, his body—they produced nothing.
No silhouette, no dark outline, as if he wasn't fully there. He looked at the sword, waved his hand over it, and even held it up to the light. It was unnervingly missing a shadow too.
"This makes no sense," he said, feeling confused. He wasn't exactly scared, just stunned. His mind raced with possibilities, each one more bizarre than the last.
For a moment, he entertained the thought of his shadow slipping away, abandoning him in the night while he slept.
"Maybe I didn't have a shadow in the first place," he said aloud, trying to convince himself.
"I mean, shadows don't just decide to run away, right?"
He crouched down and inspected the cave floor, waving his hand over where his shadow should be.
The light from the star overhead was steady, making his missing shadow even more peculiar.
He scratched his head, the situation becoming increasingly surreal. Despite the absurdity of it all, he managed to shrug it off.
"Well, shadows are overrated anyway," he murmured, shaking his head and letting out a small laugh.
There were more pressing concerns, like getting to the town and finding food and water. He couldn't let something as strange as a missing shadow derail him.
After emptying his sport bag, he took out his sports clothing.
He then took off his hoodie to reveal a black shirt. He then took his shirt off and looked down at his body.
He could see that he was quite skinny and a bit malnourished, but even though he was skinny, he was still quite strong for his size.
He had no idea how he was strong enough to lift himself and climb so many times like yesterday with a physique like this.
"Well, it doesn't matter for now. As long as I have an advantage, it doesn't matter."
He changed into his black sport shorts and T-shirt, enjoying the feeling of clean clothes despite still smelling bad.
"GRUMBLEEE"
As he finished putting on his T-shirt, he felt like an earthquake was shaking inside his stomach, begging and screaming for food, and he was very thirsty too.
"Hehe, I should treat myself today to a feast," he thought. He needed energy for today's trip to the mysterious town.
He saw a river, so he could drink, and he saw farms, so he should be able to find something to eat.
Thinking of food and water brightened his mood considerably.
But he didn't have any money on him. He guessed he might have to sell his stuff.
If he couldn't sell his stuff and buy what he needed, he might have to steal, but he would try to repay it later.
"If I am going to be a thief, I will be an honorable one." He said to him self.
He took out his lunch box and thermos, took a big gulp of water, and savored every strand of it.
He wolfed down the rest of the sandwich he didn't finish last time.
It was amazing, but he had to show some self-restraint.
Anything could happen when he was on the road.
He looked at his thermos and calculated that he probably had half a liter more and still had two sandwiches.
After putting his lunchbox back, closing the thermos, and picking up his sword, he finally got out of the cave.
The colossal star welcomed him with its bright halo and ethereal light.
"Sigh~ I have quite the road to complete today," he said to himself.
After having quite the suprise this day he finally started his descent down the mountain.
-----------