For some time, I stayed inside the cave, waiting for the pain and exhaustion to subside, at least a little. Only then would I be able to walk outside more easily. However, I didn't expect much, as it seemed that earlier, even some of my bones had been broken. I knew the road ahead wouldn't be an easy recovery.
- "Tsk... Now I need to get out of this cave and continue the preparations I was making... But... this pain... Agh... and this exhaustion I'm feeling..." I murmured, feeling the weight that the battle had imposed on me.
- "Damn... I can't even walk properly... I guess I'll have to wait a bit longer..." I thought.
I sat down on the floor near the dragon eggs, trying to check if anything in me was broken.
- "Now that I can remember clearly... Earlier, it seemed like one of my ribs and my right arm had been broken..." I said to myself.
- "But... looking now... they're... fine?" I asked myself, confused, running my hand over my ribs and arm to check.
- "Tsk... After everything that's happened to me so far, I don't even... get surprised anymore..." I commented as I lay down on my arms, looking at the ceiling of the cave.
At that moment, I remembered one of the last sentences spoken by the voice I had heard earlier:
- "Be careful... Even fate has a limit to how many times it can help you..." the voice had said.
- "Tsk... Even fate has a limit to how many times it can help me, huh? Could everything that's happened so far be your doing, fate?" I asked myself, laughing in disbelief.
- "Haha..." I laughed softly.
- "But even if it is... There's no way for me to find out, is there?" I reflected.
- "Still, if all the times I survived were your doing, fate... What do you want from me, huh?" I said quietly.
- "Well... But thinking about this won't help me survive or achieve my revenge..." I concluded, as I lay there, listening to the sound of the wind entering the cave's entrance and howling through the hall.
... Some hours passed...
- "Sigh... I think I've been lying here long enough, right? It's time to get up and try walking again..." I said, struggling to get to my feet.
When I finally stood up, I noticed I felt a little better and decided to attempt a walk to the cave's exterior to see how things were out there after everything that had happened.
...Sounds of slow footsteps...
- "Huff... Damn... I'm panting just from this walk?" I asked myself, breathless.
- "Sigh... I need to evolve more quickly and try to gather more information about what's happening in the world now... After all, it's been several months since I last had contact with others like me..." I reflected, seeing the light of the cave's exit drawing closer.
- "Moreover, I need to understand how that creature knew about the dragon eggs and what that voice meant... I feel like something bad is about to happen, and I need to be prepared if I want to achieve my revenge and survive..." I thought seriously.
Finally, I reached the cave entrance, where a gust of fresh air hit me.
- "Sigh... This is... great... It really... clears the soul..." I commented, feeling the fresh wind.
Then, I looked around the cave's entrance and noticed something.
- "Agh... But this is just unfair... My fence, which took me so long to build, is destroyed... Sigh..." I lamented at the sight of the fence's state.
- "Well... But I already expected something like this to have happened. Now it's time to fix everything and move forward, as always..." I thought, walking out of the cave.
Along the way, I checked if anything else had been destroyed. Surprisingly, only the fence was damaged.
- "Sigh... Great, it seems only the fence was destroyed... My belongings are still here... My tools, my furnace, and my fridge, huh?" I commented, relieved as I looked at the Pot-in-pot fridge, which I hadn't even had time to test the night before.
- "Well... It seems the interior is quite cold, which means it's working well... Now I just need to get food..." I said, opening the fridge and placing my hand inside to check the temperature.
- "To be honest, I haven't eaten anything in a long time… So my first priority will be stocking the fridge with food, and then checking the field to make sure everything is in order… After all, I need to secure my food supply first," I said, glancing at the lake.
- "Alright… Let's do this…" I thought, taking a deep breath and, despite still being exhausted, grabbing my fishing rod and heading toward the lake.
With my fishing rod in hand, I made my way down to the lake. The pot-in-pot fridge I had built seemed capable of storing a decent amount of fish, even larger ones. This time, I could fish several without worrying about having to catch more later. However, at first, I decided to do a small test by catching a smaller number of fish to assess the fridge's effectiveness. Once proven reliable, I would fish more in the future, filling it up. Additionally, I had a fair chance of catching a Thyrekon fish, whose magical properties could restore stamina. I had caught some before in the same lake, and if I managed to catch one again, it would be a huge benefit, likely saving me a day's work by overcoming exhaustion.
...Sounds of water and birds...
- "Sigh... Here we go…" I said, sitting by the lakeshore.
After a few minutes of watching the rippling lake water, I remembered something that might help with the exhaustion.
- "Ha... Now that I think about it… If I could catch another Thyrekon, that'd be amazing. This damned exhaustion would probably vanish in an instant, huh?" I mused.
- "Well, I've caught some before… And they're not exactly rare, so… Please, universe, just one Thyrekon, if it's not asking too much, hahaha," I thought, feeling the exhaustion nagging at me but not really expecting anything in return.
A few more minutes passed before the fishing rod gave a familiar tug. I won't lie; I pulled the rod up, hopeful it was a fish that could help me recover faster. However, it turned out to be a common fish, which didn't disappoint me since, as I mentioned, I wasn't expecting the universe to grant my wish just because I asked.
After dealing with the fish, I cast the line back into the water. This process repeated four more times, bringing my total catch to five fish. I didn't want to catch too many as I had decided to test the pot-in-pot fridge first before using it more extensively. However, on the fifth catch, something unexpected happened. I managed to catch another Thyrekon, which left me both surprised and incredibly happy.
- "Alright… No magical fish so far, huh?" I thought.
- "But… It doesn't matter. What matters is that I have food, and these fish will be extremely necessary, as well as extremely welcome," I said, placing the fourth fish in the sieve for later cleaning.
- "Sigh... Alright... I'll catch one more at most and then stop, as my plan is to test the fridge first and, if all goes well, use it more extensively afterward," I thought.
Then, I cast the line back into the water.
After a few minutes, the line tugged again with a familiar pull.
...A tug...
- "Hu... Huh? This pull… It feels… familiar?" I muttered, wrestling with the fish.
Suddenly, the fish leapt out of the water.
- "It's… It's a Thyrekon… AGAIN… HA… HAHAHA!" I exclaimed, stunned to have actually caught a Thyrekon, even on the fifth attempt.
- "THIS IS AMAZING… THANK YOU, UNIVERSE, I NEVER DOUBTED YOU!" I thought, elated, as I quickly reeled in the Thyrekon.
It was incredible. No, more than that — it was indescribable, especially since it came at a time when I desperately needed its restorative properties.
After pulling the Thyrekon out of the water, I carried all the fish I had caught back to clean them, roast one, and store the rest.
Arriving again at the cave entrance, where the fence was still destroyed, I placed the sieve with the fish on a small table I had previously made using Vothrial, a type of Thalrún wood, as the base, and a stone for the tabletop.
There, I used one of the stone knives I had crafted, now enhanced with Vothrial, making it thousands of times better than the manually made ones, to clean the fish — removing their scales, internal organs, and bones where possible. Once finished, I tossed the discarded parts into the water, as the organs served as excellent food for other fish in the lake, completing an important cycle where nothing went to waste.
Finally, I took the Thyrekon I had caught and promptly set it to roast over the fire I had already lit. Then, I stored the remaining fish in the fridge.
After waiting for a while, resting in the meantime, the Thyrekon was finally ready. Its flesh, while not tastier than that of Fylarenn, was delicious, juicy, and seemed to give slight tingles on the tongue —likely due to the energy it provided.
...Crackling fire...
- "Sigh... I'm so hungry I could eat ten Thyrekons," I said, watching the fish finish roasting over the fire.
...Some time later...
- "It's finally ready, huh?" I said as I returned from the lake after tossing the organs and other fish parts into the water.
Then, I took the fish off the fire and ate it quickly, my hunger immense and its taste exquisite.
Afterward, I decided to lie down and rest for a few hours, as the magical properties of the fish wouldn't take effect immediately, requiring some rest for them to work.