Jasper took a few steps away from the cave's entrance, holding the oil lamp in the pitch-black night. Suddenly, he heard a growling sound not far away. Quickly, he put down the lamp and stayed still without moving. He slowly turned his head toward the growling sound, staring into the darkness for a long moment as if he could see movement within it.
He couldn't go back into the cave if the predator had already noticed his presence. If he went inside, it would become difficult for him to escape if the predator entered.
He slowly took one step at a time, as slowly and gently as possible. His heart beat like a drum. In these mountain ranges, there were not many predators roaming, but one had to be very unlucky to encounter one. Jasper thought he had met that bad luck today.
Should he have left when he first thought about finishing the digging tomorrow? If he had left earlier, he wouldn't have been in this situation.
Jasper crouched down as close to the ground as possible so as not to appear as a target to whatever predator was out there. Suddenly, an overwhelming dread struck his heart. What if he died here in these mountains? What would happen to his family? His mother and sister wouldn't survive in this world.
Jasper slowly took out the pickaxe from his back and readied himself to fight. He couldn't die here—or anywhere—until he made sure his family was safe and able to live a long life. Jasper stood up straight and turned back, his fist gripping the handle tightly.
Suddenly, he felt danger in front of him. The hair on his body stood on end. Though he couldn't see anything, the feeling remained. Without hesitation, Jasper swung the pickaxe, drawing a crescent arc downward.
Boom!
The force Jasper put into the swing was beyond his full strength. Mid-swing, he felt the pickaxe hit something, which he believed to be the predator about to grab him. When the pickaxe struck the ground, a loud booming sound echoed. He quickly assumed he had hit the predator and, without waiting to confirm it, turned and ran toward the town.
As he ran, his legs moved faster and faster. Jasper was surprised—had fear made him run faster than usual? Within five minutes, he reached the edge of the town and did not slow down until he entered the familiar street he usually walked through.
As he entered the streets, he gradually slowed down and controlled his breathing. However, though he had run without stopping for five kilometers, his breathing remained steady. He did not feel any fatigue in his body. Furthermore, one side of the pickaxe head was missing.
"Did it break when I hit the predator?" Jasper muttered under his breath.
The pickaxe had been high-grade, and he had spent a lot of money to buy it because the obsidian rocks in the mountains were very hard. He couldn't use a regular pickaxe to break those rocks. He had used full force in the strike many times before. The quality of such a tool shouldn't have broken so easily.
Jasper felt that something strange was happening to him. First, he had run faster than usual and hadn't grown tired from all the running. Second, the axe had broken with a single swing. Even if it had struck the predator first, that should have provided some cushion before hitting the ground.
"Does this have anything to do with the stone that appears and disappears?" Jasper wondered.
However, he quickly shook off the idea and walked toward the smithy where he usually sold common-grade white crystals. He arrived and entered. Looking around, he saw no one in the shop.
He put away the broken pickaxe and walked toward where the newly forged pickaxes were placed. He saw good-quality ones and some heavy-looking tools meant for experienced miners who worked in dungeons.
While he was checking the pickaxes, the store door opened with a ding, and a burly-looking man entered. He was the owner of the forge, an experienced blacksmith—not famous, but skilled.
"Hello, Mr. Erminio," Jasper greeted.
However, Erminio barely acknowledged him. With a quick glance, he walked toward the counter. Jasper, with a faint smile, walked to the counter and emptied the pouch of white crystals from his backpack.
Without saying anything, Erminio measured the weight of the crystals and placed two gold coins and seven silver coins on the counter. Seeing the two gold coins, Jasper's smile widened. He quickly collected the coins and looked at the stack of pickaxes again. However, he discarded the idea of buying a new one. Though one side of the head was broken, he could use the other side for some time before saving enough money to buy another.
"Thank you, Mr. Erminio," Jasper said and walked out.
"I should buy some snacks for Irene," he thought as he walked along the streets.
He quickly entered a sweet shop and bought some sweet stuffed buns filled with fruit jam. After that, he went to the flour shop and bought flour, vegetables, and spices. In total, he spent forty silver coins.
Though he felt he had spent a lot of money in a short time, it was necessary for his family to eat fresh flat-bread and some nutritious vegetables at least once in a while instead of eating porridge made from cheap grains that didn't taste good.
When he thought about the incident on the mountain and the dread he had felt when the predator was about to attack him, leaving his family alone in this world had been the worst feeling he had experienced in a long time. Compared to that, spending his hard-earned money didn't matter anymore. He would mine even more tomorrow, earn more coins, and spend them on his family.
With that thought, he walked toward his house on the north side of the town, where most poor people lived.