Suspicious...
Weird!
Under normal circumstances, if Chuck saw a glowing cave on this damn island, he would never enter rashly without full gear and mental preparation.
But despite the eerie feeling causing resistance, the deadly danger overhead was imminent. Chuck had no time or room to hesitate.
Forward was the unknown; backward was death. The choice was simple.
If something felt wrong, he could just use the recall skill to escape.
So before the shadow overhead appeared, Chuck bit the bullet and charged into the suspiciously glowing orange volcanic cave.
Five seconds after he disappeared, a gust of wind howled outside. Massive wings flapped above the cave, shaking the rising steam from the hot spring.
"SCREE!!!"
An angry, piercing shriek echoed among the peaks.
...
The cave was narrow, the entrance barely fitting two people. Combined with birds' fear of enclosed spaces, as Chuck expected, the giant bird only screeched angrily and left quickly.
Leaning against the cave wall, Chuck exhaled the breath he was holding.
Before him, the recall button in the light screen was lit up. He could return to the stone platform anytime he wanted.
But Chuck wasn't in a hurry.
Since he found the hot spring, following it upstream might lead to the island's freshwater source. But the bird's sudden appearance caught him off guard, forcing him into this glowing cave before he could locate the upstream direction.
Although the bird had flown away, it was likely watching the exit nearby. Leaving was out of the question.
Though regrettable, finding the water source without killing the bird first seemed impossible.
But returning empty-handed after risking his life wasn't Chuck's style. Besides the eerie appearance, this abnormal celestial phenomenon might bring more anomalies. He wasn't sure.
So at least, he should figure out the most important thing first.
Thinking this, Chuck walked cautiously deeper into the cave.
The cave interior matched the outside appearance. Dark stone walls were illuminated by orange light. The temperature was higher than outside but bearable.
Chuck's hand hovered over the recall button as he remained alert to his surroundings.
As he went deeper, the orange light illuminating the cave grew brighter.
Until he stopped at an abrupt corner.
The light from beyond the corner was like a high-power heat lamp, almost blinding.
Chuck realized the source of the anomaly was likely around the corner.
Holding his breath, he hugged the wall and moved silently to the edge. Maximizing his perception to check for danger and finding none, he peeked around slowly.
The expected intense light stung his eyes.
Instinctively shielding his eyes, he waited for his vision to adapt. Seeing the scene clearly, he walked out dazedly into the lit cavern space.
The sight briefly crashed Chuck's brain.
The source of the blinding orange light wasn't lava or a heat lamp.
It was an unassuming stone pedestal, like a roadside bollard, about half a meter high...
On the pedestal were five circular indentations. Currently, the second one was emitting blinding orange light upwards like a laser emitter.
Chuck stared blankly, then looked up along the beam.
Above him was a hole about a meter wide, leading straight to the mountain peak!
In this moment, Chuck finally understood the source of the light on the volcano peak.
Frowning, he stood carefully about five meters from the pedestal, not approaching rashly.
Though he found the source, too many things were wrong. The light was bright but shouldn't turn the whole sky orange. Light refracts and decays in air. And how were this tunnel and glowing pedestal formed...?
But these doubts flashed briefly and were discarded.
Surviving on the island taught Chuck a philosophy: don't obsess over inexplicable things.
Withdrawing his gaze from the bizarre hole, he scanned the surroundings and noticed things he missed earlier.
On the cave walls in front and to his right were two massive, rough yet inexplicably regular black stones.
Like the Dragon-Severing Stone blocking the exit in The Return of the Condor Heroes.
Looking at the blocking stones and the glowing pedestal with indentations, a baffling yet logical guess formed in Chuck's mind.
He flipped his hand. The oval crystal from the tiger appeared in his palm. This time, it shone with unprecedented brightness, echoing the pedestal's light.
At this moment, an unexpected orange prompt appeared.
[The Key has found the Lock. Try inserting it.]
What the hell???
The fleeting orange prompt made Chuck's scalp tingle. He froze as if seeing a ghost.
After a long while, he tried approaching the pedestal with the crystal.
Shielding his eyes from the blinding light, Chuck thought "do or die" and shoved the crystal into the glowing indentation.
The moment stone met indentation, the sky-illuminating beam and the crystal's light vanished like a snuffed candle or cut power.
In blinks, darkness returned.
Only the weird pedestal with the embedded crystal remained.
Loss of illumination plunged the cave into darkness. Chuck's light-adapted eyes saw nothing but the clear prompt screen.
Looking at the still-lit recall button, Chuck hesitated but didn't leave immediately. He stood silently, waiting for more strangeness.
The bizarre sequence numbed his scalp, but he quickly deduced an answer.
The sudden prompt differed from usual workbench notifications. Though its origin was unknown, its wording was specific.
"The Key has found the Lock."
Contextually, the key was the orange crystal; the lock was the pedestal. The door... obviously the massive stones blocking the way.
Five indentations. One filled with the tiger's crystal. Four empty...
Just as Chuck thought this, the cave and pedestal shook violently!
Shocked, Chuck grabbed the pedestal to steady himself. Just as he was about to press recall, light returned to the dark cave.
He turned slowly. The stone on his right rose slowly like a curtain, restoring his vision.
He was stunned.
Key and Lock? One out of five was enough?
But doubt lasted only a second. Chuck realized something and looked ahead.
Light from the right cleared his vision. With a heavy thud, a path to a bright unknown opened on his right.
But the stone directly in front remained motionless.
A more reasonable guess formed.
One pedestal, two massive stone doors. Opening conditions were likely "sufficient but not necessary" vs. "necessary but not sufficient." One needed any crystal; the other needed all.
Of course, maybe two crystals opened the second door, revealing a third... but logically, this was the likely guess.
Meaning he needed to kill four more Lord-Class beasts, extract their crystals, and insert them to open the front door.
Directionally, the opened right door matched his entry direction. Continuing forward might cut through the volcano to the northern part of the island...
The front door, normally, faced the western jungle. But it wouldn't be that simple.
Anyway, one tiger nearly killed him. Killing four more Lord-Class beasts wasn't a short-term goal. Maybe... that was the total number on the island.
Tiger, bird, and the cold light underwater...
What were the remaining two?
Thinking this, Chuck turned to the opened passage on the right.
Since first seeing the volcano from the beach, he wondered what lay beyond.
Unimaginable scenery? Other survivors?
Now, the answer was imminent.
Chuck looked at the recall screen and finally closed it.
The sky anomaly was solved. He was here, facing a new area. Not looking would cost him sleep.
And after everything, exploring the unknown brought Chuck not just anxiety.
But also excitement.
...
"Darling..."
On the stone platform, Julia looked up at the fading orange light, gripping Janet's arm tighter.
Waking up to the anomaly and hearing Chuck had acted, the women came out, watching the eerie light and worrying about Chuck.
The sudden disappearance of the light tightened Julia's heart.
"Darling... should be fine, right? He's so strong."
Loving Chuck deeply, knowing he faced traps made her worry despite her faith in his strength.
"Don't worry, Jules. The light's gone; he must have solved it. Let's wait for him."
Compared to her niece, Janet was psychologically stronger, though her frown betrayed her. She comforted Julia softly.
"He's fine."
Valentina's voice sounded suddenly.
The women turned to her.
Valentina stood with Momo, holding her phone, showing the screen to everyone.
[Baba]: Problem solved. Found a path to the north. Going to explore. If not back by lunch, save me some food.