The Supreme Puppet

Blacksmith and I were walking on a dirt trail in the plains, making our way towards the mountains to the south. For the first time, I was outside. I could see the wide and open plains, green in color, tranquil in nature. I looked up at the night sky. There was the glowing white moon and stars scattered above. In the air, there were a few owls flying, hooting as they flew. It was serene and calming, cool and breezy. The plains were a relaxing and peaceful place.

Blacksmith and I come up to see an array of yellow-green lights in the distance, moving in the night. They were quick, flying here and there.

"What are those?" I asked.

"Fireflies," he answered. "They're bugs that can glow in the night."

"I see."

I reached out to them with my hand, and one of the fireflies landed on my fingertip. I stared at the bug, mesmerized by the beautiful light illuminating from its body. To think a few insects as small as these would be so vibrant and colorful.

The firefly flew away from my finger and we moved past the swarm, continuing on the trail. As we walked, I found many more fascinating things out in the open. There were fields of colorful flowers, herds of deer galloping in the plains, glistening blue ponds, and orbs of light frollicking around.

"How does it look?" Blacksmith asked.

"It's beautiful," I replied. "I never thought the outside world was this massive."

Blacksmith chuckled. "This is only a small fraction. The entire world is much larger than you think it is, Celeste. Much, much larger."

"Is that true?" He nodded.

There were four continents in the world. The Western Continent, the Southern Continent, the Eastern Continent, and the Northern Continent-where we are at the moment. We were currently in the region of the Eisernes-Kreuz Kingdom, which was one of the monarchies here on this continent.

Monsters, monarchies, towns, continents. There really is much out there in the world. Much I don't know about and haven't seen yet.

"Kah kah kah...!"

We suddenly heard the sound of footsteps and something cackling behind us. Turning around, we looked to see little green monsters riding on wolves, wielding wooden spears, rushing towards us.

"Goblins," said Blacksmith. "They must've followed us from the forest."

"Kah!"

Blacksmith sighed. "This is going to be a hassle, but it's a perfect opportunity. Celeste, take them on."

"You want me to fight them?" I asked, pointing at myself.

He nodded. "They're small and weak monsters. They're good practice for beginners like you. Go ahead and test out your fighting skills on them. Oh, and you don't have to hold back. You can kill them."

"I can?" He nodded. "Alright."

I pulled Excalibur from my sheath and faced them. The goblins grinned at me and I rushed towards them.

"Kah!"

The goblins all threw their spears directly at me. I swung Excalibur and defected their spears, then leapt high into the air.

"Kah?"

"Hmph!"

I came down with a drop-kick, smashing the ground and knocking the goblins and wolves off of their feet. I swung Excalibur and struck each of the goblins and wolves, killing them in an instant.

"Gah...!"

Their corpses fell to the ground. Having seen all of them defeated, I cleaned my sword and placed it back to its sheath. I turned and looked back at Blacksmith, to see his eyes widened and his face in utter shock.

"Did I do well?" I asked, tilting my head.

Blacksmith let out a sigh and returned back to his senses. "You did, but...this is all too much."

The ground was completely shattered, having a large crater in the center. The corpses of the goblins and wolves were cut up into many pieces, making them almost unrecognizable.

"Celeste, I know I said you didn't have to hold back, but that doesn't mean you should go around and destroy things so easily. Keep your strength the same as when you held Excalibur for the first time back at the training grounds."

"I understand."

Blacksmith and I left and continued onward, leaving the giant crater and corpses of goblins behind us.

*****

We eventually reached the edge of the mountains. The land here was white, snowy and rocky. The air was cold, and it was windy. The moon in the sky was now a half moon, with one side glowing and the other in darkness. There were a few animals nearby, such as deer and wolves, but there were no monsters of any sort.

"If we want to find any wyverns or trolls, we're going to have to go deep into the mountains," said Blacksmith.

"Understood."

"By the way," he said, "how do you feel? Are you cold?"

I shook my head. "I can feel how cold everything is, but it doesn't really bother me. On the inside, I actually feel warm and cozy."

"I see."

From what Blacksmith told me, there was this White Flame of Life within me. Although it was a part of my core, which allowed me to function and move, it also gave me heat and warmth.

The two of us walked forward, stepping on the white snow and pebbles underneath. As we made our way, I took a glance around my surroundings. The land here was wide and vast. The mountains we were heading to were large and tall, covered with snow and ice, and surrounded by spruce trees. This area, although somewhat ominous, seemed quite interesting.

"Blacksmith-sama," I said. "Why do you want the materials from the wyverns and trolls?"

"Have you read about them in the bestiary?" I nodded.

The book said that wyverns and trolls were rare monsters. They were powerful and very dangerous in their own ways. Wyverns had hard scales, venom, and sometimes the ability to breathe fire. As for trolls, they were tough, having thick hide and flesh, as well as regenerative abilities. Trolls could also be intelligent, although it was rare.

"The materials you can get from wyverns and trolls are quite valuable, especially for a blacksmith like me. I can forge various useful items with them."

Scales from a wyvern could be used to make strong armor. The fluid from their fire glands can add the fire element to anything Blacksmith forges, and the venom gland can be used for antidotes or poison mixtures. Blood from trolls can give regenerative properties to items, and troll hide can be used for armor or clothing.

"I see. So that's why you want them," I said, finally understanding. "By the way, the magic rings you have. What do they do?"

"Ah, these two rings. One is a Ring of Vitality, which enhances my health and physical condition. The other is a Ring of Arcana, which enhances my mana capacity for magic."

"I see. And you made them too?" He nodded. "You create so many things, Blacksmith-sama. Weapons, clothes, armor, rings, and even houses. You're quite an amazing and talented blacksmith."

"Thank you Celeste, but it's nothing really to be excited about," he said with a frown on his face.

I tilted my head and stared at him, confused. In my opinion, Blacksmith was skilled and incredible, but if he didn't seem impressed by himself, I suppose I'll have to accept his words.

Suddenly, we heard something rumbling in the distance. Snow and rocks dropped to the ground as the earth trembled. Blacksmith stopped, and I did as well.

"We have company," said Blacksmith.

"Kah kah kah..."

We heard deep voices chuckling in the distance. From the trees and mountain caves around us, multiple trolls appeared.

The trolls had dark colored hair and yellow eyes, along with dark green and dark gray skin with warts and bumps over their large bodies. They wore leather pants and sashes. For weapons, they wielded bone clubs, bone axes, and stone hammers.

Blacksmith and I pulled our swords from our sheathes. Four trolls faced me, and two other trolls faced Blacksmith.

"Celeste, can you handle fighting all of them?" he asked.

"I'll try."

"Graaaaaagh!"

A troll on Blacksmith's side let out a loud roar and charged towards him.

"Wind Edge!" Blacksmith casts a spell on his mithril sword, giving it the wind element and a sharp edge. "Hmph!"

He rushes forward, heading towards the troll. It lets out a grunt and swings its club down at Blacksmith, only for him to jump upwards and dodge the attack. Blacksmith came down and struck the troll, cutting off one of its ears.

"Graaaaaagh!" the troll roared in pain, grabbing its bloody wound.

"Hmph!"

Blacksmith slides past it and strikes one of its legs, knocking the troll down. He swiftly jumps on the troll's back and cuts off its head clean, killing it. Its body falls to the ground, and all the trolls look at him, bewildered.

"Amazing..." I said, impressed.

"If you cut off their heads or strike their hearts, you can kill them. They won't be able to regenerate that way. Since we're collecting their parts, try not to damage them as much!" I nodded in understanding.

"Graaaaaagh!"

"Celeste, watch out!"

While I had my attention on Blacksmith, a troll on my side had gotten close to me. It swung down its axe to try to hit me, but quickly reacting and moving to the side, I dodged its attack.

"That was close," I muttered to myself.

"Graaaaaagh!"

The troll swung its club down again, but it missed after I jumped upwards. In mid-air, I swung Excalibur and cut off the troll's head, killing it instantly. Its body drops to the ground, and Excalibur suddenly glows in a familiar white light.

"This is..."

The three trolls in front of me backed away, terrified of me and Excalibur's light.

"Graagh..."

On Blacksmith's side, the second troll let out a last groan as it fell to the ground dead, defeated by his attacks.

"Graaaaaagh!"

The three remaining trolls, although afraid, roared and swung their weapons at me. Unfortunately for them, I was too fast. I moved left and right, dodging every one of their attacks. As I kept moving, they got more and more tired. When I saw they were finally done, I jumped upwards.

Hm...this light. I wonder if I can use this, but how? I thought, staring at Excalibur shining in white light.

"Celeste, imbue the sword with your strength! Then unleash it!" Blacksmith advised me.

"Hm."

I held Excalibur tightly with both my hands. Focusing and carefully aiming it, in one swing, I sent a sword beam directly towards the trolls, cutting all three of their heads in an instant. Their bodies fell to the ground, and the white light slowly disappeared from Excalibur.

"Congratulations on your first trolls," Blacksmith said, coming over to me.

"Thank you." I looked at Excalibur. "It's quite powerful. No wonder it's called a Divine Weapon."

"Right?" he agreed.

Blacksmith turned around and went up to the corpses of the dead trolls. He examined each one of them, and saw they were all clean, having minimal damage to their bodies.

"They're all perfect. Good job, Celeste. Harvesting them should be easy."

From his magic pouch, he grabbed out two mithril knives and tossed one to me.

"I'm helping too?"

"The more, the better."

*****

After cutting up the trolls and harvesting materials from their bodies, Blacksmith and I continued forward. We headed deeper into the mountains, following the troll tracks. There, we found multiple cave entrances going inside. Seeing there was a chance to find what we wanted in there, the two of us stepped inside the cave.

Inside, it was very large and spacious, dark and cold. I could hear small droplets of water falling from the ceiling and hitting the ground, as well as echoes of our footsteps as we walked through the cave.

"We'll need a source of light before going any further," said Blacksmith.

He went through his magic pouch to grab something, but I decided to pull out Excalibur and imbue it in white light.

He chuckled. "I'd never thought to see the day where a Divine Weapon would be used as a simple torch."

With Excalibur in my hand, the two of us made our way further into the cave. So far, there was nothing—no monsters, no ores, nothing valuable of any sort. I started to wonder if there was anything at all in here. As we walked in a little deeper, a faint blue light appeared. Turning around the corner, we saw a clutch of blue crystals on the ground.

"What are they?" I asked, staring at them in awe.

"Magic crystals," he answered. "Crystals that are imbued with mana."

"Are we going to harvest it?" He nodded.

As we were about to grab some tools to harvest them, I noticed something strange. Looking at one of the crystals, I saw our reflection. However, it wasn't just our reflection. There was something behind us, coming closer and glowing bright.

"Celeste!" he shouted, noticing it as well.

The two of us quickly stepped out of the way, dodging a fire breath attack.

"Raaaaaagh!"

The attacker was a wyvern. It had orange eyes with red-brown scales over its body. Its wings were large, and at the end of its tail, there was its stinger.

Blacksmith pulled out his sword and stood beside me. "Be careful of its fire breath and venom," he warned me.

"Hm."

"Raaaaaagh!"

The wyvern opened its mouth and launched another fire breath. The two of us quickly leapt out of the way and dodged it without a burn. I raised my sword upwards and focused. The light grew brighter and blinded the wyvern's vision.

"Raagh...!" it screeched, closing its eyes and backing away.

"Hmph!"

I rushed forward and leapt into the air. I came down and drop-kicked the wyvern's head, knocking it to the ground.

"Raagh...!"

The wyvern lifted its head and shook it. The wyvern opened its eyes and glared at me. It moves its tail and thrusts it forward in an effort to sting me, but I parried it using Excalibur.

With the wyvern's attention on me, Blacksmith rushed towards it from the other side. However, the wyvern noticed him. It turned its head and launched its fire breath at him, hitting Blacksmith.

"Ggh...!"

"Blacksmith-sama!"

Having burned him to a crisp, the wyvern turned back to me, only to find me gone.

"Raagh?"

Confused, the wyvern looked around itself and tried to find me, only to see a white light coming from up above it.

I was in mid-air, holding Excalibur with both my hands. Without any time for it to react, I came down and instantly cut off the wyvern's head. Its body drops to the ground, and its head rolls off to the side. I landed on top of its head, and confirming it was dead, I turned my attention to Blacksmith.

"Blacksmith-sama!" I rushed towards him.

"Aagh..." he groaned, painfully.

He was in a serious condition, his body smoking, severely burned from the wyvern's powerful and hot fire breath.

What do I do...?

Suddenly, a purple aura appeared around his body, steam rising from his wounds. His skin and flesh, burnt and charred, started to heal before my eyes. In an instant, Blacksmith's body was fully restored, and the purple aura and steam disappeared from sight. He let out a groan and stood back up as if nothing happened.

"Ah..." he sighed.

"Are you alright?" I asked, concerned.

He placed his hand around his neck and cracked it. "Yeah...I'm fine now..."

I stared at him and examined his body. He was fully healed and back to normal. There was no sign of any of the burns left on him.

"Blacksmith-sama, was that magic just now?" I asked, out of curiosity.

"It's...not exactly that..." he replied, vaguely.

"Hm?" I tilted my head, confused.

"Ahem. So, the wyvern..."

Blacksmith ignored me and turned to look at the wyvern's corpse.

"I killed it. For you, I made sure it wasn't damaged as much so we can harvest it."

"Thank you."

Blacksmith walked up to the wyvern's body and examined it up close. He looked at the head going all the way down to its tail.

"This wyvern is a little larger than normal," he said. "Well, I suppose that's good for us."

Blacksmith and I turned to look back at the magic crystals. I was surprised to see their current state. The magic crystals, originally blue, had turned a bright red-orange color.

"When the wyvern tried to attack us, its fire breath must've hit the crystals. In doing so, the magic crystals gained the fire element. They're fire magic crystals now," Blacksmith explained.

"Are they different from normal ones?" I asked.

"They are."

Magic crystals sometimes contained elemental traces. Some may have fire, lightning, water, or ice. Elemental magic crystals were more powerful than normal ones. They could greatly enhance weapons, tools, armor, and various equipment depending on the element.

"Are we going to harvest them?"

He nodded. "Yeah, but let's focus on the wyvern first. We don't want it to rot now, do we?"

*****

After some time, we finished taking apart the wyvern's corpse and harvested all of its materials. We took the scales, wing membrane, venom gland, and fire gland to use. As for the other materials, Blacksmith was going to keep it to sell later at the town. The fire magic crystals, as well as the normal ones, were collected and put into Blacksmith's magic pouch.

"Are we going to look for more wyverns?" I asked.

"If we can," he replied. "What we have is good enough, but if we can find more wyverns, that would be better."

We ventured deeper down into the caves. Eventually, we found two more. I fought both of them and quickly took them down by myself without any difficulty. Blacksmith and I harvested both of the wyvern corpses and put their parts into his magic pouch.

"Alright, that's all. Let's head back, Celeste."

"Hm."

"Raaaaaagh!"

A wyvern screech, much louder and terrifying than the wyverns we've faced, echoed throughout the caves. The air suddenly turned cold and the walls froze in dark blue ice. We turned around and saw a giant wyvern with white and light-blue scales flying in the air. On top of it, a troll with dark-blue skin rode on its back.

"A frost troll and frost wyvern...?!" Blacksmith said, shocked to see the two.

"Raaaagh!"

The wyvern opened its mouth and launched a frost breath. Blacksmith and I quickly leapt out of the way, dodging its attack. The frost breath froze the ground where we stood before in dark blue ice. The frost wyvern landed on the ground and glared at the two of us.

"Hmph..." the frost troll let out a deep grunt, pulling out a frost axe made of dark blue ice from its back.

"That axe...!"

The frost troll took a glance at Blacksmith, then turned to look at me. The troll squinted its eyes and looked at my sword Excalibur.

"You..." it said, pointing at me with its frost axe.

It spoke.

"Sword is shiny. Give it to me."

I gripped onto Excalibur. "Sorry, but I can't. It's mine."

"Hmph! If girl won't give shiny sword to me, then I'll take by force! Wyvern!"

"Raaaagh!"

With a command from the frost troll, the frost wyvern launched a frost breath at me. I quickly moved out of the way and avoided it. As I sprinted back to escape, the frost breath followed me, leaving a chilling trail of dark blue ice. Before I knew it, the walls and floor were completely frozen, and there was almost nowhere left to go.

Realizing that escaping was no longer an option, I leapt up towards the wyvern and troll. I imbued Excalibur with my strength and formed a ball of bright light. I launched it towards the frost wyvern, pushing past its frost breath and hitting it directly in the face.

"Raagh...!" the frost wyvern groaned, stunned and backing away.

"Graaaagh!" the frost troll let out a roar of anger.

It launched itself from the wyvern's back and headed towards me with its frost axe in hand. The frost troll swung its axe to hit me, but I blocked it in time using Excalibur. The force of our weapons knocked me back to the wall. Fortunately, I managed to catch myself from crashing into it.

I mustered strength into my feet and launched myself from the wall back at the frost troll. I swung my sword and the frost troll blocked it with its frost axe, but the impact knocked the troll to the ground.

"Grrgh..." it groaned.

I landed gently on the ground and sprinted towards the troll. The frost troll recovered from its injuries and stood up, then it threw its axe towards me. I stepped to the side and avoided it, but while focused on the weapon, the frost troll got close and punched me in the face.

For the first time, I was hit. The punch sent shockwaves throughout my body, shaking me. Yet, I felt only the impact, no pain.

"Celeste!" Blacksmith shouted.

"Hah...!"

The frost troll threw its fist to punch me again. This time, I caught it with my hand. I closed my hand tightly, gripping the troll's fist, crushing its fingers.

"G-Graagh...!"

I clenched my other fist. Mustering my strength, I swung and struck the frost troll in the jaw, unleashing a powerful shockwave throughout the cave.

"Graaaagh!!!" the frost troll screamed in pain.

The frost troll grabbed its jaw and panted. It looked up at me and I saw anger in its eyes. The frost troll grunted, then swung its axe. I stepped back and managed to avoid it, but in doing so, the axe struck the ground and froze the area in dark blue ice.

"This ice..."

The ice created from the frost axe. The ice created from the wyvern's frost breath. Dark blue in color and cold. Was it all the same?

"Celeste!" Blacksmith shouted. "Try not to get hit or close to the ice! It's dangerous!"

"Hm."

The frost wyvern shook its head and recovered from my earlier attack. The frost troll leapt back onto its back and scowled at me.

"You...!" it growled, pointing at me. "You hurt me! You make me mad! You will pay! Wyvern!"

Upon hearing the command, the frost wyvern opened its mouth and began charging its frost breath.

"Celeste, use Excalibur's light!" Blacksmith shouted.

"Hm." I raised Excalibur upwards and the light of the sword grew bright.

"Grrgh...!"

"Raagh...!"

The troll and wyvern were blinded by the light. Now with their sight taken away, Blacksmith and I could attack at ease.

"Fireball!" Blacksmith shouted, launching a fireball at the frost wyvern, scorching its left wing in fire.

"Raaaaagh!!!" the wyvern let out a painful roar.

"Flame Edge!"

Blacksmith casts the spell on his sword, giving it the fire element and a hot edge, then dashed towards them.

"Grrgh..."

The frost troll, although blinded, noticed Blacksmith coming their way. It inhales a large breath of air into its chest and turns towards him.

"Icy Mist!" the troll shouted, casting an ice spell and blowing a gust of ice towards Blacksmith.

Blacksmith stopped himself and swiftly struck the ground with his sword. Fire erupted from the ground, creating a wall of fire, blocking the ice mist.

Using this opportunity, I rushed towards them and leapt up towards the troll. Unfortunately, the troll noticed me.

"Icy Mist!"

It casts the spell again and blows a gust of ice towards me. I quickly moved my arms in front of me and took the attack directly.

Hm?

To my surprise, the attack did nothing. Ice didn't form around my clothes or body. Rather, it melted the instant it touched me. Perhaps it was because of the enchantments on my clothes and the White Flame of Life within me that I was protected from harm.

"What?!" the troll shouted, surprised and irritated.

"I guess I don't have to worry now," I said to myself.

I pushed forward and landed on top of the wyvern's back. The frost troll and I faced each other again with our weapons ready.

"Sword is mine!"

The frost troll leapt upwards and came down to strike me. Using Excalibur, I parried the axe away from me. It swung its axe towards me, but bending myself backwards, I avoided it. The two of us fought, my sword and its frost axe clashing. The more we fought each other, the more angry the troll became, realizing the difference in our strength.

"Graagh!" it shouted in frustration.

"Hmph!"

I lunged forward and swung my sword. The troll blocked it using the handle of its axe and mustered strength to push me back.

"Hngh..."

However, as the troll did so, its frost axe began to crack. Noticing this, the troll grits its teeth and clenches its fist.

"Hmph!"

The troll punches me in the chest and knocks me off of the wyvern. Again, although I was hit, I felt no pain. Fortunately, I was not damaged in any way. I landed safely on the ground on my feet and brushed the dirt off of my clothes.

"Are you alright?" Blacksmith asked me.

I nodded. "I'm fine."

Turning back, we looked to see the frost wyvern shaking its head, fully recovered from my blinding attack.

"Raaaaagh!" the wyvern roared angrily.

"Wyvern! Kill them! Kill them now!!!" the troll roared, frustrated and desperate.

It opened its mouth to launch another frost breath. Before it could, I quickly leapt up into the air.

"Hmph!"

I came down with a drop kick and struck the wyvern on its head, creating a powerful shockwave and knocking it down to the ground unconscious.

"M-My wyvern...!"

"Are we done?" I asked the troll.

"Tch! Graaaagh!"

The troll lets out a powerful roar, shaking the cave and the ground. It was refusing to back down, but it didn't realize that it was already over. I dashed forward and appeared in front of the troll.

"...!"

"Hmph!"

I spun around and kicked the troll in the torso, knocking it crashing into the cave walls. It coughed out saliva from its mouth and fell to the ground, dropping on its back.

"Aagh..." it let out a last painful groan.

Blacksmith chuckled and placed his hand over his face. "Honestly...you're way too powerful, Celeste."

I took a careful look at the troll, then at the wyvern. I dropped down from the wyvern's back and went over to Blacksmith.

"They're both down, but they're still alive," I said. "Are we going to harvest them as well?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Mind lending me a hand?" I nodded.

*****

After killing them, we used our knives to cut them apart piece by piece. For the frost troll, we collected its frost hide, bones, and blood. As for the frost wyvern, we took its scales, wing membrane, bones, venom gland, and ice gland. Once we finished harvesting their corpses, we put it all with the rest in his magic pouch.

"Now then..."

Blacksmith turns his attention to the frost troll's frost axe and picks it up from the ground to hold in his hands.

"Is it valuable?" I asked, staring at the axe.

"It is," he replied.

"What is it made out of?"

"Everfrost," he answered. "There's no mistaking it from its dark blue color and how cold it is."

Everfrost was enchanted ice imbued with magic. It was a special type of ice that was strong and cannot melt no matter how hot it was. It was rare, seeing you could only get it in cold places that had magic lingering around it. It was a material many would want to have if they wished for a powerful weapon.

Blacksmith looked around the cave. "It's all everfrost ice, and it all came from a wyvern and troll," he said. "They must've consumed everfrost ice in order to gain ice abilities and resistance. That's why they were able to use it. Which means there's a mine somewhere."

I followed behind Blacksmith as the two of us searched the cave. As we ventured deeper, we eventually found a large cluster of everfrost ice crystals. The crystals of everfrost ice were all dark blue, beautiful and glistening. Most of all, it was quite cold.

"Are we going to take some?" I asked.

He nodded. "We could break and harvest them using some enchanted tools, but..." Blacksmith turned to look at me. "How about you do it?"

I tilted my head. "Me?"

"I watched your fight with the troll. You're strong, and you're resistant to cold. Harvesting these everfrost ice crystals by yourself will be a good test, and it'll be more efficient when we collect them." I nodded in understanding.

I reached out and grabbed a piece of the everfrost ice with my bare hands. With one pull, I broke off a piece of it.

"Well done, Celeste."

"Shall I keep going?" Blacksmith nodded.

I continued breaking off more of the everfrost ice, collecting it from the cave and giving it to Blacksmith to put in his magic pouch. In the end, we had a large cluster of them in our possession.

"Hm. I think that's enough," I said. "Hm?"

In the far corner of the cave, I stumbled upon some sort of small round stone table near the walls, partially frozen in some everfrost ice.

"Blacksmith-sama, I think I found something," I said, pointing to it.

Blacksmith came over to me. Upon seeing what I was pointing to, his eyes widened from surprise.

"That's an altar..."

"An altar?" I repeated.

He placed his hand to his chin. "Strange...this one's different than the ones I've seen."

An altar was usually a table where people would give away offerings or sacrifices. However, this one seemed odd. In the center of the altar, there was an empty bowl-shaped hole.

"Something is meant to be placed there," he explained.

"For what purpose?" I asked.

"I don't know, but maybe we'll know more if I take a look at it. Celeste?"

Using my hands, I took care of the everfrost ice covering it. Blacksmith began examining the altar from top to bottom. He carefully ran his fingers through the altar, finding magic runes carved onto its structure and on the ground where it stood. Inside the hole, there were those same runes carved inside.

"This seems to be a mechanism. More precisely, a lock," he said.

"A lock?" I repeated.

He nodded and pointed to the hole. "This altar requires some sort of key to be placed here. By placing the key, the runes on the altar and on the ground will activate to unlock something."

"Unlock what?"

"It's just a guess, but perhaps something in this cave we are in. Maybe this altar will open a door or portal to some place."

"I see."

I stared at the altar, intrigued. This strange altar was a lock to a door or portal here in the mountains. I wonder what this altar was hiding and why it was here of all places. My eyes gazed upon the hole in the center and I tilted my head.

"If this altar needs a key, then where is it?" I asked.

"Who knows? It could be around here in the mountains, or it could be lost somewhere on the other side of the world," he replied. "Either way, it's probably best for us not to find it and activate this altar. It's too dangerous, especially since we don't know much about it." I nodded in understanding.

That day, we left with a load of valuable materials, leaving behind the altar in the cave.