The next morning arrived, crisp and cool, as the group continued their steady climb up the mountainside.0

The boy’s gaze kept drifting toward Ketal. There was a restless energy in the way the boy watched Ketal, something between curiosity and anxiety, as if he was trying to unravel a puzzle only he could see.3

Noticing this, Seraphina asked the boy with gentle concern, “Is something bothering you? Are you interested in spirits, perhaps?”0

Startled, the boy shook his head with a hastily muttered, “N-no, not at all…”0

However, his denial was half-hearted. Even as he looked away, his attention soon slipped back to Ketal, almost against his will. The others in the party glanced at the boy’s repeated stares, but Ketal himself appeared unconcerned, smiling quietly as he observed the others fight monsters. Ketal had the look of someone watching a lively play unfold before him, content to be an audience rather than a participant.0

The boy’s frown deepened as he kept staring at Ketal.. 0

At last, their journey brought them to a stop. Ahead of them, nestled near the peak of the mountain, was a cave, one whose gaping entrance was wide enough to swallow an entire castle. It was so massive that anyone with eyes could see its purpose, and only a fool would fail to grasp it immediately. This was unmistakably a dragon’s lair, a place built for a creature of impossible scale.0

Yet the cave’s size was not the only thing that drew their attention.0

“There’s...0