I am Just an Average Tamer

The whole cave shook.

Crack! Boom!

The barrier at the mouth cracked—then exploded into shards.

The panther stepped in, limping a little.

Grrr!

Its glowing eyes burned with rage.

'Shit.'

Kai cursed, standing and pulling Elina behind him.

He glanced around, eyes sharp—desperate.

Then—a glint.

A small hole in the wall, partially obscured by moss and rock.

He narrowed his eyes.

[<Falcon's Sight activated!>]

Then he saw—

A tunnel.

A way out.

"B-Big brother..." Elina whispered, fear creeping in again.

He didn't answer.

Just nodded.

"Vael!" he called.

The falcon burst from the magic circle beside him, shrieking.

"Together—now!"

[<Phantom Slash activated!>]

[<Sonic Dive!>]

A spiral of light and force slammed into the wall—

BOOM!

Rocks crumbled.

The hole expanded, revealing a narrow passage.

Kai didn't wait.

"Let's go!"

He grabbed Elina, recalled Vael in a flash of light, and dived into the tunnel.

GRRRR!

The panther lunged, fangs bared—but the opening was too tight.

Its head slammed against stone.

Thud!

It snarled. Thrashed.

Clawed.

But it couldn't follow.

Kai crawled forward, Elina tucked close to him.

The tunnel twisted and narrowed, cold and damp.

Minutes passed in near silence, except for their labored breaths.

Then—

Light.

He pulled himself through the exit and stood—

And froze.

Eyes widened.

"…What… the hell…"

Before him lay—

A hidden ruin, ancient and overgrown.

Stone towers half-sunken into the earth.

Glyphs glowing faintly.

A place lost to time.

And the air—

It buzzed with raw Essence.

Elina looked up too, mouth agape.

"Big brother… where are we?"

Kai stepped in, his boots crunching against gravel and shattered rock.

The narrow tunnel opened into a wide underground cavern—and it was like stepping into another world.

Stones.Everywhere.

Embedded in the jagged walls. Scattered across the uneven ground.Pale blue. Glowing.

A soft hum pulsed through the air, rhythmic—almost like breathing.

The cavern was vast, ceiling lost in the shadows, but every surface shimmered with threads of pure energy, seeping out from the Essence Stones.

Kai exhaled, his breath visible in the strange chill of the place.

"This is…" he muttered, stepping forward.

His eyes scanned the surroundings.

Essence Stones.

Not cores, not fragments—

But pure.

They form naturally, so they were very rare.

And here, dozens—no, hundreds, lay, scattered.

Kai's heart thudded as he walked deeper into the glowing cavern, light from the stones casting faint blue hues across his tired face.

"These things…" he muttered, crouching by a jagged cluster, "they're worth a fortune."

Elina, still holding his arm, looked around.

"What is this place…?" She asked.

"An Essence vein," he murmured.

Then.

He reached out, placed his hand on one—

Nothing.

No response. No pulse of energy.

He moved to another—

Still, dead.

"What…?" he frowned, standing up, now moving faster between clusters.

Stone after stone—dim. Hollow.

"Why? These should've lasted decades… centuries…"

His hands clenched into fists.

Elina stepped beside him, eyes wide, still trembling from earlier. "What… what are these? What're you doing?"

Kai exhaled, looking at the nearest glowing shard.

"They are essence Stones," he said, glancing at her. "They're rare, very rare. They grow naturally when mana condenses in pure environments. You can use them to charge artifacts, absorb Essence faster, sometimes even for enchantments."

He tapped one. "But most of these… are dry. Like someone drained them."

Elina blinked. "Used? But who? There's no one here."

Kai narrowed his eyes, running a hand along a wall. "I don't know. But someone must be here long before us… and they didn't leave this place untouched."

He turned, his expression serious now.

"We need to stay alert. This cave—it's not just a shelter anymore."

He then moved a bit forward, checking the stones one by one.

But, they were still hollow.

His expressions turned sour.

Still, he kept moving.

Then—

His fingers brushed over a cluster of faintly glowing stones—

He felt it.

A pulse.

A shimmer.

His eyes lit up.

"These ones… still have juice in them."

He grinned, grabbing a few and slipping them into his pouch. "Jackpot."

Elina watched him, still holding onto his cloak from behind.

Then—

Elina nudged his arm, gently but urgently.

"Brother…"

He turned.

His gaze fell upon the direction where she was pointing.

Towards the far end of the cave, where the walls dipped down into a natural basin—

There was a pool of Essence Stones, glowing so bright the air itself shimmered above them.

And just beside the pool—

A silhouette.

Still. Unmoving.

Kai's eyes narrowed.

In a second, his grin faded, replaced by cold, cautious expression.

He slipped his dagger into his grip, lowered his stance.

"Stay here," he whispered.

Elina nodded, pressing herself behind a rock.

Kai crept forward, each step silent against the damp floor.

The glow of the pool shimmered across his blade as he got closer—

The figure didn't move.

Didn't flinch.

And then—

Kai raised the dagger.

Ready to strike—

But what he saw—

Wasn't a person.

It was an egg.

Large. Roughly the size of a melon.

Its shell was dark, veined with glowing blue streaks that pulsed like veins filled with lightning.

It sat nestled among the Essence Stones—

As if feeding.

Sucking them dry, one after another, draining the energy hungrily.

Kai blinked.

He lowered his dagger and took a cautious step forward, then another, crouching beside it.

He extended a hand, fingertips grazing the shell.

It was warm. Vibrating.

Behind him, Elina stepped closer, hesitantly, her footsteps echoing slightly.

"B-Brother?" she whispered, her voice still trembling.

He didn't look at her. His eyes were fixed on the egg.

This thing—

It was devouring the essence around it like a dying star swallowing light.

[<Damn your luck brat. An Egg like this, and you just randomly stumbled upon it. Tch.>]

A slow grin tugged at the edge of his lips.

'Idiot, I almost lost my life earlier.'

He picked it up carefully, the pulsing growing stronger in his arms.

"You're hungry, huh?" he muttered. "Well… aren't you a little jackpot."

He glanced at Elina, eyes gleaming.

"I don't know what you are," he said to the egg, "but something tells me… you're going to be worth the trouble."