The cavern trembled again.
This time the vibration ran deeper than before, like something massive was shifting beneath the stone foundations of the world itself.
Garner immediately stopped moving.
Every instinct in his body told him something had changed.
The air inside the ancient cavern, once calm and heavy with space essence, had become tense.
Unstable.
Even the countless blue space strings floating invisibly through the cavern began to tremble.
That alone was enough to make Garner uneasy.
Space strings rarely reacted.
Unlike the white strings of wind, earth, and gravity, space strings were normally quiet. They simply existed, linking distant points together in silent connections that most beings would never even perceive.
Yet now those same strings vibrated like plucked threads.
Something had disturbed them.
Garner slowly turned his head toward the deeper tunnel of the cavern.
The teleportation frogs reacted first.
The small blue creatures that had been hopping peacefully between crystals suddenly froze.
For a brief moment they remained perfectly still.
Then they scattered.
Pop.
Pop.
Pop.
Space folded repeatedly as the frogs vanished in different directions.
Garner had spent several days observing them, and he had learned something important.
Teleportation frogs were calm creatures.
They rarely panicked.
Yet now they were fleeing.
Leo noticed it too.
The Razorback Alpha pushed himself off the crystal he had been leaning against and straightened.
"…That's new."
Garner frowned.
"What's happening?"
Leo didn't answer immediately.
Instead he watched the dark tunnel carefully.
King spoke quietly from where he floated in the air.
"The guardian has awakened."
Garner blinked.
"The guardian?"
Another tremor rolled through the cavern.
The stone beneath Garner's feet vibrated violently.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Several nearby crystals cracked with sharp, ringing sounds.
Garner narrowed his eyes.
Something enormous was moving in the darkness ahead.
Even without seeing it yet, he could feel the disturbance spreading through the space strings.
Wherever the creature moved, the connections of space shifted.
Not broken.
Not destroyed.
But forced to adjust.
Garner whispered,
"…That thing is affecting the strings."
Leo chuckled.
"Of course it is."
Garner glanced at him.
"You sound like you expected this."
Leo shrugged.
"You're standing inside an ancient Space Stone vein."
Garner already knew that.
But he still didn't understand something.
"So what exactly is this guardian protecting?"
King answered calmly.
"The vein itself."
Garner frowned.
"That means the creature lives here?"
King nodded once.
"It has slept here for centuries."
Garner's gaze returned to the tunnel.
The tremors grew stronger.
Whatever was approaching…
was massive.
Then suddenly—
Silence.
The trembling stopped.
The cavern became still again.
Too still.
Garner held his breath.
Leo's expression sharpened slightly.
Then, deep within the darkness…
two faint lights appeared.
Blue.
They slowly grew brighter.
Garner felt a chill crawl up his spine.
Eyes.
Enormous glowing eyes.
They opened slowly within the shadows of the cavern tunnel.
Garner swallowed.
"…That's not small."
Leo grinned slightly.
"Nope."
The creature stepped forward.
Stone cracked beneath its weight.
The ground shook again as the massive figure moved into the cavern light.
Garner stared.
The creature resembled a frog.
But the resemblance ended there.
This thing was enormous.
Its body alone was larger than a house.
Thick limbs supported its weight like ancient stone pillars, and its skin was covered in jagged crystalline formations that glowed faintly with the same blue light as the Space Stone vein surrounding them.
The crystals embedded in its body pulsed slowly.
Just like the crystals of the cavern.
As if the creature itself had grown from the vein.
Garner whispered,
"…That's the guardian?"
King nodded calmly.
"Yes."
The massive creature croaked.
The sound shook the cavern like distant thunder.
Garner winced slightly.
Even the air seemed to ripple.
Leo whistled.
"Well."
"Looks like it's in a good mood."
Garner blinked.
"That's a good mood?"
Leo shrugged.
"If it were angry, the cavern would already be collapsing."
Garner didn't find that comforting.
The guardian slowly stepped closer.
Each movement sent vibrations through the ground.
The glowing blue eyes remained fixed on Garner.
Garner felt the space strings around him tremble again.
This time…
they felt almost aware.
The guardian croaked again.
Its enormous head tilted slightly.
Garner felt like he was being studied.
Leo crossed his arms.
"…Interesting."
Garner glanced at him.
"What?"
Leo nodded toward the creature.
"It's not attacking."
Garner frowned.
"Should it be?"
Leo chuckled.
"You were the one disturbing the space strings."
Garner sighed.
"That was training."
Leo shrugged.
"Tell that to the guardian."
The massive creature suddenly moved.
Garner tensed.
But instead of attacking—
The guardian jumped.
And vanished.
Garner's eyes widened.
"…What?!"
A massive creature the size of a building had just disappeared.
Then—
BOOM.
The guardian reappeared nearly forty meters away atop a crystal formation.
The landing shattered several nearby stones.
Garner stared.
"That thing just used space fold."
Leo grinned.
"Of course it did."
Garner shook his head.
"That jump should have cost an absurd amount of essence."
King spoke quietly.
"It did not."
Garner frowned.
"How?"
King gestured toward the cavern.
"The vein."
Garner blinked.
"…Right."
The guardian didn't need its own essence.
Just like the teleportation frogs.
It drew energy directly from the Space Stone vein.
The creature jumped again.
This time the fold was even smoother.
Garner watched carefully.
Instead of forcing space, the guardian followed the natural connections between strings.
Exactly like the frogs.
Garner whispered,
"…It's showing me."
Leo smirked.
"Took you long enough."
The guardian jumped again.
This time landing closer to Garner.
The enormous creature lowered its head slightly.
Garner didn't move.
The glowing blue eyes studied him carefully.
For several seconds neither of them moved.
Then the guardian croaked softly.
Not a roar.
Almost like a greeting.
Garner slowly exhaled.
"…You're curious."
Leo laughed.
"Congratulations."
"You impressed the local monster."
Garner ignored him.
His eyes remained fixed on the creature.
The guardian turned its head slightly.
Then it jumped again.
Garner felt the space strings bend.
A path.
The creature had just created a path.
King spoke calmly.
"It is inviting you."
Garner frowned.
"Inviting me to what?"
King answered simply.
"To follow."
Garner looked at the path again.
The space strings had aligned perfectly.
A natural fold.
Exactly the kind he had been trying to find during training.
Garner inhaled slowly.
Borrow the vein.
Follow the connection.
Do not force space.
He stepped forward.
The strings trembled.
Reality folded.
And suddenly—
Garner stood beside the guardian.
The massive creature croaked approvingly.
Leo laughed loudly.
"Well, look at that."
Garner blinked.
"…Did I just keep up with it?"
King nodded.
"Yes."
Garner looked back toward the distant spot where he had been standing only seconds earlier.
The distance had been nearly sixty meters.
And yet he had barely spent any essence.
The guardian jumped again.
Garner felt the strings align once more.
Another path.
Another lesson.
The creature was teaching him.
Garner smiled slightly.
"Alright."
"I'm following."
And with that—
the training truly began.
Garner steadied his breathing.
The moment he reappeared beside the guardian, he felt the difference immediately.
The space strings here were thicker.
Not physically thicker, but more present. The connections between locations felt clearer, as if the very fabric of space within the deeper portion of the cavern had been woven tighter.
It made sense.
This was the heart of the ancient Space Stone vein.
The guardian croaked again, a low rumbling sound that echoed across the cavern walls.
Garner glanced upward.
The creature's enormous body loomed over him like a living mountain of crystal and stone. Blue light pulsed slowly beneath its skin, following the lines of the crystalline formations embedded across its body.
The glow matched the crystals of the cavern perfectly.
It was almost as if the creature itself had grown from the vein.
Leo walked closer, his boots crunching over broken stone.
"Well, this is new."
Garner didn't take his eyes off the guardian.
"You sound surprised."
Leo shrugged.
"I knew the guardian existed."
Garner blinked.
"You knew?"
Leo grinned.
"Of course."
Garner sighed.
"You could've warned me."
Leo chuckled.
"If I warned you, you might have hesitated."
Garner frowned.
"That's not reassuring."
The guardian suddenly jumped again.
Space folded smoothly.
The enormous creature appeared nearly eighty meters away near a cluster of towering crystals.
Garner felt the strings shift again.
Another path.
Another invitation.
King's calm voice floated through the cavern.
"It wishes you to learn."
Garner glanced at him.
"Why?"
King tilted his head slightly.
"Because you are manipulating the same law."
Garner looked back toward the guardian.
That explanation made sense.
Space creatures likely recognized others capable of interacting with the same law.
Garner inhaled slowly.
The strings were still aligned.
The path was still open.
He stepped forward.
The world twisted.
Reality folded.
And in an instant—
Garner reappeared beside the guardian once again.
This time the movement felt smoother.
More natural.
His essence barely fluctuated.
Leo raised an eyebrow.
"…That was faster."
Garner nodded.
"I'm starting to understand the flow."
The guardian croaked approvingly.
Then it jumped again.
Garner followed.
Again.
And again.
The cavern blurred around them.
Each jump folded dozens of meters of distance instantly.
Garner began to notice patterns.
The guardian never forced the strings.
It simply moved along existing connections.
Some paths were short.
Others stretched across nearly half the cavern.
But every movement was precise.
Efficient.
Natural.
Garner's mind raced.
So this is what true space movement looks like…
The guardian stopped suddenly.
Garner reappeared beside it moments later.
But this time, the creature didn't jump again.
Instead, it lowered its massive body slightly and pressed one crystalline limb against the cavern floor.
The blue crystals embedded in the ground pulsed brighter.
Garner felt the surrounding space strings vibrate.
Something deeper in the vein responded.
Leo frowned slightly.
"…What's it doing?"
King answered quietly.
"It is showing him the source."
Garner blinked.
"The source?"
The guardian shifted slightly.
A deep rumble echoed through the cavern.
Then the ground beneath Garner's feet cracked.
A large section of stone broke apart, revealing something beneath.
Garner stared.
A massive cluster of pure Space Stones had been buried below the surface.
Unlike the surrounding crystals embedded in the walls, these stones were enormous.
Each one glowed with dense, swirling space essence.
Garner could feel the power radiating from them.
His senses expanded automatically.
The space strings surrounding the cluster were far stronger.
Far denser.
Almost like a central node.
Leo whistled.
"Well."
"There's the heart of the vein."
Garner crouched slightly near the exposed stones.
"So this is where the energy comes from…"
King nodded.
"The vein feeds the cavern."
Garner extended his senses carefully.
The moment he touched the space strings surrounding the cluster—
He felt something overwhelming.
The density of the connections was staggering.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
Paths extending outward in every direction.
Garner quickly withdrew his senses.
"…That's too much."
Leo chuckled.
"Yeah."
"Try not to explode your brain."
Garner rubbed his temples.
The sheer amount of information contained within the strings here was difficult to process.
But something else caught his attention.
The guardian was watching him again.
Its glowing blue eyes were calm.
Patient.
Waiting.
Garner frowned.
"You want me to use it?"
The guardian croaked softly.
Leo grinned.
"Well, looks like you've got homework."
Garner sighed.
"Great."
He slowly approached the crystal cluster again.
This time he moved more carefully.
Instead of trying to read all the strings at once, he focused on just one.
A single connection.
It stretched across the cavern to a distant stone pillar nearly a hundred meters away.
Garner inhaled slowly.
Borrow the vein.
Follow the path.
He stepped forward.
The space string bent smoothly.
Reality folded.
Garner vanished.
And reappeared atop the distant pillar.
His eyes widened slightly.
"…That distance."
Leo's voice echoed across the cavern.
"About ninety meters."
Garner stared at his hands.
"And it barely cost anything."
King floated slightly higher in the air.
"You are beginning to move correctly."
Garner smiled slightly.
"This is amazing."
But the moment the words left his mouth—
The cavern trembled again.
Much harder than before.
Garner nearly lost his footing.
"What now?!"
The guardian's posture changed instantly.
The creature raised its enormous body and croaked loudly.
This time the sound was different.
Not calm.
Not curious.
A warning.
Leo's grin disappeared.
"…That's not good."
Garner turned toward the deeper tunnels.
The space strings were vibrating again.
But this time the disturbance felt different.
Violent.
Unstable.
Something else was disturbing the connections.
Something approaching the cavern.
Garner frowned.
"…Another creature?"
King's expression darkened slightly.
"No."
Garner looked at him.
"Then what is it?"
King stared toward the cavern entrance.
"Outsiders."
Leo cracked his knuckles.
"Well."
"That explains it."
Garner blinked.
"Wait… people are coming here?"
Leo shrugged.
"You've been folding space inside a giant energy vein."
"That kind of disturbance tends to attract attention."
The guardian croaked again.
Its massive body turned toward the tunnel leading outside the cavern.
The creature crouched slightly.
Ready.
Garner felt the tension immediately.
"Is it going to attack them?"
King shook his head.
"The guardian protects the vein."
Garner frowned.
"So if someone tries to enter…"
Leo finished the sentence.
"They're going to have a very bad day."
Garner looked toward the tunnel again.
The space strings there were twisting violently now.
Someone was approaching.
Fast.
And whoever it was…
they were powerful enough to disturb the space strings themselves.
Garner's expression hardened.
"…Looks like training time is over."
Leo grinned.
"Looks like the real fun is about to start."
The guardian croaked one final time.
And the ancient protector of the Space Stone vein prepared to defend its territory.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++