John's body continued to sink into the depths of the water, the cold devouring his flesh with savage intensity. The water paralyzed his limbs like heavy shackles, yet despite the exhaustion and agony, his face remained entirely cold. His lips even curled into a faint smile, as if he had surrendered to his inevitable fate.
John thought to himself: "Heh, how foolish I am! How could I let myself fall into his trap so easily? I knew I shouldn't have trusted anyone... I've carved this lesson into my very bones now." His smile vanished as he watched the sunlight above the water slowly drift away. He thought bitterly: "But since I met that drunkard, I thought for a second... just for one second... that there was someone I could trust in this world. Heh, what a fool I was! The world has slapped me awake to reality." He added: "If I ever get another chance... I swear I will never open my heart to anyone again."
John was drowning not just because of the water, but because of the realization of his bitter reality. On one hand, he had been betrayed by the man he thought was a safe haven; he was now in freezing water with limbs that could barely move. On the other hand, the Pearl Lizards were heading toward him with insane speed.
John felt no anger, sadness, or regret; every decision he had made had brought him to this point. He whispered internally: "Sorry, Mother... I've failed you." He closed his eyes and prepared to depart for the afterlife, feeling the wake of the approaching lizards.
But then, something strange happened. John felt the surge of water moving past him. The lizards lunged forward with speed, but they did not attack him! Instead, they ignored him completely and followed the Captain's trail. John remained with his eyes closed, bewildered: "Strange... why am I not dead yet?" He slowly opened one eye and realized the lizards had bypassed him. He wondered: "What? How? Why didn't they attack me?" He regained his focus quickly; despite the brutal cold, he was still semi-conscious. He thought: "This is the chance I prayed for... I will never let it go."
He looked toward the surface and saw the sunlight. He tried with all his might to pull himself up, but his numb limbs refused to move; they were already paralyzed. He thought desperately: "I finally get my chance and my body refuses to move? No... I won't accept this!" He gritted his teeth, gathered every ounce of energy, and the adrenaline surging through his blood gave him a powerful push. He managed to move one arm and one leg. Every time he moved a limb, he felt his frozen blood stir with a painful force.
He finally broke the surface and began to gasp violently. His lungs felt like they were failing from the cold, but he endured the terrible pain and pushed himself to swim until he grabbed onto an ice floe. He struggled to catch his breath, his skin turning blue from the frost.
Searching for any sign of hope, he spotted a crack or a fissure at the edge of a massive ice block that was just large enough for him. He pushed himself toward it, and upon reaching it, his hand gripped the hard ice and he pulled himself inside.
The crack was like a small cave. He collapsed onto the ground. In his shattered mental and physical state, he lacked the strength to inspect the area. He fell unconscious, his body shivering violently and his breath shallow but rapid, as if his body were reclaiming what remained of his life.
But John did not waste time; he didn't lose consciousness completely. He moved his arm and began to strip off his soaked clothes, knowing that keeping them on was a slow death sentence. He endured the pain as he peeled off the frozen garments and sat naked in the crevice. With a trembling hand, he pulled a Red Stone from his clothes and dropped it lightly on the ground.
The stone emitted a powerful, warm red light. John pulled his body close to the stone, hugging it tightly, curling around it as if clinging to his final lifeline. After a while, the shivering stopped, and his breathing became steady. He opened his eyes and knew he had survived.
He turned to his frozen clothes and inspected them, finding two more Red Stones. From his experience, he knew that drying his clothes was his ticket to survival. He placed one glowing Red Stone inside his wet, cold garments to dry them and kept the other for emergencies.
He drew close to his clothes, staring at the beautiful light of the stone reflecting off his entirely naked body in that darkness. His blue eyes glowed with a hue that blended orange and blue. Despite his body's tremors, his heart was cold. There was no trace of emotion, inside or out, as if the water that froze his body had also frozen his soul the moment he decided never to trust again.
He vowed never to repeat the same mistake. He thought: "Now, how do I go home? Even if I return, the Captain might be surprised... what do I do then?" But he pushed these thoughts aside; his primary goal was simply not to die in the cold.
After a while, the red light inside his clothes dimmed. He took them and found they were dry but still cold. He put them on, feeling a bit of warmth, and said: "Alright... time to get out." He tried to stand, but his legs were still numb. He leaned against the cave wall for support until he reached the exit.
He searched himself and found he had one Red Stone left and his dagger. He thought: "Not even enough for a quarter of the distance." But he looked out and said: "I must succeed... or die trying."
He stepped out of the crevice and saw nothing but freezing water. Worse, he didn't know the way; he was literally lost in "nowhere." An idea struck him: "If walking won't work, perhaps I should climb." He looked up and saw a massive ice mass.
He drew his dagger, tore a piece of his clothing to make a rope, and tied one end to the dagger and the other to his waist. He slammed the dagger into the ice until it pierced the hard surface, using his hands and feet to climb, while the dagger served as his safety anchor.
He climbed cautiously, his hands and feet slipping constantly, but his will was as hard as iron. He reached the summit and lay atop the icy edge, his chest heaving. He looked at his hands, covered in scratches and cuts from the ice, but he didn't care about the pain. In his mind, pain was just a message from the body that an area had a problem; he had grown accustomed to it, like breathing.
He gathered himself and stood up with difficulty. He looked ahead and saw a strange sight: a perfectly circular opening in the middle of a mountain attached to the very place he had climbed. He moved toward it, his body still suffering from cold-induced tremors. He touched the icy passage; the edges had small grooves like saw teeth, as if a massive saw had cut it open.
He wanted to turn back, but then he heard a strange sound like faint cracking followed by a powerful tremor. He looked up and saw an avalanche heading toward him—a massive wave of snow. His body moved before he could think; he dove into the large icy passage just as the snow fell in front of the opening, sealing it like a giant white boulder.
He caught his breath and said: "Damn it, even nature wants me dead!" He stood up and noticed a deathly silence and absolute darkness. He remembered his last Red Stone. He hesitated, fearing he would lose his only source of warmth, but then said: "Facing the unknown is more dangerous than the cold."
He struck the stone lightly, and it emitted a faint heat and a strong red glow. He used it as a flashlight, the light reflecting off the ice in a beautiful fusion of red and deep blue. He moved with measured steps, clutching his dagger, until he reached a large chamber with three branching tunnels.
John said: "Just what I needed!" He was conflicted; any of the three choices could lead to certain death. He sighed and chose the middle tunnel at random, every fiber of his being screaming with caution. He tucked the stone into his clothes, allowing only a faint light to escape so that no creature would spot him.
Then, John heard a sound like heavy chewing. He froze, dropped to his knees, and moved in total silence. He looked ahead and his pupils dilated. Before him were three blue-colored lizards with white eyes (Black Pearls). They were feasting on the carcass of another lizard, seemingly unbothered that it was one of their own kind. It appeared that these creatures didn't care who they ate—living or dead—the only thing that mattered was survival. That was a fixed rule etched into the heart of every living being, whether human or animal.
When they finished, they leaped into the water and vanished. John breathed a sigh of relief, glad he didn't have to face them, but his caution increased. He noticed the light from his stone was weakening and decided to hurry. He passed through another tunnel where the ice was thinner, allowing some sunlight to pierce through.
John took advantage of this and hid the stone to feel its warmth. As he moved forward, he saw something strange: a piece of wood. He picked it up and inspected it, then his eyes widened in shock: "I know this piece... it's from the Captain's boat! Could it be that he is here too?" He wondered how he could be here when this place was above the frozen sea. He thought he might be mistaken, that it belonged to some other old boat, so he threw the wood aside. But a powerful curiosity drew him toward the tunnel where the wood had appeared. He moved with a steady heart, his hand gripping the dagger so tightly his knuckles turned white.
After a while, John reached a place where the light was much better. He moved further and saw a scene before him that made his eyes bulge. His heart began to race madly, and his blood ran cold as he whispered in disbelief:
"How... it's impossible!"