I know that it's useless to knock on a broken door but I still did it anyway. Metals started clanking and I moved away from the door.

"YOU SILLY BOY! Why did you wake me up so early?"

I laughed and gestured at the old man that was covered from head to toe to the cart that I was pulling a few minutes ago. "I found some new materials! Look at them, do you think it'll be enough for our new project?"

I was so excited to show it to the old man that I was jumping all over. The old man took out a wooden pole and tried to trip me. "Don't move too much! What if you fall?"

"You're the one making me fall!" I retorted.

"The pain will be good for you. You'll remember the lesson better."

I moved a few distance away from the old man while still pointing at the cart. "HOW ARE THE NEW MATERIALS?!" I shouted because I moved too far away and was afraid that the old man won't hear me. "I FOUND IT IN THE DEEPER PARTS OF THE LUMINOUS CAVE!"

The old man started trembling and I was so startled when he suddenly started chasing me while waving his pole. "YOU IDIOT!!!"

I ran away but the old man was too fast and caught me after just a few seconds by tripping me with the pole. "YOU DAMN KID, WHO TOLD YOU TO GO TO SUCH DANGEROUS PARTS, HUH?!"

"I had Antonio with me!" I started to get dizzy because the old man was shaking me so much while holding on to my shoulders, the pole already forgotten on the ground. "We had a lot of extra masks so it wasn't dangerous at all!"

I was lifted off the ground by the old man that was twice taller than me. "YOU TRUST THE MASKS MADE BY ANTONIO?! THAT FUCKER DOESN'T KNOW SHIT ABOUT DANGER BECAUSE HE'S A FUCKING COCKROACH! AND YOU'RE A DUMB KID!!!"

The old man kept shaking me while admonishing me for my life choices. Still, even when I was so dizzy from all the shaking, I didn't forget what I rushed here for. "Ma...materials... Good?" It seems I was just too dizzy that I only managed to get these words out.

When I said those words, the old man seems to have awakened from his admonishing spree. He placed me down and went to the cart. I looked for the wooden pole that the old man just left near and used it as a cane. I was still dizzy so I can't stand straight but I have to know whether the materials are that good and if I can start preparing for the next project.

I slowly moved towards the cart and the old man. When I was getting closer, the old man looked towards me. "You're an idiot."

I laughed. "But I'm an idiot that can get things done." I looked at the old man with eager eyes, hoping that he can say some good news about it.

The old man sighed. Although I can't see his face with all the hair that he has, I know he's glaring at me. "I don't want to give you any confirmation about whether it's good or bad unless you promise me that you won't recklessly do shit like this again without consulting me."

Just from his words, I can already deduce that the materials are good. How good? I don't know but it's already a confirmation that it's useful enough.

Before I knew it, the old man took my cane and I fell from the loss of support. "Hey!"

When I looked at where the old man was, the end of the wooden pole was touching my nose. "Ash, promise me that you won't go there without my permission."

When the old man gets angry, some of the stones float near him. Eventhough none can see his face, everyone knows what he's feeling just from the objects near him.

If he's happy, the crystals around us would light up more. If he's sad, it would grow dimmer. If he's nervous, they would flicker.

And if he's angry, just like right now, objects start floating. The angrier he is, the more objects will float.

"I promise."

Just from those words alone, several stones slowly moved back to the ground.

The old man sighed again. "If you break your promise, I will never help you in your projects again." He looked around and noticed what he'd just done. "Ah, look at what you made me do. Tsk. Since this is your fault, you need to clean up this mess."

I wanted to protest but I have a more important question to ask. "So how good is it exactly?!"

The old man opened his arms while he told me something I would remember all my life.

"You've found the ticket to finally get out of this place."