I don't know what to feel except for the excitement that's been bubbling inside me. I've waited years. Years, I tell you.

I've waited years for this opportunity and I'd do everything to make it a success.

"Now, you stinky boy, I know you're excited and all but don't let that excitement bury your cautiousness." The old man took a piece of a luminescent crystal that's inside the cart. "These crystals are high in purity." He leaned closer to the crystal, "it's probably because you went to the undisturbed layer inside that cave."

I nodded to the old man's statements. "That's right! It was a moment of serendipity and I asked Antonio, what if we can't find newer materials because we keep on avoiding the danger? Antonio told me I was crazy but it was this crazy that lead us toー"

"YOU WHAT?!"

Sheesh, the old man started screaming again. "I swear to God, Ash, Antonio's a lunatic but you're an even BIGGER lunatic! Who in the right mind would go towards the danger himself? WE HAVE RULES FOR A REASON, ASH. RULES FOR STAYING ALIVE!"

And so we had a game of tag where it only took a few seconds for the old man to catch me. I am telling you, being hanged upside-down doesn't look as fun as you imagine, especially if you're being hanged for hours.

When I was feeling thirsty, I begged the old man to let me off. Maybe the old man finally took pity on me and released me.

While I was eating and drinking, he gave me some yellow papers. Some of them were crumpled and some were taped-up pieces to constitute a whole page. "What's this?"

"An analysis."

I trembled as I quickly tried to read the contents. "Is that why you said...?" I didn't have to finish my question because the old man understood.

"Yes. The crystals are very-high in purity, which means that it'll be an effective cover for your vehicle. Although I say it's an effective cover, you can't fully arm yourself with this crystal since it's too heavy. You can pierce the magmatic layer with this but..." The old man paused, "do you really have to go to the uppergrounds?"

I laughed and playfully nudged the old man. "Once I decide on something, I do it until the end. You know me, I don't say no to anything. For me," I looked up at the magmatic layer that served as our sky, "nothing is impossible."

"I hate that part of you, you know?"

"Most people say that I'm quite lovable?"

"I'm not most people then." The old man pointed to the crumpled papers. "There's not enough crystals for you to work on andー sit down kid, I am not done with what I'm saying!"

I promptly sat down, but I'm still too excited about the next steps.

"I told you, you can't go to the deeper parts of the cave on a whim." He then pointed to another page. "I need to know, where exactly did you find these crystals."

And so I drew a map on how we found the crystals. Of course, I couldn't remember everything so I had to talk to Antonio about it. Unfortunately, the old man wanted to come with me to talk with Antonio as well so it somehow turned into an argument between them.

"I FUCKING TOLD YOU THAT YOUR MASKS ARE INEFFECTIVE AS SHIT!"

"YOU HAVE THE AUDACITY WHEN YOU CAN'T MAKE A BETTER VERSION!"

"I CAN MAKE A BETTER VERSION!"

"THEN DO IT, OLD MAN!"

We weren't as productive as I'd hoped. It took time for them to calm down but we still got the completed map through mine and Antonio's memories.

Antonio looked over our heads and asked, "planning on getting more of that crystal?" I nodded and Antonio turned to the old man with a sneer. "Are you mental? How could you make a kid go back there?"

The old man sneered back, "who says this kid'll be the one to go? Don't go assuming shit, you damn cockroach!"

They stared at each other and I was ready to cover my ears when instead of shouting, I heard Antonio's voice filled with disbelief. "Don't tell me that you're going?" The old man didn't answer. "Wait, you're really going?"

The old man folded the map and motioned for me to go with him. Antonio hurriedly placed his hands on the old man's shoulders, but the old man was too tall so Antonio only caught the fabric. Still, it was effective in stopping the old man.

"If you're going, let me come with you!"

Antonio's eyes were sparkling as he shouted. "Let me come with you!!" He kept on tugging the old man's clothes like a little kid that wants his parents to buy him something. "I want to come with you!"

The old man kept on tugging his clothes to be free from Antonio's clutches, to no avail. "You're destroying my clothes, let go!"

"I won't let go unless you let me go with you!"

"I thought you had reservations with going to that part of the cave?!"

Antonio laughed hysterically. "I'm not suicidal enough to want to go to that part, but everything changes if you go." Antonio smiled creepily that I even felt that I had to take two steps away. "You're the safest person to go with when exploring the caves, so who would resist this great opportunity?!"

It was at that moment that I remembered why the old man kept on describing Antonio as a lunatic. Although they kept on arguing about almost everything, Antonio is still a fan of the old man.

It's a complicated relationship that I really don't want to comment on.

Through relentless persuasion and clothes-tugging, Antonio got the old man to promise to take him in the cave.

And I got left behind to sort the next parts of the project.