The cavern trembled with every step the stone creature took.
THUD… THUD… THUD…
Dust fell from the ceiling. Pebbles rolled across the ground.Steve tightened his grip on his iron sword, his heartbeat thundering even louder than the creature's footsteps.
The giant stopped just a few meters away, towering over him.
Its eyes—two glowing yellow orbs—locked onto Steve's.
For a moment, neither moved.
Then…
The creature roared.
A deep, earth-shaking roar that felt like it could split the entire cave in half.
Steve flinched, the force pushing him back a step.
"Okay… definitely not friendly."
The First Strike
The monster swung its massive stone arm.
Steve barely rolled out of the way—
BOOM!Its arm smashed into the ground, cracking the stone like fragile ice.
Steve sprang up and slashed with his sword.
CLANG!
The blade bounced off the creature's rocky hide, sending a painful vibration up his arm.
No damage.
"Its body is too hard… but there must be a weak spot."
The creature turned slowly toward him, showing no sign of pain, only pure rage.
Finding the Weakness
Torchlight flickered across the creature's body.
That's when Steve noticed it—a glowing orange crack running along its chest, pulsing like molten lava.
That must be it.
He darted sideways as the creature charged again, shaking the cavern.
Steve's movements were sharper now—not trained, but instinctual, like his body was learning quicker than humanly possible.
He dodged another strike and rushed toward the glowing crack.
CLANG!
His sword hit the weak spot.
This time, the creature let out a painful roar.The crack widened, glowing brighter.
"Yes… it's working!"
The Storm of Stone
But the creature got angrier—much angrier.
It slammed both fists into the ground, and suddenly the entire cavern floor erupted with sharp stone spikes.
Steve leaped backward as spikes shot up around him, barely missing his legs.
He stumbled, almost falling into a pit.
The creature advanced.
Steve was running out of space.
Running out of stamina.
Running out of time.
The Final Strike
The monster lifted its arm for a crushing blow.
Steve sprinted forward—straight toward it.
"If I miss… I die."
He slid under the creature's arm like sliding under a falling tree, spun around, and drove his iron sword directly into the glowing crack.
CRACK—BOOM!
A blinding flash of orange light burst from the creature's chest.
The roar echoed through the cave, louder and deeper than before.
The creature staggered backward, its stone body shaking, splitting, breaking—
Then…
It collapsed.
The entire body crumbled into huge stone fragments and dust.
Silence fell.
Then Steve noticed something glimmering among the rubble.
The Heart of Stone
A small crystal, glowing gently with warm, shifting light.
Steve picked it up.
The moment he touched it, a pulse ran through his arm—like the crystal was alive.
Or powering up.
He didn't know what it was…but he could feel one thing clearly:
This crystal was important.
Very important.