Time marches on and the days have changed until they become months.
During this time, Rocky was still suspected and secretly investigated by the Master Sage. In his research, the Master Sage found only that Rocky was an ordinary golem made of relatively simple mana crystal scraps, but what made him seem more powerful was his intelligence and good memory like a living being, even though he lacked full senses.
It was also during these few months that Rocky finally discovered his unique ability: he could eat stones or mana crystals, even if it was only for his mental needs.
Although there is no physical change or growth in his body when he eats them, it shows that he has a different digestion process or "energy assimilation", if he has one at all.
On the other hand, Lylah was now more carefree and familiar with Rocky as a friend, so the closeness began to develop like a brother-sister relationship.
Although Master Sage feared that Rocky would become uncontrollable, over the course of a few months Rocky managed to gain some trust from the teacher.
His more big brother-like behavior toward Lylah made a positive impression, although Master Sage's suspicions remained. Unfortunately, amidst Lylah's experiments with various potions to make Rocky talk, none of the potions that entered his body showed any significant effect.
"Rocky!... Rocky! Come, come with me and Master to harvest the food supplies!" Lylah called as she pulled at Rocky's hand.
After a long time, Rocky was finally allowed out of the "house" - or more accurately, the cave that served as a residence for Lylah and Master Sage.
Rocky himself was confused as to whether the place should be called a cave, considering that part of the room looked luxurious, with flagstone floors and metal and wooden accessories, as if part of the cave was connected to a hidden brick building.
On the other hand, some of the walls and floors were still rough. Occasionally, Master Sage could be seen digging and repairing damaged walls, although Rocky chose to ignore it because he felt it didn't matter much.
Gaining more trust from the Master Sage, Rocky now followed them to "harvest" their needs well, because besides being curious, Rocky also had nothing to do in his current location, so instead of daydreaming and standing still like a stone (technically he was a stone), he was happy to follow them.
Soon they approached a doorway where the Master Sage was waiting with his wand - a wand as tall as his own body.
"Lylah, what took you so long?" the Master Sage asked gently.
"Hehehe... Sorry, I'm having trouble finding my wand, Master!" replied Lylah as she pulled out her wand, which was only as long as her hand (think of Master Sage's wand as Gandalf's wand, while Lylah's wand is like the wand in the Harry Potter movies, which is called a wand). Master Sage just nodded: "Good, let's go... and Rocky, take care of Lylah!
Rocky also nodded in his trademark voice, feeling very curious about what was behind his new home.
Although Rocky could sense the environment within a radius of about 6-7 meters, he was strangely unable to sense what was behind each wall of the residence.
His senses seemed to be blocked, even at each door, the mana that could normally flow and penetrate all objects now disappeared when passing through the wall.
A possible explanation was that the mana was being used as fuel for magic.
When the door was opened, he wasn't greeted by blinding light, but a cave with minimal lighting and the sound of groaning unknown creatures.
Rocky could sense a vast hallway, dotted with fine lines of denser mana flowing through the space.
Master Sage, gently stroking Lylah's head, said, "Now... as always, be careful, Lylah."
Lylah looked sternly at Rocky, "Rocky, remember to stay away from us, remember!"
Rocky nodded curiously, but he was also wary of the dangers that might lurk behind every wall of the new den's cave.
The three of them then stepped into a dark passage that was different from the one in the cave before, which was filled with light-colored stones.
The passage they walked through now looked like a natural cave, with an irregular floor, creeping roots, and sparse light stones, creating an eerie impression all around.
Master Sage cast magic in the form of a floating ball of light to illuminate the path, while Lylah used the glowing tip of her staff as a flashlight to look around.
Soon, a loud cry of "Kiyayaak!" was heard from an insect emerging from the ground.
Lylah quickly pointed her wand at the insect and cast a magic circle accompanied by an explosion of light that shattered the insect, followed by a cry of "Yuck! Disgusting insect, don't come any closer!"
Rocky, initially curious, was shocked to see the creature - he sensed that the insect had mutated into a giant cricket the size of a goat.
Master Sage warned, "Don't let your guard down! This is still dangerous territory!" Lylah immediately reached out and took Rocky's hand, "Come on Rocky, let's keep going, hehehe..."
After walking for a while, they reached the mouth of the cave, which signaled the entrance to a very large room, though he was sure he was still underground.
Upon entering the room, Rocky also felt that something was bothering his senses, like a constantly moving structure, as if it were an underground palace powered by a flow of mana like water that moved the building. His head felt dizzy with this new information.
Lylah rushed over, "Master! Rocky! Rocky fell! Is something wrong?!"
Master Sage gave Rocky a flat look, "Let Lylah... maybe she's not strong due to the density of mana in this dungeon."
Rocky also turned to Master Sage, stunned and disbelieving, for now he was really moving into the world of swords and magic, a world he had only read about in books and seen in fantasy animations.
"Adapt quickly! We can't stay here too long!" said Master Sage in a nonchalant tone, then he quickly walked out into the building, while Lylah hugged Rocky and said softly, "Calm down, Rocky...you can count on me in times like this."