A body made out of bone rooted to the hardened ground, which was, in actuality, just a piece of flat rock. A stem as wide as a person and branches that resembled their limbs. And to top it all off, tiny branches like the fingers of a person, with leaves and fruits seemingly hanging on them.
The leaves seemed to be a stitched flat piece of nails, resembling those of a human, while the fruits seemed to be eyeballs covered by hair. Each of the so-called 'Trees' spanned a height of 3-4 meters, giving off an eerie atmosphere.
?
The moment Krune gazed at one, he felt immense disgust, controlling his urge to barf the contents of his stomach. If it was the Krune from before he arrived at the Sub-Realm, he would have vomited at this site. But thankfully for him, he was more mentally grounded now, having seen gore daily.
This was his first time seeing trees that were completely made out of bone. Though, Krune didn't waste his time staring at the monstrosity before him, quickly making a move as he first intended to search for a cave of sorts to take refuge within.
Only after that did he plan to investigate the surroundings. After all, whether he liked it or not, unless he ripped out the parchment, he was bound to stay in this place for a year. With that, he had to adapt to the surroundings first.
Thanks to his Sonic Radar, Krune could see through the dark, quickly moving. He didn't want to rely on Neon Radiance too much. After all, in this darkness, any light would make him a clear target. Thus, he couldn't use it without caution.
Only after sensing that there weren't any Monster Geckos in his surroundings did Krune use his Neon Radiance to look at the actual appearance of the things around him. Currently, there were only bone trees in his vicinity.
In most of them, the grotesque fruits hung in large batches. Krune carefully placed his hand on the stem of a bone tree, noticing the blood on his finger get absorbed into it. He retracted his finger immediately, noticing that he wasn't affected in any way.
Though, he realized that if he was wounded and by mistake placed the wound on the bone tree, then all his blood would be sucked into it. Upon noticing something, Krune hid behind a bone tree with a fairly thick stem, breathing a bit more roughly as he increased the range of his Sonic Radar, noticing the figures of two Monster Geckos.
Currently, hoisted on their right were their fishing rods, while on their left was a basket of sorts. They arrived before a bone tree and swung their fishing rods, hooking a fruit each that they tugged.
Followed by the sound akin to a twig getting stomped on, the thin finger-like stem holding the fruit snapped as the Monster Geckos collected the fruits in their respective baskets. Similarly, they proceeded through the area, harvesting the fruits that had ripened.
Krune was unable to determine how they did that. After all, the place was pitch black. And, as he observed their actions, he thought, 'Are they able to sense heat? If that's how, what do they use to move around?'
Considering how their entire bodies were cold, akin to ice, Krune thought it might be a possibility. When he increased the range of his Sonic Radar's sense, Krune frowned, spotting more and more Monster Geckos in his surroundings.
It seemed that they had come to harvest the fruits. Without any hesitation, Krune sprinted through the place. As the floor was just stone, as long as he ran while tiptoeing, he hardly made any sounds. Using that, he quickly sped along the foothills of the mountain range, scouring for a cave he could hide within.
Thanks to the Sonic Radar, the moment he spotted any crevice, he could immediately search its interior without having to walk into it personally. This saved him a lot of time. After all, Krune had some specifics as to the type of cave he wished to reside within.
It had to have a narrow entrance and some curved paths within so that even when he used his Neon Radiance to work on anything he wished, the light wouldn't spill out. Not to mention that he needed a sizeably large cage with enough room for his dwelling.
Along the way, Krune was unable to find any normal trees, only finding the bone trees. Moreover, he couldn't find any objects that he could use as fuel to start a fire. The entire floor was solid rock, while the sole items other than rocks were bone trees.
It took him almost four hours, at the end of which his tired self stumbled upon a reasonable cave. First of all, it wasn't on the ground level. There was a thin path made from rock protrusions that were wide enough for him to grab hold of them.
And, only after climbing them, positioned at a height three meters from the ground, was the cave's entrance. The entrance was narrow, barely enough for him to slide through. Fortunately, its entrance was blocked by a bone tree lodged into the walls.
It made a curve and blocked the cave entrance, preventing anyone from seeing inside. Though, there was enough gap in the side for him to slip into the entrance. Krune immediately entered it, heaving a sigh of relief as he crawled through the narrow pathway.
It was narrow enough that he could only move sideways. Thankfully for him, the path's height was enough for him to move. Though, if he grew about 10 more centimeters in height, Krune wouldn't be able to pass through it.
He had to travel a distance of 10 meters through the curved pathway before arriving within a small section, one that was like a bubble, wide enough for him to stretch his arms. Following it were three paths, each wide enough for him to walk through normally.
The first path led to a large chamber where the walls were wet. It seemed that the ocean water had permeated through the rock walls and had collected on the ground. The space was a meter below the surface, so a pool of ocean water had collected over it.
This was the thing Krune had been searching for all along. As long as there was a water source, he could treat his injuries. Even though it would take considerable time, it was basically free. Plus, with the water source, he would stay hydrated, which was one of his prime concerns on the island.
Standing before the water chamber, Krune unleashed his Neon Radiance, looking around the place as he could spot the thin layer of water permeating through the walls. 'As long as I use the water sparingly, the supply should be barely enough.'
He then entered the path on the right, looking at the other chamber filled with rugged rocks. There were tiny holes in it that connected to the outside. Krune planned to use this place to relieve himself. At least, the ventilation would prevent the smell from lingering within the cave.
And with those two done, Krune entered the path in the center, walking a fair distance before entering a massive chamber. The chamber was riddled with rocks. Surprisingly, there was a rock protrusion in the center, supported by the rocks on the floor. They segmented the chamber into two stories. The upper portion was small but was fairly concealed.
Krune muttered, "I'll sleep above and work on anything I need below. That should be enough."
Saying his piece, he sighed, placing his Whale Tooth Sword on a boulder while dropping the bags of meat he carried. Using some of the water, he cleaned the meat, washing away all the blood as he could see the meat become warmer.
As the place was already warm, Krune didn't have to suffer from the cold. Using the knives, he cut the meat into pieces and ate one of them, frowning as he muttered, "The taste is bland. Even a raw fish tastes better than this."
He sighed and filled his belly first, cleaning his wounds with the water before sleeping on the rock protrusion. Thanks to the warmth in the place, he quickly fell asleep. It felt like a long time had passed before Krune woke up, feeling groggy.
He habitually used his Sonic Radar, heaving a sigh of relief when his cave was safe. He then stretched himself, looking around as he muttered, "I should start hunting the Monster Geckos and prepare myself to fight against their king eventually."
He drank some water to hydrate himself before exiting the cave, holding the two Whale Tooth Daggers and some knives. He left the Whale Tooth Sword in the cave since it was too heavy. He wasn't accustomed to wielding it yet.
Using his Sonic Radar, Krune determined that there weren't any Monster Geckos in his immediate surroundings. After landing on the ground, he walked for some distance and entered the forest of bone trees, soon spotting a couple of Monster Geckos one hundred meters away from him.
They were picking up the fruits. One of them threw a fruit in its mouth, crunching it as it let out a breath in relaxation, patting its tummy. It seemed eating just one fruit was enough to satiate a Monster Gecko.
Krune looked to his side, focusing on a fruit. In any case, he had zero intentions of eating one. He didn't know if his body would be able to digest something like that. Krune neither had the intention to experiment with that nor was he planning to eat anything apart from the Monster Gecko meat that he judged was safe for consumption.
He crept forward, hiding behind the trees as he trod forth, approaching the two Monster Geckos slowly. But, at the very moment he arrived at a distance of twenty meters, they sensed his presence, clearly able to perceive his heat.
With that, they took up arms, setting their baskets aside as they brandished their fishing rods.
Upon seeing that his plan to sneak and ambush them had failed, Krune could not help but sigh. "Here we go again."
Clutching the two Whale Tooth Daggers, he blasted forth towards them with all his speed.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel