The second goal on the wall was 'Complete Recovery,' one which he didn't even bother to make a tick mark beside. After all, with every battle he fought, he was bound to get injured. Plus, considering how he was going to fight continuously in the future, there was just no point in putting a check on it.
Krune stared at his tablet for some time, punching it once to see the number of people present in Layer 3, Double Ocean. At the moment the contents he wanted to see appear on the tablet, Krune was left aghast. The number had doubled compared to before.
?
"How? Or…" He frowned, thinking of a certain possibility as he muttered, "Were more people added in?"
At present, those that had entered the Sub-Realm were cultivators from the three continents, Zamuria, Rumria, and Guria. Location-wise, the Sub-Realm was positioned in the Four Sector's Border Region of the Zamuria Continent.
Then again, the Sub-Realm was a different dimension, apart from the God Realm. So, there wasn't anything that prevented it from being moved around. Or from another perspective, the actual Sub-Realm might have been in the Four Sectors' Border Region, but entrances to it might have been cropping up in other continents too.
The God Realm was just too huge. A God that reigned at its top would have been able to do something like this easily. Probably once he determined that his Sub-Realm was just too massive for the number of people he got, to increase his level of entertainment, he might have decided to bring in more people.
This way, as the number of people increased, the resources would begin to experience a shortage. And, with a shortage of resources arose the delicious conflicts. And with conflicts came…endless entertainment for the God.
So, no bored God would ever say no to something like that. Or perhaps, the Sub-Realm was actually created by numerous Gods that had joined hands to curb their boredom. That might explain its sheer size.
Moreover, now that he thought about it in detail, today was the day that marked his first year in the Sub-Realm. It made Krune wonder as he muttered to himself, "Are they planning to add more people every year?"
He then thought of another surprising outcome as he continued to mutter, "I have to reach Layer 1 to get a chance to leave this Sub-Realm. But to do that, I need to obtain more Godly Points. Though, with a larger number of people, the competition will increase. In the future, there will come a saturation point beyond which obtaining Godly Points would be too difficult."
He sighed after thinking about it. "If what I feel is accurate, then within a decade or two, we might reach such a point."
He had just thought of it when Krune realized an error in his calculations. "Wait, it has been a year. But didn't we stay in Layer 4 for almost 10 months? Then, if the next batch was brought in right after we were transported to Layer 3, it makes no sense. After all, only two months have passed since then."
And as if to comply with his statement, the population count of Layer 3 doubled once again. Moreover, every hour, it continued to increase, as if more and more people were streaming in. Eventually, the total population had increased to 24 times the original number, making Krune inhale sharply in shock. "What the hell is even happening? Were there other areas like Layer 4 or something?"
Though soon after, he shook his head, deciding that there was no point in worrying about it for now. "There is just one thing I have to do, and that is to accumulate enough Godly Points and leave this place sooner or later. After all…"
He thought of a possibility, shuddering at the thought as he muttered to himself, "I am a mortal now. So, if nothing else happens, I will die as an old man."
He shook his head, saying, "I have a family to return to. I have no plans of dying here. If anything, I'll reap a harvest from this Sub-Realm and strengthen myself further before leaving."
Thinking as such, Krune picked up his Whale Tooth Sword, weighing it in his hands while gripping it in a stance. He looked at his trembling arms, cursing at the thin twigs he possessed. As a prior cultivator, like most cultivators, he possessed a slender body.
His masculine self only consisted of a toned body, kind of streamlined. And now, in a mortal form, Krune could consider himself as someone more focused on agility. But he didn't wish to be that alone. He also wished to increase his base strength.
Krune didn't wish to become overly buff, gaining strength while sacrificing flexibility and mobility. He didn't wish to become some sort of tank. Instead, he wished to have enough strength to pry himself out of any situation.
Thinking as such, Krune looked at the Whale Tooth Sword, making a goal that he would work on his strength training until he became strong enough to wield it normally. Followed by a bellow, Krune swung it from the top and stopped it on a horizontal level.
At least, that was his plan. Unfortunately for him, the Whale Tooth Sword only stopped when it touched the ground, nicking a part of the rock. Sighing, he continued to swing it, getting used to the skin armor he had created.
And, as he sweated, his sweat coursed through the skin, forming on its external surface. Moreover, when he doused himself with the water, the skin absorbed them, retaining some within itself, healing him for longer durations while remaining in contact with his skin.
At first, he was unable to emit any Neon Radiance through the skin. But as he turned up the intensity while working out, occasionally dousing himself with the water, Krune realized that the skin armor was slowly changing.
It was getting adjusted to his body, his form, his presence, and his abilities. It did come as a surprise to him, for he wondered if the ocean water had such properties as well. Since he hadn't tested it before, he wasn't sure.
Moreover, he wasn't sure if it was brought about by a special mineral composition within the mountain range that the ocean water absorbed while seeping through. He wasn't sure. Without his Divine Sense or even Mental Energy, Krune was unable to investigate.
Left with no other choice, he could only continue to train while observing the changes. After all, his mindset wasn't unaffected by them. Even if he changed species, it didn't matter. After all, once he left the place, he could simply commit suicide and revive as his usual self or figure out the cause and eradicate it thanks to his Spiritual Incarnation.
A normal cultivator wouldn't have such an option. But as someone with a Spiritual Incarnation, having absolute control over oneself was normal.
From time to time, Krune did pull up the skin armor, heaving a sigh in relief when he discovered that even though it was changing, it still remained as skin armor. It didn't attach itself over his skin. As long as that didn't happen, he wasn't troubled.
In any case, as he continued to use his abilities, the skin armor eventually adapted to him. Now, even while wearing it, he was able to use his Neon Radiance. There was some loss as compared to when he used it while naked, but Krune was willing to stomach that in favor of the defense the skin armor provided him.
For two weeks, all Krune did was eat and train. During his resting time, he worked on creating his gear. If anything, he needed to create a suitable undergarment with an attached belt that he could use to carry all his items.
For that, he used the tail skin of the two Monster Geckos he had left with him, embedding tiny bones that he had carved into it to form something similar to a belt, with the extra portions of the skin hung over like a parted skirt.
On his front, he made a pocket where he could keep the rolled-out parchment safely tucked within. On his right, he made secure pockets for the Water Essence, one per vial. Under it was the place to sheathe each Whale Tooth Dagger respectively.
And finally, on his back, trailing across the belt, were numerous holders for the knives. After all this time, Krune still had a good number of knives that were usable. Thanks to the thread from the fishing rods, Krune was able to keep everything well sheathed.
To experiment, he sprinted, jumped, rolled on the ground, and did a variety of activities in his cave, making ample use of the boulders. In the end, he determined that none of his items were damaged or fell out.
For work that was just done in a couple of weeks, he was satisfied with the result. Upon seeing as to how his reserve of meat was running low, only enough to last him another day, Krune exited his cave.
He still had no idea about where to use the hook and the handle of the fishing rods. So, at present, he just piled them at one corner of his workbench in the cave. His only weapons were the two daggers and the six knives.
For emergencies, he had a yarn of thread and a small packet of water. Now prepared, he walked on the solid rock ground, using the Sonic Radar to keep track of his surroundings, keeping the sounds he emitted to a minimum.
He was able to get a picture of everything in a twenty-meter radius around himself. And beyond that, he could still get a blurry picture through the Sonic Radar. So with that, he approached the forest of bone trees, looking at the tree with stubby branches as he observed the carvings he had made, following it as he soon approached the tree he had marked, intending to check its mutation.
He was still around thirty meters away from it. Just to make sure he wasn't ambushed, Krune unleashed a powerful roar that was short, not even spanning half a second. At the moment he received feedback, he turned and ran away, sprinting at his maximum speed in alarm.
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