Is That A Wisp?

After some time, he had appeared in a narrow cave, almost dark thanks to its narrowness. There wasn't any disturbance in the air as Krune's figure had appeared in the place. For a moment, he was dizzy, having been teleported as a mortal. 

It took him a good minute before he could recover from the after-effects. He immediately smelled something pungent, sniffing around as he realized the source was himself. 

"Damn, I never thought I would experience such a day." Krune frowned, only now taking a glance at his appearance. Blistered skin which had a new layer forming underneath. Patches of skin that were falling off, bruises all over the body, gashes of varying degrees of severity, the tooth mark on his thigh that almost revealed his bone, and finally, his teeth, yellow from the lack of hygiene. 

He hadn't even thought about something like that, for a moment turning silent before chuckling as he muttered, "I hope Feifei doesn't see me like this. She would probably…"

He sighed after thinking about it. "It isn't of my concern for the time being. Let me focus on the task before me now and worry about the rest later."

Shaking his head, Krune exhaled with his mouth, sensing the sounds that were reflected from the walls of the cave, allowing him to perceive its distance from him. He then uttered a word gently, being able to scout a bit farther outside the cave. Beyond that, it seemed like there was too big of an open area that the strength in the sound he uttered had completely vanished. 

With that, he wasn't able to obtain any feedback from it. Krune carefully walked forward, nearing the cave's entrance as he peeked out, not being able to notice any monsters in his vicinity. He was careful about the terminology that had been used in the tablet. 

It specified the species on this Primary Landmass as monsters and not demon beasts or fishes. There ought to be a significant difference. So, Krune didn't dare to be careless. He only had one life now. 

He sighed, exhaling all the air in his lungs as he muttered inwardly, "It seems I have become careless regarding my life and death after obtaining my Spiritual Incarnation. I guess this is a good measure against that. I probably won't take it for granted again."

As Krune looked around, he was shocked. The layout of the Primary Landmass was rather simple and direct. There was a massive piece of land that was shaped like a bowl. Considering its shape with respect to its size, the walls were akin to a mountain range. 

After all, just a short glance told him that the walls spanned at least a kilometer in height. To a mortal like him, it was a considerable distance. As for the mountain range, it enclosed the entire landmass like a circular dome. 

Its tip touched the ocean above, making it seem like a lid that covered the Primary Landmass. Krune also noticed vicious fishes with gigantic jaws swimming around in the waters. Some of them were even eyeing him, considering he was just 20 meters away from the ocean surface above. 

Thanks to the mountain range, the water from the ocean he was in couldn't enter this Primary Landmass, creating a terrain of land within. That was how this habitat had been established to exist in this Double Ocean layer where the layer of air only spanned a height of three meters. 

As the radius of the Primary Landmass spanned 50 kilometers. It was way too big of a place that he could scout using his Sonic Radar. That was because he didn't have a reflective surface that could reflect the transmitted sound to himself. Even though sound traveled as a wave and diverged through its path, it also caused the energy in the transmitted wave to be expended too quickly, causing the sound wave to vanish.

So, unless he hollered, Krune didn't have any chance of receiving any data in this place. Though, in fear that he would alert the monsters of the place through this action, he refrained from doing so. 

Thinking of this, he looked around, making use of the daylight to scout through his surroundings. There were steep regions all over. At the bottom of the place, there seemed to be a flatland or something similar. 

But as the entire region was covered by a thin layer of fog, Krune wasn't sure about it. All he could see was a white patch of cloud covering their entire bottom, like rice covering the bottom of a cup. 

As for the mountain range, it was steep, while the protruding rocks seemed fragile as if they might fall off if he misstepped. Currently, there was a small path—enough for a man to walk—50 meters below him. Krune noticed the path trailed towards the bottom with winding zigzags. 

It did seem like a path hardly used by the monsters in the place, apparent by the smooth layer of moss growing on it without any hindrances. So, even if they had used the path once, it had been abandoned for too long.

"Alright." Krune checked the sides of his hip, touching the two Whale Tooth Daggers. He then felt around through the cloth wrung around his hip, touching the vial with the two Water Essence pills. They were something that would save his life. 

He then tightened the sash of the Whale Tooth Sword hung on his back, ensuring it wouldn't fall off when he climbed down. With that, he held the parchment that was his return ticket. He had to tear it off to be teleported back to the Checkpoint Turtle. 

This was his only gateway to leave the place voluntarily. Otherwise, he would have to survive in the place for a year until his ticket expired and get forcefully transported back to the Checkpoint Turtle. So, he had to secure it carefully. 

But now, he didn't have the room for that, only able to tuck it in the cloth around his hip and hope it didn't fall off or get damaged. 

Mentally preparing himself, Krune began to slowly descend through the rocky cliff, grunting as he kept his Sonic Radar active. Using the sounds of his grunts, he got a map of the rocky terrain he was moving upon.

Thanks to it, he didn't misstep on a piece of rock and fall off. He was also able to carefully pace himself and didn't have to turn his head to look at his footing or placing. 'Even though this isn't comparable to Divine Sense, for a mortal, this is almost the same.'

It took him considerable time as Krune's hands were shaking from climbing down the 50-meter wall. Eventually, he landed on the path and panted, looking at his hands that were trembling. There were traces of blood on his palms. He had injured himself while climbing down.

The rock of the mountain range hadn't been eroded by wind or rain. So, they maintained their sharpness. This made it all the more riskier for him to traverse. Thankfully, there existed a path where he could traverse upon after the short trek. 

Otherwise, he would have died from blood loss. Even though the path was winding through the mountain range, he would have to cross a considerable distance to reach the bottom, Krune had no other choice. At least, this was a safer choice. 

Moreover, the moss-covered path didn't hurt his bare feet. 'I should have prepared a bit more for this. That octopus didn't give me any warnings and directly sent me here.'

He sighed, pausing immediately when he felt a sense of danger. It was because of the message he received from the breath he had exhaled. He had kept his Sonic Radar functioning all this time. As long as he only used the sounds of his breaths to wield it, the reduction in his stamina would be bearable. 

With that, he used it to guard against any ambushes. And now, the Sonic Radar pointed him to a couple of monsters that were walking before him. And by walking, they didn't use the path. Rather, they were scaling down the walls like it was a flat plain. 

Large palms and feet were designed similarly, allowing one a larger surface area to keep in contact with while traversing webbed surfaces to avoid any slip and even traverse vertically. They resembled a gecko.

The only difference was, they were humanoid and were the same size as him or even larger. It seemed their spines had serpentine flexibility to them as the monsters slithered across the walls. On top of that, one of them stood on two feet, even in such a situation where it was difficult just to hold onto the steep rock.

It hissed while looking into the air as its eyes darted to and fro, searching for something as Krune hid behind a rock protrusion. His body was covered with sweat as he didn't dare engage with his enemies like this. After all, they were humanoid and also possessed weapons to wield. 

Fishing rod!

That was the weapon they were using. The hook on their rod was shaped like a kite, with a sharp, pointed end and some curved sides. This design ensured when the hook lodged into flesh, it wouldn't be easy to remove without gorging the piece of flesh. 

It was a vicious design. 

And, it seemed to be the favorite weapon of the monsters, for both the ones near him possessed the fishing rods. 

'Monster Geckos…' Krune frowned, linking them with a name as he summoned his tablet, frowning upon seeing just one name on it.

[Primary Landmass]

'As always, this doesn't state anything worthwhile.' He frowned as he observed the positions of the two Monster Geckos through his Sonic Radar, silently unsheathing his Whale Tooth Daggers. Since the opponents used fishing rods, he needed to be able to move fast enough to dodge their hooks. 

With that, wielding the Whale Tooth Sword would slow him down. Thinking as such, he removed it from his back and set it aside, noticing the two Monster Geckos pause in the air as if they were statues. 

If it wasn't for the fact he had sensed them moving before, Krune would have mistaken them for a rock protrusion.

'Wait…mistake them for a rock protrusion?' He shuddered as he lashed out with his dagger to his left, the sounds of metal hitting each other soon resounding. Krune hurriedly turned and watched the jaws of a Monster Gecko appear before his face, revealing all its sharp teeth as it opened wide enough to swallow his head whole.