Is That A Wisp?

Five days later, Krune and the Seamstress arrived at the bottom of the largest rock pillar once again, holding a large bowl. They had created the bowl by coiling the rope to create the shape.

Using some of the bone powder he had stored, Krune applied a coating on the bowl, making it hard for his enemies to sense them while within it. After all, based on his observation for the past few days, he had figured out that both the pupae and the adults only relied on their sense of smell. 

Their mode of perception was their sense of smell. Whether it was the pupae or the adults, both were capable of secreting a sort of pheromone that marked their territory. Though, it wasn't of much use since they were the hunters and prey of each other. 

Therefore, they didn't possess any other sensory abilities. Through his probing, this was what Krune had determined. And now, he and the Seamstress had created this rope bowl to shield them while they moved forth.

The bowl had a radius of two meters. It was pretty big. Though, since the entrance was tiny, it couldn't pass through. This was the reason they made it using the rope. With that, it was easy to fold it and bring it out. 

It was noon, the time of the day when the activity was lowest among the monster group. After nodding once at each other, Krune and the Seamstress exited the rock pillar, quickly hiding themselves under the rope bowl. 

Krune had covered it with the bone powder, also adding some soil and grass on it, ensuring that it looked no different to the nearby ground. This way, they could remain camouflaged. To ensure their scent wouldn't leak out of the rope bowl, they had taken precautionary measures. 

After taking a long bath, they applied a crushed mixture of the grass that grew on the ground. This way, their scent was no different from the grass. Thus, the monster groups wouldn't notice anything amiss. 

Krune and the Seamstress slowly began to crawl forward. As it fully closed them, they couldn't see or hear anything from the outside. Their only mode of sense was the passive ability of the Seamstress, Thermal Vision. 

Through this, they sensed their surroundings and moved accordingly. To ensure they wouldn't be caught, they didn't even converse with one another. The Seamstress poked Krune's back accordingly to give him directions. 

In return, he was the one carrying the rope bowl. Thankfully for them, the river bank was less than a hundred meters away from them. Also, since they were closer to the walls of the Secondary Landmass, there were fewer obstacles along their way. 

To ensure no one would notice their movement, they proceeded at a snail's pace. At that speed, it took them two hours before they reached the edge of the riverbank, stopping right before a bunch of eggs. 

Keeping the dome touching the ground perfectly, Krune unleashed a bit of Neon Radiance, turning around to look at the Seamstress, noticing that she was as tensed as him. Then, the two of them nodded to one another as Krune slightly lifted a part of the rope bowl, using his Sonic Radar gently to scout his surroundings.

As the sound he produced was too little, he couldn't scout too far. Nevertheless, he judged that it was safe. With that, their dome moved forward a little more, barely touching one of the eggs. Each egg was 10 centimeters in height. They were small. 

And now, a small hole positioned right beside the egg—on the rope dome—opened. It was what they had planned to stealthily steal the eggs. The opened hole perfectly outlined the egg's shape. The hand of the Seamstress moved, gently touching the egg with a suction tool that she had created using some rope and her coral. 

Using that, she gently brought in the egg, placing it within a holder that she had brought. The holder was something she could strap on her back, made from her coral and cushioned using a lot of rope and flesh. As all meat had been kept in contact with a bone tree, it was completely sucked dry of all fluids, ensuring that it didn't emit any smell. 

Now, as she stored the egg, there wasn't any disturbance. It would be safe within the holder. 

After it was done, they slowly positioned the dome forward, outlining the hole with another egg, taking it in as well. Slowly, they continued to take in the eggs, storing them all in the holder. The Seamstress had brought in three holders in total. 

She wore two on her front and one on her back. Krune wore the last one on his back. Each holder was able to store around twenty eggs in total. So, all in all, they planned to obtain 60 eggs from this trip. After a couple of hours, they stopped taking in the eggs, gazing at one another in tension. 

The hardest part had now arrived. After all, they had to return back to their rock pillar. But if they simply dashed forth, even if they managed to survive in the end, they would lose all their eggs. On top of that, returning in the same way as they had arrived was hard since the monsters were active now, as it was already evening. 

'We have to stay put here until tomorrow.' Krune began to sweat a little, feeling the tension as he looked at the Seamstress as he said, "I thought of something better for our next session." 

The Seamstress nodded when her expression changed as she looked above, making eye contact with Krune. Immediately knowing from her expression, he activated his Ocean Heart, circulating the energy through his Cold Blood as he unleashed a thin beam upward.

It passed through the rope bowl and headed out. An adult monster had intended to land on the rock to inspect the eggs once. But, upon feeling a cold breeze all of a sudden, its wings instinctively flapped as it moved elsewhere. 

After all, the place was always warm. So, none of them were accustomed to the feeling of cold. So, the moment it perceived some coldness, the adult escaped. 

After it left, the Seamstress was still on the watch, using her Thermal Vision to look around, eventually heaving a sigh of relief. Similar situations continued to occur numerous times during the evening and the night.

And every time, Krune made them leave using his Cold Blood in conjunction with his Ocean Heart and Neon Radiance. Eventually, once the morning ended, the activity around them paused as all began to rest. 

The adults returned to perch on the rock pillars while some of the pupae retreated into the river. As for the rest, they laid in wait within the forest. 

Krune began to move slowly, crawling the rope bowl towards the rock pillar. They had to be cautious. Because if they moved faster, one of the adult monsters might assume them to be prey and attack them.

Thus, they had to move as slow as possible to ensure they wouldn't think of the rope bowl as moving. After all, they weren't as sentient as a human. So, they wouldn't be capable of thinking and logically deduce the positions of the rope bowl with respect to the different time stamps. 

Eventually, they returned to the rock pillar's entrance as Krune lifted the rope bowl, tilting it to cover the entrance with it as the Seamstress entered first. She placed the two holders she carried on the ground, helping Krune remove the final one. 

After that, Krune folded the rope bowl and brought it inside, shutting the entrance with a door they had created. It was a coral door that was coated with the mud from the rock pillar to keep the same texture. This way, none of the monsters might realize that they were hiding within. 

"Phew, that was nerve-wracking." Krune sighed, shaking a bottle that he carried to show that it was almost empty. The Seamstress too patted her bottle, nodding in response. Contained within it was the Healing Extract. 

It was what they had used to sustain themselves for the day and to recover the stamina that they were constantly expending. As for the Seamstress, she had been using her Thermal Vision continuously, so she was getting tired with every passing time. 

As for Krune, he had to use his abilities to keep any monster at bay. Not only that, but the two had to work in conjunction, using their hot and cold abilities to maintain the condition within the rope bowl to imitate the exterior. 

Only in this way would the eggs remain unaffected. Otherwise, they wouldn't hatch. So, they were expending too much stamina and energy to execute the mission. The Healing Extract was what helped them all along. 

As they had to move carefully, they couldn't have too much weight. So, they had only brought one bottle of the Healing Extract with them. If they had delayed any longer, their situation might have turned precarious. 

The two then brought the 60 eggs to the top of the rock pillar, placing them at the edge of a large pool. This pool wasn't located within a cave but had been created atop a large rock pillar. They had used all the soil Krune had dug to solidify into a pool.

They had created quite a few of such pools, intending them to be used for the eggs. They planned to keep four eggs per pool as Krune looked at the Seamstress, saying, "We'll split them into thirty for each. Let's see how we can develop them."

"Alright, that sounds fun." The Seamstress laughed.

"Also..." Krune chuckled. "Farming for Godly Points is one thing. But, we must also consider the end result."

"You mean…?" The eyes of the Seamstress widened in shock as she stared at Krune.

Nodding in response, Krune replied, "They are a species that can naturally evolve once in their lifetime. Their accumulations during the pupa stage result in how powerful they become at the adult stage. So theoretically, all eggs have a potential to reach the peak."

"And thanks to our bone trees…" Krune expressed in a solemn tone. "If we put in enough effort, we might be able to produce one each…"

"A Supreme Monster."