Chapter 930: The First Step (2/2)

He dragged the two carcasses and soon made it back to his cave, panting in exhaustion when he had finished dragging them. Transporting them through the narrow entry path was even more difficult than his hunt, leaving him utterly exhausted.

As for the reason Krune hadn't injured the second Monster Gecko, he was after its skin. After judging that camouflaging himself as one of them would be better than just roaming around almost naked, he aimed for one that was of a similar size to himself.

Krune set it aside for the time being, intending to practice on the damaged one first. He carefully looked around its jaws, noticing places from where he could pry open its skin and peel it off in one full stretch. Thankfully for him, its body was completely dry now.

With the blood siphoned off from the body, most of the substance he had to watch out for was now gone. So, Krune could peacefully work on it without suffering any injuries. Even though he made a lot of mistakes, Krune managed to determine the way he could pull out the Monster Gecko's skin wholly intact.

He first made pieces of the corpse he had butchered, separating the bones from the organs and flesh, placing the flesh separately while piling up the rest. He then wrapped the pieces of meat in the skin of the Monster Gecko after cutting it into desired sections.

When he was hungry, he ate some of the meat he had already cleaned and processed, resting for some time before beginning to work on the wholly intact Monster Gecko. He carefully peeled it in one piece, almost taking six hours to do so as he intended to do it without any mistakes.

As he didn't have much experience in skinning like this, Krune had to proceed carefully. Thankfully, his experience as a spiritual chef played a major part here. Even though there was a significant difference in performing the same action as a cultivator and a mortal, the experience of cooking for a couple of centuries was deeply ingrained in him.

Thanks to this, he managed to skin it completely without any observable errors. He set it aside for some time and separated the Monster Gecko's flesh from the rest, wrapping it up in skin sacks.

He then began to clean up the intact skin, setting it aside to dry for the time being. He still had to cut off the tail while designing it so that he could stitch the remainder. Krune planned to make an article of complete skin-tight clothing out of it. Moreover, when he felt the flexibility of the skin, he felt that it was doable.

As he had enough food to last a couple of weeks, Krune didn't venture out. He opted to stay within his cave and work on all his arrangements. As for food, as long as he sprinkled some drops of the water on the meat, they didn't spoil and remained fresh.

So, Krune basically didn't have anything to worry about. He used the bones of the Monster Geckos, trying to find anything useful out of them. Upon seeing their limb bones, he thought of a way he could use them.

He set them aside and took out a tail bone, using the Whale Tooth Dagger to grind it into a needle. He made needles of a couple of sizes, using one of them to poke a hole in the rest. This way, he finished creating some sewing needles for his use.

After that, he carefully cut the tail, leaving some material behind that he stitched using the threads wound around the fishing rods. After he had obtained two more fishing rods, he had enough thread to go around.

He then made numerous cuts and stitches on the face part of the skin, adjusting it to his size. Whenever he was ever confused, a stare in the pool's reflection while emitting his Neon Radiance was enough to determine his facial structure and the orientation of the eyes, nose, mouth, etc.

It took almost a week of careful sewing before Krune finished the entire skin armor. He tugged its surface once, feeling that it was considerably tough. Even though it could easily be ripped through using something as sharp as the Whale Tooth Dagger, it was many times better than being almost naked and defenseless.

After treating his wounds once using the ocean water, Krune began to wear the skin armor, grunting in the process as it was tighter than he had imagined it to be. Even though it was elastic, he had to be careful to not exert too much force in random directions and risk ripping it apart. After all, the sewing he had done wasn't really that thorough.

He had only done it based on the limited materials in his possession. In any case, after an hour of struggling and tugging, inch by inch, Krune managed to wear it completely, immediately feeling warmer with an added sense of security.

He arrived before the cave walls, using his knife to carve the words 'Skin Armour' and put a tick mark beside it. As he did this, he thought to himself, 'This is just the first step to establish myself in this environment.'