The place Marlene pointed out as their destination was a cave entrance, only about half the height of a normal person, but long and narrow.
“We’ll use this cave as our shelter while we hunt in this area,” she said to the rest of the team.
“Wait, Marlene, are you sure there aren’t any monsters inside?” someone responded.
“Relax, it’s safe. I got information about this place by trading something valuable,” she replied, moving toward the low cave entrance.
Something valuable? So one of the reasons Marlene went to the little town was to gather information about this place. She really had put in a lot of effort for this expedition.
Everyone fell silent, seemingly waiting for Marlene to go in first. The men exchanged knowing glances, none of them making a move.
Marlene glanced back at them and pulled out her whip from her inventory. Without needing to say much, they all understood her meaning. Subaru was the first to crawl into the cave, followed by Broken. The first thing they noticed inside was the dampness from the moss covering the walls.
The room inside the cave wasn’t as low as the entrance. It had a decent height and a tunnel stretching further in. Broken checked his map to see how deep the cave went, but it wasn’t enough to reveal much more.
Could a cave like this hold valuable resources he could mine?
Broken joined in, making his way to the most secluded corner of the cave to set up his own tent. Just as he was about to start, he felt a gentle tap on his shoulder as he crouched down; it was Marlene standing behind him.
“Follow me,” she said.
Broken paused, abandoning his plan to set up the tent, and followed Marlene deeper into the cave. As they ventured further inside and out of sight, a few of the team members couldn’t help but voice their curiosity.
“I wonder what they’re really up to, sneaking off together in the cave?”
No sooner had those words been spoken than the sharp sound of a whip cracked, echoing from the depths of the cave. That sound made them immediately realize what a mistake had been made.
“This is a cave, you idiot! Your voice echoes, even if you’re whispering,” someone scolded.
Subaru just snickered, then burst into silent laughter, rolling on the ground and clutching his stomach.
“Shut up, Subaru, or I’ll kill you too,” someone else snapped at him.
Broken kept scanning the cave with his Treasure Sense skill, hoping to find something useful. Gradually, a few spots showed up-places where he could mine iron ore. But he wondered, is the iron ore in Hell the same as in Yunatea? Although this surface world didn’t seem too different from Yunatea, he was still curious about what might lie deeper underground.
Subaru had mentioned that stronger demons lived below the surface. While the world up top was already vast, did they really have another entire world beneath it?
Then again, considering how massive Yunatea was, it wasn’t far-fetched to think something similar could exist there. Maybe he just hadn’t explored enough yet. Damn, this game world really was unbelievably huge!
And what about the gods? There were a lot of them, and surely they had their own realms too, right? Otherwise, how would they live out their immortal lives? There must be some kind of land of the immortals or a realm of the gods that players had yet to fully uncover.
And again-the Spirit World? What could possibly be waiting there?
Marlene came to a stop as they entered a larger chamber within the cave, much wider than the narrow tunnel they had just passed through. Broken snapped out of his wandering thoughts, suddenly aware of his surroundings again.
“Broken, I’m certain you can hatch the egg here,” Marlene said.
Broken took another look at the room inside the cave. He still didn’t quite understand why they had to be inside a cave, or perhaps the egg needed to be left in an open space like this for some time to hatch. He hesitated to pull out the demon egg, and Marlene seemed to notice his reluctance.
“So,” she continued, “usually, you need to leave the egg in an open area like this for a while. You can supply your Mana to the egg, but make sure it’s from natural regeneration, not from a Mana Potion.” She paused briefly. “And since this will also drain your Stamina, be sure you’re in full recovery before you start.”
Broken nodded slowly.
“You can place the egg here, and maybe set up some guards around it. Meanwhile, I and the team will be out hunting monsters to level up until we head back to the city in the next few days.”
“Got it,” Broken replied.
With her usual stoic expression, Marlene turned and walked away, leaving Broken alone in the chamber.
He quickly arranged some stones in the center of the room and set up crystal lamps to light the cave at various points. Once satisfied with his setup, he took out the egg.
[Legendary-grade Felhorn Egg]
He had gone through a lot of trouble just to hatch this egg, and he really hoped the outcome would be worth it. But considering it was a Legendary-grade demon egg, the effort was certainly justified. Not every player would have access to something like this.
Broken placed the egg carefully in the center of the chamber, using stones to stabilize it. He pulled out some cloth from his inventory to cushion the egg underneath, even though he doubted it was fragile enough to simply crack by rolling onto the floor. Still, he couldn’t help being cautious.
As he brought his hands closer to the egg, its surface slowly began to emit a faint glow, as if it was breathing light in soft, subtle pulses.
So, the egg was finally reacting.
[Hatching progress: 1%]
[Supply Mana to engrave attributes onto the egg. Ensure the Mana comes from the rightful owner, as it will affect the egg’s development.]
[By supplying Mana to the egg, it will also help increase affinity with the embryo and make the infant more bonded to you.]
Remembering Marlene’s advice and knowing that his Mana and Stamina weren’t fully restored yet, he set up a temporary resting spot in the chamber. He sat down, taking the time to eat and drink. He needed a while longer to properly recover his Stamina.
What were the others doing, he wondered. He wasn’t exactly sure of their schedules, but Marlene seemed to be managing everyone’s time and needs pretty well. She really was a huge help when it came to coordinating in situations like this, especially with so many people
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After some time, his Stamina had sufficiently improved, he walked back toward the egg. The hatching progress was still at 1%, with no visible change.
He reached out his hand, and a notification appeared.
[Do you want to supply the egg with your Mana?]
Broken nodded, and a soft, bluish-white energy flowed from his hand. He watched as the
Mana bar in his system visibly decreased.
The faint light around the egg began to pulse more rapidly for a moment before slowing down again. He smiled, satisfied with the small progress.
How long would he need to do this until the process was complete? According to Marlene’s prediction, it could take a full month in Yunatea time. He’d better get used to the cave’s
environment.