An encounter

Ahtal-Ka, the absolute pinnacle of Neopteron monsters.

It possessed not only terrifying strength, but also extraordinary intelligence.

When necessary, it could even bind and haul components together with silk, assembling an entire beast-shaped Ahtal-Neset to face powerful invaders.

I barely dared breathe when I ran into that old bastard Cephalos in the desert.

And now I have to face an Ahtal-Ka...

Li Le's hands trembled with fear, his body freezing in terror.

He felt that something must have gone wrong.

To avoid drawing attention, he crouched down first, trying his best to calm himself.

While observing the Ahtal-Ka, he tore off the legs of his pajama pants, which had already worn into strips.

This would keep them from tripping him when he ran away.

Keeping warm at night was no longer a consideration.

No wonder there were Dragonator tips, waterwheel wheels, and steel beams out on the sand beyond the ancient ruins-all components for assembling an Ahtal-Neset.

So this was where the Wycademy's head hunter fought the Ahtal-Ka.

As for the fragrance drawing insects here, that was probably its hunting method.

Unfortunately, figuring all this out now doesn't mean much.

Because unless something unexpected happens, I'll either be stung to death by the swarm of Vespoids or be forced out of the ruins and die in the sandstorm.

Or I'll be killed by the thing in front of me... Wait a moment.

As his nerves gradually settled, Li Le made a new discovery while observing the Ahtal-Ka.

This Ahtal-Ka looks so small, like a little figurine.

And although its shell is gold too, it's very dull, not the dazzling golden yellow from the game.

Is it a small gold crown monster from an event quest?

No, this is reality.

Then the only possibility is that this Ahtal-Ka hasn't grown up yet. It's still a juvenile.

Looks like the Guild has good reason to value ecological surveys.

If it hasn't grown up yet, maybe I have... an opening?

The thought that it was still a juvenile restored a little of Li Le's confidence.

Skrrrk~

A piercing cutting sound echoed through the hall.

The hooked sickle claw at the tip of one of the Ahtal-Ka's forelegs slid across a Vespoid bound in silk.

As the Vespoid split in two, a straight cut appeared in the stone paving beneath it.

Then the Ahtal-Ka behaved like a well-mannered young noblewoman.

Its sickle claws worked like a knife and fork, elegantly delivering the still-twitching pieces into its mouthparts.

"All right, I was getting ahead of myself... Mm~ That Vespoid looks pretty tasty."

Li Le swallowed, actually growing hungry at the sight.

He wanted to focus, but after going hungry for so long and exhausting himself running to the ruins, hunger had already left him somewhat dazed.

He glanced at the torch in his hand and the many leftover insect limbs around him.

Li Le popped a large bursting strawberry into his mouth and made a bold decision.

Several minutes later, sizzling sounds spread through the hall, accompanied by a little scorched smoke.

The sickle claw descending to make a cut stopped in midair, and the Ahtal-Ka tilted its head to look over.

Its elongated purple compound eyes blinked several times, seemingly very curious about the strange creature's behavior.

But Li Le could no longer worry about all that.

Crunch~

He bit hard into the insect leg, which gave off a roasted aroma.

"Urgh~~"

The incredibly foul, sour, astringent taste made him retch.

But to fill his stomach, he forced himself to swallow regardless.

As he chewed, he suddenly found that it tasted much better.

He initially thought it was a difference between parts, but when he held it up to examine it, he realized he had reached a section untouched by Vespoid bodily fluids.

Li Le quickly understood that it wasn't the roasted insect leg that was hard to swallow, but the monster fluids smeared on it.

With that experience, he soon began eating selectively.

After several insect limbs, Li Le felt alive again.

Looking toward the Ahtal-Ka once more, he saw that it hadn't moved, but had clearly noticed his presence.

Sure enough, once you've eaten your fill, countless worries come along.

How am I supposed to get out of this...

I'll die either way. There's no chance at all.

Hiss, hiss~

The Ahtal-Ka gently swayed, pale yellow vapor drifting from its body as a strong fragrance spread outward.

Soon, another Vespoid flew into the hall through the passage, following an erratic flight path.

As for the half it had left uneaten, it hooked that up with one sickle claw.

Whoosh~

The half-Vespoid traced an arc through the air and landed precisely in front of Li Le.

Is it sharing its prey?

That shouldn't be right. Ahtal-Ka treasures its Ahtal-Neset components.

It should be wary and hostile toward any creature that appears in its territory.

Letting me mooch a meal and even sharing food should be impossible.

Could it be that my strength isn't obvious enough, so it's overlooking me?

Or is it still too young to have much concept of territory?

Li Le felt he had found the key.

This Ahtal-Ka had yet to undergo nature's cruel trials and was still relatively naive and ignorant.

It still had a long way to go before becoming that terrifying monster that assembled and controlled an Ahtal-Neset, crushing everything in its path.

If someone could guide the Ahtal-Ka's growth properly, would it no longer need to fight humans to the death in the future...

A thought flashed through Li Le's mind, but it was only a passing thought.

As his fear receded, Li Le edged a little farther forward to observe it more closely.

The long stone pillar lying behind the Ahtal-Ka was clearly illuminated.

Li Le suddenly understood why it hadn't moved this entire time.

The rear half of its golden body was pinned beneath the stone pillar.

Its four legs extended outward, its body lying completely flat.

At the sight, Li Le relaxed considerably again and moved closer.

"There are grooves from silk binding both ends of the pillar. It probably wanted to hoist the pillar up and move it, but failed for some reason."

After finishing his analysis, Li Le retreated again.

As things stand, I can just about call myself safe.

The Ahtal-Ka in front of me is frightening, but compared with being chased by a Cephalos, swarmed by Vespoids, or caught in a sandstorm, at least it won't kill me immediately.

Most importantly, I can mooch some food!

Steeling himself, Li Le backed into an open area and took off his back basket.

He spread his dirty old tarp over the sand, piled up the firewood he had gathered, lit it, and made camp right there.

Opening his pouch, he looked at the single remaining bursting strawberry inside, already frozen solid.

Li Le took out his flask and gulped down two mouthfuls of water, ultimately still unable to bring himself to eat it.

Whoosh~ Whoosh~...

The sandstorm continued to howl.

Fine sand seeped in and accumulated, while insects tumbled and flew inside.

The whole hall felt like an independent space detached from time.

Waves of drowsiness washed over him. Li Le guessed it was already late at night, but he didn't dare sleep.

Yet a person's ability to resist sleep ultimately had its limits, especially in surroundings that seemed safe and peaceful.

The eyelids he had struggled to keep open fell shut, and Li Le slumped over and fell asleep.

Tap~ Tap~...

After an unknown length of time, footsteps on sand sounded beside his ear.

Groggy, Li Le opened his eyes.

He saw four black insect legs pushing against the ground, dragging a claw-shaped tail past him.

"Uh... After going through all that, it's no surprise I'd have nightmares."

Muttering, Li Le tugged at the tarp beneath him.

He rolled onto his other side and closed his eyes again.

Rattle~ Rattle~...

A rummaging sound rang out.

Li Le was extremely familiar with that sound, because his basket woven from dry twigs made a similar rattling noise when he ran hard.

"It's not a dream...?"

Li Le abruptly sat up.

He discovered that the Ahtal-Ka had its back to him and was exploring his basket with its pair of sickle claws.

He quickly turned to look back and found the stone pillar beneath the mural still lying intact on the ground.

"I... The Sapphire Star is my brother, and Fierce Flame is my good buddy. If the Wycademy's head hunter comes to hunt you someday, you can mention my name..."

In his panic, Li Le had begun babbling incoherently.

The Ahtal-Ka paid him no attention and continued its exploration.

Its forelegs suddenly slowed, and its sickle claw rotated from its raised, slanting position to a level one.

Li Le slowly backed away, circling to the side to observe.

He found a lump of red, jellylike material resting on the narrow side of the sickle claw.

If he remembered correctly, that was something he had gathered beside a barrel cactus.

Slurp~

The sickle claw delivered it into its mouthparts to suck on.

The Ahtal-Ka's purple compound eyes flashed twice in quick succession.

Then both sickle claws rose together, making it look very excited.

Crack~ Crack~...

The crude basket, never particularly sturdy to begin with, was instantly torn apart by the sickle claws.

After sucking up all the red jelly, the Ahtal-Ka turned around.

By then, Li Le was already at the passage entrance, ready to flee.

But the Ahtal-Ka merely blinked at him twice, then turned and walked toward the innermost part of the hall.

The Vespoid swarm in the passage, meanwhile, kept taking flight and beating their wings as the fragrance weakened, looking ready to make a move.

But however restless the swarm grew, none dared fly into the hall.

After hesitating briefly, Li Le returned to the middle of the hall.

Pshh~

A golden strand of silk shot from the center of the Ahtal-Ka's clawed tail.

After winding tightly around one end of the fallen stone pillar, it raised a foreleg and secured the silk around the hooked tip of its sickle claw.

Its four legs sank down, and one end of the pillar lifted off the ground, hoisted at an angle by the silk.

The Ahtal-Ka backed up. Once the rear half of its body was beneath the pillar, it loosened the silk wound around its sickle claw.

Crash~

The falling pillar promptly pinned its body down.

The Ahtal-Ka once again lay flat, unable to move.

So the Ahtal-Ka could move. It simply didn't want to...

Li Le couldn't understand this ecological trait, but if he had to describe it, it was like a child pulling a blanket over themselves before going to sleep.

Thinking back carefully over the entire terrifying experience, Li Le actually felt a little more at ease.

Because even when it passed right beside him, it hadn't hurt him.

If that old bastard Cephalos found you sleeping in the wild, it'd probably chew your bones to pieces.

And its deterrent effect on the other insects had protected him too.

"Thank you... Anyway, good night."

Li Le's longing for a peaceful night's sleep was actually no weaker than his desire for a full stomach.

But the wilderness offered no suitable environment. Now that he had the chance, he certainly wouldn't pass it up.

Plop~

Half a Bnahabra carcass landed on the sand.

Li Le opened his eyes, sat up, and stretched.

"I never thought just getting a proper night's sleep here could feel this good."

Li Le felt so much better that he was like a different person.

All the exhaustion accumulated over the past several days had been swept away.

The hall was thick with fragrance, and Ahtal-Ka was still eating elegantly, just as when they first met.

The fierce rush of wind from the passage through the ruins had already died away.

Looking at the insect remains around him, Li Le decided to eat his fill before trying to leave. He lit the fire and began grilling in batches.

Once the grilling was done, however, a problem arose.

Ahtal-Ka had taken his back basket apart yesterday, so he had to find a way to make a new one.

Otherwise, he would only be able to take a small portion of the belongings he had scavenged and gathered.

He was indeed in good shape now, but if he ventured into the wild again, there was no telling what he might encounter.

After a brief search, the only usable material here turned out to be the yellow insect silk scattered everywhere.

Li Le casually picked up a relatively thin strand and pulled hard with both hands.

His face turned red from the effort, but the silk showed no sign of breaking.

"It's really tough, but this stickiness is a bit of a problem..."

Just imagining a sticky insect-silk back basket told him it certainly would not be very practical.

Still, Li Le had no better choice.

After gathering enough insect silk of suitable thickness, Li Le sat on the ground and got to work.

Before long, he felt a gaze fixed on him.

He looked up to find Ahtal-Ka beneath the stone pillar, its neck stretched forward, seemingly extremely interested in Li Le's basket-weaving technique.

"Pretty impressive, huh? Heh."

He had gone too long without talking to another living person, and had no outlet for the pressure of survival.

Finally feeling a little relaxed, Li Le eagerly extended his hands to demonstrate the insect-silk basket-weaving technique to Ahtal-Ka.

Hiss, hiss~

A strand of insect silk shot from the end of a claw.

Ahtal-Ka tried to imitate him with its two sickle claws.

Yet however convincing its imitation, its sickle claws ultimately could not match the dexterity of human fingers.

The strands soon tangled together into a tight knot.

Ahtal-Ka sliced the silk apart with its sickle claws and lowered its head slightly, looking somewhat dejected.

"Don't be discouraged. With your intelligence, you'll definitely master it if you practice enough."

Li Le slowed his hands and demonstrated the movements step by step.

Ahtal-Ka raised its head, watching intently with its compound eyes.

After another attempt, it still ended in a tight knot.

But it had already managed to weave a complete section of mesh, a result that far exceeded Li Le's expectations.

He had never imagined its ability to learn would be so terrifying.

Yet amid his delight, fear suddenly rose from the bottom of his heart.

If Ahtal-Ka developed some kind of combat technique through weaving after reaching adulthood, wouldn't hunting it become even more dangerous?

For example, covering a wide area with a silk net first, then following up with a steel-beam smash...

The mere thought of such a deadly move, so difficult to defend against, sent a chill through Li Le.

Seeing Li Le suddenly stop demonstrating, Ahtal-Ka tilted its head, looking somewhat curious.

At this juvenile stage, its attention span probably wouldn't be very long...

"I'm a little tired."

With that, Li Le took the opportunity to lie down.

Ahtal-Ka tossed over two pieces of insect remains and saw that Li Le showed no reaction.

After a moment of stillness, it released a fragrance and resumed eating.

Noticing that its attention was no longer on him, Li Le secretly got up, turned to block its view with his body, and began weaving rapidly with both hands.