Chapter 51: C51 – Trek / Harbinger

"Alright, how is it?"

"...Good, but not as good as the ice disk."

Garet answered Alec as they walked back into the Haven. Currently, he was wearing a necklace that bore a disk of orange rock. This orange rock was similar to the ice disk Ava had given him. 

This was the heat protection item they had found at the dungeon association. The cost of one necklace was 5 gold, and its function was to mitigate the ambient heat. It lowered the heat by about 30 degrees, making it warm but not hot for Garet. 

For the same cost, the necklace wasn't nearly as refreshing as the ice disk that actually cooled his body. However, they couldn't expect much from the dungeon association that sought to make as much money as possible from the things they sold. Luckily, the necklaces would last 3 days each. They had bought 5 on the spot, an amount that would hopefully get them through the job. 

It was a decent deal, so the group was quick to get back into the dungeon. Garet could bear the heat much better now, though there were still some signs of perspiration. Unfortunately, Alec could only tell him to drink plenty of water. 

"Alright, now that we have that settled, we need to make our way to the farthest haven. I'm thinking we can head to one of the ones in the middle as a rest stop before setting off on the final trek. Sound good?"

"Sounds good."

"Then let's start. Weapons out."

Alec placed his hand on his sheath, prompting the others to check their weapons. Ava had her axe, Dirk had his variety of weapons like the bow, hatchet, knives, and spear, and Casma had a short magic scepter. This weapon had actually surprised Dirk when he first saw it. It was apparently supposed to slightly amplify her magic ability, whether it was gathering mana or controlling it. 

The party exited the other side of the haven. From there, as far as the eye could see, there was nothing but sand dunes. This time it was much more treacherous, with large hills and plenty of dune worms. 

They could only walk onward though. Alec took the lead, turning northeast toward the next haven and marching. The others grouped back up into a diamond shape, keeping their ears out and eyes on the sand. 

Eventually, they encountered their first dune worm. Dirk heard one slither through the sand at the same time that Alec spotted the moving mound. 

"I got it."

Alec unsheathed his sword, keeping an eye on the mound that rapidly approached. When it got close, Alec stabbed down. 

*Shink!*

The sword buried itself in the sand, but surprisingly, there was no response. Alec was confused before the worm suddenly jumped out of the sand. 

The worm was a nasty looking thing that grew to about 3 feet long and a foot wide. It had no eyes and two rows of long, protruding teeth that looked more like claws. Its carapace matched the sand perfectly while various white hairs stuck out from between its staggered shells, acting as feelers. 

Upon jumping out of the sand, its teeth pointed out and clamped down on Alec's calf. He panicked as the teeth scratched against his armor and swung his sword down on the worm. 

*Crack!*

*Screech!*

The worm screamed as the blade struck its shell, breaking through and cutting flesh. This caused its body to thrash around, and Alec lost his footing. The two went to the floor as the worm continued to chomp at his leg. 

Alec kept swinging his sword at the worm, breaking its carapace in multiple places and drawing blood. The others watched, unsure of what to do. They couldn't just go up to him and swing their weapon at him. However, Dirk didn't worry about this dilemma as he pulled out his hatchet and rushed over. 

"Stop swinging."

When Dirk got close, he punched Alec's hand that gripped the sword. The sword went flying away, and Alec almost wanted to curse at Dirk for a seemingly stupid move. However, Dirk was quick to act, and he brought his hatchet down. 

*Splat!*

*Screech!!*

The worm screamed even louder as the hatchet plowed straight through the carapace, burying itself into its body. Dirk chopped three times in succession in different places, the last being right on the head. With that, the worm instantly died, letting go of its grip on Alec's leg. 

Alec huffed, his adrenaline still coursing through his body. Dirk was calm as he pulled out his hatchet, kicking away the worm. 

"You alright?"

"...Uh, yea. Thanks."

Alec nodded as he calmed down. He had lost his cool, something that he shouldn't have done. He inwardly cursed himself as he stood up. 

"Here."

"Oh."

Dirk handed him his sword as he dusted off sand. 

"By the way, never chop at yourself with a sword. Take out your knife next time. You don't want to take off your own limb."

"Yea, you're right."

"And watch how you flail that thing. You don't want to hit someone that might try to help."

"Right. Sorry."

Alec accepted Dirk's criticisms as he sheathed his blade. He had been momentarily angered by Dirk knocking his sword away, but that was so he could take control of the situation. Regardless, the things he said were common sense for a sword user such as him. He cursed himself again for being so careless. 

"Damn. That worm was strong. Casma, I would keep your distance from any worms you see. Your armor might keep them from piercing your body, but they will bruise you. I wouldn't be surprised if the stronger ones could break bones with that bite strength."

Alec spoke as he massaged his leg. Because he was a body refiner, he could take much more damage before being hurt. However, he was surprised at how heavily those worms could clamp down. Even he might've been bruised, and this was only the first one that they encountered. 

Casma nodded seriously. If it could hurt a body refiner, then it would absolutely injure her who wasn't one. This was the major disadvantage to lower Tier mages. Until they learned essential skills for movement and protection, they would be susceptible to close range bodily harm. They needed to keep their distance from all enemies.

This was why those who could be both mages and body refiners were powerful. Alec could take damage to his body and still function, whereas a normal mage might have already had his bone broken or muscles bruised. However, it was rare to have both an attribute and anima. 

Placing his hand on his leg, Alec closed his eyes. There was a soft glow of light for a few seconds before dimming. He then shook his leg out. 

"Okay, I think I'm good. Let's reshape into a triangle and keep going. Casma, you can move with Garet."

Alec directed his group. Casma nodded and moved next to Garet. Dirk then moved up, he and Alec taking the front while Ava held the rear. 

They then continued walking, trudging through the sand. It wasn't long though before another worm was spotted from Dirk's side. 

This time though, Dirk had a good idea as to how to handle them. He took out his two spear halves, piecing them together before pointing down at the oncoming worm. 

*Shik!*

Thrusting the weapon, Dirk buried it in the sand. There was a muffled scream as sand was kicked up. He had pinned the worm. 

He then equipped his hatchet while holding down the spear. Stepping closer, he brought the hatchet down on the worm that had flailed to the surface, killing it in one chop. 

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"Wow, you make it look so easy."

Alec spoke as Dirk removed the spear and sheathed his hatchet.

Dirk didn't respond, instead looking at the worm. 

"Should we be harvesting anything from the worms?"

"The worms? Hm, maybe their mana crystals. I don't know of anything else of value."

"Alright."

Nodding, Dirk bent down and looked through his mana sense. He could sense a dense bundle of earth mana right in the front where its head was. Taking a knife, he pierced between two of the shells of the carapace and dug around, eventually pulling out a small brown-orange marble. It looked like a small solid turd. 

"Here."

Cleaning it off, Dirk tossed it to Garet. Garet caught it before taking out the loot bag and throwing it in. Since the marbles were solid, as long as the flesh around them was wiped off, they wouldn't carry any horrible stench. 

With that, they left the body behind, continuing their march. Because monsters within dungeons didn't breed, they were spawned. Upon a monster's death, the dungeon would gradually decompose them until there was nothing left behind. This process took a long time though, so in the short term, bodies would stack. 

Sure enough, the group came around the occasional dead worm. Some worms were cut in half, others were mauled to death by several slashes, and some were stabbed cleanly. Their yellow blood seeped into the sand, leaving damp clumps and wafting odors. Unfortunately there were virtually no breezes or winds, so the smells lingered around for hours. 

The group walked for hours as the sun rose further up into the sky, coming across dozens of dune worms along the way that would hunt in groups. Many were handled by Dirk while Alec got used to killing them with a sword. Ava got plenty of action too as worms snuck around behind them. Since she had an axe, as long as she hit her mark, they would die quickly. 

Along the way, the entire group drank tons of water, especially Garet who constantly sweat. Their water bags were constantly drained, causing them to take small breaks where Casma would refill them. Using funnels, she would conjure water balls and dump them down into the bags. 

They continued like this for 7 hours. At this point, it was already well past noon, and the sun lowered to the other horizon. It was here that the group found another marker that directed them toward the haven. However, they were still a little under 10 miles away, so they decided to take a break at the marker. 

"Sheesh. This heat is not okay."

Garet spoke as he dropped all the bags. The loot bag clanked with a few dozen mana crystals, the fruits of their labor. 

By now, his armor was thoroughly drenched in sweat. If it weren't for the fact that he was a body refiner, his legs would be giving out too. 

In fact, it was now Casma who was doing the worst. Her legs were aching from all the hiking. Walking through the sand was fine for a while, but at a certain point it became laborious. She had reached that point a while ago, and she knew she would bear the consequences of this hike the next day. She was now wishing that she was a body refiner like every other person in the group. The only consolation was that she could bear the heat better than Garet. 

"We have plenty of time to recuperate. At night, the dune worms don't come out, so we won't have to worry about anything once the sun goes down. We can continue to the haven then."

Alec spoke as he went to one of the bags, pulling out a blanket and sitting on it. The others agreed with his plan as they took a seat as well, letting their legs rest. 

Dirk watched as his group members slipped off their boots, dumping out little piles of sand. Seeing that, he wiggled his feet to see if there was any sand inside. He couldn't feel anything though. In fact, his boots were still very comfortable, his feet not suffering from anything like blisters or soreness. His mother really did do a good job with his gear. 

Pulling out blankets, everyone either took a seat or laid down. As they did, the sun continued to set. The sand gradually turned from orange to pink, and the temperature rapidly dropped. 

As they rested, there were only a few dune worms that came over to them. Dirk easily took care of these, and when night finally fell, there were no more threats. 

It was only when the cold set in that Alec finally stood up. The others got up with him, their legs sufficiently recovered. Since there was no more heat, Garet took off his heat protection necklace before hoisting the bags. 

Like this, the group made the final trek to the haven. Upon arriving, they were surprised to only see a few groups of people who were camping out. Picking a spot, they also set up camp before going to sleep for the night. 

.............

As Dirk completed his first day, in a secret area on the edges of the Horizon Empire, there was a tall mountain. This mountain stood among droves of tall trees. The temperature here was tropic, meaning tons of various wild animals prospered in this lush jungle, and rain fell often. 

On this mountain there was a secretive entrance that led down into a series of caves. These caves were all man-made and surprisingly large, able to fit the same amount of people as a regular town. There were stone buildings everywhere, and between these buildings there were many adults and children who walked to and from. 

However, even disregarding the fact that it was within a mountain, this wasn't some normal town. All the children wore the same black clothes, and their heads were constantly lowered. They all looked either scared or apathetic. Both girls and boys alike, they were bruised, tired, but not weak. Their bodies sported tight muscles, none of them looking like normal kids. In their eyes were also sharp glints. Even the scared ones occasionally glanced around with acute senses. 

The adults were similarly special. Every single one gave off incredibly dangerous auras. In fact, those that didn't give off any aura were the ones the kids cowered the most near. The adults walked with trained steps, their violent gazes occasionally falling on the kids below them. 

Above them all though, there stood a man. From him, not even the adults could sense anything. This man wore a strip of cloth over his eyes. However, those he looked at could still feel a gaze on them, though they couldn't tell from where. This man was by no means blind, the way he utilized his senses being far beyond that of a normal person. 

The man stood within a room near the top of the mountain. He had one window that gave him a view of everything below, and another that gave him a view of the forest outside. His room was lit by ominous candles and decorated with bookshelves and odd paintings. Behind the man stood a younger woman who had a scar that ran from her eye socket back toward her ear. 

This woman glanced at the man with a bit of trepidation, mustering up courage before opening her mouth. 

"He left not long ago. As you thought, his mother kept track of him."

"Of course she did."

The man let out a deep sigh, the air in front of him whirling around from his powerful lungs. He scratched his graying beard.

"She probably has a feeling, though she doesn't want to believe it. Is the scout on him?"

"Yes. He'll follow them to their destination and back. His last transmission told us that he would be gone for around two weeks."

"Good. Although he's following him to evaluate his ability, I don't believe there's any need to."

The man narrowed his eyes before turning around to a desk, taking a seat in a leather chair. 

"Unlike that woman's other children, this one is almost too good to be true. Determination, discipline, and his skill set is perfect. I couldn't imagine a more suitable candidate. This little adventure of his will only show us his current combat ability, and whether or not he has a talent for killing, which I believe he does."

"Yes. But sir, his mother is a Tier 6. Sure she hasn't reached into Tier 7 yet, but her killing ability is no less than one with her Rank. After all, you taught her..."

The young woman drifted off as the man's gaze fell on her. His eyes were covered, but she still couldn't help but cower as she felt that piercing gaze through the cloth.

"I know. However, that's precisely why I'm doing what I am. She knows that the day will come. That's why she pays so much attention to that amazing son of hers. She knows that her talent was passed to him, and yet she hopes that he won't be subject to what she was. That's always been her weakness. Friendship and familial bonds. Compassion and a love for others. It could be said that I'm touching a reverse scale. But that's exactly why I'm going to handle this personally."

The man lowered his head, slightly complicated emotions brewing in his mind. The next moment though, he seemed to radiate a sense of wrath.

"I will have another weapon, one that I will sharpen and hone to absolute perfection. He will surpass even his mother. And she can do nothing, because her weakness prevented her from surpassing her teacher. This is her own fault. And to think she thought she could escape her past. Marrying a measly marquess? You think becoming friends with a duke will protect your family?! Nobody escapes me! Nobody escapes my Fallen Asuras!"

*Bang!*

His fist raised and fell, slamming the table in front of him. The young woman in front of him backed away hastily as the table partially disintegrated under an oppressive power of darkness.

Realizing he lost his cool, the man took a few deep breaths. He faced the young woman.

"When the time comes, bring him to me, the child named Dirk Strider. He will become a weapon, an agent of necessary chaos. A new era is dawning, and those like him will be the harbingers of revolution!"

 

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