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Josh picked up the pace as the town of Krutanis loomed on the horizon. His feet were starting to hurt from the neverending use, but he still ambled forward. He briefly considered slowing down and resting, but even thinking about what a town could provide at this moment made it more alluring.

He had traversed the dunes of Mal'holog in its entirety from west to east, stopping at every oasis he could stumble upon. The desert constantly changed, albeit inconspicuously; one week a lustrous oasis would be located a few leagues outside the city of Verhall, and the next week it would be gone. It did not help that some towns, like Krutanis ahead of him, could shift their positions themselves.

The town was built on top of a Magnus Tortoise, one of several that perused the area for ambient mana to take in. The Krutanis Tortoise, named after the settlement founded on its humongous back, was one of the gentler giants of the Mal'holog desert; it would rarely move farther than a league at a time, its nigh permanent residence close to the void-rift of Krutanis, again named after the ubiquitous settlement. The actual origin of the name was long lost to any but the most fervent of archivers, and Josh wasn't one. He only needed to know where he was going and what for, so the history of the place had very little meaning to him unless it was the sole reason for travelling in the first place. Considering it wasn’t in this case, he didn’t bother questioning it further.

Josh took the water canteen from his satchel, mentally berating himself for forgetting to swap the flask with the brandy for an additional water cannister. Liquor was a welcome sight on any journey but the one he just undertook. The flask shined victoriously, too valuable to throw away and too risky to consume, just standing there in his satchel, mocking him for his moment of forgetfulness.

Josh steadied his steps, sand gushing out behind him as he wove through the few remaining dunes, eager to finally see something that is not endless sand. The last oasis he encountered was three days ago, the same time he parted with the group he travelled with.

The town was within reach, a few hours of walking at most, and the sun was still high, so he would hopefully get there before the evening.

It was perplexing to think that the desert was actually more dangerous at night, but Josh quickly got used to the sentiment when the convoy was attacked every night by various monsters. The heat of the day and the light of the sun were a welcome sight after a gruelling battle against a steel back scorpion, one that killed two of the convoy's mules. If the mules weren't already there just to allow for those kinds of killings instead of human losses, the travel would've surely been severely hindered.

Now, however, he was only facing a few more miles of walking if he had any luck at his side. He stroked the pendant on his neck, it had worked thus far as a  charm, surely it wouldn't stop now. He kissed it and put the pendant back into the cloth. He was told sand would easily get everywhere if he weren't careful so he was not taking any chances. It had been hard enough to obtain a proper wyvern tooth just to lose it to some mishandling or specks of dust.

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The trek across the sand continued as Josh finally remembered the details of why he was going to Krutanis in the first place. He was sent here by his handler to obtain rare rift gems. 'Rare' was a relative term, the town of Krutanis was said to have as many tonnes of gems as the Tortoise had years. However in some other areas, like the elven principality of Torra, the same gem could pay you a stay in the wealthiest of inns. It was that kind of imbalance in the availability that convinced people to actually stay here in the first place. That, and some people apparently liked living on top of the Tortoise.

A few hours of walking and no brief pauses later, Josh could finally see the humongous beast in its entire glory, the giant reptile basking in the afternoon sun. The largest of the buildings could be discerned on its back, and a lengthy string of runes ran across the sturdy legs and torso. The magical elevators at the torso could only be used when the Tortoise wasn't standing, but Josh' pendant was apparently in effect as he approached the resting animal. It would have taken him a dozen more minutes to trek around to the legs, and he could not wait to finally lift his feet of the sea of sand.

He approached the elevator, a similarly cloaked man emerging from a small cubicle attached to the reptile's skin. "Entry costs three shillings."

Josh grunted in annoyance for having to pay even more travel fees but soon relented and produced the silver coins from his purse. It wasn’t optional anyway, as this was the destination. The man nodded and went back into the cubicle, reappearing a moment later.

"The line takes about a minute to come down, and we usually keep it up to reduce wear." The man chatted as Josh absorbed the random musings. It was nice to hear a voice that wasn't his own.

"And you work here for most of the day? Must be boring." Josh noticed how dull it would've been to just sit here and stare at the sand as you waited for someone to approach. He convinced himself that those cubicles must contain more than one book with erotic imagery. How else would a man pass all that time?

"Most people consider this stupid work but it pays well enough. And it’s not that boring sometimes."

"How?" Josh considered why this job would require any skill in order to be paid properly but his thoughts were disrupted by a sudden shift in the sand dunes around him.

A large worm emerged from the sand, opening its mandibles to reveal rows of serrated teeth. That kind of dentition was not common for a worm, John thought as he holstered his weapon. He hadn't had a chance to use the Sandworm Executioner, as the locals called the magical bottle, but this was as good of a time as any.

He positioned himself to throw the phial directly into the approaching monster's mouth but was stopped by the hand of the man next to him. As casually as breathing, the man holstered a large gun, the metallic pipe glinting in the sunlight, and shot at the offender. A blast of air dispersed the sand around them as soon as Josh managed to plug his earholes. The glittering projectile entered the worm's mouth and the monster stopped in its tracks immediately. If Josh had blinked, he would've probably missed the explosion of green liquid that followed. All that remained of the monster was an abstract painting of gore across the sea of sand, soon to be scattered by the passing wind. It appeared artistic, even to Josh at this moment.

He only glanced at the gun-holder that was broadly smiling through his veil. "That's why."

Mal'holog was really weird, Josh thought, as the stone platform of the elevator slowly slid to rest on the sand. Perhaps this journey wasn't as uneventful as he initially considered it.

He stepped on the platform and waved to the man who already stepped back into his cubicle. He finally reached Krutanis, and he desperately needed a bath.