Chapter Five

Yet again, a sigh escaped him. He should have seen that coming. They wanted to force him to struggle alone.

Likely, both of them were watching from afar, but there was no way he could find them. All he could do was survive. They could have given him some warning, though.

They didn’t even let him gather supplies, but that was probably the point. Something like he had to learn how to survive when stranded without supplies.

With a critical eye, he scanned his surroundings, finding it to be barren of anything living. Like the villages, sooty sand covered the ground, surrounding massive stone trees. Though the color of the sand appeared slightly different. Whiter than the sand of the villages.

Curious, he bent down and took a pinch of the sand, only to frown. Ash? Did something burn recently? No, there was nothing that could burn.

As he stood up, his eye caught a faint arrow in the ashy sand. It was so faint he would have missed it if he didn’t bend down. That made him think it was old, but upon inspecting it, that wasn’t the case. It was just very shallow. He glanced in the direction the arrow pointed, then up at the still dark sky at the cusp of dawn.

So she wanted me to travel to the north? Or did she? It wouldn’t be the first time they tried to mislead him.

Instead of blindly following the arrow, he crouched and scoured the sand for any other clues. As he thought there were several arrows pointing in random directions, all just as faint. Some even to the point he had to squint.

Did this mean his mother wanted to him to go in a random direction? No, she wanted him to travel in a specific direction. He just had to find which one was the right one. After scouring his immediate area, only finding more arrows to increase his confusion, he gave up on that avenue.

Instead, he circled each tree in the clearing, eyes narrowed in concentration. After inspecting a handful of the trees and finding nothing, he finally found a faint notch on the opposite side of one tree.

Arden glanced up at the stars, now barely visible as dawn fast approached. Their positioning told him the tree was on the north side of the clearing and the notch was on the north side of the tree.

At the discovery, a scowl formed. His mother knew he would investigate further and led him on a wild goose chase when he should’ve followed the first arrow. The right one was right below his feet where he landed, so they knew he would notice it first. At least he hoped it was the right direction. His scowl deepened. Stupid mind games.

Still, he didn’t let the frustration get the best of him. He knew it would only lead to mistakes, so he trekked to the north with his head on a swivel, looking for any other clues or potential threats.

He really hoped his mother didn’t pull more shenanigans, but he knew it was futile. His parents loved to frustrate him just as much as they loved him, if not more, as frustration provided lessons if one kept their calm.

The awe he felt when he first arrived soon wore off, as everything felt the same. While massive, easily wider than he was tall, each grayish stone tree looked no different from its neighbor. This soon turned out to be a problem when he next glanced up at the sky. This time at the two suns, he found he veered to the east by accident.

However, when he turned back the way he came, another clue caught his eye. A rock sat in the path he came from.

Paranoid, he double checked he had walked between those trees, and his footprints proved he did. Unless his parents faked those, too. It was within their capabilities. Still, he heeded his first idea upon seeing the rock and spun back the way he was heading before and continued.

As he wove through the trees, he monitored the suns to orientate himself in a northward direction. Trusting the original arrow meant he must keep a northward trajectory. Wherever his mother wanted him to go, it couldn’t be too far. No matter how well they trained him in survival skills, it didn’t matter when there were no resources to gather.

This was another difference between the villages and here. While both had stone trees, the desert surrounding the villages had some vegetation and creatures to hunt.

In the hours he had already spent in the exclusion zone, he saw zero signs of life, whether plant or animal. It was a dead zone. Even if it wasn’t an exclusion zone, he doubted many would try to survive in the dead stone forest.

Suddenly he froze mid-step upon catching a glint coming from the right, obscured by several trees. He narrowed his eyes in suspicion. The first thing that came to mind was it was a distraction, but after finding no other clues nearby, he investigated.

Upon nearing he found it was a dagger somehow stuck in the stone tree. Based on the polished sheen on the exposed blade, he knew it couldn’t have been there long.

Most likely, one of his parents placed it there just before he arrived. With how quick the rock appeared, he wouldn’t be surprised if his parents were right behind him. Though he knew if he turned, he would find nothing.

Sometimes he questioned if they were really desert elves. They were way too stealthy, but to be fair, this was the prime environment for a desert elf.

Fortunately, he too was part desert elf, so the increasing temperature as the suns rose into the sky from the north and south didn’t bother him too much. It helped that the dense stone forest provided plenty of shade.

As he approached the dagger, he scanned his surroundings, expecting a trap, but nothing jumped out to him, so he reached for it. With almost unnatural ease, the dagger slid out of the stone tree, revealing the rest of the blade was just as polished and razor-sharp.

When he turned his back to the tree, something hit his foot, causing him to look down. There he found a sturdy leather belt with a sheath likely matched to the dagger.

Still, he didn’t just immediately bend down and grab it, knowing his parents. Instead, like the dagger, he scrutinized the area surrounding the belt and sheath, eyes narrowing on a disturbed section of ashy sand to the right of the belt.

With the dagger, he cleared a section of the sand away to reveal a disk he recognized instantly. If he would have grabbed the belt, an explosion of sand would stun him.

Of course, that would be if he didn’t know it’s weakness. He slid the dagger underneath the disk, then lifted it away from the sand, effectively disarming it. Without sand it was practically harmless, but that didn’t mean it didn’t have a use for the future.

He palmed the disc, then slid it into a pocket in the knee-length cargo shorts he wore under the robe. Next, he reached down for the belt. His eyes kept investigating, but nothing stood out to him, so he grabbed it as quick as possible and jumped back in case they hid another disk underneath.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Fortunately, that didn’t seem to be the case, as nothing happened. In a practiced fashion, he cinched the belt around his waist and slid the dagger into the sheath, then continued on.

Though now that he had a weapon, he remained extra cautious, knowing his parents wouldn’t just hand him a weapon without a reason to use it. That meant an ambush was likely coming soon, but how soon he couldn’t know.

Of course, it could just be a false flag. It wouldn’t be the first time they pulled such a trick. The uncertainty taught him to always be aware of his surroundings.

That lesson proved its worth soon after. His sensitive ears twitched as he heard an almost imperceptible rumble. A moment later, his bare feet picked up a slight vibration in the sand. If he wasn’t barefoot, he would have never noticed.

He leaped forward then dropped into a crouch, dagger in hand, watching where he pinpointed the sound came from. However, the sound silenced, as if sensing its target moved.

If he was right about what stalked him, it could sense where he was. Such creatures were common in the desert, though his parents never forced him to face one alone before. That didn’t mean they didn’t teach him how to handle one.

Though knowing how to handle it didn’t make it any easier. At least without magic. They were comically easy to fight with earth or sand magic, but he had neither, while his parents had both. It wouldn’t surprise him if they captured it just to sick it on him for the test.

He had to time it right or this would be a very bad day. Ears and feet focused on any changes, Arden walked to the center of the clearing, then grabbed the disc he conveniently received. Without it, taking down a sand worm would have been a nightmare. Not that it still wouldn’t be a nightmare if he messed up his timing.

As carefully as he could, he set the disc between his feet, then crouched, waiting for the sand worm to take the bait.

Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait long as seconds later his feet picked up the subtle vibration of a nearby sand worm. Unlike when he first detected the worm, he didn’t jump right away but instead focused all his attention below, waiting for the perfect opportunity.

The vibration remained well below what someone could feel through any footwear, but that was to be expected. The sand worm wouldn’t be as stealthy as it was if it alerted its prey before it was too late. Creatures like the sand worm were the reason his parents insisted he always traverse the desert barefoot.

As an elf, he had tough feet, so traveling barefoot wasn’t a detriment. If anything, it felt almost natural.

His sensitive ears picked up a change in the rumble’s frequency, causing his muscles to tense, ready to spring at a moment’s notice, but he remained where he was.

Finally, what he was waiting for happened. The sand on his feet drooped by a hair. With all his might, he sprang forward just as the sand below where he stood collapsed downward. A moment later a beep sounded before a geyser of sand exploded upward, revealing the nightmare inducing maw of the sandworm.

It wriggled, opening and closing its maw stunned.

Arden’s hand clenched around the dagger as he approached the crater skewered by the worm. Like every other sandworm his parents showed him, earthen plates covered most of its exposed body, leaving few weak points. That didn’t mean there were none, though.

This was where having the earth affinity made hunting sand worms comically easy. The shell protecting its body responded well to earth magic, allowing those with the right cards to almost puppet the worm. That wasn’t an option for him, though. He had to do it the dirty way in more ways than one.

Before the worm could recover from the stun, he jumped down into the crater and stabbed the dagger into its maw, rewarding himself with an ichor covered dagger. All his practice on captive sand worms proved its worth as the maw froze as if dead, but that didn’t mean the rest of the worm died. He just disabled one segment, though now the worm was effectively disarmed. It would die on its own from starvation eventually, but he’d rather do the deed himself.

Contrary to logic, the worm didn’t retreat as it didn’t understand it lost the function of its maw. It instead sprung upward, fully exposing its body. It angled itself downward toward the hole it came from.

Before it could, Arden’s shoulder slammed into it, sending it out of the crater into a stone tree. Several cracks appeared on its earthen armor from the impact as he pounced on the several meters long worm. Instead of using the dagger, he stomped down on its wriggling body, unable to escape as if a fish out of water. Cracks spider-webbed down its body, exacerbated by its wriggling.

With his dagger, he stabbed into a crack in the next segment from the maw, stilling another section. Unfortunately, like the maw, it wasn’t the end for the worm.

He observed the worm waiting for the next opportunity, then struck, this time on the opposite end of the worm. The dagger slide though a crack, exposing the soft tissue underneath. With both ends down, the last two of the five segments received the same treatment soon after.

As soon as the last segment died, the body turned to brown particles. Where the body used to lay was a handful of brown crystals, which he pocketed with a smile. The first crystals he earned on his own. Not that he had anything to spend it on.

After scanning his surroundings, almost expecting a second attack, he sheathed the now clean dagger. All the gunk coating it disintegrated into particles like the rest of the worm.

He wished his parents gave him a few non-affinity cards. Unlike his affinity cards, they worked passively no matter what affinity the ambient mana was.

They always seemed big on knowing how to survive without relying on cards. That was probably the primary reason for this test.

Even if he could use his cards, none of them had any use in the current environment. He should find a dismantle card as soon as possible, though. Without it all he would receive from slain creatures was crystallized mana. Though that wasn’t all bad, as he needed crystallized mana to afford said card.

At least he wasn’t in a dungeon. If he was, he wouldn’t receive any crystalized mana. Sure, he had a decent chance at a card drop, but as a nature affinity mage in a desert environment the cards would be worthless to him.

The crystalized mana he received was worth more than any card he would receive from the worm. Those creatures were so common in the desert he would have to travel a long way just to sell it.

Despite not sensing anything in his surroundings, he stayed on guard. His ears twitching, trying to perceive any sound, but the stone forest was eerily silent.

As was habit, he glanced up at the sky to check the location of the suns, though he never looked directly at them as he valued his sight. He spun to face the north and continued on.

Silence was all he heard. Even his footsteps didn’t make a sound as they plodded through the ashy sand.

Hours passed with nothing happening, fraying his nerves and testing his endurance. Still, no matter how long he spent walking, he kept himself on high alert, though the strain was taking its toll. A headache throbbed as his eyes lost focus every couple of seconds before he forced himself to remain at attention.

Something glowing green straight ahead drew his attention, snapping his eyes into clarity. As with the dagger, his first thought was suspicion, prompting him to approach cautiously.

However, as soon as he broke into a massive clearing, all caution vanished in favor of freezing in awe.

In front of him was an absolutely massive, charred stump. The stump was easily a hundred meters wide, and if most of the tree wasn’t burned away, it would have towered high into the sky. Even in its stump state, it still dwarfed every stone tree surrounding it.

The size wasn’t the only thing that froze him, though. Unlike the trees in the stone forest, this tree didn’t appear to be stone. Stone didn’t burn away after all, it only melted.

Going by several chunks missing, he wasn’t the only one who noticed. The image of his Wood Manipulation card drew him forward, but he shook away the temptation for now.

Instead, he returned his attention to the glowing green that drew him to the clearing. As soon as his eyes landed on the familiar card, any doubts his parents controlled the test vanished. If there was any doubt to begin with.

Sitting atop a small stone pedestal was his Accelerated Growth card. Anger sparked. They made him struggle through the stone forest for hours just to receive his starter card back, but after a deep breath, he calmed himself.

Anger was the exact reaction they wanted to force. Like most extreme emotions, all it did was breed mistakes. He wouldn’t fall for such a simple provocation. No, he would stick it to his parents by acing their annoying tests.

As he approached, he scanned everything in his surroundings with a critical eye, looking for any traps, but there was a suspicious lack of anything. That just meant he needed to look harder. No way would his parents leave the prize unguarded. There had to be at least one more test.

Still, no matter how hard he looked, nothing stood out to him. He even crawled on the sand, eyes only centimeters away from the sand. As an extra precaution, he backtracked to the stone tree line and checked each tree nearby for any markings, but there was nothing.

Stumped but still concerned he missed something, he fought the urge to just approach the pedestal.