***

Zweena was dragging himself across the dune, he lost count of how many dunes he crossed and how much time he was there, the turban he wore was already starting to fall apart, the exposed skin was slowly being cooked.

The only reason Zweena was still alive was thanks to his awakened heart, the rest of his family did not have such luck and they were cooked alive by the sun that was sending its merciless rays on the Sahara.

Before the mana came Zweena´s family-owned small tourist spot and rented out camels.

But with the coming of mana they were cut off from civilization... but at least they thought they were safe in the desert and yet they couldn't be more wrong.

The changes were slow so they didn't notice it immediately, the temperature was increasing with every passing day to the point that showing skin to the sun was life-threatening for normal people, when Zweena´s family noticed that they decided to leave the desert but it was already too late.

Giant scorpions, several meters long worms that moved underground, and worst of all, it looks like the desert gained sentience, the dunes moved around at night as if they were not sandhills but toys on the playground.

Compass also proved to be useless, Zweena wasn't sure if it was because of the mana or the desert, the only way to navigate was to use the stars at night but he started to doubt even that, his home was relatively close to the edge of the desert, just about 50 kilometers (30mil) and yet even after a month he was nowhere close.

Like that Zweena continued on his way, it was already night and the cool temperature of 30 °C (303 °F) seemed so relaxing, Zweena saw grass but he didn't stop, he was already used to the illusions he tried to drink sand one too many times to get played again, he continued on his way but one thing was wrong.

Zweena could feel the grass on his legs, ´that didn't happen before´ he fell to his knees and touched the grass "AGAAAG" shout of victory could be heard and after that only dull sound of Zweena passing out and falling on the ground possibly dying from the exhaustion, it was already two weeks since his last drop of water, Zweena closed his eyes, he didn't resist, it felt like a dream come true as the pain started to fade away.

***

Finally, after escaping from the research facility John Edberg felt like he can freely breathe once again, it was a week since his escape and few days prior John met with other scientists who experienced the drastic evolution of theirs brains.

For now, there were 8 of them and around 12 more will come, as the distance between them is quite huge and some must come to Europe from America it will take some time, and for the base, they chose now empty factory that made PCs and stuff.

The factory was in an industrial zone and was located quite far away from the other survivor camps, there were also other factories where the mutated scientist could gain material´s for their experiments and so far, the experiments were going great.

One thing they discovered is that they all can connect their brains, like that they could exchange thoughts instantly, the process of distributing work was easy as pie now and the progress they made in the few days was insane.

The scientists didn't have access to the moon platform but even so, they already killed one demon and gained his belongings including the dictionary and basic tome for magic, with this they already established a basic alarm system and made few basic spells.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

The progress with devices also continued steadily only one problem occurred and that was the battery, the devices all had to have an array that provided mana from the air or had to be powered by the user, these arrays were complicated to make and providing the mana by the user was same as having a spell as device, until they find some kind of battery it would be impossible to mass-produce those devices.

John smiled and tested the mana lights, the factory lightened up and John used his connection and send the thoughts ´lights ready´ many voices responded in his head ´good work´ ´good job´.

***

Carl and the other angels from his camps were sitting around a table and silently looked at the map before them, there were locations colored with different colors, green for the camps they managed, yellow for friendly human camps, and red for monsters, beasts, and demons, there were many little red circles around the edge of the town and one big circle right in the middle.

"so have you found out where the goblins come from?"

"no we did not, probably some demon released them but who could have enough crystals for so many of them?"

"if the information we got is true then he would need at the very least 2000 crystals for so many goblins, and spending so much money on goblins and then freeing them…"

"isn't it possible that the goblin overrun the demon?"

"well yes it is possible but we can't prove it"

"let´s leave it for later, the goblins are a problem, and exterminating them is more difficult than we anticipated, we can´t do so now, if we do it alone we will just drain our forces and sacrifice our men, that is something we cant afford, if we show any weakness the demons will attack us for sure"

"any new about the humans in the town plaza?"

"nothing new, the security around is tight if we want someone from inside we have to broke in"

"that would be unwise, the demon in the town plaza doesn't seem to be as hostile as the other demons, I think we should take care of him after we clear the rest of the town"

"hmm.. no, leaving the center occupied by enemy is too risky, and from what we saw the demon has quite the storage of food and that is something we desperately need"

"but what about the humans there… we know that he keeps them there forcefully but what if some joined him and would resist?"

"…if there are any such traitors then we have to kill them, anyone from that camp who doesn't join us must die, we can´t let the seed of evil grow, there is no space for those that don't support the peace of the world"

***

Stan was pulling out the half-dead weed from around the wild potatoes, the potatoes stole any nutrients from any plant around so taking care of the weeds was not that hard.

The problem was that the potatoes required a massive intake of water and fertilizer but on the other hand, it looked like the harvest will be soon, the few potatoes they dig up were already quite big and very tasty.

The hard work on the field helped Stan to forget about all the awful things that happened, about how his mother and father died.

Now he only had his sister who was working together with him on the field.

Stan worked till noon and when the group leader called they all went to the improvised cafeteria, the lunch was rat meat with rat meat soup, the variety was a bit lacking but that is going to change after the first harvest.

Stan with his sister got in line and waited for his meal, sister "aghh, I AM hungry" Stan smiled and said "you always are"

"that's because I am such a hard and amazing worker"

Stan said mockingly "yeah sure you are, it is only a matter of time before you are chosen as group leader"

"yes yes, but don't worry, once I am a citizen I will leave a spot for you in my house"

Stan could not help but shake his head, when he first came here, he could only think about how to escape with his sister but now… he wouldn't mind staying.

As for the position like group leaders and so on, those received bigger lunches, and everyone respected them, those positions on one site provoked envy and on the other fear, that was because if you don't do your best you will be probably killed.

The demon Jordan who was leading this camp said it clearly and so far, everything he said the demon did.

Stan couldn't help but shudder when thinking about the demon, he was huge and scary and the beasts he controlled… if the demon let them loose none of the humans would survive.

In the camp everyone had their own opinion on the demon leader, most people were wary of him, some despised him, and few people revered him.

It was without question that the demon could take care of them, both positively and negatively.

Unlike in the previous angel camp from which was Stan banished there was enough food, there were tools, there was enough space to not feel like in a cage, there was hope for a better future.

"HEY, are you even listening? Move it!"

"ahh, sorry sorry"