10 minutes.

It took only 10 minutes of running at full speed before I couldn't keep that speed any longer. Collapsing would be deadly, so I try to keep a more moderate pace.

250 mph is my average speed, and I can hold it for quite some time, but with all this sand, I'm reaching closer to 125 mph. The storm can cross five miles in two and a half minutes. Not good if I wanted any breaks.

~

It's been 24 hours since my encounter with the glass storm. I haven't stopped moving since I want to make distance.

My destination is unknown, but I have nowhere to go anyways.

I hoped the chill of night would help cool me off so I may have a break from the constant heat, but alas.

It's always daytime. The sun moves, but it never sets.

I'd rather have eternal night than eternal day and be in a forest rather than a desert.

My chest hurts like both my hearts are competing to see which one blows out of my chest first. It hurts to breathe, and it feels like I have sand in my lungs.

Sand is everywhere, and my feet are blistering. My eyes burn from my sweat and the debris that winds up in their running at these speeds.

In 24 hours, I bought eight hours of distance between the storm and myself. I should do some marathon training in case something like this happens again. Fortunately, running in this heat did bring some benefits.

[Resistance: Fire 270 > 300]

[Resistance: Exhaustion 5 > 20]

I also added some stat points to make it easier on myself.

Name / Nickname

Ellis Vincere / The Last Winner

Race

Human

Class

Unique Master (Rank C)

Level

65 (3m/16m)

Titles

Proud Owner of a Rock, Fell the Mighty, Indulger…

~

~

Health Points

1800/1800 (+140% bonus)

Mana Points

670/1005

Armor Points

0

Might

200 (152 > 195 + 5)

Agility

100 (85 + 10 + 5)

Vigor

150 (111 > 115 + 20 + 15 )

Mind

201 (126 + 75)

Spirit

150 (140 + 10)

Perception

40

Charisma

20 (5 + 15)

Luck

2

Unused

62 > 14

Although [Agility] brings me more coordination and balance, I figured investing in [Might] would be better.

I needed speed and endurance more than I needed coordination and balance. Having a high [Agility] allows me to use my [Might] more efficiently, but I can make up for it with more [Might].

I kept the same pace even though I could theoretically go way faster because I wanted to conserve energy and slowly adapt to my new speed.

I want to sleep for six hours before continuing with my new speed and stamina.

I decided to rest next to a tall dune for some shade, but as soon as I lay down, the entire sand pile collapsed onto me, burying me alive.

Like a defeated mole, I dig myself mostly free and gasp for air. Sand is everywhere.

I'm halfway out of the ground when the full realization of my situation hits. I'm alone in a hostile environment, running for my life, or I'll die.

I need a distraction, or my trait might progress. I've noticed the local creatures here tend to hide underground or run away from the storm during my 24-hour marathon.

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I'm tired. Like lead is pumping through my body instead of blood. I'm hungry and thirsty as well.

I climb out and notice a carapaced monster staring at me from the sand. It looks like I disturbed its slumber.

[Desert Hulk C lv100]

It's shaped like a hulking eight-foot gorilla with a yellow carapace as plate armor. It has forearm-sized mandibles on its face that click with each breath through its spiracles. Its giant bug eyes are strange. It moves almost like a hypnotic pattern, swirling with many colors. Its antennas twitch in my direction.

It's massive, almost as wide as it is tall—a hulking monstrosity of a creature.

[Resisted Mind Scramble]

Oh fuck, it's actually trying to hypnotize me!

I prepare to fight. I summoned my sword, but I made it smaller and more compact. If I have to carry it around, I don't want it to be unwieldy.

I decide on a sturdier and more compact sword with one edge. The barbs that naturally form make it harder to use to cut, so making it heavier allows me to use it as a mace as well.

The sword is curved as well, so it can cut better. It looks like a mix of a machete and a scimitar, covered in metal barbs.

I hack at this thing before it can get its massive claws on me. It's smarter than it looks since it tried to block my blade with the thickest part of its armored arm.

*CRACK*

-370

My blade breaks into his armor and gets stuck in the monster's forearm.

"SKSREEE"

It bites down at me, but I'm curious.

-99

(-60)

Its mandibles bite around my ribcage, trying to crush me to death. At most, it does some bruising.

I haven't checked the stats of my tanto since I upgraded it with my ring. I've noticed some differences, but I attribute it to physical barbs. I pull up the system window as the [Desert Hulk] tries to bite down harder.

[Unwieldy Barbs A

This blade was forged to draw the user's blood, but it has been modified by a relic. It's heavily tied to the user's life. It's still excellent at hurting the user.

Damage. +10% of Current Health

Damage to self. x2

Equipment Skill: Sacrifice Health. Forged by Blood Bound by Blood.]

"..."

Right now, my sword does over 170 damage without calculating anything else... I'm exceedingly pleased.

I've never really used my blade in an extended fight.

I used my sword for its skills or fighting against creatures that would've died in the same amount of hits, regardless of the stat change.

The gentlemancer is the only outlier, but he had his barrier, and Rob was the one that stabbed him, not me.

I'll only do less and less damage as fights go on, so I might as well end it early.

*SMACK SMACK*

I slam my blade down on the [Desert Hulk]'s head twice and crack it open like a coconut.

Its mandibles are still clamped onto my torso. I pry myself free and look down at the corpse.

Is it edible?

I activate the [Lexicon] and use it for its creature categorizing feature, allowing me to learn new things from entities by killing or studying them. If I research them, it wouldn't matter if the skill is activated. Huh.

[Species: ___ Hulk

Variant: Desert

Rank: C

The Hulks are bipedal beetle people with the tendency to have different variants depending on what environment they thrive in. They cannot leave their rank without evolving like most monsters. (Incomplete data.)

Almost all variants are burrowers that can even tunnel through solid stone without issue. Desert variants are suited for softer terrain and harsh heat.

{Incomplete Data.)]

The meat looks like raw crab meat... I pull out a chunk of flesh from inside the carapace and take a bite. It's dry.

"Vile..."

I'd rather starve than eat this. I take another bite, and it doesn't get any better.

The carapace is too hard for me to bite into, so I break a few chunks off into bite-size pieces and eat it that way.

It tastes like sand.

Theirs no liquid inside this creature either. Persisting on its juices was my water plan.

I look down at my hands covered in beetle meat and sand before looking at the carapace.

~

I hollowed out the forearm that wasn't damaged and decided to use it as storage. I tied it to my body using the antennas this creature had. I put the eyes and mandibles inside the log-shaped forearm.

It's janky and smells, but it will do. I want to keep the eyes for Duchess or as a food source.

The stench of the meat basking in the sun must have alerted other creatures because birds start circling overhead. They are shiny blots in the sky, but I managed to [Scientific Insight+] one of them.

[Iron Vulture C lv100]

If they are scavengers, they'll wait for something to kill me before coming down. I shouldn't sleep. They might think I'm playing dead and descend for a meal.

I can probably kill them all, but It'll be exceedingly annoying.

Maybe I can find a cave or ravine for some shelter. I need the storm to pass overhead. After that, I don't have to worry about it.

I decide to keep moving, but I'm not running if I don't need to.

~

Finally, another creature. It's been six hours since I killed that [Desert Hulk].

[Antlion Worker D lv50]

The car-sized bug looks like a mix between a scarab and a trap-jaw ant. It's not alone.

Bugs are working outside of a massive hole, their nest. They are bringing the remains of a large cat back to the nest.

[Antlion Guard C Lv. 100]

I'm hiding behind a dune, the birds give away my position, but the bugs still haven't seen me.

A slightly smaller antlion with brightly colored glyphs covering its exoskeleton walks out and moves its antenna in the air before heading back inside the nest.

[Runic Antlion C lv???]

Oh?

Not the queen, but just a random antlion is mightier than I can perceive? With a name like [Runic Antlion], it might be able to cast magic.

If I recall correctly, antlions are like any other grouping of insects. They follow their broodmother and work together in a 'hive.'

If I can kill that entire nest, I can probably hide inside of it. I grip my sword's handle tighter.

"What do you think, Flash Gordon?'

…

"Oh, yeah. I'm alone."

I've been walking at a leisurely pace to preserve energy, so the storm is probably only a few hours away.

I don't know if I could find another cave or any shelter.

It's also been quite a while since I ground for levels.

The mandible I harvested from the [Desert Hulk] comes in handy. I pull it out and hold it like a club.

Early humans used to throw things as a hunting strategy, like the boomerang or a rock. I don't have Flash Gordon with me, so I have to adapt. One of the antlions strays from the pack.

I circle around until I'm within throwing distance. I stab my blade in the sand and hold the mandible with two hands.

I overhead throw the mandible as it rockets toward the unsuspecting creature. It must have sensed something because it looked up as my projectile crushed its exoskeleton.

Critical hit!

-520!

Instant death. I pick up my blade and slide down the dune I'm on, throwing the other mandible in the process.

It soars through the air and nails one of the [Antlion Guards] right in the abdomen.

-110

There are twelve guards and over one hundred workers.

The [Antlion Guard] raises its head to the sky and charges at me. All the antlions charge at me.

The first one to approach is another worker. One pommel slam and the beast is dead at my feet.

A guard crawls over the corpse and tries to latch on to me with its three-foot mandibles.

I stab the [Antlion Guard] in its skull and knee it under the chin.

-370

-130

The beast survived, but it failed to clamp me in its maw. I rip the sword out of the carapace, the barbs catching on everything on the way out. It dies from the trauma.

I miss this feeling of combat. I wish Flash Gordon was here to share it with me.