Sir Edvar says "A pleasure to meet you, King Ash. What did you mean by this worm being undetectable? If so, how did you kill it?"

"It couldn't be seen with mana until after it died. I was experimenting and melted an area of sand, it just happened to be in that area. Until I melted the sand, I had no idea that the worm was there. Even then, it took a minute for it to die."

Sir Edvar says "Wait, you actually melted the sand?! We have of course thought of destroying the sand to halt the desert's advance. However, no fire spell has ever had any effect on the sand. What did you melt it with?"

"My breath."

Sir Edvar says "Are you a dragon?!"

"No. I am nowhere near that powerful. My breath is probably only around the level of a drake."

Sir Edvar says "Oh. Only the level of a drake, I see. So, do you have any thoughts about these worms?"

"Well, I have no proof, but I get the feeling that they are behind the strangeness of the desert."

Sir Edvar says "They could be. Do you plan to return to the desert? If so, would you be willing to try bringing back a live one?"

"Yes, I plan to do some more hunting. I can try, but I will need something to contain one."

Sir Edvar says "No problem. I will provide you with several specimen containers."

"Make sure they are physically strong and don't just depend on mana."

Sir Edvar says "How come?"

"When I fought the first ant in the desert and it destroyed my gear, it absorbed the mana and channeled it into the sands. Since the beasts lose that ability when they leave the sands, it might be due to the worms."

Sir Edvar says "Interesting theory. Alright, give me a few minutes."

"Sure. I will have some lunch while I wait."

The two of them leave and I find an out of the way spot to sit down for lunch. Sir Edvar returns before I am done eating and hands me several glass jars. At first I am disappointed, but then I notice strands of metal running through the glass.

The jars are enchanted, but even without that they seem to be fairly strong. Since it is only meant to contain a small worm, it is probably good enough. It seems like they are made with a fairly advanced technique, but I don't know much about making glass.

Sir Edvar says "Will these work?"

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"Hopefully. Since I don't know much about the worms I can't say for sure. But I will give it a try, assuming I can find more worms."

Sir Edvar says "Do you have any ideas for that?"

"I think that if I blanket an area of sand with mana I might be able to find them by looking for voids."

Sir Edvar says "Sounds like it might work. Let me know how it goes. I will be staying here until you are done with your hunting."

"Alright. I should be back in a couple of hours if not sooner."

Sir Edvar gives me a nod and then leaves me to finish my meal, but I notice him walk over to the four-winged eagle. It looks like I was right, the evolved eagle is Sir Edvar's mount. It figures the commander should have the best mount and he looks capable enough.

Once I am done eating I find the outpost quartermaster and get some leather straps from him. I use these to wrap the bases of the ant mandibles to make grips for them. I have to add a couple of layers of leather before the handles are thick enough for my paws.

Then I leave the outpost and start walking back towards the desert. As I am walking, I practice walking on my hind legs to try and get used to it. Normally, in this form, I walk on all fours because it is more comfortable and faster.

However, in order to wield the mandibles properly I need to get used to standing upright. It isn't that hard, it just feels a bit weird and I want to get used to it before fighting. My practice ends once I am out of sight of the edge of the desert, it is time to experiment.

Using my mana to blanket an area instead of just scanning takes a lot more focus. I also can't cover as big of an area as I do when I am scanning, but it still covers a few hundred feet. The hard part is looking for the voids, because the worms are tiny and I don't want to miss them.

The first area that I try it on doesn't have any worms, at least I don't think it does. Until I actually manage to find one I can't be sure that this method will work. After blanketing the area, it takes me about ten minutes to thoroughly check through it.

When I don't find a worm in the second area either, I start doubting my theory. Luckily, I finally manage to find a worm in the third area that I check. I shapeshift into human form, brush the sand aside, and pick up the worm.

I quickly drop the worm into one of the jars and close the lid, which has tiny air holes. Then I switch to scanning the area because I am expecting a beast at least. As expected, within a minute I sense a group of three beasts enter my scanning range.

They are heading straight for me, probably in answer to the worm being in distress. I put the jar down on the sand, drop shapeshift, and take out the mandibles. The three beasts turn out to all be ants, one warrior and two workers.

The warrior is leading the charge with the two workers following directly behind it. I am ready when they reach me, I parry the warrior's bite with one mandible, while cutting his head in half with the other. Then I jump over his body to reach the workers and cut them both down before they can even attack me.

1 Empowered Warrior Ant defeated! 200,000 Exp gained!

2 Empowered Worker Ants defeated! 200,000 Exp gained!

That went even better than I had hoped, the mandibles cut through the ants like a knife through butter. What made it even easier was that the workers seemed to be stunned by the death of the warrior. I was able to kill them before they could recover, which is why the fight went so smooth.

However, when I return to the jar I find that the worm inside has died. Maybe it wasn't the death of the warrior that caused the workers to be stunned. Since I don't know exactly when the worm died, I can't be sure which it was.

I am rather puzzled as to why the worm died so quickly, but I have no way to know. Since it is already dead, I go ahead and put the jar into my pouch, I will still take it back with me. I am sure that the mages that will be studying it will be glad to have another corpse.