A black stone obelisk stood tall and imposing amidst the desert dunes, its surface carved in a wyrm-like fashion. It hummed with a faint purple glow barely visible in the scorching sun. The sand dunes stood around the obelisk ignorant of what was about to happen.

“Meow!”

Then, with an otherworldly surge, the obelisk stirred, and the very air seemed to tremble. One after another, tiny yellow grains of sands began to rise into the air. In an instant, a tempest of sand erupted around the obelisk, a furious dance of golden particles swirling and twirling. A vicious vortex formed clouding the sky.

“It works, ha-ha, it works!”

“Meow!”

The unruly sandstorm raged on, its path ever-changing, leaving nothing but chaos in its wake. The angry grains of sand pummelled and pelted two creatures standing by the obelisk, however, the two didn’t mind it one bit and continued talking.

“Can you feel it?”

“Yes, I can, meow! The salty salt-salt which makes the salt Salt is here. [Manipulate Earth].”

A vortex within a vortex was born, making it even more chaotic. One sandy and the other clear crystalline. Crystalline dust was filtered out of the yellow sand. The dust pooled to form a miniature whirlpool around the wyrmling.

“So, this is the stuff. [Inspect].”

[Earth Spirit Stone Dust], the message informed the Spider King.

“I see, it all makes sense now.”

“Meow?”

“Wyrmling, do your thing.”

“[Crystalise], meow.”

With a shower of sand-yellow light the dust turned into precious WyrmSalt.

“As expected, the experiment was a success. You can power down the SandStorm Obelisk.”

The wyrmling coiled around the carved black stone pillar. “Meow? I can’t, it refuses to shut off!”

SandStorm Obelisk was a device born from the spider’s ingenuity and wyrm’s Earth magic. A similar method of enchanting the Magic Scrolls was used to empower the obelisk. From the base to the tip, it was engraved in the glyphs of Spider Chirp, a language which carried great power. If read like words the glyphs would only form a butchered and broken sentence: bind earth, imbue magic, form storm, separate by element … It didn’t need to tell a coherent story because those were just an instruction for the obelisk to follow.

In the end, the obelisk did as instructed, it separated the mundane sand from its more magical cousin, however, the magical device wasn’t perfect. The Earth Spirit Stone Dust resonated with the mana of the device to power it indefinitely. As long as there was dust the obelisk would continue to work casting an endless SandStorm. And it was no easy flaw to fix.

The Master and his pet stood some distance away from the obelisk and its storm. The area of affect was no bigger than few hundred metres in radius. In other words, it was well contained.

“Hey, maybe it’s not a bug but a feature?!”

“A feature, meow?”

“Yes, this can be used to our advantage. Let’s make more of them obelisks!”

“Okay! I’ll tell the kobolds to begin carving right away, meow.”

The plan here was to surround the WyrmCity in sandstorms, leaving only a small corridor for the traders to pass. The SandStorm will be used as walls to protect this city, plus it had the bonus of gathering the precious dust.

Soon more obelisks were carved and enchanted, each had a depiction of wyrmling coiling up around the obelisk. It was a feature which kobolds insisted on, after all the wyrmling here was the object of worship to them; Kobolds deified dragons. And clearly, these obelisks gave that idea even more power.

In mere few days the WyrmCity was surrounded by an endless SandStorm, but that force of nature was tamed and controlled. This served to give the WyrmCity those hidden and enchanted city vibes. A rumour in the Scorpion Desert began to spread like wildfire: At the border of the desert, near the oppressive black mountains, past the endless storm, there is an enchanted city filled with wonderous treasures and sights to see; a WyrmCity ruled by powerful and wise Desert Dragon. The rumour may or may not have been started by a certain wyrmling himself.

…

The Spider King ran his arm through a pile of crystalline dust; it took a day and no less than a hundred obelisks to gather it.

“How much do you think its worth?” He asked.

“Even if in dust form, meow, it’s still a Spirit Stone.” And those were always pricy. “A chest of gold perhaps, meow, that is if you sell it to Humans.”

A full chest of gold a day, that was the worth of their obelisk farm. Impressive! But surely, with such amounts, the demand and hence the price in the Human Kingdoms would drop after a while. He gave his pet a meaningful look.

“If you sell it to scorpions… it is hard to tell, meow. Gold is useless to them, they operate on a barter system. So, we could get ten thousand Scorpion Glass Bottles or ten thousand Rainbow Shells.” The wyrmling named just a few approximations.

“I see… So, in the end it’s all just quick money.”

“Meow? What if we reinvest the dust?”

“What do you have in mind?”

“Meow-meow!” It cackled. “What if we spread the sandstorms further, then use the dust we got to make magical items to counter it. Like SandStorm Cloaks and scrolls of Inert Earth.” Both of these were used by the Fennec to counter the obelisk effects and gather the dust for the WyrmCity.

He looked at wyrmling with startled shock. What he was suggesting was like creating a plague and then creating a medicine to profit from it all – an incredibly evil plan.

“No, let’s not do that. If we release SandStorm Cloaks and Magic Scroll: Inert Earth, those items could be used against our citie’s SandStorm defences. And to steal our precious dust.”

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Right… Meow, then we can use it to grow stuff.”

“Grow? Does anything grow here in the desert? As far as I saw, it’s all just sand.”

“No, meow… but can’t you change that?”

Well, yeah… yeah, he could. And with the dust he should be able to make some formidable plants.

“I could experiment, and then we would see. But it’s hard to tell if we would get anything useful.”

“Meow, I have a few plants in the Palace Garden, you can experiment on them. Come!” The wyrmling urged.

The Palace Garden didn’t deserve the name of the garden, more like a collection of a few potted plants. And the ones the wyrmling had appeared to be mostly of a cosmetic kind.

He approached a random pot. In one hand he clutched the dust for the Imbue and in the other he touched the plant itself. “[Evolve], [Imbue].” The usual light show ensued. “Let’s see what we’ve got. [Inspect].”

Sunfire Blossom: This radiant plant has vibrant orange petals that seem to emit a soft glow mimicking the warmth of the sun. Every morning it produces a single drop of Nectar with Healing properties.

“Huh, colour me surprised. This will be useful, especially at night when it gets slightly chilly. And I’m sure the Nectar will be useful in the Alchemy.”

The wyrmling licked the blossom’s nectar with its long snake-like tongue. “It’s also sweet! I want more!” He demanded being ever the sweet tooth.

“We can plant more later with my Seed Archive, but now let’s continue.” He targeted a different plant. “[Evolve], [Imbue].” … “[Inspect].”

Sand Lily: A mesmerizing flower with petals in shades of red and yellow. It thrives in damp sandy areas and exudes an intoxicating scent that lures the unsuspecting creatures. Once stepped upon, its roots transform the sand into QuickSand, entrapping its prey.

“It’s somewhat sinister but does smell incredibly appealing.” He carried the pot closer to the wyrmling. “Here check this out.”

“Your right, it does smell appealing!” The wyrmling rubbed himself on the flower destroying it. The potted sand turned into quicksand but there was too little of it to do anything. “Meow! The sand, it clings to my scales. What is this!?”

“QuikSand, once we plant more, be careful with these flowers. But you do smell amazing!” Even through the clumps of wet sand the wyrmling emitted that irresistible aroma. “Amazing. This will make an exquisite perfume.”

“Meow! What are you doing!” A bunch of Fennec had run up to wyrmling from nowhere and were furiously sniffing at him.

“God Emperor, what is this? Why do you smell so good?” A fennec yelped.

“Ah… I’m in love!” Another one proclaimed.

*Sniff*, *Sniff* - a third one was just taking it all in.

“Oh no, [Inspect]…” The Spider King read the message. “It appears they’ve been afflicted with Charm.”

“Get off me, meow!” The wyrmling roared. “My body belongs to Master, meow!” It roared again.

“Huh…” The roar was enough to dispel the negative status affect. “It must be only a minor debuff.”

While the Fennec were apologising profusely, the Spider King picked another plant to Evolve, a sad and shrivelled sapling of some desert tree.

“I don’t have much expectations of you, but here it goes. “[Evolve], [Imbue]” … “Oh! Look at you grow! [Inspect]”

WaterHole Palm: A towering palm tree with lush, emerald-green fronds that provide shade and respite in the harsh desert. Its trunk contains a pocket of Palm Juice, which can be tapped into and drunk to quench one’s thirst.

“Wyrmling!” He pointed at the tree which outgrew its pot by many times. “Despite being a desert plant this one produces water! We lucked out on this one.”

“Nice, meow, I’m kind of thirsty. Do I bite into it or what?”

The Spider King shrugged; the description didn’t have elaborate instructions.

“I’ll bite it!” The wyrmling used its fangs to pierce a hole into the trunk. “Yes, meow, it’s leaking juice. Mmm… It tastes weird, *Hic*.” The wyrmling drank in between the hiccups. And he drank, and drank some more, and more…

“Hey, didn’t you have enough? Let me try.” He suddenly became curious about what was so good about that Palm Juice.

The Spider King pulled the firmly latched wyrmling off the WaterHole Palm, the juvenile wyrm was yanked like a pup from his mother’s teat; there was even that wet *Pop* sound.

The Spider King suckled on the leaking hole to get that sweet-sweet Palm Juice. It wasn’t what he had expected, actually it was so far from the expectations that he, *Bleh*, he spat it out.

“This is clearly alcoholic!” He made an unexpected discovery.

Palm Juice came already pre-imbued with that rugged spirit of the desert. A nickname of fire water would suit it better! Needless to say, even that short but indulgent slurp left the wyrmling completely wasted.

“*Hic*, Meow, *Hic*.” He looked at the Spider King with vacant eyes.

“I’ll do the rest without you, take a nap.”

“…” The wyrmling collapsed here and there.

He transformed yet another plant.

SandScale Fern: This unique fern has fronds covered in small, iridescent scales that reflect the sunlight, creating a shimmering effect of Mirage. Large patches of it can create an Illusion luring the creatures to what they desire the most in the desert – water. But be careful if you get too close the fern will explode sending its scales like shrapnel.

“What the…” It exploded right into his face. No need to worry, it barely dented his large health pool of 1000HP. “MirageScale…” He was left with a bunch of tiny scales; they were obviously a type of crafting ingredient.

Despite being wary of being pranked by the System again, he Evolved the last remaining plant.

[Chaos Blessed activated], it triggered for no apparent reason.

Just like the WaterHole Palm the newly evolved plant exploded its pot in an unprecedented growth spurt. Its roots burrowed past the floor tiles and into the sand under. It kept growing and growing, more thick than tall. Its trunk took a sinister shade of black. In a poor imitation of spindly arms, claw-like branches sprung from the very top of it.

He was using Earth Spirit Stone here and not the Dark variant of it, but apparently, even then, the Chaos Blessed was able to skew the natural path of Evolve. The plant radiated an undoubtedly sinister aura.

The Spider King looked at it with caution. “[Inspect].”

Whispering Baobab: A tree which likes to grow in the eye of the endless SandStorm plaguing the Scorpion Desert. It feasts on the energy of those who perished nearby. This tree can hear all the secrets carried by the violent winds of the desert. Those who listen closely might gain insight or cryptic messages from the tree’s ethereal voices. Come closer and hear its whispers!

“What a…” The description also was highly unusual. “But... let’s see what’s on offer.”

Ever so careful he approached the black and sinister Whispering Baobab. And indeed, he could hear a whisper.

A hushed whisper, “Sprinkle your dust, my King,” came out from nowhere but also everywhere.

Was this tree intelligent? He had to wonder; it wouldn’t be the first time he made a monster plant. Regardless he sprinkled the Earth Spirit Stone Dust by the roots of the tree. The crystalline dust sunk into the black bark, like water into the very dry sponge, making the bark pulse and throb.

“Guided by greed they are coming. To lay waste upon the WyrmCity. To claim its most valuable treasure.” It whispered.

Well, this was news to him!

“Who?! When are they coming? How many?”

There were no more whispers, so he sprinkled more of the dust and repeated the question.

Finally, another whisper reached his ears. “The desert wind doesn’t know.” However, the tree wasn’t quite finished. “At the heart of the desert. There is a hidden treasure. Guarded by the eye most watchful. Those who aren’t careful will turn to stone.” It whispered.

“Okay, but how about the attack?”

“A winged monster, half-lion half-human, prowls the desert.” The tree whispered ominously. ”It likes to ask a riddle and kill those who fail to answer. The answer is: Man.”

“Fine, tree! Keep your secrets!”

Clearly, the Whispering Baobab whispered only the things it wanted to whisper. And who knows maybe it was just making all this stuff up to prank him. Even if he didn’t think much of the ominous whispers, he’ll tell the wyrmling to prepare for a possible attack on the city. That is, once that drunkard wakes up.

In the meantime, he’ll use the remainder of MP to replicate the magical plants and to fill this otherwise barren garden with life. It was very likely that the WyrmCity will soon be known not just because of its iconic WyrmSalt, but also of its booming perfume and alcohol industry.

The only plant he won’t be replicating using the Seed Archive was the Whispering Baobab, one such tree was plenty enough!