Kael spun his scythe in a blur, the blade catching the blow with a deafening clang.

The force of the impact sent tremors rippling through his skeletal frame, a reverberation that rattled each bone as if threatening to scatter him into the desert sand.

He gritted his teeth or the ghostly memory of them and dug his heels into the shifting grains beneath him.

The camel spider lunged again, its spindly legs a blur of motion, one coming down in an arc toward him. Kael jerked back, the hem of his cloak snapping in the air like a whip.

He landed in a crouch, his bony fingers tightening around the scythe's handle, its blade gleaming under the relentless sun.

The spider’s leg slammed into the ground with the force of a battering ram, sending up a spray of sand and leaving a shallow crater in its wake.

Dust swirled in the hot desert air, the grit clinging to Kael’s cloak as he straightened, his hollow eye sockets fixed on his adversary.

“It’s not giving me any space,”

Kael muttered, his voice a dry rasp carried on the wind. He shifted his grip on the scythe, the handle creaking under the strain.

The spider responded with a shriek that echoed across the barren dunes. Its body seemed to shimmer for a heartbeat before vanishing entirely.

Kael froze, his head tilting slightly as his skull swiveled side to side, scanning the horizon.

The sun’s heat rippled in the air, distorting the dunes into a wavering mirage. The emptiness pressed in, each second stretching into an eternity.

"Where is it?" he hissed.

His gaze darting to the dunes, the sky, and the faint shadow his own form cast on the shifting sand.

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Then, a gust of wind, hot and sudden, brushed against him from above.

Kael’s head snapped up, the movement so quick it sent the hood of his cloak slipping back, revealing the polished ivory of his skull.

His empty sockets widened as he saw the spider descending, legs outstretched, its many eyes gleaming with predatory intent.

The world seemed to slow. Kael tensed, the scythe rising in a desperate arc.

But it was too late.

The shadow of the massive spider enveloped him.

That is when something appeared

[Do you want to activate skill: Thought Acceleration?]

[Yes] [No]

Kael didn’t hesitate. “Yes,” he rasped, the word sharp and immediate.

[Thought Acceleration Activated.]

The shift was instantaneous. The world around him crawled, each grain of sand suspended mid-tumble in the wind. The sun's heat seemed to ooze rather than radiate, and the sound of his own bones shifting as he adjusted his stance stretched out, each creak like the tolling of a distant bell.

No. It wasn’t the world slowing. It was his thoughts, racing beyond time's grasp.

“I’m such an idiot,” Kael muttered, his hollow voice echoing in his skull. “How could I forget something so special?”

His eye sockets flared faintly, focusing with unnatural precision as he scanned the shimmering desert. The light was harsh, unrelenting, but it only made the scattered shadows clearer to him. There a perfect spot behind a brittle, twisted tree, its gnarled silhouette standing defiant against the sun's merciless glare.

Kael’s hand twitched, and in a blink less than that he was gone. The shadows swallowed him, pulling him into their cool, dark embrace.

The desert trembled as the camel spider crashed down, its monstrous body sending a shockwave through the sand. Dust erupted, curling and swirling in the oppressive air, and when it cleared, a massive crater marred the landscape. The spider’s legs twitched as it steadied itself, its many eyes scanning for its prey.

From the shadow’s edge, Kael’s cloaked figure emerged, his bony fingers flexing around the scythe’s handle. His eye sockets burned with an inner fire, locked on the creature struggling to recover.

“You think I’ll let you?” he hissed, his voice as sharp as the blade in his grip.

His arm moved in a blur, the scythe leaving his hand with a force that sent his cloak whipping behind him. The weapon spun through the air, a silver streak against the sun-bleached sky, its deadly edge singing with the promise of destruction.

The spider’s legs twitched in a violent ripple, and with uncanny reflexes, it twisted its massive body just enough to evade the blade. The scythe whistled past, embedding itself in the sand with a muted thunk.

The spider turned, its remaining eyes blazing with fury, their gleaming surfaces reflecting Kael’s still form. Its legs flexed, the promise of retribution clear in its every movement.