Enn’s grace, carrying all of its warmth, cascaded down to the ground, spreading along the grains of the black sand in an even manner. After all, Enn’s grace did not discriminate. What people often failed to notice though, was that Enn’s grace did not have any bounds either. Normally, that would not have been a problem. On the contrary, with nearly a week left for the arrival of Yul’s month, Enn’s boundless grace was a perfect match for the fading winds of the winter.

Except, the rules of weather were not so simple. Especially in a place like the Black Desert. Even normal deserts had extreme weather conditions. Coupling those extreme conditions with the black sands of the Black Desert, what was left behind was an open oven, used to cook all the Wanderers misled into roaming its depths. Or at least that was what most of the Star Seekers were feeling like.

Thankfully, the golden thorns on his robe were doing a perfect job of keeping him cool. Cecilia and Yuri also had similar functions in their robes. And from the smile on Vestia’s face, it looked like she too had not thought much about spending a little fortune to have temperature regulation Glyph Arrays engraved on her robe. The rest of the Star Seekers though…

Except for a couple of special cases, most of them were like abandoned sons of their clans. And those special cases were not doing much better either. In any case, none of them could afford luxuries, such as customising their robes with Glyph Arrays. Things were still fine in the morning, when Enn had just begun showering them with his grace. As the God of Light rose higher in the sky though, his boundless grace became a bit too much for them to bear.

Even though Alnea himself could not ‘enjoy’ Enn’s grace, he could still see the air around them shimmering, and wavering with heat. Heat, that the sea of fire in the form of black sand under their feet was releasing. For a moment, he even wondered if the corpses they had left behind in their wake had already been cooked, and could be eaten…

Thinking of corpses, Alnea could not stop himself from looking at the bodies of the ten Red Tailed Snakes, and five Flame Scorpions lying around them. This was already fifteenth wave of attack they had suffered since the morning. And it was the third time that they had been attacked by a group of different Oren Beasts. Third time, that a group of Oren Beasts, who were supposed to be at each other’s throats, joined forces against his team…

It looked like the people behind the attack were getting impatient. A good news, by any sense. After all, the more impatient his enemies were, the greater were the chances of them making a mistake. Except, his team was not doing too great. All of them were exhausted, both physically, and in terms of Spirit Power. And Enn’s boundless grace was not helping them either.

“…We really cannot go on anymore, Captain,” Ralph said, taking a swig from his water bag, while wiping his sweat with his free hand. “Our bodies cannot handle it.”

“…You mean your body,” Zain said, red like a boiled fish, while huffing as if his life depended on it. And maybe it really did. “I am perfectly fine, and can go on for another thousand kilometres.”

“…You are looking in the wrong direction,” Karl said softly, not willing to waste his energy in talking, but not willing to just listen to Zain’s bragging either. “We really do need some rest, Captain.”

“…Are you sure that you want to rest in this desert?” Alnea said, sheathing his sword, while wondering how long it would take for the desert to cook the snakes. All the battles were beginning to make him hungry. “Are you not afraid of the enemies lurking behind us to use this chance to ambush us?”

“…At this point, I do not even care anymore,” Norren mumbled, fumbling in his steps, as he walked towards the body of the Flame Scorpion. He did not dare to lay on the sand. The scorpion though… Allowing himself to fall back first on the Flame Scorpion’s body, he added, “Whoever it is, just get it over with already.”

“…This is not the first time you have been to the Black Desert. Why is the heat bothering you people so much?”

“…Don’t you know the answer yourself?” Ralph grumbled, pointing to the bodies scattered around them, not bothering with his polite tone anymore. “I swear, if we suffer from a few more attacks, we might just complete our annual quota today.”

“…We are still quite some distance away from our annual quota,” Alnea said, calculating how many points they should have earned. Except for the Greedy Sand Mole, all the beasts they had met with were at the peak phase. Fifteen waves of attack, with an average of seven beasts in each wave… In total, their team should have earned around five thousand Trial Points.

“You are right though. We did indeed gather quite a lot of points this time. Enough to complete our quota for this trial. Maybe we should thank the people who are behind this for their gifts.”

“Our gifts are not so easy to take,” a voice rang out in the desert, startling everyone back to their feet, and sent them scrambling around looking for their enemies.

“Who is it?”

“Optah’s spit! Can you bastards only dare to hide?”

“I dare you to come out!”

“If you are the blood of your clan, then come out!”

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“You…”

Unlike the men, who were either cursing their enemies to come out, or glaring into the depths of the desert as if they were looking for their lifelong enemies, the girls were surprisingly calm at the sudden appearance of the voice.

“…Finally,” Cecilia said. “Just when I was getting bored of the Oren Beasts, these bastards came to deliver themselves to me.”

“…So what if they deliver themselves to you? Do you even have any Spirit Power left to deal with them?”

“…Who needs Spirit Power to deal with these bastards?”

“…Don’t forget what Alnea said about our enemies. There might be True, or even Mystic Wanderers among their ranks.”

“…You are talking as if you can take them out.”

“I cannot, but isn’t Alnea still here? He said he will protect me.”

“…He said that he will protect everyone.”

“It is the same thing.”

“…You two are a bit too relaxed for people who are getting ambushed,” Yuri said, interrupting the banter between the two girls. “But you are right, in a sense. Though there might be True, or even Mystic Wanderers amongst the rank of our enemies, you do not have to worry about them. The most they can do is just send some Oren Beasts our way. As for the ones ambushing us, they are just a bunch of Peak Stage False Wanderers.”

“…Even if our enemies are just some False Wanderers, I am in no shape to fight,” Vestia said, shrugging her shoulders. “I might as well just sit back, and enjoy the battle.”

“…Are you running away, vixen?”

“…It is called strategic retreat.”

“…Coward,” Cecilia said with a sneer. “I knew you could not be trusted.”

“As long as Alnea trusts me, that is enough for me.”

“You…”

“Alright, stop it you two,” Alnea said to the girls, before turning towards the grey robed man, who had silently slipped next to him at some point. “Karl?”

“…I cannot sense them,” Karl said, just as the voice rang out once again.

“What are you traitors getting so excited for?” the voice said. “You will all soon bear the retribution for betraying your blood, and siding with the Unfavoured…”

“…I cannot even sense where the voice is coming from…”

“…It’s alright,” Alnea said. “Earlier, I had thought that our enemies are observing us from a distance, but it looks like I was wrong. They should be using something akin to a treasure or an artifact to hide themselves.”

“Artifact?”

“…A weakened version of Divine Treasures.”

“Divine Treasures!”

“…Forget what I said,” Alnea said, after he saw the shock on Karl’s face. “Think of them as Oren Weapons or Glyph Tools that Wanderers one rank below the rank of the tools can use. With a weakened effect, of course. Still, using an artifact will grant Wanderers power far beyond what they are normally capable of wielding.”

“…Artifacts,” Karl mumbled. “So, are you saying that they can be right next to us, and we would not know about it until they deliberately reveal themselves?”

“…Pretty much.”

“…We are all going to die, aren’t we?”

“Don’t be so pessimistic,” Alnea said, patting Karl’s shoulders. “Our enemies are not omnipotent.”

“But we cannot even see them!”

“So?”

“…They can attack us however they want, and we will not be able to do anything to them…”

“Things are never as simple as they appear to be,” Alnea said, shaking his head. “If our enemies had such capabilities, they would not have had to hide themselves for so long and keep sending Oren Beasts to consume our strength. I am guessing that there must be some restrictions on the use of the artifact. Like they cannot attack anyone while using the artifact to hide.”

“…Very good observation, Unfavoured,” the voice rang out once again. “I must say, I am impressed. Your performance is much better than these traitors. It is a pity…”

“…You look down on my companions, and yet you do not dare to show your face,” Alnea said, shaking his head. “At least all of my companions are willing to face their death head on. What about you? Are you going to keep hiding until we return to the city?”

“…Are you still thinking about returning to the city?” the voice said, letting out a hysterical laugh. “How naive.”

“Am I?” Alnea said with a smile. “You used an artifact to control all those beasts, right?”

“What if I did?” the voice said. “Can you do anything about it?”

“You are right. I really cannot do anything about the beasts. Or the artifact. But if I am not wrong, the artifact that you used should be a consumable one. And it should be about to be scrapped.”

“…Are you trying to comfort your teammates?”

“There is no need for me to comfort them, because what I am saying is the truth. Your attacks have been becoming more and more impatient, and now you even dare to reveal yourself… You really cannot control Oren Beasts anymore, can you? And even if you can, how long will the artifact last? Once? Twice?”

“Keen observations, a sharp mind, and an even better leadership, not to mention your talent…” the voice said after a few moments of silence. “You are indeed the Wanderer with the greatest potential in the Lost City. The Rank of True Wanderers should not be your end. Given time, you may even reach the Grand Wanderer Rank. It is pity…”

“…Are you still trying to disturb my Heart?” Alnea said, shaking his head, while showing a look of disappointment on his face. “Give it up. Your game is over.”

“…This was never a game to begin with, Unfavoured.”

“…Forget it. Will you come out, or should we just go back to the city?”

“Do you think you can return to the Lost City?”

“It is not a question of can, but a question of when.”

“…Originally, I did not intend to dirty my hands with your unfavoured blood,” the voice said. “However, since you insist, let me send you to Inkah’s Domain with my own hands.”

A bright white light flashed just ten metres away from Alnea, with the wavering air twisting, and deforming around the light, making way for a large white lotus, carrying more than ten Wanderers, floating three to five metres in the air.

“That is the least I can do to show my respects.”