Huay, Bigoor, and the Baranzaars all worked to prepare for the journey. Valnier tossed some bags full of rations onto Ram—which the camel responded to with mild annoyance—and Rasieu bought some water from the merchant. Bigoor, who was planning to leave at the same time as Zell, stuffed each of his three backpacks with loot from the dungeon along with the barebones essentials necessary for survival.
“Hey, umm,” Huay moved closer to the Baranzaars, who having finished their work, were sitting idle. “Do you guys know anything about this?”
She took off the Pocket Gauntlet and presented it in the palm of her hand.
“Is that a Pocket Gauntlet?” Valnier stood up and examined the ring, keeping his hand at his sides. “You must have found it in the funeral room…”
“Yeah.” Huay shuffled her feet. “I thought you guys would want it.”
“Hmm.” Valnier took the ring, tried it on, and then removed it before handing it back to Huay. “I suppose you could sell it once you arrive in Misrafal—provided that the guards don’t confiscate it under the pretense of theft. Dress fancifully on the day you put it up for sale. Our clansmen will offer the highest price, so it will return to our hands regardless.”
“Well, if it’s okay with you…” Huay put on the ring. “Thanks again. For everything.”
Rasieu laughed heartily, “It was a pleasure to meet your goodness, Huay! You are the nicest foreigner I’ve ever met! I have been on many occasions scammed or otherwise fooled by foreign travelers. I will forever remember your magnificent presence.” He bowed dramatically and then went for a handshake.
“I’ll remember you too, Rasieu.” She shook his hand, smiling slightly at the young man and the kindness he represented. “Valnier. Raathbaam.” She gave the other two long handshakes and, with that, she approached her camel.
Ram looked the other way as her master approached, seeming irritated.
“Sit down so I can get on, please,” Huay spoke to the creature. “We need to get going.” The camel reluctantly sat down so that Huay could climb to the saddle. “Thanks.”
Huay took the reins and told Ram to start toward Zell, who was saying his goodbyes to Bigoor.
“Ready to go?” Zell looked at Huay with a smug grin.
“Yeah.” Huay sighed. “I guess you’re headed out now, Bigoor?”
Bigoor nodded. “I believe we will meet again one day. I cannot help but ponder how the winds of time may change us before then.”
“Uh… Sure, I guess.”
The 12-foot-tall, 6-armed man in a pitch-black suit of plate armor stood without a camel. His intention, as he had stated while packing his belongings, was to walk to his next destination on foot. It was a 3,000-mile journey, which he aimed to complete in two months. The Baranzaars had deemed him a “true adventurer” and Huay found herself in agreement with this evaluation. Bigoor started walking away, waving with all six of his arms as he shrunk into the distance. What a guy.
“That man is going to do big things someday,” said Zell. “Well, until he dies trying.”
Zell had his camel start walking, and Huay’s mount instinctively followed close behind. It was a scalding-hot afternoon in the Shaam Desert. Huay found it more manageable than she remembered, no doubt due to all the level-ups, but it remained hellish nonetheless. She was relieved not to be walking—though Huay still prayed that the next tier of her Heat Resistance Certification would arrive soon.
“So, Huay, did you ever tell me what your ability is?” Zell spoke to her without turning back to look and so Huay just stared at his back.
She didn’t especially feel like telling him. She didn’t need to keep it a secret—it wasn’t like her status as an Outlander—but she felt uneasy around the man. Sharing information like that didn’t interest her, and so she just pretended not to hear.
Realizing that she wasn’t talking, Zell chuckled. “Mine is Sand Command IV. Needless to say, I can control sand. Care for a demonstration?”
“I’m fine.” Huay was a little curious to see what a level 25 could do, but she didn’t want to get too involved with him.
“Suit yourself.” Zell scoffed. “And how about you? I told you about my ability and even went so far as to offer a demonstration. Is this really too much to ask from someone I’ll be spending the next 3 weeks with?”
“I would rather not.”
“Tsk. You do realize you’re in no position to keep secrets, right? We’re going to be together for a while. Your survival depends on my good will.”
Huay tensed up. “I’ll tell you later.”
“I’ll hold you to that.”
The two rode in silence for nearly two hours. Zell had a few books stashed away on his camel, and Huay watched him switch between them every ten minutes or so. Huay, on the other hand, was still having trouble keeping her balance.
“Certification upgraded. Novice Calvary improved to Basic Cavalry.”
The next tier of the Certification made things more manageable. She was finally able to take her mind away from riding and look out at the rolling dunes ahead. Zell usually steered them through the bottoms of the gaps between hills so there wasn’t much of a view, but Huay was still able to kill time by looking at the various levels she saw along the way.
It wasn’t much fun comparing level 5 sand to level 6 sand—though there was always a bit of excitement when she came across especially high-level sand particles. The numbers didn’t really seem to mean anything, but they kept her occupied either way. She even considered stopping to pick up a level 35 grain she saw one time, just to see what made it so special, but she didn’t feel like eliciting questions from Zell.
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The sun gradually descended below the horizon until the sky and the sand turned red. Huay wondered how long it had been since they left; time was already becoming hazy to her.
“We’ll set up camp here for the night,” said Zell as he jumped down from his still-standing camel. “I’ll make us a place to stay.”
Huay told her camel to lay down so that she could get off. After her request was obliged, she sat in place next to Ram. “What do you mean? I don’t remember the Baranzaars packing us a tent.”
“They didn’t need to. Observe.”
The ground began to rumble beneath them to the point where Huay had to extend her arm out for balance. An earthquake? Can this guy do that? She noticed that her legs were sinking into the ground.
“What are you doing?!” She tried to pull herself out, but it was as though she were standing in cement.
“Relax!” Zell had to shout rather loudly to be heard over the roaring sand. “It’s just part of the process.”
“Let me go!” The sand had fully encapsulated her body at this point, leaving barely enough room to breathe. After a few moments, the enclosure began to expand around her like bread in an oven until Huay was left in the middle of a large, open chamber whose walls gradually hardened into place.
Once the sand had settled and the rumbling had stopped, she found herself sitting in a big room made entirely of sand: sand floor, sand walls, sand chairs, a sand table, and even two beds of sand. There was a skylight at the center of the room that gave the place a decent amount of sun.
She stood in awe at the construction for a moment. It was easily double or maybe triple the size of the dorm room she was used to living in, and Huay was amazed that such a thing could be built so quickly.
Suddenly, a hole in the wall appeared, and through it came Zell. A sand door, complete with a lock, formed behind him as the gap closed. He could hardly contain his boastful grin.
“Well?” He looked Huay dead in the eye, expecting praise.
“It’s… impressive.” She hadn’t really understood the extent of what a high-level individual could achieve until then. He must have moved several tons of sand just now… Huay found herself intimidated at the feat—which she guessed had probably been the intention.
“I even made a second one just for the camels. You should check it out.”
“Oh, umm, alright.” She walked to the door and turned the knob. It felt closer to stone than to sand in her hand.
Outside there was a full-on stable, complete with a shingled roof and other decorative flourishes. There were a few sand hay bales strewn about the area that looked pretty but were, of course, entirely useless beyond that. Their luggage had been unloaded and set aside, and Zell’s camel was already resting under the shade of the overhang by that time. Ram, on the contrary, was looking incredibly distraught, charging her head into the thick walls she suddenly found herself trapped within.
Huay hurried over to her camel. “Oh my gosh, are you okay?”
Ram looked up at her for a moment, shook her head “no” in a surprisingly human way, and then went back to banging her head in an effort to free herself. What?
Huay called out to Zell for help.
He popped out of a nearby wall a few moments later and, upon seeing what the camel was doing, dissipated one of the walls of the stable so that Ram could leave.
Ram ran out into the open and climbed up a dune until she was far enough from Zell to feel safe.
“Oh! Sorry about that.” Zell called out to the camel. “I didn’t think you’d freak out like that.”
The camel shot him an evil stare until Zell gave up and averted his gaze.
“You picked a bad camel,” he said, looking flustered. “I bet the original owner wasn’t strict enough. That’s how they get bad attitudes. You ought to whip yours into shape.”
Huay shrugged. She was glad to see her camel standing up for itself.
“So, uh, I guess we should eat?” Huay looked back at the sand structure. The building took on the shape of an “L” with a flat roof and decorative patterns lining the exterior. Boxes of “flowers” decorated the windows. “The camels will be fine as is, right? Do we have to worry about monsters or anything like that?”
“My camel can fend for itself. They’ll let us know if anything happens, and if we need to step in.”
A trail of sandy arms suddenly emerged from the ground. They swarmed the luggage, picking it up and passing it along, one hand after another, moving all of their belongings into the house. This guy is ridiculous… He makes Salein look like an amateur! How is he only five levels above her?
The two made their way into the house which, Huay realized upon entering, was more fully furnished than before. There were plates and draperies and even a few “paintings” on the walls. She could understand how someone like him had cleared Sand-Swept Tomb 81 times.
It was getting dark inside now that night was setting in. Zell lit a few candles and set them down throughout the house. After finishing that, he sat down at the table—which had become a proper dining table—and cracked open a familiar can of meat. Huay recognized the label as the same as what Salein and the others had eaten throughout the dungeon.
Zell conjured a fork out of the sand from the table and started eating. Immediately, he complained. “These damned rations are the worst thing about traveling! Why can’t those idiots at the CFMPP put some seasonings in it? I pay 5 Loya per can for this stuff!” Huay took a glance at the meat in the can. Level 15. That’s not bad at all. She was surprised that he was so averse to it.
Huay rummaged through her stuff for the rations Raathbaam had prepared for her. She took them out a little bit later and set it down on the table. Half a pound of jerky—as prescribed. Huay stared at the meat. Level 25? Impressive. She took a bite and found it unexpectedly tender. Fresh aromas of countless spices dispersed throughout the house, and the jerky quickly proved itself to be one of the best meals she’d had in quite some time.
“So that’s your… medicine?” Zell leaned forward and looked at Huay’s food. “Mind if I try some?”
“Uh…” Huay didn’t really want to give any away, but she also didn’t want to straight-up say no to a man who had built her a literal house in the middle of the desert. “Sure.” She tore off a small piece and handed it to him.
He gave it a try and, after chewing for a while, he delivered the verdict: “Best you can get in the desert. I’m surprised someone like Raathbaam could make this. Could I have some more?”
“You have your own food.”
“Fine, fine, I was just wondering.” He sighed. “It’s just that anything from the CFMPP will always taste the exact same. It’s not bad for a few days but, after a few weeks straight of eating that slop, it gets tiring… But I guess that’s par for course when you harvest meat from dungeon monsters.”
“It’d probably be better if you didn’t eat it straight out of the can. I’m sure you could make it into a decent meal if you cooked it.” Meat from dungeon monsters? What kind of operation are they running there?
“Can’t be bothered.”
Huay shrugged as she finished off the rest of her rations. “Well, umm, I guess I’m off to bed now.” She got up, walked over to her “bed”, and laid out the bedroll she’d brought on top of it.
She quietly hoped for an uneventful tomorrow as she lied down for a night’s rest. The heat was too intense for Huay to sleep under the covers. Zell put out the candles and headed to bed himself.