Jado rubbed his chin, looking at the description of his Desert Fang. Once again, he discovered new pieces of information, the most important one probably being that the weapon also had durability, which was logical, but also that it could be repaired with sacrifices. He had no idea of how he was supposed to find other sacrifices of the same rank as that crab leg he picked up, but it was a good thing to know.
"That pretty much means that the Desert Fang is something I wasn't supposed to get so soon..." He passed his hands on the spot of the handle where the name was inscribed. He had been extremely lucky getting it. Now, for the reason as to why he got it from the sacrifice, he couldn't help but only guess. Since, even though he offered quite a few more corpses to the Altar, he didn't get any other weapons or equipment, only replenishing the Altar's structural points.
Perhaps, because it was in line with the task he didn't bother to read back then, he received a reward that was in line with what he brought to the Altar. That seemed to be the most reasonable. What would he have gotten had he sacrificed a hyena or something of similar strength? A sharp bone?
The young man shrugged his shoulders and placed the weapon back in his inventory while caressing Dune's little head. He shook his head and headed for the exit of the small temple/shrine/whatever the system wanted to call it. He stopped in front of the stone gate, seeing that it was completely smooth without any opening or handles to push or pull it. Jado placed his hand on the door, making it suddenly slide down the ground, letting the light enter his shelter.
"How cool..." He muttered, stepping out into the desert, seeing that the sandstorm had stopped during his sleep. Shivers shook his body, reminding him that he had still the fever that had probably been caused by the wound in his side. He pulled his clothes up, revealing a swollen, unpleasantly smelling cut on his side, probably an inch or so deep, that was oozing yellow pus alongside small streams of blood.
Jado winced at the sight, then looked at the wound on his leg that had reopened at some point. Pulling his pants up, he sighed in relief when he saw that this one wasn't infected, and was pretty much already healed, a crust covering the bite mark and stopping blood from flowing out. It seemed like it reopened only because he strained it too much, so it would probably be fine if he left it like that. He instead chose to take a ration bundle out of his inventory, left the meatloaf for later, and tried to clean the wound on his side. Once the water touched the pus, he felt a burning pain in his side, and he clenched his teeth so much he feared he was going to break them.
Jado hurriedly stopped, and took a deep breath, before taking off his top entirely, rolling it so he could bite on it. Completely ready, he proceeded to the excruciatingly painful cleaning, getting rid of all the yellow pus, and leaving the wound freshly opened to the air. Dune worriedly watched him doing so, hissing from time to time. Jado gasped for air, before putting his top back up. He still didn't have any bandages, and he wouldn't repeat the mistake of ripping his clothes to make useless makeshift ones.
"What now..." He asked in a low voice, his eyes surveying the endless stretches of sand. From what he understood, he had to keep on sacrificing creatures he hunted until he managed to upgrade the Altar. He looked back at the temple that he "built", relief settling in his heart once he remembered he wouldn't have to repeat a night in the cold desert. When he thought back to it, he now had a shelter, and enough rations for a week or so, perhaps he could take the time to explore more how this status window worked. After all, until now he couldn't stop and reflect on it, as he was always pushed by his need for survival one way or another.
His eyes suddenly stopped on a black protrusion coming out of one dune, a dark, hairy, and disgusting thing... His eyes lit up as a plan formed in his mind while walking toward the object. Dune followed him in the sand, his small slithering body tracing lines in the sand. He stopped in front of what was a spider leg and was about to pull the thing up when his small snake companion hissed warningly. Jado stared at the snake with puzzled eyes, before silently asking if it was alive. The snake's head went up and down as if it was confirming it. The young man was once again awed at the intelligence of the small beast and took out his Desert Fang in prevention.
He aimed at where the leg came from and planted the twinblade downward, the leg suddenly shaking and moving with fast erratic movements. Jado jumped back, gritting his teeth as his wound throbbed on his side. The leg moved for a few seconds, before another one surged out in a burst of sand from the ground, fighting for its life. The young man lunged forward, planting his weapon down again. The legs moved one last time, before stopping completely. Jado sighed, almost amazed at how easy that had been compared to his other fight. Well, it wasn't much of a fight, more like an execution, but still. He took the Desert Fang from the ground, a deep red liquid covering it. He placed the weapon in his inventory and strained as he pulled out the spider's body.
The corpse was mangled and had been stepped on quite a few times. A few of its legs had been ripped off, leaving only five of them, while its dead eyes were filled with sand. It was one of the smaller specimens, the size of a big dog, so Jado didn't struggle too much to pull it out. Dune ripped off a chunk of the creature, going a bit further away to eat it. It was always weird seeing the small snake slithering away with a piece of meat in its mouth bigger than the said mouth.
Curious, he then used the Eyes of the Pharaoh to try and identify the corpse.
Desert Crawler (newborn) Rank: Insignificant The corpse of an eight-legged beast that lives in the desert. Can be sacrificed.
"Huh, a Desert Crawler. What a fitting name for this spider." Jado was about to throw the body in his inventory when he considered whether that was the right thing to do. That would be the simplest solution, of course, and the one that made the most sense, but maybe it would be better for him to carry it back to the Altar.
After all, he was in quite a perilous situation, so he had to find some ways to get stronger. He never really considered "getting stronger" as an objective before, but since he wanted to live, he couldn't help but add this to his to-do list. For, with his current strength, there was no doubt that he would end up in the belly of a beast.
So, maybe using the corpse as a weight to strengthen his body wasn't such a bad idea. After all, he'd kill two birds with one stone: he'd bring back bodies for the Altar, and he'd get stronger. In any case, it wasn't as if he had much else to do, given that he wasn't going hunting for a while. The young man shrugged and made his decision. He pushed the corpse up on his shoulders, stabilizing himself, and walked back the small distance separating him and the small shrine.
It was a little bit harder than expected, because, like when he carried back the corpse of the Desert Scavenger, the big bird, he was continually slipping in the sand, getting a little buried under the weight of what he was transporting.
Even though the distance was way shorter, it was equally as difficult as that time, thanks to how heavy the big spider was, and also because of how inconvenient it was to carry. Once he arrived in front of the stone gate, it opened by itself, revealing the inside to him. He only noticed then that there was some kind of weird stone at the center of the room, stuck on the ceiling above the Altar that produced a soft light.
Jado entered the temple and dropped the corpse on the stone Altar, his hands on his knees as he was catching his breath. He wiped off the sweat on his forehead, and approached the Altar closer, making the ominously scarlet window reappear once again.
Do you want to sacrifice [Desert Crawler]? Y/N
"Yes," Jado said aloud, confirming the offering. Sand surrounded the Altar, devouring the corpse before disappearing back the way it came from. He then opened the Altar's window, checking how much the Structural Integrity had increased. If he remembered well, it was at 124/2000 before.
Nameless Altar of the Forgotten Desert Level: Small Shrine Structural Integrity: 170/2000 Owner: Jado Mirak, Servant of the Sand
Current Structural Level: Lowest
Current Supporting Structures: [Null]
"Wait, that's not even fifty!" Jado exclaimed, feeling cheated out of his hard work. Even the hyenas brought more points than that! No, there had to be some kind of explanation. Jado leaned on one of the walls of the small shrine, immersed in his thoughts. A hyena had been exactly fifty points, explaining why he could remember it so easily. But this spider, which was the same size as the hyena, and was also probably much more dangerous than what was essentially a dog, brought less than that. Could it be that the "cost" of each creature changes depending on the rank of the Altar? He would have to find a hyena to confirm that, but if that was true, that meant he had to work maybe four times as hard to get the Altar to the Shrine rank.
The young man sighed as he came back out of the small shrine. He cracked his neck and knuckles, and surveyed the desert once again for any other signs of buried spiders. Dune hissed softly as it slithered back up Jado's body, enrolling itself around his left arm. The snake was probably done with his meal.
"It's going to be a long, long day..." Jado muttered under his breath, ready to undertake this new labor.
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Jado gasped, lying down in the desert, his body empty of any strength. The sun was about to fall, announcing the end of this day of labor, and he was quite puzzled by the results of his experiment. He opened the Altar's window, noting that the structural integrity of the Altar climbed up by over 500 points. He had brought back around thirty spiders, all the same size as the first one. He had done so while bearing them on his shoulders, or he would have been done much sooner. Nonetheless, the numbers didn't add up. The first spider, no, Desert Crawler had been worth around forty or so points. Following this logic, he should have earned more than a thousand points, but no, he only received half that number.
Why was that? Maybe, in addition to requiring better sacrifices, the Altar needed different kinds, and wouldn't be satisfied being "fed" only the same thing over and over. That could explain the decrease in points, but remained essentially bad news for Jado. That meant he had to go out again and hunt new creatures and expose himself to new kinds of dangers. Digging out spiders would become pointless at some point, forcing him to once again explore the desert.
"Damn it, and here I thought I had a good idea..." Jado complained, sitting himself up as he looked at the sunset. He checked out his map for any red dots coming closer to what was now his house, relieved to find them all staying in their places or far enough for him not to care. He then opened his inventory to take out a ration bundle, his eyes glossing over the purple crystal. He was about to serve himself food when his eyes went back to the Monster Core. He indeed had this thing, and he was supposedly able to sacrifice it, right?
The young man stood up and took the Monster Core out of his inventory. He played with it as he stepped into the small shrine, the stone gate closing by itself behind him as the sun disappeared completely under the dunes. Jado placed the Core on the Altar, and without leaving him a choice, the red, ancient sand rose and took the purple crystal away. A new window appeared, its contents surprising him.
You've sacrificed a Lowest-rank Core from a [Desert-Scavenger]. Choose your reward:
- Feathered Cape of the Desert Scavenger [Lowest]
- Predator's Gaze Amulet [Common]
- Talon Blade [Lowest]
"Uh, I have a choice? Nice!" He exclaimed, appreciating this change. He looked over each option, wondering if could learn a bit more about these items. Besides the apparent rarity, that went from Lowest to Common, he only had the names of the rewards for him to choose.
"Common is probably better than Lowest, right?" Jado muttered, rubbing his chin pensively. He didn't know what he would do with an amulet, though. A cape would be welcomed, as it would protect his body from the sun much more effectively than his tattered clothes. The Talon Blade was also interesting since it sounded like a much more usable weapon compared to his Desert Fang.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Nonetheless, the status window seemed to want him to take the Amulet, as it had the highest rarity. What should he choose...?
He sighed and made his choice. A small pendant appeared out of nowhere, made of a light metal chain, a gem eerily similar to the Desert Scavenger's eye encased in a brown metal frame. Jado caught the amulet and identified it.
Predator's Gaze Amulet Rank: Common The Desert Scavenger's eyes are known for their predatory instinct. They are well-trained for hunting and finding prey in the endless desert. Effects: Enhances the wearer's perception Origin: Desert Scavenger
Durability: 20/20
Jado whistled, looking at the item from every angle, before passing his hand through the small chain. It fitted perfectly around his neck, and the amulet rested above his chest. Instantly after he wore it, he felt as if his sight, ears, and other senses got slightly unclogged. The world seemed a bit clearer in his eyes, the sounds seemed much more precise, and everything felt...enhanced.
"Is that what it meant by "enhances the wearer's perception"? This is...incredible..." He blurted out, amazed. Jado felt like he had made the best choice out of the three. He quickly opened the Altar's window, but as he thought, the amount of structural integrity points didn't change. The Monster Cores were resources that could be traded for equipment, making them much more valuable in the young man's eyes. He hurried outside, jumping over the half-opened stone gate, while Dune was watching with droopy eyes. The cold assaulted his senses in an even stronger way compared to the first night, probably because of his enhanced senses.
He heard a small noise to his right and saw from the corner of his eyes a small lizard fleeing away in the sand. He shook his head, surprised at how effective this amulet was. He'd have to open up a spider the next day so he could check if they had monster cores, but he doubted it. On those thoughts, he went back to the Shrine, and leaning against one of the walls of the building, dozed off peacefully. Dune nestled comfortably on his chest, and together, they fell asleep.
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Was it a second before, or an even shorter amount of time? It was like a tingle, a premonition of something being weird, something...wrong. Jado's eyes shot open at the same time as a red window flashed in front of him with a powerful ringing. Had he not woken up by himself, this sound would have woken him up from even the deepest sleep. The red window had only a few words flashing ominously on it.
The Small Shrine is getting attacked!!!
"Damn it, I can't even sleep peacefully anymore!" The young man exclaimed, pushing himself up from the ground while taking out his Desert Fang. Shockwaves were coming from all around the building, the sound of weapons clanging against the walls. Weapons?
Jado shivered, knowing what that meant. Without a second of hesitation, he ran for the stone gate that was also getting attacked. There even seemed to be an attacker on the roof, from what he could sense. The stone gate suddenly sank into the ground, surprising the hostile that was hitting it. From behind the stone gate came the tip of the Desert Fang, plunging itself in the throat of the attacker, before being swiftly pulled out in a fountain of blood. The enemy tried to block the flow of blood with both of his hands, coughing painfully, before getting kicked on his back by the young man's leg.
The night was deep and cold, but Jado jumped out anyway. The stone gate closed back up once again, cutting the small flow of light that had appeared momentarily. As fast as it went, it wasn't quick enough, and one of the attackers saw the light from afar. He screamed in a foreign language and rushed at Jado with something that looked like a crooked knife in both of his hands. Jado slashed horizontally, staying close to the Desert Fang to avoid hurting himself, and became almost shocked when he felt the blade cutting through the flesh. The opponent looked down in confusion, before noticing that his belly was completely open, spilling out both guts and blood. He fell on his knees, letting his two weapons fall on the ground.
Two other enemies came at Jado, one with an axe and the other with a spear. The man with an axe tried to split the young man's skull, but the latter easily avoided it and took a step back before piercing the man's forehead. The blade went in as if it was butter, and pulled out a chunk of brain when Jado took it back out. The spearman charged recklessly, roaring what probably was a war cry, but the young man only deflected the weapon away before kicking his opponent away. He then finished him by planting one end of the twinblade in the spearman's heart, twisting it to ensure he died.
Jado pulled his weapon out again, wiping the blood on the attacker's clothes, before realizing what he had just done. His mind didn't even get the time to wander off before the last attacker jumped from the shrine's roof with a rusty longsword at him. He did it silently, but Jado heard it anyway and he reflexively twirled his Desert Fang upward, impaling the man before letting him slide off the weapon.
The young man stepped back for a second, witnessing the nightmare he had just created. There were five bodies on the ground, five humans he just killed. He did not even try to talk with them, he only...only killed them like the monster he was! And...and this time there was no way to convince himself he wasn't, or that his opponents were monsters! For all he knew, they could simply be travelers who wanted shelter in the deep night, but he killed them all anyway. In his defense, they didn't seem much like the talking type, seeing as to how they lunged at him without hesitation.
Jado was horrified as he realized his mind was already finding explanations to make what he had done acceptable. But no, he did kill other people, he was indeed a damned murderer! His soul would go into hell, alongside the sinners of this world, and would get tortured for eternity! He would suffer infinite torm—hmm?
The young man kneeled beside one of the attackers, and pulled on his shemagh, revealing a horrible face that seemed to have been taken from someone and stuck on someone else's!
"Wait." Jado's face went white, but he still did what he had to do. He pulled the corpse inside the small shrine, shining light upon it. And what he had seen was exactly what he thought he had seen. He pulled carefully, a disgusted and horrified expression on his face, as the skin covering the attacker's face came loose like a mask. Underneath it was a raw and fleshy appearance, charred as it had been burned. It was stuck in one painful expression, the underlying muscles and tendons free to the air, the bones of the nose protruding weirdly. The eyes weren't closed, as there was no skin to shut over them.
Jado stepped back in horror, wondering what kind of people would do this. He then felt a strange throbbing in his heart, and he hurriedly went outside, ripping the attackers' shemagh off and revealing their face masks. He then chose to pull them all inside, so they wouldn't attract any monsters or wild beasts. He lined the five bodies beside each other, his initial sentiment of self-loathing gone, replaced by a deep horror and confusion.
"Just what the hell is this..." He said under his breath. Dune seemed completely unconcerned and was chewing one of the corpses' toes. Jado immediately picked the snake up, robbing him of his food.
"No, just... no, Dune, you don't eat a dead guy's toe. That's just...no," He said with a sigh, looking at the angry little snake, who slid off and slithered out of the small shrine.
Jado winced and kneeled beside one of the attackers, a thought traversing his mind. Could he identify them with his skill Eyes of the Pharaoh? Only one way to find out.
Nameless Skinner Rank: Insignificant A human living in the Forgotten Desert, who belongs to a community of people who skin their opponents and replace their skins with the product of this operation. Can be used as a sacrifice.
"Holy fucking shit!" Jado blurted out, his eyes wide open and his eyebrows almost touching his hair from how high they had risen. These guys were absolute madmen, no, monsters! Why...Who would even think about doing such a wicked thing?!? The last shred of guilt the young man felt disappeared, and he reluctantly plunged his hands into the corpse's pockets, trying to find out more about them.
There wasn't much of interest, some dried digs or dates in small tissue pouches, as well as a steel striker and a flint stone, which would finally allow him to light a fire. He did find what looked like an instruction guide on a leather skin to efficiently skin someone's face, with explanations and notes everywhere. He quickly placed the item back in the skinner's pocket, hating to even have this thing in his hands. He glanced at the shoes of the body for a second, compared it with his own, and decided to switch them. They were much more comfortable than his previous ones, so Jado was satisfied with them. The young man then proceeded to repeat this with the other corpses, picking up what interested him and discarding whatever horrible thing he found.
He also identified quite a few items from the lot, but there was nothing that wasn't Insignificant or Unranked, meaning they were all pieces of shit. He still succeeded in dressing up in better clothes that weren't as tainted as the previous ones he owned. In addition, he had managed to find one strange item on one of the corpses, a small circle made out of wood, the size of his palm. There was a symbol engraved on it, a scorched man on a cross.
"Is that the Skinner's symbol?" Jado wondered aloud, before identifying it.
Skinner emblem Rank: Unranked The emblem of a Skinner squad leader Durability: 5/5
"Indeed it is..." Jado crushed the emblem in his hands, before taking all the clothes off the corpses, having a future use for them, before throwing said bodies on top of the stone altar. He gathered them all together before sacrificing them. The sand devoured the corpses as usual, and the structural points climbed up to 900/2000. They were worth more than the spiders, but probably because it was the first time he offered them to the Altar.
Jado sighed, and went outside with the clothes he gathered, making a small pile of them. He then took out the flint and steel he picked up earlier, and struck the steel on the flint, creating some small sparks. The young man was no stranger to such a process, as he had a little more advanced version of the steel and flint in his home to light up his chimney, and quickly managed to light the fire up. He blew on the fire for a few seconds but the clothes caught on fire very easily, creating a small fire that would burn for a few hours. Jado picked up one of the crooked knives of the attacker and plunged it into the fire.
He let it heat up while taking off his top, rolling it, and placing it in his mouth so that he could bite on it later on. The wound on his side was still throbbing and oozing yellow pus, smelling horribly. Now that he had a fire, it was time he took care of it. His eyes were resolute as he picked up the blade, but this resolution quickly transformed into fear when he approached the burning knife near his wound. He could already feel the heat even though he wasn't touching his skin with it. He took one last deep breath with his nose, and stuck the searing blade on his wound, cauterizing it.
Jado screamed through the rolled-up cloth, the pain unimaginably stronger than what he thought it was going to be. He jerked it back away, breathing heavily as his eyes teared up from the suffering. He took a look at his side, seeing the charred skin not oozing anymore pus, even though it was much more painful than before. The young man dragged himself back inside the small shrine, leaving the fire to extinguish itself. After all, it wasn't like there was any risk of burning anything, was it?
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Step. Step. Step.
A small boy, covered in rags, his skin crackled and tanned by the violent sun, was walking slowly, struggling to place one foot after the other. His lips were dry, and he hadn't eaten for ages. His last meal was a small scorpion he managed to catch after struggling for a whole morning. He had succeeded in doing so without getting stung, which pretty much was a miracle. The last miracle in the past seven days. His leather flask had been empty since long ago, and he knew finding water in this hell was as probable as getting out of it alive.
His eyes froze on a few blades of dry grass that came out of a pile of sand, and he threw himself over them, digging with desperation with his small weak hands. He dug out the roots of the grass, revealing the slightly wet sand underneath it, revealing that there had to be some source of water alimenting the grass. The boy dug even more sand, his nails breaking and his fingers bleeding as he began to find rocks and tougher dirt hidden under the sand.
A small puddle of water accumulated in the hole he dug, barely reflecting his dirty face and his blue eyes filled with frenzy. Carefully, almost as if he was scared of making the water flee his touch, he approached his lips from the water, drinking a small sip from the puddle. It was disgusting, filled with sand, and had a taste of dirt and rotten water, but for the boy, it was the most delicious water of them all. He kept on digging until there was no more water, drinking as much as he could and filling his flask with the little quantity there was left.
The boy glanced at the few blades of dry grass, and without hesitation, stuffed his mouth with it, eating and swallowing them as if they were the rarest delicacy. Done with his "meal", the boy pushed himself back up, wiping his face off the sand that had accumulated on it, his eyes searching through the desert in desperation. That's when he saw it, a white smoke rising high in the sky above the desert. He gasped, and rubbed his eyes once again, before realizing that it was no mirage.
He didn't think twice before heading in the direction of the smoke, his lonely self instinctively attracted by what could only be a sign of human activity.
Like the boy, a few stranded individuals saw the smoke rising in the sky, and began to advance in its direction.