A bead of sweat fell down Jado's back, provoking chills and shivers. Or was the wave of eight-legged monstrosities coming toward Heavensbane the one provoking this effect? It was probably the latter.

How were their odds, already? Without counting Zen, since he was just a child, there were five people against a thousand times that number. Was it even possible to fight back? Jado stared at the black moving wave on the horizon, at a loss about what he should do. Jackal jumped to his feet after falling from the surprise of seeing the black window, and rushed to the young man's side, grabbing both his shoulders with despair.

"Hey....You...Young man, you can open this thing, right?" He asked, sweat falling down his face as he forced a smile. Jado slowly nodded, tightening his grip on the spear. He had a hard time thinking, his eyes glued on the spiders' inexorable approach. Jackal's eyes lit up, and he slapped Jado's shoulder happily.

"Perfect, then we can survive!" He exclaimed, before rushing to what he guessed was the entry. Noah frowned and crackled his knuckles.

"They're certainly going to destroy everything. Hiding would only push our fate away temporarily." He said, passing his finger on one of the scars on his right arm. Jackal chuckled, waiting for everyone to join him around the entry of the small shrine. From what Jado could see, they probably had around five minutes before the spiders were upon them. Time was of the essence.

Jackal pointed at the monster wave, before wiping off the sweat on his forehead.

"These guys are Desert Crawlers. They only crawl, not destroy. They'll probably go past this place in search of something to hunt. They're not the type to destroy buildings or anything. But if you were to stay in their sights, not even the Elder Gods themselves could save you..." He explained, his face taking on a dark and heavy tone at the end. Jado mentally complimented him for his storytelling skills, even if it was doing no good to them right now.

"How much time should we stay inside?" Jado asked, his tone pressing. Jackal rubbed his chin and looked up in the sky with a thoughtful expression.

"Hmm, a week or so? I've been through a lot of such Desert Crawlers waves, and as long as you have a big food supply, you'll be fine..." He trailed off at the end, looking at the silo with a curious gaze and more particularly at the red lines indicating how much it was charged.

"How many...units do we have?" He asked Jado, scared of the answer.

"Thirty-three. We have exactly thirty-three units available," Jado placidly answered. Everyone paled and stood silent until Zen rushed to the Silo and summoned as many meals as he could, carrying them to the small shrine's entry as fast as he could. Jado opened the stone gate, understanding the kid's intent, and rushed to the silo similarly. He used all the remaining units to summon all the meatloaf and water flasks he could, putting them in his inventory as quickly as his hands allowed him.

Oberon jumped up with surprising agility on top of the small shrine, watching the coming spider wave.

"We have two minutes!" He yelled, before jumping back down and rushing inside without waiting. Shade, Noah, and Jackal soon followed, and Zen was the last one. Jado was the only one left outside, as he watched the coming wave. He looked at the Processing Silo and prayed for it to be still standing after this wave. He finally entered the small shrine, before closing the stone gate behind him. He leaned against the stone, letting his body slide down on the ground. He picked up the few meals Zen had carried in and threw them in his inventory so that they would be safe from decay.

Jackal was standing, staring at the light-emitting stone in the center of the ceiling with a curious gaze, while Noah was trying to understand the ancient engravings on the Nameless Altar. Zen was sitting as far as possible from the entry, right beside Shade. They were both sitting in silence, forming quite an interesting duo. Oberon was leaning on his broken halberd, his eyes stuck on the stone gate with distrust.

Dune's head resting against Jado's shoulder suddenly rose, and the snake hissed worriedly. Everyone froze, listening to the outside sounds. At first, there was nothing. Then, a few grains of sand fell off from their clothes and the ceiling. The ground began to vibrate slightly, before shaking the same way an earthquake would. Finally, they heard them. An eerie cacophony seemed to echo on the outside of the Small Shrine, the sound of the spiders' legs thudding against the ground. It sounded like a distorted drumbeat mixed with the scuttling of dull noises. The closer they were, the more horrible the sound was. The occasional hisses and clacking gave it an otherworldly atmosphere that chilled everyone's blood to their bones.

Zen clasped his hands over his mouth as if scared of making a noise that would attract them. Shade had long buried her head in her arms, almost looking as if she was asleep. Oberon's face was pale, as were Jackal's and Noah's. Jado closed his eyes, his head resting against the cold stone gate behind him. The Small Shrine shook a few times when one of the bigger spiders passed by, but besides that, it showed no signs of getting destroyed. It seemed like Jackal didn't lie, luckily for them.

The first few hours were horrible. The sound and shaking never stopped, often accompanied by slimy tearing noises. Jado could picture a large fabric getting pulled and stretched, mixed with the subtle cracking and creaking of fibers under tension. But he knew the truth, that it was no fabric, no, it was the milky-white web that the creature spat around the Small Shrine and Processing Silo to form their deadly traps. Sometimes, when the spiders would move on them, they could hear the high-pitched sound resembling the groans of a structure under stress.

But after the first day passed, they got used to it. The first to do so was Zen, who managed to fall asleep even with the sound of the spiders moving around outside. Everyone else was still tense and ready for the worst, but Zen. After the kid fell asleep, the more trusting one seemed to be Jackal, who leaned against the Altar, his head resting against the corner and, exhausted thanks to these straining past days. He soon fell asleep, leaving Jado, Oberon, Shade, and Noah to stay awake in silence.

Even if they were now "technically" his citizens, Jado found it impossible to trust them. They were just a bunch of intimidating strangers, after all. And from their short descriptions in their status window, they all killed at some point in their life. Dune slid down Jado's body, before heading for the Altar and climbing up on it, laying under the dim yellow light coming from the ceiling.

"So who are you?" Jado broke the silence, staring at three still-awake individuals. Shade kept her silence, but strangely, it didn't surprise him. Noah stopped studying the Altar and opened his mouth, as if he was about to say something, but sighed and turned his head away.

Oberon chuckled, passing his hand on his broken halberd. His rusty armor was outside with the spiders, and he was only covered with a linen tunic and pants, alongside this worn, beige cape of his.

"You can call me...Oberon, young man. I was once a knight, but I ain't much anymore..." He said those last words dejectedly, falling back in silence, his eyes stuck on the ground. Jado nodded slowly but then remembered that he had the perfect tool to survey the outside's situation. He opened his map, and could only blink when he saw a literal wave of red dots, covering the vast majority of Heavensbane's surroundings.

And among those, a new color had appeared. It was a different red, deeper, much more ominous and threatening. One dot on the map stood from the other, always at the center of the infinite mass of red dots. A purple one, bigger than all the other dots. It wasn't as big as the black one he saw back when he met the big hole monster, but it was still pretty big. Jado looked at Jackal, wondering if the sleeping man had more knowledge to share on these eight-legged bastards.

Jado tried to fall asleep, but he couldn't force himself out of the stress and distrust he felt. The others seemed the same as him. He sighed, and out of boredom, opened his inventory and checked it out. Added to the rations he hadn't consumed before, he now had thirty-eight meatloafs and water flasks stored in there. He also had the Sun Leopard's charred carcass, the Thunder Blade alongside the Skinners' weapons. Among those were a hand axe, two curved knives, the spear he was currently using, and a pickaxe. That attacker who was pounding on the stone gate back then was doing so with this thing. What a strange choice of weapon.

He shrugged, and took them out, displaying them on the ground. Oberon rubbed his jaw, muttering something, "So you truly are an Envoy..."

Jado heard that, and turned his head toward him, "You both mentioned this, an "Envoy"... What is it?" He asked without hesitations. Noah turned his head around, and so did Oberon, as they stared at Jado with surprised eyes.

"You... you don't know what an Envoy is?" Noah struggled to express himself, shock seizing his throat. Jado shook his head from side to side, drawing a chuckle from Oberon. The old knight placed his halberd against the nearby wall and cleared his throat with a small cough.

"An Envoy is a living being, not always a human, who has been given powers by a god. They can do the same thing as you just did, pulling things out of nowhere and storing items in a non-existent space." Oberon sat on the ground, looking at Noah, who chose to continue the explanations.

"Envoys are fearsome enemies, in a way that they can always pull out impossible stunts and grow their power at immense speed," He lowered his head slightly, rubbing the end of his nose, "The leader of the Blood Warriors is an Envoy..."

The Blood Warriors? Is that the faction he comes from?

"And so is the Empire's current leader," Oberon interrupted the young man's thought, adding a small comment.

And Oberon's faction is an Empire...Alright. What factions are the others coming from, then?

Jado turned his head toward Shade, but she stood silent. Oberon noticed his gaze and called out to her.

"At least give us your name, so we don't think of you as simply the strange woman."

Jado knew she was named Shade, but the others did not. It made certain sense for them to be curious about it, but he wouldn't dare ask. The woman flinched and rubbed her face from under the coyote skull serving her as a mask/helmet.

"...Shade." A broken, dry voice came out of the skull as if pronounced by a wraith, an underlying threat present in this sole word. Jado, Noah, and Oberon shuddered and didn't try to pry more from this enigmatic woman. Silence installed itself for yet another hour, during which Noah came and asked if he could pick one of the weapons Jado had placed on the ground. He, of course, agreed, and Noah picked up the two curved knives, sliding them into his belt. A sentiment of safety appeared on his face, quickly disappearing when a high-pitched screech outside of the Small Shrine disrupted their temporary peace.

Shade also walked up to him, and pointed at the axe with a silent question, to which Jado answered with a nod. She picked up the axe, passing her finger on the practically dull edge, and returning to her spot next to Zen. There was only the pickaxe left, and the young man doubted Oberon would want it. He picked it up and placed it against the wall so that no one would trip on it. Jado hesitated to take the Thunder Blade out but decided against it. It was his most priceless artifact, and he wanted to keep it as a hidden weapon, only to be used as his last choice.

Jado looked up from his inventory.

"Any of you know how to butcher creatures?" He asked without much hope. Oberon shook his head, and Noah shrugged with a helpless look, his palms raised to the sky. Shade, as her habitude, didn't answer. Jado sighed, looking back at the corpse of the Sun Leopard. He was sure that there was something they could do with this thing, besides simply sacrificing it. He at least wanted to consider his options, since they were going to be stuck there for a while.

Jackal suddenly rose from his sleep, foam at the corner of his lips. He quickly wiped it off, blinking a few times in confusion before remembering where and with who he was. He opened his mouth hesitantly, scratching the back of his ear.

"So...Was it in my dream, or did someone ask for a butcher?"

Jado's eyebrows rose slightly, and he crossed his arms.

"Are you a butcher?"

"I am, yeah," confirmed Jackal. Jado nodded slowly and stepped up to the Altar. He then opened his inventory and threw the heavy corpse of the Sun Leopard on it. The crimson window asking whether he wanted to sacrifice it or not appeared like usual, but he dismissed it with a wave of his hand. He then pointed at the charred carcass while staring at Jackal.

"Can you do something with that?" The young man asked, waiting patiently for an answer. Jackal rubbed his eyes and shook his head while muttering something along the lines of "Yeah, of course, he's an Envoy, when did I forget about that," before walking up to the Altar in turn. He bent over the carcass, scowling at the scent it emitted, and after seeing the two curved knives at Noah's belt, asked him to lend him one. Noah gave it away without thinking much, and Jackal came and poked at the carcass with the tip. He made a small hole with the tip of the blade, from which a purple juice similar but different from blood poured out slowly.

He shook his head and leaned on the table with a concerned face.

"That thing is much too burned, and there are residuals of corruption in its blood due to some strange sorcery. It's not worth anything." Jackal stated, giving the knife back to its new owner. Jado sighed, and with a thought, made the crimson window reappear, accepting the sacrifice. Jackal, who was leaning on the Altar, was suddenly pushed back as sand rose from the ground and covered the Altar, devouring the corpse on top of it.

A second later, the sand fell, disappearing in the interstices of the stone bricks making up the ground. There was nothing, not even a drop of blood left on the Altar. Jado was used to this spectacle, but the others weren't. Silence installed itself once again, and Jado decided to use that time to check out how much it increased the Altar's structural points.

Nameless Altar of the Forgotten Desert Level: Small Shrine Structural Integrity: 870/2000 Owner: Jado Mirak, Servant of the Sand

Current Structural Level: Lowest

Current Supporting Structures: [Processing Silo]

Two hundred points? And I can see the Processing Silo in the supporting structures... Man, just how much would the Alpha Wild Leopard be able to bring in terms of points?

You've sacrificed a Lowest-rank Core from a [Wild Sun Leopard]. You've received a [Bone Flamberge - Lowest]

"No choice, this time..." Jado muttered, opening his inventory. Indeed, a weapon was sitting there, a sword like he had never seen before. Not like he had seen many swords in his life, but he was sure this one was quite the peculiar specimen. He took it out, marveling at the craftsmanship of the item.

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It was entirely made out of a pearly white bone, its handle comfortable and warm in the hand. It was light, but heavy at the same time, really well balanced. The hilt of the sword was a crossguard and was similarly made of bone, with sharp points at each end. The pommel was an engraved leopard's head, smooth but very detailed under the touch. But the most impressive, of course, was the blade of the sword. It was wavy, undulating like water. He passed his finger on the blade, finding razor sharp, even making a slight incision in his finger. He pinned it in his hand, attuning himself with the weapon. He much rather preferred this one compared to the hard-to-use Desert Fang.

"Now, Eyes of the Pharaoh, tell me the properties of this beauty..." He muttered, his eyes shining as he used his skill.

Bone Flamberge Rank: Lowest A flamberge made entirely out of a Sun Leopard's bones.

Effect(s)

- Sun-Charged: The Bone Flamberge can be infused with the heat of the Sun, making it as hot as a blade out of the forge, increasing its deadliness and power.

Origin: Wild Sun Leopard

Durability: 250/250

Can be repaired with sacrifices of the same rank

"Excellent," Jado couldn't help but muster. He was extremely satisfied with this new weapon. It was very suitable to his taste, very powerful, and most of all, very cool. He almost couldn't wait to try it out on these filthy beasts outside...

What the hell am I thinking about? He shook his head as if trying to get rid of these thoughts. Instead, he placed the sword back in his inventory and finally checked out his new citizens' skills, something he had completely forgotten to do after this mess with the Sand Crawlers. He began with Jackal since he was the weakest one of the group, from what the status window let him assume. He had only one skill, [Blood Surge]

Blood Surge Rank: Lowest [An ancient skill lost after being devoured in the sand of time, conceived by an exiled swordsman to fight against his fate.] Effect: Allows the user to accelerate his blood flow in a relatively safe way, boosting his physical attributes without many side effects.

"This looks very powerful, even with the short description," Jado muttered, making Jackal turn his head toward the young man, wondering if he was talking to him. Jado then stared at Shade, curious about her [Masked Shade] title, as well as what were [Analgesia] and [Berserker]. He had an idea of what the latter could be, but the first seemed like a completely foreign word.

Analgesia Rank: Red [When you've already suffered the worst torture, nothing can make you feel pain anymore. But nothing can make you smile either.] Effect: The user has a passive resistance to pain, not ever feeling it.

This seems like a horrible skill... Not being able to feel pain is a dangerous double-edged sword... Jado couldn't help but worry, wondering what had been done to this silent woman, for her to develop such skill. He then checked the other one, [Berserker]

Berserker Rank: Common [Blood is something you're accustomed to seeing, something you're used to producing, be it from your own body or others. Too much blood might make you see red.]

Effect: The user enters a crazed state where his physical abilities increase explosively, exchanging his sanity and humanity against true might.

WARNING! This skill has severe side effects!

And yet another dangerous-sounding skill... Just who are you, Shade? He finally opened the [Masked Shade] title description, a little scared of what he might find there.

[Masked Shade]

[Winds carry rumors of a woman covered in blood, a coyote skull in place of her head. Two red eyes coming straight from hell stare at her enemies, reducing them to mere ashes under the weight of her gaze.]

Effect(s): Weaker opponents are oppressed by a strong feeling of dread, enough to take away their will to fight.

"How ominous..." Jado blurted out, rubbing the back of his neck with a certain feeling of apprehension. Such a terrifying person was sitting next to Zen, silently staring at the other individuals in the room. He couldn't help but worry slightly. Something reassured him, though, and that was the fact that he didn't feel this "dread" yet, that was described in the title's description. That meant if he understood well, that she didn't consider him or the others as enemies.

He sighed and opened Noah's status window instead. The intimidating dark-skinned man also had a few skills, and among these, one he could recognize. [Sand Walker] was something that Zen also had, and since Jado already knew its effects, he didn't bother checking it out. Instead, he opened [Analysis] and [Weapon Proficiency - Intermediate] next to each other. He'll check the [Dog of War] title later.

Analysis Rank: Common [When one can only use his eyes to satisfy his voracious curiosity, one becomes proficient in seeing things.] Effect: The user can identify the basic functions of certain items, as well as easily find weak points in his opponents.

Weapon Proficiency - Intermediate Rank: Common - Twin daggers [Proficiency increases passively, as long as one puts sweat and blood into making it happen. One's progress can be measured by the quantity of blood he makes his opponent lose.] Effect: You are more efficient at using the class of weapons [Twin Daggers].

Two very straightforward skills, then. Why do all the descriptions sound so ominous, though? It feels like the system insists on presenting them darkly and strangely... Jado left this line of thought, comparing his Eyes of the Pharaoh and Noah's Analysis. The biggest difference was that Noah could use his skill in battle, while Jado couldn't. But in exchange, he was able to get pretty detailed descriptions of items, artifacts, or monsters. Both had their pros and cons. It was now time to check out Noah's title.

[Dog of War]

[Dogs were originally wolves tamed by humans. After thousands of years, a principle has been engraved in their beings. Obey their master. But what happens when a dog disobeys?

They're punished.]

Effect(s): As long as the user is not truly unchained, the shadow of their past will keep pulling them back.

This is so...unclear. It feels similar to Zen's title, [Ember of a Legend]... What chains is Noah wearing underneath his tough appearance? The corner of Jado's lips raised slightly, as he chuckled inside at the unwanted poetry of his thoughts. Besides that, he was getting more and more certain that there was a certain reason these individuals showed up at the Small Shrine. It wasn't just luck that pulled them there, no, no way. Why would they be such competent individuals and not some farmers like he was?

When he thought back to it, perhaps it made sense. The fact that they were competent fighters probably saved their lives in this merciless desert. The most miraculous one was probably Zen, but it seemed like the matter surrounding this kid was yet another mystery. Jado rubbed his hands together, scraping the sand out of them, before finally checking out Oberon's status window. The old knight was supposedly the strongest one. He couldn't wait but check out his skills and titles.

Weapon Proficiency - High Rank: Common - Polearm [Proficiency increases passively, as long as one puts sweat and blood into making it happen. One's progress can be measured by the quantity of blood he makes his opponent lose.] Effect: Your efficiency is unmatched in using the class of weapon (Polearm]. One last obstacle is left before achieving Mastery.

Blade Infusion Rank: Red [A proficient fighter can enhance his body with his life energy. A true knight can cover his weapon with it.] Effect: The user can infuse his energy into his weapon, covering it with a mystical layer that enhances the weapon's properties, and allows him to use ranged attacks with melee ones.

Wow, these two are already incredibly strong. They're true witnesses to Oberon's past training and efforts. I do wonder what the [Blade Infusion] skill looks like, though. It sounds very magical...

War Tactics Rank: Common [The difference on a battlefield isn't made by the strength of its soldiers or the numbers of the latter. An army is nothing without its officers, but similarly, officers are nothing without an army.] Effect: The user can lead soldiers under his command more efficiently, allowing situations where he can easily beat a hundred with only ten.

Hah, that would be great, if I had an army.

Chivalry - Fallen Rank: Insignificant (Sealed)

[Legends of chivalrous heroes exist everywhere. It is said that the spirit of chivalry can often beat invincible foes.

But never, oh, never shall a knight betray his code, for he would fall down the rabbit hole, and never come back.]

Effect: The user can — WARNING!

This skill has been lost or sealed due to a deep change in the user's soul.

Jado stayed silent after reading [Chivalry - Fallen]'s description, feeling as if he could see the old knight's broken heart and soul in it. He hesitated, wondering if he should open the description of the [Fallen Knight] title, and decided to keep it for the end. There was still [Master of the Environments] to see, and it didn't sound ominous like the rest.

[Master of the Environments]

["Is that a landslide?"

Being outplayed by a Master of the Environment often serves a terrible fate. Knowing your enemies is almost as important as understanding the ground they're fighting on.]

Effect(s): You know best how to combine skills and environment to provoke the most efficient effects, enhancing any actions taken in a special environment usable by the Master of the Environments]

The greatest weapon for a tactician. Was Oberon just a knight? Because these titles and skills make him feel much greater than he looks. Jado rubbed his chin, nodding from time to time, before steeling himself and opening the [Fallen Knight]'s description. If he wanted to make the best use of his citizens, he had to know what they were capable of.

How bad can it be?

[Fallen Knight]

[It's one thing to lose everything you've got. It's quite another to be the cause of those losses. But it's another layer of atrocity to cause those losses with your own hands. ]

Effect(s): The ghosts of the past still grab at your ankles, pulling you down with them. Despair fills each of your steps, both fueling your strength and extinguishing your sanity.

How long can you truly walk the tightrope of life and death?

Jado's eyes rested a long time on the description window before he finally dismissed it with a weak wave of his hand. He threw a gaze at Oberon, blinking when he thought he could see the enormous weights on the old man's shoulders, realizing it was only his mind playing tricks on him. It seemed like his story was a tragic one. As far as he could see, it was the case with each of these people, even himself. They all came from far away, ending up in these places, lost in the middle of nowhere.

Linked by a mystical feeling, something stronger than friendship, love, or fraternity.

No, their only bond could be condensed into a single word.

Fate.