I have no sense of time passing, one minute I’m just a blob in a nightmare world the next I’m drifting into an ocean and now, I’m awake again.

The ocean is disappearing and I am reappearing, if I had to hazard a guess I would say it’s for combat.

It’s not too much faster than it usually is, so there’s probably a stand off going on right now since it’s urgent but not too urgent.

Right, there’s quite a bit of sand around so I can probably blind whoever it is I’m being summoned to face but what if we’re moved?

If we’re on mountainous terrain maybe I could hurl a few boulders at my enemies, perhaps control a valuable checkpoint.

I can’t really properly plan what to do if I’m being summoned to defend a camp since there are just so many different things that could be happening.

And if it’s some stupid scouting mission I’m going to try my hardest to just investigate the areas closest to her since I clearly can’t trust the humans to look out for her.

I can’t spend any more time planning right now though as my forms beginning to fully manifest, now is the time for action.

Despite my hurriedly conceived plans, I’m still shocked once the summoning is complete.

Because all I can see is green.

Where am I?

Just how long did I go unsummoned for?

There are giant trees with hardened bark all around me, not to mention the huge amount of smaller plant life, like thorny bushes and bright yellow flowers.

I didn’t even consider being summoned in a place like this, I mean I know that grass and trees exist obviously but I’ve never seen them myself before, it was always through her memories.

“Feeling a bit surprised Phaeraxion?” Her voice rings out.

Turning around I behold my creator and the exact same cohort that was with her last time, even the wagons are here.

“Magic?” I curiously ask her, forgetting to send some positive feelings over to help drown out the negative ones in my stupor.

“Yep, that’s not to say that all forests in a desert are magically created, there are quite a few normal ones but this one, not this one though, this one was created magically. Our researchers and scouts assume it was done by a powerful cabal filled with every type of mage, they likely died off a few centuries ago since we haven’t found any traces of them but their work lives on.” She says gesturing around the forest.

What a strange thing for them to spend their time doing, then again if I had magic that’s probably what I would do.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Just create something, anything would do, it doesn’t have to be fancy so long as it’s something that I’ve made myself.

“So did they make this forest as some kind of oasis for travellers or was it just for themselves?”

Personally, I would like to create one just for myself and my creator of course, that way there’s less risk of it being destroyed.

“Uh not exactly. There’s quite a bit of evidence to suggest they actually made this to form an army.”

I can’t tell if this onset of mild sorrow is hers or mine, oh why did it seem like everything came back to warfare, why couldn’t it have been created to serve as an enjoyable stop for any weary travellers or to relieve the strained eyes of its creators from having to gaze at sand all the time.

Before I can ask any more questions, a knight standing beside my creator lets out a few coughs and points at a cluster of trees.

Quickly I rush forwards and cover my creator, angling myself to face whatever is watching us, yet I can’t see anything.

That’s fine, I’ll protect my creator while this knight deals with whatever the threat is.

“Um, there’s nothing there don’t worry he just was trying to tell you to go scout the forest already. Sorry I got a bit distracted, there's been a few traps that we’ve either spotted or fallen victim to so uh that’s why you’ve been summoned.” Coralet says apologetically before giving me my orders.

“Dealing with the traps is your goal this time, just move straight ahead of us and clear the path. Uh, you don’t really need to deal with the saboteurs, I just got told to have you clear the path and they not even be around anymore. ”

I want to ask a few more questions and tell her there’s nothing to be sorry for since she was just satiating my curiosity but since I’m apparently on a deadline I just say “It’s fine, I’ll find them.” Instead.

Then I leave, heading further into the forest and away from the convoy.

I try to just focus on finding any traps but as I follow the tracks of past convoys I can’t help but think about creating something with magic.

The Rover summon could do it, at least I think it could but maybe it didn’t use magic, perhaps it was just some weird super venom or acid.

Presently I can control my regeneration with the wave pattern I use but when I tried to push that mana out of me I failed.

Still, it kind of worked, she survived thanks to my efforts, perhaps once I’m done with this whole scouting thing I can try to experiment with magic again.

Or was I not meant to do that? She never told me to try and do magic after all but we don’t really have a lot of time to speak either so perhaps she got around telling me to do it.

Obviously, it can’t have slipped her mind, she’s infallible.

Just as I’m starting to wonder if there are actually any traps on this pathway I slip and slide into a shallow trench filled with spikes, it wasn’t even properly covered up with leaves I was just too unobservant.

Pulling myself out of the trench I channel my mana and regenerate my wounds, before getting to work and yanking all the spikes out of the trench and hurling them to the side while pushing dirt into the trap.

Once I’m done demolishing this trap I decide to check out my left flank, since chances are there are more traps in the immediate area.

And my prediction is quickly proven correct as a large branch slams down onto my head out of nowhere.

I look up, half expecting some giant to have swung it down at me but nope, there’s nothing there.

Well, there are a couple of vines all interconnected together which were probably what dumped this branch onto me once I activated a trip wire or something similar.

As I rip apart the vines just to make sure the trap is fully disabled I can’t help but wonder just how many traps I’m going to have stumbled into by the end of today.