Around four years prior to Edward’s frightening letter reaching the Grimhearts, back when they and Meil were parting ways…
“So long, Grimhearts.” I waved back at them once more before turning away, “Let’s reconvene in a couple years! Nelly, I’ll be waiting for you in Dimitri Uni, so be sure to not neglect your studies!”
“Wogew!” Nelly could be heard shouting as her mother carried her in her arms, “Uncle Meil, I’ll gwow up suupew fast fow you! Just you wait!”
That kid’s rather motivated. She’ll be a fine scholar one day, but I do wonder where she gets all that motivation from. I mean, I was a smart kid, but I lacked the experiences she’s going through at such a young age. She’s five now, but she’s already seen more than the majority of the world has in their entire lives. With parents like hers though, I’m a bit worried about having to take care of her in a couple of years…
“Well, the past is the past.” I clutched the check Lune gifted me, “They’ve given me this chance, but that doesn’t mean I should just sit around and take it easy. If anything, this is actually just the beginning.”
Thus, I had made my way through the grueling dunes of Abyssus Solis. The terrain is quite coarse, it’s annoying, and the sand gets everywhere, but it’s nothing I can’t handle. But even still, when I recall that I had braved this harsh terrain as a three year old child all alone, I kind of start to feel a bit more reassured. Just a bit though.
“Okay, where am I right now?” I looked up at the Sun, “Hmm, judging by the time of day, I’m heading East, so I guess I haven’t strayed off course just yet.”
This is good, the Sun is our friend. It helps us find what we’re looking for, helps us see and shields us from beasts. If it wasn’t for the Sun God creating the Sun, then not a single lifeform on this world could survive and evolve. All life comes from the Sun, or at least that’s what I believe.
“Hm?” I stepped on something shell like, “What’s this? Yikes-!”
Suddenly, as if startled, the shell-like thing erupted from the sand beneath my feet, sending me tumbling on my back a few meters. What had emerged revealed itself as a Scirp, a giant black scorpion-like beast that’s native to the deserts of this continent. Crap, I let my guard down…!
“My my, what’s all this fuss about?” I taunted it a bit, “Did I startle you or something? Tsk tsk, that’s no good, you have to be strong and brave, so be a good boy and let me go my merry way in peace!”
“HISSSS!” The beast seemed agitated in some way.
Haha, looks like the negotiations fell apart rather quickly. It’s a shame I didn’t get to solve this diplomatically, but you can’t best a beast in logic, I guess. In times like these, brawns mean more than brains, after all!
“Hup!” I dodged its stinger attack, “Feisty, aren’t we? Now it’s my turn!”
Immediately cooking up a Spark attack and charging at it, I had touched its face with the palm of my hand. It was kind of disgusting, looking at its ugly mug from so close up, but there wasn’t any other choice. Now, burn to smithereens, foul beast!
“Hiss?” It seemed rather confused and unfazed by my attempts to burn it.
“Oh, that’s right. You live in a desert, so why in the world did I think fire would prove itself effective? Seriously, what am I thinki-WHOA?!”
Tossing me far away with its tail, I had just barely managed to catch myself and land on my own two feet this time. Looks like we’ll need to think of a better way out of this if I wish to survive. Normally, I’d rely on trial and error in times of need, but every mistake holds a certain level of penalty to it. I can’t go about this methodically – I’ll either get it right this time, or I won’t ever figure it out.
“Wait a second, what am I doing?” I suddenly realized, “How could I have been so blind? Why, the answer was right under my nose the entire time!”
The idea was simple in theory, but pulling it off would be a different story altogether. Namely, I had gotten the idea to Materialize the sand underneath it on a huge scale, effectively creating a hole from beneath it. After that, it’s as simple as letting all of that summoned sand to fall down on top of it, effectively burying it alive just as it was before.
“What’s the matter, big guy?!” I provoked another attack, “Go on, I know for a fact that you won’t just stop attacking after this much trouble. Have at thee!”
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The Scirp quickly closed the distance between us, and just as its stinger had swung at me, I had decided to grab ahold of it instead of just jumping away. This basically turned the entire Scirp into a catapult of sorts, with me as the projectile that got launched high above it. Perfect, just like the simulations in my head!
“Now, hup!” I cast Materialize, “Goodbye, Scirp!”
And so, just like I had predicted, the sand from beneath the Scirp had been summoned in the palm of my hand, spewing out in a nigh endless stream. The Scirp fell a couple meters down, before getting almost completely buried by the aforementioned summoned sand.
“Phew!” I took a sigh of relief, “Ow, what the…?”
Checking my post battle injuries, it seems that I had gotten a pretty nasty scrape from when it had hit me with its stinger. In the place where it hit me though was a completely dark substance, which pulsated oddly and hurt without me even touching it. Dammit, Scirps are poisonous, I should hurry up and go find someone who can treat this, and fast!
***
I was now under the clock. A scrape from a Scirp is deadly, and basically acts as a ticking time bomb unless treated in time. I’m already experiencing the first symptoms, namely the pulsing, swelling and pitch black scarring around the wound. This black color is something that doesn’t go away after treatment though, and instead takes a long while before it can completely dissipate. Although, I don’t mind, as long as the swelling and pain go away.
Just then, while I was running through the desert, I had spotted what I thought was an oasis. I was getting quite parched, and seeing as I didn’t bring any luggage with me on this trip, I figured it would be alright if I went down there and took a sip or two. Approaching it though, I could immediately tell something was off. The oasis turned out to have been nothing more than a mirage, a fake scenery meant to deceive my brain into hoping for salvation. I was pretty bummed out about it, but it’s not like my brain was completely making a fool out of me.
“So not an oasis, but a camp!” I smiled, “They should be able to treat my injuries!”
Running up to the first person I saw, I was taken aback by their wary reaction. The guard immediately pointed the AFP he held in his hand at me and began shouting out slurs.
“Aye! Stand the fuck back, monkey!” He screamed, not even waiting for my response before firing a round off right next to my foot.
“Hold on! I’m not a threat!” I begged, “I just need someone to treat me, I got stung by a Scirp!”
“Oh?” He flashed a nasty grin before lowering his gun, “And just what were you doing out here in the middle of the desert all by your lonesome?”
“I was on my way to Simpleton, when I kind of fell into some trouble.” I explained carefully, “Please, all I’m asking for is someone to get the venom out and some food and water, and I’ll get out of your hair.”
“Yeah, sure…” He gestured for me to follow him, “I’ve got some water in the back. Follow me.”
Doing as I was told, I had made my way through the camp. Judging by what the people here were wearing, this is most probably the Carmen Army. It’s a rather well put together one, given the sheer size of their home country and all, and they’ve even been known to use this amazing army of theirs to take over nearby territories.
As someone interested in international affairs, you would think I’d be wary of them, but that’s just not the case. You see, if there’s a Carmen camp here, then that means I’ve got to be close to the Great Canal that’s being dug out starting at the east coast of Abyssus Solis. This means that I’m close to the dock, which will take me to Simpleton!
“Hey, wai-!” I yelled as soon as I realized something was amiss, but it was already too late.
“Whoa, steady there, ya’ damned ape!” He pinned me to the ground, “You’re not going anywhere, so best stop resisting.”
“What the hell are you doing?!” I yelled out, “Help! Somebody, please!”
I squirmed around on the ground for as long as I could, but to no avail. The other Carmen soldiers simply stared and laughed as I was restrained. Sitting me down near a corner of the tent we were in, he explained the situation to me.
“Alright, here’s what’s gonna happen, tan-man. Starting at this very moment, you are hereby a slave.”
Eh? Slave? What’s this guy talking about? You literally just met me a couple moments ago. If it’s money and resources he wants, then he can take whatever he can scavenge, I don’t care. I’m just a scholar who wants to enroll in a good University, dammit. I’m no slave!
“That’s preposterous!” I shot back, only to get kicked in the gut by another solider.
“No talking back, freak! Get it through your thick skull that we’re the superior ones here! Now, we’re gonna take you to a fine little prison just north of this camp we’re in right now, and the moment you set foot in its walls, your life will only serve as a cheap workforce whose goal is to dig out the Great Canal. Rejoice, for now you’ll at least die knowing you made a dent in the world, heh!”
“Wait, there are others you’ve enslaved?” I realized, “You’re a sick people! All of you! You’re not gonna get away with this!”
“Yeah, yeah.” The other soldier kicked me to the ground, “That’s what they all say.”
“Hey, we have no use of him if you kill him now, man.” The Carmen soldier joked with his subordinate, who then whacked me on the back of the head with a metal bar, “This monkey’s a bit defective, but he’ll serve his purpose. It’s alright to hit your dog, but do it only to prove a point.”
From that point on, I fell unconscious. I would occasionally wake up for a few moments before blacking out again, but even that was enough to give me a basic gist of what was going on. I was apparently being taken to a concentration camp of sorts, and I was to be a slave that’s going to spend his days digging out the Great Canal. As I was once again felt my consciousness escape me, I was trying tirelessly to stay awake, to pick myself back up and jump out of the speeding wagon, but I couldn’t. I knew that if I did that, I’d probably just get eaten by some wandering desert beast. My best chance at survival was to stay put and try and think of a way to escape after the fact.