Back to the Desert

It had been half a day since the group ventured into the desert, and to say it was uncomfortable would be an understatement.

Everyone was on foot, getting cooked by the oven-like ambient heat. This was partnered with the heated sand that, if they hadn’t been wearing defense footwear, would’ve directly burned the soles of their feet. When the wind blew, splatters of them might even hit their faces and enter their orifices.

Garan made sure Althea was not affected by these flying sand, using his own body to block the path of the hot wind. He also allowed his ice element to leak out, so the small area around him was significantly cooler. Of course, since no one dared be too close to him, only Althea got this advantage.

Interestingly, Sinnan was doing the same thing. Medusa’s level was quite a bit lower than theirs though, so he also had to hold her by the arm to keep her from falling. Otherwise, she’d have fallen down every dozen steps or so.

The fortunate part was that Sinnan and Medusa were equipped with the same type of attire as Althea and Garan. The robes covered their bodies to protect their skin from the sun, while the fabric itself was very breathable, lessening the discomfort.

Erol and his team could only mutter at the side. Some complained about their singlehood, while some missed their wives.

Maika rolled her eyes. "If you had been more of a gentleman, maybe you wouldn’t be single."

Erol’s expression turned even more bitter, giving her a sideways glance. "Well, what can I do? Some women are so finicky everything’s an issue! Singlehood is better if there’s peace of mind, right?"

A pause, then a scoff. "Agreed! Men are overrated blockheads with not much use except hitting monsters."

For a while, the two exchanged sarcastic comments without looking at each other. Althea was just impressed that they could gather so much energy in this heat. The occasional battles they go through exacerbated the heat their body had to deal with.

In the past half day, they had encountered a few mobs and a small group of undead.

To save energy, Althea and Garan used their cold weapons. They avoided using their elements unless it was efficient to do so. Using elements or skills naturally consumed more energy, and it also made the body emit more heat. It was much like how the body was after exercising, but with even more intensity.

Anyway, her elements dissipated more in this weather, which meant more energy consumed for less effect. First of all, her water would evaporate faster. This meant she’d need more energy to keep their shape.

There was barely any moisture in the air to condense much of it, and she’d have to depend on the water in her space, which wasn’t practical because she needed that as sustenance.

Although she had several vats in her space, equivalent to several small ponds, she was in the desert, and each drop counted. One would never know what could happen, so unless it was for drinks or if the task needed a small amount for an efficient task, she would not use her water ability.

Her earth ability had limited effects as well. Her earth depended on organic compounds, while most earth users controlled the minerals. She couldn’t control sand smoothly like those mutated powers could.

It was much like a normal person trying to grab water. She could, perhaps, grab a bit as an earth user, but controlling it was a long-shot.

She could summon the earth underneath the sand, but the success of that would depend on how far away from her feet it was.

That said, she could feel that there was more to discover with her earth element, but she simply couldn’t access it yet.

As for the wood element, she had the cactus, so that could be used, but since there wasn’t much wood energy in the place, it was a bit consuming.

However, since the awakening happened, the quality of her wood element had spiked up, so this was technically not a problem to her. Still, energy was limited, so if she didn’t need to use her elements, she would not.

Her husband was much luckier. Though the Ice element had reduced effects, he had the metal ability to use in case of emergencies.

They worked in groups, with Althea and Garan working with Sinnan, Maika working with her own team, and Erol with his. They took a triangulated position, making sure that two parts around them were somewhat covered.

At some point, they encountered a particularly troublesome mob of monsters called Pions, which were like giant scorpions, except more poisonous, not to mention large.

When their flexible tails were up, they were nearly 4 meters tall, and this meant their reach was that long as well. There were nearly a dozen of them now, which meant it’d be a challenge.

They ranged from level 16 to 18, which was barely useful for Althea and the other early level 20s among them. Considering how poisonous this one was, it was generally not worth it to fight this time.

However, they could not run because, according to Erol, there was no cover nearby. If they didn’t deal with this mob now, they’d follow them indefinitely, which would just weaken their side in the long run, lowering their chances of getting out of this unscathed.

In cases like these where you’d have to deal with them regardless, it was better to handle them early on.

Coincidentally, this was one of the monsters summoned in the Training Hall and both Garan and Althea had fought with it once or twice.

The movements, the habits, and the aura were exactly the same. As such, they could also determine where its exact weaknesses were with high accuracy.

Slash!

The familiar feel of the chitin and the meat inside was exactly the same as how it was in the Training Hall. Even then, the monsters never felt like they were projections.

This further confirmed that the monsters in the Training Hall were actually real, likely pulled out from elsewhere.

How interesting!