The duo walked continuously. Serene kept babbling without stopping, acting as if she didn’t care whether Alen was actually listening to her or not. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

After what felt like an hour had passed, Alen stopped walking. He stood at the very top of a large sand dune and looked down toward the distance, where a giant fortress seemed to be situated.

"Umm... it seems we’ve found the place," Serene muttered, gazing at the massive structure.

The fortress was made entirely out of sand, and it looked eerily beautiful from a distance.

"Let’s go..."

"We don’t have much time. There are less than two hours left now."

They started heading toward the tall towers. But as they walked closer to the fortress, a sudden crisis arose.

The sand beneath their feet began to twist and churn. Suddenly, humanoid figures popped out from the ground. Their entire bodies were wrapped tightly in white, weathered bandages. Their pitch-black, darkened eyes could be seen peering through small gaps in the cloth around their ocular regions. Their bodies emitted a dense, sinister aura of dark magic.

"What the hell are those? Are they mummies?"

After sensing the two humans, the monsters suddenly rushed forward with weird, erratic movements. Their bodies bent flexibly, as if bones didn’t even exist inside them, or as if their bodies were made entirely out of loose sand.

Alen didn’t wait. He stepped forward to meet them.

[Concentrated Mana: Burst!]

*BOOOOM!*

He punched the leading monster, concentrating a dense ball of mana in his fist. Just as it hit the creature, the mana exploded violently, launching the monster backward.

The mummy’s body, hit squarely by the explosion, had a massive hole blown right through its chest.

Alen stood still, looking into the distance where dozens more of the monsters were starting to rise from the dunes. He prepared to dash forward so he wouldn’t waste too much time fighting them one by one.

But suddenly, Serene’s voice caught his attention.

"Hey, look! It’s rising again..."

Alen looked in the direction she was pointing. The mummy he had just blown away was already standing back up. The massive hole in its body was quickly being filled by swirling sand, and the torn bandages magically reattached themselves.

"Damn it, what the f*ck is this? It can actually regenerate?"

"Then how are we supposed to beat creatures like this?"

Without hesitating, Alen dashed toward the monster again, gripping the simple steel sword he had purchased before attempting the trial.

He charged straight toward the incoming horde of mummies.

[Nexus Elemental Art: Sound Type - Shattering Wave!]

A powerful wave of Sound magic rippled across the battlefield, traveling directly toward the nearby mummies. It created a high-frequency vibration designed to severely disrupt and damage any undead creature.

But as the attack passed right through them, the mummies were completely unaffected. It was as if the attack he had just launched was entirely useless against them.

"Sigh... So they aren’t undead, at least," Alen grumbled, dodging a clumsy swipe from a bandaged arm.

"I really need to learn more elemental magic, or I won’t be able to fight monsters like this. The Sound element is completely useless against sand. What should I do now?"

More of the mummies started to rise from the dune of sand.

Serene suddenly stepped forward, her silver eyes glowing.

"I know a little bit about monsters like this. Let me handle it!"

[In the Name of Heaven: I request the ’God’ of ’Hydro’ to bestow me with the power of the water element...]

[The Heaven’s Grace: Water Type - The Wave of Tsunami!]

A massive wave of pure, rushing water suddenly erupted from beneath her feet. It rapidly climbed into the sky, casting a huge shadow over the hundreds of mummies before crashing downward to swallow them whole.

The roaring wave surged forward, sweeping up hundreds of mummies in its violent current. The water traveled for several kilometers across the desert before finally settling.

As the devastating attack washed over them, the mummies’ bodies—which were made entirely of dry sand—lost their physical forms. The sand turned to heavy mud, completely consumed and dissolved by the rushing water.

As the water soaked the battlefield, it slowly began to evaporate under the immense heat of the desert environment, leaving nothing but damp sand behind.

Alen stared at the aftermath of the attack, then turned to look at the seemingly naive girl. She looked completely different from before; she stood tall, staring straight ahead with absolute confidence in herself.

’So... she is genuinely strong,’ Alen thought in surprise.

’I guess I completely underestimated her. But she is still annoying.’

"Hey... It looks like the way is clear now. Let’s go before our time runs out..."

Serene snapped out of her focused state, her bubbly personality instantly returning.

"Oh! I completely forgot! Let’s go, then! I can’t wait to get out of this place, ughh!"

They started walking toward the giant sand fortress.

Walking beside him, Serene turned her face toward Alen. She wore a massive, smug expression that practically screamed, ’Praise me!’

Alen ignored her completely, walking quietly with a stoic face.

After walking continuously, they finally reached the base of the massive fortress.

The structure was gigantic, but as they circled the front walls, there was absolutely no sign of a door. It was as if no entrance even existed.

"Hmph! It seems we have to solve some kind of puzzle to enter here. Hehe... This will be fun!"

Serene chirped. Her earlier, highly confident combat persona had completely vanished, shifting back into a naive girl who was overly excited by a mystery.

Alen sighed.

"Let’s just find the entrance. It’s not like we’re going to find it by standing still."

They began walking around the perimeter, searching for a hidden door that they weren’t even sure existed.

The evening sun finally set below the dunes, and the cool darkness of night slowly began to rise over the desert.

There was only one hour left.