—-
Roughly six hours passed, and the Desert of Crumbling Sands’ environnt grew harsher over this period. Altair and the others initially thought it was all in their minds, but that assumption was debunked when the Obsidian Criollos were affected by the environnt despite their natural resistance to heat, cold, and ailnts.
“I’m lting! Are you sure this is just a ga? I want to take my armor off right now,” Bastion exclaid. Sweat pooled from his face as he panted from exhaustion. Although he didn’t do anything physical, his expression reddened while his stamina declined steadily.
The reason for this change rested in the corner of everyone’s eyes—the countdown until the world’s tamorphosis reached its final stages. The gradual changes took place in real-ti, allowing players to experience the changes occurring before their eyes.
“Sotis I want to say yes; sotis I want to say no. I feel like I’m in hell instead,” Nean answered. Unlike Bastion, Nean unequipped all his armor, leaving him in fitted leather adventure gear.
“Hell?” Kieran’s eyebrows rose slightly. “I wouldn’t call this hell. I would say it’s more like the application of each stat is changing. If you ask , it would seem like the assimilation is deepening.”
“Now that you ntion it….”
Bastion equipped his short sword and waved it to test Kieran’s theory. It was still subtle, but Bastion could feel a waning influence over his movents as if he was no longer being assisted. This minute difference caused an inevitable effect that manifested as unrefined clumsiness.
“Whoa… this is crazy. Are you seeing this right now? It’s like I’m a beginner all over again. What does this an?” Bastion asked while looking directly at Kieran.
Kieran’s position as the team’s encyclopedia was already secured, so they mostly looked to him for answers in tis of befuddlent.
“It ans what I said—we will train once we return. We are about to enter the era of elites. People like Nean and Altair who experienced formal training in real life will be at an advantage. Their minds will know how to adjust to combat and optimize their style. Conversely, people like you who didn’t receive the sa arduous training will have to do so inside the ga,” Kieran answered.
“Does this an I won’t be able to level?” Bastion frowned. As their main tank, he couldn’t fall behind because his defensive skills would be indispensable in higher-tier boss fights.
“Eh, we’ll have to see. I can only make an inference after the tamorphosis finishes. Until then, I’m just as much in the dark as you are,” Kieran answered. Although there were tis when he showed extre familiarity with matters relating to Zenith Online, now wasn’t the ti to reveal any crucial information.
The current tamorphosis was an update shrouded in mystery. There were zero sources to obtain information from, so it would be highly suspicious if Kieran revealed what would occur before the system announced the changes.
As a result, Kieran opted for an ambiguous answer for the ti being.-.
“I don’t like that. You reel in with supposed insider information only to tell you don’t know, dammit? I need to know…. How committed do I need to be?” Bastion exclaid.
“Very,” Kieran answered indifferently.
The team snickered when they saw Bastion’s reaction to Kieran’s response. His slack-jawed appearance was comical as he blinked at Kieran. “Is this a comrcial? Why do I feel as if I’m starring in a comrcial right now? Very, my ass.”
“Language,” Alice glared at Bastion, which caused him to frown back. However, this was a battle he soon lost, causing him to look away and shake his head.
Nevertheless, Kieran continued with so thoughts. “The temperature is rising, but it’s sowhat subtle. The mixed effects of this tamorphosis are most likely the reason we feel more uncomfortable than we should. It’s like stepping into a cool room from the blazing outdoors, except it’s happening in reverse and causing our discomfort rather than relief.”
“U-uh, that’s nice and all, but what the heck is that?” Bastion muttered while pointing forward.
A moving streak that traveled in an odd pattern appeared in the sand not too far away. It wasn’t a natural phenonon because it vanished approximately 5 ters from the team’s current position.
“Oh, that’s not good at all.”
The eerie silence didn’t sit right with Altair as he scanned his surroundings.
“There!” Alice called out while pointing to their right.
Crimson Ashrune’s magnificence imdiately appeared in full display as Kieran jumped up and unleashed a large Blood Wave at the spot Alice indicated. The wave blew away the sand, forming a 2-ter indent large enough to expose the culprit.
The culprit appeared to be a type of worm no larger than 3-ters in length. However, although it wasn’t that large, its head was filled with countless razor-sharp teeth, giving it a grueso appearance.
「 Lv.39 Sand Larva (Elite)
Insect-Type, Sand Type
Health: 314,925/350,000 (90%) 」
“Ah! That thing is disgusting!” Sera yelped at the sight of the Sand Larva. Its grueso teeth shifted slightly as it moved through the sand. Based on its movents, it was clear this Sand Larva intended to return to the sand.
However, Kieran frowned as he looked at the monster. ‘This isn’t good at all.’
“Everyone stop!” Kieran called out.
In response, everyone ca to an imdiate halt while Kieran landed from his earlier jump.
He had everyone stop because these Sand Larva were almost never alone. A sighting of a Sand Larva ant a network of tunnels existed near or underneath their current position. This network provided the ans for countless Sand Larva to appear in any given area.
A single Larva wasn’t harmful, but it was an entirely different story if mature ones appeared. Adult Sand Worms were destructive and warranted caution; however, a Mother Worm was enormous and a boss-caliber monster by default.
The caravans behind Kieran were the only reason for his current hesitation. If it was just him and his team, he could dash into battle without giving it another thought.
“This area has officially beco treacherous. If that Sand Larva is anything like what I have in mind, then we need to high tail it out of here now,” Kieran cautioned.
“Even the boss is scared? Sothing ain’t right here,” Bastion chid in. “I’m all for leaving this place. You don’t have to tell twice, my good sir.”
“What about the monster? Do we leave it?” Altair asked. He looked sowhat bumd by Kieran’s suggestion because he was ready to enter another fight to gain extra Experience.
However, this Experience wasn’t worth it in Kieran’s eyes.
“Yes, we move at full speed right now,” Kieran directed.
A sudden tremor shook the area directly after his order, nearly knocking everyone off their feet. Kieran’s eyes widened as he turned to everyone and roared. “NOW!”
Whoosh!
Everyone whipped on the stallion to move faster while Kieran got back on the horse.
However, unlike before, Kieran sat backward as he had Alice take the reins. “You’ve got this, just breathe and remain stable. You’ve been doing a great job all along.”
Alice gave a subtle nod while gripping the reins tightly. She still wasn’t confident in her stability, but Kieran’s reassurance gave her enough confidence to try regardless.
Nurous lines of varying sizes appeared in the sand behind the team as the Obsidian Criollos traveled at their top speed.
‘These damn Sand Worms… why are they so hostile all the ti?’ Kieran thought.
The worms he referred to possessed a detection ability that allowed them so since intrudes invaded their territory. Once sothing triggered this detection ability, they would imdiately chase whatever the stimulus may be.
In this case, it was Kieran’s team and the caravans.
“Whoa! Whoa! Hey! They’re gaining on us!” Bastion yelled at the top of his lungs when he noticed the larger lines pulling ahead of the more narrow ones. Adult Sand Worms were not only larger than the Sand Larva, but they were also much quicker as well.
However, it took so ti for them to reach their top speeds due to their imnse size.
Nevertheless, Kieran clutched Crimson Ashrune and stood up on the Criollo’s back.
All of a sudden, Kieran jumped off the horse and rolled through the sand before stabbing his sword through the sand. A sanguine storm circulated his body as Kieran focused while counting in his mind.
‘One…’
Bastion and Sera passed by, followed by the first two caravans.
‘Two…’
Nean and Altair sped past Kieran as he exhaled and focused on his Blood Mania skill.
‘Three—!’
Whoosh! Bang!
Kieran activated Sanguine Slashes and launched a Wrath Eruption. The sand within a 7.5-ter radius burst into the sky as Kieran imdiately followed up with a Blood Bind.
A shocking sight occurred as the Blood Bind skill fed off the sanguine power lingering from the Wrath Eruption. The chains of blood coiled around three larger versions of the Sand Larva, trapping them in place seconds before Kieran raced after the caravans.
Kieran didn’t even turn around before launching two rapid Blood Waves that decreased his health below 50%.
Whoosh!
The boost to his movent speed increased Kieran’s acceleration as he closed the distance between him and the caravans. However, he didn’t go all out running because he still needed to monitor the Sand Worms’ behavior. He was the only one capable of performing this task for two reasons.
One, when Tornted Beliefs reached its final phase, Kieran’s movent speed surpassed Altair with Swift Steps activated. While Altair’s Agility was higher than Kieran’s on paper, Kieran’s higher Constitution resulted in a more robust stat coefficient.
This stronger coefficient translated into more effectiveness for fewer points. The second reason Kieran was the only one who could pull off this stunt was a large number of Unassigned Attribute Points in his collection, over 170.
Kieran could sacrifice these points at a critical mont to increase his chances of erging safely.
“Aatrox is a lunatic. Who in their right mind would jump off this horse after giving us such a solemn expression? Eh?!” Bastion yelled as the wind beat on his face. It was challenging to keep their eyes open with how fast the Criollos moved.
“He might be a lunatic, but those things would be on our tail if he didn’t do what he did. After all, you were the one who called out they were gaining on us,” Altair retorted.
“I know that. But… agh, whatever. It’s Aatrox, anyway. He must have angels protecting him or sothing,” Bastion said. He scoffed and waved his hand before focusing ahead.
anwhile, Sera asked the most crucial question. “How long do you think those things will chase us for?”
“No. The better question is why does this trade route intersect through such a dangerous area?!” Nean interjected.
The team fell silent as they pondered Nean’s question. It was true; why would the rchant Association establish a trade route through a Sand Worm infested area? Even if the Desertborn Brigands didn’t get to them, these Sand Worms would undoubtedly ruin the cargo!
Suddenly, everyone turned their heads towards Head rchant Penni, who wore a helpless and sowhat abashed expression.
“L-look… What we’re taking right now is a theoretical trade route. We could never test it out because of the rampant robberies. How could we know we plotted the course through an extensive Sand Worm nest? It’s not like we can access the association’s in-depth trade knowledge.”
If that were true, all mbers of the rchant Association would be able to achieve a lofty status. However, ideal views like that generally weren’t feasible. There had to be a hierarchy ranking, or else chaos would ensue once all association mbers vied for top spots by any ans necessary.
The rchant Association’s infrastructure would eventually crumble as the mbers sought the higher-ups’ seats at every opportunity. Juniors would no longer listen to their seniors. Seniors would no longer listen to Managers and so and so forth.
“Speaking of which… how does the rchant Association work exactly?” Nean asked. To him, it sounded like the rchant Association was an organization that condensed its focus to high-value areas.
“In essence, we’re like a franchise of sorts. Yes, we work under the banner of the rchant Association; however, we don’t have access to the resources of an empire or even the more affluent kingdoms. We work with what our branch gives and pray for the best.”
“The sounds hopeless,” Nean scowled.
“Sotis it is, but that’s the risk we take as rchants. Sotis the job can be just as dreadful as being an adventurer,” Head rchant Penni sighed. He could complain all day, but it would change nothing, so he chose not to in the end.
It was the career path he chose and the path that gained him his current life.
Boom!
A trendous wave suddenly jolted everyone as an imnse shadow lood overhead.
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