Chapter 285: Endless Desert

A lot changed in the fraction of a second.

A desert was not what he had expected at all.

It made what they were trying to prepare for useless.

Normally, he would think clothing would be necessary still, after all, in the real world, even in deserts that are known to be extremely hot during the day, fall to the cold during the night, and even more when it came to winter times.

But… this wasn’t the real world.

It was something that many readers struggled with understanding, as they act like the world they are sent into is their own.

So who was to say that the desert inside this world would have the same rules as the one from the real world?

Plus, he already saw the difference between the mountains and a plains zone; the mountains were much more rugged, which is normal, but it was also the case during the day, and they were also not close to winter.

Also, not buying clothes could be very beneficial, as they don’t have to waste money on them, and instead spend it on something more important, like water.

Until now, they have been just refilling their canteens in the wild when they found a river or something. But in the desert, the chances were limited; of course, they could drink the water from some cacti, since they were bound to find some.

However, that just wasn’t healthy, and it should be more of a last resort.

It can even make them more dehydrated.

It was a gamble… he either got the clothing to be sure Kade could survive the desert, or he got water, and was sure they weren’t going to die from the lack of water inside their bodies.

’I wish I had some dice…’

Aether sighed, taking off the pin from his hair and running his hand through it.

It had gotten quite long, not that it bothered him that much, plus, it made it so he could always keep the pin with him.

Really, he didn’t know what he would do if he were to lose it. After all, it was one of the only things that reminded him of home, of his mother, the person he loved most… if he got the chance… no, when he will the chance to make it a relic, he will.

It didn’t matter if it was a weak relic; he just wanted to be sure he didn’t lose it.

He wondered, if he was to sell it, how much it would be bought for; it had a beautiful design, and the material it was made out of was valuable. He remembered his father had spent a lot of money to have it made for his mother.

He looked at the pin, a small smile appearing on his face. After that, he braided his hair into a bun and secured it back with the pin.

He had gotten bored with rocking two of them. Maybe he should try a different hairstyle; after all, he could shorten his hair or make it longer whenever he wanted.

…

…

Aether chuckled. “Alright, water it is then.”

He already knew the answer when he first asked the question. Water is far more important, and he knew he was taking a huge risk, but let’s say it was cold, then he could just ask Kade to either let him go alone, or just go make more money for the clothing.

But if it were the other case around, and they ran out of water while they were deep in the desert, there was no second chance; they were going to die. So in his eyes, only one of them was dangerous, only one could kill them.

And who knew, after all, as he had said, the desert could be extremely hot and require them to strip down rather than put on more clothing; he had his mantle, so it was probably not going to be the case for him, but you get the idea.

But what couldn’t change, and was for certain, is that they were going to need water. He doubted there were going to be lakes and rivers, since when looking at the map, he didn’t see any, and while they were cities, that was true; who knew how expensive water was there? Maybe they could even sell some.

Plus, if the shard wasn’t in a city, and far away from one, there was the chance to run out of right there, with no way to get any more.

In his eyes, it was an obvious decision.

…

…

…

“A desert?” Kade asked, surprised, not expecting that to be the next region they had traversed, and he understood his confusion. There was no sign of a desert coming, but what could you expect in just a place like Stormfell? It felt like you could be in the coldest tundra and then find yourself in the hottest desert to exist.

Also, it was going to be his first time in an acutal hot desert, he had been if he remembrered corectly in a tundra before, in Frozen Crown. But this was going to be his first experience with a hot place, ever, and there was nothing he had set foot inside that would be close to it.

If the desert was actually going to be hot.

And as he continued to think of it, it wasn’t long until the sand finally revealed itself.

’Well, there is no going back, is there? Well… there is actually, but it’s more dramatic like this.”

As they got closer and closer, he could see even more of the wasteland in front of them, of the sand that extended infinitely, of the air getting hotter, and it was good news; he had made the right decision, or well, he couldn’t say for sure, he hadn’t seen the night.

And it was also not entirely a good thing, since it meant that they were going to struggle with the temperature quite a lot.

The sand didn’t feel normal.

The moment his foot pressed into it, it sank just enough to throw him off. Not deep, not enough to trap him, but enough that every step felt… slower. He had to put more force into it, and even then, the ground shifted under him like it didn’t want to stay still.

’Is this some kind of quicksand or what? Don’t tell me this is going to be the sand were going to be walking the whole way…

Annoying.’

He glanced down for a second, watching how the grains moved, sliding over each other, never really settling. It didn’t take long to realize walking through this place was going to be a pain.

But that was quite obvious, wasn’t it?

Aether clenched his fist.

…

The heat came next.

Not all at once, not like a flame hitting his skin, but something constant. It pressed against him from every side, seeping through his clothes, clinging to his body. The air itself felt dry, like every breath took something out of him instead of giving.

And that was with his mantle, which was supposed to protect him from temperatures like this. He didn’t know if the ability was just weak or the temperatures in Stormfell were just too powerful.

Kade didn’t look to be doing any better, but the boy being born in this world, even if not in Stormfell, was probably used to it a little too. But it wasn’t like he was immune to it, even if he was probably better than he would have been if he didn’t have the mantle.

Even the wind didn’t help.

It moved across the desert in slow waves, carrying heat instead of cooling it. It brushed against his face, his arms, doing nothing but making it worse.

He exhaled quietly.

“Yeah… this is going to be fun.”

He would have preferred if there wasn’t any wind at all.

…

The land stretched endlessly.

Sand in every direction, rising and falling in uneven dunes that blurred into each other the farther they went. No clear path, no real landmarks, just more of the same.

Well… not entirely.

Here and there, something broke the pattern.

Cacti.

Tall, thick ones, standing alone like they didn’t care about anything around them. Some had multiple arms, twisted in strange directions, and others just rose straight up, covered in sharp spines that caught the light.

They didn’t look friendly.

But they were useful.

Of course, like he had said, only as a last resort.

Aether’s eyes lingered on one for a moment before looking ahead again.

They should have enough water so that they do not have to rely on it. At least, he hoped they had.

The sun hung above them, unmoving, watching.

And the deeper they walked, the more it felt like the desert was doing the same.

And worst of all, looking at their map, it didn’t look like there was any village nearby, as there had been outside of the desert. Most people live in the big cities in the desert, in these conditions its hard for a small civilization to exist.

’Well its not like complaining will do anything.’

Aether sighed, looking at Kade.

“Let’s go.”

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