Chapter 286: Erased From the Map

Aether wiped the sweat from his forehead, drinking some water as they continued to walk through this endless desert.

’It’s night… why is it so damn hot!’

Interestingly enough, he was having a hard time navigating around; it may not look like it, but there was a chance that they might get lost, even with Eden.

All they had to do was keep going in the direction of the compass, and really, it was the only reason why they hadn’t altered from their path.

In the day, it was bad enough with how hot it was, but at night, it was horrible.

Normally, it would be fine since he had Eden; however, there was only sand around him, so Eden didn’t have anything to detect, and he only saw sand.

It was hard to keep up.

The only good thing about making some progress at night was the fact that they were going to reach a civilization sooner, but there was something that was bad, the shard; it didn’t look to lead them to a city, so they were going to have to, at one time, take a small detour.

And they didn’t have anything to help. If they went past the city, then they were just going to have to suck it up, unless he wanted to make some genius calculation with the angle of the compass, the one from when they were going on the right path, and then now.

But that can only estimate how bad they had gone left or right, not how much they had gone past, or still had to go.

There was also another bad thing…

The sand moved slightly in front of him, making them stop in their place.

Aether gritted his teeth. “Again?”

Summoning Voidpiecer, he waited patiently for the monster to come out.

And suddenly a scorpion jumped from the sand.

Luckily for them, it was night, so he was able to react with enough time.

The scorpion landed a few meters away, its legs digging into the sand as it stabilized itself instantly.

Its body was covered in thick, dark plates, rough and uneven, like they had been worn down over time by the desert itself. Sand slid off of it in thin streams, never settling, constantly shifting along its surface as if it rejected anything that tried to cling to it.

’How many of these do I have to fight? I’m tired of facing the same opponent!’

But even if he had fought and killed it many times, it didn’t just mean it wasn’t dangerous.

Behind it, the three tails rose without hesitation, spreading just enough to cover different angles, each one settling into place as if it had done this countless times before. One remained lower, aligned directly toward Aether, another curved higher with a slower, more controlled motion, while the last one moved in small, irregular twitches, never fully still.

The danger these things posed, it was insane. How much could they change the fight from one where he just couldn’t die to one where he couldn’t get hit?

It was one of the reasons why he hated fighting them, how careful he had to be.

The faint sheen at the tips of the stingers was enough to confirm it, a thin layer of poison coating them, subtle but unmistakable, the kind that didn’t need to be exaggerated to be deadly.

He didn’t know how lethal the poison was, but at the same time, it was a monster. What kind of a joke would it be if it didn’t have anything to kill him with, and if not, it had to do a lot of damage, maybe even fully paralyze him?

So even if it didn’t kill him instantly, he would die. So it didn’t change the fact that he couldn’t get hit once.

The scorpion shifted its weight, its legs pressing deeper into the sand as its body lowered slightly, the motion controlled and deliberate, as if it were simply following a pattern rather than reacting.

He didn’t doubt that this was probably a routine for him,

Then it lunged.

The distance between them disappeared faster than it should have, its mass carrying forward with a speed that didn’t match its size, and the three tails followed without delay, each one striking from a different angle, forcing movement rather than allowing it.

He had fought some in the day, and to say that it was pretty hard to deal with them was an understatement. He had gotten close, another reason he hated fighting them.

However, it was night… and at night, it was a lot easier.

Aether stepped in instead of back, his grip tightening around Voidpiecer as he moved to intercept the first strike, redirecting it just enough to avoid the second, his body turning with the motion rather than against it. The third tail passed close enough that he felt the shift in the air against his neck, a reminder of how little room for error there was.

But in this state, with all the little advantages he got from his skill, relic, and the Abyss, it was something he could handle.

There was no pause after that.

The scorpion adjusted immediately, its legs shifting beneath it as the tails reset, not fully pulling back, not giving space, just enough to strike again.

It didn’t overextend.

It didn’t hesitate.

It just kept going.

And that was what made it dangerous.

…

But the bad thing for it… was that he was faster.

Aether dashed forward, putting his might into his dash. He didn’t like keeping this battle lasting for a while, and neither was it a good idea to play with deadly poison.

Gripping Voidpiecer, Aether pierced the head of the beast before it could dig back into the ground and retreat.

[You have killed-]

’You know, hearing the Codex after each kill has gotten annoying.’

Aether looked back at Kade.

“Let’s rest for tonight. These guys usually come alone to hunt for some reason, so we shouldn’t be attacked for some time in theory. I’ll keep watch at first.”

Kade nodded, getting the sleeping bags from their backpack.

When it came to sleeping, they didn’t have a safe place to do so, of course, so they just slept one at a time; it wasn’t anything complicated, or a genius method that allowed them to sleep at the same time.

You never knew what could happen in these wilds, even if something in theory seemed proven, in practice, it may not be true.

…

…

The next morning, Aether was awakened by Kade, who seemed quite tired, which probably meant that the boy had been attacked by one of the scorpions while he was on duty to keep watch.

“You could have woken me up.”

Rubbing his eyes. “You wouldn’t have woken me, so I didn’t wake you up.”

Aether had wanted to say something back at first, but quickly decided not to; the boy had proved himself many times that he can fight. After all, in the daytime, his fire may actually give him an easier time dealing with the scorpions than he had with Voidpiercer, which was insane, since one was a Seeker and the other not even a relic. Still, I guess the problem wasn’t killing, since Voidpiercer can easily kill them, while Kade can’t, but because of the fire, he can keep them from jumping on him.

“Fair point.” He smiled, getting up on his feet, and putting the backpack on his back. It was his day to carry it today, plus, it had gotten lighter, as they slowly ran out of water, it was frightening to think what they would have done if they hadn’t bought the water, and the clothing instead.

Speaking of the heat, it was still as hot, but you could say they had gotten a bit used to it; you have to at least adapt even the slightest to survive in these conditions.

It was more of the body adapting to survive,

’Wonder where the shard is this time, hopefully not in underground again… and I definitely don’t want to fight another monster for it again.’

At least Kade could actually fight now, with his new sword and his Will.

It was crazy to think that he knew the boy was going to fight by his side; he did say he was going to train him, but he didn’t think he was ever going to help him awaken a Will.

But he wasn’t going to be mad about it, after all, that very same Will could help him survive their next battle, and help him defeat the monster guarding the shard if there was something there.

…

Yet, as he kept thinking about the shard… he saw something in the distance… something that looked like a house.

Aether stopped, confused.

Kade also stopped suddenly, probably more confused than he was; maybe he hadn’t seen the building yet.

Taking the map from his backpack, he confirmed that there wasn’t anything on the map

’Huh… interesting.” He smiled.

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