The trek through the sand dunes was arduous, even with his movement technique [Tempest Steps]. The sand shifted and sunk beneath his lightning bolt form as he shot across the desert.
Lassim kept a steady pace, his spirit sense spread out and alert for any signs of danger in the midst of the night.
Thankfully, and somewhat disappointingly, he wasn’t attacked or able to sense any presence other than the endless sand in front of him.
This continued into the next morning where he stopped once the stars disappeared from the heavens, blinded out by the sun’s rays. Lassim took the chance to hide out in his thick canvas tent and used the tip from Bajeel to hide it underneath the sand. This helped keep it cool while he rested.
He chose to focus again on meditating and expanding the bond connection with Mari while he rested in the tend until night fell once more.
This cycle repeated itself with Lassim traveling at night under the star’s direction and then meditating inside the tent when it was too faded away to follow any longer.
Several nights later into his journey, Lassim encountered his first real welcome to life inside the Southern Continent’s desert just as the dawn’s light was going to make the stars disappear once more.
As he moved through the dunes, he crested one hill and saw that in the distance the sky began to darken unnaturally.
Roughly five kilometers away into the distance, a wall of brown that obscured all behind it was followed by billowing, tall brown plumes of sand clouds that reached unimaginable heights into the air.
A strong breeze carrying bits of sand plucked at his eyes as he stared forward towards the oncoming storm. The effects of the storm caused the tinges of wind already reaching him to begin whipping the sand into a frenzy. The force of nature that was the sandstorm was coming straight towards him.
"[Damn that looks brutal from here. We need to find shelter!]" Lassim called out mentally, scanning the landscape for a safe spot.
He quickly found a shallow depression between two large dunes and set up his tent, securing it as best as he could against the fierce winds.
He was able to get inside the tent just in time as the storm moved quickly and arrived a moment later.
It hit with full force, the roar of the wind deafening and the sand pelting the tent like hail.
Inside, Lassim huddled in the relative safety of his enchanted [Hszamak], grateful for the cooling sensation that helped counteract the day’s building heat.
The storm struck with a rage, the winds howling like vengeful spirits. Lassim focused on maintaining the integrity of his shelter, reinforcing the tent with his elemental mana to withstand the unrelenting assault.
The storm was unrelenting, days passed in a blur of sand and howling noise. He remained vigilant, unable to sleep, choosing meditation and occasionally reinforcing the tent every so often to conserve his strength.
On the third day of the storm burying him beneath its pelting sand, Lassim sat in meditation until he felt a sudden, overwhelming presence in his senses.
The air around him grew colder, and the storm outside seemed to intensify. His heart pounded as he reached out with his spirit sense through the thick waves of sand that filled the air, trying to discern the source of this immense power.
The ground beneath him trembled, and through the fabric of the tent in the air above, he heard a terrifying screech, a sound so primal and powerful that it sent chills down his spine.
It was as if the sandstorm itself had come alive, and Lassim realized with a sinking feeling that this must be no ordinary sandstorm.
Outside, the wind whipped into a frenzy, and the tent was now fully buried under the shifting sands.
Yet, Lassim could feel the heavy presence of the creature moving above him, its immense form casting a weight even through the dune his tent was buried under.
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The screech echoed again, louder and more fearsome, shaking the very ground beneath him.
"[What is that?]" Mari’s voice trembled with awe and fear.
"[I don’t know, but it’s incredibly powerful]," Lassim replied, his mind racing. "[We need to stay hidden. It feels like an ancient beast, something definitely beyond us. Whatever it is, I do NOT want to find out.]"
As the creature passed overhead, Lassim’s senses were overwhelmed by its sheer size and power. He felt like an ant compared to this colossal entity, its presence dwarfing everything around it. The beast itself was some sort of bird with feathers the size of buildings. It was ten thousand times larger than Zaphy or really any bird beast he’d seen.
Unfortunately, the thick sand made it indiscernible with the current strength of his spirit sense. That was probably for the best though, Lassim decided, as he might’ve ended up as the beasts’ snack if he was powerful enough for it to notice him.
The storm raged on, fueled by the beast’s movements, and Lassim remained huddled in his tent, hoping that it wouldn’t notice him.
The screech came again, this time fainter as the beast moved away, its massive wings beating against the air and stirring up the sands even more.
The storm began to subside slowly over the next two days, the winds losing some of their ferocity as the creature departed.
On the third day that had passed after the beast led the storm away, Lassim dared to emerge from his tent. He was unsure what time it was as the sand that buried them blocked all light. His spirit sense was a bit bad at telling the time it seemed with its spirit vision that allowed him to see the mana in the air and that coated every object in existence.
He climbed out from beneath the large dune of sand that had buried his tent, his body aching a bit from the days spent in such close quarters.
As he looked around, it was the later afternoon with the sun already falling deep into the sky. However, the light was enough to tell that the landscape had changed dramatically; the dunes reshaped by the powerful winds.
"[What was that thing?]" Zaphy asked, her voice filled with a mix of awe and curiosity.
"I’m not sure," Lassim replied out loud, brushing the sand from his [Hszamak] and his hands as he got up. "But it was powerful. Hopefully we don’t run into that again anytime soon."
The trio waited just a few more hours, not returning to their tent as Lassim wanted to stretch his legs a little.
As night fell and the stars appeared, he reoriented himself using the constellation Bajeel had shown him and continued his journey, the encounter with the beast lingering in his mind.
A few hours later, as he traveled through the endless stretch of desert, Lassim’s spirit sense picked up some movement directly in the dunes ahead of him.
His instincts sharpened, and he slowed his pace, scanning the darkness with eyes and spirit sense once he got close enough.
A group of dog-like people, their eyes gleaming with hunger, walked along the tops of the dunes in the shadows with weapons drawn in search of something; food most likely.
Lassim recognized their appearances as a specific creature called a gnoll. They were intimidating figures, each one a muscular, dog-like creature.
Their teeth were bared in vicious snarls, and their clothes were tattered but functional, designed to blend with the sandy landscape. Most likely stolen and reused by the way the fabric stretched over their hunched backs and draped over their necks.
The group of seven gnolls were all at the Spirit Ascenscion stage of power, roughly Spirit Ascenscion level 4 with the strongest of them being level 6.
Lassim drew his halberd, ready to defend himself should they attack.
He was confident that he could take them down without much difficulty given his power, but he didn’t want to just mindlessly slaughter starving natives if he could help it.
Especially after they’d gone nearly a week without being able to hunt because of the terrifying sandstorm bird that wreaked havoc through this region of the desert.
Unfortunately, their superior sense of hearing picked up Lassim’s location as he gripped his halberd and their heads snapped in his direction.
Without missing a beat, the gnolls snarled and growled in unison as they charged towards whatever was on the other side of the dune in hopes of it being an easy meal.
One of them, larger and more menacing than the others, lead the charge, brandishing a jagged spear as it crossed the dune’s peak and saw Lassim.
The creature didn’t bother with words, its hunger clear in its eyes.
The gnolls followed the spear-wielder and lunged at Lassim, and he responded with a speed and power that took them by surprise.
He moved like a bolt of lightning, his halberd a blur as it [Slice]d through the air.