Lassim felt the sun beating down on him as he walked through the endless dunes of the desert.
He had already completed several missions, and now he was on his third one, an escort mission for a merchant caravan traveling from the sect to a city along the northern coast.
The merchant caravan was a colorful assembly of carts and wagons, loaded with tonnes of esoteric materials and minerals provided by the sect to sell for a profit.
Lassim had joined the group at dawn this morning after accepting the mission the previous afternoon, where he greeted the merchants and other hired guards with a nod.
One of the merchants, an older man with a sand weathered face named Gerrin, approached Lassim. "Young Disciple, we’re grateful for the sect’s protection. Even more so when we were given someone rated for Spirit Transcendent power by the Sect’s Mission hall for the price of an initiate disciple.
These roads north, while not extremely dangerous, do have their risks when we’re hauling so many precious items."
Lassim smiled, trying to appease the merchant’s niceties, "Well, it’s my duty and I am just glad I can help to ensure your safety! The sect helps compensate me and I’m in dire need of the merit points. Please give a positive review for me when the mission is over if my service was deserving of it!"
With a smile, Gerrin pat Lassim on the shoulder before shouting some directions to the crew.
The caravan set off, the sound of paws thumping on the sand and wheels mingling with the occasional chatter of the merchants.
The journey up to the north coast was mostly uneventful, the vast expanse of sand stretching endlessly around them. They seemed to be in a hurry so they traveled during the day despite the intense heat that was ill advised to be out in.
Despite that, Lassim kept his senses sharp, scanning the horizon for any signs of danger. He was the strongest disciple in the group as they’d only hired roughly 6 total initiate rank disciples for the escort mission.
None of the others were people Lassim had met yet, which made him wonder just how many disciples there were in the sect.
Two evenings later, as they set up camp for the night, Lassim approached Gerrin and a few other merchants who were sitting around a fire as he had some free time since his night watch was scheduled between midnight until the first rays of dawn.
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"Have you heard any rumors or strange things happening lately? I love hearing about oddities and gossip." he asked, trying to make casual conversation.
Gerrin scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Well, there have been talks about the Endless Sun Sect becoming more aggressive with their taxes on businesses in their territory. It’s causing quite a stir among the merchants with branches in their sect and cities under their management. Other than that, nothing too unusual."
Lassim nodded, filing away the information. The Endless Sun Sect’s actions were concerning, but they weren’t relevant to him really. "Thanks for the information. Yeah, I guess that’s a bit out of my specialty though, haha."
The merchants continued their conversation, discussing trade routes and market prices, while Lassim left the gathering around the fire to keep watch over the camp.
The desert nights were cold, a stark contrast to the scorching days, and he found himself appreciating the quiet moments under the starry sky that was away from the cloud cover ever present in the sect’s headquarters.
The escort mission took three weeks total to complete. The journey to the northern coast was long, but the caravan reached its destination without incident or any sort of beast attacks at all.
Overall it was fairly boring and there was a real lack of any gossip or news that could lead him to finding something to help him breakthrough. He attempted a few more times trying to get rumors and legends for the area from the merchants, but nothing seemed to be a solid lead.
At the end of the mission, Lassim bid farewell to the merchants and made his way back to the sect’s mission hall to submit the stamped slip Gerrin gave him.
He reported to the mission hall, where a clerk greeted him with a clipboard.
"Lassim, good to see you back," the clerk said, glancing up from the paperwork. "We’ve got a new mission for you. An individual specifically requested you for the completion of this task, to which you’ll earn some additional merit points as they paid extra to specifically nominate you. It seems like you earned a reputation as being reliable it seems!
This time, we need you to gather rare desert herbs for the sect. These herbs grow on the southern side of the desert, and they’re crucial for some of our advanced potions."
Lassim nodded, accepting the mission scroll. "I accept the mission! Can you tell me who it was that nominated me? I’d like to thank them if I see them again in the future. Also, is there anything specific I should know about these herbs?"
The clerk adjusted his glasses and looked at Lassim seriously. "Certainly. It seems that… Hmm.. This is odd. It seems like the head matron of an orphanage in Green Meadow City on the southern edge of the continent, past the desert, has put in this request for you. Strange… Well, whatever it is that caused her to hear about you, please give her your thanks the next time you see her!"
Lassim was about to ask who the Matron was exactly, as he was so genuinely confused who it could be. He’d never met this so-called matron before, but before he could further question the clerk, the clerk then handed an open scroll to Lassim. He glanced over, noticing it was a map with several spots marked on it.
"Regarding the herbs, they’re called Stone Whisper Flowers. They have a unique bluish-green hue and usually grow in limestone rock beds where an abundance of water once gathered. A sudden shift in a region’s climate can cause them to forever grow in those spots and it’s a fairly common herb you can find in dried out oases.
We’ve gone ahead and used some of the sect’s records to pin point known locations of former oases that have now run dry. This should speed up your search. However, do your best and be cautious as always if you plan to travel alone for the mission."
"Thank you," Lassim replied, retying the scroll and storing it into the magic pouch on his belt. "I’ll head out a bit later once I’ve gone for a quick shower."
He then returned to his room where he showered, changed into a clean set of spare initiate rank robes, and double checked his supplies. Thankfully he’d barely used anything other than food and spare water bottles he kept in case the water mana in the air was thin and overbearingly hot.
It was much easier to drink from already mostly cold sealed flasks instead of using the scorching mana in the air to then freeze and turn into something drinkable. Something about it flavor-wise just didn’t taste right to Lassim.
With his supplies checked and ready, and feeling refreshed, Lassim set off once again in his mission grinding for the southern desert.
He was starting to get tired of the relentless missions and felt like he should possibly spend some more time in the library and finally get around to using that free Earth rank battle art token that he was given, but Lassim pushed forward, driven by his determination to earn the merit points needed for the future trial.
He was still so eager to try and advance that it occupied his entire mind and drive.
Every spare seconds he had was spent visualizing and refining the constellation he wished to build, which in turn reminded him constantly about his situation.
With the sun set, he used his spirit sense to guide his [Tempest Steps] that brought him to visit various former oases and water sources marked on the map.
Luckily, finding the Serpent’s Whisper flowers was remarkably easy and he appreciated the map he received as the first several he found had many of the flowers growing in abundance near the very centers of each of the former life-giving pools. The flowers were also picked with ease, their roots coming free with minimal effort, saving him a lot of time.
One afternoon, as he was gathering flowers, a sandstorm began to brew on the horizon. Lassim quickly set up his tent, securing it against the coming storm. The wind howled and the sand whipped around violently, burying the tent in a thick layer of sand.
With his tent several meters underneath a still growing sand dune, Lassim decided to use his water mana control to cool the edges of the tent, creating a barrier of ice to keep the interior comfortable in the heat.
"[Mari, Zaphy, do you mind keeping an eye out while I take a short nap? I’m a bit sleepy and I don’t think this storm will pass anytime soon for the next few hours.]" Lassim asked
Zaphy replied, "[Sure brother! You can count on me!]" She then focused on sending her senses, boosted by Lassim’s own power and innate spirit sense, to watch the surroundings for signs showing when the storm had ended.
Since she was on watch duty, Lassim decided to take a nap. The rhythmic sound of the wind and the sand provided a strange sense of comfort, lulling him into a light sleep.