The Way to Call Sandworms
Finally, the great winds blew in, and the sand-skimming ships began to depart. The families of the sailors gathered at the port waved their hands, praying for their loved ones to return alive as they boarded and sailed out.
The moment they left the port and escaped Aldamina's sphere of influence, all the sailors tensed up. Just as fishermen gathered schools of fish drawn by chum with their nets, in the desert, monsters lurking beneath the sands targeted those heading to the Eastern Continent on the great winds.
"Desert goblins spotted off the starboard bow!"
A lookout on a small ship shouted as he scanned the surroundings from the crow's nest. The sailors pulling on the ropes connected to the sails quickly secured them and grabbed their weapons.
"Block them before they climb aboard!"
The Aldamina natives stepped forward first, and the out-of-towners who'd hitched on followed suit. But the desert goblins, with their unusually short statures blending into the sand, swarmed up the hulls like cockroaches before the outsiders could even get their bearings, attacking the crew.
Unable to wield proper tools, the goblins charged with cactus spines coated in poison. Sailors paralyzed by the strikes were flung onto the sand, where the goblins waiting below piled on and devoured them.
While a few hired outsiders met absurd ends, the Aldamina sailors swiftly dispatched the desert goblins.
"Kek!"
To become a sailor in Aldamina, one needed not just skill at handling ships but also mastery of countermeasures against the monsters encountered while crossing the desert—all ingrained in the body.
They deflected the cactus needles with arm guards made from desert shark hide, protecting from wrist to elbow, then shattered bones with punches.
Desert goblins, evolved for extreme lightness and speed, were more vulnerable to rapid strikes than heavy blows.
"Don't bother with those useless weapons—throw whatever's handy!"
The Aldamina sailors yelled at the outsiders fumbling with awkward grips. The foreigners grabbed anything nearby and hurled it, finally making the goblins wary and hesitant.
Even cleaning tools or coiled ropes could snap bones on impact—and in the desert, a broken bone meant starvation or being eaten by kin.
Sensing instinctively that it was time to flee, the goblins bolted, but even in retreat, they managed to drag three or four outsiders off the ship.
"Hah, damn it—check how many we lost."
"Can't we save them now? They might still live."
"Sure, if we stop the ship right away. Think the captain'll allow it?"
The Aldamina sailor, with three round trips to the Eastern Continent under his belt, spoke, and the crew fell silent.
The cargo aboard was calibrated to the razor-thin margin needed to reach the continent. They'd already slowed from the goblin raid without adjusting sails, slightly raising their odds of dying en route. Turning back to rescue would guarantee they never made it.
And this wasn't unique to their ship. Everyone knew the fastest route to the Eastern Continent—those qualified as Aldamina sailors, anyway. The problem was that everyone knew it.
Following the daytime sand flows heavy with yang energy and favorable winds led everyone along the same path. On land, a large group might deter monsters, but the desert was different.
Food-scarce sands made mana-rich goods from beyond and fresh, water-filled humans prime prey. At this season, desert monsters that usually devoured each other on sight united to assault the fleets.
"Desert shark!"
"Damn it, please don't come this way."
The lookout's cry upon spotting the shifting sand flow made every Aldamina sailor on nearby ships pray in unison.
The desert shark, swimming swiftly beneath the sands, locked onto a suitably sized ship and charged.
"Damn it, it's targeting us—evade!"
Even modern torpedoes were hard to dodge; for sail-powered vessels reliant on coordinated crew maneuvers, sharp turns were near impossible.
"Screw this, we're done for."
Realizing it was too late, the Aldamina sailor gripped his weapon, determined to survive somehow. It hadn't closed in fully yet—live through this, and retreat was possible. Though fewer than three succeeded yearly, better than dying outright.
As they braced with weapons drawn, something streaked from afar and smashed into the desert shark's head.
Magic Spear
Suhyun's Magic Spear, hurled from the prow of the Radiant Sand Horse, struck the shark's head—harder than most rocks—felling it. The sailor cheered.
"Fuck yeah, we're alive!"
Hasina watched the small ship's crew signal thanks amid their cheers, then ordered her own.
"Hey! Hook that thing!"
Sailors dangling from cranes on the swift Radiant Sand Horse's side flung grapples, snagging the sinking shark's corpse.
"Pull!"
Deck hands yanked the crane lines, hauling the speared shark to hang off the hull.
"Taking it down in one hit—impressive!"
Unlike hit-and-run desert goblins, desert sharks bulked up for crushing impacts. Their hunt: ram hulls at top speed from below, breach them, and feast inside.
Thus, their heads were several times tougher; hunters typically dodged and targeted flanks. The rookies gawked at the frontal strike.
"Hah, see that wound? Pierced clean to the brain."
But the veteran marveled not at the power, but the precision—right to the brain locus. The hole was smooth as a master drill.
Someone slapped the back of his head as he eyed the leaking brains.
"Gonna just gawk? Suhyun did the killing—get to butchering!"
"Ah, yes, sir!"
Veterans climbed the crane with butchering knives, swarming the dangling corpse to drain blood and extract valuables. Suhyun watched, impressed.
"Butchering it like that—wild."
"Monsters we never see otherwise swarm this season. Gotta process fast, nab the next ones—keeps more crews safe. Hurry up!"
Suhyun eyed the nostalgic tone, watching. Some butchers wielded martial arts mid-air on the crane-suspended corpse: vertical slices parting hide from muscle sans cuts, severing vessels from still hearts to spray blood. He gawked like at a freak show.
They claimed the skull (catalyst speeding sand-cutting prows), spine (sustaining the magic), scales (reducing sand friction), then dumped the rest onto the sands.
"Got the liver—want some?"
Hasina, handed the liver by the butchers, shaped a cutting board from sand and prepped it, offering Suhyun.
"Tasty?"
Suhyun hurled his spear again, impaling a desert scorpion lunging at a small ship.
"Desert scorpion!"
The lookout's shout sent the Radiant Sand Horse veering to retrieve it.
"Mm, tender? Oh, those claws are delicious too."
They grappled and hauled the scorpion, lopping the tail and dumping the rest. Hasina smacked her lips; curious, Suhyun telekinetically sliced off a claw.
"Ooh, looks yummy! But needs cooking—poison, so ferment in sand first."
Beaming, she had a sailor store it in the galley, then buried the prepped liver in hot sand.
Suhyun recalled her method for summoning sandworms.
To call sandworms: spill maximum blood on the sands. Fleets drew hordes; repelling them lured worms to the corpses.
"Won't that hurt the other ships?"
"Hurt? We keep distance, but those greedy bastards prioritize profit over lives anyway."
Hasina skewered the slow-roasted liver, saucing it deftly from a small jar.
As ordered, Suhyun hunted stragglers from the fleet's edge, spilling blood. He bit into her shark liver skewer.
"Delicious!"
The tender liver soaked up sauce; each chew blended sweet-salty zest with umami richness.
Most food paled to Earth's, but occasional gems stunned him.
"This sauce is killer—sweet-sour balance, concentrated savoriness. Where'd you get it?"
Hasina smiled with her eyes.
"Thanks for the praise."
Suhyun swallowed unwittingly. He wasn't clueless—he spotted her interest—but knew zilch on responding.
Expert at dissecting humans alive, clueless on flirting. He read combat feints perfectly, but her signals? Frozen stiff.
Monsters had wisely stayed away; sailors, eyeing Hasina, steered clear of them.
"What's wrong? Am I bothering you?"
Her words masked a threat: say it ain't so.
Better a knife-wielding thug than silent pressure. His combat-sharp mind blanked on her trap question.
Then—a massive ripple.
"Sandworm!"
The lookout's yell scattered the no-yield-fastest-route fleet.
"Tch!"
Hasina clicked her tongue, stepping away to command.
"Amp the detection magic!"
The sand bowl sensing life below via fine grains widened range. A detection-blind zone approached—that was the worm. The captain veered clear.
Soon, screams from a blind-zone ship.
"Aaaagh!"
Day-heated sand flows warped under the colossus below. Ships rocked like near a massive vessel's wake; some rudders failed, colliding.
Halts fed straight into the worm's maw.
Even two schooners vanished in one gulp; the worm dwarfed a toppled skyscraper.
Blade-like teeth crumbled hulls like pastry; debris and sand swallowed whole.
The Radiant Sand Horse's captain tsked.
"Tch! Told 'em lighten cargo—they didn't. Reef sail seven half-mast, furl four fully!"
"Aye aye!"
Other crews panicked; theirs adjusted sails faster despite slowing for worm proximity.
Hasina eyed Suhyun as the fifth ship vanished.
"We called it—now bag it."
"Don't worry, I'll nail it."
"Good—answer me when you do."
She blew a kiss as Suhyun dove sternward toward the worm. He wryly grinned.
Monsters over women—way less hassle.