The Lure of the Oasis
'Nice!'
Zeon thought to himself as he chewed on the jerky.
It was jerky from the Big-Horned Hyena.
In this desert where hardly a drop of moisture could be found,
the chunks of meat wrapped in cloth had lost all their water and shriveled up. They'd turned into proper jerky fit for eating.
The only downside was the faint gaminess, but it was tolerable enough.
The important thing was that he no longer had to go hungry.
There was plenty of jerky, and whenever hunger struck, Zeon would chew on a bit. He couldn't eat his fill, but even this was enough to provide the nutrients needed for growth.
The only regrettable part was the drinking water.
He had to make do with morning dew every day, leaving him constantly parched.
At first, going without water all day had been torture. But as time passed, he learned ways to conserve moisture.
He held his bladder as long as possible and kept his mouth shut. He even hated losing water to sweat, so when using Sand Step, he minimized upper body movement.
Later, he reduced leg movement to the bare minimum too.
From a distance, it looked like he was standing still while the sand carried him along.
Eventually, even Dayton grumbled about it.
"That bitchin' bastard's picked up a pretty useful skill. Some of us are bustin' our asses walkin', and here you are strollin' the desert like it's a cakewalk."
In the desert, Zeon's abilities were absolute.
He'd only awakened recently and his rank was still low, but by gradually unlocking his potential like this, he'd soon wield unmatched power here.
Dayton moved forward, thinking how goddamn unfair the world was.
He had no idea Zeon was thinking the exact same thing about him.
Zeon looked up at the empty sky.
'Moisture? Is there a water source nearby?'
He could sense faint traces of water in the air.
The old Zeon never would've noticed. But after awakening and trailing Dayton, his senses had sharpened to an extreme degree.
Those keen senses didn't miss the desert's subtle humidity.
Zeon glanced at Dayton.
Coincidence or not, Dayton was heading straight toward the strongest concentration of moisture.
Zeon gave a wry smile.
'No way it's a coincidence. If I picked up on it, that monster sure as hell did...'
Dayton went beyond "monster"—Zeon questioned if the man was even human. His strength defied imagination.
Maybe even what he'd shown so far was just the tip of the iceberg.
'I wanna know the real limits of that guy.'
Zeon's thoughts drifted to how Dayton's limits might be humanity's limits as a species.
Moments later, a massive sand dune appeared.
The blowing wind swept the dune's sand away in waves.
'A recently formed dune.'
The desert might seem unchanging, but it was constantly in motion, shifting every moment.
Dunes that existed yesterday could vanish in seconds, while new ones formed.
Thanks to awakening as a Sand Mage, Zeon could glean all sorts of info just from a dune's surface.
After laboriously cresting the huge dune, an astonishing sight unfolded.
A vast pond brimming with water.
Undoubtedly an oasis.
"Ah!"
Zeon let out an exclamation.
The thought of drinking his fill overrode everything—he bolted toward the oasis without a second thought.
He'd endured the thirst well until now, but seeing all that water shattered his self-control.
"Tch!"
Dayton shot Zeon a pathetic look as he charged in blindly.
Zeon reached the oasis in seconds.
He dunked his head in and guzzled like a madman.
The water flooding his mouth filled him with bliss.
As he drank mindlessly, something caught his eye—a faint glow.
A spherical light deep in the water, glowing softly like a lantern.
Zeon forgot his head was submerged and stared at the orb-like lantern.
It drew closer, and he watched dumbly.
His eyes lost focus, entranced.
Finally, as the light neared his face—
"Snap out of it, you bitchin' idiot!"
A curse rang out as Dayton yanked him by the scruff.
Unable to resist Dayton's strength, Zeon tumbled backward.
Then—
Pfshhh!
Something enormous burst from the water.
A body big enough to swallow a Big-Horned Hyena whole, with a mouth taking up more than half. An antenna-like spine on its forehead ended in a round, massive lump of flesh.
That was the "lantern" Zeon had mistaken it for. The flesh glowed faintly.
Dayton spoke.
"It's a Sand Angler. Lures in prey with that forehead light and swallows 'em whole."
"Ah!"
Zeon, saved by a hair's breadth, stared blankly at the Sand Angler plunging back into the water.
Without Dayton, he'd have been monster chow.
Dayton drew Clayon and said,
"Punks like you who get cocky after a little adaptation are the ones who die early. Got it, bitch?"
"......"
"Answer me!"
"Yes!"
Dayton was already gone, ignoring the reply.
His body launched over the water toward the diving Sand Angler, swinging Clayon.
Boom!
The strike exploded a water pillar like a bomb blast.
Terrified, the Sand Angler fled deeper, but Dayton wasn't letting it.
"Hya!"
Leading with Clayon, he plunged in.
Whoosh!
Like a torpedo, Dayton rocketed forward.
The Sand Angler gave up fleeing and turned to devour him—but that was its fatal mistake.
Squelch!
Clayon and Dayton pierced straight through.
The massive Sand Angler floated lifelessly to the surface.
Dayton grabbed its tail and walked out of the oasis.
Thud!
He dumped the huge corpse at Zeon's feet.
"Hup!"
Zeon recoiled in shock.
It felt like the thing might lunge at him any second.
Even dead, its majesty was undiminished.
Hard to believe such a behemoth lurked in an oasis.
Sheathing Clayon, Dayton said,
"Every oasis found in the desert has one of these. Lures idiots like you with the light and gulps you down. So don't ever dunk your head in some random oasis, you empty-headed bitch!"
"Yes!"
Guilty as charged, Zeon replied weakly.
"Skin it."
"Pardon?"
"You deaf too? Skin it. Sand Angler's a C-rank monster. Belly skin's soft and stretchy—perfect for a robe. Cut it up and make one."
"You need a robe or something?"
"Not me, you, bitch! How's your brain gettin' dumber by the day? Ain't like you got petrification magic on your skull."
"Ah!"
Finally getting it, Zeon hurriedly flipped the Sand Angler.
The back was dark brown, covered in rugged protrusions; the belly black and smooth. But tough—his dagger barely cut it.
Finally, channeling mana into the dagger, Zeon sliced the belly skin free.
"Haa! Haa!"
Drenched in sweat, he'd finished peeling—but the work wasn't over.
Now to shape it into a robe.
No needle in sight, and even if there was, it wouldn't pierce this hide.
After much thought, Zeon pulled a bone from the Angler, shaped it into a needle. For thread, he shaved thin strips from the back shell.
Luckily, Zeon was handy.
First-time robe-making, but after half a day of grunting effort, it looked decent enough.
While Zeon worked, Dayton butchered the carcass.
Not a scrap of Sand Angler meat went to waste.
Little toxin, as typical for monster meat, and it tasted good.
Best of all was the gallbladder in Dayton's hand—adult-torso-sized. He tossed it to Zeon.
"Eat it."
"Raw?"
Zeon looked baffled.
"Yeah! Best damn thing for weaklings like you. Eat every bit."
"......"
"Don't, and I'll kill ya."
"I'll eat it. I am."
Zeon knew Dayton was always dead serious.
He tore into the gallbladder, face twisted in disgust.
Bitter as hell, like all gallbladders.
'Damn it!'
Zeon grimaced fully.
Small mercy: no need to chew fine. One bite melted down his throat. No fullness either.
Despite devouring a torso-sized organ, his stomach felt unchanged.
"Weird! Heh."
Zeon muttered, then scowled.
A terrifying heat surged from his gut.
"Gahhh!"
Unimaginable agony sent him writhing on the ground.
"Hmph."
Dayton ignored him, slicing meat.
Whoosh!
Flames from his hand charred it perfectly.
Chewing the cooked Sand Angler, Dayton eyed the oasis.
"This'll vanish soon enough."
Desert oases were like mirages.
Appearing and disappearing suddenly.
Not gone forever—they migrated via underground channels.
Humans couldn't predict it.
The oasis's ruler was dead, but another Sand Angler would come.
They always laid eggs in their home oasis.
When the dominant one died, a hatchling took over.
The cycle of life never broke.
But it'd take over a century for one to grow this big.
"Gahhh!"
Zeon still thrashed nearby, screaming.
Dayton muttered pityingly.
"Bitchin' bastard!"
＊＊＊
Zeon came to the next morning.
"Huh?"
He jolted awake.
Vitality like never before coursed through him.
And not just that—his body was packed with muscle.
Not puffy balloon muscles.
Zeon had always been lean.
Now his entire frame was solid muscle, each fiber like woven steel wire—defined and tough.
Stunned by the change, Zeon was speechless.
Glancing aside, he saw Dayton sitting, eating Sand Angler meat.
"What happened?"
"Your weak ass took to it good."
"So the gallbladder's a drug?"
"Rarest damn tonic around. Nothin' better for strengthening bones and muscles."
"Thank you. For givin' me somethin' so precious."
"Hmph! Can't help it, draggin' a weakling like you. Eat this and get ready to move."
Dayton tossed him a chunk.
Zeon first donned yesterday's robe.
A cool chill spread instantly.
The Sand Angler skin perfectly blocked desert heat, radiating cold.
"Ah!"
Amazed by the unexpected effect, Zeon exclaimed.
Dayton said,
"We'll stay here a bit, eatin' Sand Angler meat."
"All of it?"
"Hard to find meat this nutritious in the desert. Gotta polish it off."
"Got it."
Zeon nodded.
Now, he'd believe Dayton if the old man said bean trees grew in the desert.
Zeon ate with Dayton.
It took just four days to strip the massive Sand Angler to bones—nothing wasted.
The moment it was gone, the oasis vanished like a lie.
The two left without regret.