Tremors in the Fine Sands
The journey proceeded smoothly.
Zeon ghosted past monster habitats like a shadow.
Sometimes it felt like they were taking a massive detour, but looking back later, they'd realize Zeon's path had been the true shortcut.
Those moments sent chills down their spines.
As sunset bled into evening, Zeon selected the optimal terrain and set up camp.
Meals came from the jerky he had stored away, and water from wringing dew collected overnight on widely spread cloth or garments.
In this way, traveling with Zeon taught the pair a thing or two about desert survival.
Mandy felt awe toward him.
He really knows the desert inside out.
Of course, Neo Seoul had its share of desert experts. But their range was limited to the city's outskirts.
Beyond that, survival wasn't guaranteed.
Zeon was different.
This was clearly unfamiliar territory, yet he instantly clocked monster habitats and their types.
The perfect guide.
Only then did it click why Zeon roamed the desert solo.
With skills like his, there was no need to bother with others.
Large groups drew monster attention like magnets.
Sticking with Zeon eliminated that risk.
He seemed to hug the borders of their territories.
Even so, keeping up with him was no easy feat.
Sand that swallowed ankles to the hilt sapped stamina, while the scorching sun overhead leached moisture from their bodies.
Especially for ordinary Kim Sang-sik, the suffering dwarfed Mandy's.
Even with Zeon accommodating him, he'd hit his limit, gasping raggedly.
His lips were cracked and peeling, his eyes long since lost focus.
Even mounted on the double-humped camel, it was the same.
The desert was too merciless for a powerless civilian.
Mandy glanced sidelong at Kim Sang-sik.
"Hah! Hah!"
He swayed limply atop the camel like a puppet with cut strings.
Pity welled in her, but she had no more ways to help.
That was when it happened.
Zeon, leading from the front, halted abruptly and examined the sand.
Mandy asked cautiously.
"What's wrong?"
"We need to be careful from here on."
"Pardon?"
"Sandworms love this kind of sand. Soft, with fine grains."
The finer the grains, the more small vibrations amplified.
Ideal terrain for sandworms that hunted via surface tremors.
Mandy looked puzzled.
"Sand comes in different types?"
"It does."
"You can tell them apart?"
"Survive the desert long enough, and yeah."
"Seriously..."
Mandy shook her head in disbelief.
If anyone could do it, humans would have conquered the desert by now. Precisely because they couldn't, it remained monster domain.
Only Zeon could pull it off.
Now Mandy knew it for sure.
"We'll skirt the edge of the sandworm territory. Lowers detection odds, but still—keep footsteps silent."
Zeon resumed walking as he spoke.
Alone, he'd have no need for such caution.
The desert was his turf; sandworms were no match.
But with Mandy and Kim Sang-sik in tow, prudence ruled.
One insight from seven years wandering the wastes: most people brimmed with envy and spite.
They had to tear down anyone superior, drag them to their level if possible.
Those types didn't scare him, but the hassle already irked.
As Zeon traced the territory's fringe, something odd caught his eye.
"Hm."
Far off, half-buried in sand: an object.
"What is it?"
Mandy peered curiously.
"Looks like a body... maybe."
"A body?"
She followed his gaze.
After straining, she made it out.
"That's definitely Team 7 gear."
Mandy furrowed her brow.
Too distant, too sand-sunk to ID the figure.
Zeon said,
"Let's get closer."
"Right!"
Mandy nodded, falling in behind him.
The double-humped camel bearing Kim Sang-sik followed.
Nearly twenty minutes later, they reached the fallen form.
Now the face was clear.
Mandy's eyes widened.
"Anika?"
Unmistakably Team 7's sole woman.
Suddenly, Anika's eyes snapped open.
"Hoho! Gotcha."
She sprang up as if she'd never been down.
Mandy's eyes bulged in shock.
"What the—?"
"What else? You walked into our trap. Hoho!"
Anika retreated laughing, backpedaling.
That instant, figures burst from nearby sand.
Zahar, Felix, Darren, Seido—the whole Team 7.
They encircled Zeon's group.
Zahar eyed Mandy.
"You made it, huh."
"Team Leader Zahar. What is this?"
"What? You look well-fed. Share some food and water. We haven't eaten properly in days."
Team 7 looked ragged.
Faces gaunt and sallow, skin dry and flaking.
They'd escaped the shelter intact, but starvation had set in—no food scavenged.
Rationed emergency stores ran dry two days back.
They'd been hungry ever since.
Then they spotted hale Mandy and Kim Sang-sik. Unlike their famished crew, color bloomed in her cheeks.
She had supplies, no doubt.
Zahar turned to Zeon.
"You must be carrying the food and water, right?"
Mandy and Kim Sang-sik couldn't forage in the desert.
Zeon was the wildcard.
"Ditch them and join us. Better for you."
Courteous words, feral eyes.
Two days starving stripped reason; parents would die for sustenance.
"Give us water and food, and Neo Seoul will reward you handsomely."
Zahar's gaze evoked a venom-swollen beast.
His team mirrored it.
Desperate enough to bury pride, hide in sand, lure them in.
Zeon smirked.
"Hand over food and water, and you'll really let us live?"
"Obviously. We'll escort you to Neo Seoul."
"Not buying it."
"No choices here. Grasping our hand gives you a slim shot at survival."
As Zahar spoke, Felix and Darren flanked Zeon's rear.
Poised to unleash skills.
Mandy stepped forward.
"Does it have to be this way? We're all on the same side."
"Same side? Never saw anyone outside my team that way."
"So you won't accept him as one of yours?"
Zahar's face hardened at Mandy's words.
Trap question landed.
Persuasion failed; he barked the order.
"Kill them all."
"Die!"
"Hyaah!"
Martial awakeners Darren and Seido charged first; Felix and Anika supported from behind.
Darren's mechanical arm and Seido's blade targeted Zeon; Felix's curse and Anika's spells hammered Mandy.
"Think I'll just take it?"
Mandy, fury ignited, unleashed her hidden skill.
Her form split into five in a blink.
Mirror Image, an illusion spell.
Thwack!
Felix's curse and Anika's magic pulverized illusions.
Meantime, real Mandy flanked Anika.
"Never liked you from the start."
She readied a spell on the exposed Anika. But Zahar moved faster.
"Where?"
Thud!
His strike connected.
"Kyaaak!"
Mandy flew back screaming.
Team leader's blow packed heat.
She hit the ground, vomiting blood. Anika, seeing it, boiled with killing intent.
"Nearly got me. You fucking bitch!"
Profanity flew freely.
Zahar left Mandy to Anika, eyes on Zeon.
Darren and Seido hammered him relentlessly.
Yet Zeon dodged by hairsbreadths.
"Not bad."
Darren and Seido ranked high among pathfinders.
Their combo was flawless, despairing many foes.
Darren's brute force, Seido's lightning blade.
They synced like mind-linked, cornering Zeon.
He only evaded, no counter. But his movement was off.
Gliding over sand like puppeted on strings.
Contrasting their ankle-sinking steps.
Despite superiority, they couldn't pin him; time slipped away.
Desert combat specialist.
Zahar bit his lip.
Delay bred variables.
Subdue Zeon now.
"Worm!"
Zahar joined in.
Boom!
His punch split air.
Aimed at Zeon, who slipped it by a whisper.
Zahar pressed, growling,
"Struggle just makes it worse for you. Surrender."
"You won't spare me even if I do."
Zeon grinned amid the trio's onslaught, utterly composed.
It grated Zahar.
"I'll hack your limbs and feed you to monsters."
"Love monsters so much? I'll call some."
"What?"
Kaboom!
Zeon stomped hard.
Fine grains exploded skyward with the blast.
Mighty vibration rippled far through sand.
No mere stomp.
Zeon channeled dominion to propagate it distantly.
Reshaped into sandworms' favorite waveform.
Effect instantaneous.
Rumble rumble rumble!
Distant sandworms swarmed the tremors.
Team 7 felt nothing, but Zeon's senses tracked them crystal-clear.
"What bullshit is this?"
"You're dead!"
"This fucking bastard..."
As Zahar, Darren, Seido sensed doom and lunged—
Kaboom!
Colossal worms erupted behind Zeon, sand parting.
Sandworms.