Phony desert

(Crux Coelestis Ship - Hangar)

(Dzinu's P.O.V)

Three days had already passed after the 'space warp' sir William was talking about and nothing eventful had occured in the span of those three days.

Shyza did try to snap Olivia back to her normal self but then, it seemed like it wasn't going to happen any time soon. Olivia tried to cheer up though it was quite evident that she was forcing it.

Currently, Shyza, Olivia and Sek stood before respective oval-shaped chambers that were roughly the size of an average person.

"Alright. We're right above the target planet", Sedem walked back and forth with a tab-like object in hand. "The training's going to last for two weeks in order to test and improve your survival skills."

Tension filled the air as expressions of seriousness filled everyone's face. The usual cheerful atmosphere had died down since that day and things progressed rather slowly.

I could tell that Sedem wasn't too happy about it either as a look of worry appeared on his face before he spoke again.

"You'll all be transported to different locations via the ejection pods", he moved over to Olivia's side. "Um, here."

A small spherical object gleamed in his palm. Wasn't that the robot that had caused trouble for us three days ago?

Slight discomfort revealed themselves in Olivia's emerald eyes the instant she set her eyes on it.

"Don't worry about it. I fixed it up", Sedem smiled. "You'll need it if you're going to fully unlock the Knight's power you obtained."

Olivia hesitated for a while but later got over it, "Okay."

"Humph. I don't like this", Shyza muttered while folded her arms. "I don't like this at all."

Silence once again reigned within the large room.

Shyza must've gotten hit pretty hard by the sudden change in atmosphere. She didn't have that kind of freedom like she did before and it was visibly eating her up.

Sedem backed away from the three and tapped his tab-like object, "Sorry about this guys, but you'll soon understand so don't worry about it!"

[Readying ejection pods]

A mono-tone voice reverberated within the entire space as the pods before everyone lit up and opened their doors.

Everyone then moved within the small structures and turned back, taking a final look at the hangar.

[Ready]

Sedem then tapped on his device once again.

[Launching]

*Beep Beep*

The small structures closed their doors and zipped down into the enormously dark expanse outside.

All three pods then diverted and plummeted in different directions as we got closer and closer to the planet below us.

It was way smaller than Celladonia and seemed to contain nothing more than a vast sandy desert. Literally, the entire planet was made up of a single desert that engulfed the entire thing.

*Crash!*

Sek's pod landed into the sandy ground with a large impact however, not even a scratch eas left on the oval-shaped structure.

My attention shifted to Sek who opened the doors of the pod with no shred of emotion in his eyes.

He hadn't spoken for quite a long time and it was beginning to make me wonder just what he was thinking.

"Aren't you going to say anything?", I finally asked.

Sek went down on one knee and touched the sand with his right palm.

"There's nothing much I can say, is there?", he replied, standing back up on both feet and taking a careful look around.

"What do you mean?", I immediately spoke up. "Don't you think there's something strange going on? I mean, Sir William's sudden change and all..."

"Heh", Sek smirked. "That's the least of my problems right now. He probably noticed something back then but it's too late to think about it right now."

...

Well, he may have been right. We were stranded in the middle of a heavily heated desert.

The scorching sun didn't seem to have any mercy on the planet huh.

"There's moisture beneath the sand", a look of confusion appeared on Sek's face.

Moisture?

On such an arid planet?

Maybe he didn't investigate it well or something.

From what I knew, finding water in the desert was extremely difficult. It was either you found an oasis by pure luck or you dug deep into the ground.

What was awkward about Sek's claim was the mention of moisture being just beneath the sand.

Sek began to walk in an unknown direction, "Dzilaiza, how long will it take to scan the entire planet?"

A familiar mechanical voice suddenly spoke from the device in his ear.

[Dzilaiza: Approximately 25 hours. There is data relating to this planet on the technonet, shall I retrieve them?]

"Yes"

[Dzilaiza: Affirmative. This planet has no other name except its co-ordinate name. A day spans a total of 12 hours and hence, it will take 2 days and an hour to complete a full planetary scan]

2 days

That was quite a lot of time. It meant that we'd have no information regarding the planet for two days. Anything could happen within those days as well.

We had to be prepared for anything.

[Dzilaiza: A warning message is attatched to the data. Extremely high alien activity; Class S has been observed on its surface]

"Class S activity?", my curiousity spiked. "What's that?"

"Aliens are ranked according to intelligence and lethality rate", Sek began. "There are a total of five classes; Class A, Q, S, X and Z. Class S aliens have a faint level of intelligence and an extremely high lethality rate."

"Oh", I paused for a while and then slowly asked the other question. "Dzilaiza just said that those activities were observed on the surface, right?"

Just then, a small gust of wind blew from the east. It was at that moment that the horror of a silent deser struck.

A smile cracked up on Sek's face, "As you can see, there's nothing on the surface of this planet."

Still!

There was something strange about the desert at that moment.

"But-", I began.

"Dzinu", Sek interrupted. "That data's probably been there for years seeing as this planet's at the farthest reaches of our home galaxy. Dzilaiza..."

[Dzilaiza: The data was last updated 236 years ago by an on-ground observer]

"See? Nothing to worry about."

Still...

[Dzilaiza: Temperatures are reducing]

The sun slowly began to set and soon, an unsettling chill swept through the desert. I couldn't feel the temperature myself but I was able to detect energy changes in my immediate surroundings so telling whether it was hot or cold was no problem of mine.

"The day-night cycle's shorter than I thought", Sek stopped. "Dzinu. You can see everything around you as long as it's in your vision range, right?"

"Y- Yes, why?"

"I need you to use it now", he sternly spoke. "Trust me."

"Uh- okay"

I gathered a bit if energy from the tiny moon in the sky and then spread my aura to a certain range, including the underground surrounding.

That-

What was that!?

Beneath the ground!

Large vine-like structures were making their way to the surface at high speeds. There were so fast that I wasn't able to alert Sek in time!

The ground began to shake violently ane before we both knew it, those thick vine sprouted into the air with an incredible amount of force that knocked Sek off his feet.

"The hell!", Sek sat up and stared at the vines in confusion.

Vast desert lands were now covered with never-ending thick vines that stood vertically. They stretched throughout the entire land.

Miniature vines slowly sprouted from the parent vine. Each mini vine would bring out a series of broad leaves drenched in colours that would give one the impression of danger.

"This-", a look of horror appeared in Sek's eyes. "This is a freaking jungle!!"