Chapter 26-

Once Lux and I exited the portal, we were greeted with an intense heat and found ourselves standing in the middle of a desert.

(Holy cow, this place is hot!) I shouted as I covered my eyes from the blazing sun.

After looking around at my surroundings, I saw that there was nothing but miles of sand as far as I could see. There were a few cactus plants in the sand, but other than that there was nothing in this wasteland.

Looking down, I could see that Lux was panting from this intense heat and stood in my shadow for shade.

(What kind of a place did Bob send us?) I asked before I started coughing.

Since I didn't have any lips, my mouth was exposed to the scorching heat and hot desert wind. So I had to wrap the Divine Cloth in a way that it shielded my mouth.

After I was done with that, I started walking through the desert. Lux followed in my shadow for shade and kept panting in order to cool himself off.

We've been walking for what felt like hours and neither of us could find any sign of life, except the common scorpion that we stepped on and the many cacti we passed by.

‘Out of all the floors that I've been on, I could tell that this one is going to be the toughest one yet.’ I thought to myself while raising my fur cloak above my head.

Lux and I kept making our way through the desert. Whenever we got thirsty, I pulled out the waterskin and poured water for the both of us.

Since the time never changes in the floors of this dungeon, the sun stayed in the same spot in the sky and made walking through the desert difficult. Even when I took shelter under my cloak and removed some of my extra layers of clothing, I was still exposed to the hot desert wind and it made me sweat a lot.

Even when I spent the last two years training with Sona and spending those two summers training in the heat of the sun, the heat on this floor felt about five times as intense compared to that.

The question that I kept asking myself was what kind of trial was going to be here, or if this place was going to be the death of me.

---

Soon after what felt like days passed by, I'm learning more about this floor.

Other than the intense heat, there were other things in this place that posed a threat. I found this out once I found a small cave in the sand and I tried going inside for shade. But the moment I went near it, a giant scorpion with a sword-like tail came out and I was forced to fight it. After the fight, I thought that it was safe and tried to go back inside the cave. But another scorpion came out of it and I was forced to fight it too.

So what I learned from that encounter was that the caves won’t make for great shelter, they have an almost endless army of scorpions, the scorpions are weak between the armor plates, and that fresh scorpion meat both hydrates and sustains you, despite it’s weird taste. But I also learned that you could also get a small amount of water from the local cacti.

The fight with the scorpions wasn’t that bad and they’re easy to takedown, but the problem was the heat. Fighting for a while under the sun really drained the moisture from my body and I could feel the steam coming off of me. This was enough so that after fighting scorpions and exhausting myself, I had to take a rest in the shade of a cactus and soak a rag in the cactus water to place on my head.

Even in the shade, the sand was warm and the heat made me sweat. But it was better than being in the sun and I couldn’t find anywhere else to rest, so this was how I spent everyday on the floor. The exoskeleton plates from the scorpions help reflect some of the sun’s rays, so I started collecting them for that reason.

But soon days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months, then I lost track of time after a while. After traveling through the desert for who knows how long, I haven’t been able to find any sign of a trial or anything that could give me a clue to what it may be?

At this time, both Lux and I look different now. My hair had grown longer and tied behind my head, the muscles on my body was a bit bigger and more toned, large scars were on random parts of my body, my sickle and dagger was pretty worn out from using them for so long, and my clothes were torn and parts replaced with scorpion shells. Krisyn’s mark still covered my entire left arm, but there were more of those obsidian spikes growing on it.

Meanwhile Lux was bigger than a wolf and the colors of his fur shined as it reflected some of the sunlight. So his fur was a shiny emerald green, while the fur around his eyes and the end of his tail was a crimson red.

Lux had grown to the point where he could participate in some of the fights with the scorpions. He also gained some resistance to the desert heat.

---

Currently Lux and I are resting in the shade of a large cactus. I was using my backpack to rest on, since I didn't want to lean on the cactus.

Lux was eating a chunk of scorpion meat from a recent hunt, while I was holding the necklace of Xamera and glancing at it.

(Have you ever wondered if we're even making any progress? If there's a point that this Maker guy is making us go through this whole desert?) I asked while tucking the necklace pack under my shirt.

Lux finished his meal, then walked over to me and rested his head on my lap.

(It feels like we've been traveling forever and we haven't seen anything besides sand, cacti, caves, and the sun. We haven't seen any sign of anything that could give us a clue to what this trial's all about?) I said as I gave Lux a scratch behind his ears. (I feel like I'm going to be an old man by the time we reach the end.)

After a while of resting, Lux and I continued our walk through the desert. I kept scratching under the Divine Cloth, since it kept rubbing against my short messy beard and made my face itch.

The Divine Cloth was starting to get worn out too, since it's been with me so long and how it's been exposed to the intense heat for so long. But it still had some of its holy healing magic and it protected my mouth from the desert winds, so I kept it on my face.

Lux and I spotted a couple of massive hills of sand that were close together.

(Maybe we could spot something on top of that?) I said before walking towards them.

We both approached one of the hills and made our way up it. When we reached the top, I checked our surroundings. Like usual, there wasn't anything else for miles.

(Should've seen that coming.) I said before realizing something.

I once again looked around at my surroundings and couldn't see any other massive hills of sand. I then looked down at the hill that I was on.

(Wait... this is the only hill that I've ever encountered. If that means what I think it means?) I said before I started digging into the sand with my hands.

I kept plunging my hands into the sand and tossed it behind me, letting it slide down the hill. Lux walked over to the hole that I was digging and started digging too, almost as if he understood why I was digging.

(Please be right? Please be right? Please be… what?) I said as I felt my fingers hit something under the sand.

I then moved the sand away from the area and saw that there was a rough black stone under the sand.

(Yeah!) I shouted as I threw my hands up. (It must be some sort of temple or gate?)

I tried digging around the black stone in an attempt to find a corner to the strange stone, but I couldn’t find it no matter how much sand I removed. But I then felt my hands dig into something gooey. I took my hands out of the sand and saw that they were covered in some slimy substance, then felt the ground under me shake.

(That can't be good?!) I shouted as I picked up Lux and jumped off of the hill.

We both landed on the side of the hill and slid down to the bottom. When we turned around, we saw why the ground shook.

Rising out of the sand was a giant scorpion that was bigger than anything I've seen, and it certainly didn't look the same as the others. It was like I was looking at a horizontal skyscraper with eight legs, four massive pincher arms, a dozen eyes along its body, and a tail covered in spikes around its massive stinger.

(What the f-) was all I could say before getting cut off by it screeching.

It let out a loud screech that sounded like millions of shattering glass and it almost blew out my eardrums. Then the giant scorpion started turning towards me, but surprisingly moved slowly.

(Don’t tell me that I have to fight that thing?!) I shouted as I started running away from it.

But then something unexpected happened. Suddenly the gigantic scorpion spoke with a voice that made the ground vibrate.

“Don’t run, Traveler!” The creature said in a loud voice. “You have passed the previous floors and traveled far to arrive here!”

I was surprised and caught off guard when the creature spoke. Then the creature spoke again.

“You have passed the first trial and have recently passed the first half of the second trial. Now you must finish the second half.”

Before I got to ask what it was going to be, the ground started to shake and stone walls came out of the ground around me. Then one of them came out of the ground between me and Lux, forming a towering wall just like the rest.

(Lux! Lux, are you ok?!) I shouted as I started banging my fist against the stone.

I then heard Lux barking from the other side and that confirmed that he was fine. Then the giant scorpion climbed over the walls and looked down at me, before speaking again.

“You must travel through this maze and reach the end before the sun kills you or my children kill you. Your companion will be at the end and you don’t need to worry about his safety. Your trial starts now.” The giant scorpion said before walking out of sight.

When it walked out of sight, it allowed the sun to shine down on me.

(Well this is just perfect.) I said as I sighed, then started making my way through the maze.

Without any shade from the sun, I was constantly exposed to it and had to use my fur cloak to block out the sun. I only had a decent amount of water and food that’ll last for a day or two.

After a while of making my way through the maze, I understood what the giant scorpion meant by ‘her children’. It wasn’t a surprise that it meant the scorpions that I’ve been hunting for food, the ones with sword-like tails. But when I turned around a corner, I saw an older version of those scorpions. It had a thicker exoskeleton and a longer tail with a scimitar shaped stinger, with a yellow liquid dripping from the blade.

Once it saw me, it charged and started swinging its tail at me. I quickly brought out my sickle and knife, then started parrying each of its tail strikes. Multiple times the blade came close to slashing me and it caught me off guard with how the scorpion swings the sword shaped stinger like an expert swordsman.

Once when the scorpion went for a stab, I dodged and the stinger stabbed into the ground. The stinger got stuck in the ground and I used the opportunity to cut it off. The scorpion let out a screech in pain and ran away.

(That’s right, you better run!) I shouted in the direction where it ran.

I then looked down at the severed stinger.

(I wonder?) I said as I took my cloak off and used it to grab the end of the stinger.

I pulled a few times until the stinger came free and held it up to look at it. It looked like it was made of the same exoskeleton shell as the scorpion. The blade wasn’t sharp, but it looked like it could still cut. The only downside was that there wasn’t anywhere I could hold on the blade, so I grabbed a couple of rags and leather straps to wrap around the end of it.

After making sure it was secure and giving it a couple of practice swings, I held my new weapon over my shoulder and continued making my way through the maze.

---

I spent hours in the hot sun, trying to find my way out of the maze, fighting the scorpions, and constantly getting exposed to the intense heat. I tried using that one trick where you suck on a small rock and roll it around in your mouth in order to keep the saliva flowing. But without any lips, the drool kept leaking out of my mouth and it was wasting the moisture in my body.

Then after a few more hours, I could feel more and more of my strength fading. I was getting tired and almost close to getting heatstroke, since I ran out of water faster than expected. Not even when I ate the scorpion meat or tried resting under the carcass of one of the dead scorpions I killed helped with the heat. The stone walls were absorbing the sun's heat and turning the maze into a toaster, with me as the toast.

The scorpions were fine, since they could survive this climate. But I didn't know how much longer I could last. While I walked, my legs started to wobble and I could feel my outer layer of skin turning into what felt like salted potato chips.

I was beyond tired and having to deal with the scorpions made it worse.

I needed water, I needed shade, and I needed rest. I couldn't lean or rest against the walls, since they were getting hotter and hotter as time went on.

Soon my vision started getting blurry, resulting in me bumping into the walls and constantly getting burnt.

I then saw that I was approaching a large grey object and another blur was approaching me.

I don't have the strength to dodge or fight anymore. So whatever lucky scorpion that's approaching me, I was glad that I couldn't see.

(Just make it quick.) Where the last words that I mumbled out before collapsing and passing out.

Then some time had passed while I was unconscious. The last thing I felt was the intense heat and the burning of my skin. But once I felt like I was regaining consciousness, I now felt cold and a numb feeling which gave my body a pins and needles feeling.

Another thing I felt was a type of cold pressure around my body and a cold moisture on my clothes. It wasn’t until I wiggled my fingers, that I realized I was conscious and started moving my body. I then felt a tongue lick the inside of one of my ears and this caused me to jolt up.

It took a few seconds for my eyesight to return to normal. Once my vision cleared, I saw that the tongue belonged to Lux, who seemed happy to see me. I also noticed that I was inside a pond which was inside a cavern.

I also saw that I was covered in burns and skin was peeling off on parts of my body. Besides the headache, I was surprised that I was alive and I was curious where I was.

(Hey Lux...where are we?) I asked.

Lux just sat down and tilted his head in confusion.

(Right, you can't possibly know that or tell me if you did. But if I’m here, does that mean I passed the trial… or did I lose?) I asked as I got up from the pond.

My legs were still a bit numb, so I almost fell when I tried getting up. But once I did, I knelt down and splashed some water on my face. I then used this time to clean off the sweat and dead skin from my body.

Once I was done, I started walking around the cavern that I was in. There were no tunnels and there was barely any light, with the only light coming off the glowing fungus on the ground.

(Is it me or does this place give you the creeps? Almost like-) I stopped when I suddenly realized something.

‘Ever since I started these trials, I haven’t heard Krisyn speak to me and I know that many months have passed by. She usually speaks to me once a month... So why didn't she make any attempt to contact me?’ I asked myself.

I then immediately felt a wave of murderous intent wash over me, snapping me back to reality and causing my body to shake. It felt like nothing I’ve felt before and I could see that it also made Lux raise his guard.

It wasn’t until I took a few more steps that I was able to see the end of the cavern. There was a giant metal door with dozens of slow moving gears and a type of lock in the center of it. But it was the figure that was standing in front of the door that I felt the murderous intent coming from.

It was standing there, unmoving and glaring at me.

“...”