Chapter 32 Checkpoint

A few days ago

Regina and others were unable to find their squad mates after a big search. The sun was scorching like usual and they saw their food and water were running out which meant they had to give up, but Regina insisted that they shouldn't give up despite the warning of others.

" This is a suicide. We can't stay here longer. Even if we use our energy to make it through, weakened ourselves will be the snack of scorpions and other monsters out there. I must say we have to go to High Sand."

Agam rebuked her with a strong face which he didn't show. His words faltered Regina who was racking her brain to find her people.

" They will die without you, Agam! We can't just leave them there."

Regina raised her voice with anger on her face, but no matter how she tried to deny she couldn't help to find her squad mates were on the verge of breaking down. If she insisted on staying longer, they would probably die because they had no vanguard except Agam and their resources were running low. Three slaves weren't useful in this situation because they were young or inexperienced in the desert.

" Captain, he is right. Licht can find his way to us since he is a smart man and Lisha can find him through their connection."

Mikael pleaded with Regina to go. His words wavered Regina who was doubting her decision. She finally looked at Leah and the three slaves, feeling helpless and guilty for the first time after their deployment.

" I understand. We will wait for them in High Sand for a week, if they can't make it back, Mikael and two siblings will go to find them while we will continue our mission."

She spoke quietly, biting her lips with frustration. Leah seemed to notice her thoughts as she patted her shoulder to calm her down. Her red hair covered her eyes, but she could see the tension between Agam and Regina.

Honestly, she wanted to find Licht but she knew there was no chance if Agam decided to leave them because even he was unsure to make it out alive. To her eyes Agam wasn't a simple man as he described himself, he was a smart and strong man who was cleverly hiding himself among the people of the South.

" High Sand is that way. We might make it there in 2 days if we hasten ourselves. Believe me, we don't want to spend an additional night out here."

He said with a dead serious face. The night in the desert was often cruel and they were very fortunate to avoid big monsters and beasts since some of them were powerful enough to heavily injure them or even worse kill them, so the most logical thing was to seek shelter where monsters and beats avoided and that was High Sand.

High Sand wasn't prosperous like other cities, but it had a very unique topography where it stood on top of the sandstone mountain that had a staggering height of over 2000 meters. It said the ancient bandit king built his castle before facing the siege of great orders. Hence, it has remarkable defense capabilities, yet has rather a poor economy compared to other cities.

Due to its location, merchants rarely headed toward it with ideas of selling things, so they were constantly short of supplies which raised prices and affected normal people's lives. Moreover, the head of the city was notorious for his money embezzlement and orders couldn't find a single testimony to imprison him.

2 days later.

It was a very rare sight to see sandstone in the desert, but it was even more rare to see a hill much less a mountain, but that mountain was standing right before their eyes. A miracle that was created by mother nature and humans that engineered it. The mountain wasn't big but it wasn't small either. The looming city stretched over its body, making it look majestic from the bottom of the mountain.

" This is High Sand? This is like our northern garrisons. How did they manage to build this and how is this possible for a mountain like this to exist?"

Yelena whispered with amazement and she wasn't wrong. It was truly a sight to behold.