Book 3, chapter 12

Zee stood her ground, standing defiantly as the cart-sized scorpion swiped a massive claw at her in a wide swing. She wasn't worried in the slightest as she sensed someone approaching from behind her at a breakneck pace.

In a rush of sand and a rustling brown cloak, Bastion darted past her, meeting the hammer claw head-on. He met the horizontal attack with one open palm, stopping it dead in its track.

The force of the monster's blow simply died, stopped by Bastion's single raised hand. The same blow that turned a woman into a shattered mess didn't do more than make him bend his knees. It was as though the scorpion hadn't put any force behind its swing.

The scorpion paused for a moment, a dumb look on its insecticide face, clearly unsure why Bastion wasn't crushed. The much smaller Bastion didn't give the giant bug a chance to react. He swung upwards with his offhand, giving the claw what looked like a gentle love tap.

There was a massive burst of air and a bone-shattering crunch. The thick carapace on Its hammer claw shattered apart in a spray of green ichor, and black carapace.

It wasn't Bastion's own power that could do so much damage in one hit. No, was the simple application of his momentum shift skill. It could redirect the force of a single physical attack in the form of a simple palm strike.

The scorpion screamed in pain, scrambling backward. Zee wasn't content to just sit back and let Bastion do all the work. She flashed forwards under the beast with her wayward walk skill.

Dern came out in a flash, as she leaped and rolled through the sand, narrowly avoiding getting speared by a bony leg. He went for the front legs, while she went for the back ones.

Her sword turned into a blur as she made two wide overhead cuts, cutting at the legs like a lumberjack might do to a tree.

Her sword, wreathed in spirit echo and compressed by her spark of incite bit deeply into its vulnerable leg joints. Thick green ichor spattered the sand, burning the with blue flames. There was a loud crunch behind her, as Dern's glaive cut a leg clean in half in two massive swings.

Their combined efforts were more than the giant bug could take. The scorpion stumbled, and screeched, as it suddenly lost two of its hind legs. Zee turned into light blue mist, just as the scorpion collapsed onto the sand.

She left Dern to wreak havoc below, and passed straight through the monster, reappearing atop its ridged shell.

Just as she reformed, an arrow glanced off the carapace, around its eyes, whistling passed her face.

"Hey! Don't hit me, "Zee shouted, glaring over at Greg for a second.

"Sorry!" Greg shouted back.

Zee didn't have time to focus on him anymore as she was thrown bodily to the side. She frantically stabbed her sword down, jamming it into a crack in the carapace.

The damned thing flailed, and shook, trying to dislodge her, while also trying to pin down Bastion.

Zee held on with all of her might. She clung onto her sword hilt with one hand and the ridges on its carapace with the other.

The ever-burning flame beat in her chest, giving her a burst of energy. Zee widens her stance, eying a crack in the carapace.

She couldn't just hang on, and let this bug do what it wanted. Zee dug her fingers under a ridge and set to work.

Crouching low, she slashed downward, intent on cutting through the carapace into its vitals. It was like trying to cut through thick bone. Each swing chipped and cracked the thick carapace, her sword vibrating in her hand.

Even with her insanely sharp sword, skills, and incites, she wasn't making much progress. It wasn't for lack of effort. Zee had to hang on as tight as she could with one hand, only able to get minimal leverage to swing her sword.

Its damned flailing and screeching as it tried to smash Bastion and Dern were not helping at all.

Frustrated, Zee released her handhold and raised her sword high in a double-handed grip, thrusting it downward.

The blade sunk to the hilt into wide cracks in the carapace, her spirit echo setting its innards alight with spiritual decay.

The creature screeched like a banshee, flailing wildly, throwing her overboard.

She tumbled head over heels through the air, crashing face-first into the sand. Head swimming, she scrambled back to her feet.

She was just in time to see Allison and Yukna running down the dune to join the fight.

"Bastion! Get out of the way!" Allison shouted.

Bastion scrambled to avoid getting cut in half. His eyes were wide as flames burst up from the sand in a wide circle around the monster. There was a bright flash of light beneath the scorpion, just before a pillar of white-hot fire engulfed it.

Allison's flames of purgatory skill utterly consumed the scorpion. The inferno blasted upward from the sand below, catching the bug, and Dern in the attack.

"Damit! I was going to kill it." Dern shouted, suddenly back inside her head.

Zee's jaw dropped, at the power of the skill. It left the scorpion a charred twitching husk, boiling it inside its own shell.

Not to mention the sand around it was turned to boiling rock.

The princess strode over, seeming unphased by the whole ordeal.

"Are you alright?" Allison asked, watching Zee shake the sand from her clothes.

"Dern is pissed that you just killed him," Zee said, spitting sand from her mouth.

Allison's lips quirked up into a smile. "Sorry about that. You four looked like you were having some trouble so I thought I would help out." Allison said.

"I was not having trouble. I would have killed it if she hadn't turned me into slag." Dern said, unhappily.

Zee nodded. "Yes. And once I can summon you again you can yell at her." Zee said aloud.

"Yell at me? Who would want to do that?" Allison asked innocently.

Zee patted at her sand-filled pants. "I can think of like twenty people, and that's just off the top of my head," Zee said, nodding her head at Yukna.

"Don't be like that. The monster is dead. We can harvest its corpse. I bet it will make us a good chunk of Dara." Allison said.

"Uhh. You just ruined its shell. That's the most valuable part." Zee said.

Allison glanced over at the very charred scorpion, studying the heavily cracked and leaking carapace.

"Shit... Sorry. I didn't think about that." Allison said, laughing nervously.

Zee scowled, gesturing towards the top of the creature's back.

"If you damage my sword, you are paying to fix it," Zee said.

"Now that is just unfair. I didn't know your sword was up there." Allison said.

"That's because you didn't think about it. Maybe you should be more like Yukna. At least she doesn't go around setting other people on fire." Zee said, pointing toward Bastion who was frantically patting at his cloak, that was on fire.

Allison winced. "Sorry... Next time I won't help." Allison said.

"That's probably for the best, "Zee said. Yukna strode passed them, towards the other dune where the remnants of the other group were dealing with their injured and dead.

"If you two are done arguing, maybe you can come to help me. Those two look like they need help." Yukna said.

Allison exhaled sharply, watching the irritable Yukna go. Zee placed a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Come on, let's go see what we can do for them," Zee said.

The two humans from Carmanah, Dras, and Kent were in a sorry state. As it turned out, there wasn't much Zee and her team could do.

The scorpion had left the team a wreck, killing two of the members in seconds and only lightly injuring the other two.

All Zee could do was help them dig graves for their friends.

"What do we do now?" Kent asked, standing next to the two graves of his fallen comrades.

The princess stood next to the man, her expression calm and detached. "You can either continue on your own or find a new group to join. I would suggest the second. You may offer them the dead monster as payment." Allison said.

Kent let out a shaky breath nodding. "Thank you for the help, your highness. We will not forget this kindness." Kent said, bowing deeply.

Dras followed suit, his eyes hollow, his expression lost. Zee could have argued that they were the ones to kill it, so they should get the spoils. But that would just be too heartless.

Even Bastion and Greg, who were thieves, and criminals didn't argue. Zee wasn't too disappointed. What kind of person would she be if she didn't help people who needed it?

They left the two with the monster's corpse, not even taking its core. The two would need the core to encourage a new team to take them.

Her only consolation was that the corpse wasn't actually worth much anymore, given Allison had charbroiled its shell.

Besides, they didn't really have time to waste on harvesting the thing. After that fight, Malden and his team surely had a substantial lead by now.

Well, unless Malden's team also ran into something that forced them to stop.

Zee wasn't too worried. The planar space was several days away. They should have plenty of time to catch up if they kept up the quick pace.

Zee and her team kept up a slow jog. While they traveled, Zee decided to check on the progress of her skills.

(Proficiency increased. Your peak F rank skill, spirit echo has reached 5% toward E grade.

Proficiency increased. Wayward walk, Peak, has reached nine percent toward E grade.

Proficiency increased. Summoner, Peak, has reached thirteen percent toward E grade.

Proficiency increased. Spatial ripple, Early, has reached ninety-eight percent towards Mid mastery.)

Zee was excited to see her progress. It was nice to see her skills growing in proficiency once more. She was so close to ranking up her spatial ripple skill that she could taste it.

The exciting part of that skill was it should only need a few more days, and it should rank up on its own. Unlike her other skills, spatial ripple didn't need her to kill things to slowly grow.

It was technically a non-combat skill. Though, it had jumped nearly fifty percent in proficiency after fighting the scorpion. All it required was her actively using the skill, by seeing and sensing new things. She was both excited and apprehensive about the troublesome skill ranking up.

She was hoping the mid-ranked skill made it easier to deal with. Even now, after two months of having it, the damned skill was far too overwhelming at times. It was great for combat but was not so great if there was a lot going on around her.

Like during that sandstorm, or equally distracting, like being in the rain. Having so much information bombarding her mind could be overwhelming.

Zee shook the thoughts of skills to the back of her mind. She needed to focus and make sure she didn't get ambushed and gobbled up by another monster.

As they moved along the dunes, she scanned the sand in front of them, with both her eyes and her spatial ripple. Given that Zee was the only one with a sensory ability, she was voluntold as the monster bait.

Zee didn't much like it, but she had to admit she was uniquely suited to avoid an ambush. Hours of trudging through the sand, the threat of ambush, and the relentless heat were exhausting.

By the time the sun finally set beyond the horizon, she was incredibly relieved. The oppressive heat, acrid taste in the air, and endless sand were getting to her.

What's worse, the mountains in the distance still looked just as far away as when they started. She was starting to doubt her eyes, wondering if it was all a heat mirage.

Zee paused, taking several gulps of water, taking deep breaths of hot air. Her chest heaved, her breaths coming in ragged inhales.

"Alright, let's stop for the night and make camp," Allison said from just behind her.

Zee was going to protest, until she glanced back, getting a good look at the others. They looked just as miserable as she felt. Yukna, Greg, and Bastion were drenched in sweat, swaying on her feet.

Zee cocked her head at the princess, who looked far less affected by the heat. The princess collapsed on her but in the sand, watching the sun's final descent below the horizon.

Exhausted, Zee walked over and sat beside her. "What are you so happy about?" Zee asked tiredly.

"It's a beautiful day, why wouldn't I be happy," Allison said, reclining back on the scorching sand like it was a soft chair.

"It's hotter than an oven out here? I feel like I'm cooking alive." Zee said, tugging at her sweat-drenched shirt.

Allison chuckled. "That is the bright side of being a flame cultivator. This kind of heat doesn't really bother me too much anymore. It feels like a pleasant spring day." Allison said, with a relaxed smile.

Zee glanced at the others who looked to be suffering from severe heat exhaustion. "All in favor of Allison being on the first watch tonight?" Zee asked, raising her hand.

The others immediately raised their hands. Allison rolled her eyes..

"Fine. Get some rest. I will wake Zee up for the second watch." Allison said, giving her a cheeky wink.

Well, she should have expected. They set up small tents at the base of a dune, eating travel rations before crashing for the night. The suffocating heat faded shortly after sunset, quickly replaced by a freezing chill.

It was a startling change, from furnace heat, to so cold she could see her breath. It was now much more apparent as to why everyone suggested a heavy sleeping bag despite it being a desert.

Zee having set up her tent pulled out a sleeping bag from her spatial storage. She took off her boots before wiggling inside, looking up at the cloth fabric of her tent. She let out a sigh of relief, her eyelids heavy.

Time to get some rest. Closing her eyes, she sank into a deep meditation. In only seconds the world river came into view, swirling around her. In her inner sight, she was immediately able to see that something was wrong.

The world river was tinged a sickly yellow. She had known this planet was toxic, but she hadn't really realized just how toxic until seeing the world river.

She reached out with her mind, and grasped some, pulling it toward her. The energy responded sluggishly, flowing like sewage.

Zee paused, unwilling to bring that disgusting stiff inside of her body. Just holding it near her felt, wrong. Instead of pulling it in, she held it just outside of her compressed aura.

She watched the energy for a bit, trying to see if anything stuck out. Who knew, maybe she could strip the toxins from the energy before she drew it in.

In theory, it should be possible. Zee puzzled over the ball of energy held in her mental grasp, tugging and swirling it around to little effect.

No matter what she did she couldn't separate the poison from the energy she needed. After a while, of absolutely no progress, Dern cut in.

"What are you doing?" Dern asked.

Zee let out a mental sigh, shifting around in her sleeping bag to get more comfortable.

"I am trying to separate the bad energy from the good stuff," Zee said.

"That's not what it looks like. It looks like you are simply swirling it around." Dern said.

"Due tell how I can do better?" Zee said tiredly.

Dern went silent for a few seconds, seeming pensive about something.

"So, I am not sure if this will apply. Just hear me out, it might sound kind of fishy." Dern said.

"Go on," Zee said slowly.

"Well, um. You know how I said I am a soul-sucking monster?" Dern asked.

"Yes... That is one little detail I will not forget." Zee said dryly.

Dern inhaled sharply in her head, which made absolutely no sense, as he didn't even have lungs. Or a living body for that matter.

"Well. No need to be an ass about it. As I was saying. It might be obvious in the name, but I eat souls. And part of that process involves me dragging the soul into myself.-"

"I do not need to know how to eat souls, Dern," Zee said cutting him off.

"Just shut up and trust me alright," Dern said.

"Fine. I will listen, but I won't like it." Zee said.

"As I was saying. When I devour a soul, I drag it into myself. You might not know this, but souls are a mix of energy, some of which are not good to eat. The reason I bring this up is that I always drag everything in, then only consume what I want." Dern said.

"Huh. That is a unique perspective.... So, you are saying I should pull energy in, then separate the stuff I do not want?" Zee asked.

"Exactly. In theory, it should work." Dern said.

"You better not be messing with me,"Zee said.

"Don't worry, it's not like you can even see a soul, much less eat it," Dern said.

Zee hummed softly. "Alright, this sounds kind of suspicious, but I will give it a try," Zee said. She pushed the disturbing subject of Dern consuming a soul to the back of her mind, refocusing.

She might broach that subject with him later. She pulled in some of the brackish energy, carefully pulling it towards the splinter in her mind. Just holding it inside of her body made her shudder. It felt like she was pulling sewage into her body.

The energy made her want to gag. Despite her distaste, she held the swirling energy inside of her mind, reaching out and trying to peel the bad stuff away.

That didn't work. How about pulling the good stuff inside while leaving the bad out? Zee poked and prodded at the energy held in her mind, startled when a stream of normal energy broke away.

She smiled. Now that was promising. Using the new method, Zee started cultivating. She pulled in the good, and once she did that, tossing out the bad.

It was much slower than she was used to, but it was progressing. She would need to tell the others about this method, though without mentioning the whole soul-eating thing.

A few hours later, Allison startled Zee awake, opening the tent flap, and peering inside.

"It's your turn to be on watch," Allison said.

Zee groaned tiredly. "Do I have to?" Zee asked.

Allison laughed. "Yes. No rest for the wicked." Allison said.

"You know, if a monster attacks the camp, I am going to direct it to your tent first," Zee grumbled into her pillow.

"Oh stop being so dramatic. It's just night watch." Allison said.

Zee sighed and climbed out of her sleeping bag. Wrapping a cloak tightly around herself she trudged up the nearby dune, giving herself a vantage of the surroundings.

Nothing was happing, just an endless series of dark dunes, speckled with the occasional campfire. Zee shook her head at the carelessness of those teams.

Didn't they know they would be attracting monsters to them by making a campfire? Her mind turned from monsters to a tent down below.

With her spatial ripple skill, she could see inside, even if she didn't want to. A smile tugged at her lips as she witnessed a curious interplay.

Allison entered her tent, and unrolled a separate bedroll next to Yukna, who looked to be shivering. Zee couldn't help but listen in to their conversation.

"You know, if you are cold you can come to join me in my sleeping bag," Allison said.

"I'm fine, besides, I'm still mad at you," Yukna grumbled, her teeth chattering.

"Your loss." There was a long pause, as Allison snuggled down in her sleeping bag letting out a deep relaxed sigh. "Ahh, so warm," Allison said.

A few minutes of shivering later, Yukna got up from her bedroll and walked over.

"I am cold, can I get in your sleeping bag," Yukna asked, shivering. Zee smiled.

"Of course," Allison said. Zee sudo watched as Yukna snuggled down inside the sleeping bag with the princess.

"This doesn't mean you are off the hook," Yukna said, snuggling closer.

"I would expect nothing less," Allison said.

With that amusing interaction done with, Zee turned back to scanning the area. It wasn't too long before something happened. She heard a faint, all too familiar high-pitched screech echoing across the dunes.

Moments later, one of the fires doting the dunes went out. She pulled her cloak tighter around her, sitting on the sand, scanning for threats.

Another chilling screech echoed softly across the dunes. Zee sighed, settling in, resting her hand reassuringly on the hilt of her sword. It was going to be a long night.