31 Hopeless situation?

Yana's eyes opened up as wide as they possibly could. Corwyn too was rather surprised at Teo's choice of words. It was not like his best friend was incapable of saying something overly emotional or deep, but for most of the time, he was a rather dense person. Swords and fighting, in addition to food, were all he thought about the whole day, and except Corwyn, Teo had never really made any other friends on his own accord.

But fortunately, his words came at the perfect time. After she had gotten over her surprise, Yana wiped off the rest of her tears with her clothes and made a few steps back. Once she had calmed down and her expression returned to normal again, Yana finally looked up again, determination in her eyes.

"Let's continue!"

Both Corwyn and Teo nodded shortly. Yana didn't waste any time and spun around, walking in the direction she thought to be correct, without looking back at her companions.

"Geez, she's quick to recover, huh?"

Teo grumbled. Corwyn couldn't help but laugh softly.

"Haha, I guess you're right! But I think your words got through to her. She might act like she doesn't care again, but I can tell that her personality is slowly transforming."

He said so while watching Yana walking a few yards in front of them. Her golem was moving next to her again, stomping the sand with its sluggish movements. However, it seemed like she still had him under control, even though it must be terribly exhausting for her.

"But man, I didn't think that you would be the type to scold other people, not to mention cheering them up with nice words!"

Grinning, Corwyn pushed his elbow into Teo's flank. The young swordsman groaned, averting his face from Corwyn. If he wasn't imagining things, he saw Teo's face getting slightly red, probably from embarrassment.

"You know, I didn't expect it myself either. I just got really irritated and before I knew it, the words came out."

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about. Rather, I feel pleased about you speaking your mind, it's rare enough!"

Corwyn patted Teo on the back several times. Still a little red, Teo continued to look away from him. The two of them had known each other for a long time now. So Corwyn knew that his friend was just feeling a little awkward. When Teo had interacted with Yana before, he had treated her just as a temporary party member, as someone whom he didn't trust at all. But what he had said to her a minute ago let one suggest that he had already accepted Yana as part of the group.

Some of it might also come from his unwavering trust in Corwyn, who had invested the time to get to know her better, but to be so accepting was truly untypical of him.

"Well, I think we should cut the chit-chat now and catch up with Yana, or she'll be immediately mad at us again!"

"Guess so..."

The two finally sped up a little, and thus after a small interference, their journey was resumed.

In the distance, the sun was already getting redder by the minute. As if in tune, the sand beneath their feet was changing its color little by little as well. No matter how many times Yana saw this scene, she would never get tired of this beautiful sight.

Unfortunately, this wasn't the time for marveling at the beauty of the dusk. The hours had passed, one after the other, but they still hadn't reached their destination. And the danger included in this situation was filling her head with anxiety.

After the third day of their journey, they had almost completely expended their supplies. Yana was tired and exhausted after the long march, yet she couldn't allow herself to relax even one bit. Behind her, the faces of the two young men accompanying her expressed the same worry. If they were unable to find the oasis before it got dark, things could get really dicey.

Yana observed her surrounding fervently, but even then, she couldn't spot what she was searching for. Although there had been no guarantee from the beginning that this was the correct path, having failed to locate it was making her feel depressed.

It was a strange feeling indeed. Only three days ago, she had still been with the Red Vipers, an outlaw organization that didn't shrink back even from murder. As much as Yana had detested them for what they were doing, over the years, she discovered that she had slowly become just like them, a bandit with no sense of morals. Or perhaps, that was an incorrect description. In reality, Yana had simply stopped caring about what happened around her a long time ago. In their eyes, she was merely a tool, something you use until it gets broken, and then throw it away. And sadly, Yana was of the same mindset.

Therefore, she had stopped bothering to think about right and wrong anymore. She had accepted the fact that she hated her life, but had been unable to change it.

But now, over the course of only three days, things had changed so much she didn't even have the time to wonder what had happened. Instead of being a tool for the Red Vipers, Yana was now traveling with two adventurers who had originally been her enemies, and to her surprise, she gradually came to like it.

Back then, in the alleys of the abandoned village, Yana had agreed to the deal Corwyn had proposed. She couldn't remember why, in that moment, she actually started to care about her survival again, and she still hadn't found the answer. But one thing she was able to discover. The fact that being around Corwyn and Teo had changed her attitude little by little.

For the first time in years, she had cried. She had smiled. She had felt alive. It was truly an unforgettable feeling.

But Yana wouldn't remain alive for long if she couldn't figure out where the secret oasis lay. She was pretty sure that she had gotten the general direction right, but for some reason, there was not a single sign of vegetation in sight.

(Did it get buried by a sandstorm as well?)

For a brief moment, Yana entertained the possibility that this might actually be the case. Sandstorms were a common occurrence in the vast desert of Hakata. It wouldn't be that strange if the oasis was hidden under the sand just like the village they had left three days ago. If that was what had happened, their chances to survive were basically non-existent.

Yana pushed those depressing thoughts out of her mind. She had to remain positive. Maybe the oasis was just hidden behind a dune. Or it was located in the surrounding area but out of sight.

She remained at a standstill while all those ideas were floating through her head. Corwyn and Teo had been standing behind her awkwardly the whole time, not saying anything. But it seemed like their patience had run out.

"Ahem, Yana, are you sure this is the right place?"

Exactly like many times before, it was Teo who couldn't remain silent any longer and asked his by-now typical question. He was speaking very hesitantly, as he knew the last time he had asked this way had gotten him a harsh rebuke from Yana. Corwyn too must have thought about the same thing, since he was smiling awkwardly and his eyes were rotating between Teo and Yana. But fortunately for Teo, Yana was way too preoccupied with their current crisis to spend time on scolding him. Instead, she replied slowly in an uncertain tone.

"I'm not too sure. My intuition tells me that we went in the correct direction, but as I had mentioned before, I don't know its exact location. If I had to guess, then I would say it must be in the area around here, but the fact that we can't see it yet even high up from a dune bothers me a little."

Although the two men briefly relaxed once they knew she wasn't angry, her latter words caused them to look tense immediately after.

"Then, what are we going to do now? Split up and search in different directions? The sun is already really low, so I don't think that would be the best choice. Hope for luck and search at random?"

It was indeed as Corwyn had discerned it. Their options were limited, and time was pressing. What would be the best move?

Yana was running in circles inside her head, unable to make a clear decision. No matter how they acted, a great risk was involved. If this was the old Yana, she would probably suggest splitting up and then mind her own business. But even though she didn't want to admit it, she already felt something like a bond with these two youths. Abandoning them was out of the question for her. Thus, she settled on the one other option remaining.

"Let's look around together! Splitting up would be dangerous once it gets dark."

The other two agreed with her. Thus, after their momentary stop, they resumed their search for the oasis. Since they had no idea where in the vicinity it could be located, they were basically walking all over the place. In order to check places further away, the three of them mainly wandered up the large dunes, as they had a better overview of their surroundings there.

The sun was about to disappear behind the horizon, but they still hadn't found anything. No matter how far they stretched their necks, there was not a single bit of greenery in sight wherever they looked. Once it got dark, it would become even harder to spot something.

Despair started to settle in. As soon as the night was over, they had to march in the hot desert without any water at all. Their chances at survival would be practically non-existent then.

"Do you two have any ideas that could help us?"

Out of options, Yana saw no other way but to discuss the issue with her companions. But to her disappointment, both of them shook their heads.

"Sadly, I don't have any other ideas either. There is no way for us to discern where it could possibly be. Things would be different if we had a water manipulation type ability user with us, but unfortunately, neither you or me fit in that category."

Corwyn's words came out slowly, as he was apparently still thinking even while speaking. But even he couldn't come up with a solution. Yana couldn't help but agree with his analysis.

Ability users were generally separated into two categories. The first one was creation type ability users. As the name implied, abilities in this category allowed their owners to create objects out of Arcor. Such talents were categorized by the element they could produce this way. For example, Corwyn's power let him create metal, while others were capable of fabricating fire or water. Especially the latter was a much-sought ability, as it was necessary to sustain the survival of the big cities.

The other category contained those with the ability to manipulate certain elements or objects. Yana's puppeteer power was such a case. But in her case, it was a bit more complicated. As easy imaginable, element manipulation meant to control things like fire, water or earth. The respective ability users did so by pouring Arcor into the element and take control over it. In such cases, the way the Arcor is used to manipulate it differs on the element in question. As an example, in order to take control of substantial materials like earth, the ability user spreads his Arcor in the form of a tight net through the substance. The tiny Arcor threads pierce through the material like a pearl on a string, and whenever the threads are being moved, the earth moves with them.

On the other hand, fire and water are being manipulated by concentrating the Arcor into a tight mass and sending it into the element. Like this, the Arcor becomes the core of the matter, and it moves along with the Arcor.

The puppeteer ability was similar to those who controlled substantial materials, however, it was much more complicated in its workings. Puppeteers could only manipulate a limited number of objects at a time. Most of them merely managed one or two puppets at once. The reason for this lied in the way the Arcor strings were moved to control a puppet.

When manipulating earth or sand, the ability users simply changed its shape a little or moved it into a certain direction most of the time. The only factor that raised the difficulty for such abilities were the amount of matter one wanted to move. A puppet though required precise and complex movements all the time, and different commands were issued to multiple body parts at once constantly. It was easy to imagine how mentally tiring such a process was.

In order to feel the water of the oasis through Arcor, a water manipulation ability was necessary. Just being a manipulation type like Yana didn't allow them to pass this wall. The three were just about to try their luck and choose a random direction, when they suddenly heard something from above them.