Desert

"Show me your blade."

There was a robed man with black long hair tied to his back. His robes gave this oriental feeling to it, with wave patterns all over as if he came from the Far East.

Did he also got transported to this world somehow?

I can't assume anything for now though.

Somehow I got reminded of that guy with a different type of energy, called Meteor. Usually those types of guys let out some kind of fearsome aura which brings dread to the surrounding people with source power, but when they appeared during the calamity the people really haven't felt anything.

Showing your own power sometimes just works more better than just telling about it.

"Here."

I unsheathed the Origin Blade from my back and casually tossed it over to him. I could control it anyway if I wanted to.

"It's still crude in some bits, but it's a fine magical construct still. Seeing as your companions have different power, I could only assume that your power isn't something that was bestowed upon you, nor is it borrowed."

From just looking at my white sword and maybe even from the battle earlier, he already deduced that much?

"You don't think I'm a demon?"

"If you were then your eyes would be red. Also there were no signs of any kind of magical circles being made, which convinced me that your power is unique."

He looked around the surroundings and put his hand on his chin as if he pondered for a while. I don't know what he's thinking, but I just hope he's not here to make trouble.

"Say, do you want to be my student?"

That was sudden.

"But I already have a master."

His expression didn't change, and I expanded my Soul Control just in case.

"Ah, so you can use that too. The level these people refer to are just the preliminary ones. You've surely heard of Legend, don't you?"

"What do you mean?"

"By going under me, you will be able to see much more of the world. But if not, I can't really force you... but such a genius at your level would be such a waste if you couldn't unlock your true potential."

This man, does he just want to train kids? I mean, he did have another boy that called him master, but is it really fine to go under him too?

I mean, I've just thought about Yona and now another person wants to take me in...

"No need to answer right now, I'll give you time to think. Also, as I mentioned earlier, I'll help you reach your companions."

He raised a finger and I felt my Soul Control being enveloped, along with the guy inside the barrier.

Small orbs of blue light danced as it went out from his finger that seemed to be the things that my Soul Control was currently feeling.

I thought he blinked, but he actually closed his eyes for just one second. The moment it opened, there were streams of blue light that surrounded us and the surroundings blurred.

I almost panicked but it ended sooner than I thought, and everything returned to normal.

What only changed was that I was now located at the middle of the desert. The day was so hot that I wanted to take a bath, but now that it's night, the environment was unreasonably cold as if I was sitting inside a fridge.

I gathered my senses and found out that on the far north was a city that floated atop a massive hole was already on the distance.

Rather than moving the place, of course I realized that we've been moved somehow. It didn't even took a minute and we're already here.

The night was getting dark and I had difficulty seeing from the sudden darkness because there weren't any sources of light, but I could a few orange spots of light on the distance.

Based from their general appearance, it must be them.

"You're a god?"

"Pfft..."

He chuckled for a bit before continuing.

"You may call me something like that, but I don't buy it. These 'gods' that you people all know are just really long-lived mortals that keep on struggling against death. No one is ever immortal, but..."

He glanced at the moon and his face had a straight expression, and his eyes looked a bit sad.

"...but there are true immortals out there."

I can't say that I'm not impressed, but the moment was just so nice and he had to be overly dramatic that I can't help but suppress my laughter.

"Wha- Why are you laughing?"

"It's just, I kinda felt it coming. I mean... there must be some kind of immortal somewhere provided that these magical things exist."

He became silent for a while once more and closed his eyes.

"That's a good idea you have there. Now, I finally have a good reason, and hope."

I wasn't sure what he has on mind but as long as it's a good thing then it's fine.

"For now I won't urge you to become my student as I somehow even learned something from you. You have my thanks."

"Always welcome."

"Also, I'm curious. I've never seen a child like you yet. You may be secretly another long-lived old fellow, but from the way you have your own identity already makes me confused. Nevermind my ramblings. Here, take this."

What he's saying doesn't really make any much more sense, so I just caught the thing that he tossed towards me along with my sword.

It looked like a charm that warded off bad luck, the one that looks like a tied pouch with a character on the front.

So they also do exist here?

"If you have your answer, or if you need my help, just use your 'Soul Control' if that's what its called by the people around you, and fill that tiny pouch with it. I'll be able to sense that thing anywhere as long as it's within this world. Good luck with your travels."

He suddenly disappeared after a blue light and once more appeared.

"Almost forgot, what do you refer your magic to as?"

"It's called Origin. May I know yours?"

He gave a faint smile and blurred once more in a blue light. I thought he had left, but it turned out that he was just probably faster than the speed of sound, which I only received his reply after.

"...Secret."

That guy, really.

Well, he only probably wanted to make me his student, and he helped me reach Three and the others after all.

...

...

...

Three days later---

The vast wide desert wasn't that hot as I imagined. It wasn't so hot that people would burn and melt, but it was hot enough to generate a few mirages on the distance.

Even Ellie was fine as long as she had an Ice Orb necklace.

During the night it was cold, and we made bonfires.

Looks like Mom's words were sure, and the only thing that worried me, was that the boy who actually single-handedly defeated the swarm of butterflies was currently following us.

He was quiet the whole time and didn't talk much to us, but he did pay attention whenever there's a threat from afar. A few times his face let out a smile whenever Ellie tried to speak. Usually Aunt would warn us about incoming dangers, but he was the one that kept a lookout instead.

Apparently, he also had Soul Control, and can control it for a more far wider and further scope than us. It wasn't also called Soul Control, but he won't tell us what they call it. He only told us that it's like growing more limbs after due time from the fact that it can be controlled without thinking much, and that everything suddenly feels like one and natural.

I can't understand what he meant as of now, but I'm sure sooner or later that I'll probably grasp what he's trying to say.

Speaking of Ellie, she only speaks a few words, such as 'ag,' and 'amma' which doesn't make any real sense yet, which was probably normal for a one year old child. The only thing that wasn't really normal was her growth, which made her smaller compared to other children at her age.

Mom mentioned that she's been provided enough nutrition, and a few doctors have checked and there's nothing wrong with her body, unless the problem was magical instead. Having a baby that had source spirit was new for Mom, too, and she doesn't know what to do if the problem was somehow related to the source spirit.

That time, I've felt that I should've had source spirit too, but I'm already grateful that I don't have one. If I had one then I must've been stuck as a Vates on Phione instead, and might have probably even got sent to war as cannon fodder. I would have also experienced having an ordinary school life there, but my experiences after I left Phione told me otherwise that not everything good is entirely good, and not everything bad isn't such a bad thing.

Such as me accidentally acquiring Origin.

Sometimes we encountered a few beasts that weren't even on the book that Grandpa lent me, and we could only run away or defeat them outright if they pursued.

One of those that we encountered was a giant worm that had a circular mouth, which looked pretty familiar to the games I've played which had maps that were located at the desert. These worms had outer, middle, and inner mouths that had different sets of teeth that increased the more it was inside, and having a look at it made everyone of us fly from either fear or disgust, especially the girls.

There were also the occasional sidewinders that flew with the sand and wind. These small snakes didn't really pose such a threat to us, and they rarely appear in groups. They were also our prey from time to time, and it was actually the first time I've ate snake meat. Mom was the one that cooked the snake, and I could only watch as she started to prepare it.

Few cacti appear time to time, and they all had various appearances, but the most common ones were those with a red skin. I'm not sure why there are only few cacti that were colored green, but I just got used to it after these days.

I'm probably used to the new and uncommon things in this world by now, but the things that we've seen at the desert still sometimes make me amazed to myself, and I even wanted to take a picture. Sadly, there are no cameras in this world.

After three more days, we finally found a small dome on the distance, and everyone was excited.

The heat didn't really pose much of a problem to us, but later did we only know that we miscalculated something.

On the distance, the dome stood as tiny as my hand, and I still can't guess how much big it is, but it does seem bigger than Kandria.

Another day passed, and the size of it compared to my hand still didn't explain why there was no change.

The next day, it only slightly visibly changed, which made me confused. Time wasn't an issue, but with the way things are, I don't want for Ellie to be still here within the desert.

We've probably been here for a week already, and it was the only time that the boy initiated a conversation with us.

His figure suddenly blurred and he went in front after a flash of blue.

"Wait. Something's not right."

Everyone stopped right away, and we inspected our surroundings.

"Do you feel anything, Arc?"

"Not at all. But from how we still aren't able to reach that place, maybe there's some kind of spell here."

"She's actually not wrong, but I still don't know what's wrong. I've checked with my 'Soul Control' and found nothing out of the ordinary, except from the fact that we've been at the same place already. You might not notice this but the winds that come and go only serve to bury out footsteps, which makes me wonder at what location do we actually progress before we get sent back, and how far we're sent back."

"Oh, you mean like a mini illusion warp?" Three said.

"As expected of the girl, you know about it."

"Well, we have one at home and I've been stuck there too when I tried to sneak off from classes and tried to get home." She went near me and whispered, "Sorn had been controlling it, and I kicked him back then when I finally got inside."

"I just don't know where it is, and how it could be destroyed or bypassed before we could actually get in."

Of course, as the boy was talking, I was wondering that I could do in this situation.

I had actually seen a small gap already, but first I want to make sure.

"Kid, can you try sending your Soul Control over there?"

I moved towards his side and pointed where I wanted him to sense something.

"....."

What, why isn't he talking?