Prey

[You have obtained 'Faint Sword Qi' (1 Star)]

'1 star' Daniel thought. It was the lowest possible ranking. It was also the most common, yet it still was not acceptable in his current environment. To add insult to injury, the soul trait he obtained was called "Faint Sword Qi". Not only did the faint portion seem like a direct stab at Daniel, but the trait could only be used on a weapon assumedly. Daniel's strength waned as he collapsed in the sand, his fist instinctively pounded into the grains of earth beneath him as he hissed in frustration.

Alessandra remained quiet as she softly moved her hand on his back. She could infer what the result of the trait awakening was. It was unpleasant for her too. After all, the lord was her primary source of protection in this foreign wasteland. Daniel knew that the opportunity to get a second soultrait existed, but it would take tens of years and immeasurable luck to be able to enter a lord rift in the future.

After a few seconds of bathing in the desert's brutal heat, Daniel stood up and allowed the thousands of sand particles to cascade down from his frame. "Alessandra, is there anything else you would like to tell me?"

Worry adorned her face, but before she spoke, she forced a smile to return, "That's it my lord. You can call me Ales as well." Her smile fell slowly as silence consumed the area. The faint rustling of the wind was the only auditorial reprieve. 

Daniel nodded. "Alright Ales. Let's get started." His gaze drifted toward the impossibly bright desert sun. "We need shelter and water. We can worry about food later. If we don't get out of this sun, we'll be baked al-" Daniel stopped as he glanced toward Ales's frame. Alessandra tilted her head in confusion before her eyes opened wide. "Ah! Lord, I apologize. I am familiar with human customs of clothing, I just-"

Before she could finish, a long-sleeve shirt slapped her in the face. Daniel fixed his undershirt and glared at her while she pulled the shirt down from her face. "Put it on." Daniel growled. Ales nodded and quickly squeezed herself into the tight sweater as Daniel glanced at her lower body. He wasn't as worried about her tail burning as it was primarily composed of scales. He moved to survey the surroundings as she got dressed.

Luckily, the terrain was mostly flat, and, with the exception of the sand drifting through the wind, visibility was on their side. He strained his eyes to distinguish between the different light yellow hues, but he couldn't find any landmarks around his territory. There were no plants, animals, or water. Daniel's lip curved into a fake smile as he tried to look on the bright side. 

'At least, there are no monsters' Daniel thought reassuredly. Daniel looked over at his maid questioningly and with a spark of hope, "Firstly, what is your species? And, do you have any racial abili-" Daniel stopped talking as the ground beneath them began to shake. Daniel's smile fell instantly. "Fuck." A few meters in front of him, the ground opened up and a massive sandworm exploded out from the sand. 

Daniel's eyes widened as he saw the size of the creature. 'That has to be atleast a mid tier 2 monster! What is it doing so close to our starting location?'

Daniel pivoted on his legs and sprinted away from the worm. Ales stared in horror at the creature as Daniel ran towards her. He grit his teeth and quickly threw her over his shoulder. To his surprise, Daniel's speed slowed to a crawl once he put her on his back. Daniel's eyes shot behind him and he bit his lip as he saw her massive tail dragging in the sand behind them. "Lift your tail up!" Daniel yelled.

Ales whimpered, "It's not that easy. I can only coil it!" Daniel grumbled, "Why are you so heavy!?" Ales's face crumbled before she spoke, "Leave me. At least you can live." A part of her was expecting him to refuse but she dropped to the ground half a second later, stuck with a helpless wide-eyed stare.

She wailed, "Why did you agree so quickly!" The ground began to shake again and both of them turned to see the sandworm disappear back into the earth.

A few seconds of baited silence hung over the both of them as they eyed the ground cautiously. After what felt like an eternity of waiting, Ales laid down on the ground and turned her head to look at Daniel with furious emerald eyes, "You're a terrible lord!"

Daniel crossed his arms,"Oh? And you're SO much better. You can't even keep yourself alive." Ales bit her lip with one of her fangs and growled, "My people are born for fighting! The sharpest part of your body is your fingernail. That's embarrassing!" Daniel grit his teeth and let out a mocking laugh, "Oho! Get up. Let's see how fast you can 'run' since that's what we'll likely be doing for the rest of our time here."

Ales regained her balance, stood upright, and slithered forward at a laughable pace. A few seconds passed before Daniel rolled his eyes and told her to stop. Ales narrowed her gaze towards him.

Daniel ignored her and began compiling information. It was a painfully difficult scenario. They had no water, food, or shelter nor the opportunity for any of them. They would have to leave the summoning gate for a chance at finding it, but if the summoning gate was destroyed, he would lose his title as a lord. It was a fate close to death in the Origin Expanse.

However, there wasn't much option left for him. He needed to return to the real world to gather some basic supplies. Daniel grunted and held out his war rune. "I'll be back." He said as he attempted to summon a runic gate. However, to his dismay, instead of a gate being summoned, pain exploded on his hand. The wounds on his hand reopened and the war rune began to pulse.