Red Desert.

A day had gone by.

Archibald had joined the guild and met with Undine.

He encountered the water spirit and was asked to aid in saving her village, Rivelune.

Other individuals had also been contacted by the water spirit and they were expected to meet at the village.

Archibald was meeting with Rumia at the gates of Pantoran to make their way to the neutral region.

In his large bag were all the essentials he needed.

Using ropes, he attached his weapons to the bag. <<Ver-Ather>> and <<Black Night>> were intact.

He was almost at the gate.

("Long distance travel is the perfect setting for a fantasy event. Anything could happen, from monster attacks to meeting sexy dryads. This kind of situation brings tension and creates a new dynamic. In my opinion, the best scenario would be for Rumia... Ahem, I mean the love interest and I to be forced to stay together. At first, she won't be able to stand me, but soon enough I'll save her and she'll fall for me.")

At least, that was what Archibald thought would happen. When he arrived at the gates, he saw something else.

"Took you long enough.." said the elven girl.

She stood next to a large, red reptilian-like animal that had a vast saddle attached to its back.

The saddle indicated it was their form of transport.

"Huh?"

All the romantic images that hovered around Archibaldʼs head shattered like glass.

("But let's be real, that's never gonna happen with this third wheel... A fucking large reptile as our transport.")

He actually believed they'd be walking.

Since he had strong bones, he could walk for days without getting tired.

A perk every Swordsman enjoyed.

Rumia, lacking physical prowess compared to Archibald, opted to rent a ----Land Crawler for 30 silver pieces.

This reptilian creature was specifically designed for traversing long distances through a variety of terrains, from rocky landscapes to marshlands.

It was also capable of crossing mountains and had impressive endurance, rarely succumbing to fatigue.

The land crawler was widely regarded as the top choice for transportation in the Eses continent.

"Come on, let's go, we need to get past the forest before dark.."

------

They exited the walled town of Pantoran.

Even now, Archibald hadn't gotten used to how high the walls of the city stretched.

Being an extremely large reptile, Rumia could keep at least a meter distance from Archibald who sat on the thick neck of the land crawler.

Simply put, he was the one riding it.

"On the land crawler, we should reach the next city by the next day.." said Rumia while she went looked at the skies.

"Next city? Which is?" Archibald asked.

"Falmuth. The Neutral Region has numerous cities leading up to the next kingdom Beldris.."

"Oh I see, so we're off to Falmuth then."

"We're making a stop there?" Rumia raised an eyebrow.

"Shouldn't we? To restock just in case."

"Not a bad idea.."

From her cloak, she unveiled the pocket watch and articulated the trigger word.

"Reveal.."

Uttering this word manifested a three-dimensional holographic map of the geographic zone.

First, they'd have to pass the Nupokute Forest. Which they were currently doing.

Then, they would arrive at the area leading to Falmuth. Lodge there and stock up on supplies.

From there, their next place on the map was the Rabastines.

("In video games there are warp towers one can use to teleport from point A to B, provided there's another in point B... Unfortunately, in this world warp towers or whatever they call it here is band.")

The land crawler was efficient in traveling.

It wasn't so quick that they'd fall off, neither was it so sluggish that they wouldn't cover the needed distance by the end of the day.

Six hours later.

In the Red Desert.

The desert in question was a barren wasteland with no vegetation or water sources.

The ground was extremely hard, comparable to diamond. The land elevations were steep, making it difficult to traverse.

The temperature was notably hotter than the Nupokute Forest.

The most striking feature of this desert was the red sand.

Archibald and Rumia along with land crawler-kun had already journeyed past the Nupokute Forest.

Currently, they were engaged in combat with some -----Red Serpents.

These monsters were rank D, with a size equivalent to that of an adult human.

Archibald utilized the Cerulean-ranked Thunder God Art, [Burst of Sound], to charge towards two Red Serpents while wielding the <<Ver-Ather>>.

With swift and precise movements, he swiftly cut down the serpents, causing their purple blood to splatter in various directions.

There was a third one, which he was about to attack.

"The piercing strength of wind serves as pure guidance, but with it comes destruction. I call forth [Blades of Wind].."

He stopped having heard Rumia chanting a spell.

Rumia pointed the <<Benevolent Wind Empress>> at the last Red Serpent.

From the tip of her staff formed a number of palpable blades of wind. It charged for the creature at high speeds before slicing it in four.

A Cerulean-ranked wind spell.

<<Ver-Ather>> was slotted back into its scabbard which Archibald had in his grasp.

"Nice job.." said Rumia as she walked up to him.

"Well it's all thanks to your awesome support."

The two slapped their right hands together at shoulder height. It was a gesture of celebration.

Looking at the skies, the sun was about setting. Anent the arrival of the moon, Rumia said:

"It's getting late, we should set up camp here... What'd you think?"

"You're the boss."

The land crawler was tied by Archibald to a large boulder deeply rooted to the ground.

"I'll set up the tent.."

It took some effort, but Archibald was able to draw out the tent strapped on the back of their reptile friend.

"Are you sure you know how to set a tent?"

"Shouldn't be so hard."

"Yeah... Sure."

Rumia replied with disbelief. Still, she'd allow him try to set it, as it would be a source of amusement for her.

Some minutes passed.

The elven girl wasn't wrong one bit.

"How did you even end up like that?" she inquired with a boisterous laugh.

Apparently, Archibald wrapped some parts of the tent around himself.

("It's kinda funny how I thought I could set a tent. I never went camping once in my past life. Damn it!")

When Rumia's exuberant laughter stopped, she offered to help him set up the tent.

"If I let you go on any longer, I'm pretty sure you'd become the tent."

One thing Archibald picked up from that moment was, it was the first time Rumia ever expressed mirth.

Just seeing her that happy caused his cheeks to turn a light red colour.

An hour passed and the starry night sky was upon them.

The boy changed his attire.

From wearing his adventuring attire, he'd switched black shorts and an oversized, long-sleeved gray shirt. He still wore his ankle-high boots.

The tent was properly set up by Rumia and there was a bonfire was lit by her Fire Magic.

"Okay, it's almost done.."

On a stick, Archibald roasted the red serpent they'd killed earlier atop the bonfire.

It wasn't an elegant meal, but they had to eat something other than bread.

"Yeah just be quick, I'm starving." said Rumia.

She was going through her Archive (Spell book) to see what other spells she could memorize.

"Hm?"

Archibald sharply turned his head to the left while roasting the red serpents.

"Anything wrong?"

Rumia noticed his sudden change of focus.

"Not really, I just had a feeling someone was following us.."

"I hope not, we're almost at Falmuth at this point."

"Yah, maybe it's just lack of sleep."

"Could be.."

The girl didn't bother too much about it, she could use a search spell to scan the area. But it was just as Archibald said: "lack of sleep."

It was no cause for alarm.

At a distance of one kilometer, a group of Magi were observed preparing to take action.

The leader, identified by his possession of a magical stave, utilized a search spell called [Third Eye] to closely monitor two children, Archibald and Rumia.

All members of the group were clothed in hooded cloaks, which contributed to their somewhat dubious appearance.

"It seems we have trouble on our hands.."

Their intentions were unclear.

Archibald and Rumia were unaware they would be facing a formidable group of Magi in an upcoming battle.

In order to succeed, they had to ensure that their physical and mental strength was at its peak.

Would they emerge victorious?