Castle In The Sand

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"Ugh. It's so damn hot!!" Ganja let out a heavy sigh as he leaned on his own makeshift walking cane, an exhausted look on his face. "Just put a bullet through my skull!!"

"Didn't I just splash you with water?" Mako questioned as he caught up to his barely functioning Guildmates. "How are you still hot?"

"How are you NOT?" The battle axe wielder from earlier shot back, the one by the name of Ranpto. "You guys have a cheat code for keeping cool?

Mako shook his head. "Just control your internal magic enough to cool yourself off. We do this by cooling our mana directly and circulating it through our bodies. A bit difficult but quite worth it."

"Must be nice to be freaks of nature," Kungo muttered, side eyeing the two bright haired youths. "Do you know how hard it is to control internal magic? Elves can't even do it that well during their youth, and you're talking about it so casually."

"It wasn't easy. In fact, I only learned it because this knucklehead had mastered it before me." Mako laughed a bit, gesturing towards Jak. "Only took him a month or so. So I dedicated a whole half year to it to not be outdone."

"He MASTERED it?!" Ganja exclaimed incredulously, turquoise hues shifting over to the redhead, of whom was walking some ways ahead. "In a MONTH???!!"

"Yeah, that sounds like a fever dream." Kungo shook his head. "You sure you two are actual humans?"

"Last I checked," Mako replied.

"Freaks."

"Forget the heat. I just wanna know when we're gonna get there." Ranpto rammed a fist into his palm, making a sharp cracking noise. "I'm itching to crack some heads. The sooner we get there, the better."

Jak mostly ignored the conversation betwixt the Water Wolves Guild, but that final comment from the axe wielder was something he was in agreement with, them having been walking for some hours already. If he had to guess, they would most likely reach the expected destination within about two to three hours as long as they kept a steady enough pace. The Coalition was large, and the sandy path did little to help with movement for both the people and the carriages, making the journey take far longer than was needed. There were also environmental threats such as sandstorms and potential heatwaves that would cause even further issues down the road.

If there was one thing that made Jak feel slightly better, it was the fact that the plants he had seen along the journey had thinned considerably. It wasn't much of a comfort since whatever made them was likely in the region, but the absence of vegetation meant the Coalition was unlikely to run into them.

The last thing Jak needed was hiccups on their already lengthy venture.

"Water Wolves, speed up. You're falling behind!!" Yokina stopped moving as she turned around, shouting towards Jak and the entirety of Mako's Guild. "We're the Rear Guard. We have a duty to uphold. Less mouth and more work!!"

Jak said nothing as he walked up to the white-haired woman, only sparing her an emotionless glance as he trekked past her. He felt nothing towards her, solely focused on the task at hand, freely disregarding her existence, crimson hues shifting towards the carriage belonging to the White Rabbit Guild. It was one that they were assigned to protect, a number of wagons carrying fresh rations, weapons, and equipment that could prove of useful during battle. The purpose of the Rear Guard was to watch over the carriages during the journey through the desert, hence why Yokina wanted them to maintain some proximity to it.

"Hey, boy."

Jak kept on walking.

"Jak Yanda. I'm talking to you."

"Wait. Yokina-"

Jak felt a tug on the back of his cape. Not a soft one either but a rather hard one.

Without the slightest bit of hesitation, the fiery redhead whipped around, katana clearing its sheath instantaneously, weaving a trail of red as it stopped by Yokina's throat. Eyes narrowed in anger, the redhead didn't move away, the gazes of the two adventurers locked onto each other, each unfazed by the situation. A sword hovering against the Vice Captains neck and three individual weapons shoved against Jaks. Though Jak hadn't seen the other two adventurers a second ago, their presence was known the moment Jaks blade was drawn from its holster.

"There a reason you drew you're blade on me?" Yokina asked, her commanding tone somehow even firmer than before. "You do realize this is a criminal offense, right? Book 2, Chapter Six, Paragraph Four."

"Arrest me then." Jak said simply, clutching his katana tighter.

"I should." Yokina glanced downwards towards the metallic blue dagger she had pressed against the redheads abdominal region, about the same time Jak the other two adventurers had appeared. "However, we have an expedition to complete. Your crimes will be looked over at the end of the quest."

"Do whatever you want," Jak said, pulling his katana away. "Next time you touch my cape. That arm goes."

Resheathing his blade, Jak turned around and continued his movement towards the wagon, slipping past the other adventurers whom had appeared to defend Yokino. Mako and the others weren't too far behind Jak either, giving the white haired Rift Hunter a wide berth as they scurried to catch up to their redheaded compatriot. The blue haired Rookie shot Yokina an apologetic look before hurrying away with the rest of his squad.

"You okay Jak?" Mako inquired as he caught up with his friend. "You kinda blew up back there."

"I'm fine." Was the only response.

For the rest of the journey through the barren wasteland, Jak didn't utter a single word, nor show any traces of emotion. As the Coalition pushed onwards and everyone bantered, complained, horsed around, and readied themselves for the challenge ahead, the fiery redhead merely followed the behind the furthermost cart belonging to the White Rabbit Guild. Even when the Water Wolves tried multiple times to pull him into a conversation, Jak would simply nod to Mako whilst ignoring everyone else. It got to the point where even they fell silent, prodding along in the heavy heat. It wasn't until someone shouted that they managed to pick themselves up from their stupor.

"There!! It's over here!!"

Like a wildfire in a parched forest, excitement spread through the ranks of adventurers, a soft cheer ringing up as everyone readied themselves for combat. Though not everyone had spotted the rogue Mapel's hideout, it was clear that having finally arrived in the vicinity had added some much needed morale.

Ranged combatants pulled out their tomes, melee fighters checked their weapons, and support classes double checked their equipment.

"It's about time," Kungo muttered, wiping a band of sweat from his forehead. "Thought we were gonna die out here."

"We could still die when we get in there," Mako pointed out.

"That's reassuring." Kungo frowned. "I thought pessimism was my thing."

"So you're AWARE your always negative," Ganja noted.

The Water Wolves freely went back and forth with each other as they made their way up the final abnormally large hill of sand, bickering and making fun of each other as the other Guilds had done. It was only when they reached the sandy mountains crest that they eventually fell silent, moving to the side of the Coalition to get a better look at what lay far below them.

"So. that's the hideout." Jak muttered, speaking for the first time in a while.

It was difficult to make out at first, what with the building perfectly matching the deep biege tone of the Desert sand, but it was a structure far too massive to fully camouflage. Sitting dead center within a massive, crater sized pocket of sand was a dome made out of what looked to be Athrafstos, one of the hardest and rarest metal within Ornera and its various worlds. Normally the metal came in the colors of white, red, and green. Somehow, this particular building had been altered to match the environment, making it almost undetectable. Spreading outwards from the dome, rising up in some places and burying itself in others, were six individual tunnels closely resembling the legs of an arachnid. At the end of each 'arm' sat large stone doors scrawled in something Jak couldn't fully make out.

It was basically a fortress. The need for Rift Hunters and a Coalition was beginning to make sense.

"If you'll all gather over this way, we'll get everything underway immediately." Obinay garnered everyone's attention, patiently waiting until the plethora of Guilds were finished ogling the domed structure. "The full strategy will be explained for those who aren't already aware of it. Schematics of the structure you just glanced at will be uploaded automatically to the Information Orbs handed to you on mission acceptance."

The Coalition proceeded to flock towards the Aries Guildmaster, of whom was still sitting atop one of the carriages. Each of them watched as the brown haired man pulled out a rather sizeable orb from a rather large satchel located on his back hip. Tossing it forward, the grapefruit sized sphere sank halfway into the sand with a muted thud, nearly sinking completely into its depths. After a few seconds, a hologram sparked into existence, expanding into the air until it was large enough for everyone within the Coalition to see, even those at the very rear of the pack.

"Huh, it's bigger than I thought it was," Someone in the crowd muttered.

Multiple snickers and laughs echoed around, even Obinay cracking a smile as he stood up straight.

"Indeed it is." Obinay held out his hand and slowly swiped it to the left, the large hologram mimicking his movements. "What you're witnessing is the full composite of Uglio Mapel's hideout, an infrastructure that extends well past what lies on the surface."

It looked like a giant screw, or at least a screw with a smooth domed top, and if that same screw had spider-like legs spreading from its smooth head. From the looks of it, the only entrances into the weird looking screw was through the six spindly tunnels extending from the surface. The tunnels ended just under the dome before spiraling downwards, ending at the very tip of the screws base, indicating that one would have to trek upwards in order to actually reach the smooth top. For a hideout, it made complete sense in terms of structuring since one who was at the top could freely escape and have plenty of time to do so should the necessity arise. Jak probably would have structured it the same way.

"As you will probably notice, the Mapel's hidden architecture was formed in a way that forces those entering it to traverse its way from the bottom upwards." Obinay unknowingly voiced Jaks own inner contemplations. "This also means that there will likely be an escape route of some kind built into the infrastructure. Ergo we will be splitting into several teams so as to maximize effectiveness and ensure a proper capture."

Rotating the hideout with his finger, Obinay gestured to the six doorways.

"Six teams. Each with two Rift Hunters leading them, acting as the teams bodyguards should other Hunters make themselves known. We'll attack separately, cutting off every possible route and ensnaring the rogue noble before he has time to execute any significant ploys to counter us. A separate squad will stay behind to watch the hideouts surface and make sure Uglio doesn't make a hasty getaway."

The Coalition said nothing as Obinay swiped downwards, closing the large orb and ending the meeting.

"The teams have already been divided up and will arrive in your Orbs within a few minutes. Use this time to get readied up and fit for battle. May the Arcane guide you well."