Chapter – 71 - Travelling Through The Ice-Fire Desert

It had already been four days since she left Mountain City. Rihanna had already run a long way, staying hidden as much as possible. Since she was using Fleet Steps almost continuously, her speed had increased a lot, and so had her comprehension of the set of steps. The way she used the steps, distance between each step, speed of changing steps, the surface over which she used each step, everything added to the final speed, and every change would make a difference in the final outcome.

The Ice Fire Desert was very different from any of the deserts she had ever seen before. The entire place was formed of random regions of Ice or Fire. So she had tenaciously climbed up a large sand-dune, only to find the other side completely frozen over, with a frozen lake in the center of it. Or she had rushed through a treacherous blizzard, only to fall into a bubbling hot pool, barely a hundred meters from the blizzard!

After travelling for four days she had some general idea of the topography of this desert. Just like the random regions of Ice and Fire, the beasts were also divided, with ice beasts in ice regions and fire beasts in fire region. They NEVER went out of their regions.

This queer phenomenon she had understood through her own experiences, when she was being chased by a rather large group of Fire Sting Scorpions through the sand-dunes. But as soon as she crossed over into the frozen area, the scorpions all rushed to change their direction, as if scared that they would fall into the frozen region!

Of course what waited for her on this side was another large group of Ice Sting Wasps who chased her all the way to the borders, till she once more ended up in another rocky sand desert area. Each region was like a separate country, and the boundaries were like the boundaries of these neighboring countries. You could guard it, but you couldn't cross over!

Unlike the Poison Swamp, Low Grade Demonic Beasts were almost non-existent. Beasts like the Blazing Web Spiders or the Ice Sting Wasps, which were both Third Grade Demonic Beasts, were rather rare. This desert was home to Mid Grade and High Grade Demonic Beasts. Even the Fire Sting Scorpions were a fourth level beast, making it Mid-Grade.

All along, she had also noticed many caravans, with a big group of people and tamed demonic beasts travelling to different areas of the desert.

The tamed beasts used in a desert were very different from what she had seen in Green-Stone city. One group reminded her of the pictures she had seen of Aegyptosaurus.....but the body was far more muscular, and the neck was quite short. And they had a huge hump on their back, similar to a camel. There were hard ridges all over the spine of the creature, and there were thick paddings covering the hump, over which people were sitting.

However, there were no strings or ropes attached to the beast, as the beast maneuvered the path themselves, while the person in the lead would keep shouting instructions, which the beasts followed. Mid-Grade Demonic Beasts had basic level intelligence of a young child, and could follow instructions. Also, they were extremely proud and temperamental. Tying a noose around their necks would probably make them fly into a rampage!

Another kind looked similar to kangaroo, though its head was sharp and long, like an alligator. It walked on its hind legs which were thick and muscular, and often sat down on its long and stout tail. However, unlike a kangaroo, the short front limbs had seven claws, which they used to grasp things like a human. There were three horns on its forehead, the first one the longest, and the uppermost the stoutest.

But despite their large and muscular physique, these domesticated beasts were all Mid-Grade beasts, and were generally mild in nature.

Completely different from the wild beasts of the desert. Rihanna still shuddered as she remembered being chased by a couple of Horned Poison Lizards. These were a level six beast, and she had been trying to evade its territory since there was no way she could fight against it in her current state.

Unfortunately....man proposes, God disposes! She thought she had found a good place to rest when she found similar looking Bone-Rocks. But these rocks had already been taken over by a community of Four Armed Rock Monkeys. And the mere appearance of Rihanna around their home threatened the entire group.

These monkeys were small, sized like a koala, and only a Level Three Beast.....but they were extremely ferocious. The covering of their body was as hard as rock, and could break off into pieces, which they then threw at their enemies like projectiles. Before Rihanna could realize what was wrong, she was already being blasted by dozens of rock projectiles, hurtling down from the top of the Bone-Rocks.

Trying to protect her head from being pulverized by this rock-shower, Rihanna ran rather blindly, and in her desperation, ran right into the territory of the Horned Poison Lizards!

The two mates were basking in the afternoon sun, when something hurtled into their comfort zone, completely disrupting their afternoon siesta. An obviously, both of them were thoroughly displeased by such disobedience! So both decided to give their new plaything a chase. A little bit of exercise under the sun after a full meal was a good way of shedding some weight!

And Rihanna found herself being played to the fullest by these disgusting looking creatures, who had a very good rapport and understanding! One would growl at her from the right, thick mucus like saliva dripping from the rows of fangs set deep inside his wolf-like mouth. The other would wait and watch the show from the sidelines. Only when Rihanna changed her direction and started moving towards the right, would the other one jump into the field and start growling and chasing her from the other side.

After a few times of dodging and changing directions, Rihanna not only saw their pattern, but also realized that they had no interest in her as food. But...becoming a plaything was probably even worse than becoming food, right?!

These lizards had short front limbs, with big claws, and they had a strange gout-like bulge just below their short neck. At times they would spit a large amount of saliva at her, though it never really hit her. But it did burn through the surrounding sand and rocks, making everything sink and turn into a mini pit. Rihanna didn't need to wonder how the term 'Poison' got attached to these lizards!

It took all her persistence and concentration to push her fleet steps to another level before she could break out of their double net, and finally managed to escape their territory.

Even now she felt the shivers!

However, during the past three days, she had also been practicing her new found method of using the energy inside her. Because there was no one to guide her, she wasn't sure if her way of using the energy strings was correct. She could only experiment and draw conclusions from them.

This method was a bit time taking, as it was not as simple as using the energy within directly, as others did. It required a lot more mental strength and stability of spiritual power. Though the amount of energy she could now control had grown a bit in these days, but she still felt spent by the end of it. The only way she knew right now was to keep using it, so her proficiency and comprehension, both would evolve.

At the end of the day, after finding a place to rest, and before going to sleep, she made it a religious habit to sit and write down everything which had happened during the day. Especially all reports, experiments, conclusions and observations regarding her use of the power. She needed something she could refer to whenever she faced a block while evolving her powers. Maintain a record was the best way.

Today too, the first sun had already set by the time she reached a long scattering of broken rocks and barren hills. She climbed to the top of the nearest stone hill and saw that this area of rocks and hills was pretty large and spread out for a long way ahead.

Since it was already growing dark, and she had no idea what creatures lay ahead, she decided to find some refuge within these rocks at the boundary.

'There are people on the left side of the second hill.'

Rihanna frowned. She always believed that people were far worse than beasts, and did not want to go to sleep with unknown variables roaming around. So using the jade to hide her aura, she sneaked over the rocks to the top of the second hill and peeked down.

'Aren't those two people the same cultivators we had met on our first day in the desert?'

Some way below, the two people were wandering around the foot of the second hill. Strangely they didn't seem to have any purpose, and were wandering back and forth as if in a daze.

Rihanna crouched down behind a large boulder at the top, wondering if these two people were caught in some sort of illusion, but quickly realized that they seemed to be guarding something!

'What in the world are they guarding here in the middle of the desert? And I wonder what happened to their third partner....'

'Hmmm...isn't the entry to the Dimensional Pocket somewhere nearby?'

'Are you saying they are guarding the entrance of the Pocket?! Then...Phantasm should be nearby....right?'

'Wait.....let me check.'

Little Purple let out a faint stream of purple light, and it immediately dispersed into the surrounding. Rihanna kept a watch over the movements of the two people below, waiting for Little Purple's findings. For a short while there were no words from him.

'Hmmm....there is an illusion barrier placed around this place. We are not affected because of your connection to Phantasm. This entire rocky land is actually set up as a frozen lake in the illusion.'

'So we have reached....then should I first scout the place with my spiritual sense before taking any action?'

'That would be the better option. Find a place to rest, and catch up on some sleep. I'll wake you up after it is completely dark.'

Rihanna nodded, taking a last look down the hill, then silently slipped back to the first hill. She had noticed a small cave like indention in the cave wall earlier, and now checked it out with her perceptions. Finding it safe, she snuggled into the deep cavity to replenish her energy and stamina, waiting for the cover of night before she moved again.