Chapter 13: Let's go to the desert?

  "... I thought traveling through the desert would be much harder..."

  ?

  Liese was muttering something like that, but… well, I hope she can bear(?) it.

  ?

  After taking a short rest and regaining our strength, we resumed our journey.

  After descending the mountain, the rugged rocky terrain continued for a while, but soon it turned into a sea of ??sand.

  Speaking of the desert, it's scorching hot during the day and freezing cold at night, and in this Asteria is no exception, the climate here is one that makes you don't want to stay in for long.

  It's still early autumn now, and you will quickly lose energy while the sun is out, so the theory would be to rest in the shade or pitch a tent during the day, and then move on when night comes.

  However, in Asteria, monsters become more active at night, which is dangerous in a different sense, so it is a tough decision to make... Well, leaving aside the question of why anyone would want to go to a desert first pce.

  ?

  Figuring that monsters would be more troublesome, I opted to travel during the day.

  But of course, I won't try to endure the heat while traveling, instead I take the heat resistance potion I prepared to suppress the heat.

  However, due to my skill level and the materials, its rank isn't that high, so to help out, I coated the inside of a hooded robe with slime and used magic stones infused with water magic, which gives it a cooling gel-like feel. I also added wind attribute to it with Zephyr's scales and gently circuted the air, so it's quite refreshing.

  If someone gets thirsty I can get as much water as I want from my item box, and there's even salt and ice avaible. If we get tired, I can just pull out a tent and rest.

  Well, I think it will be necessary to train to withstand the heat and to move around at night, but that's that. Since the others lived on the pins or in the forests up until now, let's take it little by little.

  ... In fact, even in this condition, Fricka is struggling to just walk because of the sand.

  ?

  "... Kyaaa?!"

  ?

  "Oops."

  ?

  When she slipped on the soft sand and nearly fell, Uru quickly caught her. I lost count of how many times this has happened, but each time Fricka makes an apologetic face and Uru replies that she doesn't mind.

  In reality, even if the sand looks ft, it's quite common for you to sink more than you'd expect when you put your foot on it, so it's not that Fricka's walking style is particurly bad. However, Uru seems completely unfazed and before her feet sinks in the sand she takes the next step, walking briskly... Maybe she can run on water if she tried.

  ?

  "I'm pretty used to it now."

  ?

  Regulus who was also unfamiliar with it at first, is now able to recover his footing quickly. It goes without saying that Liese who had better motor skills than Regulus have no problems.

  ?

  "Now that I think about it, I remember hearing that running in the sand can help strengthen your legs and hips."

  ?

  "Oh, that certainly sounds like good training! Yahoo!"

  ?

  Having never done it before, but when I let slip the vague knowledge that I remembered, Regulus immediately jumped on it, running off without even asking for details.

  ?

  “Waaaah!?”

  ?

  “Regulus-nii!?”

  ?

  And sure enough, as soon as he reached the top of a small mountain of sand, he tumbled down to the other side.

  ?

  “W-wait, I can’t climb!?”

  ?

  To make matters worse, the pce was shaped like a rge bowl, and at the bottom was a nest of quicksand eaters, an antlion monster that lives in the desert.

  In a panic, he tried to climb up and escape, but the sand started to flow down from below his feet, it's a trap that the more he struggled, the further he got towards the bottom, with the monster just waiting for him to tire out.

  ?

  "Hey!"

  ?

  However, while that might be dangerous if you're alone, it's not so bad if you have companions.

  The Quicksand Eater's life was easily snuffed out by Liese's powerful javelin throw.

  By the way, if it were me alone, I could just pce some stone blocks and climb up, so it's not that dangerous for me at all. It's just a surprise.

  ?

  "W-woah... Liese, thank you..."

  ?

  With the nest's owner gone, the shifting sand stopped, and Regulus finally managed to crawl out of the bowl.

  ... Perhaps this was a good medicine for him who tends to be reckless. I had properly expined beforehand about the things to be careful in a desert, and I had even mentioned the Quicksand Eaters.

  ?

  The desert may seem like it has no living creatures, but that's not the case. There are many different creatures living there, and even a ton of monsters.

  There are Poison Snakes, Paralyze Scorpions, Dark Mice, Morph Worms, and various subspecies of Sand Goblins, who are also found here.

  Although they are not particurly formidable enemies on their own, as their name suggests, they specialize in abnormal status attacks, and like the Quicksand Eater mentioned earlier, they set traps, so you can never let your guard down.

  ?

  You also need to be careful of natural quicksand. It's not so bad if you're just swept away, but sometimes you can sink deep into the sand and suffocate.

  ... In the game, there have been cases where a dungeon was hidden beyond the quicksand. But if you make a mistake...

  I can't say for sure that there aren't dungeons like that in Asteria, but until I'm certain that there is one there, I don't want to take such a risk and search for one.

  ?

  "Rion, are you sure we're going to the right pce?"

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  Uru asks with a wry smile, gncing at Regulus as he spits sand.

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  "Hmm, it should be right, but I'll check it just in case."

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  As I replied, I piled stone blocks at my feet and climbed higher.

  By the way, you have to be careful when doing this in the desert, too. If the bottom part colpses, the whole thing will colpse... Yeah, I've already experienced that... The more you stack, the farther you can see, but the more you stack, the greater the damage you will take if you fall, ufufu.

  After gazing into the distance, thinking back to my memories of the past, I came to my senses and, although the potions and robes had made it much easier, I felt the intense sunlight scorching down on me as I turned my eyes to the east.

  In front of my sight... There was a bck mist floating around a pce, probably miasma. Looking more closely, the mist seemed to be covering a dipidated building that looked like a ruin.

  ?

  "Yeah, it's right up ahead."

  ?

  It's probably less than a day away. However, it's very dangerous to go in at night, so we'll rest up there for the night and then enter after dawn.

  ?

  "I wonder what could be going on there."

  ?

  She wasn't there during the battle with Zephyrus, but I told her what happened. Fricka was in a simir situation, holding her breath in tension.

  It doesn't look like anything is stirring, but... Desert ruins often have underground parts, so you can't be too cautious.

  ?

  "If I realize that we can't handle it, we'll run away. There's no need to be so pessimistic."

  ?

  "... I see."

  ?

  Fricka took a deep breath after hearing what Uru and I had said. She seemed to rex her shoulders.

  Yes, yes, nothing good comes from losing your composure, so it's important to keep a cool head. I can't really say much about other people's mental health, though!

  ?

  ... I secretly prayed in my heart that this wouldn't be a situation where I couldn't run away like in the fight with Zephyrus.