Chapter 564: Digging

"Argh! This is just a waste of time!" A loud, annoyed-sounding cry echoed amidst the golden sandy dunes of the desert. A small, petite girl angrily kicked at the endless sand in hopes to vent some of her frustration and regain her composure. 

Unfortunately, as she recalled the last couple of hours that their team have wasted under this scorching, blazing heat with nothing to show for all the effort they have wasted, she was only growing angrier by the second.

Hours, upon hours spent, their stamina, their energy constantly drained just trying to withstand the horrid temperature. Hours, upon hours completely wasted away with absolutely nothing to show in return.

"Aaaaargh!" The petite girl roared upwards, to the blazing, blinding sun and the light blue, spotless midday sky with unbridled rage. Her twisted gaze was like a rabid wolf howling at the moon.

"Curse all to hell!" She kept howling, roaring madly, kicking more and more of the endless, limitless grains of sand up into a cloud of dust around herself as she slowly wandered towards the agreed gathering point. She was clearly, obviously fed up with the task, could see no point in spending any more effort in this futile endeavor. 

"Stupid… pointless…" She cursed. "We could have done something more productive instead of this… this… idiocy! Finding the entrance to get below in this horrible desert? How are we even supposed to do that?!" 

Angry, frustrated, and annoyed, the girl kicked at the top of the dune once again, with even greater force. She wanted nothing more than to destroy everything where her eyes could see. That would have been the just 'punishment' for this torturous land in her mind.

Yet, as her eyes bore deeper into the top of the sandy ridge than before, she was surprised to be met with a strange, strong opposition. Some sturdy, solid object blocked her attempt, robbing her of even this small release. 

"What the…" Although she was even more annoyed, she was just as equally surprised and shocked. Instead of making the slab of rock, stone, gravel, or whatever it was that her trained feet has come in contact with loose, it was she who had suffered a sudden defeat!

Numb pain dulled her senses as she clicked her tongue with displeasure and pulled her leg back. 

"What in the Gods' name was that?" She cursed yet again, battling the steadily climbing frustration in her mind. 

Stopped in her tracks, she focused her gaze on the ground below, as she crouched down, searching for clues, starting from the top at first.

Noticing absolutely nothing out of the ordinary, she took a breath, giving a pep talk to herself, whilst also trying to reign in her chaotic emotional state. She was a professional after all.

"Come on Crysta, what is this? Why are you acting like a greenhorn? You have more than a decade of experience under your belt! Don't be so hot-headed girl!" She berated herself. 

Taking a couple of deep breaths while taking her time to do a slow, drawn-out exhale, she did manage to slowly calm herself and return to being the cool, level-headed petite beauty she actually was known for. 

Yes, she may have suffered a defeat from that girl, but that was only because she wasn't prepared for such a strong mental force. She never expected her opponent to be one of those extremely rare individuals that had talent causing afflictions to the mind. She didn't know she was one of those…

"It doesn't matter, I guess. In fact, it was a blessing in disguise!" She convinced herself, allowing a small grin to give a slight curve to the edges of her lips.

"She had revealed to me the one fatal weakness I have! I can't be complacent like I was before. I will need to work with her to train that side of me! Yes!" 

She balled her fists, punching at the air as a way to express her satisfaction with her line of thinking. 

"Yes, girl! That's the way to go! Work with her, instead of boiling with this helpless anger! She is a partner now… maybe even a friend?" She exclaimed the curve of her thin smile reached higher. 

"Anyway…" Turning her gaze down, she stopped her jubilation, shifting her attention back to the peculiar mystery once again.

Carefully she bore her slender right hand into the sand once again, carefully plunging it deeper and deeper. As her palm was buried halfway into the golden grains, she began to assist with her left, digging away the resistance, gradually increasing the makeshift hole.

Slowly, but steadily she reached deeper and deeper, soon reaching the destination she wanted causing her yet another round of shock and surprise.

Her fingers have touched a smooth, flat solid surface. Unlike the sand all around it, this was clearly not a natural phenomenon, but soon, as her fingers reached towards what felt like the very edge of the object, it was clear it was an artificial creation, the work of some master, a craftsman.

Crysta exclaimed with shock as she realized the hidden meaning behind this discovery. For a moment she hesitated, she looked away, towards the direction of their gathering point.

Should she leave this here and get the others? Or should she continue excavating, and instead, make sure that what she found would be the entrance they were looking for? What if it's something else? 

'What if…' Her eyes glimmered with a flash of greed, her smile turned into a nasty smirk at the thought. 'What if it's some treasure? Wouldn't that be the best? We could score some points finally!'

Convinced that her line of thinking was correct and that instead of rushing to the others without proper knowledge of what the nature of her find actually was, Crysta began to madly dig, widening the currently fist-sized hole wider and wider.

Soon, the edge of the object began to take shape as the copious amounts of sand were cleaned away.

As she looked at it, Crysta furrowed her brows, her expression souring. 

"What is this actually?" She asked with confusion. The object that she found seemed to be the top of something. It was rectangular shaped, solid, sturdy, clearly resembling that of a brick, the basic building block. She couldn't identify the material without a doubt, as though it seemed durable and stiff, she couldn't say it was simply some sort of stone. It wasn't just a worthless rock, as even now, as she kept on clearing its surface, a strange smooth crystalline shine began to reveal itself.

'Hmm… Is this some sort of rare Earth-type element?' She wondered, giving a few gentle rubs, caresses, clearing more of the sand away in the process.

As the last of the rubble was cleared off, it was time for Crysta to yet again turn shocked at what she saw.

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