"Hmm... How eatable is this thing I wonder?" After closing the status window, he approached the dead monster as he inspected its body curiously. "The blue blood is worrying me a little to be honest but I need some food to carry with me."
From what he brought along with him, he had food enough for a day or two at most and he knew that won't be anywhere near enough for his journey. He can stay without food for 5 or 6 days with ease without losing much of his performance but he didn't want to bet on whether he could reach the city by that time or not.
So, collecting anything useful was necessary.
"It's not poisonous from what I can see. Though, avoid the blue blood since it could have a negative effect." Acrypha replied. "These sand eaters are actually quite delicious from what I heard."
"... Really?" Talon frowned. "Their appearance tells me otherwise."
The disgusting worm seemed way too repulsive to be delicious. But, since Acrypha told him that it was good then he had no reason not to believe it. So, with that in mind, he pulled his spear out and started slowly cutting a part of the monster to get a good chunk of meat.
"You aren't too bad at skinning monsters." Acrypha said curiously as she watched her human slowly cutting the tough hide and then dissecting the meat skillfully.
"I have worked in a butchery before a few years ago and I dealt with animals. This isn't much different." Wiping the blood off his face, he continued his job.
By the end of it, a chunk of blue meat rested on his hand. "This would at least last me a few days." He smiled before putting it in his storage. Then, he dug his hand into the monster's body again as he pulled a rather big monster core.
"Hmm, this is an energy core, huh? I wished it was a weapon or a skill. But well, I will leave it for my future spear." He murmured before he put it away too.
With that put behind him, Talon sat down to rest for a while. The injury he sustained wasn't light and he was already exhausted beyond comparison. A few minutes were essential for him to gather his mind and body for the trip ahead.
'If one of these sand eaters appeared then I should anticipate another appearing or even multiple ones.' He thought to himself as he stared into the distance wistfully and sipped some water.
"I wonder what kind of ecosystem this place has. With no actual water and food, how does anything even survive in such an environment." He spoke as he turned to look at Acrypha.
"You underestimate how much monsters can adapt to conditions like this or even worse than this. We still don't know much about this place so perhaps when you reach the city, you can learn more about this world."
Even with her vast knowledge of all kinds of worlds that she harvested across her lifetime, Acrypha wouldn't know everything about everything so even she was curious to know what this world was.
'Especially because this has been chosen by the Core Dimension specifically for Talon. It definitely has something special about it that it wants him to see.'
So far, everything Talon has done had been almost meant to happen which proves that the Core Dimension was specifically moving Talon toward something. Entering his first gate was perhaps the first most important pivotal point in his path so it had to be very special.
But, Talon was still unaware of all of that as he sipped his water. "Yeah, the first thing I want to do is get as much information as I can about this world and then I will see what I should do. I'm sure things will clear up once I know what the hell is going on."
After that, he stood up and dusted his clothes before picking up his stuff. "Ugh, ok, time to start walking again. I barely did any distance today. Off we go!" Lifting his hand, he started walking again.
'Yeah, there is no need to feel bad when I barely started. It's all about being ready.' Looking up, he coughed.
"Sorry, I had to take a moment to regain my composure."
"It's ok, I should've not told you that anyway. You just need to do it at your own pace and things will be fine." She tapped his shoulder.
Nodding his head, Talon started walking again. Now that he knew that he should hurry, his steps naturally quickened as he started striding.
***
In the desert, one's worst enemy by far isn't the lack of resources nor the long distance of walking. It was the weather. The sun's effect on the body for a prolonged period of time is far worse than one could imagine.
The heat coupled with the monotone and repetitive scenery could easily affect one's mental state and make them hallucinate. However, the same can't be said for a certain person.
From a distance, one could see Talon walking at a speed compared to that of an average man running or even faster. He kept going up and down the vast dunes of sand. His eyes were focused in a single direction and nothing else.
A few more hours passed in the same way. No more sand eaters appeared after the first one for one reason or another.
The second thing he noticed was that the two suns in the sky had already reached the horizon and turned the entire world a beautiful orange color. Eventually, darkness settled on the desert and the temperature started dwindling really quickly.
"You should stop here for today." Acrypha said as she floated near him.
"Huh? But I can still continue. The darkness ain't a problem."
"It's not about the darkness, it's about you. Your body is already in a poor state. You need to get some rest." She replied as she pointed at his wound.
"... But..."
"No buts. You will continue tomorrow morning when you're better. Listen to me."
"... Ok, fine." Sighing, Talon stopped and sat down. "I will spend the night here."
Acrypha smiled before she nodded her head. "That's my good Talon~"
"Tsk..."
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