Chapter 70: Worm

Chapter 70: Worm

Sofia and Alith decided to retreat first, hunting a sandworm right now was too risky since they knew so little about them. And had no armor. And because Pareth was a chicken. And they could not regenerate mana, not fast enough anyway. And Sofia couldnt use her wings.

There were a lot of factors that made them reluctant to actually fight. They had been way too optimistic about chasing the relic armor, they had recklessly charged into the desert. Now they had to go back, having made little to no progress in anything. It only took four days this time, as they looked and finally spied a hint of green on the horizon, Alith started going on a weird topic.

Say, cant you just use my bones for Pareth?

Excuse me?

Yeah I mean, you CAN re-summon me, right?

Do you have any idea how long getting that much mana would take?! And thats weird! And gross! I dont want that, what the hell. And like, like. What if. What if the resurrected Alith isnt you?!

Not me? Alith took a second to understand what she meant, Oh like a copy or something but not the same? Or if my memory gets erased back to before I came here? Her expression changed a lot the longer she talked, ending up in a perfect melange of emotions, from worry to disgust. Ok, no, I changed my mind, not dying if I can avoid it. Yep. Didnt think of it like that at all. I want none of that either. Im good.

See.

Yeah I get it now. Well, too bad. I can never team up with myself I guess The problem with Pareth is always finding a skeleton Should we just kill someone or what? Sounds like something Kuli would do, she sneered.

Shes not that bad Well that shit she did to me did hurt but I get where she was coming from kind of. Wed probably be dead under the sea right now without her advice.

Right The herbal tea was not bad I guess, and she knows a thing or two, still though Ill be the one to punch her when Im level 300. Just once.

The summoning punch thing was a breeze compared to the level up to 100 honestly. Or compared to carving out my own heart. Back then it all went so fast, I was shocked more than anything, bit like when you pull out an arrow, it hurts a lot once then

Sofia Do you hear yourself talk? You worry me sometimes, really.

Uh? Im not the one who volunteered her own skeleton to a necromancer!

Fair point Also when the hell did you get hit by an arrow?

Long story

This chapter's initial release occurred on the n0vell--Bjjn site.

They had made it to the border of the desert again, being back into an environment full with mana was appeasing. They could return to the glass factory if they flew a bit, but that wasnt exactly in their plans.

It also gave Sofia a few [Summon blood] level ups. Easier to make money later. I should focus on this now, and [Heal undead], guess I can cut off my wings and heal them by myself to train. Actually they should count as undead, right? She checked that on the spot, they did. She could now heal herself! But just the wings Small victories

They dumped blood at sixteen different spots before something happened. It began with a low rumble. A shiver in the sand. It was as though the dunes came alive, bristling up like the fur of a terrorized cat.

"Hey, looks like we got one," Alith rejoiced, swinging her blades.

The ground shook. Springing out of the sand, the worm appeared.

The first to act was Alith. She ran for her life.

This was no simple worm. This was a titan. Wide like a house, several hundreds of meters long, a force of nature in the flesh. It obscured the sky in its colossal majesty, and plunged in an arc toward the sand stained with blood.

Sofia dove down like a bird of prey and grabbed Alith, carrying her away as fast as she could.

The ring! Sofia urged.

They could have just flown away, which was actually their original retreat plan, but the thing was so tall that it could no doubt reach higher than the mana density near the desert allowed Sofia to fly. And they wouldnt take the bet that they could outrun this thing.

Out of caution after their last mess up at the pyramid, they had prepared a backup retreat plan. Before dumping the blood they would always draw a teleportation circle to Zangdar, just in case. It had to be a bit further away, or the red sand would no doubt mess up the mana flow.

Alith started to activate the ring before they even reached the ritual circle, Pareth had teleported onto Sofias back, the instant they landed in the circle, the trio disappeared.

They were back in the locked city, exactly where they had left the last time.

That WAS a sandworm right? Sofia asked. She felt a sudden sense of loss as she thought back to her skill specialization choice.

Can you even still call that a worm? I dont want to know what a damned Dragon looks like.

Imagine if we could get that skeleton though

And reanimate it with what blood exactly? Even if [Summon blood] was level 500 you probably wouldnt be able to summon enough to activate the circle. Did you see how long the thing was? Actually we wouldnt even manage to draw the circle that big!

Cant you let a skeleton enthusiast dream? Ah whatever, going to this desert was a mistake from the start. Lets just level up here again

Hmm, yeah about that, Sofia Dont you notice something weird? The dungeon

Sofia had been busy opening the visor of her helmet, she was hit by a sudden revelation at Aliths words. The system message about re-entering a dungeon. It was missing.