"Hey. Faster!"
"Wait. I am tired already. I can't keep up my pace with you."
"Huh! I try my best to slow down my pace. Even with that, you can't keep up. Ah, what an unbelievable pupil I have."
"But, I have done this for five hours already. At least, give me some break."
"We are almost there."
"Huh, but where is it? You said you wanted to show me something secret. This is just a land of sand. Nothing here."
"Just a few more steps and we will get there." She moves forward while pulling my hand.
When we reached a certain place, she looked at me and said calmly. "Cover your eyes, face and ear!"
"Huh!" It took me a moment to look at the sandstorm that had just come from afar. With a hectic movement, I put on a pair of goggles and cover my face and ears with a piece of cloth.
Then, suddenly, a strong wind carrying clouds of sand appeared. I felt a bit nervous. Even though I prepared for safety, I am still scared. Compared to before, this sandstorm looks quite strong. It was minutes before a sandstorm became calm. I managed to survive, thanks to the suit and equipment I used.
"Ugh...Ugh..." Laura coughed for a bit.
"Hey, are you all right?"
"Uhum... Yes, I am."
"So, what place do you want to show me?"
"It is here, in front of you." I looked in front of me and was surprised by this place. It is a place that has a lake of clean water, and the plants that grow here look fresh and fertile. Here, there is more shade than outside. I can feel the water calling me. But, before that. How come this place suddenly appeared in front of us? I am a bit curious.
"Laura, could you tell me about this place? It makes me curious since this place just appeared out of nowhere."
"I thought you would not want to ask. This is an oasis. Yes, it really appeared out of nowhere. But, it is a unique place in Sigma country. This miracle thing may happen just in Sigma country. It is quite hard for a human to find it here. You need a specific time and patience to come here. That is why there is no one here. They get bad timing and do not qualify to enter the oasis."
"What do you mean by qualifying?"
"You need to be patient. That is the key to get here. " My body is sweating, I think I should enter the water first.
"Laura, I want to take a bath first." As I walked to the lake, Laura just called me.
"Hulaif, where did you want to go? Swim?" I nodded. "Please be careful."
"Oh, okay." There is no human here, I think I should not worry about the danger here. The water here is also crystal clear. I could see the fish and other species swimming here without worry. I wear underwear before entering the water.
As soon as I got to enter the water, I felt relieved and relaxed. I really felt refreshed. It was totally amazing. I swam to the middle of the lake and dived for a bit. Looking at the species in this lake really makes me feel good. I ascend a few moments later to get some fresh air.
I was floating on the water when I heard a call from the land.It was Laura. I looked at her. It looked like her face was kind of worried. She said something to me, but I could not understand it. Then, she showed me some signals. It looks like I really can't understand either. As I looked at the signal, it showed at the bottom of me.
I was just surprised when there was a shadow on the surface of the water. Why did I get goosebumps for a moment. "Hulaif! Hurry, get out of there! There is something scary beneath you. Suddenly, I got to hear a voice from Mia."
"What should I do?"
"What should you do? Do you ask me? Swim la? You want to eat by the monster alive?" As soon I hear from her, I swim to land as fast as I can. Just a few more before I got out of the water, suddenly, I got pulled by some tentacle.
"Euu..." It is a giant tentacle. I really hate this. Why should a man like me take this."
"Hulaif, are you all right?"
Did you notice I was acting fine? It is definitely not if you think that."
"Oh, wait there. I got my bow."
"Eh, Mia. Do you find any other way to get out of here?"
"Urm... please wait, I am going to scan. Since your other device does not with you, my ability is going to be limited."
"Oh, no worries. It's just fine. I would not want to become this squid food, and this is really ridiculous."
A moment later, that giant squid's head just appeared out of the water. It took me in front of its eye. What should I do? This is really embarrassing for me. Maybe I should try to convince this squid. It could be this squid-like Mia. Talking too much.
"Hello, Squid. I am really not delicious. Eating me could not make your stomach full. Seriously, I mean it. You may get a stomach ache from eating me."
"Your negotiation skills really suck."
"Yes, I know it. But don't complain about it now. You may break my confidence down. How about a way out?"
"Urm... You can cut the tentacle. But since you don't bring any weapons. Maybe you will stay like this for a while."
"How about you become a weapon?"
"Whoa... whoa... I'm not going to be that thing again."
"This is a life matter."
"Huh! Is it?"
"Human! Who the hell are you talking with? I see no one here. Did you talk with a ghost?" That giant squid just talked. It sounds like a female voice. I guessed it is female.
"Wait! Did you talk to me?"
"Yes, who else? You've got a nerve, human. You may even become my food."
"Before that, my name is Hulaif. Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too. Eh, how come we ended up here? Tell me how you got here?"
"There is one girl who brings me."
"Oh, is it?"
"Yes, could you put me down? I felt uneasy with your tentacles touching my bare body."
"I am not going to fall for that trick. Okay, now you will be my food." That giant squid brings me to its mouth using its tentacles. As I get closer to its mouth, it makes me feel really scared.
"Miss squid, please no..." Then its tentacles are cut and I fall from the sky. Thanks to that, it is not high enough and I fall into the water. With a quick movement, I released myself from the tentacles and swam to land and met up with Laura.
"Thanks, Laura. It was a great shot."
"Before that, wear your shirt first."
"Ugh, okay." Then I quickly wore my shirt and pants.
"Are you done?"
"Yes."
"Distract that squid for me."
"Wait, no way I will do it."
"You need to do it. It is your instructor instructing."
"Well, if it involves the squid, maybe I am quitting. How about we attack it together."
"Okay. Serve yourself."
"All right."
I ran a bit far from Laura. "Mia, did you get any information about this squid?"
"I got it. You need to blind it first." From afar, I can see Laura struggling with tentacle attacks. I need to help her. I took my bow and a bag of arrows from my bag. I ran faster and shot the arrow at that squid's eye. Nicely done. It hits the left eye of its eye.
Suddenly, the squid becomes enraged. It attacks me and Laura, using its tentacles randomly. Because of it, Laura got knocked back by that squid. I help Laura when she gets knocked out. She took a critical hit and it made her unable to move freely.
"Laura, you need to take a rest."
"No, I will get my revenge back. That thing killed my teacher."
"Revenge will not bring anything good. It may cause only hatred. You need to cool your head."
"But, I need to kill that thing as soon as I can before I collapse."
"You can kill that thing, but please hold your revenge. It will cause you to fail to kill it."
"You are a new person here. What do you know about revenge?"
"Yes. Maybe I am new here. But I have a friend. Many friends have been slaughtered by man-eater. It does not make sense if you want to get revenge on that thing for the sake of your loved one. In my opinion, you need to calm down and continue your life. Find another word to replace the word revenge. You may get to kill that monster soon. "
"Ugh, sorry." I am worried about her strength right now. She may not be able to kill that squid right now. If only I could enhance our power and combine it all together, maybe we could kill it.
Then I hear Mia calling me. "Hulaif! There is one feature that appeared. It is called Chesscrest. To use this, you need to make a bond with your partner. It may enhance the power of you two."
"Do you know how to do it?"
"Neh, I don't know. Find it yourself."
"Hey, who the hell are you talking with?"
"Oh, just talking to myself."
"Hahaha... you are weird. Thanks for your advice. I think I have found an answer now. Please help me kill that monster. It might be more sacrifice if other people came here."
"That is what I want to hear from my instructor."
"Well, you can drop that. We are partners now." Then, she asked to shake my hands. When I shook her hand, I could feel something strange in my body. The sudden light just appears and beeps up from my watch. The Bishop's crest just appears on Laura's right hand. Meanwhile, the Bishop symbol in the colour white appeared on my watch. It is the same with Laura. What is this?
"Do you feel anything?"
"Eh, what does this crest mean?"
"I am not quite sure, but your power might get boosted up after this."
"I don't know what spell you have done right now. But, I believe in you."
"It is Chesscraft. And yours is Chesscrest."
"Oh, I see. Now, let us attack that monster quickly. "
We get out of the shelter and stand in front of that squid. Laura runs while shooting the arrow at the squid. She shot at every tentacle, causing some of them to cut down. I could see she moved really fast and her shots became faster than before.
I hit it at its critical spot. Which is its other eye. When it is hit by my arrow, the squid becomes more aggressive. It attacked everywhere and tried to run away. I could feel my power-up. The feeling when pulling the string is totally different from before. I felt like I could shoot arrows for a long distance and with more power.
The squid dives and tries to run away. Laura shouts at me about going to a bay nearby. I followed her there. As we got there, she told me to use her skills.
"Are you sure, I can do your special skill?" She nodded.
"Yes, nothing can break our bond. Okay, follow me. We will spearfish this squid using our bow. Fortunately, I made my arrow weight enough to come here."
"Wait, spearfishing using this thing?" She nodded.
"Better hurry before that squid dives deeper." Using Chesscraft and Chesscrest really increases my ability so much. I aim for the squid and hold it for the timing. Thanks to the crystal clear water, I can see it without worrying. I relaxed and waited for a signal from Laura.
"Hold it... a bit more..." We waited for a moment. "Okay. Shoot." As she gave a signal, I released the string. As it was released, the arrow moved into the water like a spear. We shot it synchronized. I was really surprised when the arrow really hit the squid and it penetrated its head. The squid seems weak and started to float on the surface back.
As the squid floats on the surface, Laura is going to end this squid. "Wait, Laura. This squid is gonna tell us something."
"Ugh... All right." Suddenly, Laura froze. What happened.
"I created this space using my last power. I won't bring her in because she does not qualify like you. Answer me, human! Why did you enter my domain?" The squid's voice looks kind of tired.
"I don't know if this is your domain and what did you mean?"
"I am a guardian here. This oasis. This oasis is created for living things to live in a cycling environment. Now, I am gone. This oasis is going to cease to exist."
"Hey. Did you want to follow me?"
"How could I? I am your enemy."
"There are people who say today's enemy is tomorrow's friend."
"Okay. I will follow you."
"Okay. Nice." I used the phone's capture features to capture the squid's consciousness. Then, the squid's body is empty. The space was returned. Laura can move back. So, what did the squid want to talk about?"
"Oh, maybe it's my imagination only."
"Okay, if you don't have anything to hinder. I will end that squid with my hand." Then, she killed the empty body of the squid.
"It seems that the squid has been dead."
"Help me bring this squid to land." When she was about to enter the water, this oasis started to destroy with a sudden disaster. "Eh, what happened?"
"It seems this place is going to be destroyed. Better hurry out of here." I could feel this oasis being shaken. The land is cracked in half and the water has turned its state from clean and clear to murky and smelly. As fast as we could, we moved to get out of here. Before getting out of here, I collapsed because I used too much power in Chesscraft.
"Why you are really a burden to me?" I could feel my body being pulled by Laura. Then, I don't really know what happened after that.