Treading through the embrace of the comical white sun and avoiding the dark sea like a plague, the two of them threaded through the desolate land as if on a field trip looking for something.
With no obvious enemies in sight for the last few days, the lethal continent was starting to feel like a slightly weird hike.
Bored out of his mind, Raian itched for a proper fight, almost begging for someone or something to magically appear and attack them.
After following Liala for good number of days, he was starting to lose faith in her directional abilities.
Still, he decided to go along with it because Liala had the determined look and god knew he wasn't any better at it than her.
Walking like an undead creature for hours on end, Raian was starting to lose patience. After promising such big barks, if he had no chance to bite, it would be embarrassing after all.
-
Marching onwards, he reminisced about the events that happened to him.
The first thing that came to mind was Ro, his sacred sun. Her unwavering resolve and tenacity would always inspire him, and her radiant smile enveloped him in warmth and kindness, like the sun breaking through the darkest clouds.
When Ro passed, he felt empty, everything lost its meaning. The darkness felt dreadfully recent to him.
Overcoming said darkness alongside his friends and newfound family gave him another ray of hope in the self-imprisoned vault of darkness.
Grasping the light, Raian pulled himself and his gang to strive higher than they ever had. Higher they did fly. After much struggle, they managed to get their own little territory. While lacking in quantity, they had the quality to match other gangs in the overcrowded slums.
The unfortunate news of being infected broke his future plans like a hammer shattering glass.
Thanks to his logical mind and the chance of being infected being too low to be considered a real possibility Raian was thrown into the pits. Picking up his broken pieces of plans and dreams, he steeled himself. Sincerely accepting the inevitable visit to the dream realm, he ventured into the darkness.
Experiencing his first nightmare, his thoughts of what was possible completely shattered and were reforged.
Through ups and downs, he forced himself upwards in life looking only ahead not fearing the past.
Using everything in his grasp to soar higher and higher, only to be lost in the wilderness of the vast world, slowly waiting for abominations to come at him.
How laughable it was, Raian thought to himself. Lightly chuckling as he felt the scars across his body. The Maddened Kast, the first creature he slew, was a huge risk he took. One wrong choice and he wouldn't be standing here in one piece, so it couldn't be considered a true victory. The Carapace Scavenger after that was, in his mind, a fair fight.
Getting assaulted by a small group of them, neither he nor Liala panicked. Accepting the fact that multiple two-meter tall crabs were after their lives was something Raian surprisingly quickly adapted to.
Now, feeling hollow, nearly starting to drool, he walked alongside Liala, hoping she would find what she sought. Many had told him how terrifying the Winter Solstice would be, promising him endless enemies to fight against just to survive. Awakened instructor Rock even described some of the battles he participated in.
At the time, the stories mildly scared him, but now he felt empty. Maybe it was because of his aspect. To others, this would be a blessing, but for some reason, the peaceful atmosphere was harrowing for him.
Sometimes he thought it was the calm before the storm or that they were adventuring through a forbidden place, but these thoughts vanished as soon as they came up. It was almost like something was blocking them from continuing further.
*Thud*
Shaking him awake from his daydream, something blocked him from moving forward.
Turning to the side, Liala silently gestured for him to be quiet with a shush.
Raising an eyebrow at Liala, Raian wondered the reason. Liala pulled his ear closer and whispered, "Careful, there is something there," and pointed forward.
Looking where she pointed, he saw a large expanse of sand and a relatively empty land.
Questioning with a "Where?" Raian tried to look harder. Squinting his eyes to the max, he saw nothing unusual in front of them.
Softly speaking, Liala pointed again, this time toward the slightly higher pile of sand. "That, something is underneath it, waiting for prey to come closer."
A despicable smile crept up his cheeks. Raian answered, "Great."
Remembering what he said a few days ago, Liala rolled her eyes and sighed deeply, almost disappointed by his answer. Placing a palm on her forehead, her other hand gestured, telling him to go ahead. Straightening his back and confidently smiling, it was time.
Following the promise, Liala sat down and became an observer. Supporting her head with an open palm, she couldn't understand why Raian was like this.
Not minding Liala's attitude toward his promise, Raian lightly dusted his leather pants and started walking forward with wide steps.
Finally, it was happening, Raian thought. It was his time to prove himself. Imagining what kind of abomination it would be, his thoughts ran wild.
An even bigger crab?, doubling or tripling the Carapace Scavenger's size. Towering over his tiny figure, a fight where all the odds were stacked against him.
A giant sandworm?, burrowed beneath a thin layer of sand with its terrible maws ready to chew apart anything that stepped on it.
Well, that was his limit. Growing up in the slums, Raian seemed to lack what others called common sense. Not him alone—a lot of the slums missed it. With no constant stream of education and different environment, the limits of his imagination were a little lacking.
Pushing these thoughts aside, Raian picked up a piece of rock nearby and threw it to where Liala pointed. The rock landed squarely, hitting the mark. He refused to have any advantages going into the fight. So by throwing the rock it alerted the creature to be ready.
Now it was time to wait.
Excitement fueled his entire body, the blood started to rush within, ready for a life-or-death battle.
Stopping his wild imaginations, he took a deep breath to hold onto his final straw of logic.
Expecting whether the creature would recklessly assault him or take its time to prepare itself, the horrible thoughts of himself being impaled with sharp claws or bitten by an unknown maw of crooked teeth Raian didn't know, but he was sure ready for anything at this point.
Before he could drool, the sand started to shift.
Emerging from the sands, an over three-meter-tall creature rose. Its exoskeleton glistened with a dark, obsidian sheen, reflecting the faintest glimmers of light. At the center of its head, three menacing eyes, set in a triangular formation, glared with cold desire to kill.
The scorpion-like creature's right claw was a grotesque sight, resembling a tightened joint marred by disfigurement. The claw was gnarled and almost twisted midway, with segments that appeared fused together in a misshapen mass of chitin. Jagged edges and uneven surfaces jutted out at odd angles, looking nightmarish and unnatural.
In stark contrast, the scorpion's left claw looked meticulously designed, resembling a four-sided pincer. Each side of the pincer looked razor-sharp, ready to ensnare and crush anything in its grip. The segmented body looked smooth, ending with a wickedly curved tail with a stinger.
Startled by its unnatural appearance, Liala squealed. "What the hell is that?"
Looking up and down and standing against the creature, Raian roared, "That.... is mine."