"So your name is Felix, and you say you're an adventurer?" Gustavo was in charge of questioning the blond boy, Felix, while Eugene had taken back the reigns of the automobile to give the others a chance to rest.
"Um, yes sir. I'm an adventurer. I stumbled upon a few thieves in the desert robbing someone and I helped out. It turned out that they were not alone. While the person they were robbing got away, they turned their anger on me. I think I ran for a few hours before you guys found me." Felix rubbed the back of his head with a bashful smile as he recounted his story to Gustavo.
"That sounds like a story that any random person can come up with." Gustavo said with a disbelieving expression.
"But I'm telling the truth! Look, I swear I'm not lying!" Felix tried to convince Gustavo.
Eugene listened to all this with a curious expression on his face, but he did not but in. Instead, his attention was turned inward.
'Hey, Demon! Can you answer me?' Eugene thought to himself, trying to find a way to rouse the voice that had spoken to him when he had found Felix.
'I can answer you, but that will use up valuable energy that I am trying to save.' The Demon replied tiredly. 'And call me Argon. I have a name.' He added.
'Oh... Well, Argon... What are you doing inside of me?' Eugene asked. 'And you promised me power, but I don't feel different from before!'
'Well," Argon started, "First of all, I am using you as a temporary vessel. Secondly, do you think you are ready to wield a power as mysterious as Time? Even if you think so, that does not mean your body is ready. Reach the fourth tier as a mage, then maybe you will be ready.' He stated in a demeaning tone.
'Now, don't disturb me anymore. I have to rest and conserve my strength. Also, the kid is telling the truth. He's not after you.'
With those words, Eugene felt the faint presence of Argon vanish from his mind. He was quiet for some time before sighing. Indeed, was he ready to wield magic as powerful as time itself?
"Gustavo." Eugene called out to the older man.
"Yes?" Gustavo looked ahead. He did not use honorifics to refer to Eugene to prevent Felix from finding out his identity.
"He's telling the truth. We can believe him. For now, at least." Eugene said, casting a glance back at Felix. The young boy grinned widely at Eugene, thankful for his input.
"Are you sure? How can we trust him?" Gustavo was still doubtful.
"Trust me, not him." Eugene hummed and turned back to the road. They had wasted some time when they ran into Felix, and now, he wanted to make up for it. The automobile was speeding through the desert at the moment, raising a trail of dust and sand in its wake.
With the makeup of the desert, it was hard, almost impossible to create a map that would last. But thankfully, there were other ways to travel through the desert without getting lost.
A special compass that was embedded in the front of the automobile was their guide. A larger version was fixed on the inside of the carriage, while a smaller one was in front of Eugene, guiding him as he drove.
"By the way, Felix. How old are you?" Eugene asked. He was curious as to whether the blond boy was his mate.
"Oh, I'm eighteen. Just turned eighteen a few days ago." Felix replied almost immediately.
"Oh? Any family?" Gustavo leaned in and asked this time.
"... Uhm, no. Just me." Felix seemed down when the question was asked. It as obvious that family was a sore topic for him.
"I see. Well, what about talent? I doubt you would have escaped those 'bandits' if you were a normal person." Gustavo shifted the direction of the conversation.
"Ah, well. I like to consider myself a one star martial artist, although I'm probably trash." Felix replied while scratching his cheek in a show of his embarrassment.
Gustavo was taken aback by this. A supposed orphan who was on his own, had developed his qi channels enough to be considered a one star martial artist? That would be a sign that he was a talent! A diamond in the rough! He was someone worth paying attention to.
As these thoughts passed through Gustavo's mind, the reminder of his injuries that he had yet to tell Eugene of also followed.
After that short exchange, no one spoke much again. Felix asked a few questions, but only got responses that Gustavo felt were not going to expose their identity. Soon, the sun began to set in the horizon, dipping below the top of a large dune of sand.
Sand shifted underneath the specialized tires of the automobile as it drove around the dune. However, Gustavo's sharp intuition began to tell him that something was wrong.
"Eugene, stop!" He called out and Eugene immediately did as was said. His trust in Gustavo was immense, so his body immediately did as Gustavo said.
Shuaa!
A spray of sand was raised as the automobile came to an abrupt stop. At the same time, Eugene began to notice something strange happening a short distance away. The sand at the side of the dune was shaking and sliding down.
'Something is coming!' He realized just as the side of the dune burst into a shower of sand.
Boom!
A giant brown figure that was tense of meters thick and wide sprang out of the dune, spraying sand in all directions. Its body twisted and turned in the air before diving back down and burrowing back into the earth.
"A desert worm?!" Eugene recognized the creature.
Desert Worm, one of the apex predators of the Sand Sea. It would probably take a tier five mage to defeat a fully grown Desert Worm in its prime.
Whoosh!
The gigantic creature dove back into the sand without paying any attention to the puny humans that were to the side.