"I'm wrong! Goddess Seraphyra, help me!"
Cassian howled at the heavens, his voice raw and desperate.
Three days had crawled by since he began his trek westward, and the desert showed no mercy.
A haphazard pile of boulders, stacked like a crude hut, became his only refuge from the relentless sun.
Cassian crouched beneath it, clutching his [Common Health Potion] like a lifeline.
He took a careful sip.
[Hp restored]
[Hp: 20/100]
Cassian grunted, watching the number tick up by just one. His Hp stubbornly hovered at 20, never more.
If it dropped below that, hunger, thirst, and the agony of three days' walking would flatten him, leaving him unconscious in the sand.
'Only three more sips left, huh.'
He licked his lips, eyes fixed on the bottle, craving the potion's taste.
His mouth watered, the urge to gulp down the rest nearly overwhelming.
"No!"
He snapped, shoving the bottle back into his inventory.
Out of sight, out of mind.
He threw his head back and screamed at the endless blue above,
"Come save me, Seraphyra!"
He'd been calling her name since last night, when his HP dipped below 20 for a moment before he took a sip.
The pain in his gut when it dropped below 20 made even Seraphyra's chaos seem preferable to this torment.
Cassian kept shouting until his voice cracked, the sun inching higher, burning away hope.
He glared at the sky and muttered,
"Time to move, then."
Unbuttoning his shirt, he wrapped it around his head like a makeshift mask, leaving only his eyes peeking out from beneath the white cloth.
He forced himself to his feet and trudged west.
The moment he stepped from the shade, pain shot through him.
The sand scorched his feet, the already reddened soles screaming in protest.
Cassian grumbled like a wounded boar, yanking off his shirt and fishing out the thief knife from his inventory.
He hacked off the sleeves, muttering,
"I should've gone north, or south, or even east. But no, I picked this hopeless direction. Stupid, absolutely stupid, Cassian."
He wrapped the sleeves around his feet, tying them at the ankles with strips of fabric.
The makeshift socks were rough and awkward, but at least they kept his feet from burning.
Cassian stepped out of the shadows, head bowed, sweat already soaking the cloth around his face.
He walked. And walked.
The sun crawled across the sky, turning blue to red as it dipped toward the horizon.
A cool breeze finally brushed his skin, a fleeting mercy.
Cassian took another sip of [Common Health Potion], but thirst betrayed him. He licked the last drops from the bottle, his throat aching for more.
[Hp restored]
[Hp: 23/100]
"No!"
He hurled the empty bottle away, frustration boiling over. He screamed at the desert, kicked a pebble, and cursed the world.
"Fuck this place already!"
Cassian dropped to his knees, the last of his strength draining away after his wild scream and the fit he had thrown, which had left him extremely tired.
He collapsed face-first into the sand, too weak to move, mumbling,
"Help me already, Seraphyra."
The shadow beneath him began to swirl, those ominous eyes flickering back from the darkness.
The shadows watched him for a moment, then slid beneath his sleeping form, gliding silently as he snored.
Cassian fell into a deep slumber as the ache in his back began to act up.
Ten shadowy hands crept from the darkness, lifting Cassian as if he weighed nothing. He floated above the ground, carried by the living night.
The shadows glided down the dune, heading west, moving with the speed of a snake chasing prey, faster and faster with every second.
Two hands at the front cradled Cassian's head like a pillow, adjusting gently as he shifted.
Another hand rose, forming a shield to block the wind.
In an instant, the shield expanded, wrapping around his body like a dome, cocooning him in shadowy comfort.
Cassian rested peacefully inside, feeling no movement, as if lying on a stationary bed, yet he was whisked along like a passenger in a bullet train.
Even in sleep, his grim mood faded.
A faint smile tugged at his lips, and in his dreams, he felt as if he were lying on someone's lap.
"Thanks, Seraphyra," he murmured.
He woke, groggy and sore, eyes barely open, the sun forcing him to rise.
Cassian stood, shirt draped over his front, yawning as he stretched for another brutal day.
After a few stretches, he scanned the sky for the sun, trying to find west.
"Here's the sun,"
He pointed east, spun around, and muttered,
"That way must be west… What the—"
He froze, eyes wide.
Cassian screamed in joy, tossing his shirt into the air,
"Tents!"
A small settlement of white tent huts, like circus tents, shimmered in the distance.
He counted nearly ten small ones, with a huge tent in the center shaped like a sail, its roof fluttering in the breeze.
Cassian bolted forward, but tripped on his makeshift socks. He tore them off, flinging them aside, and sprinted barefoot, pain forgotten.
'Finally, a place to eat!'
He skipped with joy, closing in on the settlement.
Yes, doubts flickered, maybe it was an Infinite's lair, or monsters, or even people who killed humans like him, but he didn't care.
He just wanted water and food, as the messages kept flashing before his eyes:
[Low HP: 18/100]
[Illyria Desert's Hunter Activated]
[+5 Defense added]
[+5 Strength added]
Hunger gnawed at him, thirst twisted his throat like a corkscrew.
The pain of sore muscles returned.
Each step made his legs clamp and tear, the messages screaming bad news.
[Low HP: 17/100]
[Low HP: 15/100]
…
…
…
[Low HP: 12/100]
Even the trap explosion hadn't hurt this much.
Tears streamed down his cheeks.
Cassian gritted his teeth, clenched his fists, and screamed,
"Somebody… please give me something to eat and drink… food… and dr—"
Before he could finish, a massive force crashed down from the sky, pinning him to the ground.
He had no time to react. Darkness swallowed him.
Cassian coughed as he regained consciousness, sand sticking to his lips.
Before he could sit up, a spear whistled toward his throat. He screamed, flinching.
A round shield of water materialized out of nowhere, blocking the spear with a splash.
The spear clattered to the ground, the water shield dissolving and trickling away.
A message flashed before his eyes:
[Skill activated: Shield of Tears]
A wave of boos and jeers erupted around him, the noise dizzying.
Stunned, mouth agape, Cassian looked up. He was surrounded by people, humans, like him.
But each one reeked of foul odors and bad breath, cups in hand, shouting and jeering.
"Next one!"
A booming voice cut through the chaos, and the crowd roared.
Before Cassian could ask where he was, a giant of a man, nearly seven feet tall, strode forward, hefting a massive axe in one hand and a cup of booze in the other.
"We have our challenger, Bore!"
The crowd screamed, the ground shaking, booze sloshing everywhere as they raised their hands and howled.
'What the hell is happening? Are they here to watch me die?'
Cassian gulped, trying to speak, his voice barely a whisper.
"Hello, I'm a human too, not Infinite!"
The giant tossed aside his empty cup and raised the axe, ready to split Cassian in half.
'He doesn't look like the listening type,' Cassian thought.
'Guess I have to fight.'
He aimed at the axe, deciding to use his Blessing and claim it before he was killed.
Cassian lifted his hands, eyes glowing red, and commanded in his mind,
'Your weapon is Mine!'
[Warning!]
[Target's resistance is greater than your Authority]
[Claim failed!]
'I screwed up, didn't I.'
The Blessing fizzled. The axe swung down with deadly force.
A gust of wind, and the axe was stopped by a water shield that sprang up from the pool at Cassian's feet, saving him again.
[Skill activated: Shield of Tears]
'So that's how Shield of Tears works, huh!'
Cassian staggered behind the shield, heart pounding.
The water shield melted back into a pool at his feet.
The giant howled in pain. Cassian saw his right arm was broken, the axe thudding to the ground.
The man clutched his arm, howling, while the crowd fell silent.
Slowly, all eyes turned to Cassian in shock, then their lips curled into wild grins.
"Is there any challenger to face this mighty shield?"
The voice thundered, cheers following, echoing through the camp.
They jumped and sang, the giant disappearing into the crowd, head bowed, as the others sang with satisfaction.
'What is happening here?'
Cassian was completely lost.
"I lost five coins because of you today!"
A voice called from his right.
Cassian turned to see a teenager about his age, wearing an orange crop top and grey cargo pants. The teen grinned,
"You have to pay for my drink!"
Yet Cassian's mind was filled with a single fear,
'She is a girl. Seraphyra will kill her now.'