The sun was rising when I returned with the katana to where I'd been, and there I found the Sand Demons were waiting for me with a camel. I thought it was odd, seeing creatures made of sand standing with one that had blood running through it.
I was quick to ask Maia where they found one as my curiosity was riled up. “The Sand Demons are lords of the desert. There is scarcely anything here that they do not know of, as they have roamed here for thousands of years, killing any desert traveller who they come across and who has not killed them.” Once again, I thought of killing the two Sand Demons to raise my points so that I would reach the bronze coins I need. Certainly, I had the stone heart, and they would let me kill them, since I had no reason to feel pity for them myself. They seem to be evil beings to travellers, after all. “Can they allow me to kill them if I have the stone heart?” I asked, slowly convincing myself to do the deed. “You said they'll let me do anything, right?” “Yes, they would. However, I would not advise it.” “Why?” “They would let you kill them, truly, but you would be overreaching to do that. You should know that the Sand Demons are quite violent creatures, and will kill you without a thought when they think that you are doing too much.” I shook my head as if to dispel the thoughts. I wasn't even in favour of killing them in the first place. The Sand Demon bowed before me as I mounted the camel, and it started to lead me in a direction I would never have believed could lie the source of my nourishment. After all, deserts barely had landmarks, and everywhere looked the same — sands upon sands upon sands and dryness. The journey dragged on until the sun started to burn, and I covered myself with the hood, while the two Sand Demons walked before me and the camel. We continued for the rest of the day, and I was forced to ask Maia a few questions to keep myself engaged. “The Sand Demon told me that I was the first to kill one of them since Alexandros. Tell me about this.” “Sure. Alexandros, your forefather, was a descendant of Zeus. He was once leading his army through these plains as he moved past Pella, his birthplace, when he encountered the Sand Demons. They killed a number of his men, until he took them one on one and tried to fight them. He pulled out his sword, and very much like in your case, he could not get through them until Zeus stepped in, made the sword into a blade of water, and even told him where to cut and to hold the heart up. So in a way, Zeus was instrumental to Alexandros’ victory. Else, they would have killed him.” I mulled over the story in silence before recalling one important detail. “So we are going to Pella, my forefather's birthplace to find the sword?” “Indeed. The Sword of Pella is Alexandros’ sword, the one which he used to defeat the Sand Demon with Zeus's aid.” I said nothing after, and continued to think of the story until I slept off in the camel's saddle. I had had a busy night after all, running from, fighting, and killing Sand Demons, and had not slept a wink since my System Alert's rude awakening. I was flattered to wake up to the Sand Demon carrying me in its arms off the camel, and for the first time since I left the small box that I had gotten my metallic body in, my eyes settled on a green landscape — palm trees, grass on the floor, and a running spring with water that was so clear. However, it did not escape my notice that we were still a short distance away from the greens. “Maia?” I called, needing an explanation. “Please help me ask why the Sand Demon has only put us a distance away from the oasis.” I felt my system dashboard buzz with a new notification. *1. New Notification Alert.* Intelligence: 4/10 : - 3 for not figuring out why Sand Demon did not reach the Oasis. My mouth hung open, disappointed on seeing that my intelligence had returned to the level on which it had been when I set out from the box. I wanted to ask why, but the penalty of having my intelligence level go even lower than it was stopped me in my tracks. “Do you know why your intelligence points dropped?” Maia asked. “Because I asked a dumb question.” “Correct. Now can you give yourself an answer? Why the Sand Demon didn't reach the Oasis?” “Because the water in the oasis could kill it. The water vapours from the sun, and possible rains and water splashes too.” “Good.” Maia answered, and my system dashboard buzzed again. *1. New Notification Alert.* Intelligence: 7/10 : +3 for figuring out why Sand Demon did not reach the Oasis. I was happy to have the level go back to what it was, and was careful to not ask any questions I thought Maia would deem stupid after that.I was so pleased by the Oasis that I planned to sleep there.It was a beautiful place, a welcome change from the dryness that filled everywhere else in that desert, and I spread my hood and sat there after finding the camel a comfortable place to graze, simply absorbing the pleasantness of the place. The camel was like a gift from the Sand Demons, and the oasis was a place I would hate to leave, but I had to, if I wanted a body and not some cursed half-metal being unable to die..“Maia?” I called, looking over the oasis.“Yes.”“How far are we from the Sword of Pella?“You have covered 24.6 kilometres, which means you have 25.4 kilometres to cover.”I bit my lip in agony, seeing that I still had not reached up to half my journey. Getting up to my feet, I went and took the camel, speaking softly to it as my hands touched against the brown fur. When I felt I had spoken enough, I climbed it and looked at the night sky above me, killing all plans to sleep.The night was serene and gentle
A small altar that was almost negligible gave it away.It stood close to a broken wall that was roughly triangular, with the jagged, chipped edges.I looked at the altar as my camel rode past, and then looked away, going forward till I looked again, and saw another altar like it, just as small and near a roughly triangular wall with jagged, chipped edges. Then I rode forward again, and saw another altar like it, just as small, and near another roughly triangular wall with the same jagged, chipped edges. All similar.At first, I thought this was something the king who destroyed the city had done, but it was all too similar. The same cracks and chips in the same places.Swallowing, I held up my hand and watched the shadow of me on my camel by my right side. From the map on my system dashboard, I could clearly recall that I had been heading north all along, and even now, it was proof that I was still heading north. Then, urging my camel so that it went in the straightest line that it cou
For the second time, my system alarm woke me up.I opened my eyes and jumped to my feet, my heart beating within my metallic chest as I checked my dashboard.*1. New Notification Alert*Warning Alerts: 173,789,537x bricks of Odesso moving. 0.0 km away.Swallowing to get something down my dried throat, I quickly wore my night goggles before looking around me, and not one of the bricks that I had studied so cautiously when I first came here was in sight. All had disappeared into emptiness, and it was simply sand all around.“Oh no.” I gasped. What was I to do? How would I know what challenge the bricks were going to pose for me?“Maia? What are the bricks about?”“They move.”If I had been angry before, I was right about to spiral into madness now. I knew the bricks could move, as that was clear in the notification alert. It told me that the bricks were moving.“And how do I fight them?”“Use what you have.”It was almost the same as the first time when I asked what to do against the S
There had to be some way for me to both dodge the bricks as they fell, and simultaneously cover the distance before the gate got too small for me to pass through it. I didn't even want to know what could happen if I didn't pass — I had spent too long in Odesso to want to spend any more time in this cursed, abandoned, dry place.Between me and the gate was a distance I mentally calculated to be two kilometres, and I started to run even faster, trying to be just as careful with dodging the bricks, but the gate was not waiting and I panicked, my fear and sense of urgency getting the better of me. I started to run, jumping over the bricks until one hit me and made me fall. Refusing to stop, I jumped to my feet and continued, only to get another brick to my face, stunning me with the force it used. I still do not know where the spirit came from — maybe from the sight of the gate becoming smaller, but I started to crawl when one of the bricks going through the sand hit my metallic hand and
My system immediately brought the updates as I lay outside the hole I just got out of, tired but alive. I couldn't die, anyway.Updates to System Dashboard*Name: [Alexander]Level: 1Bronze Coins: 400/500 : +300 Bronze Coins for passing through the lost way of the ancient city of Odesso. 0 used.Experience Points (XP): 7,000/10,000 : + 5,000 XP for passing through the lost way of the ancient city of Odesso. 0 used.Health Points (HP): 7,000/10,000 : + 5,000 HP for passing through the lost way of the ancient city of Odesso. Magic Points (MP): 7,000/10,000 : +5,000 MP for passing through the Narrow Gate of Odesso.Strength: 5/10 : +4 for resilience.Intelligence: 9/10 : +2 for figuring out the way out of Odesso.Agility: 10/10 : +3 after dodging 173,789,537 bricks successfully.*Skill Section*Active Skills: +NEW Fire Breathing. Passive Skills: Night Vision. Skill Cooldowns: 5 hours (Night Vision). 3 hours (Fire Breathing).*Quest and Mission Log*Current Quests: Find the Sword of P
With a gasp, I jumped to my feet.Somehow, it felt as though I was only 3.8km away from coming to the end of Level 1, as though all I had to do was to reach Pella. Excitement spread through my bones, and I got up with determination, even when the hot wind blew in my face.“In what direction does Pella lie?”“North east. Keep your direction straight and you will come to the great city of Pella.”I checked my map, noted the direction, and started to walk without stopping. The feel of the hot wind blew in my face, threatening to scald me as I covered my face with my hood, still travelling. At least, Odesso had one blessing — it had kept me so distracted with its falling bricks that I never realised I was moving.Now I had moved so far that I covered all the distance without knowing. All I wished for now was my camel. I liked the beast while I still had it, as it was sturdy and strong, but now I did not know where it was, and could only hope that it was still alive.The distance to Pella
With my katana in my hand, I jumped and stood on the altar, trying to listen.I could hear it. No… I could hear THEM. Their feet tapped gently on the stone floor, and the growls were low, and predatory. For the first time, I remembered my fire breathing power. Trying to do it just the way Maia had taught me to, I exhaled in the air, and was met with disappointment when all I did was huff into empty space.They felt even closer now, and I gave off two more huffs, before a final one set off a flame that illuminated the whole temple and showed me what I was locked in here with.Lions.Nine lions.For the first time, I got to understand how truly terrifying those animals were. From a distance, it appears majestic, even reminiscent of a cat, but when it comes so close that you can feel its predatory breath close to you, all you think of is how it can kill.Even then, my katana felt like a trivial thing to fight a lion with.One lurched forward, and before I knew what was happening, a might
Quietly, I moved back to the wall while they followed.I could feel all four pairs of eyes on me, and I sat, still waiting with my back to the wall for any of them to come close. However, they were just as wary of me as I was of them, and seemed to wait for me all the same.Overall, I wanted this over with. My broken shoulder hurt, but I held my katana tight in my left hand, deliberating on it. If I could wield enough force with my left hand to cut, then I would get one lion down and be left with three.I soon got up, and they watched, unsure of what I wanted to do. Without wasting another second, I ran forward and held my katana as tight as I could with my left hand, cut into the nearest lion. My weapon would've slipped, but not with my hand being made of metal, which proved to be my saviour.The moment I cut that one, I knew I had only succeeded in wounding it with how weak I cut, so I followed with a slash that put the tip of my katana through the lion's throat. Another lion, deci