A Path of Bone and Poison 115 I.T. 18 Sandworm

We did not have a leader, and for the most part I think this was the right way to go. Previously Hylia had trained with Sierra and Leisha, which made those three into a well-defined unit. Lucifer was my familiar and had a connection with me that surpassed what I had with Hylia. This made him ideal to work with me. Likewise, Bailey and I had a worked together previously.

Like this we had come to an arrangement. We split into two different groups. We could maintain contact because of Hylia's telepathy and our connection. Our squad had effectively been split into two smaller squads. The power balance was also split evenly. The only problem was we only had a single person who was capable of healing. This meant that my group would need to be more careful than theirs.

I had also lost my vampiric magic ability, but it was not truly gone, because it was a heritage ability it was condensed into my core. This meant that Lucifer was capable of healing himself. He was an all-rounder, but this ability made him be our tank for now.

The desert was hot, and despite our uniforms we were sweating heavily. We had already been walking for several hours but had not encountered anything. There was no sign of monsters, or shade, or life of any kind. We were currently not short on water because of my habit of storing any kind of supplies that I could need in my inventory. But there was no telling how long it would last.

The sun never moved, by my judgment we had been walking for half a day, but the sun hung in the center of the sky. We were getting tired from the constant strain on our bodies and eventually decided to set up camp.

With the sun hanging high in the sky it was impossible to get any sort of meaningful rest. After discussion we decided it was best if we dug a hole to rest in. The sand would be cooler the further we went down, which could give us a little relief from the constant rays of the sun.

We rested in turns. Two people stayed up at a time, while the others slept. My partner was actually Lucifer. It made sense as I was the only one able to truly communicate with him. Hylia could in a way, but Lucifer seemed rather apprehensive about letting her in his mind and resisted to invasion.

The "night" passed quickly, and even though we had each gained several hours of sleep we did not feel relieved in the slightest. The sun would only continue to beat down on us, even in the hole we had dug. I could only curse myself for not storing a tent in my inventory.

We continued to trudge through the desert. Each step exhausting us more than the last. We only knew that we were making any progress thanks to Bailey's perception.

A few hours later we encountered our first enemy. The opponent was a large sand worm. We did not know it was upon us until moments before the attack came. Bailey was the one who noticed it and shouted for us to move even as she jumped out of the way herself.

From where we were standing a large cylindrical body burst through the sand. The creature was around 5 feet thick, but I could not tell you how long it was; most of its body was still underneath the sand. It had no eyes, but a large mouth that looked like a demonic hair clamp. Several rows of elongated teeth protruded from the creature's head, a sight that sent chills down my spine.

The creature was surprisingly agile, as its mouth shot out like a whip. The target of its attack was none other than me. I activated my Arcane body, focusing the mana on my legs and I jumped away from the attack. Even in midair I did not forget to counterattack as several bullets rained down on the beast.

The others were not inactive during this time. Bailey had backed off into the distance and began to cast her elemental bullet ability. A strong surge of mana could be felt building up around her.

Hylia and Sierra had also gained some distance, and they used their arrows and fireballs to bombard the worm. The damage from the attacks was minimal, the worm had an incredibly hard hide. On top of that living in a desert granted the beast a high amount of fire resistance.

Lucifer had taken a melee approach, as he attempted to tear into the beasts hide with his claws and fangs. Small wounds could be seen growing on the beast, but the damage was not nearly enough.

Leisha likewise was battling the beast, but she attacked it from the front, countering its rapid strikes with her own claws. Wounds began to appear on her, but quickly closed as fireballs rained down on her and the worm.

I could only admire the teamwork the group had gained in the last 6 years. My admiration did not stop me from attacking. I knew that the time we were buying was incredibly precious. Behind us the magical surge was slowly reaching a climax. The end would be soon.

Even as I thought this, I could feel a magical explosion behind me. I did not have any time to react as a high-speed projectile pierced through the worm. It was dead before it even hit the ground. Nobody was surprised at the beast's death. We all knew who the real powerhouse was.

We did not waste the opportunity that had been presented to us. Before the creature could pixilated and disappear, we all rapidly approached the worm, and began to tear into its flesh. We only had several moments. The creature soon disappeared into a pixilated mess, but what we had in our hands stayed. This is one of the many things we had learned in the tower.

What we had grabbed was the hard skin of the beast, between all of us we had grabbed enough to make a tarp. It was not much but would allow us to make a cover for our holes when we rested.

Chapter end