Early in the morning, somewhere in the desert.
When the first rays of dawn pushed aside the darkness on the horizon, a monster, who was tightly wrapped in clothes and thick cloth, moved in the shelter under a huge rock and climbed up clumsily.
But it did not wake up naturally.
In the darkness, the 'monster' stretched out its thick limbs and yawned tiredly. It peeled its head and face out of the thick cloth and took a deep breath.
The sky was bright.
The teenager, who was wrapped in clothes, stretched his hand out of the huge rock in a hazy state.
A gust of cold wind immediately blew past his palm, making him shudder.
'It's really cold.'
Thales, who had wrapped himself up tightly, shivered and rubbed his hands together. He touched the fire he had painstakingly started with flint and dried twigs last night, but it had been extinguished at some point in time.
He shook his head with lingering fear.
'Next time, I can't spend the night on such a high sand dune. The wind is too strong, even with rocks to shelter me from the wind.'
So the Prince thought, and leaned against the rock behind him in a daze, in the dim light of day.
He looked at the endless desert from afar. It took him thirty seconds to completely wake up from his drowsiness.
During Thales' six years of studying in Dragon Clouds City, almost every scholar who was lucky enough to go to Heroic Spirit Palace to teach the two students with prominent statuses would describe the Great Desert as "hot", "scorching", or other similar words.
The truth was, only half of the time, it was deadly hot.
The other half of the time, its nights were cold enough to store ice or freeze Thales to death.
'Damn it.'
Thales shrank his body and thought resentfully, 'They must have heard it from someone else.'
'Serves the Northlanders right for not being able to enter the Great Desert.'
Thales sighed with emotion. He raised his gaze and took in the small canyon under the huge rock, as well as the endless sand dunes not far away.
Nature was the most wonderful painter. Under the crimson horizon, the rolling sand dunes were dyed golden. The curves were elegant and smooth, like the buttocks and back of a beauty lying lazily on her side. It gave people an indescribable sense of gentleness.
However, Thales was the only one who knew the merciless truth hidden under this refreshing and beautiful scenery.
The sun rose, and the coldness of the night gradually disappeared. There were still a few hours left before the scorching heat of noon. This was the precious time he had to travel.
Thales opened his luggage and checked his inventory.
A piece of cheese and two rolls.
And …
The last bag of water.
He sighed.
Thales pursed his dry lips and suppressed his slight hunger. He stuffed the cheese back into his luggage.
He took out what was left of the bread and silently chewed on it in the quiet morning to replenish the energy he needed for the morning. Before he found another water source, he couldn't eat too much, as it would make his body water deplete faster.
When he thought of this, the pressure in Thales' heart suddenly increased.
Thales got up and dug a sandpit not far from the camp. He uncovered a piece of sackcloth and took out a few stones from it. He was glad to find that the bottom half of the stones were cold and wet.
The prince treated them like lovers. He happily opened his mouth and sucked on the moisture on them. The taste was a little strange, but he could get some water from them without using up precious water. Why not?
But water shortage was not the only threat.
Thales tested the temperature around him and quietly took off his clothes to keep him warm for the night. He tied up his luggage and extended his hand into the bonfire, which only had a little bit of warmth left. He blackened the upper half of his face, especially the area around his eyes.
When Thales, who had been walking in the endless desert for a day, realized that his vision was starting to blur, the panic in his heart almost overflowed his chest.
Then he remembered this method. It was said that the Northland hunters in the Day Before the Bitter Cold Winter would occasionally use this method to avoid snow blindness that could be caused by wandering too long in the white snow. Thales dared to swear on his experience in the desert for the past three days that this method was equally effective in the desert.
After Thales finished blackening his face, he unfolded the piece of sackcloth used to collect water and tied it to the top of his head. He tied his hair and temples tightly. Although Thales did not think that the desert was very hot, even though everyone had told him that the biggest threat in the desert was heat, the headscarf should more or less be of some help, be it to keep out the sun or to keep out the wind.
From the leggings to the cuffs, he carefully checked his clothes. He took out the black cloth that Jala gave him and used it as a mask to cover his mouth and nose. Only his eyes were exposed. He carried his luggage and the Crossbow of Time, grabbed two tree branches that he used as walking sticks, and confirmed that the direction in which the sun rose was to his left.
'May everything go well today.
'Let me find a water source …
'Or help.'
With that thought in mind, the prince took a deep breath and walked out of the shelter. He was done with his preparations and was just short of wrapping himself up as a surprise gift.
The wind immediately blew against his face, bringing with it the coldness of the night. He could not help but narrow his eyes.
There was a large sand dune in front of him. Thales carefully circled around its center and searched for a gentle slope that was far away but had a small slope. He tried his best to avoid the direction of the wind and went up it diagonally. He crossed this sand dune and foolishly went up and down in a straight line on his first day in the desert. After climbing over two sand dunes, he was panting and his legs were numb. Now, Thales had finally learned his lesson.
* Whoosh … Whoosh … Whoosh … *
The wind and sand blew against his back. Tiny grains of sand hit the sackcloth beside his ears and made a buzzing sound.
Thales used the strength of his walking stick to move forward step by step. When he encountered a high slope, he would take a detour, and when he encountered a gentle slope, he would proceed cautiously.
The sun gradually rose, and the cold desert gradually warmed up. Occasionally, he would turn his head to look around, but all he could see was yellow sand. He could only hear the wind whistling past his ears. There was no sign of any birds or beasts.
Even if there were plants, there were only short shrubs and deep-rooted drought willows. They lay lifelessly on the sand.
Thales was still the only person in the vast sand dunes that he could see.
There was no sign of human habitation.
There were not even animal carcasses. At least they could remind him of the danger here and replace the dreariness with wariness.
Thales shook his head and tried to hum a little tune. He thought about some pleasant things. The prince, who had been trapped by the high wall for six years, had read quite a number of wanderers' notes. He knew that in such an extremely harsh environment, the most fatal thing was not the threats from the outside world, but the mental pressure brought about by loneliness and panic.
Nothing could destroy a person more than isolation and loneliness.
This was Thales' fourth day in the desert.
He did not know when he entered the Great Desert.
It seemed that there was no particularly obvious boundary between Eckstedt's City of Faraway Prayers and the famous Great Desert. For example, there was a boundary stone with the words' Eckstedt Border 'or' Travelers Are Prohibited 'written on it.
In fact, after happily 'parting ways' with the other two, Thales rode for a day. The first place he entered was the Rocky Desert, which was almost identical to the Land of Barren Rocks. It was full of exposed rocks.
There were huge bedrock everywhere, and the terrain occasionally rose and fell. His field of vision was extremely wide.
There were not too many low shrubs, which deceived Thales' eyes, making him think that the Great Desert was not in front of him yet.
'I have to continue walking.' He tore open the dried meat in his mouth and told himself that he should be able to find someone to receive him at the junction.
Thanks to Silver Shadowman's blessing, Thales could sense the direction he was going. He was heading south, and he was gradually reaching the end of the slightly higher rock strata in the north. The vegetation began to decrease, the temperature brought by the sun slowly increased, and his lips became drier by the day.
As he traveled further, he no longer saw the bare bedrock in front of him. Instead, he began to see gravel the size of a pot lid and fists. Fortunately, the quality of Northland's warhorses' hooves was excellent, so Thales did not have to suffer the pain of trudging.
However, Thales passed by an abandoned settlement that was empty. He shook his head in disappointment when he saw an abandoned well, and the strong Northland warhorses showed a reluctance to continue moving forward that could not be ignored.
When the reins in his hands became increasingly difficult to control, the second prince, who had been mumbling about geography along the way, suddenly realized that he had entered an uninhabited area.
He had unknowingly entered a no man's land.
Half a day later, rather than wasting his strength to drag a horse that constantly wanted to fall back and force his way forward, Thales reluctantly took the necessary supplies and let the horse go. He broke off two thick branches and sharpened them into walking sticks. He used one to carry his luggage, and the other to help him walk. He moved forward with difficulty.
The ground under his feet was still hard, and the boundless Gobi Desert was still in front of him. However, the wind was getting stronger, and the temperature was getting hotter.
As he quickened his pace, Thales frowned and realized that the gravel under his feet was getting thinner. His footsteps on the ground were no longer crisp and clear.
Ten hours later, at dusk, he raised his head after he was stingy with water. Only then did he realize to his surprise that regardless of whether he raised his head or looked back, everything around him was already covered in yellow sand.
Unknowingly, he had arrived at the Great Desert.
Thales stared blankly at everything in front of him and thought so.
The problem was …
Where was the person to receive him from the Secret Intelligence Department?
Did he miss someone, or did he go the wrong way?
Thales hesitated for a long time as he looked back at the road he came from, but he was at a loss. In the end, he decided to continue moving forward. He would head southeast according to the direction in his memory to look for an oasis and the supply line for the Constellation army.
Before this, Gleeward and Kurtz in Dragon Clouds City seemed to have predicted that he would not stop even if he escaped out of the city. They had long since prepared an outfit suitable for the journey for the prince. Monty's two mounts were obviously related to the Secret Intelligence Department. The luggage on the saddle was filled with the necessary items to cross the desert: water, bread, salt, flint, as well as thick clothes and ropes.
There were also the two walking sticks he broke on the way.
Thales felt good for a while after he finished checking his luggage.
However, the hellish journey of the next day told him that he was wrong.
Thales had underestimated the Great Desert.
It was far more terrifying than he had imagined.
The loose sand on the ground seemed harmless, but in fact, it was an obstacle that made it difficult to walk. With every step he took, he would sink into a pit. When he climbed up the slope, he would often slide toward his heels. It was even more difficult to deal with than the snowy ground in the north during winter. Thales even felt that he did not walk more than ten miles on the first day.
The wind in the desert was strong and rapid. If Thales was not careful, he would be blown off his feet. There was once when he was climbing up the slope, he was blown off. He rolled and screamed as he went down the sand dune. His ten minutes of climbing were all in vain.
After that, Thales made up his mind to never walk up high slopes or straight up sand dunes again. It would be best if he walked along the ripples in the sand. If he could not get past the wind, the wind would not be able to get past him.
The terrain in the desert was not flat. Not only were there undulating sand dunes, he would also encounter huge sandstones and steep canyons from time to time. After Thales painstakingly 'explored' the bottom of a canyon, he felt that it would be better for him to stay away from them.
Just like that, he moved forward. The first day, the first night, the second day, the second night …
He walked all the way until now.
The fourth day in the desert.
It was still the fourth day without any signs of human habitation.
Step by step, Thales narrowed his eyes and tried his best to move forward. He counted the number of steps he took, and every once in a while, he would remove his waterskin and take a sip of water to moisten his mouth.
He did not know how long he had been walking. The sun was getting higher, and the surroundings were getting hotter.
He could even feel that his skin was covered in sweat under his headscarf. Wrapped in his clothes, it was sticky, wet, stuffy, and uncomfortable.
But he could not take it off.
He could not.
Thales resisted the urge to vomit. He held onto his staff and walked down a slope facing the wind. When he was leeward, he turned around and looked around. He could not help but frown. He felt that he had gone astray.
'Damn it.'
He cursed in his heart and stuck his staff into the sand. He looked at the shadow cast by the staff on the ground, turned around, found a stone, and placed it on top of the shadow.
On the first day after he entered the desert and suffered enough, Thales encountered another problem that made things worse. The amazing sense of direction he obtained after he entered the Black Track made Thales so happy that he thought that he would never be lost again. However, this amazing ability failed after he entered the Great Desert. He could no longer sense the terrain under his feet or the direction ahead of him.
'It seems that no matter how omnipotent the power and existence is, there will still be problems of not acclimatizing to the environment.' Thales thought wearily. While the sun was not strong and the sand was not hot, he sat down to rest for a while.
'How long more do I have to walk before I meet reinforcements?
Will I die here?
'This is bad.
'F * ck!'
Thales shook his head and patted his cheeks to calm down his impatience.
'Don't think about it, don't think about it, don't think about it.'
Thales told himself, 'Reach the next destination first, then think about the next step.'
Otherwise, he was afraid that he would not be able to find the place. The pressure would be too great and he would break down first.
In fact, because he had not seen any signs of human habitation for a long time, there was no communication, and the scenery was monotonous, the prince now felt that he was already a little abnormal.
His reaction began to slow down, and his vision began to become fixed.
And his emotions became unstable.
Thales chuckled and shook his head.
'No.'
He could not give up.
He had to adjust himself until he found a way out.
The funny thing was, on the first day, Thales did not think that the desert was that dangerous.
He followed the vegetation that was not very sparse at that time and found a small, shallow pool under a huge rock at dusk. The edge of the pool was full of life. There were even a few jackals gathered in a narrow corner by the pool. They took a sip, turned their heads, and drank water vigilantly but inefficiently.
At that time, Thales was overjoyed. He felt that at least he had used his "newbie's luck". He happily slid down the sand dune to fill his water bag.
When he slid to the edge of the pool, his legs gave way, and his legs sank into the quicksand!
The more the panicked Thales struggled, the tighter and deeper he sank. At one point, he sank down to his waist.
Thales' heart turned cold.
At that time, he understood why the jackals gathered in that narrow corner. They were stingy with their water and were unwilling to approach the seemingly wide pool.
Only God knew how much despair the teenager felt at that time.
If Thales had not used the Sin of Hell's River in time to calm himself down, give up struggling, and lay his body flat to prevent himself from sinking …
The first heir of Constellation would have long since died in the desert.
That day, with trembling hands, he took out the crossbow from his back, tied a rope to it, and shot at a strange tree in the distance. He even shot twice, but his hand was too shaky the first time. Then, he pulled himself up while trembling.
While the jackals howled in dissatisfaction, Thales occupied their safe corner with lingering fear. He trembled as he filled his water bag with great difficulty.
This was the first time Thales discovered the dangers of the desert.
Thales, who had rested enough under the sand dune, sighed and brought his thoughts back to the present. He grabbed the second stone and placed it on top of the shadow of the staff, which had moved quite a distance. It connected to the first stone.
Thales looked at the path he came from. He frowned and compared it with the line connecting the two stones.
'It's a little off.
I have to correct it. '
He corrected his direction to the southeast, grabbed the staff he used to orient himself, and set off again.
* Huff … Huff … *
The sandstorm grew stronger.
This was another threat in the desert.
Thales gritted his teeth and climbed over a sand dune under the cover of a fishy smell and damp heat. He raised his right palm to cover his eyes and looked for a place with lush vegetation that could serve as a shade, and possibly a source of water.
Noon soon arrived.
He had to be ready for the next step of resting.
He still remembered that on the first noon when he entered the desert, he chose to set up camp at the bottom of a large sand dune to rest to avoid the scorching sun and merciless sandstorm.
However, when Thales woke up from his afternoon nap, he tasted sand in his mouth the moment he turned his head.
Filled with fear and panic, he spat and got up. He was horrified to find that during the two hours he had been resting with his eyes closed, the sandstorm had already submerged his legs, and would soon cover his hands.
If he had slept for another half an hour …
Thales learned from then on that unless he wanted to find a free grave in the desert, he should never choose a place that was too low to rest.
The prince silently recalled the many lessons he had learned during the past few days of suffering and torture. He found a place to rest: a small tree beside a steep slope.
Thales took another small sip of water and continued moving forward.
He moved forward with great difficulty. He could feel that the water in his body was rapidly draining away. As the sun rose higher and his surroundings became hotter, the amount of energy and nutrients he needed to move would increase exponentially.
'Rest,' Thales thought solemnly. He forced himself to focus on the goal in front of him. He needed to rest and avoid the hottest few hours.
The sandstorm continued.
Thales watched as the yellow sand under his feet was slowly peeled away. He finally reached his destination after counting more than eight hundred steps.
He hid in the shade of the tree to avoid the scorching sun.
Feeling the rapid drop in temperature, he sighed and took off his headscarf and mask.
Thales was ready to take an afternoon nap, but he was not in a hurry to find an empty space. Instead, he carefully grabbed his cane and knocked on the ground to push away the stones around him. It would be best if the stones were further away from him.
Thales did not forget that the first 'friend' he made in the desert was a rattlesnake.
On the second day he entered the desert, when he was resting under the shade of a tree, he sat down on the ground in exhaustion. He pushed his left hand backward and pressed against a slippery and cold object.
That 'thing' quickly leaped up from behind the stone.
She bit him on the forearm!
Thales was scared out of his wits. The rattlesnake was obviously very dissatisfied with someone disturbing its afternoon nap. If Thales had not just experienced the bone-piercing cold of the first night and wrapped himself up tightly like a maniac, that bite would have probably killed him (although Thales did not know whether it was poisonous or not).
Thales recalled the frightening journey that day and subconsciously touched his left arm. The tear on the three-layered sleeve was still carefully sweeping away the stones around it.
Sure enough, after a larger slab-like stone was lifted, a 'new friend' ran out in dissatisfaction.
Thales frowned and looked at the black sand scorpion that was half the size of a palm. He looked at its pair of terrifyingly large pincers and inconspicuous stinger on its tail. He extended his cane, ignored its protest, and chased the sand scorpion far away.
He sat down, panting, and took out his waterskin and the last of his food.
Everything in front of him seemed to have not changed. Just as the Old Crow said, there were only three things in the desert: the sun, sand, and sand.
Thales suddenly understood why the Old Crow mentioned sand twice.
Everything he saw over the past few days told him that this was a world that was completely different from what he usually knew.
A teenager who grew up in the slums of the city and was used to the streets and castles could not imagine such a world.
When he recalled the countless dangers he encountered in just three days, Thales could not help but shrink his body.
Here, the heat was as deadly as the cold. Day and night were both terrifying.
Here, life and danger appeared at the same time. The side of the pool, which was the source of life, was often the place where most animals were buried.
Here, he rarely saw living creatures. Even if he did, their habits had changed a long time ago. The snakes in the desert never walked in a straight line. Instead, they folded themselves into waves and 'bounced' horizontally like springs. The strange lizards dug into the sand, as if they had made up their mind not to go out until nightfall. The rats in the desert did not seem to need four legs, because they rarely 'walked normally'. They preferred to touch the air and leap forward. The vultures that occasionally flashed across the sky did not seem to stop. They traveled long distances every day. The color of the spiders in the desert was indistinguishable from the sand.
Here, he had to be humble. Thales recalled Hicks' words. He had to relearn everything, such as the jackals by the pool. From then on, Thales learned to follow the footprints of the animals. At the very least, he would not make any major mistakes.
Thales sighed, ate the last piece of cheese, and began to think about the most serious problem he faced.
He ran out of food.
It was not that the prince had never suffered from hunger before. His life in the Abandoned House had never given him the experience of filling his stomach.
But he was in the Great Desert.
This was terrible.
And …
His reinforcements were still nowhere to be seen.
It was not that Thales had never tried to look for fruits from plants. In fact, he had indeed found fruits from a few strange plants on the leeward slope. He could not suppress his hunger until he saw a dried skeleton next to it.
'My God …'
Thales touched his forehead in pain. Who knew what else could be eaten in this desert?
At this moment, he glanced to the side from the corner of his eye. The unlucky Sand Scorpion whose nest was occupied had not gone far. It was still poking and knocking on the ground, looking for its next nest.
As he stared at the scorpion, Thales touched his hungry stomach and furrowed his eyebrows.
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