Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert

Chapter 112

“Ugh! What was that?”

Levin rubbed the back of his head as he got up.

It felt like he had rolled down for dozens of meters.

He was lucky to be unharmed, being an Awakened, whereas if he were an ordinary person, he would have either died or suffered major injuries.

Well, Zeon probably wouldn’t have pushed him into a place like this if he hadn’t been an Awakened.

“Why did he push me into this place?”

Levin looked around.

But all he could see was the thick darkness.

The darkness was so intense that even with Levin’s Awakened eyes, he couldn’t distinguish anything.

Still, he could definitely tell one thing for sure.

The underground space seemed quite vast.

The reason Levin thought so was because of the wind.

Somewhere underground, a fairly strong wind was blowing.

The nauseating smell carried by the wind and faint noises.

Wooing!

It sounded like the breathing of monsters, or sometimes like faint flute sounds.

The moment Levin heard the unidentified noise, he felt goosebumps all over his body.

“What’s that?”

That was when it happened.

Something in the darkness reacted to Levin’s voice and opened its eyes.

A pale yellow glow illuminating in the darkness.

But it wasn’t just one pair of eyes.

There were hundreds, even thousands of pairs of glowing eyes illuminating the darkness.

“What the hell is that?”

Wooing!

At that moment, that noise came again.

Levin only then realized that the noise was made by the owners of those glowing eyes.

Fwoosh!

At that moment, along with the noise of wings flapping, a pair of glowing eyes flew towards Levin.

Levin hastily ghostified himself to evade the creature’s attack.

It passed through Levin’s body futilely.

At that moment, Levin confirmed the creature’s appearance.

“A… bat?”

It was clearly a bat.

A giant bat with wings spanning over a meter long.

Its mouth had fangs as long and sharp as those of a Flame Wolf.

It was unmistakable at a glance.

They were teeth developed to be optimal for bloodsucking.

All the bats filling the underground were Vampire Bats.

If he were bitten by them, all his blood would be sucked dry, leaving him as dry as a mummy.

“Damn it!”

Levin felt cold sweat dripping down his back.

Luckily, he had the ability to ghost himself.

It was fortunate that their attacks were useless when he was in a ghostified state.

That was when it happened.

Wooing!

The strange noise emitted by the bats echoed again.

At that moment, Levin felt excruciating pain.

“Argh!”

With a groan, his body materialized again.

It wasn’t intentional on Levin’s part.

He lost control momentarily and materialized.

“So, do the ultrasonic waves emitted by the bats interfere with ghosting?”

It was a well-known fact that bats emit ultrasonic waves to find prey in the darkness. However, it was unheard of that these ultrasonic waves interfered with ghosting.

No one knew that fact.

But Zeon must have known.

Otherwise, there would be no reason for him to push Levin into this place.

Wooing! Wooing!

Hundreds, thousands of Vampire Bats emitted ultrasonic waves simultaneously.

“Shit!”

Levin’s face turned pale.

He might as well have been naked in front of thousands of bats.

At that moment, the Vampire Bats flew towards him in unison.

Levin desperately ghostified himself.

He managed to ghost himself through the interference of the ultrasonic waves, but his concentration didn’t last long.

Once the bats passed through once, his concentration broke, and his body materialized.

Thud!

Seizing the opportunity, a Vampire Bat sunk its fangs into his forearm.

“Aaaah!”

Levin screamed as he unleashed Chain Lightning.

Crackle!

The bat biting his forearm and a few nearby creatures burst into sparks from the strong current.

As they died, the smell of blood and burning flesh spread rapidly. In response, the Vampire Bats went even more berserk.

Fwoomp!

The multitude of flapping wings and ultrasonic waves mixed together, creating a tremendous reverberation.

All of it disrupted Levin’s ghosting.

Levin desperately tried to evade the Vampire Bats’ attacks and ghost himself.

Only then did Levin realize why Zeon had thrown him into this place.

The best way for an Awakened to increase their rank was through numerous experiences.

The Vampire Bats in this place were natural enemies to him.

If he could survive against the Vampire Bats, he might achieve a rank increase.

With that thought, determination surged within him.

“Damn it! Alright, let’s do this. Either you die or I die. Bring it on! You bat bastards.”

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

In response to his taunt, the Vampire Bats charged at him.

***

“It’s begun.”

Zeon murmured softly at the sound emanating from the crevice in the sand.

Levin’s suffering was only just beginning.

Perhaps Levin wouldn’t even have guessed.

The underground space was much larger than he imagined, and the swarm of Vampire Bats was several times more numerous.

To survive in such a place, Levin had no choice but to unleash his full potential.

Otherwise, he would eventually dry up and die from the endless attacks of the Vampire Bats, just like a mirage.

Although Zeon had pushed Levin into this hellish place, there was no change in his expression.

To become stronger, one must stake their life.

That was how Dyoden raised Zeon, and that was how Zeon intended to raise Levin.

Crackle!

As Zeon extended his hand into the sand, it crumbled into dust, completely sealing the tiny crevice.

Now, there was no way for Levin to escape.

The only way was to kill all the Vampire Bats and escape with his own strength.

Zeon decided to rest easy until then.

He took out several items from the subspace.

One of them was the dung of an Armored Dung Beetle.

The Armored Dung Beetle was a monster that lived in a distant desert, and its dung was not only solid but also almost odorless. Moreover, once lit, it provided a sustained heat for a very long time.

That’s why it was very useful for making fires in the desert.

Sizzle!

The dung of the Armored Dung Beetle easily caught fire.

Zeon hung a pot over the fire and put the prepared food inside.

Time did not flow in the subspace.

That’s why Zeon had stored a considerable amount of food in the subspace after entering Neo Seoul.

This way, he could always eat fresh food.

“That’s good!”

Zeon puffed on the fire while waiting for the food to cook.

In fact, Zeon didn’t need such a fire.

His robe protected his body temperature perfectly.

But he lit the fire anyway because of the strange sense of security it provided.

For some reason, it felt like no monsters could cross into this space.

Zeon looked up at the sky.

The sun had already set, and the sky had darkened.

Night was the time for monsters.

From now on, the monsters would spread their wings.

Kwooh!

A roar from an unknown monster echoed in the distance.

Just by hearing the cry, Zeon immediately recognized the creature’s identity.

“An Armored Great-Horned Bear? For it to expand its territory this far.”

Zeon tilted his head.

The Armored Great-Horned Bear was an A-rank monster, no less.

Not only could they be as tall as seven meters, their entire bodies are covered in thick leather-like armor, capable of withstanding most attacks without causing any harm.

Not only do they provide high defense, but they also possess formidable strength, lethal claws, and large horns, making it dangerous.

For Martial Arts Awakeneds below C-rank, it was nearly impossible to pierce through their leather-like skin and inflict injuries.

Except during mating season, they roam the desert alone.

This is because they are confident in their physique and strength.

Indeed, there weren’t many monsters that could actually confront them.

Not even a pack of Flame Wolves dared to disturb them, let alone the Sandworms.

As far as Zeon knew, this place wasn’t within the territory of the Armored Great-Horned Bear.

Although they roamed the desert alone, they only moved within their own territories.

“Did it expand its territory? Why come so close to Neo Seoul?”

It was when Zeon’s gaze sank deep.

Kwaaah!

A rumble pierced through the darkness.

Zeon immediately recognized it as the sound of a car engine.

Moments later, a car appeared where Zeon was, accompanied by the headlights.

People got out of the wrecked car.

“I was right. It was the light of a campfire.”

“Who would be so fearless to boldly light a fire in the middle of the desert.”

“We barely made it here before the engine completely gave out.”

The four people who got down from the vehicle were dressed in heavy armor.

They were around the same age as Zeon, and each one of them was handsome or beautiful.

The young man who looked the strongest among them approached Zeon.

“Hello? I’m the Party Leader, Kim Kyung-soo. May I ask who you are?”

“I’m Zeon.”

“Are you from Neo Seoul?”

“Not Neo Seoul, but from the slums.”

“Hmm!”

Kim Kyung-soo frowned slightly at Zeon’s unexpected answer and looked at his companions.

In turn, they all blinked in surprise.

The only girl among them, who was the only redhead, was the first to regain her composure.

“You’ve come a long way. I’m Yoo Seung-hee. Nice to meet you.”

“Pleasure.”

“I’m Lee Joon-su.”

“I’m Choi Chang-sik.”

The others also revealed their identities.

They all had Korean names.

It was the first time Zeon had seen a party composed solely of Koreans.

Zeon asked.

“Are you all friends?”

“Yes. We were all born and raised in the same neighborhood. We’ve been together for over twenty years.”

“But what brings you out in the middle of the night?”

“Our engine broke down, so we fell behind the group.”

“Group?”

“The raiding party. We were on our way back after successfully conquering a dungeon.”

When a large dungeon is discovered, Neo Seoul recruits a raiding party. Awakeneds or parties from various districts support it. Neo Seoul selects and forms a raiding party to conquer the dungeon.

This was the common way to conquer dungeons.

However, not everyone did it this way.

Dungeons were discovered randomly, and it was impossible for Neo Seoul to manage all of them.

Many Awakeneds or parties entered dungeons without informing Neo Seoul.

This was because successful dungeon conquests earned them a lot of money.

However, the risk was equally high.

In any case, the decision was up to the discoverers.

Kim Kyung-soo’s party wasn’t strong enough to independently enter dungeons.

Firstly, the Party Leader, Kim Kyung-soo, was only C-rank, and the rest of his friends were evenly distributed between C-rank and D-rank.

They mainly supported the raiding parties organized by Neo Seoul to gain benefits.

The same was true this time.

The dungeon conquest was successful.

The only problem was their vehicle.

The harsh environment had caused the engine to fail.

That’s why they fell behind and were left behind.

If Yoo Seung-hee hadn’t noticed the campfire Zeon had lit, they might not have escaped disaster.

Yoo Seung-hee spoke up.

“You seem quite confident in your abilities? Lighting a campfire like this. Thanks to you, we survived.”

“I had to light it because it was cold.”

“Really? You could have just stayed in the car. Ah, there’s the car.”

Yoo Seung-hee’s eyes sparkled when she saw the small buggy.

Kim Kyung-soo and the others’ eyes also gleamed dangerously.

Seeing their reaction, Zeon sighed and said.

“It’s funny how people risk their lives over such trivial matters.”