The desert hit me after we used a Fast Travel Room. Dry, scorching wind tore at my face, my lips cracked in seconds and grains of sand stung my eyes even when I squinted. Sand dunes stretched as far as I could see.
We stood at the base a dune so steep it looked like it went straight into the sky. And at the bottom of it, tied to a huge chunk of stone the size of a dinner table, was a rope. Seirath walked over and grabbed it casually like it weighed nothing. He turned to me with that stare of his.
"Tie this around your waist."
"Excuse me?"
"Now."
His tone left no room for questions, so I did as I was told. The rope wrapped around my torso and the moment I knotted it, the thing pulsed faintly for a few seconds before dimming. My stomach dropped.
This isn't normal rope.
I opened my mouth to ask, but Seirath beat me to it.
"Your task is simple. Climb this dune, reach the top, then descend all before noon. If you fail, your stealth training will be extended."
"Extended?"
"Yes. Speed and stealth must balance six hours each. If you take more than six hours here, I will add it on the other side. You will be punished for imbalance."
"You're serious?"
"And do not think about cutting corners. I have people watching you. Cheat, and you will earn a penalty. A very harsh one."
And then, without even a goodbye, he conjured a black portal at his feet and stepped through it, vanishing into nothing. I stood there with the hot wind clawing at my shirt, staring at the dune.
"Great. Just fantastic."
I thought about asking him about food but what was the point? He was gone. And yeah sure, I had rations stashed in my System Inventory but my gut screamed that using them would count as cheating. So I sighed, rubbed the back of my neck, and looked up at the merciless sun glaring down at me. It was maybe an hour into the morning already. I have five hours left.
I dug my heels into the sand and started climbing, except the second the rope went taut. I faceplanted into the dune like an idiot.
"What the fuck?!"
I spat sand out of my mouth and yanked at the rope. I twisted around, my eyes narrowing at the stone. That… thing wasn't budging. I growled, stormed back down the slope, and got both hands under it. To my shock, I actually lifted it. It was heavy sure, but my arms could handle it. So why the hell did it drag me down when tied to my torso?
I glanced at the sand beneath it and my stomach sank.
Of course.
The stone wasn't just heavy. The rope was making it sink. Every time I pulled forward, the weight didn't just drag me back. It buried itself deeper into the dune. This is a weight that got heavier the more I tried to move.
"Alright, fine. You want speed training? You got it."
I tied the rope tighter, grit my teeth and started climbing again. This time, I leaned forward, putting everything into my legs. My thighs burned immediately. Sand gave way under each step, sliding me back down half the distance I covered. And behind me, that damned stone groaned and sank further, like the desert itself was trying to swallow it whole.
I got maybe a dozen steps up before I had to stop. My Xana pulsed around me, that black haze still clinging to my body. Seirath's words came back to me. Physical training makes you use Xana.
Every step, every pull and every ounce of energy I had was pouring into keeping myself upright and making my body not collapse under the weight. The Xana wrapped tighter, straining against the rope like it wanted to lift it with me but it wasn't enough.
I lost my footing, stumbled and heard the rope snap taut again. The stone behind me sank deeper, almost vanishing into the dune.
"You've got to be kidding me."
Cursing under my breath, I trudged back down, grabbed the rope with both hands and hauled the rock out. My arms shook from the effort. By the time I freed it, sweat soaked through my shirt, my lungs felt like fire and I had wasted another half hour. I stared up at the dune again. It looked even taller now, stretching endlessly into the blistering sky.
This wasn't training. This was torture. But then, it clicked.
It wasn't just about climbing. It was about climbing fast. If I wasted too much time digging the stone out every few minutes, I'd never make it by noon. The only way to pass was to move quickly enough that the rock didn't sink too deep before I reached the top.
That was the test.
"Of course. Of course it's not simple."
I tightened the rope once more, braced myself, and launched forward with everything I had. Sand sprayed, the stone groaned and the rope bit into my waist but this time I didn't stop.
The desert roared in my ears, the sun pounded against the back of my neck and my Xana flared like wildfire under my skin.
------
I don't think I've ever been that tired in my entire life.
By the time I got halfway up the dune, my arms and legs were on fire, my lungs screamed with every breath and my shirt was plastered to my skin with sweat. And yet, my Argemenes body kept my temperature regulated. The heat never really got to me. My body had already neutralized it and cooled me down from the inside out. Which meant the problem wasn't the heat. The problem was me and that damn rock.
Every time I tried to move faster, my feet punched deeper into the sand, swallowing me up to the ankles, the knees, sometimes almost to the thighs if I slipped. The rope dragged behind me, connected to the boulder that seemed to weigh three times more every time I glanced back due to gravity. The faster I pushed, the deeper it sank into the sand. And when the stone sank, I had no choice but to turn back, dig it out with both arms trembling, and then keep going over and over and over.
If I had been built like Thales, this would have been nothing. He had the muscles of a damn knight, broad-shouldered and strong enough to crush a steel door with his bare hands. Me? I wasn't him. Not even close. In game terms, I was the mage, not the knight. And yet here I was, dragging a knight's training weight through a sea of sand like some joke.
What the hell does this even have to do with concealing myself?
But Seirath wasn't there to answer.it was just me and the endless, blistering desert.
Step after step, slip after slip, the minutes bled into hours. My thighs burned so badly. My shoulders screamed from hauling the rock free each time it sank too deep. And the worst part, the dune never looked closer. It felt infinite, like some cruel mirage that always stretched higher the more I climbed.
At last, I clawed my way to the top. My chest heaved, my arms dangled at my sides and my knees buckled the moment I stopped moving. I dropped to the sand and tilted my head back. That's when I saw my shadow, stretched across the slope. It was past noon.
I groaned and smacked the sand with both hands. All that effort, all those wasted hours and I still missed the mark. But Seirath's rule wasn't just to go up. I had to go down too.
I got back to my feet and looked down the slope. The descent was a beast of its own. If I didn't move fast enough, the boulder would sink so deep into the sand it would anchor me in place. But if I moved too fast, the rope would yank taut and the sudden momentum could snap me backward. The physics were cruel like that. The rock wanted to stay where it was, buried by its own weight, while gravity dragged me forward.
So I had to win a race against my own leash.
"Alright. No holding back."
I ran.
I threw myself downhill with everything I had with sand exploding under my feet. Gravity pulled me faster until I was nothing but a blur tearing across the slope. My body naturally kicked in. My speed amplified until even I couldn't fully process it. The world warped at the edges. The rope groaned. The boulder resisted but I kept sprinting. Every step was a battle not to trip and to let it catch me. The sand buckled beneath my heels. The sound of the rock grinding through the dune echoed like thunder behind me.
I started counting seconds in my head. Ten. Twenty. Forty. My legs blurred, my chest burned and still I pushed harder. Ninety. A hundred.
Finally, the base came into view. I clenched my teeth and gave it everything left in me. The world narrowed to a tunnel of motion.
One hundred and twenty seconds...
I hit the bottom in a skid, sand spraying like an explosion under my feet. I actually made it!
And then the rope snapped taut.
The force nearly ripped me in half. My spine bent backward at a horrifying angle, pain lancing up my back as the boulder buried itself and wrenched me off my feet. I hit the sand flat on my back, staring at the sky in stunned disbelief. For a second, I couldn't even breathe. Then the absurdity hit me, and I burst out laughing. I shouted hoarsely, throwing my arms up like I'd just won a championship.
"Yes! Two minutes!"
Sand caked my face and my mouth tasted like grit but I didn't care.
That's when a black portal shimmered into existence a few meters away. Seirath stepped out, looking as calm and unbothered as ever. His gaze swept from me to the stone still half-buried in the sand, then back to me.
"Eight hours, twenty minutes up," he said flatly. "Two minutes down."
I sat up slowly, clutching my aching back.
"So… eight hours and twenty two minutes total for my stealth training?"
"Yes."
Of course.
I groaned, but forced myself to my feet, dusting off the sand. My body screamed at me to lie back down and call it quits, but I wasn't about to show weakness in front of him. Not after all that.
I didn't know what this training was supposed to teach me. I didn't know how dragging a sinking boulder through the desert made me better at concealing myself. But there had to be a reason.
Seirath wouldn't waste my time. Or maybe he would. Hell if I knew anymore.
But whatever it was, I was ready for the next part.