The portal spat them into dry heat and red dust.
Riri's boots hit packed earth. She pulled up her interface immediately, checking mission parameters while her eyes adjusted to the brightness.
[MERCHANT CARAVAN - RANK C]
[Objective: Escort convoy to Safe Zone - Redstone Outpost]
[Distance: 12 kilometers]
[Estimated Duration: 4-6 hours]
[Active Hostiles: Desert Predators, Bandit Ambushes]
[NPC Status: Merchant Gareth (HP: 850/850)]
The convoy sat thirty meters ahead. Three canvas-covered wagons pulled by creatures that looked like six-legged oxen, dusty and irritable in the heat. Standing beside the lead wagon was an NPC in travel-worn merchant's garb, checking a ledger with the focused intensity of someone who'd made this route too many times to find it interesting.
[Merchant Gareth - Level 18 - Civilian NPC]
Civilian classification meant no combat capability. If something attacked the convoy, he'd die in seconds without protection.
Samael moved to Riri's left, scanning the terrain with the same clinical assessment he brought to every deployment. Flat desert for two hundred meters in every direction. Rock formations creating choke points ahead. Visibility was good now, but the escort would move through areas perfect for ambushes.
"Formation," he said. "You take rear wagon with Loki and Vermillion. I'll handle vanguard. Vesper scouts ahead. Kirin maintains aerial coverage."
"What about the NPC?"
"He stays in the lead wagon. We keep the convoy moving. If combat starts, your priority is guarding him, not clearing threats. I'll handle elimination."
Simple. Clean. The same division of labor that had carried them through three weeks of Training Dungeons and yesterday's corruption village.
Kirin spread his wings and lifted into the air without needing verbal confirmation. His juvenile frame had filled out over the past two weeks. Flight came easier now, his Stamina pool deep enough to maintain altitude for hours.
Vesper shadow-stepped ahead, disappearing into the rocks.
Merchant Gareth looked up from his ledger when they approached. His expression moved through recognition, relief, and wariness in quick succession.
"You're the escort?" His gaze tracked between Riri and Samael, lingering on their equipment. "Two People? I requested a full party."
"We're enough." Samael's tone left no room for argument.
Gareth's jaw worked like he wanted to push back, then he glanced at Samael's weapon and equipment again and decided against it. "Fine. But if bandits hit us and my cargo gets damaged, I loose money and time."
"Your cargo will be fine."
"And me?"
"You'll be fine."
Gareth didn't look convinced, but he climbed into the lead wagon and snapped the reins. The six-legged oxen made grinding sounds of protest and started forward.
The convoy moved.
Riri took position at the rear wagon, Loki padding beside her, Vermillion settling on her shoulder. The desert stretched in all directions, heat shimmer distorting the horizon. Sand and rock and nothing else for kilometers.
Through the Bond she felt Samael's awareness spreading outward, cataloging terrain, tracking Vesper's scouting reports, calculating optimal response patterns for when the first ambush inevitably came.
They made it forty-five minutes before contact.
Vesper's presence pulsed warning through Riri's companion link. Movement ahead. Multiple hostiles. Positioning for ambush.
"Incoming," Riri said.
Samael had already felt it through his own combat awareness. "Count?"
"Vesper reads eight. Rock formation on the left, two hundred meters ahead."
"Monsters or bandits?"
"Raptors."
"I'll handle it." He moved forward without breaking stride, kinetic energy already building around his hands. "Keep the convoy moving. Don't stop unless I signal."
The merchant noticed Samael's shift in posture and went pale. "We're under attack?"
"We're handling it," Riri said. "Keep the oxen moving forward."
Gareth snapped the reins harder. The creatures picked up their grinding pace.
The raptors hit when the convoy entered the choke point.
Eight of them, each the size of a horse, scaled hide the color of sun-baked stone, claws designed to disembowel prey in single strikes. They burst from the rock formation in coordinated assault, moving with pack intelligence.
[Desert Raptor - Level 20 - Elite]
Samael met the first one with kinetic compression. The impact crushed its skull and sent the body tumbling backward into two more. Kirin's lightning struck from above, arcing through three targets. Electricity jumped between scaled bodies, the smell of ozone mixing with burning flesh.
The remaining raptors split their attack pattern. Four continued toward Samael. One broke for the rear wagon.
Loki intercepted it mid-charge. The wolf's jaws closed around the raptor's throat, momentum carrying both creatures into a roll that ended with Loki pinning the raptor to the dirt. Crimson energy pulsed. The raptor went limp.
[Desert Raptor defeated]
[Experience gained: 1,847]
Riri didn't move from her position at the rear wagon. Her job was guarding the NPC, not clearing adds. Loki could handle single targets without assistance.
Ahead, Samael had finished eliminating the remaining seven raptors. Bodies littered the sand, crushed and burned. Kirin descended to ground level, electricity still crackling along his scales.
Total engagement time: forty-three seconds.
The convoy kept moving.
"Clear," Samael said, falling back into vanguard position.
Merchant Gareth's knuckles were white on the reins. "That was... fast."
"They were slow."
Riri felt Samael's satisfaction through the Bond. Not from the kills themselves, but from the clean execution. Zero damage to the convoy. NPC still at full HP. Minimal resource expenditure.
The pattern repeated three more times over the next two hours.
Bandit ambush at the canyon pass: nine hostiles, eliminated in under a minute.
Second raptor pack near the dry riverbed: twelve creatures, cleared before they reached aggro range of the convoy.
Ambush combination of bandits plus hired mercenaries at the halfway point: fourteen targets total, Samael using kinetic area denial to lock down the choke point while Kirin provided artillery support.
Riri's role stayed consistent. Guard the NPC. Maintain rear position. Let Loki handle anything that broke through Samael's elimination pattern.
It was boring.
Which meant it was going well.
Four hours in, Redstone Outpost came into view. Stone walls, guard towers, the shimmer of barrier magic protecting the perimeter. Safe Zone designation meant combat was disabled within fifty meters of the walls.
The convoy rolled through the gates.
[OBJECTIVE COMPLETE: Merchant Caravan Escorted to Safe Zone]
[Mission Clear: PERFECT]
[Clear Time: 4 hours, 12 minutes]
[NPC Survival: 100%]
[Convoy Damage: 0%]
[Calculating Rewards...]
Golden light pulsed. Loot materialized.
[Rewards Obtained:]
[Experience: 47,500 (×3 multiplier applied)]
[Credits: 125,000 (×3 multiplier applied)]
[Level Up! Riri Lee → Level 23]
[Level Up! Samael Santoro → Level 23]
[Loot Boxes: C-Rank × 3]
[Bonus Reward - Perfect Clear: Desert Viper's Fang (A-Grade Dagger)]
The experience hit like warm honey spreading through her veins. Riri pulled up her Status to confirm the changes.
[Riri Lee - Level 23 | Class: Beast Tamer (Unique - SSS)]
[HP: 1,044 → 1,084]
[MP: 1,890 → 1,950]
[Stamina: 546 → 566]
[Combat Power: 16,342 → 17,103]
[Available Stat Points: 15]
One level. Fifteen points. She'd allocate later, after they were back at the Sanctuary and she could think clearly without heat and dust.
Merchant Gareth climbed down from the wagon, moving like someone who'd expected to die multiple times and was still processing being alive. "You... that was..." He stopped, reorganized his thoughts. "Professional work. Very professional."
"The cargo's intact," Samael said.
"Yes. All of it." Gareth checked his ledger one more time, confirming nothing had been damaged or stolen. "I'll file a commendation with the guild. You've earned it."
[Merchant Gareth Reputation: Increased to Friendly]
[New Quest Available: Gareth's Premium Route (C-Rank Repeatable)]
Riri dismissed the notification. Repeatable quests were useful for grinding, but they'd already maxed the Mission clear for today. Tomorrow would bring new parameters.
The portal home shimmered into existence at the center of Redstone Outpost's plaza. Standard deployment return.
Samael moved toward it, Kirin falling in behind him. Riri followed with Loki and Vesper. Vermillion circled once, then reformed on her shoulder.
They stepped through together.