Road to Mastery: A LitRPG Apocalypse
Chapter 160: Desert Nights

The sand worm was wide enough to swallow a house, and long enough that they never saw its tail. It burst out from under the sand without any warning whatsoever, biting down on and swallowing a scaled lizard that lounged on top of a dune. Thankfully, it didn’t attack them.

Giant Sand Worm, Level 124 (Elite)

Giant sand worms infest the deserts of many planets. They use the Dao of Stone to swim through the desert floor, then burst up to devour their target before dissolving it in one of their many hyper-acidic stomachs. They detect prey through the sand’s surface disturbances, so try to avoid stomping.

They are also rare encounters. On planet Dune, immortals saddle and ride them, while their fighting pits are one of the planet’s most profitable enterprises.

The worm snapped up the lizard and dived back down, raising a huge wave of sand.

“Rare encounters, it says,” Jack said dryly. “Aren’t we lucky.”

“Extremely,” Nauja added. “So. Light steps. Brock, sorry to say this, but you’ll have to walk on your own for a bit. If that thing attacks us… Well, as we say in my tribe, na’ste’kala.”

The worm did not attack them. It didn’t even appear again, probably traveling to some other area of the desert, and night found the three of them huddled in a small valley between the sand dunes.

***

Night in the Village Ring reminded Jack of Earth.

As the sun mushrooms dimmed, each was left a silver glowing core, a fraction of what they used to be, and they were so tightly clustered that they resembled stars in the night sky.

On the ground below reigned silence. Nothing moved in the dim light. Only the wind remained alive, twisting and turning over the sand dunes, picking up sand to deposit later or lure upward to swirl it endlessly in the high currents.

The temperature had dropped sharply. In the span of an hour, it tumbled down from scorching to freezing, making poor Brock shiver so hard they had no choice but to seek shelter. The desert didn’t offer much in the way of that, but they did find a group of sand dunes clustered together. Before long, the three of them were huddled in the small valley in their midst, covering themselves in the cool sand to resemble bedding.

They had no tents, nothing to light a fire with, and no supplies. When they left the Tri Lake tribe, they expected only a short trip in the jungle.

Thankfully, the desert wasn’t completely empty. Cacti rose intermittently. Jack knew how to get water from them, so at least they had that covered. As for food, they had no choice but to starve for now. If it got too much, they could try eating the unknown desert creatures.

This was an inhospitable desert, as were all of them.

The three of them alternated guard duty, starting from Brock, then Jack, then Nauja. The middle of the night was Jack’s shift, and it found him perched on the tallest sand dune nearby, looking over the endless desert that stretched in all directions. Everywhere he looked, all he saw was sand and distant stone columns.

Yet, he couldn’t suppress his excitement. They’d reached the fourth ring already. Just how far could they go? How strong could he get?

Could they conquer Trial Planet?

“Hey,” a low voice greeted him. He’d noticed Nauja approaching, of course, he’d just chosen to keep his eyes in the distance, unwilling to break his spell of awe.

“Hey,” he replied, finally turning around. “I didn’t think it was your shift yet.”

“We have no clocks. Your guess is as good as mine,” she said with a wry smile.

They stayed there for a while, sitting next to each other atop a sand dune in the middle of a desert in the bowels of a hollow planet.

“You can go back to sleep if you want,” Jack said. “I’m not tired.”

“Neither am I. How could I sleep when I’m…here?”

“Heh. Being E-Grade has its perks.”

“It sure does.”

Another moment of silence passed between them. They hadn’t known each other for long, but going through life and death together brought people closer.

“About before—” Jack started saying, but Nauja cut him off.

“It’s alright. You said nothing wrong. It was my fault.” She took a deep, trembling breath, looking into the distance. For a moment, as Jack observed her pale, strong profile, she seemed almost vulnerable. Scared. “I have my own troubles. I don’t want to talk about them yet, but there is no need for you to feel uncomfortable.”

“That’s fine. We’re a team now. If you ever want to share anything, I’d be glad to listen. If you don’t, I will stay by your side and support you anyway.”

She threw him a surprised glance, as if taken aback by his words. “Thanks,” she said after a moment. “That means a lot.”

“It’s only natural. The least we can do is be there for each other.”

Now, it was her turn to gaze at his profile. “You are not like other delvers,” she said, her tone questioning. “You are kind, straightforward, principled. When we were running in the cave, you didn’t throw me at the pursuers to delay them. I have to admit I was surprised.”

Jack raised his brows. That possibility hadn’t even crossed his mind. Had it crossed hers? Had she considered throwing him away to save herself?

“I wouldn’t do that. Honestly, it didn’t even occur to me.”

“I know.” Her gaze was piercing. “That’s what surprises me the most. You have clearly seen your fair share of combat and deception, and you are clearly a hardened man, but at the same time, you are almost pure-hearted. How do you do that?”

“I guess… I just know who I am. I will not discount myself. I will break through all obstacles in pursuit of my path, as a fist, until I either die or succeed. If I betrayed who I am, then I would be miserable. It’s a fate worse than death. Honestly, I don’t understand how everybody else can act like a dick. Do they not see that they are killing themselves?”

Nauja considered his words for a long moment. “Not everyone can think that way. Do you know what my tribe has noticed about delvers, Jack? They lie to themselves. A lot. They cling on to life with tooth and nail, and they double down on their weaknesses instead of fighting to surpass them. They do not understand the value of a good life, simply because they’ve never experienced it. They fear death and failure with all their heart, and in their attempts to avoid those, they end up hollow. They don’t even realize that what they fear is already happening. They live through the very nightmare they sacrifice everything to avoid.”

“Life is simple,” Jack agreed, perfectly in tune. “Just…live. Be free. Stop living in fear, stop constraining yourself, unclench your heart, and dive into the world head-first. So what if you fail? There are literally no consequences.”

Nauja narrowed her eyes. “Are you still talking about delvers?”

“I don’t know,” Jack admitted with a sigh. “Sometimes, it feels like I’m the only sane person in the world, like everyone else is blind. It’s so fucking simple. Why can’t they see it?”

“Hmm… Everything seems simple from up ahead. But, from behind, the tiniest of steps can be wide gulfs. Don’t begrudge the world, Jack. Give it time.”

“I guess…”

They sat in silence for a while longer. The cold night wind brushed their barely-clothed bodies, but they were too strong to mind.

“Maybe this is why you have a perfect Seed,” Nauja finally said. “You see things so simply, so clearly…” A chuckle. “Truly, you are like a fist. You don’t even understand the extent of your gift.”

“Maybe,” he responded, gaze lost in the distance again before he turned to her. “What’s your Dao, anyway? You never told me.”

“The Dao of Wind.”

“Really?”

“Yes. What did you think?”

“Archery, maybe. Or the bow. Or dinosaur-hunting.”

She chuckled. “I did follow the Dao of the Arrow in the F-Grade, but I eventually made my second Dao Root, Wind, into a Seed. It wasn’t even on purpose. It just happened one day…and I think it was the best thing that ever happened to me.”

She raised a hand, and the sand around them rose with it. Like gripped by a gale, it swirled around them, forming symmetrical spires that spun in all directions at once. It was a show of beauty that left Jack gaping.

“Why did you never do that before!?”

She laughed. “I didn’t trust you at first. And then…” Her smile took on a mischievous hint. “I saved it for the perfect moment.”

Jack turned to look at her. “Is this your perfect moment, then?”

She met his gaze. “To reveal my powers? Yes, it is.”

He held it for a bit, then leaned back on the sand. Nauja smiled. “Tell me about the wind,” he asked, closing his eyes.

“It is wild and free,” Nauja said. Her fingers danced above her palm, twisting the sand into ever more elaborate patterns. It didn’t matter that Jack had his eyes shut. She was doing this for herself, losing her heart in the simple-minded beauty. Without knowing it, her voice had dropped to a reverent whisper, pulsing with warmth. “It is unfettered, unblocked. It goes everywhere it wants. The wind is freedom, from the tallest peaks to the deepest valleys, and it is joy as it springs from the clouds and tours the sky. It is found in…”

She went on, forgetting herself as the sand danced around her, on a lonely sand dune in the middle of a desert. The silver starlight of the mushrooms struck her pale skin, making her seem glow like a goddess of the night. The flame in her heart was so strong and bright it illuminated even the darkest corners.

Jack lounged with his eyes closed, savoring the moment. His heart unclenched fully, releasing all the fear and worries it held inside, reveling in the here and now. His joy was pure and whole.

Like the wind, he was free.

***

Time in the desert passed quietly, serenely. By the second day, they had learned to spot the hiding monsters and avoid them. They fought occasionally, too. Scorpions, lizards, snakes… All fell without much difficulty. During the journey, Jack got another three levels, while Nauja got one. Brock couldn’t participate in the battles, but he also practiced, closing his eyes and walking on auto-pilot as he focused on expanding and deepening his Dao.

His level kept rising as he grew, both in strength and size. By now, Brock was level 45—and, thanks to his Dao, an elite.

By the fifth day, they were approaching the area where the stone columns disappeared, where the village lay. However, they were also starving. They had avoided food so far, but even E-Grades felt hunger after five days, let alone Brock—who never said anything on the subject. Jack caught him frowning and grabbing his belly at times; he was a brave brorilla, a true bro.

Jack started keeping an eye out for edible creatures.

On the same day, they ran into something they’d never seen before. It was only spotted by Brock, who suddenly raised his arms and stopped them for seemingly no reason.

“What is it, Brock?” Nauja asked. Brock pointed at the next sand dune in their path, making low warning sounds.

Jack frowned and narrowed his eyes, seeing nothing. Suddenly, he found it. His eyes widened. Nauja saw it even before she did and whistled.

A chameleon was plastered on the sand, its color altered to blend in almost seamlessly. It took careful observation to notice that the ever-present lines in the sand formed the outline of its body, but when you did, its shape was clear.

Giant Desert Chameleon, Level 123

Giant Desert Chameleons are solitary ambush predators. They blend into the sand and lie in wait, often spending weeks without any movement whatsoever. When prey comes close, they strike hard and fast, using their tongues as their main weapon.

Despite their ambushing tendencies, they are also formidable fighters.

“It looks dangerous,” Nauja said.

“And plump,” Jack added.

“What?”

“I say we eat it.”

“What!?”

“What do you mean, “what!?” We’re all starving. We can give it a shot. I won’t have any at first, so I can carry the two of you if something goes wrong.”

“Bro…” Brock said, his voice filled with gratitude.

Nauja flashed Brock a look of understanding. “Okay. Want to do the tyrannosaurus trick again? Where you hide in ambush and I shoot it from afar?”

“I actually have a better idea,” Jack replied, smashing his fists together. He hadn’t fought in a while. He was getting itchy—and he was far stronger than he used to be. “Let me handle it.”

“Alone?”

“Yes.” A wild, expectant smile crept on his lips. “Can you scout around a bit, make sure we’re alone? I think this is a good chance to finally test my Life Drop.”