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Chapter 212: Well

I chuck the monsters into 【Storage】 without looking at them after crushing them in the sand.

The desert spirit — I assume she is — would disappear after pointing us to where we should go, then reappear again to point as we trudged towards the direction she wanted.

I’m gradually losing track of where I’m going. The dunes change shape with the wind so it’s useless memorizing the terrain. Actually, I can also gauge our direction based on the position of the sun — well I pretended I did. After all, it’s recorded that when their whim striked, they would mess with the compass, or cast illusion on the stars and sun so…

Going around in circles in a large place with no landmarks because of factors such as a dominant leg, an injury, bone deformities, difference in length between left and right legs, shoes that don’t fit properly and other personal quirks — was that called Ring Wandering?* Kinda like wandering in circles in the same area over and over again.

I wasn’t that worried because I can return any time I want, but I’d probably be in cold sweat now if that wasn’t the case. I continued walking towards where the spirit was pointing to. Sand can sap out your energy, so maybe it’s burdensome running on sandy beaches for club activity training.

Bam.

I’m still good physical strength-wise, but maybe I can try a little levitation spell? It won’t be too strenuous since there’s many air and wind spirits around, I guess. Ah, but if I floated the monsters won’t attack me — they’re coming after me because of the vibrations from my footsteps.

Wham.

X-Stick is having fun and I’m also happy because it felt like I’m applying what I learned from the red lizard encounter. I don’t want to rely on my ability — is what I wanna say, but this method is actually impossible if I didn’t have the ability and speed to poke X-Stick. Besides, the monsters were harder than the red lizard.

I’m not sure if it’s due to the spirits or because I’ve been moving around and working a lot these days, but it feels like I have more strength and stamina than I did in the beginning. Ah, but I don’t think there’s any change in my body shape. I grew taller within two years — around…. 2 cm…Probably?

Other than crocodiles and snakes, I also encountered fish monsters with delicious-looking fruits dangling from its head like an angler fish diving into the sand. There were also spotted eel monsters — but what shocked me the most was the bluefin tuna.
The sand seemed to go on and on endlessly, but it seems we finally arrived at some sort of ruins. It was the color of sand, but the shape was still there. Even the crumbling walls were poking out of the sand.

The spirit appeared again and pointed beneath us.

Yup, our goal was buried here, apparently. But before that —

「X-Stick! Times five! 」
「Yeah, Master! Gotcha gotcha!! 」

If I shake X-Stick and shout a certain multiple, he would transform in response. Like now, he stretched five times his current length to suit my request.

Our spirit guide seemed dumbfounded, but I ignored her.

I thrust X-Stick vigorously into the sand, causing a cloud of dust to rise. A beat later, another cloud of dust, bigger this time, whirled around us as if chasing the one earlier.

「It’s a big fry, Master. 」
「Ou! 」

Giddy X-Stick happily commented, and he’s right. A monster five times bigger than the ones we encountered so far lurked under the sand.

It was going on a rampage, blocking our vision with all the sand it was sending to the air. It didn’t feel as if it’s going to attack us; more like it’s groaning in deathly agony in the dark?

Is it tuna?

Nope, it wasn’t. When all the sand in the air settled down, what greeted us was the sight of a hairless caterpillar — no, a larger than life version of nematode with its body half-buried in the sand.

Ah, I wish bug-looking monsters would stop appearing even here. I had to wipe X-Stick. I can penetrate whatever it is if I wish too, and I can also clean him with just a flick, but, you know, just imagine the feels, ugh.

「I don’t wanna chuck that in 【Storage】. 」
But 【Appraisal】 listed its body fluids as ingredients for medicine. Ugh, can’t help then, let’s just obediently store it.

When I put it in 【Storage】the sand suddenly flowed with great force, burying the space where the monster was. A well appeared afterward.
We reached the entrance of our destination, apparently. I asked the air and wind spirits to assist me in hauling up the sand out of the well. I stretched my hands and lifted them palms up, and the spirits followed my movements as they blew the sand away.

The sand that remained was cleared by the smaller spirits who conjured a whirlwind to blow it away as they’re way of helping me.

「Thanks. 」
I added a little extra to the mana I gave the spirits in exchange for helping me. I’ll be in your care again, thank you very much.

The spirit who guided us disappeared in a blink of an eye. I looked around to check whether she’d appear again, and when she didn’t I continued on my way.

「You know, it’s really exciting going into tight places! Most especially when you go out afterward, now that’s exhilarating!! 」

Ah, no, I don’t think you’re declaring your love for narrow spaces, but for the great outdoors, right?

Anyway, with X-Stick’s help, I tested the integrity of the stairway. Perhaps it’s because it’s been buried in the sand for a long time, but its condition was better than the exposed part of the wall.

The square-shaped well had stairs on all sides. Some of the leftover sand trickled down the stairs from time to time as we descended.

Ahh, just entering the shade made everything feel cooler.

I did think about this back when we were in the tunnel, but don’t you think descending underground has a certain heroic feeling to it? Like, maybe there’s an underground empire or something, you know? Ah, right. There’s the valley of the dwarves. Ack, this won’t do, the heroic feeling just got blown away for some reason.