In the vast, endless pale yellow sky, a distant cross-shaped distress flare flickered in and out of view. EeDechi and her two companions had hustled for half the night, reaching morning, but they were still a fair distance from the distress flare in the sky.
That's what they mean by "the mountain looks close but it'll kill your horse to run there"—some places seem near from afar, but when you actually head over, you find the trek is way longer than it appears.
Despite the long haul and aching legs, the three adventurers pressed on without a break toward the distress signal. What drove EeDechi was a fierce conviction to aid those in trouble; what drove Barrett was the victims' eager promise of a reward; what drove Franco was the sheer force of EeDechi and Barrett yanking him along.
On the desolate, parched earth, EeDechi and Barrett rode neck and neck on red ponies, while Franco hovered in mid-air with a flight spell.
Two ropes were tied around Franco's waist: one end lashed to EeDechi's saddle, the other to Barrett's. Like flying a human kite, EeDechi and Barrett dragged Franco along for the ride.
Ever since Franco had cast a knockout spell to make his own horse keel over, then bullshitted that the beast couldn't hack it and needed a breather, EeDechi had looped two ropes around his waist and started kiting him.
In the pale yellow sky, far off, a brown square wobbled lazily, drifting straight toward EeDechi and her group. As the brown square drew closer, EeDechi could make it out clearly: it was a perfectly square flying carpet, a magical flying rug.
The carpet floated down to eye level with EeDechi and the others. Perched atop it was a man wrapped in a gray linen turban.
The man sported a pair of thin mustaches. Spotting Barrett's gear and Franco as the human "kite," he called out in delight: "Are you three adventurers?"
Barrett nodded in agreement. The man introduced himself as Adam Hoss, a scout affiliated with the traveling merchant caravan known as the Golden Aquarius Merchant Guild.
The Golden Aquarius Merchant Guild was a long-haul caravan that set out from the City Alliance, heading south across the continent. Their destination was the Vast Stellar Gate in the Eight Greed Kings desert.
The caravan had followed the map's route all the way, but right at the edge of the desert, they ran into clay golems and Sandstorm Stalkers. Now they were trapped in the Blacktar Wastes, barely holding on thanks to the magical light shields conjured by two high-level traveling mages—but even that wouldn't last much longer.
The caravan leader had ordered Adam Hoss to risk his life and fly out through the Sandstorm Stalkers' encirclement to seek help nearby.
"What level adventurers are you three?" Adam Hoss asked eagerly.
"Mithril-level, orichalcum-level." Barrett thought for a moment, then pointed at the "kite" Franco in the sky and added, "And one copper-level."
"Copper-level?" Adam Hoss's hopeful expression instantly deflated, his eyebrows drooping as he sighed, "Your strength... it's not enough."
Barrett couldn't help but find it amusing. "Do you really measure an adventurer's strength just by their metal rank?"
Adam Hoss pursed his lips, noncommittal. "Our team has three orichalcum-level adventurers and two silver-level adventurers, all hired by the leader at a steep price. If they were any good, we wouldn't be in this mess."
Barrett crossed his arms over his chest, smiling confidently: "Maybe what's in front of you is your only chance. Of course, you could also choose to pass it up, then watch helplessly as your companions fall into the abyss, getting picked off one by one by the monsters."
Anyone could tell Barrett was a seasoned adventurer. Faced with Barrett's calm and confident smile, Adam couldn't help but feel a bit more trust, guessing, "You must have some kind of ace up your sleeve, right?"
Barrett patted the shoulder of EeDechi beside him. "My companions are my ace."
Adam frowned and glanced at EeDechi a couple of times, his eyes darting around. Probably figuring he had nothing to lose, he let EeDechi and Barrett board the flying carpet. Franco untied the ropes around his waist and stepped onto the carpet too. The four of them flew off into the distance together.
After the flying carpet took on the weight of four people, it seemed to struggle, the magic faltering, and the flight altitude dropped considerably for a moment.
Adam gazed at the rolling dust clouds in the distance and said: "Our caravan is hunkered down in a sunken basin, trapped by a few Sandstorm Stalkers and clay golems. I risked my neck to fly out. In a bit, you guys wait on the side; I'll use the flying carpet to ferry you one by one into the basin. Then we all team up to break out from the inside."
After saying that, he shot a glance at EeDechi, seeming to find it hard to believe that this one was the ace Barrett was talking about.
"Since you have a flying carpet, why not ferry all the caravan people out?" EeDechi asked.
Adam sighed: "We thought about that too, but the caravan has a ton of valuable cargo. Asking the merchants to abandon their goods and run is like asking them to die. Plus, the Sandstorm Stalkers have a high attack range, so ferrying people with the carpet isn't easy."
"What kind of monster is a Sandstorm Stalker?" Barrett asked, hand on his chin.
He'd only heard of invisible stalkers before. Invisible stalkers were products formed from gathered wind elements—almost colorless and odorless, transparent and shapeless. In short, they were small storms with a killer instinct.
Ordinary folks couldn't spot an invisible stalker's presence at all. Only when it zipped around at high speed would it let out a sharp whistle. But by the time people heard that sound, it was too late to bolt.
The invisible stalker would chase down every innocent soul at breakneck speed, its wind elements turning into razor-sharp blades that shredded clothes and sliced open throats.
Even a knight decked out in full adamantite armor couldn't escape—the invisible stalker could slip through the tiniest gaps in the plate mail, sneaking in everywhere, slashing skin, burrowing into nostrils, and shredding windpipes. It was a truly horrifying monster that could kill without a trace.
"You're adventurers, so you must know about invisible stalkers," Adam said with a sour look. "Sandstorm Stalkers are what you get when invisible stalkers mix with the yellow sand that's everywhere in the desert."
That made sense, Barrett nodded to himself. Invisible stalkers were scary enough on their own; add in rough gravel whipping around at high speed in those sharp wind blades, and the deadliness shot up big time.
"Honestly, I've been to other deserts, and I've never seen anything as creepy and terrifying as Sandstorm Stalkers. It's only because the magic flows in the Eight Greed Kings desert are so messed up that monsters like this get born," Adam sighed.
"This isn't all bad news," Barrett said cheerfully. "Since Sandstorm Stalkers are loaded with yellow sand, they're basically mini yellow sandstorms—we can actually see their shape."
"Hmm, yeah, we can spot them. Look, that dust twister sliding straight toward us from the left—isn't that a Sandstorm Stalker?" EeDechi said, her arm stretched out pointing left.
Adam and Barrett both craned their necks that way, and in a flash, Adam's face went as white as a sheet.