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"I feel like someone is watching."
Swish.
Bonita drew her sword and stood up.
"Where?"
"Maybe not."
"What is it? Is someone there or not?"
"I don't know."
Bellum grabbed Bonita's arm and pulled her down.
"You're probably just joking. Sit down and let's eat dinner. This meat is really good."
"Yeah, eat quickly. Or I'll eat it all."
"You should eat in moderation, you big guy!"
"Do you think it's easy to maintain a body like this?"
"Hey? Put it down. Won't you put it down? Are you really going to eat all of that?"
"They said we can get more at the serving area."
"That doesn't mean you can eat it all by yourself right now?"
Bonita sheathed her sword and slowly sat down.
"Davian, you wouldn't play a prank like this. What is it? Was someone really there?"
"I don't really know. But for some reason..."
"For some reason what?"
"It feels like it's going to be a long night. Eat up."
Davian put a piece of meat in his mouth.
'I definitely felt someone's presence.'
It was just for a moment.
Davian's sensitive senses detected a presence.
So he turned his head.
And the presence vanished without a trace.
'Did they go into the sand?'
The invaders he had met so far could be sensed even when they went into the sand, however faintly.
So he would either sprinkle water on the sand and freeze it along the paths where they moved, or when they came close to the surface, he would blow away the sand covering them with a wind tornado.
Something that no magician in the Alcancia Kingdom could do alone.
Only Davian, who had cultivated both internal energy and magic power, could do it.
But the guy who disappeared into the sand a moment ago completely erased their presence.
He couldn't tell if they had finished spying and disappeared far away, or if they were getting closer to the merchants.
'They're no ordinary skilled fighter. They're different from the guys we've met so far.'
The time when everyone except the watchmen was asleep.
Kuuuuuu.
With a huge resonating sound.
The desert began to shake.
Grains of sand flew chaotically here and there.
"Sandstorm! It's a sandstorm!"
Along with the watchman's cry.
Ding ding ding ding!
The bell announcing the emergency situation rang harshly in the dark desert.
Bonita woke up in surprise.
"Sandstorm?"
"It's not a sandstorm."
Thud. Thud!
Small holes began to appear in the tents where Davian and his group were sleeping.
Sandstorms in the desert are dangerous, but.
That doesn't mean that grains of sand can penetrate a tent with defensive magic.
"They're here."
Davian stood up and spread an ice barrier towards the direction the wind was blowing.
Pupuputh!
Holes appeared in the tents with defensive magic, and grains of sand were embedded in Davian's ice barrier.
The tents turned into rags in an instant and flew away.
"An ambush?"
Davian nodded.
Bellum and Nueves, who had already woken up, came to stand next to Davian.
"They're different from the guys we've fought so far. Don't stray too far, let's move together as four."
"Okay!"
"Got it!"
"Alright."
Davian concentrated and manipulated his magic power.
5 stars... 6 stars... 7 stars.
He released 7 stars of magic power at once and shot a wind element magic.
The wind element magic that Davian shot turned into a giant whirlwind and stretched forward.
The grains of sand that had turned the tents into rags and started to make holes in the wagons began to be swept into Davian's whirlwind.
After a while.
The sand grain attack that had been making holes in the outer walls of the merchant's wagons with strong defensive magic began to subside.
"Wow, did the whirlwind you made, Davian, suck it all up?"
"No. They stopped attacking over there. They probably can't keep pushing magic power in like that either. I don't know exactly if it's magic power or what."
Bellum looked around at the torn tents and wagons.
"Still, that's amazing. To create such destructive power with grains of sand. Is this wind element magic?"
The wind did blow the sand away, but it's a bit different.
There was a greater force in the sand than in the wind.
"It's ambiguous to call it wind element magic, and it's ambiguous to call it earth element magic."
"Then what is it?"
"Sand magic?"
"Sand magic? Is there such a thing?"
"Not on our continent."
"People on the Dizert Continent use unique magic."
After the sand attack completely ended.
The merchant warriors who had taken shelter in a row behind the wagons came forward.
Some drew their weapons and looked around.
Some hurriedly looked inside the wagons with holes in them.
Oliver Axel looked at Davian.
"What was that attack just now...?"
"They are different from the guys who have been attacking so far. Don't scatter and gather together."
Oliver nodded greatly and began to command the merchant warriors.
Bonita asked.
"Why is it so quiet? How many came?"
Davian closed his eyes and maximized his senses.
"I can feel about forty. But there are more."
"The ones we can't feel must be strong."
"That's right."
"Did the main force attack?"
"Probably."
Davian's strategy of moving with the merchants worked well.
There were three clashes in getting here, and each time he deliberately let a few escape.
Now the time has come for a proper force to attack.
"They're coming!"
Along with someone's shout.
Invaders began to rush in from all directions.
Of course, from within the sand.
Like moles digging shallow tunnels and moving.
Like sharks sticking their fins out of the water and approaching prey.
Dozens of sand piles were approaching quickly.
Davian manifested water element magic and sprayed water in all directions.
Now, if he manipulates his magic power to freeze all the sprayed water, he will prevent them from coming to the surface.
At that time.
Wooong.
The entire sandy desert that Davian and his group were standing on seemed to undulate.
"W-what is it!"
"Ugh!"
The ground sank suddenly.
The four friends were sucked into the sand in an instant.
Oliver Axel, who was surprised, flew towards where Davian's group had been.
But the four students had already disappeared into the sand.
"What is this..."
Ptoo!
Nueves roughly spat out the sand he had in his mouth.
"What? Where is this?"
Davian and his friends were in a huge underground space.
At first glance, it looks like an artificially created underground space.
But the space is surrounded by sand, and sand is slowly flowing overhead like water.
The sand is stopped only on the floor of the semi-circular space, and the rest is slowly flowing.
A space created by an unknown force.
Davian looked around.
"With this ability, they could move so freely in the sand."
Bellum asked.
"That's amazing. Is this magic?"
"Well. If you say it is, it is, and if you say it isn't, it isn't."
"What kind of answer is that?"
"Broadly speaking, it's magic, but based on our continent, it's not magic. Anyway, that's how it is."
"Anyway, magic is complicated. Swordsmanship is neat."
Bellum and Davian were having casual conversations even after experiencing a tremendous situation.
That's because they have experienced various things over the past year, and they have strong faith in Davian.
At that time.
Sararak.
The sand on the opposite floor where Davian and his group were standing began to move slowly.
Then, like sculpting pottery, it swirled and rose above the sand surface.
After a while.
The sand that had been gathered in that way became a human shape.
The sand human opened its mouth.
"I am the chief of the Sakum tribe, one of the six tribes of the Dizert Continent."
Nueves opened his mouth with a surprised expression.
"A sand human is talking!"
Bonita, who pointed the tip of her sword, said.
"Is it an illusion? Or an avatar?"
Davian shook his head.
"It's neither an illusion nor an avatar. It's a real person."
"A real person?"
Before coming to the central desert area.
Liber gave him information collected through the Ga family.
"There are six chosen tribes on the Dizert Continent. There are countless other tribes, but only those six are chosen. When you become the chief of a chosen tribe, you gain a mysterious ability. An ability to become one with the sand."
"Become one with the sand?"
"Yes. After performing the tribal chief ritual, that tribal chief becomes a being who is both human and sand. Looking at the entire Dizert Continent, only six chosen people have that ability."
"Those six tribes must be the largest forces on the Dizert Continent?"
"That's right. It can be said that most of the remaining tribes are under the control of the six chosen tribes."
"The ability to become one with the sand given only to the chosen ones..."
The tribal chief opened his mouth again.
"Who are you? I heard that you have already devastated four of our colonies. Are you in a position to have a conversation with me?"
Davian stepped forward.
"I am Davian Naone from Elton Academy."
The sand human opened its mouth again.
"I thought you looked young... You were still a student. A mere student easily destroyed four colonies so easily. Alcancia is indeed a great country. It was different from what they said."
They?
"Why did you come to our continent? Just to rob us?"
"It was an unavoidable choice for us too. Because we were deprived of our livelihood by those guys."
"It doesn't justify coming to another continent and robbing them because you were deprived of your livelihood."
"We also tried to have a dialogue for coexistence at first. Your royal family completely ignored us."
"Who are the guys who took your livelihood?"
"The Marino Empire guys."
Again.
It's the Marino Empire again.
"Why did you create this space and try to have a conversation?"
"To make a proposal."
"What proposal?"
"I will let you live, so take the merchants with you and leave this desert area as it is."
"You speak as if it's your land."
"Anyway, you can't kill me. I am a human and the desert itself. I want to reduce the unnecessary sacrifices of my tribe members, so leave this desert quickly when I say I will let you go."
Liber's last advice came to mind.
"The six chosen tribal chiefs of the Dizert Continent cannot be killed in any way within the desert. Only when their lifespan is over, they pass on their abilities to the next tribal chief and pass away."
"Can't be killed in the desert?"
"Yes. Because they have become one with the sand as it is."
Liber rubbed the soil under his feet with his shoes.
"Just like you can't kill this sand by rubbing it like this."
The Dizert Continent, which is more than 90 percent desert.
The six chosen tribal chiefs there.
Beings who are both human and desert.
They can handle the sand as if it were part of their body.
And until their lifespan is over, they are practically immortal.
Davian asked.
"Is the Sakum tribe led by you the only one who came to our continent?"
"So far, yes."
They will continue to come.
That's why the entire 5th Guards went on a subjugation and lost two-thirds of their forces.
They can't just stand by and watch invaders from another continent openly robbing them.
Especially if the reason is the Marino Empire.
And most importantly.
The quest reward is a whopping 60K mana points.
"I also have a proposal."
"Tell me."
One of Davian's specialties.
The skill to speak informally to the enemy has been activated.
"I will let you live, so take all your tribe members with you and leave this desert area as it is."
"...What?"
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