Chương 29: Interlude: Sand and Blood

Sasesh stood before the group, arms folded, the morning firelight flickering against his jawline. His eyes scanned each of them. They were caked in mud, bruised, and tired but they were all still together.

"I want to start by saying I'm proud of how far we've come," he said, voice carrying over the quiet shuffle of boots and gear.

"We've fought hard, we've worked as a unit, and we've pushed through every challenge the System has thrown our way. And now we've all made it to level 15." A few nods. Kyle adjusted his quiver. Amanda looked up from where she sat, her expression drawn but listening.

"That means we're ready," Sasesh continued.

"Ready to finish what we started and take down that monster Kharvaxis." A ripple of tension moved through the group like a stiff wind. Bryan was the first to speak.

"Are we sure about that?" he asked, voice slow and steady.

"We all saw the beach. The corpses. That was before the System warned us the Lords of the Swamp were getting stronger. And that thing… it wasn't just a beast. It watched us with more intelligence than any hermit crab should have." Sasesh nodded.

"You're right. That other group didn't make it." His tone hardened.

"But we're not them. You all saw the System notification—two of the eight Lords have already been killed. They're not untouchable." He let that settle before continuing.

"We were put in here with them for a reason. We're meant to defeat them." His gaze shifted to Professor Sanders.

"They can be beaten, and we're better prepared than the group that tried before. We're stronger. We're smarter." A faint, assured smile tugged at his lips.

"And this time, we're walking in with a plan." Professor Sanders adjusted his glasses and stepped forward, clearing his throat.

"When I reached level 15, I was given a new skill selection, just like all of you. But I also received an enhancement option." There were murmurs of recognition—everyone knew what he meant.

"I chose to upgrade my [Analyze] skill," Professor Sanders said.

"It evolved into [Advanced Analysis]. The upgrade grants me access to significantly more detailed information—weak points, behavioral patterns, elemental tolerances, and even some predictive modeling."

"That sounds good," Miriam interrupted, crossing her arms.

"But how does that help us right now?" Professor Sanders didn't flinch.

"Please don't interrupt. I was getting to that." He continued, more firmly now.

"Along with [Advanced Analysis], I gained a sub-function: Overclock. I can increase my cognitive speed dramatically for a short duration. With it, I'll be able to process combat data in real time—strategize and direct the battle moment by moment even better than before." He paused to let that sink in.

"As long as you all follow instructions and execute quickly, I'm confident we can bring Kharvaxis down." Bryan still looked uncertain but didn't speak. He glanced at the others. Kranti stood tall. Miriam cracked her knuckles. Even Amanda gave a slow nod. Sasesh smiled faintly.

"By the end of today, we'll be sitting around a fire on that beach with a dead Lord of the Swamp behind us—and a mountain of experience ahead." No one cheered. But no one objected either. They moved out. The group crept through the trees toward the lake, the air heavy with tension. When they reached the shoreline, they dropped into cover. There it was. Half-buried in the pale sand, Kharvaxis's massive spiral shell gleamed dully beneath the gray sky. It hadn't moved since they saw it last.

All eyes turned to Professor Sanders. He raised his hand slowly, glasses glinting, and invoked [Advanced Analysis]. He paused a moment before saying "Level fifteen. Just like us." Relief washed through the group. For a moment, even the wind felt lighter. Professor Sanders nodded once.

"Stick to the plan, and we'll be fine." The melee fighters moved first. Bryan marched directly toward the half-buried Lord, his heavy armor clinking softly with each step. His shield was raised, his stance wide and prepared to absorb whatever came at him. To his left and right, John and Kranti flanked wide, slipping through the loose sand with the practiced ease of veterans. On the opposite side, Miriam and Nadean mirrored the maneuver, spreading out to encircle the cratered behemoth.

At the rear, Kyle crouched low, bow already drawn. He didn't speak, didn't blink. Mana pulsed around him, thick enough for Sasesh to feel it thrumming in the soles of his feet. Good, Sasesh thought. He's ready. They had all agreed—Kharvaxis's greatest weakness was his bulk. If they could catch him off guard, knock him into the open, expose that soft belly buried beneath that grotesque, etched shell they could end it before the monster even reacted. Sasesh didn't hesitate.

He extended his wand, drawing deep from his core. Mana flowed through his channels like molten iron, heating his blood. With a practiced flick, he poured the spell into the ground beneath the Lord of the Swamp, threading his mana through every grain of sand. He felt the monster's weight. Felt where the body shifted slightly, just enough for him to sense the weak spots. And that was where he struck.

With a thunderous whump, a pillar of sand erupted upward from beneath Kharvaxis, launching the Lord into the air in an avalanche of sand. It worked. Just as planned. Kharvaxis soared into the air, a behemoth dislodged from its sandy throne. For a heartbeat there was a stillness as the group stared up in awe at the airborne giant. The last time they had seen Kharvaxis, it was terrifying. A massive hermit crab with jagged mandibles, layered armored legs, and thick claws dripping with gore.

But what now emerged from the shifting sand was something even larger and much meaner. Its legs had nearly doubled in thickness, now encased in plated barbs that clattered with every motion. The armor on its underbelly had gained a strange sheen, like oil on water, refracting the light unnaturally. Dozens of new spines bristled along the joints, twitching like they had minds of their own. But worst of all were its claws. The pincers were massive before, each the size of a grown man's torso.

But now they had mutated into instruments of war. Atop each claw sat a bulbous, glossy growth. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Sasesh's mouth went dry. Before he could process it further, Kyle loosed his arrow. The air exploded behind the archer. A shockwave of sand blasted outward from Kyle's position as mana roared into the projectile. The arrow flew with blinding speed, carving a visible tunnel of displaced air in its path.

Sasesh felt it in his bones. Not just the sound, but the power of the shot. That alone could kill it, he thought, awe flickering behind his focused expression. For a brief moment, he allowed himself hope that they truly would end it in one blow. That their melee fighters wouldn't even need to endanger themselves. Moments before Kyle's arrow struck true, Kharvaxis shifted. It twisted unnaturally midair, its heavy form rotating with a grace that should have been impossible for something so massive.

The crustacean Lord raised one claw toward the oncoming projectile and the other directly toward Kyle. Sasesh blinked. What the hell was it doing? It should be helpless. A sitting target in the sky. Then came the first thundercrack. A stone the size of a melon launched from the top of Kharvaxis' claw with a hiss of compressed pressure. Another boom followed a half-second later as the second claw fired a second stone like a mortar round. Sasesh's eyes went wide. Cannons?

The first projectile struck Kyle's arrow midflight. A third shockwave detonated overhead, lighting up the sky in a white-blue flash. The explosion cracked outward as shards of stone and splinters of magical force rained down. The two attacks canceled each other out with terrifying violence. Kyle dove sideways, rolling desperately to dodge the second stone. He wasn't fast enough. The projectile clipped him mid-roll, striking his left leg just above the knee. CRACK.

His leg exploded into mist and shredded meat, severed clean by the force of impact. Kyle was launched across the beach like a ragdoll, blood arcing in a grotesque ribbon through the air. He hit the sand with a sickening thud and didn't move. For a second, the entire battlefield froze. Amanda screamed a raw, guttural sound that ripped through the quiet and sprinted toward him, hands already glowing with frantic green light. But the nightmare wasn't done.

Kharvaxis, still descending, shifted its claws again—one toward Nadean, the other snapping down to lock on Sasesh. Sasesh reacted on instinct. He flung mana into the sand beneath his feet, calling up a thick wall of compressed earth between him and the descending cannon-blast. At the same time, he poured more mana into reinforcing it—fortifying the grains with hardened bindings, lacing them together until his mana channels screamed. A split-second later, the stone hit and the world around him exploded.

Sand erupted in every direction. Sasesh was thrown backward, limbs flailing. He slammed into the beach, flat on his back. His ears rang and his lungs heaved, scrabbling for air that refused to come. Then he felt the pain. Dull and spreading across his side. He coughed once and forced his eyes open. He was alive. Hurt—but alive. Gritting his teeth, he shoved himself upright, gasping. The ringing in his ears was still deafening. Through the haze of kicked-up sand, he scanned the field, vision shaky.

Kharvaxis wasn't where it was supposed to be. The force of the recoil from its own volley had shifted its descent. Instead of slamming back into the sand like they planned, the Lord of the Swamp had landed in the lake with a massive splash. Water surged outward in concentric waves, swallowing the shore. The beast had vanished beneath the water's surface. His heart pounded. He turned his head, looking for Nadean—and spotted her sprinting back toward him, uninjured. She'd somehow dodged the shot.

Sasesh staggered to his feet, adrenaline forcing his legs to move. The others were already regrouping near Amanda and Kyle's broken form, panic in their faces. And through the wall of pressure in his ears, he saw Professor Sanders yelling something—but he couldn't hear a word. Then the Professor grabbed his arm and yanked him toward the treeline. The group ran. Sasesh stumbled through the tangled swamp underbrush, his limbs still sluggish from the explosion.

Professor Sanders clung to his arm, dragging him between twisted roots and low-hanging vines. Around them, the others sprinted in grim silence. Bryan and Miriam flanked Amanda, each supporting one side of Kyle's limp body. His leg was gone from the thigh down, a slick stump wrapped in Amanda's glowing hands. Blood still seeped between her fingers despite her desperate healing. Her face was pale, eyes wide and glassy, mouth muttering half-prayers and fractured spells.

Sasesh's vision blurred as he struggled to keep pace. Why are we retreating? his mind asked. We had a plan. We had the numbers. The skills. We could've— The ringing in his ears was still a high pitched whine. His thoughts swirled in confusion and disbelief. Up ahead, Nadean was moving faster than anyone, weaving through trees like she'd run this path before. Her silhouette blurred into the mist, vanishing beyond the thickening swamp. Sasesh forced his legs to keep going, stumbling over roots and half-sunken logs.

Professor Sanders was still beside him, not speaking anymore—just focused on dragging him forward. Then, like a punch to the skull, the ringing in Sasesh's ears stopped. Sound returned in a rush—the slap of footfalls against wet ground, Amanda's choked sobbing, the grunts of strain from Bryan and Miriam as they carried Kyle.

"No, no, no," Amanda whimpered, her magic surging brighter.

"You're not going to die, you hear me? You're not—just hold on, Kyle, please—" Sasesh looked over, his breath hitching. Kyle's face was pale from blood loss. Amanda was pouring everything she had into the wound, but it was clear—this wasn't something her magic could undo entirely. The leg was gone. They kept moving, the darkness of the swamp swallowing them again. No one spoke a word. The shock of what had just happened was still sinking in. Sasesh felt it too, bitter and sharp beneath the adrenaline.

They had been completely wrong. Kharvaxis wasn't just stronger than them. It had been operating on an entirely different level, and the truth of how badly outmatched they were settled over him like cold mud. Sasesh looked ahead but couldn't see Nadean anymore. The trees thinned ahead. The group burst into a clearing they hadn't passed through before—a ring of open space framed by thick moss-laced trunks. Vines curled low over scattered brush, but what caught Sasesh's eye wasn't the trees or the silence.

It was Nadean, standing in the middle of the clearing, running toward them with a strange look of relief spread across her face. Behind her came four figures—three tall, broad-shouldered men and one much thinner man whose skin looked so pale it was nearly translucent in the morning light. Sasesh's breath caught. On the far side of the clearing stood a palisade—tall wooden stakes driven deep into the earth encircling what looked like a hidden stronghold.

A wide gate marked the center, slightly ajar, revealing glimpses of movement beyond. Panic flashed in Sasesh's gut. This wasn't the place to fight. They weren't ready. His eyes scanned the faces of the four approaching figures but he didn't recognize any of them. Nadean reached them and slowed to a jog, hands raised in reassurance.

"It's okay!" she called out.

"You can stop running—we're safe now!" The others slowed, panting and bloodied, collapsing into the edge of the clearing in wary exhaustion. Sasesh stepped forward, teeth clenched.

"Who are they?" he demanded, eyes locked on the approaching men.

"How do you know we're safe?" Nadean's relief faltered just slightly, her breath still ragged.

"I found them… while I was running. I didn't know where I was going—I just ran, and then I saw the wall." She gestured behind her.

"I ran straight to the gate and started shouting. At first they didn't trust me, but after a minute, these four came out. They listened." Sasesh's gaze narrowed.

"And you just believed them? After what happened last time? The last people we came across killed Cade in cold blood, remember?" Nadean winced but held her ground.

"This is different, Sasesh. They didn't try anything. They said Kharvaxis and the other Lords can't enter this area. Something about the terrain or a barrier—they said it's safe." As she spoke, the thin, pale-skinned man stepped forward, leaving the three larger men behind. His movements were slow and deliberate, and when he reached the group, he offered a placid smile.

"You've had a rough time," he said, voice calm and oddly soothing.

"But you're safe now. This area's protected. We've carved out a foothold here, away from the Lords and other monsters in this swamp. You can rest. Recover. We have food, clean water, and a healer inside." The group glanced at each other warily, doubt flickering in exhausted eyes. The man didn't press. He simply nodded, as if understanding their hesitation.

"I know this Tutorial has been… cruel," he said.

"But we humans have to stick together. No one will harm you here. We've made sure of that. The System may want bloodshed and turmoil, but we do not." His pale eyes swept across them, lingering briefly on Kyle's unconscious form, then Amanda's drained expression, then on Sasesh himself.

"My name is Richard," he said smoothly, extending a hand in greeting.

"Welcome to Camp Persistence."