After searching for discernable landmarks for the better part of a day, the duo had to throw in the towel earlier than usual. Benjamin could hardly look down on his character for that. Dewn was his desert area, specifically designed to be a challenge to traverse. The sun would beat down on everyone indiscriminately, and it could certainly be felt in how slow the dragon’s fly speed was. It was approaching a glide near the end.

Picking out a relatively solid section of sand, they made their campsite. Kinsoriel was left panting much like Benjamin had when he first experienced exhaustion. If he was in such a state, this heat must be truly draining.

“Aghh, just ugh, what is, what is this?!” he labored out.

“Would you like for me to cool you down with a spell?” Benjamin offered.

Shaking his head, the black dragon ran his claws through the sand, watching it run around his fingers. “The heat isn’t the issue you dolt. There’s something wrong with the mana here.”

The mana? Pondering what he said, it came to Ben quickly. “Dewn!” he exclaimed, happy that he had the answer.

“What is that supposed to mean to me?” Kinsoriel asked between breaths.

“There’s a bunch of small creatures deep underneath the sand that take up a large amount of the mana around here,” Benjamin explained while picking up some of the stuff. “As a result, it takes longer for it to saturate the surface and its inhabitants.”

He knew that there was more to the subsurface creatures, but he could only draw on ones that could be considered dangerous. The main obstacle here was the mana issue anyway. It was intended to be more of a shock since his character would have a far smaller capacity for mana at that point. Regaining mana at a slower rate wouldn’t hamper him much then, but it would force him to consider the help of others more seriously. Considering how much mana he could hold at this size, that might not be the same case.

Staring at him puzzled, Kinsoriel posed a slew of questions. “What? Where did you hear that? Have you been here before?”

Ah shoot, he’d been too specific. He didn’t want to talk about anything related to his Authordom, given the reactions he’d gotten before. But now he’d caught some unwanted attention.

“I have been here before,” he replied.

“And?”

“And what?” Ben said, trying to play dumb.

“Where did you hear that?” the dragon reiterated with a slightly harsher tone.

Why couldn’t that unrelenting focus of his just take a day off? He wasn’t going to be able to divert from it. There wasn’t enough time to find the right words while on the hot seat like this. Unless he wanted to provoke more questions, he had no other choice than the truth.

“I didn’t hear it from anyone or anything,” he admitted, “I made it as a plot point for the story I was making.”

Kinsoriel’s discerning eyes blinked twice. Releasing a huff, the dragon looked almost amused.

“Of course. I look forward to all the answers I’ll have from you someday when you are cured of your madness.”

Benjamin was surprised at how easily that had gone. He was expecting significantly more poking and prodding. It seemed like he had earned an amount of trust from his character, enough to drop this early. Even if what he said wasn’t believed, this was still great progress for him.

“Right now, however, that leaves us with a problem.” Opening and closing his hands in front of his eyes, Kinsoriel said, “If what you say is true in any way, I’ll need to conserve my mana. Our lessons will need to transition to lectures for now.”

Benjamin nodded. That’s reasonable, if a bit saddening. While he could confidently say he was better off than most mages at this point, that was mostly due to his not needing a spellbook. He still wasn’t at a spot he could be comfortable with, not until he could answer to any complication he might face. Part of why he was getting as good a grasp on magic as he was were the examples he could follow. At least he would still be getting some instruction.

Kinsoriel’s stomach made itself known with a great rumble. "Ugh, I should have taken a bandit," he said while pointing his claw to the campfire. "Servant, maintain the fire while I get us some food. I shouldn’t be long."

Giving a thumbs up, Ben got closer to the fire. He was left alone with the flames after his teacher had taken off, the fire surprisingly pleasant to look at today. Something about the setting sky gave a great accent to the atmosphere. Staring into the bright yellows and oranges made him think back to the mess from earlier today.

Those bandits would have been a prime opportunity for Kinsoriel to get some growth. Slay some criminals, save a person, and feel that addictive taste of heroism. Easy stuff ordinarily. Unfortunately, all it took to throw a wrench in that was a bad reaction from the victim.

That terror, though understandable after having seen such carnage, had undone the entire act. Instead of seeing some good in ‘Deathbounds’, that rejection deepened his character’s resentment instead.

No, that wasn’t entirely true. Given what he had said afterward, it was possible Kinsoriel saw Ben as the only human worth a damn. While it was better to be on his good side, that might actually be worse in the long run.

He’d seen that arc type enough times to be worried. When one character manages to bond with another from a group they dislike, that bond becomes grounding. The grounding character can lead to a warmer opinion of that group in a good turn of events. When something happens to that grounding character… it might be best not to think about that.

Part of him thought that it might have been a setup from his brother, though that didn’t last long. Stromwell couldn’t have had every part of that figured out. It was simply poor judgement on his part, shameful as that was. He needed to make better calls if he was going to have any chance at leaving this world a winner.

The fire was starting to die down while he reflected. Couldn’t let that happen on his watch. Unlike the forests they had traversed, there wasn’t anything he could use to stoke it lying around. Just sand and the occasional plant stubborn enough to live here. Looks like he would need to get a little creative.

Pointing a finger at the kindling, he projected a thin stream of raw mana. It wasn’t a spell per se, but he’d picked it up all the same after seeing it get used here and there. Muttering once he saw the energy evaporate upon contact with the flames, he redoubled his efforts, forcing more out through his tips. That extra oomph was enough to get it to the wood, poking it around until the fire was burning bright once more. That trickle wasn’t as sensation heavy as actual spells, and it took less to use it, but it opened his eyes to the grim reality of the situation.

Despite his lack of experience with it, he could feel how exhausted his E.K. was right now. It was like he was a cup underneath a dripping faucet. It had poured out a bit of its liquid, and while it would still be refilled, a slow faucet left it hollow for longer. The scarcity here was far more intense than he had initially thought, leaving him to feel this almost painful emptiness. And coming off the heels of what amounted to extending his finger a bit further? What an awful sign. It must be hellish for the big guy.

Nevertheless, he felt back to normal after a little under a minute had passed. A far cry from the few seconds it might have taken where they had started.

His scattered thoughts started coming together once he looked back into the fire. They were both especially vulnerable here. If it came down to physical conflict, it would be a death sentence for him. As for Kinsoriel, while he could be quite fearsome outside of spell casting, he was only one entity. Like it or not, they needed more members to be safe, but mostly Ben. Nela and the rest of the cast would fill that role well. They might even get some of the original plot rolling as well. For that to happen though, he’ll need to get that dragon to be open to the idea in the first place. He’d look for smaller steps, carefully considered and presented. Knee-jerk opportunities were too risky as he’d learned earlier.

“Good,” he heard booming from behind him, “I see the fire continues to burn.”
Turning back to greet him, Benjamin immediately noticed the weird creature in the dragon’s grasp. It had the same profile as a camel but was covered with a mix of bright scales and slimy skin. There were talons instead of hooves and what looked like a second mouth where the hump should be. This thing must have been very docile though, because Benjamin couldn’t recall anything about it.

“What is that?” he asked with a finger pointed at the creature.

“Until I find a suitable bestiary, it shall be called ‘dinner’.” Kinsoriel lightly chuckled at his own joke. He stared at Ben for a moment until the cue was received, leading to a forced laugh of his own. Shrugging his wings dismissively as though Ben was missing out on his humor, he moved the creature over the fire.

For as awkward as it felt, it had also put a real smile on the ex-Author’s face strangely enough. It faded shortly after. As their meal started cooking, he looked at the situation from another lens. These little moments were meant for different people, to strengthen Kinsoriel’s relationship with them. Besides what is absolutely necessary, he shouldn’t allow himself to get closer to the main character. Getting too ingrained would only complicate things more than they already were. The sooner he reunited the cast, the sooner he could end this stupid feud and erase his involvement here.

Hopefully, they’re still fine. They should be a decently strong force this early on in the story, but one could never know with a vindictive Author that could be anywhere. Benjamin wondered where they were right now.