With an impressive display of agility, Mandrix whipped his sword behind his back, the weapon snapping securely into place. His enormous hands gripped Brian and Serdna firmly as he charged forward, simultaneously shoving the injured grivaxian out of his path with his powerful shoulder. The trio's escape was swift, leaving the snarling, bloodthirsty creatures behind them in a blur of motion and terror.

“Hold on tight!”

"Wait, we can't just leave Xezia like this!" Brian said, overwhelmed by grief as they fled from the creatures.

Mandrix's astonishing speed carried them out of the cavern in a fraction of the time it had taken to walk to the fragments. But he didn't stop there; his powerful legs propelled them further and further into the desert.

Tension clung to their souls as they raced across the barren landscape, the wind whipping their faces and stinging their eyes. The ground beneath them blurred into a haze, and their hearts pounded in their chests, syncing with Mandrix's relentless pace. Finally, he came to an abrupt halt, dropping Brian and Serdna in front of two large boulders in the middle of the desolate desert, surrounded by nothing but purple sand and silence.

"I think we lost them, " Mandrix panted, his voice ragged with exhaustion. "We can't stop, though. We need to figure out how to take them out."

"I can’t believe we lost Xezia..." While knelt on the ground, Serdna gazed at his outstretched palms as tears cascaded between his shaky fingers.

Mandrix sighed, "Look, it's tough, I know. But decimators die all the time. Besides, Xezia wasn't even your girlfriend anymore, man."

Serdna, his face flushed with anger, stood up and used the momentum to land a right hook on Mandrix's jaw.

Mandrix stepped back, rubbing his cheek, and snapped, "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

Startled by the duo's interaction, Brian held up his hands and interjected, "Man, that's not cool. A person just died! Don’t be so… Indifferent?"

Mandrix winced, then conceded, "Okay, maybe I deserved that."

"By the way, do you guys know why the grivaxians are trying to conquer Valtaria?" Brian asked.

Serdna, overwhelmed by the situation, dropped to his knees, ignoring the conversation.

Mandrix, still adjusting his jaw, shot Brian a puzzled look, "What are you yapping about now?"

"I'm talking about what the big one said back there."

Mandrix, disturbed, questioned, "Wait, wait, wait, wait, are you implying that you understood them? What exactly did they say?"

Brian frowned, trying to recall the moment, "You know, typical bad guy stuff. Something about expanding and conquering the planet."

Mandrix looked to the side, astonished by the information, and mumbled, "It makes sense, considering how the grivaxians have been operating these past few tetrads."

Serdna finally stood up, cheeks glistening, "I'm through with all this. Mandrix you are an asshole. Just leave me alone." He turned and walked away.

Mandrix, flustered, called after him, "What do you mean, you're through?"

Before Mandrix could finish, Brian squeezed his arm, "Just give him some space, alright?"

“I guess he’ll come around,” Mandrix exhaled. “But listen, the directorate was right, we need to gather a group and finish off the grivaxians before they get out of hand.”

Baffled, Brian shook his head. “Hey, why us specifically? And why me? I almost died back there! I mean… someone did die. Didn’t you say there was a government? Let them handle it. I’m not ready for this”

“Pfft, the fucking government is not going to do anything, they don’t care. Heck, this is exactly why they have decimators. Also, you still owe me, as you can see they can now camouflage, so we’ll need your sight. Our piece of shit scanners can’t even tell left from right.”

Brian tilted his head back to behold the sky. “By the way, this sky is amazing.”

An overabundance of stars glittered there, more than he had ever seen, each one a piercing reminder of the immense, perilous void he now occupied. Stars streaked past as if hastening, perhaps fleeing this lethal planet, he thought with a bitter twist. The glowing orbs that were likely neighboring planets added to the strange atmosphere, transforming his surroundings into a set for a nightmarish sci-fi film.

“Is this… Some kind of planetarium?” Brian made a dismissive gesture. “Right… Another world.”

Xezia's death came back to his mind. It brought a lump to his throat, compelling him once more to stare at the purple sand.

Yes, he could feel the weight of Xezia’s death in the air, but Brian always thought that he lacked empathy. He’d feel sad about people dying, yet it never seemed to halt his life's progression. Perhaps what he experienced wasn't true sadness?

Mandrix expelled a heavy breath. The sound of his lips fluttering with the release snapped Brian out of his thoughts. “You really need to get your brain checked when you get to Arcasium" Mandrix grumbled. He removed his cloak and handed it to Brian.

The landscape reminded Brian of California's Death Valley. However, this terrain had a distinct purple tint and was devoid of any plant life. The temperature was freezing cold, but there was a pleasant lavender scent in the air and a peculiarly familiar taste to the sand.

"Even the sand here tastes like chocolate," Brian mumbled, allowing a few grains to sift through his fingers in a weak attempt to distract himself from his gloomy thoughts.

"Keep your mouth shut," Mandrix warned. "You don't want to ingest a parasite."

Brian quickly complied. Parasites? This place just keeps getting better and better, he thought.

Mandrix sat down, leaning his back against one of the giant boulders. With his cloak removed, a slim, convenient backpack, snug against his back, came into view. It fit so perfectly that had Mandrix not taken it off, Brian might have mistaken it for another piece of armor. Mandrix set his white backpack down beside him and carefully began to look through its contents, appearing to search for something specific.

He pulled out two small rectangular packages, handing one to Brian. The crinkly outer wrapping in Brian's hand was oddly familiar - its size, weight, and the way it was packed was straight out of his childhood. It reminded him of ice cream sandwiches, though unfortunately, it didn't feel cold.

Realizing it was food, Brian unwrapped it as carefully and quickly as he could. It looked like beach sand, but closer to the mushy type found near the water, not the fine dry kind. However, its color was more gray than brown. It also maintained its shape from when it was wrapped, until Brian broke off a corner. It separated easily, and the texture was smooth yet grainy. If Brian had to compare it to something, it would be similar to the toy kinetic sand that resembles playdough.

Brian took a bite. As expected, it was dry, but surprisingly bland and tasteless, which made it easy to swallow. Nevertheless, he inevitably coughed a little. "What is it?" he asked.

Mandrix placed his last morsel in his mouth and replied through a mouthful, "Stalactgoyle jerky." He chewed very expressively, emphasizing his point. "You have to make sure to chew it completely…" he continued between mouthfuls. "At least 50 times… Or else it will clump together and clog your intestines." Swallowing finally, he added, "But its nutritional value is off the charts. It will keep you active for a full Lum!"

"Okay, thanks." Taking a deep breath, Brian continued eating.

“Rest up fella, reinforcements will be here soon. Then we’ll eradicate them.” It was the first time Mandrix’s voice wasn’t loud.

Brian laid next to one of the boulders, atop the purple sand. It was like sleeping on the beach. He squirmed, his clothes all crusty and heavy with dried-up purple gunk. They itched like crazy, but at least they weren't wet anymore. He shivered at the mere thought of that. Mandrix's massive cloak was like a big, cozy bear hug. He was so grateful. Without it, he'd have been frozen solid

Finding himself with some apparent free time, Brian decided to review his progress.

Status

Energy Signature: Brian Valtwood

Energy Rank: Latent (lvl 5)

Valtite Reserves: 32

Rank Progress: 32%

No Affinity

No Specialization

No Profession

Vitality: 89/100

Vigor: 29/100

Valtite: 6/120

Stats

Constitution: 10

Strength: 12

Endurance: 10

Dexterity: 14

Wisdom: 12

Intelligence: 13

Untrained Potential: 0

His stats had almost doubled since he was first transported to Valteria, and he was only at level 5. Did that mean he was twice as strong? He doubted it. While he did feel stronger, he certainly didn't feel nearly twice as powerful. Regardless, it was clear that doubling his strength was a possibility. After all, from what he'd observed, Mandrix was at least five times stronger than him.

The method of assigning his untrained stats was still a mystery to him. He'd managed to assign a point to strength, but that had happened purely by accident while testing his leg strength. Most likely, he reasoned, points are assigned to strength by exerting oneself.

Brian wished he could stumble upon a stat glossary or something similar. Help! Stat breakdown! Stat Info! He tried to summon many other commands in his mind, but nothing yielded any extra information. Reluctant to start assigning points without understanding the interactions between each one, he found himself leaning towards allocating half his points to wisdom. His Chronal Gaze was undeniably overpowered. Just looking at his vitality, it had hardly dropped during the last fight. He had easily dodged the grivaxians' attacks and even managed to evade Mandrix's onslaught. However, the ability rapidly depleted his valtite.

Or if intelligence increases valtite regeneration as it sometimes does in video games, that might also be a good one to increase. With enough regeneration he could have his Chronal Gaze active at all times.

But the overarching problem at the moment was his lack of offensive power. Do I simply need to assign points to strength to enhance my physical punches, or will I gain magical powers at some point? he wondered. Mandrix likely embodied the warrior or brawler archetype, while Serdna undeniably wielded magic – could he be a bard? But these were all questions for later.

Uncertain that he would be able to sleep, he closed his eyes. Xezia’s death replayed in his mind a few times. What have I gotten myself into?

He longed for the simple comforts of home, wishing that when he next woke up, he'd find himself nestled in his familiar, lemon scented, plush king-size bed. But the cruel sand pressed against his muscles, each grain a reminder of his present reality. With a deep, shuddering breath, he surrendered to the encroaching darkness, his mind reliving the final moments of his short-lived comrade.