The capital city of the desert kingdom of Necrovia, the Dune’s Eye, got its name thanks to its beautiful palace overlooking not only all of the city itself but the endless yellow dune seas beyond the bounds of the populated areas.

The Palace of a Thousand Steps had been regarded as a place of legends ever since the coronation of the first king of Necrovia was crowned. This had also been the symbol of Necrovia’s toughness, as a towering building with size rivaling mountains with its exterior painted pure silver was not supposed to exist amid the sands. When the sun shined down on the sands, the reflection of the palace’s body glowed like a second sun while reflecting away the heat back into the sky above, creating visible beams of light from each of the thousand steps.

Those were the first signs of the kingdom’s capital when Wu and the rest first spotted it. When you saw those beams, you then know that the outer regions of the capital aren’t that far away. Hence, it also earned the nickname of the Dune’s Beacon for the traveling traders.

What’s even more fascinating to Wu was that none of that ingenuity required any use of the Wave, which was both a benefit and a drawback. On one hand, the Necrovian spirit of survival and thriving despite its surroundings was all the more emphasized when the visitors looked on at the literal shining beacon of the Dune’s eye. On the other hand, it did nothing to help alleviate the disconnection between the people and the Wave, or rather, those without them and those that do.

Before, it was simply a matter of those living in the outskirt towns getting by without the daily use of the Wave. However, as time went on, physical divides had been set up between those that are adept with the Wave, and those that had long forgotten its use. Those were the inner regions, where people commonly sport protective necklaces that prevent the undesired leakages of Wave over time.

After days of travel, the group of five were on the verge of entering the outer city limits, where the well-traveled paths in the sand were being kept in impressive condition, and groups of traders walked along the sands with a handful of them accompanied by camels carrying massive rucksacks.

In a strange way, this strange land in the southern corner of the western continent reminded Wu most of his Earth. Everything just seemed so manual and physical, and oddly jarring after all that he had experienced in this world.

“So here’s the plan.”

As the group came to a slow halt just outside the lines of people waiting to enter the towns, Wu gathered everyone’s attention quickly, “We will split up to investigate the two things of interest concurrently. I and Lera will obtain a map of the Dune’s Eye and head to investigate the origins of the underground rivers, and you three will look at what’s been going on in the capital. How does that sound, Tonya?”

“You should be careful.” Tonya said, tucking her black hair under her hood and covering her face with a light semi-transparent fabric as they changed into their local clothes that they had obtained along their journey, “If we got spotted out, we have many ways to get out thanks to Ver, but…”

“Don’t worry about us.” Lera smiled, “I am sure Augen and Ver will take good care of you.”

Tonya glanced towards Augen, who smiled back at her. She smiled lightly before turning to take one more look at the outskirts of the capital from the top of the dune when Ver’s Whirlpool Purple covered her body.

“Stay on the communication Cast.” Lera said, “I have attached it to Ver’s shells.”

“Good luck~” Augen said as the three of them vanished from beside Wu and reappeared in the shadow behind sets of rocks on the other side of the town.

They quickly walked along the paths paved out in the middle of the desert, joining in with the crowds again.

It wasn’t long before the Kraken’s low mumble drew Ver’s attention at the same time that Augen started to feel a little uneasy.

However, Tonya’s none the wiser as Augen and Ver moved at the same time, turning around to catch the outreached hands of a man dressed in white.

They wore the same colored outfits, but Ver immediately spotted the symbols of the blood-red roses along his chest. His eyes widened upon seeing Ver, and he drew a blade with his long slender fingers before Ver flashed her wrist, the Water Weaving Sword instantly unleashed from her wrist before it slashed cleanly through the hands of the man as the blade was dropped onto the ground.

Augen followed quickly and kicked the blade into the sand.

The attacker grunted, drawing the attention of the crowd around him. However, he swallowed his pain and shame before vanishing back into the crowd behind him, his menace disappearing along with his Wave.

“I suppose it’s no longer a matter of whether PORA’s here or not…” Ver murmured lightly as Augen nodded his head and pressed his lips together with a look of confusion. His confusion was shared by Tonya, however, as she only just realized Ver had done something, though she couldn’t tell what.

“Why didn’t he call out to others…?” Augen asked, “How did he spot us anyway…?”

“Probably just a coincidence…But we should move faster. We will no longer be safe here.” Ver said, scanning back at the crowds behind her and catching no other people nearly as suspicious. However, after the close call just now, both Ver and Augen had turned up their Wave sensitivity to the max as they felt for any signs of noticeable Wave from around them.

As for the PORA agents, well-trained as they are, they would not have mastered the art of containing their Wave to the same extent of lack of presence that the normal Wave-deficient people walk around with.

“So far…so good?” As the streets started becoming cleaner the further in they go, the levels of polish for the stone houses also became greater. There were occasional Wave lines reinforcing the individual structures and warding off the irritating sand. Mostly, it seemed like a regular town, though it just kept on going for miles on end.

“So many PORA agents everywhere…” Augen murmured, catching the leaky presence of the Wave every other step. They weren’t exactly hiding in the Wave, though their white uniform blended seamlessly into the normal citizen wear, thus making the general appearance far more homogeneous than they actually are. However, ever since the first encounter, they haven't had to deal with anybody else, almost as if they were all deliberately keeping a respectful distance.

“Apart from PORA, everything seems fine here, right?” Ver asked, looking towards Tonya who seemed to have picked up the pace.

“We are still some distance from the central areas.” She said with an audible nervousness.

“But we could see the palace right there?” Ver pointed her fingers forward when Augen brought his hand up.

“There’s something in the air…isn’t there?” Augen said, “I could feel it…It’s like a wall or something…no...a screen. A projection Cast.”

Ver looked towards Tonya, who swallowed and picked up her pace yet again. However, as they started accelerating past the rest of the crowds, eyes were inevitably drawn toward them and she had to slow Tonya down despite her anxiousness.

Making a sharp turn away from the main roads, they then trotted along the back alleyways far out of sight of the day goers. As they walked in the directions of the palace, they heard sounds of ruffling footsteps coming from all directions around them before groups teenagers with their faces hidden behind masks surrounded them.

“Come now.” The first one said, instantly noticing Ver’s body as he stepped all the way up to her face, “Give over all of your valuables, and you may walk away freely.”

Ver’s eyebrows twitched, and she glanced towards Tonya as her Water Weaving Sword started getting wound up with the Wave. She could murder all of them in an instant, but a combination of her own Wave suppression and the inability of those robbers to notice presence in the Wave meant they had no idea that they are on the verge of throwing their lives away at the worst of times.

“Oi! You deaf or something?” With a blade drawn, he pressed it against her neck as the sharp edge sliced through the bottom of her face covering. The Kraken’s shell formed around her neck, and she leaned forward with her left eye opening up wide with intimidation.

“Leave and rethink your lives.” Tonya commanded as her eyes pulsated once with the Wave, and the bodies of all of the teenagers surrounding them became stiffened before they all slowly turned around and walked away like mindless zombies.

As their footsteps rumbled away, Ver retracted the Kraken’s shell back under her skin and looked towards Tonya who wiped away droplets of sweat over her forehead.

“Thanks for thinking about me and my people…” Tonya said apologetically, “It…can be a little rough out here especially if the guards were all drawn towards the central areas and PORA's been taking over here…”

“Then we shall hurry more,” Ver said before the group continued ahead.

In the meanwhile, pairs of eyes from far out in the distance locked onto the three of them watched with intrigue as the groups of lackies he just sent out walked straight past his position without realizing it.

“How intriguing…” He murmured from behind his face cover before picking up a communication Cast over his table and activating it swiftly, "Alert the queen. We've got visitors."

By the time the three reached the start of the central regions, the ground underneath their feet subtly changed its color, as the more well-maintained rocky roads replaced the sandy dirt roads, and every single step seemed to become easier than the last. The buildings were also taller with better decoration, as the fancier clothes of the traders reflected improved living conditions.

Right ahead of them is a man-made river with water flowing through them, and small boats carrying goods crossed at regular intervals under the footbridges whereas guards were positioned on either side of the bridge.

“Was there always guards?” Augen asked, “I thought we are nowhere near the palace?”

“These are the…richer parts.” Tonya said, reaching into her pocket and taking out an emblem, “We carry this around for when we need to enter, and…this is also where the projection Cast is set. However, my royal emblem will be too risky…”

“Then let’s just be sneaky,” Ver said, grabbing both Augen and Tonya’s hands and taking them through a set of Whirlpools straight to the other side.

As their feet planted firmly onto the ground once again, the warm air around them was replaced by cool breezes that slowly moved through the open spaces as Casts written into the walls along all of the buildings kept up the flow of air to maintain a pleasant temperature around the inner city. The rocky roads were also replaced with nicely laid out pebbles, and the sky above also seemed to have changed its tint with further Casts embedded into the environment.

In the center of everything, the Palace of a Thousand Steps seemed far more realistic and clear to them. However, as they walked along the streets, one thing stood out more than any other.

There was not a single soul outside. Compared to the busy streets in the outer regions, all Tonya could see is a desolate ghost town, and somehow, compared to the streets sprawling with PORA agents, this was far more unsettling.

“Let’s keep looking around...” Augen reminded before they quickly moved into the shadows and continued on towards the Palace of a Thousand Steps when they suddenly heard the sounds of loud banging doors from the street over.

Packing themselves along the corner, Ver then poked the head of the Kraken’s tendril out and created a projection Cast over her skin of what’s going on in the next street over.

“Open it up! This is a royal investigation of your treacherous behavior!” A sharp masculine voice echoed through the streets, “On the order of her majesty, you are under arrest!”