Great [Mages], [Wizards], [Magicians], [Sorcerers], and [Warlocks] are often praised for their natural talents and proficiency in their craft, absorbing the material faster than any other of their peers. Mastering magical theories and forces beyond the comprehension of most of the Thinking Races. We, as people, tend to forget that sometime in the very beginning, some crazy bastard just winged it.

- 9th Wizard of the Greats, Seni Ny

Many of the algorithms and functions he was familiar with were very strict in the data and parameters that they took in. Usually, numbers - integers. A sorting algorithm would take in a list of integers and use some set of instructions to sort them.

Therein lied the oddity. How was that defined in the magical sense?

When he held the magic in his hand, it was like the algorithms were perfectly visualized. They were recognizable as he held them. Instinct told him that it was because he pictured the logic that it carried out, the magic needed freedom - autonomy. The closer he restricted the magic in his mind, the stricter he became on input and data, the further the magic was from comprehension. Yet, the cleaner the operation in his mind.

Was it that freeform logic that governed the magic? Was that the key? That freedom was allowing the magic to actually coalesce in his hands. Otherwise, the magic would grow tighter - harder to grasp. When he focused primarily on the logic behind it all, the structure of the algorithm, and not the data, input, or output, the magic became bright.

The Feel of Magic was laid open casually to his side. The book detailed various magics and testimonies to their feel. The lack of exotic magic was one that Tuuli remarked on occasionally. Regrettably, it was rare enough to meet individuals who held that type of magical knowledge. Tuuli was lucky to interview high-leveled magical practitioners, no matter the rarity of their magic.

Jayke eyed the book, then the pile of sand across from him. "Nothing mentioning magic reacting to logic. Makes sense, in the other book 'the immovable laws of magic' and the 'secret maths of the physical' were separate ideas." He chuckled. "Still have that habit of talking to myself. Solitude will do that to you." He shrugged.

His head ached from puzzling out the magic. Various algorithms and their magical intensities were, at some point across the hour, held in his hand. He even pictured multi-input functions, or simply the altered versions of simpler algorithms with a set of limitations that were passed in as arguments. In his testing, he was able to determine that complexity bred weaker magic, that was until he poured more mana into the magic, in which case the magic grew brighter. All that with the caveat he focused highly on the logic and less on the syntax, so to speak.

All the while, Jayke's face was a look of consternation and curiosity. Behind which was a soft satisfied smile.

He rubbed his chin and eyed the pile of sand. One of the things he loved about coding was the fact that in your small realm in which you worked - one had the rare pleasure of playing god. The limits were the imagination.

"What to adapt to a pile of sand?" He tapped his chin thoughtfully.

A small-scale algorithm popped up in his mind, inspired by a mental picture of children doodling in the sand. The purpose of which was to idly create a vortex. He'd visualized the algorithm and tested it in a virtual environment before, pixels taking the place of sand, there was no reason it wouldn't work here. Aside from, of course, Jayke's inexperience with the magic, the leap from algorithm to physical, his lack of understanding interaction between magical and physical, and any other number of reasons.

Rather than detecting the particles of sand, the math of the algorithm worked with physics and applied a force on everything in the system. The swirling pattern of forces - a vortex. The math and angles were firmly anchored in his headspace, they were the backbone of the entire function. Forces were applied across those vectors at a certain magnitude, and thus the vortex.

He willed the function, forming all the pieces in his mind and holding the logic behind it all in his focus. There were things to pay attention to. The angle of each force vector in relation to each other to create a perfect swirl, the magnitude of them, and so on.

It was a rigid algorithm, and perhaps not the most elegant.

But all the same, a small vortex of magic in his hand. Light-blue and emerald green, the force vectors were colored electric yellow, and it moved and swirled in his palm. It was bright in his palm, and he could feel the idle ebb of the vortex.

He cast it at the pile of sand. When it struck it was to the effect of fading digital pixels, slightly painful for the eye to comprehend. At first, it was unnoticeable and as if nothing happened. Shifting imperceptibly, like some small breeze scratched the surface, Jayke noticed grains of sand numbering in the small dozens moving across the surface of the pile. He knocked the mound over and spread the sand flat so he could better observe the phenomena.

The force was weak, less than the brush of a finger. It occurred to Jayke he never focused on that aspect of the code. What exactly would be applying that force? Yet, undoubtedly, the sand swirled, weakly yes, but in a recognizable pattern to anyone looking. A vortex.

"What's applying the force then? Mana? Does mana have mass-"

Level Up: Level 1 [Code Mage]

Class Obtained: [Code Mage] (Legendary)

An individual versed in the hidden logic of the world, one capable of understanding and directing the laws both physical and magical. The [Code Mage] specializes in instruction, whether of the magical or physical. The [Code Mage] excels in whatever function they deem necessary, often pursuing interests analogous to efficiency.

Note: A Class denotes specialization within a certain set of criteria. Classes can both direct or hinder growth, though always lead to greater power. Classes are obtained through special means, accolades, achievements, or abilities. Classes may form as a result of pre-existing Skills and are conducive to gaining more focused and powerful Skills aligning with said Class.

Jayke read the prompt that appeared. "Looks like the System recognizes the vortex." He hummed, as he did, and chuckled at the prompt. "Specializing in instruction. Ha, what a way to put it. Catching the essence of the thing but none of the meaning."

He hadn't been expecting it just then, but he was aware of the possibility of attaining two Classes. Apparently, Classes could evolve and on occasion that meant the merging of two pre-existing Classes. It was a bit of side information from The Origin of Skills and Abilities that he had picked up. The fact that people could have multiple Classes.

"It has to be because of those lights I grabbed." He recalled the rainbow realm of lights. The voice had called it the realm between and Jayke found it fitting. "These Proficiency Skills must help immensely with the formation of the Classes. It's almost a given I get them when I have proficiencies in the corresponding magics."

"The description of a [Code Mage] doesn't help too much either, although I already have a notion of its niche." He spoke his thoughts aloud, as he'd always done in solitude. "The quirks of [Code Magic] seem much more mysterious than that of [Protective Magic], well, at the very least more intriguing. It's almost like learning another coding language. One magically oriented." He laughed.

Jayke wasn't so foolish to focus his efforts there, however. "Barriers and shields are one-hundred percent more conducive to actually surviving so I'll have to puzzle them out before I do any real travel." He glanced at the map pinned to his wall, catching himself wondering how much wall he actually needed. "I'm not exactly sure if I recall seeing anything like a magic institution here. Moreover, I'm not even sure how rare casting magic is in general either. Chee and Red's expressions weren't lost on me, they were surprised."

He cracked his knuckles and did the mental equivalent.

"[Protective Magic] then." He said, getting to work.

His mental clock registered night time so he was content to practice his magic in his [Safehaven]. He wasn't exactly sure if that clock translated to his new reality but he had nowhere, in particular, to be anyways. He'd make adjustments as new information came.

His Class description for [Protection Mage] made the distinction between shields, barriers, and wards. The first two he had been using interchangeably, but it was clear that they must be separate things in the System's definition. The last in the list he wasn't entirely sure on. He'd need to do some experimentation and define these things as he found them, find some text that might help him from Chee's shop, find a library, find some type of magic institution, or find other practitioners able to help him.

For now, his shield or barrier - he resigned to simply calling it a shield for now - projected outward from his hand. He had learned, in the heat of battle, how to shrink and expand the radius from his hand. This had a direct impact on the shield's strength, and consequently the brightness of the grey-blue magic. When pulled all the way to the hand, it was nearly opaque, pushed a few feet from his body and it was nearly invisible.

By now, Jayke had a decent grasp on his mana. He hadn't run low during a fight yet, but none were long enough for it to matter. He did regenerate mana, he wasn't as familiar with the rate at which he did and how much he actually had but he was definitely more aware of it now. Hopefully, during the testing, it would become more clear. In practice, he could detect the flow of mana from himself to his magic. He hesitated to call them spells as he wasn't sure what qualified something as them.

A blue shield sprung into existence from his hands. "I can project shields from my hands. I can determine their initial size and pour mana into them to increase their sturdiness. I can shrink and expand them to the loss or gain of its durability. " He listed what he knew as he worked through them in realtime - a barrier shrinking and expanding in his hand. "The natural tendency of the magic is to form a bubble around my hand, fitting to my form as it nears me. The rounded surface is ideal for most dangers. During the recent attack, I was able to deflect the mass of the Great Sand Worms with flat planes. I hadn't been thinking about it then. My attention was on the goddamn worm. It was instinct. Can I do it again?"

The bubble that had formed around his hand shifted. Curling outward, the spherical shield unfolded into a flat circular surface. Jayke tapped it with his other hand. He hadn't been expecting a noise. It was a sound he barely heard, usually dominated by whatever was attacking him. It sounded like an underwater bubble. A noise that flicking a cube of jello might inspire.

"Weird," Jayke said. "Never really thought about the acoustics of the thing." He tapped on it and produced the same noise. "Adding more mana and durability doesn't change the noise either. It doesn't seem to be indicative of anything in particular."

"Weird quirk," Jayke concluded. "It must be something to do with the [Protective Magic] becoming something physical. At least, that'd be my guess. From the readings, most magics are insubstantial unless directly impacting or altering something with substance, like manipulating the earth."

Jayke realized the circular shield was fading and became acutely aware of the fact he had been using both his hands to prod it. He had just left it sitting in the air as a static... barrier. He could do that? "I can do that?" He blinked.

He threw up a bubble around his hand and gingerly drew his hand back. He paused, backtracking and tracing his magical tendency. No, he didn't just draw his hand back. He severed the connection between him and the magic, locking in its effects and tying it off. That was the abstracted version, in his mind he was doing much more than just that.

"Severing, locking, tying. The words don't describe the process accurately at all." He mumbled. "It's more... artistic. Freeform." He shook his head lest he get lost in the complexity, preferring to abstract his process to those three words: Severing, locking, and tying.

Much to his amusement, the shield stayed midair. A static obstacle. "If that's not a barrier then whatever it actually is I'm changing the definition. Static obstacles placed somewhere sounds like a barrier to me. Now, how large can I make these?" He paused, watching the barrier fade away much faster than it normally would if he was still magically connected to it.

"They drain faster without me there. Makes sense, things need power, the thing was running on a battery." He concluded.

Various limit testing ensued before his mana gave way. At first, the piercing migraine was an unknown and the immediate, panicked reasoning was that he had contracted some kind of disease or illness his body was not prepared for. But he had his fair share of migraines and mental exhaustion. This one was different. If he wasn't so familiar with his body's regular state of exhaustion he wouldn't have noticed it. His mind was tired in the physical sense, having overworked himself thinking on algorithms and experiments and magic and explanations, but that familiar sensation of his mana pool as he'd adopted calling it was strained on top of it all. That strain was causing repercussions on his physical self.

He released the barrier he had been holding for testing. He had been attempting to create, for lack of a better example, a chain-linked fence type structure. Some kind of lattice framework. Obviously, all parts of the barrier weren't needed to defend against someone's fist for example, so some kind of superior structure that saved on surface area seemed efficient. Unfortunately, it seemed that that type of finesse and control was completely out of his grasp. The test was inconclusive since it was impossible for him to test it and compare it.

The migraine barely lessened when he released the barrier.

"Interesting- " And then he blacked out.

His head throbbed and he swore he could feel every pump of blood pass through his brain. "Fucking hell Jesus Christ." In the year he spent isolated in the apocalypse he could not express enough how much expletives lessened pain. "Holy fuck." He had, in his boredom, conducted experiments.

He groaned, sitting up. His body ached, he hadn't the good fortune to fall unconscious on his bed. He had just knocked out on the ground. He propped himself up at the foot of the bed and held a palm to his eye. A stabbing pain had found a happy place between his ocular orbs.

The flashing blue, to his surprise, did not exacerbate the pain as he'd expected it to. It simply was. So he opened it.

Level Up: Level 6 [Protection Mage] -> Level 7 [Protection Mage]

"How long did I spend experimenting? It must've been hours." He stood up, stretched, and promptly fell back onto his bed. "That's good news though. I wonder what kind of Skill I might get to compliment my Classes."

He'd done further reading and confirmed some passing knowledge he had gleaned from skimming the books beforehand in Chee's shop. Skills were more likely to appear at level milestones. Milestones were ill-defined a Level 5 [Barbarian], for example, might attain some type of Skill at that level, or he might not. Commonly, multiples of ten were likelier candidates with powerful Skills coming in later levels.

And, finally, he had caught wind of something called Rarity among Skills. The author of The Origins of Skills and Abilities passed over the subject but mentioned it in passing when it was relevant during a section relating to Skills that required multiple prerequisites before their activation. He wondered where his Mythic, Epic, and Legendary fell. The Skills themselves weren't as impactful, as say, what he'd seen Red do. The dwei had been silent, but at times he had disappeared and impaled the Great Sand Worms with unerring accuracy, speed, and lethality. It must've been an active Skill of some sort. Compared to Jayke's magics it was clear who had the most impact.

"And those holograms that Red played across his hands." Jayke yawned. "There were people fighting the mother worm." He recalled the images, the people attacking with monstrous strength. One of the men shouldn't have been able to even scratch the worm, yet his sword blurred wildly and he gouged its flank. What level were those people? "Scary."

He blinked up at his ceiling. He'd have to test out the limitations of his [Safehaven] one of these days.

For now, Jayke rose and did some calisthenics. He hadn't allowed his body to deteriorate during his time alone. He had always reasoned if he had ever gotten caught, he could at least give those abominations a chase. In the compound, it was easier because there was gym equipment for employees. Of course, in those last months, Jayke was the only one who had used them. Stretching was par for the course.

He figured it might be easier now. After all, he had much more space and freedom than he would usually.

With that done, he exited his [Safehaven] making sure to bring two healberries and his water flask.

The sweltering heat hit him before he even ducked out from the outcropping of rock he had found shade in. Peering out from under his shelter it was like staring at blurry image, although this close he could easily make out the people. The structures of the Marketplace Between seemed to bring everything into sharpness.

He had memorized a portion of the maps Terk had given him already. He had glanced over them often enough during his time studying. The Marketplace Between was easily the most detailed portion of the whole cartography. Some shops, of what Jayke guessed were of some renown, were clearly marked, but the rest were divided into large areas denoted by the mapmaker. More than enough detail for a complete tourist to get around. Jayke appreciated it.

He first made his way to the oasis. It was the section of the place he was most familiar with. He caught the attention of many locals, but like them, he reached down and refilled his flask. They relaxed at that sign of intelligence.

"I probably look like some unknown to them."

The myconids had a rather interesting way of drinking. They were a fantastic people, one Jayke wondered at the implications of. To call them creatures might've been a little disrespectful, so he figured his fascination was of organisms and their being, not specifically creatures. Their method was to simply stand in the pool. Some were thin-stalked, but that quickly amended itself as they seemed to absorb the very water into their body.

The dwei were rather normal in the human sense. They cupped the water and brought it to their lips. Although, to note, was that they drank a lot. He watched a tall dwei drink for minutes on end. He caught the gist of it since there were only a few dwei at the pool. Their race might be able to store much much more water than they let on considering they were natives here. In Jayke's mind, it should've been that they needed less water, but it seemed their evolutionary track led them to be something similar to camels, being able to store a lot and not so often.

He had been dipping his feet after realizing it was acceptable. There were a handful of people that were soaking. His eyes were locked on the desert, however. There was enough gap between buildings to see into it. It wasn't immediately apparent from the oasis, but the Desert Blurr was, undoubtedly, blurring. It was like his eye wouldn't focus. There was no phenomenon like this yesterday. The dwei seemed harder to track too.

He hadn't realized one of them had been sitting next to him until he heard the swirl of water.

The shock and surprise were internal as a figure resolved itself to his eye beside him. Jayke sincerely doubted the dwei had even been hiding on purpose. Glimmering scales caught the light and Jayke put some effort into making out his form.

A myconid passed by and saw Jayke staring. "Don't bother, stranger. The denizens of the Desert Blurr are nearly invisible during a blurring."

Jayke looked up. "A blurring?"

"How do you think the desert gets its name?" The myconid waded closer. Nothing but her mental voice indicated gender. It was the first female myconid he had come across. Initially, Jayke wondered if the thinner form was a feature of her sex, but it was clear the myconid was drinking as they spoke as she was slowly filling out.

"How often does that happen?" It was like all of the dunes were in frustratingly low resolution. Something about it was grand though, no matter how annoying to the eye. "It's sublime."

"The dwei say the mood of the desert determines the blurr. Sometimes she's shy. Sometimes she protects her children. Other times she is harsh, confident." She went on pausing, turning her crest towards the dwei. "Yes, and sometimes, she sends Great Sand Worms our way. If she feels." She chuckled in a way that might've hinted at normalcy.

The dwei beside Jayke chuffed, baring his teeth. "He can hear you?"

"If I will it." She hummed. "He says thank you, by the way. For yesterday. You know each other?"

"I'm not sure we do." Jayke began. Then he saw the red scales flickering in transparency. Rainbow eyes regarded him, and unless he missed his mark. "Ah, Red how are you? We've met, yesterday actually, during all the commotion."

"Red? Ah, the marks of the [Guards]." She quieted for a moment, before turning to Jayke. "If I may sit, translate, and join you in conversation? I am in no rush today. Too many repairs around the market for a dye shop to attract business." At that, both Red and Jayke glanced at each other.

"Please." Jayke gestured, the meaning was not lost and the myconid sat down, feet still soaking in the oasis as Jayke and Red's did. "It occurs to me we way have paused in your shop." Jayke stared down at his chest. The red cross where he had marked himself still lingered starkly.

"I had noticed, stranger. I can recognize my dye. And you are no [Guard]." She explained. "It is why I waded over. That at least answers some of my curiosity."

"Some?" Jayke resisted the urge to rub his arm or scratch his head. He had basically stolen some of her dye. If only he marked his hands, he would've been caught red-handed.

"Some." She confirmed. "Visitors are usually put off by the locals of the Marketplace Between. When we do get visitors they often seek only the oasis and room. Between myconid, dwei and caven most wanderers flinch at us or are wary. We understand this hesitance, sometimes it is both ways when a species we do not recognize walks among us. You, unlike most wanderers, do not seem at all bothered at us."

"Well, I came open-minded," Jayke said simply. "I've had my fair share of odd encounters." A year of observing monstrous creatures through surveillance cameras that took over the planet.

"Then that is to your advantage then." She gestured with an arm at the dwei. "He asks what manner of species you are. And your name."

"Human." Jayke looked over to him. "My name is Jayke. What is his?" He spoke to the dwei then the myconid.

The myconid woman delivered the message because she spoke soon after. "Seev." She relayed. Not Red, Jayke thought disappointedly. "I am Yca, by the way." She introduced herself.

"Pleasure to meet you both." Jayke nodded.

Yca spoke, "You may not know but there are standing bounties on Great Sand Worms. Seev says you helped him."

"If standing there and getting pummeled counts as helping," Jayke said sarcastically, and to his surprise, the myconid laughed.

"Seev offers to vouch for you. You can collect your portion of the bounty at the guard barracks." Yca gestured at something in the distance.

Jayke squinted. It clicked in his mind before his eyes could make it out. The oasis was missing the sandstone building. Except, it was there all along. Blurred out of his vision. That's the place where they corralled everyone. How could he have missed it?

And... he realized the mother sand worm had been fought around here. Except, no trace of it was left. He remembered seeing huge grooves in the sand left by the worm in Seev's images. Had he been inaccurate or had everything been cleaned up and covered by the shifting sands of the desert?

Yca followed Jayke's gaze and nodded. "The mother worm was here earlier in the day but the body has since been dragged for processing. You can see the aftermath, not in the sand but the shops and stalls around." She gestured.

It was true. His eyes, ironically, were trying to focus on the blurring, so much so that he hadn't realized what was in focus. Splintered wood and planks littered the area. Some awnings were ripped partly loose flapping in the wind, others were completely gone. A handful of shops were just plain destroyed, wiped. He hadn't noticed them, if he was a local he might've immediately, because the oasis did indeed have more room from its edge to the nearest stall than yesterday.

Yca stood up, noticeably more hydrated. "I shall be off then." She turned to Seev. "He is leaving too but says to follow him if you wish your bounty. The barracks have translation orbs, he can speak to you there." Then she left.

Following her lead, Seev rose.

Jayke followed him, walking beside him rather than behind as he did yesterday. Both were relaxed, and that might've said something about their mental fortitude, that life or death had only been yesterday and now they walked idly.

The barracks came into sharpness once within thirty feet. It was made entirely of sandstone. A light brown to match the scales of most dwei and the desert behind it. Inside, however, was a splash of colors. Myconid, dwei, and the other hunched forms that may have been the caven. Or the dwellers. He wasn't sure if the two were interchangeable, but they were only other race he saw in number.

Seev didn't miss a beat so neither did Jayke.

The entire place was bustling with activity. He saw a staircase downwards and realized the entire structure was larger than its appearance. There was a second floor too. Seev led Jayke passed a counter on the first floor and into a back room.

The stench was what hit him first. It wasn't the worst thing he had ever smelled, not to say that it wasn't rank. But the facility at times had been littered with dead bodies. He knew what the nose could survive and could not.

It looked like a processing room. The sand worm bodies laid strewn about. The room was mainly dwei, and they worked to disassemble the creatures. Some had two or three people arranged down a long table. There was a table with a single individual, and then there was a flash of light. The sand worm had become cubes of meat, stretches of skin, eyeballs, intestines, blades. All neatly arranged. The entire room paused to watch, then continued working.

Jayke gaped at the sight. The materials gathered were miraculously undamaged too.

Seev detoured and suddenly they were in a storage room. He picked and plucked at a few shelves and dusty sacks until he came away with something. A foggy blue orb.

It glowed and he handed it to Jayke.

The last time he had taken something odd from someone it had puffed spores into his face and allowed him to commune with sentient mushrooms. Obviously, he was eager to accept the orb.

"How's that?" The dwei across from him spoke. Seev must've recognized something in his expression because he nodded. "Cool, wasn't sure if these things still worked. Not much use for them here, we hand them to the occasional traveler."

Jayke blinked. "How are you talking to me?" He sputtered. "I mean, it's the orb. But how?"

His eyes swirled a color of rainbow lights. His voice was surprised. "You're not familiar with them?" His expressions were nearly non-existent, despite the emotion clear in his voice. Jayke frowned. Was it the eyes maybe? "They're magic."

He said that like it explained everything. It didn't. "I got that. What kind of magic?"

"Beats me." He responded. "Some kind of translation enchantment. They're expensive. Donated a long time ago to the barracks thinking we'd need them. We usually only need one or two every year and never at the same time. Enchantment takes a year or two to break, short lifespan yeah, but we got a whole sackful." He was placing the sack back. "Take it, it'll save you some trouble."

"Thanks," Jayke said sincerely. "Kinda sucks not being able to talk to anyone unless it's through a myconid."

"Haha, for most of us here it's commonplace." He replied, turning to leave the room. "Alright, follow me and we'll see what we can do about giving you your bounties."

"You did most of the work." Jayke responded truthfully.

"A Great Sand Worm of the sizes we met are a match for any Level 15 [Guard]. Maybe closer to Level 20. Would've risked injury if you didn't happen to show up when you did." He turned to look at Jayke. Something sincere in an expressionless face. "Thanks for that, by the way."

"Couldn't stand by knowing there might be people in danger. Although we only helped one person."

"Most know the barracks is safe during an attack. Any caught in their shops were done so in surprise or supreme misfortune." He said. "And we saved more than we might think. A dead worm might translate into many lives."

Jayke placed the foggy blue orb in his pocket, hoping he wouldn't need to hold it. It didn't seem that he did.

Seev flowed past the bustling bodies with practiced ease. Jayke, unused to the crowd, nearly stepped on a few people's toes.

"Careful there, stranger!" Someone remarked as he slipped by while Jayke fumbled his step.

With a start, he realized he was hearing the crowd for the first time. People weren't shy to yell at each other, or converse as they walked. And this was just the barracks. There seemed to be camaraderie in the air, people jibed and teased each other. A few though seemed somber. There was death in the air. Jayke recognized it, an almost audibly muteness.

Seev waited patiently at a counter where a dwei woman was conversing with him. The difference in sex was clear, the woman had smaller scales that glittered more than Seev's. Her eyes, conversely, were a normal brown as opposed to Seev's rainbow irises.

"Two dead worms." Seev reported. The woman took Seev at his word.

He had killed one by himself in Chee's shop but found it best not to mention it. Jayke didn't know why he was expecting money or gold. The people here didn't use money. He had to remember that, it explained the reward.

Seev handed Jayke a sack of worm parts. "One for you, one for me."

It was small, considering what he witnessed in the processing room. Awkwardly, he put it in his pocket. "What am I supposed to do with worm parts?"

Seev shrugged. "They're in high demand in the market. [Alchemists], [Cooks], anyone might use it. It's good barter." He frowned. "You're more familiar with money, right? I've heard of it, but it's not how things are done here in the market."

Jayke eyed the slightly damp sack suspiciously. "People want this?"

"Trust me, it more than makes up for fighting Great Sand Worms." He replied, mirthful. "We often do business with the local [Alchemist] especially when it comes to monster parts. Terk says you come from the Wyldergrowth." He said curiously.

Jayke paused in his scrutiny, tying up the sack and looking at Seev. "I think I may have wandered through by dumb luck than by whatever merit you're crediting me with."

"You might be right. But word gets around, you know. Floon and Jungu spoke of you, a wanderer who made it through Blueglow Forest unscathed. That's hard for any but a myconid."

Jayke shrugged then realized the expression was lost on the dwei. "Why's that?"

"Most of the mushrooms and wildlife are poisonous. Often, those who wander in blindly do not make it out. Even those forewarned."

Jayke shivered. How had he made it through? The healberries. He remembered feeling off, multiple times. He thought it had been some after-effects of the scorpion-dogs venom and had taken a berry here and there periodically. The truth was he was being constantly poisoned. If he hadn't known the effects of the berries, or if he wasn't as wary of the venom, he would've died. Just like that. Too close, how careless had he been?

He shook his head resolving to be more prepared in the future. There likely had been countless times he had been close to death. In truth, this was nothing new. He had just never considered the possibility of the times he wasn't aware of it. He had always stared death in the face, had it been staring back?

Seev regarded him wordlessly. "I must get to work. If you speak to anyone at the counters they will put you to work if you seek to barter for service."

Sometime later, Jayke walked the perimeter of the Marketplace Between, staring out at the Desert Blurr. He had gotten used to its effects. The desert stretched on endlessly, he could only make out more and more sand. The desert glittered brilliantly, even blurred, and he remembered even with altitude in the Wyldergrowth he hadn't been able to see its end. He sat on an outcropping of rock, one of the few points of sharpness in his blurry reality. The market behind him was another such point.

He sat up. His eyes played tricks on him. He swore he saw movement. A handful of shapes moving along the dunes. The disturbed sand was a better indicator of their presence than actually tracking their forms. Small and furry. Footprints.

The outcropping he sat on was high above the desert floor. His feet dangled from what might've been balcony height for a suburban house.

He looked straight down between his feet and found a little bunny staring up at him.

Immediately he was reminded of the bunny mother he had run into two days ago. That little creature had reminded him of himself. Not this one. This one was tan-brown to match the desert, not mottled to the forest. Its eyes were red and its form seemed to camouflage almost too well with the sand. The previous bunny had a singular horn. This one had two. Somehow he could already tell he did not like this bunny.

Then another phased into existence as if from nothing. And another. A dozen of them.

New Quest: [Pack of Horned Sand Rabbits!] (Common)

A pack of Horned Sand Rabbits smell the aftermath of a battle. They've come scavenging for food using the blurr of the desert to their advantage. Horned Sand Rabbits move in packs, this one is small but well-fed, and it seems they've found easier prey. Deal with them.

Rewards: Common Item

Jayke blinked at the prompt. Then he blinked again when he looked down. The bunnies had disappeared.

"Oh no." He said.