“Can you handle the reins, Ava?” Muzaid’s eyebrows knitted together. He and Husan offered to handle the reins for her but this young girl flatly refused, stating she want to ride the Komodo all by herself.

Ava stretched her hand out, trying to pat the one zhang tall Sand Komodo, “No problems, Brother Muzaid. Ava is fully capable to do so.”

“Ei, pretty brave one ain’t cha? How about this old man help you get up?” Husan smirked at her attempts. It was as if watching your own child taking their first, unsteady step.

Ava finally succeeded to bring herself up to the lizard’s steed as the lizard suddenly lowered itself, “Problem solved. No chair needed.”

“Right…before we leave, Ava, can you put out some of the bags again? Going out without any bags is a bit unusual.” The warrior, Muzaid gestured with his hands. He was concerned that his team may attract unwanted attention. The long arm of law only exists in cities and not in the great desert and beyond. Different set of rules apply to the latter.

Ava nodded, extending her pinky ring finger to the side, “Ava confirms. Since there are four Sand Komodos, four large bags and two smaller ones are extracted on request. Ava however is very strong, can beat bad guys and monsters.”

“Is that so, Young Miss? How about we see who’ll get the most dao cores from this excursion?” Makya shown up like a ghost, as if she was there all along. She threw a cold glance at Ava but the Post Human was unperturbed and was as still as water.

Muzaid coughed, “Makya, can’t we just get together? Just, for this mission. I would owe you a favour then.”

“My offer still stands, Muzaid. I would like to use the favour now; let it happen. What do you say, Miss Ava?” Makya gave a smile that was not a smile. Her prickly tone was subtle, unable to accept Ava for some reason. No one here knew why except herself.

The Post Human was intrigued. This was the first time a native of this world dared to openly challenge a high consciousness to a contest. As for dao cores themselves, Ava had a large sum of them from previous adventure of continuously killing desert bandits and vicious monsters.

She could just put the cores out and win by default but she stopped the thought. The Post Human deemed this situation as a chance to deepen her understanding on intricacies and complexities of this world. Therefore, she nodded to Makya. Anything for world domination.

Husan which had rigged their bags to their leased Sand Komodos proceeded to pat Muzaid’s shoulder, “Haha it’s good to be young! But let’s not forget our main objective. This old man can’t close shop for long!”

“Sigh…. okay then. Well, let’s go to our first destination first.” Muzaid hung his head low. He still cannot understand women. There were also warnings from the Branch Manager and letters from the City Lord regarding Ava, still fresh in his mind.

The warrior got up to his Sand Komodo mount and led the party. Their departure drew surrounding gazes including a patrol unit of Kazarian Guards; Muzaid himself was a buff warrior, Husan was like a brawler monk while Makya was plain beyond measure.

The jewel of the team however was Ava, treating the bystanders as air. For outsiders, she looked like an incognito noble traveling into the desert with her confidants. People around here had seen a fair share of them but Ava’s golden eyes and hair evoked extensive curiosities.

The City Guards gave polite bows to her and she responded the same albeit expressionless. It only reinforced public perception that she was indeed someone of high status in league of City Lord and above. The Guards would never bow to anyone except high ranking personages.

Muzaid kept his silence and so the rest of his colleagues. Husan was more concerned about his shop while Makya did not really care about the newfound attention apart from her contest with Ava. The crowd went on their routine as Muzaid and co did not elicit any reaction.

The group left the embrace of civilization, meeting less and less people outwards to Sa’maat Barchans. Great crescent dunes and harsh winds were constant, as far as eyes can see. Perceptive minds would notice the dunes slowly moved, as travelers that trekked these lands.

Muzaid led the group in the front, followed by Ava and then Husan at the back. Makya went first before them, as the scout of the party. Muzaid then stole a glance at Ava; this young noble seemed aloof about the whole affair. Makya had probably slain a few monsters already.

What’s with her confidence? Muzaid inferred Ava must be hiding her true capabilities for some reason and only agreed Makya’s request out of amusement. The warrior felt cold for a moment; if Ava was indeed a great character, a flip from her palm would trample anyone.

He quelled his mind and instead kept an eye out. While Makya was quite strong since she can take thirty moves from him and escape, the boundless desert was completely different. He heard rumours of Silver Devil around these parts, eradicating men and monsters alike.

Little survived to tell the tale and ones that did mumbled incoherently before suiciding. The moniker Silver Devil was given by them, a mysterious figure with numerous silver tendrils that sap everything from its victims. There were no traces left except for various sightings.

What evil was that? Muzaid had lived in this desert throughout his life and saw some strange things but not as dangerous as the Silver Devil. To him, the Devil was a greater threat as the rumours further added that entire settlements and lairs vanished overnight by the next dawn.

While Muzaid was deep in contemplation and Husan went through some papyrus slips, Ava continued her observation on them. Her keen perception, a sensory net fundamental to every Post Human was deployed far and wide. Some people were following them from the city.

She gave another glance to Muzaid but it seemed no one in the group had managed to detect them. These add-on followers had some skills, able to keep up with Muzaid’s somewhat erratic planning route. The Post Human ignored them for now, to see what were they up to.

After a few hours traversing the buffeting winds, Muzaid signaled the group to stop. Makya was in front of them, standing at the edge of an oasis. From afar an oasis might be a savior for weary travelers but not this one. Wriggling black clouds hung on top of it, ever shifting.

“Huh, when did this happen?” Muzaid produced a folded map. Frustration was written all over his place, not expecting the oasis had turned into something else.

Makya signaled with her hands as identification before moving closer, “Most oases in this region had turned into this, Muzaid. Husan, it might be difficult to search for your stuff now.”

“What?! How come this be?!” The half-dozed Husan immediately jumped out of his mount.

Muzaid calculated in his mind, “Hm we need to change our plans then. Husan, any idea where to go?”

“Urgh…it seems I had no choice. We’ll head south, north, west.” Husan reluctantly gave Muzaid a piece of crumpled papyrus. The four-armed old man preferred to keep this secret but he had no choice or he need to close shop for real.

The warrior stilled for a moment before reassuring Husan, “Don’t worry Husan. What do you think me of? We’re been friends for a long time now!”

“Yeah, that’s why I’m giving it to you.” Husan still had a grim look on his face. Everyone had their own secrets and he just gave some of his. The old man hoped this trip would cover the losses.

Ava remained oblivious to the conversation and instead threw tiny metallic spheres to the black clouds at imperceptible speeds while they were distracted, “Brother Muzaid, this oasis is not suitable?”

“Yeah. These are Javalan Flies and they’re quite a persistent bunch if disturbed. Besides, their presence also means the oasis is already poisonous.” Muzaid scratched his head, his plans were in disarray.

Ava then turned her gaze skywards before followed by Makya. “Then what about those birds up there?”

“Birds? Where are they?” Both Muzaid and Husan looked at the same direction and didn’t find anything.

Makya was the first to whip her mount into high gear, “Gale Sparrows! We need to get out of here, now!”

As soon as her voice reached them, she was already a few lis forward and left a trail of dust behind. Five small objects rapidly swoop from the skies and plunged deep into the hanging black clouds. Javalan Flies lived to their reputation; the swarm immediately broke into furor.

Swoosh!

The five objects, Gale Sparrows were no larger than palm of adult human but they were some of the fastest beasts in these lands. They cut through the swarm, eating some of unfortunate Javalan Flies. Despite the green-eyed flies’ best attempts, they cannot entrap the fast birds.

The sparrows weren’t particularly strong but they were devious creatures. They had long spotted Muzaid’s group and used him to borrow a tiger’s might. The five wood-coloured sparrows flew toward them, bringing clouds of black plague chasing the group.

Both of them however did not notice Ava’s early throwing action had successfully offended the fly’s swarms first, only that their reaction was a bit late. Muzaid and companions urged their mounts to go even faster, the droning of angry flies becoming even closer.

“Muzaid! Any idea how to shake them off?!” Husan panicked. He had never been chased by Javalan Flies before. Their millions-size swarms were like an encroaching all-consuming horde.

The warrior went through his bags and his mind, “Cursed desert! If the swarm is small, we could! Now, no!”

Chirp, chirp, chirp!

Kas woken from its slumber and started to shriek back at the damned birds. The rat and Ava could sense that the Gale Sparrows flying nearby were mocking them. Ava gave a sharp glare to one of them, causing one of the sparrows to froze a moment. But a moment was all it took.

One of the black swarms’ tendrils had caught to it, piercing the bird into literal sieve. As they pass, only some bone dust was left wafting into the desert winds. These Javalan Flies were truly enraged and wanted no more than the blood and flesh of their designated enemies.

Now both parties were in the same predicament. The death of one of the sparrows further fueled the desire of incoming Javalan Flies to taste blood. It further troubled Muzaid as the birds flew parallel to them. As long the sparrows were here, there was no escape for the party.

Muzaid thought to split up the party but decided to go against it. He finally caught to Makya, “Makya! Any ideas?!”

“Not until Young Miss Ava made her move!” Makya intentionally slowed her steed, interested to see how Ava would react. The young girl however was nonchalant, as if there were nothing wrong in this world.

Muzaid grimaced. What’s up with her?! He wished he had bought some Fire Talismans earlier but his budget didn’t allow it. He formulated some plan in his mind, “Husan, it looks like this is gonna be rough! We’re going straight into one of Red Scorpion lairs!”

“Red Scorpions? Just this old man’s luck! Go for it, our mounts can’t run for long either!” Husan tightly gripped the reins but his steed was slowly overwhelmed by fatigue. Once they stopped, death was inevitably certain.

Makya snorted but no one could see her displeasure. She stated her opinion in cold voice, “Just split up! I’m sure Young Miss Ava can handle herself! We have our own problems to begin with!”

“No! A man keeps to his words! We’re in this together!” Muzaid blatantly refused her outrageous demand. If not being chased by millions of death flies, he would already slap her.

Ava focused her gaze to Makya. This woman was sure ruthless. The Post Human nevertheless felt it was beneath her to argue with an inferior lifeform. Her golden eyes flickered like the sinking Sun, with some blue lines. Portions of the swarm suddenly collapsed into themselves.

She activated the spheres she threw earlier and they caused a fraction of the Javalan Flies to have bluish eyes instead. The main swarm were unaware of the subtle change as they were fully concentrated on hunting Muzaid’s party and the sparrows to the death.

Chirp, chirp!

Empowered by stimulation from Ava, the bluish-eyed Javalan Flies somehow gained extra speed and struck the remaining four sparrows. This immediately bought Muzaid and companions some extra seconds as the swarm held back to bombard the trapped birds.

Ava and her colleagues slid down across a sandstone crevice on one of few stone islands between the dunes of Sa’maat. The Sand Komodo steeds were visibly afraid, not due to the Javalan Flies but due to many holes carved into the side of this island.

For thousands of years, it had been engraved to their genes that Red Scorpions are their natural enemy in the desert. A full-grown Sand Komodo may able to take on a few but a lair full of them? Even a strong Sand Komodo knew the immensity between heaven and earth.

The Javalan Flies lived to their reputation again; despite fully knowing they were being led into den of Red Scorpions, they charged in regardless. Their numbers were truly great, darkening the skies and scattering the sparse clouds. Millions would die but they persisted.

Kisha!!!!!!

The first Red Scorpion made its appearance from one of many holes in the area. Its two zhang body had blood red luster thus its name. What’s dangerous about them were not actually their massive pincers but their stingers. It primed its stinger, aiming at the incoming swarms.

Ava swayed her hand, ordering the bluish-eyed Javalan Flies to back off and go back to whence they came. She cannot lose her pawns now as it was quite hard to find swarms of such size. The rest of the black death sprinted directly into the posturing Red Scorpion like hammers.

Xiang, xiang, xiang!

The shell of the vicious scorpion was truly tough, able to withstand the force of millions of Javalan Flies. At the same time, it cannot move as the flies kept striking it, trying to probe the scorpion’s weakspots. Both creatures tangled together, rolling across the dusty rocks.

More Red Scorpions showed up, alarmed of the unfolding clash. They also postured their stingers before shooting jets of corrosive liquids. These yellowish fluids had acrid smell and immediate results, melting the flies, the scorpion and surrounding rocks into noxious puddles.

Muzaid got off from his steed and let it go. A tough fight was in the horizon as he pulled his dao weapon in shape of hammers out, “Everyone, stay focused! Don’t let the Scorpions corner you! Makya, after this we’re going to have a long talk!”