A few minutes after saying goodbye to Stanley and leaving the city, Gen found himself in the middle of the desert completely alone. He had a hood over his head to protect him from the sun and was following a common path used by merchants traveling from town to town. He followed this path for a few minutes and began to think, 'At this rate I should be able to get there around noon, that gives me about five hours to search for the ruins.

When he finished thinking about this Gen saw a cart stopped in the distance, and decided to slow down, wondering, 'I wonder what happened? I think it's unlikely to be bandits, this route is often used by large merchants, and they always walk with guards, it wouldn't be worth the risk for them to try to steal around here.', he then approached the wagon little by little and when he got closer he could see that there were only two people beside it, stopping to think about the risks Gen continued towards the wagon thinking, 'I think it's okay to approach, only two people won't be able to deal with me.'.

He then moved closer and closer to the wagon, until one of the people saw him and started waving at him, while the other sat down on the ground. Gen sped towards them, and as he got closer he heard, "Good morning friend, I wonder if you could help us?", the person who had said this was a grown man, looked to be in his mid-thirties, he was about Gen's height, and was wearing clothes commonly worn by merchants, the other person who was sitting on the ground, looking at Gen now, must have been a little older and was wearing similar clothes, but he was a little shorter.

Gen then asked, "What happened here?", "The wheel of our wagon sank into a hole hidden by sand, it's not very deep, but just the two of us can't get it out. Could you help us?", Gen looked at the cart and saw that it really was one side lower than the other, he then thought, 'He doesn't look like he's lying, I'd better help him. No one deserves to be stuck in this burning hell,' and then answered him, 'Sure.

On hearing this the man was extremely happy and said, "Thank you very much, my name is Darren," and then held out his hand to Gen, who accepted it and said, "Gen," the other man got up from the floor and said after taking a sip of water from his canteen, "Andre," and then held out his hand to Gen who accepted it again. "Are you moving? This wagon is too big to be just for personal transport," Gen asked, "We are not moving, but this wagon is not really for personal use, we are merchants." Said Darren, "Hm, I thought so from the clothes you are wearing, but I changed my mind when I saw that you were in two people. Even though this is a very safe route, there are still bandits around here from time to time, aren't you afraid of losing your merchandise? Why don't you hire some guards to accompany you?", "Well, we would like to, but with two people we can hardly generate any profit, imagine if we hired guards", said Andre, "Hmm, I see."

After that Darren said to the two, "Well, come on, Gen and I will lift it, and you push it forward Andre." "Ok" replied Andre, "Aren't you guys going to use the camels to help?" asked Gen, as he had seen when he arrived that the wagon had two camels pulling it, "we can't, if we use them to pull now, they will probably get too tired for the rest of the trip" said Andre, "Got it ..." said Gen half not understanding why the camels would get tired. Darren and Gen positioned themselves around the sunken wheel and then Darren said, "On three we lift." "Right" replied Gen. Darren then counted, "One, two, three!" at the same time he and Gen began to lift the wagon as much as they could.

"Why is this wagon so heavy!? What are you guys transporting?" asked Gen, barely holding his weight, "Ores!" replied Darren, who was also not holding his weight, "Ores!? That's why this wagon sank, I bet even without this hole, the wagon would still have sunk in the sand!", "That's right, it happens a lot during our trips, but Andre and I always manage to unstrap it!", "You had told me that you were in two because you wouldn't make a profit with more people, but clearly it's not that you wouldn't make a profit, it's that you wouldn't have the amount you wanted. ", "Well now that we have come to this point, there is no use trying to make up an excuse, it really is as you said, but do you have a problem with that!?", "With you having lied no, but you could have warned me that the cart was that heavy. How long do we have to hold it up for?", "It's up to Andre, hey Andre!? I'm trying, I don't know if you remember, but I'm trying to push the same heavy wagon that you are holding!" replied Andre, "Fine, take your time Andre, but if Gen and I can't hold it until you can push it, next time you will lift the wagon by yourself while he and I push it!", "What?", " Exactly what you heard. So if you don't want to go a week without moving your arms you better give your life pushing!", "I already am!", "Then try harder!", upon hearing this Andre pushed the wagon as hard as he could generate "ARGH!!!!", which generated result, the wagon started moving.

When they saw that they were making progress both Darren and Gen started to give as much as they could, and right away Darren said, "That's it Andre, you're almost there, just keep going a little longer, don't give up now", "I know" said Andre and kept pushing. Little by little the wagon wheel was coming out of the hole, until they managed to pull it out completely.

Gasp! gasp! Everyone was panting, Gen took his canteen and took a sip of water, and then he said, "Next time I see someone standing in the desert I'll change my route.", "You're exaggerating Gen, it wasn't that bad, but to make up for it we can give you a ride, where are you going?" asked Darren, "To the ruins of the sands." replied Gen.

"What? Are you going to those cursed ruins?" asked andre surprised, "Well, I don't know anything about it being cursed, but I think we're talking about the same place. Several people have disappeared looking for her, and the few who return never remember what happened, or talk about nothing with nothing," said andre.

"It's true, I have also heard rumors about this, they say that some people say they were being chased by animals," said Darren, "Animals? what kind of animals? Snakes, scorpions, camels?" asked Gen, "If it was any of those there wouldn't be any problem, but people coming back from there say they were being chased by animals that don't exist in the desert, for example tigers, gorillas and rhinos." said Darren, "It really doesn't make any sense, none of those animals would survive in the desert." said Gen.

"That's why many people consider them crazy, but anyway, since you're going to the ruins, we can give you a ride. We're going to the city of Diton, the ruins aren't necessarily on the way, but we're going to pass right near them," said Darren, "Okay, then I'll take the ride. said Gen thinking, 'It will take me a little longer to get to my destination, but at least I can avoid the sun in the wagon,' "Well, you can climb in then," said Darren, Gen tied the camel to the wagon, and climbed in. Darren and Andre climbed in next and went on their way.

After a while on the way Gen asked, "Well, where are you coming from?", "We are coming from the southern town of Dune, our store is there.", "You have a store? I thought you worked doing routes from town to town", "No, our main income is from the store. We accumulate minerals over time, and when they reach a certain amount we take them to Diton to sell.", "Hmm, I see, and what do you sell in your store?", "We sell rare minerals," said Darren, "We work by buying minerals from adventurers. They bring the mineral and we pay them based on the rarity and size of the stone. The rarer stones we leave in our store to resell, and the lower quality ones we deliver to a partner of ours in Diton," said Andre.

Then Andre turned to Gen and asked, "And you Gen, where are you from?", "I came from Dekin, I've been living there for three years", "I see, and before, where did you live?", "I used to live way up north, outside the desert, in the kingdom of Brim", "Never heard of it" said Andre, and continued, "What's it like there? Life must have been easier than here in this desert", "It really was. Food and water were not as scarce as they are here, the climate there was also more pleasant, very different from this infernal desert heat."

"Why did you leave then?" asked Darren, "That's right. It's not possible that you thought the desert would be a better place to live," said Andre, "Yes, you are right. I never thought that here would have a better environment than my homeland, I came to the desert after something.", "And what would that something be?" asked andre, "I don't know either, hahaha." said Gen laughing, "What do you mean?" asked darren clearly confused, "Well, it's a long story, but the gist is that I'm after something that can help me get my essence back."

"You have an essence? What is it?" asked andre, "I did, and it was the essence of the spear.", "So that wrapping on your back is a spear? I was very curious what it was," said Darren, "Yes, there are two spears in the package, one that I got as a gift today before I left Dekin, and one that I have carried with me for as long as I can remember.", "Can we see them?" asked Darren, "Of course.", Gen then took the package off his back and unwrapped it, showing them two spears, one completely rusty black, and one red.

Gen then presented them, "The rusty spear is called the Light, and the red one is called the scarlet comet.", "Wow, this red spear is one of the most beautiful weapons I've ever seen in my life," said Andre, "It really is beautiful, but the other spear doesn't seem to be in good condition, what happened to it being so rusty like that?" asked Darren, Gen looked at the Light and then spoke, "I have the Light for so long that I don't even remember when I bought it. I have used it for years, and it was with it in hand that I awakened my spear essence. But when I lost my essence it began to rust and became the way it is today.

"What made you lose your essence? I didn't even know something like that could happen," asked Andre, "I don't know if it was the shock of losing it, but I can't remember what happened. If I had an essence, I can't imagine how I would feel if I lost it out of the blue." said Andre, "I really got pretty desperate, and started looking everywhere for help, but no one could help me, or even give me a direction of what to do."

"Until one day, while I was having lunch at a bar, a man I had never seen before sat down next to me. By that time I had run much of the kingdom for help, but had never been successful in finding a solution. I had just returned from another unsuccessful attempt, and was in a bad mood. He had ordered the same food as me, and after eating about three spoonfuls he looked in my direction and said," "The food looks good to me friend, why the frown?", "At first hearing what he said made me very upset and I was planning to move away, but when I looked at him quickly and saw his worried face, I thought to myself that he seemed like a good person, and so I started to tell him about my situation.

"He stood listening to me while I ate, and when I finished speaking he looked at me and said," "Dahji.", "upon hearing the name I was confused and asked," "hm? What do you mean?", "he then continued", "It's a legend I heard when I was a child. Dahji was the emperor of the greatest empire that ever existed in the world. The legend says that nothing was impossible for him, and that every year he held a championship, giving as a prize to the winner whatever wish he wanted."

"Hearing this I got a little excited, but then I pulled myself together and said, "Even if the legend is true, that time has passed, the empire has ceased to exist.The man then said no with his finger and said, "Not necessarily, the empire has not ceased to exist.", "Hm, what do you mean?", "Have you ever heard of a desert south of here?", "Yes, if I'm not mistaken, it's the desert of ...", "Dahji." said the man, and continued, "Where this desert is, in the past the great empire was, or rather, is. To this day the empire still exists, under the vastness of the sands, or so I think hahahaha."

"Are you saying that I should go to this desert to look for an empire buried in the sands? And even if I do go, how do I know it will solve my problem?", "I don't know Gen, I'm just showing you one path of many, it's up to you to decide which one to follow", hearing this I thought for a while and said, "You're right, thank you very much for your help", "You're welcome Gen". "He then stood up, put some coins on the table and said, "Well, it's time for me to go, it was a pleasure meeting you Gen." He then started walking towards the door, and before he could leave I said, " The pleasure was mine ...", and then I realized two things, the first is that I didn't know his name, which was normal, because I had never seen him, the second is that for some reason he knew my name. Right after that, I saw him leave the bar door, I hurriedly put the coins on the counter and went after him, but when I left the bar no matter how hard I looked around I couldn't find him.