“Morning patrols are at dawn. Then you will be training at noon before a few hours of free time and your night patrol.” Beardy explained though Tonya couldn’t focus on anything else besides the massive black bush under Beady’s chin. If the plantations in the dessert flourish half as well as that beard, then Necrovia would end up becoming an architectural powerhouse, “Those are the regular days. Depending on what the boss says, you may also join one of the raids at night and watch along. That’s when you will get the cool ribbon too.”

“Understood.” Tonya said when Beardy gave Augen a long hard stare before pointing at him.

“He really blind?” He asked, and Augen smiled and pointed straight back at him.

“Nice beard.”

The man raised one of his eyebrows before leaving the two alone to settle in. Their official duties start tomorrow, though realistically, nothing truly important seems to happen outside of these night raids. And from what they’ve seen on their first day, there are going to be plenty of them.

“Are you…okay with this?” Augen asked, pointing to the piece of blanket on the ground that the two will seemingly share.

“It’s not like I have much of a choice, do I?” Tonya laughed.

“I know…but I just thought it’s good to ask…” Augen murmured when Tonya smiled and sat down before kicking her shoes off.

“Well, you should have asked before killing all of that guy’s snake babies.” Tonya shrugged, “Now that’s happened, we better watch our back...but it’s not like we weren’t going to do that to start with.”

“That's right. Though I do feel a little bit bad.” Augen admitted, “Instructions weren’t clear, I guess. Nice work pressuring him though. He is desperate, or he wouldn’t have taken a risk on us. It seemed that whatever his snake control abilities are, it wasn’t working between him and the baby snakes…or he would have realized that…”

Augen shaped his fingers to form the rectangular shape of his cards before relaxing and placing both on the blanket again, “We do need to be careful with what we use around here. The snakes seemed to be hypersensitive and drawn toward the Wave naturally, and that was especially obvious back in the pit. Partly how I was able to draw them away from you.”

Tonya nodded, and they quickly settled in before going around town to further scout out other things and buy some supplies with the rest of the money she brought from the Dune's Diamond. Taking the whole geometry of the settlement into account, Zmey’s men typically roam around the center of the Dune’s Hive, and during the night, they scatter further out around the settlement streets in their free time from bar to night markets.

Honestly, if not for the occasional squabble from the armed men and the snakes that seem to appear out of nowhere watching over Augen and Tonya, this would have been a far more romantic endeavor for Augen. Tonya was less sensitive in the Wave compared to Augen, though he quickly taught her how to spot the distinct Wave signatures of the snakes among the backdrop.

Like all animals in the Necrovian sand, the snakes seemed to have evolved to conserve their Wave and utilize it to their best of abilities, using only the bare minimum to navigate the environment and probe for threats. And when it probes, it emits its signature with the intensity akin to the dimmest lanterns in a city filled with light. Though not standing out, it’s certainly identifiable with an attentive eye.

And with a little bit of practice, Tonya had also started to be freaked out by just how many snakes there are in this city.

If Wu or Lera were here, then their presence would have been fully concealed with the Void Domain…Augen thought, buying some food with Tonya before they swiftly returned to their own tent.

“Tomorrow the first day…” Augen said, taking a sip of the water before handing the bottle to Tonya as she seemed to be staring at the small platter of food they bought and lost in her own thoughts, “You ready?”

“With you here…I am as ready as I can ever be.” Tonya murmured, looking up at Augen as he smiled lightly and nodded. She could tell his face was slowly turning red, though he tried to brush it off as the heat inside the tent as he yawned and lay back.

Even as Tonya had lied down soon after finishing the food, Augen could still tell that her Wave was active and watching him. He massaged his own temples lightly rolling to the other side and resting both hands under his head.

“Good night~” She said, and he smiled lightly before snapping off the lighting Cast witih his fingers.

“Good night.”

The morning patrols involved walking around predetermined paths along the Dune’s Hive and spotting any irregularities. Tonya and Augen were assigned to different groups in different areas, and they simply took it as a means of gathering more information about the Dune’s Hive itself.

As Augen was with the others to help clean up the market area prior to the start of the next day of business, the night raid forces had also returned at a slightly earlier timethan yesterday, with Zmey once again leading the charge.

From their conversations, it seemed like they have gotten even more buckets of water than before, with a handful of trolleys of foods and other supplies, though Augen was starting to regret to asking Tonya to keep tab of the actual amount yesterday.

“Get a move on!” His squad leader ushered, “Don’t get lost!”

“Yes, sir.” Augen quickly turned around and gave up the counting job.

“What’s a blind man even good for in a patrol…” Another patrol grumbled and looked towards Augen while whispering to his friend.

“He is good for hearing things out of the ordinary,” Augen said, looking straight at the men’s faint Wave as he became startled and shut his mouth.

In the meanwhile, Tonya and her squad moved along the Southern regions of the Dune’s Hive when signs of bandit activity and theft were pertinent. The more she spent time watching the squads interact with the rest of the town’s people, however, the more they seemed and acted like the protectors of the settlements.

And why should she be surprised? The Dune’s Hive is, in essence, a free town and out of the jurisdiction of the Necrovia government. In fact, anything happening outside of the normal city limits falls outside of the jurisdiction due to issues of practicality, and here, Zmey took on the responsibility of protecting these people.

And that meant there’s really nothing that she would gain from these regular patrols. They needed to impress and join one of those raids as soon as they can to understand how exactly Zmey’s able to keep the Dune’s Hive afloat.

The sparring time in the afternoon came, and Augen had become an easy target for the rest of the groups to pick on as the groups of squad mates that went on patrols with him in the morning had lined up to challenge him with Zmey watching from afar with interest.

Augen sensed their Wave around him, and one of them finally stepped forward into the yard. One of Zmey’s snakes also sat atop the corner of the training yard and locked its eyes on Augen, sensing its every move. However, among the sea of regular Wave signatures, Augen spotted Tonya’s presence among the crowd.

He smiled lightly, knowing that her eyes were drawn to him before reaching his hand towards the faint outline in the Wave signature right in front of him and gesturing for his opponent to step up.

“It’s about time you learn some respect!” The man said, marching forward with his wooden stick firmly gripped in hand and slashing it straight down at Augen as he caught onto both the sounds of the stick swooshing through the air, his legs bending on impact to slow down the velocity of the attack as he noted an aggressive pulse in the Wave signature of his opponent.

He instinctively reached for his playing card as he rotated his body, pressing down and pinning the blade of his opponents before he leaned in and bumped him with the shoulder. That created a small burst of separation between them as Augen let go and drew his own stick, striking the man on the shoulder with a whip of his stick.

The man stumbled back when Augen pressed forward, further reaching forward with his weapon before the blade pinned against the man’s forehead as a gentle push sent him down onto his butt.

The crowd laughed, and the next challenger eagerly leaped into the yard before the rest draged out the loser.

Compared to Fatera when she's in her competitive mode during training, none of these clowns were even close to being a challenge to Augen. However, when he encountered the grizzled squad leader he had this morning, he became the one receiving punishment, his butt now frequently visiting the ground.

"Haha! You still got years before you can overcome me, kid!” The leader laughed before he reached over with his hairy hand and dragged Augen up to standing, “For a blind kid, you are not half bad.”

“He can really move.” Beardy said, looking towards Zmey with his arms crossed and eyes hidden within the shadows, “Did he really just appear out of nowhere?”

“He’s hiding his strength.” Zmey said, turning around and heading into his tent when there was another barrage of shouting and cheering as Tonya was overpowered and knocked to the ground by her opponent, “For the next raid to the Diamond, take him.”

“Very well, boss.” Beardy nodded, looking briefly at Tonya who stubbornly forced herself up and got into guard position once again before she was pushed down onto her butt.

“You should really pace yourself…” Augen was said, hovering his hand over the bruised and battered Tonya as she crashed down to their floor mat like a brick being laid. Making sure that no snakes were in the vicinity, he then applied his Spring Flowers healing Cast onto Tonya.

“I am pacing myself!” Tonya protested before wincing and looking away, “I am doing just fine!”

“Sure you are.” Augen shook his head and moved to the bruises on her legs. She groaned out in pain again when Augen moved too quickly, and he quickly apologized as she kicked him on the knees.

After the healing session, the two quickly fell asleep as the day of work filled both of them with fatigue. They didn’t even bother going for a stroll in town, and knowing that the next few days will be exactly the same certainly didn’t motivate them to move around too much.

As they lay in the darkness, Augen can feel Tonya rattling from side to side despite the yawns, and when she finally spoke next, it sounded far too close.

“…If I stay this weak, will I ever be able to do anything…?” She murmured, “And…don’t say I am already strong in my own right…”

“I won’t.” Augen said, turning over to face her as her breath brushed close against his face, though Tonya didn’t move away from him as he spoke, “If you feel like you are weak…then get strong. I will help you with everything I have to help you get there.”

“Why are you even going this far for me…” Tonya asked, her big eyes shining in the dark as he watched Augen’s scarred eyes, “We were but strangers in the desert then…”

“Perhaps I felt it’s the right thing to do…” Augen murmured as his voice started to become fainter and fainter, “Perhaps it’s me being selfish again…perhaps it’s me scared to be alone…Who knows…”

“You are not alone.” Tonya said as Augen’s breaths became slow and steady with a smile, “Neither of us is.”