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Chapter 9

Zeon’s stamina had reached its limit.

He no longer had any mana left to manipulate, as he inherently possessed a limited quantity of it, despite conserving it for operation.

The sand beneath his feet no longer moved as he wanted.

Zeon had never pushed himself to such extreme limits before.

Though Zeon seemed on the verge of collapsing from behind, Dyoden hadn’t paused or looked back once.

Not wanting to show any weakness to Dyoden, Zeon gritted his teeth and persisted, but now, he was truly at his limits.

‘That damn old man…’

Zeon’s legs gave out, leaving him sprawled in the sand.

As he panted, buried in the sand, he sensed someone approaching from behind.

It was Dyoden.

He finally raised his head and saw Dyoden looking down at him with a pitiful expression.

“Useless bastard!”

“Ugh!”

“I ended up wasting my time needlessly because of an idiot like you.”

Sitting down next to Zeon, he retrieved two pieces of jerky.

One he put in his mouth, tossing the other to Zeon, indicating he should get up and eat it himself.

But right now, Zeon didn’t even have the strength to get up.

He hadn’t taken a sip of water all day, leaving his mouth parched.

Eating the jerky in this state was a challenge itself.

Without recuperating his strength, he risked succumbing to the harshness of the environment.

Dyoden was aware of this fact.

Still, he neglected Zeon.

Chewing on the jerky, Dyoden spoke.

“The old world used to be peaceful. Even if one was a little weak, survival wasn’t an issue. It was a world where common sense prevailed, and showing kindness to others wasn’t odd. But, as you know, the world has changed. It has turned into survival of the fittest. If you’re weak, you’re preyed upon, and only the survivors monopolize everything. It hurts? It’s tough? Then give up. It’s easier when you’re dead.”

Zeon gritted his teeth at his harsh words.

Although he hadn’t lived for very long, he met many people. But none of them spoke as bitterly as Deyden.

It felt like a blade piercing his heart.

“If you want it easier, just sprawl out. But if you want to live, even through excruciating pain, get up on your own. You fool!”

With that, Dyoden fell silent.

Ignoring Zeon, he chewed on the jerky.

Dyoden hadn’t drunk water all day either, which is why he didn’t hastily consume the jerky, preventing dryness in his mouth.

He kept himself from getting thirsty by chewing slowly with saliva.

Before long, the sun was setting.

The desert’s temperature dropped rapidly after dark. If one didn’t keep warm, hypothermia could lead to death.

Zeon was aware of this fact.

‘I won’t die. I can’t die.’

Zeon crawled on the ground, wriggling forward like a worm.

After several attempts, he was finally within reach of the jerky.

Zeon opened his mouth and stuffed the beef jerky into his mouth.

Even though sand clung to the jerky, he didn’t care.

He slowly chewed, despite the discomfort of no saliva. Yet he persisted.

After a long time, he managed to swallow.

As the jerky entered his stomach, some vigor returned to his body.

As he was pushing away, Zeon sat up. Then Deyden threw another piece of jerky.

Zeon chewed the beef jerky without saying thank you.

Little by little, he felt vitality returning to my body. At the same time, mana also filled up.

Deyden spoke as if he could see through Zeon’s physical condition.

“The body and mana are not separate. Only when the body is strong can mana flow in easily. So, if you want to become strong, you must not stop training your body even for a moment.”

Zeon nodded his head without speaking a word.

Because he felt it in his core.

While he was down, he tried to gather mana. However, mana did not come back easily to the exhausted body.

If he hadn’t recovered his stamina by eating the jerky, his mana would still be crawling on the floor.

Once his mana had reached a certain level, it finally seemed like he would survive

“Phew!”

Only then did Zeon let out a sigh of relief.

After overcoming the danger of death, the world seemed different again.

In the darkening sky of the desert, countless stars shone brightly, resembling a blanket of light.

Zeon gazed blankly at the spectacle.

He hadn’t had the leisure to witness such a sight back in Neo Seoul.

He hadn’t even thought the stars were so beautiful.

But having teetered on the brink of death and now back among the living, he felt contemplative.

Dyoden’s voice snapped Zeon out of his reverie.

“Friend.”

‘Friend?’

There was no one else here besides Dyoden and himself. Naturally, there was no one he could call a friend.

Zeon cautiously looked at Dyoden.

The recipient of Dyoden’s conversation was none other than his sword, Kreion.

‘Is he insane? Or is that sword an Ego Sword?’

The sight of him having a conversation with Kreion placed in front of his feet was far from normal.

Dyoden continued conversing with his sword, seemingly oblivious or indifferent to Zeon’s gaze.

“Yeah, that’s a good spot. We haven’t captured the boss there yet.”

“……”

“It’s been so long that my memory has become hazy. Thank you!”

After finishing the conversation, Dyoden looked at Zeon.

For a moment, Zeon felt an inexplicable chill.

***

No matter whether he Awakened or not, enduring the cold of the desert was never easy for him.

Due to this, Zeon spent the night shivering from the cold, sleepless.

In contrast, Dyoden enjoyed a comfortable slumber in a relaxed posture.

He was sleeping so comfortably that Zeon felt an urge to punch him in the face.

As the sun rose, Dyoden also woke up.

The first thing he did after waking was to squeeze the dew from his clothes and drink it.

That’s when Zeon realized the reason behind Dyoden’s choice to spread out his clothes while sleeping.

Belatedly, Zeon also drank the dew from his clothes. However, compared to the dew on Dyoden’s clothes, there was significantly less.

‘If only he’d share this knowledge.’

Zeon felt an unwarranted resentment towards Dyoden.

And he realized something.

Everything about Dyoden was geared towards survival.

Even the smallest actions were meant for survival.

Zeon made a resolution.

‘I have to learn everything from him. Every little thing…’

By mimicking every action of Dyoden, someday Zeon believed he could become as strong as, if not stronger than, him.

Drip!

Zeon squeezed every drop of dew from his clothes and drank it all. Only then did his thirst completely quench.

“Let’s go!”

Dyoden got up and said.

Zeon nodded, knowing there was no point in asking where they were going.

Dyoden wouldn’t bother answering.

Though Zeon had only been with Dyoden for a day, he now had a rough idea of what kind of person he was.

Incredibly self-centered and unkind.

He wouldn’t kindly offer help or consider others.

He made Zeon accompany him, but he had the mindset to make him survive on his own.

To survive under such a person, Zeon had to be quick-witted.

Before he knew it, Dyoden was already quite far ahead.

Thankfully, his mana had fully recovered overnight.

Zeon unleashed the skill he had realized yesterday.

He named his newly acquired skill ‘Sand Stride.’

Mana management remained his top concern.

Having nearly faced death due to mana exhaustion the previous day, Zeon realized the importance of mana management.

‘If only there were a way to replenish mana as much as I expend it.’

Dyoden might know, but it was obvious that he wouldn’t answer even if he asked.

Ultimately, Zeon had to figure it out or realize it himself, just as he had done until now.

As Zeon walked through the sand using Sand Stride, he continued to think about ways to improve.

Though the sun had recently risen, the desert sands were scorching hot, emanating intense heat from the ground and the blazing sun above.

Nevertheless, Zeon gritted his teeth and endured it.

Endurance brought patience, and with that, the Sand Stride became much smoother and natural.

As they walked all day, the sun eventually set.

Only then did Dyoden stop, and Zeon could catch a breath.

Thankfully, this time, his mana didn’t deplete. However, exhaustion was evident on Zeon’s face.

Managing mana while executing Sand Stride all day pushed his body and mind to its limit.

He felt like he could collapse from exhaustion at any moment, but Zeon forced himself to endure. At that moment, Dyoden tossed him a piece of jerky.

This time, he didn’t have to embarrass himself by picking it up with his mouth.

Zeon held the jerky in his hand and tore it into small pieces.

Chewing slowly, he thoroughly moistened the jerky before swallowing.

He had no choice but to increase the amount of time he spent eating naturally.

When Zeon was halfway through the jerky, he glanced briefly at Dyoden. He thought he had been eating slowly enough, yet Dyoden had only consumed about a third. He had much more left than Zeon.

Somehow, a sense of defeat washed over Zeon, and he bit his lip.

He deliberately chewed the jerky slower than Dyoden. So slow that it took almost thirty minutes to eat a single piece.

‘I’m still hungry, though.’

Zeon, who was not yet finished growing, found himself barely satisfied after consuming just one piece of jerky.

When he turned around after eating, he’d be hungry again.

Yet, he couldn’t ask Dyoden for more jerky. His pride wouldn’t allow it.

Zeon decided to sleep on his hungry stomach.

But before that, there was something he had to do.

Zeon removed the clothes he was wearing and spread them on the ground.

It was to gather enough the morning dew.

The next task was to make a resting place.

The cold of the desert was no big deal to Dyden, who possessed abilities that Zeon could not dare imagine. But for Zeon, it was a matter of survival.

His solution was to create a bunker.

Fortunately, he still had some mana left.

As Zeon exerted control, the sand moved on its own. A pit large enough for one person was formed.

Zeon entered the pit he had created. Then, using the sand again, he covered the pit.

Desert sand doesn’t clump together due to lack of cohesion.

Normally, covering it like this would cause an immediate collapse. However, the sand held firm like a roof made of wood.

This was because Zeon had increased the sand’s cohesion.

Mana was consumed when creating the bunker, but once it was completed, there was no need to use mana anymore.

“Phew!”

After completing the bunker, Zeon breathed a sigh of relief.

He regretted not having slept like this last night. But being able to rest comfortably tonight was some consolation.

Suddenly, he thought of Dyoden.

Should he now ask Dyoden to come in? But he immediately shook his head.

After all, there was no one to hear even if he spoke.

If he couldn’t bear it, surely Dyoden would crawl in on his own.

‘Let it be.’

With that thought, Zeon fell asleep.

Outside, the temperature was dropping rapidly, but inside the bunker, it was quite warm.

He could sleep much more comfortably than the previous night, when he had slept restlessly.

Zeon opened his eyes due to an odd sensation.

He felt a faint vibration through the sand.

“What’s this?”

Zeon got up and pressed his hand to the ground. The vibration grew stronger.

Zeon emerged from the bunker to find Dyoden.

Dyoden was already up.

He was looking straight ahead with Kreion pinned to the floor.

Zeon followed his gaze.

All he could see was dense darkness.

It was the darkest hour just before sunrise.

It was impossible to discern anything. But that was a story for ordinary people.

Dyoden’s vision surpassed the darkness, seeing beyond it.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

The vibrations grew stronger.

Zeon’s pupils trembled.

‘Dozens, no, at least hundreds.’

Dyoden spoke.

“Survive on your own, you idiot! Hehe!”

His face, sporting a crazed grin, seemed oddly excited.

Like a mischievous child anticipating fireworks.

But Zeon couldn’t smile.

He knew Dyoden truly wouldn’t help. That made him even more frustrated.

‘Alright! I will definitely survive.’

The vibrations intensified, and finally, through the darkness, they revealed themselves.

Hundreds of pairs of eyes rapidly approached Dyoden and Zeon.

Dyoden said,

“It’s a pack of Giant Horned Hyenas. They are nocturnal monsters that don’t even leave a single single bone behind. So you better be careful not to get caught in their teeth. By the time you come to your senses, you’ll find yourself torn to shreds inside their bellies. Hehe!”

“This crazy old man!”