"Good morning!" The carefree voice of Lord Ives surprised Val'narii when she crawled out of the actual bed she had been able to sleep in the night before.

  "Good morning, my Lord..." She yawned and instantly turned red as she realised that she had just automatically left the tent wearing what she slept in.

  With a short shriek of embarrassment, she returned to the tent and started hectic preparations. Fortunately for her sanity, she was still wearing her long shirt, which had covered her modesty, if only barely. But showing herself in such an unsightly state in front of a noble was a disgrace. She quickly refreshed herself in the water she had left aside for this purpose yesterday from her bathwater. As quickly as possible, she put on her clothes, armour, and weapons. She took a moment to fix her platinum hair and grimaced that she had no mirror. Hoping that she looked slightly better, she left the tent once more.

  "Well... I'm not certain if you should call me your Lord since I'm not a Saftian noble." He grinned as if nothing had happened and pretended he hadn't noticed anything, for which she could have been only grateful.

  "I honestly might consider escaping to Arcadia if that means I could live under nobles like you, Lord Ives." She only half-joked. The situation of Dark Elves in Saftia could change drastically at any moment.

  "Certainly no one would stop you at the border." He shrugged. "However, that's a problem for another day. Right now, we have to start doing our quest."

  He pointed at the table where a plate full of sandwiches and a big flask of water were waiting for her. The maid wasn't anywhere nearby, and only Ben was preparing the wagon for the ride.

  "What quest?" She sat down puzzled.

  "Killing the Armoured Lion, of course." He grinned.

  She felt dizzy and clenched her fists so hard her knuckles got white on her naturally tanned skin. "Lord Ives... I have seen your skill and I can assure you that I have no problems with finishing your registration. That monster is dangerous. It killed many promising Adventurers, among whom were my former party members. I can't ask you to face it..."

  "So that's why..." He nodded with a sudden understanding. "That's why you were so furious. A random wannabe adventurer comes and claims they can do what no one has managed so far. What's worse, his boasting seemed like spitting on the memory of your friends..."

  "I..." She felt her face burning in embarrassment to the tips of her long, pointy ears. He read her so well...

  "Don't worry about it." He sighed and straightened in his chair. "Silfa is scouting the area. Once she returns, we will kill that menace."

  She looked at him for a second and closed her eyes. He was impressive, but the Armoured Lion was a creature that he clearly underestimated. With a sense of defeat, she started eating her sandwich and realised that she hadn't touched her supplies at all. He provided her with everything as if that were something normal... But it most certainly wasn't. Not in the harsh reality of Saftia, where food and water were precious and limited. She barely finished breakfast when the Human woman returned and the Maid emerged from the tent. The Black Cat was like a walking perfection, which somewhat impressed Val'narii. The tents were picked up and loaded into the cart at impressive speed.

  "What happened with the cart that belonged to the..." She looked at the spot where she expected to see the remains of the bodies, but the only thing there was a thin layer of glass.

  "It was a small cart pulled by some kind of fast lizard." He pointed at the Desert Gecko that was attached to the rear of his cart. "I just stored it in my holding item."

  "Uhum..." She nodded without conviction as she sat in the cart.

  After an hour of riding, the Human woman raised her hand and they halted the carriage.

  "We are approaching the presumed territory of the Armoured Lion. The beast was spotted here many times." She pointed to the broken remains of a few carts and remnants of weapons scattered around. Silfa pointed next to the sandy soil with deep prints in it. "Depending on how you would like to see it, we are lucky or not. It's somewhere nearby. Those tracks are fresh."

  As if on cue, the distant cry of a large feline came to them, scaring everyone except Arthur. Even Catherine, who absolutely trusted him, was scared.

  "It's close..." Arthur nodded and jumped out of the cart. He looked at Val'narii and Silfa. "So how exactly should I kill it? I admit, I have no experience with those beasts, so I don't know what parts of them are valuable. I guess that cutting its skin is ill-advised because it's certainly a valuable crafting material."

  "Killing it so it's dead is a very good outcome, Lord Ives..." Val'narii explained with a weak voice. "But you are right. It is said that it can be killed with magic because of elemental weakness."

  "Magic?" He put a hand on his hips and rubbed his chin. "Sure."

  From behind a sand dune, a large lion came charging right at them. Its mane was slightly grey, but shone with golden undertones. It bared its huge claws and fangs and seemed dead set on killing the trespassers. Arthur wasn't admiring the beast's graceful movement; instead, he charged it as well. Once in range, the Paladin used Provoke, making the monster focus solely on him. The lion roared furiously and reached for Arthur with its large deadly paw, but the man simply slammed it away with his aegis. The hit surprised the beast, which lost its balance and turned away from the people observing its fight. That was exactly what Arthur wanted.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  "Water Prison." He cast one of the simplest and deadliest binding spells at his disposal. Being a Hexblade allowed Arthur to fairly easily manipulate the water in all its states.

  The lion's head was caught in a bubble of water, making it impossible to breathe. The water bound its paws and made it nearly impossible to move. The beast panicked and pushed its head to the ground. However, no matter what it tried, it couldn't shake off the water bubble that already filled its mouth. Just a few moments later, the lion slumped to the sand. It wasn't dead yet, but weak and helpless. It scratched at the soil weakly with its claws and desperately tried to reach Arthur, who was standing just outside its reach.

  "Sorry, big guy." Arthur shook his head. "In terms of levels, you never stood a chance."

  The light in the lion's eyes faded, but Arthur kept his spell active until he was sure the monster was dead. That monster was barely level eighty and everyone was panicking as if it already had a subclass. Subclasses could as well count as levelling above one hundred, which was a cap for any class. There were slight differences and nuances, but basically, Arthur should be considered as having his level well over six hundred in terms of power. He put his hand on the still-warm body and ruffled its magnificent mane with his hand.

  "You should have kept to the desert and hunted other monsters. But once you killed people, your fate was sealed..." He stored the large predator's body in his storage item and slowly walked back towards their cart.

  Silfa was standing on the roof of the cart with her bow and five arrows stuck in a piece of wood she used so as to not damage it. Ben was standing a few steps in front of the cart in a defensive stance. The young man looked at Arthur in stunned disbelief.

  "What... What happened?!" Val'narii demanded with a shaking voice, the tears trickling down her cheeks. "How could you defeat it so easily?!"

  "I'm much stronger than a monster like that," Arthur said with a calm and emotionless voice. "I'm sorry for your loss and I didn't want to diminish anyone's dignity, but there was no point in dragging out a fight with that monster. So I just put it down."

  "I don't even know what I should say. It happened too fast..." The Dark Elf woman was holding tightly to her notepad and was shaking slightly. She looked around at all the broken carts and shuddered. "I wonder how many people it killed..."

  "Too many, no matter the number," Arthur said softly. "Is there anything more here you want to do? We could spare some time if you want."

  She slowly shook her head. "I don't know if I could even find any remnants of Selene and Juilian. But the fact that you killed that beast, Lord Ives, is enough to let them rest in peace."

  "In that case, we will return straight to the city." Arthur decided.

  "Lord Ives!" Silfa screamed in horror. "A dust storm!"

  "A dust storm?" He asked in surprise and looked at Ben who was right behind him.

  "Well..." He pointed at the horizon which was rapidly covered in an orange haze that very quickly darkened.

  "It's getting worse, I'm afraid..." Silfa gracefully jumped inside the wagon and looked outside through the inspection panel. "I'm afraid it might get more volatile by the time it reaches us."

  Catherine ushered their nervous ram to a sprint as she turned away and headed straight from where they arrived.

  "How dangerous is this?" Arthur asked calmly from the rear of the cart.

  "If that's just dust and sand, it's relatively easy to simply wait for it to pass. Hiding in a tent or sealed cart would be enough to survive it. It's harder to protect draft animals, but most of the time it's enough to cover their heads under rugs so the dust and sand won't suffocate them." Catherine explained while a rolling thunder roared in the distance. "But now, it just got worse..."

  "This storm has gained more speed and the sand will even eat away your flesh from your bones if it catches you in the open. The best way to survive now is to hide near rock formations or the occasional ruins and stay in a tent, or even better, a sturdy cart." Val'narii tapped the wooden wall of the cart they were in.

  "Fascinating..." Arthur said thoughtfully as he observed the storm ravaging the horizon and heading straight at them. "I believe we should seal the cart?"

  "Yes, Sir!" The remaining four yelled at him in unison with the hint of urgency.

  "Catherine, stop the cart in the first place that would work..."

  "Here!" Silfa pointed at four large rocks near the road.

  Catherine nodded nervously, but she quickly and skilfully drove the wagon to the designated spot. Silfa, without waiting for any instructions, grabbed a thick rope and left the wagon. Arthur watched, feeling slightly powerless, as all four of them were quickly doing things that made no sense to him. He stepped outside and noticed that Silfa used the external rings on the cart and rope to secure their shelter to the rocks. In the meantime, Ben was setting up a sturdy-looking sheet of fabric over their ram. The gecko licked its eyeball and blinked at Arthur with a goofy expression. However, contrary to the visibly nervous ram, the oversized lizard seemed unfazed by the approaching storm. It extended its tongue and quickly dug itself a hole in the sandy soil where it hid itself.

  "Well now... You are smarter than you look." Arthur nodded with approval. "I wonder if you can work as a mount? You are big enough..."

  "Lord Ives! Quick!" Val'narii called him from inside the cart through a small gap in a thick material covering the previously open driver's seat.

  Arthur scratched the back of his head and waited until Ben finished securing the ram. The boy already struggled in the dense air, but it wasn't a problem for any Arcadian. His barriers pushed the sand away from his face and the wind wasn't even a nuisance for the Paladin. He grabbed Ben and effortlessly put him inside the cart. Before he entered himself, he took a moment to appreciate the dangerous beauty of the storm. The lightning crashed around him, illuminating the unrecognisable landscape. The dust and sand swirled in the air forming amazing shapes. Admittedly, it was a dangerous and beautiful sight. He entered the cart and was surprised that they were sitting in darkness. Ben was still coughing while Silfa tried to help him get rid of the sand still in his mouth. Arthur touched the light rune and all of them started and shuddered in shocked surprise.

  "Sir Arthur!" Catherine caught his hand and looked at him with tears in her eyes. "I was so afraid..."

  "I'm sorry for worrying you. However, remember that I'm a Paladin and that's a tank class. A little bit of wind with fine sand isn't enough to hurt me." He instinctively patted her head and she smiled with relief.

  "I must say that I was more than sceptical about using a wagon, but I guess many more good people would still be alive today if they could afford to use carts like this..." Val'narii said with a sad voice and looked at the fabric sealing the rear of the cart as it thrummed in the merciless wind shrieking outside.

  Arthur took out a flask of water and poured a cup for Ben, who drank it with gratitude. He allowed everyone to drink as he focused on maintaining a barrier that should keep them safe from being hit by a random lightning strike.

  He still had to learn a lot to survive in this place...

  Thank you all for reading.

  I wish you all a great day and as always I wait for your comments.

  A big thanks to and who edited the chapter!