WIEDERGEBURT Act IV: Chapter 4

The scent of grass tickled my nose as a soft breeze caused my hair to blow out of my face.

After leaving Nevaria’s main city, we traveled through the fields and farmlands that made up the city-state known as Nevaria. I spent most of my time in the driver’s seat with Kari or Fay. They were the ones who drove a majority of the time (I had no talent for driving and Lin was too heavy to sit in the driver’s seat). Siv would sometimes join us when Fay was driving. She seemed curious about how to drive, so Fay would often let her take the wheel.

“Just hold onto the reins like this.”

“Like this?”

“Yes, that’s it. Just like that. Keep a firm grip on the reins. When you want the Giga Monster to slow down or stop, you pull the reins back, and when you want it to start moving again or speed up, you give the reins a quick crack. Don’t do that right now. We’re moving at a steady pace at the moment. It would be bad if the Giga Monster suddenly started running and broke the harness or the wagon.”

I’d heard that Giga Monsters could move very swiftly when the mood struck them, but we didn’t want it going too fast. This harness and wagon were both made from a combination of wood and iron. While they also had Runes to increase their sturdiness, there was a limit. We also ran the risk of our wagon uppending if the Giga Monster moved too fast.

Since it looked like I wasn’t needed right now, I played with Raul, who sat on my lap and looked at all the passing scenery. The little baby gurgled happily. That was par for the course. My son rarely ever cried unless he was hungry or wet himself. He was also quite energetic, which I believed was because he was born with a higher amount of Spiritual Power than most people.

In the month since he’d been born, we’d never taken him outside of Nevaria before. We never had a reason to. This was the first time he was leaving his home, and it would be a long time before he returned. I imagine he’d be at least three years old by the time we got back. It made me wonder how he’d feel about Nevaria. Would he consider it his home, or would the Northern Plains feel more like a home to him?

The road we were on was wide enough to fit our massive wagon and giant Demon Beast but not much else. I felt bad for the few wagons coming in from the opposite direction that had to pull off the side of the road, but there was very little I could do about that aside from apologize.

It was a bit odd, but very few people this far out recognized us, though I understood it was because these people never ventured into the city.

Nevaria was a city-state that consisted of about one hundred square kilometers worth of land. The city only made up about one fourth of that land, while the rest of was forest, farmlands, and plantations. Most of the plantations and farms were owned by the Eieran Family or the Astralia Royal Family. I was sure they would recognize their princess if she spoke with them. However, I think most of the people we passed were too preoccupied with gawking at the giant lizard to pay attention to who was in the carriage.

“Hey, you four.” Lin slithered up to the window and glanced at us. “How long will it take to reach the Endless Desert?”

The loud wumph wumph of her tail thumping against the bed would be enough to tell anyone she was feeling impatient. Her eyes were glaring at us, though I didn’t get the sense that she was angry. It was more like she really wanted us to hurry up.

“At this pace? Probably about five to six days,” Fay answered. “The Endless Desert lies at the very edge of Nevaria. I myself have never been there, but if we keep following this road, we will eventually reach it.”

“Can we not move faster?” Lin whined.

“We cannot,” Fay said in a firm voice. “Our wagon is very large, but that also means it’s not very stable. Larger wagons like this are easier to upend. While it wouldn’t take much effort to right it, I’d prefer to avoid doing anything that could potentially damage its structural integrity.”

“This princess understands.” Lin sighed and her shoulders slumped. “She’ll try to be--waaah!”

Before Lin could finish her sentence, Kari snuck up behind the lamia and wrapped her arms around the dark-skinned girl’s waist. She pressed herself against Lin’s back and rested her head on Lin’s shoulder. A devious smile appeared on her face.

“What’s this? You want to go faster? Could it be that you are growing bored of playing with your big sister?”

“T-that is not it! That is not it at all, Big Sister! This princess enjoys playing with you a lot! She just--”

“Don’t try and give me your atrocious excuses. I know what I heard. You’ve grown bored of me and want to reach the Endless Desert. This sort of cruel treatment of your big sister deserves punishment.”

“Punishment?! What are you--wait! What are you doing with those feathers! Don’t! Stop! Hahahahaha! N-no tickling please! This princess… she can’t take it!”

Kari yanked Lin back onto the bed and began mercilessly tickling the other woman with a feather duster. Lin was particularly sensitive along her breasts, armpits, and lower back near her butt. Since she didn’t wear much in the way of clothing, every area was within Kari’s reach.

Lin heaved and struggled to buck Kari off her, but while she was much stronger, Kari had the advantage of leverage. Lin’s arms had already been pinned above her head, which meant she couldn’t push Kari off. What’s more, she was unable to concentrate as Kari took the feather duster to Lin’s armpits.

Sweat had formed on Lin’s arms, chest, stomach, and face as she struggled to stop laughing. No matter how much she squirmed, Kari was merciless. Only after she had satisfied herself did she stop. By that point, Lin was a sweaty, drooling mess on the bed, gasping for breath like she’d just had sex all night.

Damn. I was getting a boner.

I had to shift Raul to my knees and readjust myself as I looked away from the erotic sight of Kari lying over a panting, glistening Lin. Staring back at the farmlands we moved past, I thought about what sort of discoveries we’d make during our travels through the Endless Desert.

Just as Fay predicted, it took five days before we had reached the border to the Endless Desert. The shift from farmlands to desert was an obvious one. The closer we got to the desert, the less vegetation there was. Farmlands disappeared, the forest vanished, and even the grass and weeds became sparse, all of it leading up to the desert, which now lay before us.

Kari was driving this time. She and I sat together and stared at the vast dunes of sand that stretched out before us like they were endless. Even though we had not entered the desert yet, the head had already grown sweltering, to the point where heat waves distorted the area before us. Fortunately, the wagon had Runes located on the inside and the driver’s seat that regulated temperature, so no one riding in the wagon would suffer from heatstroke or something.

“We’ve finally arrived,” Kari said.

“Yeah,” I replied in a soft murmur. “It’s been a long time since I was last here.”

“It’s been even longer for me.” Kari smiled. “I think, technically, I haven’t been to the Endless Desert in over a decade.”

“That is true.” Nodding, I gazed at the woman, whose blue eyes were sparkling as she took in the vast landscape filled with sand dunes. “Are you ready?”

Like a lotus blossom blooming under vibrant sunlight, Kari smiled at me. “You know I am.”

With a crack of the reins, Kari got the Giga Monster moving, and we finally crossed the threshold that marked the end of Nevaria and the beginning of the Endless Desert.

***

The Endless Desert derived its name from how the desert never seemed to end. After entering, you could travel for kilometers and kilometers without seeing a single living soul, without finding even a hint of civilization. All anyone would see in this place was sand dunes and more sand dunes, stretched out endlessly beyond one’s vision.

Not only was the endless desert devoid of almost all life, what life did exist in this place was dangerous. Demon Beasts lived beneath the sand. There were massive, worm-like creatures that could swallow a person whole, shark-like monsters with fins that let them swim through the sand like a mermaid swam through water. Of course, I couldn’t neglect to mention the lamia, the only sentient race aside from humans willing to make this inhospitable environment their home.

And that wasn’t even all of it. The nights were freezing cold. The days were scorching hot. If you didn’t die from dehydration and heat stroke during the day, you’d die of hypothermia during the bone-chillingly cold nights.

With so many dangers, it was enough to make me wonder why anyone would choose to make this place their home.

“How is it that we haven’t run into a single Demon Beast?” asked Kari, unbothered by the heat as she and Fay sat on the driver’s seat.

“Do you see those small bags dangling from our wagon?”

Fay pointed at something dangling from the corner of the wagon. It looked, indeed, just like a small bag filled with marbles or something equally round.

“Oh! Those are those bags you attached before we entered the Endless Desert,” Kari exclaimed. “What are they?”

“They’re Demon Repellent Pills,” Fay explained. “I made them early the morning before we reached the Endless Desert and attached them before we left. Demon Repellent Pills create a scent that is abhorrent to Demon Beasts. They cannot get within a certain distance of this scent.”

“Ah! It’s like that liquid Eryk always makes at night when we’re in the Demon Beast Mountain Range,” Kari said with an excited gleam in her eyes. “I remember… um… uh… someone else in the Endless Desert used something similar. I can’t… remember his name…”

Fay gave Kari an amused smile. “You never did much care to remember things that don’t interest you.”

“T-that isn’t true!”

“Anyway, one bag of these pills can create an area of effect that is about two meters. I’m sure you have noticed, but our wagon is considerably bigger than that, so I created several bags filled with twenty pills and space them around the wagon. I used twelve in total. Six on the bottom, six on the top, and one for each corner and one for the middle. By combining that many bags, I’ve created a safe zone around our wagon that Demon Beast’s won’t go near.”

“That’s a good idea,” Kari admitted. “I’m kinda tempted to see how strong the Demon Beasts here are, but I would rather not have to fend them off and stop moving.”

I would normally be the one sitting in the driver’s seat, but Fay and Kari had asked me to sit in the wagon with Siv, Lin, and Raul. It wasn’t like it mattered who sat in the driver’s seat anyway. The entire wagon was covered in Runes. That included the driver’s seat, which had Laguz, Dagaz, and Othala to create a Rune Array that would keep the driver’s cool even in the scorching heat like this.

While Kari and Fay were enjoying their conversation in the driver’s seat, another conversation was happening inside the wagon.

“This princess wonders when you’re gonna start walking.”

“Gaaa!”

“You say it’s going to be soon? This princess hopes so. You are Darling and Fay’s son, after all. You know this princess is expecting great things from you.”

“Gu!”

“Awww! You’re so cute!”

Lin was gushing over Raul like she usually did. Of course, it wasn’t like she was the only one. While Siv did not say anything, she often held Raul in her arms and quietly hummed to him. Her voice was something else too. She had a gentle and lilting voice like wind chimes being softly blown by a soothing breeze.

We weren’t on the bed at the moment but on the floor instead, surrounding Raul from all sides and making faces at him as we conversed with each other and the baby. For his part, Raul was doing what all babies did: Looking cute and making his parents gush over him.

“Do you think our children will be this cute?” Lin asked.

“With a woman as beautiful as you as the mother, any child we have would obviously be adorable.”

“Awww! Darling! You know just what to say to make this princess blush!”

As Lin placed her hands against her cheeks and swooned, Siv grabbed my shirt and tugged on it. I looked at her as she sat with her legs resting on one side underneath her. She was staring at me with an imploring look. Her reptilian eyes were big and innocent.

“Our babies too?”

“Of course.” I placed a hand on her cheek and stroked her the scales around her jaw. “Our children would definitely be gorgeous.”

“But ours would be more beautiful, right Darling?” stated Lin.

“If you’re going to fight over which mom produces more beautiful children, I will direct you to Kari and ask for her opinion,” I stated.

Lin paled. “T-there’s no need for that. This princess was just kidding. Ah ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha!”

“Ga ha ha ha! Guuu!”

“Aww! This princess thinks Raul is trying to copy her laughter!”

It was amazing how Lin could be so frightened one moment and gushing over Raul, having completely forgotten about our previous topic, the next.

We had already been traveling through the Endless Desert for several days now. Thus far we had not run into any caravans, bandits, or Demon Beasts. The chances of us running into Demon Beasts were low since we had Demon Repellent Pills. Even if the effects of our current ones wore off, Fay and I had stocked up on enough supplies to create about six thousand more. I honestly doubted we would need that many.

Hours passed by and Raul eventually fell asleep. As I set him in the crib, Lin stretched her arms above her head and yawned, looking bored.

“This princess doesn’t want to stay inside. She’s going to walk a bit.”

“We’ll join you,” I said.

“This princess would be happy if you joined her, Darling.”

While Lin didn’t say she’d be happy if Siv joined us, I knew there was no longer any malicious feelings toward the dragon girl. Lin just had a one-track mind.

I gestured toward Siv, who stood to her feet and followed me and Lin toward the back door, which we opened and hopped out of before running up to walk alongside the front. Kari and Fay waved at us from above. Because of how large this wagon was, the driver’s seat was about two meters off the ground.

“You know…” Kari began, speaking loud enough that all of us could hear her. “I feel like we’re cheating somehow.”

“What do you mean?” asked Lin as she summoned a metal canteen from her storage ring and took a drink of the ice cold water inside.

We had about thirty two tons worth of barrels that we filled before leaving Nevaria using my water element, which meant we were unlikely to run out of water until we reached the first oasis--if we reached the first oasis. With how vast this place was, there was always a chance we would miss it.

Kari licked her lips. “I mean, look at how we’re traveling. Our seats and the inside of our wagon has Runes that protect us from the sun and heat. We have around several tons worth of water in our storage rings. All of our supplies, including enough meat to last all four of us two years, is also stored in our rings. The Endless Desert is supposed to be dangerous. Death should be waiting around every dune. Yet here we are enjoying a trip through it like we were taking a stroll through Nevaria. Doesn’t that seem weird?”

While the others looked confused, I understood where she was coming from.

Forced to flee from a horde of Demon Beasts in our previous life, the two of us and a few other survivors of the Demon Beast Invasion had fled into the Endless Desert. During that time, all of our comrades died, some from the heat, some from Demon Beasts, some from hypothermia, and some from dehydration. It was almost criminal that we were traveling through the Endless Desert without any of those problems.

“Doesn’t that just mean we prepared well?” asked Fay.

“I… I guess so,” Kari muttered, though she sounded reluctant to admitit.

“This princess thinks you just wanted to struggle against diversity.”

“What was that? Did you say, ‘please spar with me, Big Sister?’”

“T-this princess said you shouldn’t feel guilty! You have nothing to feel guilty about!”

Fay, Siv, and I laughed as Kari teased Lin, who to this day could not figure out she was being teased. Lin was straightforward to the point where Kari’s teasing flew completely over her head. It made her exaggerated fear of Kari during times like this comical and helped ease the tension we felt.

At some point, Raul began crying, so Fay went back inside the wagon and I took her place next to Kari. Lin and Siv eventually got tired of walking. However, while Lin traveled back into the wagon, Siv took to the sky and flew beside us, flapping her powerful dragon wings.

“It really is odd, though,” Kari said after a moment of silence. Her voice was soft, her mind a million kilometers away. “We struggled so much the first time we traveled through here. Now we’ve spent five days in the Endless Desert, but we haven’t had to fight for our lives even once.”

“You feel guilty,” I said. It wasn’t a question.

Kari’s lips trembled a little as she smiled. “Can you blame me?”

“No, I cannot.” I sighed and placed an arm around her shoulder. Kari leaned into me. “I feel the same way you do.”

We spent a moment taking comfort in each other’s arms, and it was almost like how it had been back in my previous life, when Kari and I had relied on each other for emotional support and survival.

A moment later, we were brought back to our senses when Siv began uncharacteristically shouting.

“I see people!”

“People?” I stood up, then channeled the lightning element through my body and ascended into the air, until I was flying next to Siv. “Where are they?”

“There.”

Siv pointed at something in the distance, and I saw a small caravan of about five wagons fighting off what appeared to be a group of those shark-like Demon Beasts--Sand Sharks, I believe they were called. There were eleven people, but even as I flew next to Siv, one of them fell to the ground, his throat sliced open when a Sand Shark flew out from a dune and cut his trachea with one of its flippers.

“Kari!”

Looking up at my shout, Kari gave me a single nod before cracking on the reins and pulling them so the Giga Monster would turn toward the caravan. As she did this, she turned her head and shouted into the open window.

“A caravan is under attack! We’re heading there now, so get ready for potential combat!”

“There’s no need for that,” I said. “I’ll take care of the Demon Beasts before you girls even arrive.”

“That sounds like a challenge to me,” Kari said.

“No challenge. It’ll be over before you even know it.”

I smiled at Kari, then disappeared as I transformed my body into lightning and used the Flash Step Version 3: Lightning Step.

In less time than it took a human to blink, I appeared in the middle of the caravan, so fast no one had even noticed me. Screams echoed in my ears. The scent of blood filled my nose. It looked like another person had died, meaning there were only nine people now instead of eleven.

Since no one seemed to have noticed me, I just decided to deal with the Sand Sharks before anyone else died. Kneeling on the ground, I placed my hand on the sand and sent my Spiritual Power into it, activating Spiritual Perception.

Sand Sharks were B-rank Demon Beasts with an earth affinity. They didn’t have an attack like most Demon Beasts of that rank, but that was because they used the earth element to swim through the sand--and it wasn’t like they needed a Spiritual Attack. Those fins of theirs were sharp enough to slice through flesh with ease.

The world around me became monochrome save for the few Spiritual Signatures that appeared in my perception. Of course, I could sense Kari, Fay, Lin, Siv, and Raul. Their Spiritual Signatures were so bright I’d be blinded if I looked at any one of them directly. I also noticed that all the people in this caravan had a Spiritual Signature, though they were only at the Second State of Spiritualism. Finally, there were the Sand Sharks.

With Spiritual Perception, I discovered thirty-two brown flames traveling within the sand. They were quick--much quicker than most humans could track. I was using the lightning element to speed up my perception and ability to process information. That was the only reason I could sense them.

Once I knew how many Sand Sharks there were, I didn’t hesitate any longer, channeling lightning through my palms and sending it straight into the ground. This normally wouldn’t do anything. Lightning was often grounded by earth.

However, the sands of the Endless Desert had a surprisingly high copper content. Copper was a great conductor of electricity, and so the lightning I sent into the ground traveled through the copper, going further and further down, frying every Sand Shark in its path. One. Two. Four. Eight. Sixteen. I continued to channel lightning until all the flames I could sense from the Sand Sharks disappeared.

Once I was done, I stood up.

The people around me didn’t seem to realize what had happened. They remained where they were, warily eyeing the ground and waiting for the next attack. Several seconds passed before a young man with dark skin, a flat nose, and masculine features turned his head and realized someone was standing next to him.

“When did you get here?!”

His shout alerted the others to my presence, but while all of them readied their weapons, I merely smiled and raised my hands to show I was unarmed.

“I arrived just now. I noticed you were under attack and decided to help out. By the way, all the Sand Sharks are dead.”

“Dead?” A woman who looked a few years older than me frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I mean they’re dead. I killed them.”

“Impossible.” Another scoffed.

I shrugged. “You don’t have to believe me, but the person you are guarding in that wagon over there can probably attest that I’m telling the truth.”

Everyone tensed when I pointed to the wagon in the very center of this caravan. There was a strong Spiritual Signature coming from there. Whoever was inside of that caravan had a powerful earth element and was probably at the Third State of Spiritualism. I’d heard the leaders of Four Great Families had all reached the Third State of Spiritualism, but I didn’t actually know if that was true. I myself had never met any of them.

It was probably fortunate that whoever was inside of that carriage spoke up.

“That young man is telling the truth. Lower your weapons. You will only die if you attack him.”

The voice belonged to a man. It was a deep and rumbling baso voice, gruff but not cold.

His words caused everyone to lower their weapons. I sent a nod toward the wagon, though I wasn’t sure if the man inside could see it.

“You have my thanks for slaying those Sand Sharks. We normally have Demon Repellent Pills to keep them away, but one of our men stole them and ran off. I suspect he may have been a spy from the Malik Family,” the man said.

The Malik Family… now why did that sound familiar? I believe I remember hearing the name at some point, but it was escaping me.

“I hope you do not mind me asking,” the man continued. “But why is such a powerful Spiritualist wandering the Endless Desert alone?”

“Oh!” I snapped back to reality. “I’m actually traveling through the Endless Desert with my wives. We’re from a place called Nevaria, which is west of the Endless Desert. We’re on our way to the Northern Plains.”

“So I see.” The man paused as though digesting the information. “It is quite fortuitous that we met you. If it would not displease you, could I ask that you travel with us until we reach the next town? Without a supply of Demon Beast Repellent, I am afraid we are nothing more than helpless Struts waiting to be eaten. You will, of course, be well compensated for this.”

I tapped my foot on the ground and thought about the merits of escorting them to the next town versus the merits of just making some Demon Beast Repellent for them. If I escorted them, it would take a bit longer to travel through the Endless Desert. We’d be going out of our way. On the other hand, it wasn’t like we were in a rush, and I think seeing what the towns here were like would be a good experience for Fay, Lin, and Siv.

“I don’t mind escorting you,” I said at last. “We just need to wait for my wives to arrive with the wagon.”

While the man in the carriage and I spoke, the people around me looked like they didn’t know how to take this. I could practically see their thoughts. They were trained Spiritualists, powerful and hardy, and here was some boy with white skin who had appeared out of nowhere and was now being asked to escort their leader? Their pride was hurt. What were they? Demon Beast fodder? That was the emotions I got from their expressions.

“That is fine. And where is this wagon you speak of?” asked the man.

At that moment, a massive lizard crested over the nearest dune. The Spiritualists around me screamed in panic. I doubt any of them had ever seen a Giga Monster before.

“It’s right there,” I said, pointing at the wagon being pulled behind the giant lizard Demon Beast.