In the whole area there was nothing, but sand dunes. Well, almost nothing. Over the peak of the sand dunes, in the distance, was what could only be described as a colony.
The human settlement was filled with simplistic, modern looking buildings and the people who filled them. For some reason, the whole settlement was covered in a transparent, slightly blue tinted dome. Today, in the colony, there was a deep black smoke rising from a couple buildings and the people were scurrying around like ants.
Back in the dunes of sand, a boy crawled over the peak of a large dune. Laying with his stomach in the sand, the boy laughed loudly.
"Ahh, finally free! It took way too long to escape that godforsaken, cage of a place."
The boy had simple, short, curly, black hair and skin that was colored lightly brown. The boy couldn't be called tall, but he could be called skinny. He was dressed in a simple white long-sleeved shirt and black pants. Both were covered in sand now, but his shirt showed signs of being covered in dirt, and the washed repeatedly. On the boy's back was a rather large, brown traveling backpack, and attached to that bag was some sort of gimble that held up a wide umbrella that kept the boy constantly in the shade.
The boy slowly stood up at the top of the dune. He turned to look back at the colony for a few seconds, then faced away from it again. He raised his hands in a shrug.
"That... definitely isn't my fault."
He continued speaking to himself.
"I mean, who could have known that crazy bastard would fly off the handle after just a little teasing. All I said was the truth. The truth gives freedom... or something."
The boy started to walk down the slope of the sand dune, still kept in the shadows by his incredibly large and colorful umbrella.
As he continued walking, his mind continued to churn.
'I really should have learned by now. Just cause it's funny, doesn't mean they won't try and kill you.'
The boy reached the bottom of the dune. As he did, he reached into his pocket and pulled out some dried, slightly fake looking meat. He bit on it until there was only a small strip left, and then paused and stood still. The boy tossed the small piece of synthetic meat out of the umbrella's shadow and into the sunlight. After a few moments, the meat started to bubble and even burnish slightly. The boy sighed as he looked at the meat.
"Ahh, it's not going to be simple out here, is it? Oh, well. Now let's see, which direction is that oasis."
The boy looked around and opened a side pocket on his bag and pulled out a simple silver compass. He inspected the compass for a few seconds and then returned it to the pocket.
'As long as this thing is still correct, it should be this way.'
The boy set off on his journey, with a pleasant smile appearing on his face.
***
The boy seemed to have walked for quite a while; the sun was nearly at its peak.
'Come to think of it, I read somewhere that before the planet got thrown off its axis, compasses didn't have to get realigned. Those Neanderthals must have had it good. Now for more walking.'
Finally, all the walking caught up with him. His left foot slipped a little and a dull pain appeared in his hip. Walking on sand was hard. Walking on sand with your balance slightly off center was harder. The boy looked down to his left hip. Attached to it was a sword. The sword was a single edged, silver-gray blade and the hilt was wrapped in simple white cloth. The sheath was a pure white, adorned a gray stone flecked with white specks on either side of the mouth.
'God, if this thing wasn't so cool, I never would have stolen it off the crazy bastard. No, I didn't steal it. I took it because I was worried, he'd hurt someone. Yeah, exactly that.'
The boy paused a little.
'Huh, it's been quite a while now. Those infected guards must have killed him already. That's... unfortunate. To honor your sacrifice, I will name this sword after you. Unfortunately, I never bothered to learn your name, so Crazy Bastard will have to do.'
Looking ahead, the boy saw something in the distance. Its silhouette looked somewhat like a large dog. And for some odd reason, the creature was standing still, completely unaffected by the light of the sun.
The creature's skeleton was like that of a large dog. The boy could only tell that because the creature had no skin. Its outer layer was made of transparent rolling green goo that looked to be boiling under the sunlight. Yet, the creature looked as if the boiling was just a common occurrence.
The boy's face contorted into a wide grin.
'My food has come to deliver itself to me. How wonderful.'
'Hello, Food Stuffs! My name is Ina Nis! But please, call me Nis.'
Nis wanted to introduce himself out loud but couldn't afford to notify the creature of his existence just yet.
Nis looked around and spotted a large rock reaching high into the air. The shadow it cast was large enough to fit quite a few people within comfortably. The shadow stretched towards the creature, but not far enough to encompass it.
He started jogging toward the shadow, his eyes shined with unencumbered glee.
'It's like the universe set up a perfect hunting grounds, just for me!'
***
In a sea of sand, a creature stood still. The creature looked lost, as if waiting for something entertaining to cross its path.
It felt something submerge itself in its slime. A rock had fallen from the sky and hit the creature. The rock seeped through the creature's body and eventually fell to the ground.
It turned to look at the area where the rock should have come from. There, in a large shadow, was a human boy. The creature didn't have eyes, but if it did, surely, they would have been filled with murderous joy.
The goo started to roll faster and faster, forcing the creature's limbs to move. It rushed towards the shadow hoping to collect the prize within.
Entering the shadow the creature lunged, pushing its front-left claw towards the boy. The claw collided against a slim silver-gray blade, barely keeping the goo-covered claw away from the boy. The boy jumped and used the force of the collision to do a single spin and land a couple meters away.
Keeping its momentum, the creature pushed forward again. This time using its boney maw in an attempt to reave the boy's flesh. And the creature's maw did manage to reach something, just not something it could chew. In its jaw was a large travelling bag filled with what seemed to be rocks.
The sensation was not what the creature expected. Its paws reached the floor while it was still stunned. Before the creature could even regain its senses and find its prey again, a thin blade plunged into the slime around its neck passing through the base of its skull, easily piercing the creature's brain.
***
Nis laid under the creature. A simple katana in his right hand, his bag, now filled with stones, held to his chest with his left. Nis's plan had worked, and he had slain the 'Food Stuffs'.
Moments after killing the beast, a sweet, feminine voice sounded in Nis's mind.
"You have slain a 'Slime Prowler', Rank: Individual.
"You have gained 10 EXP.
"You have obtained new personal knowledge.
"You have gained 3 EXP."
These words almost seemed to be heard at the same time, but perfectly understood separately.
"Who the he—"
At the moment, the slime seeped off the creature's bones, drowning him in a viscous layer of goo.
The slime was so thick that Nis couldn't breathe through it. He scrambled, pushing the creature's carcass and the bag off him. Using his hands, he pierced a hole in the slime around his mouth. He spent a few moments breathing heavily to catch his breath.
"Ah, breathing, truly one of life's greatest pleasures."
Nis stood up and tried to brush some of the goo off his body.
'What was that voice? Did I really make up a woman's voice in my head to praise my glorious achievement? I shouldn't have gone insane from a single day in the desert, right?'
Nis spent a few more seconds in thought.
"...Well, doesn't matter, I have food to acquire!"
Still covered in a lot of goo. Nis took a palm sized rock from his bag and started to drag the beast's carcass deeper into the shadows. The creature didn't have flesh to turn into fillets, but it did have organs. Heart and liver are nutritious and taste pretty good too.
'This thing didn't really have blood though, so why does it need a heart.'
He inspected it a little more closely.
'I guess it could work like a pump to keep the goo circulating.'
Nis finished dressing his food and repacked his bag. Looking up at the sky, there was still some time left in the day, so Nis took off walking again. He noticed that it was a lot cooler now compared to before. The slime covering his skin must have been helping to repel some of the heat.
"Nice. It's just a brisk walk now."
***
A few days had passed. Most of the daylight was spent walking and doing even more walking. Nis killed one more Slime Prowler, at least that's what the voice called it. This time Nis didn't get distracted by a wave of slime, so he was sure he hadn't gone insane... yet.
Nis spent the nights tucked in some hole, whether that was in a rock or in the ground. As it turned out, the Slime Prowler wasn't the only creatures in the desert. It was just the creature that ruled the day. The night was populated by quite a few different beasts, some of them were even more terrifying than the slime prowler. Nis spent his time at night hiding from and studying them from afar. The voice occasionally mentioned something about knowledge and EXPs after he studied a few of them.
'I think I heard some rich kid at the arcade say something like that before. Of course, since I didn't have enough money to get inside, so I don't really know what he meant.'
Changing his train of thought.
'Why does the voice sound like a game for rich kids...wait, the rich kid part doesn't matter. Games are about getting stronger, I think, maybe. If there would be a similar system in real life... that would be the Cosmic Infection... huh'
'Am I an infected now?'
'...Maybe. But how am I supposed to know? There were no books at the library about that. Maybe I'm just really good at being insane, so the voice is consistent.'
Nis took a few deep breaths and then came to a conclusion.
'What does it matter? If I am, then things will be more dangerous for me, but I will be confined by even less things. I don't even need to mention people, not even the planet will be able to stop me from going where I wish. If not, then nothing changes. I can wander this world till my heart's content; I'll just have a sweet-sounding voice along for the ride. It's almost like having a traveling buddy.'
With that, Nis's mind was clear, and he was ready to move on. He crossed one final sand dune, and spotted a beautiful, lush oasis at the bottom.
'Either way, I've reached the first sanctuary on a journey that will encompass the rest of my life. I hope the water's nice and cool.'
Nis started to walk down the slope towards the oasis. As he did, the voice began to speak.
'Oh? I wonder if she'll give me some EXPs for finding this place.'
The voice spoke.
"Initiating first incursion.
"Altering Global Position.
"Have a nice trip."
Nis's body suddenly disappeared. His bag hovered in the air for a second then fell and hit the sand.
The sound it made was like a book being closed after finishing a story.