The day of my escape finally arrived. This time I was not going out in the nighttime like always.
There were many ways to escape the desert at night, but most of them would surely become difficult after the day broke, and that was one risk I was not willing to take.
On the other hand, going in the daytime was dangerous in itself, but there were also specific advantages to it.
Since I could turn my mana into any element, though my control was still lacking, I could probably use flames to fly out of the damned desert.
The problem was that the creatures in the sand were attracted to fire and heat, and using flames would make me a walking target, especially at night when everything was cool.
But in the daytime, if I could make decoy heatwaves, then escaping would not be a problem.
I sat cross-legged at the center of the skull. My eyes were shut as I pondered what to do next.
After a few minutes of intense thought, I pushed myself up and formed a bow with my mana. I drew the string back, and a sky-blue arrow formed on it.
In an instant, a runic symbol glowed just above the arrow. The instructions given to it were simple.
{Return to "base" after reaching the nearest humans outside the "sand" zone}
If the arrow took too long to come back, then that meant the next safe zone was far away from where I was. But if it came back early, that meant I had a chance.
The arrow flew at approximately two hundred miles per second, and if I shielded my body with mana, I could probably propel myself at that speed too.
I took a steady breath and let the arrow fly forward, the force nearly pushing me off my feet.
The arrow flew into the distance, disappearing into the sky.
I turned away from it, released the bow construct, and stretched a little, only to sense something flying at an incredible speed behind me.
My body moved before my mind could process things. Mana coated my hands like gloves, and I caught the flying projectile right before it hit my face.
"What the…"
Before I could curse, I noticed what I was holding in my hands.
"This is…"
The arrow?
Somehow, the arrow had already returned to me.
I held in the smile that was threatening to spill out. "The end of the desert… it's so close!"
I wanted to laugh loudly and dance a little, but I needed to relax and concentrate on other things.
I jumped lightly, sitting cross-legged on the ground again. With my eyes shut, I envisioned several arrows forming by my side.
Unlike before, I did not need a bow to direct them. I just needed to shoot them out.
When I opened my eyes, the inside of the skull was filled with several glowing arrows with runes on them.
Each of their runes held the command to explode at a specific range.
The air around me crackled intensely, and although I did not have a mirror, from the heat emanating from my eyes, I could tell they were glowing.
I stretched my arms out. The arrows shook ever so slightly, then with an extra stretch, they all flew out from the cave.
One after another, they began exploding outside in the sky, each explosion drawing out a set of monsters.
Once over ten of the arrows had detonated, I let my mana spill out of my body and immediately turned it into flames.
I shot out through the hole above my head.
I wobbled a little in the air, trying my best to stay stable.
Movies always showed it like it was something everyone could do, but doing it now, that was far from the case.
The red flames burned part of my clothes, but I quickly covered them with mana.
Arrows exploded in the distance, sand rose into the sky, and hideous monsters lunged out from their abyss to take prey that did not even exist.
It was truly a magnificent sight, something one might never see in their lifetime.
I stared at the desert once more, the place I had spent two weeks in, then turned away.
"I won't forget you!"
With one huge boost, I took to the sky. My eyes burned even through the mana that shielded them.
I could not complain, though, because I was so high in the sky that no desert monster could come after me.
But I could not be careless yet. I knew there were monsters in the sand, but nothing said there were not ones in the sky.
Because of this, I stayed far from the ground while keeping enough distance from the upper sky so there would be time to dodge.
There was also "Time Loop," so I had a backup plan.
The journey in the sky was peaceful, and as I moved forward, I stopped hearing the sounds of the arrows. Perhaps they had completed their tasks, or I might just have gone far enough that I could not hear them.
I stifled a grin, only for messages to start popping up in front of me.
[You have defeated Level 2…]
[You have defeated Level 3…]
[You have defeated…]
[You have…]
[You…]
My breath caught as system notifications kept popping up.
"This is…?"
I did not plan it, but I was farming stats just from releasing the arrows.
But the most surprising one came right after a loud roar from a distance.
[Your arrow has struck the temple and healing place of the slumbering king.]
[The king of the desert, Shinra, who was injured by the fallen hero, Calab has perished.]
[Hunter Allen Park, your name has been recorded in the record of the gods]
[You have defeated Level 20 king of the desert, Shinra]
[You have earned a boon!]
[You have fulfilled the hidden task to take Shinra as a servant]
[Glorious, your rewards are being appraised…]
I paused midair, confused by what was in front of me.
"The king of the desert? Me? What? Huh?"
No specific word could express what was going on in my head.
[Your rewards are prepared!]
[You have advanced from Level 1 to Level 3]
[You are the first hunter to advance so early in the history of Asterion]
[You have earned an extra reward]
My mind nearly broke down at the system notifications.
I was confused and excited at the same time, but I had more important things than dwelling on them.
I increased the flames again and shot higher as a monster flew up from the ground to bite my feet off, but I was faster.
The moment I maneuvered past it, I caught sight of a magnificent wall ahead. I could not see anything inside it, but calculating from the time the arrow returned, this had to be it.
The first human safe zone.
Tears threatened to spill from my eyes as I lowered my speed and landed right in front of the metal gate of the fortress.
"I made it."