So… Hot… Vivi cursed. Her steady trot had slowed to a crawl. Her throat felt like sandpaper. The thought of water was a distant dream, as distant as clearing her name and becoming a real hunter. Her head had stopped thinking. With each hour without water, a function of her brain had stopped, to the point where she was mindlessly walking forward with the power of desperation.

She had over fifteen thousand ether in her reserves after slaughtering countless desert monsters. But what good was ether when it would all be lost after dying to thirst?

I can't keep going anymore… Vivi mumbled in her thoughts. Can't spirits turn into water?

"Vivi, walk two hundred feet more," Lucius said. "There's a road. You can rest there."

Lucius hadn't promised water. But he had promised rest. Vivi's legs were powered almost entirely by ether. She lifted them stubbornly, each step feeling as if she were lifting a boulder. She couldn't see the road. The landscape ahead was just sand.

She had passed a few mountains four hours ago. The mountains had given her hope. If she rose to the top, Shivenar could be waiting for her. So she believed, until what was revealed ahead was more, taller mountains. She had no choice but to climb those as well, until the mountains finally ended, bringing Vivi back to the endless desert.

The blight was better… Vivi thought. We should go back…

"The road is right there," Lucius said. "Just a few more steps."

Vivi looked down. The "road" was far from a busy highway. It was more like a path made out of sandstone bricks, barely wide enough for a single carriage. The path was somewhat maintained; only a small layer of sand particles covered the sandstone, and Vivi saw old wheel marks.

She collapsed on the spot. The sandstone was hot like a stove underneath the scorching sky. Vivi didn't care. She lay there hopelessly. She still didn't have water. But at least her legs could relax. She couldn't call this resting. Her condition was only getting worse. But lying down would slow down her death.

"This really is the worst way to die," Lucius said. "After spending so much time living and practicing, a human can just… Slowly die because they forgot to drink?"

You're not helping…

"Sorry," Lucius said. "We'll have to hope someone passes by. How long do you think you can last?"

I'm about to pass out now… Vivi thought. And she wasn't lying. Her eyes wanted to close and fall asleep.

"No!" Lucius shouted. He pushed ether to her head to keep her awake by force. "You might die if you fall asleep. Stay awake for as long as you can. Save your energy. I'll make sure nothing kills us. We have plenty of ether to keep prolonging this."

Prolonging anything at all sounded like a pain. Vivi's mind wandered back and forth between fighting to stay awake and giving up to fall asleep. Whenever she tried to close her eyes, Lucius sent a jolt of ether through her body to force her awake.

Time became a haze. The situation around her lost its meaning. Vivi was dying. That was all she knew. Ether flashed around her as Lucius killed more beings that tried to kill her. Ether jolted through her painfully to keep her awake.

It was all just pain. For hours upon hours. Nobody talked. Nobody said anything. Vivi just lay on the ground, her mind filled with dreams and nightmares.

Until eventually, Lucius shot the largest wave of ether through her yet. "Vivi, something is coming!" he called.

Vivi opened her eyes. Moving anything else was too much of a pain. She glanced up to see two weird animals trotting toward her, pulling some black wheeled house. More figures surrounded the weird moving block.

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"It's a camel ride!" Lucius shouted. "People! We're saved!"

The word saved made Vivi blink. The last smidgens of energy reignited in her body. She didn't have enough to make herself sit. Not yet. The carriage was still far. But she prepared herself.

"Oh crap," Lucius said. "It's a noble's carriage. This will get difficult."

Vivi lifted her head. She turned weakly to the camels and the rider atop. The ride was protected by four men wearing black leather armor. They wore wide-brimmed hats to protect themselves from the heat and boots fit for the sand.

"Water…" Vivi muttered at the rider. "Please…"

The camels paused. The guards assessed whether she was a threat or not. Everyone present was maxed out, having probably reached at least the first or second elevations.

The carriage doors opened. A woman stepped out. "Gods! What happened!"

The hem of her pristine white dress touched sand, but she didn't seem to care. The woman was around Vivi's age with sharp horns and angelic blue eyes. Her face wasn't cracked or scorched like most demons'. Beside her horns, she looked very similar to a human, though all of her features were brighter.

"Lady Senith, she could be dangerous," one of the guards said, holding a hand to block her from approaching

"She's dying!" Senith called. She pushed the guardsman aside and ran to Vivi. "Someone bring water!" She grabbed Vivi's hand and helped her up. The lady wasn't strong, and her assistance was clumsy, but Vivi managed to sit. "It'll be alright. Water is coming. You… Shiv's blessings, are your horns cracked?"

Senith's mouth opened in shock. She placed her hand against Vivi's forehead. Such cold hands… Senith lifted Vivi's hair out of the way.

Then gasped, flinching backward. "You… She's a human!"

The guardsmen had their hands on their sheaths. They all had runeswords with at least two runes each. Vivi's vision was too blurry to make sense of the runes.

I'm too tired for this… Vivi thought.

"I just need water…" Vivi said. "I have ether. I'll buy. I don't mean anything bad…"

Senith had her mouth wide open. "You can speak?"

She stared in awe for a moment longer before shouting at the guards behind her, "Bring the damn water already!"

Finally, another man behind her tossed a canteen. Senith opened it and handed it cautiously to Vivi.

At that moment, Vivi felt like a primal animal. Nothing around her mattered. Except the water. Water, water, water. She gulped the canteen empty in seconds, then tapped its bottom for more. She tried to get more droplets for at least ten seconds after the canteen emptied, until she realized that at least seven pairs of eyes were staring at her.

Vivi had promised to pay. She had fifteen thousand ether in her reserves. Immediately and without thinking, Vivi began transferring ether into Senith's core.

The guardsmen stared in awe as Vivi transferred hundreds of ether. 300, 600, 800…

"Vivi, stop!" Lucius shouted. "It's water! Why are we paying a thousand ether for water!"

Vivi stopped at precisely a thousand. That seemed like a cheap price. She hoped Senith would be happy with it.

The woman looked even more shocked now. "Who are you?"

"Just a little human…" she managed to say. The canteen of water had brought some sense into her head. She felt like she needed to watch her words around this bunch. "I'm not anyone bad, I promise."

Drinking water had also brought a sense of safety to her head. Her muscles felt like they could rest now. Everything was utterly powerless. Vivi had already exhausted herself, as if she'd been fighting Uundref for a day straight. She barely managed to keep herself sitting.

"She's filthy rich, at least," one of the guardsmen was saying to another.

"Look at her," the other responded. "She's from the slums."

Lady Senith sent a quick frown in their direction before smiling at Vivi again. "Are you on your way to the city?"

"The city?" Vivi's head perked up. "Shivenar. Yes. Runesmithing."

"Which house do you belong to?" Senith asked.

"House?"

"You can't own those sums of ether from nothing," Senith said.

"Oh…" Vivi said. "I'm a hunter. I earned that from the desert."

Senith gave a worrying look. "Hunting in the desert is illegal, you know. Those monsters belong to the Luminary. They're brewing monsters for a good hunt."

Of course… Vivi said. "So I'm a criminal?"

Senith chuckled lightly. "We won't tell anyone. I'm Senith Nemonn. What's your name?"

"Vivian," she said. "Thanks for the water. I'll survive the rest of the trip now."

"How far is the city?" Senith asked the camel rider.

"Eighty miles or so," the man responded. He looked as if he wanted to continue the trip already.

Senith's eyes were concerned. She glanced at the guardsmen. "We're taking Vivian with us."

The guardsmen crossed their arms. "Your father will not approve. This human is technically a criminal."

"Oh, please," Senith said. "This girl paid us a thousand ether for some water. We can't just leave her to die. She'll be good company. What do you say, Vivi? Would you like to ride with us?" She smiled; a funny expression. "And besides... Vivi has never hunted anything in the desert. Right?"

"No, never…" Vivi said.

Senith grinned. "That decides it. You're coming with us."

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