Arthur and the group soon reached the people gathered and listened to the conversations ringing out in their ears.

"Another sand storm? Based on the routine there's not supposed to be any sand storm around this time."

Listening to his words, the others were amused as they stared at the far-off distance.

Arthur lowered his gaze and they noticed something that seemed like a cloud of dust.

It scattered about in all directions and made the place extremely blurry. Arthur couldn't see what was beyond the sand mist.

Aella came down from her horse and approached the group of merchants who numbered up to thirty.

"Hello, gentlemen. Can I please know what the problem is?"

Hearing the sultry female voice that seemed like a spring breeze in this hot desert, the men turned in her direction, their faces breaking out into warm smiles.

One of them immediately answered her question without much hesitation.

He pointed at the cloud of dust and sighed.

"Just after travelling for a few meters we've encountered another cloud of dust. This time it's truly terrifying. According to what we heard, a few days ago the terrain suddenly changed and the desert storms have now become unpredictable."

Aella's eyes flashed briefly and she narrowed them before asking,

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Yes. Due to the desert storm we can no longer proceed and have to wait for it to drift away or calm down. At times it takes very long before calming down."

Arthur immediately narrowed his eyes in the direction of the storm.

They couldn't wait for the storm to calm down as they had to progress to their destination at lightning speed.

Aella and Jason also had similar thoughts.

After thanking the men for the information, Aella walked back to her horse and climbed atop it.

The three nodded towards each other and continued on their way, leaving the stunned men behind.

"Are you going to go through the desert storm?" a merchant shouted loudly, drawing their attention.

Aella glanced towards him, noticing he was the same one that had answered her questions previously. She nodded without hesitation.

"With the place we are travelling to, we can't afford any delays."

"Can we come along with you guys?" Glancing at his companions briefly, the man immediately offered up.

"Ten thousand gold coins!" the man shouted loudly.

Aella stared at him speechlessly like he was an idiot.

And even Arthur didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Who were he, Aella, and Jason?

The other two came from the richest noble families in the place, meanwhile Arthur had countless coins he had received from the system.

In short, money was the thing they lacked the least!

"Not interested," Aella answered coldly.

"Twenty thousand?" the man asked, his expression showing slight nervousness.

"Still not interested. No matter how much money you give us."

A bewildered expression appeared on the man's face, and the shock spread to the others.

No matter how much money they offered?

They had never encountered anyone who valued money so little.

If that was the case, how could they progress and deal with the situation?

A pondering look appeared on their faces as they stared at the trio.

"What do you want?" another middle-aged man with black hair asked curiously.

Aella looked thoughtful for a moment before shaking her head.

"You can't offer what we want."

With that, she turned around and pulled the rein of her horse to continue moving.

Arthur cast the bunch a pitiful glance for a moment as they continued on their way, leaving the speechless merchants behind.

The merchants seemed stunned for a bit before anger clouded the expressions of a few.

"Bastard! Couldn't even be generous."

"Yeah, a bunch of arrogant brats for nothing. Let's just wait for a bit for the storm to calm down before continuing. Who knows if they are heading to their deaths?"

Hearing the loud, furious shouts behind them, the three showed no expression and continued toward the sand storm, which was a few kilometers ahead.

As they dragged forward, soon the horses slowed down and began letting out strange sounds as they advanced.

Stunned, Arthur glanced at his horse and rubbed it gently to calm it down, only for it to continue letting out the strange noises.

He glanced at Aella and Jason.

"How do we cross the sand storm?"

Jason shrugged and turned to Aella.

Since she was the one who suggested it, there was a chance she had a method to deal with it.

Aella pondered briefly, then glanced toward the sandy surface not too far away before stretching her hand.

Instantly, the air seemed to be controlled by a strange force, causing it to ripple slightly.

Gradually, the ripple increased and in the blink of an eye the sand storm began parting slightly, creating a passage in the midst where they could move.

"The wind element?" Arthur muttered in surprise.

Just how many elements did Aella have?

He gave her a deep look before turning his eyes back to the sand storm not too far away.

The horses also reduced their strange noises, but their movement speed had still slowed drastically.

Just as Arthur wrapped his hand around Nephis to continue on their journey, his body stiffened.

[Ding! New Quest given.]

[Quest details: gather 10 spirit fruits and kill a spirit guardian!]

[Rewards: 10 top-grade mana recovery potions, 10 top-grade health recovery potions, 10 elemental attributes, and 1 million gold coins!]

Although Arthur stiffened briefly, he quickly composed himself and acted as though nothing had happened.

Internally, he closed the system screen and then turned toward the storm, a thoughtful look briefly appearing on his face.

If his guess wasn't wrong, whatever the mission was about likely had to do with this place.

As Aella cleared a path for them to pass, she urged her horse to stroll forward, and Jason and Arthur followed behind her.

Upon crossing the place, a new world opened up to them.

It was a world filled with sand that drifted about endlessly.

Arthur glanced around, noticing that although the sand was moving about in the surroundings, it didn't dare get close to them in the slightest.

He was impressed by Aella's precise control of her elemental attribute.

One had to note that controlling multiple elemental attributes wasn't an easy feat.

Glancing around, Arthur spotted something through the corner of his eyes.

"Did you see that?"

He leaned in close and whispered to Nephis.

Nephis shook her head, then an alert expression appeared on her face as she glanced around cautiously.

At that moment, a dagger appeared in both her hands.

The others didn't seem to have seen anything and were most likely thinking this was a normal sand storm. However, Arthur felt faintly uneasy.

They continued on their way in silence, save for the faint rustle of the wind and sand.

As far as the eye could see, Arthur didn't see an end to the sand storm, making him slightly worried.

Was this really a sand storm?

Since he had never experienced something like this, he didn't know how it was supposed to look.

He glanced at the other two.

They didn't seem worried by the sight, and although they were filled with caution, there was a faintly relaxed expression on their faces.

Just then, Arthur spotted something else through the corner of his eyes.

Without hesitation, he snapped in that direction, only to see a faint silhouette drift by like the wind before vanishing into the sand.

For a moment, Arthur felt he saw a creepy, smiling face briefly exchanging glances with him.

Arthur's heart shook slightly at the sight.

"There's something in the desert storm!" Arthur finally exclaimed, drawing the attention of the other two and causing them to pause in their movements.

The horses let out a faint neighing sound as though they were agreeing with Arthur.

Staring at the group, Arthur's gaze was solemn as he pointed around.

"Twice. I've noticed silhouettes following beside us. We need to deal with them before proceeding."

Hearing Arthur's words, Jason glanced at Aella with a disinterested look.

"Did you notice anything?"

Aella shook her head and looked at Arthur curiously.

Feeling that these two weren't up to the task, Arthur waved his hand, causing a pitch-black portal like the endless abyss to materialize.

From it, Titan stepped into view.

He glanced around, and his golden eyes seemed to immediately be filled with brilliance.

"You can sense them too?" Arthur's eyes lit up as he stared at Titan.

The towering knight didn't reply and just silently came to stand beside Arthur like a divine protector.

He spared Nephis a glance before turning his eyes in the direction of the distant sand storm.

Meanwhile, the other two were dumbfounded, staring at the trio.

Was Arthur perhaps speaking the truth?

They wondered with bewildered expressions plastered across their faces.

Aella glanced at Jason once more, then an alert expression appeared on both their faces.

For Arthur to summon Titan could only mean he was serious about whatever he saw in the desert storm.

Knowing that, they couldn't take things lightly anymore.

Without any delay, Jason changed form using his class and became a vampire.

The duo remained in the same place for a short while when the space rippled once more, and this time they finally caught sight of whatever the creature was, and how it looked.

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