233: Desert Worm!

Desert Worm!

As the elevator doors opened, tons of golden sand began pouring inside the cage along with extreme heat.  0

Crap, he had to hurry up, or he'd die suffocated! Barely making it out alive, Josh found himself in a small chamber half-filled with golden sand. There were white brick walls that were about to crumble to pieces all around the elevator.

From small cracks, he could see the outside world. This entire Floor was a desert and seemed endless. As for the room, there was a single stone stele in the center that barely peeked from the sand. There were a few words on it: <Safe area!

Josh dug around the stele, trying to find some more clues, and excavated a human skull from the sand. Well, it was safe to assume this place was no longer safe. The only question was what had happened to the previous owners? 

He slowly stumbled toward the outside world. He couldn't notice any entrance, but he promptly destroyed the brittle white stone easily with a kick. This place was so damn hot! Not only was it a desert but there were even two suns! Both glowing an orange tint. 

Josh quickly made sure to wear the spider set since it was white and carefully observed his surroundings. That's when he noticed a humongous creature heading his way. It was a giant worm looking-thing that was about 20 meters long. 

It had a gaping maw and more teeth than one could count. It moved by slithering its brown body around and would screech in a high-pitched tone from time to time. It looked slow, but Josh knew it was only an optical illusion. 

<Small Worm Lv49

"WTF?!"

There was something really wrong here! This humongous worm was a Common enemy and had Small in its name, yet it was already level 49! Josh didn't want to meet the Boss version of it! 

He resolved himself to run. There was no way he was going to succeed in fighting this thing! But, just as he was about to try, something huge came out of the sand near the worm. 

The newcomer was a giant brown snake about 25 meters long! It caught up to the worm and bit it, sinking its fang into its soft-looking body. The worm screeched in pain as it tried fighting back.

<Small Earth Snake Lv53

This one was uncommon. What madness was this? He had no clue what the objective even was. Was he supposed to hide? He could try that, for he doubted he could defeat a worm by himself. In both cases, he didn't know how to proceed. 

At least, he knew what he had to be wary of, and— That's when a colossal silhouette appeared at the horizon! There was another creature way larger than the other two making its way over. 

Before long, he could see it very well. This one seemed to be similar to the Earth Snake, but the fat version. It had some sturdy muscle, incredibly sharp claws, and seemed about 35 meters long. 

<Big Earth Dragon Lv69:skull_and_crossbones:

This one had the golden color of a mini-boss. Looking at its level, Josh could only think one thing: Nice! But seriously, there seemed to be something wrong with this place, truly wrong! 

Josh could only watch the Mini-Boss completely wipe the floor with the other two while sighing. He hid in the sand and waited for it to be done. Luckily it hadn't noticed him. 

How were these creatures even finding their prey? Was it magic, vibrations, chemical information, movement, heat detection? For now, he needed more information! 

Josh opted for something that many would have considered the opposite of heroic. He hid and waited, and nothing else! He was buried in the sand, unmoving. Compared to the behemoths that often passed near him, he was but a small fish. 

After a few hours, he had finally figured out the creatures that inhabited this land and their general level of strength. There were a few factors to consider: the level, the species, and the rarity. 

There were Worms, Earth Snakes, and Earth Dragons. Each member of the three species could be either Big or Small too. This affected their length and how deadly they were. 

What made things interesting was that there were way more worms than snakes or earth dragons. Honestly, had the worms banded together, they would have won long ago. But, they also seemed to be the dumbest or the blindest. 

Josh had seen a worm enter the mouth of a snake without there being any struggle at all. When factoring this, the strongest group became the snakes. But, of course, there was a catch. Dragons had their aura to intimidate their prey. 

Now, this made the Earth Dragons the undisputed top of the food chain, but this didn't prevent them from dying often. Dragons would kill other dragons, and the Worms and Snakes would sometimes defeat weakened dragons. 

The whole thing was a shit-show. All of these creatures were lacking in the brain department! Well, this was great news for Josh. 

He had also figured out their movement patterns. The worms would bury in and out seemingly without rhyme or reason. Simply put, they just wriggled as they pleased. 

The snakes would alternate between hiding in the sand and slithering above the surface. They seemed to understand that it was safer to hide but sometimes would rise to the surface and die anyway. 

The dragons were proud and would walk the surface arrogantly, no matter what. They would only bury in the sand when they wanted to rest. It was this arrogance that made them kill each other. 

Anyway, Josh had spent a lot of time observing already. It was time to get to acting! He waited until he felt the vibrations in the sand that were now familiar. This was a worm!

As the 20m long creature passed near him, Josh extended his hand, solidly grabbing at its soft skin. He felt himself be dragged along, feeling the hot wind on his skin. He then slowly and carefully began climbing it until he reached its back. 

Even then, the creature didn't notice him at all. The lack of general awareness was impressive. By now, he was convinced that that first worm he had encountered heading his way had been a coincidence. 

He began riding the worm happily. It felt like he was the king of the world. He could observe so much of the desert from his vantage point as it was pretty much a mobile belvedere. But he then turned serious. 

Now was the moment of truth. These creatures were dumb, but they could still understand the basics of going in the opposite direction as danger. Their main problem was that they really sucked at recognizing danger.

Josh focused and controlled his mana, merging it to his aura. Then he moved atop the worm and began emitting killing intent on the left. The worm moved toward the right. He tried the opposite, and it worked once more. 

That's when he began laughing as he rode the creature more than twice his level. "We will accomplish great things together!"

This would be so much fun!...

————

[A/N] Almost done with filling Priv. 1 more tier to go! If you guys have any requests for this Tower, put them in the comments. ^_^

pqdm.com