Chapter 66

  My hangover was mostly gone by the time the sun neared its peak, denoting the middle of the day. The grasslands had slowly begun to give way to more baren landscape, with grass and soil starting to blend with sand. Before me, a landscape of whites and tans stretched out in all directions, while on the map I could see, the river that had continued northward from Silver Springs shifted towards the center of the map, pulling away from the desert. I was certain walking along that river would lead to some interesting Muns, but the area was marked as a zone that I really shouldn’t venture off into.

  As it were, the closer I got to the actual desert zone, the fewer Muns I came across with. I’d not summoned any of my Muns during the initial trek, opting to instead focus on nursing my hangover and putting as much distance between the Grasslands and myself as possible. Now, on the outskirts of the two, literally a few feet away from what was a landscape of solely sand, I had a decision to make. First, which Muns to summon. And second, which way to go. If I wanted to try and lose Aaron, I’d need to break away from the path… but, that also meant I’d be trekking through the sand, and I already knew that was going to epically suck.

  Alas… it was the lesser of two evils, and hopefully, discovering new Muns would at least help me entertain myself. My own Muns were close to level 23, and I had a week to go before I reached Glass City… assuming good travel speed. No doubt that would take longer if I wasn’t on the path proper. A part of me was eager to check out the zones that were listed as 20-30 level Mun zones… but I didn’t want to take any risks just yet. Not until my Muns were level 25, or likely 26. Not only because fighting stronger Muns was reckless, but also because fighting stronger Muns would put me in danger of leveling too quickly. For today, and tomorrow, I’d stick to the level 1-20 zone. And reassess as I got closer to Glass City.

  Which, just left a direction to choose... and as much as going East on the path tempted me, ultimately I made the choice to go west of the central path. My reasoning was simple. East of the path put me closer to the center of the map, and the area the river cut through. And while I wasn’t going to be getting near enough to either, given the danger from the higher leveled Muns, that was also closer to Centropolis, and as such, closer to the main area the cult hung out. I was already dealing with Aaron and Ember. I didn’t need to risk crossing paths with cultists. Especially those who may be venturing out in those higher leveled areas to train up, while staying close, relatively speaking, to the massive city they’d claimed.

  In a similar way of speaking, I figured the further away from Centropolis I was, the more likely I would be to possibly cross paths with people less likely to appreciate the cult. If Aaron and Ember were going to catch up to me, and pester me and so forth, having potential allies wouldn’t be a bad idea. Grante, I highly doubted either scenario would come to pass. After all, this was a freaking desert. No one liked to willingly trek through the desert. Heat and dry air aside… sand was the worst! I was already dreading sand getting everywhere… and I meant everywhere. It was the most uncomfortable feeling ever. All those people in the movies or who claimed sex on the beach was amazing, were filthy fucking liars.

  The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  And with long hair too… I was so not looking forward to trying to clean my scalp of all the damned sand particles. Thankfully I’d thought ahead on that part, and as I started making my way towards the desert, and moving off the path, I used the gauntlet interface to equip the desert clothing I’d purchased for just this trip.

  A white cloth wrapped around my head and mouth, leaving only my eyes visible, as tan robe like clothing appeared over my torso, my pants changing into somewhat baggy, loose fitting white leggings made of linen, which was a blessedly breathable material. Honestly, I looked like I was cosplaying from Dune to some degree… but I didn’t matter. If it kept me comfortable, and helped avoid sand freaking everywhere, I’d give it a try. My hope, when night came, was that my tent, and the magic that was this world, would offer me at least a sleeping space devoid of sand, where I could rest comfortably and not have to suffer. Though, that may be asking a bit too much, even with how magical Mutopia was.

  Dressed appropriately, and my feet, now covered in a strange calf high, yet weirdly light weight show style, which had my pants tucked into them, I took my first steps into the desert. The difference between grassland and sand was immediate, as I felt my feet sink deeper into it, the grainy sand shifting on either side. The shoes were thin enough I could feel the sand, but just thick enough, thankfully, to keep the heat from the sand off of me. Shopping, in advance of this trip, had been a great plan.

  In the distance, I could see shapes, meaning Muns. There were no signs of travelers, and looking back, I couldn’t see anyone. Given the Gemstone plains were flat, I could see for no doubt miles, which meant I had time to disappear still. Ahead of me, past the shapes of the Muns, too far to make out what exactly they were, I could see sand dunes. If I wanted to escape from Aaron, getting on the other side of a dune, as quickly as possible, was probably my best bet.

  Meaning… I totally shouldn’t be summoning Muns and preparing to battle on my way to the Duns. Totally… shouldn’t be doing that.

  At least, that was what logical Taylor said. But, Mun obsessed Taylor said fuck that noise, and totally won out. Which was why, even as I made my way into the desert, angling Eastward, away from the paved path that would lead directly to Glass City, I started summoning my Muns. First up, Barkity. Next, Neal. And finally… my Graven, who I’d appropriately named Edgar. The latter, wearing a black hat atop his head, similar to the top hats Barkity had, but more… Korean grim reaper flavored.

  With my three Muns out, and adventure on the horizon, I practically began skipping across the sand. Except… I walked, er, trudged, because fuck was walking through sand going to absolutely kill me by the end of the day.

  I really, really, really hoped it was Hump Day somewhere. Because I already knew I would kill, er… fight a Mun, for a camel.