I spotted the ‘bone-dry’ bed of a lake. It reminded me of a place the name of which could roughly be translated as ‘The Valley of the Moon’.

  The Plain of Desolation was an arid interface, that miraculously managed to maintain its ecosystem. It was sparsely populated with shrubs here and there, and some grass. Isolated trees made up for landmarks of the area. Fire slimes roamed about.

  The ‘geodude’ slimes, or rock slimes, provided a constricted pot for plants to grow from, upon demise. In this region, there were no sweeping sand dunes. There were rocky crags, here and there, chiseled by the wind till they look bleached. These looked stout, bony, and unnatural. To the north, and farther left from my starting point, there was a flaming castle, shaped like a quadrangle, towers on all four sides.

  I suspected the flaming castle contained a dungeon. My status appeared in front of my eyes.

  My character name was Ashen Spines.

  My resistance to fire was a measly 0.10. I scrolled down. I found this note:

  [All resistances are subject to level and environmental penalties.]

  This probably was the application of the saying ‘don’t fight a fish in water’. I scrolled over. My affinity was greater with the Nox category, given the elemental efficiencies for fire, water, and the four other elements were not listed. I spotted a [+] button below the standard efficiencies. The remaining six efficiencies were all below 0.10. I sighed. I descended down a lake’s bed. Cracks webbed the surface I walked upon. I felt a little thirsty.

  I noted a verdant sprout inside a crack. I dropped my rock projectile. I stooped in front of the sprout and knifed the ground away. Grit got under my nails. I saw a pudgy face. It had hollowed out eyes. This guy looked like a chameleon. It had a rocky face. I gripped the grass-hair. i held the mandrake slime rigidly, and reaped its experience points.

  In other words, I did not need to level up to increase my elemental efficiencies.

  I lifted the rock projectile again. In the first place, I did not know anything about elemental energy. I opened the main menu. Listed were [Attributes], [Skills], [Inventory], [Quests] and [Other Utilities]. I decided against inspecting the [Skills] menu for now.

  ‘There is much groundwork to cover’, I mused.

  Under [Other Utilities], I tapped on the [Archive]. I selected [Books]. I tapped on the Covenant Selection book, or rather, the ‘Old Book’, to go by its title.

  I was curious about the ‘sect’ mentioned in the [Attributes] menu.

  Specifically, it aroused my suspicion as to what kind of retribution the Covenant of the Wise Fool dealt out. The Old Book appeared in front of me. Light emanated from the corners and gaps of the book.

  I opened the first page. The picture of the baby was still there. The quote for the Covenant of the Holy Mother was inscribed in transfiguration, ‘The animal is the world. (Nietzsche)’

  That sounded neat. I did not know what it meant, though.

  I looked at the mandrake slime’s corpse behind me. I repressed my slight feelings of guilt and walked onward. The feel of this game was surprising. I looked at the texture of the rock projectile in my hand. It formed spirals upon spirals, with consistent, curvy lines.

  Craggy rock formations greeted my eyes. Twice, I noticed miniature alcoves within the rock formations. An alcove was an arched opening, like the arched gateway greeting into a garden. In a room, perhaps the section to the chimney’s entrance would be in an alcove.

  I observed each alcove, scanning for any telltale signs of orange vibrance. It didn’t come to that. There weren’t fire slimes around.

  That was interesting. "User Command: Old Book," I said.

  The book rematerialized in front of me. Its cover was gray in color. It was the dusky gray that conveyed history. I gripped the book. I swiped my dusty hand on the front. It did not get smeared.

  That was strange.

  I opened the Old Book again. I turned to the second page. The transfigured phrase was ‘Might reside as it shall.’ That was a convoluted phrase. My hands flipped to the next page. The phrase ‘Pray you are wiser than senile’ appeared again. What the heck was up with that?

  I reread through the description for the Covenant of the Wise Fool.

  [Term 1: The ‘wise fool’ is an oxymoron. You are your own person. Choose, without regret.]

  That was a convenient term. I did not know if it was compulsory to choose a covenant or not. However, I had already signed in, so I had to roll with it.

  The Covenant of the Wise Fool did not have ironclad rules of power. It did not absolutely protect you. To be accurate, it was a double-edged sword.

  [The Covenant of the Wise Fool is an excellent choice as your new home. Prepare to step forward in the dance of chaos and order that life is. Listen to the hunter. Listen to the hunted. You could be both of them.

  Benefits:

  - The Covenant of the Wise Fool can maintain contracts, as if they are set in stone.

  - Any legal pleasure or strength can be made available to you. You name them.]

  That was a crazy bargain. If I wanted alcohol, I could drink it. If I was the type of person who wanted free sex, perhaps that was available too. The problem was the retribution condition.

  It sounded ambiguous and chilling. However, this did not give off any immediate sense of threat. What if I did not regret things and that I started breaking contracts left and right?

  I looked at the black-and-white badge on my linen tunic. It was a Yin and Yang symbol.

  The warrior brandished his sword from the right side. The shrouded figure held its sickle from the other side. It gave off the impression of an ouroboros symbol – the serpent that chased its own tail. I reflected. Perhaps it would not be like the walled gardens of the Covenant of the Holy Mother or that of the Covenant of the Warrior – if these had walled gardens.

  So, what did this mean?

  I looked at the rocky crag in front of me. It looked safe. I stopped to think.

  I could see golden walls in the distance. It gave off the image of an architectural wonder. It had one Moorish-looking dome, like one of the buildings I had once seen while playing Age of Empires II. What campaign trail was it? Perhaps it was that of Saladin.

  On one side, the Moorish-looking dome stood. On another, there was what seemed to be the spire of a cathedral. There were two or more buildings of this similar and demure nature. One looked colorful, fleshy and bloody. Another was austere and foreboding.

  I got projected onto the sand in front of me. I incurred [-30] damage.

  I looked behind. It was a rock slime. I pulled myself back up. Its charged attack was significantly less than before. Compared to the [-100] charge, this one gave me time to brace up and fight. I had no katana – why the heck did that description pop up back then?

  I grabbed the rock projectile in front of me. I looked at its spiral patterns. I looked up to compare it to the rock slime. A rock projectile smashed my face. I landed headlong, on my back. My health dropped from 285.8/300 to 225.8/300.

  I was dazed. The rock slime came over my legs and crushed them. I lost [-25] damage three times, before rolling away. I used my elbows to rotate my legs to the right to get clear faster. I had 156.2/300 health points. I lifted myself.

  "User Command: Skills!" I said, irritated. I looked at the menu that appeared.

  "What the heck?" I said. I threw the rock projectile at the rock slime. [-2] damage popped up. The rock slime looked at me with craggy eyes. We sized each other up.

  The rock slime charged forward. I watched its momentum carry it over, before a projectile cannoned my way. I ducked down. The projectile flew above me. I looked at the rock slime. Its bushy eyes defied me. I ran for the rock projectile.

  It had flown by quite far.

  I did not know that the rock slime could accelerate its projectile. The charge + shoot combo was new too. I found the projectile half-stuck in a dune (now, there were dunes) , after having rolled down. The dune had dried up grass. I picked the projectile and ran back for the rock slime.

  I slipped about the dune in my ascent. It took me fifteen seconds to do the back-and-forth.

  I could not see the rock slime when I was back. My eyes hovered about the rocky formations, before spotting the rock slime digging down the ground. I ran up to it. i swerved out of the way, upon seeing a rock projectile headed my way.

  The rock slime was halfway under ground. I threw my rock projectile. It landed on the rock slime with a thud, then rolled away slowly. I looked around for the other rock projectile. I came close and threw it at the rock slime. [-2] damage flew up.

  I turned to fetch the other rock projectile, which had not gone far this time, when I noticed the rock projectiles rolling to the rock slime.

  What the heck was this guy doing? I looked into the rocky crag. The rock slime pulled the sand in its direction. I sprinted to grab the rock projectiles. Damage was fair game, to retrieve these weapons.

  I got headshot.

  I incurred [-60] damage. This guy was supposed to have a bad aim. Maybe it got lucky.

  A quarter of the rock slime’s body was left on the surface. I ran for the rock slime, my head feeling damp. I picked up a rock projectile. The sand flow reversed direction. Maybe it was ultrasounds emitted by the rock slime. It was effective. I threw the rock projectile on the rock slime. My left hand covered my face as I fell. 209/300 health points got to 184/300.

  I approached. I grabbed a rock projectile and threw it at the rock slime. I crawled onward. The rock slime had two thirds of its health left. I grabbed another nearby rock projectile and threw it. In the same instance, sand exploded on my face. Okay. So, this guy could produce sand bombs. My remaining health was 169/300.

  I grabbed and threw the rock projectile. I kept my body low and came close, with two rock projectiles. The rock slime threw another rock projectile. It hit the top of the rock formation. I caught the rock projectile and threw it at him.

  I threw two consecutive rock projectiles on it. [-1.5] damage flew off twice. I came to inches of the rock slime. I racked the rock projectile directly on it. [-1] damage appeared. I used both hands, two times, It had less than a third of its life.

  I dropped the projectile from my left hand. I dug the ground. I knocked at the rock slime again. A rock projectile hit the crag’s roof. I looked up and got out of the way. I gave another blow. [-1] flew off. I got to my elbows and gave the rock slime three solid blows. Consecutive [-1.5] damage appeared.

  No notification came up.

  I waited and got out of the cave. If one more rock slime were in this rocky formation, I might have had to retreat.

  I had 229/300 health points. I remembered some descriptions. The rock slime’s body was hard to break. It was made of moderately packed molecules, known as – what was it? I checked the [Archive]. Right, it was ‘Ander’.

  The rock slime could be found in mountainous regions and at the bottom of precipices, but rarely deeper in caves.

  Yeah, and it could be found in craggy shelters.

  A window popped up in front of me.

  I looked at the rock projectile on my hand.

  The rock slime was a damn fortress. No hard feelings. "I’m bored of deserts for now," I said.

  My linen tunic flowed loosely in the wind. I looked at my brown shorts and my brown pair of shoes. I looked at the sky overhead. It was as if the sun hadn’t moved an inch from where it previously was. I looked at the dusky light spreading about the city, which stood farther in front of me.

  I walked. And I walked for a good thirty minutes.

  It was a shit game if that was how long it took to get to my destination. I occasionally sprinted. Along the way, I got to know the names of the two sects of the Covenant of the Wise Fool. I noticed the raised walls of the city. Its gate was surrounded by small palisades. Palisades were made of poles of wood stuck together, into a fence. They were made for defense.

  As I neared these secondary walls, I noticed a walled labyrinth of trees within, kind of like a garden at first glance. ‘Nice,’ I thought.