Krieger explained his intentions with his absurd tactic, and Merlin did what he had been tasked to do, relay all he had heard to the others. Thankfully, they all had the same reaction he had. Senior Hyunwoo took his up a notch, though.
“No, no, no, no,” he shook his head with every fibre of energy he could muster. “That’s too risky. Far too risky. Tell him, Merlin. We have to do things some other way.”
Merlin glanced at Krieger, and the look the dragonman gave him was all the answer he needed to that question.
“There’s no other way,” he said. “This is the only one.”
Senior Hyunwoo didn’t let that stop him from protesting, however.
“Ask him,” he insisted. “It’s not like he heard what I said, right? Be certain that there isn’t any other way.”
Merlin sighed and did as he had been instructed, and just as he had expected, there wasn’t any other option they had considering their circumstances. If there were obstacles around, then there might have been something else they could do. But all they were surrounded by were dunes, and running up one was even more deadly than the plan Krieger had come up with.
In retrospect, the dragonman’s plan was simple. Sandworms were complicated species. They were smart, but at the same time, dumb. They always let their thirst for hunger rid them of every modicum of sense they had, and that was what the crew were to take advantage of with the ‘bait and ride’ plan. One of them would serve as a bait—the fastest amongst them. And once the sandworms appeared, they would split themselves into two groups. Each would mount a sandworm respectively and ride them to their destination: the village of Blatt. The villages were protected by enchantment borders that prevented the sandworms from rampaging into them; basically, they would be hitching free rides, though one with its fair share of risks.
The problem now was, what if everything went wrong? What if the runner was eaten? Yes, the whole Tower test was a simulation, but Merlin had long realized that the pain was real during the duration of the simulation. And pain, real or not, could kill, if it was enough. The sheer strain it would put on one’s mind and heart would be enough to make them give out.
And, then, the other option was the test being put to an end by the professors before it could escalate. But, in that case, that would mean they had all failed. And he was not even taking into consideration the System interfering by making things harder than they were meant to be. However, it had been quite tame for a while now, so Merlin’s focus was not really on that aspect.
In any case, they all had to do something, regardless of what it was. They couldn’t just keep standing and arguing.
“We have no choice, Senior Hyunwoo,” Merlin said, cutting apart the murmurs that had risen. “And we don’t have time.”
As if to give some credibility to his words, the ground rumbled then, the sand dancing in their position as everyone staggered somewhat, almost losing their balance. They all then flashed their gazes a few steps forward from where they stood and could visibly see the sand becoming compacted and moving, slithering closer and closer. With each second, the noticeably dense figures of the sandworms closed the distance between them and the crew.
Senior Sun-Hee turned back to them in an instant. “Who will be the bait?”
Everyone turned to Krieger, which was the natural reaction. Not because he was a dragonman, but because he knew how best to handle the beasts. It was only natural that he took them on. However, he was also the only one who perhaps had any idea how to climb onto them and ride them. In other words, he couldn’t be the bait. That wouldn’t be the best course of action.
In that case…
“I’ll do it,” Merlin said at that moment, startling everyone.
“Are you crazy?” Park Yuri voiced, her brows furrowing. “We’re talking about running on sand here.”
“We don’t have the time to argue,” Merlin pushed the young lady’s thoughts on the matter aside. “If we keep delaying, we’re all going to be eaten. We need Krieger to show you lot how to ride the sandworms, so he can't be the bait. I can do it. Trust me.” Those words were directed to Senior Sun-Hee, and he let her know that by feeding her a stare.
Her cold expression flickered for a heartbeat there, but then she immediately nodded.
“If you say so,” she turned to face the approaching sandworms, and everyone else kept their mouth shut on the matter, as she dished out orders and what formation they were to assume.
They all knew how every second mattered, and they had spared the only they could on matters that should, naturally, be second thoughts. Now was the time for battle formation.
Sofia looked worried on Merlin’s behalf, he could see her from the corner of his eyes, constantly glancing his way, but he didn’t pay her any mind. Now wasn’t the time. Instead, he noticed Krieger filling him with a curious glare.
Out with it, Merlin said to the dragonman telepathically.
[I am just curious], said Krieger. [You do not possess the flying books the others do. Is that not your source of magic and how you battle?]
Merlin’s brows fell. The way the dragonman had been so casual about saying the word ‘magic’ made Merlin tilt his head in consideration of if the Drachen race used magic as well. Which was probably the case. There was the mention of the enchantment barrier, and, well, they were talking dragons, so that should be common sense. But it seemed he had thought otherwise because of Krieger’s possession of a spare. The whole weapon and magic couldn’t coexist was still rooted deeply in his mind, it seemed.
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Well, he would find out just how the magic of the Drachen race worked soon enough. So he didn’t have to let the thought bother him.
Yes, Merlin replied to Krieger. I am different.
The sandworms shot out of the sand at that moment, revealing their colossal figures which were much larger than just twenty times Krieger’s height. They towered over them all like they were carved out of mountains, dark brown segmented skin gleaming toughly in the golden light that was cast down from above, and revealing their circular maws and shark-like teeth.
Everyone froze for a split second. And then…
“Now!” Senior Sun-Hee roared and they all moved, splitting into their pre-assigned teams.
One of the things the crew had done on their first day in the Tower, was take a few minutes out of their time to discuss what abilities they had, how proficient they were in manipulating their Hex, and how they could complement each other in the advent of battle.
Senior Sun-Hee was not the smartest amongst the second years for nothing; having known each and everyone’s strength, she had thought of the best way they could be applied, and as a result made the teams balanced.
Senior Hyunwoo led Park Yuri and Daniel Müller towards the sandworm to the left, while Krieger led the charge towards the sandworm to the right, followed closely by Senior Sun-Hee, Sofia, and Hwang Man-Shik.
Everyone had their Grimoires hovering to their side, but not everyone needed to cast a spell at the moment. They were all limited, because they were mostly Construction Mages, safe for Daniel and Sofia. After all, their magic was dependent on manipulating the elements present in the atmosphere with their mana, and even though they could breathe well enough in this Tower, not even noticing any difference, they could all feel the difference in density between the atmosphere in the Tower and that on Earth.
In other words, despite the atmosphere in the Tower probably sharing a good number of the same elements as that on Earth, they probably differed in their amounts. They had little resources, and had to tread carefully.
But their plan wasn’t to face the sandworms head-on anyway.
The sandworms screeched and lunged forward, their humongous bodies darkening the sky above everyone as they opened their maws, preparing to slam them into the crew while they burrowed into the ground.
Krieger took that chance to show the crew how they were to ride the sandworms. He muttered some words indistinctly, and golden threads appeared around his boots, glowing with bright luminescence. His speed instantly doubled, and as he burst forward, sand and dust was left in his wake. In the blink of an eye, he appeared above a sandworm and grabbed onto one of its scales, and he wasted no time proceeding with the next phase of action. Merlin watched from where he had shifted a good distance backwards from the crowd as Krieger muttered another chant. This time, the tip of his spear was that which glowed, and, without further ado, he dug it into the gap between the sandworm’s scale he had grabbed, rooting and steadying himself on the beast’s back.
Funny thing was, that action didn’t even seem to tickle the monster, and that fascinated Merlin more than the Drachen way of magic.
The rest of the crew went on with the plan, letting their eyes do the talking as they glanced at each other.
They all dived out of the way as the sandworms slammed into the ground, raising dust into the air and creating dense clouds that greatly reduced optic communication for a great distance.
But they didn’t need that any longer.
Senior Sun-Hee emerged out of the dust like a militant stepping out of a smoke screen, and flung herself onto the back of the sandworm, grabbing Krieger’s offered hand as she steadied herself. In a short moment, as the sandworm wiggled along the ground, seemingly to regain sense of itself after that hard slam, Sofia and Man-Shik were on its back as well, and they all grabbed on to the scales of the monster, waiting for Daniel to finish with the next phase of the plan.
The dust settled not long later, and the sandworms emerged in full glory once again, both with company. Senior Hyunwoo’s team had made use of the moment the sandworms slammed to the ground to board the back of that which had been assigned to him, just like Senior Sun-Hee had done.
All that was left was…
Large beads of sweat rolled down Park Yuri’s and Daniel’s forehead as they took the brief moment of stillness of the sandworm they were on to get on with spell casting.
Daniel was a Clay Mage. And, unlike most of them present, he wasn’t bound to the same laws Construction Mages were tied to. Which was good, because clay was made from a mixture of water and earth. If his body had not been a portable mixing machine, then they would have had trouble with the next phase of their plan. Thankfully, that was not the case, which was why the centers of Daniel’s palms opened up, curling into themselves like a whirlpool, and out of them escaped brownish, fine-grained soil, mixed with an adequate ratio of water that could only have come from Daniel’s inner system, as they formed hooks.
Each clay hook landed on Park Yuri’s hands, and in an instant, she hardened them by lighting them on fire. After which she would toss them to Man-Shik and Senior Hyunwoo, who, then, would hurl it across towards Senior Sun-Hee and the rest.
It was a whole lot of work for too little resources. And that showed in the way Daniel quickly became visibly parched, and Park Yuri lost the fiery glint that was usually in her eyes.
But they pulled through in a matter of seconds without any problems, and that was all thanks to Merlin keeping the sandworms’ attention on him by not moving a single step from where he stood.
However, now that his teammates were done and steady on the worms, it was time for him to run.
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The sandworms realized that Merlin was planning something, and in that instant they perked up even higher, intimidating him with their sheer size. Merlin swallowed, his body tensing as he watched the beasts carefully.
It was dangerous, what he was about to do. His plan was to combine everything he had learned and gathered to bolster his speed, but there was no surety that even that would be enough for him to outrun the worms. However, he had to try. No. He had to do it.
He would get everyone to the village safely.
Merlin’s mana poured to his legs like water from above, and settled down beneath his feet, coiling until they were nothing more but wild blue springs. He lowered his center of gravity, and as the sandworms screeched once again, he let fly.
“Catch me if you can,” said Merlin, his words echoing behind him as he burst through the middle of the sandworms, creating a trail of dust in his wake.
