Sandborn - Awakening of the Frozen Sand

[Never mistake someone for something they are not.]

"Master, I only managed to gather these," Araumir said, piling up the loot orbs stored inside the ring.

"It's good. Let me see if there's anything interesting," Azar replied, slowly moving to inspect the orbs.

"There are so many of them," Faira noticed, her eyes landing on the colorful spheres.

Kaira looked around. The people of her tribe were starting to return to the refuge, their faces wearing ugly expressions. She broke into a smile, aware of what caused their dissatisfaction. After all, Araumir and Azar were the strongest here, and the strongest always had the last word. Her father would need to find a way to address the tribe; they couldn't afford anyone speaking ill of them. Who knows what might happen to their tribe if they did?

Ignorant of the gazes he received from the returning tribesmen, Azar filtered the orbs in the most rudimentary way. He made three piles by tossing the items to his sides. To his left, the largest pile contained common items such as swords, knives, valuable stones, clothes, and utensils. To his right were the few items he selected to give as gifts.

In the end, from more than a hundred loot orbs collected by Araumir, Azar kept only three for himself. A book about medicinal herbs, a single bladed sword of the aero element, and a coin. The ability cards, even though some of them were of a high quality, they were better to be given to someone that would use them, not kept by someone who will leave.

'Thank you very much, Araumir. I will decide later to whom i will entrust this coin,' Azar transmitted telepathically, storing his items in the storage ring back on his finger.

The coin he deposited in the safety of the storage ring was one of the highest treasures capable of being naturally created, a wish coin. By making a wish, that coin could be exchanged with the Void System directly for almost any item. It was a treasure without a measured value that everyone coveted, but few were lucky enough to obtain.

Seeing Mohul approaching, Azar spoke. "Chief Mohul, you can use these items for your family and most trusted people." He gestured to the pile on his right. "As for everyone else, feel free to take from the pile on the left and share among yourselves."

"Syed, why are you doing this?" Mohul asked, exchanging glances with Lamuda. "If you were going to share the orbs with us, why have Araumir collect them?"

"Because I am a curious person, and asking you to let me look at what you have found would be disrespectful. Moreover, you would feel pressured if I were to make an offer for something that I like," Azar explained.

After a few moments of silence, the first men nodded and approached the pile on Azar's left to take the items. The others followed their example, not wanting to let the first arrivals take everything for themselves. Mohul approached the pile he was entrusted with as well, and while some believed that Azar had definitely taken the most valuable items, everyone accepted it.

At first, Mohul didn’t hope for items like high ranking ability cards or potion recipes to still be given away by Azar, but after a closer inspection, he was thrilled by the sight of the items. Without waiting for another invitation, he gestured for his children to come and help him store them.

"Azar Syed, thank you for your kindness. You have blessed my tribe again. Thank Shadalim, luck seems to follow you around," Mohul said, but he might have spoken too soon as two figures appeared suspended in the bright sky.

After gazing around, both men focused their attention on the small refuge. One of them spoke.

"Brother, it seems that with all our effort, we still arrived late," Crixus, the older brother, voiced to Damarix.

"I think they survived the void storm, brother. They seem to have been here from the beginning," Damarix responded.

"Then, that doesn’t include them in our bet, right?" Crixus asked.

"No, we raced here after detecting the anomaly of the Void Storm. They were already here, so that doesn’t count," Damarix explained.

Hearing the loud conversation from below, the people in the refuge shifted their attention to the winged duo in the sky. As soon as Lamuda saw them, his face turned pale, and even his fingers lost their grip, allowing the orbs in his robe to roll on the ground. His reaction wasn’t isolated; many others manifested strangely, some even dropping to their knees under the amusement of the brothers.

Giving them a curious gaze, Azar found himself unable to recognize their race. The brothers both had intricate, shimmering patterns covering the left part of their upper bodies, exposed by their half body clothing. Their long ears supported heavy golden jewelry, and a yellow, ethereal light emanated from their eye sockets.

With an athletic constitution that allowed clear differentiation of each muscle group, their faces were just skin and bone. Their skin remained unaffected by the strong sunlight, maintaining a pale color, their black fingernails adorned the long fingers. At their backs stood a pair of pulsing flux wings that supported them in the air.

The brothers flapped their wings and approached the refuge, leaving behind a trail of sparkling stars.

"I see you already collected the orbs," Crixus said.

"We're grateful for that," Damarix continued.

"You can keep the common items."

"But you have to give us all the valuable ones."

"Ability cards especially," Crixus said, landing his gaze on the ones in Kaira's hand.

"And don’t forget about forging blueprints," Damarix continued.

"Yeah, we've recently added some skilled fluxsmiths to our ranks."

With sluggish movements, Mohul turned his head towards Azar, as did Khaleb and the others. Their only hope stood with him and Araumir, as the two brothers' wings symbolized their level was above 100,000 Flux Points. In other words, the brothers were in a different world than Mohul and his people.

"Don't look at me. I could have played with them in my heyday, but in my current condition, I don't stand a chance. However, my trusted friend here is another story," Azar said, shifting his attention toward Araumir. "Would you be kind enough to deal with those two? And keep their bodies; they might be useful."

Maybe i can find a way to make them puppets for the Mirha, Azar continued in his mind.

"As you wish," Araumir said, turning to face the brothers in the sky.

With a leap, Araumir ascended to their level, and before falling, a pair of bluish-black flux wings appeared at his back. The flux circulated through them, making the ancient pattern shimmer with life once again. Mohul and the rest looked at Araumir's display of power with their mouths wide open.

"Sure enough he is of the Magister Magnus Class," Lamuda remarked, voice filled with joy.

"We can fight back," someone said.

"We can't, he can. But is a two against one, it will not be easy," another voiced.

Even after spreading his wings, Araumir gave off no presence. If not for his physical body and flux emitted by his wings, he would seem nonexistent.

"I can feel nothing from him. Is he alive or a controlled body?" Damarix asked.

"I don't know," Crixus replied. "What species are you? Can you talk?"

"My species?" Araumir asked, amused. "I made this body my host, so I guess I can identify myself as a possession. But the body itself belongs to a human, so I'm not sure about my species. But the same can be said about you. I don't remember seeing your kin the last time I was here."

"You speak strangely and have no aura. Are you perhaps a fluxoid?" Crixus asked, curious.

"Brother, can we take him to serve us? I would like to have a servant like Micurici," Damarix said.

"Are you insulting me?" Araumir thundered angrily, letting waves of thick, toxic, almost tangible flux erupt from his body.

It was definitely not wise to compare him to a mechanical device without consciousness or soul. But the brothers, with their limited knowledge, had no way of knowing that.

"Venomous Veil technique," Araumin intoned, manipulating his flux to envelop them.

Venomous Veil was a yellow-tier flux technique that Araumir had honed to a formidable level, reaching four stars of power. While not considered among the best techniques, its true strength lay in the type of toxin or poison the user could harness. In this regard, Araumir was fortunate—his toxin was uniquely enhanced by the Core Origin Element he had successfully integrated into his body.

This flux technique inflicted a devastating poison that drained the strength of its victims and clouded their minds. Anyone caught in its deadly haze found themselves crippled, both physically and mentally.

Like any other technique, the Venomous Veil's rank was only part of the equation. Mastery came from the wielder’s training, creativity, and depth of understanding. Araumir stood in a class of his own when it came to technique execution. This ability made him a dangerous adversary, one that few had dared to challenge in his prime.

Feeling the danger, the brothers flapped their wings to increase the distance. However, they observed that the veil of bluish-black flux didn't cease expanding; instead, it transformed into a sea of highly corrosive mist, threatening to expand into an ocean.

"Pyro Art, Raging Fire Python," Damarix said, drawing the runic seals in the air to activate the technique. When completed, a fiery runic pattern appeared before him, brightening the sky and giving birth to a gigantic fire python. After coiling twice around its caster, it opened its jaws and flew to devour the poisonous mist.

Crixus expanded his chest, filling his lungs with air. Aero Art, Hundred Screeching Bullets, he said in his mind, triggering his simple technique.

Lips opening like a barrel, Crixus forcefully exhaled the compressed air into small breaths, sending air bullets into the poisonous sea where Araumir should be.

Without using his eyes to see, Araumir sensed the incoming attacks by detecting their signatures. Drawing a complex rune in the air with a finger, Araumir placed his palm on it after it activated, making a pushing motion. Under his command, the runic seal moved the toxic mist around, forming a powerful swirl aimed in a straight direction. Flapping his wings, Araumir positioned himself at its center, using the swirl as both a shield and a propelling force.

The fire python consumed the poisonous mist, burning the toxic flux into fine wisps of clean energy, while the air bullets pierced through the same mist with such ferocity that the wind itself screamed in sharp notes.

However, the bluish-black mist suddenly rotated, forming thick, swirling tendrils like the mouth of a cannon. From it, a small object came flying toward the brothers. Crixus sent his remaining bullets to stop it, yet its speed was too much for the bullets to slow.

Like a shadow ball, Araumir arrived between the brothers, gathering flux into his fist to strike Crixus while Damarix waved his spear to attack from behind.

"Body Defier!" Araumir shouted, punching Crixus's abdomen through the shallow barrier he erected in the last second. Like a falling star without any means to stop its descent, Crixus was sent crashing into a dune. The impact created a muffled sound as sand was lifted high in the air before raining down.

Damarix's spear reached Araumir's back, yet it couldn't pierce through the dense shadow surrounding him. Struggling to free his weapon from the hand that trapped it, Damarix was swallowed and carried away by the swirling tendrils of the poisonous sea that followed Araumir.

"Do you have enough flux left to create another barrier?" Azar asked Kaira.