The Bookkeeper

"You are very lucky, Raven." Stanley turned to Raiden as he sat watching him shadowbox, sweat pouring down his bare chest and flinging droplets with every strike.

"Seems your key held no value to them. When you were teleported, the key was still on your chest—I did you the honor."

Raiden barely glanced at Stanley, his mind solely occupied with training. The desert wasn't just a place he didn't want to be; it was tormenting. His lips were dry, his stomach rumbled relentlessly, and to make their torture worse, the relentless heat gave way to intense cold at night.

Trapped in the middle of the desert without shelter, it felt like a ticking clock counting down to their death from starvation and cold; if the sand worms didn't devour them first.

The sun hung lazily above the horizon, beating against his pale skin, but Raiden knew this wouldn't last forever. He just had to get strong enough to defeat a sand worm on his own before heading into the underground market—the Jangle. He wasn't alone in this mindset. Noelle also trained in her own way, testing her ability, Rule, in different situations.

"How exactly have you people been surviving this long without any meals and shelter?" Raiden muttered as his fist beat against the air.

"Through Jojo… we're the only ones to survive this long, though. They say most people don't last a day."

Raiden narrowed his eyes, letting sweat drip down his face while keeping it from his eyes. He was still baffled by how Jojo had managed to kill that sand worm yesterday—if 'kill' was even the right word.

Someone powerful enough to make a massive monster vanish into thin air, a creature whose mouth alone was more than ten times wider than a human…

He might be a corrupt crest bearer, but that didn't make him less formidable. If someone like that was still available in the market, what kind of monsters were already sold?

However, just as his mind wandered, his danger detection kicked in instantly. His eyes darted left as his heart rate spiked. In a split second, a sand worm burst from the sand, its massive mouth gaping wide, rows of curved teeth gnashing together.

A hollow, menacing growl echoed across the distance as everyone scrambled to their feet; elders panicking as usual while the younger men moved toward the beast.

"What? This doesn't usually happen!" Stanley said, voice cracking.

"How so?" Noelle asked, closing in from behind.

"They usually appear once every five days…"

Raiden stopped training and turned to Stanley, though he kept one eye on the others fighting the worm. If what Stanley was saying held true, then there was something about the worms they hadn't figured out yet.

"What are you guys doing?! Get over here and help us!" one of the fighters yelled.

Raiden wore a soft smile as he approached them. Once within reach, though, his expression darkened. The worm lunged from the exact same spot every time, diving back into the sand at that identical location. It was as if it was caught in a constant loop.

"Is this how Noelle predicted its moves yesterday?" he muttered, concerned.

But he knew it was his turn to show what he could do. He smirked and clenched his fist, waiting patiently for the worm to dive into the sand. Then he began concentrating mana into his legs and arms, timing the exact moment it would burst back out.

The moment he felt a vibration from the ground, indicating the worm was coming up, he yelled out, "Step away!"

The psychopathic smile on his face alone was enough to scare them away immediately. The moment the worm lunged out of the sand, everyone witnessed a massive wind eruption, filling the air with enormous amounts of sand and sending waves of panic through the group.

What they couldn't see was that Raiden had closed the distance between himself and the worm in that single second. Euphoria flooded through his body as his fist connected with the massive creature, a sensational thrill making him giggle with delight.

The worm went crashing into the sand with a thunderous impact, releasing a hollow scream as it coughed up blood that splattered in their direction.

Raiden's smile grew more sinister while everyone behind stood shocked by what had happened, including Noelle, whose mouth hung slightly open. But when Raiden looked at his hand, he saw it bleeding from the impact, several finger joints twisted at unnatural angles. He gritted his teeth and forced them back into place, knowing his regeneration would handle the rest.

However, his danger detection flared instantly. The moment it tingled in his head, the worm was already lunging toward him. Pure survival instinct kicked in—he leaped left, narrowly avoiding the creature's snapping jaws as they closed around three of the other men instead.

The moment Raiden landed, he could hear his heart thundering in his head, his chest constricting with explosive heat, and goosebumps flooding his skin.

Everyone fled out of range as their previous position became the creature's new circling pattern.

Raiden gulped as he watched the scene unfold. "What are these creatures?" he muttered, his left hand pressed to his chest.

His strike had affected not just its physical body but its soul and spirit as well. Yet now, the creature before them possessed the same energy it had before his attack landed. It was as if it had never been touched.

"It nearly killed me…" he whispered, trembling.

"Yeah, you're a lucky bastard," Noelle said, closing in on him. "But who am I to talk? I needed Jojo to save my ass, too."

Raiden sneered. She wasn't wrong. He should have been dead meat by now, and worse, his broken hand had yet to heal.

Noelle stared at the worm. "I'd like to kill this thing myself, and I know you feel the same." She glanced at Raiden. "But right now, neither of us is ready for that."

Raiden sighed. "What do you propose?"

"Nothing too extreme… just a reckless plan."

She narrowed her eyes, grinning confidently.