I don’t get it. I can feel the wind, so why can’t I control it?

  Adion waved his arm in front of him, trying to somehow grab hold of the wind, but to no success.

  I guess it’s really an affinity problem. That seems to make sense.

  But I also feel like I should be able to do it with enough practice.

  Adion put down his arm again, giving up for the moment. The sun had risen, and it was starting to get dangerously hot.

  Adion grabbed hold of the space a few feet below ground and teleported down. There was only sand around him, so he had to freeze the space around him. Fortunately, the sand wasn’t very heavy, so freezing space didn’t take much Will.

  I can probably get through this night as well. But I’m starting to feel tired. Did I leave too hastily?

  After he killed Narvar, Adion had returned to Heshuwara to collect some resources to carry with him. He didn’t want to risk staying in town, as he didn’t know when more enemies might show up.

  Unfortunately, he couldn’t do wind magic, so the senba was useless to him. He had no choice but to travel the desert on foot.

  He had now just traveled through his second night, and he felt he might fall asleep at any moment. But with the sand hanging precariously over his head, that wasn’t an option.

  I’ll probably be alright even if I accidentally fall asleep. But I’d rather not wake up buried in sand.

  Adion pulled out a flask of water and drank a few mouthfuls. He would have loved to chug the whole thing, but he knew he had to use the water sparingly.

  The water should be enough for a few more days at least. And I should be able to conjure enough water to survive if I keep out of the sun during the day.

  Adion laid back and made himself comfortable. He had packed a lot more water than food in his backpack, so even if he couldn’t sleep, he tried to conserve his energy.

  If I ration my food, it will last a week at least. And it’s not a problem to go another week without food after that.

  But I can’t relax. If I don’t find a town or village, things will get bad.

  I need to remember to look out for cliffs below the sand. Carving out a small area in the rock would allow me to take shelter from the sun and get a good night's rest.

  But maybe all those places already have villages surrounding them. I don’t see how a settlement could last on loose sand.

  Adion closed his eyes but tried to keep his mind active so he wouldn’t fall asleep. He tried to go through his memory and see what he could remember.

  Ever since he left Narvar behind, and stopped drinking the Persmytha tea, his memory had stopped being affected. He could finally recall the last few days with perfect clarity.

  Unfortunately, he didn’t start regaining his earlier memories. At least not that he had noticed in the past two days. But he wasn’t planning on giving up. He was sure he would be able to remember in time, he just had to make an effort.

  Either way, he now knew he had to find Sell. And he had to get back to his family. Even if he didn’t remember them all that well, he was sure they would help him.

  But even with his past still being a cloudy mess, Adion felt great. The fact that he could remember everything from fighting Narvar to now was a wonderful sensation. It gave him a sense of identity. He now had a past, and it wasn’t going away.

  But are all my memories supposed to be like the ones from these two days? I’m a long way off if that’s the case.

  Adion could still think back on his past and remember a few things, but it was far from clear. Everything was hidden behind a thick veil. He still had a lot of information in his head, common sense about how the world works, but it was all rootless. He didn’t recall where he learned it from.

  When he thought about his family, he had a vague sense of his grandfather, but his face wasn’t clear, and he couldn’t really remember any interactions. He just had a vague sense of familiarity with the concept of his grandfather.

  But there should be a way to get it back.

  Adion looked to his arm. The words were still clearly visible. Adion almost hoped it would never heal, they gave him a sense of comfort.

  Find Sell.

  That word didn’t just bring a vague sense of familiarity. It was an intense sense of longing and love.

  Adion couldn’t help but smile. Even if he didn’t remember much, he felt that this small amount was more than enough for the moment.

  He kept going through his memories, trying to find something that was clear enough to hang onto, but he was unsuccessful.

  I guess there is no rushing it. If I don’t give up, I will eventually remember everything.

  Many hours passed, and Adion felt it was time to move again.

  He ate some dried meat and had a few sips of water, and teleported back to the surface.

  Sun is still up, huh?

  Adion shielded his eyes to make out where the sun was in the sky.

  An hour or two before sundown. That should be fine. I don’t want to waste time sitting still.

  Adion set out in the same direction he had been traveling in. When he left Heshuwaru, he decided to head southwest. He knew that there was only ocean to the east, and civilization was to the west. And since Narvar seemed to want to head more north, Adion did the opposite. He wanted to get as far away as possible from that enemy organization.

  Adion walked at a leisurely pace. He didn’t want to sweat out too much precious water by running, he could increase his tempo when the sun went down. The desert was actually fairly cool when the sun went down.

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  I wonder if I can find a wind mage to travel with, or else I don’t know how long I’ll be stuck in the desert.

  A few hours passed, and Adion increased his pace. He found that a slow jog didn’t exhaust him that much more than walking. With sand shifting beneath his feet at every step, it was rough to get anywhere no matter how he moved.

  He had tried to freeze space beneath his feet at the start, and it made getting forward a lot easier. But as time passed, he noticed that his Will couldn’t keep up, not if he wanted to be able to freeze space beneath the sand to take shelter. So he opted not to use that method unless it was necessary.

  What’s this?

  Adion suddenly found that, about two hundred feet to his left, the ground seemed to be different.

  Did I finally find a cliff?

  Adion changed direction and headed toward the rocky terrain. But as he got closer, he also felt the aura of a beast.

  Damn! That’s a high Silver beast.

  Adion immediately backed off and hid his own aura.

  I hope it didn’t sense me…But it probably did.

  What should I do? Do I fight it?

  If he knew for sure there was only a high Silver beast there, he would go over to fight it. It would definitely be worth it for the potential shelter, and the body of the beast could feed him for weeks.

  I really need a place to rest. But what if the beast is not alone?

  He knew he didn’t have a better aura control than a Silver beast. Beasts were natural aura users. He probably only felt the aura because the beast wanted to warn him and other threats to back off.

  But what if there were other beasts there that didn’t show off their aura.

  Adion didn’t feel confident fighting more than one Silver beast in their own nest. And what if there was an even stronger beast than Silver hiding?

  I need to rest, but I also can’t afford to get injured.

  And I absolutely can’t afford to die.

  Adion wavered slightly, trying to think of the possibilities.

  I should at least give it a try. If I continue on my way, I will soon be too tired to fight. And a beast might appear at any time. It’s better to fight when I have the initiative. And the reward for winning is too great.

  Adion started approaching the beast nest. He could make out that there seemed to be some kind of mountain structure a few feet beneath the sand. The beast had dug out a hole into the rocks to make a shelter, but Adion couldn’t sense how deep it went.

  The sand around the opening had been shoved aside to make a small opening, probably to make a way for air to get in.

  If I approach, the beast might make the sand collapse and bury itself. That would make it difficult for any enemies to invade the nest.

  Except for me, that is.

  The biggest reason Adion dared to try to fight was that he had his teleportation. If he noticed that he had no way of winning, he could always teleport away.

  “Roar!” The beast let out a warning roar. Adion could understand it through its aura. It wasn’t a distinct message, more of a warning to stay away or die.

  Good thing it's not too intelligent, or I would feel bad about attacking it.

  When Adion got too close for comfort for the beast, he noticed how it started manipulating the sand to collapse around the opening to its hideout.

  Perfect opportunity.

  Adion raised his sword, focused on the space above the beast, and teleported over.

  As soon as he appeared in the dark grotto, Adion froze the beast and slashed down with his sword.

  The sword cut out a big chunk of the beast’s neck, but it wasn’t enough to kill it.

  Adion teleported away a few feet to get away from the beast’s retribution, and let go of the space constricting the beast. He could now see that it was another Sand Badger.

  Could this be the mate of the one I killed a few days ago?

  Adion didn’t think too much about it though, he quickly scanned the cave behind him.

  No other beasts? Good!

  Adion ran up to the beast, it had now turned around and was charging toward him. Adion found that there was always a slight miscalculation when he teleported in the middle of a fight. It was difficult to teleport to the perfect spot at the perfect moment. So Adion simply charged, meeting the beast head on.

  But just as the Sand Badger’s sharp claws struck down, Adion froze the beast in space again, summoning all his Will to keep it still.

  He slinked past the claws and came up under the beast’s head. With a quick thrust, he pierced the beast’s head from under its jaw.

  Stay still.

  Adion focused his Will to contend against the beast, keeping it in place. It didn’t take long before the beast's eyes dimmed, and the struggle against his space weakened.

  “Haah,” Adion breathed out in relief as he let go of the Sand Badger and let it collapse to the ground.

  That was…kind of easy? I guess my space powers are kind of powerful.

  Adion felt pretty pleased with himself.

  He started exploring the small cave. It wasn’t very deep, and there wasn’t really anything to see.

  I would’ve hoped there would be some source of water.

  Adion turned to look at the dead beast.

  Maybe…

  In most cases, it would be impossible to control the water in someone’s body. Even a Soul mage couldn’t do it to a newborn baby. The Will of a living being had incredible power over its own body, even if they weren’t mages.

  But this was a dead body, it had no soul.

  Adion focused on the blood that was pouring out of the beast and onto the cave floor. He focused on the water in the blood and tried to take control over it.

  “Gah!” Adion couldn’t help but let out a grunt. It was a lot more difficult than he had thought.

  Eventually he managed to move it a little, but the water that he moved was tinted red.

  What’s going on? Why is this so hard?

  Adion felt too tired to think about at the moment. If it didn’t work, it didn’t work. He still had water left. And now that he found himself a shelter, he didn’t feel as stressed out anymore.

  The Sand Badger managed to close the opening. Should I move the sand away again? I need to breathe too, after all.

  But that would mean I’d be in the open. What if something sneaks up on me while I’m sleeping.

  Forget it. There has to be enough air for one night. I’ll air out the cave tomorrow.

  Adion had been up for two days straight, and now that he felt somewhat safe. He didn’t have it in him to stay awake any longer.

  Whether to move on, or stay and rest for a few days, I’ll decide tomorrow.

  Adion was about to lay down to sleep when he thought about the beast.

  That’s going to start to stink…

  I better take care of it. I might be able to make a nice bed out of its fur. Even if it's not very soft, it's better than rocks.

  Adion started removing the sand, planning on taking care of the beast outside so his cave wouldn’t get messy.

  The air outside was cool and fresh, and Adion enjoyed the peace and quiet. Having just come out winning from a fight and finding shelter was a great boost to morale.

  Maybe I’ll light a fire and have some fresh meat.

  Yeah. Let’s do that.

  And so Adion spent the night enjoying the tender Sand Badger in front of a small fire, burning through his Authority.

  It wasn’t until the sky was lighting up from the rising sun that Adion finally discarded what was left from the carcass and came back to his cave.

  As soon as he closed his eyes, he fell into a peaceful sleep.