* * *

When they opened their eyes again, they were no longer inside the temple.

“……Desert?”

In the middle of the desert, all he could see was an endless expanse of tan sand. Panicked, Cadel looked around quickly, and luckily spotted Van standing not far away. Van spotted him too, and came running.

“Could this be part of the trial?”

“Having passed the first trial, I suppose it’s fair to see this as the beginning of the second, though I didn’t expect to be kicked out of the temple.”

The sun beating down, the air heavy on their shoulders. The temperature made it impossible to breathe normally. Cadel ran a hand through his hair, grimacing at how sweaty he already felt.

Beside him, Van looked around the desert with a subtle expression. As if he had discovered something suspicious, a shadow fell between his narrowed brows.

“What’s wrong? Is there a problem?”

“Um…….”

Wordlessly, he looked around the desert, again and again, thinking, and then slowly spoke.

“This place, I don’t think it’s the ‘Desert of Blood’.”

“Huh? What are you talking about? Where else but the Desert of Blood?”

“I don’t know about that, but…… Look, Commander. The Desert of Blood gets sandstorms during the day, and we’ve been through them, so we’re pretty sure, right? But this place, there’s…….”

There was no wind. All he could feel was a heat so intense it blurred his vision. Cadel squinted as he realized what was happening.

“I don’t think we should try to escape the desert.”

“Yes. Maybe this place is an artificially created space like the first trial’s rooms, though it’s annoyingly realistic.”

It was a fake desert. What were they supposed to do here? So far, they hadn’t felt any sign of the monster and couldn’t see any ruins or buildings worth visiting.

“Let’s just walk around. We’ll find something along the way.”

With that, Cadel and Van began to make their way across the desert. They hadn’t walked far before they were dripping with sweat. The merciless UV rays piercing through the fabric were killing them.

“Commander, drink some water.”

Van handed the bottle to Cadel, who looked like he was about to melt. Raising a weak hand, Cadel lightly wetted his mouth and handed it back, lamenting the lukewarm temperature of the water.

“You drink too.”

“I’m not really thirsty.”

“Gosh, here we go again.”

“Pardon……?”

“Forget it, just drink it.”

Cadel flicked the bottle over Van’s chest, and he grabbed it in a panic.

“I’m really okay, Commander. Just make sure you stay hydrated, you get tired easily.”

“Just take care of yourself. I’ll take care of myself, so you don’t have to worry about my condition.”

“However…….”

“Are you telling me you’re going to disobey the commander’s orders?”

“That, that can’t be right!”

“Then drink it.”

Standing still, Cadel stared at Van with his hands on his hips. It was a stubborn gaze as if he wouldn’t move a step until he saw Van drink.

Hesitating, Van finally tipped the bottle slightly to moisten his lips, and Cadel grabbed the bottom of the bottle and swung it up.

Van’s eyes widened at the gush of water. Cadel hastily removed the bottle of water, checked his flushed cheeks over his mouth, and nodded approvingly.

“The whole time you’ve been in the desert, you’ve only had two sips of water. Do you want to know something? If you keep that up, I’m going to kick your ass.”

Van, who had no choice but to swallow the water in his mouth, shook the lightened water bottle and looked tearful.

“I was still holding on…….”

“It’s up to me, the commander, to judge that.”

Neatly dismissing Van’s dozen excuses, Cadel resumed his walk.

* * *

After so many hours of constant traversal of the vast desert, with no shade from the sun, let alone monsters, Cadel finally surrendered.

“Is this a joke? She wants me to just keep walking until the trial is over?”

The system certainly introduced this as a ‘Trial of Trust’. But what’s there to trust in a desert with no end in sight? Are you asking us to run a marathon trusting each other?

Cadel felt like his brain was melting into a sticky mess from the sweltering heat and his stamina hit the bottom line. Van’s breathing was ragged, as he too had expended quite a bit of stamina.

“What the hell does she want from us? Don’t tell me we have to cross the desert all the way.”

“I have no idea. I’m sure Lumen and Lydon are going through the same trial……. I wonder if they’ve found out anything.”

“Are there also separate spaces for each team in the trial this time?”

“Well, if we’re in the same space, I hope it’s not something like…… we have to find the other team in this big desert or something ridiculous like that.”

If that were the case, Cadel would instead hope that Lydon’s side, which could make ice at will, would somehow find them first.

‘Maybe I’ll just unlock the ice attribute.’

At this point, he wanted to pour his remaining attribute points into ice and wrap the chill ice cubes around his body. As Cadel struggled to follow his fading reason not to access the ‘My Info’ window.

“……Commander.”

Van, a few steps ahead of Cadel, stood up straight. His straight gaze was directed straight ahead, and there, bobbing along the grain of the dark sand were two figures.

A mixture of surprise and delight washed over Cadel’s face as he watched the silhouette with Van. Instantly energized, he waved his arms wildly in the opposite direction.

“Lumen! Lydon!”

The figures’ identities were none other than his scattered subordinates. Lumen and Lydon.