Chapter 189: Humor Me [Bonus Chapter 3/10]

Lukas leaned back in his chair and exhaled.

"I’ll do the class change quest tomorrow," he said. "But we’re not doing it without Karrakas."

Melody looked at him. "Why?"

"The quest says to walk in a straight line for twenty-four hours. That sounds simple until you think about what it actually means."

He looked at both of them. "We don’t know how far we’ll end up from the city by the time it’s done. We don’t know how many beasts we’ll run into along the way, or whether we’ll be able to find our way back without getting turned around."

He paused. "Karrakas knows this desert. He has a compass and he knows how to use it properly out here. Having him with us would solve problems we’re not even aware we have in the first place.

"Even if it means revealing the contents of the quest, having him by our side would make everything go smoother and safer."

"Morgana gave him to us for situations like this. Why the hell wouldn’t I use him for it?"

Neither of them argued.

With that settled, they turned off the lamp and piled onto the bed. The room was quiet within minutes, and sleep came fast for all three of them.

Soon, it was morning.

Lukas opened his eyes to grey light coming through the window and the faint sounds of the city waking up outside.

He took his bath, then dressed in his desert clothes, stifling a yawn all through it.

He made his way downstairs, with Melody and Akira joining him shortly after.

They found a table in the tavern and ordered breakfast without much conversation.

The room was quiet. Two other people sat at a table across the room, eating and talking in low voices. The aroma of freshly baked bread filled the air.

They were halfway through their meal when footsteps came down the stairs.

Karrakas appeared, dressed in his suit as always, his dark blue hair combed neatly. He was smiling broadly for someone at this hour.

"Good morning," he said, pulling out a chair at their table and sitting. He caught the eye of the attendant and ordered breakfast, then looked around at the three of them. "What’s the plan today?"

"I have a class change quest," Lukas said.

Karrakas paused. "You have a class change quest?"

"Yes."

"What does it require?"

Lukas set down his fork. "I need to walk barefoot in a straight line for twenty four hours."

Karrakas stared at him, his jaw dropping.

He closed it. Then opened it again.

"I would strongly advise against that," he said.

Lukas looked at him. "Why?"

Karrakas held up a finger. "First problem. Beasts hide under the sand. You already know this. The moment one erupts in front of you, your instinct is to dodge. The moment you dodge, your straight line is broken and the quest resets. Or worse, fail." 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

He held up a second finger. "Second problem, and this one is more serious."

He leaned forward slightly. "The sand in this desert is not ordinary sand. During the day, that ground gets hot enough to cook through. Your boots exist for a reason, and that reason isn’t just stability."

He held Lukas’ gaze. "I don’t think an E-rank Adept has the constitution to walk barefoot on that surface for twenty-four hours straight without taking serious damage. You’d be burning through your feet the entire time."

Lukas smiled at the man’s words. "The straight line isn’t the problem. If a beast actually manages to force me off course, I’ll abandon the attempt and we’ll try again another time. That’s fine."

"And the barefoot issue?"

"I think I can handle it."

Karrakas set both hands flat on the table. "Lukas. The sand is scorching. I don’t mean warm, and I’m definitely not talking about uncomfortable. I mean it’s scorching hot. The kind of heat that can cause damage the moment bare skin makes contact with the surface."

"Then humor me," Lukas said. "We’ll prepare for the quest, we’ll go out through the gate, and I’ll try walking barefoot right there outside the city. If it’s too much to handle, I’ll put my boots back on and we’ll drop the whole thing. What do you say?"

Karrakas looked at him for a long moment.

Then he shifted in his chair. "I have another suggestion. What about doing this on the archipelago? The main island is empty of beasts. There’d be no interruptions or ambushes from under the ground."

Lukas looked at him. "Is the island large enough? I need to walk in a straight line for twenty-four hours without running out of land."

Karrakas leaned back, thinking about it properly. He was quiet for several seconds. Then he exhaled slowly.

"No," he said. "It isn’t. The island is large, but not that large. And the terrain makes a straight line almost impossible to chart. There are pits of bubbling lava scattered across it, uneven ground, and elevation changes. You’d be forced off course within the first few hours."

"The crystal caves?" Melody asked.

Karrakas shook his head before she finished saying it. "The cave network doesn’t run straight. It branches, curves, and doubles back on itself. A straight line in the crystal caves doesn’t exist."

"The other spatial gates?" Akira asked.

"In the other gates, we have a higher risk of encountering something none of us can handle yet. I wouldn’t put you in front of those gates at E-rank."

He ran a hand through his hair, and this was the first time Lukas had seen him look genuinely unsettled.

"The desert is the only location where a twenty-four hour straight line is possible without actually ending in our deaths. Which brings us back to the same problem we started with."

Silence filled the air.

The two people across the room finished their meal and left. The attendant cleared their table without looking over.

Lukas waited a moment, then looked at Karrakas.

"Trust me," he finally said. "I know what my body can handle better than anyone else does. If it becomes too much, I’ll stop. You have my word on that."

Karrakas looked at him. Then at Melody and Akira, who said nothing but were clearly aligned with Lukas on this.

He was quiet for a long time.

Then he let out a slow breath and sat forward.

"Fine," he said. "I’ll trust you."

He held up a finger. "But only on one condition."