Chapter 1797 1797. Storming Sands
"We need to keep moving, the sand storms can somewhat be seen already." Vetus spoke up and everyone snapped to attention. It was clear that she was preparing herself to manipulate the wind and cause the very distant storms to collide. But what everyone saw when they looked in to the distance was not what they expected.
There were two massive dust clouds that were causing the forward area to appear as nothing but a mix of yellow and white sands. The two sands seemed to create a massive closing wall. The resulting tornado of sand and wind would definitely cause a much larger area to be consumed by a wall of sands.
Yet, when Walker looked ahead, he and Gil were glancing at one another. The two could see that many of the dunes were shifting and many monsters were reacting to the storms. It wasn\'t that the monsters before hadn\'t felt the storm but that they had yet to react to it.
There were already more monsters around and those that were running right now from the storms would be the perfect prey for most of them. It was a dangerous gambling game that the species of monsters played in this desert.
While they could be torn apart by nature, they could also use it to gain a massive reward. The food they got from hunting other monsters as the storms passed nearby was too valuable to them. They would be able to grow , breed, and even become the top predator in an area if they were lucky. It just depended on nature and other monsters.
If the winds kept the storms away from an area, but close enough, then there would be fleeing and most likely damaged monsters to hunt. This was also a good thing for the army. They were one of the only groups actually heading toward the storm. It meant that they would see injured monsters that they could hunt or defeat while they moved.
For the Fel angels, it meant that they could see monsters that they might never see. They would be able to take these monsters with them or at least record some information about them. Everything was valuable. Every single little detail would be able to show them more about this environment that was mostly a mystery to them. Especially if the sands managed to expose the rarest monsters of plants of the desert they had trouble traveling.
But what Walker also felt was the dangers that came with it. He was feeling the unsettled win and earth mana that were kicked up. But he also felt an odd tension that had come over everyone. Even those that could not feel the manas that nature was kicking in to chaos, they could feel something instinctually. While the dragonkin clearly felt this more along with the demi-humans, everyone could tell.
Ventus had just put more focus on what she would worry about. Whether she could naturally fly through such conditions didn\'t seem to be on her mind. Instead, she had started to focus on the sense of wind currents. It was where she excelled as a wind elemental dragon. Every dragon had some small sense of wind currents it was in their blood. Every dragon could fly even if some like the earth dragons did not prefer it.
However, Ventus was showing why she was the best. Walker could sense that the wind mana she was releasing around her body was controlled solely by her. It was a powerful example of what many years of gathering and understanding wind could do. Even Gil was stunned by it since he didn\'t even have a tenth of the control over wind without the help of Zephyr.
Speaking of Zephyr, she had arrived outside the spirit mark on Gil\'s body and was currently witnessing what Ventus was doing. She was celery amazed that the dragons had such a powerful gras of the wind. It made her wonder just how long training like this took. The mana that made up zephyr\'s body was definitely being effects which showed the true depth of control that Ventus had.
While winds could be peaceful, Ventus showed them the calm dangers that came with wind. She flapped her wings and took to the skies as she took her full dragon form back. Rise glanced at the sky and debated following her before she gave orders to her dragonkin to begin moving forward and to be at the ready for battle.
"Zephyr, I need to catch up to the dragons. The elves will teach me some things but I think I will ask Ventus to train me after I understand these dagger techniques." The sudden promise to her made Zephyr glad. She had bonded with Gil very closely and knew that Gil heavily relied on her mana and skills. But hearing that he would become even stronger through learning from someone with worthy strength made her happier than before.
Once she had returned to the spirit mark, Gil had already drawn his bow. He moved with everyone but arrow after arrow was notched. The wind elemental wither spike arrows were specially made by him and Walker along with the wandering blacksmith. With his skills and keen eyes, the closest running monsters could be sniped from a distance. A much further distance than the Fel angels imagined.
"These elves and your archer are impressive." What walker had expected to hear from the Fel angels actually came from one of the Rize empire light swordsman. He was amazed by the range and precision he was seeing. This was very unlike the wind elemental hall he had seen training. "I think that the wind elemental hall will wish to see what this kind of archery is. I don\'t believe they have records of it."
"I would say not. These are arcane archers and arcane snipers. They use elemental manas in their arrows or with their bodies to make the arrow fly further. Basically, they rely on mana and physical attacks. The arcane snipers are pretty hard to handle when it comes to long ranged attacks. A place like this is ideal for them." Walker gestured to the open expanse where nothing could hide unless they were below a dune or the sands.
Since the monster were running so much above the sand, there were plenty that were being fired down on. Spiders, lizards, and even the odd fly were shot down. The fact that some of the monsters like the flies which were often in the air to a degree were forced on to the surface only helped them. The archers could see them much more clearly.
"We are moving faster, picking up the pace and maintaining the formation. We will not be flying unless absolutely necessary!" Current and Mordant issued this order. It wasn\'t because they feared flying in the storm. Yes it was dangerous, but they knew that the monsters coming would be running and not fighting directly. It was a good way to push forward, battle a little, and keep up with Ventus who was gathering wind in the skies.
What truly pushed them to do so was the fact that they could see larger stones and some random plants in the storms as they neared one another. Their timing had been very good but also showed them the dangers that came with the storms. The wind could carry things that would be thrust in to the sand tornado. These things would definitely crush their soldiers so flying would only save the dragons. Therefore, they would be carrying injured or dead bodies. Not solidres. A rough reality.
This also proved that the desert held a much larger danger. They could be buried here by the storm. Some sand was already falling around all of the soldiers while they moved. It was a steady soft rain of sand that showed just what the storms did. These dunes would not just shift but could be picked up and rained down elsewhere. It also showed how the desert was expanding.
Regardless of whatever curse of magic was working on the odd white sand, this storm would pick a lot of fine sand and drop it on the edges of the desert as a whole. Therefore, the desert would expand and entire dunes would be moved. Furthermore, the monsters would move and take over different territories. This showed a greater danger overall since there would be a power shift. None of the dragons wanted to take this place as their own territory. It would be annoying to constantly shift homes and take over territory.
Finally, Walker was left with the fact that he could only struggle to manipulate the chaotic mana. He felt that the natural mana around him was being stirred up by the wind and earth mana seemingly battling one another. It brought many ideas to light in his mind. Many different feelings to learn from.
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