-Radiant-

  I woke up with a clear stimulating wave passing through my mind, no trace of drowsiness left. Although I could’ve slept longer, after such a prolonged period of wakefulness, the time for me to leave for level 4 was approaching and there were things I needed to take care of before my departure to level 4.

  I stretched out my muscles as I felt a refreshing coolness spreading throughout my body. This refreshing feeling came from one of the few artifacts I had recovered from the Dragon’s hoard, a simple ring made out of misty ice-steel. Although it didn’t do much (currently), the artifact increased the physical recovery rate of the wearer. It did this by partially relying on the misty ice-steel’s chilling properties, which had the side effect of cooling down my body, if it weren’t for me reducing the cooling effect, through the use of my [Body of Artifacts], I would be literally freezing right now despite the tropical temperature. However because I was reducing its chilling effects it wasn’t operating at even 10% of its capabilities, but it had a welcome soothing effect on my muscles nonetheless.

  I summoned a small light to float around, illuminating the small enclosure I had awoken in. It was a small room that I had hollowed out before I had fallen asleep, there was only a small opening where air could come in from outside, but otherwise it was completely enclosed.

  Waking up fully, I thought about my experiences before my arrival in this room. After defeating the Vivid Vortex I had tried to think about where I could get some sleep with air to breathe. My first thought was to go back to the room I had first appeared in and fill it up with breathable air, but after thinking about all of those corpses in there I didn’t want to know what would happen to them if they were exposed to oxygen, they might be fine right now, but who knew what would happen if they were exposed to oxygen.

  With that idea not an option, my foggy mind struggled for a while to find a solution, but eventually I remembered the large open cavern where I could see the moon from. Although I wouldn’t be able to go outside of the opening in the ceiling, there was still air in the space above the water (Hopefully breathable, I hadn’t tested).

  After traveling the long distance to the still moonlit cavern, I emerged out of the water after such a long stay beneath its surface. By this point I was having trouble even staying awake, and if the air wasn’t breathable I wouldn’t know what to do. Luckily the air was fine to breathe, and, although humid, was a tolerably warm temperature. Hollowing out a space in the cavern’s walls for me to sleep in had been a simple task with some earth magic, and I had collapsed from exhaustion as soon as I had finished.

  Now, after a considerably long time asleep, it was almost time for me to head to level 4. There was just one thing that I needed to take care of before leaving, and that was my new jacket.

  I was internally debating whether or not I should absorb it into my [Body of Artifacts]. Based on its description I wasn’t entirely certain that its effects would translate properly. For example it repaired itself using the ambient mana, but that wouldn’t translate to repairing myself with ambient mana were I to absorb the artifact. The quality of the artifact was great, but the type of repairing function I would need to work on my body would be too complex to be in anything but an Extraordinary artifact, and the coat was only a Rare.

  So although I would gain the temperature regulation effects if I absorbed the coat, I wouldn’t gain anything from the repair function. It wasn’t a huge loss, since I had the Misty Ice Steel Ring’s healing effects, but it would be a waste to let such a fine coat rot away when I could just wear it instead.

  While I was thinking this, the System notification sounded in my mind.

  [Level 3 complete. All challenges have been met.]

  [Would you like to enter level 4 of the Dungeon of Tribulation, or leave the dungeon?]

  I didn’t immediately give it an answer and made sure everything was working properly. The System patiently waited, and when I was ready I responded.

  “OK, enter the next level please.” I’ll hold off on absorbing the coat for now. My main priority is still to finish the Dungeon of Tribulation, and an extra layer of defense, no matter how thin, is a good idea.

  [Affirmative. Now entering level 4.]

  -Break-

  The first thing I noticed was the air. (After going through level 3 I was particularly focused on this aspect of living). The air was scorching hot and extremely dry, when I breathed in it felt like I was inhaling burning sand, the moisture in my nose and lungs instantly drying up. The air wasn’t deadly to breathe this time though, just extremely dry and hot.

  Besides the burning temperature of the air I could also feel the sunlight burning my skin, and looking up at the sky there were 2 stars radiating intense light down onto the landscape.

  The ground was sandy dunes and red rock for many kilometers around me. I stood on top of a mid-sized dune of white and red sand, and this gave me a fairly good vantage point where I could see multiple wide holes dotting some flat rocky plains in one direction, and in another direction there were canyons and ravines fraying the landscape. The dune area I was in was sandwiched between the two different areas. However I couldn’t tell if these were the only environments in the level, because off in one direction was a towering wall of billowing sand blocking my sight, and, looking closer, it seemed to be headed in my direction.

  A sandstorm? That could be dangerous.

  The wall of sand was most likely some kind of sandstorm front, and within the cloud of rushing sand I could see angry bolts of lightning thundering throughout the wall, and even at its current distance away from me I could hear a faint roar of sound almost like a ferocious beast.

  I didn’t see any immediate threats around me though, and having gotten my bearings, a System message appeared in my mind.

  [Time Requirement: Survive for 150 hours]

  [Forced Task: Survive 24 hours out in the open and without shelter from the storms]

  Without shelter from the storms? Is it referring to the massive sandstorm? And there will be multiple of those during a 24 hour period? Maybe different kinds of storms? Well… crap. But I guess I brought this upon myself. I just hope this level’s difficulty isn’t too high. Though, if this level’s difficulty isn’t that high, then I’m worried that two low difficulty levels in a row might have used up all my luck. I don’t think it will hold out for a third…

  I shook my head and started getting ready for any dangers that may be lurking under the sands. I pulled out my new favorite black leather coat and put it on over some clothes I changed into after taking off the wetsuit and storing it away. The leather coat wouldn’t provide much protection, but it would keep me from frying in this heat.

  I then pulled out some padded armor to put over my coat, this padded armor would provide some extra protection, and it was even enchanted.

  [Padded Armor](Enchanted, Copper)

  No Equipment Requirement

  Defense: Rank 0 Tier 8

  Impact Resistance +10

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  Active Skill 1 -

  Maneuverable: Spend 5000 mana per second to increase your speed and maneuverability.

  With the armor on, over my temperature regulation coat, I wasn’t even warm anymore. Thinking about how comfortable I felt even in this scorching environment reminded me that I also had another way to combat the heat, although I didn’t need to use it, because I had the coat. The misty ice-steel ring. Thinking about it, now that I have the temperature regulation coat on I could release the full effects of the ring and get all of its benefits couldn't I?

  I tried it out and released 100% of the ring’s effects and felt a freezing chill spread throughout my body, but very quickly the coat compensated and adjusted to the perfect temperature which was almost the same as the temperature in the scorching desert, if not a bit hotter even.

  With my body feeling extremely refreshed thanks to the ring, I felt ready to take on any challenges I might face. Although, my forced task did need me to not shelter from the storms, and I felt it prudent to get a feel for what these storms entailed before attempting such a challenge. Looking around, I didn't see anything worth looking into around me, so I started heading towards the area filled with canyons and ravines. I needed to find a place to shelter the coming storm in, and the canyons seemed more inviting than the giant holes in the ground in the opposite direction.

  The sand dunes were tiring to walk through, but thanks to the recovery effect of the misty ice-steel ring, I could keep up a faster pace than normal. And while I was traveling I had some time to think.

  I wonder how Mystdell is doing? After joining that explorer group she didn’t have the opportunity to visit me in prison anymore. I mean, the group she joined is fairly popular from what I could gather in The Archives, so it makes sense that she couldn’t visit. Unlike Mom and Dad who didn’t really have a reason to not visit me…

  A slight scowl came to my face as I thought about my horrible luck with parents, both in Epidas and on Earth. Whatever, it doesn’t matter anymore anyways. What’s in the past is in the past.

  I continued to walk through the sandy dunes, with two mostly intersecting shadows from the two suns keeping me company.

  What I really want to know is what Mystdell is up to right now. I know that explorers, well, explore, but some of the things they explore and scout out can be extremely dangerous. I don’t recall any major incidents involving explorers happening in the near future, so she should be fine, I hope. Although, her being an explorer is a completely new variable in this timeline, so I can’t be 100% certain.

  Well, I’m sure she isn’t going to be assigned any dangerous jobs at her Rank and Level, so she should be fine.

  I also wonder if Genesis has gotten my letter to Mystdell by now, I mean Mystdell is always exploring some new location or place wandering all over Tallen, so it wouldn’t be an easy task delivering a letter to her. But she should have gotten the letter by now, at this point it has already been more than half a month since I gave the letter to Genesis. I wonder what Mystdell’s reaction was like?

  I continued to muse to myself and think about Mystdell’s shocked expression when she realized I had escaped from the highest security prison in Tallen. I also wondered what Genesis’s reaction to the information might be.

  As I walked through the desert, smiling to myself, the sandstorm continued to grow ever closer by the minute. At this point I still didn’t know the difficulty of the level, so I didn’t want to weather the storm blind. I would first have to find out the power of the storm somehow.

  Before thinking about information gathering, I first found a place to shelter in. What I found was two short rock faces that formed a small ravine. It should provide decent cover from the worst of the storm. Then I went around the area looking for something to form a mental link to, so I could gather some outside information about the storm.

  Luckily I found a few plants that I could form a mental link with not far away from the ravine. The plants were white and almost rock-like. They were almost like coral, in that they didn’t have many protruding bits, and they were somewhat smooth on the surface with patterns that made it look almost like a brain.

  If these plants were still alive then they must have some way to get through the storm, so I formed a mental link with a few of them before heading back to the ravine.

  With my mental links set I should be able to get a feel for the strength of the sandstorm, without having to be out in it myself.

  Arriving back in the canyon, I proceeded to hollow out a small cave that went into the rock and then turned back around to make the cave almost U shaped, for me to shelter the storm in. This U shaped cave would hopefully protect me from the worst of the effects of the storm while still allowing me to hear and feel some of the effects of the storm.

  I made my way into the cave and sat down at the end of the U facing towards the bend in the cave with my back to the wall between myself and the ravine. By this point the roaring of the sandstorm was at its peak, and it didn’t seem like it would be too much longer until the storm was upon me.

  I was right, and the storm arrived in a burst of sound and pressure, the light from the suns went out and darkness took its place alongside the roaring and howling of the storm.

  The first minute or so wasn’t anything special and nothing crazy happened, so I decided to go around the bend and check out what was happening at the entrance of the cave.

  When I arrived at the bend and looked at the entrance, with the help of a floating light, I saw a wall of fast moving sand. Seeing that nothing overly dangerous was currently happening, I decided to stay and watch the rest of the storm until it passed, rather than just sit at the end of the cave.

  As time crept forward the wall of sand started to slowly encroach into the cave and deposit sand everywhere. Then, about 10 minutes into the storm, a wind/sand blade flew out of the wall of sand and struck the wall of the cave. The sand blade didn’t have much power behind it and didn’t cause any damage, but more and more blades started to fly out of the encroaching wall of sand, and the blades started to get stronger and stronger, eventually sounding like whips cracking against the walls of the cave and leaving light gouges in the stone.

  25 minutes into the storm I had backed up to the end of my cave as the roaring sand made its way around the bend shooting off wind/sand blades almost rapidfire at this point. I knew that I would have to survive storms like this if I wanted to complete this level, so instead of turtling up I decided to see how much I could endure through my own power.

  I strengthened my body with magic and got closer to the flying blades. It wasn’t long before one of the blades shot in my direction and hit me in the stomach. However, with the padded armor protecting me, the blade didn’t do any damage to my body. But that wasn’t the same case for the blade that shot towards my exposed face. Seeing the blade coming, I moved quickly and just barely managed to block my face with my hands.

  The blade crashed into the back of my hands, and despite my enhancement, I felt the gritty sand tear my skin and leave behind fine grains that aggravated the shallow cut, making it hurt more than it should have. The misty ice-steel ring’s effect started slowly healing the wound, but it would be a few minutes before it would be fully healed even though it was just a shallow cut.

  After that I protected my face better, using my arm and padded armor to cover my face, but that still left my legs unprotected and vulnerable to the flying blades of sand.

  By the time the storm passed, around 8 minutes later, my legs were covered in shallow bleeding cuts, making me lament the lack of armored leggings in any of the loot I had acquired. Other than that, there was sand everywhere, not only in the cave but in my clothes and bleeding cuts as well, everything was full of fine red sand.

  I cleaned the sand from my cuts before healing them. Then I took some time to clear the sand out of my clothes and hair (as much as I could) before investigating everything.

  With the light of the suns restored, I could see the numerous cuts in the walls as I walked out of the now sand filled cave. Outside, the walls of the ravine sported many new cuts in the walls, but not nearly as deep as the ones inside the cave. I guessed that maybe the terrain had been strengthened against the storms over time, otherwise the landscape would be nothing but sand dunes by this point.

  Checking up on the plants I had linked to, they seemed to be just fine, and during the entirety of the storm I hadn’t sensed anything from them that indicated they were struggling against the storm at all.

  Well if they’ve survived until now they must have some way to get through the storms, whatever that may be. I, on the other hand, will have to endure some pain if I have to be out in the open storm, but I should be able to survive it.

  This Forced Task is basically just the Dungeon saying ‘I don’t like you, deal with it for 24 hours’. In any case, now is as good a time as any to start my 24 hours. Since a storm just passed, and since I have to be out in the open for the duration anyways, I should explore while I can and see what’s worth taking around here.

  The Lumingel from the last level was extremely valuable due to its difficulty of acquiring, but the things on this level were sure to be valuable because of their rarity, at least I hoped so. I couldn’t wait to acquire some more resources.