Ira hated the heat, she had always preferred the cold any day of the week—yet here she was, stuck in a seemingly endless desert with the sun blazing down from above.
She could feel the sand lodged between her fingers, grains of sand clammed under her nails; golden dunes that seemed to change shape each time she closed her eyes. The sight was stunning at first, but it quickly grew tiring and nausea-inducing as the heat continued to beat down on Ira.
'I guess I will start with taking inventory..'
The woman Ira had possessed—or had been created for her, was carrying a steel dagger, a rusty sword, four pouches of water, two pouches of alcohol, dried and smoked fish, dried berries, and a map of the desert.
Not like Ira could read the map; neither would the rusty sword be of any use—it would only be feasible for a single swing at most judging from the rough condition it was in, but at least she had food and water for the time being. Reminiscing on the past, in case any important information appeared in her mind, the scene of two men came before her imagination; She had overheard someone once say that most people who died in the desert all had relatively full water bottles, and that it was best to drink whenever the person felt like it.
'Who would have thought information I deemed useless would come in handy.. neat.'
Ira felt embarrassed at her own words. Had she become a middle-aged woman overnight?
'I am a fifteen-year-old girl, not an old lady!'
Not like people got lost in deserts in the real world anymore—most of the world was devoid of life due to the war against Purge Beasts; deserts were also incredibly hard to live in in this era because of the lack of water in most parts; water had been an uncommon resource long before Ira had been born. The water nowadays was sterile and mostly devoid of natural minerals that made water so healthy for mundane humans to drink, so why would anyone live inside a desert?
She internally sighed, the heat of the desert was making the silver-haired girl feel more and more agitated by the second. Sighing heavily, she decided to follow her instincts—they were screaming at her to go west, after all! Ira could subtly feel every single detail about the beast she was supposed to slay in order to complete the trial bestowed upon her by the Oracle of Fate.
It was originally a general to the "Dune Sovereign," but after the death of its master, the beast usurped its throne, taking its place, but not its class—gaining the title "Dune Lord".
Ira could practically feel the rough texture of its hide—as thick as a tree and as durable as steel, it was. Each of its eight arms adept at maneuvering through the sand to ambush its prey, with long obsidian sharp claws to cut any foe in its path to shreds.
The Dune Lord had the frightening ability to sense vibrations in the sand and conjure up small sandstorms with the movement of its body.
'Such a frightening foe.. I do not see how it is possible for me—a mere Dormant human of the beast class, to kill an Aberrant Demon..'
Ira could barely take on one teenage girl, let alone a creature that could destroy entire buildings with only its raw strength.
'What a hopeless predicament I am in.. but I doubt the Oracle of fate sent me into a Trial she knew I would have zero hope of completing; after all, I am the "Champion Of Hope" or something..'
The Champion Of Hope? Who was Hope? Ira did not know, but she had a feeling it was connected to Earth—maybe that was the god that ruled over Earth.
She had no idea whether or not her educated guess was right, but that did not matter—what mattered right now was her mission to slay the Dune Lord.
As a small breeze of air hit Ira's nostrils, a sickening smell spread throughout her lungs, instantly causing the silver-haired girl to use the scarf wrapped around her neck and head as a filter.
'What the hell is that smell..!'
She quickly scaled one of the golden dunes and began to scan the horizon. For a while, nothing had caught her eye. Taking a closer look, however, she saw a giant behemoth of a beast, dead and rotting. It seemed to be a Fallen Monster, nearly the size of multiple buildings!
'What could have killed such a monstrosity such as that..'
Ira began to question if she should continue her journey west, and risk being mauled by the beast that killed the behemoth.
'I will just go around.. haha..'
The silver-haired girl grinned nervously. She began to think maybe the Oracle of Fate had put her in an impossible trial after all.
'She would not do that.. right?'
She did not know—Ira had only known the mysterious woman for less than thirty minutes; her motives unclear besides the fact that Ira was connected to the Oracle's plan to "save humanity".
Ira decided maybe it was a good time to call upon Resonance so she could figure out what her Echo ability was.
'How do I even.. open it?'
In the next moment, reality seemed to have had a large ink spot on it. Resonance—it was unlike anything Ira had ever seen, shimmering golden letters that were undoubtedly not a part of the English alphabet appeared, yet Ira understood them flawlessly, as if she had been studying the mysterious runes for the past fifteen years of her life. They read:
[Name: Ira
Title: Champion Of Hope.
Rank: Dormant.
Class: Beast.
Fragments: 0/2000
Techniques: None.
Echo: Child Of Nothingness.
Echo ability: Mist Manipulation: produce or manipulate mist. The mist can be wrapped around oneself, weapons, armour, or allies, causing them to become physically enhanced. Flaws: can only wrap one thing in mist at a time until further classes are achieved, requires a large amount of Realm Thread, and physical enhancement does not scale with each rank achieved.
Attributes: Doomed. You are destined to die within the next six years.
Curse Of Profanity 0/3: None.]
Ira stared long and hard at the "Doomed" attribute.
'So the Oracle was not lying..'
A sense of powerlessness washed over her like a crushing wave. The silver-haired girl's fist balled up in distress; she felt her conviction slowly slipping away from the clutches of her heart.
Gritting her teeth, she thought to herself: 'No! Fuck this..! So be it, I will shatter fate and reclaim my life as my own, I will not be owned, toyed with, or used! My body is my own, and my mind demands freedom!'
Ira was sick and tired of being the stepping stone of someone else's glory, or being treated as if her opinions or actions mattered any less because of her looks her personality; she was done, and thus her conviction seemed to take on an evolution—she would no longer let people step on her or those she loved, whether she had to cut them down with her words, or her blade.
Naturally, this was mostly an edgy monologue she was using to keep her spirits up—but that did not matter.
She began to sprint as fast as she could, using her Echo ability to create a small amount of mist; the difference in her power was subtle, but large enough for Ira to notice.
Ira felt free as she sprinted down the dune, her expression shifted from one of rage and conviction, to one of happiness and freedom, but something felt off.
'Something feels wrong.. I think I should-'
Suddenly, the ground beneath Ira collapsed. Falling in, Ira hit her head, everything going black.