Monster Integration

“Desert trek,”

This is the name of the challenge; I have a week to reach the endpoint, with seven midpoints to reach every day.

The table contains things that I will need and also a weapon that I could choose, which is the only magical thing present in all.

There are restrictions on choosing things, but with my physical capacity, I would need to be careful about what I take. Aside from water, I will not get anything from the daily midpoints, including the food, so I have to be very careful in choosing the stuff I will take, and I only have half an hour to choose.

The first thing I did was choose the clothes; the clothes should be light but also insulated; it is common knowledge that the temperature in the desert drops to minus degrees.

Which is not much of trouble if it is hundreds of degrees minus, but my current body is so weak that it would not be able to take even minus one temperature; I will freeze to death within minutes.

I chose the clothes which are the lightest and feel most insulated before picking up the bag. There, I chose the camp, which seemed sturdy enough to hold even in the storm before, before moving to the water container and the water bottle, and then the food.

I chose the ration type, which could be eaten directly and also be cooked in water; after that, it was a small stove, a couple small things that would come in handy, and then another piece of clothing.

By the time I had done, the whole camping bag had been filled to the brim and felt a little heavy; I wanted to unload something, but I could not as each and everything important.

I have already been quite austere in my choosing; there are many things I have not chosen, like the entertainment pad and other things.

Now only three minutes remained, and the only thing remaining to choose is a weapon. I have chosen a specific halberd which could second as the walking stick, which I am sure I will need it.

The halberd is the only magical thing; it is made completely of energy which is black in color with the blade being dark red. The blade of it was wickedly sharp that I did not dare to touch it.

With the weapon, everything was ready, but I still waited for the timer to end, which ended two minutes later, and everything had disappeared, aside from the start sign board.

I looked above at the sun, which had fully come out, before staring at the leather map and compass in my hand. The map is normal but very detailed; I think I will not have a problem following it, especially with the compass that came with it.

A minute later, I put the map in my pocket and began to walk in the desert; for a while, it was fine other than a feeling of crushing weakness, but soon, I began to feel the heat, and this heat began to increase that within an hour, the hat begins to feel useless.

In three hours, my whole body got slimed in acrid smell, and the heat began to radiate from the sand as well as the sun, so I wanted to take a few sips from the water canteen hanging from my waist.

I resisted the urge and continued walking; I decided to drink a fixed amount of water every hour or when my clone told me. I am still in contact with it, and it could see my meta-physical scan, which is not detailed enough due to suppressive power sealing it all.

Still, it is enough to see the condition of my body, which provided enough data on how much water I should drink and the pace I should maintain to last long.

It is quite a cheat, but it is part of my strength which I have worked hard to gain; now, my clone is working to break the suppression; I do not need to unlock all my power, which I think is impossible, with the level of suppression here, but I think, getting a sliver out at the moment of need would help me a lot.

I have no doubt there will be others in this challenge; there are always people in such challenges, which means there will be Grimms, who will obviously have a great advantage due to their huge size and the power that comes with that size.

With the suppression, every Grimm is an enemy here; even Masters and Grandmasters might be able to kill me with the inherent physical abilities they have.

Soon, it was twelve in the morning, and the sun over me was spewing fire; I had thought it would be difficult but did not expect it would be this difficult.

I am sweaty, I am parched, and I am tired; I just want to drink all the water I have and just sleep, but doing that would be a death sentence, especially when those carrion birds flying over me, who just waiting for me to drop dead, so they could nibble on my flesh.

‘So this is mortality,’ I said as I looked at my condition, so delicate that even a whisper of knight could kill me.

Back on the mainland, I had the power of god; crossing such a desert was a matter of second for me. I held so much power that I could turn the places into the desert and make volcanoes, and now simple flickr of that aura would wipe me out of existence.

It seemed like this is the way this place tells us, that no matter how powerful one is, even with god-like power, there is always something that will bring you down.

I sighed through the parched lips and continued before stopping at the shade of a big boulder about half an hour later. Necessary, especially with this delicate body of mine, which I do not have to strain too much, because there is no awesome power that will heal the damage immediately as I receive it.

Though I did notice that my body is slightly stronger than normal, which is likely the result of rule-bending power which had merged into every part of me, even under such strong suppression, it was able to create some leeway.

I rested for half an hour and took the measures sips of water before I once again looked at the map and continued with the journey.

Looking at the map, I am making very good progress, and if I am able to maintain such a pace, I will be able to reach the first mid-point by night, where I will be able to replenish the precious water before continuing with this hazardous journey.

Hun!

Another hour had passed when suddenly I heard something and carefully began to walk the dune, and when I reached the top, I saw the source of the sound.

A human, a woman at a distance, is running from the two Grimms who are chasing her, and they are rapidly closing in.

I didn’t have to imagine what would happen if these Grimms caught her.