Chapter 3: Only When Full Do You Have Strength

(The protagonist's general appearance can refer to this image; currently a bit younger.)

Sand-Diving Dragon!

The moment the giant mouth burst from the sand, Aolang guessed the identity of the monster hidden beneath the dunes.

These monsters can swim freely through the Sand Sea, covering vast ranges; their tracks are hard to spot from the surface, making it difficult to pinpoint their habitats or specific activity zones.

For instance, the requisition form for this assessment mission contained absolutely no intelligence on Sand-Diving Dragon sightings.

This is the Guild's negligence; if we get back safely this time, I'll have to demand some compensation from that Guild Master Little Beard!

While Aolang complained inwardly, his movements were anything but slow; he pushed off with both arms, leaped up, and continued sprinting toward the rocky beach.

As an Apprentice Hunter who had not yet officially promoted to one-star, this was the first time he had seen a Sand-Diving Dragon with his own eyes.

But his teacher had once described the habits of this monster to him.

The most dangerous moment is when they lie in wait in the sand and suddenly burst out to ambush.

Once they reach the sand surface, their movements become much slower, and their attack pattern shifts to ramming wildly; as long as one stays calm, dodging them isn't too difficult.

As for the best way to avoid their attacks, it is to reach solid rocky ground free of yellow sand.

Although Sand-Diving Dragons possess the ability to walk on land, just as fish dislike coming ashore, they instinctively refuse to leave the sandy terrain.

Once they leave the soft sand, their movements become extremely sluggish and slow; at human running speeds, one can easily shake them off.

So run toward the rocky beach; once you reach that rocky beach, you'll be safe!

The Sand-Diving Dragon, whose ambush bite had missed, shook its head, wriggled its short body, and turned around.

Its tiny, somewhat deformed eyes stared fixedly at Aolang's retreating back; its flat, eel-like tail swished as it began to accelerate, chasing the prey in its sight.

"Quick! Quick!"

On the rocky beach, the youth who had warned him waved his arms vigorously toward Aolang.

Running on soft sand is not easy, but fortunately, as a native local, Aolang had long mastered the techniques for moving quickly in the Desert; he finally threw himself onto the solid rocky beach just before the Sand-Diving Dragon caught up.

Daring not to stop there, he quickly got up and ran forward another several dozen meters before turning back to check the situation.

That Sand-Diving Dragon had already ceased its pursuit; it lingered unwillingly in the sand at the edge of the rocky beach for quite a while before finally diving back into the yellow sand and vanishing from sight.

"Haaah—"

Aolang exhaled heavily and sat down, lying on his back on the rock; only then did he realize that countless stars already dotted the sky.

So beautiful.

"Hello there!" A face blocked out his starry sky.

Aolang raised his hand, covering his eyes with the back of his palm; he wasn't really in the mood to chat right now.

But the other party clearly misunderstood his meaning, grabbed his raised wrist, and forcefully pulled him up from the ground.

"Hello there! I'm Karim, from Barubare, and as you can see, I'm a Traveling Merchant!" the youth introduced himself with uninvited familiarity.

Aolang sighed silently.

With things as they were, he didn't want to be too rude; after all, the other party had warned him, which was tantamount to saving his life.

"Aolang, from Luokelake."

"You're a Hunter, right? So amazing! And that jump just now to dodge the monster's ambush was truly cool!" the youth named Karim spoke quickly and enthusiastically.

Obviously, this guy right in front of him belonged to that typical category of "social enthusiast"; if Aolang were a more lively personality, perhaps they would get along.

But Aolang only felt his ears hurting. "Alright, keep your voice down. That Sand-Diving Dragon hasn't left yet; if you make too much noise and anger it, it might climb onto the rocky beach."

"Oh, oh, sorry!" Karim covered his mouth and lowered his volume, but his words didn't decrease. "Then let's head back to the camp first and chat inside the tent!

Ah, right, that's your Hunters' camp, isn't it? I was chased by that monster at noon and fled here, then got trapped. I'm not a Hunter; does borrowing that camp violate regulations?"

"No problem; just clean up before leaving." Aolang replied somewhat weakly.

"That's good! That's good!"

The two, one after the other, arrived at the camp not far away.

"I was just planning to make dinner; let's eat together!" Perhaps because he now had a fellow sufferer to chat with, Karim seemed to be in a very good mood.

He sat cross-legged by the bonfire, then took a flat cast-iron skillet from the strap of a huge backpack nearby and placed it on the bonfire to heat up.

Aolang's expression became somewhat strange.

When traveling, heating food over a bonfire is common, but he had truly never seen anyone carrying a flat skillet to cook proper meals.

Karim hummed a tuneless little song, took out several items from his luggage one after another, and returned to the bonfire.

Using a metal spoon, he scooped some substance from a small jar and put it into the flat skillet to heat; it seemed to be some kind of fat, and judging by the color, it was oil refined from some animal fat.

Once the fat melted and heated until smoking, he took out two pieces of bacon, each as thick as a palm and bright red in color, and placed them in the pan to fry slowly.

Aolang, who had been silent for a while, finally couldn't hold back. "You carry bacon with you when you're out on the road?!"

"Hahaha, it's a habit!" Karim said while shaking the flat skillet and smiling: "Since I was young, I've followed caravans everywhere, doing odd jobs, cooking, and so on.

Everyone says I could become a Chef in the city, but I still prefer doing business. Let me tell you, my dream is to save up money to get my own covered wagon, so I can travel everywhere!

Well, anyway, to earn more money, I broke away from the caravan and started working as an independent Traveling Merchant.

But the habit of cooking has always been kept; a person needs to be full to have strength!"

"I don't object to that point." Aolang stared at the frying bacon in the skillet and secretly swallowed his saliva.

Seeing this, Karim smiled even more happily. After the bacon was nearly done, he cut two large slices of dried bread and put them into the pan to soak up the rendered fat and meat juices.

Finally, he placed the thick bacon onto the equally steaming hot bread, handed a portion to Aolang, and said proudly: "Eat up; this bacon is also pickled by me."

Aolang hesitated for two seconds, then finally said "Thank you" and took the food the other person handed him.

He first took a careful bite, then immediately sped up, eating with a "hiss-hiss" sound.

The fat-rich, heavily salty thick bacon paired with bread fried until crispy, though the ingredients were simple, was utterly irresistible.

"Delicious, right?" Karim picked up his own portion, took a huge bite, and said with a grin: "Meat, fat, salt, plus staple food; no one can refuse such a combination!"

Aolang nodded in deep agreement; for a moment, he even wanted to learn how to cook.

A serving of thick bacon with bread was no small portion, but that was for ordinary people; after Aolang, a Hunter, swallowed the last bite, he still felt somewhat unsatisfied.

Of course, he didn't have the thick skin to ask the other to make another portion; just this one meal made him feel rather embarrassed.

Just as he was thinking about what would be appropriate to repay the other with, Aolang suddenly realized something was wrong.

Wait? Why does it feel like we've come out for a picnic? We are trapped on this rocky beach by a Three-Star Danger Level Monster!

"Aren't you afraid?" Aolang couldn't help but ask Karim.

"What?" Karim reacted for two seconds before realizing what he was saying, "Oh, oh, I was indeed quite afraid before you arrived, but now I'm not afraid anymore."

"Why?"

"Because you show no fear at all, and you're a Hunter, right? You must have a way to deal with that guy!"

"You're giving me too much credit; that's a Three-Star Danger Level Monster." Aolang covered his face. "I just finished the assessment; I need to return to the Gathering Hall to complete the settlement before I can be officially promoted to One-Star. My strength is a full two star levels lower."

"Hehe, that's what you say, but I can feel you're very confident. My intuition is very sharp, you know." Karim winked at him.

Aolang fell silent. After quite a while, he sighed heavily. "Although it's shameful, but... never mind."

Saying this, he took a Signal Flare from the pouch at his waist and fired it into the sky.

PS: As before, Chapter 1 is at 12:00, and Chapter 2 is at 19:00.