Next day I was woken up by Rhea before dawn as we made our preparation to leave.
After freshening up, we ate the leftovers of last night and by the time we were ready to leave, the sky had brightened a little at the dark.
This is yet another day to walk, including today we have to walk for three days to reach the Scind forest.
''Cheeew!" Ashlyn chirped as she flew in the air, if not for this early morning and temperature is still not high, she wouldn't have come out of me.
She would fly mostly for an hour before it became too hot for her flight, she will integrate with me.
I am currently listening to popular songs which I brought month ago to pass the time, I wouldn't have listened to such loud music if not for Ashlyn keeping watch from above.
If any monster did come, Ashlyn will spot it with her birds-eye view and will inform me immediately.
'Unh!' I stopped on my tracks and turned off the music as felt vibration under my feet.
Looking at the vibration, there seems to be only one monster but that monster is big.
''Thud!" 'Growl!" A big sandworm monster comes out of sand directly in front of us.
I quickly activated my boots and swiftly retreated from the monster as it is initial level Corporal Grade monster which is way above my league.
Rhea didn't wait for my retreat and directly went for the monster while activating her broad sword midway.
And looking at her speed, she is definitely using the skill from the start, this monster dead.
"Growl!" the monster growl and instinctively felt a premonition of death as he tries to burrow back to sand but before it does that, rhea already reached it and attacked.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!" Three consecutive booms rang out as rhea attack monsters with three consecutive strikes if the skill.
When the sand is cleared, I found rhea is removing the core of the monster and monster had been cut into three pieces.
"Bam!" Ashlyn released a series of the fireball from above after rhea was done removing core.
The corps of monster started to burn after Ashlyn series of fireballs fell on it.
I and Rhea both don't like the meat of the earthworm monster seeing how ugly it is and also there is that nauseous smell of earthworm minster emits after dying.
We didn't take a single look at the monster and started to walk as this had become a common occurrence.
Whenever we come across any monster, especially Corporal Grade monster, Rhea attacked it directly and after killing it and removing the core, I burn the monster's body and we move on.
We come across three or four times such occurrence daily, most of it the time it is single or two monsters but sometimes a group of the monster also attack.
That time four of us have to fight either to fend off or kill the group of monsters.
Sometime later, Ashlyn integrated into me due to the temperature being too hot.
Walking in this intense heat, I sometimes wondered why humans can't integrate into a monster, that would have made my life much easier.
I would have force Ashlyn to fly in the heat for at least a half a day while I rest inside her, that would have been great.
''Chew!" Ashlyn chirped in a snort as she felt my thoughts with our connections.
''I am just joking Ashlyn!" I said in pacifying tone but she ignores it without saying anything.
I just smiled and went back on reading, I am currently reading herb encyclopedia that I asked from rhea.
I have pitifully low knowledge of herbs and as we were going to the scind forest, I am pretty sure that we will enter the forest and when we enter the forest, I don't want to miss precious herb that will come it my way.
I know it is far fetched to hope I will find any super expensive herb but there is a no loss in reading the herb encyclopedia and it will help me identify some rare herbs.
It's been two days I've been reading this book for a few hours a day but still, I wasn't able to finish ten percent of it.
I don't know how that alchemist and potioneers memorize these tens of thousands of herbs to smallest details.
Some herbs have so weird names that pronouncing them is difficult, much less memorizing them.
Take this 'Okebduemprae hretdst', it is extremely hard to pronounce them.
Taking a deep sigh, I kept reading them. I don't memorize this herb, I just try to make myself familiarise with them so when I come across that herb gave me familiar feeling, I can pick the herb and search about it later.
Not only I ask her about her encyclopedia, but I also ask for ore's as well.
I entered this real accidentally but when I leave, I want to leave with fortune and for that reading, these books are necessary no matter how boring it is.
I read both of the encyclopedia few hours a day both to gain knowledge and to pass the time.
Time passes on and now it is mid-afternoon, this is a time when the temperature at its peak.
If you threw the water on the surface, it will start boiling that's how hot it, especially in the middle of a wasteland.
Normal private Grade evolvers won't able to the cross this wasteland alone, they will die before they could ever reach the middle of it.
''Thud!" Rhea killed another monster, this is the sixth corporal level monster we encountered today and just an hour ago, I killed two Specialist grade monster.
We are encountering monsters frequently today, we had already encountered 6 Corporal level monsters and 19 Specialist grade monsters already and its only afternoon.
For the past three days, we hadn't encountered more than 4 Corporal grade and 10 Special grade monsters.
Looks like close we are getting to the scind forest, the more dangerous it will get.
"Do you hear something?" Rhea asked I shook my head in no at first but then I tried concentrated I did hear some sound.
"There is some sound coming in front of us!" I said and we hastily started to walk towards that sound.
But this time we are careful and prepared not to fell in the trap like last time again.
As we grew closer we noticed a few figures, when we get closer looked at they seem to be fighting monsters and they are not faring well as there are more than ten ministers attacking seven people.
We broke into a run to help them, no matter they are fellow men and its moral to help them if we can and it is in our profit to help them travel the wasteland going to be dangerous, the more people we have journeyed the safer it will be crossing the wasteland.