We walked past Isabella, her gaze stuck on us like we’d just slapped royalty in public. Actually… yeah, we kinda did.
“Walter, any luck?” I asked, glancing at him.
“Nope. I tried the team channels, personal chat, even global. Guy’s ghosting us hard,” Walter replied, shaking his head while tapping through the menu like a speedrunner mid-boss fight.
I frowned. Terra knew the game mechanics inside and out. If he wasn’t answering, it meant one of two things—either he was dead asleep, or something knocked him unconscious.
“Alright, here’s the plan,” I said, turning to them. “Since we don’t know what kind of situation he’s in, I’ll go there first and scout it out.”
They both nodded without hesitation.
“Walter, you’ve got no firepower right now, so I want you to head back to my place. Start grinding, grab some gear from my chest, hit the caves—just like old times. Get your kit back together.”
“Yeah, makes sense,” he said, already pulling up the map.
I turned to Aisha, who looked way too hyped for this.
“Aisha, get Walter a horse, escort him home. Then inform the king and queen that you’ll be heading out with me from now on. Once you’ve done that, help Walter with gearing up and wait for my signal.”
She gave me a playful salute. “Sir, yes sir!”
“Oh, and also,” I added, “check in on Hope and Faith. I want to know they’re okay.”
“Got it,” she said with a confident nod.
We all pulled out our 3D maps and exchanged markers. Aisha showed me where Terra’s icon was blinking. I sent them my house coordinates, along with a few solid cave spots for Walter.
After a round of quick goodbyes and fist bumps, we split up.
Standing alone in the hall, I stared at Terra’s icon pulsing on the map. Without wasting a second, I pulled out a Wormhole Potion.
The world blinked out.
When I came to, I was standing ankle-deep in loose, flowing sand. The ground was soft and dry, slipping under my feet with every shift.
“…A desert, huh?” I muttered, eyes narrowing as the hot wind kicked up around me.
Let’s see what kind of mess you’ve gotten yourself into this time, Terra.
Compared to the forest, the desert biome’s no joke. It’s technically harder thanks to those antlion bastards—but most of them stick to the underground, so I should be fine as long as I don’t go digging. I looked up. The sun was practically kissing the horizon. That meant only three threats to worry about: zombies, vultures, and the occasional surface antlion.
Easy enough—unless something unexpected happens.
I murmured to myself as I scanned the sandy expanse. “Now… where is he?”
And there he was.
Shabby, short dark brown hair, a solid, muscle-toned frame packed into shining armor that screamed “premium edition.” His face was sharp—confident and tired at the same time. He stood slightly shorter than me, but that wasn't what caught my attention.
No, what caught my attention was the absurdly reflective Platinum armor. It glinted so hard under the last rays of sunlight that I nearly had to shield my eyes. That alone was impressive enough, but then I saw the sword.
A Mithril Sword.
Thick, vibrant green from hilt to tip—except for the silver-wrapped handle. Double-edged, long as he was tall, and probably heavy enough to cleave a boulder in half.
Terra. Childhood friend. My bestest of best friends. And, as it turns out, dramatic as hell.
I raised both arms like I was greeting someone off a plane.
“Hey, Terra! Yo, what up dawg? Why weren’t you responding to our messages? Ghosting us for the drama? Giving us that silent treatment, huh?”
He looked at me with a strange, unreadable expression. Not confusion, not recognition. Just… distant.
I pointed at my own face. “C’mon man, it’s me! Evan! Sure, I look like an anime protagonist now, but trust me—you have got to hear what’s been happening!”
Terra’s response?
He shifted his stance—and then charged.
Without warning, he swung his massive green blade in a wide, heavy arc aimed straight at my head.
“WOAH—HEY!” I stumbled back just in time, my passive reflex boosts kicking in as time seemed to slow for a second.
That sword whooshed past my nose like death with a glow-up.
“WHAT THE HELL, DUDE! It’s really me! Remember Mr. Olsen? That time we swapped out his water bottle with toilet water as a prank? You laughed so hard you snorted—don’t act like that wasn’t the best day ever!”
Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!
Terra didn’t say a word. Instead, he responded with another wide horizontal slash, the blade of green steel cutting the air with an audible whirr.
I dodged by grappling away to put some distance between us as well.
“Okay! This is not funny—wait a sec...” I skidded back a few steps, gears in my head turning.
This was starting to feel... familiar. Like with Ruby.
And then it hit me.
I quickly activated ‘Peak’, my info-gathering skill, to take a look at what the hell was going on inside Terra’s head.
Emotional Frenzy: Doesn’t know what to do.
Psychopath: Will attack anyone.
“WHAT THE HELL!?” I shouted, ducking just in time as Terra’s sword passed inches from my ear. “You’re telling me that’s why you weren’t answering any messages!?”
Panic surged. I can’t bring the Nurse all the way out here—it’d take days.
… Wait a second! I’ve seen this before in Anime, Cartoons. The classic brainwashed best friend arc. The hero always wins them back—with the power of friendship.
Alright, let’s do this.
I spread my arms out wide.
“Terra! Don’t you remember me? It’s me—Evan! Your old buddy! We’ve been through everything together! Remember the egg sandwiches after school? Or when you had that stage dance performance and the music cut off, and I fixed the speakers just so you could fini-?”
I didn’t even get to finish the sentence before Terra’s gauntleted fist came flying into my face like a meteor.
WHAM
-6
I flew back twenty feet and landed hard in the sand.
“SCREW THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP! IT’S FLIPPEN OVERRATED ANYWAYS!”
Groaning, I rolled onto my side, spitting sand. "That only works in anime where the brainwashed guy isn't trying to kill you!"
Either that, or I’m not the protagonist of this damn story.
Terra came at me again, swinging with enough force to cleave a cow in two. I raised my left arm just in time and heard a heavy clang as his sword clashed against the invisible Shield of Cthulhu.
Alright, think. I don’t want to hurt him, but what are my options here?
- Kill him. He’ll respawn eventually… but it’ll cost a fortune.
- Bring the Nurse here. But that’ll take days, and knowing Terra, he’ll probably forget to eat and die of starvation before help even arrives.
So… no matter what I do, Terra’s gotta die?
Ugh! isn’t there a spell that can just remove mental debuffs?!
As if the universe itself heard me scream internally, a System Notification popped into view:
Calm Mind (Locked)
Type: Magic
Removes a random mental-type debuff from a target. (Excludes some.)
To activate: Use Calm Mind once, or read its respective book.
“HELL YEAH!” I shouted, scrambling to my feet. “I knew I could count on you, Magic!”
Terra slammed his giant mithril sword into the ground with a thunderous crack. The sand beneath me trembled violently.
I barely managed a dive-roll to the side before—CLANG!
A massive translucent blue blade burst up from the exact spot I'd been standing.
“Holy shit,” I muttered, staring at the glowing slab of death embedded in the earth.
My hand flew to my inventory. Time to nope out of here. I yanked out a Recall Potion and was just about to chug it when I caught movement—Terra swung his blade in a wide arc, but this time... nothing physical came out.
Until the shockwave hit me.
A sharp, invisible force tore through the air and smashed into my shield. My entire body jolted as my feet skidded back, boots dragging furrows into the sand. It was like getting slapped by a truck made of wind.
“NOPE!” I popped the cork and slammed the potion down like my life depended on it—which, in fairness, it absolutely did.
Darkness swallowed my vision for a second.
And then—THUMP
“Ow.” I said out of habit.
I wasn’t standing. I wasn’t lying in the soft fluff of my bed either.
I was on the cold wooden floor.
A system message flashed in front of my face:
“Your Bed Is Already In Use!”
“What the—?” I groaned, craning my neck up.
Sure enough, there they were. Faith and Hope, curled up like sleepy kittens, nestled beside Nezha, all three of them snoozing like it was the coziest sleepover in the world.
In the dim corner, Emma—the Nurse—stood silently, her expression unreadable and creepy as always.
I gave her a quick nod and carefully tiptoed out of the room without waking anyone. The last thing I needed was more questions before I fixed the mess out there.
Once outside, I pulled up the chat and quickly updated Aisha and Walter about what happened.
The original plan mostly held the same. Walter would return to my place, set his spawn point, and gear up using whatever supplies he could scavenge.
Slight change though, since I only had five Wormhole Potions left, we had to move smarter. Aisha would come with me directly while Walter stayed behind to prep. That way, we’d still have enough potions to regroup if things got dicey.
Also... I totally didn’t forget the name of the kingdom we were heading back to.
Definitely didn’t.
Using a Wormhole Potion, I warped straight into the kingdom’s Magic Library—the one whose name I totally remembered just now—and went straight to work. I’d asked Aisha to meet up with Queen Isabella and squeeze out any intel on why Terra was sent into the middle of a desert death trap in the first place.
The librarian didn’t waste time. With practiced ease, she led me through towering aisles stacked with glowing tomes and dusty relics before stopping at a plain-looking, violet-bound book. I flipped through the pages and, within minutes, unlocked the skill I was after.
Calm Mind (Unlocked)
Type: Magic-Type
Effect: Removes a Random Mental-Type Debuff (Excludes Some)
Cost: 15 MP
Duration: N/A
Requirement: Target must have less than 50% HP
Huh… interesting. The “To Activate” field had been replaced with the usual RPG elements—cost, duration, and now, a “Requirement.”
And this was my first spell that needed a requirement. Great. So I do have to beat the hell out of Terra to make this work.
Now, as much as I wanted to unlock more skills, almost all of them needed me to read them all and I couldn’t waste any time right now.
At least I wouldn’t be alone this time. Aisha met up with me right after, and with her usual charm (and probably some guilt-tripping), managed to get Isabella talking.
Apparently, Terra had been sent out as part of a six-man expedition to search for ancient sunken civilizations—probably the in-game pyramids buried beneath the desert. They were looking for lost knowledge or artifacts or something else politicians never explain properly.
Only one small problem.
I didn’t see anyone with Terra.
Meaning... Terra likely turned his whole party into red mist.
But why?
Why was he in that deranged state to begin with?
Maybe it wasn’t him that got rid of his team but someone or something else?
Regardless, No time to waste. Aisha and I regrouped in a quiet alley, where I handed her one of my dwindling Wormhole potions.
I also handed her an Ironskin Potion. They’re cheap to make, increase defense by a solid 8 points—which, mind you, is just 1 point short of a full iron armor set—and are basically liquid plot armor in a bottle.
“Chug it before the fight starts,” I muttered.
She gave me a thumbs up, her usual playful grin fading into something serious.
Once we arrived back at the desert via Wormhole—right beside Walter—I didn’t even wait for Terra to notice us. I immediately pulled out my Enchanted Boomerang and hurled it straight at him.
It spun like a comet, gleaming blue with golden linings and a fat ruby embedded in its center.
THWACK!
-8
Barely scratched him.
Didn’t matter. The knockback was the real prize. Terra got launched back a couple of feet, dust spraying up around his boots.
“Alright, buddy,” I called, cracking my knuckles. “The treatment’s here for you. And it’s these hands.”
Aisha stepped up beside me, face glowing with equal parts sass and confidence.
“Side effects include getting knocked the frick out!” she chirped, her fingers already sparking with mana.