"Young Master, must I really do this?"
"Yes."
"How long must I do this?"
"Until I'm satisfied."
A groan escaped Cristopher's lips as he crawled on the ground on all fours. His two Avatars, Brutus and Bruno, quietly watched their pitiful master, not daring to do anything to help him because Thirteen forbade them from doing anything.
Currently, the seven-year-old was riding on Brutus' shoulders as they walked toward the North end of the Houdini Desert.
The Ogre was pulling what seemed to be a makeshift wooden cart, filled with monster parts in it.
The majority of the items placed in it were the scales and claws of the Yellow Striked Dusk Brute, as well as other monster parts that Thirteen and Cristopher had collected after killing so many Monsters.
The wings of the Condors were also there since Thirteen planned to use them as makeshift beds and tents due to how comfortable they were.
Of course, they also gathered soft animal skins that could be used as blankets and cushions, allowing them to sleep comfortably during the day, the night, or whenever they wanted.
Brutus was also pulling a similar wooden cart.
However, the cart contained waterskins made from the skin of Monsters that Thirteen had altered to store water. There was also smoked meat in some of them, which was wrapped up properly with animal skin.
The two Brute Monsters walked six meters away from each other, leaving a gap in the middle.
This place was reserved for the chubby Yellow Striped Dusk Brute, who was crawling slowly on the ground.
Of course, this monster was none other than Cristopher, who was currently equipped with Dusk Brute Armor.
Since he looked very much like the poisonous monster of the Houdini Desert, Thirteen ordered him to practice walking like one.
Some animals disguised themselves as other creatures in order to ward off predators.
For example, the most fearless creature on the planet called Earth was called the Honey Badger.
This animal was quite small, but it was very aggressive. It was not afraid to face off against snakes or even bigger animals like lions and hyenas.
Simply put, it was the fiercest animal in the world, and just seeing it was enough to make the top predators distance themselves from it.
Because of this, Cheetah Cubs, who shared similar features as the Honey Badgers, were often avoided by the top predators because they looked like Honey Badgers from a distance.
Knowing that it would improve their chances of survival in the Houdini Desert, Thirteen adopted the same tactic for Cristopher, making the latter pretend as the Yellow Striped Dusk Brute, whose powerful poisonous spray deterred the Trolls, Ogres, and Orcs.
Of course, the seven-year-old had explained this to the chubby boy, which was the main reason why the latter had agreed to do it despite how hard it was to crawl on all fours for many hours.
Even so, he didn't feel hot since the Dusk Brute Armor fended the heat off, making Cristopher feel like he wasn't crawling across scorching desert sand.
Since his entire body was covered with black scales, his hands and knees were also protected from being scraped by the ground, allowing him to move as he pleased, painlessly.
"Master, you said that there are other Wanderers aside from me in this Desert, right?" Cristopher asked. "How many do you think are still alive now that two months have passed?"
It had been two months since Thirteen and Cristopher had been sent to the Houdini Desert, and after facing off against the monsters in the desert, the chubby boy believed that the survival rate for first-time Wanderers was very low.
"I don't know," Thirteen replied. "But I do hope that dozens survived. The mission you received seems difficult, so I'm guessing that hundreds of teenagers were sent here in order to complete that quest."
Thirteen wasn't aware that his guess was accurate. Although the number of Wanderers that were sent to the Houdini Desert was not more than a thousand, they still numbered around six hundred individuals.
And out of this six hundred, less than a hundred were able to survive the two months that they had spent in the Houdini Desert.
Thirteen and Cristopher had left the Oasis more than a week ago, and they were constantly traveling northward. They had met several Rank 1 Monsters along the way, and these slain monsters didn't give them any item drops.
Even so, they weren't useless either.
Thirteen gave all the monster cores to Cristopher so that the chubby boy could build up his body.
Currently, the progress of Cristopher's rank was 31/200.
This wasn't bad, considering that they prioritized getting Brutus to evolve into a Rank 2 Monster.
With two Monsters doing the manual labor, Thirteen didn't have to trouble himself with dismantling, skinning, bleeding, and smoking the meat of the Monsters to increase their food reserves and other supplies.
The boy used his free time to dive into his core to better understand the Houdini Desert. He wanted to know its dangers and the opportunities it presented.
Despite the fact that his information was outdated by 300 years, Thirteen believed that there were a lot of things that hadn't changed even with the passage of time.
Finally, on their tenth day after leaving the Oasis, they saw several Orcs trying to catch a few Desert Wildebeest from a herd.
However, these Omnivorous Monsters were putting up a good fight, especially the Alpha Wildebeest, which was a peak Rank 3 Monster.
Thirteen, Cristopher, Brutus, and Bruno watched from a safe distance as the Orc Hunting Party divided themselves into two teams.
Some kept the Alpha Wildebeest at bay, while others targeted the herd it was protecting.
Their strategy and teamwork were seamless, which suggested that they had done this multiple times already.
Surprisingly, the one leading the Orc hunting party was a Rank 3 High-Orc, which was a stronger version of the Orc Warriors.
All Orcs ranged from Rank 1 up to Rank 2 Monsters.
When they evolved, they would become High-Orcs, which was a stronger and much smarter version of the common populace of the Orc Race.
The High-Orc was being supported by eight other Orcs that were all Rank 2 Monsters. Since they were holding back the Alpha Wildebeest, the High-Orc was unable to help its subordinates in the second team of the Orcs, who were there to kill and capture some of the herd.
"This Hunting Party is very strong," Thirteen said softly. "We are not a match against them."
Cristopher nodded in agreement. "What should we do, Young Master?"
"Nothing," Thirteen replied. "We will distance ourselves from them, so they won't get the wrong idea. Their Leader has already noticed us, but it's not doing anything because it is busy with the Rank 3 Alpha Monster. Let's go. Staying here for long is dangerous for us."
Thirteen knew that if the Orcs finished their mission of hunting the Desert Wildebeests, they would shift their attention to them, which was something he would like to avoid at all costs.
Fighting against two to three Orcs was fine. But, if they were up against a Hunting Group, it was simply impossible.
Even if Brutus and Bruno were stronger than the Orcs, the fact remained that they were outnumbered.
There were only four of them, while there were seventeen Orcs and one High Orc.
Going against them would be pure suicide.
Thirteen gave the Hunting Party one last glance before ordering Bruno to take a detour.
Now that they had arrived in the Orc's Territory, it was time to initiate his plan to gather more information about the balance of power in the Houdini Desert.
