“This place hasn’t really been visited a lot, huh?” Tafel asked, glancing down at the steps leading up to the temple. Each step was covered in a layer of sand, the steps at the bottom having piled on more. Perhaps there were steps underneath the desert floor as well that had been buried.

“It’s tough finding enough food and water to survive in an environment like this,” Jeffery said. “Gathering enough to survive thirty days might just empty out the area if you don’t know where to look.”

“Well, it’s a good thing we’re exempt from offering food and water,” Stella said, poking her head out of Vur’s chest. She shrank back inside when a gust of wind caused grains of sand to fly into her face. “Hurry up and open the door, Vur! The weather here stinks, and we’re running out of time.”

Ashley landed on the ground just in time to see Vur punch down the entrance to the Temple of the Earth Lord. When she had followed the dragon to the Temple of the Martial Lord, she had assumed he was already flying at his fastest pace considering she had to use a considerable amount of mana to keep up; however, who would’ve thought Vur could double his flying speed simply by flapping his wings harder? Ashley took in a deep breath and exhaled, willing her heartrate to go down. When she was no longer out of breath, she followed Vur’s group into the temple.

“You’re really just going to follow us around, huh?” Stella asked upon seeing Ashley waltz in. The interior of the temple was much more hospitable than the exterior, and the fairy queen had perched herself on Vur’s head. “Don’t you have better things to do?”

Ashley shook her head. “As the Light Lord, I have a lot of responsibilities, but something tells me monitoring your group should take priority. I’m not so important that the tower will collapse in my absence.” Her gaze shifted onto Vur, who was glancing around the temple with narrowed eyes. “What’s your method of locating hidden pieces? I can help.”

Vur turned his head towards Ashley. “I look until I find it.” His eyes lit up, and he went over to the Light Lord. Before he could move her out of the way, she stepped to the side herself. Vur grunted as he dropped to one knee while punching the ground in the same motion. The large tile shattered, and a brown orb shot upwards. Vur stuck out his hand and grabbed it before it fell to the ground. “Like that.”

Ashley turned her head towards Tafel, and the demon nodded. “You just find it,” Tafel said. “Like that.” She glanced behind herself at the rest of the temple. It seemed a little large, and they were running short on time, only a few hours left before they were expelled from the exam region; considering the rewards weren’t even that good, the demon didn’t see a point in clearing the trial. “Alright, let’s find that last temple.”

“Already?” Miranda asked, her face slightly pale. “I still feel a little airsick.”

“Don’t worry,” Tafel said and patted Miranda’s shoulder as the demon walked past the bald monk out the temple. “We have magic for that.”

Miranda paused as everyone left the temple, leaving her behind. They had magic for curing airsickness, but was no one going to use it on her!? She ran out the temple, and before she could say anything, she was caught by a familiar claw and pressed against some familiar companions. A green light washed over her, and the nausea she was experiencing faded away. A second later, Vur jumped into the air, pumping his wings when he reached the peak of his leap, and the nausea washed over Miranda once more. Her face turned a sickly hue of green as Vur flapped his wings faster and faster, the landscape blurring before Miranda’s eyes despite how high up Vur had flown.

“Hang in there,” Kax said. “It over soon.”

Miranda opened her mouth, but she closed it again, deciding against speaking when she felt pressure building up near her throat.

“There’s plenty of space on his head,” Kim Hajun said and sighed, his head turned way to the side almost to the point of being painful. If he let his neck rest in a neutral position, his nose would be buried in Kax’s armpit, a place his nostrils did not want to be. “I don’t understand why we have to be treated like this.”

“Better here than in stomach,” Kax said and shrugged, his bicep dragging along the back of Kim Hajun’s ear.

A cold chill ran down Kim Hajun’s spine. “I might just prefer it in there.”

“Kids these days sure know how to complain,” Jeffery said and sighed. His body was pressed against Kax’s back, his view only that of the interior of Vur’s palm. Was it still a palm when it referred to the front leg of a dragon? He wasn’t sure, but quite frankly, whatever the name, it was still a boring sight. “Not everyone can claim they’ve been transported by a dragon. You might suffer now, but think of the bragging rights you’ll have in the future.”

“How long until we’re transported out?” Miranda asked, sweat rolling down her pale face.

“Two hours or so,” Jeffery said. “We might not make it to the final temple.”

On top of Vur’s head, Tafel frowned. “I’m not sure we’ll make it if we keep going at this pace,” she said. “I’ll cast haste on you until my mana runs out. Then, I’ll drink some potions and cast it again. We’re not going to miss out on a single skill.” Tafel narrowed her eyes, and her horns shone with a silver light. A massive clockface appeared underneath Vur’s body, and the minute and hour hands sped up as Vur’s speed increased. The clouds blurred as they rushed past, and Tafel had to crouch and cling to Vur’s scales to prevent herself from being blown off. For some reason, she thought she heard a chorus of screams coming from Vur’s paw, but it must’ve been a trick of the wind; after all, it was rushing past awfully fast.