Subscriber of the Gods Chapter 340 - Gaister Desert

A week after the academy attack incident.

Having somewhat recovered his physical condition, Ethan immediately headed north.

‘Building a new temple is important, but it’s also crucial to find Moonforce’s forgotten temples scattered across the continent.’

There were still quite a few forgotten temples of Moonforce remaining on the continent.

Ethan’s job was Moonforce’s Descendant, which was a growth-type occupation.

“First, it would be best to fully develop the job. My survival probability won’t increase further, but if I obtain all of Moonforce’s power, my survival rate will significantly improve.”

For that reason, Ethan gathered extensive information about Moonforce’s temples.

‘I’ve combined and filtered the information I already knew, excluding all the places I’m already aware of.’

After narrowing it down, four candidate locations remained.

These four were places he had visited a few times but hadn’t explored in detail.

‘Especially in this Gaister Desert, there are several places I haven’t been to. I also heard rumors about that place. There’s a high possibility that a forgotten temple of Moonforce exists there.’

Ethan planned to find and activate that temple. He intended to find all the hidden Moonforce temples within the continent, continuously grow his Moonforce’s Descendant job, and collect all the rewards.

That’s not all. He planned to complete new Moonforce temples as well, to grow even further.

“From now on, many people will believe in Moonforce. I’m essentially Moonforce’s apostle, aren’t I? Please help me out. I really need a lot of Moonforce’s power now.”

Ethan took something out from his chest. It was a small statue of Moonforce. It was made as a prototype, but since it was created exactly as seen in the previous Moonforce temple, it could be considered Moonforce herself.

“It was a good decision to recruit the Goldhand blacksmith.”

Because he had exceptional talent in creating things, he made even this small statue extremely well.

“It’s of higher quality than the one originally in the temple.”

He was more skilled than the blacksmith who made the statue seen in the temple.

“Not only the new temples but I should also start managing the existing temples I’ve found and activated. It would be good to replace all the statues as well.”

The existing statues are quite old. It seemed good to replace them all to help the forgotten temples evolve into definite Moonforce temples.

“It might be good to create a small workshop inside the temple to provide magic like lightweighting or dyeing. To attract more people, you know.”

The desert is a quiet place.

The two guards had other important tasks to attend to, so Ethan visited the desert alone.

“It’s a shame not to have a conversation partner.”

How long had he walked?

-Gaister Desert is registered in Wind Cloud!

It was the official starting point of the Gaister Desert.

Swoosh-!

With each step, sand entered his mouth. Moreover, sand dust obscured his vision to the point where he couldn’t see an inch in front of him.

And then.

Rumble-!

The ground shook, and monsters began to appear.

“Finally, the real Gaister Desert. Is it because I came alone without a guide, or did I take a different path than the standard one?”

Rumble-!

The ground shook even more violently, and soon the sand on the ground began to swirl.

Sand hell.

The sand swamp that devours people began to swallow Ethan’s body. At the center of the sand hell was an insect-type monster with its jaws wide open.

[lv 79]

It was a high-level monster, the Sand Hell Guardian.

Ethan narrowed his eyes and activated Monsters’ Calamity.

Perhaps because it was an insect-type monster, even with Monsters’ Calamity, its weaknesses weren’t clearly visible.

“There aren’t many apparent weaknesses, but there’s one big hidden weakness. That’s why insect-type monsters are easily exploited.”

Ethan raised his Frost Sword.

“It’s refreshing.”

Kirrrrk-.

The Sand Hell Guardian made a strange noise as it waited for Ethan to be sucked into the vortex.

“…Kiruk?”

However, no matter how long it waited, Ethan remained unmoved in his spot. He should have been sinking gradually, approaching its jaws.

As the monster became confused, Ethan instead began to walk steadily into the sand hell.

Something was strange.

The Sand Hell Guardian, quickly sensing the anomaly, tried to escape into the sand.

“Your judgment is too slow. You should have recognized your opponent from the start and not even attempted.”

Ethan Swordsmanship 1st Form

Frost Thunder

Crackle-!

White frost spread across the hot desert, followed by lightning.

The Sand Hell Guardian, which had withstood the desert’s intense heat, was charred black by Ethan’s swordsmanship.

“I may not have a conversation partner, but at least it won’t be boring.”

After dealing with the Sand Hell Guardian, Ethan continued walking through the desert.

‘This Gaister Desert was quite a high-level hunting ground.’

It was a difficult place to hunt due to the presence of powerful monsters and the desert’s characteristics.

The Sand Hell Guardian from earlier was also one of the trickiest monsters to hunt.

Defensive power armed with hard armor. Moreover, it’s difficult to move properly due to the sand hell characteristic.

And on top of that, the intense heat.

Of course, Ethan could easily handle it now as he could solve all those problems.

But if someone came here with mediocre specs, they wouldn’t last long before meeting a tragic end.

‘That’s why originally, one should follow the official route.’

This desert has a separate safe path, and there are designated guides.

But Ethan deliberately didn’t take the safe path.

‘The path into the desert won’t be dangerous for me no matter how I go.’

From the start, these monsters weren’t even a threat to Ethan.

How much further did he walk?

Ethan discovered an artificially created oasis. Known as the Gaister Oasis, it was full of people.

“First, let’s find a guide.”

The place in the Gaister Desert that Ethan hadn’t visited. To go there, he needed a guide with confirmed skills.

His goal was a massive temple that once supposedly enshrined a god, and he suspected it might be Moonforce’s temple.

‘I’ve only heard stories about it. The path there is so complex and changes in real-time that without a definite guiding ability, you can’t even determine the direction.’

That’s why Ethan hadn’t even attempted to find it before.

‘They say the Desert King’s treasure is there too.’

He had heard many stories of treasure hunters who went to the temple for that treasure, all ending up as skeletons.

“I believe there’s also a city nearby, a desert city if I remember correctly.”

Like the underwater city Ethan had visited before, this desert city was also very secluded.

“They said the forgotten temple was near that desert city. Perhaps the temple might be connected to the desert city.”

The desert’s resting place, Gaister Oasis, was bustling with people.

Located at the entrance of the Gaister Desert, this place serves as a starting point for venturing deeper into the Gaister Desert.

The desert is home to various powerful monsters. Not only that, but there are also flowers and herbs unique to the desert, attracting many who wish to collect them.

And then.

‘There they are.’

The distinctive bronze skin.

The desert people, with their elaborate head ornaments and curved swords at their waists, were visible.

‘Many people come here for the desert city’s specialties and the rare jeweled crafts made there.’

That’s why this Gaister Oasis had quite a large floating population.

“Treasure-seeking hunters and mercenaries. And the guides who make money through them. Even the desert has its own ecosystem.”

Although it’s said to be difficult to live, people always find a way to adapt.

Ethan scanned the oasis. Then he spotted a quite familiar face.

‘As expected, he’s here.’

When seen on MePan, he was a veteran guide, but now he looked a bit younger.

“I was hoping you could guide me.”

Guide Rashibed.

With his tanned skin and sharp features, he looked Ethan up and down.

“My lord, would you mind waiting a moment?”

Perhaps due to Ethan’s high reputation, Rashibed spoke in quite a polite tone. Then he continued his conversation with the mercenaries opposite him.

“No, how many times do I have to say it!? It’s not possible! You’ll die on the way!”

“I thought you were a skilled guide, but you don’t know the way? Isn’t that fraud?”

“It’s not fraud! I told you the path there is extremely treacherous! That dungeon is closed off to begin with!”

“Closed off? What nonsense? It’s not closed, it’s just too dangerous to go. Even the Highark has prohibited access to that place.”

“That’s what closed means!”

“Can’t you see our mercenary group? We’re on a different level from those wimpy desert city warriors. We have no reason to follow the rules set by those desert city folks. They might be weak, but we’re not.”

A desert warrior standing a bit away looked in their direction. For a moment, it seemed he might come over, but another desert warrior held him back, preventing a fight.

“Look at those pathetic guys. Too scared to even approach us.”

“We’re saying we’ll go and conquer that dungeon. We’ll take all the treasures sleeping in there.”

“If you act as our guide, we’ll pay you handsomely. This much as an advance, and when we’re done conquering it, we’ll pay you this much more to guide us back out.”

Seeing the amount the mercenary captain offered, Rashibed sighed.

“It’s a place where I have to risk my life, and you’re offering just this much? And if you all die in there, I won’t even get the rest of the payment?”

“You insolent fool, you’ve been speaking quite rudely…”

The mercenary captain raised his hand. Rashibed glared at him as if daring him to try hitting him.

“Captain.”

At that moment, the captain’s right-hand man whispered something to the captain.

The captain sighed and then nodded.

“You have a point. We were hasty. We’ll give you this much as an advance.”

Clink-.

The mercenary captain held out a pouch full of gold coins to Rashibed.

“But can you guide us out when we return? You can leave if we don’t come out after a while.”

“…”

Rashibed pondered for a moment. That’s when Ethan naturally interjected.

“It seems we’re heading to the same place.”

“…What, you?”

Ignoring the mercenary captain, Ethan held out a pouch full of gold coins to Rashibed.

“I’m also on my way to that dungeon. Mind if I join?”

“Why would you… Are you also going to search for the Desert King’s treasure that’s said to be sleeping there, my lord?”

“No.”

“Uh, um… Wait a minute. Are you perhaps Lord Ethan Whiskers?”

One of the mercenaries recognized Ethan. With such high fame, it was inevitable that someone among the mercenaries would recognize him.

“That’s right.”

“!”

The mercenaries exchanged glances among themselves.

They assumed that Ethan had also come for the treasure. This meant that the existence of the Desert King’s treasure in that dungeon was certain.

“Guide!”

The mercenary captain took out more pouches of gold coins from his chest. Then he roughly shoved them into Rashibed’s arms.

“Is this enough? We’ll handle all the dangers on the way, so please.”

“No… While this lord is indeed a great person, even such individuals can make mistakes. There’s no such thing as the Desert King’s treasure there. Or even if there is, no one has ever obtained it until now. That’s how dangerous it is.”

Even as he said this, Rashibed accepted the pouches.

He wanted to refuse, but the amount was too large.

With this much, he had no choice but to accept.

As the guide nodded, the mercenary captain went to Ethan and bowed politely.

“Count Ethan Whiskers, it’s an honor to meet you. Are you perhaps going to search for the Desert King’s treasure?”

“What if I say I am? Are you thinking of yielding?”

The mercenary captain’s body stiffened at Ethan’s words.

He couldn’t sense any aura from him.

But for some reason, that made it even more frightening. The instinct he had honed over more than ten years of leading the mercenary group whispered to him.

“Well, we would yield. But if you could just spare us a small share…”

“I’m joking. I’m just planning to go to the temple where the Desert King’s treasure is said to be buried.”

The mercenary captain wiped his chest in relief at Ethan’s savage joke.

“Is everyone ready? If so, let’s depart right away.”

Ethan nodded at the guide’s words.

“Let’s go.”