Savanto

Three

"So, are you going to talk to me now, or should I give you more time?" said the Elekron, desperate.

Santiago blinked, having spaced out due to the surprise (horror) of having someone speak to his head. It was like having an integrated headphone on his head. The Elekron's voice was, incredibly, soft, contrary to what one might expect from a hulking reptile, and despite its politeness, it seemed to answer only in reaction to certain impulses or stimuli, like a common beast to raw, direct emotions.

"I'm sorry?" Santiago said, "I've never spoken to a... talking lizard."

"I am Elekron," the beast retorted, annoyed, "lizards do not dive in the sand to the depths my kin does, we are superior, we are kings and queens in the extended family we belong to..." It growled, like being actually insulted by the comment, "lizards... how foolish."

"Well, I apologize, this is the first time I deal with your kind."

"It is to be expected since you are a mountain dweller, your kind hardly ever crosses the desert, and those who do are in part because of your kin's servitude to the other slender beings."

"The Mosara?"

"Their names escape me. None could ride me like you did, master."

"What's this?" Santiago said, surprised, "You mean that there are no Elekron riders beside me?"

"Don't be foolish, you are not the first, nor you'll be the last. We Elekrons can only be ridden by those who have the lightning, and you do."

"Ah..."

"Do you not know these things, master?" the Elekron said, "Riding an Elekron must come to no surprise to those who inhabit the mountains or great desert."

"Well, I..."

The Great Reptile did not linger in that thought, it closed the eye staring at the young, grayed, masked man. "This has been an interesting experience," it said, "We should sleep, the storm will remain for the rest of the night, and if it were to calm down, the cold would ensnare us."

Such proper speech from a talking beast. Santiago thought.

"Thank you." the Elekron said, its eye fixated on the man again.

"s**t, you heard that? ... Of course you did." concluded Santiago, remembering their telepathic link.

"Well, if it wasn't a compliment, I don't know what it was."

"Forget about it,"

The lizard closed its eye once again, before widely opening it.

"Right, I almost forgot. Forgive me, master, for I was thrilled to finally be able to speak to you that I forgot proper introductions."

"You have a name?"

"Indeed, the name's Zamani, member of the powerful Elekron race, the Great Lizards that, from time to time, choose people like you to be our companions."

"Zamani... It's catchy."

"Should I take that as a compliment?" the lizard grunted. 

"Yes, actually, it means I won't forget it easily."

"You better not, master."

Santiago leaned on Zamani's face.

"Tell me something, my friend, how can a Great Lizard such as you be defeated by the cold of the desert's night?"

There was a slight growl of annoyance.

"Hmph! Elekrons hide beneath the Sand's deep levels, where humidity still lingers from the day and the natural cavernous rivers below the desert's surface, our kind never has the need to dwell on it after dusk."

"Still, why didn't you bury underground? You could've just leave me there "

"Agh. You got me there, master."

The lizard closed its eye once more, only that this time it was due to annoyance, not exhaustion.

"So?" Santiago pressed.

"We have had a rough night. You should rest master, tomorrow will be another day."

"Aw."

"Sleep tight."

With that said, Zamani's voice disappeared from the young man's head, and the deep, growling snores began to contest the deafening sound of the wind outside the small tent.

Santiago laid down in the sand. The curtain to his side waved violently due to the storm outside, but it was solidly cemented in the ground; as Santiago inspected it, he reassured himself that he—and Zamani, his new friend, by extension—would not get hurt by the cold ever again.

He looked at the starlight again, lost in thought, and then decisively opened the journal in his hud. It was still blank except for the one quest that had him and Zamani stranded in the desert. He finally took a peek at it and read it.

Journal:

To Tread on Serpents and Scorpions

>Travel to the village of Zalm and meet with the Elder in the Communal House. Assist the Zalm villagers in their present crisis.

"Heh, it's nothing more than a simple adventure quest, it is perhaps part of my 'tutorial'," he commented, "then why is it so difficult to get there?"

He checked his stats again, making sure he was ready for the day ahead and then proceeded to log off as he did with every single game he had played.

"Boomer, I can't yet." He said upon glancing at his offline "Log out" button.

Upon spending a few minutes just laying on the ground, his desperation finally took over and he slowly stood up so as not to disturb the hulking Elekron next to him. Santiago took his spear and proceeded to head out into the night. He had one thing in mind—grinding.

The thought of that word somehow embarrassed Santiago, as making a habit of it was frown upon by the most respected players, and playing a game with a solid foundation on grinding was considered to be boring. The gaming industry had long departed from grinding-based games following the more immersive style of virtual consoles and headsets. Santiago did not know why he was even bothering, as Savanto, the game that had trapped him for an entire day in-game, would probably not have weak creatures laying in the desert, waiting to be found by players and being killed for the Experience points. No, Savanto was not a game that based its leveling system on acquiring general experience by killing or completing quests, Santiago had already discovered its mechanics—deeply based on avatar skills—the question was, of course, how would he take advantage of it.

He made sure to bring a stick of burning wood with him so as to keep him warm and not accidentally die because of the freezing night. The young, masked avatar made sure not to linger far from the camp; the storm made it hard for it to see the campfire, but it was still a stark contrast to the piercing darkness. 

He climbed one of the neighboring dunes to see if the storm's end could be spotted from afar to no avail. Santiago sighed, thrusting his long, electrical polearm on the ground with its tip up to the sky.

A tickle of static blinked within Santiago's peripheral view, he looked at the spear—it glowed intensely.

Another tickle, this time more pronounced than the last. Santiago then felt energy surging and numbing his feet. He looked at the sand and saw discharges coming out of it and towards the spear. The tickles multiplied, savagely coming in and out, embracing the spear up to a point where Santiago could no longer hold it. He then noticed how the sand in the air responded, like a readied lighting about to fall down as if the thunder god himself had thrown it. With no time to deal with the spear, he threw himself down the dune and rolled. 

Within seconds, a powerful stroke of lightning illuminated the entire era, crashing down with sharp, loud c***k as the thunder deafened Santiago's ears. The pulsating red screen was back, part of the electric discharge had taken a good chunk of his health. He could see small streaks of electricity surging his hands.

"This game is officially trying to kill me." He said anxiously as he rose from the sand and rushed to check on the spear, "Please, don't have a durability stat... don't have a durability stat."

It didn't.

A message appeared before his eyes.

Ishkur's Blessing:

Duration: 5 minutes

You are momentarily powered up by the essence of the Thunder God. Triggered when placing a Lightning-based weapon skyward and connected to the ground, creating an effective lightning rod—the only current way of communing with Ishkur's awesome power.

>Cost: 35% Health

>Increased Magic Damage

>Active Skill Enabled: Lightning Bolt.

>Lighning-based weapon gains bonus damage

Awe-struck by this revelation, Santiago checked his hands again, they were still animated by the brilliant flashes of electrons. 

"Well, isn't this neat?" He said, with his smile again concealed by the mask. However, he also noticed that his tattoos around his arms were lit by a gleaming light blue light that when touched, emitted the same small tickles that the polearm had initially done before the 'accident'.

Another message popped in seconds later.

Ishkur's Gateway:

Ascension Tree enabled. You may now further hone your skills in the Path of Ishkar.

Santiago peeked at the new tree unfolding before him. He felt like a new player on an MMO, not knowing what was happening but remaining elated at every single new experience he got. He saw the Lightning Bolt ability unlocked as the first to be unlocked, with many more going down the line.

However, he could not celebrate much.

His body was suddenly sent flying by the slashing claw of an unknown—yet enormous—beast. He rolled across the sand again, separated from his polearm. He recovered enough to gaze at his attacker, and a cold chill traversed his spine upon seeing it.

It was an insectoid monster three times larger than him, two frontal claws it used for frontal weapons, and used its other four legs for walking, its body resembled that of a mantis, but its face was that of a bat-demon, a disproportionate mouth with its seemingly dislocated jaw that roared with a chilling hiss as an undertone that paralyzed Santiago from the waistline down.

"What... seriously?" he said, panicked.

The hulking beast had a name hovering above as Santiago looked.

Mangallu

Ravenous Predator

There was a bit of lore to be explored about the species offered to Santiago, but he waved his hand, annoyed—he would have extra time to study that monster later if he survived.

Another crackle on Santiago's hand reminded him of his earlier boost in power, so he knew he was not resourceless in the fight, yet the spear behind this 'Mangallu' monster could be a better weapon to create at least some distance. 

It then hit him—he had no idea how combat was done in Savanto.

"I seriously can't catch a break today."